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I've been looking for some recent writing by Phyllis Bennis -
putting US involvement in Syria in perspective and making specific
non-military suggestions as to what the US and other countries
should do - along the lines of her comments on the recent UFPJ
conference call. A recording of that call is here:<br>
<a
href="http://www.unitedforpeace.org/2015/11/14/audio-syria-peace-call-phyllis-bennis/"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.unitedforpeace.org/2015/11/14/audio-syria-peace-call-phyllis-bennis/">http://www.unitedforpeace.org/2015/11/14/audio-syria-peace-call-phyllis-bennis/</a><br>
</a><br>
An especially good line from her talk: You can't bomb terrorism
out of existence. <b> Terrorism survives war. </b><br>
<br>
I didn't find a transcript of her talk, but the key recommendations
are similar to those she'd written here a couple months earlier
(some of the text is below):<br>
<br>
<a
href="http://fpif.org/what-america-owes-the-refugees-pouring-into-europe/"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://fpif.org/what-america-owes-the-refugees-pouring-into-europe/">http://fpif.org/what-america-owes-the-refugees-pouring-into-europe/</a></a><br>
<br>
<br>
Also note this statement from United for Peace and Justice, calling
for <b>coordinated actions on International Human Rights Day,
December 10th:</b><br>
<br>
<a
href="http://www.unitedforpeace.org/2015/11/16/call-for-dec-10-human-rights-daysyria-actions"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.unitedforpeace.org/2015/11/16/call-for-dec-10-human-rights-daysyria-actions">http://www.unitedforpeace.org/2015/11/16/call-for-dec-10-human-rights-daysyria-actions</a></a><br>
<br>
which closes with some proposals of its own, which the peace
movement here and around the world should call for:<br>
<ul>
<li class="p5">Pursue diplomacy and negotiations to end the wars
in Syria, including the governments of Iran, Russia and Syria.</li>
<li class="p5"><span class="s1">Remove all foreign troops from and
pursue diplomacy and negotiations to end the wars in
Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan, Ukraine and Somalia,
including the relevant governments. </span></li>
<li class="p5"><span class="s1">Honor the commitment not to move
NATO a centimeter closer to Russia from Western Europe.</span></li>
<li class="p5"><span class="s1">Remove all NATO troops from the
Russian borders.</span></li>
<li class="p5"><span class="s1">Retire the Cold War NATO Alliance</span></li>
<li class="p5"><span class="s1">Accept and abide by the human
rights of the millions of refugees created in these wars.</span></li>
<li class="p5"><span class="s1">Support peaceful negotiations
among nations bordering the South China Sea (East Sea) based
on the UN Charter and the Law of the Sea.</span></li>
</ul>
<br>
----<br>
<br>
Here are excerpts from Bennis's FPIF article mentioned above:<br>
<br>
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<p>[...] Indeed, the refugee crisis growing out of the multi-faceted
Syrian war and others is now a full-blown global emergency. It’s
not only an emergency because it’s now reaching Europe. It’s an
emergency several years in the making as conditions have
deteriorated throughout the Middle East and North Africa. In
addition to Syria, refugees are also pouring into Europe — or
dying as they try — from Libya, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Bangladesh,
and beyond.</p>
<p>But it’s the war in Syria — now involving a host of regional,
sectarian, and global actors all fighting their own wars to the
last Syrian — that lies at the bloody center of the current
crisis. And here the United States bears no small responsibility.</p>
<p>The Syrian war — and particularly the rise of ISIS — has
everything to do with U.S. actions dating back to the 2003
invasion and occupation of Iraq, which gave rise to ISIS in the
first place. Even now the U.S. airstrikes in Syria and neighboring
Iraq are escalating the war in both places.</p>
<p>So emergency responses, particularly from the United States, need
to start — though they must not end — with Syria. The Obama
administration’s decision to allow <a target="_blank"
title="10,000 Syrian refugees"
href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/10/politics/u-s-take-10000-syrian-refugees/index.html"
onclick="__gaTracker('send', 'event', 'outbound-article',
'http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/10/politics/u-s-take-10000-syrian-refugees/index.html',
'10,000 Syrian refugees');">10,000 Syrian refugees</a> into the
country next year is a welcome step, but not remotely adequate.</p>
<p>Here’s what needs to happen next.</p>
<p>Immediately, the United States should announce:</p>
<ul>
<li>An increase in daily U.S. refugee assistance to the World Food
Program and the UN Human Rights Committee equivalent to the
daily cost of U.S. military action against ISIS — that is, about
<a target="_blank" title="$9 million a day"
href="http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/the-us-has-spent-9-million-a-day-to-fight-isis/"
onclick="__gaTracker('send', 'event', 'outbound-article',
'http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/the-us-has-spent-9-million-a-day-to-fight-isis/',
'$9 million a day');">$9 million a day</a>.</li>
<li>A decision to immediately accept 65,000 Syrian refugees by the
end of the year, as called for by <a target="_blank"
title="leading human rights organizations"
href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/04/politics/martin-omalley-syrian-refugees/"
onclick="__gaTracker('send', 'event', 'outbound-article',
'http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/04/politics/martin-omalley-syrian-refugees/',
'leading human rights organizations');">leading human rights
organizations</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>In next 30 days, Washington should roll out:</p>
<ul>
<li>A plan to parole desperate refugees into the United States on
humanitarian grounds. They should be provided with temporary
protected status as long as conditions in their home countries
remain dangerous. Once they’re in the United States, safe and
provided with medical care, housing, work, education, and other
support, longer-term protection can be determined on a case by
case basis. Such an administrative decision can be made by the
White House alone.</li>
</ul>
<p>In next 45 days, the White House should announce:</p>
<ul>
<li>That the United States will provide 28 percent of needed
emergency refugee assistance, equivalent to the U.S. share of
global wealth. That means…</li>
<li>That it will immediately pay 28 percent of the current United
Nations refugee relief request, which totals $5.5 billion to
support almost 6 million Syrian and related refugees through the
end of this year. That would amount to approximately $1.5
billion in U.S. contributions by the end of 2015.</li>
<li>That the United States will accept 28 percent of those
refugees from Syria (and others forced to flee as a result of
the Syrian war) who need refuge abroad. That means 28 percent of
up to 4 million refugees as determined by the United Nations, or
up to 1.12 million refugees who are allowed to come to the
United States.</li>
</ul>
[...]<br>
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<p>Finally, in next 60 days, the U.S. should develop:</p>
<ul>
<li>A new plan, now that the Iran nuclear deal is being
implemented, to engage with Iran as well as all other regional
and global players in a renewed United Nations-led diplomatic
and arms embargo initiative to end the Syrian war.</li>
</ul>
<p>
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</p>
<div class="author-bio">
<p><em>Phyllis Bennis directs the New Internationalism project at
the Institute for Policy Studies.</em></p>
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