Terrorism

(By Juan Cole) The Associated Press article on the Ukrainian hijacker who tried to divert a plane to Sochi on Friday is interesting for the words it does not use. (I’m not picking on AP– all the other articles on this subject are like this one in this regard.) This Ukrainian man had political discontents […]

al-Qaeda

Daily Show: How much of an A*hole do you have to be that Al-Zawahiri won’t Work with You?

Juan Cole

Jon Stewart of the Daily Show at Comedy Central covers the fruitless Syria negotiations and break between al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Imagine my surprise when a a clip from an interview I did at Aljazeera America on the issue was included in this piece! Thanks, Daily Show! The Daily […]

al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula

Congress to CIA: Provide US Drone Victim Count

contributors

(By Alice K. Ross) The CIA director and other intelligence chiefs were urged to increase transparency over covert drone operations by members of the House intelligence committee yesterday. Adam Schiff, a Democratic Party congressman, called on CIA director John Brennan, to support an annual report detailing the number of alleged militants and civilians killed each […]

al-Qaeda

Islamic State of Iraq & Levant too Extreme for al-Qaeda (Not the Onion)

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Ayman al-Zawahiri, now the leader of the international terrorist organization, al-Qaeda, has disavowed the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). ISIL (also called ISIS, substituting Syria for ‘Levant’) controls Falluja and part of Ramadi in Iraq, along with parts of Aleppo and its hinterland in Syria. It has been involved […]

al-Qaeda

330 US drone strikes in Pakistan recorded in Leaked official document

contributors

(By Alice K. Ross) The Bureau is today publishing a leaked official document that records details of over 300 drone strikes, including their locations and an assessment of how many people died in each incident. The document is the fullest official record of drone strikes in Pakistan to have yet been published. It provides rare […]

Iraq

CSI Baghdad: Why don’t Crime Units in the Carbomb Capital of the World do their Job?

Juan Cole

(By Mustafa Habib, Baghdad) It is estimated that around 250 car bombs exploded in Baghdad last year. This year the numbers are climbing and bombers’ skills are improving. This is taking a heavy toll on ordinary Iraqis. More locals are suffering from stress disorders and living in fear. Hospital morgues are crowded and some families […]

Arab Spring

On eve of Revolution Anniversary, Cairo Shaken by deadly Bombings

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Two bombings shook the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Friday morning. The first was apparently a car bomb detonated at 5:30 am that targeted the Directorate of Security, leaving 4 dead and 51 wounded. Car bombs have been rare in Egypt but are common in Iraq and Syria, and it is a very […]

al-Qaeda

Gates worries Pakistan Violence blocks Polio Eradication, But is CIA Partly to Blame?

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has done an amazing job in targeting diseases for eradication, and the world is very close to getting rid of polio altogether, in part because the Gates in recent years have given their support to the effort, which began in 1988. Cases have fallen 99% since […]

Free Syrian Army

Taking on al-Qaeda: Syria’s Uprising within an Uprising

contributors

(By Rania Abouzeid) It was bound to happen, this uprising within an uprising against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a transnational ultraconservative Islamist group that ostensibly fights alongside Syria’s disparate rebel groups but more often intimidates, antagonises, or opposes most of them, including other conservative Islamists. Long brewing tensions between ISIS and […]