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Archives: military

Putin’s Winning Hand in Syria, as Turkey Apologizes and Obama Deals

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Vladimir Putin was the skunk at the party in the West after his annexation (or repossession, depending on how you look at it)…

In an Age of Global Terror, do Failed States endanger you, too?

By Joseph Chamie and Barry Mirkin | (Inter Press Service) | - - NEW YORK, Apr 9 2016 (IPS) - Regardless of whether they are called fragile, failed, or failing states, scores…

Dear Trump & Cruz: Muslim Turkey arrested Brussels Terrorist & Gave him to European Authorities

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The paroxysms of hatred and bigotry spewed by the two GOP frontrunners in the 2016 presidential campaign probably do not need any pretext,…

Is US Syria Policy to back new Saudi-Turkish Moves against Iran?

By Fernando Betancor | ( OpenDemocracy)| - - The pattern of strikes by the disjointed US-led coalition of Operation Inherent Resolve remains the best and most reliable public indicator of intentions and future operations…

Syria: 500 Turkey-backed Sunni Arab Fighters Cross to defend Azaz from Kurds

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - This morning, according to the Syria Observatory and the Arabic press some 500 Sunni Arab rebels based in Turkey crossed back into Syria…

Are Outside Interventions in Syria undermining Int’l Law & our own Security?

By Ingvild Bode | (The Conversation) | - - Since 2012, the war in Syria has lurched from one escalation to another. Syrians have been subjected to large-scale military force not only…

Mexican Tour Organizers, Buddhist Healers, Baffled by Egyptian Army Attack

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Gabriela Bejarano Rangel, the sister and daughter of the Mexican organizers of the tour to Egypt that met with tragedy Sunday, has been…

Fighting at Funerals: Turkey plunges back into Conflict

T. Deniz Erkmen | (Informed Comment) | - - It has been a month since the government of Turkey has ended the tenuous peace process with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK),…

Turkey’s Snap Elections: Erdoğan is forcing his people to take sides

By Bahar Baser and Ahmet Erdi Öztürk | (The Conversation) | - - Ever since the June 2015 elections, which thwarted the proposed presidential system that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has long…

Water Being Used as Weapon of War in Syrian Conflict, UN Warns

By Lauren McCauley, staff writer. | (Commondreams.org) | - - Compounded by scorching heat wave, Syrians are experiencing 'deliberate' water cut-offs, often for weeks at a time The United Nations on Tuesday…

Is Israeli military using Barak in struggle w/ Netanyahu over Iran Deal?

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - - The revelations from former Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak's memoir keep coming. Another excerpt was broadcast by Israel's Channel 2 on Sunday. Barak gave…

How Islamic State is moving its Egyptian battle from Sinai to Cairo

By Natasha Ezrow | (The Conversation) | - - Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for a powerful car bomb detonated outside a state security building in northern Cairo which injured 29…

Huge ISIL Blast at Cairo Security Bldg. Injures 29; Sisi Security Claims in Tatters

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - An enormous explosion damaged a building housing secret police in a northern district of Cairo (Shubra al-Khayma) on Thursday early morning, wounding nearly…

Gaza: Managing the Disaster isn’t Enough; not one of 11,000 buildings repaired

By Charlie Hoyle | (Inter Press Service) | - - The rubble of twisted concrete and metal bakes in the hot Mediterranean sun of a regional heat wave. A year on from…

After Vienna, Arabs, Israel seek massive conventional Arms Deals: US ready to Sell

By Thalif Deen | - - UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - The nuclear agreement concluded last week between Iran and six big powers, the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, is…

Turkey’s new “war on terror” mainly targeting Kurds

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - What was at first announced as a new Turkish turn toward attacks on Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) on Friday has quickly become largely a…

Israeli forces destroy 450 olive trees, Roman-era well in Hebron, Palestine

HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces on Wednesday destroyed 450 olive trees, leveled land, and demolished a Roman-era water well in the village of Beit Ula in northwestern Hebron, after claiming the Palestinian…

Wars targeting Children: 20 mn Homeless, 300K Conscripted & now Mass Abductions by ISIL

By Beatriz Ciordia | (Inter Press Service) | - - UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - Whether in Palestine, Ukraine or Somalia, wars result in millions of children threatened by the brutality of armed…

The Next Gaza War

By Max Blumenthal | (Tomdispatch.com) | - - "A fourth operation in the Gaza Strip is inevitable, just as a third Lebanon war is inevitable,” declared Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in…

Afghanistan: The First Rule of Counter-Insurgency is that it Doesn’t Ever Work

By William R. Polk | (Informed Comment) | - - The people of Afghanistan at least since the time of Alexander the Great had repeatedly and violently demonstrated their determination not to…