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Today's
Stories
January 1,
2008
Iain A. Boal
City
of Disappearances
December 31,
2007
Alexander Cockburn
Goodbye
2007 and Good Riddance!
Tariq Ali
Pakistan, the Aftermath
Liaquat Ali Khan
The Perfidy of Pakistan's Rulers
Wajahat Ali
After Bhutto, a Nuclear Pakistan?
Robert Fisk
Who Killed Bhutto?
Ajai Sahni
Myths and Realities About Benazir Bhutto and Pakistan's Dark
Future
Marwan Bishara
You Say Talk, I Say Attack: The Middle East and the US Presidential
Election Campaigns
Uri Avnery
The Beilin Syndrome
Mark T. Harris
Does This Happen in Canada?
Brenda Norrell
Resistance and Censorship
Website of the Day
A People United Will Never Be Defeated
December 29
/ 30, 2007
Alexander Cockburn
Options
in America: Kill Yourself or Have a Baby
Tariq Ali
Indignation and Fear Stalk Pakistan
Fawzia Afzal-Khan
My Encounter with Benazir Bhutto
Gary Leupp
The U.S. and Pakistan After 9/11: Blowback from an Unholy Alliance
China Hand
Pakistan Stares Into the Abyss
Jacob Hornberger
Stop Medddling in Pakistan
John Chuckman
Pakistan and the Failure of Quick-Fix Politics
Missy Beattie
Evaluating Bush with the Bhutto Corruption Standard
Ralph Nader
Who Will Take the Next Step?
Fidel Castro
There Hasn't Been a Day in My Life When I Haven't Learned Something
Robert Fantina
The Sham of Homeland Security
Greg Moses
Beauty from the Heart of Texas
Catherine Lutz
What We Can Not See: Art and Bombing
Kristin Van
Tassel
Seeing in the Dark
Kim Nicolini
Redacted: Brian DePalma's Scream of Outrage
Phyllis Pollack
Keith Richards Runs With Rudolph Once More
Poets' Basement
Landau, Gibbons and Davies
Website of
the Weekend
Driving Karachi in Search of the Perfect Naan
December 28,
2007
Farzana Versey
The
Complex Electra
Wajahat Ali
A
Pakistani Requiem
Binoy Kampmark
Death in Rawalpindi: Bhutto and Her Legacy
Ayesha Ijaz
Khan
Not Dead Yet: The Pakistan People's Party Still Survives
Anthony DiMaggio
Turkey's Bombing of Iraq
Ray McGovern
Creeping
Fascism
Jim Goodman
Biofuels, the Biggest Scam Going
Ron Jacobs
Transcending the Colonizer's History: Iran, a People Interrupted
Russell Hoffman
Mini-Nukes by Toshiba
John Murphy
Greens Gone Wild
Website of the Day
Guiliani Campaign Official: "Only Rudy Can Defeat the Muslims"
December 27,
2007
Dilip Hiro
A
Tragedy Foretold: Will Bhutto's Death be a Boost for Her Party?
Murtaza Shibli
Who Killed Bhutto?
Stephen Soldz
Fallujah,
the Information War and U.S. Propaganda
Bill Quigley
Locked
Outside the Gates
Paul Craig Roberts
The Great American Lock-Up
Omer Subhani
Killing Bhutto: What Happens Next in Pakistan?
Marjorie Cohn
The Torture Tape Cover-Up: How High Does It Go?
Allan Nairn
Cataclysm By Money Whim
Jacob G. Hornberger
Smearing Ron Paul: Shame on the NYT
Norman Solomon
Channeling Suze Orman
Patrick Irelan
Rumsfeld Spills the Ink
Ben Tripp
Pass the Razor Blades
Website of the Day
Quagmire, For What It's Worth
December 26, 2007
Charles Tripp
From
One Saddam to Fifty
Paul Armentano
No-Knock, You're Dead
Rannie Amiri
Lebanon in Search of a Government
Stanley Heller
Brzezinski and Charlie Wilson's War
John Walsh
Two Unreasonable Men
Martha Rosenberg
The Strange Career of Scott Gottlieb
Norman Madarasz
Bolivia Amends New Constitution and Faces Mutiny from Within
Website of
the Day
Cockburn at the Battle of Ideas
December 25,
2007
Patrick Cockburn
Conscience
and Empire
December 24,
2007
Andrea Peacock
A
Dark Ride on the Border
Tariq Ali
Thinking of Edward Said
Uri Avnery
Help! A Ceasefire!
