By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu bolstered his majority and rid himself of a troublesome voice of conscience Thursday by appointing the extremist Avigdor Lieberman minister of defense. This move strengthened Netanyahu’s hand politically, removing a critic in the form of Moshe Yaalon, the previous minister of […]
Baghdad takes Rutba from ISIL: Jordan-Iraq Commercial Route to Reopen
by Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Iraqi forces have taken Rutba in al-Anbar province, hundreds of kilometers west of the provincial capital, Ramadi, which is also now in government hands (though much of its population is displaced). Only a few dozen Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) forces were in Rutba in the end and […]
Can Iran sue the US for Coup & supporting Saddam in Iran-Iraq War?
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Iranian members of parliament have approved the details of a bill that insists US compensate Iran for its crimes against that country. The bill comes as a result of a $2 billion judgment against Iran entered by a US court and backed by an act of […]
British PM Cameron’s tiff with Trump over Muslims: The Hypocrisy Factor
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – When Donald Trump announced his monstrous and yet daffy plan to exlude Muslims from the United States (what with being, himself, both monstrous and yet daffy), British Prime Minister David Cameron called him out. The plan, he said, is “divisive, stupid and wrong.” Trump gave an […]
Trump’s Politics of Whiteness and the CIA tip that Jailed Nelson Mandela
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The revelation that the Central Intelligence Agency provided the tip to the Apartheid South African government that led to Nelson Mandela’s arrest should come as no great shock, though the public confirmation is perhaps surprising. Nor is it unconnected to the popularity of Donald Trump, who […]
Top 3 Signs Bill Clinton didn’t kill himself to “give” the Palestinians a State
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Former President Bill Clinton on Saturday claimed “I killed myself to give the Palestinians a state,” and maintained that he secured an agreement, which the Palestinians turned down. In fact, no such text was ever presented to the Palestinian side, and then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud […]
Top Hizbullah Commander in Syria killed in Explosion; Radical Salafis blamed
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Mustafa Badreddine, the Hizbullah commander responsible for Syria, was killed Friday in an explosion near Damascus. It wasn’t clear whether he was hit by artillery fire or what. The US now has a tacit alliance of convenience with Lebanon’s Hizbullah against Daesh (ISIS, ISIL), but continues […]
Surprise! Despite Syria-Iraq Turmoil, Major Mideast Economies growing 3-4%
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – When you only hear bad news from a place, you form a negative opinion of it. But when I went looking for news about the economies of the most populous Middle Eastern countries, I was surprised to find that the IMF and/or World Bank is seeing […]
Baghdad gov’t paralysis made capital vulnerable to massive ISIL bombings
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) launched a series of suicide car and truck bombs in Baghdad on Wednesday, killing nearly 100 and wounding nearly 200 persons. Baghdad security had improved over the past couple of years, but the Coalition United for Reform blamed political wrangling on sectarian and […]
© 2025 All Rights Reserved