On current developments in Iraq

Iraqi families leaving Mosul following Sunni rebels takeover.

Sunni-majority towns in Iraq are falling to a broad Sunni alliance that includes ISIS as a major player. Only Iran and Maliki want us to believe that ISIS is solely responsible for the current offensive.

On the other hand, the idea that Iran is orchestrating this development in order to convince America and the international community to allow her to intervene directly in Iraq is naive. Such intervention would be too costly and Iran is already knee-deep in the Iraqi quagmire anyway, not to mention the Syrian one, and does not need to do so more overtly. Should Iran’s decide to embark on such a course, it would be a massive miscalculation on their part.

Continue reading “On current developments in Iraq” →

A Call for External Input to Renew Islam

Renewal is the ability to allow for a massive dose of new thinking to pour into our lives, even if it’s not derived from our own cultural heritage.

BY RYAN MAURO | Wed, January 22, 2014

Ammar Abdulhamid is a liberal Syrian pro-democracy activist whose anti-regime activities led to his exile in September, 2005. He currently lives in Silver Spring, Maryland. He is the founder of the Tharwa Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting democracy. The following is Ammar Abdulhamid’s interview with Clarion Project national security analyst Ryan Mauro:

Continue reading “A Call for External Input to Renew Islam” →

Syrian genocide needs justice

Opinion: Syrian genocide needs justice – CNN.com.

(CNN) — The debate over what is happening inside Syria should now end. A new report by three veteran war crimes prosecutors, released exclusively by CNN and The Guardian, offers what appears to be irrefutable evidence of systemic war crimes by the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Continue reading “Syrian genocide needs justice” →

Power Vacuum in Middle East Lifts Militants

Power Vacuum in Middle East Lifts Militants – NYTimes.com.

“It’s not in America’s interests to have troops in the middle of every conflict in the Middle East, or to be permanently involved in open-ended wars in the Middle East,” Benjamin J. Rhodes, a White House deputy national security adviser, said in an email on Saturday……

Comment: Tell Obama, not to worry too much, Ben, the holy warriors will soon bring their battle to your living-rooms, and not via TV. These things just have a nasty habit of festering, and you’re already knee-deep in this, no matter what you say or think. It’s all part of the open-endedness of our political geography these days.