There’s no accommodation that President Obama can make that will satisfy Americans hawkish for Israel.
Arab Spring Takes Back Seat to U.S. Military Aid for Egypt
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Middle East & North Africa
Time to Rekindle Talks with Iran
In light of major upheavals across the Middle East and the shaky foundations of the global economy, Washington should realize that the last thing it needs is to be dragged into a new and even more destructive war. More importantly, pushing for further sanctions would only embolden Iran to reconsider its very membership in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), given Tehran’s increasing frustrations with the IAEA. The best solution is to channel this renewed sense of urgency into the diplomatic track by reviving talks and exploring the so-called “step-by-step” option proposed by Russia. This is the best way to avoid a global tragedy. There is still time for proper negotiation.
We Have a Responsibility to Protect Responsibility to Protect
The principles of R2P — the U.N. doctrine of Responsibility to Protect — were trampled on by the United States and NATO in the Libya intervention.
True Reason for Iran’s Apparent Interest in Nukes Discovered
Can Ayatollah Ali Khamenei be pro and con nuclear weapons at the same time?
Rebuilding Libya
Muammar Gaddafi’s misuse of governmental instruments and assets for over 42 years has left a gaping political vacuum, a severely impaired civil service, and a virtually non-existent civil society in Libya. Decades of intentional manipulation of state resources and a gross mismanagement of oil revenues have led to immeasurable social exclusion. According to the UN, over 40 percent of Libya’s population of 6 million lived below the poverty line under Gaddafi and reaped no direct benefit from its monumental oil riches.
This Is Not What Containment Looks Like
“To strengthen Iran sanctions laws for the purpose of compelling Iran to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons and other threatening activities, and for other purposes,” begins HR1905, the so-called “Iran Threat Reduction Act” advanced by the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee this week. The resolution, put forward by the chairwoman of the committee, Florida Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, has 349 co-signers, more than enough to pass a House vote. It will increase sanctions on Iran and limit U.S. contact with Iranian officials, and pressure to enact it will be strengthened by the release of a November IAEA report asserting that Iran has been secretly developing nuclear weapons (and a delivery system for them) since 2003.
Iran: Here We Go . . .
While neoconservative commentators were declaring that diplomacy doesn’t work with Iran, members of Congress were setting about ensuring that it wouldn’t.
The Phases of the Moon and an Attack on Iran
Launching an air attack on Iran requires bright nights.
Bahrain’s Courageous Doctors
The United States continues to ignore the thwarted Arab Spring in Bahrain. Recently, a quasi-military court in the small Gulf state sentenced 20 doctors and nurses to up to 15 years in jail. The charge against them? Treating injured demonstrators opposing the regime.
Super Stuxnet? U.S., Israel Escalating Malware War Against Iran
Never mind just sabotaging centrifuges, couldn’t “Super Stuxnet” scramble Iran’s air defense systems in advance of an Israeli and/or U.S. attack?