Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005
 RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony
Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony
Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony
RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony
Waiting for SIPO Anthony Public Inquiry >>
Parse failure for http://humanrights.ie/feed/. Last Retry Wednesday September 17, 2025 11:35
BBC Moral Maze Waffle-Fest Fails to Address Objection That Net Zero Could Leave Billions Dead From S... Wed Sep 17, 2025 09:00 | Chris Morrison
In last week's Net Zero edition of the BBC's Moral Maze, the most basic objection to climate doomerism ? that Net Zero 2050 could leave billions dead of starvation ? was ignored, says Chris Morrison.
The post BBC Moral Maze Waffle-Fest Fails to Address Objection That Net Zero Could Leave Billions Dead From Starvation appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
How Left-Wing Activists are Recycled Wed Sep 17, 2025 07:00 | Charlotte Gill
If you've looked at pictures of Left-wing protests and think, 'Haven't I seen her before?' you'd be right! Charlotte Gill investigates the weird small world of Leftist activist recycling.
The post How Left-Wing Activists are Recycled appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
News Round-Up Wed Sep 17, 2025 01:15 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
German State Media Have Systematically Slandered Charlie Kirk in the Wake of his Assassination Tue Sep 16, 2025 19:00 | Eugyppius
German state media have systematically slandered Charlie Kirk in the wake of his assassination, says Eugyppius. They portray him as an unhinged and dangerous fascist, just stopping short of blaming him for his own death.
The post German State Media Have Systematically Slandered Charlie Kirk in the Wake of his Assassination appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
White House Announces Crackdown on ?Terrorist? Left Tue Sep 16, 2025 17:47 | Will Jones
The White House is cracking down on Left-wing "terrorist" organisations following?the killing of Charlie Kirk, with President Trump saying he will considered designating Antifa as a terror group.
The post White House Announces Crackdown on “Terrorist” Left appeared first on The Daily Sceptic. Lockdown Skeptics >>
Voltaire, international edition
Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en
Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en
The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en Voltaire Network >>
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Baghdad Year Zero, By Naomi Klein
 international |
anti-war / imperialism |
other press
 Friday September 24, 2004 13:52 by redjade
Pillaging Iraq in pursuit of a neocon utopia
Baghdad Year Zero
By Naomi Klein
Pillaging Iraq in pursuit of a neocon utopia The honey theory of Iraqi reconstruction stems from the most cherished belief of the war’s ideological architects: that greed is good. Not good just for them and their friends but good for humanity, and certainly good for Iraqis. Greed creates profit, which creates growth, which creates jobs and products and services and everything else anyone could possibly need or want.
[....]
Iraq was going to change all that. In one place on Earth, the theory would finally be put into practice in its most perfect and uncompromised form. A country of 25 million would not be rebuilt as it was before the war; it would be erased, disappeared. In its place would spring forth a gleaming showroom for laissez-faire economics, a utopia such as the world had never seen. Every policy that liberates multinational corporations to pursue their quest for profit would be put into place: a shrunken state, a flexible workforce, open borders, minimal taxes, no tariffs, no ownership restrictions. The people of Iraq would, of course, have to endure some short-term pain: assets, previously owned by the state, would have to be given up to create new opportunities for growth and investment. Jobs would have to be lost and, as foreign products flooded across the border, local businesses and family farms would, unfortunately, be unable to compete. But to the authors of this plan, these would be small prices to pay for the economic boom that would surely explode once the proper conditions were in place, a boom so powerful the country would practically rebuild itself.
The fact that the boom never came and Iraq continues to tremble under explosions of a very different sort should never be blamed on the absence of a plan. Rather, the blame rests with the plan itself, and the extraordinarily violent ideology upon which it is based.
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