Democratic Party

John Iadarola, Jimmy Dore, Ana Kasparian | (The Young Turks) | – “The second circuit court of appeals has ruled that the bulk collection and storage of Americans phone records is ILLEGAL, good news when it comes to your privacy. John Iadarola (Think Tank), Jimmy Dore (The Jimmy Dore Show), Ana Kasparian (The Point,) break […]

Barack Obama

“Bug Splat”: Body Counts, Drones, and “Collateral Damage”

Tom Engelhardt

Tom Englehardt | (Tomdispatch.com) | – The Obama administration has adamantly refused to count. Not a body. In fact, for a long time, American officials associated with Washington’s drone assassination campaigns and “signature strikes” in the backlands of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Yemen claimed that there were no bodies to count, that the CIA’s drones were […]

Barack Obama

US Airstrike in Syria kills 53 Civilians, 6 Children

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) As Mariam Karouny reports for Reuters, the US air strike on Friday that inadvertently hit a village of non-combatants, killing members of six families, raises new questions about the Obama administration’s approach to fighting Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) in Syria. Despite months of bombing raids, Daesh has lost no […]

Barack Obama

Bush blames Obama for lack of Wars (‘Follow-Through’ on ‘Threats’)

contributors

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – George W. Bush spoke privately this weekend at a Republican Jewish Coalition session hosted by casino sleazeball Sheldon Adelson, who made his pile in a very shady way in China’s Macau and now gets to choose the US president with his ill-gotten gains. What was remarkable was that […]

Barack Obama

Obama “I’ve aged so much Boehner invited Netanyahu to speak at my Funeral”

contributors

C-Span | (White House Correspondents Dinner) – “From C-SPAN coverage, President Obama remarks at the 2014 White House Correspondents’ Dinner.” President Obama complete remarks at 2015 White House Correspondents’ Dinner (C-SPAN)

Barack Obama

Fast-Tracking Pacific Trade Bill will harm Consumers, Tie Congress’ Hands

contributors

By Jeremy Malcolm and Maira Sutton | Electronic Frontier Foundation | – The Fast Track bill contains some minor procedural improvements from the version of the bill introduced last year. However, these fixes will do little to nothing to address the threats of restrictive digital regulations on users rights in the TPP or TTIP. The […]

Barack Obama

As Congress takes on Iran Deal, it should Remember its Iraq Blunder

contributors

By David M. Faris | (Ethos) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Geneva I SALT gets in your eyes The last time Lausanne was in the news, it was for hosting the negotiations that finalized the post-WWI territorial settlement in the Middle East that appears to be […]

Featured

President Hillary Clinton’s Middle East Policy: Interventions, Wars, More of Same

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Hillary Clinton announced her bid for the presidency Sunday, prompting another of these attempts at IC to do a quick overview of what we can expect from the candidates with regard to Middle East policy. Clinton supported Israel’s attack on defenseless Gaza last summer, which left about 2000 […]

Barack Obama

US history of coup-making Overshadows Obama’s outreach to Iran, Latin American Left

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – President Obama met with Cuban President Raoul Castro for an hour on Saturday, and the two made progress on plans to restore diplomatic relations. Before the meeting, Obama said, “I think that after 50 years of policy that had not changed on the part of the United States, […]