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Inside the New Print Edition of Our Subscriber-Only Newsletter! STABBED IN THE BACK Order CounterPunch By Email For Only $35 a Year ! Meet & Debate (Perhaps Even Date) CPers Online at CounterPunch's New Facebook Page! |
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Eamonn Fingleton gives a stunning account of how the elite press – the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, the New York Times and Washington Post - pilloried US autworkers while systematically concealing the hidden subsidies which have allowed Japan and Korea to destroy Detroit. All this with the connivance of the US government. Also in our latest newsletter: Michelle Obama comes to Merced. Bill Hatch, the Balzac of the Central Valley, gives an uproarious account of Michelle’s state visit to UC’s new campus. Get your new edition 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.
How the U.S. Press Helped Destroy the Auto IndustryOrder CounterPunch By Email For Only $35 a Year !
Meet & Debate (Perhaps Even Date) CPers Online at CounterPunch's New Facebook Page!
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Today's Stories June 3, 2009 Paul Craig Roberts June 2, 2009 Uri Avnery Robert Weissman Conn Hallinan Gideon Spiro Roger Burbach Dylan Quigley Dave Lindorff Ray McGovern Belén Fernández Martha Rosenberg Willie L. Pelote, Sr. Website of the Day June 1, 2009 Pam Martens Yitzhak Laor Mark Weisbrot Ramzy Baroud Saul Landau Eugenia Tsao Afshin Rattansi Debra Sweet Abdul Malik Mujahid Bill Quigley John Wright Website of the Day May 29-31, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Patrick Cockburn Vijay Prashad Gary Leupp Ray McGovern Rannie Amiri Bill Hatch Chellis Glendinning, Stephanie Mills and Kirkpatrick Sale Phyllis Pollack David Yearsley Jean-Christophe Servant Dave Lindorff James McEnteer Missy Beattie James C. Faris David Macaray Harvey Wasserman Adam Federman David Ker Thomson Mark Seth Lender Stephen Martin Joseph Nevins Sophia Mihic Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend May 28, 2009 Joan Roelofs Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Mouin Rabbani Joe Bageant James McEnteer Dedrick Muhammad Richard Morse David Macaray Harvey Wasserman Website of the Day May 27, 2009 Joanne Mariner Paul Craig Roberts Walden Bello Dave Lindorff Brian M. Downing Carlos Villarreal Nadia Hijab Adam Federman Laray Polk Isabella Kenfield David Michael Green Website of the Day May 26, 2009 Manuel Garcia, Jr. Mike Whitney Sharon Smith Marjorie Cohn Dean Baker Deepankar Basu Fred Gardner Jordan Flaherty Josh Ruebner Brian Cloughley Website of the Day May 25, 2009 Diane Christian John Ross Kenneth Hartman Uri Avnery Fred Gardner Cindy Sheehan Sen. Russell Feingold Sibel Edmonds Franklin Lamb Dave Lindorff Daniel Wolff Website of the Day May 22-24, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Michael Teitelman Mike Whitney Ray McGovern Sonia Cardenas / Clive Hamilton Conn Hallinan Fred Gardner Carlo Cristofori Dean Baker Rannie Amiri Andy Worthington David Macaray Nadia Hijab Franklin Lamb Ted Newcomen David Ker Thomson David Rosen Mark Weisbrot Robert Fantina Heather Gray Farzana Versey Chris Genovali Ron Jacobs Jay Diamond Dr. Susan Block Ben Sonnenberg David Yearsley Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend May 21, 2009 Jeffrey St. Clair / Paul Craig Roberts Chris Floyd Gerald Paoli Zach Mason Uri Avnery Andy Worthington Niranjan Ramakrishnan Norman Solomon Dave Lindorff Website of the Day May 20, 2009 Michael Hudson Gary Leupp Michael D. Yates Jonathan Cook Peter Lee Binoy Kampmark Peter Zinn William Loren Katz Gary Lapon Trudy Bond Website of the Day May 19, 2009 Kristoffer Rehder Mike Whitney Ray McGovern Vijay Prashad Mirjam Hadar Meerschwam Mustafa Barghouthi Andy Worthington Binoy Kampmark John Walsh David Macaray Website of the Day May 18, 2009 Dave Lindorff Abdul Malik Mujahid Jonathan Cook Ben Rosenfeld Patrick Cockburn Ralph Nader Stephen Soldz Eugenia Tsao Walter Brasch Roberto Rodriguez Charlotte Laws Website of the Day May 15-17, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair David Rosen Mike Whitney Bruce Page Jeremy Scahill Fred Gardner Tom Barry Mats Svensson Ramzy Baroud Mark Engler Mark Weisbrot Farzana Versey Ron Jacobs Hannah Wolfe Cal Winslow David Macaray Christopher Brauchli Mark Seth Lender Robert Fantina David Ker Thomson Stephen Martin Charles R. Larson Chase Madar Kim Nicolini David Yearsley Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend May 14, 2009 Michael Hudson Andy Worthington Paul Craig Roberts Jonathan Cook Ray McGovern Lance Selfa David Green Dave Lindorff Frida Berrigan Sue Udry Website of the Day May 13, 2009 Brian M. Downing Gareth Porter Robert Sandels Ricardo Alarcón Eric Walberg Dave Lindorff Deepak Tripathi William S. Lind Kevin Zeese Franklin Lamb Website of the Day May 12, 2009 Gary Leupp Richard Neville Wajahat Ali Dean Baker Franklin Lamb Norman Solomon Paul Craig Roberts Lisa M. Hamilton Bob Fitrakis / David Macaray Website of the Day May 11, 2009 Andrea Peacock Michael Hudson Patrick Cockburn Ralph Nader John Kelly Saul Landau Dave Lindorff David Michael Green Anthony Papa Paul Krassner Website of the Day
