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(20 comments) SHARE Monday, August 29, 2011 Ten Reasons to Move Cheney's Book to the Crime Section
Here are ten of Cheney's many offenses to inspire you to move Cheney's book, and to insert these bookmarks explaining why the author of In My Time should be "doin' time."
(13 comments) SHARE Thursday, March 12, 2015 Tom Cotton is the Worst Bully in the Senate ---- Here Are 10 Reasons Why
Hailing from Arkansas, 37-year-old Senator Cotton boasts the title of being the youngest member of the Senate, but he spouts the old warmongering rhetoric of 78-year-old Senator John McCain. From Guantanamo to Iran, food stamps to women's rights, here are ten reasons why Tom Cotton is a dangerous dude.
(2 comments) SHARE Friday, March 4, 2016 Hillary Clinton and Saudi Arabia
While Clinton's State Department was deeply invested in getting weapons to Saudi Arabia, the Clinton Foundation accepted millions of dollars in donations from both the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the weapons manufacturer Boeing. Christmas presents were being gifted all around.
(4 comments) SHARE Sunday, February 6, 2011 The Egyptian General and the Gladiola
Dateline: Cairo: Medea Benjamin shares her on-the-ground experience and participation in Egypt's liberation revolution.
(12 comments) SHARE Wednesday, October 27, 2010 Dear Jon Stewart, Sane People Protest Crazy Wars
The 10-30-10 rally on the capital's mall is looking more and more like a celebration of "slacktivism." Stewart is courting people who do not want to open their window and yell, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"
(9 comments) SHARE Wednesday, May 1, 2013 Julian Assange: Wikileaks Has the Goods on the Deaths of Innocent Iraqis Killed by the US
The government doesn't even claim that Bradley passed information directly to "the enemy" or that he had any intent to do so. But they are nonetheless making the absurd claim that merely informing the public about classified government activities makes someone a traitor because it "indirectly informs the enemy."
(12 comments) SHARE Sunday, August 22, 2010 The Iraq Legacy: Tell It Like It Is
With the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq, the administration, the military and the media are trying to put a positive spin on this grim chapter of U.S. history. The bitter truth is that the U.S. intervention has been an utter disaster for both Iraq and the United States.
(4 comments) SHARE Monday, February 5, 2018 How to Reel in the U.S. War Machine
A new coalition of about 70 groups across the country has formed to launch a Divest From the War Machine campaign. The coalition is inviting all those who are disgusted by the war profiteers to help galvanize university, city, pension and faith institutions to divest from war.
(4 comments) SHARE Tuesday, August 27, 2019 Are Sanders and Warren Throwing a Lifeline to the Military-Industrial Complex?
Among the front-runners in the Democratic Party presidential primary, Senators Warren and Sanders not only have the most progressive domestic agenda, but also the most anti-war, pro-diplomacy foreign policy agenda. The sharpest distinction between them is that Sanders has voted against over 80% of recent record military spending bills in the Senate, while Warren has voted for two thirds of them.
(14 comments) SHARE Tuesday, February 28, 2012 10 Reasons Why the Israel Lobby AIPAC is So Dangerous
AIPAC, a de facto agent for a foreign government, has influence on US policy out of all proportion to the number of Americans who support its policies. From stopping a catastrophic war with Iran to finally solving the Israel/Palestine conflict, an essential starting point is breaking AIPAC's grip on U.S. policy.
(5 comments) SHARE Thursday, March 28, 2019 CODEPINK Ranks the 2020 Presidential Candidates on War, Peace and Military Spendin
Even the candidates who are vowing to tackle this crisis of militarism are doing so in ways that leave serious questions unanswered. Not one of them has said how much they would cut the record military budget that makes these wars possible and thus almost inevitable.
(22 comments) SHARE Saturday, March 17, 2018 The Staggering Death Toll in Iraq
Using revised figures from Iraq Body Count, we estimate that 2.4 million Iraqis have been killed since 2003 as a result of our country's illegal invasion. Please remember that each person killed represents someone's loved one. These are mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters. One death impacts an entire community; collectively, they impact an entire nation.
(6 comments) SHARE Sunday, May 6, 2018 Wake Up and Stop the Madness of a War With Iran
The great tragedy of the horrifying specter of another Middle East war is that it is wholly fabricated by the U.S. administration. The Iran deal is a good one (it would be amazing if Trump could negotiate as good a deal with North Korea), and Iran is fully complying with its end of the bargain.
(40 comments) SHARE Saturday, February 13, 2016 Should Henry Kissinger Mentor a Presidential Candidate?
Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton had a spirited exchange about an unlikely topic: the 92-year-old former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Sanders berated Clinton for saying that she appreciated the foreign-policy mentoring she got from Henry Kissinger. "I happen to believe," said Sanders, "that Henry Kissinger was one of the most destructive secretaries of state in the modern history of this country."
(4 comments) SHARE Thursday, September 26, 2019 10 Ways that the Climate Crisis and Militarism are Intertwined
One area intimately linked to the climate crisis that gets little attention is militarism. Here are some of the ways these issues--and their solutions--are intertwined.
(5 comments) SHARE Monday, March 9, 2015 Dividing the Pie: Cuba's Ration System after 50 years
telesur is an alternative representation for world news. we focus on the people, the common citizen, stories untold by traditonal media. you will only find them at telesur.
(5 comments) SHARE Saturday, December 26, 2009 Christmas in Cairo: The Grassroots Comes To Gaza's Aid
As the year-end brings horrifying memories to the Palestinians in Gaza, we hope they recognize that grassroots groups the world over are not only thinking of them, but actively organizing to lift the siege that makes their lives so difficult.
(12 comments) SHARE Wednesday, October 22, 2014 Don't Ask the Pentagon Where Its Money Goes
Every taxpayer, business, and government agency in America is supposed to be able to pass a financial audit by the feds, every year. It's the law, so we do our duty. There's one exception: the Pentagon. It's high time the Defense Department fulfilled its commitment to account for every taxpayer dollar in its $555-billion budget.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, April 13, 2011 Endless War and Empire: Your Tax Dollars at Work
While our fiscal woes have led Congress to slash food aid this year to the world's poor -- rest assured, fellow Americans -- the U.S. government will keep using your tax dollars to kill them. For while John Boehner and Barack Obama might disagree on some things, there's one area they can agree on: War. And the need for more of it.
(7 comments) SHARE Thursday, August 6, 2015 10 Steps to Wean US Foreign Policy off Militarism
teleSUR English is an alternative representation for world news. we focus on the people, the common citizen, stories untold by traditonal media. you will only find them at teleSUR.
(6 comments) SHARE Saturday, July 29, 2017 Urgent Warning: Time to Hit the Reset Button on US-Korean Policy
The North Korean leadership is not acting irrationally; on the contrary. On July 29, the day after the test, North Korean President Kim Jong-un asserted that the threat of sanctions or military action "only strengthens our resolve and further justifies our possession of nuclear weapons."
(4 comments) SHARE Friday, October 18, 2019 Trump's Fake Withdrawal From Endless War
Despite his endless promises to end these wars, Trump has instead been dropping more bombs and missiles on other countries than Bush II and Obama put together -- a terrifying feat.
(7 comments) SHARE Tuesday, June 18, 2019 U.S. Sanctions: Economic Sabotage That Is Deadly, Illegal, and Ineffective
While the world condemns the recent attacks on the oil tankers and tries to identify the culprit, global condemnation should also focus on the country responsible for the deadly, illegal and ineffective economic warfare at the heart of this crisis: the United States.
(2 comments) SHARE Friday, October 28, 2022 The Growing Chorus For Peace In Ukraine
This is an extremely dangerous moment in history. Americans are waking up to the reality that this war threatens us with the existential danger of nuclear war - a danger most Americans thought we had survived once and for all at the end of the First Cold War.
(4 comments) SHARE Tuesday, February 23, 2010 With 1000 US Soldiers Dead In Afghanistan, Time To Revive the Anti-war Agenda
U.S. Corporal Gregory S. Stultz, 22, of Brazil, Indiana, died on February 19, 2010 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. According to icasualties.org, Stultz's death marks the grim milestone of 1,000 American soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
(3 comments) SHARE Tuesday, August 30, 2016 Hillary Clinton, the Podesta Group and the Saudi Regime: A Fatal Menage a Trois
If I told you that Democratic Party lobbyist Tony Podesta, whose brother John Podesta chairs Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, is a registered foreign agent on the Saudi government's payroll, you'd probably think I was a Trump-thumping, conspiratorial nutcase. But it's true.
(3 comments) SHARE Thursday, May 15, 2014 10 Reasons to Love Uruguay's President Jose Mujica
Jose Mujica, President of Uruguay, a 78-year-old former Marxist guerrilla who spent 14 years in prison, mostly in solitary confinement, recently visited the USA. He lectured a roomful of businessmen at the US Chamber of Commerce about the benefits of redistributing wealth and raising workers' salaries. He told students at American University that there are no "just wars."
It's hard not to love the guy.
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, December 3, 2019 Trump Was Right: NATO Should Be Obsolete
Rather than being a strong alliance with a clear purpose, NATO, this 70-year-old organization that is meeting in London on December 4, is a stale military holdover from the Cold War days that should have gracefully retired many years ago.
(2 comments) SHARE Wednesday, March 18, 2015 Why Not Travel to Cuba?
If you want to scuba dive in the coral reefs alongside Cuba's Varadero Beach, you could face civil penalties, rack up thousands of dollars in fines, and even endure a criminal prosecution once you get home from your vacation. In fact, Cuba is the only country in the world where the U.S. government restricts travel.
(16 comments) SHARE Friday, September 16, 2011 Congress Sees Middle East Through AIPAC-Colored Glasses
The democratic movements sweeping the Arab world are clamoring for Palestinian rights. Unconditional U.S. support for Israel keeps the region in turmoil, pits us against world opinion and jeopardizes our national security. It's time for Congress to take off the AIPAC blinders.
(22 comments) SHARE Wednesday, December 13, 2017 Democrats abandon the resist Trump movement when it comes to Jerusalem
One would think Democrats would be be jumping at the chance to hammer Trump for his reckless plans and their consequences, pitting us, once again, against the rest of the world and obliterating our credibility to be an honest broker. Instead, most have been, silent or, worse yet, taking credit themselves for Trump actions.
(8 comments) SHARE Saturday, November 16, 2019 Why Aren't People in the US Rising Up Like Those Elsewhere in the World?
With more and more Americans, especially young people, demanding an alternative to a system that doesn't serve their needs, the tinder for a revolutionary movement is everywhere. We just have to keep kicking up sparks until one catches fire.
(17 comments) SHARE Sunday, November 25, 2012 Ground the Drones
Drone attacks are out of control, killing thousands, many of them civilians, in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, creating widespread anti-American sentiment and setting a dangerous precedent that will come back to haunt us. Anti-drone actions have sprung up all over the United States at Air Force bases where the drones are piloted, at the headquarters of drone makers, at the CIA and in Congressional offices.
