What can we do to end one war and prevent another? Photo by Lynsey Addario The Tour for a Just Foreign Policy in Iran and Iraq is making its way across the Northeast in November with an amazing lineup of speakers and a photo exhibit by award winning photojournalists. We invite you to join us […]
Geography Archives: Middle East
James Baker, the Clark Clifford of the Iraq War
In recent days, reports have begun to appear in mainstream US media sources such as Time magazine and the Los Angeles Times hinting at a new strategy on Iraq from Washington. This strategy, which is scheduled to be officially made public after the November congressional elections, is the product of a so-called bipartisan commission headed […]
A Marxist Poet: The Legacy of Gillo Pontecorvo
Pauline Kael, the American film critic, once said that Gillo Pontecorvo was the most dangerous kind of Marxist: a Marxist poet. When the Italian film director died last week at the age of 86, he had not made a full-length feature in over twenty-five years. Yet the potency of Pontecorvo’s firebrand poetry can still be […]
Faith in the “War with Islam”
The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris. Norton, New York, 2004. ISBN 0-393-03515-8. 336 pp. Cloth $24.95. Sam Harris’ The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason is unusual among books recently issued by mainline publishers in that it begins by rejecting all religious faiths […]
How to Stay Out of Gitmo
In case you’ve been too stunned by other newsworthy disasters to pay proper attention, the Military Commissions Act of 2006 was just signed into law. This law gives the U.S. government legal permission to do things they’ve been doing sub-legally for years, such as: designate people as “unlawful enemy combatants”; deny these people the right […]
Tangled Up in the Milieu: An Interview with Max Elbaum, Author of Revolution in the Air
REVOLUTION IN THE AIR: Sixties Radicals turn to Lenin, Mao and Che by Max ElbaumBUY THIS BOOK I first met Max Elbaum in Vermont in 2002 at a conference against the war organized by the Burlington (VT) Anti War Coalition. We had communicated via email and telephone before about his book Revolution in the Air […]
Israel between Two Wars: Olmert, Lieberman, and Washington’s Agenda
Olmert and Lieberman Just what we needed. The government is running hard in order to avoid the appointment of an authentic Judicial Investigative Committee, i.e., one with wide powers. Our Prime Minister is busy preparing himself for investigations into his all “too-successful” real estate deals. His popularity rating hovers at a magnificent 7%. But Ehud […]
Election Eve 2006: Democrats Stir, Labor Takes Two More Torpedoes
The instant messaging antics that claimed the career of Florida Republican Representative Mark Foley have also served to remind the national Democratic Party that we are but a few weeks away from our national elections. Declining Republican electoral fortunes were hobbled further by the Foley fiasco, adding to the growing list of reasons why voters […]
Bad Faith and the Common Good: The Road to Civic Republicanism
“Philosophy always comes on the scene too late.” — G.W.F. Hegel1 “They say we don’t stand for anything. We do stand for anything.” — Sen. Barack Obama2 For years it’s been a political commonplace to observe that the Republicans represent the party of ideas while the Democrats are the stupid party. Even Bush-phobic Democrats like […]
The Boom Heard around the World?
August 29, 1949 — Soviet Union. October 16, 1964 — People’s Republic of China. October 7, 2006, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. Three dates. Three first-time nuclear tests by three enemies (at their respective times) of Washington. All three tests were preceded by threats from that same Washington that warned of dire consequences for the […]
To End the Israeli-Arab Conflict [En finir avec le conflit israélo-arabe]
Nous appelons, alors que le Moyen-Orient est plongé dans sa crise la plus grave depuis des années, à une action urgente de la part de la communauté internationale en vue d’un règlement global au conflit israélo-arabe. Nous sommes tous perdants dans ce conflit, à l’exception des extrémistes, qui prospèrent à travers le monde en exploitant […]
War Work
General William Tecumseh Sherman declared that “War is hell,” but every grunt or swab that has ever served knows that, more than anything else, war is work. Staging operations, killing people, breaking their things, and sometimes cleaning up the mess, all involve tremendous amounts of human labor. Current estimates are that there are at least […]
Muhammad
Oiseau terrorisé par l’enfer tombant du ciel, Muhammad se niche dans l’étreinte de son père : Protège-moi De l’envol, père, mon aile est encore Petite pour le vent . . . et la lumière est noire Muhammad Voudrait rentrer à la maison, Sans vélo . . . ou chemise neuve. Il voudrait retrouver le banc […]
Oppose H.R. 6198, the “Iran Freedom Support Act”
On Friday the Senate is expected to vote on legislation passed Thursday by the House that would tighten U.S. sanctions on Iran and on our allies who trade with Iran. This legislation would undermine the negotiations with Iran that are currently taking place in Europe. Press reports have indicated that the talks in Europe could […]
Lebanon: Reflexions and Lessons [Liban: Réflexions et Leçons]
Face à l’évènement, certains veulent faire supporter à la Résistance tout le poids de cette guerre. C’est endosser l’erreur. La grande majorité des analystes politiques internationaux savent que cette guerre était prévue à courte échéance, avec ou sans prétexte ; Israël ne manque pas d’en créer au besoin. Souvenons-nous de l’invasion de 1982 : […]
It’s Not Race or Class — It’s Race and Class: An Interview with Roderick Bush
WE ARE NOT WHAT WE SEEM: Black Nationalism and Class Struggle in the American Century by Roderick D. BushBUY THIS BOOK Roderick Bush is an Associate Professor in the Sociology Department at St. John’s University in New York. He is the author of We Are Not What We Seem: Black Nationalism and Class Struggle in […]
U.S. Religious Leaders Meet President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Nearly 45 religious leaders from Christian and Muslim faith backgrounds met with the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Sept. 20, in an open discussion about the role religious communities can play in reversing the deepening crisis between Iran and the United States. This was the first face-to-face meeting between the Iranian leader and leaders from […]
Iran: Calls for Dialogue with the United States
“We believe the production or use of nuclear weapons is immoral.” — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Hours after he spoke to the United Nations, the Iranian president made this clear, unequivocal statement to a group of us during a private meeting in New York. The Mennonite Central Committee organized an extraordinary, private session for […]
Barbie at the Barricades
I was branded and factory-stamped into this world in 1959, a miniature Golem for American girlhood. I was a plastic anorexic girl-on-the-go, long legs, diamond-pointy breasts, and blonde, blonde, blonde — designed to protect you kiddies from Communism. Go to my website. I’ve been a model, an astronaut, a doctor, lawyer, politician, nurse, princess, rock […]
Address before the 61st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, New York, 19 September 2006
Madam President, Distinguished Heads of State and Government, Distinguished Heads of Delegation, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen I praise the merciful, all-knowing and almighty God for blessing me with another opportunity to address this Assembly on behalf of the great nation of Iran and to bring a number of issues to the attention of the […]