Jill Jameson
Burma is Not Back to Normal: A Trip from Rangoon to Mae Sot
Steve Melendez
Russell Means Goes to Washington
Mike Whitney
The Big Fix
Chuck Munson
Not Getting It About New Orleans
John Walsh
Clueless Crusaders
Farzana Versey
Tony Blair and the Hawking of Religion
Richard Neville
Dreaming of a White House Christmas
Website of the Day
Back in the USSR
December 22 / 23, 2007
Alexander Cockburn
Mike
Huckabee's Ascending Chariot
Ralph Nader
Politics
and Profits: How the Oil Cartel Gets Its Way
Andy Worthington
Intelligence Failures, Battlefield Myths and Unaccountable Prisons
in Afghanistan
Ahmad Faruqui
The Comedian of Pakistan
Bill Moyers
Society on Steroids
Rev. William
E. Alberts
Blessed are the Peacemakers
Timothy J. Freeman
From Kant to Lennon: Can War Really be Over?
Anthony DiMaggio
Democrats Continue to Capitulate on Iraq
Fred Gardner
Molecule of the Year, Cannabiodiol
Paul Krassner
Enhanced Hazing Techniques
Seth Sandronsky
17 Years of Meanness: Repealing California's Three Strikes Law
William Loren
Katz
Christmas Eve Freedom Fighters: Recalling the Battle of Lake
Okeechobee
Michael Dickinson
In the Dungeon of the Zabita
Ron Jacobs
Why Leon Russell Still Matters
David Vest
Doyle Bramhall's "Is It News?"
Poets' Basement
Orloski, Davies and Ford
Website of the Weekend
George W. Hates Santa
December 21,
2007
John Ross
New Massacres Loom in Mexico
Jacob Hornberger
Nothing Can Morally Justify the Invasion of Iraq
Dick J. Reavis
A
Way Out of the Newspaper Abyss
Jeff Cohen
and Norman Solomon
The 2007 P.U.-litzer Prizes
Peter Morici
Business as Usual as Recession Looms
Jack McCarthy
Let Us Now Praise Judith Regan (Even If She Did Sleep with Bernie
Kerik)
Raúl Zibechi
Sex and Revolution
Steve Early
How the Presidential Candidates Made Me an Atheist
David Macaray
Union Aftermath
Patrick Bond
Zuma, the Center-Left and the Left-Left in S. Africa
Lakota Freedom Delegation
A Declaration of Independence from the USA
Website of
the Day
Solomon v. Beck: Tale of the Tape
December 20,
2007
David Rosen
Mitt
Romney's Secret Life as a Pornographer
Alan Farago
The
Huckster and the Wreckage: Jeb Bush and the Subprime Mortgage
Crisis
Laura Carlsen
Standing Up to NAFTA
Ashley Dawson
The Return of the Bread Riot
Wayne Smith
and Jennifer Schuett
Cuba Changes, US Policy Stagnates
Website of
the Day
How to Talk to a FoxNews Reporter
December 19,
2007
Saul Landau
Is
the NIE Bush's Watergate?
Paul W. Lovinger
Hillary the Hawk
Norman Solomon
The Mad Corporate World of Glenn Beck
Dave Zirin
George Mitchell's Drugs of Choice
Marjorie Cohn
Bush Still Spinning Iranian Nukes
Sen. Russell
Feingold
The Iraq War is Exhausting Our Nation
Sonja Karkar
A Christmas Reflection on Palestine
Anthony Papa
Open the Drug Gulags
Christopher Ketcham
Pave the Holy Lands with Good Intentions
Davey D
Britney's Little Sister is Pregnant: Should We Blame Hip Hop?
Website of
the Day
When Republicans Use the F-Word on TV
December 18,
2007
R. F. Blader
The
Politics of Teen Pregnancy
George Wuerthner
Gunning for Wolves in Idaho
Steven Higgs
Can the NAFTA Superhighway be Stopped?
Vijay Prashad
Encounters with Ghadar
David Macaray
The Free Rider Problem
Ralph Nader
Nine Books That Make a Difference: a Reading List for the Holidays
Eva Liddell
Privatizing War Abroad, Invading Privacy at Home
Martha Rosenberg
While the Bodies are Still Warm: Drugs, Shrinks and Shooters
Dave Lindorff
When Impeachment is Out of Print
Peter Morici
The Consequences the Trade Deficit
Website of
the Day
Ron Paul: How Fascism Will Come to America
December 17,
2007
Mike Whitney
Staring
Into the Abyss
Tom Barry
Planning
the War on Immigrants
Uri Avnery
A
Gaza Masada?
Greg Moses
Crossing the Line in Texas
Allan Nairn
Terrorism; Counter-
Terrorism: Excuses for Murder
Patrick Bond
South Africa's Fight Between Hostile Brothers
Stephen Lendman
Police State America
Charles Jonkel
Grizzly Right of Way
Laray Polk
An Inside-Out Crisis in Gaza
Stephen Fleischman
Pawns in Their Game
December 15
/ 16, 2007
Peter Linebaugh
A
People's Penny for the Magna Carta
Howard Zinn
Bomb After Bomb
Standard Schaefer
The Greening of Big Tobacco
Raymond J.
