By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The intrepid Karen DeYoung and Ellen Nakashima report at WaPo that anonymous US intelligence officials have decided to go public with what they know about the attempt of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to frame Qatar. The hacking attack on May 23 that planted fake news, […]
Turkey: Erdogan Marks Coup anniversary with more Crackdowns
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey commemorated on Saturday the anniversary of the failed coup in that country. The coup attempt was genuinely unpopular. Erdogan blames it on the Gulen movement, a shadowy cult-like organization that for years was allied with Erdogan. But in the aftermath, Erdogan […]
25% of Australian Homes have gone Solar and other Green Triumphs this Week
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Renewables continue to take the world by storm, which is good news for the climate. Because of less expensive and more efficient technology, about one quarter of all Australian households now have solar panels. This process is uneven, with a rush to put them up recently […]
Trump & Macron Consult on Syria Cease Fire in Shadow of Don Jr. Scandal
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – French President Emmanuel Macron and his American counterpart Donald J. Trump consulted on a number of bilateral issues on Wednesday, including cooperation in Syria and Iraq. Trump says he was in France to attend Bastille Day and commemorate the centenary of the entry of the US […]
Influence: Russia just Imitated the Rupert Murdoch/Fox Model
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In Edgar Allan Poe’s “Purloined Letter,” detective C. Auguste Dupin discovers a stolen letter in the thief’s own apartments after police searches had failed to turn it up. It was hidden in plain sight, on a card rack hanging from a ribbon, though it had been […]
Now they hate Universities: Trumpie anti-Intellectualism infects GOP
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – A new Pew poll finds that 58% of Republicans now say that colleges and universities have a negative impact on the United States. But this finding is a very recent development. In 2015, 54% of Republicans held that colleges and universities have a positive influence on […]
Top 5 Muslim-related Hypocrisies in the Donald Trump Jr. Russia Meeting
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The dishonesty and bad faith of Donald Trump’s Muslim ban and general pose of hating Muslims is obvious to anyone who attends to his actual business ties. His hotels in Istanbul and Dubai did not spring up like mushrooms– they resulted from friendships with Turks and […]
Iraqi Gov’t declares “mighty Triumph” over ISIL in Mosul, as Sunni Press decries Casualties
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Al-Mada reports that 24 hours after Mosul was completely liberated from the hold of Daesh (ISIS, ISIL), Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi visited it and walked around the city. Photos on his official Twitter site showed him in black military garb. Al-Abadi convened a meeting with leaders […]
G19 outmaneuvers climate Rogue Trump, ignores Donald & Ivanka
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – German Chancellor Angela Merkel ran rings around Trump at the G20 summit in Hamburg, where pictures show Donald sitting alone and being ignored by other heads of state when he bothered to show up (he sent Ivanka to sit in for him at one session). Trump […]
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