Today's Stories

March 12 , 2009

Sharon Smith
Bottom Feeders at the Trough

March 11 , 2009

Mike Roselle
From Birmingham to Coal River: Why is the Environmental Movement So Timid?

Paul Craig Roberts
The Criminal Injustice System

Henry A. Giroux
Academic Labor in Dark Times

Nikolas Kozloff
The Death Cries of the Salvadoran Right

Norm Kent
I am Patient Number 380206011

Mitu Sengupta
Reforming the World Bank: Different Image, Same Tune?

Ludwig Watzal
The Structure of Israel's Occupation

David Macaray
The Battle Over EFCA Has Begun

William S. Lind
Rounding Up the Usual Suspects

Martha Rosenberg
A Merger From the Folks Who Brought You Vytorin

Website of the Day
American Indicator: One in Fifty Kids are Homeless

March 10 , 2009

Franklin Spinney
What Israeli Peace Process?

Vijay Prashad
What Did Hillary Clinton Do?

Stan Cox
There's No Free Lunch on Your Browser: the Internet's Energy Drain

Zoltan Grossman
Coffee Strong: Listening to the G.I. Voice at Fort Lewis

Reuven Kaminer
Pure and Unadulterated Racism

Jonathan Cook
Memoricide in the West Bank

Dave Lindorff
Business Rules

Brian McKenna
How Anthropology Disparages Journalism

Harvey Wasserman
Is This the End of the Age of the Automobile?

Corey Pein
He Told You So

Website of the Day
AIG and Systemic Failure: $1.6 Trillion in Insured Deriviatives

March 9 , 2009

Pam Martens
Madoff and the Sorkin Affair

Ralph Nader
Too Big...Period

Peter Lee
Meet Gulbuddin Hekmatyar: the US's Worst/Best Hope for Afghanistan?

Mike Whitney
Geithner's Charade

Peter Morici
Fixing the Banks: Treasury's Doomed Strategy

Dean Baker
Why Do We Need a Private Health Insurance Industry, Anyway?

Steve Ault
Kiss Thailand's Tolerance for Gays Goodbye

Stephen Lendman
Guantánamo Under Obama

Farooq Sulehria
Tennis Without Spectators

Belén Fernández
Chávez, a Cockfight and the Caracazo

Website of the Day
How Lincoln Learned to Read

March 6-8 , 2009

Alexander Cockburn
Harlots High and Low

Chris Floyd
Tangled Up in Karl

Uri Avnery
Remember Ophira?

Dave Lindorff
Kiss the Banks Goodbye

Mark Weisbrot
The Crisis vs. the Dogma

David Ker Thomson
Against Work

Phil Aliff
Soldier Suicides

Rebekah Ward
Georgia Injustice: Another Young Life Wrecked

Tracey Briggs
How Capitalism Feels in the Head

Dean Baker
Depression Nostalgia?

Daniel P. Wirt, M.D.
Remove the Handle From the Health Insurance Misery and Death Pump

Carl Finamore
The Recovery Plan: Save Us From Those Who Would Save Us

Wajahat Ali
The Pakistani Monster

David Michael Green
Smart is the New Stupid

David Macaray
The Minimum Wage Revisited

Michael Dickinson
On Financial Fools Day

Susie Day
Line in the Sand

Bob Sommer
Echoes of the Townhouse Explosion

Ben Sonnenberg
No Forgiveness for the Bourgeoisie: Buñuel's "The Exterminating Angel"

David Yearsley
Sonic Fakery in "Slumdog" From the Mozart of Chennai

DC Larson
They're Writing Those Depression Songs, Again

Lorenzo Wolff
Live Truth: Music Sans Headphones

Poets' Basement
Dominquez, MacNeil and Buknatski

Website of the Weekend
The Environment & Obama: a Conversation with Jeffrey St. Clair

March 5 , 2009

James G. Abourezk
This Time It's Mrs. Clinton's Turn

Kathleen and Bill Christison
U.S. Military Aid to Israel

Robert Weissman
Wall Street's Best Investment: Paying for Public Policy

Patrick Cockburn
My Day at the Terror "Charity"

