By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The interview of Gen. James Mattis by Wolf Blitzer at Aspen in 2013, in which the recently-retired former CENTCOM commander spoke freely on Middle East policy, has come back to haunt him now that Donald Trump has put him forward as the next Secretary of Defense. […]
Pakistanis Baffled, Buoyant over Trump’s Fantastical Praise
By Frud Bezhan | ( RFE/RL) | – – The office of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has cited a phone conversation with Donald Trump in which it says the U.S. president-elect described nuclear-armed Pakistan as a "fantastic country" and its embattled prime minister as a "terrific guy." The exchange, as described by Sharif’s side, […]
How Rupert Murdoch & Fox Created the Fake News Industry
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The concern about “fake news” now sweeping the inside-the-beltway crowd is a little hilarious, since all corporate news (i.e. news for profit) has elements of fakeness. For instance, cable television news channels almost never cover climate change, and when they do they tend to give equal […]
Why Russia and Regime want all of Aleppo before Trump is sworn in
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In the past two days, the Syrian Arab Army and its Shiite militia allies (Hizbullah from Lebanon and others from Iraq) has taken a third to forty percent of the Eastern Aleppo pocket. The northeast zone of the pocket has collapsed, with rebel fights apparently declining […]
Is Jimmy Carter right that Obama should Recognize Palestine?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Jimmy Carter wrote and NYT op-ed yesterday in which he called on Barack Obama to arrange for the UN Security Council to recognize Palestine and pass resolutions reaffirming the illegality of Israeli squatting on Palestinian land in the West Bank. Carter points out that there are […]
Conspiracy Theorist in Chief: Trump’s falsehood about 2 mn. illegal votes only tip of Melting Iceberg
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Americans have given the nuclear codes to that crazy uncle you have to sit through Thanksgiving with who watches nut cases like Alex Jones and red-facedly proclaims that FEMA is keeping Americans in concentration camps. Donald Trump still has his Twitter account and obsessed over the […]
Frackopoly
by H. Patricia Hynes | ( Truthdig.com) | – – Frackopoly: The Battle for the Future of Energy and the Environment A book by Wenonah Hauter (The New Press, 2016) Branding fracked natural gas as a bridge fuel to renewable energy is one of the great fossil fuel ruses of our times. Two other scams […]
The Manhattan White House, the Secret Service, and the Painted Bikini Lady
By Nick Turse | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – High above, somewhere behind the black glass façade, President-elect Donald J. Trump was huddled with his inner circle, plotting just how they would “drain the swamp” and remake Washington, perhaps the world. On the street far below, inside a warren of metal fencing surrounded by hefty […]
In Trump’s Shadow, is East Aleppo on Verge of falling to Regime, Russia?
By Juan Cole | – – In the wake of the election of Donald Trump, the regime of Bashar al-Assad and its Russian backer have thrown caution to the wind. No less than the Republican Congress, Damascus and Moscow know that Barack Obama is a lame duck. Understanding that Trump campaigned on giving Syria to […]
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