But better....so is Billmon....
Get on over there if you haven't been already. And don't miss this one.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
Sunday, October 31, 2004
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Mystery images of Titan
• The surface of Titan seems relatively smooth and uncratered, leading scientists to speculate that Titan may be geologically young.
• The moon's surface is largely devoid of any large-scale geologic features.
• There are dark areas and light areas on the surface, perhaps indicating liquid and solid areas, but measurements have shown those areas have very similar compositions.
• There are strange, streaky formations on the moon's surface as if material had been scattered by wind.
"We're seeing stuff, quite frankly, that's really hard to interpret," said Robert Brown, a UA planetary scientist who led the development of Cassini's Visual Imaging Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS), which measures chemical composition. "We're trying to hammer around and bring in information from other instruments to try and get a handle on what we're seeing. It's a little mysterious," Brown said. "The bottom line is that on other solid bodies you see things you recognize. Craters, other geologic features. This is a relatively smooth surface."
article• The moon's surface is largely devoid of any large-scale geologic features.
• There are dark areas and light areas on the surface, perhaps indicating liquid and solid areas, but measurements have shown those areas have very similar compositions.
• There are strange, streaky formations on the moon's surface as if material had been scattered by wind.
"We're seeing stuff, quite frankly, that's really hard to interpret," said Robert Brown, a UA planetary scientist who led the development of Cassini's Visual Imaging Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS), which measures chemical composition. "We're trying to hammer around and bring in information from other instruments to try and get a handle on what we're seeing. It's a little mysterious," Brown said. "The bottom line is that on other solid bodies you see things you recognize. Craters, other geologic features. This is a relatively smooth surface."
Think Death Star.
And now I have to take a break. Must drive. I should be back late Sunday. Watch for any Friday releases of bad news for the Preznit. And don't be surprised at any bad news for the rest of us.
Later....
Update 11/01/04:
Pictures at NASA
Former "detainees" are suing Rumsfiend
Four former Guantanamo detainees yesterday sued Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and 10 others in the military chain of command overseeing the American interrogation prison in Cuba, alleging that the officials are personally responsible for illegal acts of prolonged arbitrary detention and torture.
The lawsuit, believed to be the first of its kind by former detainees who have since been released from the prison, seeks $10 million for each of the men to be paid by the officials out of their own pockets as compensation for their role in the alleged abuses.
All four plaintiffs are British citizens who were taken into US military custody in December 2001 in Afghanistan, and released in March from Cuba. Although they were imprisoned and interrogated for more than two years, none has been charged with a crime.
Boston.com articleThe lawsuit, believed to be the first of its kind by former detainees who have since been released from the prison, seeks $10 million for each of the men to be paid by the officials out of their own pockets as compensation for their role in the alleged abuses.
All four plaintiffs are British citizens who were taken into US military custody in December 2001 in Afghanistan, and released in March from Cuba. Although they were imprisoned and interrogated for more than two years, none has been charged with a crime.
Yeah, and good luck, fellas. Pardon me if I don't hold out any hope for you to win your cases. These criminals ought to already be in jail.
"New" human species
Well, what a day for science - a discovery that's been hailed as the most significant find in the past 100 years.
A team of Australian and Indonesian archaeologists has unearthed the skeleton of a new species of human in a cave on the remote Indonesian island of Flores.
Less than one metre tall, it's been nicknamed the 'Hobbit' and it's estimated to be 18,000 years old.
Its discovery suggests early humans branched into more forms than previously thought and that there was a time, not so long ago, when two very different human species walked the planet.
articleA team of Australian and Indonesian archaeologists has unearthed the skeleton of a new species of human in a cave on the remote Indonesian island of Flores.
Less than one metre tall, it's been nicknamed the 'Hobbit' and it's estimated to be 18,000 years old.
Its discovery suggests early humans branched into more forms than previously thought and that there was a time, not so long ago, when two very different human species walked the planet.
Of course, we know that they still do.
Bush "wins" Florida - again
Before one vote was cast in early voting this week in Florida, the new touch-screen computer voting machines of Florida started out with a several-thousand vote lead for George W. Bush. That is, the mechanics of the new digital democracy boxes "spoil" votes at a predictably high rate in African-American precincts, effectively voiding enough votes cast for John Kerry to in a tight race, keep the White House safe from the will of the voters.
Excerpted from the current (November) issue of Harper's Magazine
by Greg Palast
To understand the fiasco in progress in Florida, we need to revisit the 2000 model, starting with a lesson from Dick Carlberg, acting elections supervisor in Duval County until this week. "Some voters are strange," Carlberg told me recently. He was attempting to explain why, in the last presidential election, five thousand Duvalians trudged to the polls and, having arrived there, voted for no one for president. Carlberg did concede that, after he ran these punch cards through the counting machines a second time, some partly punched holes shook loose, gaining Al Gore160 votes or so, Bush roughly 80.
"So, if you ran the 'blank' ballots through a few more times, we'd have a different president," I noted. Carlberg, a Republican, answered with a grin.
...Even when computers work, they don't work well for African-Americans. A July 2001 Congressional study found that computers spoiled votes in minority districts at three times the rate of votes lost in white districts.
Based on the measured differential in vote loss between paper and computer systems, the fifteen counties in Florida, can expect to lose at least 29,000 votes to spoilage-some 27,000 more than if the counties had used paper ballots with scanners.
Given the demographics of spoilage, this translates into a net lead of thousands for Bush before a single ballot is cast.
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Bush will vote for Kerry on November 2
"Our military is now investigating a number of possible scenarios, including that the explosives may have been moved before our troops even arrived at the site," Mr. Bush told a Republican crowd in Lancaster, Pa. "This investigation is important and it's ongoing, and a political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as your commander in chief." [emphasis added]
NY Times article
Locking in a two-party system
This November 2, voters in California and the state of Washington will weigh in on their states' primary election system. Both Proposition 62 in California, sugar-coated with the name "Voter Choice Open Primary Initiative," and Initiative 872 in Washington - ”the so-called "People's Choice" initiative - will result in a harmful change to each state's political system and a big loss for voters.
These ballot measures would transform their states' political primary systems into a system practiced by only one other state - Louisiana. Think about that for a second - Louisiana. Not exactly a place known for its clean elections or its moderate politics.
...Under California and Washington's earlier blanket primary, the nominees from all political parties competed against each other in a single primary free-for-all reminiscent of California's gubernatorial recall election. Then the highest vote-getter for each political party advanced as their party's nominee to the November election—Democrats, Republicans and third-party candidates. Voters had a range of partisan choices in the November election.
In contrast, under Proposition 62 and Initiative 872, only the top two vote-getters in the primary will be eligible to appear on the November ballot. And here's the catch: The top two could be from the same political party!
Continue Reading...
These ballot measures would transform their states' political primary systems into a system practiced by only one other state - Louisiana. Think about that for a second - Louisiana. Not exactly a place known for its clean elections or its moderate politics.
...Under California and Washington's earlier blanket primary, the nominees from all political parties competed against each other in a single primary free-for-all reminiscent of California's gubernatorial recall election. Then the highest vote-getter for each political party advanced as their party's nominee to the November election—Democrats, Republicans and third-party candidates. Voters had a range of partisan choices in the November election.
In contrast, under Proposition 62 and Initiative 872, only the top two vote-getters in the primary will be eligible to appear on the November ballot. And here's the catch: The top two could be from the same political party!
Pre-invasion plan
Greg Palast has written an article that seems to be slated for Tom Paine, but I don't find it there yet. It came as an e-mail from Palast, so I've created a webpage copy of the whole thing here. Excerpts follow...
Adventure Capitalism - The Hidden 2001 Plan to Carve-up Iraq
by Greg Palast
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
...In February 2003, a month before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, a 101-page document came my way from somewhere within the U.S. State Department. Titled pleasantly, "Moving the Iraqi Economy from Recovery to Growth," it was part of a larger under-wraps program called "The Iraq Strategy."
... Here's what you'll find in the Plan: A highly detailed program, begun years before the tanks rolled, for imposing a new regime of low taxes on big business, and quick sales of Iraq's banks and bridges—in fact, "ALL state enterprises"—to foreign operators.
...Iraq-born Falah Aljibury was in on the drafting of administration blueprints for the post-Saddam Iraq. According to Aljibury, the administration began coveting its Mideast neighbor's oil within weeks of the Bush-Cheney inauguration, when the White House convened a closed committee under the direction of the State Department's Pam Wainwright....
...Besides Aljibury, an oil industry consultant, the secret team included executives from Royal-Dutch Shell and ChevronTexaco. These and other oil industry bigs would, in 2003, direct the drafting of a 300-page addendum to the Economy Plan solely about Iraq's oil assets...
...One thing stood in the way of rewriting Iraq's laws and selling off Iraq's assets: the Iraqis....
In this looming battle between what Iraqis wanted and what the Bush administration planned for them, the Iraqis had an unexpected ally, Gen. Jay Garner, the man appointed by our president just before the invasion as a kind of temporary Pasha to run the soon-to-be conquered nation.
Garner's an old Iraq hand who performed the benevolent autocratic function in the Kurdish zone after the first Gulf War. But in March 2003, the general made his big career mistake. In Kuwait City, fresh off the plane from the United States, he promised Iraqis they would have free and fair elections as soon as Saddam was toppled, preferably within 90 days.
Garner's 90-days-to-democracy pledge ran into a hard object: The Economy Plan's 'Annex D.'...Annex D lays out a strict 360-day schedule for the free-market makeover of Iraq. And there's the rub: It was simply inconceivable that any popularly elected government would let America write its laws and auction off the nation's crown jewel, its petroleum industry.
...Gen. Garner resisted—which was one of the reasons for his swift sacking by Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld on the very night he arrived in Baghdad last April. Rummy had a perfect replacement ready to wing it in Iraq to replace the recalcitrant general...
Pausing only to install himself in Saddam's old palace—and adding an extra ring of barbed wire—"Jerry" Bremer cancelled Garner's scheduled meeting of Iraq's tribal leaders called to plan national elections. Instead, Bremer appointed the entire government himself. National elections, Bremer pronounced, would have to wait until 2005. The extended occupation would require our forces to linger.
The delay would, incidentally, provide time needed to lock in the laws, regulations and irreversible sales of assets in accordance with the Economy Plan.
On that, Bremer wasted no time. Altogether, the leader of the Coalition Provisional Authority issued exactly 100 orders that remade Iraq in the image of the Economy Plan....
by Greg Palast
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
...In February 2003, a month before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, a 101-page document came my way from somewhere within the U.S. State Department. Titled pleasantly, "Moving the Iraqi Economy from Recovery to Growth," it was part of a larger under-wraps program called "The Iraq Strategy."
... Here's what you'll find in the Plan: A highly detailed program, begun years before the tanks rolled, for imposing a new regime of low taxes on big business, and quick sales of Iraq's banks and bridges—in fact, "ALL state enterprises"—to foreign operators.
...Iraq-born Falah Aljibury was in on the drafting of administration blueprints for the post-Saddam Iraq. According to Aljibury, the administration began coveting its Mideast neighbor's oil within weeks of the Bush-Cheney inauguration, when the White House convened a closed committee under the direction of the State Department's Pam Wainwright....
...Besides Aljibury, an oil industry consultant, the secret team included executives from Royal-Dutch Shell and ChevronTexaco. These and other oil industry bigs would, in 2003, direct the drafting of a 300-page addendum to the Economy Plan solely about Iraq's oil assets...
...One thing stood in the way of rewriting Iraq's laws and selling off Iraq's assets: the Iraqis....
In this looming battle between what Iraqis wanted and what the Bush administration planned for them, the Iraqis had an unexpected ally, Gen. Jay Garner, the man appointed by our president just before the invasion as a kind of temporary Pasha to run the soon-to-be conquered nation.
Garner's an old Iraq hand who performed the benevolent autocratic function in the Kurdish zone after the first Gulf War. But in March 2003, the general made his big career mistake. In Kuwait City, fresh off the plane from the United States, he promised Iraqis they would have free and fair elections as soon as Saddam was toppled, preferably within 90 days.
Garner's 90-days-to-democracy pledge ran into a hard object: The Economy Plan's 'Annex D.'...Annex D lays out a strict 360-day schedule for the free-market makeover of Iraq. And there's the rub: It was simply inconceivable that any popularly elected government would let America write its laws and auction off the nation's crown jewel, its petroleum industry.
...Gen. Garner resisted—which was one of the reasons for his swift sacking by Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld on the very night he arrived in Baghdad last April. Rummy had a perfect replacement ready to wing it in Iraq to replace the recalcitrant general...
Pausing only to install himself in Saddam's old palace—and adding an extra ring of barbed wire—"Jerry" Bremer cancelled Garner's scheduled meeting of Iraq's tribal leaders called to plan national elections. Instead, Bremer appointed the entire government himself. National elections, Bremer pronounced, would have to wait until 2005. The extended occupation would require our forces to linger.
