Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Middle East”
Push Comes to Shove Dept: Facing a startlingly tight election, Israeli political leaders are descending to newly toxic depths with hawkish Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s latest brazen declaration that “those who are against us – we must take an axe and chop off their heads.” The “racist call to murder” by those deemed “disloyal” to Israel prompted condemnation, demands for Lieberman’s arrest …
Unveiling “Operation Inherent Resolve” against the Islamic State back in September, President Obama made it clear that his principal strategy would be the same as that pursued in other recent campaigns: assassination. Deploying his preferred macho euphemism, he reminded us “we took out Osama bin Laden, much of al Qaeda’s leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and leaders of al Qaeda …
Iran’s highest leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday sharply rebuked an open letter released by GOP senators last week, charging that the missive demonstrates “the collapse of political ethics in the United States.” The letter, organized by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and signed by 47 Republican senators, directly threatened Iranian leaders that, if a nuclear deal were reached, it would not last …
A cliffhanger debate will take place this Wednesday at the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Picture Secretary of State John Kerry, new Pentagon supremo Ashton Carter, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey all testifying in the same room. The meat of the matter: the House of Cards, sorry, US Congress, mulling over what’s the real deal behind the Obama …
Twelve years after the United States invaded Iraq on March 19, 2003, it’s easy to forget that support for the war hinged on the demonization of dictator Saddam Hussein. Weapons of mass destruction may have been the motive and the September 11 attacks provided the opportunity, but it was years of media portrayals of Hussein as worse than Hitler that enabled the Bush administration …
To hear politicians and beltway pundits tell it, credibility in international relations boils down to this: Do others believe that the United States is willing and able to follow through on its word? Actually, this is a sloppy and often pernicious way to think, leading policymakers to senselessly commit themselves to failing policies (like enforcing a “red line,” for instance) …
Casus belli anyone? So Obama wants Congress to authorize a war on ISIS. They’ll do it, of course, but not before the usual partisan sniping. So far the “debate” has been a festival of irrelevance. Should it be sun-setted? Is three years right? What about the open-ended authorization for Al-Qaeda from 1991? Does it limit a future President’s options? Oh, the …
The United Nations’ cultural body on Saturday condemned the “destruction” by the Islamic State jihadist group of Hatra, a stunning Roman period ancient fortress city in the Iraqi desert. The destruction of the UNESCO world heritage site was reported two days after the Iraqi antiquities ministry said that IS bulldozed the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, and a week after …
Anyone doubting racist lunatics run Israel take note of what ultranationalist/fascist/defrocked for criminality/reinstated Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman proposes. He wants anyone he considers disloyal to Israel as a Jewish state beheaded. Recall GW Bush’s polarizing September 20, 2001 statement to a joint congressional session about “either (being) with us or against us.” Ahead of next week’s Israeli elections, Lieberman addressed …
An Islamist preacher from Kuwait has called to destroy Egypt’s Sphinx and pyramids, stating it is time for Muslims to erase the pharaohs’ heritage. The alleged call comes as Islamic State jihadists ramp up their attacks against historic sites. Although the ancient monuments are not religious – but rather cultural and historic sites – they should still be “destroyed” by Muslims, putting …
