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Today's
Stories
November 15,
2006
Jennifer Loewenstein
Alice
in Erez: the Gaza Crossing
November 14,
2006
Werther
Beltway
Bromo-Seltzer: a Sneak Peak at the Baker Report
Ray McGovern
Benching Scowcroft
John Walsh
Korea, Vietnam and Iraq Syndrome: Alive, Well and Gaining Strength
David MacMichael
Gates to the Pentagon
William S.
Lind
Lose a War, Lose an Election
Sharon Smith
Democrats, Born to Compromise
Laura Carlsen
Oaxaca Fights Back
Ron Jacobs
The Perishing Republic
Peter Rost,
MD
Whistleblowers: Who Are They?
Carol Norris
Post-Campaign Ad Stress Disorder?
Website of
the Day
A Map of the US Nuclear Arsenal
November 13,
2006
Kathleen and
Bill Christison
Screw
the Palestinians, Full Steam Ahead
Bill Quigley
Robin Hood in Reverse: the Corporate Looting of the Gulf Coast
Paul Craig Roberts
The Democrats and Civil Liberties: Will They Turn a Blind Eye?
Uri Avnery
Call It What It Is: a Massacre!
Joe DeRaymond
The Strange Return of Daniel Ortega
Norman Finkelstein
Jimmy Carter's Roadmap
Col. Dan Smith
The Pentagon's Revolving Gates: Out with the Old, In with the
Old
Shepherd Bliss
After the Party
Dave Lindorff
What Vote-Theft Conspiracy?
Missy Beattie
For Better / For Worse: Will Laura Stay the Course?
Trenticosta / Fleming
Vindication for the Angola 3
Weekend Edition
November 11 / 12, 2006
John Walsh
Rahm's
Losers
Barucha Calamity
Peller
Oaxaca at Any Cost
Al Krebs
Be Careful What You Wish For
Niall Meehan
Ireland's Freedom Struggle and the Foster School of Historical
Falsification
Conn Hallinan
The Ills of War: Shafting the Vets
Patrick Cockburn
"We
Worry About Staying Alive, Not the U.S. Elections"
Gary Leupp
Democrats Can Be NeoCons, Too
P. Sainath
India High and Low: the Anatomy of a Tiger
Nikolas Kozloff
The Return of Tom Lantos: Beware Venezuela, Here Come the Democratic
Hawks
Lawrence R.
Velvel
Throwing
Rumsfeld Under the Bus
Fred Gardner
Marijuana, the Anti-Drug
Ralph Nader
Taking on the Boss: Claybrook vs. the Chamber
Ben Terrall / John Miller
East Timor: 15 Years After the Massacre
Mike Whitney
Cheney in a Box
Joshua Frank
Post-Electoral Deliriums
Mukul Dube
The Death Penalty Case of Mohd. Afzal
Jason Hribal
Jesse: Eulogy for a Working Dog
Daniel Wolff
The Unseen Springsteen
Michael Donnelly
Red Rock Blues: the Moab Folk Festival
Lord Montague
A Dissenting Note on the Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917
Poets' Basement
Davies, Louise, Buknatski and Orloski
November 10,
2006
Alexander Cockburn
Lame
Duck
Marjorie Cohn
The War Crimes Case Against Rumsfeld
Jorge Mariscal
What Veterans See
Gregory Elich
The Trial of Saddam: Who Will Pass Judgment on the Judges?
Joshua Frank
Blue Dog Group: Bye-Bye Coke, Hello Pepsi
Megan Boler
The Joke is On Us: How "Borat" Lowers the Bar of Political
Satire
Ramzy Baroud
The Treacherous Road to Oslo Begins Here
Farzana Versey
An Iraqi in India
Roberto Rodriguez
A Thumpin' or a Whippin'?
Cartoon of
the Day
Splat!
November 9,
2006
Jennifer Loewenstein
How
Gaza Offends Us All
Patrick Cockburn
War of the Snipers
Paul Craig Roberts
Will Democrats Become Part of the Problem?
Manuel Garcia,
Jr.
The Roots of Corruption
Mike Whitney
Bush's Chernobyl Economy
Alan Maass
The Repudiation of One-Party Rule
Robert Jensen
Blood on the Tracks: the Elections and the Coming Train Wreck
Nicola Nasser
Saddam's Trial in Context
John Chuckman
As I Lay Dying: Watching the US Elections from Canada
Jamal Juma
Between Resistance and Deception in Palestine
Felice Pace
Can the Klamath be Restored?
Website of
the Day
The Robert Gates Files
November 8,
2006
Alexander Cockburn
/ Jeffrey St. Clair
Count
Your Blessings: NeoCons and NeoLibs Take Big Hit as Voters Say
No to Bush, War and Free Trade
Lawrence E.
Walsh
Robert Gates and Iran/Contra: Lies, Cover Ups and Slanted Intelligence
Bruce K. Gagnon
What's Next for the Peace Movement?: Confront the Democrats,
Now!
Neve Gordon
Anti-Semitism?
Mr. Dershowitz, You Just Don't Like What I Say
Dave Lindorff
Election Post-Mortem: What's Next?
Arthur Neslen
Another Tragic Day in Palestine
Joshua Frank
An Election Hangover: Thank God It's Over
James Goodman
The Corporate Food System is Broken
Charles Sullivan
Voting in the Absence of Choice
David Swanson
Subpoena Envy: The Dems Have the Power, But Will They Use It?
Missy Beattie
The Electorate Speaks and Barney Barks!
Dr. Susan Block
American Voters Say, "Bush Sucks!"
Website of the Day
Stealing Olive Groves from Palestinians
November 7,
2006
Michael Neumann
Cut
and Run from Iraq: Sooner Rather Than Later
Paul Wolf
Saddam Must Die: A Pre-Ordained Verdict
Nikolas Kozloff
In Nicaragua, a Chavez Wave?
Eliza Ernshire
The Women of Beit Hanoun
William S. Lind
The Smile on Saddam's Face: He's Tan, Rested and Ready
Mike Ferner
Pick a Number: Greater Than 47,615
Felice Pace
Pumping the Klamath Dry
Chris Genovali
The Problem with PBDEs: Why Canada's Proposed Ban Won't Protect
People or Wildlife
Gilad Atzmon
Watching Borat
Dick J. Reavis
Going to Class War with the Proletariat We Got ...
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Lives (and Votes) Lost: the Ordeal of Larry Peterson
Website of
the Day
Magic Sam: a Sure Cure for the Election Day Blues
Question of the Day
Is Bush Gay?
November 6,
2006
Alexander Cockburn
The
Message of Campaign 2006
Norman Solomon
Saddam's
Unindicted Co-Conspirator: Donald Rumsfeld
Robert Fisk
A Guilty Verdict on America, as Well
Marjorie Cohn
The Banana Election: From Hanging Chads to Hanging Saddam
Paul Craig Roberts
The Goose and the Gander: Is Bush Next?
