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Today's
Stories
March 27, 2008
Patrick Cockburn
Basra
Erupts
March 26, 2008
Stan Cox
The
Germs Next Door
Sharon Smith
Greed
Pays: Welfare on Wall Street
Anita Sinha / Jill Tauber
Dreams Turned into Rubble in New Orleans
Matt Vidal
So Much for the Self-Regulating Market
William S. Lind
Operation Cassandra
Joe Mowrey
The Audacity of Hypocrisy: Obama's Pandering to Israel
Dave Lindorff
Duck and Cover (Up): Hillary Under Fire
Ray McGovern
Frontline's War: Too Timid, Too Little, Too Late
Justin Smith
Why Race and Gender are Separate Issues
Sam Husseini
The Winter Soldier Hearings and Indy Media
Martha Rosenberg
Blood on Ice: Gentlemen, Pick Up Your Clubs
Michael Dickinson
Politicians as Dogs
Website of the Day
The Wal-Mart Virus: How the Infection Spread
March 25, 2008
Ishmael Reed
The
Crazy Rev. Wright
Corey D. B.
Walker
The Politics of Jeremiah Wright
Linn Washington Jr.
Racism in America and Other Uncomfortable Facts
Alan Farago
The Money Launderers: a Picnic for Wall St. Insiders
Vijay Prashad
A Glimmer of Hope From the Gulf Coast
Joshua Frank
A Silver Lining to the Bush Years?
Ralph Nader
How Public Servants Can Help End This War
David Rovics
If I Can't Dance: Why is the Left So Boring?
Peter Morici
America's Banks are Broken
Dave Zirin
Olympic Flames: China's Crackdown in Tibet
David Krieger
The Crisis in Tibet
Website of
the Day
Memorializing Iraq
March 24, 2008
Jeffrey St.
Clair
Blonde
Ambition: Hillary's Berserker Campaign for 2012
Peter Morici
Digging Out of the Recession
Uri Avnery
Two Americas
Wajahat Ali
First of the Mohicans: an Interview with Rep. Keith Ellison
Paul Craig Roberts
Inside the Shell Game
George Ciccariello-Maher
The Coming War on Venezuela
Stephen Lendman
Sami Al-Arian's Long Ordeal
Christopher
Brauchli
Possessing Someone Else's Country
Cat Woods
A Letter to Mom on Obama
Stacey Warde
Tax Burden
Dave Lindorff
The American Dead Hits 4,000, But Who's Counting?
Website of
the Day
Live from the Longest Walk
March 22 /
23, 2008
Ralph Nader
Bush
Blisters the Truth on Iraq
Nicole Colson
Can You Afford to Feed Your Family?
James Petras
The Cost of Unilateral Humanitarian Initiatives
Laura Carlsen
From Bombs to Markets: The Andean Crisis and the Geopolitics
of Trade
Greg Moses
Tolerance and the American Pulpit
Andy Worthington
Torture Stories Dog Guantánamo Trials
Michael Dickinson
Art on Trial
John Ross
Bush's Surge Hits Mosul
Missy Comley Beattie
Killer Economics
David Michael
Green
Happy Anniversary, America!
Ramzy Baroud
The Coming Uncertain War on Iran
Martha Rosenberg
Easter Egg Shells from Hell
Paul Watson
Evolution is Going to the Dogs in the Galapagos
Isabella Kenfield
Monsanto's
Raid on Brazil
James Murren
Logging v. Water in Honduras
Jacob Hornberger
Sex and the Immigration Officer
Kathlyn Stone
Ben Heine, Master of the Art of Resistance
Seth Sandronsky
Rethinking New Mexico's History
Kim Nicolini
Class, Gender and Abortion in Communist Romania
Jeffrey St.
Clair
Booked Up: What I'm Reading This Week
Poets' Basement
Wilson, Woods, Gibbons and Orloski
Website of
the Weekend
Merci, McCain!
March 21, 2008
Marleen Martin
Land
Behind Bars: the Hidden Casualties of America's "War on
Crime"
Peter Montague
Run
Your Car on Coal? Maybe Not
Saul Landau
Monroe's
Deadly Doctrine
Anis Hamadeh
Merkel in the Knesset
Jacob Hornberger
McCain's Al Qaeda Scare: Slip or Tactic?
Khalil Nakhleh
Al Nakba of 1948: How Long Will It Persist?
Adam Isacson
Colombia, Paramilitary Threats and Assassinations
Kenneth Couesbouc
Money for Nothing
Madis Senner
Will the Feds Underwrite the Stock Market?
Monica Benderman
The Costs of Freedom: What Are You Willing to Pay?
Website of the Day
Stop Foreclosures and Evictions
March 20, 2008
Damien Millet
/
Eric Toussaint
The
Triple Failing of the Big Private Banks
Mike Whitney
Winding
Up Bear
John Ross
What Do We Owe Iraq?
Dave Lindorff
Paying the Piper: the Bodies and Bills are Piling Up
Wajahat Ali
Pakistan on Fire
Jill Nagle
Memo to Sex Workers: Stop Financing Shock Journalism
Manuel Garcia, Jr.
