Although it receives little media coverage, Afghanistan has vast energy reserves. This is perfect for foreign firms to exploit a very vulnerable country. This story on ABC highlights the Australian role in this sordid activity: Afghanistan wants more Australian help – not from the military, but from Australian mining companies – to kick-start a post-war…
Showing all posts tagged Afghanistan
This is how Western forces gather “intelligence”
Human Terrain Systems is the term with private companies increasingly hired by the US army (and Australia) to use anthropologists and other related fields to gather “intelligence” in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. 21st century warfare (privatised, of course): More about this film here.
Understanding humanity in the back of an ambulance
My friend Benjamin Gilmour, author of the wonderful new book Paramedico… – he works alongside ambulance workers across the world – speaks on commercial Australian TV and mentions US crimes with drones against the people of Pakistan:
Private mercenaries set to continue reign in Afghanistan
Sigh: Afghan President Hamid Karzai scrapped on Sunday a March 2012 deadline he had set for the closure of private security firms, giving them until September 2013 to operate in the country. Karzai, a frequent critic of private security companies, has previously set dates for the cessation of their work in Afghanistan, but each time…
What Australia is doing to refugees in the middle of the steamy desert
My following investigation appeared in Crikey this week: The drive from Broome in Western Australia to Derby, the town closest to the remote Curtin detention centre in the Kimberley, is two-and-a-half hours through endless, surprisingly green desert. Mobile phone reception soon dies after the journey begins and from there you see few people or cars…
Getting inside the head of Julian Assange
My following book review appeared in yesterday’s Sydney Sun Herald: Julian Assange: The Unauthorised Autobiography Julian Assange (Text, $29.95) This is unlike any book you’ve ever read. Take one of the most recognisable figures in the world, sit him down for hours of interviews and sign a multimillion-dollar contract to publish an authorised autobiography. Talk…
ABCTV News24 on the economy, Afghanistan and Murdoch thuggery
I appeared last night on ABCTV News24’s The Drum (video here). I argued that chequebook journalism is only problematic when the public increasingly distrusts the media and presumes exploitation is taking place. The mainstream media far too often simply accepts the allegedly unbiased reports released by think-tanks and interest groups. More skepticism required and independent…