Nikolas Kozloff
Election Eve Jitters: the Chavez Factor
Newton Garver
The Progress in Bolivia: Morales' Stunning Victory Over Big Oil
Mike Whitney
Bush's Carnival of Blood
Jesse Hagopian
From the Black Panthers to the Green Party: an Interview with
Aaron Dixon
Dr. Peter Rost,
MD
The Genocide Election: When a Life Saving Industry Cheats, People
Die
Website of
the Day
Robert Pollin vs. Rick Wolff: Is Pomo Marxism Marxism?
November 4
/ 5, 2006
Dave Zirin
Political
Players: Where Athletes Give Their Money
Patrick Cockburn
When
Does Incompetence Become a Crime?
Sanho Tree
War
Timing and Opportunism
Ralph Nader
Failure
Across All Fronts
Lee Sustar
The Obama Myth
Dr. Shepherd Bliss
Torture Memories
Adam Elkus
Babies and Banks: Celebrity Colonialism in Africa
Seth Sandronsky
Is Another Recession Looming?
Fred Gardner
10 Years of Medical Pot in California: Dr. Mikuriya's Observations
Joshua Sperber
How the US Lost Latin America
Evelyn Pringle
Ohio Redux: Mr. Blackwell and the Henhouse
Mitchel Cohen
The Left and the Environment: Notes on the Ecological Dimension
Missy Beattie
The Medium is the Massage
Michael Dickinson
Watching the Guards: a Prison Diary
John Holt
The Silk Road to Ruin
Dr. Susan Block
The Beastly Bombing
Poets' Basement
LaMorticella, Engel, Orloski and Davies
November 3, 2006
Laura Carlsen
Day
of the Dead in Oaxaca
Stephan Said
Honoring Bradley Will
John Stauber
"Victory in Iraq:" The PR Machine Behind Bush's Favorite
Slogan
Mike Whitney
Baghdad is Surrounded
Joshua Frank
DNC Deja Vu
Victoria Furio
More Than Timetables
Tammara~85,441
They Say He is Coming Home
Stuart Croswaithe
Beatings and Sugar Plums: New Labor's War on the Kurds
Missy Beattie
Bush Shock
Website of
the Day
Howlin' Wolf
November 2, 2006
Winslow T.
Wheeler
The
US Body Count in Iraq: an Analysis of Who is Dying and How
Paul Craig
Roberts
Evil
is as Evil Does
Dave Lindorff
Kerry Out: the Joke's Still on Us
Uri Avnery
The
Lovable Man? Lieberman and the Decline of Israeli Democracy
Jeff Birkenstein
Smearing Harold Ford in Black Face
John Ross
Slave Labor in Private Prisons
Zoltan Grossman
Recharging the Anti-War Movement
Eveyln Pringle
The SEC's Probe of Halliburton: Is Cheney Being Fitted for a
Striped Jumpsuit?
Christopher
Brauchli
Drug Profits and PACs: Why Big Pharma Pushes the GOP
November 1,
2006
Alan Dershowitz
v. Bruce Jackson
On
Torture
Brian Tokar
Running
on Hype: the Real Scoop on Biofuels
Fred Leonhardt
Democrats,
Sex Crimes and the Press: the Goldschmidt Affair
Richard W.
Behan
Triumph
of the Petropublicans: Bush's Other Civil War
Brenda Norrell
Indigenous Opposition to the Border Wall
Charles Sullivan
Spoils of Corruption: Who Will Stand Up When America Goes Wrong?
Ron Jacobs
Hell is Rising in Oaxaca: interview with a Oaxacan Rebel
Mike Knapp
Green Stench in Minnesota: the Commissioner and the Hog Lot
Moshe Adler
The Temptations of a Union Boss: the Case of Brian McLaughlin
Walden Bello
Chain Gang Economics
Lee Ballinger
The Collapse of Hip Capitalism: How Tower Records Committed Suicide
Joshua Frank
Party in a Cage: Snake Oil and the Midterm Elections
Carl Gelderloos
Cheerleading the Massacre in Oaxaca: an Open Letter to the Washington
Post
Peter Rost,
MD
Panic
in Big Pharma
Saul Landau
Bush's
Anti-Terrorism Record: Don't Look Too Close
Website of the Day
The Meatrix
October 31, 2006
William S.
Lind
The
Third and Final Act: Iran
Stephen S.
Pearcy
Dem Candidate's Wife Urges Cindy Sheehan Not to Protest Iraq
War
Uri Avnery
Who's
Afraid of an Iranian Bomb?
Michael Colby
Corporations Win Again!: Bush Opens National Parks to Bio-Prospecting
Sunsara Taylor
A No-Win Election for Women
Ben Beachy
Targeting Nicaraguans' Stomachs: 11th Hour Election Meddling
by the US
Edward Humes
Nine Words: America's Disservice to Veterans
Roger Burbach
The Meaning of Lula's Victory in Brazil
Subcomandante Marcos
A Communique from the EZLN on Oaxaca
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Funny Business in the Booth: Vote for James H. 'Jim'
Sharon Smith
Those
Damned Democrats
Website of
the Day
Parks Not for Sale
October 30,
2006
Robert Fisk
Dirty
Bombs Over Lebanon: Did Israel Use Uranium Weapons?
Bruce Jackson
Normalizing
Torture
Norman Solomon
I Was Wrong About Thomas Friedman, the World's Wealthiest Pundit
Lance Selfa
Liberal Doormats: Tread on Us
Ali Khan
The Veil and the British Male Elite
Lee Sustar
European Islamophobia: Fanning the Flames of Hate
Robert Jensen
The Death of Empathy
Akiva Eldar
Lieberman: Making Haider Look Good
Tim Montague
The Natural Step to Eco-Villages
Brian M. Downing
Evil in the Valley: Civilian Massacres, From Vietnam to Iraq
Website of the Day
Alien Impeachment
October 27 / 29, 2006
Weekend Edition
Jeffrey St.
Clair
Hogwash:
Fecal Factories in the Heartland
Maher Arar
The
Horrors of Extraordinary Rendition: a Personal Account
David Rosen
Perversions of Power: Mark Foley and the Bush Administration
Gregory Elich
"A Bursting Boiler at Russia's Doorstep:" Why Bush
is Seeking Confrontation with N. Korea
Tom Barry
Fear and Loathing in the North: an Apartheid Fence in America?
Jeff Taylor
Democrats By Default?
