Welcome to 21st century America, a reality that helps private companies reap the financial rewards while acting in the “national interest”. Stephen Salisbury in TomDispatch on the latest example of disaster capitalism on crack: All told, the federal government… has appropriated… about $635 billion, accounting for inflation, for homeland security-related activities and equipment since the 9/11 attacks.…
Category General
Desperation of prostitution in Kabul
Fascinating yet disturbing insight into a hidden world inside Afghanistan (via Channel 4): In a Kabul suburb we have come to a woman’s house. We’ll call her Habiba. She’s playing with her daughter on the carpet, a toddler. There’s a small but modern flatscreen TV in the corner. A house of several bedrooms.… In her headscarf…
Remind me how CIA forces in Afghanistan will help the Afghan people
Sorry what? If true (via Associated Press) this is the kind of insane idea that simply reinforces the belief across the Muslim world that Washington is determined to occupy Afghanistan indefinitely: Top Pentagon officials are considering putting elite special operations troops under CIA control in Afghanistan after 2014, just as they were during last year’s…
Why can’t we just stay in Afghanistan forever?
The last decade has seen an explosion in private security and intelligence companies making a killing in the “war on terror”. And now, with growing anger towards both mercenaries and the Western occupying forces that use them, this suggestion seems both delusional and symptomatic of the rot that imperial thinking guarantees: The chairman of the…
Stop idealising the war journalist
Robert Fisk is typically provocative (and accurate) in today’s Independent column: It took a lot of courage to get into Homs; Sky News, then the BBC, then a few brave men and women who went to tell the world of the city’s anguish and, in at least two cases, suffered themselves. I could only reflect…
Be inspired by Obama’s soaring rhetoric about America’s “moral example”
Or not (seriously, is this emptiness what rusted-on Democrats need to hear to vote for The One in November this year?) And then this: A supporter at fundraiser urged President Barack Obama to avoid a war with Iran over its disputed nuclear program. “Nobody has announced a war,” Obama cautioned. “You’re jumping the gun a…
War, what is it good for (ask corporate media, they love freedom bombs hitting Muslims)
Many mainstream journalists love conflict. Gives them the opportunity to hang with military types in war zones and feel important. Truth be damned. Repeating official talking points is par for the course. History has shown that far too many blindly (wilfully?) spread propaganda. The next target is Iran. Why? Because Israel and Washington tell them…
Naomi Klein tells the Left to think about real climate change action
One of the savviest writers around, Naomi Klein issues a challenge in this interview with Solutions: Members of the Left have been resistant to acknowledging that this worldview is behind their support of climate action, while the Right confronts it head on. Why this hesitancy among liberals? There are a few factors at work. Climate…
The Guardian puts its best foot forward for journalism 21st century style
The British Guardian is a paper with a fine reporting record albeit with blind spots incorporated (including Wikileaks and war). They’ve just released a startling new ad that aims to showcase its “open journalism” style: Back in 1996, this is how the newspaper last promoted itself: