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Today's Stories   September 22, 2005 Patrick Cockburn Iraqis: This Government has No Authority Jason Leopold GOP Fiscal Policy and Katrina   September 21, 2005 Jorge Mariscal Military Recruiters: Counselers or Salesmen? Linda S. Heard Double Standards in Iraq: Basra Brit Jailbreak Joshua Frank NYPD Unplugs Cindy Sheehan Eric Ruder "The Problem in Iraq is the US": an Interview with Camilo Mejia Pierre Tristam The Struts and Bull Presidency Dave Lindorff The Real Story of the German Elections Mike Ferner Sit Down in DC Mollie Comley Beattie Bush's Katrina Bling Bling Jeffrey St. Clair W Marks the Spot Website of the Day New Orleans: Survivor Stories   September 20, 2005 Steve Breyman Toxic Gumbo: Katrina and Environmental Justice George Galloway Et Tu, Greg Palast? Patrick Cockburn What Happened to Iraq's Missing $1 Billion? M. Shahid Alam Gen. Musharraf and Israel: Is Pakistan Selling Out? Mike Whitney The Gitmo Hunger Strikers Winslow T. Wheeler It's Not Rocket Science Niranjan Ramakrishnan Back to the Future: North Korea's Gambit Paul Craig Roberts Will Neocon Fanaticism Destroy America?   September 19, 2005 Gary Leupp Their Patience and Ours: Khalilzad Threatens Syria Rev. William E. Alberts Mainstream Religious Leaders in Bushtime: Guardians of the Status Quo Tom Gorman Padilla and the Death of the Republic: the Power to Hold Anyone Leigh Saavedra The Anti-War Movement Goes on Trial Mike Whitney Hurricane Hugo at the UN Ingmar Lee Compromise with a Chainsaw in the Rainforests of BC Katrina Yeaw Anti-War Mvt. in Italy: Hunger Strike Against Censorship Kathleen and Bill Christison Travels in Palestine: Horror Story   September 17 / 18, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Levee Town Ralph Nader The CEO's Chief Justice Diane Christian Abortion and the Politics of Death Ned Sublette Mr. Bush's Tuba William Cook Katrina and Poverty: the Poor Have No Lobbyists Barbara Ehrenreich Finding a Coach in the Land of Oz Nikolas Kozloff Demeaner of the Faith: Pat Robertson and Gen. Rios Montt Dave Lindorff One Big Sham: New Orleans as Potemkin Village Heather Gray Wake Up White America! C.A.N. "This is Solidarity, Not Charity": a Student Report from Louisiana James Petras From Victims to Vandals: Katrina and the Mass Media Bill Pahneles Born Again in New Orleans? Jeff Chapman Katrina's Victims and the Minimum Wage Dave Zirin Eton Thomas Rises to the Challenge Ron Jacobs The Politics of Withdrawal from Iraq Fred Gardner The Millworker's Argument Peter Harley The Wall and the Holes in the Wall Matthew Koehler Battering the Bitterroot National Forest Ben Tripp Some Optimistic Thoughts Poets' Basement Nettnin, Albert, Engel and Louise Website of the Weekend How to Identify Misinformation   September 16, 2005 Ishmael Reed Race, Katrina and the Media J.L. Chestnut, Jr. Bush's Judges and Black America James Petras The St. Patrick Four: the Feds Confront the Anti-War Movement Louis Proyect Brawl at Baruch: Hitchens vs. Galloway Christopher Brauchli Baked Brownie: Cooking a Resumé Naomi Archer "It's Not that the Government isn't Responding, They are Obstructing Responses" Edward Gibbon The Patron Saint of Defense Contractors Francis Boyle Grounds for Impeachment? Paul Craig Roberts America is in the Clutches of Autocrats   September 15, 2005 Jeffrey St. Clair Flirtations with Disaster Brian J. Foley The Profit-Driven War Justin E.H. Smith Frances Newton and the Prospects for a New Abolitionism Dave Lindorff Sacrificial Murder by Texas: Frances Newton Died for Bush's Sins Kevin Zeese Katrina and Iraq: the War Comes Home to Roost Jason Leopold Funeral Gate in New Orleans Todd May There are Palestinians Here!: the Demographic Factor Niranjan Ramakrishnan Brawl in the Family Pat Williams Lewis and Clark in Montana William S. Lind Swept Away in Iraq Saul Landau Bush, God and Katrina   September 14, 2005 Gary Leupp Managing Perceptions of Presidential Ignorance Evelyn Pringle Iraqis to Bush: Where Did All Our Money Go? Jordan Flaherty Back Inside New Orleans Jeff Chapman The WJS's Flawed War on the Minimum Wage Ramzy Baroud The Perils of Normalization with Israel Manuel Garcia, Jr. The Power of Water Mickey Z. Eugene V. Debs and the Legacy of Dissent Sam Husseini A Statement from Mother Nature Ralph Nader Questioning Judge Roberts   September 13, 2005 Uri Avnery Who Murdered Arafat? Werther Jackals and Jackasses JG Where's the Outrage Over the Jailing of Kevin Pina? Marlene Martin The Texas Killing Machine: Will Another Innocent Woman be Executed? Joshua Frank Katrina's Political Aftermath: Blame More Than Bush Ron Jacobs Saving America's Serengetti Dave Lindorff Compassion for the Camera Ben Tripp It's an Ill Wind Dave Zirin Galloway Goes to Washington Billy Sothern How the Other Half Lived in New Orleans Website of the Day Save the Life of Frances Newton   September 12, 2005 Bill Glahn Tears of Rage in New Orleans Jason Leopold How Michael Brown Helped Bush Win Florida Bill Simpich Confronting Nancy Pelosi Mike Whitney Padilla and the Death of Personal Liberty Justin Felux Free Kevin Pina!: US Journalists Arrested in Haiti Rep. Cynthia McKinney No One Came to Get Them Carol Norris Let Them Eat Toxins Robert Jensen Our Grief is Not Special Gideon Levy The Mean Streets of Tel Rumeida Paul Craig Roberts Power Grab in New Orleans Website of the Day New Orleans Artists Relief Fund   September 9 / 11, 2005 William A. Cook From New Orleans to Palestine Saul Landau How the US Supplied Iran with Nuclear Know-How Lance Selfa Confederacy of Dunces: Why FEMA Failed Col. Dan Smith Paying the Piper Elaine Cassel Judge Roberts: On the Far Right of a Far Right Party Ron Jacobs Food as Govt. Weapon