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Today's
Stories
January 15,
2008
Andrea Peacock
How
the EPA is Rubbing Poison Into Libby's Wounds
January 14,
2008
Ishmael Reed
Ma
and Pa Clinton Flog Uppity Black Man
Roger Morris
Burials in the Sind
Uri Avnery
The
Hands of Esau
Mike Whitney
Bush's Voodoo Stimulus Package
Allan Nairn
General Suharto of Indonesia: One Small Man Leaves a Million
Corpses
William Blum
Oh, By the Way, the Iraqis Don't Really Want Us
Alan Farago
A Subprime Wake Up Call
David Macaray
Are Labor Unions Ready for Prime Time?
Eva Liddell
Getting Drunk with Obama
Zoe Blunt
Road Kill: New Highway Blocked by Protesting Raccoons
Website of the Day
Doug and Andrea Peacock on Grizzlies
January 12
/ 13, 2008
Andrew Cockburn
How
the New England Journal of Medicine Undercounted Iraqi Civilian
Deaths
Saul Landau
60
Years of Empire
Corey D. B. Walker
Barack Obama and the Crisis of the White Intellectual
Col. Dan Smith
Bush, Iran and the Magician of the Tarot
Eric Toussaint
The US Subprime Crisis Goes Global
Ron Jacobs
Television, Murder and Vietnam
Fred Gardner
The People vs. Christopher James Chakos
Stan Cox
Don't Take That Pill!
Jacob G. Hornberger
The Warfare State
Ramzy Baroud
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Joseph Grosso
The Anglosphere: a Special Relationship of Elites
David Díaz-Arias
Imagining An/Other Latin American Left
Stacey Warde
Before We Move On ...
Dan Bacher
Pumped to Extinction: the Decline of the Delta Smelt
Michael Dickinson
Georgie in Jesusland
Website of
Weekend
CounterPunchers Protest Outside NYT Offices
January 11,
2008
Dave Lindorff
Did
Hillary Really Win New Hampshire? More Questions About Diebold
Voting Machines
Paul Craig
Roberts
No
Escape from War and Unemployment
Andy Worthington
Six Years of Guantánamo
Kenneth Couesbouc
Banking on Thin Ice
Jeff Ballinger
Inside the Vienna Consensus
Christopher
Brauchli
Lethal Injection, the Supremes and China
Manuel Garcia, Jr.
Paying No Attention to the Presidential Campaigns
Andrew Silverstein
Bush's Weepy Visit to Jerasulem
Marwan Bishara
Bush in the Middle East
Robert Weissman
The First Amendment Gone Wild
Patrick Irelan
Damn the Small Boats!
Website of
the Day
Hillary and the Superdelegates: Or Why She Wins Even When She
Loses
January 10,
2008
Alexander Cockburn
Now
Nader Claims He Didn't Endorse Edwards
Bob Wing
Marqueece Harris-Dawson
Race Within the Race: Obama, the NH Vote and the Specter of Tom
Bradley
Michael Donnelly
White Women Gone Wild?
David Macaray
Three Big Reasons for the Decline of Labor Unions
China Hand
Bush's Delusional Policy Pushes Pakistan to Brink of Catastrophe
Ayesha Ijaz Khan
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan: Brotherly, Friendly Countries?
Rannie Amiri
Obama, Man of Kansas or Kenya?
Website of the Day
Iranian Video of the Hormuz Incident
January 9,
2008
Cockburn /
St. Clair
The
Empire Strikes Back
Dave Lindorff
The Bad News from New Hampshire: Death By Triangulation
John Chuckman
Pardon My Laughter: Watching the US Primaries from Canada
James Bovard
Stomping Freedom: Inside the Martial Law Act of 2006
Alan Farago
As Florida Sinks: the View from the Titanic
Russell Mokhiber
Why Picket the New York Times in DC on Friday?
William S. Lind
Kicking the Can Down the Road in Iraq
Peter Morici
Beyond the Sophistry: Why the Trade Deficit Matters
Josh Reubner
Sudan vs. Israel: Double Standard on Divestment
Mike Roselle
The Pursuit of Happiness
Website of the Day
Bottles of Tears on the Wall: Steve Perry on NH
January 8,
2008
Paul Craig
Roberts
No
Jobs for the New Economy (or the Old)
Russell Mokhiber
The Black Hillary: Obama is Just Another Political Sedative
Robert Fantina
The Gulf of Tonkin and the Strait of Hormuz
Dave Zirin
Butts on Parade
Shamako Nobel
I Am an Emcee: the Politics of Hip Hop
John Ross
Zapatista Women Encounter Themselves
Brenda Norrell
Apaches Defend Homeland from Homeland Security
Laura Carlsen
Why Bolivia Matters
Patrick Irelan
Remember the Maine!
Evelyn J. Pringle
The Holes in Bush's FDA
Jonathan M.
Feldman
After Iowa and New Hampshire: a Strategy for Rebuilding the Peace
Movement
Michael Dickinson
Playing Soldier
Website of
the Day
Sean Hannity on the Run!
