New Poll:
Majority of Americans Support Impeachment
By a margin of 53% to 42%, Americans want Congress to impeach President Bush if he lied about the war in Iraq, according to a new poll
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/4421
Sunday, November 06, 2005
First casualty of war
By Eric Alterman
We know now, thanks to one brave and dogged historian at the National Security Agency, that after the famed Gulf of Tonkin "incident" on Aug. 4, 1964 — in which North Vietnam allegedly attacked two American destroyers — National Security Council officials doctored the evidence to support President Johnson's false charge in a speech to the nation that night of "open aggression on the high seas against the United States of America." http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10877.htm
By Eric Alterman
We know now, thanks to one brave and dogged historian at the National Security Agency, that after the famed Gulf of Tonkin "incident" on Aug. 4, 1964 — in which North Vietnam allegedly attacked two American destroyers — National Security Council officials doctored the evidence to support President Johnson's false charge in a speech to the nation that night of "open aggression on the high seas against the United States of America." http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10877.htm
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
What is "depleted uranium"?
Some important points to consider:
* DU is a radioactive waste product left over from enriching uranium for use in nuclear power reactors, which can then be turned into a devastating weapon of war.
* It is only "depleted" of U-235, but still full of radioactive U-238 - the main isotope in natural uranium.
* DU is an extremely dense, heavy metal that is used in everything from armour-piercing shells, to tank armour, sniper bullets, landmines, bunker buster bombs, artillery rounds and linings in thermonuclear warheads.
* DU actually sharpens as it travels through the air in shells or missiles, and remains sharp once it hits and penetrates its target. It then heats up and ignites, creating a furiously hot ball of dust, gas and schrapnel.
* DU is also a highly toxic metal, like lead or mercury, as well as being radioactive. The danger comes from breathing it in or swallowing it, or being hit by schrapnel that can't be removed. The wind has no boundaries, so no corner of the globe is safe.
* As it burns, DU sends up smoke containing fine particles of uranium oxide, which can lodge in the lungs, organs and bones, giving out a steady dose of radiation. Contaminated dust can blow onto agriculture, and pass into the food chain. The particles are so small they can pass easily into the cell nucleus, and can cause mutations. Of course, they pass straight through a gas mask.
* DU can kill countless millions of people for centuries to come - radioactive DU has a half-life of 4.5 billion years!
* Thousands of tonnes of DU have been used by the West in Kosovo, Serbia, Afghanistan and Iraq. Battlefields go back to being people's homes, and soldiers go home, but the "walking death" goes with them always.
* The long-term effect of DU weapons is a "virtual death sentence", according to Arthur Bernklau, executive director of Veterans for Constitutional Law in New York.
* The US, UK (& Australia?) have been using DU weapons in Iraq since the first Gulf War in 1991. Since the 2003 invasion, it is estimated that perhaps 2200 tons of DU have been spread around Iraq (UKAEA).
* DU is a cause of cancers, various diseases and horribly deformed babies into future generations, for the local people and the soldiers who use them. Doctors in Iraq estimate birth defects have increased by 2-6 times, and 3-12 times as many children have developed cancer and leukaemia since 1991.
* The US uses DU shells during military training, including in host nations, without necessarily telling them at the time (e.g. Puerto Rico, Japan). Australia has signed an agreement to increase the use of Australia as a US military training and testing site.
* Bombing other countries with radioactive waste is a monstrous war crime against humanity, and the global environment. As one Vietnam War medic puts it: "Uranium weapons are like Agent Orange on steroids."
* DU munitions violate the Geneva Convention, and are classified by a United Nations resolution as illegal weapons of mass destruction, "incompatible with international humanitarian and human rights law." The EU has twice called for DU weapons to be banned.
* Britain and the US not only used DU in this current Iraq war, they dramatically increased its use - from a minimum of 320 tons in the 1991 Gulf War to a minimum of 1500 tons in this one. Before it was mainly used in anti-tank weapons, but now has been extended to guided missiles and large bombs used in Iraq's cities.
* Far from banning DU, the US and Britain have stepped up their denials of the harm from this radioactive dust, as even more of their own troops become seriously ill.
* The military-industrial complex is hooked on DU and won't take kindly to a challenge. Expect lies and misinformation about DU from our powerful "friends" who wish to continue using it as a weapon of mass destruction in wars!
* That the scientific evidence of the terrible consequences of DU has been officially ignored or dismissed may be no accident. A US report, leaked in late 1995, allegedly says:
"The potential for health effects from DU exposure is real; however it must be viewed in perspective...the financial implications of long-term disability payments and healthcare costs would be excessive."
And that's the least of our worries!
Sources:
Melbourne Age newspaper 'Good Weekend' magazine, October 22, 2005.
'Uncensored' magazine, NZ - Vol 1 Number 1, Spring 2005 - which lists many references. www.uncensored.co.nz
Further information:
Low Level Radiation Campaign www.llrc.org
James Denver http://www.coastalport.com/05/04/09.htm
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Washington hid damaging Vietnam finding
By Scott Shane in Washington
The US National Security Agency has kept secret a 2001 finding by its own historian that its officers deliberately distorted critical intelligence during the Tonkin Gulf episode that helped precipitate the Vietnam War.