Dave Lindorff
Why Nancy Pelosi is Wrong
Ron Jacobs
The General Who Called Out the Devil: the Politics of Hugo Chavez
Maurus Chino
Hauba Hanu: Oppression Affects All People
Christopher
Brauchli
Veiled Threats: the Global War on Fashion
Sherwood Ross
The Wages of Whistleblowing: Why Bunny Greenhouse Sits in a Corner
Rev. William
Alberts
In Search of a Real Inter-Religious Dialogue on War and Justice
Aseem Shrivastava
Pushing India Toward a "Dollar Democracy"
Saul Landau
/ Farrah Hassen
Bush's Mea Culpa Speech, First Draft
Russ Fine / Dee Fine
Of Peters and Principles: Learning About Sex and Hypocrisy from
the GOP
Seth Sandronsky
Social Security: the Distortions of Sebastian Mallaby
Michael Carmichael
Rogue President: Midterm Meltdown
Joe Allen
The Legacy of Gillo Pontecorvo: a Maker of Revolutionary Films
David Vest
Playlist: What I'm Listening to This Week
Poets' Basement
Landau, Engel and Buknatski
Website of the Weekend
Safely Home
October 26,
2006
Ismael Hossein-zadeh
Islamic
Fascism?: Inflammatory Ironies
Carlos Zorrilla
The
Police Raid on My House: Trumped Up Charges and Collusion Between
a Mining Company and the Government of Ecuador
Paul Craig Roberts
The Crimes of Greed vs. the Crimes of Government: If Enron's
Skilling Gets 24 Years in Prison, How Many Should Bush and Cheney
Get?
Mike Whitney
The Charnel House of Baghdad
Lily Hughes
A Cruel and Unusual Reality: Inside the Texas Death House
Jennifer Matsui
Madonna's African Safari: The Great White Baby Hunter
Tim Matson
How to Save Vermont
Stephen Fleischman
Like a Soldier: Benchmarks, Timelines and Lies
Missy Beattie
The Blood of October: Are We Sure Barney Still Supports This
War?
Patrick Cockburn
From
"Mission Accomplished" to "Mission Impossible"
in Iraq
Website of the Day
Open Letter to The Nation
October 25,
2006
Michael Donnelly
Ethnicity
and Baseball
John Stanton
The
Vindication of Sibel Edmonds
John Ross
Upheaval from the Bottom
Conn Hallinan
Hunting Hugo: When It's About Oil Nothing is Off the Table--Not
Even Assassination
Robert Jensen
Academic
Freedom on the Rocks
Johnny Barber
Drinking Tea with Hizbullah
Bruce K. Gagnon
Space Cowboy: Bush's War on Heaven
Daniel McGowan
Elie Wiesel for Israeli President?
James J. Brittain
Uribe's Failure to Learn from Colombia's Past
Peter Harley
Afghanistan in 3-D
Jonathan Cook
Israel's
Minister of Strategic Threats
Shepherd Bliss
The Bioneers and the New York Times
Website of
the Day
The Price of Staying the Course
October 24,
2006
John Walsh
The
Book of Rahm: Emanuel's War Plan for Democrats
M. Shahid Alam
Not All Terrorists Are Muslim: the Latest Falsehood from the
Advocates of Civilizational War
Dr. Trudy Bond
The Silence at Home, as America Eats Her Young
Michael Phillips
The Story of My Kidnapping in Nablus: "I Never Feared for
My Life"
Dave Lindorff
Truth and Consequences on Iraq: Bush's Latest Cut-and-Paste War
Plan
David Phinney
A US Fortress Rises in Baghdad: Asian Labor Trafficking Used
to Build World's Largest Embassy
Laura Carlsen
Food Insecurity: the World Needs Its Small Farmers
Pierre Tristam
The American Way of Gore
Marguerite
Rose Jimenez
"About
That Trip to Cuba:" When the FBI Came Calling
Website of
the Day
Tampon Terrorists
October 23,
2006
Saree Makdisi
Israel's
Cluster Bomb War: "What We Did Was Insane and Monstrous"
Joshua Frank
The
Antiwar Movement and Independent Politics: an Interview with
Cindy Sheehan
Fred Gardner
What Have California Doctors Learned About Cannabis?
Ralph Nader
The End of Habeas Corpus and the Belligerent Despot-in-Chief
Ron Jacobs
Bush's Clark Clifford: James Baker Wants a Kinder, Gentler War
Norman Solomon
Punditry Without Consequences: Channeling Thomas Friedman
Richard Manning
Outside the Market: We Need and Owe Rural People
Neil Kitson
Canadians in Afghanistan: Bloody, Unbowed, Stoned?
William MacDougall
The Socialist, the Columnist, His Wife and the Prostitute
Gilad Atzmon
Surviving the Board of Deputies
Werther
The
Evening of Empire
Website of
the Day
Different Drummer: Internet Coffeehouse Movement
October 20
/ 22, 2006
Alexander Cockburn
The
Myth of Microloans
Gary Leupp
How
the US Declared War on North Korea
Brian Cloughley
What Are They Dying For?
Dave Zirin
Pat Tillman's Brother Breaks His Silence
William Blum
Don't Look Back: Who Said Clinton Didn't Kill Anybody?
Christopher
Brauchli
The
Cronies' War
Winslow Wheeler
The
Mad Logic of Pentagon Spending: As Costs Rise, Readiness Declines
Michael Donnelly
GOP Death Slide: Is the Party Really Over?
Fred Gardner
Corporate Drugs Useless Against Alzheimer's
Susie Day
How
to Stay Out of Gitmo
Lucinda Marshall
Behind Closed Doors: the Invisibility of Domestic Violence
Fred Wilcox
The Second Palestinian Intifada: History of a Struggle for Survival
Alan Maass
Standing Up Against Racism at Columbia: a Wake Up Call to the
Passive Left
Lee Sustar
A Bipartisan Border Wall: New Phases in the Crackdown on Immigrants
Ariadna Theokopoulos
Shame on You, Dr. Warf: Hail the Epidemiologist in Chief
Missy Beattie
Surges: the Dow and the Death Count
CP News Wire
Bush's Paraguay Land Grab: Hideout or Water Raid?
CP News Services
Sexually Repressed Republicans: Robert Bork, Riveted
Poets' Basement
Davies, Engel, Buknatski and Orloski
Website of
the Weekend
Scenes from Oaxaca
October 19,
2006
Elaine Cassel
The
Bush Administration's Assault on Defense Lawyers
Col. Dan Smith
Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine: Cracks in the Bush / Blair
Axis
Manuel Garcia, Jr.
North Korea's Nuclear Test: a Q & A
Josh Gryniewicz
Wal-Mart Tightens the Squeeze on Workers
Amira Hass
What is 20 Tons of Explosives?
Eric Holt-Gimenez
Poison and Famine in the Fields: How the Agri-Food Industry's
Deadly Cycle Feeds Immigration
Jesse Hagopian
Arrested Democracy: On Trying to Ignore Aaron Dixon
Sam Husseini
How Third Parties Can Solve the "Spoiler" Problem and
Win Elections
John Weisheit
A
Gathering of Water Buffaloes: Feds Celebrate Death of the Colorado
River
CP News Service
A Plea to U2 From Africa's Children: Stop Bono Before He Kills
Again
Website of
the Day
George W. Bush: Hollywood Producer
Art Gallery
of the Day
Botero's Abu Ghraib Paintings in Manhattan
October 18,
2006
Joshua Frank
Cindy
Sheehan's Lesser Evilism: Democrats or Bust?
