home / subscribe / donate / tower / books / archives / search / links / feedback / events / faq
What You're Missing in Our Subscriber-only CounterPunch Newsletter How they Do Ethnic Cleansing in America Read Forrest Hylton's amazing account of the brutal creation of 21st century New York. How the Rockefellers, the New York Times, a Neocon and the RAND Corporation made Brooklyn safe for latte. 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 towards the cost of this online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now
Get CounterPunch By Email for Only $35 a Year
Today's Stories January 30, 2007 Werther Kathy Kelly Uri Avnery Pariah
Nurit Peled-Elhanan Patrick Cockburn JoAnn Wypijewski Ron Jacobs Dave Lindorff Kevin Zeese Reza Fiyouzat Pat Williams Website of the Day
January 27 / 28, 2007 Diana Johnstone Eliza Ernshire Patrick Cockburn David Rosen Greg Moses Bernard Chazelle Tao Ruspoli Hermán
Uribe Ralph Nader Paul Craig
Roberts Fred Gardner Brian Cloughley James Abourezk John V. Whitbeck Seth Sandronsky Alan Cabal Pam Martens Website of
the Weekend
Charlotte Laws Mike Ely /
Linda Flores Joe DeRaymond Phil Donahue Zia Mian Jeb Sprague Evelyn Pringle Missy Beattie Martha Rosenberg Website of
the Day
Patrick Cockburn John Ross Jeremy Scahill Frida Berrigan Paul Craig Roberts Jason Yossef
Ben-Meir Christopher Brauchli Holger W. Henke Dave Lindorff Julia Landau Website of the Day
January 24, 2007 Tao Ruspoli Paul Craig
Roberts Lt. Gen. William Odom Sharon Smith Brian M. Downing Heather Gray Ron Jacobs James Brooks Robert Day Website of
the Day
Trish Schuh Robert Bryce
Stephen Soldz John Blair Gloria La Riva Joshua Frank Patrick Cockburn Ralph Nader Dave Lindorff Uri Avnery Website of the Day
January 22, 2007 Manuel Garcia,
Jr. Jen Marlowe George McGovern Paul Craig
Roberts Norman Solomon Amira Hass Mike Whitney Ramzy Baroud John Walsh Website of
the Day
January 20/21 2007 Alexander Cockburn
Gail Dines
Newton Garver
Gilad Atzmon
Seth Sandronksy
Raphaelle Bail
Jim Goodman Larry Portis
Website of
the Weekend
Jonathan Cook
Glen Ford Dave Lindorff
Larry Portis
Website of
the Day
William Peace
Virginia Tilley
Michael Donnelly
B.R. Gowani
Larry Portis
Jason Hribal
Website of
the Day
Franklin Spinney John Ross Susan George Paul Craig
Roberts Joshua Frank David Lindorff
Col. Sam Gardiner
Marjorie Cohn
Saul Landau
Ron Jacobs
Susan Block Ken Couesbouck Website of
the Day
Roger Morris Paul Craig
Roberts Kathy Kelly William Blum Ralph Nader Saul Landau January 12 / 14, 2007 Patrick Cockburn David Rosen William S.
Lind Laith al-Saud Paul Craig
Roberts John Ross George Ciccariello-Maher Christopher Brauchli Robert Buzzanco Evelyn Pringle Peter Rost,
MD. Mike Whitney Yifat Susskind Saul Cohen Missy Beattie Stephen Lendman Website of
the Weekend
January 11, 2007 Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Paul Craig
Roberts Kathy Kelly Dave Lindorff Jeff Leys Richard W.
Behan Col. Douglas MacGregor Website of
the Day Speech of the Day
Peter Linebaugh Robert Fantina Patrick Cockburn Paul Craig Roberts Col. Dan Smith Ben Tripp Evelyn Pringle Ron Jacobs Mike Ferner Dave Zirin Website of
the Day Bootleg of the Day
R. T. Naylor Jonathan Cook Mike Ely and Linda Flores Joshua Frank Norman Solomon Sen. Russell
Feingold Joe Allen James T. Phillips Brian Concannon Leonard Peltier Website of the Day
January 8, 2007 Werther Jeff Leys Paul Craig Roberts Shulamit Aloni Dave Lindorff Sunsara Taylor Seth Sandronsky Dr. Susan Block Website of the Day
Alexander Cockburn Franklin C.
