By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Pentagon isn’t going to be happy about this. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced an agreement on a Syria plan between the US and Russia late on Friday, which they said the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad had agreed […]
Archives for September 2016
Nearly 500 more US Troops sent to Iraq for Mosul Attack in advance of Election Day
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Stars and Stripes is reporting that the number of US troops in Iraq has risen from 4,000 to 4,460 in preparation for the Iraqi government campaign against Mosul. The WSJ reported that the government of Iraqi prime minister Haydar al-Abadi wants to begin the campaign in […]
Clinton: No US ground troops in Iraq, Syria; Trump: Steal Iraqi Oil
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The NBC Candidates Forum continued the shameful corporate coverage of the Great American Meltdown that is our election season. That season has given us a Faux Cable News that runs clips of only one side and pays out hush money to cover up how its blonde […]
Donald Trump’s “sharia law” Bogeyman is more Islamophobia
By Lena Salaymeh | (Informed Comment) | – – Donald Trump has called for extreme vetting of those who believe that “sharia law” should supplant American law. Newt Gingrich suggested that Muslims should be tested for belief in “sharia law.” To discredit Trump’s unexpected adversary, Khizr Khan, Paul Sperry claimed to have discovered a smoking […]
Is Modern Israel a Right Wing Project?
By Yakov M Rabkin | (Informed Comment) | – – The recent appointment of the Soviet-born Avigdor Lieberman has aggrieved many liberal supporters of Israel. The man is on record as a proponent of ethnic cleansing, bombing the Aswan Dam in Egypt and stripping Arabs of Israeli citizenship. These critics bemoan an alleged betrayal of […]
Saudi Bigot-in-Chief Declares Iranian Shiites “Not Muslim”
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – `Abd al-Aziz Al Shaikh, the chief jurisconsult or mufti for the interpretation of Muslim law in Saudi Arabia, said Wednesday that Iranian Shiites are not Muslims. This statement is a huge step back from the limited progress Saudi had made under the previous king, Abdullah, toward […]
The Violent Christian West should drop Islamophobia and work on itself
By Johan Galtung | (Inter Press Service) | – – ALICANTE, Spain (IPS) – Watching Christianity nearly a century–fundamentalist Christians fighting ritualistic Christians fighting secularism, generally moving fundamentalism–>ritualism–>secularism–maybe the same for Islam? Their similarities make “Islam right now” a repetition of Christianity; their differences shout, Watch Out! Let us see where this leads us. Johan […]
Israel shuts down Palestinian radio station amid escalation in press violations
Ma’an News Agency | – – HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli forces raided and ransacked a Palestinian radio station early Wednesday morning in the town of Dura in the southern occupied West Bank district of Hebron, detained five of the station’s employees, and ordered it to be closed for three months, amid a documented escalation of […]
Saudis Should Not Run Hajj Pilgrimage: Iran
TeleSur | – – Pilgrims from Iran will be unable to attend hajj, which starts on Sept. 11 this year after talks between the two countries on arrangements broke down in May. Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei renewed criticism of Saudi Arabia over how it runs the hajj after a crush last year killed […]
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