The always eloquent Arundhati Roy on disaster capitalism in the world’s biggest quasi-democracy: I don’t know how far back in history to begin, so I’ll lay the milestone down in the recent past. I’ll start in the early 1990s, not long after capitalism won its war against Soviet Communism in the bleak mountains of Afghanistan.…
Showing all posts tagged Pakistan
How Australia actively blocks legitimate refugees globally who need our protection
Australia’s largely secret role in actively blocking persecuted people from escaping life-threatening situations should be exposed more often. Canberra seems happy colluding with authoritarian figures in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and beyond to “stop the boats”. Here’s Aubrey Belford in The Global Mail: Australian authorities have increasingly turned to a strategy some find disturbing: they are…
My Q&A with Federal Senators about Australia’s future in Afghanistan
On 4 December I went to Canberra to give testimony at the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee on Australia’s overseas development programs in Afghanistan (here’s my opening statement with links). The following transcript is the Hansard record of my statement and questions from the Senators… (they were Greens MP Lee Rhiannon, Liberal MP Helen…
My evidence at the Senate committee on Australia’s overseas development programs in Afghanistan
On 4 December I gave testimony in Parliament House in Canberra at a Senate committee on Australia’s role and responsibilities in Afghanistan after the vast bulk of Western forces leave in 2014. I submitted a short statement to the committee back in September and was then invited to travel to Canberra for a more thorough…
Statement by Antony Loewenstein in support of Canberra Candlelight Vigil for #Assange
The following statement by me was read out last night in front of parliament house in Canberra to support Julian Assange and Wikileaks: In an age of government and corporate media spin, WikiLeaks stands tall as a unique voice of independence that demands support. The last 10 years of the so-called “war on terror” has…
Jeremy Scahill speaks about America’s global assassination program and Left silence
One of America’s finest journalists:
Obama’s vast, global scope of murdering “terrorists”
The Washington Post reports the largely hidden counter-terrorism policies of the Obama administration, without oversight, legal checks or balances and media scrutiny. There’s a word for this and it ain’t democracy. Part one: Over the past two years, the Obama administration has been secretly developing a new blueprint for pursuing terrorists, a next-generation targeting list…
This is just what global peace needs, a greatly expanded CIA drone fleet
The Washington Post reports on the deepening of American attempts to prosecute its “war on terror” globally through the use of imprecise and legally questionable drone technology. It’s also a wonderful way to make countless new enemies: The CIA is urging the White House to approve a significant expansion of the agency’s fleet of armed…
America’s (almost) silent drone war and mainstream media largely ignoring civilian murders
America’s unrelenting drone war in Pakistan and elsewhere receives little accurate media coverage. The reality of civilians living in these areas are often ignored. Instead, we’re told “militants” are being killed. But who is really telling us this? A friend, Justin Randle, recently attended the Imran Khan anti-drone march in Pakistan (his report is here…
US peace group Code Pink in Pakistan protesting drone strikes
An Australian friend of mine was on this remarkable march and he’ll be writing something about it soon. It’s vital to raise awareness of the fact that US drone attacks are often indiscriminate and kill countless civilians. American peace group Code Pink, with whom I was in Cairo a few years ago for the Gaza…