Arab World

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Libya has become a multipolar battleground unusual in the era since 1946. The UN-recognized General National Assembly (GNA) government in Tripoli is ranged against the forces of Benghazi-based Gen. Khalifa Haftar. Haftar is supported by the Russian Federation, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and diplomatically, France. The GNA is supported […]

Bush

First the Nat’l Security State Surged Baghdad, now it is Surging Portland and Seattle

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – USA Today’s headline went, “Mayors see broken trust, political agenda in Trump’s surge of federal officers to US cities.” Surge? For those of us old enough to remember George W. Bush’s Iraq War, the use of the word “surge” to describe Federal agents sent into Democratic cities to break heads […]

Donald Trump

Iran’s Khamenei presses Iraq PM to Expel US troops, as Iraqi Parliament Legislated

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iraq Akhbar (Iraq News) reports on the first visit of Mustafa al-Kadhimi as Iraqi prime minister to Iran. He met with Iran’s clerical Leader, Ali Khamenei, on Tuesday. Khamenei said that Iran wants to see “a strong and independent Iraq that enjoys full sovereignty and internal cohesion.” He pledged never […]

Donald Trump

Despite Saudi Atrocities in Yemen, Trump and Boris Johnson are Addicted to Arms Sales to Riyadh

Sandy Milne

Tokyo (Special to Informed Comment) – “There is not a clear risk that the export of arms and military equipment to Saudi Arabia might be used in the commission of a serious violation of IHL [International Human Rights Law].” So says the Honorable Elizabeth Truss MP – the UK’s top exports expert, and wolf in […]

Bahrain

Qatar’s Victory over Saudi, UAE Blockade Shows UN Court can be Weapon of the Weak

Middle East Monitor

By Daud Abdullah | – A press release issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 14 July described its judgement against Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and UAE as “final, without appeal and binding on the Parties.” Since June 2017, the four countries have imposed a land, air and sea blockade against the State […]

Epidemics

Mass Graves and a Tripling of Death Rate: Is Yemen what Covid-19 ‘Herd Immunity’ looks like?

Brian Whitaker

( Al-Bab.com ) -When the coronavirus swept into the Yemeni city of Aden there was little to stand in its way. The war-torn country was already in the midst of a humanitarian crisis and this time last month people were falling ill and dying in untold numbers. Few received any medical treatment because the hospitals […]

Bashar al-Assad

As Syria Faces Hunger, will New, Severe Trump Sanctions on the Regime Harm the People?

Jamal Dillman-Hasso

Ann Arbor (Special to Informed Comment) – In the Ma`aret Misrin camp near Idlib, 45-year-old father of 10 Nasr Sultan recently told AFP that with the recent imminent halt of food supplies to the camp, his children will be at the mercy of famine. Mike Robson, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Syrian representative, separately […]

Democracy

The Other Black Lives Matter Protests are in Africa: Sudanese wanted Democracy, not a Long Military-Civilian Transition

The Conversation

By David E Kiwuwa | – In the last few days, tens of thousands of people have, once again, taken to the streets of Sudan’s major cities to demand “freedom, peace and justice”, the rallying cry for the protesters who ousted Omar al-Bashir in 2019. The big difference is that this time they are marching […]

Children

Syrian Refugee Children Are Still Being Robbed of an Education

Human Rights Watch

By Breanna Small and Bill Van Esveld | ( Human Rights Watch ) – June 30 was possibly the most important day of 2020 for Syrian refugee children. At the annual pledging conference for the “Future of Syria and the Region,” dozens of governments and multilateral donors pledged US$7.7 billion in humanitarian aid for Syrian […]