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"THE USE OF CHEMICAL WARFARE IS AUTHORIZED" America's secret war plans: "The military purpose is to overthrow the present existing Federal Government of Mexico." Floyd Rudmin uncovers the sick dreams of America's generals. Alito says, Constitution okays Bush to set up prison camps here and torture US citizens. Dems praise his "even demeanor" and shirk the filibuster. Cockburn and St Clair on the Alito hearings and the Democrats' collapse. ... 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! |
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January 30, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Winslow Wheeler Marcus Dam John Bomar Ben Beachy Gideon Levy Michael Carmichael Missy Comley
Beattie Norman Solomon Brian Concannon,
Jr. Michael Ratner Website of
the Day
January 28 / 29, 2006 Alexander Cockburn
Ralph Nader Col. Dan Smith Paul Craig Roberts Tammara Rosenleaf Ron Jacobs Harry Browne Fred Gardner Christopher
Reed Bernard Chazelle Daniel Wolff Tom Kerr Asad Abu Khalil Chris Murphy Dr. Susan Block Kathy Deacon St. Clair /
Walker / Palmer / Shields Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
Suren Pillay Lawrence R.
Velvel J.L. Chestnut,
Jr Uri Avnery Gary Leupp Samar Assad Jeffrey St.
Clair Website of the Day
January 26, 2006 Robert Robideau Paul Craig
Roberts Gilad Atzmon Jason Leopold Joshua Frank Dave Lindorff Susan Lee Missy Comley Beattie Michael Carmichael Michael Neumann Website of
the Day
January 25, 2006 Saul Landau James Petras Lawrence R.
Velvel Vijay Prashad Kevin Zeese Alison Weir Bruce K. Gagnon Joan Roelofs Website of
the Day
January 24, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Kathy Kelly Jorge Mariscal Winslow T.
Wheeler John Walsh Youmans / Muaddi Roger Burbach Fr. Gerard
Jean-Juste Noam Chomsky Website of
the Day
Uri Avnery Susan Pynchon William Loren
Katz Christopher Brauchli Chris Floyd Joshua Frank Norman Solomon Jackie Corr Paul Craig
Roberts Website of the Day
January 21/22, 2006 Tim Shorrock Ralph Nader Peter Feng Brian Cloughley Michael Donnelly Tom Kerr Dave Lindorff Daniel Wolff Fred Gardner Jason Leopold Matthew Koehler John Bomar Ron Jacobs Becky Akers Joanne Mariner St. Clair / Walker / Pollack Poets' Basement Website of the Day
Brian J. Foley Richard Gott Joshua Frank Pierre Tristam Bernstein /
Allegretto Elizabeth Schulte Website of
the Day
January 19, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Bill Simpich Kevin Alexander
Gray Sam Husseini Sam Smith Monica Benderman Winslow T.
Wheeler Website of the Day
January 18, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Norman Solomon Jonathan M.
Feldman Michael Carmichael Paul D'Amato Cynthia McKinney Norman Finkelstein Website of the Day
January 17, 2006 M. Shahid Alam John Ross Tariq Ali Michael Donnelly Amira Hass Doug Giebel Bill Quigley Ron Jacobs Mike Stark Werther
John Walsh Earl Ofari
Hutchinson Roger Burbach Norman Solomon Robert Jensen Sam Husseini Paul Craig
Roberts Website of the Day
January 14 / 15, 2006 Alexander Cockburn JoAnn Wypijewski James Petras Ron Jacobs Brian Cloughley Marianne McDonald Bruce Tyler Wick Fred Gardner Flavia Alaya Gary Leupp Dr. Susan Block Nicole Colson Jeffrey Kolakowski Missy Comley
Beattie Charles Thomson St. Clair /
Walker / Vest Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
January 13, 2006 Ralph Nader Leonard Weinglass Amira Hass Chris Kutalik
/ Jennifer Biddle Lawrence R. Velvel Dave Lindorff Mike Whitney David Price
January 12, 2006 Jennifer Van
Bergen Jeremy Brecher / Brendan Smith Lawrence R.
Velvel Ralph Nader / Robert Weissman Jackie Corr Jared Bernstein Russell D.
