Reflections on the "New American" Revolution
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Despite Bush Optimism, Analysts See �Failed Transition� in Iraq: "More U.S. soldiers and contractors have been killed and injured over three months since the transition to Iraqi rule on June 28, 2004, than any other three-month period since the U.S.-led invasion in March, 2003, while the estimated strength of insurgent forces appears to have risen sharply, according to the report by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF).
In addition, more members of the 30-nation coalition that joined with the U.S. in support of the invasion have withdrawn their forces, the latest being Costa Rica which, although it never actually contributed troops, demanded earlier this month to be taken off the coalition list.
Body counts appear to be rising for Iraqis themselves, both as a result of the insurgency and U.S.-led efforts to put it down and as a result of a crime wave that has persisted, if not spread, since the U.S. invasion, according to the 86-page report, �A Failed Transition: The Mounting Costs of the Iraq War.�
�This is a re-run of the Vietnam War on fast-forward,� said IPS director John Cavanagh, who contributed to the study. �It�s astounding that the number of monthly U.S. casualties is higher during this so-called �transition� to Iraqi rule than during the initial six weeks of the U.S. invasion.� "
Now on DVD: The Passion of the Bush: "'George W. Bush: Faith in the White House,' a DVD that is being specifically marketed in 'head to head' partisan opposition to 'Fahrenheit 9/11.' This documentary first surfaced at the Republican convention in New York, where it was previewed in tandem with an invitation-only, no-press-allowed 'Family, Faith and Freedom Rally,' a Ralph Reed-Sam Brownback jamboree thrown by the Bush campaign for Christian conservatives. Though you can buy the DVD for $14.95, its makers told the right-wing news service WorldNetDaily.com that they plan to distribute 300,000 copies to America's churches. And no wonder. This movie aspires to be 'The Passion of the Bush,' and it succeeds.
More than any other campaign artifact, it clarifies the hard-knuckles rationale of the president's vote-for-me-or-face-Armageddon re-election message. It transforms the president that the Democrats deride as a 'fortunate son' of privilege into a prodigal son with the 'moral clarity of an old-fashioned biblical prophet.' Its Bush is not merely a sincere man of faith but God's essential and irreplaceable warrior on Earth. The stations of his cross are burnished into cinematic fable: the misspent youth, the hard drinking (a thirst that came from 'a throat full of Texas dust'), the fateful 40th-birthday hangover in Colorado Springs, the walk on the beach with Billy Graham. A towheaded child actor bathed in the golden light of an off-camera halo re-enacts the young George comforting his mom after the death of his sister; it's a parable anticipating the future president's miraculous ability to comfort us all after 9/11."
Bush Sees a Safer America, While Kerry Sees a 'Colossal Error': "Iraq had not been 'even the center of the focus of the war on terror' and that Mr. Bush had 'rushed to war in Iraq without a plan to win the peace.'
He said, 'We can win in Iraq, but I don't believe this president can.'"
House Ethics Panel Says DeLay Tried to Trade Favor for a Vote: "DeLay, a Texas Republican, offered to endorse the son of Representative Nick Smith, a Republican, in a Congressional primary race in exchange for Mr. Smith's vote for the measure to add prescription drug coverage to Medicare.
'The investigative subcommittee concluded that it is improper for a member to offer or link support for the personal interests of another member as part of quid pro quo to achieve a legislative goal,' said the findings, which the committee said were based on sworn testimony from 17 members of the House.
The panel recommended no further action against anyone involved in the incident beyond a public admonishment, though it said the investigation could support a finding that Mr. DeLay violated House rules. The committee is also investigating a separate complaint against Mr. DeLay on accusations by a Texas Democrat, but it made no public disclosure of its intentions on that matter. "
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Record Shows Bush Shifting on Rationale for Iraq Invasion: "Bush's words on Iraq have evolved -- or, in the parlance his campaign often uses to describe Kerry, flip-flopped
... A war that was waged principally to overthrow a dictator who possessed 'some of the most lethal weapons ever devised'' has evolved into a mission to rid Iraq of its 'weapons-making capabilities'' and to offer democracy and freedom to its 25 million residents.
The president no longer expounds upon deposed Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein's connections with al Qaeda, rarely mentions the rape and torture rooms or the illicit weapons factories that he once warned posed a direct threat to the United States.
