SYRIA Welp. I wrote a fair amount of stuff about the Khan Shaykhun incident this afternoon, some of which I'm going to leave in below even though it might not make complete sense anymore after this evening's developments (I've tried to rewrite it but if anything seems incongruous then understand that it's because I originally wrote it earlier … Continue reading Conflict (i.e., Syria) update: April 6 2017

SYRIA I've already written most of what I had to write about Syria today, but there are a couple of additional updates. Well, one, really. President Trump spoke in public, which seems inadvisable but I guess you make do with the president you have, and anyway after we spent last week (and, off and on, … Continue reading Conflict update: April 5 2017

SYRIA According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 58 people (one estimate puts the toll over 100) were killed today in what certainly seems to have been a chemical weapons attack on the town of the town of Khan Shaykhun in Idlib province. Doctors treating the victims described people suffocating, vomiting, foaming … Continue reading Conflict update: April 4 2017

BREAKING: NOTHING MUCH HAPPENED One of the reasons I don't post these earlier in the day is because HUGE BREAKING NEWS MUST CREDIT GUY WHO HELPED SELL IRAQ WAR stories are often later shown to be no big deal. To wit: https://twitter.com/Susan_Hennessey/status/848905721748094976 Maybe I'm wrong, but it sure does seem like intrepid reporter Eli Lake … Continue reading Conflict update: April 3 2017

EGYPT Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is in Washington right now, preparing for his big meeting tomorrow with fellow authoritarian personality Donald Trump. Because I did a TV spot for Alhurra about this earlier today and it's therefore fresh in my brain, here are a few things they might get to talking about tomorrow. These … Continue reading Conflict update: April 1-2 2017

If you're looking for bad news from the rest of the world, you'll find it here. IRAQ The main progress in Mosul continues to be to the west of the Old City, where Iraqi counter-terrorism forces are pushing north in an effort to eventually surround the Old City and attack it from two sides. War … Continue reading Middle East conflict update: March 30-31 2017

Skipping yesterday was probably a bad idea. There's plenty here for a two-parter, so as I've done before I'm going to put all the Middle Eastern stuff in a separate post. 320 MILLION FOOLS AND OUR MONEY The F-35 is the most expensive weapon (well, it's intended to be a weapon, anyway) ever manufactured, with … Continue reading Conflict update: March 30-31 2017

I started working on this way earlier than usual because I've heard that it's actually good to sleep a couple of nights each week. Whether I finish any earlier than usual is an open question, but if Donald Trump tweets "More like Justin Tru-BLOW, sorry if this offends" later tonight and you don't see it … Continue reading Conflict update: March 29 2017

BREXIT Theresa May will formally trigger Britain's exit from the European Union on Wednesday. That will begin the two-year negotiation over the terms of that exit, meaning that the UK will be out of the EU as of March 29, 2019. The European parliament is reportedly preparing a resolution in response to the trigger that … Continue reading Conflict update: March 28 2017

A FEATURE, NOT A BUG: PART I At LobeLog, I look at the recent increase in US-caused civilian casualties in the Middle East, and the presumption, still denied by Washington in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary, that President Trump has told the Pentagon to stop worrying about civilian casualties and just blow … Continue reading Conflict update: March 27 2017