Alternet by Stephen Zunes, December 24, 2003 [source]
The moment images of Saddam Hussein’s capture flashed across TV screens around the world, John Kerry and Joseph Lieberman jumped on the opportunity to lash out at Howard Dean for not supporting the war on Iraq, even as they congratulated the Bush White House for a job well done. It was not, however, the first time that the two Democratic candidates have attacked the former Vermont governor for being too “liberal” on foreign policy. Nor is Iraq the only issue where the Democratic leadership — and its anointed heirs — have revealed an unmistakably rightwing agenda. It is a less-known fact that when it comes to the Israel/Palestinian issue, the Democratic establishment is virtually indistinguishable from the Bush administration…
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Israelis and Palestinians Attempt to Jumpstart the Peace Process Despite Washington’s Support for Sharon
By Stephen Zunes, Posted December 3, 2003
[source]
The peace plan signed in Geneva December 1 by leading Israeli and Palestinian political figures represents an important step forward. Former president Jimmy Carter who was present at the ceremony may be correct in noting that ‘It’s unlikely we shall ever see a more promising foundation for peace.’ Contrary to initial reports at the time and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s inept diplomacy notwithstanding, then-Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak’s peace proposal at Camp David in July 2000 did not actually provide the Palestinians with a viable independent state. President Bill Clinton’s amended proposal that December was more reasonable, but still fell short of what even moderate Palestinians could accept…
Saddam’s Arrest Raises Troubling Questions
Foreign Policy In Focus and Global Policy Forum,
December 1, 2003, By Stephen Zunes [source]
The capture of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein by U.S. occupation forces is likely to result in one of the world’s most brutal tyrants of recent decades finally facing judgment for his crimes against humanity. It has also boosted morale in an administration desperately trying to justify its invasion and occupation of Iraq–which they initially justified on false pretenses. While U.S. allegations that Iraq actively supported the al Qaeda terrorist network and possessed weapons of mass destruction in the months prior to the U.S. invasion appear to have been deliberate falsehoods, no one can challenge the fact that Saddam Hussein was a ruthless dictator…
Noble Rhetoric Supports Democracy While Ignoble Policies Support Repression
Foreign Policy In Focus/Institute for Policy Studies,
November 17, 2003, by Stephen Zunes [source]
President George W. Bush’s November 6 speech before the National Endowment for Democracy emphasizing the need for greater democracy and freedom in the Arab world, while containing a number of positive aspects, was nevertheless very misleading and all-too characteristic of the longstanding contradictory messages that have plagued U.S. policy in the Middle East. On the positive side, President Bush challenged the racist mythology that Islamic societies were somehow incapable of democracy and recognized that greater political pluralism need not follow a U.S. model…
Bush and Congress Ignore Breakthrough in Peace Process
Foreign Policy In Focus/Institute for Policy Studies,
October 31, 2003, by Stephen Zunes [source]
In what may be the most hopeful development in years to establish a permanent Israeli-Palestinian peace, an unofficial group of Palestinian and Israeli political leaders announced on October 12 that they had agreed to a detailed framework that would end the violence and establish an independent Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel. Unfortunately, it appears that the Bush administration and leadership of both parties in Congress are committed to making sure such an agreement does not become reality…
The Syrian Accountability Act and the Triumph of Hegemony
Common Dreams October 30, 2003 [source].
On October 15, the U.S. House of Representatives, with an overwhelming bipartisan majority, passed the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003, which imposes strict sanctions against the Syrian government. (A similar bill was introduced earlier this year in the Senate and is pending.)
An Annotated Refutation of President George W. Bush’s September 23 Address Before the United Nations
Common Dreams September 24, 2003
by Stephen Zunes [source link’s no longer available]
“Events during the past two years have set before us the clearest of divides: Between those who seek order and those who spread chaos; between those who work for peaceful change and those who adopt the methods of gangsters; between those who honor the rights of man and those who deliberately take the lives of men and women and children, without mercy or shame.” This is an ironic statement from a man who defied basic principles of international law and rebuked those who called for peaceful alternatives….
