By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Sen. John McCain and others on the American Right are in favor of dropping those pesky negotiations with Iran and just bombing their nuclear enrichment sites. Doing so, however, would only set them back a year or so, and would certainly put Iran on a war footing with […]
Archives for March 2015
Lynching Farkhunda: Birth of Gender Equality and Accountability in Afghanistan?
By Solaiman M Fazel | (Informed Comment) The brutal murder of a 27 year old Afghan female student, Farkhunda, at the hands of an angry mob in front of the Shah-e Do-Shamshira Mosque near downtown Kabul was not only a heinous crime, but it also reveals the collective irresponsibility and ineffectiveness of the police officers […]
What’s at Stake in Nuclear Talks for Ordinary Iranians
By Saideh Jamshidi Iran’s new round of nuclear negotiations with the United Nations is expected to be completed by March 31, today. But one thing is clear: Leader Ali Khamenei wants to gain as much as he can from this political dilemma. He might be the only one who can end to this political comedy […]
Saudi airstrike on Yemen Refugee Camp kills 45
RT | – 45 people were killed and another 65 injured in an airstrike by a Saudi-led coalition at a refugee camp in Houthi-controlled northern Yemen on Monday, the International Organization for Migration (IMO) said. The bombardment took place in the vicinity of the Mazraq refugee camp, Joel Millman, IMO spokesman told Reuters, citing the […]
The Forgotten Iraq Front: ISIL besieges the People of Ramadi
VICE News | – “In early March, while the world was watching Iraqi government forces advance on the Islamic State (IS) in Tikrit, IS was launching a series of assaults on what little remains of the Government-held parts of the provincial capital, Ramadi, which has been under siege for over a year. On the morning […]
Israel’s Netanyahu jumps Shark with “Iran-Lausanne-Yemen” axis barb
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, no longer allowed to sit at the adult table because of his past food fights, has been reduced, as Haaretz observed, to whining from the sidelines. Now he is complaining about an “Iran-Lausanne-Yemen” axis. The negotiations between Iran and the P5 + 1 (the […]
Climate War on Planet Protested at U of Michigan 50 Yrs after 1st anti-Vietnam War Teach-in
Science for the People | – “This event marks the 50th anniversary of the nation’s first teach-in on the war in Vietnam, held at the University of Michigan on March 24-25, 1965. Our new teach-in is focused on one of the most pressing issues of our time: the escalating war against the planet represented by […]
US Air Strikes Split Iraq Coalition aiming to Take Tikrit
By Paul Rogers | (The Conversation) – So it has begun – the US is bombing Tikrit, once a stronghold of Saddam Hussein’s regime and now held by Islamic State militants. Strategically and symbolically important, Tikrit has been a fierce battleground for weeks, as Iraqi government troops and Shia militias have fought fierce street battles […]
Palestinians fear their land will be taken by rising Israeli right
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Palestinians are increasingly anxious for the future and are hesitant on a return to negotiations with Israel in the wake of the success of right-wing parties in Israel’s recent elections, a public opinion survey released Tuesday showed. Around 47 percent of respondents across the West Bank and Gaza said that in the […]