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The Empire and the Elections: Why Kerry Might be Worse Than Bush: by Gabriel Kolko; From Bad to Worse in Baghdad: a Report on the Shia/Sunni Uprising by Patrick Cockburn; The Pulitzer Prizes and the Misdirections of American Journalism: by Alexander Cockburn. In March, CounterPunch Online was read by 15.4 million viewers--by far our biggest month ever. 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 (tax deductible) donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now!

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Today's Stories

April 22, 2004

John L. Hess
The New York Times from 30,000 Feet

April 21, 2004

Gary Leupp
Yeats on Iraq

Alfredo Castro
Colombia's Forgotten Prisoners

Dr. Susan Block
Bush's Taliban Drug Deal

William A. Cook
George 1 to George 2

Jack Random
Iraq and Vietnam

Jean-Guy Allard
Alarcon Meets the Editors

Mike Whitney
Charade in the Desert

Bill Christison
Only Major Policies Changes Can Help Washington Now


April 20, 2004

Dave Lindorff
Bush and Kerry Share a Problem

Stan Cox
Wal-Mart's Magic Numbers

Bruce Anderson
On Listening to Air America

Joseph Kalvoda
Czech Mate for Condi

Greg Moses
Yesterday's Intelligence

Stan Goff
The Democrats and Iraq

Website of the Day
Santorum Happens


April 19, 2004

Kurt Nimmo
The "Central Hand" of the Resistance

Mike Whitney
Bob Woodward's Imperial Trifles

Douglas Valentine
52 Pick-Up and the 100-to-1 Rule

John Chuckman
The Sharon Annex: Evil Does Often Triumph

Doug Giebel
Welcome to the Club

Rahul Mahajan
Hospital Closings and War Crimes

 

April 16 / 18, 2004

Robert Fisk
Bush Legitimizes Terror

Saul Landau
Subverting Brazil and Cuba

Dave Lindorff
Paying for War: $2,150 per Family and Counting

Brandy Baker
Fallujah's Collateral Damage

Mickey Z.
The Left Attacks from the Right

Bruce Jackson
The Bush Press Conference: Gott Mit Uns

Norman Solomon
How the "NewsHour" Changed History

Alexander Cockburn
Bush, Kerry and Empire

 

April 15, 2004

Greg Moses
Follow the Families, Not the Script

Virginia Tilley
The Carnage According to Gen. Kimmitt: Just Change the Channel

Ron Jacobs
They Coulda Been Champions of the World: Hurricane Carter and Ron Kovic

Michael Neumann
A Happy Compromise: Hate Crimes Reporting in the Toronto Globe and Mail

 

April 14, 2004

Tom Reeves
Return to Haiti: an American Learning Zone

Reza Fiyouzat
Japan and Iraq

Ron Jacobs
What Bush Really Said

Diane Christian
The Real Passion


April 10 / 12, 2004

Alexander Cockburn
The Greatest Radical Journalist of His Age

Patrick Cockburn
Ambush, Kidnap, Murder: Another Day in "Post War" Iraq

Ellen Cantarow
Health Under Siege on the West Bank

Tariq Ali
Iraqi Resistance: a New Phase

Werther
Pseudoconservatism Revisited: When God is Pro War & Other Delicacies

Robert Fisk
Bush's War Lords to Their Critics: "Just Shut Up"

Gary Leupp
Indian Wars, Vietnam and Orientalist Fantasy

Ron Jacobs
The Iranian Revolution, Cont.

