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Should the Left Cheer the Dollar's Drop? How to make the bankers scream: Robert Pollin, world's best obituarist of Clintonomics, explains it all for you. Do police states make people feel safer? Vicente Navarro on Franco's Spain, Cockburn on Ireland in the Fifties under the Catholic Hierarchy, Alevtina Rea on growing up in Brezhnev-time. Capitalism's true utopia? St Clair on the Pentagon's no-bid arms contracts. How's the press doing in Iraq? Patrick Cockburn tells all to Omar Waraich. Get the answers you're looking for in the latest subscriber-only edition of CounterPunch... CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! or write CounterPunch, PO BOX 228, Petrolia, CA 95558 |
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Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison by KATHY KELLY  Today's Stories May 28 / 30, 2005 Richard
Lichtman Dave
Lindorff
May 27, 2005 Gary
Leupp Daniel
Estulin Kevin
Zeese Robert
Fisk Dave
Zirin Website
of the Day
May 26, 2005 Yuki
Tanaka Ray
McGovern Arthur
Mitzman Jack
Random Britt
Bailey and Brian Tokar Rebecca
Rush Jorge
Mariscal Paul
Craig Roberts Website
of the Day
May 25, 2005 Camilo
Mejia Dave
Lindorff William
S. Lind Chris
Floyd Brian
Cloughley Lenni
Brenner Sean
Cain Karl
Shepard John
Ross Website
of the Day
Dave
Zirin Michele
Bollinger Winslow
Wheeler Uri
Avnery Michael
Donnelly Joshua
Frank Stephen
Dunifer Paul
Craig Roberts
May 23, 2005 Esther
Sassaman / Thomas Nagy Mike
Whitney Ramzy
Baroud Michael
Dickinson Walter
Brasch Dick
J. Reavis Maria
Tomchick Norman
Solomon Kevin
Zeese Website
of the Day
May 21 / 22, 2005 David
H. Price Gabriel
García Márquez Oren
Ben-Dor Gary
Leupp Laith
al-Saud Elaine
Cassel Greg
Moses Fred
Gardner Dave
Lindorff Alan
Maass William
Blum Tom
Crumpacker Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Doug
Giebel Evelyn
J. Pringle Carolyn
Baker Chris
Floyd Frederick
B. Hudson Ben
Tripp Poets'
Basement
May 20, 2005 Dave
Lindorff Kevin
Zeese Paul
de Rooij Christopher
Brauchli Mark
Engler Joshua
Frank Robert
Jensen Jeffery
R. Webber
May 19, 2005 Bill
Forman Stan
Goff Neve
Gordon Michael
Dickinson Karyn
Strickler Andrew
Freedman Paul
Craig Roberts
May 18, 2005 Jean
Bricmont Laura
Carlsen Mike
Whitney Joshua
Frank George
Galloway Manuel
Garcia, Jr. Dwight
D. Eisenhower Dave
Lindorff
May 17, 2005 Mickey
Z. Petuuche
Gilbert Paul
Craig Roberts Ramzy
Baroud Robert
Jensen / Pat Youngblood Stan
Cox Dave
Zirin Diana
Barahona Website
of the Day
May 16, 2005 Michael
Gillespie Jason
Leopold Jesse
Muldoon Norman
Solomon Robert
Cray Patrick
Cockburn Website
of the Day
May 14 / 15, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Saul
Landau Gary
Leupp JoAnn
Wypijewski Ben
Tripp Brian
J. Foley Tom
Barry Mitchell
Verter Mike
Ferner Dan
Smith Mark
Scaramella Don
Fitz Diane
Farsetta Michael
Dickinson Ron
Jacobs Fred
Gardner Farrah
Hassen Douglas
Valentine Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
May 13, 2005 Tom
Stephens Patrick
Cockburn Mike
Whitney Chris
Floyd Jenna
Orkin Dave
Lindorff Joshua
Frank Website
of the Day
May 12, 2005 Paul
Craig Roberts Uri
Avnery Greg
Moses Carolyn
Baker Pat
Williams William
S. Lind Jack
Random Gary
Leupp
May 11, 2005 Patrick
Cockburn Kevin
Zeese Christopher
Brauchli Zalman
Amit Robert
Shull Mike
Whitney Dr.
