Democracy Now! Daily Digest: A Daily Independent Global News Hour with Amy Goodman & Juan González for Tuesday, February 3, 2015
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The United Nations has raised the death toll from fighting in eastern Ukraine to more than 5,300 people since last April following the ouster of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych one year ago this month. Another 1.5 million people have been displaced. As fighting intensifies, the Obama administration is now considering directly arming Ukrainian forces against Russian-backed rebels. Washington already supplies nonlethal military equipment to Ukraine, but top officials are reportedly leaning toward sending arms, from rifles to anti-tank weapons. The role of the U.S. and European allies in Ukraine has prompted former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to accuse the West of dragging Russia into a new Cold War. We are joined by Stephen Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at New York University and Princeton University.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AARON MATÉ: The U.N. has raised the death toll from fighting in eastern Ukraine to over 5,300 people since last April, following the ouster of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych one year ago this month. Another 1.5 million people have been displaced. According to Russian-backed rebels in Donetsk, shelling in eastern Ukraine has killed at least eight people and wounded 22 others in the past day. Ukraine says five more of its soldiers have died.
This comes as the White House now considers arming Ukraine in its fight against Russian-backed separatists. Washington already supplies nonlethal military equipment to Ukraine, but there is a growing push to send arms, from rifles to anti-tank weapons. On Monday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki was asked about U.S. policy.
MATTHEW LEE: There are a whole plethora of reports out this morning that the administration is reconsidering providing lethal assistance to the Ukrainian government. Would you care to address those?
JEN PSAKI: Well, Matt, we are constantly assessing our policies on Ukraine to ensure they’re responsive, appropriated and calibrated to achieve our objectives. We are particularly concerned about recent escalating separatist violence and separatist attempts to expand the territory they currently control further, beyond the ceasefire line agreed to in Minsk, as well as the increasing toll of civilian and military casualties.
MATTHEW LEE: OK, so it sounds like you’re not saying, no, that these reports are wrong. Is it accurate then to say that this kind of assistance is now part of the conversation?
JEN PSAKI: Well, we haven’t taken options on or off the table, Matt. It’s an ongoing discussion. Obviously we have take into account events on the ground. But I don’t have anything to lay out for you in terms of internal deliberations.
REPORTER: Why would the president want to get into a proxy war with Russia?
JEN PSAKI: Well, I don’t think anybody wants to get into a proxy war with Russia. And that is not the objective. Our objective here is to change the behavior of Russia. That’s the reason that we’ve put the sanctions in place. We certainly want to help Ukraine, a sovereign government, thrive and go through this transition period. No decisions have been made. I’m talking about the fact that we of course preserve the right to consider a range of options.
AARON MATÉ: That’s State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki. On Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Kiev to meet with Ukrainian leaders.
AMY GOODMAN: Last week, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev accused the West of dragging Russia into a new Cold War. He said, quote, "If we call a spade a spade, America has pulled us into a new Cold War, trying to openly implement its general idea of triumphalism. Where will it take us all? The Cold War is already on. What’s next? Unfortunately, I cannot say firmly that the Cold War will not lead to the hot one. I’m afraid that they might take the risk," he said.
On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the conflict cannot be solved militarily.
CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL: [translated] Germany will not support Ukraine with weapons. I am firmly convinced that this conflict cannot be solved militarily, and therefore we insist that, on the one hand, we will impose sanctions, if necessary—we have done that jointly in Europe—and, on the other hand, we will use all diplomatic means to resolve this conflict through talks, or at least alleviate it.
AMY GOODMAN: To talk more about the crisis in Ukraine, we’re joined by Stephen Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at New York University and Princeton University. His most recent book, Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the New Cold War, is out in paperback.
Welcome to Democracy Now!, Professor Cohen.
STEPHEN COHEN: Thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: What’s happening in Ukraine?
STEPHEN COHEN: What’s happening in Ukraine? Gorbachev had it right. We’re in a new Cold War with Russia. The epicenter of the new Cold War is not in Berlin, like the last one, but it’s right on Russia’s borders, so it’s much more dangerous. You and I have talked about this since February, I think. What I foresaw in February has played out, I regret to say: A political dispute in Ukraine became a Ukrainian civil war. Russia backed one side; the United States and NATO, the other. So it’s not only a new Cold War, it’s a proxy war. We’re arming Kiev. Russians are arming the eastern fighters. And I think, though I don’t want to spoil anybody’s day—I said to you in February this had the potential to become a new Cuban missile-style confrontation with the risk of war. That’s where we are now. And I think Gorbachev was right.
AARON MATÉ: There was a ceasefire reached in September. What’s happened since then?
STEPHEN COHEN: Well, it was never honored in full. And the primary problem was—I mean, there were many provisions of the ceasefire, which was supposed to stop the fighting in the east and lead to direct negotiations between the rebel government, or fighters—we call them "separatists." They weren’t separatists when all this began, but now they’re separatists: They don’t want to live with Kiev any longer. But it was supposed to lead to negotiations. The main thing that happened was, is it required both sides to pull back their artillery, primarily Kiev, because Kiev was bombarding the capital cities of eastern Ukraine—Luhansk and Donetsk. That artillery was never pulled back. It was supposed to be 30 kilometers. How far back they pulled them, I don’t know. But as you know, in the last week, those cities have been bombarded again. So the ceasefire was honored kind of marginally in the breach for a couple months, but about a week ago, 10 days ago, the fighting escalated.