The historian's conclusion was the first serious accusation that the agency's intercepts were falsified to support the belief North Vietnamese ships attacked US destroyers on August 4, 1964....
Most historians have concluded in recent years there was no second attack, but they have assumed the agency's intercepts were unintentionally misread, not purposely altered.
The research by Robert Hanyok, the agency's historian, was detailed four years ago in an in-house article that remains secret, in part because agency officials feared its release might prompt uncomfortable comparisons with the flawed intelligence used to justify the war in Iraq, according to an intelligence official.
"This material is relevant to debates we as Americans are having about the war in Iraq and intelligence reform."
For the complete article:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10836.htm
First casualty of war
By Eric Alterman
We know now, thanks to one brave and dogged historian at the National Security Agency, that after the famed Gulf of Tonkin "incident" on Aug. 4, 1964 — in which North Vietnam allegedly attacked two American destroyers — National Security Council officials doctored the evidence to support President Johnson's false charge in a speech to the nation that night of "open aggression on the high seas against the United States of America."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10877.htm
By Scott Shane in Washington
The US National Security Agency has kept secret a 2001 finding by its own historian that its officers deliberately distorted critical intelligence during the Tonkin Gulf episode that helped precipitate the Vietnam War.
The historian's conclusion was the first serious accusation that the agency's intercepts were falsified to support the belief North Vietnamese ships attacked US destroyers on August 4, 1964....
Most historians have concluded in recent years there was no second attack, but they have assumed the agency's intercepts were unintentionally misread, not purposely altered.
The research by Robert Hanyok, the agency's historian, was detailed four years ago in an in-house article that remains secret, in part because agency officials feared its release might prompt uncomfortable comparisons with the flawed intelligence used to justify the war in Iraq, according to an intelligence official.
"This material is relevant to debates we as Americans are having about the war in Iraq and intelligence reform."
For the complete article:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10836.htm
First casualty of war
By Eric Alterman
We know now, thanks to one brave and dogged historian at the National Security Agency, that after the famed Gulf of Tonkin "incident" on Aug. 4, 1964 — in which North Vietnam allegedly attacked two American destroyers — National Security Council officials doctored the evidence to support President Johnson's false charge in a speech to the nation that night of "open aggression on the high seas against the United States of America."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10877.htm
From TomDispatch
a project of the Nation Institute
To send this to a friend, or to read more dispatches, go to tomdispatch.com
Tomgram: De la Vega, Bush's War, a Case of Presidential Fraud?
[Note to Tomdispatch readers: For Elizabeth de la Vega's analysis of the Libby indictment, click here.]
It's the day after, of course. I. Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, immediately praised by the President ("Scooter has worked tirelessly on behalf of the American people and sacrificed much in the service to this country."), his resignation accepted with "deep regret" by the Vice President ("He has given many years of his life to public service and has served our nation tirelessly and with great distinction."), is gone.
David Addington, Cheney's counsel and an extreme believer in unfettered presidential power, is evidently at the top of the list to succeed him as vice-presidential chief of staff. Addington, who was involved in Cheney's Plame discussions, has a Cheneyesque pedigree.
As the Washington Post's Dana Milbank described him in October 2004:
"Where there has been controversy over the past four years, there has often been Addington. He was a principal author of the White House memo justifying torture of terrorism suspects. He was a prime advocate of arguments supporting the holding of terrorism suspects without access to courts. Addington also led the fight with Congress and environmentalists over access to information about corporations that advised the White House on energy policy…Colleagues say Addington stands out for his devotion to secrecy in an administration noted for its confidentiality."
(For the larger administration picture, as it relates to the Plame case, check out the latest graphic at Tompaine.com, Dick and Don's Cabal.)
Meanwhile, Special Counsel Fitzgerald's case remains "open," as he indicated rather quietly in his news conference yesterday. On the significance of this, oddly enough, James Moore, author of Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential, and Ann Coulter seem to agree.
As Moore puts it:
"Special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald must surely just be at the beginning of rendering justice. An indictment or two will hardly serve to answer the critical questions. The leak and any lies to the grand jury were most likely motivated by a deep and abiding fear that a much greater crime was at risk of being uncovered. Karl Rove is vindictive, yes. But he is not stupid. Rove would never risk treason unless he thought it served a political purpose. And this was the most important political purpose of all: protecting his most precious asset, George W. Bush."
And here's Coulter:
"O'BRIEN: So there you have it, Karl Rove apparently escaping indictment, but that's the good news. The bad news is, on goes the investigation. What are your thoughts on that one?
COULTER: That is like the worse possible outcome… Let's just get it done one way or the other this Friday. Either they get indicted and they leave, or they're not indicted and it's over. To stay under investigation --- that is not the best possible outcome."
Click here to read more of this dispatch.
a project of the Nation Institute
To send this to a friend, or to read more dispatches, go to tomdispatch.com
Tomgram: De la Vega, Bush's War, a Case of Presidential Fraud?
