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MY LAI VET SAYS: HERE IT COMES AGAIN IN IRAQ Tony Swindell recalls "Butcher's Brigade" in '69; says "gooks" have now become "ragheads", every adult male is an "insurgent" ... atrocities against Iraqi civilians are soon going to explode in America's face; US Government's courtroom jihads against terror stumble. Alexander Cockburn on Lodi case where Feds paid $250,000 to man who "saw" world's three top terrorists at mosque. As neocons and Israel lobby howl for US to bomb Teheran, an Iranian outlines simple path to peace. 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 29 / 30, 2006 Peter Linebaugh
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
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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
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April 4, 2006 Jackson
Thoreau Gary
Corseri Dave
Lindorff Paul
Craig Roberts Norman
Solomon Michael
Carmichael Winslow
T. Wheeler Ingmar
Lee Michael
Neumann Website
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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
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Weekend
Edition A Call to ArmsNeil Young Kicks Out the Jams By RON JACOBS On April 30, 1970, Richard Nixon told the world that US forces were invading the country of Cambodia. Within twenty-four hours of his announcement, the streets of many cities and towns around the United States and elsewhere were filled with angry protests against the US action. On May 4th National Guard troops opened fire on protesters in Kent, Ohio killing four and wounding many others. Within days, the rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young released the angry single "Ohio" about the murders at Kent. A simple guitar lick opens
the tune and then Neil begin singing: "Tin soldiers and
Nixon's coming/Four dead in Ohio...." The song is angry
and direct. The response was similar. While most stations played
the tune, there were several that refused. The single, which
included the acoustic "Find The Cost of Freedom" on
its B side, made it to the number 14 position on the charts.
One of the harshest reactions to the song occurred at the European
studios of Armed Forces Network (AFN)--the radio network heard
by US military and their dependents throughout Europe. After
a night DJ played the tune, he was removed from his deejay position
and the song was never heard again on AFN Europe that summer.
In addition, it was impossible to find at Post Exchanges in
Germany. If this were an a vinyl album, I would write about what appears next on the neverending groove, but I'll just call it a tune, not knowing any lyrical way to describe the series of digital commands that technology uses now to record music. The song is a simple melody that describes our lives here in the mother country (or is it the Fatherland). You know--watching the flat screen TV and just living with war everyday. The body counts and the wounded boy or girl next door--just living with war. That's the price we pay for that overpriced flat screen TV and the right to buy it at Costco. It's not a cynical song and it isn't resigned, either. It's stating a tragic fact. Young is trying to get us all to do something to stop it. Don't need no more lies. That's the refrain of Young's next melody. Titled "The Restless Consumer," the song opens with the observation that we can't see those flag-draped coffins. Why? Because the spin machine doesn't want us to. Like everything else in this latest war (that's the war on terror, not just the one in Iraq), everything we hear is just another lie. Terrorists and terror alerts. WMD and democracy. Don't need no more lies. Will the restless consumer get tired of the lies and do something about it? That's what Young seems to be asking here. "Back in the days of Shock and Awe." So begins song number four: "Shock and Awe." It's a lament for the dead. It's a lament for the nation's dead soul. It's a wailing at the wake of so many Iraqi children. The music here is defined by the trumpet that plays the melody. A melody that could be the tune of one of those rhymes children make up when they're skipping rope or playing tag. Curtis Mayfield once titled an album of his Back In the World. The "World" is what GIs called the States when they were overseas, especially in a war zone. Neil's next song is titled "Families." Family values that ring true, like when a soldier writes that they're coming back to you. It's another part of war that only soldiers and their families know. Longing and wondering. Children unseen and growing old without their parent. Some born while the parent dies overseas in a war that has no meaning. When your family is stateside, that's where the world is. "Do you think that you
believe in yours/More than they do theirs now?" That's
a lyric from the song "Flags of Freedom." Flags on
Main Street and sons going off to war. The tune is borrowed
from Bob Dylan's "Chimes of Freedom" but the hope implicit
in Dylan's song are not here. All that's left is the cynical
world that Dylan hoped to overcome. The world that we all hoped
to overcome. Is there still an answer blowin' in the wind? Then what? What if we did get rid of Bush and Cheney? Who rules? Neil knew better than to leave us hanging. "Lookin' For a Leader" is the next song. He runs through a litany of names and rejects them all. Maybe Obama--no I guess not. Maybe Colin Powell, he could make up for the lies he told? The ones that helped bring us to where we are. Never mind. This is the weakest song on the album politically, but only because Young names some names. He's right about the need for a new direction, but the names he lists are not the ones to look at. He's right when he says that person is walking among us. He's right when he says that leader needs the great spirit on their side. We have sunk into the darkness that Hunter S. Thompson described so well when he was alive. The abyss of fear and loathing. Of corruption and death. Where good is evil and evil is placed on the altar in the temple of the powerful. This past December a very good friend of mine died in a tragic fire. He was fifty-three. We had just got back together after a decade or so of being in touch only rarely and then via the phone and US mail. My buddy was a Navy vet from the Vietnam period. He joined the Navy out of high school so that he wouldn't get drafted into the Army (his lottery number was sure to get called that year and the war was raging). He spent a year and a half off the coast of southern Vietnam. While on the USS JFK carrier, he contracted Hepatitis C from some chemicals he worked with. At least that's what the VA doctors told him. The Hep C was only exacerbated by the lifestyle he temporarily assumed when he came back. A lifestyle that many vets undertook for some period of their return--if only to forget what they saw and did. When I saw him a few weeks before he died, we talked about music, books, old friends, and the world in general. Our plan was to go to some shows this summer. Then the fire struck. I only tell you this because the second-to-last song on Living With War is about a friend of Neil's who died in Vietnam. It's this man and all the other vets of US wars of Empire that are the muse for this album. Their deaths are the inspiration for Neil's angry music and pointed lyrics. Men and women who underneath it all were believers in the ideals for which they were told they were fighting. Ideals that look like nothing but frickin' lies. Many of those men didn't physically die in Vietnam, but they died there just the same. Can we get those ideals back? Neil, the eternal optimist believes we can. that's why he ends the album with "America the Beautiful." He is much more of a believer than me, but more likely closer to the majority of the residents of this country. The music on this album is classic Neil Young. Electric but not flashy. Driving rock that makes you sing. If I drove a car, this is the kind of music I would want in my player as I drove on the Interstate across the land. Short songs that you know will be extended and tear up the aisles when they're performed live this summer when Neil goes on tour when Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young reform for their Freedom of Speech in 2006 tour. This is more than a rock album. It's a call to arms. Listen! I wonder if AFN will play it. Or Clear Channel. Ron Jacobs is author of The
Way the Wind Blew: a history of the Weather Underground,
which is just republished by Verso. Jacobs' essay on Big Bill
Broonzy is featured in CounterPunch's new collection on music,
art and sex, Serpents
in the Garden. He can be reached at: rjacobs3625@charter.net
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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. |