January 7,
2008
Chris Floyd
There
Will Be Blood: But No Justice for Iraq Atrocities
John Blair
Remove That Man! Creeping Fascism in Indiana
Uri Avnery
The Case of the White Bird
Andy Worthington
Who Are the Gitmo Saudis?
Binoy Kampmark
Needling the Convict: Lethal Injection and the Supreme Court
David Macaray
Women on Strike
Ralph Nader
Obamarama: the Politics of the Smooth Mood
Michael Donnelly
It's the War Vote(s), Stupid!
Ron Jacobs
Ron Paul's Run: Is Being Against the War Enough?
Gideon Levy
The Hostile President
Dave Lindorff
A Real 9/11 Cover-Up? Sibel Edmonds, Turkey and the Bomb
Website of
the Day
Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea
January 5 /
6, 2008
Douglas Valentine
Good
Guys in Black Hoods
Kevin Young
The
US Occupation and Popular Opinion in Iraq
Richard Rhames
Saddam
Who?
Saul Landau
Bush Snatches Defeat from Victory
Marc Lynch
Why Bush's Iran Strategy is Failing
Robert Fantina
Iowa, Democrats and the Iraq War
Donna Volatile
Antiwar Soldier: an Interview with Jonathan Hutto, Sr.
Jelle Bruinsma
Norman Finkelstein in The Netherlands
Bob Sutcliffe
Remembering Andrew Glyn, Rebel Economist
Harvey Wasserman
Anti-Nuclear Renaissance
Missy Beattie
Why Obama Can't Save Us
David Swanson
Remembering the Separation of Powers
Jacob Hornberger
The Importance of the Padilla Case
Shepherd Bliss
Survival Tools from Kokopelli Farms
Ron Jacobs
Bleeding Kansas
Poets' Basement
Patti Smith, B.R. Gowani and Peter Buknatski
Website of the Weekend
Jimmy Dean Sausage Call Complaint
January 4,
2008
Cockburn /
St. Clair
A
Good Night in Iowa
Jonathan Cook
War Crimes Airbrushed from History
Paul Craig Roberts
Thinking for Yourself is Now a Crime
Stan Goff
Ron Paul's Monkeywrench
Dave Lindorff
Clinton's Iowa Flop Exposes DLC Myths as Frauds
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
To Pindi Station
Allan Nairn
U.S. Elections Over Before They Began
Joshua Frank
The Failures of Sectarianism
Peter Morici
Economy on the Skids
Mary McInnis
Iowa Cocky-Us: How to be a Caucus Tease
Website of the Day
The Return of Obama Girl
January 3,
2008
Fatima Bhutto
Farewell
to Wadi Bua
Pam Martens
The
Free Market Myth Dissolves into Chaos
Joanne Mariner
The Presidential Candidates and Torture
Zoltan Grossman
Remember the '80s: Social Movements Between Woodstock and the
Web
David Domke
The Echoing Press and Huckabee
Norman Solomon
Edwards Reconsidered
Nikolas Kozloff
Return of the Faux Liberal
Jacob G. Hornberger
The Padilla Case and the Future of Habeas Corpus
Martha Rosenberg
Quit Picking on Huckabee's Son, Michael Vick
Russell Means
This Property is Condemned: a Notice to Those Occupying Lakotah
Lands
Website of the Day
WolfQuest
January 2,
2008
Jeff Taylor
The
Left and Ron Paul
M. Shahid Alam
The Life and Death of Benazir Bhutto: a Pakistani Tragedy
Gary Leupp
Madness Compounding Madness: Calls for Intervention in Pakistan
Paul Craig Roberts
Criminals with Badges
Heather Gray
Georgia's Racist Death Penalty
Fred Gardner
and Shobhit Arora
Dr. Strangelove's Nemesis
David Macaray
Labor Unions and Taft-Hartley
Benjamin Dangl
Fear and Loathing in Bolivia
January 1,
2008
Iain A. Boal
City
of Disappearances
B. R. Gowani
Benazir's Death in Crisistan
Shahid Mahmood
Bhutto and the Press
Linn Washington,
Jr.
Old Injustices Endure: From Crack Sentences to Racial Profiling
Harvey Wasserman
Taking Leonard Peltier to Iowa: the Moral Low Point of the Clinton
Era
John Ross
2008, Already a Year to Forget
Website of the Day
The Thrill is Gone: BB and Gladys
December 31,
2007
Alexander Cockburn
Goodbye
2007 and Good Riddance!
Tariq Ali
Pakistan, the Aftermath
Liaquat Ali Khan
The Perfidy of Pakistan's Rulers
Wajahat Ali
After Bhutto, a Nuclear Pakistan?
Robert Fisk
Who Killed Bhutto?
Ajai Sahni
Myths and Realities About Benazir Bhutto and Pakistan's Dark
Future
Marwan Bishara
You Say Talk, I Say Attack: The Middle East and the US Presidential
Election Campaigns
Uri Avnery
The Beilin Syndrome
Mark T. Harris
Does This Happen in Canada?
Brenda Norrell
Resistance and Censorship
Website of the Day
A People United Will Never Be Defeated
December 29
/ 30, 2007
Alexander Cockburn
Options
in America: Kill Yourself or Have a Baby
Tariq Ali
Indignation and Fear Stalk Pakistan
Fawzia Afzal-Khan
My Encounter with Benazir Bhutto
Gary Leupp
The U.S. and Pakistan After 9/11: Blowback from an Unholy Alliance
China Hand
Pakistan Stares Into the Abyss
Jacob Hornberger
Stop Medddling in Pakistan
John Chuckman
Pakistan and the Failure of Quick-Fix Politics
Missy Beattie
Evaluating Bush with the Bhutto Corruption Standard
Ralph Nader
Who Will Take the Next Step?
Fidel Castro
There Hasn't Been a Day in My Life When I Haven't Learned Something
Robert Fantina
The Sham of Homeland Security
Greg Moses
Beauty from the Heart of Texas
Catherine Lutz
What We Can Not See: Art and Bombing
Kristin Van
Tassel
Seeing in the Dark
Kim Nicolini
Redacted: Brian DePalma's Scream of Outrage
Phyllis Pollack
Keith Richards Runs With Rudolph Once More
Poets' Basement
Landau, Gibbons and Davies
Website of
the Weekend
Driving Karachi in Search of the Perfect Naan
December 28,
2007
Farzana Versey
The
Complex Electra
Wajahat Ali
A
Pakistani Requiem
Binoy Kampmark
Death in Rawalpindi: Bhutto and Her Legacy
Ayesha Ijaz
Khan
Not Dead Yet: The Pakistan People's Party Still Survives
Anthony DiMaggio
Turkey's Bombing of Iraq
Ray McGovern
Creeping
Fascism
Jim Goodman
Biofuels, the Biggest Scam Going
Ron Jacobs
Transcending the Colonizer's History: Iran, a People Interrupted
Russell Hoffman
Mini-Nukes by Toshiba
John Murphy
Greens Gone Wild
Website of the Day
Guiliani Campaign Official: "Only Rudy Can Defeat the Muslims"
December 27,
2007
Dilip Hiro
A
Tragedy Foretold: Will Bhutto's Death be a Boost for Her Party?
Murtaza Shibli
Who Killed Bhutto?
Stephen Soldz
Fallujah,
the Information War and U.S. Propaganda
Bill Quigley
Locked
Outside the Gates
Paul Craig Roberts
The Great American Lock-Up
Omer Subhani
Killing Bhutto: What Happens Next in Pakistan?
Marjorie Cohn
The Torture Tape Cover-Up: How High Does It Go?
Allan Nairn
Cataclysm By Money Whim
Jacob G. Hornberger
Smearing Ron Paul: Shame on the NYT
Norman Solomon
Channeling Suze Orman
Patrick Irelan
Rumsfeld Spills the Ink
Ben Tripp
Pass the Razor Blades
Website of the Day
Quagmire, For What It's Worth
December 26, 2007
Charles Tripp
From
One Saddam to Fifty
Paul Armentano
No-Knock, You're Dead
Rannie Amiri
Lebanon in Search of a Government
Stanley Heller
Brzezinski and Charlie Wilson's War
John Walsh
Two Unreasonable Men
Martha Rosenberg
The Strange Career of Scott Gottlieb
Norman Madarasz
Bolivia Amends New Constitution and Faces Mutiny from Within
Website of
the Day
Cockburn at the Battle of Ideas
December 25,
2007
Patrick Cockburn
Conscience
and Empire
December 24,
2007
Andrea Peacock
A
Dark Ride on the Border
Tariq Ali
Thinking of Edward Said
Uri Avnery
Help! A Ceasefire!
Jill Jameson
Burma is Not Back to Normal: A Trip from Rangoon to Mae Sot
Steve Melendez
Russell Means Goes to Washington
Mike Whitney
The Big Fix
Chuck Munson
Not Getting It About New Orleans
John Walsh
Clueless Crusaders
Farzana Versey
Tony Blair and the Hawking of Religion
Richard Neville
Dreaming of a White House Christmas
Website of the Day
Back in the USSR
December 22 / 23, 2007
Alexander Cockburn
Mike
Huckabee's Ascending Chariot
Ralph Nader
Politics
and Profits: How the Oil Cartel Gets Its Way
Andy Worthington
Intelligence Failures, Battlefield Myths and Unaccountable Prisons
in Afghanistan
Ahmad Faruqui
The Comedian of Pakistan
Bill Moyers
Society on Steroids
Rev. William
E. Alberts
Blessed are the Peacemakers
Timothy J. Freeman
From Kant to Lennon: Can War Really be Over?
Anthony DiMaggio
Democrats Continue to Capitulate on Iraq
Fred Gardner
Molecule of the Year, Cannabiodiol
Paul Krassner
Enhanced Hazing Techniques
Seth Sandronsky
17 Years of Meanness: Repealing California's Three Strikes Law
William Loren
Katz
Christmas Eve Freedom Fighters: Recalling the Battle of Lake
Okeechobee
Michael Dickinson
In the Dungeon of the Zabita
Ron Jacobs
Why Leon Russell Still Matters
David Vest
Doyle Bramhall's "Is It News?"
