Amir Taheri
The Archive
Obama keeps blinking in the fight on the Islamic State
For weeks, there was much talk in Baghdad about an impending campaign to liberate Mosul after months of ordeal under jihadi occupation. Iraqi hopes of success in regaining control of...
Obama's elementary errors on Islam
“This is not true Islam,” President Obama has again insisted of the Islamic State and other terror groups. That he doesn’t realize this is not for him to say is...
The safe haven we give to ISIS: No bombing in our foe's heartland
In remarks on his request for a new authorization from Congress for military action against ISIS, President Obama made an odd new commitment: not to allow “these terrorists to have...
How ISIS is winning: The long reach of terror
Eight months after President Obama ordered selective bombings against the Islamic State, a k a ISIS, the terrorist group retains the initiative in both military and political terms. That assertion may surprise...
Saudi storms — new king faces a world of troubles
It was with sadness and relief that Saudis last week buried King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz, 90, who’d been on his deathbed for weeks. The sadness was prompted by Abdullah’s success...
Changes in the 'Muslim rage' racket
Clearly shaken by the wave of sympathy for France in the wake of the Jan. 7 terror attacks in Paris, Muslim officials and opinion leaders are still uncertain how to...
Unity for what? French debate has only begun
Days of French demonstrations in protest against terrorist attacks that claimed 17 lives, including 10 journalists of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, culminated on Sunday in Paris with some 1.5...
What happens to Western values if no one stands up against Islam?
The most recent issue of Charlie Hebdo, the satirical French newspaper attacked by Islamic terrorists, featured a caricature of the novelist Michel Houellebecq. “In 2015, I lose my teeth,” he...
Stop giving modern Islam a free pass
‘Something has changed!” That phrase dominated conversation, including the media, in much of France a day after the worst carnage the country has experienced in peacetime. Some labeled the attack...
Terror in Paris shows the limits of appeasement
PARIS — It was shortly before 11 a.m. Wednesday when a small enclave off one of Paris’ large boulevards close to the Place de la Bastilles was shaken with bursts of...
An opening in Afghanistan: Kabul's deal with Pakistan
With public sentiment rising against terrorism, the Pakistani and Afghan governments have decided to abandon their traditional policy of giving terror groups shelter in exchange for a promise not to...
'The last straw' --- Pakistan turns against terror
‘This is the last straw!”: That’s the message that Pakistanis all across the political spectrum, in a rare show of unanimity, are trying to send after the worst Islamic terror...
An Iran-Russia axis
What do two nations with a history of over 200 years of enmity and war do when they seek a change of discourse? Find a common enemy — real or...
The not-so-Islamic State: ISIS' huge debt to the infidel
Ever since its emergence a few months ago, the declared ambition of the startup caliphate of the Islamic State has been to “wipe out every trace of Infidel influence” in...
How the Republican Congress can reassure America's allies
With Republicans winning control of Congress, some US allies, disappointed in President Obama’s rudderless foreign policy, are hoping for change of direction on a number of issues. With few exceptions,...
The ugly attractions of ISIS' ideology
"Pure Mohammadan Islam”: This is what ISIS, Daesh in Arabic, promises to deliver once the caliphate has defeated “Infidel” enemies and secured its position. The promise is at the core...
US must take sides in Syria to avoid an end worse than ISIS
Among the different “goals” that President Obama has declared for his “fight” against the Islamic State, the most frequently cited is “to push them back.” Obama doesn’t make it clear...
The fantasy of normal ties with Iran
Many suggest Iran is ready to switch from decades of anti-Americanism to cooperation in taming the monster of ISIS. This revives the “Iran is the solution” fantasy that has tempted...
Still no coalition --- or true strategy
A month after President Obama agreed to do “something” about Islamist terror in Iraq, it may be time to take stock. The centerpiece of Obama’s “something” was to create a...
Not just ISIS: Jihadis' new 'take territory' strategy
After years of internal debate, the Islamist jihadi movement appears to have reached consensus on a global strategy aimed at seizing territory in as many countries as possible. Although the...