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SPECIAL REPORT: How Iraq is Being Destroyed "A weak Iraq suits many." Three years after the US attack, Iraq is breaking apart. Eyewitness report from Patrick Cockburn in Irbil. One of the great left journalists of his time, he was on the front lines in Korea and Vietnam. Chris Reed on Wilfred Burchett, the man who made Murdoch foam at the mouth. Katrina washes whitest. Bill Quigley in New Orleans reports tales of lunacy and hope. 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! |
Today's Stories April 6, 2006 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
March 31, 2006 Gary
Leupp Patrick
Cockburn Saree
Makdisi Ron
Jacobs Mark
Engler Curtis
F.J. Doebbler Laith
al-Saud Website
of the Day
March 30, 2006 Uri
Avnery Sen.
Russell Feingold Winslow
T. Wheeler Dave
Lindorff Juan
Santos Frida
Berrigan Joshua
Frank Vonnie
Edwards Neve
Gordon Website
of the Day
March 29, 2006 CounterPunch
News Service Patrick
Cockburn John
Ross Omar
Barghouti William
S. Lind Missy
Comley Beattie Earl
Ofari Hutchinson Website
of the Day
March 28, 2006 Sharon
Smith Paul
Craig Roberts Tariq
Ali Manuel
Garcia, Jr. Ramzy
Baroud Evelyn
Pringle Seth
Sandronsky Patrick
Cockburn
March 27, 2006 Patrick
Cockburn Joshua
Frank Ron
Jacobs Jeff
Lays Davey
D. Robert
Billyard Jim
Rigby Lisa
Viscidi Nick
Dearden Gideon
Levy Website
of the Day
Alexander
Cockburn Patrick
Cockburn Ralph
Nader Christopher
Reed Jeff
Ballinger Joseph
Massad Brian
Cloughley Chris
Floyd Elaine
Cassel Dave
Zirin John
Chuckman Sharon
Smith Christopher
Fons Chris
Kromm John
Bomar Ron
Jacobs Maymanah
Farhat St.
Clair / Walker / Vest Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
March 24, 2006 Cockburn
/ Sengupta / Duff P. Sainath Todd
Chretien Marty
Omoto Michael
Carmichael Peter
Phillips Gabriel
Kolko Website
of the Day
March 23, 2006 Charles
V. Peña Joe
DeRaymond Robert
Fisk Jonathan
Cook Tom
Engelhardt Joshua
Frank Norman
Solomon Robert
Fitch / Joe Allen Patrick
Cockburn CounterPunch
News Service Website
of the Day
March 22, 2006 David
MacMichael Juan
Santos Paul
Craig Roberts Patrick
Cockburn Ramzy
Baroud Jason
Leopold Dennis
Perrin William
Blum Jeffrey
St. Clair Website
of the Day
March 21, 2006 Paul
Craig Roberts Winslow
Wheeler Tom
Engelhardt Arnold
Oliver Earl
Ofari Hutchinson Mike
Whitney William
A. Cook Sophia
A. McLennen
March 20, 2006 Paul
Craig Roberts Dave
Lindorff Ralph
Nader Diane
Christian Jeff
Halper Harry
Browne Norman
Solomon Patrick
Cockburn Website
of the Day
March 18 / 19, 2006 Cockburn
/ St. Clair Werther Chris
Kromm Patrick
Cockburn Elaine
Cassel S. Brian
Willson Fred
Gardner Brian
Cloughley Laura
Carlsen Eamon
Martin Julie
Hilden Alison
Weir Jeffrey
St. Clair Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
March 17, 2006 Eduardo
Galeano Greg
Moses Richard
Falk / David Krieger Cindy
and Craig Corrie Amira
Hass Mike
Marqusee James
Petas and Robin Eastman-Abaya Website
of the Day
March 16, 2006 Norman
Solomon Tom
Philpott Heather
Gray Amira
Hass Missy
Comley Beattie Sen.
Russell Feingold Lucinda
Marshall Andrew
Bosworth Clancy
Sigal Website
of the Day
Jonathan
Cook Winslow
Wheeler Diane
Christian Ron
Jacobs Missy
Comley Beattie Jared
Bernstein Noam
Chomsky Website
of the Day
March 14, 2006 Earl
Ofari Hutchinson Dave
Lindorff Kevin
Zeese Todd
Chretien Jason
Kunin Thomas
Palley Cockburn
/ St. Clair Website
of the Day
March 13, 2006 Uri
Avnery Dave
Lindorff Mike
Whitney David
Green Jeremy
Scahill Mike
Ferner Corey
Harris Paul
Craig Roberts Website
of the Day
Alexander
Cockburn Ralph
Nader Paul
Craig Roberts Ben
Tripp John
Strausbaugh Landau
/ Hassen Robert
Bryce Gary
Leupp Fred
Gardner Ron
Jacobs Jonathan
Scott Ramzy
Baroud Jordan
Flaherty John
Chuckman Joe
Allen Julia
Kendlbacher St.
