Featured

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei spoke Thursday about the letter signed by 47 Republican senators that had been sent to him warning that any nuclear deal he concluded with President Barack Obama would have no staying power. Khamenei called the letter “stupid” and “disgusting and said he was negotiating with […]

Featured

Dear Sweden: HR Dispute with Saudis makes this a good time to adopt Electric Cars

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) First, the new left wing government in Sweden cancelled an arms sale to Saudi Arabia, even though Prime Minister Stefan Lofven favored it. (He had been a union rep friendly to the Swedish arms industry). Foreign Minister Margot Wallström put her foot down, however, and won the argument. She […]

Featured

Ghosts of Saladin, Saddam & Khomeini: Tikrit Campaign’s Historical Meaning

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – The Iraqi forces (one-third army, two-thirds Shiite militias) that are surrounding Tikrit 80 miles north of Baghdad are not just Iraqi forces. They are mostly Shiite, though some Sunni irregulars have joined them. More important, the Tikrit campaign is being directed as to its strategy by Qasim Sulaimani, […]

Constitution

The Letter: Top 5 Similarities of GOP and Iran Hard Liners

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – 47 GOP senators sent a letter to Iran on Monday warning that country that any agreement only signed off on by President Obama might not last longer than his last day in office. This intervention of the senate in a foreign policy matter is not, as some observers […]

Education

Bombing Iran: What would Happen if the Hawks got their Way?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Some of those who believe that Iran’s civilian nuclear enrichment program is inevitably dual use (that it can be used to produce a nuclear weapon) are alarmed at the prospect of a diplomatic deal between Washington and Tehran that will allow Iran to continue enriching under inspections. After […]

African-Americans

African-Americans still struggle for Full Citizenship Rights, Voting Rights

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – 50 years after the Selma march to Montgomery, African-Americans still face substantial impediments to their full citizenship in the United States. We all saw the scene in the film “Selma” where the Oprah Winfrey character has to pass an arbitrary test to vote (and is always failed by […]

Climate Change

The “Hindenburg Trap”: Dump Oil, Coal & Gas Stocks if you Want to Retire

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – What is the actual value of the oil, gas and coal fields owned by big energy corporations, which gives them their stock price and allows them to be counted as assets for borrowing purposes? The real value of those hydrocarbon resources is zero. Or actually it is much […]

Featured

Iraq: 30,000 Sunnis flee as Shiite Militias, Army, approach Tikrit

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) The Iraqi military and allied Shiite militias are mounting a campaign to take the largely Sunni town of Tikrit (original pop. 300,000), which is alleged to have been planned and is being directed by the Jerusalem (Quds) Brigade, the foreign special ops arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps […]

Featured

Syria: As al-Qaeda defeats ‘moderate’ US allies, will US ally with al-Qaeda?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – President Obama’s impossibly complicated plan for dealing with ISIL involves a de facto alliance with Iran in Iraq, and training up a ‘third force,’ essentially creating a new, ‘moderate’ Free Syrian Army to attack al-Qaeda and ISIL. Training an effective new fighting force will likely take 15 years, […]