A man who understands the Middle East, Nir Rosen, on how the corporate media sees the Middle East: I’ve spent most of the last eight years working in Iraq and also in Somalia, Afghanistan, Yemen, and other countries in the Muslim world. So all my work has taken place in the shadow of the war…
Showing all posts tagged mainstream media
Jewish writer celebrates murder of peace activist in Gaza
What has happened to my people? Zionism has polluted the mind and ruined the soul. Here’s Harriet Sherwood in the Guardian: I was sent a link this week to a piece published in the Jewish Chronicle by historian Geoffrey Alderman, the opening sentence of which I found pretty shocking. Under the headline This Was No…
What’s happening in post-Mubarak Egypt?
Most of the global media has moved on from the streets of Cairo and now the situation is more complex. The story is alive, changing constantly. Where to next for a (hopefully) democratic Egypt? America and Israel should be worried. Australian journalist Austin Mackell has been living in Egypt for a while and has filed…
How we are fed propaganda about Western-wars
Peter Van Buren, an American diplomat just back from a year running a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Iraq, writes about the talking heads that appear daily in our media praising the glorious US army: I’m neither a soldier nor a journalist. I’m a diplomat, just back from 12 months as a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT)…
Blackwater launches privatised mercenary army for global hire
Welcome to the future of warfare; privatised, deadly, unaccountable, brutish, secretive and increasingly attractive to so-called democracies and autocracies looking for a stealth force to repress or kill. A stunning New York Times investigation yesterday: Late one night last November, a plane carrying dozens of Colombian men touched down in this glittering seaside capital. Whisked…
NYT should call US torture by its proper name
The New York Times has long refused to call American torture by its rightful name; torture. Why? Because government officials say it’s not torture and therefore it ain’t. The paper’s Public Editor today publishes an examination of this putrid policy and argues that the editors should drop the pretense of worrying about the feelings and…
Human rights at stake, says Amnesty, and Wikileaks helped
Hard to disagree: The world faces a watershed moment in human rights with tyrants and despots coming under increasing pressure from the internet, social networking sites and the activities of WikiLeaks, Amnesty International says in its annual roundup. The rights group singles out WikiLeaks and the newspapers that pored over its previously confidential government files,…
Obama getting Middle East advice from non-Middle Easterners
Only in the New York Times. This is an interesting piece about Barack Obama and his evolving views towards the Muslim world. The idea that people there will suddenly likes America after a pretty speech is delusional. For example, anti-US sentiment is strong in Egypt, as it should be, considering the Mubarak regime was backed…