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Now Available! Dime's Worth of Difference: Beyond the Lesser of Two Evils Order Here! Today's Stories August 25, 2004 Amelia Peltz Can I Have 9.8 Seconds of Your Time? August 24, 2004 Jeremy Scahill John Kerry: the Warchurian Candidate Gary Leupp "We Want Them to Go Away" David Domke God Willing: an Echoing Press and Political Fundamentalism William Loren Katz The Meaning of Hugo Chávez: Black and Indian Power in Venezuela Jonah Gindin With Chavez? Reading the International Private Media Fran Schor Denying Atrocities: From Vietnam to Fallujah Joe Bageant Driving on the Bones of God Website of the Day The Great America Lockdown: a Primer for the RNC Sex, Drugs & the Blues! Serpents in the Garden CounterPunch's Sizzling New Book on Culture and Sex is Now Available Click here to purchase   August 23, 2004 Winslow Wheeler Don't Mind If I Do: Porkbarrel and the War on Terror John Pilger Bush May Be the Lesser Evil Stan Goff Swift Boat Dogfight Bill and Kathleen Christison Notes from the West Bank: Build, Demolish, Rebuild Mike Whitney The Unraveling of Afghanistan William Blum Brave New World of Iraqi Sovereignty Ralph Nader A Letter to the Washington Post: a Shameful and Unsavory Editorial   August 21 / 22, 2004 Cockburn / St. Clair "They Want Blood:" The Bi-Partisan Origins of the Total War on Drugs Landau / Hassen Failing the Mission? Form a Commission Brian Cloughley The Bush Team in Iraq: Moral Cowardice, as Practiced by Experts Josh Frank Nader as David Duke? The ADL Wants You to Think So Mike Whitney Reincarnating Mengele: the Torture Doctors of Abu Ghraib Ron Jacobs Day Labor Blues Mickey Z. Shooting at Whales: 40 Years After Tonkin Fred Gardner Dr. Wolman Comes Out: The Cannabis Consultants Dave Zirin Uprising in Athens: Iraqi Soccer Team Gives Bush the Boot Josh Saxe Witnessing Police Brutality in LA Yanar Mohammed Letter from Baghdad: a Democracy of Killings and Bombings Helen Williams Ali's Story: a Taste of Reality from Baghdad Michael Donnelly Elemental and NaturalForests, Fire and Recovery Elizabeth Schulte The Crisis in Affordable Housing Poets' Basement Adler, Albert, Virgil, Ford and Krieger August 20, 2004 Jennifer Van Bergen National Security Courts and Torture Warrants Lisa Taraki Boycotting the Israeli Academy Greg Bates Racial Profiling and National Security: Back with a Vengeance Joshua Frank Monkeywrench Hope: an Interview with Jeffrey St. Clair John L. Hess Play It Backward Norman Solomon Rumsfeld's Return Diane Christian Holy Places Website of the Day Go Tell Cerebus: 50,000 Dogs Slaughtered for Olympics?   August 19, 2004 Lance Selfa To ABB or Not to ABB? Christopher Brauchli The Edicts of President Bush Mike Whitney The "Rebel Cleric" and the Siege of Najaf Jason Leopold The Oily Parachute: How Cheney Got Away with $35 Million Before the Feds Launched a Probe into Halliburton Jeff Nicholson-Owens Why We Need "Free Software" Voting Machines Bill Linville If the Republicans Are Funding Nader, Who is Funding the Democrats? Well, Try Halliburton for Starters Diana Barahona In the Minds of the Rich, the Venezuelan Poor Aren't Even Members of Society: Guess Who's Laughing Now? Alan Cisco The Discreet Charm of the Venezuelan Opposition Dave Lindorff Gitlin Tells Anti-Bush Protesters to "Cool It"   August 18, 2004 Amy Goodman An Interview with Mordechai Vanunu Adrian Kuzminski The Death of American Politics: Why Perot Was the Last Serious Challenger of the Political Duopoly Uri Avnery Israel and the US Elections Dave Lindorff Librarians as Wimps: "Sorry, Sir, Some Readers May Find Your Book Inflammatory" Toni Solo After the Venezuela Referendum: Bush's Dien Bien Phu? John L. Hess Laying Odds on Armageddon: a Midtown Hiroshima? Rodney Thomas Patti Smith, Another Take Sean Donahue Kerry and Bolivia: To the Right of Bush? Website of the Day Presidential Polls: David Cobb (at 0%) is Exceeding Expectations     August 17, 2004 Norm Dixon Darfuris Made Pawns in Western Power Play for Oil Alan Farago In Charley's Wake: Opportunity from Misfortune John L. Hess The Meaning of Venezuela Lisa Taraki / Omar Barghouti Presbyterian Church Divests from Israel Allen Thompson Et Tu, Patti? An Open Letter to Patti Smith John Ross Mexicans Dying in Bush's War Website of the Day List of Civilian Contractors Killed or Missing in Iraq     August 16, 2004 Gary Leupp The Attack on Najaf: the Ultimate Stupidity Ron Jacobs Iran Through an Iraqi Mirror? Mike Whitney The Guantanamo Mock Trials Zvi Bar'el Theater of the Absurd in Iraq: Chalabi, Feith and Israel John Blair A Culture of Waste Sharmini Peries Chavez Triumphs; Crushes Opposition Tariq Ali The Importance of Hugo Chavez Website of the Day Hurricane City   August 14 / 15, 2004 Justin Delacour / Diana Barahona The Venezuela Referendum: Can the Carter Center's McCoy be an