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Sub-Topics
2005
2006
2007
Science 2005
Sheehan, Cindy
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- Helping Victims of Katrina (Veterans for Peace)
Provides information about helping in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. 9-05
Papers
- Anti-War Organizations (Guardian Unlimited)
Provides over 200 British anti-war organizations. 9-04
Projects
- -Editorial: Ike Was Right About War Machine (CBS News - Rooney)
"I'm not really clear how much a billion dollars is but the United States — our United States — is spending $5.6 billion a month fighting this war in Iraq that we never should have gotten into."
"Now we have the hurricanes to pay for. One way our government pays for a lot of things is by borrowing from countries like China."
"Another way the government is planning to pay for the war and the hurricane damage is by cutting spending for things like Medicare prescriptions, highway construction, farm payments, AMTRAK, National Public Radio and loans to graduate students. Do these sound like the things you'd like to cut back on to pay for Iraq?"
"I'll tell you where we ought to start saving: on our bloated military establishment."
"We had a great commander in WWII, Dwight Eisenhower. He became President and on leaving the White House in 1961, he said this: 'We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. …' "
"Well, Ike was right. That's just what’s happened." 9-05
- -New American Strategy (Christian Science Monitor - Chaddock)
"National strategy, released Friday, calls for US dominance to expand global peace."
"More broadly, the 31-page document asserts American dominance as the lone superpower – a status no rival power will be allowed to challenge."
"And it provides a reason the world should accept this state of affairs: the expansion of peace and more freedom. A Pax Americana will be 'in the service of a balance of power that favors freedom.' "
" ' We cannot let our enemies strike first.... To forestall or prevent such hostile acts by our adversaries, the United States will, if necessary, act preemptively.' " 4-03
- 100 Days of "Peace" (Independent)
Describes the views of Iraqis and others who find the period of "peace" after the U.S. "victory" less than satisfying. 5-02
- Anti-War Demonstrators Rally Around the World (CNN News)
"In Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, California, at the two largest peace rallies, the crowds were urged on by international peace activists, religious leaders, members of Congress, actors and musicians." 1-03
- Comparison of Views For and Against War (Awesome Library - Adams)
Provides arguments for and against a pre-emptive strike by the U.S. against Iraq, without the support of the United Nations. Although the paper presents both sides of the issue, it provides a stronger case that U.N. support is needed before the U.S. takes action. 2-03
- Cost of War With Iraq (CNN - Bash)
"The White House is downplaying published reports of an estimated $50 billion to $60 billion price tag for a war with Iraq, saying it is 'impossible' to estimate the cost at this time. " 1-03
- Editorial - Security Comes From International Law (DailyStar.com)
"If the world hopes to turn around the current trajectory toward greater violence and terror, and move instead toward peace and stability, the lynchpin of any such movement must be a universal, ironclad commitment to the rule of law as the organizing principle of relations among nations."
"This critically important issue should be debated long and loud, so that short-term problems such as we have in Iraq do not recur often, and long-term global peace and security might be promoted through a more universal understanding of the spirit and letter of international law. Washington has responded to the illegal war allegations by claiming it considered that a previous UN resolution passed four months before the war gave it sufficient authority to attack, because Iraq had refused to surrender suspected weapons of mass destruction. The last 18 months of searching in post-Baathist Iraq have turned up no such weapons. So not only was the U.S.-led war illegal, it was also premised on wrong information at best, and a deceptive lie at worst." 9-04
- Editorial - Who Is Winning the War on Terrorism? (BBC News - Gardner)
"If we were to look at this purely in terms of military gains the answer would be obvious. The US has swiftly toppled two governments it considered to be rogue regimes - first in Afghanistan, then in Iraq. The Pentagon's supremacy on the battlefield is unrivalled and unstoppable. Its troops are holding down a sort of peace in both countries."
"However, terrorist attacks have not stopped and there is good reason for this, according to Gardner. "Victories on the battlefield or in the interrogation rooms are meaningless if terror networks can continue to recruit from a large wellspring of discontented youth."
