|
|
home / subscribe / donate / tower / books / archives / search / links / feedback / events / faq
|
Special Issue: the Collapse of America Paul Craig Roberts gives CounterPunchers the definitive data on what is happening to jobs in America. Not just blue collar jobs. Middle-class, white collar jobs. Roberts' stunning probe is the first true picture of what the U.S. economy is fast becoming and of the savage class wars that lie ahead. Plus Mike Ferner on what it really means to investigate war crimes in Iraq. CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! 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 donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! |
|
Today's Stories July 27, 2006 Richard
Harth July 26, 2006 Norman
Solomon Barbara
Olshanksy David
Nally Jonathan
Cook Patrick
Cockburn William
Blum Joshua
Frank Gabriel
Kolko Daniel
Cassidy Michael
Dickinson Robert
Fisk Uri
Avnery Website
of the Day
July 25, 2006 Harry
Browne Marjorie
Cohn Robert
Bryce Sharat
G. Lin George
Bisharat CounterPunch
News Desk Zena
El-Khalil Larry
Lack Mike
Mejia Ashraf
Isma'il Website
of the Day
July 24, 2006 Mark
Levy Robert
Fisk Maher
Osseiran Paul
Craig Roberts Patrick
Cockburn Website
of the Day
July 22-23, 2006 Jonathan
Cook Paul
Craig Roberts Gilad
Atzmon Robert
Fisk Ralph
Nader Fred
Gardner Christopher
Reed Dr.
Susan Block Najla
Said Uri
Avnery July 21, 2006 George
Galloway P.
Sainath Aseem
Shrivastava Alexander
Cockburn Website
of the Day July 20, 2006 William
S. Lind Robert
Jensen John
Ross Tom
Hayden Paul
Craig Roberts July 19, 2006 Patrick
Cockburn Trish
Schuh Jonathan
Cook Vicente
Navarro July 17 / 18 2006 Mike
Whitney Kathleen Christison Atrocities in the Promised Land
July 14 / 15,
2006 Alexander Cockburn Tanya Reinhart Robert Fisk Daniel Cassidy Winslow Wheeler Hugh O'Shaughnessy M. Shahid Alam William S. Lind Ramzy Baroud Gilad Atzmon Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Samar Assad Ron Jacobs Lee Ballinger Walter Brasch Dave Lindorff Clifton Ross Tom Crumpacker Ricardo Alarcon William Hughes Susie Day Farrah Hassen Poets' Basement
July 13, 2006 Rev. William
Alberts Ramzi Kysia Rep. John P. Murtha Radford / Santos Stan Cox Saul Landau José
Pertierra Website of
the Day
July 12, 2006 John Ross John Stauber Robert Boston Wayne S. Smith John Graham Kevin Prosen Jonathan Cook Website of
the Day
July 11, 2006 Dave Lindorff Dave Zirin Mokhiber / Weissman Amira Hass Clare Hanrahan Brian Cloughey Felice Pace Raed Jarrar Website of the Day
July 10, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Uri Avnery Roger Burbach Ron Jacobs Joshua Frank Missy Comley Beattie Alexander Cockburn
Stephen Green Paul Craig
Roberts Greg Moses Ralph Nader Laura Carlsen Conn Hallinan John Chuckman Fred Gardner Dr. Tod Mikuriya Pierre Tristam Lucinda Marshall David Swanson Heather Gray Dave Zirin
/ John Cox Mark Engler Michael Lettieri Ron Jacobs Jamal Juma' Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement
July 7, 2006 John Ross July 6, 2006 Nick Dearden John Stanton Ralph Nader Laray Polk Saul Landau Joshua Frank William S. Lind Adelman / Lindorff Jonathan Cook Website of
the Day
Mike Whitney Saul Landau Ramzy Baroud Missy Comley Beattie Arthur Neslen Vincent Maruffi Paul Cantor Paul D. Johnson David Price
Col. Dan Smith Chris Floyd Marjorie Cohn James Brooks Medea Benjamin Matt Reichel Elisa Salasin Rick Wilhelm Paul Craig
Roberts Website of the Day
July 3, 2006 Robert Bryce Dr. Bouthaina Shaban Julia Olmstead Dave Lindorff Andres Gomez Alan Singer Alexander Cockburn
Paul Craig
Roberts Stephen T.
