Barack Obama’s speech to the UN overnight was farcical in its ineptitude, showing once again how beholden America remains to a vision of apartheid Israel. Some “highlights”: We seek a future where Palestinians live in a sovereign state of their own, with no limit to what they can achieve. There is no question that the…
Showing all posts tagged United States
What is happening with Al-Jazeera?
The former head of the media company is stepping down, amidst allegations he was too close to the US as revealed by Wikileaks, but he denies this: The wider question, asked in Foreign Policy, is will the station retain its (mostly) aggressive style of insightful journalism?” In recent weeks, the details of conversations between U.S.…
Worry not, energy seekers, exploitation is never far away
This week’s New York Times featured an investigation about sourcing future energy needs. The world is open, so we’re told, and human beings, indigenous groups or the environment are ignored. That’s “business journalism” in a nut shell: Brazil has begun building its first nuclear submarine to protect its vast, new offshore oil discoveries. Colombia’s oil…
Handy evidence of how Washington really sees Israel and the Zionist lobby (hint; like a lover who never gives back)
One (via Politico): U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice briefed a dozen top American Jewish leaders on an “all out,” if likely doomed, American effort to derail the Palestinian bid for a vote on statehood at the United Nations, according to three people at the meeting. Rice met with the leaders at her apartment at the Waldorf…
Get in line, blood suckers; much money to be made in Afghanistan
War! Money! Capitalism! Exploitation! Yes, as Salon’s Glenn Greenwald writes, privatisation is bringing goodness to the peaceful land of Afghanistan: As the Obama administration announced plans for hundreds of billions of dollars more in domestic budget cuts, it late last week solicited bids for the construction of a massive new prison in Bagram, Afghanistan.… … Posted on…
Tony Judt on the kind of Judaism we should admire
The death last year of British historian Tony Judt was a deep loss for those of us who crave intelligent debate of world affairs and especially the Middle East. The Atlantic has just published his last interview and Judt is shown, despite his last years being afflicted with a horrible disease, with a clarity of…
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…