The latest developments in the case of Prisoner X continues to reverberate around the world (though as many Palestinians are rightly say, where’s the equal attention on the countless Palestinians held for years illegally in Israel’s administrative detention system?) Some of the latest on Prisoner X here, here and here. The New York Times: The…
Showing all posts tagged terrorism
Reuters TV on prisoner x, Mossad spies and Israeli intelligence
Here’s my interview (it was much longer in reality but the magic of editing!) on Reuters TV (via the Guardian) talking about the unhealthily close relationship between Israel, America and Australia and the often illegal and covert activities in which they engage:
Countless CIA prisoners still missing
The Obama administration may talk about resetting America’s behaviour after the extremism of the Bush years but there’s copious evidence to the contrary. Take this from Pro Publica: In one of President Barack Obama first acts in the White House, he ordered the closure of the CIA’s so-called “black-site” prisons, where terror suspects had been…
Resisting America’s endless war should be key task of the Left
The general failure of the Left to oppose Barack Obama’s endless war policies, including the use of drones, shows how tribal and fickle much of the progressive side of politics really is. MSNBC’s Chris Hayes is a notable exception: Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy So is The Nation’s…
Obama admin as secretive as Bush admin over legal reasons for killing “enemies”
Good editorial by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow that challenges the dictatorial style of government in Washington that provides little or no reason why America has the right to murder its own citizens by drone strike: Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Obama’s drone policy so broad as to include every table tennis player in Michigan
I’m not exaggerating that much (via NBC): A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be “senior operational leaders”… of al-Qaida or “an associated force” — even if there is no… intelligence… indicating they… are… engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S. The… 16-page memo,…
US doctrine: “stability means conformity to US orders”
Noam Chomsky, still as compelling and profound as ever, in an extract from a new collection of conversations with… David Barsamian: Right after the assassination of Osama bin Laden, amid all the cheers and applause, there were a few critical comments questioning the legality of the act. Centuries ago, there used to be something called presumption…
Reflections on #ZeroDarkThirty
Last night I saw the Oscar-nominated film, Zero Dark Thirty. It’s a brilliantly made work, brutal, passionate, eerie, exciting and compelling. It’s also a shameless piece of CIA propaganda. It opens on 9/11 and frames many of the successful and failed terror attacks since then as part of one, big al-Qaeda plot, which is dishonest.…
Still dissecting the US-led torture regime post 9/11
We are still discovering the depth and extent of the crimes committed by the Americans in Iraq post 2003. I’m proud to call journalist Mike Otterman, mentioned below, a good friend. This report by Jeff Kaye on FireDogLake: Journalist Michael Otterman, author of the excellent book,… American Torture: From the Cold War to Abu Ghraib and…
US military will arm and train any old thugs
Steve Coll in the New Yorker: The Pentagon has yet to meet a military in a desperately poor or hopelessly corrupt country that it does not believe it can train and equip to a professional standard. Pentagon training has in fact strengthened and stabilized professional militaries in many developing countries. Yet some of the militaries…