The Critical Thinking Paper
The critical thinking paper (three to
four single-spaced pages, 1500 to 2000 words) must be based exclusively on the VAST assigned course materials
of Topic 5 and must focus on the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, especially the background of the
war, its causes, its costs, and its ‘Arab spring’ ramifications. The critical thinking paper must be formatted as a
Microsoft Word file (according to Guidelines for the critical thinking paper in this syllabus—see below—and any
related instructions on Blackboard) and uploaded through the TurnItIn link. Course materials draw upon a great
variety of sources, including required online short readings, PowerPoint slides, videos or video synopses, current
issues in the news, ONE required textbook, and three recommended books.
Guidelines for the critical thinking paper
The critical thinking paper must be based exclusively on the VAST assigned course materials of Topic 5 and must
focus on the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, especially the background of the war, its causes, its
costs, and its ‘Arab spring’ ramifications. The critical thinking paper must be completed & submitted by the deadline
to avoid 0 points, in addition to a grade penalty of 2 points.
The critical thinking paper must be formatted as a Microsoft Word file and uploaded through the TurnItIn link. The
paper should reflect your own independent and original thought and your own critical thinking and synthesis. The
paper should be persuasive and well written. It should be carefully formatted in accordance with the following
detailed instructions, which will ultimately help you learn basic and useful word processing skills from Microsoft
Word (if you don’t know them). The paper should consist of three to four to single-spaced pages, or 1500 to 2000
words. There should be no cover page. The paper should have four paragraphs per page. There should be one space
between paragraphs and no indentation. Each page should have top/bottom and right/left margins of 1.2″ as well as
full justification. It should have Times New Roman as the only base font. Each page should have your name and
Indiana State University on two lines aligned with the margins as left headers, and the course title and academic
term on two lines aligned with margins as right headers. The point size of the headers should be 11, the title of the
paper should be centered and should have bold appearance and a font point size of 14, the rest of the text should 4 Geography of the Middle East
have a font point size of 12 (except the footnotes whose font size should be 10). The standardized format is
designed to improve your writing presentation skills and to help the grader and/or peer reviewer focus more on the
content of your paper and not be distracted or influenced by the format (since it should be the same format in all
papers). For your references, you must use ONLY footnotes (without bibliography) entered at the bottom of each
page according to the Notes [without bibliography] system of The Chicago Manuel of Style Online at:
http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html
Keep in mind that I am NOT the author of the assigned materials (books, articles, slides, videos, currents issues in the
news…). For example, when you cite a PowerPoint slide, you should provide the source and page number (if any)
cited on the slide as well as the slide number and the topic number. Make sure that all your sources can be accessed
and verified quickly by the instructor.
The grade of your paper is based on the originality and quality of your understanding and presentation of the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003.The grade of your paper is also based on following all instruction guidelines and demonstrating an ability to think critically, reason clearly, and communicate effectively through English writing. You find below some basic universal intellectual standards that should help you think critically and check the quality of your thinking and reasoning about a problem, issue, or situation
Critical thinking paper
Based exclusively on the vast and diverse course assigned materials (the textbook, the recommended books, the online short readings, the PowerPoint slides, the videos or video synopses, and the current issues in the news announcements) write a critical thinking paper in which (1) you mention briefly the background of the Iraq war (the Palestine-Israel conflict, the Cold War wars, and the Afghan ‘jihad’ of the 1980s), (2) you discuss briefly the “what” of the Iraq war (how many U.S. soldiers were killed, how much money was allocated to the war, how military operations were conducted, how many Iraqis were killed or displaced, etc.), (3) you elaborate on the REAL “why” and “who” of the Iraq war (whether the United States invaded Iraq to search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, spread democracy into Iraq, control Iraqi oil, protect Israel from Iraq, protect Arab Gulf states from Iraq, destroy an ally of Al-Qaeda, or achieve other objectives), and (4) you discuss briefly the links between the Iraq war and the so-called ‘Arab spring’ uprisings since December 2010. The critical thinking paper must be formatted as a Microsoft Word file (according to the detailed guidelines for the critical thinking paper on pages 3 and 4 of the syllabus) and uploaded through the TurnItIn link. The critical thinking paper must be completed & submitted by the deadline to avoid 0 points, in addition to a grade penalty of 2 points. The critical thinking paper is deployed between 11/6/14 at 10 pm and 12/8/14 at 10 pm
Reading related assignment:
First topic :
Readings
The 9/11 Commission Report (read the Preface: pages xv-xviii, follow the pagination appearing on the Report, NOT the pagination appearing on your computer screen): http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf
Arab Contributions to Civilization: http://www.adc.org/education/arab-contributions-to-civilization/
Muslim Scholars and Thinkers Through the 14th Century: http://www.princeton.edu/~humcomp/scholars.html
Textbook, pages vii to 48 (The United States, Israel, and the Lobby–Preface, Introduction, and the Great Benefactor).
Videos
Video: Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People (50 mn): Synopsis: “Reel Bad Arabs takes a devastating tour of the American cinematic landscape, moving from the earliest days of silent film to today’s biggest Hollywood blockbusters to reveal an astonishing and persistent pattern of slanderous Arab stereotyping. Featuring acclaimed author and Hollywood film consultant Dr. Jack Shaheen, the documentary exposes American cinema’s long love affair with Arab villainy and buffoonery, from over-sexed Bedouin bandits and submissive maidens to sinister sheiks and blood-thirsty terrorists. Along the way, the film provides striking insights into the origin of these images, their disturbing similarities to anti-Semitic and racist stereotypes from the past, and their political resonance during key moments of conflict in U.S. history. In the end, Shaheen inspires us to think critically about the destructive social and political effects of Hollywood’s projection of Arabs, challenging us to envison counternarratives that do justice to both the diversity and humanity of Arab people, and the reality and richness of Arab history and culture.” Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People (brief): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko_N4BcaIPY Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People (50 mn): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lugFgJn9krI
Video: Letter to America: how Arabs view the United States (45 mn). Synopsis: “Is America’s “war on terrorism” a defensive reaction to the events of September 11th or a smokescreen for an attempt to secure oil and spread Western culture throughout the Middle East? Syrian-born BBC correspondent Rana Kabbani takes a personal journey through the region to explain Arab anger with the United States and how Muslims in the region have come to view America. Kabbani tours Egypt, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, canvassing opinions of citizens from all levels of society, as well as those of Americans living abroad.” The video tends to reflect the views of many people in the Middle East who believe that U.S. Middle East foreign policy (1) protects monarchy and undermines democracy in the region, (2) supports Israel in its ethnic cleansing of Palestine, and (3) opposes any genuine independence of countries in the region.
