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Coming in August! Dime's Worth of Difference: Beyond the Lesser of Two Evils Order Now! Today's Stories August 14 / 15, 2004 Cockburn / St. Clair War on the Poor: "A Risk No Sane Person Would Take" M. Shahid Alam The Civilizing Mission: Some Economic Results Saul Landau God and Botox John Ross Echoes of Mexico City, 1968 Katherine Lahey "Uh! Ah! Chávez No Se Va!": Democracy and Venezuela Medea Benjamin Hugo Chavez and the Poor of Venezuela Yves Engler The Media and the Venezuela Referendum Justin Podur The NYTs and Chavez: More Than the Usual Bias Eric Drooker Gaza Stripped Dave Lindorff A29 Could be a Very Slow Day Rebecca Brigham The Aftermath of Guatemala's Strike: Promises Still Unfulfilled   August 13, 2004 Lee Sustar Report from Caracas Mickey Z. McProtests R Us: Why are the Dems Trying to Gag Anti-War Protesters? Stan Goff There He Goes Again: Kerry's "Energy" Plan Norman Madarasz Thoughts on Najaf: How Could the US Ever Be Considered a "Terrorist" State? Victor Kattan Press Freedom, Censorship and the War on Terror Oscar Heck Is Mendoza Off His Rocker? Chavez Opponents Pledge to Post Results Online Before Polls Close CounterPunch Wire Military Families File "Stop Loss" Suit Milan Rai Najaf: Bush Started It Website of the Day The Yes Men   August 12, 2004 Jeffrey St. Clair How Bush Got (and Lost) His Wings Lenni Brenner Take It on Faith: Kerry's See-Through-Monk's Robe Lee Ballinger The Coors and the Kerrys: Drink Up, Kids! Tariq Ali The Handover Fiction Yves Engler What's at Stake in Venezuela William S. Lind Seeing Through the Other Side's Eyes Christopher Brauchli Getting Bush's Goat Website of the Day The Sucker Puncher   August 11, 2004 Ceylon Mooney Who Woke Up Sen. Joe?: Watchers of the NJ Turnpike Voices in the Wilderness Hands Off Najaf Ray McGovern Porter Goss as CIA Director? Robert Jensen US Supports Anti-Democratic Forces in Venezuelan Recall Annie Higgins In Memory of Nick Pretzlik: As Good as It Gets Alexander Cockburn Bush v. Kerry: Not Even a Dime's Worth of Difference Website of the Day Nick Pretzlik   August 10, 2004 William A. Cook Silencing the Voice of the People Todd Chretien California Greens at the Crossroads: Will It Be Nader or Cobb? Dave Lindorff Chicago on the Hudson? Richard Gott Loathed by the Rich: Why Chavez is Headed for a Big Win Toni Solo Bluebeard's Castle: Disappearing the Right to Development Dave Zirin Carl Eller's Plea Rep. Ron Paul Police State, USA Patrick Cockburn If the Chalabis Were Corrupt, They Weren't Alone Website of the Day The Surveillance-Industrial Complex   Sex, Drugs & the Blues! Serpents in the Garden CounterPunch's Sizzling New Book on Culture and Sex is Now Available Click here to purchase   August 9, 2004 Tito Tricot Pinochet Must Still be Tried: a Murderer and a Thief on the Loose Ron Jacobs In Memory of Deep Throat: the Day Nixon Was Gone Norm Dixon Crisis in Sudan: Oil Profits Behind West's Tears for Darfur Kurt Nimmo The Politics of Entrapment Elaine Cassel Welcome to Bush's America Gary Leupp Why Iraqi Christians are Moving to Syria   August 7 / 8, 2004 James Petras The Anatomy of "Terror Experts": Meet the Mandarins of Abu Ghraib Fred Gardner Run Ricky Run: Football, Pot and Pain Justin Delacour Anti-Chavez Pollsters Panic: Fix Numbers; Reinvent Venezuela Brian Cloughley Persecuted by All; Supported by None: Who Would Be A Kurd? Joshua Frank The Outsider: a Talk with Ralph Nader Iain A. Boal On "Shame": Warmed-Over Orientalism and Racist Projection Chris Floyd All About Eve: Open Season on Women in DC and Rome Andrew Fenton Fighting for Democracy and Justice in Haiti Aseem Shrivastava Saga of an Anguished Afghan Neil Corbett See Cuba: Sometimes a Cigar is Just a Cigar, Mr. Bush Carol Miller / Forrest Hill Rigged Convention; Divided Party: How David Cobb Won with Only 12% of the Vote Tarek Milleron Breaking the Principled Voter Donald Macintyre The Battle of Najaf Ron Jacobs Spirits of The Dead: Why I Love My Petty Bourgeois Tendencies Mickey Z. Kid Gavilan's Grave: Propaganda