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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers! How Cops Extort Confessions;
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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers!
How Cops Extort Confessions;
How the U.S. “Justice System” Really WorksNinety-two per cent of felony convictions in the U.S. are obtained by plea bargains or confessions. Without them the “justice system” would grind to a halt. In an important piece in our latest newsletter, available only to subscribers, Emily Horowitz shows how totally innocent people will “confess” under police pressure, even without physical torture. Horowitz outlines the powerful case for banning confessions altogether. Also in this new edition Marcus Rediker, co-author of the legendary The Many Headed Hydra, writes of popular heroism and resistance in the favelas of Medellin, Colombia. Alexander Cockburn reports on how America’s oldest bank, patronized by the global elites, washed billions smuggled out of Russia, and how the Russians might win their money back, shaking the world’s banking system if they do so. Serge Halimi describes the real battle for the soul of Europe. Get your copy 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 gear make great presents.
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Today's Stories August 21, 2008 Allan J. Lichtman August 20, 2008 Michael Neumann Ray McGovern Eric Walberg Fidaa Abed Daniel Haack Mike Whitney Website of the Day August 19, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Deepak Tripathi Marwan Bishara Saul Landau William S. Lind Martha Rosenberg James Brittain Pratyush Chandra David Macaray Website of the Day August 18, 2008 Tariq Ali Gary Leupp Uri Avnery John Ross Farooq Sulehria Luis Rodriguez Manuel Garcia, Jr. Noah Baker Merrill Charles Thomson Website of the Day August 16 / 17, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Deepak Tripathi Conn Hallinan Mike Whitney Robert Fantina Ray McGovern Nicole Colson Fatima Bhutto Jean-Luis Rocca David Michael Green Ramzi Kysia Dave Lindorff Lisa Martinovic Richard Rhames Don Santina Rannie Amiri Ramzy Baroud John Stanton Howard Lisnoff Ron Jacobs Seth Sandronsky Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
August 15, 2008 Steve Niva David Remington Michael Winship Paul Craig Roberts Farzana Versey Harvey Wasserman Felice Pace Julian Critchley Website of the Day August 14, 2008 Saul Landau / Conn Hallinan Mike Whitney Reza Fiyouzat Ralph Nader Christopher Brauchli The Cheerleader in China Jack Bradigan Spula Patrick Irelan John Walsh Dan Bacher Website of the Day
August 13, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts David Remington Brian Cloughley Glen Ford Brendan Cooney Dave Lindorff Tom Lewis Stan Cox Alan Farago Martha Rosenberg Website of the Day August 12, 2008 Uri Avnery Anthony DiMaggio Bill Christison Eric Walberg Kate Connolly Diane Farsetta Peter Morici Thom Rutledge Lee Patton Niranjan Ramakrishnan Website of the Day August 11, 2008 Ishmael Reed Paul Craig Roberts Gary Leupp Douglas Kammen William Willers Greg Moses Jeff Leys Cynthia McKinney Alan Farago Website of the Day August 9 / 10, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Bruce Jackson Kevin Young Chris Floyd Joshua Frank Robert Fantina Brendan Cooney Mark Almond Lois Gibbs Rev. William Alberts Kathy Kelly John Ross David Michael Green Bill Moyers / Ron Jacobs Richard Rhames David Yearsley Lee Sustar Brenda Norrell Ben Terrall Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 8, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Manuel Garcia, Jr. M. Shahid Alam Andy Worthington Lawrence J. Korb David Model Alan Farago Diop Olugbala Firmin DeBrabander Website of the Day August 7, 2008 Dr. Trudy Bond William Blum Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Robert Weitzel Jacob G. Hornberger Binoy Kampmark David Macaray Howard Lisnoff Website of the Day August 6, 2008 Marc Herold Greg Moses Sheldon Rampton Kevin Young Michael Estrada Robert Weissman Dr. Susan Block Cindy Sheehan Ace Hoffman Website of the Day August 5, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Jeff Halper Patrick Cockburn Nancy Welch Peter Morici Sousan Hammad Eamon Martin Shepherd Bliss Tim Matson Website of the Day August 4, 2008 Uri Avnery Saul Landau David W. Remington Rev. Jesse Jackson Dave Lindorff Peter Morici Joanne Mariner Ramzy Baroud Christian Wright Website of the Day August 2 / 3, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Patrick Cockburn Winslow T. Wheeler James Abourezk Andy Worthington Brian Cloughley Robert Fantina Benjamin Dangl Marlene Martin David Yearsley Fatemeh Keshavarz David Michael Green Obama as Dukakis Harvey Wasserman Jason Hribal Phyllis Pollack Laray Polk Ron Jacobs David Macaray David Rosen Dan Bacher Joe Allen Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 1, 2008 Jonathan Cook Nikolas Kozloff Rannie Amiri Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli M. K. Bhadrakumar Patrick Cockburn James J. Brittain Dan Bacher Website of the Day
July 31, 2008 Michael Hudson Carl Finamore Mike Whitney Joshua Frank Andy Worthington Ralph Nader Bill Moyers / Robert Weissman Dave Lindorff Website of the Day July 30, 2008 Brian M. Downing Chuck Spinney William S. Lind David Ker Thomson Karl Grossman Mike Whitney Martha Rosenberg James Murren Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Website of the Day July 29, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair John Ross Peter Morici Alison Weir Gary Leupp David Macaray Brenda Norrell Marjorie Cohn Eric Ruder Website of the Day July 28, 2008 Dr. Bryant Welch Kathy Kelly Mike Whitney Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli Clifton Ross Stephen Lendman Website of the Day