(3 comments) SHARE Monday, March 12, 2012 Busted for Busting Out at Bank of America
"Stripping Protestors In Pink Bras Crashed Bank Of America CEO Brian Moynihan's Speech," declared Business Insider on March 8, showing Moynihan's stern photo with a pink bra playfully dangling in the air beside him.
(25 comments) SHARE Thursday, September 5, 2013 John Kerry sells a war that Americans aren't buying
The clock is ticking, with President Obama and Secretary Kerry frantically selling a war that the American people don't want to buy. If Congress goes ahead and approves military action, they -- unlike their British counterparts -- will fail to represent the people who elected them.
(12 comments) SHARE Wednesday, March 9, 2022 There Is No Wisdom in Pretending That Ukraine's Neo-Nazis Don't Exist
Neo-Nazis also dominated the Azov Battalion which was founded by Andriy Biletsky an avowed white supremacist who claimed that Ukraine's national purpose was to rid the country of Jews and other inferior races.
(3 comments) SHARE Monday, July 8, 2019 Dogs of War Howl for Blood in Iran While Americans Cheer US Bombers on July 4th
President Trump's order to the Pentagon to have an aerial parade of military aircraft over Washington, DC on July 4 provided a history lesson of America's war mongering in the past two decades, and a terrifying view of what might appear in the skies of Iran if John Bolton gets his way.
(10 comments) SHARE Monday, September 12, 2016 What Was Saudi Arabia's Involvement in 9/11?
No matter what happens with the 9/11 families' lawsuits, two things are certain: One, more information will certainly come out, sooner or later, about the extent of official Saudi involvement in the 9/11 attacks. Two, the Wahhabist ideology that defines Saudi Arabia has spawned leaders like the late Osama bin Laden and terrorist groups like al-Qaida.
(4 comments) SHARE Friday, June 1, 2018 The Message From Saudi's "Reformist" Crown Prince to Saudi Women: Shut Up And Drive
The next time you hear the hoopla about Saudi women driving or some propaganda story about the reformist crown prince, think about al-Hathloul and the women who have risked their lives not just to drive a car, but to drive out the extreme misogyny that forms the basis of the present-day Saudi regime.
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, December 19, 2019 The Real Lesson of Afghanistan Is That Regime Change Does Not Work
A world in which war is normal and peace is out of reach is no more survivable or sustainable than a world where the atmosphere gets hotter every year. Permanently ending this entire U.S. policy of coercive regime change is therefore a political, moral and existential imperative.
(3 comments) SHARE Wednesday, June 5, 2019 Travel to Cuba Falls Victim to John Bolton's Wrath
John Bolton hates the governments of Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua calling them the "troika of tyranny" and the "three stooges of socialism" and is determined to use his time as National Security Adviser to eliminate the vestiges of socialism in our hemisphere.
(26 comments) SHARE Wednesday, July 15, 2020 10 Reasons Why Defunding Police Should Lead to Defunding War
Just as we want to radically redefine the role of police in our local communities, so we must radically redefine the role of military personnel in the global community.
(2 comments) SHARE Wednesday, July 19, 2017 The Torture-Friendly Trump Administration
Trump's refusal to publicly condemn the secret prisons, together with the appointments of people who played a role in George W. Bush's torture program, should set off alarm bells. Only stupid people say torture works, and one of them is sitting in the White House.
SHARE Saturday, November 25, 2017 Cubans Are Starting Small Businesses, but the U.S. Is Hurting Them
On November 1, for the 26th year in a row, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to condemn the decades-old U.S. embargo against Cuba. The vote this year was 191 nations against the embargo vs. two in favor: the United States and Israel.
(4 comments) SHARE Tuesday, April 12, 2022 From Mosul to Raqqa to Mariupol, Killing Civilians is a Crime
Americans have been shocked by the death and destruction of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, filling our screens with bombed buildings and dead bodies lying in the street. But the United States and its allies have waged war in country after country for decades, carving swathes of destruction through cities, towns and villages on a far greater scale than has so far disfigured Ukraine.
(51 comments) SHARE Thursday, February 17, 2022 What Is Going to Happen in Ukraine?
Every day brings new noise and fury in the crisis over Ukraine, mostly from Washington. But what is really likely to happen?
There are three possible scenarios:
(3 comments) SHARE Tuesday, December 26, 2017 10 Good Things About a TERRIBLE Year
Let's face it: It has been a particularly horrible year for anyone with a progressive agenda. But As we head into the new year, let's keep ourselves inspired by the hard work of folks at home and abroad who gave us something to cheer about for 2017. May we have a much longer list in 2018.
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, June 20, 2017 America will regret helping Saudi Arabia bomb Yemen
"USA Kills Yemeni People," screams graffiti plastered on walls in Yemen's capital Sana'a. The Yemeni people who have been on the receiving end of US bombs dropped by Saudi pilots know all too well that the United States is complicit in their suffering.
(7 comments) SHARE Wednesday, June 17, 2020 Trump Hammers Cuba While Cuba Cures the Sick Worldwide
It seems that the more Cuba helps the world, the more it gets hammered by the Trump administration.As an electoral strategy, these are signs that Trump's aggression towards Cuba may not pay off.
(5 comments) SHARE Friday, February 27, 2015 10 Reasons To Pray for AIPAC's Decline
As a secular Jew, I don't do much praying. But this week, as the powerful pro-Israeli government lobby AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) holds its annual policy meeting in Washington DC, I'm praying that this year marks the beginning of the end of the lobby's grip on US foreign policy.
(6 comments) SHARE Wednesday, September 18, 2019 Will Americans Let Trump Start World War III for Saudi Arabia and Israel?
If the U.S. military, or Israel or Saudi Arabia, had a viable plan to attack Iran without triggering a wider war, they would have done so long ago. We must tell Trump, Congressional leaders and all our elected representatives that we reject another war and that we understand how easily any U.S. attack on Iran could quickly spiral into an uncontainable and catastrophic regional or world war.
(3 comments) SHARE Monday, December 30, 2019 10 Good Things About 2019
No matter what happens with the impeachment process in the Senate, we must mobilize to defeat Trump and build a more effective progressive movement.
(12 comments) SHARE Tuesday, September 10, 2019 Bolton is Fired
Four months ago in May, we cajoled Donald Trump into sending out the email below about firing John Bolton. We collected around close to 5,000 signatures and traveled to Bolton's home in Maryland to deliver them--and carry out a citizens arrest of the warhawk! Though Bolton refused to come to the door and accept our citizens' arrest, we knew we were on the right track. Today the wonderful news came in: Bolton has been fired!
(11 comments) SHARE Wednesday, April 26, 2017 Women Beware: Saudi Arabia Charged With Shaping Global Standards For Women's Equality
It's hard to sink to a greater depth of hypocrisy than voting Saudi Arabia onto a UN Commission charged with promoting women's equality and empowerment. And yet, on April 23rd, that is precisely what the UN Economic and Social Council did.
(6 comments) SHARE Wednesday, March 23, 2011 Instead of Bombing Dictators, Stop Selling Them Bombs
When all you have is bombs, everything starts to look like a target. And so after years of providing Libya's dictator with the weapons he's been using against the people, all the international community -- France, Britain and the United States -- has to offer the people of Libya is more bombs, this time dropped from the sky rather than delivered in a box to Muammar Gaddafi's palace.
(4 comments) SHARE Friday, December 27, 2013 10 Good Things about the Year 2013
It would be easy to make a list of 10 bad things--wars, government shut-down, drone attacks, lack of progress on immigrant rights, lousy health-care reform. But it's also been a year of extraordinary activism: whistleblowers, DREAMers, Walmart workers, peacemakers, gay rights advocates, garment workers. As the year ends, let's pay tribute to the good things their efforts have wrought.
SHARE Thursday, May 7, 2015 Women Bridge Divide Between Koreas By Crossing the DMZ
The women involved in Women Cross the DMZ include peace activists, writers, professors, lawyers, gender equality advocates, former diplomats, UN representatives, and humanitarians. It includes the famous U.S. women's rights advocate Gloria Steinem, and Mairead Maguire and Leymah Gbowee, both Nobel Peace Prize Laureates for their work in ending civil conflicts in Northern Ireland and Liberia respectively.
SHARE Friday, January 10, 2020 10 Ways Trump's Actions Against Iran Hurt Americans and the Region
The U.S. assassination of General Soleimani has not yet plunged us into a full-scale war with Iran thanks to the Iranian government's measured response, which demonstrated its capabilities without actually harming U.S. troops or escalating the conflict. But the danger of a full-blown war still exists, and Donald Trump's actions are already wreaking havoc.
Trump's actions make the region, and the American people, less safe...
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, December 18, 2019 Five Years After Obama's Cuba Opening, Cubans Are Reeling From the "Trump Effect"
Trump's policies are making life harder for Cuba's 10 million people. There is less food and medicines; the hospitals are experiencing all kinds of shortages. Cuba is feeling a tremendous sense of uncertainty, since they don't know if things will get worse. They say their only hope is that the American people will vote for a new president.
(2 comments) SHARE Friday, April 3, 2020 Could COVID-19 reshape global leadership?
The United States is struggling to address its own problems with COVID-19. For many months to come, it will be grappling with the dilemma of how to find enough ventilators, protective equipment, tests and medical staff.
(4 comments) SHARE Wednesday, August 19, 2015 Who's the Real Troublemaker in the Middle East?
Iran's no democratic paradise. But on many counts, Washington's Saudi allies are even worse. The Saudi royals crush dissent with an iron fist, spread extremist ideology, and invade their neighbors with impunity. While they beat up on the White House for making peace with America's enemies, maybe voters should ask them more questions about America's friends.
SHARE Tuesday, February 21, 2012 Police Chief Timoney, Meet Bahraini Mothers
John Timoney, controversial former Miami Police chief is brought into Bahrain and the use of tear gas and violence sky rockets.
(18 comments) SHARE Wednesday, May 15, 2019 Venezuela Embassy Protection Collective Defies "No Trespass" Order
History will record this as a key turning point in US-Venezuela relations, US violation of a key tenet of international law and most of all, as a heroic example of US citizens doing everything in their power -- including going without food, water and electricity and facing daily assaults by the opposition -- to try to stop a US-orchestrated coup.
SHARE Saturday, June 24, 2017 Why Does Donald Trump Insist on More Military Spending?
Americans are tired of war, yet Donald Trump's budget sends an unfortunate but clear message. He is willing to cut funds that help the poor, protect the environment, and promote the arts -- things that generally keep us happy and safe -- in order to fund a never-ending, ever-growing war machine.
