My following story appears in today’s edition of Crikey: A few weeks after the start of the Iraq war in 2003, I talked to a senior editor at The Sydney Morning Herald and asked her why there were basically no Iraqi voices in the paper, either for or against the conflict. “I never thought of…
Showing all posts tagged Libya
Gaddafi loved by the West so very recently
One: Scientists from Britain and America visited the chemical weapons facility as it was being built in August 2006. Nine months later Prime Minister Tony Blair met Col Gaddafi in Libya and set in motion the eventual release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset el-Megrahi. The cable, a copy of which was leaked to the WikiLeaks…
The best way to taint Libyan “democracy” push
This doesn’t sound like a disaster waiting to happen at all. No, it’s wonderful idea to get mercenaries to train Libyans in the art of killing and fighting: Britain is to urge Arab countries to train the disorganised Libyan rebels, and so strengthen their position on the battlefield before negotiations on a ceasefire, senior British…
Bradley Manning is suffering so stand up for him
At least a few are but where are the major political and media elites? Silence: British diplomats will express with officials in Washington for a second time MPs’ concerns about the treatment of a US soldier charged with leaking thousands of sensitive cables to WikiLeaks, the government has confirmed. Foreign Office minister Henry Bellingham said…
So much for that grand “coalition” for Libya invasion
Welcome to the world of Western foreign policy; only certain kinds of repression are troubling. Pepe Escobar in Asia Times: You invade Bahrain. We take out Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. This, in short, is the essence of a deal struck between the Barack Obama administration and the House of Saud. Two diplomatic sources at the…
War in Libya pushed by “insufferable” French mini-imperialists
As the war in Libya drags on, this piece in the Daily Beast fully explains the role of French President Sarkozy and the supposed French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy (BHL), a man who loves a good Western-led war to allegedly protect the innocent but he reveals his true side by blindly backing Israel at the expense…
West to send private mercenaries to “help” Libyan rebels?
The idea of providing arms and support to the “rebels” in Libya shows a West with no historical memory. Remember Afghanistan in the 1980s? Now we learn that a privatised force is being considered: Private contractors could be sent by the US to Libya to help rebels fighting Muammar Gaddafi under plans being considered in…
American public broadcasting loves war and wants to help the Libya mission
Sadly, this has been little different in Australia with the ABC largely only featuring military types, former generals, politicians and so-called experts who endorse the US-led war. Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting shows how not to do it in the US: If public television’s mission is to bring diverse viewpoints to the airwaves, the discussions…
Obama defenders find ways to justify use of arms here and there
The New York Times, being an establishment paper, unsurprisingly backs Barack Obama’s military intervention in Libya. Much more revealing, however, is this interview with Samantha Power, a senior director on the National Security Council. I truly wonder if she believes the words she’s telling Politico: Obama “has used his pulpit and a number of speeches…
Do we know anything about Libya’s “rebels”?
Not much, no. In fact, what’s remarkable about the Western intervention is the complete lack of understanding who is fighting for what and why. Calling for democracy is essential, of course, but what else? Barack Obama’s recent speech backing the war was all about protecting civilians and America not willing to watch massacres take place.…