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Bolivia's Third Revolution David Price tells how top-flight US anthropologists eagerly obeyed US government's mandate to "think in a-moral terms". One scheme of OSS's willing executioners: target Japanese physical "weak spot", the respiratory tract, with anthrax germs. Gabriel Kolko asks What's so New About the Neo-Cons? If they had not existed, would the policies have been the same? Jeffrey St Clair digs up more dirt on Halliburton's secret history. Alexander Cockburn on why we need more "celebrity justice". Get the answers you're looking for in the latest subscriber-only edition of CounterPunch ... CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! or write CounterPunch, PO BOX 228, Petrolia, CA 95558 |
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Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison by KATHY KELLY  Today's Stories June 29, 2005 Ray
McGovern June 28, 2005 Paul
Craig Roberts Landau
/ Hassen John
A. Murphy Mike
Whitney CounterPunch
News Service Dave
Zirin Dave
Lindorff Patrick
Cockburn
June 27, 2005 Paul
Craig Roberts Mike
Marqusee Mark
Scaramella Leigh
Saavedra Kathy
Kelly June 25 / 26, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Jennifer
Van Bergen George
Corsetti Mark
Chmiel / Andrew Wimmer Kevin
Zeese P.
Sainath John
Stauber Scott
Handleman Tom
Barry John
Walsh Justin
E.H. Smith Alan
Wallis Ben
Tripp Frederick
B. Hudson Poets'
Basement
June 24, 2005 Ray
McGovern Jorge
Mariscal Desiree
Hellegers Zeynep
Toufe Joshua
Frank David
Lindorff Michael
Neumann Website
of the Day
June 23, 2005 Christopher
Brauchli Clay
Conrad Standard
Schaefer P.
Sainath Mark
Engler Norman
Solomon Cockburn
/ St. Clair Kathy
Kelly
June 22, 2005 Kevin
Zeese William
S. Lind Arsalan
Iftikhar Dan
Nagengast David
Krieger Kathleen
& Bill Christison
June 21, 2005 Brian Cloughley Mike Whitney Dave Lindorff Mark Weisbrot Matthew R.
Simmons Dave Zirin Virginia Rodino Paul Craig
Roberts
June 20, 2005 Alan Maass Tariq Ali Mickey Z. William Blum Gary Leupp Jason Leopold Dave Lindorff Alan Maass Uri Avnery Website of
the Day
June 18 / 19, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Greg Moses Benjamin Shepard Stan Goff Lee Sustar Jude Wanniski Diana Barahona Brian Concannon, Jr. Fred Gardner Mike Whitney Ahmad Faruqui Manuel García, Jr. Roger Howard Ron Jacobs Ben Tripp Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
June 17, 2005 Ricardo Alarcón Clay Conrad Marc Estrin Colin Brown Christopher
Brauchli Joshua Frank Norman Solomon Mary Rizzo Bond / Brutus
/ Setshedi
June 16, 2005 John Walsh Dave Lindorff Adrian Lomax Tom Crumpacker Jeffrey Kolakowski Julene Bair Michael Dickinson Francois Houtart / Isabel Parra,
et al. Tom Barry
June 15, 2005 Stan Goff Daniel Wolff Tim Wise Ricardo Alarcón Joshua Frank John Hilary Norman Solomon Alexander Cockburn
/ Jeffrey St. Clair Website of the Day
June 14, 2005 Paul Craig
Roberts Forrest Hylton Richard Gott Fred Gardner Steve Breyman Dave Zirin Robert Kent Paul Craig
Roberts
June 13, 2005 Gary Leupp Dave Lindorff John Stauber Fred Gardner Evelyn J. Pringle Norman Solomon Winslow T.
Wheeler
June 10 / 12, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Sharon
Smith Brian
Cloughley Chris
Kromm Heather
Gray Kevin
Zeese Mickey
Z. Gary
Leupp Eli
Stephens Nick
Dearden Oscar
Olivera Robert
Fisk Michael
Dickinson Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
Len
Colodny Christopher
Brauchli Ron
Jacobs Dave
Lindorff Katrina
Yeaw / Alex Schmaus Alan
Farago Saul
Landau
June 8, 2005 Jim
Hougan Alan
Maass Jason
Leopold Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Dave
Zirin Derrick
O'Keefe Diana
Johnstone Website
of the Day
June 7, 2005 Forrest
Hylton Greg
Moses / Susan van Haitsma Lenni
Brenner Col.
Dan Smith Joshua
Frank Dave
Lindorff Margot
Veranes / Adrian Navarro Michael
Neumann
June 6, 2005 Stew
Albert Paul
Craig Roberts Nicole
Colson Ali
Khan Jason
Leopold Charles
Walker Poff Ramzy
Baroud Rep.
John Conyers Evelyn
Pringle Gary
Corseri Website
of the Day
June 4 / 5, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn James
Petras Robert
Fisk Patrick
Cockburn Rev.
