Medea Benjamin

Medea Benjamin is the co-founder of CODEPINK and author of Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the US-Saudi Connection. Her new book is Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic.

Medea Benjamin: Donald Trump Was Right, NATO Should Be Obsolete

In an age where people around the world want to avoid war and to focus instead on the climate chaos that threatens future life on earth, NATO is an anachronism. It now accounts for about three-quarters of military spending and weapons dealing around the globe.

Medea Benjamin
By Medea Benjamin
NATO Trump Feature photo

The three smartest words that Donald Trump uttered during his presidential campaign are “NATO is obsolete.” His adversary, Hillary Clinton, retorted that NATO was “the strongest military alliance in the history of the world.” Now that Trump has been in power, the White House parrots the same worn line that NATO is “the most successful Alliance in

Read Full Article

They’re Killing Us Like Dogs: A Massacre in Bolivia and a Plea for Help

“The military has guns and a license to kill; we have nothing.” – A Bolivian mother shot by police

Medea Benjamin
By Medea Benjamin
Bolivia Coup Feature Photo

I am writing from Bolivia just days after witnessing the November 19 military massacre at the Senkata gas plant in the indigenous city of El Alto, and the tear-gassing of a peaceful funeral procession on November 21 to commemorate the dead. These are examples, unfortunately, of the modus operandi of the de facto government that seized control in a

Read Full Article

One Year After the Murder of Jamal Khashoggi: Business as Usual?

Who is more evil—the maniacal Saudi crown prince responsible for Khashoggi’s murder and the murder of tens of thousands of  Yemenis, or the mendacious world leaders and businesspeople who continue to embrace what should be a pariah state?  

Medea Benjamin
By Medea Benjamin
Mohammed bin Salman | Khashoggi

Heinous. Savage. Ghastly. It’s hard to find the words to describe the act of luring journalist Jamal Khashoggi into a Saudi consulate in Istanbul, suffocating him, chopping him up and dissolving his bones. Yet a year later, governments and business people around the world are eager to forgive and forget--or already have. So far, not a single Saudi

Read Full Article

Will Americans Let Trump Start World War III for Saudi Arabia and Israel?

If the U.S. military, or Israel or Saudi Arabia, had a viable plan to attack Iran without triggering a wider war, they would have done so long ago.

Medea Benjamin
Nicolas Davies
By Medea Benjamin
And Nicolas Davies
Trump Saudi Feature photo

On Saturday, September 14th, two oil refineries and other oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia were hit and set ablaze by 18 drones and 7 cruise missiles, dramatically slashing Saudi Arabia’s oil production by half, from about ten million to five million barrels per day. On September 18, the Trump administration, blaming Iran, announced it was

Read Full Article

The Activists Quietly Struggling to Protect Venezuela’s DC Embassy from a US-backed Coup

A dedicated group of activists has been living inside Venezuela’s DC embassy for the past two weeks. hoping to halt a US-backed opposition takeover of the building.

Medea Benjamin
Kevin Zeese
By Medea Benjamin
And Kevin Zeese
Activists | Venezuela DC Embassy

An extraordinary chapter in the ongoing saga of Venezuela has been taking place, virtually unnoticed, at the Venezuela Embassy that lies in the heart of swanky Georgetown in Washington DC. A group of us, all activists opposed to the prospect of the Venezuelan opposition taking over the Embassy, have been living inside the building for the past

Read Full Article

CODEPINK Ranks the 2020 Presidential Candidates on War, Peace and Military Spending

Medea Benjamin and Nicole Davies of CODEPINK look at a new crop of presidential candidates and examine their views – and, when possible, voting records – on issues of war and peace.

Medea Benjamin
Nicolas J.S. Davies
By Medea Benjamin
And Nicolas J.S. Davies
Elizabeth Warren | foreign policy

Forty-five years after Congress passed the War Powers Act in the wake of the Vietnam War, it has finally used it for the first time, to try to end the U.S.-Saudi war on the people of Yemen and to recover its constitutional authority over questions of war and peace. This hasn’t stopped the war yet, and President Trump has threatened to veto the

Read Full Article

How US Sanctions are Hurting Iran: A Firsthand Report

CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin recounts her personal experience traveling through Iran with a peace delegation and seeing firsthand the effects that US sanctions have on ordinary Iranians.

Medea Benjamin
By Medea Benjamin
Iran | Sanctions

On a recent delegation to Iran, we experienced first-hand the legendary Iranian hospitality. Iranians are particularly thrilled to meet Americans, but as we discovered, our government’s policies are hurting the very people who want to be our friends. As our 28-person delegation traveled through the country wearing messages on our jackets

Read Full Article