The Real News Network August 27, 2008. Stephen Zunes:
Obama’s anti-Iraq war stance wiped out by choosing hawk Biden
Category: Source
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 Democrats’ Twisted Morality
Huffington Post Sep 18, 2008, Updated May 25, 2011 [source]
Revelations of an extra-marital affair two years ago by former North Carolina senator John Edwards has led the Democratic Party to not only reject the possibility of him running again for vice-president but to rule out allowing him to give his widely-anticipated address before the national convention. According to former Democratic National Committee chair Don Fowler, Edwards no longer meets the “high moral standards” expected of those given such a prominent role in the party’s quadrennial gathering.
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.
U.S. Role in Georgia Crisis
Foreign Policy in Focus/Institute for Policy Studies, August 14, 2008, By John Feffer, Stephen Zunes
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. [Source]
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…
Sharp Attack Unwarranted
Foreign Policy in Focus/Institute for Policy Studies, June 27, 2008 [Source] By John Feffer, Stephen Zunes
Gene Sharp, an 80-year-old scholar of strategic nonviolent action and veteran of radical pacifist causes, is under attack by a number of foreign governments that claim that he and his small research institute are key players in a Bush administration plot against them. Though there is no truth to these charges, several leftist websites and publications have been repeating such claims as fact. This raises disturbing questions regarding the ability of progressives challenging Bush foreign policy to distinguish between the very real manifestations of U.S. imperialism and conspiratorial fantasies.
PETITION supporting Dr. Gene Sharp, foremost author-expert on Strategic Nonviolent Action
Why Obama Won
Huffington Post June 26, 2008 | Updated May 25, 2011 [source]
Barack Obama has won the race for the Democratic nomination for president against Hillary Clinton on the issues. Sort of. This is not what the pundits will tell you: they would rather focus upon the most superficial and trivial aspects of the two final candidates’ style, personality, associates, personal history, and campaign organization and strategy, not to mention race and gender. This is not what many on the left will say either…
Congress and Lebanon
Huffington Post, Jun 25, 2008 | Updated May 25, 2011 [source]
On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the first U.S. military intervention in Lebanon, and 25 years after a second U.S. military intervention which left hundreds of Americans and thousands of Lebanese dead, the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a resolution by a huge bipartisan majority which may lay the groundwork for a third one. At a minimum, this move has crudely and unnecessarily inserted the United States into Lebanon’s complex political infighting…
Obama and AIPAC
Huffington Post, Jun 20, 2008 | Updated May 25, 2011 by Stephen Zunes [source]
In many respects, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has played right into the hands of cynics who have long doubted his promises to create a new and more progressive role for the United States in the world. The very morning after the last primaries, in which he finally received a sufficient number of pledged delegates to secure the Democratic presidential nomination and no longer needed to win over voters from the progressive base of his own party, Obama — in a Clinton-style effort at triangulation — gave a major policy speech before the national convention of the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Embracing policies which largely backed those of the more hawkish voices…
Obama’s Right Turn?
Foreign Policy In Focus, June 11, 2008 by Stephen Zunes [source]
Reposted in Huffington Post, Jun 20, 2008 | Updated May 25, 2011
In many respects, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has played right into the hands of cynics who have long doubted his promises to create a new and more progressive role for the United States in the world. The very morning after the last primaries… in a Clinton-style effort at triangulation – he gave a major policy speech before the national convention of the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Embracing policies which largely backed those of the more hawkish voices concerned with Middle Eastern affairs, he received a standing ovation for his efforts…
Lebanon Intrusion
Foreign Policy In Focus, June 10, 2008 by Stephen Zunes [source]
On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the first U.S. military intervention in Lebanon, and 25 years after a second U.S. military intervention which left hundreds of Americans and thousands of Lebanese dead, the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a resolution by a huge bipartisan majority which may lay the groundwork for a third one. At a minimum, this move has crudely and unnecessarily inserted the United States into Lebanon’s complex political infighting…
Estonia’s Singing Revolution
Foreign Policy In Focus, June 4, 2008 [source]
In a remarkable new documentary, The Singing Revolution, filmmakers Maureen and Jim Tusty tell the little-known story of the Estonian people’s nonviolent struggle against decades of Soviet occupation, culminating in that country’s independence in 1991. The movement played an important role in the downfall of the entire Soviet Empire.
