Posters on a single column in al-Hamra Street, Beirut, August 2010 © Juan Cole, 2010
Archives for November 2010
Gates, the Adult in the Room, Rebuffs Israeli, Republican Warmongering on Iran
The Military-Industrial-Israel Complex is baaack. The victory of the War Party– … ooops, I mean the Republican Party– at the polls on November 2 was sure to embolden Israeli hawks, since the latter are essentially rightwing Republicans whenever they visit the United States. And, so many of the new members of the House of Representatives […]
What does Pakistan think of Obama’s India Trip?
Pakistanis are from all accounts rather miffed that President Barack Obama did not stop in Islamabad as part of his Asian tour. The officer corps is the angriest, but it is viewed widely as a put-down. From a Pakistani point of view, the US and Pakistan have been allies since the 1950s. They stood shoulder […]
MSNBC’s Phil Griffith the Worst Person in the World, as Olbermann Joins Donahue, Banfield
With regard to the ‘indefinite suspension’ of Keith Olbermann from MSNBC for having donated small sums to three Democratic candidates, here is a little piece of irony. Olbermann began his long-running feature, “Worst Person in the World” (which he recently shelved) in reaction to a critic-consultant that NBC hired to advise on shows that needed […]
Over 70 Killed in Mosque Bombings, northwestern Pakistan
The Pakistani Taliban (Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistan) bombed two mosques in Pakistan’s Pashtun northwest on Friday, killing over 70 persons and wounding many others. CSM argues that one of the bombings, in Dara Adam Khel, was a reprisal against the Akhurwal tribe for opposing the Taliban and allying with the Pakistani army. Dara Adam Khel is […]
Bachmann Harms US Economy, Security with Scurrilous Charges about Obama in India
One of the great things about the victory of so many eccentrics in the congressional races of 2010 for bloggers is that we can look forward to at least two years of having lots of fun with them. Of course, old-time funny people have come back, as well, such as cut-up Michele Bachmann. Bachmann is […]
Al-Qaeda in Iraq Threatens Egyptian, Iraqi Christians
The Guardian argues that Sunni Arab religious radicals (“al-Qaeda”) released from US or Iraqi custody in recent months have formed newly assertive cells and that they, schooled by their time in jail with other guerrillas, are newly assertive in their bombing attacks on Baghdad. This week they targeted Catholics and then Shiites. Radicals released threats […]
1942 Midterms: Republicans win Popular Vote, Pick up 47 Seats in House; Roosevelt on Ropes; Pacific War Uncertain, Economy Slowly Improving
It was November, 1942. A year earlier the Japanese Empire had struck at Pearl Harbor and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had finally entered World War II. Although in May of 1942 the US was kicked out of the Philippines by the Japanese, with Gen. MacArthur retreating to Australia, in June of 1942 the US wins […]
17 Bombings of Shiite Districts Kill 113; Fears of Sectarian Reprisals
The LA Times is putting the death toll of Tuesday’s series of 17 bombings of Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad at an astonishing 113, one of the biggest one-day tolls in recent years. Over 200 were said wounded. The Sunni Arab guerrillas have long had a strategy of attempting to provoke Sunni-Shiite civil war as a […]