Islamic State in Asia: Saudi-Funding and Naive Policymakers Endanger Region

Islamic State in Asia: Saudi-Funding and Naive Policymakers Endanger Region

Recently, terrorist attacks have unfolded across Indonesia, a militant network disrupted along the Thai-Malaysian border and full-scale military operations including aerial bombing deployed as Philippine troops fought to take back Marawi City on the southern island of Mindanao, all linked or affiliated with the Islamic State. A dangerously deceptive narrative is being crafted by US…

Daesh and the West’s Solid Stench of Death

Daesh and the West’s Solid Stench of Death

Whenever Daesh adds to its tragic litany of “lone wolf” and/or “network” attacks – in Manchester, Paris, London, Nice, Berlin – the West rages against those “evil losers” (copyright Donald Trump). Whenever the West’s formidable military machine adds to its tragic litany of “collateral damage” – in Libya, Yemen, Somalia, the tribal areas in Pakistan – silence reigns….

US Strike on Syrian Forces: The Scramble for Post-Islamic State Syria

US Strike on Syrian Forces: The Scramble for Post-Islamic State Syria

The recent strike on a Syrian military convoy within Syrian territory by US military forces represents another incremental escalation by Washington within the region, and another example of American unilateral military aggression worldwide. The tactical scope of the attack was relatively limited, but strategically, the stakes particularly along Syria’s territorial boundaries have been raised significantly….

Trump Visits Bethlehem Bearing Gifts to Child Killers

Trump Visits Bethlehem Bearing Gifts to Child Killers

US President Donald Trump makes his first overseas visit this weekend, beginning in the Middle East and continuing to Europe. His tour to the “holy land” is being presented with feel-good, messianic spin. Trump touches down first in Saudi Arabia, then will go Israel and from there make a pilgrimage to Bethlehem in the Palestinian territories. After his stop at the…

Is Uncle Sam Funding the Islamic State? Where Does ISIS Get All Those Tanks, Weapons And Shiny New Toyota Trucks?

Is Uncle Sam Funding the Islamic State? Where Does ISIS Get All Those Tanks, Weapons And Shiny New Toyota Trucks?

First published in November 2015, Is Uncle Sam funding the Islamic State? Toyota trucks aren’t all ISIS has managed to buy, capture or scavenge from us. In June, CNBC reported that so far we’ve accidentally furnished the Islamic State with at least $219.7 million worth of weapons, vehicles and other military supplies and gear — and that’s just the stuff…

Israel Minister: “The Time has Come to Assassinate Bashar Assad”

Israel Minister: “The Time has Come to Assassinate Bashar Assad”

Israel’s Housing and Construction Minister Yoav Galant called for the assassination of Syrian President Bashar Assad following yesterday’s US State Department report that the Syrian regime was using a prison crematorium to hide mass killings outside Damascus, the Jerusalem Post reported. Speaking at a conference outside Jerusalem, Galant, a retired Israeli Defence Forces general, said…