William Blum
Being Serious About Torture...Or Not

Robert Fantina
From Iraq to Afghanistan: Augmentation All Over Again

Saul Landau
The Unseen Crisis

Benjamin Dangl
Striking a Blow Against the Beer Cartel: a Grassroots Victory in Utah

Christopher Brauchli
The New Leaders of the GOP

Website of the Day
The Angola 3: 36 Years of Solitude

March 4, 2009

Marjorie Cohn
Blueprints for a Police State

Mike Whitney
Blowing Up the Economy: How Securitization Lit the Fuse

Ron Jacobs
The Banality of Occupation: the Rand Papers

Ashley Smith
War by Another Name

Joanne Mariner
Obama's War on Terror

Dan Bacher
The California Water Wars: Why It's Not a Conflict Between Fish and People

Mark Engler
Will the Winds of Change Reach El Salvador?

Franklin Lamb
"What's Hezbollah Done for Us Lately?"

Cal Winslow
Slugging It Out in California

David Mandelzys
Apartheid Week

Website of the Day
Guantánamo: the Definitive Prisoner List

March 3, 2009

Conn Hallinan
Ethnic Cleansing and Israel

Fawzia Afzal-Khan
The Long, Dark Night of Pakistan

Brian M. Downing
The Changing Game in Afghanistan

Robert Larson
External Damnation: Companies are Designed for Destruction

Daniel P. Wirt, MD
Single-Payer Health Reform

Russell Mokhiber
Burn Your Health Insurance Bill!

William Loren Katz
Obama, One Ape and Two Newspapers

Kathy Sanborn
The Lazy Man's Guide to the Economic Crisis

Pauline Imbach
A New Start for the World Social Forum?

Christopher Ketcham
The Best Journalism You'll Write is Priceless

Website of the Day
The Surveillance Self-Defense Project

March 2, 2009

Andrea Peacock
A Poisoned Town's Shot at Justice

Paul Craig Roberts
Obama's Budget

Peter Lee
Pakistan Lurches Toward the Abyss

John Blair
Locking Down Big Coal

Peter Morici
Treasury's Flawed Plan for Citigroup

Uri Avnery
10 Ways to Kill Fatah

Michael Donnelly
Resistance to the War on the Wild

Fred Gardner
The Judge Who Ruled Marijuana is Medicine

Sonia Nettnin
Middle East Medical Mission Heroes

Andrew Lehman
A New Deal for the Web

Website of the Day
Pentagon Papers II?

Feb. 27 - March 1, 2009

Alexander Cockburn
Is Nancy Pelosi Really Against War Crimes?

Harry Browne
Where the Cheats Have No Shame

Anthony DiMaggio
From Bush to Obama: Seven Years of Wartime Propaganda

Sasan Fayazmanesh
Dennis Ross and Iran: the Fox and the Chicken Coop

Mischa Gaus
The Banks' War on Workers

Felice Pace
The Economy and the Big Picture

Mike Whitney
Is Free Market Capitalism Possible Without Accountability?

Lee Sustar
Blaming the Autoworkers

Peter Lee
The Other Side of the Coin in Afghanistan

Nicole Colson
Ruining Young Lives for Profit

Roger Burbach
Et Tu, Daniel? The Betrayal of the Sandinista Revolution

Rannie Amiri
King Abdullah Has No Robes

Missy Beattie
Owning Disaster

Dave Lindorff
America's Stupid Health Care Debate

Robert David Steele Vivas
Intelligence for the President--and Everyone Else

John Ross
Teotihuacan Gets Mickey-Moused

Ralph Nader
Civic Heroism Awards

Yves Engler
Haiti's Harsh Realities

Alan Farago
The Story of Leonard Abess, Banker

Zulfikar Majid
Understanding Kashmir

David Yearsley
Don't Stay Up Too Late, Johan!

Charles R. Larson
Sleeping with Dogs

Kim Nicolini
Spitting at Dark Times: Mike Leigh's "Happy-Go-Lucky"

Lorenzo Wolff
So You Wanna Be a Garage Rock Star

Poets' Basement
Puthoff, Payne, Gaffney and Gray

Website of the Weekend
Sleep Now in the Fire

February 26, 2009

Dave Lindorff
Obama's Address to Congress

Jonathan Cook
Israel's Military Mephistopheles

Patrick Cockburn
Did the US Learn Anything in Iraq?

