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New Special Double Issue of Print Edition of CounterPunch The Trial of Milosevic: What Does It Portend for Saddam? by Tiphaine Dickson; Dr. Dean Wraps It Up...or Does He? by Alexander Cockburn; Bush Oil Grab in Alaska: How Clinton Opened the Door by Jeffrey St. Clair; The Magnificient 9: CounterPunch's Annual List of Groups That Make a Difference; The Sabotage of Matt Gonzalez by Ben Terrall; Arnold and Parole: Already Better than Gray Davis! by Scott Handleman. CounterPunch Online is read by 70,000 visitors each day, but 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 (tax deductible) donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! Or Call Toll Free 1-800-840 3683 or write CounterPunch, PO BOX 228, Petrolia, CA 95558

Now Available from CounterPunch for Only $11.50 (S/H Included) Today's Stories December 24, 2003 Robert Lopez Nuance and Innuendo in the War on Iraq December 23, 2003 Brian J. Foley Duck and Cover-up Will Youmans Sharon's Ultimatum Michael Donnelly Here They Come Again: Another Big Green Fiasco Uri Avnery Sharon's Speech: the Decoded Version December 22, 2003 Jeffrey St. Clair Pray to Play: Bush's Faith-Based National Parks Patrick Gavin What Would Lincoln Do? Marjorie Cohn How to Try Saddam: Searching for a Just Venue Kathy Kelly The Two Troublemakers: "Guilty of Being Palestinians in Iraq"   December 20 / 21, 2003 Alexander Cockburn How to Kill Saddam Saul Landau Bush Tries Farce as Cuba Policy Rafael Hernandez Empire and Resistance: an Interview with Tariq Ali David Vest Our Ass and Saddam's Hole Kurt Nimmo Bush Gets Serious About Killing Iraqis Greg Weiher Lessons from the Israeli School on How to Win Friends in the Islamic World Christopher Brauchli Arrest, Smear, Slink Away: Dr. Lee and Cpt. Yee Carol Norris Cheers of a Clown: Saddam and the Gloating Bush Bruce Jackson The Nameless and the Detained: Bush's Disappeared Juliana Fredman A Sealed Laboratory of Repression Mickey Z. Holiday Spirit at the UN Ron Jacobs In the Wake of Rebellion: The Prisoner's Rights Movement and Latino Prisoners Josh Frank Sen. Max Baucus: the Slick Swindler John L. Hess Slow Train to the Plane Adam Engel Black is Indeed Beautiful Ben Tripp The Relevance of Art in Times of Crisis Michael Neumann Rhythm and Race Poets' Basement Cullen, Engel, Albert & Guthrie December 19, 2003 Elaine Cassel Courts Rebuke Bush for Trampling the Constitution Robert Fisk Raid on Fantasyville: Shooting Samarra's Schoolboys in the Back Zoltan Grossman The Occupation Has Failed to "Capture" the Loyalty of Iraqis Mike Whitney Bush's Afghan Highway to Nowhere Harold Gould Has the Radical Arab Strategy Really Worked? Gary Leupp The Neocon's Dream Memo Last summer, CounterPunch hosted the Duo Doloroso for a concert of extraordinary duets by these professional singers, ranging from Handel to old Irish folksongs. She's a Welsh/Punjabi soprano; he's an All-American counter-tenor. They ended the concert in CounterPunch's ciderhouse with their Carols for Palestine, now available on CD. Savage adaptions of such familiar caroles as: While Sheperds Watch Their Flocks at Night. In Occupied Palestine/Israelis build their prison wall / a people to confine.   