Senior Trump administration and military officials are recommending sending several thousand additional American troops to Afghanistan to try to break a military deadlock in the 15-year war there, in part by pressuring the Taliban to negotiate with the Afghan government. The added troops would allow American advisers to work with a greater number of Afghan…
You may not have heard about this, but a few weeks ago, in mid-April, the Taliban scored its deadliest battle victory since the US invasion in 2001. Ten Taliban militants slaughtered at least 144 Afghan Army soldiers and wounded 60+ more, at an Afghan army base just outside of Mazar-i-Sharif in the north of the country. The…
A decade ago I published a book, Israel and the Clash of Civilisations, that examined Israel’s desire to Balkanise the Middle East, using methods it had refined over many decades in the occupied Palestinian territories. The goal was to unleash chaos across much of the region, destabilising key enemy states: Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. The…
Trump leans on Abbas but Israel is afraid of surprises For many Palestinians, President Mahmoud Abbas is seen as something like a Quisling, a timid man who has dedicated himself to selling out to American and Israeli interests in exchange for his remaining in power. Others, recognizing that a return to an intifada would bring…
A month and a half ago, we briefly mentioned the Japanese light aircraft carrier Izumo in connection with the acceleration of political processes on the Asia-Pacific region. Then, the reason for reiterating this platitudinous epigram was the information (circulated by Reuters, which cited certain sources at the headquarters of the Japanese Navy) concerning the forthcoming three-month…
Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s extremely dangerous remarks concerning Iran this week signal a much harsher stance from the kingdom that go beyond the condemnation and severing of ties that took place in January 2016. Bin Salman’s comments were made during an hour-long interview on Tuesday, broadcast simultaneously on several public and private…
