Don't mention the wars! The critical question is not who attended National Security Committee meetings over the last decade. It is the nature of the decisions taken there.
Invading Iraq and scaling back our commitment in Afghanistan top the list of disastrous blunders. At a time when we should have been helping to rebuild the country and secure the peace, our focus was on settling a score with Saddam Hussein and the ilusory weapons of mass destruction.
As a Senior minister in the Howard government, Tony Abbott should not be allowed to hide from these appalling mistakes. Nor should the rest of the Coalition team.
As indicated in an earlier post Iraq a Mistake: Ex Australian Defence Forces Chief , former Defence Forces Chief Chris Barrie’s confession that the Iraq war was a mistake in that it had distracted us from fighting the real threat in Afghanistan.
We have a leak obsessed media without any real analysis of policies and issues. Tony Abbott and Julie Bishop have not demonstrated any interest or understanding of the real challenges facing Australia in our foreign relations. If elected in 3 weeks time, the Liberal National Parties Coalition will be one of those challenges.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Abbott Our Biggest Threat to National Security
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Academy Awards Contenders: The Hurt Locker and Crazy Heart
A couple of reviews of Oscar contenders doing the rounds at present:
After four previous nominations, Jeff Bridges might pull off the Best Actor Oscar that eluded Mickey Rourke last year. He was robbed, of course. Bridges’ gravely voice and roadmap face are tailor-made for his role. He oozes authenticity from start to finish or perhaps it’s just sweat. If it’s not the Academy Award makeup, then Jeff should take the cure immediately.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Flick Crit: W. - With God On His Side
Latest film review at Cinema Takes is W. - With God On His Side:
Unless you’ve been in coma for the last 8 years, it is impossible not to have an opinion about George W. Bush and his years as leader of the “free world”.For more please click here.
W. was a disappointment as a president. In many ways so is the movie movie W. Oliver Stone has presented the George W. Bush most of us know about. Drunk, wastrel, drifting from job to job, living in dad’s and brother Jeb’s shadows. Then AA, born again Christian, family man, successful Texas Rangers baseball team owner, Texas Governor and finally the ultimate office. His early life as the black sheep of the Bush clan transformed into a remarkably successful electoral career after becoming Governor of Texas in 1994. His actual achievements are more contentious.
I can’t bring myself to read the intimate details of W.’s White House or his family life so others can argue about the accuracy of his backstage life. Given Stone’s notorious tendency to make-believe, National Security Council meetings may not have finished with a prayer.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Sock and Awe: Only a game?
If you haven't played Sock and Awe yet, now's the chance. Hours, well perhaps seconds, of holiday fun. It's not nearly as clever or elaborate as Sarah Palin as President in the oval office. But in these tough times it's free.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Howard on top: Luck, Lies and Latham
Watched Part 3 The Howard Years: Commander-in-Chief last night. Decided that my post yesterday should have been called: Luck, Lies and Latham.
Tony Blair and George W. Bush were his political referees for the Iraq war. Funny how the three of them are still sure that they were right about WMDs and Saddam Hussein's support for Al Qaeda. Howard is still not prepared to accept any responsibility for the debacle.
The children overboard spin tested the government ministers' memories again. Peter Reith, the Defence Minster in 2001, must have old timer's disease. The blatant political misuse of the military was obvious. The removal of captions on the photos of refugees in the water was disgraceful. This attempt to make them appear to be throwing children into the sea speaks for itself.
Looking forward to Howard's self-destruction next week. As Peter Costello might have suggested, the Prime Minister should have walked before he ran himself out.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Fake New York Times Online
In case you missed last week's fake The New York Times, THE IRAQ WAR ENDS, this is an online version.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Reprise: John Howard: not, not... responsible
For those who missed some of my videos from last year, The Howard Years has prompted me to give them a re-run. Also if you missed Episode 1, Change the Government, Change the Country, you can watch a broadband version by clicking the link.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Presidential debate soft-shoe shuffle
Thanks to Voices without Votes, fresh perspectives on the second presidential debate from Jotman in Bangkok:
"Obama is matching McCain on toughness, it's a strategy not to give McCain an advantage on this score"
Why Obama won the town hall debate
"I thought McCain's physical performance was shaky. He walked around as if lost, seemed hesitant to call Obama by name, otherwise acting as if he was afraid to get close to Obama."My take from Melbourne Bayside is that it was not a conclusive victory either way. John McCain repeated his narrative of 25 years of fighting his Republican allies in the Congress. However, there was little sense of any great achievements in that struggle. He may have been right on the Iraq surge but, as Obama pointed out, he was very wrong on the war.