Now, there is a dispute, because it eliminated the possibility of negotiations again: Who began the escalation? The State Department, you heard Psaki say it was Russia and Russian agents. Russia and the rebels say it was Kiev. But we’re in a fog of war. That expression comes from World War I, I think, when there was so much misinformation—we didn’t have email then, and it traveled more slowly—that the perception of what was going on was distorted, corrupted by news. And it led to war. The fog of war today derives from this, and it’s worse because it moves so fast, on social media news, is that you’ve got all this misinformation coming out of Kiev, out of Moscow, out of Washington. And for the three of us to sit here and say who threw the first punch 10 days ago is almost impossible.
AMY GOODMAN: On Monday, three prominent U.S. think tanks—the Brookings Institution, the Atlantic Council and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs—issued a joint report urging the United States to provide Ukraine $3 billion in military assistance over the next three years. Former Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott co-wrote the report. He’s now president of Brookings.
STROBE TALBOTT: In the context of what is happening in Ukraine today, the right way to characterize it is an act of war on the part of the Russian Federation. This means that there is going on in Ukraine today a literal invasion, not by—it’s not a proxy war. It’s a literal invasion by the Russian armed forces. It’s a literal occupation of large parts, well beyond Crimea, of eastern Ukraine. And it is a virtual annexation of a lot of territory other than just the Crimea. And in that respect, this is a major threat to the peace of Europe, to the peace of Eurasia, and therefore a threat to the interests of the United States and, I would say, a threat to the chances of a peaceful 21st century.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s former Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, now president of Brookings. Your response?
STEPHEN COHEN: Well, he’s much more than that. People need to drop their masks and say what their personal stake in this is. Strobe Talbott, whom I’ve known for years, was the architect of the American policy that led to this crisis. He was "the Russia hand," as he called his memoir, under President Clinton, when the expansion of NATO toward Russia began.
Understand what he said—and the rollout of this report has been coming. And if you look at the signatures, these are the leaders of the American war party, the people who literally want a military showdown with Russia. Stop and think what that means. Stop and think what that means, as though Russia is going to back off. But the people who signed this report—and they’ve been bringing it out for days—are saying that the—he literally just said this—the future of the 21st century is at stake in Ukraine. Stop and think what that means. Then he went on to say things that are fundamentally untrue, that Russia has invaded and annexed eastern Ukraine. I mean, when the State Department was asked a few weeks ago, "Can you confirm the presence of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine?" the State Department, which misleads about this story all the time, said, "No, we cannot." So what are—this is what I’m talking about the fog of war, where we’re being told Russia has annexed eastern Ukraine, the stake of the world is at—the future of the world is at stake here, and basically they’re calling for war with Russia.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to continue this discussion in a minute. We’re talking with Professor Stephen Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at New York University and Princeton University. We’ll be back with him in a minute.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: Our guest is professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at New York University and Princeton University, Stephen Cohen. His latest book, Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the New Cold War. Aaron?
AARON MATÉ: Yes, so, on this issue of Russian involvement in Ukraine, and NATO’s expansion, I presume you acknowledge that Putin is destabilizing Ukraine—he sent in weapons, he sent in tanks, he sent in some troops in some form. Is the point then that he’s acting not to revive the Soviet empire, but to stop NATO encroachment? Is that your point?
STEPHEN COHEN: That’s my short point. But let me ask you a question. Five million people, approximately, live in this area of eastern Ukraine. They’ve lived there for centuries. Their grandfathers, their parents are buried there. Their children go to school there. That is their home. Do they have no humanity or agency? We’ve taken—not I, but the main press in this country is referring to them as "Putin’s thugs." Where is the humanity of these people who are dying, now nearly 6,000 of them? A million have been turned into refugees. These are people there.
Who’s doing the fighting? Primarily, the folks, the adults, of these people. Have they had Russian assistance? Absolutely. Has Kiev had Western assistance? Billions of dollars. General Hodges—I don’t know exactly what he does, but he’s an American NATO officer—publicly announces he’s in Ukraine to train the National Guard. Both sides are involved militarily. But make no mistake: If there was not an indigenous rebellion in eastern Ukraine, there would not be a Ukrainian civil war. Is Putin abetting the east? Yes. Are we abetting the west and Kiev? Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: Let’s go to Hodges for a minute. Last month, U.S. soldiers from the 2nd Cavalry traveled to the Soviet state of Latvia for a military exercise, dubbed Atlantic Resolve, to train soldiers from Latvia, other Baltic countries and Poland. In addition, the U.S. brought more than 50 units of military equipment, including 17 armored vehicles, Stryker, that will stay in Europe. Ben Hodges, who you’re referring to, is the commanding general of the U.S. Army in Europe.
GEN. BEN HODGES: The decision was made last year to leave the equipment to stay in Europe. So, more than 200 tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, the decision has not been made yet where they will stay. For sure, some will stay in Germany at an American base, but we are looking at options to put some of them in Latvia or Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Ben Hodges, the commanding general of the U.S. Army in Europe. So, bringing in former Soviet state Latvia and the others, what does this mean?
STEPHEN COHEN: What? His presence in Latvia? Well, he’s in Ukraine now. What it means is we’re on the move militarily—"we," I mean NATO, but the United States runs NATO. You heard what Strobe Talbott said: We’ve got to do everything now to defend Ukraine. By the way, he doesn’t mention there are two Ukraines. What about the people in the east I just mentioned? Have they no humanity? But we are on the verge of war with Russia.
Now, you referred to me as emeritus. That means old. That means I remember things. And I remember that when we hit these kind of Cold War extremes back during the last Cold War, people spoke out in opposition in this country, not only folks like the three of us, ordinary folks, but I’m talking about senators, members of Congress—even the administration was divided—The New York Times, The Washington Post. We have the silence of the hawks now. The American war party is on the march. You can see how close we are to, literally, a military confrontation with Russia. And there is not one word of establishment, mainstream opposition in this country.
So, is this good or bad? Do we go to war? Did we have a debate before we invaded Iraq? We did. And those of us who opposed it lost the debate. But we had a debate. That "democracy now," not today, not in the United States. There is no debate whatsoever. So, the danger is great. There is no opposition. All these people you’re showing—Strobe Talbott, General Hodges, anybody else you put on the screen, because only they speak to the American people—they’re on the march.
AARON MATÉ: What is driving this policy on the part of the U.S.? Many people who took part in the Cold War are no longer in power. Are they seeking to revive that era? Is it a matter of expanding NATO, or confronting Putin because they don’t like him? What is the driving force here?
STEPHEN COHEN: All of the above, I think. I don’t know. I’m not smart enough to tell you. Historians will look back—assuming there are historians to look back, because both sides are now mobilizing their nuclear weapons, as well. Russia has already said that if it is faced with overwhelming force on its borders, it will use tactical nuclear weapons. They’re nuclear small, but they’re nuclear weapons. When is the last time you heard a great power say that? We say—Obama, our president, says, "We’re modernizing our nuclear weapons." What does that mean? We’re redeploying them, pointing them even more at Russia. Why is this happening in the United States? I don’t know. I think there’s a lot of factors mixed in, a kind of ideological hangover from the old Cold War. But the demonization of Putin has become so extreme in this country, I do not recall—and I entered this field back in the '60s—the United States ever demonizing a Soviet communist leader the way our leaders do—Obama, Mrs. Clinton referring to him as a Hitler. Look, if Putin is Hitler, clearly we have to go to war. That's the logic, is it not? Is it not? And where are the voices that say this is crazy? He may be a Russian nationalist. He may be threatening. But Hitler?
AMY GOODMAN: During an interview on CNN that aired Sunday, President Obama acknowledged the United States played a role in the ouster of Ukraine’s elected president, Viktor Yanukovych, last February.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Mr. Putin made this decision around Crimea and Ukraine, not because of some grand strategy, but essentially because he was caught off balance by the protests in the Maidan and Yanukovych then fleeing after we had brokered a deal to transition power in Ukraine.
AMY GOODMAN: President Obama’s comments made headlines in Russia. This is Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
SERGEY LAVROV: [translated] I have two comments which are important. There has been confirmation that the United States was directly involved, from the very beginning, in this anti-government coup d’état. And President Obama literally called it "the transition of power." Secondly, I would like to note that Obama’s rhetoric shows Washington’s intention to continue doing everything possible to unconditionally support Ukraine’s authorities, who have apparently taken a course toward a military solution to the conflict.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s the Russian foreign minister and, before that, President Obama.
STEPHEN COHEN: Yeah, President Obama said something that undoubtably he was later told he shouldn’t have said, because he wasn’t clear what he was referring to. Many people have argued that the United States organized a coup in February to overthrow the president of Ukraine and bring to power of this new pro-American, pro-Western government. I do not know if that’s true. But what Obama said leads people to think that’s what he was acknowledging. He wasn’t.
Here’s what happened. And he’s right about Crimea. He just let the cat out of the bag here. An agreement was brokered in February. Everybody think back. It’s only one year ago. Foreign ministers of Europe, as violence raged in the streets of Kiev, rushed to Kiev and brokered a deal between the sitting president and the opposition leaders—Yanukovych—that he would form a coalition government and call new elections in December. And everybody thought, "Wow, violence averted. We’re back on a democratic track." And what happened? The next day, mobs took to the streets, stormed the presidential palace; Yanukovych, the president, fled to Russia.
But we now know that when that deal was struck by the European ministers, Putin and Obama spoke on the phone, and Putin said to Obama, "Are you behind this?" And Obama says, "I am. Let’s get back on peaceful track." And then he asks Putin, "Are you behind it?" And Putin said, "A hundred percent." And the next day, this happened. So, something happened overnight. Obama lost control of the situation. He didn’t know what was going on. But when he says that they negotiated a peaceful transition to power, he’s not referring to the overthrow of Yanukovych; he’s referring to the deal he signed onto to keep the Ukrainian president in office for another eight or nine months until national elections.
So, he has now confirmed the Russia dark suspicions that the CIA or somebody carried out a coup. I’m sure he regrets having said that. But it is completely unclear to me—I voted for him twice—whether President Obama understands what’s going on in Ukraine, because he said a number of things that are so divergent from the historical record that either he’s getting bad advice or he’s not paying attention. I don’t know which.
AARON MATÉ: Can you sketch out for us the fighting that has taken place since April? The U.N. now says the death toll is over 5,300. Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., has praised Kiev’s response and said that they practiced "remarkable, almost unimaginable, restraint" in their attacks on the separatists.
STEPHEN COHEN: Well, it makes me ashamed to be an American citizen. Let’s remember that when Ambassador Power was not Ambassador Power, she was the great architect and ideologue of the responsibility to protect civilians. Correct? Everybody is familiar with that.
AMY GOODMAN: Explain it briefly.
STEPHEN COHEN: Well, you explain it.
AMY GOODMAN: You explain it.
STEPHEN COHEN: You’ve done it on your show. Well, it means the United States is obliged to do everything it can to prevent a humanitarian disaster resulting either from natural or warlike measures. And that’s been American official policy since Clinton. Now, whether it’s a wise policy or not, I don’t know. But the architect of it now says what’s going on in eastern Ukraine—and there are a lot more than 5,000 dead; even the U.N. has said we really don’t know, but let’s say 5,300. There’s also a million and a half refugees, most of them to Russia, but some to other parts of Ukraine. And the United States is saying—and the State Department and the White House and in the U.N., with Samantha Power—Kiev has been restrained.
