The attack on the US consulate in Benghazi happened because the Libyan government is still weak, rebuilding after its revolution against Muammar Qaddafi. But there was no doubt that the new government was a friend of the US ambassador who was killed, Chris Stevens, or that it would mobilize to deal with the cells of […]
Romney Jumps the Shark: Libya, Egypt and the Butterfly Effect
The late science fiction writer Ray Bradbury authored a short story about time travelers. They were careful, when they went back to the Jurassic, not to change anything, but one of them stepped on a butterfly. When they got back to the present, the world was slightly different. When scientists studying complexity put forward the […]
The West Will Have to Compromise on Syria (Schmidt)
Søren Schmidt writes in a guest column for Informed Comment: Syria is neither Egypt nor Libya – and the conflict can therefore not be solved as it was in Egypt and Libya respectively. The conflict in Syria worsens with each day that passes, and by now more than 20,000 people have been killed. At the […]
Omar Khayyam (186) “wine educates the soul”
If you give wine to a mountain, you will set it dancing; those who find fault […]
Romney Poses, as Militants Burn Benghazi Consulate, killing Ambassador, 3 staffers, & Demonstrate in Cairo, over Islamophobic Film
Predictably, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney tried to make political hay of the tiny demonstrations in Cairo and Benghazi by Muslim militants. The Benghazi mob turned violent in clashes with police and the consulate ended up being burned and an embassy staffer is said to have been the US ambassador and three staffers were killed. […]
Omar Khayyam (204) “strangers cannot know You as Your close friends do”
Prudes don’t know Your grace the way we do, and strangers cannot know You as Your close friends do. You said, “If you commit a sin I will consign you to hell!” Yeah, sure- tell it to someone who doesn’t know the real You! Translated by Juan Cole from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 204
Top Ten Bad Signs for Romney
1. The Fraternal Order of Police has refused to endorse Romney for president. This is the first time for 98 years they don’t have a favored candidate. Romney’s support of Wisconsin-style gutting of state labor unions (like. uh, the FOP) rather put them off. 2. After saying Sunday that he liked parts of Obamacare, including […]
America’s 9/11 response subverted our values, liberties (Cole @ Detroit News)
My column is out at the Detroit News, “America’s 9-11 Response Subverted our Values & Liberties. Exerpt: “Then-French President Jacques Chirac advised George W. Bush to avoid the phrase “war on terror,” and urged that 9/11 be treated as a crime by a cartel. It is not as if such rogue organizations are harmless. Mexico’s […]
A Rebuke to the American-Israeli Economic War on Iran (Cole in Truthdig)
My column is out in Truthdig: “A Rebuke to the American-Israeli Economic War on Iran” Excerpt: “In his acceptance speech in Charlotte, N.C., President Barack Obama said, “The Iranian government must face a world that stays united against its nuclear ambitions.” It wasn’t much noted in the Western press, but in fact the recent Non-Aligned […]
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