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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers! How Cops Extort Confessions;
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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers!
How Cops Extort Confessions;
How the U.S. “Justice System” Really WorksNinety-two per cent of felony convictions in the U.S. are obtained by plea bargains or confessions. Without them the “justice system” would grind to a halt. In an important piece in our latest newsletter, available only to subscribers, Emily Horowitz shows how totally innocent people will “confess” under police pressure, even without physical torture. Horowitz outlines the powerful case for banning confessions altogether. Also in this new edition Marcus Rediker, co-author of the legendary The Many Headed Hydra, writes of popular heroism and resistance in the favelas of Medellin, Colombia. Alexander Cockburn reports on how America’s oldest bank, patronized by the global elites, washed billions smuggled out of Russia, and how the Russians might win their money back, shaking the world’s banking system if they do so. Serge Halimi describes the real battle for the soul of Europe. Get your copy today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch books and gear make great presents.
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Today's Stories August 30 / 31, 2008 Andy Worthington August 29, 2008 Mike Whitney Brian Cloughley David Ker Thomson Joanne Mariner Neve Gordon Chris Genovali Ron Jacobs Michael Donnelly August 28, 2008 Judy Gumbo Albert Paul Cantor Saul Landau / Andy Worthington Ben Terrall Leonard Peltier Niranjan Ramakrishnan Donna J. Volatile Website of the Day
August 27, 2008 Anthony DiMaggio Jordan Flaherty Ralph Nader Melissa Checker Bob Sommer Cynthia McKinney Ali Khan M. Junaid Levesque-Alam Dave Lindorff David Macaray Website of the Day
August 26, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Michael D. Yates Paul Craig Roberts Andy Worthington Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Huwaida Arraf Joseph Grosso Sheldon Richman Binoy Kampmark Website of the Day August 25, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Bill Quigley Jonathan Cook James McEnteer Uri Avnery Will Potter Robert Jensen Stephen Lendman Wajahat Ali Carl Finamore Website of the Day August 23 / 4, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Patty O'Grady Nicole Colson Steve Conn Deepak Trapathi Robert Fantina Jonathan M. Feldman Joshua Frank Osama Qashoo Howard Lisnoff David Michael Green Dave Lindorff Christopher Brauchli Alan Farago Michael Winship Richard Rhames David Rosen Patrick B. Barr Jamie Newlin Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 22, 2008 Boris Kagarlitsky Laura Carlsen Bob Barr Marwan Bishara Peter Morici Manuel Garcia, Jr. Charles Mostoller Sumbul Ali-Karamali Keith Rosenthal John F. Miglio Website of the Day August 21, 2008 Allan J. Lichtman Dave Lindorff Loserville: How Obama Blew It Ralph Nader Joanne Mariner Wajahat Ali Ron Jacobs Rostam Purzal Anthony Papa Website of the Day August 20, 2008 Michael Neumann Ray McGovern Eric Walberg Fidaa Abed Daniel Haack Mike Whitney Website of the Day August 19, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Deepak Tripathi Marwan Bishara Saul Landau William S. Lind Martha Rosenberg James Brittain Pratyush Chandra David Macaray Website of the Day August 18, 2008 Tariq Ali Gary Leupp Uri Avnery John Ross Farooq Sulehria Luis Rodriguez Manuel Garcia, Jr. Noah Baker Merrill Charles Thomson Website of the Day August 16 / 17, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Deepak Tripathi Conn Hallinan Mike Whitney Robert Fantina Ray McGovern Nicole Colson Fatima Bhutto Jean-Luis Rocca David Michael Green Ramzi Kysia Dave Lindorff Lisa Martinovic Richard Rhames Don Santina Rannie Amiri Ramzy Baroud John Stanton Howard Lisnoff Ron Jacobs Seth Sandronsky Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