Obama's overhead projector
It is also a bad time to be arguing that government cannot and should not do much about issues such as the economy.
Barack Obama seemed tentative at times. He obviously prefers to work through issues in detail rather than trying to rebut accusations with ten second catchphrases.
Any similarity between this event and a town hall meeting in the U.S. or anywhere else is purely in the imaginations of the media. It was more like Dancing with the Stars.
The U.S. liberal media such as CNN scored it a win to Obama but they are no great judges of the American voters.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Obama Short-priced Favorite Down Under
There has been a lot of political interest in animals lately, so an equine example seems appropriate.
Australians are keenly looking forward to the race that stops a nation on the first Tuesday in November.
It’s not the US elections! So what is it?
It’s the Melbourne Cup , Australia’s richest horse race. Our own Kentucky Derby. Even the House of Representatives and Senate in Canberra adjourn to watch the race. So do State Parliaments around the country.
Might and Power, The Grafter, Patron, Nimblefoot.
These aren’t episodes of the West Wing!
Windbag, Statesman, Black Knight, Carbine, Red Handed, Rising Fast.
Are they nicknames of Presidential candidates?
Baghdad Note, Clean Sweep, Light Fingers, Media Puzzle.
They’re not election headlines for newspapers or blog posts.
So what are they? They’re some of the winners of the Melbourne Cup over its 146 year history. Some are national icons like Man o’ War or Seabiscuit in the United States. They are better known than most of our Prime Ministers. Phar Lap, who died in suspicious circumstances in California in 1932, is the most famous.
Which brings me to the campaign trail in Australia. After the 2000 fiasco in Florida, where a handful of votes decided the Presidency, Democrats are only too aware that every vote can count. The votes of citizens outside the U.S. may be crucial in this year’s potential dead heat. According to Democrats Abroad Australia there are 100,000 citizens in Australia. A mere 414 voted in the Democrats Abroad Primary that Barack Obama won comfortably in February:
Approximately 20,000 voted globally in the primary. The Asia Pacific (AP) Region broke strongly for Obama 72.6% - 25.6%. Globally, it was Obama 65.8% - 32.5% over Clinton in the Global Primary, conducted Feb. 1-12. Primary Results - Asia Pacific RegionA similar number were surveyed in a recent GlobeScan poll for the BBC:
All 22 countries in a BBC World Service poll would prefer Democratic nominee Barack Obama elected US president instead of his Republican rival John McCain. Obama is preferred by a four to one margin on average across the 22,000 people polled.Down under, the breakdown was 67% favouring Obama with only 13% preferring McCain. 62% thought Australia’s relations with the rest of the world would improve with Barack as President. The sample size was 1000.
Australia has among the largest majorities favouring Barack Obama’s election as US president and saying America’s relations with the rest of the world would improve under an Obama presidency. Obama win preferred in world poll
This is not necessarily the good news for Obama supporters. John Kerry won this poll in 2004.
Democrats Abroad Australia is the official Obama organisation in Australia. It has groups in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. Its members and supporters are distributing Tell An American To Vote leaflets during morning rush hour in central Sydney and at the famous Bondi Beach. The Melbourne Chapter of DAA is planning to host a debate of the issues in the current US presidential election with a prominent Democrat and a prominent Republican. Events are also taking place to watch the presidential debates between Obama and McCain.
The current focus is to register potential voters and help them with voting procedures whilst overseas. As Carmelan Polce, Regional Field Director of Pacific Americans Abroad for Obama, commented:
We need all the help we can get to find US citizens who support Obama and register them to vote by Absentee ballot. This will be a very close election!! Every vote counts!! Please do not delay - register to vote and request your absentee ballot NOW!!One of the volunteers, Greg Carr worked in Sydney near the Harbour Bridge:
Here in Sydney Australia, enthusiastic Democrats turned out to support Obama's Bridges To Hope. And indeed, it was hard to keep them in one place for a photo. So enthusiastic, so hopeful; as we all are.
He also campaigned at the Sydney Gay Mardi Gras Parade, one of Sydney's premier events where more than half a million people watched the parade.
They are also desperately seeking campus outreach volunteers to help us find U.S. study abroad students on Australian university campuses.
There are both official DAA Facebook groups such as Australia for Obama and several other unofficial ones such as Real Labor Supporters Don't Back Republicans.
