Nike Blackmails Oregon: Just Do It, Or Else…

CounterPunch/Dissident Voice

by Ben Schreiner

At the behest of Nike, Oregon hastily convened a special one-day legislative session on Friday in order to ensure the global behemoth retains its preferential tax status in the state.

The U.S. Jobs Crisis and the Reserve Army of Labor

CounterPunch/Dissident Voice

by Ben Schreiner

The U.S. unemployment situation—despite Washington’s indifference—remains rather abysmal.  The November jobs report offers just the latest evidence. 

A Pretext for Deeper US Intervention

CounterPunch/Dissident Voice

by Ben Schreiner

 

With dubious reports that Syria is preparing its stockpile of chemical weapons for use now dominating US media coverage, the familiar menace of WMDs in the Middle East has been resurrected once again to haunt the American public and gin up support for military intervention.

Codifying Murder: Obama’s Endless Kill List

CounterPunch/Dissident Voice

by Ben Schreiner

Of the three presidential debates, Monday’s saw the only mention of U.S. drone warfare.  But after the challenger Romney quickly affirmed his support of President Obama’s drone program, stating that it is “absolutely the right thing to do,” the issue was summarily dropped by moderator Bob Schieffer.  The president thus skirted having to account for the most controversial facet of his foreign policy.  

Toward Barbarism: US Imperialism Unleashed

by Ben Schreiner

The triumph of imperialism leads to the annihilation of civilization.

Rosa Luxemburg, The Junius Pamphlet

With signs of a global economic downturn mounting, US aggression across the Middle East and North Africa ratchets up.  And once again, US imperialism stands poised to swing open the gates of Hell. 

Netanyahu and the Theatre of the Absurd

Read my latest article on Israel's case against Iran at Press TV.

Three Reasons Netanyahu Played a Buffoon at the U.N.

Dissident Voice

by Ben Schreiner

 

The 67^th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York is sure to be remembered for the moment Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went Carrot Top.  For in using a childish stage prop in his address to literally draw a red line for Iran, Netanyahu played the part of a buffoon.  But even as those watching were left to ponder whether Netanyahu’s aim was to induce fear or ridicule, the prime minister's performance still managed to fulfill three key objectives. 

The 'War on Terror' Farce

Read my latest article on the removal of the Iranian dissident group M.E.K. from the U.S. State Department list of foreign terrorist organizations at Press TV.

Crown Obama: It's Over

CounterPunch

by Ben Schreiner

 

The most remarkable aspect of the now widely watched video of an "off-the-cuff" Romney, paradoxically enough, was just how unremarkable his recorded comments really were.

U.S. Chickens Come Home to Roost

Read my latest article on the wave of anti-American protests sweeping across the Middle East at Press TV.

Neoliberal Democrats Attack: Chicago Teachers Strike

Dissident Voice/Global Research
by Ben Schreiner

The unionized teachers in the nation’s third-largest school district went on strike Monday.  The call to strike from the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) came after receiving the authorization of 98 percent of its members.

Al-Qaeda, the U.S., and the Syrian Crisis

Read my latest article, "Al-Qaeda, US, and Syrian Crisis," at Press TV.

Afghanistan and U.S. Delusions of Empire

Read my latest article on Afghanistan and its absence from the U.S. presidential campaign at Press TV.

Western Aggression Intensifies Across the Middle East

Read my latest article on intensifying Western aggression in the Middle East at Press TV.

Party Down: The 2012 Politics of Fantasy

CounterPunch/Dissident Voice/Global Research
by Ben Schreiner

Those who succeed in politics, as in most of the culture, are those who create the most convincing fantasies.

 

— Chris Hedges, Empire of Illusion

With both tickets now set, the democratic farce that is the U.S. presidential election lumbers into its final act. And for a campaign already rife with all the petty trivialities and celebrity intrigues more suiting of a reality TV show, it is no surprise that both political parties intend on using their upcoming political conventions to furnish choreographed spectacles designed for little more than prime time viewing.

U.S. Internal Decay and External Aggression

Read my article, "Crises threaten to rot American Empire from inside," at Press TV.

Stoking the Syrian Inferno

CounterPunch/Dissident Voice

by Ben Schreiner

The bloody U.S.-led proxy war in Syria, laying unimaginable waste to its cities and people, escalates daily.  For Washington, “all options” are now clearly in play in the quest for “regime change” in Damascus.

At the Precipice of War? U.S. Military Build-Up Accelerates in the Persian Gulf

CounterPunch/Dissident Voice/Global Research
by Ben Schreiner

The familiar menace of U.S. war drums have resumed at a fevered pitch, as Iran finds itself once again firmly within the Pentagon’s cross hairs.

