(third in a short series: here are parts one and two) In "scary things that are happening that don't involve Saudi Arabia or Iran," Kashmiri militants have attacked an Indian air base in Pathankot: A Kashmir-based militant coalition has said it carried out the deadly attack on an Indian air force base. The United Jihad … Continue reading Welcome to 2016: make sure your first aid kit is intact

(second in a short series; here's the first entry) One of the casualties of the total collapse of Saudi-Iranian relations is likely to be any chance of ending the civil war in Yemen, where on Saturday the Saudi-Hadi coalition ended a ceasefire that had been in place, despite periodic violations, since December 15. But maybe … Continue reading Welcome to 2016: I hear dried goods are also very helpful in a crisis

(first in a brief series) Hey, Happy New Year! Isn't the first part of a new year kind of exciting? All the dregs of the past year are gone and replaced with the promise of something new. It's a time of optimism and hope. You haven't had time to break any of your resolutions yet. … Continue reading Welcome to 2016: maybe you should stock up on canned goods

Before you read this, if you haven't already, please check out the fine writing to be found in the "Jon Swift Memorial Roundup 2015" over at Vagabond Scholar. Something of mine is listed there alongside a number of other great pieces. I actually find it almost physically painful to write self-referential things, a fact that … Continue reading attwiw’s 10 best-read posts of 2015

Zahran Alloush, Syrian rebel bigshot and leader of the Jaysh al Islam ("Army of Islam") rebel faction, which is active in the Damascus neighborhoods of Douma and Eastern Ghouta and forms the backbone of the "Islamic Front" rebel coalition, is tragically* no longer among the living: The commander of one of the most powerful Syrian … Continue reading If this is what passes for “moderate”…

Zahran Alloush, Syrian rebel bigshot and leader of the Jaysh al Islam ("Army of Islam") rebel faction, which is active in the Damascus neighborhoods of Douma and Eastern Ghouta and forms the backbone of the "Islamic Front" rebel coalition, is tragically* no longer among the living: The commander of one of the most powerful Syrian … Continue reading If this is what passes for “moderate”…

I'm going to leave you with one last thing before I hopefully go (mostly) quiet for the next couple of days, and it's my latest for LobeLog, on the subject of David Albright. If you're not deeply enmeshed in the Iran debate then you may not know who Albright is, but he runs an organization … Continue reading The IAEA moves the Iran deal forward

Remember that story I mentioned around here a couple of weeks ago, the one about the Spanish treasure galleon (the San José) whose 18th century wreckage was just discovered off the coast of Colombia? Yesterday, Africa is a Country published an interesting piece about the provenance and the proper destination of that find by Camilo … Continue reading The qualities of empire

Protests have continued among Ethiopia's Oromo community, and while the government is still insisting that only five people have been killed, independent estimates have put the rising death toll at somewhere around 75 people. The State Department interjected itself into the situation on Friday, expressing its "concern" over the deaths and "urg[ing] the government of … Continue reading Death toll mounts in Ethiopian violence

The Iraqi air force began dropping leaflets on Ramadi yesterday, advising civilians to amscray in advance of an all-out assault to liberate the city. That assaukt appears to have begun, with Iraqi forces reportedly moving into the center of the city earlier today. ISIS may be (probably is, let's be honest) preventing civilians from leaving, … Continue reading Attack on Ramadi has begun