Sunday, September 27, 2026

Israeli forces use phosphorus shells in southern Lebanon attacks

MEM, September 26, 2026 

 

Smoke rises after Israeli forces carried out air and artillery attacks on towns in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, despite a ceasefire, on September 21, 2026. [Ramiz Dallah - Anadolu Agency]

Smoke rises after Israeli forces carried out air and artillery attacks on towns in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, despite a ceasefire, on September 21, 2026. [Ramiz Dallah – Anadolu Agency]

Israeli forces used phosphorus munitions while shelling several towns in southern Lebanon on Friday, state news agency NNA reported.

Artillery struck the outskirts of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, Mayfadoun and Nabatieh al-Fawqa in the Nabatieh district.

Phosphorus shells were used in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, while Israel later renewed attacks on Zawtar al-Sharqiyah with similar munitions.

In the Tyre district, artillery fire also targeted Wadi Zibqin and the outskirts of Haris and Haddatha.

READ: Israeli army sets fire to government hospital in southern Lebanon

Lebanese army specialists dismantled two unexploded Israeli aerial bombs in Majdal Selm and Al-Ghandouriyah in the Marjayoun and Bint Jbeil districts and moved them to a safe location.

The Israeli offensive in Lebanon has killed at least 4,386 victims, wounded 12,407 and displaced more than 1 million others since early March, according to Lebanese authorities.

The attacks continue despite a June framework deal that provides for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory in exchange for the deployment of the Lebanese army there and the disarmament of Hezbollah.

 

Iran stands firm on Hormuz plan after US rejection

 AFP Published September 27, 2026

Add Dawn as a trusted source

Iran stood firm Sunday on its conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, despite United States President Donald Trump’s rejection of the proposal that had created some optimism for breaking the Mideast war stalemate.

The waterway is key to the world’s energy supply and is now central to the conflict between Washington and Tehran, which was triggered nearly seven months ago with deadly strikes on Iran.

Iran’s plan called for a cessation of all hostilities in the Middle East, including in Lebanon, according to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and fulfilling conditions in the ceasefire deal that fell apart months ago.

That agreement, which dissolved during fighting over Hormuz, called for the release of frozen Iranian assets, the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil and an end to the US naval blockade.

“Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent upon these conditions being fulfilled. We will not back down from them,” Araghchi said on Sunday, state broadcaster IRIB reported.

“We have never closed the door to diplomacy or negotiations, but at the same time, we have never backed down from our rights.”

But Trump said on Saturday that he rejected the truce deal.

“They want to make a deal where they open the Strait immediately because they’re losing so badly,” he told reporters. “They want to make a deal and I think that’s fine. I like making a deal too.”

Araghchi said on Sunday that the Iranians “saw the first reaction from the US president, but so far, nothing has been conveyed to us by the mediators”.

“We are waiting for the mediators to convey the definitive positions to us, and we will make a decision based on them,” the foreign minister added.

‘Tool for pressure’

Washington and Tehran signed a Pakistan-mediated memorandum of understanding (MoU) in June that aimed to end the war, to reopen the strait and to launch talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.

But the deal broke down shortly afterwards when Iran fired on commercial ships in Hormuz that it accused of deviating from its approved route through the waterway.

Iran requires ships to obtain authorisation before passage, citing security and sovereignty reasons.

Ships that refuse to comply are regularly targeted, while the United States sporadically bombs Iranian coastal areas in retaliation.

At the UN, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan complained that the “international community has been absent” and is failing to live up to the responsibility to keep the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab open.

“The kingdom rejects any party’s use of these vital passages as a tool for pressure, threat, or harm to the interests of states,” he said, stressing the waterways’ importance to global energy security.

His Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, told member states that “Russia, together with other responsible states, stands ready to constructively contribute to stabilising this strategically important region.”

In New York, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, according to his office, and said: “Iran has not walked away from the negotiating table but, given past experiences, it no longer trusts the United States.”

Araghchi said at the UN: “Iran has conveyed to the United States, through Qatar, a concrete seven-day plan. If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened, and normal maritime passage restored within seven days.”

“The choice now rests with the United States. Iran does not accept coercion, threats or intimidation, and Iran will not surrender its sovereign rights under pressure,” he added.

