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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!

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Today's Stories

August 23, 2005

Diane Christian
The Politics of Death

August 22, 2005

Sonia Nettnin
Gaza Stripped, the Occupation Remains

Mike Whitney
"Shoot to Kill": Tony Blair's First Trophy

Kevin Zeese
The Latest Falsehood: the US is in Iraq to "Stablize It"

Norman Solomon
Bush's Bloody Option: Escalate the War in Iraq

Christopher Brauchli
Secret Talkers

Jeff Bale
The Left's Challenge in Germany

Greg Moses
Raw Talk Revival at Camp Casey Two

August 20 / 21, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
Can Cindy Sheehan End the War?

Saul Landau
Terrorism Then and Now: Townley Talks

Kevin Zeese
an Interview with Tom Hayden

Greg Moses
A Daytrip without Cindy

Ray McGovern
Cindy Sheehan and Creative Protest

Fred Gardner
Merck Gets Whacked

Martin Smith
Rebellion in the Ranks: the Soldiers' Revolt in Vietnam

Benjamin Granby
Gaza's Economy: the Key to Sharon's Strategy?

Frankie Lake
Dirty Tricksters: How the Federalist Society Operates

Joshua Frank
Failing Nature: the Democrats and the Environment

Ron Jacobs
When Sympathy is Not Enough

Tom Crumpacker
Moral Values and the CIA

Mike Ferner
"All of Our Stories are Sad"

James Petras
Suicide Bombers: the Sacred and the Profane

Col. Dan Smith
The President's Dilemma

Dr. Teresa Whitehurst
What de Menezes Didn't Know

Ben Tripp
Moses on Top of Old Smokey

Poets' Basement
Landau, Albert, Engel and Louise

August 19, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
A Short History of Meat, Part 4: Cutting Up Mochie

Neve Gordon
After the Withdrawal

Gary Leupp
The Pandora's Box of Iraq's Constitution

William S. Lind
Getting Swept

Vijay Prashad
The Rosa Parks of the Anti-War Movement

Dave Lindorff
Something Has Happened

Pat Williams
Social Security and the American West

John Pilger
Free Speech and the War on Terror

Elaine Cassel
Judge Roberts and the Death Penalty

 

August 18, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
A Short History of Meat, Part 3: Vegetarians, Nazis for Animal Rights, Blitzkrieg of the Ungulates

Greg Moses
Cindy, the Peace Train and the Little Ditch that Could

Ramzy Baroud
Theatrics in Gaza: the Disengagement That Isn't

Joshua Frank
Bush's Emotional Incapacities

Monica Benderman
For Cindy: There's No Glory in Dying

Paul Craig Roberts
Courthouse Jackboots: Corrupted Justice

 

August 17, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
A Short History of Meat: Part Two, the March to Porkopolis

Robert Jensen
America's Good Germans?

Carl G. Estabrook
News Notes from the Global War on Terrorism

Mike Whitney
Greenspan and the Housing Bubble

Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Shaming the Shameless

Norman Solomon
Slurs, Lies and Innuendos: Blaming the Antiwar Messengers

Dave Zirin
In Defense of Felipe Alou

Jennifer Loewenstein
The Shame of It All: Watching the Gazan Fiasco

CounterPunch
Clarification

 

 

August 16, 2005

Greg Moses
Mona in a Field of Crosses at Camp Casey, Texas

Thomas Larson
The Unmitigated Gall of Dinesh D'Souza

Diana Barahona
Uneasy Standoff in Venezuela's Media Wars

Dave Lindorff
The Inquirer's Minds Don't Want to Know

Rep. Cynthia McKinney
A Letter to President Bush: Meet with Cindy Sheehan

Elisa Salasin
Hitchens Slimes Cindy Sheehan

David Krieger
Amazing Grace and Cindy

Alexander Cockburn
A Short History of Meat: Part One, Peter's Dream

Website of the Day
Reclaiming Appalachia: a Mountain Takeover

 

 

August 15, 2005

Greg Moses
Pilgrims of Protest in Crawford

Paul Craig Roberts
Slouching Toward Armageddon?

Mike Whitney
Failing in Iraq

Robert Jensen
The Challenges We Face

CounterPunch Wire
Judge Fines Voices in the Wilderness $20,000 for Taking Medicine to Iraq; Voices Refuses to Pay

Norman Solomon
Someone Tell Frank Rich the War Isn't Over

Kathleen Christison
Camp David Redux: Anatomy of a Frame-Up

 

August 13 / 14, 2005

Cockburn / St. Clair
When Down is Up: the "Stricken" President

William Blum
The al-Dubya Training Manual

Gary Leupp
High Tide for the Neocons?

Jack Z. Bratich
Secreting the News: Anonymous vs. Confidential Sources

Brian Cloughley
The Ridiculous Rice

Ron Jacobs
Klan Justice: Mississippi is Still Burning

John Farley
"Beyond Chutzpah" Too Hot for Harvard Bookstore?