"And that is exactly what is happening. The wave of horror and sympathy for the victims that spread across much of the Arab and Muslim world after 11 September has long ago changed to something else." "America is seen as having capitalised on those attacks by trying to 'conquer' Muslim countries - Afghanistan and Iraq."
"But there is also now a growing conviction that the Bush administration has acquired a taste for regime change and will not stop at Baghdad. Threats to Syria and Iran to change their policies only confirm that view." "Against this backdrop it is hardly surprising that the US - and its close ally Britain - are losing the battle for Arab and Muslim hearts and minds." 9-03
- Editorial: Was the Bush Doctrine Preventive War or Pre-Emptive War? (U.S. News)
Argues that the Bush Doctrine involves "preventive war," not "pre-emptive war." "There's a key difference: Pre-emptive war is a long-accepted, noncontroversial practice—if an enemy is clearly massing and about to attack you, you get to strike them pre-emptively. Imagine on the playground the class bully (who has beaten up your friends already) comes up to you, repeatedly threatens to hit you, and then cocks his fist. It's straight self-defense and is a basic tenet of international law."
"But the Bush Doctrine is one of preventive war: Attacking another country in order to prevent them from becoming a threat at some nebulous point down the line. To return to the playground analogy, it's as if you hauled off and socked someone because they looked at you funny—that odd look could be a signal that at some point in the future they're going to hit you. Better safe than sorry. But now you're the bully." 09-08
- Editorial: Young Iraqi Doctor's Experience (GlobalResearch.ca)
"Dr. Salam Ismael is in Europe to testify about the human rights violations committed against his people in Iraq." 01-06
- Essay - Moral Case Against Immediate War With Iraq (Guardian Unlimited - Tisdall)
"The two main US-British arguments in favour of launching a war on Iraq next month - that Saddam currently possesses deployable weapons of mass destruction and poses an immediate or near-term threat to the region and to us - already had few takers before Friday's UN meeting. In his peculiarly dispassionate, persuasive way, Blix further undermined and, for many, destroyed the credibility of the Anglo-American case for an early, pre-emptive attack."
"A third core argument... - that Saddam is in cahoots with al-Qaida and is somehow linked or even to blame for 9/11 - is not seen as convincing even by those who have espoused it."
"The onus is surely on Blair, not his opponents, to explain the morality of rejecting Blix's provisional conclusion that his inspections are beginning to work. It is not 'moral' to turn to the 'last resort' of violence when Iraq has conceded many of the UN's demands and when South Africa, for example, is offering its good offices and experience in assuring nuclear disarmament."
"Nobody advocates doing 'nothing' about Iraq.... An intensified, permanent UN-led disarmament process, containment and sustained diplomatic pressure to remove Saddam is hardly nothing. Rather, it is the consensual, common sense and proper way forward. For sure, Bush may scorn such arguments. But others have a moral duty not to aid and abet his irresponsibility. Like his other arguments, Blair's 'moral' case for war does not convince. It is but another excuse for the inexcusable." (Guardian Unlimited is a British newspaper.) 2-03
- Essay - Unintended Consquences of Attacking Iraq (AntiWar.com - Paul)
"It seems the obsession about Iraq's improbable possession of nuclear weapons far exceeds the more realistic possibility that our pre-emptive strike against Iraq may precipitate a nuclear exchange between these two countries [India and Pakistan], or even a first strike with nuclear weapons by Israel against Iraq." 11-30-02
- Essays - After Winning the War in Iraq (The Atlantic - Fallows)
Describes the obligations that the USA will have after a war with Iraq. Also challenges some basic assumptions about why the USA should go to war with Iraq.
"I ended up thinking that the Nazi analogy paralyzes the debate about Iraq rather than clarifying it. Like any other episode in history, today's situation is both familiar and new. In the ruthlessness of the adversary it resembles dealing with Adolf Hitler. But Iraq, unlike Germany, has no industrial base and few military allies nearby."