Poets' Basement
Orloski, Davies and Ford
Website of the Weekend
George W. Hates Santa
December 21,
2007
John Ross
New Massacres Loom in Mexico
Jacob Hornberger
Nothing Can Morally Justify the Invasion of Iraq
Dick J. Reavis
A
Way Out of the Newspaper Abyss
Jeff Cohen
and Norman Solomon
The 2007 P.U.-litzer Prizes
Peter Morici
Business as Usual as Recession Looms
Jack McCarthy
Let Us Now Praise Judith Regan (Even If She Did Sleep with Bernie
Kerik)
Raúl Zibechi
Sex and Revolution
Steve Early
How the Presidential Candidates Made Me an Atheist
David Macaray
Union Aftermath
Patrick Bond
Zuma, the Center-Left and the Left-Left in S. Africa
Lakota Freedom Delegation
A Declaration of Independence from the USA
Website of
the Day
Solomon v. Beck: Tale of the Tape
December 20,
2007
David Rosen
Mitt
Romney's Secret Life as a Pornographer
Alan Farago
The
Huckster and the Wreckage: Jeb Bush and the Subprime Mortgage
Crisis
Laura Carlsen
Standing Up to NAFTA
Ashley Dawson
The Return of the Bread Riot
Wayne Smith
and Jennifer Schuett
Cuba Changes, US Policy Stagnates
Website of
the Day
How to Talk to a FoxNews Reporter
December 19,
2007
Saul Landau
Is
the NIE Bush's Watergate?
Paul W. Lovinger
Hillary the Hawk
Norman Solomon
The Mad Corporate World of Glenn Beck
Dave Zirin
George Mitchell's Drugs of Choice
Marjorie Cohn
Bush Still Spinning Iranian Nukes
Sen. Russell
Feingold
The Iraq War is Exhausting Our Nation
Sonja Karkar
A Christmas Reflection on Palestine
Anthony Papa
Open the Drug Gulags
Christopher Ketcham
Pave the Holy Lands with Good Intentions
Davey D
Britney's Little Sister is Pregnant: Should We Blame Hip Hop?
Website of
the Day
When Republicans Use the F-Word on TV
December 18,
2007
R. F. Blader
The
Politics of Teen Pregnancy
George Wuerthner
Gunning for Wolves in Idaho
Steven Higgs
Can the NAFTA Superhighway be Stopped?
Vijay Prashad
Encounters with Ghadar
David Macaray
The Free Rider Problem
Ralph Nader
Nine Books That Make a Difference: a Reading List for the Holidays
Eva Liddell
Privatizing War Abroad, Invading Privacy at Home
Martha Rosenberg
While the Bodies are Still Warm: Drugs, Shrinks and Shooters
Dave Lindorff
When Impeachment is Out of Print
Peter Morici
The Consequences the Trade Deficit
Website of
the Day
Ron Paul: How Fascism Will Come to America
December 17,
2007
Mike Whitney
Staring
Into the Abyss
Tom Barry
Planning
the War on Immigrants
Uri Avnery
A
Gaza Masada?
Greg Moses
Crossing the Line in Texas
Allan Nairn
Terrorism; Counter-
Terrorism: Excuses for Murder
Patrick Bond
South Africa's Fight Between Hostile Brothers
Stephen Lendman
Police State America
Charles Jonkel
Grizzly Right of Way
Laray Polk
An Inside-Out Crisis in Gaza
Stephen Fleischman
Pawns in Their Game
December 15
/ 16, 2007
Peter Linebaugh
A
People's Penny for the Magna Carta
Howard Zinn
Bomb After Bomb
Standard Schaefer
The Greening of Big Tobacco
Raymond J.
Lawrence
Let's Take Christ Out of Christmas
Alan Farago
Down on Desolation Row: the Vultures and the Growth Machine
Saul Landau
Lord Byron and the Bad Tourists
Jenna Orkin
Lying to "Reassure" the Public: Bush's EPA and the
Post-9/11 Toxic Air Cover-Up
Ahmad Samih
Khalidi
Why a Palestinian "State" is a Punitive Construct
Robert Fantina
Politics By Photo-Op
Missy Comley
Beattie
Resistance Amid the Ruins
Ramzy Baroud
Of Mormons and Muslims
James L. Secor
A Vision for China's Future
Elijah Wald
Ike Turner's Music Won't be Forgotten
Website of
the Weekend
The Alliance for the Wild Rockies Needs (and Deserves) Your Support
December 14,
2007
JoAnn Wypijewski
The
Dirty Cad: What Giuliani's Sex Life Tells Us About Him
John Ross
Iraqi
Refugees Return: One Cruel Hoax
Jacob Hornberger
Terror Suspects Belong in Federal Court
Andy Worthington
Guantánamo and the Supreme Court: What Happened?
Allan Nairn
"Shoot Them on the Spot": Rewarding War Crimes
Dave Zirin
The Mitchell Report: Absolving the Owners
Dave Lindorff
The First Cut is the Deepest
Misty MacDuffee
Toxic Grizzlies
Ben Terrall
What Happened to Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine?
