The US Congress may express concern at the cowbody behaviour of many mercenaries in Afghanistan (which, of course, lessens local support for the glorious liberation they’ve experienced since 2001), but such things don’t concern former IDF prison guard Jeffrey Goldberg. He writes a curious post about protecting these brave souls who are presumably doing America’s…
Showing all posts tagged United States
I mean, why would the corporate press care that CIA is torturing black people?
Leading American investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill recently uncovered a secret CIA prison in Somalia. Big news? What a silly question, as he explained to ABC Radio PM last night: MARK COLVIN: Now you have reported this story in America and you’ve been interviewed about it in public on the media in America. Has there been…
Defending the right of David Hicks to live as a normal citizen
As Australian authorities attempt to pursue former Guantanamo Bay prisoner David Hicks – tortured, held illegally and still pursued by leeches who love the authoritarian impulse of US foreign policy – a number of Australians, including me, are speaking out. Thanks to Overland journal for organising this: On 20 July 2011, the Australian government served…
How we’re “winning” in Afghanistan; backing death squads
Stunning report in the UK Independent. Adding to this detail is the presence of private mercenaries working alongside Afghan and Western forces committing acts that may be illegal. Accountability is non-existent. Much more on this in time: Covert forces of CIA-trained Afghan paramilitaries are being built up to continue the US-led war on the Taliban…
What Australian politicians must ask media heads and not just Murdoch
We’re learning more and more about the culture of entitlement, arrogance and denial within the Murdoch empire. Here in Australia, there are growing calls for a parliamentary inquiry into the power of the media and lack of regulation. New Matilda has a few ideas and I was asked for mine: A parliamentary inquiry into the…
Remembering what Chomsky does to help people in countless places
As Noam Chomsky prepares to arrive in Australia later in the year to receive the Sydney Peace Prize, haters routinely forget the tireless work by the American intellectual behind the scenes on behalf of those persecuted by governments. This campaigning is rarely acknowledged and it often comes at some personal cost. Below is one case…
How corporate media aims to protect Murdoch empire
A serious media and political culture would always oppose concentration of corporate interests. Alas, that does not happen and hence the Murdoch empire has accumulated ridiculous amounts of power over the last decades. It should be challenged, including here in Australia. So it’s unsurprising that the corporate press, which lives and thrives by maintaining a…
Talking Murdoch hacking on Portland indy radio
I was interviewed last week by a progressive Portland radio station, 620KPOJ, on the Murdoch phone hacking scandal and the empire’s pernicious effect on democracy (interview begins around 21 minutes):