Arab World

Trump Pardons Blackwater 4 for Nisour Square Massacre in Iraq, because Whites must never Suffer for Killing Innocent Brown People

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Tuesday, Trump the Mad pardoned 4 Blackwater mercenaries who killed 14 Iraqi civilians, including a nine-year-old boy, with indiscriminate fire at Nisour Square in downtown Baghdad on September 14, 2007. The four were convicted at then VP Joe Biden’s insistence, and were serving jail terms. WaPo says, “Investigators for […]

Iraq

‘Wealth Accumulates and Men Decay:’ Can America learn the Lessons of Iraq and Vietnam

Andrew J. Bacevich

( Tomdispatch.com ) – In choosing a title for his final, posthumously published book, the prominent public intellectual Tony Judt turned to a poem by Oliver Goldsmith, The Deserted Village, published in 1770. Judt found his book’s titlein the first words of this couplet: Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey Where wealth […]

Kurds

Will Syrian Kurds be crushed between the Russian Hammer and Turkish Anvil?

Nikola Mikovic

Major global actors in the Middle East are traditionally using the Kurds as bargaining chips for their own geopolitical trade. Russia is no exception. The Kurds of northern Syria could soon “fall victim” of the Russo-Turkish lucrative deals. Moscow has reportedly recently asked Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – an alliance composed of Kurdish, Arab, and […]

Russia

Why is the Russian Public Paying for Bombing Schools in Syria?

Human Rights Watch

By Belkis Wille | – Senior Researcher, Crisis and Conflict Division | – ( Human Rights Watch) – The Russian military marked the fifth anniversary of its intervention in the armed conflict in Syria on September 30. The consequences have been devastating for many Syrian civilians, with hundreds of thousands killed and millions more forced […]

Authoritarianism

Trump aping Mideast Tinpot Dictators and raving about declaring Martial Law, which even Iran Prohibits

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – With Trump raving in White House meetings, prompted by the equally certifiable Michael Flynn, about declaring martial law, it sets an old Middle East hand like me thinking. In my part of the world, leaders declare martial law or a “state of emergency” at the drop of a helmet. And […]

Germany

Germany backs major international green hydrogen project in Saudi Arabia

Clean Energy Wire

By Benjamin Wehrmann | – German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp will supply an electrolyser for a massive international green hydrogen project in Saudi Arabia with the capacity to produce up to 650 tonnes of the climate-neutral gas per day with wind and solar power installations. The German economy ministry (BMWi) announced that it will support the “Element […]

Afghanistan

It’s almost 20 Years since 9/11; Can we finally End our Constant, Disastrous Wars?

Rebecca Gordon

( Tomdispatch.com) – It was the end of October 2001. Two friends, Max Elbaum and Bob Wing, had just dropped by. (Yes, children, believe it or not, people used to drop in on each other, maskless, once upon a time.) They had come to hang out with my partner Jan Adams and me. Among other […]

censorship

Saudi: Terrorism Court Rushes Activist’s Unfair Trial; Charges Relate Solely to Peaceful Women’s Rights Activism

Human Rights Watch

( Human Rights Watch) – (Beirut) – Saudi authorities are rushing through the closed trial of the prominent women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, Human Rights Watch said today. Prosecutors originally charged al-Hathloul, 31, in March 2019 with offenses related solely to her human rights advocacy, but the authorities informally suspended her trial at the regular […]

Bashar al-Assad

Will Biden Wind down the Syria War or keep it Bubbling?

Global Voices

Incoming US administration won’t take leaps in Syria