Featured

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Political Satire In the course of the second GOP debate at CNN, anchor Jake Tapper asked the candidates about Syria policy. They for the most part did not actually answer the question, but occasionally said something. But they often said it at great length. Here is […]

Featured

Pope Francis Endorses Iran Deal: Another Dilemma for GOP Catholic Candidates

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Republican presidential candidates are virtually unanimous that human-caused climate change is a hoax and burning fossil fuels is good for us; that Obamacare is evil and must be repealed; and that the UN Security Council’s deal with Iran restricting its nuclear enrichment program must be […]

Egypt

Mexican Tour Organizers, Buddhist Healers, Baffled by Egyptian Army Attack

Juan Cole

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 […]

Featured

US Intel Chief: Iraq and Syria may not Survive as States

Juan Cole

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 […]

Bashar al-Assad

Germany seeks Talks with Russia over Syria as Putin conducts Naval Maneuvers off Tartous

Juan Cole

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 […]

al-Qaeda

14 Years after 9/11, US, Israel Tempted to ally with Al-Qaeda in Syria

contributors

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Jabhat al-Nusra or Support Front is one of the major rebel groups in Syria, holding extensive territory in the hinterland of cities like Homs and Aleppo and in the province of Idlib. The Support Front is just al-Qaeda. It has announced allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri, […]

Barack Obama

Top 5 Reasons Obama defeated GOP, AIPAC effort to vote Down Iran Deal

Juan Cole

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 […]

al-Qaeda

Russia Ramping up Military Involvement in Syria?

Juan Cole

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 […]

African-Americans

What if Kim Davis Refused to License Marriages of Inter-Racial Couples?

Juan Cole

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 […]