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Inside the New Print Edition of CounterPunch: Labor at the Crossroads First the Wedding; Now the Wake: Big Labor's New Unity Partnership by JoAnn Wypijewski; Report from Baghdad: How Did the Votes Add Up: by Patrick Cockburn. Tsunamis of Blood: Wolfowitz in Indonesia: by Joseph Nevins; ALSO Alexander Cockburn on Tsunami Aid: How the People Scored. Remember these stories are available exclusively in the print 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! Call Toll Free 1-800-840-3683 or write CounterPunch, PO BOX 228, Petrolia, CA 95558 Spend Valentine's Day with Cockburn in LA!

Wars of the Laptop Bombers   Today's Stories February 14, 2005 Elaine Cassel The Lynne Stewart Verdict February 12 / 13, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Ward Churchill's Genes Saul Landau Alarcon Speaks: an Interview with the Vice President of Cuba Paul Craig Roberts Nothing to Fear But Bush Himself Patrick Cockburn Two Years After the Fall of Saddam, the Resistance Controls All Major Roads into Baghdad John Feffer Bush v. N. Korea: Round Two Mickey Z. Right to Remain Silent; Duty to Speak Kurt Nimmo Viva la Cucaracha! Fred Gardner Waiting for Raich Dave Zirin Fighting the New Republic(ans) John Chuckman Hiroshima, Mon Amour Ben Tripp A Leftist on the Bush Payroll Carol Norris "Buddy, Can You Spare a Dwarf?" Robert Fisk No Middle East Peace Without Justice Frank / Chowkwanyun Muzzled Activist in an Age of Terror: the Case of Sherman Austin Mike Whitney Condi's Euro Tour Deborah Frisch A Psychologist's Defense of Ward Churchill Niranjan Ramakrishnan Reading Khomeini in Colorado Christine TenBarge What's So Special About Ward? Ron Jacobs Curtis Mayfield's Train to Jordan Dr. Susan Block Chemistry of Love: a Valentine's Greeting Poets' Basement Louise, Smith-Ferri, Ford and Albert Website of the Weekend Free Sherman     February 11, 20055 Manuel Garcia, Jr The Eight Percent War Kurt Nimmo Ann Coulter's Racism: Where's Geronimo When You Really Need Him? Dave Lindorff Guckert or Gannon? The Perfect Plant; He Fit Right In Larry Birns War is Peace; Slavery is Freedom: Democracy According to Elliott Abrams Bill Quigley Twenty Questions: a Social Justice Quiz Tom Barry Bush's State of Delusion Jennifer Van Bergen Lynne Stewart's Conviction Hurts Us All   February 10, 2005 Dave Lindorff What Academic Freedom? Christopher Brauchli The Love of Slaughter: From Rwanda to Iraq Patrick Cockburn In Baghdad, It's Easy to Get Killed Nicole Colson Have the Democrats Surrendered on Abortion Rights? Suzan Mazur More on the Assassination of Lumumba from Mr. Garsin of Kinshasha Michael Donnelly Salvaging an Opposition Mike Stark Driving Ossie Davis: "Give Them a Little Truth, a Little Hope" Greg Moses Taking Jesus Back from the Hijackers Website of the Day The Missionary Positions     February 9, 2005 Jeffrey St. Clair Duck and Cover Redux: Bunker Busters and City Levellers Mickey Z. What Ward Churchill Didn't Say John Ross Hecho en Mexico: the Iraqi Election Tom Barry Ambassador of Lies: Elliott Abrams, the Neocon's Neocon Conn Hallinan The Coup in Nepal: Nursing the Pinion Patrick Cockburn Sistani's Vision for Iraq: Cricket is Fine, But Chess is "Absolutely Forbidden" Steen Sohn Danish PM Says It's OK for Israel to Violate UN Resolutions Tim Wise Reflections on Empire and Uppity Indians Website of the Day Support Antiwar.com     February 8, 2005 Patrick Cockburn Shia/Kurd Coalition to Dominate New Iraqi Govt.: "It's an Electoral Pact, Not a Party" Brian Cloughley Out of the Mouths of Generals: "It's Fun to Shoot Some People" Steve Breyman Against the Selfishness of the "Ownership Society" Harry Browne "Don't Get on that Plane!": Soldiers Seek Asylum in Ireland Doug Giebel "We Love Free Speech in America": the People, the President and Ward Churchill Nate Collins The Censorship of Ward Churchill and Dancehall Reggae: It's the Same Beast Dave Lindorff It's Time for a Labor-Oriented Newspaper David Smith-Ferri Sanctions and the Health Crisis in Iraq     February 7, 2005 Paul Craig Roberts Bush's War on Jobs Carolyn Baker The New McCarthyism