The delay would, incidentally, provide time needed to lock in the laws, regulations and irreversible sales of assets in accordance with the Economy Plan.
On that, Bremer wasted no time. Altogether, the leader of the Coalition Provisional Authority issued exactly 100 orders that remade Iraq in the image of the Economy Plan....
Terror
From a link via Bob comes this article about a documentary about to be aired by the BBC.
A major new TV documentary claims that the perceived threat [of a terrorist
attack] is a politically driven fantasy - and al-Qaida a dark illusion.
...[T]he central theme of The Power of Nightmares is riskily counter-intuitive
and provocative. Much of the currently perceived threat from international
terrorism, the series argues, "is a fantasy that has been exaggerated and
distorted by politicians. It is a dark illusion that has spread
unquestioned through governments around the world, the security services,
and the international media." The series' explanation for this is even
bolder: "In an age when all the grand ideas have lost credibility, fear of
a phantom enemy is all the politicians have left to maintain their power."
...The Power of Nightmares seeks to overturn much of what is widely believed
about Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida. The latter, it argues, is not an
organised international network. It does not have members or a leader. It
does not have "sleeper cells". It does not have an overall strategy. In
fact, it barely exists at all, except as an idea about cleansing a corrupt
world through religious violence.
Curtis' evidence for these assertions is not easily dismissed. He tells
the story of Islamism, or the desire to establish Islam as an unbreakable
political framework, as half a century of mostly failed, short-lived
revolutions and spectacular but politically ineffective terrorism. Curtis
points out that al-Qaida did not even have a name until early 2001, when
the American government decided to prosecute Bin Laden in his absence and
had to use anti-Mafia laws that required the existence of a named criminal
organisation.
Curtis also cites the Home Office's own statistics for arrests and
convictions of suspected terrorists since September 11 2001. Of the 664
people detained up to the end of last month, only 17 have been found
guilty. Of these, the majority were Irish Republicans, Sikh militants or
members of other groups with no connection to Islamist terrorism. Nobody
has been convicted who is a proven member of al-Qaida.
In fact, Curtis is not alone in wondering about all this. Quietly but
increasingly, other observers of the war on terror have been having
similar doubts.
In one sense, of course, Curtis himself is part of the al-Qaida industry.
The Power of Nightmares began as an investigation of something else, the
rise of modern American conservatism. Curtis was interested in Leo
Strauss, a political philosopher at the university of Chicago in the 50s
who rejected the liberalism of postwar America as amoral and who thought
that the country could be rescued by a revived belief in America's unique
role to battle evil in the world. Strauss's certainty and his emphasis on
the use of grand myths as a higher form of political propaganda created a
group of influential disciples such as Paul Wolfowitz, now the US deputy
defence secretary....
As Curtis traced the rise of the "Straussians", he came to a conclusion
that would form the basis for The Power of Nightmares. Straussian
conservatism had a previously unsuspected amount in common with Islamism:
from origins in the 50s, to a formative belief that liberalism was the
enemy, to an actual period of Islamist-Straussian collaboration against
the Soviet Union during the war in Afghanistan in the 80s (both movements
have proved adept at finding new foes to keep them going). Although the
Islamists and the Straussians have fallen out since then, as the attacks
on America in 2001 graphically demonstrated, they are in another way,
Curtis concludes, collaborating still: in sustaining the "fantasy" of the
war on terror.Full article...
A major new TV documentary claims that the perceived threat [of a terrorist
attack] is a politically driven fantasy - and al-Qaida a dark illusion.
...[T]he central theme of The Power of Nightmares is riskily counter-intuitive
and provocative. Much of the currently perceived threat from international
terrorism, the series argues, "is a fantasy that has been exaggerated and
distorted by politicians. It is a dark illusion that has spread
unquestioned through governments around the world, the security services,
and the international media." The series' explanation for this is even
bolder: "In an age when all the grand ideas have lost credibility, fear of
a phantom enemy is all the politicians have left to maintain their power."
...The Power of Nightmares seeks to overturn much of what is widely believed
about Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida. The latter, it argues, is not an
organised international network. It does not have members or a leader. It
does not have "sleeper cells". It does not have an overall strategy. In
fact, it barely exists at all, except as an idea about cleansing a corrupt
world through religious violence.
Curtis' evidence for these assertions is not easily dismissed. He tells
the story of Islamism, or the desire to establish Islam as an unbreakable
political framework, as half a century of mostly failed, short-lived
revolutions and spectacular but politically ineffective terrorism. Curtis
points out that al-Qaida did not even have a name until early 2001, when
the American government decided to prosecute Bin Laden in his absence and
had to use anti-Mafia laws that required the existence of a named criminal
organisation.
Curtis also cites the Home Office's own statistics for arrests and
convictions of suspected terrorists since September 11 2001. Of the 664
people detained up to the end of last month, only 17 have been found
guilty. Of these, the majority were Irish Republicans, Sikh militants or
members of other groups with no connection to Islamist terrorism. Nobody
has been convicted who is a proven member of al-Qaida.
In fact, Curtis is not alone in wondering about all this. Quietly but
increasingly, other observers of the war on terror have been having
similar doubts.
In one sense, of course, Curtis himself is part of the al-Qaida industry.
The Power of Nightmares began as an investigation of something else, the
rise of modern American conservatism. Curtis was interested in Leo
Strauss, a political philosopher at the university of Chicago in the 50s
who rejected the liberalism of postwar America as amoral and who thought
that the country could be rescued by a revived belief in America's unique
role to battle evil in the world. Strauss's certainty and his emphasis on
the use of grand myths as a higher form of political propaganda created a
group of influential disciples such as Paul Wolfowitz, now the US deputy
defence secretary....
As Curtis traced the rise of the "Straussians", he came to a conclusion
that would form the basis for The Power of Nightmares. Straussian
conservatism had a previously unsuspected amount in common with Islamism:
from origins in the 50s, to a formative belief that liberalism was the
enemy, to an actual period of Islamist-Straussian collaboration against
the Soviet Union during the war in Afghanistan in the 80s (both movements
have proved adept at finding new foes to keep them going). Although the
Islamists and the Straussians have fallen out since then, as the attacks
on America in 2001 graphically demonstrated, they are in another way,
Curtis concludes, collaborating still: in sustaining the "fantasy" of the
war on terror.
Why? The psychology of how we got here...
John Sommers-Flanagan:
I still feel stunned when a woman tells me she's returning to live with a man who recently broke her jaw. With her teeth clenched and mouth wired shut, she says she's going back, "because he loves me and I love him."...
I still feel shaken by the boy who tells me, in great detail and with boundless enthusiasm, all about the father who abandoned him when he was 4-years-old. And I am still disturbed by the good soldier who blindly follows his leader's orders and marches into danger -- although his leader has shown, time and again, poor judgment, lack of planning, and disregard for the men who serve him.
As a psychologist, I should know better than to be stunned, shaken or disturbed by these images. After all, I know why humans behave irrationally. I even do it myself.
On Sept. 9, 2001, President George W. Bush's approval rating was 55 percent. Only three days later, after the worst attack on U.S. soil in history, his approval rating was 86 percent.
In psychology, the enhanced allegiance to a person associated with your abuse is referred to as trauma-bonding. It is a powerful phenomenon. It accounts for why a woman might return to the husband who broke her jaw. It explains why otherwise intelligent people begin worshiping those very people whose behaviors have threatened their safety.
...Bush and his people consistently claim to be results-oriented. That the American people and the press accept this statement is irrational. The facts and results suggest that Bush has repeatedly and sometimes perversely failed the American people.
...Bush said he was not interested in nation-building, but now we're begging the international community to help us build a new Iraq. He said he was a fiscal conservative but has racked up record budget deficits.
Still, despite the facts and, yes, flip-flops, we follow him. We still approve his performance. In this regard, we're being irrational in the massive and self-deceptive way characteristic only of humans.
The abuser never admits mistakes, never truly apologizes and never shows weakness. The abuser, despite his inconsistent and capricious decisions, insists he has not changed his philosophy. He is determined and resolute. The abuser manipulates us with fear.
Unfortunately, the abuser does not have our best interests at heart....He's interested in control and domination. He will act like he's concerned and compassionate, but when he has regained control, he will turn away from the poor, the weak, the hungry, the women and the children.
The choice is clear: Shall we believe in ourselves, risk his disfavor, and assert our independence, or will we continue to irrationally cling to our failed leader? Shall we boldly vote for change Nov. 2 or will we wire our jaws shut for another four years?
articleI still feel shaken by the boy who tells me, in great detail and with boundless enthusiasm, all about the father who abandoned him when he was 4-years-old. And I am still disturbed by the good soldier who blindly follows his leader's orders and marches into danger -- although his leader has shown, time and again, poor judgment, lack of planning, and disregard for the men who serve him.
As a psychologist, I should know better than to be stunned, shaken or disturbed by these images. After all, I know why humans behave irrationally. I even do it myself.
On Sept. 9, 2001, President George W. Bush's approval rating was 55 percent. Only three days later, after the worst attack on U.S. soil in history, his approval rating was 86 percent.
In psychology, the enhanced allegiance to a person associated with your abuse is referred to as trauma-bonding. It is a powerful phenomenon. It accounts for why a woman might return to the husband who broke her jaw. It explains why otherwise intelligent people begin worshiping those very people whose behaviors have threatened their safety.
...Bush and his people consistently claim to be results-oriented. That the American people and the press accept this statement is irrational. The facts and results suggest that Bush has repeatedly and sometimes perversely failed the American people.
...Bush said he was not interested in nation-building, but now we're begging the international community to help us build a new Iraq. He said he was a fiscal conservative but has racked up record budget deficits.
Still, despite the facts and, yes, flip-flops, we follow him. We still approve his performance. In this regard, we're being irrational in the massive and self-deceptive way characteristic only of humans.
The abuser never admits mistakes, never truly apologizes and never shows weakness. The abuser, despite his inconsistent and capricious decisions, insists he has not changed his philosophy. He is determined and resolute. The abuser manipulates us with fear.
Unfortunately, the abuser does not have our best interests at heart....He's interested in control and domination. He will act like he's concerned and compassionate, but when he has regained control, he will turn away from the poor, the weak, the hungry, the women and the children.
The choice is clear: Shall we believe in ourselves, risk his disfavor, and assert our independence, or will we continue to irrationally cling to our failed leader? Shall we boldly vote for change Nov. 2 or will we wire our jaws shut for another four years?
Mark Morford:
There are plenty of strangely unanswered questions about 9/11, about the stunning inaction of NORAD and Bush's stupefying nonreaction upon hearing of the attack, not to mention his administration's incredible attempts to halt any independent 9/11 investigations, and have you ever read a fully satisfying account of how this whole atrocity could have happened, one that answered all your questions and quelled your lingering doubts and squashed, once and for all, any hints of dread you had about our government's potential role in the tragedy? Neither have I. Neither has anyone.
Of course, no one in any major media will touch this stuff. It is professional suicide to dare suggest an alternate truth to the one supplied by the Pentagon and regurgitated by the media, despite the fact that most every journalist, trained as they are to be suspicious and wary and fully cognizant of the fact that there is always more to a given apocalypse than meets the eye, every journalist knows that buried just beneath the slippery surface of any good conspiracy theory is a gem or three of real truth, a question that begs to be solved or at least researched and, yet, most likely never will, because it has been cast into the madhouse of "outrageous" impossibility and is therefore rendered impotent and hopeless.
...And the truth is, we don't really want such unstable questions answered. We simply cannot tolerate to have our world, our leaders, our foundations so questioned. We prefer stasis to growth, security to true knowledge, blind faith to chaotic sticky self-defined wonder.
After all, once you allow the real possibility of UFOs or psychic healing or crop-circle phenomena or the notion that we could very well have a hugely malicious, criminal U.S. government capable of pulling a 9/11 on its own citizens, well, the happy capitalistic all-American Christian world begins to implode. Foundations crumble. Trust in our institutions vanishes. Gods fall and doctrines crumble and televangelists spontaneously combust and everyone starts reimagining the social order in ways that absolutely terrify those who now hold the reins.
Real truth, after all, often means anarchy, disorder, revolution. And God knows we can't have that.
article
Of course, no one in any major media will touch this stuff. It is professional suicide to dare suggest an alternate truth to the one supplied by the Pentagon and regurgitated by the media, despite the fact that most every journalist, trained as they are to be suspicious and wary and fully cognizant of the fact that there is always more to a given apocalypse than meets the eye, every journalist knows that buried just beneath the slippery surface of any good conspiracy theory is a gem or three of real truth, a question that begs to be solved or at least researched and, yet, most likely never will, because it has been cast into the madhouse of "outrageous" impossibility and is therefore rendered impotent and hopeless.
...And the truth is, we don't really want such unstable questions answered. We simply cannot tolerate to have our world, our leaders, our foundations so questioned. We prefer stasis to growth, security to true knowledge, blind faith to chaotic sticky self-defined wonder.
