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OT: Mainstream press finally talking about the lies...
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mojofltr
Jul 11, 2003, 1:44:16 PM7/11/03
to
Bush knew Iraq
info was
dubious
---------------------------------------------------------------
From CBS News !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(CBS) Senior administration officials tell CBS News the President's
mistaken claim that Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa was included
in his State of the Union address -- despite objections from the CIA.
Traveling with the president in Africa, national security adviser
Condoleezza Rice on Friday said that the CIA had cleared the reference
to the attempted uranium purchase.
Before the speech was delivered, the portions dealing with Iraq's
weapons of mass destruction were checked with the CIA for accuracy,
reports CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin.
CIA officials warned members of the President's National Security
Council staff the intelligence was not good enough to make the flat
statement Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa.
The White House officials responded that a paper issued by the British
government contained the unequivocal assertion: "Iraq has ... sought
significant quantities of uranium from Africa." As long as the
statement was attributed to British Intelligence, the White House
officials argued, it would be factually accurate. The CIA officials
dropped their objections and that's how it was delivered.
( The full story... | 3135 bytes more | comments? | )
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War & Terrorism
U.S. report on 9/11 to be 'explosive'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:38:36 EDT (132 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
Government errors, Saudi ties to terrorists among highlights
By Frank Davies, Miami Herald
WASHINGTON - A long-awaited final report on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks
will be released in the next two weeks, containing new information
about U.S. government mistakes and Saudi financing of terrorists.
Former Rep. Tim Roemer, who served on the House Intelligence Committee
and who has read the report, said it will be "highly explosive" when it
becomes public.
The staff director for the congressional investigation that produced
the 800-page report, Eleanor Hill, said Wednesday that several lengthy
battles with the Bush administration over how much secret data to
declassify have been resolved.
She expects the document to go to the Government Printing Office late
this week and then be made public about a week later.
"It's compelling and galvanizing and will refocus the public's
attention on Sept. 11," predicted Roemer, an Indiana Democrat.
``Certain mistakes, errors and gaps in the system will be made clear."
( The full story... | 4562 bytes more | comments? | )
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Occupied Iraq
It's not about 'kicking ass': Heavy-handed policing by US risks Iraq
peace
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:36:25 EDT (102 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
By Jimmy Burns, Financial Times
Senior police advisers have told the UK government that the law
enforcement operation in Iraq is at risk of disintegration unless US
forces stop "kicking ass" and take a more conciliatory attitude towards
civilians.
Some UK officials are appalled by the language and tactics used by
Bernard Kerik, the former New York police commissioner, dubbed
the "Baghdad terminator" by local journalists because of his
uncompromising style.
"The Americans need to learn that civil policing is not about 'kicking
ass', it is about democracy. There are going to be problems if we
continue with our different philosophies and different approaches to
law enforcement," one UK official said.
Tensions are growing between London and Washington over the postwar
administration of Iraq, with some members of the UK military
criticising the way the US has handled stabilisation activities in
Baghdad.
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Occupied Iraq
Bush admits Iraq security an 'issue'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:34:47 EDT (64 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
Two more soldiers die in hostilities; 'We're going to have to remain
tough'
By Tim Harper, Toronto Star
WASHINGTON-George W. Bush acknowledged for the first time yesterday
American troops have "a security issue" in Iraq, but he ignored a
growing credibility issue which is hurting his government at home.
The U.S. president, during a stop in Botswana as part of a five-day
African tour, reacted to two more American deaths in separate attacks
in Iraq.
He left it to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to try to assure
Americans there was no attempt to mislead the country in the January
state of the union address by Bush, when he used bogus claims to
justify the rush to war in Iraq.
But a former State Department official in his government told reporters
yesterday the president and top officials have a "faith-based" attitude
toward intelligence in which they order up information to buttress pre-
conceived notions.
Democrats launched their nastiest attacks yet on Bush, saying he had
knowingly misled Americans.
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Foreign Policy
Nigerian homes and shops bulldozed to clear way for Bush
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:33:31 EDT (66 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
From South Africa Business Day
ABUJA - Armed police backed by bulldozers tore down illegally built
homes and shops in the Nigerian capital Abuja today ahead of a visit by
US President George W Bush.
The operation began yesterday after an order from President Olusegun
Obasanjo to clean up the city ahead of his American counterpart's
arrival, officials said.
In one residential quarter of the city reporter saw around 60
buildings - ranging from brick-built structures to makeshift wooden
shanties - ploughed down as hundreds of residents looked on in despair.
"They didn't give us any warning," wailed tailor John Emeka, who saved
his sewing machine but lost much of his stock when a joint taskforce of
police and environmental protection agents pulled down his business.
Nearby a stock of computers lay mangled in the wreckage of an
electronic goods store, and the ownwer of a grilled meat stand argued
with officers attempting to condemn his barbecue.
