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Today's
Stories
March 5 / 6,
2005
Alexander Cockburn
Arnold
vs. the Nurses
March 4, 2005
Frederick Hudson
Caught
in a Cage
March 3, 2005
Pat Williams
"Social Security Protects the Young as Much as the Old"
Brian Cloughley
Headlines, Beliefs and Deceptions
Dave Lindorff
Why Do the Democrats Pamper Greenspan?
Amira Hass
Oslo All Over Again
Greg Moses
In Oscar Texas: One Down, One to Go?
Lynne Landes
Exit Poll Madness
Nelson P. Valdés
Rapture Takes Leftists
John Ross
Mexico's
Fox Schemes to Jail Front-Running Leftist
Wars
of the Laptop Bombers
March 2, 2005
Saul Landau
/ Farrah Hassen
The
"Noble Liars" Attack Syria
Mike Roselle
The State of Oregon vs. Mike Roselle: Criminalizing Environmental
Dissent
M. Junaid Alam
Columbia University and the New Anti-Semitism
Suzan Mazur
Inside the Polygamy Cults of Southern Utah
Jackson Thoreau
Texas Congressman Calls for "Nuking Syria"
Michael Donnelly
No Love for Teresa Heinz; John Edwards Gets a Pass
Jeffrey St.
Clair
Uncle
Bucky Makes a Killing
Website of the Day
The Ghosts of Karl Marx & Ed Abbey
March 1, 2005
Scott Richard
Lyons
Million
Dollar Bigotry
David Lindorff
Stealing Workers' Pensions
Patrick Cockburn
/ David Enders
Bloodbath in Iraq
Ron Jacobs
The Last Poets Recalled
Tanya Garcia
USA Next: the Industry Front Group to Privatize Social Security
Joseph Pietri
The Drug Trail Ends in Kathmandu: Golden Tar Heroin and the Black
Prince
Kona Lowell
Woody: Broken in Vietnam
Paul Craig
Roberts
The
Coming End of the American Superpower
Website of
the Day
Petition: No US Intervention in Iran
February 28,
2005
Gary Leupp
Year
4 in the Five Year Plan: a June Attack on Iran?
Bill Quigley
Haitian Police Open Fire on Nonviolent Marchers
Mickey Z.
The
Million Dollar Interview: Mary Johnson on Clinton Eastwood, Hunter
Thompson and the "Right to Die"
Paul de Rooij
Why
Ted Honderich is Wrong on All Counts About Israel
David Swanson
Basic Income Guarantee Versus the Corp Media
Mario Lamo
Jimenez
Maria
Full of Cultural Contradictions at the Oscars
Emma Perez
The Attacks on Ward Churchill: a Test Case in the Neocons Purge
of Academia
Diana Johnstone
Censorship
and the Empire
Website of the Day
Stop the War Campaign!
February 26
/ 27, 2005
Alexander Cockburn
An
American Jew Laments Decline in Jewish Influence
Noam Chomsky
Nuclear
Terror at Home
Rev. William E. Alberts
Rhetoric in the Air; Reality on the Ground
Fred Gardner
AARP Gets Pot-Baited
Gary Leupp
Bush and Camus on Freedom
Saul Landau
An Interview with Cuban VP Ricardo Alarcon (Part 3): the Miami
Mafia
Robin Philpot
Second Thoughts on the Hotel Rwanda
Yitkhak Laor
In Praise of the Facts
Ben Tripp
Out of Sight; Out of Mind
Justin Taylor
Zizek Seen Over the Handlebars
Jack Random
The Wounds from Wounded Knee
Rafael Renteria
Ward Churchill and White America
Jim B.
Reflections on the Eve of Fatherhood
Seth DeLong
Land Reform in Venezuela: More Like Lincoln Than Lenin
John Chuckman
A Season of Depressing Political Reruns
Alison Weir
Relativity, LA Times Style
Richard Oxman
Political Solitude: From Garcia Marquez to Maria Full of Grace
Dr. Susan Block
It Always Rains in California: All About Female Ejaculation
Poets' Basement
Landau, Lowell, Louise, Davies, Soderstrom, Norris & Albert
February 25,
2005
Roger Burbach
Murder
in the Amazon
Behzad Yaghmaian
Iranian Distrust of America: 50 Years in the Making
Kurt Nimmo
Conclave of the Brats
Joshua Frank
Diagnosing the Green Party
John Farley
How to Stop the War in Iraq: Punish Pro-War Politicians
Lawrence Reichard
The D'Aubuisson Memorial: Flowers of Evil
Pratyush Chandra
The Royal Coup in Nepal and Global Imperialist Designs
David Smith-Ferri
When
the Battlefield has No Borders
Website of
the Day
The 2005 Election in 3-D
February 24,
2005
Omar Waraich
The
Galloway Saga: Smearing an Anti-War Politician
Brian Cloughley
Bribing and Twisting Amerian Journalists: Valerie Plame &
30 Pieces of Silver
Tom Wright
Torture Nation: Abu Ghraib, a Year Later
Sharon Smith
The Anti-War Movement After Kerry: Learning All the Wrong Lessons
Dave Lindorff
Do These Roosting Chickens Have Flu?
