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WHO RULES: THE ISRAEL LOBBY OR UNCLE SAM? The answer at last! Uri Avnery, former Knesset member, assesses the Lobby's power. "If the Israeli government wanted a law tomorrow annulling the 10 Commandments, 95 U.S. Senators (at least) would sign the bill forthwith." But, yes, in the end the dog wags the tail. Fifty years ago Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" blew the cobwebs out of millions of young minds and drove a stake through the heart of Eisenhower's America. Lenni Brenner remembers Ginsberg in the East Village. Dr Mengele died in exile, in disguise. Dr Ishii died rich and recognized, in his own Tokyo home. Christopher Reed on Japanese WW2 medical tortures and how the U.S. covered them up. 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! |
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Today's Stories May 8, 2006 Alexander Cockburn May 6 / 7, 2006 Jeffrey St. Clair Ariel Dorfman Joe Allen Fred Gardner Jeff Taylor Saul Landau Stephen Philion Trish Schuh Ralph Nader Robert Fisk Paul Cantor John Holt James Ryan Lawrence R. Velvel Greg Moses Laray Polk Ron Jacobs Ben Tripp Mickey Z. Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement Website of the Week
May 5, 2006 Vijay Prashad Robert Fisk David Swanson Mearsheimer / Walt Dave Lindorff Sarah Ferguson CounterPunch
News Service Corporate Crime Reporter Website of the
Day
May 4, 2006 John F. Sugg Jonathan Cook Roger Burbach Chris Dols Christopher Brauchli Tony Swindell Website of the Day
May 3, 2006 Robert Bryce Paul Craig Roberts James Petras Lee Sustar David Bolton Joshua Frank Jeffery R. Webber Website of the
Day
May 2, 2006 Evelyn Pringle Tariq Ali Saul Landau Paul Craig Roberts Gary Leupp Ron Jacobs Sen. Russell
Feingold Anthony Papa Website of the
Day
May Day, 2006 Norman Finkelstein Christopher Reed Michael Donnelly Dave Zirin Mike Whitney Gilad Atzmon Missy Comley Beattie Alexander Cockburn Website of the
Day
April 29 / 30, 2006 Peter Linebaugh Ralph Nader Robert Bryce Rev. William
Alberts Lee Sustar John Chuckman Eric Ruder Seth Sandronsky Ron Jacobs Ben Tripp Fred Gardner Don Monkerud Tommy Stevenson Lettrist International Contratiempo St. Clair, Vest
and D'Antoni Poets' Basement Website of the
Weekend
April 28, 2006 James Ridgeway Ramzy Baroud Sarah Knopp William S. Lind Werther April 27, 2006 Winslow T. Wheeler Robert Fisk Juan Santos Robert Jensen Dave Lindorff Jose Pertierra
April 26,2006 Robin Philpot Sherry Wolf Pratyush Chandra Joshua Frank Gary
Leupp Bill
Quigley
April 25, 2006 Gary
Leupp Paul
Craig Roberts Linda
S. Heard Ralph
Nader Mike
Whitney Michael
Donnelly Sharon
Smith Website
of the Day
April 24, 2006 Tim
Wise John
Stanton Dave
Lindorff Steve
Shore Amadou
Deme Mickey
Z. Ralph Nader Alexander
Cockburn Website
of the Day
April 22/23, 2006 Jeffrey
St. Clair Jeff
Halper Jeff
Klein Thomas
P. Healy David
Underhill Lee
Sustar Deb
Reich John
Chuckman Fred
Gardner Julian
Edney Seth
Sandronsky Brynne
Keith-Jennings Dave
Lindorff Catherine
Ann Cullen and Harry Browne Bill
Pahnelas Jim
French Ron
Jacobs David
Krieger Jeffrey
St. Clair Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
April 21, 2006 Jonathan
Cook Lawrence
R. Velvel Evelyn
Pringle Christopher
Brauchli Pratyush
Chandra Michael
George Smith Missy
Comley Beattie Sarah
Hines Website
of the Day
April 20, 2006 Chris
Kutalik Gary
Leupp Joshua
Frank Diane
Christian William
S. Lind Ramzy
Baroud Justin
E.H. Smith
April 19, 2006 P.
