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Iran is losing. why pretend otherwise?

National Columnists

Don't fall for the propaganda. Iran is not holding its own in this conflict. It is being systematically dismantled. One by one, the senior figures of the Islamic Republic have been eliminated: generals, security chiefs and regime power brokers. The country's leadership has been decapitated at the highest levels, leaving behind a hollowed-out command structure struggling to function. Even the regime's attempts at continuity appear shaky. A successor was hastily elevated, but reports suggest instability, absence and internal disarray at the very top. Whatever facade of order ...

Second coming of DOGE

National Columnists

President Trump has signed an executive order creating a task force to crackdown on fraud in government programs. It will be headed by Vice President JD Vance. This is the administration's second effort to reduce government misspending and overspending following Elon Musk's effort as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. As we approach another April 15 with a $38 trillion debt (and counting) addressing fraud is something that ought to be a bipartisan goal. The fact that it hasn't been a priority for politicians is largely because, I suspect, it isn't their money ...

Iran challenges US shipping power

National Columnists

The reason why we have the Fifth Fleet, one of the most awesome naval forces ever assembled in the history of mankind, is to protect the sea lanes in the Middle East. That the Strait of Hormuz is now effectively closed is not just a blow to the global economy and a key point of leverage for the Iranian regime, it is an assault against one of the foundations of American power. Guarding the safe passage of commerce has been a core Anglo-American commitment for a couple of centuries, with the baton of naval leadership passing from the British to the United States around the time of ...

Who's afraid of trillionaire Elon Musk?

National Columnists

Early this year, we learned that Elon Musk may become the first trillionaire in world history. My friends on the left of the political spectrum have been fuming about this story as the ultimate example of the rich getting richer and the poor getting crumbs. When I appeared on "Real Time with Bill Maher" not long ago, Bill questioned me about the prospect of Musk becoming a trillionaire. "Isn't that excessive?" he asked. Similar questions about the super wealthy have been asked throughout American history. The first multimillionaire, John Jacob Astor, amassed his ...

Freedom is not free

National Columnists

At the height of the energy crisis in the 1970s, when oil prices more than sextupled, The Economist magazine showed a map of the Persian Gulf on its cover with the headline, "What's a Nice Thing Like Oil Doing in a Place Like This?" The Iranian miscreants, with whom we are now at war, understand that, although they could care less what their own citizens think, in free countries public opinion and support is vital to a president's ability to wage war. By impeding the movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's oil supplies pass, they ...

It's time to confront Islamic terrorism

National Columnists

Importing people who hate America didn't end well. See if you can spot any similarities in these four events. During one weekend, President Donald Trump attacked Iran, Ndiaga Diagne opened fire at a bar in Austin. He wore a "Property of Allah" sweatshirt on top of an Iranian flag shirt. He killed three people and injured more than a dozen before police shot him dead. Diagne was a citizen of Senegal. He entered the United States in 2000 on a tourist visa and became a naturalized citizen in 2013. On Saturday, March 7, around 20 people protested Islam outside of Gracie ...