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Our long road to war with Iran

National Columnists

Until last year, for some 46 years, Iran enjoyed a North Korea-like reputation in the heart of the Middle East: always unpredictable, reckless, dangerous, inevitably to be nuclear, self-destructive, and nihilistic. The mullahs came into power after the removal of the Shah and, subsequently, the interim secular socialists. The theocracy's only constant with the prior monarchical Iran was that it inherited near limitless oil and natural gas reserves, sophisticated arms, and the Shah's modernized cities. It controlled the key strategic chokepoint at the Strait of Hormuz and enjoyed a ...

United we stand, divided we fall

National Columnists

For a brief window this coming week, Passover and Holy Week, the sacred observances of Jews and Christians, respectively, will overlap. Jews around the world will gather this Wednesday and Thursday evenings for the Seder, which recounts the Exodus from Egypt and God's redemptive hand in history. And after Good Friday and Holy Saturday on Sunday, April 5, Christians will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal salvation. Two biblical traditions, distinct but from the same Abrahamic family tree, will thus find themselves marking holy seasons at the same ...

How will Congress choose to handle Iran bill?

National Columnists

Whatever you think of the war in Iran, there's a separate question — independent of the military merits — that Congress must answer: How will it be paid for? The Pentagon has requested $200 billion to fund the campaign. While circumstances could change the price tag, interest payments on that much debt would add $87 billion over 10 years. So that's roughly $300 billion. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, asked about this number, offered a memorable contribution to the fiscal debate: "Obviously, it takes money to kill bad guys." That's true. It's also true that the money ...

Does social media really addict us?

National Columnists

Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are running content very harmful to children. So said a jury in New Mexico that just slapped their owner, Meta, with a $375 million fine. The state accused the company of spreading pornographic images and helping adults contact vulnerable children. Meta faces thousands of suits, but in a landmark case decided in California on Wednesday, the company was told to pay 20-year-old plaintiff Kaley G.M. $4.2 million in combined compensatory and punitive damages. Kaley blamed its products on a variety of mental health issues, including depression and ...

Are we safe anymore?

National Columnists

It's time to ask some serious questions. As spring travel ramps up, a record 171 million Americans are expected to take to the skies. Airports will be crowded, security lines long, and for many travelers, a fundamental question will linger: Are we safe? That question extends far beyond the airport terminal. It surfaces at the southern border, in major American cities, and in the wake of tragedies like the killing of 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman in Chicago. Gorman, a student at Loyola University, was shot and killed while walking with friends along a pier in Rogers Park. ...

Restoration of explorer's statue is gratifying

National Columnists

Sometimes Humpty Dumpty can be put back together again. Back in 2020, during the spasm of violence in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, vandals in Baltimore, Maryland, tore down a statue of Christopher Columbus. They shattered the figure of the iconic explorer and tossed the pieces into the Inner Harbor, including the severed head. That seemed to bring to a decisive end a statue that had stood since 1984. This act of iconoclasm, though, has a happy ending. A replica now stands in front of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, courtesy of a White House committed to ...