In the fall of 2002, as Bush sought congressional support for the use of force, he described the vote as a sign of solidarity that would strengthen his ability to keep the peace. Today, his aides describe it unambiguously as a vote to go to war. "
Plan Would Let U.S. Deport Suspects To Nations That Might Torture Them (washingtonpost.com): "The Bush administration is supporting a provision in the House leadership's intelligence reform bill that would allow U.S. authorities to deport certain foreigners to countries where they are likely to be tortured or abused, an action prohibited by the international laws against torture the United States signed 20 years ago.
... The provision, human rights advocates said, contradicts pledges President Bush made after the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal erupted this spring that the United States would stand behind the U.N. Convention Against Torture. Hastert spokesman John Feehery said the Justice Department "really wants and supports" the provision. "
Monday, September 27, 2004
Jimmy Carter fears repeat of election fiasco in Florida: "Mr Carter said reforms recommended after the recount in Florida had still not been implemented 'because of inadequate funding or political disputes'.
Mr Carter, who runs an election and human rights centre in Atlanta, accused election officials working for Florida's governor, Jeb Bush, the president's brother, of being 'highly partisan'.
They were 'brazenly violating a basic need for an unbiased and universally trusted authority to manage all elements of the electoral process'. "
Friday, September 24, 2004
Demise of Iraqi Units Symbolic of U.S. Errors (washingtonpost.com): "'We're trying to climb out of a hole,' said an official with the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, who spoke on condition of anonymity. American missteps during the occupation, the official said, 'continue to haunt us.'
The errors have had a major impact on almost every aspect of the U.S. agenda here, from pacifying rebel-held cities to holding elections in January to accelerating reconstruction projects. In each area, past mistakes have made it far tougher to accomplish U.S. objectives and those of Iraq's interim government"
Iraq Violence Eclipses Rosy Declarations: "Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and President Bush have declared that Iraq is on the road to stability, with the Iraqi leader saying elections would be possible in all but three or four of Iraq's 18 provinces. But the map of Iraq is scarred with violence every day. The capital is wracked by kidnappings and bombings. And September is shaping up as one of the deadliest months for American soldiers.
... September has been a record month for car bombings - more than 30, according to the U.S. military. Hundreds have died.
On average, nearly three U.S. soldiers have been killed each day this month - the highest rate since April. Insurgent attacks are averaging 56 per day this month. In August, they averaged 87 a day - their highest level since major combat ended in May 2003.
Allawi himself told PBS that in the past five months, 3,600 civilians have been killed by insurgents and 12,000 have been wounded.
Allawi didn't list the three provinces he acknowledged as still dangerous. But significant attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces have occurred this month in at least six provinces - Baghdad, Anbar, Diyala, Salahuddin, Kirkuk and Nineveh. "
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Tying Kerry to Terror Tests Rhetoric's Limits (washingtonpost.com): "President Bush and leading Republicans are increasingly charging that Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry and others in his party are giving comfort to terrorists and undermining the war in Iraq -- a line of attack that tests the conventional bounds of political rhetoric.
Appearing in the Rose Garden yesterday with Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, Bush said Kerry's statements about Iraq 'can embolden an enemy.' After Kerry criticized Allawi's speech to Congress, Vice President Cheney tore into the Democratic nominee, calling him 'destructive' to the effort in Iraq and the struggle against terrorism.
... 'What we're seeing now isn't just offhand comments by outliers but clearly a decision by the Republican hierarchy to put this charge out there consistently.'
Pollster Frank Luntz, who has advised Republicans on rhetoric, cautions that 'statements like that can cause a backlash' against the accuser. 'Candidates have to be careful of going over the line,' he said."
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Now it's Bush's turn to squirm: "Bush campaigns before the faithful; distressing facts are dismissed with sarcasm and ideology is implacable."
Violence rocks Baghdad as British hostage pleads for his life: "At least 20 Iraqis were killed and more than 200 wounded in fresh violence across Baghdad, as a British hostage whose two US colleagues were savagely beheaded pleaded for his life in a video on an Islamist website. "
Carter Ties U.S. Presence, Iraq Bloodshed: "Former President Carter said Wednesday that the apparent open-ended presence of U.S. troops in Iraq has contributed to the wave of hostage-takings and other bloodshed.
'A lot of political analysts have said that one of the main reasons the Bush-Cheney administration went into Iraq was to establish a permanent military base there,' Carter said in an interview with The Associated Press. 'I think this arouses a great deal of unnecessary opposition.'
