This Wikileaks cable from October 2005 displays a concerning enthusiasm from Al Jazeera Managing Director Wadah Khanfar to censor content following US concerns over “disturbing” material: Summary: PAO met 10/19 with Al Jazeera Managing Director Wadah Khanfar to discuss the latest DIA report on Al Jazeera and disturbing Al Jazeera website content. Khanfar is preparing…
Are we training Afghan forces to torture and kill?
We are constantly told in Australia that our brave boys in Afghanistan are training the local army. A new Human Rights Watch report reveals the reality of so much Western training (some of which is privatised); corruption, torture and death squads is what we appear to be leaving behind, presuming we ever depart: Militias and…
UN vote on Palestine puts two-state solution in permanent freeze
The “dream” is over, liberal Zionists. It’s never going to happen in any reasonable way. So the alternatives are clear; one state or permanent apartheid. Which side are you on? Ilan Pappe writes in Electronic Intifada: We are all going to be invited to the funeral of the two-state solution if and when the UN…
Nothing like a good war that enriches the leeches
The list of private companies gouging America and its allies since 9/11 is long and dubious. For example (via Mother Jones): In 2007, US planners decided to pave a 64-mile mountain road between the Afghan towns of Khost and Gardez. They figured it would take $69 million to complete, but the cost swelled to $176…
This is how writers with spine relate to the real world
Literary events aren’t devoid of real world politics (well, they shouldn’t be, anyway). The recent cancellation of a proposed Kashmir literature event was a stunning example of such issues being brought into the public domain. One of the key players behind protesting the event, Basharat Peer, writes wonderfully in The Hindu about why he acted…
Cluey firms making good money from Australian government’s privatisation obsession
The Canberra Times reveals who is making a killing, largely invisible in the public domain and likely to only make more money in the years ahead; privatisation is a bi-partisan disease: Detention centre operators, an international training company, a NSW Government department and a multinational IT firm are the big winners from the Federal Government’s…
Hooters remembers September 11 in a way that smells of class
No, this isn’t cheapening the memory of 9/11 and the disastrous decade since:
Former NYT head admits backing for Iraq war because he wanted to be manly
The New York Times after 9/11 was notorious for consistently siding with the Bush administration, especially backing the Iraq war thanks to the stenography of Judith Miller. Bill Keller has just stepped down from his role as Executive Editor of the paper and writes this revealing essay about why he and many “liberals” embraced the…
My reaction to 9/11 didn’t turn into desire to murder Arabs
I was interviewed last week by Radio Farda, Iranian Branch of Radio Free Europe, on my attitudes toward 9/11 and the subsequent decade. My answers were translated into Farsi so my English responses are below: 1) Do you remember how and where you got the info on 9/11? I was in Melbourne, Australia and I…
A decade of (mostly) media failure since 9/11
Al Jazeera English captures the post 9/11 decade well, showing how the vast majority of journalists and media companies became propagandists for endless war against the Muslim world: