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Today's
Stories
October 9 /
10, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
"There
Are No Innocents"
October 8,
2004
Jennifer Loewenstein
The
Israeli Invasion of Gaza
Moshe Adler
Edwards' Gambit: He Hoped No One Would Notice the Similarities
David Swanson
Media Blackout: Press Continues to Ignore Labor's Opposition
to Iraq War
Dave Zirin
CounterPunch Contest: Let's Name the New DC Baseball Team!
Rep. Ron Paul
The Draft is a Form of Slavery
William S. Lind
Keeping Our SA Up
Samar Assad
Kerry v. Bush: No Difference When It Comes to Israel / Palestine
Jim Ingalls
and Sonali Kolhatkar
The Elections in Afghanistan
October 7,
2004
Dave Lindorff
All
Out of Volunteers: A Draft is in the Air
Masha Hamilton
Fear in Kandahar
Christopher
Brauchli
Master of Corruption: the Ripening Scandals of Tom Delay
Jason Leopold
Is There Still Time to Impeach Bush?
Bruce K. Gagnon
Bombing the Panhandle: Fighting the Pentagon in Rural Florida
Meredith Kolodner
Where
is the Urgency?: The Anti-War Movement's Election Year Challenge
October 6,
2004
Jeffrey St.
Clair
"Please,
Dude, Can I Take Them Out?": Targeting Civilians in Fallujah
Ron Jacobs
Going
Nuclear: the Ghost of Edward Teller Lives
Michael Colby
The National Flip-Flop: Suddenly Bush is Unfit to Lead?
Tarif Abboushi
More of the Same: Israel Wins the Debates
Matthew Behrens
Canadian Firms Profit from Iraqi Blood
Mike Whitney
Rethinking WMDs
John Pilger
Stealing Diego Garcia
Ben Tripp
Kerry's "Triumph"
Kevin McKiernan
Cheney's Poison Lab: Wrong Time, Wrong Target
Patrick Cockburn
Elections
Will Not End the Fighting in Iraq
Website of the Day
Is There an Islamic Problem?
October 5,
2004
Anthony Loewenstein
Rupert
Murdoch and the Marginals: "Personally Creating Outcomes"
Mark Clinton
and Tony Udell
The
Suicide of an Iraq War Veteran
Greg Bates
Trading
Idiots: an Open Letter to Eric Alterman
Dave Lindorff
What's
the Frequency, Karl?
Norm Dixon
Why Washington Won't Save Darfur Villagers
Larry Kearney
God Talk and Burning Children
Bill Linville
Dirty Politics in the Land of "Clean" Government
Gary Leupp
What
Edwards Should Ask Cheney
Website of
the Day
A Guide to Halliburton for Tonight's Debate
October 4,
2004
Diane Christian
The
Gates of Hell
Joshua Frank
An Interview with David Cobb
Doug Giebel
Incurious George: What If Bush Didn't Lie?
John Chuckman
Strange Victory: Sen. Obvious and the Pathetic Lump
Ramzy Baroud
Reverse the Picture: Anatomy of a Palestinian Outrage
Julia Stein
Remembering Mario Savio and the FSM
Sean Donahue
Outsourcing
Terror: Kerry and Special Forces
Website of
the Day
Mapping
Mt. St. Helens as She Rocks
October 2 /
3. 2004
Paul Wright
John
Kerry on Criminal Justice
Kathleen and Bill Christison
An Exchange with Israeli Historian Bennie Morris
Kathie Helmkamp
My Son Trent: a Marine Who Doesn't Want to Kill
Phillip Cryan
Indigenous Mobilization in Colombia
Lenni Brenner
The First Ex-Catholic Saint: Memories of Mario Savio
Fred Gardner
Pot Shots: In Case You Missed "Montel"
Ron Jacobs
It Did Happen Here: When Neo-Nazis Terrorized Olympia
Ben Tripp
Sticker Shock
William S.
Lind
The Grand Illusion: Iraqi Security Forces
Dave Zirin
The Swindle of the Century: Baseball Comes to DC
Dave Lindorff
Lies from the Great Debate
Luscon Pierre-Charles
Haiti's Elections: a High-Tech Sham is Underway
Zoe Moskovitz
& Sasha Kramer
Separating Lies from Truth About Haiti
Nelson P. Valdes
Habana Night vs. Latin American Scholars in Vegas: 61 Banned
Cuban Academics
Alan Farago
The "Ownership Society" and the End of the Everglades
Nancy Haley
What is the Historical Jesus Trying to Tell Us?
Alex Billet
Long Live The Clash: London Still Calling After 25 Years
Steve Fesenmaier
Save and Burn: The War on Libraries
Poets' Basement
Smith, Holt, Albert
October 1,
2004
Steve Breyman
Kerry's
Missed Opportunities
Rose Gentle
My
Son Died for a Lie
Lee Sustar
Iran
in the Crosshairs
Ralph Nader
What
We Didn't Hear at the Debate: Where's the Exit Strategy?
Walter Andrews
We Are Less Secure Now Than Ever
Mike Whitney
Pandora's
Government
Mickey Z.
Debate
This
Saul Landau
The
Iraq Invasion: Lessons from the Pinochet Cases
September 30,
2004
Ralph Nader
10
Ways to Beat Bush: a Gift to the Kerry/Edwards Campaign
Patrick Cockburn
The
Kidnap Capital of the World: Iraq's One Growth Industry
Gideon Levy
When You Have Breast Cancer in Gaza
Joshua Frank
Presidential Debates? Pass the Remote
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
I Dreamed They Had a Debate
Ali Khan
Dershowitz's
Jihad: Inventing Exceptions to International Law
Steve Perry
An Interview with Sibel Edmonds
September 29,
2004
Behrooz Ghamari
Playing
Politics with Nukes: A Collision Course with Iran?
Ray McGovern
More
Troops to Iraq...After the Election
Walter Brasch
Tinseltown
Traitors?: Applauding Only the Right Entertainers
Chris Floyd
The
Deceivers: Chronicle of a Quagmire Foretold
Stacey Reynolds
The Story of a Mercury-Poisoned American
M. Junaid Alam
Disrupting America's Fateful Non-Debate on the Roots of Terrorism
John L. Hess
They've Already Called It
Paul Craig
Roberts
Delusion
Rules: War, Outsourcing an Debt
September 28, 2004
Mike Whitney
Kerry's
Moral Compass
Fred Gardner
Pot
Shots: the Civics Teacher
Dan Meek
How Democrats Kicked Nader Off the Oregon Ballot
Greg Bates
Choking on Progressives for Kerry
Alan Farago
Jeanne in Haiti: Where is the World?
Lori Berenson
The Cajamarca Protest
Wayne Madsen
Where
is the Florida National Guard?
Robert Fisk
Why Have We Suddenly Forgotten Abu Ghraib?
September 27,
2004
Gary Leupp
The
Expulsion of Cat Stevens
Patrick Cockburn
As British Muslims Plead for Bigley's Life, US Airstrikes Pound
Fallujah
Sam Husseini
The Problem with Public Opinion Polls
Lee Sustar
Putting Bosses First: Latter Day Democrats and Labor
Dave Lindorff
A Progressive Case for (Gag) Kerry?
Norman Madarasz
Talking International: Contra Kerry
Kevin Pina
The Tragedy of Gonaives, Haiti
September 25
/ 26, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
C'mon
Ralph, You've Got Nothing to Lose
Dave Zirin
The Courage of the NBA's Etan Thomas:
"I Am Totally Against This War"
Saul Landau
The Reality of Empire and Campaign Rhetoric
Dave Lindorff
Our Heroic Baby-Killers
Brian J. Foley
Bush at the UN: the Sound of No Hands Clapping
William Blum
Progressives and the Election
Alan Maass
Why is Kerry Running Such a Lame Campaign? You Can't Blame It
All on Bob Shrum
Lucson Pierre-Charles
Haiti: Another Lost Story
Solange Echeverria
An Interview with Kevin Pina on the Floods in Haiti
Nicole Colson
What About the Supreme Court?
Justin Smith
The New Sparta
Joshua Frank
Iraq: From Clinton to Bush
Karyn Strickler
Momma, Don't Let Your Babides Grow Up to be Cannon Fodder
Michael Donnelly
Rather Disingenuous: "Remember in November"
Greg Bates
The Politics of Nader's Republican Support
Todd Chretien
Lesser Evilism: We Are Living in the Logical Conclusion
William Loren
Katz
Dire Warnings from the Past: From Wilson to Bush
Omar Barghouti
Americans, You've Lost Your Alibi!
Poets' Basement
Holt, Clarke, Albert, Laymon and Ford
Website of the Weekend
Carnival of Chaos
September 24,
2004
Dr. Teresa
Whitehurst
The
Value of One Life: Keeping Up Appearances and Leaving Hostages
to the Wolves
William S.
Lind
Destroying
the National Guard
Mike Whitney
The Bush Tent Show
Nancy Welch
What's
at Stake for Women in 2004?
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Logical Limbo
Joshua Frank
Fear Mongering 101
Victor Kattan
An Interview with Afif Safieh
Ben Terrall
Kerry and Haiti: Will He Stand Up?
Kathleen and
Bill Christison
"Finally
It Broke My Heart": Random Impressions from Palestine
September 23,
2004
Patrick Cockburn
Why
Are They Still Holding "Mrs. Anthrax?"
Christopher Brauchli
Ashcroft's "Distressing Lack of Care": Hamdi and the
Phony War on Terrorism
Derek Seidman
Fighting for a Union at Starbucks: an Interview with Daniel Gross
Michael Neumann
Three
Years and Counting? How Time Flies
September 22,
2004
Patrick Cockburn
Zarqawi's
War: the Mysterious Sadist from Jordan
Neve Gordon
The
Wall, the Court and Sharon
Joshua Frank
History Repeating: New York, 1832 and Now
Ron Jacobs
Stormy Seas on the Citizen Ship
Jack Random
Defending Dan? Rather Not
Tarif Abboushi
Kerry's Final Straw: Confessions of a Despairing Voter
Mickey Z
Stupid White Guy Quiz
John L. Hess
Faking the Difference: a Serious Debate?
Jeffrey St.
Clair
High
Plains Grifter: The House Rules
September 21,
2004
Gary Leupp
"We
Are Not Secure": Kerry's "Unwavering Commitment"
to Securing a Middle East Realm
Robert Jensen
Large
Dams in India: Temples or Burial Grounds?
Elaine Cassel
Fourth Circuit to Moussouai: Ask Your Questions; Prepare to Die
Stanley Heller
Reagan and the Killing Fields of Lebanon
Adam Federman
America Will Disappoint the World, Again
David Whitehouse
What's Behind the Horror in Darfur?
M. Junaid Alam
How to Avoid Becoming an Anti-American
Paul Craig
Roberts
Attention
Deficit America
Website of the Day
True American War Heroes: the Iraq Refuseniks
September 20,
2004
Cockburn /
Buncombe
Get
Fallujah
David Price
Relying
on Phonies: What If The Problem with Phone Polls is That They
Are Phone Polls
Dave Lindorff
How
Dems Fight: Tigers Against Nader, Pussycats Against Bush
Harry Browne
Pre-Nup at Leeds: Talked Out, But Does IRA Give Up?
Mark Wesibrot
Bush's
Ownership Society: No Taxes for Owners, Only Workers
Karyn Strickler
The Keys to the White House v. the Shrum Curse?
Uri Avnery
The Temple Mount Bombers
September 18
/ 19, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
Forgeries,
Fingerprints and Forensic Fakery
Jeffrey St. Clair
High Plains Grifter: Bush's Mask of Anarchy
Patrick Cockburn
Into the Abyss: the Week Iraq's Dream of Peace Fell Apart
Fred Gardner
Pot Shots: Financial Torture (Asset Forfeiture)
Joe Allen
The Comrades Kerry Abandoned: the Real Story of Vietnam Vets
Against the War
George Corsetti
Poletown Revisited: Finally, Some Vindication
Scott Handleman
The Knock-Knock of a Sledgehammer: Sequestered in Nablus
Richard Ward
Two Weeks in Beit Arabiya
Conn Hallinan
Ashcroft and Indonesia
Lori Smith
Health Care in America: And Then I Got Sick...
Dave Zirin
Hold the Booyah!: SportsCenter Out of the Middle East
John L. Hess
Rather Will Take the Heat, As Bush's War Deteriorates
Brian J. Foley
W is for Wimp: So Why do Manly Men Love Him?
Mickey Z.
Pat Tillman and Osama bin Laden: Odd Juxtapositions
Poets' Basement
Vest, Landau & Albert
Website of the Weekend
Eye on the NYTs
Septemeber
17, 2004
Ray McGovern
Gossing
Over the Record
Patrick Cockburn
The New Iraqi Economy: Baghdad's Thriving Kidnapping Industry
Lee Sustar
The State of Working America: an Autopsy of the American Dream
Mike Whitney
John Kerry: 195 Lbs. of Political Helium, Not an Ounce of Sincerity
Victor Kattan
Black September
Ray Hanania
Israel's Demographics
Greg Bates
Nader's Victories: a Mid-Campaign Assessment
Website of
the Day
The Road to Hell
September 16,
2004
Landau / Hassen
Meet
the New Villain: Syria
Joanne Mariner
Inside
Darfur: a Photo Essay
Patrick Cockburn
US
Offers Conflicting Accounts of Baghdad Bloodbath
Greg Moses
Four Million Children Might Be News
Joshua Frank
Nader in the Battleground States
Christopher Brauchli
The Bush Drug Lottery Flops
David Himmelstein
Folke Bernadotte: a Rosh Hashonah Remembrance
Website of the Day
The Abu Ghraib Index
September 15,
2004
Patrick Cockburn
Hell
on Haifa Street
Ron Jacobs
Oppose War, Not Just Bush
David Lindorff
Blanking Out Dissent
Joanne Mariner
Talking About Darfur: Is Genocide Just a Word?
Angela Godfrey-Goldstein
An Open Letter to Madonna: Please Don't Support Israeli Apartheid
Dave Zirin
Is the NFL Ready for Us?
Yigal Bronner
"They
Are Building Walls Around Us"
September 14,
2004
Gary Leupp
The
Problem of Chechnya
Jennifer van
Bergen
What's
Wrong with Torture?
Stan Goff
Wake Up and Smell the Jungle Rot
Patrick Cockburn
The
Punishment of Fallujah: US Precision Strickes...on Ambulances
Anis Memon
Nader
in Michigan
Michael Donnelly
The Nuance Comes Off: Former Naderites Beg for Kerry Votes
Werther
Zell Miller: the Peckerwood Pericles
Website of
the Day
Osama Bin Forgotten?
September 13,
2004
Gabriel Kolko
Elections,
Alliances and the American Empire
Phillip Cryan
How Do You Say "Death Squad?": Language in Colombia's
War
Patrick Cockburn
One of Baghdad's Bloodiest Days: "I'm a Journalist! I'm
Dying! I'm Dying"
Noah Leavitt
The War on Civil Liberties
Robert Jensen
Highjacking Catastrophe: Bush, the Neo-Cons and 9/11
Mike Whitney
Alan Greenspan: Fed-Master to the Wealthy
John Chuckman
Stop Talking About the "Election"
Mike Burke
Kerry/Edwards Website Censors Discussion of Israel/Palestine
Issues
CounterPunch
Wire
The Quotations of David Cobb: "I Don't Care How Many Votes
I Get"
Website of the Day
Keep It In Your Pants: the Bush Plan to Combat Teen Promiscuity
September 11
/ 12, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
Swatting
at Flies
Fred Gardner
Yet Another Prozac Scandal
Saul Landau
When Our Assassins Go Free
Jennifer Van Bergen
How to Beat Bush: a Simple Strategy for the Average American
Roger Burbach
/ Jim Tarbell
The Real Dead Enders: Iraq and the Crisis of Empire
Christopher Reed
9/11 in an Historical Context: a Minor Event When Compared to
Worldwide War Casualties
Francisc Catalin
An ABC of American Interventions
Carl Estabrook
Big Science and Government Terror
Bernard Chazelle
Anti-Americanism: a Clinical Study
Sharon Smith
Third Party Blues
Dave Lindorff
Perhaps This Time We're the Silent Majority
Mike Whitney
Fallujah: an Iraqi Beslan?
Frederick B.
Hudson
Their Sons Perished in the Flames, But Not Their Faith
Mickey Z.
