By Stephen Bell
On 5 June the governments of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt imposed a blockade upon the people of Qatar. Qatar’s sole land border, with Saudi Arabia, was closed. Air space over the blockading countries was denied to Qatari planes. Access on the sea, via UAE ports, was denied. Qatar imports 98 per cent of its foodstuff, mostly through the Saudi land route.
Oppose Israel’s attacks on Syria
On 27 April Israel launched missile strikes against an alleged Hezbollah arms hub near Damascus airport in Syria. Since 2011, Israel has launched multiple strikes inside Syria, mostly against Hezbollah. In March this year it launched several strikes near Palmyra.
By Stephen Bell
The bombing of a Syrian airfield by US President Trump represents a further escalation of the US military presence in the Middle East. It is immediately unclear whether this represents a one-off, or the start of a campaign against Syria. US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley said ‘We are prepared to do more, but we hope it will not be necessary’. The action was taken without UN authorisation, or US Congressional debate.
The following article by Stephen Bell, about US backed war on Yemen, was first published on the Stop the War Coalition Website.
Following President Trump’s inauguration, many questions are posed about the future direction of US foreign policy. During the election campaign, when questioned on the Middle East, Trump reiterated his opposition to: the Iraq war; US intervention against Assad rather than ISIS; and to the use of US ground troops where local states ought to intervene. Perhaps such shifts will lead him to withdraw support for the Saudi-led war upon Yemen?
On Monday 9 January, Sabah Jawad died in hospital, following a battle with cancer. To the end, he remained steadfast in his support for principled socialism and anti-imperialism.
By Stephen Bell
On the 14 September, the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) published its report, ‘Libya: Examination of intervention and collapse and the UK’s future policy options’. Published immediately after David Cameron’s retirement from Parliament, the reception given to the report concentrated on his culpability for the political and economic collapse in Libya. But this convenient response ignored how deeply compromised the British government’s intervention actually is. That policy continues to evade parliamentary control; involves fighting on both sides of a civil war, and adds to the chaos facing the people of Libya.
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