Video: Modern Marvels: Suez Canal (50 mn). Synopsis: “Since the ancient pharaohs’ time, the Isthmus of Suez has been the gateway to trade between East and West. It’s thought that the pharaohs could connect the Red Sea with the Mediterranean using a system of small canals; but the desert sands buried them. Not until mid-19th century did mankind readdress the problem. Since its completion in 1869, the Suez Canal has been a vital link in world trade and a point of controversy in geopolitics. Today, more than 20,000 ships transit the canal yearly.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpYW7ISr5HU
Video clip (4 minutes): Former US Secretary Hillary Clinton explains how the US government created the Islamic jihad in Afghanistan in the 1980s [in collabotation with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia] but she did not explain that the reason was to force the Soviet Union to lift a ban on the emigration of Soviet Jews to Palestine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzQ2KZWfjgs
Video clip (4.5 minutes): What motivated the 9/11 highjackers? It appears that one of the testimony about the main motive was kept out of the 9/11 Commission Report and no recommendation was given to address the main motive for the 9/11 attacks. Lee Herbert Hamilton (vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission, Democratic Co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, Director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, member of the President’s Homeland Security Advisory Council, and a 34-year member of US Congress) stumbles and refuses to answer a question about US support for Israel as the real motive of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1bm2GPoFfg&list=PLfrlsC1yJ2dQmLEecJ95P3mcEY6oY2SAl
Video clip (11 minutes): CIA Agent Exposes How Al-Qaeda Dosen’t Exist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8CqUJoEWBs
Video clip (1.31 mn): Jon Stewart Learns What Happens When You Criticize Israel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrlUzkd8Z8g
2-
Readings
U.S. Energy Basics 101: http://www.eia.doe.gov/basics/energybasics101.html
[U.S.] Energy Productions and Imports http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/er/early_production.cfm
Trillions of dollars worth of oil found in Australian outback http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/9822955/Trillions-of-dollars-worth-of-oil-found-in-Australian-outback.html
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC): http://www.opec.org/
OPEC Flows of Crude and Refined Oil, 2008 (Thousand Barrels per Day): http://www.opec.org/library/Annual%20Statistical%20Bulletin/interactive/2008/FileZ/worldmapz.htm
Saudi Aramco At Glance: http://www.saudiaramco.com/en/home.html#our-company%257C%252Fen%252Fhome%252Four-company%252Fat-a-glance.baseajax.html Statement on Energy (Adopted by American Jewish Committee Board of Governors, February 8, 2002), pp. 61-66: http://www.kintera.org/atf/cf/%7B42D75369-D582-4380-8395-D25925B85EAF%7D/EnergySecurityForAmerica.pdf
Who Gets What From Imported Oil? Taxes versus revenue: http://www.opec.org/opec_web/static_files_project/media/downloads/publications/Who_Gets_What_Feb2014.pdf
Geography of Recycling Petrodollars: http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/current_issues/ci12-9.html
The Construction Site Called Saudi Arabia: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/business/worldbusiness/20saudi.html
GE gets $1 billion in Saudi Arabian orders: http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSN3145292420070131
France’s Veolia to build UAE desalination plant: http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSL2967053620070829
REFILE-Mitsubishi Heavy wins $1.9 bln Saudi plant order: http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUST31189020070301
France, UAE sign military and nuclear agreements: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL1517472620080116
Airbus and Boeing win giant order: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7090434.stm
High court to review halted BAE-Saudi investigation: http://www.guardian.co.uk/baefiles/story/0,,2208451,00.html
Alcoa Will Pay $384 Million Penalty For Bahrain Bribes http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/01/09/261223301/alcoa-will-pay-384-million-penalty-for-bahrain-bribes
The £300m flying palace: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1190780/The-flying-palace-Inside-worlds-biggest-private-jet-worth-jumbo-300million.html
UAE’s demographic imbalance: http://gulfnews.com/opinions/columnists/uae-s-demographic-imbalance-1.172314
Conflict has cost Middle East $12 trillion: study: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE50M4OP20090123
Inflation ($42 per barrel of oil in 1980 has the purchasing power of $120.84 in 2014): http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm
Read Textbook, pages 49-110 (Israel: Strategic Asset or Liability?, A Dwindling Moral Case).
Videos
Video: The curse of oil, (52 min.). Synopsis: “This program offers a global history of the oil industry and the issues intertwined with it, from early-20th-century prospecting in South America and the Middle East to war in Iraq. The origins and significance of OPEC figure prominently in the narrative, as do several historic and violent conflicts revolving around controlling sources or flow of oil: labor strikes in Latin America, Nasser’s seizure of the Suez Canal, the Iran-Iraq war, and other pivotal events. Revealing interviews feature, among others, former OPEC leader Sheikh Ahmed Yamani and former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia James Akins–who minces no words and calls oil a curse.”
Video: Life after oil: the new energy alternatives, (30 min.): “This program illustrates ways we can solve our dependence on fossil fuels through the use of alternative energy sources including wind power, fuel cells, hydrogen fuel, ethanol, biomass and solar power.”
Please be aware that federal copyright law (Title 17 of the United States Code) does not allow showing an entire video to Online or Blackboard students (without permission from the owner of copyright), even though it does allow showing the exact same video to classroom students. Because of this unfortunate prohibition, I will only post a written synopsis/abstract of each scheduled video as a component of Course Documents. Class members are REQUIRED to review the synopsis/abstract of each video, but they are NOT REQUIRED (though they are encouraged) to obtain copies of those vodeos and watch them (ISU library holds copies of almost all the scheduled videos). You should try to watch part or all of each assigned video online from You Tube or other sources.
3-
Readings
Selected readings from The Quran: http://faculty.indstate.edu/melyassini/gme%20twenty%20selected%20sets%20of%20verses%20from%20The%20Quran.pdf
Prophet Muhammad’s Farewell Sermon: http://www.islamicity.com/articles/printarticles.asp?ref=IC0107-322&p=1
The full transcript of the film Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet: http://www.pbs.org/muhammad/transcripts/muhammad_script.pdf
The Five Pillar of Islam: http://www.cair.com/american-muslims/about-islam.html
The American Mosque 2011 (Report 1): http://faithcommunitiestoday.org/sites/faithcommunitiestoday.org/files/The%20American%20Mosque%202011%20web.pdf
The American Mosque 2011 (Report 2): http://www.hartfordinstitute.org/The-American-Mosque-Report-2.pdf
The Quran: http://www.quranexplorer.com/quran/
The Bible: http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/English-Standard-Version-ESV-Bible/#books
Interfaith Dialogue: “A COMMON WORD BETWEEN US AND YOU”: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=a%20common%20word%20between%20us%20and%20you&source=web&cd=3&sqi=2&ved=0CDAQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.acommonword.com%2Fdownloads%2FCW-Booklet-Final-v6_8-1-09.pdf&ei=FpZ0UNONOOXw0gHE8ICQBQ&usg=AFQjCNGmK1ZprbZaN8rum7A6VRYhuJJzFA
The caricatures in Middle East politics: http://petras.lahaine.org/articulo.php?p=9&more=1&c=1
Read Textbook, pages 111-196 (The United States, Israel, and the Lobby–What Is the “Israel Lobby”?, Guiding the Policy Process, Dominating Public Discourse)
Videos
Muhammad: legacy of a prophet (1 videodisc, ca. 116 min.): Tells the story of the seventh century prophet who changed world history in 23 years, and continues to shape the lives of more than 1.2 billion people. Three years in the making, the film takes viewers not only to ancient Middle Eastern sites where Muhammed’s story unfolds, but into the homes, mosques and workplaces of some of America’s estimated seven million Muslims to discover the many ways in which they follow Muhammad’s example. (Created and produced by Alexander Kronemer, Michael Wolfe ; producer/director, Michael Schwarz ; a KQED presentation).