Hossein Mohebi, a spokesman for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, was quoted by Tasnim news agency as saying: “We will not cease punishing the US until Iran’s seven conditions are met.”

Mohebi had told AFP in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that ending hostilities in Yemen was also among Tehran’s demands.

Saturday, September 26, 2026

Trump Threatens Cuba at UN General Assembly, Cuba Responds

 

 

 

 US President Donald Trump gives his speech at the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, September 22, 2026. Photo: UN.

InternationalLatin America and ALBA-TCPNews

September 23, 2026, By Orinoco Tribune

US President Donald Trump gives his speech at the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, September 22, 2026. Photo: UN.

In his speech at the United Nations General Assembly, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, threatened Cuba, claiming that the country is under the highest level of pressure and that it will eventually fall.

In protest against Trump’s words, the Cuban delegation, led by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, walked out of the room. Prior to the threats from the US president, which he often repeats, the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, had expressed his condemnation of foreign interference in the region and criticized the measures imposed by the US against Cuba. Lula emphasized that the intensified blockade represents collective punishment against 10 million people.

Trump claimed that Cuba is a failed state, and backed up his claims by referring to the added pressure of the economic and energy blockade policy. “It is failing like never before, and it is going to fall,” the US president said in his usual bellicose tone. He also mentioned that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading ongoing negotiations with the Cuban government, a claim that has been denied by Cuba.

In addition to his warlike tone against Cuba, the US president uttered warnings against Iran. Trump stated that he must decide between quickly annihilating Iran to supposedly prevent it from attacking other countries or allowing an agreement that favors the reconstruction of the country under Washington’s terms, although he toned down the bravado by adding that he expects to reach a pact after the US midterm elections. He also insisted that the Iranian government will never have a nuclear weapon, despite the fact that Iran has a declared policy of not making any nuclear weapons.

Earlier, upon his arrival at the UN headquarters in New York, Trump had an incident with the press, when he reproached a CNN reporter for covering his attendance, citing his ban on CNN.

Trump also boasted about the achievements of the US economy, calling it the envy of the world, although the country is experiencing high inflation, elevated fuel costs, and rising mortgage rates faced by the US population.

Cuba condemns Trump’s attacks
The Cuban government responded to Trump’s attacks by reaffirming its right to sovereignty and condemning the economic and social impact of the intensified US blockade.

The president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, decried on social media that the characterization of Cuba as a threat has the objective of justifying the genocidal US economic war against the Cuban population.

Díaz-Canel stated that Trump’s resorting to lies reflects a refusal to accept the self-determination of the Cuban people and reaffirmed that the country will maintain the defense of its sovereignty, working to overcome US imperialist aggression. He added that the blockade is the real threat.

Similarly, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said that the US government is incapable of recognizing Cuba as an independent and fully sovereign nation.

Rodríguez dismissed Trump’s accusations as falsehoods and slander, insisting that Cuba does not pose a danger to the United States or any other country, while the current economic restrictions and energy blockade do threaten Cuba and the rest of the world.

“The blockade is an act of genocide and collective punishment. We are a country of peace and we deserve peace,” emphasized the foreign minister, adding that the blockade has been systematically denounced by the majority of the international community.

(Telesur) with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/SC/CD

 

Friday, September 25, 2026

Speech by PM of Spain at UN General Assembly

 Click on the URL and open the link to see the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znvulfQjPh0

At the UN Trump threatens to use “unmatched military power” in Latin America

 

Melania admits Trump sometimes 'doesn't want to hear the truth' as she grades his UN speech Melania admits Trump sometimes ‘doesn’t want to hear the truth’ as she grades his UN speech. (Photo: MSN(cc))

Originally published: Resumen: Latinoamericano and the Third World on September 22, 2026 by Pagina 12 Staff (more by Resumen: Latinoamericano and the Third World) (Posted Sep 24, 2026)

Empire, Imperialism, Inequality, State RepressionAmericas, Latin America, United StatesNewswirePresident Donald Trump, UN (United Nations)

The U.S. president took the podium at the United Nations General Assembly to reaffirm that he considers the region his country’s backyard. He cited Venezuela as an example of what he is willing to do and reaffirmed that he will continue to strangle Cuba until the Revolution falls.

He went on to promise before the UN General Assembly to use “unmatched military might” to secure Washington’s interests in Latin America.