Sainath Norman
Solomon Anthony
Papa Mike
Ferner Stanley
Heller Rifundazione Christopher
Reed Alexander
Cockburn Website
of the Day April 18, 2006 Paul
Craig Roberts Eric
Wingerter Juan
Santos Greg
Weiher Sam
Bahour Behzad
Yaghmaian Website
of the Day
April 17, 2006 Kevin Zeese Uri Avnery Norman Solomon John Ross Laila al-Haddad Jeffrey Blankfort Website of the Day
April 15 / 16, 2006 Jeffrey
St. Clair Ralph
Nader Thaddeus
Hoffmeister Kevin
Prosen / Dave Zirin Thomas
P. Healy Kristoffer
Larsson Fred
Gardner Edwin
Krales Brian
Cloughley John
Holt Seth
Sandronsky Rafael
Renteria Michael
Ortiz Hill William
A. Cook Gideon
Levy Andrew
Wimmer Madis
Senner Michael
Kuehl Mark
Scaramella Nate
Mezmer Jesse
Walker Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
April 14, 2006 Col.
Dan Smith Saul
Landau Stan
Cox Kevin
Zeese Brian
McKinlay Howard
Meyers Ishmael
Reed Website
of the Day
April 13, 2006 CounterPunch
News Service Norman
Solomon Stanley
Heller Jeff
Birkenstein Evelyn
J. Pringle Michael
Donnelly Kamran
Matin Website
of the Day
April 12, 2006 Vijay
Prashad Alan
Maass Dave
Lindorff Ron
Jacobs Ramzy
Baroud Randall
Dodd Missy
Comley Beattie P. Sainath Website
of the Day
April 11, 2006 Al
Krebs Lawrence
R. Velvel Sonia
Nettinin Willliam
S. Lind Robert
Ovetz Pratyush
Chandra Grant
F. Smith Laray
Polk Francis
Boyle José
Pertierra Website
of the Day
April 10, 2006 Ralph
Nader Heather
Gray Uri
Avnery Joshua
Frank Seth
Sandronsky Michael
Leonardi Evelyn
Pringle Tom
Kerr Lucinda
Marshall Website
of the Day April 7 -9, 2006 Alexander
Cockburn Jeffrey
St. Clair Patrick
Cockburn David
Vest Dave
Lindorff Gary
Leupp Elaine
Cassel Saul
Landau James
Ridgeway Ron
Jacobs John
Walsh Ramzy
Baroud Christopher
Brauchli Todd
Chretien Jonathan
Scott John
Bomar Michele
Brand Ronan
Sheehan Mickey
Z. Don
Monkerud Michael
Dickinson Website
of the Weekend
April 6, 2006 John
Ross Dave
Lindorff Don
Monkerud Robert
McDonald Boris
Kagarlitsky Remi
Kanazi Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Robert
Fisk
April 5, 2006 Dick
J. Reavis Mark
Brenner Brian
Cloughley Jozef
Hand-Boniakowski Matt
Vidal Juan
Santos Alan
Maass JoAnn
Wypijewski Website
of the Day
April 4, 2006 Jackson
Thoreau Gary
Corseri Dave
Lindorff Paul
Craig Roberts Norman
Solomon Michael
Carmichael Winslow
T. Wheeler Ingmar
Lee Michael
Neumann Website
of the Day
April 3, 2006 Saul
Landau Richard
Thieme Timothy
B. Tyson Omar
Barghouti Iwasaki
Atsuko Julian
Edney Roger
Morris
April 1 / 2, 2006 Alexander
Cockburn Ralph
Nader Dave
Zirin David
Underhill Earl
Ofari Hutchinson Dave
Lindorff P.
