Human Rights Watch slams the Australian government over its latest refugee stance in a letter to Immigration Minister Chris Evans: Dear Mr. Evans, We write to you to express our deep concerns that changes to Australia’s asylum processing system announced on April 8, 2010 violate Australia’s obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967…
Showing all posts tagged Afghanistan
The “idealism” of Iraq and Afghanistan
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman reminds his readers what the “war on terror” is all about: Unlike Afghanistan, the war in Iraq was, at its core, always driven more by idealism than realism.
Does the Rudd government care what happens to refugees when sent home?
A helpful reminder how the Australian government is failing legally, morally and politically by refusing to listen to legitimate claims for refugee status by Sri Lankans and Afghans: Immigration Minister Chris Evans has rationalised this suspension of due legal process on the unsustainable grounds that in three months the situation in both Sri Lanka and…
Noble wars of liberation cost a fortune
How many in the US know this? If you’re an average American taxpayer, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have, since 2001, cost you personally $7,334, according to the… “cost of war” counter created by the… National Priorities Project (NPP).… They have cost all Americans collectively more than $980,000,000,000.… As a country, we’ll pass the trillion dollar…
Sri Lanka and Afghanistan are not safe, better remind the Australian government
This is truly shameful and obvious political pandering. If the Australian government seriously believes that both Sri Lanka and Afghanistan are relatively safe for its citizens, perhaps some ministers should visit the war-torn nations and enjoy the local hospitality for a while. Without a security detail: Australia’s decision to stop processing all new immigration claims…
What Australia owes each and every asylum seeker
One of Australia’s leading human rights lawyers, Julian Burnside, skewers anybody who willfully misrepresents the flow of refugees into the country: Hazaras from Afghanistan are fleeing because the Taliban are increasing their control in Afghanistan. Tamils from Sri Lanka are fleeing because they face genocide in Sri Lanka, after the collapse of their long-running attempt…
How the US military kills civilians in Afghanistan
The recent complete comments by General Stanley McChrystal to American troops in Afghanistan. Imagine if, say, an Iranian general said this to his men. Sure, we kill countless innocents but they know it’s for their own good. The moral bankruptcy of the mission in Afghanistan: We really ask a lot of our young service people…
Is Wikileaks the most important website in the world?
The latest Wikileaks drama: Whistleblower Web site WikiLeaks is planning to release a video that reveals what it’s calling a Pentagon “cover-up” of an incident in which numerous civilians and journalists were murdered in an airstrike, according to a recent media advisory. The video will be released on April 5 at the National Press Club,…
Don’t believe when reporters start explaining why we have to remain in Afghanistan forever
Next time you read in the corporate press about the desperate situation for Afghan women (caused by the Taliban, of course, never the foreign occupation), remember this: ‘Out-of-the-box’ CIA think tank proposes concerns over women’s rights, fear of terrorism as ways to boost support for Afghan war Evidently spooked by the collapse of the Dutch…
Murdoch hates the web but wants your money, anyway
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is now a an online-only newspaper, surviving and seemingly thriving in a new age. But its ability to report deeply on various issues has been reduced due to a lack of senior staff. Non-professional journalists have been asked to provide stories. Meanwhile, Rupert Murdoch is about to enter a brave a new…