The Iraqi government seems to have gotten a jump on the summer reruns. First there was the fourth (or twentieth, maybe, I'm losing count) claim that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been grievously, maybe mortally, wounded in a coalition airstrike, this one supposedly having come in March. ISIS, as it turns out, just released … Continue reading Early summer rerun season

The refugee crisis that's attracted the most notice of late is the one in the Mediterranean Sea, but there's another one taking place in Southeast Asia involving Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya. The Rohingya are arguably the single most abused population on the planet, denied citizenship by a Burmese government that insists, absent evidence, that they are … Continue reading The Rohingya have nowhere to go, but that’s better than staying where they are

Earlier this week it was JEB, now Rubio dives face-first into the quicksand: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Wednesday that he would not have authorized the invasion of Iraq given what he knows today, becoming the latest candidate to weigh in on a question that has tripped up likely GOP rival Jeb Bush. "Not only … Continue reading It’s been 12 years; how can Republicans still not have a good answer about Iraq?

Lots of words have been written lately about whether or not Bashar al-Assad is finally losing the war in Syria, including by some incredibly sketchy characters, but everybody should understand that "losing" doesn't mean "lost." Assad still has a big army, uncontested air superiority, and his well-trained and cohesive Hezbollah allies on his side, and … Continue reading In one sense, maybe Bashar al-Assad has already lost

Apparently (though the story remains unconfirmed), a couple of weeks ago Kim Jong-un executed his defense minister (well, former defense minister), Hyon Yong Chol, by having him shot with a giant anti-aircraft gun, maybe for incompetence, maybe for falling asleep on the job, or who knows, really, this is Kim Jong-un we're talking about. "Analysts" … Continue reading Dead is dead, right?

Burundi may be in the midst of a military coup to oust President Pierre Nkurunziza: An army general in Burundi announced Wednesday that the military had ousted President Pierre Nkurunziza, setting off celebrations in the streets among protesters who had been trying to block the president’s bid for another term. “President Pierre Nkurunziza is removed … Continue reading Coup in Burundi, results unclear

Remember how I said that Seymour Hersh's big Osama bin Laden story was interesting but needed some serious corroboration before it could really be considered a serious challenge to the official version of events? Well, here's some corroboration, from Carlotta Gall of the New York Times: The latest contribution is the journalist Seymour Hersh’s 10,000-word … Continue reading Part of Seymour Hersh’s story gets corroborated

Somebody is releasing unauthorized recordings of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his top aides, and what's on them doesn't reflect very well on Egypt's Pharaoh Khedive Supreme Leader Imperator President for Life: For months, a steady trickle of leaked audio recordings has appeared to offer a rare chance to eavesdrop on embarrassing conversations among the inner circle of … Continue reading Sisi and desist

At the Rachel Maddow blog, Steve Benen asks: Is Jeb Bush’s position on Iraq a disqualifier? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-NAIg_3XmM The answer is yes, it is. JEB was asked by Fox News's Megyn Kelly whether, "knowing what we know now," he would have invaded Iraq back in 2003 like his brother. This question shouldn't produce any genuinely enlightening … Continue reading SATSQ: Jeb Bush and Iraq edition

I'm one of those hard to please lefties who won't really be satisfied with any health care reform short of something like single payer or a national health service, but the health care reform we got seems to be better than no reform at all. That said, people are always going to fall through the … Continue reading The most tortured “Thanks Obama” story you’ve ever heard