By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Pope Francis continues to preach environmentalism as he addresses crowds in Latin America, a challenging message in poor countries where over-exploitation of natural resources is a constant temptation. These are also countries and populations, however, most at risk from pollution and the ravages of climate change. […]
Obama: No more US troops to fight Daesh/ ISIL, but more Training
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – President Obama on Monday went for a briefing at the Pentagon on the fight against Daesh (ISIS, ISIL). In remarks afterwards, he acknowledged that training of Iraqi troops has been going much slower than originally envisaged (about 5,000 have been trained in the past year, and […]
Daesh/ ISIL Marked Women and Children for Death in Syria’s Kobani
Human Rights Watch | (New York) — Armed militants believed to be members of Islamic State, also known as ISIS, deliberately targeted people they knew were civilians in a June 25, 2015, attack in and around the northern Syrian city of Kobani. Syrian Kurdish authorities and local human rights groups said that 233 to 262 […]
Is Greece’s “No” on Debt Referendum another Youth Revolution?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – During the past 5 years, the old categories of politics– left, right, center or capitalist and socialist– have been challenged by a new one, that of youth. What the Millennials want has begun to matter in addition to the other factors. That Greece has a left-wing […]
Ghosts of King George III: Top 5 Things that threaten American Independence Today
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The things that irked the residents of the Thirteen Colonies about British rule have reemerged from other quarters to threaten American democracy. The colonists minded being ruled arbitrarily by British-appointed officials, some of them corrupt. They minded not being represented in parliament even though that body […]
Syrian Refugees Face Hunger Amidst Humanitarian Funding Crisis
By Zhai Yun Tan | (Inter Press Service) | – – WASHINGTON (IPS) – The United Nations’ food aid organisation, the World Food Programme (WFP), said on Jul. 1 that up to 440,000 refugees from war-torn Syria might have to go hungry if no additional funds are received by August. WFP, the world’s largest humanitarian […]
Your Fourth of July and My Fourth of July
Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Revised for the 2010s: Your Fourth of July is invasions and wars. My Fourth of July is the pure sunbeam of peace. Yours is the Confederate flag and nostalgia for the hierarchies of slavery. Mine is ‘all men are created equal.’ Yours is kowtowing to billionaires in […]
50 Egyptian Soldiers, others, Killed in Daesh Sinai Rebellion
Aljazeera International | Video Report | – – “At least 35 people killed as ISIL group attacks police posts in Sheikh Zuweid and El-Arish.Al Jazeera’s Omar Saleh reports.” At the same time, Egyptian troops surrounded and killed 9 Muslim Brothers in a Cairo neighborhood, including a former member of parliament. Deadly Attacks hit Egypt’s Sinai […]
Bernie Sanders’ 10,000-person crowd in Madison biggest of any Candidate so Far
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Democratic Party’s left wing is fed up and isn’t going to take it any more. Americans in opinion polling overwhelmingly favor the positions of Bernie Sanders on most political and social issues. But gerrymandering, big money in politics, and voter suppression have produced presidents who […]
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