By Farhang Jahanpour September 26 Last year I wrote that Trump’s speech at the UN General Assembly was perhaps the worst speech ever delivered from that podium, certainly by a Western leader. This year he surpassed himself. Why is there no rule to say that someone who openly violates the basic norms of […]
By Jonathan Power September 25, 2018 Last year the office of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court released a report which for the first time explicitly named US military forces and CIA operatives in secret prisons as possible war crimes culprits for the alleged use of torture and rape. Because the American soldiers […]
Photo: James Jeffrey – Special Representative for Syria Engagement in the United States (Hudson Institute via Flickr) By Paul R. Pillar September 19, 2018 Amid a week of attention-grabbing drama about the dysfunction of Donald Trump’s presidency, it almost escaped notice that his administration is putting U.S. troops in harm’s way in a foreign […]
Utterly destructive, self-defeating and spelling the end of the U.S. Empire By Farhang Jahanpour September 22, 2018 In view of the macro-historical perspective on the Middle East-West relations and the concrete cases referred to in this series – Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria – it is clear that the demonization of Middle Eastern […]
By Farhang Jahanpour September 20, 2018 1. An ally in warfare and torture Although the tragic events in Syria are too close to us to pass a definitive judgement about what has happened there and we need some perspective before we can make any definitive statements, nevertheless, some of the outlines of […]
By Farhang Jahanpour September 20, 2018 On 20 March 2018, the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was taken into police custody in Paris to be questioned over allegations that he received millions of Euros in illegal funding from Qadhafi for his presidential campaign. Investigators were examining claims that Qadhafi’s regime secretly gave […]
By Farhang Jahanpour September 18, 2018 1. Some omitted facts and perspectives Prior to the Iraq war, the only thing that one heard on most Western channels about that country was Saddam Hussein and his alleged chemical and nuclear weapons. Saddam Hussein became synonymous with Iraq. Nothing was said of Iraq’s long […]
By Farhang Jahanpour September 18, 2018 1. The Carter Doctrine, Brzezinski and the Stinger missiles After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan on Christmas Day 1979, President Jimmy Carter issued his Carter Declaration, stating that the Persian Gulf was part of America’s vital interest and America would defend it by all means possible. […]
By Farhang Jahanpour September 18, 2018 1. The Carter Doctrine, Brzezinski and the Stinger missiles After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan on Christmas Day 1979, President Jimmy Carter issued his Carter Declaration, stating that the Persian Gulf was part of America’s vital interest and America would defend it by all means possible. […]
By Mairead Maguire Nobel Peace laureate and TFF Associate September 17, 2018 In examining the future, we must look to the past. As we watch the media today, we are spoon fed more and more propaganda and fear of the unknown, that we should be afraid of the unknown and have full faith […]