After all, once you allow the real possibility of UFOs or psychic healing or crop-circle phenomena or the notion that we could very well have a hugely malicious, criminal U.S. government capable of pulling a 9/11 on its own citizens, well, the happy capitalistic all-American Christian world begins to implode. Foundations crumble. Trust in our institutions vanishes. Gods fall and doctrines crumble and televangelists spontaneously combust and everyone starts reimagining the social order in ways that absolutely terrify those who now hold the reins.
Real truth, after all, often means anarchy, disorder, revolution. And God knows we can't have that.
Falluja - an accounting
Today the Iraq Body Count (IBC) website has published its analysis of the civilian dealth toll in the April 2004 siege of Falluja. This analysis leads to the conclusion that betweeen 572 and 616 of the approximately 800 reported deaths were of civilians, with over 300 of these being women and children.
A Falluja Archive carrying relevant and related excerpts from nearly three hundred contemporary news reports is also being made available on the website, and constitutes the largest publicly-available resource for investigators researching the human consequences of the siege. IBC's number for the civilian dead emerges from detailed and exhaustive analysis of these reports as well as others more recently published.
More...A Falluja Archive carrying relevant and related excerpts from nearly three hundred contemporary news reports is also being made available on the website, and constitutes the largest publicly-available resource for investigators researching the human consequences of the siege. IBC's number for the civilian dead emerges from detailed and exhaustive analysis of these reports as well as others more recently published.
All posts about Falluja. (This week marks an entire year of blog posts on the destruction of Falluja. Twelve years of sanctions and a year-plus of bombing - bombing which is scheduled to be stepped up after elections next tuesday.)
Looking forward
The Bush administration intends to seek about $70 billion in emergency funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan early next year, pushing total war costs close to $225 billion since the invasion of Iraq early last year, Pentagon and congressional officials said yesterday.
...Concerned that they won't get enough new troops from allies to help provide security for Iraqi elections in January, Pentagon officials are considering increasing the current U.S. force by delaying the departures of some U.S. troops now in Iraq and accelerating the deployment of others scheduled to go there next year.
The goal is to temporarily raise the number of U.S. troops in Iraq from the current 138,000 to almost 160,000 to help protect international and Iraqi election workers and secure polling locations.
That addition would bring the sustained U.S. troop presence in Iraq to its highest level since President Bush declared an end to major combat operations on May 1, 2003.
WaPo article...Concerned that they won't get enough new troops from allies to help provide security for Iraqi elections in January, Pentagon officials are considering increasing the current U.S. force by delaying the departures of some U.S. troops now in Iraq and accelerating the deployment of others scheduled to go there next year.
The goal is to temporarily raise the number of U.S. troops in Iraq from the current 138,000 to almost 160,000 to help protect international and Iraqi election workers and secure polling locations.
That addition would bring the sustained U.S. troop presence in Iraq to its highest level since President Bush declared an end to major combat operations on May 1, 2003.
Almost causes you to laugh, doesn't it?
European Muslims head to Iraq to fight
Hundreds of young militant Muslim men have left Europe to fight in Iraq, according to senior counterterrorism officials in four European countries. They have been recruited through mosques, Muslim centers and militant Web sites by several groups, including Ansar al-Islam, the Kurdish terrorist group once based in northern Iraq.
...Intelligence officials fear that, for a new generation of disaffected European Muslims, Iraq could become what Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya were for European Islamic militants in past decades: a galvanizing cause that sends idealistic young men abroad, trains them and puts them in touch with a more radical global network of terrorists. Many young Europeans who fought in those wars came back to Europe to plot terrorist attacks at home.
...Virtually all of the major terrorists arrested in Europe in the past three years spent time in Bosnia, Afghanistan or Chechnya.
"Now the new land of jihad is Iraq," the intelligence official said. "There, they're trained, they fight and acquire a technique and the indoctrination sufficient to act on when they return."
A network of recruiters for Iraq first appeared in Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Norway within months of the U.S.-led invasion, officials said. Some officials said that the recruitment effort has now spread to other countries in Europe, including Belgium and Switzerland. The network provides forged documents, financing, training and information about infiltration routes into the country.
=http://www.iht.com/articles/2...>International Herald Tribune article...Intelligence officials fear that, for a new generation of disaffected European Muslims, Iraq could become what Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya were for European Islamic militants in past decades: a galvanizing cause that sends idealistic young men abroad, trains them and puts them in touch with a more radical global network of terrorists. Many young Europeans who fought in those wars came back to Europe to plot terrorist attacks at home.
...Virtually all of the major terrorists arrested in Europe in the past three years spent time in Bosnia, Afghanistan or Chechnya.
"Now the new land of jihad is Iraq," the intelligence official said. "There, they're trained, they fight and acquire a technique and the indoctrination sufficient to act on when they return."
A network of recruiters for Iraq first appeared in Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Norway within months of the U.S.-led invasion, officials said. Some officials said that the recruitment effort has now spread to other countries in Europe, including Belgium and Switzerland. The network provides forged documents, financing, training and information about infiltration routes into the country.
Thank the Bush administration for making the world safer. If Saddam weren't behind bars....
...The French official said many of these people are passing through Britain, once the major staging point for Muslims going to Afghanistan, or through Saudi Arabia, using the cover of a pilgrimage to Mecca to enter the Saudi kingdom before crossing into Iraq.
..."These young men know where the action is - they easily cross the borders of Syria or Turkey and they go directly to Falluja," the official said.
..."These young men know where the action is - they easily cross the borders of Syria or Turkey and they go directly to Falluja," the official said.
Which brings me round to my first thought at the beginning of this article....Before the U.S. finally declared itself officially involved in WWII, young American men were going to England and enlisting with the British to repel the German invaders. We called them selfless heroes with conscience.
Flu vaccine bungle - now for the cover-up
In a letter Tuesday to the FDA, Rep. Henry A. Waxman of California, the senior Democrat on the House Committee on Government Reform, said that a confidential source inside the FDA told him that the office of acting FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford had received documents describing the FDA's findings at the Liverpool plant and addressing "whether the flu vaccine crisis could be prevented."
The agency has so far refused requests from Congress and the media for copies of FDA inspection reports and other documents describing problems at the Chiron plant, including the results of an inspection in June 2003, about the time Chiron acquired the facility.
Because of problems at the plant in Liverpool, England, almost 50 million doses of flu vaccine were withheld from the market this year, about half of the U.S. supply.
Waxman quoted the source as saying that Crawford or someone in his office had "made a decision not to release these documents to Congress until after the election."
articleThe agency has so far refused requests from Congress and the media for copies of FDA inspection reports and other documents describing problems at the Chiron plant, including the results of an inspection in June 2003, about the time Chiron acquired the facility.
Because of problems at the plant in Liverpool, England, almost 50 million doses of flu vaccine were withheld from the market this year, about half of the U.S. supply.
Waxman quoted the source as saying that Crawford or someone in his office had "made a decision not to release these documents to Congress until after the election."
Yet another set of documents not to be released before the election. I wonder how many truck loads of shit are to be dumped November 3. And, just supposing the election would actually go off fairly (I know, I know, but play along here for a minute, I'm building to something), and suppose that John Kerry would be elected. There could be a whole lot of information that would find its way to the light of day in that case, and it could be very, very, very bad news for BushCheneyCo. I'm talking prosecutable stuff. So, considering the long shot of a fair election and a Kerry win, what might BushCheneyCo do in the three months left to them in office? It has been suggested that there will be a lot of document shredding going on. No doubt. They could quietly take on other actions that would completely cripple a Kerry administration. There's another alternative: a state of emergency. The POTUS is endowed with the right to declare a federal emergency and declare martial law - literally suspend the Constitution. You think removing the w's from typewriters is shocking....
Waxman and the Republican chairman of the government reform committee, Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, asked for the FDA documents on Oct. 13. But last week, Davis granted Crawford more time to produce the documents and refused to grant Waxman's request to subpoena them, arguing that the FDA was too busy to assemble the requested documents.
...In a brief statement Tuesday, Davis said he agreed to a delay in the release of the information at Crawford's request to "let the FDA focus for the time being on the problem of finding and distributing more doses of the vaccine - because our priority is public health, not election-year politics."
...In a brief statement Tuesday, Davis said he agreed to a delay in the release of the information at Crawford's request to "let the FDA focus for the time being on the problem of finding and distributing more doses of the vaccine - because our priority is public health, not election-year politics."
Oh yeah, releasing those documents would really distract them. What in the name of Sam Hill were they doing back when they should have been focusing on a possible backup for vaccine? Smoking crack?
While patients are panicking over a shortage of flu vaccines in the United States, vaccination programs in the rest of the world are progressing normally with a good supply of medicine, health authorities say.
...Most countries contract with several vaccine manufacturers, in part to avoid critical dependence on one supplier. And though countries other than the United States had placed orders with Chiron for portions of their vaccine needs, no other country was so dependent on the Liverpool factory.
article...Most countries contract with several vaccine manufacturers, in part to avoid critical dependence on one supplier. And though countries other than the United States had placed orders with Chiron for portions of their vaccine needs, no other country was so dependent on the Liverpool factory.
So the Bumbling Bush Administration mismanages yet another aspect of government. We're not a country, we're a freaking Woody Allen movie directed by an 8th-grade video class.
Say goodbye to Grandma. Or maybe you could wrap her in plastic and duct tape.
Update 12:21pm: I see Bob Harris' readers have other ideas about what Bush will do afer November 2.
Voting rights
G.D. Frogsdong has a post up today advising New Jersey citizens of their voting rights, as will be applicable on election day - what you might expect at the polling place. It's a good article for anyone to see what kinds of things might happen on November 2 at polling stations. These laws are not standard for all states, so if you are in any doubt about your own situation, please check with your local elections board.
More voting information is on my webpage here.
And speaking of the Geneva Conventions
How can they declare a war on terror and call the terrorists enemy non-combatants, thereby skirting the Conventions? If they're going to elevate terrorists to state level by declaring a war on them, then they should have to give them the state protections of the Conventions.
Having it both ways again.
Having it both ways again.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
Rewriting law
A new legal opinion by the Bush administration has concluded for the first time that some non-Iraqi prisoners captured by American forces in Iraq are not entitled to the protections of the Geneva Conventions, administration officials said Monday.
The opinion, reached in recent months, establishes an important exception to public assertions by the Bush administration since March 2003 that the Geneva Conventions applied comprehensively to prisoners taken in the conflict in Iraq, the officials said. They said the opinion would essentially allow the military and the C.I.A. to treat at least a small number of non-Iraqi prisoners captured in Iraq in the same way as members of Al Qaeda and the Taliban captured in Afghanistan, Pakistan or elsewhere, for whom the United States has maintained that the Geneva Conventions do not apply.
The officials outlined the opinion on Monday in response to a report in The Washington Post over the weekend that the Central Intelligence Agency had secretly transferred a dozen non-Iraqi prisoners out of Iraq in the past 18 months, despite a provision in the conventions that bars civilians protected under the accords from being deported from occupied territories.
NY Times articleThe opinion, reached in recent months, establishes an important exception to public assertions by the Bush administration since March 2003 that the Geneva Conventions applied comprehensively to prisoners taken in the conflict in Iraq, the officials said. They said the opinion would essentially allow the military and the C.I.A. to treat at least a small number of non-Iraqi prisoners captured in Iraq in the same way as members of Al Qaeda and the Taliban captured in Afghanistan, Pakistan or elsewhere, for whom the United States has maintained that the Geneva Conventions do not apply.
The officials outlined the opinion on Monday in response to a report in The Washington Post over the weekend that the Central Intelligence Agency had secretly transferred a dozen non-Iraqi prisoners out of Iraq in the past 18 months, despite a provision in the conventions that bars civilians protected under the accords from being deported from occupied territories.
Funny, I would have thought their previous "legal opinion" that Bush is king of the world and can ignore any law he wants would have covered this incident, like it did the Abu Ghraib tortures.
It's all in the interpretation, is it not? I wonder if the Bush administration's legal team ever sleeps, having to re-interpret laws to cover all of their bosses' illegal activities.
All the quibbling about whether the Geneva Conventions apply seems to me to be academic anyway. No one's arguing that the Conventions didn't apply to prisoners at Abu Ghraib and other Iraq prisons, but they certainly weren't adhered to there. No one's arguing that the Conventions don't apply to civilian populations, but we still hold family members hostage, break into and destroy homes, and engage in collective punishment against cities like Falluja, all in violation of the Conventions.
Jumping ship
The Orlando Sentinel has backed every Republican seeking the White House since Richard M. Nixon in 1968. Not this time.
"This president has utterly failed to fulfill our expectations," the Florida paper said in supporting John F. Kerry, prompting some angry calls and a few dozen cancellations.
