At ForeignPolicy.com, Brent Sasley paints a more optimistic picture of Israeli domestic politics, and how they might impact the possibility of new negotiations with the Palestinians, than I did yesterday. The pessimistic scenario says that Netanyahu himself is a right-wing nut to begin with, leading a Likud Party that has lurched from center-right to hard-right, … Continue reading Still hope for peace talks?

Iraq Body Count figures have not been updated for July 21. At least 25 were killed, three of them civilians, in a suicide attack on an army convoy in Mosul. Another attack in a different part of Mosul killed 4 police officers. Mosul is something of a disputed city, since it has a Sunni Arab … Continue reading The Daily Iraq: 22 July 2013

It's looking more and more like John Kerry's announcement Friday of a new round of peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians may have been premature. Over the weekend it became clear that what Secretary Kerry announced was not that there will be new talks, but that both sides had expressed an interest in … Continue reading Over before it gets started? (Israel-Palestine)

War continues in Syria, and new UN Ambassador-designate Samantha Power IS ON IT, protests (and police/military brutality) continue in Turkey and Egypt, and paramilitaries attack an Islamic school in Kashmir, then kill a bunch of protesters, so naturally the Indian government cracks down...on the protesters. That's all after the jump. Syria: Fighting rages on between … Continue reading This Week in Oppressive Government Violence: July 21, 2013

Iraq Body Count figures for July 20: 49 civilians killed IBC total to-date for July, 2013: 584 civilians killed The above figures may be low even through Saturday, as the AP reports (via washingtonpost.com) that Saturday's death toll has been revised to something higher than 70. 13 more people were reportedly killed Sunday in an … Continue reading The Daily Iraq: July 21, 2013

Iraq Body Count figures for July 19: 36 civilians killed IBC total to-date for July, 2013: 535 civilians killed No fewer than seven car bombs struck parts of Baghdad today, part of a series of attacks that killed at least 45 and injured well over 100. The attacks seem to have occurred in Shi'i areas … Continue reading The Daily Iraq: July 20, 2013

White lady loses phone, does sensible thing and demands to search the pockets of the nearest black man.

Iraq Body Count hasn't updated yet today. Al-Jazeera acknowledged Iraq again, reporting Friday that a Sunni mosque in Wajihiyah, northeast of Baghdad, was the target of a terrorist bombing that killed at least 20. No immediate word on who was behind the attack, but it's likely to have been another attack by Sunni extremists against … Continue reading The Daily Iraq: July 19, 2013

Shorter Nobel Fucking Peace Prize Laureate Shimon Peres, President of Israel: If the European Union goes ahead with its shocking and totally sudden decision to stop doing business with just that bit of Israel that we've managed to steal from the Palestinians, which I stress was a complete surprise because we've only known it was … Continue reading See what you made me do?

Iraq Body Count figures for July 17: 20 civilians killed IBC total to-date for July, 2013: 480 civilians killed Agency France Presse reported that nine Iraqis were killed Thursday in a number of small attacks (five bombings and two shootings) scattered around the country. Interestingly, while I've been relying on Al-Jazeera for most of these … Continue reading The Daily Iraq: July 18, 2013