Australian citizen Mamdouh Habib was captured and tortured in the years after September 11 in both Egypt and Guantanamo Bay. For years, “war on terror” supporters defamed Habib and claimed he was lying about his allegations of mistreatment. However last year in just one case against the Australian Murdoch press, he won a small victory:…
Showing all posts tagged United States
What a US/Israeli backed state looks like
Egypt, February 2011. Robert Tait writes in the Guardian: The sickening, rapid click-click-clicking of the electrocuting device sounded like an angry rattlesnake as it passed within inches of my face. Then came a scream of agony, followed by a pitiful whimpering from the handcuffed, blindfolded victim as the force of the shock propelled him across…
Obama unsure whether to support Egyptian democracy or ball crushers
Thankfully the Los Angeles Times doesn’t mince words when writing about Washington’s response to the Egyptian uprising: The Obama administration’s shifting response to the crisis in Egypt reflects a sharp debate over how and when Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak should leave office, a policy decision that could have long-term implications for America’s image in the…
Who do Egyptians trust to bring them democracy?
Not the West, says Robert Fisk. The Palestinians would certainly agree: AMY GOODMAN: Well, what about the U.S. relationship with the military? I was talking to someone in a government agency in Washington, and they were deeply concerned, saying, “How do we counter the image that we’ve actually been supporting this despot for 30 years?”…
If we had a serious debate about Afghanistan
This would be front-page news: The central justification of the U.S.-NATO war against the Afghan Taliban – that the Taliban would allow al Qaeda to return to Afghanistan – has been challenged by new historical evidence of offers by the Taliban leadership to reconcile with the Hamid Karzai government after the fall of the Taliban…
The fallacy of “moderate” Middle East client states
This is what happens when Washington (and the West) gets into bed with fundamentalist misogynists. Israel calls Saudi Arabia “moderate” because it seemingly tolerates Zionist occupation: The US fears that Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter, may not have enough reserves to prevent oil prices escalating, confidential cables from its embassy in Riyadh…
Creating a generation of imprisoned minds
Just one more Arab who knows a few things about the US/Israeli backed dictatorship in Egypt. With no real democracy, what does this persecution do to the mind? In a small cell in Egypt‘s al-Marj prison, the BBC World Service brought encouraging news to Ayman Nofel. The senior Hamas commander from Gaza had just passed…
Israel doesn’t believe in Egyptian democracy
My following article appears in today’s edition of Crikey: While the Egyptian masses are uprising in unprecedented ways across the country against a Western-backed dictator, Israel fears the worst. The country’s President Shimon Peres said last week that, “no matter what they say, we owe Mubarak true gratitude for being as steadfast as a rock…
Few handy tips to be a “centrist”, pro-Obama stenographer
The ultimate insider news publication is Politico, a how-to-guide to slavishly follow the political and media elites. So I shouldn’t be surprised to read this story entitled, “How Obama plays media like a fiddle“. All hacks, want some Obama love? Follow these tips: Respect the Village Elders Most political reporters live in Washington. So it’s…