Banko Daniel Cassidy Fawzia Afzal-Khan Jeff Taylor John Ross Greg Moses Laura Carlsen Justin E.H.
Smith Brian Cloughley Anthony Papa Mike Ferner Jerry Tucker Jane Goodall / Rick Asselta Phyllis Pollack Poets' Basement
June 30, 2006 Marjorie Cohn Heather Williams Burbach / Cantor Nick Dearden Michael J.
Smith Brian Concannon Virginia Tilley
Bill Quigley Ron Jacobs Paul Craig
Roberts June 28, 2006 Jorge Mariscal Greg Moses Mark Weisbrot Ramzy Baroud Dave Lindorff William S.
Lind Mike Ferner Zoltan Grossman
Marjorie Cohn Benjamin /
Jarrar William Hughes Doug Giebel Uri Avnery Alexander Cockburn
June 26, 2006 Don Santina Ralph Nader Dave Lindorff Rafael Rodriguez-Cruz Evelyn Pringle Jonathan Cook
June 23, 2006 Youmans / Erakat Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Col. Dan Smith
June 22, 2006 Marjorie Cohn Winslow T.
Wheeler Tanya Reinhart Mike Marqusee William Blum
Subscribe Online
|
July 27, 2006 Invasion and ResistanceLebanon and the Future of the Antiwar MovmentBy SHARON SMITH Israel's indiscriminate-yet thoroughly systematic-slaughter of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians should be a moment of truth for the U.S. left. The fact that "about 55 percent of all casualties at the Beirut Government University Hospital are children of 15 years or less," according to journalist Dahr Jamail, should dispel any myth that Israel's latest incursions are acts of "self defense" as Israel's many apologists claim. The Bush administration's rush shipment last weekend of precision bombs to aid Israel's onslaught should be a wake-up call for those on the U.S. left who purport to follow antiwar principles yet until now have failed to take a clear stand against Israeli manifestations of the U.S.' so-called war on terror. To do so requires acknowledging that the U.S.' wars on Afghanistan and Iraq were meant as mere stepping stones in a strategic plan aimed at establishing U.S.-and Israeli-dominance over the entire Middle East. With the U.S. occupation of Iraq rapidly spinning out of control and descending into bloody civil war, Israel is providing an alternate route toward achieving those shared goals-for U.S. domination over the Middle East ensures Israel's domination as well. Look no further than the mainstream media to verify this revelation. As the Washington Post argued on July 16, "For the United States, the broader goal is to strangle the axis of Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria and Iran, which the Bush administration believes is pooling resources to change the strategic playing field in the Middle East, U.S. officials say." Realizing this goal requires crushing Arab organizations fighting for self-determination in Gaza and Lebanon. Acknowledging this simple fact,
however, also requires finally admitting the crucial role played
by Israel as the U.S.' historic regional partner in enforcing
its Middle East policy. The Arab leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia
and Jordan, Yet United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), the largest national antiwar coalition, argued in a July 18 "action alert," "We condemn Hezbollah's attacks on Israeli civilians, and we condemn the Israeli assault in Gaza and Lebanon." The statement repeated the mainstream media's depiction of Israel's assault as a response to Hezbollah's seizure of Israeli soldiers and firing rockets into Israel, which UFPJ called "irresponsible acts". Echoing liberal commentators, UFPJ criticized Israel for its "disproportionate" response-as if Hezbollah started the conflict and Israel is guilty only of over-reacting. Israel: U.S. watchdog In reality, the conflict is many decades old and is intricately tied to Israel's historic role as the U.S.' watch dog/attack dog in the Middle East. This latest episode began when Israel launched an assault on Gaza-and Hezbollah responded by launching a raid, in nothing more than a common border skirmish. Israel then launched missiles into Lebanon-and only then did Hezbollah launch rockets. This incident merely provided Israel with the excuse for a major assault on Lebanon. Israel's ridiculous claim that it is attacking Lebanon to get its soldiers back is belied by the fact that Hezbollah has repeatedly offered to exchange the two Israeli soldiers for Lebanese and Palestinian political prisoners held by Israel (a common practice in the past)-but Israel has refused. Israel has no interest in a prisoner exchange because the captured soldiers provide the excuse for unleashing its full military might against Hezbollah. In reality, Israel has had a plan in place for well over a year to take advantage of any opportunity that presented itself to launch a military attack on Lebanon