Cycle....

The Endless Cycle? Let's break the cycle NOW! 

From http://www.brushstroke.tv/peace/peace.024.html

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White House ‘looking into’ Iranian leader

White House ‘looking into’ Iranian leader. And this just days after reports some neo-cons were hoping this guy gets elected. Coincidence? Or just another excuse to place Iran further into the "EVIL" column?

My money is on the latter. A great way to take our eyes off our Iraqi mess and set up another "evil" dictator. Hey Saddam was so nice to his guards and looked so "human" in his underwear I think W thinks he is almost kissable - but not as kissable as Joey Lieberman of course.

We need a new whipping boy and Ahmadinejad may just fit the bill.

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Vietnam Part Deux

Eric Alterman posted a great little list from 2003:

VIETNAM 2 PREFLIGHT CHECK
1. Cabal of oldsters who won’t listen to outside advice? Check.
2. No understanding of ethnicities of the many locals? Check.
3. Imposing country boundaries drawn in Europe, not by the locals? Check.
4. Unshakeable faith in our superior technology? Check.
5. France secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.
6. Russia secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.
7. China secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.
8. SecDef pushing a conflict the JCS never wanted? Check.
9. Fear we’ll look bad if we back down now? Check.
10. Corrupt Texan in the WH? Check.
11. Land war in Asia? Check.
12. Right unhappy with outcome of previous war? Check.
13. Enemy easily moves in/out of neighboring countries? Check.
14. Soldiers about to be dosed with *our own* chemicals? Check.
15. Friendly fire problem ignored instead of solved? Check.
16. Anti-Americanism up sharply in Europe? Check.
17. B-52 bombers? Check.
18. Helicopters that clog up on the local dust? Check.
19. In-fighting among the branches of the military? Check.
20. Locals that cheer us by day, hate us by night? Check.
21. Local experts ignored? Check.
22. Local politicians ignored? Check.
23. Locals used to conflicts lasting longer than the USA has been a country? Check.
24. Against advice, Prez won’t raise taxes to pay for war? Check.
25. Blue water navy ships operating in brown water? Check.
26. Use of nukes hinted at if things don’t go our way? Check.
27. Unpopular war? Check.

I thought this all looked familiar. Same old crap just a different decade.

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A few more to the right...

Okay, now I know who to not vote for in 2008. After last night's speech, Kerry and Biden trampled over each other to prove who was stronger on defense issues. Both criticized W but both felt the need for more troops.

More troops to occupy Iraq. More troops to anger residents and create more "insurgents." More troops to die and perpetuate this war based on lies, false goals and unachievable dreams.

No more votes for Biden or Kerry or any other Democrat who espouses a continuation of insanity.

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Okay he spoke...

and like I thought....

Still not impressed.
Still don't believe Iraq was involved in 9/11.
Still don't believe our occupation is making us safer.
I'll continue to wear my peace sign proudly.
I still want troop withdrawal.

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What is Success?

Okay, so what will it take for me to back W in the occupation of Iraq? What can he say tonite to get me to change my mind , cheer him on and support the continued occupation? What is success in Iraq?

The reality is that there is nothing he can say to me. Since I view all violence and war as wrong this question becomes moot (especially when our occupation is one based on lies and is creating a situation that perpetuates violence).

So what to expect tonite? Well I am sure we will hear the standards: "Freedom on the march","we are safer now at home than before", "We must spread democracy"...After playing on fear and blind nationalism there will be some who will cheer W's "down on the ranch" speech. The polls will probably show an uptick for W, and he will tout that as a victory and a reaffirmation of our occupation. But the reality is that this occupation will continue: until everyone stops to really look at and think about the human cost of this war; until we look past the sanitized news reports and the "rah rah" speeches; until we realize the negative impact this occupation has on our economy and our lives.

I think more people need to think about the human toll of this occupation. An excellent starting point is Coaltion Casualties. This takes us through a timeline of coalition troop casualties and represents each death on a map of Iraq. The only drawback to this map is that it represents coalition troop casualties and not total casualties including civilians. But even with this limitation, I dare anyone to look at those dots and visualize a face (a father/mother/sister/brother/friend). After visualizing a face, thenn try to justify our continued presence and occupation.

