By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Former National Security Adviser to president Trump, Lt. Gen. (ret.) Michael Flynn, has allegedly offered to testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Russia’s role in the US election, on condition that he is granted immunity from prosecution. This development could be important, because Flynn was […]
Archives for March 2017
Putin and the Ayatollahs: How Russia’s Alliance with Iran is reshaping the Middle East
By Clément Therme | (The Conversation) | – – Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, will meet for the eighth time in four years from March 27 to 29. According to the Tehran Times, both sides are “preparing more than ten documents for signing” on various economic and political issues. The […]
In Shadow of Mideast Wars, Massive Spike in Hunger and Malnutrition
By IPS World Desk | (Inter Press Service) | – – Food security and nutrition levels in the Near East and North Africa have sharply deteriorated over the last five years, undermining the steady improvement achieved before 2010 when the prevalence of undernourishment, stunting, anaemia and poverty were decreasing, a new UN report warns. According […]
Why $54 bn for Pentagon won’t fix US Security
By Rajan Menon | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – Donald Trump’s supporters believe that his election will end business as usual in Washington. The self-glorifying Trump agrees and indeed his has, so far, been the most unorthodox presidency of our era, if not any era. It’s a chaotic and tweet-driven administration that makes headlines […]
Why are young Jewish Activists Protesting the Major Israel Lobby?
AJ+ | (Video News Clip) | – – “Here’s why these Jewish activists are protesting the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in DC. ” AJ+: “Jewish Activists Are Protesting AIPAC”
The Untold Violence of the Pax Americana
John W. Dower | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – [This essay is adapted from “Measuring Violence,” the first chapter of John Dower’s new book, The Violent American Century: War and Terror Since World War Two.] On February 17, 1941, almost 10 months before Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Life magazine carried a lengthy essay by […]
Are Progressives Suffering from Trump Fatigue?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Many progressives are suffering Trump exhaustion. The new administration has set the country back on so many fronts that it may not even be possible to follow all the breaking, and very bad, news. Every time you take some comfort in a successful lawsuit against the […]
Why would Trump Spend $54 Billion More on the Pentagon? To Start a War, Obviously.
By John Feffer | ( Foreign Policy in Focus The president apparently wants to put the U.S. on a permanent war footing to sustain his unpopular presidency. So, let me see if I’ve got this right. North Korea has been pushing its ally China to rein in the United States. Pyongyang is worried that Washington […]
Iranian Woman Visiting US arrested, taken to distant Jail Despite Valid Visa
TeleSur | – – Alia Ghandi was denied U.S. entry to visit her family in Portland. Although courts rejected the so-called “Muslim ban,” an Iranian tourist was detained at an airport and jailed “without cause” in Portland, Oregon. Regardless of the fact that federal courts have repeatedly outlawed U.S. President Donald Trump’s discriminatory anti-Muslim travel […]