in New Orleans Elisa Salasin My September 11th Christopher Brauchli When "Action" is Delay: Bush's Picnic & Plan B Evelyn Pringle War Pays: Douglas Feith's Platinum Parachute Tom Crumpacker The Posada Case: When Injustice is Justice Dave Lindorff The Big Blowback Robert Jensen Race Stories: the Heart of Whiteness Gary Bass A Civics Lesson from Katrina Dr. Susan Block Katrina Speaks! Steven Sherman The American Left and the Battle of New Orleans Col. Douglas A. Macgregor Escape from Oz: the Pentagon's Light Show Barghouti / Grima Re-Thinking the Mediterranean Jeff Berg Katrian and the Baghdad Dead: Bush's Tipping Point? Fred Gardner Marijuana Might Really Make You Cool Charles Sullivan It's Not Easy Being King Dan Vojir God's Ambulance Chasers Website of the Weekend On the Road in Louisiana September 8, 2005 John Chuckman Lessons from Hell Dan La Botz Rehnquist: the Chief Injustice Carol Norris The Psychological Aftermath of Katrina David Krieger Cindy, Katrina and Iraq Irma Thomas An SOS from the Soul Queen of New Orleans Roger Morris Legacy of Neglect September 7, 2005 Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz John Wayne and the New Orleans Indians Werther Victor Davis Hanson: Bard of the Booboisie Chris Floyd No Direction Home Jason Leopold The Rich and the Dead Michael Donnelly Cassandra, Apollo and the Red Queen Niranjan Ramakrishnan Clueless in Crawford; Witless in Washington Linda Milazzo / John Stern Idiot Wind: Haley Barbour, Katrina and Hiroshima Gary Leupp Nepal: the Prachanda Path Pierre Tristam Commander-in-Zilch Fails New Orleans Kevin Zeese Kucinich Speaks: Dem Leadership Needs to Get Out of the Way Charmaine Neville How We Survived the Flood   September 6, 2005 Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor Our Birmingham: Did Katrina Blow Off the White Sheets of American Racism? Dan La Botz Katrina: State Failure and Human Solidarity Larry Bradshaw / Lorrie Beth Slonsky Trapped in New Orleans: First By Floods, Then By Martial Law Chuck D. Hell No We Ain't Alright Debbie Dupre / Bill Quigley Thank God There's No One to Bomb in Retaliation Omar Wariach Edward Said vs. Orwell and Hitchens: "It's Racism at the Bottom" Mike Whitney Why Rehnquist Doesn't Deserve to be Buried on US Soil Carol Norris In the Wake of Katrina Norman Solomon Firing Mike Brown is not Enough Michael Neumann But What About the Snipers? September 5, 2005 Paul Craig Roberts Resurrecting Karl Marx David Vest The Battle of New Orleans:It's Looking a Lot Like Fallujah John Blair Don't Rebuild New Orleans, At Least Where It Was Fidel Castro What Cuba Has Offered the People of the Gulf Coast Mike Whitney 80,000 Rodney Kings in New Orleans Alan Farago Talking Points for a City of Corpses Doug Giebel Bush's New Orleans: "So This is Where He Used to Come to Get Drunk" Mark Chmiel Beatitudes for This New American Century Carol Wolman, MD God to Bush: "You Blew It" Norman Solomon Bush's Answer to Cindy Sheehan: "It Was About Oil" Eli Stephens An Administration Without Shame Peter Linebaugh Loo! Loo! Lulu! Loot!   September 3 / 4, 2005 Alexander Cockburn From Mitch to Katrina Paul Craig Roberts Failure on Every Front Gary Leupp New Orleans and the System that Destroyed It Dave Lindorff Profiteering from Disaster: the Real Looters Wear Pinstripes Dan La Botz Time for the U.S. to Start Over Jonathan M. Feldman From Iraq to New Orleans: the U.S. as a "Failed State" Landau / Hassen The Cuban 5: In Prison for Fighting Terrorism Tim Wise In the Name of the Lord: "Those Looters Should be Shot" Mitchel Cohen People of the Dome: "Let Them Eat Shit..." Dave Zirin The Superdome: the Earth's Most Damnable Homeless Shelter Mike Ferner Waiting on the Outside World: Who Will Rescue America? Rep. Cynthia McKinney Shame on the Bush Administration Jason Leopold Bush's Demented Priorities: the State of Marriage Over the State of Louisiana Justin Felux Kayne West is My Hero: "Bush Doesn't Care About Black People" Monica Benderman Iraq War as Thrill Ride: Getting Off the Rollercoaster Ben Tripp Grab a Towel, You're Next Jordan Flaherty Notes from Inside New Orleans Bill Pahnelas A Rising Tide has Swamped All Boats Seth Sandronsky Hurricane Katrina Exposes the True Face of Capitalism Mark Donham Where's Karl Rove? Fred Gardner CHP Agrees to Follow Law; Justice Stevens Apologizes Joshua Frank Winning the West Jackie Corr The Privatization Mob Poets' Basement Albert, Engel, Louise   September 2, 2005 Evan Jones Katrina and the Corps of Engineers: Manufacturing Disaster David Stocker How Good is Your Levee? Frankly, Scarlet I Don't Think He Gives a Damn Dave Lindorff Baghdad on the Big Muddy Norman Solomon The Smirk of a Killer: Ending the Impunity of the Bush White House Mike Whitney How Bush Deals with a Disaster He Helped Create: Blame the Looters Eli Stephens What They Should Have Learned from Hurrican Ivan Ron Jacobs Katrina, Iraq and Blood Profits Christopher Brauchli Onward Christian Assassins Harvey Wasserman Bush to New Orleans: Drop Dead CounterPunch Wire Faith-Based FEMA? Feds Directing Katrina Money to Pat Robertson Glen Ford Will the "New" New Orleans be Black?   