Middle East & North Africa Archives - Page 263 of 635

60-Second Expert: Western Sahara

by John Feffer, Jacob Mundy | Apr 24, 2007

In recent years, the Moroccan government has championed the idea of autonomy as a solution to its territorial dispute with pro-independence advocates over Western Sahara. Rabat has said it is willing to consider an autonomous, locally elected government in Western Sahara, which would have powers independent of the central government, albeit circumscribed by Morocco’s ultimate sovereignty. The movement for Western Saharan statehood, the Polisario Front, has rejected autonomy. It continues to claim the right of self-determination, to be exercised through a final status referendum among the territory’s indigenous ethnic Sahrawis. As the diplomatic stalemate worsens, conditions on the ground in Western Sahara are pointing toward renewed armed conflict.

Shiite vs. Sunni?

by John Feffer, Conn Hallinan | Apr 19, 2007

In 1609, a terrible thing happened: not terrible in the manner that great wars are terrible but in the way that opening Pandora’s Box was terrible. King James I of England discovered that dividing people on the basis of religion worked like a charm, thus sentencing the Irish to almost four centuries of blood and pain.

Annotate This: John McCain at VMI

by John Feffer, Col. Daniel Smith (Ret.) | Apr 19, 2007

On April 11, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) visited the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) to defend his support of the “surge” tactic in Iraq. Meant to bolster his campaign, McCain’s appearance was not quite the shot in the arm he’d hoped for. The 1,200 cadets were a friendly venue – an important factor if one is a candidate for president. But reporters found that not all of the students agreed with McCain that the “surge” is going to stabilize Iraq sufficiently to allow other post-war programs to function. McCain’s remarks went beyond the “surge” to encompass other national security issues: the ramifications of a perceived “defeat” in Iraq, U.S. strategy and international security, and how the politics of today might influence the shape of terrorism tomorrow. “Supporting the troops” was another predictable theme. Less predictable was McCain’s reference to the Iraq War as not only necessary but also “just” – a characterization made twice but with a different tone each time.

Shock but No Awe

by Erik Leaver, Emily Schwartz Greco | Apr 13, 2007

The Art of Deconstructing War

by John Feffer, Saif Rahman | Apr 5, 2007

Aaron Hughes is an artist, activist, and a Veteran of the Iraq War. He served in the Illinois National Guard from 2000 to 2006. He was deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in April 2003 and stayed until July 2004 as an 88M truck driver. On his return to the states he has dedicated his life […]

Tourist Photograph from Iraq

by John Feffer, Aaron Hughes | Apr 5, 2007

This is how I wanted to see my self…
This is what I thought we would do in Iraq
That’s what I always thought we were about…
Barefoot, little kids… I remember that one
there… he couldn’t have been five years old
Just a damn little kid, you know?
Little, black, cracked, bare… Dust covered
feet.
Tiny little kid… Tough as hell. His brother
too.
The sand must’ve been 150 degrees, fuckin’
hotter than that! Everything was so damn
hot; the heat
Would come up through my boots like standing on a stove.
The kid had baby toes that were like coarse
callused black elephant leather. That kid
had the craziest rough ass skin
I gave the kid an M.R.E. and some other
food. A bunch of crap I was sick of eating…
Kids would stand on the roads every damn day asking for that crap.
There was nothing else… bleak dead dust
days, powdered sand-lands of nothing for
miles and miles.
There was nothing but an unattainable horizon
and a damn long ass road.
But the fucking little ass kids would come
out of nowhere…
Nothing around! Not a damn thing! But these
damn kids would just appear.
I thought we were going over to help these
damn kids that would come out of nothing and go back into it. Feed the hungry, help the
oppressed, give relief from day in day out
pain.
That is what I wanted to think I was there
for.
Barefoot, all day long
All they wanted was food from us…
Like damn kids on the 4th of July… we were a spectacle, a parade of crazy floats passing
out food.
But then we hit one you know… That was it!
It all changed
We were told not to stop… Don’t stop not in
the towns. Keep the truck moving and don’t
stop. Forget the kids!
Now, now I can’t forget the kids. Damn kid.
I’m not even there. Hundred thousand miles
away and its still in my fucking head.
Ah fuck ’em they were just a part of the damn landscape anyway.

Rep. DeFazio: Don’t Attack Iran

by John Feffer, Michael Shank | Apr 2, 2007

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) has been in Congress since 1986. In April 2006, he wrote a letter to President Bush to remind him that he must seek authorization from Congress before launching any preemptive attacks against Iran. He also introduced Resolution 391 to the same effect as well as a similar amendment to this year’s Defense Authorization Act (which was voted down). One year later, rumors of an upcoming U.S. military assault on Iran still abound, the latest from Russian intelligence that predicts a Good Friday attack. Here Rep. DeFazio talks of the congressional strategy to prevent a war with Iran.

Rep. Kucinich: Stop Funding the War

by John Feffer, Michael Shank | Mar 29, 2007

Dennis Kucinich is a Democratic congressman from Ohio. He was one of only 14 Democrats to oppose the current Iraq supplemental bill, which sets a deadline for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. The bill, the Iraq Accountability Act, did not, however, cut funding for the war. Here he speaks with Michael Shank about the reasons for his vote, his fears of an attack on Iran, his concerns about the future of the Democratic Party, and his faith that new American leadership will craft a different partnership with the world community.

Unbalanced Security: The Divide between State and Defense

by Lorelei Kelly, Erik Leaver | Mar 28, 2007

On February 7, 2007 Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice informed the House Foreign Relations Committee that she had requested 129 military employees to fill State Department positions in support of the President’s new Iraq plan. Officials at the Pentagon, including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, bristled at the request—insisting that they had personnel shortages of their own. This vignette may appear to be just another incident of bureaucratic turf battles, yet it has dramatic and far-reaching implications, both for national security and for the U.S. Government. Beneath this tussle lies a first order national security policy dilemma: What should our government’s division of labor be for the post Cold War security environment? And, how should manpower and funding resources be distributed to prepare for this environment?

Left-Right Alliance Against War?

by John Feffer, Jon Basil Utley | Mar 28, 2007

Americans opposed to war are a distinct minority. If the Iraq War were going well, most Americans would support it. Yet the Iraq venture has been such a disaster for America that peace groups have a chance to expose the pro-war interests in the nation and advance an alternative foreign policy based on law and international cooperation. Incredible war costs, a growing police state at home, loss of allies, and tremendous anti-Americanism abroad have given most Americans pause about our foreign policies.