Middle East

another 80 people died in violence in Egypt on Friday, as Muslim Brotherhood crowds protested the military crackdown on their sit-ins that cost hundreds of lives this week. Some of the violence resulted fro police heavy-handedness, some from an armed Brotherhood attack on a police station. The continued unrest upped the pressure on the Obama […]

Egypt

Egypt’s Waco

Juan Cole

Within Egypt, and in many other Arab countries, the shocking killings of Black Wednesday have elicited horror in many quarters, but have actually been supported in many others. I am in the horrified camp, and ask myself how in the world people can be indifferent to or even justified what the Egyptian military did. It […]

Israel

Iran, Israel, and Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Opposition to Zionism (Goldman)

Juan Cole

Shalom Goldman writes at Islamicommentary: In the past few weeks the war of words between Jerusalem and Tehran has intensified. In what now seems a cyclical phenomenon, the politicos in both capitals hurl invectives and warnings at each other, and then retreat back into relative silence. The actual shadow war between the countries continues in […]

Egypt

Cairo Burning (Aerial Video)

Juan Cole

Aerial video of Cairo in the wake of the military atrocity against the Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins shows Cairo aflame. ITN compares it to the 1973 war, but it reminds me of 1952, when angry crowds attacked British-linked establishments in events that helped provoke the Young Officers’ coup.

Egypt

Egypt’s Transition Has Failed: New Age of Military Dictatorship in Wake of Massacre

Juan Cole

The horrible bloodshed in Egypt on Wednesday marked a turning point in the country’s modern history, locking it in to years of authoritarian paternalism and possibly violent faction fighting. The country is ruled by an intolerant junta with no respect for human life. Neither the Brotherhood nor the military made the kind of bargain and […]

Egypt

Egyptian Police Clear Brotherhood Sit-Ins, at cost of Scores of deaths, injuries

Juan Cole

On Wednesday morning, the State Security police in Egypt used earth movers to tear down the barricades around the huge sit-ins at al-Nahda Square in Giza and Rabia al-`Adawiyya square in Cairo. They left one street open at each location and demanded the crowds disperse, saying that no one would be pursued who voluntarily left. […]

Saudi Arabia

Defecting Saudi Prince: Royal Family in Panic at Arab Revolts, Thousands imprisoned

Juan Cole

Russia Today got a scoop on Monday with an interview with a defecting Saudi prince: “In recent weeks Saudi Arabia has launched an offensive against anti-regime activists arresting many and sentencing some to years in jail. Total number of political prisoners has now surpassed 40 thousand according to some reports. The crackdown has even forced […]

Energy

India, China Defy US Congress’ War on Iranian Oil

Juan Cole

The US House of Representatives approved a bill at the beginning of this month aimed at completely closing off Iranian petroleum exports. Not since President Roosevelt told Japan in July 1941 that he was going to cut it off from American petroleum has the United States threatened to use oil to strangle a country so […]

Drones

How Much Blood Money does the US Pay to Families of Innocent Drone Victims? It’s Classified (Currier)

Juan Cole

Cora Currier writes at Propublica: There have been nine drone strikes reported in Yemen in the past two weeks – an uptick apparently connected to the Al Qaeda threat that shut down U.S. embassies across the Middle East and Africa. As many as six civilian deaths have also been reported. President Obama has promised increased […]