Teresa Whitehurst Norman
Solomon
May 10, 2005 Richard
Drayton Dave
Zirin Jackie
Corr Dave
Lindorff Michael
Donnelly Reza
Fiyouzat Scott
Parkin Stephen
Babcock Alan
Farago Michael
Neumann Website
of the Day
May 9, 2005 Louis
Proyect Robert
Fisk Kevin
Zeese Joshua
Frank Sasha
Kramer Andrew
Wimmer Jeffrey
Webber Jeffrey
St. Clair
May 7 / 8, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Gary
Leupp Saul
Landau Joe
DeRaymond Daniela
Ponce Heather
Williams Gregory
Elich Anis
Memon John
Chuckman Mike
Whitney Ron
Jacobs Colin
Kalmbacher Lance
Selfa Fred
Gardner Ben
Tripp Mickey
Z. Richard
Joseph Dr.
Susan Block Poets'
Basement
May 6, 2005 Patrick
Cockburn Erin
Yoshioka Sam
Husseini Dave
Lindorff Kevin
Zeese Joshua
Frank Dan
Bacher P.
Sainath
May 5, 2005 Carles
Mutaner Carl
G. Estabrook Farrah
Hassen Kevin
Zeese Michael
Leonardi Bennett
Ramberg Ray
McGovern Norman
Solomon Nicole
Colson Brian
Concannon, Jr.
May 4, 2005 Colin
Kalmbacher John
Walsh Greg
Moses Ali
Khan Chris
Floyd Linda
S. Heard Dave
Zirin William
S. Lind Gary
Leupp Website
of the Day
May 3, 2005 Dave
Lindorff Brian
Cloughley Ira
Kurzban Seth
Sandronsky Gilad
Atzmon Michael
Donnelly Alex
Sanchez Peter
Linebaugh
May 2, 2005 Ron
Jacobs Stan
Goff Karyn
Strickler Joshua
Frank Kevin
Zeese Vicente
Navarro
April 30 / May 1, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Gabriel
Kolko Jennifer
Loewenstein Lee
Sustar Saul
Landau T.W.
Croft Nikolas
Kozloff William
Blum Dave
Lindorff Joshua
Frank Doug
Giebel Steven
Erlanger Fred
Gardner Mike
Whitney Kurt
Nimmo Joe
DeRaymond Michael
Dickinson Mickey
Z. Justin
Taylor Poets
Basement Website
of the Weekend
Hot Stories Alexander Cockburn Subcomandante
Marcos Norman Finkelstein Steve Niva Dardagan,
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Weekend Edition Forcing Iran into a Nuclear CornerWhy Are Nukes OK for You, But Not for Us?By BRIAN CLOUGHLEY Imagine you are leader of a nation with a population of 69 million, and one fifth the size of the US. You have massive oil and gas deposits but your country is otherwise appallingly poor, being over 70 per cent desert that cannot be irrigated because there are few water sources. Your armed forces are equipped with antique tanks and airplanes that would be suitable as memorials to your dead after your country has been invaded, which you have reason to believe may be its fate. The reason for your belief is that you are surrounded by ten countries that host enormous military bases occupied by hundreds of thousands of troops and hundreds of strike aircraft belonging to a power whose leader calls you "evil" and wants to overthrow you. The countries with which you trade have been warned of punishment for doing so, and the leader of the power that threatens you has twenty major warships, including aircraft carriers, aggressively patrolling your shores and daring you to react to their coat-trailing forays at the edge of your territorial waters. Each of his carriers holds between 10 and 30 nuclear bombs and their scores of strike aircraft are at a moment's notice to bombard your country with them or with "conventional" ordnance, which no doubt takes some weight off your mind. Further, other surface ships and three of that power's submarines in your region can at a moment's notice rain hundreds of cruise missiles upon you, as can its dozens of strategic nuclear bombers based thousands of miles away. Your entire country is subject to the most sophisticated electronic spying operations ever conceived and operated by mankind. Your borders are ceaselessly patrolled by drones and manned aircraft that are ready to neutralize your air defense radars before you are attacked. All your codes have been broken and every electronic communication your government makes is intercepted. The country whose leader has threatened you has 7,088 nuclear weapons, an unknown number of which are poised to wipe out your cities, and has a paid ally which also has a substantial nuclear arsenal. This ally is prepared and indeed most anxious to attack you. In addition to calling you
"evil", the leader of the country that threatens you
says you must be punished because you "pursue weapons of
mass destruction". (His own 7,088 nuclear bombs and warheads
are not, of course, "weapons of mass destruction".)
