The recently released Wikileaks files on Guantanamo Bay showed a US empire arrogant on fear and power. But here’s an insight from Lawrence Wilkerson, retired Army colonel who served as Colin Powell’s right-hand at the State Department, that explains a lot. From a speech in 2009 on the “mosaic philosophy”: This philosophy held that it…
Showing all posts tagged United States
Killing our enemies from the comfort of a distant bunker
The future of warfare is largely privatised, unaccountable, designed to kill “terrorists” and almost guaranteed to convince US war planners that conflict is cost-free in terms of American lives: Here’s how the U.S. Air Force wants to hunt the next generation of its enemies: A tiny drone sneaks up to a suspect, paints him with…
Job of New York Times to amplify Zionist faux fears
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting get it in one: The New York Times’ David Kirkpatrick filed a report today (4/29/11) on one apparent problem with the move towards democracy in Egypt–the country might pursue policies more in line with what the Egyptian public supports. The most important news here is that Egypt… doesn’t want to maintain…
We’re in Libya to (insert noble reason here)
Tariq Ali on the West’s gloriously clueless war in Libya: Libya is yet another case of selective vigilantism by the US and its attack dogs in the west. They can rely on the French as well. Sarkozy was desperate to do something. Unable to save his friend Ben Ali in Tunisia, he’s decided to help…
New Zealand soldiers possibly complicit in torture in Afghanistan
How many US or Australians are potentially equally responsible for caring too little about gross breaches of human rights? Labour is adding its support to calls for an inquiry into claims Kiwi troops handed over Afghan prisoners to authorities who tortured them. Journalist Jon Stephenson claimed on TVNZ’s Marae programme that NZ’s Special Forces in…
Obama appoints pro-war Petraeus to run thuggish CIA
This Washington Post story accurately reflects the kind of world Barack Obama both inherited and expanded; he ain’t no peace President: Gen. David H. Petraeus has served as commander in two wars launched by the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. If confirmed as the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Petraeus…
What Wikileaks Gitmo files says about our Western “values”
My following article appears in today’s ABC The Drum: The Wikileaks-released Guantanamo Bay files provide an invaluable insight into the mindset of the US and its allies since September 11. An infrastructure of torture was implemented, a practice still defended by the US government today, to allegedly protect the homeland from future attack. The result…
Why can’t we just leave glorious and triumphant Sri Lanka alone?
The world post 9/11 is polluted with “terrorism experts”, usually academics who love to be romanced by armies in the business of brutally killing declared “enemies”. Rohan Gunaratna is intimate with the thugs in Colombo. In an interview with a Sri Lankan newspaper he offers advice for the government to avoid having to take accountability…
ABCTV News24 on human rights in China, Gitmo torture and Sri Lankan war crimes
I appeared last night on ABCTV News 24’s The Drum alongside ABC journalist Marius Benson and lobbyist Sue Cato (video here). While China, we learn via Wikileaks, ignores Australia’s supposed concerns for human rights, I asked if Prime Minister Julia Gillard actually cared about human rights as there had been no public comments from her…