Total number of comments: 299 (since 2013-11-28 15:55:00)
Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion
Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion
Total number of comments: 299 (since 2013-11-28 15:55:00)
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No.
(Another edition of a simple answer to a simple question.)
Actually, to my surprise, right now people are voting with their feet to get to Germany, because of its economic success. It is straining Germany's democratic institutions, though not to the breaking point yet.
This is spot on.
But how do you reach these locked-in Trump supporters?
Astute analysis. In the current political climate, one has to read between the lines to gain some insights into what motivates the main players.
Not Irony, but Cynicism.
Turkey is offering the peace of graveyards.
Wouldn't be surprised if this was true.
Whole thing seems to be out of character, smacks of coercion.
You misrepresent the German law that has been passed. It simply gives teeth to hate laws that have always been enforced in RL. I.e. what needs to be taken down is blatant racist and anti-semitic disinformation. Germany is especially sensitive to Holocaust denial.
A video like this, while in bad taste, is still obviously satirical in nature, and covered by the freedom of art article in the German constitution, which also explicitly protects freedom of religion and academic research.
It also protects free speech, but in the immediately following article specifies that is to be regulated and limited by common law to, for instance, protect youth as well as personal dignity.
There is no free speech absolutism in the German constitution. On the other hand an academic like Juan enjoys full constitutional protection to publish contentious research on the Holocaust as long as his work lived up to academic rigor.
You give African dictators a bad name.
"In any case, the British were duped by Bush into a long national nightmare."
It was Blair who sold the lie. He is much more culpable than Bush, because he has a brain and knows how to use it. He should have known better.
Putin could make a deal anytime with Merkel. She is the one holding the cards.
"Nor, I imagine, does he intend the triumphs of his involvement to serve in a sales pitch for Russian weaponry."
I keep noticing that yo always imagine only the very best things when it comes to Putin.
Comey's own hand-written notes are not classified information.
Apples and oranges.
Trump is a lot of things, part of the security establishment he is not.
The trajectories are very different. I have a young Chinese national as junior partner in my company, he recently received his Ph.D. in Germany and then went back to China. Neither he nor I are happy with the illiberal aspects of the Chinese system, but where China is overall moving towards becoming more of a nation of law, the country that pioneered this principle is now undermining it.
If respect for human rights is now an ideology, I am happy to be called and ideologist.
So why don't you enlighten us? Let me guess it's all people who you'd spell with three (((quax))) parenthesis.
I am sure the Russians would be most eager to accept your explanation.
Very insightful and great writing.
Spot on. The US needs to remain one nation under whatever.
Anything else won't end well.
Prof. Cole is right though about the long lasting hate this fosters. It is why Greece despite its economic woes spends more on its military (per capita) than any other EU nation.
It is a very cold peace between Turkey and Greece, and with Erdogan installing himself as dictator for life, this can easily rekindle hostilities in the not too distant future.
What is the true support for Assad within his demographic strong-hold?
Obviously you don't want to switch you commander in mid-fight. But I would expect that many Alawites realize that he is a road-block for a peaceful post-war Syria, and also blame him for allowing the country to slide into civil war to begin with.
It seems to me it is in Russia's best interest to find somebody who is loyal to them but doesn't hail from Assad's extended family, and step up the pressure to switch out the Syrian leadership.
Surly they can find some nice Russian Datscha for the Assad clan where they are sheltered from the Geneva war crime court?
Buyer's remorse is a bitch.
"Al-Sisi took advantage of the massive protests of summer, 2013, against the Muslim fundamentalist government of Mohammad Morsi (a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood) to stage a coup."
But therein lies the rub. If the Brotherhood would have been just slightly more conciliatory, none of this would have ever happened.
The only thing to quibble with in this article is the denounciation of Nietzsche as a right winger. I don't think he would have appreciated how the Nazis appropriated and twisted his philosophy.
In his day an age, a conservative would have been a monarchist, something Nietzsche had no use for.
It's AfD not KfD. And they have zero chance to get into power in Germany. No other party will ever form a coalition with them, and hell would have to freeze over before they'd garner a majority vote from the German electorate.
I still expect Merkel to be ousted though, by her challenger from the left. The former EU parliament president Schultz.
