To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
This remains a five-alarm fire. We have just days left in our Fall Campaign and the numbers we’re seeing are not good. This is terrifying for us, especially when everything we cherish is on the ballot just one week from now.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Saturday.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Syria on Sunday that the U.S. "threat of force is real."
Speaking in Jerusalem flanked by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Kerry made the warning a day after the U.S. and Russia reached a "framework" on Syria's chemical weapons.
"The threat of force is real and the Assad regime and all those taking part need to understand that President Obama and the United States are committed to achieve this goal," Kerry said.
"We cannot have hollow words in the conduct of international affairs, because that affects all other issues, whether Iran or North Korea or others," he said.
Netanyahu echoed Kerry's comments from Saturday, saying, "if diplomacy has any chance to work, it must be coupled with a credible military threat."
Kerry also implied that Iran should still worry about the threat of U.S. military force. "My suspicion is that the Iranians recognize they shouldn't draw a lesson that we haven't struck [Syria] to think we won't strike Iran," Haaretz reports Kerry as saying.
And after the talks with Kerry, Netanyahu said, "The determination the international community shows regarding Syria will have a direct impact on the Syrian regime's patron Iran. Iran must understand the consequences of its continual defiance of the international community by its pursuit towards nuclear weapons."
Netanyahu added, "The Syrian regime must be stripped of all its chemical weapons, and that would make our entire region a lot safer." However, as Agence France-Presse notes:
Although Israel's main newspapers hailed news of the agreement, some commentators raised the question of Washington leaning on Israel to ratify the international treaty banning the use of chemical weapons.
"Kerry may tell Netanyahu the United States is working to remove one of the gravest threats on Israel's security, by combining a credible military threat with creative diplomacy," wrote Barak Ravid, diplomatic correspondent for Haaretz newspaper.
"Now, Kerry may say, the US needs Israel's help by ratifying the treaty prohibiting the use of chemical weapons."
Israel signed the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993, but never ratified it, despite demands to do so from Washington and Moscow.
Also, while the U.S. is a ratifier to the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty, it continues to have a stockpile of chemical weapons it vowed to destroy by 2012.
____________________
The future of all that we cherish is on the line and we have to fight like hell to protect democracy, human decency, and a liveable planet. The last line of defense is people who understand what’s at stake—activists, writers, thinkers, doers, and everyday people who see what is happening, know in their hearts that a better world is possible, and are willing to fight for it. You are one of the good people Common Dreams was built for. We provide independent news, progressive opinion, and crucial analysis on the day’s most important issues. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. But to keep publishing and remain strong in these dangerous times, we need your support. So we’re asking you today: Will you donate to our Fall Campaign and keep the progressive, nonprofit journalism of Common Dreams alive? |
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Syria on Sunday that the U.S. "threat of force is real."
Speaking in Jerusalem flanked by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Kerry made the warning a day after the U.S. and Russia reached a "framework" on Syria's chemical weapons.
"The threat of force is real and the Assad regime and all those taking part need to understand that President Obama and the United States are committed to achieve this goal," Kerry said.
"We cannot have hollow words in the conduct of international affairs, because that affects all other issues, whether Iran or North Korea or others," he said.
Netanyahu echoed Kerry's comments from Saturday, saying, "if diplomacy has any chance to work, it must be coupled with a credible military threat."
Kerry also implied that Iran should still worry about the threat of U.S. military force. "My suspicion is that the Iranians recognize they shouldn't draw a lesson that we haven't struck [Syria] to think we won't strike Iran," Haaretz reports Kerry as saying.
And after the talks with Kerry, Netanyahu said, "The determination the international community shows regarding Syria will have a direct impact on the Syrian regime's patron Iran. Iran must understand the consequences of its continual defiance of the international community by its pursuit towards nuclear weapons."
Netanyahu added, "The Syrian regime must be stripped of all its chemical weapons, and that would make our entire region a lot safer." However, as Agence France-Presse notes:
Although Israel's main newspapers hailed news of the agreement, some commentators raised the question of Washington leaning on Israel to ratify the international treaty banning the use of chemical weapons.
"Kerry may tell Netanyahu the United States is working to remove one of the gravest threats on Israel's security, by combining a credible military threat with creative diplomacy," wrote Barak Ravid, diplomatic correspondent for Haaretz newspaper.
"Now, Kerry may say, the US needs Israel's help by ratifying the treaty prohibiting the use of chemical weapons."
Israel signed the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993, but never ratified it, despite demands to do so from Washington and Moscow.
Also, while the U.S. is a ratifier to the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty, it continues to have a stockpile of chemical weapons it vowed to destroy by 2012.
____________________
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Syria on Sunday that the U.S. "threat of force is real."
Speaking in Jerusalem flanked by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Kerry made the warning a day after the U.S. and Russia reached a "framework" on Syria's chemical weapons.
"The threat of force is real and the Assad regime and all those taking part need to understand that President Obama and the United States are committed to achieve this goal," Kerry said.
"We cannot have hollow words in the conduct of international affairs, because that affects all other issues, whether Iran or North Korea or others," he said.
Netanyahu echoed Kerry's comments from Saturday, saying, "if diplomacy has any chance to work, it must be coupled with a credible military threat."
Kerry also implied that Iran should still worry about the threat of U.S. military force. "My suspicion is that the Iranians recognize they shouldn't draw a lesson that we haven't struck [Syria] to think we won't strike Iran," Haaretz reports Kerry as saying.
And after the talks with Kerry, Netanyahu said, "The determination the international community shows regarding Syria will have a direct impact on the Syrian regime's patron Iran. Iran must understand the consequences of its continual defiance of the international community by its pursuit towards nuclear weapons."
Netanyahu added, "The Syrian regime must be stripped of all its chemical weapons, and that would make our entire region a lot safer." However, as Agence France-Presse notes:
Although Israel's main newspapers hailed news of the agreement, some commentators raised the question of Washington leaning on Israel to ratify the international treaty banning the use of chemical weapons.
"Kerry may tell Netanyahu the United States is working to remove one of the gravest threats on Israel's security, by combining a credible military threat with creative diplomacy," wrote Barak Ravid, diplomatic correspondent for Haaretz newspaper.
"Now, Kerry may say, the US needs Israel's help by ratifying the treaty prohibiting the use of chemical weapons."
Israel signed the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993, but never ratified it, despite demands to do so from Washington and Moscow.
Also, while the U.S. is a ratifier to the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty, it continues to have a stockpile of chemical weapons it vowed to destroy by 2012.
____________________