The fall of Kunduz was a big moment for the Afghan Taliban, coming as it did after the announcement of Mullah Omar's death and his replacement by Mullah Akhtar Mansour, a guy who was believed to have something less than total support among the whole Taliban organization. Even though the Taliban abandoned Kunduz not long … Continue reading Afghanistan: dealing with the Taliban, ISIS, and the, ah, other Taliban

Last night Marco Rubio said something factually incorrect about welders and philosophers: During the fourth Republican debate, Marco Rubio picked up a point touched on by Rick Santorum in the undercard debate earlier in the night. "Welders," Rubio said, "make more money than philosophers." Post Fact Checker Glenn Kessler looked at the idea, but we … Continue reading Facts actually do matter

It isn't often that you'll see me unabashedly defend Tayyip Erdoğan over anything, but here goes nothing. There was a story in Al-Monitor last week that said that Erdoğan is under a little fire from Turkish secularists over a Ministry of Education plan to start offering Arabic electives to elementary school students as of the … Continue reading The politics of teaching foreign languages in Turkey

Here's me, trying to make some sense of the AKP's stunning electoral turnaround: Turkey has suffered through a violent summer and early fall. The government has blamed two major terrorist attacks, in Suruc in July and in Ankara in October, on the Islamic State. A series of smaller, more targeted attacks by the Kurdistan Workers’ … Continue reading Turkey’s election results, my latest at LobeLog

This discovery is still too new for any serious theories to have developed about it, but in case you haven't noticed a) I like writing about Ancient Egypt and archaeology and b) unexplained thermal anomalies in Egyptian archaeological sites is kind of a recurring theme around here lately, so I figured I'd flag this latest … Continue reading That must be where they stored the grain

Senator, disturbingly viable presidential candidate, and all-around turd in the Senate punch bowl Ted Cruz says you can't be POTUS if you're not religious: Presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Friday that he believes anyone who wants to be president must fear God and pray daily. Speaking at the National Religious Liberties Conference in Iowa, Cruz … Continue reading Here are three presidential candidates who are cool with killing gay people

Dear US American media: While I appreciate that, for some reason, you're very keen on starting each new presidential campaign months before you started the one before, I want to make sure that you're all aware that we are still nearly a full year away from the 2016 election. The world, and our nation, will … Continue reading It’s OK to stop (or: An Open Letter to All American Media)

Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu got together to cement the terms of their breakup today, although they stressed that they "still care deeply for one another" and "will always remain the closest of friends." Or, in DC-speak, they "stressed their areas of common ground": “It’s no secret that the prime minister and I have had … Continue reading Barack and Benjamin split up DVD collection, agree on alimony