Scores a TKO Poets' Basement Adler, Ford and Albert     August 6, 2004 Joshua Frank David Cobb's Soft Charade: the Greens and the Politics of Mendacity Derek Seidman An Interview with Stan Goff Mike Whitney The Arbitrary Imprisonment of Jose Padilla William S. Lind Corruption in the Marine Corps David Price In the Shadow of Hiroshima and Nagasaki     August 5, 2004 Mike Ferner The Kerry Show: When Peace is Off Message Bruce Anderson Two Rejections Robert Fisk The Tale of Saddam's Cameraman Todd Chretien Florida Comes to California: the Democrats' Plot Against Nader Peter Linebaugh Doing Time for Political Crime: Paul and Silas, Bound in Jail     August 4, 2004 Mickey Z. Two Traditions: WMD and Disinformation Justin Huggler The Hunt for Bin Laden John Ross Mexico's Dirty War Never Ended: Inside Puente Grande Prison   August 3, 2004 Uri Avnery The Oligarchs Ray McGovern The 9/11 Commission Chimera Jack McCarthy Sexual Politics in Jeb's Florida Eric Ruder Meet Barak Obama: the Democrats' New Liberal Star John L. Hess Crying Wolf: Orange Alert! Elaine Cassel Civil Liberties Elections: 1800 v. 2004 Jules Rabin The Man Who Didn't Walk By Website of the Day No Wall   August 2, 2004 Robert Jensen Kerry's Hypocrisy on the Vietnam War Joshua Frank Greens, Kerry and the Politics of Mendacity Mike Whitney The 9/11 Commission and Civil Liberties: "We Need an American Police State" Gary Leupp Beyond Good and Evil: Some Thoughts on Invasions July 31 / Aug. 1, 2004 Alexander Cockburn Kerry: He's the (Any) One Merlin Chowkwanyun Five Questions with Noam Chomsky: "The Savage Extreme of a Narrow Policy Spectrum" David Lindorff The Shame of the DNC John Chuckman The Disturbing Words of John Edwards Brian Cloughley All Slam and No Dunk; All Blame and No Responsibility Christopher Brauchli "Being Poor is a State of Mind": the Frowning Face of Compassionate Conservatism Fred Gardner A World of Pain Michael Donnelly How Big Pharma Bilks the Elderly David Nally Genocide in Darfur? Joshua Frank Forest Battles Escalate in Oregon Sam Bahour Colin Powell and My Grandmother Diane Farsetta The IMF and the Indonesian Elections: The Invisible Hand in the Voting Booth Harold Gould Was Iraq a Mutual Charade? Van Bergen / Stephens Election 9/11: Surreal Political Theater Lee Sustar A New Model for the Labor Movement? Ron Jacobs The Lost Art of Hitchhiking M. Junaid Alam An Interview with Palestinian-American Rapper, The Iron Sheik Poets Basement Albert, Ford, Krieger, St. Clair Website of the Weekend Cross Cultural Poetics   July 30, 2004 Kolhatkar / Ingalls Shattering Illusions: Kerry's Speech Tells Anti-War Activists They're Not Wanted Dave Lindorff Murder Not So Foul? Bruce Jackson Walt Whitman on the Sound of Wolf Blitzer's Voice Fidel Castro The Pathology of George W. Bush Maximilien Robespierre Memo to Kerry and Bush: Why They Resist Saul Landau Bush Charges Castro with Sex Tourism; JFK Rolls Over in His Grave   July 29, 2004 Cockburn / St. Clair Hail, the Conquering War Criminal: What Kerry Really Did in Vietnam Frank Bardacke What Michael Moore Left Out of F9/11 Tom Barry Shallow and Formulaic: Kerry's Latin America Plan Ron Jacobs Kerry and Lennon: Hawking the CounterCulture Robert Fisk The Unreported War Lichtman / Kellis-Borok What Kerry Must Do to Win (But Probably Won't) William S. Lind The 9/11 Commission Report: Cashing in on Failure CounterPunch Wire Doonesbury Onto John Kerry in 1971! Website of the Day Jabbing JibJab: Copyright Madness       July 28, 2004 Robert Fisk The Occupation at 114 Degrees: Baghdad is Swamped in the Smell of the Dead Kevin Mink Kerry's Misperception of Palestine Ray McGovern Israel and the Iraq War: How the 9/11 Report Soft-Pedals Root Causes United for Peace & Justice An Open Letter to John Kerry: Winter Soldiers and Summer Patriots Mike Ferner Vets Demand End to Occupation: "Pull the Troops or Face Impeachment Mvt." Imraan Siddiqi Turning Tricks with Ann Coulter Alexander Cockburn Candidate Kerry Website of the Day Iraq Vets Against the War   July 27, 2004 Alexander Cockburn Why the