Foreign Policy In Focus by Stephen Zunes
September 1, 2002 [source]
The last time–and only time–the United States came before the United Nations to accuse a radical Third World government of threatening the security of the United States through weapons of mass destruction was in October 1962. In the face of a skeptical world and Cuban and Soviet denials, U.S. ambassador Adlai Stevenson presented dramatic photos clearly showing the construction of nuclear missiles on Cuban soil. While the resulting U.S. military blockade and brinksmanship was not universally supported, there was little question … the threat was real…
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Why Not to Wage War with Iraq
Foreign Policy In Focus, August 27, 2002
by Stephen Zunes [source]
Despite growing opposition, the Bush administration is pushing for a U.S. invasion of Iraq. Before the public and Congress allow such a dangerous and unprecedented use of American military power, they should seriously consider the following seven facts…
Don’t Blame the Jews for Cynthia McKinney’s Defeat
Common Dreams August 25, 2002 by Stephen Zunes
With the defeat of five-term Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney in the August 22 Democratic primary in Georgia, the U.S. House of Representatives will soon be losing one of its most outspoken progressive voices. This is very bad news for those of us who support peace, human rights, and social justice. It would be even worse news, however, if the blame for her defeat is placed primarily upon the Jewish community [source is no longer available].
Seven Reasons to Oppose a U.S. Invasion of Iraq
Foreign Policy In Focus August 1, 2002, by Stephen Zunes [source]
The United States still appears determined to move forward with plans to engage in a large-scale military operation against Iraq to overthrow the regime of Saddam Hussein. In the international community, however, serious questions are being raised regarding its legality, its justification, its political implications, and the costs of the war itself. Such an invasion would constitute an important precedent, being the first test of the new doctrine articulated by President George W. Bush of “preemption,” which declares that the U.S. has the right to invade sovereign countries and overthrow their governments if they are seen as hostile to U.S. interests…
A Bush Plan For Mideast Disaster
Alternet by Stephen Zunes, June 25, 2002 [source]
President George W. Bush’s speech on Monday actually represents a setback for Middle East peace. On the one hand, it is reassuring that, after thirty years of rejecting the international consensus that peace requires the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel, an American president now formally recognizes that need. The bad news is that President Bush is simply perpetuating the unfair assumption that while Israel’s right to exist is a given, Palestine’s right to exist… is conditional…
Fallacies of U.S. Plans to Invade Iraq
Foreign Policy In Focus, June 1, 2002
by Stephen Zunes [source]
There is no evidence of Iraqi links to Al Qaeda
In the months following the September 11 terrorist attacks, there were leaks to the media about alleged evidence of a meeting in Prague between an Iraqi intelligence officer and one of the hijackers of the doomed airplanes that crashed into the World Trade Center. Subsequently, however, both the FBI and CIA have declared that no such meeting occurred. It is unlikely that the decidedly secular Baathist regime–which has savagely suppressed Islamists within Iraq–would be able to maintain close links with Bin Laden and his followers…
Aiding the War Effort
Alternet May 10, 2002 by Stephen Zunes
[source is no longer available]
The violence of the past year and a half between Israelis and Palestinians has left more than 2,000 people dead, torpedoed the peace process, and turned the streets of the West Bank and Gaza Strip into battlefields. As the U.S. reconsiders its role in promoting Israeli-Palestinian peace, the prospects for a final settlement that recognizes the security needs of Israel and the legitimate political rights of Palestinians seem worse than ever…
Challenging the Myths about the Failure of the 2000 Camp David Talks
Foreign Policy In Focus by Stephen Zunes, May 10, 2002
[source is no longer available]
1. Both the Clinton and Bush administrations, along with leading members of Congress of both parties, have deliberately misrepresented what happened in the peace process before, during, and after Camp David, as well as what has transpired since the outbreak of the second intifada in late September 2000. This has served to justify a policy of supporting an increasingly repressive occupation army…
Congress Attacks Human Rights
Alternet by Stephen Zunes May 3, 2002
[source is no longer available]
On Thursday, both the House of Representative and the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed resolutions defending the policies of right-wing Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon in the occupied territories. Human rights activists are alarmed, both at the strong Congressional support for a repressive military occupation and the fact the resolutions are being widely interpreted as an attack on the credibility of Amnesty International and other human rights groups. Last month, Amnesty International published a detailed and well-documented report…
Congress Ignores Human Rights Groups In Pro-Israel Resolution
Foreign Policy In Focus by Stephen Zunes, May 1, 2002
[Source] Republican Right and congressional liberals join together to show support for Sharon government despite reports by Amnesty and Human Rights Watch detailing gross human rights abuses. Despite new public opinion polls showing rising public concern about unconditional U.S. support of Israel, recently the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed resolutions defending the policies of right-wing Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon in the occupied territories. Human rights activists are alarmed..