“The United States will no longer allow threats against the Americas to gain ground anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. And, if necessary, we will use our unmatched military might to secure the vital national interests of the United States,” Trump said.

He cited the case of Venezuela as an example of his policy for the region. He recalled the “major military operation” that ended with the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro, whom Trump described as a “dictator and criminal” in the presence of Venezuela’s acting head of state, Delcy Rodríguez.

The U.S. president celebrated the fact that last month he signed “the largest oil deal in history” with the new Venezuelan authorities and made no secret of the fact that his country is the primary beneficiary of that measure. “To the victor go the spoils,” he remarked.

Cuba in Trump’s Crosshairs

He also reaffirmed his intention to continue suffocating the Cuban government and said that Cuba “will fall.” “The communist regime is under intense pressure—the strongest it has ever faced. It will fall,” he said. Following these remarks, the Cuban delegation present in the plenary session was seen leaving the room.

“Communism will never reach the United States, but freedom will reach Cuba,” the U.S. president noted, accusing the island of having coordinated for “decades” with communist networks and left-wing groups in his country, such as the Communist Party of the United States, the Antifa group, and the Democratic Socialists of America—the party led by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

“Mexico must regain control of its territory”

In addition, Trump issued a veiled threat to Mexico. Although he said he has a good relationship with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, he stated that Mexico is “the epicenter” of drug trafficking.

“Mexico is the epicenter of cartel violence. Unfortunately, it is unacceptable for the United States to share a 2,000-mile border with a territory controlled by enemy cartels. Therefore, Mexico must regain control of its territory from the enemies of humanity,” he declared during his speech before the UN General Assembly.

Along those lines, he asserted that members of drug cartels should be executed, exiled, or detained as if they were enemy combatants in an armed conflict. “The cartels are the ISIS [Islamic State] of the hemisphere” and, like ISIS fighters, “they should be executed, exiled, or detained,” declared Trump, who noted that his administration designated these groups as “terrorist organizations” last year.

Artificial Intelligence According to Trump

The U.S. president once again spoke out against regulating or curbing the advance of AI and insisted on using a new term to refer to the issue. He asserted that the United States will begin using the term “superintelligence” because “it sounds much better” and is “much more appropriate.”

“Whoever wins the race for super artificial intelligence is the one who will truly win, and we are far outpacing China,” he said, reaffirming that there will be no restrictions on the development of this technology despite experts’ warnings about the risks to humanity.

In that vein, he rejected any attempt to build a “globalist scheme” or to impose regulation and declared: “I am not going to stifle in any way the growth of something that will surpass the Industrial Revolution.”

Iran: Between Threat and Negotiation

“The Islamic Republic of Iran was the number one sponsor of terrorism; they were the thugs of the Middle East, but not anymore,” Trump said, celebrating his military actions against that country. He claimed that U.S. ships are hauling “millions of barrels of oil” through the Strait of Hormuz.

He then said that he must decide between making a deal with Iran or sending it “to hell” and “annihilating the Islamic Republic”. “Do I push them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of achieving any greatness in the future or for future generations?” he insisted.

“I think we’ll reach an agreement right after the elections,” he added, referring to the U.S. midterm elections.

Russia and Ukraine

After patting himself on the back for allegedly having ended eight armed conflicts, Trump said that an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to end the war will come “quickly,” sooner than expected.

“We are working very closely with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, and we are going to reach that agreement. It’s going to happen, I think, faster than people realize. They’re fed up,” he said.

Bases in Greenland

The U.S. president also announced that his country will build two large military bases in Greenland under an agreement with Denmark that is being signed today.

“We will immediately begin the process of establishing a major military presence in appropriate locations. We will build two very important military bases,” Trump stated in his speech.

Trump against the International Criminal Court

In another part of his address, Trump called for all member countries of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to withdraw from that body, which he accused of being “out of control.”

“The United States also opposes this out-of-control institution that is the International Criminal Court,” he declared from the UN podium. “I urge all ICC member countries to officially and immediately withdraw,” he added.

Source: Pagina 12, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English


Thursday, September 24, 2026

Women and Youth Are at the Forefront of the Struggle for Palestinian Liberation

 They follow in the footsteps of Palestinian women and children who have resisted colonialism in the past century.

