Commentaries Archives - Page 358 of 837

Palestine Greater Than Arafat

by Sam Bahour, John Gershman | Sep 30, 2005

The Palestinian struggle for freedom and independence is larger than the late President Yasser Arafat. The decades-long symbolism that Arafat embodied should not be underestimated. It is this symbolism that Palestinians are mourning. The substance of ArafatÂs symbolism has to do with how it has represented Palestinian nationalism and the five decade struggle for justice for a people that were dispossessed in 1948, militarily occupied in 1967, attacked while in exile in 1970 in Jordan and 1982 in Lebanon, and most recently, battered in their own homes in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. A wide spectrum of opinions about Arafat, the man and the leader, will surely outlive the international flurry of media interest in his death. However, the world must be aware that the Palestinian struggle is beyond any single individual.

Violence Returns to Cote dIvoire

by Abdoulaye Dukule, Emira Woods | Sep 30, 2005

Patience has run out in Cote dÂIvoire. Guns that had been silent for two years became active again in early November, with President Laurent GbagboÂs government launching an all-out air attack on rebel positions, and in the process ÂmistakenlyÂ killing nine French soldiers. In retaliation, President Jacques Chirac of France ordered his troops in Cote dÂIvoire to neutralize Ivorian air power. The French military destroyed Ivorian military planes, took over the airport in Abidjan and closed it to civilian flights after a long battle with the Ivorian military. Gbagbo called on Ivorians to get out and ÂliberateÂ the airport. Hundreds of thousands swarmed through the city, ransacking French businesses, homes, and schools, burning and breaking everything on their way to the airport. They encircled the French Military base and the French soldiers responded.

Iraq and the U.S. Legacy

by John Gershman, Col. Daniel Smith (Ret.) | Sep 30, 2005

As far as modern military organizations are concerned, U.S. forces would have to be rated as quite competent at what they are designed to accomplish: killing people, destroying things, and bringing chaos out of order.

U.S. Elections Undermine America in Eastern Europe

by Nat Parry | Sep 30, 2005

On Election Day, I caught a glimpse of how America’s moral leadership is eroding in the eyes of Eastern Europeans. I was working with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a regional security organization stretching from Vancouver to Vladivostok. The U.S. is one of the OSCE’s 55 participating states, and through it has pressed for democratization in Europe’s formerly Communist nations since the Cold War.

101 Steps Toward a More Secure World

by John Gershman, Don Kraus | Sep 30, 2005

The newly released United Nations report, A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility has the potential to reshape the United Nations and redefine collective security. A core premise of the report is that today’s “threats recognize no national boundaries, are connected, and must be addressed at the global and regional as well as the national levels.” It is a “must read” for anyone who cares about international affairs.

Blowback from Iraq War Is Global, and Growing

by John Gershman, Ronald Bruce St John | Sep 30, 2005

Blowback is a term invented by the Central Intelligence Agency to describe the unintended consequences of policies kept secret from the American people. Chalmers Johnson’s excellent book, Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire, helped popularize the term. Originally intended for internal use only, blowback increasingly characterizes global reaction to Bush administration policies in and out of the Middle East.

Will Calls for Sharing Responsibility in New UN Report Fall on Deaf Ears?

by John Gershman, Ian Williams | Sep 30, 2005

Allegedly a camel is a horse designed by a committee. Well the “High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change” that Kofi Annan asked to study how the UN copes with the threats of the new century was certainly a committee, and their report, A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility, certainly has some aspects of a camel. I would guess it to be Bactrian from the two outstanding humps that have been added to get a consensus.

A New Course in Iraq

by John Gershman, Erik Leaver | Sep 30, 2005

As many members of Congress and President George W. Bush’s administration argue that it’s unacceptable to leave Iraq as a failed state, it becomes clearer every day that U.S. operations and policies are fueling violence and instability. It’s time for the government to directly confront the question of how to fulfill U.S. obligations under international law, restore basic security, and responsibly withdraw U.S. forces.

Options for Ukraine

by John Brown, John Gershman | Sep 30, 2005

The tense political situation in Ukraine may find a peaceful solution. But, at this critical juncture, efforts to maintain Ukraine as currently configured could turn out to be dangerously counterproductive. Ukraine should therefore seriously consider the option of working with all parties involved in its current crisis–including the European Union, Russia, and the United States–in taking possible steps toward its nonviolent dismemberment in a manner acceptable to its variegated population. The possibility of such a peaceful, democratic, and internationally acceptable geographical rearrangement of Ukraine should at least be put on the table before it is too late to prevent an unpredictable situation from falling out of control from increased regional, ethnic, economic, cultural, and linguistic conflicts.

Elections without Democracy

by Sam Bahour, John Gershman, Todd May | Sep 30, 2005

During the 1970s, the apartheid government of South Africa sought to bolster its claims to legitimacy by allowing elections in the Bantustans–the equivalent to today’s walled-in Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The thought was that if people elected local officials, even to hold largely ceremonial offices, then the rest of the world would stop whining about how undemocratic and illegal apartheid was.