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Archives for November 2019

Espionage
Saudis Spied on American Soil to Penetrate Twitter to Bust Critics

Saudis Spied on American Soil to Penetrate Twitter to Bust Critics

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman was behind a Saudi intelligence operation wherein they bribed Twitter employees (now ex-employees) to gain access to anonymous accounts tweeting criticism of the Saudi regime inside the kingdom. This, according to NPR’s Ailsa Chang. It is unknown how many accounts were compromised (though it […]

Constitution
Fitting: Trump will be Impeached for Chasing a Fantastical Conspiracy Theory about Ukraine

Fitting: Trump will be Impeached for Chasing a Fantastical Conspiracy Theory about Ukraine

John Feffer

(Foreign Policy in Focus) – When it comes to Ukraine, Trump has been manipulated as deftly as a mindless marionette. It’s going to cost him. In fantasy sports, participants draft their own dream teams out of the rosters of existing players. That’s what Donald Trump has done with Ukraine. He and his advisors have created […]

Authoritarianism
Donald Trump’s populist presidency is the real coup, not the impeachment inquiry

Donald Trump’s populist presidency is the real coup, not the impeachment inquiry

The Conversation

By David Edward Tabachnick| – U.S. President Donald Trump and his defenders have repeatedly referred to the ongoing impeachment inquiry as a “political coup” led by Democrats and “progressive left-wingers.” Trump himself has called it a coup attempt. Trump and his supporters claim the inquiry runs the risk of undermining the rule of law and […]

Afghanistan
What hope for a New Generation of US Troops graduating into the Forever Wars?

What hope for a New Generation of US Troops graduating into the Forever Wars?

Danny Sjursen

(Tomdispatch.com) – Patches, pins, medals, and badges are the visible signs of an exclusive military culture, a silent language by which soldiers and officers judge each other’s experiences, accomplishments, and general worth. In July 2001, when I first walked through the gate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point at the ripe young age […]

Donald Trump
Trump Expands US Military Mission in Syrian Oil Fields, as Russian calls him a "Hitler"

Trump Expands US Military Mission in Syrian Oil Fields, as Russian calls him a “Hitler”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Lolita C. Baldor at the Associated Press reports that Trump has been prevailed upon by the US officer corps and national security officials to authorize some 600 troops to guard the Syrian oil fields in Deir al-Zor province, in addition to the 200 already in the Tanf pocket. Kurdish troops […]

Israel/ Palestine
Gaza: what life is like under the continuing Israeli blockade

Gaza: what life is like under the continuing Israeli blockade

The Conversation

By Yaser Alashqar | – In his latest update to the UN Security Council in late October, Nicolay Mlandenov, the UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, warned that as the occupation of Palestinian land continues and a two-state solution moves further away: “It is a multi-generational tragedy for the peoples of this […]

Assyrians
Unconstitutional: VP Pence Directed  USAID Help for Iraqis to tiny Christian Minority

Unconstitutional: VP Pence Directed USAID Help for Iraqis to tiny Christian Minority

ProPublica

by Yeganeh Torbati | (ProPublica) | – Officials at USAID warned that favoring Christian groups in Iraq could be unconstitutional and inflame religious tensions. When one colleague lost her job, they said she had been “Penced.” Last November, a top Trump appointee at the U.S. Agency for International Development wrote a candid email to colleagues […]

Israel/ Palestine
How Israel is Usurping the Rich Archeological Heritage of the Palestinian West Bank

How Israel is Usurping the Rich Archeological Heritage of the Palestinian West Bank

Middle East Monitor

By Nabil Al-Sahl | – Palestine is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of antiquities, competing with Egypt in the Arab world. At least 22 civilisations have left their mark on Palestine, the first of which were the Canaanites; their presence is still visible today . . . Studies have indicated […]

Constitution
Amb. Sondland, who Reversed himself on Ukraine Quid Pro Quo, once Stood up for Khizr Khan against Trump

Amb. Sondland, who Reversed himself on Ukraine Quid Pro Quo, once Stood up for Khizr Khan against Trump

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, potentially facing perjury charges owing to his earlier testimony that conflicted with that of other State Department personnel on the Ukraine quid pro quo, “refreshed his recollection” on Tuesday. In testimony to the impeachment inquiry, he said, “I now recall speaking individually […]

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