Real reporters challenge power, not indulge it. Watergate man Bob Woodward lost long ago that belief, becoming far too keen to amplify the views of those in power. Here’s his lessons on American TV for how to get the powerful to give answers that he can just publish verbatim: WOODWARD: I think the survival of…
Showing all posts tagged Barack Obama
Gaddafi loved by the West so very recently
One: Scientists from Britain and America visited the chemical weapons facility as it was being built in August 2006. Nine months later Prime Minister Tony Blair met Col Gaddafi in Libya and set in motion the eventual release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset el-Megrahi. The cable, a copy of which was leaked to the WikiLeaks…
Barack Obama abuses his base and avoids true justice for terror suspects
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So much for that grand “coalition” for Libya invasion
Welcome to the world of Western foreign policy; only certain kinds of repression are troubling. Pepe Escobar in Asia Times: You invade Bahrain. We take out Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. This, in short, is the essence of a deal struck between the Barack Obama administration and the House of Saud. Two diplomatic sources at the…
West to send private mercenaries to “help” Libyan rebels?
The idea of providing arms and support to the “rebels” in Libya shows a West with no historical memory. Remember Afghanistan in the 1980s? Now we learn that a privatised force is being considered: Private contractors could be sent by the US to Libya to help rebels fighting Muammar Gaddafi under plans being considered in…
Obama defenders find ways to justify use of arms here and there
The New York Times, being an establishment paper, unsurprisingly backs Barack Obama’s military intervention in Libya. Much more revealing, however, is this interview with Samantha Power, a senior director on the National Security Council. I truly wonder if she believes the words she’s telling Politico: Obama “has used his pulpit and a number of speeches…
Do we know anything about Libya’s “rebels”?
Not much, no. In fact, what’s remarkable about the Western intervention is the complete lack of understanding who is fighting for what and why. Calling for democracy is essential, of course, but what else? Barack Obama’s recent speech backing the war was all about protecting civilians and America not willing to watch massacres take place.…
NYT editor says his staff just report the news as they see it
Executive Editor Bill Keller, writing in his paper, argues that his glorious newspaper is the best humans can create, an impartial collection of stories that tell us about the world. No agendas. It’s embarrassing that a supposedly senior editor will write such nonsense in 2011. Everybody has opinions and agendas; the challenge is what you…
Serbia 1999 vs Libya 2011
Leading Australian academic Scott Burchill has some thoughts about Libya: 1. Military intervention like this can make the humanitarian crisis worse, as it did in Serbia in 1999. Milosevich’s attacks on Kosovars only escalated after NATO’s bombing campaign begun. So even though the West controls the skies over Libya, expect ground attacks by Gaddafi loyalists…
If only Sri Lanka was more like Libya
Very powerful and true letter published in yesterday’s Melbourne Age: I am a Sri Lankan. In 2009, we had the same issue as Libya: Sri Lankan armed forces killed civilians during the fight against the rebels. The Australian Tamils wrote to then prime minister Kevin Rudd to help stop the bloodshed and prevent the innocents…