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Today's Stories October 7, 2009 Jonathan Cook October 6, 2009 Mike Whitney Gareth Porter Jonathan Cook Boris Kagarlitsky Iain Boal Ron Jacobs John Ross Michael Dickinson Stephen Fleischman Ira Glunts Missy Beattie Website of the Day October 5, 2009 Pam Martens Mike Whitney Paul Craig Roberts Harry Browne Sara Mann Omar Barghouti Shamus Cooke Brenda Norrell Fred Gardner Binoy Kampmark Copenhagen Blues: McChrystal and the Afghan Trap Website of the Day October 2-4, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Saul Landau Diana Johnstone Greg Moses William Blum Brian Cloughley Russell Mokhiber John Ross Ellen Brown David Ker Thomson David Macaray Gary Engler Robert Fantina Lisa Stolarski / Naomi Archer Anthony Papa Joe Allen Harry Browne Ron Jacobs Charles R. Larson David Yearsley Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend October 1, 2009 Andy Worthington Carl Ginsburg Mary Lynn Cramer Col. Douglas Macgregor Brian M. Downing John V. Walsh Ramzy Baroud Norman Solomon Dan Bacher Brenda Norrell Website of the Day September 30, 2009 Vijay Prashad Gareth Porter Andy Thayer Paul Craig Roberts Dean Baker Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada Laura Flanders Dave Lindorff Seumas Milne Martha Rosenberg Website of the Day September 29, 2009 Marshall Auerback Alan Farago Jeff Sher Bruce Jackson Gareth Porter Jonathan Cook Bouthaina Shaaban Dave Lindorff Stephen Soldz Sara Mann Website of the Day September 28, 2009 Laura Carlsen Anthony DiMaggio Paul Craig Roberts Neve Gordon Bill Quigley Harvey Wasserman Nicola Nasser Ben Rosenfeld Murder in New Orleans: Remembering Kirsten Brydum Website of the Day September 25-7, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Daniel Wolff Rev. William E. Alberts Mike Roselle Saul Landau Eshan Azari Winslow T. Wheeler Robert Jensen Jonathan Cook Nelson P Valdés David Michael Green Ramzy Baroud John V. Whitbeck Andy Worthington David Ker Thomson Seth Sandronsky Jim Goodman Charles R. Larson David Yearsley Kim Nicolini Lorenzo Wolff Website of the Weekend September 24, 2009 Steven Higgs Christopher Brauchli Marshall Auerback Stephanie Westbrook Nadia Hijab Sen. Russell Feingold David Macaray Binoy Kampmark Joe Allen Website of the Day September 23, 2009 Paul Craig Roberts Gabriel Kolko Uri Avnery Shamus Cooke Missy Beattie Gareth Porter Mark Weisbrot Dr. Susan Block Norm Kent Richard Neville Website of the Day September 22, 2009 Franklin C. Spinney The Huge Hole in Gen. McChrystal's Afghan Counterinsurgency Strategy Russell Mokhiber Greg Grandin Nikolas Kozloff John Ross Ron Jacobs Tariq Ali Dave Lindorff Harvey Wasserman Vijay Prashad Kareem Shora Website of the Day September 21, 2009 JoAnn Wypijewski Carl Finamore Uri Avnery Nikolas Kozloff Paul Simpson, M.D. Alan Nasser Ray McGovern Dave Lindorff Lina Thorne Jeb Sprague Website of the Day September 18-20, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Russell Mokhiber Mike Whitney David Michael Green Jonathan Cook Nadia Hijab Mark Weisbrot Michael Winship Michael Leonardi Andy Worthington Fred Gardner David Macaray David Rosen Jason Mark Mike Ferner Farzana Versey Ron Jacobs elin o'Hara slavick Gilad Aztmon David Yearsley Charles R. Larson Lorenzo Wolff Website of the Weekend
September 17, 2009 Joshua Frank Brenda Norrell Robert Weissman Pam Martens Franklin Lamb Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada Jed Bickman Alan Farago Website of the Day September 16, 2009 Ray McGovern Stephen Green Andy Worthington Dean Baker Anthony DiMaggio Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada Benjamin Dangl Robin Willoughby Eric Walberg James Ridgeway Website of the Day September 15, 2009 Mike Whitney Mutadhar al-Zaidi Marshall Auerback Afshin Rattansi Jonathan Cook Gareth Porter: Dave Lindorff Winslow T. Wheeler Franklin Spinney Karen Korenoski / David Macaray Susie Day Website of the Day September 14, 2009 Paul Craig Roberts M. G. Piety Shamus Cooke Bouthaina Shaaban Alvaro Huerta John Ross Harvey Wasserman Adam Federman Stephen Fleischman Robert Jensen Website of the Day September 11-13, 2009 Alexander Cockburn JoAnn Wypijewski Carl Ginsburg Leonard Peltier Franklin Lamb Benjamin Dangl Mike Whitney John Berger Saul Landau Russell Mokhiber Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada Felice Pace Jordan Flaherty Ron Jacobs David Macaray David Correia Robert Bryce Christopher Brauchli Paul Krassner Charles R. Larson Kim Nicolini David Yearsley Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend September 10, 2009 Joshua Frank Dean Baker Brian M. Downing Franklin C. Spinney Andy Worthington Chase Madar Farzana Versey Ronnie Cummins Binoy Kampmark Timothy Lebrón Charles R. Larson Website of the Day September 9, 2009 Richard Neville Melissa Checker Nadia Hijab Robert Weissman Jonathan Cook Russell Mokhiber James Ridgeway Richard W. Behan James McEnteer Martha Rosenberg Website of the Day September 8, 2009 Henry A. Giroux Stephen Soldz John Ross Jeff Leys Mike Whitney Ashcroft: Repugnant to the Constitution Shamus Cooke Ellen Brown Norman Solomon Men With Guns: In Kabul and Washington Deepak Tripathi Laray Polk Charles R. Larson Website of the Day September 7, 2009 Vicente Navarro Bouthaina Shaaban David Macaray Paul Craig