Muhammad Legacy of a Prophet (about 113 mn): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo9G72plWkA
Inside Mecca (about 56 mn): “National Geographic explores the hajj (Islamic pilgrimage) through the experiences of three pilgrims from very backgrounds.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFQHgdmJqjo
Shaykh Hamza Yusuf is a cofounder of Zaytuna College, located in Berkeley, California,http://zaytunacollege.org/academics/faculty/shaykh_hamza_yusuf. He is an advisor to Stanford University’s Program in Islamic Studies and the Center for Islamic Studies at Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union. He discusses issues and concerns of Western Muslims. Western Muslims: Issues & Concerns – Hamza Yusuf (1/6, 10mn): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5miygqKFi0 Western Muslims: Issues & Concerns – Hamza Yusuf (2/6, 10mn): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNQ-3r4-tQw Western Muslims: Issues & Concerns – Hamza Yusuf (3/6, 10mn): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQR7BxFCyI0 Western Muslims: Issues & Concerns – Hamza Yusuf (4/6, 10mn): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwvKXIUT6KY Western Muslims: Issues & Concerns – Hamza Yusuf (5/6, 10mn): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdcfCzq4NQA Western Muslims: Issues & Concerns – Hamza Yusuf (6/6, 10mn): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_VjRJPPi4U
4-
Readings
Remember These Children: http://rememberthesechildren.org/remember2000.html
The Other Exodus: http://www.users.cloud9.net/~recross/israel-watch/ErskinChilders.html
Plan Dalet: Master Plan for the Conquest of Palestine: http://palestine-studies.org/enakba/military/Khalidi,%20Plan%20Dalet%20Revisited.pdf
The Non-Jewish Origin of Zionism: http://faculty.indstate.edu/melyassini/The%20Non-Jewish%20Origin%20of%20Zionism2.pdf
Geography of Palestinian refugees: Map of UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East]’s Area of Operations: http://www.unrwa.org/userfiles/2011011352710.pdf
About the Conference of presidents of major American Jewish organizations: http://www.conferenceofpresidents.org/about/members
AIPAC calls for swift action to block U.S. companies supporting Iran: http://jta.org/news/article/2010/03/10/1011010/aipac-calls-for-swift-action-to-block-us-companies-supporting-iran
The Jewish agenda in Washington for 2010–JTA 2/1/2010: http://jta.org/news/article/2010/02/01/1010421/the-jewish-agenda-in-washington-for-2009
“Why Do They Hate Us?”–The Palestine-Israel Conflict and the United States: http://faculty.indstate.edu/melyassini/Geography%20of%20the%20Palestine-Israel%20Conflict%20and%20the%20USA–Why%20Do%20They%20Hate%20Us.pdf
John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, The Israel lobby and U.S. foreign policy (2006): http://electronicintifada.net/content/book-review-israel-lobby-and-us-foreign-policy/3525
Jimmy Carter, Palestine: peace not apartheid (2006): http://www.cartercenter.org/news/editorials_speeches/latimes_palestine_081206.html
Ilan Pappe, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006): http://www.counterpunch.org/whitbeck01272007.html
Paul Findley, They dare to speak out: people and institutions confront Israel’s lobby (1985): http://www.csmonitor.com/1985/0802/bfindl-f.html
Norman Finkelstein, The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering (2000): http://normanfinkelstein.com/category/the-holocaust-industry/
Mark Green, ed., Persecution, Privilege & Power: Reconsidering the Zionist Narrative in American Life, Thirty Essential Articles on the Most Pressing Issue of our Time (2007): Read carefully the Book Description/About Mark Green, click on TV Interviews and watch the Jeff Blankfort (#1 and #2) short video clips at: http://persecutionprivilegeandpower.com
The 9/11 Commission Report (pages 147 and 162, follow the pagination appearing on the Report, NOT the pagination appearing on your computer screen): http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf
Yes, It’s the Lobby: “Political Fear” Drives US Support for Israel http://www.ifamericansknew.org/us_ints/pg-abourezk.html
Textbook, pages 199-262 (The Lobby in Action–Introduction, The Lobby Versus the Palestinians, Iraq and Dreams of Transforming the Middle East)
Videos
Image and reality of the Israel-Palestine conflict (1h 45 min.): Synopsis: “Mr. Finkelstein speaks about his book, Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict; and argues that while different moral conclusions can be reached, the facts themselves are indisputable. He says that the Holocaust and the charge of anti-Semitism are widely used to deflect criticism of Israeli policies towards the Palestinians. He also discusses the views of a number of other scholars including Joan Peters and Benny Morris. A question and answer period follows.” Finkelstein argues that there is a scholarly consensus that the Palestinians were ethnically cleansed in 1948 and that the Holocaust and the charge of anti-Semitism are widely used to deflect criticism of Israeli policies towards the Palestinians. http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/181037-1
Palestine is still the issue (50 min.): Synopsis: “John Pilger travels to Israel and the West Bank of Jordan and Gaza to ask why the Palestinians are still refugees in their own land. In a series of interviews with both Palestinians and Israelis, he explores the issue of Palestine and presents the Palestinians as a nation of people, traumatized, humiliated and yet resilient. He asks for a solution that will bring justice and peace to Palestine.” In one footage the video shows Israeli soldiers deliberately breaking the bones of Palestinian youths during the Palestinian intifada (of 1987-1993) against Israeli occupation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZic82Qcrwc&list=PL3AF757B427469513
The iron wall to all people of the Holy Land (58 min.): Synopsis: “A documentary look at Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank territories and their history, and at how Israel’s practice of promoting settlements deviates from peace accords and complicates the establishment of a Palestinian state. Includes interviews with prominent Israeli and Palestinian peace activists and political analysts, including Jeff Halper, Akiva Eldar, Hind Khoury, Ghassan Al-Khatib, and others. Also includes interviews with Israeli settlers and soldiers, and Palestinian farmers.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFBamQ2aONA
Watch also the 58-second video clip in which Lee Herbert Hamilton (vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission, Democratic Co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, Director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, member of the President’s Homeland Security Advisory Council, and a 34-year member of US Congress) refuses to answer a question about US support for Israel as the real motive of KSM (Khalid Sheikh Mohammed), the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gAlw9pwB3E&mode=related&search
Video clip (1.31mn): Jon Stewart Learns What Happens When You Criticize Israel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrlUzkd8Z8g
Blog 4
Review carefully the PowerPoint slide titled “The Core of the Paestine-Israel Conflict” and the PowerPoint slides titled “Geography of UNRWA-registered Palestine refugees” in West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. Based on the slides, write a concise paragraph (100-150 words) in which you present(1) the total number of UNRWA-registered Palestine refugees and Palestine refugee camps and (2) the total number of UNRWA-registered Palestine refugees and Palestine refugee camps in each one of the four countries (Palestine-Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria) as of January 1, 2014. To submit blogs in this course, you click on the link to the blog as it appears in one of the subheadings of Course Documents, create a blog entry by typing it, and post it. Do not submit blogs from course tools, as attachments, or as email messages because they will not be accepted. This is Blog 4 and it is worth 2 points (2 percent of your final grade). Blog 4 will be deployed between 10/16/14 at 10 pm and 10/22/14 at 10 pm
Homework 4
Review carefully the statistics presented by “If Americans Knew” at http://www.ifamericansknew.org(also summarized in the PowerPoint slides) and showing:
Israeli and Palestinian Children Killed, September 29, 2000 – Present Israelis and Palestinians Killed, September 29, 2000 – Present Israelis and Palestinians Injured, September 29, 2000 – Present UN Resolutions Targeting Israel and the Palestinians, 1955 – 1992 Current Number of Political Prisoners and Detainees Demolitions of Israeli and Palestinian Homes, 1967 – Present Israeli and Palestinian Unemployment Rates Current Illegal Settlements on the Other’s Land Daily U.S. Military Aid to Israel and the Palestinians, Fiscal Year 2014
Based on these statistics and the central arguments made in the textbook, write a thoughtful essay (200-300 words) in which (1) you summarize the significant facts you have learned from comparing and contrasting these statistics and (2) you explain why predominantly Christian America has supported and continues to support the Jewish Israelis who do not believe in Jesus against the Muslim and Christian Palestinians who do believe in Jesus, and who are clearly the underdog (“In fact, a good case can be made that current U.S. policy conflicts with basic American values and that if the United States were to choose sides on the basis of moral considerations alone, it would back the Palestinians, not Israel”, Mearsheimer and Walt, page 80). Homework 4 is worth 5 points (5 percent of your final grade). Sources for homework assignments must be cited briefly and ONLY between parentheses in the text. Each homework assignment in this course must be formatted as a Microsoft Word file and uploaded through the TurnItIn link (View/Complete) by the deadline. No other submission will be accepted.