Clair / Walker / Pollack / Vest Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
March 10, 2006 Ben
Rosenfeld Lila
Rajiva Saree
Makdisi Elena
Shore Joshua
Frank Dave
Zirin Aura
Bogado
March 9, 2006 John
Walsh Annie
Zirin Brian
McKenna Chris
Floyd Rachard
Itani Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Wylie
Harris Alexander
Cockburn Website
of the Day
March 8, 2006 Patrick
Bond Brian
Concannon, Jr. Pat
Williams Lance
Selfa Mokhiber
/ Weissman Walter
Brasch Vijay
Prashad Website
of the Day
March 7, 2006 Werther John
Blair Dave
Lindorff Mike
Whitney Warren
Guykema Sen.
Russell Feingold Robert
Jensen Norman
Solomon Bernie
Dwyer Website
of the Day
Ralph
Nader Dave
Zirin Vanessa
Redgrave Walter
A. Davis Joshua
Frank Nate
Mezmer Paul
Craig Roberts Website
of the Day
Alexander
Cockburn Jennifer
Van Bergen Steven
Higgs Winslow
T. Wheeler Ron
Jacobs Rev.
William E. Alberts Colin
Asher Fred
Gardner "Pariah" John
Scagliotti Seth
Sandronsky Joan
Roelofs Arjun
Makhijani Ardeshr
Ommani Diana
Barahona Ben
Tripp St.
Clair / Socialist Worker Staff Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend March 3, 2006 Laura
Carlsen John
V. Whitbeck Chris
Floyd Mohamed
Hakki Pratyush
Chandra John
Scagliotti Website
of the Day
March 2, 2006 Paul
Craig Roberts Dave
Lindorff Ramzy
Baroud Saul
Landau Joe
Allen Steve
Shore Denise
Boggs Norman
Finkelstein Website
of the Day
March 1, 2006 Mairead
Corrigan Maguire Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Faheem
Hussain Antony
Loewenstein Elizabeth
Schulte Mike
Whitney John
Ryan Michael
Donnelly Tom
Reeves Website
of the Day
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April 6, 2006 Mexico's Most Toxic Presidential Race Ever All Against Lopez Obrador By JOHN ROSS Mexico City. Splattered as it is with libelous calumnies, dark threats, smarmy insinuation, and stridently accusatory television spots, the run-up to the July 2 elections here constitutes the most toxic presidential race of the five this reporter has covered during decades on the ground in Mexico. Indeed, both the campaigns of once-upon-a-time ruling PRI party candidate Roberto Madrazo and the right-wing PAN's Felipe Calderon boil down to one theme: everything and anything against frontrunner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), the former mayor of Mexico City and the standard bearer for the pseudo-leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) who has led the pack by as much as 18 points ever since 2003 mid-term elections. AMLO's lead has held steady around eight for months. The bi-partisan anti-AMLO assault is an extension of PRI-PAN complicity to eliminate Lopez Obrador from the competition by hook or by crook. The onslaught began in early 2004 with the release of incriminating videotapes showing members of the PRD receiving cash payouts from a construction tycoon whom AMLO had denied city contracts. Lopez Obrador would later tie the release of the videos (which were aired ad nauseam on Mexico's two-headed television monopoly Televisa and TV Azteca) to ex-president Carlos Salinas, a personal nemesis in AMLO's mindset akin to Sherlock Holmes' great foe, Prof. Moriarty. Having failed to blacken Lopez
Obrador's name via the videos, President Vicente Fox's PAN party
sought to take advantage of widespread crime and violence in
Mexico City by organizing a march in June 2004 to repudiate
the then-mayor. But the huge mobilization was swelled by AMLO
supporters who turned their rage on President Fox. Meanwhile, the PAN deluged Televisa and TV Azteca screens with primetime spots that cut back and forth between Lopez Obrador and an arm-flailing Hugo Chavez just to underscore the unsubstantiated connection between the two. The spots seemed to irritate the Venezuelan president more than they did Lopez Obrador. On his weekly TV show "Alo Senor Presidente", Chavez lashed out at the PAN, accusing the right-wingers of using his image to smear the Mexican Left in order to prevent Lopez Obrador's election in July. The PAN campaign, said Chavez, was just one more example of the Washington-orchestrated conspiracy against his person, The Venezuelan president's outburst further fueled the anti-AMLO inquisition. Now the PAN insisted that Fox lodge a diplomatic protest against Venezuela for having "interfered" in the Mexican election, a crime delineated in Article 33 of the constitution. The IFE's Ugalde, who frequently seems to side with the PAN, splashed petrol on the bonfire by labeling Chavez's intervention "imprudent and undesirable" and petitioned the foreign ministry to demand redress. In late February, Ugalde refused to intervene when the PAN flew former right-wing Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar to the Mexican capital to endorse Calderon, diss Lopez Obrador by name, and warn that his election would bring down Mexico, a much more obvious violation of Article 33 than Chavez might or might not have perpetrated. Not since the Salinas years when the IFE was created to legitimize questionable federal elections has the nation's maximum electoral authority appeared so patently partisan. Both Fox, the PAN and the PRI (the "PRIAN" dixit AMLO) concur with the Bush White House assessment that Lopez Obrador, like Hugo Chavez, is a dangerous demogogue spreading dread "populism" in his efforts to attend to the basic needs of the poor. This past March, the Bush regime issued a reaffirmation of its strategy of "preventive" war that pointed to pockets of "extreme populism" as likely targets for U.S. "preventive" attack in Latin America. The Fox-White House obsession
