Google seems to be aligning itself with the Trump administration in its efforts to isolate and demonize Iran. The search giant is removing Iranian state media from YouTube Iran’s Press TV reports. On Thursday, Google removed 39 YouTube channels linked to the Iranian state broadcaster [Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting or IRIB]. Google terminated those...
Category: Middle East
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As U.S. Withdraws, CIA Director Haspel Visits Afghanistan
Just as the U.S. armed forces are stepping out of Afghanistian, the CIA is stepping in. CIA director Gina Haspel visited the Central Asian country where the U.S. forces have been fighting for 18 years. Her mission: maintaining or even expanding the U.S. intelligence presence there. Haspel met with Afghan government officials including President Ashraf...
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Three Democratic Candidates Slam Netanyahu Ahead of Israeli Elections
The alienation of Democratic voters from the Israel lobby accelerated after Israeli Prime Minister promised to annex the Palestinian West Bank in the closing days of the Israeli elections Front-runner Bernie Sanders and two of his most charismatic rivals, Beto O’Rourke and Pete Buttigieg, immediately criticized Netanyahu’s land grab. O’Rourke called Netanyahu “a racist” and...
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The AIPAC Test: Buttigieg Is a Thumbs Up
One emerging key issue in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination is Israel, and more specifically, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The question for would-be Democratic presidents is: Does AIPAC have too much influence over U.S. policy toward the Middle East? Or is AIPAC’s influence a non-issue? In the social media binary...
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Rafi Eitan’s Two Nuclear Missions for Mossad
In an obituary of the late Rafi Eitan, Israeli journalist Yossi Melman notes that the legendary Mossad operative played a leading role in another operation obtaining uranium for Israel’s secret nuclear program. I reported last week on Eitan’s role in diverting several hundred pounds of fissile material from a uranium refining facility in Pennysylvania. Melman...