A newspaper is not just for reporting news, it's to get people mad enough to do something about it. -- Mark Twain
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Frontline: The War Behind Closed Doors Two Questions: War Crimes and the 25th Amendment IRAQ WAR - DAY 10 Sorry, due to God knows what, USUK calls for Time-out! USUK commanders have ordered a four to six day pause in the trek towards Baghdad due to supply shortages and unexpectedly stiff Iraqi resistance. [MORE] That was the week that was - tomdispatch This war couldn't be grimmer, but who could deny that there was also a farcical element to the last week of war. After all, this was the week when, among other things, a US mine-hunting dolphin went AWOL; all but one of our chemical-sniffing chickens died; we couldn't name our forward outposts for oil companies without an embarrassing debate; we raised an American flag over the wrong idea of a successful war in a town we hadn't actually taken; the Army's senior ground commander complained that this war didn't measure up to the war games; oil prices rose; the stock market began to slump again; Kenneth Adelman and Richard Perle rushed to defend their "cakewalk" predictions, even as Perle was forced to resign as chairman of the Defense Policy Board, and Vietnam reared its ugly, inappropriate head right there in the Middle East. Nine days into the war, while calling for 120,000 reinforcements who will evidently not all be in place until the end of April, the military wasn't waiting. It was already striking back vigorously - at Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and his civilian command in Washington... Let's return for a moment to those war games that proved so much easier than the actual war. Last August, the Army Times reported that they were "rigged" so that "we" could win and the "enemy" commander, one retired general Paul Van Riper, was playing the "unpredictable enemy" so well that he was reined in and so stepped down halfway through the games. [MORE]  DISCUSSION * NEWS * IRAQ BODY COUNT29MAR2003 Tomgram: Good morrrrrning, Iraq.... A quagmire party with Ed Luttwack on the list of invited guests "Then and Now: Lessons Unlearned" (below). Craig Roberts is retired military. At least, thank God, he's retired. The "populist" crowd really loves this kind of platitudinal crap. I'm surprised Fox hasn't consulted with the likes of this guy already. They can't tell me Saddam is about liberating the Iraqi from a tyrant. They can't tell me Vietnam was to stop Communism. Both Iraq and Vietnam were then and are now about oil. "They don't play by our rules" so we'll play by theirs? The end justifies the means? Might makes right? Assholes all! They know nothing of peace, and never will, and as a result of their way of going about Empire Building, never will we; neither those who they attempt to colonize (and steal resources from instead of doing good business and paying for it), or us here at home to hafta be kept down AND pay for their mis-adventure and oil explorations with our tax dollar or be considered un-patriotic! Sick fucks!! Truth and justice will ultimately prevail is my best hope even though there is NO evidence that it could ever happen like the tomgram piece today, and what might happen when the Bush White House crowd realizes they've lost it. [MORE] Ex-Vietnam Vet gives OK on Tit-for-Tat War Crimes It appears to be a rule in "military history and lessons learned" that we don't remember the lessons. Below is an article by Vince Morris of the New York Post, who is probably too young to remember a little "conflict" called Vietnam. But I won't forget it, or the lessons we learned, since I was a young US Marine infantryman who did my share of rice paddy wading in I Corps in 1965-66. One of the lessons American fighting men learn in the first few days of war is that our rules don't count. We learn about the enemy, his methods, madness and motivations. We also learn that they do not, ever, think or act like Americans. It seems we never learn that we are different, and they don't play by our rules. Americans are a kind and compassionate people. We try to "liberate" and not "conquer" when we go to war. Liberating Iraq and fighting terrorism now is identical to defending South Vietnam and fighting Vietcong terrorism in the '60s. I landed with H Company, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment at DaNang in July of 1965. Within three days of our landing we were entrenched around a village called Duong Son and began receiving fire from guerrillas of the Doc Lap battalion of Vietcong (based in a tunnel complex under the village of Cam Ne, one kilometer across the paddies to the west). We established an outpost of one platoon on a small island in the paddies between us and Cam Ne, and sent two wiremen to string commo wire to the "little ville" (which was one building used as a schoolhouse). The left just before dark and never arrived at the "schoolhouse." They never came back either. The next morning we sent out patrols and found them at the edge of Cam Ne, hung up by their heals in a tree, tortured and killed as a signal to us of what would happen in the future. There were other attrocities that had been done to the bodies that I won't describe. But it backfired. It had just the opposite effect on us that it may have had on other nationalities. It did not scare us. It did not terrify us. It did not make us want to quit and go home. Instead, it galvanized us--and changed the rules. Americans begin by being kind and undestanding and compassionate. But don't anger us. Don't try to shock us. Don't hurt any of our people. Because if you do, you will bring down more fire and brimstone than you ever reckoned existed. Seeing the two bodies caused us (the entire Regiment) to change our attitude about the enemy and the Vietnamese in general. This would last for the rest of the war. THEY are the ones who caused more grief and death and destruction on their personnel than would have happened if the two young Marines had not been captured, tortured and executed. For the next 11 months I never took a prisoner on purpose. I killed every VC and NVA I could get in my sights (and later my scope as a sniper). I hated them and when I took up the trigger slack on every target, I thought of those two wireman who went home in body bags after only three days in Vietnam. Now we have young soldiers and Marines faced with the latest version of the "wiremen incident of Duong Son." American National Guard reservists from Texas, serving in a support role, made a wrong turn in Iraq and evidently drove up to Iraqis wearing civilian clothes. No one knows what happened next, but whatever happened it is evident that our guys were not prepared for combat. If they had been, there would have been Iraqi bodies on the road instead of American. Our guys expected Iraqi "civilians" would be glad to see them, and they probably assumed these "civilians" would be helpful if they stopped to ask directions. The Iraqis were either soldiers in civvies, or militia. So, it appears no defensive shots were fired. But the Al Jazeera TV footage shows dead GIs with head wounds that appear to be from very close range. This was an execution of POWs by war criminals. This is the Iraqi War version of the Wiremen Incident. And now our guys are re-learning the lessons we learned in Vietnam: There Is No Compassionate War. In my opinion, there are two missions for the man in the field: Win the war quickly, and go home alive. To do this, a warrior has to be careful, cautious and ruthless. We must know we cannot fight a "careful war" in which we try not to hurt anyone. The mission of the military is not that of policeman. The mission is to go places, destroy real estate, break things, and kill people. We have to relearn this in every war. But it is a lesson we quickly learn, albeit often a bit late, and with far too much of our own blood. When one sees the liberal socialist media whining about civilian casualties, just put these images in your mind: Pan Am 103 at Lockerbie, the Marine Barracks bombing in Beirut, the attack on the USS Cole, the 9-11 WTC and Pentagon attacks, and the crash in Pennsylvania. Also remember that we have over 100 Iraqi terrorist cells, not to mention al Qaeda in this country just watching and waiting for a chance to "avenge Saddam." Here's to our troops: God Bless, God Speed, and now that you know the "rules," Good Hunting! Semper Fidelis, Craig Roberts LTC, USAR, INF, (Ret) L/Cpl, USMC, Vietnam, '65-66 www.riflewarrior.com MARINES OUT TO AVENGE BLOOD OF 'EXECUTED' GIs - by Vince Morris THE Marines at this chopper base near the Iraqi border are seething with rage and talking revenge over the treatment of American POWs - paraded on TV and some possibly executed. "OK, they want to play that way. We can play that way," vowed one enraged pilot. Marine after Marine had the same message - many of them warning that there would be "no second chances for those Iraqis now." Virtually every conversation here touched on the POW's treatment and possible executions yesterday. It was discussed on chow lines, in the bomb shelters, outside the latrines. Robert "Doc" Davenport, a Marine medic trained to both save people and kill them, was among those struggling to digest the appalling news. [MORE] DISCUSSION * NEWS * IRAQ BODY COUNTIRAQ WAR - DAY 9 War