Democrats Deserve Nader Dave Lindorff Back to the 19th Century: Globalization's Coming! Mike Whitney Control Room: Inside Al Jazeera Ali, Anderson, Bello, et al. If We Were Venezuelan, We'd Vote for Chavez Stefan Wray Texas Plan to Grab Los Alamos Takes Hold, as DOE Shuts Down Labs Louis Proyect Reflections on Nicaragua: First Came the Contra Butchers, Then the Sweatshops Rick Giombetti Faith in Freedom: the Challenge of Thomas Szasz Bill and Kathleen Christison The 9/11 Report and Its Weak-Kneed Consensus: Dogding Israel/Palestine; Blinkered on Causes of Terrorism     July 26, 2004 Todd Chretien Green Resistance: a Reply to Normon Solomon & Medea Benjamin Robert Fisk Terror by Video Richard Forno Security Theater in Boston: Security Expert Harrassed by DHS for Exposing Flaws at the Fleet Center Mitchel Cohen Report from a Boston Demo: Arresting the Curious Richard Moreno Rockers for Justice: an Interview with Tom Morello and Serj Tankian Alexander Cockburn Boston Awaits a Dead Party     July 24 / 25, 2004 Alexander Cockburn The Democrats and Their Conventions: Part One Dennis Hans Those 16 Words Still Smell, Mr. Bush Patrick Cockburn The Struggle for Iraq is Only Beginning Josh Frank The War Path of Unity: Dems Reject the Peace Movement Justin E.H. Smith Christianity and the Left: the Latin American Experience Tariq Ali What's at Stake in Venezuela Fred Gardner The Politics of Pot: Year of the Antagonist Mark Scaramella There's Dope and There's Dope Ron Jacobs The Weather Underground's Prairie Fire Statement...35 Years On     July 23, 2004 Lee Sustar Revolution in Nicaragua: 25 Years On Dave Lindorff Battle for NYC: Bush 1, Protesters 0 Saul Landau Zaniest President in US History: Bush Beats Reagan Mike Whitney The 9/11 Whitewash: Blaming No One Mickey Z Get On the Bus: 150 Years After Elizabeth Jennings Gary Leupp The 9/11 Commission and the Looming War on Iran   July 22, 2004 M. Junaid Alam Ten Ways to Build a Better Democrat Brian McKinlay Rusted On Down Under: Howard, Bush and Sharon Jason Leopold Cheney Lobbied for Easing of Sanctions on Terrorist Regimes While CEO of Halliburton Chris Floyd Mob Rule: Ripping the Lid Off of America's Pious Myths Uri Avnery Chirac v. Sharon   July 21, 2004 Paula J. Caplan The Emotional Casualities of War: Psychologists Can't Heal All the Damage Joshua Frank Nader Sleeping with the Enemy? Let's be Fair Ron Jacobs American Exceptionalism Reza Ghorashi The Elections, Iran and al-Qaeda Amy Martin Will Congress Rearm the Guatemalan Generals? John Ross Bush May Lose, But His Wars Will Go On and On   July 20, 2004 Stan Cox The Bush / Kerry War Ticket Chris Randolph An Open Letter to Dr. Ehrenreich: It's Over, Barb! Forrest Hylton The Ghosts of Gonismo: "Popular Patricipation" and Bolivia's Gas Referendum Mark Scaramella It's Official! Mendocino County is Crazier and Fatter Than the Rest of California Sam Bahour The World is Knocking on Israel's Door George Reiter A Defense of David Cobb John Ross Burying Iraq, Burying Bush John L. Hess Girlie Stuff: Media Tolerance of Arnold & Co. Website of the Day This Land is Your Land     July 19, 2004 Uri Avnery Marie and the Ghosts: the Hoax of Paris Col. Dan Smith What Has Been Accomplished? Mike Whitney Allawi: Our Puppet with a Pistol Karyn Strickler Just Marriage, Not Gay Marriage Robert Fisk The Crisis of Information in Baghdad David Swanson Media Blackout of US Labor Opposition to Iraq War Jennifer van Bergen The Death of the Great Writ of Liberty   July 17 / 18, 2004 Gary Leupp Apocalypse Now: Why the Book of Revelations is Must Reading Ghada Karmi Vanishing the Palestinians Lenni Brenner When Cattle Unite, Lions Go Hungry: Notes for Ralph Nader Ben Tripp Man on a Bridge: a Ghost Story Brandy Baker What Would Elizabeth Cady Stanton Make of John Kerry? M. Shahid Alam Israel Builds Another Wall Sasan Fayazmanesh Nuclear Hypocrisy: Israel, Iran and the IAEA Patrick Bond The George Bush of Africa Fred Gardner Politics of Marijuana: Cannabiniod Therapuetics William Blum Bush and Thucydides Ben Terrall Carter and the Indonesia