'So much for the triumph over inflation'

'The inflation thief rises again'

The Wall Street Journal editorial board

Inflation "came in hot for the third straight month in March," says The Wall Street Journal editorial board. The 0.4% consumer-price index increase proved this is "more than a blip." The White House insists the "only problem in the economy is consumer psychology." But "price increases across the Biden presidency are unlike anything Americans have seen in recent decades." And real wages have risen "seven lousy cents" in the last year. The pain is real.

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'The very high stakes of failing to help Ukraine'

Dan Coats in The New York Times

The Ukraine aid package blocked by Republicans in the House "isn't about the money," says Dan Coats. "It is about American steadfastness." This latest example of partisan wrangling has made the Ukrainian people "pawns" in "political games" with extraordinarily high stakes. "Our failure to help Ukraine resist" could let "naked territorial aggression" succeed and encourage China to "follow Russia's lead." America must avoid this "colossal strategic blunder" and "do what we all know is right."

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'Hamas' bet on the world is paying off'

Jason Greenblatt at CNN

The Biden administration played "into Hamas' hands" by calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza in response to the Israeli strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen food-aid workers, says Jason Greenblatt. "Hamas considers it a victory to survive when Israel has vowed to destroy it." This also shows the effectiveness of Hamas' strategy of relying on "Westerners intervening to stop Israel's successful offensives due to humanitarian concerns," which is why the Palestinian militants use civilians as "human shields."

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'The Islamic State never went away'

Colin P. Clarke in Foreign Policy

The recent Moscow terrorist attack that killed 140 people at a concert venue surprised people who thought the Islamic State "was a problem of the past," says Colin P. Clarke. But the truth is that ISIS "never went anywhere." "Terrorism is a tactic," so we can't fully defeat it. We can only use a "combination of hard and soft power" to "reduce the pool of extremists that serve as ready foot soldiers" for groups like ISIS.

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