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Read Cockburn and St. Clair's Whiteout: the CIA, Drugs and the Press and discover how the CIA gave a helping hand to the opium lords who took over Afghanistan, thus ushering the Taliban into power.


CounterPunch: Complete Coverage of 9/11 and the War on Afghanistan

New Print Edition of CounterPunch Published December 20: Catherine Campbell on public health agents acting as police; JoAnn Wypijewski on big labor in Las Vegas; and a profile of Rodrigo Villamizar, Bush's crooked Colombian pal. Subscribe Now!

January 2, 2002

Shahid Alam
Is There An Islamic Problem?

David Vest
Turn, Turn, Turn

January 1, 2002

Kathy Kelly
Iraq's New Year

December 31, 2001

John Absood
An Alternative to War in Iraq

Ramzi Kysia
Iraq Goes Radioactive

December 28, 2001

John Chuckman
Observing George Bush

Suren Pillay
Civilian Bodies

Aaron Lehmer
Inviting Future Terrorism

December 27, 2001

Patrick McNamara
Palestinian Children Bear Brunt of Mideast Violence

Nelson Valdés
A Possible Scenario on the Location of bin Laden

Jensen and Mahajan
Remember the Afghan Dead

Philip Farruggio
A New Year's Resolution

Ramzi Kysia
The People of the Valley

December 26, 2001

John Chuckman
In Praise of the Unspeakable

Sam Bahour
2002: Year of the Twos

December 25, 2001

Jennifer Loewenstein
Israel's Human Rights Record

December 24, 2001

Sam Bahour
It Happened One Morning

Yair Khilou
Why I Resisted Being Drafted into the Israeli Army

Michael Chisari
War as Diversionary Tactic

Cockburn/St. Clair
Enron and the Green Seal

December 21, 2001

Tom Turnipseed
War Good for Bush

John Chuckman
The First Victim in the
War on Terror

December 20, 2001

Lawrence McGuire
Killing Other People's Children

Miriam Rozen
Foundation Without Representation?

Kenneth Roth
A Letter to Rumsfeld on
Military Tribunals

William Blum
Casualties: Theirs and Ours

December 19, 2001

Marjorie Cohn
Don't Pre-Judge John Walker

Sam Bahour
Palestine and You

 


A Photographic Journal of Life in an Afghan Refugee Camp
By Judith Mann

Resources:
100s of Links About 9/11


CounterPunch:
Complete Coverage of 9/11 and Its Aftermath


Five Days That
Shook The World:
Seattle and Beyond

By Alexander Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
Photos by Allan Sekula

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Published Oct. 15, 2001

8-Page Special Issue

War Diary

CIA's Assassination Plan a History of Torture in US Prisons

bin Laden and Bush Business Connections

Aisha Ikramuddin on the Hidden Hype of US Food Bombs

Peter Linebaugh on Pakistan

Christopher Hitchens' Love for Mrs. Thatcher

Jiang Zemin Tells Bush:
Nuke 'Em


Search CounterPunch

Read Whiteout and Find Out How the CIA's Backing of the Mujahideen Created the World's Most Robust Heroin Market and Helped to Finance the Rise of the Taliban and Osama bin Laden

Whiteout:
CIA, Drugs & the Press

by Alexander Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair

The Memphis Blues Again:
Six Decades of Memphis Music Photographs
Photos by Ernest Withers
Text by Daniel Wolff

The New Intifada:
Resisting Israel's Apartheid

Edited by Roane Carey

A Pocket Guide to
Environmental Bad Guys
by James Ridgeway
and Jeffrey St. Clair

The Phoenix Program
by Douglas Valentine

Al Gore:
A User's Manual
by Cockburn
and St. Clair

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Amazing Discount!
 

Reviews of Gore:
a User's Manual


Private Warriors
by Ken Silverstein

CounterPunch's Booktalk

January 2, 2002

Secret Plan X:
From a Concerned Secretary

By John Chuckman

(The following transcript in a plain brown envelope was slipped under my door sometime in the middle of the night. The transcript bears all the earmarks of authenticity, but I leave it to readers to decide.)

Excerpts from: THE CHAIRMAN'S TAPES: BEING A RECORD OF A TOP-SECRET MEETING OF THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE

FORWARDED TO MR. CHUCKMAN BY A CONCERNED SECRETARY

Compassion:

"This here word's okay now in campaign lit'ature, jus' don't go gettin' carried away with it. Photo-ops with li'l black an' Hispanic chil'en's fine so long as, now I wanna repeat this, boyz, (Transcriber's note: No women's voices are heard on the tape) so long as they all presentable an' were not the result o' any illicit relations an' ain't never been treated foh drugs or any o' them lib'rah diseases, an' you boyz know what I'm sayin' on that one so I don't hafta draw ya no pictures. Now, I don't want any a ya lettin' me down on this one, ya all hear!"

Family Values:

"Now, spite some grumblin' an' moanin', this here's been a winner foh us, what ya might call a breakthrough, in bein' able ta say one thing an' doin' somethin' else, which, tell me if I'm wrong on this, is jus' the kinda thing a red-blooded party like ours's always on the lookout foh. (Transcriber's note: Loud hoots and cheers and laughter are heard in the background.)

"An' as foh that lib'rah bunch a pukes out there, well, they jus' can't go g'inst family values. An', heck, you boyz know it don't slow ya down none from havin' a good time. It keeps them Good-Book thumpers out there on our side. Now, they's definitely some folks we all'd surely rather have inside the tent spittin' an' hissin' out, than outside spittin' an' hissin' in.

"I know you boyz'll agree with me on that (Transcriber's note: More loud cheers and laughter are heard). So I don't wanna hear no more gripin' an' frettin' on this one, boyz. Jus' squeeze a li'l mention inta ev'ry speech there somewheres."

Secret Plan X:

"I ain't a goin' ta say a who'e lot on this here taday. They's a special ex'utive meeti' commin' up nex' year. But you boyz knows this here's the party's ultimate goal, our 'tomic bomb so ta speak. We been a nippin' an' tuckin' round the edges a this long as anyone can remember. We been foh no mo'e spendin', no mo'e programs, no mo'e taxes, no mo'e poor folks gettin' handouts, an' no mo'e lib'rah pukes bein' elected.

"But these's been half-way measures, we all know that! Jus' wait'll we tell the 'merican people they don't need no fed'ral gov'ment anymore. Jus' get rid o' the danged thing! I'll tell ya, boyz, this one's gonna be big. We gonna win big with this.

"Now, I don't want any a ya runnin' off at the mouth on this here 'fore we ready ta go. Am I makin' myself clear on that? (Transcriber's note: Loud roars of assent throughout the hall.)

"We buildin' a advertizin' war ches' on this the like a which ain't never been seen. Ya outta see them contrabutions pourin' in! Why, we got corporations tithin'! That's right, boyz, corporations tithin' ! Now, who 's gonna say the 'merican people ain't the mos' gen'rous an' patriotic in the world? (Transcriber's note: Cheers are so loud, the remainder of the text is only approximate.) They know they gonna make it back in no time. Boyz, this here's gonna fix us up foh life!"

John Chuckman is a columnist with YellowTimes. He encourages your comments: jchuckman@YellowTimes.ORG