September 1, 2005 Dr. Greg Henderson, MD Situation Critical: a Doctor in the Flood Paul Craig Roberts How New Orleans Was Lost Mike Whitney Hurricane Donald: How Rumsfeld Smashed the National Guard Lee Sustar Left Behind to Drown: the Poor and Hurricane Katrina Dave Lindorff The Real Disaster: Bush and the Democrats Lynn Gonzalez The Cindy Spark: Mainstream America Stirs Chris Floyd The Perfect Storm August 31, 2005 Cockburn / St. Clair New Orleans After Katrina John Walsh Democrats and the War Bernstein / Mishel Bush Economy: Incomes Down; Poverty Up! Alan Farago What are the Hurricanes Trying to Tell Us? Norman Solomon The National Guard Belongs in New Orleans, Not Baghdad Bryan Newbury "Hey, Shoot that Black Guy Running Off with the Bottled Water!" Jason Leopold What's Eating Cindy Sheehan? Website of the Day The Swiftboating of Cindy Sheehan   August 30, 2005 Gary Leupp Venezuela: Launch Pad for Muslim Extremism? Joshua Frank Bunny and the War Profireers Evelyn Pringle The Woman Who Blew the Whistle on Halliburton Gets Canned Urariano Mota To Die by Mistake: the Killing of Jean Claude de Menezes Ron Jacobs High Water Everywhere CP News Service An Open Letter to Alberto Gonzales: Free the Cuban 5 Roger Morris The War for the Future   August 29, 2005 Seth Sandronsky Pat Robertson, Big Oil's Televangelist Norman Solomon War Liberals and Cindy Sheehan Charles Sullivan Nation of Fools Paul Craig Roberts Does Anyone Know What We're Doing in Iraq? Website of the Day Monsanto Threatens "Bitter Greens" August 27 / 28, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Assassination: as American as Apple Pie (and Torture) Ricardo Alarcon The Cuban 5 in Atlanta: a Long March Towards Justice Diane Christian The Politics of Death: Assassination M. Shahid Alam How to be a Good Victim Laith al-Saud Baghdad Circus: Iraq's Constitutional Process Diane Farsetta School of the Americas Fights Back: PR Plan for Pentagon's "Demonstration Village" Saul Landau Reagan and Bottled Water: the Privatization of Everything Tom Barry Hurricane Hugo: Relating to Venezuela Nicholas Rowe Barenboim in Ramallah: an Unfinished Symphony George E. Bisharat Enforce the Ban on Settlements Dave Lindorff Another Mother for War: the Exploitation of Tammy Pruett Fred Gardner Pot Shots: Doing the Right Thing, Even If You Are Fearful John Francis Lee The Juggernaut of Jingo Evan Jones I.F. Stone on the Perils of Empire Ali Khan Defining Aggression Poets' Basement Albert, Nettnin, Engel, Ford, Krieger, Louise August 26, 2005 Lee Sustar Showdown at Northwest Ramzy Baroud Cindy Sheehan and the Power of the Ordinary Christopher Brauchli The Return of Edwin Meese Peter Harley The Wall as a Good Thing? John Snider Not One of the Gang Kathleen Christison Can Palestine be Put Back in the Equation?     August 25, 2005 Paul Craig Roberts Hegemony Lost: the American Economy is Destroying Itself Cockburn / St. Clair Loewenstein's Big Mail Bag: Gaza and "the Shame of It All" J.L. Chestnut, Jr. Racial Politics in California They May Vote for You, But They Won't Have Lunch with You Chhandasi Pandya Libeling Venezuela Richard Ward Impressions from Camp Casey Norman Solomon Exploiting the 9/11 Anniversary: Will the Media Help Bush, Again? Joshua Frank Will the Real Leaders Please Stand Up? Seth Sandronsky GM, the UAW and US Health Care Lucinda Marshall The Democratic Unraveling: How Not to Mention the War VIPS Memo to Bush: Try a Circle of Wise Women Ralph Nader It's Time to Make the Iraq War Personal     August 24, 2005 Stan Goff Containing the Anti-War Movement: the Hayden Plan Rachard Itani Papal Double Standards Elisa Salasin The Militarization of Our Children Ron Jacobs Who Would Jesus Assassinate? John Chuckman Robertson and Posada: Bush's Kind of Terrorists Leibowitz / Heller Gaza: Disengagement or Military Redeployment? Douglas Valentine Suicide as Sacrament Thomas Nagy Congress Should Go to Crawford: an Open Letter to Cindy Sheehan Alexander Cockburn Hitchens Backs Down, Says Sheehan "Not a La Rouchie" Website of the Day Stations of the Cross       August 23, 2005 Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler Pat Robertson is Not a Christian Karen Kilroy Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City Protests: Violent Echoes of Kent State Stew Albert Fascism in America: Are We There Yet? Joshua Frank The Democrats and Cindy Sheehan Dave Zirin Pedaling Away from Principle: Lance Armstrong Cozies Up to Bush Julia Olmstead Our Reckless Chemical Dependence: A Little Round-Up With Your Precautionary Principle? CounterPunch Wire Prosecuting Bush in Canada for Torture: a Legal Update Jason Leopold Bush's Lips Move, But He Says Nothing Diane Christian The Politics of Death     August 22, 2005 Sonia Nettnin Gaza Stripped, the Occupation Remains Mike Whitney "Shoot to Kill": Tony Blair's First Trophy Kevin Zeese The Latest Falsehood: the US is in Iraq to "Stablize It" Norman Solomon Bush's Bloody Option: Escalate the War in Iraq Christopher Brauchli Secret Talkers Jeff Bale The Left's Challenge in Germany Greg Moses Raw Talk Revival at Camp Casey Two     August 20 / 21, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Can Cindy Sheehan End the War? Saul Landau Terrorism Then and Now: Townley Talks Kevin Zeese an Interview with Tom Hayden Greg Moses A Daytrip without Cindy Ray McGovern Cindy Sheehan and Creative Protest Fred Gardner Merck Gets Whacked Martin Smith Rebellion in the Ranks: the Soldiers' Revolt in Vietnam Benjamin Granby Gaza's Economy: the Key to Sharon's Strategy? Frankie Lake Dirty Tricksters: How the Federalist Society Operates Joshua Frank Failing Nature: the Democrats and the Environment Ron Jacobs When Sympathy is Not Enough Tom Crumpacker Moral Values and the CIA Mike Ferner "All of Our Stories are Sad" James Petras Suicide Bombers: the Sacred and the Profane Col. Dan Smith The President's Dilemma Dr. Teresa Whitehurst What de Menezes Didn't Know Ben Tripp Moses on Top of Old Smokey Poets' Basement Landau, Albert, Engel and Louise     August 19, 2005 Alexander Cockburn A Short History of Meat, Part 4: Cutting Up Mochie Neve Gordon After the Withdrawal Gary Leupp The Pandora's Box of Iraq's Constitution William S. Lind Getting Swept Vijay Prashad The Rosa Parks of the Anti-War Movement Dave Lindorff Something