By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump, having said earlier that he might seek to close down mosques if he were president, on Thursday went further and said he would implement a registration and tracking database for Muslim-Americans. Rabbi Jack Moline of the Interfaith Alliance pointed out that […]
Archives for November 2015
Dear GOP: France is still Taking in Syria Refugees so who is the Coward?
AJ+ | (Video report) | – – “While U.S. governors say no to refugees in response to the Paris attacks, France says it will take in 30,000 Syrians.” AJ+: “France Still Welcoming Syrian Refugees, Unlike Many U.S. Governors”
After Paris, it’s good detective work that will keep us safe, not mass surveillance
By Pete Fussey | (The Conversation) | – – Before the dust has even settled from the attacks on Paris, familiar calls for greater surveillance powers are surfacing. The desire for greater security is understandable, but that doesn’t mean we should suspend our judgement on the measures proposed to bring it about. In the aftermath […]
Can European Union, Russia & US team up to defeat ISIL?
By Georgi Gotev & Aline Robert | (EurActiv.com) | – – Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has teamed up with French President François Hollande in seeking a ‘rapprochement’ with Russia to fight [the so-called] Islamic State [group], described by both as the biggest threat to the EU. Jean-Claude Juncker [European Commission] Juncker spoke on Wednesday (18 […]
Why the National Security State Relishes our being Trolled by Muslim Radicals
By Tom Engelhardt | Tomdispatch.com) | – – Honestly, I don’t know whether to rant or weep, neither of which are usual impulses for me. In the wake of the slaughter in Paris, I have the urge to write one of two sentences here: Paris changed everything; Paris changes nothing. Each is, in its own […]
Did Daesh/ ISIL’s Paris attacks bolster al-Assad? Spain calls him ‘lesser of evils’
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Spanish foreign minister José Manuel García Margallo said Wednesday in the course of a television interview: “At the end of the day, the thesis has begun to clarify that it is the lesser evil to make an agreement with Bashar al-Assad and to thereby achieve a […]
Sowing fear of Refugees is playing into ISIL’s Hands: HRW
Human Rights Watch | – – (New York) – Governments should not allow the recent attacks in Paris and similar mass casualty attacks elsewhere to undermine the responsibility to protect refugees around the world, Human Rights Watch said today. Concern that a small number of militant extremists may seek to take advantage of the movement […]
Obama: GOP afraid of little Syrian Girls; Cruz: ‘You want a piece of me?’
John Iadarola and Elliot Hill | (The Young Turks Video) | – – “President Obama is speaking out against Republican politicians and members of the media demonizing Syrian refugees, implying that we shouldn’t allow them into our country because of the inherent risks associated. Ted Cruz took the opportunity to dare Obama to insult him […]
Arrest Warrants for Israeli PM Netanyahu for War Crimes in Spain, South Africa
IMEMC | – – South Africa issued, on Tuesday, an arrest warrant against four Israeli officials over their role in deadly attacks on pro-Palestinian international activists. Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Against the Israeli occupation in Africa said, in a statement: “South Africa’s Directorate of the Priority Crimes Investigation Unit has issued warrants of arrest against […]