So the bottom line - What is success in Iraq? - withdrawal of US troops, UN troops in, ending the occupation, ending the corruption, ending the lies, ending the violence.

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Are we CRAZY?

Making Plutonium. Okay, so we planning to produce plutonium again. What can it be used for? Well no one is saying but it can be used for powering spy devices and of course nuclear arms, satellites and weapons in space.

Here we are looking to block Iran, N. Korea and others from nuclear weapons while we are increasing our stocks. Why?

"The real reason we're starting production is for national security," Timothy A. Frazier, head of radioisotope power systems at the Energy Department, said in a recent interview.

But of course! Use "National Security" and fear to get everyone to agree.

Sure "Plutonium 238 has no central role in nuclear arms" but it it used to "...used it regularly to make nuclear batteries that worked for years or decades. Scores of them powered satellites, planetary probes and spy devices, at times with disastrous results."

One speck inhaled can cause lung cancer. Why take the risk?

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After reading Keith Olbermann's blog entry titled "Karl Rove on Maple Street" I remember that I posted about that episode last October:

I was getting ready for the trick or treaters and watching the Giants game when I surfed over to CPTV. They were having a special on The Twilight Zone and Rod Serling. The clip I saw was "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street". This was a great, as all the shows were, commentary on how neighbors and friends could turn on each other because of fear or unexplained events. I think Serling's closing comment is so appropriate for current times: "The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout, There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes. pregudices - to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy, and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all its own - for the children, and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is that these things cannot be confined to the Twilight Zone."

As Keith so aptly puts it:

...the larger point here takes us back to Rod Serling's apocryphal "Maple Street." Substitute "terrorists" for "aliens" and Maple Street becomes the current American political scene. If there really is a functional al-Qaeda on the continent, it hasn't needed to attack us since 9/11 because we're all the Claude Akins and Jack Westons from the episodes accusing each other of collaboration. In this vital area at least, the terrorists have already won. Nobody has to tear our country down; our leaders are doing it for them.

I probably won't get the quote exactly right but the comic strip "Pogo' had one character say "We have met the enemy and he is us." Again maybe not exactlt the point but the notion that we are destroying ourselves is so appropriate for current conditions, politics and events.

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1984 Versus 2005

Boston Globe had a great editorial titled "The return of '1984'."

In what was then the futuristic, nightmare world of ''1984," written in 1949, Orwell introduced the concepts of ''newspeak," ''doublethink," and ''the mutability of the past," all concepts that seem to be alive and well in 2005, half a century after Orwell's death. In the ever-changing rationale of why we went to war in Iraq, we can imagine ourselves working in Orwell's ''Ministry of Truth," in which ''reality control" is used to ensure that ''the lie passed into history and became the truth."

It is interesting to note the ways W is manipulating words to bring opinions to his way of thinking. Use words to create fear. Equate protest with sedition. Equate questioning the war with not supporting the troops. Equate occupation with "spreading freedom." Orwell was only 21 years off in his title - I wish he was no where near right.

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A Prayer

 This Peace Prayer should be said everyday - Visualize Peace. The site has the prayer is English, Polish, Arabic, Welsh...

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Words from Robert Plant

Plant, of Led Zep, has a new CD. I love the words to this song from the album. The song is called "Freedom Fries."

The father, son and the three wise men Operating undercover out in Bethlehem Will they heal the sick? Can they raise the dead? Can they bring it on home like the good book says?
Billy the Kid told the Prince of Thieves A little give and take to satisfy my needs You can give me lots but I'll take some more I got my eyes on your treasure beneath the desert floor?
Freedom fries and burns and scars The liberator goes too far Freedom fries and screams and yells The promised land is promised hell

Great song, insightful comments....

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They got their wish...

US hawks rooting for hardline Iranian candidate was from the "Financial Times".

US "hawks", he said, had a bizarre preference for Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, a fundamentalist and hardliner, over Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former president who sought to establish his more pragmatic credentials in part by making overtures to the US during his election campaign.
The US hawks also believe that a convergence of hardliners in Iran with the victory of Mr Ahmadi-Nejad is more likely to precipitate the collapse of the Islamic regime through popular unrest than the "Chinese model" of social pacification likely to be embraced by Mr Rafsanjani.

So they backed the right horse - their man won. But "collapse?" A big gamble - or maybe his election will set in motion some reasons to invade.

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Building!

Republicans join critics of war in Iraq touches on the growing bi-partisan doubts about Iraq.

In a worrying sign for the White House, which has tended to paint war critics as unpatriotic, Republican senators appear less reluctant to raise concerns about the way the administration is running the campaign in Iraq.
On Thursday, some joined Democrats in warning the administration that the tide of public opinion is changing.
“I'm here to tell you, sir, in the most patriotic state I can imagine, people are beginning to question [the war],” Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, told Mr Rumsfeld, who was testifying before the Senate armed services committee.
“And I don't think it's a blip on the radar screen. I think we have a chronic problem on our hands.”
In characteristic form, Mr Rumsfeld retorted that people who spent time chasing opinion poll numbers end up “getting seasick”. He also argued that the administration and the American people had the willpower to stay the course in Iraq.

Rummy, the people standing in support is dwindling. It is time to re-examine.

To steal the lyrics from "Les Miz":

Do you hear the people sing Singing the song of angry men It is the music of a people Who will not be slaves again

The people are turning, the people may turn angry. Get ready Rummy.

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Acknowledging torture!

Thank God Bolton is not at the UN, we never would have been this honest with him there. We are finally admitting to abuse.

Washington has for the first time acknowledged to the United Nations that prisoners have been tortured at US detention centres in Guantanamo Bay, as well as Afghanistan and Iraq, a UN source said.
The acknowledgement was made in a report submitted to the UN Committee against Torture, said a member of the ten-person panel, speaking on on condition of anonymity.

So I guess critics were right all along. This acknowledgement was made after so much ado about Durbin. I wonder what Hannity and Rush will say about this?

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You're Fired!

What is General Abizaid up to? Contradicting Uncle Dick. Is he crazy or looking to be fired?

Canada's Globe and Mail reports that Gen. Abizaid "conceded yesterday that the Iraqi insurgency is as strong as it was six months ago, countering declarations by Vice President Dick Cheney that the revolt is 'in its last throes.' "
"In terms of the overall strength of the insurgency, I'd say it's about the same as it was," he said, declining to specifically criticize Mr. Cheney's upbeat assessment of the continuing conflict.
Gen. Abizaid also said that there are more foreign fighters entering Iraq today than there were six months ago.

I love Dick's lesson about the English language:

When asked to explain the contradiction between his earlier statements and those of Gen. Abizaid. Mr. Cheney told CNN it all depends what you mean by "throes."
"If you look at what the dictionary says about throes, it can still be a violent period, the throes of a revolution," he said. "The point would be that the conflict will be intense, but it's intense because the terrorists understand that if we're successful at accomplishing our objective – standing up a democracy in Iraq – that that's a huge defeat for them.

You know that may be our whole problem. Some of us speak a language different than W and Dick. Their "Mission accomplished" means "It's still a bleak future". "Elected" means "stolen". "Truth" means "Lies". "War" means "Peace." Orwellian times are here.

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Well, here's another fine mess ...

you've gotten us into. Iraq Creating New Breed of Jihadists, says CIA in a recent report.

The war in Iraq is creating a new breed of Islamic jihadists who could go on to destabilize other countries, according to a CIA report.
The CIA believes Iraq to be potentially worse than Afghanistan, which produced thousands of jihadists in the 1980s and 1990s. Many of the recruits to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida had fought in Afghanistan.
The CIA report suggests the new breed of jihadists will be more deadly than those who fought in Afghanistan. It said that they have learned skills in urban warfare in Iraq.

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Gitmo called death camp

IL Senator Durbin is being raked over the coals.

