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Inside the New Print Edition of Our Subscriber-Only Newsletter! Report From the Afghan Front
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Inside the New Print Edition of Our Subscriber-Only Newsletter!
Report From the Afghan Front
It's Obama's War and It's Going Very BadlyExclusively for CounterPunch subcribers, Patrick Cockburn files a special report from Kabul: the Taliban's tightening grip on most of the country; plumetting US popularity in a bankrupt country rotted by corruption. For fifty years, Seymour Melman waged intellectual war on Pentagon capitalism, making the case for peaceful conversion. David Price brings to light decades of FBI secret surveillance. Senator Jim Webb is launching the first determined bid in forty years to overhaul the US criminal justice system at whose call is the American gulag. Alexander Cockburn reports on the prospects for his success. 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.
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Today's Stories June 19 - 21, 2009 Patrick Cockburn Henry A. Giroux June 18, 2009 Uri Avnery Robert Sandels / Anthony DiMaggio Robert Weissman Joshua Frank Jonathan Cook Reza Fiyouzat Norman Solomon Ali Jawad James Ridgeway Website of the Day June 17, 2009 Carl Boggs Dr. Bryant Welch Winslow T. Wheeler Liaquat Ali Khan Jonathan Cook Binoy Kampmark Karim Makdisi Dave Lindorff David Swanson Gene Marx Website of the Day June 16, 2009 Patrick Cockburn John Ross Afshin Rattansi Marc Levy Paul Craig Roberts Behzad Yaghmaian Brian M. Downing Merle Lefkoff David Macaray Robert Jensen David Swanson Website of the Day June 15, 2009 Michael Hudson Reza Fiyouzat Patrick Cockburn James Ridgeway Marjorie Cohn Rannie Amiri Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Leonard Schwartz Martha Rosenberg Website of the Day June 12-14, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Gareth Porter Mike Whitney Mark Ames Esam Al-Amin Franklin Lamb Patrick Cockburn Andy Worthington Heather Gray Felice Pace Ron Jacobs George Wuerthner Jeffrey Buchanan / David Ker Thomson Renaud Lambert Kevin Zeese David Macaray Evelyn Pringle Chris Genovali David Michael Green Brian J. Foley Charles R. Larson Kim Nicolini David Yearsley Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
June 11, 2009 Kathy Kelly / James Bovard Tristan de Bourbon Dave Lindorff Kevin Zeese Ralph Nader Harvey Wasserman Nicole Colson Mark Weisbrot Dan Bacher Website of the Day June 10, 2009 Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Jennifer Van Bergen / Douglas Valentine Kathy Kelly Paul Craig Roberts Rev. William E. Alberts Peter Lee Carol Miller Emily Ratner Robert Weissman Dave Lindorff Website of the Day June 9, 2009 Winslow T. Wheeler Mike Whitney Stan Cox Sibel Edmonds Jonathan Cook David Macaray Robert Jensen Nadia Hijab Mark Weisbrot Website of the Day June 8, 2009 John Ross Paul Craig Roberts Franklin C. Spinney Franklin Lamb Uri Avnery Jonathan Cook Eric Toussaint Jim Goodman Norman Solomon Reza Fiyouzat Website of the Day June 5 -7, 200 Alexander Cockburn George Galloway Paul Craig Roberts Jennifer Loewenstein Franklin Lamb Mike Whitney Andy Worthington Missy Comley Beattie Farzana Versey Stanley Heller John V. Whitbeck Robert Weissman Lee Sustar Dave Lindorff William Blum Ernest Callenbach / Greg Moses Ron Jacobs David Yearsley Tim Stelloh Belén Fernández David Ker Thomson Karyn Strickler Christopher Brauchli Charles R. Larson Kim Nicolini Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend June 4, 2009 Arno J. Mayer Mike Whitney Gareth Porter Ayesha Ijaz Khan Mouin Rabbani Jordan Flaherty Adam Turl Nikolas Kozloff Yifat Susskind Website of the Day June 3, 2009 Paul Craig Roberts Kathy Kelly Alan Farago Franklin Lamb Bill Hatch Nadia Hijab Dean Baker Binoy Kampmark Manuel Garcia, Jr. Remi Kanazi Behzad Yaghmaian Website of the Day 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 19 - 21, 2009 Raising the Bar for Public ExpectationsPrice of Rice, Price of Power in IndiaBy P. SAINATH Now that we have a Indian cabinet whose assets total close to Rs. 5 billion (US $1 = 48 rupees) on their own declaration, with Ministers worth over Rs. 75 million each on average, it will be worth watching how they rise to the challenge of identifying with the poor and the hungry. That Rs. 5 billion figure, painstakingly compiled by the National Election Watch, a coalition of over 1200 civil society organizations working across India, covers 64 of the 79 ministers. The missing 15 are Rajya Sabha members whose updated assets are yet to be computed. True, these figures are skewed by the fact that the top five ministers alone are worth Rs. 2 billion. However, as the NEW points out, the rest are not destitute. In all, 47 of the 64 are ‘crorepatis’ (multimillionaires). And the remaining 15 won’t harm the score too much when their totals come in. Together, they will preside over the destiny of, amongst others, 836 million Indians who “get by on less than Rs. 20 a day.” (National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector report, August 2007.) This challenge will unfold in a Lok Sabha (House of the People) where the average worth of an MP is Rs. 51 million. Again, this average too, is skewed by a chunk of about 60-70 MPs of the 543 whose asset worth is relatively very low. On the other hand, many have notched up large gains in wealth during their first term as MPs. In a complex and layered verdict driven by many factors, one seems clear: most governments that stressed welfarist measures -- particularly cheap rice and employment -- gained in last month’s election results. This was regardless of which party was leading them -- Congress, BJP, BJD, DMK and others. Some of these measures may not have led to large numbers of people going out to vote for those governments. But they at least lowered hostility levels amongst voters in a hungry nation. As Dr. Madhura Swaminathan points out, the FAO’s data confirm that “no country in the world comes close to India in terms of the absolute number of people