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
TeleSur | – – Singer-songwriter, Marc Anthony took to Twitter to decry the U.S. administration’s “tone-deaf, idiotic, callous and disrespectful approach” to Puerto Rico. Marc Anthony took to social media to decry the Trump administration’s response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. tone-deaf, idiotic, callous and disrespectful approach. History has a way of remembering.Until our […]
Under Trump, Gitmo continues to Gnaw away at tattered US Rule of Law
By Karen J. Greenberg | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – Eight years ago, when I wrote a book on the first days of Guantanamo, The Least Worst Place: Guantánamo’s First 100 Days, I assumed that Gitmo would prove a grim anomaly in our history. Today, it seems as if that “detention facility” will have a […]
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)
AJ+ | (Video News Report) | – – “The earth is shaking in Oklahoma, and it’s far from normal—a recent study by Cornell University and the U.S. Geological Survey has linked the state’s exponential spike in earthquakes with a surge in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Imran Garda talks to worried Oklahomans and gets a behind-the-scenes […]
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)
Riza-yi `Abbasi (d. 1635) | ( Metropolitan Museum) | – – The Lovers Artist: Painting by Riza-yi `Abbasi (Persian, ca. 1565–1635) Date: dated A.H. 1039/ A.D. 1630 Geography: Attributed to Iran, Isfahan Medium: Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper Via Metropolitan Museum, New York.
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