Month

Archives: al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula

Under Trump, More Coalition Strikes on Yemen in a Week than in a Year under Obama

TeleSur | - - More drone and airstrikes have rained on Yemen in the past week than in any year of Barack Obama’s administration, with dozens of U.S. coalition airstrikes hitting schools,…

Yemen withdraws blanket approval for US action after Trump’s botched Raid

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The the Arab press, reports that that government has withdrawn blanket permission from the Trump administration to conduct raids and drone strikes on…

Al-Qaeda Everywhere: US support for Oppressive Gov’t’s undermined victory against Bin Laden

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…

Why Isn’t this News? US-Saudi War Helping al-Qaida Flourish in Yemen

By Bill Hess | (Informed Comment) | - - The just-announced negotiations between Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia may or may not lead to a subsiding of hostilities in Yemen, though early…

Do Drug Profits actually drive Terrorism in the Muslim World?

Robert Rotberg | (The Conversation) | - - Terrorists are in it as much for the loot as for the ideology. . . . ISIS, could hardly exist, whatever its Islamist fervor,…

Daesh/ ISIL hasn’t weakened al-Qaeda– Its Affiliates are Stronger than Ever

By Ari Heistein | (Informed Comment) | - - Experts predicted that the rise of the Caliphate declared by Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) would be disastrous for al-Qaeda(AQ). One report that concluded “The…

Juan Cole: Syria, Yemen Conflicts only seem to be about Sunni-Shiite from 30,000 Feet

David Speedie | (Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs) | - David Speedie of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs interviewed me in New York on Monday. Below is…

Yemen War threatens Humanitarian Catastrophe

By Sophia Dingli | (The Conversation) - Yemen’s humanitarian crisis is by all accounts getting worse by the day, and the city of Aden has become a major flashpoint. Aden is caught…

As Yemen crumbles, civilians brace for the worst

By Almigdad Mojalli | - SANA'A (IRIN) - Abdu Hasan Dabwan is not willing to let it happen again. Twice before, the 54 year-old says, he waited too long, refusing to flee…

al-Qaeda’s Feud with Denmark

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - Denmark is a relatively small country, with a population of 5.7 million. But it is relatively wealthy, being the 35th largest economy in the world,…

What Really Caused the Paris Killings? (Gilbert Achcar Interview)

Gilbert Achcar/ Ahmed Shawki | (Socialist Worker) Interview: Gilbert Achcar, SOAS In the aftermath of the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris and the wave of repression and Islamophobia that…

After Charlie Hebdo: How Will Europe Deal with Islam and Muslims?

By Neslihan Çevik | (Daily Sabah) - After the tragic Charlie Hebdo massacre, it seems that Europe has several options regarding its policies on Islam and Muslims. Among them, the easiest option…

Yemen: Freeze on US Drone Strikes as Gov’t Collapses

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) Thousands demonstrated in Sanaa on Saturday morning against the Houthi take-over of the Yemeni government. Down south in Aden, there were big demonstrations on behalf of…

It is Failed State in Yemen that permitted al-Qaeda to Train Paris Terrorists

CCTV America | -- "CCTV America’s Susan Roberts interviewed Yemen correspondent for The Times of London Iona Craig about how Yemen has played a role in al-Qaida training and the Charlie Hebdo…

Will France intervene in Yemen after its al-Qaeda Claims Paris Attacks?

By Juan Cole | -- Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is based in south Yemen, claimed on Wednesday to have been behind the attacks in Charlie Hebdo in Paris last week.…

Muslim Hero Lassana Bathily Saved Jewish Hostages in Paris

WotchitGeneralNews | --- "At a kosher supermarket in Paris, a quick-thinking Muslim employee hides several Jewish shoppers in the basement before sneaking out to brief police on the hostage-taker upstairs. In the…

From Yemen to Paris: The al-Qaeda Franchise from the 15th to the 60th Parallel N.

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) -- Analysts have been understandably cautious about the nature of the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo staff and a Jewish deli in Paris. On the one…

How France’s Jewish Community is affected by Paris Antisemitic Terrorist Attacks

CCTV | (Ron Kampeas Interview) -- "CCTV America's Elaine Reyes interviewed Washington bureau chief for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency Ron Kampeas." CCTV: "Ron Kampeas discusses how France's Jewish community is affected by…

President Obama’s Biggest Mideast Policy Challenges, 2015

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) -- Barack Obama wanted to be the president who got the US out of Afghanistan and Iraq, and turned America's diplomatic energies to the more promising…

Yemen in 2014: 1500 Killed as Extremist Shiites take over Gov’t, battled al-Qaeda: What Next?

Yemen in 2014: 1500 Killed as Extremist Shiites took over Gov’t, battled al-Qaeda: What Next?

SANAA, December 2014 (IRIN) -- After a negotiated transfer of power agreed in early 2012, the annual death toll dropped to about 1,100 and nearly halved again in 2013 to fewer than…