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Don’t Blame the Iraq Debacle on the Israel Lobby

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Santa Cruz Sentinel March 29, 2013 | UPDATED: Sept. 11, 2018
[Republished by Foreign Policy In Focus/Institute for Policy Studies and Truthout] This month’s 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq raised the question  why the U.S. made such a tragic choice. As many of us argued in the lead-up to the war, claims that Iraq possessed “weapons of mass destruction” the Iraqi government had operational ties to al-Qaida were false. Similarly, the corrupt and repressive sectarian government the U.S. helped establish in Baghdad has undermined any pretense the war was about promoting democracy.

10 years after the Iraq invasion, Washington still hasn’t learned

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National Catholic Reporter, March 27, 2013
   This month marks the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, which has resulted in the deaths of up to half a million Iraqis, mostly civilians, and the displacement of millions of others. Sectarian and ethnic tensions remain high and violence and terrorism — despite being less pervasive than a few years ago — are endemic. The current Iraqi government is notoriously corrupt and repressive, guilty of widespread torture and extrajudicial killings of opponents. A whole new generation of Islamist terrorists radicalized by the invasion and insurgency is now active worldwide. Almost 4,500 Americans were killed and thousands more received serious physical and emotional injuries…

Democrats Share the Blame for Tragedy of Iraq War

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Truthout.org March 17, 2013: On this tenth anniversary of the Iraq War, it is important to remember the 4,500 Americans killed, the far larger number permanently wounded, the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed and millions maimed or displaced, the trillion dollars of US taxpayers’ money squandered (and the resulting cutbacks through sequestration), the continued costs of the war through veterans’ benefits and interest on the national debt, and the anti-American extremism in reaction to the invasion and occupation which has spread. All could have been avoided if the Democratic-controlled Senate hadn’t voted to authorize this illegal and unnecessary war and occupation.

The Arab Spring, Two Years Later (video)

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March 12, 2013: DU Center for Middle East Studies Professor Stephen Zunes discusses the current state of the Arab world in the wake of the 2011 uprisings, the strength and successes of non-violent sociopolitical movements in the region, and the corresponding shifts now required of U.S. foreign policy. [YouTube link]

Hillary Clinton’s Legacy as Secretary of State

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Truthout February 7, 2013
Hillary Clinton leaves her position as Secretary of State with a legacy of supporting autocratic regimes and occupation armies, opposing enforcement of international humanitarian law, undermining arms control and defending military solutions to complex political problems. During her eight years in the U.S .Senate she was an outspoken supporter of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, lied about Iraq’s military capabilities to frighten the public into supporting the illegal war, unleashed repeated attacks against the UN, opposed restrictions on land mines and cluster bombs, defended war crimes by allied right-wing governments and largely embraced Bush’s unilateralist agenda.

The Mali Blowback: More to Come?

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Foreign Policy In Focus February 1, 2013
[Republished by Transnational.org & ZNetwork]
The French-led military offensive in its former colony of Mali has pushed back radical Islamists and allied militias from some of the country’s northern cities, freeing the local population from repressive Taliban-style totalitarian rule. However, despite these initial victories, it raises concerns as to what unforeseen consequences may lay down the road. Indeed, it was such Western intervention—also ostensibly on humanitarian grounds—that was largely responsible for the Malian crisis in the first place…

Interview: The Case Against Kerry (video)

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The Real News Network, January 14, 2013
Also see associated articles and Zunes’s interviews on CBS-KDKA Pittsburgh, the Peter Collins Show, and two Zunes articles from Institute for Public Accuracy: Clinton and Kerry (February 1, 2013) and Kerry’s Judgment Questioned Because of Pro-War Vote (December 21, 2012)
With all the attention on the nomination by President Obama of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense, there hasn’t been quite as much discussion about his nomination of John Kerry for Secretary of State. I guess that’s partly because he seems rather beloved by the Republicans and is likely to get passed without much issue. But there are issues, according to our next guest, Stephen Zunes… [YouTube]

The Case Against Kerry

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Foreign Policy In Focus January 3, 2013
[Republished by Antiwar.com, Common Dreams, the Institute for Historical Review, Transnational.org; and associated interviews]
President Obama’s selection of John Kerry as the next secretary of state sends the wrong signal. His record in the U.S. Senate, where he currently chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, has included spurious attacks on the International Court of Justice, unqualified defense of Israeli occupation policies and human rights violations, and support for the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. Furthermore, his false claims about Iraqi “weapons of mass destruction” and his repeated denials of well-documented human rights abuses by allied governments raise serious questions about his credibility.