In a speech on the Senate floor late Tuesday, Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, castigated the American military's actions by reading an e-mail from an FBI agent.
After reading the e-mail, Mr. Durbin said, "If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime -- Pol Pot or others -- that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners."
Mr. Durbin also likened the treatment of terror suspects at the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's decision to authorize the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

The airwaves are crazy with this story. They talk about how great we are treating everyone compared to the "terrorists" who have beheaded their prisoners.

The point is however that the actions of the "terrorists" are not a state-sanctioned action. It is not in accord with decency or convention. Our actions and our motives are supposed to be for a greater good. If that is the case let us conduct ourselves that way.

I hope Durbin sticks to his comments and statements. We must face our own errors and mistakes - air our dirty laundry - clean up our mistakes and make sure they never happen again.

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June 2005: Phase II of the Anti-War Movement

Medea Benjamin of CodePink writes about the progress of the protests and the slipping of W and his regime.She points to

"...two liberal Democrats-Dennis Kucinich from Ohio and Neil Abercrombie from Hawaii-with Republican libertarian Ron Paul from Texas and even more astonishing, conservative Republican Walter Jones from North Carolina-the very same congressman who pushed the House cafeterias to scrap "French fries" from the menu and serve up "freedom fries."

She points to the "Out of Iraq" Caucus, the latest polls, Memogate.

It (June 16) was quite a day, and all of us left with a renewed sense of possibilities and responsibilities. The peace movement, demoralized after the unsuccessful efforts to both stop the war and get George Bush out of office, must lift itself out of the doldrums and into the streets and the corridors of power. We must push our representatives to sign on to the new legislation, keep demanding an investigation into the Downing Street Memo, and pressure the media to cover these new developments in a serious, respectful way. We should march in July 4 parades with the "Bring the Troops Home" message, reinvigorate our local vigils, step up the counter-recruitment efforts that are making it so difficult for the military to get enough new soldiers for this war. And the next big anti-war mobilization scheduled for September 24 in Washington DC, coupled with lobbying on September 26, must be huge.
We've got new momentum. Now let's ride the wave.

Better late than never to jump on the bandwagon and call for an end to the occupation. Join the call to bring the troops home.

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Downing Street Memo Movie

Democracy For America has a great flash movie. Watch it - learn about the lies - sign the petition.

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The US war with Iran has already begun

Scott Ritter writes a great article. I know - I can hear it now - IT'S F-ING ALJAZEERA!. But we must look at all sources for news and come to our own conclusions about the source and accuracy. One thing is for sure, we would not hear this on FOX.

President Bush has taken advantage of the sweeping powers granted to him in the aftermath of 11 September 2001, to wage a global war against terror and to initiate several covert offensive operations inside Iran.
The most visible of these is the CIA-backed actions recently undertaken by the Mujahadeen el-Khalq, or MEK, an Iranian opposition group, once run by Saddam Hussein's dreaded intelligence services, but now working exclusively for the CIA's Directorate of Operations.
It is bitter irony that the CIA is using a group still labelled as a terrorist organisation, a group trained in the art of explosive assassination by the same intelligence units of the former regime of Saddam Hussein, who are slaughtering American soldiers in Iraq today, to carry out remote bombings in Iran of the sort that the Bush administration condemns on a daily basis inside Iraq.
Perhaps the adage of "one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist" has finally been embraced by the White House, exposing as utter hypocrisy the entire underlying notions governing the ongoing global war on terror.
But the CIA-backed campaign of MEK terror bombings in Iran are not the only action ongoing against Iran.
To the north, in neighbouring Azerbaijan, the US military is preparing a base of operations for a massive military presence that will foretell a major land-based campaign designed to capture Tehran.
Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld's interest in Azerbaijan may have escaped the blinkered Western media, but Russia and the Caucasus nations understand only too well that the die has been cast regarding Azerbaijan's role in the upcoming war with Iran.
The ethnic links between the Azeri of northern Iran and Azerbaijan were long exploited by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and this vehicle for internal manipulation has been seized upon by CIA paramilitary operatives and US Special Operations units who are training with Azerbaijan forces to form special units capable of operating inside Iran for the purpose of intelligence gathering, direct action, and mobilising indigenous opposition to the Mullahs in Tehran.

