|
|
home / subscribe / donate / tower / books / archives / search / links / feedback / events
|
CHINA'S GREAT LEAP BACKWARDS Peter Kwong gives us the "New China" without illusions: from the "millionaires' fair" in Shanghai, with $60,000 diamond-studded dog leashes to one of the most savagely repressed working class and peasantry on the planet. How China's leaders swapped Marx and Mao for Milton Friedman. Alexander Cockburn on What's wrong with the U.S. left. They're sitting in darkened rooms weaving conspiracy fantasies about 9/11; they're blogging; they're confusing a medium with a movement; they're not doing enough to stop the war in Iraq. John Ross takes us along the stormy trail of the Mexican election. CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! |
|
Today's Stories July 8 / 9, 2006 Ralph Nader July 7, 2006 John Ross July 6, 2006 Nick Dearden John Stanton Ralph Nader Laray Polk Saul Landau Joshua Frank William S. Lind Adelman / Lindorff Jonathan Cook Website of
the Day
Mike Whitney Saul Landau Ramzy Baroud Missy Comley Beattie Arthur Neslen Vincent Maruffi Paul Cantor Paul D. Johnson David Price
Col. Dan Smith Chris Floyd Marjorie Cohn James Brooks Medea Benjamin Matt Reichel Elisa Salasin Rick Wilhelm Paul Craig
Roberts Website of the Day
July 3, 2006 Robert Bryce Dr. Bouthaina Shaban Julia Olmstead Dave Lindorff Andres Gomez Alan Singer Alexander Cockburn
Paul Craig
Roberts Stephen T.
Banko Daniel Cassidy Fawzia Afzal-Khan Jeff Taylor John Ross Greg Moses Laura Carlsen Justin E.H.
Smith Brian Cloughley Anthony Papa Mike Ferner Jerry Tucker Jane Goodall / Rick Asselta Phyllis Pollack Poets' Basement
June 30, 2006 Marjorie Cohn Heather Williams Burbach / Cantor Nick Dearden Michael J.
Smith Brian Concannon Virginia Tilley
Bill Quigley Ron Jacobs Paul Craig
Roberts June 28, 2006 Jorge Mariscal Greg Moses Mark Weisbrot Ramzy Baroud Dave Lindorff William S.
Lind Mike Ferner Zoltan Grossman
Marjorie Cohn Benjamin /
Jarrar William Hughes Doug Giebel Uri Avnery Alexander Cockburn
June 26, 2006 Don Santina Ralph Nader Dave Lindorff Rafael Rodriguez-Cruz Evelyn Pringle Jonathan Cook
June 23, 2006 Youmans / Erakat Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Col. Dan Smith
June 22, 2006 Marjorie Cohn Winslow T.
Wheeler Tanya Reinhart Mike Marqusee William Blum
June 21, 2006 Ramzy Baroud Patrick Cockburn Gary Leupp Greg Moses
June 20, 2006 Fred Gardner Omar Waraich Christopher Reed CP Newswire Jonathan Cook
June 19, 2006 Bill Quigley John Walsh Mike Whitney Alexander Cockburn
June 16 / 18,
2006 Kathy / Bill
Christision Joseph Nevins Farrah Hassen Greg Moses Nicole Colson John Scagliotti Mokhiber / Weissmann
June 15, 2006 Kathy Kelly Norman Solomon Ron Jacobs Sam Bahour Ramzy Baroud CounterPunch Wire Gabriel Kolko Website of the Day
June 14, 2006 Nicole Colson Jonathan Cook Joseph Schechla Michael Carmichael Evelyn Pringle Ward Churchill Rev. William E. Alberts Website of the
Day
June 13, 2006 Medea Benjamin Anthony Alessandrini Paul D'Amato Dave Lindorff John Ross Gabriel Garcia Hilton Obenzinger Yitzhak Laor Juan Antonio
Ocasio Rivera Jennifer Van
Bergen Website of the
Day
June 12, 2006 Paul Craig Roberts Patrick Cockburn Mike Marqusee Lee Sustar Robert Fisk Michael J. Smith Felice Pace Jennifer Loewenstein Website of the Day
June 10 / 11,
2006 Robert Fisk Diane Christian Joe Allen Ralph Nader Fred Gardner Dave Lindorff Dave Zirin /
John Cox Dennis Perrin Greg Moses John Chuckman Michael J. Smith Roger Burbach Ira Moskowitz Sam Bahour Seth Sandronsky Michael Berg Kirsten Roberts Ron Jacobs Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement Website of the
Weekend
June 9, 2006 Alexander Cockburn Paul Craig Roberts Gary Leupp Eric Ruder Evelyn Pringle Mickey Z. Michael J. Smith Patrick Cockburn Website of the
Day
June 8, 2006 Chris Floyd Michael Dickinson Ron Jacobs William S. Lind Joshua Frank Missy Comley Beattie Lloyd Williams Bill Christison Website of the Day
June 7, 2006 Dave Lindorff Sunsara Taylor John Walsh David MacMichael Mickey Z. Evelyn Pringle Myles Palmer Laura Ribeiro Website of the Day
June 6, 2006 Diane Christian Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Norman Solomon Darmont / Genovali Manuel Garcia,
Jr. Subcomandante Marcos Patrick Cockburn Website of the Day
June 5, 2006 Bruce Jackson Chris Floyd Michael Neumann Heather Gray William Hughes David Swanson Alexander Cockburn Website of the Day
June 3 / 4, 2006 Robert Fisk James Petras Rosemary Radford Ruether Harry Clark Jeffrey St. Clair Ron Ridenour Ron Jacobs Fred Gardner Peter Montague John Walsh Greg Moses Sean Donahue Mike Whitney Dave Patten Ali Khan Robert Dotson,
MD Hammond Guthrie St. Clair / D'Antoni Poets' Basement Website of the
Day
June 2, 2006 Kathy Kelly Alan Maass Mickey Z. Dave Lindorff Chris Kutalik Sunsara Taylor Sam Husseini Mike Ferner Website of the
Day
June 1, 2006 Brian Cloughley David Peterson Lee Ballinger Jonathan Cook Mike Whitney Paul Rockwell Clifton Ross Kevin Zeese Website of the
Day