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Occupied Iraq
Mike Shannon: 'If it looks like a guerilla and walks like a guerilla'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:30:42 EDT (147 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
By Mike Shannon
It was another bar raising performance in the art of smug
condescension, but it just didn't go over quite as well as it used to.
As the news conference began, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld tried
valiantly to dismiss any and all charges that the American occupation
of Iraq has taken a turn for the worse. But even this master of
obfuscation could see a change in the eyes, voices and questions of the
once pliant and obedient news corps that hangs on his every word.
Whereas, not so long ago, they would chuckle at his latest barbs and
marvel at his ease and confidence in the face of such challenges and
pressures, it had become more and more apparent that the honeymoon was
finally coming to a close. Of course, this does not mean he will now
come clean and tell the truth, it merely means he will have to work
that much harder to conceal it.
The galling highlight of this particular session of thrust and parry
was when the Secretary feigned mock horror at his failure to look up
the word "guerilla" before taking the stage. With an ear to ear grin --
how this man can laugh while the men and women he is responsible for
face hardship, deprivation and death on a daily basis is as
inexplicable as it is disgraceful -- he admitted that he knew someone
would bring up this word that the Bushies dare not speak.
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Commander-In-Thief
William Rivers Pitt: 'Mr. Bush, you are a liar'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:26:51 EDT (164 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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By William Rivers Pitt, t r u t h o u t
There was a picture on the front page of the New York Times on Tuesday,
July 8. It showed several American soldiers in Iraq sitting in utter
dejection as they were informed by their battalion commander that none
of them were going home anytime soon, and no one knew exactly when they
were going home at all. PFC Harrison Grimes sat in the center of this
photo with his chin in his hand, staring at ground that was thousands
of miles from his family and friends. A soldier caught in the picture
just over PFC Grimes' shoulder had a look on his face that could break
rocks.
212 of PFC Grimes' fellow soldiers have died in Iraq, and 1,044 more
have been wounded. The war created chaos in the cities, and it seems
clear now that very little in the way of preparation was made to
address the fact that invasion leads to social bedlam, not to mention a
lot of shooting. Last Sunday, CNN's Judy Woodruff showed a clip of a
Sergeant Charles Pollard, who said, "All we are here is potential
people to be killed and sitting ducks."
( The full story... | 17269 bytes more | 2 comments | )
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War & Terrorism
Mark Engler: 'Hawks say the darndest things!'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:25:57 EDT (125 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
By Mark Engler, TomPaine.com
Keeping track of the "real reason" for the invasion of Iraq can be
quite a chore these days. The Bush administration doggedly maintains
that its claims about weapons of mass destruction were legitimate. Yet
a litany of apologists has scrambled for other explanations. As it
became evident that Saddam's deadly arsenal was unlikely to ever
materialize, these defenders have argued that the invasion of Iraq
wasn't about the danger of Saddam's imminent attack after all.
This political damage control can make for fascinating reading because,
in proposing their alternative rationales, the hawks are not only
revealing a lot about the warped ideology of unilateral military
adventurism -- they are making remarkable admissions about why there
should be a public investigation into the president's lies.
"WMD was never the basic reason for war. Nor was it the horrid
repression in Iraq. Or the danger Saddam posed to his neighbors,"
writes Daniel Pipes, a conservative columnist for The New York Post.
All this should come as a surprise to the American people, who were
called upon to invest confidence in each of these ideas. But having
ruled out such leading justifications, Pipes goes on to explain
that "The campaign in Iraq is about keeping promises to the United
States or paying the consequences."
( The full story... | 5681 bytes more | comments? | )
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Commander-In-Thief
Steve Gilliard: 'Have you no sense of decency, sir?'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:24:36 EDT (92 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
By Steve Gilliard, Daily Kos
"Have you no sense of decency, sir?" were the words Joseph Welch used
to ruin Joe McCarthy, who went a witch hunt too far.
It is time for ALL Americans to ask the same question of the President
and the men around him.
He lied to the American people to get them to endorse a war they would
not have otherwise.
To say we are glad to be rid of Saddam is to be besides the point. This
Administration made certain claims about matters vital to national
security. None of which involved dead Shia or democracy in Iraq. There
are 250 dead, 1,000 wounded, some crippled for life, behind our
invasion. The same invasion which makes it impossible to intervene in
Liberia or any other crisis which may arise. The same that offers only
poverty to the Iraqis and a distant hope of self government.
( The full story... | 4103 bytes more | comments? | )
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Foreign Policy
Badia Jacob: 'Africans weary of Americans bearing gifts'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:23:26 EDT (51 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
By Badia Jacob, Inter Press Service
JOHANNESBURG (IPS) - -George Orwell, the British author of the books
titled Nineteen Eighty Four and Animal Farm, must be turning in his
grave.
Not only does he share his first name with the other famous George, US
President George W Bush, but he must be spinning around and doing
double takes about his forecast about thought control, reining in
dissent and establishing the new world order, US-style.