on Campus: Churchill and the Attack on Higher Ed Joshua Frank Marc Cooper's Hit List: First Mumia; Now Ward Churchill Mickey Z. Warning: More Hate Speech from W. Churchill Patrick Cockburn The Kidnapping Gangs of Iraq Mike Whitney Tom Friedman: Scribe for New Age Imperialism Stacie Jonas Pinochet: Fit to be Tried Dave Zirin A Miserable Super Sunday: Clinton, Bush and the FBI Tariq Ali Imperial Delusions         February 5 / 6, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Ward Churchill and the Mad Dogs Kurt Nimmo A Ward Churchill Kind of Day Joshua Frank Liberals Trash Ward Churchill P. Sainath Mumbai's Man-Made Tsunami Patrick Cockburn Sistani's Triumph; Allawi's Bust Laura Carlsen Bush, Rice and Latin America Dave Lindorff How the NYT Killed the Bush Bulge Story Pamela Olson West Bank Story Behzad Yaghmaian The Future of Sudanese Refugees in the West Saul Landau / Farrah Hassen A Threatened UN in King George's Court Roger Burbach World Social Forum: a Tale of Two Presidents Robert Fisk History by Laptop David Swanson James Forman and the Liberal-Labor Syndrome Justin E.H. Smith Gay Marriage: a Report from Canada Cacie Hart The "State" of the Union: More War and a Ban on Love Ron Jacobs Chairman Bob Avakian: a Revolutionary Life Mickey Z. Viewing America from the Outside Ben Tripp Republican Heroes: a New Breed of Good Guy Ben Sonnenberg France at the End of the Devil's Decade: Renoir's Rules of the Game Poets' Basement Smith-Ferri, Davies, Collins, & Albert Website of the Weekend John Trudell: How to Earn a 17,000 Page FBI File February 4, 2005 Brian Cloughley The Army Symphonist: "Sometimes the Only Way to Change the Behavior of Someone Like That is to Kill Them" Bill Christison Election Parallels: Vietnam, 1967; Iraq, 2005 Elaine Cassel Did Zoloft Make Him Do It? Jacob Levich Chomsky and the Draft Kanak Mani Dixit Return of the Royalists in Nepal Ron Jacobs The Downward Spiral in Iraq     February 3, 2005 Ward Churchill On the Injustice of Getting Smeared: a Campaign of Fabrications and Gross Distortions Sharon Smith Resisting Soldiers Need Our Support Mickey Z. Leslie Gelb Asks Iraq: Who's Your Daddy? Mike Whitney President of Alienation: a Desperate State of the Union Jenna Orkin 9/11 the Sequel: the Toxic State of Lower Manhattan Saul Landau Elections Won't Prevent Civil War in Iraq Yitzhak Laor Strange is the Silence Dave Lindorff The Assault on Social Security: a New Campaign of Lies     February 2, 2005 David Domke / Kevin Coe Bush's Brand of Christianity Noam Chomsky Iraq After the Elections M. Shahid Alam O'Reilly's Fatwah on "Un-American" Professors: FoxNews Puts Me in Its Crosshairs Richard Oxman Ringing in 1984 with Ward Churchill and Derrick Jensen Joshua Frank The Suckering of Howard Dean Dave Lindorff A History Lesson from the NYT Nina Hartley Feminists for Porn Website of the Day War is a Racket     February 1, 2005 Joshua L. Dratel The Torture Memos Patrick Cockburn New Doubts About Allawi Robert Fisk "The Only Decent Food We Get is at Funerals" Uri Avnery The Stalemate Col. Dan Smith "W" Stands for Withdrawal Alison Weir Making America as "Secure" as Israel Alan Farago Heaven and Hell in the Everglades Ray Hanania Low Voter Turnout of Iraqi Expatriates: Less Than 10% of Qualified Voters Paul Craig Roberts American Police State Website of the Day Statisticians Refute Official Rationale for Exit Poll Errors       January 31, 2005 Dave Zirin Mr. Frank's Fatwah: New Republic Writer Calls for Death & Torture of Arundhati Roy and Stan Goff Robert Fisk Amid Tragedy, Defiance Chyng Sun Gonzales: Chief Prosecutor of Porn? Greg Moses The Real Scandals of the Texas Election Mike Whitney Cheney at Auschwitz Ali Tonak Turkey and the EU: Fantasies and Ultimatums Patrick Cockburn A Victory for the Shia Website of the Day Voting by the Script: Where Did the 8 Million Voter Turnout Figure Come From?     