Greater Middle East
Aleppo and Cizre: fearful symmetry
Supposed antagonists Assad and Erdogan are both in the process of reducing cities to rubble: Aleppo and Cizre, both with the connivance of the Great Powers.
Tag: ISIS
Afghanistan
Mullah Mansour death: blow to Pakistan?
The killing of Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mansour in a US drone strike actually took place in Pakistan—without consent of Islamabad, signaling a break between the two allies.
North Africa
What ‘government’ is West really backing in Libya?
At a Vienna summit, world powers agreed to supply arms to Libya to fight ISIS—but the country has three rival governments, and the "recognized" one is by far the weakest.
Iraq
Iraq: spectacular terror, invisible starvation
The ongoing terror in Iraq only wins real media attention when the carnage approaches spectacular levels. Starvation in besieged cities like Falluja is virtually invisible.
Greater Middle East
Syria: world betrays Aleppo (of course)
As Assad regime and Russian air-strikes continue on the beseiged populace of Aleppo, media in the West increasingly echo regime propaganda of justified "counter-attacks."
Planet Watch
A ‘New Oil Order’?
Experts declare a "new oil order" in which hydrocarbons will lose market share to renewables. But is it market conditions or geopolitics that explain the current price slump?
Greater Middle East
American ‘left’ abetting genocide in Syria
In the 1930s, the American left built solidarity with those who stood up to the authors of the Guernica terror in Spain. Today it stands on the side of fascism and genocide in Syria.
Greater Middle East
Syria: Kurdish-FSA conflict cleaves resistance
Fierce fighting between Kurdish-led YPG forces and Arab factions aligned with the Free Syrian Army is deepening a split within the Syrian resistance to both ISIS and Assad.
Greater Middle East
More Green Berets to Syria: on whose side?
Obama is to mobilize 250 troops to Syria, helping Arab militias fight ISIS. Will these militias be brought under the Kurdish-led coalition—or will the Kurds be isolated to appease Turkey?
Afghanistan
US anti-opium effort in Afghanistan: total failure
Despite at least $7 billion in counter-narcotics spending, Afghan opium production hit 3,300 tons in 2015—exactly the same level it was in 2001 when the US invaded.
Greater Middle East
Revolution in Syria and Turkey: mutual betrayal?
One of the greatest tragedies on the global stage now is that revolutions are going on in both Syria and Turkey—and they are being pitted against each other in the Great Game.
Greater Middle East
Bernie Sanders must drop Tulsi Gabbard!
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a key supporter of Bernie Sanders, is also a supporter of the genocidal dictatorship of Bashar Assad. Bernie’s partisans urgently need to call him on this.