William Alberts Saul
Landau Mario
Lamo Jimenez Dave
Lindorff Lance
Selfa Tom
Crumpacker Joshua
Frank Fred
Gardner Michael
Dickinson Roger
Martin Reza
Fiyouzat Ben
Tripp Graeme
Greenback Poets'
Basement
June 3, 2005 Paul
Craig Roberts Joseph
Massad Jeff
Halper Tom
Barry Bruce
K. Gagnon Joshua
Frank Mickey
Z. Gary
Leupp Website
of the Day
June 2, 2005 Paul
Craig Roberts Forrest
Hylton Mike
Whitney Brian
Cloughley Mazin
Qumsiyeh Russell
D. Hoffman Norman
Madarasz Norman
Solomon David
Price Website
of the Day
June 1, 2005 James
Petras Justin
Delacour Edward
Jay Epstein Omar
Barghouti / Lisa Taraki Dave
Lindorff Kevin
Zeese Jason
Leopold William
S. Lind
May 31, 2005 Sen.
Mike Gravel David
Krieger Tad
Daley Joshua
Frank Richard
Gott Norman
Solomon Tom
Segev Walter
Brasch Diana
Johnstone
May 28 / 30, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Richard
Lichtman Sharon
Smith Paul
Craig Roberts Dave
Lindorff Ramzy
Baroud Brian
Cloughley Fred
Gardner Lee
Sustar Joshua
Frank Justin
E.H. Smith Jackie
Corr Michael
Kimaid Toufic
Haddad Justin
Taylor Amir
Butler Ben
Tripp Poets'
Basement
May 27, 2005 Gary
Leupp Daniel
Estulin Kevin
Zeese Robert
Fisk Dave
Zirin Website
of the Day
Hot Stories Alexander Cockburn Subcomandante
Marcos Norman Finkelstein Steve Niva Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams Steve
J.B. Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber Wendell
Berry CounterPunch
Wire Cindy
Corrie Gore Vidal Francis Boyle
Subscribe Online
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June 29, 2005 Bush's Speech: the View from CairoGive Him an Oscar for CrassBy LINDA S. HEARD It was a speech to make both Lee and Hermann proud. I'm talking about the one America's commander-in-chief gave with more spit than polish at Fort Bragg last Tuesday. His human props were silent throughout except when required to clap on cue. His demeanor was determinedly steadfast. His fixed half-smile was designed to inspire confidence. And when it was over, there was the quivering lip and the flicker of a humbling downturn of the gaze. One can hardly imagine the amount of practicing in the mirror it must have taken to marry the right facial expressions with the host of emotions the speech was crafted to elicit among its audience. A touch of brillianceor was it? In reality, it wasn't so much a speech as an exercise in mind control, designed to pull the 'right' strings so as to keep the public on board the Iraq debacle, at a time when Americans are becoming ever more skeptical. It clearly showed that the Bush camp is worried about increasing background chatter from not only Democrats but also GOP stalwarts: "Vietnam", "quagmire", "torture", "rising casualties", "terrorist breeding ground", "failure". The public's confusion has, further, been exacerbated by mixed messages from top administration figures. For instance, Cheney says the insurgency is in its last throes, while Rumsfeld subsequently maintained it is strengthening and becoming more entrenched, throwing out a ballpark timeframe of 12 years. They must have known they were in trouble when 'Mr. Freedom Fries' Congressman Walter Jones altered his menu while Senators John McCain and Chuck Hagel seemed poised to run for the hills. A flurry of polls indicating Bush's approval ratings on the down and down, and Fox News propagandists starting to sound faintly critical meant that something had to be doneand fast. Wavering Bush supporters, concerned at the rising levels of violence in the Iraqi protectorate, a crimson-colored national debt, sky-high oil prices and burgeoning anti-Americanism, hoped their president would come clean at Fort Bragg. They wanted him to be truthful over the situation on the ground. They wanted to understand the prognosis for success. But most of all, they wanted to know that there was a plan in place. So out walks beloved leader, either smirking or smiling, depending on your affinities. He opens his mouth. We wait with baited breath. Will he produce a much needed rabbit out of his virtual hat? Will he profess a magic formula, one which can quell the insurgency? If not, is there some kind of exit plan or timetable for bringing the troops home? The clappy-happy types wait in optimistic anticipation. The stern-faced Straussians look for a slick, convincing performance, one that would get them to the doors of Tehran and Damascus. The naïve want confirmation that their country's top echelons represent a force for good. The formulated paragraphs trip off his tongue. His mouth opens and closes but all that emerges is a repetition of the now debunked message: "After September the 11th, I made a commitment to the American people: This nation will not wait to be attacked again. We will defend our freedom. We will take the fight to the enemy. Iraq is the latest battlefield in this war." Ten-out-of-ten for chutzpah. No marks for originality. In all, the linkage between Iraq and September 11 was made five times during that speech, which represented nothing less than yet another brazen attempt at playing the politics of fear, revenge and faux patriotism. It was simply tried and true psychological drip-drip piss; indoctrination at its most blatant. Apart from Bush diehards and the nation's most moronic, the world and its wife know that both the Iraqi people and their former dictatorship had nothing whatsoever to do with 9-11. Moreover, they now realize that prior to the US-led invasion in March 2003, Iraq possessed neither home-grown 'terrorists', nor foreign fighters, which are now attracted to it in the same way that mosquitoes are to a swamp. They are also aware that the war has been deemed "illegal" and it was fought under a host of false-pretexts. Informed Americans go along with the analysis of Gen.Wesley Clarke, who believes Iraq is now a breeding ground for terrorists due to the presence of US troops. In other words, the US chicken-hawks arrived before the