Here we go again. We’re being told yet again – as well as several times over the last few years – that Iran is about to produce a nuclear weapon and must be stopped at all costs by bombing their nuclear facilities. What is asserted to be new this time is that, firstly, the International [...]
Posts under ‘Middle East/North Africa’
Liberal interventionism: an excuse for yet another war
Nov 2nd, 2011 by Daniel Blaney.For 10 years the peace movement has been on continuous high alert. We have had ‘liberal intervention’ in Afghanistan, Iraq and most recently in Libya. Even before September 11th 2001, we had NATO intervention in Yugoslavia and regular US/UK bombing raids over the misnamed ‘no fly zone’ of Iraq. During this time, public opinion in the UK has [...]
Bush and Blair finally lose war in Iraq
Oct 24th, 2011 by Michael Meacher.Buried in all the reporting about Gadaffi’s death was a much more significant piece of news about the Middle East. Obama announced late on Friday night – with a timing very likely connected to the news from Libya – that all US troops will be withdrawan from Iraq in 2 months time. This is a [...]
What will follow Gaddafi in Libya and beyond?
Oct 21st, 2011 by David Osler.Less than 24 hours after the death of Gaddafi, thousands of people have already committed predictions for the future of Libya to print and/or cyberspace. Some of those indulging in speculation are more informed than others, but the simple reality is that nobody knows what happens next. Although I have visited the country, and have [...]
Afghanistan: What they said 10 years ago
Oct 10th, 2011 by Andy Newman.These are just some of the claims made by British politicians in 2001 justifying the invasion of Afghanistan, pretending it was a humanitarian intervention. Given that the British government would surely have known that the US invasion only succeeded due to the alliances forged with warlords just as bad as the Taliban, and that the US government had [...]
Afghanistan ten years on
Oct 5th, 2011 by David Osler.Almost ten years to the day since the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom, the fighting has yet to stop, and shows no signs of stopping any time soon. One article that has confirmed me in this depressing train of thought is an offering from Lieutenant General David Rodriguez, deputy commander of US Forces in that [...]
Palestine Government may seek sacking of Tony Blair
Oct 3rd, 2011 by Newsdesk.The Palestinian Government will soon consider whether it should ask the International Quartet Committee for peace in the Middle East to fire its envoy Tony Blair, the former prime minister of Britain, a well-informed Palestinian source said on Sunday. A senior well-informed Palestinian source, speaking to Xinhua on condition of anonymity, said that several Palestinian [...]
Britain must support Palestinian demand for statehood
Sep 20th, 2011 by Michael Meacher.Mahmoud Abbas is right to go ahead with his application for Palestinian statehood at the UN later this week. If there were any doubts about it, the facrt that the US and its protege Israel are so frantically trying to block it suggests it must be the right move. The fact that the US is [...]
Israel/Palestine. Two states? Forget it, says Obama
Sep 18th, 2011 by Mark Seddon.Even President George Bush played lip service to the idea of a ‘two state’ solution for Israel/Palestine. That, after all, is the default position of the international community. It is also the position of the Obama administration, which has nonetheless allowed the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu to run rings around it. So if the [...]
Four more years of war in Afghanistan is unacceptable
Sep 16th, 2011 by Jon Lansman.Tony Benn, narrating this excellent short video with music by Brian Eno, concludes “four more years of war in Afghanistan is unacceptable“. Do watch it — the message is stark. The Afghan war is currently costing £12m per day, enough to pay for 100,000 nurses and 150,000 care workers. But with 9,300 Afghan civilians killed [...]
