ASIA AFGHANISTAN Former US ambassador to Afghanistan Ronald Neumann writes that, outward appearances to the contrary I guess, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is reforming the country, starting with its top military brass. The issue, Neumann says, is that the country is so corrupt that Ghani can't tackle all the challenges at once and progress will … Continue reading World update: August 16 2017

IRAQ Stop me if you've heard this one before, but the air campaign against Tal Afar continues to ratchet up in advance of the ground offensive that will begin...well, someday. Probably someday soon but I don't want to overpromise. Anonymous Iraqi sources are still talking about weeks before the ground attack really begins. There's less … Continue reading Middle East update: August 16 2017

EUROPE RUSSIA The FSB said Tuesday that it had detained a "Ukrainian intelligence agent" in Crimea, where he was allegedly planning acts of sabotage. NORWAY Norway is having a general election on September 11, and on Tuesday a new poll gave some good news to the country's center-left: The survey of voters by the Kantar … Continue reading Europe/Americas: August 14-15 2017

ASIA UZBEKISTAN Uzbekistan may be liberalizing just a little bit: Uzbek authorities are removing large numbers of people from its blacklist of potential militants and political dissidents, state officials and media said, in a move likely to raise hopes for a more liberal climate in the ultra-secretive ex-Soviet republic. Western countries and rights activists have … Continue reading Asia/Australia/Africa update: August 14-15 2017

IRAQ Those two US soldiers who were killed in northern Iraq on Sunday were apparently killed by an artillery "mishap." Oops! I guess mistakes will happen, when you've been at war nonstop for 16 years in seven different countries! Color us embarrassed! Reminder that ISIS still says its rockets killed those two soldiers. But artillery … Continue reading Middle East update: August 14-15 2017

ASIA DEATH BY FARMING Lately I almost find myself reassured by stories on our collapsing environment, in the sense that however bad we might fuck up the human race, at least we might not be around to see the results. Wait, that's not reassuring at all. But it is possible. To wit: The use of … Continue reading World update: August 12-13 2017

IRAQ Preparations continue for the eventual Tal Afar operation, but it's not clear at this point what the hold up is. Iraqi forces are in place to begin attacking the city but the order hasn't come down from Baghdad yet. On Sunday, two American soldiers were killed east of Tal Afar in what the anti-ISIS … Continue reading Middle East update: August 12-13 2017

THE WAR ON TERROR [PLAY SCARY MUSIC] A new report to the UN Security Council says that terrorism is over, we won, you can all stop worrying now HA HA, no, it says you have to still be afraid because roving packs of Muslim terrorists could be RIGHT BEHIND YOU, YES YOU, RIGHT NOW OH … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: August 10-11 2017

NORTH KOREA How are America and North Korea careening toward a nuclear exchange today, you ask? The answer: more pointlessly aggressive rhetoric from the more reckless of the two nations' leaders, which in a strange turn of events happens currently to be the president of the United States: President Donald Trump says the US military … Continue reading Asia/Africa update: August 10-11 2017

IRAQ I know I've already mentioned this several times before, but if you're interested in really keeping up with day-to-day developments in Iraq I highly recommend Joel Wing's "Musings on Iraq" blog, which I cite in these posts all the time. He goes into much greater detail than I'm able to do in this overviews … Continue reading Middle East update: August 10-11 2017