Dave Lindorff
Making the World Safer...for Nukes

Tim Wise
Animal Whites: PETA and the Politics of Putting Things in Perspective

J.L. Chestnut, Jr.
There's Not One Real Liberal or Conservative in the Senate

John Gershman
The Bolton Opportunity

Felice Pace
Saving Northwest Forests: Time for a Fresh Look

Fred Gardner
Feds Takeover Prosecution of Dustin Costa

David Krieger
The Fable of the Emperor and the Grieving Mother

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Being a Protestant Fundamentalist

Ben Tripp
GWAT: a Tone Poem

Poets' Basement
Reiss, Nettnin, Engel and Louise

 

 

August 12, 2005

Christopher Brauchli
Courting God: Justice Sunday II

Greg Moses
A Crawford Peace House Morning with Cindy Sheehan

Ramzy Baroud
Israel's Nuclear Puzzle

Norman Solomon
Cindy Sheehan's Message: Repudiating Bush and Dean

Chris Genovali
Why is a Canadian Politician Trying to End Protections for US Grizzly Bears?

Chris Floyd
Cheney and Halliburton, the Stench Gets Worse

Tariq Ali
Blair's New Authoritarianism

 

 

August 11, 2005

Saul Landau
Globalization and Its Discontents

Dave Lindorff
Privatization will Harm Same Sex Couples

Ralph Nader
Dear Cindy Sheehan: May You Prevail Where Others Have Failed

Talli Nauman
Radioactive Border: the Hot Mounds of Samalayuca

Gary Leupp
Politics of an Outing: Plame, Ledeen and Iran

Sharon Smith
The New Anti-War Majority

Paul Craig Roberts
Why is Cheney Lobbying for a Boost in China's Nuclear Capability?

 

August 10, 2005

Tim Wise
Indian Mascots and White Rage

Ron Jacobs
Rumsfeld's Delusions

Joshua Frank
Dean and the PDA: Don't Believe the Hype

Cynthia McKinney
The 9/11 Op-Ed the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Refuses to Run

Rick Wilhelm
Peter Jennings, Excuse Maker for War and Empire

Stan Goff
Homegrown Resistance

 

August 9, 2005

Mike Ferner
What One Mom has to Say to Bush: Cindy Sheehan in Dallas

Monica Benderman
Is Being a Conscientious Objector Now Criminal?

Mike Marqusee
Making Excuses for Killing De Menezes

Rep. Cynthia McKinney
Strange Fruit and Tree-Shakers

Paul Craig Roberts
Watching the US Economy Crumble

 

 

August 6-8, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
How the British Destroyed India

Jason Leopold
Halliburton and Iran: Still Doing Business After All These Years?

Ray McGovern
Iran, Truth-Tellers and the Devotees of Preemption

David Krieger
From Hiroshima to Humanity

Sharon K. Weiner / Robert Jensen
From Hiroshima to Iraq and Back

Fred Gardner
The Budtender's View of a Rip-Off

 

 

August 5, 2005

Bill Christison
New NIE Report on Iran's Nukes will Not Deter US's Posture of Extreme Aggressiveness

Paul Craig Roberts
Kelo: a Supreme Assault on Personal Liberty

Alexander Cockburn
The Taj Mahal as Kitsch; the Editor and the Water-Walking Guru

 

 

August 4, 2005

Tom Barry
Inside Bush's "World Democracy Movement"

Lila Rajiva
John Bolton's New Internationalism

Greg Moses
Bush Teaches Intelligent Design in Prison

Alexander Cockburn
Indian Journal: Why Indian Farmers Kill Themselves

August 3, 2005

 

 

August 3, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
Broken Arrows and Iran: a B-52 Pilot Remembers

Paul Craig Roberts
The Kelo Calamity: Money, Power and Eminent Domaine

William A. Cook
Innocent Victims: From Hiroshima to Lower Manhattan

Dave Zirin
Bush's Texas Rangers: a Crackhouse for Juiced Players?

Dave Lindorff
Court Packing and Worker Rights

José Pertierra
Why Hamdi Isaac Yes and Posada Carriles No?

 

August 2, 2005

Ramzi Kysia
Disengagement and Diaspora: High Walls and Razor Wire in the Hebron

William A. Cook
Words Without Meaning: Torturing Bodies and Language

Paul Craig Roberts
When Armageddon Gets No Press

Mike Whitney
Chertoff's Preemptive Crackdown: 600 Arrests, Only 76 Charged

Ron Jacobs
Be a Hero: Demand That Johnny Come Home

Norman Madarsz
Before the Stun Gun: Jean Charles de Menezes, RIP

Tim Wise
The Faulty Logic of "Terrorist" Profiling

 

 

August 1, 2005

Virginia Rodino
Why Bono and Geldof Got It Wrong: War and Global Poverty are Linked

Diana Barahona
Return to Venezuela: Land Reform and Neighborhood Doctors

Joshua Frank
Gitmo's Kangaroo Courts: First Torture Them, Then Rig Their Trials

Mike Whitney
The Consolidation of Powers: Rubber Stamp Roberts

Norm Dixon
The Worst Terror Attacks in History

Norman Solomon
Operation Withdrawal Scam

James Petras
The Corruption of Lula's Regime

 

 

July 30 / 31, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
Lost Nuclear Warheads Now in Iran?

