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Today's
Stories
December
9, 2004
Paul
de Rooij
The Voices of Sharon's Little Helpers
December
8, 2004
Ralph
Nader
Will the Real Michael Moore Ever Re-Emerge?
Ann
Harrison
The Ohio Recount: Reluctant Officials
and Few Rules
Paul
Craig Roberts
War Crime
Dave
Lindorff
They've Got a Secret: Inside the $40 Billion Black Budget for
Spying
Patrick
Cockburn / Andrew Buncombe
CIA Warning on Iraq: Fallujah Did Not Break the Back of the Insurgency
Col.
Dan Smith
Rules of Engagement in Iraq
Emily
Alves / Michael Johnson
Paradise Lost: Corruption and Clientelism in Costa Rica
Richard
Oxman
The Dylan Bob Wouldn't Mention: Up With Dylan Thomas
Ron
Jacobs
In Fallujah, Freedom Isn't Free
December
7, 2004
Patrick
Cockburn
Running Battles in Baghdad
Behrooz
Ghamari
Lost Muslim Voices of Dissent
Dave
Lindorff
American Fantasies: Psst! Hey Buddy,
Did You Hear How Well the War's Going?
Joshua
Frank
Dean at the DNC?
Richard
Oxman
Down with Dylan: the Insufferable Interview
Ray
McGovern
All Mosquitoes, No Swamp
John
Chuckman
The Invasion of Hallifax: The Imperial Wizard Visits Canada
James
Petras
Latin America: the Empire Changes Gears
Website
of the Day
ToxMap: Who's Poisoning You
December
6, 2004
Paul
Craig Roberts
Paranoia and Pre-emption: Is the
Bush Administration Certifiable?
December
4 / 6, 2004
Alexander
Cockburn
Politicize the CIA? You've Got to
be Kidding
Joe
Bageant
Dining with the Rhinos
Alan
Maass
Reporting from the Ground in Iraq: an Interview with Patrick
Cockburn
Brian
Cloughley
Democracy, Bush-style, in the Gulf
Laura
Carlsen
Latin America Shifts Left
Lenni
Brenner
Jefferson, Madison, Bush and Religion
Anna
Ioakimedes
Brazil's Haitian Mission: Doing God's Work or Washington's?
Uri
Avnery
Widow of Opportunity?
Fred
Gardner
Supreme Court Hears Medical Pot Case
Dave
Zirin
Steroids to Heaven
Jackie
Corr
Mining Camp Blues: the Red State Variation
Don
Fitz
Will Greens Abandon IRV?
Lucy
Herschel
"Art can be a Weapon of the Oppressed": an Interview
with Artist Anthony Papa
Richard
Oxman
No Angels in America: Bashing the Gay Play
Ron
Jacobs
Holiday Greeting Card
Poets'
Basement
Collins, Albert, LaMorticella
December
3, 2004
Dave
Lindorff
Lie Then Escalate
Ben
Tripp
Fun With Boycotts: How to Shop in a
Time of Crisis
Joe
Allen
Murder in El Salvador: the Assassination of Teamster Organizer
Gilberto Soto
Matthew
B. Riley
Human Rights Court Fails Lori Berenson
Meir
Shalev
In the End, It is the Violin that Wins
Bob
Wing
The White Elephant in the Room: Race and Election 2004
Christopher
Brauchli
When McCain Bit His Tongue
Sasan
Fayazmanesh
The EU, the US, Israel and Iran
December
2, 2004
Tito
Tricot
No Justice in Chile: I'm a Torture
Survivor in a Country Where Torturers Still Run Free
Behzad
Yaghmaian
The Murder of Theo Van Gogh and Muslim Migration
Dr.