This time round, the god of money speaks and everybody listens, or,
most people listen. And all the usual suspects are involved: trade, oil
and power.
Bush has now fleetingly stopped over in Senegal - whose President
Abdoulaye Wade helped South African President Thabo Mbeki put together
Africa's renaissance plan, the New Partnership for Africa's
Development, which is designed to pull the continent out of its
political malaise of dictatorships and corruption, and its economic
malaise of underdevelopment and stunted growth.
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Occupied Iraq
Chris Floyd: 'Barge Poles'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:22:14 EDT (79 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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By Chris Floyd, Moscow Times
In a political world blackened with the stinking pitch of lies,
distortion and death-dealing hypocrisy, a shining knight of truth
stepped boldly forth last week. With admirable -- if ruthless --
honesty, Polish Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz openly
declared that his nation joined the Anglo-American crusade against Iraq
for one purpose only: a share of the plunder from the conquered
country's oil fields.
Here was no shifting, no spin, no crocodile tears about "democracy"
and "liberation" such as are wont to dribble down the ever-flapping
cheeks of Crusader George and his faithful page Tony. While each new
day seems to bring another tortured "justification" for aggressive war
from the Coalition's loquacious leaders, bold Cimoszewicz dispensed
with pious cant and spoke plainly, the BBC reports.
"We have never hidden our desire for Polish oil companies to finally
have access to sources of commodities," the minister told a group of
Polish magnates gathered to sign an agreement allowing them to join the
corporate hunting packs from the United States and Britain in tearing
off chunks of the Iraqi carcass. Indeed, access to Iraq's oilfields "is
our ultimate objective," Cimoszewicz told the press.
( The full story... | 7850 bytes more | comments? | )
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Occupied Iraq
David H. Hackworth: 'Bring what on?'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:20:21 EDT (198 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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By David H. Hackworth, Soldiers For The Truth
On May 1, George W. Bush landed in a military jet on the deck of the
USS Abraham Lincoln with all the pomp and ceremony of Caesar returning
to Rome after conquering Gaul. In the background - as our commander in
chief proclaimed "major combat operations in Iraq have ended" - was a
huge banner reading "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED," probably conjured up by
White House flacks.
There was just one problem: No one told the guerrilla enemy the war was
over.
Since the president played Top Gun, hundreds of our troops have been
killed or wounded, and dozens of major combat operations have been
launched or are ongoing all over that unfortunate country.
( The full story... | 5146 bytes more | comments? | )
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Media
Brian Cloughley: 'They tell lies to nodders'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:17:56 EDT (107 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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By Brian Cloughley, The Scoop
Last week a newspaper editor expressed surprise about my peacenik views
and emailed me accordingly. "I wonder", he wrote, "if you could do a
bit of self-psycho-analysis, and examine how a British-Australian
former soldier of fairly mainstream views (as I think you were) has
evolved into [your present form]." (See www.briancloughley.com.)
I was outraged, and replied that far from having had "mainstream
views", I possessed in the fairly recent past decidedly right-stream
views. Never at a loss for a cliché, I state that not long ago I was
several leagues to the right of Genghiz Khan, and replied to Ye Ed
that "I was a thorough-going, kill-a-commie-for-Christ, jackboot-
wearing, there's no-Gook-like-a-dead-Gook, card-carrying, liberal-
hating fascist". I am not and never have been anti-American, but I am
decidedly against Bush and his Washington weirdoes, who have steered
their country to aggressive and needless confrontation with every
country that does not accept servile subordination to the Bush doctrine
of imperial supremacy.
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Congress
George Ochenski: 'Playing chicken: Bush gets free ride from compliant
Congress'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:16:50 EDT (87 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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By George Ochenski, Missoula Independent
It's been two months since President Bush strutted aross the deck of an
aircraft carrier brazenly announcing our "mission" in Iraq had
been "accomplished." Yet with each passing day, American troops
continue to be wounded, maimed or killed in violent, armed conflict
there. In the meantime, rivers of money are hemorrhaging from this
country as unemployment hits its highest level in a decade. Iraq's
weapons of mass destruction (WMD), which were supposed to be such an
imminent threat to our country that President Bush and Congress defied
world opinion to launch the Iraq war, remain mysteriously missing. But
so what? Bush is off to look at Africa's oil, and Montana's
congressional delegation just doesn't care.
Let's start with Denny Rehberg, Montana's junior congressman and our
sole representative to the U.S. House. In an interview with veteran
Washington, D.C. reporter Ted Monoson, Rehberg said he doesn't want to
get into "word games" about what a weapon of mass destruction might be.
According to Rep. Rehberg: "A weapon of mass destruction doesn't have
to be a nuclear reactor sitting in a facility waiting to blow up. A
weapon that can do large damage to human populations--kill a million or
more people--can be put in a U-Haul trailer."