[Note to Tomdispatch readers: For Elizabeth de la Vega's analysis of the Libby indictment, click here.]
It's the day after, of course. I. Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, immediately praised by the President ("Scooter has worked tirelessly on behalf of the American people and sacrificed much in the service to this country."), his resignation accepted with "deep regret" by the Vice President ("He has given many years of his life to public service and has served our nation tirelessly and with great distinction."), is gone.
David Addington, Cheney's counsel and an extreme believer in unfettered presidential power, is evidently at the top of the list to succeed him as vice-presidential chief of staff. Addington, who was involved in Cheney's Plame discussions, has a Cheneyesque pedigree.
As the Washington Post's Dana Milbank described him in October 2004:
"Where there has been controversy over the past four years, there has often been Addington. He was a principal author of the White House memo justifying torture of terrorism suspects. He was a prime advocate of arguments supporting the holding of terrorism suspects without access to courts. Addington also led the fight with Congress and environmentalists over access to information about corporations that advised the White House on energy policy…Colleagues say Addington stands out for his devotion to secrecy in an administration noted for its confidentiality."
(For the larger administration picture, as it relates to the Plame case, check out the latest graphic at Tompaine.com, Dick and Don's Cabal.)
Meanwhile, Special Counsel Fitzgerald's case remains "open," as he indicated rather quietly in his news conference yesterday. On the significance of this, oddly enough, James Moore, author of Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential, and Ann Coulter seem to agree.
As Moore puts it:
"Special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald must surely just be at the beginning of rendering justice. An indictment or two will hardly serve to answer the critical questions. The leak and any lies to the grand jury were most likely motivated by a deep and abiding fear that a much greater crime was at risk of being uncovered. Karl Rove is vindictive, yes. But he is not stupid. Rove would never risk treason unless he thought it served a political purpose. And this was the most important political purpose of all: protecting his most precious asset, George W. Bush."
And here's Coulter:
"O'BRIEN: So there you have it, Karl Rove apparently escaping indictment, but that's the good news. The bad news is, on goes the investigation. What are your thoughts on that one?
COULTER: That is like the worse possible outcome… Let's just get it done one way or the other this Friday. Either they get indicted and they leave, or they're not indicted and it's over. To stay under investigation --- that is not the best possible outcome."
Click here to read more of this dispatch.
FBI inspector general’s report:
Evidence of government complicity in 9/11 attacks?
The question must be posed: did one or more agencies or high-level officials provide protection for known Al Qaeda associates who ultimately participated in the hijack-bombings?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9151.htm
The official accounts of 9/11 are "IMPOSSIBLE"!
Check these links:
http://unansweredquestions.org/
http://www.physics911.net/
http://911research.wtc7.net/
http://www.plaguepuppy.net/
http://www.waronfreedom.org/newrels.html
http://www.geocities.com/killtown/
http://www.911wasalie.com/phpwebsite/
http://www.theoilfactor.com/
Video Lecture
"THE NEW PEARL HARBOR"
Disturbing Questions about the Bush Administration and 9/11
Professor David Ray Griffin argues that "omissions and distortions" in the report amount to a cover-up by government officials and says that the available evidence suggests that the Bush administration was complicit in the 9/11 attacks. Watch it now! Windows Media.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8765.htm
Evidence of government complicity in 9/11 attacks?
The question must be posed: did one or more agencies or high-level officials provide protection for known Al Qaeda associates who ultimately participated in the hijack-bombings?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9151.htm
The official accounts of 9/11 are "IMPOSSIBLE"!
Check these links:
http://unansweredquestions.org/
http://www.physics911.net/
http://911research.wtc7.net/
http://www.plaguepuppy.net/
http://www.waronfreedom.org/newrels.html
http://www.geocities.com/killtown/
http://www.911wasalie.com/phpwebsite/
http://www.theoilfactor.com/
Video Lecture
"THE NEW PEARL HARBOR"
Disturbing Questions about the Bush Administration and 9/11
Professor David Ray Griffin argues that "omissions and distortions" in the report amount to a cover-up by government officials and says that the available evidence suggests that the Bush administration was complicit in the 9/11 attacks. Watch it now! Windows Media.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8765.htm
'New evidence' backs Hicks's torture claim:
Lawyers for Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks say they have uncovered evidence supporting claims that the South Australian may have been the subject of organised torture by American troops. - Hicks's father Terry has detailed allegations of physical and sexual abuse of his son by American soldiers. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10837.htm
The Bush solution
Expand the war to Syria and Iran
By Sara Flounders
“When faced with an unsolvable problem—expand the problem.”
This cynical political advice supposedly hangs on the wall of U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s office.
35 years ago the U.S. war in Vietnam became an unsolvable crisis for U.S. imperialism. President Richard Nixon had promised to establish a stable puppet government and train a Vietnamese army to take over the fighting from U.S. troops. But the war was unwinnable because the Vietnamese resistance could not be broken. By 1970 the U.S. population had turned decisively against the war.
