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Economist Larry Summers withdrew his name from consideration for chairman of the Federal Reserve last night, even though he had been increasingly considered the favorite for the job in the White House (not so much in the Senate). It is a great mystery why Barack Obama even considered rewarding Summers for his role in increasing […]

Energy

Neil Young: Alberta Tar Sands fields ‘Look like Hiroshima’ (Chamberlain)

Juan Cole

Jacob Chamberlain writes at Commondreams.org Fresh off a trip to Canada's tar sands oil fields in Alberta, famed singer Neil Young spoke out at a conference in Washington, DC on Monday against the controversial oil extraction and its export through the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, calling Fort McMurray, the town nearest Alberta's vast tar sands, […]

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Syrian opposition may attack Israel with chemical weapons, Asad tells Russian TV

Juan Cole

The USG Open Source Center translates an article from Russia’s Rossiya 24 TV containing quotes from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad alleging that Syrian rebels might surreptitiously use poison gas against Israel and blame it on the regime in order to provoke an American attack on Syria’s government. This is not a plausible theory. Syrian opposition […]

Syria

If Obama goes Back to Congress on Syria, they must save America by voting No (van Buren)

Juan Cole

Peter Van Buren writes at Tomdispatch.com Once again, we find ourselves at the day after 9/11, and this time America stands alone. Alone not only in our abandonment even by our closest ally, Great Britain, but in facing a crossroads no less significant than the one we woke up to on September 12, 2001. The past 12 […]

Syria

Top Ten things Americans need to Know about Syria if they’re going to Threaten to Bomb It

Juan Cole

Ambrose Bierce is said to be the author of the saying “War is God’s way of teaching Americans geography.” Despite the vigorous national debate about intervening in Syria, there is some reason to think that most Americans could not find it on a map. Here are some key points about Syria that this blog has […]

Syria

President Obama’s Doubtful Grounds for Military Action against Syria

Juan Cole

In his speech to the nation on Tuesday evening, President Obama laid out his case for military action against Syria, even as he hit the ‘pause’ button to allow for further diplomacy in light of the Russian proposal to sequester Syria’s chemical weapons. I don’t disagree that units of the Syrian military deployed chemical weapons […]

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How Putin Saved Obama, Congress and the European Union from Further Embarrassing themselves on Syria

Juan Cole

Secretary of State John Kerry was asked at a press conference in London Monday morning if there was anything that could forestall a US missile attack on Damascus, and he replied off the cuff that Syria could surrender its chemical weapons stockpile to the international community within a week. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian […]

Syria

Congress Could now Alter our Militarized approach to the Middle East– But likely Won’t (Bacevich)

Juan Cole

Andrew J. Bacevich writes at Tomdispatch Sometimes history happens at the moment when no one is looking. On weekends in late August, the president of the United States ought to be playing golf or loafing at Camp David, not making headlines. Yet Barack Obama chose Labor Day weekend to unveil arguably the most consequential foreign […]

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Obama Isolated at G20 on Syria, No ‘Coalition of the Willing’

Juan Cole

President Obama found himself isolated on the Syria issue at the G20 conference in St. Petersburg on Thursday. Among the world’s largest 20 economies, only France agreed with his plan for a military attack on Damascus. China expressed fears that US military action in Syria would cause a spike in oil prices and slow the […]