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Today's
Stories
September 3,
2004
Stephen Green
Serving
Two Flags: the Bush Neo-Cons and Israel
September 2,
2004
Jeffrey St.
Clair
High
Plains Grifter: Part 3: More Pricks Than Kicks
Max Gimble
Et Tu, Menchu? Extrajudicial Killings and Clandestine Graves
in Guatemala
James Petras
President Chavez and the Referendum: Myths and Realities
Christopher
Brauchli
Bush and the Afghan Electoral Model: "If They Want to Vote
Twice, Let Them"
Todd Chretien & Jessie
Muldoon
Will the Democrats Expel Zell Miller?
Jack Random
Spite and Venom Day: the Turncoat and the Profiteer
Alan Maass
The Real Vietnam
Christa Allen
Contre Bush
Website of
the Day
[Redacted]
September 1,
2004
Alexander Cockburn
The
Stench of Doom
Kathleen and Bill Christison
Poor Larry Franklin
Dave Lindorff
Kerry's Litmus Test
Josh Frank
Protest in White: Not All of New York Rises Up
John L. Hess
Moles, Scoops and Flip Flops
Mike Whitney
Deconstructing Arnold
Jack Random
Kindergarten Night at the RNC
Andrew Wilson
War on the Pachyderms: Why Do Elephants Hate Us?
Jeffrey St.
Clair
High
Plains Grifter: Part Two: Mark His Words
August 31,
2004
Joseph Nevins
Escapism
and Global Apartheid: The Dominican Republic & the NYTs
Matt Vidal
Beyond
Bush's Rhetoric on the Economy
Neve Gordon
Kerry and the Middle East
Dave Lindorff
Bush
the Peace Candidate?
Mike Whitney
NPR Leads the Charge for War Against Iran
Jack Random
Opening Night: Playing the War Card
Jeffrey St.
Clair
High
Plains Grifter: the Life and Crimes of George W. Bush (Part One)
CounterPunch Photo of the Day
Pete Seeger in NYC
August 30,
2004
Justin Podhur
The
Disappeared Mayor
Shaun Joseph
The
Hypocrites at TheNaderbasher.com
Mike Whitney
Israeli Moles in the Pentagon: What More Could They Possibly
Want?
Ron Jacobs
Live, From New York: the Majority of Protesters Claimed No Candidate
David Lindorff
Sunday in Manhattan: the Sound of Marchin', Chargin' Feet, Boy
Dave Zirin
USA Basketball: The Team White America Loved to Hate
Sam Husseini
Israeli Spying on the US: a Long History
Sex,
Drugs & the Blues!
Serpents in the Garden
CounterPunch's
Sizzling New Book on Culture and Sex is Now Available
Click here to purchase
August 28 /
29, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
Zombies
for Kerry
Patrick Cockburn
Najaf Ceasefire Good for Iraq, But Weakens Allawi and US
Ray McGovern
Blowing Smoke on Intelligence
Dr. Juan Romagoza
From El Salvador to Abu Ghraib: Reflections of Torture Survivor
Ray Hanania
An Israeli Spy in the Pentagon? Ridiculous!
Fred Gardner
Eddie Lepp Busted by DEA: Facing Life for Growing Medical Pot
Diane Christian
Big Men: the Better Leader Lets You Live
William S. Lind
The Desert Fox
Paul D'Amato
The Left Takes a Dive for Kerry
Joshua Frank
Greens at the Crossroads
Mickey Z.
Media Declares War on Anti-War Protests
Winslow T. Wheeler
Sen. McCain's Pork Chops: an Exchange
Justin E.H.
Smith
The New Age Racket and the Left
Thomas St. John
Burning Slaves at the Stake: On "Sinners in the Hands of
an Angry God"
Ali Tonak
Help the NYPD?
Mark Engler
New York Says "No"
Justin Felux
Haiti: the Attica of the Americas
Poets' Basement
Gelman, Albert, Ford and Hamod
August 27,
2004
Gary Leupp
Neocon
Musings
Robin Cook
The
Ghosts of Abu Ghraib
Diane Christian
Disarming
Michael Donnelly
Situational Democracy: the Show Me the Green Party?
Jack Random
4F and Other Heroes: an Army of War Resisters
Mike Ferner
"To the Swift Boats!"
Mazin Qumsiyeh
7000 Palestinian Political Prisoners
Veronza Bowers, Jr.
"You Won't Be Leaving Tomorrow"
August 26,
2004
M. Shahid Alam
The
Clash Thesis: a Failing Ideology?
Diane Christian
War
Rules: Bush is No Sun Tzu
Derek Seidman
"They're As Bad As Wal-Mart:" Starbucks Workers Get
Organized
David Lindorff
Court to RNC Protesters: Drop the Rally
Christopher
Brauchli
Signs of Dissent: the Bush in the Bubble
Stew Albert
Reporting Suspicious Activity
Mark Donham
Judgement in Athens: Give the Koreans Their Day in Court
Saul Landau
Pinochet:
the Al Capone of the Southern Cone
Website of
the Day
The Kerry 527 Ad You'll Never See
August 25,
2004
Amelia Peltz
Can
I Have 9.8 Seconds of Your Time?
Noah Leavitt
Defining and Redefining Torture
Ron Jacobs
Takin' It to the Streets: It's Not About the Election, It's About
Democracy
James Brooks
Coronado Crosses the Jordan
Akiva Eldar
How to Win the Jewish Vote: Turn Gaza into a "Mini-Afghanistan"
Gemma Araneta
Chavez's New Brand of Populism
Philip Cryan
Uribe's Boys: the Death Squads of Colombia
CounterPunch Wire
Cheney Opens the Closet Door
August 24,
2004
Jeremy Scahill
John
Kerry: the Warchurian Candidate
Gary Leupp
"We
Want Them to Go Away"
David Domke
God
Willing: an Echoing Press and Political Fundamentalism
William Loren Katz
The Meaning of Hugo Chávez: Black and Indian Power in
Venezuela
Jonah Gindin
With Chavez? Reading the International Private Media
Fran Schor
Denying Atrocities: From Vietnam to Fallujah
Joe Bageant
Driving
on the Bones of God
Website of the Day
The Great America Lockdown: a Primer for the RNC
August 23,
2004
Winslow Wheeler
Don't
Mind If I Do: Porkbarrel and the War on Terror
John Pilger
Bush
May Be the Lesser Evil
Stan Goff
Swift
Boat Dogfight
Bill and Kathleen
Christison
Notes
from the West Bank: Build, Demolish, Rebuild
Mike Whitney
The Unraveling of Afghanistan
William Blum
Brave
New World of Iraqi Sovereignty
Ralph Nader
A Letter to the Washington Post: a Shameful and Unsavory Editorial
August 21 /
22, 2004
Cockburn /
St. Clair
"They
Want Blood:" The Bi-Partisan Origins of the Total War on
Drugs
Landau / Hassen
Failing
the Mission? Form a Commission
Brian Cloughley
The
Bush Team in Iraq: Moral Cowardice, as Practiced by Experts
Josh Frank
Nader as David Duke? The ADL Wants You to Think So
Mike Whitney
Reincarnating Mengele: the Torture Doctors of Abu Ghraib
Ron Jacobs
Day Labor Blues
Mickey Z.
Shooting at Whales: 40 Years After Tonkin
Fred Gardner
Dr. Wolman Comes Out: The Cannabis Consultants
Dave Zirin
Uprising in Athens: Iraqi Soccer Team Gives Bush the Boot
Josh Saxe
Witnessing Police Brutality in LA
Yanar Mohammed
Letter from Baghdad: a Democracy of Killings and Bombings
Helen Williams
Ali's Story: a Taste of Reality from Baghdad
Michael Donnelly
Elemental and NaturalForests, Fire and Recovery
Elizabeth Schulte
The Crisis in Affordable Housing
Poets' Basement
Adler, Albert, Virgil, Ford and Krieger
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.
|
September 3, 2004
Bush's RNC
Speech
An
Annotated Response
By
RAHUL MAHAJAN
As columnist David Saransohn of the
Oregonian points out, there is a curious
gap in all the talk at the Republican National Convention:
At this convention, you don't
hear much about Iraq.
That is, Iraq the country.
You hear constantly about Iraq the symbol, the demonstration
of American resolve, the place that will be a beacon of democracy
throughout the Middle East and the Muslim world. Speakers repeatedly
invoke Iraq as a stage set for President Bush's determination,
a symbol of a rebuilding world.
As he doesn't point out, it's
also true that you hear almost nothing about Iraq the country
from Democrats; for them, it's at best a symbol of Bush's lies,
nothing more. For John Kerry, it's just a distraction from the
real issue: Vietnam.
Still, few Democrats can match the Republicans when it comes
to dissociating from reality. George W. Bush's performance last
night was something to behold, a combination of rehashed non-arguments
from the buildup to the war and hallucinatory rhetoric about
what's actually happening in Iraq and the Middle East today,
building up to a grand, messianic finale in which he seemed at
times to forget that he was a presidential candidate rather than
Jesus on the Mount.
Below is an annotated response to the foreign policy portion
of his speech.
BUSH: Today, the government of a free Afghanistan is fighting
terror; Pakistan is capturing terrorist leaders; Saudi Arabia
is making raids and arrests; Libya is dismantling its weapons
programs; the army of a free Iraq is fighting for freedom; and
more than three-quarters of Al Qaeda's key members and associates
have been detained or killed. We have led, many have joined,
and America and the world are safer.
RESPONSE: What exactly makes Afghanistan "free"
today is unclear. Most of Afghanistan is in the hands of the
exact same warlords who ruled before the rise of the Taliban
(which was so meteoric partly because of anger against some of
the warlords' excesses) and in southern Afghanistan the Taliban
is resurgent. The presidential election planned for October comes
only after repeated U.S. subversion of democratic processes in
Afghanistan, most notably the hijacking of the loya jirga in
June 2004, where the favored candidate of the delegates, Zahir
Shah, was pressured to resign so that delegates could be presented
with the handpicked Hamid Karzai as a fait accompli. Karzai
is the only feasible candidate, which is why the election is
being allowed to proceed; legislative elections have been delayed
until next spring.
In Pakistan, where a handful of al-Qaeda leaders have been captured
(more than have been captured in Afghanistan), Islamist parties
for the first time in the country's history, forged a united
front, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal. In the October 2002 national
parliamentary elections, the MMA got 11% of the vote, roughly
three times what all Islamist parties combined used to get in
national elections.
As for the claim about al-Qaeda, I didn't know that Bush had
an exhaustive listing of "key members and associates."
Even were the claim true, it is essentially meaningless in the
face of the massive proliferation of new organizations dedicated
to similar attacks and the reorientation of existing larger Islamist
organizations toward similar attacks.
The world is far less safe, as is proved almost daily. America
is almost certainly less safe as well.
BUSH: This progress involved careful diplomacy, clear moral
purpose and some tough decisions. And the toughest came on Iraq.
We knew Saddam Hussein's record of aggression and support for
terror. We knew his long history of pursuing, even using, weapons
of mass destruction. And we know that Sept. 11 requires our country
to think differently. We must, and we will, confront threats
to America before it is too late.
In Saddam Hussein, we saw a threat. Members of both political
parties, including my opponent and his running mate, saw the
threat, and voted to authorize the use of force. We went to the
United Nations Security Council, which passed a unanimous resolution
demanding the dictator disarm, or face serious consequences.
Leaders in the Middle East urged him to comply. After more than
a decade of diplomacy, we gave Saddam Hussein another chance,
a final chance, to meet his responsibilities to the civilized
world. He again refused, and I faced the kind of decision that
comes only to the Oval Office, a decision no president would
ask for, but must be prepared to make. Do I forget the lessons
of Sept. 11 and take the word of a madman, or do I take action
to defend our country? Faced with that choice, I will defend
America every time.
RESPONSE: Bush consistently implies that his choice was between
trusting Hussein and war. In fact, Iraq had been undergoing intrusive
weapons inspections for months before the attack. It allowed
inspectors into the country in November 2002; UNMOVIC head Hans
Blix withdrew the inspectors only in March 2003 after Bush stated
that a U.S. attack was imminent. It turned over 12,000 pages
of documents to comply with UNSCR 1441's disclosure requirements.
At the time inspectors withdrew, Iraq was destroying its al-Samoud
2 missiles, as prescribed by UNMOVIC, because they were slightly
over the range limits in some tests -- information that was actually
contained in that original disclosure.
Weapons inspectors had been absent from Iraq since December of
1998 when they were withdrawn by UNSCOM head Richard Butler at
the urging of the Clinton administration before the "Desert
Fox" bombing campaign, which was very clearly an attempt
at "regime change" rather than disarmament.
Both Hans Blix and Mohammed el-Baradei of the IAEA expressed
confidence that continuing inspections might be able to account
for all issues not fully resolved in a matter of months. Instead,
after the invasion, the United States left potentially dangerous
facilities like the al-Tuwaitha nuclear reactor site unsecured
for months -- had Hussein been working with al-Qaeda or even
contemplating it, ample time for terrorists to seize large amounts
of low-grade radioactive material.
BUSH: Because we acted to defend our country, the murderous
regimes of Saddam Hussein and the Taliban are history, more than
50 million people have been liberated and democracy is coming
to the broader Middle East.
In Afghanistan, terrorists have done everything they can to intimidate
people. Yet more than 10 million citizens have registered to
vote in the October presidential election, a resounding endorsement
of democracy. Despite ongoing acts of violence Iraq now has a
strong prime minister, a national council and national elections
are scheduled for January. Our nation is standing with the people
of Afghanistan and Iraq because when America gives its word,
America must keep its word.
RESPONSE: Iraq's "strong prime minister," Ayad
Allawi, was chosen in the most anti-democratic manner possible,
by fiat of the U.S. occupying forces. Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N.
special envoy who at least consulted with the major political
players while trying to arrange the "transfer of sovereignty,"
ended up being totally sidelined and denouncing
L. Paul Bremer, then head of the CPA, as the "dictator of
Iraq."
Allawi has since established his "democratic" credentials
by reportedly shooting
six Iraqis in cold blood, warning journalists in Najaf that
they might be killed if they stayed to cover the assault, and
even having the Iraqi police bring journalists in to threaten
them. He's made clear repeatedly his ambition to be Saddam-lite.
The national council that was recently selected came into being
in almost exactly the way that the Afghan loya jirga in 2002
"picked" Hamid Karzai. 19 members of the 100-member
council came from the U.S.-picked Governing Council, one of its
quid pro quos for agreeing to the "transfer." The other
81 were ratified at a national conference of 1200 delegates from
around the country, representing a fair but hardly complete cross-section
of political forces (no representation from the armed resistance).
But instead of open debate, candidates running, and an actual
vote, the delegates were confronted with a pre-selected
slate of 81 candidates, picked in back-room dealings between
the major political parties that collaborate with the U.S. occupation.
Efforts by smaller parties and independent groups (not affiliated
with the occupation) to at least put up another alternative slate
fell through at the last minute and the slate was declared as
elected by conference organizers without even putting it to a
pro forma formal ratification.
This is not democracy by any stretch of the imagination. But
it is what the Bush administration is creating in Iraq, for the
simple reason that Iraqi public opinion is overwhelmingly opposed
to the occupation and there is no chance that even cosmetic demonstration
elections would turn out the way the administration wants. If
this doesn't change by January, and there is no reason to believe
it will, expect those elections to be either postponed indefinitely
or sidestepped by maneuvers like those at the national conference.
BUSH: As importantly, we are serving a vital and historic
cause that will make our country safer. Free societies in the
Middle East will be hopeful societies, which no longer feed resentments
and breed violence for export. Free governments in the Middle
East will fight terrorists instead of harboring them, and that
helps us keep the peace.
So our mission in Afghanistan and Iraq is clear: We will help
new leaders to train their armies and move toward elections and
get on the path of stability and democracy as quickly as possible.
And then our troops will return home with the honor they have
earned.
Our troops know the historic importance of our work. One Army
specialist wrote home: "We are transforming a once sick
society into a hopeful place. The various terrorist enemies we
are facing in Iraq," he continued, "are really aiming
at you back in the United States. This is a test of will for
our country. We soldiers of yours are doing great and scoring
victories in confronting the evil terrorists." That young
man is right; our men and women in uniform are doing a superb
job for America.
RESPONSE: The constant repetition that the occupation's enemies
in Iraq are "terrorists" is wearing awfully thin. When
the United States assaulted Fallujah mercilessly, with snipers
killing civilians in droves (about 800-1000 people, most
of whom were civilians, were killed in the assault), bombing
its power plant and deliberately
shutting down its main hospital and people of the town fought
back, that was not "terrorism." In fact, armed assault
against an occupying military force is not terrorism; the right
of armed resistance is almost universally recognized, most particularly
in a 1987 General Assembly resolution that singles out military
occupations and "colonial and racist regimes" as legitimate
targets of armed resistance.
Similarly, the Mahdi Army are not terrorists; they weren't even
the ones that provoked their two armed showdowns with the U.S.
military.
Interestingly, the United States negotiated a withdrawal with
the mujaheddin of Fallujah, which, given the constant refrain
that they are terrorists means that Bush negotiated with terrorists.
Fortunately, even Kerry, overdosing heavily on militarism these
days, has not yet gone there.
BUSH: Tonight I want to speak to all of them and to their
families: You are involved in a struggle of historic proportion.
Because of your service and sacrifice, we are defeating the terrorists
where they live and plan, and you're making America safer. Because
of you, women in Afghanistan are no longer shot in a sports stadium.
Because of you, the people of Iraq no longer fear being executed
and left in mass graves. Because of you, the world is more just
and will be more peaceful. We owe you our thanks, and we owe
you something more. We will give you all the resources, all the
tools, and all the support you need for victory.
Again, my opponent and I have different approaches. I proposed,
and the Congress overwhelmingly passed, $87 billion in funding
needed by our troops doing battle in Afghanistan and Iraq. My
opponent and his running mate voted against this money for bullets
and fuel and vehicles and body armor. When asked to explain his
vote, the senator said, "I actually did vote for the $87
billion before I voted against it." Then he said he was
"proud" of his vote. Then, when pressed, he said it
was a "complicated" matter. There's nothing complicated
about supporting our troops in combat.
RESPONSE: Of course, Kerry and Edwards, both of whom voted
to support the war, were completely in favor of the $66 billion
for direct military expenses. They just didn't want the $18.4
billion for reconstruction (which, it turns out, was a sham)
to be given to Iraq; first, they wanted Iraq to pay back half
of it (while supporting the idea that other countries should
forgive Iraq's debt), then to increase taxes on the very wealthiest
in partial compensation.
BUSH: Our allies also know the historic importance of our
work. About 40 nations stand beside us in Afghanistan and some
30 in Iraq. I deeply appreciate the courage and wise counsel
of leaders like Prime Minister Howard, President Kwasniewski,
Prime Minister Berlusconi and, of course, Prime Minister Tony
Blair.
Again my opponent takes a different approach. In the midst of
war he has called America's allies, quote, a "coalition
of the coerced and the bribed." That would be nations like
Great Britain, Poland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Denmark,
El Salvador, Australia and others - allies that deserve the respect
of all Americans, not the scorn of a politician.
RESPONSE: Of course, Great Britain, Italy, Australia, and
the Netherlands are neither coerced nor bribed. Japan has been
coerced with regard to U.S. foreign policy ever since V-J Day.
El Salvador under a right-wing government is pretty much a direct
colony of the United States. Poland and other countries of Eastern
Europe have been coerced and bribed by "NATO expansion"
(a process that started in Clinton's second term) and U.S. arms
sales, military aid, and joint training. Rampant attempts
at coercion and bribery leading up to a proposed U.N. Security
Council vote on a war resolution were actually unsuccessful.
Of course, Italy, Spain, Poland, etc. joined the coalition in
express defiance of the will of, in each case, roughly 90% of
the population. But that seems irrelevant to both Bush and Kerry.
BUSH: I respect every soldier from every country who serves
beside us in the hard work of history. America is grateful and
America will not forget.
The people we have freed won't forget either. Not long ago seven
Iraqi men came to see me in the Oval Office. They had X's branded
into their foreheads and their right hands had been cut off by
Saddam Hussein's secret police, the sadistic punishment for imaginary
crimes. During our emotional visit, one of the Iraqi men used
his new prosthetic hand to slowly write out in Arabic a prayer
for God to bless America.
I am proud that our country remains the hope of the oppressed
and the greatest force for good on this earth. Others understand
the historic importance of our work. The terrorists know. They
know that a vibrant, successful democracy at the heart of the
Middle East will discredit their radical ideology of hate. They
know that men and women with hope and purpose and dignity do
not strap bombs on their bodies and kill the innocent.
RESPONSE: The United States is right now the principal force
opposing democracy in Iraq. The reason is, contrary to the hallucinatory
rhetoric, the Bush administration is well aware that more democracy
in the Middle East would inevitably lead to more opposition to
U.S. policies.
BUSH: The terrorists are fighting freedom with all their cunning
and cruelty because freedom is their greatest fear. And they
should be afraid, because freedom is on the march. I believe
in the transformational power of liberty: The wisest use of American
strength is to advance freedom.
RESPONSE: At this point, he has completely burst the surly
bonds of rationality. The starkly eschatological contrast drawn
between the champions of freedom and, I suppose, the people who
want to be enslaved, is reminiscent of nothing so much as Paul
Nitze's NSC-68, the defining document of the "Cold War"
and the confrontational policies that drove the world to the
brink of disaster so many times.
BUSH: As the citizens of Afghanistan and Iraq seize the moment,
their example will send a message of hope throughout a vital
region. Palestinians will hear the message that democracy and
reform are within their reach, and so is peace with our good
friend Israel. Young women across the Middle East will hear the
message that their day of equality and justice is coming. Young
men will hear the message that national progress and dignity
are found in liberty, not tyranny and terror. Reformers and political
prisoners and exiles will hear the message that their dream of
freedom cannot be denied forever. And as freedom advances, heart
by heart and nation by nation, America will be more secure and
the world more peaceful.
America has done this kind of work before, and there have always
been doubters. In 1946, 18 months after the fall of Berlin to
allied forces, a journalist in The New York Times wrote this:
"Germany is a land in an acute stage of economic, political
and moral crisis. European capitals are frightened. In every
military headquarters, one meets alarmed officials doing their
utmost to deal with the consequences of the occupation policy
that they admit has failed." End quote. Maybe that same
person is still around, writing editorials.
RESPONSE: This comparison is illegitimate. Most of Europe
and large parts of Asia were wrecked by World War 2 and it was
difficult or impossible to mobilize the resources to fix it.
A better comparison is with the rebuilding by Saddam's government
after the Gulf War. The devastation to infrastructure was greater
(in fact, electrical power, bridges, and civilian industry were
systematically
targeted) Iraq had no oil revenue and no ability to buy spare
parts and was forced to do repairs by cannibalization, but in
large parts at least of the capital city electricity and phone
service was restored within three months. The United States,
with no such impediments and an abundance of resources, did less
to restore such services in a year. As late as June 2004, average
electricity production was less than it had been before the war
(4300 megawatts as opposed
to 4500).
The United States basically hasn't
spent any money (except some of Iraq's) on reconstruction.
BUSH: Fortunately, we had a resolute president named Truman,
who with the American people persevered, knowing that a new democracy
at the center of Europe would lead to stability and peace. And
because that generation of Americans held firm in the cause of
liberty, we live in a better and safer world today.
The progress we and our friends and allies seek in the broader
Middle East will not come easily, or all at once. Yet Americans
of all people should never be surprised by the power of liberty
to transform lives and nations. That power brought settlers on
perilous journeys, inspired colonies to rebellion, ended the
sin of slavery and set our nation against the tyrannies of the
20th century. We were honored to aid the rise of democracy in
Germany and Japan, Nicaragua, Central Europe and the Baltics.
And that noble story goes on.
RESPONSE: Germany, Japan, Central Europe, and the Baltics
are a longer story, but the claim that the United States aided
the "rise of democracy" in Nicaragua is rich.
In 1984, while under assault by a terrorist army created, funded,
equipped, and trained by a superpower that was, as Ronald Reagan
pointed out, only two days' drive away, Nicaragua had what were
acclaimed by all impartial observers as free and fair elections.
The contra war and U.S. policy consistently militated against,
not for, democracy.
The 1990 election in which the Sandinistas lost sets some kind
of record for external intervention, short of a coup. This included
massive coercion by the United States, which made it clear that
reelection of the Sandinistas would mean restarting the contra
war; open offers of preferential trade agreements and aid made
directly to Violeta Chamorro, but contingent on her being elected;
and the spending by the United States of roughly eight times
as much money per person in Nicaragua on the election as Bush
spent per person in the United States on his own reelection campaign.
Bush was no doubt correct when, in the concluding paragraphs
of his speech, he said that millions in the Middle East hope,
often silently, for liberty. He seems, however, to have paid
no attention to the fact that for the vast majority of them one
of the primary components of that liberty is freedom from the
heavy hand of the empire.
Rahul Mahajan is publisher of Empire
Notes. He has been to Iraq twice in recent months and reported
from Fallujah while it was under siege. His latest book, "Full
Spectrum Dominance: U.S. Power in Iraq and Beyond,"
covers U.S. policy on Iraq, deceptions about weapons of mass
destruction, the plans of the neoconservatives, and the face
of the new Bush imperial policies, as well as continuities between
Democratic and Republican policies on Iraq. He can be reached
at rahul@empirenotes.org
Weekend
Edition Features for August 7 / 8, 2004
James Petras
The
Anatomy of "Terror Experts": Meet the Mandarins of
Abu Ghraib
Fred Gardner
Run
Ricky Run: Football, Pot and Pain
Justin Delacour
Anti-Chavez Pollsters Panic: Fix Numbers; Reinvent Venezuela
Brian Cloughley
Persecuted by All; Supported by None: Who Would Be A Kurd?
Joshua Frank
The
Outsider: a Talk with Ralph Nader
Iain A. Boal
On "Shame": Warmed-Over Orientalism and Racist Projection
Chris Floyd
All About Eve: Open Season on Women in DC and Rome
Andrew Fenton
Fighting for Democracy and Justice in Haiti
Aseem Shrivastava
Saga of an Anguished Afghan
Neil Corbett
See Cuba: Sometimes a Cigar is Just a Cigar, Mr. Bush
Carol Miller
/ Forrest Hill
Rigged Convention; Divided Party: How David Cobb Won with Only
12% of the Vote
Tarek Milleron
Breaking the Principled Voter
Donald Macintyre
The
Battle of Najaf
Ron Jacobs
Spirits of The Dead: Why I Love My Petty Bourgeois Tendencies
Mickey Z.
Kid
Gavilan's Grave: Propaganda Scores a TKO
Poets' Basement
Adler, Ford and Albert
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