By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – When Trump issued his executive order halting immigration from seven countries, suspending the refugee program, and banning Syrian refugees indefinitely, I wrote that he might well get away with it, since the judiciary tends to defer to the executive on issues of national security and on […]
Archives for February 2017
Mixed Signals: Now, White House Says Israeli Settlement Building May Not Help Peace
TeleSur | – – The tone was more measured than previous pro-Israel announcements, but did not go so far as to condemn settlement activity. The Trump administration said on Thursday that Israel’s building of new settlements or expansion of existing ones in occupied territories may not be helpful in achieving peace with Palestinians, adopting a […]
Taking Iraq’s Oil
By Edward Hunt | (Foreign Policy in Focus | Originally published in Lobelog. Trump wants Iraq’s oil, and he’s not interested in sharing. The leaders of the United States have provided many reasons for their numerous interventions in Iraq. President Donald Trump has focused on one thing: the United States should take the country’s oil. […]
Life in an Arab-American community under Trump’s ‘Muslim ban’
By Tom Brocket | (The Conversation) | – – Life goes on for the parents who drop off their children at homework club, or those rushing in late for embroidery class. As usual, the community centre where I’m doing my fieldwork in northern New Jersey is filled with the piercing screams of toddlers trying to […]
Gambia’s ‘Trump’ and the dilemma of the Int’l Criminal Court
By Ebrahim Shabbir Deen | (Informed Comment) | – – The stepping down, under duress, of long-term Gambian president Yahya Jammeh clearly illustrates the impact of credible collective security. However, for this ‘African solution’ to be replicable, much will need to be allayed regarding possible future attempts to renege on the deal, which reportedly provides […]
Trumpworld Fake News: Iran attacks US Navy, Iraqis Massacre Bowling Green
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – So I was watching Chris Matthews’ Hardball on MSNBC Thursday evening and Matthews had Kellyanne Conway on to defend Trump’s disastrous first two weeks. For some reason, Matthews declines to challenge her when she flat-out lies, although he is quick to get in the face of […]
Trump’s Statue against Liberty
By Daniel Martin Varisco | ( MENA Tidningen ) | – – In 1886, slightly more than a century after the birth of the United States of America, the government of France gave a gift to my country: the iconic Statue of Liberty in New York City’s busy harbor. Less than a decade later my […]
Trump’s 5th Bankruptcy: Budget-Busting Trillions to US Department of War
By William D. Hartung | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – At over $600 billion a year and counting, the Pentagon already receives significantly more than its fair share of federal funds. If President Donald Trump has his way, though, that will prove a sum for pikers and misers. He and his team are now […]
In West Mosul, ISIL Extremists pledge ‘Divine Intervention’ will Defeat Iraqi, US Forces
Special Correspondent | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – In eastern Mosul, Iraqi pro-government forces are organizing themselves to begin to fight against the so-called Islamic State [group] [IS]. In western Mosul, civilians do their best to survive a siege and extremists step up their propaganda. On the western side of the city of Mosul, […]