The idea of American engagement around the world bringing greater stability and peace is highly questionable. Ask the people of Palestine, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and a host of other countries how they feel about Washington’s footprint. These results aren’t all that surprising. Perhaps some in the US will start to wonder what their country is…
Showing all posts tagged Iraq
Holding any criminal state to account, no matter how influential
This is truly fascinating and potentially important news. I have not read this in any mainstream news source: In an unprecedented decision, a Spanish judge has indicted five high-ranking Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials for their role in crimes of torture and genocide committed against Falun Gong practitioners. Among the defendants is former CCP head…
The US has no place in Afghanistan; get out now
Barack Obama is about to announce a troop surge into Afghanistan in a futile attempt to “win” the war. Yet another US President seduced by the rhetoric of the military and media elites. One of the bravest voices in that country is Malalai Joya. In the days ahead, when we hear from blow-hards who only…
America loves you by killing you, argues Thomas Friedman
The New York Times bubble has helped Thomas Friedman for a very long time (like here). But his latest pronouncement from the mount maybe takes the cake: Yes, after two decades in which U.S. foreign policy has been largely dedicated to rescuing Muslims or trying to help free them from tyranny — in Bosnia, Darfur,…
Seymour Hersh wants to take on power and be challenged on it
Leading American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, an enemy of sedentary reporters and lying governments, speaks to the New Statesman: Is it always a journalist’s duty to report the truth, even if it may damage innocents? I’m a total First Amendment Jeffersonian. It’s their job to keep it secret and my job to find it out…
The Jakarta Post: Changing people’s perceptions about Jews
The following feature by Desy Nurhayati appears in yesterday’s Jakarta Post: His recent visit to Aceh made Antony Loewenstein the first Jew that most people in the country’s devoutly Muslim province had ever met or engaged with. Some Acehnese he met were surprised to learn that the Jewish-Australian journalist, author of the controversial and best-selling…
Corporate press tells us that US military is nice and helpful
Time magazine issues a feature called, “The ’00s: Goodbye (at Last) to the Decade From Hell“, but gives readers hope for the coming years ahead: We still have the world’s strongest military, which means we can and must lead in maintaining order and crafting peace. I’m sure the people of Palestine, Iraq, Afganistan and Pakistan…
Google appears in the middle of a war zone
Is there anywhere on the planet that Google doesn’t exist? It spread across the web like a wildfire: Google chief Eric Schmidt visited Baghdad today. Yes, just like a statesman. He attended a ceremony with the US Ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Hill, at Iraq’s national museum, where he announced that the search giant would post…
Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran (says Jewish historian)
Israeli historian Benny Morris, a man with a serious dislike of Arabs and Iranians, yesterday unloaded in the UK Guardian and urged nothing less than a military strike against the Islamic Republic. Once again, a leading Zionist voice defines his ideology as nothing other than violence and devastation: The talk in Israel, explicit and open…
British Labour should be named and shamed over “war on terror” sham
Two stories from the UK Guardian providing yet more evidence that the “war on terror” has always been a war on truth and endless wars against supposed enemies. First this: British prosecutors failed to disclose crucial evidence to the courts in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks in a case that resulted in…