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War & Terrorism
Margie Burns: '9/11 Commission warns Of DoD delays'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:15:55 EDT (46 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Sees Arab Culture Clash As Cause
By Margie Burns, American Reporter
WASHINGTON - The third public hearing of the independent National
Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States - better known
as the the 9/11 Commission - focused on geopolitics and on distant
causes of the attacks, while its two top officials warned that the
Defense Dept.'s foot-dragging on the production of related documents
could endanger the quality of its final report.
Three panels of foreign relations experts, academics, and writers
presented prepared statements to the commissioners on topics ranging
from Al Qaeda to Iraq to the Arab world, but little information was
forthcoming about the 9-11 skyjackers in particular or the people
behind them.
In sessions marked by occasional disputes, however, the witnesses
concurred that conflicts between the U.S. and elements in the Middle
East are not a "clash of civilizations," but rather a struggle within
Islam or within the Arab world. The hearing was followed by a press
conference at which Commission chairman Thomas H. Kean and vice
chairman Lee H. Hamilton strongly implied that a failure to cooperate
with investigators by government agencies including the Department of
Defense could jeopardize the Commission's ability to fulfill its
mandate.
~how's Commander AWOL gonna squirm outa this one? (answer: they'll let
~the CIA, Tony Blair, & Cheney take the fall)
~see the full stories at smirkingchimp.com
and IMPEACH BUSH!
---------------------------------------------------------------
From CBS News !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(CBS) Senior administration officials tell CBS News the President's
mistaken claim that Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa was included
in his State of the Union address -- despite objections from the CIA.
Traveling with the president in Africa, national security adviser
Condoleezza Rice on Friday said that the CIA had cleared the reference
to the attempted uranium purchase.
Before the speech was delivered, the portions dealing with Iraq's
weapons of mass destruction were checked with the CIA for accuracy,
reports CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin.
CIA officials warned members of the President's National Security
Council staff the intelligence was not good enough to make the flat
statement Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa.
The White House officials responded that a paper issued by the British
government contained the unequivocal assertion: "Iraq has ... sought
significant quantities of uranium from Africa." As long as the
statement was attributed to British Intelligence, the White House
officials argued, it would be factually accurate. The CIA officials
dropped their objections and that's how it was delivered.
( The full story... | 3135 bytes more | comments? | )
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NEW: Low-bandwidth, fast loading page - click here.
War & Terrorism
U.S. report on 9/11 to be 'explosive'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:38:36 EDT (132 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
Government errors, Saudi ties to terrorists among highlights
By Frank Davies, Miami Herald
WASHINGTON - A long-awaited final report on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks
will be released in the next two weeks, containing new information
about U.S. government mistakes and Saudi financing of terrorists.
Former Rep. Tim Roemer, who served on the House Intelligence Committee
and who has read the report, said it will be "highly explosive" when it
becomes public.
The staff director for the congressional investigation that produced
the 800-page report, Eleanor Hill, said Wednesday that several lengthy
battles with the Bush administration over how much secret data to
declassify have been resolved.
She expects the document to go to the Government Printing Office late
this week and then be made public about a week later.
"It's compelling and galvanizing and will refocus the public's
attention on Sept. 11," predicted Roemer, an Indiana Democrat.
``Certain mistakes, errors and gaps in the system will be made clear."
( The full story... | 4562 bytes more | comments? | )
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NEW: Low-bandwidth, fast loading page - click here.
Occupied Iraq
It's not about 'kicking ass': Heavy-handed policing by US risks Iraq
peace
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:36:25 EDT (102 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
By Jimmy Burns, Financial Times
Senior police advisers have told the UK government that the law
enforcement operation in Iraq is at risk of disintegration unless US
forces stop "kicking ass" and take a more conciliatory attitude towards
civilians.
Some UK officials are appalled by the language and tactics used by
Bernard Kerik, the former New York police commissioner, dubbed
the "Baghdad terminator" by local journalists because of his
uncompromising style.
"The Americans need to learn that civil policing is not about 'kicking
ass', it is about democracy. There are going to be problems if we
continue with our different philosophies and different approaches to
law enforcement," one UK official said.
Tensions are growing between London and Washington over the postwar
administration of Iraq, with some members of the UK military
criticising the way the US has handled stabilisation activities in
Baghdad.
( The full story... | 4409 bytes more | 1 comment | )
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NEW: Low-bandwidth, fast loading page - click here.
Occupied Iraq
Bush admits Iraq security an 'issue'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:34:47 EDT (64 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Two more soldiers die in hostilities; 'We're going to have to remain
tough'
By Tim Harper, Toronto Star
WASHINGTON-George W. Bush acknowledged for the first time yesterday
American troops have "a security issue" in Iraq, but he ignored a
growing credibility issue which is hurting his government at home.
The U.S. president, during a stop in Botswana as part of a five-day
African tour, reacted to two more American deaths in separate attacks
in Iraq.