Lawrence
Let's Take Christ Out of Christmas
Alan Farago
Down on Desolation Row: the Vultures and the Growth Machine
Saul Landau
Lord Byron and the Bad Tourists
Jenna Orkin
Lying to "Reassure" the Public: Bush's EPA and the
Post-9/11 Toxic Air Cover-Up
Ahmad Samih
Khalidi
Why a Palestinian "State" is a Punitive Construct
Robert Fantina
Politics By Photo-Op
Missy Comley
Beattie
Resistance Amid the Ruins
Ramzy Baroud
Of Mormons and Muslims
James L. Secor
A Vision for China's Future
Elijah Wald
Ike Turner's Music Won't be Forgotten
Website of
the Weekend
The Alliance for the Wild Rockies Needs (and Deserves) Your Support
December 14,
2007
JoAnn Wypijewski
The
Dirty Cad: What Giuliani's Sex Life Tells Us About Him
John Ross
Iraqi
Refugees Return: One Cruel Hoax
Jacob Hornberger
Terror Suspects Belong in Federal Court
Andy Worthington
Guantánamo and the Supreme Court: What Happened?
Allan Nairn
"Shoot Them on the Spot": Rewarding War Crimes
Dave Zirin
The Mitchell Report: Absolving the Owners
Dave Lindorff
The First Cut is the Deepest
Misty MacDuffee
Toxic Grizzlies
Ben Terrall
What Happened to Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine?
Dr. Mustafa
Barghouthi
Prerequisites for Peace
Website of the Day
Sen. Kit Bond: "Waterboarding is Like Swimming"
December 13,
2007
Paul Craig
Roberts
Shrinking
the Dollar from the Inside-Out
Mike Whitney
Dershowitz for the Defense--of Waterboarding
Ron Jacobs
Blank Check DemocratsL the Great War Funding Conspiracy
Norman Solomon
The USA's Human Rights Daze
Peter Morici
The Dragon and the Toothless Dog: China Doesn't Flinch
Sandy Mayes
Blocking the Strykers: 13 Days of War Resistance at Port Olympia
Franklin Lamb
The UN in Lebanon: Whose Mission Is It Fulfilling?
Jacob Hornberger
Don't Reform the CIA, Abolish It
Nadim Rouhana
An Interloper in My Own Land
Dave Zirin
On Pigskin and Petrol
Website of the Day
Rachel's Needs (and Deserves) Your Support!
December 12, 2007
Allan
Nairn
US Intelligence is Tapping Indonesian
Phones
Alan
Farago
How Sprawl Eats Its Young
Ray
McGovern
Torture, Lies and Videotape
Winslow
T. Wheeler
The Phony Pentagon Budget Cuts
Evan
Jones
The Raid on Great Western: Why an Australian Bank Might Spell
Doom for the US Farm Belt
James
Petras
An Open Letter to Sarkozy on the Exchange of Political Prisonsers
Joel
Hirschorn
The Horserace Fiction: Clinton, Obama and the Democratic Machine
Joshua
Frank
Why Ron Paul Deserves Our Attention
Sherry
Wolf
Why the Left Should Reject Ron Paul
Dan
Bacher
Survey of a Fish Graveyard
Website
of the Day
Men Eating Bugs
December
11, 2007
Patrick
Cockburn
What's Really Happened During
the Surge?
Diana
Johnstone
The Next Kosovo War
Paul
Craig Roberts
It's Waco All Over Again: Preventive Detention and the Constitution
David
Macaray
Impasse in Hollywood
Ralph
Nader
Gail Collins Versus the Underdogs
Andy
Worthington
Guantánamo Britons to be Released: a Mixed Result
Martha
Rosenberg
No Holiday for High Risk Sex Workers
Steve
Champion /
Anthony Ross
Words for Our Brother, Tookie Williams
Kim
Nicolini
Tangled Up in Dylan
Michael
Dickinson
Say Goodbye to Purgatory: Pope Rat Gets Indulgent
Website
of the Day
A Charming (and Worthy)
Pitch
December 10, 2007
Uri
Avnery
How They Stole the Bomb From Us
Debbie
Nathan
The Perils of Journalism and Child
Porn
JoAnn
Wypijewski
Is There a Left Here Left?
If So, What Can It Do?
Steve
Kelly
Cheap Chips, Counterfeit Wilderness
Donna
J. Volatile
Welcome to the Revolution
December
8 / 9, 2007
Alexander
Cockburn
The Coup Against Bush and Cheney
Brenda
Norrell
Seize the Land, Chain the Peace Activists
Saul
Landau
The Ruins of Empire
R.
