Let's Not Forget the Cost of War

Bill Keller offers lessons from Iraq

(NEWSER) - As the drum-beating grows louder on Iran and Syria, Bill Keller looks back on Iraq and beyond. To avoid a debacle, there are five questions we should ask ourselves before entering a war, he writes in the New York Times :

1. "How is this our fight?" Are American interests directly involved, as in Afghanistan after 9/11? Are we supporting an ally? Or are we simply "promoting freedom"?
2. "At what cost?" While Libya was easily targeted at low risk to American troops, an attack on Syria would mean, in one military expert's view, "we'd be killing a lot more people." Then there's the cost of stretching troops and the financial implications of war.

Roger Cohen offers plenty of reasons why

(NEWSER) - Israel is considering bombing Iran within months, against the White House's wishes—a decision that would be utterly disastrous on multiple fronts, writes Roger Cohen in the New York Times . Benjamin Netanyahu sees a number of reasons to do so sooner rather than later: First, Israel is concerned that Iran is getting too close to a nuclear weapon. Second, attacking before the US election would make it politically impossible for President Obama to come out against the move. Tempting for the Israeli PM, perhaps—but Cohen offers more than a few reasons it would be "a terrible mistake." More»

War on Terror has gone 'undercover': Roger Cohen

(NEWSER) - Make no mistake about it, there is an Obama Doctrine—but you won’t hear about it from the man himself. That’s because it’s a “doctrine of silence,” writes Roger Cohen in the New York Times . “America has decided that conventional wars of uncertain outcome in Iraq and Afghanistan are a bad way to fight terrorists and that far cheaper, more precise tools for eliminating enemies”—like drones and cyberwarfare—“are preferable.” In choosing this approach, President Obama has picked the lesser of two evils, Cohen asserts. More»

At NATO summit, Obama supports 2014 pullout

(NEWSER) - President Obama met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai today at the NATO summit and urged world leaders to agree on post-2014 Afghanistan, MSNBC reports. "What this NATO summit reflects is that the world is behind strategy we've laid out," Obama said of the plan to pull out coalition troops in two years. Standing with Obama in Chicago, Karzai said he looked forward to a time when his nation "is no longer a burden on the shoulder of our friends in the international community." More»

Executive order fingers entities backing Iran, Syria, but could be enlarged

(NEWSER) - If you use technology to help a repressive regime commit human rights abuses, you'll find yourself slapped with US sanctions. That's the message from President Obama, who this morning announced a new executive order specifically targeting those backing Iran and Syria via technology, though it could be expanded to other regimes, reports the Washington Post . The new sanctions will include a US visa ban and financial restrictions on a number of Syrian and Iranian businesses and government agencies, along with a lone Syrian individual. More»