Backers of right-wing Israeli policies bristle when the South African term “apartheid” is applied to the Jewish state’s isolation and persecution of Palestinians. But the near half century of West Bank occupation leaves little doubt the description fits, says Gil Maguire,…
Category: Foreign Policy
Reasons for Despair and Hope
This year, Holy Week marking the crucifixion of Jesus coincides with the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s murder on April 4, 1968, with some Christians seeing many reasons to despair and a few reasons to hope, as Kathy Kelly…
State Department’s Hypocrisies and Lies
If the U.S. government were not so terrifyingly powerful, its jaw-dropping double standards and the yawning gap between reality and what it calls reality might be funny. But there is the scary recognition that these hypocrisies and lies get people…
Doubts Remain on Iran Sanction Relief
While Iran expresses confidence that it can fulfill the restrictions on its nuclear program to ensure that it remains peaceful there is less certainty about the lifting of U.S. and international sanctions against Iran, creating some possible trouble for the…
Iran Deal: A Possible Crossroads to Peace
Exclusive: The Israeli-Saudi alliance and the American neocons are furious over the framework agreement for a peaceful settlement to the Iran nuclear dispute, but the deal gives hope to people who see the need to end the perpetual wars that have roiled…
A Diplomatic Victory with Iran
Though the framework agreement for making sure Iran’s nuclear program stays peaceful surprised many observers with its stringent details, the Israel Lobby and its adherents are sure to do all they can to sabotage the deal. But they must overcome…
Mysterious Deaths in Ukraine
The mainstream U.S. news media is so in the tank for the post-coup Ukrainian government that anything negative from neo-Nazi militias to apparent “death squad” operations is ignored, including a string of mysterious deaths of anti-coup politicians, as William Blum…
Was Sgt. Bergdahl a Whistleblower?
Mainstream U.S. politicians and media were quick to condemn Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, after his years as a Taliban prisoner in Afghanistan were deemed “desertion.” But another possibility is that Bergdahl was captured after he left his base in a failed…
The US-Israel-Iran Triangle’s Tangled History
Exclusive: Iran and world powers have gone into double-overtime in negotiations to ensure that Iran doesn’t build a nuclear bomb, but the shadow over the talks is darkened by decades of distrust and double-dealing, a dimly understood history of the U.S.-Israeli-Iranian…
Yemen as Vietnam or Afghanistan
With U.S. intelligence help, Saudi Arabia has launched air strikes into Yemen and wants Egypt and Pakistan to invade, threatening to turn a long-simmering civil war into a regional conflict, a scenario that reminded retired U.S. diplomat William R. Polk of…