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Today's
Stories
October
6, 2003
JoAnn
Wypijewski
The
New Unity Partnership:
A Manifest Destiny for Labor
October
3 / 5, 2003
Tim Wise
The
Other Race Card: Rush and the Politics of White Resentment
Peter
Linebaugh
Rhymsters
and Revolutionaries: Joe Hill and the IWW
Gary Leupp
Occupation
as Rape-Marriage
Bruce
Jackson
Addio
Alle Armi
David Krieger
A Nuclear 9/11?
Ray McGovern
L'Affaire Wilsons: Wives are Now "Fair Game" in Bush's
War on Whistleblowers
Col. Dan Smith
Why Saddam Didn't Come Clean
Mickey
Z.
In Our Own Image: Teaching Iraq How to Deal with Protest
Roger Burbach
Bush Ideologues v. Big Oil in Iraq
John Chuckman
Wesley Clark is Not Cincinnatus
William S. Lind
Versailles on the Potomac
Glen T.
Martin
The Corruptions of Patriotism
Anat Yisraeli
Bereavement as Israeli Ethos
Wayne
Madsen
Can the Republicans Get Much Worse? Sure, They Can
M. Junaid Alam
The Racism Barrier
William
Benzon
Scorcese's Blues
Adam Engel
The Great American Writing Contest
Poets'
Basement
McNeill, Albert, Guthrie
October
2, 2003
Niranjan
Ramakrishnan
What's
So Great About Gandhi, Anyway?
Amy Goodman
/ Jeremy Scahill
The
Ashcroft-Rove Connection
Doug Giebel
Kiss and Smear: Novak and the Valerie Plame Affair
Hamid
Dabashi
The Moment of Myth: Edward Said (1935-2003)
Elaine Cassel
Chicago Condemns Patriot Act
Saul Landau
Who
Got Us Into This Mess?
Website of the Day
Last Day to Save Beit Arabiya!
October 1, 2003
Joanne
Mariner
Married
with Children: the Supremes and Gay Families
Robert
Fisk
Oil,
War and Panic
Ron Jacobs
Xenophobia
as State Policy
Elaine
Cassel
The
Lamo Case: Secret Subpoenas and the Patriot Act
Shyam
Oberoi
Shooting
a Tiger
Toni Solo
Plan Condor, the Sequel?
Sean Donahue
Wesley
Clark and the "No Fly" List
Website of the Day
Downloader Legal Defense Fund
September
30, 2003
After
Dark
Arnold's
1977 Photo Shoot
Dave Lindorff
The
Poll of the Shirt: Bush Isn't Wearing Well
Tom Crumpacker
The
Cuba Fixation: Shaking Down American Travelers
Robert
Fisk
A
Lesson in Obfuscation
Charles
Sullivan
A
Message to Conservatives
Suren Pillay
Edward Said: a South African Perspective
Naeem
Mohaiemen
Said at Oberlin: Hysteria in the Face of Truth
Amy Goodman
/ Jeremy Scahill
Does
a Felon Rove the White House?
Website
of the Day
The Edward Said Page
September 29, 2003
Robert
Fisk
The
Myths of Western Intelligence Agencies
Iain A. Boal
Turn It Up: Pardon Mzwakhe Mbuli!
Lee Sustar
Paul
Krugman: the Last Liberal?
Wayne Madsen
General Envy? Think Shinseki, Not Clark
Benjamin
Dangl
Bolivia's Gas War
Uri Avnery
The
Magnificent 27
Pledge
Drive of the Day
Antiwar.com
September
26 / 28, 2003
Alexander
Cockburn
Alan
Dershowitz, Plagiarist
David Price
Teaching Suspicions
Saul Landau
Before the Era of Insecurity
Ron Jacobs
The Chicago Conspiracy Trial and
the Patriot Act
Brian
Cloughley
The Strangeloves Win Again
Norman Solomon
Wesley and Me: a Real-Life Docudrama
Robert
Fisk
Bomb Shatters Media Illusions
M. Shahid Alam
A Muslim Sage Visits the USA
John Chuckman
American Psycho: Bush at the UN
Mark Schneider
International Direct Action
The Spanish Revolution to the Palestiniana Intifada
William
S. Lind
How $87 Billion Could Buy Some Real Security
Douglas Valentine
Gold Warriors: the Plundering of Asia
Chris
Floyd
Vanishing Act
Elaine Cassel
Play Cat and Moussaoui
Richard
Manning
A Conservatism that Once Conserved
George Naggiar
The Beautiful Mind of Edward Said
Omar Barghouti
Edward Said: a Corporeal Dream Not Yet Realized
Lenni Brenner
Palestine's Loss is America's Loss
Mickey
Z.
Edward Said: a Well-Reasoned Voice
Tanweer Akram
The Legacy of Edward Said
Adam Engel
War in the Smoking Room
Poets' Basement
Katz, Ford, Albert & Guthrie
Website
of the Weekend
Who the Hell is Stew Albert?
