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Cockburn / St. Clair's Scorching New History of a Decade of War Now Available! Today's Stories May 28, 2004 Alexander Cockburn NYTs: "Maybe We Did Screw Up...a Little" May 27, 2004 Amy Goodman / David Goodman Fatal Errors: the Lies of Our Times Douglas Valentine Ragging the Dogs of War at the NYTs John L. Hess The Times Confesses...Kind Of Stew Albert Dellinger, the Wrestling Pacifist Dave Dellinger a 1993 Interview Christopher Brauchli Tax Breaks for Scions...to Hell with Poor Kids Rampton / Stauber Banana Republicans: Pumping Irony May 26, 2004 Ron Jacobs Goodbye, David Dellinger: He Was a Friend of Ours Robert Fisk The Things Bush Didn't Say in His Speech Zeynep Toufe New Draft UN Resolution Permits Perpetual Occupation Conn Hallinan Bush and Sharon: the Oil Connection Tom Stephens 2 + 2 is On My Mind: More Morons and War Crimes Derek Medley Protesting Gov. Bigot CounterPunch Wire FBI Abducts Artist; Seizes Art Andrew Cockburn The Trail to Tehran     May 25, 2004 Joe Bageant The Covert Kingdom: On Earth as It is in Texas Col. Dan Smith A Question of Human Dignity Gary Handschumacher Visiting Lori Berenson: Time to Bring Her Home Toni Solo A Developing War in the Andes Marc Estrin September Song: Disturbing Questions About 9/11 Stephen Banko, III A Vietnam Vet on "Supporting the Troops" Website of the Day The Wizard of Whimsy May 24, 2004 Ron Jacobs Dan Senor is Safe! Kurt Nimmo Dirty Tricks & TortureGate: the Missing Taguba Pages Sam Hamod Gen. Zinni: "Wrong War, Wrong Place, Wrong Time" Mike Whitney The Wedding was a Bomb Stan Goff Open Season on MAMs Image of the Day A Photo from Abu Ghraib We Didn't See on the Front Page of the NYTs     May 22 / 23, 2004 Paul de Rooij Colin Powell, a Political Obituary Jeffrey St. Clair When War is Swell: Bush and the Carlyle Group Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Her Son Was Told He Wouldn't See Combat; Now He's Dead: an Interview with Sue Niederer Brian Cloughley America is Committing War Crimes in Iraq Saul Landau Democracy in Latin America: Great for Investors; Not So Good for People Brandy Baker Feminists Stand By Their Man: Abortion, Judges and Kerry Randall Robinson Bushwhacked in the Caribbean Uri Avnery The Rape of Rafah Ben Tripp Assume the Worst Bruce Anderson News from Ecotopia: the Truth About the Wine Business Josh Ruebner Why I Burned My Israeli Military Papers Peter Wolson, Ph. D. Exhibitionistic Revenge at Abu Ghraib Chloe Cockburn In Defense of "Troy": What Hector Could Teach Rummy Linda Burnham Sexual Domination in Uniform: an American Value Adrien Rain Burke War of the Necrophiliacs: Spc. Sabrina Harman and Her Corpse David Krieger Charting a New Course for US Nuclear Policy Ron Jacobs Turnaround Poets' Basement Ford, Albert & LaMorticella   May 21, 2004 Ray Close The Canards of the Apologists Christopher Brauchli "The Object of Torture is Torture" Amira Hass Darkness at Noon Jack McCarthy Camilo Mejia: Can the Son of a Sandinista Get a Fair Trial from the US Army? Bill Kauffman Nader v. Bush Omar Barghouti No More Tears for America Ghali Hassan Moral Failure of the "Free World" in Gaza Christopher Reed How the CIA Taught the Portuguese to Torture Website of the Day Eric Idle on the Bush Administration: Fuck You, So Very Much     May 20, 2004 Andrew Cockburn The Truth About Chalabi Kathy Kelly A Visit from the FBI Niranjan Ramakrishnan Brown and Bored of Education in India Tom Stephens & John Philo The War Crimes of Bush, Cheney & Co. Sam Bahour / Michael Dahan Genocide by Public Policy Robert Ovetz Ending the Race for the Last Turtle Billy Wilson The Most Important Thing I Learned at School This Year Website of the Day Rafah Today   May 19, 2004 Elizabeth W. Corrie Caterpillar Should Do the Right Thing, Now Bill and Kathleen Christison The US Can't Win Vijay Prashad For Whom the Polls Toll: the Indian Elections of 2004 Ray Hanania Israeli War Crimes: Who to Believe, AIPAC or Amnesty Intl.? Greg Moses Man President Kisses Up at AIPAC Michael Gillespie Who is Kenneth deGraffenried? Josh Frank Homes Destroyed; Death Toll Mounts: But Where's John Kerry? Gary Corseri Out of Iraq and Plato's Cave Kevin Alexander Gray If Malcolm Were Alive     May 18, 2004 Neve Gordon The Gaza Debacle Doug Stokes Imperial Policing: Why Abu Ghraib Shouldn't Surprise Us Bob Wing