Spinney Paul Craig
Roberts Ralph Nader Walden Bello Marleen Martin Brian Cloughley Uri Avnery Saul Landau Ron Jacobs Joseph Nevins William S. Lind Gary Leupp Elisa Salasin George Ciccariello-Maher Beyond Chavistas and Anti-Chavistas: Deepening the Bolivarian Revolution Stefan Wray Michael Leonardi Richard Rhames Jeffrey St. Clair Barbara LaMorticella Website of the Weekend Song of the
Weekend
Jorge Mariscal John Walsh Christopher Brauchli Travis Sharpe Tom Barry Linda Schade
/ Kevin Zeese Tiffany Ten Eyck Mahmoud El-Yousseph Lucinda Marshall Website of
the Day
Patrick Cockburn Winslow T.
Wheeler M. Shahid Alam Raed Jarrar Bert Sacks Kathy Rentenbach Stephen Fleischman George Bisharat Peter Rost, MD Evelyn Pringle Website of the Day
January 3, 2007 Kathy Kelly Paul Craig
Roberts William Johnson Stan Cox Trita Parsi Declan McKenna Joe Bageant Nicola Nasser Missy Beattie Website of
the Day
Michael Watts Amina Mire James Brooks Alevtina Rea Al Krebs Peter Rost Niranjan Ramakrishnan John Stanton Website of the Day
January 1, 2007 Patrick Cockburn Uri Avnery Joshua Frank
December 30
/ 31, 2006 Alexander Cockburn Patrick Cockburn Manuel Garcia,
Jr. Tariq Ali Paul Craig Roberts Douglas Valentine Brian M. Downing Michael Donnelly Stephen Lendman Fred Gardner Bailly / Caudron / Lambert Ralph Nader Nick Dearden Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Missy Beattie Ron Jacobs Dan La Botz Andrew Wimmer Dr. Carol Wolman, MD Martha Rosenberg Dick J. Reavis Jeffrey St.
Clair Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend Music Video of the Weekend
Norman Finkelstein John Borowski Abid Mustafa Greg Moses Uri Cohen Bailly / Caudron
/ Lambert Website of
the Day
December 28, 2006 Norman Finkelstein Anthony Cowell John Ross Hilaria Cruz Greg Moses Brittany Bond Website of
the Day
December 27, 2006 Alexander Cockburn Faruq Ziada Christopher Brauchli Michael Ortiz
Hill Nikolas Kozloff Mark Schneider
Peter Stone
Brown Tito Tricot Gary Leupp John V. Walsh Reza Fiyouzat Ron Jacobs Website of
the Day
Saul Landau Lang / McGovern Michael Dickinson Website of
the Day
Marjorie Cohn Jeffrey L.
Gould Diane Christian William Loren
Katz Greg Moses M. Shahid Alam Fred Gardner Dave Lindorff Azmi Bishara Ralph Nader Seth Sandronsky William Hughes Ron Jacobs Jeffrey St.
Clair
December 22, 2006 David Rosen Christopher
Brauchli John Ross J.L. Chestnut,
Jr. Rahul Mahajan Arthur Neslen Peter Rost, MD Website of
the Day
Rosa Mariam
Elizalde Arundhati Roy Brian Cloughley Daniel White John V. Whitbeck Sam Smith Paris Reidhead Kevin Wehr Website of the Day
Gabriel Kolko Winslow T.
Wheeler Tariq Ali Saree Makdisi Bruce Jackson Dave Lindorff Leslie Radford Dave Jansson Johnny Barber Website of
the Day
Alexander Cockburn Jonathan Cook Greg Moses Sean Penn Dave Lindorff Ralph Nader Laura Carlsen Carlos Villarreal Website of
the Day
Luis J. Rodriguez Norman Solomon Uri Avnery Ron Jacobs Phil Gasper Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi William Blum Jim Goodman James Brooks Maria C. Khoury Website of the Day
Vijay Prashad Saul Landau Anthony Arnove Paul Cantor Annie Nocenti Nicole Colson Stephen Gowans Jordan Flaherty Fred Gardner P. Sainath Seth Sandronsky Nadia Hijab Deb Reich Susie Day Albert Wan Missy Beattie Martha Rosenberg Lee Ballinger Michael Dickinson Jeffrey St.
