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How Israel is Rewriting Laws of WarFrom Israel, in a chilling and important report, Jeff Halper reports on how two Israeli professors are rewriting the Geneva Conventions to give legal cover for total war on civilian populations. “If you do something for long enough,” says Colonel (res.) Daniel Reisner, former head of the IDF’s Legal Department, “the world will accept it.” From Moscow, Boris Kagarlitsky profiles Russia’s economic liberals, the last true believers in pure capitalism. Welcome to the theater of the absurd. Get your new edition today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch books and t-shirts make great presents.
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Today's Stories March 8, 2010 Chris Floyd Carl Ginsburg Bill Quigley Shamus Cooke Kieko Matteson March 5 - 7, 2010 Alexander Cockburn James Ridgeway / Saul Landau / Nelson P. Valdes The Untouchable Budget: Defense Department, Inc. Ishmael Reed Dave Lindorff Mike Whitney Russell Mokhiber John Ross Mark Schuller Mark Weisbrot Rannie Amiri Ramzy Baroud David Rosen David Ker Thomson Wajahat Ali Missy Beattie George Wuerthner Benjamin Dangl Martha Rosenberg Vladimir Radyuhin Eric Walberg Robert Bryce Alison Weir David Macaray Laura Flanders Bouthaina Shaaban Charles R. Larson David Yearsley Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend March 4, 2010 Paul Craig Roberts Dave Lindorff Conn Hallinan Steven Higgs Frank Green Ron Jacobs Christopher Brauchli Don Monkerud Roberto Rodriguez The Politics of the Census: Masking Identities or Counting the Indigenous? Raymond J. Lawrence Website of the Day
March 3, 2010 Norman Finkelstein Bill Quigley Franklin C. Spinney Dean Baker Mike Whitney Raed Jarrar / Adam Federman Joshua Frank Will Parrish / Darwin Bond-Graham Matt Siegfried Website of the Day March 2, 2010 Patrick Cockburn Tricia Shapiro Gareth Porter Paul Craig Roberts Ellen Brown David Macaray Stewart J. Lawrence Shamus Cooke Udi Aloni / Binoy Kampmark Stephen Soldz Website of the Day March 1, 2010 Ralph Nader Will Parrish / Mike Whitney Diana Johnstone Jayne Lyn Stahl Vijay Prashad Paul Buhle Organizing Against Empire: Where Left and Right Meet ... Amicably Robert Jensen Marga Tojo Gonzales Website of the Day February 26 - 28, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Alison Weir Will Parrish / Jason Hribal Saul Landau / Mark Weisbrot Alan Farago Suzan Mazur Martha Rosenberg Ray McGovern Rannie Amiri Dave Lindorff Ramzy Baroud David Macaray Jared Ritvo Missy Beattie Brian McKenna Don Santina Binoy Kampmark M.G. Piety Michael Dickinson Art as Defensive Weapon Charles R. Larson Ben Sonnenberg David Yearsley Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend February 25, 2010 Jason Hribal Clancy Sigal Tariq Ali Jonathan Cook Mike Whitney Peter Lee Russell Mokhiber Prosecuting Bush for War Crimes Deepak Tripathi Charlie Wilson's Legacy Norman Solomon Phillip Doe Website of the Day February 24, 2010 Ashley Smith Mike Whitney Garerth Porter Joe Bageant Shamus Cooke Al Benchich Harvey Wasserman Jim Goodman Ron Jacobs Stewart J. Lawrence Tom Clifford Website of the Day February 23, 2010 Uri Avnery Paul Craig Roberts William P. O'Connor Steven Higgs Marshall Auerback / L. Randall Wray Jeff Sher Carl Finamore Dave Lindorff Benjamin Dangl Anthony Papa Bob Sommer Robert Bryce Website of the Day February 22, 2010 Vincent Navarro Michael Neumann Marc Weisbrot Richard Neville P. Sainath Christopher Ketcham Marc Catone February 19 - 21, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Bill Quigley Joshua Frank / Joan Roelofs Paul Craig Roberts Peter Lee Gareth Porter Saul Landau / Mark Schuller Rev. William E. Alberts Thomas M. Power John Ross Nicola Nasser Rannie Amiri Ramzy Baroud David Macaray M. Shahid Alam George Wuerthner Missy Beattie Adam Turl Dave Lindorff Alan Cabal Farzana Versey M. G. Piety Charles R. Larson Kim Nicolini David Yearsley Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend February 18, 2010 Sasan Fayazmanesh Nadia Hijab David Rosen Jayne Lyn Stahl Ralph Nader Dean Baker Christopher Brauchli Charlotte Laws Dave Lindorff Harvey Wasserman Bouthaina Shaaban Katya Rodriguez Website of the Day February 17, 2010 Michael Hudson Karl Grossman Nirmal Ghosh Dean Baker Russell Mokhiber John V. Walsh Martin Lukacs Nouri Gana Heather Gray / Daniel Wolff Website of the Day February 16, 2010 Paul Craig Roberts Forrest Hylton Carl Ginsburg Jonathan Cook Robert Alvarez Deepak Tripathi George Wuerthner Shamus Cooke Robert Bryce Brian Cloughley Carl Finamore David Rovics Website of the Day February 15, 2010 David Price Michael Hudson / Ishmael Reed Conn Hallinan Yvonne Ridley Bill Quigley Patrick Cockburn Dave Lindorff David Díaz-Arias Stephanie Westbrook Harvey Wasserman Norman Solomon