Wars
of the Laptop Bombers
Today's
Stories
February 25,
2005
Roger Burbach
Murder
in the Amazon
February 24,
2005
Omar Waraich
The
Galloway Saga: Smearing an Anti-War Politician
Brian Cloughley
Bribing and Twisting Amerian Journalists: Valerie Plame &
30 Pieces of Silver
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Sharon Smith
The Anti-War Movement After Kerry: Learning All the Wrong Lessons
Dave Lindorff
Do These Roosting Chickens Have Flu?
Fred Feldman
Lynching Ward Churchill
James Reiss
On Hearing About a Plot to Assassinate President Bush
Diane Christian
Bad
Blood: Ritual & Sexual Torture in Iraq
Website of
the Day
The Gray Line
February 23,
2005
Werther
The
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W. John Green
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Rules
James Petras
A New Face to Bush Foreign Policy?
Conn Hallinan
Cornering the Dragon: the Return of the China Lobby
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Cannabis: the Goose that Lays Golden Eggs (For Consumers and
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Hunter Thompson and the "New" Journalism
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Hunter
S. Thompson and Gonzo
Website of
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Did You Make the Blacklist? Why Not?
February 22,
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Naseer Aruri
The
Politics of the Hariri Assassination: Remapping the Middle East
Richard Manning
The
Economy of Hunger: Starvation is Part of the Economic Plan
William A.
Cook
Righteous
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Paul Craig Roberts
The Agents of Instability
Ken Krayeske
Dr. Thompson is Out
Dave Zirin
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Kirkpatrick
Sale
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Entropy: the Collapse of the American Empire
February 21,
2005
Hunter S. Thompson
"He
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John Ross
Mexico:
the Pentagon's Proxy Army in Iraq
Ward Churchill
What Did I Really Say? Why Did
I Say It?
Dr. Teresa
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Military Recruiting on Channel One: Geometry 101, Brought to
You by the US Navy
David Swanson
Fighting for a Living Wage, State by State
Dave Lindorff
All the News That's Fit to Fake
Stew Albert
Fear and Loathing: HST
Michael Neumann
Strategies
in Palestine: a Shrinking Pie in the Sky
February 19
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Alexander Cockburn
Back
to Salem: Paul Shanley and the Return of "Recovered Memory"
Kathleen Christison
Struggling
for Justice in Palestine
Ted Honderich
On Being Persona Non Grata
Gary Leupp
Self-Hating Gays: Welcome to the White House & Welcome to
Commit Suicide
Don Santina
Reparations for the Blues
Jennifer Roesch
John Negroponte: Dirty Warrior
Scott Richard
Lyons
Ward
Churchill and the Identity Police
Chris Clarke
Ward Churchill and Liberal Outrage
George Beres
Censorship in the Land of Wayne Morse: Gagging W. Churchill in
Oregon
Harry Browne
The Belfast Heist: the Plot Unravels
Manuel García,
Jr.
Who Killed Rafik Hariri?
Mark Scaramella
Lessons from the Hidden Afghan War
Michael Donnelly
Whatever Happened to John Edwards?
John Pilger
First, They Attack the Past
Norman Madarasz
Death Wish for Reform in Brazil?
Surendra Devkota
The Monarchy in Nepal
Deborah Rich
How Anti-GMO Ballot Measures May Miss the Mark
Fred Gardner
When Dr. Tod Met Merle Haggard
CounterPunch
News Service
About King Mswati: Political Developments in Swaziland
Richard Oxman
CounterPunching Arthur Miller
Poets' Basement
Albert, Giebel, Tripp, Engel and Orkin
February 18,
2005
Ben Moxham
In
East Timor, the Nightmare Continues
Dave Lindorff
The
Scum Also Rises: the Bloody Career of John Negroponte
Larry Birns
Negroponte: a Resume of Death Squads, Deceptions and Bribery
Gregory Elich
N, Korea's Phantom Nukes and the US's Subversion of Diplomacy
Samuel Logan / John Meyers
The Future of Colombia's Paramilitary Death Squads
Nicole Colson
Shock and Awe on Civil Liberties: From Lynne Stewart to Ward
Churchill
Suzan Mazur
Whose National Security Are We Talking About?