Fred Feldman
Lynching Ward Churchill
James Reiss
On Hearing About a Plot to Assassinate President Bush
Diane Christian
Bad
Blood: Ritual & Sexual Torture in Iraq
Website of
the Day
The Gray Line
February 23,
2005
Werther
The
Poisoned Well: What the CIA's Nazi Files Can Tell Us About Iraq
W. John Green
A Salvador Option for Iraq? How Negroponte Changes the Ground
Rules
James Petras
A New Face to Bush Foreign Policy?
Conn Hallinan
Cornering the Dragon: the Return of the China Lobby
Joe Pietri
Cannabis: the Goose that Lays Golden Eggs (For Consumers and
Cops)
Louis Proyect
Hunter Thompson and the "New" Journalism
Alexander Cockburn
Hunter
S. Thompson and Gonzo
Website of
the Day
Did You Make the Blacklist? Why Not?
February 22,
2005
Naseer Aruri
The
Politics of the Hariri Assassination: Remapping the Middle East
Richard Manning
The
Economy of Hunger: Starvation is Part of the Economic Plan
William A.
Cook
Righteous
Racism Running Rampant
Paul Craig Roberts
The Agents of Instability
Ken Krayeske
Dr. Thompson is Out
Dave Zirin
How the Owners Destroyed the NHL
Kirkpatrick
Sale
Imperial
Entropy: the Collapse of the American Empire
February 21,
2005
Hunter S. Thompson
"He
Was A Crook"
John Ross
Mexico:
the Pentagon's Proxy Army in Iraq
Ward Churchill
What Did I Really Say? Why Did
I Say It?
Dr. Teresa
Whitehurst
Military Recruiting on Channel One: Geometry 101, Brought to
You by the US Navy
David Swanson
Fighting for a Living Wage, State by State
Dave Lindorff
All the News That's Fit to Fake
Stew Albert
Fear and Loathing: HST
Michael Neumann
Strategies
in Palestine: a Shrinking Pie in the Sky
February 19
/ 20, 2005
Alexander Cockburn
Back
to Salem: Paul Shanley and the Return of "Recovered Memory"
Kathleen Christison
Struggling
for Justice in Palestine
Ted Honderich
On Being Persona Non Grata
Gary Leupp
Self-Hating Gays: Welcome to the White House & Welcome to
Commit Suicide
Don Santina
Reparations for the Blues
Jennifer Roesch
John Negroponte: Dirty Warrior
Scott Richard
Lyons
Ward
Churchill and the Identity Police
Chris Clarke
Ward Churchill and Liberal Outrage
George Beres
Censorship in the Land of Wayne Morse: Gagging W. Churchill in
Oregon
Harry Browne
The Belfast Heist: the Plot Unravels
Manuel García,
Jr.
Who Killed Rafik Hariri?
Mark Scaramella
Lessons from the Hidden Afghan War
Michael Donnelly
Whatever Happened to John Edwards?
John Pilger
First, They Attack the Past
Norman Madarasz
Death Wish for Reform in Brazil?
Surendra Devkota
The Monarchy in Nepal
Deborah Rich
How Anti-GMO Ballot Measures May Miss the Mark
Fred Gardner
When Dr. Tod Met Merle Haggard
CounterPunch
News Service
About King Mswati: Political Developments in Swaziland
Richard Oxman
CounterPunching Arthur Miller
Poets' Basement
Albert, Giebel, Tripp, Engel and Orkin
February 18,
2005
Ben Moxham
In
East Timor, the Nightmare Continues
Dave Lindorff
The
Scum Also Rises: the Bloody Career of John Negroponte
Larry Birns
Negroponte: a Resume of Death Squads, Deceptions and Bribery
Gregory Elich
N, Korea's Phantom Nukes and the US's Subversion of Diplomacy
Samuel Logan / John Meyers
The Future of Colombia's Paramilitary Death Squads
Nicole Colson
Shock and Awe on Civil Liberties: From Lynne Stewart to Ward
Churchill
Suzan Mazur
Whose National Security Are We Talking About?
Mickey Z.
"One
Man Has Stopped Killing"
February 17,
2005
Joshua Frank
Hogtying
of the Deaniacs
Paul Craig
Roberts
Bush's
Willing Sychophants: the Conservative Media
Robert Fisk
Under
the Shadow of Death in Lebanon
Christopher
Brauchli
Where
Time Stands Still: Kinsey and Darwin in Cobb County, GA
Dr. Teresa
Whitehurst
Military
Recruitment TV: Why Send Them to College, When Your Kid Can be
Cannon Fodder?
