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Recent
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April
1, 2003
William
S. Lind
The Pitfalls of War Planning
Jorge
Mariscal
Latinos on the Frontlines, Again
Paul
de Rooij
Arrogant Propaganda
Jo
Wilding
From Baghdad: "I Am His Mother"
Tarif
Abboushi
Operation Embedded Folly
Lee
Sustar
Labor's War at Home
Akiva Eldar
Israeli Dreams of Iraqi Oil
Bernard
Weiner
The Vietnam Connection
Robert
Fisk
The Graveyard at Baghdad's North
Gate
Steve
Perry
War Web Log 04/01
March
31, 2003
David
Lindorff
Liberating Iraqis from Their Homes
Neve Gordon
A Different Kind of Despair
John
Chuckman
Absurdities and Contradictions
Ron Jacobs
Bernie Sanders Voting Maybe on
War
Wayne
Madsen
The Siege of Washington
Mark Franchetti
Slaughter at the Bridge of Death
Robert
Fisk
Blood and Bandages of the Innocent
Robin Cook
Send Our Soldiers Home
Anthony
Gancarski
Investigate Perle
Uri Avnery
The Devil's Dictionary
Steve
Perry
War Web Log 03/31
March
29, 2003
Kathy and
Bill Christison
"Like Being Autistic with
Power": an Interview with Jeff Halper
Ben
Tripp
"My Empire for a Map!": Geography
American Style
Ann Harrison
The War on Protesters: San Francisco's
Berserk Cops
Kurt
Nimmo
Dead People: Don't Go There
Chris Floyd
Blood on the Tracks: Cheney the
War Profiteer
Ann
Pettifer
Israelis: Victims No Longer?
Jo Wilding
Dispatch from Baghdad: Nowhere
is Safe
Ramzy
Baroud
Horror Chamber: Inside the Al-Amiriya
Shelter
David Krieger
Perle is Gone, But the Looting
Continues
John
Gershman
Dreams of Empire; Eulogies for International
Law
Robert
Fisk
Bombing the Phone System
Brice Abel
War, Bush and the Jesus Torilla
Tom
Stephens
The Chickenhawk Circle of Hell
Alexander
Cockburn
"War Not Going According
to Plan"
March 28,
2003
Robert
Fisk
Bitter Truths About Basra
Daniel
Wolff
A Road Trip in Wartime
Chris
Clarke
We Never Spit on Any Baby Killers
David Lindorff
Saddam, a Hero Made in Washington
Pierre
Tristam
Icarus on Crack: American Hubris
and Iraq
Jason Leopold
Richard Perle: the Enterprising
Hawk
Saul
Landau
Technological Massacre
Carol Norris
The Mother of All Bombs
Riad
Abdelkarim, MD
Iraq War Lingo 101
Adam Engel
Schlock and Awe
Steve
Perry
War Web Log
March 27,
2003
Anthony
Gancarski
Somebody Blew Up Baghdad
Rahul
Mahajan
The New Humanitarianism: Basra as
Military Target
Simon Jones
A Letter from Uzbekistan
William
S. Lind
No Exit
Diane Christian
A Day of Reckoning
The
Black Commentator
Onward
Embedded Soldiers: the Press and the War
Mickey
Z.
Remembering the Real Moynihan:
Genocide in East Timor
Richard
Thieme
The Problem of Empathy
Jason Leopold
Energy Scams: Bilking California
Out of Billions
Tariq
Ali
A Naked Display of Imperial Power
Alexander
Cockburn
Up the Creek
March 26,
2003
Bruce Jackson
A Battlefield from Hell
Pablo
Mukherjee
Watch
Their Lips
David Krieger
Shock But Not Awe
Linda
Heard
Winning
Hearts and Minds Bush-Style
Imad Jadaa
The Beautiful Face of America
Adam
Engel
Buckets
of Blood
Patrick
Cockburn
Kurds Unimpressed
David
Lindorff
POWs,
Torture and Hypocrisy
Robert
Fisk
The Coup That Didn't Happen
April
Hurley, MD
A
Doctor's Outrage in Baghdad
Gloria
Bergen
Chretien's Shame
Reema
Abu Hamdieh
The
Smell of Death Surrounds Me
March 25,
2003
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Life During Wartime
Gary
Leupp
What
Democracy Looks Like: the Streets of Cairo
Bill and
Kathleen Christison
An Interview with Hanan Ashrawi
Bruce
Jackson
Why
Protest? Why Write?