5- Readings
BACKGROUND TO THE U.S.-LED WAR IN IRAQ:
1. The Palestine-Israel conflict (1948-present) is one of the world’s major sources of war, violence, and oppression as illustrated by Israel’s two most recent wars on Lebanon in 2006 and on Gaza in December 2008 and early January 2009. It is a head-on struggle over Palestine between the continuously arriving Jewish settlers (who want to make Palestine a “Jewish state” or a “state for the Jews” whenever and wherever they live) and the native Muslim/Christian/Arab Palestinians who continue to resist dispossession and expulsion. The United States government is a pro-Israel partisan in this conflict, a position which continues to drive a wedge between the United States and the Arab/Muslim world.
2. The Cold War (1946-1991) refers to a period of political/economic/military rivalry between two superpowers: the United States and the Soviet Union. The word “Cold” in the phrase ” Cold War” indicates that there was no direct military engagement between U.S. and Soviet forces. The American-Soviet Cold War was actually a series of bloody proxy wars, waged by superpower surrogates in the developing countries of the Global South. The two major Cold War wars were the American-Vietnam War 1959-1975 (where U.S. forces were ‘on the ground’ while Soviet forces were ‘in the background’) and the Soviet-Afghan War 1979-1989 (where Soviet forces were ‘on the ground’ while U.S. forces were ‘in the background’). The United States and the Soviet Union were defeated in Vietnam and Afghanistan, respectively. Even in these two cases much of the war-related human devastation, political turmoil, economic hardship, and ideological argument took place in the developing countries of the Global South, not in the developed countries of the Global North. For example, the American-Vietnam War killed 3 to 4 million Vietnamese and 1.5 to 2 million Laos and Cambodians and displaced millions more into refugees, compared to some 58,000 U.S. troops killed and 300,000 wounded. The Soviet-Afghan War killed between 700,000 and 1.3 million Afghans and threw another 4.5 million into refugee camps in Pakistan and Iran, compared to some 15,000 Soviet troops killed and 37,000 wounded in Afghanistan. One Israeli strategic goal during the Cold War was to have Western powers force the Soviet Union to let Soviet Jewry migrate to Palestine-Israel and have the United States pay for their resettlement. Anatoly Shcharansky, one of the Zionist leaders of the Jewish Movement in the Soviet Union, has suggested that “the Jewish emigration movement was a significant factor in the Soviet Union’s final distintegration.” The KGB considered Soviet Jewish Zionists “a band of criminals in the service of Israel” “determined to bring damage to the Soviet Union.” At the core of the “Western” campaign for Soviet Jews was a clandestine Israeli agency, Nativ, whose representatives used to operate from inside the Israeli Embassy in Mosco before the Soviet Union severed diplomatic relations with Israel in June 1967. The “Western” campaign for Soviet Jews “began in 1952-53 with the creation of the Israeli ‘Liaison Bureau,’ better known under its code name ‘Nativ,’ and continued until 1989-91” (see “The Jewish Movement in the Soviet Union,” edited by Yaacov Ro’i, 2012, pages 11, 57, 59, 392). Read carefully the New York Times story about President George Bush complaining on television (September 12, 1991) about the “powerful political forces” of the Israel lobby lined up against “the lonely little guy” in the White House who wanted no more than a four-month delay of $10 billion loan guarantees requested by Israel to resettle Soviet Jews in Israel following the disintegration of the Soviet Union (Adam Clymer, ” Pro-Israel Lobby Readies for Fight,” New York Times, Sep 15, 1991. pg. A.9.).
3. During the Soviet-Afghan War, the CIA (under 3 U.S. administrations) and its associates elsewhere in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and China helped organize and train an ‘Islamist mujahedeen’ guerilla of Afghani, Arab, and Pakistani Muslims to fight and defeat the [“atheist”] Soviets in Afghanistan. In a memo from U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski to President Jimmy Carter regarding the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan on December 26, 1979, Brzezinski suggested that “what is to be done” should include the following: “A. It is essential that Afghanistani resistance continues. This means more money as well as arms shipments to the rebels, and some technical advice; B. To make the above possible we must both reassure Pakistan and encourage it to help the rebels. This will require a review of our policy toward Pakistan, more guarantees to it, more arms aid. C. We should encourage the Chinese to help the rebels also. D. We should concert with Islamic countries both a propaganda campaign and in a covert action campaign to help the rebels; E. We should inform the Soviets that their actions are placing SALT in jeopardy and that will also influence the substance of the Brown visit to China, since the Chinese are doubtless going to be most concerned about implications for themselves of such Soviet assertiveness so close to their border. Unless we tell the Soviets will not take our “expressions of concern” very seriously, with the effect that our relations will suffer, without the Soviets ever having been confronted with the need to ask the question whether such local adventurism is worth the long-term damage to the U.S.-Soviet relationship; F. Finally, we should consider taking Soviet actions in Afghanistan to the U.N. as a threat to peace.” In another memo from U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski to President Jimmy Carter regarding the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan on December 29, 1979, Brzezinski noted that within three days of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan: “1. The President made a strong public statement. 2. Secretary of State made a public statement. 3. We initiated a Security Council meeting. 4. We suspended bilateral talks with the Soviets on peaceful uses of the atom. 5. Embassy Moscow was instructed to restrict all official and social contacts with Soviet officials.” In 1985, US President Ronald Reagan called the Afghan mujahedeen “freedom fighters” who “are our brothers.” Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, Saudi ambassador to US was quoted: “Bin Laden used to come to us when America—underline, America—through the CIA and Saudi Arabia, were helping our brother mujahideen in Afghanistan, to get rid of the communist secularist Soviet Union forces. Osama bin Laden came and said ‘Thank you. Thank you for bringing the Americans to help us. At that time, I thought he couldn’t lead eight ducks across the street.” (watch also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqtSaIikQ-o ). Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged that the US government created the Islamic jihad in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan in the 1980s but she did not explain that the main reason was to force the Soviet Union to lift a ban on the emigration of Soviet Jews to Palestine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzQ2KZWfjgs . The defeat and withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan in 1989 led to a “failed state” in Afghanistan and opened the door to a power struggle between the “victorious” mujahedeen factions. The Afghan Taliban movement emerged out of the ruins of this power struggle and spread its control over most of the country between 1996 and 2001 before it was overthrown by the United States invasion of Afghanistan following the 9/11 terrorist attacks which ex-Saudi Osama Bin Laden (an ally of the Afghan Taliban movement) and his al-Qaida followers planned, executed, and took credit for. Most countries around the world expressed sympathy and support for the United States under attack. But when the U.S. invaded Iraq (which did not attack the US, had no weapons of mass destruction, and had no link to 9/11), the world’s view of the United States began to change as many people worldwide began to realize that the Iraq war was not about what it was said to be about.
