Category: Opinion

How Turkey’s ‘Peace Spring’ changed the dynamics of Syria’s war Tue 15 October 2019: Turkey’s military action on Syria will have consequences far beyond the ‘safe zone’ it is trying to establish. After months of pressuring, lobbying and amassing troops along the border with Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan finally succeeded in securing the approval of US President Donald Trump for a military operation in […]

Sat 12 October 2019: In one of his statements made on Oct. 9, U.S. President Donald Trump said that former U.S. President Barack Obama had made “a fatal mistake” by making a deal with the PKK. This statement is yet another revelation — by the U.S. president this time — of the blatant lie — […]

Sun 06 October 2019: People are increasingly relegating decision-making to the elites and limiting their democratic participation to voting. Strange as it may seem, there was once a time not too long ago when the United Kingdom and the United States were held up to the developing world as exemplars of the benefits of democracy. Today, as the former hurtles […]

Sat 05 October 2019: Fears are growing that the Iranian regime intends to execute at least 30 Ahwazi detainees, possibly en masse, in the near future, taking advantage of the world’s attention being diverted to the standoff between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The planned execution was announced at a press conference on 19 September, by Hassan Shahvarpour, the […]

Fri 04 October 2019: Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union and subsequent establishment of Western liberal hegemony, American academics, politicians, and policy analysts have debated whether or not the United States should implement democracy in the Muslim world. In this paper, I will argue that it should not. Why? Islam’s tradition of mixing […]

Thu 03 October 2019: As violent protests continued for a second day in Baghdad and other southern Iraqi cities, head of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) Falih al-Fayyadh arrived in Washington to meet with US Defense Secretary Mark Esper Oct. 2. This comes in conjunction with the US Embassy in Baghdad urging all parties to avoid using violence.   The mass […]

Thu 03 October 2019: Imagine this scenario. A couple of newly minted Master of Public Health graduates from an African university, say in Rwanda, land in Washington DC for a 2-week visit. They visit a few hospitals, speak to a few health care workers and policymakers, read a few reports, and write up a nice […]

Wed 02 October 2019 *SOME ANALYSTS THINK THAT HISTORICAL LEGACY CAN STILL BE EXPLOITED. A 2007 REPORT BY THE RAND CORP., A U.S. THINK TANK, ADVISED WESTERN GOVERNMENTS TO “HARNESS” SUFISM, SAYING ITS ADHERENTS WERE “NATURAL ALLIES OF THE WEST.* In recent years, the dominant image of islam in the minds of many Westerners has […]

Fri 27 September 2019: It should come as no surprise to find Israel’s name being mentioned whenever new declassified intelligence records are released. Mossad spies are often found behind sinister plots, including those against countries that have traditionally been seen as Israel’s friend, most recently against its greatest ally, the US. Tel Aviv’s habit of employing […]