Obama and the Psychic Auto-Shrink-Wrapping Called Race in America
Dan La Botz
Obama's Race Speech
Robert Weissman
Alternative Power: Shutting Down the API
Stella Dallas
/
Jennifer Matsui
Apostasy Now! Mamet, Enter Stage Right
Website of the Day
The Angry Monk
March 19, 2008
Patrick Cockburn
A
War of Lies
Robert Fisk
The Little Men and the Inferno
Jeff Taylor
Five Years of War in Iraq
Ed Ruggero
From Pinkville to Iraq: the Dark Anniversary of My Lai
Ron Jacobs
Who'll Stop the Rain?
Christopher
Fons
Obama Takes the Race Bait
Sherwood Ross
In Defense of Rev. Wright
Cynthia McKinney
An Urgent Crisis: Confronting America's Racial Disparities
Joshua Frank
The Kool-Aid That Kills
Robert Weissman
Monsanto's Genetic Food Gamble
Walter Brasch
It's a Welfare State--If You're Rich
Yifat Susskind
Iraqi Women Resist the Occupation
Andrew Wimmer
War Demands Its Due
Website of
the Day
Glimpses of Nature
March 18, 2008
David Price
The
Military "Leveraging" of Cultural Knowledge
Paul Craig
Roberts
The
Collapse of American Power
Tim Wise
Of National Lies and Racial America: Jeremiah Wright, Barack
Obama and the Unacceptability of Truth
Patrick Cockburn
One of the Most Disastrous Wars Ever Fought
Conn Hallinan
Afghanistan, a River Running Backward
James T. Phillips
Monsters: Past, Present and Wannabe
Uri Avnery
The Killing in Bethlehem
David Macaray
Could Wal-Mart Revive the Labor Movement?
Marjorie Cohn
Beware an Attack on Iran
Peter Zinn
Obama in New Orleans
Dan La Botz
The Economic Crisis, Labor and the Left
Monica Benderman
Where are We Going?
March 17, 2008
Pam Martens
The
Fed's Wall Street Dilemma
Sasan Fayazmanesh
The US, Iran and the Policy of Dual Containment
Nelson P. Valdés
The Imperial Branding of Simon Bolivar and the Cuban Revolution
Peter Morici
The Corrosive Consequences of the Trade Deficit
Wajahat Ali
Disrobing the Nine: a Conversation with Jeffrey Toobin on the
Supreme Court Since 9/11
Ronnie Cummins
Beyond Progressive Malpractice: Taking Down Big Pharma
Shaun Harkin
Saint Patrick's Day in Fortress America
Ali Khan
No Pardon for Musharraf
Robert Jensen
Beyond Peace
P. Sainath
Oh, What a Lovely Waiver!
Greg Moses
Jeremiah was a Bullhorn
Dr. Susan Block
Advice for Eliot Spitzer
Website of the Day
No Cowboys
March 15 /
16, 2008
Patrick Cockburn
How
to Destroy a Country in Five Years
Mike Whitney
Bearly
Alive: Investment Giant Rushed to ICU by Panicky Fed Chief
Ralph Nader
Of
Laws and Men
Robert Pollin
It's Still the Economy, Stupid
Diane Christian
The Poetics of Perversity: From Boccaccio to Spitzer
Wajahat Ali
Faking the Hood: a Conversation with Ishmael Reed
Tom Wright
/
Therese Saliba
Rachel Corrie's Case for Justice
Alan Farago
Back to Florida: Where Bushtime Began
Greg Moses
Raiding the Family Room in Texas
Michael Hudson
A Grand Global Bargain?
Martha Rosenberg
Why Hillary's Favorite Chicken Company is Eying China
John Goekler
Fourth Generation Warfare in a Fifth Generation Conflict
Uzma Aslam
Khan
A Letter to Barack Obama: Where's the Change, Barack?