Jorge Mariscal
Perils of the Bootstrap

Phil Gasper
Defying Stereotypes About Death Row

Dave Zirin
Bringing the Black Freedom Struggle Into Sports: an Interview with Lee Evans

Brandy Baker
The Revolution is Playing at a Theater Near You

Mickey Z.
Underground Music is Free Media: an Interview with Twiin

Ali Tonak
Get Ready for the Million Worker March

Harry Browne
Asking the Wrong Question About Richard Clarke & 9/11

Gideon Samet
The Sharonizing of America

Conn Hallinan
Remote Control Warriors

Website of the Weekend
Taboo Tunes

 

April 9, 2004

Robert Fisk
This War's Simple Truth: Iraqis Do Not Want Us

John L. Hess
The Non-Confessions of a Warrior Princess: Condi on the Stand

Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Condoleezza's Condescensions

Christopher Brauchli
Holes in the Sky: Bush's Crazed Missile Defense Plan

Don Santina
Forget the Alamo!: Glorifying the Fight for Slavery in Texas

William S. Lind
The 4G Warfare Seminar, Cont.

Bill Christison
9/11 Commission is Bush's New Lapdog

Website of the Day
What We've Done to Fallujah

 


April 8, 2004

Wayne Madsen
Rice (and the Record) Proves It: Bush Knew, But Failed to Act

Kurt Nimmo
Will Bush Flatten Fallajuh?

Patrick Cockburn
Guided Missile; Misguided War

Laura Flanders
Steamed Rice

Larry Everest
What Condi Rice is Hiding

Adam Federman
Sacred Capitalism Hits Russia

M. Junaid Alam
The Iraqi Intifada Begins

Norman Solomon
The Quest for a Monopoly on Violence

Douglas Valentine
Echoes of Vietnam: Phoenix, Assassination and Blowback in Iraq

Website of the Day
Xispas: Chicano Art, Culture and Politics

 

April 7, 2004

Alexander Cockburn
Those Pulitzers!

Sen. Robert Byrd
Deeper into the Mouth of Hell: We Must Find the Exit from Iraq

Ron Jacobs
Tet in Iraq: Closer to the Cosmic Disaster?

Patrick Cockburn
Battles Across Iraq: US Death Toll Mounts

Kathy Kelly
Pacification: Worth the Price?

Sonali Kolhatkar
What Are You Doing About Afghanistan?

Rahul Mahajan
Report from Baghdad: Opening the Gates of Hell

Robert Fisk
US Airlifts Saddam to Qatar

Mike Whitney
America Out of Iraq, Now!

Sam Hamod
Bush, Pandora's Box and the Tiger


April 6, 2004

C.G. Estabrook
Mercenaries and Occupiers

William Blum
The Anti-Empire Report: the Israel Lobby

Col. Dan Smith
The Language of Disbelief: 1.3 Billion Still Live in War Zones

Dr. Bulent Gokay
The Coming Islamic Republic of Iraq?

Lynn Landes
Faking Democracy: Americans Don't Vote; Machines Do

Sheila Samples
What Would Royko Write?

Jason Leopold
Condi's Blind Spot: Rice Never Mentioned al-Qaeda

Mickey Z.
A Reality Show with No End in Sight

Robert Fisk
Iraq on the Brink of Anarchy

 

April 5, 2004

John Farrell
Lessons from El Salvador and Iraq

Robert Fisk
Bloodbath a Bad Omen for Bush

Gary Leupp
Shiites Say No: Another "Nightmare Scenario"

 

 

April 3 / 4, 2004

Alexander Cockburn
Anti-Depressants a Problem? We're Shocked

Jeffrey St. Clair
How Neil Bush Succeeded in Business Without Really Trying

Gary Leupp
On Jefferson, Diderot and the Political Uses of God

Lawrence Davidson
Orwell and Kafka in Israel / Palestine

Frederick B. Hudson
Condi Rice: the Family Retainer

Phillip Cryan
The Magic of Coca-Cola: Colombian Workers, Civil Rights and Advertising

Dave Zirin
Lester Speaks: an Interview with Lester "Red" Rodney

Ben Tripp
Talking Dirty: Obscene But Not Heard

Bruce Anderson
Phony Liberals and Fake Concern for the Homeless

Bill Fletcher, Jr.
Justice and Legitimacy in Haiti

Mark Scaramella
Do You Have What It Takes to Be Sec. of Defense? Take the Rumsfeld Quiz

Sharon Smith
Do Most Iraqis Really Want the US to Stay?

