This is classic clear-thinking from Noam Chomsky on Democracy Now! this week, views so rarely expressed in the corporate press: …The claim that the U.S. was being attacked [on 9/11] because, as the president put it, they hate our freedoms was completely untenable. They hated our policy. In fact, it would be more accurate to…
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“It’s a Jewish obligation to criticise state violence”
The subtle but noticeable shift in American, Jewish public opinion towards Israel and Palestine. Occupation matters. Human rights abuses noticed. Blind backing for Zionism is unimaginable. Bring it on: Initial Development Trailer: Some of My Best Friends Are Zionists from Open Letter Productions on Vimeo.
Orwellian name of the week: Middle East Transitions office
Let me get this straight. Washington spends the last decades backing any dictator who could be bought or bribed. Its image in the Muslim world couldn’t be lower. And now it wants to “help” the move towards democracy (via The Cable)? The State Department has opened a brand-new office to manage U.S. policy toward countries…
9/11 legacy is an Israeli/American catastrophe
My following essay is published today on ABC online: The 9/11 attacks had barely happened and the smouldering wreckage in New York and Washington was still shocking America and the world. Israel already saw an opportunity. Then former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was asked to express his feelings about the terrorist action in the immediate…
Why was Al-Jazeera offering to censor content for the US?
This Wikileaks cable from October 2005 displays a concerning enthusiasm from Al Jazeera Managing Director Wadah Khanfar to censor content following US concerns over “disturbing” material: Summary: PAO met 10/19 with Al Jazeera Managing Director Wadah Khanfar to discuss the latest DIA report on Al Jazeera and disturbing Al Jazeera website content. Khanfar is preparing…
Are we training Afghan forces to torture and kill?
We are constantly told in Australia that our brave boys in Afghanistan are training the local army. A new Human Rights Watch report reveals the reality of so much Western training (some of which is privatised); corruption, torture and death squads is what we appear to be leaving behind, presuming we ever depart: Militias and…
Nothing like a good war that enriches the leeches
The list of private companies gouging America and its allies since 9/11 is long and dubious. For example (via Mother Jones): In 2007, US planners decided to pave a 64-mile mountain road between the Afghan towns of Khost and Gardez. They figured it would take $69 million to complete, but the cost swelled to $176…
Hooters remembers September 11 in a way that smells of class
No, this isn’t cheapening the memory of 9/11 and the disastrous decade since:
My reaction to 9/11 didn’t turn into desire to murder Arabs
I was interviewed last week by Radio Farda, Iranian Branch of Radio Free Europe, on my attitudes toward 9/11 and the subsequent decade. My answers were translated into Farsi so my English responses are below: 1) Do you remember how and where you got the info on 9/11? I was in Melbourne, Australia and I…