Dr. Mustafa
Barghouthi
Prerequisites for Peace
Website of the Day
Sen. Kit Bond: "Waterboarding is Like Swimming"
December 13,
2007
Paul Craig
Roberts
Shrinking
the Dollar from the Inside-Out
Mike Whitney
Dershowitz for the Defense--of Waterboarding
Ron Jacobs
Blank Check DemocratsL the Great War Funding Conspiracy
Norman Solomon
The USA's Human Rights Daze
Peter Morici
The Dragon and the Toothless Dog: China Doesn't Flinch
Sandy Mayes
Blocking the Strykers: 13 Days of War Resistance at Port Olympia
Franklin Lamb
The UN in Lebanon: Whose Mission Is It Fulfilling?
Jacob Hornberger
Don't Reform the CIA, Abolish It
Nadim Rouhana
An Interloper in My Own Land
Dave Zirin
On Pigskin and Petrol
Website of the Day
Rachel's Needs (and Deserves) Your Support!
December 12, 2007
Allan
Nairn
US Intelligence is Tapping Indonesian
Phones
Alan
Farago
How Sprawl Eats Its Young
Ray
McGovern
Torture, Lies and Videotape
Winslow
T. Wheeler
The Phony Pentagon Budget Cuts
Evan
Jones
The Raid on Great Western: Why an Australian Bank Might Spell
Doom for the US Farm Belt
James
Petras
An Open Letter to Sarkozy on the Exchange of Political Prisonsers
Joel
Hirschorn
The Horserace Fiction: Clinton, Obama and the Democratic Machine
Joshua
Frank
Why Ron Paul Deserves Our Attention
Sherry
Wolf
Why the Left Should Reject Ron Paul
Dan
Bacher
Survey of a Fish Graveyard
Website
of the Day
Men Eating Bugs
|
January
15, 2008
On
the Iraq War, Bush Foreign Policy, Private Contractors and the
Prospects of War with Iran
Going
15 Rounds with Seymour Hersh
By WAJAHAT ALI
"I'm having a horrible day," grumbled
Seymour Hersh, the 70 year-old Pulitzer Prize winning investigative
journalist, arguably the most revered of his time, and reporter
for the prestigious New Yorker magazine.
Almost a week before, I called
Seymour Hersh on a lark trying to score an interview regarding
his New Yorker article "Shifting Targets: The Administration's
plan for Iran," an explosive piece outlining the Bush Administration's
strategic and aggressive preparation for a potential attack on
Iran. When Hersh writes, everyone reads, and the world pays attention.
Even The White House, through
press secretary Dana Perino, was forced to respond to his article,
publicly stating, "[The White House] is not going to comment
on any possible scenario that an anonymous source continues to
feed into Sy HershWe don't discuss such thingsWe are pursuing
a diplomatic solution in Iran."
During our first phone call,
Hersh sounded hurried and rushed, a habitual trait I noticed,
preparing for an international phone interview. "Listen,
I got a call coming in from overseas, it's gonna' come in any
moment. Just give me a call at the office," he informed
me.
I persisted, "How about
next week? We can do the interview over the phone. I can call-"
"No, no. I'm traveling
to the West Coast next week. I'm busy, but give me a call the
week after, all right? Let's do this later. Call my office. Ok?"
"Great," I replied
and hung up the phone, ecstatic after scoring potential interview
time with the Pulitzer winning journalist.
Fast forward one week, I'm
casually sitting behind my desk with my laptop in front of me,
calling Hersh's office number to leave a message on his machine
reminding him of the interview upon his return from the publicity
trip.
The phone rings. It rings again.
Instead of a soothing, feminine, robotic automated voice message,
a surly and flustered voice answers, "Hello?"
"Um, uh, hey, Seymour?
This is Wajahat "
"Who?"
"Uh, Wajahat Ali? Anyway,
I wasn't expecting you. I called to leave a message on your voice
mail, and you pick up. Great! How was your trip? I thought you'd
be back next week "
"Ugh, it was terrible.
A terrible trip. I'm having a horrible day. That trip was just
whowho are you, again? Why are you calling?" questioned
an obviously irritated and surly Hersh.
"I'm calling to schedule an interview we talked about
last week, remember?" I answered oblivious to his current
temperament.
Little did I know this simple
question would unleash the notoriously intense feistiness and
doggedness of Hersh, a man whose words and attitude cut straight
to the point, fast and furious, shooting off half a dozen questions
in a row without pause. His aggressive style reminded me of an
ethnic, immigrant uncle: blunt, honest, gruff, but oddly endearing.
"Why do you want an interview?
Who are you again? Islamic what? Islamic? Listen, you know
I did Jazeera right? Al Jazeera? They're Muslim (pauses).
Oh, God. I mean, so, so what? What, you want an interview or
something? Is that what you want? I - I usually do the pimping
for my pieces for 2-3 days after they're published, but once
it's done I move on. I move on, ya' know? That was last week.
This is this week. I got a lot of reporting to do (Sigh, sounds
overwhelmed). I got a lot of reporting to do."