JoAnn Wypijewski
Scenes and Silver Linings from Labor's Crack-Up: a Special Report from Chicago

Sheldon Rampton
War is Fun as Hell: the Video Games Recruiters Play

Jack Z. Bratich
Fingerprints of Power: a Summer of Double Super Secrecy

Greg Moses
How to Cool Your Heels in Texas When It's Late July Across the World

Jordan Green
From Woolworth to Wal-Mart: Economics and the Race Divide in a Southern City

Patrick Cockburn
Getting Out of Iraq: 5,000 US Troops Have Gone AWOL

Brian Cloughley
The Bush-Cheney Fixation on Iran

Justin Taylor
Harry Potter and the War on Terror

Saul Landau
Enhancements for the Imperial Life: Fashionism Takes Command!

John Walsh
Dems Field Another Pro-War Candidate: Meet Hack the Hawk

Joshua Frank
Color-Coded Justice: John Roberts's Racial Hang Up

Ron Jacobs
Who Needs Feminism? We Have Condi Rice!

Fred Gardner
The Ethan and Gavin Show

John Chuckman
Friedman on Terrorism: the Dumbest Story Ever Written

Liaquat Ali Khan
Lessons City Bombers Need to Learn from Newton and Donne

Remi Kanazi
Annexing Justice in Palestine

Naveen Jaganathan
The Gurgaon Riots Rock India

Richard Heinberg
Where is the Hirsch Peak Oil Report?

Max Watts
Francis Ona, the Napoleon of Mekamui

Ben Tripp
Write Your Own Editorial!

Poets' Basement
Whalen & Engel, Landau, Albert and Krieger

 

 

 

July 29, 2005

Cockburn / St. Clair
Who's the Real Martyr? Judy Miller or Jim DeFede?

P. Sainath
The Class War in Gurgaon

Niranjan Ramakrishnan
How the West Was Lost: CAFTA and the Disassembling of America

Dave Lindorff
Marvelous Marvin Bush

J.L. Chestnut, Jr.
America's Racist Inventory: Oppression Breeds Violence

Pat Williams
Giving Away the Last Best Place

Norman Solomon
In Praise of Kevin Benderman: a Moral Leader of the Nation Goes to Prison

Sen. Russ Feingold
The Bad News About the Energy Bill

 

 

July 28, 2005

Paul Craig Roberts
Departing Iraq

William S. Lind
The Duke of Alba and George W. Bush

Gilad Atzmon
Blair the Camera Man

Joshua Frank
Passing CAFTA: Blame the Democrats

Lila Rajiva
Vision Mumbai Submerged

Amina Mire
Pigmentation and Empire: the Emerging Skin-Whitening Industry

Website of the Day
Gateway to Underground News

 

 

July 27, 2005

Roger Morris
The Source Beyond Rove: Condoleezza Rice at the Center of the Plame Scandal

Gary Leupp
Is Iran Being Set Up?

Paul Craig Roberts
US Falling Behind Across the Board

Jackie Corr
Class War on the Ruby River: the Billionaire with His Foot in His Mouth

Mike Whitney
The Coming End of the Housing Bubble

Dave Zirin
Why Lance Armstrong Must Break with Bush

Christopher Bradley
Why I Have Trouble Reading the News

Norman Solomon
Thomas Friedman, Liberal Sadist?

Website of the Day
Stormin' Norman

 

 

July 26, 2005

Suren Pillay
The Enemy Within: When the "Other" is One of "Us"

JoAnn Wypijewski
Fission and Fizzle in Chicago: SEIU and Teamsters Quit the AFL

Patrick Cockburn
Iraq: the Unwinnable War

David Anderson
When the Greatest Outrage is the Lack of Outrage: NYC's Subway Searches

Joshua Frank
Hillary Clinton: Outflanking Bush from the Right

Lenni Brenner
Biography as Wish-Fulfillment: Jefferson, Hitchens and Atheism

David Swanson
Nuking Native Land

 

 

July 25, 2005

Paul Craig Roberts
China-Mart Takes Over

M. Shahid Alam
Terrorism: America Defines Its Targets

Uri Avnery
March of the Orange Shirts

Stan Cox
Kreationism in Kansas

Norman Solomon
"Wagging the Puppy"

Ramzy Baroud
London Bombings: Barbaric, But Not Unexpected

Mickey Z.
No Gun Ri: 55 Years Later

Website of the Day
The Birth of a Hummingbird in 15 Images

 

 

July 23 / 24, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
Islamo-Anarchs or Islamo-Fascists?