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August 21, 2008 Iran Needs Better AdvocatesThe Left and IranBy ROSTAM PURZAL Because Iran's leadership and the U.S. power elite each include influential figures who press for dialog between the two countries, we must conclude that Iran is not in danger of a military attack. Conclusion: people of conscience should drop their opposition to a possible U.S. or Israeli attack and instead condemn imperialism's best ally in the Middle East, Iran. You may laugh, but this is the essence of Reza Fiyouzat's hawkish argument as he struggles in a recent Counterpunch article to sow antagonism towards Iran. Never mind that the former government of Iraq had diplomatic and trade relations with the U.S. and still was violently overthrown with calamitous consequences. His assessment is the familiar one that we have heard for decades from Iranian Monarchists, who swear that Washington forced out the former Shah in 1979 in order to install a pliable Islamic order in his place. Such simplistic far left and far right analyses portray Iranians as a nation of simpletons and victims without agency. Missing from Fiyouzat's neoconservative-style rush to blame the victim is any reference to the enthusiasm of a great majority in Iran, registered in survey after opinion survey, to restore trade and diplomatic relations with the U.S. If Iran's leadership is indeed eager to welcome U.S. diplomats, investors, and tourists after nearly three decades of estrangement, it is certainly acting with the consent of the governed. With his rejection of détente, Fiyouzat in effect advocates minority rule even as he demands an expanded democracy in which Iran's left forces would have more room to organize. What's more, Fiyouzat argues, mainstream pro-dialog groups, such as the Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII), are aiding a Tehran-Washington conspiracy to fool and exploit Iranians. His evidence that Iran is, behind the scenes, a partner in crime with Yankee imperialists? Why, of course, it is Iran's declared but unsuccessful attempts to attract foreign investment. That is proof enough to Fiyouzat that Iran is for sale and advocates of Iran's national rights, like CASMII, are sell-outs, even if their purpose is to help expose Western double standards. According to this sophomoric fantasy, presumably the nations of the world must all boycott the U.S. to prove their independence! Fiouzat does not explain why Iran should be the first. I suggest he personally set an example by refusing to boost the U.S. war machine with his income tax. Apparently, journalist Seymour Hersch, who regularly warns us about ongoing U.S. efforts to destabilize Iran, is just another dupe of the Islamic Republic, and so are the other award-winning authors Reese Erlich and Stephen Kinzer, who each spoke in dozens of American cities last fall and winter against a U.S. attack on Iran. The 118-nation Non-Aligned Movement's repeated declarations of support for Iranian nuclear rights must similarly be delusional. Ironically, contrary to Fiouzat's tired claim that Iran's leadership uses the threat of a foreign attack as a fig leaf for legitimacy, Iran's Farsi-language state broadcast monopoly downplays the possibility of U.S. or Israeli aggression. Last January, I was asked to leave a televised show on Iran's Channel Two (I was being interviewed by telephone) after I refused to agree with the host that Iran was safe from foreign attack. The centerpiece of Fiyouzat's attempt to mobilize the progressive left against Iran is Tehran's participation in regime change in Iraq and Afghanistan. Here, too, Fiyouzat is so eager to paint Iran's decision makers as unrepresentative that he ignores overwhelming support for that policy among Iranians. He assures us that "Western powers prefer an Islamic to a secular government" and "Western imperialists cannot have it any better than the regime that exists [in Iran] now", conveniently overlooking the considerable U.S. support for secular elites against the popular Islamist resistance movements in Palestine and Lebanon. Nor does Fiyouzat recognize that Iran's alliance with Christian Armenia and tense relations with the Shi'i-dominated Republic of Azerbaijan is inspired by Iran's opposition to U.S. domination in the region. Similarly, he makes no mention of Iran's incessant demand, consistent with the wishes of almost all Iraqis, that U.S. forces leave Iraq without extracting concessions. He also fails to mention that Iran's closest international ally is Venezuela, hardly a U.S. client state. All that seems to matter to him is that the Iranian government is interested in conditional peace with Washington. Never mind that Cuba's anti-imperialist government is as anxious as Iran's to have normal trade and diplomatic relations with the U.S. The obsession leads Fiouzat to lump defenders of Iranian sovereignty with the "realist" wing of U.S. imperialism. It matters not to him that advocates of Iran's national rights against the West's intimidation may be motivated by other than blind support for the current Iranian government. He is troubled that Iran has frustrated desperate U.S. efforts to isolate it. On the fifty-fifth anniversary of the August coup in which anti- imperialists acquiesced in the U.S. subversion of Iranian sovereignty, Fiyouzat recommends that the U.S. antiwar community do the same. Fortunately, only a tiny fraction in the U.S. antiwar movement is likely to be swayed by his short-sighted ideology. Rostam Pourzal is a board member of the US branch of the Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran.
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