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CIA's Overthrow Plans for Iran Agency musters Swiftboat vets, pumps funding into destabilization program aimed at Teheran. Trish Schuh reveals how White House approves race-baiting smears of Islam. Remember how Leadbelly got ripped off by Lomax, how Louis Armstrong's agent got richer than his most famous client? The rip-offs never die. Fred Wilhelms narrates how artists and musicians are being shafted in the age of the internet. Meet the real Judge John Roberts, serf for big business. Cockburn and St Clair dissect the Court's new nominee. Tailhook vet and self-proclaimed Tom Cruise model bites dust in Pentagon scandal: a defense industry parable. St. Clair on Duke Cunningham's Crash Landing. Get the answers you're looking for in the latest subscriber-only edition of CounterPunch ... CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! or write CounterPunch, PO BOX 228, Petrolia, CA 95558 |
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Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison by Kathy Kelly  Today's Stories August 13 / 14, 2005 Cockburn
/ St. Clair August 12, 2005 Christopher
Brauchli Greg
Moses Ramzy
Baroud Norman
Solomon Chris
Genovali Chris
Floyd Tariq
Ali
August 11, 2005 Saul
Landau Dave
Lindorff Ralph
Nader Talli
Nauman Gary
Leupp Sharon
Smith Paul
Craig Roberts
August 10, 2005 Tim
Wise Ron
Jacobs Joshua
Frank Cynthia
McKinney Rick
Wilhelm Stan
Goff
August 9, 2005 Mike
Ferner Monica
Benderman Mike
Marqusee Rep.
Cynthia McKinney Paul
Craig Roberts
August 6-8, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Jason
Leopold Ray
McGovern David
Krieger Sharon
K. Weiner / Robert Jensen Fred
Gardner
August 5, 2005 Bill
Christison Paul
Craig Roberts Alexander
Cockburn
August 4, 2005 Tom
Barry Lila
Rajiva Greg
Moses Alexander
Cockburn August 3, 2005
August 3, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Paul
Craig Roberts William
A. Cook Dave
Zirin Dave
Lindorff José
Pertierra
August 2, 2005 Ramzi
Kysia William
A. Cook Paul
Craig Roberts Mike
Whitney Ron
Jacobs Norman
Madarsz Tim
Wise
August 1, 2005 Virginia
Rodino Diana
Barahona Joshua
Frank Mike
Whitney Norm
Dixon Norman
Solomon James
Petras
July 30 / 31, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn JoAnn
Wypijewski Sheldon
Rampton Jack
Z. Bratich Greg
Moses Jordan
Green Patrick
Cockburn Brian
Cloughley Justin
Taylor Saul
Landau John
Walsh Joshua
Frank Ron
Jacobs Fred
Gardner John
Chuckman Liaquat
Ali Khan Remi
Kanazi Naveen
Jaganathan Richard
Heinberg Max
Watts Ben
Tripp Poets'
Basement
July 29, 2005 Cockburn
/ St. Clair P.
Sainath Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Dave
Lindorff J.L.
Chestnut, Jr. Pat
Williams Norman
Solomon Sen.
Russ Feingold
July 28, 2005 Paul
Craig Roberts William
S. Lind Gilad
Atzmon Joshua
Frank Lila
Rajiva Amina
Mire Website
of the Day
July 27, 2005 Roger
Morris Gary
Leupp Paul
Craig Roberts Jackie
Corr Mike
Whitney Dave
Zirin Christopher
Bradley Norman
Solomon Website
of the Day
July 26, 2005 Suren
Pillay JoAnn
Wypijewski Patrick
Cockburn David
Anderson Joshua
Frank Lenni
Brenner David
Swanson
July 25, 2005 Paul
Craig Roberts M.
Shahid Alam Uri
Avnery Stan
Cox Norman
Solomon Ramzy
Baroud Mickey
Z. Website
of the Day
July 23 / 24, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Tariq
Ali Robert
Fisk Dave
Lindorff Ricardo
Alarcón Col.
Dan Smith Brian
Cloughley Kevin
Zeese Bill
Quigley Fred
Gardner Rep.
