As we mark two full years since Russia invaded Ukraine, Ukrainian government forces have withdrawn from Avdiivka, a town they first captured from the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in July 2014. Situated only 10 miles from Donetsk city, Avdiivka gave Ukrainian government forces a base from which their artillery bombarded Donetsk for nearly ten … Continue reading “After Two Years of War in Ukraine, It’s Time for Peace”
Medea Benjamin
US Chooses Genocide Over Diplomacy in the Middle East
On February 7, 2024, a U.S. drone strike assassinated an Iraqi militia leader, Abu Baqir al-Saadi, in the heart of Baghdad. This was a further U.S. escalation in a major new front in the U.S.-Israeli war on the Middle East, centered on the Israeli genocide in Gaza, but already also including ethnic cleansing in the … Continue reading “US Chooses Genocide Over Diplomacy in the Middle East”
Biden Must Choose Between a Ceasefire in Gaza and a Regional War
In the topsy-turvy world of corporate media reporting on U.S. foreign policy, we have been led to believe that U.S. air strikes on Yemen, Iraq and Syria are legitimate and responsible efforts to contain the expanding war over Israel’s genocide in Gaza, while the actions of the Houthi government in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and … Continue reading “Biden Must Choose Between a Ceasefire in Gaza and a Regional War”
A Chance To Hold Israel – and the US – to Account for Genocide
On January 11th, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague is holding its first hearing in South Africa’s case against Israel under the Genocide Convention. The first provisional measure South Africa has asked of the court is to order an immediate end to this carnage, which has already killed more than 23,000 people, … Continue reading “A Chance To Hold Israel – and the US – to Account for Genocide”
Getting Serious About Halting Israeli Genocide
On Friday, December 8, the UN Security Council met under Article 99 for only the fourth time in the UN’s history. Article 99 is an emergency provision that allows the Secretary General to summon the Council to respond to a crisis that “threatens the maintenance of international peace and security.” The previous occasions were the … Continue reading “Getting Serious About Halting Israeli Genocide”
Can US Threats Prevent a Wider War in the Middle East?
While Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has been frantically shuttling around the Middle East trying to stop the Israeli coflict in Gaza from exploding into a regional war, the United States has also sent two aircraft carrier strike groups, a Marine Expeditionary Unit and 1,200 extra troops to the Middle East as a “deterrent.” In … Continue reading “Can US Threats Prevent a Wider War in the Middle East?”
Israeli War Crimes and Propaganda Follow US Blueprint
We have both been reporting on and protesting against U.S. war crimes for many years, and against identical crimes committed by U.S. allies and proxies like Israel and Saudi Arabia: illegal uses of military force to try to remove enemy governments or “regimes”; hostile military occupations; disproportionate military violence justified by claims of “terrorism”; the … Continue reading “Israeli War Crimes and Propaganda Follow US Blueprint”
Is CIA Director Bill Burns a Biden Yes-Man, a Putin Apologist, or a Peacemaker?
Lost in a chaotic hall of mirrors of its own creation, the CIA has generally failed in its one and only legitimate task, to provide U.S. policymakers with accurate intelligence about the world beyond the Washington echo-chamber to inform U.S. decision-making. If, unlike many of his predecessors, President Biden actually wanted to be guided by … Continue reading “Is CIA Director Bill Burns a Biden Yes-Man, a Putin Apologist, or a Peacemaker?”
US-Backed Roll of the Dice Leaves Ukraine in Worse Crisis
President Biden wrote in the New York Times in June 2022 that the United States was arming Ukraine to “fight on the battlefield and be in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table.” Ukraine’s fall 2022 counteroffensive left it in a stronger position, yet Biden and his NATO allies still chose the battlefield over … Continue reading “US-Backed Roll of the Dice Leaves Ukraine in Worse Crisis”