Not much, no. In fact, what’s remarkable about the Western intervention is the complete lack of understanding who is fighting for what and why. Calling for democracy is essential, of course, but what else? Barack Obama’s recent speech backing the war was all about protecting civilians and America not willing to watch massacres take place.…
Showing all posts tagged Afghanistan
Serbia 1999 vs Libya 2011
Leading Australian academic Scott Burchill has some thoughts about Libya: 1. Military intervention like this can make the humanitarian crisis worse, as it did in Serbia in 1999. Milosevich’s attacks on Kosovars only escalated after NATO’s bombing campaign begun. So even though the West controls the skies over Libya, expect ground attacks by Gaddafi loyalists…
Books still matter; pulp title tells too much about British killing in Afghanistan
Yet another example of a Western government giving bogus reasons to try and censor material in the public interest. Similar claims were made against Wikileaks. The issue here is the state being embarrassed and ashamed. They should be: The entire print run of a highly critical and embarrassing account of Britain’s role in southern Afghanistan…
West so keen to still be a colonial power in Arab world
Patrick Cockburn on the Western love affair with picking compliant leaders in places we should simply step aside: There is something frivolous and absurd about France’s sudden recognition of the Libyan rebel leadership in Benghazi as a sort of quasi-government. Presumably it’s intended to give the impression Nicolas Sarkozy has a grip on events, it…
Australia happy to do America’s bidding over Wikileaks
Let’s not be surprised with this revelation: The Australian government discussed the charge of treason – the most serious of federal offences and one that carries a mandatory life sentence – when it examined the WikiLeaks matter last year. The advice, in a departmental briefing for the Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, was among several documents published…
Murder civilians and continue getting mercenary work
The future of warfare: The number of private security personnel working for the US military in Afghanistan rose to 18,919 at the end of last year, the highest level used in any conflict by the United States, a congressional report said. The Congressional Research Service report said that the number of private security contractor personnel…
Libya isn’t a Western plaything
While parts of Libya begin to imagine a life without Gaddafi – wonderful quote in this typically incisive Anthony Shadid piece in the New York Times: “There is no call for the overthrow of the government; only Colonel Qaddafi is mentioned, as lackey, tyrant and the man with really bad hair” – Western powers are…
Westerners who enjoy largesse from our thugs or theirs
The depravity of bought intellectuals, not unlike many journalists who get wined and dined by US forces in Iraq or Afghanistan or in the halls of Washington, Canberra or London. Power can be appealing but it also corrupts: A trip to Libya in 2006 by Anthony Giddens, the former London School of Economics director and…
Don’t let Facebook infect Afghanistan!
So says this clearly scared Muslim leader: Burhanuddin Rabani, a leading Islamic cleric who also leads President Hamid Karzai’s peace council — formed to make peace with the Taliban — have warned Afghanistan’s conservative religious community against increasing influence of Afghanistan’s new generation that he described as “facebook kids”. No doubt if the Ulema (Islamic…