by Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Iraqi army has created pathways for civilians trapped in Mosul to escape and at least 100 have managed to flee to safety. The chief of operations for the Elite Iraqi Counter-Terrorism forces, Ma’n al-Sa`di, said that his units are engaged in vicious battles despite the […]
Green France: Macron bans Fracking and welcomes US renewables Scientists fleeing Trump
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The French government wants to steal increasingly unemployed US green energy scientists, who are being systematically defunded by the Trump administration. After Trump pulled out of the Paris accords, Macron addressed US professionals: “To all scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, responsible citizens who were disappointed by the decision […]
Can the Sadr Movement in Iraq overcome Sectarianism with new Shiite-Sunni-Kurdish Party?
By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | ( Niqash.org) | – – One of Iraq’s most powerful political groupings, the Sadrist movement, is trying to form a new alliance that may unite secular, Sunni and Kurdish parties. It would be a first for Iraq. But it could also be a trap. The Sadrist movement has had […]
In Apocalyptic Vandalism, ISIL blows up 800-year-old Nuri Mosque in Mosul
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – al-Hayat (Life) reports that on Wednesday evening around 9:30 pm local time, Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) blew up the Nuri Mosque in Mosul. The destruction of the 800-year-old edifice was undertaken at a time when Iraqi government troops were closing in on this area in Mosul’s Old […]
The Millennial’s Palace Coup in Saudi Arabia: How Dangerous?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The epic battle in the Trump White House between Jared Kushner, the Orthodox Jewish son-in-law, and Steve Bannon, the alt-NeoNazi White House strategist, is hard to top. But Saudi Arabia just topped it? Saudi Arabia just topped it. King Salman just fired the crown prince and […]
Russo-US dog fights over Syria?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Yara Bayoumi at Reuters reports on the complicated minuet being danced by Russia, the Syrian Air Force, and the United States. The Syrian Air Force was bombing positions of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US euphemism for the leftist Kurds of the YPG. The US Air […]
Habitual Labor abuser Saudi Arabia elected to UN body Promoting Workers
By Brian Whitaker | ( Al-Bab.com ) | – – In a grotesque development earlier this week, Saudi Arabia – a world leader in the exploitation of migrant workers – won a seat on the governing body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The ILO is a United Nations agency “devoted to promoting social justice […]
London Mosque attack: Did Trump’s Tweets embolden Bigots?
by Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – A man driving a white van swerved just after midnight early Monday morning into a crowd of Muslims coming out of Finsbury Park Mosque in North London, severely injuring British Muslims. The Muslim Council of Britain called it a “violent manifestation of Islamophobia.” The organization asked […]
Putin’s End Game in Syria
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Syrian press is watching Oliver Stone’s interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin and likes what it sees. Syria’s al-Watan (The Nation) reports that Putin’s Syria policy is the complete restoration of central government authority over the entire country, in preparation for a pull-back of Russian […]
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