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Eamonn Fingleton gives a stunning account of how the elite press – the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, the New York Times and Washington Post - pilloried US autworkers while systematically concealing the hidden subsidies which have allowed Japan and Korea to destroy Detroit. All this with the connivance of the US government. Also in our latest newsletter: Michelle Obama comes to Merced. Bill Hatch, the Balzac of the Central Valley, gives an uproarious account of Michelle’s state visit to UC’s new campus. 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 gear make great presents.
How the U.S. Press Helped Destroy the Auto IndustryOrder CounterPunch By Email For Only $35 a Year !
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Today's Stories June 16, 2009 Patrick Cockburn June 15, 2009 Michael Hudson Reza Fiyouzat Patrick Cockburn James Ridgeway Marjorie Cohn Rannie Amiri Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Leonard Schwartz Martha Rosenberg Website of the Day June 12-14, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Gareth Porter Mike Whitney Mark Ames Esam Al-Amin Franklin Lamb Patrick Cockburn Andy Worthington Heather Gray Felice Pace Ron Jacobs George Wuerthner Jeffrey Buchanan / David Ker Thomson Renaud Lambert Kevin Zeese David Macaray Evelyn Pringle Chris Genovali David Michael Green Brian J. Foley Charles R. Larson Kim Nicolini David Yearsley Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
June 11, 2009 Kathy Kelly / James Bovard Tristan de Bourbon Dave Lindorff Kevin Zeese Ralph Nader Harvey Wasserman Nicole Colson Mark Weisbrot Dan Bacher Website of the Day June 10, 2009 Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Jennifer Van Bergen / Douglas Valentine Kathy Kelly Paul Craig Roberts Rev. William E. Alberts Peter Lee Carol Miller Emily Ratner Robert Weissman Dave Lindorff Website of the Day June 9, 2009 Winslow T. Wheeler Mike Whitney Stan Cox Sibel Edmonds Jonathan Cook David Macaray Robert Jensen Nadia Hijab Mark Weisbrot Website of the Day June 8, 2009 John Ross Paul Craig Roberts Franklin C. Spinney Franklin Lamb Uri Avnery Jonathan Cook Eric Toussaint Jim Goodman Norman Solomon Reza Fiyouzat Website of the Day June 5 -7, 200 Alexander Cockburn George Galloway Paul Craig Roberts Jennifer Loewenstein Franklin Lamb Mike Whitney Andy Worthington Missy Comley Beattie Farzana Versey Stanley Heller John V. Whitbeck Robert Weissman Lee Sustar Dave Lindorff William Blum Ernest Callenbach / Greg Moses Ron Jacobs David Yearsley Tim Stelloh Belén Fernández David Ker Thomson Karyn Strickler Christopher Brauchli Charles R. Larson Kim Nicolini Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend June 4, 2009 Arno J. Mayer Mike Whitney Gareth Porter Ayesha Ijaz Khan Mouin Rabbani Jordan Flaherty Adam Turl Nikolas Kozloff Yifat Susskind Website of the Day June 3, 2009 Paul Craig Roberts Kathy Kelly Alan Farago Franklin Lamb Bill Hatch Nadia Hijab Dean Baker Binoy Kampmark Manuel Garcia, Jr. Remi Kanazi Behzad Yaghmaian Website of the Day June 2, 2009 Uri Avnery Robert Weissman Conn Hallinan Gideon Spiro Roger Burbach Dylan Quigley Dave Lindorff Ray McGovern Belén Fernández Martha Rosenberg Willie L. Pelote, Sr. Website of the Day June 1, 2009 Pam Martens Yitzhak Laor Mark Weisbrot Ramzy Baroud Saul Landau Eugenia Tsao Afshin Rattansi Debra Sweet Abdul Malik Mujahid Bill Quigley John Wright Website of the Day May 29-31, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Patrick Cockburn Vijay Prashad Gary Leupp Ray McGovern Rannie Amiri Bill Hatch Chellis Glendinning, Stephanie Mills and Kirkpatrick Sale Phyllis Pollack David Yearsley Jean-Christophe Servant Dave Lindorff James McEnteer Missy Beattie James C. Faris David Macaray Harvey Wasserman Adam Federman David Ker Thomson Mark Seth Lender Stephen Martin Joseph Nevins Sophia Mihic Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend May 28, 2009 Joan Roelofs Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Mouin Rabbani Joe Bageant James McEnteer Dedrick Muhammad Richard Morse David Macaray Harvey Wasserman Website of the Day May 27, 2009 Joanne Mariner Paul Craig Roberts Walden Bello Dave Lindorff Brian M. Downing Carlos Villarreal Nadia Hijab Adam Federman Laray Polk Isabella Kenfield David Michael Green Website of the Day May 26, 2009 Manuel Garcia, Jr. Mike Whitney Sharon Smith Marjorie Cohn Dean Baker Deepankar Basu Fred Gardner Jordan Flaherty Josh Ruebner Brian Cloughley Website of the Day May 25, 2009 Diane Christian John Ross Kenneth Hartman Uri Avnery Fred Gardner Cindy Sheehan Sen. Russell Feingold Sibel Edmonds Franklin Lamb Dave Lindorff Daniel Wolff Website of the Day May 22-24, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Michael