Unfortunately they'd be foolish to expect any consistency from the US. On the other hand Erdogan is currently severely damaging Turkey's standing within NATO. The US may be better off with military bases on the territory of a grateful, freshly minted Kurdish nation. Of course Russia may not find this idea particularly enticing.
This would be the best news out of the Trump administration yet, if they really prioritize the Syrian Kurds over the increasingly unhinged Erdogan.
Yes, these smears have been believed by the bottom feeders, that make Trump's base.
In order to get a feel for this constituency I make a point of following the fake news site zerohedge.com where there is a fair share of those cretins.
@john wilson
You seem to be under the impression that the "dodgy dossier" on Trump was procured by the US services. The reports I've seen, don't support this. Rather this oppo research was drawn up by a former MI6 spook who was working for a private firm hired through intermediaries by a competing US Republican presidential candidate.
"The people who elected him knew that he had appeared in pornographic videos, liked to tour the dressing rooms of the Miss Teen contests when the contestants were naked, and gropes random women in public places."
The point is well taken, but there is another aspect to it.
I think it is safe to say that Trump is very vein, he even felt compelled to defend his "manhood" on the campaign stage. If a video was to show him less favorably than the mighty stud he imagines himself to be, he'd move heaven and hell to prevent it from being leaked.
It seems to me, for somebody with such an outstanding social media presence, you have an oddly myopic perception of how Americans consume news these days.
Pew research found that almost 50% of US adults get their news from Facebook. With a steady drip of Clinton counter-programming this is the platform of choice for disinformation.
The effect would have been cumulative i.e. you wouldn't see a one time dip as with a prominent news item like the deplorable speech, but rather a steady suppression of Hillary's favorability ratings.
link to niemanlab.org
Indeed.
The "failed to have any significant effect on the outcome” line is bureaucratic ass-covering pure and simple.
If you can't see the difference between one kid in a basement and a concerted, state-sponsored, multi-pronged campaign, than you clearly misplaced your critical thinking skills.
You should look up where the term byzantine originated.
Shorter answer: No
It is an artificial scarcity created by the accumulation of wealth in fewer and fewer hands.
Technologically and scientifically there is no barrier to growth, even the fossil fuel powered one. But the real game changer is mobile and solar, that can bring first world infrastructure into the most remote places at very low cost.
The pains we are experiencing globally is solely due to misaligned socioeconomic structures. Similar to the dawn of fascism in the 20th century. The Haber-Bosch process was already invented, mass electrification was taking place, the political insanity was not driven by economic fundamentals but gyrations and misalignment of out of control market forces.
Dark, but insightful comment.
"the specter in the mind of the public of Trump as a Manchurian candidate"
In contrast to the birther lie this story line has the advantage of being highly plausible and impossible to refute.
If you think this sounds like out of spy novel, I suggest to take a look at the Stasi (former GDR intelligence) archives. They implemented these schemes over and over again, and Putin being ex KGB will be quite accustomed with this MO.
"I don’t doubt that Russian intelligence was interested in sowing discord in the US around its election. I am saying that there is no evidence that it succeeded."
But this is not the point. Running this kind of interference is extremely aggressive, and if the Russians were behind this, there is little doubt that this had to be authenticated on the highest level, i.e. it it wouldn't have gone forward without Putin's approval.
Then the question becomes, why would the Russian's go to such length, given the very real risk of substantial blow-back?
I thing looking at another set of facts, will answer this question:
1) Trump had no interest in changing the GOP platform presented at the Republican convention, with one exception, he pulled all the hawkish lingo that condemned the Russian intervention in the Ukraine.
2) Paul Manafort spent considerable time in the Ukraine working for the former president, and Russian asset, Viktor Yanukovych. He had to step aside when this connection became too much of an obvious liability to the Trump campaign. He is now again part of the transition team.
3) The Russian deputy minister confirmed that they were in contact with the Trump campaign through-out the election process.
4) According to a CNN report, a Kremlin advisor admitted they coordinated with Wikileaks.
5) Trump has considerable business interests in Russia and visited the country often.
6) Trump exhibits considerable sexual appetite.
7) Russian “political culture” perfected the art of compromising politicians with embarrassing material, they even have a word for it (Kompromat).
8) Mother Jones reported that a retired Intelligence officer came forward, alleging that this is exactly what has been done to Trump.