Mike Whitney
The Geithner Put

Eamonn McCann
"Make Bono Pay Tax"

Tim Wise
Eric Holder and the Whitewashing of Racism

Tom Barry
Napolitano's Hard Line

Harvey Wasserman
Obama's Excellent Atomic Omission

Adam Turl
The Enemies of Unions and the Lies They Tell

David Macaray
When People are Fired Illegally

James McEnteer
Rush to the Rescue: Limbaugh's Secret Plan to Save the Economy

Website of the Day
The Carbon Casino

February 25, 2009

Chris Sands
Afghanistan: Chaos Central

M. Shahid Alam
Israel in 1948: Poised for Expansion

Chris Floyd
Obama's Non-Withdrawal Withdrawal Plan

Dave Lindorff
Wall Street and Bernanke: the Blind Leading the Blind

Norman Solomon
The Slow Pullout Method

Rachel Godfrey Wood
Neoliberals Do The Amazon

Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Teacher and Student: the New Class Struggle

Ron Jacobs
It Ain't Over Till It's Over

Nadia Hijab
The First Waltz

Dennis Loo
The Water Line

Website of the Day
Hitchens Gets Stomped by Syrian Nerd

February 24, 2009

Paul Craig Roberts
How the Economy was Lost

Uri Avnery
Coalition Theory

Peter Morici
Is Nationalization Inevitable?

Jonathan Cook
Arab Parties Face Most Hostile Knesset in History

Paul Fitzgerald /
Elizabeth Gould
The Man Who Shouldn't be King (of Afghanistan)

Andy Worthington
Who is Binyam Mohamed?

Brian Horejsi
Crisis Creates Hope for Reality

Julia Stein
I was a Writer for the Government

Norm Kent
How Judges Disgrace the Bench

Rachel Smolker /
Brian Tokar
Biofuels, Promise or Threat?

Dennis Loo
The Water Line: Doing What Must be Done

James McEnteer
The Oscar for Denial

Website of the Day
How to Destroy a Fox News Anchor

February 23, 2009

Michael Hudson
The Language of Looting

Mike Roselle
On Cherry Pond: Going Up Against Big Coal in W. Virginia

Patrick Cockburn
The New War in Iraq

Franklin Spinney
Obama Steps on the Pentagon Escalator

Einar Már Guðmundsson
A War Cry From the North

Ralph Nader
How Credit Unions Survived the Crash

Jordan Flaherty
A New Orleans Intifada?

Helen Redmond
Ted's Table: Kennedy and the Corporate Lobbyists Craft a Health Plan

Dennis Loo
The Water Line

Harvey Wasserman
Jet Crashes and Nuclear Reactors: Feds Ignore a Serious Risk

Terry Lodge
The Intelligence is Wrong

Website of the Day
BadCreditReport.Com

February 20 / 22, 2009

Alexander Cockburn
The Lawyer's Tale

Michael Neumann /
Osha Neumann
Remove Our Grandmother's Name from the Wall at Yad Vashem

Ismael Hossein-zadeh
Herbert Hoover Copycats

Paul Craig Roberts
Bill of Rights Under Fire

Linn Washington Jr.
The NY Post's Chimpanzee Cartoon

Saul Landau
On the Road Again

Marjorie Cohn
War Criminals Must be Prosecuted (And Their Lawyers Too)

Binoy Kampmark
Cricket and Cartels: the Fall of Sir Allen Stanford

Dave Lindorff
Using the Recession to Hammer Workers

David Yearsley
Edward Said's Greatest Musical Writings

David Macaray
A Closer Look at the Employee Free Choice Act

James McEnteer
Last Mambo in Minnehaha

Rick Salutin
A Canadian Looks at Obama

Wayne Clark
South Carolina Nears the Abyss

Richard Rhames
Got Farms?

Stephen Martin
Silver Mist Descending

Mitu Sengupta
Slumdog Millionaire's Dehumanizing View of India's Poor

Charles R. Larson
Slumdog Reality?

Richard Morse
Carnival Ramble in Haiti

Lorenzo Wolff
Desperation in an Unavoidable Groove

Poets' Basement
Three Poems of Tu Fu (Trans. K. Rexroth)

Website of the Weekend
Ron Paul: What If the People Wake Up?

February 19, 2009

Norman Finkelstein
The Cleanser: Lobbyists Whistle Up Cordesman to "Prove" Israel Waged a Clean War in Gaza

Harry Browne
How Ireland Went Bust

Robert Bryce
Why the Promise of Biofuels is a Lie

Brian M. Downing
The Winding Road: From Western Europe to Kyrgyzstan

Fred Gardner
The DEA Chief's $123,000 Flight

Andy Worthington
Obama's Uighur Problem

Wajahat Ali
Aftermath of a Beheading

Laura Carlsen
A New Attitude at the White House Toward Bolivia and Venezuela?

Deb Reich
Gaza: Choose Life!

Christopher Ketcham
Crisis? What Crisis?

Website of the Day
Taking Back NYU

February 18, 2009

Paul Craig Roberts
President of Special Interests

Mike Whitney
Trouble at Treasury

M. Shahid Alam
Afghan Pitfalls

Patrick Cockburn
A Real Surge at Last

Conn Hallinan
Death's Laboratory

Dave Lindorff
Whatever Happened to Antitrust?

Rannie Amiri
The Perils of Blogging in Egypt

Gareth Porter
Pushing Back Against Petraeus on Pullout Risks

Eric Hobsbawm
Remembering V. G. Kiernan

Christopher Brauchli
The Pope's Predicament

Martha Rosenberg
It's the Cymbalta Stupid

Website of the Day
Red Gold

February 17, 2009

Michael Hudson
The Oligarchs' Escape Plan

Mike Whitney
The Global Ditch

Ralph Nader
The One-Dimensional Congress

Joanne Mariner
Benchmarking Obama: How to Evaluate the New Administration's Counter-Terrorism Policies

John Ross
Commodifying the Revolution: Zapatista Villages Become Hot
Tourist Destinations

Belén Fernández
The Venezuelan Referendum From the Back of a Pickup Truck

Mats Svensson
Who is a Terrorist?

David Macaray
Why America Needs Labor Unions

Gregory Vickrey
$400 in Change

M. Junaid Levesque-Alam
Another Hamastan?

Michael Dickinson
Unrest in Istanbul

Website of the Day
Take a Stand for Open Access

February 16, 2009

Patrick Cockburn
Iraq Reconstruction: the Greatest Fraud in US History?

Oscar Guardiola-Rivera
The Truth About Colombia's New Emperor

Paul Craig Roberts
Who Remembers Guns and Butter?

Uri Avnery
Livni's Bitter Options

P. Sainath
The Meltdown: Whose Crisis Is It?

Dedrick Muhammad / Michael Brown
White Recession, Black Depression

Carla Blank
A New New Deal for the Arts

Patrick Irelan
Venezuela Ends Term Limits

Dan Bacher
Is Delta Pumping Driving Salmon and Orca Decline?

Fidel Castro
Chavez's Clarion Call

Harvey Wasserman
Hail to the Spleef: Did George Washington Smoke Pot?

Website of the Day
Mining Black Mesa

February 13 - 15, 2009

Alexander Cockburn
On the Rocks

Joshua Frank
The Myth of Clean Coal

Mike Whitney
Geithner's Coming Out Party

George Ciccariello-Maher
Venezuela's Term Limits: More Hypocrisy From the NYT

Nikolas Kozloff
Venezuela Beyond the Referendum

Brian M. Downing
Pakistan on the Brink

Paul Craig Roberts
Deficit Nonchalance

Christopher Ketcham
Israel's Ball Boys

Ron Jacobs
At a Campus Sit-In Against Israeli Occupation

Dave Lindorff
Why Can Judd Gregg See What Obama Can't?