(8 comments) SHARE Thursday, January 12, 2017 America dropped 26,171 bombs in 2016. What a bloody end to Obama's reign
As drone-warrior-in-chief, Obama spread the use of drones outside the declared battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, mainly to Pakistan and Yemen. Obama authorized over 10 times more drone strikes than George W Bush, and automatically painted all males of military age in these regions as combatants, making them fair game for remote controlled killing.
(18 comments) SHARE Tuesday, August 6, 2013 10 Ways to Reduce the Threat of Terrorist Attacks on Americans
This 10-point plan would significantly reduce terrorist threats, save taxpayers billions of dollars and make Americans more loved and admired in the world. After a decade of wielding the military stick, it's time for some carrots.
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, July 4, 2019 Trump Celebrates Himself on July 4th
This year's Fourth of July celebration on the National Mall in Washington, DC has become a stop on the Trump for President re-election campaign trail. His "Salute to America" has become a "Salute to Donald Trump." He has called the events the "show of a lifetime!" and an unprecedented celebration of American military strength.
SHARE Friday, August 14, 2020 The Deceptive Trump, UAE-Israel "Peace Deal"
Among the most brutal realities for Palestinians is loss of support from Arab states, who pay lip service to their own populations, while drawing closer to Israel with economic interests and Iran in mind, write Medea Benjamin and Ariel Gold.
(3 comments) SHARE Monday, April 30, 2018 Olive Branch for North Korea, Bombs for Iran?
While the world is cheering the upcoming meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jung Un (including Trump's fans calling for a Nobel Peace Prize), Trump is needlessly and recklessly driving our nation down a path toward war with Iran -- and neither Congress nor the American people seem to care.
(2 comments) SHARE Thursday, March 19, 2015 Iraq, Libya...Iran? U.S. Activists Mark War Anniversaries With Spring Rising
On the anniversaries of the two epic failures in Iraq and Libya, anti-war activists are gathering for four days of actions from March 18-21. They will protest the past interventions, the present-day US participation in wars in the Middle East and the possibility of a new war with Iran. The gathering will culminate at a rally at the White House on Saturday, March 21.
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, July 25, 2017 A Global Movement to Confront Drone Warfare
Drones allowed the US military and CIA to intervene militarily with ease, even in places where we were not at war. These institutions operated secretly, without Congressional approval, and they lied to the public about the accuracy and effectiveness of drone strikes.
(2 comments) SHARE Saturday, November 24, 2018 Will the new House Dems take on the War Lobby?
How can we expect the new Democratic House of Representatives to stand up to the war lobby if they choose leaders who voted for the disastrous Iraq war, fail to lead on critical current issues of war, peace and record military spending, and are still in the pay of military-industrial interests?
SHARE Wednesday, October 2, 2019 One Year After Khashoggi's Brutal Murder: Business as Usual
Saudi Arabia is holding its "Davos in the Desert" investment conference at the end of this month and mendacious world leaders and businesspeople are once again embracing a country that should be a pariah state, writes Medea Benjamin.
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, July 12, 2018 Why Is a Retired Accountant From Texas Risking His Life to Sail to Gaza?
On the heels of the Great March of Return in Gaza, when Israeli soldiers killed 112 Palestinian protesters and wounded thousands more, a four-ship Freedom Flotilla will set sail for Gaza this month from a port in the Mediterranean Sea. The heroic attempts to reach Gaza, year after year, draw international attention to the siege and the plight of the Palestinians who live there.
(15 comments) SHARE Saturday, May 25, 2013 Why I Spoke Out at Obama's Foreign Policy Speech
The bulk of the president's speech was devoted to justifying drone strikes. I was shocked when the President claimed that his administration did everything it could to capture suspects instead of killing them. That is just not true. Obama's reliance on drones is precisely because he did not want to be bothered with capturing suspects and bringing them to trial.
SHARE Tuesday, March 31, 2015 Menendez Downfall Could Be Diplomacy's Windfall
Senator Robert Menendez, a powerful democrat from New Jersey, has been down on his luck lately. He is currently under federal investigation for corruption, and although the Senator has denied all allegations, charges are expected to be filed against him any day now.
This is not the first time the senator has been investigated.
(13 comments) SHARE Wednesday, June 23, 2021 How Biden's Nuclear Train-Wreck Helped Raisi Win Iranian Election
Raisi has a record of brutally cracking down on government opponents and his election is a severe blow to Iranians struggling for a more liberal, open society. He also has a history of anti-Western sentiment and says he would refuse to meet with President Biden.
Could Raisi's victory have been averted if President Biden had rejoined the Iran deal right after coming into the White House?
(3 comments) SHARE Thursday, January 2, 2020 A New Year and a New Trump Foreign Policy Blunder in Iraq
Trump's effort to blame Iran for this crisis is simply a ploy to divert attention from his own bungled policy. In reality, the blame for the present crisis should be placed squarely on the doorstep of the White House itself.
(1 comments) SHARE Saturday, August 3, 2019 Guardianship System Eased, But Saudi Arabia Still Oppresses Women
The Saudi government announced it will be eliminating part of the male guardianship system, finally granting women the right to obtain passports and travel (if 21 years of age or over), and obtain family identification cards without the need for male authorization. While the easing of the guardianship system is indeed welcome news, Saudi Arabia remains one of the world's most repressive societies for women.
(13 comments) SHARE Wednesday, October 28, 2015 Hillary Clinton Hasn't Learned a Thing from Iraq
When it comes to war and peace, it might not matter too much if a Republican or Hillary Clinton wins the White House. In either case, the winner will be the military-industrial complex President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about.
(1 comments) SHARE Saturday, July 9, 2016 Time to rethink NATO
Next year, the Pentagon plans to quadruple military spending in Europe to $3.4 billion and begin rotating an armored brigade through Eastern Europe -- in addition to extra NATO forces to be deployed to Poland and the Baltics. The U.S., the main force behind NATO, is already in a deadly proxy war in eastern Ukraine.
(3 comments) SHARE Wednesday, June 10, 2020 Defund the Police, Defund the Military
Americans were left shell-shocked by the heavily armed troops, the tear gas, the rubber bullets and the tanks that turned U.S. streets into war zones. They were also shocked to realize how easy it was for President Trump, single-handedly, to muster such a chilling array of force.
(12 comments) SHARE Friday, December 2, 2016 Bush's Iraq Lies, Uncontested, Will Haunt Us Under Trump
There is no decision more grave than taking your nation to war. There is nothing more criminal than basing that war on lies. And there is nothing more derelict than failing to prosecute those responsible for taking us to war on the basis of lies. Today, many of the very same architects of the Iraq invasion, from General David Petraeus to John Bolton, may join the Trump admininistration and take us into a new war with Iran.
(3 comments) SHARE Tuesday, March 17, 2020 To Help Stem Coronavirus, Lift Sanctions on Iran
This is not a time to squeeze countries economically because we don't like their governments. Economic sanctions destroy healthcare systems and kill people. They are a form of warfare and a spreader of pandemics.
(5 comments) SHARE Tuesday, June 15, 2021 Why Democracies in G7 & NATO Should Reject U.S. Leadership
there is a growing consensus in the US that the exceptional power of wealthy Americans and corporations to influence election results and government policies has led to a de facto system of government that fails to reflect the will of the American people on many critical issues.
So when President Biden meets with the leaders of democratic countries, he represents a country that is, in many ways, an undemocratic outlier...
(4 comments) SHARE Monday, May 17, 2021 How the United States Helps To Kill Palestinians
U.S. policy has perpetuated the crisis and atrocities of the Israeli occupation by unconditionally supporting Israel in three distinct ways: militarily, diplomatically and politically.
(3 comments) SHARE Sunday, February 21, 2016 Bernie's Broadsides Against Kissinger Weren't Even Half of It
From 1969 through 1973, it was Kissinger, along with President Nixon, who oversaw the slaughter in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos -- killing perhaps one million during this period. There could be another category of people who shouldn't solicit Kissinger's dangerous opinions: presidential candidates.
(18 comments) SHARE Tuesday, May 1, 2012 Why I Interrupted Obama Counterterrorism Adviser John Brennan
No one who helped Obama get elected understood we were working for an assassin. Since 2004, the U.S. has killed between 2,500-3,000 people in Pakistan. Of those, between 479 and 811 were civilians, 174 of them children. Drones did most if not all of this. How many others have been killed by the 18 intelligence agencies we now have? How many have military Special Ops teams killed? Why do Americans accept this evil?
(3 comments) SHARE Thursday, November 22, 2018 Will the New House Democrats Take on the War Lobby?
How can we expect the new Democratic House of Representatives to stand up to the war lobby if they choose leaders who voted for the disastrous Iraq war, fail to lead on critical current issues of war, peace and record military spending, and are still in the pay of military-industrial interests?
(3 comments) SHARE Monday, April 21, 2014 Behind the Egyptian Junta’s Iron Curtain
After a recent CODEPINK delegation to Egypt ended up in deportations and assault , we have become acutely aware of some of the horrors Egyptians are facing in the aftermath of the July 3 coup that toppled Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi.
SHARE Thursday, December 9, 2021 Ten Contradictions That Plague Biden's Democracy Summit
President Biden's virtual Summit for Democracyon December 9-10 is part of a campaign to restore the United States' standing in the world, which took such a beating under President Trump's erratic foreign policies. The greater possible value of this gathering of 111 countries is that it could instead serve as an "intervention," or an opportunity for people and governments around the world to express their concerns
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, November 16, 2017 "Trump Effect" in Cuba Preserves Undemocratic Cold War Policy
Between the new restrictions and the travel warning, Cuba's burgeoning private sector has already felt what Cubans call "the Trump effect." Jose Colome, owner of Starbien private restaurant in Havana that employs 35 people, shook his head in disgust. "We had 48 reservations from U.S. tourist groups booked in the past three months; 30 of them cancelled."
(2 comments) SHARE Monday, April 19, 2010 Reading the Tea Leaves: Will the Empire Break Up the Party?
The Tea Party wants small government, right? Actually, it's not so simple. In fact, there is an ideological schism within the Tea Party that you could drive a Bradley tank through.
On Tax Day, my CODEPINK colleagues and I conducted 50 interviews with Tea Party members about the cost of war and empire. With military spending eating up 20 percent of the federal budget and half of all discretionary spending, we figured...
(6 comments) SHARE Tuesday, March 8, 2016 Hillary Might Break the Glass Ceiling If She Wins, But She Won't Put a Dent in the Military-Industrial Complex
Clinton may well have been the administration's most vociferous advocate for military action. A Hillary Clinton presidency would symbolically break the glass ceiling for women in the United States, but it would be unlikely to break through the military-industrial complex that has been keeping our nation in a perpetual state of war -- killing people around the world, plenty of them women and children.
(9 comments) SHARE Friday, July 27, 2018 Who Will Stop Trump From Tweeting Us into War With Iran?
Both Saudi Arabia and Israel have been trying to suck the United States into their decades-old feud with Iran. Both opposed the Iran nuclear deal, and Israel has been advocating for the U.S. military to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities (even though Israel has several hundred nuclear weapons of its own and Iran has none.)
