To one Nobel Peace Prize winner from one who isn’t: “Drones are fueling terrorism.” So spoke Malala Yousafzai to President Barack Obama. She’s the 16-year-old Pakistani girl who was shot in the head by the Taliban for daring to urge the schooling of girls. She was...
An African-American Perspective on U.S. Exceptionalism*
Cross-posted from AjamuBaraka.com. In his recent op-ed in the New York Times, Vladimir Putin raised hackles among the talking-heads across the U.S. when he questioned the wisdom of President Obama’s evocation of the narcissistic idea of “American exceptionalism.”...
Obama Fumbles Syria Policy
President Obama announced in a speech to the nation on Tuesday night that he will delay a congressional vote on authorizing U.S. strikes on Syria. This comes in light of a Russian-brokered deal that has seen Syria commit to giving up its chemical weapons. “It’s too...
Assad and Obama Whiff at Chances to Defuse Crisis
The hypothesis that the Syrian chemical weapons attacks may not have been perpetrated by President Bashar al-Assad – or the opposition – has been graining traction. Reuters reports (Sept. 8): Syrian brigade and division commanders had been asking the Presidential...
Syria: Helps to Know Whodunit Before Sentencing
With Syria, the United States has been judge, jury, and hopes to be the executioner. The trouble is that its idea of who the accused is remains ill-defined. The United States seeks to hold the Assad regime responsible, but, if it has any idea who ordered the attack –...
What Happens if Syria Strikes Back?
Cross-posted from the Colorado Progressive Jewish News. A few days ago, writing about the Obama decision to postpone a military strike against Syria, we speculated: At the least, it buys time to build opposition to such a reckless course. At the most, it is the...
Suspicions That Rebels Launched Chemical-weapons Attack Refuse to Die
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad once again denied, in so many words, that his regime was responsible for chemical-weapons attacks. In an interview with Le Figaro, he said, “I'm not at all suggesting that the Syrian army does or does not possess such weapons.” Then...
The Real Reason Obama Drew Brakes on Syria Attack
Yesterday, President Obama surprised the nation and the world when he announced that he would seek the approval of Congress before launching cruise (presumably called that because they fly far and at a constant speed) missiles at Syria. At the New York Times, Mark...
President Obama’s Bush Moment?
President Obama has really put himself in a bind with this red line on Syria. As his call to action escalates following President Bashar al-Assad’s probable use of chemical weapons against thousands of his own people last week, it seems likely that the U.S. will make...
Parliament Stonewalls Latter-Day Bush and Blair on Syria
At the New York Times, Mark Landler, David Sanger, and Thom Shanker write of President Obama’s decision to strike Syria even though the British Parliament refused to allow Prime Minister Cameron to follow through on his pledge of support. The decision to proceed...