The Pentagon suddenly opted to “expand the problem” by invading Cambodia, widening the war to engulf all of Southeast Asia.
Forging the Case for War
Who was behind the Niger uranium documents?
By Philip Giraldi
Information developed by Italian investigators indicates that the documents were produced in Italy with the connivance of the Italian intelligence service. It also reveals that the introduction of the documents into the American intelligence stream was facilitated by Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith’s Office of Special Plans (OSP), a parallel intelligence center set up in the Pentagon to develop alternative sources of information in support of war against Iraq. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10816.htm
Indicting America
By Scott Ritter
The indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby by Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald provides the most cogent and visible evidence to date of the criminal mindset that exists inside the Bush administration regarding the decision to invade Iraq. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10820.htm
Lawyers for Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks say they have uncovered evidence supporting claims that the South Australian may have been the subject of organised torture by American troops. - Hicks's father Terry has detailed allegations of physical and sexual abuse of his son by American soldiers. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10837.htm
The Bush solution
Expand the war to Syria and Iran
By Sara Flounders
“When faced with an unsolvable problem—expand the problem.”
This cynical political advice supposedly hangs on the wall of U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s office.
35 years ago the U.S. war in Vietnam became an unsolvable crisis for U.S. imperialism. President Richard Nixon had promised to establish a stable puppet government and train a Vietnamese army to take over the fighting from U.S. troops. But the war was unwinnable because the Vietnamese resistance could not be broken. By 1970 the U.S. population had turned decisively against the war.
The Pentagon suddenly opted to “expand the problem” by invading Cambodia, widening the war to engulf all of Southeast Asia.
Forging the Case for War
Who was behind the Niger uranium documents?
By Philip Giraldi
Information developed by Italian investigators indicates that the documents were produced in Italy with the connivance of the Italian intelligence service. It also reveals that the introduction of the documents into the American intelligence stream was facilitated by Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith’s Office of Special Plans (OSP), a parallel intelligence center set up in the Pentagon to develop alternative sources of information in support of war against Iraq. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10816.htm
Indicting America
By Scott Ritter
The indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby by Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald provides the most cogent and visible evidence to date of the criminal mindset that exists inside the Bush administration regarding the decision to invade Iraq. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10820.htm
Monday, October 31, 2005
Some oldies, but worth checking again in the light of current events!
The Lies Of The Century
Any government that desires to initiate a war usually lies to their people to create the illusion that support for the war is the only possible choice they can make.
Click here - highly recommended!
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/lieofthecentury.html
Blair and Howard could face charges over Iraq - lawyer
Video and transcript.
Philippe Sands, QC, director of the Centre for International Courts and Tribunals at University College London, said Mr Howard, along with British Prime Minister Tony Blair could face charges amid claims the Iraq war was illegal. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9171.htm
Hyping Terror For Fun, Profit - And Power
By Thom Hartmann
What if there really was no need for much - or even most - of the Cold War? What if, in fact, the Cold War had been kept alive for two decades based on phony WMD threats?
What if, similarly, the War On Terror was largely a scam, and the administration was hyping it to seem larger-than-life? What if our "enemy" represented a real but relatively small threat posed by rogue and criminal groups well outside the mainstream of Islam? What if that hype was done largely to enhance the power, electability, and stature of George W. Bush and Tony Blair?
And what if the world was to discover the most shocking dimensions of these twin deceits - that the same men promulgated them in the 1970s and today?
It happened.
You can find the complete text of the above article at:
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1207-26.htm
(Published on Tuesday, December 7, 2004 by CommonDreams.org
But be forewarned: You'll never see political reality - and certainly never hear the words of the Bush, Blair or Howard administrations - the same again.)
U.S. corporations sued over Agent Orange
Click here: How the Pentagon used WMDs in Vietnam
By Paddy Colligan
On April 30, 1975, U.S. imperialism suffered its sharpest, most stunning defeat of the last century. Its “advisers” and “diplomats” in Saigon fled in desperation onto helicopters that took them away to ships waiting in the South China Sea.
Was it 'fragging'?
GI casualties increase in Iraq
By Greg Butterfield
First Lt. Louis Allen and Capt. Philip Esposito, two officers assigned to a New York National Guard unit in Tikrit, Iraq, were killed in their sleep on June 7.
The Pentagon is investigating their deaths as a possible “fragging”—an act of retaliation by a rank-and-file soldier or soldiers.
GI Special: thomasfbarton@earthlink.net 6.22.05
From "GI SPECIAL" # 3B67:
WHEN TROOPS STOPPED A WAR:
"Sir! No Sir"
Anne-Marie O'Connor wrote in the Los Angeles Times, "Anyone waging war with American troops might want to listen carefully to the largely untold story of David Zeiger's new documentary, "Sir! No Sir!", of how some of the most dedicated troops became some of the most damaging supporters of the movement to end the war in Vietnam."