December 18, 2003 Ann Harrison A Landmark Victory for Medical Pot John L. Hess Catfish Blues: The SOB's from Out of Town Karyn Strickler Ebola is Good for You! Niranjan Ramakrishnan Duryodhana Dies Harry Browne Hail Jim Hickey, the "Irish Hero" of the Colonial Occupation of Iraq Hammond Guthrie Captured in Abasement December 17, 2003 Robert Fisk Saddam's Cold Comforts Gideon Levy "Don't Even Think About the Children" Marjorie Cohn The Fortuitous Arrest of Saddam: a Pyrrhic Victory? Andrew Cockburn Saddam's Last Act December 16, 2003 Robert Fisk Getting Saddam...15 Years Too Late Mahajan / Jensen Saddam in Irons: The Hard Truths Remain John Halle Matt Gonzalez and Me Josh Frank The Democrats and Saddam Tariq Ali Saddam on Parade: the New Model of Imperialism December 15, 2003 Robert Fisk The Capture of Saddam Won't Stop the Guerrilla War Dave Lindorff The Saddam Dilemma Abu Spinoza Blowback on the Stand: The Trial of Saddam Hussein Norman Solomon For Telling the Truth: the Strange Case of Katharine Gun Patrick Cockburn The Capture of Saddam Stew Albert Joy to the World   December 13 / 14, 2003 Bill and Kathleen Christison Chickenhearts at Notre Dame: the Pervasive Fear of Talking About the Israeli Connection Stan Goff Jessica Lynch, Plural Tariq Ali The Same Old Racket in Iraq Jeffrey St. Clair The Map is not the Territory Marty Bender / Stan Cox Dr. Atkins vs. the Planet Christopher Brauchli Mercury Rising: the EPA's Presents to Industry Gary Leupp On Marriage in "Recorded History", an Open Letter to Gov. Mitt Romney Sasan Fayazmanesh The Saga of Iran's Alleged WMD Larry Everest Saddam, Oil and Empire: Supply v. Demand William S. Lind How to Fight a 4th Generation War Fran Shor From Vietnam to Iraq: Counterinsurgency and Insurgency Ron Jacobs Child Abuse as Public Policy Omar Barghouti Relative Humanity and a Just Peace in the Middle East Adam Engel Pretty Damn Evil: an Interview with Ed Herman Kristin Van Tassel Breastfeeding Compromised Ben Tripp On Getting Stabbed Susan Davis "The Secret Lives of Dentists", a Review Dave Zirin Does Dylan Still Matter? an Interview with Mike Marqusee Norman Madarasz Searching for the Barbarians Poets' Basement Guthrie and Albert Website of the Weekend Dean on Race   December 12, 2003 Josh Frank Halliburton, Timber and Dean Chris Floyd The Inhuman Stain Dave Lindorff Infanticide as Liberation: Hiding the Dead Babies Benjamin Dangl Another Two Worlds Are Possible? Jean-Paul Barrois Two States or One? an Interview with Sami Al-Deeb on the Geneva Accords David Vest Bush Drops the Mask: They Died for Halliburton December 11, 2003 Siegfried Sassoon A Soldier's Declaration Against War Douglas Valentine Preemptive Manhunting: the CIA's New Assassination Program John Chuckman The Parable of Samarra Peter Phillips US Hypocrisy on War Crimes: Corp Media Goes Along for the Ride James M. Carter The Merchants of Blood: War Profiteering from Vietnam to Iraq December 10, 2003 Kurt Nimmo The War According to Newt Gingrich Pat Youngblood / Robert Jensen Workers Rights are Human Rights Jeff Guntzel On Killing Children CounterPunch Wire Ashcroft Threatens to Subpoena Journalist's Notes in Stewart Case Dave Lindorff Gore's Judas Kiss December 9, 2003 Michael Donnelly A Gentle Warrior Passes: Craig Beneville's Quiet Thunder Chris White A Glitch in the Matrix: Where is East Timor Today? Abu Spinoza The Occupation Concertina: Pentagon Punishes Iraqis Israeli Style Laura Carlsen The FTAA: a Broken Consensus Richard Trainor Process and Profits: the California Bullet Train, Then and Now Josh Frank Politicians as Usual: Gore Dean and the Greens Ron Jacobs Remembering John Lennon   December 8, 2003 Newton Garver Bolivia at a Crossroads John Borowski The Fall of a Forest Defender: the Exemplary Life of Craig Beneville William Blum Anti-Empire Report: Revised Inspirations for War Tess Harper When Christians Kill Thom Rutledge My Next Step Carol Wolman, MD Nuclear Terror and Psychic Numbing Michael Neumann Ignatieff: Apostle of He-manitariansim Website of the Day Bust Bob Novak   December 6 / 7, 2003 Alexander Cockburn The UN: Should Be Late; Never Was Great CounterPunch Special Toronto Globe and Mail Kills Review of "The Politics of Anti-Semitism" Vicente Navarro Salvador Dali, Fascist Saul Landau "Reality