Susan Block
Lana and Me: Meetings with Remarkable Apes
Frank
/ Chowkwanyun
Liberalism and Its Bounds
Lee
Sustar
Standoff in Ukraine: the Bad v. the Corrupt
Patrick
Cockburn
Another Grim Record in Iraq
Mark
Engler
Seattle at Five
Michael
Donnelly
Something Stinks in South Bend: the Firing of Tyrone Willingham
Nate
Collins
The Bay Area Mall on an Ohlone Burial Grounds
Saul
Landau
The Assassination of Danilo Anderson
December
1, 2004
Phillip
Cryan
Associated with Whom? Rightist Bias
in Wire Coverage of Colombia
Dave
Zirin
What's the Matter with "Leon"?:
Budweiser's Racist Commercial
Ghali
Hassan
Iraq's Health Care Under the Occupation:
200 Children Die Every Day
Donna
J. Volatile
Beware Western Nations Threatening "Democracy"
Patrick
Cockburn
How Saddam Tried to Arm the Insurgency
Nick
Meo
Chemical War Over Afghanistan
Mike
Ferner
The Battle of Toledo
Mokhiber
/ Weissman
Shame and Determination on Global AIDS Day: 40 Million and Rising
Kathy
Kelly
Looking the Other Way: the Real Crimes
of the UN in Iraq
November
30, 2004
Jennifer
Van Bergen
The Veil of Secrecy
Toni
Nelson Herrera
Meeting Kurtz: When Art is a Crime
Paul
Craig Roberts
The Bush Delusions: Successful at Incompetence
Patrick
Cockburn
The Insurgency Strikes Back: There Are No Safe Havens in Iraq
Chuck
Munson
WTO Protests Five Years Later: Seattle Weekly Trashes Anti-Globalization
Movement
Adam
Williams
Citizenship Sold: Back to Business in Indiana
Gregory
Elich
A Dangerous Turn in the US Plans for
North Korea
Website
of the Day
Read Lynne Cheney's Lesbian Novel Online!
November
29, 2004
Dave
Lindorff
Blowback in Ukraine: The Hand of
the CIA?
Omar
Barghouti
"The Pianist" of Palestine:
Roadblock Concerto at Gunpoint
Mike
Whitney
The US Media and Fallujah: How to
Market a Siege
Uri
Avnery
The Abu Mazen Style: "Give Me
Some Credit!"
Matt
Vidal
Globalization and Economic Inequality: a Look at the Numbers
Patrick
Cockburn
An Interview with Iraq's Foreign
Minister
Alan
Farago
Sex Change and Salvation: God, Girly Men and Endocrine Disrupters
Justin
Huggler
Bhopal 20 Years Later
Antony
Loewenstein
How Australia Reported Arafat's Death and Legacy
Gary
Leupp
Ukraine: Poll Results Aren't the Real
Issue
Website
of the Day
Mosul: Images from a Kill Zone
November
27 / 28, 2004
Peter
Linebaugh
Torture & Neo-Liberalism with
Sycorax in Iraq
Alexander
Cockburn
What Happened to O'Reilly's Loofa?
Fred
Gardner
Ashcroft v. Raich: Medical Marijuana and the Supreme Court
Kathy
Kelly
What We Can Control
Diane
Christian
The Other Cheek: "Empire Doesn't Analyze, It Acts"
Gary
Leupp
One More Neocon Target: South (Yes, South) Korea
Lenni
Brenner
Equality and Rights of Return: Jefferson Instructs the New York
Times
Ron
Jacobs
Death Squads and Iraq's Elections: the Mysterious Murders of
the AMS Clerics
Joshua
Frank
An Interview with Kevin Zeese on Nader, Kerry and the ABB Crowd
Toni
Solo
The Murder of Danilo Anderson
Saul
Landau
Fallujah, the 21st Century Guernica
JoAnn
Wypijewski
Matthew Shepard Case 6 Years Later: Why Hate Crimes Laws are
No Cure for Homophobia
Justin
Taylor
Empire's Lawless Opportunities
Amos
Harel
The Case of Captain R.
Walter
A. Davis
Tabloid Justice
Stephen
Hendricks
God's Kind of Men
Poets'
Basement
Albert, LaMorticella and Ford
November
26, 2004
Peter
Feng
Gavin Newsom: Man or Machine?