Check out the web site - http://www.sirnosir.com/
We have launched the most extensive library and image gallery on the GI Movement ever seen. Over 1,600 images of front pages, photos, and cartoons from the GI underground press, the entire recently declassified reports from the military's investigations of the Long Binh Jail rebellion and the Presidio 27 mutiny case, a complete calendar of key events in the GI movement, and much, much more.
This incredible resource was researched and put together by James Lewes, writer of the stirring book "Protest and Survive--Underground GI Newspapers during the Vietnam War."
The web site is also where you can keep track of upcoming screenings of the film.
"Sir! No Sir" has already garnered strong press. The L.A. Weekly named it the "Critic's Pick" of the festival, and the Pasadena Weekly wrote:
"Debunking several myths about America's invasion of Vietnam, David Zeiger's documentary might be the most important documentary to screen in Los Angeles this year. Knowledge is ammunition."
Displaced Films
3421 Fernwood Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90039
Do The People Of Iraq Have A right To Resist U.S. Occupation?
The American antiwar movement is disunited on the important question of whether or not to support the right of the Iraqi people to resist U.S. aggression as best they can, including by force of arms.
By Jack Smith
This is a right Americans unquestionably would invoke were their country invaded and occupied by a foreign power. They would take whatever measures were necessary to defeat the enemy and force it to withdraw.
Click here to read more:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8968.htm
The 'I' word
THE IMPEACHMENT of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, under Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution, should be part of mainstream political discourse.
By Ralph Nader and Kevin Zeese
President Clinton was impeached for perjury about his sexual relationships. Comparing Clinton's misbehavior to a destructive and costly war of occupation launched in March 2003 under false pretenses in violation of domestic and international law certainly merits introduction of an impeachment resolution. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8991.htm
Impeachment Fever and Media Politics
If you think President Bush should be impeached, it's time to get serious. We're facing huge obstacles -- and they have nothing to do with legal standards for impeachment. This is all about media and politics.
By Norman Solomon
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8998.htm
Retired lieutenant colonel gives scathing speech on Iraq policy
Bowman told the audience that the biggest threat to the American way of life comes from within the country. He said instead of the battle lines being overseas, they were right here at home.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8980.htm
Is The USA Addicted To War?
First Consider The Evidence, Then Draw Your Own Conclusions:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8904.htm
About 6,000 Soldiers Deserted From Iraq War;
150 Fled To Canada:
"I went to fight for my country. To me, the Army, they lied to me from the beginning," Key said.
http://www.wesh.com/news/4534806/detail.html
Amnesty International Wants U.S. Officials Arrested and Investigated
"Governments should arrest any official who enters their territory and begin legal proceedings against them," said William Shulz, executive director of the U.S. branch of the international human rights agency.
By Bob Dart
Amnesty International USA urged foreign governments Wednesday to use international law to investigate Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other alleged American "architects of torture" at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and other prisons where detainees suspected of ties to terrorist groups have been interrogated. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8956.htm
Is the U. S. guilty of Crimes against Peace?
To many Americans, the idea that U. S. leaders could be prosecuted for war crimes comes right out of left field.
Check out the War Crimes Trial website!
http://www.warcrimestrial.us/
Deliberate Deception—Bush & Iraq
How Much More Evidence is Needed?http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8931.htm
It’s a Pentagon World : Bases, Bases Everywhere
Most Americans, knowing next to nothing about our global bases or the Pentagon's basing policies, would undoubtedly be surprised to learn that ours is an empire of bases.
http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=3025
Four bloody lies of war, from Havana 1898 to Baghdad 2003
The Bush Administration's lies about its rationales for attacking Iraq fit a pattern of deceit that has dragged America into at least three other unjust and catastrophic wars.
By Harvey Wasserman
Nixon's "dirty trickster" disciples Karl Rove and Dick Cheney have now poisoned this nation with yet another ghastly lie of war. Their hopeless Iraqi slaughter has become the modern definition of cynical deceit, human butchery and economic ruin.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8788.htm
The Lies Of The Century
Any government that desires to initiate a war usually lies to their people to create the illusion that support for the war is the only possible choice they can make.
Click here - highly recommended!
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/lieofthecentury.html
Blair and Howard could face charges over Iraq - lawyer
Video and transcript.
Philippe Sands, QC, director of the Centre for International Courts and Tribunals at University College London, said Mr Howard, along with British Prime Minister Tony Blair could face charges amid claims the Iraq war was illegal. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9171.htm
Hyping Terror For Fun, Profit - And Power
By Thom Hartmann
What if there really was no need for much - or even most - of the Cold War? What if, in fact, the Cold War had been kept alive for two decades based on phony WMD threats?
What if, similarly, the War On Terror was largely a scam, and the administration was hyping it to seem larger-than-life? What if our "enemy" represented a real but relatively small threat posed by rogue and criminal groups well outside the mainstream of Islam? What if that hype was done largely to enhance the power, electability, and stature of George W. Bush and Tony Blair?
And what if the world was to discover the most shocking dimensions of these twin deceits - that the same men promulgated them in the 1970s and today?
It happened.
