Last Straw » US foreign policy

Who would have thought?

Christiaan — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:27:05 +0000

Who would have thought when I wrote this that six years later a leading contender for nominee as Republican U.S. presidential candidate would be arguing the same thing in his campaign.

He sums up the problem with U.S. foreign policy nicely: "We don't mind our own business!"

Fun fact: U.S. military veterans have given more money to Ron Paul's campaign than all the other campaigns put together.

Iran should tell the West to fuck off

Christiaan — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:37:32 +0000

As part of negotiations with Iran over nuclear fuel Mohamed ElBaradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency recently proposed that Iran transfer about 70 percent of its low-enriched uranium to Russia for further enrichment by the end of this year, then to France for conversion into fuel plates for medical use, effectively negating its use in alleged…

‘We invaded Iraq and all we get is this lousy t-shirt’

Christiaan — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 10:40:44 +0000

They invade and lay waste another country, destroy the lives of millions of Iraqis for generations to come, all on some trumped up drivel about “weapons of mass destruction.” Now they’re arguing over the real reason. Oil. It’s not enough that control of Iraq’s crude is being divvied up amongst the capitalists of the world.…

Top Things you Think You Know about Iran that are not True

Christiaan — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 05:19:27 +0000

With current events this is a must read for any Westerner.

Cheney: an evil person for evil times

Christiaan — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 06:19:23 +0000

The Guardian: ‘Memoirs to reveal Dick Cheney thought Bush had gone soft on war on terror.’ Who knows what dark place we’d all be in if this man had become U.S. President.

Colonel Julian didn’t get the memo

Christiaan — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 07:09:42 +0000

Ahh, yes, there’s nothing like a little American exceptionalism to get one going in the morning. According to Reuters, Colonel Greg Julian, a U.S. military spokesman in Kabul, has been complaining that the Taliban is violating international law by parading a captured U.S. soldier on camera. It seems Colonel Julian didn’t get the memo: the…

The war crims are running scared

Christiaan — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 20:42:03 +0000

Check out this video of war criminal Condoleezza Rice passing the buck when questioned by some students about torture. Student: Waterboarding. Is waterboarding torture? War crim: Er, the President instructed us that nothing we would do would be outside of our obligations, legal obligations, under the Convention Against Torture. So that’s … and by the…

“What is the difference between Zionism and racism?”

Christiaan — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 09:30:54 +0000

Jeremy Paxman: What is the difference between Zionism and racism? Peter Gooderham: Well we see the two as being quite distinct, um, Zionism is clearly a … Jeremy Paxman: Yeah what’s the difference? Peter Gooderham: Well Zionism is a political movement, um, relating to the establishment … Jeremy Paxman (queitly): So are some forms of…

Baghdad: City of walls

Christiaan — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:11:47 +0000

Baghdad: City of walls: In this unique four-part film, award-winning Guardian foreign correspondent, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, an Iraqi journalist and photographer, takes us back to his home city of Baghdad. In the week of the sixth anniversary of the US-led invasion, this film, made by GuardianFilms for the Arab news network Al Jazeera, gives an insider’s…

Why more equal societies always do better

Christiaan — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 20:00:45 +0000

It’s been a long time coming but two people, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, have finally put the numbers together and conclusively shown that modern social problems are substantially worse in those societies with wider gaps between rich and poor. Any cursory look at the world tells you this but these are the first people to show it…

Funny little world we live in

Christiaan — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:08:01 +0000

George Bush oversees torture and commits the “supreme war crime” of aggression, causing suffering and death for millions. Gets to go back to his ranch. One of the victims of these crimes throws a shoe at the perpetrator. Gets 3 years in jail. The Guardian did get one thing wrong in their report. Muntazar al-Zaidi…

Congressman Ron Paul on America’s problem in a nutshell

Christiaan — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:25:34 +0000

Republican Congressman from Texas, Ron Paul, describe’s America’s problem in a nutshell: Imagine for a moment that somewhere in the middle of Texas there was a large foreign military base, say Chinese or Russian. Imagine that thousands of armed foreign troops were constantly patrolling American streets in military vehicles. Imagine they were here under the…

Tony Benn’s Interview With Saddam Hussein

Christiaan — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 09:07:05 +0000

Due to being in Iraq at the time I missed this interview with Saddam Hussein. Fascinating.

So you think Obama’s going to change things?