Ritter has been right before. I hope he is not right now - but with the insanity we see I fear he is sadly correct.

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Frist changes course on Bolton vote

Bolton vote - will there be one? Will W pull "...a recess appointment while Congress is on break. That would allow Bolton to take the job without a confirmation vote and serve until early 2007."

I am sure he will try anything.

Speaking of Bolton, I wish he were more like Officer Joe Bolton. For those who are of a certain age in the New York area you might remember Officer Joe and his show with the Three Stooges clips. I don't know what Officer Joe's personal life was like, but I wish this Political Beast Bolton was more like Officer Joe. We need a diplomat!

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Friend or foe?

Iraqi Security Tactics Evoke the Hussein Era concerns the tactics of our Iraqi friends.

Up to 60% of the estimated 12,000 detainees in the country's prisons and military compounds face intimidation, beatings or torture that leads to broken bones and sometimes death, said Saad Sultan, head of a board overseeing the treatment of prisoners at the Human Rights Ministry. He added that police and security forces attached to the Interior Ministry are responsible for most abuses.
The units have used tactics reminiscent of Saddam Hussein's secret intelligence squads, according to the ministry and independent human rights groups and lawyers, who have cataloged abuses.
"We've documented a lot of torture cases," said Sultan, whose committee is pushing for wider access to Iraqi-run prisons across the nation. "There are beatings, punching, electric shocks to the body, including sensitive areas, hanging prisoners upside down and beating them and dragging them on the ground…. Many police officers come from a culture of torture from their experiences over the last 35 years. Most of them worked during Saddam's regime."

One of the reasons the rightwing states that we invaded Iraq was because of the "Butcher of Baghdad's" tactics. I have a great idea, we are already there - let's show our disgust by leaving now.

But not to worry, W has everything under control. He defended his actions by asking everyone to "look at the facts" - we do W and that's why we say "Out Now!" But he reassured everyone by stating:

“I think about Iraq every day. Every single day, because I understand we have troops in harm’s way.”

Doesn't it just warm your hearts knowing that he thinks about it every single day - hey but it is his job. And we know that it is hard work - W has told us again and again. Just think, we the voters are his boss - what would you do if you worker messed things up. lied to you, lost the company some major revenue, lost some company goodwill...

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The Beginning of the End?

The Beginning of the End? covers the recent slips in W's regime.

Every day brings news of public opinion turning against the occupation--and the President's conduct of the war. Last week, a Washington Post-ABC News poll showed that for the first time since the war began, more than half of the public believes the US invasion has not made the US more secure; and nearly 40 percent described the situation there now as analagous to the Vietnam War. A new Gallup survey finds that almost 60 percent of Americans say the US should withdraw some or all of its troops from Iraq, the largest number in that category ever. And for the first time, most Americans say they would be "upset" if President Bush sent more troops. Gallup also found that 56 percent now feel the war was "not worth it," and 73 percent consider the number of casualties unacceptable.
Every day brings news of more Democrats coming forward, standing up and introducing "exit strategy" resolutions. (Though, as of yet, leadership isn't coming from the leadership.) Lynn Woolsey forced a Congressional vote on bipartisan legislation that would have asked Bush to submit a plan to Congress explaining the outlines of an exit strategy from Iraq. Senator Russell Feingold has introduced a nonbinding resolution calling on the Bush Administration to set specific goals for leaving Iraq.

It's a good feeling to see so many coming to realize that our occupation must end now. So what is W doing? Spreading some fear!

"We went to war because we were attacked, and we are at war today because there are still people out there who want to harm our country and hurt our citizens," Bush said Saturday in his weekly radio address...This mission isn't easy, and it will not be accomplished overnight. We're fighting a ruthless enemy that relishes the killing of innocent men, women, and children," he said.

