The Israeli press notes that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and maverick Defense Minister Ehud Barak have been talking up a possible Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities. No one knows if the two are just trying to create a threatening environment for Iran, in hopes of intimidating Tehran on a range of issues, […]
Archives for November 2011
A Hot Wet Thousand Years and 10 Green Energy Stories to Avert it
The bad news is that I’ve been reading David Archer’s The Long Thaw on climate change projections, and he thinks that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been way too conservative. As I understand him, his research shows that because of massive carbon emissions produced by human beings, by 2100 the average temperature of […]
Likud Government takes Revenge on Palestinians for UNESCO Membership
The Pan-Arab London daily, al-Hayat, editorializes today that President Obama’s vote against Palestine’s membership in UNESCO demonstrates that his 2009 Cairo speech was “empty words.” Obama’s forays into outreach to the Muslim world are crashing and burning as he adopts anti-Palestinian positions little different from those of his predecessors. As for the far rightwing government […]
Romney Flip-Flops on Mideast, Too: Cole in Truthdig
My column is out in Truthdig, entitled, “Mitt Romney’s Big Bad Ideas for the Middle East”. Excerpt: “The Arab revolutions of 2011 have already removed three dictators and forced governments across the region to abolish draconian states of emergency. Tunisia has had free and fair parliamentary elections, and Egypt’s are scheduled to begin in late […]
UNESCO Palestine Vote Isolates US Further
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization recognized Palestine as a full member on Monday setting off a crisis between the United States and the United Nations that seems likely to further isolate Washington in the world and reduce its influence. The UNESCO vote could start an avalanche of such acceptances among various UN […]
Mahoney: New Leadership in Kyrgyzstan Fateful for US Bases in Central Asia
Jon Mahoney writes in a guest column for Informed Comment Many readers of Informed Comment will be interested in the outcome of the presidential elections in Kyrgyzstan held on October 30th. With 99% of votes counted, AP and other news sources are reporting that Alzambek Atambaev received 63% of of the votes, well above the […]