9) Trump nominated Gen. Flynn as national security adviser, Flynn was a regular on Russian TV and gave a paid speech celebrating 1o years of RT News in Moscow. At the event he actually got to sit next to Putin.
10) Under Rex Tillerson, Trump designated secretary of state, Exxon signed a deal with Russian oil giant Rosneft to provide access to lucrative oil resources in the Arctic. Rosneft's largest shareholder is the Russian government. Putin attended the Exxon signing ceremony and later awarded Tillerson the country's Order of Friendship.
All this indicates to me that there is a very good chance that President Trump is Putin by proxy.
No demonization required.
A nice side-show to detract from the very real possibility that Trump is a Russian asset.
It's all a matter of perspective, even a dog turd looks respectable in comparison to Trump.
"Notwithstanding the complete saturation by the media in favour of Hillary Clinton and the complete drubbing they gave Trump, ..."
Surely you must be joking. It was Trump 24/7
The reason why Germany is relatively stable can be largely attributed to the fact that Murdoch never gained a good foothold in the German media market. He tried, but the German conservatives did not trust him. Shutting out Murdoch is probably Helmut Kohl's biggest contribution to the democratic culture of Germany.
Dennis, racism is about race. Like insisting that the Harlem Five should be put to death even after being exonerated. Or instituting a policy not to rent to black people. Or seeking the limelight with trumped up charges to delegitimize the first black president. Or how about insinuating a sitting judge is out to get him because he is Hispanic? Something even Paul Ryan called textbook racism.
So yes, Trump by his own words and actions is a racist.
The idea was that the Priebus news would overshadow the Bannon appointment. The fake out didn't work very well.
But one thing is certain, one of them is just a figure head. And it ain't Priebus.
Maybe it has to do with the fact that he was picked by Trump for his White House staff?
Nah, must be a conspiracy.
He already picked a lead climate sceptic to head the EPA, and announced that he plans to eventually shut down the EPA completely.
They are doing their part. And reforestation will help. But it is already clear that this won't suffice.
What is needed is an industrial process on the Haber-Bosch scale.
If you think biomass alone will do the trick than you are not paying attention.
This seals the deal: We will need to develop scalable and affordable technologies that can extract CO2 from the atmosphere, if we are to stand a chance.
Trump is no misogynist or he would not have married women.
I think you are confusing something, here let me fix it for you:
Trump is no gay man or he would not have married women
Progressives better learn to play hardball. One of the things is to make sure that people don't forget about Trump's Russian connection. Republicans don't care about any of the issues close to the hearts of progressives, but they care about national security, and they may have just voted a Benedict Arnold into the White House.
Trump may very well be the ultimate Manchurian candidate.
Just the facts:
1) Trump had no interest in changing the GOP platform presented at the Republican convention, with one exception, he pulled all the hawkish lingo that condemned the Russian intervention in the Ukraine.
–
2) His second campaign manager Paul Manafort spent considerable time in the Ukraine working for the former president, and Russian asset, Viktor Yanukovych. He had to step aside when this connection became too much of an obvious liability to the Trump campaign.
–
3) The Russian deputy minister confirmed that they were in contact with the Trump campaign through-out the election process.
–
4) According to a CNN report, a Kremlin advisor admitted they coordinated with Wikileaks.
–
5) Trump has considerable business interests in Russia and visited the country often.
–
6) Trump exhibits considerable sexual appetite.
–
7) Russian “political culture” perfected the art of compromising politicians with embarrassing material, they even have a word for it.
–
8) Mother Jones reported that a retired Intelligence officer came forward, alleging that this is exactly what has been done to Trump.
–
On the one hand Trump is a puppet of Putin and on the other he’s going to pull out the launch codes.
Obviously he'd cozy up to Russia, he has been very hard on China though, and he also expressed no reservation to use nukes on none-nuclear combatants. Think nuking Mosul (certainly would qualify as a surprise attack).
This is something even Richard Nixon never contemplated.
"The authoritarian personality creates a new reality and a befuddled populace accepts it, no matter how ludicrous."
So true, If you go to a site like zerohedge (they used to occasionally have some economic insights). It is now a fever swamp of people who create their own alt-right reality. There is no common ground any more.
The US uses its military might to hastily, since you have this shiny hammer every issue seems to look like a nail to the US.
The point is, I strongly believe the democrats in Turkey make up the vast majority of the people, and you want to strengthen them against their overreaching government, not kill them.