Cassidy Knowlton, Chairwoman, Democrats Abroad Victoria said recently:
Eight years ago America was at peace, was respected in the world and had a booming economy. Now we are mired in an unnecessary and hugely expensive war, our allies have deserted us, our economy is in the toilet and our civil liberties have been stolen. John McCain voted with George Bush 90% of he time, and if elected he will continue to enact policies that destroy America. He ants to overturn Roe v Wade and take away a woman's right to control her own body. He wants to drill in Alaska for a small amount of oil, even though he knows it would make no difference whatsoever to the current fuel crisis and would destroy one of the few pristine wildernesses we have left.As for the blogoshpere, the right wing down here have embraced Sarah Palin’s candidacy, just as the progressives have welcomed Barack Obama as a breathe of fresh air. I’ve posted about local bloggers’ reactions on Voices without Votes . Before the Palin factor, there was little comment from the conservative side. Ironically, it appears that most of the DAA activists are women.
McCain has said "100 years in Iraq would be fine with me." How many more American men and women in uniform have to die because of Republican arrogance and lies? Vanity Fair has estimated the Iraq war has cost $3 trillion already. How many more trillions of dollars, dollars that we could be using to help Americans pay for health care, education, clean energy, are we going to burn in Iraq?
The choice couldn't be more clear. Obama wants to protect Americans' rights, McCain wants to take them away. Obama wants to get us out of the quagmire that is Iraq and support our troops by bringing them home; McCain wants to keep them there for 100 years and throw away countless thousands of American lives on a failed war based on a lie. Obama wants to invest in clean energy, create jobs and spark economic growth to deal with the fuel crisis. McCain wants to destroy one of the few pristine wilderness areas left in America to drill for oil, which would increase oil supplies by less than 1 per cent and would not be available for use until 2017. Obama wants to lower taxes for the middle class and lower-income Americans; McCain wants to raise them.
In this volatile electoral climate, we can expect vote-chasing outside the U.S. to hot up in coming weeks. Australians are well known for liking a bet. What odds a black president? Another Melbourne Cup winner was called Even Stevens!
This blogpost is cross-posted from Voices Without Votes, a Global Voices project that aims to enable readers to experience American events through the eyes of ordinary citizens from outside the United States.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Voices without Votes: Middle East Bloggers Remember 9/11
A post from Voices without Votes which was taken up by the Huffington Post:
Middle East Bloggers Remember 9/11
Today marks the seventh anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the US, a pivotal day in history and a day which brought about so much heartbreak and destruction not only in the U.S. but around the world. Bloggers from the Middle East reflect on the disaster.
For more, please click either of the links.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Bush says it won't happen again, again
George W.Bush has vowed that the Hurricane Katrina debacle won't happen again. The powers of hindsight!
Of course he has indicated often enough that Iraq would happen again even without the W.'s Mass Deceptions.
A short list of things we wish hadn't happened on Bush's watch:
* 9/11
* the Iraq invasion and occupation
* the sub-prime economic crisis
* Kyoto denial and inaction on global warming
* the erosion of U.S. goodwill around the world
* impotence in responding to the slaughter in the Sudan, Myanmar and Zimbabwe etc.
Despite Hurricane Gustav's possible impact on the Republican convention in Mississippi, John McCain must be thanking the heavens that neither Bush or Dick Cheney will be attending so that they can be on standby for any repeat of the Louisiana 2005 disaster. Including the political one.
Please add to the list in comments.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
War and Greed
Christopher Kremmer's The Carpet Wars is a book that shouldn't be missed by anyone interested in the ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan not to mention the rest of the Middle East and the sub continent. It is primarly about people and their culture rather than politics and war. Essentially a memoir about his time as a journalist before 2001 it has a very critical post 9/11 reflection.
On a related US election issue, he was inteviewed on Life Matters on Tuesday about his upcoming lecture The good, the bad and the greedy The dodgy US financial system and current economy turmoil are another part of George W. Bush's legacy about which John McCain is in denial. Not, not.. not responsible.
Monday, July 28, 2008
McCain: Not responsible
View from Adelaide
Currently spending some time in Adelaide which is definitely a slower pace than Melbourne.
It has been fascinating to watch Barack Obama sweep through the Middle East like Rommel and Europe like a Panzer division. Oops, don't mention the wars! McCain can only bleat at this stage. Can you blame the media for covering Barack's trip rather than John's shopping trips and town hall speeches? The Republicans can't keep avoiding blame for the Iraq debacle and the resurgence of the Taliban in Afganistan which resulted. They are responsible and McCain is just as culpable.