By Nada Elia , Verso Books Published September 23, 2026

Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi (center) arrives for a press conference with her mother Nariman (right) after her release from an Israeli prison where she served a sentence of eight months for slapping an Israeli soldier in her hometown of Nabi Saleh, West Bank, on July 29, 2018.
Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi (center) arrives for a press conference with her mother Nariman (right) after her release from an Israeli prison where she served a sentence of eight months for slapping an Israeli soldier in her hometown of Nabi Saleh, West Bank, on July 29, 2018.

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This is an adapted excerpt from the Introduction of Falastiniyyat: A Century of Palestinian Feminisms by Nada Elia and has been reprinted here with permission of the publisher, Verso Books.

“I am a freedom fighter. So I will not be the victim.” —Ahed Tamimi, upon her release at age seventeen from Israeli prison for slapping an occupation soldier (Guardian, July 30, 2018)

I grew up in a household of women and children that, as my sisters and I matured, eventually became a household of only women. My father was frequently gone on long overseas business trips before his untimely death when I was seven. I often wonder if this is the reason the expression “women and children” strikes me as essentially flawed: It suggests that women and children are the more vulnerable members of society, rather than its resilient survivors. It infantilizes women by grouping them with children, rather than adult men.

In the context of a national struggle, it strips women of agency, as if such agency can only manifest through armed revolt. In a military context, the expression “women and children” — or “womenandchildren,” to use the term coined by antimilitary feminist scholar Cynthia Enloe — presumes that women and children never take up arms or participate in resistance, even as we see such actions occurring in numerous struggles around the world. And in listing casualties, it implies that men’s deaths and injuries are less tragic, less mournable.

In the case of Palestine, women and youth have led, and continue to lead, some of the most transformative efforts and initiatives in our people’s quest for justice — that is, our resistance first to imperialism, then to settler colonialism and apartheid. They have not been spared Israel’s violence, just for being women, or children, and many have been and remain at the forefront of popular resistance to Zionism’s ultimate aim of eliminating all Palestinians. While this may have become more obvious during Israel’s accelerated genocidal assault on Gaza following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks, it had always been clear to anyone not deliberately looking away.

From a number of uprisings over the past century in Palestine, it is obvious that youth, “the children,” are not just among the leaders; they are the more effective, more transformational leaders. Unfettered by traditions and social norms they do not relate to, they engage in novel forms of organizing, seeking the complete abolition of oppressive systems, rather than their reversal. And women, in their capacity as autonomous adults, rather than merely as wives and mothers, have consistently resisted both the imperial ideology targeting their country, and the military assaults that accompanied it. They did so while providing men, as well as the youth and children, the moral, emotional, and practical support the Palestinian people need in order to persist. This was perhaps most evident on a global scale during the 1987–93 Intifada, when women organized most of the popular committees tending to the educational, nutritional, and health needs of Palestinians resisting Israel’s clampdown, as youth took to the streets daily to express their rejection of Israel’s decades-long oppressive rule. These defenseless children hurled rocks at armored tanks, fully aware of the hefty price they would pay for their defiant act, because they knew that risking limb and life is preferable to living without freedom and dignity.

Verso Books

Women’s and children’s agency is enacted daily in the courage of girls such as Janna Jihad, who was dubbed “the world’s youngest journalist” when she started documenting Israel’s crimes at a mere seven years of age. Jihad started recording Israel’s attacks using her mother’s cell phone, posting her recordings far and wide on social media. She has repeatedly said that her camera is her weapon of choice. Jihad is the cousin of Ahed Tamimi, the “lioness” who has confronted heavily armed Israeli soldiers determined to take over her village lands since she was a toddler. Israel imprisoned Tamimi for eight months when she was sixteen; she used the time behind bars to read up on international law, later enrolling in college planning to go to law school, so as to hold Israel accountable for its violations. “I am a freedom fighter. So I will not be the victim,” she told journalists upon her release.

Related Story

A man carries a child injured during Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on December 14, 2023.

Op-Ed

|

Human Rights

Palestinian Women and Children Don’t Deserve to Die in Gaza. Neither Do Men.