Mickey Z.
"One
Man Has Stopped Killing"
February 17,
2005
Joshua Frank
Hogtying
of the Deaniacs
Paul Craig
Roberts
Bush's
Willing Sychophants: the Conservative Media
Robert Fisk
Under
the Shadow of Death in Lebanon
Christopher
Brauchli
Where
Time Stands Still: Kinsey and Darwin in Cobb County, GA
Dr. Teresa
Whitehurst
Military
Recruitment TV: Why Send Them to College, When Your Kid Can be
Cannon Fodder?
Alison Weir
Russia, Israel and Media Omissions
Ahrar Ahmad
A Review of Shahid Alam's "Is There an Islamic Problem?"
Saul Landau
An
Interview with Cuban VP Ricardo Alarcon: "The US Tramples
the Laws It Wrote"
Website of the Day
Petition to Support Ward Churchill
February 16,
2005
Robert Fisk
Lebanon:
a Battlefield for the Wars of Others
Kevin Zeese
Creating a Real Ownership Society: Share the Wealth; Protect
Retirement
Gary Leupp
Meanwhile, in Nepal...
Ron Jacobs
Why the Iranian Opposition Should Not Trust the Bush Administration
Jessica Leight
Oil-Flush Chavez Begins to Strut His Stuff
Greg Moses
Houston, You've Got a Problem: Documenting Voting Irregularities
in Texas
Mark Engler
The Last Porto Alegre
Jack McCarthy
Where's the Outrage About Pat? Buchanan Does a Churchill
Bill Christison
US
Foreign Policy Dangerously Slanted Toward Israel
Website of the Day
The
World is Melting: a Photo Survey by Gary Braasch
February 15,
2005
CounterPunch
News Service
Dean
a "Safe" Moderate, Says NYT Citing CounterPunch
Robert Fisk
The
Killing of Mr. Lebanon
Uri Avnery
"Sharm-al-Sheikh,
We Have Come Back Again"
Stan Cox
Fighting Big Pharma in Little Digwal
Mickey Z.
Radio
Active North of the Border: an Interview with Chris Cook
Dave Zirin
Bashing Bush: Jose Canseco Comes Clean
Nadia Martinez
Ending
World Poverty? Opening at the World Bank, Apply Now
Lila Rajiva
"Little Eichmanns" and the 'Harijan': the Danger of
Magical Thinking in Politics
Paul Craig
Roberts
The
American Job Sell Out
February 14,
2005
Robert Jensen
Ward
Churchill: Right to Speak Out; Right About 9/11
Brian Cloughley
Kuwait's Freedom, Bush-style
Patrick Cockburn
Outcome
of the Iraqi Elections: Shortages, Corruption, Guerrilla War
Gary Leupp
Post-election Iraq: What Next?
Michael Donnelly
Sacred Nature: Just Another Commodity?
Dave Lindorff
When Bush Came to My Neighborhood
Elaine Cassel
The
Lynne Stewart Verdict
February 12
/ 13, 2005
Alexander Cockburn
Ward
Churchill's Genes
Saul Landau
Alarcon
Speaks: an Interview with the Vice President of Cuba
Paul Craig
Roberts
Nothing
to Fear But Bush Himself
Patrick Cockburn
Two Years After the Fall of Saddam, the Resistance Controls All
Major Roads into Baghdad
John Feffer
Bush
v. N. Korea: Round Two
Mickey Z.
Right to Remain Silent; Duty to Speak
Kurt Nimmo
Viva la Cucaracha!
Fred Gardner
Waiting for Raich
Dave Zirin
Fighting the New Republic(ans)
John Chuckman
Hiroshima, Mon Amour
Ben Tripp
A Leftist on the Bush Payroll
Carol Norris
"Buddy, Can You Spare a Dwarf?"
Robert Fisk
No Middle East Peace Without Justice
Frank / Chowkwanyun
Muzzled Activist in an Age of Terror: the Case of Sherman Austin
Mike Whitney
Condi's Euro Tour
Deborah Frisch
A Psychologist's Defense of Ward Churchill
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Reading Khomeini in Colorado
Christine TenBarge
What's So Special About Ward?
