The emerging lesson of the war in Iraq, says critic Michael Schwartz, is that foreign policy and energy policy cannot be separated.

In this analysis, commentator Michael Schwartz demolishes the myths used to sell the U.S. public the idea of an endless "war on terror" centered in Iraq, and shows how the real U.S. interests in Iraq have been rooted in the geopolitics of oil and the expansion of a neoliberal economic model in the Middle East.

Michael Schwartz, Professor of Sociology and Faculty Director of the Undergraduate College of Global Studies at Stony Brook University has written extensively on the war in Iraq at sites including TomDispatch, ZNet; Asia Times and Mother Jones, and in many print outlets, including Contexts, Against the Current, and Z Magazine.   

 

The dynamics of the debate  and speculation over the war in Iraq changed during the past year, as defenders of the administration pointed to what they called the success of the "surge," the boost in troop levels in 2007, in damping down the levels of violence there. Schwartz says that comparative quiet was a byproduct of widespread factional cleansing that was actually enabled by the military surge.

The election of Barack Obama as America's next president has boosted hope that he will take actions to expediently wind down the Iraq war. Schwartz cautions, however, that  as a candidate, Obama's position papers did not show a marked break from the polices that got us into the war.

 

 

While the presidential election yesterday was a sweeping victory for Democrats from the top of the ticket on down, many local races in the north bay were much more narrowly decided.

 

 

 

To view the complete list of Sonoma County's unofficial election results, click here.

 For the statewide California election results, click here.

 

 

 

 

Budget cuts and increased enrollment are driving Sonoma State University to impose a limit on how many courses students can take next semester.

 

For many on the SSU campus, the first word of the new cap on academic units for the Spring Semester came in the form of a front page article on the Star, the weekly campus newspaper, on Tuesday. That angered many faculty members, who saw it as another instance of the university administration imposing its will and decisions, without appropriate consultation or notice, as Professor Andy Merrifield explains.

However,  the University Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Eduaro Ochoa (right), says this was an emergency action, and there simply wasn't time to include those collaborative steps.

 

 

 

California voters will decide the fate of two ballot measures that say they would promote alternative energy production in the state. But a long-time solar advocate says for both issues, appearances can be misleading.

Gary Gerber, President and CEO of Sun Light & Power, has been a life long advocate for solar power. But he is opposed to Proposition 7 on next week's California ballot.

 

Proposition 7 sets a statewide goal of making California 50% energy efficient by 2025. However, it is opposed by a wide range of  stakeholders , from PG&E to the Sierra Club. Proposition 7  is mainly supported by Peter Sperling who has donated over $7 million dollars, becoming the biggest contributor. To read the complete proposition, click here.

Proposition 10 is another measure about alternative energy. To view the website that supports Prop 10, click here.

Opposition to Prop 10 says the new law would cost Californians heavily, but not decrease the use of fuel.