#RIP: Alexander Claud Cockburn (6 June 1941 - 21 July 2012)

22.7.12

Alexander Cockburn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There have been a number of consistent themes in Cockburn's political writing, among them:

• Outspoken criticism of US foreign policy, from its policies in Central America in the 1980s, including the Iran-Contra scandal, to the First Gulf War in 1991, the Kosovo War in 1999, and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and 2003 invasion of Iraq.
• Criticism of the government of Israel based on its treatment of the Palestinians.
• Calls for political reform in the United States, mostly focused on criticizing the Democratic Party for failing to provide a progressive alternative to the Republican Party, as well as strong support for Ralph Nader's presidential candidacies in the 2000 and 2004 elections.
• Contempt for the mainstream establishment, in particular for public figures who, in his view, gain mainstream respectability by criticizing those to their left; targets have included The New York Times, President Barack Obama, Senator Bernie Sanders, the late academic Irving Howe and some of his colleagues at The Nation, including Marc Cooper, David Corn^[6] and Eric Alterman. Cockburn has also been highly critical (see below) of his former friend and colleague, Christopher Hitchens.^[7]
• Criticism of 9/11 conspiracy theories^[8][9]
• Regarding prior knowledge of Pearl Harbor, Cockburn thinks "there is strong evidence that FDR did have knowledge that a Japanese naval force in the north Pacific was going to launch an attack on Pearl Harbor. It's quite possible Roosevelt thought it would be a relatively mild assault and thought it would be the final green light to get the US into the war."^[8]

Cockburn criticized the German government for passing restrictive laws against the Church of Scientology, invoking several comparisons with Nazi Germany. Although he stated that Scientology deserved scrutiny, he also maintained that the demonization of any particular unpopular group — even one officials consider a cult — presented a far more imminent danger than the activities of Scientologists, or the organization they belong to.^[10]
Cockburn denounced the economic and political sanctions imposed on the Iraqi government by the United Nations, but Cockburn was more aggressive than most in his criticisms of American and British actions during the 12 years between the formal resolution of the Persian Gulf War and the 2003 invasion. In a column published in 2000, Cockburn averred that the economic embargo imposed upon Iraq was "demonically designed to prompt gnawing, endless suffering throughout Iraq's social economy". In the same column, Cockburn concluded that every major Republican or Democratic nominee running in the 2000 presidential election was supportive of Iraq sanctions, and was therefore complicit in mass murder.^[11]
Cockburn also joined the widespread criticism of the subsequent occupation of Iraq by American, British and other national military forces (the self-described "Coalition of the Willing"). In the wake of the capture of Saddam Hussein, Cockburn penned a column entitled "How to kill Saddam," in which he argued that the ensuing trial of Hussein would be a mock tribunal, conducted by a "kangaroo court," and that Hussein's conviction and ultimate execution were foregone conclusions.^[12]