Clair Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
December 15, 2006 Eliza Ernshire Virginia Tilley Mike Ferner John Ross Fred Wilhelms Kevin Zeese David Severn Dave Lindorff Sunsara Taylor Website of
the Day
December 14, 2006 Jonathan Cook Riz Khan Jason Hribal Pennick / Gray Richard Levins Pat Williams Peter Rost, MD Website of
the Day
December 13, 2006 Patrick Cockburn Greg Moses Elizabeth Schulte Joshua Frank Debra Eschmeyer Leon Hadar Peter Rost, MD Margaret Knapke Reza Fiyouzat Fred Wilhelms Website of
the Day
Fernando A.
Torres Paul Craig
Roberts Stephen Soldz Uri Avnery William S. Lind Missy Beattie Dave Lindorff George Pyle Norman Solomon Website of
the Day
December 11, 2006 Virginia Tilley Roger Burbach Col. Douglas MacGregor Fawwas Traboulsi Ron Jacobs Gideon Levy Mary McGrane Bernardo Ruiz Website of the Day Video of the
Day
December 9
/ 10, 2006 Alexander Cockburn Sen. Gordon Smith Greg Grandin
Paul Craig Roberts Col. Dan Smith Ralph Nader Behrooz Ghamari Rev. Willliam Alberts James T. Phillips Bennis / Leaver Dave Lindorff Nikolas Kozloff Seth Sandronsky Lucinda Marshall Mike Whitney John V. Whitbeck Faisal Kutty Hugh Sansom Robert Gold Boots Riley Jeffrey St.
Clair Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
Patrick Cockburn Leutisha Stills Norman Finkelstein Will Youmans Peter Rost, MD Jonathan Demme Ray McGovern Lucinda Marshall Tariq Ali / Robin Blackburn Website of
the Day
December 7, 2006 Alex Friedman Maureen Webb Paul Craig Roberts Dave Lindorff Matt Vidal Yifat Susskind Rodriguez / Jones Website of
the Day
Robert Bryce
William S. Lind Zoe Blunt Corporate Crime Reporter Amira Hass Richard W. Behan Sophie McNeill
Virginia Tilley Sharon Smith Joe Bageant Ron Jacobs Norman Solomon Mike Whitney Derrick O'Keefe Julian Assange Missy Beattie Website of
the Day
December 4, 2006 Alexander Cockburn George Ciccariello-Maher Ray McGovern John Ross Walden Bello Peter Rost,
MD Stephen Lendman Gideon Levy Website of the Day
December 2
/ 3, 2006 Barucha Calamity
Peller Paul Craig
Roberts Ralph Nader Winslow T.
Wheeler Amira Hass Maymanah Farhat Dave Lindorff Fred Gardner Col. Dan Smith Raed Jarrar Seth Sandronsky K.-Y. Taylor Yifat Susskind David Rosen Ron Jacobs Nikolas Kozloff Talli Nauman Alan Gregory Joe Allen St. Clair /
D'Antoni Poets' Basement Website of
the Day
December 1, 2006 Greg Grandin Linn Washington,
Jr. George Ciccariello-Maher Brian J. Foley Dave Zirin Joshua Frank Chris Floyd Ingmar Lee Manuel Garcia,
Jr. Website of the Day Video of the
Day
Subscribe Online
|
January 30, 2007 A "Peace Existence" for Whom?Hiding America's Surging Militarism Behind ChildrenBy Rev. WILLIAM E. ALBERTS Matthew's gospel records that when his disciples asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?," Jesus put a child in their midst and said, "Whoever becomes humble like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (18:1-4) When America was attacked on 9/11, President Bush said the United States is "the greatest nation on the face of the earth." (The New York Times, Sept. 17, 2002), and then put a child in our midst to justify a needless pre-emptive war against sanctions-weakened, defenseless Iraq: "We owe it to our children, we owe it to our grandchildren to make sure that the dictator of Iraq never threatens our country, or our children, or our children's children with the world's worst weapons." (The Boston Globe, Sept 24, 2002) What we owe our children and grandchildren is to stop the spreading, now surging, malady of militarism with which the Bush administration has infected America and the world. Whereas Jesus affirmed the natural innocence of children, President Bush uses their innocence to justify waging a criminal war against the people of Iraq and their children and grandchildren. Bush's continuing, seemingly sociopathic, exploitation of family, democratic and religious values, to mask and justify war and domination, needs to be seen for what it is and ended now by Congress. Only then will our children and grandchildren avoid the legacy of hatred of America and constant fear and threat of violence, being created for them by the Bush administration's warped "good versus evil" worldview and unending militaristic war of terrorism. The so-called "war on terrorism" is a terrible hoax perpetrated on Americans by the Bush administration, using the horrific attack of 9/11 to instill manipulative