Oren Ben-Dor
The Silencing of Gilad Atzmon
David Underhill
Mammon, Morals and the Mobile Tanker Deal
Fred Gardner
The Education of Eliot Spitzer
David Michael
Green
Why Spitzer Should Have Resigned (and Why He Shouldn't Have)
Rev. William E. Alberts
Jesus, Entombed in Heaven
Gail Dines
It's All About the John: Prostitution and Male Power
David Yearsley
Conducting, Anarchy and the Problem of When to Begin
Chris Clarke
Walking with Zeke: the Luckiest of Dogs
Poets' Basement
Anderson, Lodge & Subiet
Website of
the Day
Deviant Art
March 14, 2008
Paul Craig
Roberts
Watching
the Dollar Die
Don Santina
Vichy
Democrats: Pelosi and the Politics of Collaboration
Patrick Cockburn
Iraqi
Mother Vows Revenge on US: How She Lost Her Husband and Her Sons
Tim Rinne
StratCom
Rules! The Next War Will Start in Nebraska
Robert Fantina
In
Torture We Trust
Saul Landau
Letter
to the Presidents-in-Waitings
David Macaray
Common
Myths About Labor Unions
Franklin Lamb
Is
the Bush Administration Switching Horses in Lebanon
Michael Neumann
The
One State Illusion: Reply to My Critics
March 13, 2008
Paul Craig
Roberts
Republicans
and "Free Market" Zealots Bring Disaster to America
Mike Whitney
Meltdown
Looms Larger As Credit Markets Freeze
Assaf Kfoury
"One-State
or Two State?"- Sterile Debate on False Alternatives
Andy Worthington
Afghan
Hero Who Died in Guantánamo: The Background to the Story
Adam Federman
From
Autopia to Autogeddon: Cars Reach the End of the Road
March 12, 2008
Dave Lindorff
Bringing
Down Spitzer: It's the Big Brother Who Should Bother US
R.F. Blader
The
Spitzer Backlash
Yonatan Mendel
How
to be an Israeli Journalist. Never Write "Murder" or
"Palestine"
Jonathan Cook
One
State or Two? Neither. The Issue is Zionism
Bill and Kathy
Christison
Fallon
and Gates -- At Least One Cheer
James J. Brittain
Was
the U.S. Involved in Killing the FARC-EP Leaders
Ron Jacobs
"All
the Money You Make Will Never Buy Back Your Soul"
March 11, 2008
Paul Craig
Roberts
How
to End the Subprime Crisis
Ed O'Loughlin
How
Israeli Troops Invade Homes in Gaza, Brutalize, Smash and Steal
Ramzy Baroud
'Unwavering
Commitment' to Inequality
Kathy Christison
One
State or Two? The Debate Over Israel and Palestine
China Hand
PRC
Plays it Cool, as U.S. Tries to Amp Up Pressure on Iran
John Joslin
Thank
You, Nafta! Welcome to Weirton, Home of the Discount Cigarette
Mike Averko
Serb
Politics, Kosovo and the Moscow-Washington Divide
Ben Rosenfeld
Gavin
Newsom's Kneejerk Plan
Thierry Paquot
High
Rise, Low Spirits:The Curse of the Tower Block
March 10, 2008
Uri Avnery
"Kill
A Hundred Turks and Rest": The Five-Day War in Gaza
Col. Dan Smith
Scoring
the "Surge" and What Lies Beyond
R.F. Blader
Why
"Lock Them Up and Throw Away the Key" is Losing its
Sheen
Michael Neumann
The
One-State Illusion: More is Less
Bob Fitrakis
and Harvey Wasserman
Did
the Republicans Give Hillary Her Victory in Ohio?
James J. Brittain
Anti-Uribe
Protests in Colombia and the World
Missy Comley
Beattie
The
Passion of John McCain
March 8-9,
2008 Weekend Edition
JoAnn Wypijewski
The
Only Way to Fight the Clintons
Mike Whitney
Sorting
Through the Rubble in Post Bubble America
Peter Morici
Fed
and Treasury Fiddle as Economy Plummets
Ralph Nader
The
Silent Violence of Gaza's Suffering that Candidates Ignore
Jonathan Cook
The
Meaning of Gaza's Shoah
Steve Niva
Behind
the Israeli Escalation in Gaza
Bill and Kathy
Christison
Crisis
over Teheran's Alleged Nuclear Plans Nearing Climax
Hervé
Do Alto and Franck Poupeau
Bolivia:
Morales is Checked
Eric Walberg
To
Leave and Stay at the Same Time: Putin to Medvedev to…?
Scott Johnson
City
of A Thousand Foreclosures
Mark Scaramella
James
Brown's Gate
Bill Clinton
President
Clinton's Remarks on Naming William M. Daley as NAFTA Task Force
Chairman
Poet's Basement
St.
Thomasino, Engel, Davies and Willson
Website of
the Weekend
Hillary
Blackens Barack
March 7, 2008
Patrick Cockburn
Why
Iraq Could Blow-Up in John McCain's Face
Robin Blackburn
Question
for Barrack Obama: Why Afghanistan is the'Right War'?
Saul Landau
The
Stupid Economy
Binoy Kampmark
When
Competition is Good: McCain and the Muddled Democrats
Chris Floyd
Crushing
the Ants: Admiral Fallon and His Empire
Andy Worthington
Spanish
Drop "Inhuman" Extradition Request for Guantánamo
Britons
Will Potter
Before
the Smoke Even Clears in Seattle: Bringing Out the T Word
March 6, 2008
March 6, 2008
Vincent Navarro
The
Next Failure of Health Reform
Forrest Hylton
High Stakes in the Andes: Colombia's Cornered President
Peter Morici
Why the Dollar is So Cheap
George Ciccariello-Maher
Counter-Attack of the Bureaucrats
John Ross
Taxi! Taxi! The Dark Side of the Oscars
Jacob Hornberger
No Standing to Lecture on Justice
Paul Watson
Illegal Japanese Whaling by the Numbers
Dan Bacher
Off the Deep End
Website of the Day
A Katrina Reader Online
March 5, 2008
Cockburn /
St. Clair
A
Great Day for John McCain (and Maybe Nader)
Joanne Mariner
After Guantanamo
Fidel Castro
The Raid on Ecuador: Underestimating Rafael Correa
Christopher
Brauchli
The Turkish Invasions
Steven Sherman
Obama and the Prospects for a Renewal of the Left
Dave Lindorff
Busting Bush & Co. in New England
James Murren
Bombing Somalia
Adam Engel
Necropolis Now
Website of Day
Remember Song
March 4, 2008
Wajahat Ali
Mumbo
Jumbo: Naming Names with Ishmael Reed
William Blum
How Could Hillary Have Known?
