We're bombing Iraq again: U.S. fighter jets bombed an Islamic State position outside Irbil on Friday, the first use of munitions by American forces since President Barack Obama authorized military action to defend the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan from Islamist attack. In a statement, Pentagon spokesman Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said that the strike … Continue reading Just when we thought we were out

South Sudan is not only the newest country on the planet, it may be about to surpass even Iraq, Syria, Gaza, Ukraine, the Ebola-stricken countries in West Africa, or any other country in terms of the scale of human suffering happening there. A civil war between the government and rebel forces under the command of … Continue reading As bad as things are everywhere else, they may be getting even worse in South Sudan

One of the best reporters in Iraq right now is Mitchell Prothero with McClatchy, and if you're interested in following events there I'd recommend reading his stuff regularly and following him on twitter: @mitchprothero. He did a great piece earlier today on Kurdish preparations for an IS push toward Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. … Continue reading With the Kurds outgunned, US airstrikes in Iraq may be inevitable (or may have already started)

So Russia didn't invade Ukraine last week, but there seems to be a growing consensus that they will. From a tactical standpoint I'm still not sure what Putin is waiting for; if he's decided to invade then waiting just means the rebels' position will have deteriorated that much further by the time the invasion does … Continue reading If Ukraine is worried about a Russian “humanitarian” intervention, why not stop giving them the excuse?

I probably throw the word "sociopath" around too often, though I really do think it's a lot more prevalent among our elites than we'd like to think. But what do you call the things that come out of Ann Coulter's mind? They're beyond sociopathic, so...depraved? Sadistic? She's at her worst in her most recent screed. … Continue reading Seriously, though, what the hell is wrong with Ann Coulter?

Yazidis who were forced from their homes in and around Sinjar after the Islamic State conquered the region over the weekend are now stranded on surrounding mountains with no food or water. Somewhere between 10,000 and 40,000 of them are now slowly dying on those mountains, unable to continue their flight but also facing likely … Continue reading Iraq’s Yazidi population is in dire straits

The worst-case, runaway greenhouse effect scenario involves a concept known as "positive feedback," wherein changes in climate cause environmental changes that then, in turn, cause more and more rapid climate change, so the whole thing basically becomes a runaway train and there's little to nothing that humanity can do about it. Loss of plants, via … Continue reading What’s so bad about a little feedback?

I'm not, how you say, good at making political predictions, but I will hazard this one: if Rand Paul is going to literally bolt away from any potentially tough questions on immigration, I wouldn't get too excited about Rand 2016's chances for victory. Admittedly, Rand has the all-important Nader endorsement in his pocket, but even … Continue reading Running against the wind

Jonathan Schanzer is the VP for Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the folks who think the Iraq War was so nice, they'd like to do it twice (just swap that "q" for an "n"). He's got a new piece in Foreign Policy, which is often most useful as a window into what … Continue reading With us or against us, ad absurdum

Former Republican Congressman Steve LaTourette arrives at the site of a battle that happened years ago and declares that he's worried about the outcome (via): Over the last few years we have seen the rise of a new grifter—the political grifter. And the most important battle being waged today isn’t the one about which party … Continue reading Talk about closing the barn door after the horse is already out