By Mark Shackleton | – The largest oil and gas producer, Saudi Aramco, is due to become the world’s most valuable publicly listed company. The Saudi government is planning to sell a small fraction of the firm’s shares on the Riyadh stock exchange before seeking a listing for 5% of the firm on an international […]
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Arab World
No, Russia isn’t taking over the Middle East from the US
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – There has been a lot of talk of Russian reassertion in the Middle East and angst (except in Donald Trump) about a deterioration of the US position there. Neither of these propositions, of a Russian assertion or a US decline, is supported by much evidence. And a US disengagement from […]
Trump’s Debacle in the Desert: A Post Mortem on the Kurdish-American Military Alliance (1941-2019)
(Informed Comment) – An “After-Action” Report on the Kurds’ Vital Role in The Defeat of ISIS and Death of “God’s Shadow on Earth”: On October 26th US Delta Forces, acting on intelligence provided to them by their trusted Kurdish allies, launched a dangerous, long-distance heliborne raid from Iraq, across a region in northern Syria that […]
The New Middle East That’s Coming: End of American Empire?
(Foreign Policy in Focus) – As Saudi Arabia slowly backpedals, we could see an end to the Yemen war, an easing of Iran’s isolation, and a reduced role for the U.S. By Conn Hallinan, November 5, 2019. The fallout from the September attack on Saudi Arabia’s Aramco oil facilities is continuing to reverberate throughout the […]
Iraq: 17 Rockets target US Base, as Over a Dozen Protesters are Killed in Continued Massive Protests
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Some 17 katyusha rockets targeted a military base south of Mosul Saturday morning where US troops are based. There are no reports of casualties. In that strong Sunni area of Iraq, the attack was unlikely to be the work of Iran-backed Shiite militias, but ISIL remnants are more likely. This […]
Saudis Spied on American Soil to Penetrate Twitter to Bust Critics
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman was behind a Saudi intelligence operation wherein they bribed Twitter employees (now ex-employees) to gain access to anonymous accounts tweeting criticism of the Saudi regime inside the kingdom. This, according to NPR’s Ailsa Chang. It is unknown how many accounts were compromised (though it […]
What hope for a New Generation of US Troops graduating into the Forever Wars?
(Tomdispatch.com) – Patches, pins, medals, and badges are the visible signs of an exclusive military culture, a silent language by which soldiers and officers judge each other’s experiences, accomplishments, and general worth. In July 2001, when I first walked through the gate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point at the ripe young age […]
Trump Expands US Military Mission in Syrian Oil Fields, as Russian calls him a “Hitler”
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Lolita C. Baldor at the Associated Press reports that Trump has been prevailed upon by the US officer corps and national security officials to authorize some 600 troops to guard the Syrian oil fields in Deir al-Zor province, in addition to the 200 already in the Tanf pocket. Kurdish troops […]
Unconstitutional: VP Pence Directed USAID Help for Iraqis to tiny Christian Minority
by Yeganeh Torbati | (ProPublica) | – Officials at USAID warned that favoring Christian groups in Iraq could be unconstitutional and inflame religious tensions. When one colleague lost her job, they said she had been “Penced.” Last November, a top Trump appointee at the U.S. Agency for International Development wrote a candid email to colleagues […]