My following investigation appears in today’s edition of Crikey: Three security guards working at Sydney’s Villawood detention centre have exposed occupational health and safety breaches at their workplace, in exclusive interviews with Crikey. The three employees of MSS Security, one of the companies contracted by British multinational Serco in its management of asylum seekers, have…
Just another day in British democracy (by selling weapons to thugs)
And the West wonders why the Arab world regards its calls for democracy as hollow as Netanyahu’s love of freedom for Palestinians: David Cameron‘s efforts to promote democracy in the Middle East by becoming the first foreign leader to visit Cairo were overshadowed as it emerged that he will spend the next three days touring…
Talking to Finkel, Anderson and Stewart in India on occupation
I recently attended the Jaipur Literature Festival in India and moderated a session with three men who know something about war and conflict. Brit Rory Stewart, New Yorker’s Jon Lee Anderson and the Washington Post’s David Finkel. The video of the event is now online (the sound and picture aren’t perfectly in sync but you’ll…
Just how many Afghans is Australia murdering in Afghanistan?
It’s called counter-insurgency but in many cases this is simply operations to train, capture and allow the subsequent torture (and/or murder) of supposed Afghan insurgents. A failed strategy that deserves exposure: Counterinsurgency, also known as COIN, is the main focus in Afghanistan. It is a partnered effort between Afghan government and coalition forces to bring…
“Winning” colonial wars the privatised way
There’s something morally and legally sick that in post 2003 Iraq (and to this day) privatised mercenaries are the way the Western states maintain their power in the country: A former British soldier potentially facing the death penalty in Iraq insisted that he remained anxious but hopeful as his case was adjourned last night. Danny…
What makes anybody sane think US will be on right side of new Arab history?
Nicholas Kristof, writing from Bahrain, is optimistic: We were late to side with “people power” in Tunisia and Egypt, but Bahrainis are thrilled that President Obama called the king after he began shooting his people — and they note that the shooting subsequently stopped (at least for now). The upshot is real gratitude toward the…
The paranoia of unelected Chinese men
Although it remains unclear exactly how paranoid the Chinese authorities remain over possible Egyptian-inspired, democratic protests, this insider view would suggest that Beijing isn’t taking too many chances: On Saturday, February 12, the day after Hosni Mubarak resigned in Egypt, some of the members of the politburo of the Communist Party of China held a…
The voice of independent unions in Egypt
A key player in the recent revolution (so not just those on Facebook and Twitter) speaking in solidarity with workers in America: Kamal Abbas is General Coordinator of the CTUWS, an umbrella advocacy organization for independent unions in Egypt. The CTUWS, which was awarded the 1999 French Republic’s Human Rights Prize, suffered repeated harassment and…
The Muslim Brotherhood are normal people
Yes, that may come as a shock to Israel and many Zionists alike but this interesting piece in McClatchy explains why so many of them in Egypt will be involved in the future of their country, as they should be: In the midst of Egypt’s turmoil, the Brotherhood issued statements saying it wouldn’t field a…