Roberts Jonathan Cook Conn Hallinan Walter Brasch Mark Weisbrot Carl Finamore C. G. Estabrook Website of the Day September 4-6, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Carl Ginsburg Jonathan Cook George Wuerthner Marc Levy Ray McGovern Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada Joe Paff Gareth Porter Devin Beaulieu Anthony Papa David Ker Thomson Don Fitz Lee Sustar / Jim Goodman Wajahat Ali Ron Jacobs Helen Redmond John V. Walsh Charles R. Larson Mark Scaramella David Yearsley Ben Sonnenberg Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend September 3, 2009 Marcus Rediker Ron Jacobs Mike Whitney Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada Saul Landau Anat Matar Tanya Golash-Boza Dave Lindorff Andy Worthington Website of the Day September 2, 2009 John Ross Vijay Prashad Rev. Jim Rigby Joanne Mariner Missy Beattie Soren Ambrose Diane Farsetta Nadia Hijab Shamus Cooke Charles R. Larson Website of the Day September 1, 2009 Jeffrey St. Clair Paul Craig Roberts Mark T. Harris Dean Baker Jeffrey Buchanan Robin Mittenthal Ellen Brown Martha Rosenberg Website of the Day
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GOP Delegation Violates the Logan ActAre Republicans Breaking US Law in Honduras?By BRENDAN COONEY As if the right needed to add to its anti-democratic pedigree, Republican leaders have flocked to Tegucigalpa to bolster the junta in Honduras. Nine Congressional Republicans – including seven in the past week as the crisis heats up -- have now met with Roberto Micheletti, who took power after a military coup June 28. This is a coup that has been denounced by everyone from the Organization of American States to the United Nations, which passed a resolution calling “categorically on all states to recognise no government other than that” of the elected president, Manuel Zelaya. No state has recognized Micheletti as president. But U.S. Republicans have. “He is the president of Honduras,” said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Monday. “Some people tell me 'de facto' government, but under the Constitution of the Republic I am seated here with the president of this country and it’s a great honor.” Leading us further down the rabbit hole is South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint, a member of the Foreign Relations committee, who visited Micheletti and his backers Oct. 2: “We saw a government working hard to follow the rule of law, uphold its constitution, and to protect democracy for the people of Honduras.” Consistent with every other country, from Venezuela on the left to Colombia on the right, U.S. President Barack Obama’s policy has been to not recognize or meet with Micheletti. Since contact with Micheletti is in direct conflict with stated U.S. interests, these nine Republicans, as well as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has aided them, seem to have broken U.S. law. The Logan Act says that anyone who without government authorization “directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.” Tomas Ayuso, a research fellow at the Council on Hemispheric affairs who spent the summer reporting on the crisis from Tegucigalpa, agrees. The members of Congress meeting with Micheletti “are in violation of the Logan Act,” he said. There have been three Republican trips to Honduras to meet with Micheletti: a July trip by House members Connie Mack (R-Florida) and Brian Bilbray (R-California); last week’s trip by Senators Jim DeMint (R- South Carolina), Aaron Schock (R-Illinois), Peter Roskam (R-Illinois), and Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado); and Monday’s visit by House members Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida), Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Florida), and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Florida). Though ignorance of the law is no defense, could it be that our representatives didn’t know about Obama’s policy of not meeting with Micheletti? No. Mack’s report from his trip, for example, reads: “After ending the luncheon, the Ambassador re-emphasized the Obama Administration’s policy of no contact with Honduran President Micheletti. Congressman Mack nonetheless demanded that all sides should have their arguments heard, and therefore insisted on the meeting.” How is that not a violation of the Logan Act? Incidentally, Mack has called the Organization of American States “dangerous” for supporting Zelaya – an elected leader – and not Micheletti – a coup leader. By that logic, he finds every country in the world dangerous. That Republicans would wage battle against democracy comes as no surprise. But how Democrats let them get away with sabotaging the stated interests of the United States is another matter. Sen. John Kerry, who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, tried to stop DeMint’s trip to Honduras, but when DeMint appealed to McConnell, he wound up riding to Honduras in a Pentagon airplane. How could Obama not have known that his own Defense Department was thwarting him? Why hasn’t the airplane matter been investigated? Obama has been disturbingly blasé about the coup, perhaps because Zelaya had become a critic of the United States in the vein of Chavez. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton even called Zelaya’s attempted return “reckless.” But Obama now has begun rescinding visas for backers of Micheletti, and he has cut off $30 million in aid to Honduras. These moves come more than two months after the coup, and Obama’s hesitation has only girded Micheletti’s will. “[U.S. officials] are doing these piecemeal steps to see how the de facto regime responds,” said Vicki Gass of the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights group. “And each time the de facto regime remains intransigent, they up the ante, but it takes them way too long.” Opponents ousted democratically elected Manuel Zelaya for trying to hold a referendum on rewriting the constitution. They accuse him of wanting to get rid of the single-term limit, a charge he denies. In a pre-dawn raid, the military seized a pajama-clad Zelaya and sent him to Costa Rica. He snuck back into the country Sept. 21 and has been holed up in the Brazilian embassy, surrounded by Micheletti’s soldiers. That hasn’t stopped Republicans from arguing that the United States should support a putsch that even one of its leaders has admitted is illegal. In an interview with the Miami Herald, the Honduran military’s chief lawyer, Colonel Herberth Bayardo Inestroza, acknowledged that it was an illegal military-led coup: “In the moment that we took him out of the country, in the way that he was taken out, there was a crime.” Inestroza justified the move by saying that merely imprisoning Zelaya would have led to bloodshed, because his supporters would have demonstrated for his release. “We know there was a crime there,” he said. “[But] what was more beneficial, remove this gentleman from Honduras or present him to prosecutors and have a mob assault and burn and destroy and for us to have to shoot? If we had left him here, right now we would be burying a pile of people.” As for the raft of U.S. Republicans backing the coup (and refusing to call it a coup), their fear is something else: socialism. “This is about trying to stymie the Obama administration's efforts in Latin America and the Republicans’ obsession with Hugo Chavez and their concern about his expanding influence in the region,” Dan Erikson, a senior associate at the nonpartisan Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington, told the Associated Press. Whether or not the Republican trips are found to be illegal, they are surely helping Micheletti dig in his heels. The toxic soup is likely to boil over after the Nov. 29 election, whose results the United States and other countries have said they will not recognize because of the coup and crackdown on civil liberties. Meanwhile Republicans blow on for freedom, somehow keeping their faces straight. “The way out of this problem is to respect the free and fair elections that the people of Honduras are going to have," said Ros-Lehtinen, whose sterling right-wing creds include cheerleading the U.S. invasion of Iraq and telling Israel after it bombed Syria: “We are a better world because you did that.” “I will tell my colleagues (U.S. Congressmen) to come to Honduras, not to see the newspapers, CNN or any media, to come here to meet with the legitimate government to listen their aspiration of living in peace and democracy,” Ros-Lehtinen said. This aspiration apparently includes shutting down two media outlets, banning freedom of assembly, and arresting over a thousand protesters. The crackdown has killed eleven people, according to the Committee for Families of the Disappeared and Detainees in Honduras, or Cofadeh. On Sept. 30, Micheletti rounded up the 55 farmers who had occupied the National Agrarian Institute to protest the coup, and a judge ordered 38 of them to be held on charges of sedition. Joining Ros-Lehtinen in her Oct. 5 visit was Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and his younger brother, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart. All three are Cuban exiles long driven by opposition to Fidel Castro. The Diaz-Balarts are sons of Rafael Diaz-Balart, minister of the interior under the U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, overthrown by another coup leader, Castro, in 1959. The anti-democratic instincts of the right are not limited to politicians with such a personal kite in the sky. The Wall Street Journal gave a platform to Micheletti on its op-ed page, on which amid all the rationalizations for the coup, he writes, “Regarding the decision to expel Mr. Zelaya from the country the evening of June 28 without a trial, reasonable people can believe the situation could have been handled differently.” And here’s how the fair-and-balanced Journal editors sugarcoat Micheletti: “Mr. Micheletti, previously the president of the Honduran Congress, became president of Honduras upon the departure of Manuel Zelaya. He is a member of the Liberal Party, the same party as Mr. Zelaya.” Departure? The only departure here is from the world of reason, in which we can call a military seizure of a president a coup and not an act of freedom, and see it as something that needs to be resisted by other governments before there’s a lot more blood spilled. Brendan Cooney is an anthropologist living in New York City. He can be reached at: itmighthavehappened@yahoo.com
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