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, July 2, 2020 A New Anti-War Mobilization Must Topple Trump -- and Challenge Biden
Trump has come closer to starting new wars with North Korea, Venezuela, and Iran than to ending any of the wars he inherited from Obama. His first-term record shows Trump to be just another warmonger in chief.
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, May 18, 2017 10 Reasons Trump Should Not Strengthen U.S.-Saudi Ties
Donald Trump has selected Saudi Arabia as the destination for his first trip abroad, strengthening U.S. ties to a regime that is fueling the very extremism, intolerance and violence that the US government purports to eradicate. Here are 10 reasons why the United States should not be closely allied with the Saudi kingdom.
(1 comments) SHARE Sunday, October 24, 2021 Our Future vs. Neoliberalism
the results of Reagan and Thatcher's neoliberal counter-revolution have led us into a crisis in which finding alternatives to neoliberalism has become a matter of survival for humanity.
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, May 25, 2021 The Emperor's New Rules
The world is reeling in horror at the latest Israeli massacre of hundreds of men, women and children in Gaza.
In contrast to U.S. actions, in nearly every speech or interview, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken keeps promising to uphold and defend the "rules-based order."
What rules could possibly legitimize the kind of destruction we just witnessed in Gaza, and who would want to live in a world ruled by them?
(3 comments) SHARE Wednesday, January 19, 2022 Biden has largely doubled down on Trump's most dangerous and destabilizing foreign policies.
President Biden and the Democrats were highly critical of President Trump's foreign policy, so it was reasonable to expect that Biden would quickly remedy its worst impacts.
Tragically for America and the world, Biden has failed to restore Obama's progressive initiatives, and has instead doubled down on many of Trump's most dangerous and destabilizing policies.
(3 comments) SHARE Wednesday, June 14, 2017 Head of National Nurses Encourages Bernie Sanders to Start a People's Party
The audience in the packed Chicago theater included volunteers for a new effort called Draft Bernie for a People's Party. They waved Draft Bernie signs and throughout Sanders' speech, urged him to launch a new party.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, December 28, 2016 No More Holiday Gifts for Repressive Regimes
The only way to end the humanitarian crisis in Yemen is to end the conflict. That means pushing harder for a political solution and calling for an immediate ceasefire. Until that happens, the United States should stop its military support for the Saudi regime.
(12 comments) SHARE Tuesday, June 1, 2010 Obama Must Join Global Condemnation of Israeli Flotilla Assault
Conspicuously absent from the Nobel Peace prize signees was President Barack Obama. Instead of expressing outrage at an attack on civilian ships in international waters, Obama issued a tepid statement saying he "deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries sustained."
SHARE Friday, January 16, 2015 "Flogging for Blogging" Official Saudi Policy
US government's response to egregious and inhumane punishments from its ally usually takes the form of expressing "concern." There is no major public condemnation. No threats of cutting arms sales. No sanctions against government officials. The US government basically turns a blind eye to the medieval forms of torture the Saudis still mete out.
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, June 4, 2013 Leaving Truth outside the Court House at Bradley Manning's Trial
This epic trial is being held in a tiny courtroom that only fits a total of 50 people. Only 16 spaces were allocated to the public; the rest had to go to an overflow theater that seated about 100, or a trailer next to the courtroom with room for 35. Manning's trial is the most stark example of the Obama administration's relentless stance against whistleblowers.
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, April 9, 2012 Obama Administration Silencing Pakistani Drone-Strike Lawyer
an attorney who has advocated for victims of drone strikes in Pakistan is being treated as a pariah, having his visa application refused. This is preventing him from speaking at the Drone Summit conference.
(4 comments) SHARE Tuesday, August 9, 2011 Stop Sacrificing US Soldiers for Afghan Debacle
The deaths of these 31 Americans, and the more than 2,600 U.S. soldiers who have died in this quagmire, should raise a renewed debate about our presence in Afghanistan. Let's tell President Obama that the best way to pay tribute to the soldiers who have died -- and to address our financial crisis -- is to bring the rest of the troops home.
(1 comments) SHARE Sunday, November 12, 2017 While Clinching Deals With Communist China, Trump Cracks Down on Trade and Travel to Cuba
As President Trump was clinching new business deals with the repressive Communist government of China, the Trump administration announced its new rules rolling back President Obama's opening with Cuba. The new regulations restricting travel and trade with the Caribbean island will make it once again illegal for Americans to travel to Cuba without a special license from the Treasury Department.
(1 comments) SHARE Saturday, December 29, 2018 10 Good Things About 2018
Despite Trump in the White House and the rise of right-wing movements around the globe, 2018 was chock full of good things -- most of which went under-reported because of all the attention on Donald Trump. And speaking of Trump, probably the most important development of all: the wagons encircling Trump, making his presidency seems less and less tenable.
(2 comments) SHARE Saturday, May 30, 2020 Who Are the Secret Puppet-Masters Behind Trump's War on Iran?
what is it about Iran that makes it such a target of hostility for Trump and the neocons? There are many repressive regimes in the world, and many of them are close U.S. allies, so this policy is clearly not based on an objective assessment that Iran is more repressive than Egypt, Saudi Arabia or other monarchies in the Persian Gulf.
(3 comments) SHARE Saturday, October 16, 2021 Despite Taliban Rule, Feminists Must Not Abandon Afghan Women
While we should all be outraged about the abuses and deterioration of rights that Afghan women are experiencing, the Taliban aren't the only cause of women's distress right now. The economy and public services are screeching to a halt.
(4 comments) SHARE Tuesday, January 8, 2019 The New Congress Needs to Create a Green Planet at Peace
Demilitarizing US foreign policy should be among the top items on the agenda of the new Congress. Just as we are witnessing a rising movement for a visionary Green New Deal, so, too, the time has come for a New Peace Deal that repudiates endless war and the threat of nuclear war which, along with catastrophic climate change, poses an existential threat to our planet.
SHARE Saturday, June 27, 2020 Will Biden Remain Tone Deaf to Palestinian Rights?
The sentiment that US leaders must take a critical look at Israeli policies is reflected in a letter recently sent to Biden by over 100 groups, calling on him to adopt policies toward the Israeli government and Palestinian people "based on the principles of equality and justice for all."
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, October 11, 2022 Biden's Broken Promise to Avoid War with Russia May Kill Us All
It is widely acknowledged that U.S. and NATO officers are now fully involved in Ukraine's operational war planning aided by a broad range of U.S. intelligence gathering and analysis to exploit Russia's military vulnerabilities.
(3 comments) SHARE Monday, August 23, 2010 Blackwater vs. Pinkwater: The Wife of Erik Prince Picks a Fight With CODEPINK
It felt surreal to be inside the home of Erik Prince, the founder, owner and chairman of Blackwater (or Xe, as it is now called). Prince, a former Navy Seal, provides security for the CIA, the Pentagon and the State Department. His company trains 40,000 people a year in skills that include personal protection. Yet his home in McLean, Virginia, has no security. None. Not even a fence or a guard dog or a No Trespassing sign.
SHARE Friday, May 15, 2020 Iranian Women Squeezed By US Sanctions, COVID-19 and Their Government
The Trump administration's "maximum pressure campaign," along with the terrible spread of coronavirus in Iran, have impacted Iranian women.Long before this pandemic, the Iranian economy has been hard hit by the sanctions, as well as corruption and mismanagement.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, August 5, 2020 U.S. Cold War China Policy Will Isolate the U.S, Not China
The new tensions with China are partly an effort to divert attention from Trump's bungled response to the Covid-19 pandemic and his tanking poll numbers.
(5 comments) SHARE Wednesday, June 6, 2012 Colin Powell: Another War Criminal Cashes In
If Powell's sorry about violating the Geneva Conventions and killing innocent people, he's never said so. But he has tried to explain his thinking. "I had been conditioned to believe in the wisdom of my superiors, and to obey," Powell wrote. "I had no qualms about what we were doing."
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, February 9, 2022 Memo to Congress - Diplomacy for Ukraine is spelled M-I-N-S-K
The Minsk II agreement was unanimously approved by the U.N. Security Council in Resolution 2202 on February 17, 2015. The United States voted in favor of the resolution and 57 Americans are currently serving as Ceasefire Monitors with the OSCE in Ukraine.
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, August 31, 2021 Afghan Crisis Must End America's Empire of War, Corruption, Poverty
The United States can either stumble on in its fruitless attempt to control the world through militarism and coercion or it can use this opportunity to rethink its place in the world.
SHARE Thursday, May 25, 2017 Why Were the Saudi Streets So Quiet?
With the world's media focused on President Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia, it's curious that the streets of Riyadh were so empty. Unlike most of Trump's public appearances, there was not a protester in sight.
(5 comments) SHARE Tuesday, August 25, 2015 Where's the Republican Outrage Over Saudi Arabia?
When the candidates complain about the "evil forces of radical Islam" or trouble in the Middle East, they never seem to mention Saudi Arabia. Iran's no democratic paradise. But on many counts, Washington's Saudi allies are even worse. The Saudi royals crush dissent with an iron fist, spread extremist ideology, and invade their neighbors with impunity.
(4 comments) SHARE Tuesday, September 15, 2020 A "Persistent Eye in the Sky" Coming to a City Near You?
Allowing this powerful technology to be taken from overseas wars and turned inward on American citizens isn't something that should happen without a robust public debate. The implications for civil liberties are too profound.
(1 comments) SHARE Friday, September 29, 2017 Saudi Women May Soon Be Behind the Wheel, But Still Not in the Driver's Seat
The biggest impediment for women has not been the inability to drive -- or the fact that women, by law, must be totally covered in public. The biggest obstacle to women's freedom is the male guardianship system. Under this system, a woman, no matter her age, is treated as a minor and must live under the supervision of a wali, or guardian.
(14 comments) SHARE Wednesday, February 4, 2015 Will the Real "Low-Life Scum" Please Stand Up?
Kissinger probably won't ever be tried for war crimes, at least not in the United States. But we can show -- with words and banners -- that some people remember his crimes. McCain called us "disgraceful." You know what's really disgraceful? A bunch of senators hearing a war criminal drone on about "Global Challenges and the U.S. National Security Strategy."
(4 comments) SHARE Saturday, May 20, 2017 Trump's Saudi Trip Should Not Be to Clinch Arms Deal But to End Yemen War
President Trump's trip to Saudi Arabia is designed to highlight his "art of deal" by clinching a massive $100 billion arms deal. But instead of using his presidency to be a salesman for the arms industry, Trump should be a statesmen for the suffering Yemenis. He should use his visit to press for a ceasefire and negotiations to end the conflict in Yemen.
