The Iraqi parliament is apparently in no hurry to resume beating its head against a wall to try and come up with an alternative to Nouri al-Maliki as prime minister: Iraq's newly elected parliament has postponed its next session until August 12, state television said, amid political deadlock over choosing a new prime minister. Parliament met last Tuesday … Continue reading Nowhere man, don’t worry; take your time, don’t hurry

While the idea of a "caliphate" and a "caliph" does resonate back into Islamic history, I hope I've managed to dissuade you or your impressionable relatives of the notion that the office has some kind of special magic powers or that Muslims all over the world must be irresistibly drawn to any old schmuck who … Continue reading The ups and downs of building your caliphal #brand

Although I think he's hurt his chances by saying that the infamous anti-Islam YouTube video really was a motivating factor in the Benghazi attacks, I still think there's an outside chance that my long-term prediction about Abu Khattalah's fate could come true: At some point I expect that we’ll hear from some Republican or other … Continue reading The GOP’s Abu Khattalah 180 continues apace

Al-Arabiya, Saudi Arabia's answer to a question nobody asked Al-Jazeera, except without Al-Jazeera's admittedly debatable level of editorial independence from its government, is reporting that KSA had to deploy 30,000 troops along its border with Iraq to protect against encroachment by the Islamic State, after the Iraqi army abandoned its positions there. The Iraqi government … Continue reading Could you really blame Iraq if it stopped defending its Saudi border?

Hey, American public? I know you don't care too much about climate change, or global warming, or whatever you want to call it. The numbers on that score are pretty conclusive. What I can't figure out is why you don't care. Is it because you don't like environmentalists telling you what to do or something? … Continue reading As Kiribati’s islands sink into the ocean, does anybody want to reconsider their stance on climate change?

If you ever thought you'd see the day when people talked about jihadi networks the way they talk about competing cola brands, give yourself a gold star. Me, I'm a little shocked at how fast we've gone from ironically referring to Al Qaeda's "brand" to unironically seeing Al Qaeda's new competitor putting out an actual … Continue reading The top brand in jihad

This is presumably the first response to the discovery of the dead Israeli teens earlier today. I can't find anybody covering it on TV, but reports are coming in via Twitter, and it sounds massive and indiscriminate: Explosion after explosion after explosion. Not sure what the targets are, but this is bad #Gaza — Just … Continue reading Gaza being bombed right now

The Israeli army has reportedly found, near Hebron, the bodies of three Israeli teens who disappeared on June 12. This would obviously be a tragedy under any circumstances. But in these particular environs, the deaths of these three kids, and the three Palestinians who have been killed since the abduction in Israeli army raids around … Continue reading A tragedy that will only get more tragic

When I was a kid, I was the kind of dweeb who said "Supreme Court Justice" instead of "astronaut" or "quarterback" when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I was too young to understand that I'd have to go through law school and, worse, probably be an actual lawyer … Continue reading The Supreme Court’s power really might be limitless

Actually, "back" is the wrong word, it's more like "the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history," per Vox: The outbreak has now hit three countries: Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. And the virus — which starts off with flu-like symptoms and often ends with horrific hemorrhaging — has infected about 600 people and killed an estimated … Continue reading Ebola’s back, in case you thought things were going too well around the world