Elections: "I Don't See Anything Wrong with a General Running the Country" Tom Barry John Lehman on the War Path David Vest Dylan Without the Music Phyllis Pollack Return to Sin City: Keith Richards Does Gram Parsons Ron Jacobs Smearing Muhammad Ali: Bob Feller Strikes Out Joshua Frank Kerry to Edwards: "Let's Lose!" David Nally A Call for Sudan: Our Georgraphical Blindspot Toni Solo Bolivia's Gas Referendum Landau, Hassan, Prashad & Lindorff Three Reviews of Moore's F911 Poets's Basement Ford, Smith and Albert     July 16, 2004 Dave Zirin Adonal Foyle: Master of the Lefty Lay-Up Shervan Sardar Dershowitz, the ICJ and Jim Crow Laws Ron Jacobs The Lil' Engine That Couldn't: Kucinich Surrenders on Anti-War Plank Robert Fisk Iraq, According to Edgar Allen Poe: Coffin Bombs in Baghdad Greg Moses The Forts of Iraq Mickey Z. Ad Infinitum?: Presidential Campaigns in the Age of TV Dan Bacher A Landmark Win for Salmon and the Tribes Dave Lindorff The Mumia Case: Support from NAACP, But a Movement in Shambles Paul McGeough Did Allawi Shoot Inmates in Cold Blood? Website of the Day 10 Reasons to Fire Bush (and 9 Reasons Kerry Won't Be Any Better)       July 15, 2004 Heather Williams McMissing the Point: Supersize Me Crashes on Its Message Werther Iraq: Follow the Money Tom Crumpacker The Birds of Guantanamo Brian Cloughley What Does the Bush Regime Object To? Bill Christison Reorganize the CIA? Of Course, But...   July 14, 2004 Jeffrey St. Clair Chronicle of a Nomination Foretold: the Green Deceivers Neve Gordon Of Socrates and the Apartheid Wall Diane Christian The Priesthood of Death Stefan Wray Who Benefits from Missing Data at Los Alamos Nuclear Lab? Josh Frank The Nader / Dean Debate Conn Hallinan Divide and Conquer as Imperial Rules Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Bring My Brother Home!: Class, War and Education Website of the Day Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear and the Selling of US Empire     July 13, 2004 Ray McGovern The CIA and Iraq: an Intelligence Debacle...and Worse Mark Donham The Sierra Club's Inexplicable Treatment of Cynthia McKinney Ben Tripp Politus Interruptis: With Friends Like These, Who Needs Electorates? Mark Gaffney Slipping Towards Armageddon: Israel in Iraq Dave Lindorff Osama Wins! Election Postponed! Chris White Double Think: the Bedrock of Marine Indoctrination     July 10 / 12, 2004 Kathleen Christison The Problem with Neutrality Between Palestinians and Israel Janine Pommy Vega Trail of the Comet: a Gathering of the World's Poets Against War Sherry Wolf From Maverick to Party Attack Dog: Howard Dean Gay-Bashes Nader Saul Landau and Farrah Hassen A Transfer of Power, Sort Of Michael Donnelly How to Steal an Election: the Green Version, 2004 Stanton / Madsen Iraq Survey Group: Rumsfeld's al-Qaeda? Richard Lichtman The End of Innocence: Reflections on American Pathology Gila Svirsky Thank You, Your Honors: a Legal Blow to the Wall Kurt Nimmo Clinton's Life Toni Solo Empire-Speak: What Roger Noriega Really Means Ron Jacobs The Black Panthers and the Rest Camelo Ruiz Marrero Gene Warfare in Oaxaca: Genetic Mutation of Mexican Maize Omar Barghouti Wither the Empire: Rise of a Global Resistance Poets' Basement Curtis and Albert   July 9, 2004 Dave Zirin Carlos Delgado on Deck: Blue Jays Slugger Stands Up Against War Justin Delacour Wishing Kerry Would Shut Up About Latin America Robert Fisk Iraq in Reverse: Martial Laws Fuel Insurgency Boris Kagarlitsky Two Congresses and a Funeral William S. Lind The October Surprises Sibel Edmonds Our Broken System: John Ashcroft's War on Truth Ron Jacobs Reading Tea Leaves: What Vietnam Tells Us About Iraq's Future Gary Leupp The Lie That Will Not Die: Cheney and the Iraq/al-Qaeda Link   July 8, 2004 Niranjan Ramakrishnan The Inexplicable John McCain Toufic Haddad Protesting Israel's Apartheid Wall: a Letter from the Hunger Strikers' Tent Dave Lindorff Liberation as Martial Law Joshua Frank The Fall: How Beltway Dems Sank Howard Dean Christopher Brauchli Bush & Cheney Play the Hitler Card James Petras