Impartial Observer? Cockburn / St. Clair War on the Poor: "A Risk No Sane Person Would Take" M. Shahid Alam The Civilizing Mission: Some Economic Results Saul Landau God and Botox John Ross Echoes of Mexico City, 1968 Fred Gardner Is California Spying on Pro-Pot Doctors? Jonah Girdin The Opposition Strategy in Venezuela: Subvert Democracy in the Name of Democracy Katherine Lahey "Uh! Ah! Chávez No Se Va!": Democracy and Venezuela Medea Benjamin Hugo Chavez and the Poor of Venezuela Yves Engler The Media and the Venezuela Referendum Zeynep Toufe The NYTs and Chavez: More Than the Usual Bias Mike Whitney The Trouble in Najaf: What Was al-Sadr's Crime? Eric Drooker Gaza Stripped Dave Zirin Olympic Sized Horror in Greece: 150 Workers Died Building the Facilities Dave Lindorff A29 Could be a Very Slow Day Rebecca Brigham The Aftermath of Guatemala's Strike: Promises Still Unfulfilled Wayne Madsen The McGreevey Scandal: an Israeli Connection? David Krieger Nuclear Disarmament in a Time of Globalization: the US Double Standard Tracy McLellan The Illegality of Pot is a Crime: a Personal Account Christina Gerhardt Confronting Capitalism: What Has Changed Since Seattle 1999? Poets' Basement Adler, Albert Vijayalakshmi, Gilliam     August 13, 2004 Lee Sustar Report from Caracas Mickey Z. McProtests R Us: Why are the Dems Trying to Gag Anti-War Protesters? Stan Goff There He Goes Again: Kerry's "Energy" Plan Norman Madarasz Thoughts on Najaf: How Could the US Ever Be Considered a "Terrorist" State? Victor Kattan Press Freedom, Censorship and the War on Terror Oscar Heck Is Mendoza Off His Rocker? Chavez Opponents Pledge to Post Results Online Before Polls Close CounterPunch Wire Military Families File "Stop Loss" Suit Milan Rai Najaf: Bush Started It Website of the Day The Yes Men     August 12, 2004 Jeffrey St. Clair How Bush Got (and Lost) His Wings Lenni Brenner Take It on Faith: Kerry's See-Through-Monk's Robe Lee Ballinger The Coors and the Kerrys: Drink Up, Kids! Tariq Ali The Handover Fiction Yves Engler What's at Stake in Venezuela William S. Lind Seeing Through the Other Side's Eyes Christopher Brauchli Getting Bush's Goat Website of the Day The Sucker Puncher     August 11, 2004 Ceylon Mooney Who Woke Up Sen. Joe?: Watchers of the NJ Turnpike Voices in the Wilderness Hands Off Najaf Ray McGovern Porter Goss as CIA Director? Robert Jensen US Supports Anti-Democratic Forces in Venezuelan Recall Annie Higgins In Memory of Nick Pretzlik: As Good as It Gets Alexander Cockburn Bush v. Kerry: Not Even a Dime's Worth of Difference Website of the Day Nick Pretzlik   August 10, 2004 William A. Cook Silencing the Voice of the People Todd Chretien California Greens at the Crossroads: Will It Be Nader or Cobb? Dave Lindorff Chicago on the Hudson? Richard Gott Loathed by the Rich: Why Chavez is Headed for a Big Win Toni Solo Bluebeard's Castle: Disappearing the Right to Development Dave Zirin Carl Eller's Plea Rep. Ron Paul Police State, USA Patrick Cockburn If the Chalabis Were Corrupt, They Weren't Alone Website of the Day The Surveillance-Industrial Complex       August 9, 2004 Tito Tricot Pinochet Must Still be Tried: a Murderer and a Thief on the Loose Ron Jacobs In Memory of Deep Throat: the Day Nixon Was Gone Norm Dixon Crisis in Sudan: Oil Profits Behind West's Tears for Darfur Kurt Nimmo The Politics of Entrapment Elaine Cassel Welcome to Bush's America Gary Leupp Why Iraqi Christians are Moving to Syria     August 7 / 8, 2004 James Petras The Anatomy of "Terror Experts": Meet the Mandarins of Abu Ghraib Fred Gardner Run Ricky Run: Football, Pot and Pain Justin Delacour Anti-Chavez Pollsters Panic: Fix Numbers; Reinvent Venezuela Brian Cloughley Persecuted by All; Supported by None: Who Would Be A Kurd? Joshua Frank The Outsider: a Talk with Ralph Nader Iain A. Boal On "Shame": Warmed-Over Orientalism and Racist Projection Chris Floyd All About Eve: Open Season on Women in DC and Rome Andrew Fenton Fighting for Democracy and Justice in Haiti Aseem Shrivastava Saga of an Anguished Afghan Neil Corbett See Cuba: Sometimes a Cigar is Just a Cigar, Mr. Bush Carol Miller / Forrest Hill Rigged Convention; Divided Party: How David Cobb Won with Only 12% of the Vote Tarek Milleron Breaking the Principled Voter Donald Macintyre The Battle of Najaf Ron Jacobs Spirits of The Dead: Why I Love My Petty Bourgeois Tendencies Mickey Z. Kid Gavilan's Grave: Propaganda Scores a TKO Poets' Basement Adler, Ford and Albert       August 6, 2004 Joshua Frank David Cobb's Soft Charade: the Greens and the Politics of Mendacity Derek Seidman An Interview with Stan Goff Mike Whitney The Arbitrary Imprisonment of Jose Padilla William S. Lind Corruption in the Marine Corps David Price In the Shadow of Hiroshima and Nagasaki     August 5, 2004 Mike Ferner The Kerry Show: When Peace is Off Message Bruce