He left it to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to try to assure
Americans there was no attempt to mislead the country in the January
state of the union address by Bush, when he used bogus claims to
justify the rush to war in Iraq.
But a former State Department official in his government told reporters
yesterday the president and top officials have a "faith-based" attitude
toward intelligence in which they order up information to buttress pre-
conceived notions.
Democrats launched their nastiest attacks yet on Bush, saying he had
knowingly misled Americans.
( The full story... | 8706 bytes more | comments? | )
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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NEW: Low-bandwidth, fast loading page - click here.
Foreign Policy
Nigerian homes and shops bulldozed to clear way for Bush
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:33:31 EDT (66 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
From South Africa Business Day
ABUJA - Armed police backed by bulldozers tore down illegally built
homes and shops in the Nigerian capital Abuja today ahead of a visit by
US President George W Bush.
The operation began yesterday after an order from President Olusegun
Obasanjo to clean up the city ahead of his American counterpart's
arrival, officials said.
In one residential quarter of the city reporter saw around 60
buildings - ranging from brick-built structures to makeshift wooden
shanties - ploughed down as hundreds of residents looked on in despair.
"They didn't give us any warning," wailed tailor John Emeka, who saved
his sewing machine but lost much of his stock when a joint taskforce of
police and environmental protection agents pulled down his business.
Nearby a stock of computers lay mangled in the wreckage of an
electronic goods store, and the ownwer of a grilled meat stand argued
with officers attempting to condemn his barbecue.
( The full story... | 2184 bytes more | 1 comment | )
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NEW: Low-bandwidth, fast loading page - click here.
Occupied Iraq
Mike Shannon: 'If it looks like a guerilla and walks like a guerilla'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:30:42 EDT (147 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
By Mike Shannon
It was another bar raising performance in the art of smug
condescension, but it just didn't go over quite as well as it used to.
As the news conference began, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld tried
valiantly to dismiss any and all charges that the American occupation
of Iraq has taken a turn for the worse. But even this master of
obfuscation could see a change in the eyes, voices and questions of the
once pliant and obedient news corps that hangs on his every word.
Whereas, not so long ago, they would chuckle at his latest barbs and
marvel at his ease and confidence in the face of such challenges and
pressures, it had become more and more apparent that the honeymoon was
finally coming to a close. Of course, this does not mean he will now
come clean and tell the truth, it merely means he will have to work
that much harder to conceal it.
The galling highlight of this particular session of thrust and parry
was when the Secretary feigned mock horror at his failure to look up
the word "guerilla" before taking the stage. With an ear to ear grin --
how this man can laugh while the men and women he is responsible for
face hardship, deprivation and death on a daily basis is as
inexplicable as it is disgraceful -- he admitted that he knew someone
would bring up this word that the Bushies dare not speak.
( The full story... | 4998 bytes more | comments? | )
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NEW: Low-bandwidth, fast loading page - click here.
Commander-In-Thief
William Rivers Pitt: 'Mr. Bush, you are a liar'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:26:51 EDT (164 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
By William Rivers Pitt, t r u t h o u t
There was a picture on the front page of the New York Times on Tuesday,
July 8. It showed several American soldiers in Iraq sitting in utter
dejection as they were informed by their battalion commander that none
of them were going home anytime soon, and no one knew exactly when they
were going home at all. PFC Harrison Grimes sat in the center of this
photo with his chin in his hand, staring at ground that was thousands
of miles from his family and friends. A soldier caught in the picture
just over PFC Grimes' shoulder had a look on his face that could break
rocks.
212 of PFC Grimes' fellow soldiers have died in Iraq, and 1,044 more
have been wounded. The war created chaos in the cities, and it seems
clear now that very little in the way of preparation was made to
address the fact that invasion leads to social bedlam, not to mention a
lot of shooting. Last Sunday, CNN's Judy Woodruff showed a clip of a
Sergeant Charles Pollard, who said, "All we are here is potential
people to be killed and sitting ducks."
( The full story... | 17269 bytes more | 2 comments | )
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
NEW: Low-bandwidth, fast loading page - click here.
War & Terrorism
Mark Engler: 'Hawks say the darndest things!'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:25:57 EDT (125 reads)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
By Mark Engler, TomPaine.com
Keeping track of the "real reason" for the invasion of Iraq can be
quite a chore these days. The Bush administration doggedly maintains
that its claims about weapons of mass destruction were legitimate. Yet
a litany of apologists has scrambled for other explanations. As it
became evident that Saddam's deadly arsenal was unlikely to ever
materialize, these defenders have argued that the invasion of Iraq
wasn't about the danger of Saddam's imminent attack after all.
This political damage control can make for fascinating reading because,
in proposing their alternative rationales, the hawks are not only
revealing a lot about the warped ideology of unilateral military
adventurism -- they are making remarkable admissions about why there
should be a public investigation into the president's lies.
