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Today's
Stories
January 6, 2004
David Price
"Like
Slaves": Anthropological Notes on Occupation
January 5, 2004
Al Krebs
How
Now Mad Cow!
Kathy Kelly
Squatting
in Baghdad's Bomb Craters
Jordy Cummings
The Dialectic of the Kristol Family: Putting the Neo in the Cons
Fran Shor
Mad Human Disease: Chewing the Fat Down on the Farm
Fidel Castro
"We Shall Overcome": On the 45th Anniversary of the
Cuban Revolution
Gary Leupp
North
Korea for Dummies
January 3 / 4, 2004
Brian Cloughley
Never
Mind the WMDs, Just Look at History
Vice Admiral Jack Shanahan
The Wrong War at the Wrong Time
William Cook
Failing to Respond to 9/11
Glen Martin
Jesus
vs. the Beast of the Apocalypse
Robert Fisk
Iraqi Humor Amid the Carnage
Ilan Pappe
The Geneva Bubble
Walter Davis
Robert Jay Lifton, or Nostalgia
Kurt Nimmo
Ashcroft vs. the Left
Mike Whitney
The Padilla Case
Steven Sherman
On Wallerstein's The Decline of American Power
Dave Lindorff
Bush's Taiwan Hypocrisy
William Blum
Codework Orange!
Mitchel Cohen
Learning from Che Guevara
Seth Sandronsky
Mad Cow and Main Street USA
Bruce Jackson
Conversations with Leslie Fiedler
Standard Schaefer
Poet Carl Rakosi Turns 100
Ron Jacobs
Sir Mick
Adam Engel
Hall of Hoaxes
Poets' Basement
Jones, Albert & Curtis
January 2, 2004
Stan Cox
Red Alert
2016
Dave Lindorff
Beef, the Meat of Republicans
Jackie Corr
Rule and Ruin: Wall Street and Montana
Norman Solomon
George Will's Ethics: None of Our Business?
David Vest
As the Top Wobbleth
January 1, 2004
Randall Robinson
Honor
Haiti, Honor Ourselves
David Krieger
Looking
Back on 2003
Robert Fisk
War Takes an Inhuman Twist: Roadkill Bombs
Stan Goff
War,
Race and Elections
Hammond Guthrie
2003 Almaniac
Website of the Day
Embody Bags
December 31, 2003
Ray McGovern
Don't
Be Fooled Again: This Isn't an Independent Investigation
Kurt Nimmo
Manufacturing Hysteria
Robert Fisk
The Occupation is Damned
Mike Whitney
Mad Cows and Downer George
Alexander Cockburn
A Great Year Ebbed, Another Ahead
December 30, 2003
Michael Neumann
Criticism
of Israel is Not Anti-Semitism
Annie Higgins
When
They Bombed the Hometown of the Virgin Mary
Alan Farago
Bush Bros. Wrecking Co.: Time Runs Out for the Everglades
Dan Bacher
Creatures from the Blacklight Lagoon: From Glofish to Frankenfish
Jeffrey St. Clair
Hard
Time on the Killing Floor: Inside Big Meat
Willie Nelson
Whatever Happened to Peace on Earth?
December 29, 2003
Mark Hand
The Washington
Post in the Dock?
David Lindorff
The
Bush Election Strategy
Phillip Cryan
Interested Blindness: Media Omissions in Colombia's War
Richard Trainor
Catellus Development: the Next Octopus?
Uri Avnery
Israel's
Conscientious Objectors
December 27 / 28, 2003
Alexander Cockburn
A
Journey Into Rupert Murdoch's Soul
Kathy Kelly
Christmas Day in Baghdad: A Better World
Saul Landau
Iraq
at the End of the Year
Dave Zirin
A Linebacker for Peace & Justice: an Interview with David
Meggysey
Robert Fisk
Iraq
Through the American Looking Glass
Scott Burchill
The Bad Guys We Once Thought Good: Where Are They Now?