SELECTED READINGS AND VIDEOS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE BASIC GEOGRAPHY OF IRAQ AS WELL AS THE “WHAT,” “WHY,” “WHO,” AND ” AFTERMATH” OF THE U.S.-LED WAR IN IRAQ:
1. Learn the basic geography of Iraq (the strategic location of Iraq in the MIDDLE of the Middle East):
(a) Learn the basic geography of Iraq: size of population, area, languages, religions, ethnic groups, major rivers, significance of the oil sector, total GDP (official exchange rate), and GDP per capita (ppp, purchasing power parity) (b) Learn the name, location, major language, dominant ethnic group, and government type of each country bordering Iraq (c) Compare and contrast Iraq’s population size, ethnic groups, and GDP per capita with those of the United States. The information you need for the above (a), (b), and (c) is available from the online CIA World Factbook at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ 2. Learn the “what” of the U.S.-led war in Iraq (Human/financial/moral cost of the war): (a) Find out the estimates of US and Indiana casualties (deaths and wounded) in the Iraq war: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties http://icasualties.org/Iraq/USCasualtiesByState.aspx
(b) Find out “What is the real death toll in Iraq?” http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/19/iraq
(c) Find out the estimates of Iraqi refugees living inside and outside Iraq: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=24378&Cr=Iraq&Cr1 =
“There are as many as 2 million Iraqi refugees in Jordan and Syria, the vast majority of whom have been displaced from their homes since the war in Iraq began in 2003. Another 2 million refugees are displaced inside Iraq… As of March 2008, approximately 4,900 Iraqi refugees had been resettled in the United States since the war began in 2003. By contrast, Sweden, a country with about 3 percent of the population of the United States, admitted nearly twice that number of asylum seekers in 2006 alone and received 18,500 asylum applications in 2007.2… Skillful diplomacy must allow for continued pressure on Syria for its violations of Lebanese sovereignty and support for terrorism, while simultaneously allowing for a more robust engagement on the issue of Iraqi refugees…. Under no circumstances should Iraqi refugees feel pressured—legally or economically—by the Syrian, Jordanian, or Iraqi Governments to return home prematurely.. The hasty return of large numbers of returnees—without security, housing or employment—could have serious negative consequences. The administration must work vigorously against any such effort.” MANAGING CHAOS—THE IRAQI REFUGEES OF JORDAN AND SYRIA AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS IN IRAQ, STAFF TRIP REPORT TO THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION, APRIL 2008 (Committee Chairman: JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR.,Delaware; Committee members include BARACK OBAMA, Illinois), http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CPRT-110SPRT41773/pdf/CPRT-110SPRT41773.pdf
(d) Find out the estimates of Iraqi children believed to have died as a result of the sanctions imposed by the UN and enforced by the US and Britain on Iraq. Watch how former Secretary of State Albright “justifies” those sanctions (which killed hundred of thousands of children) in the following video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbIX1CP9qr4
(e) Find out the Iraq war budget allocations to date and the long-term/hidden costs of the Iraq war to the US government and to the State of Indiana: http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ni/2008/02/how_much_has_the_war_in_iraq_c.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7092053.stm
(f) Find out the country where the head of the American company whose personnel are implicated in Abu Ghraib tortures received “anti-terror” training and an award? Read Robert Fisk’s The Trail of Torture: The Things Bush Didn’t Say in His Speech, CounterPunch, May 26, 2004, http://www.counterpunch.org/2004/05/26/the-things-bush-didn-t-say-in-his-speech/
(g) Find out why the CIA destroyed videotapes of interrogations of al Qaeda suspects: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/06/cia.videotapes
3. Read critically about the “who” and the “why” of the U.S.-led war in Iraq: At least five different “explanations” or “justifications” or “excuses” were invoked to justify the Iraq war: (i) to search for illegal weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, (ii) to punish Iraq for an alleged Al-Qaeda-Hussein link, (iii) to spread democracy and freedom in the Middle East, (iv) to control oil fields and business contracts, and (v) to provide long term security for the State of Israel and/or the Gulf States.
The first and second explanations (search for illegal weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and to punish Iraq for an alleged Al-Qaeda-Hussein link) have already been dismissed as big lies. Read: http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/06/iraq.wmd.report/index.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47812-2004Jun16.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/13/iraq.usa
The third explanation (to spread democracy and freedom in the Middle East) has more to do with political rhetoric and demagoguery than with Middle East political reality. First, U.S. government’s best Arab friends and allies in the Middle East are Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, whose governments are monarchies, not democracies. Second, U.S. government’s special friend and ally in the Middle East is the State of Israel, dubbed “the only democracy in the Middle East.” But the State of Israel is at best a “Jewish ethnocracy” (democracy for Jews only). Israel was founded on the ethnic cleansing of Muslims and Christians from Palestine and continues to discriminate between Jews and non-Jews in a ‘legal’ manner (for example, the Law of ‘Return’). On the fourth explanation (oil), let’s point out the following: First, there is no public record of the big oil companies supporting the war in Iraq or the current confrontation with Iran (as James Petras, John Mearsheimer, Walt, and others have shown). Second, President Bush repeatedly promised to replace more than 75% of US oil imports from the Middle East by 2025. Third, President Obama’s ENERGY POLICY states explicitly that its central goal is to “end our addiction to foreign oil” and eliminate our current imports from the Middle East and Venezuela within 10 Years.” Fourth, the American Jewish Committee’s top ENERGY POLICY had for a long time been focused on ending US oil imports from the Middle East as a strategy of weakening predominantly Arab OPEC. The following examples indicate that the shift to new sources of energy is not purely motivated by ‘economic’ and/or ‘environmental’ concerns. “If the U.S. continues to increase its reliance on foreign sources of oil, our dependence on OPEC member nations and rogue states (overlapping categories that include the nations with the largest share of the world’s proven oil reserves) will increase…. The American Jewish Committee, therefore, urges that the United States set as a primary national goal a comprehensive energy policy aimed at a substantial reduction in U.S. dependence on imported oil, with the potential for energy flexibility and near independence in the longer term.” —-The American Jewish Committee, “Energy Security for America,” May 5, 2003, http://www.kintera.org/atf/cf/%7B42D75369-D582-4380-8395-D25925B85EAF%7D/EnergySecurityForAmerica.pdf. “Our goal should be to replace hydrocarbons with carbohydrates.” —-US Senator Richard G. Lugar, The National Interest, Summer 2006. “Let us build on the work we have done and reduce gasoline usage in the United States by 20 percent in the next ten years — thereby cutting our total imports by the equivalent of three-quarters of all the oil we now import from the Middle East.” ——- President Bush’s State of the Union, CNN, 1/23/2007. “Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred…. and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries… We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.” —– President Obama’s inaugural speech CNN, 1/20/2009. Moreover, Israel appears to be preparing the ground for a shift from ‘US dependence on Middle East oil’ to ‘US dependence on Israel’s new sources of energy.’ Read this promotion story “Israel and California cut world’s largest solar energy deal”: http://www.israel21c.org/environment/israel-and-california-cut-worlds-largest-solar-energy-deal
On the fifth explanation (Israel), review carefully the following:
(a) Read “IRAQ: War Launched to Protect Israel – Bush Adviser:” http://www.ipsnews.net/2004/03/iraq-war-launched-to-protect-israel-bush-adviser/ (b) When Vice-President Cheney launched the Iraq war campaign before a meeting of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (CNN.com, 8/26/2002), he told them: “The risks of inaction are far greater than the risk of action.” But Cheney campaign was simply the coronation of an Iraq war campaign launched by Israeli leaders themselves in the United States. For example, (i) on 4/14/2002, former Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu came to Washington to brief U.S Senators and the editor of the Washington Post on the removal of Saddam; (ii) on 5/12/2002, Israeli Foreign Minister Peres appeared on CNN to say that “Saddam Hussein is as dangerous as bin Laden;” (iii) on 6/8/2002, former Israeli Prime Minister Barak wrote in the Washington Post: Bush “should, first of all, focus on Iraq and the removal of Saddam Hussein;” (iv) on 8/13/2002: Israeli Prime Minister Sharon told the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Knesset that Iraq “is the greatest danger facing Israel;” and (v) on 8/16/2002: CBSNews.com reported: “Israel To U.S.: Don’t Delay Iraq Attack.” (See also Mearsheimer & Walt’s book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, 2007, p 234).
