In an op-ed today in the Washington Post, conservative columnist George Will dissociates himself clearly from Republicans who support escalating the war in Afghanistan. U.S. forces “should be substantially reduced,” Will writes. “America should do only what can be done from offshore.” Will’s piece carries this clear-cut headline: “Time to Get Out of Afghanistan.” Might…
Recently I watched the 2007 Lebanese film “Under the Bombs.” The movie tells the story of the U.S.-supported Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the summer of 2006, wrapping the historical events inside a fictional narrative. Watching the movie reminded me of Just Foreign Policy’s efforts with Jewish Voice for Peace and others to stop that…
The British newspaper The Telegraph is claiming that a US funded poll indicates that Hamid Karzai will not win re-election as President of Afghanistan in the first round. “Hamid Karzai ‘will not’ win Afghan election outright,” the headline says. The Telegraph reports: The US government-funded poll found that the president of Afghanistan led his rivals…
A month after the coup in Honduras, there’s now a clear sign of progress in bringing it to an end. The head of the coup government has indicated that he personally supports a compromise proposal put forward by Costa Rican mediator President Arias that would allow for President Zelaya’s restoration. The New York Times reports:…
On Sunday, I wrote a piece here criticizing the Christian Science Monitor, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and Reuters for inaccurately reporting a poll result to claim that a plurality of Hondurans supported the coup against President Zelaya. The Wall Street Journal has now published a "Corrections & Amplifications" note attached to the…
Did a CID-Gallup poll last week indicate that a plurality of Hondurans support the military coup against democratically elected President Zelaya? Yes, according to the Washington Post [July 9], the Wall Street Journal [July 10], the Christian Science Monitor [July 11], and Reuters [July 9], which all reported that the poll showed 41% in favor…
Words matter – particularly the words used by major media to describe contested political events, words that can bias perceptions towards the interests of the powerful. Are those wielding power in Honduras today a "de facto" government, or are they an "interim" or "caretaker" government? On Sunday, the following instructive exchange took place between senior…
Predictably, the Washington Post and New York Times the have given op-ed space in recent days to people seeking to justify the military coup in Honduras, and blaming the coup on President Zelaya (the same writer in the latter case. ) Meanwhile, the Honduran military’s top legal adviser was talking to the Miami Herald. Army…