Ron Paul Joshua
Frank Shivali
Tukdeo Gilad
Atzmon James
Petras Ben
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of the Weekend
July 22, 2005 Heather
Gray David
Domke Lance
Selfa JoAnn
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July 21, 2005 Rose
Ann DeMoro William
Blum J.L.
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Cockburn Website
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/ St. Clair Roxanne
Dunbar-Ortiz Ray
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Floyd Uri
Avnery Dave
Lindorff Norman
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Quigley
July 19, 2005 Tariq
Ali John
Ross Davey
D. Greg
Weiher Brian
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Lindorff Bill
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Frank
July 18, 2005 Joshua
Frank M.
Shahid Alam Jude
Wanniski Ron
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Whitney William
MacDougall Seth
Sandronsky Richard
Lichtman Paul
Craig Roberts Website
of the Weekend
July 15 / 17, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Jeffrey
St. Clair Paul
Craig Roberts Harry
Browne Uri
Davis, Ilan Pappe and Tamar Yaron Andrew
Rubin Patrick
Cockburn J.L.
Chestnut, Jr. Fred
Gardner Christopher
Brauchli Chris
Floyd Ben
Tripp Col.
Dan Smith Jason
Leopold Jack
Random Norman
Solomon George
Ochenski Website
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/ St. Clair John
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Random Norman
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August 13 / 14, 2005 The Anti-Empire ReportThe al-Dubya Training ManualBy WILLIAM BLUM
This is now the official and frequent response of White House, Pentagon, and State Department spokespersons when confronted with charges of American "abuse" (read: torture) of prisoners, and is being repeated by many supporters of the war scattered around the Internet. It can thus be noted that White House, Pentagon, and State Department training manuals emphasize the tactic of saying "It is important to note that al Qaeda training manuals emphasize the tactic of making false abuse allegations," when confronted with charges of American torture of prisoners for which the spokespersons have no other defense. It is equally important to note that these sundry spokespersons never actually offer a precise quotation from any terrorist training manuals, of al Qaeda or not. The one instance I've been able to find of US government officials referring to a specific terrorist training manual in the context of torture, is a referral to the so-called "Manchester Manual", a manual found on the computer of a suspected terrorist in Manchester, England in 2000.{1} In the references to torture, in the portions of the manual that have been made public, there is certainly no clear, unambiguous directive for making false allegations of abuse, much less an emphasis on such. The manual, apparently written in the 1980s, says the following about torture: "Each brother who is subjected to interrogation and torture, should state all that he agreed upon with the commander and not deviate from it." ... "Security personnel in our countries arrest brothers and obtain the needed information through interrogation and torture." In Lesson 18, explicitly cited by the US government officials, we find: "1.At the beginning of the trial, once more the brothers must insist on proving that torture was inflicted on them by State Security [investigators] before the judge. 2.Complain [to the court] of mistreatment while in prison. 3. Make arrangements for the brother's defense with the attorney, whether he was retained by the brother's family or court-appointed. 4.The brother has to do his best to know the names of the state security officers, who participated in his torture and mention their names to the judge. [These names may be obtained from brothers who had to deal with those officers in previous cases.] All words in brackets were bracketed in the original; some may be translator's comments. Inasmuch as only selected portions of the manual have been made public by the Bush and Blair administrations it can not be determined in what way the deleted sections might put the White House/Pentagon/State mantra into question. For example, in lesson 18, part 1, what does "once more" refer to? Some previous relevant passage which is being withheld from the public? And how does "proving that torture was inflicted on them" square with "the tactic of making false abuse allegations"? Part 2 could be taken to mean something made up, but it doesn't mention torture and probably doesn't refer to it because part 1 would seem to cover that particular complaint. In any event, the question
is largely academic. We have the numerous statements of American
prison guards, other military personnel, and Pentagon officials,
all admitting to dozens of kinds of "abuse" in US prisons
in Guantanamo, Iraq, and Afghanistan; so many ugly stories.
