Don’t believe anything our leaders say about Afghanistan. Most of the corporate press are too invested/complicit in this debacle, too: There has been much discussion, as well as misunderstanding, of the Time magazine cover photo of the Afghan woman who had her nose cut off by the Taliban. The purported object lesson is clear: If…
Showing all posts tagged Afghanistan
A little Wikileaks backlash (but missing the real target)
So it begins. The Pentagon warns Wikileaks not to release any more information, as the group is now threatening. Not something to be taken seriously, considering the source. Then there’s Reporters Without Borders issuing an open letter to Julian Asssange asking him to be far more careful in the future when releasing information and not…
Wikileaks isn’t protected in Australia
Let’s be clear: both major sides of Australian politics are seemingly willing to let the Wikileaks head out to dry if the order comes from Washington. We’re an obedient client state, after all: Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith says he has not been asked by the United States to put Wikileaks founder Julian Assange under…
Afghan war isn’t some noble exercise; it’s empire building
Afghanistan is essentially absent from the Australian election campaign. In fact, any foreign affairs are missing in action. Parochialism is the name of the game. Today’s Australian features a mindless quote from Julia Gillard that the risk of further Australian deaths in Afghanistan is real. Very insightful. A foreign affairs “expert”, Michael Fullilove, offers this…
Why can’t we have a mature debate over Afghanistan here?
A good editorial in the Guardian that highlights the growing civilian casualties in Afghanistan and why the US is increasingly viewed as having brought chaos to the country. Victory, indeed.
Do Australian leaders care about anything beyond our borders?
Although this piece in the International Herald Tribune is written by “Jacob Ramsay, a senior analyst at an independent risk consulting firm”- the publication really needs to tell readers far more about their contributors than this – his point about the Australian election campaign and the absence of foreign affairs issues is spot-on. It’s as…
Why would a man leak to Wikileaks?
The alleged leaker of information to Wiklieaks, American Bradley Manning, is given a profile in the New York Times. He’s portrayed as lonely, confused, gay, anxious and desperate for attention: And as he faces the possibility of a lifetime in prison, some of Private Manning’s remarks now seem somewhat prophetic. “I wouldn’t mind going to…
Wikileaks is ready and willing for much more
Game on: The online whistle-blower WikiLeaks said it will continue to publish more secret files from governments around the world despite U.S. demands to cancel plans to release classified military documents. “I can assure you that we will keep publishing documents – that’s what we do,” a WikiLeaks spokesman, who says he goes by the…
Iraqis hate us because we abuse and kill them
Before the Afghan war logs, Wikileaks released the “Collateral Murder” video. The Nation provides an exclusive that details the casual brutality dished out by the US to average Iraqis. No wonder the insurgency continues to rage: One by one, soldiers just arriving in Baghdad were taken into a room and questioned by their commanding officers.…
Hastings on journalism his own way
Journalist Michael Hastings – the kind of journalist who doesn’t use military embeds simply to support the US military – speaks to Salon’s Glenn Greenwald on why he’s been refused another embed in Afghanistan. Interesting insights into the tricky role of an independent reporter who wants to understand the workings of the US war machine.