"WMD was never the basic reason for war. Nor was it the horrid
repression in Iraq. Or the danger Saddam posed to his neighbors,"
writes Daniel Pipes, a conservative columnist for The New York Post.
All this should come as a surprise to the American people, who were
called upon to invest confidence in each of these ideas. But having
ruled out such leading justifications, Pipes goes on to explain
that "The campaign in Iraq is about keeping promises to the United
States or paying the consequences."
( The full story... | 5681 bytes more | comments? | )
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
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Commander-In-Thief
Steve Gilliard: 'Have you no sense of decency, sir?'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:24:36 EDT (92 reads)
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By Steve Gilliard, Daily Kos
"Have you no sense of decency, sir?" were the words Joseph Welch used
to ruin Joe McCarthy, who went a witch hunt too far.
It is time for ALL Americans to ask the same question of the President
and the men around him.
He lied to the American people to get them to endorse a war they would
not have otherwise.
To say we are glad to be rid of Saddam is to be besides the point. This
Administration made certain claims about matters vital to national
security. None of which involved dead Shia or democracy in Iraq. There
are 250 dead, 1,000 wounded, some crippled for life, behind our
invasion. The same invasion which makes it impossible to intervene in
Liberia or any other crisis which may arise. The same that offers only
poverty to the Iraqis and a distant hope of self government.
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Foreign Policy
Badia Jacob: 'Africans weary of Americans bearing gifts'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:23:26 EDT (51 reads)
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By Badia Jacob, Inter Press Service
JOHANNESBURG (IPS) - -George Orwell, the British author of the books
titled Nineteen Eighty Four and Animal Farm, must be turning in his
grave.
Not only does he share his first name with the other famous George, US
President George W Bush, but he must be spinning around and doing
double takes about his forecast about thought control, reining in
dissent and establishing the new world order, US-style.
This time round, the god of money speaks and everybody listens, or,
most people listen. And all the usual suspects are involved: trade, oil
and power.
Bush has now fleetingly stopped over in Senegal - whose President
Abdoulaye Wade helped South African President Thabo Mbeki put together
Africa's renaissance plan, the New Partnership for Africa's
Development, which is designed to pull the continent out of its
political malaise of dictatorships and corruption, and its economic
malaise of underdevelopment and stunted growth.
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Occupied Iraq
Chris Floyd: 'Barge Poles'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:22:14 EDT (79 reads)
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By Chris Floyd, Moscow Times
In a political world blackened with the stinking pitch of lies,
distortion and death-dealing hypocrisy, a shining knight of truth
stepped boldly forth last week. With admirable -- if ruthless --
honesty, Polish Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz openly
declared that his nation joined the Anglo-American crusade against Iraq
for one purpose only: a share of the plunder from the conquered
country's oil fields.
Here was no shifting, no spin, no crocodile tears about "democracy"
and "liberation" such as are wont to dribble down the ever-flapping
cheeks of Crusader George and his faithful page Tony. While each new
day seems to bring another tortured "justification" for aggressive war
from the Coalition's loquacious leaders, bold Cimoszewicz dispensed
with pious cant and spoke plainly, the BBC reports.
"We have never hidden our desire for Polish oil companies to finally
have access to sources of commodities," the minister told a group of
Polish magnates gathered to sign an agreement allowing them to join the
corporate hunting packs from the United States and Britain in tearing
off chunks of the Iraqi carcass. Indeed, access to Iraq's oilfields "is
our ultimate objective," Cimoszewicz told the press.
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Occupied Iraq
David H. Hackworth: 'Bring what on?'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:20:21 EDT (198 reads)
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By David H. Hackworth, Soldiers For The Truth
On May 1, George W. Bush landed in a military jet on the deck of the
USS Abraham Lincoln with all the pomp and ceremony of Caesar returning
to Rome after conquering Gaul. In the background - as our commander in
chief proclaimed "major combat operations in Iraq have ended" - was a
huge banner reading "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED," probably conjured up by
White House flacks.
There was just one problem: No one told the guerrilla enemy the war was
over.
Since the president played Top Gun, hundreds of our troops have been
killed or wounded, and dozens of major combat operations have been
launched or are ongoing all over that unfortunate country.
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Media
Brian Cloughley: 'They tell lies to nodders'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:17:56 EDT (107 reads)
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By Brian Cloughley, The Scoop
Last week a newspaper editor expressed surprise about my peacenik views
and emailed me accordingly. "I wonder", he wrote, "if you could do a
bit of self-psycho-analysis, and examine how a British-Australian
former soldier of fairly mainstream views (as I think you were) has
evolved into [your present form]." (See www.briancloughley.com.)