(1 comments) SHARE Friday, March 15, 2019 An Apology for a Different Plane Crash, 30 Years Later
The tragic Ethiopian Airline plane crash recalls another passenger plane crash some 30 years ago. The latter, however, was not due to a mechanical malfunction but to U.S. missiles. And while very few Americans remember this incident, it still weighs heavy on the hearts of many Iranians -- as we discovered on our recent trip there.
(3 comments) SHARE Monday, July 12, 2021 America's Afghan War Is Over, So What About Iraq - and Iran?
People of good will all over the world hope for a peaceful future for the people of Afghanistan, but the only legitimate role the United States can play there now is to pay reparations, in whatever form, for the damage it has done and the pain and deaths it has caused. Speculation in the U.S. political class and corporate media about how the U.S. can keep bombing and killing Afghans from "over the horizon" should cease. The U.
SHARE Wednesday, August 24, 2016 U.S. Weapons Sales Are Drenched in Yemeni Blood
U.S. officials were pressured to placate Saudi Arabia after the Obama administration made a deal with its adversary, Iran. That appeasement came in the form of a level and quality of arms exports that should've never been approved for a repressive regime with an atrocious human rights record. Saudi Arabia is the number one exporter of radical Islamic extremism on the planet.
(4 comments) SHARE Tuesday, June 28, 2022 NATO and a War Foretold
This was indeed a war foretold. Thirty years of warnings and predictions turned out to be all too accurate.
SHARE Wednesday, October 11, 2017 10 Reasons the US Should Stick With the Iran Nuclear Deal
In the next 60 days, Congress could impose new sanctions that would scuttle the Iran deal or it could pass new legislation addressing issues that were never part of the original mandate, which would also effectively kill the agreement. Enough public pressure could keep the agreement intact.
SHARE Monday, July 20, 2020 A Real Chance to Cut Defense Spending
Even Chuck Schumer has come out (finally) in favor of cutting the Pentagon Budget. The 10% trim is far too little and too late, but it is the first step in recognizing the need to scale back the vast American military machine. Let's create a groundswell of support!
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, August 16, 2011 Iraq Withdrawal? Don't Take it to the Bank
Obama has no plans for a full withdrawal, though, as his hand-picked appointees make clear. You can almost hear him thinking: What are liberals going to do, vote Republican?
(6 comments) SHARE Sunday, April 18, 2021 U.S. Joins Past Empires in Afghan Graveyard
President Biden announced a removal of all U.S. troops by September 11 but he failed to include some important details..
(7 comments) SHARE Friday, January 30, 2015 Who's the "Low Life Scum:" Kissinger or CODEPINK?
A very angry Senator John McCain denounced CODEPINK activists as "low-life scum" for holding up signs reading "Arrest Kissinger for War Crimes" and dangling handcuffs next to Henry Kissinger's head during a Senate hearing on Jan 29. McCain called the demonstration "disgraceful, outrageous and despicable," accused the protesters of "physically intimidating" Kissinger and apologized profusely to his friend
(3 comments) SHARE Friday, October 10, 2014 Why are the media playing lapdog and not watchdog -- again -- on war in Iraq?
The press relied on propaganda from both Isis and the US government to whip up fear and a thirst for revenge in the American public. Gruesome beheading videos distributed by Isis were played over and over. The media not only regurgitated official US messages but packaged them better than the government itself ever could.
(2 comments) SHARE Thursday, May 15, 2014 Drone Lawyer: Kill a 16-Year-Old, Get a Promotion
During his stint as a lawyer at the Department of Justice, David Barron was able to manipulate constitutional law so as to legally justify killing American citizens with drone strikes. Now the Obama Administration wants to appoint the lawyer who wrote that legal memos to become a high-ranking judge for life.
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, September 6, 2022 Peace talks essential as war rages on in Ukraine
The only realistic alternative to this endless slaughter is a return to peace talks to bring the fighting to an end, find reasonable political solutions to Ukraine's political divisions and seek a peaceful framework for the underlying geopolitical competition between the United States, Russia, and China.
(2 comments) SHARE Friday, August 26, 2011 No Way to Honor Dr. King
But don't ask the King family how they feel about their fathers' opening tribute being sold off to the highest bidder. The family demands royalties for use of the King name--even from the Memorial--and so far have received about a million dollars. Historian David Garrow, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his biography of King, said King would have been "absolutely scandalized by the profiteering behavior of his children."
(2 comments) SHARE Saturday, July 4, 2009 REPORTING FROM HONDURAS: No Press Freedom in Post-Coup Honduras
The Honduran people should have the right to know what their new leaders, in the name of democracy, are doing to destroy the very basic foundations of a democratic system-a free press.
(15 comments) SHARE Friday, November 20, 2020 Ten Foreign Policy Fiascos Biden Can Fix on Day One
Donald Trump loves executive orders as a tool of dictatorial power, avoiding the need to work through Congress. But that works both ways, making it relatively easy for President Biden to reverse many of Trump's most disastrous decisions.
(2 comments) SHARE Wednesday, March 28, 2018 10 Reasons to Fear John Bolton
Bolton has a decade-long history of associating with anti-Islam activist Pamela Geller, appearing on her internet radio program "Atlas on the Air" and on her video blog. Geller is well-known for her inflammatory public comments about Muslims and the idea that they are trying to impose Sharia law in the US.
SHARE Tuesday, July 12, 2011 By Torpedoing the Gaza Flotilla, Israel Sunk its Own Ship
Instead of high-fiving each other for their success in thwarting the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Israeli officials should be throwing overboard the propaganda hacks who catapulted the flotilla into headline news for weeks and left Israel smelling like rotten fish.
SHARE Wednesday, September 22, 2021 U.S. Militarism's Toxic Impact on Climate Policy
President Biden addressed the UN General on September 21 with a warning that the climate crisis is fast approaching a "point of no return," and a promise that the United States would rally the world to action. "We will lead not just with the example of our power but, God willing, with the power of our example," he said.
But the U.S. is not a leader when it comes to saving our planet.
SHARE Monday, March 27, 2017 Will Donald Trump Escalate the Devastating War and Hunger in Yemen?
Greater U.S. support for the Saudis, who intervened in Yemen to try to stop the Iran-friendly Houthis from coming to power, is part of Trump's "get tough" policy on Iran. But further escalation of the war in Yemen, particularly an offensive to seize Hodeidah from the Houthi rebels, will mean even more death and hunger for the Yemeni people.
(3 comments) SHARE Thursday, October 17, 2013 It's time to put an end to Israel's "don't ask-don't tell' nuclear policy
As long as Israel refuses to acknowledge its possession of nuclear weapons or even that it has produced weapons-grade materials, it is difficult, if not impossible, to engage it in any meaningful arms control or other nuclear-related diplomacy.
(2 comments) SHARE Thursday, June 7, 2018 North Korea has taken big steps. Now it's Trump's turn to show goodwill
Assuming the US-North Korea summit takes place and marks the start of a long negotiation process, President Trump will need to make gestures of goodwill and sincerity along the way. The lifting of sanctions that have been so devastating to the North Korean economy is a priority for the North, but the US administration has indicated it will not lift sanctions before significant progress has been made.
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, July 17, 2018 Can the Brit's Baby Trump Blimp Come Play at Trump's DC Military Parade?
A GoFundMe has been started to make Baby Trump Blimp the Guest of Honor at the November 10th protest against Trump's scheduled military parade in Washington DC. The American public would certainly get a lift from an oversized Trump in diapers hovering above Trump's macho display of guns and missiles.
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, January 15, 2018 I am American, Jewish and banned from Israel for my activism
This month, the Israeli government announced that activists affiliated with 20 organizations, including my organization Codepink, would be banned from entering Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories because of our support for the nonviolent boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, November 23, 2016 Deconstructing Thanksgiving with Standing Rock
This Thanksgiving comes on the heels of a particularly heart-wrenching day, November 21, when over 150 activists were injured, receiving treatment for hypothermia, contamination by tear gas, and traumas from rubber bullets. One activist, 21-year-old Sophia Wilansky, will spend the holiday undergoing a third surgery on her shattered arm that was ripped apart by an exploding concussion grenade.
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, May 18, 2015 Gyrocopter Pilot Flew for Reform, Might Land in Prison
Doug Hughes, a Florida mailman who recently made headline news for flying his gyrocopter onto the West Lawn at the U.S. Capitol Building, will be in Wash. DC for his first court hearing on May 21. Hughes has been charged with operating an unregistered aircraft and violating national airspace, which can potentially land him up to 4 years in prison, plus fines. I interview him about his cause of getting money out of politics
(6 comments) SHARE Monday, October 19, 2020 How Biden Flubbed Town Hall Foreign Policy Question
This was a fantastic opportunity for Biden to clarify the reality of Trump's abysmal record and explain what he would do instead. But he didn't. Instead he endorsed some of the most deceptive elements of Trump's propaganda, dropped some clangers of his own and, in a classic Freudian slip, laid bare his own enduring commitment to American imperialism.
(2 comments) SHARE Friday, October 6, 2017 From a Concert in Las Vegas to a Funeral in Yemen, We Must Stop Mass Murder
While we try to steer the domestic conversation to the need for gun control, we should also be seeking to end the massive flow of US weapons to Saudi Arabia that is wreaking such carnage. A new resolution in Congress, HR Resolution 81, would do just that. We must demand that Congress act to stop the US support for mass murder in Yemen.
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, December 30, 2014 10 Good Things About the Year 2014
It's been a year of fervent activism on police accountability, living wages, climate change, personal freedoms, immigrant rights, an open internet and diplomacy over war. The electoral beating the Democrats received has prompted both the Administration and some spineless congresspeople to realize that support for progressive issues could reinvigorate their base
(2 comments) SHARE Wednesday, November 17, 2010 Protesters Say George Bush Library Should be a Pile of Rubble
Over 100 peace activists showed up to protest, including New York City artist Laurie Arbiter, who helped organize a March of the Dead and carried a sign asking "Does America Have a Conscience?" "We should leave the broken ground and just fill it with a big pile of rubble," said Arbiter. "That would truly represent the catastrophic results of the Bush Administration."
(3 comments) SHARE Wednesday, September 26, 2012 Americans Take Anti-Drone Stance Directly to Pakistan
Pakistanis have been asking us questions. "Why do the American people support these barbaric and cowardly drone attacks?" "How would you like it if foreigners flew death machines into your airspace, murdering innocent men, women and children?" "Don't you know that these attacks are counterproductive, driving locals into the hands of extremist groups out of a desire for revenge?"
SHARE Thursday, February 13, 2014 The Dangerous Seduction of Drones
By fueling anti-U.S. sentiment, drones also act as a recruiting tool for extremists. In Yemen, when the Obama administration started drone attacks in 2009, there were perhaps 200 people who were identified as members of extremist groups. Today, there are over 1,000.
(3 comments) SHARE Wednesday, October 28, 2020 Ending Regime Change - in Bolivia and the World
Less than a year after the United States and the U.S.-backed Organization of American States (OAS) supported a violent military coup to overthrow the government of Bolivia, the Bolivian people have reelected the Movement for Socialism (MAS) and restored it to power.