Alison Weir
Russia, Israel and Media Omissions
Ahrar Ahmad
A Review of Shahid Alam's "Is There an Islamic Problem?"
Saul Landau
An
Interview with Cuban VP Ricardo Alarcon: "The US Tramples
the Laws It Wrote"
Website of the Day
Petition to Support Ward Churchill
February 16,
2005
Robert Fisk
Lebanon:
a Battlefield for the Wars of Others
Kevin Zeese
Creating a Real Ownership Society: Share the Wealth; Protect
Retirement
Gary Leupp
Meanwhile, in Nepal...
Ron Jacobs
Why the Iranian Opposition Should Not Trust the Bush Administration
Jessica Leight
Oil-Flush Chavez Begins to Strut His Stuff
Greg Moses
Houston, You've Got a Problem: Documenting Voting Irregularities
in Texas
Mark Engler
The Last Porto Alegre
Jack McCarthy
Where's the Outrage About Pat? Buchanan Does a Churchill
Bill Christison
US
Foreign Policy Dangerously Slanted Toward Israel
Website of the Day
The
World is Melting: a Photo Survey by Gary Braasch
February 15,
2005
CounterPunch
News Service
Dean
a "Safe" Moderate, Says NYT Citing CounterPunch
Robert Fisk
The
Killing of Mr. Lebanon
Uri Avnery
"Sharm-al-Sheikh,
We Have Come Back Again"
Stan Cox
Fighting Big Pharma in Little Digwal
Mickey Z.
Radio
Active North of the Border: an Interview with Chris Cook
Dave Zirin
Bashing Bush: Jose Canseco Comes Clean
Nadia Martinez
Ending
World Poverty? Opening at the World Bank, Apply Now
Lila Rajiva
"Little Eichmanns" and the 'Harijan': the Danger of
Magical Thinking in Politics
Paul Craig
Roberts
The
American Job Sell Out
February 14,
2005
Robert Jensen
Ward
Churchill: Right to Speak Out; Right About 9/11
Brian Cloughley
Kuwait's Freedom, Bush-style
Patrick Cockburn
Outcome
of the Iraqi Elections: Shortages, Corruption, Guerrilla War
Gary Leupp
Post-election Iraq: What Next?
Michael Donnelly
Sacred Nature: Just Another Commodity?
Dave Lindorff
When Bush Came to My Neighborhood
Elaine Cassel
The
Lynne Stewart Verdict
February 12
/ 13, 2005
Alexander Cockburn
Ward
Churchill's Genes
Saul Landau
Alarcon
Speaks: an Interview with the Vice President of Cuba
Paul Craig
Roberts
Nothing
to Fear But Bush Himself
Patrick Cockburn
Two Years After the Fall of Saddam, the Resistance Controls All
Major Roads into Baghdad
John Feffer
Bush
v. N. Korea: Round Two
Mickey Z.
Right to Remain Silent; Duty to Speak
Kurt Nimmo
Viva la Cucaracha!
Fred Gardner
Waiting for Raich
Dave Zirin
Fighting the New Republic(ans)
John Chuckman
Hiroshima, Mon Amour
Ben Tripp
A Leftist on the Bush Payroll
Carol Norris
"Buddy, Can You Spare a Dwarf?"
Robert Fisk
No Middle East Peace Without Justice
Frank / Chowkwanyun
Muzzled Activist in an Age of Terror: the Case of Sherman Austin
Mike Whitney
Condi's Euro Tour
Deborah Frisch
A Psychologist's Defense of Ward Churchill
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Reading Khomeini in Colorado
Christine TenBarge
What's So Special About Ward?
Ron Jacobs
Curtis Mayfield's Train to Jordan
Dr. Susan Block
Chemistry of Love: a Valentine's Greeting
Poets' Basement
Louise, Smith-Ferri, Ford and Albert
Website of the Weekend
Free Sherman
February 11,
20055
Manuel Garcia,
Jr
The
Eight Percent War
Kurt Nimmo
Ann
Coulter's Racism: Where's Geronimo When You Really Need
Him?
Dave Lindorff
Guckert
or Gannon? The Perfect Plant; He Fit Right In
Larry Birns
War is Peace; Slavery is Freedom: Democracy According to Elliott
Abrams
Bill Quigley
Twenty Questions: a Social Justice Quiz
Tom Barry
Bush's State of Delusion
Jennifer Van
Bergen
Lynne
Stewart's Conviction Hurts Us All
February 10,
2005
Dave Lindorff
What
Academic Freedom?