... The Sentinel is among 36 newspapers that endorsed President Bush four years ago and have flip-flopped, to coin a phrase, into Kerry's corner. These include the Chicago Sun-Times, the Los Angeles Daily News and the Memphis Commercial Appeal, according to industry magazine Editor & Publisher. Bush has won over only six papers that backed Al Gore, including the Denver Post, which received 700 letters -- all of them protesting the move.
Nine more papers, including the Cleveland Plain Dealer yesterday, abandoned Bush after four years but did not support the Massachusetts senator. Instead, these papers -- the Detroit News, the Tampa Tribune and the New Orleans Times-Picayune among them -- threw up their collective hands and made no endorsement.
...All told, Kerry leads Bush 142 to 123 in endorsements, and when measured by circulation, 17.5 million to 11.5 million, Editor & Publisher says.
...Kerry won over some editorial boards through personal campaigning. Earlier in the year, said the Sentinel's Healy, she believed that "Kerry was too liberal for us as a senator from Massachusetts." But through an hour-long interview with the board and the presidential debates, "we became convinced he would be moderate as president, and more moderate than President Bush in terms of fiscal responsibility and the war, in terms of bringing in international cooperation."
WaPo article"This president has utterly failed to fulfill our expectations," the Florida paper said in supporting John F. Kerry, prompting some angry calls and a few dozen cancellations.
... The Sentinel is among 36 newspapers that endorsed President Bush four years ago and have flip-flopped, to coin a phrase, into Kerry's corner. These include the Chicago Sun-Times, the Los Angeles Daily News and the Memphis Commercial Appeal, according to industry magazine Editor & Publisher. Bush has won over only six papers that backed Al Gore, including the Denver Post, which received 700 letters -- all of them protesting the move.
Nine more papers, including the Cleveland Plain Dealer yesterday, abandoned Bush after four years but did not support the Massachusetts senator. Instead, these papers -- the Detroit News, the Tampa Tribune and the New Orleans Times-Picayune among them -- threw up their collective hands and made no endorsement.
...All told, Kerry leads Bush 142 to 123 in endorsements, and when measured by circulation, 17.5 million to 11.5 million, Editor & Publisher says.
...Kerry won over some editorial boards through personal campaigning. Earlier in the year, said the Sentinel's Healy, she believed that "Kerry was too liberal for us as a senator from Massachusetts." But through an hour-long interview with the board and the presidential debates, "we became convinced he would be moderate as president, and more moderate than President Bush in terms of fiscal responsibility and the war, in terms of bringing in international cooperation."
Imagine deciding offhand that someone would be too liberal simply on the basis of their residency in Massachusetts. I would think you might have a better understanding if you read their policy proposals, but maybe that's just me.
If that's how the Sentinel has been picking its endorsees, its readership is getting poor leadership.
The article doesn't say which, if any, of the papers switching their endorsements have changed ownership or editorial board members. That possibly accounts for some of the jumps, but if I had to guess, I'd say not many. Most interesting are the decisions by traditional Republican editors not to endorse either candidate.
In its no-one-to-endorse editorial, the Tampa Tribune put it this way: "We cannot support Bush because of his mishandling of the war in Iraq, record deficits pending, assault on open government and failed promise to be a 'uniter not a divider,' but what Kerry stands for is unclear."
Again, perhaps the editors should read his policy statements.
Maybe we could just leave the office empty for a while? It's time we realized that the two-party system is not serving America or democracy.
Update 9:50 am:
For the first time in 80 years, the New Yorker has endorsed a presidential candidate. In one of the longest and strongest editorial endorsements we've seen, the New Yorker editors blast Bush and comes on strong for Kerry. It trounces Bush on virtually every front...from the war in Iraq to Ashcroft and the excesses of the Patriot Act, to its secrecy in the war on terror, to the economy and more.
Talk Left article
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Allawi disses the coalition
Following up on my post about our latest puppet's unruliness, this from the Independent...
Mr Allawi also publicly rebuffed claims by the US and British governments that the security situation was improving. Instead, he told the Iraqi National Council, which oversees the government, that the violence racking the country was likely to worsen.
...Senior Iraqi officials have said that there is growing evidence that the recruitshad been betrayed by fellow members of the Iraqi military.
Iraqi officials have complained that the US authorities do little checking of applicants to the forces because of Washington's desire for speed in replacing American and other Allied troops.
...Mr Allawi said: "It was a heinous crime, the outcome of great negligence on the part of some of the coalition forces. It seems there was some sort of determination on doing Iraq and the Iraqi people harm ... You should expect an escalation in terrorist acts."
...Senior Iraqi officials have said that there is growing evidence that the recruitshad been betrayed by fellow members of the Iraqi military.
Iraqi officials have complained that the US authorities do little checking of applicants to the forces because of Washington's desire for speed in replacing American and other Allied troops.
...Mr Allawi said: "It was a heinous crime, the outcome of great negligence on the part of some of the coalition forces. It seems there was some sort of determination on doing Iraq and the Iraqi people harm ... You should expect an escalation in terrorist acts."
Bad to worse.
"When you write it, call it the fall of the house of Bush."
As for the rest of that post of mine...
The US military said yesterday that a senior associate of of the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had been killed in Fallujah in a "precision" air strike. Local people, however, insisted that an empty house was destroyed.
US troops cut roads and reinforced their cordon around Fallujah, with some units moving into the southern edges of the city.
Unconfirmed reports by local people claimed that a number of civilian drivers had been shot dead at checkpoints.
Unconfirmed reports by local people claimed that a number of civilian drivers had been shot dead at checkpoints.
I'm telling you, things are much, much worse than you even imagine. But I think it's only a matter of time before those soldiers who are refusing to perform missions and those who are talking to people off the record about things like this, start talking more openly. And we still haven't heard the full extent of those things that Hersh and various congresspeople said were worse than what we have been shown at Abu Ghraib.
People, there is a horror of our creating happening in our names, and it is increasing.
Missing ammo - another round
Jesus' General gives us the rationale behind the failure to guard that ammo...
We didn't have enough troops to guard both the oil ministry and the explosives bunker. One of them had to remain unguarded.
Getting control of the oil was more important. Otherwise, the insurgents wouldn't have pipelines to blow up using the looted HMX and RDX.
Getting control of the oil was more important. Otherwise, the insurgents wouldn't have pipelines to blow up using the looted HMX and RDX.
D'oh!
Some might also question why we spent our time toppling statues rather than guarding the bunker. They're just showing their ignorance. Toppling the statues was the first step in achieving the vibrant democracy we're seeing in Iraq today.
That's why it took so long for own democracy to flourish. Our founding fathers didn't get it started with a killer photo op--they had to wait years for a painting to be made. We didn't have that much time to wait in Iraq. Not with all those insurgents running around with explosives.
That's why it took so long for own democracy to flourish. Our founding fathers didn't get it started with a killer photo op--they had to wait years for a painting to be made. We didn't have that much time to wait in Iraq. Not with all those insurgents running around with explosives.
As for the rest of that post of mine...
The US military said yesterday that a senior associate of of the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had been killed in Fallujah in a "precision" air strike. Local people, however, insisted that an empty house was destroyed.
US troops cut roads and reinforced their cordon around Fallujah, with some units moving into the southern edges of the city.
Unconfirmed reports by local people claimed that a number of civilian drivers had been shot dead at checkpoints.
Unconfirmed reports by local people claimed that a number of civilian drivers had been shot dead at checkpoints.
I'm telling you, things are much, much worse than you even imagine. But I think it's only a matter of time before those soldiers who are refusing to perform missions and those who are talking to people off the record about things like this, start talking more openly. And we still haven't heard the full extent of those things that Hersh and various congresspeople said were worse than what we have been shown at Abu Ghraib.
People, there is a horror of our creating happening in our names.
Uh-huh
Democrats on Wednesday denounced a Republican lawmaker quoted in a newspaper as saying the GOP would fare poorly in this year's elections if it failed to "suppress the Detroit vote."
..."In the context that we were talking about, I said we've got to get the vote up in Oakland (County) and the vote down in Detroit. You get it down with a good message. I don't know how we got them from there to "racist,"' Pappageorge said. "If I have given offense in any way to my colleagues in Detroit or anywhere, I apologize."
article..."In the context that we were talking about, I said we've got to get the vote up in Oakland (County) and the vote down in Detroit. You get it down with a good message. I don't know how we got them from there to "racist,"' Pappageorge said. "If I have given offense in any way to my colleagues in Detroit or anywhere, I apologize."
Fathead, you have offended anyone who believes in the right to vote, regardless of skin color. Advocating "suppressing" the vote isn't quite, well...American...is it?
Asshat.
Defenders of Wildlife
October 22, 2004
...This is the last day of Wolf Awareness Week, and a chief purpose is to help educate the public that the myths about wolves being threats to humans, are just that, myths. But the Bush campaign is using that fictitious stereotype in a manner that instills false fear.
...Today the Bush-Cheney campaign released a political ad, "Wolves" in which the endangered species' image is used to portray fear. Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund President Rodger Schlickeisen offered the following statement:
"The Bush-Cheney campaign's most recent bizarre political commercial, 'Wolves,' misuses the imagery of wolves to try to instill fear in the voting public.
How ironic for George Bush, who has been the most anti-wildlife president ever, to turn to the very symbol of endangered wildlife in America -- the wolf -- for assistance in perpetuating his administration.
...This is the last day of Wolf Awareness Week, and a chief purpose is to help educate the public that the myths about wolves being threats to humans, are just that, myths. But the Bush campaign is using that fictitious stereotype in a manner that instills false fear.
...Today the Bush-Cheney campaign released a political ad, "Wolves" in which the endangered species' image is used to portray fear. Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund President Rodger Schlickeisen offered the following statement:
"The Bush-Cheney campaign's most recent bizarre political commercial, 'Wolves,' misuses the imagery of wolves to try to instill fear in the voting public.
How ironic for George Bush, who has been the most anti-wildlife president ever, to turn to the very symbol of endangered wildlife in America -- the wolf -- for assistance in perpetuating his administration.
Zarqawi - further
An aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian terrorist leader in Iraq with a $25 million U.S. reward on his head, was killed today in a U.S. air strike in the city of Fallujah, the U.S. military said.
"A precision strike in northwest Fallujah, conducted at 3 a.m., has taken another toll on the Zarqawi network," the military said in an e-mailed statement. "Multiple sources reported that a known associate of the Zarqawi network was present at the time of the strike." The military didn't identify the Zarqawi aide.
Bloomberg article"A precision strike in northwest Fallujah, conducted at 3 a.m., has taken another toll on the Zarqawi network," the military said in an e-mailed statement. "Multiple sources reported that a known associate of the Zarqawi network was present at the time of the strike." The military didn't identify the Zarqawi aide.
We don't ever have to relinquish Zarqawi as our bogeyman. As long as we have him, we can kill his "aides" and get about the same mileage.
Separately, Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said carelessness by some in the U.S.-led military coalition was to blame for the killing on Oct. 23 of 52 Iraqi army recruits and their drivers, Agence France-Presse reported without giving details.
Hmmmmm....didn't see that reported by American news. Damned French press.
Update 3:15pm:
The good thing about blogging is somebody will sometimes do your work for you. Bob sends the following:
It's the lead story on MSNBC: link
The NY Times has it: link
CNN mentions it in a story, but not in the headlines: link
Washington Post, too, with headline: link
Even Fox News has it: link
The blame president
About that bulge in the back of his jacket...
"I don't know what that is," Bush said. "I mean, it is - I'm embarrassed to say it's a poorly tailored shirt.''
Star Tribune articleNumber 1, "Gee thanks," says the tailor. Number 2, a poorly tailored shirt could not possibly cause a bulge in a jacket over top of it. So don't blame me if this story stays alive. It's their stupid responses.
Using the PATRIOT ACT
Check out this interview with a fiction writer who was raided by the feds because of her research for a novel.
SB: What type of story were you researching?
Dilyn: Mainstream women’s fiction adventure. It was set in Cambodia, all about the theft of antiquities. In my research I learned, about the atrocities that still go on there even today, much of it coming from one the Al Qaeda-linked groups. I actually went back though my book and deleted those specific terrorist references after 9/11 and changed the terÂrorists to a rogue band of thieves because of 9/11 and terrorist sensitivity.
SB: What types of books did you buy/check out of the library?
Dilyn: I bought and checked out books on Cambodia-- its history, its present struggles, its antiquities and anything I could get my hands on concerning the terrorism going on there...landmines, in particular. And those were the kinds of Web sites I surfed too.
SB: Did you share your reasons for checking out the books with your librarian?
Dilyn: No. My library is huge and highly impersonal. I did the library book search on-line and simply went there to check them out. I also kept those books checked out for well over a year during the writing of my book. Plus, I purchased all my research books online--about six. As far as my Web surfing, I went dozens of places.
Many were for non-terrorist aspects of my book, but a few were for gathering specific terrorist information. To be honest, I was surprised to find the Al Qaeda linked to Cambodia. I was only going after the landmine atrocities because they played, a huge part in my story.
