2021

For the Sake of Preventing More Journalists’ Murders, Biden Must Punish Saudi Arabia’s MBS (And I Should Know)

Seattle (Special to Informed Comment) – The horrific outcome of Jamal Khashoggi’s story is not dissimilar to the tales of many journalists, including my own, who decide to fight against tyranny using words instead of violence. Fear, terror, and horror cannot begin to describe the common situations in which we find ourselves. Back in Tehran, […]

Iraq

The US has dropped 326,000 bombs on people in other countries since 2001, Most Recently in Syria

Medea Benjamin and Nicholas J.S. Davies

( Code Pink) – On February 25th, President Biden ordered U.S. air forces to drop seven 500-pound bombs on Iraqi forces in Syria, reportedly killing 22 people. The U.S. airstrike has predictably failed to halt rocket attacks on deeply unpopular U.S. bases in Iraq, which the Iraqi National Assembly passed a resolution to close over […]

Arms Sales

Failing Upward: Pentagon’s more and more Expensive Boondoggles (that don’t even work)

William J. Astore

( Tomdispatch.com) – Cancel culture is a common, almost viral, term in political and social discourse these days. Basically, somebody expresses views considered to be outrageous or vile or racist or otherwise insensitive and inappropriate. In response, that person is “canceled,” perhaps losing a job or otherwise sidelined and silenced. In being deplatformed by Twitter, […]

Featured

Why the Biden Administration is Dead Wrong to oppose Int’l Criminal Court War Crimes inquiry in Occupied Palestine: A Betrayal of the Rule of Law

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The International Criminal Court (ICC) has decided to look into war crimes committed in the Israeli-Occupied Territories of Palestine. Outgoing chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said that the decision to go forward was reached after a painstaking 5-year review. The investigation will begin in 2014, suggesting that the court will consider […]

Employment

Essential Workers deserve $15/ hr. – Remember when we Fêted them for Serving us in Pandemic?

OtherWords

By Eshawney Gaston | – ( Otherwords.org) – I’m one of America’s millions of essential workers. We’re working in your children’s schools, at your grocery stores, and at drive-through windows. We’re cleaning your homes. And we’re struggling so hard to make ends meet. Congress is debating whether to raise the minimum wage to $15 an […]

GCC

Israeli-Iranian Shadow Naval War in Arabian Gulf puts Arab Gulf States in Cross-hairs

Middle East Monitor

By Hazem Ayyad | – ( Middle East Monitor) – The Arabian Gulf has turned into an arena for confrontation and possible conflict between Iran and Israel now that it has become certain that Iranian elements attacked the MV Helios Ray. The suspicious vehicle-carrier belongs to Israeli businessman Rami Ungar, known for his strong relationship […]

Iraq

Pope’s upcoming visit brings attention to the dwindling population of Christians in Iraq

The Conversation

By Ramazan Kılınç | – Pope Francis will arrive in Iraq on Friday in a first-ever papal visit to the country that is expected to raise awareness about the challenges facing Iraqi Christians – a majority of whom are Catholic. In the past two decades, the Christian population in Iraq has fallen by over 80%. […]

censorship

Reporters without Borders Files German ‘Crimes against Humanity’ Case against Saudi’s Bin Salman for Khashoggi Murder

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The France-based Reporters without Borders (RSF) has filed a criminal complaint with the Prosecutor-General of the Federal Court of Justices in Karlsruhe, Germany, against crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman and other Saudi officials for the murder of Washington Post columnist and US resident Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. The filing alleges […]

Kurds

How Facebook Suppressed Kurdish Site for sake of its Business in Turkey

ProPublica

By Jack Gillum and Justin Elliott | – ( ProPublica ) – As Turkey launched a military offensive against Kurdish minorities in neighboring Syria in early 2018, Facebook’s top executives faced a political dilemma. Turkey was demanding the social media giant block Facebook posts from the People’s Protection Units, a mostly Kurdish militia group the […]

Archives for 2021