January 29 / 30, 2005 Manuel Yang / Peter Linebaugh A Dialogue About Murder in Toledo Gabriel Kolko Wilsonian and Neoconservative Myths Patrick Cockburn Baghdad: City of Empty Streets Robert Fisk This Election Will Change the World, But Not as the US Wanted Linn Washington, Jr. Con Job: Bush Pledges on Racism Lack Realism Bernard Chazelle Why the Children of Iraq Make No Sound When They Fall Gary Leupp "This Kind of Subject Matter": Bush's New Ed Secretary vs. Vermont's Lesbians JoAnn Wypijewski The Passion of Paul Shanley Alexander Cockburn The Case of Father Jerry Ron Jacobs Ballot of the Puppets in Iraq Brian Cloughley Smart Bombs; Wrong House: Iraq's Civilian Dead Fred Gardner Peron May Split Sister Dianna Ortiz Memo to Bush from a Survivor of the Guatemalan Torturers: Stop the Torture! Tom Reeves How Bush Brings Freedom to the World: the Case of Haiti Fran Quigley Report: Haiti Now "More Violent and More Inhuman" Suzan Mazur "Mr. Garsin from Kinshasa": an Old Hand Weighs In on the Murder of Lumumba Kurt Nimmo Condi Rice and the Neocon Plan for the Palestinians Lenni Brenner Holocaust History: Beyond the UN's Rhetoric Gilad Atzmon The Politics of Auschwitz Luis Gomez Power and Autonomy in Bolivia Mark Gaffney NASA Searches for a Snowball in Hell: Why Velikovsky Matters Ben Tripp Lament of the Mnemonopath Richard Oxman Meet the Fuqers Poets' Basement Louise, Collins, Shanahan and Albert Website of the Weekend Chemical Industry: Deceit and Denial       January 28, 2005 Rachard Itani Tsunami Aid By the Numbers: the US Really is a Miser Jensen / Youngblood Iraq's Non-Election Patrick Cockburn / Elizabeth Davies Attacks on Polling Places Leave 13 Dead Dave Zirin The Great Donovan McNabb: Proud "Black Quarterback" Dave Lindorff Suicide by State Execution? Karyn Strickler A Corporate Death Penalty Act? Jorge Mariscal Fighting the Poverty Draft     January 27, 2005 Seymour Hersh We've Been Taken Over By a Cult Cockburn / Sengupta The US's Bloodiest Day in Iraq Dave Lindorff Juke Box Journalism: Shilling for Bush Ignacio Chapela / John F. García The Laws of Nature Mike Whitney The Widening Chasm Among Conservatives Dr. Teresa Whitehurst Those Liberal Southern Baptists! Ray McGovern Reining In Cheney Russ Wellen Marginalizing Bin Laden Christopher Brauchli The FBI's Carnival of Errors Website of the Day Informed Eating         January 26, 2005 Saree Makdisi An Iron Wall of Colonization: Fantasies and Realities About the Prospects for Middle East Peace Scott Fleming In Good Conscience: an Interview with Concientious Objector Aidan Delgado Dave Lindorff Filling Saddam's Shoes: the Puppet Regime Return's to Torture Niranjan Ramakrishnan Salazar and Obama: Two Dismal Debuts Toni Solo The US and Latin America: a Not-So-Magical Reality William James Martin Condoleezza Rice: Confused About the Middle East William A. Cook Bush's Second Inaugural Address: the Lost Ur-Version Eric Hobsbawm Delusions About Democracy Alexander Cockburn The CIA's New Campus Spies     January 25, 2005 Brian Cloughley Iraq as Disneyland Mike Roselle Satan is My Co-Pilot Josh Frank / Merlin Chowkwanyun The War on Civil Liberties John Chuckman Freedom on Steroids Paul Craig Roberts A Party Without Virtue Dr. Teresa Whitehurst The Intolerance of Christian Conservatives James Petras The US / Colombia Plot Against Venezuela Website of the Day Lowbaggers for the Environment     January 24, 2005 Fred Gardner Last Monologue in Burbank Lori Berenson On the Politicization of My Case Uri Avnery King George January 22 / 23, 2005 Jennifer Van Bergen / Ray Del Papa Nuclear Incident in Montana Alexander Cockburn Prince Harry's Travails Jeffrey St. Clair The Company That Runs the Empire: Lockheed and Loaded Stan Goff The Spectacle Saul Landau Nothing Succeeds Like Failure Gary Leupp Official Madness and the Coming War on Iran Fred Gardner Is GW Getting the Runaround? Phil Gasper Clemency Denied: the Politics of Death in California Stanley Heller A Kill-Happy Government: Connecticut Chooses Death Greg Moses The Heart of Texas: an Inauguration Day Betrayal on Civil Rights Justin Taylor The Folk-Histories of John Ross Daniel Burton-Rose One China; Many Problems Elaine Cassel Try a Little Tyranny: Questions While Watching the Inaugural Mike Whitney Failing Upwards: the Rise of Michael Chertoff Mark L. Berenson My Daughter Has Been Wrongly Imprisoned Christopher Brauchli It Doesn't