Informed Comment

US Militarism, Having Provoked ISIL into Being, Kills Cult Leader Baghdadi

by Juan Cole

“Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,” the nom de guerre of the notorious Iraqi terrorist Ibrahim al-Samarrai, is dead, killed in a US special forces raid on his compound in Syria’s northwest Idlib province. 

Top Ten Conclusions from Iran’s Election

by Juan Cole

Those who believed that Khamenei would try to fix this election for Jalili as he is accused by the Green ovement of doing four years ago were mistaken. 

Is Erdogan Really a Dictator?

by Juan Cole

Originally posted on Informed Comment.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Obama's Terrorism Speech

by Juan Cole

Originally posted on Informed Comment.Here are the good, the bad and the ugly things in President Obama’s important speech on counter-terrorism Thursday, and in the off-stage steps he has announced that mysteriously did not appear in the speech:The Good:

Jesus and Muhammad

by Juan Cole

Credit: Wiki Commons.Originally posted on Informed Comment.I’ve always liked Andrew Sullivan even when I disagree with him. I’m going to disagree with him, or more specifically Alexis de Tocqueville and one of his readers who quotes him:

What the U.S. Invasion Looked Like to Iraqis

by Mark Kukis

Iraqi woman watches a U.S. Army soldier on patrol, Al Thobat, Iraq, on May 18, 2006. Credit: Flickr/James Gordon.Originally posted on Informed Comment.

Obama’s Inaugural and the Danger of an Iran War

by Juan Cole

President Obama, Air Force chief of staff General Mark A. Welsh III, and Vice President Joe Biden talk during the inauguration. Credit: Flickr/DoD.Originally posted on Informed Comment.President Obama addressed the big issues of war and peace in his inaugural address, and despite the vagueness of some of his pronouncements, they contain strong clues to his foreign policy agenda in the Middle East. His announced policy will be one of ending U.S. military engagements abroad, multilateral cooperation with allies to face security challenges, negotiation, and avoidance of further military entanglements in the Middle East. In other words, Syrians are on their own, France can have Mali, and Iran is probably not going to be bombed.