Iraq

Iraq Pays off $52.4 bn. in Reparations for Invading Kuwait in 1990, but the US will Never Pay a Dime for Invading Iraq

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Stephanie Nebehay at Reuters reports that Iraq has finally paid off the $52.4 billion in war reparations imposed on it by the United Nations as punishment for its invasion and attempted annexation of Kuwait in 1990, which led to the Gulf War of 1991. The headline we’ll never see is […]

Iraq

Islamic State leader killed in US raid – where does this leave the terrorist group?

The Conversation

By Haroro J. Ingram, Amira Jadoon, and Andrew Mines | – An overnight raid conducted by U.S. special forces in Syria has resulted in the death of the leader of the terrorist Islamic State group. Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi was killed as he exploded a bomb at his compound in the country’s northwestern Idlib province. […]

Epidemics

Is America a Nation Coming Apart?

Tom Engelhardt

By Tom Engelhardt | – ( Tomdispatch.com) – Let me start 2022 by heading back — way, way back — for a moment. It’s easy to forget just how long this world has been a dangerous place for human beings. I thought about this recently when I stumbled upon a little memoir my Aunt Hilda […]

Afghanistan

Biden’s 4 Biggest Mideast Challenges in 2022

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Biden faces severe challenges in the coming year, but in my view the for-profit news often either focuses on the wrong ones or misinterprets the nature of the obstacles. Here are some of the major challenges: 1. Iran While many foreign policy hawks and inside-the-beltway pundits see the Iranian […]

Iraq

American Colonialism Left Iraq in Environmental Crisis, Polluted, Corrupt and Crime-Ridden

Middle East Monitor

By Haifa Zangana | – (Middle East Monitor ) – The devastation caused by man to the environment is no longer a secret; nature is striking back painfully, after decades of warnings by scientists of a catastrophic future that requires quick, radical solutions. There is no more room for procrastination in the face of hurricanes, […]

Afghanistan

The Pentagon lost the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, so why are we upping its Funding to $778 billion?

William J. Astore

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Where are you going to get the money? That question haunts congressional proposals to help the poor, the unhoused, and those struggling to pay the mortgage or rent or medical bills, among so many other critical domestic matters. And yet — big surprise! — there’s always plenty of money for the […]

Featured

American Legacy of Instability in Iraq continues as caretaker Prime Minister Narrowly avoids Assassination by Drone

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Al-Jazeera reports that Iraqi authorities on Sunday announced that Iraqi caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi escaped being assassinated by three drones loaded with explosives that targeted his residence in the Green Zone in the center of Baghdad around dawn. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which damaged the prime […]

Afghanistan

Celebrating Rep. Barbara Lee, our Cassandra who warned against the Failed 20-Year Wars

Rebecca Gordon

( Tomdispatch.com ) – For decades, I kept a poster on my wall that I’d saved from the year I turned 16. In its upper left-hand corner was a black-and-white photo of a white man in a grey suit. Before him spread a cobblestone plaza. All you could see were the man and the stones. […]

Featured

Epitaph for a Failed US Occupation: The Late Gen. Odierno’s Arch-Nemesis Muqtada al-Sadr wins Iraq

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The elections in Iraq have brought it briefly back into U.S. headlines, though it is a long time since Americans have given the mess they made there any thought. The late Gen. Ray Odierno, the former head of the 8.5-year-long occupation of Iraq who died on Saturday, once fingered a […]