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Today's Stories February 2 / 3, 2008 John Ross February 1, 2008 Ray McGovern Diane Farsetta Patrick Cockburn Tariq Ali Allan Nairn Rannie Amiri Ramzy Baroud Kenneth Couesbouc Peter Morici Mumia Abu-Jamal Rosemary Jackowski Scott Campbell Website of the Day
January 31, 2008 Saul Landau Andy Worthington Mike Whitney Jeff Ballinger Tiffany Ten
Eyck William Loren
Katz Alan Farago Col. Dan Smith China Hand Dave Lindorff Wadner Pierre Website of the Day
January 30, 2008 Cockburn /
St. Clair Christopher
Ketcham Robert Weissman Neve Gordon Paul Craig Roberts Joanne Mariner David Macaray Liaquat Ali
Khan Raymond J. Lawrence Dan Bacher Website of the Day
January 29, 2008 Franklin C.
Spinney Mike Whitney Alan Farago Patrick Cockburn Gary Leupp R. F. Blader Ahmad Faruqui Fran Shor Jeremy Scahill Allan Nairn Website of the Day
January 28, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Paul Craig
Roberts Allan Nairn Eyad al-Sarraj
/ Sara Roy Martha Rosenberg Corporate Crime
Reporter David Michael Green Jennifer Van
Bergen Nancy Oden Divya Karnad James L. Secor Website of
the Day
January 26 / 27, 2008 Uri Avnery JoAnn Wypijewski Ralph Nader Paul Craig
Roberts Paul Watson John Ross Fred Gardner Allan Nairn Joshua Frank Binoy Kampmark James T. Phillips Stan Cox Eamonn McCann Ron Jacobs Seth Sandronsky Ben Terrall Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
January 25, 2008 Douglas Valentine Patrick Cockburn JoAnn Wypijewski Heather Gray Marjorie Cohn Erica Rosenberg Alan Farago Robert Weissman Laura Carlsen Stephen Lendman Website of the Day
January 24, 2008 JoAnn Wypijewski Paul Craig
Roberts Alexander Cockburn Kathleen Christison Jeff Halper Stanley Heller George Wuerthner Patrick Cockburn Jeff Sher Patrick Irelan Charles Modiano Website of
the Day
January 23, 2008 David Rosen David Isenberg Farzana Versey Paul Craig
Roberts Alan Farago Allan Nairn Kenneth Couesbouc Niranjan Ramakrishnan Michael Donnelly Norman Solomon Website of the Day
January 22, 2008 Paul Craig
Roberts JoAnn Wypijewski Al Giordano Felice Pace Paul Wolf Robert Weissman Dave Lindorff Marjorie Cohn Richard Neville Don Fitz /
Zaki Baruti Ben Terrall Sam Husseini Website of
the Day
January 21, 2008 Kevin Alexander
Gray Linn Washington,
Jr. Pam Martens David Macaray Uri Avnery Omar Barghouti Joe DeRaymond B.R. Gowani Shepherd Bliss Jean-Guy Allard Dan Bacher Website of
the Day January 19 / 20, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Saul Landau China Hand Conn Hallinan Ron Jacobs Dave Lindorff Andy Worthington Paul Armentano Seth Sandronsky Michael Donnelly Patrick Irelan Martha Rosenberg Sherwood Ross David Michael
Green James Rothenberg Daniel Gross Peter N. Carroll Susie Day Paul Krassner Poets' Basement Website of the Day
January 18, 2008 Allan Nairn Ralph Nader Joanne Mariner Alan Farago P. Sainath R.F. Blader Andy Worthington John Jonik Brian McKenna Daoud Kuttab Website of the Day
January 17, 2008 Paul Craig
Roberts Christopher
Brauchli Robert Fantina Patrick Irelan Paul A. Moore Stephen Lendman Beena Sarwar Walter Brasch Brenda Norrell Adam Federman Website of the Day
January 16, 2008 Jeffrey St.