Sainath Fred
Gardner Clancy
Chassay Heather
Gray Greg
Moses John
Chuckman Ron
Jacobs Jeffrey
St. Clair Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
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May 8, 2006 An Idiotic Tango Begets Irradiated MangosBush's Destabilizing Nuke Deal with India By INGMAR LEE Countless thousands of people have died in the utterly stupid and useless wars which have been fought between India an Pakistan since "Partition" in 1947.This warmongering enmity has resulted in a precarious and insidious arms race, and today, the subdivided subcontinent is locked into the world's most dangerous nuclear brinkmanship embrace. Both India and Pakistan have secretly developed ricketty nuclear weapons using materials derived from internationally supplied civilian power plants. Both countries have tested nuclear bombs and developed missile systems capable of delivering the bombs to their targets. As all the world knows full well, if one combatant gets a nuke, then its opponent will want one as well. It wasn't until India exploded its first nuke that Pakistan knew that it had to have the bomb too. This is exactly what nuclear proliferation is all about. The Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT), says their website, is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote co-operation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament, and general and complete disarmament. The Treaty represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon States. Neither India nor Pakistan are signatories to the NPT, and both countries have defiled the spirit of the treaty by their nuclear weapons programs. On May 11 and 13, 1998, India blatantly carried out five nuclear tests at its Pokhran blast site. Two weeks later, Pakistan responded by exploding five nuclear bombs at its base in Balochistan. But in spite of such outright reciprocal madness, in the buck-boggled brain of Bush, India should be given a special exemption from the requirements of the Non Proliferation Treaty. Bush Throws Gas on the Fire When India detonated its first nuclear blast in 1974, it weaseled out an explanation to the horrified world that their plan was to apply such explosive power to "peaceful projects" only. Hard-rock mining was an example which was given. India is extremely proud to be a nuclear power and has therefore invested heavily in its program by constructing 22 reactors since 1956. For this massive investment, the civil return is a pathetic 3% total nuclear contribution to the country's electrical grid. 50 years of frenzied construction has got Boiling Water Reactors, Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors, Fast Breeder Reactors and Reprocessing plants buzzing and clicking away all over the country, but beyond producing this pittance of electricity, there's only one other thing that the Nuke Plants are good for, and that's making bombs. Oh, and irradiating mangos. In July, 2005, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh travelled to Washington to discuss with Bush how India and the USA could patch up their differences and start the free-flow of nuclear material, fuels, technology and expertise once again. America had boycotted India's program since it started detonating its bombs. Bush then visited India in March to further the deal, but before he left the US, in a bizarre bargaining feint, he arbitrarily demoted India from the ranks of "leading countries with advanced nuclear technology" - the phrase used in the July 18, 2005 India-U.S. Statement - to those who merely have a "developing nuclear energy programme." In his speech to the Asia Society in Washington, Bush named India as a country that would have to hand over its spent nuclear fuel to a handful of "supplier nations" for reprocessing, forgoing in the bargain its right to reprocess the waste generated from its civilian nuclear programme. But after flying half way around the world in a highly publicized PR adventure, the Indian negotiators knew very well that Bush just had to emerge with a deal, at any cost, so they easily got around all that eleventh hour bluster. Bush Gets Snookered Here's Bush at a joint press availability with Singh in New Delhi after the negotiations, stammering out his newly-revised version of the reprocessing point:
The clincher for this new export deal was the India will now irradiate the fruit to make it suitable for American consumption. The Bush team was otherwise roundly out-manuevered and had to capitulate on virtually every single proliferation restraint which had been embedded in the American bargaining position. India agreed to allow international safeguards on only 14 of its reactors. The other 8 therefore, will be able to proliferate nuclear weaponry. The Bush team even capitulated on safeguarding the fast breeder reactors, which can produce especially large quantities of bomb-quality plutonium. So the plan will also allow India to reprocess spent nuclear fuel in its civilian power reactors for weapons purposes. If the deal goes through, India can extract more that two tons of plutonium from fuel rods and build a 1000 more bombs. And while Manmohan Singh may have promised to refrain from nuclear test blasts, notso with his predeccesor, former Prime Minister and BJP opposition leader, Atal Behari Vajpayee. Accusing the government of accepting "a legally binding commitment" never to test nuclear weapons, Vajpayee said that the India-US deal should be redrawn to ensure that India's right to conduct nuclear tests is not compromised. The shrewd Indian negotiators also knew that the crippled lame-duck Bush will have to clear another series of political hurdles back home before this deal is ever ratified, so India has not kept all of its eggs in the Bush basket either. They've got other options already lined up to satisfy their desperate need for nuclear fuel, just in case Bush can't weedle the US Congress and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) into lowering their principles and standards to his level. The only thing Bush can now hype about his deal is the billions and billions of bucks that will flow into the massive American-economy-stoking nuclear and weapons of mass destruction proliferation business.The proliferation concerns that he welched on were just another pesky international UN obstacle that must be bludgeoned to make way for the USA. Certainly, Lockheed Martin will be getting a huge cut of the spoils. The Moscow-based daily, Nezavisimaya Gazeta claimed that during Bush's India visit the United States and India exchanged 'letters of intent' concerning American companies' effort to squeeze Moscow out of the Indian arms market by selling New Delhi 126 F-16 fighter jets. And just to make sure that the giant US war machine accrues maximum profit from any violence which occurs on the subcontinent, on March 25, Bush also authorized the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan in an Orwellian move which reverses15 years of policy begun by his own father, Bush #1. India immediately complained, and warned that this would destabilize the volatile region. Bush administration officials said there would be no limits on how many warplanes Pakistan could eventually purchase. "What we are trying to do is solidify and extend relations with both India and Pakistan, at a time when we have good relations with both of them -- something most people didn't think could be done -- and at a time when they have improving relationships with one another," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview at The Washington Post. "If you look at it in terms of the region," she added, "what we are trying to do is break out of the notion that this is a hyphenated relationship somehow, that anything that happens that is good for Pakistan is bad for India, and vice versa." But the US Congress, and even the quisling US corporate media, is not necessarily buying the Bush bullshit. Congressman Edward Markey (D-MA) is now challenging the bill, and is exposing more Indian subterfuge in its nuclear program. Two days before Rice defended the deal in her testimony before Congress recently, the Washington Post said, "few of Bush's decisions have as much potential to shake up international order than this deal with India...He decided to change laws to enable India to buy foreign-made nuclear reactors if it opened its civilian facilities to international inspections -while being allowed to substantially ramp up its ability to produce materials for nuclear weapons," the Post said. Earlier this month, the Post reported that it was turning out to be a "controversial deal" and a "hard sell" on Capitol Hill primarily because Congress had never even been consulted. As one non-proliferation policy specialist put it, "it is no accident that [nuclear experts] were not included, because you didn't have to be a seer to know how much they would hate this. But Bush doesn't care about that. This deal was never about non-proliferation, -it's about billions and billions of dollars. According to Under Secretary of State, Nicholas Burns, the chief negotiator of the deal, "There are times when you have to engage in incremental diplomacy and there are times when you need someone who is willing to make a bold move. The President was willing to make a bold move towards India, and it is going to pay off for the United States now and into the future." Burns added, "That economic benefit (note singular) is going to be in the billlions, there's no question about that, because of the huge nature of the Indian economy and the expansion that they are planning in the civil nuclear energy field..." -the plan is to up the Nuke contribution to the grid from 3% to 20% by 2020- "...and given the state of technological research on nuclear reactors, and given the elementary ingredient of financing, this is an extremely -- the payoff, the economic benefits, in the long term will