Ron Jacobs
Curtis Mayfield's Train to Jordan
Dr. Susan Block
Chemistry of Love: a Valentine's Greeting
Poets' Basement
Louise, Smith-Ferri, Ford and Albert
Website of the Weekend
Free Sherman
February 11,
20055
Manuel Garcia,
Jr
The
Eight Percent War
Kurt Nimmo
Ann
Coulter's Racism: Where's Geronimo When You Really Need
Him?
Dave Lindorff
Guckert
or Gannon? The Perfect Plant; He Fit Right In
Larry Birns
War is Peace; Slavery is Freedom: Democracy According to Elliott
Abrams
Bill Quigley
Twenty Questions: a Social Justice Quiz
Tom Barry
Bush's State of Delusion
Jennifer Van
Bergen
Lynne
Stewart's Conviction Hurts Us All
February 10,
2005
Dave Lindorff
What
Academic Freedom?
Christopher Brauchli
The Love of Slaughter: From Rwanda to Iraq
Patrick Cockburn
In Baghdad, It's Easy to Get Killed
Nicole Colson
Have the Democrats Surrendered on Abortion Rights?
Suzan Mazur
More
on the Assassination of Lumumba from Mr. Garsin of Kinshasha
Michael Donnelly
Salvaging an Opposition
Mike Stark
Driving Ossie Davis: "Give Them a Little Truth, a Little
Hope"
Greg Moses
Taking
Jesus Back from the Hijackers
Website of
the Day
The Missionary Positions
February 9,
2005
Jeffrey St.
Clair
Duck
and Cover Redux: Bunker Busters and City Levellers
Mickey Z.
What Ward Churchill Didn't Say
John Ross
Hecho
en Mexico: the Iraqi Election
Tom Barry
Ambassador of Lies: Elliott Abrams, the Neocon's Neocon
Conn Hallinan
The
Coup in Nepal: Nursing the Pinion
Patrick Cockburn
Sistani's Vision for Iraq: Cricket is Fine, But Chess is "Absolutely
Forbidden"
Steen Sohn
Danish PM Says It's OK for Israel to Violate UN Resolutions
Tim Wise
Reflections on Empire and Uppity Indians
Website of
the Day
Support Antiwar.com
February 8,
2005
Patrick Cockburn
Shia/Kurd
Coalition to Dominate New Iraqi Govt.: "It's an Electoral
Pact, Not a Party"
Brian Cloughley
Out
of the Mouths of Generals: "It's Fun to Shoot Some People"
Steve Breyman
Against the Selfishness of the "Ownership Society"
Harry Browne
"Don't
Get on that Plane!": Soldiers Seek Asylum in Ireland
Doug Giebel
"We Love Free Speech in America": the People, the President
and Ward Churchill
Nate Collins
The Censorship of Ward Churchill and Dancehall Reggae: It's the
Same Beast
Dave Lindorff
It's Time for a Labor-Oriented Newspaper
David Smith-Ferri
Sanctions and the Health Crisis in Iraq
February 7,
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Paul Craig
Roberts
Bush's
War on Jobs
Carolyn Baker
The New McCarthyism on Campus: Churchill and the Attack on Higher
Ed
Joshua Frank
Marc Cooper's Hit List: First Mumia; Now Ward Churchill
Mickey Z.
Warning: More Hate Speech from W. Churchill
Patrick Cockburn
The
Kidnapping Gangs of Iraq
Mike Whitney
Tom Friedman: Scribe for New Age Imperialism
Stacie Jonas
Pinochet: Fit to be Tried
Dave Zirin
A Miserable Super Sunday: Clinton, Bush and the FBI
Tariq Ali
Imperial
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February 5
/ 6, 2005
Alexander Cockburn
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Churchill and the Mad Dogs
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Liberals Trash Ward Churchill
P. Sainath
Mumbai's Man-Made Tsunami
Patrick Cockburn
Sistani's Triumph; Allawi's Bust
Laura Carlsen
Bush, Rice and Latin America
Dave Lindorff
How the NYT Killed the Bush Bulge Story
Pamela Olson
West Bank Story
Behzad Yaghmaian
The Future of Sudanese Refugees in the West
Saul Landau / Farrah Hassen
A Threatened UN in King George's Court
Roger Burbach
World Social Forum: a Tale of Two Presidents
Robert Fisk
History by Laptop
David Swanson
James Forman and the Liberal-Labor Syndrome
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Gay Marriage: a Report from Canada
Cacie Hart
The "State" of the Union: More War and a Ban on Love
Ron Jacobs
Chairman Bob Avakian: a Revolutionary Life
Mickey Z.