Dr. Curran
Warf, MD
Slandering Sound Science: Bush's Attack on the Lancet Iraq War
Death Study
Saul Landau
Bush's
Foley: Will the Dems Blow It?
Tom Barry
The
Politics of Fear
Bruce Jackson
Thundersnow: a Report from Buffalo
Dave Lindorff
Loveless Among the Ruins: Even Repubs Flee Bush's Failed Middle
East Policy
Frederico Fuentes
When Cochabamba Said "Enough": Bolivia's Blow to Neoliberalism
Michael Simmons
Greetings from Echo Park: an Open Letter to Rolling Stone's Jann
Wenner
Daryll E. Ray
The Root Problems in American Agriculture
Kate Doyle
The Dead of Tlatelolco
Website of
the Day
The
Lynne Stewart Defense Committee
October 17, 2006
Michael Neumann
Hit
and Run: Guerrilla Reviewing
Manuel Garcia,
Jr.
Nuclear
Test, Political Flare: Interpreting the Physics and Politics
of N. Korea's Nuclear Test
Stephen S.
Pearcy
The Interrogation of Julia Wilson: Secret Service Grills 14 Year-Old
Artist
Sharon Smith
Afghanistan
Reconsidered: The Taliban Aren't Gone, Women Haven't Been Liberated
Al Krebs
The Corporate Assault on Zoning
David Underhill
Politicus Interruptus: Come Back, Jo Bonner
Daniel Wolff
NY's Iraq Veterans Against the War Needs Your Help ... Now
James Brooks
Desirable
Duds: Israeli / US Cluster Bombs Litter Lebanon
Website of the Day
Stop Torture Now
October 16,
2006
Gary Leupp
North
Korea as a Religious State
Patrick Cockburn
General
Mutinies Against Blair
David Wilson
Where Have All the Doctors Gone?: the Collapse of Iraq's Health
Care Services
Robert Fisk
Confronting Turkey's Armenian Genocide
Robert Jensen
Racism and Cheap Thrills at U. of Texas Law School
Ingmar Lee
/ Krista Roessingh
An Appeal for S. India's Wild Elephants
Mike Whitney
America's Other War Party
Jake Whitney
The Courageous Dr. Rost
Sanho Tree
Sugar Daddy Politics: Was Foley Blackmailed to Secure His Vote
on CAFTA?
Website of
the Day
Best
War Ever
October 14/15, 2006
Weekend Edition
Uri Avnery
Gaza
as Laboratory: the Great Experiment
John Walsh
How
Rahm Emmanuel Has Rigged a Pro-War Congress
Jean Bricmont
A Fable About Palestine
Jennifer Van Bergen
Bush's Military Commissions Act and the Future of America
Ralph Nader
Wilted Yankees: the Fruits of Checkbook Baseball
Floyd Rudmin
The Logic of Proliferation: How Bush's Belligerence Prompted
N. Korea to Pursue Nuclear Weapons
Mark Weisbrot
Correcting the Facts on US/Venezuela Relations
Laura Carlsen
Building a Future in the Mixteca
Hani Shukrallah
A Stroll Through the Cairo Mall: Shopping as Cultural Pursuit
Dr. Susan Block
The Spent Milk of Human Foley
John Chuckman
North Korea's Bomb: Still 1,126 Nuke Tests Behind the US
Lucinda Marshall
Is Betty Ugly?: the Profits of Denigration
Don Monkerud
The Case Against Depleted Uranium
Missy Comley
Beattie
What Bush Means By Tolerable Violence in Iraq
Ron Jacobs
Shouting "No One is Illegal" in a Crowded Theater
Website of
the Weekend
Ratfink Raunchfest
October 13,
2006
Jorge Mariscal
PowerPoint
Racism: How Military Recruiters Pitch to Latinos
Stephen Philion
The
Myth of the Spat Upon Vets: an Interview with Jerry Lembcke
John Blair
Strip Mining Wildlife Preserves: Black Beauty's Filthy Lucre
Col. Dan Smith
Oil, Atoms and War
Alastair Crooke / Mark Perry
How Hezbollah Defeated Israel: Part Two, Winning the Ground War
Stephen Fleischman
Journalism Then and Now
Charles Perroud
The Death Penalty's Invisible Victims
Anne E. Brodsky
Return
to Afghanistan: Where the Rhetoric Doesn't Match the Reality
Website of the Day
Underwater Nuke Test
October 12,
2006
Jonathan Cook
Israel's
Plan for a Military Strike on Iran
Norman Solomon
The Pundit Path to Death in Iraq
M. Shahid Alam
On Colonialism and Colleagues
Paul Craig
Roberts
Can We Call It Genocide Now?
Meredith Schafer / Chris Kutalik
Is a General Transportation Strike Looming for 2008? Can Labor
Seize the Moment?
Carl Gelderloos
Images of Occupation: Teaching in Nablus
Alastair Crooke / Mark Perry
How Hezbollah Defeated Israel: Part One, Winning the Intelligence
War
Charles Sullivan
Assassins of Truth
William S. Lind
Why Do We Still Fight a Lost War?
CP News Service
The South Turns Against the War
Website of
the Day
There's a Riot Goin' On
October 11,
2006
John Feffer
Pyongyang
1, Bush 0
Dave Lindorff
A Killing Occupation
Jackson Katz
Gunning Down Women: Coverage of "School Shootings"
Misses Central Issue
April Howard / Ben Dangl
The Tin War in Bolivia
Michael Carmichael
World War W
Ken Couesbouc
The New Witchcraft: Marvin Harris on the War on Terror
Gregory Afghani
Sleepless on Skid Row: Guilty of Being Homeless in America
Alexander Cockburn
600,000 Dead in Iraq: Chortles in the New Yorker for Slaughter's
Cheerleader, C. Hitchens
Website of
the Day
Petition: Defend Columbia Students Who Confronted the Minutemen
October 10,
2006
Paul Craig
Roberts
Lost
Wars and a Lost Economy
Robert Robideau
The
Myth Keepers of Columbus
Joshua Frank
The
Democrats and the War on Civil Liberties
Dave Lindorff
Free the Press Free Linda Greenhouse
Dave Zirin
Brother of the Fist
Heather Gray
Where Votes Matter: My Experience in South Africa
James Knotwell
Big Ag in the Heartland: the Future of Nebraska's Family Farms
Missy Beattie
The Return of James Baker, III
Mike Whitney
Bush and North Korea: Bumbling Toward Disaster
David Rosen
Sex Panic on Capitol Hill: Mark Foley and the Politics of Sex
in America
Website of the Day
Eno / Byrne: Music to Enjoy the Foley Scandal By
October 9. 2006
Robert Fisk
The
Age of Terror
Norman Solomon
Welcome to the Nuclear Club
Ron Jacobs
The
Boom Heard Around the World
Gideon Levy
The Mystery of America
Walter Brasch
Their Back Pages: Sex, Lies and Family Values
Mickey Z.
