The Bush administration’s unconditional support for Israel’s attacks on Lebanon is emblematic of the profound tragedy of U.S. policy in the region over the past five years. The administration has relied largely on force rather than diplomacy. It has shown a willingness to violate international legal norms, a callousness regarding massive civilian casualties, a dismissive attitude toward our closest allies whose security interests we share, and blatant double standards on UN Security Council resolutions, non-proliferation issues, and human rights. A broad consensus of moderate Arabs, Middle East scholars, independent security analysts, European leaders, and others have recognized howÂeven putting important moral and legal issues asideÂsuch policies have been a disaster for the national security interests of the United States and other Western nations. These policies have only further radicalized the region and increased support for Hezbollah and other extremists and supporters of terrorism.
At War with Syria and Iran: The Neo-Cons May Get Their Wish
With no shame in drawing the U.S. into the Iraq quagmire three-and-a-half years ago, the same group of neo-conservatives including William Kristol, Richard Perle and Charles Krauthhammer are pushing for Israel/U.S. go to war with Syria and Iran. What is amazing is that despite the deep mess they got us into in Iraq, President Bush and his foreign policy team is actually listening to them.
Withdrawal Wins New Political Support
Over the past three and a half years, few members of Congress have challenged President George W. Bush over his “stay the course” mentality in Iraq. Indeed, just over a month ago nearly 300 Representatives endorsed the Bush Iraq policy of remaining in Iraq until a “free and stable Iraq” has been achieved. And while 39 Senators voted to support withdrawal in the same month, only 13 brave Senators supported a deadline of 2007.
Nobel Women’s Initiative
The Nobel Women’s Initiative is trying to reduce the risk of war with Iran. Read excerpts from the press conference organized by the Institute for Policy Studies.
How the Irish Can Save the Middle East
History is the story we tell ourselves in the present about the past. But how we punctuate the storyÂwhere we put the periods, the commas, and the ellipsesÂdepends not on everything that happened, but on who is telling the story, where we stand in the narrative, and what outcome we want.
Jihad Against Hezbollah
The Bush administration and an overwhelming bipartisan majority of Congress have gone on record defending Israel’s assault on Lebanon’s civilian infrastructure as a means of attacking Hezbollah Âterrorists. However, unlike the major Palestinian Islamist groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah forces haven’t killed any Israeli civilians for more than a decade. Indeed, a 2002 Congressional Research Service report noted, in its analysis of Hezbollah, that Âno major terrorist attacks have been attributed to it since 1994. The most recent State Department report on international terrorism also fails to note any acts of terrorism by Hezbollah since that time except for unsubstantiated claims that a Hezbollah member was a participant in a June 1996 attack on the U.S. Air Force dormitory at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia.
U.S. Must Broker Mideast Cease-Fire
The United States supplies most of Israel’s weapons, and it bears some responsibility for the escalating violence in Israel and Lebanon. It must now use its influence to call for an immediate cease-fire in the assault that has killed so many innocent civilians.
Congress Approves Flawed Oman Trade Pact
One of the sub-plots in last year’s critically acclaimed film Syriana tells the story of two young Pakistani Âguest workers in an unnamed Persian Gulf nation who, after years of resentment over miserable living conditions, are taken in by a radical cleric and recruited to be suicide bombers. The film is an all too accurate portrayal of the exploitation of Âguest workers in many Gulf countries, and how these conditions can cause instability.
Who’s Arming Israel?
Much has been made in the U.S. media of the Syrian- and Iranian-origin weaponry used by Hezbollah in the escalating violence in Israel and Lebanon. There has been no parallel discussion of the origin of Israel’s weaponry, the vast bulk of which is from the United States.
Israel Will Create More Terrorists Than It Kills
The Bush administration’s contempt for the United Nations Charter, the Fourth Geneva Convention and the other fundamental principles of international law has once again been laid bare by its defense of the ongoing Israeli assault against Lebanon.