The Color of Abu Ghraib Vanessa Jones Man on a Leash Thomas P. Healy Chemical Trespass: the Body Burden Zeynep Toufe Torture and Moral Agency: the Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations Kenneth Roth Mistreatment of Detainees in US Custody: a Letter to Bush Elaine Cassel Pre-empting the Bill of Rights: The Other War, One Year Later Website of the Day Truth Against Truth   May 17, 2004 Kurt Nimmo The John-John Ticket: Kerry Woos McCain Laura Santina Military Conditioning and Abu Ghraib Mickey Z. With Friends Like These: More Election 2004 Madness Frederick B. Hudson Police Terror: Three Mothers Search for Justice Shakirah Esmail-Hudani Inside Abu Ghraib: the Violence of the Camera Boris Leonardo Caro The Revelations of Mr. W. Alex Dawoody Iraq: From Saddam to Occupation Victor Kattan On Watching the Execution of Nick Berg Ron Jacobs Rumsfeld's Sovereignty Shell Game     May 15 / 16, 2004 Alexander Cockburn Green Lights for Torture Douglas Valentine ABCs of American Interrogation: Phoenix Program, Revisited John Stanton Kings of Pain: UK, US and Israel Ben Tripp Torture: a Fond Reminiscence Brian Cloughley Where are You Heading, America? Taking a Closer Look at the Patriot Act Justin E. H. Smith Islam and Democracy: the Lesson from Turkey Brandy Baker Equal Opportunity Torture: Lynddie England, the Right and Feminism John Chuckman Peep Show on Capitol Hill: Sex, Lies and Videotape Bill Glahn RIAA Watch: Goon Squad John Holt Fencing the Sky Ron Jacobs The Power of Patti Smith Brian J. Foley Why the Outrage Over Abu Ghraib? Robin Philpot Re-writing the History of the Rwandan Genocide Eric Leser The Carlyle Empire Ray Hanania From Abu Ghraib to Nick Berg: There's No Such Thing as a Good War Crime Jeff Halper Dozers of Mass Destruction Joe Surkiewicz Inside the Baltimore Detention Center John Whitlow Iraq Goddamn Michael Leon Invitation to a Beheading: Why Bush Should Watch the Berg Video Poets' Basement Krieger, Ford, LaMorticella, Smith and Albert       May 14, 2004 Dr. Susan Block Bush's POW Porn Ron Jacobs Secret History of the War on Drugs William Blum God, Country and Torture Michael Donnelly The People v. Corporate Greed: A Victory on the North Coast Niranjan Ramakrishnan India Shines Stephen Gowans Building Democracy in Iraq and Other Absurdities     May 13, 2004 Dave Lindorff Where is Kerry? Colm O'Laithian Torture and Degradation: Revenge American Style? Saul Landau and Farrah Hassan Wal-Mart: Scrooge with Hi-Tech Accounting Practices Ralph Nader An Open Letter to Bush on the Inhumane Treatment of Iraqi Prisoners Willliam James Martin Deir Yassin Massacre Recalled Marc Salomon Reality TV Bites Forrest Hylton Law 'n Order in La Paz: All Quiet on the Southern Front? May 12, 2004 Blanton / Kornbluh Prisoner Abuse: Cheney Warned in 1992 Virginia Tilley So, Who's to Blame? Bruce Jackson James Inhofe, the Dumbest Senator of Them All Thomas P. Healy No Enemies: Making Peace with Bert Sacks Linda S. Heard Racism and Ignorance: a Lethal Cocktail in Iraq Norman Solomon Spinning Torturegate Lisa Viscidi The People's Voice: Community Radio in Guatemala Jack Heyman View from the Bay Bridge: Longshoremen Plan Mass Workers March on DC Niranjan Ramakrishnan Rummy's Reprieve CounterPunch Wire Teamsters Corruption Scandal: Hoffa Exec. Assistant Alleged to Have Quashed Investigation into Mob Influence Christopher Brauchli Detention Camp, USA William S. Lind Bush's Waterloo? May 11, 2004 Mark Engler On the "Necessity" of Torture Ray McGovern More Troops? A March of Folly Kurt Nimmo Dirty Nukes and Jefferson's Grand Experiment Mickey Z. Less Than Hero Christopher Reed Torture on the Homefront: America's Long History of Prison Abuse Dennis Hans When John Negroponte was Mullah Omar Bruce Jackson Pete Seeger at 85 Mike Whitney Killing al Sadr Simon Helweg-Larsen Shrinking the Guatemalan Military William A. Cook The Unconscious Country: Righteous Indignation, Nakedly Displayed   May 10, 2004 Robert Fisk From Hollywood to Abu Ghraib: Racism and Torture as Entertainment Wayne Madsen The Israeli Torture Template: Rape, Feces and Urine-Soaked Cloth Sacks Col. Dan Smith The Shame of Abu Ghraib Joe Bageant John Ashcroft, Keep Your Mouth Off My Wife! Ron Jacobs Rummy's Prisongate Blues: Don't Leave Mad; Just Leave Ben Tripp Getting in Touch with Your Inner Savage Ray Hanania Why They Hate