Anderson Two Rejections Robert Fisk The Tale of Saddam's Cameraman Todd Chretien Florida Comes to California: the Democrats' Plot Against Nader Peter Linebaugh Doing Time for Political Crime: Paul and Silas, Bound in Jail     August 4, 2004 Mickey Z. Two Traditions: WMD and Disinformation Justin Huggler The Hunt for Bin Laden John Ross Mexico's Dirty War Never Ended: Inside Puente Grande Prison   August 3, 2004 Uri Avnery The Oligarchs Ray McGovern The 9/11 Commission Chimera Jack McCarthy Sexual Politics in Jeb's Florida Eric Ruder Meet Barak Obama: the Democrats' New Liberal Star John L. Hess Crying Wolf: Orange Alert! Elaine Cassel Civil Liberties Elections: 1800 v. 2004 Jules Rabin The Man Who Didn't Walk By Website of the Day No Wall     August 2, 2004 Robert Jensen Kerry's Hypocrisy on the Vietnam War Joshua Frank Greens, Kerry and the Politics of Mendacity Mike Whitney The 9/11 Commission and Civil Liberties: "We Need an American Police State" Gary Leupp Beyond Good and Evil: Some Thoughts on Invasions July 31 / Aug. 1, 2004 Alexander Cockburn Kerry: He's the (Any) One Merlin Chowkwanyun Five Questions with Noam Chomsky: "The Savage Extreme of a Narrow Policy Spectrum" David Lindorff The Shame of the DNC John Chuckman The Disturbing Words of John Edwards Brian Cloughley All Slam and No Dunk; All Blame and No Responsibility Christopher Brauchli "Being Poor is a State of Mind": the Frowning Face of Compassionate Conservatism Fred Gardner A World of Pain Michael Donnelly How Big Pharma Bilks the Elderly David Nally Genocide in Darfur? Joshua Frank Forest Battles Escalate in Oregon Sam Bahour Colin Powell and My Grandmother Diane Farsetta The IMF and the Indonesian Elections: The Invisible Hand in the Voting Booth Harold Gould Was Iraq a Mutual Charade? Van Bergen / Stephens Election 9/11: Surreal Political Theater Lee Sustar A New Model for the Labor Movement? Ron Jacobs The Lost Art of Hitchhiking M. Junaid Alam An Interview with Palestinian-American Rapper, The Iron Sheik Poets Basement Albert, Ford, Krieger, St. Clair Website of the Weekend Cross Cultural Poetics   July 30, 2004 Kolhatkar / Ingalls Shattering Illusions: Kerry's Speech Tells Anti-War Activists They're Not Wanted Dave Lindorff Murder Not So Foul? Bruce Jackson Walt Whitman on the Sound of Wolf Blitzer's Voice Fidel Castro The Pathology of George W. Bush Maximilien Robespierre Memo to Kerry and Bush: Why They Resist Saul Landau Bush Charges Castro with Sex Tourism; JFK Rolls Over in His Grave   July 29, 2004 Cockburn / St. Clair Hail, the Conquering War Criminal: What Kerry Really Did in Vietnam Frank Bardacke What Michael Moore Left Out of F9/11 Tom Barry Shallow and Formulaic: Kerry's Latin America Plan Ron Jacobs Kerry and Lennon: Hawking the CounterCulture Robert Fisk The Unreported War Lichtman / Kellis-Borok What Kerry Must Do to Win (But Probably Won't) William S. Lind The 9/11 Commission Report: Cashing in on Failure CounterPunch Wire Doonesbury Onto John Kerry in 1971! Website of the Day Jabbing JibJab: Copyright Madness       July 28, 2004 Robert Fisk The Occupation at 114 Degrees: Baghdad is Swamped in the Smell of the Dead Kevin Mink Kerry's Misperception of Palestine Ray McGovern Israel and the Iraq War: How the 9/11 Report Soft-Pedals Root Causes United for Peace & Justice An Open Letter to John Kerry: Winter Soldiers and Summer Patriots Mike Ferner Vets Demand End to Occupation: "Pull the Troops or Face Impeachment Mvt." Imraan Siddiqi Turning Tricks with Ann Coulter Alexander Cockburn Candidate Kerry Website of the Day Iraq Vets Against the War   July 27, 2004 Alexander Cockburn Why the Democrats Deserve Nader Dave Lindorff Back to the 19th Century: Globalization's Coming! Mike Whitney Control Room: Inside Al Jazeera Ali, Anderson, Bello, et al. If We Were Venezuelan, We'd Vote for Chavez Stefan Wray Texas Plan to Grab Los Alamos Takes Hold, as DOE Shuts Down Labs Louis Proyect Reflections on Nicaragua: First Came the Contra Butchers, Then the Sweatshops Rick Giombetti Faith in Freedom: the Challenge of Thomas Szasz Bill and Kathleen Christison The 9/11 Report and Its Weak-Kneed Consensus: Dogding Israel/Palestine; Blinkered on Causes of Terrorism     July 26, 2004 Todd Chretien Green Resistance: a Reply to Normon Solomon & Medea Benjamin Robert Fisk Terror by Video Richard Forno Security Theater in Boston: Security Expert Harrassed by DHS for Exposing Flaws at the Fleet Center Mitchel Cohen Report from a Boston Demo: Arresting the Curious Richard Moreno Rockers for Justice: an Interview with Tom Morello and Serj Tankian Alexander Cockburn Boston Awaits a Dead Party     July 24 / 25, 2004 Alexander Cockburn The Democrats and Their Conventions: Part One Dennis Hans Those 16 Words Still Smell, Mr. Bush Patrick Cockburn The Struggle for Iraq is Only Beginning Josh Frank The War Path of