with the Chavez-Lopez Obrador connection was on exhibit at the
April 1st tri-national summit in Cancun. Asked if he and George
Bush had discussed the Mexican election, Fox told Televisa news
that yes, the two had talked about "Venezuela." The
U.S. State Department accuses Chavez of meddling in elections
in Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. Although he is barred from
re-election, Fox's incessant stump speeches packed with veiled
references to AMLO amount to bald-faced intervention in the presidential
race by a sitting president, the PRD insists - a charge Mexico's
Supreme Court ratified, warning Fox that he could be forced to
resign should he continue to push the envelope. Media hype has been even more malignantly excessive in 2006 than it was six years ago when Fox rode negative spots designed by ex-Clinton strategist Dick Morris to victory. Televisa, which dominates 85% of the Mexican market, and its junior partner TV Azteca, are crucial to the anti-AMLO crusade's success. No matter who actually wins the election, the big winners will be Televisa and Azteca â*" both networks stand to garner the lion's share of the 13,000.000.000 pesos being shelled out by the IFE to subsidize the parties, much of it being spent on airing venomous spots against Lopez Obrador (one shows AMLO's Mexico City crumbling to the ground with the word DANGER stamped across the screen.) In an effort to consolidate PAN support for a "reform" of laws governing radio and television that would grant Televisa and Azteca 40 year concessions and eliminate the competition from a rapidly digilitizing spectrum, PAN president Manuel Espino summoned the party's senators together last month (March) to explain how the so-called "ley Televisa" would enhance the fortunes of their candidate. Televisa had promised to pump up the increasingly shrill Calderon until he caught Lopez Obrador and then double its efforts to put him ahead, the PAN president had told the solons, according to what one anonymous senator later leaked to the national (left-wing) daily La Jornada. Televisa's handling of the presidential race has been tilted to the right ever since the candidates kicked off their campaigns in January and the network covered live Calderon's investiture as the PAN nominee, a favor not extended to either Madrazo or Lopez Obrador. Televisa coverage of daily activities of the three "presidenciales" sometimes shows AMLO in herky-jerky frames just to underscore his purportedly erratic and unstable persona. Both Calderon and the PRI's Madrazo (who trails badly in the polls) will get another chance to beat up on Lopez Obrador in upcoming debates set for April and June â*" AMLO will only show up for the second. Meanwhile, on the left flank of the Lopez Obrador bandwagon, the rebel Zapatista Army of National Liberation's "Other Campaign", a fiercely anti-electoral initiative featuring "Delegate Zero" (Subcomandante Marcos) that has been barnstorming from state to state talking bad about all the candidates with particular emphasis on Lopez Obrador, suffered a bitter slap when Rosario Ibarra, the Gran Dame of Mexico's human rights movement and Marcos's surrogate mother, accepted a sure-shot senate seat on the AMLO ticket. Nevertheless, whether due to the Other Campaign's efforts or voter disgust at the antics of the candidates, a quarter of the electorate tell pollsters that they will not go to the polls July 2nd. Question: How is Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador like Ronald Reagan? Answer: both are (were) coated with Teflon. No matter what crimes they are (were) accused of ("like eating babies for breakfast" cracks former AMLO City Hall sidekick Jose Agustin Ortiz Pincheti), the salvos strengthened their statures. Indeed, every ill-intentioned ploy to unseat him or bar him from the ballot or cast him as an unstable subversive has only helped Lopez Obrador to firm up his advantage. March monthly ratings by Mitofsky pollsters contracted by Televisa, not a fountain of support for AMLO, have the frontrunner solid at 38, Calderon (probably due to the anti-Chavez barrage) up a point and a half at 31.5 and Madrazo shrinking to 28. The sampling may have as much validity as the predictions of the famous Witches of Catamaco Veracruz who recently cleansed AMLO by passing an egg over his person and subsequently divined him the big winner July 2nd. But despite the witches' "limpia", being the frontrunner could be extremely dangerous for Lopez Obrador's health. Exasperated as Calderon and Madrazo must be at the failure of character assassination to deflate AMLO's lead, the corporeal kind could come next. John Ross has covered four previous Mexican
presidential election. He is the author of Murdered
By Capitalism.
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