Has Happened Pat Williams Social Security and the American West John Pilger Free Speech and the War on Terror Elaine Cassel Judge Roberts and the Death Penalty     August 18, 2005 Alexander Cockburn A Short History of Meat, Part 3: Vegetarians, Nazis for Animal Rights, Blitzkrieg of the Ungulates Greg Moses Cindy, the Peace Train and the Little Ditch that Could Ramzy Baroud Theatrics in Gaza: the Disengagement That Isn't Joshua Frank Bush's Emotional Incapacities Monica Benderman For Cindy: There's No Glory in Dying Paul Craig Roberts Courthouse Jackboots: Corrupted Justice   August 17, 2005 Alexander Cockburn A Short History of Meat: Part Two, the March to Porkopolis Robert Jensen America's Good Germans? Carl G. Estabrook News Notes from the Global War on Terrorism Mike Whitney Greenspan and the Housing Bubble Niranjan Ramakrishnan Shaming the Shameless Norman Solomon Slurs, Lies and Innuendos: Blaming the Antiwar Messengers Dave Zirin In Defense of Felipe Alou Jennifer Loewenstein The Shame of It All: Watching the Gazan Fiasco CounterPunch Clarification     August 16, 2005 Greg Moses Mona in a Field of Crosses at Camp Casey, Texas Thomas Larson The Unmitigated Gall of Dinesh D'Souza Diana Barahona Uneasy Standoff in Venezuela's Media Wars Dave Lindorff The Inquirer's Minds Don't Want to Know Rep. Cynthia McKinney A Letter to President Bush: Meet with Cindy Sheehan Elisa Salasin Hitchens Slimes Cindy Sheehan David Krieger Amazing Grace and Cindy Alexander Cockburn A Short History of Meat: Part One, Peter's Dream Website of the Day Reclaiming Appalachia: a Mountain Takeover     August 15, 2005 Greg Moses Pilgrims of Protest in Crawford Paul Craig Roberts Slouching Toward Armageddon? Mike Whitney Failing in Iraq Robert Jensen The Challenges We Face CounterPunch Wire Judge Fines Voices in the Wilderness $20,000 for Taking Medicine to Iraq; Voices Refuses to Pay Norman Solomon Someone Tell Frank Rich the War Isn't Over Kathleen Christison Camp David Redux: Anatomy of a Frame-Up   August 13 / 14, 2005 Cockburn / St. Clair When Down is Up: the "Stricken" President William Blum The al-Dubya Training Manual Gary Leupp High Tide for the Neocons? Jack Z. Bratich Secreting the News: Anonymous vs. Confidential Sources Brian Cloughley The Ridiculous Rice Ron Jacobs Klan Justice: Mississippi is Still Burning John Farley "Beyond Chutzpah" Too Hot for Harvard Bookstore? Dave Lindorff Making the World Safer...for Nukes Tim Wise Animal Whites: PETA and the Politics of Putting Things in Perspective J.L. Chestnut, Jr. There's Not One Real Liberal or Conservative in the Senate John Gershman The Bolton Opportunity Felice Pace Saving Northwest Forests: Time for a Fresh Look Fred Gardner Feds Takeover Prosecution of Dustin Costa David Krieger The Fable of the Emperor and the Grieving Mother Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz Being a Protestant Fundamentalist Ben Tripp GWAT: a Tone Poem Poets' Basement Reiss, Nettnin, Engel and Louise     August 12, 2005 Christopher Brauchli Courting God: Justice Sunday II Greg Moses A Crawford Peace House Morning with Cindy Sheehan Ramzy Baroud Israel's Nuclear Puzzle Norman Solomon Cindy Sheehan's Message: Repudiating Bush and Dean Chris Genovali Why is a Canadian Politician Trying to End Protections for US Grizzly Bears? Chris Floyd Cheney and Halliburton, the Stench Gets Worse Tariq Ali Blair's New Authoritarianism     August 11, 2005 Saul Landau Globalization and Its Discontents Dave Lindorff Privatization will Harm Same Sex Couples Ralph Nader Dear Cindy Sheehan: May You Prevail Where Others Have Failed Talli Nauman Radioactive Border: the Hot Mounds of Samalayuca Gary Leupp Politics of an Outing: Plame, Ledeen and Iran Sharon Smith The New Anti-War Majority Paul Craig Roberts Why is Cheney Lobbying for a Boost in China's Nuclear Capability?     August 10, 2005 Tim Wise Indian Mascots and White Rage Ron Jacobs Rumsfeld's Delusions Joshua Frank Dean and the PDA: Don't Believe the Hype Cynthia McKinney The 9/11 Op-Ed the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Refuses to Run Rick Wilhelm Peter Jennings, Excuse Maker for War and Empire Stan Goff Homegrown Resistance     August 9, 2005 Mike Ferner What One Mom has to Say to Bush: Cindy Sheehan in Dallas Monica Benderman Is Being a Conscientious Objector Now Criminal? Mike Marqusee Making Excuses for Killing De Menezes Rep. Cynthia McKinney Strange Fruit and Tree-Shakers Paul Craig Roberts Watching the US Economy Crumble     August 6-8, 2005 Alexander Cockburn How the British Destroyed India Jason Leopold Halliburton and Iran: Still Doing Business After All These Years? Ray McGovern Iran, Truth-Tellers and the Devotees of Preemption David Krieger From Hiroshima to Humanity Sharon K. Weiner / Robert Jensen From Hiroshima to Iraq and Back Fred Gardner The Budtender's View of a Rip-Off     August 5, 2005 Bill Christison New NIE Report on Iran's Nukes will Not Deter US's Posture of Extreme Aggressiveness Paul Craig Roberts Kelo: a Supreme Assault on Personal Liberty Alexander Cockburn The Taj Mahal as Kitsch; the Editor and the Water-Walking Guru     August 4, 2005 Tom Barry Inside Bush's "World Democracy Movement" Lila Rajiva John Bolton's New Internationalism Greg Moses Bush Teaches Intelligent Design in Prison Alexander Cockburn Indian Journal: Why Indian Farmers Kill Themselves August 3, 2005     August 3, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Broken Arrows and Iran: a B-52 Pilot Remembers Paul Craig Roberts The Kelo Calamity: Money, Power and Eminent Domaine William A. Cook Innocent Victims: From Hiroshima to Lower Manhattan Dave Zirin Bush's Texas Rangers: a Crackhouse for Juiced Players? Dave Lindorff Court Packing and Worker Rights José Pertierra Why Hamdi Isaac Yes and Posada Carriles No?   