Compute: a $170 Million Mistake Gilad Atzmon Zionism and Other Marginal Thoughts Niranjan Ramakrishnan Day of the Rats Mark Donham The Secret Messages of Rahm Emmanuel Ben Tripp Adventures in Online Dating Walter Brasch Hollywood's Patriots: Soulless Kooks, Mr. Bush? Poets' Basement Wuest, Landau, Ford, Albert & Drum     January 21, 2005 Dave Lindorff A Great American Journalist: John L. Hess (1917-2005) Sharon Smith The Anti-War Movement and the Iraqi Resistance Don Santina Baseball, Racism and Steroid Hysteria Ron Jacobs Locked Out and Pissed Off: Protesting the Bush Inauguration Kurt Nimmo The Problem with Mike Ruppert Don Monkerud Once They Were Cults: Bush's Faith-Based Social Services Alan Farago Swimming Home from the Galapagos Derek Seidman An Interview with Army Medic and Anti-War Activist Patrick Resta       January 20, 2005 Paul Craig Roberts Dying for Sycophants William Cook The Bush Inauguration: A Mock Epic Fertility Rite Joshua Frank The Democrats and Iran: Look Who's Backing Bush's Next Eric Ruder Why Andres Raya Snapped: Another Casualty of Bush's War Mike Whitney Coronation in a Garrison State Robert Jensen A Citizens Oath of Office Peter Rost Bush Report on Drug Imports: Good Data, Bad Conclusions David Underhill Is It Torture Yet?: the Eclectic Fool Aid Torture Test James Reiss Adieu, Colin Powell: Pea Soup in Foggy Bottom CounterPunch Staff Voices from Abu Ghraib: the Injured Party       January 19, 2005 Marta Russell Social Security Privatization & Disability: 8 Million at Risk Mike Ferner Marines Stretching Movement: Protesting Urban Warfare in Toledo Nancy Oden The Nuremberg Principles, Iraq and Torture Tony Paterson A Catalogue of British Abuses in Iraq Dave Lindorff Bush's Divide-and-Conquer Plan to Destroy Social Security Doug Giebel BS and CBS: When 60 Minutes Helped Promote WMD Fantasies Alexander Cockburn Will Bush Quit Iraq?       January 18, 2005 Paul Craig Roberts How Americans Were Seduced by War: Empire and Militant Christianity Jennifer Van Bergen Federal Judge: Abu Ghraib Abuses Result of Decision to Ignore Geneva Conventions Douglas Lummis It's a No Brainer; Send Graner: a Rap for Our Time Ron Jacobs Syria Back in the Crosshairs? Seth DeLong Enter the Dragon: Will Washington Tolerate a Venezuelan-Chinese Oil Pact? Lance Selfa Stolen Election?: Most Democrats Didn't Even Bother to Inquire Paul D. Johnson Mystery Meat: a Right-to-Know About Food Origins Elisa Salasin An Open Letter to Jenna Bush, Future Teacher     January 17, 2005 Heather Gray Misconceptions About King's Methods for Social Change Robert Fisk Hotel Room Journalism: the US Press in Iraq Dave Lindorff What the NYT Death Chart Omitted: Civilians Slaughtered by US Military Jason Leopold Sam Bodman's Smokestacks: Bush's Choice for Energy Czar is One of Texas's Worst Polluters Gary Leupp A Message from the Iraqi Resistance Douglas Valentine An Act of State? the Execution of Martin Luther King Harvey Arden Welcome to Leavenworth: My First Encounter with Leonard Peltier Greg Moses King and the Christian Left: Where Lip Service is Not an Option   January 15 / 16, 2005 James Petras The Kidnapping of a Revolutionary Robert Fisk Flying Carpet Airlines: My Return to Baghdad Ron Jacobs Unfit for Military Service Brian Cloughley Smack Daddies of the Hindu Kush: Afghanistan's Drug Bonanza Fred Gardner The Allowable-Quantity Expert Dr. Susan Block The Counter-Inaugural Ball: Eros Day, 2005 John Ross Zapatista Literary Llife Suzan Mazur Unspooking Frank Carlucci M. Shahid Alam America's New Civilizing Mission Frederick B. Hudson Jack Johnson's Real Opponent: "That I Was a Man" Mike Whitney Bush's Grand Plan: Incite Civil War in Iraq Tom Crumpacker A Constitutional Right to Travel to Cuba Bob Burton The Other Armstrong Williams Scandal John Callender La Conchita and the Indomitable 82-Year Old Lila Rajiva Christian Zionism Saul Landau An Imperial Portrait: a Visit to Hearst's Castle Doug Soderstrom A Touch of Evil: the Morality of Neoconservatism Poets' Basement Davies, Louise, Landau, Albert, Collins and Laymon     January 14, 2005 Robert Fisk "The Tent of Occupation" Lee Sustar Bush's Social Security Con Job José M. Tirado The Christians I Know Dave Zirin The Legacy of Jack Johnson Sheldon Rampton Calling John Rendon: a True Tale of "Military Intelligence" Tracy McLellan Under the Influence Yves Engler The Dictatorship of Debt: the World Bank and Haiti Tom Barry Robert Zoellick: a Bush Family Man Website of the Day Ryan for the Nobel Prize?     