Us: Racism, Bigotry and Abuse Reza Fiyouzat "Mishandled" Invasions Diane Christian Images & Abstractions & Genitals Website of the Day Crushing Iraqi Skulls with Tanks for Sport? May 8 / 9, 2004 Cockburn / St. Clair Torture: as American as Apple Pie Adam Jones America's Srebrenica: What About the Hundreds of POWs Suffocated and Shot at Kunduz? Douglas Valentine Who Let the Dogs Out?: Torture, the CIA and the Press Kurt Nimmo Rush Limbaugh and the Babes of Abu Ghraib Brian Cloughley Humpty Dumpty is Falling Lucia Dailey Forbidden Games Joanne Mariner * * * *: Redacting Moussaoui Mickey Z. Please Forgive U.S.? (There Are No Innocent Bystanders) John Chuckman The Thing with No Brain Doug Giebel Someone Knew: There Were No WMDs Norm Dixon How the Bush Gang Exploited 9/11 Sam Bahour A Guiding Light Falls on Ramallah Susan Davis Disorderly Conduct as Fine Art Dave Marsh In a Pig's Eye: Alan Lomax, Dead But Still Stealing Laura Flanders Life with Dick and Lynne Dave Zirin Fans Push Spiderman Off Base Carolyn Baker Why I Won't Vote in 2004 Prince "Ain't No Sense in Voting" Dr. Susan Block Onan for Two: Liberating Masturbation Poets' Basement Smith, Sleeth, Ford, Albert and Saska   May 7, 2004 Human Rights Watch 10 Prisons; 9,000 Prisoners: US Detention Facilities in Iraq Ron Jacobs UnAmerican? I Wish It Were So Robert Fisk An Illegal and Immoral War Ahmad Faruqui The 50th Anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Alexander Zaitchik From Terrell Unit in Texas to Abu Ghraib: Doesn't It Ring a (Prison) Bell? Mike Whitney The Price of Victory Norman Solomon This War, Racism and Media Denial M. Shahid Alam A Comic Apology   May 6, 2004 Jeffrey St. Clair They Did It for Jessica: Smeared with Shit; Kicked to Death Kathy Kelly May Day in Pekin Prison: Prison Labor for the War Machine Werther The Sunk Cost Fallacy: War as Vegas Casino Game Lawrence Ferlinghetti Totalitarian Democracy Robert Fisk "Smoke Him": Video Shows Wounded Men Being Shot by US Helicopter John Janney Torturing the Way to Freedom? Christopher Ketcham Outlaw Heterosexual Marriage Now! Alan Farago Dead Oceans: So Long, Thanks for the Fish Sam Hamod Bush on Arab TV: Worthless and Demeaning James Brooks Sullen Spring William S. Lind On the Brink of Defeat in Iraq     May 5, 2004 Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba Complete US Army Report on Abuse of Iraqi Prisoners Kathleen and Bill Christison Kerry: a Lost Cause for Progressives? Will Youmans Deal with the Devil: a Palestinian Zionist and the End of the World Patrick B. Barr Terrorists R Us: the Powerful are Exempt from the Label Lawrence Magnuson Nightline's All-American Morgue Greg Moses Pocketbook of Denuded Ideals Niranjan Ramakrishnan Tormenting Prisoners, Torturing Truth Lee Ballinger Cinco de Mayo and Unity Gilbert Achcar Bush's Cakewalk into the Iraq Quaqmire Website of the Day Operation Phoenix & Iraq             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.     Subscribe Online

May 28, 2004 Curtain of Silence on the Cuban 5 The Press Left the Courtroom When the Defense Began Its Case...as if on Command By RAFAEL RODRIGUEZ CRUZ Rafael Rodiguez Cruz is a civil rights lawyer in the US town of Hartford in Connecticut. He is a board member of the Rosenberg Fund for Children and has visited one of the Cuban Five, Rene Gonzalez Sehwerert, who was condemned to 15 years imprisonment in the federal penitentiary of Edgefield, South Carolina, for defending Cuba against terrorist attack. In this interview for Resumen Latinoamericano he describes his conversations with Rene and his views on the wall of silence surrounding the case. How is it that a civil rights lawyer from Hartford became involved with the case of the five Cubans locked up in US prisons? I became involved as a humanist and attorney. I don't like abuse and here we have serious abuse. The case of the Five, as you know, also carries vital importance for the civil rights of the US population, whether or not they support the Cuban Revolution. During the entire trial, including the arrest, methods were employed that clearly violated the due process of law as is known and understood under United States' jurisprudence. From the outset, the charges had no connection to the facts. The Five did not deny they had entered the US to infiltrate Cuban-American terrorist groups. Neither did they