By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Whether or not the cessation of hostilities in Syria holds, it is a major turning point in the revolution and civil war that began in 2011. As of Saturday morning in Syria, the major fronts between the regime and the Muslim Brotherhood factions were quiet. There […]
Iran Election Results Show that when US rewards Pragmatists, they Win
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Early results in Iran’s parliamentary elections suggest that the centrists, pragmatists and independents will have more seats than the Khomeinist far right. For the first time since the 1979 revolution, no one bloc will dominate the national legislature. The far right had had 66% of the […]
Rubio’s 7 Fallacies on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In last night’s Republican debate co-sponsored by Telemundo, billionaire bigot Donald Trump, usually a resident of Mars, briefly came back to earth long enough to suggest he could broker a deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians by being even-handed. It is not a matter, he […]
Kerry warns of break up of Syria; but is that Realistic?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Amid ongoing talks in Geneva around a cessation of hostilities in Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday night in a joint telephone call with other diplomats, “It may be too late to keep it as a whole Syria if we wait much longer.” The […]
How the US went Fascist: Mass media Makes excuses for Trump Voters
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The rise of Donald Trump to the presumptive Republican standard bearer for president in 2016 is an indictment of, and a profound danger to the American republic. The Founding Fathers were afraid of the excitability of the voters and their vulnerability to the appeal of demagogues. […]
Wikileaks: Netanyahu used Italy to pressure US on Illegal Squatter Settlements in Palestine
By Nadia Prupis, staff writer | (Commondreams.org) | – – Among the NSA’s targets was UN Secretary General Ban-ki Moon. “If the Secretary General can be targeted without consequence then everyone from world leader to street sweeper is at risk,” says Julian Assange. The NSA spied on EU, UN, Israeli, and Japanese officials, new documents […]
Does Obama’s plan to close Guantanamo go far enough in restoring Constitution?
TeleSur | – – President Obama is making his case to the nation to finally close the much maligned detention center in his final year in office. President Barack Obama presented a four point plan Tuesday to “close Guantanamo once and for all” the president said. The plan now lies in the control of Congress […]
Trump must honor the Immigrant & Undocumented Veterans of American Foreign Wars
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Donald Trump, the ultimate chickenhawk, pretends to be a big booster of veterans, but as far as I can tell he’s never done anything in particular for them. Worse, Trump has been deeply offensive toward a significant group of vets– immigrants and the undocumented. In 2009, […]
As Syrian Army advances East of Aleppo, ISIL strikes back with Bombings that kill 140
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) said Sunday that it was behind the horrific bombings that struck Shiites in Damascus and Homs. Twelver Shiites congregate in the Sayyida Zainab district of Damascus, the Syrian capital, around the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad’s granddaughter. Car bombs and suicide bombers wearing […]
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