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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers! How Cops Extort Confessions;
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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers!
How Cops Extort Confessions;
How the U.S. “Justice System” Really WorksNinety-two per cent of felony convictions in the U.S. are obtained by plea bargains or confessions. Without them the “justice system” would grind to a halt. In an important piece in our latest newsletter, available only to subscribers, Emily Horowitz shows how totally innocent people will “confess” under police pressure, even without physical torture. Horowitz outlines the powerful case for banning confessions altogether. Also in this new edition Marcus Rediker, co-author of the legendary The Many Headed Hydra, writes of popular heroism and resistance in the favelas of Medellin, Colombia. Alexander Cockburn reports on how America’s oldest bank, patronized by the global elites, washed billions smuggled out of Russia, and how the Russians might win their money back, shaking the world’s banking system if they do so. Serge Halimi describes the real battle for the soul of Europe. Get your copy today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch books and gear make great presents.
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Today's Stories August 22, 2008 Laura Carlsen Peter Morici August 21, 2008 Allan J. Lichtman Dave Lindorff Loserville: How Obama Blew It Ralph Nader Joanne Mariner Wajahat Ali Ron Jacobs Rostam Purzal Anthony Papa Website of the Day August 20, 2008 Michael Neumann Ray McGovern Eric Walberg Fidaa Abed Daniel Haack Mike Whitney Website of the Day August 19, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Deepak Tripathi Marwan Bishara Saul Landau William S. Lind Martha Rosenberg James Brittain Pratyush Chandra David Macaray Website of the Day August 18, 2008 Tariq Ali Gary Leupp Uri Avnery John Ross Farooq Sulehria Luis Rodriguez Manuel Garcia, Jr. Noah Baker Merrill Charles Thomson Website of the Day August 16 / 17, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Deepak Tripathi Conn Hallinan Mike Whitney Robert Fantina Ray McGovern Nicole Colson Fatima Bhutto Jean-Luis Rocca David Michael Green Ramzi Kysia Dave Lindorff Lisa Martinovic Richard Rhames Don Santina Rannie Amiri Ramzy Baroud John Stanton Howard Lisnoff Ron Jacobs Seth Sandronsky Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
August 15, 2008 Steve Niva David Remington Michael Winship Paul Craig Roberts Farzana Versey Harvey Wasserman Felice Pace Julian Critchley Website of the Day August 14, 2008 Saul Landau / Conn Hallinan Mike Whitney Reza Fiyouzat Ralph Nader Christopher Brauchli The Cheerleader in China Jack Bradigan Spula Patrick Irelan John Walsh Dan Bacher Website of the Day
August 13, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts David Remington Brian Cloughley Glen Ford Brendan Cooney Dave Lindorff Tom Lewis Stan Cox Alan Farago Martha Rosenberg Website of the Day August 12, 2008 Uri Avnery Anthony DiMaggio Bill Christison Eric Walberg Kate Connolly Diane Farsetta Peter Morici Thom Rutledge Lee Patton Niranjan Ramakrishnan Website of the Day August 11, 2008 Ishmael Reed Paul Craig Roberts Gary Leupp Douglas Kammen William Willers Greg Moses Jeff Leys Cynthia McKinney Alan Farago Website of the Day August 9 / 10, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Bruce Jackson Kevin Young Chris Floyd Joshua Frank Robert Fantina Brendan Cooney Mark Almond Lois Gibbs Rev. William Alberts Kathy Kelly John Ross David Michael Green Bill Moyers / Ron Jacobs Richard Rhames David Yearsley Lee Sustar Brenda Norrell Ben Terrall Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 8, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Manuel Garcia, Jr. M. Shahid Alam Andy Worthington Lawrence J. Korb David Model Alan Farago Diop Olugbala Firmin DeBrabander Website of the Day August 7, 2008 Dr. Trudy Bond William Blum Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Robert Weitzel Jacob G. Hornberger Binoy Kampmark David Macaray Howard Lisnoff Website of the Day August 6, 2008 Marc Herold Greg Moses Sheldon Rampton Kevin Young Michael Estrada Robert Weissman Dr. Susan Block Cindy Sheehan Ace Hoffman Website of the Day August 5, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Jeff Halper Patrick Cockburn Nancy Welch Peter Morici Sousan Hammad Eamon Martin Shepherd Bliss Tim Matson Website of the Day August 4, 2008 Uri Avnery Saul Landau David W. Remington Rev. Jesse Jackson Dave Lindorff Peter Morici Joanne Mariner Ramzy Baroud Christian Wright Website of the Day August 2 / 3, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Patrick Cockburn Winslow T. Wheeler James Abourezk Andy Worthington Brian Cloughley Robert Fantina Benjamin Dangl Marlene Martin David Yearsley Fatemeh Keshavarz David Michael Green Obama as Dukakis Harvey Wasserman Jason Hribal Phyllis Pollack Laray Polk Ron Jacobs David Macaray David Rosen Dan Bacher Joe Allen Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 1, 2008 Jonathan Cook Nikolas Kozloff Rannie Amiri Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli M. K. Bhadrakumar Patrick Cockburn James J. Brittain Dan Bacher Website of the Day