F. Blader
A Rape in Every Drink?
Ray
McGovern
Spinning Iran's Centrifuges
Allan
Nairn
Imposed Hunger in Gaza, the Army in
Indonesia
Linn
Washington, Jr
Spotlight on Death Row
Paul
Craig Roberts
When Will Bush Come Clean?
December
7, 2007
Sean
Penn
Piano Wire Puppeteers
Arthur
Versluis
Mining Water in the Desert
M.
G. Piety
Racism and the American Psyche: Some
Thoughts on Race and Intelligence
Pam
Martens
Banksters Gone Wild
Alan
Farago
Will the Free Market Kill Suburbia?
Sprawl and the Credit Crisis
Allan
Nairn
It Takes (Out) a Village
Col.
Dan Smith
Bush, Iran and the Politics of Doomsday
Alice
Slater
The Iran Opening
Robert
Weissman
The Story of Stuff
Website
of the Day
Something
About Mitt
December
5, 2007
Mike
Whitney
Why the CFR Hates Putin
Sharon
Smith
The Anti-War Enablers: Tom Hayden
and the Dead End Democrats
James
Petras
Venezuela in the Aftermath
Ron
Jacobs
The Iran Charade
Dave
Zirin
Kicking a Dead Man: the Sliming of Sean Taylor
John
V. Whitbeck
Two States or One? Time to Choose
Peter
Zinn
Covered in New Orleans
Niranjan
Ramakrishnan
Impeach Pelosi Instead
Alan
Farago
The Credit Bomb Detonates in Florida
Heather
Gray
US Meddling in Australian Politics
Website
of the Day
A Donner Summit Night Before Xmas
December
4, 2007
Alexander
Cockburn
Jackboot State Stubs Its Toe in
Ann Arbor
Andy
Worthington
Guantánamo and the Supreme
Court
Paul
Craig Roberts
The Lies at the End of the American
Dream
Ray
McGovern
No-Nuke Iran
Winslow
T. Wheeler
Admiral Mullen and the Defense Budget: When White Elephants are
Too Small
Allan
Nairn
The Regime Still Stands in Burma, Where "the People Just
Want Food"
Russell
Mokhiber
The USA v. Al Arian
Nikolas
Kozloff
As Chávez Falters: Raising the Stakes for the South American
Left
John
V. Walsh
Peace Movement Paralyzed
Ghada
Ageel
Will Peace Cost Me My Home?
Stephen
Soldz
The Facts be Damned!: Psychologists' President Defends Psychologist
Involvement in Interrogations
Website
of the Day
Hands Off the People of Iran
December
3, 2007
Tariq
Ali
Venezuela After the Referendum
Bill
Quigley
New Orleans: Bulldozers for the Poor,
Tax Credits for Developers
Eric
Walberg
The Bible and Middle East History
Uri
Avnery
After Annapolis
Marjorie
Cohn
Operation Iraqi Freedom Exposed
Dave
Lindorff
Vengeance Isn't Sweet
Stephen
Fleischman
Homeless in Paradise
Martha
Rosenberg
Perp Walks for the Mink Clad on Chicago's Mag Mile
Website
of the Day
So Just Lead!
December
1 / 2, 2007
Alexander
Cockburn
Emblems of the Bush Age: Adrift
in a Sea of Booze
Jeffrey
St. Clair
The Bear Minimum: the Grizzly and
the Future of the Rocky Mountain West
Mike
Whitney
"Iraq Doesn't Exist Anymore": an Interview with Nir
Rosen
Shemon
Salam
A Visit From the FBI
Roger
Burbach
The Battle in Bolivia
Benjamin
Dangl
New Politics in Old Bolivia
Brian
M. Downing
The Quiet on the Middle Eastern Front: How Much Credit Goes to
the Surge?
Greg
Moses
Night of the Living Redneck: a Texas Horror Story
Sonja
Karkar
The "Never-Never" Peace Conference
Saul
Landau
Ethics and Evil in South Boston
Margaret
Kimberley
Black America Left Behind
John
Ross
What are the Prospects for a New Mexican Revolution?
Reza
Fiyouzat
Exit on the Left: When Che's Children Visited Iran
Judith
Scherr
Berkeley Turns Right for the Holidays
Lance
Olsen
Of Forests and Finance: Logging for the Wealthy
Christopher
Brauchli
Mr. Bush and the Despots
Robert
Fantina
Iraq as U.S. Colony
Dan
Bacher
Fish Triage on Prospect Island
Michael
Donnelly
Remembering How to be Human: John Trudell and the Music of Urgency
Website
of the Weekend
Appalachian Voices
November
30, 2007
Peter
Stone Brown
The Re-Packaging of Bob Dylan
Wajahat
Ali
The Volatile Mistress: an Interview with Javed Jabbar, Pakistan's
Former Minister of Information
Allan
Nairn
Cold-Blooded Celebrity: Thomas L. Friedman and the Bali Bombers
Alan
Farago
The Sorrows of Suburbia: Politics, Sprawl and the Housing Crash
John
Ross
The Death of Latin America's First Revolution
Corporate
Crime Reporter
America's Corporate Crime Capitals
Lucia
Alvarez
Diego Gonzalez
Argentina's Political Future
James
Rothenberg
The Iraqi Miracle
Website
of the Day
Bio-Bling?