Serves Bush White House as Distraction from Domestic Issues Under Cover Of War - As we Americans sit glued to images of bombs falling on Baghdad, we should also be keeping one eye on Washington. In the past when this country has gone to war, legislation has slowed to a trickle as lawmakers wait out the storm. But this time around, the Bush administration and the GOP Congress have teamed up to ram through some of the most potentially destructive legislation we've seen in decades. And they're hoping Americans will be too fixated on the Middle East to notice. [MORE] This is sports? You bet!! Ed. note: While the following text is about super-snoopying from space, John Gilmore is making a profound comment on our earth-bound situation as we observe his generalized concern about "government trustworthiness and spy gear..." "If they have a dozen systems that can read the lettering on a basketball, they can't read the lettering on all the basketballs in the world. Or even all the basketballs in Iraq, or Columbus, Ohio." "So what matters is having good judgment about what to look at. And good judgment is where our intelligence bureacracy, and our current political leadership, both have notoriously bad records. The spy agencies didn't predict the end of the Cold War, didn't predict 9/11, didn't predict the information revolution, are drowning in way too much data with little understanding, and resisted the spread of the encryption that barely protects our infrastructures today. Meanwhile the President and his gang are destroying freedom at home, wasting vast resources on third rate tinpot dictators, destabilizing international law and long-standing peaceful alliances, and supporting criminality and corruption and terrorism all over the world with price supports on illegal drugs." "This government hasn't learned that if you're watching everybody, you're watching nobody. Our society was much safer when it was run by people who knew that if you spend 99% of your time investigating innocent citizens who you have no reason to suspect, you're going to have real trouble catching the people you have actual reasons to suspect. Either these guys are stupid, or they really are trying to build a police state. My friends in government try to convince me that incompetence is far more common than malevolence - but they forget that positions of power attract such people." [IN CONTEXT] DISCUSSION * NEWS * IRAQ BODY COUNT28MAR2003 The slow death of American democracy by Susan Griffin It is not just that the war on Iraq is illegal, unjust, and immoral. It is also an assault on democracy and freedom itself. A heartfelt cry of opposition from an American. [MORE]  TONY BLAIR AND THE MARXISTS by Angela McRobbie
Ed. note: In a few weeks or months or years, we'll hafta get back to where we once belonged, as they say. In introducing us to Angela McRobbie, OpenDemocracy says, "The leftist roots of Britain's ruling 'New Labour' party are a key both to its political success and, in face of massive anti-war protest, its potential collapse." This is one of the most important post-911, post-Iraq war protest documents we've seen. [MORE] Asked how long the war would last, Mr Bush replied: "No matter the dollars, no matter the lives lost, however long it takes to win. However long it takes to achieve our objectives. The Iraqi people have got to know that they will be liberated and that Saddam will be removed no matter how long it takes, no matter how many lives lost, no matter the dollars spent." "My fellow Americans, I have a number of important announcements to make today. Effective immediately, I have ordered all American armed forces out of South Korea and will cease all aid to South Korea. The South Koreans have made it clear that they know better about their own security and will therefore be given the opportunity to take on that responsibility themselves. At the same time, I would like the North Koreans to know that we have targeted all major North Korean cities and military installations with submarine based nuclear missiles and any attempt by them to cross the demilitarized zone, or any attack of any kind on any nation, and I will order a full and complete launch of our missiles. In addition, if North Korea ships any nuclear materials or weapons to any country, we will launch missiles against all their government and military installations. I leave it up to the good judgment of the American people whether they want to continue buying unsafe cars made by people who hate us. I am also closing all US bases in Germany and returning our troops home. I will leave it up to the good judgment of Americans whether they want to continue to buy overpriced cars made by former Nazis. I would also like to announce that, effective immediately, the United States is suspending membership in the United Nations and will cease all payments to that organization. They have proven to be silly and ineffective and a waste of your taxpayer dollars. The United States has invited the United Kingdom, Australia, Turkey, Italy, Spain, other willing European countries, and former members of the eastern block who are now free and fully appreciate the price of freedom, to join a new alliance - NNATO (NOT NATO). The United States will continue it's membership in NATO to the extent that it suits our national interests, but will no longer promise to unconditionally defend France and Germany - and that includes from each other. With regard to Belgium - who cares. With regard to the war on terrorism and the recent elevation of risk alert - I am notifying all nations who have supported, funded, and protected Al Qaida, that any mass casualty attack on the United States or US citizens abroad will result in a nuclear retaliatory attack on the capitals of those nations and any known Al Qaida camps in those nations. After September 11th, 2001 I said that you are either with us or with the terrorists. Now is when all nations will get to choose for real. Fully, completely, and honestly cooperate in shutting down Al Qaida right now, or suffer the same consequences that we will inflict on them. All American citizens are advised to leave these countries immediately. You know who they are. In closing, I would like to say to Hillary (the next [elected] President) and Tom (Daschle), shut up! God bless the United States of America" George W. Bush Hullo Carl, I get tons of such simplistic bullshit as passes for humor. They want humor? I'll give them humor. Did you hear the one about George Bush pretending to be President of the United States? No joke! The only part of that wholly lame letter that makes any sense, by contrast is: (Carl adds:) Further, effective immediately, the United States will no longer participate in the treaties of NAFTA and GATT. (dxm adds:) WTO, World Bank and IMF! (End dxm's addition) Food and manufactured goods exported to the United States from foreign nations will have tariffs placed upon them which force their retail price higher than an American manufacturer must charge for the same items. The United States will also offer low interest loans to American manufacturers to build and refurbish manufacturing plants throughout America. You want family wage paying jobs? You got 'em! (End Carl's addition) (dxm adds:) How about offshore? How about energy? How about war crimes and immediately arresting the bad guys? - An "enemies list" will be furnished as soon as we can call up a few of our CIA buddies to conduct a break-in down at the Adolf Nixon Library... Carl, did you know everything is shittier in Whittier?? At least now we know why, and if it weren't for some first part of a word-coupling called "Cindy", Crawford could rank right up there with the worst of them. These kinds of "cute" letters that spam the Internet gathering valid e-mails and spread viruses are a distraction from our actually getting extricated from the NAFTA and GATT treaties, and the like OR maybe I've just had enough of Fox pretending to be a news organization and George Bush pretending to be President of the United States to last a lifetime OR maybe the "cute" letter could be used as a litmus test. Anyone who agrees with it, ship'em off to Texas or California and wait for the earthquake DISCUSSION * NEWS * IRAQ BODY COUNTIRAQ WAR - DAY 8 Bush Leadership, or lack thereof, and TV Hazardous to Health PUT THIS WARNING ON YOUR TV SET Danny Schechter gives a final note on the dismal media coverage: It can be harmful to YOU, reports the Wall Street Journal. I hope the NY Post columnist who told readers how "addicted" he has become: "Studies show regular television exposure to traumatic events can increase risk for stress and depression and it can even weaken our immune systems. Doctors think excessive war viewing before bedtime can cause stress-induced night-time snacking and interfere with sleep. Even young children who seem oblivious to events on the screen may suffer ill effects simply as a result of leaving the television on throughout the day. Also see: War worries can be harmful to your health by Dr. David Katz "Excessive watching of TV during these kinds of events can be a major stressor, and it's just as unhealthy as if you spent 2 1/2 hours at a smorgasbord or never exercised. Also see:Ernie Pyle meets Franz Kafka and the Network Anchor-Geezers [MORE] An Orwellian Pitch by John R. McArthur - The inner workings of the