Unity: Dems Reject the Peace Movement Justin E.H. Smith Christianity and the Left: the Latin American Experience Tariq Ali What's at Stake in Venezuela Fred Gardner The Politics of Pot: Year of the Antagonist Mark Scaramella There's Dope and There's Dope Ron Jacobs The Weather Underground's Prairie Fire Statement...35 Years On     July 23, 2004 Lee Sustar Revolution in Nicaragua: 25 Years On Dave Lindorff Battle for NYC: Bush 1, Protesters 0 Saul Landau Zaniest President in US History: Bush Beats Reagan Mike Whitney The 9/11 Whitewash: Blaming No One Mickey Z Get On the Bus: 150 Years After Elizabeth Jennings Gary Leupp The 9/11 Commission and the Looming War on Iran   July 22, 2004 M. Junaid Alam Ten Ways to Build a Better Democrat Brian McKinlay Rusted On Down Under: Howard, Bush and Sharon Jason Leopold Cheney Lobbied for Easing of Sanctions on Terrorist Regimes While CEO of Halliburton Chris Floyd Mob Rule: Ripping the Lid Off of America's Pious Myths Uri Avnery Chirac v. Sharon   July 21, 2004 Paula J. Caplan The Emotional Casualities of War: Psychologists Can't Heal All the Damage Joshua Frank Nader Sleeping with the Enemy? Let's be Fair Ron Jacobs American Exceptionalism Reza Ghorashi The Elections, Iran and al-Qaeda Amy Martin Will Congress Rearm the Guatemalan Generals? John Ross Bush May Lose, But His Wars Will Go On and On   July 20, 2004 Stan Cox The Bush / Kerry War Ticket Chris Randolph An Open Letter to Dr. Ehrenreich: It's Over, Barb! Forrest Hylton The Ghosts of Gonismo: "Popular Patricipation" and Bolivia's Gas Referendum Mark Scaramella It's Official! Mendocino County is Crazier and Fatter Than the Rest of California Sam Bahour The World is Knocking on Israel's Door George Reiter A Defense of David Cobb John Ross Burying Iraq, Burying Bush John L. Hess Girlie Stuff: Media Tolerance of Arnold & Co. Website of the Day This Land is Your Land     July 19, 2004 Uri Avnery Marie and the Ghosts: the Hoax of Paris Col. Dan Smith What Has Been Accomplished? Mike Whitney Allawi: Our Puppet with a Pistol Karyn Strickler Just Marriage, Not Gay Marriage Robert Fisk The Crisis of Information in Baghdad David Swanson Media Blackout of US Labor Opposition to Iraq War Jennifer van Bergen The Death of the Great Writ of Liberty   July 17 / 18, 2004 Gary Leupp Apocalypse Now: Why the Book of Revelations is Must Reading Ghada Karmi Vanishing the Palestinians Lenni Brenner When Cattle Unite, Lions Go Hungry: Notes for Ralph Nader Ben Tripp Man on a Bridge: a Ghost Story Brandy Baker What Would Elizabeth Cady Stanton Make of John Kerry? M. Shahid Alam Israel Builds Another Wall Sasan Fayazmanesh Nuclear Hypocrisy: Israel, Iran and the IAEA Patrick Bond The George Bush of Africa Fred Gardner Politics of Marijuana: Cannabiniod Therapuetics William Blum Bush and Thucydides Ben Terrall Carter and the Indonesia Elections: "I Don't See Anything Wrong with a General Running the Country" Tom Barry John Lehman on the War Path David Vest Dylan Without the Music Phyllis Pollack Return to Sin City: Keith Richards Does Gram Parsons Ron Jacobs Smearing Muhammad Ali: Bob Feller Strikes Out Joshua Frank Kerry to Edwards: "Let's Lose!" David Nally A Call for Sudan: Our Georgraphical Blindspot Toni Solo Bolivia's Gas Referendum Landau, Hassan, Prashad & Lindorff Three Reviews of Moore's F911 Poets's Basement Ford, Smith and Albert     July 16, 2004 Dave Zirin Adonal Foyle: Master of the Lefty Lay-Up Shervan Sardar Dershowitz, the ICJ and Jim Crow Laws Ron Jacobs The Lil' Engine That Couldn't: Kucinich Surrenders on Anti-War Plank Robert Fisk Iraq, According to Edgar Allen Poe: Coffin Bombs in Baghdad Greg Moses The Forts of Iraq Mickey Z. Ad Infinitum?: Presidential Campaigns in the Age of TV Dan Bacher A Landmark Win for Salmon and the Tribes Dave Lindorff The Mumia Case: Support from NAACP, But a Movement in Shambles Paul McGeough Did Allawi Shoot Inmates in Cold Blood? Website of the Day 10 Reasons to Fire Bush (and 9 Reasons Kerry Won't Be Any Better)       July 15, 2004 Heather Williams McMissing the Point: Supersize Me Crashes on Its Message Werther Iraq: Follow the Money Tom Crumpacker The Birds of Guantanamo Brian Cloughley What Does the Bush Regime Object To? Bill Christison Reorganize the CIA? Of Course, But...   