SB: Did you have any reason to suspect you were being targeted for a raid, any advance notice?
Dilyn: No. Not a clue. Although, for a while prior to the raid, I thought I was being stalked. Mail was missing from my box, I caught someone searching my trash, I saw a prowler in my yard and actually called the police. One of my neighbors saw someone watching from across the street--she wasn’t sure if it was my house or hers. She called the police, too--turns out they were taking surveillance photos.
SB: When did the raid take place, how long did it last, and what items were confiscated? What agency conducted the raid?
Dilyn: The raid took place last fall, pre-dawn, and it lasted three hours. They banged at my front door first, damaged it coming in, displayed weapons and threatened to kill my dogs. After that, imagine everything you’ve seen on TV, only worse. There were six male agents. One was in the “bad cop†mode the entire time, trying to intimidate me, yelling at me, threatening me. When I had to go to the restroom, he sent an agent along to the bathroom with me. It was a multi-agency raid: Postal Inspectors (for the Web site/email end of it), the FBI, and three officers who would only identify themselves as Federal Police. They took so much--computers, photocopier, files, books, discs, computer programs, CDs of the music by which I write, contracts, absolutely everything I had connected to the writing world. They took pictures off my walls, my office television, pens, a case of paper, postage stamps…even now, after all these months, I still go to get something only to discover it missing.
SB: Have you had any success in retrieving items that were taken?
Dilyn: They brought my computers back within a couple of months--bugged. I have this great computer guy who couldn’t wait to get inside to take a look, and sure enough, they had a program in there to monitor me. I got my discs back, too, all ruined. They still have everything else.
Dilyn: Mainstream women’s fiction adventure. It was set in Cambodia, all about the theft of antiquities. In my research I learned, about the atrocities that still go on there even today, much of it coming from one the Al Qaeda-linked groups. I actually went back though my book and deleted those specific terrorist references after 9/11 and changed the terÂrorists to a rogue band of thieves because of 9/11 and terrorist sensitivity.
SB: What types of books did you buy/check out of the library?
Dilyn: I bought and checked out books on Cambodia-- its history, its present struggles, its antiquities and anything I could get my hands on concerning the terrorism going on there...landmines, in particular. And those were the kinds of Web sites I surfed too.
SB: Did you share your reasons for checking out the books with your librarian?
Dilyn: No. My library is huge and highly impersonal. I did the library book search on-line and simply went there to check them out. I also kept those books checked out for well over a year during the writing of my book. Plus, I purchased all my research books online--about six. As far as my Web surfing, I went dozens of places.
Many were for non-terrorist aspects of my book, but a few were for gathering specific terrorist information. To be honest, I was surprised to find the Al Qaeda linked to Cambodia. I was only going after the landmine atrocities because they played, a huge part in my story.
SB: Did you have any reason to suspect you were being targeted for a raid, any advance notice?
Dilyn: No. Not a clue. Although, for a while prior to the raid, I thought I was being stalked. Mail was missing from my box, I caught someone searching my trash, I saw a prowler in my yard and actually called the police. One of my neighbors saw someone watching from across the street--she wasn’t sure if it was my house or hers. She called the police, too--turns out they were taking surveillance photos.
SB: When did the raid take place, how long did it last, and what items were confiscated? What agency conducted the raid?
Dilyn: The raid took place last fall, pre-dawn, and it lasted three hours. They banged at my front door first, damaged it coming in, displayed weapons and threatened to kill my dogs. After that, imagine everything you’ve seen on TV, only worse. There were six male agents. One was in the “bad cop†mode the entire time, trying to intimidate me, yelling at me, threatening me. When I had to go to the restroom, he sent an agent along to the bathroom with me. It was a multi-agency raid: Postal Inspectors (for the Web site/email end of it), the FBI, and three officers who would only identify themselves as Federal Police. They took so much--computers, photocopier, files, books, discs, computer programs, CDs of the music by which I write, contracts, absolutely everything I had connected to the writing world. They took pictures off my walls, my office television, pens, a case of paper, postage stamps…even now, after all these months, I still go to get something only to discover it missing.
SB: Have you had any success in retrieving items that were taken?
Dilyn: They brought my computers back within a couple of months--bugged. I have this great computer guy who couldn’t wait to get inside to take a look, and sure enough, they had a program in there to monitor me. I got my discs back, too, all ruined. They still have everything else.
Non-reality-based president
Lifted directly from Josh Marshall:
A clip from an article just posted on the WaPo website that truly says it all ...
In a 45-minute speech in Greeley, Colo., today, Bush ignored the news about the missing explosives, Washington Post staff writer Mike Allen reported. Instead, Bush stuck to his stock assertion: "America and the world are safer with Saddam Hussein sitting in a prison cell."Doesn't that capture everything?
It certainly does.
Iraq's missing weapons material
Josh Marshall discusses the administration's claims about the missing ammo and concludes...
What I am trying to show is that Pentagon appointees like Di Rita don't seem to have any clear idea what happened to this stuff. And in an attempt to push back the story, they're cooking up various theories, most with very short half-lives, that just don't seem credible to a lot of folks who follow these issues.
If you look at the multiple contradictions in the different stories administration officials told reporters over the course of Monday, it's hard not to get the sense that they're caught without a good explanation and they're just making this stuff up as they go along.
If you look at the multiple contradictions in the different stories administration officials told reporters over the course of Monday, it's hard not to get the sense that they're caught without a good explanation and they're just making this stuff up as they go along.
Which is their proven M.O., but the more amazing thing is that we Americans believe it. Every time they make up a new story about something, even though it is only a few hours from the last story, we believe it. Unfuckingbelievable.
And maybe they do know what happened to the stuff. Maybe they conveniently turned a blind eye. It is not an action beneath them. There is no beneath them.
More proof of Bush's rush to war uncovered in a British court martial
Secret plans for the war in Iraq were passed to British Army chiefs by US defence planners five months before the invasion was launched, a court martial heard yesterday.
The revelation strengthened suspicions that Tony Blair gave his agreement to President George Bush to go to war while the diplomatic efforts to force Saddam Hussein to comply with UN resolutions were continuing.
Alan Simpson, the leader of Labour Against the War, said the documents were "dynamite", if genuine, and showed that Clare Short was right to assert in her book, serialised in The Independent, that Mr Blair had "knowingly misled" Parliament.
...Lt Col Warren said US planners had passed on dates for which the invasion was planned. The hearing was told Army chiefs wanted the training for the Army to start at the beginning of December 2002. However, due to "sensitivities" the training was delayed.
The court heard the training for the TA began two months late and for the regular Army one month late. Lt Col Warren was asked what the sensitivities were. He replied: "Because in December there was a world interest. If the UK had mobilised while all this was going on that would have shown an intent before the political process had been allowed to run its course."
UK Independent articleThe revelation strengthened suspicions that Tony Blair gave his agreement to President George Bush to go to war while the diplomatic efforts to force Saddam Hussein to comply with UN resolutions were continuing.
Alan Simpson, the leader of Labour Against the War, said the documents were "dynamite", if genuine, and showed that Clare Short was right to assert in her book, serialised in The Independent, that Mr Blair had "knowingly misled" Parliament.
...Lt Col Warren said US planners had passed on dates for which the invasion was planned. The hearing was told Army chiefs wanted the training for the Army to start at the beginning of December 2002. However, due to "sensitivities" the training was delayed.
The court heard the training for the TA began two months late and for the regular Army one month late. Lt Col Warren was asked what the sensitivities were. He replied: "Because in December there was a world interest. If the UK had mobilised while all this was going on that would have shown an intent before the political process had been allowed to run its course."
Something the British people would not have stood for, unlike, I am sorry to say, the American coliseum audience.
Falluja pleads for UN intervention
[From:]
Kassim Abdullsattar al-Jumaily
President
The Study Center of Human Rights & Democracy
On behalf of the people of Fallujah and for:
Al-Fallujah Shura Council
The Bar Association
The Teacher Union
Council of Tribes Leaders
The House of Fatwa and Religious Education
[To:]
His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan Secretary General of the United Nations New York
Fallujah 14 October 2004
Your Excellency
It is very obvious that the American forces are committing crimes of genocide every day in Iraq. Now, while we are writing to Your Excellency, the American forces are committing these crimes in the city of Fallujah. The American warplanes are dropping their most powerful bombs on the civilian in the city, killing and injured hundreds of innocent people. At the same time their tanks are attacking the city with heavy artillery. As you know, there is no military presence in the city. There had been no actions taken by the Fallujah resistance in recent weeks because the negotiations between representatives of the city and the Government which were going well. In this atmosphere, the new bombardment by America has happened while the people of Fallujah have been preparing themselves for the fast of Ramadan. Now many of them are now trapped under the wreckage of their demolished houses, and nobody can help them while the attack continues.
On the night of the 13th October alone American bombardment demolished 50 houses on top of their residents. Is this a genocidal crime or a lesson about the American democracy? It is obvious that the Americans are committing acts of terror against the people of Fallujah for one reason only: their refusal to accept the Occupation.
Kassim Abdullsattar al-Jumaily
President
The Study Center of Human Rights & Democracy
On behalf of the people of Fallujah and for:
Al-Fallujah Shura Council
The Bar Association
The Teacher Union
Council of Tribes Leaders
The House of Fatwa and Religious Education
[To:]
His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan Secretary General of the United Nations New York
Fallujah 14 October 2004
Your Excellency
It is very obvious that the American forces are committing crimes of genocide every day in Iraq. Now, while we are writing to Your Excellency, the American forces are committing these crimes in the city of Fallujah. The American warplanes are dropping their most powerful bombs on the civilian in the city, killing and injured hundreds of innocent people. At the same time their tanks are attacking the city with heavy artillery. As you know, there is no military presence in the city. There had been no actions taken by the Fallujah resistance in recent weeks because the negotiations between representatives of the city and the Government which were going well. In this atmosphere, the new bombardment by America has happened while the people of Fallujah have been preparing themselves for the fast of Ramadan. Now many of them are now trapped under the wreckage of their demolished houses, and nobody can help them while the attack continues.
On the night of the 13th October alone American bombardment demolished 50 houses on top of their residents. Is this a genocidal crime or a lesson about the American democracy? It is obvious that the Americans are committing acts of terror against the people of Fallujah for one reason only: their refusal to accept the Occupation.
Project for the Old American Century
Currently leading the links at POAC:
How John Kerry exposed the Contra-cocaine scandal Derided by the mainstream press and taking on Reagan at the height of his popularity, the freshman senator battled to reveal one of America's ugliest foreign policy secrets.
How George W Bush reappointed Iran-Contra felons to prominent positions in his administration, many of them right back where they were when they committed the felonies
Monday, October 25, 2004
ABC's free campaign time for George
Gibson interviews the pResident on the eve of the election, and this is their headline?
EXCLUSIVE
Bush on Homosexuality and Same-Sex Marriage
President Says He Doesn't Know Whether or Not People Are Born Gay
Bush on Homosexuality and Same-Sex Marriage
President Says He Doesn't Know Whether or Not People Are Born Gay
The burning issue to elect a president by.
Sad, sad, sad. Is there anything sadder? Well.....
"I view the definition of marriage difference from legal arrangements that enable people to have rights. And I strongly believe that marriage ought to be defined as between, a union between a man and a woman," Bush said. "Now, having said that, states ought to be able to have the right to pass … laws that enable people to you know, be able to have rights, like others."
Is he trying to have it both ways? Or just what is he saying? I think what he's saying here is that he wants us to believe he's okay with gays having rights, but marriage is not a right - it's a defined condition. In that case, I suppose we should have a Constitutional amendment defining man and woman. Perhaps one defining human. I think we can look forward to a Webster's Constitutionary.
Police state
Further on the Jacksonville, Oregon, presidential visit:
Richard Swaney, 65, of Central Point, said had joined in a peaceful protest outside the Jackson County fairgrounds where Bush spoke, and then went to Jacksonville to join the protest there.
He said he was walking with the crowd away from the inn when he was hit in the back with three separate bursts, one of which knocked him down. He felt a stinging sensation he thought was rubber bullets and smelled pepper.
"I don't think I moved fast enough," said Swaney. "I can't believe this happens in the United States. It was very peaceful. I think this is the way tyranny begins."
...Jacksonville City Administrator Paul Wyntergreen said the protest was peaceful until a few people started pushing police. Police reacted by firing pepperballs, which he described as projectiles like a paintball filled with cayenne pepper. Two people were arrested for failing to disperse. There were no reports of injuries.
Daily News Online articleHe said he was walking with the crowd away from the inn when he was hit in the back with three separate bursts, one of which knocked him down. He felt a stinging sensation he thought was rubber bullets and smelled pepper.
"I don't think I moved fast enough," said Swaney. "I can't believe this happens in the United States. It was very peaceful. I think this is the way tyranny begins."
