Michael Berube does a post-mortem on Libya and the Left, and what he finds is not a pretty picture. Woolly thinking, outrageous lies, moon-eyed Qaddafi-worship, false equivalences, and simplistic proxies for actual thought abound.
Israel’s Strangulation of Gaza by the Numbers
The Israeli navy illegally interfered with Gaza aid ships on the high seas, Friday, kidnapping the people on the two vessels and sending the ships involuntarily to an Israeli port. The Geneva Convention of 1949 on people in occupied territories forbids their mistreatment. Israel’s strangulation of Gaza by the numbers: Truckloads of goods per year […]
Would Obama Greenlight an Israeli Attack on Iran?
The Israeli press notes that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and maverick Defense Minister Ehud Barak have been talking up a possible Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities. No one knows if the two are just trying to create a threatening environment for Iran, in hopes of intimidating Tehran on a range of issues, […]
A Hot Wet Thousand Years and 10 Green Energy Stories to Avert it
The bad news is that I’ve been reading David Archer’s The Long Thaw on climate change projections, and he thinks that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been way too conservative. As I understand him, his research shows that because of massive carbon emissions produced by human beings, by 2100 the average temperature of […]
Likud Government takes Revenge on Palestinians for UNESCO Membership
The Pan-Arab London daily, al-Hayat, editorializes today that President Obama’s vote against Palestine’s membership in UNESCO demonstrates that his 2009 Cairo speech was “empty words.” Obama’s forays into outreach to the Muslim world are crashing and burning as he adopts anti-Palestinian positions little different from those of his predecessors. As for the far rightwing government […]
Romney Flip-Flops on Mideast, Too: Cole in Truthdig
My column is out in Truthdig, entitled, “Mitt Romney’s Big Bad Ideas for the Middle East”. Excerpt: “The Arab revolutions of 2011 have already removed three dictators and forced governments across the region to abolish draconian states of emergency. Tunisia has had free and fair parliamentary elections, and Egypt’s are scheduled to begin in late […]
UNESCO Palestine Vote Isolates US Further
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization recognized Palestine as a full member on Monday setting off a crisis between the United States and the United Nations that seems likely to further isolate Washington in the world and reduce its influence. The UNESCO vote could start an avalanche of such acceptances among various UN […]
Mahoney: New Leadership in Kyrgyzstan Fateful for US Bases in Central Asia
Jon Mahoney writes in a guest column for Informed Comment Many readers of Informed Comment will be interested in the outcome of the presidential elections in Kyrgyzstan held on October 30th. With 99% of votes counted, AP and other news sources are reporting that Alzambek Atambaev received 63% of of the votes, well above the […]
Syria Promises Response to Arab League Plan, Threatens ‘Volcano’ if Attacked
Syria said it would reply Monday to the proposal of the Arab League for ending the violence in that country. Aljazera has video. On Sunday, an interview appeared in the Telegraph with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. He said, “Syria is the hub now in this region . . . It is the fault line, […]
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