The Truth About Jimmy Carter   July 7, 2004 John Chuckman Kerry's BBQ: a Deafening Silence of Meaning Virginia Tilley A Line in the Sand: Azmi Bishara's Hunger Strike Susan Martinez A Letter to Bill Cosby Mickey Z Elie Wiesel's Strange Parade Michael Donnelly Our Own Private Wilderness: Trusting the Land in the Inland Empire Sean Donahue Boston Social Forum: the Dems aren't the Only Show in Beantown Diane Christian Sovereignty and Freedom in Iraq   July 6, 2004 Lisa Viscidi Fleeing Guatemala: Central Americans Risk Lives to Reach El Norte Marc Norton The Felonious Five Ride Again: the Supreme Court and Enemy Combatants James Brooks Chemical Warfare on the West Bank? Ray McGovern Porter Goss as CIA Director? William Cook Legacy of Deceit: If Dante Knew of Bush and the Neo-Cons...   July 5, 2004 Forrest Hylton US Imperialism in Latin America: Sept. 11, July 4 and Systematic Torture Chris White A Former Marine Sgt. on the Meaning of Independence Day Joe Bageant Cranky Reflections on the 4th of July Robert Jensen Stupid White Movie: What Michael Moore Misses About the Empire Kathy Kelly "Two Days an' a Wake-Up"   July 3 / 4, 2004 Elaine Cassel Bush's Police State and Independence Day Stan Goff ABC of Opportunism: "Progressive" Latin American Leaders Support the Coup in Haiti Snehal Shingavi "We Want Real Justice for Bhopal": Two Survivors Speak Out Bruce Anderson The Cheney-Leahy Metaphor and the Greens Sharon Smith Twilight of the Greens: the Chokehold of "Anybody But Bush" Josh Frank Ralph Nader's Revolt: an Interview with Greg Bates Robert Fisk Pentagon Tried to Censor Saddam's Hearing Joe Bageant Sons of a Laboring God: Leftnecks Unite! Brian Cloughley Fortress Bush and the One Law Doctrine Justin Delacour The Anti-Chavez Echo Chamber: Venezuela's Media Tycoons William S. Lind Saudi Spillover Linda S. Heard A Joke Called "Justice" Greg Moses "It's Illegal, But It's Our Right": Korean Labor Won't Back Down Ron Jacobs "Ain't You Proud to be White on Independence Day?" Toni Solo Weary of Indigenous Resistances? Just Pretend They're Not There Dan Nagengast Chicken Manure as Cattle Food: Safe, But Do We Want to Eat It? Stew Albert Brando, a Personal Recollection Dave Zirin From the Black Panthers to Sacheen Littlefeather: a Eulogy for Our Brando Patrick W. Gavin The Progressive Case for Dodgeball Steven Rosenthal / Junaid Ahmad The Problem is Bigger Than the Bushes: a Review of F911 Poets' Basement Kearney, Ford and Davies Website of the Day Global Peace Solution   July 2, 2004 Jeffrey St. Clair Suicide Right on the Stage: the Demise of the Green Party Douglas Valentine Fahrenheit 911: Mocking the Moral Crisis of Capitalism Gary Leupp "Just Because I Could": On Obscenities and Opportunities Lee Ballinger Illegal People: Kerry Opposes Immigrant Rights Robert Fisk Saddam in the Dock: Confused? Hardly CounterPunch Wire "What Law Formed This Court?": a Transcript of Saddam's Arraignment Christopher Brauchli Bush's Drug Card Lottery: the Price Ain't Right Saul Landau Buzz Words and Venezuela   July 1, 2004 Katherine van Wormer Bush's Damaged Mind: the Madness in His Method Joe Bageant Is Our President a Whackjob? Does It Matter? William James Martin The Dogma of Richard Perle Dave Lindorff Bush's Evacuation Moment Robert Fisk Bread and Circus Trials in Iraq Alan Maass Green Party in Reverse Website of the Day Michael Moore and Israel: Blind or a Coward?     June 30, 2004 Kurt Nimmo Nicholson Baker's Checkpoint: a New Kind of Anger About Bush Tariq Ali Getting Away with Murder in Iraq Jennifer Van Bergen Bush and the Detainees Douglas Valentine Apotheosis of the Psychopaths: Instead of Fahrenheit 9/11, Rescreen The Quiet American David Price Fahrenheit 9/11 Through the McCain-Feingold Looking Glass Roger Normand America's Criminal Occupation of Iraq Stan Cox Sanitized for Your Protection: Ashcroft's War on Art Henry David Thoreau On the Futility of Bush v. Kerry: All Voting is a Kind of Gaming Ben Tripp Who Dast Call Him Liar: a Rebuttal to Nicholas Kristof                       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, Slobodo and Williams CounterPunch Exclusive: 20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians Steve J.B. Prison Bitch Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber True Lies: the Use of Propaganda in the Iraq War Wendell Berry Small Destructions Add Up CounterPunch Wire WMD: Who Said What When Cindy Corrie A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter I Can't Hear From Gore Vidal The Erosion of the American Dream Francis Boyle Impeach Bush: A Draft Resolution Click Here for More Stories.     Subscribe Online