Al-Qaeda in Syria: Pretext for Intervention

Global Research

by Ben Schreiner 

Twin blasts targeting government security buildings rocked the northern Syrian city of Idlib on Monday, killing at least nine and wounding a hundred more, according to Syrian state TV.  The attack followed a suicide bombing on Friday in the capital city of Damascus, which saw an additional nine killed. 

The Assorted Lies and Limits of Syria's Imperial 'Friends'

Global Research

by Ben Schreiner

Despite proclaiming support for the six-point Syrian peace initiative proposed by joint United Nations-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan, the N.A.T.O.-G.C.C. alliance continues its effort to unravel the plan at every turn.  And in doing so, the lies and ultimate limits of this imperial alliance become further unmasked.

Punishing Cuba 50 Years On: Caught in a Cold War Time Warp

Common Dreams/CounterPunch/Dissident Voice

by Ben Schreiner

With the media happily fixated on the sex scandal swirling around the U.S. Secret Service, the Sixth Summit of the Americas held in Cartagena, Colombia over the weekend was left to collapse with little notice.  The inability of the some 30 heads of American states to even issue a final declaration on Sunday derived primarily from the growing regional frustration with U.S. Cuban policy.

Foiling Peace: The Imperial 'Friends' of Syria

Dissident Voice/Global Research

by Ben Schreiner

As the proposed April 10 Syrian ceasefire goes up in smoke, so, too, does the hope for a Syrian-led political process to resolve the crisis.

Union Busting Bread? Anti-Union Firings Sweep Dave's Killer Bread

CounterPunch

by Ben Schreiner

If you live here in the Pacific Northwest, chances are that you’ve tried Dave’s Killer Bread, a popular brand of organic wholegrain breads.  The unique story behind the bread is also well known in these parts.  For printed on each bread bag is the personal saga of founder Dave Dahl.  And Dave, we learn from each loaf, is no less than a former con who after spending 15 years in the clink, transformed his life, returned to the family bread business, and was born again as the baker behind Dave’s Killer Bread.

Iran Stirring Violence on the Pages of the NYT

NYTimes eXaminer

by Ben Schreiner

As the speculation continues to mount over whether or not Israel will come to strike Iran, the purveyors of U.S. propaganda hurriedly work to churn out story upon story assessing the potential fallout.  Just imagine the sheer terror, the stenographers of the powerful repeat ad nauseum, that those crazed mullahs of Iran will unleash. 

Torpedoing a Syrian-led Peace

Dissident Voice

by Ben Schreiner

Earlier this week, the Syrian government accepted the peace plan proposed by United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan.  Mr. Annan called the development “an important initial step that could bring an end to the violence and the bloodshed.”

Advanced Preparations of U.S.-Israel War Against Iran

Global Research

by Ben Schreiner

Following the highly scrutinized meeting between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month in Washington, consensus held that Obama had managed to secure assurances from the war-hungry Netanyahu that Israel would delay a military strike against Iran till 2013.  That is, till after the November U.S. presidential election.

'The Times' and the Human-Rights Abuses of the Syrian Oppposition

NYTimes eXaminer
by Ben Schreiner

In a public letter sent on Tuesday to the Syrian National Council and other Syrian opposition groups, Human Rights Watch expressed its concern over “serious human-rights abuses” committed by armed opposition groups operating within Syria.  These abuses, the letter went on to note, “include kidnapping, detention, and torture of security force members, government supporters [i.e. civilians], and people identified as members of pro-government militias, called shabeeha.”

Subjects of Empire: U.S. Public Opinion on Syria

Global Research

by Ben Schreiner

 

The American public remains firmly opposed to U.S. military intervention into Syria, according to a Pew Research Center poll released on Thursday.

The AFL-CIO Endorses Obama: Age-Old Racket Continues

Dissident Voice

by Ben Schreiner

On Tuesday, the AFL-CIO General Board voted "proudly and enthusiastically" to endorse President Obama for a second term.  Of course, the board also still vowed to run an "independent program rooted not in parties or candidates but in helping working people build power."  But such claims aside, the bottom line remains that the nation’s largest labor federation has once again pledged to throw its weight behind a Democratic "friend" proven to be incapable and unwilling to deliver on the labor agenda. 

The Horror of Afghanistan

Read my response to the latest New York Times editorial regarding Afghanistan at NYTimes eXaminer.

Marching Toward Syria with Eyes Cast Towards Iran

Dissident Voice/Global Research

by Ben Schreiner

While all the incessant warmongering directed toward Iran at the annual AIPAC policy conference in Washington was grabbing the headlines, the momentum for Western intervention into Syria continued to steadily build.  All those neo-con "real men," it appears, just might prefer to go to Tehran via Damascus.