I've been hit with a freight
train, and I'm just trying re-attach my jaw let alone talk. My
brain fires off an intelligent and lucid response, but before
my lips can move, Hersh is on the loose again.
"What do you want from
me? I mean, I really don't like doing this. You know these
interviews. Once it's done, I move on. I I mean you
shoulda' called last week. Why didn't you call last week?"
he asked.
"Um, I actually did
call last week, but you said call back in 2 weeks," I answered
calmly and logically.
"Oh," replied Hersh,
and for a second I sensed a silence, and thus an opportunity.
"Mr. Hersh, it won't
take long. I just wanted your thoughts on the recent "
"I hate it when people
ask what I think. Who am I? I mean who cares what I think? Who
cares about my thoughts? I just hate that. I hate answering that.
I'm a reporter. I report the facts. I'm just a reporter. I'm
just being up front with you."
I am momentarily stunned. However,
the ethnic, South Asian salesman in me comes alive and, like
a snake charmer, I'm prepared to cajole, console, placate, and
adulate in order to convince my reluctant client. But before
I can utter a word, Hersh retaliates with a blow.
"Ok, a sample question.
Suppose we did this interview, what would a sample question sound
like? Hit me with a sample question. Go!" commanded Hersh.
The bell rings. The Heavyweight
advances, and now you're on your toes for Round 1.
ALI: (Slightly flustered and caught off guard)
Ok, I have one. Here's a sample. Recently at the Democratic
debate, Senator Mike Gravel called out Hillary Clinton for voting
on Senator Lieberman's aggressive resolution against Iran that
condemned Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group. What
I want to ask is, should we expect anything different from the
Democrats if they are elected in regards to U.S. foreign policy,
specifically in regards to Iraq? Iran?
HERSH: I have no idea. I would
certainly hope so. How would I possible know? I don't see them
doing anything different with Iraq, despite concede it. Just
concede it I don't know what else they can do that is different.
And who says they're going to win? I don't see that they are
going to win. I'm not sure they are, and I don't know why people
think that. They haven't done anything different. They haven't
brought anything new to the table that hasn't already been said
by the Republicans. They just talk the talk. They talk the talk.
If I knew this I mean, who would win (the presidential
race), I'd be at the race track everyday. Not reporting. You
just don't know. No one knows. Listen, this is politics, and
I'm just a guy who writes who writes stories about the
war. When people ask me about politics it drives me crazy!
I'm not a fan of politics. I don't like discussing politics.
You can't make me something I'm not.
ALI: I understand. Trust
me, trust me, I'm not trying to. But, there you go, that would
be an example of a sample question if we did an interview
HERSH: What!? We are doing
an interview! What the fuck were you doing?! This is
the interview! Get out your recorder, let's go. Let's go."
ALI: Ok, great, let's do it. Private
contractors in Iraq, specifically Blackwater, have been on the
news nonstop for the past few months regarding numerous allegations
of reckless shooting and violence. What's your take on this?
HERSH: Oh, there's been a lot
of wrongdoing by them. A lot of arrogance. [Blackwater] drive
around like they own the world over there. They increase a lot
of resentment amongst the Iraqi civilian population against us
[The U.S.] by behaving like this. Listen, if you're an occupier
then you act like an occupier. Occupiers act like occupiers.
There is no way that Iraqi people will ever respond in
any positive way to what Blackwater does.
ALI: How will the Iraqis
respond to this? You highlighted the Abu Ghraib scandal in your
book, Chain of Command.
You know private contractors CACI and Titan were responsible
for much of those abusive interrogations and you described the
blowback resulting from [Abu Ghraib]. What's the blowback on this one?
HERSH: There is no way Iraqi
people will respond to will they have never responded
to will. It's exactly the same problem we encountered in Afghanistan.
I mean, a lot of people who normally would have been or should
have been supportive of us, I mean, they should have supported
us initially, those people have come to realize they don't like
us since we became an "occupier."
You know being an "occupier"
is risky business. It is really hard to be "occupier."
Occupiers never win. They never have. They've always ended up
getting squeezed out. Anyone, I mean anyone, who has been following
this war closely knows Blackwater is doing just what they've
been doing all along. They only reason it's in the news is because
of the absolutely egregious way they behaved, and the fact Iraq
decided to go public against them. Listen, Blackwater is operating
they way they've always operated. They only take care of their
clients and their client's needs. That's what matters. Anyone
else who isn't the client doesn't matter.
ALI: Recently, a maelstrom
has been raised over the new Mearsheimer/Walt book "The
Israel Lobby" describing the influence of
HERSH: I don't know Israeli
Lobby? I don't know if I'd call them an Israeli Lobby.
ALI: Well, do you buy it?
The influence and pressure of certain pro Israeli lobbies
on the U.S. government? What's the level of influence, if any,
or is it overblown?