Bill Quigley
The Cleansing of New Orleans
Ralph Nader
The Prince Harry Solution
Patrick Irelan
Oil and Health in Venezuela
James J. Brittain
/
R. James Sacouman
Uribe's Colombia is Destabilizing a New Latin America
Norman Solomon
The War Election
Jacob Hornberger
Hillary in Waco: the Missing Apology
Andy Worthington
Guantánamo and the European Parliament
Mike Averko
Kosovo and the Press
Website of the Day
Tex-Mex Primary
March 3, 2008
Jennifer Loewenstein
Gazan Holocaust
Alan Farago
American Politics and the Faltering Economy
Richard Gott
Colombian Deaths in Ecuador
Wajahat Ali
Who Speaks for a Billion Muslims? Analyzing the World Gallup
Poll with John Esposito
Paul Craig Roberts
The Mukasey Conspiracy: a Bi-Partisan Attack on the Constitution
Robert Weissman
When Multinationals Say Adieu
Uri Avnery
Good Morning, Hamas
Martha Rosenberg
When Your Meat is a Downer
Eva Liddell
Leave the Next Dance for Bill
Michael Donnelly
Will Ferrell Does Flint
Website of the Day
Muddy Waters: Train Fare Home Blues
March 1 / 2,
2008
Alexander Cockburn
The
Race Card
Paul Craig
Roberts
The
Political Trial of Don Siegelman
Kathleen and Bill Christison
Nader the Best Antidote to American Imperialism
Nelson P. Valdés
Cuba After Fidel
Christopher Brauchli
Meet Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev: Friend of Bill, George and Dick
Ron Jacobs
Inside the Secret City: Bomb Making at Oak Ridge
John Ross
The New Conquistadores: Spain's Reconquest of Mexico
Robert Fantina
Posturing Over Patriotism: Obama and Those Lapel Pins
Robert Weissman
Hidden in Plain Sight: Human Rights Hypocrisy
Mohammed Omer
Fear in Gaza
Remi Kanazi
Barack Obama and the Politics of Xenophobia
Bob Jackson
Why is Yellowstone Destroying Its Bison Herd?
Richard Rhames
Casual Threats: Loaded with Mercury
Franklin Lamb
Lebanon Awaits the Arrival of the USS Cole
Rannie Amiri
Showboat Diplomacy: US Warships Steam Toward Lebanon
David Michael
Green
The Three Faces of Hillary: the Politics of Flim-Flam
Conn Hallinan
Notes from the Southern Cone
Faheem Hussain
Prince Harry of Afghanistan and the Meaning of Normalcy
Poets' Basement
Gibbons, Orloski, Gardner and Ford
Website of
the Weekend
The Palestine Chronicle Needs (and Deserves) Your Help!
February 29,
2008
Matt Gonzalez
The
Obama Craze
Jonathan Cook
Academic Freedom? Not for Arabs in Israel
Joshua Frank
Obama and Israel
Anthony DiMaggio
The Unilateral Presidency: Signing Statements and the Rollback
of American Law
Linn Washington, Jr.
Cop Abuse in America
Binoy Kampmark
Hubris and Nemesis
Robert Bryce
Energy Efficiency May be a Good Thing, But It Won't Cut Energy
Use
Sonja Karkar
Australia's Government Continues Its Love Affair with Israel
Dave Lindorff
A Manchurian Candidate in the White House? Obama or Bush?
Website of
the Day
Olduvai George
February 28,
2008
Patrick Cockburn
"Iraq"
Falls Apart
Fred Gardner
The Birth of NAFTA
Michael Levitin
The Crisis in Kosovo is Just Beginning
William S.
Lind
The Fake State of Kosovo
David Macaray
A Ray of Hope for Organized Labor
Stephen Fleischman
Nader's Latest Run: Monkey Wrench or Cattle Prod?
George Wuerthner
The Myths of Forest Health: Why Ecological Logging is an Oxymoron
Laura Carlsen
The North American Union Farce
Carl Finamore
Why the Delta-Northwest Deal Hasn't Taken Off
Michael Dickinson
The Day I Bombed the House of Commons
Website of the Day
Plane Stupid
February 27,
2008
David Rosen
Playing
the Race Card: Obama, Love Across the Color Line and Political
Dirty Tricks
Vijay Prashad
Bomber John: McCain and the 100 Year War
Harvey Wasserman
Incident at Turkey Point: Did Florida Go to the Radioactive Brink?
Andy Worthington
Guantánamo's Shambolic Trials: Pentagon Boss Resigns,
Ex-Prosecutor Joins Defense
Wajahat Ali
Pakistan for Sale: an Interview with Ayesha Siddiqa on Pakistan's
Military Economy
Peter Morici
The Auction-Rate Securities Fiasco: a Drama of Greed and Betrayal
Stephen Philion
Conspiracy Theory, Fears of Betrayal and Today's Anti-War Movement
Michael Donnelly
Obama by Unanimous Decision
Erica Rosenberg /
Janine Blaeloch
After the Land Deals: Will There
be Any Wilderness Left to Protect?