August 2, 2005 Ramzi Kysia Disengagement and Diaspora: High Walls and Razor Wire in the Hebron William A. Cook Words Without Meaning: Torturing Bodies and Language Paul Craig Roberts When Armageddon Gets No Press Mike Whitney Chertoff's Preemptive Crackdown: 600 Arrests, Only 76 Charged Ron Jacobs Be a Hero: Demand That Johnny Come Home Norman Madarsz Before the Stun Gun: Jean Charles de Menezes, RIP Tim Wise The Faulty Logic of "Terrorist" Profiling     August 1, 2005 Virginia Rodino Why Bono and Geldof Got It Wrong: War and Global Poverty are Linked Diana Barahona Return to Venezuela: Land Reform and Neighborhood Doctors Joshua Frank Gitmo's Kangaroo Courts: First Torture Them, Then Rig Their Trials Mike Whitney The Consolidation of Powers: Rubber Stamp Roberts Norm Dixon The Worst Terror Attacks in History Norman Solomon Operation Withdrawal Scam James Petras The Corruption of Lula's Regime     July 30 / 31, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Lost Nuclear Warheads Now in Iran? JoAnn Wypijewski Scenes and Silver Linings from Labor's Crack-Up: a Special Report from Chicago Sheldon Rampton War is Fun as Hell: the Video Games Recruiters Play Jack Z. Bratich Fingerprints of Power: a Summer of Double Super Secrecy Greg Moses How to Cool Your Heels in Texas When It's Late July Across the World Jordan Green From Woolworth to Wal-Mart: Economics and the Race Divide in a Southern City Patrick Cockburn Getting Out of Iraq: 5,000 US Troops Have Gone AWOL Brian Cloughley The Bush-Cheney Fixation on Iran Justin Taylor Harry Potter and the War on Terror Saul Landau Enhancements for the Imperial Life: Fashionism Takes Command! John Walsh Dems Field Another Pro-War Candidate: Meet Hack the Hawk Joshua Frank Color-Coded Justice: John Roberts's Racial Hang Up Ron Jacobs Who Needs Feminism? We Have Condi Rice! Fred Gardner The Ethan and Gavin Show John Chuckman Friedman on Terrorism: the Dumbest Story Ever Written Liaquat Ali Khan Lessons City Bombers Need to Learn from Newton and Donne Remi Kanazi Annexing Justice in Palestine Naveen Jaganathan The Gurgaon Riots Rock India Richard Heinberg Where is the Hirsch Peak Oil Report? Max Watts Francis Ona, the Napoleon of Mekamui Ben Tripp Write Your Own Editorial! Poets' Basement Whalen & Engel, Landau, Albert and Krieger       July 29, 2005 Cockburn / St. Clair Who's the Real Martyr? Judy Miller or Jim DeFede? P. Sainath The Class War in Gurgaon Niranjan Ramakrishnan How the West Was Lost: CAFTA and the Disassembling of America Dave Lindorff Marvelous Marvin Bush J.L. Chestnut, Jr. America's Racist Inventory: Oppression Breeds Violence Pat Williams Giving Away the Last Best Place Norman Solomon In Praise of Kevin Benderman: a Moral Leader of the Nation Goes to Prison Sen. Russ Feingold The Bad News About the Energy Bill     July 28, 2005 Paul Craig Roberts Departing Iraq William S. Lind The Duke of Alba and George W. Bush Gilad Atzmon Blair the Camera Man Joshua Frank Passing CAFTA: Blame the Democrats Lila Rajiva Vision Mumbai Submerged Amina Mire Pigmentation and Empire: the Emerging Skin-Whitening Industry Website of the Day Gateway to Underground News     July 27, 2005 Roger Morris The Source Beyond Rove: Condoleezza Rice at the Center of the Plame Scandal Gary Leupp Is Iran Being Set Up? Paul Craig Roberts US Falling Behind Across the Board Jackie Corr Class War on the Ruby River: the Billionaire with His Foot in His Mouth Mike Whitney The Coming End of the Housing Bubble Dave Zirin Why Lance Armstrong Must Break with Bush Christopher Bradley Why I Have Trouble Reading the News Norman Solomon Thomas Friedman, Liberal Sadist? Website of the Day Stormin' Norman                   Subscribe Online

September 22, 2005 A Report from Tulsa Which Way Forward for the Green Party? By ASHLEY SMITH, CAT WOODS, JAMES MARC LEAS, and STEVE GREENFIELD At the 2005 Annual National Meeting in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Green Party arrived at a fork in the road. The delegates voted down resolutions offered by Greens for Democracy and Independence (GDI) designed to ensure proportional representation inside the party, national delegates accountable to the expressed will of the membership, and political independence from the two corporate parties. These votes fly in the face of everything that the Green Party's platform and membership stand for. As Maryland senatorial candidate and Green Party member Kevin Zeese rightly points out, "the overwhelming majority of Greens support real democracy--based on the principle of one person-one vote--and want the Green Party to stand for something different than the Democrats or Republicans." "The Tulsa decisions exacerbate the already growing rift in the party. The ramifications of these decisions must be reversed if the Greens are to truly challenge the corporate parties. This can only happen if Greens across the country are willing to fight to take back their party. Only an uprising by the membership will reinvigorate the Green Party," added Zeese. At Tulsa, two currents came into conflict over the future of the Party--an assertive, radical wing embodied by the Greens for Democracy and Independence (GDI) and a passive, liberal wing led by David Cobb and others closely tied to the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA). GDI argues that the Green Party must become the political expression of living social movements to challenge the corporate duopoly at the ballot box, and can only be successful in this endeavor by conducting its affairs, setting policies, and nominating candidates from a standpoint of complete independence from