A Tale of Two Cities: Muslim Rebels strike back at Hospital in Gov’t held West
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment)| - - Muslim fundamentalist rebels, including al-Qaeda, took revenge Tuesday…
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment)| - - Muslim fundamentalist rebels, including al-Qaeda, took revenge Tuesday…
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s recent interview…
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The US government has never understood insurgency…
Foreign Policy
A Tale of Two Cities: Muslim Rebels strike back at Hospital in Gov’t held West
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment)| - - Muslim fundamentalist rebels, including al-Qaeda, took revenge Tuesday on West Aleppo for the heavy government bombardment of East Aleppo that has killed dozens in…Saudi Arabia’s Vision: Cut Subsidies to Workers, Middle Class, put Women to Work
Courtney Freer | (The Conversation) | - - Saudi Arabia has released details of its Vision 2030 – an immensely ambitious plan which Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman says will end…With more Women than Clerics, will Iran’s new Parliament improve Women’s Rights?
Leila Alikarami | (Open Democracy) | - - The problem was the Guardian Council, a body which has veto authority over any legislature, which in this case rejected all 33 bills introduced…Saudi Arabia: Foreign Workers Burn Buses After Massive Layoffs
TeleSur | - - The workers set at least seven buses on fire to protest Binladen construction group firing of at least 70,000 laborers after six months of no pay. Foreign workers…Trumping Terrorism with Torture?
By Rebecca Gordon | (Informed Comment) | - - Why do Republican candidates for the presidency keep promising to commit war crimes? Donald Trump guarantees he’ll torture terrorists and “take out their…Russia declines to ask Syria to halt Bombardment of East Aleppo
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s recent interview with Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter gives some idea of thinking in Moscow about the Syrian civil…Al-Qaeda Everywhere: US support for Oppressive Gov’t’s made Bin Laden’s Killing Moot
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The US government has never understood insurgency for the most part. Smart USG officials with whom I've interacted have had a firm belief…After Obama-Salman Summit, will Saudi finally rein in Wahhabi Radicalism?
Christopher R. Hill | Project Syndicate | - - DENVER – US President Barack Obama supposedly “cleared the air” with Saudi King Salman before the latest meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council…Israel’s cement ban prevents hundreds of Gaza families from rebuilding homes
Ma'an News Agency | - - BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Israel’s punitive ban on cement imports into the Gaza Strip has prevented hundreds of families from rebuilding their homes devastated by the 2014…The End of American Iraq: Poor Shiites invade Parliament over corrupt Spoils System
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Baghdad is under a state of emergency on Sunday a day after members of the Sadr Trend stormed the Green Zone and invaded…ISIL to Trapped people of Mosul: No TV or Internet for You!
Niqash.org | (Mosul) | - - The Islamic State has issued orders banning satellite TV because it spreads false news. They’re also demanding all Internet users’ names to find spies sending information…UN must hold Perpetrators accountable for War Crime of Hospital Bombings: HRW
Human Rights Watch | - - An airstrike on April 27, 2016, that hit al-Quds Hospital and surrounding areas, killed 58 civilians, including medical staff and many patients, according to the Syrian…‘Monstrous’ violence in Aleppo as ‘Regime of Calm’ begins in rest of Syria
by Juan Cole: The US and the Russian Federation agreed Friday that from Saturday there would be a "regime of calm" in most of Syria. Two areas where clashes have broken out…ISIL Digging in Against new US Troops in Syria
By By James Miller| ( RFE/RL ) | - - On June 29, 2014, when Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi gave a speech from the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul, Iraq, announcing the…Will it ever be ‘Mission Accomplished’? Why Baghdad is Still Insecure
By Mustafa Habib | (Baghdad) | (Niqash.org) | - - The outskirts of Baghdad are very dangerous these days. Islamic State fighters hide here, mounting attacks on the city. A security barrier…Syria: As fierce Fighting reignites, Aleppo on brink of ‘Humanitarian Disaster’
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Syria's largest city, Aleppo has seen a worrying outbreak of violence in the past week that could fatally undermine the cessation of hostilities…Seven members of Israeli ‘terror cell’ indicted for dozens of attacks on Palestinian civilians & property
By Celine Hagbard | (IMEMC) | - - Updated. On Monday, an Israeli court indicted seven Israelis, including two sons of a leading rabbi, a soldier, and two minor teens, for participating…The Collapse of the Old Oil Order
By Michael T. Klare | ( Tomdispatch.com) | - - Sunday, April 17th was the designated moment. The world’s leading oil producers were expected to bring fresh discipline to the chaotic petroleum…Egypt arrests Hundreds to Stop Protest, including Journalists, Lawyers
Human Rights Watch | - - (Beirut) – Egyptian security forces arrested at least 382 people in the days leading up to and during the dispersal of mostly peaceful protests on April…Globally, deaths from explosive weapons rise 54%, & 3/4s are Civilians
TeleSur | - - Civilian casualties from explosive weapons rose by 54 percent in 2015 compared to 2011. More than three-quarters of those harmed by explosive weapons in 2015— bombs, missiles and…