Who Killed Michael Moore?
John Holt
Grizzlies in Our Midst: Can Humans and Bears Coexist?
Lucinda Marshall
Not So Pretty in Pink: Profits and Breast Cancer
Saul Landau
Post-Castro
Cuba
Website of the Day
War, Inc.
October 7 /
8, 2006
Weekend Edition
Alexander Cockburn
Wargasms
and Orgasms
Peter Kwong
The Chinese Face of Neoliberalism
Ralph Nader
Revolt of the Generals
Mark Donham
What Cynthia McKinney Means to Me
Dave Lindorff
Philly's Police Snoops
Peter Bosshard
World Bank Shuts Out Dissident Voices: Big Dams, Huge Profits
& Political Corruption
Ron Jacobs
Evil Hour in Colombia
Lawrence R.
Velvel
Governmental Derelicts: Moral Meltdown in America
Fred Gardner
Arnold Vetoes Hemp Bill
David Green
The US, Israel and the Invasion of Lebanon
Jim B.
Activism, Incorporated: Outsourcing Grassroots Politics?
Missy Beattie
Prayers for Peace at the Edge of the Abyss
Michael Donnelly
Blame the Page: Grand Old Perverts Go on Offensive
Jackson Thoreau
Enter Newt
Jon Hung
Revisiting Korematsu: Denying Civil Rights Based on National
Origin
CounterPunch
News Service
Why We Confronted the Minutemen at Columbia
Tom D'Antoni
Playlist
Poets' Basement
Orloski, Davies, Tirado, Gaffney and Ford
Website of the Weekend
Reagan Gone Wild
October 6, 2006
Alison Weir
Just
Another Mother Murdered
Tiffany Ten
Eyck / Mark Brenner
Made
in (DeUnionized) America
Corporate Crime Reporter
Look Who's Behind "37 Reasons" to Vote for Big Business:
Former Clinton PR Flak Mike McCurry
Juan Antonio
Montecino
Cleaving a False Divide in Latin America
Walden Bello
A Siamese Tragedy
Christopher
Brauchli
Rank Invitations: Dining with Bush
Brynne Keith-Jennings
Dan Burton in Nicaragua: the Congressman, His Stick and the Elections
Jonathan Cook
The Struggle for Palestine's Soul
Website of the Day
Fighting Hog Farms and Clearcuts in the Heartland
October 5, 2006
John Walsh
Turn
the Page
Carol Norris
The
Radical Right, the Myth of the Gay Child Abuser and You: a Psychotherapist
on the Hysteria Over Foley
Paul Craig Roberts
Will November Bring Hope or Another Stolen Election?
Ricardo Alarcón
The
Truth About the Embargo of Cuba
James Abourezk
Waterboarding the Constitution: After Torture, What's Next?
Nicola Nasser
Removing Hamas: Brinksmanship or Coup d'Etat?
Kirkpatrick Sale
Breaking Away: the First North American Secessionist Conference
Uri Avnery
Peace
with Syria: Lunch in Damascus
Website of the Day
More Naughty GOP Messages
October 4, 2006
Elizabeth Terzakis
The
Walls That Racism Built: Blood Revenge, the Death Penalty and
Kevin Cooper
Paul Wolf
The
Mushy Rebellion: Pakistan Under Musharraf
Sean Penn
The
Arrogant, the Misguided and the Cowards
Dave Lindorff
Outrage as Misdirection: The Real Scandal isn't Foley
Diane Farsetta
For Sale: Iraqi Kurdistan
Sharon Smith
Democrats:
Yes to War, No to Pedophilia
Felice Pace
Revoking 1776
Sara Roy
The Economy of Gaza
Website of
the Day
Alexander Cockburn: the Video Interview (Part Two)
October 3, 2006
Jennifer Van
Bergen
Compassionate
Conservative Pedophiles
Greg Moses
The Infallible Empire: Junking Habeas Corpus
Stan Cox
Real Bad ID: a National Driver's License and the Fading Right
of Anonymity
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
How Empires Die
Evelyn Pringle
Big Pharma Takes a Hit: Alaska's Supreme Court Outlaws Forced
Drugging
Fred Wilhelms
SoundExchange and Unpaid Music Artists: Help Us Find These Musicians
and Get Them Paid
Michael Abelman
Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food: the Risks of Convenience and
Consolidation
Gary Leupp
The Foley Follies
Website of the Day
Bush and Blair: Endless Love
October 2,
2006
Eric Hazan
Roadmap
to Nowhere: an Interview with Tanya Reinhart on Israel/Palestine
Since 2003
Mike Whitney
Bloodbath on 60 Minutes: Court
Stenographer Finally Comes Clean
Norman Solomon
American Narcissism and Iraq
Assaf Kfoury
Meeting Nasrallah
Missy Beattie
The Meaning of "ummmm": Speaker Hasert and the Over-Friendly
Congressman
Arthur Neslen
Lie Less in Gaza
Paula J. Caplan
How
the Supreme Court Mangled My Research
Website of the Day
Predator Drones Target Bechtel
|
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Onward,
Alexander, Jeffrey, Becky and Deva
November
15, 2006
Part One: the Foreign Agent Factor
The
Highjacking of a Nation
By SIBEL EDMONDS
In his farewell address in 1796, George
Washington warned that America must be constantly awake against
"the insidious wiles of foreign influencesince history
and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most
baneful foes of republican government."
Today, foreign influence, that
most baneful foe of our republican government, has its tentacles
entrenched in almost all major decision making and policy producing
bodies of the U.S. government machine. It does so not secretly,
since its self-serving activities are advocated and legitimized
by highly positioned parties that reap the benefits that come
in the form of financial gain and positions of power.
Foreign governments and foreign-owned
private interests have long sought to influence U.S. public policy.
Several have accomplished this goal; those who are able and willing
to pay what it takes. Those who buy themselves a few strategic
middlemen, commonly known as pimps, while in DC circles referred
to as foreign registered agents and lobbyists, who facilitate
and bring about desired transactions. These successful foreign
entities have mastered the art of 'covering all the bases' when
it comes to buying influence in Washington DC. They have the
required recipe down pat: get yourself a few 'Dime a Dozen Generals,'
bid high in the 'former statesmen lobby auction', and put in
your pocket one or two 'ex-congressmen turned lobbyists' who
know the ropes when it comes to pocketing a few dozen who still
serve.
The most important facet of
this influence to consider is what happens when the active and
powerful foreign entities' objectives are in direct conflict
with our nation's objectives and its interests and security;
and when this is the case, who pays the ultimate price and how.