Round Up the Usual Suspects: a Look Back at 9/11
Ron Jacobs
Redneck Music for the New Century
Greg Moses
Soap Opera Moments in Texas School Funding Trial
Benjamin Dangl
/ Andrew Kennis
An Interview with Leslie Cagan
Poets Basement
Del Papa, Albert, Gelman
September 10,
2004
Patrick Cockburn
Disappointment
at Samarrah?
Michael Donnelly
Democrats v. Democracy
Alan Farago
Mosquitoes in a Hurricane
Doug Giebel
Karl Rove's Terror Playbook
Mike Whitney
Bob Graham's Political Tsunami
David Domke
God's
Will, According to the Bush Administration
September 9,
2004
Joe Bageant
Karaoke
Night in Bush's America
Ed Kinane
Abducted in Baghdad
Peter Bohmer
The Cuban Revolution: Present and Future
Todd May
The Emerging Case for a Single-State Solution
Jeremy Scahill
The New York Model: Indymedia and the Text Message Jihad
Joshua Frank
Green House Party Gasses
Fran Shor
The Crisis in Public Dissent: When Protest is Considered a Terrorist
Act
Patrick Cockburn
Welcome
to the Dirtiest City in the World: Despair in Baghdad
Website of
the Day
Liberty Street Protest: No to War at Ground Zero
September 8,
2004
Patrick Cockburn
This
Doesn't Smell Like Victory: A War on Two Fronts in Iraq
Dave Lindorff
Bush Confuses; Kerry Mute: Spinning 1000 Dead
Bulent Gokay
Russian and Chechnia After Beslan
Lisa Viscidi
Land Reform and Conflict in Guatemala
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Byrd's Eye View
Mike Whitney
Afghanistan: American's Drug Colony
Stan Goff
Body
Count: 1001
Website of
the Day
Bush and the Love Doctors
September 7,
2004
Diane Christian
Hostage Tactics: a Game of Mortal Poker
Joshua Frank
Greens
Unravel from Within
Patrick Cockburn
Fallujah
Erupts Again: US Death Toll in Iraq Nears 1000
Ron Jacobs
Bush and Putin: "We're Not Girlie Men"
Chris Floyd
Cry Havoc: Bush's Own Personal Janjaweed
Dr. Carol Wolman
No Blood for Oil at Paul Bunyan Day Parade
John Ross
The
Politics of Darkness North / South
September 6,
2004
Alexander Cockburn
An
Anti-Labor Day That Lives in Infamy: How Many Democrats Voted
For Taft-Hartley?
Ralph Nader
The
Cruel Legacy of Taft-Hartley: a Labor Day Call for Rights for
Working People
Lee Sustar
What's Driving the Attack on Pensions?
Kathleen and
Bill Christison
Dual
Loyalties: the Bush Necons and Israel
September 4-5,
2004
Alexander Cockburn
Elephants
and Gramsci
Ted Honderich
The
Way Things Are
Sasan Fayazmanesh
The
Holy Empire: Who We Are and What We Do
Douglas Valentine
What the World Should Know About Guantanamo
Patrick Cockburn
New Iraqi Police State Flexes Its Muscles
Gary Leupp
Neo Cons Under Fire
Fred Gardner
Pot Shots: the Hempstead T-Shirt
William A.
Cook
The
Day of the Lemming
Dave Zirin
Kobe Bryant and the Price of Freedom
John Chuckman
The Day the World Ended
Karyn Strickler
God Save the Endangered Species Act
Vanessa Jones
Bad Day with an Ikea Cup
Mike Whitney
Kerry: the "Better" War Candidate
Mark Donham
Dear John (Kerry): Start Explaining and Fast
Mickey Z.
McBypass Nation: Feeling Clinton's Pain
Alan Farago
Can the Everglades be Fixed?
Poets' Basement
Landau and Albert
September 3,
2004
Jeffrey St.
Clair
High
Plains Grifter: Jesus Told Him Where to Bomb
Rahul Mahajan
Bush's RNC Speech: an Annotated Response
Carl Estabrook
The
Book of Slaughter and Forgetting
Joshua Frank
The Florida of the Northwest: Oregon Dems Sabotage Nader Again
Gary Leupp
Music to My Ears: Sunday's March
James Hollander
Deja Vu in Manhattan: Assisted Political Suicide?
Mark Engler
Republicans
Among Us: a Week at the RNC, Inside and Out
Jesse Sharkey
Making Students and Teachers Pay for the Crisis in Education
Jane Stillwater
Calling the Cops on Your Own Kid
Stephen Green
Serving
Two Flags: the Bush Neo-Cons and Israel
September 2,
2004
Jeffrey St.
Clair
High
Plains Grifter: Part 3: More Pricks Than Kicks
Max Gimble
Et Tu, Menchu? Extrajudicial Killings and Clandestine Graves
in Guatemala
James Petras
President Chavez and the Referendum: Myths and Realities
Christopher
Brauchli
Bush and the Afghan Electoral Model: "If They Want to Vote
Twice, Let Them"
Todd Chretien & Jessie
Muldoon
Will the Democrats Expel Zell Miller?
Jack Random
Spite and Venom Day: the Turncoat and the Profiteer
Alan Maass
The Real Vietnam
Christa Allen
Contre Bush
Website of
the Day
[Redacted]
September 1,
2004
Alexander Cockburn
The
Stench of Doom
Kathleen and Bill Christison
Poor Larry Franklin
Dave Lindorff
Kerry's Litmus Test
Josh Frank
Protest in White: Not All of New York Rises Up
John L. Hess
Moles, Scoops and Flip Flops
Mike Whitney
Deconstructing Arnold
Jack Random
Kindergarten Night at the RNC
Andrew Wilson
War on the Pachyderms: Why Do Elephants Hate Us?