war-propaganda machine. [MORE] ACTION ITEM THE DISTORTED MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE IRAQ WAR For decades Americans were taught that we had a "free press." Now, we learn that when we need unbiased information most, the news media and some journalists have become handmaidens to the government. We are particularly concerned by television news' unwillingness to present to us what is really happening, but even the print media often gives us the messages that the Pentagon wants us to hear. * Every story is presented as though we were all cheer-leading for the war and wanting to know how clever "our" military is, how smart its bombs, how well thought out its strategy. This is not news but propaganda. * We are told little about the suffering of the Iraqi people (and even the suffering of American troops is down-played so as not to hurt our morale). It never occurs to the media that many of its readers have transcended narrow nationalist chauvinism - so that we care about the suffering of ALL people on this planet, not just of those whom we are officially supposed to care about. It's as if the media thinks that its task is to reelect George Bush by showing how wonderfully his strategy is doing-and anything to the contrary is seen as anti-American or "not supporting the troops." * Tell us the names and the life-stories of the people on BOTH SIDES who have been killed. * Tell us the stories and show us the footage of actual damage to civilians - information that is distributed in media all around the world except in the U.S. Stop listening to directives from the Administration about what is "appropriate" for us to know. Americans are able to make up our own minds - but not if you hide from us the terrible human costs of this war. Journalists made an important contribution to peace and justice by revealing the truths that the government didn't want us to know during the Vietnam war and Watergate. There are many decent people in the media - we want to encourage you to restore that tradition of courage by refusing to be used by the war-makers for their own political and military purposes. * Stop pretending that all we care about is ourselves. We are living at a moment when our common humanity is ready to burst forth and affirm the mutual interconnectedness of everyone on this planet - equally deserving of love and heartfelt concern. Stop hiding our desire for something more than shallow versions of patriotism and cultural superiority. Give equal attention to the tens of millions of Americans whose spiritual and moral lives are not only about self-interest or about power over others. Frame your coverage of the war as though you are also speaking to millions of Americans who feel a genuine identification with the needs of others - and to a deep recognition that our own security and well-being depends on the security and well-being of every other person on the planet. Let these voices be heard! And let them be part of the "we" that you are talking to when you pick commentators and analysts. * Instead of packing the t.v. coverage with retired army generals, and the newspapers with the "normal range" of center to right columnists, lets hear some serious discourse from anti-war thinkers, from candidates for the Democratic nomination for President who oppose the war (like Congressman Dennis Kucinich) who have largely been blocked out of serious media coverage, plus some of America's religious leaders and internationally recognized moral leaders like Walter Brueggemann, Susan Sontag, Desmund Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Mary Robinson,Vaclav Havel, the Dalai Lama.Vaclav Havel, for example, supports the war--it's not that we are demanding only people who agree with us, but a different level of analysis that recognizes moral complexity and ambiguity. * We know that mostly these distortions are the result the self-censorship of the media itself--their sense that nothing is "serious" unless is is within the consensus as defined by the powerful. This "Cynical Realism" which is the knee-jerk "common sense" of media people has become even more hurtful in times of war when we care so much about finding a path to peace. Yet we also know that there are many very principled people in the media who privately share these concerns, but have not been able to influence the decision makers. We encourage them to stand up publicily to raise these issues--and you will find a large public ready to stand behind you against those who have turned journalism into cheer-leading for the war. We invite our fellow citizens to join us in this protest of the way the media is functioning. Here is what we are doing: * The Media Critique and "Rapid Response Team". Every day we have hundreds of ordinary citizens monitoring the distortions and calling media to insist on fairer coverage. There are many decent people who are journalists or who work in the media, and many of them don't even recognize the ways that they are being used as cheerleaders of the status quo. The conversations we have with them each day, through letters and telephone calls, can make a difference-despite the many forces that push the ordinary journalist to rally round the flag and internalize the norms of the current social order ("there is no alternative" proclaims Thomas Friedman and the journalistic establishment), the weak link in the system is the decency of many people who work within it. Help us reach out to them. * Many of our fellow citizens have never been exposed to a coherent alternative perspective to the Bush-ites and their co-dependent fellow travelers in the leadership of the Democratic Party. Some segments of the anti-war movement, meanwhile, have failed to articulate a perspective that is adequately nuanced and have at times been unwilling to acknowledge how humanly destructive the regime of Saddam Hussein has been - and the rallies dominated by knee-jerk anti-American rhetoric and simplistic slogans have not served to convince those who get their information from the dominant American media. The vast majority of demonstrators are more sophisticated - and need a way to reach others with their more nuanced message. So we are organizing at the grass roots level - house parties, educational events, and e-mail campaigns. You can help us organize some of this. And you can help us find ways to get the e-mails and addresses of people you know who would benefit from hearing an alternative perspective. We will send them analyses and news reports that are shut out by the media. * Help us create public ceremonies of mourning and grieving for the losses on both sides. Or invite people into your own home to do this. Afterwards, allow people to share their ideas, their feelings of grief, righteous indignation, confusion, ambivalence, fear ... and hope. We can help you with ideas on how to organize this. * Help us challenge the destructive ideas that led people to think that war was the "realistic" way to build safety and peace. Come to: A Teach-In to Congress June 1-4, Washington D.C. Mass media covers demonstrations by telling how many people were there-and if there is anything they consider "sexy" like acts of violence they'll cover that too. What they never cover is the CONTENT of what we are saying. So, we are going to bring an event to the center of American media and power-and focus not on demonstrating, but on providing different ideas-including a focus on how security for the U.S, Israel and Palestine can be achieved only when we reject the militaristic strategies that led Bush to the Iraq war and Ariel Sharon and Yassir Arafat to their continuing dance of death. We are, incidentally, both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine, and want the media to stop dichotomizing and give space to the voice of those who know that neither Israel nor Palestine can achieve safety and security unless the other side also gets a life of dignity, security and well-being. It's these voices that are usually ignored by the media's insistence on fitting everyone into pre-digested simplistic packages. At the Teach-In to Congress we will challenge the ideologies that lead to thinking that the lives of others are less important than those in our own group-whether that be ideologies of Christian, Jewish and Islamic fundamentalisms, or whether it be the pervasive nationalistic assumptions that shape discourse in the media. You may have come to D.C. to demonstrate - this time come to talk to the people with power - and to shape a new public conversation. If you can't come to D.C., but support this kind of thinking, help us reprint this ad in other media around the U.S. - and to buy t.v. ads to challenge the distortions. And join the Tikkun Community - we need your involvement and support. More reporting the truth about war * ACTION ITEM Our country is at war, and many of us continue to feel grief and anger that this terrible conflict is being fought on our behalf. It's a hard time. It's also a critical time for us to stay involved. As we report below, together we've had some amazing successes over the last month, both domestically and in opposition to this war. We need to keep this momentum building. As a next step, please consider joining MoveOn's Media Corps -- a group of committed online activists who will keep the media accountable. Help make sure that our news