Alan Maass
Lincoln at 200

Chuck Spinney
Grassley Sounds Off on Obama's Man at the Pentagon

Phil Gasper
Mr. Darwin's Reluctant Revolution

Stephen Lendman
A Short History of Business Handouts

Charles Thomson
Tate Cruises: Caveat Emptor on the High Seas

Kathy Sanborn
The Suicide Rush

Saul Landau
Bowled Over

Len Wengraf
The Nightmare in Somalia

Harvey Wasserman
Striking a Blow Against Nuclear Power

David Macaray
An Easy Call for Obama on Joining a Union

Tom Stephens
Four Freedoms, Four Changes

Seth Sandronsky
Lincoln and the Collective Mind

David Yearsley
On the Road Again

Lorenzo Wolff
Freaking Out With Danny Barnes

Kim Nicolini
The Body of the Worker: What "The Wrestler" Says About the State of America

Poets' Basement
Anderson, Buknatski and French

Website of the Weekend
The Iranian Revoution and the US Dual Containment Policy: a Presentation

March 12 , 2009

Another View of Pakistan

Men in Black

By M. REZA PIRBHAI

Turban-topped, gun-totting mountain men, stern military dictators and corrupt civilian politicians dominate the global media’s representations of Pakistan, from Washington to New Delhi best fitting the preferred image of the ‘most dangerous place on earth.’ The Pakistani press, however, provides equal coverage to a movement born in the populous, lowland cities, one that showcases this country of 160 million’s more representative, non-violent face. For the past two years, national commentators have been following ‘Men in Black’ – a reference to their black suits and ties - around the streets of Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and every other major population centre. In contrast to Hollywood’s clandestine anti-alien squad, Pakistan’s Men (and women) in Black have openly pursued their enemies with rallies, demonstrations, strikes, boycotts of government institutions and sit-ins in public buildings and spaces. The hapless Pakistani state’s attempts to quell this ‘sedition’ with tear-gas, baton-charges, mass-arrests, torture and killings, has been met and matched with only one weapon from these black-clad activists: knowledge of the law.

The ‘Men in Black’ are activists of the Lawyers’ Movement, begun when former President (General) Musharraf dismissed the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (along with 50 other judges) on March 9, 2007. One of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s transgressions was daring to require the government to produce before the courts those Pakistanis ‘disappeared’ in the name of the ‘War on Terror.’ Bar associations across Pakistan were incensed at the dismissal. As one of the movement’s leaders put it, ‘How do you function as a lawyer when the law is what the general says it is?’ Driven by such questions, lawyers began plotting a strategy of their own below the government’s radar. The deposed Chief Justice was invited to speak at bar associations wherever they could be found, but asked not to address the media. Political parties were, at first, excluded from adding their resources to future actions, largely to avoid drawing the state’s attention. These provisions changed after broad-based debate throughout the legal community concluded that civil society will have to lend its support if the goals of the Chief Justice’s reinstatement and the establishment of an independent judiciary were to be effectively met. The first major public event the movement organized – one widely covered by the Pakistani media – was the formation of a picket line at the Supreme Court in Islamabad on the day that the deposed Chief Justice’s case was to be heard. This was accompanied by rallies and demonstrations in other urban centers; activities that continued once a week, involved all segments of civil society and served to popularize the black suit and tie as a symbol of resistance to government repression. The result, following the failure of harsh government crackdowns to break the movement, was the reinstatement of the deposed Chief Justice on July 20, 2007. 

