Month: July 2011

The Two Sides of South Africa

In the Western news media, South Africa is often treated as an African success story, with attention focused on its wealthy businessmen, its elegant neighborhoods and its glimmering malls. But the glitz obscures another reality, one of continuing inequality, poverty and injustice,…

Anti-Torture Strike in California Prisons

Many Americans were shocked by how the Bush administration treated “war on terror” detainees and others were startled when the Obama administration abused suspected WikiLeaks leaker Bradley Manning in a military brig. But the larger scandal may be how common…

American Right and Limits of Logic

American politics is increasingly defined by a struggle that pits religious fundamentalism and anti-government true-belief against rationality and liberalism, with the former combination gaining gradual dominance over the latter. But poet Phil Rockstroh says both sides fail to grasp the coming collapse of…

Fixing a Glitch on Comments

A number of readers had trouble making comments at the end of Consortiumnews.com stories, a glitch that came from the format we were using. We have switched to a different format that, we hope, should make commenting simpler. Our apologies for…

The Why Behind the Gaza Mission

Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern has submitted these two YouTube videos to help explain why he considered challenging the Israeli blockade of Gaza as important enough to become a passenger on the U.S. boat named The Audacity of Hope.

The Rise of Pro-Democracy Journalism

The old idea of journalism arming the people with facts they need for democracy to work has been betrayed by major U.S. news outlets, like the New York Times and Washington Post, which have instead aligned themselves with national power under…

Not Looking in the Mirror

Americans generally see their country as a great moral force in the world and thus reject evidence of U.S. crimes, even when they’re obvious, like George W. Bush’s Iraq invasion or his use of torture. This delusional self-righteousness often leaves the United States at…

Mixed Signals on US Troops in Iraq

Anti-American Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has stood in the way of proposals to extend U.S. troop presence in Iraq beyond the end of this year, and some of his backers have attacked American forces as a reminder of the looming deadline. But Gareth…

Neocons Fume Over US Boat to Gaza

Exclusive: At the behest of Tel Aviv and Washington, Greek authorities stopped a small flotilla from sailing to Gaza in a challenge to Israel’s four-year blockade of the narrow strip of land and its 1.6 million people. Now, apologists for…

The Complexity of Mandela

Nelson Mandela was one of the last century’s great freedom fighters, taking on the evils of white supremacy in South Africa and defying the cold-hearted Realpolitik of Washington. But his triumph meant that the Western media would water down his…