Republican Party

(Informed Comment) – An “After-Action” Report on the Kurds’ Vital Role in The Defeat of ISIS and Death of “God’s Shadow on Earth”: On October 26th US Delta Forces, acting on intelligence provided to them by their trusted Kurdish allies, launched a dangerous, long-distance heliborne raid from Iraq, across a region in northern Syria that […]

Republican Party

Republican Voter Suppression and Election Theft outdoes anything Putin could Dream of

Institute for Policy Studies

By Robert P. Alvarez | – (OtherWords.or) – When turnout climbs, Republicans lose. No wonder they’re closing polling places and purging voters all over the country. It’s true: Four of the five states with the highest voter turnout voted blue in the last presidential and midterm elections. All are crucial swing states. In 2016, the […]

Constitution

Fitting: Trump will be Impeached for Chasing a Fantastical Conspiracy Theory about Ukraine

John Feffer

(Foreign Policy in Focus) – When it comes to Ukraine, Trump has been manipulated as deftly as a mindless marionette. It’s going to cost him. In fantasy sports, participants draft their own dream teams out of the rosters of existing players. That’s what Donald Trump has done with Ukraine. He and his advisors have created […]

Authoritarianism

Donald Trump’s populist presidency is the real coup, not the impeachment inquiry

The Conversation

By David Edward Tabachnick| – U.S. President Donald Trump and his defenders have repeatedly referred to the ongoing impeachment inquiry as a “political coup” led by Democrats and “progressive left-wingers.” Trump himself has called it a coup attempt. Trump and his supporters claim the inquiry runs the risk of undermining the rule of law and […]

Donald Trump

Trump Expands US Military Mission in Syrian Oil Fields, as Russian calls him a “Hitler”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Lolita C. Baldor at the Associated Press reports that Trump has been prevailed upon by the US officer corps and national security officials to authorize some 600 troops to guard the Syrian oil fields in Deir al-Zor province, in addition to the 200 already in the Tanf pocket. Kurdish troops […]

Assyrians

Unconstitutional: VP Pence Directed USAID Help for Iraqis to tiny Christian Minority

ProPublica

by Yeganeh Torbati | (ProPublica) | – Officials at USAID warned that favoring Christian groups in Iraq could be unconstitutional and inflame religious tensions. When one colleague lost her job, they said she had been “Penced.” Last November, a top Trump appointee at the U.S. Agency for International Development wrote a candid email to colleagues […]

Constitution

Amb. Sondland, who Reversed himself on Ukraine Quid Pro Quo, once Stood up for Khizr Khan against Trump

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, potentially facing perjury charges owing to his earlier testimony that conflicted with that of other State Department personnel on the Ukraine quid pro quo, “refreshed his recollection” on Tuesday. In testimony to the impeachment inquiry, he said, “I now recall speaking individually […]

Displaced and Refugees

Syrian Kurds charge Turkey with Ethnic Cleansing as US Military frets it will be “blind” without Kurdish Help

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northeast Syria today accused Turkish forces of conducting ethnic cleansing campaigns in the Kurdish region they have occupied between Tel Abyad and Ra’s al-Ayn. The communique said, “and after more than 300,000 civilians fled from its cities and villages and hamlets and houses and hospitals […]

Donald Trump

Trump in Blunder-land or Down the Rabbit-Hole

Tom Engelhardt

(Tomdispatch.com) – There can be no question about it. Donald Trump is Lewis Carroll’s Queen of Hearts. “Off with his head!” was the president’s essential suggestion for — to offer just one example — a certain whistleblower who fingered him on that now notorious Ukrainian phone call. And if The Donald hasn’t also been playing […]