(1 comments) SHARE Friday, August 20, 2021 Will Americans Who Were Right on Afghanistan Still Be Ignored?
America's corporate media are ringing with recriminations over the humiliating U.S. military defeat in Afghanistan. But very little of the criticism goes to the root of the problem, which was the original decision to militarily invade and occupy Afghanistan in the first place.
(3 comments) SHARE Tuesday, August 9, 2011 Does Your Congressperson Represent You -- Or Israel?
With the disapproval rate for Congress at a record 82%, now is not the time for our representatives to pander to AIPAC. Now is not the time for "free" junkets to Israel -- with an implicit promise of $3 billion of our tax dollars in return. Now is the time to stop the free-fall of the American economy.
SHARE Monday, March 24, 2014 Egypt Kangaroo Court Sentences 529 Morsi Supporters to Death
The Egyptian court has just handed down one of the most grotesque sentences in Egyptian history, condemning 529 people to death in one fell swoop. The US State Department said it was "shocked" and that the verdict defies logic.
(3 comments) SHARE Wednesday, August 11, 2021 Biden Must Call Off the B-52s Bombing Afghan Cities
President Biden has reacted to America's snowballing humiliation in the graveyard of empires by once again dispatching U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad to Doha to urge the government and the Taliban to seek a political solution, while at the same time dispat
(5 comments) SHARE Wednesday, May 30, 2012 Obama and Drone Warfare: Will Americans Speak Out?
On May 29, The New York Times published an extraordinarily in-depth look at the intimate role President Obama has played in authorizing US drone attacks overseas, particularly in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. While purporting to represent the world's greatest democracy, US leaders are putting people on a hit list who are as young as 17, people who are given no chance to surrender or be tried in a court of law.
(1 comments) SHARE Saturday, December 19, 2015 Yemen Crisis: One More Reason to Re-evaluate the Toxic U.S.-Saudi Alliance
Saudi Arabia's involvement in Yemen has only destroyed lives and created a state of total chaos, and the U.S. government is complicit in the carnage. Both nations should, as part of the peace process, be forced to pay reparations for the tremendous damage their bombs have inflicted. The Yemen crisis should also serve as a prime moment for the U.S. to reconsider its alliance the Saudi regime.
SHARE Thursday, November 4, 2021 COP 26: Can a Singing, Dancing Rebellion Save the World?
The greatest obstacle to action that we face is our dysfunctional, neoliberal political and economic system and its control by plutocratic and corporate interests, who are determined to keep profiting from fossil fuels even at the cost of destroying the Earth's uniquely livable climate.
SHARE Thursday, July 8, 2021 Carlos Lazo: The Cuban American Leading the Charge to Transform U.S.-Cuba Policy
Carlos Lazo and a small band of Cuban Americans are on a 1,300-mile pilgrimage from Miami to Washington, D.C., to end the U.S. blockade of Cuba. Despite the blistering summer heat and occasional death threats (including a trucker who tried to run them off the road), the marchers persist.
(18 comments) SHARE Thursday, July 2, 2009 REPORTING FROM HONDURAS: Hondurans Call Out for Help from the International Community
Our emergency international delegation to Honduras, organized from the United States by CODEPINK, Global Exchange and Non-Violence International, began its fact-finding mission in the wake of the June 28 coup that overthrew President Manuel Zelaya.
(4 comments) SHARE Friday, February 28, 2014 Israel Lobby AIPAC Down, But Not Out -- Yet
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is still one of the most powerful lobby organizations in the country, but fortunately, it is starting to lose its iron-clad grip on our policymakers. AIPAC lost the fight to stop Chuck Hagel from being confirmed as Secretary of Defense; it lost the push for the US military to attack Syria, and it is losing its effort to derail nuclear talks with Iran.
(4 comments) SHARE Thursday, April 8, 2010 Stop Being and Funding the Evil We Deplore
"Let us not become the evil we deplore", warned Cong. Barbara Lee when she cast the lone vote against going to war in Afghanistan in September 2001. Well, it's time to look in the mirror--and it's not a pretty picture
SHARE Saturday, May 21, 2016 Israel and Saudi Arabia: Strange Bedfellows in the New Middle East
Saudi Arabia and Israel have finally come out of the closet -- together. The U.S. has helped guarantee the security of both nations. U.S. taxpayers give over $3 billion a year to support the Israeli military, the U.S. military guards the Persian Gulf for the Saudi royalty, and Saudi Arabia is the No. 1 purchaser of U.S. weapons.
(4 comments) SHARE Tuesday, February 7, 2017 In Trump's World Where Money Talks, Saudi Arabia Gets a Free Pass
President Trump's Muslim ban is not only mean-spirited and, hopefully, unconstitutional, but it is irrational because it doesn't even include the country most responsible for spreading terrorism around the world: Saudi Arabia.
SHARE Tuesday, June 8, 2021 Rural Teacher Pedro Castillo Poised to Write a New Chapter in Peru's History
With his wide-brimmed peasant hat and oversized teacher's pencil held high, Peru's Pedro Castillo has been traveling the country exhorting voters to get behind a call that has been particularly urgent during this devastating pandemic: "No ma's pobres en un paÃs rico"
(4 comments) SHARE Saturday, March 13, 2021 10 Problems With Biden's Foreign Policy -- and One Solution
Biden's foreign policy already seems stuck in the militarist quagmire of the past 20 years, a far cry from his campaign promise to reinvigorate diplomacy as the primary tool of U.S. foreign policy.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, May 20, 2015 Crossing the Korean DMZ for Peace
After a decade of disastrous military interventions, the Obama administration has been experimenting with a different way to deal with adversaries: diplomacy. Already this approach is bearing fruit with Iran and Cuba. Now it's time to chart a diplomatic roadmap in another region with long-festering hostility: the Korean peninsula.
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, March 12, 2019 How US Sanctions are Hurting Iran: A Firsthand Report
In May 2018, President Trump unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement, followed by an imposition of draconian sanctions that not only prohibit U.S. companies from doing business in Iran, but threaten all foreign companies and international banks that trade with Iran. The sanctions also severely limit Iran's ability to sell its major sour ce of revenue: oil.
(4 comments) SHARE Saturday, February 27, 2021 Biden's Reckless Syria Bombing Is Not the Diplomacy He Promised
The U.S. bombing of Syria on Thursday immediately puts the policies of the newly-formed Biden administration into sharp relief. Why is this administration bombing the sovereign nation of Syria?
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, May 5, 2021 Squad & Co: Unite as a Block to Downsize Biden's Military Budget
A month before the vote on the federal budget, progressives in Congress declared, "We've studied President Biden's proposed $753 billion military budget, an increase of $13 billion from Trump's already inflated budget, and we can't, in good conscience, support this."
Now that would be a show stopper...
(4 comments) SHARE Friday, January 15, 2021 Will the Senate Confirm Coup Plotter Victoria Nuland?
From 2003-2005, during the hostile U.S. military occupation of Iraq, Nuland was a foreign policy advisor to Dick Cheney, the Darth Vader of the Bush administration.
(4 comments) SHARE Monday, December 21, 2020 No, Joe, Don't Roll out the Red Carpet for Torture Enablers
It was painful enough to live through the U.S invasion of Iraq that caused untold devastation and human misery for no justifiable reason.
Now we are again reminded of the grim Bush legacy with President-elect Biden's nomination of Avril Haines for Director of National Intelligence.
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, June 3, 2014 So Obama Really Can Close Gitmo
If Obama is willing to take the risk with these "high-risk" prisoners, and if he really wants to close Guantanamo as he has claimed many times, why hasn't he been using his authority all along to release the 77 prisoners already cleared for release?
(5 comments) SHARE Friday, September 10, 2021 How Can America Wake Up From Its Post-9/11 Nightmare?
We have been told that the criminal attacks of September 11, 2001 "changed everything." But what really changed everything was the U.S. government's disastrous response to them.
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, December 28, 2010 Ten Good Things (and more) To Celebrate In A Bad Year
This year was marked by turmoil at home and abroad, including a deepening financial crisis that continues to leave millions jobless and homeless, as well as ongoing and expanding wars. But despite the setbacks and disappointments, here is a list of victories to be thankful for, starting with three inspirational women.
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, March 15, 2011 Activists Stand Up for Bradley Manning -- and PJ Crowley
When we heard on Sunday that P.J. Crowley had resigned as spokesman for the State Department after criticizing the Pentagon's treatment of suspected whistleblower Army private Bradley Manning, my CODEPINK colleagues and I knew we had to respond. How outrageous that yet another person gets punished for simply telling the truth--Crowley called Manning's treatment "ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid."
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, May 17, 2022 Biden - The Summit of The Americas
The Biden administration announced new measures to "increase support for the Cuban people." They included easing travel restrictions and helping Cuban Americans support and connect with their families.
(3 comments) SHARE Thursday, September 24, 2015 Ten Reasons to Oppose the Saudi Monarchy
it has been strange to hear US politicians fiercely condemn Iranian human rights abuses while remaining silent about worse abuses by US ally Saudi Arabia. Not only is the Saudi regime repressive at home and abroad, but US weapons and US support for the regime make Americans complicit.
SHARE Thursday, February 9, 2017 Ten Reasons Why Elliott Abrams Would Make a Dreadful Deputy Secretary of State
Abrams, a neocon hawk, would be one more disastrous addition to Team Trump. In his prior positions under Reagan and George W. Bush, he supported the most thuggish regimes and covered up the human rights violations of US government allies. A crook who was convicted of lying to Congress, his policy decisions have left death, destruction and deceit in their wake.
(3 comments) SHARE Tuesday, February 11, 2014 Father of Pakistani Drone Victim Kidnapped by Pakistani State
"Khan has been seeking justice through the Pakistani courts and organizing other drone strike victims. On February 10, he planned to fly to Europe for meetings with German, Dutch and British parliamentarians to discuss the negative impact drones are having on Pakistan. But days before his trip, in the early hours of the morning on February 5, he was kidnapped from his home"
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, January 29, 2015 Take Cuba Off the Terrorist List
Change is in the air. Following the December 17, 2014 agreement to restore relations with Cuba, President Obama instructed the Secretary of State to launch a review of Cuba's inclusion on the list and provide a report and recommendation within six months.
(6 comments) SHARE Monday, October 12, 2020 Trump's Endless Wars
The pretend peacemaker has repeatedly endangered the nation and world.
SHARE Wednesday, December 30, 2020 Why Senators Must Reject Avril Haines for Intelligence
Even before President-Elect Joe Biden sets foot in the White House, the Senate Intelligence Committee may start hearings on his nomination of Avril Haines as Director of National Intelligence.
