Terrorism

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – The Jordanian newspaper al-Dustur [Constitution] reports that Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) has captured the al-Anbar city of al-Baghdadi in western al-Anbar Province. Twenty-five Daesh commandos, some of them with suicide bomb belts, then threw themselves at the outskirts of the al-Ain military base about 9 miles away, where […]

Iraq

Iraqi Gov’t AWOL: It’s Shia Militias vs. the Islamic State

contributors

VICE News | – “Last summer, the group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) swept from Syria into northern Iraq, routing Iraqi security forces and seizing the city of Mosul. Soon afterward, the group declared the establishment of a dubious “caliphate” in the area it controls and rebranded itself the Islamic […]

Iran

2nd Iranian Commander killed in Iraq defending Samarra Golden Dome

contributors

By RFE/RL | – A commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has been killed in Iraq, Iranian media reported. The Tasnim news agency, said to be affiliated with IRGC, says Reza Hosseini Moghadam was in Samarra to confront militants of the Islamic State (IS) when he was killed on February 7. “He [Moghadam] […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

US Commander: Death of Jordan Pilot Turning Point in ISIL Fight

contributors

ABC News | – United Arab Emirates joins Jordan in fight against ISIS after the horrific death of the pilot. ABC News: “Gen. John Allen Says Death of Jordanian Pilot Could Be Turning Point in ISIS Fight”

Government surveillance

Battling Terrorism Shouldn’t Justify Torture, Spying: U.N. Rights Chief

contributors

By Thalif Deen | (IPS) UNITED NATIONS, Feb 5 2015 (IPS) – The United Nations, which is the legal guardian of scores of human rights treaties banning torture, unlawful imprisonment, degrading treatment of prisoners of war and enforced disappearances, is troubled that an increasing number of countries are justifying violations of U.N. conventions on grounds […]

Christianity

Why Obama is Right to avoid double standard about Modern Christian Atrocities

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – President Obama, speaking on Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast, condemned religious extremism in the Muslim world, noting that it is the work of twisted individuals rather than being intrinsic to the religion. He then added, “And lest we get on our high horse and think this is […]

Iraq

ISIL Militants Burn Three Iraqis Alive

contributors

By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Iraq | – Officials and eyewitnesses say Islamic State (IS) militants have burned at least three people alive in Iraq’s western Anbar Province. The victims, residents of an area near the town of Hit, some 200 kilometers west of Baghdad, were suspected of informing Iraqi security forces about the militants’ movements. […]

Bush

Is ISIL’s ‘Shock and Awe’ more Awe-ful because One Victim?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – The Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) burning of a captured Jordanian pilot alive produced justified revulsion globally, resulting in the terrorist organization being termed “barbarous” and similar epithets. Why did it behave this way? Because it wants to terrify its opponents into submission and underline that it is too […]

Bashar al-Assad

Paying the Piper: How America’s Iraq War haunts its Failed Syria Policy

contributors

By Michael MacDonald, author of Overreach: Delusions of Regime Change in Iraq | (Special to Informed Comment | – If recent reports in the New York Times are to be believed, the Obama administration just got serious about the political realities gripping Syria and Iraq. Up to this point, the US has sought, for reasons […]