Month

Archives: Salafis

The top 4 Challenges facing the Arab World

By Tarek Osman | (Project Syndicate) | - - LONDON – Fifty years after the Six Days War, the Middle East remains a region in seemingly perpetual crisis. So it is no…

Could ISIL attacks in Tehran plunge the Middle East into greater turmoil?

By Mohammadbagher Forough | (The Conversation) | - - Iran experienced its first major ISIL attack on June 7, as armed men and suicide bombers targeted two symbols of the Islamic Republic…

What is the Sunni-Shiite Divide into Which Trump just Stepped?

Ken Chitwood | (The Conversation) | - - In his address in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, May 21, while calling on Muslim leaders to lead the fight against terrorism, President Donald Trump…

Dear Trump officials: Stop confusing Muslim Conservatism with Terrorism!

By Z. Fareen Parvez | (The Conversation) | - - The Trump administration has been using the phrase “radical Islam” when discussing the “war on terror.” From his inauguration address to remarks…

Sunni Clans in Iraq threaten Reprisals against ISIL Collaborators

Kamal al-Ayash | Anbar | (Niqash.org) | - - In Ramadi, tribes are marking houses belonging to suspected Islamic State [group] collaborators with special graffiti. Often the houses are demolished two or…

Defeating ISIL in Iraq will Take Sunni-Shiite Reconciliation, not Just Tanks

By Neil Thompson | (Informed Comment) | - - As Iraqi, Kurdish and Syrian forces squeeze its territory in the Arab world and Turkey hunts down the group’s support networks and sympathisers…

Is Religion really Driving Middle East Violence?

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Pew Research has released a report saying that "As a whole, the region continued to have the highest levels of religious hostilities in…

Ordinary Iraqis defy sectarianism after Islamic State’s attacks on Baghdad

By Balsam Mustafa | (The Conversation) | - - “I’m happy that I graduated. I’m so grateful to my parents and I dedicate my success to both of them.” These were the…

Abuses of Fallujah Sunnis Raise Question: Does Iraq Gov’t Control of Shiite Militias

Human Rights Watch | - - (Beirut) – The announced investigation into allegations of abuse of civilians around Fallujah by Iraqi government forces is a test for the government’s ability to hold…

Baghdad gov’t paralysis allows ISIL to blow up nearly 100 Children, Women & Men

Baghdad gov’t paralysis made capital vulnerable to massive ISIL bombings

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) launched a series of suicide car and truck bombs in Baghdad on Wednesday, killing nearly 100 and wounding nearly 200…

Iraq: Eastern front against ISIL slowed by Internal Iraqi Divisions, Unenthusiastic USAF

Iraq: Eastern front against ISIL slowed by Internal Divisions, Unenthusiastic USAF

By Mustafa Habib | (Niqash.org) | - - Iraqi fighters in Anbar are waiting to push the Islamic State group out of cities like Ramadi. But they wonder when it will happen,…

Al-Qaeda in Syria Leader: Kill Alawite Minority, Russians; Christians fear West Backs Him

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The leader of al-Qaeda in Syria, Abu Muhammad al-Julani, has called for an escalation in attacks on the population centers of the Alawite…

Syria, Reserve army of Terrorism: Taliban Uzbek in Suicide Bombing of Shiite Village

By Joanna Paraszczuk and Barno Anvar | ( RFE/ RL ) An Uzbek militant has carried out a suicide truck bombing in the predominantly Shi'ite town of Fua in Idlib Province, part…

Iraq: Shiite Militia Abuses Mar Fight Against ISIS

Human Rights Watch | - - (Washington) – Iraqi government-backed militias carried out widespread destruction of homes and shops around the city of Tikrit in March and April 2015 in violation of…

Can a Loose Federal system save Syria and Iraq?

By Jerome Joffe | (Informed Comment) | - - In recent months, prospects for applying the principles of federation and constitutional protection for minorities as a basic political solution for the conflicts…

Can Iraq’s Shiite Militias save the Country from Sectarian Division? Qais al-Khazali thinks So

By Mohammed al-Zaidi | Najaf | (Niqash.org) | - - NIQASH meets Qais al-Khazali, head of one of Iraq's most feared militias. The cleric and soldier answered critics, talking about what to…

Is Syria doomed to become Sunni version of Theocratic Iran?

By Hakim Khatib | ( Your Middle East ) - - War in Syria The Syrian upheaval has, increasingly, been fixed in a religious framework – Sunnis against the rest, writes Hakim…

Why Partitioning Iraq is a Terrible Idea

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - I think the remarks of outgoing US Army chief Gen. Ray Odierno on the possible partition of Iraq have been reported in a…

Daesh/ ISIL takes 250 Captive, including 60 Christians in Syria

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - In more bad news for the Baath regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) fighters have taken the town of Al…

As the Iraqi Army takes on ISIL in al-Anbar: How did we get here?

Brian Glyn Williams | (Informed Comment) | - - Last week the Iraqi government announced that it would be commencing operations to retake Ramadi, the capital of the vast western province of…