Showing all posts in June 2019

John Danforth, a former senator and US ambassador to the United Nations, writes in yesterday’s New York Times that the Republican Party has fallen hostage to the religious right. “Republicans have transformed our party into the political arm of conservative Christians”, he said. Palestinian women have borne the brunt of the pain inflicted by four-and-a-half…

German publication Der Spiegel yesterday released a report showing that US General Ricardo Sanchez authorized illegal interrogation techniques in Iraq just months before the Abu Ghraib abuses. In further evidence that Geneva conventions were wilfully ignored after the US invasion, the latest revelations add weight to the charge that senior elements of the US military…

John Brown works for the University of Southern California. He runs a website dedicated to examples of US public diplomacy ” including current issues in U.S. foreign policy, international broadcasting and media, propaganda, cultural diplomacy, educational exchanges, anti-Americanism, and the reception of American popular culture abroad.”

Scott Ritter is a former UN Weapon’s Inspector in Iraq and one of the few voices before the invasion to claim that Saddam was essentially disarmed. Mainly ignored in the Western media – keener to accept and propel government spin on WMD – he now publishes regularly in the Arab world, including al-Jazeera. His latest…

Two months after the “historic” Iraqi elections, Western propaganda continues to push the line that the Iraqis voted for democracy and freedom. Many did, but one key factor has been erased: the leading parties campaigned for an end to US occupation. In his latest interview, Noam Chomsky explains the true significance of the January elections:…

When Nepal’s King Gyanendra sacked his country’s government and declared a state of emergency in early February, press freedom immediately suffered. We now learn from the Committee to Protect Bloggers that a small group of bloggers in Kathmandu are fighting back and spreading the word of democracy. One was recently dubbed the “Salam Pax of…

Any kind of new so-called alternative voices are welcome in the closed Aussie media environment. New Matilda started in 2004 and aims to provide a centre-left outlook on Australia and the world. This week’s editorial paints a typical picture of John Howard and his seeming inability to feel compassion towards refugees who desire better lives…

If one is thinking of travelling to Iraq as a journalist, would the US Embassy be the best source of security information? Contact information for the relevant personnel can be found here. Considering the fact that the US military have killed numerous journalists in suspicious circumstances (including the recent near-death experience of Italian reporter Giuliana…

In the latest news not getting appropriate coverage in the anti-humour Australian media, citizen groups in the US are fighting the ever-increasing trend of second-hand tobacco spit in public. New York resident Glen Abramson explains: “I can’t go to a bar without coming home reeking of tobacco spit. I have to wring my clothes out…

Channel 7 and SBS have refused to show these ads funded by millionaire businessman, Ian Melrose, explaining the ways in which the Australian government is stealing the oil and natural gas reserves in the Timor Shelf. Crikey today reports that Melrose is bewildered by the networks’ decision: The networks have not yet supplied written statements…