Clair Franklin Lamb Julian Sanchez Sharon Smith Allan Nairn Ayesha Ijaz
Khan Andy Worthington Richard Behan Website of the Day
January 15, 2008 Andrea Peacock Wajahat Ali Joe Bageant Ralph Nader John Ross Elaine Cassel Peter Morici Beena Sarwar Robert Weissman Binoy Kampmark Dave Zirin Website of
the Day
January 14, 2008 Ishmael Reed Roger Morris Uri Avnery Mike Whitney Allan Nairn William Blum Alan Farago David Macaray Eva Liddell Zoe Blunt Website of the Day
January 12 / 13, 2008 Andrew Cockburn Saul Landau Corey D. B. Walker Col. Dan Smith Eric Toussaint Ron Jacobs Fred Gardner Stan Cox Jacob G. Hornberger Ramzy Baroud Joseph Grosso David Díaz-Arias Stacey Warde Dan Bacher Michael Dickinson Website of
Weekend
January 11, 2008 Dave Lindorff Paul Craig
Roberts Andy Worthington Kenneth Couesbouc Jeff Ballinger Christopher
Brauchli Manuel Garcia, Jr. Andrew Silverstein Marwan Bishara Robert Weissman Patrick Irelan Website of
the Day
January 10, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Bob Wing Michael Donnelly David Macaray China Hand Ayesha Ijaz Khan Rannie Amiri Website of the Day
January 9, 2008 Cockburn /
St. Clair Dave Lindorff John Chuckman James Bovard Alan Farago Russell Mokhiber William S. Lind Peter Morici Josh Reubner Mike Roselle Website of the Day
January 8, 2008 Paul Craig
Roberts Russell Mokhiber Robert Fantina Dave Zirin Shamako Nobel John Ross Brenda Norrell Laura Carlsen Patrick Irelan Evelyn J. Pringle Jonathan M.
Feldman Michael Dickinson Website of
the Day
January 7, 2008 Chris Floyd John Blair Uri Avnery Andy Worthington Binoy Kampmark David Macaray Ralph Nader Michael Donnelly Ron Jacobs Gideon Levy Dave Lindorff Website of
the Day
January 5 / 6, 2008 Douglas Valentine Kevin Young Richard Rhames Saul Landau Marc Lynch Robert Fantina Donna Volatile Jelle Bruinsma Bob Sutcliffe Harvey Wasserman Missy Beattie David Swanson Jacob Hornberger Shepherd Bliss Ron Jacobs Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
January 4, 2008 Cockburn /
St. Clair Jonathan Cook Paul Craig Roberts Stan Goff Dave Lindorff Niranjan Ramakrishnan Allan Nairn Joshua Frank Peter Morici Mary McInnis Website of the Day
January 3, 2008 Fatima Bhutto Pam Martens Joanne Mariner Zoltan Grossman David Domke Norman Solomon Nikolas Kozloff Jacob G. Hornberger Martha Rosenberg Russell Means Website of the Day
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Weekend
Edition Iraq as Stepchild of the American EmpireA Colony By Any Other NameBy ROBERT FANTINA A recent report in the New York Times outlines new U.S. demands being made on Iraq. The article states, in part, the following: "the Bush administration will insist that the government in Baghdad give the United States broad authority to conduct combat operations and guarantee civilian contractors specific legal protections from Iraqi law." So much for Mr. Bush's vision of a democratic Iraq. That one phrase contains two alarming concepts that should send up red flags in the halls of Congress, the United Nations and throughout the Arab world, although it is probably only the latter that will react. A look at each concept, and the expected reaction from those potentially impacted, is somewhat frightening. The U.S., says Mr. Bush, must have 'broad authority to conduct combat operations.' In 2003 Mr. Bush sought that authority and, with the willing acquiescence of a Republican-controlled Congress, easily gained it. Since then, Republicans and Democrats alike have extended his 'authority' to 'conduct combat operations' at whatever level he chooses. It appears unlikely that he will be denied this ability anytime during the final year of his reign of terror. What is the likely reaction
of the United Nations? With the U.S. having veto power, there
is little that body will be able to do to stop Mr. Bush's imperial
destruction of Iraq, already well underway. Yet member nations
will not quite so easily embrace these new U.S. demands on Iraq,