You can find the complete text of the above article at:
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1207-26.htm
(Published on Tuesday, December 7, 2004 by CommonDreams.org
But be forewarned: You'll never see political reality - and certainly never hear the words of the Bush, Blair or Howard administrations - the same again.)
U.S. corporations sued over Agent Orange
Click here: How the Pentagon used WMDs in Vietnam
By Paddy Colligan
On April 30, 1975, U.S. imperialism suffered its sharpest, most stunning defeat of the last century. Its “advisers” and “diplomats” in Saigon fled in desperation onto helicopters that took them away to ships waiting in the South China Sea.
Was it 'fragging'?
GI casualties increase in Iraq
By Greg Butterfield
First Lt. Louis Allen and Capt. Philip Esposito, two officers assigned to a New York National Guard unit in Tikrit, Iraq, were killed in their sleep on June 7.
The Pentagon is investigating their deaths as a possible “fragging”—an act of retaliation by a rank-and-file soldier or soldiers.
GI Special: thomasfbarton@earthlink.net 6.22.05
From "GI SPECIAL" # 3B67:
WHEN TROOPS STOPPED A WAR:
"Sir! No Sir"
Anne-Marie O'Connor wrote in the Los Angeles Times, "Anyone waging war with American troops might want to listen carefully to the largely untold story of David Zeiger's new documentary, "Sir! No Sir!", of how some of the most dedicated troops became some of the most damaging supporters of the movement to end the war in Vietnam."
Check out the web site - http://www.sirnosir.com/
We have launched the most extensive library and image gallery on the GI Movement ever seen. Over 1,600 images of front pages, photos, and cartoons from the GI underground press, the entire recently declassified reports from the military's investigations of the Long Binh Jail rebellion and the Presidio 27 mutiny case, a complete calendar of key events in the GI movement, and much, much more.
This incredible resource was researched and put together by James Lewes, writer of the stirring book "Protest and Survive--Underground GI Newspapers during the Vietnam War."
The web site is also where you can keep track of upcoming screenings of the film.
"Sir! No Sir" has already garnered strong press. The L.A. Weekly named it the "Critic's Pick" of the festival, and the Pasadena Weekly wrote:
"Debunking several myths about America's invasion of Vietnam, David Zeiger's documentary might be the most important documentary to screen in Los Angeles this year. Knowledge is ammunition."
Displaced Films
3421 Fernwood Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90039
Do The People Of Iraq Have A right To Resist U.S. Occupation?
The American antiwar movement is disunited on the important question of whether or not to support the right of the Iraqi people to resist U.S. aggression as best they can, including by force of arms.
By Jack Smith
This is a right Americans unquestionably would invoke were their country invaded and occupied by a foreign power. They would take whatever measures were necessary to defeat the enemy and force it to withdraw.
Click here to read more:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8968.htm
The 'I' word
THE IMPEACHMENT of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, under Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution, should be part of mainstream political discourse.
By Ralph Nader and Kevin Zeese
President Clinton was impeached for perjury about his sexual relationships. Comparing Clinton's misbehavior to a destructive and costly war of occupation launched in March 2003 under false pretenses in violation of domestic and international law certainly merits introduction of an impeachment resolution. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8991.htm
Impeachment Fever and Media Politics
If you think President Bush should be impeached, it's time to get serious. We're facing huge obstacles -- and they have nothing to do with legal standards for impeachment. This is all about media and politics.
By Norman Solomon
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8998.htm
Retired lieutenant colonel gives scathing speech on Iraq policy
Bowman told the audience that the biggest threat to the American way of life comes from within the country. He said instead of the battle lines being overseas, they were right here at home.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8980.htm
Is The USA Addicted To War?
First Consider The Evidence, Then Draw Your Own Conclusions:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8904.htm
About 6,000 Soldiers Deserted From Iraq War;
150 Fled To Canada:
"I went to fight for my country. To me, the Army, they lied to me from the beginning," Key said.
http://www.wesh.com/news/4534806/detail.html
Amnesty International Wants U.S. Officials Arrested and Investigated
"Governments should arrest any official who enters their territory and begin legal proceedings against them," said William Shulz, executive director of the U.S. branch of the international human rights agency.
By Bob Dart
Amnesty International USA urged foreign governments Wednesday to use international law to investigate Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other alleged American "architects of torture" at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and other prisons where detainees suspected of ties to terrorist groups have been interrogated. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8956.htm
Is the U. S. guilty of Crimes against Peace?
To many Americans, the idea that U. S. leaders could be prosecuted for war crimes comes right out of left field.
Check out the War Crimes Trial website!
http://www.warcrimestrial.us/
Deliberate Deception—Bush & Iraq
How Much More Evidence is Needed?http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8931.htm
It’s a Pentagon World : Bases, Bases Everywhere
Most Americans, knowing next to nothing about our global bases or the Pentagon's basing policies, would undoubtedly be surprised to learn that ours is an empire of bases.
http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=3025
Four bloody lies of war, from Havana 1898 to Baghdad 2003
The Bush Administration's lies about its rationales for attacking Iraq fit a pattern of deceit that has dragged America into at least three other unjust and catastrophic wars.
