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The Empire and the Elections: Why Kerry Might be Worse Than Bush: by Gabriel Kolko; From Bad to Worse in Baghdad: a Report on the Shia/Sunni Uprising by Patrick Cockburn; The Pulitzer Prizes and the Misdirections of American Journalism: by Alexander Cockburn. In March, CounterPunch Online was read by 15.4 million viewers--by far our biggest month ever. 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 (tax deductible) donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now!

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Today's Stories

April 21, 2004

Bill Christison
Only Major Policies Changes Can Help Washington Now

April 20, 2004

Dave Lindorff
Bush and Kerry Share a Problem

Stan Cox
Wal-Mart's Magic Numbers

Bruce Anderson
On Listening to Air America

Joseph Kalvoda
Czech Mate for Condi

Greg Moses
Yesterday's Intelligence

Stan Goff
The Democrats and Iraq

Website of the Day
Santorum Happens


April 19, 2004

Kurt Nimmo
The "Central Hand" of the Resistance

Mike Whitney
Bob Woodward's Imperial Trifles

Douglas Valentine
52 Pick-Up and the 100-to-1 Rule

John Chuckman
The Sharon Annex: Evil Does Often Triumph

Doug Giebel
Welcome to the Club

Rahul Mahajan
Hospital Closings and War Crimes

 

April 16 / 18, 2004

Robert Fisk
Bush Legitimizes Terror

Saul Landau
Subverting Brazil and Cuba

Dave Lindorff
Paying for War: $2,150 per Family and Counting

Brandy Baker
Fallujah's Collateral Damage

Mickey Z.
The Left Attacks from the Right

Bruce Jackson
The Bush Press Conference: Gott Mit Uns

Norman Solomon
How the "NewsHour" Changed History

Alexander Cockburn
Bush, Kerry and Empire

 

April 15, 2004

Greg Moses
Follow the Families, Not the Script

Virginia Tilley
The Carnage According to Gen. Kimmitt: Just Change the Channel

Ron Jacobs
They Coulda Been Champions of the World: Hurricane Carter and Ron Kovic

Michael Neumann
A Happy Compromise: Hate Crimes Reporting in the Toronto Globe and Mail

 

April 14, 2004

Tom Reeves
Return to Haiti: an American Learning Zone

Reza Fiyouzat
Japan and Iraq

Ron Jacobs
What Bush Really Said

Diane Christian
The Real Passion


April 10 / 12, 2004

Alexander Cockburn
The Greatest Radical Journalist of His Age

Patrick Cockburn
Ambush, Kidnap, Murder: Another Day in "Post War" Iraq

Ellen Cantarow
Health Under Siege on the West Bank

Tariq Ali
Iraqi Resistance: a New Phase

Werther
Pseudoconservatism Revisited: When God is Pro War & Other Delicacies

Robert Fisk
Bush's War Lords to Their Critics: "Just Shut Up"

Gary Leupp
Indian Wars, Vietnam and Orientalist Fantasy

Ron Jacobs
The Iranian Revolution, Cont.

Jorge Mariscal
Perils of the Bootstrap

Phil Gasper
Defying Stereotypes About Death Row

Dave Zirin
Bringing the Black Freedom Struggle Into Sports: an Interview with Lee Evans

Brandy Baker
The Revolution is Playing at a Theater Near You

Mickey Z.
Underground Music is Free Media: an Interview with Twiin

Ali Tonak
Get Ready for the Million Worker March

Harry Browne
Asking the Wrong Question About Richard Clarke & 9/11

Gideon Samet
The Sharonizing of America

Conn Hallinan
Remote Control Warriors

Website of the Weekend
Taboo Tunes

 

April 9, 2004

Robert Fisk
This War's Simple Truth: Iraqis Do Not Want Us

John L. Hess
The Non-Confessions of a Warrior Princess: Condi on the Stand

Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Condoleezza's Condescensions

Christopher Brauchli
Holes in the Sky: Bush's Crazed Missile Defense Plan

Don Santina
Forget the Alamo!: Glorifying the Fight for Slavery in Texas

William S. Lind
The 4G Warfare Seminar, Cont.

Bill Christison
9/11 Commission is Bush's New Lapdog

Website of the Day
What We've Done to Fallujah

 


April 8, 2004

Wayne Madsen
Rice (and the Record) Proves It: Bush Knew, But Failed to Act

Kurt Nimmo
Will Bush Flatten Fallajuh?

Patrick Cockburn
Guided Missile; Misguided War

Laura Flanders
Steamed Rice

Larry Everest
What Condi Rice is Hiding

Adam Federman
Sacred Capitalism Hits Russia

M. Junaid Alam
The Iraqi Intifada Begins

Norman Solomon
The Quest for a Monopoly on Violence

Douglas Valentine
Echoes of Vietnam: Phoenix, Assassination and Blowback in Iraq

Website of the Day
Xispas: Chicano Art, Culture and Politics

 

April 7, 2004

Alexander Cockburn
Those Pulitzers!