Clinton’s GWU Iraq Speech
Foreign Policy In Focus March 25, 2008 [source]
On March 17, New York Senator and Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton gave a speech at George Washington University outlining her plans to de-escalate U.S. military involvement in Iraq. Though she called for the gradual withdrawal of U.S. combat brigades over the next several years, she continued to refuse to apologize for her 2002 vote authorizing the invasion, to acknowledge the illegality of the war, or to fully explain her false claims made at that time regarding Iraq’s military capabilities and alleged ties to al-Qaeda. Nor was she able to offer an explanation as to what led to her dramatic shift…
Letter to My Daughter
Foreign Policy In Focus, March 14, 2008, by Stephen Zunes [source]
It has been five years since you, as a 12-year old 7th grader, joined your classmates in a walk-out at your school in protest of the impending invasion of Iraq. You are now a 17 just months from graduating, and the war is still going on… you are entering adulthood with the United States despised throughout the world and the threat of mega-terrorism from extremist groups…
Video interview: The Politics of the U.S. Recognition of Serbia
The Real News Network, Feb. 26, 2008; 7-min. Video & Transcript
interview with Stephen Zunes and hear his audio interview at
Free Radio Santa Cruz/Indymedia Center(IMC) Feb. 26, 2008
A Reply to Stephen Gowans’ False Allegations against Stephen Zunes
ZNet February 25, 2008 by Stephen Zunes
[Stephen Gowans has written an article, “Stephen Zunes and
the Struggle for Overseas Profits.” This is Zunes’ reply.]
Stephen Gowans’ February 18 article, “Stephen Zunes and the Struggle for Overseas Profits,” is filled with demonstrably inaccurate and misleading statements about both me and the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC), with whom I serve as chair of the board of academic advisors. Below is a 13-point refutation which only begins to challenge the lies and misinformation…
Kosovo and the Politics of Recognition
Foreign Policy In Focus, Feb. 21, 2008, by Stephen Zunes
Also at Salem-News.com, ZNet, and Accuracy.org.
The Bush administration’s extended diplomatic recognition immediately upon that country’s declaration of independence on February 17 has raised serious concerns. Indeed, it serves as a reminder of the series of U.S. policy blunders over the years that have compounded the Balkan tragedy… For most of the 1990s, the Kosovar Albanians waged their struggle nonviolently, using strikes, boycotts, peaceful demonstrations, and strengthening their parallel institutions. This was the time for Western powers to have engaged in preventative diplomacy. However, the world chose to ignore the Kosovars’ nonviolent movement and resisted the consistent pleas by the moderate Kosovar Albanian leadership…
Strategic Dialogue: Kosovo
Foreign Policy In Focus, February 29, 2008 [source]
By John Feffer, Ian Williams, Stephen Zunes
Was the United States too hasty in recognizing the new state of Kosovo? Ian Williams and Stephen Zunes have different takes in this strategic dialogue. To see the original essays, follow these links to Williams and Zunes.
Teachers and the War
Foreign Policy In Focus, Feb. 13, 2008 [source]
By John Feffer, Stephen Zunes
Many Americans would be surprised to learn that among the most important constituencies backing the Bush administration’s disastrous agenda in the Middle East and promoting anti-Arab policies has been the one million-strong American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The AFT leadership has gone so far as to make a series of public statements and push through resolutions with demonstrably inaccurate assertions in its defense of administration policy. A key constituent union of the AFL-CIO, the AFT – which also represents a significant number of health care and other public service workers – gives over $5 million in contributions to congressional candidates each election cycle…