Middle East

By Mustafa Habib | Tikrit | (Niqash.org) – It’s been almost a month since the Islamic State group was expelled from Tikrit. NIQASH went there and found a graffiti-covered ghost town ruled by opposing groups of gunmen, none of whom trust one another. In Basha Street in the centre of the Iraqi city of Tikrit, […]

Afghanistan

The Middle East Policy of President Bernie Sanders

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – Bernie Sanders opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq and subsequent occupation of that country. Sanders wanted to get out of Afghanistan from 2011 much faster than the timetable announced by President Obama. Obama has now more or less extended a US military presence in Afghanistan, advertised as […]

censorship

Don’t Be Fooled by Saudi’s Reshuffle

contributors

By Adam Coogle | (Human Rights Watch) | – King Salman’s promotion of his nephew Mohammed bin Nayef to the position of crown prince and heir apparent marks a change of direction for Saudi Arabia, raising the possibility that power in the kingdom may be put directly into the hands of the House of Saud’s […]

African-Americans

Iran’s Khamenei weighs in on Baltimore: ‘Hollywood-style Policing’

contributors

Elliot Hill and Mark Sovel | (TheLipTV) The anchors debate the following speech from last Sunday of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in which he contrasted Iranian policing to the “Hollywood-style policing” of the United States, and slammed the treatment of African-Americans. The anchors discuss the question of whether, while the ayatollah has a point, he […]

Featured

Iran calls for Nuclear Disarmament by US, Israel, World

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | — At a summit on Monday, Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif turned the tables on the countries demanding that Iran keep its nuclear program for solely civilian, electricity generation. Zarif called for all countries to give up nuclear weapons, including Israel and the US. Iran does not […]

Apartheid

UN Report: 2014 Israeli Assault on Gaza Hit 7 UNRWA Schools, Killed 44

contributors

By IMEMC | — 44 displaced persons killed, 227 injured Attacks to be considered of “extreme severity toward those who looked to them for protection and sought refuge and were granted shelter there, had their hope and trust denied”, according to a recent statement by the United Nations. A UN girl’s school was hit 88 […]

Arab Spring

Young Arabs’ Faith in Democracy Shaken by return to Authoritarianism

contributors

By Roberto Savio ROME (IPS) – The results of a survey of what 3,500 young people between the ages of 18 and 24 – in all Arab countries except Syria – feel about the current situation in the Middle East and North Africa have just been released. The report of the survey, which was carried […]

Barack Obama

Bush blames Obama for lack of Wars (‘Follow-Through’ on ‘Threats’)

contributors

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – George W. Bush spoke privately this weekend at a Republican Jewish Coalition session hosted by casino sleazeball Sheldon Adelson, who made his pile in a very shady way in China’s Macau and now gets to choose the US president with his ill-gotten gains. What was remarkable was that […]

Iraq

The Battle Plans of ISIL: Can they Succeed in Mideast Conquest?

contributors

By Richard Rousseau | (The Conversation) What is Islamic State’s political program? What is its ideology? Who are its theoreticians? The answers to these questions can be found in its propaganda. Islamic State has transformed from an ultra-minority party into one of the major political actors in the Middle East within a few months. It […]