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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! |
Today's Stories May 13 / 14, 2006 Kathy Kelly May 12, 2006 Michael Snedeker Dave Lindorff Leah Fishbein
/ RJ Schinner Brian Kwoba Chris Kromm Kai Diekmann David Swanson Virginia Tilley Website of the
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May 11, 2006 Sunsara Taylor Jonathan Cook Tariq Ali Wayne S. Smith Mike Whitney Pratyush Chandra Joshua Frank Mickey Z. Francis Boyle Edward S. Herman
/ David Peterson Website of the
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May 10, 2006 Werther Larry Birns / Michael Lettieri Ramzy Baroud Kevin Zeese Evelyn Pringle Amira Hass Michael Donnelly Ron Jacobs Sharon Smith Website of the Day
May 9, 2006 Ray McGovern M. Shahid Alam Moshe Adler Walter MIgnolo Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor William S. Lind Todd Chretien Dave Lindorff Ishmael Reed Website of the
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May 8, 2006 Kate McCabe Paul Craig Roberts Col. Dan Smith Norman Solomon Ingmar Lee Robert Jensen Ricardo Alarcon Will Youmans / M. Kay Siblani Alexander Cockburn Website of the
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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
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May 2, 2006 Evelyn Pringle Tariq Ali Saul Landau Paul Craig Roberts Gary Leupp Ron Jacobs Sen. Russell
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May Day, 2006 Norman Finkelstein Christopher Reed Michael Donnelly Dave Zirin Mike Whitney Gilad Atzmon Missy Comley Beattie Alexander Cockburn Website of the
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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
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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
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Weekend
Edition Theater of the AbsurdMister Bush and Mister Zarqawi, Video Stars By CHRISTOPHER BRAUCHLI It's all in the eyes of the beholder and the beholder could not help but be struck by what was seen when two videos and two people were juxtaposed. One of the people was described in a BBC profile as "simple, quick-tempered, and barely literate." The other was not described that way although the description would fit. The videos were those of George W. Bush and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and they were the two people who inspired wonder. One of Mr. Bush's most memorable video clips shown over and over on television when he ran for president in 2004, was Mr. Bush, draft dodger and dissembler, emerging from an airplane on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in an S-3B Viking airplane to announce that the war against Iraq had been won. He was dressed up just like real military pilots are dressed when they fly airplanes. Removing his helmet and other paraphernalia he strode over to the lectern and standing beneath a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished", announced that the invasion of Iraq had been a success. That pronouncement was followed by the deaths of more than 2,400 U.S. service personnel and thousands more wounded. Many viewers of the clips thought it odd that he, who had avoided combat when the opportunity to engage in it presented itself, would show such bravado when personal engagement was no longer possible. In hindsight, it is even more bizarre since, in the eyes of the world, Mr. Bush's adventure in Iraq has been less successful than he Messrs. Cheney and Rumsfeld who share his make believe world, believe. By contrast we are presented with the video of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Mr. Zarqawi is a terrorist believed to be responsible for much of the havoc in Iraq. According to the BBC Mr. Zarqawi did not attend prep schools or Ivy League colleges. He was a "petty criminal in Jordan". Mr. Zarqawi fought in Afghanistan against Soviet forces and at the conclusion of that conflict, returned to Jordan where he eventually was convicted of conspiring to overthrow the monarchy and establish an Islamic caliphate. He spent 7 years in prison and following his release left the country. He is blamed for the assassination of a U.S. aid officer in Amman, Jordan, has been implicated in several lethal bombings, and is now active in Iraq in an effort to force the U.S. to leave the country by igniting sectarian conflict. His capture and imprisonment would remove a big obstacle to bringing stability to Iraq. That is why the U.S. has offered a $25 million reward for his capture. In late April a video was released by Mr. Zarqawi in which he, like George Bush, shows what a he-man he is. He did not emerge from an airplane on an aircraft carrier. He demonstrated his bravado by firing long bursts from an M-249 squad automatic weapon automatic weapon he was holding. Like the video of George Bush, the video did not tell the whole story although in Mr. Bush's case it took many months before that became apparent. In the case of Mr. Zarqawi it took only a week. In a raid the week following the video's release by Al Qaeda U.S. forces captured the entire video. In the portion not initially shown, the weapon jams and Mr. Zarqawi is at a loss as to how to restore its function. A voice is heard instructing someone to "Go help the sheik." Thereafter Mr. Zarqawi fires a few more shots and then it jams again and someone comes over and, helping out, grabs the hot barrel and drops the weapon to the ground. The U.S. military has no sense of irony. It released the video at a news briefing. At the briefing Major General Rick Lynch commented on the video. He said:
General Lynch is amused that Mr. Zarqawi wears sneakers and can't properly handle a weapon. Someone should tell General Lynch that Mr. Zarqawi is having more success in Iraq than he and Mr. Bush. Mr. Bush can fly an airplane and land it on an aircraft. He can't stabilize Iraq and is personally responsible for the deaths and wounding of thousands of U.S. service personnel and Iraqi civilians. To use General Lynch's words, "It makes you wonder." Christopher Brauchli is a lawyer in Boulder, Colorado. He
can be reached at: Brauchli.56@post.harvard.edu.
Visit his website: http://hraos.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. |