All right, back up. What has Kiev called since April its military operation in the east? An anti-terrorist operation. Literally, those are the words. If I declare that you are a terrorist—not a rebel, not a political opponent, but you are a terrorist—I don’t talk to you, I kill you. And that is what Kiev has been doing, with American support. It’s been destroying the civilian centers of eastern Ukraine. Have the rebels fought back? Have they killed Ukrainian army members? Absolutely. But what in the world are we doing supporting a government that’s bombing civilians? And, by the way, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, many other organizations have now said these are war crimes. And yet, the American government sees no evil.
AMY GOODMAN: So we just played Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, earlier. She said Germany will not support Ukraine with weapons. She supports sanctions. She says there’s only a diplomatic answer. What is the solution? And what do you feel about sanctions, as the front page of The New York Times talks about the arming of—U.S. arming Ukraine?
STEPHEN COHEN: Amy, what are you doing to me? You’re trotting out every person who has behaved unwisely in a role of leadership and asked me what I think of them.
AMY GOODMAN: Yes.
STEPHEN COHEN: Yeah. What I think of them, we need some leaders. Now, I thought, when I first visited you in February or January, that the solution was the chancellor of Germany, Merkel. Why? Because Germany is the powerhouse of Europe. Because Merkel speaks Russian and German, and Putin speaks Russian and German. They can talk, like you and I talk, and they understand nuances. Merkel has said, all along, this cannot be resolved by military means, there must be negotiations. And yet, politically, she supported every escalation of the crisis. Why has she done that? Because she was, and maybe she still could be, the key figure here.
AMY GOODMAN: And she’s coming to the White House Monday.
STEPHEN COHEN: Yeah, but she’s been in Ukraine. She’s been everywhere. She moves. There’s distance between the White House and Berlin, no question. Merkel could end of this, or she could go a long way. She could put her foot down: no more sanctions, no more NATO involvement. Stop and think who she is. The only solvent country in Europe. And look what’s going on in Greece. I mean, they may leave the EU. By the way, if the U.K. leaves the EU in May, when there’s the referendum, who will run Europe? Germany. And Germany’s attitudes toward Russia and China are fundamentally different than Washington’s attitude. So we may be observing here, below the radar, not only the split of Europe, but the drift of Germany, and the part of Europe that follows Germany, away from the United States. Everything is at stake in this civil war.
How to get out of it? It’s the same solution we talked about here on this broadcast months ago: a ceasefire; withdrawal of artillery so the cities of Donetsk, where the rebels are, are not being bombarded; Kiev’s willingness to sit down, at a table about this size, under the auspices of the great powers, and talk to the rebels. What home rule will they be given? Some kind of federalism, some kind of devolution of authority. The governors of the regions of Ukraine are appointed in Kiev. Our governors aren’t appointed in Washington; we elect them. There’s no federalism there. Everybody says federalism means a Russian takeover. But Germany has a federal system, Canada has a federal system, we have a federal system. They are hard, but it can be done.
But you know how you get this? You get it through leadership. Where’s the leadership? Where’s President Obama? Where’s Chancellor Merkel? And the leadership in Ukraine—I mean, Poroshenko, he’s the president of the country. He has no power. He has no power. He’s not the leader. The power is with the people in Ukraine who control the fighting battalions and what’s left of the army. So, we don’t even know what kind of regime or leadership is possible in Kiev now.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Professor Stephen Cohen, we will continue to cover this. We thank you very much for being with us, professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at New York University and Princeton University. His most recent book, Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the New Cold War, is out in paperback. And we’ll link to your recent writings on Ukraine at TheNation.com.
This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. When we come back, Professor Vijay Prashad on the Middle East, what’s happening, from Libya to Saudi Arabia. Stay with us.
As the United States weighs a major escalation with potential military aid to Ukraine, we look at how American policy is sowing conflict across North Africa and the Middle East. Libya is run by two different governments, and the United Nations has warned of "total chaos" if ongoing unity talks fail. The U.S.-backed regime in Egypt continues a crackdown on political opponents, recently carrying out its worst killing of protesters since General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi became president last June. Iraq is coming off its deadliest month in years, while outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has said the U.S. might need to send noncombat ground troops for the ongoing campaign against the Islamic State. In Syria, the world’s worst current humanitarian crisis, the U.S. has backed off its calls for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. In Lebanon, Hezbollah and Israel exchanged fire last week in one of their most violent clashes since the 2006 war. The incident was followed days later by a Washington Post report that the CIA and its Israeli counterpart, the Mossad, assassinated a senior Hezbollah leader seven years ago this month. Now a dispute over Iran has brought relations between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to their lowest point so far. Following the death of King Abdullah last month, Obama led a large delegation to Saudi Arabia in a major display of U.S. support for the new repressive regime. And in Yemen, uncertainty prevails after last month’s resignation of President Abdu Hadi, with Houthi rebels now threatening to seize power. We discuss the state of the Middle East and North Africa — and the U.S. role in ongoing conflicts — with Vijay Prashad, professor of international studies at Trinity College.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AARON MATÉ: From the crisis in Ukraine, we turn now to turmoil across North Africa and the Middle East. And like in Ukraine, American policy past and present has played a major role in sowing conflict and unrest.
Libya faces its worst crisis since the U.S.-backed ouster of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The country is run by two different governments, each with their own parliaments and armies. In between are several other militant groups, including a branch of the Islamic State that took credit for a deadly attack on a Tripoli hotel last week. The U.N. mission in Libya is trying to hold unity talks between the two main warring factions. The U.N. mission chief recently warned Libya faces "total chaos" if the talks fail.