November
29, 2007
R.
F. Blader
The Most Dangerous Kind of Bribe
Ismael
Hossein-Zadeh
Distorting Fascism to Demonize Iran
Stephen
Soldz
War on the Couch: Fear, Aggression and Empire
Sheldon
Richman
Iraq 3.0
George
Wuerthner
Forest Fires, Lies and Chainsaws
Felice
Pace
Did All Things Considered Self-Censor on Annapolis?
Col.
Dan Smith
The Meaning of Annapolis
Harvey
Wasserman
Terror Target Nukes
Nikolas
Kozloff
Primetime Hate Debate: Lou Dobbs, Immigration and Campaign '08
Paul
Krassner
Huffington Post Bloggers Go On Strike!
Dave
Lindorff
News Not Fit to Print: US Coup Planned for Venezuela?
CP
News Service
The One State Declaration
Website
of the Day
A Native View of Yellowstone Bison Slaughter
November
28, 2007
James
Petras
CIA Destabilization Memo Surfaces
on Venezuela
Jeff
Halper
Annapolis: When the Roadmap is a One
Way Street
Pam
Martens
Crashing Citigroup
Peter
Morici
Economy in Crisis: Avoiding a Recession
Mohammed
Khatib
Separate and Unequal in Palestine
Helen
Redmond
The Horror and the Hope: Health Care in America
William
S. Lind
In the Fox's Lair: Quiet Before a New Iraq Storm?
Ben
Tripp
We, the People: a Trope for All Seasons
Liaquat
Ali Khan
Pakistan: First, Restore the Constitution and Reinstate the Judges
Jeff
Berg
Holbrooke Says Bush Won't Attack Iran
Website
of the Day
The Lies of Joe Klein
November
27, 2007
Joe
DeRaymond
On the Road to the Torture School
Paul
Craig Roberts
Meet the Only Two Candidates Worse Than Bush and Cheney: Hillary
and Rudy
Marjorie
Cohn
Remembering Victor Rabinowitz
Mike
Whitney
A Dollar the Size of a Postage Stamp
Ron
Jacobs
The Myths of Military Progress
Col.
Dan Smith
The Pentagon's "People System" Still Doesn't Work
Ralph
Nader
Family Learning
Karim
Makdisi
Annapolis and the Unholy Alliance: the View from Beirut
Christopher
Ketcham
Memo to Hollywood Writers: Strike Until You Drop
Ronan
Bennett
Martin Amis Does a Coulter
Website
of the Day
Celebrating the Uncensored Media
November
26, 2007
Kathleen
and Bill Christison
Heading for Annapolis
Paul
Craig Roberts
The End of All That
David
Macaray
Enter Mediator
Sameer
Dossani
Pakistan's Wounded Dictator
Roger
Burbach
The Final Battle in Bolivia
Mark
Scaramella
Guns and Greed in the Emerald Empire
Brian
McKinlay
Howard's End
Rick
Kuhn
The Fall of a Racist Union Buster
Binoy
Kampmark
Ruddslide and Dull Alec
Monica
Benderman
What Do You Know of War?
Brenda
Norrell
Return to Alcatraz
Website
of the Day
Ghostworld by DJ Spooky
November
24 / 25, 2007
Alexander
Cockburn
The Ordeal of Catherine Wilkerson,
MD
Robert
Fisk
Darkness Falls on the Middle East
Saul
Landau
Norman Mailer will Not R.I.P.
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Justice Stephen Breyer, Cancer Bonds and the Origins of Neoliberal
Environmentalism
Rannie
Amiri
Beirut's Black Friday
Christopher
Brauchli
Iraq Embassy as Gilded Palace
Daniel
Gross
The Gap and Black Friday
Mike
Whitney
"A Generalized Meltdown of Financial Institutions"
Marjorie
Cohn
Iran and the 2008 Elections
David
Rosen
Senior Sex: the Real Sexual Life of Aging Americans
David
Michael Green
If Conservatism is the Ideology of Freedom ....