fear, cloak military aggression and domination that serve corporate interests, and maintain Republican political power. President Bush continually drafts our children and grandchildren to serve militaristic policies that threaten, not protect, their future. He exploits our children's innocence to justify his latest "surge" of sending 21,000 more American troops to Iraq: "But victory in Iraq . . . a democratic Iraq . . . will help bring a future of peace and security for our children and grandchildren." He even drafted countless other children in his new escalation of militaristic violence: "From Afghanistan to Lebanon to the Palestinian Territories, millions of ordinary people are sick of the violence, and want a future of peace and opportunity for their children. And," he said, "they are looking at Iraq. They want to know: Will America withdraw and yield the future of that country to the extremists-or will we stand with the Iraqis who have made the choice for freedom?" ("Transcript of President Bush's address to the nation last night" as recorded by The New York Times, Jan. 11, 2002) President Bush's repeated cloaking of his administration's militarism in the innocence of children is seen in his recent year-end news conference: "This war on terrorism is the calling of a new generation. Success," he continued, "is essential to securing a future for peace for our children and grandchildren. And," he added, "securing this peaceful future is going to require a sustained commitment from the American people and our military." ("Press Conference by the President," Office of the Press Secretary, The White House, Dec. 20, 2006) Here again, President Bush even recruited the children of the Middle East in his war of terrorism. "The one thing we cannot do," he said, "is to give up on the hundreds of millions of ordinary moms and dads across the Middle East who want the hope and opportunity for their children that the terrorists and extremists seek to deny them. And that's a peaceful existence." (Ibid) "A peaceful existence?" It is not believed to be about "success" in Iraq being "essential to securing a future for peace for our children and grandchildren"-and for the children of "the ordinary moms and dads across the Middle East." It is about President Bush's overriding need for "victory" in Iraq to hide his administration's war crimes and thus secure his future-from the gallows of public opinion, the judgment of impeachment, or the docket, in absentia, of the US-opposed International Criminal Court charged with war crimes. It is not just about protecting his "ego" but about protecting his own future "peaceful existence." He desperately needs a "surge" of American troops in Iraq to stave off the reality of truth and justice that the future holds for him-and for certain other members of his militaristic administration. "A peaceful existence?" "For our children and grandchildren?" For "the ordinary moms and dads across the Middle East . . . ?" Using the innocence of children to justify crimes against humanity. A preemptive, criminal war based on a lie: ". . . the dictator of Iraq threaten[ing] our children [and] children's children with the world's worst weapons." The ensuing deaths of some 655,000 "ordinary moms and dads" and their children across Iraq. ("Study Claims Iraq's 'Excess' Death Toll Has Reached 655,000," by David Brown, The Washington Post, Oct. 11, 2006) "Operation Iraqi Freedom's" destruction of Iraq's life-sustaining infrastructure, and the continuing failure of Bush administration-favored war-profiteering corporations, like Vice President Cheney's Halliburton, to reconstruct what America's militarism devastated. Horribly violent sectarian civil war, set in motion by the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq, making the country less stable and safe than under the brutal rule of Saddam Hussein. "A peaceful existence?" The reality includes the flight rather than "freedom" of millions of "ordinary" "moms and dads" in Iraq and their children. Last October a report by The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was quoted as stating that "out of the population of 26 million, 1.6 million Iraqis have fled the country and a further 1.5 million are displaced within Iraq." ("The Exodus: 1.6m Iraqis have fled their country since the war," by Patrick Cockburn, The Independent, 23 Oct. 2006) "A peaceful existence?
For whom? Over 3,000 children and grandchildren of American
"ordinary moms and dads" dead, and tens of thousands
more physically and emotionally maimed-and these totals will
"surge" if Congress does not stop the insanity of this
militarizer-in chief. The criminal investment of our country's
human and material resources in killing and occupying and dominating
instead of in creating and sustaining and renewing life here
and abroad. In the face of these brutal realities, our country is led by a president evidently blinded by the arrogance of power in continuing to insist, "And I want the enemy to understand that . . . they can't run us out of the Middle East." ("Press Conference by the President," Dec. 20, 2006) It is the "ordinary moms and dads across the Middle East" who want to "run us out of the Middle East." Bush's arrogance is also seen in his call for a "surge," which will involve US forces "continu[ing] to pursue Al Qaeda and foreign fighters [italics added]." ("Transcript of President Bush's address," The New York Times, Jan. 11, 2007) The only real "foreign fighters" in Iraq are Americans and their coalition partners. "Foreign fighters?" A poll conducted by the University of Maryland last October was reported as indicating that "78 percent of Iraqis said the US military is 'provoking more conflict than it is preventing,'" that "71 percent, including 74 percent of Shiites and 91 percent of Sunnis, want US soldiers out within a year or less," and that "61 percent of Iraqis favor attacks on American troops." ("Time to Leave," Editorial, The Nation, Dec. 18, 2006) "Merciless and violent . . . terrorists and extremists," as President constantly tries to have us Americans believe? Or "ordinary moms and dads" across Iraq, whose love of their children and their country leads them to resist a "merciless and violent" "shock and awe" invasion and occupation of their homeland, paraded as the "advance of liberty?" President Bush accuses neighboring Iran and Syria of aiding and abetting the "terrorist and insurgents" in Iraq, and threatens to "seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq." ("Transcript of President Bush's address," The New York Times, Jan. 11, 2007) His desperate need to "succeed," to secure his own future "peaceful existence," could lead him to divert public attention from his war crimes against Iraq by provoking a much larger war against Iran and Syria-ostensibly to also "help bring a future of peace and security for our children and grandchildren." Our country is suffering from the militarism of a president in deep denial: "Our goal remains a free and democratic Iraq that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself, and is an ally in this war on terrorism." ("Press Conference by the President," Dec. 20, 2006) A president whose compulsion to "succeed" in Iraq, and thus hide and justify his war crimes, is seen in his saying the obvious: "I believe that we're going to win. . . . If I didn't think that, I wouldn't have sent our troops there. That's what you've got to know. We're going to succeed." (Ibid) President Bush wants everyone to also know, "Most people have asked me to do one thing, and that is to make sure that their child didn't die in vain. And I agree with that; that their sacrifice has been worth it." (Ibid) Tragically, Bush justifies the death of one "child" by the death of another, in his apparently obsessive pursuit of "victory" to secure "a peaceful existence" for his own future. Here is believed to be a deeper motivation for the President's present "surge" of American troops in Iraq. Millions of children and grandchildren in America and the Middle East are being left behind to struggle and die, by an administration that hides behind their innocence to serve the imperialistic interests of corporate America. Tragically, much of our country's human and material resources are being sacrificed to illegally seize and control the oil and lands of other countries' children and grandchildren. Think what our human and material national wealth could do if invested in all our children and grandchildren. A truly adequate minimum wage, for example, would help to guarantee that no American child would be left behind-as would other such present-protecting and future-preparing social programs. "Ordinary moms and dads" across America know that a full stomach feeds a hungry mind. And a hungry mind is far more likely to search for truth and justice and thus help to guarantee a full stomach and life for all children. For a full stomach also nourishes a caring heart. President Bush ended his call for a "surge" in US troops for Iraq by saying, "We go forward with trust that the Author of Liberty will guide us through these trying times." ("Transcript of President Bush's address," The New York Times, Jan. 11, 2007) It is not about "the Author of Liberty guid[ing] us," but about the authorizing of a "surge" of death cloaked in the divine. President Bush would poison America with a chronic malady of militarism. He ended his State of the Union Address with, "The war on terror we fight today is a generational struggle that will continue long after you and I have turned our duties over to others." He then proposed "to establish a special [bipartisan] advisory council on the war on terror . . . [to] show our enemies abroad that we're united in the goal of victory." (Tape of Address, Jan. 23, 2007) The "victory" Bush and Vice President Cheney and their neo-conservative collaborators so desperately pursue to cover up their war crimes. It is time for Congress to stop funding and end the malady of militarism |