BERNARDINO LEÓN: The general impression is that the country is very close to total chaos, and that if they miss this opportunity, it’s very difficult to imagine that there will be a situation in the country that will allow easily to start a new process.
AMY GOODMAN: In neighboring Egypt, at least 18 civilian protesters were killed late last month while marking the fourth anniversary of the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak. It was the worst killing of protesters since General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi became president last June. Sisi’s regime has banned protests, continued a crackdown on political opponents. The U.S. renewed U.S. military aid last year after a brief pause following the 2013 coup. On Monday, an Egyptian court confirmed the mass death sentences of nearly 200 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, the party of ousted President Mohamed Morsi.
The crackdown has extended to journalists. On Monday, Al Jazeera reporter Peter Greste spoke out from Cyprus after being released from prison and deported. Greste had spent 400 days behind bars with two Al Jazeera colleagues.
PETER GRESTE: Look, I can’t tell you how relieved I am at being free. I mean, I really didn’t expect it. We were settling in for a period of months behind prison and for the retrial. And so, to be out now, today, with just a few minutes’ notice, really, is just, just extraordinary. But I also feel incredible angst about my colleagues, leaving them behind.
AMY GOODMAN: Peter Greste’s colleague, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy, appears close to release and deportation after renouncing his Egyptian citizenship. The fate of the third Al Jazeera prisoner, Baher Mohamed, is unclear, as he is an Egyptian citizen.
Meanwhile, Iraq is coming off its deadliest month in years. The United Nations says over 1,375 people were killed in January. In an interview last week, outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the U.S. might need to send noncombat troops to Iraq for the ongoing campaign against the Islamic State.
AARON MATÉ: In Syria, the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, the U.S. has backed off its calls for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. Despite training opposition fighters, U.S. actions in Syria now target the Islamic State, not the Assad government it once threatened to strike. As the U.S. wages its bombing campaign against ISIS, the militant group continues to kill foreign hostages, most recently two Japanese nationals.
In Syria’s neighbor, Lebanon, Hezbollah and Israel exchanged fire last week in one of their most violent clashes since the 2006 war. The incident was followed days later by a Washington Post report that the CIA and its Israeli counterpart, the Mossad, assassinated a senior Hezbollah leader seven years ago this month. The killing of Imad Mughniyah raises a number of legal issues, as well as the potential for reprisals from Hezbollah.
AMY GOODMAN: Seven years after that joint assassination, relations between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are reportedly at their lowest point to date. White House officials have criticized Netanyahu for a planned trip to the U.S. next month to address a joint session of Congress on Iran.
To the south, President Obama led a large delegation to Saudi Arabia last month following the death of King Abdullah. Obama’s trip was seen as a major display of U.S. support for the Saudi kingdom despite its poor record on human rights at home and abroad. In an interview on CNN, President Obama defended the U.S. partnership with Saudi Arabia and his decision not to raise human rights concerns during his trip.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Sometimes we have to balance our need to speak to them about human rights issues with immediate concerns that we have in terms of countering terrorism or dealing with regional stability.
AMY GOODMAN: To the south of Saudi Arabia is Yemen, where uncertainty prevails following the resignation of President Abdu Hadi last month. Houthi rebels have controlled the capital Sana’a since launching an offensive in September. They have set a deadline of today to seize power unless the political crisis is resolved. The Houthis appear to have major backing from Ali Abdullah Saleh, the longtime U.S.-backed president ousted by the popular uprising in 2011. Amidst the crisis, the U.S. continues a drone war inside Yemen targeting al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP, which has grown deadlier in recent years and took credit for the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris.
Well, to discuss the state of the Middle East and the U.S. role in ongoing conflicts, we’re joined by Vijay Prashad, a professor of international studies at Trinity College, author of several books, including Arab Spring, Libyan Winter and, most recently, The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South. His new piece for The Hindu is called "The Architects of West Asia’s Chaos."
Professor Vijay Prashad, welcome to Democracy Now! Why don’t we talk about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu coming to not the White House, not invited by the White House, but by—represented by the opposition to the White House in Congress, the House speaker, John Boehner? He’s going to be addressing a joint session of Congress.
VIJAY PRASHAD: Well, I mean, this has been a drama for several years, the so-called Netanyahu-Obama clash. This is not the first time that Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided to snub U.S. President Obama. This is not the first time that the Republicans have invited him to speak in Congress against the wishes of the White House.
But I think there is a little too much being made of this particular event—and a little too little at the same time. It’s a little too much because I think there’s been, over the course of the last several months, a return to a sort of stable set of alliances that the United States has had for decades—in other words, lining up again with its major allies, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and now Saudi Arabia and American-backed Egypt. These pillars of stability have asserted themselves in the region. It’s no secret that Mr. Obama has put a lot in terms of, you know, working with the Saudis in the region. So, I think, in that sense, too much is made of the clash with Netanyahu. There is a stability of U.S. and Israeli interests, and they’re going forward together on the ground.
There’s too little made of this because, unfortunately, this kind of clash that Mr. Netanyahu is setting up is going to bring up the problem of solving the dispute with Iran. To my mind, there is no way forward in the Middle East unless there is some rapprochement with Iran, not only from the United States, but also Saudi Arabia. And so, Mr. Netanyahu’s high-stakes game of coming to the U.S. Congress is going to muddy the attempt to create some rapprochement for one of the major contradictions in West Asia.
AARON MATÉ: And going to Israel’s north, to Lebanon, can you talk about this violence that erupted last week—two Israeli soldiers, one Spanish peacekeeper were killed—and then, days later, this revelation that the U.S. and Israel collaborated on a 2008 assassination of a senior Hezbollah figure in Damascus, in Syria?
