Month: August 2016

Iraq executed four prisoners, but many more executions are expected soon.

Turkey’s recent flirtation with Russia, by mending fences, is designed as a signal to the United States, its major NATO benefactor, that Turkish ire is up over perceived lukewarm Western support for its broad domestic crackdown after the recent failed coup attempt. In addition, the Turks are angry that the U.S. government has not quickly … Continue reading “Turkish-Russian Rapprochement Shouldn’t Worry the United States”

Everyone seems to have a theory on how to obliterate ISIS, or “Daesh”. However, two points are rarely raised: one, concerning the origins of the group and the second, on whether there are genuine intentions to defeat it, in the first place. We must boldly address the first to unravel the enigma behind the rise … Continue reading “War To ‘Stop’ War: Libya’s ‘Operation Odyssey Lightning’”

The discovery of militants prisons in Fallujah has yielded a number of bodies

Donald Trump’s most recent foreign policy speech, in which he explained how he would deal with the Islamic State (ISIL) and the Middle East in general, contained multitudes – everything good and everything questionable about his brand of “America First” nationalism. Here is Trumpism on full display, the common-sensical and the nonsensical intertwined. While I … Continue reading “The Benefits and Hazards of Trumpism”

Peshmerga forces reported dozens more militant fatalities in northern Iraq.

Don’t look for a walk-over. The T14 Armata, Russia’s latest tank. You don’t want to fight this monster if you can think of a better idea, such as not fighting it. Russia once made large numbers of second-rate tanks. That worm has turned. This thing is way advanced and outguns the American M1A2, having a … Continue reading “Hillary, Trump, and War With Russia”

As Daesh suffers losses, militants execute more civilians.

When one thinks of the neoconservatives what comes to mind is their warmongering, and they have indeed been the War Party’s brains since their incubation inside the Democratic party and their defection to the GOP during the Vietnam era. Yet there are other aspects of the neooconservative mind – or, rather, the neoconservative personality – … Continue reading “Evan McMullin: Raising the Neocon Flag”

The New York Times took notice recently of the role that so-called “think tanks” play in corrupting U.S. government policy. Their review of think tanks "identified dozens of examples of scholars conducting research at think tanks while corporations were paying them to help shape government policy.” Unfortunately, and perhaps predictably, while their investigation demonstrates well … Continue reading “Inciting Wars the American Way”