Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Bob Woodward’s new book of interviews with Trump and figures in his administration records how Trump told the reporter in mid-March that he plays down the coronavirus to avoid a panic. According to CNN, which obtained Woodward’s tapes, Trump said: “I wanted to always play it down. I still like […]
Did the US War on Terror Displace 37 Million?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Brown University Watson Institute Costs of War Project has put out a report concluding that the US-led “War on Terror” has displaced 37 million people. While there are parts of the report I agree with, some of the argument seems to me flawed. Let me explain why that is, […]
Russia defies US Sanctions, presses Syria on Long Term Trade, Investment deal for Energy
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Russia and Syria are preparing to enter into a wide-ranging trade and investment deal, according to RT Arabic. Sunday night, Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov arrived in Damascus to meet with high Syrian officials. On Monday, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov arrived, meeting with Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad and his […]
On Labor Day, Trump’s mismanagement of Pandemic has left 27 mn Unemployed and Turning to Food Banks
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – It is a sad Labor Day, in the shadow of the Trump Pandemic. Over a fourth of workers are afraid of losing their jobs because of the pandemic, up from 15% last year this time, according to Gallup. That is, the anxiety over joblessness has almost doubled. Many are much […]
Revolutionary, Muslim-Majority Sudan Declares Separation of Religion and State
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) The transitional government of officers and civilian revolutionaries in Sudan has separated religion and state. In an agreement signed Thursday in Addis Ababa with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North (SPLM–N), Sudan’s prime minister Abdullah Hamdok agreed that Sudan would not establish any particular religion. The agreement included the language, “The state […]
Trump popularity with Military was already Cratering before Belleau-gate
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Even before some whistleblowers among the generals went to the Atlantic magazine with their complaints that Trump disrespected US war dead, the president was in trouble with the military. I suspect that yesterday’s news will have caused Trump’s standing with the military to plummet further. A new opinion poll from […]
What was the Battle of Belleau Woods, the Slain Marines at which Trump called “Losers” and “Suckers”?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Jeffrey Goldberg at the Atlantic reported yesterday on what he was told by four members of Trump’s entourage about the president’s 2018 visit to France. He had been scheduled to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris, but it was raining and he made excuses. Goldberg’s sources told him that […]
With US AWOL, NATO Allies rattle sabers: Turkish Ruling Party says Greece is now a Rogue State
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Greece and Turkey have been having loud shouting matches this summer, with some pretty ominous language at times. The two are supposed to be NATO allies, but you couldn’t tell it from their bellicose rhetoric. A nationalist Turkish politician, Devlet Bahceli, is quoted as having said of said this past […]
China slams Trump Admin. as “Saboteur” on Iran Deal, “Making a Mockery of Int’l Law”
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Iran nuclear deal was horse trading. Iran gave up 80 percent of its civilian nuclear enrichment program and was supposed to get in return the lifting of all sanctions. Instead, Trump maximized sanctions, in what is essentially a trade and financial blockade on the country. So it is like […]
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