Iran under the Ayatollahs is hardly a model nation. Domestically, it is repressive and, due largely to sanctions imposed by the United States, impoverished. Its foreign policy is aggressive. It supports groups that Canada has labelled terrorist, such as Hezbollah and Hamas, aids President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s civil war,
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LeDaro: Putin orders sanctions against Turkey
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday called for sanctions against Turkey, following the downing this week by Tur1key of a Russian warplane.The decree published on the Kremlin’s website Saturday came hours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Er…
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Stock Up on AK-47s. They’re a Hot Commodity.
They’re flying off the shelves of gunstores across the United States. Russian AK-47 assault rifles have become a hot commodity literally overnight since they were added to Obama’s import restrictions as part of America’s sanctions. Thirty-six hours after the Obama administration banned importation of the classic brand of AK-47 assault
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Jesus Was Not a Real Estate Agent Nor Did he Invent the Bomb
There was a very interesting segment on the documentary program Vice recently, called Armageddon Now. In it they discussed Evangelical Christians and their strange devotion to Israel. Vice’s Thomas Morton travelled with a group of Born Again Christian tourists, as they visited the “Holy Land”; and spoke with End Times
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: Exclusive: Putin Halts All Talks With White House
By Josh Rogin-The Daily Beast The Kremlin has ended high-level contact with the Obama administration, according to diplomatic officials and sources close to the Russian leadership. Read More
Continue readingSanctions—deadlier than war?
Most Canadians, I suspect, don’t pay much attention to the use of sanctions in international politics. War, yes—people being shot, bombed, and apparently even gassed is hard to ignore—but sanctions are complicated and largely invisible, easy to tune out. Most people’s reaction is simply, “They’re a lot better than war,
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Lessons from Iran for North Korea
North Korea became the biggest international story of last week when it decided to launch a satellite into space (ostensibly a weather satellite) that ultimately broke down shortly after being launched. This episode puts into peril the nascent moves towards genuine talks regarding food aid in exchange for abandoning nuclear
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