'The Times' and The Flawed Iran Debate

Read my response to the latest New York Times editorial regarding Iran at NYTimes eXaminer.

The Economic Crisis and Iran: Regenerating Global Capitalism

CounterPunch

by Ben Schreiner

On February 21, to great media fanfare, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surpassed the 13,000 mark for the first time since the 2008 collapse.  Appearing on NBC’s Today Show the following morning, Jim “Bear Sterns is not in trouble” Cramer jubilantly prophesied “the future is better than the past.”  A more ominous indication of lurking economic peril is perhaps difficult to imagine.

Manufactured Disgust and Imperial Cynicism

Dissident Voice/Global Research

by Ben Schreiner

Since failing to win United Nations Security Council backing for “regime change” in Syria, Washington and its lackeys in the corporate media have been unrelenting in voicing their great moral outrage at both the violence of the Assad regime and the seeming indifference to it all by the likes of Russia and China.  Washington is no doubt long in forgetting those that thwart the will of the “international community.”  After all, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated, the “travesty” of the Russian and Chinese veto left the entire Security Council “neutered.” 

Do The Iran Shuffle

Read my article, "Do The Iran Shuffle," in Asia Times Online.

Furnishing War With Iran at Any Cost

Dissident Voice
by Ben Schreiner

It took all of one hour after simultaneous attacks targeted Israeli diplomats on Monday in New Delhi and Tbilisi, Georgia for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to conclude his investigation.  As Netanyahu thundered with typical bravado: “Iran is behind these attacks.  It is the biggest exporter of terror in the world.”

War Propaganda's Triumph: U.S. Public Opinion on Iran

Global Research

by Ben Schreiner

 

A recent series of polls gauging U.S. public opinion on Iran and its nuclear program shed light on the enduring strength of the American propaganda machine.

Targeting Iran on a Syrian Battlefield

Read my article, "Targeting Iran on a Syrian Battlefield," in MR Zine.

US Thwarted at the UN: Imperial Ambitions Persevere

Dissident Voice
by Ben Schreiner

To Washington’s great chagrin, the attempt to impose “regime change” in Syria under the auspices of a United Nations Security Council resolution fell apart Saturday, thwarted by the double veto of Russia and China. 

Sacrificing the Truth: The Media and Iran

Dissident Voice
by Ben Schreiner

The isolationist Senator Hiram Johnson once remarked, “The first casualty when war comes is the truth.”  And so, as the West’s “covert war” (or campaign of terror) against Iran continues, drawing military confrontation ever-closer in the process, we find the truth repeatedly sacrificed upon the altar of militarist propaganda.

U.S. Mounts Further Military Build-Up in Persian Gulf

Global Research by Ben Schreiner With the drums of war beating ever louder against Iran, the U.S. military has quickly moved to reestablish a war footing in the Persian Gulf.  The preparations for a looming military confrontation thus continue apace.

Showdown Averted: ILWU and EGT Reach Agreement

Dissident Voice/Intrepid Report
by Ben Schreiner

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the international conglomerate EGT Development came to a tentative agreement on Monday to resolve their long simmering labor dispute.  The agreement was announced in a statement released by Washington Governor Chris Gregoire, who convened the discussions that ultimately lead to the settlement.

Obama Set to Use Military Intervention Against Longshoremen: Which Side is Trumka On?

Dissident Voice/Intrepid Report
by Ben Schreiner

A decisive struggle promising to shape the fate of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), West Coast dockworkers, and all organized labor is swiftly nearing a climax in Longview, Washington. 

Within weeks, if not days, the international conglomerate EGT Development will seek to commence operations at its new $200 million export grain terminal at the Port of Longview.  In refusing to use ILWU labor, EGT is breaking the precedent in place since the 1930s, which holds that all public port docks up and down the West Coast are to be worked by the ILWU.

The Bogus Tales of Iran's Nukes

Global Research by Ben Schreiner With seemingly each passing day, the tensions between the US and Iran over the latter’s nascent nuclear program mount.  And with the voices clamoring for conflict growing ever louder, the clouds of war darken.

Afghanistan: What Is Truly Deplorable

Read my article, "Afghanistan: What is truly deplorable," in Asia Times Online.

The Looming Showdown in Longview: 'The ILWU Cannot Lose This Fight'

CounterPunch/Dissident Voice
by Ben Schreiner 

The long-simmering dispute between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the international consortium EGT Development transpiring in Longview, Washington looks to be coming to a head.

The Press Coverage of the War in Afghanistan

Read my article, "Afghanistan: US Press Withdraws," in Asia Times Online.