August 15, 2008 Steve Niva David Remington Michael Winship Paul Craig Roberts Farzana Versey Harvey Wasserman Felice Pace Julian Critchley Website of the Day August 14, 2008 Saul Landau / Conn Hallinan Mike Whitney Reza Fiyouzat Ralph Nader Christopher Brauchli The Cheerleader in China Jack Bradigan Spula Patrick Irelan John Walsh Dan Bacher Website of the Day
August 13, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts David Remington Brian Cloughley Glen Ford Brendan Cooney Dave Lindorff Tom Lewis Stan Cox Alan Farago Martha Rosenberg Website of the Day August 12, 2008 Uri Avnery Anthony DiMaggio Bill Christison Eric Walberg Kate Connolly Diane Farsetta Peter Morici Thom Rutledge Lee Patton Niranjan Ramakrishnan Website of the Day August 11, 2008 Ishmael Reed Paul Craig Roberts Gary Leupp Douglas Kammen William Willers Greg Moses Jeff Leys Cynthia McKinney Alan Farago Website of the Day August 9 / 10, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Bruce Jackson Kevin Young Chris Floyd Joshua Frank Robert Fantina Brendan Cooney Mark Almond Lois Gibbs Rev. William Alberts Kathy Kelly John Ross David Michael Green Bill Moyers / Ron Jacobs Richard Rhames David Yearsley Lee Sustar Brenda Norrell Ben Terrall Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 8, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Manuel Garcia, Jr. M. Shahid Alam Andy Worthington Lawrence J. Korb David Model Alan Farago Diop Olugbala Firmin DeBrabander Website of the Day August 7, 2008 Dr. Trudy Bond William Blum Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Robert Weitzel Jacob G. Hornberger Binoy Kampmark David Macaray Howard Lisnoff Website of the Day August 6, 2008 Marc Herold Greg Moses Sheldon Rampton Kevin Young Michael Estrada Robert Weissman Dr. Susan Block Cindy Sheehan Ace Hoffman Website of the Day August 5, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Jeff Halper Patrick Cockburn Nancy Welch Peter Morici Sousan Hammad Eamon Martin Shepherd Bliss Tim Matson Website of the Day August 4, 2008 Uri Avnery Saul Landau David W. Remington Rev. Jesse Jackson Dave Lindorff Peter Morici Joanne Mariner Ramzy Baroud Christian Wright Website of the Day August 2 / 3, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Patrick Cockburn Winslow T. Wheeler James Abourezk Andy Worthington Brian Cloughley Robert Fantina Benjamin Dangl Marlene Martin David Yearsley Fatemeh Keshavarz David Michael Green Obama as Dukakis Harvey Wasserman Jason Hribal Phyllis Pollack Laray Polk Ron Jacobs David Macaray David Rosen Dan Bacher Joe Allen Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 1, 2008 Jonathan Cook Nikolas Kozloff Rannie Amiri Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli M. K. Bhadrakumar Patrick Cockburn James J. Brittain Dan Bacher Website of the Day
July 31, 2008 Michael Hudson Carl Finamore Mike Whitney Joshua Frank Andy Worthington Ralph Nader Bill Moyers / Robert Weissman Dave Lindorff Website of the Day July 30, 2008 Brian M. Downing Chuck Spinney William S. Lind David Ker Thomson Karl Grossman Mike Whitney Martha Rosenberg James Murren Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Website of the Day July 29, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair John Ross Peter Morici Alison Weir Gary Leupp David Macaray Brenda Norrell Marjorie Cohn Eric Ruder Website of the Day July 28, 2008 Dr. Bryant Welch Kathy Kelly Mike Whitney Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli Clifton Ross Stephen Lendman Website of the Day