corporate-sponsored parties, policies, and candidates. GDI came into being to resolve the political and organizational crises that wreaked havoc in the Green Party during and after the 2004 election and threaten to sideline the Green Party as a progressive electoral force in the national political arena. Divisions form during the 2004 presidential nominating process These crises originated in the period leading up to the nomination of Green Presidential candidate David Cobb, who argued for a "safe states" strategy in battleground states during the 2004 election campaign. This tactic was viewed by many Greens as a backhanded way of adopting a political strategy of sustaining the centrist Democratic Party in order to defeat Bush, at the expense of Green Party interests. Cobb's eventual running mate, Pat LaMarche, had spent the primary season arguing for complete abstention from the Presidential race. Cobb's strategy enjoyed only minority support in the Green party, but his forces were able to win the Green Party nomination by rallying leaders of the small state parties, who had a disproportionate number of delegates allotted to them, and convincing several delegates to change their assigned positions and vote against the expressed will of their state party's membership. Based on successful manipulation of this undemocratic process, Cobb won the nomination and official support for his lesser-evil strategy without the consent or interest of the grassroots party members and Green-leaning progressive voters. But the Green membership and potential Green-leaning voters quickly registered their disapproval as the Cobb campaign could attract sufficient petitioning volunteers and signatories to get on the ballot in only 28 states, 22 of which held pre-existing ballot lines. The Cobb campaign for president garnered less than 120,000 votes, or about 1/3 of the registered Greens in the country, and less than 4% of the Green Party's previous national tally. As a result of this disastrous showing, Green Parties in seven of the twenty two states with Green Party ballot lines lost them, which resulted in those states' election boards purging computers of Green Party membership databases and terminating party enrollment rights. The enhanced vote totals, success of local candidacies, and membership increases Cobb and his promoters had assured the Green Party would derive from the "good will" the lesser-evil approach would engender in the wider progressive community failed to materialize. Despite accommodating the "Anybody But Bush" forces and the high-profile position Cobb and the Green Party took in the ballot challenges and recounts in Ohio and elsewhere, Green Party membership declined, local candidacies declined sharply in numbers and vote totals, and the party continues to teeter on the brink of bankruptcy. Since the election, the division between GDI supporters and the liberal wing of the national Green Party has become more apparent and more severe. It has been exacerbated by the arrival of a new political action group rising from the ashes of the Dean and Kucinich Campaigns, and the easy willingness of the failed "lesser evil" Greens to stay their liberal-accommodating course through pathways provided and funded by Democrats, serving as a wedge to widen the rift. Under the leadership of David Cobb and his supporters in the weeks following the election debacle, and continuing to the present, many in the liberal wing aligned themselves with the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), whose stated aim is to transform the Democratic Party from within through a policy of encouraging progressives to think "realistically" about the immutability of the two-party system and apply their energies inside the Democratic Party rather than through third-party challengers like the Greens. David Cobb has appeared on many PDA panels as an "Alliance Partner" and Cobb ally Medea Benjamin, of Global Exchange and Code Pink, wrote a glowing fundraising letter for the PDA which was disseminated in Green Party circles. Like many inside/outside formations such as the Working Families Party, however, the PDA exists to co-opt challenges into the Democratic Party, shepherd progressives into the left wing of the duopoly's electoral pen, and reinforce the two party system and its consequences. If the AFL-CIO and mainstream civil rights groups--heavily integrated into the Democratic Party and backed with millions of members and millions of dollars--have failed to bring progress with this technique, the PDA with its meager forces stands no chance of succeeding. Instead the PDA will simply decapitate the Green Party's attempt to build a challenge to the corporate duopoly. Many Greens and recalcitrant progressives believe this to be the real purpose of PDA, and the liberal wing's new-found close association with the PDA has diluted the Green Party's message, given "lesser evilism" an institutional foothold, and inflamed the growing conflicts over mission and methods in the Green Party. Members of GDI have been fighting back to reaffirm the central mission of the Green Party as an independent political arm of progressive social movements. They have been the driving force in developing proposals to institute democratic reforms and assert the independence of the Green Party from the corporate parties. GDI has presented these proposals publicly on its website and at state party meetings, where they have won supermajority support from state parties in California, Florida, Vermont, and Utah, and unanimous support in New York. Divisions Intensify in Tulsa The Tulsa meeting was essentially a contest between the two wings of the party played out through the same