Once reinstated, Iftikhar Chaudhry did not disappoint those who had rallied in his name. He and his court began releasing political prisoners and ordering the appearance of the ‘disappeared.’ Meanwhile, debate ensued about the constitutionality of Musharraf’s presidency, given that he was also Chief of Army Staff. The Musharraf regime, on the other hand, acting with the Bush administration as mediator, began negotiating terms for admitting the unhampered return of former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif from self-imposed exile; ‘terms’ such as the burial of corruption and other pending charges. This led Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) to allow Musharraf’s re-election by a ‘king’s parliament,’ before fresh elections involving the PPP could be held. To insure that the Supreme Court did not throw a spanner in the works, however, soon after ‘re-election,’ Musharraf declared a state of emergency (November 3, 2007), suspended the constitution and re-arrested all the judges. 25,000 lawyers and political activists were also arrested and the media severely muzzled. In this repressive environment, Musharraf then ordered general elections, which eventually took place in February 2008. Given the atmosphere of repressions and backdoor deals, the Men in Black immediately began rallying support for a boycott of the elections. Having negotiated the return of Bhutto, however, Musharraf did not fear the route of his king’s party, and Bhutto’s PPP did not fear running without the support of the Men in Black. Neither side appears to have anticipated the fallout of Bhutto’s assassination soon after. This greatly weakened Musharraf’s public standing, while strengthening that of the PPP, encouraging those eventually elected to stab ‘Caesar’ in the back by calling for his impeachment – leading to his resignation in August 2008, with promises of immunity from prosecution for corruption, murder and a list of related charges, for himself and his regime.

Despite calls for the boycott of the elections, the rise of the PPP and the fall of Musharraf and his king-makers, had a great deal to do with the activities of the Men in Black. A few lines from a statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) should make matters plainly:

Throughout Asia there has been no parallel to this movement. It was largely because of the movement that the elections of February 18 [2008] were possible and in turn the people gave their mandate to the parties that stood up against the tyranny of the army rulers, the illegal unconstitutional way of governance, even against international forces who openly and vehemently supported the army general in uniform as the president of the country and who declared him to be the ‘best leader’ in Pakistan. The lawyer’s movement exposed the so-called super powers for not supporting the movement of the judiciary on the lame excuse of ‘the war on terror’.

Since this statement was issued to mark the first anniversary of the movement on March 9, 2008, Musharraf’s regime has not been the only party to find a knife in its back. The ‘best leader’ may have been forced to resign by late summer 2008, but his erstwhile defenders in the international community have countered with the ‘second best leader.’ President Asif Ali Zardari, best known as Bhutto’s widower, has proved to be as committed to undermining the Men in Black’s movement for judicial autonomy. Never mind that his lesser known credentials include an array of outstanding charges ranging from corruption to murder, which Musharraf magnanimously set aside with the international community’s blessings. Forget that he has retained the draconian powers Musharraf assumed as President, also with the international community’s silent approval. Do not even spare a thought for the fact that the constitution requires the head of state to have a university degree, which Zardari claimed to have earned at a British institution that does not exist. These are mere trifles, considering that Zardari has actively employed his newfound powers and international support to stifle the issues raised by these shady men and women cloaked in black garb. Why would he do otherwise? This is the very judiciary that would hear the cases registered against him (including his ineligibility to be President under the current constitution); the very judiciary that would challenge Musharraf’s immunity from prosecution; the very judiciary seeking to conjure up the ‘disappeared’ his allies abroad have transported to ‘Gitmo’ and other points less known.  

As the actions of Zardari and his government prove, goods guys and bad guys are not as easily identified as the AHRC’s statement suggests. It can also not be forgotten that the Chief Justice whose removal sparked the lawyers’ organized activism, was himself once a key component in the ‘legalization’ of the coup that brought Musharraf to power, even if he has since opposed aspects of Musharraf’s and Zardari’s policies. The deposed Chief Justice’s checkered record, however, should not be read to imply that the Men in Black would flip-flop as brazenly. Nor should the lip-service to the movement extended by such convicts and former Prime Ministers as Nawaz Sharif, whose two terms in office offer ample proof of pliability when ‘financial aid’ is on the line, be seen as a reason to colour the movement anew. One also need not pay much attention to the religio-political parties tagging along for the ride. Zardari has already silenced much of their support for the movement by appointing one of their ranks as the Federal Minister of Tourism, and talking of amending constitutional references to men and women as ‘equals.’ The true colours of the movement are best evinced by the first demonstration following Musharraf’s resignation - held in Karachi on August 28, 2008, to remind the newly elected government of its campaign promises. On that day, as at every rally since, judges and lawyers have been supported by journalists and joined by activists from the Labour Party of Pakistan, the Socialist International, the Peoples’ Resistance Group, various trade unions and growing numbers of independent citizens. In addition, the AHRC appears to have been quite correct to more specifically predict that:

1) The lawyers will not sit aloof in future political affairs and will continuously monitor the developments and pace of the rule of law.