We have as well the Abu Ghraib photos. And we have the well-documented
phenomenon of CIA "rendition", flying kidnapped individuals
to many countries known for their routine use of torture. None
of this comes from al Qaeda training manuals. We're winning, sort of Their policies have not changed yet, but they're becoming more and more defensive with each passing day. After numerous, unflinching refusals to announce a date of departure from Iraq -- in the face of a rising demand in and out of Congress -- several administration officials, both civilian and military, have recently been giving estimated dates, albeit what they say is total rubbish, no more than an attempt to tell the critics to shut up. They're also circling the wagons in the face of mounting charges that terrorism, particularly of the anti-US and anti-UK type, is the logical consequence of US and UK foreign policy. Former State Department spokesman James Rubin and New York Times foreign-affairs correspondent Thomas Friedman recently declared that we need to spotlight the "excuse makers." "After every major terrorist incident, the excuse makers come out to tell us why imperialism, Zionism, colonialism or Iraq explains why the terrorists acted. These excuse makers are just one notch less despicable than the terrorists and also deserve to be exposed."{2} (I wonder, if the terrorists get life in prison, whether Rubin and Friedman would be willing to settle for as little as 20 years for us excuse makers, or would they fear being accused of being "soft on excuse makers"?) Friedman and Rubin do not actually dispute the idea that the human catastrophe known as Iraq lies behind certain terrorist acts, and most Americans and British make that association as well, which I chalk up as another point for the anti-war movement. Tony Blair sounds positively frantic in his denials that the bombers were motivated in any way by British support of the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He and Bush simply can not admit any cause and effect between their war-crime adventures and terrorism. To do so would mean having to change their policies. But reality keeps intruding. Here's one of the would-be London bombers, Osman Hussain (also known as Isaac Hamdi), whose bomb failed to fully detonate on July 21, speaking in Rome after his capture there: Osman spoke of "how the suspects watched hours of TV footage showing grief-stricken Iraqi widows and children alongside images of civilians killed in the conflict. He is alleged to have told prosecutors that after watching the footage: 'There was a feeling of hatred and a conviction that it was necessary to give a signal - to do something.' ... Osman allegedly said: 'More than praying we discussed work, politics, the war in Iraq ... we always had new films of the war in Iraq ... more than anything else those in which you could see Iraqi women and children who had been killed by US and UK soldiers'."{3} "The bombs of July 7 in London?" said Hamdi, "That happens every day in Iraq."{4} So concerned about such condemnations of US foreign policy is Secretary of War Donald Rumsfeld that he was moved to write an op-ed in the Financial Times of London after the attacks in that city. He first treated his readers to a message that could have been pasted together from words cut out of a magazine: "Coalition forces operate in Afghanistan and Iraq at the request of democratically elected governments." Hmmm, I see, nothing to do with massive bombing, invasion or occupation; it was all a spontaneous invitation with flowers and kisses; as if Rumsfeld thinks no one knows any recent history at all. And then, as if he thinks no one knows any prior history either, he declared: "Some seem to believe that accommodating extremists' demands -- including retreating from Afghanistan and Iraq -- might put an end to their grievances, and, with them, future attacks. But consider that when terrorists struck America on September 11 2001, a radical Islamist government ruled Afghanistan and harboured al-Qaeda leaders, virtually undisturbed by the international community. And Saddam Hussein tightly clung to power in Iraq, and appeared to be winning support for his efforts to end United Nations sanctions."{5} But prior to September 11 there was already a long list of grievances against American actions, enough to fuel a dozen al Qaedas:
The newest charming chapter of the War on Terror The cold-blooded murder of
the 27-year-old Brazilian, Jean Charles de Menezes, by London
police may become a symbol for the War on Terror along with others
like the hooded and wired man of Abu Ghraib. It appears now
that the police lied about Menezes wearing a bulky jacket, running
from them, jumping over the subway turnstile, and being "directly
linked" to the bomb investigation. But even if all of that
were true, what would be the justification for his execution?
That he might have been a suicide bomber just about to explode
himself in a crowded subway station? But if that were true,
why -- when the police were getting closer to him, then closer,
then on top of him -- why didn't he set the explosives off?
Should not the absence of any explosion have instantly told the
police that they were dreadfully mistaken? Collateral damage On July 13, more than 40 Iraqi
children were killed or wounded by a suicide car bomber targeting
an American soldier who was handing out sweets to the children.
