By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – US intelligence agencies are gunning for Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and have leaked charges to the Washington Post that officials in the United Arab Emirates, Israel, China, and Mexico have privately strategized how to use him as a pawn in their power plays with Washington. Despite […]
Archives for February 2018
Britain may join US strikes against Syria if chemical weapon use proven
Middle East Monitor | – – UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told BBC radio “If we know that it has happened, and we can demonstrate it, and if there is a proposal for action where the UK could be useful then I think we should seriously consider it.” Britain would consider joining US military strikes […]
Pentagon bloats the Federal Budget and Small-Gov’t Marks don’t Care
By William D. Hartung | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – Imagine for a moment a scheme in which American taxpayers were taken to the cleaners to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars and there was barely a hint of criticism or outrage. Imagine as well that the White House and a majority of […]
Israel takes steps to Criminalize Criticisms of Israeli Military
Telesur | – – “The only way to stop us is to end the occupation,” said the group being targeted, Breaking the Silence. The Israeli Knesset approved the first reading of a bill that would prohibit organizations from being critical of the Israeli Army Monday. The bill, which passed by 35-23 votes, was proposed by […]
Saudi High Command fired by King over Yemen Quagmire
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Saudi cabinet, chaired by King Salman, on Monday evening fired army chief of staff and several prominent officers, forcing them into retirement. The government offered no explanation for the seismic upheaval in the Saudi officer corps, but it was widely believed that the palace is […]
A School Shooting’s (Ir)rational Victims
By Michael Slager | (Informed Comment) | – – The mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where a former student gunned down 15 children and two teachers has prompted some of the teenage survivors of the massacre to speak out. Lina Crisostomo, 17, a student at Stoneman Douglas, argues that sitting on the […]
The “Iran deal”: when American and Iranian arch-conservatives are on the same side
By Kourosh Ziabari | (OpenDemocracy.net) The domestic critics of the Iran deal and its Republican misanthropists in the United States are making a similar mistake. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran Deal, is a UN-endorsed agreement that caps Iran’s nuclear activities, subjects them to the full safeguards of the International […]
Anger as Israel begins deportation of African Refugees
By Tanja R. Müller | (The Conversation) | – – Around 20,000 Israelis and African migrants took to the streets in Tel Aviv on February 24, protesting against a government policy of detaining and deporting African asylum seekers who refuse to leave the country. A few days earlier, a group of Eritrean asylum seekers held […]
Europe’s big Plans for Iran Trade announce Independence from Trump’s Washington
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Despite the significant economic problems Iran faces, and despite the real problems in unequal income distribution, Iran’s economy is seeing bright spots that the Western press rarely admits. In the year after international sanctions were lifted on the signing of the nuclear accord, spring 2016-spring 2017, […]