Christopher Brauchli
The Love of Slaughter: From Rwanda to Iraq
Patrick Cockburn
In Baghdad, It's Easy to Get Killed
Nicole Colson
Have the Democrats Surrendered on Abortion Rights?
Suzan Mazur
More
on the Assassination of Lumumba from Mr. Garsin of Kinshasha
Michael Donnelly
Salvaging an Opposition
Mike Stark
Driving Ossie Davis: "Give Them a Little Truth, a Little
Hope"
Greg Moses
Taking
Jesus Back from the Hijackers
Website of
the Day
The Missionary Positions
February 9,
2005
Jeffrey St.
Clair
Duck
and Cover Redux: Bunker Busters and City Levellers
Mickey Z.
What Ward Churchill Didn't Say
John Ross
Hecho
en Mexico: the Iraqi Election
Tom Barry
Ambassador of Lies: Elliott Abrams, the Neocon's Neocon
Conn Hallinan
The
Coup in Nepal: Nursing the Pinion
Patrick Cockburn
Sistani's Vision for Iraq: Cricket is Fine, But Chess is "Absolutely
Forbidden"
Steen Sohn
Danish PM Says It's OK for Israel to Violate UN Resolutions
Tim Wise
Reflections on Empire and Uppity Indians
Website of
the Day
Support Antiwar.com
February 8,
2005
Patrick Cockburn
Shia/Kurd
Coalition to Dominate New Iraqi Govt.: "It's an Electoral
Pact, Not a Party"
Brian Cloughley
Out
of the Mouths of Generals: "It's Fun to Shoot Some People"
Steve Breyman
Against the Selfishness of the "Ownership Society"
Harry Browne
"Don't
Get on that Plane!": Soldiers Seek Asylum in Ireland
Doug Giebel
"We Love Free Speech in America": the People, the President
and Ward Churchill
Nate Collins
The Censorship of Ward Churchill and Dancehall Reggae: It's the
Same Beast
Dave Lindorff
It's Time for a Labor-Oriented Newspaper
David Smith-Ferri
Sanctions and the Health Crisis in Iraq
February 7,
2005
Paul Craig
Roberts
Bush's
War on Jobs
Carolyn Baker
The New McCarthyism on Campus: Churchill and the Attack on Higher
Ed
Joshua Frank
Marc Cooper's Hit List: First Mumia; Now Ward Churchill
Mickey Z.
Warning: More Hate Speech from W. Churchill
Patrick Cockburn
The
Kidnapping Gangs of Iraq
Mike Whitney
Tom Friedman: Scribe for New Age Imperialism
Stacie Jonas
Pinochet: Fit to be Tried
Dave Zirin
A Miserable Super Sunday: Clinton, Bush and the FBI
Tariq Ali
Imperial
Delusions
February 5
/ 6, 2005
Alexander Cockburn
Ward
Churchill and the Mad Dogs
Kurt Nimmo
A Ward Churchill Kind of Day
Joshua Frank
Liberals Trash Ward Churchill
P. Sainath
Mumbai's Man-Made Tsunami
Patrick Cockburn
Sistani's Triumph; Allawi's Bust
Laura Carlsen
Bush, Rice and Latin America
Dave Lindorff
How the NYT Killed the Bush Bulge Story
Pamela Olson
West Bank Story
Behzad Yaghmaian
The Future of Sudanese Refugees in the West
Saul Landau / Farrah Hassen
A Threatened UN in King George's Court
Roger Burbach
World Social Forum: a Tale of Two Presidents
Robert Fisk
History by Laptop
David Swanson
James Forman and the Liberal-Labor Syndrome
Justin E.H. Smith
Gay Marriage: a Report from Canada
Cacie Hart
The "State" of the Union: More War and a Ban on Love
Ron Jacobs
Chairman Bob Avakian: a Revolutionary Life
Mickey Z.
Viewing America from the Outside
Ben Tripp
Republican Heroes: a New Breed of Good Guy
Ben Sonnenberg
France at the End of the Devil's Decade: Renoir's Rules of the
Game
Poets' Basement
Smith-Ferri, Davies, Collins, & Albert
Website of
the Weekend
John Trudell: How to Earn a 17,000 Page FBI File
February 4,
2005
Brian Cloughley
The
Army Symphonist: "Sometimes the Only Way to Change the Behavior
of Someone Like That is to Kill Them"
Bill Christison
Election
Parallels: Vietnam, 1967; Iraq, 2005
Elaine Cassel
Did Zoloft Make Him Do It?
Jacob Levich
Chomsky and the Draft
Kanak Mani Dixit
Return of the Royalists in Nepal
Ron Jacobs
The
Downward Spiral in Iraq
February 3,
2005
Ward Churchill
On
the Injustice of Getting Smeared: a Campaign of Fabrications
and Gross Distortions
Sharon Smith
Resisting
Soldiers Need Our Support
Mickey Z.
