Uncategorized

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Russian MiGs for the first time on Wednesday gave close air support to the Syrian Arab Army as it attacked rebels north of Homs. The Russians also continued their airstrikes against rebel-held Idlib Province. And, the Russians for the first time launched cruise missiles from warships […]

Bashar al-Assad

Syria: Is there a Russian-Iranian Dispute over Fate of al-Assad?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Russia and Iran don’t see eye to eye about the future of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad after their military intervention in the civil war, according to correspondent Basil Muhammad of the Kuwaiti dailiy al-Siyasah (“Politics”). Mr. Muhammad says he interviewed a member of the Iraqi parliament […]

Featured

Mercer, targeting Christians, kills 1/3 the annual gunshot death toll in England

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The shooter at Umpqua Community college in Roseberg, Oregon, Chris Harper Mercer, had three hand guns, likely semi-automatics, and an assault rifle. He killed 9 people on campus and wounded at least 7, before he was himself shot and killed. He asked people their religion and […]

Republican Party

Reason Trumped: How the Donald Phenom will Change our Lives

contributors

By Nomi Prins | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – The 2016 election campaign is certainly a billionaire’s playground when it comes to “establishment candidates” like Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush who cater to mega-donors and use their money to try to rally party bases. The only genuine exception to the rule this time around has […]

Afghanistan

The Final Collapse of Bush’s Nation-Building: Kunduz falls to Taliban

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – On Monday, the Taliban swept into the provincial capital of Kunduz, taking it in half a day from a large and well-equipped Afghan National Army force. Tuesday’s riposte had only mixed success, with the ANA saying it had taken back the (no-empty) prison. An attempt to […]

Israel/ Palestine

UK: Israel has Attacked Gaza 696 Times Since Most Recent Ceasefire

contributors

By IMEMC News. | – – The Gaza Strip was attacked at least 696 times on different occasions since the August 2014 ceasefire, said Tobias Ellwood, the UK Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, according to the Middle East Monitor. During a parliamentary session, Labour MP Alex Cunningham asked “how […]

Featured

With Iran deal, & Russia in Syria, is Israel being Boxed In?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – With the success of the Iran deal virtually assured and with Russia moving into Syria, Israel’s hawks are facing an unprecedented setback. These developments could be demoting Israel from regional hegemon to marginal player, and severely limiting Tel Aviv’s freedom of movement. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin […]

Featured

Trump Pledges to “Look into” Paranoid Charges of Muslim-American Terror camps

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Donald Trump has probably benefited so far from giving long stemwinders of a speech on the hustings, saying enough outrageous things in each one to inflict on journalists information overload. He got away with a lot of awful statements because journalists only had room to focus […]

Syria

America can — and should — Do More for Syrian Refugees

contributors

By Chris Toensing | (Otherwords.org) | – – Imagine that 58 million Americans were streaming into Canada and Mexico, many with only a small satchel and the clothes on their backs. Picture another 102 million residents of the Eastern seaboard seeking refuge with relatives in the Midwest and West. That terrifying mental exercise gives a […]