Carter's remarks came as the family of fellow Georgian Jack Hensley learned that the contractor had been beheaded by his captors in Iraq. He was the second American hostage killed there by Islamic extremists in as many days. "
Former CIA Agent Says Bush to Blame for 9/11: "'"It wasn't a bipartisan commission; it was more like a bipolar commission," McGovern said. "To say that no one could prevent 9/11 was a bold-faced lie. It basically let the president and everyone responsible off the hook."
... I have initials for why I think we went to war in Iraq,' McGovern said. 'O.I.L. O-I-L, O is for oil, I is for Israel and L is for logistics, as in when we have Iraq we have a foothold and a number of bases strategically placed in the Middle East so we can be in control over there and also to protect Israel.' "
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
The Unfeeling President: "To mourn is to express regret and he regrets nothing. He does not regret that his reason for going to war was, as he knew, unsubstantiated by the facts. He does not regret that his bungled plan for the war's aftermath has made of his mission-accomplished a disaster. He does not regret that, rather than controlling terrorism, his war in Iraq has licensed it. So he never mourns for the dead and crippled youngsters who have fought this war of his choice.
He wanted to go to war and he did. He had not the mind to perceive the costs of war, or to listen to those who knew those costs. He did not understand that you do not go to war when it is one of the options but when it is the only option; you go not because you want to but because you have to.
Yet this president knew it would be difficult for Americans not to cheer the overthrow of a foreign dictator. He knew that much. This president and his supporters would seem to have a mind for only one thing -- to take power, to remain in power, and to use that power for the sake of themselves and their friends. "
The Lynching of Dan Rather: "Is Rather's report accurate? ... two crucial documents supporting the BBC/CBS story. The first is Barnes' signed and sworn affidavit to a Texas Court, from 1999, in which he testifies to the Air Guard fix -- which Texas Governor George W. Bush, given the opportunity, declined to challenge.
And there is a second document, from the files of US Justice Department, again confirming the story of the fix to keep George's white bottom out of Vietnam. That document, shown last year in the BBC television documentary, 'Bush Family Fortunes,' correctly identifies Barnes as the bag man even before his 1999 confession. "
A Strident Minority: Anti-Bush US Troops in Iraq: "'[For] 9 out of 10 of the people I talk to, it wouldn't matter who ran against Bush - they'd vote for them,' said a US soldier in the southern city of Najaf, seeking out a reporter to make his views known. 'People are so fed up with Iraq, and fed up with Bush.'
... A Military Times survey last December of 933 subscribers, about 30 percent of whom had deployed for the Iraq war, found that 56 percent considered themselves Republican - about the same percentage who approved of Bush's handling of Iraq. Half of those responding were officers, who as a group tend to be more conservative than their enlisted counterparts."
Yahoo! News - Three Linked to DeLay Indicted in Texas Scandal: "Three men with close ties to U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay were indicted on Tuesday along with eight companies for illegal fund-raising activities in a political action committee formed by the powerful Texan.
Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle told reporters the investigation, not yet finished, had uncovered ominous behavior by the group.
'What has emerged is the outline of an effort to use corporate contributions to control representative democracy in Texas,' he said."
Bush policy brings the world on his back: "the breadth and depth of the current anti-Americanism are unprecedented
... The fall in US popularity in the Muslim world has been marked by an accompanying increase in the popularity of Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), who tops the US most wanted list after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Sixty-five percent of Pakistanis, 45 percent of Moroccans and 31 percent of Turks have a favourable view of the on-the-run Al-Qaeda leader, according to a Pew research poll released in March."
Bush policy brings the world on his back: "the breadth and depth of the current anti-Americanism are unprecedented
... The fall in US popularity in the Muslim world has been marked by an accompanying increase in the popularity of Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), who tops the US most wanted list after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Sixty-five percent of Pakistanis, 45 percent of Moroccans and 31 percent of Turks have a favourable view of the on-the-run Al-Qaeda leader, according to a Pew research poll released in March."
Bush policy brings the world on his back: "the breadth and depth of the current anti-Americanism are unprecedented
... The fall in US popularity in the Muslim world has been marked by an accompanying increase in the popularity of Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), who tops the US most wanted list after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Sixty-five percent of Pakistanis, 45 percent of Moroccans and 31 percent of Turks have a favourable view of the on-the-run Al-Qaeda leader, according to a Pew research poll released in March."