VIJAY PRASHAD: Well, Aaron, you know, the problem in Syria has been grave: over 200,000 people dead, much of Syria destroyed, no sign of a political solution, increased audacity by the Islamic State and by Jabhat al-Nusra and other al-Qaeda-backed groups inside Syria. In this context, over the past almost two years, Israel has repeatedly struck against Hezbollah targets inside Syria. You know, there was a strike late last year in Damascus airport over apparent—a load of rockets that were coming in to resupply Hezbollah, perhaps from Iran. Just a few weeks ago, in the Quneitra area up in the mountains in Syria, Israel struck a car, killing an Iranian general and a 20-year-old Hezbollah fighter by the name of Jihad Mughniyeh. When this attack happened, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech saying, you know, Hezbollah is going to respond now, finally, after so many provocations.
And so, what Hezbollah did was they didn’t attack across the blue line, which is the U.N.-mandated border between Israel and Lebanon, but they attacked in the Shebaa Farms, which is an area of Lebanon that Israel has occupied. In other words, it was a calculated attack inside the Shebaa region. Israel responded across the blue line, killing a Spanish peacekeeper. But within hours of the retaliation from Israel, Hezbollah contacted the U.N. peacekeepers and said that they are done with their attack on Israel, and now the status quo can come back. In other words, there have been provocations, but in a sense Hezbollah has been fairly disciplined in its retaliation. Nobody wants a war at this time between Hezbollah and Israel. It would complicate matters too greatly in the region. As it is, Jabhat al-Nusra is sitting at the borders of Lebanon, threatening to enter, threatening to create more chaos in that country. So nobody wants a war. Fortunately, this particular episode ended, you know, with—well, not peace, but the calm that was there before.
Of course, it wasn’t a very good thing that right after that what was revealed by The Washington Post and by Newsweek essentially validated what people in Hezbollah had known for a long time, which is that the father of the boy, the 20-year-old killed in Quneitra, Jihad Mughniyeh, his father, Imad Mughniyah, a major military chief of Hezbollah, had been killed in a massive car bomb in 2008 in Damascus, a bomb that was positioned by the Americans. It was triggered by the Israelis. This is not the first major car bomb that the Americans have used against Hezbollah. That was perhaps in 1985 in the attempted assassination of Hezbollah spiritual leader Mohammad Fadlallah. That was in Beirut in 1985. Fadlallah survived that attack, but 80 civilians died. So there has been a pattern of provocation. And fortunately, for now, this has not escalated into full-blown war.
AARON MATÉ: But the issues that this raises, the U.S. using a car bombing in a country where it’s not at war, in Syria, seven years ago, can you talk about the legal issues here? And also, do you see the potential for reprisals from Hezbollah?
VIJAY PRASHAD: Well, firstly, Aaron, as I said, this is not the first time that the United States has used a car bomb against Hezbollah when it has not been itself at war. In 1985, the bombing in Beirut was an enormous car bomb. It was placed by American intelligence and British intelligence. So there has been a pattern of utilizing this kind of assassination strategy against Hezbollah targets—not only Hezbollah targets, by the way, but also inside Iran against the nuclear—people associated with the nuclear program. There were a series of assassinations two years ago, you know, relatively unexplained.
This has, of course, got major legal ramifications. You know, the United States was not at war. The United States utilized Jordan, the kingdom of Jordan, to have the car bomb driven through. It associated with Israel in this strike. Of course, there is a different standard for the goose and a different standard for the gander. There has been no real international questioning of what has happened. There’s been no real outrage. I’m not surprised that at the Security Council this question wasn’t raised about using, you know, this kind of violence. Meanwhile, in 2005, you know, Mr. Hariri was killed inside Beirut, major politician in Lebanon, and there’s been a huge U.N. process of trying to uncover who killed Mr. Hariri. Here, CIA officials are directly saying that they conducted an assassination in Damascus, and there’s been absolutely no condemnation of it.
AMY GOODMAN: Professor Prashad, we only have two minutes, and we wanted to deal with President Obama’s trip to Saudi Arabia, the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia, and Yemen and Libya. Start with Saudi Arabia, very quickly, and move on from there.
VIJAY PRASHAD: Well, you know, the United States has begun to put a lot of eggs into the Saudi basket, hoping that Saudi Arabia is going to have stabilized the situation vis-à-vis the Islamic State, stabilized the situation in North Africa. I personally think this is a very myopic approach. I think the approach should be to create rapprochement between the different parties to the various conflicts, to bring Saudi Arabia and Iran together. But on the other hand, I think the Obama administration is, you know, trying to play both sides against the middle—on the one side, giving Saudi Arabia complete carte blanche, and on the other side, I suppose, keeping the talks with Iran going at a very mute level.
Libya is a victim of this Arab Cold War, where the regional entities are utilizing Libya as a battleground for their own particular, you know, forward policy, whether it’s Saudi Arabia and Egypt, on one side, or Turkey and Qatar, on the other. I mean, the West is largely absent from Libya, having used that as a laboratory to prove that it can conduct a military strike and create a good outcome. In fact, the opposite is demonstrated. The West is entirely absent. And as you know, the American Embassy is no longer in Libya. The American Embassy to Libya is based in Malta. And there’s no emphasis from the West to try to once again bring parties together. It is a very dangerous situation, which is why the U.N. envoy has repeatedly said over the course of several months that we are near total chaos inside Libya. It’s a real scandal, and I wish there was more reporting, more care, about what’s happening to a country that was destroyed by a war prosecuted by NATO.
AMY GOODMAN: And finally, the U.S. drone strikes in Yemen?
