Category: Peace and War
Russian aggression, US hypocrisy and is UAE a safe haven for oligarchs?
The Progressive, March 1, 2022: There’s No Justification for Russia’s Aggression, But U.S. Double Standards on Illegal War Are Hard to Stomach: Nothing can excuse Putin’s invasion, but the hypocrisy could hardly be more striking.
Al Jazeera quotes Zunes March 7, 14 and 29
*The limits of Iran’s influence on Yemen’s Houthi rebels
*Analysis: Can the UAE be a safe haven for Russian oligarchs?
*Can Russia return to the world stage as other aggressors have?
Find more at Western-Sahara.org.
The Pentagon Doesn’t Care About Civilian Casualties
The Progressive, Nov. 26, 2021, by Stephen Zunes [source]
In August 2019, thousands of refugees, prisoners, and families of ISIS fighters crowded into an encampment in the border town of Baghuz in eastern Syria, one of the last territories controlled by the so-called Islamic State. The US, supported on the ground by an allied Kurdish and Arab militia, launched a massive air assault on the enclave.
Movement for a New Society Reunion: International Training and Nonviolent Revolution
VIDEO of panel with 4 other activist presenters:
“Nonviolence, Peace & Transnational Part 2“
and Dr. Zunes’ PowerPoint of Photos from Sudan.
Sponsor: Movement for a New Society.
Trump’s Dangerous Abrogation of the Iran Deal
The Progressive, May 9, 2018: Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—the landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and the UK, France, Germany, Russia, China, and the U.S.—strikes a dangerous blow against arms control and international security and more firmly establishes the U.S. as a rogue nation.
History Shows Hypocrisy of US Outrage Over Chemical Weapons in Syria
Truthout April 24, 2018: There are serious legal and strategic concerns regarding the decision by the U.S., along with France and Great Britain, to bomb Syria in response to its alleged use of chemical weapons in Douma…
News on Syria? Why Are Left Activists Falling For Fake News On Syria?
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On Rising Up with Sonali April 18, 2018: After President Donald Trump declared “Mission Accomplished” in Syria in the wake of US air strikes last week, the question about the veracity of reports on the chemical attack in Douma has taken on a new urgency. Inspectors with the Organization For the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are still awaiting access to the sites of the attack. Is it possible to accept that Syria’s government really did attack civilians and still be against U.S. militarism in Syria? Dr. Zunes posits it absolutely is.
Why the United States Can’t Lead on Syria’s Chemical Weapons Atrocities
The Progressive April 11, 2018: The repeated use of these horrific and illegal weapons by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s repressive regime deserves a strong international response. Unfortunately, given its history of politicizing the issue, the U.S. is in no position to lead…
Remembering Martin Luther King, the Radical for Peace
The Progressive April 3, 2018: King challenged the draining of our national resources for the military, opposed the Vietnam War and other aspects of U.S. foreign policy and questioned an economic system that created enormous poverty amid great wealth. He was assassinated while organizing the Poor People’s March…
Trump’s Middle East Policy: The Ironies of Hawkishness
Al Jazeera Report March 8, 2024: Despite broken campaign promises, Trump has pursued reckless and militaristic policies, deepening U.S. military involvement, backing the Israeli colonization and annexation of the occupied Palestinian territories, deepening ties to Arab autocrats, and threatening war with Iran.
Power’s Prophet: Remembering Gene Sharp
The Progressive February 1, 2018: Dr. Gene Sharp, a Harvard University-based scholar, through his through analysis of centuries of nonviolent struggle, made a convincing case on utilitarian grounds that nonviolent struggle was a more effective and successful means of resistance than violence…
[Related article & Petition]
Interview: How Syria Divides the Left
Truthout July 10, 2017Interviewed Dr. Zunes
SZ: “Most credible academics and journalists on the
left, while varying to some degree in their analyses, generally agree
that the Syrian regime is horrifically repressive and not particularly
progressive by any measure. There is also a consensus that the bulk of
the armed opposition is dominated by reactionary Salafist
extremists and that the largely nonviolent movement that first emerged
in 2011 had strong progressive and democratic elements, but has largely
been crushed. Further, the U.S. and other outside powers (Saudi Arabia,
Turkey, Qatar, Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, Britain, France, etc.) should
not be bombing, sending arms, providing troops or contributing to the
carnage….”
Syria: What You Need to Know
WORT-FM April 17, 2017 (57 mins.): Last week, Syria launched a chemical weapons attack, killing more than 80 people. President Trump responded with an ordered airstrike on a Syrian airbase. What led to this conflict? What participants are in play, and what do we need to know?
Why These Missile Strikes Won’t Make Things Better for the Syrian People
YES! Magazine, Common Dreams & Huffington Post April 7, 2017
The U.S. bombing of Syria’s Al Shayrat air base has brought more death and destruction to that country and is unlikely to deter additional war crimes by the Syrian regime. It will not ease the suffering of the Syrian people. But then it wasn’t actually meant to.
Trump Alludes To Force In Responding To Syria Chemical Attack
More than a hundred people were killed in a chemical attack in Khan Shaikhoun, Syria this week. Among the dead are a dozen or so children. Turkish doctors have conducted autopsies confirming that chemical weapons were used in the worst such attack in years. [This item’s no longer available.]
In Trump’s America, who’s protesting and why?
Washington Post April 24, 2017: For March 2017, we tallied 585 protests, demonstrations, marches, sit-ins and rallies with at least one in every state and the District. Our conservative guess is that 80,000 to 90,000 people showed up. Because mainstream media often neglect to report nonviolent actions — especially small ones — it is probable that we did not record every event that occurred.
The United States and Israel: An Alliance or a Protection Racket
Fidel Castro left Cuba a green legacy
National Catholic Reporter December 9, 2016
While he no longer held any formal position of power since his resignation as president for health reasons eight years ago, Fidel Castro’s death last month marks the passing of an era. In his nearly 50 years in power, few individuals have had had such a profound influence on a country for good or ill — and Castro left plenty of both.