Sen. Robert Byrd
Deeper into the Mouth of Hell: We Must Find the Exit from Iraq

Ron Jacobs
Tet in Iraq: Closer to the Cosmic Disaster?

Patrick Cockburn
Battles Across Iraq: US Death Toll Mounts

Kathy Kelly
Pacification: Worth the Price?

Sonali Kolhatkar
What Are You Doing About Afghanistan?

Rahul Mahajan
Report from Baghdad: Opening the Gates of Hell

Robert Fisk
US Airlifts Saddam to Qatar

Mike Whitney
America Out of Iraq, Now!

Sam Hamod
Bush, Pandora's Box and the Tiger


April 6, 2004

C.G. Estabrook
Mercenaries and Occupiers

William Blum
The Anti-Empire Report: the Israel Lobby

Col. Dan Smith
The Language of Disbelief: 1.3 Billion Still Live in War Zones

Dr. Bulent Gokay
The Coming Islamic Republic of Iraq?

Lynn Landes
Faking Democracy: Americans Don't Vote; Machines Do

Sheila Samples
What Would Royko Write?

Jason Leopold
Condi's Blind Spot: Rice Never Mentioned al-Qaeda

Mickey Z.
A Reality Show with No End in Sight

Robert Fisk
Iraq on the Brink of Anarchy

 

April 5, 2004

John Farrell
Lessons from El Salvador and Iraq

Robert Fisk
Bloodbath a Bad Omen for Bush

Gary Leupp
Shiites Say No: Another "Nightmare Scenario"

 

 

April 3 / 4, 2004

Alexander Cockburn
Anti-Depressants a Problem? We're Shocked

Jeffrey St. Clair
How Neil Bush Succeeded in Business Without Really Trying

Gary Leupp
On Jefferson, Diderot and the Political Uses of God

Lawrence Davidson
Orwell and Kafka in Israel / Palestine

Frederick B. Hudson
Condi Rice: the Family Retainer

Phillip Cryan
The Magic of Coca-Cola: Colombian Workers, Civil Rights and Advertising

Dave Zirin
Lester Speaks: an Interview with Lester "Red" Rodney

Ben Tripp
Talking Dirty: Obscene But Not Heard

Bruce Anderson
Phony Liberals and Fake Concern for the Homeless

Bill Fletcher, Jr.
Justice and Legitimacy in Haiti

Mark Scaramella
Do You Have What It Takes to Be Sec. of Defense? Take the Rumsfeld Quiz

Sharon Smith
Do Most Iraqis Really Want the US to Stay?

Rick Giombetti
Melissa Ann Rowland: a Witch for Our Time

Nader/Kerry Quandary

Stephen Gowans
Communists for Capitalism?

Frank Bardacke / Doug Lummis
Support Nader; Dump Bush: an Election Manifesto

Mickey Z
Turn ON

Saul Landau
Kerry: a Less Dangerous Imperialist?

Richard Oxman
Nader and/or Death?

Poets' Basement
Holt, LaMorticella, Davies, Albert and Tripp

Website of the Weekend
Missing

 

April 2, 2004

Dave Lindorff
Barbaric Relativism: the Press and Fallujah

Kurt Nimmo
Wherever Bush Goes, Osama is Bound to Follow

Emma Miller
The Role of the West in the Rwandan Genocide

Dr. Susan Block
Same Sex Marriages: Just Say "No" to Prohibition

Norman Solomon
Media Strategy Memo for George & Dick

Sacha Guney
The Meaning of the Elections in Turkey

Christopher Brauchli
The Disturbing Case of Cpt. Yee

Website of the Day
Mercenaries, Inc.

 

April 1, 2004

Ron Jacobs
Dying in Vain in Iraq

Harry Browne
No Smoke, Plenty of Fire: Ireland's Pubs Go Smokefree

Chris Floyd
Towel Boy: Bush Hits Workers with Chemical Weapons

Nicole Colson
Inside America's Concentration Camp: Tortured at Guantanamo

Charles Arthur
Haiti's Army Cracks Down on Workers

Laura Flanders
Elaine Chao: a First Daughter for the First Son

 


March 31, 2004

M. Junaid Alam
Israel: Suicide Nation?

John L. Hess
Condi Under Oath: But What About the NYTs Reporters?

