The “war on terror” is making some people a lot of money. But it’s all about protecting us from terrorism, of course: The companies with multimillion-dollar contracts to supply American airports with body-scanning machines more than doubled their spending on lobbying in the past five years and hired several high-profile former government officials to advance…
Showing all posts tagged war on terror
Scahill on poor Western intelligence screwing up Afghanistan
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The very murky legal world when Australia wants to kill the “enemy”
My story in Crikey this week that alleged Australian soldiers are involved in the targeted killings of “terrorists” in Afghanistan and beyond has already drawn predictable hysteria from men who can’t think of anything better than a long and glorious “war on terror” against “them”. A more mature response has appeared by Ben Saul, Sydney…
How dare anybody accuse Australia of acting illegally in war?
Following my lead story in Crikey yesterday on the role of Australian troops in US-led assassination squads, the following responses appear today. For the record, a number of people have contacted me since publication and confirmed the allegations in the story. Much more in the coming years: Neil James, Executive Director, Australia Defence Association: As…
Australian troops involved in covert and deadly operations for the US
My following lead article appears in today’s edition of Crikey: Elite Australian soldiers are involved in covert operations for the Americans in the “war on terror”, co-ordinated through the top-secret, Paris-based centre Alliance Base. There has been no public discussion about these missions, but Crikey understands the soldiers are involved in targeting, interrogation and assassinations…
What a bankrupt war breeds
The massive growth in private mercenary companies since 9/11 is exposed with yet another investigation. But the end result? More outsourcing to unaccountable companies who are desperate for wars to continue and expand. Killing is a good business: An Australian-owned security company has been accused of a litany of abuses in Afghanistan – including theft…
The Afghans love us for destroying them
Balloon Juice highlights a startling passage in a Washington Post story: But many residents near Kandahar do not share the view. They have lodged repeated complaints about the scope of the destruction with U.S. and Afghan officials. In one October operation near the city, U.S. aircraft dropped about two dozen 2,000-pound bombs. In another recent…
What’s some Muslim bashing for the Zionist lobby?
Oh dear: A major Zionist organization has withdrawn an advertisement because it featured images mocking the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The United Israel Appeal (New South Wales) – Keren Hayesod last week withdrew the ad for a young adult UIA event, which was issued as a press release as well…
Robotic and privatised warriors make war far too easy
Malcolm O’Neill, the assistant secretary of the US Defence Force’s Acquisition, Logistics and Technology division: I see in the future a US army with 547,000 active soldiers like we have today and 547,000 ranger buddies – wingmen that would hopefully go into combat with them and hopefully stand in front of them and sacrifice their…