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Hillary Clinton’s double standards on human rights
The US role in the Honduras coup and subsequent violence
The National Catholic Reporter March 14, 2016: Thousands of indigenous activists, peasant leaders, trade unionists, journalists, environmentalists, judges, opposition political candidates, human rights activists, and others have been murdered since a 2009 military coup ousted the democratically elected president Manuel Zelaya [who had] raised the minimum wage and provided free school lunches, milk for young children, pensions for the elderly, and additional scholarships for students. He built new schools, subsidized public transportation, and even distributed energy-saving light bulbs.
Syria after the Ceasefire
Boston Review, March 2, 2016
The partial ceasefire in Syria announced by the United States and Russia on February 23 has been met with less than overwhelming optimism, and, after so much bloodshed and the entrenchment of hardline positions, it is not hard to see why. The accord stipulates that the Syrian government and allied groups, including Russia, end attacks against opposition forces that are party to the agreement and these opposition forces suspend military operations. Both sides must refrain from seizing additional territory and allow “rapid, unhindered and sustained access” to humanitarian agencies. Even incomplete implementation would be good news for the Syrian people…
Bipartisan Congressional efforts to support Israeli settlements and expansionism
The National Catholic Reporter February 29, 2016: The expansion of territory by military force is prohibited under the U.N. Charter, and the Israeli settlements are considered illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention, a series of UN Security Council resolutions, and a landmark advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice…
Hillary the Hawk
The Cairo Review of Global Affairs, Winter 2016: Her hawkish views go well beyond her strident support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and subsequent occupation and counter-insurgency war. From Afghanistan to Western Sahara, she has advocated for military solutions to complex political problems, backed authoritarian allies and occupying armies, dismissed war crimes, and opposed political involvement by the UN and its agencies. In Michael Crowley’s 2014 story in TIME, Obama administration officials noted how she was “skeptical of diplomacy with Iran, and firmly opposed to talk of a ‘containment’ policy that would be an alternative to military action should negotiations with Tehran fail.” Clinton disapproved of the opposition expressed by Pentagon officials regarding a possible U.S. attack on Iran because she insisted “the Iranians had to believe we would use force if diplomacy failed.”
On Hillary Clinton, Sexism, and U.S. Foreign Policy
Foreign Policy In Focus February 12 2016
After Bernie Sanders’ strong early primary showings, a few high-profile supporters of his rival Hillary Clinton have seized upon an explanation: sexism…
The Five Lamest Excuses for Hillary Clinton’s Vote to Invade Iraq
In These Times February 1, 2016: Also published in:
Common Dreams, Counterpunch, Consortium News, Democratic Underground, News.Alayham.com, Antiwar.com, Foreign Policy in Focus, My Trust In Conflict, Portside.org, RINF.com, Reddit, The Scott Horton Show radio, and referenced in other media. e.g., Mondoweiss.net.
The primary reasons Clinton gave for supporting President George W. Bush’s request for authorizing that illegal and unnecessary war have long been proven false. As a result, many Democratic voters are questioning — despite her years of foreign policy experience — whether Clinton has the judgment and integrity to lead.
Hillary Clinton’s strident opposition to the International Criminal Court
National Catholic Reporter January 18, 2016: Hillary Clinton’s support for Iraq war authorization effectively placed her in opposition to the UN Charter and the Nuremberg Principles forbidding such wars of aggression.
Panel discussion on top five international stories of 2015
Republican Candidates Defend Killing Civilians to Fight Terrorism—and So Do Democrats
The U.S. and the Rise of ISIS
National Catholic Reporter December 7, 2015
[and republished in Tikkun] The rise of ISIS (also known as Daesh, ISIL, or the “Islamic State”) is a direct consequence of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. While there are a number of other contributing factors as well, that fateful decision is paramount…
What We Can Expect From Hillary Clinton on Israel/Palestine
Truthout December 5, 2015 and republished in FreeList.org: Hillary Clinton’s support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq (a flagrant violation of the UN Charter) and Morocco’s illegal annexation of occupied Western Sahara, as well as her hostility toward the International Criminal Court and attacks against the UN and key agencies, raise concerns her election would bring a return to the Bush administration’s neoconservative rejection of longstanding international legal principles…
Chancellor’s opposition to student resolution problematic
Santa Cruz Sentinel December 4, 2015: UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal, in an all-campus mailing sent out Nov. 19, expressed his opposition to a recently passed resolution by the Student Union Assembly in a manner which has raised serious concerns among supporters of corporate responsibility and academic freedom.
Nobel Peace Prize spotlights National Dialogue Quartet
National Catholic Reporter November 20, 2015 [Also in the Free Library]
The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize December 10 to a group of four Tunisian civil society groups that played a key role in their country’s transition to democracy is a reminder of how Arab peoples are quite capable of the difficult work of navigating their nation from dictatorship to democracy…
Obama’s Escalation in Syria
The Progressive November 5, 2015 [and the Huffington Post]
Obama’s plan to send up to 50 U.S. Special Forces to “train, advise and assist” armed militia fighting forces of the so-called “Islamic State” in Syria marks an escalation in U.S. military involvement and raises serious legal, political, strategic, ethical, and constitutional questions and may open the way to a far larger and dangerous military entanglements.
Netanyahu’s Incendiary Speech Blames Palestinians for Holocaust (audio)
October 27, 2015, Uprising Radio, since renamed Rising Up With Sonali.
[The recording is no longer available.]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said he supports revoking the travel rights of Palestinians living in East Jerusalem. The announcement came amid furor over comments he made recently over who was really responsible for the Holocaust. [Find best related links.]
Why Netanyahu Needs Holocaust Revisionism and Israeli-Palestinian Violence
The Progressive October 27, 2015 [Also by the Huffington Post]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s October 20 speech claiming Hitler had not planned to exterminate Jews until a prominent Palestinian cleric pressured him to do so, while outrageous, is consistent with the longstanding narrative of the right-wing government and its U.S. supporters.
Bipartisan Attacks Against Anti-occupation Divestment Campaigns
National Catholic Reporter September 8, 2015
[Republished by the Huffington Post & PeaceandJustice.org]
In April, the student senate at Earlham College, a Quaker liberal arts institution in Indiana, approved a resolution by consensus recommending the college endowment divest from three U.S. companies (Motorola, Hewlett Packard and Caterpillar) which directly support the Israeli occupation in violation of international law. The resolution (thus far ignored by the college’s board of trustees) follows decisions by a number of Quaker-affiliated organizations — as well as the Presbyterian Church USA, the United Church of Christ, and other nonprofit groups — to divest from these companies. The response was swift…
Support for Iraq War Still Haunts Hillary Clinton’s Candidacy
National Catholic Reporter August 3, 2015
[Republished by the Huffington Post & TheFreeLibrary.com]