January 13, 2005 Mark Chmiel / Andrew Wimmer Hearts and Minds, Revisited Joe DeRaymond The Salvador Option: Terror, Elections and Democracy Greg Moses Every Hero a Killer?...Not Dave Lindorff The Great WMD Fraud: Time for an Accounting Jorge Mariscal Dr. Galarza v. Alberto Gonzales: Which Way for Latinos? Christopher Brauchli Gonzales and the Death Penalty: the Executioner Never Sleeps Gary Leupp "Fighting for the Work of the Lord": Christian Fascism in America     January 12, 2005 Robert Fisk Fear Stalks Baghdad Josh Frank The Farce of the DNC Contest Jack Random Casualties of War: the Untold Stories John Roosa Aceh's Dual Disasters: the Tsunami and Military Rule Carol Norris In the Wake of the Tsunami Mike Whitney Pink Slips at CBS Alan Farago Can the Everglades be Saved? Paul Craig Roberts What's Our Biggest Problem in Iraq...the Insurgency or Bush?     January 11, 2005 Tom Barry The US isn't "Stingy"; It's Strategic: Aid as a Weapon of Foreign Policy James Hodge and Linda Cooper Voice of the Voiceless: Father Roy Bourgeois and the School of the the Americas Linda S. Heard Farah Radio Break Down: Joseph Farah's Messages of Hate and Homophobia Derrick O'Keefe Electoral Gigolo?: Richard Gere and the Occupied Vote Gila Svirsky A Tale of Two Elections Harry Browne Irish "Peace Process", RIP   January 10, 2005 Ramzy Baroud Faith-Based Disasters: Tsunami Aid and War Costs Talli Nauman Killing Journalists: Mexico's War on a Free Press Uri Avnery Sharon's Monologue Dave Lindorff Tucker Carlson's Idiot Wind Dave Zirin Randy Moss's Moondance Dave Silver Left Illusions About the Democratic Party Charles Demers Plan Salvador for Iraq: Death Squads Come in Waves William A. Cook Causes and Consequences: Bush, Osama and Israel     January 8 / 9, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Say, Waiter, Where's the Blood in My Margarita Glass? John H. Summers Chomsky and Academic History Greg Moses Getting Real About the Draft Walter A. Davis Bible Says: the Psychology of Christian Fundamentalism Victor Kattan The EU and Middle East Peace John Bolender The Plight of Iraq's Mandeans Robert Fisk The Politics of Lebanon Fred Gardner Situation NORML Joe Bageant The Politics of the Comfort Zone Mickey Z. I Want My DDT: Little Nicky Kristof Bugs Out Ben Tripp CounterClockwise Evolution Ron Jacobs Elvis and His Truck: Out on Highway 61 Saul Landau Sex and the Country Rep. Cynthia McKinney Time to End the Blackout Ellen Cantarow NPR's Distortions on Palestine Richard Oxman Bageantry Continued Poets' Basement Gaffney, Landau, Albert, Collins January 7, 2005 Omar Barghouti Slave Sovereignty: Elections Under Occupation Kent Paterson The Framing of Felipe Arreaga: Another Mexican Environmentalist Arrested Niranjan Ramakrishnan Old Vijay Merchant and the Tsunami David Krieger Cancel the Inauguration Parties Gideon Levy New Year, Old Story Dave Lindorff Ohio Protest: First Shot Fired by Congressional Progressives Christopher Brauchli Privatizing the IRS Roger Burbach / Paul Cantor Bush, the Pentagon and the Tsunami     January 6, 2005 Brian J. Foley Gonzales: Supporting Torture is not His Greatest Sin Greg Moses Boot Up America!: Gen. Helmly's Memo Leaks New Bush Deal Petras / Chomsky An Open Letter to Hugo Chavez Alan Maass The Decline of the Dollar Dave Lindorff Colin Powell's Selective Sense of Horror Jenna Orkin The EPA and a Dirty Bomb: 9/11's Disastrous Precedent P. Sainath The Tsunami and India's Coastal Poor     January 5, 2005 Alan Farago 2004: An Environmental Retrospective Winslow T. Wheeler Oversight Detected?: Sen. McCain and the Boeing Tanker Scam Jean-Guy Allard Gary Webb: a Cuban Perspective Fred Gardner Strutting, Smirking, As If The Mad Plan Was Working David Swanson Albert Parsons on the Gallows Richard Oxman The