Weekend Edition August 14 / 15, 2004 What Was al-Sadr's Crime? The Trouble in Najaf By MIKE WHITNEY "Keep fighting even if you see me a prisoner or a martyr. God willing, you will be victorious." Muqtada al Sadr "Our blood will pave the way for those who will liberate Iraq and protect the holy shrines and for those who have refused to disgrace themselves through collaborating with the occupation forces." Spokesman for Muqtada al Sadr, al Darraji "The Americans have turned the holy city into a ghost town. They are now seen as full of hatred against Najaf and the Shia. Nothing I know of will change this...I do not understand why America craves crisis. A peaceful solution to the confrontation with Muqtada could have been reached. We were hoping that Prime Minister Iyad Allawi would lead the way, but he sided with oppression." Bahr al Ulum, former US ally and president of the Iraqi Governing Council We all understand the basic principle involved in democratic government. The will of the people is articulated through the popular vote and the candidate who gets the most votes wins. Excluding America, (where the decisions are now entrusted to a Supreme Court) this is how representative government is established. By any objective standard, Muqtada al Sadr is one of the most prominent figures in the Iraqi political spectrum and, therefore, a legitimate representative of his people. Even with the sketchy polling data we have, his popularity (when polls were taken during the original siege of Najaf) ranked in the 90% range. No one else even comes close. (except for religious leader Ayatolla Ali Sistani) It makes no difference that he is unpopular with the Bush Administration. We might find that the Bush Administration is not that popular with many Iraqis. (In fact we have. More than 94% of Iraqis want the Americans to leave Iraq as soon as possible) What matters is that al Sadr embodies the collective will of the Iraqi people (if only temporarily) to a greater extent then the American installed alternative, Ayad Allawi. This suggests that the US should try to negotiate a political solution with him to the current crisis. That's how democracy works. In Bush-world, however, things tend to operate a bit differently. Rather than a popular representative of the Iraqi people, the Administration is anxiously promoting its own "hand-picked" interim Prime Minister, Allawi. (No one questions the absurdity of having a Prime Minister without a Parliament) Allawi's bone fides include a career in Saddam's Secret Police, a brief stint as a CIA operative, and a role as "terrorist bomber" in Baghdad during the mid 1990s. He is widely seen as an American pawn who merely serves as the mouthpiece for further aggression. Needless to say, he is not at all popular. (His popularity is somewhere in single digits, perhaps 9%) He represents no one. Never the less, Allawi has been useful in disguising the Administration's machinations and the media (ABC, CBS, FOX, MSNBC and CNN) has complied by scrupulously referring to this new "appointee" as the legitimate leader of Iraq. In real democracies, leaders embody the will of the people. The "Social Contract" (Rousseau) is an agreement between the people and their government that is validated by the popular vote. Without that mandate, it is impossible to talk about legitimacy. Allawi, of course, has never submitted to the electoral process, so his authority is entirely provisional. Rather than tackle this issue head-on, the Bush