Rick Giombetti
Melissa Ann Rowland: a Witch for Our Time

Nader/Kerry Quandary

Stephen Gowans
Communists for Capitalism?

Frank Bardacke / Doug Lummis
Support Nader; Dump Bush: an Election Manifesto

Mickey Z
Turn ON

Saul Landau
Kerry: a Less Dangerous Imperialist?

Richard Oxman
Nader and/or Death?

Poets' Basement
Holt, LaMorticella, Davies, Albert and Tripp

Website of the Weekend
Missing

 

April 2, 2004

Dave Lindorff
Barbaric Relativism: the Press and Fallujah

Kurt Nimmo
Wherever Bush Goes, Osama is Bound to Follow

Emma Miller
The Role of the West in the Rwandan Genocide

Dr. Susan Block
Same Sex Marriages: Just Say "No" to Prohibition

Norman Solomon
Media Strategy Memo for George & Dick

Sacha Guney
The Meaning of the Elections in Turkey

Christopher Brauchli
The Disturbing Case of Cpt. Yee

Website of the Day
Mercenaries, Inc.

 

April 1, 2004

Ron Jacobs
Dying in Vain in Iraq

Harry Browne
No Smoke, Plenty of Fire: Ireland's Pubs Go Smokefree

Chris Floyd
Towel Boy: Bush Hits Workers with Chemical Weapons

Nicole Colson
Inside America's Concentration Camp: Tortured at Guantanamo

Charles Arthur
Haiti's Army Cracks Down on Workers

Laura Flanders
Elaine Chao: a First Daughter for the First Son

 


March 31, 2004

M. Junaid Alam
Israel: Suicide Nation?

John L. Hess
Condi Under Oath: But What About the NYTs Reporters?

Fernando Suarez del Solar
A Year Since My Son's Death in Iraq

Sofia Perez
Spain's U-Turn on Iraq is Real Democracy in Action

David Vest
Stick 'Em Up: Put Cheney and Bush Under Oath

Tanya Reinhart
As in Tiannamen Square: Justice and the Yassin Assassination

Mike Whitney
Time to Dump the Pledge

Donald Kaul
Martha Stewart's Lesson: Never Talk to the FBI

Milt Bearden
Mired in the Tracks of Alexander the Great

Marjorie Cohn
The Illegal Coup in Haiti: How the Kidnapping of Aristide Violated US and International Law

Website of the Day
New Pentagon Papers Dropped at DC Starbucks

 

 

 

 

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

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April 22, 2004

The Wall Behind Disengagement

What Kind of State Deserves to Exist?

By TANYA REINHART

Amidst the political storm in Israel regarding the "Gaza disengagement" plan, only one really meaningful fact emerges: Sharon received Bush's approval to proceed with his plan for the wall in the West Bank.

With regard to the Gaza strip, the disengagement plan published in the Israeli papers on Friday, April 16th specifies that within a year and a half, the Israeli occupation there should be declared to be over. In every other aspect, the situation will remain as is. The Palestinians will be imprisoned from all sides, with no connection to the world, except through Israel. Israel also reserves for itself the right to act militarily inside the Gaza strip. (1) But since the strip will no longer be defined as an occupied territory, Israel will not be subject to the fourth Geneva Convention. Clause f of section I in the published plan states that "the disengagement move will obviate the claims about Israel with regard to its responsibility for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip". In other words, what Israel does today in violation of international law will become legal: It would presumably become formally permissible to starve people and to kill whoever Israel determines--from a child throwing stones, to the successor of a spiritual leader, himself executed a month before.

The text of the plan also declares that Israel will evacuate the settlements and the army posts inside the strip. It is not clear how this could be accomplished given that the declared intention is to keep the strip under full Israeli "security control". After all, the isolated settlement of Netzarim (like the others) was founded precisely in order to divide the strip into separate parts, thus enabling control of it from the inside. Those who want to, may believe that Sharon will eventually dismantle Netzarim. In the meanwhile, however, Israel invests in its fortification. On channel 1 TV news on April 15, there was an interview with a pretty relaxed settler from Netzarim. "If the defense minister is building right now a new security fence for us"--he said--"then surely no one intends to evacuate us". In any case, the position agreed upon by Sharon and Netanyahu, and which was confirmed in the cabinet meeting of April 18, is that no settlement in the Gaza strip is to be evacuated before the wall in the West Bank is completed.

