The Iraq war remains highly controversial and the country itself is mired in turmoil. Not to worry, now argues Tony Blair, Britain simply had to invade the country for purely human rights reasons: Tony Blair has said he would have invaded Iraq even without evidence of weapons of mass destruction and would have found a…
Showing all posts tagged Iraq
Analysis must not be a war casualty
My following article appears on ABC’s Unleashed: The Iraq war has virtually dropped off the media radar. The country remains far more dangerous than Afghanistan and yet Barack Obama’s “surge” against the Taliban and al-Qaeda is the biggest international story of the day. Even leading neo-conservative William Kristol writes in The Washington Post that Obama…
The “surge” myth in Iraq and Afghanistan are folly
Veteran journalist Patrick Cockburn, a reporter unafraid to challenge accepted wisdom over Western-led wars, dooms Barack Obama’s plans for Afghanistan: American and British exponents of a military escalation or ”˜the surge’ in Afghanistan opportunistically expound two wholly contradictory views of Taliban strength. At one moment they are a movement of immense power on the verge…
The Afghan people at the mercy of bogus time-lines
This is how the US political website Politico, in its daily email, reported yesterday’s Obama administration media appearances to sell the Afghan “surge”. Who really runs the show, the generals or Obama himself? More importantly, do the Afghans themselves really matter to the so-called journalists asking the questions? SECRETARIES CLINTON AND GATES TAPED JOINT INTERVIEWS…
Americans want some quality time on their own (and the world says thanks)
The idea of American engagement around the world bringing greater stability and peace is highly questionable. Ask the people of Palestine, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and a host of other countries how they feel about Washington’s footprint. These results aren’t all that surprising. Perhaps some in the US will start to wonder what their country is…
Holding any criminal state to account, no matter how influential
This is truly fascinating and potentially important news. I have not read this in any mainstream news source: In an unprecedented decision, a Spanish judge has indicted five high-ranking Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials for their role in crimes of torture and genocide committed against Falun Gong practitioners. Among the defendants is former CCP head…
The US has no place in Afghanistan; get out now
Barack Obama is about to announce a troop surge into Afghanistan in a futile attempt to “win” the war. Yet another US President seduced by the rhetoric of the military and media elites. One of the bravest voices in that country is Malalai Joya. In the days ahead, when we hear from blow-hards who only…
America loves you by killing you, argues Thomas Friedman
The New York Times bubble has helped Thomas Friedman for a very long time (like here). But his latest pronouncement from the mount maybe takes the cake: Yes, after two decades in which U.S. foreign policy has been largely dedicated to rescuing Muslims or trying to help free them from tyranny — in Bosnia, Darfur,…
Seymour Hersh wants to take on power and be challenged on it
Leading American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, an enemy of sedentary reporters and lying governments, speaks to the New Statesman: Is it always a journalist’s duty to report the truth, even if it may damage innocents? I’m a total First Amendment Jeffersonian. It’s their job to keep it secret and my job to find it out…
The Jakarta Post: Changing people’s perceptions about Jews
The following feature by Desy Nurhayati appears in yesterday’s Jakarta Post: His recent visit to Aceh made Antony Loewenstein the first Jew that most people in the country’s devoutly Muslim province had ever met or engaged with. Some Acehnese he met were surprised to learn that the Jewish-Australian journalist, author of the controversial and best-selling…