undemocratic scheme that distorted the outcome of the 2004 Milwaukee Convention. Under this scheme California and New York control only about 16% of the Green National Committee (GNC), even though 65% of all registered Greens reside within these two states. The liberals have majority support based within the leadership of small state parties, many of them with active memberships of under 100 Greens, some with single digits, while GDI adherents hold wide majorities based in the states with the largest parties that, under current Green Party bylaws, are highly underrepresented in the national leadership. By process of this disproportionate allocation system, the liberals constitute as much as 75% of GNC representation, and through the Tulsa Convention controlled 100% of the executive power vested in the Steering Committee (now reduced to a still unassailable 89%) and a similar percentage of standing committee and working group positions. These allocations can only be altered by a 2/3 majority vote, and are thereby effectively self-sustaining. Conflict between the two wings erupted early in the convention over which delegates to seat from Utah, a state where two groups claim to be the official Green Party. The original Utah Greens split into two factions in 2004 over which candidate--Cobb or Nader--to put on their state's ballot line. The small Cobb-supporting wing was quickly officially recognized by the national steering committee as the sole representative of the Utah Greens in party affairs. By contrast, the Nader-supporting wing, 10 times the size of the Cobb-supporting wing, is recognized by the Utah Secretary of State as the official Green Party of Utah, but was barred from access to the national Green Party by internal executive fiat. With both delegations asking to be seated and confusion reigning over recollections of what process had been applied to seat one faction over the other, the pro-GDI delegation from Florida proposed that each Utah group be allow to seat a single delegate and that they resolve to work out their disputed affiliation after the convention. The liberal wing of the Green National Committee (GNC), however, strongly opposed this proposal and the vote to seat one pro-GDI delegate was defeated 57 to 34 (with 4 abstentions). GDI forces saw the die had been cast, but the votes on the three GDI proposals would not be held until the next evening. Following this telling skirmish, speeches by Peter Camejo and David Cobb laid out very different visions and strategies for the future of the party. Camejo stressed the significance of building the Green Party as the political expression of mass social movements and argued for the importance of promoting debate and encouraging many political tendencies to exist within the party. He even went so far as to apologize to David Cobb for any misstatements he may have made about him during the campaign. Finally, Camejo called upon the Green Party to stand up to the Democrats and argued its independent challenge to the two party system is "the spirit of the future." During his speech Cobb repeated several of Camejo's points, but then emphasized an exclusionary message. Instead of inviting debate, Cobb condemned what he called "sectarianism" - his label for anyone who opposed his safe states strategy, or believed in building a left wing of the party--and did not accept or even acknowledge Camejo's olive branch. In answer to a question after his speech about critical reviews of Green Party performance, authored by prominent Greens, that have appeared periodically in the online progressive magazine CounterPunch, Cobb assailed these articles and denounced CounterPunch editor Alexander Cockburn, saying that he "represents why the sectarian left has failed." The not-so-subtle message was that the Green Party should exclude the Left, continue to support Democrats in their election campaigns, and suppress dissent. Key leaders of the liberal wing of the GNC made their support for Cobb's position clear after the speeches. "I'm not willing to define us as a party independent of the corporate parties," Illinois delegate Phil Huckleberry, who heads the Presidential Campaign Search Committee and co-authored the 2004 Convention Rules, declared. "I did not join the Green Party to fight against Democrats and RepublicansWe are more than an independent party; we are a Green Party." Similarly, Jody Haug, Green Party Co-Chair and delegate from the state of Washington, declared her opposition to independence from the two corporate parties by arguing "we should not paint ourselves into a corner." The GDI Proposals The real conflict broke out when GDI members presented their proposals to the National Committee. GDI's strategy was to present a short overview of each proposal (since they had already been passed by several state parties and been discussed on the GNC's list serve) and then allow delegates to provide comments, concerns and amendments. The liberal wing, however, did not argue against the content of the proposals. Instead they relied on objections concerning bylaws, implementation, and procedural concerns. They also attempted to draw GDI supporters into accepting an alternative proposal from the DC Statehood Greens that would send the proposals to a committee without any political direction regarding democracy and independence, even though party bylaws forbid introduction for vote of new proposals without the mandatory three-week discussion period. The GDI wing stood its ground and rejected this "compromise" as it would have nullified the basic principals of their proposals. After a long period of confusion - during which the Steering Committee frequently left the room to caucus (without explanation) and anti-GDI forces led delegates in doing "The Wave" and singing "Oklahoma" and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" - the GNC defeated all three proposals by an average vote of 58 to 34 with 3 abstentions. It was not lost on GDI members that the vote on their proposals mirrored the vote to seat both Utah delegations. It is obvious the divide in the leadership of the party is growing wider, and that the liberal wing--which mostly represents the smaller state parties--has gained the upper hand in the undemocratic setup of the national party. While the Green National Committee defeated the GDI proposals, there can be no doubt that this decision expresses the minority view of grassroots Greens throughout America. Many Greens will be horrified by the travesty in Tulsa, while most will be kept in the dark. The test now for GDI is to determine how to rally the majority inside the party and appeal to activists outside the party to build a democratic alternative dedicated to challenging the corporate duopoly. If the liberal wing is able to maintain its dominance of the party and orient the Greens towards subordinating themselves to the Democratic Party, the Green Party is likely to wither away like the New Party and other progressive alternatives before them. The Future of GDI The opportunity and responsibility for GDI members is immense. The Democrats continue to ratify the Bush administration's program of deficit-financed corporatism, upward economic redistribution, and permanent war, thereby stoking frustration with the two-party system. The Democrats continue to support the occupation of Iraq and the renewal of the Patriot Act, gave the margin of victory for the passage of CAFTA in the Senate, and stand prepared to confirm the nomination of conservative activist John Roberts to the Supreme Court. As a result, tens of millions of Americans--workers, women, gays, Latinos, blacks, Muslims, the foreign-born, other oppressed populations--now including mainstream anti-war advocates who are finally reaching the majority of the American public--can find no electoral expression within the two major corporate parties for their demands and aspirations. Millions more have grown frustrated with the failure and consequences of the "lesser-evil" strategy of voting for the Democrats in 2004 and its impending resurgence behind the early card of centrist Democrat hopefuls for 2008. They are looking for an alternative. They think it was a mistake to suspend all progressive social movements and anti-war activities in order to mobilize the vote for Kerry, who opposed all of their interests. Ten months after the election those movements are still demobilized, although it is hoped that the demonstration against the war scheduled for September 24th will mark the return of mass social movements to the political landscape. These millions of people and activists form a latent electoral force that GDI and supporting state Green Parties must connect with to renew the Green Party. Such a coalition offers the hope of galvanizing the Greens and the broader social movements to build a genuine third party rooted in this country's excluded majority and its mass movements that will fight, not join or promote, the corporate parties. The contest between the two visions of the Green party as expressed by the two wings of the GNC is not just a fight for the soul of the Green Party. It is a fight to win the hearts and minds of people to break with lesser-evilism and build a no-holds-barred challenge to corporate politics. It is also a fight to maintain and expand social movements and their influence during election periods. While the current undemocratic national committee of the Green Party is taking the PDA-paved off-ramp back to the Democratic Party, the Greens for Democracy and Independence are considering new ways to inspire individuals and state Green Parties to take the road of democracy and independence, and progress. (The authors of this report are State and National Committee delegates of the Green Parties of Vermont, California, and New York who attended the Tulsa meeting and are reporting first-hand. All consider themselves to be active participants in Greens for Democracy and Independence, and this report was prepared in conjunction with other GDI associates. The authors may be contacted through Steve Greenfield at bicyclesax@earthlink.net )                                       CLARIFICATION ALEXANDER COCKBURN, JEFFREY ST CLAIR, BECKY GRANT AND THE INSTITUTE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF JOURNALISTIC CLARITY, COUNTERPUNCH We published an article entitled "A Saudiless Arabia" by Wayne Madsen dated October 22, 2002 (the "Article"), on the website of the Institute for the Advancement of Journalistic Clarity, CounterPunch, www.counterpunch.org (the "Website"). Although it was not our intention, counsel for Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi has advised us the Article suggests, or could be read as suggesting, that Mr Al Amoudi has funded, supported, or is in some way associated with, the terrorist activities of Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda terrorist network. We do not have any evidence connecting Mr Al Amoudi with terrorism. As a result of an exchange of communications with Mr Al Amoudi's lawyers, we have removed the Article from the Website. We are pleased to clarify the position. August 17, 2005

Coming in the Fall from CounterPunch Books! The Case Against Israel By Michael Neumann Click Here to Advance Order Philosopher Michael Neumann's Devastating Rebuttal of Alan Dershowitz Coming This Fall Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair