Truthout September 9, 2013; Also in Third World Network and
Blog.Transnational.org. This is an updated and expanded version
of “The US and Chemical Weapons: No Leg to Stand On,”
originally posted in Foreign Policy in Focus, May 2, 2013.
If, as alleged, the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons, it would indeed be a serious development, constituting a breach of the Geneva Protocol of 1925… which banned the use of chemical weapons… Syria is one of only eight of the UN’s 193 member countries not party to the convention. However, U.S. policy regarding chemical weapons has been so inconsistent and politicized, that the U.S. is in no position to take leadership in response to any use of such weaponry by Syria…
Category: Middle East
Middle East Overview
Interview on KQED’s “Forum”: Congress Set to Vote on Syria Strikes (audio)
KQED: September 29, 2013
Dr. Stephen Zunes talks with a panel that includes, David Mark, editor-in-chief of Politix, an online community focusing on national politics, and former senior editor with Politico, Robert Danin, senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, Steve Weber, professor of political science at UC Berkeley and author of books including “The End of Arrogance, America and the Global Competition of Ideas”, about the vote to strike Syria.
Eight Arguments Against Going to War With Syria
Truthout September 4, 2013 [Versions were also published by Future of Freedom Foundation, ZNetwork, and Santa Cruz Sentinel]
Ten reasons why the U.S. should not attack Syria. The decision by President Barack Obama to first seek congressional approval of any US military action against Syria is good and important, not only on constitutional grounds, but because it gives the American people an opportunity to stop it. It is critically important to convince members of Congress not to grant the president that authority.
Interview: On Possible U.S. Intervention in Syria
Wisconsin Public Radio August 28, 2013
The source link is no longer available. More Zunes Syria articles.
Interview: What should be the US’s next step in Syria? (89.3 KPCC, National Public Radio Los Angeles audio)
KPCC (NPR) LAist AirTalk August 27, 2013
In a statement yesterday, Secretary of State John Kerry called the use of chemical weapons in Syria “a moral obscenity” that demands action from the U.S. Now the question is what action the U.S. will take against Syria for crossing the “red line” President Obama outlined against the use of chemical weapons?
Interview: International News Net: World Report (audio)
Interview: International News Net: World Report August 23, 2013
Dr. Zunes’s commentary on Egypt and other topics begins at 36-minutes.
Interview: WNUR-FM (audio)
WNUR-FM Chicago August 21, 2013
Dr. Stephen Zunes discusses the Bradley Manning verdict beginning at the 15:30 minute mark.
Washington and the Egyptian Tragedy
Foreign Policy In Focus, August 20, 2013
[Republished by Huffington Post, PeaceandJustice.org, Shoah.org.UK,
Transcend Media Service, Transnational.org, and Znetwork.org]
The vast majority of Egyptians killed since the coup have been unarmed protesters killed by American-made weapons paid for by U.S. taxpayers.
Interview: The Impact of Drone Strikes on Yemen (audio)
Uprising Radio August 12, 2013: Obama has escalated the U.S. unspoken war on the Gulf Arab state of Yemen with 9 drone bombing raids in 10 days killing about 3 dozens Yemenis… apparently in response to an Al Qaeda terrorist threat which both the U.S. and Yemeni governments have cited in recent days, at the same time as the closures of American embassies in the Middle East and North Africa. But the people of Yemen are puzzled and more than a little angry…
Restless Nation: The Real Meaning of Iran’s Elections
[YES!, Transcend.org and Transnational.org Blog, August 13, 2013]
Iran inaugurated its new president, Hassan Rouhani—clearly the most moderate candidate in the running. This outcome illustrates the growing desire for change among the people of Iran. The situation resembles Eastern Europe in the 1970s: The people are not yet at a point where they can bring down the regime, but the ideological hegemony that kept the system intact is gone.
Attacks against anti-occupation activism increase
National Catholic Reporter, July 22, 2013
A version was also published by the Santa Cruz Sentinel July 12 as “California legislators attack UC anti-occupation activists.”
Crisis in Syria: What’s Happening Now and What Next? (audio)
United for Peace & Justice July 7, 2013
The war in Syria is worsening and President Obama has pledged to help arm the opposition to President Assad. At this point even though the vast majority of U.S. citizens do not want to intervene, President Obama has promised small arms. But war-hawks want to go further…
Eighty more Syria articles and interviews by Stephen Zunes, 1999-present.
The war in Syria is worsening and President Obama has pledged to help arm the opposition to President Assad. At this point even though the vast majority of U.S. citizens do not want to intervene, President Obama has promised small arms. But war-hawks want to go further…
Eighty more Syria articles and interviews by Stephen Zunes, 1999-present.
Banned in Phoenix: How the Arizona State Bar Association Considers Analysis of International Law in the Middle East Too Controversial
Truthout, June 25, 2013: No one in the organization’s leadership could explain anything objectionable in the paper, which they had not actually read, but were apparently convinced by a right-wing campaign that I was “anti-Israel” and “anti-American.”
US policy weakens Iran’s pro-democracy movement
[Santa Cruz Sentinel & Transnational.org, Also National Catholic Reporter,
May 31, 2013, updated Sept. 11, 2018
While there are contending factions vying for the country’s relatively weak presidency, the narrow ideological spectrum within which candidates are allowed to run offers little hope for change.
Despite Horrific Repression, the U.S. Should Stay Out of Syria
Foreign Policy In Focus/Institute for Policy Studies May15, 2013
[Republished by Common Dreams, Huffington Post and Truthout]
The desperate desire to “do something” has led to increasing calls for the U.S. to provide military aid to armed insurgents or even engage in direct military intervention…
Israel, Syria and the United States
Truthout May 13, 2013: Zunes’s review of the last decade of Israel, Syria and US relations — culminating in Israel’s latest bombing raid on Syria — details cross-purposes and missed opportunities.
More Zunes Syria articles.
More Zunes Syria articles.
Interview: On Syria (audio)
KPFA Pacifica Radio, Stephen Zunes on Syria
On Sojourner Truth Radio May 7, 2013
Interview: Scope of Syrian War Widens Following Deadly Israeli Strikes on Damascus (audio)
Free Speech Radio News May 6, 2013
Last week’s Israeli airstrikes [killed] least 100 Syrian soldiers… a UN human rights commission investigating the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria said it had “no conclusive findings.” Read Stephen Zunes’s article, “The US Has No Credibility Dealing With Chemical Weapons”
Last week’s Israeli airstrikes [killed] least 100 Syrian soldiers… a UN human rights commission investigating the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria said it had “no conclusive findings.” Read Stephen Zunes’s article, “The US Has No Credibility Dealing With Chemical Weapons”
Syria: U.S. involvement could make things even worse
May 3, 2013: The source is no longer available. More Syria articles.
The U.S. and Chemical Weapons: No Leg to Stand On
Foreign Policy In Focus/Institute for Policy Studies, May 2, 2013
[Republished by Alternet, Ander Niews Week (Netherlands), Common Dreams, Greanville Post, Huffington Post and the Middle East Institute]