Month: April 2018

At least 1,970 were killed, executed, or found dead; and 194 more were wounded in recent violence.

The Middle East, oil-rich but water-poor, with about six percent of the world’s population, has only one percent of the earth’s renewable water resources. Fourteen Middle East and North African (MENA) countries are among the 33 most water-stressed in the world. Climate change, drought and population growth have increased the demand for water in this … Continue reading “The Politics of Water and Peace in the Middle East”

There’s nothing military men like more than obsessively training for wars they will never have to fight. The trick is not to stumble into a conflict that no one will win. The most senior officers and sergeants refer to them as the "good old days." The Cold War era, that is. I can still hear … Continue reading “The Non-Options: 4 Wars the Military Prepares for But Shouldn’t Fight”

Iraq handed down 10 death and 19 life sentences to ISIS women on Sunday.

The stupidity and arrogance of America’s political class is on full display lately, and the White House Correspondent’s “roast” is the least of it (albeit the most visible). The conceit and open identification with Power – i.e., with the very Washington insiders they’re supposed to be guarding against – by our “mainstream” journalists explains why … Continue reading “Nicholas Kristof, Korea, and the Orientalist Temptation”

Turkey reported neutralizing a number of PKK guerrillas in northern Iraq.

Editor’s Note: This was written before the North-South Korean Summit which took place on April 26-27. In geopolitics, everything is impossible – until, suddenly, it isn‘t. Wars that no one ever believed could happen flare into existence, and stable societies descend into chaos. On the other side of spectrum, peace agreements that only Pollyannas thought … Continue reading “Korea and the Geopolitics of the Impossible”

ISIS released a video showing two people being executed.

Iraqi courts sentenced five women to death for their involvement with the Islamic State.

Despite the lofty title, in A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership James Comey comes across in turns petty, smug, sanctimonious, bitter, and most of all, pandering. Comey feeds the rubes exactly what they paid the carnival sideshow barker in front at Barnes and Noble to hear: the pee tape, the jokes about small hands, … Continue reading “James Comey’s Book Is Mostly About Making Jim Comey Rich”