media report the war the way it happens, not the way the Bush Administration wishes it would happen. American media outlets have chosen to stifle or simply not show the most terrible and saddening aspects of this war. They are reluctant to air the voices of critics who are raising important questions about its effectiveness and purpose. And they appear to have acceded to the Bush Administration's desire to black out pictures or footage of civilian casualties. Now more than ever, it's important that the media report the full story, unvarnished and unspun. But all we see on TV are retired military officers and Administration officials narrating a clean and precise war that bears little resemblance to the chaos, bloodshed, and tragedy on the ground. We need to demand the full picture. Please consider joining the MoveOn Media Corps right now. The action ideas we send you won't generally take longer than 15 minutes, but to be part of the Corps we ask that you commit to taking up to one action per day. The actions could include calling media outlets when they air especially bad coverage, pushing Clear Channel radio to stop censoring anti-war songs, or writing letters to the editor. [MORE] Energy War: Fighting For Our Energy Future - American troops are fighting in Iraq for many reasons. But let's face it - if foreign oil weren't so important to us, Saddam wouldn't be, either. Our addiction to foreign oil must never again lead us to put soldiers at risk. Congress, now wrestling over energy policy, could ensure this - if it emphasizes energy independence based on conservation and alternatives. [MORE] Ransacking history tomdispatch.com The deadly cost of selective bombing. For a dose of quite a different vision of the war's progress, read Edward Luttwak's op-ed in the Los Angeles Times. He's a smart right-wing analyst who claims the war is actually going splendidly, but that we should cut the Mr. Nice Guy stuff and stop avoiding civilian casualties. His last line, "Meanwhile, it might be a good idea to revise the Baghdad target list" is a likely sign of things to come. [MORE] Do the French Know Something We Don't? Professor David Applebaum asks: "Is George Bush a combination of Robespierre and Napoleon? Are Islamic zealots similar to militant European Catholics? Will the efforts to spread the secular Republican gospel be viewed as a deception designed to install American Imperial power? Will the human treasure of the United States, the young people called upon to kill in the name of freedom, face a future of debt and decline engendered by the policies and practices of our current leadership? Is it possible that contemporary French leaders, understanding their own history and decline, are trying to save us from making new mistakes that will lead us down a similar path?" [MORE] Bush not welcome at this European cafe Ed note: A global corporate (including U.S.) boycott serves the whole wide world against NAFTA/GATT, World Bank, and the IMF "leaches", as Steve Forbes referred to as, and WTO. Quote from GULFWAR-2-DEBATE list: "The people from USA must understand that we are not marching against them but with them." And the people started whistling, shouting, clapping in their hands; manifesting their approval to this. U.S. Rebukes Canada? Also see Global Eye - Memory Lane by Chris Floyd DISCUSSION * NEWS * IRAQ BODY COUNT27MAR2003 Big Dick Cheney's Halliburton in the News by Chris Floyd The US Army said on Tuesday it had given the main Iraqi oilwell firefighting contract to Kellogg, Brown and Root, a unit of Texas-based Halliburton, once run by Vice-president Dick Cheney, without any bidding. [MORE] Also see: US general with Iraq role linked to hardline Israelis - The retired general named as civilian governor of occupied Iraq has visited Israel on a trip paid for by a right-wing group that strongly backs an American military presence in the Middle East. Lieutenant-General Jay Garner, the co-ordinator for civilian administration in Iraq, put his name in October 2000 to a statement blaming Palestinians for the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian violence and saying that a strong Israel was an important security asset to the United States. [MORE] The 'neocons'- Who they are and what they believe. Look at how many beliefs of the neo-cons have become familiar stances of the Bush White House. [MORE] WHO LIED TO WHOM? by SEYMOUR M. HERSH - Why did the Administration endorse a forgery about Iraq's nuclear program? [MORE] Iraqi Shi'ite Opposition Calls for Revolt - Iraqi opposition groups called on the Iraqi people on Wednesday to be ready to rise against President Saddam Hussein. They also urged Iraq's armed forces, currently fighting U.S. and British forces, to join the struggle to topple Saddam, according to one Iranian-backed Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim group. [MORE]  IRAQ WAR - DAY 7 Blair to have lips surgically removed from Bush's ass With their jazzy graphics, fact boxes and breathless statistics, the military pundits are everywhere. But aren't they enjoying themselves a little too much? And who wants to know all this stuff anyway? Could sex have something to do with it, wonders Emma Brockes [MORE]   VHS 1975 DVD26MAR2003 Memory Lane - Bush Uses War to Bury Probe of 9/11 by Chris Floyd George WWIII White House struck the Iraqi regime in the name of pre-emptive, WMD, and in retaliation for 911 (which Saddam had nothing to do with). 911 was financed and carried out in the name of an Islam propagated by the Saudi royals. The attacks were facilitated by extremist elements in the Pakistani secret service, the ISI, longtime ally of the Bush family firm, the CIA. The connections between these Bush cronies and the Taliban, al Qaeda and the killers of journalist Daniel Pearl are extensively documented in the public record. Of course, the American public is told nothing of this. [MORE] Gulf States May Be Next: British MP Roger Harrison, Arab News VA Secretary promises two years of care for veterans. After that?? - As a Gulf War veteran and media contact for Veterans for Common Sense I can't express how urgent this situation is for those suffering from war wounds from past wars, Agent Orange for Vietnam Vets or Gulf War Syndrome due to the combination of depleted uranium dust, smoke from burning oilfields, tragic mistakes like the U.S. Army's destruction of the chemical weapons cache at Khamisiyah and experimental drugs like pyridostigmine bromide. [MORE] When Tony Blair said, "There will be resistance all the way to the end of this campaign..." truer words were never spoken, and they will come back to haunt him. DISCUSSION * NEWS * IRAQ BODY COUNTIRAQ WAR - DAY 6 Bush and Rumsfeld risk "3,000" casualties in Battle for Baghdad Generals aren't running the Iraq war. Retired U.S. Army General Barry McCaffrey told Britain's BBC that in the process of taking Baghdad, the U.S. could take [garbled] 3,000 casualties. Reuters reported McCaffrey having said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had misjudged the nature of the conflict. Asked if Rumsfeld made a mistake by not sending more troops to start the offensive, McCaffrey replied: "Yes, sure. I think everybody told him that." [MORE] Also see: Risks of Rumsfeld strategy becoming apparent. Five days into the war, warnings are surfacing about a potential mismatch between Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's strategy and the force he sent to carry it out. The civilian war planners' pipe-dream of conquest has yet to be realized. The risks of such a misguided campaign is becoming real obvious. [MORE]  VHS 1964 DVDYou know the world is going @#$%ing crazy when... Attention is so tightly directed towards the war and the christo-islamic illusion that we don't know what the other hand is doing. The most current attempt to pick pockets while brushing shoulders: The House Passes Anti-Consumer Bankruptcy Bill Its good to call congressional reps and senators regularly to let them know your feelings. But don't pay for the call twice. Your already paying for the toll-free Congressional switchboard at 1-800-839-5276. CENSORSHIP Today the moderator at gulfwar-2 mentioned that some list members are having problems getting their emails. Some students and teachers whose schools use filters and employers utilizing filtering software on their email are getting their emails blocked that contain any of George Carlin's Seventeen Words. "Please be courteous to fellow list members when you post by cutting back on the use of gratuitous profanity", the moderator wrote. One of the list members responded, "Heh, I wonder how many profanity filters let THIS through?" You know the US is in trouble when it's lead by a Bush, a Dick, and a Colon! War is heck, but I still can't resist saying "@#$% Faux!" for their phony flag waving and cheer leading in the Bush White House war. ON/OFF THE GULFWAR-2 SUBJECT "You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, France is accusing the US of arrogance, and Europe doesn't want to go to war." Claudia Slate shared some thoughts on Danny Schechter's News Dissector list: "This war is an attack on America as well as Iraq. Every bomb that is dropped is dropped on America, because ultimately, the money spent is being taken away from services. Each bomb dropped destroys a daycare center or nursing home facility here in this