Category: Foreign Policy
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Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Becomes International Law
Today most of the world is celebrating a new international treaty, now in force, that bans all nuclear weapons. So far, 52 nations have ratified the treaty, and 50 nations ratifying is what is needed to become law. The United States, in case you’re wondering, has not signed the treaty and currently possesses 5,800 nuclear […]
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Dear Democrats: A Letter for Peace in the Middle East
If the Democratic Party and its presidential nominee, Joe Biden, have a weak spot, it is their general fondness –since the debacle of the Vietnam War– for military solutions and support, including the selling of American weapons, of governments whose commitment to democracy and human rights leave much to be desired. So in the interest […]
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John Bolton’s Wars (a poem)
If Rudy* is a “hand grenade”*Why did Bolton* send his aideTo disarm the whole charadeWhile Bolton lounges in the shade? Well, that is how his wars are made:From the safety of Bolton’s brain. Note: *Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of NYC serving as President Trump’s personal attorney and covert diplomat in Ukraine. *John Bolton was the […]
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Why I am a “bleeding-heart liberal”
To be “liberal” is to be “open to new ideas” and “favourable to or respectful of individual rights and freedoms.” Given the above definition, can a true liberal be a promoter or defender of that most ancient flaw of humanity–war? Is such a thing as a “liberal hawk” logical or possible? One of the oldest […]
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Couplets: “Tillerson, late of State . . .”
Tillerson, late of State, was fired by a tweet From the president, our “moron” (cheek!) As he was called, reportedly, by Till- erson, undiplomatically, but still . . .
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Syria: War Still Not the Answer
The ongoing war in Syria is a vast catastrophe; what began as a peaceable resistance movement against the Assad regime, one among many in the “Arab Spring” of 2011, has devolved into a brutal war in which at least 300,000 have been killed and as many as 96,000 Syrian civilians have died, including more than 17,000 children. It […]
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Let’s Stop Saying “Nuclear Option”
Must politicians and journalists succumb to the language of war? Or the flip side: Must we put words like “peace” on weapons of war? I’m thinking of the U.S. nuclear missiles called “peacekeepers.” The “war” on this or that, we say, or the dropping of “bombs” to mean big news; the use of “killer” as an adjective synonymous with […]
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It’s a Really Good Time for an Anti-War Movement
First published February 17, 2017 in The Capital Times If there is any consolation to be found in the election of President Trump, it is the opportunity to make anti-war protest great again. Most liberals/progressives were willing to overlook Hillary Clinton’s militaristic sympathies during the Democratic primary and in the national election. I certainly did, […]
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Why it’s Realistic to Ban Nuclear Weapons and Why U.S. Should Lead
Talks are underway this week at the United Nations in New York on a possible global treaty to officially ban all nuclear weapons. More than 120 nations are participating, but not surprisingly the nuclear nations (those that own nuclear weapons), including the United States, and various allies of them are not eager to outlaw what they […]
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“War is the Health of the State”–But Not People
How’s this for a grand generalization? The United States is not great at providing health care and really good at waging war. And by “good” I do not mean effectively. We wage war a lot because we can afford to and very few Americans ever personally feel its considerable terrible effects. And we don’t do health care very effectively […]
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In Guns We Trust, Again and Again
Surely it’s time to refute the great American myth our elected representatives in Washington, D.C. so believe in: an armed citizenry and war abroad will protect us from criminal and terrorist violence. There is a sort of mass mental incongruity going on, a splitting of the political brain in which the epidemic of “mass shootings” is deplored and denounced but ignored while generally […]
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Let’s just build a wall around Wisconsin
Since the building of really big walls for the good of the nation is now a popular idea among some Americans, especially Republican presidential candidates and a former Republican presidential candidate, Wisconsin Republicans now governing the state should consider building a wall around the state’s borders. Such a wall would keep the wrong people out and […]
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After Paris terrorist attack, it’s either war or “appeasement” many say
Arguing against military retaliation/intervention is not appeasement or surrender; it is an attempt to limit violence everywhere . . .
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“Killing Blindly in the Endless War” by Kathy Kelly
“These are people who had been working hard for months, non-stop for the past week. They had not gone home, they had not seen their families, they had just been working in the hospital to help people… and now they are dead. These people are friends, close friends. I have no words to express this. […]
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The Novelist & the President: what a true democracy is
When the American novelist/essayist Marilynne Robinson sat down with President Obama for a chat on matters literary, religious and political, President Obama asked her to — “Tell me a little bit about how your interest in Christianity converges with your concerns about democracy.” Robinson: Well, I believe that people are images of God. There’s no […]
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Bombing Hospitals All in a Day’s Work
[From the Institute of Policy Studies via Common Dreams] By Phyllis Bennis The destruction of the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, with 22 dead so far, including doctors, other staff and patients, capped a week that also saw the bombing of another hospital in Afghanistan, plus the U.S.-backed Saudi Arabian bombing of a […]
The Pacific 