deny that they operated as unregistered agents of the Cuban government. The first is in no way a crime. The second is a minor violation which is of very little importance. Nevertheless, the Attorney General's office invented an entire range of charges including conspiracy to commit espionage and conspiracy to commit murder--all of which should have been immediately thrown out by the court. The fact that this didn't happen, the fact that the trial proceeded, indicates that this was a political issue--one that was agreed upon by the right-wing in Miami and the local office of the FBI. What followed as a natural course from this was the denial of the court to move the trial to a location other than Miami. This was a basic request that the law has recognized in many cases where the possibility of a fair trial was remote. Such requests are generally denial only in situations where it is logistically impossible to move the case for administrative reasons. If an allegation is made in New York, for example, it would be unreasonable to hold the trial in California, as the witnesses and others would have to travel thousands of miles. The request of the Five to be tried outside Miami did not present such problems as Fort Lauderdale was suggested--only 30 miles from Miami. The subsequent decision of the court to hold the trial in Miami determined its course. A lot has been written on the trial. The essentials are that the defense won the case as to the facts and legal arguments. As a strictly legal question the case should never have come before a jury as the judge has the duty to throw out any charge that does not carry sufficient evidence that a crime has been committed. Furthermore, the Five presented evidence that they were innocent beyond reasonable doubt. The jury nevertheless, fearing Miami, found them guilty. The real reason for all this--including the excessive sentences--is the nature of politics, which has everything to do, of course, with the Cuban-American community in Miami. Rene himself drew my attention to a situation without precedence that happened before the trial--in any criminal trial the focus in on the intent, or mens rea, of the accused. Except in very rare exceptions, without criminal intent there is no crime--whatever the facts. Here the attorney general, concerned about the obvious innocence of the accused, specifically sought to avoid a discussion of the proposal or intention the Five had confessed to because, in the words of the accusers "fighting terrorism is the true motive of the accused and this motivation should not be mentioned in the trial." Even the attorney general admitted that there was no criminal intent on the part of the Five. How does the Rosenberg Fund for Children assess the case? As you know, I traveled to Cuba in November 2003 taking with me a message of solidarity from the Rosenberg Foundation demanding a fair trial for the Five and that they be allowed to receive visits from family members, in particular Olga Salanueva and Adriana Perez. The similarities between the case of the Five and that of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are strong. In both cases the accusation of conspiring to commit espionage was used to manipulate the process and obtain sentences way out of proportion to the charges. Remember than neither the Rosenbergs nor the Cuban Five were accused of spying, but rather conspiring as there was no evidence to sustain the spying charge. They were both politically motivated cases that occurred at a moment when US public opinion was being manipulated against progressive countries and movements. With the Rosenbergs it was the Soviet Union and with the Five it's Cuba. As an attorney and a person linked with human and civil rights organizations, what motivated you to visit Rene Gonzalez Sehwerert? My immediate purpose as a member of the Rosenberg Fund for Children and as an attorney was to give my personal support to the request that Olga and Ivette (Rene and Olga's six year old daughter) be given permission to visit Rene as quickly as possible. This is basic--a demand that has roots in international human rights. The Rosenberg Fund for Children is a humanitarian organization that helps the children of people incarcerated for their progressive ideas and convictions. We had never encountered such an extreme situation in