Greg
Moses
It's the White Vote, Stupid
Liaquat
Ali Khan
The Devil's Work: Bush's Minority Appointments
Michael
Mandel / Gail Davidson
Why Bush Should Be Banned from Canada: a Memo to the Ministry
of Immigration
Dave
Lindorff
Nation of Sheep, Turkey of an Election: Urkrainians Show the
Way
Gary
Corseri
When Black Friday Comes...
Paul
Craig Roberts
Whatever Happened to Conservatives?
Website
of the Day
Iraq Pipeline Watch
November
25, 2004
Willliam
Loren Katz
Giving Thanks to Whom?: "Thanks
to God We Sent 600 Heathen Souls to Hell Today"
Mitchel
Cohen
Why I Hate Thanksgiving
Mike
Ferner
An Uncommon Mom
November
24, 2004
Gila
Svirsky
License to Kill: the Example of Violence
is Set by the State
Winslow
T. Wheeler
The
Other Mess in Congress
Christopher
Brauchli
The Company He Keeps: the Syndicate of Tom Delay
Dave
Lindorff
Double Standards on Exit Polls: Hypocrisy Sans Irony
Ron
Jacobs
The Occupation of Iraq is the Root of t he Problem
Ken
Sengupta
Witnesses: War Crimes in Fallujah
Diana
Barahona
The Final Holocaust or Why I Voted for Ralph Nader
John
L. Hess
Safire the Shameless
Jason
Leopold
Did Harvard Hire (Another) War Criminal?
Jeffrey
St. Clair
The Mark of McCain: the Senator Most Likely to Start a Nuclear
War
Map
of the Day
Now and Then: 2004 v. 1860
November
23, 2004
Forrest
Hylton
Bush and Uribe at the Beach
November
22, 2004
Dave
Zirin
Fight Night in the NBA: Selective Outrage
in Detroit
Paul
Craig Roberts
On to Iran: We Won't Get Fooled Again?
Michael
Mandel / Gail Davidson
Why Bush Should be Banned from Canada
Kathie
Helmkamp
Our Son: a Marine Who Won't Kill
Ken
Sengupta
The Triangle of Death: "This is Now the Most Dangerous Place
in Iraq"
Mike
Whitney
Greenspan's Hammer
Roger
Burbach
Why They Hate Bush in Chile
Website
of the Day
Fed Up with Government Lies and Corporate Spin?
November
20 / 21, 2004
Alexander
Cockburn
The Poisoned Chalice
Todd
May
Religion, the Election and the Politics of Fear
Abbas
Ahmed Ibrahim
The Horrors of Fallujah: a First-Hand Account
Kevin
Zeese
Mishandling Nader
Landau
/ Hassen
After Arafat
Tom
Barry
The Vulcans Consolidate Power: The Rise of Stephen Hadley
Fred
Gardner
Pot Shots: Ask Dr. Todd
Justin
E.H. Smith
Triumph of the Will: the Sequel
Carl
Estabrook
Where We Are Now
Gary
Leupp
Imperial History-Making vs. Reality-Based Thought: a Dialogue
Dave
Lindorff
Apocalypse Soon
Jenna
Michelle Liut
Plans Colombia and Patriota: Wanton Wastes of Money, Manpower
and Lives
Mickey
Z.
The Granma Moses of Radical Writing: an Interview with William
Blum
Greg
Moses
The Same Old Struggle Against Imperial America
Sharon
Smith
Abortion Rights and the Election: What Now?
Ron
Jacobs
Sandwiches and Car Bombs
Ben
Tripp
Raising d'Etre: Finding Money in Hollywood These Days
Richard
Oxman
Basketbrawl Two Pointer: Iraq Rules!
Gilad
Atzmon
Politics and Jazz
Poets'
Basement
LaMorticella, Albert, Ford, & Anon.
Website
of the Day
Voice of the Forest
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.
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December 9, 2004
"Reality is a Construction..."
Sander
Hicks and the 9/11 Truth Movement
By
MICKEY Z.
On all sides of the political spectrum, limits
exist. On the respectable (sic) Right, for example, it's fine
to rant and rave about the sanctity of "unborn lives"
but not acceptable to post pictures of abortion doctors on your
website. The Left, contrary to popular belief, has limits of
respectability (sic), too. For example, leftists can get hot
and bothered over Bush not reacting to pre-9/11 warnings. However,
those who go further and implicate the U.S. government in any
way, shape, or form...well, they are banished to realm of "conspiracy
theory."