We can’t let Western media continue normalizing the acute dehumanization and pathologization of Palestinian men. By Sa’ed Atshan , Truthout

January 17, 2024

Palestinian children’s agency was also clear in the 2022 uprising of rebellious youth standing up to Israel’s might. Ibrahim al-Nabulsi, dubbed “the Lion of Nablus,” was eighteen when he was brutally assassinated by the Israeli Occupation Forces. Following his martyrdom, his mother, Huda al-Nabulsi, declared, “There are hundreds of Ibrahims now. You are all Ibrahim, you are all my children.” She did not mean that all young Palestinians will be martyred like her own son but, rather, that they will carry on the struggle she raised her son Ibrahim to fight.

Her statement recalls that of Fatima Breijeh, a decade earlier. Breijeh, who had lost one son to Israel’s violence, asserted: “I have decided to continue to resist until the last breath and to continue to urge people to resist and to teach my children to resist and to lay the foundation for this through their milk.”

Breijeh, al-Nabulsi, Tamimi, and Jihad are some of the more recent Palestinian women and children challenging Israel’s might, and its mighty oppression. They do not present a new social development but, rather, follow in the footsteps of generations of Palestinian women and children who have stood up to colonialism in the past century, deftly navigating their social and political circumstances as they have sought their liberation, and that of their people. And in the Diaspora, it is groups like the Palestine Youth Movement, the Palestinian Feminist Collective, and the youth-led Within Our Lifetime who are at the forefront of organizing for total liberation.

Since we are not yet a sovereign people, it is impossible to separate Palestinian women’s activism from the national struggle for liberation. However, there is no doubt that, while the struggles of Palestinian women in the opening decades of the twentieth century were inextricably connected to the broader national struggle for liberation, their activism also challenged the internal status quo of Palestinian society and should be understood as random acts of feminism, as it not only charted new paths for these women themselves but also sought to improve the circumstances of all women, whatever their social status.

25 Years of Truthout: An important fundraising appeal

This September, Truthout is celebrating 25 years of publication. For over two decades, we have been a trusted source for fiercely independent journalism thanks to readers like you.

As we look to the next 25 years, we have launched a special fundraising campaign. At this moment, we have a goal to raise $27,000 in the next 24 hours.

We are asking for your support at this juncture because we face greater threats than ever before in our organizational history. Trump and his MAGA allies are determined to control the information ecosystem, and movement-based organizations are subject to dangerous censorship and scrutiny.

If you can support Truthout with a one-time or monthly donation, you will make a significant impact on our work and our legacy. Anything you can do makes a difference!

about:blank This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.

Nada Elia

Nada Elia is a diasporic Palestinian scholar and activist whose work, both in the classroom and the streets, focuses on exposing and redressing structural systems of oppression. She is the author of Greater Than the Sum of Our Parts: Feminism, Inter/Nationalism, and Palestine. Nada also teaches in the Department of Ethnic Studies at Western Washington University.

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Stop Mad King Donald’s Iran War: An Open Letter to Members of the US Congress


Stop Mad King Donald’s Iran War: An Open Letter to Members of the US Congress

The war with Iran is Trump’s folly but Congress’s disgrace for not stopping it.

Jeffrey D. Sachs

Sep 23, 2026 Common Dreams

Dear Members of Congress,

In truly deranged remarks to world leaders at the UN, Donald Trump declared that “I have a big decision to make,” whether to negotiate a deal with Iran or instead to “annihilate the Islamic Republic” and drive Iran “into hell with no chance of survival.”

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He posed it as his personal choice. The fact that the American people are dead set against Trump’s war means nothing. And as for the voters, he added that he gives “absolutely no credence” to the coming midterm elections in deciding on his actions and on Iran’s fate.

The President’s threat to annihilate a member state of the United Nations, delivered from the General Assembly podium, disgraced Trump in front of the world.

Nothing binds this President. He is not bound by law, the Constitution, the UN Charter, or public opinion at home and abroad. When asked at the start of the year whether he has any limits on his power, he said “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

Trump opened his speech with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, hailing America’s freedom. The fact is that Trump’s authoritarianism far outdoes that of King George III, against whom the colonies rebelled. Among the founders’ indictments of Mad King George was that “He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.” Yet our own mad king has decided that the survival of a whole civilization is in his hands alone.

Trump is emboldened in his contempt for Congress because the Republican members of Congress have abdicated their constitutional responsibilities, terrified of their own president, and forsaking their constituents for campaign lucre from AIPAC and the military-industrial complex.