Joe Bageant Interview Bruce Jackson Death on the Living Room Floor       January 4, 2005 Michael Ortiz Hill Mainlining Apocalypse Elaine Cassel They Say They Can Lock You Up for Life Without a Trial Yoram Gat The Year in Torture Martin Khor Tragic Tales and Urgent Tasks from the Tsunami Disaster Gary Leupp Death and Life in the Andaman Islands   January 3, 2005 Ron Jacobs The War Hits Home Dave Lindorff Is There a Single Senator Who Will Stand Up for Black Voters? Mike Whitney The Guantanamo Gulag Joshua Frank Greens and Republicans: Strange Bedfellows Maria Tomchick Playing Politics with Disaster Aid Rhoda and Mark Berenson Our Daughter Lori: Another Year of Grave Injustice David Swanson The Media and the Ohio Recount Kathleen Christison Patronizing the Palestinians     January 1 / 2, 2005 Gary Leupp Earthquakes and End Times, Past and Present Rev. William E. Alberts On "Moral Values": Code Words for Emerging Authoritarian Tendencies M. Shahid Alam Testing Free Speech in America Stan Goff A Period for Pedagogy Brian Cloughley Bush and the Tsunami: the Petty and the Petulant Sylvia Tiwon / Ben Terrall The Aftermath in Aceh Ben Tripp Requiem for 2004 Greg Moses A Visible Future? Steven Sherman The 2004 Said Awards: Books Against Empire Sean Donahue The Erotics of Nonviolence James T. Phillips The Beast's Belly David Krieger When Will We Ever Learn Poets' Basement Soderstrom, Hamod, Louise and Albert         December 23, 2004 Chad Nagle Report from Kiev: Yushchenko's Not Quite Ready for Sainthood David Smith-Ferri The Real UN Disgrace in Iraq Bill Quigley Death Watch for Human Rights in Haiti Mickey Z. Crumbs from Our Table Christopher Brauchli Merck's Merry X-mas Greg Moses When No Law Means No Law Alan Singer An Encounter with Sen. Schumer: a Very Dangerous Democrat David Price Social Security Pump and Dump Website of the Day Gabbo Gets Laid   December 22, 2004 James Petras An Open Letter to Saramago: Nobel Laureate Suffers from a Bizarre Historical Amnesia Omar Barghouti The Case for Boycotting Israel Patrick Cockburn / Jeremy Redmond They Were Waiting on Chicken Tenders When the Rounds Hit Harry Browne Northern Ireland: No Postcards from the Edge Richard Oxman On the Seventh Column Kathleen Christison Imagining Palestine Website of the Day FBI Torture Memos     December 21, 2004 Greg Moses The New Zeus on the Block: Unplugging Al-Manar TV Dave Lindorff Losing It in America: Bunker of the Skittish Chad Nagle The View from Donetsk Dragon Pierces Truth* Concrete Colossus vs. the River Dragon: Dislocation and Three Gorges Dam Patrick Cockburn "Things Always Get Worse" Seth DeLong Aiding Oppression in Haiti Ahmad Faruqui Pakistan and the 9/11 Commission's Report Paul Craig Roberts America Locked Up: a System of Injustice                                     Hot Stories Alexander Cockburn Behold, the Head of a Neo-Con! Subcomandante Marcos The Death Train of the WTO Norman Finkelstein Hitchens as Model Apostate Steve Niva Israel's Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings? Dardagan, Slobodo and Williams CounterPunch Exclusive: 20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians Steve J.B. Prison Bitch Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber True Lies: the Use of Propaganda in the Iraq War Wendell Berry Small Destructions Add Up CounterPunch Wire WMD: Who Said What When Cindy Corrie A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter I Can't Hear From Gore Vidal The Erosion of the American Dream Francis Boyle Impeach Bush: A Draft Resolution Click Here for More Stories.     Subscribe Online