Tariq Ali
The War Comes Home

Robert Fisk
Something Happened

Dave Lindorff
Return of the Academic Witch Hunts

Ricardo Alarcón
Kidnapping in Miami: the UN, the US and the Cuban 5

Col. Dan Smith
Living in a Twilight Zone: Troop Strength, Recruitment and the Draft

Brian Cloughley
The Pentagon's China Hypocrisy

Kevin Zeese
Growing Republican Opposition to Iraq War

Bill Quigley
Harrowing Hours in Haiti

Fred Gardner
The Reverberations of Raich

Rep. Ron Paul
The Patriot Act is a Threat to Liberty

Joshua Frank
Framing Abortion: Gonadal Politics and the Democrats

Shivali Tukdeo
Project Mumbai Makeover: Casualties of Development

Gilad Atzmon
Blair's "Evil Ideology"

James Petras
Baghdad: Barbarism and Civilization (a Fiction)

Ben Tripp
When Being American Was Fun

Poets' Basement
Krieger, Louise, Buknatski, Albert and Engel

Website of the Weekend
Remember the West Memphis 3

 

July 22, 2005

Heather Gray
Home Grown Axis of Evil: Corp. Agribusiness, the Occupation of Iraq and the Dred Scott Decision

David Domke
The American Press and Credibility

Lance Selfa
Battle of the Insiders: No Heroes in the Plame Leak Scandal

JoAnn Wypijewski
Is This Really an "Insurgency" to Shake Up the Labor Movement?

 

July 21, 2005

Rose Ann DeMoro
The Top 10 Problems with the "Crisis" in the Labor Movement

William Blum
London: Another Casualty in the War on Terror

J.L. Chestnut, Jr.
Whites Need to Learn Something: Dixie is Everywhere

Christopher Brauchli
Strange Affairs: Liberals and Alberto Gonzales

Joshua Frank
Plame Blame Game: the 5 Ws

Brian Concannon, Jr.
Haiti's Elections: Time for a Reality Check

Patrick Cockburn
The True, Terrible State of Iraq and the Link to London

Website of the Day
Who Blew Up the Murrah Building?

 

 

July 20, 2005

Cockburn / St. Clair
Judge Roberts: Business as Usual

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Red Christmas

Ray McGovern
Did Dick Finger Valerie?: the Hand of Cheney

Chris Floyd
Judge Dread: John Roberts and the "Enemy Combatants"

Uri Avnery
"Silence is Filth"

Dave Lindorff
Westmoreland's Body Count Goes Up by One

Norman Solomon
Gen. Westmoreland's Death Wish

Bill Quigley
Travels in Haiti with a Wanted Priest

 

 

 

July 19, 2005

Tariq Ali
An Isolated Regime

John Ross
Jihad Meets G-8

Davey D.
More Clear Channel Censorship: "Don't F--K Around with Tha Police"

Greg Weiher
Muzzling Saddam: the Old Bait-and-Switch in Iraqi Jurisprudence

Brian McKinlay
An "Arse Licker" Goes to Washington: John Howard's Grand Tour

Norman Solomon
Nukes for India; Threats for Iran

Dave Lindorff
Get Back to Where We Once Belonged

Bill Christison
Bush's Itinerary: First Stop Syria, Next Stop Iran

Joshua Frank
Laura's Justice?: Meet Edith Brown Clement

 

July 18, 2005

Joshua Frank
An Interview with Ward Churchill

M. Shahid Alam
A Muslim Problem: Did Thomas Friedman Flunk History?

Jude Wanniski
Memo to Patrick Fitzgerald

Ron Jacobs
A Weekend to Stop the War

Mike Whitney
The Straight Line Between Falluja and King's Cross Station

William MacDougall
From "Bring It On" to "London Can Take It"

Seth Sandronsky
Temporary Recovery: New Frontiers in Labor Flexibility

Richard Lichtman
The Consolations of George Lakoff

Paul Craig Roberts
Can Congressional Republicans End Bush's Wars?

Website of the Weekend
Novels of the Neo-Cons

 

July 15 / 17, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
Don't You Dare Call It Treason

Jeffrey St. Clair
Sticky Fingers: the Making of Halliburton

Paul Craig Roberts
Economic Treason

Harry Browne
"What They Do to Us, They Will Do to You": Shell Oil in Mayo, Ireland

Uri Davis, Ilan Pappe and Tamar Yaron
A Warning from Israel

Andrew Rubin
End of the Enlightenment: an Open Letter to Stephen Plaut

Patrick Cockburn
Iraq's Ghost Battalions

J.L. Chestnut, Jr.
Changes in Selma: Standing Up to Racism in the South

Fred Gardner
A Professional Bust

Christopher Brauchli
An Olympic Feat: How to "Double" Aid with No New Money

Chris Floyd
The Great Iraq Oil Giveaway

Ben Tripp
The Dark Incontinent

Col. Dan Smith
General Abizaid, I'm Glad You Asked

Jason Leopold
What Did Rove Say and When Did He Say It?

Jack Random
Miller Time

Norman Solomon
War and Venture Capitalism

George Ochenski
Liberate Montana's Rivers: Come One, Come All!

