Month: January 2017

Militants used drones to deliver bombs to a residence in west Mosul, as others outright executed more civilians.

No, it was not just "another Middle East peace conference," as a columnist in Israeli Jerusalem Post attempted to depict the Paris Peace Conference held on January 15, with top official representations from 70 countries attending. If it was, indeed, just "another peace conference", representatives from the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority (PA) would … Continue reading “The Paris Peace Conference: Signaling an End to a Western-Dominated Era?”

As much of Washington prepared for the inauguration of President Donald Trump, I spent last week on a fact-finding mission in Syria and Lebanon to see and hear directly from the Syrian people. Their lives have been consumed by a horrific war that has killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians and forced millions to flee … Continue reading “The Syrian People Desperately Want Peace”

On President Trump’s first full day in office, he went to the CIA and promised to back the nation’s spy agencies, but his time would be better spent downsizing the sprawling intelligence community Ivan Eland Originating from the dispute over whether the Russians hacked the U.S. election and tried to influence it, rumblings came from … Continue reading “Need To Reorganize US Spy Agencies”

Displaced residents of eastern Mosul are beginning to return home in large numbers.

When Rex Wayne Tillerson presented himself before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, one thing became perfectly clear: when it comes to America’s dealings with Russia, the Republican establishment is gearing up to fight Trump’s Russia "reset redux" tooth and nail. At his hearing, Tillerson met a fiery response from senators who expressed disgust over his … Continue reading “Trump and the Senate Are Headed for War”

The other day on Twitter someone tweeted me the news of the latest drone strike in Yemen, with the taunting message: “Congrats, @JustinRaimondo.” I had to laugh, and bemoan my fate: “I am now to be held responsible for everything the Trump administration does, especially their failure to go full pacifist!” Of course, you don’t … Continue reading “Taking the Long View”

The Iraq government says that all neighborhoods east of the Tigris River in Mosul are now under control.

Throughout the presidential campaign, Donald Trump’s foreign policy positions have been anything but consistent. One day we heard that NATO was obsolete and the US needs to pursue better relations with Russia. But the next time he spoke, these sensible positions were abandoned or an opposite position was taken. Trump’s inconsistent rhetoric left us wondering … Continue reading “Trump’s Foreign Policy: An Unwise Inconsistency?”

Working in what I presume they see as the interest of factual accuracy, NPR has published an annotated version of Trump’s inaugural speech. In theory, this is probably a good idea. My problem with it lies in the network’s clearly selective use of this practice. They did not, to my knowledge, ever do anything of … Continue reading “NPR Publishes an Annotated Version of Trump’s Inaugural Speech”