Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – Iran wants to reunite the fighting Shiite Muslim political parties in Iraq that once gave it unconditional support. But that job is far from easy. Last week Mahmoud Shahroudi, the head of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council, which advises that country’s theological leader, Ali Khamenei, visited Baghdad. […]
Superstorm Donald Hits GOP, aims to Ravage US
By John Feffer | ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) | – – If Trump succeeds in ramping up military spending and gutting everything else, we’ll be left with a bunch of nukes and an underfunded state — and no one but China to keep us afloat. The storm inside the Republican Party has reached […]
Rice Vindicated: She did Unmask Trump, Bannon– but they were meeting UAE
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The United Arab Emirates crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan slipped into the United States on December 15 for a secret meeting with Trump, Michael Flynn, Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon. It is unusual for high government officials to visit without letting the White House […]
Saudi Arabia wants to improve Image; Here’s How
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Saudi Arabia is alleged to be hiring a PR firm to improve its tattered image in the West . As usual, such a campaign confuses substance with fluff and the money will be wasted. I am sympathetic to Saudi feelings that they get an unfair rap. […]
Our failing Forever Wars and the End of Democracy
By William J. Astore | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – When it comes to the “world’s greatest military,” the news has been shocking. Two fast U.S. Navy ships colliding with slow-moving commercial vessels with tragic loss of life. An Air Force that has been in the air continuously for years and yet doesn’t have enough […]
What will Iran do if Trump tears up the Nuclear Agreement?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Recently I was asked whether, if Trump succeeded in undermining the Joint Plan of Collective Action (JCPOA), the Iran nuclear deal, whether Iran would reply by going for broke to create a nuclear weapon. A related question is whether a collapse of the JCPOA would strengthen […]
On 9/11: How we slighted the real Threat, Climate Change, and Hyped Terrorism
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The US is commemorating the victims of September 11 today at the same time it is mourning the serial devastation that struck Texas and Florida. Both are key moments in our history. The problem is that we over-did our response to 9/11 and have ignored the […]
China studies Banning fossil fuel Car, going 100% Electric
TeleSur | – – Last year, China became the largest supplier of electric cars – electric and gasoline-electric hybrids rose 50 percent over 2015 to 336,000. China, one of the world’s largest pollutant contributor, is gearing up to ban the use of fossil fuel. The government is making plans to gradually phase out the fuel […]
GOP Mayor of Miami to Trump: ‘If this isn’t Climate Change I don’t know what is’
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Trump may be provoking a big exodus of Cuban-Americans in south Florida out of the Republican Party. His attack on DACA or Obama’s suspension of prosecution for undocumented Americans who were brought to this country as infants or young children was extremely unpopular in the Miami […]








