The recently released US film about the capture and killing Osama Bin Laden, Zero Dark Thirty, was rightly condemned, including by me, as a fanciful examination of the “war on terror” with a dodgy moral centre. Richard Brody, writing in the… New Yorker, responds: In 1960, France was embroiled in the Algerian war, in which some…
Showing all posts tagged United States
Lest we forget the pro-war hacks who backed Iraq invasion
Opposing the 2003 Iraq invasion was often a lonely journey amongst the media elites. I was writing against the travesty of the war from 2003 (here’s a piece of mine in the Sydney Morning Herald from 2004) but far too many supported the conflict out of bravado or cowardice. Here’s US reporter Chris Hedges calling…
CIA criminality rewarded not punished
A classic case of America’s establishment protecting its own (via the Washington Post). It’s why the United State’s constant claims of “spreading democracy” around the world hasn’t even started at home: As John Brennan moved into the CIA director’s office this month, another high-level transition was taking place down the hall. A week earlier, a…
If I ruled the world
I was asked by Osman Faruqi, editor of the University of New South Wales student newspaper Tharunka, to write a column: The role of the US hegemony is over. Washington no longer controls the world by charm and force. It’s a multipolar planet with countless centres of power. Wouldn’t this be something to celebrate? In…
Noam Chomsky delivers 2013 Edward Said lecture in London
On 18th March, Chomsky spoke on, “Violence and Dignity – Reflections on the Middle East”:
US-trained death squads in Iraq are our legacy
A remarkable documentary, by the Guardian and BBC Arabic, on the role of US-funded death squads in Iraq via torture skills honed in Latin America during the “dirty wars“. Powerful, explicit and brutal (though there are critics), such films are essential to challenge the spurious argument that the war was anything to do with freedom…
Two-state solution in Palestine dead, buried and cremated
Last year I co-edited a book with Ahmed Moor called After Zionism (re-issued this week with an updated introduction). It’s about the one-state solution and the reasons this outcome is the most just for both Israelis and Palestinians. This piece in Salon discusses, after Barack Obama’s visit to Israel and Palestine last week, the illusion…
Radio Live in New Zealand on 10 year anniversary of Iraq war
The ten year anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq will leave the media agenda now. It should not. The country we invaded and occupied remains broken. I was interviewed this morning by New Zealand’s Radio Live about the conflict (starting at 19.52).
Israeli Jews thank Obama for backing their apartheid state
The following protest took place outside the US embassy in Tel Aviv on March 22:
Obama damns Israeli occupation but will do nothing to stop it
The expectations around Barack Obama in Israel and Palestine were low. This visit was all about showing love for Israel and Zionism with a touch of criticism if it wouldn’t upset his hosts. Noam Sheizaf at +972 correctly explains that pretty words aren’t useful in this conflict: Measuring the value or effect of a speech…