By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – One of the last major rebel enclaves in Syria, East Ghouta, is near to falling back completely under the control of the Baath regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. The enclave consists of three districts, Harasta, Zamalka-Irbin-Jobar, and Douma, east and south of the capital. Although […]
Budget Bill: Even GOP Congress defies Trump on Green Energy Funding
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Emma Foehringer Merchant at Greentech Media reports that the GOP Congress defied Trump’s priorities on green energy almost across the board. She notes the following: $2.32 bn.– The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) $353 mn. — the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) $6.3 […]
Let’s call Bolton what he is, a War Criminal with Terrorist Ties, not just “Hawkish”
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – John Bolton helped lie our country into an illegal war of aggression that killed several hundred thousand Iraqis, wounded over a million, and displaced 4 million from their homes, helped deliver Baghdad into the hands of Iran, and helped create ISIL, which blew up Paris. In […]
Trump and the American Fearscape as Hell for Muslim-Americans
By Nate Terani | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – Understand this: I’m an American veteran. I’m also a Muslim-American in a country in which, in these years, that hasn’t exactly been the happiest category to fall into. Now, let me tell you a little story. Recently, I had an ominous dream. It was noon on […]
Afghanistan: How a Shrine Bombing in Kabul tells us Trump’s Surge won’t Succeed
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – This year, the merriment of Now-Ruz in Kabul was marred by a suicide bombing that killed at least 33 persons and wounded 68, according to the Afghani Ministry of Health. The perpetrator was allegedly a member of ISIL (which really needs another name, since it isn’t […]
Syria: A Market bombing kills 38 and Explains why Government won Syria War
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – A rocket fired by rebel forces at a market, Kashkul, in the Jaramana suburb of Damascus on Wednesday killed dozens of people. It strikes me that this incident encapsulates the deep tragedy of the Syrian civil war. Jaramana is a mixed Christian and Druze neighborhood 3 […]
Increasingly Ludicrous WH denial that Austin bombings were “terrorism”
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Update: The suspect in the central Texas bombings is dead, after he detonated a bomb in his car on being surrounded by police, and was shot. Two more package bombs were found in Austin and San Antonio Fedex offices on Tuesday, giving evidence of originating with […]
French Ex-President Sarkozy arrested over Libya Campaign money Charges
TeleSur | – – Sarkozy has categorically denied receiving any campaign funding from the North African country. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was detained by police officers early Tuesday, Reuters reported. The ex head of state was being questioned by magistrates in relation to allegations he received US$61 million in funding for his 2007 election […]
Cambridge Analytica as the Matrix: Information Dominance and the Next Level of Fake News
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The 1999 film “The Matrix,” written by Lana Wachowski (formerly Laurence “Larry” Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski (formerly Andrew Paul “Andy” Wachowski), depicts a future in which human beings have been imprisoned by machines in capsules that siphon off their heat and energy and which create the […]
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