"As a rule, the strongest advocates of pre-emptive attack [against Iraq], within the government and in the press, had neither served in the military nor lived in Arab societies. Military veterans and Arabists were generally doves." 11-30-02
- European and Middle East Leaders Alarmed by Bush Administration's Position on Iraq (CNN - Oakley)
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said '' 'If you strike Iraq and kill the people of Iraq while Palestinians are being killed by Israel... then not one Arab leader will be able to control the angry outburst of the masses.' " In addition, European nations "have noted with alarm what they see as growing unilateralist attitudes in the U.S.," according to Oakley. "Even the United States' staunchest ally in Europe [the UK] still prefers the diplomatic course to the military one at this stage." 9-02
- Fragile Treasures of the World at Risk in Iraq (International Herald Tribune - Melikian)
"Within weeks, some of the most important monuments, works of art and written archives of the history of East and West could be at risk."
"If war breaks out in Iraq, the dangers threatening a cultural heritage - which matters not only to the land where the monuments stand and the artistic treasures were excavated, but also to our world - will be manifold."
"The harm caused by the Gulf War in 1991 was severe." 3-03
- Fueling War - Oil and Iraq (Christian Science Monitor - Francis)
"With the cold war over, more global conflicts are being spurred by a scramble for natural resources rather than by geopolitics, and poor countries rich in mineral deposits are the new focal point." "Altogether, about a quarter of the roughly 50 wars and armed conflicts active in 2001 had 'a strong resource dimension,' says Michael Renner, a senior researcher with Worldwatch Institute in Washington." 1-03
- Fueling War - Oil and Iraq (CommonDreams.org - Klare)
"As the United States gears up for an invasion of Iraq, the great unanswered question continues to be: Why is the Bush Administration so determined to topple a government that has been effectively contained by American power for eleven years?"
"Growing worries about the stability of Saudi Arabia, principal US supplier there, heightened by revelations of Saudi extremists' involvement in the September 11 terror attacks, have prompted US strategists to seek a backup should future instability lead to a drop in Saudi oil production, which could trigger a global recession." "With proven reserves of 112 billion barrels of oil (compared with 49 billion for Russia and 15 billion for the Caspian states), Iraq alone can serve as a backup for Saudi Arabia. At the same time, control over Iraqi oil would allow US leaders to more easily ignore Saudi demands for US action on behalf of the Palestinians and would weaken OPEC's control over oil prices."
"Whoever gains possession of these fields will exercise enormous influence over the global energy markets of the twenty-first century."
"This could prove to be the biggest oil grab in modern history, providing hundreds of billions of dollars to US oil firms--many linked to senior officials in the Bush Administration--and helping to avert a future energy crunch in the United States. But is oil worth spilling the blood of American soldiers and Iraqi civilians who get caught in the way? This is the question Congress must ask if we are to have an honest debate on the merits of invading Iraq." 1-03
- Fueling War - Oil, War, and Global Warming (CommonDreams.org - San Francisco Chronicle, Martinez and Karliner)
"The United States and the rest of the world would be much better off if we cracked down on corporate criminals, while taking the billions of dollars we're set to spend on war and investing them in kicking the oil habit and transforming our energy systems into environmentally sound alternatives." 11-02
- Fueling War - Opposition to War for Oil (TargetOil.com)
Provides articles to peacefully oppose going to war with Iraq for the purpose of gaining stable oil supplies. "No conflict can ever be understood by looking at just one factor – factors other than oil (e.g. supposed links to terrorism and possible weapons of mass destruction) clearly contribute to the rationale for war – but the dominant economic interest in the region and Iraq has been, is, and will continue to be oil. The peace movement’s rallying cry of 'No blood for oil' has resonance and power because it holds more than a grain of truth when talking about any proposed military action in Iraq." 1-03
- Global Outcry Against US Attack on Iraq (Guardian - Watt, Norton-Taylor, and Ward)
"Alarmed by growing rhetoric from leading hawks in Washington, key countries from China to Saudi Arabia warned of the devastating consequences of a US-led assault against Iraq." 8-02
- Half the World's Children Suffering (Guardian Unlimited)
"More than half the world's children are suffering extreme effects of poverty, war and HIV/Aids, denying them a healthy and safe childhood, according to a report published today."
