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#The Age (Australia)

97 articles

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“Lighten up, fellow Muslims”

by Irshad Manji

1 March 2006

In the world economic forum held in January, I noticed something revealing. In a session about the US religious right-wing, a cartoonist showed a cartoon featuring Pat Robertson and everybody in the hall laughed. Among those who laughed, there was a figure from the British Muslim community who (…)

"Hamas has arrived but there are limits to its advance"

by Hussein Agha, Robert Malley

7 February 2006

There is more uncertainty than clarity surrounding the upcoming Palestinian elections although there is something clear: Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the United States and Europe and a mortal enemy of Israel, will be joining the legislature. It is possible that it may win a (…)

“Presumptive assassination: the latest in our ally’s arsenal”

by Duncan Kerr

3 February 2006

Extrajudicial assassination has become a weapon in the global war on terror and such a weapon is being increasingly used. The Australian government must condemn this tendency and ensure that none of the Australian infrastructures is used by our US ally to launch air strikes against territories (…)

“We should be very worried about Iran”

by John Keegan

27 January 2006

I was in favour of the war against Iraq but had my doubts, which I still have. Those who are against it have their reasons and they could even use the Machiavellian argument that Saddam Hussein was a valuable allied against Iran. And today we have realized that Iran wants to become a nuclear (…)

“The Outsourcing of Evil”

by Salman Rushdie

20 January 2006

No doubts that the most unfortunate expression that has become part of the English vocabulary is “extraordinary rendition”, since “extraordinary” does not necessarily mean “extraordinary” but “secret”, “ruthless” and “extralegal”. And so does “rendition” – a polysemous term that may mean (…)

“An old warrior who might have won peace”

by Michael Lerner

18 January 2006

In the pacifist movement, many of us pray for Ariel Sharon’s recovery, despite having considered him an obstacle for peace in the long term. Even when we have never wished death to anybody, including our enemies, we do hope that people like the Iranian president, or Syrian dictator Bashar (…)

“The attacks changed our lives”

by John Howard

19 September 2005

This year we commemorate the fourth anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York and remember the 3,000 victims that lost their lives there, including 10 Australian citizens, as well as the dozens of thousands who suffered damages. The September 11 events were an attack against our way of (…)

"A case for torture"

by Mirko Bagaric

20 May 2005

Recent events stemming from the war on terrorism have highlighted the use of torture despite the fact that it is almost universally forbidden. The belief that torture is always a bad choice is typical of a reflexive thinking. Torture should be permissible when all evidence suggests that it is (…)

"Torture is inhuman, illegal and futile"

by Sarah Joseph

20 May 2005

The war on terrorism has revived the idea that torture would be an effective means to fight terrorism. That is the thesis of Mirko Bagaric and Julie Clarke of Deakin University. According to their thesis, is a time bomb were planted anywhere, it would be legitimate to torture people who were (…)

"An argument that fails the test of civilized society"

by Malcolm Fraser

20 May 2005

The test of any civilized society is the respect that society shows for the wellbeing of individual citizens. The struggle for the people’s rights has been taking place for centuries to establish the rule of law. Centuries ago, British courts began to reject evidence taken under torture. Through (…)

“The War We Silently Introduced”

by Michael Sexton

8 May 2005

Two important anniversaries pertaining to the war of Viet Nam will be celebrated this week. 40 years ago, Australia entered the war and, 30 years ago, Saigon fell into the hands of the north-Vietnamese forces.
_ Later 1964 and early 1965, the debate about the interference in Viet Nam was at (…)