By Harvey Wasserman
Nixon's "dirty trickster" disciples Karl Rove and Dick Cheney have now poisoned this nation with yet another ghastly lie of war. Their hopeless Iraqi slaughter has become the modern definition of cynical deceit, human butchery and economic ruin.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8788.htm
Friday, October 28, 2005
Bird flu - no threat to the human population
Special Report: The Bird Flu and You
Source: http://www.stratfor.com/
From: www.uncensored.co.nz
(more…)
Special Report: The Bird Flu and You
Source: http://www.stratfor.com/
From: www.uncensored.co.nz
(more…)
Rumsfeld Profit from Avian Flu Scam
Source: globalnewsmatrix.com
From: www.uncensored.co.nz
[ Is this story true?
I have no idea, but read it and make up your own mind! ]
You can’t make any real money without a bogeyman, and the new “Bird Flu” hoax is the latest scam used to generate profits for pharmaceutical company insiders, according to this particular article.
“Finally, the pieces of the puzzle start to add up,” writes Dr. Joseph Mercola, author of the 'Total Health Program':
“President Bush sought to instill panic in this country by telling us a minimum of 200,000 people will die from the avian flu pandemic but it could be as bad as 2 million deaths in this country alone.”
http://mercola.com/blog/2005/oct/19/rumsfeld_to_profit_from_avian_flu_hoax(more…)
Source: globalnewsmatrix.com
From: www.uncensored.co.nz
[ Is this story true?
I have no idea, but read it and make up your own mind! ]
You can’t make any real money without a bogeyman, and the new “Bird Flu” hoax is the latest scam used to generate profits for pharmaceutical company insiders, according to this particular article.
“Finally, the pieces of the puzzle start to add up,” writes Dr. Joseph Mercola, author of the 'Total Health Program':
“President Bush sought to instill panic in this country by telling us a minimum of 200,000 people will die from the avian flu pandemic but it could be as bad as 2 million deaths in this country alone.”
http://mercola.com/blog/2005/oct/19/rumsfeld_to_profit_from_avian_flu_hoax(more…)
Secret MoD poll:
Iraqis support attacks on US / British troops
65% of Iraqi citizens support attacks, and less than 1% think Allied military involvement is helping to improve security in their country.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10721.htm
Iraqis support attacks on US / British troops
65% of Iraqi citizens support attacks, and less than 1% think Allied military involvement is helping to improve security in their country.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10721.htm
Monday, October 24, 2005
Karl and Scooter's Excellent Adventure
By Frank Rich
We don't yet know whether Lewis (Scooter) Libby or Karl Rove has committed a crime, but the more we learn about their desperate efforts to take down a bit player like Joseph Wilson, the more we learn about the real secret they wanted to protect: the "why" of the war.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10724.htm
By Frank Rich
We don't yet know whether Lewis (Scooter) Libby or Karl Rove has committed a crime, but the more we learn about their desperate efforts to take down a bit player like Joseph Wilson, the more we learn about the real secret they wanted to protect: the "why" of the war.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10724.htm
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
What makes an American family man
choose to burn himself to death
to protest his government's aggressive war policies?
Who remembers?
Who forgets?
Morrison’s sacrifice remembered
By Lady Borton
(01-05-2005)
Link to original story, including photos:
"Yes, of course we know Mo Ri Xon," Vietnamese will say, adapting Norman Morrison’s surname to their monosyllabic language.
Many Vietnamese who were adults during the American War can recount in detail the moment they heard about Norman Morrison’s death. Those who were in school can still remember their grade when they recited To Huu’s poem:
"Emily, my child
Emily, come with me
So that when you’re older, you won’t lose the way.
"Where are we going, Father?"
"To the banks of the Potomac."
"What will we see?"
"Nothing, My Child, only the Pentagon...."
On 2 November 1965, Norman Morrison held his second daughter and third child, Emily, in his arms as he stood below the window of the Pentagon office used by US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Emily was eleven months old.
McNamara described the scene in Errol Morris’ film, The Fog of War (2003):
"Norman Morrison was a Quaker. He was opposed to war, to the violence of war, the killing. He came to the Pentagon, doused himself with gasoline, burned himself to death below my office. He held a child in his arms, his daughter. Passersby shouted, ‘Save the child.’ He threw the child out of his arms, and the child lived and is alive today. His wife issued a very moving statement: ‘Human beings MUST stop killing other human beings.’
"Norman Morrison’s widow, Anne Morrison, had not known of her husband’s plans. Her first intimation came from a journalist’s phone call. The reporter, who was sensitive enough to choose compassion over professional gain, did not push for quotes. However, the press stories appeared soon enough — from the double banner headline in The [Baltimore] Sun: "Baltimore Quaker With Baby Sets Self Afire, Dies in War Protest At Pentagon" to Newsweek’s acerbic judgment: "Morrison’s macabre act of protest almost included the sacrificial murder of his own baby daughter."
