Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Donald J. Trump held an impromptu press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Monday. In the course of his remarks, he said a couple of things about the Middle East, Informed Comment’s beat. Since he’ll be back in the White House in about a month, these observations give some clue as to […]
Iraq’s Barzani hails Syrian Leader’s Assurances on future of Syrian Kurds
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The fall of the al-Assad regime in Syria has broached again the issue of the largely Kurdish Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and its relationship to the new government. Many Kurds are fearful for their future, as Euronews reports. The officers of the new government have said […]
How did we Get Here? Excerpt from my new book “Gaza Yet Stands”
This is an excerpt from a draft of the introduction to my new book, Gaza Yet Stands, which briefly sketches how Israeli colonial policies turned it into an open-air concentration camp. By the way, the book makes a great Christmas gift for your progressive friends and family members who agree that Christmas should mean that […]
Türkiye reaches 18.7 GW Photovoltaic Capacity, shows how Solar can meet Growing Air Conditioning demand
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – One of the paradoxes of human-made climate change is that as we heat up the planet by burning gasoline, coal and fossil gas, it makes the summers hotter. These torrid months impel people to run the air conditioner nonstop, which requires burning more coal or fossil gas, which causes it […]
With HTS rule of Syria and Taliban in Afghanistan, did the U.S. lose the “War on Terror”?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – US policy in the Middle East is a dinosaur-like holdover from two eras, the Cold War and the “Global War on Terror” (GWOT). Here I would like to raise the question of whether the U.S. lost both. The United State government does a lot o hand waving about human rights, […]
UN Demands immediate Gaza Ceasefire as Israel’s Cabinet of Horrors Continues – 53 Killed, as 65K lack Food, Water, Medicine
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports that the Israeli military killed 53 Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday. The Israeli Air Force intentionally targeted residential buildings in the north and the south of the Strip, in Beit Lahiya and in the Al-Janina neighborhood east of Rafah City. The Israeli Air Force […]
Shiite Latakia Falls to new Syrian Government, as Sheikhs call for Reconciliation and Recruits are Pardoned
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Monday, the Levant Liberation Council (Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham/ HTS) guerrilla forces extended their rule to Latakia, Syria’s major port, in the northwest of the country. One Syrian source maintained that there was an uprising of anti-Assad Alawites in Latakia, and that HTS rebels had not entered the city. Other […]
Syrians finally Won the Arab Spring; Can they avoid Pitfalls and Win Democracy?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Syrian Revolution of 2024 has succeeded in deposing the al-Assad dynasty, in power since 1970, throwing off the rule of the once mighty Syrian Socialist Baath Party, a feared and murderous one-party state. Rebel forces streamed into the capital, Damascus, Sunday morning, facing no significant resistance from government troops, […]
Why Iran can’t Stand up for the al-Assad Government: Russia isn’t Offering Air Support
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The strategic situation in Syria is dire for the Baathist government of Bashar al-Assad. Typically in military history, if an invader takes the capital of the other country, it secures its victory. Damascus is the prize. Damascus has an Achilles heel. It is landlocked, deep in the south of the […]
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