Kenneth
Rexroth
When Euripides Played the Hindu Kush: Greeks and Buddhists in
Afghanistan
Muhammad
Iqbal
Trans. Shahid Alam
Ghazal
Website
of the Day
Aerial Footage of Delta Fish Kill
November 23, 2007
Gary
Leupp
Killing the Buddha in Pakistan's Swat
Valley
Laura
Carlsen
Coming to Terms with Diversity in
Bolivia: an Interview with Alvaro Garcia, Bolivia's VP
David
Macaray
Keeping Labor Unions Out
Andy
Worthington
Former Guantánamo Detainee Seeks Asylum in Sweden
Clifton
Ross
Trashing Chavez: Keith Olberman's Toxic Rant
Seth
Sandronsky
Battling Sodexho
Dan
Bacher
Death in the Delta: Thousands of Fish Stranded by Bureau of Reclamation
William
A. Cook
The Myth of Middle East Peace
Website
of the Day
Waiting for the Guards: Stress Techniques as Torture, a Short
Film
November
22, 2007
Alan
Farago
Who Lost America's Everglades?
Greg
Moses
A Thanksgiving Basting
Dave
Lindorff
Impeachment is Back on the Table
Mike
Ely
Native Blood: the Myth pf Thanksgiving
Omar
Azfar
Gore for President of Pakistan?
November
21, 2007
Vijay
Prashad
Our Dictator, Their Democracy
Martha
Rosenberg
Undercover at a Turkey Slaughtering Plant
Manuel
Garcia, Jr.
Epiphany on the Glacier
John
Ross
The Last Days of Mexican Corn
Brian
McKenna
Cancer Terrorists Unmasked
Stephen
Soldz
Isolation Torture Routine at Guatánamo
Monica
Benderman
Needing Peace
Ben
Terrall
Slavery in the Fields: The Real Price of Sugar
Website
of the Day
Mercy for Animals
|
New
Year's Day Edition
January 1, 2008
Sixty Years Gone,
More Sad is Its Plight
Benazir's
Death in Crisistan
By B. R. GOWANI
It will probably be a long time before
any clue as to who murdered the opposition leader and the former
Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (while she was leaving the political
rally after addressing a gathering in Rawalpindi) is found. Were
they the enemies of Bhutto in the intelligence agencies or were
they the Islamic radicals? According to the hospital people,
the government hadn't permitted them to do an autopsy.
Pakistani Government claimed
through its interior ministry spokesman Brigadier (retd.) Javed
Iqbal Cheema that Benazir died not because of a gun shot or bomb
shrapnel but when she tried to reach for a safety "the lever
[of her SUV's sunroof] struck near her right ear and fractured
her skull!" For the bomb blast and the gun shots, Cheema
said there was "irrefutable evidence" that South Waziristan-based
Al-Qaeda leader Beitullah Mehsud is the central culprit. To further
strengthen its case, the government also released the transcript
of Mehsud's telephone conversation, which it had intercepted,
where he is congratulating a cleric on Bhutto's murder. But the
government hasn't released the recording.
However Mehsud's spokesperson
Maulana Mohammed Umer denied the accusation. "The fact is
that we are only against America, and we don't consider political
leaders of Pakistan our enemy. The suicide attack on Benazir
Bhutto was not launched by us." He further added, "I
am clarifying our position after receiving instructions from
Baitullah Mehsud."
Usually, the militants, when
they are involved, do accept responsibility for their action
in order to enhance their base by creating more fear among the
population. Or, perhaps, Mehsud is behind the attack but wants
to avoid opening up a third front against Bhutto's Pakistan People's
Party (PPP). (The two fronts they are fighting on are the US
and the Pakistani Government.)
Vice versa, it can be that
PPP may have some suspicions about Mehsud or some other fundamentalist
group but don't want any entanglement at the present time.
Before returning from her self-exile,
Benazir had told the Guardian that "I'm not worried about
Baitullah Mahsud; I'm worried about the threat within the government."
Because in her opinion, "people like Baitullah Mahsud are
just pawns. It is those forces behind him that have presided
over the rise of extremism and militancy in my country."
The PPP is also pointing a
finger at the government. Its spokesperson Sherry Rehman said
"there was a clear bullet wound at the back of the neck.
It went in one direction and came out another."
However, the US government
suspects Mehsud's group was behind Bhutto's assassination. The
FBI has offered to help but Pakistan has declined the offer.
The FBI is good at extracting confessions.
(This author doesn't know how
to operate a gun or any such weapon and is not familiar with
making bombs or conceiving terroristic plots. Nevertheless, if
the FBI (or the CIA) were to pick him up and then torture and
beat the hell out of him, he would confess whatever they would
want him to; even to be the mastermind behind the 9/11. Torture
usually does have the power to extract the truth; the one which
the torturer would want to hear.