2) Human rights issues will dominate politics and will not be so easy to dismiss as it was before March 9, 2007. The courts will be filled by public litigation cases and decisions of the judiciary will be discussed openly by the public including the media.

3) A strong civil society will emerge on common points, particularly for an independent judiciary without any political and official interference.

4) It was evident that the media and particularly the journalists have strongly supported the movement of the lawyers, without which it would have not been possible for the lawyers to keep the movement running. They have proved their independent position for the rule of law, supremacy of judiciary and freedom of expression. So for future governments it will be difficult to put this Djinn back in the bottle. The journalists will continue to monitor the issues of corruption, nepotism, violations of human rights and curbs against their professional duties.

As a ‘strong civil society’ has not yet emerged, the lawyers’ movement has clearly begun to grow beyond the 80,000-strong legal community to resemble a mass movement. Apart from the central issue of establishing judicial autonomy and extending the judiciary’s cover to the ‘disappeared,’ the movement has identified and spoken on reeling in the state’s powerful intelligence services, stifling unchecked neo-liberal economic policies, and addressing anti-woman legislation and social customs, so that a civil society can emerge – all issues which the Supreme Court began acting on before being sacked and arrested for the second time in 2007. To counter such challenges in the present, Zardari’s administration, with the aid of intelligence agencies and police forces, is working overtime to buy-off or beat-down key figures in the movement, with some effect. His efforts have even won recognition in post-Bush Washington. Echoing President Obama’s mantra of ‘stabilization,’ rather than the brazenly insincere chant of ‘democratization,’ Stephen Cohen of the Brookings Institute has lauded Zardari’s formation of “a stable government at the center, and stable coalitions in most of the provinces. It is an amazing accomplishment given how far gone Pakistan was just a few months ago.” This is also an ‘amazing’ statement, considering a raging civil war against the Taliban in the North-West Frontier Province, and ethnic separatists in Baluchistan, not to mention the rising tide of non-violent opposition to his government in every other province that is the subject of this essay.

On March 12, this year, to mark the second anniversary of the movement, the Men in Black are planning a mass march on Islamabad, culminating in a sit-in on Constitution Avenue. How many will participate and what mode of repression the government will unleash to deal with them is yet to be seen. A hint of the latter was whispered on March 10, leaders and activists of the movement were quietly arrested. Whatever the details, it is quite clear this movement will not be easily extinguished. Pakistani bloggers are furiously spreading the message and debating every aspect of its agenda. Pakistani students abroad have been rallying support among their fellows, while leaders of the movement from Pakistan have delivered their message to the American Bar Association and noteworthy US law schools, including that at Georgetown University. Such outreach has internationalized the movement’s base of support. In late November, 2008, in fact, former US Attorney General, William Ramsey Clark, announced that he will travel to Pakistan to join the lawyers’ struggle. Where this will lead is anyone’s guess. All that is certain is that this face of Pakistan – rather than mountain men, military dictators and corrupt civilian authorities alone - should be equally highlighted in the global media and better supported by the international community, if fears of the ‘most dangerous place on earth’ are to be allayed.

M. Reza Pirbhai is an Assistant Professor of South Asian History at
Louisiana State University. He can be reached at: rpirbhai@lsu.edu

[Sources include: “Pakistan: Lawyers’ Movement is the Vanguard of Democracy,” Statement Issued by the Asian Human Rights Commission: AHRC-STM-053-2008 (March 3, 2008); Ali Khan, “The Lawyers’ Movement in Pakistan,” Jurist (May-December 2007); Amitabh Pal, “Pakistan Lawyers’ Movement Shows Global Reach of Non-Violence,” The Progressive (November 9, 2007); Nasir Mansoor, “Pakistan: Lawyers’ Movement Launches New Phase of Struggle,” New Left (September 5, 2008); Farooq Tariq, “Pakistan’s Struggle for Democracy: The Lawyers’ Movement One Year On,” Links International Journal for Socialist Renewal (March 7, 2008).]

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