July 14, 2004 Jeffrey St. Clair Chronicle of a Nomination Foretold: the Green Deceivers Neve Gordon Of Socrates and the Apartheid Wall Diane Christian The Priesthood of Death Stefan Wray Who Benefits from Missing Data at Los Alamos Nuclear Lab? Josh Frank The Nader / Dean Debate Conn Hallinan Divide and Conquer as Imperial Rules Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Bring My Brother Home!: Class, War and Education Website of the Day Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear and the Selling of US Empire     July 13, 2004 Ray McGovern The CIA and Iraq: an Intelligence Debacle...and Worse Mark Donham The Sierra Club's Inexplicable Treatment of Cynthia McKinney Ben Tripp Politus Interruptis: With Friends Like These, Who Needs Electorates? Mark Gaffney Slipping Towards Armageddon: Israel in Iraq Dave Lindorff Osama Wins! Election Postponed! Chris White Double Think: the Bedrock of Marine Indoctrination     July 10 / 12, 2004 Kathleen Christison The Problem with Neutrality Between Palestinians and Israel Janine Pommy Vega Trail of the Comet: a Gathering of the World's Poets Against War Sherry Wolf From Maverick to Party Attack Dog: Howard Dean Gay-Bashes Nader Saul Landau and Farrah Hassen A Transfer of Power, Sort Of Michael Donnelly How to Steal an Election: the Green Version, 2004 Stanton / Madsen Iraq Survey Group: Rumsfeld's al-Qaeda? Richard Lichtman The End of Innocence: Reflections on American Pathology Gila Svirsky Thank You, Your Honors: a Legal Blow to the Wall Kurt Nimmo Clinton's Life Toni Solo Empire-Speak: What Roger Noriega Really Means Ron Jacobs The Black Panthers and the Rest Camelo Ruiz Marrero Gene Warfare in Oaxaca: Genetic Mutation of Mexican Maize Omar Barghouti Wither the Empire: Rise of a Global Resistance Poets' Basement Curtis and Albert   July 9, 2004 Dave Zirin Carlos Delgado on Deck: Blue Jays Slugger Stands Up Against War Justin Delacour Wishing Kerry Would Shut Up About Latin America Robert Fisk Iraq in Reverse: Martial Laws Fuel Insurgency Boris Kagarlitsky Two Congresses and a Funeral William S. Lind The October Surprises Sibel Edmonds Our Broken System: John Ashcroft's War on Truth Ron Jacobs Reading Tea Leaves: What Vietnam Tells Us About Iraq's Future Gary Leupp The Lie That Will Not Die: Cheney and the Iraq/al-Qaeda Link   July 8, 2004 Niranjan Ramakrishnan The Inexplicable John McCain Toufic Haddad Protesting Israel's Apartheid Wall: a Letter from the Hunger Strikers' Tent Dave Lindorff Liberation as Martial Law Joshua Frank The Fall: How Beltway Dems Sank Howard Dean Christopher Brauchli Bush & Cheney Play the Hitler Card James Petras The Truth About Jimmy Carter   July 7, 2004 John Chuckman Kerry's BBQ: a Deafening Silence of Meaning Virginia Tilley A Line in the Sand: Azmi Bishara's Hunger Strike Susan Martinez A Letter to Bill Cosby Mickey Z Elie Wiesel's Strange Parade Michael Donnelly Our Own Private Wilderness: Trusting the Land in the Inland Empire Sean Donahue Boston Social Forum: the Dems aren't the Only Show in Beantown Diane Christian Sovereignty and Freedom in Iraq   July 6, 2004 Lisa Viscidi Fleeing Guatemala: Central Americans Risk Lives to Reach El Norte Marc Norton The Felonious Five Ride Again: the Supreme Court and Enemy Combatants James Brooks Chemical Warfare on the West Bank? Ray McGovern Porter Goss as CIA Director? William Cook Legacy of Deceit: If Dante Knew of Bush and the Neo-Cons...   July 5, 2004 Forrest Hylton US Imperialism in Latin America: Sept. 11, July 4 and Systematic Torture Chris White A Former Marine Sgt. on the Meaning of Independence Day Joe Bageant Cranky Reflections on the 4th of July Robert Jensen Stupid White Movie: What Michael Moore Misses About the Empire Kathy Kelly "Two Days an' a Wake-Up"   July 3 / 4, 2004 Elaine Cassel Bush's Police State and Independence Day Stan Goff ABC of Opportunism: "Progressive" Latin American Leaders Support the Coup in Haiti Snehal Shingavi "We Want Real Justice for Bhopal": Two Survivors Speak Out Bruce Anderson The Cheney-Leahy Metaphor and the Greens Sharon Smith Twilight of the Greens: the Chokehold of "Anybody But Bush" Josh Frank Ralph Nader's Revolt: an Interview with Greg Bates Robert Fisk Pentagon Tried to Censor Saddam's Hearing Joe Bageant Sons of a Laboring God: Leftnecks Unite! Brian Cloughley Fortress Bush and the One Law Doctrine Justin Delacour The Anti-Chavez Echo Chamber: Venezuela's Media Tycoons William S. Lind Saudi Spillover Linda S. Heard A Joke Called "Justice" Greg Moses "It's Illegal, But It's Our Right": Korean Labor Won't Back Down Ron Jacobs "Ain't You Proud to be White on Independence Day?" Toni Solo Weary of Indigenous Resistances? Just Pretend They're Not There Dan Nagengast Chicken Manure as Cattle Food: Safe, But Do We Want to Eat It? Stew Albert Brando, a Personal Recollection Dave Zirin From the Black Panthers to Sacheen Littlefeather: a Eulogy for Our Brando Patrick W. Gavin The Progressive Case for Dodgeball Steven Rosenthal / Junaid Ahmad The Problem is Bigger Than the Bushes: a Review of F911 Poets' Basement Kearney, Ford and Davies Website of the Day Global Peace Solution   July 2, 2004 Jeffrey St. Clair Suicide Right on the Stage: the Demise of the Green Party Douglas Valentine Fahrenheit 911: Mocking the Moral Crisis of Capitalism Gary Leupp "Just Because I Could": On Obscenities and Opportunities Lee Ballinger Illegal People: Kerry Opposes Immigrant Rights Robert Fisk Saddam in the Dock: Confused? Hardly CounterPunch Wire "What Law Formed This Court?": a Transcript of Saddam's Arraignment Christopher Brauchli Bush's Drug Card Lottery: the Price Ain't Right Saul Landau Buzz Words and Venezuela   July 1, 2004 Katherine van Wormer Bush's Damaged Mind: the Madness in His Method Joe Bageant Is Our President a Whackjob? Does It Matter? William James Martin The Dogma of Richard Perle Dave Lindorff Bush's Evacuation Moment Robert Fisk Bread and Circus Trials in Iraq Alan Maass Green Party in Reverse Website of the Day Michael Moore and Israel: Blind or a Coward?     