U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan is part of a long-term strategy to gain regional influence and access to resources.
Visions of War and Wealth in the Middle East
read more
occupation
Palestinian Children’s Lives Are Shaped By 50 Years of Military Occupation
Five decades of occupation have turned military violence into the norm for Palestinian children.
Israel’s Tax-Deductible Occupation
The new Likud-Yisrael Beitenu NGO funding legislation will limit and tax contributions to organizations opposed to the occupation. Meanwhile, pro-settlement charities rake in large sums from foreign donors.
Iraq in Fragments
“[W]hat lengths men will go in order to carry out, to their extreme limit, the rites of a collective self-worship which fills them with a sense of righteousness and complacent satisfaction in the midst of the most shocking injustices and crimes.” -Love and Living, by Thomas Merton
Letter to My Daughter
Dear Kalila,
It has been five years since you, as a 12-year old 7th grader, joined your classmates in a walk-out at your school in protest of the impending invasion of Iraq.
The Quagmire in Iraq
Editor’s note: Since 2004, IPS has been tracking the costs of the Iraq War in human and financial costs to the United States, Iraq, and the rest of the world. This latest fact sheet is designed to help bring a full understanding of the devastation of the war. The PDF version of this article http://www.fpif.org/pdf/reports/0803iraqcow.pdf provides the following information in an easy to read format designed for duplication and popular education.
The Enduring Trap in Iraq
A showdown is brewing between Republicans and Democrats over the Iraq War once again. The Bush administration is stirring the pot once again by negotiating an agreement with the “sovereign” Iraqi government to place U.S. military troops and bases permanently on Iraqi soil despite strong objections from many Democrats.
False Sense of Security in Iraq
The Pentagon ushered in the New Year with seemingly welcome news: IraqÂs security is improving. Attacks across the country fell 62% and, according to aid organization Iraqi Red Crescent, 20,000 Iraqi refugees returned home from Syria in December alone. The U.S. troop surge must be working. Even the Democratic opponents of President George BushÂs agenda in Iraq are befuddled by the news, unclear how to proceed.
Beyond the Green Zone
Editors Note: The following is an excerpt from the introduction to Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq (Haymarket Books, 2007).
The Surgeon Fails in Iraq
If a surgeon botches an operation, few patients would ask him to stick around and try again. This is especially true if the operation was elective and the surgeon insisted on performing it. Yet this is exactly how the Bush administration is trying to justify the continued U.S. occupation of Iraq. This time, the administration’s latest addition to the reasons to stay in Iraq is that we have a moral obligation to the Iraqis to prevent them from having a blood bath.