The “war on terror” remains as murky as ever. Interesting post by Sheila Carapico for Middle East Research and Information Project: Senate hearings to confirm John Brennan as the Obama administration’s appointment to be director of the CIA… brought to light… a heretofore clandestine American military facility in Saudi Arabia near the kingdom’s border with Yemen. While…
Showing all posts tagged Saudi Arabia
So this is how the Iraq war could have started
A fascinating insight from the British mercenary Simon Mann in Vice magazine about what the Bush administration were really like; criminals on a war mission: Weren’t you also asked to help kick start the Iraq War in 2002? Yes. Someone who said he was friends with the American neocons asked me to come up with…
The Islamist revolution is here; are we ready and even willing?
The grand sweep of history after the Arab Spring is yet to be written; it remains a work in progress. But this piece, by Hussein Agha and Robert Malley in the New York Review of Books, is a stunner, riffing on the prospects of an Islamist phase, what this means for democracy, Arabs in general…
America is blind in Syria
The lead story in today’s New York Times is comical. Almost. What’s clear is how little Washington understands the Syrian revolution, who is fighting and why. Its intelligence is clearly suspect and hardline Islamists are being strengthened. America learns nothing from history.… Afghanistan in the 1980s, anybody? Most of the arms shipped at the behest of… Saudi…
In the Syrian civil war, America and jihadis are on the same side
Yet more spectacular reporting from Ghaith Abdul-Ahad (the man has form) from the Syrian city of Aleppo (via the Guardian): Soldiers! Soldiers!” The man hissed his warning as he hurried past, two bullets from a government sniper kicking up dust from the dirt road behind him. It was enough for Abu Omar al-Chechen. His ragtag…
US arms the world but Iran is the threat?
The evidence is clear; Washington fuels more conflicts globally than Tehran could ever hope to do: Weapons sales by the United States tripled in 2011 to a record high, driven by major arms sales to Persian Gulf allies concerned about… Iran’s regional ambitions, according to a new study for Congress. Overseas weapons sales by the United…
Footage of my 2012 PEN Free Voices lecture
I was invited this year to give the 2012 Sydney PEN “Free Voices” lecture on free speech, censorship and war. It was delivered at the Sydney Writer’s Festival in May and in Melbourne in June. ABC published an extract recently. Film footage of the Sydney event is now available. May you be provoked:
My 2012 PEN Free Voices lecture on free speech and why it matters
The following is published today as the lead piece by ABC’s The Drum: The two-hour drive from Islamabad to Peshawar is along a surprisingly smooth road. Mud-brick homes sit amongst lush, green fields. Police checkpoints are set up routinely to stop unwanted visitors. I am asked why I want to see the troubled Pakistani town…
West loves Saudi repression on a daily basis
Yes (via Salon’s Glenn Greenwald): For all the righteous talk about human rights oppression and violent assaults on democratic protesters in the Muslim world, any honest ranking would place Saudi Arabia… near… or at… the top… of that list. This week, the long-time head of the deeply repressive Saudi Interior Ministry, Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, died.…
Saudis can show talent (but without music, women or soul)
America must be so proud of its dutiful client state, Saudi Arabia (via Yahoo! News): A… Saudi city… known for its ultra-conservatism has created its own version of the “Arabs Got Talent”… television reality… show, but with no music and women banned from taking part. Instead, competitors will be permitted to perform religious chants, recite poems and engage in…