Adil E. Shamoo

The current war in Yemen has had devastating consequences for the population. The indiscriminate Saudi bombing includes schools, water purification plants, hospitals, and electricity plants, leading to the death of over 10,000 and the wounding of 50,000 more. By the end of 2017, the International Red Cross has projected that over a million Yemenis will … Continue reading “Starvation and Cholera in Yemen”

As Iraq finally pries the death grip of the Islamic State off of its bloodied form, you’d think US policy would reflect the lessons learned from killing innocent civilians and destroying the basic functions of a nation. Instead, more than a decade of using drones to “target” suspected terrorists, the Trump administration has now opened … Continue reading “Yemen Policy Is Creating More Terrorists”

The United States is at war in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, and possibly soon in Iran as well. Donald Trump has also sided with Saudi Arabia in its bloodless conflict with Qatar. The Saudi Arabia-Qatar standoff is no less serious than the other hot wars. The two countries are extremely wealthy and influential in … Continue reading “Trump: Toward War in the Middle East”

As President Barack Obama’s term comes to a conclusion, various initiatives started under his administration remain unfinished. One of these, the adoption of the recommendations of the Defense Health Board (DHB),“Ethical Guidelines and Practices for U.S. Military Medical Professionals,” is of utmost importance to health care professionals in our military. Health care providers in the … Continue reading “US Military Medical Ethics Guidelines in Limbo”

Although the Saudis have promised a high-level committee to investigate civilian deaths from their airstrikes in Yemen, they continue to strike civilian targets with countless deaths and destructions. For instance, among those recently killed in an airstrike on an abandon cement factory were “people in parked cars, a grocery store owner, a pharmacist and shoppers.” … Continue reading “The Saudi Slaughter in Yemen”

In the country’s last election, the Islamist-leaning Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lost its majority in parliament. Though it retained a plurality of seats, it was the party’s biggest setback since coming to power at the beginning of the century. Since then, it’s been unable to form a governing … Continue reading “The US Is Betraying the Kurds – Again”

The latest war in the Middle East is now well underway in Yemen, where airstrikes by a Saudi-led coalition have killed hundreds and plunged the Arab world’s poorest country into a deepening humanitarian crisis. The target of the strikes are Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Zaydi Shiite resistance fighters that seized the capital Sanaa last January and … Continue reading “Autocrats United Against Yemen”

Last month, an anonymous US official stirred a tempest in a teapot when he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a chickenshit” in comments to the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg. The insinuation was that while Netanyahu will happily rile up his right-wing base on issues related to Palestine or Iran, he lacks the political courage to … Continue reading “Netanyahu Is a National Security Risk – and Washington Knows It”

Terrorism is defined by Merriam Webster’s dictionary as: "the use of violent acts to frighten the people in an area as a way of trying to achieve a political goal." One could say Hamas fits this definition out of desperation and a lack of moral leadership. But Israeli actions toward Palestinians are much worse: Israel … Continue reading “Israel Terrorizes Palestinians in Gaza”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants negotiations with the Palestinians to continue for decades to come. But the Palestinian leadership would be foolish to go along with this charade. When I was a child in Baghdad, we had a special Assyrian holiday for kids called Nusardil. As part of the celebrations, everyone throws water at … Continue reading “Israel-Palestine: Enough Negotiations Already!”