Interview, Media Sanctuary: U.S. and Afghanistan
MediaSanctuary.org, August 18, 2021 Prof. Stephen Zunes Shares Analysis of Afghanistan War, Withdrawal and History.
Category: Foreign Policy
Radio: U.S. and Afghanistan
Radio Islam International, 17 August 2021: “U.S. Government Still Trying to Come to Terms with How Quickly Taliban Took Over Afghanistan.”
US Policy Toward Afghanistan Was a Recipe for Collapse From the Start
We must not allow the tragedy unfolding in Afghanistan to be used to rewrite history and teach the wrong lessons.
Radio: US and Afghanistan
Pacifica Radio Flashpoints, 16 August 2021:US and Afghanistan: Leaving is never easy…
United States’ Imperial Foreign Policy Is the Deadly Enemy of Progress at Home
Jacobin June 14, 2021: The US military spends trillions on death abroad that could be spent on improving life back home…
Professor Stephen Zunes on Gaza, the US, and Israel
Tikkun: “The extreme disproportionate firepower of the Israelis is really staggering. We’re looking at a 20:1 ratio just in terms of casualties… the U.S. bears special responsibility…”
Commentary: Panetta out of touch with constituents in his support for Netanyahu
The Californian: Commentary: As the ceasefire takes hold ending the fighting between Hamas and Israel, central coast voters are raising questions over controversial statements he made.
125 Democrats Say Military Aid to Israel Shouldn’t Depend on Human Rights Record
Truthout, May 3, 2021, by Stephen Zunes [ source] In an apparent response to growing calls for making US aid to the Netanyahu government conditional on Israeli adherence to human rights law, 330 members of the US House of Representatives…
If Biden Wants to Protect Troops, He Should Bring Them Home — Not Bomb Syria
Truthout, March 2, 2021, by Stephen Zunes [source] The US has bombed Syria more than 20,000 times over the past eight years, so last week’s attack on a border post in northeastern Syria, which killed 22 militiamen and apparently no…
Biden Bombs Iran-Backed Militias in Syria
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Stephen Zunes, co-author (with Jacob Mundy) of book ‘Western Sahara’
See WSahara.stephenzunes.org for reviews, related articles, audio and video, and to order the book.
Will Biden Admin Reverse Trump’s “Dangerous” Recognition of Morocco’s Occupation of Western Sahara?
DemocracyNow! Feb. 5, 2021, full transcript and video President Donald Trump broke with decades of U.S. foreign policy in the waning days of his administration and recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, a territory the country has occupied since 1975…
One of the Democrats’ Biggest Hawks Is Now Senate Foreign Relations Chair
Now with a working majority, the Democrats have named Sen. Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) to chair the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. This has rung alarm bells for advocates of peace, human rights and international law, given that Menendez has opposed the Iran nuclear agreement, repeatedly attacked the United Nations and the International Court of Justice, supported unconditional military aid to governments that have used the weapons in the commission of war crimes, and taken other positions far closer to those of Republicans than rank-and-file Democrats.
New Zealand radio station (hosted by an American expat) on threats to American democracy from Trump and the far right.
Recording is no longer available. [Find best related links.]
Nonviolent Activists Laid the Groundwork to Oppose a Coup. They May Have Saved the Republic
Activists prepared for months, expecting Trump to steal the election. They were right, and he failed.
Since President-elect Joe Biden’s decisive win in November, there has been understandable consternation at the efforts by President Trump and his supporters to steal the election. It is also important to understand why, so far, and despite the recent violence in Washington, his attempts have been unsuccessful.
Trump’s deal on Morocco’s Western Sahara annexation risks more global conflict
Last week, President Trump formally recognized Morocco’s annexation of Western Sahara as part of a deal to get Morocco to normalize relations with Israel. But Morocco’s claim on Western Sahara is rejected by the United Nations, the World Court, the African Union and a broad consensus of international legal scholars that consider the region a non-self-governing territory that must be allowed an act of self-determination. This is why no country had formally recognized Morocco’s takeover — until now.
Trump Recognized Morocco’s Illegal Occupation to Boost the Israeli Occupation
On December 10, the United States became the only country to formally recognize Morocco’s illegal annexation of Western Sahara, the former Spanish colony forcibly seized by Moroccan forces in 1975. Trump’s proclamation is directly counter to a series of UN Security Council resolutions and a landmark World Court ruling calling for self-determination.
A Dangerous Move to Crack Down on Protests Against Israel
Late last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the U.S. government finds the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaign to be inherently “anti-Semitic.” He pledged to “immediately take steps to identify organizations that engage in hateful BDS conduct and withdraw U.S. government support for such groups” and urged all nations to “recognize the BDS movement for the cancer that it is.”
Pompeo Embraced Israeli Settlements, But Democrats Also Paved the Way for It
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has faced widespread international condemnation for his recent assertions that illegal Israeli settlements constructed in the occupied West Bank are somehow legal and part of Israel, and that products from these colonies on confiscated Palestinian land should be labeled as “Made in Israel.” What fewer are discussing, however, is that while these proclamations are unprecedented in their scope, they are in fact the culmination of decades of bipartisan support for Israeli expansionism.