(c) Read the two stories about Congressman Jim Moran, D-Virginia, who said on the eve of the Iraq war “If it were not for the strong support of the Jewish community for this war with Iraq, we would not be doing this.” Moran was pressured to apologize and resign from his leadership post: http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/03/14/moran.remarks/index.html ;http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/03/11/moran.jews/index.html
(d) Learn about the book The dagger of Israel (1957), in which Indian journalist Rustom Khurshedji Karanjia published a secret Israeli plan involving, among other things, the partition of Iraq: http://www.amazon.com/dagger-Israel-Rustom-Khurshedji-Karanjia/dp/B0007KD78A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205228493&sr=1-1
(e) Find out when and how did the Israelis bomb and destroy Iraq’s first nuclear plant near Baghdad? http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/7/newsid_3014000/3014623.stm
(f) Find out what Ze’ev Schiff, the military correspondent of Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz http://haaretz.com/ , said on June 2, 1982 about Israel’s “best” interest in the partition of Iraq: ” The dissolution of Iraq into a Shi’ite state, a Sunni state and the separation of the Kurdish part”.
(g) Learn about Jewish-American Jonathan Jay Pollard, a US Naval civilian intelligence analyst and a convicted Israeli spy, who received a life sentenced in 1987 for stealing thousands of pages of classified documents on behalf of Israel. Pollard wrote in 1991: “Appeasement of Iraq Made Me A Spy.” Pollard, a sayan (plural sayanim, which Andrew I. Killgore describes as “Israel’s volunteer spies within the U.S. government, U.S. industry, and within the American Jewish community itself”) provided the Israelis with satellite photographs of Iraqi weapons sites (see Jonathan Jay Pollard, “Appeasement of Iraq Made Me A Spy, by Jonathan Pollard,” The Wall Street Journal – Originally published February 15, 1991. Posted to Web November 4, 2002: http://www.jonathanpollard.org/1991/021591.htm
(h) Learn about Mossad Agent Ephraim’s comment in 1986 on building up Iraq as the “next target” and Saddam Hussein as “the big villain.” Ephraim was quoted: “After the bombing of Libya [Mossad’s Operation Trojan, 1986], our friend Qadhafi is sure to stay out of the picture for some time. Iraq and Saddam Hussein are the next target. We’re starting now to build him up as the big villain. It will take some time, but in the end, there’s no doubt it’ll work.” Source: Victor Ostrovsky, The Other Side of Deception: A Rogue Agent Exposes the Mossad’s Secret Agenda, New York: Harper Colins Publishers, 1994, page 117.
(i) Note the Mossad assassination of Canadian-American weapons developer Gerald Bull in Brussels in 1990. Gerald Bull allegedly helped Iraq build a “big gun”: http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0499/9904122b.html
(j) Note that the United Nations did not authorize the no-fly zones through which the US and Britain partitioned Iraq’s air space in 1992 [very much along the lines of the Israeli proposed partition plan of Iraq in 1957]: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2490361.stm
(k) Skim through the stories about Jewish-born Leslie Gelb, former editor and columnist for The Times and president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, who wrote in The New York Times of 11/25/2003: The United States should “move in stages toward a three-state solution: Kurds in the north, Sunnis in the center and Shiites in the south.” See how [then] Senator Joseph R. Biden of Delaware (chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee) and [currently] Vice President of the United States jumped on the bandwagon, while The New York Times of 8/19/2007 carefully dubbed the partitionig of Iraq “The Biden-Gelb plan” (at the same time an Iraq’ s Partition map appeared on the internet): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4777369.stm http://temi.repubblica.it/limes-heartland/iraqs-partition/1106
(l) Read and learn from this New York Time story how the Iraqis in Baghdad call American soldiers “The Jews,” according to Jewish-American Thomas Friedman, “Jews, Israel and America,” The New York Times, October 24, 2004: “Many Iraqis have so much distrust for U.S. forces we found they’ve come up with a nickname for our troops,” Scott said. “They call American soldiers ‘The Jews,’ as in, ‘Don’t go down that street, the Jews set up a roadblock.’ http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/24/opinion/24friedman.html
(m) Find out which “catastrophic and catalyzing event” was used by the top pro-Iraq war party (the Zionist neoconservatives) as an excuse to justify the Iraq war? The Neoconservatives indicated that to speed up their preconceived plan they need: “some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor.” Print and review only the above quote on PAGE 51 of the September 2000 Report: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/pdf/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf
(n) Who are the neoconservatives (neocons) who conceived and pushed for the war in Iraq? According to the Jewish-American newspaper FORWARD, “If there is an intellectual movement in America to whose invention Jews can lay sole claim, neoconservatism is it.” See The Neoconservative Persuasion; Examining the Jewish Roots of an Intellectual Movement; The Neoconservative Revolution: Jewish Intellectuals and the Shaping Of Public Policy; Commentary in American Life; The Neocon Reader;” Gal Beckerman, Forward, January 6, 2006, Vol. CIX, Iss. 31,583; pg. 12.
neoconservatives? To realize their fantasies of world domination, the neocons resorted to a triple discourse, as Laurent Guyénot shows in this study, i.e. a cynical political philosophy developed by their mentor Leo Strauss for domestic consumption; a cold analysis of Israeli strategic interests for the benefit of the leaders in Tel Aviv, and a fear-mongering warning against imaginary dangers besetting U.S. public opinion. The neoconservative movement, which is generally perceived as a radical (rather than “conservative”) Republican right, is, in reality, an intellectual movement born in the late 1960s in the pages of the monthly magazine Commentary, a media arm of the American Jewish Committee, which had replaced the Contemporary Jewish Record in 1945. The Forward, the oldest American Jewish weekly, wrote in a January 6th, 2006 article signed Gal Beckerman: “If there is an intellectual movement in America to whose invention Jews can lay sole claim, neoconservatism is it. It’s a thought one imagines most American Jews, overwhelmingly liberal, will find horrifying. And yet it is a fact that as a political philosophy, neoconservatism was born among the children of Jewish immigrants and is now largely the intellectual domain of those immigrants’ grandchildren”. Laurent Guyénot, “The machiavelian threefold game of the neoconservatives,” Voltaire.net.org, http://www.voltairenet.org/article178638.html
(o) Read carefully the brief biographies of the 12 key figures of the neoconservatives (The Christian Science Monitor, June 2005): http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/neocon/index.html . It appears that someone has removed this article from its Internet website (one of the PowerPoint slides includes a quote from this article).
