By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Iraqi Army and its Shiite militia adjuncts have taken Kirkuk city and raised the Iraqi flag over the state house, taking down the Kurdistan flag. They also have an army base and oil fields in Kirkuk province, which they are returning to the control of […]
In Absence of US Leadership, War Breaks out between Kurds and Baghdad
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The “Voice of Iraq” reports that last night artillery duels broke out between Iraqi army forces and Kurdish Peshmerga paramilitary personnel to the south of the city of Kirkuk. The report is sourced to Peshmerga officers who declined to have their names used. For their part, […]
Nearly 300 dead in Somalia Terrorist Attack (largely ignored by US TV News)
TeleSur | – – “In our 10-year experience as first responders in Mogadishu, we haven’t seen anything like this,” the Aamin Ambulance service posted on Twitter. Somali officials say the death toll from Saturday’s truck bombing in Mogadishu has risen to 276, with another 300 people injured. Medical personnel in the Somali capital have described […]
Singer Marc Anthony to Trump: You will be held Accountable for needless American Deaths in Puerto Rico
Marc Anthony calls Trump approach to Puerto Rico disaster “tone-deaf, idiotic, callous and disrespectful”
Under Trump, Gitmo continues to Gnaw away at tattered US Rule of Law
Extra-Judicial denial of habeas corpus or trial leaves ‘Enemy Combatants’ in Limbo
Yes, White Supremacists, some Vikings were Muslims & Thor was Brown
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The archeological identification of stylized Arabic text for God (Allah) and Ali (the prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law) in burial garments of the Vikings in Sweden has thrown white supremacists into a tizzy. While the garments could just be the result of trade with the Middle […]
Oklahoma’s Ominous Earthquakes: the Price of Fracking (Video)
Hydraulic Fracturing implicated in severe seismic activity and plus it releases heat-trapping gas methane
Elbaradei: Trump Propaganda on Iran Nuclear Deal like Run-up to Iraq War
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Trump administration (actually UN Ambassador and far right Evangelical Nikki Haley) has decertified Iran from compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or Nuclear Deal of 2015. It would be interesting to know how many of Haley’s stupid and inaccurate talking points were provided […]
Painting of the Day: “The Lovers” (Iran, 1630)
Safavid Miniature by Riza-yi Abbasi of Isfahan