Why the U.S. Supports Israel
Foreign Policy In Focus by Stephen Zunes, May 1, 2002
[Source] In the United States and around the world, many are questioning why, despite some mild rebukes, Washington has maintained its large-scale military, financial, and diplomatic support for the Israeli occupation in the face of unprecedented violations of international law and human rights standards by Israeli occupation forces. Why is there such strong bipartisan support for Israel’s right-wing prime minister Ariel Sharon’s policies in the occupied Palestinian territories?…
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Foreign Policy In Focus by Stephen Zunes, April 12, 2002
[Source is no longer available] The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of competing nationalist movements battling for a homeland on the same territory. It is not a religious or ethnic conflict at its root. The conflict is not intractable: the majority of both Israelis and Palestinians are willing to accept territorial compromise and share historic Palestine in two states side by side in return for peace and security. The root of the present war is Israel’s 34-year occupation of Palestinian lands…
A New Path to Peace
Alternet by Stephen Zunes, February 12, 2002
[Source] The tragic events of September 11 have created unprecedented challenges for the peace movement, anti-interventionist forces, and other progressive activists. For the first time in the lives of most Americans, the U.S. has found itself under attack. After more than fifty years of fabricated and exaggerated threats to national security put forward by the U.S. government, academia, and the media to justify military interventionism abroad…
Somalia as a Military Target
Foreign Policy In Focus by Stephen Zunes, January 11, 2002
[Source] The east African nation of Somalia is being mentioned with increasing frequency as a possible next target in the U.S.-led war against international terrorism. Somalia is a failed state–with what passes for the central government controlling little more than a section of the national capital of Mogadishu, a separatist government in the north, and rival warlords and clan leaders controlling most of the remainder of the country. U.S. officials believe cells of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network may have taken advantage of the absence of governmental authority to set up operation…
Nonviolent Resistance in the Islamic World
War Resisters League by Stephen Zunes January 3, 2002
[Source is no longer available]
The tragic events of recent months have only strengthened the stereotype here in the United States of the Islamic world as an area of violent conflict. However, the region also has an impressive and growing tradition of nonviolent resistance and other unarmed challenges to authoritarianism…
Redefining Security in the Face of Terrorism (PDF)
Download the entire PDF: The tragic events of September 11, 2001, have created unprecedented challenges for those who traditionally have been critical of U.S. military intervention and have allied themselves with the peace movement. For the first time in the lives of most Americans, the United States has found itself under attack….
Why the U.S. Did Not Overthrow Saddam Hussein
Foreign Policy In Focus by Stephen Zunes, November 1, 2001
[Source] There has been a curious bout of revisionist history in recent weeks criticizing the U.S. decision not to “finish the job” during the 1991 Gulf War and overthrow the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein. With such a lopsided victory in the six-week military campaign, these right-wing critics argue the U.S. could have easily marched into the capital of Baghdad and ousted the dictator…
10 Things to Know About the Middle East
Alternet by Stephen Zunes October 1, 2001 [Source]
1. Who are the Arabs?
2. Who are the Muslims?
3. Why is there so much violence and political instability?
4. Why has the Middle East been the focus of U.S. concern about international terrorism?
5. What kind of political systems and alliances exist in the Middle East?
6. What is the impact of oil in the Middle East?
7. What is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict about?
8. What has been the legacy of the Gulf War?
9. How has the political situation in Afghanistan evolved and how is it connected to the Middle East?
10. How have most Middle Eastern governments reacted to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and their aftermath?
The Bush Administration & the Israeli-Palestinian Stalemate
Foreign Policy In Focus October 1, 2001 by Stephen Zunes [Source]
Whether or not the shaky cease-fire in effect since the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States holds, the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace remain dim…
10 Things to Know about U.S. Policy in the Middle East
Alternet September 26, 2001 by Stephen Zunes
1. The United States has played a major role in the militarization of the region.
2. The U.S. maintains an ongoing military presence in the Middle East.
3. There has been an enormous humanitarian toll resulting from U.S. policy toward Iraq.
4. The U.S. has not been a fair mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
5. U.S. support for Israel occupation forces has created enormous resentment throughout the Middle East.
6. The U.S. has been inconsistent in its enforcement of international law and UN Security Council resolutions.
7. The U.S. has supported autocratic regimes in the Middle East.
8. U.S. policy has contributed to the rise of radical Islamic governments and movements.
9. The U.S. promotion of a neo-liberal economic model in the Middle East has not benefitted most people of the region.
10. The U.S. response to Middle Eastern terrorism has thus far been counter-productive.