Website of
the Day
Dress Blues
February 26,
2008
Debbie Nathan
Confessions
of a Gitmo Guard
Alan Dershowitz
v. Frank Menetrez
On Finkelstein
Harvey Wasserman
How Ohio Got Nuked
Michael Colby
Ralph Nader vs. the Fundamentalist Liberals
Gary Leupp
Condi vs. Putin on Bullying Belgrade
David Orchard
The New Conquistadors: Canada in Afghanistan
Martha Rosenberg
The Big HRT
Fran Shor
The Electoral Circus and Nader's Sideshow
Serge Halimi
The Dom Perignon Socialist Manifesto: Bernard Henri-Levy's Plan
for the French Left
Global Balkans
Neo-Liberalism and Protectorate States in the Post-Yugoslav Balkans:
an Interview with Tariq Ali
Website of
the Day
Texistentialism
February 25,
2008
Roger Morris
A
Death in Damascus
Anthony DiMaggio
Military
Bases, the Media and the Democrats
Ralph Nader
Why I'm Running
Patrick Cockburn
Iraq Broils
Paul Craig Roberts
Kosovo and the Empire Crazies
Peter Morici
Bernanke's Failing Policies: a Long Recession Looms
Dave Lindorff
General Welch's Whitewash: What We Still Don't Know About That
Minot Nuke Incident
Saul Landau
/
Farrah Hassen
Fanatics, Mountebanks and Drillers: a Bloody Oil Film
Heather Gray
James Orange, Civil Rights Legend
Robert Weitzel
Accomodating Torture
John Halle
Kucinich Goes Down
Website of the Day
Do the Trunk Monkey!
February 23 / 4, 2008
Alexander Cockburn
The
Mushrooming Clouds That Hang Over McCain
Paul Craig
Roberts
Obama
and Global Trade
Wajahat Ali
Omissions of the Commission: an Interview with Phillip Shenon
on the 9/11 Commission
Ralph Nader
Neutering the FDA
Jürgen
Vsych
"What Was Ralph Nader Thinking?"
Fidel Castro
Watching the US Presidential Campaign from Havana
Andy Worthington
Britain's Guantánamo
David Macaray
Unions Under Assault
Jeremy Scahill
The Real Story Behind Kosovo's Independence
David Krieger
Stanley Sheinbaum
Caging the Cold War Monster
Ron Jacobs
Building for the Future
Michael Garrity
The Last, Best Hope for the Northern Rockies
Brian McKenna
Higher Ed's "Civic Engagements" Get Dumbed Down
Missy Beattie
Over the Hill with John McCain
Fred Gardner
American College of Physicians Takes Pro-Cannabis Stand (Mostly)
Boris Kagarlitsky
The Growth of the Russian Labor Movement
Mike Ferner
Kick That Barrel
Dan Bacher
On the Trail with the Border Angels
Christopher
Ketcham
Hillary Goes Where Obama Fears to Tread
Poets' Basement
Davies and Buknatski
Website of
the Weekend
Obama
Mariachi
February 22,
2008
Mike Whitney
The
Bonfire of Capital
Jason Hribal
Elephants and the Circus: The Story of Janet
Liaquat Ali Khan
Arresting Musharraf
Joshua Frank
That Obama Glow: the Nuclear Industry's Golden Child
Dave Lindorff
Vicki's John: Ask Not What She Did for Him, Ask What He Did for
Her!
Liliana Segura
When Torture is Old News: McCain's Blonde Diversion
Robert Fantina
Castro, Bush and Cuba: a Fiasco Waiting to Happen?
Yifat Susskind
The ABCs of Death: Bush vs. Africa's Women
Norm Kent
Pushing 60 with Pot
Website of
the Day
Bush Gets Down in Liberia
February 21,
2008
Saul Landau
Fidel
Steps Aside
Elizabeth Schulte
Left Behind, With No End in Sight: America's Long-Term Unemployed
Helen Redmond
Health Care as a Human Right
Benjamin Dangl
Undermining Bolivia
Michael Levitin
Kosovo's Dilemma
Liam Leonard
Fear and Loathing on the Emerald Isle
Patrick Irelan
Land and Food in Venezuela
Linn Cohen-Cole
Poor Ohio: a Second Letter to Hillary on Her Ties to Monsanto
Michael Simmons
Daydream Believer: John Stewart, the Miles Davis of Folk Music
CounterPunch
News Service
A Message from the Women of Okinawa to US GIs
Website of the Day
Cop Abuse in Shreveport
|
March
27, 2008
A Conversation
About War, Religion and the US of A
Meeting
Charlie Ehlen
By RON JACOBS
Charlie Ehlen is a Marine veteran who
lives in Louisiana. He and I have been keeping up an intermittent
correspondence for the past few years. After a piece of mine
gets published in Counterpunch I usually receive a comment or
two, often from Charlie. After a recent piece, Charlie's email
response inspired me to ask if he was interested in an informal
interview via cyberspace. In the spirit of the great oral historian
and interviewer Studs Terkel, I reasoned that such an exchange
might provide some insight not necessarily heard too often and
would certainly be from a segment of society (and geographical
region) that is rarely represented in any media in the US. The
media often gets caught up in asking the opinions of experts
who are often just shills for a particular product or political
party. Like most of us, Charlie is neither of those. This doesn't
mean he doesn't have some strong opinions (also like most of
us); it does mean he speaks for himself and calls things as he
sees them. The conversation is below.
