Forces loyal to Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi launched a two-pronged attack on Tuesday and Wednesday, on Misrata near Tripoli and on Ajdabiya in the east, with an eye to controlling all major population centers from the Tunisian border to the gates of Benghazi, the center of the rebel movement. Through Wednesday into Thursday morning, the […]
Archives for March 2011
Sunni-Shiite Tension Boils in Iraq, Gulf over Bahrain
Reuters Arabic reports that the Saudi invasion of Bahrain on Monday has inflamed sectarian passions in Iraq. Likewise it has angered Iran, which openly condemned the move. Sectarian tensions are boiling throughout the Gulf. Security forces, possibly including Saudi troops, moved Wednesday morning against the hundreds of protesters still camped out at the Pearl Roundabout […]
Qaddafi threatens to Join al-Qaeda as his Forces advance on Rebel Strongholds
As the world watches Japan, transfixed by the aftermath of a massive tsunami that has probably killed over 10,000 and left half a million homeless, attended by a crisis in a series of nuclear reactors, on the other side of the world the forces of Muammar Qaddafi are advancing on rebel cities, reducing them one […]
These are Not Bush’s Revolutions: Cole in Truthdig
My column is out in Truthdig, entitled “People Power vs. Washington”. Excerpt: ‘The claim that George W. Bush’s war of aggression against Iraq somehow opened up the Middle East to reform is an affront to the brave crowds that have risked their lives to change the American-backed order in that part of the world. Bush’s […]
Anzalone: Building an Insurgent State in Somalia?
Christopher Anzalone writes in a guest column for Informed Comment: The Somali insurgent movement Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen (Movement of Warrior-Youth) has controlled nearly all of southern and central Somalia since 2009 and was in the process of consolidating its authority when the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), aided by Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) […]
Bahrain Demonstrators Repressed
Bahrain police abruptly broke up a peaceful demonstration in downtown Manama on Sunday, deploying tear gas and rubber bullets at close range. Despite warnings by US Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates that half-measures are insufficient, the Sunni Bahrain monarchy has found itself unable to offer any substantial concessions to the Shiite citizen majority. Bahrain […]
Qaddafi on a Roll, Rebellion Could Collapse
In Libya, forces loyal to dictator Muammar Qaddafi made rapid advances against the rebels on Saturday and Sunday, pushing them out of Ra’s Lanuf, and then Uqaila, and finally claiming to take Brega. ITN has a video report: Since Brega (Marsa al-Buraiqa) is only about 150 miles from the main rebel center of Benghazi, there […]
Japan Nuclear Threat, Libya Oil Crisis, Highlight Need for Renewable Energy
Fears over possible nuclear reactor meltdowns have complicated Japan’s attempt to recover from the tsunami that hit northern prefectures on Friday. Japan, which has no oil or gas of its own, gets about a third of its electricity from nuclear power as a result of a government push to build nuclear reactors after the energy […]
More on Arab League Call for a Libya No-Fly Zone
Aljazeera English reports on the Arab League’s call for the UN Security Council to impose a no-fly zone on Libya. Most sources are calling the resolution unanimous, but Xinhua says that Algeria and Syria abstained. Algeria has been accused by the rebels in Benghazi of helping Muammar Qaddafi.
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