US politics

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The US-backed Saudi-led war on Yemen is keeping two million children out of school (Yemen is a country of 27 million). Worse, schools and schoolchildren have repeatedly been struck from the air by Saudi, UAE, Moroccan and Jordanian pilots using American-supplied planes and bombs, in a […]

Iraq

Why do Iraq’s Shiites want US Troops out, but Sunnis prefer they Stay?

contributors

By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | Iraq’s Sunni Muslims are anxiously watching the debate over the presence of US troops in Iraq. Civilians believe they are an important neutralising presence and military personnel want their help and their technology. On January 27, a friendly fire incident in Iraq’s Anbar province ended in the […]

Foreign Policy

The Hidden Costs of America’s Perpetual Wars

Juan Cole

By Stephanie Savell | (Tomdispatch.com) | – – I’m in my mid-thirties, which means that, after the 9/11 attacks, when this country went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq in what President George W. Bush called the “Global War on Terror,” I was still in college. I remember taking part in a couple of campus […]

Africa

Black Panther: Honoring the legacy of Black style

Juan Cole

by Henry Navarro Delgado | (The Conversation) | – – One knows that something is touching a nerve in North American culture when a foreign luxury car company wants a piece of the pie. The movie Black Panther is that type of archetypical popular culture milestone. The release of Black Panther provides the opportunity to […]

Featured

11,004 Gun Murders in US vs. 26 (equiv. 130) in England Annually

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Revised A lot of smoke is being generated to cover up the fact that the horrific Florida school shooting that has left at least 17 dead results from a virtual absence of meaningful gun controls in the US, such that a few gun manufacturers are allowed […]

Kurds

The U.S. Is Permanently Occupying Northern Syria, and That’s Trouble

contributors

By Reese Erlich | (The Progressive) | – – When President Barack Obama started bombing Syria in 2014, he enjoyed bipartisan support in Washington, D.C. Americans were appalled by the atrocities of the Islamic State, which had massacred Yazidis, and seized swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq. At the time I warned that, […]

Pentagon

The US is near to Turning a Corner in Afghanistan etc. and always Will be

contributors

By Tom Engelhardt | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – If you’re in the mood, would you consider taking a walk with me and, while we’re at it, thinking a little about America’s wars? Nothing particularly ambitious, mind you, just — if you’re up for it — a stroll to the corner. Now, admittedly, there’s a […]

Donald Trump

Trump’s Plan to use Fossil Fuels to dominate the Globe

Michael T. Klare

( Tomdispatch.com) | – – The new U.S. energy policy of the Trump era is, in some ways, the oldest energy policy on Earth. Every great power has sought to mobilize the energy resources at its command, whether those be slaves, wind-power, coal, or oil, to further its hegemonic ambitions. What makes the Trumpian variant […]

Donald Trump

Pence at Olympics: “America First” is making the US the Skunk at the Party

contributors

By Gail Ukockis | (Informed Comment) | – – The Seoul Olympics should be a joyous event, a celebration of athletic skills and international cooperation. At least during this brief time, sports should overshadow the dark realities of tribalism and hostilities. The opening ceremonies offered us glimpses of hope: a unified team for North and […]