Middle East & North Africa Archives - Page 296 of 633

Implications for Iranian Democracy: The Student Movement and Social Change

by Juliette Niehuss | Jul 16, 2003

After September 11, Iranians set aside their differences with America and expressed public support for our loss in a candlelight vigil held in “Azadi” (freedom) Square in Tehran. Now, almost two years later, the U.S. may have lost a window of opportunity to improve relations with Iran, and currently faces resentment throughout the Islamic world. By proclaiming Iran as part of an “axis of evil,” continuing to implicate it in state-sponsored terrorism and nuclear weapons production, and threatening regime change, the U.S. has alienated a key regional player.

Middle East Peace: Only with a Will is There a Way

by Muqtedar Khan | Jul 15, 2003

U.S. President George W. Bush’s Road Map for Middle East Peace, while based on widely held hopes for an independent Palestinian state co-existing with a secure and safe Israel, may nonetheless fail to deliver peace in the region. The recent agreement between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Al-Aqsa brigade to temporarily cease all military activities against Israel for the next three months, and the withdrawal of Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from some Palestinian territories does suggest that the road map is now becoming a practical guide for reaching fulfillment of these hopes. But the plan has strategic and ethical flaws that make me deeply pessimistic over its prospects for success.

“Coin of Empire” Too Costly for Israelis, Palestinians, and U.S. Taxpayers

by Conn Hallinan | Jul 9, 2003

“The coin of empire is always bought dear” was an expression that emerged from the great Irish Tithe War of the 1830s, when the British taxed the Catholic Irish to support the Church of England. After three years of opposition, bloodshed, and financial chaos, one colonial officer glumly pointed out that it was costing the Crown, “a shilling to collect tuppence.”

Polls Show Slide in Bush Administration’s Credibility

by Jim Lobe | Jul 3, 2003

Two recent polls show signs of a sharp decline in popular support for the Bush administration’s policies in Iraq. One recent survey indicates that solid majorities of people in the U.S. now doubt the truthfulness of Bush administration claims regarding evidence about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and Saddam Hussein’s links to al Qaeda, with majorities believing either that the Bush administration claims were “stretching the truth” or deliberate falsehoods. The poll, carried out by the University of Maryland’s Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA), also shows a stark decline in public confidence in President George W. Bush and his administration’s credibility.

The Other Looting

by Michael Renner | Jul 1, 2003

Chaos and lawlessness have gripped large parts of Iraq following the U.S.-British invasion. The country’s civilian population finds itself bereft of jobs and even basic services. Museums, hospitals, universities, power stations, water plants, and telecomm facilities have been stripped bare by looters, leaving the country in dire straits. Several weeks after the end of major fighting, ordinary Iraqis have seen little in the way of benefits from whatever reconstruction is going on. Indeed, the focus of the occupation regime is more on emergency repairs than on a major rehabilitation of Iraq’s dilapidated and war-destroyed public infrastructure.1

Hope out of Quagmire: Iraq and Peace Movement Opportunities

by Paul Loeb | Jul 1, 2003

In the glow of the Iraq war’s initial military success, most American peace activists felt profoundly demoralized. Between the war being portrayed as a glamorous spectacle and Bush’s seemingly overwhelming popular support, many who’d recently marched by the millions felt isolated, defensive, and powerless, fearing their voices no longer mattered.

Solidarity and Student Protests in Iran

by Jeremy Brecher | Jul 1, 2003

The United States in Iraq: An Experiment with Unilateral Humanitarianism

by Joel Charny | Jun 26, 2003

Operation Iraqi Freedom, the invasion and occupation of Iraq by the U.S. and its coalition partners, embodies a new approach to post-conflict humanitarian action. This approach unifies security, governance, humanitarian response, and reconstruction under the control of the Department of Defense. Humanitarian action is unilateral in character and linked inextricably to the U.S. security agenda in the context of the global war on terrorism. The UN agencies and nongovernmental organizations, traditionally the coordinators and implementers of humanitarian assistance and post-conflict reconstruction programs, are expected to play supportive roles within an effort managed by the Pentagon.

Road Map: Sharon & The Record

by Conn Hallinan | Jun 20, 2003

One thing to keep in mind about the current push for peace between Israelis and Palestinians is that Ariel Sharon is one of the most consistent political figures in the Middle East, and he keeps his word. It is a deeply chilling observation.

Iraq: Integrity and Ethics in Formulating and Interpreting Intelligence

by Col. Daniel Smith (Ret.) | Jun 17, 2003

On June 6, Randy Cohen, the New York Times’ resident ethicist, appeared on CNN’s NewsNight where he and host Aaron Brown began talking about ethics and integrity in the conduct of public business and in the statements and actions of public figures. Near the end of the time allotted for the discussion, Brown mentioned weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq. Cohen replied in part: “I think this is the big ethical story of the week: Many people are asserting … that the president lied about [WMD] in order to get our country into a war.”