I was outraged, and replied that far from having had "mainstream
views", I possessed in the fairly recent past decidedly right-stream
views. Never at a loss for a cliché, I state that not long ago I was
several leagues to the right of Genghiz Khan, and replied to Ye Ed
that "I was a thorough-going, kill-a-commie-for-Christ, jackboot-
wearing, there's no-Gook-like-a-dead-Gook, card-carrying, liberal-
hating fascist". I am not and never have been anti-American, but I am
decidedly against Bush and his Washington weirdoes, who have steered
their country to aggressive and needless confrontation with every
country that does not accept servile subordination to the Bush doctrine
of imperial supremacy.
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Congress
George Ochenski: 'Playing chicken: Bush gets free ride from compliant
Congress'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:16:50 EDT (87 reads)
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By George Ochenski, Missoula Independent
It's been two months since President Bush strutted aross the deck of an
aircraft carrier brazenly announcing our "mission" in Iraq had
been "accomplished." Yet with each passing day, American troops
continue to be wounded, maimed or killed in violent, armed conflict
there. In the meantime, rivers of money are hemorrhaging from this
country as unemployment hits its highest level in a decade. Iraq's
weapons of mass destruction (WMD), which were supposed to be such an
imminent threat to our country that President Bush and Congress defied
world opinion to launch the Iraq war, remain mysteriously missing. But
so what? Bush is off to look at Africa's oil, and Montana's
congressional delegation just doesn't care.
Let's start with Denny Rehberg, Montana's junior congressman and our
sole representative to the U.S. House. In an interview with veteran
Washington, D.C. reporter Ted Monoson, Rehberg said he doesn't want to
get into "word games" about what a weapon of mass destruction might be.
According to Rep. Rehberg: "A weapon of mass destruction doesn't have
to be a nuclear reactor sitting in a facility waiting to blow up. A
weapon that can do large damage to human populations--kill a million or
more people--can be put in a U-Haul trailer."
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War & Terrorism
Margie Burns: '9/11 Commission warns Of DoD delays'
Posted on Friday, July 11 @ 10:15:55 EDT (46 reads)
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Sees Arab Culture Clash As Cause
By Margie Burns, American Reporter
WASHINGTON - The third public hearing of the independent National
Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States - better known
as the the 9/11 Commission - focused on geopolitics and on distant
causes of the attacks, while its two top officials warned that the
Defense Dept.'s foot-dragging on the production of related documents
could endanger the quality of its final report.
Three panels of foreign relations experts, academics, and writers
presented prepared statements to the commissioners on topics ranging
from Al Qaeda to Iraq to the Arab world, but little information was
forthcoming about the 9-11 skyjackers in particular or the people
behind them.
In sessions marked by occasional disputes, however, the witnesses
concurred that conflicts between the U.S. and elements in the Middle
East are not a "clash of civilizations," but rather a struggle within
Islam or within the Arab world. The hearing was followed by a press
conference at which Commission chairman Thomas H. Kean and vice
chairman Lee H. Hamilton strongly implied that a failure to cooperate
with investigators by government agencies including the Department of
Defense could jeopardize the Commission's ability to fulfill its
mandate.
~how's Commander AWOL gonna squirm outa this one? (answer: they'll let
~the CIA, Tony Blair, & Cheney take the fall)
~see the full stories at smirkingchimp.com
and IMPEACH BUSH!
Keith Fevola
Jul 12, 2003, 12:08:38 AM7/12/03
to
CIA director Tenet made a statement today that they
(the CIA) did in fact OK this info in the speech (so CBS is wrong) and Tony
Blair said this week that the British had compelling evidence regarding this
issue and he still stands by it. If you think Saddam didn't try to buy
this stuff you are living in la la land.
"mojofltr" <jim...@earlytime.com> wrote in message news:QHCPa.18698$xv....@fe3.columbus.rr.com...
Mister Charlie
Jul 12, 2003, 12:13:44 AM7/12/03
to
"Keith Fevola" <ke...@frontiernet.net> wrote in message
news:aRLPa.8593$bb4....@news01.roc.ny...
CIA director Tenet made a statement today that they (the CIA) did in
fact OK this info in the speech (so CBS is wrong) and Tony Blair said
this week that the British had compelling evidence regarding this issue
and he still stands by it. If you think Saddam didn't try to buy this
stuff you are living in la la land.
Right. The CIA man fell on his sword like a good little soldier. BFD.
Sixties Gen
Jul 12, 2003, 12:54:22 AM7/12/03
to
> Bush knew Iraq info was dubious
Chickens coming home to roost.
Sixties Gen
Jul 12, 2003, 11:09:02 AM7/12/03
to
"Keith Fevola" <ke...@frontiernet.net> wrote in message news:<aRLPa.8593$bb4....@news01.roc.ny>...
> CIA director Tenet made a statement today that they (the CIA) did in
> fact OK this info in the speech (so CBS is wrong) and Tony Blair said
> this week that the British had compelling evidence regarding this issue
> and he still stands by it. If you think Saddam didn't try to buy this
> stuff you are living in la la land.
> fact OK this info in the speech (so CBS is wrong) and Tony Blair said
> this week that the British had compelling evidence regarding this issue
> and he still stands by it. If you think Saddam didn't try to buy this
> stuff you are living in la la land.
