Showing all posts tagged war on terror
US mass surveillance in the Pacific
Here’s my weekly Guardian column published today: What if China was beating the US at its own super-power game in the Pacific and we didn’t even notice? While Washington distracts itself with… shutdown shenanigans… and failed attempts to control the situation in the Middle East, president Obama’s “pivot to Asia”… looks increasingly shaky. Beijing is… quietly filling the gap,…
On the fallacies, toughness, bias and challenges of war journalism
Reporting from a conflict zone is messy and complicated, rarely as smooth as journalists try to convey. Britain’s Patrick Cockburn, writer for The Independent, is one of the finest chroniclers of post 9/11 madness. His essay in Counterpunch outlines what we should know: The four wars fought in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria over the…
Vice interview about Ben Zygier, Israeli spying and Western acceptance
I was recently interviewed by Lily Jovic for Vice magazine: Last month, Israel struck a 1.2 million dollar deal with the parents of Melbourne-born Mossad agent Ben Zygier, as compensation for his death in prison 3 years ago. The payout seemingly marks the end of the… Prisoner X case, a case which despite having serious national…
US selling drone warfare to impoverished African nations
The future of surveillance and warfare, and US-based arms manufacturers are very happy about it. The Wall Street Journal reports: Taking a cue from the U.S., more African governments are spying from the skies. From Kenya to Nigeria, African air forces are acquiring surveillance drones—often made in the U.S.—to track militants, poachers and drug traffickers…
Seymour Hersh; journalism isn't propaganda
Far too many reporters see themselves as extensions of power instead of checks on it. One of the finest journalists in the world, Seymour Hersh, unloads on this trend. I couldn’t have put it better myself (via Guardian): Seymour Hersh has got some extreme ideas on how to fix journalism – close down the news…
Jeremy Scahill gives background to Somalia's Al-Shabab
The horrific attack on the Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi continues to generate headlines around the world. But what’s the background to the attacks, who are Somalia’s Al-Shabab terror group and what’s been the position of US and Kenyan intervention in the region? Jeremy Scahill, author of the recent book Dirty Wars, tells Democracy Now!…
In conversation with indy journo and Manning trial stalwart Alexa O'Brien
The wonderful US independent journalist Alexa O’Brien is currently in Australia (she appeared this week at the Sydney Opera House with Julian Assange, Glenn Greenwald and others). I spoke to her at a public event in Sydney about her coverage of the Chelsea Manning trial, dissent in America, Barack Obama’s war on whistle-blowers and threats…
America happy to share raw intel with fellow occupier Israel
A killer story (and yet more evidence that the revelations from Edward Snowden are undeniably in the public interest). This is by Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Ewen MacAskill in The Guardian: The National Security Agency routinely shares raw intelligence data withIsrael… without first sifting it to remove information about US citizens,… a top-secret document provided to…
Chomsky reminds Obama that US brings instability
On the anniversary of America’s 9/11 (let’s not forget Chile in 1973), Noam Chomsky tells Democracy Now! that US President Barack Obama wilfully lies about the real role of empire: The other things that he said were not unusual, but nevertheless kind of shocking to anyone not familiar with U.S. political discourse, at least. So…