The genius (just ask him) behind Dilbert, the daily comic strip whose four or five continuously recycled jokes are just as hilarious today as they were when he began writing the strip in 1860s Bonapartist France (Louis Napoleon was the original Pointy Haired Boss), is endorsing Hillary Clinton for President so that her assassins will … Continue reading The coming of Race War Catbert (or Dogbert, or whatever)

Whatever slim chance there was of seeing a breakthrough in the Syrian peace talks in the near future was probably eliminated entirely earlier this week, when lead rebel negotiator Mohammed Alloush decided to take his job and shove it: Mohammed Alloush, a member of the Saudi-backed rebel group Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam), condemned the … Continue reading Alloush quits Syrian peace talks

There's been a little recent fallout from Iran's Majles/Assembly of Experts elections, and it hasn't looked great for Iranian moderates despite their significant electoral successes. Ali Larijani, the conservative Majles speaker, won reelection to that post earlier this week. Ideologically, Larijani is usually lumped in with the so-called "Principlist" camp, the group that wants to … Continue reading Not an overnight change

Libya's UN ambassador, Ibrahim Dabbashi (who has incredibly managed to stay in that job since 2013 despite the fact that his country has collapsed into near-anarchy in the interim), says you shouldn't blame the foreign intervention, i.e. the United States, i.i.e.e. the Obama administration, i.i.i.e.e.e. Hillary Clinton, for the mess that Libya has become: Amid … Continue reading Nice of him to say

I'd been following this story about the contentious Saudi-Iran Hajj negotiations but neglected to post anything about the climax, so my apologies. After Iran walked away from the talks on Friday and giving the Saudis until Sunday to make additional concessions, Iranian state TV reported on Sunday that Tehran has officially banned its would-be pilgrims … Continue reading Iran calls off Hajj for its citizens

Foreign Policy ran an EXCLUSIVE report on Sunday to the effect that Iran and the Taliban are now collaborating in Afghanistan. They're sending money, ammo, and small arms (guns and RPGs) over the border to support Taliban fighters. This is BIG NEWS because, obviously, any aid the Taliban get will naturally make it harder for … Continue reading I still don’t know why this surprises anybody

Reuters is reporting that Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi "has delayed" the operation to retake Fallujah, owing to strong ISIS resistance and a fear of unnecessarily endangering the civilians who are trapped in the city: Abadi's decision to halt, two days after elite Iraqi troops poured into the city's rural southern outskirts, postpones what was expected … Continue reading Fallujah offensive delayed

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), with embedded US Special Forces and anti-ISIS coalition air support, are advancing on the "Manbij pocket," the last ISIS-controlled zone along the Syria-Turkey border: The operation, which only just started to get underway on Tuesday and could take weeks to complete, aims to choke off Islamic State's access to Syrian … Continue reading Cutting off ISIS’s access to Turkey