By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Iraqi Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi is alleged to be under “enormous pressure” from Shiite militiamen and hardliners to seek Russian airstrikes on Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) targets. On Oct. 1, he had announced that such Russian intervention in his country would be welcome. On Wednesday, the largest […]
Archives for October 2015
Armed Israeli Squatters Attack Palestinian Hebron Homes as Fateh calls General Strike
By IMEMC News | – – Armed Israeli settlers — under Israeli military protection — attacked Palestinian homes with stones and empty glass bottles to the east of Hebron city, on Tuesday, according to local and security sources. Sources said, according to WAFA, that Jewish settlers from the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba, built illegally […]
The Real Reason al-Assad Met Putin in Moscow
By Charles Recknagel | ( RFE/ RL ) | – – Three weeks after the start of Russia’s bombing campaign, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a surprise visit to Moscow. Here is what makes the October 20 meeting significant. First The Bombing, Now The Diplomacy Russia has been […]
Could Nuclear Deal hand power to Reformists inside Iran?
By Farhang Jahanpour | (Inter Press Service) | – – OXFORD, Oct 19 2015 (IPS) – As in most countries, in Iran too there are hardliners and moderates. All polls show that a large majority of Iranians support the nuclear deal (or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA) between Iran and the P5+1 (the United […]
Is Hillary Clinton Copying Bernie Sanders – And Why Does It Matter?
AJ+ | (Video report) | – – “Bernie Sanders has rubbed off on Hillary Clinton. Not only has she stopped combing her hair, she’s railing against billionaires and Wall Street. But how tied up with big money is the Democrats’ darling? And what does this mean for the presidential campaign and party as a whole?” […]
The Aleppo Strategy against Daesh/ ISIL: Can it Work?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Washington Post was the first to broach the issue of Russo-Iranian grand strategy in Syria. It turns out that an Iraqi Shiite militia leader Bashar al-Sa`id, told WaPo that he thinks the road to Mosul runs through Aleppo. I am always suspicious of the assertion […]
The Secret to Winning the Nobel Peace Prize Keep the U.S. Military Out
By Rebecca Gordon | (Tomdispatch.com) | – – Introduction, by Tom Engelhardt To this day, it remains difficult to take in the degree to which the American invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq destabilized the Greater Middle East from the Chinese border to Libya. Certainly, as the recent Republican and Democratic presidential debates suggest, Americans have […]
The war of information in Israel and Palestine
By: Megan Hanna | (Ma’an News Agency) | – – Recent headlines by Western news outlets, such as the BBC, CNN and The Telegraph, in the coverage of the recent spate of violence currently unfolding in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory have tended to focus on the Israeli victims of the unrest. On the […]
Investing in Iran after Deal? Be careful of doing business with the Revolutionary Guards
By Mohammad M. Hedayati-Kakhki | (The Conversation) | – – The merest hint of a successful deal over Iran’s nuclear programme is enough to get people excited. And as the country emerges from economic isolation, nowhere is the enthusiasm more keenly felt than in the huge oil firms with a chance to make a splash […]