By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Iraqi prime minister Haydar al-Abadi announced Friday that after the city of Ramadi was recovered from Daesh (ISIS, ISIL), the Iraqi army would go on to liberate Mosul (a city of some 2 million before Daesh took it), 420 km. north of Ramadi. On Friday, the […]
Archives for December 2015
Biggest Trump Lies 2015: 76% of what Donald Trump Says is Garbage
Nik Zecevic and Margaret J. Howell | (TheLipTV video report) | – – “Presidential hopeful Donald Trump has won the 2015 PolitiFact “Lie of the Year” award. While investigating Trump’s statements during his political campaign, PolitiFact found that 76% of Trump’s statements were either mostly false, false or “pants on fire” out of the 77 […]
The Regime Strikes Back: Syrian Gov’t advances, Bolstered by Russia
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Russia’s aerial intervention in Syria is apparently yielding some modest battlefield advances for the Baath regime of Bashar al-Assad. Russia is also resupplying the Syrian Arab Army, training it in tactics, and giving it strategic advice. The big news is that Russia airstrikes on the secret […]
When did Justifying Large Scale Civilian Deaths in Bombardments become a Bipartisan Consensus?
By Stephen Zunes | (Foreign Policy in Focus) | – – There’s a bipartisan effort to justify the killing of civilians in the “war on terrorism.” There has been a lot of consternation expressed in the media at a series of statements by Republican presidential candidates during their most recent debate and elsewhere in which […]
Saudi’s Suffragists: Women vote for first time, are elected to City Councils
By Katherine Mackenzie | (Inter Press Service) | – – ABU DHABI (IPS) – The triumph of 19 women in what is being seen as a landmark and historical election in a largely traditional and conservative country is a massive gain for women. A United Arab Emirates (UAE) daily newspaper called this a right step […]
Palestine: Friday clashes erupt across occupied West Bank as Israeli Occupiers use Lethal Force
Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Weekly Friday demonstrations took place across the occupied West Bank on Friday, locals said. Locals told Ma’an that clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers in the village of al-Khader south of Bethlehem, where dozens — including elderly residents — suffered from tear gas inhalation. […]
In Iraq’s Ur, Archeologists Explore History’s Potential to Unite A Divided Land
By Ahmad Thamer Jihad | (Niqash.org) | – – The best way to combat the damage done to Iraq’s antiquities during the current security crisis is to put more effort into exploring and maintaining the ancient sites that extremists cannot reach, says Abdulamir al-Hamdani , an Iraqi archeologist who was studying at Stony Brook University […]
Christmas and Christians in the Middle East
by Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Whether Christmas is joyous sad or nervous-making for Christians in the Middle East this year depends very much on the country in which they live. It should be noted that many of them follow Eastern traditions such that Christmas is not celebrated on December 25. The […]
Oh little town Near Bethlehem, cut off from Highway by Israeli Military
Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The movement of residents in Ras Al-Wad southwest of Bethlehem has been cut off for weeks by Israeli military forces, locals said Wednesday. A resident told Ma’an that the forces closed off the main entrance to the small village with large mounds of dirt around three […]
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