This headline in today’s Independent is unintentionally hilarious: Israeli moves give Blair hope of rebuilding political trust The idea that Tony Blair is taken seriously in the region is ludicrous. Arabs have not forgotten his support for the Iraq war and 2006 Lebanon war. Besides, the so-called progress between Israel and the Palestinians is virtually…
Showing all posts tagged Iraq
When loving the establishment is a media natural
Accusations of left-wing bias against public broadcasters is a mainstay of the culture wars (witness the latest non-story in Australia over the ABC). Mehdi Hasan, senior political editor of the New Statesman, argues that the BBC is an inherently status-quo enforcing organisation: The BBC’s bias is thus an Establishment bias, a bias towards power and…
Netanyahu needs to learn some democracy lessons
The Israeli group Breaking the Silence recently released a report about alleged crimes by IDF officers during the Gaza war. The response from many in Israel was to attack the messenger rather than examining the charges. Benjamin Netanyahu continued this onslaught during his visit to London: “They are breaking their silence about the only democracy…
Bloody ungrateful Iraqis
Conservative, Republican blog Powerline offers this nuanced analysis of America’s wars: But the future of Iraq doesn’t look at all bright now that the Americans are fading from the scene. It’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing to be done. The Iraqi government wants us out, the American government wants to get out, and the Iraqi and…
Iran (may not be the) centre of terror
Here’s what the global media has reported over the last days: Argentina expressed outrage Friday over Iran’s nomination of a man wanted in connection to a 1994 Buenos Aires bombing that killed 85 people as the next defense minister. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tapping Ahmad Vahidi for the post is “an affront to Argentine justice…
How to kill Arabs for fun with the US tax-payer
The New York Times continues its investigations of the rogue military contractor Blackwater, loved by the American establishment: Despite publicly breaking with an American private security company in Iraq, the State Department continues to award the company, formerly known as Blackwater, more than $400 million in contracts to fly its diplomats around Iraq, guard them…
How to kill gays with US support
Human Rights Watch on the lawless and viciously homophobic, “liberated” Iraq: Who rules Iraq? If you ask Baghdad officials or the Obama administration’s proconsuls, they will tell you: a democratically elected Iraqi government, a triumphant product of the “purple revolution” that reflects the will of Iraq’s people. If you ask Mashal, a shopkeeper from Baghdad’s…
Sources that lead to war against Iran
Beware any media stories that feature anonymous sources claiming Iran (or Iraq, in the bad old days) has WMDs. Welcome to the podium, Haaretz: The world’s nuclear weapons watchdog is hiding data on Iran’s drive to obtain nuclear arms, senior Western diplomats and Israeli officials told Haaretz. The officials and diplomats said that the International…
The truth warrior
My following essay is published in Sydney Ideas Quarterly magazine: John Mearsheimer, a leading US scholar on international relations, has strong views on political issues from the Middle East to Iraq but until now, the establishment has been slow to listen. He spoke to Antony Loewenstein During this year’s Iranian uprising, which followed the disputed…
Killing in the name of US glory
The role of private military contractor Blackwater is a sordid tale of greed and murder. Here’s the latest from Jeremy Scahill in the Nation: Despite the Iraqi government’s announcement earlier this year that it had canceled Blackwater’s operating license, the US State Department continues to allow Blackwater operatives in Iraq to remain armed. A State…