On the contrary, tis you who occupies a seat at the table of La La,
located in the State of Denial.
mojofltr
Jul 12, 2003, 11:23:41 AM7/12/03
to
>"Keith Fevola" <ke...@frontiernet.net> wrote in
message >news:aRLPa.8593>$bb4....@news01.roc.ny...
>CIA director Tenet made a statement today that
they (the CIA) did in fact OK this info in the speech (so CBS >is wrong) and
Tony Blair said this week that the British had compelling evidence regarding
this issue and he >still stands by it. If you think Saddam didn't try
to buy this stuff you are living in la la land.
Exactly what the bottom of my post
said:
how's Commander AWOL gonna squirm outa this one? (answer: they'll let
the CIA, Tony Blair, & Cheney take the fall)
IMPEACH BUSH!
Keith Fevola
Jul 12, 2003, 1:17:09 PM7/12/03
to
Tenet was Clinton's guy. Read a book.
"Mister Charlie" <smoker...@myway.com> wrote in message
news:beo20e$6heie$1...@ID-63206.news.uni-berlin.de...
Keith Fevola
Jul 12, 2003, 1:19:36 PM7/12/03
to
Clinton publicly stated that Saddam had WMD and had to go. He supported some
type of military action and stated so many times. You might not have seen
this on CBS nightly news because their 600th report on trans-fatty acids
preempted it.
type of military action and stated so many times. You might not have seen
this on CBS nightly news because their 600th report on trans-fatty acids
preempted it.
"Sixties Gen" <sixti...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:4734803e.03071...@posting.google.com...
Keith Fevola
Jul 12, 2003, 1:20:52 PM7/12/03
to
Sounds like Bush has some amazing powers.
What is he a puppet master?
"mojofltr" <jim...@earlytime.com> wrote in message news:1KVPa.14575$zE....@fe1.columbus.rr.com...
Keeso
Jul 12, 2003, 1:32:16 PM7/12/03
to
Just because Vietnam was wrong doesn't make every
war wrong. Wasn't WWII necessary? What about the Civil War?
Bosnia? Seems they brought some positive change. So has the war in
Iraq. Do you think that with a country the size of California
and a neighboring country with the same Fascist style party that WMD will be
found in a few months? What do you think happened to all those WMD that UN
inspecters found after the 1st Gulf War? For Pete's sake, we are just
finding things from Stalin's era now, 50 years later! There are still
pro-Nazi hoods in Germany who attack Turks and Jews. Does that mean WWII
was a waste of time? Most Iraqis are glad we toppled the Ba'ath Party, and
privately, so is Saudi Arabia.
"mojofltr" <jim...@earlytime.com> wrote in message news:QHCPa.18698$xv....@fe3.columbus.rr.com...
mojofltr
Jul 12, 2003, 1:39:28 PM7/12/03
to
I guess he didn't have the power to know if he had
the correct information before starting the first preemptive war in US
history.
"Keith Fevola" <ke...@frontiernet.net> wrote in message news:UrXPa.407$8o1...@news02.roc.ny...
Onen1n1s3
Jul 12, 2003, 1:39:51 PM7/12/03
to
Keith Fevola
IMPEACH BUSH!
Just when I was worrying there might be a shortage of whiney little OT turds in
RMB
IMPEACH BUSH!
Just when I was worrying there might be a shortage of whiney little OT turds in
RMB
mojofltr
Jul 12, 2003, 1:42:40 PM7/12/03
to
WWll and this aren't the same thing.
Preemtive strike- bad. So, Bush either lied or is very
incompetent.
"Keeso" <ke...@frontiernet.net> wrote in message news:zCXPa.410$ys1...@news02.roc.ny...
mojofltr
Jul 12, 2003, 1:44:00 PM7/12/03
to
awwwwwwwwwww.
"Onen1n1s3" <onen...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030712133951...@mb-m02.aol.com...
mojofltr
Jul 12, 2003, 2:01:54 PM7/12/03
to
news:poXPa.404$Gq1...@news02.roc.ny...
> Tenet was Clinton's guy. Read a book.
>
Why don't you read a book? Clintons first choice for CIA director was
not Tenet.
> Tenet was Clinton's guy. Read a book.
>
not Tenet.
Tenet, accompanied by his family, said he was honored by the president's
decision, but called it "a bittersweet moment" because he had hoped to serve
with Anthony Lake at the agency. Lake, Clinton's original choice for the CIA
job, withdrew earlier this week in the face of intense Republican
opposition. (416K WAV file)
http://images.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/03/19/tenet/
Mister Charlie
Jul 12, 2003, 3:53:20 PM7/12/03
to
news:poXPa.404$Gq1...@news02.roc.ny...
> Tenet was Clinton's guy. Read a book.
> Tenet was Clinton's guy. Read a book.
Read this.
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