While Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's decision to stop warring with the Afghan government--for now, at least--should be seen as a positive step toward ending the civil war there, when it comes to the war against the Taliban Kabul is stuck in place and going nowhere fast: The Taliban overran central neighborhoods in the critical Afghan provincial capital … Continue reading One step forward, one step back

The month of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic (Hijri) calendar, is one of four months that, in addition to Ramadan, are explicitly identified as sacred months in the Qurʾan. This is probably an extension of a pre-Islamic Arabian tradition wherein certain months were set aside to be free from violence. The tenth day … Continue reading That time of year

Amid the human suffering, you have to respect the irony inherent in the fact that this is as bleak a point as we've seen in Syria's five and a half year-long civil war, and we've come to it as a direct result of a grand ceasefire announced by the US and Russia just a little … Continue reading He wore his passion for his woman like a thorny crown

A nearly two-year Dutch investigation into the 2014 downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine has concluded, and please consider sitting down before you proceed, that Russia and its rebel proxies did the deed. This is...not surprising, though it's nice to finally have some investigative findings backing up the accusation: "Based on the … Continue reading MH17 investigation points finger at Russia

If you're looking for commentary on last night's debate, I don't have much for you. To any right-minded human being Donald Trump looked like a heavy-breathing, interrupting, gibberish-spewing moron--seriously, you try to figure out what this means--and that, of course, means that Trump's base probably thinks he kicked ass. Trump's problem is that, while there … Continue reading The punch not thrown

As expected, once-and-would-be-future Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has opted to heed the Supreme Leader's "advice" and steer clear of next year's presidential election: Iran's hard-line former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday he won't run in next year's presidential election, ending weeks of speculation after the country's supreme leader discouraged his candidacy. Ahmadinejad could have posed … Continue reading And it’s settled then

It's only taken five years, but the rest of the world seems to have had an epiphany about Syria: As the bombs continue to fall on Aleppo, a new reality is descending on Syria: the long-held belief that the conflict there will only end with a political solution might not hold true. Russia now says the conflict is … Continue reading Better late than never, I guess