Teitelman Mike Whitney Ray McGovern Sonia Cardenas / Clive Hamilton Conn Hallinan Fred Gardner Carlo Cristofori Dean Baker Rannie Amiri Andy Worthington David Macaray Nadia Hijab Franklin Lamb Ted Newcomen David Ker Thomson David Rosen Mark Weisbrot Robert Fantina Heather Gray Farzana Versey Chris Genovali Ron Jacobs Jay Diamond Dr. Susan Block Ben Sonnenberg David Yearsley Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend May 21, 2009 Jeffrey St. Clair / Paul Craig Roberts Chris Floyd Gerald Paoli Zach Mason Uri Avnery Andy Worthington Niranjan Ramakrishnan Norman Solomon Dave Lindorff Website of the Day May 20, 2009 Michael Hudson Gary Leupp Michael D. Yates Jonathan Cook Peter Lee Binoy Kampmark Peter Zinn William Loren Katz Gary Lapon Trudy Bond Website of the Day May 19, 2009 Kristoffer Rehder Mike Whitney Ray McGovern Vijay Prashad Mirjam Hadar Meerschwam Mustafa Barghouthi Andy Worthington Binoy Kampmark John Walsh David Macaray Website of the Day May 18, 2009 Dave Lindorff Abdul Malik Mujahid Jonathan Cook Ben Rosenfeld Patrick Cockburn Ralph Nader Stephen Soldz Eugenia Tsao Walter Brasch Roberto Rodriguez Charlotte Laws Website of the Day May 15-17, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair David Rosen Mike Whitney Bruce Page Jeremy Scahill Fred Gardner Tom Barry Mats Svensson Ramzy Baroud Mark Engler Mark Weisbrot Farzana Versey Ron Jacobs Hannah Wolfe Cal Winslow David Macaray Christopher Brauchli Mark Seth Lender Robert Fantina David Ker Thomson Stephen Martin Charles R. Larson Chase Madar Kim Nicolini David Yearsley Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend May 14, 2009 Michael Hudson Andy Worthington Paul Craig Roberts Jonathan Cook Ray McGovern Lance Selfa David Green Dave Lindorff Frida Berrigan Sue Udry Website of the Day May 13, 2009 Brian M. Downing Gareth Porter Robert Sandels Ricardo Alarcón Eric Walberg Dave Lindorff Deepak Tripathi William S. Lind Kevin Zeese Franklin Lamb Website of the Day May 12, 2009 Gary Leupp Richard Neville Wajahat Ali Dean Baker Franklin Lamb Norman Solomon Paul Craig Roberts Lisa M. Hamilton Bob Fitrakis / David Macaray Website of the Day May 11, 2009 Andrea Peacock Michael Hudson Patrick Cockburn Ralph Nader John Kelly Saul Landau Dave Lindorff David Michael Green Anthony Papa Paul Krassner Website of the Day
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Bloomsday Edition Iranian History Doesn't Move in a Straight LineGuarding the RevolutionBy AFSHIN RATTANSI The BBC is as good a reverse barometer as most western media outlets when it comes to international news. Its outlets duly characterized a brief, U.S.-orchestrated coup against Hugo Chavez as a return to democracy in Venezuela. After the Labour party removed the BBC’s backbone, it provided a context in which to support Britain’s part in the American military-industrial complex – at the cost of so many millions of Middle Eastern lives. Today, it is obvious which side the BBC is on when it comes to the Islamic Republic of Iran. It cheers a pro-free market, pro-privatization candidate few have heard of against an internationally famous, populist president who believes in charity and the imminent return of an all-saving hidden Imam. In Iran’s thin public space, one so labyrinthine that urban design plays a deterministic role, the corporate media believes there are two stark choices for the Iranian people. Either you believe in the over-praised author Vladimir Nabokov and support the IMF or you believe that all in life is pre-ordained. Many journalists learned about Iran through an orientalist bestseller, “Reading Lolita in Tehran” and much has been said about Mousavi’s cultured family. But the avowedly modernist revolutionaries who fought against a U.S.-backed dictator in 1979 are older and wiser now. That disappointed generation will not throw their weight behind defeated presidential candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the proxy of Iran’s most successful industrialist, the neoliberal Ayatollah Rafsanjani. In 1979, the people fought for a revolution that would end up being skillfully managed by a brilliant commissariat. Those who supported change in 1979 will not support a 2009 opposition about which so much is uncertain – there are so many that feel they made that mistake last time around. This time, the poor are with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the middle classes are split. What Ayatollah Khamenei and the Guardian Council are deliberating on is the best lightning conductor for dissent as well as the best negotiator amidst the clouds of a new administration in Washington. It should be noted that Ayatollah Khamenei is not a Supreme Leader, and any reporter who uses the phrase betrays ignorance. On foreign policy, it is relatively obvious that the