Hi Charlie. To get started,
can you unravel a bit of your personal history? I know you are
a vet and you live in Louisiana, but not much more. Were you
born and raised in Louisiana? When did you join the Marines
and how long were you in, and so on?
OK, here I go. I was born (some
say found in the woods, I prefer the dump) in December of 1947,
in the town of Burlington, Wisconsin. I remember living for some
time in Crystal Lake, Illinois and then we built a house in Woodstock,
Illinois. We left there in the spring of 1959 to move to southern
California. Dad had been made an excellent offer by the company
he worked for to be the diesel engine service technician for
all of California, Arizona, and Nevada. If it matters, he worker
for P & H. They made their own diesel engines until the early
1960's. They still make cranes and drag lines today. I lived
in the city of La Puente from 1959 through high school and two
years at community college. Four years in the Marines, of which
two were in California. I returned there in 1972 after being
released from active duty.
I got married for a second
time and bought a new house in the city of Ontario, California.
We lived there until I sold the house in June of 2000. The reason
I sold the house and moved is that my wonderful wife, Sherie,
died in January 1999 from brain cancer. I had met Ann in a grief
support group and as all that kept me in Ontario was my home
and two cats, we decided to get married (bad move) and live in
Louisiana where she was born and raised and has all her family
here.
That is a short version of
how I ended up in central Louisiana.
I enlisted in the Marines in April of 1968 on a 120 day delay.
That means that you have 120 days before you must report to the
induction center to begin boot camp. I enlisted for four years,
because the recruiter said that would give me a better chance
of getting some specialized schooling. It did, I was a radio
relay repairman. That meant 37 weeks, 8 hours a day, 5 days a
week of electronics and radio repair school. It meant that my
tour in Vietnam did not start until July 1970 and I returned
to the states in September of 1971. June 1972, my enlistment
was up and I spent most of that summer working on my uncle Fred's
farm near Burlington, Wisconsin. Don't ask why I joined the
Marines. I have never quite figured that out myself. I say it
is because I didn't want to get drafted into the Army. Dad and
all my uncles who ever were in the military were all in the Army
of Army Air Corps during and after World War Two. I had to be
different. As far as I know, the only member of the family, Dad's
or mom's side who was a Marine. For more background. After boot
camp and ITR, I spent much time in San Diego in electronics schools.
Then I was sent to 29 Palms until July 1970. My last duty station
was at Camp LeJeune, near Jacksonville, North Carolina.
You've made it very clear
to me that you oppose the wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Can you let us know why? What is the connection between your
opposition to these imperial adventures and your experiences
in Vietnam?
Why do I oppose the two illegal wars? Hell, that is too easy
Ron. Because they are illegal! Why else? OK, that was way too
flip of me. But, it IS truthful still.
I am opposed to ALL wars, unless we are attacked. As General
Smedley Butler said, there are only two reasons for war; to defend
OUR homes and the Bill of Rights. Unless or until OUR country
is under attack, I also agree with his statement that "war
is a racket". He spent 33 years as a Marine and was awarded
the Medal of Honor twice. So I figure if that philosophy was
good enough for him, it sure couldn't hurt me to see his truthfulness.
Further, neither of those countries
ever attacked America. They didn't have the means to do so, even
if they had wished to. Iraq did not have "weapons of mass
destruction". Yes, Saddam did at one time have chemical
and maybe bio weapons, but who sold that stuff to him? We did,
and I bet the government still has the damn receipts for the
sale. Why did Ron Reagan send Rummie to visit Saddam? To seal
the deal is my guess. Now Rummie won't admit the photo of the
two of them shaking hands is a real photo. Papa Shrub was wrong
in his war against Iraq also. I told anyone near me at the time
that we had no call to be there then.
Also, I just hate war. I have
been there done that as we say. War is the most pornographic
thing we humans have ever created. I would not ever wish for
anyone to ever have to go to war. I guess you can call that
the connection between my experiences in Vietnam and my opposition
to the current wars. The same will apply when these assholes
bomb Iran.
Continuing this thread,
what do you see as the connections between the US in Vietnam
and its current occupations/wars?
The only connections that I see between Vietnam and the two current
illegal wars are that the only ones who "benefit" from
any of them are the defense contractors. Plus, they are "imperial"
wars. America was not threatened by Vietnam in any way. I have
read most of the paper back edition of "The Pentagon Papers"
and that sure opens your eyes to the real truth of Vietnam. Ho
had at one time asked America for help in getting the French
out of his country. He foolishly thought that we (our government)
would see that he was just a Vietnamese patriot, like 1776. Boy
was he wrong. Saddam was "our" guy for a long time.
Then he decided to annex Kuwait and he stopped being our guy.
Just like what happened in Panama.
Wars are fought for the profits
for the corporations, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan. Hey, you can
read Butler's booklet "War is a Racket" and he makes
the same claim about World War One. Looks like nothing ever changes
much.