country, because the [garbled] are stolen from the public coffers to finance the war machine. " From: "Alberto M. Giordano" narconews@hotmail.com Subject: A War Communique from South of the Equator Dear Colleagues, New reports are now posted on Narco News, including this is one... SAO PAULO, BRASIL; MARCH 21, 2003: Autumn begins South of the Equator. Today's Folha de Sao Paulo, the "newspaper of record" in this megalopolis of ten-and-a-half million Brazilians, shouts, "Attack of the Empire: USA begins land invasion and increases bombings of Baghdad." I refuse to read it. George W. Bush wants you and me to drop everything and pay attention to his global tantrum. I decline to waste my time on his "war." It is not even an Authentic War, because a war has a winner and a loser. Gulf War II, like his father's Gulf War I, will only have losers. I want no part of it, not even as a spectator. This "war" is a media show. The bravest soldiers refuse to fight in unjust wars. I refuse to watch. I admit: I think less of the gullible people who sit entranced in front of the television or the computer screen obsessed with this "war," whether pro or con. Don't they see? The "war" is being held for them, for their attention, to bring them into power's trance, to keep them from more life affirming activities. This war brings a bombardment of their consciousness, too, to keep them stuck in place. What if they held a war and nobody watched? Politicians would wage fewer wars. And that is all I have to say about Gulf War II. THE SO-CALLED WAR ON DRUGS is a real war. It has a winner and a loser. Drugs won. Drugs keep winning. The losers are democracy, human rights, sovereignty, health, economy, the people, the landÉ we are the losers. Drugs - and the white-collar narcos in suit and tie who launder prohibition's profits - are the winners. Everybody knows it. Few dare to say it. [MORE] 25MAR2003 When Representative Ron Paul Asked For A Declaration of War by Carl Worden Ed. note: Representative Ron Paul, a Republican from Texas, and Representative Peter DeFazio, a Democrat from Oregon, have sponsored a bipartisan proposal to repeal last October's "Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002." The legislation has attracted thirty-two co-sponsors, including Conyers, Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairs Dennis Kucinich, Democrat from Ohio, and Barbara Lee, a California Democrat; and US Representative Barney Frank, Democrat from Massachusetts. Ladies & gentlemen: On 10/3/2002, Representative Ron Paul of Texas made a motion to declare war on Iraq. Chairman Henry Hyde rejected the motion by declaring: "There are things in the Constitution that have been overtaken by events, by time. Declaration of war is one of them. There are things no longer relevant to a modern society. Why declare war if you don't have to? We are saying to the President, use your judgment. So, to demand that we declare war is to strengthen something to death. You have got a hammerlock on this situation, and it is not called for. Inappropriate, anachronistic, it isn't done anymore." -- Chairman Henry Hyde 10/3/2002, in session of House of Representatives, during hearing on H.J. Res. 114, "AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF MILITARY FORCE AGAINST IRAQ", discussing Ron Paul's motion to declare war. Before you read on, please stop and re-read Chairman Hyde's statement again, and carefully digest exactly what he said. I'll wait.... Now, this is a high-ranking government elected official who placed his left hand on the Bible, raised his right hand, and swore before almighty God his absolute allegiance to the Constitution of the United States -- all of it -- and apparently intended to violate that sacred oath even as he was swearing it! Think about that, and what it means. If any part of our Constitution is "no longer relevant" to this modern society of ours, a constitutional amendment must be passed making it no longer relevant. Unless and until that is done, every part of that Constitution of ours is to be strictly adhered to, no if's and's or but's. Next, the Congress cannot give up its power to declare war unless accomplished by a constitutional amendment. Article 10 of the Bill of Rights to our Constitution clearly states that the power not given to the federal government by the Constitution is prohibited to the federal government. There is nothing in the Constitution which allows the Congress (the Legislative Branch) to give away its power to declare war to the president. (the Executive Branch), yet Henry Hyde clearly states, "We are saying to the President, use your judgment". Please correct me if I am wrong, but to my knowledge, there is no constitutional power given Congress to issue a "resolution" authorizing the president to use military force at his discretion, and if that power is not specifically given the Congress, then Article 10 forbids Congress from exercising that power. The Congress cannot take power which is not given them by the Constitution, nor do they have the authority to give away a power assigned to the Congress by the Constitution. Let's re-examine what Founding Father James Madison had to say on this very subject when the Third Congress proposed to surrender Declaration of War powers to the executive Branch way back when : The Most Dreaded Enemy of Liberty by James Madison, August 1793 Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force, of the people . . . [There is also an] inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war, and . . . degeneracy of manners and of morals . . . No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare . . . [It should be well understood] that the powers proposed to be surrendered [by the Third Congress] to the Executive were those which the Constitution has most jealously appropriated to the Legislature. . . The Constitution expressly and exclusively vests in the Legislature the power of declaring a state of war . . . the power of raising armies . . . the power of creating offices. . . A delegation of such powers [to the President] would have struck, not only at the fabric of our Constitution, but at the foundation of all well organized and well checked governments. The separation of the power of declaring war from that of conducting it, is wisely contrived to exclude the danger of its being declared for the sake of its being conducted. The separation of the power of raising armies from the power of commanding them, is intended to prevent the raising of armies for the sake of commanding them. The separation of the power of creating offices from that of filling them, is an essential guard against the temptation to create offices for the sake of gratifying favorites or multiplying dependents. ### James Madison was the fourth president of the United States. This is from Letters and Other Writings of James Madison... Are you with me so far? Next, if any un-amended part of the Constitution is "no longer relevant", the entire Constitution is no longer relevant. If high-ranking Chairman and Congressman Henry Hyde used that revealing and specious argument to successfully defeat Representative Ron Paul's motion for constitutional compliance in declaring war on Iraq, then we now have irrefutable proof that the government of the United States, as defined by the Constitution of the United States, has been overthrown, and every one of those members of Congress who voted down Representative Paul's motion for a formal declaration of war is a craven traitor to the people of the United States. There is something even more disturbing about this discovery: If the Constitution of the United States has been made irrelevant by treating it as a menu rather than the legally binding document it is, then by what legally binding document is this federal government conducting itself by? In the absence of a replacement, we are literally being run by a government that is flying by the seat of its pants, and I have come to the conclusion that is exactly what is going on right now. If Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution is irrelevant, and if Article 10 of the Bill of Rights is irrelevant, shouldn't Article 16, the Income Tax Amendment to the Constitution, also be considered "irrelevant"? It appears that the only parts of the Constitution that remain "relevant" are those the federal government will enforce, and you can be certain the federal government will continue to enforce Article 16 to fullest extent of the law and well beyond. I've been having an interesting and lively debate with a legal professional from Southern California who insisted that a congressional resolution to use military force against Iraq was just another way of declaring war, that there is no difference, and that I should stop playing games with semantics to show there is a difference. But wait, who really is playing games with semantics? Congress is, not me! I know what a Declaration of War is, and it is spelled out clearly in the Constitution by those three words. I again want to take you back to the infamous words of Henry Hyde: "Why declare war if you don't have to?" If a resolution to authorize the president to use military force against Iraq is the same as a Declaration of War on Iraq, Why did Henry Hyde make that comment? Hmm?? That comment clearly and obviously proves that Henry Hyde knows that the