John McCain: We Need a Strategy for the Middle East 10/25/2017 9:52:36 PM   facebook Google+ ► Print The chairman of the Senate Arms Services Committee, Senator John McCain WASHINGTON, New York Times, October 24, 2017   — Clashes this month between elements of the Iraqi security forces and Kurdish fighters around  Kirkuk  are deeply troubling, in particular because of the United States’ longstanding friendship with the Kurdish people. These clashes are also emblematic of a broader, more troubling reality: Beyond our tactical successes in the fight against the Islamic State, the United States is still dangerously lacking a comprehensive strategy toward the rest of the Middle East in all of its complexity. This is the unfortunate legacy that the Obama administration left for its successor. President Trump’s  call this month  for a broader strategy to confront Iran’s malign influence across the Middle East was an en...

Newt Gingrich: 'Death to America' -- Why Trump's Iran policy is right Newt Gingrich; Trump seeks a new strategy for dealing with Iran By Newt Gingrich,   Trump seeks a new strategy for dealing with Iran Fox News, Oct. 14, 2017  - When the Iranian parliament chanted “death to America' while unanimously voting 'to increase spending on its ballistic missile program and the foreign operations of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard,' sophisticated diplomats may have pondered the symbolic meaning of 'death to America.' After all, our wisest and most sophisticated analysts have reassured us, it couldn't literally mean 'death to America.' The New York Times has been on a campaign to convince Americans the phrase has lost its original meaning. As a historian, I am always amazed at the sophistry of well-educated establishments that hide from reality through the use of convoluted thinking and clever language. In my experience, ...

Marzieh, the legendary Diva of Persian traditional music Ashraf os-Sadat Mortezaie (March 22, 1924 – October 13, 2010), known professionally as Marzieh, was a Tehran-born singer of Persian traditional music. Known as the great diva of Persian traditional song, her voice represented the 60-year sufferings of a nation, and the strength of Iranian women against stoning and misogyny of the mullahs' ruling Iran. Her parents were fund of arts and her relatives included a number of sculptors, painters, miniaturists, and musicians. Her mother encouraged her to sing and supported her artistic activities throughout her life. Marzieh said, "At a time when Iranian families rarely let their daughters study, my father albeit a clergy encouraged me to go to school and learn the sciences of the time. When I started singing, it was not normal for a woman to become a singer. At the meantime, it was not enough to have a good voice. A singer had to go to school and learn the classica...