Maya Schenwar

War Supplemental Makes Room for Iran

Maya Schenwar — 2007-10-24T10:05:00Z

The Bush administration's $196.4 billion war supplemental spending request, released Monday, has Democrats reeling. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd called the supplemental "short-sighted at best," while House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey remarked in a statement, "It's amazing to me that the president expects to be taken seriously." Yet beyond the request's mind-boggling size, its open-ended aims point to the potentially vast scope of the "war on terror" for years to come - including an undiminished presence in Iraq and the possibility of action against Iran.

In the newly revised supplemental, more money than ever has been appropriated for procurement - the production of new materials, which may take three years to actually reach the battlefield, according to Department of Defense estimates in 2006. Moreover, that battlefield may change. The 2008 supplemental's title, the Global War on Terror Request, is appropriately broad, as the majority of the request's appropriations do not refer exclusively to Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, according to a report this morning in Congressional Quarterly Today, the Bush administration's request for a "Massive Ordnance Penetrator for the B-2 aircraft in response to an Urgent Operational Need from theater commanders" could be geared toward bombing underground targets in Iran.

Policy experts say that, as it stands, the supplemental contains no provisions that would prevent its funds from being used to strike Iran. (...)

The Refusers: Israeli Conscientious Objectors Raise a Voice Against Violence

Maya Schenwar — 2007-04-26T19:51:00Z

In the past year, the Israeli government has met with a tidal wave of international opposition. Even the Bush Administration—though still overwhelmingly in support of Israel—urged it to tone down the civilian casualties and move toward peace negotiations in the war against Lebanon in August. However, international media tend to portray public opinion within Israel as unified, as if the country is composed of one mind, one mouth, and one heart.

It's true that most Israelis generally support their military. According to a survey by Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth , at the beginning of the Lebanon War, 81 percent of Israelis were in favor of the government's actions. However, the 19 percent of Israelis who opposed the fighting didn't keep quiet. Since the very first days of Israel's attacks on Lebanon, anti-war protests swept the country. And just before the ceasefire took effect in mid-August, 73 percent of Israelis reported that they thought the government was handling the crisis "badly." (...)

"Lights Out Chicago" Brings Home Iraq's Electricity Shortage

Maya Schenwar — 2006-02-07T21:43:38Z

In the middle of February, while most of us are dialing our thermostats up to the max, microwaving multiple cups of hot chocolate and huddling around our televisions, a few dedicated Chicagoans will give up electricity in order to draw attention to the electricity shortage in Iraq. These folks really mean it: their electricity fast, "Lights Out Chicago," will last from February 15 to March 20. They seek to experience some of the hardships and confront the difficulties that Iraqis are experiencing since their power has been cut short. (...)

100,000 Rings Events Illuminate Iraqi Civilians' Deaths

Maya Schenwar — 2005-11-01T10:54:42Z

CHICAGO - The tolling of bells echoed down Dearborn St. once every minute last Thursday and Friday, reverberating off the orange Calder sculpture, causing the businesspeople and shop-goers scurrying past Federal Plaza to take a second look. No, no new churches had been suddenly erected in the middle of downtown, and it was too early in the year for Christmas handbell-ers. The solemn bell-ringing ceremony, entitled "100,000 Rings," was the work of the Uptown group, Voices for Creative Nonviolence (VCN).

- / Electronic Iraq