Website of the Weekend
Vote for CounterPuncher David Vest

 

 

July 14, 2005

Jeffrey St. Clair
Sticky Fingers: the Making of Halliburton

Subcomandante Marcos
This is What Will Do and How We Shall Do It: the Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandona

Dave Lindorff
No More Moral Relativism: the US is a Terrorist State

Joshua Frank
Rove Agency: Liberals and the CIA

Jude Wanniski
Those 8 Black Pages: What's the Real Story on Karl Rove?

Dave Zirin
Storming the Castle

Kevin Zeese
Exit Strategy: Within Reach?

Robert Jensen
War Myths and the Press

Reza Fiyouzat
A Worldwide Call to Free Akbar Ganji

Carol Norris
Governor Paranoid: Schwarzenegger Comes Unhinged

Website of the Day
Nate Osborn: Heroic Human Rights Activist and CounterPuncher

 

July 13, 2005

Brian Cloughley
Cold Blooded Murders in Iraq

George Galloway
We Can't Separate the London Bombings from the Political Backdrop

Carlos Fierro
A Supreme Waste of Time

Sarah Knopp
Hate on the Border

Norman Solomon
"Isolated Pockets of Problems": the Fake Optimism of Washington's Warriors

Mickey Z.
Water on the Brain

Jim Minick
The Right Tree in the Right Place

Pat Williams
American Indian Education for All

Andrew N. Rubin
Life Behind the Wall: "We are No Longer Able to See the Sun Set"

Website of the Day
"London's Burning": the Mikey Mix

 

 

July 12, 2005

Laith al-Saud
Voices of Resistance: an Interview with Dr. Mohammed al-Obaidi of Iraq's Peoples' Struggle Movement

Kara N. Tina
"This is How We Do It": Report from the Gleneagles Battlefield

William A. Cook
The London Bombings: Why Has It Come to This?

Jack Bratich
2 Live Cruise: Tom Cruise v. Big Pharma

Amina Mire
The Problem with Speaking in the Name of Others

Dick J. Reavis
Lessons from the Christian Jihadists: the Virtues of Burning Crosses and Colored Smoke

Kevin Zeese
Depleted Uranium: States Take Action to Protect Their Vets

Paul Craig Roberts
No-Think Nation

Website of the Day
Coke Gags Indian Artist

 

 

July 9 / 11, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
After the Bombings

Uri Avnery
War of the Colors in Israel

Sheldon Rampton
Blaming Galloway: Rhetoric vs. Reality in London

Bill Christison
Hiroshima's 60th Anniversary and Nukes in Iran: an Opportunity or Just More Hand-wringing from the Peace Movement?

Robert Fisk
Blair's Alliance with Bush Bombed

Stephen Winspear
Collateral Damage in London?

Saul Landau
Mission Accomplished: Iraq is Broken

Behrooz Ghamari
Thomas Friedman's Muslim Problem

Karl Beitel
False Promises and Real Debt Relief

Brian Concannon, Jr.
Throwing Gasoline on Haiti's Fires

Fred Gardner
Sentencing Season

John Whitlow
And What Does the Market Say?

Niranjan Ramakrishnan
The London Blasts: Who's Being Transformed, Them or Us?

Lila Rajiva
Witches and Bastards

Laura Carlsen
CAFTA: Deepening the Inequities

Jackie Corr
Ted Turner and Jiminy Cricket

Dave Lindorff
"My Brother Went Over There Gung Ho; Now He's Just Bitter"

N. D. Jayaprakash
Why the CIA Tried to Kill Chou En Lai at the Bandung Conference

Seth Sandronsky
Meet the "Truth Tour": Rightwing Radio Hosts Go to Iraq

Norman Madarasz
The Choking of Brazil's Worker Party

Ben Tripp
The Inevitability of George W. Bush

Poets' Basement
Louise, Albert, Landau, Davies and Engel

Website of the Weekend
The Mother of All Enemies Lists

 

 

July 8, 2005

Paul Craig Roberts
Blowback Hits Britain: Londoners Pay Heavy Price for Blair's Deception

Tariq Ali
The London Bombings: Why They Happened

Monica Benderman
One Soldier's Fight to Legalize Morality

Rick Jahnkow
Beyond Opt-Out: the Counter-Recruitment Movement

Christopher Brauchli
Dear Vet: If You Want to Eat While You Recuperate, You Gotta Pay Extra

Kim Peterson
Bombs in the Underground: Terror Begats Terror

Joshua Frank
Leakers and Liars: Inching Toward Indictments?

Norman Solomon
Messages from the Carnage

Website of the Day
An Interview with Ray McGovern

 

July 7, 2005

Cockburn / St. Clair
Judy Miller: the Luckiest Martyr

John Walsh
More Hawkish Than Bush: Dems in Full Battle Cry

Mike Marqusee
Message from London

Gilad Atzmon
London's Burning

Nicole Colson
Showdown at the Supreme Court

Jack Random
Judith Miller, Anti-Hero

Norman Solomon
Judith Miller, Drum Majorette for War

Len Colodny
Is Bob Woodward Still Protecting Al Haig?

