This appears in Crikey’s Pure Poison blog today: Following is an extract from “Media War Junkies Unite”, an essay by Antony Loewenstein from… Left Turn: Political essays for the new Left… which is edited by Loewenstein and Jeff Sparrow, and which was released last week. *** The decade since 11 September 2001 has seen a litany of…
Showing all posts tagged Iraq
Talking about war without celebrating war
It’s a tough call on mainstream, corporate TV. And so rare. This segment, Up With Chris Hayes on MSNBC, is an interesting attempt. Even talking about the immorality of US-led wars is a concept almost absent from so-called polite debate: Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
America keen to keep Israel on the financial and military drip feed
From Ynet: The US Senate is currently reviewing the US-Israel… Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012 which passed the House of Representatives earlier this month. The bill proposes shared satellite intelligence, aerial refueling tankers, specialized munitions and surplus drawdown gear from Iraq. A Senate aide said the bill has already amassed nearly 50 co-sponsors and is…
America invaded Iraq because media backed war for patriotic reasons
It’s therefore pretty depressing seeing MSNBC host Chris Matthews talking about the glories of cable TV to challenge official power: As Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting show, it’s a constant theme of mainstream journalism that America is never the aggressor always the victim. As if.
Memo to media; still life and death in Iraq
Niqash reports: Iraqi maternity hospitals are seeing a new born trend: children given “neutral” names that don’t reveal their family’s religious or political affiliations. Because in Iraq, having the wrong name in the wrong place can still get you killed. On a Tuesday in mid-May the office at the entrance to the Salam Hospital in…
What real war coverage should look like
This is remarkable. Returned US army vets giving back their medals of honour near this week’s NATO conference in Chicago. Powerful, poignant and the kind of voices almost never heard in the mainstream media. Much easier and safer to interview generals (hello ABC TV’s 7.30 last night) about a war in Afghanistan that they’ve ruined…
Thank you Saudi Arabia for expanding drone war in Yemen
That’s what a good, autocratic ally does for America; remain dictatorial while “fighting terrorism”. The New York Review of Books: The United States is quietly being drawn into an escalating conflict in Yemen. Following the discovery earlier this month of a new bomb plot aimed at American airliners, the US government has been aiming drones…
Complete lack of accountability in media and political class for backing war
It’s a theme I discuss in my chapter in the forthcoming book I’ve co-edited with Jeff Sparrow, Left Turn. Foreign Policy’s Steve Walt addresses it: I gave a lecture last night at the… Cape Ann Forum,… on the topic of America’s changing position in the world and what it might (should) mean for U.S. grand strategy. My…
Iraqi officials dare to call for independence from America
This is what you call a necessary attempt to assert sovereignty. One question; how many private contractors have been involved in this sordid process? The New York Times reveals an important American embarrassment and Iraqi assertion of independence: In the face of spiraling costs and Iraqi officials who say they never wanted it in the…
Step by step, private companies must be held accountable for torture
Positive news: Today, a federal appellate court dismissed the appeals of two private military contractors who had argued they were immune from litigation when they engage in torture.… The corporate defendants, CACI and L-3, have argued that they should receive the same protections as the United States government and that, therefore, any of their wartime…