Please explain the real reason we back Mubarak’s Egypt

Seumas Milne writes in the Guardian that Western support for a terror state such as Egypt merely inflames anti-Western anger everywhere: Decades of oil-hungry backing for despots, from Iran to Oman, Egypt to Saudi Arabia, along with the failure of Arab nationalism to complete the decolonisation of the region, fuelled first the rise of Islamism…

The corporate media has no memory and doesn’t care

Only a magazine like Newsweek would host a conversation between Hillary Clinton and Henry Kissinger and introduce it thus: Hillary Clinton and Henry Kissinger talk about presidents, priorities…­–and the difficulty of winding down wars. Yes, the Henry Kissinger that continues to enjoy corporate support but should be on trial in the Hague for countless deaths…

Any chance of real engagement, Tel Aviv?

Hardline Zionist Isi Leibler writes regularly in the Jerusalem Post about the parlous state of Israel’s image in the world. His usual solution? Hit the enemy harder and go on the offensive. The only slight problem is that the world no longer wants to hear the bleating. His latest article offers nothing in the way…

What the Australian/American alliance really means

Scott Burchill and Kristian Lewis, The Age, 8 January: The only rationale left for our involvement in Afghanistan is to restore Washington’s military credibility, which was badly tarnished in Iraq. As John Howard said recently, a withdrawal from Afghanistan would be “an enormous blow to American prestige”. For the same reasons it bombed Serbia in…

Iraq occupation is going nowhere fast

A story from the “reality vs rhetoric” file. So much for Obama’s pledge to withdraw American forces from Iraq: The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is planning to double its ranks as it takes over a host of missions for the military there, according to America’s No. 2 diplomat in Iraq. “If Congress gives us the…

Being a Palestinian puppet, an Israeli perspective

Former Israeli spy chief Efraim Halevy on Israeli Army Radio, 5 January: The PA is useless and nothing but students of Israel and the US. As soon as the US and Israel stop funding the PA it will fade away. Abbas and his PA should know that and know to behave modestly with their threats…

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