Whatever you think of John Pilger, he consistently does what an investigative journalist should do – dig up and report on hidden or ignored facts. His piece recently aired on SBS on the so-called War on Terror (as if you can wage war on an emotion) indicated just how much the Bush administration and its allies have fudged the facts and how little the mass media have gone looking for anthing like the ‘truth’. It was also interesting to be reminded that, since the invasion of Iraq was probably illegal according to international law, Bush, Blair and Howard may well be war criminals, if we were to uphold the principles established at Nuremburg after WWII.
The way Howard has decided that the nation has ‘moved on’ from the war in Iraq is a scandal. The way the mass media here have let him get away with it is even more disturbing. The death of tens of thousands of Iraqi men, women and children, the maiming of thousands more, and the virtual destruction of an entire national infrastructure is not something we should ‘move on’ from without some serious consideration.
For all his faults, John Pilger is one of the very few journalists who will take on these big issues and try to jog our conscience. I hope the new American President gives him a lot less material to work with, and the new Australian Prime Minister much less reason to feel shame about being Australian.