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Amazing Plan Surfaces: "We Need Ethno-Weapons!" David Price tells how top-flight US anthropologists eagerly obeyed US government's mandate to "think in a-moral terms". One scheme of OSS's willing executioners: target Japanese physical "weak spot", the respiratory tract, with anthrax germs. Gabriel Kolko asks What's so New About the Neo-Cons? If they had not existed, would the policies have been the same? Jeffrey St Clair digs up more dirt on Halliburton's secret history. Alexander Cockburn on why we need more "celebrity justice". Get the answers you're looking for in the latest subscriber-only edition of CounterPunch ... CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! or write CounterPunch, PO BOX 228, Petrolia, CA 95558 |
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Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison by KATHY KELLY ![]() Today's Stories Mike
Marqusee July 6, 2005 Elaine
Cassel Sean
Donahue Jeremy
R. Hammond Joshua
Frank Ali
Khan Michael
Dickinson Norman
Solomon Dave
Zirin Gary
Leupp Website
of the Day July 5, 2005 Behrooz
Ghamari Elaine
Cassel Ron
Jacobs Bob
Libal Dr.
Peter Rost Mark
Engler Gideon
Levy Dave
Zirin Sameer
Dossani
July 2 / 4, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Lenni
Brenner Laura
Carlsen James
Petras William
A. Cook Brian
Cloughley Saul
Landau Tom
Crumpacker Greg
Moses Dr.
Susan Block Fran
Shor Fred
Gardner Moshe
Adler David
Model Seth
Sandronsky Ramzy
Baroud Suzan
Mazur Ben
Tripp Justin
Taylor Brendan
Bailey Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
July 1, 2005 Christopher
Brauchli Pat
Williams Gary
Leupp John
Stauber John
Chuckman Justicia
y Paz Cockburn
/ St. Clair
June 30, 2005 Kathy
Kelly John
Stauber Virginia
Rodino Jason
Leopold Dave
Lindorff Greg
Moses Norman
Solomon Joshua
Frank Alexander
Cockburn
June 29, 2005 Mike
Schaefer Roger
Burbach / Paul Cantor Sharon
Smith Sam
Husseini John
Stauber Ahmad
Faruqui Linda
S. Heard Stew
Albert Ray
McGovern
June 28, 2005 Paul
Craig Roberts Landau
/ Hassen John
A. Murphy Mike
Whitney CounterPunch
News Service Dave
Zirin Dave
Lindorff Patrick
Cockburn
June 27, 2005 Paul
Craig Roberts Mike
Marqusee Mark
Scaramella Leigh
Saavedra Kathy
Kelly June 25 / 26, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Jennifer
Van Bergen George
Corsetti Mark
Chmiel / Andrew Wimmer Kevin
Zeese P.
Sainath John
Stauber Scott
Handleman Tom
Barry John
Walsh Justin
E.H. Smith Alan
Wallis Ben
Tripp Frederick
B. Hudson Poets'
Basement
June 24, 2005 Ray
McGovern Jorge
Mariscal Desiree
Hellegers Zeynep
Toufe Joshua
Frank David
Lindorff Michael
Neumann Website
of the Day June 23, 2005 Christopher
Brauchli Clay
Conrad Standard
Schaefer P.
Sainath Mark
Engler Norman
Solomon Cockburn
/ St. Clair Kathy
Kelly
June 22, 2005 Kevin
Zeese William
S. Lind Arsalan
Iftikhar Dan
Nagengast David
Krieger Kathleen
& Bill Christison
June 21, 2005 Brian Cloughley Mike Whitney Dave Lindorff Mark Weisbrot Matthew R.