...Jacksonville City Administrator Paul Wyntergreen said the protest was peaceful until a few people started pushing police. Police reacted by firing pepperballs, which he described as projectiles like a paintball filled with cayenne pepper. Two people were arrested for failing to disperse. There were no reports of injuries.
KATU photo. Man shot in the back with pepper balls.
McCain is upset at CIA tactics
Leading senators expressed concern Sunday about a report that the CIA has secretly moved as many as a dozen unidentified prisoners out of Iraq in the past six months, a possible violation of international treaties.
Sen. John McCain said interrogations can help extract crucial information from detainees on plans for attacks against Americans. But international law, including the Geneva Conventions, must be followed, he said.
"These conventions and these rules are in place for a reason because you get on a slippery slope and you don't know where to get off," McCain, R-Ariz., told ABC's "This Week."
"The thing that separates us from the enemy is our respect for human rights," he said.
Boston.com articleSen. John McCain said interrogations can help extract crucial information from detainees on plans for attacks against Americans. But international law, including the Geneva Conventions, must be followed, he said.
"These conventions and these rules are in place for a reason because you get on a slippery slope and you don't know where to get off," McCain, R-Ariz., told ABC's "This Week."
"The thing that separates us from the enemy is our respect for human rights," he said.
Okay, maybe someone even as high up in the political affairs of this country as a senator could be ignorant of all the human rights abuses the CIA has been responsible for globally over the past decades, but has he been off the planet in the past year? Did he miss Abu Ghraib?
Too close to call?
For some reason, I am just not buying comfortably into the idea that this is going to be a neck-and-neck election. Maybe for several reasons. One is that I have recently witnessed the Venezuelan process wherein the polls called for an excrutiatingly close election (some even calling it the opposite from the way it actually went down) that was anything but close. Another is that I see and read about too many Republicans who have become very sorry they voted for Butthead the first time. Another is that no matter what the media tell us, people all around are losing jobs and health care, and are in a personal financial pickle - that translates into some unhappy voters who don't know what the traffic problem is but they feel that they need to blame whoever is at the wheel. And another is that I keep thinking of the Reagan landslide that was a surprise to me at least.
I Googled up these articles trying to find some information on what the polls were predicting during that election.
The first one is a 1981 critique (pdf) of the pre-election polls in 1980, which can probably be extrapolated to present-day polls. The second is an article from May of this year.
The performance of the public polls during the general election campaign of 1980 has raised doubts about the capabilities of the pollsters and their survey methodology--doubts which have not been raised during the last seven presidential elections.
...There has been much speculation about what went wrong with the pre-election polls of 1980. All the major published polls seriously understated Ronald Reagan's margin of victory over Jimmy Carter...based mostly on interviewing completed late in the week before election day. The candidate polls, on the other hand, did continue their polling through election eve, and did indicate the correct magnitude of Reagan's victory.
...There has been much speculation about what went wrong with the pre-election polls of 1980. All the major published polls seriously understated Ronald Reagan's margin of victory over Jimmy Carter...based mostly on interviewing completed late in the week before election day. The candidate polls, on the other hand, did continue their polling through election eve, and did indicate the correct magnitude of Reagan's victory.
That article goes on to describe in painful detail the methodology of voting polls. The second article (from May of this year) takes the position that there could be a Kerry landslide.
Everyone expected the 1980 election to be very close. In fact, Reagan won with 50.8 percent of the popular vote to Carter's 41 percent (independent John Anderson won 6.6 percent)--which translated into an electoral avalanche of 489 to 49. The race was decided not so much on the public's nascent impressions of the challenger, but on their dissatisfaction with the incumbent.
...Nor was Carter's sound defeat an aberration. Quite the opposite. Of the last five incumbent presidents booted from office--Bush I, Carter, Ford, Herbert Hoover, and William Howard Taft--only one was able to garner over 200 electoral votes, and three of these defeated incumbents didn't even cross the 100 electoral-vote threshold...
...2004 could be a decisive victory for Kerry. The reason to think so is historical. Elections that feature a sitting president tend to be referendums on the incumbent--and in recent elections, the incumbent has either won or lost by large electoral margins. If you look at key indicators beyond the neck-and-neck support for the two candidates in the polls--such as high turnout in the early Democratic primaries and the likelihood of a high turnout in November--it seems improbable that Bush will win big. More likely, it's going to be Kerry in a rout.
...Nor was Carter's sound defeat an aberration. Quite the opposite. Of the last five incumbent presidents booted from office--Bush I, Carter, Ford, Herbert Hoover, and William Howard Taft--only one was able to garner over 200 electoral votes, and three of these defeated incumbents didn't even cross the 100 electoral-vote threshold...
...2004 could be a decisive victory for Kerry. The reason to think so is historical. Elections that feature a sitting president tend to be referendums on the incumbent--and in recent elections, the incumbent has either won or lost by large electoral margins. If you look at key indicators beyond the neck-and-neck support for the two candidates in the polls--such as high turnout in the early Democratic primaries and the likelihood of a high turnout in November--it seems improbable that Bush will win big. More likely, it's going to be Kerry in a rout.
Of course it is entirely possible that through some last minute surprise revelation about one or the other candidates, the public will stampede toward the other. One thing is certain, we don't have long to find out how this one goes.
Unfuckingbelievable
I can't keep using that word, but we just don't have one in the English language to convey the sentiment.
Depending on what side of the fence people are on, crowd control was at an all-time high or low at the Wachovia Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township during President Bush's visit Friday.
A 27-year-old registered Republican and member of the U.S. Army, along with three other people around him, was forced to leave the arena before getting inside.
The Wyoming Valley man who did not want to be identified by name because of his loyalty to his service members is being deployed to Iraq in two weeks. His Army service and status were verified.
He explained that he was attending the event in hopes of finding the right candidate to vote for on Nov. 2.
"I thought seeing Bush would be enough to sway my opinion one way or the other. After today, it definitely has swayed," he said.
While waiting in line, he noticed a stranger standing alone and invited the person to stand with him.
"I didn't think that would be a problem," he said.
It turned out to be.
A 27-year-old registered Republican and member of the U.S. Army, along with three other people around him, was forced to leave the arena before getting inside.
The Wyoming Valley man who did not want to be identified by name because of his loyalty to his service members is being deployed to Iraq in two weeks. His Army service and status were verified.
He explained that he was attending the event in hopes of finding the right candidate to vote for on Nov. 2.
"I thought seeing Bush would be enough to sway my opinion one way or the other. After today, it definitely has swayed," he said.
While waiting in line, he noticed a stranger standing alone and invited the person to stand with him.
"I didn't think that would be a problem," he said.
It turned out to be.
Iraq elections
I assume that YWA is not your only source of news, and that you have seen the questions buzzing about whether the Iraqis might elect a cleric - nay, even a fundamentalist, women-repressing, rule-of-God (excuse me...Allah) president in January. It seems likely, if the elections are fair. (Yes, a very big "if".) And Bush has been recorded as saying he'd just have to accept it because that would be democracy.
Now, how are they going to prevent that from happening, is my question. Because that would be democracy in action at the voting place. And is democracy not synonymous with equal rights and secular laws? If the majority of people want someone to tell them what to do, if the majority want a tyrant king, then isn't that technically democracy? Won't that be rich if the Iraqis actually vote to have a fundamentalist dictatorship? Some reports say that a huge number would even vote for Saddam. Kind of ironic and wierd. What will be our reason for staying there and bombing them to hell then?
More whistleblowing on Halliburton
In February 2003, less than a month before the U.S. invaded Iraq, Bunnatine (Bunny) Greenhouse walked into a Pentagon meeting and with a quiet comment started what could be the end of her career. On the agenda was the awarding of an up to $7 billion deal to a subsidiary of Houston-based conglomerate Halliburton to restore Iraq's oil facilities.
...Then several representatives from Halliburton entered. Greenhouse, a top contracting specialist for the Army Corps of Engineers, grew increasingly concerned that they were privy to internal discussions of the contract's terms, so she whispered to the presiding general, insisting that he ask the Halliburton employees to leave the room.
...Greenhouse raised other concerns. She argued that the five-year term for the contract, which had not been put out for competitive bid, was not justified, that it should be for one year only and then be opened to competition. But when the contract-approval document arrived the next day for Greenhouse's signature, the term was five years. With war imminent, she had little choice but to sign. But she added a handwritten reservation that extending a no-bid contract beyond one year could send a message that "there is not strong intent for a limited competition."
...Greenhouse seems to have got nothing but trouble for questioning the deal. Warned to stop interfering and threatened with a demotion, the career Corps employee decided to act on her conscience, according to her lawyer, Michael Kohn.
More......Then several representatives from Halliburton entered. Greenhouse, a top contracting specialist for the Army Corps of Engineers, grew increasingly concerned that they were privy to internal discussions of the contract's terms, so she whispered to the presiding general, insisting that he ask the Halliburton employees to leave the room.
...Greenhouse raised other concerns. She argued that the five-year term for the contract, which had not been put out for competitive bid, was not justified, that it should be for one year only and then be opened to competition. But when the contract-approval document arrived the next day for Greenhouse's signature, the term was five years. With war imminent, she had little choice but to sign. But she added a handwritten reservation that extending a no-bid contract beyond one year could send a message that "there is not strong intent for a limited competition."
...Greenhouse seems to have got nothing but trouble for questioning the deal. Warned to stop interfering and threatened with a demotion, the career Corps employee decided to act on her conscience, according to her lawyer, Michael Kohn.
And if you want more background on Halliburton's dirty deals with the government, I'm keeping a list of article links on my webpage here.
Under cover of darkness
In early November 2001, with Americans still staggered by the Sept. 11 attacks, a small group of White House officials worked in great secrecy to devise a new system of justice for the new war they had declared on terrorism.
Determined to deal aggressively with the terrorists they expected to capture, the officials bypassed the federal courts and their constitutional guarantees, giving the military the authority to detain foreign suspects indefinitely and prosecute them in tribunals not used since World War II.
The plan was considered so sensitive that senior White House officials kept its final details hidden from the president's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, and the secretary of state, Colin L. Powell, officials said. It was so urgent, some of those involved said, that they hardly thought of consulting Congress.
White House officials said their use of extraordinary powers would allow the Pentagon to collect crucial intelligence and mete out swift, unmerciful justice. "We think it guarantees that we'll have the kind of treatment of these individuals that we believe they deserve," said Vice President Dick Cheney, who was a driving force behind the policy.
But three years later, not a single terrorist has been prosecuted.
Determined to deal aggressively with the terrorists they expected to capture, the officials bypassed the federal courts and their constitutional guarantees, giving the military the authority to detain foreign suspects indefinitely and prosecute them in tribunals not used since World War II.
The plan was considered so sensitive that senior White House officials kept its final details hidden from the president's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, and the secretary of state, Colin L. Powell, officials said. It was so urgent, some of those involved said, that they hardly thought of consulting Congress.
White House officials said their use of extraordinary powers would allow the Pentagon to collect crucial intelligence and mete out swift, unmerciful justice. "We think it guarantees that we'll have the kind of treatment of these individuals that we believe they deserve," said Vice President Dick Cheney, who was a driving force behind the policy.
But three years later, not a single terrorist has been prosecuted.
Although hundreds of innocent people have been persecuted.
Continue reading After Terror, a Secret Rewriting of Military Law ...
Aluminum tubes
The Federation of American Scientists explain:
Iraq's purchase of high strength aluminum tubes—claimed to be part of an effort to build uranium gas centrifuges to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons—was presented as one of the strongest pieces of evidence for a revived Iraqi nuclear weapons program and, therefore, one of the strongest arguments for going to war. In fact, we now know that the preponderance of the pre-war intelligence suggested that the tubes were not suitable for centrifuges and were intended for conventional rocket bodies. Why was there so much concern about aluminum tubes? What role did they—or might they—play? And how do you recognize a centrifuge tube when you see it? This article discusses why centrifuges are important and their key requirements and characteristics and why they are central to concerns about nuclear proliferation.
Pentagon contracts
From The Center for Public Integrity:
Articles include:
Outsourcing the Pentagon
Who benefits from the Politics and Economics of National Security?
The Shadow Pentagon
Private contractors play a huge role in basic government work—mostly out of public view
The Big Business of Small Business
Top defense contracting companies reap the benefits meant for small businesses
The Pentagon's Stealth Rainmaker
How revolving doors and large donations allow a defense lobbying firm to dominate
The Pentagon's $200 Million Shingle
Defense data shows billions in mistakes and mislabeled contracts
New Mexico's governor playing the PAC game
Perhaps Tom DeLay will have some company in the ethics investigation room.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, chairman of this year's Democratic National Convention, has been operating a virtually invisible network of nonprofit organizations engaged in get-out-the-vote operations in Hispanic and American Indian communities in five battleground states.