terrorist egg. Former senior adviser to Baghdad's former Coalition Provisional Authority Larry Diamond has reached a similar conclusion. In is book "Squandered Victory" he accuses the Bush brigade of "gross negligence", which has led to "a bloody and unrelenting insurgency, a new breeding ground for terrorists and the metastasizing of ethnic and religion tensions." Sharing the sentiments of Clarke and Diamond is former US national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, who recently said: "This war has been conducted with tactical and strategic incompetence," adding, "America is now less secure and Iraq has been turned into the world's most effective terrorist training camp." Gen. John Abizaid, in charge of America's forces in the Mid-East, has appealed for Americans to support the troops in theatre, saying, "We don't need to fight this war, looking over our shoulder and worrying about support back home." This concern Mr. Bush was quick to address using sickening rhetoric designed to manipulate the genuine respect the public has for its courageous military doing its best on a foreign field that is forever America. "In this time of testing, our troops can know: the American people are behind you.this 4th of July, I ask you to find a way to thank the men and women defending our freedom, by flying the flag, sending letters to our troops in the field or helping the military family down the street" The hope here is that Americans with tears in their eyes will once again get out the flag pins, unfurl their now sacrosanct red, white and blue standards, tie yellow ribbons around the nearest lamp-post and dispatch parcels of Mars Bars and 'I love you' furry toys to Baghdad. After all, Mr. Bush is a self-styled 'War President' and the nation is at war. People at war give their leaders carte blanche and rally behind them. People at war don't generally talk about impeachment. People at war can be manipulated. And all this time we thought that on July 28, 2004 Iraq had been handed-back its sovereignty. And all this time we thought that Iraqis with purple fingers risked their lives last January to elect a new democrat government. And all this time, as we were told by the president himself from the deck of carrier, the mission had been accomplished. The problem here folks is the mission, the real mission, is far from being accomplished. The mission is not, and has never been the invasion of Iraq, which represents a mere stepping stone in the grand scheme of things.
When the Soviet Union fell, America's military-industrial-intelligence complex needed a new enemy for its very survival. That enemy became Islamic extremism, which was clearly delineated post September 11, while the faces of that enemy became a bearded millionaire troglodyte, a one-eyed ton-up boy mullah, an Egyptian doctor turned terrorist master-mind, along with a lap-dancing loving, vodka-swigging 'Moslem' fanatic. The 1992 Wolfowitz doctrine sets out the principle and part of the methodology, which was later refined by that same Struass-con individual and his influential friends, members of a think tank titled "The Project for a New American Century" They said the implementation of their strategy required a new Pearl Harbor. Wonder of wonders! They got it. Those people now run America and their aim is to ensure the US remains the sole superpower by controlling the world's natural resources especially oil along with the seas, the skies and even space. As regards the real mission, much has been achieved. The US now has military bases throughout the Caspian, the Mid-East, the Arabian Gulf and the Sub-continent. The irritating flea on their backs Saddam Hussein has been conveniently removed from Iraq and a puppet government installed. The largest and most fortified US embassy in the world is being constructed in Baghdad along with several large permanent bases. So far so good! Syria and Iran are also due for regime change but here the schedule begins to look shaky. Syria has withdrawn from Lebanon, which removed that pretext for war, and Iran is playing kissy-facey with the Europeans, the Russians and the Chinese. Even more troubling for the gang on Pennsylvania Avenue is the growing insurgency in Iraq, the increasingly high casualty rate of US military and the depletion of treasury coffers, originally destined to be refilled out of Iraqi oil revenues. Worse, the public and the formerly supine mainstream media are beginning to think out of the box. The neo-cons' mentor, Chicago professor Leo Strauss was a believer of 'the end validating the means'. As far as he was concerned, if a satisfactory end meant politicians having to tell lies to the masses then so be it. And, boy, how they've lied! Worse, they are still lying as we can see clearly from the President's disingenuous attempt to force back the tide of public opinion on Iraq. "I thank those of you who've re-enlisted in an hour when your country needs you. And to those watching tonight who are considering a military career, there is no higher calling than service in our armed forces," said Bush with his eye on dwindling recruitment figures. And this from a man whose nearest proximity to a battlefield was a walk on armed with a plastic turkey. My advice for what it's worth is this. Dismiss the spiel, lock-up your youth and demand a day of reckoning for those who changed America from being an inspiration to the rest of the world on human rights and civil liberties to a disliked and feared global aggressor. Stop those criminals in their tracks before the world is divided into H.G. Wells' Eloi and the Morlocks the former, innocents, who live above ground being fatted up as fodder for their fat, white masters, the gross inhabitants of a cavernous underworld. Linda S. Heard is a specialist writer on Mid-East
affairs. You can reach her at solitairemedia@yahoo.co.uk
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