Glenn Greenwald's Blog, page 45

NYT Trumpets U.S. Restraint against ISIS, Ignores Hundreds of Civilian Deaths

(updated below)

The New York Timesthis morning has an extraordinary article claiming that the U.S. is beinghampered in its war against ISIS because of its extreme — even excessive — concern for civilians. “American officials say they are not striking significant — and obvious — Islamic State targets out of fear that the attacks will accidentally kill civilians,” reporter Eric Schmittsays.

The newspaper gives voice to numerous, mostly anonymous officials to complain that the U.S. cares too dee...

In the Same Week, the U.S. and U.K. Hide Their War Crimes by Invoking “National Security”

Colonel Ian Henderson was a British official dubbed “the Butcher of Bahrain” because of atrocities he repeatedly committedduring the 30 years he served as chief security official of that Middle Eastern country. His reign of terror began in 1966 when Bahrain was a British “protectorate” and continued when the post-“independence” BahrainiKing retained him in the same position. In 1996, TheIndependent described himas “the most feared of all secret policemen” in Bahrain, and cited “consistent and...

GCHQ’s Rainbow Lights: Exploiting Social Issues for Militarism and Imperialism

Over the weekend, the British surveillance agency GCHQ — the most extremistand invasive in the West — bathedits futuristic headquarters with rainbow-colored lights “as a symbol of the intelligence agency’s commitment to diversity” and to expresssolidarity with “International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.” GCHQ’s public affairs office proudly distributed the above photograph to media outlets. Referring to Alan Turing, the closeted-and-oppressedgayWorld War II British code-b...

Greatest Threat to Free Speech Comes Not From Terrorism, But From Those Claiming to Fight It

We learned recently from Paris that the Western world is deeply and passionately committed to free expression and ready to march and fight against attempts to suppress it.That’s a really good thing, since there are all sorts of severe suppression efforts underway in the West — perpetrated not by The Terrorists but by the Western politicians claiming to fightthem.

One of the most alarming examples comes, not at all surprisingly, from the U.K. government, which is currently agitating for new co...

Email Exchange Between CBC and Public Safety Department Spokesperson on BDS Prosecutions

(updated below)

As I wrote about this morning, the CBC reported todaythat “the Harper government is signalling its intention to use hate crime laws against Canadian advocacy groups that encourage boycotts of Israel.” Various devotees of Israel, such as David Frum, spent the morning insistingthat the CBC story is false. Now, the Harpergovernment is following suit, issuing a (nonresponsive) statement that reads, in its entirety: “This [CBC] story is inaccurate and ridiculous. These laws have be...

Canadian Government Says Free Speech is for Offending Muslims — Not Opposing Israel

(updated below)

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, January 8, 2015, on Charlie Hebdo shootings:

“When a trio of hooded men struck at some of our most cherished democratic principles, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, they assaulted democracy everywhere . . .They have declared war on anybody who does not think and act exactly as they wish they would think and act . . . .they have declared war on any country, like ourselves, that values freedom, openness and tolerance.”

CBC, tod...

U.S. Government Designated Prominent Al Jazeera Journalist as “Member of Al Qaeda”

The U.S. government labeled a prominent journalist as a member of Al Qaeda and placed him on a watch list of suspected terrorists, according to a top-secret document that details U.S. intelligence efforts to track Al Qaeda couriers by analyzing metadata.

The briefing singles out Ahmad Muaffaq Zaidan, Al Jazeera’s longtime Islamabad bureau chief, as a member of the terrorist group. A Syrian national, Zaidan has focused his reporting throughout his career on the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and has co...

Samples of Israeli Horrific Brutality and War Criminality in Gaza

The Israeli group Breaking the Silence issued a report this morning containing testimony from Israeli soldiers about the savagery and criminality committed by the Israeli military during the attack on Gaza last summer. The Independent has a good article describing the report’s findings: “The Israeli military deliberately pounded civilian areas in the Gaza Strip with incessant fire of inaccurate ordinance” and “was at best indifferent about casualties among the Palestinian population.”At best....

204 PEN Writers (Thus Far) Have Objected to the Charlie Hebdo Award – Not Just 6

(this article is being updated as more PEN writers join)

Contrary to media accounts claiming that only 6 PEN members have objected to the group’s decision to bestow Charlie Hebdo with an award, the actual number is currently 145204 PEN members (6 writers scheduled to betableheadsat this year’s event have withdrawn, and the list includes writers who have served as table heads at prior events). Below is the letter drafted by several of the objecting writers, along with the current full list of...

145 PEN Writers (Thus Far) Have Objected to the Charlie Hebdo Award – Not Just 6

Contrary to media accounts claiming that only 6 PEN members have objected to the group’s decision to bestow Charlie Hebdo with an award, the actual number is currently 145 PEN members (6 writers scheduled to betableheadsat this year’s event have withdrawn, and the list includes writers who have served as table heads at prior events). Below is the letter drafted by several of the objecting writers, along with the current full list of signatories:

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April 26, 2015

In March it was announ...