Cockburn / St. Clair
Judy Miller: the Luckiest Martyr

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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August 25, 2005

Gaza and the "Shame of It All"

Loewenstein's Big Mail Bag

By ALEXANDER COCKBURN
and JEFFREY ST. CLAIR

On August 17 we published here Jennifer Loewenstein's The Shame of It All: Watching the Gazan Fiasco. The moment we read her furious and eloquent protest at the hypocrisy of the press coverage of the pullout in Gaza, we knew it would strike a powerful chord with CounterPunch's audience round the world. As of yesterday, Jennifer tells us she's received over 350 emails from around the world, and they're still pouring in. Only a handful are hostile. It's a measure to us of the immense frustration people feel about slanted coverage of Israel's conduct towards Palestinians; also the range of people ready to speak up for the Palestinians. Even in recent times this would not have been so. Jennifer has forwarded us many of the letters. It's cheering to listen to all those voices in the wind.

Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St Clair
Editors

Dear Ms.Loewenstein

First of all let me apologize for writing you this mail without any previous introduction as we did never correspond or meet each other. But as I read your article hereunder, I could not contain myself first from remembering days in 1948 when I was forced with my family to leave our ancestors' building located in Jaffa-Palestine overlooking its Port and the Greek Orthodox Convent. It was the building owned by our Family in our Homeland Palestine, where generations of this family were born and not a usurped or confiscated other peoples ownership. We were forced to leave it to accomodate others who did never set a foot there themselves nor their ancestors,been gathered from the four corners of the world, just because they were Jews !! They grasped and robbed not only our furnished homes,offices,schools,properties,gardens etc... but also tried to erase our past and destroy our future without any sense of guilt , remorse or even any humble compensation whether sentimental or physical . The whole so-called Free World , Democracies & U.N. were not only watching but deeply involved in creating this unprecedented worldwide injustice!! I could not also contain myself from having tears of thankfulness and gratitude to find that this world is still full of rightful and just people like yourself, who dare to speak out inspite of terrible consequences they may be subjected to. Please excuse me again.

Best Regards

A.Anwar Sacca

Dear Ms. Loewenstein,

Thank you for your most relevant and cogent article on the Gaza withdrawal. As a student of Middle East history, I am daily amazed at the convenient omissions the media allows to pass. It seems that the Palestinians today are the Communists of yesterday--people that the West loves to hate, or maybe just ignore. Certainly Arab leadership could have been more statesmanlike and more unifying throughout the years, and certainly no one wants to condone the violence of either side of the issue, but it is rare to see a simply balanced view of the conflict. The Israelis will, in my opinion, suffer from this occupation in years to come. Their children will grow up with apartheid-like attitudes and a hardening of the heart that I think must occur when one state oppresses another. In the meantime, the Palestinians' positions harden and the situation only gets worse. The greatest hope for the region, in my opinion, is for Jews and Christians with a conscience to speak out, and to put pressure on policy-makers. Your article is a step in the right direction--I would love to see it printed in the New York Times!

Thank you again for your essay.

Lisa Lacy
Waco, Texas


Dear Jennifer,

I read your article in THE GUARDIAN (Tanzania) with great interest. It is heartening to see that views like yours are heard. Also the main problem with Western media is that it is "biased" I wish you all the best. Kind regards.

Dr Hussein
VISION PLUS THE EYE CLINIC
DAR ES SALAAM TANZANIA

 

Dear Jennifer

Thank you so much for your Counter Punch statement on the Gazza Fiasco. I have been part of the class and anti-racist struggles for half a century. Of course I've been called a self hating Jew.

Comradely
Dave Silver

Hello,

A friend of mine forwarded your article on the shame of the Gaza fiasco from CounterPunch, and I want to thank you so much for your courage and honesty. It is the article I would have wanted to write myself, only you did a much better job than I could have! I have fumed as I read the tear-jerker stories in the mainstream US media this week, and I wonder: what about the suffering of the dispossessed Palestinians for almost 60 years?!?! If and when the American people ever discover how they have been duped, guilt-tripped, and bilked for billions and billions of US dollars by Zionists here and in Israel, I fear for the fate of the Jewish people and the country of Israel. As much as I despise it, anti-Semitism is always ready to rear its ugly head, and that would be the perfect excuse. May we never see that day! All the best!