...Richardson, the nation's only Hispanic governor, has another goal for his politicking, as articulated during the 2003 conference of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials: "The objective," he told reporters, "is going to be to win back the White House and to increase our numbers in the Senate," according to the Albuquerque Journal.
At issue is whether the activities of the foundation are philanthropic or partisan in nature. As the Internal Revenue Code states, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are "absolutely prohibited" from engaging in partisan election activities. "It's a fascinating area where sorting out relationships with politicians calls for some careful thought," says Professor Hill, "because you don't want them [charities] to be conduits around campaign finance law."
Hill told the Center that having charities actively involved in conducting voter registration and education drives is good government activity, but picking states for their electoral impact may raise questions. "Politicians, like everyone else, can create and organize and found 501(c)(3) organizations, provided that they're for 501(c)(3) purposes," she said. "The problem is when they redesign them into political campaign vehicles."
Center for Public Integrity article
...Richardson, the nation's only Hispanic governor, has another goal for his politicking, as articulated during the 2003 conference of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials: "The objective," he told reporters, "is going to be to win back the White House and to increase our numbers in the Senate," according to the Albuquerque Journal.
At issue is whether the activities of the foundation are philanthropic or partisan in nature. As the Internal Revenue Code states, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are "absolutely prohibited" from engaging in partisan election activities. "It's a fascinating area where sorting out relationships with politicians calls for some careful thought," says Professor Hill, "because you don't want them [charities] to be conduits around campaign finance law."
Hill told the Center that having charities actively involved in conducting voter registration and education drives is good government activity, but picking states for their electoral impact may raise questions. "Politicians, like everyone else, can create and organize and found 501(c)(3) organizations, provided that they're for 501(c)(3) purposes," she said. "The problem is when they redesign them into political campaign vehicles."
Press Gaggle
Actually, that's a pretty fitting name for what goes on. I was just asking myself, "who are these people?" after reading this October 21 "gaggle". Gee, Scotty, who does the president want the to win the ball game? What does he think about Teresa Heinz Kerry saying Pickles didn't have a real job? Wow! He's going to a lot of places this week. What else, Scotty?
Stupid geese.
Pretty pointless, unless you're trying to learn how to answer "press" questions without saying anything.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
Sunday, October 24, 2004
More covers slipping off
Josh Marshall posts on a new report revealing the truth of the charges that the U.S. government has been trying to cover up the fact that during the invasion, while we guarded the oil ministry, we left weapons caches unguarded - serious weapons - which are now being used against us.
What also emerges in the Nelson Report is that the Defense Department has been trying to keep this secret for some time. The DOD even went so far as to order the Iraqis not to inform the IAEA that the materials had gone missing. Informing the IAEA, of course, would lead to it becoming public knowledge in the United States.
Jesus fuck, I think is the appropriate comment for that. Ordered them not to report it.
From the report:
Despite pressure from DOD to keep it quiet, the IAEA and the Iraqi Interim Government this month officially reported that 350-tons of dual-use, very high explosives were looted from a previously secure site in the early days of the US occupation in 2003. Administration officials privately admit this material is likely a primary source of the lethal car bomb attacks which cause so many US and Iraqi casualties.
...The Bush Administration barred the IAEA from any participation in the Iraq invasion and occupation process, and blocked IAEA requests to help in the search for WMD and other dangerous materials. As part of the UN sanctions regime still in place when the US invaded, the IAEA had “under seal†350 tons of RDX and HDX explosives, since singly, and in combination, these materials can be used in the triggering process for a nuclear weapon. However, the explosives were allowed to remain in Iraq due to their conventional use in construction, oil pipe lines, and the like. Since the explosives went missing last year, sources say DOD and other elements in the Administration sought to block the IAEA from officially reporting the problem, and also tried to stop the new Iraqi Interim Government from cooperating with the IAEA.
...There was an expectation of a major newspaper story on it this morning, and perhaps also a segment on tonight’s 60 Minutes, on CBS Television. The newspaper report failed to materialize, the TV show may yet appear...stay tuned.
...The Bush Administration barred the IAEA from any participation in the Iraq invasion and occupation process, and blocked IAEA requests to help in the search for WMD and other dangerous materials. As part of the UN sanctions regime still in place when the US invaded, the IAEA had “under seal†350 tons of RDX and HDX explosives, since singly, and in combination, these materials can be used in the triggering process for a nuclear weapon. However, the explosives were allowed to remain in Iraq due to their conventional use in construction, oil pipe lines, and the like. Since the explosives went missing last year, sources say DOD and other elements in the Administration sought to block the IAEA from officially reporting the problem, and also tried to stop the new Iraqi Interim Government from cooperating with the IAEA.
...There was an expectation of a major newspaper story on it this morning, and perhaps also a segment on tonight’s 60 Minutes, on CBS Television. The newspaper report failed to materialize, the TV show may yet appear...stay tuned.
The same people who recently reported as news some fake papers about George AWOL Bush's time in the TANG? I guess there'd be two ways to look at it - a way to make up for the bungle, or information that would be trashed because of the messenger.
You can get a lot more information from Marshall's post.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
We got one
The U.S. military has arrested a "senior leader" in the network run by Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, along with five others during overnight raids in the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, officials said Saturday.
...Intelligence sources said the man captured was previously thought to be a relatively minor member of the terror network. But because so many of al-Zarqawi's associates have been captured or killed, he moved up to take a more important role.
Iraq Net article...Intelligence sources said the man captured was previously thought to be a relatively minor member of the terror network. But because so many of al-Zarqawi's associates have been captured or killed, he moved up to take a more important role.
Just turn all that around in your head for a little while.
..or hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
Flu vaccine from France
Drug maker Aventis-Pasteur [based in Strasbourg, France] has found an additional 2.6 million doses of flu vaccine that it will deliver to the United States in January, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said Tuesday.
The company had previously said it could provide about 54 million doses to the United States for the current flu season.
article The company had previously said it could provide about 54 million doses to the United States for the current flu season.
What? Are we not still boycotting French products? Or maybe we're going to be calling it the Freedom Vaccine?
Harry Potter finds Jesus
From Jesus' General's website...
Click the graphic and click it again on the page that comes up, to get you this story:
The story concludes:
"Dudley," Harry cried, "did you hear that?" "Hear what?" Dudley replied. "That voice!" Harry said. "Are you all right Harry? Nobody is here but us," Dudley said. Harry told Dudley what he had heard and Dudley looked at his cousin smiling. "Harry," he said, "that must have been God speaking to you." All of a sudden, a perfect peace came over Harry. He looked at Dudley and said, "Dudley, I want to become a Christian!" Dudley leaped off the bed, and wrapped his arms around Harry. "Come on Harry, you can do it right now," he said excitedly. Dudley told Harry to get on his knees and led him in a prayer to accept Jesus Christ into his heart.
When he finished, with tears streaming down his face, Harry Potter realized that something special had just happened to him. It was not a magic spell. It was not anything that he had ever experienced before in his life. He had such a peace about him. Deep inside, he knew that something was different. As he stood up, his hair flew to the side and his cousin gasped. "Harry, look at your scar!" Dudley cried out. Harry looked into the the mirror on Dudley's dresser and froze . The scar in the shape of a lightning bolt that he had received as a baby when Voldemort tired to kill him, had changed into a cross! Harry Potter had found the KING!
THE END
***If you want to find the King and become a Christian like Harry Potter did, please take a moment and pray for God to open your heart, then read the words at this link:
www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html .
Also, please take a moment and say a prayer for Harry Potter's author, J.K. Rowling, that she will invite Jesus Christ into her heart and also become a Christian.
When he finished, with tears streaming down his face, Harry Potter realized that something special had just happened to him. It was not a magic spell. It was not anything that he had ever experienced before in his life. He had such a peace about him. Deep inside, he knew that something was different. As he stood up, his hair flew to the side and his cousin gasped. "Harry, look at your scar!" Dudley cried out. Harry looked into the the mirror on Dudley's dresser and froze . The scar in the shape of a lightning bolt that he had received as a baby when Voldemort tired to kill him, had changed into a cross! Harry Potter had found the KING!
THE END
***If you want to find the King and become a Christian like Harry Potter did, please take a moment and pray for God to open your heart, then read the words at this link:
www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html .
Also, please take a moment and say a prayer for Harry Potter's author, J.K. Rowling, that she will invite Jesus Christ into her heart and also become a Christian.
Can they do this legally? I wonder if Rowling knows about this use of her Harry Potter character.
Saved by Google
Iraqi militants who kidnapped an Australian reporter in Baghdad and threatened to kill him Googled his name on the Internet to investigate his work before deciding to release him unharmed, the journalist's executive producer said yesterday.
John Martinkus, the first Australian confirmed as having been abducted in Iraq, was seized in Baghdad early Saturday and held for about 24 hours before being freed.
Returning home yesterday, Martinkus demanded an apology from Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who had said the journalist was abducted when he went to a Baghdad neighbourhood that he was warned not to visit. "He was advised not to go, but he went there anyway," Downer told Melbourne radio station 3AW.
"Alexander Downer doesn't know his geography very well,'' Martinkus told reporters after arriving at Sydney's airport. "I was actually across the road from the Australian embassy when I was kidnapped. He should apologize to me, actually — personally.''
... He told Australian Broadcasting Corp. from Jordan he was snatched at gunpoint by Sunni Muslim insurgents.
"I can't say very much but ... of course they said they were going to kill me," Martinkus said, adding he was treated well once he told his kidnappers he was an independent reporter not linked to the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.
Toronto Star articleJohn Martinkus, the first Australian confirmed as having been abducted in Iraq, was seized in Baghdad early Saturday and held for about 24 hours before being freed.
Returning home yesterday, Martinkus demanded an apology from Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who had said the journalist was abducted when he went to a Baghdad neighbourhood that he was warned not to visit. "He was advised not to go, but he went there anyway," Downer told Melbourne radio station 3AW.
"Alexander Downer doesn't know his geography very well,'' Martinkus told reporters after arriving at Sydney's airport. "I was actually across the road from the Australian embassy when I was kidnapped. He should apologize to me, actually — personally.''
... He told Australian Broadcasting Corp. from Jordan he was snatched at gunpoint by Sunni Muslim insurgents.
"I can't say very much but ... of course they said they were going to kill me," Martinkus said, adding he was treated well once he told his kidnappers he was an independent reporter not linked to the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.
The illusion of voting
On Nov. 2, millions of Americans will troop to the polls to re-enact the quadrennial pageant. But nearly as many will opt out. They will be accused of sloth, though indifference is more apt—and remains the appropriate response to irrelevance.
If George W. Bush and John Kerry agree on anything —in fact, they agree on far too many things—it’s that we must vote. Elections maintain the illusion of opposing parties exchanging ideas rather than political animals competing for power. Selling voting as the ultimate expression of citizenship serves two purposes: it legitimizes the process that keeps them in control and makes the public docile by enforcing the notion that we rule ourselves.
If George W. Bush and John Kerry agree on anything —in fact, they agree on far too many things—it’s that we must vote. Elections maintain the illusion of opposing parties exchanging ideas rather than political animals competing for power. Selling voting as the ultimate expression of citizenship serves two purposes: it legitimizes the process that keeps them in control and makes the public docile by enforcing the notion that we rule ourselves.
Continue reading, and ponder the question: Are democracy and freedom positively corelated? There are some good points made in this article about justifying the decision to not vote in November, and while I can easily justify it (unlike most of my progressive compatriots), I cannot agree with the article's conclusion: Silence is a profound expression, and enough unraised voices eventually turn even the most partisan heads.
I don't know what the author's experience or reference for that statement is other than wishful thinking, but if by that, the implication is that not voting will eventually ensure that other choices than the two parties are offered, or that those silent voices will somehow then be offered representation, No. I think not. It will take more than remaining silent to effect any change in the system.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
American Conservative magazine endorses John Kerry
November 8, 2004 issue
Unfortunately, this election does not offer traditional conservatives an easy or natural choice and has left our editors as split as our readership. In an effort to deepen our readers’ and our own understanding of the options before us, we’ve asked several of our editors and contributors to make “the conservative case†for their favored candidate. Their pieces, plus Taki’s column closing out this issue, constitute TAC’s endorsement. —The Editors
articleUnfortunately, this election does not offer traditional conservatives an easy or natural choice and has left our editors as split as our readership. In an effort to deepen our readers’ and our own understanding of the options before us, we’ve asked several of our editors and contributors to make “the conservative case†for their favored candidate. Their pieces, plus Taki’s column closing out this issue, constitute TAC’s endorsement. —The Editors
There is little in John Kerry’s persona or platform that appeals to conservatives. The flip-flopper charge—the centerpiece of the Republican campaign against Kerry—seems overdone, as Kerry’s contrasting votes are the sort of baggage any senator of long service is likely to pick up. (Bob Dole could tell you all about it.) But Kerry is plainly a conventional liberal and no candidate for a future edition of Profiles in Courage. In my view, he will always deserve censure for his vote in favor of the Iraq War in 2002.