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, January 4, 2016 The Execution of Nimr Al-Nimr: One More Reason to Re-evaluate the Toxic U.S.-Saudi Alliance
For decades US governments, both Democratic and Republican, have backed the kingdom. The US-Saudi alliance dates back to World War II, when US officials started to see Saudi's oil as a strategic advantage. Since then, the US has blindly supported the Kingdom in almost every political and economic effort, despite the fact that Saudi Arabia has consistently been ranked by Freedom House as one of the worst humans rights violators
(2 comments) SHARE Friday, March 5, 2021 Trump and Biden's Secret Bombing Wars
On February 25, President Biden ordered U.S. air forces to drop seven 500-pound bombs on Iraqi forces in Syria, reortedly killing 22 people. This airstrike predictably failed to halt rocket attacks on deeply unpopular U.S. bases in Iraq, which the Iraqi National Assembly passed a resolution to close over a year ago.
SHARE Monday, January 31, 2022 America Is Reaping What It Sowed in Ukraine
The United States and Russia both claim their escalations are defensive responding to threats and escalations by the other side.
(5 comments) SHARE Friday, September 10, 2021 How Can America Wake From Its Post-9/11 Nightmare?
Looking back on it now, the 1990s were an age of innocence for America. The Cold War was over and our leaders promised us a "peace dividend." There was no TSA to make us take off our shoes at airports (how many bombs have they found in those billions of shoes?).
(2 comments) SHARE Friday, October 2, 2020 After Khashoggi's Brutal Murder, Why Is America Still an Accomplice to MBS's Crimes?
Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered on October 2, 2018 by agents of Saudi Arabia's despotic government, and the CIA concluded they killed him on direct orders from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).
(2 comments) SHARE Monday, March 25, 2013 Finally, the Backlash Against Drones Takes Flight
and Paul's marathon 13-hour filibuster was not the end of the conversation on drones. Suddenly, drones are everywhere, and so is the backlash. Efforts to counter drones at home and abroad are growing in the courts, at places of worship, outside air force bases, inside the UN, at state legislatures, inside Congress--and having an effect on policy.
(6 comments) SHARE Monday, November 9, 2020 Will the Biden Team Be Warmongers Or Peacemakers?
During his election campaign, Biden has relied on foreign policy advisors from past administrations, particularly the Obama administration, and seems to be considering some of them for top cabinet posts. For the most part, they are members of the "Washington blob" who represent a dangerous continuity with past policies rooted in militarism and other abuses of power.
(3 comments) SHARE Tuesday, June 21, 2011 Setting Sail for Gaza, Armed with Love Letters and a Missive from Dr. King
This bullying, however, only strengthens our resolve. We may be fewer boats, we may have fewer passengers, we may be threatened with violence, but we will sail. And if the Israelis intercept our boats, we call on people around the world to gather at Israeli embassies and consulates to express their outrage.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, January 22, 2014 No Seat For Syrian Women at the Peace Talks
The talks in Syria began today, with the Syrian government and opposition exchanging accusations and invectives. Missing was the voice of nonviolent civilians, especially women, even through they have been trying for months to have a seat at the table. "When we talk about women at the table, the men see them as the tablecloth,
(1 comments) SHARE Saturday, August 6, 2011 Stop Sacrificing US Soldiers for Afghan Debacle
The 38 deaths in Saturday's helicopter crash in Afghanistan include 31 Americans, making this the deadliest day for U.S. forces since the war began. The tragic loss of American lives might be worth the sacrifice if it was making America safer, or if our presence was significantly improving the well-being of the Afghan people. But neither of these is true.
(8 comments) SHARE Monday, November 30, 2020 Will the World Community Condemn the Murder of Iran's Nuclear Scientist?
On Friday, November 27, Iran's top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was assassinated in the Iranian city of Absard outside of Tehran. First, a truck with explosives blew up near the car carrying Fakhrizadeh. Then, gunmen started firing on Fakhrizadeh's car.
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, May 31, 2016 Preparing for the Next Memorial Day
Just prior to the Memorial Day commemorations, President Obama made a trip to Vietnam. How did he seal our friendship with that nation, after slaughtering two million of their people? By agreeing to sell them weapons. In the aftermath of the Memorial Day military parades and with a new administration looming on the horizon, a critical task for the coming year is to build a renewed, more vibrant peace movement.
(2 comments) SHARE Wednesday, May 8, 2019 What Is Happening at the Venezuelan Embassy Is an Outrage
Right here in Washington DC an unprecedented showdown is unfolding. Venezuelan supporters of self-declared interim president Juan Guaido have been trying to take over the Venezuelan Embassy. This goes against international law, the wishes of the government in control in Venezuela, and the dogged determination of a group of US citizens called the Embassy Protection Collective.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, July 1, 2015 "While the Flotilla Didn't Make it to Gaza, Israel Didn't Win"
"While the flotilla didn't make it here, Israel didn't win. Every action in our support gives the Palestinian people more hope, trust and love, and the courage to continue insisting on our basic rights." --20-year-old Khaled Ostath
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, December 5, 2012 Israel's Lesson to Palestinians: Build More Rockets?
If the Israeli government was trying to teach the Palestinians a lesson with this latest pummeling, the unfortunate lesson many learned was that the only way to deal with Israel is through firepower. Some believed the Israelis backed down because Palestinian rockets had reached into the heart of Israel.
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, February 23, 2021 What Planet Is NATO Living On?
The February meeting of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Defense Ministers, the first since President Biden took power, revealed an antiquated, 75-year-old alliance that, despite its military failures in Afghanistan and Libya, is now turning its military madness toward two more formidable, nuclear-armed enemies: Russia and China.
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, February 13, 2012 The US-Bahraini Exchange: Tear gas from us, kindness in return
Tomorrow, millions of Americans back home will be celebrating Valentines day with flowers and chocolates, perhaps even breakfast in bed. In Bahrain thousands upon thousands of peaceful freedom fighters will celebrate by getting out into the streets, showing their devotion to the country they love so dearly that they are willing to put their lives at risk to help set it free.
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, November 4, 2013 Drones have come out of the shadows
At each of the over 200 cities I've traveled to this past year with my book Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control , I ask the audience an easy question: Have they ever seen or heard from drone strike victims in the mainstream US press? Not one hand has ever gone up. This is an obvious indication that the media has failed to do its job of humanizing the civilian casualties that accompany Obama's deadly drone program
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, August 7, 2014 Conflict Resolution 101: Talking With Hamas
if US mediation is to be sincere and effective, the American government needs to take Hamas off its terrorist list and allow Hamas to be fully represented at the table.
(3 comments) SHARE Tuesday, January 26, 2021 Rob Malley for Iran Envoy: A Test Case for Biden's Commitment to Diplomacy
Malley's Middle East foreign policy expertise and diplomatic skills make him the ideal candidate to reinvigorate the JCPOA and help calm regional tensions. Peace-loving Americans should shore up Biden's resolve by supporting Malley's appointment.
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, October 8, 2015 The Doctors Without Borders bombing is a symptom of foreign occupation
The official stories from the US military and the Afghan government changed four times in four days, from "collateral damage" to accidental bombing to charges that Taliban fighters were using the hospital as a base of operations, a claim the aid group strongly disputed.
SHARE Thursday, January 28, 2021 Will Biden End America's Global War on Children?
an unforgettable disgrace that President Biden must move quickly to remedy
The Stop the War on Children campaign, run by the British charity Save the Children, publishes graphic reports on the harms that the United States and other warring parties inflict on children around the world.
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, November 17, 2014 RE/MAX Cashes in on Israel's Illegal Settlements
RE/MAX Israel sells properties that are not only in Israel proper, but are also in occupied Palestinian lands of the West Bank.
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, March 13, 2014 Why I Didn’t Make it to Gaza for International Women’s Day
When I boarded the plane to Cairo, Egypt, to make sure everything was in place for the women's delegation headed to Gaza, I had no reason to think I'd end up in a jail cell at the Cairo airport and then violently deported.
(3 comments) SHARE Tuesday, April 23, 2019 Activists Protect DC Venezuelan Embassy from US-Supported Coup
An extraordinary chapter in the ongoing saga of Venezuela has been taking place, virtually unnoticed, at the Venezuela Embassy that lies in the heart of swanky Georgetown in Washington DC. A group initiated by CODEPINK and Popular Resistance, all activists opposed to the prospect of the Venezuelan opposition taking over the Embassy, have been living inside the building for the past two weeks.
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, December 15, 2016 Starving Yemeni children, bloated US weaponsmakers
Why are so many of Yemen's children going hungry and dying? Since 2014 Yemen has been wracked by a civil war, a war that has been exacerbated by outside intervention from Saudi Arabia.
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, November 21, 2011 Obama Must Condemn Egyptian Military
President Obama should coordinate with other Western allies and supporters of the Egyptian government to develop a clear and strong policy in support of a rapid transition to democracy and apply the full weight of international diplomatic, economic and legal pressure on the military junta towards that end. Anything less will be a stain on the United States that will haunt this administration.
(2 comments) SHARE Friday, January 6, 2012 Obama's Pentagon Strategy: A Leaner, More Efficient Empire
President Dwight D. Eisenhower once noted that every dollar going to the military is a dollar that can't be used to provide food and shelter for those in need. Today's obscene amount of military spending isn't necessary if the administration wished to pursue the quaint goal of simply defending the country from invasion.
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, July 2, 2013 How You [and President Obama] Can Close Guantanamo Prison
The president has the executive authority to transfer already cleared detainees. We should pressure him to do so. This article includes reporting and a video showing one such action at the Whitehouse, where DIane Wilson, already on a hunger strike, climbed the White House fence.
(2 comments) SHARE Thursday, June 20, 2013 For Yemenis, US Refusal to Release Gitmo Prisoners is a National Offense
Mohammad Naji Allaw says, "Over 90 of 166 Guantanamo prisoners are from Yemen. Most of them, 56 to be exact, have already been cleared by the US government for release but the US government still won't send them back."
While our peace delegation was visiting Yemen, Congress passed an amendment saying that no US military funds could be used to transfer prisoners from Guantanamo back to Yemen.
SHARE Thursday, December 24, 2015 10 Good Things About the Not-So-Great Year 2015
So while this holiday season the nation is obsessed with the latest Donald Trump insult and the special effects of Star Wars, may we bring in the new year truly striking back at the injustices of the empire. May the force be with the grassroots activists trying to build a more peaceful world.
(1 comments) SHARE Friday, January 23, 2015 Federal Prison Sentence Begins for Anti-Drone Activist
On January 23, Kathy Kelly, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, a campaign to end U.S. military and economic warfare, will begin a three-month jail sentence in federal prison for a protest against drones (also known as "unmanned aerial vehicles") at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. I had a chance to interview her before she had to turn herself in.
(2 comments) SHARE Friday, October 10, 2008 Should Henry 'The Fox' Paulson Guard the Henhouse?