two are not the same, and he is in the position to know; otherwise, he wouldn't have opposed Ron Paul's motion. They are not the same, and a resolution has no constitutional backing, which means that my original contention that the war being prosecuted by the United States military against Iraq is clearly illegal and unconstitutional. But what is even more disturbing is the full realization that the government occupying Washington D.C. is in fact an illegal government as well. Carl F. Worden Constitution of the United States, has been overthrown." Hullo Carl, You may be onto something. While I am familiar with the James Madison quotes and his (Constitutional) "logic", I didn't know about the Henry Hyde quote which stunned me: "There are things in the Constitution that have been overtaken by events, by time. Declaration of war is one of them. There are things no longer relevant to a modern society. Why declare war if you don't have to? We are saying to the President, use your judgment. So, to demand that we declare war is to strengthen something to death. You have got a hammerlock on this situation, and it is not called for. Inappropriate, anachronistic, it isn't done anymore." This deserves some attention. Who is saying what, and more important, who is doing what about the illegal war Bush is conducting?? That, from a domestic view. The international view also says the Bush war is unlawful, verging on war crimes - not to mention that in the 6th Day of his war, things aren't going so well. Just as I am doing a little spare-time research on the "evidence" related to 911 or 9-11 (in answer to the unknown author's 4th Reich article), I'll see what I can learn about who is saying and/or doing what about the Bush war's legality. Also, speaking of the morality of the Bush war, as mentioned, hardly any of the mainstream (nominal) Christians support the Bush war; only the Falwell fundamentalist types and some of the good (mostly Lutheran-like) German-Americans who still retain their mothers' accent. The last time we had a 4th Reich (German re-run) scare was during Nixonian Days with the (then) President's men commiting crimes against Americans like we'd never see up until then; Bob Von Haldeman, John Von Erlichman, Alexander Haig, Henry A. Kissinger*, George Shultz, Bill Simon, Mel Von Laird, James Schlesinger, John Mitchell**, Richard Kleindienst, Maurice Stans, James Hodgson, Bob Finch, George Romney, Major Wolfgang Hochstetter, Mack Sennett, and Maxwell Q. Klinger, just to name a few... The only difference between Canadians (who generally oppose the war) and Americans (who condone the war for whatever reason) is that mostly the Canadians are of Scots ancestry whereas mostly the Americans are of German ancestry. Now that is a surprise, because up 'til now, I always thought (white) Americans were mostly Scots-Irish. Also, most of the German-Americans didn't actually live through the horror of WWII, so they don't even know what war is. Live and learn. If we get an "official" or lawful Declaration of War, will that mean it's ok to round up the Japanese-Americans (again) and/or Iraqi-Americans?? While the answer is absolutely not, Iraqi-Americans are already being treated in an un-American and un-Constitutional manner - in the name of Ashcroft's Patriot Act, Home Land Security, the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness program, and the never ending War on Terrorism which also includes a little questionably legal little gem called "Special Registration" as is explained by Chaleampon Ritthichai writing for the Gotham Geeze. IRAQ WAR - DAY 5 Lessons of war we learn the hard way The main lesson of war we don't seem to learn: The people who make these wars are not the ones who fight and die in them. A small group within the United States government started a war unnecessarily, and already we're paying the price - in human lives. The "imbedded" correspondents concept for the managing (censoring) war news has backfired on the Pentagon; to broadcast live from the front(s) to the living rooms of America with rah-rah cheer leading instead is delivering the un-cut horrors of war like we've never seen. Our troops have run into more resistance than the Pentagon ever dreamed in their worst nightmare. The arrogance of the west that says we have the self-given right to run rough shod over the whole wide world is also a lesson we don't seem to learn. The U.S. seems to have forgotten our Vietnam experience, where even though we killed the "enemy" 10-1, ultimately we lost that war and lost 58,000 of our own guys in the process. So, in truth, beyond Bush (oil) and Carlyle Group and Halliburton-related corporate interest in Iraq, what are we actually doing in there in the first place? I join with the Support our Troops crowd. End this war and bring our people home now, is my best prayer for the occasion. Rabbi Michael Lerner wrote in an article titled Understanding the War - And Strategy in Response, "Despite history, in the face of cynicism and despair, some day we will all recognize ourselves and each other as part of the ultimate Unity of All and manifestations of the sacred." Also in today's mail, I received a New York Times article The Philosophy of Islamic Terror by Paul Berman. It is the most thoughtful and relevant work I've read on the subject - not only since 911, but over the past 20 years that I've been reading everything else on the subject except this and what it so correctly points to. Yes. "First understand..." 25MAR2003 THE RISE OF THE FOURTH REICH from Carl Worden Ladies & gentlemen: I didn't write this masterpiece, and I do not know the author as yet, but this is a remarkable reminder if there ever was one. There is no evidence that our government was behind the 9/11/01 attacks, but there is more than ample evidence this administration used the events of 9/11/01 as an excuse to get us to where we are today in Afghanistan and now Iraq. Take a hard look in the mirror, and then read this. Carl F. Worden Everyone likes to say, "Hitler did this", and, "Hitler did that". But the truth is Hitler did very little. He was a world class tyrant, but the evil actually done by the Third Reich, from the death camps to WW2 was all done by German citizens who were afraid to question if what they were told by their government was the truth or not, and who because they did not want to admit to themselves that they were afraid to question the government, refused to see the truth behind the Reichstag Fire, refused to see the invasion by Poland was a staged fake, and followed Hitler into national disaster. The German people of the late 1930s imagined themselves to be brave. They saw themselves as the heroic Germans depicted by the Wagnerian Operas, the descendants of the fierce Germanic warriors who had hunted wild boar with nothing but spears and who had defeated three of Rome's mightiest legions in the Tuetenberg Forest. But in truth, by the 1930s, the German people had become civilized and tamed, culturally obsessed with fine details in both science and society. Their self-image of bravery was both salve and slavery. Germans were required to behave as if they were brave, even when they were not. It's easy to look back and realize what a jerk Hitler was. But at the time, Hitler looked pretty good to the German people, with the help of the media. He was TIME Magazine's Man Of The Year in 1938. The German people assumed they were safe from a tyrant. They lived in a Republic, after all, with strict laws regarding what the government could and more importantly could not do. Their leader was a devoutly religious man, and had even sung with the boy's choir of a monastery in his youth. The reality was that the German people, as individuals, had lost their courage. The German government preferred it that way as a fearful people are easier to rule than a courageous one. But the German people didn't wish to lose their self-image of courage. So, when confronted with a situation demanding individual courage, in the form of a government gone wrong, the German people simply pretended that the situation did not exist. And in that simple self-deception lay the ruin of an entire nation and the coming of the second World War. When the Reichstag burned down, most Germans simply refused to believe suggestions that the fire had been staged by Hitler himself. They were afraid to. But so trapped were the Germans by their belief in their own bravery that they willed themselves to be blind to the evidence before their eyes, so that they could nod in agreement with Der Fuhrer while still imagining themselves to have courage, even as they avoided the one situation which most required real courage; to stand up to Hitler's lies and deceptions. When Hitler requested temporary extraordinary powers, powers specifically banned under German law, but powers Hitler claimed he needed to have to deal with the "terrorists", the German people, having already sold their souls to their self-delusions, agreed. The temporary powers were conferred, and once conferred lasted until Germany itself was destroyed. When Hitler staged a phony invasion from Poland, the vast majority of the German people, their own self-image dependant on continuing blindness to Hitler's deceptions, did not question why Poland would have done something so stupid, and found themselves in a war. But Hitler knew he