Yet more evidence that Washington is a law unto itself: The Bush administration was so intent on keeping Guantanamo detainees off U.S. soil and away from U.S. courts that it secretly tried to negotiate deals with Latin American countries to provide “life-saving” medical procedures rather than fly ill terrorist suspects to the U.S. for treatment,…
Wikileaks
Wikileaks is one of the biggest and most important stories in the world, challenging governments and journalists alike. I’ve been writing extensively about the group since 2006, featured an exclusive interview in 2008 with founder Julian Assange and examined the myriad of issues around the website. Assange himself asked me in the early days whether I wanted to be on the group’s board to vet incoming leaks and determine their veracity before publishing. I agreed but unfortunately this never eventuated.
NYT editor says his staff just report the news as they see it
Executive Editor Bill Keller, writing in his paper, argues that his glorious newspaper is the best humans can create, an impartial collection of stories that tell us about the world. No agendas. It’s embarrassing that a supposedly senior editor will write such nonsense in 2011. Everybody has opinions and agendas; the challenge is what you…
We were for Gaddafi just before we were against him
Thank you, Wikileaks: Following a meeting in Tripoli between Libyan leader Colonel Qaddafi, his son Muatassim and a United States Congressional delegation led by Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman on 14 August 2009, the American embassy classified diplomatic cable to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton highlighted the close working relationship both nations enjoy to…
News Goo on Palestine and Wikileaks and our media’s cluelessness
Why does the mainstream media report as it does? Corporate pressure? Reporter laziness? Set narrative? A few months ago a few of us here in Sydney discussed the idea of a Democracy Now! show in Australia, a progressive and critical look at the world, views so often ignored by the MSM. Sydney University’s Jake Lynch…
Wikileaks causes massive waves in India
While the West is focused on bombing Libya, Wikileaks’ cables are convulsing the world’s largest democracy: The Wikileaks’ expose on the cash-for-votes issue paralysed proceedings in Parliament on Tuesday with the Opposition demanding immediate discussion on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement on the matter. The Rajya Sabha witnessed three adjournments and the Lok Sabha one…
Breaking Australia’s silence over Wikileaks
Video from this week’s massive Sydney Wikileaks event with John Pilger, Andrew Wilkie MP and Julian Burnside: Breaking Australia’s silence: WikiLeaks and freedom from John Pilger on Vimeo.
Wikileaks reveals how India helped Sri Lanka win its war against Tamils
India’s The Hindu has the exclusive documents that show the role played by New Delhi during Colombo’s brutal war against the Tamils that ended in May 2009. Nearly two years on, justice is denied to the victims: In the final stages of the war with the LTTE, New Delhi played all sides but discouraged international…
Thousands gather in Sydney to back Wikileaks
Last night’s large event in Sydney to support the right of Wikileaks to publish material was a huge success. Thousands turned up to hear speakers chastise the Australian government for shamefully bowing down to America’s wishes over Julian Assange. Wikileaks enjoys majority community support: A high-profile human rights lawyer claims Julian Assange’s only crime is…
Books still matter; pulp title tells too much about British killing in Afghanistan
Yet another example of a Western government giving bogus reasons to try and censor material in the public interest. Similar claims were made against Wikileaks. The issue here is the state being embarrassed and ashamed. They should be: The entire print run of a highly critical and embarrassing account of Britain’s role in southern Afghanistan…