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Read Cockburn and St. Clair's Whiteout: the CIA, Drugs and the Press and discover how the CIA gave a helping hand to the opium lords who took over Afghanistan, thus ushering the Taliban into power.

CounterPunch: Complete Coverage of 9/11 and the War on Afghanistan

New Print Edition of CounterPunch Available Exclusively to Subscribers: Occupied Ramallah Close Up: Large and Small Change in a State of Siege; Feed Your Goats, Maybe Get Shot; Snipers on Main Street; Hiding in Your Back Room for Three Days; Humor, Heroism and Bravado Amid Bullets; Occupied DC: Legislators' Daily Gauntlet of Searches; Only in America: His Dad Was CIA; He Hated Blacks; He Robbed Banks, and Liked to Dress Up Like a Woman; A Tribute to Billy Wilder. Remember, the CounterPunch website is supported exclusively by subscribers to our newsletter. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now!

April 20, 2002 Kristen Schurr Leaving Nablus Bernard Weiner Israel and the Intifada for Dummies Jean-Guy Allard A Coup Signed by Otto Reich Chris Floyd The Empire Never Sleeps A Letter from the Front April 19, 2002 Eric Flint Free the Books! David Krieger A Peace Proposal: Bring in the Children Jeff Paterson Advice to Recruits from a Gulf War Vet Jeffrey St. Clair From Sen. "Lunkhead" to Bush Energy Czar: A Year in the Life of Spencer Abraham April 18, 2002 Tom Turnipseed Latin America's Dilemma: The Propaganda of Otto Reich Sam Bahour Bush is Playing Russian Roulette with Palestinians M. Shahid Alam A Colonizing Project Built on Lies Alexander Cockburn Austin Cultural Limits: Willie Nelson, Film and BBQ April 17, 2002 Norman Finkelstein Behind the Carnage in Palestine Kristen Schurr With the Wounded and the Homeless in Nablus Norman Madarasz Undoing Chavez: The View from South America Brian Wood Combing The Ruins of Jenin George Monbiot Chemical Coup: The CIA's Attempt to Undermine the UN's Weapon Inspector for Iraq Robert Fisk Fear and Learning in America April 16, 2002 Todd May US Should End Aid to Israel Gabriel Ash The Oilman, the General and the Coup that Failed Ron Jacobs Wake Up Some Mornin', Find Your Own Self Dead: The Chavez Coup Brian Wood Inside Jenin: Rubble and Decomposing Bodies Jack McCarthy Citizen Coup: The Times, The Post and the Coup Plotters Dave Marsh Hymns: How I Got Through Last Week April 15, 2002 Susi Abeles A Field Trip to Jenin Breyten Breytenbach A Letter to Ariel Sharon: "You Won't Break Them" Gregory Wilpert CounterCoup in Venezuela Kristen Schurr Amid the Rubble of Nablus Jordy Cummings An Open Letter to Abe Foxman Christopher Reilly The Media, the CIA and the Chavez Coup James T. Phillips "Homicide" Bombers April 14, 2002 William Blum The CIA and Venezuela David Vest A Good Old-Fashion "Incursion" Ralph Nader General Motors: Stuck in Reverse M. Junaid Alam From the Ashes: Palestinian Struggle for Freedom Sam Bahour Palestinians and Americans April 13, 2002 Beth Daoud Life in the Ruins of Nablus Patrick Cockburn Bulldozing History: The End Nears for Stalin's Most Monstrous Hotel Gregory Wilpert The Coup in Venezuela: an Eye-Witness Account Rep. Cynthia McKinney Thoughts on Our War Against Terrorism Anne Winkler-Morey Why I Didn't Organize a Passover Seder This Year Resources: 100s of Links About 9/11 CounterPunch: Complete Coverage of 9/11 and Its Aftermath Five Days That Shook The World: Seattle and Beyond By Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair Photos by Allan Sekula (Click Here to Order from CounterPunch Online at 20% Off Amazon.com's price!) INSIDE Subscribe Online! EXCLUSIVE TO COUNTERPUNCH SUBSCRIBERS Published March 15, 2002 Facing Down Rehnquist and Scalia: Jennifer Harbury at the Supreme Court; ADL Throws in Towel, Pays Up: How They Worked for Apartheid Regime and Spied on NAACP: Cockburn on America the Bully: From Teddy Roosevelt to George W. St. Clair on Musicians Against the Death Penalty & The Legacy of the Mekons. Search CounterPunch Read Whiteout and Find Out How the CIA's Backing of the Mujahideen Created the World's Most Robust Heroin Market and Helped to Finance the Rise of the Taliban and Osama bin Laden Whiteout: CIA, Drugs & the Press by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair The New Crusade: America's War on Terrorism By Rahul Mahajan The Memphis Blues Again: Six Decades of Memphis Music Photographs Photos by Ernest Withers Text by Daniel Wolff The New Intifada: Resisting Israel's Apartheid Edited by Roane Carey   A Pocket Guide to Environmental Bad Guys by James Ridgeway and Jeffrey St. Clair The Phoenix Program by Douglas Valentine Al Gore: A User's Manual by Cockburn and St. Clair Buy This Explosive New Book at an Amazing Discount!  Reviews of Gore: a User's Manual Private Warriors by Ken Silverstein CounterPunch's Booktalk

