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September / October 2010
A "Progressive Hero?" Time to Think Outside of the Boxer
By Stephen Zunes: Nowadays, however, so-called "progressive" organizations like Democracy for America seem to care little about the fate of people of color in faraway lands. There simply isn't much concern if an influential senator on the foreign relations committee defends those who use white phosphorous, cluster munitions and other illegal weapons against civilian neighborhoods and defames conscientious supporters of human rights who speak up for the rights of non-combatants. For groups like Democracy for America, support for the international legal conventions which arose from the ashes of World War II are apparently not that important. Read More
Arming the Saudis
By Stephen Zunes: The Pentagon has announced a $60 billion arms package to the repressive family dictatorship in Saudi Arabia, the largest arms sale of its kind in history. Rejecting the broad consensus of arms control advocates that the Middle East is too militarized already and that the Saudis already possess military capabilities well in excess of their legitimate security needs, the Obama administration is effectively insisting that this volatile region does not yet have enough armaments and that the United States must send even more. Read More
The other oil spill
By Stephen Zunes: Leading congressional Democrats are outraged at British Petroleum and others responsible for the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But that stands in sharp contrast to their outspoken support of those responsible for a major oil spill in the eastern Mediterranean in 2006, the largest in that region’s history. On July 13 and 15 of that year, as part of a major bombardment of the civilian infrastructure of Lebanon, Israeli planes bombed the fuel tanks for the Jiyeh power plant on the coast near Beirut, releasing 10,000–15,000 tons of oil. A giant oil slick spread northward by Mediterranean currents, contaminated the Lebanese and Syrian coasts, and went as far as Turkey and Cyprus. Meanwhile, large deposits of the densest parts of the heavy oil dropped to the seabed to form black toxic mats, destroying sea life below. Read More
Harry Reid's anti-Islamic agenda
Dr. Stephen Zunes: The moral bankruptcy of the Democratic Party could not be any more evident than in its continued support for Nevada Sen. Harry Reid as majority leader despite his decision to join the bigoted and Islamophobic campaign against the Park 51 Islamic Cultural Center in New York, arguing that it "should be built somewhere else." This was also an apparent effort to embarrass President Barack Obama - who, in a rare example of showing some spine in the face of right-wing attacks - defended the First Amendment rights of the Muslim group. Read More
The Moral Implications of Bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki
By Syed R Mahmood: Even 65 years after the American atomic bombing of Japan, humanity is still too perturbed to comprehend the justification of this horrific action. Does the inhuman method of killing unarmed civilians: men, women, and children reflect as an act of bravery and honor or an acceptable norm of war games? Read More
The Mosque and Community Center in Manhattan: A Historical Perspective
By Syed R Mahmood: It is astonishing and at the same time amusing to see the circus of the Republican national leaders and former Presidential candidates regarding the issue of a mosque and community center in lower Manhattan near the former World Trade Center site. People like Sara Palin, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee should demonstrate more maturity in their approach to issuing their statements. Unfortunately the Republican leadership and some Democrats are using this opportunity to gain political mileage. Bashing President Obama and American Muslims is not going to help their standing with the American public. Their racially motivated statements are likely to create more hatred in our society. Read More
Rural American life in the Upper Peninsula after the depression years
By Mertze Dahlin: For years after the great depression, many people were having a hard time, especially those who lived in the cities. There were very few jobs and they were only for those who could create a small business. But that didn’t matter, because there were no customers. Probably the most well known stereotype job was that of selling pencils on the downtown streets. A little later in 1935, President Roosevelt instituted the “Works Progress Administration”, known as the WPA. A lot of public works employment developed from that and the “man on the street” could now say he was employed. Read More
Dr. Aafia Siddiqui sentenced to 86 years jail
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: On September 23, 2010, US District Court Judge Richard Berman sentenced Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani neuroscientist once dubbed by the US media as Al-Qaeda Lady, to 86 years in prison. Not unexpectedly, the verdict triggered outrage across Pakistan with protesters taking to the streets in many places. To borrow Stephen Lendman, “her trial was a travesty of justice based on the preposterous charge that in the presence of two FBI agents, two Army interpreters, and three US Army officers, she (110 pounds and frail) assaulted three of them, seized one of their rifles, opened fire at close range, hit no one, yet she was severely wounded. No credible evidence was presented. Some was kept secret. The proceedings were carefully orchestrated. Witnesses were either enlisted, pressured, coerced, and/or bought off to cooperate, then jurors were intimidated to convict her.”
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Mossad recruits Muslims in America
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: There have been a number of cases reported to the FBI about (Israel’s secret service) Mossad officers who have approached leaders in Arab-American communities and have falsely represented themselves as “U.S. intelligence,” says Philip Giraldi, a former CIA Officer. Because few Muslims would assist an Israeli, this is done to increase the likelihood that the target will cooperate. It’s referred to as a “false flag” operation, says Giraldi in his monthly column - Mossad in America – published in the August issue of American Conservative magazine. Read More
American Muslims nine years after 9/11
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The seven-million strong American Muslim community, under siege since the ghastly tragedy of 9/11, is challenged in recent months with a growing anti-Islam and anti-Muslim bigotry sparked by the opposition to the planned Park51 project popularly known as the Ground Zero Mosque on Manhattan island, in New York City. The inflammatory rhetoric surrounding the project, actually a cultural center and already approved by the New York City Planning Commission, has stirred hatred toward Muslims in America. Read More
Western Sahara war, nationalism, and conflict irresolution
Book Review: For over twenty years, the UN Security Council has failed to find a formula that will delicately balance these interests against Western Sahara’s long-denied right to a self-determination referendum as one of the last UN-recognized colonies. In this thoughtful and impressive analysis, Stephen Zunes and Jacob Mundy provide valuable insights on the importance of enabling the people of the Western Sahara to determine their own future through a democratic referendum." Read More
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