Moqtada al-Sadr is among the most nationalistic of Iraqi political leaders. He is anti-American–and also anti-Iranian. The fact that Sadr is now calling for the ouster of the 5,200 U.S. soldiers in the country is more than a little significant. Sadr is throwing his support to the pro-Iranian forces in the Iraqi parliament. Unbeknownst to...
Category: Middle East
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The Case for Attacking Pro-Iranian Militias in Iraq
In the wake of the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, the United States faces the issue of what to do with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) of Iraq. The PMF are a veritable deep state in Iraq destabilizing the country and threatening U.S. forces The PMF includes dozens of Iraqi Shia...
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Jeff Bezos’ Phone Was Hacked by Saudi Crown Prince, Say British Reports
The Guardian had the scoop first, based on anonymous sources. The FInancial Times confirmed the story citing cybersecurity experts hired by the Amazon mogul. These experts are said to have “medium to high confidence” that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) was involved, says FT. MBS has established a close relationship with President Trump and...
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Turkish and Syrian Spymasters Meet in Moscow
One of the realities of the 21st century is that spies have replaced diplomats as leading geopolitical players. A case in point comes from Al-Monitor, a reliable Mideast news site. Under Russian mediation, the Turkish and Syrian intelligence chiefs met face to face in what was the first high-level Turkish-Syrian encounter since 2011, when Turkey’s...
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Bolton Pushed Soleimani’s Assassination Last June
National Security adviser John Bolton pushed for the assassination of Iranian Gen Qassem Soleimani last summer, according to U.S. officials cited by NBC News. In a break with past U.S. policy, Bolton recommend killing the Iranian general whose battlefield successes had disturbed U.S. policymakers worried about growing Iranian influence in the region. After Iran shot...