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Weekend Edition Part OneWhat If the Israeli Lobby was the Islamic Lobby?By B. R. GOWANI What if: Abu Faisal was White House press secretary (instead of Ari Fleischer) Altaf Adham was deputy national security advisor (instead of Elliott Abrams) Sofian Bishr was Supreme Court Justice instead of Stephen Breyer Tarf Kaukab was Nightline host (instead of Ted Koppel) Dawud Bushr was New York Times columnist (instead of David Rukan Badar Ghiyath was Supreme Court Justice (instead of Ruth Bader Ginsburg) Thamer Furud was New York Times columnist (instead of Thomas Friedman) Laith Keid was host of Larry King show (instead of Larry King) Yousuf “Yo” Luqman was US Senator from Connecticut (instead of Joseph “Joe” Lieberman) Zuhaa Midlaj was New York Times reporter (instead of Judith Miller) Dawud Fouad was Bush’s speechwriter (instead of David Frum) Lu’ay Labib was Cheney’s Chief of Staff (instead of Lewis Libby) Polat Walif-Rizk was Rumsfeld’s Deputy Secretary of Defense (instead of Paul Wolfowitz) Mahdi Parvez was editor of The New Republic magazine (instead of Martin Peretz) Basil Kishwar was the editor of The Weekly Standard instead of (Bill Kristol) Ali Wisam was the famous Nobel Peace laureate (instead of Elie Wiesel) Jaafer Ghawth-Badr was a staff writer at New Yorker (instead of Jeffrey Goldberg) Rifat Pir was the Chairman of the Defense Policy Board AdvisoryCommittee (instead of Richard Perle) Yaman Sikandar was the famous filmmaker (instead of Steven Spielberg) Ibrahim Faqih-Ma’n was the head of the Anti-Defamation League (instead of Abraham Foxman) Alam Daoud-Vida was the famous lawyer (instead of Alan Dershowitz) Imagine the above Muslims in key positions. There are 2 per cent Jews in the US and the same percentage of Muslims. Now consider for a moment that both communities have exchanged places as it happens on that TV show “Wife Swap.” Here not only wives but the entire community exchanges places. Or a still better example would be the 1970 film “Watermelon Man” in which a white man wakes up in the morning and discovers he has turned into a black person. Blackness becomes his fate. However, first let us check out the power Jews have in the United States in order to imagine how things would have been different if the Muslims had exactly the same power. This article, however, realizes that Jews are not a monolithic group. For instance: 75 per cent of Americans supported the war in 2003 in US, whereas the Jewish support was at 50 per cent. Like many other Jews, the billionaire George Soros favors a dialogue between the Hamas (the elected government in the Palestinian territories) and the Israelis:
There have always been Jewish people and institutions who have tried to work for some peaceful solution of the Palestinian/Israeli problem but the Jewish Lobby and pro Israel individuals have always succeeded in silencing or marginalizing those voices. Bill and Kathleen Christison explain how the word “anti-Semite” is abused:
A Few Clarifications Before proceeding any further, it is important to remember the historic injustices suffered by the Jewish people. The past has not been especially nice to the Jews; rather it has been extremely cruel—mainly, in the form of European Christianity. The atrocious climax reached between 1939 and 1945 under Nazi Germany. Between five to six million Jews were murdered. But since then, although there have been some instances of targeting Jewish people and desecrating their cemeteries in Europe and elsewhere, these have not in any way affected their survival and growth as a distinct religious and cultural entity. And economically they are one of the few most powerful groups in the world. In addition: There are many interest groups or lobbies in the United States who are doing immense harm to people within and without, and the dominant corporate press is one of those groups. People who want to register their protest or recommend changes are at the mercy of the media managers. So, the Jewish Lobby is not the only one exerting influence. Nevertheless, the Lobby’s power is enormous and it has wielded it in such a devastating way that the whole of Middle East has been burning for quite a long time now — and in turn it affects the entire world. There is, of course, a convergence of the US interest to control the oil; and, the Israeli interest to be the sole regional power. If one thinks from that perspective, then without doubt the US would have been in a better shape if it would have avoided