Many in the Western media and political elites have spent years since 9/11 smearing a litany of Muslim “terrorists” because the US leaked selective information to friendly journalists and leaders. Serious questions were dismissed. The Murdoch press globally loved to hype bogus US claims about the “worst of the worst” at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere.…
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Egyptian legal system more responsive to torture than our own?
Australian citizen Mamdouh Habib was tortured by American and Egyptian officials post 9/11 and was smeared and shunned by the corporate press for years. He demands justice and deserves it. He talked to me about these issues in February, including the involvement of Egypt’s new Vice-President, Omar Sulaiman. A few days ago I was contacted…
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…
ABCTV News 24 on Egypt and Wikileaks
I was a guest on last night’s ABCTV News 24’s The Drum alongside Sue Cato and the Daily Telegraph’s Joe Hilderbrand (video here). One of the main areas of discussion was the Egyptian revolution and just how good it felt. I argued that it was vital for us in the West to understand that Egypt’s…
Suleiman adds another victim to his list
Australian Mamdouh Habib was tortured by the US and Israeli favourite and now information of another poor soul: Omar Suleiman – spymaster, CIA ally and heir apparent to Egypt’s throne – has been accused in the interrogation of a Canadian citizen tortured overseas. The allegation appears in the federal findings from a former Canadian Supreme…
A little taste of what kind of democracy Egypt deserves
My following analysis appears on ABC Unleashed/The Drum today: An Egyptian blogger displayed characteristic humour when news broke overnight that president Hosni Mubarak would not be stepping down: Mubarak (n.): a psychotic ex-girlfriend who fails 2 understand it’s over. If Mubarak and his new deputy Omar Suleiman thought their speeches would placate the protesters, they…
Australia tortures and heads must roll
Perhaps, finally, Australians can realise that the former Howard government was more than happy for one of our citizens to be tortured in the name of pleasing the United States: The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security has ordered a fresh inquiry into the case of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib. Julia Gillard requested the…
Sydney’s Daily Telegraph on big Sydney Wikileaks rally
Today’s big rally for Wikileaks in Sydney (I think around 2000 people were there) saw a wide cross section of people outraged with the intimidation of Wikileaks and Julian Assange and the Gillard government’s capitulation to American demands. I spoke and chaired the event. This story appears in the Daily Telegraph: Protestors today converged on…
Australia is increasingly owned by somebody else
My following article appears in Crikey today: The Crikey/ACIJ series on Australian companies profiting from the foreign aid budget is a welcome discussion of the rapid privatisation of services in Australia and overseas, an area largely ignored by the mainstream media. The market, lightly regulated or not, is simply accepted by most commentators as the…
The victim recalls a war crime
My following book review appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on November 29: My Story: The Tale Of A Terrorist Who Wasn’t By Mamdouh Habib; with Julia Collingwood; Scribe, 272 pp, $32.95 Before tortured Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib was released in 2005, then prime minister John Howard said his government didn’t “have any…