June 30, 2004 Kurt Nimmo Nicholson Baker's Checkpoint: a New Kind of Anger About Bush Tariq Ali Getting Away with Murder in Iraq Jennifer Van Bergen Bush and the Detainees Douglas Valentine Apotheosis of the Psychopaths: Instead of Fahrenheit 9/11, Rescreen The Quiet American David Price Fahrenheit 9/11 Through the McCain-Feingold Looking Glass Roger Normand America's Criminal Occupation of Iraq Stan Cox Sanitized for Your Protection: Ashcroft's War on Art Henry David Thoreau On the Futility of Bush v. Kerry: All Voting is a Kind of Gaming Ben Tripp Who Dast Call Him Liar: a Rebuttal to Nicholas Kristof                       Hot Stories Alexander Cockburn Behold, the Head of a Neo-Con! Subcomandante Marcos The Death Train of the WTO Norman Finkelstein Hitchens as Model Apostate Steve Niva Israel's Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings? Dardagan, Slobodo and Williams CounterPunch Exclusive: 20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians Steve J.B. Prison Bitch Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber True Lies: the Use of Propaganda in the Iraq War Wendell Berry Small Destructions Add Up CounterPunch Wire WMD: Who Said What When Cindy Corrie A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter I Can't Hear From Gore Vidal The Erosion of the American Dream Francis Boyle Impeach Bush: A Draft Resolution Click Here for More Stories.     Subscribe Online

August 25, 2004 Turn Gaza into a "Mini-Afghanistan" How to Win the Jewish Vote By AKIVA ELDAR When Yitzhak Rabin coined the phrase "political settlements" (the opposite of "security settlements"), he was referring to settlements outside the settlement blocs that more or less abut the Green Line. President George Bush does not distinguish between security settlements and political settlements. Until November 2, he will see no difference between a new neighborhood in Ma'aleh Adumim, which is slated for annexation, and the Ra'anan outpost in Gush Katif, which is slated for evacuation. Until the presidential election, everything is political in Washington. A few hours before a senior Bush administration official leaked a story to The New York Times about an agreement with Ariel Sharon over settlement expansion, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice was still talking about the need to end the occupation. Her statements were understood as lip service to the Europeans and the other Quartet members who are signatories to the U.S.-backed road map. The only map that interests the White House right now is the map of polling stations in contested voting regions. The section of the road map that calls for a construction freeze in the settlements, including a freeze on natural growth, will wait for Bush's second term, or for a new president. The evacuation of illegal outposts can also wait. According to reliable sources, Sharon has excellent reasons to believe that over the next two and a half months, the American administration will be busy with other matters. Israeli and American officials are convinced that last weekend's leak to The New York Times was directly related to Bush's worrisome standing in the polls and to the Republican convention that will open this weekend in New York. After all, the story itself is not new. Almost three years ago, then foreign minister Shimon Peres hastened to tell his associates about his understanding with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, under which it would be possible to expand existing settlements within the boundary of already built-up areas. The difference is that then, the Americans denied it half-heartedly, whereas this time, they have confirmed it wholeheartedly. Then, they were thinking about Arab opinion in the Middle East. Today, they are thinking about Jewish votes in the Middle West. What is wrong with a little flexibility? How could Bush have guessed, following his impressive comeback after September 11, 2001, that in August 2004 he would be limping in the polls behind a gray Democratic senator? Even two years ago, when Bush signed the road map, few predicted that in the coming elections, he would be compelled to run after the Jews, a minority that numbers no more than 2 percent of the