Chris Floyd
Bush's Iraq Plan is Right on Course: Saddam 2.0
Brian J. Foley
Don't Tread on Me: Act Now to Save the Constitution
Seth Sandronsky
Feedlot Sweatshops: Mad Cows and the Market
Susan Davis
Lord
of the (Cash Register) Rings
Ron Jacobs
Cratched Does California
Adam Engel
Crumblecake and Fish
Norman Solomon
The Unpardonable Lenny Bruce
Poets' Basement
Cullen and Albert
Website of the Weekend
Activism Through Music
December 26, 2003
Gary Leupp
Bush
Doings: Doing the Language
December 25, 2003
Diane Christian
The
Christmas Story
Elaine Cassel
This
Christmas, the World is Too Much With Us
Susan Davis
Jinglebells, Hold the Schlock
Kristen Ess
Bethlehem Celebrates Christmas, While Rafah Counts the Dead
Francis Boyle
Oh Little Town of Bethlehem
Alexander Cockburn
The
Magnificient 9
Guthrie / Albert
Another Colorful Season
December 24, 2003
M. Shahid Alam
The Semantics
of Empire
William S. Lind
Marley's
List for Santa in Wartime
Josh Frank
Iraqi
Oil: First Come, First Serve
Cpt. Paul Watson
The
Mad Cowboy Was Right
Robert Lopez
Nuance
and Innuendo in the War on Iraq
December 23, 2003
Brian J. Foley
Duck
and Cover-up
Will Youmans
Sharon's
Ultimatum
Michael Donnelly
Here
They Come Again: Another Big Green Fiasco
Uri Avnery
Sharon's
Speech: the Decoded Version
December 22, 2003
Jeffrey St. Clair
Pray
to Play: Bush's Faith-Based National Parks
Patrick Gavin
What Would Lincoln Do?
Marjorie Cohn
How to
Try Saddam: Searching for a Just Venue
Kathy Kelly
The
Two Troublemakers: "Guilty of Being Palestinians in Iraq"
December 20 / 21, 2003
Alexander Cockburn
How
to Kill Saddam
Saul Landau
Bush Tries Farce as Cuba Policy
Rafael Hernandez
Empire and Resistance: an Interview with Tariq Ali
David Vest
Our Ass and Saddam's Hole
Kurt Nimmo
Bush
Gets Serious About Killing Iraqis
Greg Weiher
Lessons from the Israeli School on How to Win Friends in the
Islamic World
Christopher Brauchli
Arrest, Smear, Slink Away: Dr. Lee and Cpt. Yee
Carol Norris
Cheers of a Clown: Saddam and the Gloating Bush
Bruce Jackson
The Nameless and the Detained: Bush's Disappeared
Juliana Fredman
A Sealed Laboratory of Repression
Mickey Z.
Holiday Spirit at the UN
Ron Jacobs
In the Wake of Rebellion: The Prisoner's Rights Movement and
Latino Prisoners
Josh Frank
Sen. Max Baucus: the Slick Swindler
John L. Hess
Slow Train to the Plane
Adam Engel
Black is Indeed Beautiful
Ben Tripp
The Relevance of Art in Times of Crisis
Michael Neumann
Rhythm and Race
Poets' Basement
Cullen, Engel, Albert & Guthrie
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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January
6, 2004
Aftershocks in Pakistan
and Afghanistan
The
Politics of the Iranian Earthquake
By RANNIE AMIRI
After all the retrospectives, analyses, and photo
essays of 2003 had been completed, the single greatest human
tragedy of the year occurred in Bam, Iran, on December 26. An
earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale struck southeastern
Iran, resulting in the deaths of nearly 35,000 people, with tens
of thousands injured. The international community was quick in
providing emergency assistance, including the United States.
This, naturally, led to speculation whether such a catastrophe
would result in a thawing of relations between the two nations,
which have not had formal ties since 1980. Unfortunately, United
States administration officials, including President Bush himself,
were quick to pour salt on the Iranian wound.
Couched in expressions of sympathy for
the victims of earthquake were statements accusing Iran of harboring
al-Qaeda members, pursuing nuclear weapon technology, and supporting
terrorism. Although emphasis was placed on the humanitarian nature
of the aid to be provided, one could not escape the overt political
message simultaneously conveyed: if you want improved relations
with us, it will be on our terms. Subtle wipes, including questioning
why so many people died in Bam, while similar strength earthquakes
in the United States had caused little casualties or damage,
were also common. This was legitimate criticism, no doubt, but
one of poor timing, as crews were still digging through the rubble
in search of survivors.
To further goad the Iranians, the Bush
administration offered to send Elizabeth Dole to head a delegation
from the American Red Cross (accompanied by an unspecified Bush
family member) to Iran. No one actually expected the full implications
of such a high-profile visit in the wake of the disaster to be
so quickly digested by the Iranians. Yet, the United States did
not miss the opportunity to put President Mohammad Khatami in
an awkward position. He had previously thanked the Americans
for their help, but faced pressure from more conservative elements
in the government to be less forthcoming. Although the official
reply was to delay this visit, the American media wasted no time
in saying the Iranians had "rebuffed" the proposal.
