Will Libby be pardoned? The stench of corruption grows stronger by the day.
Showing all posts in June 2019
The empire lives
We live in an age of empire. While rarely acknowledged as such, the term is making a comeback (John Pilger’s latest work discusses this subject in detail). Rhetoric surrounding the Iraq war reflected the growing sense that the Iraqis needed the civilising and liberating West to be free, when in reality the occupation has brought…
The hidden war
The war in Congo is the most deadly since the Nazi genocide, yet it is barely reported in the Western media. This news is therefore even more distressing: United Nations peacekeepers in the Congo are contributing to the systematic destruction of civilian-occupied villages during combined operations with government forces. Video evidence filmed by Channel 4’s…
The mask continues to fall
From war criminal to rank opportunist: Stunning military victories made Israel’s Gen. Moshe Dayan an iconic figure on the international stage, but his reputation for looting antiquities is little known outside the country where his myth was born. Across three decades until his death in 1981, Dayan, of the trademark eye patch, established a vast…
Behind the press release
The Washington Post obtains a revealing document: Hours before President Bush left on a surprise trip last Monday to the Green Zone in Baghdad for an upbeat assessment of the situation there, the U.S. Embassy in Iraq painted a starkly different portrait of increasing danger and hardship faced by its Iraqi employees. This cable, marked…
Russian inspiration
Anna Politkovskaya is Russia’s finest, independent journalist. She writes for the Novaya Gazeta newspaper and has made her name reporting on the war in Chechnya. I spent time with her during the recent Sydney Writer’s Festival and my interview is here. Not unlike Haifa Zangana, Politkovskaya refuses to accept the narrative put down by governments,…
Bowing down
Brendan Nelson is Australia’s defence minister. During his upcoming US trip, he’ll be speaking to an organisation that speaks volumes about the ways in which the Howard government views foreign policy and the US/Australia alliance. Perhaps he’ll be joined by this joker. I hope Brendan has packed his suitcase full of US flags, ammo and…
The weekly hysteric
Melanie Phillips is a worried woman. Multiculturalism, anti-Semitism and immigration are destroying her beloved, white Britain. The poor dear. She should move to Israel, where there a good chance she would be ignored. Rabid Zionism never had such an unattractive advocate. Individuals like Phillips seem blissfully unaware that they provide a convincing argument for anti-Zionism.…
News bytes
– It now seems likely that Israel has twisted the truth about the recent attack on Gaza beach. – An in-depth report from Somalia and US-plans to create yet another ‘bogeyman.’ – Government spin doesn’t come cheap (courtesy of the tax-payer.) – Is Time on Iranian Women Protesters’ Side? – An American literary icon dies.