Uri Avnery
Bitter Rice: Thoughts and Warnings
on the War
Jason
Leopold
Blood
Indicator: Casualties and the Stock Market
Ralph Nader
A Pre-emptive War on a Defenseless
Country
March 24,
2003
Alexander
Cockburn
Ominous Signs
David
Lindorff
Peacekeepers
at Ground Zero
Diane Christian
Blood Sacrifice
Kathy
Kelly
The
Morning After Shock and Awe
John Stanton
US Bombs Iran
Wayne
Madsen
How
to Live with a Rogue Superpower
Anthony
Gancarski
Iraq and the Death of the West
David
Vest
Earth vs. Bush
Ahmad Faruqui
The Liberation of Iraq in Perspective
Robert
Fisk
We
Bomb, They Suffer
March 22 / 23, 2003
Edward Said
The Other
America
Saul Landau
The Threats of Empire
Kathleen and Bill Christison
On the Road in the West Bank
Joanne Mariner
Suing Seymour Hersh
Ann Harrison
The Battle of San Francisco
Robert Fisk
A Cauldron of Fire
Hani Shukrallah
The Gates of Hell
Chris Floyd
Memory Lane
Kathy Kelly
Imagine Chicago Under This Kind of Attack
Ramzi Kysia
Bombing Away a Chance for Joy
Linda Heard
Baghdad Burns While Bush Does Lunch
Bradley Burston
Could the US be at War for Years?
Salvador Peralta
Mass Murder as Liberation?
Tom Gorman
Now That's a Coalition!
Jorge Mariscal
Johnny Mack, When Are You Coming Back?
Cindy Milstein
The Grassroots Go Global
Josh Frank
Blocking Portland's Bridges
Elaine Cassel
The Case of Elizabeth Smart: Kidnapping and Insanity
Gordon Solberg
Drowning in Niceness: the Lessons of Elizabeth Smart
Tom Crumpacker
Getting to Know the Real Havana
Poets' Basement
Dobie, Guthrie, Alam, Wechsler
March 21, 2003
Ben Tripp
Blood
for Oil: the Exchange Rate
Cathy Breens
Report from Baghdad: Mothers, Kids and Crash Kits
Scott Handleman
Fourth
Generation Protesting: Shutting Down San Francisco
Vanessa Jones
Paint
Them Red
Brian J. Foley
Patriotic
Protest for Professors
Zoltan Grossman
After Saddam, a War on Iraqi Rebels?
Philip S. Golub
Inventing Demons
Richard Lichtman
On the Current Experience of Terror
Milan Rai
Blitz-Coup
Pepe Escobar
A Cheap Family Farce
Floyd Rudmin
The Nightmare at the Back Door: Nuclear Plant's as Terror Targets
Chris Floyd
See Rome (poem)
Website of the War
Iraq
Body Count
March 20, 2003
Jo Wilding
From
Waiting to War: a Day and a Night in Baghdad
Stephen Banko
I Was
a Soldier Once
Kevin Alexander Gray
How Did
We Become an Outlaw Nation?
Shane Claiborne
Nomadic
Solidarity: Glimpses of Life in Baghdad on the Eve of War
Kathy Kelly
Waiting on the Baghdad Skies to Crack
Anthony Gancarski
Michelle
Makin's "Liberty Shields"
Rahul Mahajan and Robert
Jensen
Myths
and Facts About the War on Iraq
Jason Leopold
Cheney's
Lies About Halliburton and Iraq
Ron Jacobs
If War is Business as Usual, There Should be No Business as Usual
Chuck O'Connell
Predictions About the Iraq War
Douglas Herman
US Air Force Veteran on the Coming Air Campaign
Ralph Nader
Come
On Democrats, Stand Up for Peace
William Hughes
War is Theft
Sima Saeedi
Dispatch
from Iran
Hammond Guthrie
John Philip Sousa
Website of the Day
Iraq
Body Count
Hot Stories
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
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April 3,
2003
Now That Iraqis
Are Dying
Is Israel Really
More Secure?
