A feature in last week’s Murdoch Australian by Brendan Nicholson is typical of the kind of coverage about the war-torn nation. It reflects a reality of a reporter who has spent a lot of time with the military and little time with local Afghans. Note the main, patronising message; the West simply has to stay…
Showing all posts tagged Afghanistan
Destroying Afghanistan as we reach the door
Paul McGeough, Sydney Sun Herald: You will not hear the words ”mission accomplished” but that will be the sense of the spin. Never mind that Afghanistan will be more dangerously poised for self-destruction than it was in the aftermath of the retreat by Soviet occupation forces in 1989. The West walked away from Afghanistan then.…
Assange talks Caged Prisoners, Islam, terrorism and resistance
This week’s episode of … The World Tomorrow – here’s past episodes of this essential program – features former Gitmo prisoner… Moazzam Begg and Asim Qureshi, former corporate lawyer, whose human rights organization Cageprisoners Ltd raises awareness of the plight of prisoners who remain in Guantanamo Bay. They discuss the “war on terror”, Obama and Bush, Islam…
Don’t worry, vulture capitalists will make money in Afghanistan for years to come
Long after most Western forces have left, private security firms will still be there turning a profit (via EU Observer): The EU’s external action service (EEAS) plans to spend up to €50 million on private security guards for its Afghanistan mission over the next four years. The EEAS unveiled the tender on Thursday (10 May),…
New Zealand radio interview about Wikileaks
I was interviewed last week by the independent program Earthwise. We discussed the importance of Wikileaks and its challenge to the mainstream media:
Our charming Western legacy in Afghanistan
Over a decade occupying the place, hundreds of billions spent and this is the result (via the Washington Post): After signing a 10-year lease and spending more than $80 million on a site envisioned as the United States’ diplomatic hub in northern Afghanistan, American officials say they have abandoned their plans, deeming the location for…
Taliban Poetry adds a sonnet or two to tonight’s reading group
Surely the only way to understand Afghanistan is to listen to all voices: A British publisher has defended its decision to release a collection of poems penned by members of the Taliban. The book comprises more than 200 works which centre on insurgents’ experiences during the decade-long conflict and document “the thrill of battle”. A…
Are only multinationals with bad records able to continually secure contracts?
The global onslaught of vulture capitalists continues space: Giant US military-industrial company Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) is in the running to win a slice of a controversial …£1.5 billion (US$2.43 billion) contract to transform the West Midlands and Surrey police forces in Britain, The (London) Times reported.… Hailed as the largest police privatization scheme…
What Obama’s deal with Afghanistan really allows
Away from the slop offered by mainstream propagandists, Washington’s occupation of Afghanistan will continue for years to come, as Gareth Porter explains: The optics surrounding the Barack Obama administration’s “Enduring Strategic Partnership” agreement with Afghanistan and the Memorandums of Understanding accompanying it emphasise transition to Afghan responsibility and an end to U.S. war. But the…
Charming US TV propaganda endorses Obama plans in Afghanistan
Putting aside the empty and utterly delusional words by Obama in Afghanistan – the country remains mired in conflict and US actions are merely worsening that reality – the introduction by the US ABC TV channel could have been written by the White House itself: video platform video management video solutions video player