American population. Last week, almost simultaneously with the report in The New York Times, Israeli diplomats in Washington reported on the growing panic in the Bush camp. A former senior White House official said that only a dramatic move or a wild gamble, such as replacing Vice President Dick Cheney with a candidate not tarred by the Iraq war, could save Bush. The Republican convention is the last possible date for such a move. According to the diplomats' reports, it seems that the few pieces of good news for the Bush campaign are coming from Jewish activists. Jewish organizations predict that Bush will almost double his strength among this community, from 18 to 35 percent. The Republicans know that it is not their economic platform or their welfare policy that is dividing the liberal Jews. The most accepted explanation for the turnabout is Bush's image as "Israel's best friend." The report on the settlements was meant to remind those who have forgotten this. But between the lines, it is possible for a courageous diplomat to read hints that it is not worth counting on this friendship if Bush is reelected for a second and final term. The Likud is talking with the Palestinians At the beginning of this month, Shimon Peres shared a secret with a delegation of the "Shuvi" movement, which wants Israel to get out of Gaza. He promised his guests that the law arranging compensation for evacuated settlers would be submitted to the Knesset no later than August 11. One of the participants thought that his ears had betrayed him and asked whether the Labor Party chairman had really said "August 11." Peres, in his capacity as someone close to the prime minister, confirmed that indeed, in another few days, the bill would be submitted to the Knesset. Later, Sharon's associates promised that the law would pass in September, and this week, they are already talking about "after the high holy days" - in other words, October. As a consolation prize, the Prime Minister's Office announced the establishment of the Disengagement Administration, headed by Yonatan Bassi. The administration exists, but thus far, the agencies responsible for it - the Justice Ministry and the National Security Council - lack vital data on the scope of the settlers' assets and their value. No one dares to talk directly to the settlers, other than those boors who threaten those of their neighbors who think that if there is truth in the claim that "the government sent us there," the government has the right to send them back home. The donor nations and the World Bank are preparing a plan to rehabilitate Gaza's economy and infrastructure. The Turks have acceded to Peres's proposal that they plan a large-scale project to build apartments for Gaza residents in the spacious tracts that Israel will evacuate. There are even contacts with the Egyptians about turning Al Arish into an international tourist center that would provide jobs for thousands of Gaza residents. But until Sharon decides to move, or until the U.S. decides to move him, the disengagement plan is providing jobs for more than a few experts, politicians and public activists. The ferment is enormous. A few weeks ago, Deputy Minister Michael Ratzon and MKs Michael Eitan and Majali Wahabi, all from the Likud Party, traveled to the eastern shore of the Dead Sea in order to meet a group of senior Palestinian Authority officials. The topic of the discussion, which was organized by the Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI), a Jerusalem-based nonprofit association, was "the implications of the disengagement plan." There were Palestinians who expressed hope that Israel's exit from Gaza would restore hope to the territories. Others warned that the move would strengthen Hamas. Ratzon, one of the leaders of the "Likud rebels," said that he opposes the disengagement plan because of its unilateral nature, and promised to support any agreement that would promote a solution to the demographic problem. This coming Sunday, Ratzon will host a group of Palestinian officials - including Transportation Minister Hikmat Zaid, Fatah Deputy Secretary Adnan Abdel Raham Samara, Gaza Governor Ahmed Basiso and Yasser Arafat's advisor, Imad Shakur, who holds the Israeli society portfolio - at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Employment in Jerusalem. It is not only in his own party that Sharon has sowed confusion. Even Peace Now is fighting over whether to support the disengagement plan. Last night, a discussion was scheduled between the camp that favors an advertising campaign in support of disengagement, with no additions, and the opposition, which wants to restore the honor of peace and negotiations. Gaza as a mini-Afghanistan "He is not pro-Likud," corrected an American official friendly to Israel after meeting with Elliott Abrams, the U.S. National