Middle East

By Omer Tekdemir | ( Your Middle East) Dr Omer Tekdemir analyzes a radical force in Turkish politics, which strives to protect democracy and represent all identities in society. Turkey’s forthcoming election (07 June 2015) carries huge expectations for the HDP (People’s Democracy Party) and its new radical politics that targets a wider, more colorful […]

Iraq

Weapons of the Wet: ISIL/ Daesh Cuts water to Iraqi Towns south of Ramadi

contributors

Ben Wedeman | (CNN Video) | – – “Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) ISIS has closed off a dam to the north of the Iraqi city of Ramadi — seized by its forces last month — cutting water supplies to pro-government towns downstream and making it easier for its fighters to attack forces loyal to Baghdad, local […]

Featured

Iraq needs another National Party: Tariq Aziz’s Baath Party Ruined the Country

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | — Tariq Aziz, the former deputy prime minister and former foreign minister of Iraq, is dead at 79. He died in prison in the custody of the Shiie-dominated government he tried to forestall. Aziz was born Mikhael Yuhanna (Michael John) into a Chaldean Catholic family. He gravitated to […]

Democracy

Will the fight against ISIL Bankrupt the Iraqi Gov’t? Is it hemorrhaging hundreds of billions?

contributors

By Ibrahim Saleh | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) It’s hard to get an accurate figure on how much Iraq’s fight against the Islamic State group has cost. Local experts believe it’s in the hundreds of billions and that the country may never recover without foreign aid. The security crisis caused by the extremist group known as […]

Displaced and Refugees

Yemen: Saudi Airstrikes kill 58, including dozens of Women and Children

contributors

RT | (Video report) — “Saudi-led coalition warplanes are continuing to pound Houthi targets in Yemen despite the rebels agreeing to UN-backed peace talks. The strikes have killed 58 people across the country over the past two days, according to the Houthis. And the humanitarian situation is getting worse by the day, according to the […]

Democracy

Will Turkey’s Election end hopes for Turkish-Kurdish Rapprochement?

contributors

By Mustafa Gurbuz | (Informed Comment) | – – Whatever the election outcome on Sunday, prospects for Kurdish Peace Process are grim. Yet, regardless whether largely Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) passes the 10 percent threshold that will allow it to be seated in parliament, it has already acquired a charismatic authority with the pro-Kurdish […]

Apartheid

The Wrath of Netanyahu: What does Orange Telecom’s departure from Israel really Mean for BDS?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Stephane Richard, the CEO of the French telecommunnications company Orange embroiled himself in an international incident on Wednesday during a visit to Cairo, when he said that his company would withdraw its logo from the Israeli market “tomorrow” if he could. The reason is that the […]

Iran

The “Bomb Iran!” Lobby Gears Up for 2016

contributors

By Sina Toossi | ( Foreign Policy in Focus) | – “A tight-knit group of neocon dead-enders is pushing Iran to the forefront of the GOP's foreign policy agenda.” In a recent TV ad, a van snakes its way through an American city. As the driver fiddles with the radio dial, dire warnings about the […]

Displaced and Refugees

Caught in ISIL crossfire, 8.2 Million Iraqis In Need of Emergency Humanitarian Assistance

contributors

By Kanya D’Almeida | – UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – As fighting drags on between Iraqi armed forces and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), millions of refugees caught between the warring groups are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. Speaking at an appeal launch at the European Parliament in Brussels Thursday, Lise […]