Sunday, September 19, 2004
Leaks cast doubt on PM's motive: "The documents from the Cabinet Office and Foreign Office suggest that in March 2002 Mr Blair was concerned primarily about regime change rather than, as he subsequently said, weapons of mass destruction. Invasion simply for regime change would have been contrary to international law. "
Edwards Calls Hastert's Remarks 'Politics of Fear' (washingtonpost.com): "John Edwards on Sunday accused House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) of stooping 'to the politics of fear' when he said al Qaeda terrorists may launch another terrorist attack to swing the Nov. 2 election in Democrat John F. Kerry's favor.
Hastert's comments, at a fundraiser Saturday night in his home state of Illinois, were reminiscent of recent remarks by Vice President Cheney that Edwards has called 'un-American.' "
Voter Probes Raise Partisan Suspicions (washingtonpost.com): "Civil rights advocates and many Democrats, however, complain that the department is putting too much emphasis on investigating new voter registrations in poor and minority communities -- which tend to favor Democrats -- and not enough on ensuring that those same voters do not face discrimination at the polls. More attention should be given to potential fraud in the use of absentee ballots, which tend to favor Republicans, the critics say.
They also charge that announcing criminal investigations within weeks of an election -- as was done in New Mexico on Sept. 7 -- is likely to scare legitimate voters away from the polls. "
G.O.P. Senators Voice Rising Concerns on Iraq: "'No, I don't think we're winning,' Senator Hagel of Nebraska said on the CBS News program 'Face the Nation.' 'We're in trouble, we're in deep trouble in Iraq.'
Mr. Hagel, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said he planned on Monday to send administration officials a list of recommendations for changing course in Iraq, including a major effort to involve regional allies to speed up training of Iraqi police and troops.
More American troops are clearly needed, Mr. Graham said on CNN. 'The security situation in Iraq is going to get worse before it gets better,' he said. 'I think we're going to need more people over time.'
Mr. Lugar, asked why only $1 billion of $18 billion appropriated last year for Iraqi reconstruction had been spent, replied, 'Well, this is the incompetence in the administration.' The Foreign Relations Committee chairman was appearing on the ABC News program 'This Week.'"
Thursday, September 16, 2004
CBS Says It Will Check Questions on Bush Files: "the general thrust of the documents was accurate: that a commander felt Mr. Bush had been shirking his duties and receiving preferential treatment because of his connections.
... the secretary to the commander who was said to have written the memorandums, Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian... Marian Carr Knox, said that she did not believe the memorandums were authentic but that she had typed similar documents with 'the same information' that were filed in what she called 'a cover-your-back file.' "
Kerry Says Bush Isn't Telling Truth on Iraq: "Citing an intelligence estimate prepared for Mr. Bush in late July that presents a bleak picture of prospects in Iraq, Mr. Kerry said the president was turning his back on his own intelligence and ignoring the reality that Iraq was increasingly in the hands of terrorists."
Iraq: The Bungled Transition: "It is a measure of how far America's once grand ambitions for Iraq have diminished that security has become more important than democracy for a mission intended not only to transform Iraq but with it the entire Middle East.
As I write, nearly two months after the handover, Allawi's government faces a Shiite rebellion that extends from Basra to Baghdad, and has included extreme fighting in and around the Imam Ali shrine in the Shiite holy city of Najaf. Thanks to an April agreement between the US military and Falluja's Baathist leaders, the city has become a safe haven for terrorists. Other Sunni Arab cities-Mosul, Samarra, and Baquba-are full of armed insurgents while residents of Baghdad live in a capital beset by violent crime, terrorism, and the insurgency.
... How did the Bush administration invest so much in the TAL [the so-called Transitional Administrative Law—Iraq's interim constitution--with its much-ballyhooed protections for human rights, women, and democracy] and then find itself forced to abandon it? It appears that Bremer never realized that his decrees would not legally outlast the occupation. It was a rookie's mistake caused, as with so many other CPA failures, by the lack of expertise on the part of his staff. The TAL was largely the responsibility of two of Bremer's assistants (dubbed "the west wingers"), one an extremely capable but relatively junior Foreign Service officer and the other a young political appointee from the Pentagon's stable of neoconservative nation-builders. Imbued with grand ideas such as remaking the Iraqi judiciary with a US-style Supreme Court, they apparently neglected to consult an international lawyer.
