The real background of the modern Middle East: Map: The Ottoman Empire, 1798-1923
Map Ethnic Groups in Iran and Central Asia
Ethnic Groups in Central Asia (click for stand-alone map and click again to enlarge) From the very useful Perry-Castaneda map collection at the University of Texas. IC map site under construction.
Bad “Weather” between Obama and Karzai Forestalls Meeting
Update: President Obama made a surprise trip to Afghanistan on Friday but is said to have gotten stuck on Bagram Base and could not meet face to face with Hamid Karzai. The press is saying that Obama cannot get to Kabul because of high winds and fog, making it impossible to fly helicopters to the […]
The Karzai Problem in Afghanistan: Wikileaks
The bodies of the six US troops — killed Monday by a newly recruited Afghan border guard who turned Taliban — arrived back in the United States late Wednesday. That 6 US soldiers were killed in one day was generally not news on the so-called news networks, though of course the major print media reported […]
Zangeneh: Mahmoud Abbas needs to call Snap Elections in Palestine
Hamid Zangeneh writes in a guest column for Informed Comment: We need a breakthrough in the Middle East peace process. One key problem is that the negotiator-in-chief for the Palestinians, President Mahmoud Abbas, lacks the legitimacy and grassroots support to represent his people properly. Abbas (Abu Mazen), has been the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation […]
Jahanpour: US following Israeli 5-Point Plan on Iran: Wikileaks
Farhang Jahanpour writes in a guest column for Informed Comment What is truly alarming about the new batch of Wikileaks diplomatic files is the extent to which US politicians and their Israeli allies are obsessed with Iran. There is virtually no talk of Israeli colonial settlements on the West Bank, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, […]
Al-Khoei: Ayatollah Sistani is Iraq’s Bulwark against Iran: Wikileaks
Hayder al-Khoei writes in a guest column for Informed Comment The “cablegate” leaks have gone a long way in embarrassing governments all over the world, not least the Arab states in the Gulf who seem a little too excited in encouraging the US to attack Iran, and the State Department will have to continue their […]
Top Ten Middle East Wikileaks Revelations so Far
1. The British government’s official inquiry into how it got involved in the Iraq War was deeply compromised by the government’s pledge to protect the Bush administration in the course of it. 2. Afghan President Hamid Karzai routinely pardons drug dealers and corrupt officials. 3. Karzai’s brother, Ahmad Wali, is called a corrupt drug dealer. […]
Gates: Saudis want to Fight Iran to the Last American
Wikileaks Quote of the Day: Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates to French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Paris, February 8, 2010: “… the Saudis always want to ‘fight the Iranians to the last American…’ “
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