Hundreds of men, captured in raids against Al Qaeda extremists, have disappeared into a secret network of prisons in South Yemen, where torture and abuse is the norm and people are subjected to horrible forms of "interrogation", AP reports:

In Yemen's secret prisons, UAE tortures and US interrogatesOne of the most shocking examples is the so ( Read more... )

While the main question about Iraq and Syria is how to defeat the Islamic State, a miracle is being built in North Iraq, in the territories controlled by the Kurdish militia, the so called Peshmerga ("the men facing death"). The Kurds have slowly been pushing the jihadists away with arms from the US and EU, and taking control of the abandoned and ( Read more... )

Sounds like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and UAE are implementing "extreme vetting" for Qatari nationals. ;)

Qatar row: Economic impact threatens food, flights and football

Iran must be very happy about this. Qatar has been a major thorn in their ass, geopolitically. Really, any rifts between the Gulf states is welcome news for Iran. Especially ( Read more... )

Nice speech, Donnie. I'm sure the turban-clad towel-wearing moustached folks with the long names sitting in their gold thrones driving their Rolls Royces must have nodded a few times in agreement with you, Donnie. Now trot along, and keep feeling good about yourself.

Well, the conflicts are not going to end any time soon. Especially those involving ( Read more... )

Widespread Criticism Follows Saudi Arabia Joining U.N. Women's Rights Group

So one of the most repressive regimes in the world has somehow managed to get a spot in... wait for it... the UN committee on women's rights. Just let this sink in for a few seconds. Saudi Arabia will be supervising women's rights in the world. Oh, and by the way a few ( Read more... )

I'm hearing opposing accounts from Syrian expats living here. Granted, most Syrian expats, being dissident refugees from the Assad regime, tend to support the official international position that Assad is evil, he's killing his own people, and he should be removed from power by God's blessing and the strong hand of the resolute president Trump who' ( Read more... )

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The bar has been lowered quite a bit, hasn't it? Since even liberal pundits like Fareed Zakaria are now saying Trump has suddenly started to "look presidential" after his resolute actions against Assad in Syria.

Here's the deal. After years of holding a stance against intervention in Syria and repeatedly criticizing Obama for making a case for ( Read more... )

Last time this was mentioned more than 3 years ago. And now it's becoming even more topical. I'm talking about the new gas (and possibly also oil) discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean, which could explain a lot about the ongoing geopolitical shifts in that region.

There can be no coincidence. Two important events took place just within hours ( Read more... )

Trump’s First Military Operation Kills 8-Year-Old Girl, 6 Years After Obama Killed Her Brother

It’s really sad that the crazy American war machine is immune to scientific and rational reality-testing of its perverse ideas: Targeted killings of high-value targets DOES NOT WORK! Especially not against an ideology-based hydra with enourmous ( Read more... )