diplomacy – Speak Your Mind

In Search Of An Arms Race

Will Murphy — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 13:00:12 +0000

President Trump proposes a $54 billion increase in the U.S. military budget, with sharp cuts in environmental protection, diplomacy, and aid to the poor in the U.S. and globally. The U.S. already spends more on the military than the next seven nations combined. One billion people live on $1.25 a day. 20 million are on the brink of famine. The United States spends less than one percent of the Federal budget on assistance to the global poor. Defense Secretary James Mattis said in 2013: “If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition.” Desperate people also become migrants.

Trump has not said how he plans to spend the $54 billion military increase, leading some analysts to call it “a budget in search of a strategy.” How would costly weapons help in Yemen, facing famine because U.S.-armed Saudi Arabia is blockading its port?

Mr. Trump welcomes a nuclear arms race and says he wants to be “top of the pack.” In conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he rejected Putin’s proposal to extend the START Treaty capping U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals at 1,500 nuclear weapons. Those already represent levels of destructiveness that would devastate both nations and endanger life on Earth. Russia might put its forces on launch-on-warning, increasing the risk of nuclear war by accident or miscalculation.

Trump’s proposal is as dangerous as it is cruel. Congress should reject it.

Pope Francis And President Rouhani of Iran In Conversation

Yaël Ksander — Thu, 11 Feb 2016 20:05:57 +0000

It was good to see the photo of Pope Francis and President Hassen Rouhani of Iran smiling and conversing with each other in The New York Times (January 27, 2016). Their meeting came as a result of the Iranian nuclear deal. Iran bolstered its long-standing commitment under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty never to acquire nuclear weapons with permanent inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, and 15 years of restrictions even on its civilian nuclear program.

In return, the international community lifted severe sanctions that had hurt ordinary Iranians. Iran is coming out of isolation to take its rightful place among the world’s nations, re-establishing trade and business ties. Diplomacy can accomplish miracles given time, patience, and good will.

A Vatican statement speaks of “the important role that Iran is called upon to fulfill in promoting peaceful solutions in Middle Eastern conflicts and countering the spread of terrorism and arms trafficking.” 250,000 civilian deaths have occurred in the Syrian conflict. Talks in London are scheduled to bring relief to the suffering population.

Pope Francis sees the Iran nuclear deal as “giving hope for the future.” Pope Francis and President Rouhani discussed “the importance of inter-religious dialogue and the responsibility of religious communities in promoting reconciliation, tolerance, and peace.”

The visit ended with Pope Francis thanking President Rouhani and saying, “I hope for peace.” President Rouhani replied by asking Pope Francis to pray for him.

Peace

Yaël Ksander — Thu, 05 Nov 2015 14:00:32 +0000

I often stop in Bryan Park at the tree dedicated to the victims of the American nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. The plaque concludes with the words, “Remember war, cultivate peace.” These words speak to me. Lies about nuclear weapons in Iraq and the chase after Al Qaeda in Afghanistan have led to the disintegration of Iraq, Syria, Libya, the creation of the Islamic State, and floods of migrants fleeing violence. President Obama caved into pressure, and America’s longest war–14 years in Afghanistan–goes on, the Taliban stronger than ever, and Al Qaeda continues. With the advent of drones, we bomb suspected terrorists in Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan etc; many innocents die.

War is not the answer but is big business for a few U.S. companies. We are the largest maker of weaponry and sell arms to the world. The U.S. just concluded the biggest arms deal ever with a key player in the Syrian conflict: Saudi Arabia.

Let’s cultivate peace and turn to a diplomatic solution. Military action has only made things worse. The talks in Vienna are a good start. Over 18 nations are taking part. Remember, one must bargain with ones enemies as well as with ones friends. Perhaps a cease fire will begin the peace process; then an arms embargo for all government and rebel groups. A UN peacekeeping force can be called in. President Obama may have to lead diplomatic efforts to reach a negotiated end to the civil war in Syria. All the above would slow the flow of migrants and bring some much-needed stability to the Middle East. There is another way!

If Congress Killed the Nuclear Deal with Iran

Yaël Ksander — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 13:00:38 +0000

On July 14, five nuclear powers – the United States, Britain, France, Russia, and China, together with Germany, signed an agreement with Iran to prevent it acquiring a nuclear weapon in return for relief from sanctions that have hurt ordinary Iranians. Leading U.S. scientists, including Nobel laureates, wrote: “This is an innovative agreement, with much more stringent constraints than any previously negotiated in a non-proliferation context.”

The nuclear deal faces a September vote in Congress. If there were a veto-proof majority in Congress for a resolution of disapproval, the deal would be dead and the United States would be barred from complying with the terms we just negotiated.

A senior German official, Philipp Ackermann, recently said that it would be a catastrophe for Congress to kill the deal. Other nations would not go back to sanctions, while “The chance of Iran going back to the negotiating table would be effectively zero.” Iran would be free from the deal’s rigorous nuclear terms. In short, we would be in a crisis leading to war. Yet bombing would only drive Iran’s nuclear program underground and convince Iran it must have a nuclear deterrent.

Indiana Senator Dan Coats opposes the agreement, while Senator Joe Donnelly, long considered a swing vote, has announced his support, as have former Senator and Foreign Relations Committee chair Richard Lugar and former Congressman Lee Hamilton. Senator Donnelly is to be commended for a courageous decision.

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/08/08/world/document-iranletteraug2015.html

https://twitter.com/TheIranDeal

https://www.irandealfacts.org/

https://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/iran-deal-german-philipp-ackermann-response-121100.html

A Historic Agreement with Iran

Yaël Ksander — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 13:00:40 +0000

The United States and other leading powers (known as the P5 +1) are finalizing an accord that would prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon in return for lifting harsh economic sanctions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demands that Congress kill the agreement and increase sanctions. Mr. Netanyahu claims the alternative to this “bad” deal is not war but “a better deal.”
Republicans, and Democrats such as Indiana’s Senator Joe Donnelly, are supporting a bill that – even after revisions — recklessly endangers the agreement.

Some of the best informed Israelis, however, acknowledge that diplomacy is achieving what war cannot. Ron Ben-Yishai, the senior military analyst for Israel’s most mainstream newspaper, Yedioth Aharonot, wrote: “We could not have achieved a better outcome even if Israel, the United States, and other countries had carried out military strikes on the nuclear sites in Iran.”

If the U.S. and Israel reject the concessions that Iran has made, other powers would resume business with Iran – without the limits that the deal provides. The pressure for a U.S. or Israeli strike would grow.

Bombing could set back Iran’s program at most five years; the negotiated agreement lasts ten. Even repeated bombing would make Iran more, not less likely, to build a nuclear weapon deep underground to deter future attack.

Citizens should encourage Senators to withstand the pressures of right wing billionaires and instead support diplomacy. Senator Donnelly, as a moderate Democrat, is key.

Sources:

https://972mag.com/israel-media-survey-iran-deal-not-so-bad-after-all/105259/
https://972mag.com/netanyahu-resurrects-no-partner-excuse-for-iran-deal/105357/
https://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/irannuclear-deal32015reduced.pdf
https://www.armscontrol.org/issue-briefs/2015-02-11/Voting-Up-or-Down-on-an-Iran-Nuclear-Deal-Not-as-Easy-as-123

Bombing Negotiations With Iran

Yaël Ksander — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 14:02:25 +0000

The United States and other world powers are engaged in delicate negotiations with Iran to ensure that nation’s nuclear program remains peaceful. An interim agreement is in force freezing high level uranium enrichment and enhancing verification. In return, the U.S. and others promised not to enact new sanctions during negotiations. Only a diplomatic solution can both prevent Iran getting a bomb and avoid a new war in the Middle East.

Yet hardliners in Congress are preparing a new sanctions bill. President Obama has vowed to veto it. Whether Congress reaches the two-thirds majority to override his veto depends on whether some Democrats – notably Indiana’s Senator Joe Donnelly – join the Republicans pushing this legislation.

Hawks claim that their bill would mean increased leverage, pushing Iran to make further concessions. But the bill is an ultimatum imposing increased sanctions if Iran does not accept what many experts believe are unnecessarily humiliating terms for a final agreement. The President and global diplomats believe the bill would instead lead Iran to break off negotiations. Iranian hardliners, who have also opposed negotiations, would be vindicated, and Iran would likely step up nuclear activities. That in turn would set the stage for Israel to attack Iran and unleash a new war in the Middle East, almost surely involving the United States.

The last thing the world needs is another war, which would increase the risks of global terrorism as well, ironically, as the chances Iran would actually build a bomb.

Sources:

https://www.armscontrol.org/issue-briefs/2015-01-15/Congress-Should-Support-Negotiations-Not-New-Iran-Sanctions

https://www.rollcall.com/news/let_the_diplomats_do_the_driving_with_iran_commentary-232362-1.html

https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000003454696/obama-urges-against-new-iran-sanctions.html

https://fcnl.org/issues/iran/israeli_us_security_experts_support_first_step_deal/

Ukraine: A New Cold War

Betsy Shepherd — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 16:16:25 +0000

The current standoff with Russia over Ukraine is a good time to ask how we survived the Cold War without nuclear war.

America’s great Cold War diplomats—George Kennan, Charles Bohlen, and Lwellyn Thompson—were realists. They had no love for Soviet communism, but they warned repeatedly against Americans’ capacity to see their own actions as righteous and others as evil. They knew that that diplomacy depends on recognizing all parties’ essential interests, as well as allowing them to save face.

When the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, agreed to the reunification of Germany, the West promised him that we would not take advantage of the change to expand NATO. Yet today, Eastern European states are part of NATO. NATO installed missile defenses in Poland and Romania and set up a military outpost in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

American diplomats and American money were involved in the ouster of Ukraine’s corrupt but democratically elected pro-Russian president. The new government, ratified by a rump parliament, includes far right-wing forces. It excluded Russian as a national language, alarming eastern Ukrainians, then reversed the decision.

I believe Kennan would have counseled President Obama not to take advantage of the conflict to threaten Russia, specifically through NATO membership, military integration, or deployments and to beware of using American money to support opposition groups, above all in Russia itself. Washington would insist on no less of Moscow if there were a socialist revolution in Mexico.