We haven't heard too many new outrages from Saudi Arabia in a few days. So perhaps the ambitious Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is toning down his ambitions after the U.S. warned him he was going too far; or else he temporarily moderated himself preparing for a new onslaught on as yet unspecified targets. Salman has been doing a lot of summoning of his … [Read more...]
Saudi Arabia and Israel: Looming Threat of Regional War
My thanks to Middle East Eye for running a condensed version of this piece earlier this week: Over the past three days, the drumbeat of war in the Middle East has risen to a fever-pitch. Saudi Arabia has provoked both an internal domestic, and a foreign crisis to permit Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to realize his grandiose vision of the Saudi state. … [Read more...]
Israel to Shutter Al Jazeera, Join Ranks of Arab Authoritarian Regimes Suppressing Press Freedom
NOTE: I just published a new piece at Middle East Eye on Israel's military intervention in the Libyan civil war. I hope you'll give it a read. As part of Bibi Netanyahu's ongoing campaign to turn Israel into an authoritarian regime like those of his fellow Sunni Arab strongmen, he declared last week he would close Al Jazeera's offices and end its … [Read more...]
Iran Terror Attack: Who Gains?
In the past, I had a well-informed Israeli source who confirmed Israeli participation in assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists and explosions at missile bases. Unfortunately, this source passed away some time ago. So what I write here will be based on informed speculation and circumstantial evidence. Who gains from the rather spectacular … [Read more...]