Christiaan — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:02:13 +0000

Think again (think Tony Blair): Tim Baldwin: I shut my eyes when I listen to [Obama] and it could be Tony. He is doing the same thing that we did in 1997. Matthew Parris: Here we have a handsome, dashing and intelligent man, a man with generous instincts and a silver tongue; but a man…

Some good news on the Bush regime’s war crimes

Christiaan — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:20:20 +0000

Sherwood Ross, for Yubanet: Steering Committee to pursue the prosecution for war crimes of President Bush and culpable high-ranking aides after they leave office Jan. 20th.

U.S. subjugation of Iraq and the spoils of war

Christiaan — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:29:51 +0000

Shortly after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 I wrote this opinion piece, which was published in my hometown newspaper, Hawke’s Bay Today, in New Zealand. It prompted this response, by way of letter to the editor, from Hardie Martin: After reading his Opinion in Hawke’s Bay Today on April 12, it occurs to me that anyone…

Bush regime drops preconditions to talks with Iran

Christiaan — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:29:24 +0000

It appears as if someone sensible finally has Bush’s ear. Maybe Tom Engelhardt is right.

Why the U.S. won’t attack Iran

Christiaan — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:01:30 +0000

The prospect of an attack on Iran has been on my mind since the attack on Iraq, not in the least because it would probably precipitate a great depression and turn much of the world into a fireball. Tom Engelhardt has a thoughtful piece on why he thinks the U.S./Israel won’t attack Iran, despite some of the nutters…

Iran is not the belligerent party

Christiaan — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:08:59 +0000

The media in the West has a lot of blood on its hands already. Is it going to have more blood on its hands in Iran? Iran is not the belligerent party: When it comes to demonising Iran, the US, Israel and Britain have a unified message and a compliant media, which has learned nothing from…

New Blog: Ken O’Keefe

Christiaan — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:15:53 +0000

New blog from my very good friend Ken O’Keefe. First post is about a Nuclear Free resolution he managed to get passed in the Reinstated Hawaiian Government legislature.

A truly courageous soldier would not stay in Iraq or Afghanistan

Christiaan — Fri, 09 May 2008 06:22:40 +0000

Protesting The Protesters 17-05-2008 Update: And they do exist. Here’s the latest: Matthis Chiroux

Chomsky on U.S. policy toward Iran

Christiaan — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 08:40:26 +0000

Paul Jay interviews Noam Chomksy on U.S. policy toward Iran: Suppose it was true that Iran is helping insurgents in Iraq. I mean, wasnâ€™t the United States helping insurgents when the Russians invaded Afghanistan? Did we think there was anything wrong with that? I mean, Iraq’s a country that was invaded and is under military…

Russell Brown, straw men and withdrawal from Iraq

Christiaan — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 08:21:14 +0000

Like many Kiwis on the net I enjoy reading Russell Brown's blog, Hard News, but every now and then something goes terribly terribly wrong.

It’s all just a big misunderstanding

Christiaan — Sun, 21 May 2006 09:09:01 +0000

Kirk MacGibbon, a New Zealander living in New York, says that Kiwi's are prejudice against Americans and that this comes from, amongst other things, "their limited understanding of American foreign policy." But we're not the only ones to lack understanding. Much of the world misunderstands U.S. foreign policy, especially those who have to deal with it at the end of a gun barrel.

The propaganda war against Iran

Christiaan — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 23:12:46 +0000

A few points to keep in mind if you're bothering to follow the current propaganda campaign being waged against Iran.

Information War: 85% of U.S. troops in la la land

Christiaan — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 10:59:33 +0000

A recent poll of U.S. troops in Iraq shows that 85% say the mission is mainly "to retaliate for Saddam's role in the 9-11 attacks."

They murder while we accidently kill

Christiaan — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 21:31:13 +0000

I've lost count of the number of times I've run into right-wingers who seem to have an unwavering belief that the crimes of their foes are be loudly proclaimed and harshly punished while their own crimes are to be wholly justified in the pursuit of their ideology. The ends justifies the means apparently.

Documentary: chemical weapons used on people in Iraq

Christiaan — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 21:35:38 +0000

A new documentary details the the use of white phosphorus against Iraqi people during the U.S. assault on Fallujah in November last year.

Armchair tough talk

Christiaan — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 23:22:09 +0000

Statements from your favourite armchair war criminals.

The U.S. invasion of Iran has already begun

Christiaan — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 12:21:04 +0000

Scott Ritter, former UN Chief Weapons Inspector in Iraq, writing for Aljazeera, argues that the invasion of Iran has already begun, much the same way as the invasion of Iraq begun in the summer of 2002.