Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Carbon Dioxide emissions were up again this year, after a hiatus during which people wondered if the world had gotten a handle on greenhouse gases. It turns out, not so much. A new UN report sounds the alarm. The spike in CO2 this year is a bad sign, but actually […]
“A Smoking Saw”: Bin Salman Loses Support of Key GOP Senators with CIA Briefing
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Among the things Saudi Arabia wants from the United States is support for its war on Yemen and permission to buy from US arms corporations state-of-the-art military weaponry. Both things are now in peril, as key Republican senators reacted to a secret briefing by Gina Haspel, director of the Central […]
Congressional Noose may Tighten around Saudi Crown Prince as Haspel Testifies
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Trump administration was so annoyed by the line of the Central Intelligence Agency that Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman ordered the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi that it appears to have kept director Gina Haspel from testifying to Congress last week alongside Secretary of State Mike […]
Israel turns unstable Abruptly, as Police urge PM Netanyahu be indicted
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Israeli police over the weekend urged that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sarah, be indicted for corruption. The decision lies with attorney general Avichai Mandelblit. The Israeli police and justice system have shown a willingness to punish corruption in high places. Former prime minister Ehud Olmert was sentenced […]
The Pivotal GHW Bush Presidency: How the US became Mired in the Mideast
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On the occasion of the death of George H. W. Bush, I’d like to reflect on the meaning of his presidency for American foreign policy in the Middle East. Bush was the last representative of the old Republican Party of wealthy northeast businessmen and Midwestern farmers and small town dwellers, […]
The Bottomless Dishonesty of CNN on Palestine and Marc Lamont Hill Firing
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – CNN has fired contributor Marc Lamont Hill for a speech he gave on Palestinian rights at the UN. The speech can be found here. You can protest this outrageous firing at this petition site. And here is a link to his book, Nobody: Casualties of America’s War on the Vulnerable, […]
Trump was seeking Moscow Skyscraper Deal during 2016 meeting with Veselnitskaya
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – We now know that Michael Cohen lied to Congress about the timeline of Trump’s negotiations with Russia for a skyscraper in Moscow, telling them that the bid for a Trump Tower hotel in Moscow ended in January, 2016. It did not, but rather continued to be a live possibility into […]
Senate Rebukes Trump, Saudis on Yemen, Advances Withdrawal Bill
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Senate slapped the Trump administration around on Wednesday, voting 63-37 to bring to the floor a proposal to end US involvement in the Saudi-led war on Yemen. I should declare my own interest by saying that I was one of 50-some Middle East experts and policy-makers who signed a […]
Trump wants out of Mideast, blames Oil and Israel for Having to Stay
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In an interview with The Washington Post on Tuesday, Trump bruited the notion of removing US troops from the Middle East. He said that Israel and oil were the only reasons the US was in the region and that oil no longer justified the US military presence. The Post reported: […]
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