Leslie
Gelb Asks Iraq: Who's Your Daddy?
Mike Whitney
President of Alienation: a Desperate State of the Union
Jenna Orkin
9/11 the Sequel: the Toxic State of Lower Manhattan
Saul Landau
Elections Won't Prevent Civil War in Iraq
Yitzhak Laor
Strange is the Silence
Dave Lindorff
The
Assault on Social Security: a New Campaign of Lies
February 2,
2005
David Domke
/ Kevin Coe
Bush's
Brand of Christianity
Noam Chomsky
Iraq
After the Elections
M. Shahid Alam
O'Reilly's
Fatwah on "Un-American" Professors: FoxNews Puts Me
in Its Crosshairs
Richard Oxman
Ringing in 1984 with Ward Churchill and Derrick Jensen
Joshua Frank
The Suckering of Howard Dean
Dave Lindorff
A History Lesson from the NYT
Nina Hartley
Feminists for Porn
Website of the Day
War is a Racket
February 1,
2005
Joshua L. Dratel
The
Torture Memos
Patrick Cockburn
New Doubts About Allawi
Robert Fisk
"The Only Decent Food We Get is at Funerals"
Uri Avnery
The Stalemate
Col. Dan Smith
"W" Stands for Withdrawal
Alison Weir
Making America as "Secure" as Israel
Alan Farago
Heaven and Hell in the Everglades
Ray Hanania
Low Voter Turnout of Iraqi Expatriates: Less Than 10% of Qualified
Voters
Paul Craig
Roberts
American
Police State
Website of the Day
Statisticians Refute Official Rationale for Exit Poll Errors
December 22,
2004
James Petras
An
Open Letter to Saramago: Nobel Laureate Suffers from a Bizarre
Historical Amnesia
Omar Barghouti
The Case for Boycotting Israel
Patrick Cockburn / Jeremy Redmond
They Were Waiting on Chicken Tenders When the Rounds Hit
Harry Browne
Northern Ireland: No Postcards from the Edge
Richard Oxman
On the Seventh Column
Kathleen Christison
Imagining
Palestine
Website of the Day
FBI Torture Memos
December 21,
2004
Greg Moses
The
New Zeus on the Block: Unplugging Al-Manar TV
Dave Lindorff
Losing
It in America: Bunker of the Skittish
Chad Nagle
The View from Donetsk
Dragon Pierces
Truth*
Concrete
Colossus vs. the River Dragon: Dislocation and Three Gorges Dam
Patrick Cockburn
"Things Always Get Worse"
Seth DeLong
Aiding Oppression in Haiti
Ahmad Faruqui
Pakistan and the 9/11 Commission's Report
Paul Craig
Roberts
America
Locked Up: a System of Injustice
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Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante
Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
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Impeach
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Here for More Stories.
|
Weekend Edition
March 5 / 6, 2005
What's Happening in Lebanon
An
Interview with Fadi K. Agha, Foreign Policy Advisor to President
Emil Lahoud
By
GARY LEUPP
Mr. Fadi K. Agha is a foreign policy
adviser to Lebanese President Emile Lahoud. I conducted the following
interview with him via email following the assassination of former
prime minister Rafik Hariri and the resignation of his successor,
Omar Karami. The capitalizations/emphases are his, and this is
completely unedited.
Q: Lebanon is a complex
society, about 40% Christian, 40% Shiite Muslim, the rest Sunni
Muslim, Druze, etc. For those unfamiliar with the country, could
you say something about the historical relationships between
these communities and their ties with the former colonial power,
France, and with Israel, the Palestinians, Syria and so on?
A: Let me just say that, regardless
of what a Lebanese would think of Lebanon as a Nation, whether
it was "carved out," "gerrymandered" by the
French mandating power, or "rightfully" bequeathed
on the deserving Maronites, they came to agree on a Lebanon's
"final status" as an Arab country well within its actual
boundaries. It took2 major civil conflagrations (1958 and 1975)
and many civil skirmishes for the Lebanese to finally come to
terms at Taef in 1989. The relationship between the sects of
Lebanon remains that between the "dominant," the "newly
assertive" and the "intolerably assertive." This
relationship will remain precarious as long as Lebanon remains
a purely sectarian domain. Cohesion in Lebanon will remain oh
so elusive, as long as the opportunistic, highly corrupt and
self serving communities' leaders perpetrate this system of sectarian
spoils. I would add that many of the leaders of the so called
"Cedar Revolution" (a term coined in Washington) are
those who took Lebanon to 17 years of civil strife.
Q: The point driven home
relentlessly by the Bush administration, and echoed in the U.S.
press, is that Syria must get out of Lebanon. Why are 14 or 15,000
Syrian troops in Lebanon, and what do Lebanese in various communities
think about their presence?