ruled a nation of cowards, and knew he had to spend the money to make the new war something cowards could fight and win. He decorated his troops with regalia to make them proud of themselves, further trapping them in their self-image. Hitler copied the parade regalia of ancient Rome, to remind the Germans of the defeat of the legions at the Tuetenberg Forest. Talismans were added from orthodox religions and the occult to fill the soldiers with delusions of mystical strengths and an afterlife if they fell in battle. Finally, knowing that it takes courage to kill the enemy face to face, Hitler spent vast sums of money on his wonder weapons, airplanes, submarines, ultra-long range artillery, the world's first cruise missile and the world's first guided missile, weapons that could be used to kill at a distance, so that those doing the killing need not have to face the reality of what they were doing. The German people were lured into WW2 not because they were brave, but because they were cowards who wanted to be seen as brave, and found that shooting long range weapons at people they could not see took less courage than standing up to Hitler. Sent into battle by that false image of courage, the Germans were dependent on their wonder-weapons. When the wonder-weapons stopped working, the Germans lost the war. I remember as a child listening to the stories of WW2 from my grandfather and my uncles who had served in Europe. I wondered how the German people could have been so stupid as to have ever elected Hitler dog catcher, let alone leader of the nation. Such is the clarity of historical hindsight. And with that clarity, I see the exact same mechanism that Hitler used at work here in this nation. The American people imagine themselves to be brave. They see themselves as the heroic Americans depicted by Western Movies, the descendants of the fierce patriot warriors who had tamed the frontier and defeated the might of the British Empire. But in truth, by the dawn of the third millennium, the American people have become civilized and tamed, culturally obsessed with fine details in both science and society. Their self-image of bravery is both salve and slavery. Americans are required to behave as if they are brave, even when they are not. The American people assume they are safe. They live in a Republic, after all, with strict laws regarding what the government can and more importantly cannot do. Their leader is a devoutly religious man. The reality is that the American people, as individuals, have lost their courage. The government prefers it that way as a fearful people are easier to rule than a courageous one. But Americans don't wish to lose their self-image of courage. So, when confronted with a situation demanding courage, in the form of a government gone wrong, the American people simply pretend that the situation does not exist. When the World Trade Towers collapsed, most Americans simply refused to believe suggestions that the attacks had been staged by parties working for the US Government itself. Americans were afraid to, even as news reports surfaced proving that the US Government had announced plans for the invasion of Afghanistan early in the year, plans into which the attacks on the World Trade Towers which angered the American people into support of the already-planned war fit entirely too conveniently. But so trapped are Americans by their belief in their own bravery that they will themselves to be blind to the evidence before their eyes, so that they can nod in agreement with the government while still imagining themselves to have courage, even as they avoid the one situation which most requires real courage; to stand up to the government's lies and deceptions. The vast majority of the American people, their own self-image dependant on continuing blindness to the government's deceptions, never question why Afghanistan would have done something so stupid as to attack the United States, and as a result, Americans find themselves in a war. Now the US Government has requested temporary extraordinary powers, powers specifically banned under Constitutional law, but powers the government is claiming they need to have to deal with the "terrorists". The American people, having already sold their souls to their self-delusions, are agreeing. The temporary powers recently conferred will be no more temporary in America than they were in Germany. The US Government knows they rule a nation of cowards. The government has had to spend the money to make the new war something cowards can fight. The government has decorated the troops with regalia to make them proud of themselves, further trapping them in their self-image. Talismans are added from orthodox religions and the occult to fill the soldiers with delusions of mystical strengths and an afterlife if they fall in battle. Finally, knowing that it takes courage to kill the enemy face to face, the United States government has spent vast sums of money on wonder weapons, airplanes, submarines, ultra-long range artillery, cruise missiles, and guided missiles, weapons that kill at a distance, so that those doing the killing need not have to face the reality of what they are doing. As I mentioned above, Hitler was TIME Magazine's Man Of The Year in 1938. Stalin was TIME Magazine's Man Of The Year for 1939 and 1942. Both of these men, and many others also celebrated by the media, were unimaginable monsters. The lesson from these facts is that it isn't easy to spot a genocidal tyrant when you live with one, especially one whom the press supports and promotes. Tyrants become obvious only when looking back, after what they have done becomes known. The German people did not stand up to Hitler because their media betrayed them, just as the American media is betraying the American people by willingly, voluntarily, even proudly, abandoning its traditional role as watchdog against government abuse. It is the very nature of power that it attracts the sort of people who should not have it. The United States, as the world's last superpower, is a prize that attracts men and women willing to do absolutely anything to win that power, and hence are also willing to do absolutely anything with that power once they have it. If one thinks about it long enough, one will realize that all tyrants, past and most especially present, MUST use deception on their population to initiate a war. No citizen of a modern industrialized nation will send their children off to die in a war to grab another nation's resources and assets, yet resources and assets are what all wars are fought over. The nation that wishes to initiate a war of conquest must create the illusion of an attack or a threat to start a war, and must always give their population of cowards an excuse never to question that carefully crafted illusion. It is naive, not to mention racist to assume that tyrants appear only in other nations and that somehow America is immune simply because we're Americans. America has escaped the clutches of a dictatorship thus far only through the efforts of those citizens who, unlike the Germans of the 1930s, have the moral courage to stand up and point out where the government is lying to the people. And unless more Americans are willing to have that kind of individual courage, then future generations may well look back on the American people with the same harshness of judgment with which we look back on the 1930s Germans. Hullo Carl, Thanks for heads up on The Rise of the 4th Reich article. Good one! I couldn't find out who the author is either. I'll keep working on it but if you find out more, please let me know. In my search however, I did find this that may be of some interest because it is generated from someone who thinks more along the lines of your initiation than mine. http://www.truinsight.com/taken.htm "Nazi Germany was a New Age experiment that failed. The Fourth Reich, rising now in America under the Patriot Act, Home Land Security, the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness, and the so-called never ending "war on terrorism" are all New Age as well, with the same values, the same concepts, the same script, complete with concentration camps, medical experiments and the total loss of freedom." I don't have any problem with that. But then there's this: "The Bible says it has all the answers. In point of fact it does, but mankind does not like those answers, and so rejects it all, something the Bible said that mankind would do at the time of the end." This I do have a major problem with IF "the Bible" the writer is referring to is the KJV, which my best guess, it is! I have written my views on this in some of my other writings, and writings to you. Anyhow, it was quite a find, and possibly of more interest to your readers than mine. > > > There is no evidence that our government was behind the 9/11/01 > > > attacks, but there is more than ample evidence this administration > > > used the events of 9/11/01 as an excuse to get us to where we are > > > today in Afghanistan and now Iraq. In my search for the (online) "evidence" (that is overwhelming), your original Fourth Reich "find" ultimately led me to The Konformist by David McGowan, who says: "Let me see if I understand this situation correctly. In order to wage a war to promote 'freedom' and 'democracy' around the world, it is necessary to sacrifice