Month: July 2016

I’ve finally figured out why so many pundits and journalists are signing on to the new cold war with Russia: they weren’t alive during the last one. They have no memory of the Cuban missile crisis, they didn’t grow up in the era of backyard bomb shelters: for them, Fail Safe and On the Beach … Continue reading “It’s Getting Scarier”

At least 2,647 people were killed, and 1,048 were wounded in Iraq during July. Recent violence left 35 people dead and 26 wounded.

Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi said many Islamic State militants are trying to sneak out of Mosul with their families. Parliament passed a bill officially banning the Ba’ath Party. At least 83 people were killed and 21 were wounded: Two people were killed and eight were wounded when a bomb exploded in Mahmoudiya. Gunmen in Qara … Continue reading “Major Operation Launched near Fallujah; 83 Killed in Iraq”

As Hillary Clinton begins her final charge for the White House, her advisers are already recommending air strikes and other new military measures against the Assad regime in Syria. The clear signals of Clinton’s readiness to go to war appears to be aimed at influencing the course of the war in Syria as well as … Continue reading “Hillary Clinton and Her Hawks”

Daesh executed civilians after accusing them of collaborating with Peshmerga forces.

We haven’t seen this kind of hysteria since the darkest days of the cold war: a spy scare that is being utilized by one political party against another in a national election, with charges of disloyalty and even “treason” being hurled by one side against the other. The publication of the Democratic National Committee’s emails … Continue reading “Who Hacked the DNC?”

An explosive cocktail of political instability mixed with 90 U.S. H-bombs raises the specter of accidental or suicidal nuclear detonation in or near Turkey. This risk was brought into sharp relief by the attempted military coup there in mid-July. In June, I warned that the Pentagon’s 180 thermonuclear B61 gravity bombs deployed across Europe – … Continue reading “Wild Turkey With H-Bombs: Failed Coup Heightens Calls for Denuclearization”

A child and several women were among a group of people executed for trying to escape Daesh territory.

Based on interviews with Palestinian refugees from Syria. The refugee camp of Yarmouk was ever present in his being, pulling him in and out of an abyss of persistent fears that urged him to never return. But what was this refugee without Yarmouk, his first haven, his last earth? How could any other spot in … Continue reading “Farewell to Yarmouk: A Palestinian Refugee’s Journey from Izmir to Greece”

Reporters and pundits covering the presidential campaign of Donald Trump have been torn between two conflicting narratives: The first is that Trump is a reckless amateur and, as president with his finger on the nuclear button, he would bring the world to the brink of catastrophe. The second is that Trump is a cat’s paw … Continue reading “Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin: Potential Partners – Not Allies or Even Friends”