ISIS Needs the War on Terrorism

The recent string of bombings and mass shootings in Paris are a tragedy of the first order. The most recent reports suggest upwards of 129 people killed in seven separate incidents, with many more wounded. Taken together, it is the most severe attack in France's...

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Heavy Fighting Leaves 250 Dead across Iraq

At least 250 were killed and 15 were wounded across Iraq: Security operations in Sinjar have displaced about 4,000 people who fled the fighting. It is unclear if the refugees plan to go back after Peshmerga forces clear the city of explosives. Returning Yazidis have...

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Western Double Standards on Terrorism Deaths

The Islamic State (IS), also known as the ISIS and ISIL, has taken responsibility for the horrendous terrorist attacks on Paris that murdered 129 innocent people and injured hundreds more. The criminal act has been rightly condemned by world’s leader, ranging from...

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Who’s Behind the Islamic State?

As the investigation into the Paris attacks progresses, and the identities of the perpetrators are revealed, some curious patterns emerge. To begin with, the alleged mastermind, 28-year-old Belgium-born Abdel Hamid Abaaoud, seems to have led a charmed life. A...

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America’s Empire of African Bases

Originally posted at TomDispatch. As I’ve written elsewhere, what Chalmers Johnson called America’s “empire of bases” was “not so much our little secret as a secret we kept even from ourselves” – at least until Johnson broke the...

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116 Killed in Iraq; Bombs in Baghdad Suburbs

At least 116 were killed and 22 were wounded across Iraq: In Tuz Khormato, Shi’ite militiamen killed a Kurdish doctor. Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani urged security forces to contain the conflict that erupted between Kurdish Peshmerga and Shi’ite militiamen a few...

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No Payoff for Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to Washington to collect his payoff for being disgruntled over the agreement limiting Iran's nuclear program, which was signed by that country and the world's great powers. Although President Obama and Netanyahu seem to...

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Is Putin Our Ally in Syria?

Among the presidential candidates of the Republican Party and their foreign policy leaders on Capitol Hill the cry is almost universal: Barack Obama has no strategy for winning the war on ISIS. This criticism, however, sounds strange coming from a party that controls...

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Stop Helping ISIS in Its War on the ‘Gray Zone’

What were Islamist terrorists trying to accomplish when they attacked Paris on Friday, killing over 120 French civilians? A growing number of analysts now agree with Juan Cole’s theory about the extremists’ strategy in France, which he raised after the the Charlie...

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Paris and What Should Be Done

The horrific attacks in Paris on Friday have, predictably, led to much over-reaction and demands that we do more of the exact things that radicalize people and make them want to attack us. The French military wasted no time bombing Syria in retaliation for the...

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