Chris Floyd

Over the decades, Robert Parry has done yeoman service in exposing the vast criminality of the American state. From the foul bloodwork of American power in Central America to the treasonous machinations of the Iran-Contra scheme to the long, corrupt, murderous history of the Bush crime family, Parry has broken many important stories and brought much "lost history" -- the title of his best book -- to light. I have drawn on his work frequently, and learned a great deal from it.

Therefore it is extremely dispiriting to read his recent bitter blasts (here and here) at any and all of those "on the left" who might even contemplate refusing to support Barack Obama for re-election. Such people, he tells us, are vain, preening perfectionists who care more for their own self-righteousness than the fate of the world. Indeed, "leftists" who have refused to support the Democratic candidate -- no matter who he is, no matter what he has done -- are complicit, we’re told, in all the atrocities perpetrated by Republican presidents since 1968.

(Apparently, no Democratic president has ever perpetrated any atrocities; they are just "imperfect" politicians who might sometimes "do some rotten things" but always "fewer rotten things than the other guy.")

Parry believes he is preaching a tough, gritty doctrine of "moral ambiguity." What he is in fact advocating is the bleakest moral nihilism. To Parry, the structure of American power -- the corrupt, corporatized, militarized system built and sustained by both major parties -- cannot be challenged. Not even passively, not even internally, for Parry scorns those who simply refuse to vote almost as harshly as those who commit the unpardonable sin: voting for a third party. No, if you do not take an active role in supporting this brutal engine of war and injustice by voting for a Democrat, then it is you who are immoral.

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Stephen Lendman

In February 2011, major protests erupted. Bahrainis challenged despotic rule nonviolently. Daily they protest. Police state harshness confronts them.

At issue is King Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa's regime. Bahrainis want popularly elected leadership replacing him. He ranks with the world's worst despots. He's a US favorite. He's welcomed in Washington and other Western capitals. Obama and other world leaders turn a blind eye to his crimes.

Compared to him, Saudi leaders, and other Gulf state tyrants, Assad looks saintly. Peaceful Bahrainis brave tear gas, beatings, rubber bullets, live fire, arrests, torture, kangaroo court justice, imprisonment, disappearances and death. Life and limb are risked to live free. A huge price is paid for trying. Popular courage and resilience show no signs of waning. Stakes are too high to quit. State-sponsored terror challenges them. It continues unabated.

On August 3, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) headlined "Self-determination peaceful protests violently suppressed, numerous arrests, reports of beatings and ill treatment," saying:

"August 2 was like most other days. Bahrainis protested peacefully. They want democratic freedom and social justice. Self-determination demands unite them. Violence confronts all demonstrations. Police used tear gas, stun grenades, and birdshot. Numerous injuries resulted. People were shot in the head. Hospitals are occupied and militarized. Protesters can't get proper treatment. Requesting it risks arrest, torture and imprisonment. People have to manage as best they can."

Excessive tear gas amounts are used. More on that below. It continues after protests are dispersed. Houses and neighborhood are targeted. Helicopters fire canisters indiscriminately. Arrests are made regularly.

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John Pilger

Vietnamese babies, deformed and stillborn after prenatal
dioxin exposure from Agent Orange (The Watchers)

This is a story of two letters and two Britains. The first letter was written by Sebastian Coe, the former athlete who chairs the London Olympics Organising Committee. He is now called Lord Coe. In the New Statesman of 21 June, I reported an urgent appeal to Coe by the Vietnam Women's Union that he and his IOC colleagues reconsider their decision to accept sponsorship from Dow Chemical, one of the companies that manufactured dioxin, a poison used against the population of Vietnam. Code-named Agent Orange, this weapon of mass destruction was "dumped" on Vietnam, according to a US Senate report in 1970, in what was called Operation Hades. One estimate is that today there are 4.8 million victims of Agent Orange, many of them shockingly deformed children.

In his reply, Coe describes Agent Orange as "a highly emotional issue" whose development and use "was made by the US government [which] has rightly led the process of addressing the many issues that have resulted". He refers to a "constructive dialogue" between the US and Vietnamese governments "to resolve issues". They are "best placed to manage the reconciliation of these two countries."

When I read this, I was reminded of the weasel letters that are a specialty of the Foreign Office in London in denying the evidence of crimes of state and corporate power, such as the lucrative export of terrible weapons. The former Iraq Desk Officer, Mark Higson, called this sophistry "a culture of lying".

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