STEPHEN ZUNES, zunes@usfca.edu
Professor of politics at the University of San Francisco, Zunes wrote the piece “The U.S. Hypocrisy on Ukraine.” Regarding the U.S. government’s recent condemnation of Putin’s annexation of Ukrainian territory, Zunes notes that the U.S. government is the “only government to recognize Israel’s illegal annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights and Morocco’s illegal annexation of Western Sahara.”

His latest piece — “As Iraq War Vote Anniversary Nears, Don’t Forget Who Was Responsible” — notes that Biden and other prominent Democrats voted to authorize the invasion of Iraq in October 2002 — and have lied about their records.

On Oct. 7, 2002 just ahead of the Congressional vote, Bush put forward the case for war in a speech in Cincinnati, which IPA immediately critiqued in detail, citing Zunes and other analysts.

The Bush administration had begun the push for invasion one year after 9/11. See video clips of Dick Cheney and Bush making numerous false and deceptive statements.

Biden in his speech for war 20 years ago claimed Saddam Hussein “possesses chemical and biological weapons” and “is seeking nuclear weapons” and “for years he has prevented the UN inspectors from uncovering those weapons.”

Biden has claimed: “From the moment ‘shock and awe’ started, from that moment, I was opposed to the effort.”

But Zunes notes: “Biden defended the imminent launch of the invasion by saying, ‘I support the president. Diplomacy over avoiding war is dead. … I do not see any alternative. It is not as if we can back away now.’ He added, ‘Let loose the dogs of war. I’m confident we will win.’

“Soon after the launch of the invasion, despite the fact that four months of unfettered inspections had revealed none of the chemical weapons, biological weapons, nuclear programs or sophisticated delivery systems he claimed Iraq possessed, Biden insisted that ‘there was sufficient evidence to go into Iraq.'”