Website of the Day February 12-14, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Andrew Cockburn Arno J. Mayer Ishmael Reed / Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Jonathan Cook Gareth Porter William Blum Jeffrey St. Clair Saul Landau John Ross Fran Shor Marshall Auerback Dave Lindorff Ramzy Baroud Gary Leupp Joseph Sher David Swanson Randall Amster David Ker Thomson Bill Piper Missy Beattie Farzana Versey Dan Bacher Bill Worf Christopher Brauchli Dr. Susan Block Charles R. Larson David Yearsley Binoy Kampmark Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend February 11, 2010 Patrick Cockburn Mark Schuller Stephen Soldz Harvey Wasserman Stephen Fleischman Ron Jacobs Helen Redmond Steve Zhou Fatemeh Keshavarz Ahmadinejad, the Western Press and the Iranian Green Opposition Gary Goldstein Website of the Day
February 10, 2010 Jules Boykoff Paul Craig Roberts David Macaray William Blum Martine Bulard M. Shahid Alam Tolu Olorunda Jayne Lyn Stahl Cecilia Lucas Eric Walberg Website of the Day February 9, 2010 Vijay Prashad Bill Quigley Jonathan Cook Shamus Cooke Robert Jensen Laura Flanders Chris Kromm Dave Lindorff George Wuerthner Belén Fernandez Michael Donnelly Susie Day Website of the Day February 8, 2010 Pam Martens Heather Gray Paul Craig Roberts Franklin Spinney Ralph Nader Ellen Brown Sasha Kramer Richard Morse Fred Gardner Binoy Kampmark Michael Winship David Michael Green Charles R. Larson Website of the Day February 5 - 7, 2010 Alexander Cockburn Paul Craig Roberts Forrest Hylton Joanne Mariner Bill Quigley Jeffrey St. Clair Todd Gordon / Jeffrey R. Webber Consolidating the Coup in Honduras Joseph Nevins Mike Miller Mark Weisbrot Alison Weir David Swanson Missy Beattie Jonathan Cook Richard Morse David Ker Thomson Benjamin Dangl Cal Winslow Jim Goodman Michael Dickinson Bouthaina Shaaban Don Monkerud Ananya Mukherjee-Reed Doug Bevington Stephen Martin Charles R. Larson David Yearsley Kim Nicolini Poets' Basement Website of the Day February 4, 2010 Barbara Rhine Barry Lando David Macaray Shamus Cooke P. Sainath Christopher Brauchli Ramzy Baroud Suzan Mazur Harry Clark Andy Worthington Website of the Day February 3, 2010 Paul Craig Roberts Kathleen Christison Franklin Spinney Dean Baker Marc Levy Kathy Kelly Gareth Porter Joshua Frank Rannie Amiri Gregory Vickrey Website of the Day February 2, 2010 Michael Hudson Boadiba Chris Floyd Paul A. Passavant Mike Whitney John Ross Jonathan Cook Susan Galleymore Dave Lindorff Tolu Olorunda Ron Jacobs Website of the Day February 1, 2010 Michael Hudson Stan Goff Patrick Cockburn Saul Landau Dr. Carol Paris, MD Marshall Auerback Harvey Wasserman Johanna Berrigan Peter Gelderloos David Michael Green Martha Rosenberg Kevin Zeese Alan Farago Website of the Day
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March 8, 2010 A War of Perception and MisinformationThe Siege of the Fictional City of MarjaBy GARETH PORTER For weeks, the U.S. public followed the biggest offensive of the Afghanistan War against what it was told was a "city of 80,000 people" as well as the logistical hub of the Taliban in that part of Helmand. That idea was a central element in the overall impression built up in February that Marja was a major strategic objective, more important than other district centres in Helmand. It turns out, however, that the picture of Marja presented by military officials and obediently reported by major news media is one of the clearest and most dramatic pieces of misinformation of the entire war, apparently aimed at hyping the offensive as a historic turning point in the conflict. Marja is not a city or even a real town, but either a few clusters of farmers' homes or a large agricultural area covering much of the southern Helmand River Valley. "It's not urban at all," an official of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), who asked not to be identified, admitted on Sunday. He called Marja a "rural community". "It's a collection of village farms, with typical family compounds," said the official, adding that the homes are reasonably prosperous by Afghan standards. Richard B. Scott, who worked in Marja as an adviser on irrigation for the U.S. Agency for International Development as recently as 2005, agrees that Marja has nothing that could be mistaken as being urban. It is an "agricultural district" with a "scattered series of farmers' markets," Scott said in a telephone interview. The ISAF official said the only population numbering tens of thousands associated with Marja is spread across many villages and almost 200 square kilometres, or about 125 square miles. Marja has never even been incorporated, according to the official, but there The official admitted that the confusion about Marja's population was facilitated by the fact that the name has been used both