By: Brian Glyn Williams and Christopher Natola | (Informed Comment) | – – It began with an electrifying text message from a Yazidi member of a network dedicated to freeing Yazidis (an ancient people from Northern Iraq who adhere to a faith rooted in old Iranian religion and influenced by Sufi mysticism). The message was […]
Syria: Russians alarmed, Washington Befuddled, by White House threats
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The unusual statement from the “White House” on Monday saying that there were indications that the Syrian regime was preparing to use poison gas has provoked much head-scratching both inside the Trump administration and around the world. Why would the “White House” say this? Is it […]
Why it Matters that the World thinks US under Trump is Laughingstock
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Pew Research Center has found that the confidence of the world public in the US willingness to do the right thing has plummeted in just the few months Trump has been at our helm. Last fall, 62 percent of people throughout the world said they trusted […]
Trump accuses Syria of Planning Gas attack as Haley attacks Russia, Iran
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Trump administration is making noise about striking Syria, on the grounds that Damascus is planning to use poison gas again. Trump’s Neoconservative ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, tweeted: Any further attacks done to the people of Syria will be blamed on Assad, but […]
Civilians Fleeing as Battle for Mosul enters last days
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 […]
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