which a US born citizen is deprived of seeing his wife and daughter for years. How was the meeting with him? We could talk about that for three or four hours. I knew about him from my trips to Cuba and my friendship with his family, as well as our exchange of mail and my reading of the allegations. We embraced each other as if we were old friends meeting again. Then we began to speak of Cuba and Puerto Rico as if they were the same place, as well as all the injustices being committed in this world. I was impressed by how well-informed he was about Puerto Rico's history and what is going on there. He also stays well informed on what is going on in Cuba and the United States. We spoke for three hours. What impacted me the most, however, was the tranquility and strength in him, his natural truth and very real convictions. His manner of speaking is so respectful and noble, as is his sharp and accurate analysis of the case of the Five. At times I had to interrupt him simply to take note of what he was saying, to hear his explanation about why the case is surrounded by a wall of silence, and of the current solidarity movement and avenues of resistance. We even spoke of Mella, Betances, Maceo, Ruiz Belvis, Fidel, Albizu, Corretjer and Agramonte. The best part of our conversation had, of course, a legal aspect and was about the visit of Olga and Ivette as well as Adriana's case. Actually, it was like a conversation between two lawyers as he had his list of cases and histories that he had compiled beforehand. We discussed the humanitarian nature of all this. He's gifted with a sharp mind and an internationalist vision of both political and personal events. In the same talk he moved from relations between Cuba and the United States to chatting about the typical level of culture of someone living in the USA and that of those in prison with him--always with the same humanitarian concern, well-informed and unassuming. I think the fact that we are both from the Caribbean and at the same time US-born (I was born in New Jersey) helped a great deal. Rene moves from one culture to another with extraordinary ease--especially in relation to those who, like him, have been victimized by the system--yet not a word or sign of bitterness for the many oppressors in the USA. He only mentioned--and I agreed with him--that this country has a system that favors the oppressors, granting them power over the lives and destiny of others. We know that the US government has, for three years, prevented Rene's wife, and by extension their little 6-year-old daughter Ivette, from visiting him in prison. How does Rene deal with this? Well, Edgefield Prison is in South Carolina--a state that is very conservative with very significant racist traditions. I should mention in passing that I lived in South Carolina during the segregation years in 1958 when I was five years old. My father was a sergeant in a base where they brought people from Puerto Rico to do their military service. I could not go with my family to parks and playgrounds because they were forbidden to Puerto Ricans and Blacks. White people threw sand in our picnic hampers. The stores had signs that prohibited entry to Blacks, Puerto Ricans and dogs. My mother always warned me about these things. So, imagine. I return here almost a half century later to visit a Cuban hero unjustly imprisoned in a land that brings back quite a few bad memories. I never would have thought that I would be granted such a privilege and take every step in the name of my people including my Cuban friends. South Carolina has changed both a great deal and very little since my childhood. It is a very beautiful state with magnificent countryside, rivers and woods, but customs persist. Local television speaks of the Cold War as if it was still on, and there were two programs in the morning attacking the Cuban Revolution's accomplishments. To the south of where Rene is imprisoned--some 25 miles--is the Regional Antiterrorist Communications Center where military intelligence operations are purportedly coordinated for the Caribbean area. In the middle of a wood not far from this is Rene, incarcerated in a grey cement structure, surrounded of course by barbed wire, observation towers and walls designed to intimidate. What has happened with Rene is worse than segregation. He has been given two unjust