"The seeming paranoia
of conspiracy theorists is not necessarily the result of some
underlying mental dysfunction or of stupidity," declares
Jonathan Vankin, author of "Conspiracies, Cover-Ups, and
Crimes." "The dysfunction is with American society,
maybe even civilization as a whole. The structure of civilization
itself requires mass adherence to faith in the institutions that
built civilization and make it run. Conspiracies theorists question
those authorities and, because they do, they skirt the fringes
of society."
Actively skirting the fringes
of society is Sander Hicks
... founder of Soft Skull
Press and now Vox Pop
/ Drench Kiss. Hicks
gained national notoriety when he published Jim Hatfield's controversial
Dubya biography, "Fortunate Son." The scathing, well-documented
expose of the Bush dynasty resulted in near financial ruin for
Soft Skull, a brilliant
film documentary, and Hatfield's tragic suicide. Through
it all, Hicks remained focused and ever-searching.
Hicks is a poet, playwright,
publisher, a punk rock showman. For anyone looking to get a handle
on him, consider this: He was the first publisher to give me
a book deal. That might offer some insight into his style...or
his sanity?
Besides starting up a new publishing
company and bookstore in Brooklyn, Hicks has turned his focus
to the "day everything changed" and the result is a
book due out in 2005: "The
Big Wedding: 9/11, The Whistleblowers, and the Cover-Up".
In the interest of tossing Hicks' provocative and well-researched
take into the mix, I asked him some questions about 9/11. The
results are below.
MZ: Whether it's from a
mainstream media outlet or respected left wing scholars, the
reflexive reaction to those who question the official 9/11story
ranges from condescension to outright mockery. What led you to
take a closer look at this story?
SH: With Jim Hatfield, I was
publishing the Bush/bin Laden connection starting in 1999. I
think his "Fortunate Son" bio was the most above ground
that material had become until then, until it was forced back
down. When 9/11 happened, for me it was in the wake of Jim's
suicide. Less than two months earlier, Jim had thrown in the
towel after two years of being prevented from making public a
few simple, documented truths about Bush. So I was kind of in
a natural position to become someone who looks at 9/11 with a
lot of skepticism. It's a skepticism based not only on facts,
but facts that have proven to be highly sensitive, sore spots
on the Bush body politic.
MZ: What kind of reactions
has your skepticism provoked?
SH: I've been lucky enough
to work with editors at Long Island Press who really believed
in this stuff, maybe because I was telling the 9/11 story in
a specific, personal way, through the stories of 9/11 widow Ellen
Mariani, or researcher Daniel Hopsicker. So I can't take the
classic position of bitching about being totally ignored by mainstream
media...hell, New York Press actually asked me to review the
9/11 Commission Report, and it was hell of a lot of fun tearing
that thing down to its oily elements. I feel the work at INN
World Report has been ignored by bigger television outlets but
that's no surprise. I feel it's been kind of well appreciated
on the Net, instead.
We're at a time now when this
stuff is beginning to break above ground again. One thing I keep
hearing in mainstream radio outlets that are beginning to put
a toe in the water, is "well, there are a lot of theories
out there and the more we hear about all of them, the less we'll
know which is true." That is so backward. The process of
inquiry and dialogue and choice and rationality itself necessarily
means that the lousy, kooky theories will be discarded by the
process. The truth will come out.
MZ: I'm glad you mentioned
the "kooky" angle (although there's not much out there
more "kooky" than trusting the government to objectively
investigate itself). How can a skeptical observer differentiate
between the research you're talking about and theories that involve
remote-controlled planes and/or explosives pre-planted in the
Pentagon or WTC? Let's say I'm just beginning to re-evaluate
the 9/11 story...where do I begin?
SH: Well actually, first I
have to say I'm not against speculating about explosives at the
WTC. Even longtime peace activist John Judge told me in our interview
(http://sanderhicks.com/judge.html) that there well could have
been explosives planted, it doesn't mean the Federal Government
was complicit, though. Whoever pulled off 9/11 could have planted
them. Explosives per se don't indict any party.