May 31, 2006 Dave Lindorff Joshua Frank Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz P. Sainath Ramzy Baroud Seth Sandronsky Mickey Z. Ralph Nader Jeffrey St. Clair Website of the Day
May 30, 2006 Lee Ballinger Jonathan Cook Gary Leupp John Ross Robert Jensen Michael Dickinson Michael Carmichael Tim Wise Harry Browne Website of the
Day
May 27 / 29,
2006 Paul Craig Roberts Kathleen Christison Kathy Kelly Christopher
Reed Lawrence R. Velvel Tom Barry Gary Leupp Col. Dan Smith Ron Jacobs Don Fitz Fred Gardner Peter Montague Raymond Garcia John Farley Seth Sandronsky Tia Steele Lenni Brenner Dr. Susan Block Scott Michael Perey Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement Recipe of the
Weekend Website of the Weekend
May 26, 2006 Col. Douglas
MacGregor Brian J. Foley Michael Dickinson Missy Comley Beattie Pierre Tristam Joe Allen Kona Lowell Roger Burbach Website of the
Day
May 25, 2006 Les AuCoin Jeff Halper Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Bob Wing Elise Gould Robert Bryce Website of the Day
May 24, 2006 Michael Donnelly Patrick Cockburn Lucinda Marshall Dave Lindorff Shmuel Rosner Moshe Adler Heather Gray Pratyush Chandra Paul Craig Roberts Floyd Rudmin Website of the Day
May 23, 2006 Paul Craig Roberts Sharon Smith Sunsara Taylor Joel Whitney Alice Cherbonnier Ron Jacobs Kristen Ess Patrick Cockburn Website of the
Day
Subscribe Online
|
Weekend
Edition What the Dead Might Tell UsThe Spiral of ViolenceBy HEATHER GRAY We have recently been accosted by the photo of the dead Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in newspapers and on television throughout the country. It was rather like a dreadful wild west trophy of sorts. The message was, "don't challenge US supremacy or this is what will happen to you!" How does this excessively brutal act of killing and vain objectification of al-Zarqawi make us and the world any more safe? The answer to that perplexing question is that it doesn't! But how about violence and objectification in another US colony under US military control? From 1902 to just after WWII the Philippines was a colony of the United States. With the so-called Filipino independence, the US insisted on a Military Bases Agreement (MBA) with the US taking one of the best deep water ports in the country for its Subic Naval Base and the other major base being Clark Air Force Base close to Mount Pinotubo. The Philippine Senate finally ended the MBA in the early 1990's, but there was still JUSMAG in place as it is to this day. The JUSMAG (Joint US Military Advisory Group), with its headquarters in Manila, was another legacy of the independence agreement. It provided the opportunity for the US military to always have the green light to meddle and wreak havoc on the Filipino resistance movement through the CIA and pressure on the Philippine military to serve the interests of the US and Filipino elite. With the photo of al-Zarqawi I was reminded of the infamous psychological warfare that United States CIA operative Edward Lansdale says he directed in the Philippines in the 1950's. It was a challenge to the left-leaning Hukbalahop (Huk) guerillas. Ramon Magsaysay, a friend of Lansdale's since WWII, was the Filipino Secretary of Defense and they worked together. In "The Philippines Reader" (1987) Stephen Shalom notes that "A week after Magsaysay's appointment, the CIA's Edward Lansdale arrived in Manila (from Washington). Lansdale had served with the Office of Strategic Services during World War II and then, in the Philippines, as chief of Army intelligence for the western Pacific." Magsaysay, for one, was offering money to the military for Huk bodies. According to scholar Stephen Shalom, he apparently took his cue for this from American Wild West films. Lansdale describes how some Huk fighters were captured, killed, drained of blood and hung in trees to scare others. The bodies drained of blood were white and ghostlike/vampirelike. He later applied similar atrocities in Vietnam. Is there something missing here? Where is the expression of humanity both when it's clandestine and in the time of war when the violence is widely promoted and reported? What does this to do us? To explore this issue I will turn to the British Anthropologist Colin Turnbull and others. Unknown to some, in addition to his work in central Africa with the Mbuti pygmies (for which he is probably best known) and with the Ik in Uganda, Turnbull also researched the death penalty in the United States. In his 1980's article "Death by Decree." Turnbull reported on his study of the death penalty in Virginia and Florida. He had interviewed virtually everyone involved the death row inmates themselves and their families, the executioners and their families, the guards in the prison, and others. What he found was a "brutalization" of those associated with the death penalty. Rather like in the aftermath of war, veterans often suffer from long-lasting horrors of their experience. Those surrounding the death penalty also suffer their behavior was affected by association and it took its toll on the families. Some social scientists have even speculated that there is a slight rise in homicides just after an execution in communities where it takes place. Regarding violence, Turnbull acknowledged in his 1983 book "The Human Cycle" that the
