Arab World

By Balsam Mustafa | (The Conversation) | – – The operation to retake Iraq’s second city of Mosul from the so-called Islamic State [group] (IS) has entered its crucial phase. The Iraqi army, federal police, elite counter-terrorism units, and rapid response troops are operating on the ground, bolstered by discreetly embedded US special forces. The […]

Houthi

As Trump Goes In: Foxing the public over Yemen and Iran

contributors

By Brian Whitaker | ( Al-Bab.com ) When it comes to reporting the conflict in Yemen, Fox News is exceptionally bad. Fox has been fooling its viewers for years but now, with Donald Trump installed in the White House, the problem is becoming a more serious. Trump is a devotee of Fox News: it tells […]

art and photography

Photo of the Day: Gaza (the Old Town), 1862

contributors

The New York Public Library | Francis Frith | – – The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. “Gaza (the Old Town)” New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed February 26, 2017. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-5c4b-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 Title: Gaza (the Old Town) Names: Frith, Francis (Photographer) Collection: […]

Bush

Did David Brooks & the NeoCons pave the Way for Trump?

contributors

By Andrew J. Bacevich | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – Apart from being a police officer, firefighter, or soldier engaged in one of this nation’s endless wars, writing a column for a major American newspaper has got to be one of the toughest and most unforgiving jobs there is. The pay may be decent […]

Yemen

Under Saudi Bombardment, 33% of Yemenis Food Insecure

contributors

TeleSur | – – The U.N. says almost half a million children in the country are at risk of death from famine as Saudi Arabia’s war in the country completes a second year. At least seven million people in Yemen are facing starvation as a result of the humanitarian crisis caused by almost two years […]

Afghanistan

The Misuse of American Military Power and Mideast Chaos

contributors

By Danny Sjursen | (Tomdispatch.com) | – – The United States has already lost — its war for the Middle East, that is. Having taken my own crack at combat soldiering in both Iraq and Afghanistan, that couldn’t be clearer to me. Unfortunately, it’s evidently still not clear in Washington. Bush’s neo-imperial triumphalism failed. Obama’s […]

Donald Trump

Eight People Flee U.S. Border Patrol to Seek Asylum in Canada

contributors

TeleSur | – – As the U.S. looks to tighten its policies on refugees and illegal immigrants, people seeking refugee status have been pouring over the Canada-U.S. border. Eight asylum-seekers, including four children, barely made it across the Canadian border on Friday as a U.S. border patrol officer tried to stop them and a Reuters […]

Donald Trump

Pentagon To Recommend US Deploy Ground Troops in Syria?

contributors

TeleSur | – – Countries opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will meet on Friday for the first time since Donald Trump’s U.S. administration took office. The U.S. Defense Department may recommend that the United States deploy regular combat troops to Syria to fight Islamic State group militants, CNN reported on Wednesday. The idea is […]

Syria

Al-Qaeda Rising? After Aleppo defeat, Syrian Rebels turn on Each other

contributors

By David Patrikarakos | ( RFE/RL ) | – – 2017, it seems, will be no less chaotic than its predecessor — an aphorism made plain by a mere glance at the state of international politics extending from Paris to Washington. But nowhere is this trend clearer than in that most tumultuous of countries, Syria. […]