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Juan Cole

Islam
Archeology and Early Islam: A Yemeni Inscription to “Wadd,” the love god Denounced in the Qur’an

Archeology and Early Islam: A Yemeni Inscription to “Wadd,” the love god Denounced in the Qur’an

Juan Cole

In the Qur’an, the chapter of Noah (71) contains a denunciation of the worship of a set of gods, most of which are not attested in northern and western Arabian inscriptions and the worship of which probably lapsed long before the era of the Qur’an (610-632 A.D.). One of them is Wadd, the god of […]

Donald Trump
Trump hands Oil & Gas to Syria & Russia as he claims "We’ve taken control of the oil in the Middle East"

Trump hands Oil & Gas to Syria & Russia as he claims “We’ve taken control of the oil in the Middle East”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump claimed that “we’ve taken control of the oil in the Middle East” as a result of his greenlight to Turkey to invade Syria. As usual, no one could understand what he was talking about. Syria and Turkey are not oil states, though Syria was doing 400,000 barrels a day […]

Barack Obama
No, Trump's Withdrawal from Syria is not Like Obama Leaving Iraq

No, Trump’s Withdrawal from Syria is not Like Obama Leaving Iraq

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Some observers are likening Trump’s abrupt departure from Syria and President Barack Obama’s withdrawal from Iraq in 2011. The two events show no resemblance whatsoever, and the frequently-made charge that Obama could have stayed in Iraq is incorrect. Here’s the difference. 1. Obama did not betray America’s allies in Iraq, […]

Donald Trump
Dem Leadership brands as "Shameful" Pence's Agreement for Turkey "Pause" in Kurdish Areas

Dem Leadership brands as “Shameful” Pence’s Agreement for Turkey “Pause” in Kurdish Areas

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Mariam Khan at ABC News reports that yesterday speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority Leader Chuck Schumer lambasted the pause in fighting by Turkey negotiated by vice president Mike Pence “sham ceasefire.” They added, “President Erdogan has given up nothing, and President Trump has given him everything,” […]

Donald Trump
Blaming Victims, Trump  attacks Syrian Kurds as "Communists," "No Angels," PKK as worse than ISIL

Blaming Victims, Trump attacks Syrian Kurds as “Communists,” “No Angels,” PKK as worse than ISIL

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Dispatches from the Great Trump Clown Parade, which would be gut-busting hilarious if it did not involve real-world dark horrors, including the displacement of some 130,000 Kurds along with deaths and woundings, and the escape of over a hundred ISIL detainees. An unprecedented bipartisan congressional resolution was passed Wednesday against […]

Donald Trump
Russians, Syrian Army take over Manbij and its US Bases, Blocking Turkey

Russians, Syrian Army take over Manbij and its US Bases, Blocking Turkey

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) took control of the city of Manbij on Tuesday, with Russian gendarmes taking up patrols of the city as US special operations forces abandoned two military bases in the region, which were also taken over by Russians. The SAA and the Russians appear to have […]

Donald Trump
Why?  3 Possible reasons Trump is threatening Turkey with Sanctions after Greenlighting Syria Invasion

Why? 3 Possible reasons Trump is threatening Turkey with Sanctions after Greenlighting Syria Invasion

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump is slapping sanctions on Turkey for invading northern Syria after Trump told Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan that it would be all right for him to invade northern Syria. It is really difficult to be an analyst of foreign affairs in the age of Trump, because we try to understand […]

Featured
Trump's Saigon Evacuation Moment, as US Troops Flee and Syrian/Russian Forces are invited in by Kurds

Trump’s Saigon Evacuation Moment, as US Troops Flee and Syrian/Russian Forces are invited in by Kurds

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – For us oldsters, one of the iconic photographs of the twentieth century was the last US military helicopter taking off from the roof of the US embassy in Saigon, with desperate people hanging off it, fearful of what would happen to them when they fell into the hands of the […]

Featured
Kurds consider Asking for Russian No-Fly Zone as Moscow demands Foreign Armies leave Syria

Kurds consider Asking for Russian No-Fly Zone as Moscow demands Foreign Armies leave Syria

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A CNN exclusive by Barbara Starr and Ryan Browne reveals that Gen. Mazloum Kobani Abdi told the US, “I need to know if you are capable of protecting my people, of stopping these bombs falling on us or not. I need to know, because if you’re not, I need to […]

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