As former top State Department intelligence specialist Wayne White points out for Lobe Log, in the absence of a tenable ceasefire agreement, the quagmire that is the Syrian civil war will likely intensify, thereby only worsening post-Assad scenarios. “The bottom line is that a… Continue Reading
The UN High Commission for Human Rights now believes 60,000 Syrians have been killed since March 2011 (far more than claimed by the Syrian opposition) and that death rates have been rising more sharply of late. Given the situation on… Continue Reading
You will not hear me say this often, but Hossein Shariatmadari — Iran’s irascible and intractable editor of the hardline Kayhan daily — makes one important point in this editorial. Although a few months ago Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei referred in… Continue Reading
The Gaza Strip, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt and the State of Israel, is 25 miles in long. At its narrowest point it is less than 4 miles wide, and at its maximum width, is 7.5 miles wide–a total area of 141 square miles. With a population of 1.7 million people, Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on earth.
Iran, whose borders include the Arabian Sea to the south, Iraq to the east, Pakistan and Afghanistan to the west, and the Caspian Sea and post-Soviet Muslim states of Central Asia to the north, has a total land mass of 636,000 square miles–about the same as Alaska or Mexico–and a population of 70 million. Yet Foreign Policy CEO and editor at large David Rothkopf recently quoted an Israeli “source close to the discussions” who claimed that an Israeli surgical strike Iranian on enrichment facilities conducted by air, utilizing bombers and drone support.“might take only ‘a couple of hours’ in the best case and only would involve a ‘day or two’ overall.” Continue Reading
Mark Perry — who recently explained that the “chance for calm” has been assassinated by Israel in the past — on the current potential for a ceasefire (via CNN’s transcript): MARK PERRY, MIDDLE EAST EXPERT: I would have said six hours ago if you had… Continue Reading