Archive for the ‘Middle East’ Category

McChrystal’s revenge: Everyone hates Karl Eikenberry

McChrystal’s revenge: Everyone hates Karl Eikenberry
I am the Afghanistan Blogging Fellow for The Seminal and Brave New Foundation. You can read my work on The Seminal or at Rethink Afghanistan. The views expressed below are my own. Supporter’s of General McChrystal’s counterinsurgency policy are heart-broken over his firing. Not that they...
June 25th, 2010 | Middle East | Read More

Crazy COIN Strategy: US-Pakistani Nuclear Deal

Crazy COIN Strategy: US-Pakistani Nuclear Deal
I am the Afghanistan Blogging Fellow for The Seminal and Brave New Foundation. You can read my work on The Seminal or at Rethink Afghanistan. The views expressed below are my own. Our strategy in Afghanistan is pretty bad, but aside from the obvious broken logic of creating peace through war, I wouldn’t...
June 22nd, 2010 | Middle East | Read More

Afghanistan: Has Hamid Karzai already joined the Taliban?

Afghanistan: Has Hamid Karzai already joined the Taliban?
I am the Afghanistan Blogging Fellow for The Seminal and Brave New Foundation. You can read my work on The Seminal or at Rethink Afghanistan. The views expressed below are my own. The war in Afghanistan is disintegrating before our very eyes. Our counterinsurgency strategy is broken, and the Pentagon...
June 21st, 2010 | Middle East | Read More

Afghanistan: What happens when our allies ‘do more’

Afghanistan: What happens when our allies ‘do more’
If you’ve been following the recent military operations in Helmand and Kandahar, you’ve likely noticed that it’s been something of an unmitigated disaster. And not just a disaster in the sense that most of our military efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan have been disasters —...
June 14th, 2010 | Middle East | Read More

Why Turkey is looking east

Why Turkey is looking east
Originally posted on LinkTV First came the clash at Davos in January 2009, when Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan walked off the stage after an angry exchange with the Israeli president, Shimon Peres during a panel discussion on Gaza at the World Economic Forum. Then came the surprise...
June 14th, 2010 | Featured, Middle East | Read More

Deterred and discouraged

Deterred and discouraged
Driving while Black.  Flying while Arab.  Walking while Latino (in Arizona).  Not everyone has to worry about raising “reasonable suspicion” in all these settings.  As someone who does, I’ve come to appreciate the complex natures of race, identity and a sense of belonging in the U.S.  From...
June 9th, 2010 | Middle East | Read More

Israel’s attack on the Gaza aid Flotilla: Is there an excuse?

Israel’s attack on the Gaza aid Flotilla: Is there an excuse?
By Mohammed Abed The Israeli Navy intercepted in the early morning of May 31st a flotilla of six ships loaded with medicines, building materials, and other forms of humanitarian aid bound for the besieged Gaza Strip.  Israeli naval commandos raided the flotilla while it was roughly 70 miles off shore,...
June 9th, 2010 | Middle East | Read More

Obama Administration: Only Muslims can be Terrorists

Obama Administration: Only Muslims can be Terrorists
John Brennan in the Oval Office - White House Photo The new May 2010 US National Security Strategy has been appropriately praised for doing away with some of the “global war on terrorism” rhetoric used by the George W. Bush administration.  President Obama’s National Security Strategy,...
June 8th, 2010 | Middle East | Read More

The Veil: Does it protect Muslim women or subjugate them?

The Veil: Does it protect Muslim women or subjugate them?
By Karina Tayag The Qur’an says that the purpose of women wearing the veil was so that they may be identified and not harmed. The Muslim veil is referred to as the hijab or niqab. Wikipedia defines hijab as “both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress...
June 8th, 2010 | Middle East, Women | Read More

Changing conversation: Israel, terrorism, and the occupation

Changing conversation: Israel, terrorism, and the occupation
Before dawn of Monday May 31st the Israeli Naval Commandos of the Israel Defense Force (IDF), dropped from a helicopter in the middle of the international waters, stormed the one of the “Free Gaza” six-ship flotilla. The Israeli commandos shot dead nine, injured tens, and arrested hundreds of the...
June 7th, 2010 | Middle East | Read More

Israel: Hasbara, lies, and videotape

Israel: Hasbara, lies, and videotape
Originally published on Mosaic Intelligence Report As thousands of outraged demonstrators poured into the streets of Ankara and several capitals across the globe in the aftermath of Israel’s bloody attack on an aid flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip early Monday, an Israeli sergeant stood in...
June 7th, 2010 | Middle East | Read More

“Democratic Discourse”: Reflections in the Pakistani mirror

“Democratic Discourse”: Reflections in the Pakistani mirror
I am the Afghanistan Blogging Fellow for The Seminal and Brave New Foundation. You can read my work on The Seminal or at Rethink Afghanistan. The views expressed below are my own. Glenn Greenwald has a fascinating post up about “tribalism” in our political discourse on Israel. I’ll...
June 7th, 2010 | Middle East | Read More

What qualifies a state for ‘Rogue’ status?

What qualifies a state for ‘Rogue’ status?
By Joseph Levine, Palestine Chronicle As I write this, not all the facts are in. For the most part we’ve only heard Israel’s version of the events surrounding the killing of peace activists aboard the Freedom Flotilla bound for Gaza. There are reasons to think this version is misleading,...
June 7th, 2010 | Middle East | Read More
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