For Peace with Justice,
Claire~Elizabeth DeSophia, USA

Dear Madame,

Your "Counterpunch" is an exquisite piece of pro-freedom, pro-justice, pro-humanity literature. Maybe literature is inappropriate as a genre for reporting crimes against humanity. When a journalist screams in anguish; does every thing in his power to tell the truth in defence of the weak and the helpless against rich and powerful antagonists; and no one listens. When he is put down and ignored as Robert Fisk of the 'Independent" was, when lecturing at campuses on the West Coast of USA ,some years ago about the massacre of Palestinians at Sabra and Shatila camps in Lebanon. When a 'massacre' is described as 'alleged massacre' and his protests are ignored. When truth is decimated and facts are twisted out of shape and a gullible audience accepts it as the truth. That is the time and the circumstance that separates ordinary journalists from persons of faith. Persons from whose lips, truth comes out in heart rending screams, as it is coming out of your mouth today. Madame,you have demonstrated unusual character, great integrity and an uncompromising will to stand up for the weak and suffering millions in the 'prison' of Palestine. It is people like yourself who will help liberate the Palestinians. Not the Bushes, the Blairs, the Sharons and hypocrites of their ilk.I salute you.

Gilani.

Dear Jennifer Loewenstein,

I suspect you'll be swamped with messages like this, but I just wanted to thank you for your excellent Counterpunch article. There's little more revolting than all the mawkish drivel about the Tragedy of Disengagement, and you bring out excellently the sheer loathsome theatre of it. Thank you.

In solidarity, and with best wishes,
China Mieville

DEAR JENNIFER,

YOUR REPORT ON GAZA IS THE BEST I HAVE read AND WOULD LOVE TO REPRINT in our pan Canadian, Catholic newspaper.

Ted Schmidt,
Editor Catholic New Times
80 Sackville St.
Toronto, On. M5A 3E5

Dear Ms. Lowenstein:

Congratulations on your appointment to a position at Oxford. Your piece on the Gaza fiasco in Counter Punch is a heart cry and therefore heart wrenching to read and realize. Then I read the email edition of the LA Times this morning and saw how their editorial marched right in lock-step with the white washing and self dramatization going on in the Gaza that you were describing, and these gentlemen can't be let off the hook for the fact that they are Jewish, for they aren't. There are two answers contained in your letter that directly relate to your question, "What will it take to get the truth across to the people?" The first is "speaking out" just as you have done in this letter. Have faith in your own efforts, for there are many people who are hungry for the truth. The second is to have faith in what your Moslem friend told you, namely, that the truth will out, that truth will triumph. If you reflect for a moment it is possible to see that the truth has come out about the war in Iraq in just several years, but it took 15 years before the truth was made known to the American public and they stopped the war, in effect. This speeding up of the flow of information is the obvious result of the advance of technology that allows people of like-minded heart intelligence to augment their voice and power through acts of cooperation brought about by just such communications that you are voicing. So, my answer is: keep it up, and... be of good cheer,

David A. Butterfield
Lake Arenal, Costa Rica

 

Dear Ms Lowenstein

Our son forwarded to us your article on the Gaza retreat and we wished to tell you how moved we were by it. My husband and I are both jewish and are active members of an association in Lausanne Switzerland called "Collectif Urgence Palestine - CUP" which supports the concept of a just peace in Palestine and a free state alongside Israel. Many activities (peaceful) are undertaken towards this goal. We are also in contact with Israeli pacifist associations. However today we write to you in our own name just to say that your article corresponds to our own position and that we were deeply moved by the way you have expressed your indignation. We would have liked to write such a well written, objective and sincere article. Thank you for having written it. We feel that your article should be read by the maximum number of people and we would like to obtain your authorization to forward it to our association and a Swiss newspaper. For several years we had subscribed to the daily newspaper "le Temps". However in view of the fact that we felt that it had recently changed its political orientation and that one of the criticisms we had against it was its lack of objective information on the Israeli-Palestinian question, we did not renew our subscription explaining the reasons. We obtained quite an interesting reply from the chief editor who took the time to address each of our criticisms in detail. Nevertheless, were not convinced by his explanation and maintained our decision. We would now like to forward your article to him in the hope that he may have a better understanding of the sufferings of the Gazaouite population instead of constantly focusing on the sufferings of the Israeli settlers. We congratulate you again on your article and hope to receive a positive reply concerning the possibility of forwarding it as mentioned above.

Very sincerely
Caroline and Nathan Finkelstein

 

Congratulations on your article in Counterpunch and a welcome to Oxford for when you arrive. I am a UK Jewish comedian who has worked with ISM on the West bank. If you are in London try come and see my show about Israel, Palestine and the Jews entitled 'This is Not a Subject for Comedy'. I've performed it in Jerusalem and Ramallah and will be taking it to Melbourne, Australia next month. Information and reviews, etc. on the following page on my site: www.thinkbeforeyoulaugh.com/Notasubject/notasubject.asp Let me know if you ever decide to come and I'll be delighted to arrange a guest ticket. kind regards ivor dembina - London UK

Thank you for your outstanding article. Thank you for breaking through so much silence.

With Admiration,
Denise Abercrombie

 

Hi Jennifer,

I'm working as a Graphic Designer at a National Irish television station and I've just read your article titled 'Gaza Fiasco' while listening to 'Arcade Fire' and it's after bringing tears to my eyes while sitting here at work. I'm going to post a copy on the news room notice board and forward another copy to the news room of the main national TV station, thanks and well done,

Diarmuid


Thank you very much for your article on Gaza which expresses what I am thinking. Revolted by the media coverage of the story, I wanted to write to certain UK programmes to protest. But your knowledge is far greater than my own so carries more weight so I have posted it on. Thank you again. All the best for your work at QEH.

