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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers! How Cops Extort Confessions;
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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers!
How Cops Extort Confessions;
How the U.S. “Justice System” Really WorksNinety-two per cent of felony convictions in the U.S. are obtained by plea bargains or confessions. Without them the “justice system” would grind to a halt. In an important piece in our latest newsletter, available only to subscribers, Emily Horowitz shows how totally innocent people will “confess” under police pressure, even without physical torture. Horowitz outlines the powerful case for banning confessions altogether. Also in this new edition Marcus Rediker, co-author of the legendary The Many Headed Hydra, writes of popular heroism and resistance in the favelas of Medellin, Colombia. Alexander Cockburn reports on how America’s oldest bank, patronized by the global elites, washed billions smuggled out of Russia, and how the Russians might win their money back, shaking the world’s banking system if they do so. Serge Halimi describes the real battle for the soul of Europe. Get your copy today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch books and gear make great presents.
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Today's Stories August 9 / 10, 2008 Robert Fantina August 8, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Manuel Garcia, Jr. M. Shahid Alam Andy Worthington Lawrence J. Korb David Model Alan Farago Diop Olugbala Firmin DeBrabander Website of the Day August 7, 2008 Dr. Trudy Bond William Blum Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Robert Weitzel Jacob G. Hornberger Binoy Kampmark David Macaray Howard Lisnoff Website of the Day August 6, 2008 Marc Herold Greg Moses Sheldon Rampton Kevin Young Michael Estrada Robert Weissman Dr. Susan Block Cindy Sheehan Ronald Hoffman Website of the Day August 5, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Jeff Halper Patrick Cockburn Nancy Welch Peter Morici Sousan Hammad Eamon Martin Shepherd Bliss Tim Matson Website of the Day August 4, 2008 Uri Avnery Saul Landau David W. Remington Rev. Jesse Jackson Dave Lindorff Peter Morici Joanne Mariner Ramzy Baroud Christian Wright Website of the Day August 2 / 3, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Patrick Cockburn Winslow T. Wheeler James Abourezk Andy Worthington Brian Cloughley Robert Fantina Benjamin Dangl Marlene Martin David Yearsley Fatemeh Keshavarz David Michael Green Obama as Dukakis Harvey Wasserman Jason Hribal Phyllis Pollack Laray Polk Ron Jacobs David Macaray David Rosen Dan Bacher Joe Allen Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 1, 2008 Jonathan Cook Nikolas Kozloff Rannie Amiri Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli M. K. Bhadrakumar Patrick Cockburn James J. Brittain Dan Bacher Website of the Day
July 31, 2008 Michael Hudson Carl Finamore Mike Whitney Joshua Frank Andy Worthington Ralph Nader Bill Moyers / Robert Weissman Dave Lindorff Website of the Day July 30, 2008 Brian M. Downing Chuck Spinney William S. Lind David Ker Thomson Karl Grossman Mike Whitney Martha Rosenberg James Murren Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Website of the Day July 29, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair John Ross Peter Morici Alison Weir Gary Leupp David Macaray Brenda Norrell Marjorie Cohn Eric Ruder Website of the Day July 28, 2008 Dr. Bryant Welch Kathy Kelly Mike Whitney Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli Clifton Ross Stephen Lendman Website of the Day July 26 / 27, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair James G. Abourezk Joseph Nevins Uri Avnery Linn Washington, Jr. David Yearsley Binoy Kampmark Saul Landau Joshua Frank Brendan Cooney Jonathan Cook Robert Fantina Lee Sustar Michael Winship David Macaray Missy Beattie Robert Weissman Kim Nicolini Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend July 25, 2008 Harvey Wasserman Paul Craig Roberts Alan Farago Paul D'Amato Gary Leupp Niranjan Ramakrishnan Mike Whitney Paul Krassner Mike Roselle Website of the Day July 24, 2008 Greg Moses Andy Worthington James Bovard Joe Bageant George Wuerthner DC Larson William Willers David Macaray Website of the Day July 23, 2008 Winslow T. Wheeler Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Mike Whitney Susie Day Website of the Day July 22, 2008 Nikolas Kozloff Patrick Cockburn Soldz, Olson, Reisner Arrigo and Welch Moshe Adler Martha Rosenberg Dan Bacher Harvey Wasserman Anthony Papa Binoy Kampmark Website of the Day July 21, 2008 Ishmael Reed Mike Whitney Andy Worthington Scott Pellegrino John Ross Robert Weitzel Mike Stark Website of the Day July 19 / 20, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Dave Lindorff Saul Landau Ron Jacobs Uri Avnery Neve Gordon Roane Carey Robert Fantina Christopher Brauchli Fred Gardner David Macaray Richard L. Hutto Bill Moyers / Ronnie Cummins David Yearsley Alison McKenna Wajahat Ali Poets' Basement Website of the Day July 18, 2008 Corey D. B. Walker Mike Whitney Robert Bryce Mike Roselle Bouthaina Shaaban Eve Spangler Website of the Day