The Untied States may not have kicked Iran while it was down,
but they made sure to step on their toes.
As ramifications of the Bam earthquake
were being studied, simultaneous political, if not geologic,
fault lines were clearly detected in neighboring Pakistan and
Afghanistan.
On the same day as the earthquake, the
second assassination attempt in two weeks on the life of Pakistan's
self-appointed President-General, Pervez Musharraf, occurred.
Musharraf narrowly escaped two suicide bombers who detonated
their vehicles as his motorcade passed.
As with most rulers who gain power via
coup d'etat, but now with a renewed sense of urgency, Musharraf
quickly orchestrated a parliamentary vote of confidence to secure
his rule as President through 2007. This purported stamp of legitimacy
was marred by the walkout of a significant portion of the opposition,
allowing him to easily secure the votes needed.
In addition, the MMA (Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal),
a coalition of Islamic parties, gave their tacit approval--although
neither supporting nor rejecting the confidence vote--on the
condition he step down as Army Chief by the end of 2004. Musharraf,
as expected, conveniently gained additional powers by amending
Pakistan's 1973 constitution, allowing him now to unilaterally
dismiss the prime minister and dissolve parliament by decree.
Pakistan's neighbor, Afghanistan, also
found itself at the center of crisis during the recent convening
of a Loya Girga or Grand Assembly to adopt a new constitution
for the country. Initially scheduled for 10 days, the nearly
three week conference was fraught with in-fighting, threatened
walkouts, and rancorous debate among the Pashtun, Tajik, Uzbek
and Hazara ethnic factions over citizenship, official languages
and the national anthem. More significant was the discussion
of President's Hamid Karzai's demand for a strong, centralized
presidency. Again this issue split along ethnic lines, supported
by the Pashtuns to which Karzai belongs, and opposed by the non-Pashtun
groups of the former Northern Alliance, who were in favor of
a strong parliamentary system. The former seems to have won out.
Thus, Pakistan has seen two assassination
attempts on its unelected President (likely perpetrated al-Qaeda
elements prevalent in Pakistan), who brokered a cozy deal with
Islamic parties to keep himself in power for three additional
year with expanded authority. One cannot help but view these
developments with concern, relegating Pakistan to potential political
instability.
In Afghanistan, a strong presidency,
unresolved ethnic tensions in a country still controlled by warlords,
and continued agitation and re-emergence of the Taliban, especially
in Zabul and Uruzgan provinces, are similarly a recipe for disaster
and political unrest. Unlike Pakistan, general elections will
be held in June 2004, a critical period which will test Afghanistan's
new constitution.
A terrible earthquake struck Bam, Iran.
Fault lines portending future earthquakes, however, seem to likewise
run through Islamabad and Kabul. Should these slip, it will make
rebuilding the ancient city of Bam the easiest reconstruction
job in the region.
Rannie Amiri
is an observer, commentator, and exponent of issues dealing with
the Arab and Islamic worlds. Amiri can be reached at: rbamiri@yahoo.com
Weekend
Edition Features for January 3 / 4, 2004
Brian Cloughley
Never
Mind the WMDs, Just Look at History
Vice Admiral Jack Shanahan
The Wrong War at the Wrong Time
William Cook
Failing to Respond to 9/11
Glen Martin
Jesus
vs. the Beast of the Apocalypse
Robert Fisk
Iraqi Humor Amid the Carnage
Ilan Pappe
The Geneva Bubble
Walter Davis
Robert Jay Lifton, or Nostalgia
Kurt Nimmo
Ashcroft vs. the Left
Mike Whitney
The Padilla Case
Steven Sherman
On Wallerstein's The Decline of American Power
Dave Lindorff
Bush's Taiwan Hypocrisy
William Blum
Codework Orange!
Mitchel Cohen
Learning from Che Guevara
Seth Sandronsky
Mad Cow and Main Street USA
Bruce Jackson
Conversations with Leslie Fiedler
Standard Schaefer
Poet Carl Rakosi Turns 100
Ron Jacobs
Sir Mick
Adam Engel
Hall of Hoaxes
Poets' Basement
Jones, Albert & Curtis
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