By Dilan Okcuoglu | – Donald Trump’s unilateral decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria is likely to help ISIS adopt a new strategy and expand its territorial control while at the same time continuing its execution of unarmed civilians. The move also means Trump has stabbed in the back his most successful military partner, […]
Archives for January 2019
Trump’s Remark that Iranians ‘Can do what they want’ in Syria Mocked in Mideast
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Christian-owned Lebanese daily al-Nahar (The Day) mocked Trump’s remark this week that Iran can do whatever it wants in Syria after the US military withdrawal (“they can do what they want there, frankly”). A columnist for the newspaper, Monalisa Fariha, entitled her piece, “Iran will get out of Syria […]
A New Space Race? China First to Land on Far Side of Moon
By Wendy Whitman Cobb | – China became the third country to land a probe on the Moon on Jan. 2. But, more importantly, it became the first to do so on the far side of the moon, often called the dark side. The ability to land on the far side of the moon is […]
New Rep. Ilhan Omar vows to make the US live up to Religious Freedom
Ilhan Omar marked her first day in office by promising to make the US live up to its ideals of religious liberty, and she demanded the country reject divisiveness and hate, Anadolu Agency reports. Omar was sworn into the House of Representatives on Thursday, and joined Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib in becoming the first Muslim women […]
The Limits of Liberal Multiculturalism: Islamophobia and Bill Maher
By Evelyn Alsultany | – ( Mizan) – On the October 3, 2014 episode of the HBO talk show Real Time with Bill Maher, the panel included New York Times bestselling author (and key figure in the New Atheism movement) Sam Harris; actor/filmmaker Ben Affleck; Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof; and former chairperson of the […]
Mysterious Mass die-off of Insects threatens Pollination, Food Supply
(Nature) Recognizing the quiet extinction of invertebrates Nico Eisenhauer, Aletta Bonn & Carlos A. Guerra Nature Communications, volume 10, Article number: 50 (2019) | Download Citation Abstract Invertebrates are central to the functioning of ecosystems, yet they are underappreciated and understudied. Recent work has shown that they are suffering from rapid decline. Here we call […]
The First Muslim-American Women in Congress may get to Impeach Trump
The most diverse House of Representatives in American history was sworn in on Thursday. The new Congress (including the Senate) is religiously diverse as well as diverse with regard to gender. Out of 534 members (one contest has yet to be decided), there are 34 Jews, 10 Mormons, 3 Hindus, 3 Muslims, and 2 Unitarian […]
Cole’s ‘Muhammad: Prophet of Peace’ an NYT Editor’s Choice Book
Many thanks to the New York Times for recommending my new book, ‘Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires:’ Editors’ Choice: “11 New Books We Recommend This Week” Gregory Cowles writes, “How better to enter the new year than with a look back? History runs through many of this week’s recommended titles, from […]
The US Should Leave Syria, but Must Protect its Kurds from Turkey
By Stephen Zunes | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus) – Donald Trump’s sudden decision to remove U.S. forces from Syria appears to have been impetuous and ill-considered — apparently a result of a conversation with Turkey’s autocratic president Recep Erdoğan. That doesn’t mean, however, that the United States should remain in that country. It’s […]
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