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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 !
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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 Coming Down to the Wire in LebanonIsraeli Spies and Fake IDsBy FRANKLIN LAMB Beirut’s Abdel Kadas Kabbani High School Polling Station. 95 hours and the polls will open. As election volunteers in Lebanon work this morning to spruce up its hundreds of polling places for Sunday’s election, Minister of Education Bahia Hariri, sister of the murdered Rafiq, canceled school for Saturday and Monday as a precaution, and the US Embassy just an hour ago issued an advisory for Americans to avoid public places and “reminds American citizens in Lebanon that even peaceful gatherings and demonstrations can turn violent unexpectedly “ As for the voters, they are preparing to elect 128 Parliamentary Delegates from more than 550 candidates who theoretically will chart this country’s course over the next four years. Beirut’s airport is jammed with thousands of Lebanese, often given free tickets, arriving to vote from all over the World, but most heavily from the US, Canada, and Europe. More than two dozen candidates have dropped out of the race (and may now be millionaires if they were not already). This electoral phenomenon regularly happens just before the voting in Lebanon. One drop-out candidate confided to a Carter Center STO (short term observer) that he put two kids through college in France with what he earned by abandoning his candidacy. It works as follows: A would-be Parliamentary announces a candidacy, sometimes with great fanfare and appropriate solemnity, perhaps giving speeches about the need for Lebanon to be a beacon of democracy which elects delegates based on merit and who are immune from corruption etc. They campaign furiously for several weeks, gathering as much media and credibility as they can. Then they quietly approach their relevant Zaiim (chief or power broker) and begin their real project which is to sell their withdrawal for as much cash as they can get. One could ‘earn’ a cool million in cash, or more, depending on the electoral district and how much voter appeal the candidate can demonstrate. A final press conference is then called to announce gravely that for the greater good of the Republic of Lebanon, national unity, the Church or Umma, that the candidate is reluctantly ending his campaign, making a personal sacrifice, and, incidentally is endorsing his ‘opponent.’ More than a dozen foreign organizations are in Lebanon monitoring the voting including on the European Union, and the Atlanta-based Carter Center which launched its election observation mission to Lebanon in early February 2009. It now has 50 short term observers, after receiving formal accreditation from Lebanon's Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities in March. It has also dispatched six long-term observers to monitor the electoral process in all 26 electoral districts. They plan to stay in Lebanon until the end of July to monitor the post-election environment, including the complaints process, while it assesses the electoral process in Lebanon against the relevant legal framework, including Lebanese election laws, the Constitution of Lebanon, and Lebanon's international commitments. So far they have found some ‘irregularities’ but have not yet issued a formal report. The Spy Hunt In the Burj Abu Haider section of Beirut this morning ( pro March 14th neighborhood) this observer found two main subjects being discussed by pro-Hariri poll workers. One is the concept of “Hasana Niyabya” or Parliamentary Immunity. This is important because in addition to the 38 alleged spies arrested (made possible by Hezbollah intelligence and technology working with Lebanon’s Internal Security Force (ISF) it is rumored that following Sunday’s voting no fewer than four current members of parliament allied with the US Team are going to be arrested for spying for Israel. The post election arrest of two Cabinet Ministers and “a higher political figure” are also hinted at. They are safe until they lose their parliamentary immunity when the votes are counted creating a new parliament or unless the new parliament passes a third Immunity Law very fast to shield wrongdoers (two earlier “let the past be the past and we can move forward” amnesties were enacted in 1992 and 2005). It was the fear “Israeli spy outings” that dominated Joe Biden’s agenda when he met with the US Team last month. The majority wanted US help in postponing the election, and thereby retaining Parliamentary immunity, but Joe said no. This issue is just one reason that observers here are predicting fireworks after the votes are counted. “Is he/she an Israeli spy?” is a question being asked a lot this week. If someone ‘high up’ does not show up for work at a government ministry the whispers flow. At 9:00 am this