The Constitution is unambiguous regarding Congress’s responsibility. Article I, Section 8 assigns Congress, not the President, the sole power to declare war. That is not a choice or an option. The Constitution doesn’t say that Congress can play dead and let the President declare war. The Framers made this choice deliberately, because they were explicitly rejecting the power of a king to take the nation to war.

In Federalist 69, Hamilton assured the public that the President’s war powers would be far less than the British monarch’s. Madison stated the principle plainly in a letter to Jefferson in 1798: “The constitution supposes, what the History of all Govts demonstrates, that the Ex. is the branch of power most interested in war, & most prone to it. It has accordingly with studied care vested the question of war in the Legislature.”

The founders’ careful design has been overturned because of the unconstitutional subservience of the Republican members of Congress to Trump and to the military-industrial-digital complex. And yes, under Democratic presidents, most Democratic members of Congress also looked the other way when those presidents chose to go to war.

The war with Iran is Trump’s folly but Congress’s disgrace for not stopping it. It is a war without a purpose that has created mass suffering in Iran, tens of billions of dollars of direct outlays, and staggering damage to American military bases in eight countries of the Middle East. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent world and American prices soaring for oil, gas, fertilizers, and more. And the world has duly noted that Iran can hold its own against US aggression, albeit at great sacrifice to the people of Iran and the region.

America’s much vaunted AI battlefield has been exposed in the most horrifying way. On the first day of the war, an American missile struck the girls’ elementary school there, killing more than 150 people, most of them girls aged seven to twelve, and the military’s own inquiry reportedly found that overreliance on artificial intelligence contributed to the targeting. Trump blamed “Iran or somebody else,” and seven months later the administration has offered no findings, no apology and no compensation to the families.

The President’s threat to annihilate a member state of the United Nations, delivered from the General Assembly podium, disgraced Trump in front of the world. It also violated Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, which prohibits even the threat of force against another state. Nearly all the world stands aghast.

I write to you because you cannot simply walk away from Trump’s recklessness, shaking your heads silently. You have a job to do, so do it. The craven Republican Party has to find even a minimal level of guts to tell Trump, “No, you do not have the power to destroy Iran. Any war with Iran depends on us, and we don’t support you and our constituents want this war to stop.” A clear majority of Americans oppose this war, and poll after poll shows that the opposition to the war is growing. A few Republicans have found that courage. Last week three more Republicans broke ranks to support ending the war. Their colleagues should follow.

Many of you receive campaign contributions from military contractors and technology companies deeply involved in the war. Many of you take money from AIPAC, which champions the war that Netanyahu did so much to help launch. This has to stop, as it is a dereliction of your constitutional duty and a violation of your oath.

Congress holds the power of the purse. The fiscal year ends on September 30, and every bill that funds the Pentagon is your opportunity to prohibit funds for unauthorized offensive operations against Iran.

The right course for the US is simple. Congress should cut off funding, and the US should stop further attacks and go home. We need no agreement with Iran or anyone else to stop the war that we started. By ending the war you will immediately restore some sanity and safety to the world energy markets, food supplies, and prices faced by Americans and others around the world.

How America has declined from the glorious moment when John F. Kennedy stood at the same podium at the UN on September 20, 1963, after having negotiated the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union. He told the assembled leaders that the treaty can be a lever, and Archimedes, in explaining the principles of the lever, was said to have declared to his friends: “Give me a place where I can stand—and I shall move the world.” My fellow inhabitants of this planet: Let us take our stand here in this Assembly of nations. And let us see if we, in our own time, can move the world to a just and lasting peace.

Members of Congress, to save our nation’s honor and our Constitution, you must do your duty to stop this war, and stop Trump’s brazen, destructive, and unconstitutional grab for power.

Respectfully,

Jeffrey D. Sachs

University Professor, Columbia University

An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder


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Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

Jeffrey D. Sachs

Jeffrey D. Sachs is a University Professor and Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, where he directed The Earth Institute from 2002 until 2016. He is also President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and a commissioner of the UN Broadband Commission for Development. He has been advisor to three United Nations Secretaries-General, and currently serves as an SDG Advocate under Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Sachs is the author, most recently, of “A New Foreign Policy: Beyond American Exceptionalism” (2020). Other books include: “Building the New American Economy: Smart, Fair, and Sustainable” (2017) and “The Age of Sustainable Development,” (2015) with Ban Ki-moon.

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