To answer your question more
directly about how to determine what's worthwhile, and what's
crap...well it's an important question. When you have a sensitive
topic here, when so much political power is involved, there's
going to be a series of false reports, disinformation put forth
to obscure the real story, red herrings to throw off the dogs.
It happened in the JFK assassination, and it's happening now.
My quick analysis on how this
is happening right now would be to point out two red herrings:
The Pentagon Theory and the accusations of anti-Semitism. Paul
Thompson of the 9/11 Timeline was on the Morning Sedition show
and host Mark Marin dismissed the entire 9/11 Truth website by
saying, "Oh, it's one of those sites that say no plane hit
the Pentagon." We're being judged by our weakest link. And
it is pretty weak.
You had rush hour traffic on
I-395 that saw the plane hit, you have 100 eyewitnesses compiled
in the pamphlet published by Penny Schoner. Where the hell did
this theory come from? Thierry Meyssan's book "The Horrible
Fraud" was the original source. Meyssan wrote his book from
Paris, he didn't travel over here. The book is highly imaginative,
and in the middle of a trauma, people are searching for answers.
A lot of people in the 9/11 truth movement glommed onto this
one and I think it's hurt our credibility over all. You have
to wonder if that was by design. For instance, all the right-wing
magazines (e.g. National Review) have had a field day.
I've also seen media voices
dismiss the entire topic of 9/11 questioning by sweeping it all
into some kind of anti-Semitic whacko camp.
MZ: When writing about the
attack on Pearl Harbor, I learned to never underestimate the
collective power of arrogance and racism. Racists within the
U.S. military and government never imagined that Japan could
orchestrate such a successful offensive. Few Westerners took
the Japanese seriously and FDR himself dismissed the Japanese
as combat pilots because they were all presumed to be "near-sighted."
It's easy to imagine that Clinton and/or Bush had more than an
inkling that Osama and Co. were plotting something big. It's
equally as palatable to assume that either administration would
gladly exploit any attack on the homeland for their benefit and
that of their corporate benefactors. What reasonably objective
observer would be shocked to learn that both U.S. regimes never
believed that a group of cave-swelling nomads could pull off
anything approaching the success of 9/11?
SH: Racism is a big part of
this country's history and its present modus operandi, at home
and in the newly globalized world. But in the case of 9/11, we
knew damn well that we weren't dealing with "cave-dwelling
nomads." Al-Qaeda is a well-funded organization. They were
an outgrowth of the CIA/Pakistani ISI relationship, funding the
Mujahedeen. When the US pulled out after the end of the Cold
War, Saudi money and Pakistani intelligence stepped in. In fact,
I have a source in the Indian Army, Major General Vinood Saighal,
who has published three books, in which he refers to "the
Al Qaeda/Taliban/ISI combine". But wait, Pakistan's our
ally, right? You don't get this perspective in the US.
Look closer at 9/11 and it
seems likely Mohamed Atta was a double agent, playing both sides.
Look at Daniel Hopsicker's work in Florida, that tracks Atta's
moves in strip clubs and cocaine bars. How did Atta get in this
country twice without a visa? The guy had juice. Or look at Professor
Peter Dale Scott's excellent excoriation of the 9/11 Commission
Report, called "How
to Stop Terrorism," Al Qaeda chieftain Ali Mohamed
was "almost certainly an out-of-control informant for the
FBI." Scott backs this up with sources and the paper trail.
Ali Mohamed is the guy who photographed the Kenyan embassy that
Al Qaeda then bombed. He's an Al Qaeda mastermind, and like,
Atta, is also Egyptian. I wonder which one of these guys was
that "mole" that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was
referring to when in Fall, 2001 he told newspapers Egyptian intelligence
and Mubarak himself warned the US about 9/11.
