Testimony Before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa Introduction Without doubt, the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) represents a...

A second grand ayatollah has come out against Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki retaining his premiership, while the U.N. high commissioner called for a political solution. The fighting goes on, though. At least 51 were killed and 43 more were wounded, but dozens more casualties went uncounted. 

As a matter of faith, some people believe that God can see and hear everything. But as a matter of fact, the U.S. government now has the kind of surveillance powers formerly attributed only to a supreme being. Top “national security” officials in...

Originally posted at TomDispatch. You're not in the United States. Oh sure, look around at the fog lifting over the New England countryside or the diamond deserts of Arizona, but this land isn't your land, not anymore. It’s a place controlled by U.S. Customs and...

Fox News reports it’s entirely legal in many jurisdictions for criminals to change their names, citing the case of an Oklahoma man convicted of impersonating a police officer – as well as a would-be school bus driver who is a convicted sex offender. It’s a problem in...

Parliament was able to begin forming the new government today; however, there is still much to do before it can function. Meanwhile, at least 233 people were killed, mostly militants, and 185 were wounded, mostly civilians and security volunteers.

Secretary of State John Kerry’s failed efforts to broker an Israeli-Palestinian “final status” deal highlight American foreign policy elites’ rhetorical attachment to a negotiated “two-state” solution as the only acceptable basis for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian...

Recently, the world has focused on the fighting in Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine, all of which seem to be falling apart. Although the first two countries are in the Middle East and the last one is in the eastern part of Europe, they have the common problem that the state’s...

Why does everyone care so much about the Middle East? The answer is obvious: it’s all about the oil. Do you really think the United States would give a damn about Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, or Libya if they didn’t control so much of the world’s master resource?...

Monday was Republic Day in Iraq. The holiday commemorates the 1958 revolution. At least 215 people were reported killed and 34 more were wounded.