Hoffman Aubrey Streit Clancy Sigal Website of the Day
January 11, 2006 Kevin Zeese Ray McGovern Allan Maass
/ Joe Allen Earl Ofari
Hutchinson Annie Murphy Allan Lichtman Ramzy Baroud Joshua Frank Kathleen and
Bill Christison Website of
the Day
January 10, 2006 Uri Avnery Saul Landau Noam Chomsky Brian J. Foley Lenni Brenner Ronan Sheehan Paul Craig
Roberts
January 9, 2006 Behzad Yaghmaian George Bisharat Dave Lindorff Norman Solomon Christopher Brauchli Aharon Shabtai Andrew Cockburn
January 7 / 8, 2006 Lawrence Velvel James Petras J.L. Chestnut Mike Ely Andrew Wilson Lila Rajiva William Cook Ramor Ryan Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff Peter Montague Ron Jacobs Neve Gordon Fred Gardner Josh Mahon Dr. Susan Block Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
January 6, 2006 José
Pertierra Joe Allen Winslow T. Wheeler John Bomar Jason Leopold Norman Solomon Robert Pollin
January 5, 2006 Scott Boehm Zoltan Grossman Heather Gray Haninah Levine Pierre Tristam Remi Kanazi Gilad Atzmon Kathleen and
Bill Christison
January 4, 2006 Ron Jacobs Lila Rajiva Huibin Amee
Chew Pat Williams Linda Milazzo Nick Dearden James Petras Website of
the Day
January 3, 2006 James Ridgeway Laith al-Saud Dick J. Reavis Joshua Frank Rochelle Gause Missy Comley
Beattie Paul de Rooij
January 2, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Clancy Sigal Cindy Sheehan Alexander Cockburn
Dec. 31 / Jan. 1, 2005/6 Patrick Cockburn Alexander Cockburn Ralph Nader James Petras Peter Montague J.L. Chestnut, Jr. Vijay Prashad P. Sainath James Brooks Eileen E. Schell Christopher
Brauchli Jo Guldi Fred Gardner Ben Tripp St. Clair /
Walker / Pollack Poets Basement Website of
the Weekend
December 30,2005 Evo Morales Earl Ofari
Hutchinson Dave Lindorff Gary Leupp Ron Jacobs Brian Concannon Sandra Lucas T.W. Croft Website of
the Day
December 29, 2005 Norman Solomon Missy Comley
Beattie Dave Zirin Kevin Zeese Derrick O'Keefe Sam Bahour Macdonald Stainsby Bill &
Kathleen Christison Website of the Day
December 28, 2005 Jeffrey St.
Clair Lila Rajiva Amira Hass Joshua Frank David Swanson Richard Thieme Paul Craig
Roberts Website of the Day
December 27, 2005 Evan Jones Uri Avnery Mike Whitney Gideon Levy David Swanson Norman Solomon
December 26, 2005 Lawrence R.
Velvel Lance Olsen Ben Terrall Scott Boehm Charlie Ehlen Tom Kerr
December 24/25, 2005 Aleander Cockburn James Petras Ralph Nader Lila Rajiva Fred Gardner Ron Jacobs Dave Lindorff Gary Leupp Saul Landau John Chuckman Dr. Susan Block St. Clair / Vest / Pollack
/ Donnelly Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
December 23, 2005 John Ross Chris Floyd Lawrence Mishel
/ Ross Eisenbrey Joanne Mariner Eric Johnson-Debaufre Ray McGovern J. L. Chestnut,
Jr. Website of
the Day
December 22, 2005 Ingmar Lee Elisa Salasin Christopher
Brauchli Robin Blackburn Evelyn Pringle Amira Hass Francis A.
