Tariq Ali and Davide Simonetti on Democracy Now - Two for the price of one ;)
We have been trying to make sense of what has come out of the trial of David Keogh, and Leo O'Connor, sentenced yesterday for 3 and 6 months respectively for the leaking of the al-Jazeera Memo. Obviously, 'events'* have rather taken over the story. Some of what we know has been confirmed by the trial, but some things we thought we knew have become less clear.
What we do know for certain is that two men are tonight in prison, after a trial held largely in secret after being mercilessly pursued by a government in a futile attempt to protect what is left of the reputations of George Bush and Tony Blair. Not only are we prevented from learning about what was disclosed in camera, but even comments made in open court, and information already in the public domain are the subject of a gagging order.
All on the basis of the principles outlined by, the prime minister's foreign policy adviser Sir Nigel Sheinwald.
Davide Simonetti went down to record a brief piece for today's Democracy Now on the subject [29 minutes into the show], and we hope to round up what we do know, what we think we know, and what we don't know tomorrow.
*on the subject of 'events', and to further tempt you into watching today's Democracy Now - If you enjoyed Tariq Ali in today's Guardian, you can also see him in full swing if you start the same episode of Democracy Now 16 minutes into the show. Tariq is followed by the Sex Pistols, and then Davide...
Well Done David! The main
Well Done David!
The main issue is Fallujah. Al Jazeera were trying to report what was happening, which probably revealed evidence of a war crime. It is not difficult to imagine the content of the conversation between Bush and Blair.
How DARE a democratically elected government suppress information that is not only embarassing, but possibly provides evidence of war crimes. Keep pushing! They are on thin ice.
Great to hear the article on
Great to hear the article on yesterday's Democracy Now. Amy Goodman's show seems to be the best kept secret in UK and USA yet it's utterly compelling. I listen to the show each day on my MP3 player. Where else can you regularly hear Chomsky, Arundhati Roy, Tony Benn, Howard Zinn, Robert Fisk, Harry Belafonte, Hugo Chavez, Alice Walker, John Pilger etc? Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez are wonderful rigorous journalists yet no British paper seems to acknowledge they exist. Shame, perhaps.
Yep, good ol "Democracy
Yep, good ol "Democracy Now". Reveals the the BBC for the lowbrow servile stream of audio power piss it is on a daily basis. Anybody not downloading it everyday should be.
The sex pistols track was
The sex pistols track was very droll :-)
Simonetti was good but looked very pale - maybe he can get hold of some of that orange tan that Tony uses.
"private talks between world
"private talks between world leaders must remain confidential however illegal or morally abhorrent aspects of their discussions might be."
That statement is absolutely outrageous. Translation:
We are above the law. The law is for little people. Fuck you.
"...private talks between
"...private talks between world leaders must remain confidential however illegal or morally abhorrent aspects of their discussions might be." is one of the most shocking things i've read in a long time.
They broke the Hague Convention, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The Geneva Convention, and article 5 of the Rome Statute.
"private talks between world
"private talks between world leaders must remain confidential however illegal or morally abhorrent aspects of their discussions might be."
Yet we bugged the UN.
If their conversation is illegal, it is surely criminal not to report it..
"private talks between world
"private talks between world leaders must remain confidential however illegal or morally abhorrent aspects of their discussions might be."
Does anyone still think we are living in a free society with liberty, justice and democracy?