The Bush administration's recruitment of staff for the CPA is one of the great scandals of the American occupation, although it has so far received little attention from the press. Republican political connections counted for far more than professional competence, relevant international experience, or knowledge of Iraq. In May, The Washington Post ran an account of three young people recruited for service in the CPA by e-mail, without interviews, security clearances, or relevant experience. They ended up responsible for spending Iraq's budget; because they knew little about the country or about financial procedures, they did so slowly. The failure to spend money was of course the source of enormous frustration to jobless Iraqis and undoubtedly produced recruits for the insurgency. According to the Post, the threesome, who included the daughter of a prominent conservative activist, had never applied to go to Iraq and could not figure out how they were selected. Finally they realized that the one thing they had in common was that they had applied for jobs at the conservative Heritage Foundation, which had kept their resumes on file."
U.S. Weapons Inspector: Iraq Had No WMD: "After a year and a half in Iraq, however, the United States has found no weapons of mass destruction - its chief argument for overthrowing the regime. "
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
The New York Times > International > Middle East > Senators See Budget Shift on Iraq as Sign of Trouble: "Senator Richard G. Lugar, Republican of Indiana, said, 'the slow pace of reconstruction spending means that we are failing to fully take advantage of one of our most potent tools to influence the direction of Iraq.'
... Mr. Hagel said the State Department request was 'a clear acknowledgment that we are not holding ourselves hostage to some grand illusion that we're winning.'
Mr. Hagel went on to say that the request for reprogramming the money 'does not add up, in my opinion, to a pretty picture, to a picture that shows that we're winning. But it does add up to this, an acknowledgment that we are in deep trouble.'
... the expressions of concern by two leading Republicans could cause discomfort in the White House. Mr. Lugar expressed concern that of the roughly $18 billion approved for Iraq about 10 months ago, just over $1 billion had been dispersed as of a few days ago."
The New York Times > Washington > The Reconstruction: U.S. Intelligence Shows Pessimism on Iraq's Future: "A classified National Intelligence Estimate prepared for President Bush in late July spells out a dark assessment of prospects for Iraq, government officials said Wednesday.
... the pessimistic tone of the new estimate stands in contrast to recent statements by Bush administration officials, including comments on Wednesday by Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman, who asserted that progress was being made."
Guardian Unlimited | US elections 2004 | 9/11 widows join Kerry campaign: "'The truth is, after watching the Republican convention in New York, I am scared. I am scared of the mentality,' said Kirsten Breitweiser, the most celebrated of the self-styled Jersey Girls, four widows who led a dogged campaign to force the Bush administration to establish an independent investigation into the attacks.
... Ms Breitweiser's defection - she voted for Mr Bush in the 2000 elections - presents a symbolically important counter-argument to the Republican campaign's appropriation of the war on terror as an election prop. "
Iraq war was illegal and breached UN charter, says Annan: "Mr Annan said that the invasion was not sanctioned by the UN security council or in accordance with the UN's founding charter. In an interview with the BBC World Service broadcast last night, he was asked outright if the war was illegal. He replied: 'Yes, if you wish.'
He then added unequivocally: 'I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN charter. From our point of view and from the charter point of view it was illegal.' "
Far graver than Vietnam: "Almost every day, in campaign speeches, Bush speaks with bravado about how he is 'winning' in Iraq. 'Our strategy is succeeding,' he boasted to the National Guard convention on Tuesday.
But, according to the US military's leading strategists and prominent retired generals, Bush's war is already lost. Retired general William Odom, former head of the National Security Agency, told me: 'Bush hasn't found the WMD. Al-Qaida, it's worse, he's lost on that front. That he's going to achieve a democracy there? That goal is lost, too. It's lost.' He adds: 'Right now, the course we're on, we're achieving Bin Laden's ends.' "
Senators Denounce U.S. on Iraq Rebuilding: "'It's beyond pitiful, it's beyond embarrassing, it's now in the zone of dangerous,' said Sen. Chuck Hagel (news, bio, voting record), R-Neb., referring to figures showing only about 6 percent of the reconstruction money approved by Congress last year has been spent.
Foreign Relations Committee members vented their frustrations at a hearing where the State Department explained its request to divert $3.46 billion in reconstruction funds to security and economic development. The money was part of the $18.4 billion approved by Congress last year mostly for public works projects. "
New Iraq Attacks Are More Sophisticated: "Militants now follow up roadside bomb attacks with a deluge of rocket-propelled grenades instead of fleeing, or fire off mortar rounds to lure soldiers out of their base and into freshly laid mine fields, military commanders say.
In a July attack in Samarra, for example, militants detonated a car bomb and then hammered a military headquarters with a mortar barrage as troops fled the building. Five American soldiers died.
At least 47 people were killed in a car bombing in Baghdad on Tuesday targeting would-be police recruits, the deadliest single strike in the capital in six months.
