US politics

With 3 more US Soldiers Wounded, Iraqi Joint Command urges Swift Departure of US Troops, Fearing Instability

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Three US servicemen were wounded, along with two Iraqi soldiers, during daylight hours on Saturday when some 33 katyusha rockets slammed into al-Taji Base north of Baghdad. Two of the US soldiers were seriously wounded and are in hospital in Baghdad. The rocket attacks were likely revenge for US air […]

Brazil

Not a Hoax After All: Macho Coronavirus Denialists Donald Trump and Brazil’s Bolsonaro were Exposed at Mar-a-Lago

Tori Avila

Sao Paulo (Special to Informed Comment) – Last weekend, President Donald Trump met with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for a private dinner in Mar-a-Lago, his personal residence in Palm Beach, Florida. It turns out to have been less a state dinner and more a disease vector. Ironically, both leaders had stubbornly refused to acknowledge the […]

Bernie Sanders

Why does Trump get a Pass for Pledging Economic Populism, but they Ask Sanders about the Cost?

Arnold Oliver

Tiffin, Ohio (Special to Informed Comment) – It may come as a shock, but Presidential candidates Trump and Sanders have made a number of similar policy commitments. How are we to make sense of this? Need some evidence? Both Sanders and Trump have called for affordable health care for all. Sanders’ support for Medicare for […]

Bernie Sanders

Palestinians: Why whether Sanders or Biden Wins the Democratic Primary Matters for the Mideast

Al-Shabaka

By Halah Ahmad | – (Al Shabaka) – Leading US Democratic presidential candidates have chosen to address, among other progressive platforms, the rising demand for racial justice reforms, from prison reform to school funding and reparations. In particular, candidates have embraced reforms that respond to grassroots movements against police brutality and a host of criminal […]

Donald Trump

As Trump stumbles in war on Coronavirus at Home, He Bombs Shiites in Shiite-Ruled Iraq

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – US fighter jets bombed bases of the Kata’ib Hizbullah (“Brigades of the Party of God”) militia in Iraq on Thursday in retaliation for a deadly attack on US troops that left two dead and killed a British soldier as well. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said that Trump had greenlighted […]

Native Americans

Clean Energy Produced on Navajo Land will Help Power Los Angeles

Cronkite News Arizona PBS

By Sarah Donahue ( Cronkite News ) – LOS ANGELES – In a city renowned for its green policies, Prius drivers and biodegradable straws, it was only a matter of time before officials would vote to move away from coal powered electricity. To transition to clean energy, the city sold its shares of a coal-powered […]

Donald Trump

Ghost of Soleimani: All Hell Breaks lose in Iraq, with 2 Americans, 1 Briton, Killed, as al-Sadr Blames Trump for Coronavirus

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Tom O’Connor at Newsweek reports that 18 katyusha rockets slammed into al-Taji Air Base in Iraq on Wednesday, killing two Americans and one Briton, and leaving 12 other Coalition personnel injured. In response, US fighter jets conducted air strikes against the Haydariyun brigades of the Kata’ib Hizbullah, a Shiite Iraqi […]

Donald Trump

Ending the Myth That Trump Is Ending Mideast Wars

OtherWords

By Khury Petersen-Smith | Trump has sent more new troops to the Middle East than he’s bringing home from Afghanistan. (Otherwords.org ) – There was this moment during the State of the Union Address that I can’t stop thinking about. When President Trump spoke to army wife Amy Wiliams during his speech and told her […]

Pentagon

If America is going to Fight Forever Wars, Should we Bring back the Draft?

Tomdispatch

By Nan Levinson | – (Tomdispatch.com) – Bizarrely enough, the spate of phone calls from recruiters began a couple of years ago. The first ones came from the Army, next the Marines, and then other branches of the military. I’m decades past enlistment age. I’ve been publicly antiwar for most of that time and come […]