September
25, 2003
Edward
Said
Dignity,
Solidarity and the Penal Colony
Robert
Fisk
Fanning
the Flames of Hatred
Sarah
Ferguson
Wolfowitz at the New School
David
Krieger
The
Second Nuclear Age
Bill Glahn
RIAA Doublespeak
Al Krebs
ADM and the New York Times: Covering Up Corporate Crime
Michael
S. Ladah
The Obvious Solution: Give Iraq Back to the Arabs
Fran Shor
Arnold and Wesley
Mustafa
Barghouthi
Edward Said: a Monument to Justice and Human Rights
Alexander Cockburn
Edward Said: a Mighty and Passionate
Heart
Website
of the Day
Edward Said: a Lecture on the Tragedy of Palestine
The Great Alejandro Escavedo Needs Your Help!
September 24, 2003
Stan Goff
Generational
Casualties: the Toxic Legacy of the Iraq War
William
Blum
Grand Illusions About Wesley Clark
David
Vest
Politics
for Bookies
Jon Brown
Stealing Home: The Real Looting is About to Begin
Robert Fisk
Occupation and Censorship
Latino
Military Families
Bring Our Children Home Now!
Neve Gordon
Sharon's
Preemptive Zeal
Website
of the Day
Bands Against Bush
September
23, 2003
Bernardo
Issel
Dancing
with the Diva: Arianna and Streisand
Gary Leupp
To
Kill a Cat: the Unfortunate Incident at the Baghdad Zoo
Gregory
Wilpert
An
Interview with Hugo Chavez on the CIA in Venezuela
Steven
Higgs
Going to Jail for the Cause--Part 2: Charity Ryerson, Young and
Radical
Stan Cox
The Cheney Tapes: Can You Handle the Truth?
Robert
Fisk
Another Bloody Day in the Death of Iraq
William S. Lind
Learning from Uncle Abe: Sacking the Incompetent
Elaine
Cassel
First They Come for the Lawyers, Then the Ministers
Yigal
Bronner
The
Truth About the Wall
Website
of the Day
The
Baghdad Death Count
September
20 / 22, 2003
Uri Avnery
The
Silliest Show in Town
Alexander
Cockburn
Lighten
Up, America!
Peter Linebaugh
On the Bicentennial of the Execution of Robert Emmet
Anne Brodsky
Return
to Afghanistan
Saul Landau
Guillermo and Me
Phan Nguyen
Mother Jones Smears Rachel Corrie
Gila Svirsky
Sharon, With Eyes Wide Open
Gary Leupp
On Apache Terrorism
Kurt Nimmo
Colin
Powell: Exploiting the Dead of Halabja
Brian
Cloughley
Colin Powell's Shame
Carol Norris
The Moral Development of George W. Bush
Bill Glahn
The Real Story Behind RIAA Propaganda
Adam Engel
An Interview with Danny Scechter, the News Dissector
Dave Lindorff
Good Morning, Vietnam!
Mark Scaramella
Contracts and Politics in Iraq
John Ross
WTO
Collapses in Cancun: Autopsy of a Fiasco Foretold
Justin Podur
Uribe's Desperate Squeals
Toni Solo
The Colombia Three: an Interview with Caitriona Ruane
Steven Sherman
Workers and Globalization
David
Vest
Masked and Anonymous: Dylan's Elegy for a Lost America
Ron Jacobs
Politics of the Hip-Hop Pimps
Poets
Basement
Krieger, Guthrie and Albert
Website of the Weekend
Ted Honderich:
Terrorism for Humanity?
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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October
6, 2003
Bolivia's Gas War
Divisions
Deepen in the Third Week
By
BENJAMIN DANGL
An intense series of road blockades, protests
and strikes continue to gain momentum across Bolivia as new sectors
enter the movement against the exportation of the country's gas
to the US. The geographical and political diversity of the groups
involved in the movement makes it difficult for them to coordinate
their efforts and demands. Furthermore, the paralyzed government
jeopardizes its own longevity by refusing to negotiate with most
of this loose, but persistent, collection of citizens.
On Monday, September 29th, Bolivia's
Labor Union (COB) called a national strike against the exportation
of the country's gas. COB leaders also demand Sanchez de Lozada's
resignation. Though extensive protests and strikes took place
in La Paz, and to a lesser degree in other cities, the demands
from various sectors differed as much as their methods of protest.
Some marched demanding better wages; others went on hunger strikes
until local political leaders were released from jail. Some blockaded
roads to end coca eradication laws, while others protested against
the ALCA free trade agreement.
But above the din of this varied, nearly
chaotic social movement, one chant was present everywhere, "EL
GAS NO SE VENDE" (The gas is not for sale).
Government Says Exporting
Gas Will Solve Economic Problems
Historically, Bolivia has been rich in
natural resources such as gold, tin and coal, all of which were
exported out of the country by foreign companies that made enormous
profits while Bolivia struggled on. In the recent Gas War, many
Bolivians are trying to make sure that history does not repeat
itself.
However, many US energy companies are
pressuring Bolivia with trade agreements for the gas. Furthermore,
the Bolivian government is more anxious for the deal to go through
than the US investors are; they see it as the solution to all
the country's economic problems. Yet, the agreement with the
US investors states that only 18 percent of the future profits
from the exportation of the gas will go to Bolivia. Instead of
creating solutions for the country, so far, the gas issue has
only created greater conflict.
