By Ali R. Abootalebi |(Informed Comment) | – – A reporter from Argentina has contacted me via an email, asking my opinion about the recent demonstrations in Iran. He has raised the following questions: “How do you explain the protests that are going on in Iran? Is the economic crisis the only reason or people […]
Archives for January 2018
The Map: Costs of 76 ongoing American Wars
By Tom Engelhardt | (Tomdispatch.com) | – – He left Air Force Two behind and, unannounced, “shrouded in secrecy,” flew on an unmarked C-17 transport plane into Bagram Air Base, the largest American garrison in Afghanistan. All news of his visit was embargoed until an hour before he was to depart the country. More than […]
Boston breaks the highest ever recorded tide, followed by frozen floods
The Watchers: Watching the World Evolve and Transform | – – Boston, Massachusetts has officially broken the highest ever recorded tide since 1921 as a major winter storm swept over the region on January 4, 2018. As the storm passed by, the winds shifted and brought viciously-cold winds from the northwest, turning flood water into ice […]
Has Iranian regime repression Succeeded?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – News agencies are reporting that on Thursday, Iran’s wave of protests died down. If so (and for all we know they could start back up again), here are some reasons. The regime raised the cost of protest, speaking of executing protesters. While that threat might not […]
Is US National Security Strategy too Important to Leave to the Generals?
By Ingo Trauschweizer | (The Conversation) | – – President Donald Trump greeted the new year with an angry tweet about U.S. ally Pakistan. Among other things, the tweet accuses Pakistan of giving “safe haven to terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan.” The Pakistani prime minister responded that the tweet was “completely incomprehensible.” While the subjects […]
Iran’s Revolt of Rising Expectations
By Pedram Maghsoud-Nia | (Informed Comment) | – – During the past week, dozens of Iran’s cities were the scene of political uprisings. The chain of protest started in the city of Mashhad and rapidly spread across the country. By the end ofthe fifth day the death toll caused by the surging violence rose to […]
Bannon Reveals White House Riddled With Conflict, Confusion
TeleSur | – – Bannon has spilled out shocking details on the Trump White House and campaign, which he describes as riddled with conflicting interests. President Donald Trump Wednesday blasted former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon as having “lost his mind” in the fallout over damaging comments Bannon made about Trump’s son Donald Trump […]
Bannon’s Game: White Supremacist takeover of GOP
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Steve Bannon’s trash-talking of the Trump in the interviews he gave in Michael Wolff’s new book, “Fire and Fury,” are not political suicide and not just pique. Bannon wants to take over the Republican Party. Nor is Bannon likely to be deterred by Trump’s ‘cease and […]
Can Turkish-Israeli Relations survive Trump’s Jerusalem Decision?
By Korshaid Dali | (Middle East Monitor) | – – People stage a protest against US President Donald Trump’s announcement to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and plans to relocate the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, on December 8, 2017 in Istanbul, Turkey The media and political clash between Turkey and […]