Media": Michael Jackson, Bush and Iraq Ben Tripp How Bush Can Still Win Gary Leupp On Purchasing Syrian Beer Ron Jacobs Are We Doing Body Counts, Now? Larry Everest Oil, Power and Empire Lee Sustar Defying the Police State in Miami Jacob Levich When NGOs Attack: Implications for the Coup in Georgia Toni Solo Game Playing by Free Trade Rules: the Results from Indonesia and Dominican Republic Mark Scaramella How to Fix the World Bank Bruce Anderson The San Francisco Mayor's Race Brian Cloughley Shredding the Owner's Manual: the Hollow Charter of the UN Adam Engel A Conversation with Tim Wise Neve Gordon Fuad and Ezra: an Update on Gays Under the Occupation Kurt Nimmo Bush Gives "Freedom" Medal to Robert Bartley Tom Stephens Justice Takes a Holiday Susan Davis Avast, Me Hearties! a Review of Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" Jeffrey St. Clair A Natural Eye: the Photography of Brett Weston Mickey Z. Press Box Red Poets' Basement Greeder, Orloski, Albert T-shirt of the Weekend Got Santorum?     December 5, 2003 Jeremy Scahill Bremer of the Tigris Jeremy Brecher Amistad Revisited at Guantanamo? Norman Solomon Dean and the Corp Media Machine Norman Madarasz France Starts Facing Up to Anti-Muslim Discrimination Pablo Mukherjee Afghanistan: the Road Back December 4, 2003 M. Junaid Alam Image and Reality: an Interview with Norman Finkelstein Adam Engel Republican Chris Floyd Naked Gun: Sex, Blood and the FBI Adam Federman The US Footprint in Central Asia Gary Leupp The Fall of Shevardnadze Guthrie / Albert RIP Clark Kerr December 3, 2003 Stan Goff Feeling More Secure Yet?: Bush, Security, Energy & Money Joanne Mariner Profit Margins and Mortality Rates George Bisharat Who Caused the Palestinian Diaspora? Mickey Z. Tear Down That Wal-Mart John Stanton Bush Post-2004: a Nightmare Scenario Harry Browne Shannon Warport: "No More Business as Usual"   December 2, 2003 Matt Vidal Denial and Deception: Before and Beyond Iraqi Freedom Benjamin Dangl An Interview with Evo Morales on the Colonization of the Americas Sam Bahour Can It Ever Really End? Norman Solomon That Pew Poll on "Trade" Doesn't Pass the Sniff Test Josh Frank Trade War Fears Andrew Cockburn Tired, Terrified, Trigger-Happy December 1, 2003 Fawzia Afzal-Khan Unholy Alliances: Zionism, US Imperialism and Islamic Fundamentalism Dave Lindorff Bush's Baghdad Pitstop: Memories of LBJ in Vietnam Harry Browne Democracy Delayed in Northern Ireland Wayne Madsen Wagging the Media Herman Benson The New Unity Partnership for Labor: Bureaucratizing to Organize? Gilad Atzmon About "World Peace" Bill Christison US Foreign Policy and Intelligence: Monstrous Messes November 29 / 30, 2003 Peter Linebaugh On the Anniversary of the Death of Wolfe Tone Gary Leupp Politicizing War on Fox News: a Tale of Two Memos Saul Landau Lying and Cheating: Bush's New Political Math Michael Adler Inside a Miami Jail: One Activist's Narrative Anthony Arnove "They Put the Lie to Their Own Propaganda": an Interview with John Pilger Greg Weiher Why Bush Needs Osama and Saddam Stephen Banko, III A Soldier's Dream Forrest Hylton Empire and Revolution in Bolivia Toni Solo The "Free Trade" History Eraser Ben Terrall Don't Think Twice: Bush Does Bali Standard Schaefer Unions are the Answer to Supermarkets Woes Richard Trainor The Political Economy of Earthquakes: a Journey Across the Bay Bridge Mark Gaffney US Congress Does Israel's Bidding, Again Adam Engel The System Really Works Dave Lindorff They, the Jury: How the System Rigs the Jury Pool Susan Davis Framing the Friedmans Neve Gordon Arundhati Roy's Complaint for Peace Mitchel Cohen Thomas Jefferson and Slavery Ben Tripp Capture Me, Daddy Poets' Basement Kearney, Albert, Guthrie and Smith     November 28, 2003 William S. Lind