Alternet January 13, 2009, by Stephen Zunes [source]
In a direct challenge to the credibility of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Red Cross and other reputable humanitarian organizations, an overwhelming bipartisan majority in both houses of Congress has gone on record supporting President George W. Bush’s position that the Israeli armed forces bear no responsibility for the large and growing numbers of civilian casualties from their assault on the Gaza Strip. As of this writing, at least 400 civilians have been killed by Israeli forces, primarily using U.S.-supplied weaponry.
Category: Foreign Policy
Interview: Obama’s foreign policy appointments (audio)
Rabble Radio, Canada, Jan. 11, 2009 [source is no longer available]
Secretary of State nominee Hillary Clinton supported the Iraq War from Day One and has denounced Obama’s intention to negotiate with Iran. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is an advocate of continuing the war in Iraq. Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is known for his unswerving support of Israel. We speak with Stephen Zunes, professor of politics at the University of San Francisco…
Democrats Back Bush, Reject Human Rights Groups, in Support for Israeli Assault on Gaza
Huffington Post January 7, 2009 by Stephen Zunes [source]
The Democratic leadership’s strident support for the ongoing Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip underscores how the Democrats suffer from the same illusions as the outgoing Republican administration: that placing an Arab territory under debilitating sanctions that punish the population as a whole, bombarding heavily populated civilian areas — resulting in widespread casualties among innocent people — and invading and occupying territories with a long history of resistance to outsiders will somehow lead to greater moderation from those afflicted.
America’s Hidden Role in Hamas’s Rise to Power
Huffington Post Feb 5, 2009 |Updated May 25, 2011, by Stephen Zunes
Also by Global Research, Alternet & The South African Civil Society Information Service
No one in the mainstream media or government is willing to acknowledge America’s sordid role interfering in Palestinian politics. The United States bears much of the blame for the ongoing bloodshed in the Gaza Strip and nearby parts of Israel. Indeed, were it not for misguided Israeli and American policies, Hamas would not be in control of the territory in the first place.
Israel initially encouraged the rise of the Palestinian Islamist movement as a counter to the Palestine Liberation Organization, the secular coalition composed of Fatah and various leftist and other nationalist movements. Beginning in the early 1980s, with generous funding from the U.S.-backed family dictatorship in Saudi Arabia, the antecedents of Hamas began to emerge through the establishment of schools, health care clinics, social service organizations and other entities that stressed an ultraconservative interpretation of Islam, which up to that point had not been very common among the Palestinian population. The hope was that if people spent more time praying in mosques, they would be less prone to enlist in left- wing nationalist movements challenging the Israeli occupation.
Hillary Clinton Brings Hawkish Record to State Department
Huffington Post December 5, 2008, by Stephen Zunes [source]
The appointment of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State is nothing less than a betrayal of the anti-war constituency responsible for Barack Obama winning the Democratic Party nomination and his subsequent election as U.S. president. The quintessential Democratic hawk, Senator Clinton has proven to be one of the leading militarists on Capitol Hill and her appointment as the country’s chief foreign policy representative serves notice to the international community that the change they had hoped for will not be forthcoming.
Hillary Clinton’s Disdain for International Law — PART TWO
Huffington Post, Jan. 5 2009, by Stephen Zunes [source]
The appointment of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State is nothing less than a betrayal of the anti-war constituency responsible for Barack Obama winning the Democratic Party nomination and his subsequent election as U.S. president. The quintessential Democratic hawk, Senator Clinton has proven to be one of the leading militarists on Capitol Hill and her appointment as the country’s chief foreign policy representative serves notice to the international community that the change they had hoped for will not be forthcoming.
Hillary Clinton’s Disdain for International Law — PART ONE
Alternet December 1, 2008, by Stephen Zunes [source]
For those hoping for a dramatic change in U.S. foreign policy under an Obama administration — particularly regarding human rights, international law, and respect for international institutions — the appointment of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State is a bitter disappointment. Indeed, Senator Clinton has more often than not sided with the Bush administration against fellow Democrats on key issues regarding America’s international legal obligations, particularly international humanitarian law.
Is Obama Screwing His Base with Rahm Emanuel Selection?
Huffington Post November 11, 2008, by Stephen Zunes [source]
I had really wanted to celebrate Barack Obama’s remarkable victory for a day or so before becoming cynical again. And yet, less than 24 hours after the first polls closed, the president-elect chose as his chief of staff — perhaps the most powerful single position in any administration — Rahm Emanuel, one of the most conservative Democratic members of Congress.
Bush’s Unauthorized Attack on Syria Killed Civilians; Dems Silent
Alternet.org, November 10, 2008 by Stephen Zunes [source]
A raid by U.S. forces into Syria last month was not only a major breach of international law, but has resulted in serious diplomatic repercussions which will likely harm U.S. strategic interests in the region. On October 25, four U.S. Army helicopters entered Syrian airspace from Iraq, firing upon laborers at the Sukkariyeh Farm near the town of Abu Kamal; two of the helicopters landed and eight commandoes reportedly stormed a building. By the time it was over, eight people had been killed, at least seven of whom were civilians, including three children. It is believed to be the first time the United States has ever engaged in ground combat operations in Syria…
Rashid Khalidi: The Republicans’ Latest Smear of Obama
Huffington Post, November 2, 2008, by Stephen Zunes [source]
The smear campaign by John McCain, Sarah Palin and their supporters reached a new low this past week with their attacks on Democratic nominee Barack Obama for his former ties with Palestinian American scholar Rashid Khalidi. This is just one in a series of desperate guilt-by-association tactics by the Republicans to make the staunchly pro-Israel Obama appear to be anti-Israel and may be designed less to harm the Democratic nominee’s chances of election as to limit politically his options for addressing urgent matters of Israeli-Palestinian peace upon becoming president.