Were you involved in any
antiwar stuff when you were in the Marines?
Any anti war stuff while a Marine? No, none that would matter.
We would sit around and talk about it among ourselves, but I
never went to any demonstrations. It wasn't a good idea in San
Diego when I was there. The SP's were out looking to bust any
military folks who got close to any of that. I do remember we
even talked about the war and why while in Vietnam.
I asked our regimental communications
officer once. He was a major and a very good person as well as
a very good officer. He said the he knew me well enough that
he couldn't give a "canned" reply to me. He looked
me straight in the eyes and said I was there for the same reason
he was. We were both Marines and we had been ordered to be there.
He said he knew that wasn't enough for me, but it was all he
knew as the truth of it all. As to any politics or "grand
scheme" he was as in the dark as I was, or so he said. I
respected him and believed him, still do.
In Jacksonville, NC, I don't
ever recall any anti war demonstrations during the time I was
there. Then it wasn't near many large cities that I remember
so there may not have been that activity around the Marine base
then. I did read about it and would discuss it with anyone who
would listen or debate me on the war. I have always read a great
deal, still do. Dad taught that you can never have your knowledge
taken away, so I try to keep earning. I like to know or at least
understand the how's and why's of things.
When is it the soldier's
duty to refuse orders? Or, to put it another way, when should
one's personal morals override the orders to kill?
It's a question that seems
so clear to those who have never been in war, but obviously isn't.
It has been running through my small mind since I first read
it. All afternoon, doing yard work, a very good "think time"
for me, I have been asking and answering this one. Let me start
by telling you about a boot camp lecture we had in the summer
of 1968. The main topic was the Uniform Code of Military Justice
and how we needed to know some of the "highlights"
of the military law. As a 19 year old recruit, I knew we would
probably all be in Vietnam before our enlistments were up so
I paid attention, particularly when the lecturer, not sure if
it was an officer or some staff NCO, said that we could be charged
with murder even in a war zone. Wow, here I had thought (bad
move there, thinking in boot camp) that the whole idea of war
was to kill the "other guy" before he killed you. Now
he had my full attention, murder, even in a war. This is a totally
new concept to my young brain.
How can you commit murder in
a war? Simple, kill an unarmed enemy who has surrendered or kill
an innocent civilian. That is murder, plain and simple, just
as in "real life". I understood exactly the message
and that law, but it was still a novel concept to me. I was and
am glad for that lesson. There is part of an answer to your question,
you don't kill when it is murder. Yes, I realize that war is
just mass murder, but if it is between opposing forces, well,
both sides know the other is trying to kill them. No that does
not justify it, but it is a sort of rationalization I suppose.
Also, as to when do you decide to kill or not. Another lesson
that same lecture had was the following. We were all obligated
to disobey any and all unlawful orders. So, if my commander
told me to kill some prisoner, I would have to refuse or I would
be guilty of murder as he/she would also be guilty. Part of
when you decide can therefore be based on military law. Because
in some instances it would be a crime. On the battle field,
during a firefight, you do not even have the time to think on
these things. You just shoot at the enemy and hope you and your
buddies survive.
When we were on guard duty
one evening, we saw an older farmer approach the perimeter. I
decided he was not a threat and only called the sergeant of the
guard to our bunker. (The farmer was in what is termed a freefire
zone and if Charlie had killed him, there would have been no
legal repercussions-Ron) Thankfully, he agreed with me,
the man was a local and was most likely going home after a hard
day in the fields. I guess that sometimes you decide to shoot
or not based on whether you feel threatened. What is the overall
situation you are in, that sort of things have to come into play.
At least that is my opinion and how I acted. Also, I personally
did not ever want to kill unless forced to do so. Is that my
Dad teaching me to respect all people? Yes, I think it was/is.
It is my personal belief as well. Killing another person is wrong.
This is also a reason that
I no longer believe in ANY organized religion at all. I asked
two different Navy chaplains about killing and God/ the ten commandments
and all. I never did get any decent answer from them. After I
was out of the Marines, I asked three different members of different
clergy. Their answers were almost as poor as those of the military
clergy. The basic reply from any of them was the sort as follows.
"Don't worry about it, God knows what you did and trust
in His forgiveness." Well, that answer stinks, to me at
least. Now I have no religion and will not have one. Am I an
atheist? I don't care for how that term has been abused. Agnostic?
That seems to me to be a "fence sitter" and not very
good as a reply. I would prefer to be called a pagan or a heathen.
I think that a "higher power" may exist, but as to
any sort of "personal" relationship with that god/gods/power,
no, I don't have one and don't much care to have one.
I would hope that if a situation
arose today, that I would still use my best judgment as to whether
or not I needed to use deadly force to resolve it. I would never
wish to kill another person for any reason, unless he/she tried
to harm my cats. They are all the family I have and I love them
and would protect them at all costs. They are just like kids.
They are my kids in fact.
I don't know how well or if
I even came close to the reply you need for this question. It
is what I have learned and how I have acted so far in my 60 years
here.
What do you think of the Iraq Veterans Against the War and
their recent Winter Soldier investigation?
