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 […]
Trump’s SC Victory and anti-Muslim Hatred
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Billionaire bigot Donald Trump won the South Carolina primary Saturday with about 32.5 percent of the vote. He was about ten points ahead of his two closest rivals, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, who more or less tied at between 22 and 23 percent each. Trump […]
Will Syrian Kurds defeat ISIL , helping Democrats win White House in 2016?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Bad news came out of Syria for Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) on two fronts Friday: Aleppo and, in Syria’s far east, Hasakah. This has been a war with a lot of seesawing, so it is premature to make any decisive pronouncements. But this is an election year, […]
Why Trump’s tiff with the Pope endangers his Political Future
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Billionaire bigot Donald Trump’s tiff with Pope Francis continued on Thursday, though Trump appears to have gotten cold feet about taking on the Pontiff toward the end of yesterday. The reason this dispute is important is that Trump cannot win the presidency with only the backing […]
Syria: 500 Turkey-backed Sunni Arab Fighters Cross to defend Azaz from Kurds
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – This morning, according to the Syria Observatory and the Arabic press some 500 Sunni Arab rebels based in Turkey crossed back into Syria to help defend the town of Azaz from the YPG miitia of Syrian Kurds, which is advancing on the city. They were allowed […]
© 2025 All Rights Reserved