Viewing America from the Outside
Ben Tripp
Republican Heroes: a New Breed of Good Guy
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France at the End of the Devil's Decade: Renoir's Rules of the
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the Weekend
John Trudell: How to Earn a 17,000 Page FBI File
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The
Army Symphonist: "Sometimes the Only Way to Change the Behavior
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Bill Christison
Election
Parallels: Vietnam, 1967; Iraq, 2005
Elaine Cassel
Did Zoloft Make Him Do It?
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Chomsky and the Draft
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Return of the Royalists in Nepal
Ron Jacobs
The
Downward Spiral in Iraq
February 3,
2005
Ward Churchill
On
the Injustice of Getting Smeared: a Campaign of Fabrications
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Leslie
Gelb Asks Iraq: Who's Your Daddy?
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President of Alienation: a Desperate State of the Union
Jenna Orkin
9/11 the Sequel: the Toxic State of Lower Manhattan
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The
Assault on Social Security: a New Campaign of Lies
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Brand of Christianity
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The Suckering of Howard Dean
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A History Lesson from the NYT
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|
February 25, 2005
Global Imperialist Designs
The
Royal Coup in Nepal
By
PRATYUSH CHANDRA
India and Britain have supposedly stopped
their military help to Nepal in response to the 1 Feb Royal Coup.
Even the US has expressed its displeasure on the events in Nepal.
Immediately two sets of questions come to any rational mind,
familiar with the South Asian developments:
1. Why was not there a similar
response to the real coup that occurred on Oct 4, 2002, when
the lawfully elected government was toppled? Can this response
be reduced to the difference between the attitude, in the case
of India, of the earlier BJP government and the present Congress
Party's? But if it is so, then why wasn't there any hue and cry
from the Congress Party and others at that time to force the
BJP government to provide a similar response?
2. What makes the Indian, British
and American interests coalesce on the issue? Can it be seen
as a part of the international alignment between these forces?
How do we interpret their designs in this particular case?
Obviously the problem before
these governments is not any foreknowledge of the 'excesses'
by military forces or the violation of human rights in Nepal,
as they claim. Nor is there any doubt that the King will not
be lenient towards the Maoist revolutionaries. Of course, one
of the biggest problems before them, is evidently the "crisis
of legitimation", the problem of legitimising their military
aid to Nepal. Since the Maoists were being posed as a force against
"democracy", and this was the prime ideology for militarising
the ongoing state repression in the country, the royal coup has
definitely been a setback to these foreign powers. However,
essentially, their present stand (regardless of its being sufficiently
hesitant) and any other stands they might take in future are
directly linked to Nepal's location in their wider political
economic and strategic designs.
I Imperialist
Preference : Monarchy with a Cosmetic Democracy
Further, another problem that
the royal coup poses before these foreign forces is related to
the US/UK/India's choice of the political form for Nepal. It
creates a temporary crisis for them in the sense that the incident
puts the monarchy and "democrats" in open confrontation.
India's Ministry of External Affairs itself on the day of the
coup assessed, "The latest developments in Nepal bring the
monarchy and the mainstream political parties in direct confrontation
with each other. This can only benefit the forces that not only
wish to undermine democracy but the institution of monarchy as
well." And their negligence of the 2002 coup shows aptly
what kind of balance between democracy and monarchy they want.
Definitely, the global forces have to be resilient enough for
any eventuality. They have to depend on the balance of the three
political forces in Nepal the monarchy, the democrats (Nepali
Congress and CPNUML) and the Maoist peasant revolutionaries,
and, of course, their own ability to negotiate with them. The
immediate internal options are perfectly clear the continuity
of a democratic delusion under Monarchy or a full-fledged democratic
republic with Maoists being on the negotiating table. But this
was the very clarity that the external forces did not want, since
the second option will loosen their grip over the Nepali political
economy, shattering its dependent nature, diminishing the parasitic
interests in the economy, and providing leverage to the only
local productive classes of proletarians, semi-proletarians
and peasantry an unprecedented situation in the post-Cold
War era. And this is what they fear!!!
