Shocking (via the New York Times): An American soldier dies every day and a half, on average, in Iraq or Afghanistan. Veterans kill themselves at… a rate of one every 80 minutes. More than 6,500 veteran suicides are logged every year — more than the total number of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq combined since…
Category General
Another mining company that isn’t helping people prosper
Early this year I visited Papua New Guinea to investigate the exploitation of resources by Western multinationals under the guise of development. Tragically, similar things are happening across the world, often away from the mainstream media’s gaza. Bianca Jagger travelled to India and found this: When I arrived at Biju Patnaik Airport, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, I…
We are being lied to over Afghanistan says senior US army man
US Army Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis: Senior ranking US military leaders have so distorted the truth when communicating with the US Congress and American people in regards to conditions on the ground in Afghanistan that the truth has become unrecognizable.
Pakistan: private security is a state within a state
My following investigation appears in Australian publication Crikey today: The Pakistani city of Peshawar is situated an hour from Afghanistan. Driving there from Islamabad, the landscape was mostly lush green fields, poor villages and mud houses. After being stopped at five checkpoints along the way, an attempt to intercept foreigners and militants entering the sensitive…
Attending a book fair…in Mosul
Things are changing in Iraq, reports Niqash: One of the most dangerous cities in Iraq recently held its first book fair. And despite concerns about security in the troubled northern city of Mosul, the event was an unprecedented success for both locals and visitors. A sign hanging between two power poles and some traffic lights…
No wonder much of the world thinks the West are hypocrites
It’s only terrorism if “they” do it. Here’s a classic case of the American system protecting officials who brazenly break laws and get away with it: American intelligence agencies including the CIA and the FBI have won a court ruling allowing them to withhold evidence from British MPs about suspected UK involvement in “extraordinary rendition”…
MSM desperate for cash and looking in all places
This is how a “liberal” newspaper works in the 21st century (well, one that still takes advertising). From a New York magazine feature on Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger: His paper is running out of money: It lost roughly $50 million last year, and though it’s subsidized by a nonprofit trust, at that rate it can…
Never forget; we helped Gaddafi because he was our man
Next time you hear Western governments talking about human rights, remember this case. The British and American authorities routinely lie. It’s what power does. Stunning investigation by the UK Guardian: Just when Fatima Bouchar thought it couldn’t get any worse, the Americans forced her to lie on a stretcher and began wrapping tape around her…
Truly free media means ensuring reporter safety
A serious democracy would try its hardest to protect journalists. Many nations don’t share this goal: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply disappointed that a U.N. plan to promote journalist safety and curb impunity in journalist killings was not endorsed during UNESCO’s 28th biennial session held in Paris. The… U.N. Draft Plan of Action on…
Iran aims to create an internet cut off from the world
Is this the future for autocratic regimes that fear web-savvy youth calling for freedom and democracy? Sounds like a perfect weapon to silence dissent. Resistance will be essential: Millions of Internet users in Iran will be permanently denied access to the World Wide Web and cut off from popular social networking sites and email services,…