Agreed, I've been in favor of expelling Turkey from NATO for quite some time. And the talks of EU membership need to aborted ASAP.
@Brian, the nuke situation may already be changing.
link to euractiv.com
There is such a thing as a global civil society, that has long expressed itself with organizations such as AI. When people lose their freedoms in a country like Turkey it is a moral imperative to speak up.
Too bad, that all you are compelled to is finger pointing.
It's one thing to have to deal with a bad economic outlook without making a bad situation worse.
Did you actually read the article? Trump's anti-trade policies will add additional fuel to the flames.
This is probably one of many articles to come, that will attempt to psychoanalyse Trump's supporters. Clearly there is something fundamentally wrong with them.
A shame really that immigration changes language so much. Must be why no Brit can understand an American these days. Centuries of immigration just totally bend that language out of shape. Nobody in the states can pronounce these pesky th's any more. Sad.
Did I just imagine the Brexit vote ? The average British education doesn't seem to amount to much.
Side issue, nevertheless:
Fracking was actually first pioneered to develop dry geothermal reservoirs, and if it ever gets back to these roots may very well contribute significantly to CO2 reductions goals.
link to en.wikipedia.org
Most welcome good news.
The goal of the US is a stable Syria with Assad removed from power.
I am trying to find the argument in this comment, but I cannot make any sense of it. After all, there are no American troops in Syria, and nobody plans to send any.
High moral comes by easy, if one of the wealthiest countries in the world bombs its neighbor that happens to be one of the poorest.
You do know who pays for sputniknews, I suppose?
Worst acronym ever.
Actually this time around it's mostly the Russians doing the bombing.
The old shouldn’t be driving any more.
If you would have left this out, this rant would have been marginally more convincing.
From my perspective (German) "Western" is not a code for "white". In German political discourse it is shorthand for keeping Germany anchored to the US (via NATO etc.), or seeking closer alignment with the Russians. Who's more white I leave up to you to decide.
Prof. Cole how can you write this, Just when Melania Trump's speech demonstrated to everybody how oppressed white people are in America?
Blacks get all the best things, even the best words! Michele Obama was allowed to use all these wonderful sentences in her speech eight years ago, yet when a beautiful white woman uses the very same sentences, she gets attacked for it!
How very unfair, and obviously racist is that!
🙂
(The sad thing is, this pretty much reflects the sophistication of Trump surrogates on TV.)
The Turkish people showed an amazing spirit, too bad their president won't.
This will just further his paranoia.
Don't know about Prof. Cole, but here's my take :
The Daesh success builds on internal cohesion and absolute dedication to a cause, combined with flexible non-standard warfare and underground financing. Their military capabilities rely critically on a constant influx of globally recruited volunteers, and the ready availability off ammo and light military gear.
Once denied territory the Daesh remnants will melt away and resurface as terror / organized crime organization.
"Thus, al-Qaeda’s destruction of the Shiite Golden Dome shrine of the eleventh Imam in Samarra in 2006 set off an Iraqi civil war. You couldn’t hurt the feelings of very many French by taking a sledge hammer to a gargoyle."
Apples to Oranges? I think blowing up Notre Dame would get their attention.
Admittedly though, it wouldn't be so much a matter of religion but French identity.
I think in all fairness it should also be mentioned that there were some, not many, less sinister reasons.
Neo-cons who believed the first Bush administration betrayed the Saddam opposition who was encouraged to overthrow the dictator at the end of the first gulf war.
The rising death toll the continued sanction took on the Iraqi population (an especially idiotic argument in hind sight).
The psychological degradation that has to occur to make these kind of suicide bombers is beyond my comprehension. These people need to receive some major treatment in padded cells, but the shere number of them is mind boggling.
Reads like an argument for welfare appeasement politics.
"He was talking about NATO defensive moves in Poland and the Baltic states"
NATO's massive military exercise in the Baltics is intended to be defensive in nature, but it should not surprise that Russia sees it as an aggressive stance.
The country has been invaded too many times, to be sanguine of such a massive troop presence at its doorsteps.
50% in a poll hardly represents 50% of the actual electorate. British First "patriots" like yourself are obviously much more motivated to take part in the referendum, whereas the pro-EU voters are a rather apathetic lot.
At any rate, I am sure the EU will gladly accept Scotland back in after the inevitable next referendum on Scottish independence.