demands that the U.S., It seems difficult to accept the idea that a nation can run roughshod over the citizens of another nation simply because it gives itself the right and authority to do so. The world has been horrified by such actions in the past: when Germany invaded Poland, Austria, France and other nations during World War II, it, like the U.S. today, simply gave itself the authority to do so. When Russia invaded Afghanistan it was simply, like the U.S., giving itself the authority to invade a sovereign nation. Even when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, it had simply granted itself the right to do so, although long-standing disputes over borders and oil were the reason for that invasion. The U.S. was less amenable to the idea of such an invasion at that time than it has been more recently. Lastly, however naïve one might be, one cannot believe for a moment that Iran, Saudi Arabia and their neighbors will be particularly happy with the U.S. granting itself 'broad authority to conduct combat operations' in Iraq. With Mr. Bush ignoring the findings of the National Intelligence Institute, which reported in late 2007 that Iran had ceased its nuclear weapons program three years earlier, Iran has no reason to embrace additional and extended U.S. military presence in Iraq. Throughout the Middle East, nations have watched first-hand as U.S. imperialism has been hard at work. Unlike most U.S. citizens, the citizens of many of Iraq's neighbors have experienced the 'collateral damage' of the war as Iraqi citizens by the millions have fled their own country for the relative safety of neighboring nations. The sheer number of these refugees has burdened the economies and infrastructure of their host countries, and additional U.S. violence and terror in Iraq will only increase their numbers. The second troubling point concerns the work of civilian U.S. contractors. One wonders why a 'liberated' Iraq needs to provide these contractors 'legal protections from Iraqi law.' Why, one might reasonably ask, should the businesses of a foreign nation be allowed to violate local law? The concept seems extraordinary, except when viewed from the distorted perspective of its author. Mr. Bush has taken it upon himself to violate the Constitution and make himself exempt from U.S. laws. For example, he feels completely justified in the following behaviors: invading sovereign nations that pose no threat to the U.S.; wiretapping the private conversations of U.S. citizens; authorizing 'interrogation techniques' that the Geneva Conventions and the rest of the world ban as torture; establishing torture centers in foreign countries; removing due process from persons who he deems undeserving of it; evicting from political events spectators wearing shirts with such controversial slogans as 'support human rights' to name just a few. That he now wants to allow U.S. businesses in Iraq, many of the largest there on 'no bid' contracts, to enslave local citizens by violating wage and safety rules, steal natural resources and generally behave as tinpot dictators, all the while amassing fortunes for their top leadership, and leave in their wake suffering Iraqis without any recourse, is not surprising. And since Congress has allowed him to violate U.S. law every step of the way, he has no reason to believe he will be thwarted now. This is Mr. Bush's brand of liberation. This is what happens when the mighty U.S. focuses its murderous attention on a nation with natural resources that will further enrich, beyond the dreams of most Americans and certainly far outside the imaginations of the Iraqis who own the oil, U.S. political leaders and their corrupt and greedy cronies. Liberation to Mr. Bush apparently means destroying the men, women and children who stand in the way of corporate profits. Democracy means capitalism, and it will be forced upon the unwilling, should they be so unfortunate as to possess some resource that the U.S. wants. The U.S. is currently slogging through a primary season, where the Republican candidate, who at this point seems likely to be either Arizona Senator John McCain or former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, seems determined to continue Mr. Bush's murderous policies if elected president. On the Democratic side, either a President Obama or President Clinton may talk of change, but their voting history does not indicate that there will be much action behind the rhetoric. So it seems apparent that Mr. Bush expects the people of Iraq to resign their nation to its new status as stepchild to the wealthy American empire, useful only for oil and the cheap labor needed to refine it. He seems to believe, perhaps not incorrectly, that his successor will agree. Unfortunately for the president and whoever follows him into residence in the White House, the Iraqi people have proven themselves unwilling to settle for this second-class standing since the start of his war. But he has never been one to let facts stand in his way; now it seems only the bloodied bodies of his Iraqi victims can do anything to prevent the realization of his obscene imperial goals. Robert Fantina is author of 'Desertion and the American Soldier: 1776--2006.'
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