"The report said the world had the capacity to reduce poverty, conflict and HIV/Aids and improve the plight of the world's children. It said Millennium Development Goals, which aim to improve the world through human development by 2015 and were agreed to by the UN's 191 member states in 2000, could be achieved at an annual cost of $40bn (£20.8bn) - $70bn (£36.4bn). World spending on military last year was $956bn (£497.4bn)." 12-04
- New Black Peace Movement Needed (Guardian Unlimited)
Walter Mosley has written a "newly completed book, What Next?, to be published in America early next year. It is a collection of essays whose central theme is that America needs a new peace movement and that the black community should be at the vanguard of that movement." 9-03
- Nuclear Risks Grow (Independent - Popham)
"At least as damaging as North Korea's departure [from the non-proliferation ban] have been successive moves by Washington to distance itself from nuclear disarmament."
"In the run-up to the Iraq war, the US President, George Bush, signed National Security Presidential Directive 17, which said: 'The United States will continue to make clear that it reserves the right to respond with overwhelming force – including potentially nuclear weapons....' "
"This assertion, analysts say, undermined...the so-called 'negative security assurances'...not to use nuclear weapons against the non-nuclear weapon states."
"The assurances were considered vital in discouraging states from developing their own nuclear weapons." "More and more states are likely to buy the argument that the only way to be secure in a unipolar world is to go down the nuclear road – 'to pre-empt pre-emption', one analyst said." 4-03
- Promoting an "Especially Bad War" (CBS News - Rooney)
"The word makes it sound as though we're just a few countries short of having the whole world on our side, and that isn't true. Most of the world is against us. The Administration says 49 countries are part of the coalition. I see that Eritrea, Uganda and Iceland are on our side."
"The fact is, though, we're in this thing with the British, who have 45,000 soldiers there, and the Australians, who have 2,000. That's it. The other 46 wish us well or let us fly bombers over their country. Big deal."
"We've practically bribed some of them. We offered Turkey $15 billion to let our troops go through there but they refused. President Bush won't be sending the president of Turkey anything for his birthday this year." 4-03
- Timing for the Push Against Iraq (CNN)
The Bush administration claims that it did not advocate for a war with Iraq just before the 2002 elections for the purpose of political gain. The record is not so clear and adversaries claim that the talk of war was for political gain.
"What's the political convenience? Strategist Dick Morris spelled it out in a recent column: 'Polls show that only one issue works in Bush's favor: terrorism.' '' 12-02
- U.N. Inspectors Demand Bush Give Evidence (Independent - Cornwell and Grice)
"George Bush was under intense pressure yesterday to give UN weapons inspectors intelligence data that the US says proves Iraq is lying when it claims to have given up its weapons of mass destruction."
" 'If the UK and the US are convinced and they say they have evidence, then one would expect they would be able to tell us where is this stuff,' Mr Blix said."
"Mr Blair said Britain would aid the weapons team in its search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. But doubts persist over whether the US and Britain possess the hard evidence they claim to have." 12-02
- View - Iraq Would Not Start a War With the USA (CNN)
"It's unlikely Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would use weapons of mass destruction against the United States unless his country were attacked, a leading U.S. senator on defense policy said Saturday." 5-02
- ANSWER Anti-War Organization (InternationalAnser.org)
Provides organization for protests to war.10-03
- Help for U.S. Soldiers and Iraqi Children (MichaelMoore.com)
Describes projects to support U.S. soldiers, Iraqi children, and more. Some projects are anti-war. 10-04
- Supporting Spokespeople for Bringing Troops Home (TrueMajority.org)
"The most effective spokespeople for bringing the troops home are the mothers, fathers, and family members of soldiers killed in Iraq, who are demanding to know why President Bush sent their sons, daughters, husbands and wives off to die." 8-05
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