Praise the Lord. Finally, somebody realises that Israeli actions are directly affecting American interests and lives. Sure, this has been clear for decades but better late than never. The likely outcome from Washington? More “disappointment” with Israeli actions in Palestine and little else: On Jan. 16, two days after a killer earthquake hit Haiti, a…
Showing all posts tagged Iraq
Goldstone threatens the chances of killing civilians, anywhere
Surprise, surprise. So the real issue with the UN Goldstone report over Gaza isn’t really the innocents killed, it’s that the recommendations could be used against the West (via the Forward): In Congress, New York Democrat Gary Ackerman, chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, is one of those leading…
What happens when Bush destroyed the city of Fallujah? Cancer, that’s what
I’ve written over the years about the many health effects of depleted uranium in Iraq. American forces stand accused of causing a massive rise in cancer amongst the local population. Now, more questions are being asked about the Iraqi city of Fallujah, after at least two massive American attacks in the years after 2003. Al-Jazeera…
When Barack Obama goes Down Under
My following article appears in the Huffington Post: The arrival of the new American Ambassador to Australia was breathlessly welcomed by the Australia media pack in late 2009. Jeffrey Bleich, an American lawyer from California, assumed his position in Canberra and was introduced to the country through an interview on the public broadcaster ABC. After…
Friedman welcomes Iraqi democracy…glosses over the deaths
Earth to the New York Times and Thomas Friedman. Backing an invasion of Iraq requires responsibility, not more platitudes. Of course, when you’re not doing the fighting, wars seem so noble: Former President George W. Bush’s gut instinct that this region craved and needed democracy was always right. It should have and could have been…
Miliband says Iraq war was a jolly important show of British strength
The Iraq war may have convinced other Arab dictatorships to not upset Washington and London, but seriously, the British elite is forced to defend the debacle like this? The Foreign Secretary told Sir John Chilcot’s inquiry into the war that Britain’s willingness to follow through on threats of military force had made some Arab governments…
How to ween America off its love of big cars and invading other countries?
An ad by US veteran’s group VoteVets that argues for Congress pushing a clean energy bill to stop the US backing fundamentalist regimes in the Middle East. Putting aside the fact that American troops are largely being attacked in places like Iraq because they’re occupying another people’s land, there is no doubt that the over-reliance…
Name me a company that isn’t trying to make serious money in Tehran
It’s like Iraq’s Oil for Food program all over again. This New York Times article is fascinating yet one wonders if any examples can be given of the corporate world not colluding with dictatorships in the name of making profits: The federal government has awarded more than $107 billion in contract payments, grants and other…
The Iraq war was illegal and stayed that way
Oh: An invasion of Iraq was discussed within the Government more than two years before military action was taken – with Foreign Office mandarins warning that an invasion would be illegal, that it would claim “considerable casualties” and could lead to the breakdown of Iraq, The Independent can reveal.
Reporters in Iraq yet to feel some of that liberation
Iraqis are yet to see true press freedom: Before the U.S.-led invasion, billed as the liberation of Iraqis, newspaper journalist Nadjha Khadum was as close to a trailblazer in her field as the era permitted. During the 1980s war between Iraq and Iran, she was embedded with the Iraqi army and filed dispatches from the…