A: The remaining Syrian troops
in Lebanon (out of a 45,000 contingent) were part of a peace
keeping force that entered Lebanon at the REQUEST OF THE LEBANESE
GOVERNMENT, and ended the civil war in Lebanon. They have since
1990 been gradually diminished by a series of withdrawals. These
withdrawals were determined and conducted by joint Lebanese and
Syrian authorities, as they fit the needs of both countries.
A vociferous minority has always opposed the presence of Syrian
forces (making much less of a deal when ISRAEL OCCUPIED parts
of Lebanon.) Today, this minority has seen its ranks swell by
the joining of a few opportunists who were until YESTERDAY the
beneficiaries of Syrian "largesse." They have seen
the wagons are circling, and are hoping to live for another day.
These are the same warlords, sectarian barons and opportunists
who lead us once before to ruin. They have aligned themselves
with the sincere "boy scouts," exploiting their grief
and concerns. Since day one of his presidency, President Assad
has committed himself to withdrawing the troops from Lebanon,
and we have since seen a series of withdrawals. The remaining
contingent's withdrawal was very much on the table, but it's
timing is determined by the leaderships in Beirut and Damascus.
Q: Why do you suppose that
France, at loggerheads with the U.S. over the Iraq invasion,
cosponsored UN Security Council resolution 1559, implicitly demanding
withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon?
A: For France, it was obviously
an opportunity to "manage" the crisis with the United
States, while recapturing some of the lost luster of their Middle
East presence. This comes against a background of lost dominions
in Africa, and amid a growing American unilateralism. The US,
on the other hand, gained a much needed support, a sort of fence
mending, when only yesterday the UN declared the War in Iraq
"illegal" and France spearheaded a world opposition
to the US adventure in Iraq. However, if one wants to play Devil's
advocate, we have to remind ourselves that France's "laundry
list" includes only one item: Lebanon, while the US's is
wide, complex and subject to "variance."
Q: To some of us, it looks
like the U.S. is looking for excuses to produce "regime
change" in Damascus, and the presence of Syrian troops in
Lebanon is just one such excuse. What do you think?
A: I hate to agree here, but
the inexplicable and ever increasing animosity towards Syria,
is leading many to believe that the "decision to harm"
has been taken in the US Administration. It is the US that has
suspended ALL SECURITY cooperation as it pertains to the Iraqi
theater, even against the advice of the top American brass, preferring
to up the tempo on Hezballah (also) to do Israel's bidding. I
recall that ONLY TWO YEARS ago, President Chirac of France (from
the pulpit of the Lebanese Parliament) lauded the Syrian presence
a very positive element, and said that Syrian troops should withdraw
only when a comprehensive peace settlement is reached in the
area. Basically, you are right, Syrian troops in Lebanon are
a multi pronged excuse.
Q: There've been some large
demonstrations in Lebanon, well-reported in the U.S. press, demanding
a Syrian pullout and a new government. We know that U.S. NGOs
and official bodies have been deeply involved in what are depicted
as "democratic" upheavals in Georgia, Ukraine and elsewhere.
Do you see any foreign hand in these demonstrations?
A: Images of American and French
Presidents, Ambassadors and envoys running the full gamut of
the so called opposition leaders in Beirut and elsewhere, are
pretty reminiscent of the days of China's "privileges and
concessions." Listen. Until today, Lebanon remain a country
where the fate of the liberties and rights (so dear to the US)
fares much BETTER than in any country in the Middle East, Israel
included. Such "items" as open economy, women empowerment,
freedom of the press ... are leaps and bounds ahead of other
Arab countries where cosmetic reforms are sources of praise in
Washington. This leads us to one conclusion: The daily harassment
is beyond the presence of Syrian troops, beyond civil liberties
... It is the ulterior motives that disturb us.
Q: I believe that the initial
Syrian deployment was requested by or welcomed by the Christian
community. Is that right?
A: Absolutely. The Christians
were on the verge of defeat. Guided by realpolitik and by a belief
that any alteration in the fragile Lebanese fabric, would have
dire consequences for Lebanon, Syria and the REGION AS A WHOLE,
Syrian troops entered Lebanon to correct an aberration. What
a few in Lebanon seem to ignore today is that, Syria is not a
"waste management" service, and that Syria and its
Lebanese allies are seeing and hearing sounds and images reminiscent
of 1975.
Q: Why were the Syrians
welcomed?
