Middle East

The war in Syria is interfering in farmers’ ability to bring in the wheat and other crops. It is a sad Eid al-Fitr (the feast to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan) for millions of Syrians VOAnews reports: The World Food Program reports of one twice-displaced Syrian family made internally displaced persons: […]

Iran

Shameless: American Sanctions hit Ordinary Iranians’ Access to Medicine

Juan Cole

American and European sanctions contribute to the difficulties ordinary Iranians in getting medicine and affording it. Channel 4 News reports The National Iranian American Council explains: ” NIAC Policy Memo: Why are U.S. sanctions blocking medicine for Iranians and how can we fix this? By: NIAC Staff Beginning in 2012, there have been widespread reports […]

Egypt

Top Reasons John McCain and Lindsey Graham have no Credibility for Egypt Talks

Juan Cole

Sen. John McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham were apparently asked by President Obama to go to Egypt and try to mediate the conflict between the Egyptian military and the Muslim Brotherhood. They are saying some of the right things while in Cairo. The problem is that they have no credibility on the issues involved. 1. […]

Domestic Surveillance

Top Ten Things that don’t Make Sense about NSA Surveillance, Drones and al-Qaeda

Juan Cole

In a Reuters Exclusive, John Shiffman and Kristina Cooke reveal that the National Security Agency shares information it gleans from warrantless surveillance of Americans with the Special Operation Division of the Drug Enforcement Agency, which then uses the metadata to develop cases against US citizens. The DEA then routinely lies to the judge and defense […]

Israel

On Eve of “Peace Talks,” Israelis Subsidize their West Bank Colonies, build new Units

Juan Cole

On the eve of resumption of peace talks between Israel and Palestine, the far right Israeli nationalist government of Binyamin Netanyahu attempted to torpedo them with a series of provocative announcements. it announced that it would steal 100 acres of land from Palestinian families and build 240 housing units on it. The the same government […]

al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula

How the GOP Libya Witch Hunt Made us Close our Mideast Embassies and Crippled US Diplomacy

Juan Cole

About those US embassy closures in the Middle East: they make the US look like a wimp. The United States is still the world’s primary superpower, for better or worse, and it has the potential to influence the world in both positive and negative ways. At one extreme, its unique geopolitical position allows it to […]

Afghanistan

How we lost our Constitution somewhere in Iraq and came back without it to Try Manning (van Buren)

Juan Cole

Peter Van Buren writes at Tomdispatch.com On July 30, 1778, the Continental Congress created the first whistleblower protection law, stating “that it is the duty of all persons in the service of the United States to give the earliest information to Congress or other proper authority of any misconduct, frauds, or misdemeanors committed by any […]

Iran

Top 10 reasons to welcome departure of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Only the Neocons will miss Him

Juan Cole

Since he won the Iranian presidential election in 2005, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been an object of fear, vilification and ridicule in Washington DC. I said from the beginning that there was no evidence Iran had a nuclear weapons program under his presidency, and 8 years later he went out of office without one. I was […]

Tunisia

Tens of Thousands Rally to support Fundamentalist Government in Tunisia

Juan Cole

Since the assassination of leftist leader Mohamed Brahmi of the Popular Front on July 25, Tunisia has been thrown into a new round of political turmoil. Thousands have gone to the streets to demonstrate against the center-right, religiously inflected government Ali Larayedh for not cracking down hard enough on Muslim extremists. The left and the […]