Jeffrey St.
Clair
High
Plains Grifter: Part Two: Mark His Words
August 31,
2004
Joseph Nevins
Escapism
and Global Apartheid: The Dominican Republic & the NYTs
Matt Vidal
Beyond
Bush's Rhetoric on the Economy
Neve Gordon
Kerry and the Middle East
Dave Lindorff
Bush
the Peace Candidate?
Mike Whitney
NPR Leads the Charge for War Against Iran
Jack Random
Opening Night: Playing the War Card
Jeffrey St.
Clair
High
Plains Grifter: the Life and Crimes of George W. Bush (Part One)
CounterPunch Photo of the Day
Pete Seeger in NYC
August 30,
2004
Justin Podhur
The
Disappeared Mayor
Shaun Joseph
The
Hypocrites at TheNaderbasher.com
Mike Whitney
Israeli Moles in the Pentagon: What More Could They Possibly
Want?
Ron Jacobs
Live, From New York: the Majority of Protesters Claimed No Candidate
David Lindorff
Sunday in Manhattan: the Sound of Marchin', Chargin' Feet, Boy
Dave Zirin
USA Basketball: The Team White America Loved to Hate
Sam Husseini
Israeli Spying on the US: a Long History
August 28 /
29, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
Zombies
for Kerry
Patrick Cockburn
Najaf Ceasefire Good for Iraq, But Weakens Allawi and US
Ray McGovern
Blowing Smoke on Intelligence
Dr. Juan Romagoza
From El Salvador to Abu Ghraib: Reflections of Torture Survivor
Ray Hanania
An Israeli Spy in the Pentagon? Ridiculous!
Fred Gardner
Eddie Lepp Busted by DEA: Facing Life for Growing Medical Pot
Diane Christian
Big Men: the Better Leader Lets You Live
William S. Lind
The Desert Fox
Paul D'Amato
The Left Takes a Dive for Kerry
Joshua Frank
Greens at the Crossroads
Mickey Z.
Media Declares War on Anti-War Protests
Winslow T. Wheeler
Sen. McCain's Pork Chops: an Exchange
Justin E.H.
Smith
The New Age Racket and the Left
Thomas St. John
Burning Slaves at the Stake: On "Sinners in the Hands of
an Angry God"
Ali Tonak
Help the NYPD?
Mark Engler
New York Says "No"
Justin Felux
Haiti: the Attica of the Americas
Poets' Basement
Gelman, Albert, Ford and Hamod
August 27,
2004
Gary Leupp
Neocon
Musings
Robin Cook
The
Ghosts of Abu Ghraib
Diane Christian
Disarming
Michael Donnelly
Situational Democracy: the Show Me the Green Party?
Jack Random
4F and Other Heroes: an Army of War Resisters
Mike Ferner
"To the Swift Boats!"
Mazin Qumsiyeh
7000 Palestinian Political Prisoners
Veronza Bowers, Jr.
"You Won't Be Leaving Tomorrow"
August 26,
2004
M. Shahid Alam
The
Clash Thesis: a Failing Ideology?
Diane Christian
War
Rules: Bush is No Sun Tzu
Derek Seidman
"They're As Bad As Wal-Mart:" Starbucks Workers Get
Organized
David Lindorff
Court to RNC Protesters: Drop the Rally
Christopher
Brauchli
Signs of Dissent: the Bush in the Bubble
Stew Albert
Reporting Suspicious Activity
Mark Donham
Judgement in Athens: Give the Koreans Their Day in Court
Saul Landau
Pinochet:
the Al Capone of the Southern Cone
Website of
the Day
The Kerry 527 Ad You'll Never See
August 25,
2004
Amelia Peltz
Can
I Have 9.8 Seconds of Your Time?
Noah Leavitt
Defining and Redefining Torture
Ron Jacobs
Takin' It to the Streets: It's Not About the Election, It's About
Democracy
James Brooks
Coronado Crosses the Jordan
Akiva Eldar
How to Win the Jewish Vote: Turn Gaza into a "Mini-Afghanistan"
Gemma Araneta
Chavez's New Brand of Populism
Philip Cryan
Uribe's Boys: the Death Squads of Colombia
CounterPunch Wire
Cheney Opens the Closet Door
August 24,
2004
Jeremy Scahill
John
Kerry: the Warchurian Candidate
Gary Leupp
"We
Want Them to Go Away"
David Domke
God
Willing: an Echoing Press and Political Fundamentalism
William Loren Katz
The Meaning of Hugo Chávez: Black and Indian Power in
Venezuela
Jonah Gindin
With Chavez? Reading the International Private Media
Fran Schor
Denying Atrocities: From Vietnam to Fallujah
Joe Bageant
Driving
on the Bones of God
Website of the Day
The Great America Lockdown: a Primer for the RNC
August 23,
2004
Winslow Wheeler
Don't
Mind If I Do: Porkbarrel and the War on Terror
John Pilger
Bush
May Be the Lesser Evil
Stan Goff
Swift
Boat Dogfight
Bill and Kathleen
Christison
Notes
from the West Bank: Build, Demolish, Rebuild
Mike Whitney
The Unraveling of Afghanistan
William Blum
Brave
New World of Iraqi Sovereignty
Ralph Nader
A Letter to the Washington Post: a Shameful and Unsavory Editorial
August 21 /
22, 2004
Cockburn /
St. Clair
"They
Want Blood:" The Bi-Partisan Origins of the Total War on
Drugs
Landau / Hassen
Failing
the Mission? Form a Commission
Brian Cloughley
The
Bush Team in Iraq: Moral Cowardice, as Practiced by Experts
Josh Frank
Nader as David Duke? The ADL Wants You to Think So
Mike Whitney
Reincarnating Mengele: the Torture Doctors of Abu Ghraib
Ron Jacobs
Day Labor Blues
Mickey Z.