VIJAY PRASHAD: Well, you know, it’s clear to people who observe Yemen that until the U.S. drone strikes, until the U.S. invasion of Iraq, al-Qaeda had been largely vanquished in Yemen. And it was because of Abdullah Saleh, his own vendetta against the Zaidi people—
AMY GOODMAN: We have five seconds.
VIJAY PRASHAD: Well, to put it like this, the drone strikes don’t seem to be having the kind of impact that the government says they have. They seem to be having the opposite impact. It’s too bad that there’s been no reassessment of the strategy of assassinating people and meanwhile killing a very large number of civilians.
AMY GOODMAN: Vijay Prashad, we thank you for being with us, professor of international studies at Trinity College.
Headlines:Obama Budget Boosts Military Spending, Taxes on Wealthy
President Obama has unveiled his $4 trillion budget proposal for next year, asking Congress to raise taxes for the wealthy and corporations to help fund education and fix crumbling infrastructure. The plan includes tax cuts for some poor and middle-class families. It also seeks to recoup losses from corporations that stash an estimated $2 trillion overseas by taxing such earnings at 14 percent, still less than half of the 35 percent rate for profits made in the United States. The budget takes aim at the high cost of prescription drugs, proposes a new agency to regulate food safety, and seeks $1 billion to curb immigration from Central America. It also calls for a 4.5 percent increase in military spending, including a $534 billion base budget for the Pentagon, plus $51 billion to fund U.S. involvement in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Speaking at the Department of Homeland Security, Obama said across-the-board cuts known as sequestration would hurt the military.
President Obama: "Just last week, top military officials told Congress that if Congress does nothing to stop sequestration, there could be serious consequences for our national security, at a time when our military is stretched on a whole range of issues. That’s why I want to work with Congress to replace mindless austerity with smart investments that strengthen America. And we can do so in a way that is fiscally responsible."
U.S. Reports 27 Airstrikes in Iraq, SyriaThe United States and coalition forces have continued their bombardment of Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. On Monday, U.S. Central Command reported 27 airstrikes in the past 24 hours, including nine near Kobani, Syria, and 17 across Iraq. Meanwhile, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said airstrikes by the Syrian government targeting rebel-held areas killed more than 40 people.
Yemen: 3rd U.S. Drone Strike in a Week Kills 4
A U.S. drone strike has reportedly killed four people traveling in a car in southeastern Yemen. Unnamed local sources identified the victims as al-Qaeda suspects. It was the third such attack to hit Yemen in a week, including last Monday’s strike, which killed a 12-year-old boy. Meanwhile, the latest tally from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism shows U.S. drone strikes have killed nearly 2,500 people since President Obama took office, including more than 300 civilians. Obama has overseen nearly nine times as many strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia as his predecessor, President George W. Bush.
Greek Official Seeks to Calm European Fears over Syriza Win
Greece’s new prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, and his finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, are each meeting with their Italian counterparts today as they continue to bring their anti-austerity message across Europe. Speaking in London Monday, Varoufakis sought to calm fears over the Syriza party’s plans to renegotiate Greece’s international bailout.
Yanis Varoufakis: "My message to our German friends, and indeed to all Europeans, is that no hand will be overplayed, because we’re not entering this in a confrontational manner. This is what journalists love to portray the situation as, as a kind of Wild West showdown. This is not it. What we have here is different European governments with a common objective, and that is to find — to strike a mutually beneficial deal, one that minimizes the cost of this crisis for the average European, not for the Greeks, not for the Germans, but thinking from a European perspective."
In an interview with the Financial Times, Varoufakis appeared to back down on Syriza’s call for a debt write-off, suggesting Greece could swap its debts for bonds linked to economic growth. Varoufakis later issued a clarification, saying, "If we need to use euphemisms and financial engineering tools ... we will. The bottom line, however, is the same."
Greek Minister Vows to Block U.S.-EU Free Trade DealA Greek government minister has vowed the new government will use its veto to block a massive free trade deal between the United States and European Union. Critics of the pact, known as TTIP, or the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, say it would sacrifice environmental and safety regulations for the benefit of corporations. Greek minister Georgios Katrougkalos told the news network EurActiv a Syriza-led parliament would veto the deal in what he called a "gift to all European people."
Syriza Victory Fuels Surge of Podemos Party in Spain
Syriza’s victory in Greece has renewed anti-austerity sentiment across Europe. Over the weekend, up to 100,000 people gathered in the Spanish capital Madrid for a rally led by the leftist party Podemos, or "We Can." Podemos has surged in Spanish opinion polls with a vow to undo austerity.
Croatia Cancels Debts of 60,000 Poorest Residents
In related news, Croatia has canceled the debts of its poorest residents. Under a new government plan, an estimated 60,000 low-income residents will see their debts absorbed by creditors, including local banks, major telecommunications providers and city governments. The move comes after more than 300,000 Croatian citizens saw their bank accounts blocked last summer due to debt.
Anti-Islam Pegida Movement Outnumbered at 1st Rally in Austria
The anti-Islam Pegida movement has held its first-ever march in Austria. But the roughly 250 Pegida supporters who gathered in Vienna were heavily outnumbered by thousands of counterdemonstrators. In the German city of Frankfurt, meanwhile, about 1,200 Pegida critics confronted a rally of 85 supporters and threw eggs at Pegida organizer Heidi Mund.
