By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – I won’t disguise my impatience with the of the Chilcot Report on Britain’s involvement in the 2003-2016 Iraq War. Most of it comes as no surprise to me. I chronicled it at the time, and it wasn’t actually hard to find information about shenanigans if you […]
H. Clinton and Ed Snowden: Some Animals are more Equal than others
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Hillary Clinton has repeatedly attacked Ed Snowden for being careless with government information. So it is ironic that she has been found guilty of being . . . careless with government information. She, of course, will suffer no consequences, since she is part of the ruling […]
How ISIL’s attacks on Saudi Arabia aimed at Undermining the Monarchy’s Legitimacy
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Saudi Arabia was rocked yesterday by three terrorist attacks, presumably the work of Daesh (ISIL, ISIS). The attacks were carefully distributed and aimed at delegitimizing the Saudi monarchy, which glories in the title “Servant of the Two Holy Shrines.” The first shrine is Mecca, the birthplace […]
On the Fourth of July: None of us has Inalienable Rights if American Muslims don’t
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – On this day when the United States was first conceived in rebellion against people being deprived of their God-given rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, it is worth remarking on our political season. One of our two major presidential candidates has targeted America’s some […]
Top 5 Green Energy Good News Stories Today
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Solar power is poised to grow 6-fold by 2030 and could constitute between 9% and 13% of world electricity production by then. Price per kilowatt hour for solar is plummeting, so that it is on the verge of being the cheapest form of energy, outstripping coal […]
Top 5 things that Make Bangladesh a natural Target for Extremists
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Bangladesh has been plagued by extremist violence for years, but the violence and hostage-taking in Dhaka on Friday and on Saturday morning was a whole new level of disruption. Why Bangladesh? Here are some reasons: 1. Bangladesh is a multicultural state, where some 9 percent of […]
Putin’s Winning Hand in Syria, as Turkey Apologizes and Obama Deals
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Vladimir Putin was the skunk at the party in the West after his annexation (or repossession, depending on how you look at it) of Crimea. Europe declared that borders cannot be changed by fiat or troops. The US pressed for heavy sanctions. The Russian intervention in […]
Are ISIL’s attacks the desperation of a Cornered Rat? The Kerry-McCaul Debate
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday evening at the Aspen Ideas Festival that “It has been more than one year since Daesh has actually launched a full scale military offensive, and that’s because our coalition is moving relentlessly on every front . . . Now, […]
ISIL Terrorism Strikes at Turkish Economy; & Someone tell Trump the Victims are Muslim
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The terrorist attack on Ataturk Airport in Istanbul Tuesday immediately drew a crass barb from Donald Trump implying that it supported his notion of banning Muslims from the US. Trump probably doesn’t know that the Turks are mostly Muslim, so he is threatening reprisals against the […]
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