In February he declared you to be "the world's primary
state sponsor of terror" which, although on a par with the
lying implication that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11
(still believed by millions of brainwashed dolts), is evidence
of more than slight antagonism. You are probably a trifle disturbed
about the rhetoric, but rather more worried about the physical
evidence of a massive build-up of assault forces surrounding
you from all points of the compass. The religious extremists
and bigots in the government of the country whose leader calls
you "evil" detest you and everything you stand for.
They broadcast propaganda against you and admire fundamentalist
Christian generals who hold positions of great influence and
have publicly despised and reviled your religion. What do you do? The scenario is that of Iran and Bush Washington, of course. And we should remember that Rice said in February that a US attack on Iran was unlikely. Just as Bush told the world in 2002 that a US attack on Iraq was unlikely at the very time he was, according to a record of discussion by the head of the British Secret Intelligence Service, already well-advanced in preparations for invasion. (It is notable, but not covered in the US media, that the White House has not denied this incontrovertible evidence of Bush deceit. They -- the media and the White House -- just hoped it would go away and be forgotten. And it has : down the Orwellian memory-hole.) But when Bush was asked in January if he would attack Iran he replied "I will never take any option off the table." That immature semi-threat convinced the Iranians that at some time he will try to do so. Iranians are a proud people, which is a concept that Bush Washington simply cannot grasp. There are two types of nations in the Bush zealots' eyes : those that fall in with everything they are told to do by Washington, and the Rest. They cannot, will not, understand that countries having differing points of view to that of the Bush cabal might have good reasons for holding such ideas, and that their national pride should be neither ignored nor eradicated. According to them, these nations "don't get it", and must suffer accordingly. This is why the US is now deeply hated by countless millions round the world and is the despair of those who would in normal (non-Bush) circumstances be its natural and most supportive allies. The Bush alternative to the US attacking Iran is to let Israel do it for him, as Cheney suggested on MSNBC by saying " . . . the Israelis might well decide to act first and let the rest of the world worry about cleaning up the diplomatic mess afterwards." That was blatant encouragement of Israel to strike Iran, but note the words "the diplomatic mess". That is all that matters to such devious scum as Cheney. The innumerable deaths of innocent people resulting from a bombing blitz by his Israeli friends are of no concern to him. All he thinks about is the "rest of the world" -- not Bush Washington -- "cleaning up the diplomatic mess". When other countries do not slavishly follow Washington's line and are too weak to be able to retaliate (like Iraq), the first solution that draft-dodging, lily-livered, gutless, bullying little cowards like Bush and Cheney think about is bombing the hell out of them. The Tehran government feels its country is threatened by the imperial might of the United States of America, and fears that the vast US arsenal will be used to destroy it as a nation. Understandably, if simplistically, it actually pays attention to what Bush says and does about his foreign policy. It realizes that Iraq did not have nuclear weapons and posed no threat whatever to the United States, and was invaded and occupied, thus reducing it to a state of anarchic bloody shambles. On the other hand, North Korea does have a nuclear weapon, probably two or three, and poses a serious threat to US interests, and Bush is terrified of invading it. That proves, think the beards in Tehran, that if we don't get a bomb, fast, then the maniacal Bush and his fundo generals will flatten our cities, invade us, and behave like barbarians thereafter by bashing down doors at