Democratic Party

( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – The Biden administration’s approach to the Middle East crisis that erupted in the wake of October 7, 2023 is on the brink of collapse. Israel’s aggressive maneuvers, coupled with Iran’s growing involvement, are pushing the region toward a full-scale war, one that the Biden administration ostensibly hoped to […]

Hizbullah

Biden’s Israel Policy Has Led Us to the Brink of War on Iran

Medea Benjamin and Nicholas J.S. Davies

( Code Pink ) – On October 1, Iran fired about 180 missiles at Israel in response to Israel’s recent assassinations of leaders of its Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), Hezbollah and Hamas. There are conflicting reports about how many of the missiles struck their targets and if there were any deaths. But Israel is now considering a counterattack that could […]

Democratic Party

Harris-Trump was the Worst Smack Down of a Republican Presidential Candidate since Kennedy-Nixon

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Vice-President Kamala Harris held Donald Trump accountable for his record as president, and his promises (actually threats) about what another Trump presidency would bring. It was probably the most devastating debate defeat for a Republican presidential candidate since Richard Nixon, dogged by a five o’clock shadow and […]

Afghanistan

The Morass of U.S. Middle East Policy was visible in the Harris-Trump Debate

Juan Cole

ABC provided a transcript of the debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. I have some thoughts on the Middle East dimension: On Gaza, Harris said, “Well, let’s understand how we got here. On Oct. 7, Hamas, a terrorist organization, slaughtered 1,200 Israelis. Many of them young people who were simply attending a concert. Women […]

Donald Trump

Facing a Smart, Confident Younger Black Woman Trump Is Running Scared

Tomdispatch

By Clarence Lusane | – ( Tomdispatch.com ) – One of the nation’s best-known Black Republicans is former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In the twenty-first century (and perhaps ever), no African American woman rose higher in Republican politics than Rice, who served as President George W. Bush’s national security adviser and then his secretary […]

Climate Crisis

Tim Walz took Minnesota to 54% Clean Electricty and Annual Reductions of Carbon; Can he do it for the USA?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Democratic National Convention on Wednesday evening introduce Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, to the American public. It was a touching scene, with the enthusiasm of Walz’s family on full display, and his own folksy demeanor and common sense, along with a wry sense of humor, clearly wowed the […]

Climate Crisis

There’s only One Issue in the 2024 Election: The Survival of a Habitable Earth

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In mid-July, Nature Climate Change published a global survey of over 9,000 scientists. Its findings should be like the sirens for a 5-alarm fire to our ears. Scientists are trained to be cautious and to base anything they assert on firm empirical evidence and close analytical reasoning. They want to […]

Israel/ Palestine

Biden lost the Vote of this Pastor over Gaza. Harris must earn it Back

contributors

( New Jersey Star-Ledger ) – I cannot see President Biden without seeing 40,000 dead Gazans. He rightly stepped aside after his disastrous debate with Donald Trump, but he continues to lose a far more disastrous debate with Israel’s Prime Minister, weakening the basic principles of US foreign policy. Alongside his humiliating failure to achieve […]

Democratic Party

Walz called Gaza situation “Intolerable,” sought ceasefire, praised Uncommitted; Shapiro did not

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Presumptive Democratic Party standard-bearer Kamala Harris’ pick of Minnesota governor Tim Walz as her running mate has widely been implied to have something to do with his stance on the Gaza genocide. That proposition is likely almost entirely untrue. Governors of states don’t usually have much to say about international […]