July 17, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts James G. Abourezk Ralph Nader Allan J. Lichtman Andy Worthington"Screwed Up" and"Abused": Omar Khadr's Interrogations at Gitmo Ronnie Cummins
July 16, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair Paul Craig Roberts Conn Hallinan Dave Lindorff William S. Lind Christopher Brauchli Website of the Day
July 15, 2008 Michael Hudson Brian Cloughley Patrick Cockburn John Ross Howard Lisnoff Website of the Day July 14, 2008 Uri Avnery Paul Craig Roberts Trish Schuh Patrick Cockburn Mike Whitney Alan Farago Seth Sandronsky Phyllis Pollack Website of the Day July 12 / 13, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair James Abourezk Nicole Colson Stan Cox Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Wajahat Ali / John Stauber Alan Farago Missy Beattie Robert Fantina Rannie Amiri Gregory Kafoury Fran Shor Martha Rosenberg David Macaray Andrew Wimmer Ron Jacobs Farzana Versey Kim Nicolini Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend July 11, 2008 Kevin Alexander Gray Sasan Fayazmanesh Peter Morici Mike Whitney Manuel Garcia, Jr. Robert Weissman Ramzy Baroud Kelly Overton Adrian Burgos Website of the Day July 10, 2008 Brian McKenna Paul Craig Roberts Saul Landau Ron Jacobs Joshua Frank Peter Morici Alan Maass Robert Weissman William Blum Alan Farago Website of the Day July 9, 2008 Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Luis Rodriguez Sheldon Richman Fatemeh Keshavarz Chad Hanson Sen. Russ Feingold Niranjan Ramakrishnan Dave Lindorff Stanley Heller Philip Rizk Website of the Day July 8, 2008 Nikolas Kozloff Laura Carlsen Mike Whitney Andy Worthington Patrick Irelan Chellis Glendinning David Macaray Dave Lindorff John Chuckman Phillip Doe Website of the Day July 7, 2008 Patrick Bond Kathy Kelly Andy Worthington Clifton Ross Elizabeth Schulte Ralph Nader Dave Lindorff Binoy Kampmark Stephen Fleischman Website of the Day July 5 / 6, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair / Patrick Cockburn Mike Whitney Robert Fantina Binoy Kampmark Rannie Amiri Eric Ruder Brian Cloughley William Blum Frank Barat Christopher Brauchli David Yearsley Ron Jacobs Karim Makdisi Wendy Thompson / N. D. Jayaprakash Ramzy Baroud Kelly Overton Richard Neville Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
July 4, 2008 Kathy Kelly Dave Lindorff Paul Krassner Jackie Corr Laray Polk Dan Bacher Walter Brasch Charles Modiano Website of the Day July 3, 2008 Sharon Smith Andy Worthington Laura Carlsen Peter Morici Ramzi Kysia Martha Rosenberg Anne Landman Dave Zirin Kristin Bricker Website of the Day
July 2, 2008 Patrick Irelan Vijay Prashad Brian Cloughley Ralph Nader Robert Fantina Dave Lindorff Parvez Ahmed Robert Bryce Website of the Day July 1, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Mike Whitney Douglas Macgregor Steven Higgs Andy Worthington Binoy Kampmark Dave Lindorff Roger Burbach Richard W. Behan Gary Leupp Website of the Day |
Weekend Edition Bush, McCain and ObamaOf Campaigns and TimelinesBy ROBERT FANTINA Is there anyone on the planet that does not yet recognize the inconsistencies of President George Bush’s many statements? Let us all take a walk down memory lane which is, unfortunately, cluttered with the litter of Mr. Bush’s many lies. September 12, 2002: “Today, Iraq continues to withhold important information about its nuclear program.” We all know today that Iraq had no nuclear program by the date Mr. Bush made this proclamation. June 28, 2005. This speech, to help rally support for the war in Iraq when it had long since begun to lose its appeal to the general populace, had two memorable statements. 1) “The only way our enemies can succeed is if we forget the lessons of September the 11th.” This was nearly a year after the 9/11 Commission report said that there was ‘no credible evidence’ indicating any link between Iraq and the September 11 attacks on the U.S. 2) “Sending more Americans would undermine our strategy of encouraging Iraqis to take the lead in this fight.” Apparently Mr. Bush no longer cared about ‘undermining our strategy’ when he added over 30,000 additional troops to terrorize the Iraq people in early 2007. May, 2005: President George Bush signs legislation to continue funding the war after vetoing such legislation when it included a timeline for July 18, 2008: President Bush and Iraq's prime minister Nouri al-Maliki agree to a “general time horizon” for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Regarding Mr. Bush’s willingness to accept a ‘general time horizon’ (read: timeline) for withdrawal, one wonders what might have changed. Has the much vaunted ‘surge’ succeeded in killing and intimidating enough Iraqi freedom fighters that the nation has begun to submit, after five years, to the will of its imperial occupiers? Does Mr. Bush believe that ‘victory,’ which to him is apparently an Iraq with a western-style democracy, forced upon it against the will of the people, has been achieved? That is too much of a stretch even for the intellectually-challenged Mr. Bush to believe. But using Hitler’s ‘Big Lie’ theory, perhaps he hopes that U.S. citizens will buy it. In case anyone is not familiar with the ‘Big Lie’ theory, it comes from Mein Kampf, Hitler’s autobiography, and is this: ‘…in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation … more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.” So if Mr. Bush would have us believe that a new democratic Iraq is dawning, he is telling ‘the big lie.’ But perhaps neither of these explains the president’s apparent willingness to accept a troop withdrawal timeline (he calls it a time ‘horizon,’ apparently believing that the U.S. citizenry is too stupid to know he means timeline). The youthful, dynamic Democratic presidential candidate, Illinois Senator Barack Obama is ahead in the polls; his Republican opponent, the awkward, elderly and decrepit senator from Arizona, John McCain, has not been able to spark any excitement on the campaign trail. Mr. McCain is a stalwart supporter of war, any war it seems, and foresees the U.S. occupation in Iraq lasting for generations. Perhaps it has finally dawned on Mr. Bush that this is not what the American people want; perhaps someone has finally gotten through to him; perhaps someone has penetrated his inner circle of yes-men and women, and has made him realize that a campaign platform of more of the same death, blood and destruction, is not selling too well even in middle America. If he defuses the Iraq war as an issue in this campaign, he may feel that Mr. McCain has a chance of being elected. That would ensure future wars, permanent tax breaks for the rich and other money-making schemes that are so close to Mr. Bush’s heart. Unfortunately, something appears to have been overlooked in Mr. Bush’s planning; he neglected to confer with Mr. McCain, who proclaims the following on his official campaign website: “To promise a withdrawal of our forces from Iraq, regardless of the calamitous consequences to the Iraqi people, our most vital interests, and the future of the Middle East, is the height of irresponsibility. It is a failure of leadership.” Now certainly this is not what Mr. Obama has proposed; never has he said he would withdraw U.S. forces ‘regardless of the calamitous consequences’ that may ensue. Rather, unlike Mr. McCain, he seems to recognize at least to some extent that the U.S. made a mess in Iraq, and its continued presence only compounds the original, catastrophic mistake. Like Mr. Bush today, Mr. Obama proposes a sixteen-month time ‘horizon’ (he is somewhat more candid than Mr. Bush; he simply calls it a timeline) for withdrawal. Poor Mr. McCain is once again left looking like the perennial bridesmaid, always in the limelight but never quite making it to the star position. Mr. McCain’s website also reveals countless other gems, too numerous to discuss here. However, a few are worth noting. “John McCain believes it is strategically and morally essential for the United States to support the Government of Iraq to become capable of governing itself and safeguarding its people.” If one looks back prior to the U.S. invasion, it appears that Iraq was doing that at least adequately without U.S. interference. “It would be a grave mistake to leave before Al Qaeda in Iraq is defeated….” Do we need to remind Mr. McCain that Al Qaeda had no appreciable presence in Iraq prior to the U.S. invasion, and even now the ‘Al Qaeda’ in that country has only the most minimal ties to Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda? “The best way to secure long-term peace and security is to establish a stable, prosperous, and democratic state in Iraq that poses no threat to its neighbors.” Does it ever occur to Mr. McCain that, perhaps because of centuries old traditions and deeply held religious beliefs, the Iraqi people many not want a democratic state? Or does he simply not care, believing instead that the American way is the best, like it or not? And why should Iraq not pose a threat to its neighbors, when the U.S. poses threats to so much of the world? Is the threat of deadly, international violence only the ‘right’ of the U.S? Yet Mr. McCain persists, despite his hero’s acceptance of a timeline for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Perhaps in the next several days we will see him squirm his way into a new position, proclaiming that he has said all along that a timeline is the way to go. It’s politics as usual in the U.S. But one should not attempt to predict the future; what Mr. McCain says tomorrow may differ substantially from his ‘deeply held’ beliefs next week. It is likely that the electorate is too bored of this campaign already to pay any close attention to what he or Mr. Obama say. That would be unfortunate, since even a cursory look at Mr. McCain’s statements indicate his desire and intention to continue Mr. Bush’s policies which have proven disastrous for the people of the U.S. and Iraq. Mr. Obama may not be able to usher in the ‘Change we can believe in,’ as his appealing campaign slogan promises, but at least the U.S. and the world can hope for something different, and better, than the last nearly eight years have produced. Robert Fantina is author of 'Desertion and the American Soldier: 1776--2006.
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