Boyle Stew Albert Website of
the Day
December 21, 2005 Paul Craig
Roberts Lila Rajiva Joshua Frank Dave Zirin Ramzy Baroud Sonia Nettnin Ben Saul Jonathan Cronin Patrick Cockburn Website of
the Day
December 20, 2005 Jackie Corr Earl Ofari
Hutchinson Michael Donnelly Gian Paulo
Accardo Pierre Tristam Norman Solomon Sen. Robert Byrd Dave Lindorff Website of the Day
December 19, 2005 Mike Marqusee Gary Leupp Ron Jacobs John Blair Gideon Levy Kevin Zeese Missy Comley Beattie Don Santina Website of the Day
December 17 / 18, 2005 Cockburn /
St. Clair Gabriel Kolko Susan Alcorn Werther Ralph Nader Patrick Cockburn Fred Gardner Dave Lindorff Ned Sublette Lee Sustar Jason Leopold Laura Carlsen Jeff White Ray McGovern Chris Floyd William Loren Katz Rose Miriam
Elizalde Greg Moses Heather Gray Alison Weir St Clair /
Walker / Pollack Poets' Basement Website of
the Day
December 16, 2005 Tom Kerr Mark Engler John Bomar Patrick Cockburn Pierre Tristam William S. Lind Cyril Neville Robert Jensen Saul Landau Website
December 15, 2005 Oren Ben-Dor Stan Cox Joshua Frank Ben Terrall Patrick Cockburn Monica Benderman Walter A. Davis Vijay Prashad Website of
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Patrick Cockburn Paul Craig
Roberts Lawrence R. Velvel Wayne Garcia John Sugg Gary Leupp Ray McGovern Alan Maass April Hurley, MD Kevin Alexander
Gray
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Banko, III Patrick Cockburn Laura Carlsen Karl Grossman Niranjan Ramakrishnan Kevin Zeese Norman Solomon Michael G.
Smith Stew Albert Bob Dylan Phil Gasper Website of
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Roberts Lawrence R.
Velvel Jessica Stewart George Bisharat Nate Mezmer Earl Ofari
Hutchinson Alison Weir Seth Sandronsky Patrick Cockburn Website of
the Day
Alexander Cockburn Landau / Hassen Ralph Nader Linn Washington, Jr Bill Christison Mike Ferner Elizabeth Schulte Neve Gordon / Yigal Bronner Linda S. Heard Ingmar Lee Ray McGovern John Chuckman John Ryan Dick J. Reavis Christopher
Brauchli Behzad Yaghmaian Aseem Shrivastava John Ross Ben Tripp St. Clair / Pollack / Vest
/ Despair Poets' Basement Website of the Week
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Jr. Dave Zirin
/ Mike Stark Patrick Cockburn Alexander Cockburn Lila Rajiva Gary Leupp Jason Leopold Bruce K. Gagnon Andrew Cockburn Website of the Day
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Lind Laura Carlsen Justin Akers Thomas Graham, Jr Norman Solomon Tariq Ali /
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Morgan Dave Lindorff Patrick Cockburn Harold Pinter Website of
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Roberts Website of
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Weissman Robert Jensen Norman Solomon Peter Rost, MD Lila Rajiva Website of the Day
Alexander Cockburn Lawrence R.
Velvel Rev. William Alberts Saul Landau Ralph Nader Paul Craig
Roberts Mike Whitney Allan Lichtman Dave Lindorff Brian Concannon,
Jr. Fred Gardner Manuel Garcia,
Jr. Carol Wolman St. Clair /
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December 2, 2005 Stan Goff Mike Ferner Christopher Brauchli Niranjan Ramakrishnan Manuel Talens Peter Phillips J.L. Chestnut,
Jr. Website of
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December 1, 2005 John Walsh,
MD Ron Jacobs Jenna Orkin Joshua Frank Tiffany Ten
Eyck Missy Comley Beattie Eli Stephens Elaine Cassel Website of
the Day
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January 30, 2006 Holding Bush Accountable for His CrimesTomorrow is Today: the Time for Resistance is NowBy MICHAEL RATNER Opening Remarks to the closing session of the International Commission of Inquiry On Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration, Riverside Church, New York, January 20, 2006. When Clark Kissinger called me yesterday and said, "You will be sharing a platform with Harry Belafonte, I said, "Well, maybe you want to put me on for tomorrow." But here I am, and of course I'm proud to be in any kind of association with Harry Belafonte. And I'm sure you're all familiar with Harry Belafonte's comments that he made to President Chavez in Venezuela a few days ago. And if you don't remember them, I'll repeat them. "No matter what the greatest tyrant in the world, the greatest terrorist in the world, George W. Bush, says, we're here to tell you that not hundreds, not thousands, but millions of the American people support your revolution." Now what's remarkable about that, is not only the statement itself but Harry Belafonte response when he was heavily attacked for calling Bush a terrorist. As he, to his credit, has never been willing to do, he did not retreat from the statement. And if you go on the net you will find what he said, at the Children's Defense Fund, a few days later about that statement to Chavez: "So I made my remarks, they may stir up controversy, but then it's time to talk about new definitions, new points of view." And that's what Harry Belafonte was doing, and that is what we are doing here today, and over the next two days, at these Bush Crimes Commissions. The other important point about being here, at Riverside of course, is that in April 1967, this is the place, this is the church, where Martin Luther King openly, and notoriously I should say, opposed the war in