(p) Compare and contrast Paul Wolfowitz’s call and plan to “OVERTHROW HIM [Saddam Hussein],” (The Weekly Standard, December 1, 1997, http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Protected/Articles/000/000/008/876iiuqh.asp ) with the content of the Neoconservatives’ Letter to President Clinton (January 26, 1998): http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqclintonletter.htm (It appears that someone has removed this article from its Internet website, but a passage from the letter survived in one of the PowerPoint slides).
(q) Watch and find out when was the Iraq Liberation Act signed into law and by whom? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygQVyznw2zE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSjR9SJVobI&feature=related
(r) Read carefully “Transcript of Bin Laden’s October [2001] interview”: http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/02/05/binladen.transcript/
(s) Read the New York Times story entitled “WAR IN THE GULF: Muslims; Saudis Decree Holy War on Hussein,” …Saudi Arabia’s highest religious authority has issued a decree sanctioning a holy war against Saddam Hussein by all Muslims and “those assisting them” to evict his forces from Kuwait. The “fatwa,” or religious decree, authorizing the “jihad,” or holy war, was issued by Sheik Abdulaziz bin Abdulla bin Baz, the head of the Council of Ulema, Saudi Arabia’s most senior Islamic authority. It was written at the beginning of the coalition’s offensive against Iraq, and published on Friday in a special edition of al-Muslimoon, the most popular Islamic weekly newspaper. Copies of the decree were posted today in several mosques across Riyadh…. “The fatwa removes any doubt about the religious justification for asking non-Muslims to help this country attack another Muslim country,” said a religious scholar, who spoke on condition that he not be identified…. The New York Times, January 20, 1991. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/20/world/war-in-the-gulf-muslims-saudis-decree-holy-war-on-hussein.html
(t) Read “Saudi Cleric Issues Warning Over Militants,” Asharq Alawsat”, 01/10/2007: http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=10386
(u) Read one translation of “Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, World Islamic Front Statement,” Al-Quds Al-Arabi, 23 February 1998: http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/980223-fatwa.htm
(v) What was the main request in the Neocons’ Letter to President Bush (September 20, 2001)? http://www.newamericancentury.org/Bushletter.htm . It appears that someone has removed this article from its Internet website (one of the PowerPoint slides includes a quote from this letter).)
(w) Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 (Full program: House Session, Oct 5, 1998): http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/clip.php?appid=596696994 (x) See how Vice President Dick Cheney describes his relationship with Bernard Lewis (his intellectual and political mentor on the Middle East): “You simply cannot find a greater authority on Middle Eastern history — from classical Islamic civilization, to the Ottoman Empire, to the modern period — than this man [Lewis Bernard] and his works.”… After listening to Bernard Lewis’ advice on “the history and the way forward in the Middle East” following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney said “I decided that day that this was a man I wanted to keep in touch with, and whose work I should follow carefully in the years ahead. Since then we have met often, particularly during the last four-and-a-half years, and Bernard has always had some very good meetings with President Bush… More than three decades ago, at the height of a secular era, he wrote a prescient article titled The Return of Islam. In the 1970s he studied the writings of an obscure cleric named Khomeini, and saw the seeds of a movement that would deliver theocratic despotism. In 1990, he wrote The Roots of Muslim Rage, which anticipated the terrorism of that decade. And in this new century, his wisdom is sought daily by policymakers, diplomats, fellow academics, and the news media.” Source: Dick Cheney, “Vice President’s Remarks at the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia Luncheon Honoring Professor Bernard Lewis,” Park Hyatt Philadelphia at the Bellevue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1 May 2006, The White House, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/05/20060501-3.html (note that the link has been disabled on the new White House Website)
(y) Read the Washington Post story about a memo distributed on the eve of the Iraq war urging Israeli and pro-Israeli leaders: “You do not want Americans to believe that the war on Iraq is being waged to protect Israel rather than to protect America.” Here is the reference to the story: Dana Milbank, “Group Urges Pro-Israel Leaders’ Silence on Iraq; Memo Outlines Response If Hostilities Occur, Discourages Lecturing of Americans on Middle East,” The Washington Post, November 27, 2002. (z) Read “Rupert Murdoch and William Kristol: Using the Press to Advance Israel’s Interests”: http://www.wrmea.com/archives/june2003/0306024.html
(z2) Watch “The Israel Lobby: Does it Have Too Much Influence on US Foreign Policy?” http://www.scribemedia.org/2006/10/11/israel-lobby/
4. Learn more about the “Aftermath” of the Iraq war: (a) Read carefully the Executive Summary (pages 6-8) and Recommendations 1, 9, 13, 15, 16, 22, 23, 26, 27, and 28 of The Iraq Study Group Report (December 6, 2006): “The United States cannot achieve its goals in the Middle East unless it deals directly with the Arab-Israeli conflict…” http://media.usip.org/reports/iraq_study_group_report.pdf
(b) Review carefully Articles 4(1), 12(3), 21(1), 24(1), 26(1b), and 27 (all clauses) of the “Agreement Between the United States of America and the Republic of Iraq On the Withdrawal of United States Forces from Iraq and the Organization of Their Activities during Their Temporary Presence in Iraq” as they relate to the declared withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, the issue of immunity for US military and civilian elements in Iraq, and deterrence of internal or external security threats to Iraq: Article 27…”In the event of any external or internal threat or aggression against Iraq that would violate its sovereignty, political independence, or territorial integrity, waters, airspace, its democratic system or its elected institutions, and upon request by the Government of Iraq, the Parties shall immediately initiate strategic deliberations and, as may be mutually agreed, the United States shall take appropriate measures, including diplomatic, economic, or military measures, or any other measure, to deter such a threat.” http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/world/20081119_SOFA_FINAL_AGREED_TEXT.pdf
(c) Read carefully and critically President Obama’s speech (” REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON A NEW BEGINNING,” Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt, June 4, 2009: “The only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security.” http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-Cairo-University-6-04-09/
(d) Watch and/or read Bill Moyers’ interview with Jeremy Scahill (author of “BLACKWATER: THE RISE OF THE WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL MERCENARY ARMY”) on the Afghan war (June 5, 2009): http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/06052009/watch.html
(e) Watch [late] Libyan Leader & African Union Chairman Qadhafi’s speech to the UN General Assembly, especially his views on UN reform, the African Union, and the Palestine-Israel conflict: “The countries of the African Union deserve a [UN Security Council] permanent seat. This is a debt from the past that has to be paid and has nothing to do with United Nations reform. It is a priority matter and is high on the agenda of the General Assembly. No one can say that the African Union does not deserve a permanent seat… With regard to the Palestinian situation, the two-State solution is impossible; it is not practical. Currently, these two States completely overlap. Partition is doomed to failure. These two States are not neighbors; they are coextensive, in terms of both population and geography. A buffer zone cannot be created between the two States because there are half a million Israeli settlers in the West Bank and a million Arab Palestinians in the territory known as Israel. The solution is therefore a democratic State without religious fanaticism or ethnicity.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuMTzyxAuzs
(f) Read “Confidential memo reveals US plan to provoke an invasion of Iraq” (June 21, 2009): http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jun/21/iraq-inquiry-tony-blair-bush