Worse Than Crimes David Vest Turkey Potemkin Robert Jensen / Sam Husseini New Bush Tape Raises Fears of Attacks Wayne Madsen Wag the Turkey Harold Gould Suicide as WMD? Emile Durkheim Revisited Gabriel Kolko Vietnam and Iraq: Has the US Learned Anything? South Asia Tribune The Story of the Most Important Pakistan Army General in His Own Words Website of the Day Bush Draft November 27, 2003 Mitchel Cohen Why I Hate Thanksgiving Jack Wilson An Account of One Soldier's War Stefan Wray In the Shadows of the School of the Americas Al Krebs Food as Corporate WMD Jim Scharplaz Going Up Against Big Food: Weeding Out the Small Farmer Neve Gordon Gays Under Occupation: Help Save the Life of Fuad Moussa   November 26, 2003 Paul de Rooij Amnesty International: the Case of a Rape Foretold Bruce Jackson Media and War: Bringing It All Back Home Stew Albert Perle's Confession: That's Entertainment Alexander Cockburn Miami and London: Cops in Two Cities David Orr Miami Heat Tom Crumpacker Anarchists on the Beach Mokhiber / Weissman Militarization in Miami Derek Seidman Naming the System: an Interview with Michael Yates Kathy Kelly Hogtied and Abused at Ft. Benning Website of the Day Iraq Procurement   November 25, 2003 Linda S. Heard We, the Besieged: Western Powers Redefine Democracy Diane Christian Hocus Pocus in the White House: Of Warriors and Liberators Mark Engler Miami's Trade Troubles David Lindorff Ashcroft's Cointelpro Website of the Day Young McCarthyites of Texas November 24, 2003 Jeremy Scahill The Miami Model Elaine Cassel Gulag Americana: You Can't Come Home Again Ron Jacobs Iraq Now: Oh Good, Then the War's Over? Alexander Cockburn Rupert Murdoch: Global Tyrant   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 Search CounterPunch

December 24, 2003 First Come, First Serve Iraq: Not About Oil? By JOSH FRANK United States relations with Russia may be spicing up for the holiday season. On Monday December 22, Russian officials offered to forgive $8 billion dollar's of Iraq's debt if the country reinstituted the oil contracts Russia had during Saddam's evil reign. The old Soviet Republic surely knows that the $8 billion will be made up in a matter of years; as profits from rich Iraqi oil fields pump into the lifeline of Russia's weak economy. Welcome back to the global market, Iraq. Time will tell whether or not this bold move is an action that the oil boys in DC are willing to tolerate. The US has put pressure on countries to step in and help relieve some of Iraq's $125 billion dollar debt. However, just one week ago the Defense Department stated that countries who did not support the illegal war like France, Germany and Russia, were not welcome to reap the avails of US's new colonial state. Iraq's crude oil rate is currently running at 2.5 million barrels of crude oil per day, and it hopes to bump that up to 5 million within the next two years. And this war wasn't about oil? Russia's entrance back into the Iraq market may signal the next phase of "Operation Profit Iraq," where countries other then the US may be on the verge of cashing in on the war as well. Bush admittedly is not pleased; he's openly criticized certain nations that are attempting to move their corporations into Iraq in hopes of turning over a profit. However, Bush recently sent former secretary of state James Baker to hearten major creditors, in hopes to pen down the country's outstanding debt. The Russia deal also shows the earnest effort of Iraqi officials to exonerate the country's dues, while buying into the free-market protocol the IMF and WTO have made illustriously famous. But could this bang-up deal have gone down behind the back of George W. Bush? You bet. In a meeting at the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin and the head of the Iraqi Governing Council Abdul Aziz al-Hakim were said to have sealed the contract behind closed doors. Al-Hakim is the head of the US backed council, but it is likely that the US was unaware of Russia's secret agreement with the Interim Council. "Putin has made an offer of Russia exempting Iraq from 65 percent of their debts. That is a decision made by Russia," said Samir Sumaidy a member of the Iraqi Governing Council. One can honestly speculate that the decision may not have come from Bush's White House, put from Putin's government. Russia is also openly admitting that much can be gained from capitalist ventures in Iraq. "Russian companies are ready to be active in Iraq," said Sumaidy. Nobody doubts that the main reason Russia opposed the war in Iraq was due to their strong economic ties to Saddam Hussein's government. However, Russia is attempting to rekindle that corporate spirit right where they left off last year. "Russia will help Iraq restore its economy and support the Iraqi people in their aspiration for sovereignty, and termination of the occupation," said Al-Hakim. Russia's exploration of oil may come with contention from the US, who is waiting patiently in the wing for their big take on the contracts. But like the Gold Rush of California in the mid-1800s, Iraq oil seems to be on a first come, first serve basis. Russia is already looking to explore the Western Qurna oil fields; supposed home of billions in untapped barrels. Despite the President's call on James Baker, Bush still must fear a battle could erupt over Iraqi oil. These reserves were surely earmarked for Bush's large campaign contributors, not countries like Russia who opposed the war. Of course this illegal debacle has already benefited a few of Bush's fat patrons-with many of the spoils lining the pockets of his buddies at Bechtel and Halliburton. Nevertheless, the real bucks are to be made from the yet unleashed oil reserves-which are patiently awaiting their discoveries in western Iraq. Somebody should get a Federal search warrant for the White House, and seek out Bush's hidden oil maps. Time to arrest the war criminal before he wins next year -- because with a Bush triumph, it is a certainty that Republican backers will be drowning in Iraqi oil. In the meantime, Russia can only hope to siphon some of that black gold their way. And President Bush wants us continuing to believe this war was only about WMDs? Which apparently are harder to locate than a spaced-out dictator, bunkered down in a hole out in rural Iraq. Would the person who believes oil had nothing to do with this war, please stand up? Weekend Edition Features for Dec. 20 / 21, 2003 Alexander Cockburn How to Kill Saddam Saul Landau Bush Tries Farce as Cuba Policy Rafael Hernandez Empire and Resistance: an Interview with Tariq Ali David Vest Our Ass and Saddam's Hole Kurt Nimmo Bush Gets Serious About Killing Iraqis Greg Weiher Lessons from the Israeli School on How to Win Friends in the Islamic World Christopher Brauchli Arrest, Smear, Slink Away: Dr. Lee and Cpt. Yee Carol Norris Cheers of a Clown: Saddam and the Gloating Bush Bruce Jackson The Nameless and the Detained: Bush's Disappeared Juliana Fredman A Sealed Laboratory of Repression Mickey Z. Holiday Spirit at the UN Ron Jacobs In the Wake of Rebellion: The Prisoner's Rights Movement and Latino Prisoners Josh Frank Sen. Max Baucus: the Slick Swindler John L. Hess Slow Train to the Plane Adam Engel Black is Indeed Beautiful Ben Tripp The Relevance of Art in Times of Crisis Michael Neumann Rhythm and Race Poets' Basement Cullen, Engel, Albert & Guthrie Keep CounterPunch Alive: Make a Tax-Deductible Donation Today Online! home / subscribe / about us / books / archives / search / links /