Vietnam. The speech was called "Beyond Vietnam: A time to break the silence." It's a historic place for that reason. He began that speech with these words: "A time comes when silence is betrayal. That time has come for us, in relation to Vietnam." And then in that speech, he lays out a 5-point program. But the ultimate point of that program was: Remove all foreign troops from Vietnam. Incredibly, even though it was Martin Luther King saying that, in 1967, it took 9 more years, millions of Vietnamese deaths, and thousands of American deaths, to do so. We today model our conduct on that of Dr. Martin Luther King. As he said then, we say today, "A time comes when silence is betrayal." That time has come for us, in relationship to the war in Iraq. It is time for us to bring the troops home now. A people's trial, a people's commission, is not without important precedents. Almost 40 years ago, in 1968, there was another people's trial. It was held in Sweden and Denmark. Originally it was to be held in France. But the French wouldn't allow it; they prohibited it, because it was about Vietnam, and of course the French had been very deeply involved in the subjugation of Vietnam. The witnesses at that people's trial were well-known progressives, including Jean-Paul Sartre. They gathered in Stockholm and Copenhagen, and they were there to judge another human outrage in our history, the brutal and inhuman Vietnam War. Bertrand Russell, the famous English philosopher, was one of the key participants in that trial. In fact, it was called the Russell War Crimes Tribunal. Russell opened that trial, and here is what he said: "We meet at an alarming time. Overwhelming evidence besieges us daily of crimes without precedent. We investigate in order to expose; we document in order to indict; we arouse consciousness in order to create mass resistance." And so, as Russell said then, we say today: we are putting the Bush administration on trial. We investigate in order to expose; we document in order to indict; we arouse consciousness in order to create mass resistance. We want this trial to be a step in the building of mass resistance to war, to torture, to the destruction of earth and its people. It's a serious moment. Our country and our world are at a tipping point: Tipping toward permanent war, the end of human rights, and the impoverishment and death of millions. We still have a chance, an opportunity to stop this slide into chaos. But it is up to us. We must not sit with our arms folded, and we must be as radical as the reality we are facing. The witnesses you will hear over the next few days are the truth-tellers: the witnesses to the carnage this country and this administration have wrought. This truth challenges us -- challenges us all to act. We, particularly the American people, have not heard or seen the truth. And if some do, in their comfort and complacency, they often turn away. The truth is hidden. It is hidden through cover-up language, euphemisms, legalisms, obfuscations, false investigations, the blaming of low-level individuals: all meant to hide the reality of the criminal involvement of high officials of this administration: Their criminal involvement in war, torture, global and human destruction. Let's take a look at a few of these examples, and there are many. The failure in this country, and the media, and pundits everywhere we look, to look at the reality- a reality this commission will examine. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the first example: the war in Iraq. Supposedly, the war was to eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Now it is said: that was a mistake. It was bad intelligence. The administration says it, and much of Congress says it , the Press says it, "Had we only known - but we thought they had weapons of mass destruction. So we must in the future get better intelligence." As if that explains or excuses why we went to war. But of course, that explanation -- the failure of intelligence -- and it is still the current explanation of today, by the elites, hides the real reasons for war. It blames some negligent officials, individuals, at the CIA, for leading us into war. All we need to do according to them is correct that and we won't be in mistaken wars any longer. Mistaken wars will come to an end. If you believe that, you believe in the tooth fairy. We all know that is not the truth. In fact, in 1967, at the speech hear at Riverside, Martin Luther King predicted it. He said we will be marching and protesting wars for the rest of our lives as long as we are on the wrong side of history. And we are on the wrong side of history. Sometimes I ask myself: why did we progressives know the weapons of mass destruction story was a cover for war? But Congress and the media claimed they did not? Because they -- all of them-- Democrats, Republicans, the media -- they were all reading from the same page. And that page is U.S. world exploitation and domination. And of course what does the truth tell us about the war in Iraq? It tells us that it's an aggressive war, a crime against peace, and according to the judgment at Nuremberg, that kind of war is the most heinous of all war crimes. I can give you other examples: For example, the fact that they say that they--the administration-- does not