Despite Everything, U.S. Troops Should Leave Syria admin, January 3, 2019May 22, 2024 Z Network, January 4, 2019: Donald Trump’s sudden decision to remove U.S. forces from Syria appears to have been impetuous and ill-considered — apparently a result of a conversation with Turkey’s autocratic president Recep Erdogan. That doesn’t mean, however, that the United States should remain in that country… Continue Reading
From Gaza to Aleppo: A Handy Guide for Defending War Crimes admin, October 7, 2016July 7, 2024 In These Times, Huffington Post & ZNetwork.org October 7, 2016 Given the United States’ disastrous record in the Middle East—most critically the invasion and occupation of Iraq—and the manifold lies coming out of Washington to justify its policies, many Americans are understandably skeptical about U.S. interventions and the rationalizations… Continue Reading
Congress Pushes for War with Iran admin, June 13, 2012August 8, 2024 Foreign Policy In Focus/Institute for Policy Studies June 13, 2012. [Republished by National Catholic Reporter & ZNetwork] In another resolution apparently designed to prepare for war against Iran, the U.S. House of Representatives, in an overwhelmingly bipartisan 401–11 vote, has passed a resolution (HR 568) urging the president to oppose… Continue Reading
A Reply to David Peterson: Do I really support “massive American violence” and interventionism? admin, June 1, 2009March 30, 2024 David Peterson knows must know full well I’ve been a long-time and outspoken opponent of any U.S. interventionism in Iran. It has been a subject of scores of articles available on line, it was a major part of my doctoral dissertation, addressed in my book Tinderbox, in my speeches available on podcasts, and elsewhere. To imply otherwise is completely ridiculous. Continue Reading
America’s Hidden Role in Hamas’s Rise to Power admin, January 4, 2009 No one in the mainstream media or government is willing to acknowledge America’s sordid role interfering in Palestinian politics. Continue Reading
A Reply to Stephen Gowans’ False Allegations against Stephen Zunes admin, February 24, 2008 [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. Continue Reading
Jerusalem: Endorsing the Right of Conquest admin, June 11, 2007 In a flagrant attack on the longstanding international legal principle that it is illegitimate for any country to expand its territory by military means, the U.S. House of Representatives, by an overwhelming bipartisan majority, passed House Concurrent Resolution 152 congratulating Israel for its forcible “reunification of Jerusalem” and its victory in the June 1967 war. Continue Reading
Iraq: The Failures of Democratization admin, March 19, 2007 The failures of Iraqi democratization as advocated by the Bush administration should not be blamed primarily on the Iraqis. Nor should they be used to reinforce racist notions that Arabs or Muslims are somehow incapable of building democratic institutions and living in a democratic society. Rather, democracy from the outset has been more of a self-serving rationalization for American strategic and economic interests in the region than a genuine concern for the right of the Iraq people to democratic self-governance. Continue Reading
US Christian Right’s Grip on Middle East Policy admin, July 14, 2004 In recent years, a politicized and right-wing Protestant fundamentalist movement has emerged as a major factor in US support for the policies of the rightist Likud government in Israel. To understand this influence, it is important to recognize that the rise of the religious right as a political force in the United States is a relatively recent phenomenon that emerged as part of a calculated strategy by leading right-wingers in the Republican Party who – while not fundamentalist Christians themselves – recognized the need to enlist the support of this key segment of the US population in order to achieve political power. Continue Reading