A: The Syrian initial intervention
in 1976 was a blessed endeavor by all international and regional
powers. It was an Arab and American recognition of Syria's strategic
interests As SYRIA PERCEIVES THEM, and later, an acceptance of
a Syrian exclusive role when it comes to the safeguard of a
cohesive and peaceful Lebanon. The Syrians tried very hard (and
to a certain extent, were successful) in stabilizing the war
torn country, by preventing the (imminent) military defeat of
the so called Christian forces. The preservation of an equilibrium
remains a top priority for Syria in Lebanon. However, there are
those "opportunists" few who believe that an American
Tsunami is overtaking the Region with a strong "neo-conservative
anti-Syrian" bias, and who are seeing in this an occasion
to turn back the clock.
Q: Can you tell us more
about the Israeli involvement in Lebanon, and the current state
of relations with your southern neighbor?
A: Israel on the other hand,
has always mounted murderous, unprovoked campaigns against Lebanon,
culminating in a full scale invasion in 1982. You have to remember
that Lebanon still "hosts" over 350,000 Palestinian
refugees, adding further tear to the Lebanese social fabric.
Our current relations with Israel, is that between an aggressor
and aggressed. Israel STILL occupies Lebanese territories in
the Shebaa Farms, still performs all types of incursions into
Lebanese territory, while its secret services are still hard
at work in their attempts to undermine our stability.
Q: What is the general sentiment
in Lebanon towards the U.S. at this point?
A: Borrowing from a brilliant
Lebanese Journalist, Joseph Samaha who writes in the Lebanese
daily As Safir, he likened the attempt to transfer Lebanon from
its Camp A (rejecting American hegemony) to Camp B (affiliation
with Pax Americana, with ALL ITS ULTERIOR MOTIVES) to "a
fast moving river." It would be rather easy to imagine what
the folks in Camp A feel towards the US, its disastrous involvement
in Iraq and its endemic bias towards Israel in its continued
occupation of Arab lands. However, Camp B includes a large majority
of sincere (and exploited) "boy scouts," who are unfortunately
lexpolited by a horde of highway robbers. Unfortunately, it is
mostly in these opportunistic sectarian warlords, that America
finds its springboard towards a "new Middle East."
The Lebanese in general have never felt enmity towards the United
States. However, "weary and distrustful" cannot begin
to describe their feelings towards the US's foreign policy. If
this is how the US believes it will win "hearts and minds"
in our Region, then it better num these minds because it will
not find many takers. However, we are still hopeful (no harm
here) that saner heads in the US Administration (and they DO
EXIST) will prevail. One day.
Q: President Lahoud must
be under considerable pressure, represented in the western press
as a Syrian puppet at a time when Syria is labeled an "outpost
of tyranny." Could you please explain how he himself sees
his position?
A: President Lahoud has been
a subject for political sniping since his election in 1998, and
that for many reasons. Firstly, the President is a staunchly
secular man in a country ruled by sectarian warlords. Secondly,
the numerous tries to "coopt" the President (when he
was Commander of the Armed Forces) have failed miserably. Thirdly,
the President remains a most sincere Arab nationalist, at a time
when the breed is under siege. Fourthly, the President has hedged
his bets and gone out of his way to protect the "national
resistance" against Israeli occupation. This culminated
in an Israeli withdrawal in 2000'. It should be noted that this
was the first time ever, that Israel withdrew from Arab territories
"UNDER DURESS." Today, when the "whirling Dervishes"
of hegemony have reached an unprecedented tempo, President Lahoud
has become enemy number one. He remains a major obstacle to the
hegemons designs, hardly a trait of puppets. However, I can say
that the shadow puppets of the hegemons are precisely those figures
who are calling for his resignation.
Q: The Lebanese Shiite organization
Hizbollah is characterized by the U.S. government and corporate
press as "terrorist," which is a way of associating
it with al-Qaeda. How would you describe that organization, to
Americans who don't know much about the Middle East?
A: The US's qualms with Hezbollah
are purely a product of bias. This is a political party with
the biggest constituency, part and parcel of the Lebanese polity.
Characterizing it as "terrorist" is characterizing
over 1.8 million Lebanese citizens as "supporters of terrorism."
Hezbollah's achieved what ALL OTHER Lebanese parties never tried.
It refrained from entering the fray of Lebanon's political stampede,
and MOST IMPORTANTLY, it lead to the first Israeli withdrawal
from occupied Arab lands UNDER DURESS. This, and the fact that
Hezbollah has been emblematic of a "culture of resistance"
in the Middle East, has never been forgiven.
Q: Some of us who've followed
the neocons (top-ranking of whom is perhaps Paul Wolfowitz) think
they have a plan to topple, one by one, the governments of Afghanistan,
Iraq, Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia---not necessarily in
that order. Do you, and/or President Lahoud, share that assessment?
A: Incidentally, one of the
leaders of the so called "opposition," namely Mr. Walid
Jumblat, was not so long ago, if I recall, very vitriolic about
Mr. Wolfowitz. With a strike of a magical wand, Mr. Jumblat (still
persona non grata in the US) has become Washington's long shot
horse. The gods of neo-conservatism move in mysterious ways.