Shooting at Whales: 40 Years After Tonkin
Fred Gardner
Dr. Wolman Comes Out: The Cannabis Consultants
Dave Zirin
Uprising in Athens: Iraqi Soccer Team Gives Bush the Boot
Josh Saxe
Witnessing Police Brutality in LA
Yanar Mohammed
Letter from Baghdad: a Democracy of Killings and Bombings
Helen Williams
Ali's Story: a Taste of Reality from Baghdad
Michael Donnelly
Elemental and NaturalForests, Fire and Recovery
Elizabeth Schulte
The Crisis in Affordable Housing
Poets' Basement
Adler, Albert, Virgil, Ford and Krieger
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante
Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
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Weekend Edition
October 9 / 10, 2004
Northern Ireland
is Still the Issue
A
Conversation with Gerry Adams
By
PAUL de ROOIJ
Most news media will only cover a few
issues in any meaningful depth, and a new "crisis"
will soon crowd out what was until recently considered a grave
situation. Darfur will crowd out Iraq, Iraq overshadowed Palestine,
and so on. News editors will justify this by stating that the
public suffers from an attention deficit; they suggest that the
public can at most focus on two issues at a time, and only where
a "crisis" has erupted. However, conflicts don't follow
a media agenda, and injustice may persist even after the TV cameras
have moved on. Compounding the problem is that once the spotlight
moves elsewhere, politicians' interest will also wane. The next
time the media focus will return is only when the "bang-bang"
stuff reoccurs.
It is the news media that really
suffers from an "attention deficit disorder", and as
the recent war in Iraq attests, the news media has also lent
itself to manipulate the public into silence. To understand
what is happening in the world and to demonstrate true solidarity
with people struggling for a modicum of justice, it is important
to reject the news media determined agenda.
Solidarity with a peoples'
demand for justice should not be determined by the fickle media
agenda, but it should be constant. It is for this reason that
it is important to discuss the ongoing developments in Northern
Ireland. There may be a perception that "peace has broken
out" in Northern Ireland, and there are enough politicians
toasting champagne or slapping each other's backs to prove this
point. However, deep divisions and significant tensions remain
in that society, and many issues have not been addressed.
About Gerry Adams:
Gerry Adams is the president of Sinn Féin, a nationalist
political party in Northern Ireland. He also served as a member
of parliament for West Belfast from 1983 until 1992. In line
with not recognizing the authority of the British parliament,
he did not attend at the House of Commons.
Besides politics, Adams is a prolific writer. His latest two
books are Before the Dawn: An Autobiography (Heinemann,
London 1996). His latest book is Hope and History: Making
Peace in Ireland (Brandon, 2004).
Paul de Rooij: Was anything substantive achieved
at the recent talks at Leeds Castle?
Gerry Adams: The negotiations at Leeds Castle
did see some progress made. However, there was progress towards
a comprehensive agreement, I saw no sign of that as far as the
DUP [Democratic Unionist Party] was concerned. In the weeks
since then there has been no evidence to suggest that the DUP
has changed its position. Yes, Mr. Paisley traveled to Dublin,
and I welcome that, but the fact is that the DUP continues to
put unrealistic demands aimed at changing the power sharing core
of the Assembly and other fundamentals of the Agreement. It
persists with its objectionable refusal to accept Sinn Féin's
mandate or the rights of our electorate and the rights of citizens
who support other parties.
Since Leeds Castle the Sinn Féin leadership has been involved
in intense discussions with the governments in a bid to close
the gaps which exist. That work is still ongoing.
PR: Some commentators [e.g., Harry Browne] were
astonished that the key aspect of Sinn Féin concessions
weren't noted in the British press or acknowledged by Tony Blair
or Ahern. Is it the case that the British gov't or the unionist
parties have not appreciated key moves by Sinn Fein?
Adams: You will not understand the nature of the conflict
in Ireland unless you set it in the context of Britain's colonial
involvement over many centuries, the partition of the island,
and the ongoing British claim of jurisdiction over a part of
the island.
So, while the British and Irish
governments and indeed some unionists, do understand the efforts
and risks Sinn Féin has taken to achieve a peace settlement,
we each have our different conflicting goals; Sinn Féin
wants and end to the union, an end to British jurisdiction over
a part of Ireland; the British and the unionists want to retain
that, although they may differ over the shape of that union.
We are therefore at odds over the core cause of conflict --
which we see as continued British interference in Ireland --
and what needs to be done to resolve it.
PR: We know what unionist parties and the British
government want in such negotiations. What were Sinn Fein's
main demands, and have those issues been addressed?
Adams: Sinn Féin wants to see the full implementation
of the Good Friday Agreement. That means the British government
implementing with 'rigorous impartiality' its responsibilities
in respect of equality and 'civil, political, social and cultural
rights,' agreed under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
It hasn't done this. Nor has it honored its commitments on
issues like a new accountable, democratically controlled policing
service or the demilitarization of our society.
Our position going into this
negotiation is very straight forward to insist that the
British government implement, in good faith, all of those many
commitments that it has so far broken.
