Today's Wall Street Journal reports that Trump plans to add 15,000 more troops in the Middle East to counter a purported Iranian threat. That's in addition to an earlier added deployment of 15,000 troops. This brings total U. S. forces in the region to nearly 80,000. Though there was almost a GOP insurrection over Trump's abrupt pullout of our remaining … [Read more...]
Breaking: Netanyahu Indicted in Three of Four Corruption Cases, But Will It Matter?
BREAKING: Netanyahu charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three of four cases. The whole Israeli election fiasco creeps ever onward. In the words of Macbeth: ...But a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying … [Read more...]
Al-Bagdhadi: We Killed the Man, But Not the Movement
Originally, I conceived this post as a critique of Trump's withdrawal from Syria, which is itself part of an overall U.S. 'pivot' away from the Middle East that has gathered momentum over the past decade or more. But yesterday's announcement of the murder of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi offered an even more direct and specific way into the subject. The success of … [Read more...]
Trump Abandons Syria and Kurds to Putin, Erdogan and Assad
NOTE: Middle East Eye just published my account of a disturbing interview with Israeli Internal Security Minister, Gilad Erdan, in which he declares that Israel will topple the current status quo at the Haram al Sharif. Erdan also intimates that Israel plans to rebuild the Temple, thus implying that the holy mosques would be in danger. Since Trump's … [Read more...]
