Roger Cohen in the New York Times is spot-on but mark my words; most journalists, think-tankers, commentators and politicians have deliberately short memories. In time they’ll simply say: “Our complicity in Arab horrors? Oh but it’s so complicated…”: Hearings should be held in the U.S. Congress and throughout Western legislatures on these questions: How did…
Showing all posts tagged mainstream media
Libya isn’t a Western plaything
While parts of Libya begin to imagine a life without Gaddafi – wonderful quote in this typically incisive Anthony Shadid piece in the New York Times: “There is no call for the overthrow of the government; only Colonel Qaddafi is mentioned, as lackey, tyrant and the man with really bad hair” – Western powers are…
Democracy and Middle East problems sorted at Perth Writer’s Festival
As if. But it’s been a wonderful few days here in sunny and very warm Perth. My first session yesterday was alongside philosopher Raimond Gaita on Gaza: Zionism and Anti-Zionism. Rai outlined his belief that a two-state solution was the best and most just way to resolve the Middle East crisis and didn’t accept my…
Why aren’t these bought Orientalist hacks stripped of legitimacy?
Further evidence of the moral and political bankruptcy of the intellectual and commentator class. How many whores were willing to work spruiking Mubarak’s brutal regime? And now this: In February 2007 Harvard professor Joseph Nye Jr., who developed the concept of “soft power,” visited Libya and sipped tea for three hours with Muammar Qaddafi. Months…
Westerners who enjoy largesse from our thugs or theirs
The depravity of bought intellectuals, not unlike many journalists who get wined and dined by US forces in Iraq or Afghanistan or in the halls of Washington, Canberra or London. Power can be appealing but it also corrupts: A trip to Libya in 2006 by Anthony Giddens, the former London School of Economics director and…
Britain’s Murdochcracy (just got worse)
Money buys power, again: Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation empire was yesterday given Government approval to take full control of BSkyB, a decision that was derided as a “whitewash” by media rivals and “cavalier” by political opponents. Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt had previously said he was minded to refer the proposed …£8bn deal to the competition…
What on earth will lobbyists do who love Arab dictators?
Rest assured, dictators will always need Western whores to soften their brutality in political, media and corporate circles: For years, they have been one of the most formidable lobbying forces in town: the elite band of former members of Congress, former diplomats and power brokers who have helped Middle Eastern nations navigate diplomatic waters here…
Hillary Clinton: “Al Jazeera is winning” message war
Almost comical. Like the Israelis, the Americans think that they can simply communicate better and use Twitter and the Muslim world will start to appreciate their dictator-friendly and Zionist occupation loving policies. Here’s Hillary Clinton mumbling about not winning the information war. As if they ever will (or should): “Let’s talk straight realpolitik,” Clinton said.…
Hypocrisy trumps policy in Western alliance with Libya
My following article appears today on ABC’s The Drum: The latest BBC interview with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, situated in a fancy restaurant on the Mediterranean, was painful to watch. Clearly delusional and blaming drug-addled youth and al-Qaeda for the ongoing revolution in his country (which he claimed he didn’t lead, the “masses” were in…
Abusing David Hicks is seemingly acceptable on our ABC
Here’s a shameful interview yesterday on ABC Melbourne radio with former Guantanamo Bay captive David Hicks. For the record, Hicks may have pleaded guilty to terrorism charges but he did so to simply get out of the US gulag: David Hicks: I don’t think you’ve read my book, that’s correct? Jon Faine: No, I’ve not…