U.S. Oil Workers Launch Broadest Strike Since 1980
U.S. oil workers have launched their largest strike in 35 years amid demands for safer conditions, higher pay and better healthcare. Nearly 4,000 members of the United Steelworkers Union walked off the job Sunday at nine sites which supply about 10 percent of the country’s refining capacity. One refinery in California has shut down, while managers have taken over operations at several other sites. The strike comes after union negotiators rejected an offer from Shell, which is leading contract talks on behalf of major firms including ExxonMobil, BP and Chevron. United Steelworkers says the oil industry is "the richest in the world" and can afford to address issues including unsafe staffing levels and dangerous conditions which lead to fires, explosions and leaks.
Workers at NYC Legal Nonprofit Strike over Pay, Family Leave
In New York City, employees of a top legal nonprofit providing services to the poor have gone on strike. Dozens of attorneys and other employees of MFY Legal Services have walked off the job to demand fair pay, family leave and manageable workloads amidst high turnover and an increasing number of cases. Employees say managers have taken illegal steps against the union, including eavesdropping at a meeting.
Freed Al Jazeera Journalist Peter Greste Speaks After Release; Mohamed Fahmy Release "Imminent"
Freed Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste has spoken out after 400 days in Egyptian prison. Greste and two of his Al Jazeera colleagues, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, were jailed for spreading false news on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood, which the government considers a terrorist group. They were arrested as part of a crackdown on Al Jazeera after a coup against Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Speaking in Cyprus, where he was flown following his release, Greste described the lead-up to his release.
Peter Greste: "And I went for a run, and the prison warden called me over and told me that, you know, 'Time to pack your stuff.' I said, 'What do you mean?' He said ’You’re going.’ I said, 'Well, where? To another prison?' He said, 'No, no, no. The embassy is coming. They'll be here in an hour. Get your stuff and go.’ And I can’t tell you that real mix of emotions that was boiling inside — as I said to you a moment ago, a sense of relief and excitement, but also real, real stress at having to say goodbye to my colleagues and friends and people who have really become family inside that prison."
Canada’s foreign minister, meanwhile, has said the release of Canadian-Egyptian journalist Mohamed Fahmy is "imminent" after Fahmy agreed to renounce his Egyptian citizenship. Fahmy could be released within hours. A new Egyptian law allows imprisoned foreigners to be deported. Peter Greste is Australian. The fate of the third Al Jazeera journalist, Baher Mohamed, remains unclear, as he is an Egyptian citizen.
Parents of Missing Mexican Students Take Fight to U.N.
The parents of 43 Mexican students missing since September have taken their struggle for answers to the United Nations. The parents traveled to Geneva, where the U.N. Committee on Enforced Disappearances is considering Mexico’s record. Speaking to reporters as he wore a T-shirt showing his missing son, Bernabé Abraján de la Cruz called for international help to uncover the students’ fate.
Bernabé Abraján de la Cruz: "We’ve decided to come here, to this committee, to get some support and to really obtain justice, given the fact that our government is not able to do anything. So we came here, so that human rights, at the international level, will force the government to let us, the 43 families’ parents, know the truth and find our children, our beloved ones, and end this torture."
Report: Mexican Authorities Tortured Local Police to Confess to Role in Students’ Disappearance
So far the remains of just one of the 43 missing students have been identified. Last week, the Mexican government said the students were murdered on the orders of a drug cartel which mistook them for a rival gang. But the account contradicts published reports that directly tie government officials to the students’ disappearance. A new report published Sunday by the Mexican magazine Proceso accuses Mexican authorities of torturing and beating more than two dozen municipal police officers in order to force them to confess to a role in the students’ disappearance.
U.S. Expands Sanctions on Venezuelan Officials
The United States has expanded sanctions against Venezuelan officials and their family members. The United States refused to name the officials who will now be banned from receiving visas due to alleged involvement in human rights violations and corruption. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro criticized the restrictions.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro: "We will not allow an empire that has kept us and all of Latin America and the Caribbean in its sights, an empire that has hated and has schemed against the Bolívar document for 200 years to attempt to create the right to punish Bolívar’s homeland, to threaten Bolívar’s homeland."
51 Deaths from General Motors Defect Found Eligible for Compensation
More than 4,000 people have submitted claims for compensation over a deadly ignition-switch defect General Motors took over a decade to address. Kenneth Feinberg, who is overseeing the compensation fund for victims, said many of the claims have been deemed ineligible due to a lack of documents. Feinberg, who also oversaw compensation to victims of 9/11 and the BP oil spill, said 120 claims have so far been approved.
Kenneth Feinberg: "So far, we have found 51 deaths and 69 physical injury claims eligible to be paid. Those are the statistics so far. Not one eligible claimant, not one, has yet refused the money and decided to litigate. So I think we’re doing something right."
FCC Chair to Issue Landmark Proposal to Preserve Open Internet
In a victory for the open Internet, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission is set to propose regulating Internet service as a public utility. FCC Chair Tom Wheeler is expected to submit a proposal to fellow commissioners this week that would deem Internet access a telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act, a step long demanded by advocates of net neutrality, the principle of a free and open Internet. In a statement, the group Free Press called the move "one of the most important victories for the public interest in [the FCC’s] history."
Family of Jessie Hernández, Teenage Girl Killed by Denver Police, Calls for Federal Probe
The family of a teenage girl shot dead by Denver police last week have demanded a federal investigation into the killing. Police say Jessie Hernández, who was 17 years old, drove a stolen car toward an officer. The shooting marked at least the fourth time in seven months Denver police have fired at a moving vehicle, despite a policy urging officers to try to move out of the way, instead of shooting. In a statement, Hernández’s parents said: "We are dismayed that the [Denver Police Department] has already defended the actions of the officers and blamed our daughter for her own death, even while admitting they have very little information. In recent months, police killings have torn apart communities across this nation, and this unjustified shooting of our daughter is only the latest sign of an issue that requires federal oversight."
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