Glenn Greenwald's Blog, page 83
June 19, 2012
Assange asks Ecuador for asylum
(updated below)
Julian Assange was scheduled within days to turn himself over to British authorities for extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning in connection with a sexual assault case in which he has never been charged. Instead, Assange earlier today went to the Embassy of Ecuador in London and sought asylum from that country under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Ecuadorian Foreign Minister,Ricardo Patino, issued a statementindicating that his government is "...
June 18, 2012
Bipartisanship and Iran
Several days ago,a letter was sent to President Obama urging a harder-line on Iran, including ever-harsher sanctions and more aggressive threats of war in the event that the current negotiations fail to produce a quick and total resolution. What makes the letter notable is that it was not sent by AIPAC (at least not nominally), but rather by 44 Senators, exactly half of whom (22) are Democrats. That includes liberal Senate stalwarts such as Ron Wyden, Jeff Merkley, and Sherrod Brown. Here is...
June 17, 2012
“Officials say” journalism
On June 1, Taliban insurgents attacked a U.S. outpost in Khost, near the Afghan-Pakistani border. The official claim from coalition forces was that they "successfully repelled the attack" and "there are no reports of ISAF fatalities." But as The Washington Postdetails today, that claim was wildly misleading and in some cases outright false. The attack was "much worse than originally disclosed by the military as insurgents pounded the base with a truck bomb, killing two Americans and seriously...
June 15, 2012
The imperatives of political pressure
(updated below)
Throughout the Obama presidency, one of the most vocal and demanding factions in the Democratic Party base has been activists for gay and lesbian equality. They repeatedly protested at Obama events and even at the White House, complained loudly about Obama's broken promises, and even threatened to boycott Obama's re-election campaign by withholding donations. In light of that ongoing confrontationalism, as well as the importance of gay voters (and especially gay donors) to the...
GOP/Dem rhetorical convergence
In 2005, Karl Rove sparked widespread outrage by accusing liberal critics of President Bush's Terrorism programs of sympathizing with and wanting to coddle The Terrorists:
Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers."
In response, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid's spokesman called on Bush to "immediately repudiate Karl Rove's o...
June 14, 2012
Al Qaeda’s best friend
(updated below)
The New York Timeshas an extraordinary Op-Ed this morning byIbrahim Mothana, a 23-year-old democracy activistand Al Qaeda opponent in Yemen. The headline is "How Drones Help Al Qaeda," and it explains in compelling detail how the principal U.S. tactic ostensibly devoted to fighting Al Qaeda in his country -- repeated drone attacks -- is having exactly the opposite effect. Even though I'm going to excerpt some of it to discuss it, I really urge everyone to read all of it. He beg...
June 13, 2012
U.S. drones deeply unpopular around the world
Last night I wrote about how Obama's drone attacks and other forms of militarism in the Muslim world are making another Terror attack on U.S. soil more likely, while my Salon colleague Jefferson Morley documented the mass political instability those policies are spawning. A newly released international polling survey from the Pew Research Center sharply underscores both points.
June 12, 2012
What might cause another 9/11?
Today's defense of President Obama from Andrew Sullivan is devoted to refuting Conor Friedersdorf's criticism of Obama's drone program. Says Sullivan:
What frustrates me about Conor's position - and Greenwald's as well - is that it kind of assumes 9/11 didn't happen or couldn't happen again, and dismisses far too glibly the president's actual responsibility as commander-in-chief to counter these acts of mass terror.
This is exactly backward. I absolutely believe that another 9/11 is possible. A...
June 11, 2012
Leon Panetta: Macho Renaissance man
(updated below)
Of all the ways in which America's establishment media lionizes political leaders, none is quite as sycophantic as when it involves military policy and those who implement it. As Chris Hayes recently learned, and as Brian Williams just eagerly exuded: unabashed, uncritical reverence is obligatory in this realm.
And compulsion is hardly required: American journalists naturally swoon with adoration in the presence of shiny medals on uniforms and, especially, war gadgetry. As forme...
June 10, 2012
Obama defender Rep. Peter King
Many Democrats love to scorn GOP Rep. Peter King as the embodiment of right-wing extremism and Islamophobia, and with good reason: among other things, King, the Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security and an outspoken supporter of the IRA, last year held McCarthyite hearings to investigate the threat of radical American Muslims on U.S. soil. But Rep. King has another role: he's one of President Obama's most outspoken defenders and supporters when it comes to civil liberties and T...
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