Welcome! This is an unapologetic, agenda-free zone. Just commentaries on current events that’ll move you to think, laugh, rage, and even cry.
The Middle East is a perennially fractious region. And the combatants are as familiar with each other’s motivations and capabilities as, well, Cain was with Abel’s. This is why the maneuvers afoot in Syria are only playing out according to script. This includes Russia proving itself a far more reliable ally than the United States.… Read more.
Nothing has bedeviled U.S. nation-building efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq quite like the determination of Sunnis and Shiites to fight each other instead of Islamic jihadists. Now, Turks and Kurds are fighting each other instead of ISIS, thereby complicating ongoing efforts in Iraq and bedeviling efforts to prevent Syria from becoming the Somalia of the Middle… Read more.
Many are convinced that Iraq is on the brink of a destructive sectarian civil war that would herald its disintegration as the country we know, and that agreement on partition would be the least-bad option… Instead of being seen as a partner, Mr. Maliki has been accused increasingly of going it alone with autocratic powers… Read more.