PR: Has the British government exerted any pressure
on unionist parties so that they would fulfill their obligations?
Adams: The Good Friday Agreement [GFA] is about fundamental
constitutional, political, social change. It is about a process
of sustainable change which ends inequalities and embraces citizens
on the basis of equality. However, the experience of the past
six years, since the GFA was agreed, is that the British approach
to the implementation of the Agreement has in the main been dictated
by matching progress to how much change unionist parties are
prepared to accept. The rights and entitlements of citizens
are being determined by how much of a row unionists will kick
up.
The reality is that British
policy tolerates and perpetuates institutionalized inequality
and many in political unionism see no imperative to co-operate
with their nationalist neighbors, or nationalist and republican
representatives. This view is reinforced by the fact that the
apparatus of government, the symbols, and senior management of
the institutions of the state are predominantly unionist. British
policy is also an obstacle to the practice and achieving of equality
of treatment and parity of esteem.
The un-elected and unaccountable
'Northern Ireland Office' [NIO] is a particular example of the
need for urgent change. The NIO runs the six-counties almost
as a private fiefdom. British Direct Rule Ministers fly in for
a few hours a week, very often simply to rubber stamp decisions
pre-formulated by Senior NIO officials. And too often, those
who work within and for the NIO, demonstrate an unapologetic
devotion to the unionist cause. In addition the hundreds of unaccountable
quangos [PR: see below] are filled to overflowing with those
appointed by the NIO and deemed by that body to be safe hands.
The manifestation of Unionist governance for the Unionist people
is preserved.
[PR-explanation: A non-British
audience may require some explanation. Quangos are quasi-governmental
agencies. These bodies usually deliver government services,
but their boards aren't elected, and usually stacked with the
incumbent party's appointees. Most government services in the
UK were either privatized or removed from democratic accountability
during the Thatcher era.]
PR: Tony Blair is a discredited leader and most
probably must be viewed as a "lame duck". Is this
apparent during the negotiations?
Adams: However Tony Blair is viewed by others the fact
is that he is the British Prime Minister. He will almost certainly
still be the British Prime Minister after the next elections.
Our responsibility is to work with him and persuade him to implement
the Agreement. We also constantly raise with him the need for
him to change British policy from one of supporting the union
to one of ending the union.
PR: The Blair government has been notorious for
the way it addressed the few issues it has chosen to pursue,
e.g., the never-ending fox hunting saga. Have the issues of
Northern Ireland been addressed more forcibly and decisively?
Adams: I think I have already given you a sense of
our criticism of the way in which the British government has
implemented the Agreement. It has failed to deliver in the terms
agreed six years ago. Sometimes these failures are failures
of focus or concentration but often they are the deliberate machinations
of interests within the British system who remain deeply opposed
to the peace process. Progress is most often made when Mr. Blair
is focused on the issue. When his concentration shifts to other
matters then the problems multiply.
PR: Until recently, walls have been built in Belfast.
What has been done to integrate the societies to heal the distrust
and enmity?
Adams: There have been ghettoes in Belfast since the
town was first constructed and most clearly since the industrial
revolution. The walls are a more recent manifestation of the
divisions in our society which are a consequence of the colonial
policies of past British and unionist governments. There are
real efforts being made to build bridges across these divides
and they have met with some success but there is no easy answer
to sectarian divisions carefully fostered by governments and
unionist political and business interests over many generations.
PR: Catholics and Protestants still go to separate
schools, and it seems that the first time the communities meet
is at university. Is the school system going to be integrated?
And what are the impediments to such development?
Adams: It is important to realize that the existence
of Catholic and Protestant and Irish medium or non-denominational
schools are not in themselves bad things. Too often there is
a simplistic view presented of this conflict as sectarian. While
there is a sectarian element to it, its roots are firmly located
in Britain's colonial presence in Ireland and the continued partition
of our country.
Adams: While he was Minister for Education, my colleague
Martin McGuinness allocated more funding to integrated schooling
than any British Minister ever did. We understand its importance
but we also have to take account of the society we live in and
the desire for families to have their children taught in schools
which reflect their values. However, as the peace process continues
to develop, as our society comes to terms with its past and builds
a new future, then the issue of education will become less about
the religious or non-religious nature of the school but the standard
of education taught.
PR: The recent census in Northern Ireland forced
respondents to be categorized in about 20 different ways. Even
if a person didn't want to be classified in the available categories,
it was forced upon them. It seems that the divisions are forced
upon the communities by government policy. Do you think this
will eventually be phased out?
Adams: It is understandable that governments in trying
to address the needs of society will seek to secure as much information
as possible to allow decisions to be taken which are informed
and the best interests of citizens. That's not a bad thing.
But like all information, it can be used to discriminate, to
oppress, to exclude. That is why the institutions, and the rights
and entitlements of citizens accorded in the Good Friday Agreement
are so important. It is why we have been pushing so hard for
a Bill of Rights for the north.
PR: In some countries on the continent ethnic conflict
was defused by finding some commonality among erstwhile antagonistic
groups. For example, the adoption of a common European identity
seems to have dampened the Walloon vs. Flemish ethnic tensions
in Belgium. Has there been any discussion to do the same in
Northern Ireland?
Adams: There have been some limited efforts to persuade
people here to look at Europe as a point of commonality, others
have tried to persuade citizens that instead of seeing themselves
as either 'Irish' or 'British' they should seek to define their
identity in terms of being 'northern Irish'. But none of this
has had any real impact. My view is that instead of seeking
to disguise or hide what we are or believe we are we should embrace
our differences and see them as positives, and as strengths.