the 2003 complete destruction of the almost-destroyed Iraq of 1991 and if it had left Saddam Hussein pitted against Iran. Not only would this have saved the US billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of lives but would have preserved its hegemony a little longer. Anti-Arab, anti-Palestine, anti-Iran, anti-Muslim? When a corporation exploits its workers it is called an exploiter. When a member of the majority discriminates against a member of the minority then she/he is called a racist. When a male discriminates against a woman he is called a sexist. When one person discriminates another on the basis of religion then that person is called a communalist. When anyone hates or kills a Jew (simply because he is a Jew), that person is called an anti-Semite. When a Muslim kills someone in the name of Islam, he is called a Muslim fundamentalist/militant/fanatic/etc. What would you call those influential Jews, individuals and those belonging to the Lobby, in the US who played an important role in the war to destroy an Arab country of Iraq without any reason or are now pushing for a war against Iran? They are beardless, suited, booted. They are not overtly religious like Taliban and so we can’t call them Jewsratics or Jews who are Israel Fanatics. However, their religion is Israel and so the appropriate word (for their world devastating pro Israel stand) should be “Israel Fanatics” or “Isratics.” These Isratics are on a revenge path for past injustices. The victims are now the victimizers. Their victims are not the white Europeans but the Palestinians and other Arabs. And the Isratics are equipped with a WMD or word of mass destruction, and so the moment anyone points out their control over the US Congress, government, news media, etc. she/he will be labeled an “anti-Semite.” Holocaust Auschwitz, located in Poland, (then under German control) was the largest of the many concentration camps where the Jews were transported and were murdered using all sorts of inhuman methods. Other communities suffered too. For the organized Jewry, the “Holocaust” has become a profitable enterprise, as Norman Finkelstein’s insightful study, “The Holocaust Industry,” makes clear. Just one example: The Swiss banks’ offer of $600 million was rejected by the Jewish leaders and so in August 1998, they agreed to pay $1.25 billion. A press release by Swiss banks explained “the aim of the additional payment” “is to avert the threat of [US] sanctions as well as long and costly court proceedings.” Back in March, Edgar Bronfman, president of World Jewish Congress had warned the Swiss banks: “If the Swiss are going to keep digging their heels in, then I’ll have to ask all US shareholders to suspend their dealings with the Swiss [emphasis mine].” Finkelstein reminds us that the United States is equally guilty of the three categories (Swiss denial of asylum to refugees, claimants to inactive Swiss bank accounts, and victims of slave labor which proved advantageous to the Swiss) for which the Swiss had to pay; whereas, the US has not even been threatened, let alone charged. “Many” lawyers were charging $600 an hour for filing claims, and one lawyer wanted $2,400 for reading Tom Bower’s book “Nazi Gold.” Many other European governments, including Germany, have also paid huge sums of money to organized Jewry. The US itself has never paid any money to the Native Indians, the blacks, and many others. One may wonder as to why the US government threatens other governments or their institutions to pay reparations to the Jews! (In 1986, the World Court ordered the US to pay $17 billion to Nicaragua for multiple crimes. The US ignored the verdict.) Most interesting to note: Finkelstein says, “The Holocaust’s mystery, Wiesel avows, is ‘noncommunicable;’ ‘we cannot even talk about it.’ Thus, for his standard fee of $25,000 (plus chauffeured limousine), Wiesel lectures that the ‘secret of Auschwitz’s ‘truth lies in silence.’” Daniel McGowan provides a good portrait of this peace laureate.