February 14, 2005 Humbug About Democracy Kuwait's Freedom, Bush-style By BRIAN CLOUGHLEY In 1991 many countries went reluctantly but determinedly to war to free Kuwait from occupation by the armed forces of Iraq. The war was led by the United States and was morally proper and internationally legal. It was also short and successful in terms of liberating an occupied country. And after liberation the country was of course to be handed back to the people of Kuwait. Well . . . not exactly. In fact, not at all, because the country wasn't handed back to the PEOPLE of Kuwait. The country was handed back to the RULER of Kuwait, Amir Jabir al-Ahmad al-Jabir Al Sabah, who fled his country the moment he was told it was being invaded and spent his exile in luxury while the people suffered under a brutal occupation. Mr Al Sabah returned once the danger was over. Since then he has made it clear he has no intention of allowing the citizens of Kuwait to have any influence in running his feudal kingdom. But George Bush told us in his Inauguration speech that "it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation." It is fourteen years since Kuwait was liberated. What has Bush done in that time "to seek and support growth of democratic movements" in that feudal dungheap? Precisely nothing. The professionals of the US State Department are the last bastion of independent and fearless foreign policy deliberation in Washington. They are experts with wide experience and formidable intellectual ability who have been under ferocious assault by Bush fanatics for four years. Now they have been taken over by one of these arrogant zealots, and a mendacious one to boot, whose influence will be malign. My point in this instance is that it will be interesting to see the style of future State Department reports on undemocratic countries whose leaders are Bush favorites. Meanwhile, here are extracts from its last report on Kuwait: "Political parties: None ; formal political parties are banned although de facto political blocs exist," records the State Department. Bush says, quite rightly, "there is no justice without freedom". But what has he done to promote freedom for the citizens of Kuwait to form political parties? Nothing. "Elections: There are no executive branch elections" reports the US State Department. "The Amir is hereditary ; [the] prime minister and deputy prime ministers are appointed by the Amir." But Bush declares "We will encourage reform in other governments by making clear that success in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people". Decent treatment includes having a voice in selection of your own government, but Bush has done nothing in his four years in power to "encourage reform" in Kuwait to the extent of having free elections. Has there been any effect on Washington-Kuwait relations because Mr Al Sabah will not allow democratic elections? - No; not a word of disapproval has been uttered by any Bush figure about the lack of democracy in Kuwait. (Perish the thought that this might have something to do with the fact that $5.5 billion dollars has been spent by Al Sabah on US weapons systems.) "Suffrage: [there are voting rights only for] adult males who have been citizens for 20 years and are not in the security forces (about 14% of all citizens)." Women are not allowed to vote, even for appointment of the rubber-stamp, non-party Assembly that has no influence whatever over the autocratic ruler. And Bush says "America will not pretend . . . that women welcome humiliation and servitude." But Bush has not lifted a finger to improve the lot of women in Kuwait. (It isn't that Mr Al Sabah disapproves of women as such: he owns four of them; three apparently permanent and one rotational.) Bush said that "Freedom, by its nature, must be chosen, and defended by citizens, and sustained by the rule of law and the protection of minorities". The only real minority in Kuwait is the ruling family itself, and be assured it is well-protected. It controls the whole place, and nobody else gets a look-in. You doubt me? The CIA's 'Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments' names the Chief of State of Kuwait as Jabir al-Ahmad al-Jabir Al Sabah, and then lists al (sic) the rest of the happy family. Kuwait's prime minister, first deputy prime minister, deputy prime minister, and the ministers of oil, defense, communications, interior, social affairs and labor, and parliamentary affairs are called Al Sabah, Al Sabah, Al Sabah, Al Sabah, Al Sabah, Al Sabah, Al Sabah, Al Sabah and Al Sabah. So are the governor of the central bank and (but of course) the ambassador to Bush. The Al Sabah family has Kuwait wrapped