The War In Iraq Is Not Over and Neither Are The Lies To Justify It
Foreign Policy In Focus/Institute for Policy Studies,
September 8, 2003, by Stephen Zunes [source]
President George W. Bush’s nationally broadcast speech Sunday evening once again was designed to mislead Congress and the American public into supporting his administration’s policies in Iraq. Despite record deficits and draconian cutbacks in government support for health care, housing, education, the environment, and public transportation, the president is asking the American taxpayer to spend an additional $87 billion to support his invasion and occupation of Iraq…
U.S. Government Must Take a Consistent Stance Against Terrorism
Common Dreams September 2, 2003 by Stephen Zunes
[source link’s no longer available]
Last Friday’s terrorist bombing outside the Tomb of Ali in the Iraqi city of An-Najaf was the deadliest such attack against a civilian target in Middle East history. It recalls a similar blast in the southern outskirts of Beirut in March1985, which until last week held the region’s record for civilian fatalities in a single bombing. There are some striking parallels between the two terrorist attacks: both were the result of a car bomb that exploded outside a crowded mosque during Friday prayers and both were part of an assassination attempt against a prominent Shiite cleric that killed scores of worshipers and passers-by. There is a key difference, however…
Self Determination Struggle in the Western Sahara Continues to Challenge the UN
Foreign Policy In Focus September 1, 2003
by Stephen Zunes & Ian Williams [source link’s no longer available]
After much wrangling from the French, the UN Security Council unanimously passed resolution 1495 right on the July 31st deadline for the rollover of the MINURSO peacekeeping operation in Western Sahara. In the best diplomatic tradition, the resolution affirmed the commitment to provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, even while it seriously compromised on it by supporting a peace plan that would allow the Moroccan settlers in the territory to vote on independence in five years. As with Israeli settlers on the West Bank, these Moroccan colonists are there in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits countries from transferring their civilian population onto territories seized by military force…
U.S. Travesty, Terrorist Atrocity, and UN Tragedy
Foreign Policy In Focus, August 26, 2003, by Stephen Zunes [source]
Iraq is not the first country the United States has intervened in and then tried to have the United Nations try to clean up after it. Never before, however, have the consequences of a U.S. military action been so tragic for the world body and its dedicated civilian workers. The Bush administration has insisted that the United States–not the international community–should be responsible for securing the peace and determining the political future of the Iraq. Other countries are welcome to put their soldiers and civilian workers on the line, but only under U.S. leadership…
Distortions of History
Foreign Policy In Focus by Stephen Zunes July 31, 2003 [source]
It is becoming increasingly apparent that the intelligence cited by President Bush regarding Iraqi military capabilities in the months leading up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq was in fact neither good, nor solid, nor sound and that the Iraqi regime–while, like a number of Middle East governments, was undeniably repressive–was not a threat to the United States or any other country. Perhaps of even greater significance, however, is that the president’s statements grossly distort the role of the United Nations and the international community…
Why We Should Transfer the Administration of Iraq to the United Nations: Four Theses
Foreign Policy In Focus by Stephen Zunes July 31, 2003 [source]
The invasion and occupation of Iraq posed new challenges to peace and justice activists. The growing credibility crisis of the Bush administration with respect to Iraq, as well as the ongoing crisis on the ground in Iraq, provides us with new opportunities. Below I present four theses on one campaign that could use these opportunities in a creative way: a campaign to turn the administration of Iraq over to the United Nations…
Time to Question the U.S. Role In Saudi Arabia
Foreign Policy In Focus, May 20, 2003
by Stephen Zunes [source]
The terrorist bombings that struck Saudi Arabia on May 12th have raised a number of serious questions regarding American security interests in the Middle East. First of all, the attacks underscore the concern expressed by many independent strategic analysts that the United States has been squandering its intelligence and military resources toward Iraq–which had nothing to do with al Qaeda and posed no direct danger to the United States–and not toward al Qaeda itself, which is the real threat. More importantly, however, the bombings bring to the fore the question of whether U.S. interests have been enhanced or threatened by the cozy American relationship with Saudi Arabia…
The U.S. and Post-War Iraq: An Analysis
Foreign Policy In Focus, May 1, 2003
by Stephen Zunes [source]
There has been a disturbing degree of triumphalism following the overthrow–perhaps “evaporation” is a better word–of Saddam Hussein’s regime in the face of invading American forces. Even putting aside the appropriateness of this kind of gloating in the face of such death and destruction–including thousands of civilian casualties–it is striking that few people are asking whether the U.S. or the rest of the world is safer now as a result of this overwhelming American military victory. Operation Iraqi Freedom has about as much to do with freedom as Sports Illustrated’s annual swimsuit issue has to do with marketing swimwear: it is little more than an afterthought, a rationalization..