There is no need for assumptions of hypothetical situations to
answer these questions, since throughout recent history we have
repeatedly faced the dire consequences of the highjacking of
our foreign and domestic policies by these so-called foreign
agents of foreign influence.
Let's illustrate this with
the most important recent case, the catastrophe endured by our
people; the September Eleven terrorist attacks. Let's observe
how certain foreign interests, combined with their U.S. agents
and benefactors, overrode the interests and security of the entire
nation; how thousands of victims and their loved ones were kicked
aside to serve the interests of a few; foreign influence and
its agents.
Senator
Graham's Revelation
It has been established that
two of the 9/11 hijackers had a support network in the U.S. that
included agents of the Saudi government, and that the Bush administration
and the FBI blocked a congressional investigation into that relationship.
In his book, "Intelligence
Matters," Senator Bob Graham made clear that some details
of that financial support from Saudi Arabia were in the 27 pages
of the congressional inquiry's final report that were blocked
from release by the administration, despite the pleas of leaders
of both parties in the House and Senate intelligence committees.
Here is an excerpt from Senator
Graham's statement from the July 24, 2003 congressional record
on the classified 27 pages of the Congressional Joint Inquiry
into 9/11: "The most serious omission, in my view, is part
4 of the report, which is entitled Finding, Discussion and Narrative
Regarding Certain Sensitive National Security Matters. Those
27 pages have almost been entirely censured.The declassified
version of this finding tells the American people that our investigation
developed information suggesting specific sources of foreign
support for some of the September 11 hijackers while they
were in the United States. In other words, officials of a foreign
government are alleged to have aided and abetted the terrorist
attacks on our country on September 11, which took over 3,000
lives."
In his book Graham reveals,
"Our investigators found a CIA memo dated August 2, 2002,
whose author concluded that there is incontrovertible evidence
that there is support for these terrorists within the Saudi government.
On September 11, America was not attacked by a nation-state,
but we had just discovered that the attackers were actively supported
by one, and that state was our supposed friend and ally Saudi
Arabia." He then cites another case, "We had discovered
an FBI asset who had a close relationship with two of the terrorists;
a terrorist support network that went through the Saudi Embassy;
and a funding network that went through the Saudi Royal family."
The most explosive revelation
in Graham's book is the following statement with regard to the
administration's attitude on page 216: "It was as if the
President's loyalty lay more with Saudi Arabia than with America's
safety." Further, he states that he asked the FBI to undertake
a review of the Riggs Bank records on the terrorists' money trail,
to look at other Saudi companies with ties to al-Qaeda, to plan
for monitoring suspect Saudi interests in the United States;
however, Graham adds: "To my knowledge, none of these investigations
have been completedNor do we know anything else about what I
believe to be a state-sponsored terrorist support network that
still exists, largely undamaged, within the United States."
What Graham is trying to establish
in his book and previous public statements in this regard, and
doing so under state imposed 'secrecy and classification', is
that the classification and cover up of those 27 pages is not
about protecting 'U.S. national security, methods of intelligence
collection, or ongoing investigations,' but to protect certain
U.S. allies. Meaning, our government put the interests of
certain foreign nations and their U.S. beneficiaries far above
its own people and their interests. While Saudi Arabia has been
specifically pointed to by Graham, other countries involved have
yet to be identified.
In covering up Saudi Arabia's
direct role in supporting Al Qaeda, the 9/11 Commission goes
even a few steps further than the congress and the Executive
Branch. The report claims "there is no convincing evidence
that any government financially supported al-Qaeda before 9/11."
Their report ignores all the information provided by government
officials to Congress, as well as volumes of published reports
and investigations by other nations, regarding Muslim and Arab
regimes that have supported al Qaeda. It completely disregards
the terrorist lists of the Treasury and State Departments, which
have catalogued the Saudi government's decades of support for
Bin Laden and al-Qaeda.
Why in the world would the
United States government go so far to protect Saudi Arabia in
the face of what itself declares to be the biggest security threat
facing our nation and the world today?
Why is the United States willing
to set aside its own security and interests in order to advance
the interests of another state?
How can a government that's
been intent upon using the terrorist attacks to carry out many
unjustifiable atrocities, prevent bringing to justice those who've
been established as being directly responsible for it?
More importantly, how is this
done in a nation that prides itself as one that operates under
governance of the people, by the people, for the people?
How did our government bodies,
those involved in drafting and implementing our nation's policies,
evolve into this foreign influence-peddling operation?
In order to answer these questions
one must first establish who stands to lose and who stands to
gain by protecting Saudi Arabia from being exposed and facing
consequences of its involvement in terrorist networks activities.
In addition to identifying the nations in question, we must identify
the interests as well as the actors; their agents. Let's look
at Saudi Arabia as one of the successful foreign nations that
have mastered the art of 'covering all the bases' when it comes
to buying and peddling influence in Washington DC, and identify
its hired 'agents' and 'agents by default.'
Foreign
Agents by Default
Although when it comes to our
complex diplomatic threading with Saudi Arabia the easiest answer
appears to be the 'oil factor,' upon further inspection the Saudi's
influence and role extends into other areas, such as the Military
Industrial Complex and the too familiar Lobbying Games.
According to the report published
by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), Saudi Arabia
is America's top customer. Since 1990 the U.S. government, through
the Pentagon's arms export program, has arranged for the delivery
of more than $39.6 billion in foreign military sales to Saudi
Arabia, and an additional $394 million worth of arms were delivered
to the Saudi regime through the State Department's direct commercial
sales program. Oil rich Saudi Arabia is a cash-paying customer;
a compulsive buyer of our weaponry. The list of U.S. sellers
includes almost all the major players such as Lockheed Martin,
Northrop Grumman, and Boeing.
The report by FAS establishes
that despite the show of U.S. support demonstrated by this astounding
quantity of arms sales, Saudi Arabia's human rights record is
extremely poor; see the U.S. State Department's 2000 Human Rights
Report. Saudi Arabia's position as a strategic Gulf ally has
blinded U.S. officials into approving a level and quality of
arms exports that should never have been allowed to a non-democratic
country with such a poor human rights record.
Further, there are indications
of Saudi's active role as a player in the nuclear black-market.
According to Mohammed Khilewi, first secretary at the Saudi mission
to the United Nations until July 1994, the Saudis have sought
a bomb since 1975; they sought to buy nuclear reactors from China,
supported Pakistan's nuclear program, and contributed $5 billion
to Iraq's nuclear weapons program between 1985 and 1990. While
the U.S. government vocally opposes the development or procurement
of ballistic missiles by non-allies, it has been very quiet in
Saudi Arabia's case, considering the fact that it possesses the
longest-range ballistic missiles of any developing country.
The Military Industrial Complex
certainly seems to be a winner in having the congressional report
pertaining to the Saudi government's role in supporting the 9/11
terrorist activities being classified. The exposure would have
meant grounds for U.S. sanctions and retributions; it would have
risked the loss of billions of dollars in revenue from its 'top
customer.' These companies don't even have to officially register
as foreign agents; after all, their strong loyalty and unbreakable
bond with foreign elements exists by default; it is called mutual
benefit. They are 'Foreign Agents by Default.'
