David McBride is a courageous whistleblower who exposed Australian war crimes in Afghanistan. For his sins, he’s now facing trial and potentially life in prison (while not one soldier who committed the war crimes has faced court). We’ve become friends over the last years and I deeply admire his principles. David interviewed me recently about my…
Showing all posts tagged Afghanistan
“August in Kabul” is compelling book on Afghanistan
My book review in the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age: AFGHANISTAN August in Kabul Andrew Quilty MUP, $34.99 Matthieu Aikins is a journalist who has spent extended periods in Afghanistan, including stints with The New York Times. Early this year, he told The Columbia Journalism Review that his whole profession had often failed when…
TRT World interview on “worthy” and “unworthy” victims in war
During the Ukraine/Russia conflict, much of the Western media has been highly supportive of the Ukrainian people (though historically far less interested in the plight of Palestinians, Afghans, Syrians etc). I speak about this bias on global broadcaster TRT World:
Bad News interview on Afghanistan, independent journalism and unembedded voices
Bad News is a great new podcast that interviews journalists, academics and activists who question the current political realities. I’m interviewed about Afghanistan, independent journalism and Declassified Australia.
RT interview on stealing Afghan resources
Following my recent Declassified Australia investigation into Afghan resources, I was interviewed on RT’s Going Underground.
The never-ending gold rush in Afghanistan
My latest investigation is a joint piece for Declassified Australia and Declassified UK on the rush to exploit Afghan resources (mostly since 9/11): The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August last year has caused the country to implode. It was already on life support after more than 40 years of war but the swift removal…
ABC Radio National Big Ideas on Afghanistan and the Taliban
The ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan receives far too little international media attention. Last night ABC Radio National Big Ideas program featured a discussion about the issues: The crisis in Afghanistan Six months after the withdrawal of Australian troops from Afghanistan, it is clear the embattled country is in the midst of a major humanitarian…
The enduring legacy of disaster capitalism in its many forms
The stubbornness of disaster capitalism is legendary. I recently spoke to the New York-based podcast series News Beat on the war in Afghanistan and how many people made a fortune during the 20-year US occupation. The show has done a follow-up episode just on disaster capitalism and in it I discuss mining, Blackwater founder Erik…
20 Years: The words that shaped the war in Afghanistan
As part of the Twenty Years project, a journalistic and artistic initiative with Afghans in Australia and around the world to assess the legacy of the US-led war in Afghanistan, we commissioned young, female, Afghan-Australian artists to make a short film on these themes. This is their statement: The fall of Kabul in 2021 was…
The Afghan war as a grifter’s paradise
What was the post 9/11 Afghan war really about? This great New York-based, award-winning podcast, News Beat, has produced a one-hour examination of this very question, melding journalism with hip-hip. I’m one of the guests talking about disaster capitalism in the war-torn nation.