for the relatively large agricultural area and for a specific location where farmers have gathered for markets. However, the name Marja "was most closely associated" with the more specific location, where there are also a mosque and a few shops. That very limited area was the apparent objective of "Operation Moshtarak", to which 7,500 U.S., NATO and Afghan troops were committed amid the most intense publicity given any battle since the beginning of the war. So how did the fiction that Marja is a city of 80,000 people get started? The idea was passed on to the news media by the U.S. Marines in southern Helmand. The earliest references in news stories to Marja as a city with a large population have a common origin in a briefing given Feb. 2 by officials at Camp Leatherneck, the U.S. Marine base there. The Associated Press published an article the same day quoting "Marine commanders" as saying that they expected 400 to 1,000 insurgents to be "holed up" in the "southern Afghan town of 80,000 people." That language evoked an image of house to house urban street fighting. The same story said Marja was "the biggest town under Taliban control" and called it the "linchpin of the militants' logistical and opium-smuggling network". It gave the figure of 125,000 for the population living in "the town and surrounding villages". ABC news followed with a story the next day referring to the "city of Marja" and claiming that the city and the surrounding area "are more heavily populated, urban and dense than other places the Marines have so far been able to clear and hold." The rest of the news media fell into line with that image of the bustling, urbanised Marja in subsequent stories, often using "town" and "city" interchangeably. Time magazine wrote about the "town of 80,000" Feb. 9, and the Washington Post did the same Feb. 11. As "Operation Moshtarak" began, U.S. military spokesmen were portraying Marja as an urbanised population centre. On Feb. 14, on the second day of the offensive, Marine spokesman Lt. Josh Diddams said the Marines were "in the majority of the city at this point." He also used language that conjured images of urban fighting, referring to the insurgents holding some "neighbourhoods". A few days into the offensive, some reporters began to refer to a "region", but only created confusion rather than clearing the matter up. CNN managed to refer to Marja twice as a "region" and once as "the city" in the same Feb. 15 article, without any explanation for the apparent contradiction. The Associated Press further confused the issue in a Feb. 21 story, referring to "three markets in town - which covers 80 square miles…." A "town" with an area of 80 square miles would be bigger than such U.S. cities as Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh and Cleveland. But AP failed to notice that something was seriously wrong with that reference. Long after other media had stopped characterising Marja as a city, the New York Times was still referring to Marja as "a city of 80,000", in a Feb. 26 dispatch with a Marja dateline. The decision to hype up Marja as the objective of "Operation Moshtarak" by planting the false impression that it is a good-sized city would not have been made independently by the Marines at Camp Leatherneck. A central task of "information operations" in counterinsurgency wars is "establishing the COIN [counterinsurgency] narrative", according to the Army Counterinsurgency Field Manual as revised under Gen. David Petraeus in 2006. That task is usually done by "higher headquarters" rather than in the field, as the manual notes. The COIN manual asserts that news media "directly influence the attitude of key audiences toward counterinsurgents, their operations and the opposing insurgency." The manual refers to "a war of perceptions…conducted continuously using the news media." Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, commander of ISAF, was clearly preparing to wage such a war in advance of the Marja operation. In remarks made just before the offensive began, McChrystal invoked the language of the counterinsurgency manual, saying, "This is all a war of perceptions." The Washington Post reported Feb. 22 that the decision to launch the offensive against Marja was intended largely to impress U.S. public opinion with the effectiveness of the U.S. military in Afghanistan by showing that it could achieve a "large and loud victory." The false impression that Marja was a significant city was an essential part of that message. Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist with Inter-Press Service specialising in U.S. national security policy. The paperback edition of his latest book, "Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam", was published in 2006.
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