sentences. The first is the atrocious sentence of 15 years for a crime he had not committed. The second is the undeclared sentence of preventing him from seeing his wife and child. Not even the most violent criminals are deprived of such visits unless by court order. With Rene this has been done surreptitiously because neither public opinion nor any judge that respects the law would consent to this. It is abuse, and a form of torture comparable to that practiced in Iraq. I don't deny that my mind was filled with ideas and emotions waiting for Rene to appear in the small windowless room assigned to our visit. With the first handshake, however, I felt that I was before a spirit with all the humanity that both Rene and Cuba represent that the bars and the cement walls of the prison could not break. He put all doubts aside, told me he was well, and that he was there to guarantee that the people of Cuba would be free from terrorist attack. I didn't talk about the prison conditions because it wasn't necessary. We spoke of his family, of Olguita and Ivette, of their dog Chencha, as if he saw them every day, as if he had never left Cuba. There were no tears as his love for his family cannot be locked up, cannot end within the confines of his cell. So I forgot where I was and joined Rene and his family visiting all of Havana and Cuba--from Pinar del Rio to Bayamo... What do you think needs to be done to ensure that Rene and his wife and little daughter see each other again? That's a good question. Rene and I spoke extensively about this although I speak here only for myself. First is to continue to speak of the case to everyone--especially in relation to the visits. The United States has a long tradition in respect of family rights. The integrity of the family, expressed above all by parent-child contact, is a main constitutional right. No effort is spared to save children from terrible conditions. I believe that the case of Ivette and Olguita, as well as that of Adriana, is offensive to the decent traditional feelings of most people in the US. A similar situation occurred with Elian Gonzalez and his father. Spreading the humanitarian word on this is vital. Given that the United States is such a large country, I would like to see more information provided to humanitarian organizations and religious groups on a local level. This worked well for us in the US solidarity movement for Vieques as many people focus their attention on locally arranged activities and less so on a national level. Perhaps they won't read the New York Times (where a full page ad appeared in March describing the case of the Cuban Five) or regularly visit the Internet, but they can sign a petition and complain to their local representatives. The US government has imposed a wall of silence around this case to such an extent that a number of people, organizations and friends in solidarity with Cuba both in and outside of the United States had to pay $50,000 to publish an ad telling the truth. Do you think that this March 4th ad in the New York Times was sufficient to get the word out to the people of the United States? In my opinion the ad in the New York Times had a real impact. I said to Rene that I was surprised that the ad hadn't provoked a response from the Cuban-American right-wing in Miami, and he said that was precisely because of this wall of silence--that they quite simply won't talk about the case in Miami. I think that there is still a lot of ignorance regarding the case and that we need to repeat things like placing ads in the New York Times or in other ways, adjusting for the local conditions of each town or community. In Hartford, Connecticut, for example, the mainstream press doesn't talk about the case but a journalist friend of progressive causes has brought it upon on a couple of occasions on local TV. On Thursday, March 13, we presented the video "September and More" that was produced in Cuba, and I spoke for half an hour on the Five and the denial of visas to Olguita and Adriana. Soon I will be on TV again to present the DVD "Five Reasons". The people of the United States along with the media have reacted to the images of abuse committed against prisoners in Iraq and Guantanamo. Do the people of the US know about the abuses and arbitrary punishments meted out to inmates in US prisons? No, few know about