up. It controls everything that goes on in the place. Especially the flow of oil and the weapons' purchases and the construction contracts and the all-important connection with Bush Washington. The film "Fahrenheit 9/11" is banned in Kuwait. "The movie was banned . . . when the only cinema company in Kuwait, which is state-owned, was turned down for a licence to show the movie", said the (foreign) press report. And note that the only company allowed to show movies in the country is owned by the government, which is the Al Sabah family. So much for freedom of expression. In his 'freedom' speech Bush announced: "The leaders of governments with long habits of control need to know: To serve your people you must learn to trust them. Start on this journey of progress and justice, and America will walk at your side." But the leader of Kuwait does not serve or trust his people. As the State Department points out: "Following the 2002 raid of 19 Internet cafes, the Ministry of Communications requires cafe owners to obtain the names and civil identification numbers of customers and to submit the information to the Ministry upon request." There is no trust there. Yet Bush walks at the side of the Kuwaiti dictator right now, and has done so for fourteen years following the 'liberation' of the country. Rice called Iran "a totalitarian state" during her visit to Paris last week. So it is. What does she call Kuwait? The dictator of Iraq was forced out of Kuwait only to be replaced by Kuwait's very own dictator. Bush and his zealots and the whole US Congress couldn't give a damn that Mr Al Sabah senior has no intention of ever permitting democracy in his lucrative personal fiefdom, Kuwait, Inc. There is no more chance of the feudal monarch of Kuwait allowing democracy, political parties and female equality in his kingdom than there is of Bush admitting he is a blithering idiot. Here is Bush 15 months ago in the White House entertaining the prime minister of Kuwait, one Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad al-Jabir Al Sabah of the feudal family autocracy: "Kuwait is a steady and strong friend of the United States. I thank you for your friendship. So it's my honor to welcome you here, sir, today . . . this is a very important visit, because it gives me a chance to publicly offer my sincere thanks to an important leader in the Oval Office. Secondly, we did discuss our mutual responsibilities to promote peace. I assured the Prime Minister that this country would stay in Iraq to fulfill our promise to Iraqi citizens who are desperate for peace and for the chance to succeed." Bush decided to allow Iraqis the freedom to vote. He said on January 26 that "This is a historic opportunity for the people of Iraq to vote for a government." To be sure, the Iraqis had not been told the names of the candidates, nor had they any idea of what political parties they represented, nor what these parties might have as their platforms. But at least they could vote, which was greeted by Washington as a wonderful victory for Bush freedom and democracy. So when is Bush going to announce that the people of Kuwait should be free to have an historic opportunity to vote for a democratic government? After all, Bush declared on January 26 that "we expect nations to adopt the values inherent in a democracy, which is human rights and human dignity, that every person ought to have a voice." His statement was ungrammatical and confused, as is usual when he is not speaking from text prepared by the zealots, but the message is detectable: every person ought to have a voice. Who can disagree with that? Mr Al Sabah can disagree with that. What's more, he can smirk at Bush and the rest of the world while he is disagreeing with it, because he knows that Bush will in no way make it difficult for him to continue denying democracy to the people of Kuwait. And Bush will smirk right back at his "steady and strong friend", the dictator. There's a word for all this: Humbug. Brian Cloughley writes on military and political affairs. He can be reached through his website www.briancloughley.com WWW http://www.counterpunch.org