I may not agree with the Orange
Order. I may oppose its efforts to hold triumphalist marches
through nationalist areas where they are not wanted, but I do
respect the Order's right to exist and I will defend their right
to march. They have to learn to respect the right of other citizens
to hold a contrary opinion. For that reason dialogue is very
important. Regrettably, the various loyal institutions refuse
to speak to Sinn Féin and most refuse to speak to nationalist
residents. That remains an important piece of work in the time
ahead.
PR: Sinn Féin has a branch of its party contesting
elections in the Republic of Ireland. Is the issue of Northern
Ireland of much concern there, and is this the key issue drawing
Irish to vote for Sinn Féin there?
Adams: Sinn Féin is the only party organized
throughout the whole island. Next year we celebrate our 100th
birthday. In the recent elections in the south of Ireland, we
made significant progress and achieved major breakthroughs in
Dublin and other parts of the state. Instinctively most people
in the south want to see a United Ireland. That is most obvious
in the fact that increasingly political parties in that part
of the island are also including the demand for a United Ireland
as part of their manifesto platform.
PR: Sinn Féin purports to be a leftist party.
Can you explain why you as leader of Sinn Féin attended
the Bush-Blair war summit in Hillsborough in May 2003? What
explains Sinn Féin failure to criticize the US and its
recent wars? Why have you attended the World Economic Conference
in New York but not the World Social Forum in Brazil?
Adams: Whatever else President Bush and Prime Minister
Blair were talking about at Hillsborough they were also dealing
with our peace process. So, we had an obligation to be there
and to use that opportunity to talk about what is after all the
most important issue for the people of Ireland. Nonetheless,
I used the occasion to present both leaders with a letter outlining
our total opposition to what was then the imminent invasion of
Iraq. I told both that they should not invade and I have repeated
that both to them and to their officials at every opportunity.
Our criticism of the war has resulted in Sinn Féin being
criticized by people in the USA. I am consequently somewhat
puzzled by your question which suggests that we have not criticized
the war in Iraq. And, by the way, while we did not receive an
invite to attend the World Social Forum in Brazil I have been
invited and will attend the European Social Forum in London next
week.
PR: What is Sinn Fein's policy on migration into
Ireland? And can you explain its position regarding citizenship
in the recent referendum in the Republic of Ireland?
Adams: Sinn Féin wants to see a comprehensive
immigration policy that is positive, compassionate, human rights
compliant and anti-racist. That policy must fully recognize
the positive contribution of immigrants to Irish society and
to the Irish economy.
We oppose the Irish Government's
policy of deporting Irish child citizens along with their non-national
parents, and are calling not only for the deportation orders
in such cases to be vacated, but also for the Government to introduce
legislation affirming the equal right of all citizen children
to remain in Ireland in the care and company of their parents
regardless of the national or ethnic origin of their parents.
The only appropriate legacy
for a nation scarred by emigration is a positive immigration
policy that recognizes the dignity and rights of migrants, and
that also recognizes that immigration is an enormously constructive
social and economic force whose potential must be harnessed in
the best interests of our future.
Sinn Féin vigorously
opposed the recent Citizenship Referendum. The Government proposals
stripped some Irish children of their rights on the basis of
where their parents came from. The proposals were introduced
to coincide with the recent local and EU elections in an attempt
to divert attention away from the government's appalling record
on housing, healthcare, and other matters. It was designed to
exploit people's fears regarding immigrants and asylum seekers.
Statistics provided by the
National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism
(NCCRI) shows clearly that the volume of racist assaults are
running well above the 'average' numbers normally reported.
That there has been a sharp increase during and since the passing
of the Citizenship Referendum should surprise no one. Sinn Féin,
along with others, warned that the referendum would lead to an
increase in racism, and unfortunately we have been proved right.
PR: During your recent lecture in London, a BBC
journalist asked you a single question, i.e., if it was true
that you were fond of PG Woodhouse. Has the BBC ever addressed
the Northern Ireland issue in a more intelligent way than this,
and how do you evaluate its coverage during the past few years?
Adams: With some honorable exceptions most British
media coverage of the conflict and in particular of the British
role in it, has been poor. British public opinion has been poorly
served by a media which failed to tackle the real causes of conflict,
address issues like collusion between state forces and loyalist
death squads and much more.
PR: It is curious to an outsider to find that the
nationalist community will wave the Palestinian flag, and adopt
a sympathetic position vis-à-vis the Palestinians. At
the same time, the unionists tend to wave the Israeli flag.
What is the origin of this and are people aware of the situation
in occupied Palestine?
Adams: In the course of three decades of conflict republicans
and nationalists came to identify with other peoples engaged
in struggle against oppression. This is true of the Palestinians,
of the ANC and others. Over those years we built up solidarity
links and today there are very active solidarity groups in Belfast
and elsewhere helping the Palestinian people in whatever way
they can.
Unionist politicians came to
favor the Israeli side. DUP politicians like Peter Robinson
visited Israel at the invitation of right wing politicians there.
I don't know how well informed unionist opinion is on the conflict
in Palestine, but nationalist and republican opinion is very
well informed.
PR: You just published another book. What are
the issues you are addressing this time?
Adams: Hope and History recounts the events
around the birth of the peace process. It seeks to give an insiders
account of developments, of the key people involved and of the
practical steps which were necessary in order to make progress.
It's not intended as a history book but for those interested
in conflict resolution it would be a useful addition to their
book shelf.
Paul de Rooij is an economist living in London.
He can be contacted at proox@hotmail.com
(NB: all attachments will be deleted automatically).
©2004 Paul de Rooij
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