Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The response of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) to the proposed the Senate bill permitting state and local sanctions on persons and companies that boycott Israel was “They forgot which country they are representing.” They forgot what country they represent. This is the U.S. where boycotting is a right & part […]
President Bolton overrules Feckless Trump Tweet on Syria Withdrawal
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Last Two Neoconservatives in the Trump administration, National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have swung into action to repeal Trump’s troop withdrawal from Syria. Bolton visited Israel to reassure prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu that the US will look after the interests of allies as […]
Rashida Tlaib and Working Class Authenticity v. Trump’s Plutocrat Pretense
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Why does Donald Trump get a pass on speaking and acting obscenely but Rashida Tlaib is pilloried for calling him a Mofo? It is because US corporate media and political elites expect the wealthy to do bad imitations of working class profanity (so as to fool the rubes into voting […]
Trump’s Remark that Iranians ‘Can do what they want’ in Syria Mocked in Mideast
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Christian-owned Lebanese daily al-Nahar (The Day) mocked Trump’s remark this week that Iran can do whatever it wants in Syria after the US military withdrawal (“they can do what they want there, frankly”). A columnist for the newspaper, Monalisa Fariha, entitled her piece, “Iran will get out of Syria […]
The First Muslim-American Women in Congress may get to Impeach Trump
The most diverse House of Representatives in American history was sworn in on Thursday. The new Congress (including the Senate) is religiously diverse as well as diverse with regard to gender. Out of 534 members (one contest has yet to be decided), there are 34 Jews, 10 Mormons, 3 Hindus, 3 Muslims, and 2 Unitarian […]
Cole’s ‘Muhammad: Prophet of Peace’ an NYT Editor’s Choice Book
Many thanks to the New York Times for recommending my new book, ‘Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires:’ Editors’ Choice: “11 New Books We Recommend This Week” Gregory Cowles writes, “How better to enter the new year than with a look back? History runs through many of this week’s recommended titles, from […]
Trump Spews Incomprehensible Nonsense on Kurds, Syria, Afghanistan
“A Commentary on the words that spewed from Trump’s mouth at his news conference during a cabinet meeting on January 2, 2019,” or, “A Ph.D. who has been teaching at a public Ivy since 1984 is forced to spend his time chasing the rabid ferrets running around in the head of a decrepit reality t.v. […]
Saudi Arabia muscles Netflix over Minhaj Criticism of Khashoggi Murder
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Netflix has been forced to pull Episode 2 of comedian Hasan Minhaj’s “Patriot Act” for Saudi viewers because it criticizes the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi on October 2 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, in which a bone saw was used to cut up the corpse. Netflix points […]
Trump’s US in 2019: Is the Mideast ‘War on Terror’ Paradigm Ending?
Juan Cole (Informed Comment) – The primary post 9/11 paradigm of US foreign policy has been the war on terrorism, which is to say a profound and kinetic military and counter-insurgency engagement of the US Pentagon, CIA and State Department in the Greater Middle East. This paradigm succeeded the Cold War paradigm of 1946-1991, which […]
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