living in chronic hunger.” The hungry have had it pretty bad. The rise in food prices over the last five years was extremely steep, one of our more adverse periods in decades. Between just 2004 and 2008, the price of rice rose by over 45 per cent and that of wheat by more than 60 per cent. Atta, edible oils, dals, milk and even salt saw rises of between 30 and 40 per cent. Lower or ‘near-zero inflation’ has seen no drop in food prices. That the media never saw hunger and cheap food as a major poll factor says more about the media than about the issue. In Tamil Nadu, the ruling DMK provided 20 kilos of rice per family at Rs. 1 a kilo since September 2008. That too, for anyone with a ration card, without dividing people into Above Poverty Line (APL) or Below Poverty Line (BPL) groups. Tamil Nadu had already been providing rice at Rs. 2 a kilo for some years. It also took the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) seriously. The state government gained on both counts. In Andhra Pradesh, as in Tamil Nadu, the Congress government of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) was helped by the presence of a third party -- Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam -- which drew a lot of anti-Congress votes, crippling the rival Telugu Desam Party (TDP) of Vhandrababu Naidu. But YSR’s was also a government which in its first year in power restored hundreds of thousands of cancelled BPL cards and issued hundreds of thousands of new ones. In nine years, Chandrababu Naidu’s government issued no BPL cards till just before the elections. That in a state where hunger and food have been huge issues even in urban areas. Andhra was where rice at Rs. 2 a kilo began in the early 1980s with Naidu’s father-in-law, then chief minister N.T. Rama Rao. NTR’s charisma was never in question - but rice at Rs. 2 a kilo helped, more than any other factor, to convert it into votes. Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy in fact stole the TDP’s clothes when in April 2008 he brought back the Rs. 2 a kilo rice scheme -- a year before the national polls. This was at 4 kilos per person (or 20 kg per family of five). An earlier generation of Congress leaders had trashed NTR’s pet project as a “costly gimmick”. Reddy took a more sensible line and gained from it. During Mr. Naidu’s years in power, so lavishly praised in the media for his “reforms,” the public were repeatedly hit by massive hikes in power charges, water rates, food prices and other costs. Even now He has not managed to live down his record or regain credibility. His adversary ran a decent NREGS program. In backward Mahbubnagar district, distress migrations fell as many found work under the NREGS. This was at a time when food prices were biting, so much so that people in their 70s turned up at NREG sites for work, their Rs. 200 a month pensions blown away by the rise in food prices. Even on that front, though, the AP government earned some credit. When it assumed power, there were 1.8 million people in the state getting old-age, widow and disability pensions - a paltry Rs. 75 each. This was raised to Rs.500 for disabled people and Rs. 200 for the rest. Hardly enough - but a lot more than earlier. And the number of people getting these pensions rose four-fold to 7.2 million. The state also has one of the country’s better pension schemes for women. In Orissa, Naveen Patnaik chief minister and leader of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) played his cards most effectively, gutting the BJP and corralling the Congress. But he also gained hugely from giving people cheap rice. In the burning hunger zones of Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput, 25 kilos of rice were offered to all families at Rs. 2 a kilo since mid-2008. In the rest of the state, this was restricted to Below Povert Line (BPL) families. The government also gave out 10 kilos of free rice to the poorest families in the KBK districts. This had a major impact in curbing starvation deaths in that region. Patnaik also increased the numbers of those coming under pension schemes - and housing projects for the poor - quite significantly. (At the same time, he implemented the Sixth Pay commission before the polls, sewing up the middle classes as well). In Chattisgarh, however repugnant the ways of that government in many spheres, Chief Minister Raman Singh took a personal interest in declaring 35 kilograms per family at Rs. 3 a kg. His government then unilaterally “increased” the number of people below the poverty line to almost 15 million -- in a population of 20.8 million (2001 census). That is, close to 70 per cent of the population were ‘declared’ BPL. This was done several months before the 2008 assembly elections. It helped the government in both state and national polls. The Left Front in West Bengal failed on both fronts. The state saw rioting at ration shops last year as the central government quite deliberately cut allocations of grain sharply. Yet Bengal, which tops the states in rice production (itself an achievement of Left rule), moved towards provision of cheaper rice only early this year. Too reluctantly and too late. Its performance in the NREGS too, was very poor. So hunger was also a factor in the rout of a Left Front far more focused on industrialization in the past few years. So what should those in power read into the poll results? That they have a mandate for more liberalization, privatization, high prices and other such “reforms?” Or that the price of rice could be the price of power? That jobs and security are vital? Food prices and cheap rice are crucial, though not the sole issues. Governments cannot bank on such moves already made to bring them perpetual gains. But the whole process is a step ahead and has raised the bar on public expectations. Sharp reversals could prove suicidal. P. Sainath is the rural affairs editor of The Hindu, where this piece appears, and is the author of Everybody Loves a Good Drought. He can be reached at: psainath@vsnl.com.
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