Throw some fear into the mix. Throw in one or two elevated terror warnings. Get the public in line before it is too late. Hey, we haven't had an elevated terror warning in a while. Maybe it won't be Syria or Iran next. Maybe some terror threats for the 4th of July or Labor Day? A few well placed threats or leaks would be great and keep those pesky peace-mongers at bay.

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A Father's Day Wish

I was trimming the grass at the cemetary yesterday, cleaning the area around my father's memorial stone and the stones of my two uncles. There are not the headstones but the stones and plaques that list their military service. All three served and survived WWII. My uncles were in Europe and my father served in the Pacific.

I was thinking about my father and what his opinion of our war in Iraq and Afghanistan would be. I know that in 1972 he was a suppoertr of Nixon - I was not allowed to put a McGovern sticker on his car. But I also know he did not say anything about the peace signs on my jacket or the "speeches" I had at the family table. I know he was proud of his military service - but just maybe he was tired of war and wanted an end to our Vietnam mess. So what would he say about Iraq? I am not too sure, but I know he would listen to me continue my rants and raves at dinner tables. He would see my peace signs brought out again and look at my "Department of Peace" bumper sticker (now on my car and not his). He would also look at my three sons and worry about them if there was a draft.

I know that on this Father's Day, as we would be wishing each other a Happy Dad's Day, he would join me in wishing that we could bring all the fathers (and mothers, brothers, sisters....) home from Iraq and Afghanistan - end the occupation and war.

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Regime is losing ground

If God is still speaking to W, I wonder what he is saying? With one of his former workers questioning 9/11, House hearings on Memogate, "Freedom Fries Jones" working with Kucinich to bring an end to the Iraqi occupation, and curbs to the Patriot Act - it has not been a good week for W. But a great week for Americans seeking peace, justice and truth.

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Raw Story: Path of War Timeline

Raw Story: Path of War Timeline covers 1998-2003. Our - or rather W's - planning and manipulations to get us into Iraq.

1998 - "The Project for a New American Century urges President Clinton to oust Saddam Hussein. Among the eighteen signers are Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and John Bolton."

March 19, 2003 - Our invasion.

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The Truth (?) about 9/11

A former Labor Department chief economist "...now believes the official story about the collapse of the WTC is 'bogus,' saying it is more likely that a controlled demolition destroyed the Twin Towers and adjacent Building No. 7."

Will we ever know? Do we really know the story about JFK's assassination?

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The tide has turned

Matthew Rothschild writes in The Progressive about the latest WaPo/ABC poll and it seems the public is finally getting fed up with Iraq.

"Two-thirds say the U.S. military there is bogged down, and nearly six in ten say the war was not worth the price," according to the Post article."

"The real question now, for our supposed democracy, is how long will it take for our government to get us out of this war that the people now disapprove of."

Looking at history it will take a while - unless we turn up the heat.

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State Sponsored Civil War

Iraq Dispatches: State Sponsored Civil War paints a grim picture for Iraq.

So we have the US-backed Iraqi “government” overtly (they have been doing this covertly for quite some time) pitting Shia and Kurdish militias against the primarily Sunni resistance. State sponsored/propagated civil war-although most Iraqis continue to fear and loath the idea, and so many Iraqi political and religious organizations continue to work tirelessly to avert the worsening of this now low-grade civil war.

I was saying from the start that our involvement will create a tri-fold civil war. Well I was wrong - Shiites and Kurds against the Sunni - two-fold civl war for now.

We condemned Saddam for his treatment of Shia and Kurds. Will we do the same with our new friends?

The Badr Organization (formerly known as the Badr Brigade) was formed by al-Hakim’s brother in the ‘80’s to fight Saddam Hussein. It has long since received funding and other “support” from Iran. While civilians in Fallujah, Mosul, Ramadi, Baquba, Baghdad, Haditha and other cities in Iraq continue to complain of being beaten, looted and humiliated by the members of the Iraqi Army who are members of both the Badr Organization and Kurdish Peshmerga, these militias now have the overt backing of the interim Iraqi “government.” It is also being reported that members of the Badr Organization, who are essentially running much of the “security” in southern Iraq at this point, have been instituting Sharia law. Thus, women are reporting being threatened with death or rape if they attend university, and more conservative clothing rules are being enforced. Recently a Sunni cleric was assassinated in the south.

What a mess we created. For what? Oil? Glory? Bragging rights? Machismo? Let's end it now - US OUT - UN IN.

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Army recruiting toddlers next.

MichaelMoore.com! reports on a frightening trend - military programs in elementary schools. Get them early and they are ours!

The Middle School Cadet Corps (MSCC) program at the K-8 school is part of a growing trend to militarize middle schools. Students at Lavizzo are among the more than 850 Chicago students who have enlisted in one of the city's 26 MSCC programs. At Madero Middle School, the MSCC has evolved into a full-time military academy for kids 11 to 14 years old.
Chicago public schools are home to the largest Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program, which oversees the MSCC, in the country. When moving up to high school, Chicago's graduating eighth-graders can choose from 45 JROTC programs, including three full-time Army military academies, five "school-within-a-school" Army JROTC academies and one JROTC Naval academy.

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Even a Former CIA chief says WITHDRAW

MichaelMoore.com! has an article about former CIA chief John Deutch.

In his 20-minute speech, he challenged the views of both Republicans and Democrats who say that the United States must stay the course to stabilize the country before disengaging.
That position, Deutch said, is based on the assumption that the United States will leave a stable nation behind. But it is also possible, he said, that the United States will fail in its Iraq objectives and lose international credibility by staying the course, even as its ability to deal with other crises, such as North Korea, Iran, and the fight against international terrorism, is compromised.

So let's listen to someone who led the CIA - get out now!

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Michael Savage is NUTS

On the way home tonight- fighting traffic - I caught some minutes of Michael Savage's radio show. I was switching to local stations for traffic reports - I should have listened to Savage for a good laugh. The points I caught were:
(1)Amnesty International's leader is a Communist - Savage called him that after playing a clip of Amnesty's head talking about the torture at Gitmo and Abu Ghraib and asking that W be held accountable, and
(2)Savage blames the increase in "radical liberalism" on drug use, particularly the use of marijuana.

Ah yes. "Reefer Madness" and McCarthyism. Next thing you know old Mike will be telling us to build some fallout shelters in our backyards.

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Action Alert

 

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Monday's quote

A great quote from Daniel Quinn's website Q&A's:

When you defeat a thousand opponents, you still have a thousand opponents. When you change a thousand minds, you have a thousand allies.

So appropriate for today's world.

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IFILM - Short Films: The Great Lie

IFILM - Short Films: The Great Lie is inspired by Daniel Quinn and "Ishmael". This 27 minute film concerns a wealthy business man who faces some tough questions. Great for Quinn fans. Great for those interested in the future of Mother Earth and humanity.

Just click "Watch Now!"

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The House That Bush Built

Photo-poem of W and his madness. A children's poem redone for our madman and the pain he has caused.

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John Conyers, Jr. -- Letter to Pres Bush Concerning the "Downing Street Minutes"

John Conyers, Jr. -- Letter to Pres Bush Concerning the "Downing Street Minutes" Sign the letter - now. We need answers - now.

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The Old Late Friday Media Trick: Pentagon Admits Koran Abus

Pentagon Admits Koran Abuse. So Newsweek was right.

Brilliant to release the news on a late Friday. Weekends are busy with picnics, chores... Too few eyes are on the news.

"The Pentagon on Friday released new details about mishandling of the Quran at the Guantanamo Bay prison for terror suspects, confirming that a soldier deliberately kicked the Muslim holy book and that an interrogator stepped on a Quran and was later fired for "a pattern of unacceptable behavior." In other confirmed incidents, a guard's urine came through an air vent and splashed on a detainee and his Quran; water balloons thrown by prison guards caused an unspecified number of Qurans to get wet; and in a confirmed but ambiguous case, a two-word obscenity was written in English on the inside cover of a Quran. "

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McGovern: White House Needs a 'Deep Throat' Today

McGovern echoes my sentiment posted a few days ago.

"I sometimes wish we had a Deep Throat in the administration today" because such a person might reveal why the nation went to war in Iraq. "I think there's a lot of concern about what's going on in the White House today centering on the war in Iraq," said McGovern, a decorated World War II bomber pilot who's been outspoken against the war in Iraq, like he was Vietnam before it.

Speaking of Felt, Keith Olbermann theorizes that Felt did not act alone. As #2 in the FBI, he had people who would do "stuff" for him. Keith really lays out a great theory as to why there are others. "...we have the name of the guy atop the iceberg now - but nothing else".

Olbermann's idea is something that has crossed my mind in the past. Was the leak a coup d'etat by the FBI and others? If it was a coup we have seen a reversal in the past few years - W and his Iron Fist Troops cleaning house at the CIA, FBI...

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Cheney praises Iraq, Afghan wars

Did Uncle Dick have a slip of the tongue? Letting us in on a little secret - more wars to come?

Speaking to Air Force Academy grads he said: "You will be among those who lead us to victory against freedom's enemies," he said. "And you will play an historic role in the great victories to come."
Since it is "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq and Afghanistan, where will these "great victories to come" be found - Syria, Iran, Indonesia...? Tell us Uncle Dick, please!

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Friday's Wisdom

This world abounds in war horses, let the day come when they will be used only to fertilize fields.
Our nations hold a multitude of weapons; let us pray that they will be shunned as omens of evil.
People yearn for power; let us hope that more and more of us will find contentment in our daily lives.

By Deng Ming Dao a Taoist master and author.
From "Peace Prayers" by HarperCollins

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Sing Along Thursday

War’s Okay, it’s the American way (to the tune of Frere Jacques)

Stay asleep America
Stay asleep America
War is peace, peace is war
While public schools are hurtin’, we’re payin’ Halliburton
That’s okay, it’s the American way.

14 bases in Iraq
Iran we’re ready to attack
Build more bombs, build more bombs
Next we’ll invade Syria, why not bomb Liberia
War’s okay, it’s the American way.

www.codepinkalert.org

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Watergate Proves That Even Presidents Will Break Laws To Achieve Goals

Jason Leopold writes about the Nixon-Bush similarities:

"Tuesday’s revelation that W. Mark Felt, the former number two man at the FBI, was the anonymous source known as Deep Throat, who helped Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein unravel the Watergate scandal in the pages of the Washington Post 30 years ago should be seen as an important reminder that even the leader of the free world can be devious, corrupt and dishonest.
Some things never change.
The parallels between the Bush and Nixon administrations are eerily familiar. Both bullied the press, were/are highly secretive, obsessed over leaks, engage(d) in massive cover-ups and quickly branded aides as disloyal if they dared to raise questions about the President’s policies."

I applaud Felt for his actions as Deep Throat. I wouldn't go so far as to call him a hero as some are doing - I question some of his other actions in the name of nationalism and patriotism. But I thank him for exposing Tricky. Where is today's Deep Throat? We need him/her now.

"One of the key figures during Watergate made a compelling case a couple of years ago for impeachment if President Bush intentionally misled Congress and the public into backing a war against Iraq.
"To put it bluntly, if Bush has taken Congress and the nation into war based on bogus information, he is cooked," wrote John Dean, President Richard Nixon’s former counsel, in a June 6, 2003 column for findlaw.com. "Manipulation or deliberate misuse of national security intelligence data, if proven, could be "a high crime" under the Constitution’s impeachment clause. It would also be a violation of federal criminal law, including the broad federal anti-conspiracy statute, which renders it a felony "to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose."
Dean said that statements made by presidents that pertain to national security issues are supposed to be held to a higher standard of truthfulness.
"A president cannot stretch, twist or distort facts and get away with it. President Lyndon Johnson’s distortions of the truth about Vietnam forced him to stand down from reelection. President Richard Nixon’s false statements about Watergate forced his resignation."

Well if Dean has seen the light, what's wrong with everyone else? Come on America, wake up. Watergate was nothing compared to what is going on today.

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