(g) Based on your learning about Topic 5, ask yourself about the prospect/future of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. For example, should there be an independent government investigation to identify those individuals and organizations responsible for embroiling and dragging the United States into the Iraq war? Or should we continue to blame America as a whole and every American for what happened and what could happen? Should there be apologies and reparations for the Iraqi people? See for example how the UN forced Iraq to pay compensation for its unlawful occupation of Kuwait (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991): The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) received approximately 2.7 million claims seeking approximately US$352.5 billion in compensation for death, injury, loss of or damage to property, commercial claims and claims for environmental damage resulting from Iraq’s unlawful invasion and occupation of Kuwait in 1991. Read “The UNCC at a Glance”: http://www.uncc.ch/ataglance.htm
(h) Sunni-Shia Relations After the Iraq War • In Iraq, as elsewhere in the Middle East, the social, political, and technological changes of the 21st century are giving birth to a new sectarian landscape. • The three most consequential drivers behind the change in sectarian relations have been the political change in Iraq of 2003; the near simultaneous spread of new media and social networking in the Arab world; and – perhaps as a consequence of the first two – the ongoing search for alternatives to familiar but moribund forms of authoritarianism, as demonstrated most dramatically by the “Arab Spring.” • 2003 highlighted the uncomfortable fact that there were multiple, indeed contradictory, visions of what it meant to be an Iraqi and by extension what it meant to be a part of the Arab world. • New media, social networking, user-generated websites, and private satellite channels helped to make Iraq’s accelerated sectarianization contagious. • The mainstreaming of sectarian polemics has increased the relevance of religious, doctrinal, and dogmatic differences in views regarding the sectarian “other,” a particularly dangerous development. Fanar Haddad, “Sunni-Shia Relations After the Iraq War,” UNITED STates institute of peace, peaceBrieF160, November 15, 2013, http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/PB160.pdf
(i) [U.S. Secretary of State Colin] Powell warns Syria and Iran http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2901689.stm (j) [U.S. President Barack] Obama Warns Libya http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/world/africa/19libya.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
(k) America’s secret plan to arm Libya’s rebels, Obama asks Saudis to airlift weapons into Benghazi The Independent, March 7, 2011, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/americas-secret-plan-to-arm-libyas-rebels-2234227.html
(l) Qatar’s decision to send planes to Libya is part of a high-stakes game The Guardian, 24 March 2011, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/24/qatar-planes-libya-high-stakes
(m) U.A.E. Draws Praise From U.S. for Participation in Libya FoxNews.com, March 24, 2011, http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/03/24/uae-draws-praise-participation-libya/
(n) Syrian rebels get influx of arms with gulf neighbors’ money, U.S. coordination The Washington Post, May 15, 2012, http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-05-15/world/35454790_1_baba-amr-neighborhood-syrian-rebels-homs
(o) UN Security Council resolution on Syria’s chemical weapons (2013): http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2013/sc11135.doc.htm
(p) Interim nuclear agreement between Iran and six powers (2013): http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/24/us-iran-nuclear-agreement-text-idUSBRE9AN0FS20131124
Textbook, pages 263-355 (The Lobby in Action–Taking Aim at Syria, Iran in the Crosshairs, The Lobby and the Second Lebanon War, Conclusion: What Is to Be Done?
Videos
Video: The secret files: Washington, Israel and the Gulf (60 min.): “Discusses how secret agreements and documents, since declassified, helped to shape U.S. foreign policy which led to our involvement in the Persian Gulf War of 1991.”
Video: Unfinished Business: The CIA and Saddam Hussein (45 mn): Peter Jennings (from ABC News) presents “An expose on the U.S. government’s overt and covert attempts to oust Sadam Hussein from power in Iraq.” For example, U.S. government’s attempts to oust Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq involved a covert public relations campaign which began when the CIA hired the Rendon Group to run a covert anti-Saddam propaganda campaign. Rendon Group spent more than $23 million in the first year of its contract on organizing a traveling photo exhibit of Iraqi atrocities, including videos and radio skits that ridiculed Saddam Hussein, even an anti-Saddam comic book. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZHHAI-eq2I
Video: Paying the price: killing the children of Iraq (75 min.): John Pilger “investigates the effects of sanctions on the people of Iraq.” Contends that ten years of extraordinary isolation, imposed by the U.N. and enforced by the United States and Great Britain, have killed thousands of people. Also discusses illegal bombing campaigns conducted by the U.S. and Great Britain in “no-fly zones.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHn3kKySuVo
Video: Hijacking catastrophe: 9/11, fear, & the selling of American empire (the short version is about 25 mn): “This film discusses how the events of September 11, 2001 have influenced United States politics, from advancing a pre-existing military agenda to curtailing civil liberties and social programs. Places the Bush administration’s justifications for the war in the context of the struggle by neo-conservatives to increase American power globally by means of force. Contends that the administration has deliberately manipulated intelligence, political imagery, and fear to garner support for American military intervention.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SltOy_F6ZII
Video: Iraqi Exodus: The Iraq War and the Middle East’s Refugee Crisis, (57 mn): “This Wide Angle report travels to the front lines of the staggering refugee crisis that continues to unfold in the Middle East as Iraqis flee their war-torn hometowns to live either as exiles in neighboring countries or dislocated within Iraq’s borders. The situation in Syria and Jordan, where refugees cope with their new surroundings amidst government pressure and rising resentment from the local population, are spotlighted. In addition, Aaron Brown speaks with regional leaders about how the catastrophe is impacting the Middle East—and these millions of homeless Iraqis whose hope of return grows dimmer with each passing year.” It appears that this video is NO LONGER available at: http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=+Iraqi+Exodus%3a+The+Iraq+War+and+the+Middle+East%E2%80%99s+Refugee+Crisis&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=F988F643B239C1261601F988F643B239C1261601
Video: Criminal State Documentary [how the U.S. was deceived by Israel to wage war in the Middle East] : Jeff Gates along with Anthony Lawson produce this startling new video that is an absolute necessity for every American who genuinely loves his country and knows something has gone very very wrong. In Jeff’s own words: What I tell people is that our specialty is enabling people to grasp “how” this duplicity operates in plain sight and, to date, with impunity. With that knowledge, they can sort out for themselves Who and Why. Absent that knowledge, they’re left adrift in the domain of conspiracy theorists, hate-mongers and such. We see this knowledge as essential in the transition to the Knowledge Society.
Criminal State – Part 1 of 3: A Closer Look at Israel’s Role in Terrorism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNjb1MGmGDc
Criminal State – Part 2 of 3: A Closer Look at Israel’s Role in Terrorism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxhMmjDlIC0
Criminal State – Part 3 of 3: A Closer Look at Israel’s Role in Terrorism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrkpcbmXAWE
Video clip: CIA Agent Exposes How Al-Qaeda Dosen’t Exist http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8CqUJoEWBs
Video clip: Former US Secretary Hillary Clinton explains how the US government created the Al Qada jihad in Afghanistan in the 1980s but she did not explain that the reason was to force the Soviet Union to lift a ban on the emigration of Soviet Jews to Palestine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzQ2KZWfjgs
Video clip: Iran-Contra Redux? Prince Bandar Heads Secret Saudi-CIA Effort to Aid Syrian Rebels, Topple Assad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqtSaIikQ-o
Video clip (1.31mn): Jon Stewart Learns What Happens When You Criticize Israel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrlUzkd8Z8g
