Australia's Green-left website www.greenleft.org.au is mysteriously down (6pm GMT). Could it be because the lead interview - with award winning Journalst John Pilger - encourages the anti war movement in the west to build links with the Iraqi resistance? Could it be a thought-crime website? If so well done Greenlefties in Oz! Anyway here is that INTERVIEW.
John Pilger
Truth and lies in the 'war on terror'
Journalist John Pilger will be speaking at a public meeting in Sydney on February 15, the anniversary of the biggest ever global protests against war. Pip Hinman spoke to Pilger about the truth and lies in the “war on terror”.
What do you make of developments in Iraq John?
The US occupation is in deep trouble. The ship is sinking and more and more are deserting — ex-treasury secretary Paul O'Neill, and now the US Military War College are distancing themselves. The British are also in trouble; the Shiites are clearly girding themselves to take charge, either with their majority vote, or in a full-scale uprising.
This is not to say the Americans will not react massively. Remember, they destroyed the infrastructure of the National Liberation Front in Vietnam in just a couple of years. They want to repeat this in Iraq, with help from the 10,000 secret police they are training under the leadership of Saddam Hussein's most senior security officials.
Do you think the anti-war movement should be supporting Iraq's anti-occupation resistance?
Yes, I do. We cannot afford to be choosy. While we abhor and condemn the continuing loss of innocent life in Iraq, we have no choice now but to support the resistance, for if the resistance fails, the “Bush gang” will attack another country. If they succeed, a grievous blow will be suffered by the Bush gang.
In Afghanistan, the allied invasion force is now helping entrench Northern Alliance warlords and gunmen, hoping for a compliant regime. Isn't this a risky strategy?
Yes, it is. But remember the US doesn't want to occupy Afghanistan as it does Iraq. It's following the British (and the Soviet) imperial design of “commanding” the country from strategic bases. With 16 bases established in surrounding countries since the invasion in October 2001, the US has realised important aims.
Controlling the warlords (as the British found) is another matter. At present, the US maintains its mafiosi role by shelling out millions of dollars to the likes of Rashid Dostum, whom US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld has visited twice to “congratulate” on his part in the “war on terror”. This is the same Dostum who killed about 4000 prisoners of war.
Shouldn’t this supposedly endless “war on terror” make us feel rather gloomy about prospects for peace?
I don't know about “gloomy”. I don't think we have time to be gloomy: too much to do! The US warmongers fear public opinion, because they must pay lip service to a semblance of democracy. We must give them good cause to go on fearing it.
[For public meeting details and bookings, or visit the new Stop the War Coalition web site on .]
From Green Left Weekly, January 28, 2004.
Journalist John Pilger will be speaking at a public meeting in Sydney on February 15, the anniversary of the biggest ever global protests against war. Pip Hinman spoke to Pilger about the truth and lies in the “war on terror”.
What do you make of developments in Iraq John?
The US occupation is in deep trouble. The ship is sinking and more and more are deserting — ex-treasury secretary Paul O'Neill, and now the US Military War College are distancing themselves. The British are also in trouble; the Shiites are clearly girding themselves to take charge, either with their majority vote, or in a full-scale uprising.
This is not to say the Americans will not react massively. Remember, they destroyed the infrastructure of the National Liberation Front in Vietnam in just a couple of years. They want to repeat this in Iraq, with help from the 10,000 secret police they are training under the leadership of Saddam Hussein's most senior security officials.
Do you think the anti-war movement should be supporting Iraq's anti-occupation resistance?
Yes, I do. We cannot afford to be choosy. While we abhor and condemn the continuing loss of innocent life in Iraq, we have no choice now but to support the resistance, for if the resistance fails, the “Bush gang” will attack another country. If they succeed, a grievous blow will be suffered by the Bush gang.
In Afghanistan, the allied invasion force is now helping entrench Northern Alliance warlords and gunmen, hoping for a compliant regime. Isn't this a risky strategy?
Yes, it is. But remember the US doesn't want to occupy Afghanistan as it does Iraq. It's following the British (and the Soviet) imperial design of “commanding” the country from strategic bases. With 16 bases established in surrounding countries since the invasion in October 2001, the US has realised important aims.
Controlling the warlords (as the British found) is another matter. At present, the US maintains its mafiosi role by shelling out millions of dollars to the likes of Rashid Dostum, whom US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld has visited twice to “congratulate” on his part in the “war on terror”. This is the same Dostum who killed about 4000 prisoners of war.
Shouldn’t this supposedly endless “war on terror” make us feel rather gloomy about prospects for peace?