HERSH: There's AIPAC (American
Israeli Political Action Committee). You have AIPAC. It is a
powerful lobby, you know, it's an interest group. But Israel
- Israel doesn't need a lobby. It has direct connections right
here, right here in town (Washington D.C.). I mean, of
course, it's a monumental force. But that's the reality. It's
been a reality forever - in my life at least. Money talks is
the old cliché, and B.S. walks. But you know, it's just
interest groups. That's the way they are, and everyone does it.
Everyone
ALI: Right
HERSH: For example, the Muslims
that's a good example. They solidly voted for Bush (2000
election).
ALI: The Muslims came out
en masse and voted for him
HERSH: Right, I mean the Muslims,
the interest group, it's not nearly as organized, or powerful
or well funded as others, but you know, there was enough money
and enough percentage of votes that made a real effort in the
Muslim community. [The Muslims] are conservative. Conservative
in how they follow their religion, you know, very conservative.
They (Muslim Americans) keep their heads down, out of trouble,
just keep your head down they believe, and they say, "just
mind your own business." And the Muslims are successful
in business; they have a high degree of talent in making money
in areas of big business. In the business world for example
in Lebanon you can see it with the Shia there. So, it is
inevitable. Anyway, that's how interests group work, always.
But, I can't calibrate the numbers for you to determine their
influence.
ALI: Over the past couple of years, it's become
fashionable and clichéd amongst certain circles to compare
our involvement in Iraq to the Vietnam War. Now, you've been
there, you were there reporting on Vietnam, breaking the My Lai
massacre story back then. And here you are now with Iraq. As
a person who has actually lived through it and reported on both,
are there any similarities, or is it premature to compare?
HERSH: One thing is similar.
We are out there fighting in a country with uneducated, 18 year
old boys with weapons. They're frightened - frightened. They're
frightened because they don't know the country, they don't know
the culture. They're not even interested in knowing about the
culture. Fear is there. [The U.S. soldiers] never see an enemy
sometimes, and weeks go by. And they continue to lose fellow
soldiers, they lose them to snipers, they lose them to mines,
and eventually and inevitably, they take the war to the people
they can see. And in Iraq, that's the local population. Happens
in all wars. All of 'em. Civilians are the ones treated differently.
Vietnam was always a tactical
mistake. We lose the war, we are driven off in '75, and in four
to five years we are back in that country playing Monopoly with
Vietnam's economy. You know, making investments, several investments
in that country. That is not 'gonna happen here. We are
in a strategic debate with about 1.3, what, 1.5 billion Muslims
-
ALI: Around 1.5 -
HERSH: Yeah, so 1.5 billion
Muslims. We are in a real strategic war here, and we really misplayed
it. We did more for Osama than he could do for himself. We played
a part in recruiting for him. This is a part of the world where
America is not going to be wanted. Same thing in Afghanistan,
especially in the Southern part of Afghanistan.
ALI: You make a good point. You know I'm Pakistani-American,
son of Pakistani immigrants, but I have family there still. And
we talk to them often and I used to visit all the time, but the
level of Anti-Americanism in that country is amazing, which it
didn't have 10 years ago, but now, it's just overwhelming.
HERSH: Well, I specifically
was discussing the southern region of Afghanistan.
ALI: But the border between
the two
HERSH: Yes, right, you're right.
Like Afghanistan, Pakistan is the same issue, the exact same
issue as with Afghanistan in terms of a tremendous lack of popularity
for our government amongst the people there. This will increase
particularly as we pit Sunni against Shia.
ALI: So there's this rise
of Anti-Americanism unfortunately around that region. In your
research, have you found the main cause of hatred against America?
HERSH: American violence. It's
the violence. Do we know I mean, how many bombs are dropped?
How many shells are fired? Who knows what the accurate number
is? I know I don't. There was, last year I think, I believe there
was a number reported in the "The Lancet" that said
the Iraqi causalities numbered in 600,000 killed [The Lancet
medical journal reporting published in October '06 estimated
654,965 excess deaths related to the war, or 2.5% of the population].
That number is breathtakingit's breathtaking. I believe, however,
the numbers and causalities are actually much greater than have
been reported.
Every family in Iraq knows
someone who has been killed. Americans are invariably blamed.
We are going to have serious situations resulting from that.
This is a society [Iraq] that does deal with revenge. We probably
created a lot of new jihadists and martyrs and anger, anger with
how we behaved and the resulting casualties that are innocent
Iraqis.
ALI: On the ground in Iraq,
what specifically causes the blowback against our troops, what
causes the violence?
HERSH: Americans are frightened.
They are frightened in Iraq. Not frightened in, you know, a cowardly
way. But frightened like anyone I mean, it's natural to
be like that, anyone would. You're a solider in Iraq, you're
now manning a checkpoint there. You don't know the language,
you don't know Arabic. You don't know their culture. Now, [the
Iraqis] arrive at the checkpoints. They miss the checkpoints.
You yell at them to stop, but they don't understand you, they
don't speak the language, so they keep driving. They don't stop.
You open fire. And now you've made enemies. We are occupiers
right now.
ALI: I want to get back
to the Sunni-Shia comment you made. As you know, America has
history in that region, specifically the Iran-Iraq war of the
1980's. We know that the U.S., through then Vice President Bush,
was heavily involved, trying to bleed both sides against the
middle, weakening the Shia theocracy of Iran and hedging bets
for the Sunni regime of Saddam. So, now, is it going to be good
'ol "divide and conquer" with the sectarian situation?
