A mainstream reporter who wants to talk about occupation

Leading Australian journalist Paul McGeough answers some questions for newmatilda.com: What’s the headline you’d most like to see on the front page of a daily newspaper? World’s last arms manufacturer closes plant, joins former competitors aiding agriculture projects in… Africa. What question should we ask our next interviewee? Australia is occupied by a foreign power and…

Weapons for Israel

In case anybody was worried about the relationship between Washington and Israel, rest easy, friends, business isn’t being interrupted: As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington this week absorbing the full wrath of the Obama administration, the Pentagon and Israel’s defense establishment were in the process of sealing a large arms deal. According to…

Just how many weapons do we really need?

Waste, futile spending and over-blown excess is routine in the arms world (see this recent Sydney Morning Herald report that outlined the vast problems with the Australian Defence Department). And now this: The United States scored last in a new study that examined how 33 major militaries spend funds on weapon systems – while potential…

One meaning of the Israel/Australia bond is selling weapons to the other

This from the Electronic Intifada in February: Despite Israel’s oppressive tactics against it, the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement has marked additional victories with many institutional investors divesting from or blacklisting Israeli military contractor Elbit Systems. One of the largest Dutch pension funds told The Electronic Intifada today that it is selling off its…

American arms despots, hopes for peace and good outcomes

This is the wonderfully concise, humane and sensible approach by the Obama administration to bring peace to the Middle East; more weapons: The Obama administration is quietly working with Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf allies to speed up arms sales and rapidly upgrade defenses for oil terminals and other key infrastructure in a bid…

Britain embraces its 1984 past

The police state will get one step closer: Police in the UK are planning to use unmanned spy drones, controversially deployed in Afghanistan, for the …­”routine” monitoring of antisocial motorists, …­protesters, agricultural thieves and fly-tippers, in a significant expansion of covert state surveillance. The arms manufacturer BAE Systems, which produces a range of unmanned aerial…

How on earth did the wrong guys get Israeli weapons?

Israel has a world class arms industry, selling weapons to pretty much anybody. So this news is certainly curious: Use of Israeli-made light arms by militants against security forces in Waziristan has raised several questions amongst many recently. TheNation has learnt on good authority that militants are using Israeli-made light arms including “Uzi gun” and…

Let the West help you kill your people

America will sell weapons to pretty much any country, democratic or despotic: Despite a recession that knocked down global arms sales last year, the United States expanded its role as the world’s leading weapons supplier, increasing its share to more than two-thirds of all foreign armaments deals, according to a new Congressional study. The United…

So this is what the US means about balance

What matters in the Middle East conflict is arms and money. So: The US administration is going to increase defense aid that is given to Israel in 2010 to USD 2.775 billion as part of the gradual increase in aid to USD 30 billion over the course of a ten-year period. In the coming years…

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