War Crimes

Ann Arbor (Special to Informed Comment) – In the Ma`aret Misrin camp near Idlib, 45-year-old father of 10 Nasr Sultan recently told AFP that with the recent imminent halt of food supplies to the camp, his children will be at the mercy of famine. Mike Robson, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Syrian representative, separately […]

Colonialism

All the Lies Trump told the West Point Graduates about American Militarism

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – It was bad enough that Trump endangered the health of the graduating class at West Point for the purposes of a photo op for his reelection campaign by insisting on bringing them back to campus. It was bad enough that he gave an alarming performance in which some observers saw […]

Drone Warfare

In War Crime, United Arab Emirates Drone Strike in Libya kills 8 Civilians

Human Rights Watch

(Beirut) – An apparently unlawful drone attack by the United Arab Emirates that hit the Al-Sunbulah biscuit factory in Wadi al-Rabie, Libya, south of Tripoli, on November 18, 2019, killed 8 civilians and wounded 27, Human Rights Watch said today, after investigating the incident. The UAE appeared to take little or no action to minimize […]

Saudi Arabia

Yemen: Saudi Forces Torture, ‘Disappear’ Yemenis

Human Rights Watch

(Human Rights Watch) – (Beirut) – Saudi military forces and Saudi-backed Yemeni forces have carried out serious abuses against Yemenis since June 2019 in al-Mahrah, Yemen’s far eastern governorate, Human Rights Watch said today. The abuses include arbitrary arrests, torture, enforced disappearances, and illegal transfer of detainees to Saudi Arabia. Saudi and Saudi-backed forces have […]

Displaced and Refugees

Top 5 Ways Syria is the Worst Humanitarian Crisis of the 21st Century

The Conversation

By Shelley Inglis | – Remember former President Barack Obama’s infamous red line speech in 2012? In that speech, the president made it clear that the U.S. would not stand for the use of chemical or biological weapons by President Bashar al-Assad against opposition forces in Syria. But, despite subsequent evidence of the use of […]

Displaced and Refugees

World Court Rules against Buddhist Burma on Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya Muslims

Human Rights Watch

(Human Rights Watch ) – (Brussels) – The International Court of Justice (ICJ) order on January 23, 2020, directing Myanmar to prevent all genocidal acts against Rohingya Muslims is crucial for protecting the remaining Rohingya in Rakhine State, Human Rights Watch said today. The court unanimously adopted “provisional measures” that require Myanmar to prevent genocide […]

Displaced and Refugees

It’s Not Just Vets: Refugees and War-Crime Victims are also Vulnerable to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

The Conversation

By Arash Javanbakht | – Mental health is often used in political discourse and arguments. Post-traumatic stress disorder was the subject Jan. 8, when Rep. Ilhan Omar (D.-Minn.), herself a Somalian refugee who had spent years in a refugee camp in Kenya, said: “Every time I hear conversations around war, I find myself being stricken […]

Displaced and Refugees

Syrian Kurds, abandoned by Trump, Face War Crimes, Ethnic Cleansing at Hands of Turkey’s Fundamentalist Proxies

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Human Rights Watch reports that the fundamentalist Arab fighters Turkey brought with it to the Kurdish regions of northeast Iraq are guilty of war crimes. In the area Turkey has militarily occupied, which it is pleased to call a “safe zone,” the Arab fighters stand accused of shooting down civilian […]

War

Trump’s Plan to Pardon War Criminals is Outrageous, but the Higher-Ups were Never even Charged

Rebecca Gordon

By Rebecca Gordon | – (Tomdispatch.com) – Memorial Day has come and gone and President Trump did not issue his pardons after all. There was substantial evidence that he was planning to use the yearly moment honoring the country’s war dead to grant executive clemency to several U.S. soldiers and at least one military contractor. […]