be substantial, certainly in billions." Bush Gets Duped In the July 18th 2005 India-US Joint Statement , Bush told Manmohan Singh that "he will work to achieve full civil nuclear energy cooperation with India as it realizes its goals of promoting nuclear power and achieving energy security. The President would also seek agreement from Congress to adjust U.S. laws and policies, and the United States will work with friends and allies (the Nuclear Suppliers Group) to adjust international regimes to enable full civil nuclear energy cooperation and trade with India, including, but not limited to, expeditious consideration of fuel supplies for safeguarded nuclear reactors at Tarapur." By 2005, India was getting pretty desperate to get around the international obstacles that were preventing them from getting fuel for Tarapur. Russia and India, it turns out, had already concluded a secret deal to supply fuel to Tarapur, and they were not going to wait around for the political wrangling that will take place in Washington over the next few months to be sorted out. Instead, immediately after Bush's visit to India, Russia raced to the Nuclear Suppliers Group to notify them of their intention to supply fuel for two of the Tarapur nuclear reactors on "safety grounds," because they were running low on fuel. The Russian deal to supply the nuclear fuel was concluded last December, but because it was going to raise hackles, especially in the United States, it was kept under wraps until February. It was only then that Russia notified the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group of the sale. India's Big Buddy Bush was not even informed that a fuel deal had already been negotiated with Russia in the lead up to his trip to India! The U.S., like other NSG members, only came to know of the proposed supply after Mr. Bush's return to Washington when Russia intimated its intent. Here's the response of Official Spokesperson of India's Ministry of External Affairs to questions on news report regarding fuel supply to Tarapur nuclear plant by Russia
As R. Ramachandran wrote in The Hindu on March 23rd:
Now I just have to ask, how is it that this incredible story that an American president got duped on the world stage by Russia and India is not all over the USA media? There is one other major South Asian destabilising aspect of the USA/India nuclear deal which needs to be mentioned. Bush and his Neocon cabal have been ratcheting up the rhetoric in the lead-up to a seemingly inevitable American attack on Iran, which may feature a pre-emptive nuclear strike on its civilian nuclear installations. Contrary to the assertions of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, it is widely believed that during the nuclear bargaining, he did make three major concessions to Bush. First, India supported Bush's recent machinations against Iran and the IAEA, and subsequently at the UN Security Council. Secondly, Singh conceded to terminate the $4 billion "Peace Pipeline" project, which was to have delivered natural gas from Iran, across Pakistan, to India which was slated to be operational by 2011. And Thirdly, Singh has demoted the main architect and proponent of the Peace Pipeline, his Union Petroleum Minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar to the post of Sports and Youth Affairs. India's goal for its civilian
nuclear program is to boost its contribution to its electrical
grid from 3% to 12% by 2020, -an increase of 20,000 MWs. Iran
however, could easily supply that 20,000 megawatts through the
Peace Pipeline delivery of comparatively environmentally ethical
natural gas from its South Pars gas-field near the Balochistan
border, with an estimated 286.6 trillion cubic meter in proven
natural gas reserves. Condoleeza Rice however, has not minced
her words about the US opposition the gas pipeline project. "We've
voiced our concerns to the Indian Government about the gas pipeline
with Iran." said Rice. Under a US law or the Iran and Libya
Sanctions Act of 1996, George Bush can penalize any foreign firm
that invests more than 20 million dollars in the energy sectors
of either country. In other words, India was required to sacrifice
the pipeline to the nuclear agreement. Ingmar Lee is a Canadian freelance writer, currently
living in Pondicherry, India, just downwind from the Kalpakkam
Nuclear Power Plant. He believes that what is really terrifying
Bush about Iran and it's pipeline projects, which are now snaking
all the way to China, is that the Chinese, and then everyone
else in the region will start buying Iranian oil in Euros. Ingmar
can be reached at ingmarz@gmail.com,
or at his website, www.ingmarlee.com
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from CounterPunch Books! The Case Against Israel By Michael Neumann Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid? CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues, as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org. |