The Indians and others have
consistently shown their preference for monarchy with a democratic
tinge. The difference between their responses now and in 2002
shows sufficiently that they prefer a democratic façade
rather than a full-fledged parliamentary democracy in Nepal.
This standpoint is directed by their problem of finding a suitable
internal power bloc with which they can negotiate, and their
interest to sustain a particular hierarchical relationship with
Nepal. In more general terms, it is a reflection of the articulation
of the imperialist interests with the political economic processes
in the country.
The trajectory of Nepali political
economic development conditioned by its internal dynamics and
external injections has been such that the big rentier and mercantilist
interests hegemonise the 'national' economy and state. Of course,
there are "nationalist", "intermediate" coalitions
of vast fragmented petty bourgeois interests of small intermediaries,
traders, civil servants, intellectuals etc. But due to the lack
of any centralised political economic interests in the form of
'national' capitalists needed for sustaining a vision of national
development, these national-democratic forces disperse easily
whenever they are enticed by easy attainments, or threatened
by hegemonic interests. This situation forces the foreign capital
Indian and others - to negotiate with rentier interests
in Nepal, whose main motive is to capitalise on their role as
intermediaries, on their capacity to rent out the local market
and resources. Moreover, it is in the interest of the foreign
capital that they negotiate with a few big 'landlords', 'waterlords',
'traders' etc., rather than layers of parasites. So their preference
is for a monarch that symbolises a grand negotiator. But on the
other hand, the grand rentier can create grand hurdles to gain
grand favours, too. Hence, a limited 'democracy' would provide
a safety valve for the imperialist forces in this regard, enabling
them to play democracy against the sole power, monarchy, whenever
required. This leads to the foreign preference for a façade
of democracy in Nepal under monarchy.
II The Myth
of the "Chinese Hand" and Imperialist Interests in
Nepal
Among one of the foremost reasons
that directs the imperialist bloc under the US to South Asia
in general is the proximity of China. In this regard we must
note that China's irritating emergence as a versatile economy
hosting conflicting global capitalist interests has kept the
rival states and coalitions on run to tighten security around
it in order to guard their respective sponsoring capitalist interests.
They know that the Chinese can easily misbalance the hegemony
of dollar against the euro, and squeeze away the former's seigniorage.
This explains the present American panic over the European willingness
to end China arms embargo. This explains the US' interests in
the military and economic cooperation with India, too.
The 'Chinese element' is definitely
there in the overall composition of the Indo-US response on the
present political uncertainty in Nepal. This is obvious taking
into consideration the frequent invocation of China's name in
the strategic discourse before and after the Royal coup. Many
have even gone to the extent of posing it as a Chinese ploy.
This opinion seems to be quite popular outside Nepal, but none
of the Nepali "democrats" has gone to the extent of
saying so. However, some of the King's pronouncements show that
at least he would love to make the world believe this, as only
this can guarantee the required legitimacy to his action. Only
this way he can bargain with the powers world over, making them
unnerved.
In the history of Nepal there
have been other occasions too when such coups have been staged
and the Chinese card played to bargain with India. It is not
that the Nepali rentiers and political elite will ever shift
their allegiance, but the continuous presence of China definitely
allows them to use this fact to gain favours from the only organized
imperialist coalition present in the region the Indo-US
Imperialism.
The "Chinese element"
in the present happenings in Nepal has started showing its effect
in the opinion mobilisation in India too. Some "security"
intellectuals have started proposing that India must not insist
on any immediate restoration of democracy. They argue that "the
official reaction has rather been hard and unnecessary"
and that "it is necessary to ensure that the King is not
pushed to the corner. Some space has to be given to him to save
his face."
Till recently, the trick of
calling the Maoist revolutionaries Chinese agents (or even Pakistani/ISI
agents) and faking evidences to prove this (which are simply
naïve to the extent of idiocy, fit only for the ever patriarchal
and chauvinist Indian middle class influenced by a new brand
of panic-producing "security" intellectuals) too served
a similar purpose. On the one hand, it allowed the Nepali dependent
interests to bargain enough military and economic aid from foreign
interests, especially India. On the other hand, it sufficiently
provided ammunitions to the ideology of "national security
interests" to legitimise and militarise Indian expansionism
and the American intervention in South Asia.
