Jack Serle writes at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have published eight formal reports on Syrian human rights violations since the rebellion began. These have appeared alongside almost daily statements and calls for action over the abuses meted out on civilians. And yet the violence has continued for more […]
Washington’s Dangerous Blockade of Iran (Cole at Tomdispatch)
My essay, “Why Washington’s Iran Policy Could Lead to Global Disaster,” is out at Tomdispatch.com Go to that site for Tom Englehardt’s powerful introduction. Why Washington’s Iran Policy Could Lead to Global Disaster What History Should Teach Us About Blockading Iran By Juan Cole It’s a policy fierce enough to cause great suffering among Iranians […]
Bahrain Crisis between Hunger Strike and Grand Prix Boycott
The crisis in Bahrain continues to boil along, despite the harsh crackdown of the Sunni monarchy on the protest movement (made up largely of the Shiite majority, but also supported by some Sunni parties). The crackdown has left about 83 dead in the past year, and hundreds have been imprisoned. Abd al-Hadi al-Khwajah, a protester […]
Dear CNN: This is not News; *This* is News
Dear CNN: You are in danger of being sued for false advertising, since you characterize yourself as a news channel. Just so you know, this is your home page as I write and it is mostly not actually news: If you’d like some help with recognizing actual news, you might check this site:
Afghanistan’s Taliban – a differing view of drones (Woods)
Chris Woods writes at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: Scholars Alex Strick van Linschoten, 28, and 32 year old Felix Kuehn have swapped the musty libraries of London for the dusty streets of Kandahar, spiritual home of the Taliban. There the two have lived for almost five years, engaging with those many call the enemy […]
Egyptian Court throws out Fundamentalist Constitution-writing assembly, Insists on a Representative Body
Egypt’s administrative court invalidated the current constituent assembly charged with drafting the new constitution, on the grounds that it is overly stacked with Muslim fundamentalists and is unrepresentative of Egyptian society. The court relied on a 1994 law stipulating that sitting judges and parliamentarians may not be involved in constitutional revisions, lest they misuse their […]
Text from Hillary to Santorum: The Front Line of Combat is Not the Best Place for You
h/t to Texts from Hillary and Kevin Lamarque Rick Santorum on women serving in combat: “I think that could be a very compromising situation where people naturally may do things that may not be in the interest of the mission because of other types of emotions that are involved. I was talking about men’s emotional […]
Amman, Jordan (0111)
Photograph of Amman, Jordan, August, 2008, by Juan Cole
The Afghanistan Syndrome (Engelhardt)
Tom Engelhardt writes at Tomdispatch: The Afghan Syndrome Vietnam Has Left Town, Say Hello to the New Syndrome on the Block By Tom Engelhardt Take off your hat. Taps is playing. Almost four decades late, the Vietnam War and its post-war spawn, the Vietnam Syndrome, are finally heading for their American grave. It may qualify […]
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