Still unsure that the Howard government lied about Iraq? One year before the invasion of Iraq, Australia’s then ambassador to the United Nations, John Dauth, confidentially told AWB’s former chairman, Trevor Flugge, that the Howard Government would participate in military action with the US to overthrow Saddam Hussein, new AWB documents reveal. Details of the…
Showing all posts in June 2019
Where to now?
The crisis in Darfur continues to cause untold misery. We often read of Western pressure to intervene to stop the carnage, but what do Africans think? I’ve recently discovered some polling from mid-2005 that supported UN involvement in the war-told nation, but this result surprised me: Awareness of the situation in Darfur is fairly low.…
The occupation price
Amira Hass, Haaretz, November 22: The OC Central Command, Yair Naveh, dropped a cluster bomb early this week. He signed an order barring Israeli citizens from taking Palestinian passengers in their Israeli vehicles within the West Bank. The order will take effect on January 19, 2007 and it exempts those who take Palestinians with permits…
Iraqi voices heard
The New York Times has had a tortuous relationship with the Iraq war. In the run-up to the 2003 invasion, senior journalist Judith Miller produced any number of “exclusives” that allegedly proved Saddam’s vast weapons of mass destruction. Her source was leading Iraqi dissident Ahmad Chalabi, who now blames the Americans for the country’s current…
The forgotten
The news that Lebanon has suffered yet another political assassination is grim news, indeed. Of course, when “Western powers” talk of supporting the flailing government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, many Lebanese and Muslims will well remember these same powers allowing over a month of deadly Israeli raids that devastated the country. “Western powers” are…
Aiming for the best
As Australian Prime Minister John Howard is reportedly considering lifting the number of troops in Iraq – while at the same still defending the Vietnam war and saying a public figure should never recant positions, even if they are wrong – the latest opinion poll from Iraq challenges the false rhetoric of Western supporters of…
The democracy equation
Guess who? “Democracy is not about voting but about values. There is a need to demand, any party, as part of the democratic system, to adopt the values of democracy before participating in elections. This is part of any democratic system in the world except in the Middle East.” Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni says…
Finding some focus
Iraq, the reality: The numbers are staggering: In the past eight days, 714 Iraqis have fallen victim to the country’s sectarian bloodbath. They’ve been beheaded, tortured and blown up while looking for work. They’ve been shot, kidnapped and felled by mortars. The number of killings in the past eight days is more than all but…