Anway it's back to domestic politics for Obama, with the economy and climate change the biggest challenges. If recent back pedalling by conservatives in Australia are any indication the latter is going to be the battleground of the next few years, especially after the election.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Afghanistan snow for Obama?
Whoever wins in November, the US, and Australia will be in Afghanistan for a very long time. Certainly longer than the Soviet Union. The only question seems to be whether Bush or his successor has the first surge. Their optimism about Iraq may prove to be illusionary, either in the short term or the longer haul. Repeat surges there are hardly a political option except perhaps for John McCain.
Let’s hope that Barack Obama isn't being snowed by the military during his overseas tour. If that’s necessary. You have to wonder how many of his enthusiastic supporters in Australia are aware of his plans to increase military spending and the size of the armed forces. He is no dove.
The political and military goals in Afghanistan are even murkier than in Iraq. At least the US will be able judge when the oil is flowing freely and cheaply again. Afghan stability will be a whole new concept.
Because of the attention on Pope Benedict at the World Youth Day in Sydney, coverage of the US presidential election has been thin lately. The speed of the pope-mobile and photo opportunities with babies have been the clich̩ of the day. It was high theatre with the stations of the cross seeming to take longer than the original story. We can now get back to the important stuff Рsport. It was fitting that the mass for the masses was at a racecourse.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Stasiland: the price of protecting the State
Australian Anna Funder was a ubiquitous media presence when Stasiland, her examination of the East German secret police, was published in 2002. It is the story of how a society can turn on itself in the name of self protection and national security. It is compelling non-fiction, documenting the experiences of people who she met and interviewed after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the disintegration of the communist German Democratic Republic.
We meet both the victims and the villains: A woman who tried to escape across the border as a 16 year old whose her husband died mysteriously in prison. A mother who was denied access to her sick child in West Berlin because she would not betray someone. The Stasi TV broadcaster who was their media face on the "Black Channel". A foreign spy. The man who drew the line for the Wall. A recruitment officer. An agent who caught people being smuggled across the border. And lots more.
The techniques of the totalitarian regime were all encompassing: Unceasing harassment, blacklisting for employment, imprisonment without charge or trial, torture and forced confessions, use of and threats against family members, disappearances and deaths in custody, an unparalleled network of informers and collaborators, foreign kidnapping and covert misinformation, media manipulation and infiltration of western political parties and governments. Corruption of the judicial system.
It is a dark but seemingly grey subject which is why I kept putting off reading it at the time. In 2002 we had yet to realise the full implications of the 'War on Terror' for our civil liberties: The US Patriot Act and its equivalents in the UK, Australia and other countries of the willing, Guantanamo Bay and the military commissions, kidnapping and rendition with its arms-length torture, detention without charge or trial, vilification of asylum seekers and refugees, phone tapping and electronic surveillance. The list expands everyday.
We cannot expect many of these issues to be debated during the Presidential campaign. At least Barack Obama plans to close Camp Delta. Not sure where John McCain stands on Guantanamo - might test the tough guy image he's been trying to project.
It is not surprising that the Stasi's favourite interrogation method (torture) was both physical and psychological, namely sleep deprivation. The 16 year old girl had no one to betray. To get some sleep she finally concocted a fanciful story which her interrogators swallowed enthusiastically. I was surprised we didn't encounter water-boarding. It's all just vigorous questioning in the name of defending the State.
I'm looking forward to seeing Errol Morris documentary, Standard Operating Procedure. It explores the story behind the photographs from Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. Another dark passage which we shouldn't ignore.
The sobering message which emerges from both these episodes is that evil which is so easy to condemn is committed against ordinary people by ordinary people. Often for what they believe is a just cause. It seems that many of the perpetrators do not lose any sleep. Many of the Stasi and other East Germans believed that the Berlin Wall was built to keep out West Germans who were trying to buy cheaper eastern goods.
Stasiland is a must read!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Pentagon Propaganda: who cares?