Talking Points on Recent Concerns Raised by Bush Administration Officials Regarding Syria
Foreign Policy in Focus/Institute for Policy Studies, April 14, 2003
By John Gershman, Stephen Zunes [Source]
Recent statements by top Bush administration officials have accused the Syrian government of aiding senior Iraqi officials to escape, possessing chemical weapons, and committing “hostile acts” against the U.S. by allegedly supplying military equipment, such as night-vision goggles, to the Iraqis. On April 10th, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz told Congress, “The Syrians are behaving badly. They need to be reminded of that, and if they continue, then we need to think about what our policy is with respect to a country that harbors terrorists or harbors war criminals, or was in recent times shipping things to Iraq.” People should keep in mind the following points in response to administration claims…
The Bush Administration and Congress Join the Coverup in the Murder of Rachel Corrie
Foreign Policy In Focus, March 23, 2003
by Stephen Zunes [source]
There has been a real fear in recent months that the right-wing government of Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon might take advantage of the international focus on the U.S. invasion of Iraq to increase its repression in the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Few people realized, however, that one of the first casualties would be a young American. In December 2001, as violent Palestinian protests against the then 34-year Israeli occupation increased along with Israeli repression, the United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for the placement of unarmed human rights monitors in the occupied territories. In response, a number of pacifist groups from the United States and Europe began to send their own representatives to play the role of human rights monitors, even to the point of physically placing their bodies between the antagonists. Among these volunteers was Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old student at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington…
President Bush’s February 26 Speech on the Future of Iraq: A Critique
Common Dreams by Stephen Zunes, March 8, 2003
[source is no longer available]
Considerable attention has been given to President George W. Bush’s February 26 speech before the right-wing American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC outlining his vision of the Middle East in the aftermath of a possible U.S. invasion of Iraq. The speech was broadcast live over national radio and television and given widespread coverage in the print media, yet few critical voices questioning the major points raised in this sanctimonious and highly misleading address were given the opportunity to offer commentary. Below are excerpts of some key portions of the speech followed by some critique…
Addressing Iraqi Repression and the Need for a Change of Regime
Foreign Policy In Focus by Stephen Zunes January 30, 2003 [source]
As the administration’s rationales for invading Iraq–such as Baghdad’s alleged ties to al Qaeda and claims of an imminent nuclear threat–have crumbled under closer scrutiny, the administration and its allies in Congress and the media are increasingly emphasizing a point that cannot be disputed: the repressive nature of the Iraqi regime..
An Annotated Overview of the Foreign Policy Segments of President George W. Bush’s State of the Union Address
Common Dreams by Stephen Zunes, January 29, 2003 [source no longer available]
The attempt to put Baathist Iraq on par with Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia is ludicrous. Hitler’s Germany was the most powerful industrialized nation in the world when it began its conquests in the late 1930s and Soviet Russia at its height had the world’s largest armed forces and enough nuclear weapons to destroy humankind. Iraq, by contrast, is a poor Third World country that has been under the strictest military and economic embargo in world history for more than a dozen years after having much of its civilian and military infrastructure destroyed in the heaviest bombing in world history. Virtually all that remained of its offensive military capability was subsequently dismantled…