By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Gabriela Bejarano Rangel, the sister and daughter of the Mexican organizers of the tour to Egypt that met with tragedy Sunday, has been interviewed at Excelsior.com. The Egyptian military mistook the tourist convoy in the western desert near Siwa Oasis for terrorists and attacked them, killing […]
US Intel Chief: Iraq and Syria may not Survive as States
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Public remarks by the head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency and by John Brennan, director of the CIA, suggest that Washington is making its peace with a break-up of Syria and Iraq. They hastened to say that break-up was not US policy, they simply saw […]
Sanders surges in Iowa as Clinton faces Enthusiasm Gap
Anthony Salvanto | (CBS Face the Nation Video) | – – “A new CBS News 2016 Battleground Tracker poll shows presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, leading in both Iowa and New Hampshire. With 78 percent of Sanders fans “enthusiastically” supporting his candidacy, states across the nation are feeling the Bern.” CBS Face the Nation: […]
Germany seeks Talks with Russia over Syria as Putin conducts Naval Maneuvers off Tartous
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Agence France Press Arabic says that Cypriot officials are reporting that Russia has asked them to alter airline routes this coming week because it is planning naval military maneuvers off the Syrian coast near its leased naval base, Tartous. The maneuvers are called “routine” by Moscow […]
Top 5 Reasons Obama defeated GOP, AIPAC effort to vote Down Iran Deal
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – 40 Democratic senators and two independent senators stood with President Obama on Thursday, preventing any congressional condemnation of the UN Security Council’s Vienna agreement with Iran over its civilian nuclear enrichment program. By the genteel rules of the senate, proponents of the censure vote needed 60 […]
Russia Ramping up Military Involvement in Syria?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Reuters reports, based on sources in Beirut, that Russia is increasing its involvement in Syria, backing the military of beleaguered dictator Bashar al-Assad. Russia appears to be offloading tanks at its Tartous naval base on the Syrian coast, and may also be establishing an interior air […]
What if Kim Davis Refused to License Marriages of Inter-Racial Couples?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Kentucky court clerk Kim Davis was released from prison on Tuesday after having been jailed for 5 days for contempt of court because she will not issue marriage licenses to her gay constituents. Her release was turned into a circus by Mike Huckabee, seeking a way […]
Israel plans to tear down 13,000 Palestinian Buildings in Palestine
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has produced a report [pdf] in which it finds that “Official data released by the Israeli authorities indicate that over 11,000 demolition orders – affecting an estimated 13,000 Palestinian- owned structures, including homes -are currently ‘outstanding’ […]
Pope Francis’ call to host Refugees contrasts w/ anti-Immigrant US “Religious Right”
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Not all American Christian leaders have covered themselves in glory when it comes to the issue of Syrian refugees being accepted by the US ( not many are). Evangelist Franklin Graham sees these refugees as a security threat because many of them are Muslim (though there […]
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