Fernando Suarez del Solar
A Year Since My Son's Death in Iraq

Sofia Perez
Spain's U-Turn on Iraq is Real Democracy in Action

David Vest
Stick 'Em Up: Put Cheney and Bush Under Oath

Tanya Reinhart
As in Tiannamen Square: Justice and the Yassin Assassination

Mike Whitney
Time to Dump the Pledge

Donald Kaul
Martha Stewart's Lesson: Never Talk to the FBI

Milt Bearden
Mired in the Tracks of Alexander the Great

Marjorie Cohn
The Illegal Coup in Haiti: How the Kidnapping of Aristide Violated US and International Law

Website of the Day
New Pentagon Papers Dropped at DC Starbucks

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

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April 21, 2004

They Won't Kill Their Own

Iraq and Vietnam

By JACK RANDOM

"So they stood on the sidelines as the parade marched on and 50,000 of our soldiers died in a war they did not understand. And they watched and cheered as millions of Vietnamese died at our hands, while the silent enemy went to Sunday barbecues and John Wayne movies and trotted out the flags for the Fourth of July. They watched and applauded, year after year, as presidents spoke of victory and light at the end of the tunnel, as the body count grew and soldiers came home in boxes. They watched until their silence turned to sickening horror and they began to whisper among themselves: What have we done?"

Jazzman Chronicles, Vol. II: The War Chronicles

Confronted with the Tet Offensive in 1968, American warlords publicly professed confidence in our campaign to liberate Viet Nam. There was a light at the end of the tunnel. Secretly, they lamented the ineffectiveness of South Vietnamese forces: Vietnamese would not kill Vietnamese. We know now that the presidency of Lyndon Johnson would not survive long enough to see that light revealed as Vietnamese liberation.

Confronted with the rising tide of Iraqi resistance in the wake of Fallujah, our president assures us it is only the remnants of Saddam loyalists and isolated foreign terrorists. Secretly, our generals know better. They have expanded the targets to include noncooperative journalists (Al Jazeera) and civilians who refuse to collaborate with the occupying force. Like Operation Phoenix in Viet Nam (a CIA operation that killed 20,000 South Vietnamese), we are targeting the very people we are supposed to be liberating. Openly, our warlords lament the ineffectiveness of the Iraqi security force. It seems we must learn again another lesson of Viet Nam: Iraqis will not kill Iraqis - at least not for a foreign invader.

What has become clearer than any light at the end of the tunnel is that there can be no American victory in Iraq. The people of Iraq have delivered a strong and unambiguous message: Victory is an end to the occupation. They do not believe we are liberators. They believe we are there to secure their oil and to establish a permanent military base in the Middle East. As long as our president flatly refuses to disavow such claims, those beliefs will persist and harden into a conviction that will feed the resistance. We cannot kill enough Iraqis to suppress the will of the nation and the more we kill, the stronger the resistance will become.

The president is right for the wrong reason: Failure is not an option because it has already been secured. America will never be allowed to establish permanent bases in Iraq. America will never be allowed to control Iraqi oil. And whatever form of government evolves in Iraq, it will be one of their own choosing.

The Vietnamese fought against foreign invaders for centuries before securing independence. Are the Iraqis so very different? How many lives are we prepared to sacrifice to find out? How many lives must be sacrificed before America can admit: We are wrong? How many more must we ask to give their lives for this mistake?

You cannot convert wrong to right by prolonging the occupation. You can only increase the cost in lives, money, and the respect of all nations. You can only fuel the fires of our true enemies and further alienate our true friends.

Let us undo the harm insofar as it can be undone. Let us use our resources not for weapons but to rebuild the nations we have destroyed. Let us make amends as best we can. Let us admit wrong and withdraw our troops. Let us pledge our support to the United Nations. At this critical juncture, we can do little else.

Jazz.

Jack Random is the author of the Jazzman Chronicles (Crow Dog Press). The Chronicles are currently being aired by Speer Presents in Nashville TN. He can be reached through his website: www.jackrandom.com

Weekend Edition Features for April 3 / 4, 2004

Alexander Cockburn
Anti-Depressants a Problem? We're Shocked

Jeffrey St. Clair
How Neil Bush Succeeded in Business Without Really Trying

Gary Leupp
On Jefferson, Diderot and the Political Uses of God

Lawrence Davidson
Orwell and Kafka in Israel / Palestine

Frederick B. Hudson
Condi Rice: the Family Retainer

Phillip Cryan
The Magic of Coca-Cola: Colombian Workers, Civil Rights and Advertising

Dave Zirin
Lester Speaks: an Interview with Lester "Red" Rodney

Ben Tripp
Talking Dirty: Obscene But Not Heard

Bruce Anderson
Phony Liberals and Fake Concern for the Homeless

Bill Fletcher, Jr.
Justice and Legitimacy in Haiti

Mark Scaramella
Do You Have What It Takes to Be Sec. of Defense? Take the Rumsfeld Quiz

Sharon Smith
Do Most Iraqis Really Want the US to Stay?

Rick Giombetti
Melissa Ann Rowland: a Witch for Our Time

Nader/Kerry Quandary

Stephen Gowans
Communists for Capitalism?

Frank Bardacke / Doug Lummis
Support Nader; Dump Bush: an Election Manifesto

Mickey Z
Turn ON

Saul Landau
Kerry: a Less Dangerous Imperialist?

Richard Oxman
Nader and/or Death?

Poets' Basement
Holt, LaMorticella, Davies, Albert and Tripp

Website of the Weekend
Missing



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