WASHINGTON POST 09/05/13 By Michael Shank There are three fallacies floating around Washington regarding a war with Syria, rhetoric that has the potential to dangerously dictate how Congress will determine authorization. A failure to address these fallacies, furthermore, puts us squarely on the cusp of another intractable war, one that […]
FOX NEWS 09/01/13 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) Now that President Obama has made up his mind about taking America to war with yet another Muslim country, he wants Congress to get on board. To his credit, he’s seeking congressional authorization, as required by the War […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 08/31/13 By Michael Shank Secretary of State John Kerry’s case for military action against Syria – made when Congress was still in recess and when most of America had already commenced Labor Day Weekend vacationing – sounded an awful lot like President George W. Bush’s […]
DISCOVERY NEWS 08/30/13 By Eric Niiler President Obama has indicated this week he will consult international law before responding to the gas attacks in Syria, but experts say any U.S. military strike against the regime of Bashir al-Assad would violate the very same laws. These laws of war go back […]
CNN 08/29/13 By Michael Shank and US Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) Editor’s note: Michael Shank is director of Foreign Policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation. U.S. Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) is the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The views expressed are their own. The Americans don’t want […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 08/28/13 By Steven Nelson The advocacy group representing the Religious Society of Friends, more commonly known as Quakers, is hastily appealing for calm ahead of what it fears is an imminent U.S. military strike on Syria, which is two years into a civil war. “The […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 08/27/13 By Michael Shank If the United States was genuinely interested in preventing an escalation of violent conflict in Syria, we would impatiently pursue all preventive mechanisms available to us – from international law to international diplomacy to international weapons inspection – before adding more […]
THE DAILY BEAST 08/16/13 By Michael Shank Despite the news that Doctors Without Borders is quitting Somalia after 20-plus years in the country, due to an increase in violent attacks, the biggest war waged in Somalia right now is not between the rebel group al-Shabaab, the fledging government of Somalia, […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 07/22/13 By Michael Shank Last week, the so-called “war on coal,” which Senate Joe Manchin, D-W.V., recently claimed is real, gained new momentum after the World Bank formally committed to stop funding most coal projects. Manchin, who knows something about existential wars given his laudable […]
THE HILL 07/11/13 By Michael Shank, Ph.D. With 150 negotiators in 24 working groups descending on Washington D.C. this week to take part in the first round of US-EU trade talks, and with the joint EU-US High Level Working Group saying that “ambitious outcomes” should be sought for the areas […]