By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – A Boston U. political scientist estimates that as of 2016, The Iraq and Afghanistan Wars have cost the American taxpayers $5 trillion. That number isn’t important when we consider the human cost– Some 7,000 US troops dead, 52,000 wounded in action; hundreds of thousands of Iraqis […]
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Middle East
A Nomad Between Worlds: Badawi
By Erdağ Göknar | (Los Angeles Review of Books) | – – MOHED ALTRAD’S DEBUT NOVEL Badawi begins in the Cold War–era Middle East, where the Bedouin tradition of a nomadic life struggles against modernity. Maïouf, whose mother was cast out of her marriage and later buried in an unmarked grave, finds himself discriminated against […]
The Millenarian Dimensions of the Attempted Coup in Turkey and implications for Muslim Modernism & Traditionalism
By Mohammed Nuruzzaman | (Informed Comment) | – – The failed July 15 coup in Turkey has generated a whole range of debates on who was really behind the coup, Turkey’s future relations with NATO and the U.S., and President Erdogan’s possible pivot to Russia and Iran. A more serious debate that did not receive […]
Iran and Hizbullah Welcome Kerry-Lavrov Syria Ceasefire
Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Hizbullah, the national guard for South Lebanon, announced Saturday that it supports the agreement on a truce in Syria, where its fighters have been battling on behalf of the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Its statement said that “the field commander for operations in Syria has affirmed that […]
Can ISIL survive scenes of Sunni Muslims celebrating their Liberation from it?
By James Miller | ( RFE/RL) What a difference a month makes. At the start of August, the extremist group that calls itself Islamic State (IS) [group]controlled a large part of the border between Syria and Turkey, while the U.S.-backed Syrian Defense Forces (SDF), a multiethnic group made up primarily of Kurdish YPG fighters, raced […]
US and Russia plan Joint Air Command to hit Terrorists in Syria
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Pentagon isn’t going to be happy about this. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced an agreement on a Syria plan between the US and Russia late on Friday, which they said the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad had agreed […]
Clinton: No US ground troops in Iraq, Syria; Trump: Steal Iraqi Oil
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The NBC Candidates Forum continued the shameful corporate coverage of the Great American Meltdown that is our election season. That season has given us a Faux Cable News that runs clips of only one side and pays out hush money to cover up how its blonde […]
Is Modern Israel a Right Wing Project?
By Yakov M Rabkin | (Informed Comment) | – – The recent appointment of the Soviet-born Avigdor Lieberman has aggrieved many liberal supporters of Israel. The man is on record as a proponent of ethnic cleansing, bombing the Aswan Dam in Egypt and stripping Arabs of Israeli citizenship. These critics bemoan an alleged betrayal of […]
Saudi Bigot-in-Chief Declares Iranian Shiites “Not Muslim”
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – `Abd al-Aziz Al Shaikh, the chief jurisconsult or mufti for the interpretation of Muslim law in Saudi Arabia, said Wednesday that Iranian Shiites are not Muslims. This statement is a huge step back from the limited progress Saudi had made under the previous king, Abdullah, toward […]