by air, land and sea, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Gerald Steinberg, professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University, told the Chronicle, "In a sense, the preparation began in May 2000, immediately after the Israeli withdrawal By 2004, the military campaign scheduled to last about three weeks that we're seeing now had already been blocked out and, in the last year or two, it's been simulated and rehearsed across the board." Israel's goal was clearly articulated on July 22-by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who stated that the United States opposes a ceasefire until Hezbollah has been destroyed as a significant fighting force in Southern Lebanon. "I have no interest in diplomacy for the sake of returning Lebanon and Israel to the status quo ante," Rice scoffed at her press conference. Democrats have been equally vocal cheerleaders for Israel, taking turns with Republicans at pro-Israel rallies across the country over the last week. At one such rally, Sen. Hillary Clinton condemned the "unwarranted, unprovoked attacks from Hamas, Hezbollah and their state sponsors" and called them "the new totalitarians of the 21st century." At a San Francisco rally, Sen. Dianne Feinstein ranted that Israel is "fighting for its very existence." She called the Hezbollah raid, and the June 25 raid by three Palestinian militant groups that killed two Israeli soldiers and captured a third, "clear acts of war" by terrorists. These accusations are absurd. Palestinians democratically elected the resistance movement Hamas to lead their government earlier this year. Israel invaded and occupied Southern Lebanon in 1982-the last of its troops pulling out only in 2000. Hezbollah gained its legitimacy as a resistance movement by finally driving Israel out of Lebanon, after 18 years of occupation. And Israel has been seeking the opportunity for revenge ever since. The violence of an occupying force cannot be equated with the resistance of an occupied population, as if both sides are equally responsible for the bloodshed. There can be no equivocation on this issue among those who profess to be for peace and against war. There is no symmetry in this conflict, and to pretend so is to obscure and distort what is really taking place in Lebanon and Gaza today. This attack on Lebanon is an extension of the U.S. war on Iraq. It is therefore astonishing that the dominant organizations of the U.S. antiwar movement are acting as though this is a sideshow-"even-handedly" condemning both sides. Antiwar revival But Israel's own barbarism has forced its role as attack dog for U.S. imperialism to the front and center of the antiwar movement. And over the last two weeks, the antiwar movement is reviving on a principled basis, despite the gaping absence of its largest national coalition. Ten thousand came out to protest Israel's war on Lebanon and Palestine in Dearborn, Michigan last week. Two thousand came out on a weekday afternoon earlier in New York City. Four thousand came out in Chicago on Saturday. One thousand came out in Boston. In each case, the demonstrators were predominantly Arabs and Muslims. Moreover, the connection between the U.S. war on Iraq and Israel's war on Lebanon and Palestine were repeatedly made clear-at the Chicago protest, for example, with chants such as "Free, free Palestine; free, free Lebanon; free, free Iraq;" "Occupation is a crime, from Iraq to Palestine!" and "No justice no peace, U.S. out of the Middle East!" For these directly affected immigrant communities, no hand-wringing debate is needed to support genuine resistance against U.S. or Israeli war and occupation, as there is in the mainstream peace movement. The weakness of the U.S. antiwar
movement toward Israeli war crimes is not a temporary aberration
but a long-standing and shameful phenomenon. As left-wing journalist
Laura Flanders observed, "On June 12, 1982, American activists
massed in New York City to call for peace and nuclear disarmament.
But the Central Park rally made no mention of the week's own
bombing-Israel's then defense minister, Ariel Sharon, had just
sent Israeli forces into Lebanon two days earlier. Sharon Smith is the author of Women
and Socialism and Subterranean
Fire: a History of Working-Class Radicalism in the United States.
She can be reached at: sharon@internationalsocialist.org
|
from CounterPunch Books! The Case Against Israel By Michael Neumann  Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair          Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid? CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues, as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org.                    |
