Middle East
Today in Stupidity: Who Lost Syria?
Perhaps I should apologise to Leon Wieseltier? His recent column is not a patch on Jennifer Rubin’s latest screed which may be the most stupid and contemptible thing I’ve yet… Continue reading
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Will Israel strike?
While we’re on the subject of conflict in the Middle East, it’s worth pointing out the cover story to this week’s edition of the magazine. It’s by the Atlantic’s Jeffrey… Continue reading
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Defecting to what?
The wires are ablaze with the news that Syria’s deputy oil minister, Abdo Hussameldin, has switched sides to the country’s opposition. His is, after all, the most high-ranking defection so… Continue reading
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What the Taliban want
How go those talks with the Taliban in Doha? Quietly, that’s how — although there’s a report in yesterday’s The Hindu that could reveal some of what’s being said, and… Continue reading
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The Syria delusion
Things certainly seem to be coming to a head in Syria, with today’s news that Assad’s forces have launched a ground assault on Homs, forcing the rebels to withdraw, and… Continue reading
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Hague’s ‘Cold War’ warning
William Hague has gazed into his Middle Eastern crystal ball and doesn’t like what he sees. In an interview in today’s Telegraph, he says of Iran: ‘It is a crisis… Continue reading
54 CommentsAbu Qatada Should Stay in Britain
I am sure Dan Hodges is correct: Abu Qatada is not a great poster boy for civil liberties. He is not a British citizen and seems to have abused the… Continue reading
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Making a call on Qatada
The Prime Minister, we are told, has been trying to reach the King of Jordan to see if some kind of arrangement can be made so that Abu Qatada can… Continue reading
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Our enemy’s enemy
It’s unusual for The Guardian and The Spectator to agree on anything, but Seamus Milne and our own John R Bradley are sceptical about these Syrian rebels whom we’re being… Continue reading
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Stopping Assad
The situation in Syria grows worse by the minute. President Assad seems to have taken the UN Security Council’s deadlock as carte blanche to launch an all-out attack on Homs.… Continue reading
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Ignore the European Court and deport Abu Qatada tonight
The Al-Qaeda preacher Abu Qatada is a Jordanian national who is in the UK illegally (having come here in 1993 on a forged United Arab Emirates passport). The headache he… Continue reading
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An Israeli strike on Iran?
Will they or won’t they? Most political parlour games involve a question of this kind and the one about whether Israel will strike Iran – played out regularly in Washington,… Continue reading
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Uncertainty reigns in Syria
The Syrian situation is worsening by the day. Now the Arab League has pulled back its monitors in recognition of their failure to ease the violence. Foreign Secretary William Hague… Continue reading
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Let’s talk about Qatar
The rise of Qatar has been one of the most remarkable developments in the recent history of the Middle East. How this small, oil-rich Gulf state built Al Jazeera and… Continue reading
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The hypocrisy of Cameron’s Saudi trip
A year ago, Tunisian strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled Tunisia for Saudi Arabia, thus ushering in the Salafi Spring. No doubt now bored out of his mind, this… Continue reading
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Hague’s misplaced optimism
William Hague has an article in the Times today arguing against what he refers to as the ‘pessimism’ of those who have expressed concerns about the direction of the ‘Arab Spring’.… Continue reading
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Libya still hasn’t found peace
Guns blazing, Libya’s various militias are showing little sign of laying down their arms and giving authority to the Libyan state. Even Mustafa Abdul Jalil, chairman of the National Transitional… Continue reading
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The evil being perpetrated against Christians in Nigeria
The religious cleansing against Christians is intensifying in Nigeria, where Christians have been told they have until Friday to leave the country or face attacks by Islamic extremists. As I… Continue reading
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How democracy fared in 2011
Even before we were a month in, 2011 was an historic year. Principally because in a region of the world where governments shift through military coup or foreign intervention, dictators… Continue reading
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