Middle East

AJ+ | (Video report) | – – “After a recent visit to the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson described it as “really quite nice.” We went to the camp to ask refugees there what they thought of his comment.” AJ+: “We Asked Syrian Refugees To Respond To Ben Carson’s Comments […]

Iraq

Beyond ISIS: Suicide by World War IV

contributors

By Andrew Bacevich | (Tomdispatch.com) |- – Introduction by Tom Engelhardt Let’s consider the two parties in Washington. I’m not referring to the Republican and Democratic ones, but our capital’s war parties (there being no peace party, of course). They might be labeled the More War Party and the Much (or Much, Much) More War […]

Iraq

Senators McCain & Lindsay want to “Reoccupy” Iraq and Invade Syria: Should We?

Juan Cole

Guest post from Brian Glyn Williams on viable strategy to diminish terrorist attacks in the West.

Israel/ Palestine

Upheaval in Palestine and Israel: Occupation and beyond (96 Palestinians, 17 Israelis Killed since Oct. 1)

contributors

By Mahmoud Jabari | (Ma’an News Agency) | – – It can be argued that the rising escalation in tensions and confrontations between the Israelis and Palestinians over the past two months demonstrates that the Israeli policy of conflict management in order to maintain the status quo in the occupied Palestinian territory has become unsustainable. […]

Featured

US to send Spec Ops troops to Iraq to fight ISIL, but do Iraqis want them?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced Tuesday that the US would send more Special Operations troops to Iraq to fight Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) both in Iraq and in Syria. They would coordinate with and reinforce the Iraqi Army and the Kurdish peshmerga. It looked to […]

Iraq

Former US Military Chief: US invasion of Iraq spawned ISIL: (“Huge Error”)

contributors

By Nadia Prupis, staff writer| (Commondreams.org) | – – The U.S. is poised to repeat all the same mistakes in Syria that it made in Iraq after 9/11, says former head of Defense Intelligence Agency The Islamic State (ISIS) formed in the wake of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, said (Ret.) U.S. General Mike Flynn. […]

censorship

The End of Press Freedom in Turkey?

contributors

By Joris Leverink | (Inter Press Service) | – – ANKARA, Turkey (IPS) – Days after the 1 November general elections in Turkey, Beyza Kural, a reporter with the independent press agency Bianet, rushed to Istanbul University to cover a stand-off between protesting students and the police. At the scene, Kural was harassed and manhandled […]

Bashar al-Assad

Putin: Turkey was protecting ISIL oil Smuggling; Russia urges Assad-Kurdish Alliance

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday in Paris that his government had intelligence that the reason Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet last week was to protect oil smuggling from Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) through Turkey. Putin said, “”We have every reason to think that the […]

Dissent

Shooting of pro-Kurdish Human Rights Lawyer Deepens Turkey’s Political Crisis

contributors

GlobalVoices.org | – – On November 28, Tahir Elçi, one of Turkey's most prominent pro-Kurdish lawyers, was holding a press conference close to the very same minaret he referenced in his tweet above, explaining that the people of Turkey's Kurdish-populated East were tired of conflict and recurrent government military operations in the region. Moments after […]