On Tuesday, October 7, a group of CODEPINK pranksters pranced in front of the New York Stock Exchange. One, wearing an oversized papier maché head of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, grabbed at the purses of the "chickens." "Give me your money; give me your money," he cried. "You might need a new house, but my buddies and I need new yachts." Passersby, read the sign "Henry 'The Fox' Paulson' in the People's Henhouse,"
SHARE Wednesday, May 1, 2019 Social Movements Under Intense Attack Despite Colombia "Peace Plan"
There is no peace in Colombia because the causes that led to the armed rebellions have not been addressed. On the contrary. There are still multinational companies that invade and displace rural communities. There are still paramilitary groups that terrorize Colombia's organizations. There is still a military strategy to consolidate the land and hand it over to the multinationals.
SHARE Monday, July 27, 2015 Salvador's Draconian Abortion Laws: a Miscarriage of Justice
El Salvador has one of the strictest and most archaic anti-abortion laws in the world; it has a total ban on abortion, even in cases of rape, incest, and medical emergencies. Women who have miscarriages or stillborn births are confronted with suspicion from authorities. The legal system has an built-in "presumption of guilt," making it virtually impossible for women to prove their innocence.
SHARE Wednesday, August 13, 2014 One Year After Egypt's Rab'a Massacre, US Still Funding Repression
The systematic and intentional killing of unarmed protesters is a crime against humanity and those responsible should be investigated and held accountable. At the top of the chain of command during the Rab'a massacre was then-Defense Minister Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who orchestrated the military overthrow of democratically-elected Morsi. But neither Sisi nor any government officials have been prosecuted for the killings.
SHARE Friday, August 22, 2014 Beware of Exploding Gifts from Uncle Sam
let's face it. Military toys, constantly dangled before the police at law enforcement exhibits and fairs, are hard to resist. And with the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security giving out this stuff for free, why not get some hand-me-downs?
In May 2012, DHS began distributing $4 million in experimental grants to help local law enforcement agencies buy their own small drones, opening a new market
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, January 12, 2021 The Trump Administration's Parting Outrage Against Cuba
On January 11, in his final days before leaving office, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added one parting blow to the series of bludgeons his administration has inflicted on Cuba for four years: putting the island on the list of "state sponsors of terror" that includes only Iran, North Korea and Syria.
(14 comments) SHARE Thursday, February 19, 2009 Once You See What Truly Happened in Gaza, it Will Change You Forever
Here in the U.S., Congress ignored the suffering of the Palestinians and pledged its unwavering support for the Israeli state. All but five members out of 535 voted for a resolution justifying the invasion, falsely holding Hamas solely responsible for breaking the ceasefire and praising Israel for facilitating humanitarian aid to Gaza at a time when food supplies were rotting at the closed borders.
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, June 20, 2013 US Refusal to Release Gitmo Prisoners Is a National Offense for Yemenis
Their sons, husbands, fathers and brothers are simply pawns in the US game of politics where one party is always trying to "out hawk" the other, where concern about winning the next election far eclipses any respect for the rights of the prisoners. Most Americans have become so consumed by fear after 9/11 that they think that holding these prisoners in Guantanamo indefinitely somehow makes them safer.
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, March 7, 2013 Rand Paul's Message to Obama: Don't Drone Me Bro
While progressives have all sorts of reasons to dislike Rand Paul's Tea Party, small government libertarian views, killer drones is one issue on which progressives should make common cause with Paul and his growing legions of supporters. After all, it's not about the messenger but the message.
SHARE Monday, November 11, 2013 Will Jeh Johnson Make the Homeland More Secure?
Jeh Johnson is President Obama's pick to replace outgoing Secretary Janet Napolitano as head of the Department of Homeland Security.
His likely confirmation does not bode well for human rights, or your civil liberties.
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, January 8, 2013 John Brennan vs. a Sixteen-Year-Old
If Obama thinks John Brennan is a good choice to head the CIA and secure America, he should contemplate the tragic deaths of victims like 16-year-old Tariq Aziz, and think again.
SHARE Saturday, May 10, 2014 Crusader for the Right to Peace
Sometimes it just takes one person with a creative mind to shake up the entire legal system. In the case of Costa Rica, that person is Luis Roberto Zamorra Bolaños, who was just a law student when he challenged the legality of his government's support for George Bush's invasion of Iraq. He took the case all the way up to the Costa Rican Supreme Court -- and won.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, November 28, 2012 Egyptians Stand Up to President's Power Grab
Ramah Casers is an Egyptian mother and graphic designer who lives in Cairo. Ramah told me. "I didn't think any of the mobilizations called during the last two years were that critical. But for this one, I had to be here. This is about the life or death of our revolution."
SHARE Tuesday, October 13, 2015 Prescription for Afghan Hospital Bombing: Independent Investigation and US Troop Withdrawal
The US, NATO, and the Afghan government all say they are conducting their own investigations into the attack, but only an independent investigation can uncover the facts we need to demand accountability and new safeguards to ensure this type of tragedy doesn't happen again. The Pentagon balks at the idea of an outside investigation.
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, April 21, 2016 President Obama Can Help Save Saudi Youth Facing Beheading
Aside from the issue of minors, Saudi Arabia is one of the top three executioners worldwide, surpassed only by China and Iran. In 2015, Saudi Arabia broke its own previous records, executing 158 people. This year, if the current rate is maintained, Saudi Arabia will execute about 320 prisoners, almost one a day. If the Saudi government beheads these young men, it will further ignite sectarian hatred.
SHARE Tuesday, February 5, 2013 10 Questions to Ask John Brennan at his CIA Confirmation Hearing
We look forward to hearing the Senators question Brennan about the legal justifications used by the Obama administration to kill three Americans in Yemen, as we are deeply concerned about their deaths and the precedent it sets for the rights of US citizens.
SHARE Friday, September 30, 2011 Iraq: 100 Days of Solidarity
On October 6, anti-war activists from around the nation will be gathering in Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC, to call for an end to both the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The protest will not be just for one day, but an on-going "people's occupation" of the plaza to call for an end to U.S. military occupations.
(5 comments) SHARE Monday, November 5, 2012 A Chat With Counterterrorism Chief John Brennan
Having recently returned from Pakistan meeting with drone victims, on November 4, discussion turned to John Brennan, Obama's counterterrorism chief and the key person making decisions about drone strikes. We wondered if Brennan ever had a chance to meet innocent drone victims, as we did, and feel their pain.
"Maybe we should go to his house and talk to him,"
(4 comments) SHARE Monday, June 15, 2015 Can the UN Talks Bring Peace to Shattered Yemen?
On June 14, UN-brokered talks will be held in Geneva, but many Yemenis know that with the increasingly hostile armed factions, a destroyed economy and the Saudi/Iran rivalry playing itself out in their country, peace will be hard to come by
SHARE Thursday, March 31, 2011 Obama on Libya: George W. Bush 2.0
His lines may be better delivered, but Barack Obama is sounding -- and acting -- more like the heir to George W. Bush than the change-maker sold to the public in his award-winning ad campaign.
SHARE Tuesday, December 22, 2015 Saudi Women Voted for the First Time. Is It Real Progress or Window Dressing?
One of the positive things to come out of this election is more global attention on the heavy-handed rule of the Saudi monarchy. An upcoming activist-based Saudi Summit, which will be held in Washington, DC on March 5-6, is an effort to build a campaign to support Saudi human rights activists.
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, December 14, 2015 Is Saudi Women's Vote a Step Forward?
is this vote really a significant step forward?
First let's consider the Saudi electoral system within the context of an absolute monarchy. The ruler is always a male and inherits his position. All powerful government positions from ministers to governors are appointed by the King. The 150-member Consultative Council, known as the Shura Council, is also appointed and has only advisory power.
SHARE Monday, March 12, 2007 A New Network Forms to Close U.S. Overseas Military Bases
In a new surge of energy for the global struggle against militarism, some 400 activists from 40 countries came together in Ecuador from March 5-9 to form a network to fight against foreign military bases.
While a few other countries such as England, Russia, China, Italy and France have bases outside their territory, the United States is responsible for 95% of foreign bases.
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, August 4, 2011 Enormous Defense Cuts?
...don't expect the Pentagon to start holding bake sales, despite what you may have heard about reductions to its obscenely bloated funding.
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, December 31, 2012 Ten of My Favorite Things about 2012
Happy thoughts from Code Pink about some US and global issues that experienced new found gains in 2012 that works as a precursor for a progressive 2013 agenda.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, July 20, 2011 Advice Hillary Clinton Should, But Won't, Give to Economically-Strapped Greece
The very nations in the European Union and the United States that have been pushing the Greek government to squeeze Greek workers are the same ones that have been, for the last decade, pushing Greece to purchase massive amounts of worthless weapons.
(4 comments) SHARE Wednesday, September 5, 2007 Nancy Pelosi Should Listen to Karl Rove
Karl Rove might be a nasty guy, but he's no dummy. In a press interview as he left office, he gave the Democrats some free advice. He described his politics as building on the energy of the base of the Republican Party and expanding it outward. He mentioned that the Democrats could build on the energy of their base, like the "Pink Ladies", he said, referring to the Code Pink women who dogged him until the day he left office.
(7 comments) SHARE Thursday, May 7, 2009 Who Will Stop the AIPAC Jews Before it is Too Late?
While I was being tackled by security guards at Washington's Convention Center during the AIPAC conference for unfurling a banner that asked "What about Gaza?," my heart was aching. I wasn't bothered so much by the burly guards who were yanking my arms behind by back and dragging me-along with 5 other CODEPINK members-out of the hall. They were doing their job.
(11 comments) SHARE Tuesday, July 7, 2009 Hondurans Pour into the Streets Demanding Zelaya's Return
"If they think that were are going to give up, they are badly mistaken," said Caceres. "The events of today make us more determined than ever to overthrow this terrible coup."
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, December 31, 2007 Let's Toast to Ten Good Things About 2007
As we close this year on the low of Congress giving Bush more billions for war, and the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, let's remember some of the year's gains that can revive our spirits for the New Year. Here are just ten.
SHARE Friday, November 2, 2007 George Bush and CODEPINK: Women for Peace
This is precisely the time for CODEPINK and other groups to step up their activities, and for new people to come forward to help. Remember the prescient words of Mahatma Gandhi: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." We're now in the stage where they are fighting us. We're anxiously awaiting the stage when we win.
SHARE Tuesday, April 10, 2007 Busy Easter Week!
Medea Benjamin recaps on CODEPINK's activities during the week leading up to Easter.
SHARE Friday, December 28, 2007 In Memory of Benazir Bhutto, Cut US Ties to Musharraf
We at CODEPINK were in touch with the former Prime Minister when we were writing our book Stop the Next War Now. In fact, Bhutto graciously contributed an essay that was a plea to counter extremism and "a clash of civilizations that can lead to Armageddon, where there will be no winners on earth."
Bhutto's assassination is a blow to people all over Pakistan, and the world, who hold life sacred and believe in the basic...