this. Everything is rigidly controlled. This is protected information. Are there any images that show the conditions when, as in the case of the Five, prisoners are confined to solitary cells? If so, have such pictures appeared in the US press? Again, the answer is no. As Rene mentioned when we spoke, the press is a part of this system of repression. For example, the New York Times began covering the trial because it was about the arrest of alleged Cuban spies. However, when the defense began to present its case, the NY Times reporter was withdrawn. Other media also stopped covering the case. They acted together as if on command. Curiously, Rene and I spoke about the writings of Jose Marti on the people of the United States and how the press manipulates and misinforms them. The events of Iraq which you mentioned a moment ago show that Marti was right--that much of the information on torture in Iraq has not been exposed because of the supposed impartial press in the US, but that goodness flowers everywhere because soldiers--decent people like the Latino trooper Mejias (condemned to one year in prison for refusing to return to Iraq)--refused to participate in the torture and took risks to denounce it. The brutality exposed by the press was not well-received by the US public, which has seen the nefarious lies about the invasion of Iraq unmasked. I believe this has opened a new window to talk about the treatment of prisoners in the United States, not only in Guantanamo and Iraq, and therefore lead to more people hearing about the unjust conditions under which the Five are incarcerated and the refusal to allow Olga, Adriana and Ivette to visit; things that are occurring in their country. We need to take advantage of the moment. What were you thinking as you walked through the iron gate separating Rene from the rest of the world? I can tell you that without thinking. I felt very peaceful, and for some reason I thought of Che... The Rosenberg Fund for Children is a non-for profit organization that provides financial help for the educational end emotional needs of children of targeted progressive activists. To date it has given more than a million dollars in grants, including grants to progressive activists from Puerto Rico. The RFC was created by Robert (Rosenberg) Meeropol, son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who were executed on June 19, 1953. Their sons, Michael and Robert, were 10 and 6 at the time, respectively. From November 1950 to the spring of 1951, after the arrest Julius and Ethel, but prior to their execution, Robert and Michael were placed in a shelter. In 1954, shortly after the children went to live with the Meeropols, Manny Block, the Rosenberg's attorney died. The children were seized and placed in an orphanage. Eventually they were adopted by Abel and Anne Meeropol. With the creation of the RFC more than ten years ago, Robert seeks to return to the community and the world what was given to him and Michael in silence. Rafael Rodriguez Cruz can be reached at: RRodriguezCruz@ghla.org Weekend Edition Features for May 22 / 23, 2004 Paul de Rooij Colin Powell, a Political Obituary Jeffrey St. Clair When War is Swell: Bush and the Carlyle Group Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Her Son Was Told He Wouldn't See Combat; Now He's Dead: an Interview with Sue Niederer Brian Cloughley America is Committing War Crimes in Iraq Saul Landau Democracy in Latin America: Great for Investors; Not So Good for People Brandy Baker Feminists Stand By Their Man: Abortion, Judges and Kerry Randall Robinson Bushwhacked in the Caribbean Uri Avnery The Rape of Rafah Ben Tripp Assume the Worst Bruce Anderson News from Ecotopia: the Truth About the Wine Business Josh Ruebner Why I Burned My Israeli Military Papers Peter Wolson, Ph. D. Exhibitionistic Revenge at Abu Ghraib Chloe Cockburn In Defense of "Troy": What Hector Could Teach Rummy Linda Burnham Sexual Domination in Uniform: an American Value Adrien Rain Burke War of the Necrophiliacs: Spc. Sabrina Harman and Her Corpse David Krieger Charting a New Course for US Nuclear Policy Ron Jacobs Turnaround Poets' Basement Ford, Albert & LaMorticella WWW http://www.counterpunch.org   Keep CounterPunch Alive: Make a Tax-Deductible Donation Today Online! home / subscribe / about us / books / archives / search / links /