Trump Exploits Harvey Victims in Stealth Pardon of Arpaio
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Eminent climate scientist Michael Mann of Penn…
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Eminent climate scientist Michael Mann of Penn…
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Despite Trump having pulled the US out…
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - In an interview with Handelsblatt , German…
Foreign Policy
Mission Accomplished: Iraq drops chapter on evolution from school textbooks
By Brian Whitaker | ( Al-Bab.com ) | - - Iraq's education ministry has quietly dropped a chapter about evolution from its biology textbooks. The ministry has so far given no explanation…Qatar: New Law Gives Domestic Workers Labor Rights
Human Rights Watch | - - (Beirut) – Qatar’s adoption of a new law on domestic workers provides labor rights for domestic workers for the first time, Human Rights Watch said today.…Hezbollah and Syrian Army Liberate Large ISIL Enclave: Nasrallah
By TeleSur | - - Following the joint offensive, the Islamic State group only controls 40 square kilometers on the Syrian side, and 20 on the Lebanese side. A joint offensive between…Afghanistan is now officially James Mattis’ war
By Simon Reich | (The Conversation) | - - Donald Trump’s speech on his administration’s strategy in Afghanistan – in which he announced the introduction of an unspecified number of new combat…Shadowy US Covert Ops & Surveillance Abroad always Come Home
By Alfred W. McCoy | (Tomdispatch.com) | - - [This piece has been adapted and expanded from the introduction to Alfred W. McCoy’s new book, In the Shadows of the American Century:…Is the Gulf Crisis bringing Iraq back into Arab World?
Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | ( Niqash.org ) | - - Countries like Saudi Arabia are showing new willingness to open diplomatic channels with Iraq. Motivations include a military they now respect,…Germany’s Merkel: A Selfish & Isolationist America isn’t “Great Again”
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - In an interview with Handelsblatt , German Chancellor Angela Merkel took on Donald Trump's philosophy directly. She said that Trump's isolationism cannot make…A Turkish Woman in the Oedipus Complex: Orhan Pamuk’s “The Red-Haired Woman”
By Erdağ Göknar | (Los Angeles Review of Books) | - - COULD A CONTEMPORARY STORY of love and vengeance set in Turkey have its roots in ancient myths of patricide and…Is Trump planning permanent occupation of Afghanistan?
By Reese Erlich | ( 48Hills | - - What will 4,000 more US troops do that 100,000 troops couldn't do before? On my first reporting trip to Afghanistan, I was surprised…India joins 20 Muslim Countries in banning ‘Instant Divorce’
TeleSur | - - Women’s rights activists view the ruling as a step toward granting Muslim women greater equality and justice. India’s Supreme Court has ruled unconstitutional a Muslim practice that reportedly…Can we dodge a N. Korean War? Trump and the Geopolitics of Crazy
By John Feffer | ( Tomdispatch.com ----- Related video added by Juan Cole: North Korea Threatens 'Merciless Retaliation' Over U.S.-South Korean Drills, Threatens Guam | TIMETrump’s Afghanistan Surge will Fail without Diplomacy, Anti-Corruption
By Solaiman Fazel | (Informed Comment) | - - Despite the campaign promise to distance himself from Afghanistan, President Trump has now publically taken ownership of America’s Longest War, 2001-Present. Trump’s decision…International Community must Halt Yemen Bloodbath
Hannah Porter | (Informed Comment) | - - A concerted effort by the international community to resolve Yemen’s war would see considerable benefits at a small cost, yet profits, alliances, and egos…Israel argues confiscation of occupied land benefits Palestinians
Ma'an News Agency | - - BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- The Israeli government defended the legality of the outpost “Regularization law” at the Israeli Supreme Court on Monday, and said that the expropriation…Trump flip-flops on Afghanistan, opts for Years-long Quagmire
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The 16-years-long Afghanistan War has bedeviled Washington decision-makers since the US invasion of fall, 2001, which came in response to the attacks of…Can Iraq save Tal Afar from ISIL without Destroying the City?
By Mustafa Habib | (Niqash.org) | - - [N.B. The offensive against ISIL (Daesh) in Tal Afar began on Sunday. - JC] Intensive air raids, secret political talks and military forces gathering…ISIL in Afghanistan Resilient despite Kabul Offensive
By Frud Bezhan. | ( RFE/RL) | - - A relentless air-and-ground campaign against the [so-called] Islamic State [group] (IS) affiliate in Afghanistan does not appear to have radically diminished that militant…Racist Israeli Youth attack Israeli Soldiers, shouting “You are Arabs!”
Ma'an News Agency | - - BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) --Two Israeli soldiers were attacked on Friday night in a public park in the town of Pardes Hanna-Karkur, south of Haifa in northern Israel,…Trump Pledged to Carpet Bomb ISIL, but Little Lebanon is Taking them On
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The Lebanese Army has mobilized to clean out an ISIL enclave in a mountainous region on the border with Syria, Jurud al-Qaa and…‘Not in Our Name!’: Barcelona Muslims Denounce Attacks
TeleSur | - - The crowd chanted slogans such as "Islam is peace!" and “They are not Muslims, they are terrorists!” In the wake of two attacks in Catalonia this week, claimed…