"William H. Hinton (1919–2004)

John Mage, Monthly Review

William H. Hinton died in the early morning of Saturday, 15th of May. 2004. He was born in Chicago in 1919. At the age of 17 he worked his way to the Far East. Without money, he supported himself by washing dishes, and then got a job for six months as a reporter on an English language newspaper in Japan. He continued his travels by way of Japanese occupied Korea and Northeast China, then through the USSR to Poland and Germany, and finally returned to the United States by working as a deckhand on an American freighter.

"The Gray Zone:

How a Secret Pentagon Program Came to Abu Ghraib"

Seymour M. Hersh, The New Yorker

The roots of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal lie not in the criminal inclinations of a few Army reservists but in a decision, approved last year by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to expand a highly secret operation, which had been focussed on the hunt for Al Qaeda, to the interrogation of prisoners in Iraq. Rumsfeld's decision embittered the American intelligence community, damaged the effectiveness of élite combat units, and hurt America's prospects in the war on terror.

"Sex, Lies, and Videotapes"

John Chuckman

Among the hoard of pictures from Iraq viewed by members of America's Senate in a top-secret, eavesdrop-proof room — a rather grandiose version of one of those smelly little, stained booths for which patrons of Times Square shops used to pay to watch "hot stuff" — were pictures of a young female soldier, already recognized worldwide for her smiling-Nazi poses with abused prisoners, having sex with a gang of fellow soldiers.

One of the exalted Senator spectators, with all the dignity he could summon, was quoted, "She was having sex with numerous partners. It appeared to be consensual. Almost everyone was naked all the time."

"What Do We Do Now?"

Howard Zinn, The Progressive

It seems very hard for some people — especially those in high places, but also those striving for high places — to grasp a simple truth: The United States does not belong in Iraq. It is not our country. Our presence is causing death, suffering, destruction, and so large sections of the population are rising against us. Our military is then reacting with indiscriminate force, bombing and shooting and rounding up people simply on "suspicion."

"Did Bush Sacrifice Nick Berg?"

Yoshie Furuhashi

Michael Berg, the father of Nick Berg who was executed by an Islamist militant group in Iraq, speaks to Robin Young of Here and Now, a radio program on WBUR Boston (click on the link to listen to the Berg interview). Nick Berg was in Iraq helping rebuild broadcast towers. Then, on March 24, 2004, Nick was detained by the Iraqi police at a checkpoint in Mosul and taken into US military custody with no due process. The FBI came to interview Michael on March 31.

Michael says that the FBI suspected Nick of being — of all things — "an insurgent" or "a terrorist." Michael had to file a lawsuit, naming Donald Rumsfeld as the responsible party, in federal court in Philadelphia on April 5 to have Nick released on April 6, even though the FBI had already recommended Nick's release shortly after March 31.

GOP Convention Security Perimeter Could Extend for Blocks

Sara Kugler, Associated Press

New York — Midtown Manhattan could be locked down around Republican
convention headquarters for blocks in each direction, officials said
Tuesday, closing major avenues and forcing nearby residents and workers to
show identification during the four-day event.

"Any Forces That Seek to Impose Their Will on Other Nations Will Surely Fail"

The 50th Anniversary of Dien Bien Phu
Ahmad Faruqui, Counterpunch

On May 7, people from the world over will gather at Dien Bien Phu to commemorate one of the most important battles of the twentieth century. On that date in 1954, the People's Army of Vietnam (Vietminh) inflicted a decisive military defeat on the French army.

The battlefield is located in a river valley 500 km northwest of the capital, Hanoi, near the border with Laos and China. The history of struggle is ingrained in Vietnamese character. And, for more than a thousand years, Hanoi symbolized their resistance to Chinese domination. Then, in 1873, a French expeditionary force sacked Hanoi's citadel, and expropriated Hanoi into the seat of France's Indochina Empire.

JZB writes:

"Art of Darkness:

The Abu Ghraib Effect"

J. Bratich

The average duration of an afterimage on the human eye is generally no more than a few minutes. What is less measurable is an afterimage on an entire culture, much less on global public opinion. So what can we say about the lingering effects of the traumatic images of Abu Ghraib?

"Filipino Lessons for America's Strategy in Iraq"

William Niskanen, Financial Times

[The writer, an economist and former defence analyst, is chairman of the
Cato Institute, a prominent right-libertarian think-tank.]

America's first experience of a relatively "easy" war followed by an
extended period of guerrilla combat was not in Iraq; it was a century ago
in the Philippines. Max Boot, the neoconservative commentator, described
the defeat of the Filipino insurrection as "one of the most successful
counterinsurgencies waged by a western army in modern times;" a model of
how US forces could prevail in Iraq." The parallels to date however, are
ominous.

"Mexico Recalls Its Ambassador From Cuba"

Lisa J. Adams, Associated Press Writer

Mexico City — The Mexican government, accusing Cuba of meddling in its internal affairs, gave the ambassador of the communist-run island his walking papers and said it will call its own ambassador home immediately.