How will U.S. forces and policy play with the Sunni-Shia dynamic
in the Muslim world?
HERSH: Brother versus brother.
It's going to be brother versus brother. Sunni versus Shia. There's
an incredible sectarian war happening right now in Iraq. Things
are always tense between both groups there. We know Saddam mistreated
the Shia when he was in power. But, it was nothing then like
it is now. The killing now is unbelievable.
The new policy of America is
that we are going to work with Israelis and moderate Sunnis,
those include Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia. We're going to join
forces with Western forces in Europe. Then, America and Israel
are going to go after people we don't like. People like Iran,
Hamas, Hizbollah. There is a coalition forming, a coalition that
forms and pits brother against brother, a fitnah. You
know that's not an exact meaning of the word, it's an Arabic
word. But it's fitnah [dissention, disunity]. And we have strange
bedfellows working with us Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia
- all are going to be used to put pressure on Iran, Syria, and
Hezbollah. It's a unique notion. It's "the Re-direction"
you are seeing it right now. I wrote about in the New
Yorker. It's called "the Re-direction."
["The Re-direction,"
according to Hersh in his March piece, is the Bush Administration's
new policy towards the Middle East. In order to undermine Iran,
which is Shiite, the administration has decided to cooperate
with Saudi's Sunni government in Lebanon to engage in "clandestine
operations that intend to weaken Hezbollah, the Shiite organization
that is backed by Iran. The U.S. has also taken part in clandestine
operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria."]
You are seeing tremendous pressure
now. For example, now, right now in Lebanon, America's position,
the Bush Administration's position is to support the Siniora
government as an example of their belief in democracy. We are
not interested in hearing the complaints of the Shias [Hezbollah]
and other groups.
[Hersh elaborates on this point
in the same article, where he quotes an official who states,
"We are in a program to enhance the Sunni capability to
resist Shiite influence, and we're spreading the money around
as much as we canIn this process, we're financing a lot of bad
guys with some serious potential unintended consequencesIt's
a very high-risk venture."]
ALI: Let's talk of Iran.
Based on what you've said and written, and what we've heard countless
times by the Administration regarding Iran's potential nuclear
capability, their hostility towards America, and so forth, is
there real, credible evidence to suggest that, indeed, Iran poses
a threat?
HERSH: Oh, the White House
believes it. They believe that, no question. They believe Iran's
Revolutionary guard, the Government, it's all part of one unified
group that is dedicated to help kill Americans. [The White House]
describes the Revolutionary Guard as an active, radical commando
unit. Of course our intelligent community is bitterly, bitterly
divided over this. And the Administration has not even come
close to making its case on this. We have to remember, when
it was 1992, Saddam fell after the war, and for a brief time,
you know, for a brief time there was a rebellion against Saddam's
regime by the Shia. We did nothing. We knew about it, and we
did not nothing. We let Saddam fly helicopters to kill these
Shias. Since then there has been a lot of bitterness against
America. So, there is always two sides, right? Two sides to a
story? Well, this has six, seven sides.
ALI: But what does the White
House say, or believe, that Iran concretely does to help the
insurgency in Iraq?
HERSH: America says that Iran
supplies arms. They supply arms, weapons, I.E.D's which
- do you know about them? They are these improvised explosive
devices, these explosive devises that are incredibly effective.
They think Iran is supplying intelligence on several issues,
and they see Iran as being directly responsible for what's
happening in Iraq.
Ok, one more. That should be
enough right? You should have enough for a piece, right?
ALI: Should be enough, yeah. So, according to your sources
and research, in your opinion, has Iran actually done anything
to warrant this belief that it is a legitimate threat to America?
HERSH: Well, Some believe,
like I do, some people believe that Iran is doing nothing different
than what it has done for the past two to three decades in supporting
the Shia. I mean, that's what they are in interested in
to support the Shia. But there is no notion that this government,
our government has proven its case yet. They U.S. may do what
they want to do against Iran. I mean, who is going to stop this
president? Who is going to stop him? I don't know. (Pause)
Ok, so are we good?
ALI: We are good.
HERSH: Ok, no more right? Promise
no more phone calls?
ALI: Promise no more phone
calls.
HERSH: Great. Thanks. Bye
Ding. Ding. Ding. End of Round
15. And with that, Hersh hangs up the phone off and returns to
do what he does best reporting. He doesn't believe that
people care about his opinions or his thoughts. I mean, he's
not a politician, so why should they, right? He's just a reporter.
That's all. So, please folks, let's not go and try to make him
something he's not.
Wajahat Ali is Pakistani Muslim American who is
neither a terrorist nor a saint. He is a playwright, essayist,
humorist, and recent J.D. whose work, "The
Domestic Crusaders," is the first major play about Muslim
Pakistani Americans living in a post 9-11 America. His blog is
at http://goatmilk.wordpress.com/.
He can be reached at wajahatmali@gmail.com
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