This holds true for other parties
and players involved within the MIC network; the contractors
and the investors. Let's look at one of these famous and influential
players; another foreign agent even if only by default; a man
who defended the Saudis against a lawsuit brought by the 9/11
victims' family members; a man who happens to be the senior counsel
for the Carlyle Group, which invests heavily in defense companies
and is the nation's 10th largest defense contractor with ties
to the Saudi Royal Family, Enron, Global Crossing, among others;
James Baker; Papa Bush's Secretary of State. On the morning of
September 11th, 2001, Baker was reportedly at a Carlyle investor
conference with members of the Bin Laden family in the Ritz Carlton
in Washington DC, while Bush Sr. was on the payroll of the Carlyle
group.
The Carlyle Group, a Washington,
DC based private equity firm that employs numerous former high-ranking
government officials with ties to both political parties, was
the ninth largest Pentagon contractor between 1998 and 2003,
an ongoing Center for Public Integrity investigation into Department
of Defense contracts found. According to this report, overall,
six private investment firms, including Carlyle, received nearly
$14 billion in Pentagon deals between 1998 and 2003. Considering
the fact that Saudi Arabia is the top buyer of the U.S. weapons
industry, Carlyle's investment and its stake, and of course Jimmy
Baker's far reaching influence within the Pentagon and congress,
everything seems to come together and fit perfectly to shield
this foreign interest no matter the price to be paid by the American
public.
The political action committees
(PACs) of the biggest defense companies have given $14.2 million
directly to federal candidates since Clinton's first presidential
bid, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP). In
1997 alone the defense industry spent $49.5 million to lobby
the nation's decision-makers.
Between 1998 and 2004, for
the six-year period, Boeing Company spent more than $57
million in lobbying. For the same period of time, Lockheed Martin
poured over $55 million into lobbying activities. Northrop
Grumman exceeded both by investing $83 million in lobbying,
and based on a report issued by POGO, it contributed over $4
million to individuals and PACs.
With 'dime a dozen' generals on their boards of directors, numerous
high-powered ex congressmen and senators at their disposal in
the 'K Street Lobby Quarter,' tens of millions of dollars in
campaign donations, and billions of dollars at stake, the Military
Industrial Complex surely had all the incentives to act just
as foreign agents would, and fight for their highly valued client;
the Saudi Government. They appear to have had all the reasons
to ensure that the report would not see the light of the day;
no matter what the effect on the country, its security, and its
interests.
K Street
Lobby Quarter
The fact that Saudi Arabia
pours large sums into lobbying firms and public relations companies
with close ties to congress does not come as a big surprise.
The FARA database under the DOJ website lists Qorvis Communications
as one of Saudi Arabia's registered foreign agents. In 2003,
for only a six months period, Qorvis received more than $11
million from the Saudi government. Another firm, Loeffler Tuggey
Pauerstein Rosenthal LLP, another registered foreign agent, received
more than $840,000 for the same six-month period, and the list
goes on. Just for this six month period the government of Saudi
Arabia paid a total of more than $14 million to 13 lobbying and
public relations companies; all registered as foreign agents.
Why do the Saudis spend nearly
$20 million per year in lobbying activities in the U.S. via their
hired agents? What kind of return on investment are they getting
out of the United States Congress?
Let's take Loeffler's group
and examine its value for the Saudi government, since it was
paid over $3 million in three years between 2003 and 2005. The
firm was founded by former Republican Congressman Tom Loeffler
of Texas. Loeffler served in the Republican Leadership as Deputy
Whip, and as Chief Deputy Whip during his third and fourth term.
He was a member of the powerful Appropriations Committee, Energy
and Commerce Committee and Budget Committee. In the two Bush
campaigns for governor, Loeffler, who contributed $141,000, was
the largest donor. In 1998, he served as national co-chair of
the Republican National Committee's "Team 100" program
for donors of $100,000 or more, and afterwards held the same
title during George W. Bush's presidential campaign. Loeffler's
generosity extends to the members of congress as well. In 6 years,
he has given more than $185,000 to members of congress, 97% of
it going to only Republican members. During the same six-year
period, Loeffler's firm received more than $18 million in lobbying
fees.
The firm's managing director
happens to be William L. Ball. Ball served as Chief of Staff
to Senators John Tower (R-TX) and Herman Talmadge (D-GA). In
1985, he joined the Reagan Administration as Assistant Secretary
of State for Legislative Affairs. Later he was assigned to the
White House to serve President Reagan as his chief liaison to
the Congress. Wallace Henderson is also a Partner; he was Chief
Counsel and Chief of Staff to Representative W. J. Tauzin (R-LA),
Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator John Breaux (D-LA).
By having foreign agents such
as the Loeffler Group, in addition to their foreign agents by
default, the MIC, the Saudis seem to have all their bases covered.
Former secretaries and deputy secretaries with open access to
the current ones, former congressmen and senators who used to
be positioned on strategically valuable committees and know the
rules of the congressional game, and millions of dollars available
to be spent and channeled and re-channeled to various PACs go
a long way toward ensuring results. Money counts. Money is needed
to bring in votes. Professional skills and discretion are required
to get this money to various final destinations. The registered
foreign agents, the lobby groups, are geared for this task. The
client is happy in the end; so are the foreign agents and the
congressional actors.
Other Savvy
Nations
Of course, the sanction and
legitimization of far reaching foreign influence and strongholds
in the U.S., despite the many dire consequences endured by its
citizens, is not limited to the government of Saudi Arabia. Numerous
well-documented cases can be sited for others such as Turkey,
Pakistan, and Israel, to name a few.
I won't get into the details
and history of my own case, where the government invoked the
state secrets privilege to gag my case and the congress
in order to 'protect certain sensitive diplomatic relations.'
The country, the foreign influence, in this case was the Republic
of Turkey. The U.S. government did so despite the far reaching
consequences of burying the facts involved, and disregarded the
interests and security of the nation; all to protect a quasi
ally engaged in numerous illegitimate activities within the global
terrorist networks, nuclear black-market and narcotics activities;
an ally who happens to be another compulsive and loyal buyer
of the Military Industrial Complex; an ally who happens to be
another savvy player in recruiting top U.S. players as its foreign
agents and spending million of dollars per year to the lobbying
groups headed by many 'formers.' Turkey's agent list includes
generals such as Joseph Ralston and Brent Scowcroft, former statesmen
such as William Cohen and Marc Grossman, and of course famous
ex-congressmen such as Bob Livingston and Stephen Solarz. Turkey
too seems to have all its bases covered.