Perhaps the death penalty which is planned and timed, and the US aggression against the Iraqi people are contemporary examples of this dangerous and destructive violence. Turnbull said that sociality had to be learned. He explained in "The Mountain People" that "the vaunted human values are not inherent in humanity at all." He stressed that being social, as opposed to being concerned only about us as individuals, is a choice we make. To add to Turnbull's research on the brutalization of those close to the death penalty, a look at the Rosemary Gartner's and Dane Archer's fascinating international research adds considerably to an understanding of the broader impact. In "Violence and Crime in Cross-National Perspective" (1984) they report, after studying 110 countries in the world, that after war violence increases in both the countries of the so-called winner as well as the so-called loser. They looked at every conceivable variable to explain the phenomenon. For example, they considered the "violent" veteran model, the economic destabilization model and others. While all these are important, the variable that had the most potent relevance was that the State itself had used violence to resolve conflict. This filtered into the general population and gave the green light for the use of violence. It's the age old saying violence leads to violence. Sociologists have long understood that we learn behavior from our peers and family, but they had not considered enough how what the State itself does impacts and teaches behavior. As Alexander Cockburn noted in his 2001 article "Real Violence and Tim McVeigh," McVeigh's favorite quote was by Justice Louis Brandeis: "Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or evil, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law." Karen Armstrong's work is especially salient for all of this. Her description of the essential message from the Axial Age in her 2006 book "The Great Transformation: the Beginnings of our Religious Traditions" stressed the importance of compassion. In the violent age in which they lived, the Axial sages recognized the importance of controlling conflict and aggression through compassion. She says, it was the central message of the most profound spiritual leaders from about 900 to 200 BCE - the likes of Confucius, the Buddha, Socrates, Jeremiah, Mencius and others. Later Jesus ("love your enemies") and the Prophet Muhammad offered the same message. The great Rabbi Hillel said the ultimate message of the Torah was the Golden Rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you) and everything else was commentary. Armstrong also said that the Axial sages insisted that "saying" you were compassionate was inconsequential - it was the "act" of compassion that was significant. The importance of compassion was obviously magnified in a time of strife. It was, in fact, compassion outside ones own group that was also essential and of significance. Along the lines of Turnbull saying social behavior had to be learned, Armstrong said the Buddhists recognized that humans have to cultivate being compassionate, particularly for those outside their group. Regarding vanity and the objectification of al-Zarkawi I am also reminded of British novelist Josephine Tey and the description of vanity in her book the "Singing Sands". Her protagonist Scotland Yard Detective Alan Grant is speaking with Tad, a civilian assistant.
So what's the message here? Violence is counterproductive. We're not safer because of this violent aggression in Iraq; our troops, our country, the Iraqis all of us are likely being brutalized by this aggression in the Middle East that includes the now tragic intensification of violence against the Palestinians by Israel; we're likely to see more violence in America as a result of all this; we should address what appears to be a US pathological vanity and the objectification of those in the Arab world, especially the so-called terrorist enemy. Usually vanity targets the "other" and from those of us in the western world it's invariably exceptionally racist. And being compassionate? Not a bad idea. It's probably way past time we learned it will benefit us. Heather Gray produces "Just Peace" on WRFG-Atlanta 89.3 FM covering local, regional, national and international news. She can be reached at: hmcgray@earthlink.net.
|
from CounterPunch Books! The Case Against Israel By Michael Neumann  Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair          Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid? CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues, as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org.                    |