Anne Morrison’s unrelenting personal loss often elicited judgment, and not just from the press. She never knew whether strangers and even friends would consider her husband’s stand an act of muddled madness or spiritual sacrifice. Insurance policies do not cover acts of conscience. Anne’s singular financial and emotional responsibility for three small children left her little time or space for grieving.
Further, the United States had little context for immolation. Alice Herz, age 82, had set herself afire in Detroit on 16 March 1965, shortly after the first US combat troops landed at Da Nang. The media scarcely noticed her protest against the "use of high office by our president, L.B.J., in trying to wipe out small nations."
Better known were examples from Viet Nam itself, particularly Thich Quang Duc’s immolation on 11 June 1963 at a busy Sai Gon intersection.
A US Military Assistance Command Viet Nam (MACV) report listed the supporting group of nuns and monks as between 400 and 500. The bonzes used loudspeakers to announce their demands to the South Vietnamese Government and to the world. The Western media had been alerted that something might happen near Xa Loi Pagoda, but only Associated Press reporter Malcolm Browne showed up. His photograph of Thich Quang Duc in flames — among the war’s most haunting images — had a searing effect on the American public and on the Kennedy administration.
Norman Morrison seems to have kept his act of conscience in private confidence between his own soul and his spiritual source. We do not know what he hoped to achieve, but we do know that his sacrifice had an effect.
In 1995, nearly thirty years after the event, Robert McNamara wrote in his book, "In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Viet Nam":
"Morrison’s death was a tragedy not only for his family but also for me and the country. It was an outcry against the killing that was destroying the lives of so many Vietnamese and American youth.
"I reacted to the horror of his action by bottling up my emotions and avoided talking about them with anyone — even my family. I knew Marg [Robert McNamara’s wife] and our children shared many of Morrison’s feelings about the war.... And I believed I understood and shared some of his thoughts. There was much Marg and I and the children should have talked about, yet at moments like this I often turn inward instead — it is a grave weakness. The episode created tension at home that only deepened dissent and criticism as the war continued to grow."
In April 1995, Robert McNamara told interviewer Brian Lamb:
"She [Anne Morrison] says, ‘To heal the wounds of war, we must forgive ourselves and each other, and we must help the people of Viet Nam to rebuild their country.’... I talked to her on the telephone this morning. We had quite an extended discussion. She is a noble person."
Anne Morrison visited Viet Nam with her two daughters and their husbands in 1999. Her son, Ben, had died from cancer at age sixteen. The family spent a morning with To Huu, the poet who had introduced Norman Morrison and "Emily, My Child" into Viet Nam’s national consciousness.
Mme Truong My Hoa, now vice-president of Viet Nam, was vice-president of the National Assembly at the time. She also met Anne Morrison and her family. During the American War, Mme My Hoa had been a political prisoner in the tiger cages on Con Son Island in South Viet Nam. The cages’ concrete cells measured five by nine feet. Each cage held five prisoners. The cells were open on the top to rain and sun. Guards patrolling overhead threw lime down on the prisoners huddled below.
"The women in our tiger cage made a small altar for Norman Morrison," Mme My Hoa said, referring to the Vietnamese custom of honouring family members who have died. Vietnamese believe that the souls of the departed are accessible to the living and provide a source of support and guidance.
"Whenever we grew discouraged," Mme My Hoa said, "We thought about the sacrifice Norman Morrison had made. We drew strength from him to continue the struggle."
Mme My Hoa gestured to the fine woodwork and the brocade-covered chairs in the National Assembly’s grand guest room. "This is where we meet our highest-level official visitors," she said, turning to face Anne Morrison. "And this is where we meet our closest friends." — VNS
More links to fascinating reading:
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
The Story of Colin Powell : Bagman for a bloody elite
By Chris Floyd
Colin Powell's reputation as "one of the good guys" in the Bush Administration has been one of the most enduring mysteries of our sad, demented times.
He was not only one of the chief enablers of Bush's war crime in Iraq, but his entire career has marked him out as a bagman for a bloody elite, ever willing to turn a blind eye -- or pitch in directly -- when there is dirty work to be done, from the My Lai massacre in Viet Nam, to Iran-Contra, to the murderous excursion in Panama, to the warm embrace of Saddam Hussein, to his final apotheosis as Imperial Handmaiden in his sick-making appearance at the UN in February 2003, when he "made the case" for war.
Check out the full revealing story: http://tinyurl.com/aywtm
By Chris Floyd
Colin Powell's reputation as "one of the good guys" in the Bush Administration has been one of the most enduring mysteries of our sad, demented times.
He was not only one of the chief enablers of Bush's war crime in Iraq, but his entire career has marked him out as a bagman for a bloody elite, ever willing to turn a blind eye -- or pitch in directly -- when there is dirty work to be done, from the My Lai massacre in Viet Nam, to Iran-Contra, to the murderous excursion in Panama, to the warm embrace of Saddam Hussein, to his final apotheosis as Imperial Handmaiden in his sick-making appearance at the UN in February 2003, when he "made the case" for war.
Check out the full revealing story: http://tinyurl.com/aywtm
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