Terrorism

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Russian press had been complaining that the West was ignoring its defeat of terrorism in Syria. But now the Russian press is saying that the US and the Russian Federation are jointly planning to liberate the Syrian city of al-Raqqa, the capital of the phony […]

Belgium

Are Belgian Nuclear Plants vulnerable to Terrorism?

contributors

By Robert J Downes and Daniel Salisbury | (The Conversation) | – – Belgium’s counter-terrorism efforts are once again being called into question following the recent tragedies in Brussels. The attacks were carried out against soft targets – the public check-in area of Brussels Airport and Maelbeek metro station – but a series of unusual […]

Belgium

Basques, N. Ireland, Muslims: Belgium’s Problems rooted in Europe’s long History of Exclusion

contributors

By Martin Conway | (The Conversation) | – – “What we feared has happened,” remarked Charles Michel, the prime minister of Belgium, in the immediate aftermath of the horrible and violent attacks on Brussels airport and the Maelbeek metro station on March 22. Yes, indeed. Nothing is less surprising than that the vortex of terrorism […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

After Brussels, the Strategy of ISIL/ Daesh

Juan Cole

By Paul Rogers | (OpenDemocracy) | – – Tunisia, Paris, and now Brussels: escalating attacks on western targets reflect a shift of focus by ISIL. The security consultancy IHS Jane’s has just completed an assessment on the risk of an armed attack in Europe. Its report was published a few days before the assaults in […]

Featured

Fall of Palmyra: Syrian regime races to take ISIL’s ‘Berlin’ and forestall ‘Partition’

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – That massive Russian air strikes and a determined infantry and armor assault by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) on the ancient city of Palmyra could dislodge from it a few hundred or at most a couple thousand Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) fighters is not all that surprising. […]

Belgium

What would effective Counter-Terrorism look like after Brussels?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The various nostrums proposed to counter Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) terrorism in Europe and North America by Donald Trump and Ted Cruz (armed patrols by police of putative “Muslim neighborhoods”, a Muslim exclusion act, etc.) are of course complete non-starters. So too are killing the children of […]

Counter-Terrorism

30 Americans die worldwide from Terrorism annually, while 130,000 die by accident

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The right wing is carping that President Obama is “downplaying” the dangers of Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) in the wake of the Paris and Brussels attacks on soft targets. But whipping up hysteria about the threat of terrorism is a racket that mainly benefits security firms and […]

Iraq

Mosul: Are Civilian Deaths in Coalition Airstrikes Reinforcing ISIL’s Hold?

contributors

Special Correspondent | Niqash.org | – – An increase in air strikes on Mosul is causing more civilian casualties. Ordinary people live in fear, the Islamic State uses deaths for propaganda and Iraqi authorities say nothing. A still from video released by the extremist IS group, showing the aftermath of coalition air strikes. A still […]

Featured

Trump’s and ISIL’s Gray Zones: Radicals’ Terrorism sign of Syria, Iraq Defeat

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – It is no accident that Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) is using Donald Trump in its new recruitment video. Although Trump hasn’t killed anyone to our knowledge and can’t be compared to Daesh in most ways, his political strategy actually mirrors that of the phony caliphate in some […]