The U.S. and Saudi Arabia are more than allies, they’re equal partners in a joint venture to maximize returns from the Arab state’s natural resources. This much is obvious, but once you understand and acknowledge that, you understand why the U.S. will never win the war on terror.
How did Bill O'Reilly respond after Stephen Colbert portrayed his plan to fight terrorism with Super Mercs as laughingly infantile? By behaving like a cholicky infant, of course!
Thirteen years after the 9/11 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and spun America into a renewed decade of war, President Obama reflects on the time that has passed and the future generation growing up in the shadow of the day that changed America forever.
Journalist and author Amir Ahmad Nasr discusses his latest piece 'ISIS Isn’t the Real Enemy. The “Game of Thrones” Medieval Mindset That Birthed It Is' and explains the historical and ideological legacy that created the fundamentalist group, the fallout from U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, the role of Saudi Arabia in spreading dangerous fundamentalism and what the global strategy for addressing ISIS should be.
The U.N. on Wednesday called its highest level of emergency for the humanitarian crisis in Iraq, where hundreds of thousands have been driven from their homes and tens of thousands have been trapped in a desert mountain by the advance of Islamic militants across the north of the country. The declaration of a "Level 3 Emergency" will trigger additional goods, funds and assets to respond to the needs of those displaced, said U.N. special representative Nickolay Mladenov, who pointed to the "scale and complexity of the current humanitarian catastrophe."
The prospect of the U.S. military returning to the fight in Iraq has turned congressional hawks into doves. Lawmakers who eagerly voted to authorize military force 12 years ago to oust Saddam Hussein and destroy weapons of mass destruction that were never found now harbor doubts that air strikes will turn back insurgents threatening Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government and Baghdad. Fears of Mideast quagmire and weariness after a decade of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan loom large for even those who talk tough on national security. More than 6,000 Americans died in those wars, which cost a trillion dollars.
Syrian army troops killed 175 rebels in an ambush Wednesday south of Damascus, state media reported, a major attack targeting mostly al-Qaeda-linked fighters as part of a government effort to secure the capital.
Two Iranian warships set sail Tuesday for the Atlantic Ocean on their navy's first-ever mission there, state TV reported. The voyage comes amid an ongoing push by Iran to demonstrate the ability to project power across the Middle East and beyond. The report said that the destroyer Sabalan and the logistic helicopter carrier Khark will be dispatched on a three-month voyage.
A new wave of car bombs rocked commercial streets in the Iraqi capital on Tuesday, killing 20 in the latest apparent attack by hard-line Sunni insurgents aiming to undermine confidence in the Shiite-led government. Meanwhile, Sunni leaders in Basra said unknown gunmen had shot dead 17 Sunnis in the Shiite-dominated city over the past two weeks, following threats to retaliate against them for attacks on Shiites in other parts of Iraq.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor had intended to use an appearance at a Labor Day picnic to tout his record on worker's rights issues such as the minimum wage as he faces a 14-month battle to keep his seat in Arkansas. But as the two-term Democratic senator moved from table to table at a fairgrounds hall, he also quizzed constituents about whether Congress should authorize military action against Syria.
