Opinions

Khamenei’s nuclear game: No public approval

Unlike the former Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rarely puts himself in a position of responsibility for crucial issues…

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How did ISIS obtain mustard agent in fight against Kurds?

Mounting evidence indicates ISIS militants targeted Kurdish fighters with mustard agent in northern Iraq earlier this week. While Kurdish sources…

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For Syria, August is the cruelest month

For Syrians, August may be the cruelest month. Two years ago at night, President Assad’s grim reapers in the form…

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Let’s not forget the fate of the Yazidi rape survivors

Just over a year ago, ISIS began their carefully calculated capture of the Yazidi people. Yazidi polytheism was the core…

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Barrel Bombs, Not ISIS, Are the Greatest Threat to Syrians

GAZIANTEP, Turkey — As the self-proclaimed Islamic State, or ISIS, commits horrendous videotaped executions, it might seem to pose the…

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It never happened: How to deny genocide in the face of science

Srebrenica, Bosnia — Scientific advances in DNA identification over the past 15 years have helped war-crimes investigators document to an…

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Is it called ‘terrorism’ or ‘violent extremism’?

The two recent attacks on mosques in eastern Saudi Arabia can’t be labeled as anything but evil acts of terrorism.…

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Remembering Houla: Why sectarianism cannot be part of Syria’s future

Three years ago today, a massacre took place in the Syrian village of Taldou in Houla, in northern Syria. According…

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Killing Abu Sayyaf: what it means in the fight against ISIS

The firefight that killed ISIS official Abu Sayyaf by U.S. Special Operations is a major achievement and long overdue against…

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Why steering clear of the Middle East is a terrible idea

Much as the United States may like to, staying out the Middle East just isn’t an option — not if…

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