Simmons Dave Zirin Virginia Rodino Paul Craig
Roberts
June 20, 2005 Alan Maass Tariq Ali Mickey Z. William Blum Gary Leupp Jason Leopold Dave Lindorff Alan Maass Uri Avnery Website of
the Day
Hot Stories Alexander Cockburn Subcomandante
Marcos Norman Finkelstein Steve Niva Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams Steve
J.B. Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber Wendell
Berry CounterPunch
Wire Cindy
Corrie Gore Vidal Francis Boyle
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July 7, 2005 Something StinksJudith Miller, the Anti-HeroBy JACK RANDOM
The ironies of history are plentiful. Richard Nixon opened relations with Red China, Deep Throat was lap dog for J. Edgar Hoover, Dan Rather was a cheerleader for war, and Judith Miller was a mouthpiece for the lies that led to war. Now, she is a martyr for her profession. When you play with the devil, sometimes you get burned. When Newsweek Magazine revealed the desecration of the Koran by American interrogators, the White House laid the blood of the innocent at the reporters' door. If there was any justification for that charge (there was in fact precious little), what then can be said of the reporter whose tireless "journalism" gave credibility to the now infamous weapons of mass destruction fraud? What can be said of an esteemed professional who shamelessly espoused the Saddam-Al Qaeda connection? Is there no blood on her hands? As a reporter for the New York Times, Judith Miller was used by the White House to prosecute an illegal war of aggression that may ultimately cost hundreds of thousands of lives. Instead of learning her lessons and coming clean, she maintained her ties and secured her position as the print media point for White House propaganda. She was leading the charge to war with Iraq, Syria and North Korea before the curious case of Valerie Plame imploded and brought her operation to a close. Like Dan Rather before her, Judy Miller has left us in a quandary. We believe in freedom of the press but we also believe that Judy Miller has prostituted her profession to the White House propaganda machine. Thus far, we have been given confusing accounts of what happened in this strange and baffling story. This much we know: Robert Novak was employed in a cheap, dirty trick, exposing an active undercover CIA agent in retaliation for her husband's objection to the administration's fabricated case for war. This despicable action placed her life and the lives of her associates in danger, blew the cover off covert operations, and thereby threatened the national security. In a curious spin, Judy Miller's defenders (Robert Kuttner, Boston Globe) claim that she was not contacted to publish the malicious outing but rather contacted her White House sources to discover the source of the leak. We know that Miller did not go public with the story, so what can we surmise? First, that Miller was named by someone presumably by her own contacts since no one else should have known. In that case, Miller would owe her sources nothing. The principle of protected sources cannot apply to protecting the very individuals who would put you in jail. Second, she must have learned who the leak was though she chose not to reveal it. Had she done so, she would have been serving the public good as well as fulfilling her journalistic duty. Had she done so, she would no longer be a White House darling but her current quandary would be heroic indeed. If she did not discover who the source was then there is literally nothing to protect. She would simply be called upon to state for the record that she contacted certain White House officials and learned nothing. Case closed. Clearly, there is no scenario we can surmise that would paint Judith Miller a hero. We have heard Miller's colleagues in the media rally to her defense on the curious grounds that this is somehow retaliation for the Times' antiwar stance and wondered: What planet have they been living on? The Times was at the head of the list in promoting the cause of war and its subsequent mea culpa was something less than sincere. We have heard them proclaim in tones of utter disbelief: She is going to jail for a story she never published! I admit I have joined that chorus but now I understand that publishing that story was both her responsibility and her redemption. That she chose not to publish is her own mea culpa. Is she a journalist or a propagandist? Did the story fail to serve her cause? Did it threaten her good standing with the White House? Of course, none of this can explain why Robert Novak is not in Judith Miller's shoes. What sort of deal did he cut? Unfortunately, given the state of American journalism, we can have little confidence that anyone is even trying to get to the core of this story. Moreover, there is the holdover case of the Bolton memos (demanded by the Senate, withheld by the White House). Given the Downing Street memos and the inexplicable refusal of the White House to yield on this matter, these are potentially explosive documents yet neither Miller nor her courageous colleagues seem interested. There is also the outstanding question of what Miller knows that Matt Cooper of Time Magazine (released by the court when he agreed to cooperate with the blessings of his source) does not. Apparently, their sources are not the same. As Kuttner of the Globe rightly observed: Something stinks to high heaven. The curious case of Judith Miller of the New York Times forces us to reconsider the rights and responsibilities of the media. Unfortunately, it comes down to this: If a journalist is employed in the commission of a federal crime (like plotting an assassination), he or she is not protected by the first amendment. In this case, it seems amply clear that Robert Novak was the triggerman and no one has the right to protect the man who ordered the hit. Jack Random is the author of the Jazzman Chronicles,
the War Chronicles (Crow Dog Press) and Ghost Dance Insurrection
(Dry Bones Press). He can be reached through his website: www.jackrandom.com.
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