those very democratic freedoms here at home. That makes perfect sense to me, as it apparently does to all the flag-wavers out there who have fallen victim to the relentless war-mongering propaganda being spewed out by our 'independent' media." As for the "evidence" of White House complicity in 911, I've taken a few notes you might look over in your spare time: Wildcard - It is true that not everything about the original Republic was good. One of the major flaws was that the majority of Sovereign Citizens were white male property owners. If we are wise, which I hope we are, we will not make this mistake again. Freedom is everyone's birthright. Let America be the beacon of Liberty once again to spread freedom around the world and create a TRUE world order. A world order where every man, woman, and child is free from Tyranny and excessive regulations! Behind the Headlines - Anthrax Behind the Headlines - The Israeli Connection American Patriot Friends Network - Prior Knowledge American Patriot Friends Network - World Trade Center Worldwide Newslink - Extensive articles and links austin.indymedia - 911 Overview Avon, Ohio - Various 911/WTC articles The Complete Timeline - Massive detail September 11 Research Group - Info and Booklist Call for Public Inquiry into Sept 11 - Info and links The Story So Far - More info and links Call to Decision - HAARP and Colombia Shuttle 9/11 Timeline - Abridged Hijackers who were under surveillance before 9/11 Crank-dot-Net - Various articles Rev. Dr. Matt Hale - Anti-Zionist, verging on anti-Semitic Christian Party Net - A lot of chaff to separate from the wheat The Earth Rainbow Network - Various articles and links Cyber Space Orbit - Core info Cyber Space Orbit - Dated update Freedom Road - 911 info and links 911 NEWS & ANALYSIS - Core links 911 NEWS & ANALYSIS - Update Detailed 9/11 Timeline 5 - Very detailed Who Benefits from the World Trade Center/Pentagon Attacks? How The Government Blew Up Manhattan - 9/11/2001 Dr. Norman D. Livergood - A Second Pearl Harbor 9:00am to 9:00pm EST on Sept 11, 2001 - Irreverent chat 9/11 - The Road To Tryanny - Reichstag Hitler 9/11 Fake Terror to Grab Control! Unpopular Speech - Page 7 9/11 coincidences and oddities page 9-11 News and Legal Resources, Information and Related Services - News Mad Cow Morning News - A year-long investigation by Daniel Hopsicker has uncovered evidence that at least seven of Mohamed Atta's closest associates in Florida during the year leading up to the 9/11 attack were not Arab, but German. The names of the seven, all pilots, have not surfaced in any press accounts of Atta's stay in the U.S., nor has their existence been mentioned or alluded to in official statements. Traveling with Atta, or meeting him around the state, Atta's German friends appeared to share a relationship with him of long-standing, according to eyewitnesses, dating back to his days in Hamburg. From what has been learned so far, the backgrounds of Atta's German associates seem strikingly similar to that of another German national, Andreas Strassmeir, whose possible relationship with Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was in the news a decade ago. Strassmeir was at one point named in a lawsuit by families of the victims as a "US federal informant with material knowledge of the Oklahoma City bombing." [MORE] Counter Propaganda - Lots of links VITAL RESOURCE LINK NETWORK - CIA Terror as a Tool On This Date In History - September 11th Conspiracism - 911 Conspiracism - ANTHRAX Crimes Against Humanity - Well organized links Crimes Against Humanity - An e-mail archive of 911 analysis and observations Tracking The Elusive Truth - Anita Sands Hernandez The Perfect Crime - 911 Stardog2012 - The 9/11 Conspiracy SubGenius - Chat America's New War? Or War On Americans? Ultimate Conspiracy - True conspiracy links Conspiracy, Conspiracy, Conspiracy! - 911 The Enemy Within: Prior Knowledge, Intent, Documented - 911 9-11-01 USA - Links SEPT 11 and POLITICAL CORUPTION LINKS ECONEWS SERVICE - STRATEGIC DECEPTION The Wisdom Fund - Also see: A Clash Between Justice and Greed, Not Islam and the West and The 9-11 Attack on America May Have Been Prevented by Enver Masud. The Philosophy of Islamic Terror - Through the writings of Sayyid Qutb, Paul Berman gives us the kind of insight to what 911 was really about, and if we are to have a clue as to what lies ahead for those whose best hope is that every person might be free from servitude to others. The true Islamic system as interpreted by Sayyid Qutb meant the complete and true freedom of every person and the full dignity of every individual of the society. On the other hand, in a society in which some people are lords who legislate and some others are slaves who obey, then there is no freedom in the real sense, nor dignity for each and every individual. Sayyid Qutb insisted that shariah meant freedom of conscience. Though freedom of conscience, in Qutb interpretation, meant freedom from false doctrines that failed to recognize God, and freedom from the disease of (modern) schizophrenia. Shariah, in a word, was utopia for Sayyid Qutb. While imprisoned, Sayyid Qutb wrote: "To live 'in the shade of the Qur'an' is a great blessing which can only be fully appreciated by those who experience it. It is a rich experience that gives meaning to life and makes it worth living. I am deeply thankful to God Almighty for blessing me with this uplifting experience for a considerable time, which was the happiest and most fruitful period of my life - a privilege for which I am eternally grateful." In explaining Sayyid Qutb thought (and writings), Paul Berman thoroughly explains the ins and outs of 911 and beyond...  Al-Quds * WWIII * Armageddon * Domestic Detention Camps * Bush as Fuhrer |
"Macintosh is friendly to technically-challenged people like me." -- Yo Yo Ma, Cellist
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Michael Moore's documentary, Bowling for Colombine, wins at France's prestigious awards ceremony in Paris.
In his acceptance speech Moore thanked France for "having the courage to stand up and say no" to US plans to attack Iraq. "One of the best definitions of an ally, of a friend, is that your friend is the one who can tell you when you're wrong," he said. "So thank you for showing us the way, for standing up and for something very important... I want to let you know that there are tens of millions of Americans who feel the same way." Moroccan artists pay tribute to US anti-war stars. "We praise the courage of American stars who said no to war in Iraq," said Mohamed Bakrim, secretary general of the association of the Casablanca cinema festival. Bush: The Fictitious President Michael Moore, one of the first signatories of the "Not in my name" appeal, symbolizes resistance to war and to violence, he said adding "with their commitment against war, American stars have given another image of America." Michael criticized Bush and the USUK war in Iraq, during his Oscar acceptance speech at the Academy Awards. The documentary maker who won his first Oscar Sunday for Bowling for Columbine, had said "We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elect a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man who's sending us to war for fictitious reasons, whether it's the fiction of duct tape or the fiction of orange alerts. We are against this war, Mr. Bush! Shame on you, Mr. Bush! Shame on you!" Michael Moore to Tackle Bush/bin LadenTies in Next Doc Michael Moore will depict alleged dealings between two generations of the Bush and bin Laden families in his next documentary "Fahrenheit 911." "The primary thrust of the new film is what has happened to the country since Sept. 11, and how the Bush administration used this tragic event to push its agenda," Moore tells Variety . "It certainly does deal with the Bush and bin Laden ties. It asks a number of questions that I don't have the answers to yet, but which I intend to find out." The documentary will suggest that the business dealings between George Bush and Osama bin Laden's late father led to George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden becoming mortal enemies. "The senior Bush kept his ties with the bin Laden family up until two months after Sept. 11," Moore says. "The bin Ladens invested heavily in the Carlyle Group, which has its hands in a number of pies and is the 11th largest defense contractor even though it mostly buys failing defense companies and sells them for profits." |
 www.oregoncoastradio.com
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800 American professors sign document warning of Israeli ethnic cleansing
We join with our Israeli colleagues in calling for vigilance as events unfold in Israel and the Occupied Territories. With an average of more than $10 million dollars per day of American tax dollars going to Israel, we believe Americans cannot remain silent while crimes as abhorrent as ethnic cleansing are being openly advocated. We urge our government to communicate clearly to the government of Israel that the expulsion of people according to race, religion or nationality would constitute crimes against humanity and will not be tolerated. For more information about the U.S. letter, including instructions on how to sign it, see: www.professorsofconscience.org. |
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