Administration has decided that the more expeditious approach is simply to kill Muqtada al Sadr. This is consistent with the administration's propensity to resolve every problem with some variant of coercion; in this case murder. They have decided to defend the "imaginary" sovereignty of an unelected government and press to annihilate any resistance to their plans. But, who is being fooled? We already know that Paul Bremer unilaterally passed 93 edicts that control every area of Iraqi commerce. We already know that Bremer appointed more than 20 colleagues to ministries that control every aspect of Iraqi government. We already know that the 140,000 occupying troops undermine any real authority of an Iraqi sovereign. And, we already know that all oil revenues are completely under the control of the Bush administration. So, where's the sovereignty? And, more importantly, who is taken in by this ruse? Having foreclosed on all the legal means of expression (street demonstrations; newspapers), the American Occupation has forced al Sadr to pursue his last option; rebellion. It is precisely the type of rebellion that is sanctioned in the Declaration of Independence; "That to secure these rights (life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness), Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." Isn't that what al Sadr is doing; "altering and abolishing" tyranny? How else does one explain the bombing of wedding parties, the arbitrary detentions, the siege of Falluja, the suppression of populist leaders and the widespread torture and abuse? Doesn't that explain his burgeoning popularity? The "radical cleric" (as the western press has dubbed him) has become the icon of resistance throughout the Muslim world. His defiance is not limited to just the current occupation in Iraq, but a struggle against the ongoing repression in Palestine, the escalating hostility towards Syria and Iran, and resistance to 60 years of American support for the puppet regimes throughout the Middle East. His stature has been miraculously enhanced by an Administration that refuses to engage in either politics or diplomacy; only force. Now the US military has elected to demonstrate its recklessness in one foolhardy move; a full blown assault on Najaf, the center of the Shiite cosmos. The battle (as of this writing) has already taken the lives of hundreds of Iraqis (many of them civilians) and reportedly wounded al Sadr. The conflict is being covered in the Muslim world for what it is; a direct attack on Islam. And, for what? What exactly is Muqtada al Sadr's crime? Is he a former Ba'athist who seeks to reinstate the Saddam regime? No. Is he a terrorist who is encouraging the random bombings and kidnappings around Baghdad? No. Is he a "foreign fighter" who has entered Iraq to destabilize the country and undermine its prospects for democracy? No. Al Sadr's crime is that he is an Iraqi nationalist and a popular leader who categorically rejects the colonial aspirations of the Bush administration. Period. His al Mahdi Army does not function as a aggressive militia, but only defends the cities and shrines that that belong under the control of legitimate Iraqi leaders. He may well be a "firebrand" as the American press suggests, but his resolve to terminate the occupation and liberate his country reflects the sentiments of many Americans (who see the war as a deliberate act of aggression) and the majority of the world's population. His cause is just. As the conflict unfolds, and the resistance is inevitably ground down by the superior firepower of the superpower, the vulnerability of Iraqis defending their own country against the invaders will become even more apparent. How long will it be before these loosely organized militias devote themselves entirely to finding a viable deterrent to American aggression? Isn't this precisely why Bush and co. have dedicated themselves to disarming the world? (WMD) In the meantime, the resistance has grown increasingly sophisticated. The kidnapping campaign has attracted the most public