Undemocratic Political
Procedures Create Need for Direct Action
When commenting on the social unrest
dividing Bolivia, President Sanchez de Lozada said to reporters,
"These problems and difficulties are born of what I consider
a very radical group in Bolivian society that believes they can
govern from the streets and not from Congress or the institutions"
(BBC, 10/1/03).
But the Bolivian government leaves the
people no other choice, as they are blocked from articulating
their interests within the system. The traditional political
parties in the government are more concerned with conserving
their own power than representing the views of the opposition
and citizens in the country. For example, in a recent meeting
over congressional appointments, traditional party members fought
over key posts in the state house while opposition parties, such
as MAS and MIP, were left waiting in congress for over twelve
hours without being able to take part in the meeting. Although
social unrest increases daily, legislators have spent months
bickering over party control of appointments, such as that of
the Human Rights Ombudsman. Protesting sectors, such as coca
growers and campesinos, as well as the political parties that
represent them, have stated that if the previous Ombudsperson,
Ana Maria Romero de Campero is not re-elected, mobilizations
will multiply exponentially.
These undemocratic procedures have pushed
a discontented populace to direct action. The government appears
unable and unwilling to address this social unrest, creating
the possibility for renewed military and police excessive use
of force, which provoked six deaths in Warisata on September
20th.
But after the violent events in Warisata,
confrontations between security forces and people blockading
roads and urban protestors have not provoked any further deaths.
There have been numerous detentions, mistreatment of protesters
and some injuries. However, a successful "rescue" of
192 people that were trapped in a road blockade took place recently
in the town of Luquisani. The Human Rights Ombudsman's Office,
representatives from the Catholic Church and the Permanent Human
Rights Assembly of Bolivia participated in the rescue, with limited
participation by the Bolivian navy. (Finally, a productive mission
for this largely superfluous force in a landlocked country!)
The government has tried to take credit for this peaceful resolution,
but divisions between opposing sectors in the Gas War continue
to deepen.
Divisions Deepen in
Gas War
The conflict in Warisata caused campesinos
and government officials to become even more entrenched in their
own positions, making dialogue between the two groups nearly
impossible. Felipe Quispe, campesino leader, has stated that
he will not participate in dialogue with the government until
the military withdraws from blockaded areas. The government refuses
to negotiate with Quispe because they believe he is not representative
of the campesino movement, although he is leading the most intense
road blockade campaign in the country.
In the meantime, coca farmers in the
Yungas region began blockading roads on October 2nd. Coca grower
representatives from the Chapare region, including Evo Morales,
have suggested that blockades may also begin there on October
6th. So far, this group, and the Movement Towards Socialism Party
(MAS), have focused on waiting out current elections, demanding
the re-election of Ana Maria Romero de Campero, previous Human
Rights Ombudsperson. Chapare coca growers also protest the persecution
of their leaders, most recently the terrorism charges against
MAS councilwoman, Juana Quispe.
During the September 29th protests in
La Paz, Jorge Alvarado, representative of the Movement Towards
Socialism Party (MAS), said, "The gas should be used for
the progress of the country, to benefit Bolivians and not simply
be sold in favor to other countries. Now is the time for the
current government to listen to great majority of the country,
to wake up from their lethargy and begin to realize that the
gas should be used for national development" (El Diario,
10/1/03). However, sectors in favor of the exportation maintain
that even if the gas remains in Bolivia there is not enough money
within the country to industrialize it, and that the only way
to profit from the natural resource is to export it now.
Benjamin Dangl
works for the Andean Information Network in Cochabamba, Boliva.
He can be reached at: theupsidedownworld@yahoo.com
To receive updates from the Andean Information
Network contact: paz@albatros.cnb.net
Weekend
Edition Features for Sept. 26 / 28, 2003
Tim Wise
The
Other Race Card: Rush and the Politics of White Resentment
Peter
Linebaugh
Rhymsters
and Revolutionaries: Joe Hill and the IWW
Gary Leupp
Occupation
as Rape-Marriage
Bruce
Jackson
Addio
Alle Armi
David Krieger
A Nuclear 9/11?
Ray McGovern
L'Affaire Wilsons: Wives are Now "Fair Game" in Bush's
War on Whistleblowers
Col. Dan Smith
Why Saddam Didn't Come Clean
Mickey
Z.
In Our Own Image: Teaching Iraq How to Deal with Protest
Roger Burbach
Bush Ideologues v. Big Oil in Iraq
John Chuckman
Wesley Clark is Not Cincinnatus
William S. Lind
Versailles on the Potomac
Glen T.
Martin
The Corruptions of Patriotism
Anat Yisraeli
Bereavement as Israeli Ethos
Wayne
Madsen
Can the Republicans Get Much Worse? Sure, They Can
M. Junaid Alam
The Racism Barrier
William
Benzon
Scorcese's Blues
Adam Engel
The Great American Writing Contest
Poets'
Basement
McNeill, Albert, Guthrie
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