Republicans Embrace the Cootie Effect
Huffington Post October 31, 2008 [source].
Also in Common Dreams, by Stephen Zunes
Back in the 1950s, at the height of the McCarthy era, simply being friends with someone suspected of being a Communist could ruin your career. It became known as “guilt by association.” During this year’s presidential campaign, however, it’s been extended to guilt by spatial proximity, which could appropriately be called the “cootie effect.” If you sit on the same board, have appeared at the same event or otherwise have been in close physical proximity of someone deemed undesirable, you therefore must have been infected by their politics or, at minimum, have no problems with things they may have done in their past.
What the Prospective VPs Got Wrong
Huffington Post October 3, 2008, by Stephen Zunes [source]
The October 3 debate between Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Delaware Senator Joe Biden was disturbing for those of us hoping for a more enlightened and honest foreign policy during the next four years. In its aftermath, pundits mainly focused on Palin’s failure to self-destruct and Biden’s relatively cogent arguments. Here’s an annotation of the foreign policy issues raised during the vice-presidential debate, which was packed with demonstrably false and misleading statements.
The VP Debate: Dishonest Foreign Policies
Foreign Policy In Focus October 3, 2008
by Emily Schwartz Greco, Stephen Zunes [source]
The October 3 debate between Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Delaware Senator Joe Biden was disturbing for those of us hoping for a more enlightened and honest foreign policy during the next four years. In its aftermath, pundits mainly focused on Palin’s failure to self-destruct and Biden’s relatively cogent arguments. Here’s an annotation of the foreign policy issues raised during the vice-presidential debate, which was packed with demonstrably false and misleading statements.
Distorting Obama’s Views on Israel
Foreign Policy In Focus October 20, 2008 [source]
by Emily Schwartz Greco, Stephen Zunes
Barack Obama has alienated key sectors of his progressive base with statements and policy proposals regarding Israel in which he allies himself with right-wing Republicans. These have included: rejecting calls by human rights activists to condition military aid to Israel on an improvement in the government’s human rights record…
Biden’s Foreign Policy ‘Experience’
Antiwar.com & Foreign Policy In Focus September 23, 2008 [source]
By Emily Schwartz Greco, Stephen Zunes
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s choice of Joseph Biden as his running mate has drawn sharp criticism from many Democrats as a result of the Delaware senator’s support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq, his flagrantly false claims about the alleged Iraqi threat, and the abuse of his position as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to suppress antiwar testimony before Congress prior to the invasion.
The 2008 Democratic Party Platform and the Middle East
Antiwar.com & Foreign Policy In Focus September 23, [source]
2008 By Emily Schwartz Greco, Stephen Zunes
The excitement over the nomination of Barack Obama as the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party has been tempered by some key foreign policy planks in the 2008 platform, particularly those relating to the greater Middle East region. These positions appear to run counter to Obama’s pledge early in the primary race to end the mindset that led to the Iraq War. At the same time, substantial improvements in some foreign policy planks of the 2004 platform indicate at least modest successes by progressive Democratic activists.
Video interview: Biden and the anti-war constituency
The Real News Network August 27, 2008. Stephen Zunes:
Obama’s anti-Iraq war stance wiped out by choosing hawk Biden
Biden, Iraq, and Obama’s Betrayal
Foreign Policy in Focus/Institute for Policy Studies August 24, 2008 [source] By John Feffer, Stephen Zunes
Incipient Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s selection of Joseph Biden as his running mate constitutes a stunning betrayal of the anti-war constituency who made possible his hard-fought victory in the Democratic primaries and caucuses. The veteran Delaware senator has been one the leading congressional supporters of U.S. militarization of the Middle East and Eastern Europe, of strict economic sanctions against Cuba, and of Israeli occupation policies.
The U.S. and Georgia
Huffington Post, August 17, 2008, Reposted from Foreign Policy In Focus.
[Source] The international condemnation of Russian aggression against Georgia – and the concomitant assaults by Abkhazians and South Ossetians against ethnic Georgians within their territories – is in large part appropriate. But the self-righteous posturing coming out of Washington should be tempered by a sober recognition of the ways in which the United States has contributed to the crisis.
African Dictatorships and Double Standards
Foreign Policy in Focus/Institute for Policy Studies, July 1, 2008 [source] By John Feffer, Stephen Zunes and the
Huffington Post, July 9, 2008, updated May 25, 2011
The Bush administration has justifiably criticized the Zimbabwean regime of liberator-turned-dictator Robert Mugabe. It has joined a unanimous UN Security Council resolution condemning the campaign of violence unleashed upon pro-democracy activists and calling for increased diplomatic sanctions in the face of yet another sham election. In addition, both the House and the Senate have passed strongly worded resolutions of solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe in support of their struggle for freedom and democracy. However, neither the Republican administration nor the Democratic-controlled Congress is sincerely concerned about human rights and democratic elections…