Yours,
Caroline Dumonteil.


Re: Watching the Gazan Fiasco The Shame of It All
Dear Ms. Loewenstein,

It is all too rare to read such an article as yours, and particularly the litany of injustices the Palestinians have and will continue to endure, on their own land. Thank you so much. Daily, I shudder to know that my very own tax dollars are used to abet the torment of the Palestinians.

Thank you again!
Pamela Berkeley


Dear Ms. Loewenstein,

Your article in Counterpunch gave voice to my rage at a duplicitous media that ignores the Palestinian suffering but never fails to magnify the slightest Israeli inconvenience into another event amounting to a grave threat to the existence of the Jewish people. Your facts are impressive and the truth of your argument incontrovertible. Thank you for a great article

Sincerely Major *****
United States Marine Corp

 

Dear Jennifer,

Hi, thanks for the well-done commentary. I have one question. You write: "There was never the slightest reason for Israel to send in the army to remove these settlers. The entire operation could have been managed, without the melodrama necessary for a media frenzy, by providing them with a fixed date on which the IDF would withdraw from inside the Gaza Strip. A week before, all the settlers will quietly have left -with ... " I'm not sure why the settlers would have left. Is it because their protection would have been taken away? If you have no objection, I'll add you to the mailing list for my monthly Anti-Empire Report.

Cheers, Bill Blum

Author, "Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II" and "Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower" Portions of the books can be read at: www.killinghope.org


hi Jennifer,

I'm a writer and journalist in New York. I think your Counterpunch Gaza piece is one of the most important I've read on the struggle. My comrade Ed Herman writes widely on the Palestinians, and he sends me lots of stuff. But mostly I can't read it. It's just too painful. I put your piece into my personal email list which reaches folks in the U.S., South Africa and France. I'm Jewish. I'm completely embarrassed.

peace,
Eileen


Hello Jennifer,

My name is Farnaz and I'm a 35 year old Iranian, Muslim woman and I've lived in the U.S. for 20 years now. I just wanted to commend you and thank you for such a wonderful well written article. I have gotten in to so many discussions and arguments over this whole situation about the Palestinians and Israelis, and I'm always viewed as the "Muslim" who is against U.S. and Israel and "freedom". In fact, I was told not too long ago, "to move the "Burka" from my eyes and just have the courage to admit that half of Muslims and Muslim countries are 'uneducated' "!!!!! It is so refreshing to see someone finally see things from our point of view. I wish there were more people like you. I thank you and commend you again. Keep up the good job.

Sincerely,
Farnaz Vahdani

 

Dear Ms. Jennifer Loewenstien:

I am lost of words to express my gratitude and appreciation to you for writing the article entitle "The shame of it all". I had read many great articles concern this subject, but noting come close to your sincerity, objectivity, humanity, fairness and most of all sense of justices that marked your article. The person who write with this moral clarity is an exceptionally human being and you are an extraordinary person to see beyond what we are told to see and feel. I hope I have the ability to master the words as you do, I am so moved and touched by your analysis and inner thoughts of what is going today in Gaza. Thank you is too simple and is too light to carry the weight of my feeling. Please accept my love and respect and from now and on I will always look for your articles.

Sincerely yours
Fathia
FKarsha@msn.com


Thank you for telling the truth.

Joel Shimberg,
USA

Dear Jennifer:

I have read your story about the media frenzy around this "disengagement" and none of it is surprising. The media has been accused of being pro Israel in Canada and the US as long as I can remember, and for good reason. It is. I belong to a Christian peace and justice group. We are aware of Sharon's capacity with US backing, for murderous deeds. We are also aware that many of Sharon's tactics duplicate what the Nazis did to the Jews leading up to and including WW2. It is a strange human phenomena how the oppressed often become the oppressors. We will do everything we can to raise public discussion of these events. Our thoughts and prayers go with you. Thankyou for what you are doing.

Barry Morley,
chair, The peace and justice committee,
West Burnaby United Church


Dear Jennifer

I feel compelled to respond to the wonderful (although terrible enough) write-up, entitled Watching the Gazan Fiasco: the Shame of it All. I try to follow the "real" news over there, since I went on an FOR Peace Builders tour in 2003; ie, I don't read the news from this country, since the military owns the media. My heart weeps with yours; I think people in this country are totally brainwashed about the whole situation over there, even though they would never want to admit it. Unless you have been there and experienced the Palestinians themselves (and Israelis), you cannot possibly get a grasp. So thank you so much for what you wrote; please send it to Mr Bush and C.Rice.

Sincerely, in struggle
barbara warren


Dear Ms. Loewenstein:

Thank you for your article regarding the media coverage of the events in Gaza. I find it amazing that not one television station or ma