The first thing I said on Alhurra yesterday regarding the partial or "provisional" ceasefire that the US and Russia agreed yesterday to (try to) implement in Syria (reportedly starting at midnight on Friday) was that we should welcome it if only because of the possibility that desperately needed humanitarian aid might get to some of … Continue reading The pros and cons of a doomed ceasefire

At Markaz, the Brookings Institution's Suzanne Maloney writes about the ongoing imprisonment of Siamak Namazi by the Iranian government. Namazi is the one Iranian-American still being held by Iran after Tehran freed four other Iranian-Americans in a prisoner deal last month. Another American citizen, Robert Levinson, is also missing and presumably held somewhere in Iran, … Continue reading Left behind in Iran

Maybe I'm missing something here, but a candidate who wins two of his or her party's first three primaries (caucuses, whatever), and has significant, if not commanding, leads in polling for most of the next round of primaries (at least those for which any decent polling exists), should be considered the prohibitive favorite to win … Continue reading If it were any other candidate…

A few days ago I wrote this about Washington's relationship with the Syrian Kurdish PYD and YPG: Something else to consider here is that the situation in Syria may be at a point where the return on US support for PYD and YPG has diminished so much that the alliance no longer makes sense for … Continue reading Diminishing returns all around

Earlier this week Buzzfeed published a remarkable look at life inside Boko Haram, based largely on interviews with women who were once held captive by the group. They paint a picture of a group that is poorly organized, orchestrates attacks for the hell of it, with little thought to any kind of plan, and can … Continue reading A look inside Boko Haram

Tell me in the comments: did anybody out there actually believe that Donald Trump was telling the truth about this? For months, Donald Trump has claimed that he opposed the Iraq War before the invasion began — as an example of his great judgment on foreign policy issues. But in a 2002 interview with Howard … Continue reading A simple question

Is this a one-off strike or the start of something bigger? CAIRO — American warplanes bombed an Islamic State training camp in Libya early Friday, killing at least 41 people, most likely including a militant commander linked to attacks on Western tourists, in a strike that highlighted the widening gap between American military and diplomatic … Continue reading So it begins?

Somebody finally came forward to claim responsibility for Wednesday's terror attack in Ankara, and it's not exactly who the Turkish government said it was: A Kurdish militant group once linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) claimed responsibility on Friday for the bombing in the Turkish capital Ankara that killed 28 people this week, … Continue reading A claim of responsibility for Ankara

Uganda's incumbent president, Yoweri "gay people are disgusting but we probably shouldn't execute them because it would be bad for business" Museveni, is currently awaiting election results that will determine whether or not he'll be allowed to serve a whopping fifth five-year term in office (SPOILER ALERT: he will). I think he's really hit on … Continue reading One way to win an election

While Turkey is insisting that the alleged perpetrator of yesterday's car bombing on a Turkish military convoy in Ankara was a Syrian Kurd affiliated with YPG, Syrian Kurds are denying that they were involved in the attack or that Salih Necar, the alleged bomber, had any ties to their organizations: The head of the PYD … Continue reading Ankara’s aftermath