attention and has produced admirable results. Already, a number of countries have left Iraq taking their contractors with them. This situation threatens to further isolate the US in the world community and amplify the error of the invasion. This can only be considered positive development. (although it will probably will cause more erratic behavior on the part of the occupation forces) The attacks on oil facilities are another indication that the resistance understands the occupation's weaknesses. The empire runs on oil. Any disruption in that supply (especially, now, with oil selling at $46 per barrel) can have catastrophic political affects. Currently, all oil shipments have been successfully stopped through northern Iraq leaving Basra as the only possible point of exit. Currently, Al Jazeera is reporting that, "Workers at an oil-pumping station in southern Iraq said on Wednesday they have stopped operations in protest against the government's backing of the US offensive against followers of al-Sadr." "We stopped pumping in protest of the inhuman conduct of the interim government and its cooperation with the occupation forces to ransack the holy city of Najaf and insult the Shia, their symbols and holy places," the statement said. If this report is true, the military will have to act fast in Najaf or the consequences on world oil prices will be dire. (as will George Bush's political future) The resistance has also succeeded in enlisting more and more Iraqis who were originally sympathetic to the goals of the occupation. Even Iraq's Vice President, Ibahim al-Jaafari has urged US forces to leave Najaf and end the fighting. . "I call for multinational forces to leave Najaf and for only Iraqi forces to remain there," he said. We must "put an end to this phenomenon of violence in this city that is holy to all Muslims." The deputy governor of Najaf Jawdat al Kuraishi also resigned in protest of American hostilities. "I resign from my post denouncing all the US terrorist operations that they are doing against this holy city," al Kuraishi said. These views are illustrative of growing antipathy to the American occupation and the growing support for the resistance in Iraq and throughout the world. Najaf is shaping up to be another massacre in the order of Falluja. And, while the violence and suffering should be rightfully despised, it may be one more step towards galvanizing public opinion against an empire that rules by force alone. (Note: It should be apparent now why PM Allawi was encouraged to expel Al Jazeera from Iraq. It's clear that the siege of Najaf was planned well in advance and that the Bush Administration (Rumsfeld) wanted to exclude "unreliable" media from covering what may have turned out to be a "bloodbath".) Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He can be reached at: fergiewhitney@msn.com Weekend Edition Features for August 7 / 8, 2004 James Petras The Anatomy of "Terror Experts": Meet the Mandarins of Abu Ghraib Fred Gardner Run Ricky Run: Football, Pot and Pain Justin Delacour Anti-Chavez Pollsters Panic: Fix Numbers; Reinvent Venezuela Brian Cloughley Persecuted by All; Supported by None: Who Would Be A Kurd? Joshua Frank The Outsider: a Talk with Ralph Nader Iain A. Boal On "Shame": Warmed-Over Orientalism and Racist Projection Chris Floyd All About Eve: Open Season on Women in DC and Rome Andrew Fenton Fighting for Democracy and Justice in Haiti Aseem Shrivastava Saga of an Anguished Afghan Neil Corbett See Cuba: Sometimes a Cigar is Just a Cigar, Mr. Bush Carol Miller / Forrest Hill Rigged Convention; Divided Party: How David Cobb Won with Only 12% of the Vote Tarek Milleron Breaking the Principled Voter Donald Macintyre The Battle of Najaf Ron Jacobs Spirits of The Dead: Why I Love My Petty Bourgeois Tendencies Mickey Z. Kid Gavilan's Grave: Propaganda Scores a TKO Poets' Basement Adler, Ford and Albert WWW http://www.counterpunch.org   Keep CounterPunch Alive: Make a Tax-Deductible Donation Today Online! home / subscribe / about us / books / archives / search / links /