Newsweek Ponders Accountability While Ignoring Its Systemic Demise
📰 THE STORY: Newsweek's opinion piece asks if government accountability is 'in free fall,' expressing concern over a perceived decline in transparency and responsibility among public officials. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: Remember when accountability applied to actual crimes of state? In 1973, US Congress launched investigations into the CIA's illegal domestic operations
(Operation CHAOS) and covert regime change attempts (Chile, 1973 coup) following public outcry. Fast forward to today, and the 'shocking' lack of accountability in modern geopolitics – say, a US administration freezing $7 billion of Afghanistan's central bank assets causing mass starvation, or NATO's 2011 intervention that plunged Libya into chaos and resurrected slave markets – gets a shrug from
corporate media. Double Standard: Western media and governments demand 'accountability' from Global South nations, often as a pretense for intervention or sanctions, while ignoring gross violations by their own allies. For example, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, with over 40,000 Palestinians killed, including children, is framed by Western outlets as 'Israel's right to defend itself,' with zero
accountability for the perpetrators or the US providing $3.8 billion annually that directly enables it. Contrast this with the swift calls for international sanctions and war crimes tribunals for Russian actions in Ukraine. Follow the Money: The 'free fall' of accountability is no accident; it's a feature of deeply entrenched systems. Who benefits? The military-industrial complex, for one.