Arab World

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Christian-owned Lebanese daily al-Nahar (The Day) mocked Trump’s remark this week that Iran can do whatever it wants in Syria after the US military withdrawal (“they can do what they want there, frankly”). A columnist for the newspaper, Monalisa Fariha, entitled her piece, “Iran will get out of Syria […]

Syria

The US Should Leave Syria, but Must Protect its Kurds from Turkey

Stephen Zunes

By Stephen Zunes | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus) – Donald Trump’s sudden decision to remove U.S. forces from Syria appears to have been impetuous and ill-considered — apparently a result of a conversation with Turkey’s autocratic president Recep Erdoğan. That doesn’t mean, however, that the United States should remain in that country. It’s […]

Syria

Al-Qaeda-Linked Guerrillas make Gains in Northwest Syria

Middle East Monitor

Clashes among rival Syrian rebel factions have spread across northwest Syria, rebels and residents said on Thursday, in the latest bout of tit-for-tat fighting between opponents of President Bashar al Assad’s rule, Reuters reports. Infighting has long plagued Syria’s armed opposition since the uprising against Assad began in 2011. Turf wars have helped the Syrian […]

Afghanistan

Trump Spews Incomprehensible Nonsense on Kurds, Syria, Afghanistan

Juan Cole

“A Commentary on the words that spewed from Trump’s mouth at his news conference during a cabinet meeting on January 2, 2019,” or, “A Ph.D. who has been teaching at a public Ivy since 1984 is forced to spend his time chasing the rabid ferrets running around in the head of a decrepit reality t.v. […]

Bahrain

Bahrain Upholds 5-Year Sentence on Critic of Yemen War, Human Rights Violations

Human Rights Watch

(Human Rights Watch) (Beirut) – The Bahrain Court of Cassation, the country’s court of last resort, on December 31, 2018 upheld a five-year sentence for Nabeel Rajab, a prominent human rights defender, Human Rights Watch said today. The sentence arose from comments criticizing torture in a Bahrain prison and the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. […]

Featured

Saudi Arabia muscles Netflix over Minhaj Criticism of Khashoggi Murder

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Netflix has been forced to pull Episode 2 of comedian Hasan Minhaj’s “Patriot Act” for Saudi viewers because it criticizes the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi on October 2 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, in which a bone saw was used to cut up the corpse. Netflix points […]

Foreign Policy

Pompeo Pledges continuing US Cooperation with Israel in Syria v. Iran

Middle East Monitor

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday that the United States would continue to cooperate with Israel over Syria and in countering Iran in the Middle East, even as President Donald Trump plans to withdraw US troops from Syria. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said as he met with Pompeo in the Brazilian […]

UAE

Dubai New Year 2019 Fireworks & Laser Show at Burj Khalifa

contributors

Dubai New Year 2019 Full Fireworks & Laser Show at Burj Khalifa

Iraq

Israeli general sees possible threat from Iraq as Iran’s clout grows

Middle East Monitor

Iran could use its growing clout in Iraq to turn it into a springboard for attacks against Israel, the chief of Israeli military intelligence said on Monday, reports Reuters. Israel sees the spread of Tehran’s influence in the region as a growing threat and has carried out scores of air strikes in civil war-torn Syria […]