So, I think the question is
a little bit off, because you're suggesting this country (USA)
may have been foiled by its own arrogance and its racist assumption
that the terrorists couldn't have pulled this off, right? Well,
what I'm saying is that the $400 billion a year war machine and
the $40 billion a year intelligence machine had its paw prints
all over these guys. They didn't underestimate them. They allowed
these guys to get riled up for a cause, and then do something
that would in the end, hurt that cause greatly. Because it would
justify a US military expansion.
The real racist tragedy is
when you have 9/11 people who know nothing about history or foreign
policy or politics who advance theories that completely ignore
smoking guns, like the CIA/ISI connection. Their theories tend
to veer into the esoteric. Really imaginative territory, like
the "In Plane Sight" video. I'm not sure who they blame,
they seem to think that the attack originated deep inside the
war machine itself. But Arab anger is real. The real trick is
to not only see it, but to understand it, and then to understand
how it could have been manipulated. In the end, double agent
Atta swore allegiance to Bin Laden, and that's who he died for.
He cared very deeply about the Palestinian "homeland"
as he called it. If he did have US intel connections, as the
evidence shows, he was probably thinking he could play both sides
and then have it blow up in our face. What he didn't figure is
his handlers were one step ahead of him.
MZ: How would you summarize
your perspective on 9/11?
SH: Reality is a construction.
We're told what to believe by the government and media. Most
people play along, pay taxes, support the troops and the wars
that are part and parcel of capitalism. But there are some who
drop out and fall away from the death machine. God bless them.
MZ: For those who fall away
from the death machine, what actions or steps can we take to
do something about this? What can the average person do to help
bring out the truth and how does that fit into the larger activist
picture?
SH: Jeez, it's hard to answer
that and not come off as a holier-than-thou Pharisee who's telling
people what to do. For my own part, I was working on houses,
for the past couple years. I was listening to Democracy Now every
day in New Mexico (out in the mountains up north there you can
get it on like 3 different channels). It got to a point where
I felt like things had gotten too weird, I had to get back into
independent media, in a whole new way, try to present an alternative
to the alienation and paranoia by creating media and community
empowerment systems that showed the world how much we all have
in common. So that's what I'm doing, Vox Pop, the coffee-house/bookstore/publishing
company. I'd like to order the world to come participate, but
all I can do is open the door.
MZ: Can you offer some resources
for readers to follow-up?
SH: These are the guys/gals
I like: Daniel Hopsicker, Mike Ruppert, Robert Parry, Peter Dale
Scott, Gary Webb, Lois Ann Battuello, Anthony Lappé, and
Rep. Cynthia McKinney.
Sander Hicks can be reached at sealove@sanderhicks.com
(or by visiting the sites mentioned above).
Mickey Z. is the author of four books, most
recently: "The Seven Deadly Spins: Exposing the Lies Behind
War Propaganda" (Common Courage Press). He can be found
on the Web at http://www.mickeyz.net.
Weekend Edition
Features for November
27 / 28, 2004
Peter
Linebaugh
Torture & Neo-Liberalism with
Sycorax in Iraq
Alexander
Cockburn
What Happened to O'Reilly's Loofa?
Fred
Gardner
Ashcroft v. Raich: Medical Marijuana and the Supreme Court
Kathy
Kelly
What We Can Control
Diane
Christian
The Other Cheek: "Empire Doesn't Analyze, It Acts"
Gary
Leupp
One More Neocon Target: South (Yes, South) Korea
Lenni
Brenner
Equality and Rights of Return: Jefferson Instructs the New York
Times
Ron
Jacobs
Death Squads and Iraq's Elections: the Mysterious Murders of
the AMS Clerics
Joshua
Frank
An Interview with Kevin Zeese on Nader, Kerry and the ABB Crowd
Toni
Solo
The Murder of Danilo Anderson
Saul
Landau
Fallujah, the 21st Century Guernica
JoAnn
Wypijewski
Matthew Shepard Case 6 Years Later: Why Hate Crimes Laws are
No Cure for Homophobia
Justin
Taylor
Empire's Lawless Opportunities
Amos
Harel
The Case of Captain R.
Walter
A. Davis
Tabloid Justice
Stephen
Hendricks
God's Kind of Men
Poets'
Basement
Albert, LaMorticella and Ford
|