By RAMZY BAROUD
Israel appears more at ease, now that American
and British bombs are falling on Iraq, harvesting the lives of
many innocents.
Yet despite Israel's unambiguous role
in all of this, few have connected the dots regarding the role
played by Israel and its mouthpieces in the United States. Israel's
task was to destroy one of the few remaining countries in the
region that opposed the US proxy in the Middle East. Following
Iraq, Israel was promised, that next would come Syria, Iran,
Hezbollah and the Palestinian resistance.
Many conveniently blame the war on the
'neo-conservatives' in the American administration, some 'embedded'
in the many think tanks that have tremendous influence on the
decision-making process in Washington. But the relationship between
the so-called neo-conservatives and the state of Israel is yet
to be exposed.
Those who recall events that preceded
the war, know too well how the "doves" within the administration,
at least for a short while, opposed the military option on Iraq
vs. those who championed the 'total war' strategy starting in
1992 (not following September. 11, 2001 as many are lead to believe),
as outlined in the 'Wolfowitz Doctrine.' Paul Wolfowitz, one
of the most vibrant advocates of Israel's policy in the US government
was then the undersecretary for policy in the Pentagon.
In March 1992, Wolfowitz, who was delegated
to draft the "Defense Planning Guidance", outlined
his ambitions instead, where he proposed that nations should
be 'discouraged' from "challenging our leadership".
Wolfowitz was one of the first to propose the pre-emptive war,
(used by Israel in its war against the Arabs in 1967) to allegedly
"prevent the development of weapons of mass destruction".
Wolfowitz, who seemed to get along very well with the right wing
elements within Israeli governments, 'accidentally' neglected
the fact that Israel's nuclear program was active as early as
1952, with the creation of the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission
(IAEC). He worried little about Israel, but aimed at 'disarming'
the sanctions devastated nation of Iraq.
The Wolfowitz proposal, which eventually
gained momentum and won over the support of the administrations'
big names, shamefully manipulating the September 11 tragedy to
score cheap victories for Israel to subdue its rivals in the
Middle East.
The neo-conservatives gained yet more
ground when President George Bush appointed Elliot Abrams, described
by a recent newsletter of the Washington-based Council for the
National Interest on March 14, 2003 as "a convicted felon
in the disgraceful Iran-Contra operation, outspoken mouthpiece
for Israel and critic of the peace process." Oddly, the
anti-peace advocate was made the President's new chief advisor
in the Middle East.
The pro-Israeli circle in the Administration,
ferocious advocates of the pre-emptive war strategy and whose
duel allegiances seem to disregard the interests of the American
people, was almost complete. Abrams joined the ranks of pro-Israeli
war hawks, including Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, the Under
Secretary of Defense for Policy, and most notably Donald Rumsfeld,
whose infamous referral to the Palestinian occupied territories
as "so-called occupied territories (being) a result of a
war which (Israel) won", left many pondering whether the
US was at all committed to peace and stability in the Middle
East.
Many people across the US must have doubted
the alleged relationship between al-Qaeda and the September 11
terrorist attacks on one hand, and Iraq on the other. (Considering
that even George Tenet of the CIA had bluntly told a Congress
Committee that, evidence of such links proved unsubstantiated.)
Why has the United States suddenly decided
to jump into the swamp of redrawing the geo-political map of
the Middle East, considering that neither its oil imports nor
its growing multinational corporations' influence in the region
is at risk (excluding the backlash inspired by the anti-American
sentiment, itself inspired by the cruelty of the Israeli army
in the occupied territories. It's no secret that Israel uses
American weapons to kill Palestinians, money to build and expand
its illegal settlements and political backing to thumb its nose
at international law and the international community.)
Zelman Shuval, a former Israeli ambassador
to Washington shed some light on the answer in an article, published
in the Hebrew newspaper Yediot Ahronot on January 16, 2003. Shuval,
said that Israel should make 'behind the scenes' efforts to get
the American administration to attack Iraq "sooner rather
than later". Postponing, delaying or canceling the war,
he asserted, would create "very negative consequences"
for Israel.
