Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Will the coronavirus result in the second withdrawal of US troops from Iraq? There is an increasing question of whether the some 5,000 US military personnel there can be protected from the outbreak if they remain in that country. In any case, many of those servicemen are involved in training […]
For World Poetry Day: Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Translated by Juan Cole From the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Tonight, who brought you, tipsy, here to me? From there beneath the veil, whose hand brought you? –to one on fire because of your absence– one like a sirocco; who brought you here? (Whinfield 2) ( revised) N.B.: In April of 2020, Bloomsbury/ I. B. […]
California releasing inmates for fear of Coronavirus, but Israelis Keep Vulnerable Gaza as Largest Open Air Prison
Update: On Sunday morning March 22, Gaza health authorities reported two Covid-19 cases in the Strip. Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – California prisons are releasing prisoners for fear that the crowded conditions in penitentiaries could prove deadly breeding grounds for the novel coronavirus. There are 2 million prisoners, most of them not adults, however, who […]
Trump Spared Iran from Bombing, but his Sanctions Fed Pandemic in which 1 dies every 10 Minutes
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Courtney Kube, Carol E. Lee and Kristen Welker at NBC News report that Trump refused to bomb Iran last weekend for fear it would be a public relations disaster given international sympathy for that country’s coronavirus plight. It appears that some officials had considered bombing Iran in response to Shiite […]
Not Giving up on Happiness: Care of the Self and Well-Being in a Plague Year
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The specter of plague haunts our world, and it brings with it not only the ghouls of disease and death but vast economic and social uncertainty of a sort only the most elderly among us remembers (the Great Depression and World War II). My father is 90 and when I […]
Trump Admin. in “Historic” withdrawal of Troops from 3 Iraq Bases amid Ongoing Rocket Attacks
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – AFP is reporting that the US military is withdrawing US troops from 3 Iraqi bases. They are al-Qa’im in the far north on the Syrian border, Qayyarah near Mosul, and Kirkuk. AFP quotes Coalition Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Col. Myles B. Caggins III as saying “A transfer ceremony is taking […]
“A Seller’s Market for Bankruptcy Talent:” The Beginning of the End of Methane-Producing Fracking?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Monday, the price of West Texas Intermediate petroleum fell below $30 a barrel for the first time in four years. Elliot Smith at CNBC reports that BP CFO Brian Gilvary is braced for petroleum demand actually to contract in 2020. This prediction is very bad news for US fracking […]
In Historic Breakthrough, Israel Considers admitting the Palestinian-Israelis to the Political Game (as Silent Partners)
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Josef Federman at AP reports that Israeli president Reuven Rivlin will offer Benny Gantz, the leader of the Blue and White Coalition, first crack at forming a government, sidelining indicted Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu faces a corruption trial, but it has been postponed to May because of the coronavirus […]
With 3 more US Soldiers Wounded, Iraqi Joint Command urges Swift Departure of US Troops, Fearing Instability
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Three US servicemen were wounded, along with two Iraqi soldiers, during daylight hours on Saturday when some 33 katyusha rockets slammed into al-Taji Base north of Baghdad. Two of the US soldiers were seriously wounded and are in hospital in Baghdad. The rocket attacks were likely revenge for US air […]
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