Libya

By Henry Clements | (Informed Comment) – Egyptian president Abdel Fatah El-Sisi wants to rally the international community against terrorism in the Middle East. In a televised speech earlier this week he asserted, “Egypt and countries across the world are facing a fierce battle with terrorist organizations that adopt extremist ideology and share the same […]

al-Qaeda

2 1/2 yrs after US Consulate Attack, Libyan Nat’l Army advances in Benghazi against Radicals

contributors

CCTV Africa | – “Footage from Benghazi showed troops, equipped with tanks, gun-mounted trucks and automatic weapons, advancing through farmland.” CCTV Africa: “Libya’s Army Makes Gains In Fighting Against Militias” The Algerian Times also reported last week: The Libyan army retook Benghazi’s largest military base … in the East, from fundamentalist fighters who held the […]

al-Qaeda

Avenging its Christians, Egypt Bombs Libya in first formal Campaign since 1991

contributors

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – The murder by Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) thugs in Sirte, Libya, of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians this weekend provoked the first formal Egyptian military incursion into another state’s territory since the 1991 Gulf War. Egyptian fighter jets bombed warehouses, training camps and other assets of Daesh in Derna. […]

Barack Obama

Sen. Lindsey Graham furious GOP House Benghazi Report Shows He Wasted All our Time & Money

contributors

The Young Turks | — “”Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday blasted a House GOP-led investigation that recently debunked myths about the 2012 Benghazi attack. “I think the report is full of crap,” Graham said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” The House Intelligence Committee released a report on Friday evening, which took two years […]

Featured

The Wider Appeal of ISIL and Sunni Grievances

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole al-Quds al-`Arabi [Arab Jerusalem] reports on the appeal of ISIL to Salafi hard line Sunni Muslims. In a worrisome development, radicals throughout the region are rallying to the so-called “Islamic State,” which is actually just a bunch of armed thugs and brigands. Some of the Pakistani Taliban in Waziristan have announced their […]

Arab Spring

Will Egypt Intervene in Libya as part of Generals’ War on Political Islam?

contributors

CCTV Africa: “Pressure is growing on Egypt’s government to intervene in Libya. That’s after the emergence this week of an Islamic State-style caliphate – close to the Egyptian border. Many in Cairo say, the government needs to deploy military force in Libya, to crush the threat.” CCTV Africa: “Pressure mounting on Egyptian government to intervene […]

Arab Spring

The Arab Political Crisis: It isn’t a Matter of Civilization and it isn’t Unique

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Hisham Melhem has a piece on what he calls the collapse of Arab civilization. The piece is riddled with contradictions and fuzzy thinking and with all due respect to Milhem, who is a knowledgeable and experienced correspondent, I am going to disagree with it vehemently. I think he is arguing that Arabs […]

Arab World

Cole’s “The New Arabs” at Firedoglake Book Salon

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Firedoglake Book Salon on Juan Cole, The New Arabs: How the Millennial Generation is changing the Middle East See also this recent NYT review by Irshad Manji FDL Book Salon Welcomes Juan Cole, The New Arabs: How the Millennial Generation is Changing the Middle East Author: CTuttle Sunday, September 7, 2014 12:15 […]

Egypt

5 Ironies of US Reaction to Egypt/UAE Bombing of Libya

Juan Cole

The diplomatic angst issuing from Washington around the United Arab Emirates and Egypt bombing of weapons depots belonging to the Qatar-backed fundamentalist militia of Misrata holds many delicious ironies: 1. According to the BBC, “the US, France, Germany, Italy and the UK issued a joint statement denouncing “outside interference” in Libya.” Seriously, guys? Except for […]