Middle East

Benghazi’s Deep Throat fingers Islamist Leaders for Attacks as State Dept Criticized on Consular Security

The report saying that security was inadequate at the compound that the US had adopted as its ad hoc consulate in Benghazi, Libya, dominates today’s headlines. That conclusion is obvious. The “consulate” was just a private residence taken over for this purpose by the US in the city. It was not constructed to be a […]

Afghanistan

How America is Filling up itself and the World With Guns

Juan Cole

The American obsession with guns and violence is not unique, but it is distinctive. The US ranks 12th in the world for rate of firearm-related deaths. El Salvador, Colombia, Swaziland, Brazil, South Africa, the Philippines and some others are worse. But that is the company the US is in– not, say, relatively peaceful places like […]

Egypt

Top Ten Threats to the Legitimacy of Egypt’s new Constitution

Juan Cole

Early returns from the Egyptian provinces that voted in a two-stage referendum on Saturday suggest that the draft constitution garnered some 56% of the vote. It was rejected in the capital, Cairo, and in the Delta province of Gharbiya, but won in the 8 other provinces where voting took place on Saturday, including Alexandria and […]

Libya

Top Ten GOP Myths about Libya that Sank Susan Rice

Juan Cole

The charge against US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice was led by a handful of Republican senators and congressmen, and based on the alleged deficiencies of her account of the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi on September 11. She withdrew her name from consideration for secretary of state on Thursday. The […]

Egypt

Will Egyptian Left & Liberals Urge a “No” vote on Constitution or Boycott?

Juan Cole

The left, liberal and centrist parties grouped in the National Salvation Front have decided to campaign for a “no” vote on the constitution in the two-part referendum that begins on Saturday, rather than boycotting it, assuming certain conditions are met. The decision came in the wake of large dueling demonstrations on Tuesday by the left […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel’s Apartheid Deepens (Cole at Truthdig)

Juan Cole

My essay on the aftermath of the Gaza conflict is out in Truthdig; it is entitled “Israel’s Apartheid Deepens, Along With Its Global Isolation” Excerpt: “Building a new, large settlement in the E-1 area between west Jerusalem and the big settlement of Maale Adumim just nine miles from the Dead Sea border with Jordan would […]

Syria

Obama Recognizes Syrian Opposition as Government, as Fighters advance in Aleppo, Damascus

Juan Cole

President Obama announced on Tuesday that the US now formally recognizes the Syrian opposition as the legitimate government of Syria: US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said Tuesday that there were no further indications of the Syrian regime priming itself to deploy chemical weapons. (My own suspicion is that Israeli intelligence planted that story in […]

Syria

South Damascus a Battlefield, as Bodies Pile up, and Bread Crisis in Capital Worsens

Juan Cole

The forces seeking to overthrow the Baath government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad have made further advances both in the north in Aleppo and its surroundings, and in the suburbs of the capital of Damascus. But the civilian population in the war-torn country’s urban areas are facing food and electricity shortages: On Damascus, the USG […]

Egypt

The Green-Khaki Alliance: Morsi Deploys the Military for Referendum

Juan Cole

Faced with the prospect of substantial public resistance to his scheduling of a referendum on a Muslim Brotherhood-tinged constitution on December 15, Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi has turned to the military. (The green in the title is a reference to political Islam, not the environment). Morsi has ordered that the Egyptian army guard government buildings […]