Month

Archives: military

Saudi v. Qatar: Will Turkish intervention cause Escalation?

By James M. Dorsey | (Inter Press Service) | - - SINGAPORE (IPS) - Turkey’s parliament is this week fast tracking the dispatch of up to 3,000 troops to Qatar, home to…

Only Putin is happy with Trump’s NATO Bull-in-China-Shop Catastrophe

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) Back in 2016 the talking heads on tv kept expecting candidate Trump, who made headlines almost daily saying racist and offensive things, to "transition." Their theory…

Turkey’s Coup aftermath and Human Rights: A Feminist Perspective

By Banu Gökarıksel | ( Duke University Blog ) | - - Feminist critiques of political power reveal the central function of gender, sexuality, and difference in maintaining that power. Yet, in…

Iraq’s Growth Industry: Free-Lance Civilian Bomb Disposal

By Kamal al-Ayash | Ramadi | ( Niqash.org) | - - Locals are struggling to get rid of the explosive booby-traps the Islamic State left as they withdrew from Ramadi. For one…

‘Unacceptable’ UN says US-Backed Iraqi Militias Recruiting Children

TeleSur | - - The United Nations said it was “deeply concerned” about reports the groups are using children on the frontlines of the fight against the Islamic State group. Amid reports…

The Turkish Coup — Real or Imagined?

Erdağ Göknar | (Duke Today) | - - Durham, NC - As if it were having a Cold War flashback, Turkey experienced a surprise coup attempt by a faction of the Turkish…

Long Knives in Ankara: Victorious Erdogan begins Purge of Judiciary, Army

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) - - President Tayyip Erdogan is taking advantage of the failed coup against him to purge the judiciary and security forces of anyone who is lukewarm…

Turkish People Power foils attempted Coup

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The poorly planned junior officers' coup in Turkey on Friday appears to have failed as I write late Friday night, though rebel 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…