On the eve of a potential nuclear deal with neighboring Iran, Iraq is in chaos – yet again. But this time, in what many Iraq analysts consider one of the most serious challenges yet to Iraq's sovereignty and preservation of the state, Washington seems to have been missing in action.

As David Schenker, a former Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East under former President Trump wrote a week ago, senior State Department and National Security Council officials visited Iraq only twice in the nearly nine months between the national election last October and the most recent outbreak of violence this week.

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Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old American of Lebanese origin, wasn't born yet when Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued his infamous fatwa calling for Salman Rushdie's murder for "insulting Islam" 33 years ago. While the motive behind Matar's heinous attack on the celebrated author remains unclear, his assault reflects two dangerous trends across the political spectrum in America — the growing hostility to free speech and the legitimation of violence as an acceptable form of political protest.

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America's killing of Ayman Zawahiri, the leader of Al Qaeda and the number two to Osama bin Laden during the 9/11 attacks, is yet another important blow to a pioneer of Islamist terrorism, a victory for U.S. counterterrorism efforts, and a political win for President Joe Biden.

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As Russia's war on Ukraine staggers into sixth month, Ukraine is on the verge of a key shift in strategy. And belatedly, President Biden is providing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with some of the weapons he so desperately needs to implement it.

Until recently, Ukraine's military has been sustaining devastating losses trying to thwart the Russian onslaught in the Donbas, the eastern part of the country. Fighting bloody and ultimately losing battles in the streets of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, Ukrainian forces were unable to halt the Russian onslaught there. Russian troops occupied both cities.

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The civil war of Palm Beach's first post-pandemic season began not with a bang, but a flyer. In January, an angry Palm Beacher left it on cars with New York license plates. "If you are one of those 'woke people'—leave Florida," the flyer exclaimed. "You will be happier elsewhere, as will we."

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