April 20, 2002 Drowning in a Sea of Apathy By Philip Farruggio Dissent is not merely a right of sovereignty, it's an obligation. Parroting Marie Antoninette, our current political leaders declare "let them eat cake", when there's plenty of "bread" to share from our nation's table. I can only speak for myself and my experience. Yet, drive around your local community. What do you see? Here's what I observe in my town: trailer parks and slews of rental complexes, many containing families or singles struggling financially. They earn too little, pay too much for gasoline, rent, utilities--even a movie rental from the monopoly run video store costs over $4. How about my neighbors, all homeowners of modest means? They're mortgaged, car leased (or loaned), credit carded and health premiumed against the preverbal wall. Two paychecks per family is not the choice nowadays--rather the necessity, the norm. I pass by the superstores, the Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Lowes--all within a few hundred yards of one another. Fewer & fewer "mom and pops" in my town--that dinosaur is being preserved in the "museum of lost dreams." As my usually conservative neighbor Tony prophesizes: "as soon as Wal-Mart cannibalizes all the competition, you'll see those low prices start to climb--then it'll be too late!" I see my fair little town growing so rapidly. What was once a community of 38K when I moved here four years ago, is now approaching 50K. I see our politicians allowing the developers to build, build, build--not just on the outskirts of town, but within the already congested areas. I sit in traffic at many intersections, reminding me of why I fled Long Island NY. I see more and more "road rage" and anger between residents. Yet, the saddest sight I see in my fair town is apathy. To quote famed journalist George Seldes, "apathy is the disease of civilization". There is no group dissension against the above stated business and political behavior. Only resignation. The very people most adversely affected by the elites who run our system are the most silent. If only they would realize how powerful they really are. If only they would speak up and speak out--not waiting for some political "knight in shining armor" to speak for them. Rather, if the "dumped on" public would demand, not ask, but demand, action on certain issues, these elected officials would have to act--or be out of office ASAP. It takes a little energy to call those politicos, or fax them or e-mail them. It takes a little time to show up at those city and county council meetings. When people join together to address common issues, results usually happen. We need not drown in this sea of apathy--dissent is our lifeboat! Philip Farruggio, son of a longshoreman, is "Blue Collar Brooklyn" born, raised and educated (Brooklyn College, Class of '74). A former progressive talk show host, Philip runs a mfg. rep. business and writes for many publications. He lives in Port Orange, FL. You can contact Mr. Farruggio at e-mail: brooklynphilly@aol.com.