It seems that few care about the 1984 style manipulation of information by the Pentagon. The Huffington Post has been on the job though. It even gave them a chance to criticise the New York Times for going soft on their own exposé. In Pentagon Suspends Military Media Analysts Program Jason Linkins argues that
...the Times has done little to advance its blockbuster story since it was first reported.Their other bloggers, Robert F Kennedy jr and Brendan Demelle use far more colourful rhetoric:
In a sophisticated propaganda effort that would make Joseph Goebbels and Edward Bernays green with envy, the Pentagon had turned some fifty former officers, posing as independent experts, into hand puppets mouthing pro-war talking points on Fox News, ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC. Unearthed: News of the Week the Mainstream Media Forgot to ReportMedia Matters preferred to contrast the Pentagon sideshow with the real Planet Hollywood news:
Since The New York Times reported on the hidden ties between media military analysts and the Pentagon on April 20, ABC, CBS, and NBC have still not mentioned the report. By contrast, during their April 28 evening news broadcasts, all three networks reported on the Vanity Fair photo of Miley Cyrus.Apparently, Miley is the star of Disney Channel's Hannah Montana. You learn something important everyday.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Truth: The First Casualty of the Iraq War
The aftermath of the 2020 Summit seemed to distract the Australian mass media and the blogosphere from yet another case of U.S. government manipulation of political coverage. It was the Iraq war again, of course.
Anthony Lowenstein's blog and Sarah at The Voice of Today's Apathetic Youth did alert us to the New York Times report which exposed the use by the Pentagon of retired military officers to sell the war. According to the NYT as well as attending special briefings:
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his propaganda team courted as many as 75 retired military officers who could best market the Pentagon line, particularly on television. As detailed in The Times on Sunday, many of these officers used their access to Pentagon bigwigs to promote their private businesses.A PBS NewsHour report followed up these allegations but could not get any response from the major US networks who were the main beneficiaries of this deception. Perhaps they were just too embarrassed. Apparently they ignored the Times story just as they had been ignored their responsibilities to check their sources. PBS's take:
...the Pentagon targeted many of these analysts as part of an information apparatus to generate favorable news coverage of the administration's wartime performance.The Australian media seem to have joined their American counterparts in not covering this story adequately.
Pentagon officials organized hundreds of private meetings with senior military leaders and the military analysts. They included talks with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
According to the Times, analysts were also taken on tours of Iraq and given access to classified intelligence. In turn, members of this group have echoed administration talking points, sometimes even when they suspected the information was false or inflated.
It was also disclosed that most of the analysts have ties to military contractors.
I often wondered what credence we could give to the independence and objectivity of the regular war experts used by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and other Australian media during the Iraq invasion. Former SAS commanding officer Jim Wallace was frequently used by the 7.30 Report.
His interview with Four Corners just before the invasion could have been scripted by Rumsfeld. Wallace is the Managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby. I wonder if he agreed with George W. Bush's initial metaphor for the war on terror as a "crusade". I do not recall any occasions on which Wallace's militant christianity was mentioned when explaining his credentials as an expert commentator on the war.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Dear American Voter: having our say
Link TV has an election project called Dear American Voter It's a place to watch and read the views of non-US citizens about American politics. And post your own thoughts.
The upcoming U.S. election will affect people all over the world, but only Americans will get the chance to vote. Would you like to send American voters a message? Make a video that tells how you would vote, and why. Even better, don't just tell them, show them: How have U.S. policies already changed the place where you live? What about the lives of your friends and family? You may not have your say in the ballot box, but you can still be heard!
Videos include: Why People Hate The USA; The WAR party and Leave the Arab World In Peace (now showing below).
This site is an excellent complement to Voices Without Votes, which I have mentioned before. Have your say!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
WMD: Words of Mass Deception
There was nothing particularly new about Frontline's Bush's War on SBS last night but it was frightening to see it all spread before us. The amorality of the key players in the Iraq invasion was astonishing. Dick Chaney, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenant, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perl, and countless others should not be able to sleep at night. The idea of Condoleezza Rice as McCain's ruuning mate is gob smacking.
Most aren't even prepared to front programs like Frontline to defend themselves anymore. Those who did like Richard Armitage left me feeling disgusted. He and Colin Powell should have resigned in protest rather than do Bush and Chaney's bidding. Powell's performance at the UN was Machiavellian except that its content was so ametuerish. How did so many people fall for it?
I tuned in after seeing Kite Runner at Broome's Sun Pictures. Perhaps it was the outdoor atmosphere, in particular planes landing on top of us, but I quite liked the film. The anti-Russian and anti-Taliban sentiments did not dominate too much. I enjoyed the fact that it is an Afghan languages film with little English even in the US scenes.
If Iraq may need a 100 year occupation, as John McCain has suggested, then Afghanistan may wait millennia for sanity to prevail.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Old war, new plan
While I'm travelling down south, some thoughts on ending the Iraq war thanks to a Huffington Post link.
A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq is a mere 20 pages. Enough to fill those empty hours.
