Dan McKnight | The Libertarian Institute

First Syria, Next Iran?

by Dan McKnight | Dec 10, 2024 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

After over fifty-three years of sitting on their throne in Damascus, the Assad family's regime has collapsed in Syria. Bashar al-Assad has fled to Moscow without a word, the rebels are in command of every major city and airport, and prisons have been opened. The victor of the Syrian Civil War is Abu Mohammad al-Julani, commander of Tahrir al-Sham, Al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate. Julani's resume includes being second in command of Al Qaeda in Iraq under Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and second in command what become ISIS under Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. We remain committed to bringing leading AQS figures in...

Syrian Civil War Redux

by Dan McKnight | Dec 3, 2024 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

You turn your head for one moment to focus on turkey and stuffing, and all of the sudden the Syrian Civil War restarts. The conflict which erupted during the 2011 Arab Spring, and which over the course of a decade killed over half a million people, has been static since early 2020. By then, secular dictator Bashar al-Assad regained control over a majority of the country and its major cities, and had even begun the process of normalizing relations with his neighbors and reintroducing himself into the international community. The remnants of the Islamist opposition were isolated in the...

The Specter of ‘Defense Secretary Cheney’

by Dan McKnight | Oct 24, 2024 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, Politics

I believe one of the biggest political stories of the year is the attempted resurrection of the Cheney legacy. This is a family whose political prospects were dead and buried in 2022—in no small part from the contributing efforts of Bring Our Troops Home. But Liz Cheney is out on the campaign trail again, now appearing with Kamala Harris and encouraging Americans to re-elect the Biden team. From the national debates to local meet and greets, Vice President Harris and Tim Walz are thanking Dick Cheney for his support and praising his public service—including the illegal invasion of Iraq,...

What Did the Vice Presidential Debate Teach Us?

by Dan McKnight | Oct 3, 2024 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, Politics

Tuesday night was the final debate before the November election, and it was the first time a significant number of Americans were formally introduced to the vice-presidential nominees, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Like me, Vance was a U.S. Marine; there's still some comradery there. (OORAH!) In 2005, Vance deployed to Iraq for six months as a military journalist. He departed right before I began my eighteen-month combat tour in Afghanistan. My deployment was as a member of the Idaho Army National Guard. Walz served in the National Guard for twenty-four years,...

What Donald Trump Told the National Guard

by Dan McKnight | Sep 2, 2024 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, Politics

One week ago Donald Trump spoke in Detroit, Michigan in front of the National Guard Association. He recognizes that the National Guard is the backbone of the U.S. Armed Forces, but is too often dismissed as a critical branch. “We always can count on you. I’ve counted on you a lot. The National Guard is America’s first and last line of defense. And you do not get the credit you deserve; but actually you do because down deep everybody knows it,” Trump said. As some of you regular readers may recall, my first stint in the U.S. military was in the 1990s, first as part of the U.S. Marine Corps...

Joe Biden Wants To Steal Your Children

by Dan McKnight | Jun 24, 2024 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

I made the decision to join the United States Armed Forces twice in my life. First, in the early 1990s after school when I enlisted and trained as a U.S. Marine. Then, following the 9/11 attacks, I signed up for the Idaho National Guard and was later deployed to Afghanistan. Those were my decisions, ones I made because I believed in service, and knew the military would be good for me. But what if it wasn’t your choice to join the military? What if it wasn’t your son’s choice? What if, suddenly, your daughter was forced to join the military? There are amendments to the annual National Defense...

Biden Lied, Now People Will Die

by Dan McKnight | Jan 16, 2024 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

Sometimes when you’re celebrating a victory you get a big reminder of why that victory matters. As you should all know, last week the New Hampshire House of Representatives passed the Defend the Guard Act, which would keep their National Guard units out of overseas wars that haven't been declared by Congress. I couldn’t ask for a better start to the legislative season. And last Thursday, President Joe Biden unilaterally launched an attack on the Houthi government in Yemen. For longtime readers of the Libertarian Institute, you’ll be aware that the United States has been meddling in Yemen...

Selling Your Soul, And Your Country

by Dan McKnight | Oct 16, 2023 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

What is treason? The U.S. Constitution defines “Treason against the United States” as “only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.” “Enemies” is a high bar, and ought to be—the penalty for treason is death, after all. But there is a level below explicit treason, a betrayal of public trust and revelation of disreputable character in the service of a foreign government. Examples of this go all the way back to the founding of our country. Edmund Randolph of Virginia was the first U.S. Attorney General, and George Washington’s second Secretary...