Of course, the United States' government
has its own reasons to attack Iraq: global supremacy, strategic
control, oil of course, the failure of the Afghanistan war to
boost the sense of security among Americans, diverting the attention
from the major financial scandals involving top government officials,
diverting attention from the crumbling economy and soaring unemployment.
But even with these reasons, Israel, its strong Washington lobby
and major players within the administration, were always on top
of things, pushing for a war that was vehemently rejected by
a few countries shy of the whole world.
Not only that Israel's role in this war
has been overlooked, but also pro-Israeli pundits have done their
best to lead the American people to look the other way from Israel's
real political motives in the war. Jerry Falwell and his fanatic
cronies on one hand, preached to millions about how Israel is
"a key player in end times events," for, "according
to scripture things are falling into place for Jesus' return
â¤| the great Tribulation, Armageddon and the millennial
reign of Christ."
In the meantime, pro-Israeli media collaborators
thought of every wrong reason to justify the war, from liberating
Iraq, to making the world a better place, to explaining how the
war fits neatly into the "clash of civilizations" theory,
a theory mainly aimed at engaging the world in a dishonest debate
over cultural feuds, while the issue resides in business, power,
control and politics. On the other hand, few dared to propose
that Israel will not be able to carry out its illegal policies
in the Middle East: land confiscation, unfair 'peace' proposition,
ethnic cleansing, and coercing its Arab neighbors into accepting
Israel's regional supremacy. (Who would dare say no to Israel
once Iraq is occupied, and while the US military machine is present
to crush any dissent? In fact, who would dare question the illegal
Israeli occupation of Palestinian and Arab lands, in violation
of international law, if the United States is itself occupying
an Arab country, also in violation of international law?)
It was no coincidence when Secretary
of State, Collin Powell rushed to address lobbyists from the
American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC, on March 30,
less than two weeks after the launching of the Iraq War. Powell
renewed the United States' commitment to Israel, condemned Palestinian
bombings as a "cowardly acts", (no word on the murder
of scores of Palestinians preceding the bombings), and assured
Israel and its agents in the US of the sacred bond between his
country and Israel. But most importantly, he promised a much
safer Middle East for Israel after the toppling of the Iraqi
government and President Saddam Hussein. Both Powell and the
AIPAC members of course knew too well that Israel had, for many
years, over two hundred nuclear warheads, including some thero-nuclear
devices (aka, hydrogen bombs), a secret revealed by Mordechai
Vanuni, a former Israeli nuclear technician, and also revealed
by U-2 Spy Plane photographs. (Suddenly a fully developed arsenal
of Weapons of Mass Destruction is no longer a concern)
Placing most of the American army in
desert battles to fight an illusionary enemy, while allowing
Israel to run wild, threatening an entire region and defying
international law in its oppression of the Palestinian people,
will by no means bring 'peace and prosperity' to the Middle East.
Moreover, hypocrisy, double-standards, and most certainly, unjust
wars have never achieved, neither peace nor security. What they
have done is evoked yet more anger, hatred, rebellion, and, dare
I say, terrorism. Perhaps before fighting terrorism in the mountains
of Tora Bora, we should examine where terrorism truly originates:
our own unjust policies.
Ramzy Baroud
is the editor-in-chief of PalestineChronicle.com and the editor
of the anthology "Searching
Jenin: Eyewitness Accounts of the Israeli Invasion 2002."
50 percent of the editor's royalties will go directly to assist
in the relief efforts in Jenin. He can be reached at:
ramzy5@aol.com
Today's
Features
William
S. Lind
The Pitfalls of War Planning
Jorge
Mariscal
Latinos on the Frontlines, Again
Paul
de Rooij
Arrogant Propaganda
Jo
Wilding
From Baghdad: "I Am His Mother"
Tarif
Abboushi
Operation Embedded Folly
Lee
Sustar
Labor's War at Home
Akiva Eldar
Israeli Dreams of Iraqi Oil
Bernard
Weiner
The Vietnam Connection
Robert
Fisk
The Graveyard at Baghdad's North
Gate
Steve
Perry
War Web Log 04/01
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