My following book review appeared in the Melbourne Age on April 19: On the fifth anniversary the Iraq War, The Independent’s Patrick Cockburn, the finest Western reporter in Iraq, wrote that the conflict “has been one of the most disastrous wars ever fought by Britain. It has been small but we achieved nothing . .…
Showing all posts tagged John Howard
The view from the Murdoch perch
Scott Burchill, Senior Lecturer in International Relations in the School of International & Political Studies at Deakin University, comments on a Murdoch mouthpiece: Quote of the week goes to Liberal Party lunchalot and honorary Republican Party ambassador, Greg Sheridan. According to the Foreign Editor of The Australian, “Rudd will be a tremendous disappointment to the…
The hardest word
My following essay appeared on February 19 in the Israeli publication, Haaretz: Newly-elected Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd formally apologized last week to tens of thousands of Aboriginals known as the ‘stolen generation’, who as children were forcibly removed from their families by the government until as recently as the early 1970s. The apology was…
We say sorry
Australia’s new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says sorry to the Stolen Generations with the following statement to parliament: I give notice that, at the next sitting, I will move: That today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history. We reflect on their past mistreatment. We reflect in…
Rupert embraces the inner terrorist in us all
Rupert Murdoch’s Australian website, news.com.au, conducts an “investigative report” into “the hidden war on Australia” – the stories are titled “online jihad” – and discovers these startling facts: A special investigation by NEWS.com.au infiltrating these global networks has identified jihadi references to the “embarrassing collapse” of the Howard government and cites Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s…
Changes afoot?
Following my recent essay in US magazine The Nation on the election of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, I was interviewed by the syndicated American station RadioNation about the realities of the new Australian government. Will we really see a change?
A Rudd Government – ‘passionately pro-Israel?’
My latest article for Online Opinion is about Australia’s new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his uncritical love of the Jewish state: Not unlike many Jewish communities around the world, a leader’s credentials on Israel are praised if unconditional support is offered. Howard was loved for this reason – and a majority of Australian Jews…
War crimes alert
A petition worth signing (even with a recent change of Australian government): To: International Criminal Court We, the undersigned, call for the indictment and prosecution of John Winston Howard (currently Australian Prime Minister), Robert Hill (former Defence Minister) and Alexander Downer (Foreign Minister) for acts of terrorism and war crimes. We believe that under Australia`s…
Hold us close
Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard and new leader Kevin Rudd see the world in essentially the same way. In other words, subservience is the name of the game.