But seriously, one does not have to go far back in time to get
a glimpse of Washington Hawkish thinking. "Clean Break:
A New Strategy for Securing the Realm" dispels any notion
that today's US Foreign Policy is NOT guided by those who seek
to "solve" Israel's "problems." Basically,
this would be achieved by "rolling back ... destabilizing"
Israel's threatening neighbors. Closer to home, and after "doing
Iraq," it spells the steps for Israel vis-a-vis Syria and
Lebanon when it calls upon Israel to seize the "strategic
initiative along its borders by engaging Syria Hizballah and
Iran." With American presence on Syria's borders in Iraq,
Israel hopes that US blood and money would do the trick. As I
recall, a great American journalist and patriot told me that
when the US boots entered Baghdad, Israel's foreign minister
silvan Shalom called him to tell him this was "indeed a
glorious day in Israel, because America was ALSO to the east
of Israel."
Q: Most Americans don't
recall very clearly the Reagan-era intervention of U.S. troops
in Lebanon, that led to disaster. Your thoughts on that episode?
A: It took us decades to revive,
reunite and solidify our Armed Forces in Lebanon. But one has
to remember that in 1984, a nucleic Lebanese Army took the bait
of a highly unpopular (American blessed) adventure, and in order
to subdue the "Shiites" forces in South Beirut, the
Army shelled the suburbs, becoming the SOLE casualty of this
American mis-adventure as it splinted along sectarian lines.
In a nutshell, we need to remember that the last time "anyone"
tried to shove a solution down the throat of the Lebanese, without
reaching a National consensus, it lead to disaster. We are seeing
such attempts today with the adoption of UN Security Council
Resolution 1559, and its most DANGEROUS stipulation, namely the
disarming of our National Resistance. Needless to say, that the
Lebanese are also NOT entirely united on the mechanisms and schedules
of a Syrian military withdrawal, as MANY in the so called "opposition"
have selectively read the Taef Accords, when in reality it calls
for withdrawals to coincide with reforms and the ABOLITION of
political sectarianism.
Q: Could you characterize
the present relationship between Lebanon, Syria and Iran? Both
Lebanon and Syria are secular societies, while Iran is an Islamic
republic. What interests do you have in common?
A: With Syria, Lebanon shares
a plethora of historical, social, cultural, familial and geographic
commonalities. It is certainly a unique relationship. Most Lebanese,
few even in the opposition understand these factoids well. However,
there are also those emboldened few who found commonalities with
the American siege of Syria to implement shortsighted agendas.
They believe that once the Tsunami (American) waves have receded,
they will go back dividing the sectarian spoils, concluding (perhaps
too well) that the US's qualms with Syria have nothing to do
with Democracy and Liberty.
Q: Why did Prime Minister
Karami resign? Apparently he took even members of his own party
by surprise.
A: PM Karami's resignation
came rather swiftly, when he was geared to prevail in the vote
of Confidence. The PM acted on an impulse, having been subjected
to a relentless campaign of vilification since Day 1. In a nutshell,
PM Karami became "sensitive" to the fact that PM Hariri's
assassination happened during his watch. It was his way in trying
to diffuse the volatile situation that arose after the assassination.
What is striking here, is the speed of the US response to the
PM's resignation. He believes that by qualifying the resignation
(within less than an hour) as a "positive" event,
shows, without a shred of a doubt that the US is "once again"
taking sides in Lebanon.
Q: Israel is attributing
the recent suicide bombing in Tel Aviv to Islamic Jihad, and
asserting (rightly or wrongly) that since Damascus supports Islamic
Jihad, Syria is responsible. If Israel again attacks Syria, as
it did in October 2003, how would the Lebanese government and
people react?
A: Tel Aviv, will not miss
an opportunity to blame any calamity that befalls it on Syria
and Hezballah. The sad part is that Israel produces "evidences"
that are always "bought" in Washington. Listen, Israel
remains the only world occupying force who gets away with murder.
Constantly blaming Syria, Hezbollah ... is a sorry attempt by
Tel Aviv to shift the blame for its unsuccessful policy of "security
first." Basically, one need not be a wizard to determine
that a despaired people, a humiliated people a people in CONSTANT
MOURNING, will go to any length in extracting vengeance from
those who dislocate , humiliate and murder his brethren.
Gary Leupp is Professor of History at Tufts University,
and Adjunct Professor of Comparative Religion. He is the author
of Servants,
Shophands and Laborers in in the Cities of Tokugawa Japan;
Male
Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan;
and Interracial
Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900.
He is also a contributor to CounterPunch's merciless chronicle
of the wars on Iraq, Afghanistan and Yugoslavia, Imperial
Crusades.
He can be reached at: gleupp@granite.tufts.edu
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