Iraq in American foreign policy
Joseph A. Kechichian; 17/7/08
It took 45 years for a leading journalist like Harold Meyerson to ask why 58,193 Americans [as well as an estimated 2 million Vietnamese] died during the Vietnam War. How many years will it take for folks to wonder why 4,121 [as of July 15] Americans and more than a million Iraqis perished in Mesopotamia? This comparative question is not raised often, but in light of recent pronouncements by the presumed Democratic and Republican candidates for the presidency of the US, it may be useful to ask it even if foreign policy issues are almost always less important than domestic concerns - dominated in 2008 by high energy prices and falling real estate values. In an opinion piece published by The New York Times [and reproduced yesterday in Gulf News], Senator Barack Obama articulated his plan for Iraq, calling for a “phased redeployment of combat troops”. He promised to end the war if he becomes president. Obama emphasised that “it was a grave mistake … to be distracted from the fight against Al Qaida and the Taliban by invading a country that posed no imminent threat and had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks”.
See: http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/columns/region/10229397.html
Iran won’t be attacked this year
Uri Avnery; 17/7/08
If you want to understand the policy of a country, look at the map - as Napoleon recommended. Anyone who wants to guess whether Israel and/or the United States are going to attack Iran should look at the map of the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Through this narrow waterway pass the ships that carry between a fifth and a third of the world’s oil. Most of the commentators who talk about the inevitable American and Israeli attack on Iran do not take account of this map.There is talk about a “sterile”, a “surgical” air strike by the mighty air fleet of the US. Simple, quick and elegant - one blow and bye-bye Iran, bye-bye Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. If Israel attacks alone, the blow will be more modest. The most the attackers can hope for is the destruction of the main nuclear sites and a safe return.
See: http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/columns/region/10229402.html
Guantanamo is an outrage
17/7/08; http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/editorial_opinion/world/ 10229401.html
The first grainy images of an interrogation at Guantanamo have been broadcast. It is disturbing viewing. Canadian detainee, Omar Khadr, at the time a teenage inmate, is seen pleading for his mother and begging: “Help me, help me.” Khadr has been held for five years without charge and subjected to sleep depravation and, in all probability, much worse. As a matter of urgency the Canadian government should demand his immediate release. Guantanamo is an outrage, an insult to the very values that people around the world hold dear; justice, accountability and due process. After five years, most inmates would be in such a confused and mentally distressed state that they will admit to anything. Guantanamo is an embarrassment to America and damages Washington’s so-called war on terror. It will be closed during the next presidency, if not before. But the damage done to America’s reputation will linger long after its closure.
Tags: Guantanamo Bay Torture, Iran, Iraq, Terrorism, USA