Showing all posts tagged United States
Hiring private thugs in Afghanistan and hoping for the best
It’s so hard to see why the Western-led war in Afghanistan is failing miserably: An Afghan-owned security company accused of operating an illicit protection racket received “a slap on the wrist” from the Defense Department despite ample evidence of wrongdoing, according to a senior House Democrat critical of the military’s efforts to combat corruption in…
Hold the tears; Washington’s ability to wholly back Arab autocrats in jeopardy
The Middle East is changing before our very eyes and this of course worries the Western powers that have become used to dictating terms to Arab dictatorships. The New York Times has the official view. Can you feel the loss of power and prestige? While the popular uprisings of the Arab Spring created new opportunities…
Our world is outsourced and who cares if benefits few and far between?
The Western world is now infested with privatisation as the supposed ideal of society. In reality, the opposite is true. Take the recent report by the US-based Project on Government Oversight: Federal government employees were less expensive than contractors in 33 of the 35 occupational classifications POGO reviewed. In one instance, contractor billing rates were…
Palestine burns, Israel occupies and Zionists look to the sky over UN vote
This week (probably) sees the Palestinian Authority (PA) go to the UN and ask for something resembling statehood. It’s all so vague and so deeply troubling that too many in the Western world have blindly supported it (such as today’s UK Observer). Others, such as Gideon Levy in Haaretz, can’t understand why Barack Obama isn’t…
We cannot forget ongoing trauma in Bahrain
While Washington and much of the West turns away, citizens must continue raising their voices. Anthony Shadid writes in the New York Times: Activists trade stories of colleagues forced to eat feces in prison and high-ranking Shiite bureaucrats compelled to crawl in their offices like infants. Human rights groups say 43 Shiite mosques and religious…
How to represent the post 9/11 American decade
I’ve spent the last days at Australia’s first investigative journalism conference organised by the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism, where I’m an Honorary Associate. It was called Back to the Source and I spoke on the effect of Wikileaks on modern journalism (short version; it’s major, it’s profound and the mainstream press are nervous about…
Killing people remotely with drones is their American dream
How long before machines or robots are selecting targets from America in war zones across the world?
Who is dreaming of a completely privatised America?
Project of Government Oversight give us the facts and the public/media/political response is minimal. Simple question: at what point will a totally privatised world cause concern for society (hint: now)? The U.S. government’s increasing reliance on contractors to do work traditionally done by federal employees is fueled by the belief that private industry can deliver…