Introduction
Noble Rhetoric Supports Democracy While Ignoble Policies Support Repression
read more
Middle East & North Africa
Spoilers Gatecrash the Iraq Spoils Party
Despite new offers for broader participation in Iraq’s reconstruction bonanza, the United States-convened donors’ conference on Iraq ended in stifled disappointment, with only $13 billion raised–a far cry from the $36 billion target. To dampen expectations further, up to two-thirds of the total pledges will take the form of loans, not grants. And if the Afghanistan fundraising experience is any indication, many of the pledges could still end up being just more broken multi-million-dollar promises.
A Wall by Any Other Name
“Mending Wall,” penned in 1915 by American poet Robert Frost (1874-1963), includes a line that has become an American aphorism: “Good fences make good neighbors.” Those who quote Frost’s line generally do so uncritically, undoubtedly thinking that the poet himself approved. In reality, Frost was highly dubious of this bit of “common wisdom.” As the poem shows, he was questioning, not declaring: “Do good fences really make good neighbors?”
Bush & Congress Ignore Breakthrough in Peace Process
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.
The Madrid Donors Conference: A Cover for Maintaining U.S. Control
The international donors meeting beginning in Madrid on Thursday, 23 October, will not come close to meeting Washington’s original goals. Initially called to pressure other countries to contribute significant amounts of money to sustain the U.S.-UK occupation of Iraq, public and governmental opposition in virtually all countries forced a radical downsizing of U.S. aims.
New Cheney Foreign Policy Adviser Sets Sights on Syria
Vice President Dick Cheney’s office continues to grow as a homebase for prominent neoconservative foreign policy strategists. Earlier this year Aaron Friedberg, a prominent neoconservative China hawk joined Cheney’s staff, (China Hawk Settles in Neocons’ Nest, http://www.fpif.org/commentary/2003/0305friedberg.html). The latest addition is David Wurmser, a neoconservative strategist who has long called for the United States and Israel to work together to “roll back” the Ba’ath-led government in Syria, who joins Cheney’s staff as an adviser on the Middle East. Wurmser, who had been working for Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton, joined Cheney’s staff under its powerful national security director, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, in mid-September, according to Cheney’s office.
A Fig Leaf to Cover Occupation
The U.S.-driven UN resolution passed by the Security Council provides only an internationalist fig-leaf for Washington’s occupation; the occupation remains illegal and in violation of the UN Charter. The new resolution does nothing to change the fundamental problems of the U.S. occupation of Iraq–its illegitimacy, its unilateralism, and its responsibility for so much destruction in Iraq and for the on-going crisis of violence in the country.
Baghdad’s Future on Table in Madrid
With Iraqi oil proving to be insufficient to finance the occupation of post-war Iraq and with U.S. taxpayers recoiling at covering the shortfall, the result of a donors’ conference in Madrid will decide whether the United States can stay on in Iraq. The donors’ decision, in turn, depends on whether the occupation turns from a unilateral to a multilateral form of corporate invasion.
Truth In Spending
A September 6th New York Times story on Iraq quoted Pentagon spokesperson Bryan G. Whitman as saying: "All known Iraqi munitions sites are being secured by coalition forces."
Why Saddam Didn’t Come Clean
Information emerging from the intelligence community indicates that the Iraq Survey Team looking for Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq is coming up empty.