Guardian Council will want Iran to re-negotiate from a position of strength. President Ahmadinejad has been a great lightning conductor as he tours the world, frightening those who support U.S. hegemony. And when President Ahmadinejad makes mistakes, the people blame him and not the real leadership of Iran. There will be no change, either way, on the civil nuclear program of the Islamic Republic. It suits all constituencies except the intelligentsia who want solar. As some have argued, a nuclear energy program suits the corrupt rich who salivate at the prospect of skimming increased oil-export profits. Nuclear energy could provide domestic electricity instead of oil which can then earn dollars abroad. And as for the rest of civil society, nuclear energy is a source of pride and opens the possibility of nuclear weapon creation should nuclear-armed Israel act on its repeated threats. On economic policy, an international financial crisis may not be the best time to engage in quasi-Thatcherite Reaganomics. The Expediency Council gets the drift of Mousavi’s business school mantras. He has a phalanx of middle class North Tehrani foreign-educated MBAs who are the last people who should navigate the future of Iran. The people of Iran recognize the corruption charge-sheet Mahmoud Ahmadinejad laid out during the fierce TV debates. The country has an industrial class – it has the largest car industry in the Middle East – and trade unions agitate ever more forcefully in the factories of the Republic. Complex networks keep industrial discontent in check. The Expediency Council needs to be careful about upsetting a balance that is already under stress given recent strike action and the prospect of greater economic woes to come. The petit-bourgeois and elite members of the Bazaari class – so critical in determining the future of the country before 1979 and since - will not tolerate any revolutions in tax policy. President Ahmadinejad tried that and was immediately reined in. The Mousavi MBAs will actively encourage the madness of globalization and the richest, most powerful Bazaaris want a locked off, closed rather than open market. The subalterns of the regions are so removed from the metropolitan debates in cities like Shiraz and Isfahan as to be swayed by local concerns that have only ever been touched by Ahmadinejad. Although this may be a stretch when it comes to understanding why an Azeri like Mousavi lost in those provinces with an Azeri majority. A Mousavi presidency would also mean big political upheavals during his term because of the strong vote last year that returned so many “anti-reformist” candidates to the Iranian parliament. The Expediency Council wants to retain constitutional power and doesn’t foresee much stability coming from a parliament so at odds with the presidency. Safeguarding the power of the clergy is paramount. The Council has and will continue to try and uphold Iranian sovereignty even if it means that Iran doesn’t then procure the foreign technology needed to exploit Iran’s massive oil and gas reserves. It is a very big sacrifice. It will only be attenuated by a change in sanctions policy in Washington and Wall Street. The British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, voiced concern about events in Iran the way George W. Bush would. He was announcing the formation of a whitewash secret inquiry committee into Iraq that will report after the next British general election. His words and those uttered by others from countries whose names are so tarnished by their legacy of empire unite Iranians under their flag. President Obama has been much more skillful, understanding the effect his words will have in Tehran. One loose lip from a State Department official will in Iran produce ever more fantastic manifestations of patriotic unity against outside interference. The upcoming dismissal of Dennis Ross as U.S. envoy to Iran will be a great step forward and there will be more steps forward in U.S.-Iran relations, under Ahmadinejad. One may feel for the genuine, passionate yearning of Iran’s bourgeoisie for liberal freedoms but as has happened so many times before, Iranian history can’t move in a straight line. Elections, as so many journalists fail to understand, are about politics and not Laughter – or weeping - in the Dark. Afshin Rattansi has helped launch and develop television networks and has worked in journalism for more than two decades, at the BBC Today programme, CNN International, Bloomberg News, Al Jazeera Arabic, the Dubai Business Channel, Press TV and The Guardian. His quartet of novels, “The Dream of the Decade” is available on Amazon.com. He has been living and working in Iran for the past year. He can be reached at afshinrattansi@hotmail.com
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