midnight, terrifying our women, blaring insults at our people from loudspeakers, shooting civilians, torturing innocent captives for fun, and literally getting away with murder. Iranian leaders imagine that a US occupation would reduce their country to the squalor and terror of Iraq. ("Before the US-led invasion Baghdad residents enjoyed about 20 hours of electricity a day. Today they get about 10, usually broken into two-hour chunks. There are also frequent fuel and drinking water shortages. And only 37 percent of the population has a working sewage system." - Associated Press, May 26. And : "Mosul, Iraq, May 26 (Reuters) - US forces shot dead a child during an exchange of gunfire near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Thursday, the US military said.") Iran would be another Bush colony with puppet politicians who take their orders from Rice and Rumsfeld while suffering brutal occupation by soldiers who are not answerable to any elected representative of the country they grind under their jackboots. Anything, they think, would be better than that. ***** Like kid-killing, nuclear weapons are vile. My opinion is that nobody should have them, which is hopelessly naïve, human nature being what it is. (It is a view now shared by many who, like me, were at one time closely involved in preparations for nuclear war in Europe and know a bit about what these horrible things can do.) But even I can see the point that the men in Tehran are making. They have been forced into a corner by inflexible, nuke-loving, Christian fundamentalist fanatics whose preferred approach to international affairs is bullying confrontation. These dangerous ignoramuses control US policy and support Israel's covert nuclear weapons' program, and Iran is worried about this because Israel has 300 F-16 nuclear-capable attack aircraft and over 200 nuclear bombs for them to deliver. If Israel is unleashed by Cheney, Rice and Bush, its aircraft will blitz Iran unhindered by the hundreds of US aircraft and surface-to-air missiles surrounding Iran's borders. Rice has said "I feel a deep bond to Israel", and "the security of Israel is the key to security of the world" (a personal policy statement of May 14, 2003 that is not altogether an assurance that she is even-handed concerning Israel and the Islamic nations), and this year announced that "The Iranians should not consider themselves immune from the major changes that are going on in the region". That is fair warning, and should be heeded by the world at large. The major changes in the immediate region of Iran have been the invasion and subjugation of Iran's immediate neighbors, Iraq and Afghanistan, which is a message the Iranians have received, loud and clear. And Rice is determined to penalize Tehran in any way she can. Flexing her head muscles, she warned India of US "concerns" about a gas pipeline to Pakistan and India from Iran. This "concern" is malevolent and has nothing to do with the economic wellbeing of India and Pakistan, which are desperately short of energy and would benefit enormously from the project. It has everything to do with spiteful determination to cripple Iran economically, no matter the harm to anyone else. Her present machinations to pressure the Pakistan government into dropping the pipleline scheme are utterly contemptible. Should Iran decide to ignore the blandishments of the Europeans and continue to develop a nuclear weapons' program -- which it is almost certainly doing -- its leaders will justify their actions by saying the only way to deter an imperial power that has 7,088 nuclear weapons from attacking it is to be able to respond with at least one or two. And if Israel, the nuclear deputy of the US, is given tacit permission to attack Iran by Bush Washington, then it would be surprising if Tehran did not want to retaliate. After all, they could claim (if anyone in Iran or Israel is left alive -- and there might be a few hundred thousand US dead, too) : why should nukes be OK for you and not for us? Brian Cloughley writes on military and political affairs.
He can be reached through his website www.briancloughley.com
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