The role of corporate media is to serve powerful business interest and advertisers; serving the public good ain’t really a serious consideration. New data from the US is both disturbing and unsurprising and shows even more reason why alternative and indy media must grow in power (via IPS): If people outside the United States are…
Showing all posts tagged Afghanistan
America's special-ops reach into every corner of the planet
Nick Turse is one of America’s most concise chroniclers of empire. His latest essay in TomDispatch attempts to gain information about the real number of US special operation forces operating across the globe. It’s a tough task but goes to the heart of what America has become: This year, Special Operations Command has plans to…
How Western-backed Saudi fundamentalism is causing chaos
One of the great unspoken truths of the 21st century. After this week’s shocking terrorist acts in Russia, it’s possible (though impossible to know) that Saudi Arabia may be behind the carnage (they threatened as much a few months ago). The venerable Patrick Cockburn, writing in the UK Independent, on the ominous signs of sectarian…
Dirty Wars is the best book of 2013
Jeremy Scahill’s stunning investigative book, Dirty Wars, is the most compelling book… of the year. Green Left Weekly asked me to name my best book of 2013. Easy choice: The corporate media are filled daily with stories of “terrorists” being killed, captured and droned in the far corners of the globe. Since 9/11, the Bush and…
How US/Australia intelligence collusion rightly concerns Asia
My weekly Guardian column is here: Australia has an identity crisis that has never been resolved. Are we a US client state, happy to host any number of… American troops… and… spying assets, or a fully integrated part of Asia? Do we crave true independence, or are we happy to remain America’s ‘deputy sheriff‘ in the Pacific region?…
Hold the champagne, but nuclear deal with Iran (probably) avoids war
Robert Fisk on the winners and those who are pissed that a war against Tehran may not now happen: It marks a victory for the Shia in their growing conflict with the Sunni Muslim Middle East. It gives substantial hope to Bashar al-Assad that he will be left in power in Syria. It isolates Israel.…
The heartbreaking journey taken by asylum seekers
Understanding the mentality, background and reason for asylum seekers coming to Australia is vital to humanise their stories. The New York Times magazine has an incredible feature in its magazine this week, written by Luke Mogelson (background to the story here) and photographed by Joel Van Houdt, that stunningly captures the challenges, heartache and uncertainty…
David Hicks deserves justice, an apology and compensation
My weekly Guardian column is published today: It’s hard to think of an Australian individual since 9/11 who has experienced more humiliation and abandonment by the federal government than… David Hicks. Julian Assange, who declared he felt abandoned by the Australian government, perhaps… comes close. As they both found out, an Australian passport is no guarantee of…
Launching Profits of Doom at Curtin University in Perth
I launched my book Profits of Doom at Curtin University in Perth on 29 November to a packed house (more details and photos here… and audio is here). The focus was on Australia’s privatised immigration detention system. Dr Caroline Fleay from The Centre for Human Rights Education (CHRE) introduced me with a generous speech that I…
Nightmare reality of US Special Forces in Afghanistan
America and its allies never intended to bring “democracy” or “freedom” to Afghanistan. The reality has been covert missions tasked to root out “terrorism”. When the vast bulk of foreign forces leave the country post 2014, this CIA-led killing machine will continue. Welcome to US nation building. This is a stunning investigation by Matthieu Aikins…