Robert Naiman

We rarely discuss the fact that there are places in the world
that are actual U.S. colonies. Still less do we consider whether we
are complying with our international obligations to respect the right
of self-determination for colonized peoples, and if we are not, what
we could do to change that.

A small corrective is being offered as part of Asian Pacific Heritage
Month by PBS, which is webcasting Vanessa Warheit’s documentary, “The
Insular Empire: America in the Mariana Islands” until next Sunday,
June 20.

Some Americans may be surprised to see Turkey playing a more independent role. Liz Cheney says Turkey is part of a new axis of evil that wants to destroy Israel. It’s quite opportune that Stephen Kinzer has a new book out this week that argues the opposite case: Turkey’s more independent policy is good for America.

If a handful of anti-IMF Democrats throw in with House Republicans, it could be a whole new ballgame.

When President Obama visited Afghanistan, he assured U.S. troops that “America does not quit once it starts on something.” But according to the New York Times, America is throwing in the towel on AIDS in Africa. This despite the fact that the cost of combating AIDS is 1/20th the cost of continuing the war.

When Afghan President Karzai meets President Obama, Afghan government officials have said their top priority is to get Obama to agree the U.S. will fully back efforts of the Afghan government to reconcile with senior leaders of the Afghan Taliban insurgency in order to end the war. Saying yes to the Afghan government’s request for US support for peace talks would seem like a no-brainer.

If McGovern’s Afghanistan withdrawal bill shortens the war in Afghanistan by a year, that would pay for the two-year cost of the Local Jobs for America Act.

Rep. Michael Honda, a leader on Afghanistan among House Democrats, has backed the Feingold-McGovern bill for a timetable for U.S. military withdrawal. This could help set in motion a chain of events to end the war.

Yesterday, Senator Russ Feingold, Representative Jim McGovern, and Representative Walter Jones announced the introduction of legislation that – if it attracts enough support – could end the U.S. military occupation of Afghanistan, and bring the troops home.

Yesterday, Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich introduced H. Con Res. 248, a privileged resolution with 16 original cosponsors that will require the House of Representatives to debate whether to continue the war in Afghanistan. Debate on the resolution is expected early next week.

How the U.S. handles the Pakistani arrest of the top Afghan Taliban military commander, and the aftermath of the U.S. military assault in Marja, may have a decisive impact on whether we get to withdraw our troops from Afghanistan soon, or in the far-off future. Right now, the way to minimize human suffering is for the U.S. to take advantage of recent “successes” to take a high road towards going home.