'The enemy has been able to construct IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) that are more complex, include more rounds in the form of a 'daisy chain,' and tend to have a higher lethality,' said Maj. Neal O'Brien of the Army's 1st Infantry Division.
O'Brien also said that an increase in the use of car bombs in the last two months coincided with an influx of foreign fighters with the bomb-making know-how in July.
'They graduated to more coordinated attacks,' he said. "
Kerry Accuses Bush Of Dishonesty on Iraq (washingtonpost.com): ""The president has misled America about those weapons, about the intelligence, about the war," the Democratic presidential nominee said on the Don Imus show on MSNBC. "He's misled America about what we're achieving today and what is happening on the ground in Iraq."
... 'This president has created more excuses than jobs,' Kerry told the Detroit Economic Club. 'His is the excuse presidency -- never wrong, never responsible, never to blame. President Bush's desk isn't where the buck stops -- it's where the blame begins.' "
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
'Gates of Hell' are Open in Iraq, Warns Arab League Chief: "Arab League chief Amr Mussa warned that the 'gates of hell' had been opened in Iraq, as ministers from the pan-Arab grouping gathered for a meeting set to be dominated by the war-ravaged country.
The session opened as at least 60 people were killed in two deadly attacks by suspected Sunni Arab insurgents in and around Baghdad. "
$3 Trillion Price Tag Left Out As Bush Details His Agenda: "The expansive agenda President Bush laid out at the Republican National Convention was missing a price tag, but administration figures show the total is likely to be well in excess of $3 trillion over a decade. "
Monday, September 13, 2004
Bush team 'knew of abuse' at Guantanamo: "Evidence of prisoner abuse and possible war crimes at Guantanamo Bay reached the highest levels of the Bush administration as early as autumn 2002, but Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, chose to do nothing about it, according to a new investigation published exclusively in the Guardian today.
The investigation, by the veteran journalist Seymour Hersh, quotes one former marine at the camp recalling sessions in which guards would 'fuck with [detainees] as much as we could' by inflicting pain on them.
The Bush administration repeatedly assured critics that inmates were granted recreation periods, but one Pentagon adviser told Hersh how, for some prisoners, they consisted of being left in straitjackets in intense sunlight with hoods over their heads.
Hersh provides details of how President George Bush signed off on the establishment of a secret unit that was given advance approval to kill or capture and interrogate 'high-value' suspects - considered by many to be in defiance of international law - an officially 'unacknowledged' programme that was eventually transferred wholesale from Guant�namo to the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. "
Saturday, September 11, 2004
General: Bin Laden Still Issuing Orders: "Three years after the Sept. 11 attacks, Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) and his deputy are still issuing orders for attacks by al-Qaida, a top American commander told The Associated Press Saturday. Maj. Gen. Eric Olson said that an al-Qaida linked group was suspected of a deadly car bombing at a U.S. security firm in the Afghan capital last month. He said the attack was a suicide mission. "
Project Censored 2005 - Story #9: "Ellen Mariani lost her husband, Louis Neil Mariani, on 9/11 and is refusing the government's million-dollar settlement offer. Louis Neil Mariani, a passenger, died when United Air Lines flight 175 was flown into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
Ellen Mariani has studied the facts of the day for nearly two years and has come to believe that the White House "intentionally allowed 9/11 to happen" in order to launch the 'War on Terrorism.' Her lawyer, Phillip Berg, former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania, who filed a 62-page complaint in federal district court charging that President Bush and officials, including but not limited to, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and Ashcroft: (1) had adequate foreknowledge of 911, yet failed to warn the country or attempt to prevent it; (2) have since been covering up the truth of that day; (3) have therefore abetted the murder of plaintiff�s husband and violated the Constitution and multiple laws of the United States; and (4) are thus being sued under the Civil Racketeering, Influences, and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act for malfeasant conspiracy, obstruction of justice and wrongful death. "
Friday, September 10, 2004
The Dishonesty Thing: "The real issue in the National Guard story isn't what George W. Bush did three decades ago. It's the recent pattern of lies: his assertions that he fulfilled his obligations when he obviously didn't, the White House's repeated claims that it had released all of the relevant documents when it hadn't.
It's the same pattern of dishonesty, this time involving personal matters that the public can easily understand, that some of us have long seen on policy issues, from global warming to the war in Iraq. On budget matters, which is where I came in, serious analysts now take administration dishonesty for granted.
It wasn't always that way. Three years ago, those of us who accused the administration of cooking the budget books were ourselves accused, by moderates as well as by Bush loyalists, of being 'shrill.' These days the coalition of the shrill has widened to include almost every independent budget expert. "
The New York Times > Washington > Prison Scandal: Army Says C.I.A. Hid More Iraqis Than It Claimed: "Army jailers in Iraq, acting at the Central Intelligence Agency's request, kept dozens of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison and other detention facilities off official rosters to hide them from Red Cross inspectors, two senior Army generals said Thursday. The total is far more than had been previously reported.
... Under the Geneva Conventions, the temporary failure to disclose the identities of prisoners to the Red Cross is permitted under an exemption for military necessity. But the Army generals said they were certain that the practice used by the C.I.A. in Iraq went far beyond that.
... Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has acknowledged that in one case, acting at the request of George J. Tenet, then the director of central intelligence, he ordered military officials in Iraq in November to hold a man suspected of being a senior Iraqi terrorist at Camp Cropper, a high-level detention center, but not to register him. That prisoner, sometimes called Triple-X, had initially been held at a secret site outside Iraq by the C.I.A., intelligence officials said, but was returned to the country after government lawyers concluded that as an Iraqi, he should be held inside the country.
For several months, Triple-X was later left unaccounted for within the military detention system inside Iraq, the Pentagon has acknowledged. At least one other prisoner in Iraq, a Syrian, was initially removed from the country and held on a Navy ship before being returned to Abu Ghraib last fall, military official have said. Intelligence officials have not said whether all of the prisoners held in Iraq by the C.I.A. were later handed over to military custody."
Thursday, September 09, 2004
Yahoo! News - Bush War on Terror Deemed ''Major Failure of Leadership" by Critics: "The Bush administration's three-year 'war on terrorism' has amounted to a 'major failure of leadership and makes Americans more vulnerable rather than more secure,' according to a new report by Foreign Policy in Focus
... "Not only has Bush failed to support effective reconstruction in Afghanistan (news - web sites), but his war and occupation in Iraq have made the United States more vulnerable and have opened a new front and recruiting tool for terrorists while diverting resources from essential homeland security efforts," according to the 50-page report."
The surreal world of Bush: "Politicians don't always deliver what they promise. But George W. Bush is in a league all his own. He says one thing, does another and often manages the exact opposite of what he intends.
While politicians play up what suits them and downplay what doesn't, he is unique in shutting out reality altogether. He won't see what he doesn't want to see, even if others do.
Also, while politicians learn on the job and go from the stupid to the sensible, he seems to travel in the opposite direction."
Bush stops answering questions from Press: "for the last week or so, he's stopped answering questions from the press altogether."
Bush Suspended From Guard Flying: "newly unearthed memos state that George W. Bush failed to meet standards of the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam war, that he refused a direct order and that his superiors were in a state of turmoil over how to evaluate his performance after he was suspended from flying.
One military official 'is pushing to sugar coat it,' one memo says of a proposed evaluation of Bush.
'On this date I ordered that 1st Lt. Bush be suspended from flight status due to failure to perform to USAF/TexANG standards and failure to meet annual physical examination ... as ordered,' says an Aug. 1, 1972 memo by a superior officer, Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, who is now dead. Killian said in the memo that he wanted a formal inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the flight suspension. No records have surfaced that one was ever conducted. "
Records Say Bush Balked at Order (washingtonpost.com): "President Bush failed to carry out a direct order from his superior in the Texas Air National Guard in May 1972 to undertake a medical examination that was necessary for him to remain a qualified pilot, according to documents made public yesterday.
Documents obtained by the CBS News program '60 Minutes' shed new light on one of the most controversial episodes in Bush's military service, when he abruptly stopped flying and moved from Texas to Alabama to work on a political campaign. The documents include a memo from Bush's squadron commander, Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian, ordering Bush 'to be suspended from flight status for failure to perform' to U.S. Air Force and National Guard standards and failure to take his annual physical 'as ordered.' "
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
U.S. Deaths in Iraq Top 1,000; Aid Groups Eye Exit: "A coordinator for foreign aid groups said he expected most of the remaining 50 or so organizations to pull out following the kidnapping of the Italians, in Iraq to help child victims of war, from their Baghdad office Tuesday.