I don't know about “gloomy”. I don't think we have time to be gloomy: too much to do! The US warmongers fear public opinion, because they must pay lip service to a semblance of democracy. We must give them good cause to go on fearing it.
[For public meeting details and bookings, or visit the new Stop the War Coalition web site on .]
From Green Left Weekly, January 28, 2004.
Comments
Hide the following 5 comments
One way we can support the Iraqi resistance-
02.02.2004 22:57
STOP NYC Inc.
Homepage:
http://tinyurl.com/3bw9y
We can't support fascist murderers?? It's political correctness gone mad!
03.02.2004 16:45
sdgfds
What is Green Left Weekly
04.02.2004 02:58
Green Left Weekly, a newspaper Pilger proudly endorses from its masthead, itself is not what it seems.
It used to publish under the banner 'Direct Action' - and was proudly supportive of the former USSR. Until the Soviet Union collapsed.
It re-invented itself as 'Green Left Weekly' almost immediately, and transferred its fealty to Fidel Castro's Cuban regime.
Its website actually has a hot link from the front-page to the Cuban government's official newspaper Granma.
And it is openly pro-Castro in all its covergae of that regime.
Wonder what Pilger's STATED views are on, say, labour organisations and emmigration?
And how might they compare with Cuba's track record?
See also "Green Left's radical heritage" at;
At this site, GreenLeft Weekly firmly anchors its origins in - and proudly boasts of its connections with - the Stalinist CPA of the 1930s
"...By 1932, 22 branches operated in Victoria with some 2000 members. The party put enormous resources into sales of the paper. Wherever there was a gathering of people, there was also a party seller. Newspapers were sold regularly on door-knocks, on city and suburban streets, at trade union, anti-war and unemployed meetings, at factory gates, at rallies and marches, in the pubs and at the universities. ..."
These days, they do this under the guise of being Greenies - but they're actually unreconstructed communist agitators. Mostly, they cannot give the paper away these days.
Nothing quite as sad as seeing the Party loyalists on the streets of Sydney trying ever more desparately to thrust "GLW" into the hands of unwilling shop-girls and office workers passing by.
Makes me wonder how they finance their operations.
Helping hand from Cuba?
spinifex
Well said, John Pilger!
09.07.2005 07:02
"Support for Iraqi resistance is 'thought crime'", Interview between John Pilger and Pip Hinman of www.greenleft.org.au, early 2004,
"Stop NYC Inc.", well, I haven't checked out the website, but that title certainly strikes me as very and critically fitting.
Re. sdgfds: "In my opinion supporting the Iraqi Saddamite fascists and foreign and Iraqi Islamic Fundamentalists defintely deserves to be a thought crime if thought crimes are to exist, along with racism, sexism, Stalinism, Nazisim, etc.":
Ever heard of the concept of "look in the mirror", "before you pass judgement on others", or "take the log/plank out of your own eye, before trying to remove anything from another person's eye"? Ever heard of either of those? If not, then it's time for sdgfds to start to critically, carefully start paying attention to the real real-world, and to similarly reflect upon all of that which is involved.
Re. "What is Green Left Weekly", by spinifex:
What does 'spinifex' mean, I wonder; 'spin' is certainly part of the title.
Yes, that's quite some spin by spinifex, for as per above, regarding sdgfds' post or comment: Have you yet begun to carefully look in the mirror, before pretending that you can pass judgement on others, or not!
If not, then start; otherwise, there's something wrong, off with all of your viewing control settings, some serious fine tuning is required.
EXCELLENT interview; short, but says powerfully enough. And I don't even know if the interview transcript is authentic, although it does strike me as John Pilger, at least like.
And, enjoy reflecting further with use of the following, for example:
"Joan of Arc",
Oh, what an awesome woman she was, and she was just a "babe" yet, i.e., very young; a powerful figure and executed by the age of 19. By that time, she had done [much], and greatly so. And we can compare the story of her "adventure" with that of Iraqi resistance fighters; awfully alike the two are!
I'm Christian, officially RC, and the RCC has been "bugging" the "heck" out of, or into, me, and her story, that of Joan of Arc, greatly helps to put "things", life into a [balanced] perspective, view for me; only having read that encyclopedia page tonight, just having completed it minutes ago; otherwise, having only seen the or a movie, a documentary, about her story, and which was not inclusive of all that is found in the above encyclopedia page. The latter has helped me greatly, for it's additional details.
As I frequently say, I am certainly no school-bench order Christian, but a truly [streets] order one, and her story [helps] me, [much]. She was real woman and human(e) heart, very sound; and even if fighting, ..., is preferably avoided, sometimes one does need to take a firm stand, or else ....
