Tag: defense department

Get the Military Off of Main Street

NEW YORK TIMES 08/15/14 By Michael Shank and Elizabeth Beavers WASHINGTON — FERGUSON, Mo., has become a virtual war zone. In the wake of the shooting of an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, outsize armored vehicles have lined streets and tear gas has filled the air. Officers dressed in camouflage […]

What Can Washington Do About Militarized Police Forces?

CBS NEWS 08/15/14 By Stephanie Condon Washington lawmakers let out a collective gasp on Thursday after seeing startling images of police officers decked out with combat gear and tanks to respond to largely peaceful protesters in Ferguson, Missouri. While there may have been some looters and violent individuals among the […]

Stop the Pentagon Program that Militarizes U.S. Police Forces

REUTERS 08/14/14 By Michael Shank and Elizabeth Beavers The article originally ran last October. It has been updated by the authors. There is a growing bipartisan public outrage about the local police force’s fiercely militarized response to protestors in Ferguson, Missouri. From Democrats to Republicans, progressive to libertarian, citizens across […]

Ebola Research Flows Away From Poor: Other Views

USA TODAY 08/06/14 Steven Hoffman and Julia Belluz, Vox.com: “Ebola will continue to move through Africa — this time, and again in the future — not only because of the viral reservoirs and broken health systems specific to the continent. There are much larger issues at play here. … Most […]

Violence or Vaccines: Which Path for US in Africa?

REUTERS 08/06/14 By Michael Shank Africa is the new frontier for the U.S. Defense Department. The Pentagon has applied counterterrorism tactics throughout the Middle East and, to a lesser extent, Central and South Asia. Now it is monitoring the African continent for counterterrorism initiatives. It staged more than 546 military […]

How to Stop Libya Becoming Another Iraq

CNN 06/26/14 By Michael Shank and Najla Elmangoush Editor’s note: Najla Elmangoush is the dean of Centre of Gender Studies at the Libya Institute for Advanced Studies in Tripoli. Michael Shank is the associate director for legislative affairs at the Friends Committee on National Legislation and adjunct faculty at George […]

U.S. Military Interventionism Has Harmed Iraq Dearly

POLITIX 06/26/14 By Michael Shank Iraq continues to pose a conundrum for the international community. Many in the West feel that Iraq is perpetually ungovernable and that its quagmire finds root cause in something inherent to Iraqi culture or sectarianism. What the West fails to realize is that military interventionism […]

How to Avoid the Same Old Mistakes in Iraq

US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 06/18/14 By Michael Shank and Yemi Melka Forget military strikes. The U.S. should address sectarian tension by promoting regional cooperation. The best solution to the Middle East conflict is a policy based in regional teamwork. As fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the […]