July 31, 2008 Michael Hudson Carl Finamore Mike Whitney Joshua Frank Andy Worthington Ralph Nader Bill Moyers / Robert Weissman Dave Lindorff Website of the Day July 30, 2008 Brian M. Downing Chuck Spinney William S. Lind David Ker Thomson Karl Grossman Mike Whitney Martha Rosenberg James Murren Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Website of the Day July 29, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair John Ross Peter Morici Alison Weir Gary Leupp David Macaray Brenda Norrell Marjorie Cohn Eric Ruder Website of the Day July 28, 2008 Dr. Bryant Welch Kathy Kelly Mike Whitney Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli Clifton Ross Stephen Lendman Website of the Day
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August 22, 2008 The Failed Policies of Bush and McCainNo War for GeorgiaBy BOB BARR The war between Russia and Georgia is a tragedy on its own terms. But it also has broad implications for U.S. foreign policy. Both President Bush and Sen. John McCain have demonstrated their shared predisposition to involve America's armed services in foreign conflicts with no link - or at best a tenuous connection - to America's vital security interests. It is time that we put defense back into America's defense policy. The conflict in the Caucasus is like many other wars around the world. It is complicated, ugly and tragic. The disputes between Georgia and Russia, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia have roots going back centuries. There is no correct position on whether Abkhazia and South Ossetia should be part of Georgia (bearing in mind also it was the United States that went to war to separate Kosovo from Serbia's control). In fact, we have paid a high price for a similar failure to understand the deep, long-standing and historic animosities between ethnic and religious groups elsewhere - Iraq, for instance. The results there were flawed plans and costly miscalculations in the invasion and occupation of that country. We should never forget that history continues to weigh heavily on the present in many places around the world. Of course we should deplore Moscow's heavy-handed tactics in Georgia, including its failure so far to honor the cease-fire agreement by pulling back its forces. However, bad and over blown historical analogies won't help resolve the conflict. If this war was like Adolf Hitler's attack on Poland, as some have suggested, Georgia would be occupied, its government would be ousted, and its residents would be on their way to concentration camps. No one would be traveling to Tbilisi and we wouldn't be talking to Moscow. While we rightly sympathize with the Georgian people in light of Russia's disproportionate military response, the government in Tbilisi is not without blame. Neither side has clean hands. Yet President Bush is sending U.S. soldiers to Georgia under the banner of providing humanitarian assistance, placing American forces in an unsettled war zone that clearly risks involving the U.S. in a confrontation with Russia. He also continues to press for Georgia's membership in NATO, which carries with it a promise to protect Georgia from attack; and clearly is waiving a red flag in Moscow's face. Sen. McCain is even more extreme. When pressed, he refused to rule out military intervention in the conflict. He wants to bring Georgia into NATO even more quickly. Whether Mr. Bush and Mr. McCain have taken these provocative positions based on their personal relationship with Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili, on a view that U.S. national interests are somehow seriously threatened by this conflict in the Caucuses, or because of some other assessment is unclear. But both Mr. Bush and Mr. McCain appear to base their foreign-policy decisions on personal factors. Mr. Bush famously looked into Vladimir Putin's eyes and liked what he saw. Mr. McCain talks warmly of his friendship with "Misha," the Georgian President's nickname. Neither approach is a sound basis on which to decide policy towards Russia, or any other country. To the contrary, U.S. foreign policy should be based on a hard-headed assessment of U.S. interests, not warm and fuzzy feelings about a particular foreign leader. The most important American interest is defending America; and intervening on behalf of Georgia against Russia has nothing to do with defending America. The sort of simplistic, bombastic approach to foreign policy represented by Mr. McCain is always dangerous, but never more so than when dealing with a major nuclear power. Thankfully, while the invasion of Iraq was a mistake, the Iraqi government had little means to resist and none to retaliate against the American homeland. Conflict with Russia would be very different, and would immediately return us to the horrible world of Mutual Assured Destruction, in which cities in both countries were held hostage to nuclear holocaust. It clearly is time to expect Europe to do more on behalf of its own defense. Many Europeans are calling for action, but most expect the U.S. to provide the military muscle, not the Europeans themselves. The European Union has a larger collective economy and population than does the United States, and should begin taking responsibility for its own security. The United States must always be prepared to use military force to defend itself. But doing so should be the last rather than first resort. And while Washington should work with the Europeans to pressure Moscow to stand down - and there are significant economic pressure points we can employ - it should not risk or invite involvement in a tragic and unnecessary war; and one with so little direct or immediate relevance to America's own security. Bob Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia, is the official candidate for president of the Libertarian Party.
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