Last night on ABC TV’s 7.30: LEIGH SALES: Commentators have noted that in terms of what the cables revealed about American diplomacy, it didn’t show anything particularly scandalous, if anything it showed that there was quite a bit of consistency between America’s public positions and their private positions, although in private of course they are…
Showing all posts tagged United States
Thinking very carefully before visiting Sri Lanka
Travelling isn’t an ethics-free zone. The places we visit are imbued with political and social meaning. Tourism in repressive states should be carefully navigated to avoid giving support to the regime (as much as possible). Sri Lanka, still in the grip of a political culture that refuses to acknowledge its massacre of Tamils and ongoing…
Woodward gives exact lessons in how not to be a decent journalist
Real reporters challenge power, not indulge it. Watergate man Bob Woodward lost long ago that belief, becoming far too keen to amplify the views of those in power. Here’s his lessons on American TV for how to get the powerful to give answers that he can just publish verbatim: WOODWARD: I think the survival of…
Israel knows military strike against Iran futile
Wikileaks breaks through Zionist propaganda that has long threatened Tehran with annihilation: Senior defense officials ruled out an Israeli military attack on Iran’s nuclear sites as early as five and a half years ago, telegrams sent from the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv in 2005 and 2006 indicate. The cables, which were revealed over the…
Just to confirm; Israel can only survive with Arab dictatorships
Yet more evidence: The Bahraini King bragged about intelligence contacts with Israel, and instructed that official statements stop referring to Israel as the “Zionist entity,” according to the latest trove of documents revealed by WikiLeaks. On February 15, 2005, U.S. ambassador to Bahrain William Monroe met with the leader of the small kingdom, Hamad ibn…
Why Arab revolutions are so unique (and don’t need or want Western “help”)
New York Times journalist Anthony Shadid on Democracy Now!: I think for the first time—absolutely, since I can remember, but perhaps that a lot of people can remember—the region [Arab world] is speaking with an indigenous vocabulary. You know, it’s speaking about its own vision. It’s articulating its own vision. It’s so radically, fundamentally different…
Gaddafi loved by the West so very recently
One: Scientists from Britain and America visited the chemical weapons facility as it was being built in August 2006. Nine months later Prime Minister Tony Blair met Col Gaddafi in Libya and set in motion the eventual release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset el-Megrahi. The cable, a copy of which was leaked to the WikiLeaks…
Settler leaders think about Palestinians but continue to build illegal colonies
How touching that some settler heads actually spend a few minutes considering the rights of Palestinians before continuing to oppress them. Farcical: Danny Dayan, the chairman of the Yesha Council of West Bank settlements, told U.S. officials that some settlers would be willing to move to Israel proper in exchange for financial compensation, according to…
The deep insecurity of Murdoch press and Zio lobby over Palestine
Who knew that anti-Semitism was everywhere? Jews are currently hiding in their houses for fear of being attacked by crazed anti-Zionists. Or not. Murdoch’s Australian newspaper wants to create an image of rampant anti-Israel sentiment everywhere because growing numbers of people are recognising the deep racism within Israeli society. The paper has been running a…