Arab World

Washington, DC (AFP) – US diplomats have visited a dual US-Saudi national who was reported to have been tortured while imprisoned in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh, a top White House official said Sunday. The New York Times, citing the detailed account of an unnamed friend, said guards dragged Walid Fitaihi, a Harvard-trained doctor, to […]

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia to Put Detained Women Activists on Trial

AFP

Riyadh (AFP) – Saudi women activists detained last year in a sweeping crackdown on campaigners will be put on trial, state media said Friday. “The public prosecution would like to announce that it has concluded its investigation and prepared the indictment list against the defendants… and will refer the case to the relevant court,” the […]

nuclear weapons

Why Proposal to Sell Saudis Nuclear Technology without Safeguards is Terrifying

The Conversation

By Chen Kane | – According to a congressional report, a group that includes former senior U.S. government officials is lobbying to sell nuclear power plants to Saudi Arabia. As an expert focusing on the Middle East and the spread of nuclear weapons, I believe these efforts raise important legal, economic and strategic concerns. It […]

Saudi Arabia

Who Was Behind the Plan to Give Saudi Arabia Nuclear Power, and What Was Their Agenda? — “Trump, Inc.” Extra

ProPublica

By Charles Herman (Propublica) – For a year, “Trump, Inc.” has been digging into the 2017 inauguration. That reporting led us to look closely at the man Donald Trump picked to run the event, Tom Barrack, a wealthy businessman who’s been friends with Trump for decades. As we were finishing our Barrack episode — just […]

Saudi Arabia

Germany refuses to Sell arms to Saudi Arms Ban despite British Lobbying

AFP

Berlin (AFP) – Germany said Wednesday it would hold firm on its decision to halt weapons exports to Saudi Arabia, shrugging off British warnings that the embargo could hurt European credibility and efforts to bring peace in Yemen. “The stance of the government is that we won’t deliver weapons to Saudi Arabia at the moment,” […]

Saudi Arabia

DC “Think Tanks” are up to Their Necks on Foreign Money: Shouldn’t it be Public?

Ben Freeman

(Tomdispatch.com) – The 2016 elections awakened Americans to a startling reality: the country’s political system is ripe for foreign interference. The Russians took full advantage of social media with bot armies and through unregistered foreign agents. While their influence garnered considerable attention and has led to increased enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), […]

Yemen

How Trump could End the disastrous Yemen War in Just Days if he Wanted To

Reese Erlich

“It would affect their ability to fight immediately.” (The Progressive) – The murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has intensified Washington’s debate over the war in Yemen. On February 13, by a 248-177 vote, the House of Representatives passed a War Powers Act resolution to end U.S. participation in the war. But officials in […]

Syria

Lindsey Graham to embattled SecDef on Syria Withdrawal: ‘Dumbest F*cking Idea’

AFP

Washington, DC (AFP) – Acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan was quizzed by US lawmakers on President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US forces from Syria The fate of Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan was thrown into the spotlight Wednesday following media reports of a fraught discussion he had with senior US lawmakers over […]

Featured

How Kushner and other Key Trump Officials Plotted to Give Saudis the Atom Bomb in Return for Billions

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Reform has issued a Report on a plot to make billions of dollars by selling Saudi Arabia sensitive American nuclear technology that could allow the Kingdom to develop nuclear weapons. The scheme required breaking US law, which forbids technology transfers that might […]