Whoever was behind Bhutto's
murder, one has to accept the fact that the real culprit cannot
be anyone else but the Musharraf Government. Just in October,
148 people died during the welcoming procession in Karachi upon
Benazir's return after a long self-imposed exile. At that time,
undoubtedly, it was a difficult task to provide adequate security
due to the number of people (200,000) and the vast area involved
and a number of other factors, including Bhutto's own fault.
But this time around, it was possible for the government to provide
her with proper security as it was in a park, and that also not
a big one, with less than 10,000 people, especially when the
world was watching.
(As a last resort, filmmaker
Oliver Stone should be asked to solve the mystery. He has done
it once before in the Kennedy assassination case, though not
very neatly, according to people familiar with history. But still
what's the harm.
Musharraf declared a three
day mourning period and the flying of the flag at half mast.
But this dramatic gesture doesn't absolve him from culpability.
Cheema seems to be a nice person:
"There are other people who are under threat and whenever
we receive information we pass it on to the concerned people."
Nawaz Sharif, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Aftab Sherpao, Amir Muqam,
and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed were the names he gave.
Or is it that the warner and
the killer are one and the same?
Player Becomes
a Pawn
Up until December 27, Bhutto
was one of the central players in this US led game of power-sharing
or transfer of power to a civilian administration in Pakistan.
The minute she died, she became just a pawn in this cruel game
of politics. The US media became hyperactive and it seemed as
if Condoleezza Rice or Hillary Clinton had been murdered. It
resembled somewhat to the eulogistic dramas played out during
Lady Diana's and Mother Teresa's deaths. The only thing missing
was the live telecast of the funeral ceremony; but that was because
of the volatile situation in Pakistan. The Republican and Democratic
presidential candidates blurted out, each according to her/his
knowledge and understanding or lack of it on Bhutto's assassination.
Bush paid tribute. Musharraf
also said nice words. The other major opposition leader in Pakistan,
Nawaz Sharif, felt sad on losing his major opponent whom he called
"sister."
Nuclear
weapons
The worry which most bothers
the ruling elite in the US is what will happen to Pakistan's
nuclear arsenal, estimated to be between 55 and 115, in case
of that country's failure. The United States never thinks that
it is the US support of Pakistan's armed forces in the first
place that has brought that country on the brink of disaster.
The news media has parroted this propaganda on a worldwide scale
as if the nuclear bombs are some kind of M & M's candies
where 115 militants will each grab a candy and board the planes
headed to 115 western cities. Once there, they'll swallow their
M & M candies and then blow themselves up and turn London,
Paris, New York, Berlin, Los Angeles, and other cities into Hiroshimas
and Nagasakis.
Musharraf's
End
In the wake of 9/11, the Bush
Administration invented this super speed brakeless train called
The War on Terror Express and dragged Musharraf on it at the
gunpoint. Once the train passes, the rail tracks melt down and
so the train cannot go back. Every pupil has a plan which many
a times is different than that of her/his guru. Musharraf has
his own agenda, that of prolonging his life in power as much
as possible, which is now clashing with that of Uncle Sam and
so he has been pushed out of the compartment but has been allowed
to hang onto the door. At the same time, a few others are running
after the train to be pulled in. Now it is simply a matter of
time when the Uncle Sam clamps his boot on Musharraf's hand and
extends his hand(s) to pull one or more of the puppets onto the
War on Terror Express. The Bush people are learning the name
of Makhdoom Amin Fahim, the vice chairperson of PPP, and are
getting in touch with other politicians in Pakistan. They are
familiar and friendly with the new head of the armed forces Ashfaq
Parvez Kayani, a graduate of Fort Leavenworth military college
in the US.
Perhaps, like the Marcos of
the Philippines, Musharraf will end up in the US and give some
tips to his son Bilal, who is always out to defend his Dad, as
to what mistakes he should avoid in case he decides to enter
politics.
Political
Heir
Pakistan's Prime Minister Zulfiqar
Ali Bhutto was overthrown in 1977 by a military man Zia-ul-Haq
and was hanged in 1979. In 1988, when Zia, along with the then
US Ambassador, died in a plane crash-a mystery unsolved to this
day-Bhutto's daughter Benazir won the election. With the US blessing,
she was handed the premiership when she promised not to interfere
in the army matters. Now the PPP has chosen her 19 year old son
Bilawal, a student at Oxford University, as the Party chairperson.
<1>
Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said
the PPP will be managed by his father while he completes his
education. He announced "the party's long struggle for democracy
will continue with renewed vigour," as "my mother always
said, democracy is the best revenge." (Bhutto was added
to the name on the day he was officially declared Benazir's political
heir.)
Smooth Transition
In the US, two parties control
the presidency, whereas in Pakistan (India, and many other countries)
families control the premiership or presidency.
