Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
Libya: moral blackmail trumps political debate
In his address to the nation, Obama cynically elevated the moral imperative over ‘nasty’ political criticisms. Read my spiked article in full here.
On Obama’s Libya speech: moral blackmail doesn’t trump politics
President Obama’s address to the nation on Libya last night was lengthy, but it did not really put to rest the many questions that have been raised about the military intervention in that country. We are still not clear about the mission and the endgame, why Congress was not allowed to vote on it, and […]
The “Arab context” argument
Marc Lynch, professor at George Washington University and blogger for Foreign Policy, is one of the more thoughtful commentators. He has expressed reservations about the West’s intervention in Libya, but ultimately supports it. In his post today, Lynch highlights the “Arab context”, which he says “is essential for understanding the logic and stakes of the intervention”: Libya […]
Benghazi billboard says it all
Apparently, not every Libyan rebel was asking the West to send in its military.
The idea behind the war on Libya: R2P
The policy underpinning the UN declaration on Libya is “responsibility to protect”, otherwise known as R2P. UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon called the authorization an ” ‘historic’ affirmation of the global community’s responsibility to protect people from their own government’s violence.” According to Josh Rogin’s account of “how Obama turned on a dime toward war”, officials pushing for military intervention included […]
So it begins: West appears to kill Libyan civilians, Arab League bails out
The mission said to “protect” civilians looks like it has done the opposite. Libyan state TV has reported that 48 civilians have been killed. The Arab League and Russia are among the first to denounce the bombings. Of course, it is always possible that the Libyan regime is inventing them, as part of a propaganda war. […]
Libya: how the West just made things worse
Sean Collins reports from New York on how the UN’s green light for military action may wreck any hope of freedom for the people of Libya. You can read my spiked article in full here.
US and West declare war on Libya: it just got much, much worse
I came home tonight and found that the US and the other Western powers had just launched another war in the Middle East. Add Libya to Afghanistan and Iraq. A few hours ago the United Nations Security Council voted to authorize military action against the Libya regime led by Colonel Muammar el-Gaddafi. The authorization extends beyond the much-discussed “no-fly zone” to […]
Narcissistic Americans scare-monger about nuclear power at home
We all watch as the disaster in Japan continues to unfold. The loss of life and destruction caused by the earthquake and tsunami are terrible, while the stories of the Japanese people coping are both heartbreaking and impressive. Now there is the threat of a substantial release of radiation, with each day bringing news of […]
NPR: talk of “uneducated” Americans is the real outrage
An embarrassing video has led the Chief Executive of NPR (National Public Radio) to resign. Vivian Schiller offered her resignation a day after a conservative film-maker released a video that captured an NPR fund-raiser talking to people pretending to be donors from a Muslim Brotherhood front organization. NPR – the publicly-funded and listener-supporter radio network that many people […]