As for the West Bank, the innovation in the Bush-Sharon agreement is not found at the level of declarations. In the plans of Clinton and of Beilin-Abu Mazen, as well, it was clear that Israel was not offering return to the precise line of the 1967 borders, nor a full realization of the right of return. However, these were plans for negotiation--proposals awaiting the approval of the Palestinian people. Now the Palestinians are not even asked. Now it is Israel and the U.S. who are determining the facts on the ground. Israel marks the land that it desires, and builds a wall on that route.

In the Clinton plan, the Palestinian territory to be annexed to Israel consisted of 5-7% of the West Bank. But when the present route of the plan was first approved by the previous Sharon government, Shimon Peres, then foreign minister, protested that it robbed the Palestinians of 22% of their lands. Since then, the segment of the wall which is already under construction has been extended much further onto Palestinian land. According to a UN report from November of 2003, this segment, which did not include yet the region of Jerusalem, has already appropriated 14.5% of Palestinian land. Along this route, Israel is uprooting tens of thousands of trees, dispossessing Palestinian farmers of their land, and pushing them into small enclaves between fences and walls, until, at the final stage, the wall will surround them on all sides, as in the Gaza strip.

In 1969, the Israeli philosopher Yesayahu Leibovitz anticipated that in the areas of the occupation "concentration camps would be erected by the Israeli rulers... Israel would be a state that would not deserve to exist, and it will not be worthwhile to preserve it". How far are we from Leibovitz prophecy in the fenced Gaza strip?

In the West Bank, the situation is still different. Along the route of the wall, the internal struggle of the Israeli society is now taking place--between the self-proclaimed "land redemptionists" who, no matter how much land they have, will always want more, and those who want to live in a state that deserves to exist. Along that route, there are Israelis who, alongside the Palestinians, are putting their bodies in front of the bulldozers and the Israeli army.

Translated from Hebrew by Netta Van Vliet

Tanya Reinhart is a Professor of Linguistics at Tel Aviv University and the author of Israel/Palestine: How to End the War of 1948. She can be reached through her website: http://www.tau.ac.il/~reinhart

 

Weekend Edition Features for April 3 / 4, 2004

Alexander Cockburn
Anti-Depressants a Problem? We're Shocked

Jeffrey St. Clair
How Neil Bush Succeeded in Business Without Really Trying

Gary Leupp
On Jefferson, Diderot and the Political Uses of God

Lawrence Davidson
Orwell and Kafka in Israel / Palestine

Frederick B. Hudson
Condi Rice: the Family Retainer

Phillip Cryan
The Magic of Coca-Cola: Colombian Workers, Civil Rights and Advertising

Dave Zirin
Lester Speaks: an Interview with Lester "Red" Rodney

Ben Tripp
Talking Dirty: Obscene But Not Heard

Bruce Anderson
Phony Liberals and Fake Concern for the Homeless

Bill Fletcher, Jr.
Justice and Legitimacy in Haiti

Mark Scaramella
Do You Have What It Takes to Be Sec. of Defense? Take the Rumsfeld Quiz

Sharon Smith
Do Most Iraqis Really Want the US to Stay?

Rick Giombetti
Melissa Ann Rowland: a Witch for Our Time

Nader/Kerry Quandary

Stephen Gowans
Communists for Capitalism?

Frank Bardacke / Doug Lummis
Support Nader; Dump Bush: an Election Manifesto

Mickey Z
Turn ON

Saul Landau
Kerry: a Less Dangerous Imperialist?

Richard Oxman
Nader and/or Death?

Poets' Basement
Holt, LaMorticella, Davies, Albert and Tripp

Website of the Weekend
Missing



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