It was a smooth transition
of power. Unlike the US, there were no primaries, no constant
lies, no media pundits destroying your thinking cells day in
and day out, no polls, no wastage of millions of dollars. <2>
PPP's Prime
Ministerial Candidate
Benazir's husband, Asif Zardari
(also known as Mister "ten percent" for corruption)
is not to be PPP's prime ministerial candidate. It is understandable.
He is a single father now with the custody of three children
so he'll have to work hard to increase the percentage level.
Instead it is Fahim; which is a great blunder. If it really wants
to maintain any semblance of a liberal party then it should go
for Ms. Rehman. Despite the faults of Benazir-as they were many-she
was still a symbol of hope for millions of women. I am not speaking
here about high society women-they have their role models in
models, actresses, and glamour women- but the average and the
poor women who are at the mercy of men and society. Sherry Rehman,
a former editor of the English language monthly Herald, and a
very articulate, intelligent, media savvy woman, can play an
important role, and unlike Bhutto, could really deliver something.
About Fahim, back in 2002,
Pakistani newspaper Dawn's columnist Ardeshir Cowasjee wrote
that "Faheem's four sisters are married to the [Muslim Scripture]
Quran - the custom that waderas [feudal lords or landlords] have
in [the province of] Sindh to marry off their women in order
to keep the family wealth intact. If this is true, it is appalling.
It indicates the sick mindset typical of such waderas. How can
we expect a man like this to be able to make progressive policies
for the poor womenfolk of our country who desperately need uplifting?
People need to know this. It is very disheartening to see the
parade of illiterate bigots on our television channels, day and
night, vying for slots in the government, each with his own agenda."
The Beneficiaries
Whether the Muslim fundamentalists
belonging to Al-Qaeda, Taliban, or any other group had a hand
in Bhutto's death or not, there is no doubt that they must be
celebrating the most as their aversion to women is well known
through their deeds and statements.
Besides some of her political
enemies and those in the establishment who hated her, the others
who must be gloating in the sad demise of Bhutto are the Saudi
Arabian rulers. They are number one enemy of women-not in bed,
but outside where the women demand their rights. It may seem
strange that the US was supporting Bhutto whereas the Saudis
were for Sharif, who is soft with the religious fundamentalists.
But at least the US allows its minions this much leverage.
Crisis Will
Continue in Crisistan.
Since its birth, Pakistan has
seen crisis after crisis and has gotten weaker and weaker as
the armed forces have gotten stronger and stronger. It won't
look odd if the name Pakistan were to be replaced with "Crisistan,"
as Bhutto's death has created another crisis. <3>
While I was finishing this
article, I heard on radio that Sharif warned that the postponement
of elections will be protested out on the streets. The assassination
crisis and violence is not over yet; another crisis is already
brewing.
Sixty years ago, it was under
the birth-crisis that Pakistan was created out of India amid
great violence and misery. The great Faiz Ahmad Faiz wrote:
"This stained-splendor,
this night-maimed dawn
The one we waited for, this is not that dawn"
Alas! That dawn never saw the
morning light
Sixty-years gone, but more sad is its plight.
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com
Notes
1. The mother country India's
political dynasty has faced tragedies somewhat similar to the
Bhutto dynasty. In 1984, India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
was murdered and her son Rajiv became the Prime Minister. Upon
his assassination in 1991, his Italian wife Sonia (who later
acquired Indian citizenship) became Congress Party's President.
She couldn't become prime minister because Hindu religio/nationalist
party BJP (Bhartiya Janata Party) exploited her foreign-ness.
Her son Rahul is in politics now and will probably one day become
the prime minister.
(Indira's father Jawaharlal
Nehru was India's first prime minister after the British departed
in 1947.)
2. And it is not that after
all this hoopla and burning of tens of millions of dollars-which
by the time when the elections are over in November will run
into hundreds of millions of dollars-you are going to get somebody
like Dennis Kucinich. No. Not even John Edwards who, it seems,
is genuine and constantly raises labor and poverty issues. It
will be one or the other bullshitter with lots of money.
Mind you, the US political system is so rotten and corrupt that
even if some decent candidate reaches the White House, the US
Congress living on bribes from corporations would disrupt any
drastic measures which could bring some meaningful changes in
common people's lives.
Mark Twain once said: "It
could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no
distinctly native American criminal class except Congress."
3. The United States has played
a central role in many of the crisis. Another country which has
done the most damage to Pakistan is Saudi Arabia.
The US has done immense harm
to many countries around the world through its overt, covert,
and not so covert wars and violence in the name of "democracy,"
"freedom of speech," "human rights," and
other such rubbish. However, the Muslim countries have one other
enemy too, the Saudi Arabia. The Saudi kingdom has through its
petro-dollars exported the worst kind of Islam to Muslim countries.
The result is that religious intolerance has reached an unbearable
level in many Muslim countries and is creating more divisions
among the people and families.
.
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