Another well-known and documented
case involves Pakistan. Over two decades ago Richard Barlow,
an intelligence analyst working for then-Secretary of Defense
Dick Cheney issued a startling report. After reviewing classified
information from field agents, he had determined that Pakistan,
despite official denials, had built a nuclear bomb. In the March
29, 1993 issue of New Yorker, Seymour Hersh noted that "even
as Barlow began his digging, some senior State Department officials
were worried that too much investigation would create what Barlow
called embarrassment for Pakistan." Barlow's
conclusion was politically inconvenient. A finding that Pakistan
possessed a nuclear bomb would have triggered a congressionally
mandated cutoff of aid to the country, and it would have killed
a $1.4-billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Islamabad. A few
months later a Pentagon official downplayed Pakistan's nuclear
capabilities in his testimony to Congress. When Barlow protested
to his superiors, he was fired. A few years later, the Executive
Branch would slap Barlow with the State Secrets Privilege.
As we all now know, Pakistan
provided direct nuclear assistance to Iran and Libya. During
the Cold War, the U.S. put up with Pakistani lies and deception
about their nuclear activities, it did not enforce its restrictions
on Pakistan's nuclear program when it counted, and as a result
Pakistan ended up with a U.S.-made nuclear weapons system. Yet
again, after 9/11, the Bush administration issued a waiver ending
the implementation of almost all sanctions on Pakistan because
of the perceived need for Pakistani assistance in the fight against
Al Qaeda and the Taliban, who ironically were brought to power
by direct U.S. support in the 1980s in the first place.
Weiss, in the May-June 2004
issue of the Bulletin states: "We are essentially back where
we were with Pakistan in the 1980s. It is apparent that it has
engaged in dangerous nuclear mischief with North Korea, Iran,
and Libya (and perhaps others), but thus far without consequences
to its relationship with the United States because of other,
overriding foreign policy considerations--not the Cold War this
time, but the war on terrorism." He continues: "But
now there is a major political difference. It was one thing for
Pakistan, a country with which the United States has had good
relations generally, to follow India and produce the bomb for
itself. It is quite another for Pakistan to help two-thirds of
the "axis of evil" to get the bomb as well."
FARA &
LDA
An agent of a 'foreign principal'
is defined as any individual or organization which acts at the
order, request, or under the direction or control of a foreign
principal, or whose activities are directed by a foreign principal
who engages in political activities, or acts in a public relations
capacity for a foreign principal, or solicits or dispenses any
thing of value within the United States for a foreign principal,
or represents the interests of a foreign principal before any
agency or official of the U.S. government.
In 1938, in response to the
large number of German propaganda agents in the pre-WWII U.S.,
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) was established to insure
that the American public and its lawmakers know the source of
propaganda intended to sway public opinion, policy, and laws.
The Act requires every agent of a foreign principal to register
with the Department of Justice and file forms outlining its agreements
with, income from, and expenditures on behalf of the foreign
principal. Any agent testifying before a committee of Congress
must furnish the committee with a copy of his most recent registration
statement. The agent must keep records of all his activities
and permit the Attorney General to inspect them. However, as
is the case with many laws, the Act is filled with exemptions
and loopholes that allow minimization of, and in some cases complete
escape from, warranted scrutiny.
There are a number of exemptions.
For example, persons whose activities are of a purely commercial
nature or of a religious, academic, and charitable nature
are exempt. Any agent who is engaged in lobbying activities and
is registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) is exempt.
The LDA of 1995 was passed after decades of effort to make the
regulation and disclosure of lobbying the federal government
more effective. However, LDA also has serious and important loopholes
and limitations that can be summed up as: Inadequate Disclosure,
Inadequate Enforcement, and Inadequate Regulation of Conduct.
The recent congressional scandals make this point very clear.
In addition, neither act deals
with an important issue: Conflict of Interest. Many of these
agents, with their loyalty to the foreign hand that feeds them,
end up being appointed to various positions, commissions and
special envoys by our government. Recall Kissinger and his appointment
to head the 9/11 Commission, and of course the recent revelation
by Woodward on his advisory position to the current White House.
Take a look at Jimmy Baker's current appointment on the Iraq
commission. Same goes for the father of all the 'dime a dozen
generals', Brent Scowcroft, and one of his new protégés,
General Joseph Ralston. In short, neither FARA nor LDA creates
meaningful oversight, control, or enforcement; neither deals
with conflict of interest issues, and neither provides any deterrence
or consequences for unethical or illegal conduct.
It used to be congressional
'pork projects' and 'corporate influence' that raised eyebrows
now and then; here and there. Gone are those days. Today the
unrestricted and uncontrollable money game and influence peddling
tricks within the major decision-making and policy producing
bodies of the U.S. government have reached new heights; yet,
no raised eyebrows are registered. Sadly, today, a new version
of 'The Manchurian Candidate' would have to be produced as a
documentary.
The other day I received a
request to sign on to a petition put forth by a group of 9/11
family members urging the congress to reopen the investigations
of 9/11 and declassify the infamous 27-pages which deal with
foreign governments, U.S. allies, that provided support for those
who carried out the attacks on our nation. My heart goes out
to them. I do sympathize with them. I am known to take on similar
propositions and methods of activism myself. However, looking
at the realities, seeing what it takes to get things done in
Washington, realizing how this beast works in the Real Sin City,
I would encourage them to look at the root cause, rather than
the symptoms. There are only two ways I can see that can bring
about what they have been fighting for and what the majority
of us desire to see in terms of bringing about Truth, Oversight,
and Accountability; Justice.
The family members, and their
supporters, us, either have to tackle the major cause; the corruption
of our government officials via unrestricted and undisciplined
'revolving doors' and 'foreign influence & lobby' practices,
and push for expedient meaningful reforms by the new ambitious
congress, and have them prove to us their worth. Or, they may
as well give up their long-held integrity, go bid high for one
or two former statesmen, hire a few dime a dozen generals, and
buy themselves a couple of ex-congressmen turned lobbyists; that
will do the job.
Sibel Edmonds is the founder and director of National
Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC).
Ms. Edmonds worked as a language specialist for the FBI. During
her work with the bureau, she discovered and reported serious
acts of security breaches, cover-ups, and intentional blocking
of intelligence that had national security implications. After
she reported these acts to FBI management, she was retaliated
against by the FBI and ultimately fired in March 2002. Since
that time, court proceedings on her case have been blocked by
the assertion of "State Secret Privilege"; the Congress
of the United States has been gagged and prevented from any discussion
of her case through retroactive re-classification by the Department
of Justice. Ms. Edmonds is fluent in Turkish, Farsi and Azerbaijani;
and has a MA in Public Policy and International Commerce from
George Mason University, and a BA in Criminal Justice and Psychology
from George Washington University. PEN American Center awarded
Ms. Edmonds the 2006 PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award.
She can be reached at: sedmonds@nswbc.org
© Copyright 2006, National
Security Whistleblowers Coalition. Information in this release
may be freely distributed and published provided that all such
distributions make appropriate attribution to the National Security
Whistleblowers Coalition.
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