By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – 1. The Confederate flag in its current form was adopted by the seceding slave states to differentiate their banner from the Stars and Stripes on the battlefield. It isn’t a symbol of regionalism. It is a symbol of violent attack on the Union. 2. Those who […]
European Islamophobic Networks influenced Roof to Kill in Charleston
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Muslim-hatred of the Geert Wilders and Marine LePens in Europe, for which Daniel Pipes, and Pamela Geller, and the whole Islamophobic network are cheerleaders and enablers, was a key influence on Dylann Roof, according to his manifesto. These same hatemongers helped whip Norwegian white supremacist […]
How Lindsey Graham & GOP lost the Chance to be Presidential over Charleston
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in my view never had any chance of becoming president, though he has thrown his hat into the ring for the Republican nomination. So it would be an overstatement to say that he lost the opportunity because of his maladroit response to […]
Sexism, Racism and Terrorism: Roof’s Misuse of Women to justify Lynching
By Lisa Wade | (The Conversation) | – – Many important things will be said in the next few weeks about the murder of nine people holding a prayer meeting at a historic African American church in Charleston, South Carolina on the evening of June 17. Here I want to focus on what the suspected […]
Our reply to Dylann Roof’s Hate: Donate to “Mother Emanuel” AME Church
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – There are many essential responses to the racist terrorism that attacked Emanuel AME Church, which the state of South Carolina should take. It should stop flying the Confederate flag. It should undo the gerrymandering by the white Republican Establishment that keeps the one-third of the population […]
Another White non-Terrorist Kills 9, Makes Bomb Threats
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Update: Suspected shooter Dylann Roof has been apprehended. He had a gun with him at the time. It is being alleged that he wore Apartheid South Africa flag, complained of African-Americans raping, taking over US. So, then, it was political and indubitably terrorism. Police in Charleston, […]
Juan Cole & Jocylene Cesari: “Europe’s Muslims after Charlie Hebdo: Challenges and Misconceptions”
David Speedie, Juan Cole & Jocylene Cesari | Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs (Video) | – – “Months after the “Charlie Hebdo” attacks, questions remain about Europe’s Islamic communities. How strong is the lure of groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS for Islamic youth in France or the UK? Why do so many Muslims, […]
Can the GOP live down Donald Trump’s Middle East “Policy”?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Comedians, bloggers, and pundits are ecstatic about The Donald throwing his toupee in the ring for the Republican nomination. The stories write themselves. But the Republican Party establishment is appalled, because Trump will create an image for the party that will hurt it in the general […]
The Middle East Policy of President John Ellis “Jeb” Bush: Iraq, Iran Wars?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Jeb Bush announced his run for president on Monday. It is hard to know what his Middle East policy would be from his wibbly wobbly pronouncements, but that it would be imperial and aggressive can be deduced from his foreign policy advisory team, including Neoconservatives such […]