Satire is dead: Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is to receive a prestigious US medal and $100,000 (…£67,000) prize for his work in conflict resolution. The National Constitution Centre is awarding him its Liberty Medal for “steadfast” efforts to broker peace in Northern Ireland and the Middle East. Previous winners include Nelson Mandela and…
Showing all posts tagged Iraq
We invade and occupy Iraq and now it’s a petrol station for us all
What we gave Iraq. One: The former chief executive of a British chemical company faces the prospect of extradition to the US after the firm admitted million-dollar bribes to officials to sell toxic fuel additives to Iraq. Paul Jennings, until last year chief executive of the Octel chemical works near Ellesmere Port, Merseyside, and his…
Neo-cons dare to speak about failed states
There is something pretty wrong about framing countries as “failed states” and ripe for photo shoots, but that’s what Foreign Policy has done. Places like Somalia, Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan are on the list and it seems that the magazine has taken a perverse pleasure in doing so. And what kind of credibility does a…
We’re dying in Afghanistan and you want to hug a general?
While here’s yet another mainstream journalist upset that Michael Hastings actually embarrassed military men in Afghanistan – it truly seems that many corporate reporters and commentators would rather general worship towards men and women in uniform – the real cost of two devastating wars is brought home. When was the last an injured service person…
America can never progress in Afghanistan without leaving
Patrick Cockburn, The Independent, 27 June: General David Petraeus is taking command in Afghanistan to stage-manage a war that the US has decided it cannot win militarily, but from which it cannot withdraw without damaging loss of face. General Petraeus has so far said surprisingly little about Afghanistan, aside from noting how different it is…
Paying compensation to all Afghans
Democracy Now! interviews three US soldiers who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan and now returned to be campaigning vigorously against them. The interview takes place at the US Social Forum, an event that received very little mainstream coverage: VICTOR AGOSTO: Well, I think General Petraeus will be less critical of the Obama administration’s plan…
Don’t bow to the military men
This week’s firing of American commander Stanley McChrystal from Afghanistan was treated by most of the media in the US as the removal of a brave man to be replaced by another brave man, Gen. David Petraeus. Fawning and far too embedded in the mindset of military jargon. After all, what would a simple reporter…
Leading IDF lawyer explains how Israel justifies its action
My following article appears in today’s Crikey: On Tuesday lunchtime the Australian Human Rights Centre and the UNSW International Law and Policy Group (with assistance from the Israeli embassy) hosted a seminar on “The Fight against Terror: Practical Dilemmas in applying the Laws of War.” The two speakers were Professor Abraham Bell of Israel’s Bar-Ilan…
Only US-friendly terror groups are welcome
The latest decision by the US Supreme Court seems highly problematic, not least because America backs terrorists group every day (hello Afghanistan and Iraq, as two recent examples) yet wants to tell its citizens that they can only back groups that speak in lovely, warming tones about the super-power: The US supreme court has upheld…
Those who love some commerce after a US occupation
A grimly fascinating tale in the New York Times about an enterprising Lebanese man who has opened a flash restaurant in Baghdad: Mr. Hage, 51, is the most updated version of an old Lebanese story, that of a diaspora known for its willingness to follow commerce where it leads. Simply put, for a decade, he…