This awful event understandably led to numerous condemnations
of the insurgency, with no extenuating circumstances allowed
into the discussion. Yet, on many occasions in recent years,
in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yugoslavia, when US bombing has killed
a number of innocent civilians, American officials have said
that "the bad guys" were at least partly to blame because
they had set themselves up close to civilians despite knowing
that they might well be the targets of US attacks. Can not the
same reasoning apply to the incident of July 13? Did not the
American soldier know that standing in an Iraqi street made him
a probable target of the insurgents? Why did he allow himself
to be so close to so many children? The sanctity of elections In July it was reported that the US Navy secretly spent $1.6 million to influence the vote in Vieques, Puerto Rico in a 2001 referendum on the question of continued Navy use of the area as a bombing range. Opponents had contended that the bombing harmed the environment and the health of Vieques' 9,100 residents.{6} That same month we learned that Washington also poured money into the much vaunted Iraqi elections of January, giving financial support to the slate controlled by Iyad Allawi, the acting Prime Minister, who was a staunch American ally.{7} We thus have two more additions to the list of elections around the world which the United States has seriously interfered in. By my conservative tabulation, since 1950 it comes to about 35 elections in 30 different countries, not counting presidential elections in the United States.{8} "Mr. Castro, once, just
once, show that you're unafraid of a real election." --
George W. Bush, 2002{9} Che Clinton? If Hillary Clinton is indeed eyeing the White House, we can expect a lot more of the kind of silliness of the intellect found in Edward Klein's new book, "The Truth About Hillary". Critics pan the book for its sleaziness. I pan it for its striking inability to distinguish among different points on the political spectrum. Clinton, in Klein's world, is a "leftist", not the centrist she and her husband have plainly proven themselves to be. Klein sees her not as simply a liberal, but a "leftist"; in fact, not simply a leftist, but a "radical" leftist. Yes, that's the word he uses. He's speaking about a woman who supported the Contras in Nicaragua in the 1980s, while her husband was in the Arkansas governor's mansion. The Contras, in case you've forgotten, were the army employed by Ronald Reagan in his all-out war to destroy the progressive social and economic programs of the Nicaraguan government. They went around burning down schools and medical clinics, raping, torturing, mining harbors, bombing and strafing. These were the charming gentlemen Reagan liked to call "freedom fighters". Roger Morris, in his excellent study of the Clintons, "Partners in Power", recounts Hillary Clinton aiding Contra fund-raising and her lobbying against people or programs hostile to the Contras or to the Reagan-CIA policies in general. "As late as 1987-88," Morris writes, "amid some of the worst of the Iran-Contra revelations, colleagues heard her still opposing church groups and others devoted to social reform in Nicaragua and El Salvador."{10} Are Clinton's views on Iraq or US imperialism in general any more progressive than this? If she is a radical leftist what would Edward Klein -- who makes no mention at all of the Contras -- call Noam Chomsky? What would he call Fidel Castro? Or Vladimir Lenin? This kind of ideological dumbness just permeates the American media and plays no small part in the voters losing their bearings. William Blum is the author of Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II, Rogue State: a guide to the World's Only Super Power. and West-Bloc Dissident: a Cold War Political Memoir. He can be reached at: BBlum6@aol.com
NOTES {1} Federal News Service, July 21, 2005, State Department briefing. The manual is at www.usdoj.gov/ag/trainingmanual.htm {2} New York Times, July 22, 2005 {3} The Observer (London), July 31, 2005 {4} Agence France Presse, July 31, 2005 {5} Financial Times (London), August 1, 2005 {6} Associated Press, July 22, 2005 {7} Seymour Hersh, New Yorker, July 25, 2005 {8} The latest listing can be found in the updated edition of William Blum's book, "Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower", chapter 18, which will be out around October. {9} Los Angeles Times, May 21, 2002 {10} Roger Morris, "Partners in Power" (1996), p.415
William Blum is the author of: Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War 2 Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower West-Bloc Dissident: A Cold War Memoir Freeing the World to Death: Essays on the American Empire <www.killinghope.org > Previous Anti-Empire Reports can be read at this website. To add yourself to this mailing list simply send an email to <bblum6@aol.com> with "add" in the subject line. I'd like your name and city in the message, but that's optional. I ask for your city only in case I'll be speaking in your area. Or put "remove" in the subject line to do the opposite. Any part of this report
may be disseminated without permission. I'd appreciate it if
the website were mentioned.
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