Security Council official responsible for the Middle East. "He's a Likudnik." If Abrams, like other members of the neoconservative group that surrounds Bush, was a card-carrying member of the Israeli party, it is not clear that he would have voted for Sharon's disengagement plan. The Middle East Quarterly, a web site run by extreme right-winger Daniel Pipes (who was appointed by Bush not long ago to the board of the United States Institute of Peace), recently published an article that harshly criticized Sharon's plan to replace Israel Defense Forces soldiers on the Gaza Strip border with Egyptian soldiers. The writer, strange as it seems, is Major General Doron Almog, who until last year headed the IDF's Southern Command. The article is based on research that Almog is now engaged in as a research fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, headed by our old acquaintance Dennis Ross. The IDF Spokesman said that Almog is currently on leave prior to his retirement, and that the article reflects his opinions only. It would be interesting to know whether that will ease the minds of any Egyptians who read the article. Almog relates that in 2002 alone, 3,000 people slipped over the border between Egypt and Israel. Fifty tons of drugs were smuggled into Israel from the Sinai peninsula, as well as innumerable illegal foreign workers. He reveals that this same network helped six terrorist cells to infiltrate Israel. Almog claims that the Egyptian Border Patrol is taking a dangerous risk, as he has no doubt that this network of infiltration into Israel relies on a powerful support network located on Egyptian soil. "This mechanism is driven by supply and demand, but it depends on a considerable measure of official acquiescence," Almog writes. He is convinced that if the Egyptian authorities wanted to stop the smuggling into Israel, they could achieve much better results. The problem, he says, is that they do not want to do so. Official Egypt identifies with the Palestinian struggle for independence, he says, and therefore it is tolerant of anti-Israel activities. Almog cautions against Islamic organizations in Egypt that view Gaza as a "mini-Afghanistan," in his words. He fears that these organizations will grow stronger in a post-Mubarak era, and wonders whether a regime that has proven its inability to deal with the groups that assassinated Anwar Sadat in Cairo in 1981, and that later murdered 58 tourists in Luxor in 1997, will be able to succeed on the Israeli border, of all places. "Egypt suffers from every one of the ills afflicting the Arab body politic, often in a magnified form. It is an authoritarian and inefficient state that has failed to meet even minimal goals of political and economic reform," he writes. In Almog's view, in order for the disengagement plan to have any strategic value, it must be used to create momentum for progress on the Israeli-Palestinian track, to assist in the economic rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip, to build housing for Palestinian refugees and to set up a moderate, secular educational system. Until then, Israel should not take the risk of exporting Egypt's problems to Palestinian territory. "Were the disengagement gamble to fail - as well it could - a medium or high level of Egyptian involvement in Gaza could put Israel and Egypt on a collision course," Almog writes. He recommends that IDF soldiers remain on the Philadelphi Road until secular democracy defeats militant Islam, and until Bush completes his program for reforming Israel's neighbors. Akiva Eldar writes for Ha'aretz, where this column originally appeared. Weekend Edition Features for August 7 / 8, 2004 James Petras The Anatomy of "Terror Experts": Meet the Mandarins of Abu Ghraib Fred Gardner Run Ricky Run: Football, Pot and Pain Justin Delacour Anti-Chavez Pollsters Panic: Fix Numbers; Reinvent Venezuela Brian Cloughley Persecuted by All; Supported by None: Who Would Be A Kurd? Joshua Frank The Outsider: a Talk with Ralph Nader Iain A. Boal On "Shame": Warmed-Over Orientalism and Racist Projection Chris Floyd All About Eve: Open Season on Women in DC and Rome Andrew Fenton Fighting for Democracy and Justice in Haiti Aseem Shrivastava Saga of an Anguished Afghan Neil Corbett See Cuba: Sometimes a Cigar is Just a Cigar, Mr. Bush Carol Miller / Forrest Hill Rigged Convention; Divided Party: How David Cobb Won with Only 12% of the Vote Tarek Milleron Breaking the Principled Voter Donald Macintyre The Battle of Najaf Ron Jacobs Spirits of The Dead: Why I Love My Petty Bourgeois Tendencies Mickey Z. Kid Gavilan's Grave: Propaganda Scores a TKO Poets' Basement Adler, Ford and Albert WWW http://www.counterpunch.org   Keep CounterPunch Alive: Make a Tax-Deductible Donation Today Online! home / subscribe / about us / books / archives / search / links /