Afghanistan Was Never a Good War
The United States invaded Afghanistan after 9/11 because its leaders wanted revenge. The US occupation brought misery and destruction for the Afghan people, and its failure was guaranteed from the start.
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Greg Shupak teaches media studies at the University of Guelph in Canada. He is the author of The Wrong Story: Palestine, Israel, and the Media (OR Books).
The United States invaded Afghanistan after 9/11 because its leaders wanted revenge. The US occupation brought misery and destruction for the Afghan people, and its failure was guaranteed from the start.
Everywhere in the media and in the halls of power, we hear that Israel has a right to self-defense. But when it comes to the question of whether Palestinians suffering under brutal occupation have the right to defend themselves, those same voices are conspicuously silent.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has missed its first deadline for annexing part of the West Bank, but this Trump-backed scheme for land theft is still firmly on the table. The goal of Netanyahu and his US sponsors is simple: they want to liquidate Palestinian national aspirations.
US sanctions are devastating in ordinary times. But with the COVID-19 pandemic raging, they’re killing more people than ever.
The United States has no right to bomb countries, to overthrow governments, or to assassinate other states’ officials, though it has been doing so for so long that these practices have come to be widely accepted as natural.
The jury long ago returned its verdict on US intervention in the Middle East: a similar catastrophe in Iran must be prevented.
An accurate telling of the Israel-Palestine conflict would tell of Israel violently colonizing Palestine with US support. Instead, media outlets present fables in which both sides are equally to blame.
For seventy years, Israeli violence has permeated every aspect of Palestinians’ lives. Once again, Palestinians are resisting.
We should oppose the ongoing, disastrous US intervention in Syria without reservation.
The United States recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as part of its decades-long support of Israeli colonialism.
There are no “humanitarian” wars. There are only wars.
Being pro-refugee must also mean being antiwar.
A no-fly zone in Syria isn’t a humanitarian response — it’s a call to war.
It’s telling that sections of the media think that Islam is the decisive factor in cases like Orlando.
The military campaign against ISIS is just the latest phase of US imperialism in the Middle East.
We should honor those killed and injured in past US wars by stopping future ones.
Western-led military interventions aren’t motivated by humanitarian concerns.
Don’t blame recent bloodshed in Jerusalem on religion. The incitement is Israeli policy.
Israeli violence isn’t senseless — it follows a colonial logic.
“Both sides” aren’t to blame in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel is.