Wiesel was awarded a Noble Peace Prize in 1986. In 1983, according to the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s secretary, his name was recommended by half of the US Congress. Noam Chomsky says that in the US, Wiesel is respected as a “secular saint” and is considered a “critic of fascism.” However, the saint keeps his mouth shut where Israel’s crimes are involved:
This so called harbinger of peace was in the White House on February 27, 2003 to see the National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. President George Bush was also there. Wiesel echoed the same old nonsense of comparing Germany of the late 1930s with 2003’s Iraq. In simple words he wanted Bush to start a war. He said: “It’s a moral issue. In the name of morality how can we not intervene.” “I’m against silence.” So he wanted Bush to scream out loud with weapons. Further, there are people like the late Nahum Goldmann, President of the World Jewish Congress, who have criticized those who exploited the Jewish tragedy:
The letter H in the word “Holocaust” is in capital letter because many influential Jewish leaders firmly believe that theirs is the unique tragedy. In other words, they have a copyright over the word “Holocaust” and thus the millions of Native Indians, African slaves, Armenians (victims of Turks), the Congolese (victims of Belgium), the Bengalis of East Pakistan, later Bangladesh, (victims of West Pakistan, now Pakistan), Roma and Sinti people or gypsies (victims of Nazi Germany), and others can’t claim their tragedies as holocaust. Robert Fisk tells us that the word holocaust has been in currency since the 18th century. The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, as a matter fact, used it for the Armenians:
Money Talks, Politicians Walk It is the power of the influential Isratics. And they are everywhere in the US. The third richest man in the US (and the richest Jew in the world) and the owner of two of Las Vegas’s huge casino resorts, the Palazzo and the Venetian, Sheldon Adelson, opposes the two-state (Israel/Palestine) solution. In October 2007, during Republican donors’ visit to the White House, he warned President George Bush that the policy which Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is pursuing in the Middle East would ruin him. His both arms around Adelson and his wife’s shoulders, Bush replied: “You tell your Prime Minister [Israel’s Ehud Olmert] that I need to know what’s right for your people—because at the end of the day it’s going to be my policy, not Condi’s. But I can’t be more Catholic than the Pope.” AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) The Jewish Lobby is made up of several Jewish groups. The Israel Lobby includes some pro Israel Evangelical Christians and Christian Zionists. AIPAC is one of the most important of the Jewish groups. Jeffrey Goldberg wrote in 2005 that AIPAC’s “leaders can be immoderately frank about the group’s influence.” Years back, while dining with AIPAC’s Steve Rosen, Goldberg asked if the 1992 incident involving the then AIPAC President David Steiner had hurt the AIPAC’s influence. “A half smile appeared on his face, and he pushed a napkin across the table. ‘You see this napkin?’ he said. ‘In twenty-four hours, we could have the signatures of seventy senators on this napkin.’” The above conversation is not an isolated incident. On October 22, 1992, New York businessman Haim (Harry) Katz [HK] recorded his conversation with AIPAC President David Steiner [DS] without his knowledge. Later, when the conversation became public, Steiner resigned. Excerpts of that conversation:
John Mersheimer and Steven Walt point out the use of pro-Israel congressional staffers as one more source for the Lobby. They quote former AIPAC chief Morris Amitay:
A former AIPAC staff member Douglas Bloomfield sheds light on how the congresspersons conduct their research:
A senior congressional staffer, writing under the pen name George Sunderland, here on the CounterPunch site, explains how the politicians attending the annual AIPAC meetings act:
Talking to the New York Sun in January 2003, Howard Kohr said, “Quietly lobbying Congress to approve the use of force in Iraq was one of AIPAC’s successes over the past year.” Occasionally AIPAC is not successful. In 1981, it vehemently opposed the US sale of AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) to Saudi Arabia but failed to block the sale. Former President Gerald Ford was infuriated at the AIPAC antics and called a Republican senator and fumed: “Are we going to let the fucking Jews run American foreign policy?” Reagan announced the AWACS sale on national television with these words: “It is not the business of other nations to make American foreign policy.” But Edward Tivnan sees this sale as not much of a victory:
In March 2003, Collin Powell had said: “It is not driven by any small cabal that is buried away somewhere, that is telling President Bush or me or Vice President Cheney or [National Security Adviser Condoleezza] Rice or other members of the administration what our policies should be.” But the reality is exactly opposite. Foxman, National Director of Anti-Defamation League, is a very important figure; his power can be gauged by the meeting he had with Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, i.e., foreign minister,
Nevertheless, one has to accept the fact that even though Powell had been a part of governments during the 1991 Iraq War and the 2003 Iraq War, he was not in favor of war. One can argue that in that case he should have quit his position and thus boosting the morale of the anti-war movement. Once on a visit to Jerusalem, he stood his ground, when he refused to comply with Sharon’s order.
Powell was fed up with the neo-cons pushing for war and called them the “fucking crazies.” It is obvious that it is the Israel Lobby’s power that enabled Sharon to order Powell; otherwise, in reality, he was just a premier of a tiny country — although in military means, the fourth most powerful country in the world. To be continued Monday B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com. Notes and references available from the author on request.
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