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December 12, 2001
Shahid
Alam
Race
and Visibility
December 11, 2001
Joshua Orton
University
of Wisconsin
Won't Aid FBI Interviews
Philip
Farruggio
Cleansing
the Nation's Soul
Robert Fisk
Why I Was
Beaten
December 10, 2001
Robert
Dunham
Race
and the Death Penalty:
Partners in Injustice
Andy Kershaw
Chamber of
Horrors
Near the Garden of Eden
John Touchie
Isaac's
on Chomsky
December 9, 2001
Jo Dillon
Journalist:
The CIA Wanted
Me Killed
John Chuckman
High-Tech
Puritanism
December 8, 2001
Laurence Tribe
Military Tribunals
Undermine the Constitution
Patrick
Cockburn
The
End of a Strange War
December 7, 2001
John Troyer
Blacklist Me!
Sen. Edwards
v. Ashcroft
Military
Tribunals
George Naggiar
Occupation
as Terrorism
Hugo von
Sponek
and Denis Halliday
Iraq
the Hostage Nation
David Vest
The Coen
Brothers'
Minstrel Show
Alexander
Cockburn
Sharon
or Arafat:
Who's the Terrorist?
December 6, 2001
CounterPunch Wire
Hampshire
College the First
to Condemn the War
Robert
Jensen
University
Teaching After
September 11
Jack McCarthy
Does
Tom Friedman Read
the New York Times?
Sam and
Leila Bahour
The
Psychology of a Suicide Attacker
December 5, 2001
Edward Hammond
The Only
Real Way to
Prevent Biowarfare
Harvey
Wasserman
Atomic
Treason in the House
Carl Estabrook
America's
Israel
Don Williams
Questions
Barbara Walters Didn't Ask George Bush
Cockburn/St. Clair
Liberals
Hail War as
Return of Big Government
Robert
Fisk
The
Last Colonial War?
Bahour/Dahan
It's About
the Occupation
December 4, 2001
Dave Marsh
A
Plea for Byron Parker
Rep. Ron Paul
Keep Your
Eye on the Target
Susan
Herman
Ashcroft
and the Patriot Act
Tariq Ali
The Afghan
King and the Nazis
November 30, 2001
Jordan
Green
Disappeared
in the Southland
Willliam Blum
Rebuilding
Afghanistan?
November 29, 2001
Phillip
Cryan
Defining
Terrorism
Robert Fisk
We Are the
War Criminals Now
November 28, 2001
Tom Turnipseed
A
Continuum of Terror
Patrick Cockburn
Tribal
Council:
Don't Blame It All on Taliban
Robert
Fisk
At
Last, The Truth about the Sabra and Chatila Massacres
Harry Browne
The Bill of
Rights:
They Threw It All Away
Sunil
Sharma
Suffer
Palestine's Children
November 27, 2001
Paul Coggins
Kafka and
the Patriot Act
Tariq
Ali
Tigris
and Euprhates
November 26, 2001
Robert Fisk
Blood and
Tears in Kandahar
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Boeing's
Sweet Deal
CounterPunch Wire
Human
Rights Abuses and
Nuke Waste Shipments
Alexander
Cockburn
Harry
Potter and Terrorism
A Photographic Journal of Life
in an Afghan Refugee Camp
By Judith Mann
Resources:
100s of Links
About 9/11
CounterPunch:
Complete
Coverage of 9/11 and Its Aftermath
Five
Days That
Shook The World:
Seattle and Beyond
By Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
Photos by Allan Sekula
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8-Page Special Issue
War Diary
CIA's Assassination Plan a History of
Torture in US Prisons
bin Laden and Bush
Business Connections
Aisha Ikramuddin on the Hidden Hype
of US Food Bombs
Peter Linebaugh on
Pakistan
Christopher Hitchens' Love for Mrs. Thatcher
Jiang Zemin Tells Bush:
Nuke 'Em
Search
CounterPunch
Read Whiteout and Find Out
How the CIA's Backing of the Mujahideen Created the World's Most
Robust Heroin Market and Helped to Finance the Rise of the Taliban
and Osama bin Laden
Whiteout:
CIA, Drugs & the
Press
by Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
The Memphis Blues Again:
Six Decades of Memphis Music Photographs
Photos by Ernest Withers
Text by Daniel Wolff
The New Intifada:
Resisting Israel's Apartheid
Edited by Roane Carey
A Pocket Guide to
Environmental Bad Guys
by James Ridgeway
and Jeffrey St. Clair
The
Phoenix Program
by Douglas Valentine
Al Gore:
A User's Manual
by Cockburn
and St. Clair
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This Explosive
New Book at an
Amazing Discount!
Reviews of Gore:
a User's Manual
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December 12,
2001
Ashcroft's Jihad
By Laura W. Murphy
In a blatant attempt to stifle growing criticism
of recent government policy, Attorney General Ashcroft delivered
testimony last week equating legitimate political dissent with
something unpatriotic and un-American. We urge the Attorney General
to learn from the history of American dissent -- from the Civil
War to the civil rights struggle -- that free and robust debate
is one of the main engines of social and political justice. While
we feel as strongly as the rest of America that those who perpetrated
the monstrous acts of September 11 must be brought to justice
and our future safety ensured, we forcefully disagree with the
Attorney General that domestic debate about the government response
in any way harms the investigation. In fact, we believe debate
only strengthens our government in this time of national crisis.
The Attorney General swore an oath to
guard the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, including the
First Amendment. For him to openly attack as "aiding the
enemy" those who question government policy is all the more
frightening in light of his constitutional duty to protect each
and every American's right to speak and think their mind. Even
worse is the tone of derision used by the Attorney General to
mock his detractors, declaring their concerns "phantoms"
and charging that their criticism brings "comfort to the
enemy."
There is evidence that the recent steps
by the Administration to hold secretive military tribunals, to
allow the government to eavesdrop on confidential attorney-client
conversations and to blanket interrogate and detain Arab-Americans
and Muslims are problematic for liberty in America. Ashcroft
should welcome a free and robust debate about the appropriateness
and legality of his positions as a means of legitimizing his
authority, not weakening it.
American history demonstrates clearly
that the search for truth tends to become muddied in times of
crisis. Since the turn of the last century, America has seen
each of its military conflicts prod the government into taking
steps to stifle domestic dissent. Ashcroft's statement suggests
that, if we are not careful, the tragedy of September 11 might
be compounded by a repeat of this history.
While we firmly support the Administration
in its efforts to prevent another September 11, we cannot abide
- nor can the American commitment to liberty and democracy support
- any attempt by the Administration to dictate or coerce the
thoughts we think or the opinions we hold. Thinking critically
about government policy is the strongest shield against government
excess.
We will continue to voice our disagreement
when we feel the government has stepped out of bounds and will
do so with the conviction that one of the highest forms of patriotism
is devotion to the Constitution and the freedoms guaranteed within,
including the right to speak out in disagreement with the powers
that be.
Laura Murphy
is director of the ACLU's National Office in Washington, DC.
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