torture. Here is how they get away with that statement. All of a sudden in this country, torture is not torture. Or at worst it is abuse. And even that abuse is no worse than a fraternity prank. Or if it was abuse, it was because abusive techniques were only for use in Guantánamo. What sense does that make? Used in Guantánamo as if that is ok-- and somehow they migrated to Iraq? But what does "migrated to Iraq" mean? Are they birds, like a bird migrates? Without any human agent, torture techniques move from one place to another? Or we are told that it is a few bad apples, but no responsibility of the higher-ups. And yet the media has gone along with this, with these lies and these cover-ups. Even worse, serious media discussion and respectability is given to the legal justifiers. For example, John Yoo, a lawyer for the administration, who wrote that torture could be used in the name of national security -- much like the Pinochet defense, torture in the name of national security. I was utterly shocked the other day when I picked up the New York Times and there on the oped page they had asked half a dozen people what questions they would you ask the potential new Supreme Court Judge Alito. And they asked John Yoo what question would he ask Alito. Here they--the New York Times--is giving credibility to a man who should not be writing opeds in the New York Times but should be in the dock--- in the dock facing justice. Let there be no doubt this administration is engaged in massive violations of the law. Torture is an international crime. It is a grave breech of the Geneva conventions. And almost no one is telling you that. And in this country it is anathema to do so. A third and last example of the hiding of reality, of the blaming of individuals, instead of the nature of this country and its leaders is the example of what happened in New Orleans with Katrina. It is the preparation for and aftermath of Katrina. What do we hear and read? It was an unpredictable act of god. It was the failure of FEMA. FEMA had a bad manger. All sorts of excuses similar to what we heard about the so-called intelligence failures in the Iraq war. But to blame FEMA, to blame the individuals, obscures what we know occurred in New Orleans. What we saw in New Orleans and the Superdome was something very different - it was the legacy of slavery, the legacy of Jim Crow, the legacy of separate but equal, and it was the legacy and the current practice and policy of our country today that human beings are seen as disposable, particularly if they are poor and black. That is the reality of New Orleans, and that is the reality faced everyday in this country. And again, that is the reality this Commission will bring you. The war, torture, and the effects of Katrina are not looked at as failures or as products of the system. The truths are hidden and by hiding the truth we are disempowered. So we are here this weekend to hear truth tellers; to empower people. It is not just a few bad apples, it is not mistakes or bad choices, it is not just bad managers and getting better ones; but something much more fundamental. It's that awful alchemy as Dr. Martin Luther King described it in this very church - the giant triplets of "racism extreme materialism and militarism. " I want to say a few words about one aspect of the current period that is extremely frightening-- Probably the most frightening development, although it does have roots in prior administrations. The short hand for the expression of this period and the scare and fear that I feel is, "The king can do no wrong" or the word might be tyranny, police state or dictatorship. I recall that after 9/11, within a few months afterwards, I wrote an article. It was entitled, "Moving toward a police state - or have we arrived?" And I remember being nervous about it because this was pretty aggressive to be saying a few months after 9/11. Was I going to get trashed for it? Did it really reflect reality? I wasn't sure. I had some evidence in front of me. I had the Patriot Act. I had internal detentions. I had the President's military order that allows him to pick up people anywhere in the world and detain them in Guantánamo or elsewhere. But I still was only willing to say 'moving toward a police state', not have 'we arrived'. And a police state to me is one where authority is not under law, where the legislature is overridden, and where our courts are ignored. It is a state where one can be jailed without a court proceeding or trial and where the president, king or what have you, can do as he pleases - wire tap, torture, and disappear people. Unfortunately, and dangerously that is the situation we are in today. You are familiar with much of the evidence, some of which I have laid out, some of which the next two days will address. There is however one piece of important evidence I want to bring to your attention. It shows that the president, their president, not our president, is open and notorious about his aims, public if you will; and if you miss what we are being told you have to be an ostrich with your head in the ground. What the President has done is basically lay the plan for what has to be called a coup-d'etat in America. It is a small paragraph and it's contained in what is called a 'signing statement.' It was signed on Dec |