But this election is not about John Kerry. If he were to win, his dearth of charisma would likely ensure him a single term. He would face challenges from within his own party and a thwarting of his most expensive initiatives by a Republican Congress. Much of his presidency would be absorbed by trying to clean up the mess left to him in Iraq. He would be constrained by the swollen deficits and a ripe target for the next Republican nominee.
It is, instead, an election about the presidency of George W. Bush.
...Bush has behaved like a caricature of what a right-wing president is supposed to be, and his continuation in office will discredit any sort of conservatism for generations. The launching of an invasion against a country that posed no threat to the U.S., the doling out of war profits and concessions to politically favored corporations, the financing of the war by ballooning the deficit to be passed on to the nation's children, the ceaseless drive to cut taxes for those outside the middle class and working poor: it is as if Bush sought to resurrect every false 1960s-era left-wing cliche about predatory imperialism and turn it into administration policy.
Continue reading....
But this election is not about John Kerry. If he were to win, his dearth of charisma would likely ensure him a single term. He would face challenges from within his own party and a thwarting of his most expensive initiatives by a Republican Congress. Much of his presidency would be absorbed by trying to clean up the mess left to him in Iraq. He would be constrained by the swollen deficits and a ripe target for the next Republican nominee.
It is, instead, an election about the presidency of George W. Bush.
...Bush has behaved like a caricature of what a right-wing president is supposed to be, and his continuation in office will discredit any sort of conservatism for generations. The launching of an invasion against a country that posed no threat to the U.S., the doling out of war profits and concessions to politically favored corporations, the financing of the war by ballooning the deficit to be passed on to the nation's children, the ceaseless drive to cut taxes for those outside the middle class and working poor: it is as if Bush sought to resurrect every false 1960s-era left-wing cliche about predatory imperialism and turn it into administration policy.
Hey, it worked before...
The Sarasota Herald Tribune obtained a "smoking e-mail" proving that Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was "personally involved" in ramrodding a new voter purge list for the 2004 election, even though the data firm that prepared it warned of its many "flaws."
...The new evidence of vote suppression by George Bush’s brother and others tied to the Bush-Cheney campaign was presented by Ralph Neas, president of People For the American Way (PFAW), and other leaders of the growing nationwide election protection movement, at an Oct. 19 news conference. (Details are available at www.pfaw.org.)
...An angry outcry by PFAW and African American leaders in Florida as well as many of the state's 67 county election supervisors forced Gov. Bush to finally withdraw the new purge list. Yet many right-wing election supervisors are implementing it under the table. Neas demanded that Attorney General John Ashcroft name an independent counsel to investigate this racist vote suppression scheme.
article...The new evidence of vote suppression by George Bush’s brother and others tied to the Bush-Cheney campaign was presented by Ralph Neas, president of People For the American Way (PFAW), and other leaders of the growing nationwide election protection movement, at an Oct. 19 news conference. (Details are available at www.pfaw.org.)
...An angry outcry by PFAW and African American leaders in Florida as well as many of the state's 67 county election supervisors forced Gov. Bush to finally withdraw the new purge list. Yet many right-wing election supervisors are implementing it under the table. Neas demanded that Attorney General John Ashcroft name an independent counsel to investigate this racist vote suppression scheme.
Oh yeah, like that's gonna happen.
Quietly signed into law on Friday aboard a plane
Without fanfare, President Bush signed into law on Friday a nearly $140 billion corporate tax cut bill derided by both Democratic presidential rival John Kerry and Republican Sen. John McCain as a giveaway to special interests.
... Bush signed the measure into law aboard Air Force One en route to a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, forgoing a public signing ceremony that would have attracted attention to the tax cuts less than two weeks before Election Day.
The White House had marked the signing of Bush's other major tax bills with lavish public ceremonies. This one was marked with a one-paragraph statement by the press secretary.
Asked why there was no signing ceremony for the corporate tax bill, White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said: "There are a variety of ways the president signs legislation."
... McCain of Arizona, who has been campaigning for Bush, called the measure "the worst example of the influence of special interests that I have ever seen."
... The legislation would repeal illegal export subsidies and lower tax rates for domestic manufacturers to 32 percent from the top corporate rate of 35 percent.
The bill includes a $10 billion industry-financed buyout for tobacco farmers.
... Bush signed the measure into law aboard Air Force One en route to a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, forgoing a public signing ceremony that would have attracted attention to the tax cuts less than two weeks before Election Day.
The White House had marked the signing of Bush's other major tax bills with lavish public ceremonies. This one was marked with a one-paragraph statement by the press secretary.
Asked why there was no signing ceremony for the corporate tax bill, White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said: "There are a variety of ways the president signs legislation."
... McCain of Arizona, who has been campaigning for Bush, called the measure "the worst example of the influence of special interests that I have ever seen."
... The legislation would repeal illegal export subsidies and lower tax rates for domestic manufacturers to 32 percent from the top corporate rate of 35 percent.
The bill includes a $10 billion industry-financed buyout for tobacco farmers.
As for the tax cuts, I just can't say I've investigated them. But the illegal export subsidies had to be repealed. They were, number one, illegal. And the EU has promised sanctions if we didn't repeal them. I'm guessing the tax cuts were to make up for the subsidy cuts.
Gee, no fanfare. Unlike that "partial birth abortion" bill, say, with all the grinning white men standing around slapping each other on the back.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
The price of gas
Jay sends an email with pictures of the price of gasoline compared to Bush approval and the cost of oil vs. the price of gasoline. Note the divergence in the latter this year.
According to the email Jay sent, the graph indicates that we should be paying about $2.60 a gallon for gasoline at the pumps if the price of gas were keeping pace with the price of crude. The most I have paid recently is $1.92.
It reminds me that a few months back, when the threat of oil price increase had reports saying Bush was in secret deals with the Saudis to increase the supply of oil to boost his ratings, the Saudis said that we Americans are fools enough to believe anything, when in fact, it's not the supply of oil that is causing the price increase at the gas pumps, but the lack of infrastructure for processing the oil.
This expert says one thing and that expert says another. I certainly can't make an educated assumption about the worldwide availability of oil. I can, however, make what I think is an accurate assumption about the availability of oil products. You will pay the optimum price that can be garnered by any means the oil corporations choose to exact their profits. Notice I didn't say maximum price. The optimum price includes considerations like who do they want as president, and what other factors will be in their best interests in the short and long run. Bush, the deregulator, pro-big business, oil-invested president will be certain to make oil company interests America's interests (of course, I think Kerry can be counted on to do the same, but he may not be as reliable as George who has personal family fortunes invested in oil). And Bush's approval is tied to gasoline prices. Ergo, gasoline prices will not spike with oil prices until at least after the election.
Economist Jude Wanninski offers an explanation, some of which I understand, while insisting that there is not a shortage of oil in the world - just a shortage of infrastructure to process the oil (as the Saudis declared), outlining the reason for that lack (it wasn't profitable for the oil companies to invest in processing infrastructure when the price of oil went down), and concludes:
Why is the price of oil so high? It is because the US dollar is floating, free of gold or any commodity anchor. As long as it is, the entire world will be forced to somehow accommodate this wholly unnecessary volatility in energy supply and price.
It may be unnecessary, but you can count on it as long as there is big profit for private enterprise in it.
Iran doesn't bite
Reports speculated (and Diplomats insisted) that Iran, out of fear of U.S. insistence on sanctions if it refused, would accept the EU proposal whereby Iran would stop enriching urnanium in return for nuclear technology. Wrong.
F: the big picture
The issue was never weapons of mass destruction—which did not exist—or a genuine fear on the part of the Bush administration that Iraq posed a threat. On the contrary, the conspirators who prepared the invasion of Iraq counted on the fact that the country was essentially defenseless.
The Bush administration chose to go to war with Iraq because it knew that the country was bled white, devastated by the sanctions, incapable of serious military resistance, and, consequently, ripe for the taking. It was an act of plunder, motivated by the desire to lay hold of Iraq’s vast oil resources and position American troops at the center of the Middle East, a strategic position which would give US imperialism a decisive advantage over all its rivals, both European and Asian.
This is a war crime in the fullest sense of the word. Under the Nuremberg precedent, the planning and preparation of aggressive war is a crime against humanity. The record of such planning and preparation by those who today wield power is ample. In the months before September 11, 2001, for example, Cheney’s closed-door energy task force, which included top US energy executives, pored over maps of Iraqi oilfields and discussed how they could be parceled out among the many claimants in the US and European oil industries.
...For all of Kerry’s current posturing as a critic of “the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time,†the Democratic Party has served as an accomplice and partner in the rape of Iraq, not an opponent. The Democratic administration of Bill Clinton helped starve the Iraqi people for eight years, bombing and killing, and perpetuating the myths that provided the basis for Bush’s war propaganda.
...The Democrats are caught in irreconcilable contradictions when they attempt to posture as critics of the war. They criticize the decision to invade, but pledge to continue the war. They declare the war a “mistake,†but vow to carry it through to victory.
...[T]he invasion of Iraq was not a sudden aberration on the part of George W. Bush. It arose out of a policy pursued for over a decade, under three administrations, both Republican and Democratic. Such as decision is not a “mistake,†as Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry maintains. It is a monstrous crime: the criminal pursuit of a calculated policy, for which the entire US ruling elite must be held accountable.
World Socialist Website articleThe Bush administration chose to go to war with Iraq because it knew that the country was bled white, devastated by the sanctions, incapable of serious military resistance, and, consequently, ripe for the taking. It was an act of plunder, motivated by the desire to lay hold of Iraq’s vast oil resources and position American troops at the center of the Middle East, a strategic position which would give US imperialism a decisive advantage over all its rivals, both European and Asian.
This is a war crime in the fullest sense of the word. Under the Nuremberg precedent, the planning and preparation of aggressive war is a crime against humanity. The record of such planning and preparation by those who today wield power is ample. In the months before September 11, 2001, for example, Cheney’s closed-door energy task force, which included top US energy executives, pored over maps of Iraqi oilfields and discussed how they could be parceled out among the many claimants in the US and European oil industries.
...For all of Kerry’s current posturing as a critic of “the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time,†the Democratic Party has served as an accomplice and partner in the rape of Iraq, not an opponent. The Democratic administration of Bill Clinton helped starve the Iraqi people for eight years, bombing and killing, and perpetuating the myths that provided the basis for Bush’s war propaganda.
...The Democrats are caught in irreconcilable contradictions when they attempt to posture as critics of the war. They criticize the decision to invade, but pledge to continue the war. They declare the war a “mistake,†but vow to carry it through to victory.
...[T]he invasion of Iraq was not a sudden aberration on the part of George W. Bush. It arose out of a policy pursued for over a decade, under three administrations, both Republican and Democratic. Such as decision is not a “mistake,†as Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry maintains. It is a monstrous crime: the criminal pursuit of a calculated policy, for which the entire US ruling elite must be held accountable.
The World Socialist Website has some good articles, including that one, and this one written in March of 2003, which accurately describes the likely outcome of the invasion of Iraq, details the rise and fall of Saddam Hussein through U.S. backing, and discusses the "crisis of capitalism" in this country, concluding:
Whatever the outcome of the initial stages of the conflict that has begun, American imperialism has a rendezvous with disaster. It cannot conquer the world. It cannot reimpose colonial shackles upon the masses of the Middle East. It will not find through the medium of war a viable solution to its internal maladies. Rather, the unforeseen difficulties and mounting resistance engendered by war will intensify all of the internal contradictions of American society.
Notwithstanding the opinion polls, which are no more believable than any other product of the mass media, there already exists substantial and growing opposition to the war. The demonstrations held on the eve of war were larger than anything held even at the height of the antiwar movement during the Vietnam era. Above all, the demonstrations within the United States unfolded as part of a broad international movement against war. This expressed the emergence of an entirely new quality in social consciousness: the growing awareness that the great social problems of our epoch require international rather than merely national solutions.
Notwithstanding the opinion polls, which are no more believable than any other product of the mass media, there already exists substantial and growing opposition to the war. The demonstrations held on the eve of war were larger than anything held even at the height of the antiwar movement during the Vietnam era. Above all, the demonstrations within the United States unfolded as part of a broad international movement against war. This expressed the emergence of an entirely new quality in social consciousness: the growing awareness that the great social problems of our epoch require international rather than merely national solutions.
Saturday, October 23, 2004
Rappers against Bush
I've been wondering where the war protest songs of today were. I absolutely do not listen to rap - it just doesn't "get" me (or maybe I just don't get it). Anyway, of all people, Juan Cole has been analyzing Eminem's new anti-Bush-Iraq-war song. Check it out (post one - post two), and get this:
Eminem knows about packing heat, and was accused of pistol-whipping a rival from the rap group Insane Clown Posse. (Actually, this would be a good epithet for Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Feith, Cheney and Bush).
So true. So true.
Update 10/24: Apparently, I have been missing hip-hop protest songs all along.
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