The EU parliament is elected directly and has to confirm the commissioners, which in turn are appointed by the elected heads of states of the EU countries. The President of the European Commission is actually now voted in directly by the EU electorate.
Hardly qualifies as undemocratic mandarines.
But if you want to quit, just to go back to unsustainable overfishing, be my guest.
You are thoroughly confusing me ???
Other than metric, all the things you mention never changed. The UK kept the pound, and has not joined the Euro, and of course they still drive on the left side of the road.
Josh Marshall from the TPM site put it succinctly: This is not about the radicalization of Islam but the islamisation of radicalism.
Your last paragraph wraps it up perfectly. And as is always the case after a mass shooting, an army of NRA clones descends onto social media, to push their worn out mantra that "it's not the gun it's the person".
You need to read up on human history if you think that this is particular unique or new. Heck, the Palestinians are essentially forced to relive the experiences of native Americans.
"Also, I don’t need any religion whatsoever nor religious background in order to pray, if I choose to do so."
Same here, but it seems many faith seekers yearn for the communal aspects and want guidance. These people are sometimes in a vulnerable state of mind, and if they get indoctrinated towards intolerance the damage is hard to undo.
Which is why I am always gratefull for enlightened, tolerant, inspirational and charismatic people of faith.
My take away is that the world needs more Sufis and fewer Salafists.
American evangelicals have been actively spreading their narrow minded take on Christianity in Africa and South-America. It would be wonderfull, and somewhat ironic, if American Sufi inspired Islam could become a global force for tolerance and inter-faith undestanding.
My bad, Israel actually received the Dolphin class without AIP. This will make them a bit easier to detect, but in electric propulsion mode the sound signature will still be very low.
link to globalsecurity.org
Nuclear deterrent is and always has been crazy. Hardliners like Netanyahu are certainly certifiably crazy enough.
Any threat to Israel's existence will come from its immediate Arab neighborhood, so range isn't really an issue.
As to the subs detectability, they will pose plenty of challenge for an Arab army. And they only have to miss one.
link to globalsecurity.org
You are too glib in rejecting the nuclear threat.
Israel has German build subs that are almost undetectable. They are most certainly equipped with nuclear missles. If Israel was overrun and occupied by conventional armies, then they still have the means, as well as the motivation for a nuclear vengeance strike.
"Number one, I’m not stupid, okay? I can tell you that right now. Just the opposite."
If he says so, I guess it must be true.
The US does not bomb Assad's forces. The air force operates over IS/Daesh territory where Assad currently has no power whatsoever (legitimate or not) .
"These passages show an attachment to Bashar al-Assad not always in evidence"
I think these passages are open to another interpretation. I.e. Russia wants to strongly emphasize the adherence to international law and institutions, since these in turn offer them protection and influence.
Prof. Cole is a historian by trade. Historians are trained at analyzing historic reporting and communications by taking into account the motivations of the writers and the intended effect on the audience. By comparing contradicting accounts historians are very good at establishing a picture that approaches historical truth.
I believe it is that training, in conjunction with Prof. Cole's considerable language skills, that make him one of the best sources of information on the matter.
"Turkey, which has been firing artillery at Islamic State targets in Syria."
More like at Kurdish fighters within Syria.
This article is very badly sourced.
Despite my sympathy for the man and his accomplishments, I expect history will judge Obama harshly for the drone killings.
Why hasn't there been a movie about the life of this remarkable woman? Glad to see one Google search later that I am not the only one wondering this.
link to vox.com
"So President Bashar Assad is to blame for being strong-armed into an illegal rendition program. "
"Not quite sure why you think a wave of the hand replaces study and reading in the consideration of foreign policy."
OK, I get it now. You obviously just have a very shrewd sense of humor.
Are very much on the same page, are also quite fond of Bernie's positions, but the mindlessness of many of his supporters demonstrate nicely that Republicans don't have a monopoly on stupid.
This is a most bizarre tribute to a war criminal. I can see how you could have thought of Assad as "gentle and genuin" before the war, but how did you embargo yourself from the many years of news that document the regime's war crimes? Assad's regime is more old fashioned than IS/Daesh, you won't see them advertising their crimes on Youtube, but that doesn't make torture and the barrel bombs any less real. Where the heck have you been to miss these inconvenient facts?