morning, President Michel Suleiman visited the headquarters of the General Directorate of the internal security forces in Ashrafiyeh (East Beirut) to be briefed on achievements made in the arrests of Israeli spy cells. Police chief Gen. Ashraf Rifi on Tuesday expected more arrests in the investigation into spying for Israel that has already led to dozens of people being arrested. "We have not completed the mission," Rifi said. "We have files that are still being prepared for arrests." The wave of arrests began in April with the detention of former ISF Brig. Gen. Adib al-Alam and has now included two serving colonels in the Lebanese army as well as at least five members of the security forces. "Most played central spying roles and confessed to falling into the snares of the Israeli enemy," Rifi to the media, citing sex, money and politics as possible motives behind the detainees' decision to spy for the Israeli secret service, Mossad. What is making some politicians nervous is Salesman’s pledge to hold those responsible for any security breach during and following (emphasis mine) the elections accountable. Fake Voter ID’s Another new issue being discussed by poll workers is Minister Fouad Siniora’s announcement this morning of the existence of “information and reports whereby cases of ID forgery have been recorded.” Why this observer took special notice of the announcement by Siniora is because of what has been happening in some villages. It relates to what I the “Rent Voter’ call the ID Initiative”. It is practiced mainly in the south and works as follows: Longtime Hezbollah Shia opponent, Ahmad al-As’ad has set up an anti-Hezbollah Shia organization called the Lebanese Option Gathering and has fielded 19 candidates against Hezbollah. He openly admits getting a large quotient of Saudi support to compete against Hezbollah in the south and the Bekaa and is thought to be allied with the pro-US Hariri team. As’ad knows his group cannot win and that the overwhelming number of Shia will vote for Hezbollah. His goal is not so much to get voters to vote against Hezbollah, but to keep them from voting for Hezbollah. Then when the votes are counted, Israel and the anti-Hezbollah centers can declare that “Hezbollah is losing support among its base, because it got fewer votes than in 2005 etc.” To make this happen, As’ad operatives having been “renting” Voter ID Cards for up to $ 1000 each. The cards are turned over in exchange for $ 1,000 and are to be returned on Monday July 8 after the votes are counted. One Shia fellow from Bint Jbeil claims to have ‘rented’ 20 family Voter ID cards to As’ad operatives and was paid $ 20,000 plus a new car for the family and new Nokia phones for the teenagers. After the election it can be determined how well this campaign tactic worked. But Sinioria’s announcement confirms what this and other observers predicted. That shrewd voters might just print up forged Voter ID’s to increase income and still be able to use their originals for vote for Hezbollah. As’ad operatives seem at the moment to be holding quite a number of forged ID’s. Fireworks are expected following the vote count. Speaking of fireworks, the recent State Department announcement that for the first time since the 1979 Iranian revolution, Americans can invite Iranians to our July 4th Independence Day celebrations may have landed me in hot water again with the U.S. ambassador, Michele Sison,. A Dahiyeh friend reminded me that last year on July 4th I joined other Americans at the Cemetery in Beirut to honor those who died for their country. The A\ambassador was critical of my visit to the hallowed ground where Hadi Nassarah, son of Hezbollah’s Secretary General and Military Commander Imad Mugneighe are buried among hundreds of their compatriots. She took exception to remarks regarding the right and responsibility to resist occupation, whether British in 1776 or Zionist today, and she saw no similarities at all between Tom Payne, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry or George Mason and Palestinian and Lebanese Resistance writers like Makmoud Darwish, Edward Said, Sayeed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, Imam Musa Sadr and others. When she asked on Lebanese TV “Why was he there?” and I replied ‘Why was she not there?” our relationship suffered and has had its ups and down since. Hopefully I have not gone too far this year but by pure coincidence, it was no sooner than last Friday’s State Department announcement was released than I received an invitation to attend the Iranian Embassy organized 20th Anniversary Tribute to the late Imam r. Khomeini at UNESCO Palace (The Spiritual Leader of Iran, who led the Iranian Revolution passed away on June 3, 1989). It was a solemn, dignified and also celebrative event. Franklin Lamb is doing research in Beirut. He can be reached at fplamb@sabrashatila.org.
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