Understanding the US/UK/Indian
response on Nepali events in this scenario makes it very clear
that they want their continuous military presence in Nepal as
part of the coalition's wider agenda in South Asia and the Indian
Ocean, for particular material interests, and the royal coup
is definitely a temporary setback for the legitimacy of their
agenda.
III The
constitution of Indian Imperialism and its immediate agenda in
Nepal
The similarity of the responses
of these forces can be further comprehended as an Indian mobilisation
for setting its own agenda within that of the Anglo-American
coalition, in return to its own subservience to it. The Indian
interest is self-evident. The Economic Times (Feb 22) reports
"Returning here after consultations with the government
in New Delhi, the Indian ambassador to Nepal on Tuesday talked
tough, asking Nepal not to target its joint ventures in the kingdom
under the garb of emergency 'We have expressed our grave concern
over discriminatory targeting of Indian joint venture establishments,
including UTL (wireless telephone service), which has been restricted
to operate its service since the February 1 royal coup,' Indian
ambassador to Nepal Shiv Shanker Mukherjee said." It is
clear that the Nepali rulers themselves are doing this to obtain
legitimacy and have gained much as the envoys have started returning
to Nepal after consulting their respective governments.
The only foreign force that
is immediately concerned with the Maoists is India, taking into
consideration the extent of its interests in the Nepali economy,
which are thwarted by every small strike and road blockage there.
Further, the installation of a revolutionary government, if it
happens by any chance, will have a terrible impact on the Indian
neo-imperialism, that controls the Nepali economy to a large
extent. According to UNCTAD, seven countries account "for
over four fifths of cumulative FDI [in Nepal]. India alone accounted
for one third [owning 35% of the enterprises with FDI and 35.8%
share in the total FDI], followed by the United States and then
China." Hence, India has a two-pronged agenda for its intervention
in Nepal to allow its business interests to remain profitable
and functioning, and to thwart any competitor-rival interests,
especially Chinese, from superseding it. The Maoist insurgency
is threatening India on both counts the threat on the first
count is direct and immediate, the second being its corollary.
Hence, its military help to Nepal has been essentially to pre-empt
these dangers.
Now, the royal "coup"
has, at least temporarily, shaken the wits out of the bogey of
the Indian security interests and of protecting Nepali democracy
from the Maoists and unseen threats. India will have to take
time in remobilising the necessary legitimacy for its continuing
military aid to Nepal. But it cannot be expected to stretch its
intransigence shown initially, considering its need for a political
stability in Nepal to derive sustainable economic gains from
there, and thwart any rival interest from evolving. The return
of its ambassador clearly indicates this. However, the dilemma
for India is multiplied seeing the amount of political support
for the Nepali "democrats", at least within the ranks
and leadership of the parliamentary left. The Indian State's
only hope in this regard resides in the fact that the latter
is too much 'nationalist' and has been very much prone to compete
with the mainstream forces for serving the "national interests",
finding every armed insurgency within the country and around
it as anti-national. They might help in stopping the evolution
of a united front of the democrats and the Maoist peasant revolutionaries
in Nepal, and hence by effect not allowing the full-fledged republic
to come up.
IV Conclusion
the Agenda for Anti-Imperialism
It is high time for the genuine
"anti-imperialist" forces in South Asia, especially
in India, to go back to their basics and utter what there predecessors
in Europe did when they were facing chauvinist conflicts during
the World War I that "the main enemy is at home!" Or
else they will be repeating the mistakes of the social democrats
who stooped to social chauvinism. If they are serious about defeating
the global imperialism, they must stop looking for only enemies
abroad and must defeat the "enemy at home", of course,
cooperating with people of other countries whose struggle is
against their own imperialists and their agencies. They must
ally themselves to "the international class struggle against
the conspiracies of secret diplomacy, against imperialism, against
war" in which the Indian state is willingly entrenching
itself day by day.
Pratyush Chandra lives in Hyattsville, Maryland and
can be reached at: prchandra10@hotmail.com
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