Her story provides credibility for the "Just war" theory or concept, for her story is about defence of one's country, ...; and that [is] what Iraqi resistance [represents]; nothing else, only defence.
"Pierre Cauchon", now that name, the last part of it, strikes a very special order "bell" with me. During the run-up politics to the war on Iraq, very shortly before, when Tony Blair et al concluded that they were definitely committing Britain to this war of pure hell-bent aggression, I overheard them on BBC radio, broadcast over CBC, Canada, and they concluded with a "sound off" like a chorus of (hell-bent) pigs, "cauchons".
There's more that I can relate to in very special ways with respect to her story, but a short way of saying what it's about has to do with "war cloud(s)"; something of very special nature that I personally witnessed and very carefully observed several days prior to Sept. 11, 2001, and have had plenty of time to also very carefully interpret, and reverify my interpretation. I don't know of any website that would host the description of that event, but maybe Wikipedia would accept for the basically blank "war cloud(s)", not being sure, remembering if it's plural or singular, page. "War clouds", did I really witness? Could be a hoax, but it's not that, instead truth, and a draft copy was posted at cbc.ca during late fall 2002.
Having been pro-USSR or pro-USA prior to the close of the Cold War was rather an area of subject matter that was very, awfully "grey", for while both countries, governments had their demented faults, well, they [both] did; and the US government pointing its finger at the USSR, while pretending to be pure, holy, ..., on its own part was [hypocrisy], hegemony, ...; nothing significantly truthful.
As for Fidel Castro, he has commanded badly in some ways, but has certainly not been worse than many other government leaders in this world; and certainly is not worse than the US government; definitely not the latter.
No, the USA today is Apocalyptic Beast numero uno, #1.
It's "nice" to fault others while we [pretend] that we have [no] faults to point out, but it's often if not usually a falsehood; containing some truth, but of the order of half-truths which are, in the end, LIES, deception, malicious and mischievious attempts at trying to [manipulate] people who are too stupid to soundly research and think for themselves; people for whom sound common sense has no meaning, for they're too opaque to understand what it really, essentially means.
Some people may consider me extremist, but I certainly don't perceive Joan of Arc as being of that order; only [strong] hearted and willed, and [Just]. It was up to the hell-bent pigs, cauchons to mind their own personal business and to not stick their hell-bent noses into other people's lives. They refused to abide by that very simple "rule of thumb" and got hell for it.
And some people associate the name of Joan of Arc with Jeanne d'Arc, which is the real name, but also with 'Jehanne of Arc'; and 'Jehanne' strikes me as similar-enough to 'Gehaine', although am not sure if that's entirely the right spelling, while it is phonetically, and it's a French word for 'Hell'. Oh, she was 'hell' for the English, alright, and maybe that's how she came to be "renamed" "Jehanne".
I've [never] been against the Iraqi resistance, only for them; the sole thing that I wanted from them was for them to be very [careful] about not harming innocent Iraqis. All others, well, they chose the "beds" in which they were willing to "sleep in", and the "bedmates" with whom they were willing to "sleep with". Some of those people did that rather [innocently] and should be spared from slaying, but the others, and likely most they are, ..., are legitimate targets for the Iraqi resistance.
Vive la [resistance]; let her breath, grow, expand, and vanquish. Vive la resistance!!!
Mike Corbeil
John Pilger on Iraq
15.07.2005 14:45
Why do so-called 'anti-war' crows like Pilger, Galloway and co persist in proclaiming their deep concern for and solidarity with the Iraqi people when they haven't got the faintest f---ing idea what's going on in the country ? I've served in Iraq with the British army, I've been cheek to jowl with the people of Southern Iraq for six months of my life.I can safely say that Pilger's portrait of conditions in Iraq (especially in the Shia South) is complete bulls---, especially with reference to the January 2005 elections (a 'sham' in Pilger's view, but not for the 9 million Iraqis who voted in them).
Some of your readers will look at the last paragraph, and dismiss what I had to say because I was part of the coalition presence. My response is this 'What have you done for the Iraqis yourself ? Have you assisted in engineering work to repair Iraq's infrastructure ? Have you helped reflood the habitat of the Marsh Arabs ? Have you done anything to restore the medical, judicial and civil police services in Iraq ? Have you done anything practical to help put back on its feet a country wrecked by 30 years of Ba'athist misrule ?' (NB: Waving a placard and shouting slogans doesn't count).
The bottom line is the average Brit, or Aussie (or any other coalition soldier in Iraq) has done more for the welfare of the Iraqis than all the Pilgers in the world. Keep scribbling John. Keep parading your conscience for self-gratification and the edification of all those who specialise in long-distance compassion. Nothing you will do will ever make a difference to those you claim to care for.
Hughesie