Kuwait City (Informed Comment) – Iran–US tensions have reached the tipping point. The downing of a Global Hawk RQ4C surveillance drone, a high prized US military asset, by the IRGC air defense forces on June 21, has pushed the two enemy nations to the brink of war. A shooting war may break out at any […]
Archives for June 2019
Dear Trump: Iran doesn’t Have a Military Nuclear Program and Gave up Bomb-Making Potential
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Julian Borger at The Guardian reports that Trump said Saturday to reporters, “They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon. We’re not going to have Iran have a nuclear weapon. When they agree to that, they’re going to have a wealthy country. They’re going to be so happy, and I’m […]
Why Interning Refugee Children In Military Bases puts them at Risk in Age of Trump
By Jana Lipman | – Fort Sill, an army base in Oklahoma, will soon become a refugee camp. The Department of Health and Human Services expects the repurposed military facility to house up to 1,400 unaccompanied migrant children from Central America by early July. Border agents apprehended 54,000 unaccompanied child migrants at the Mexico border […]
A Terrible Week for Saudi’s MBS Shows Tide is Turning
Arms Sales Suspensions and Damning Report on Khashoggi Murder Are a Strong Signal to Riyadh
Saudi Crown Prince Haunted by Ghost of Murdered dissident Journalist Khashoggi
By Hazem Ayyad | – Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman tried to pre-empt the release of the final report of the international inquiry into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi by giving an interview to journalist Ghassan Charbel of the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday, 16 June. The Khashoggi crisis has […]
Trump cites “Proportionality” in Iran pullback, though He has often Violated It
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump in an interview Friday with Meet the Press attributed his decision not to go ahead with a strike on Iran to concerns about proportionality. He said he asked the Joint Chiefs of Staff just before the strike was to have been set in motion about the likely Iranian casualties. […]
Is Washington’s ‘Maximum Pressure’ Bringing An End To Iran’s ‘Strategic Patience?’
(RFE/RL) – Iran is turning up the heat on the United States and its allies by shifting away from a policy of “strategic patience” and pushing back against Washington’s campaign of “maximum pressure” — which has significantly cut Iran’s oil exports, a major source of income, and caused the economy to shrink. Tehran has signaled […]
Risk of Shooting War with Iran Grows after Decades of Economic Warfare by the U.S.
By David Cortright | – Many are worried about the risk of war between the U.S. and Iran. But the truth is, the U.S. has been fighting with Iran for decades in an economic war waged via sanctions. Concerns about a war of guns, warplanes and missiles grew after Iran shot down a U.S. spy […]
Bipartisan Senate Vote Blocks Trump’s $8 bn. Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia
By Abdulaziz Kilani | @AZ_Kilani | – The US Senate yesterday blocked arms sales to Saudi Arabia, ushering in a new episode in the House’s stance towards the Kingdom. This comes as a rebuke of US President Donald Trump, who has been trying to sell $8 billion worth of military weapons to Saudi Arabia, the […]
© 2025 All Rights Reserved