The massive growth in private mercenary companies since 9/11 is exposed with yet another investigation. But the end result? More outsourcing to unaccountable companies who are desperate for wars to continue and expand. Killing is a good business: An Australian-owned security company has been accused of a litany of abuses in Afghanistan – including theft…
Showing all posts tagged Iraq
Washington’s global footprint is as subtle as the BFG
We often hear about the military industrial complex, but what does it mean in practice? Exhibit number one: The construction projects are sprouting like mushrooms: walled complexes, high-strength weapons vaults, and underground bunkers with command and control capacities — and they’re being planned and funded by a military force intent on embedding itself ever more…
More weapons, more profits, more death
The privatisation of war is a growing phenomenon across the world. It’s rarely examined (Jeremy Scahill is a notable and noble exception). And now here’s David Ignatius in the Washington Post on the brave new world of killing “terrorists” and not telling anybody about it: A new arsenal of drones and satellite-guided weapons is changing…
Do we care where we send the most vulnerable?
Many Western states are very keen to prematurely return asylum seekers to their country of origin despite the inherent dangers. Afghanistan or Sri Lanka yet safe? Of course not, but at least it’s one less problem for the government. And now this: Two asylum seekers who were deported to Baghdad and claim they were tortured…
Nir Rosen; a journalist’s job is to investigate and challenge power
Nir Rosen talks on Democracy Now! about his new book, Aftermath: SHARIF ABDEL KOUDDOUS: And what’s happening right now in Iraq? There’s been a long stalemate following the parliamentary elections in March. You were in Iraq many times since 2003, and you documented very closely, for example, Muqtada al-Sadr and the Mahdi Army. Where does…
Assange loves and loathes the MSM
Julian Assange of Wikileaks tells Al-Jazeera about his group’s relationship with the mainstream media. Intelligent discussion on a serious news network:
Americans just love being American
Why is it that when many Americans are pleased with a politician – such as during today’s big Republican win in the mid-terms – they start shouting in unison “USA! USA! USA!? I’m sure the Iraqis and Afghans are cheering every time an American soldier drops a bomb on their village.
Those WMDs must be somewhere safe, reflected Bush
Causing mass carnage in Iraq? Oh, that was a shame: Former US President George W Bush still has “a sickening feeling” about the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, US media report. The revelation comes in his memoir, “Decision Points”, to be published next week. He also reveals that he temporarily considered…
Al Jazeera’s Listening Post on Wikileaks Iraq documents
The Wikileaks Iraq files continue to cause robust discussion around the world. Al-Jazeera’s weekly media show, Listening Post, examined the impact of the latest revelations and how some journalists preferred to focus on the personal life of Julian Assange rather than the fact that the US had turned a blind eye to Iraqi torture and…
It’s not easy backing death squads in Iraq
This is what we have created in Iraq by our own actions; turning a blind eye to torture, murder and abuse. In the name of “liberation”, of course: One: During the foreboding months of 2005, one police unit struck more fear into Iraqis than the entire occupying US army. They were known as the Wolf…