The Iraq Veterans Against the
War are doing an outstanding job. I only have joined two groups
since the Marines. One is Veterans for Peace and the other is
Vietnam Veterans Against War. I think that veterans are better
at telling the truth of war. They have been there, they know
what is going on. I think veterans have an obligation to humanity
to speak out about war, any war. To tell the real truth about
war. We get too much fake news.
The current "Winter Soldier"
sounds a lot like the "original" version done by the
Vietnam vets. I think it can be a very good thing. I sure hope
it helps the veterans to do this. This criminal administration
says "support the troops". Sure, but how does this
goddamn bunch support the troops? Why, they cut veterans benefits,
they provide substandard health care for the vets, they undercut
any sort of mental health for them. They don't mind that many
vets, even from the two current wars, are homeless. They don't
look into why so many Iraq and Afghanistan vets are killing themselves.
Some support. The "support" the troops get from Shrubbie
and crew is hot air and bullshit.
On one of your recent posts,
you write about the current financial mess this country (and
the world) is in. In that post, you write that about the only
heavy industrial material the US continues to manufacture is
weaponry. That statement says a lot about the nature of our
economy and, if one stretches it a bit-the spiritual nature of
our nation. What do you think?
Yes, I did say that about the
only thing America makes anymore is weapons and weapons systems.
What does that say about our country It says we have totally
lost our way as human beings. Spiritual? How are we spiritual
when all we do is threaten other people and/or start wars of
choice? I know that Shrubbie claims to be a Christian, as do
a majority of Americans. Well, if he is a Christian, that makes
me damn glad that I am a heathen. I think it says we do NOT
practice what we preach at all. We "claim" to be a
peace loving country, yet we have started two wars of choice
since 2001. Some peace, more like we are a piece demanding country,
a piece of whatever we want. Oh, and send the bill for it elsewhere.
I think it has been proven that America has no morals at all.
Christian? Maybe America IS a Christian nation. I sure don't
care for that religion at all.
Shrubbie says he is a "born
again" Christian. Well, I don't know about that, also, I
was born OK the first time. Why he had to be born again, I don't
know. Either way, the second birth should have been aborted,
as it turned out to be a rat bastard. Any way, he says he's
a Christian, yet he doesn't do as his own "book" tells
him to do. Before he goes off telling Iraq to get cleaned up,
he should have made sure his own house was in order How many
of "us" are without health care? How many Americans
go to bed hungry? How many are homeless? How many MORE will be
homeless very soon (thanks to the sub-prime mess)? He sure is
not a very "good" Christian in my opinion, for what
that is worth.
Do you fear for the future of this country? If so, why?
Do I fear for the country?
Hell YES!!!!!!!!!!
Why? Because so many Americans
seem to be brain dead. They are way too fat, lazy and ignorant.
Many border on stupid, which is quite different from ignorant.
They would rather watch "reality" TV with a beer than
take an interest in the goings on in our government. They can
talk sports or TV shows, but talk about the wars or the economy
or politics and you get maybe a short sentence then off to the
TV or sports. They won't discuss much of any real importance.
That is why I reply to much of what I read from you and others
who write for various web sites.
Do you think we can do anything
to fix it? I'm somewhat pessimistic on this count but refuse
to give up trying. How about you?
Can we do anything to fix America? Yes, we can. We MUST at least
try. I am not an optimist by any means. I trust in Murphy, if
it can go wrong, it will go wrong. Actually, that Murphy guy
was an optimist! No, I refuse to give up. Dad made sure of that.
He taught me to not quit. Well, if I was doing something that
was wrong, then quit and start it the right way. You get the
idea I am sure. I don't know how to change things, but I know
for sure that things need to be changed and soon or it may be
too late and beyond repair. I hope not.
If you do think it can be
fixed, what would it take in your estimation to change the direction
we seem to be heading?
What would it take to change things?
That is the $64 question. How
do you get people to take an interest in what is really important?
That could be a start, but how to do it, well, I don't know.
Keep talking to anyone at all, maybe it will hit a spark somewhere
and then another and another and soon you get a small fire and
then it grows. I don't know Ron, I sure wish I had some ideas
on how to change things for the better. Is it worth it?
HELL YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is still America. It was
a very good place once. I think it can be again. If we all just
quit and say screw it, then what do we have? Nothing. Zip. Zero.
Nada. No, we can't do that. Well, I cannot. Dad would rise from
the dead and bust my ass for that. Yes, America IS worth the
effort to do what must be done to keep it alive as a decent place
with respect for ALL human beings and even for the animals.
Anything else?
Probably way too much more.
I talk too much. I go on and on and on..............to infinity
and beyond I think. Look, America is still a good place. It
must be, people the world over still keep coming here. They may
be slowing down some since the economy is going to hell now.
If the country isn't worth saving, then everyone who died for
America has died for nothing. I refuse to give in to that.
Thanks Ron. Your "questions" got me to really thinking
about a good many things. I needed that.
Ron Jacobs is author of The
Way the Wind Blew: a history of the Weather Underground,
which is just republished by Verso. Jacobs' essay on Big Bill
Broonzy is featured in CounterPunch's collection on music, art
and sex, Serpents
in the Garden. His first novel, Short
Order Frame Up, is published by Mainstay Press. He can be
reached at: rjacobs3625@charter.net
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