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June 3, 2009 Obama's Misstep with AbbasA Stifling EmbraceBy NADIA HIJAB The normally sure-footed Barack Obama made a misstep during his press conference with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas. He declared: "I want to publicly commend President Abbas" for steadfastly insisting that a Palestinian unity government would have to recognize the Quartet conditions for dealing with Hamas. In providing this seal of approval, the American president tripped over one of the oldest maxims of the modern Middle East: The closer the United States appears to side with a leader, the further away that drives the people from the leader. By contrast, vice president Joe Biden, who is often accused of being a "gaffe machine," was more nuanced in enveloping Lebanon's president Michel Sleiman in the American embrace earlier this month, saying he had "not come to back any particular party or any particular person." Nevertheless, Biden's visit to Lebanon, hard on the heels of secretary of state Hillary Clinton's, was widely seen as an attempt to shore up the pro-Western March 14 Alliance. As for Obama's plaudits for Abbas, they sent a signal to the region, intentional or not, that the United States is the reason the Egyptian-sponsored unity talks between Palestinian parties have yet to bear fruit. To say that Lebanon and Palestine are both volatile situations is an understatement. The Lebanese will need all their political skill and maturity to handle the election -- and post-election -- period without renewed conflict. In the occupied Palestinian territories, this week's clashes between Palestinian Authority forces and Hamas in the West Bank will keep tensions high there and in Gaza, where suffering is as yet unrelieved after the Israeli assault earlier this year. America would do well to keep a low public profile when it comes to the internal dynamics of Lebanon and the Palestinians. Otherwise it will continue to be blamed for everything that goes on -- and ridiculed. There is something comic about a foreign power with a heavy footprint in the region, including a substantial proportion of its military, sending two top officials to insist that Lebanon's elections must be free of "outside interference." Besides, the United States' professed support of democracy took a big hit when it refused to recognise the outcome of the free and fair elections that brought Hamas to power in 2006, and did everything possible to subvert the results. Inveterate optimists will spot a couple of signs that Obama's rhetoric may be for public consumption rather than policy. For example, one of the ways Palestinian politicians have considered to get around the Quartet conditions is to form a unity government with members of Hamas that, as individuals, recognize those conditions. That is, Hamas could maintain its positions and still participate in government. Asked by journalists whether the United States would work with such a government, the State Department spokesman took the question back for consultation, and then issued a formal response: The United States would "expect any Palestinian Government and all of its members" to accept the Quartet conditions. In other words, if such Hamas members can be found, there might no longer be an American bar to dealing with a Palestinian unity government. That would be an act of realism. According to Clinton, the American administration plans to put forward specific proposals to the Israelis and Palestinians. Without a Palestinian government that represents the majority who live in the occupied territories (Palestinian refugees and exiles remain without representation), it would be hard to forge an agreement. In Lebanon, the United States knows full well that the British and other Europeans are meeting with Hizbullah. A seasoned British analyst affirmed that there was no way the United Kingdom would have done so without clearing it with the Americans. "Right now, nobody would dare cross Obama; everyone wants to ingratiate themselves with him." As for the Clinton-Biden visits, they might have been for domestic consumption. The Administration has said it will review military aid to Lebanon depending on the outcome of the elections. By spotlighting Sleiman and Lebanon's military, the Administration might, in the event of a Hizbullah victory, be able to convince Congress to keep the military aid flowing on the grounds that the president and the army are the real partners. Particularly if a new government and "all of its members" uphold United Nations resolutions dealing with Lebanon. Obama is investing considerable capital in the speech he plans to deliver to the Muslim world this week in Cairo. If he wants to be taken seriously, then embracing democratic outcomes, even if the United States doesn't like them, would be a good place to start. And calling a moratorium on the American embrace.
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Now Available from CounterPunch Books! Spell Albuquerque:
Waiting for
Lightning
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