US Foreign Policy

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Republican presidential candidate and billionaire bigot Donald J. Trump said in a CNN interview on Wednesday that “Islam hates us.” “I think Islam hates us” . . . deploring the “tremendous hatred” that he said partly defined the religion. He maintained the war was against radical […]

al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula

Why Isn’t this News? US-Saudi War Helping al-Qaida Flourish in Yemen

contributors

By Bill Hess | (Informed Comment) | – – The just-announced negotiations between Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia may or may not lead to a subsiding of hostilities in Yemen, though early signs are that fierce fighting continues. The United States has been helping a Saudi Arabia-led coalition drop bombs on Yemen for nearly a […]

Iran

Is US Syria Policy to back new Saudi-Turkish Moves against Iran?

contributors

By Fernando Betancor | ( OpenDemocracy)| – – The pattern of strikes by the disjointed US-led coalition of Operation Inherent Resolve remains the best and most reliable public indicator of intentions and future operations in the short-term. As I pointed out in early December, changes to the balance of forces in Syria and Iraq have been forcing […]

military

Are Outside Interventions in Syria undermining Int’l Law & our own Security?

contributors

By Ingvild Bode | (The Conversation) | – – Since 2012, the war in Syria has lurched from one escalation to another. Syrians have been subjected to large-scale military force not only by their own government, but also by an array of rebel groups, Islamic State (IS), a US-led coalition and other states. The results […]

Russia

Syria: Instead of a Cease-Fire, have Great Powers unleashed new Proxy Wars?

contributors

By Baher Kamal | (Inter Press Service) | – – MADRID (IPS) – – When 25 million Syrians–half of them refugees abroad or at home and the other half terrorised by daily bombing, learnt that major world leaders in their meeting in Germany launched an unprecedented confrontation threatening with unleashing World War III, instead of […]

Iraq

The Evil Genie U.S. Let Out of Bottle in Iraq Continues His Rampage

contributors

By Russ Wellen | ( Foreign Policy in Focus) | – – As time passes, whatever responsibility Americans took for atrocities in Iraq, which are ongoing, has almost completely disappeared. The word “genie” comes from the Arab jinni. As every child knows, it describes a creature that, when summoned, fulfills your wishes. Doesn’t it seem […]

Torture

As GOP Candidates pledge return of Torture, Pentagon forced to release Bush-era Abuse Photos

contributors

By Lauren McCauley, staff writer | (Commondreams.org) ‘What the photos that the government has suppressed would show is that abuse was so widespread that it could only have resulted from policy or a climate calculated to foster abuse.’ The record-dump was the result of a Freedom of Information Act request and nearly 12 years of […]

Iran

Who’s Against the Successful Iran Deal? War Profiteers and Chauvinist Rabble Rousers

contributors

By John Feffer | (Foreign Policy in Focus) | – – The Middle East is hardly a cheery place these days. But there’s one silver lining: The Iran deal is paying off big. In 1748, as part of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, France regained Cape Breton from Great Britain. The island, off the coast of […]

censorship

Triumph of Diplomacy: Iran, on cusp of Sanctions relief, releases 5 Iranian-American Detainees

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Iranian news agencies announced Saturday that the government had released four dual nationals (Iranian-Americans with both passports). A fifth release was later reported. The release is another major diplomatic victory for President Obama and Sec. of State John Kerry, and is good news indeed for the […]