New evidence has now surfaced from former Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak that Israel came close to attacking Iran three times over the past few years – if you believe what major news media reported about the story. But you shouldn’t believe it. The latest story is only a continuation of the clever ploy that …
Continue reading “Barak’s Tales of Israel’s Near War With Iran Conceal the Real Story”
Poor Burundi. This Vermont-sized African country has been put under a microscope by the world’s punditsphere and has been thrust onto the first stage of the media cycle as of late, ever since its incumbent president Pierre Nkurunziza (CNDD-FDD) decided to run for a third consecutive time in April. Arguing that his first term in …
Continue reading “Hands Off Africa!”
Protests resumed again in several cities on Friday. The protest in Baghdad may have been the biggest one yet this year thanks to participation by Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s followers. Essentially, demonstrators demanded real change. Some complained that, so far, improvements have been cosmetic. Others showed support for Prime Minster Haider al-Abadi. As part of …
Continue reading “Protests Resume in Baghdad; 88 Killed across Iraq”
“May you live in interesting times” – that old (supposedly Chinese) curse seems to define the world today. “Interesting” is meant in the snarkish sense: it is a euphemism for unpleasant, or even intolerable, although in the present context I think a more appropriate term is baffling. The political elites are baffled by the rise …
Continue reading “Imperial America”
Two generals, one of the a Kurd, where among 75 Killed in Iraq
In April, former president George W. Bush told a group of supporters that he wanted to sit out of his brother’s campaign because voters have an aversion to the Oval Office becoming a family affair. On September 10, W. will be the man in charge at a fundraiser for Jeb in New York City. Former …
Continue reading “The Inevitability of a War President”
Another war is in the making in Libya: the questions are "how" and "when"? While the prospect of another military showdown is unlikely to deliver Libya from its current security upheaval and political conflict, it is likely to change the very nature of conflict in that rich, but divided, Arab country. An important prerequisite to …
Continue reading “‘Islamic State’ Pretense and the Upcoming Wars in Libya”
A major Peshmerga operation was
launched in an area near Kirkuk. Several villages were retaken.
As the US stock market was dropping 1,000 points on Monday morning, US commentators were pinning the blame on China. The Chinese economy, they said, was slowing down: what had been the “engine” of worldwide economic expansion was running out of fuel. The clear implication was that China’s rulers were somehow responsible for the sudden …
Continue reading “China and the Return of the ‘Yellow Peril’”
P.K.K. Guerrillas were among the 99 Killed across Iraq.