Kofi Annan (news - web sites), in a report to the U.N. Security Council Tuesday, said violence in Iraq may threaten elections scheduled for January 2005. Postponing the vote would be a severe blow for the U.S.-backed interim government. "
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
$2.3 Trillion in New Debt Expected by 2014 (washingtonpost.com): "This year's federal budget deficit will reach a record $422 billion, and the government is now expected to accumulate $2.3 trillion in new debt over the next 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office reported yesterday.
The expected deficit for the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, is $56 billion less than the CBO predicted in March, as a recovering economy added to tax receipts. But it is $46 billion more than last year's record shortfall, with even more red ink possible, the nonpartisan agency reported: The expected total 10-year deficit would climb from $2.3 trillion to $3.6 trillion if President Bush is able to extend the tax cuts he enacted. They are currently set to expire in 2011.
"This is a fiscal situation in which we cannot rely on economic growth to cause deficits to disappear," warned CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former economist for the Bush White House. "The budgetary outlook will be dictated by policy choices." "
Bush Deficit Cut Is Seen as Flawed: "Even if the United States saved billions of dollars by withdrawing all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, President Bush would still be unlikely to fulfill his promise to reduce the federal budget deficit by half within five years, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday.
In the final independent assessment of Mr. Bush's fiscal policies before the November election, the Congressional agency predicted that, if no existing laws changed, the federal deficit would see a much smaller decline, to $312 billion in 2009 from a record of $422 billion in 2004."
U.S. Conceding Rebels Control Regions of Iraq: "As American deaths in Iraq operations reached the 1,000 mark, top Pentagon officials said Tuesday that insurgents controlled important parts of central Iraq and that it was unclear when American and Iraqi forces would be able to secure those areas. "
U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq Campaign Pass 1,000: "U.S. military deaths in the Iraq campaign passed 1,000 Tuesday, an Associated Press tally showed, as a spike in fighting with Sunni and Shiite insurgents killed seven Americans in the Baghdad area.
The count of 1,002 includes 999 U.S. troops and three civilians, two working for the U.S. Army and one for the Air Force. The tally was compiled by the AP based on Pentagon records and AP reporting from Iraq.
It includes deaths from hostile and non-hostile causes since President Bush launched the Iraq campaign in March 2003 to topple the regime of Saddam Hussein.
The grim milestone was surpassed after a spike in fighting, which has killed 16 American service members in the past two days. "
Bush's Blind Spots (washingtonpost.com): "How else to explain the convention speech? Bush didn't merely fail to acknowledge that his tax cuts are unaffordable. He pledged to make them permanent, and he proposed a raft of new spending programs that would make the deficit still deeper. He even trumpeted the Medicare prescription drug entitlement, a measure whose astronomical cost his administration disguised from Congress. "
Monday, September 06, 2004
Bush's National Guard File Missing Records: "Documents that should have been written to explain gaps in President Bush's Texas Air National Guard service are missing from the military records released about his service in 1972 and 1973, according to regulations and outside experts.
For example, Air National Guard regulations at the time required commanders to write an investigative report for the Air Force when Bush missed his annual medical exam in 1972. The regulations also required commanders to confirm in writing that Bush received counseling after missing five months of drills.
... Challenging the government's declaration that no more documents exist, the AP identified five categories of records that should have been generated after Bush skipped his pilot's physical and missed five months of training."
U.S. Troops in Iraq See Highest Injury Toll Yet (washingtonpost.com): "About 1,100 U.S. soldiers and Marines were wounded in Iraq during August, by far the highest combat injury toll for any month since the war began and an indication of the intensity of battles flaring in urban areas.
U.S. medical commanders say the sharp rise in battlefield injuries reflects more than three weeks of fighting by two Army and one Marine battalion in the southern city of Najaf. At the same time, U.S. units frequently faced combat in a sprawling Shiite Muslim slum in Baghdad and in the Sunni cities of Fallujah, Ramadi and Samarra, all of which remain under the control of insurgents two months after the transfer of political authority.
'They were doing battlefield urban operations in four places at one time,' said Lt. Col. Albert Maas, operations officer for the 2nd Medical Brigade, which oversees U.S. combat hospitals in Iraq. 'It's like working in downtown Detroit. You're going literally building to building.'
... Since the start of the war in March 2003, 979 U.S. troops have died in Iraq and almost 7,000 have been wounded. Until last month, however, the monthly tallies of fatalities and wounded rose and fell roughly in proportion.
In August, 66 U.S. service personnel were killed in Iraq, according to the Defense Department. The toll was the highest since May, when 80 fatalities were recorded."
Explosion Kills Seven U.S. Marines Near Fallujah (washingtonpost.com): "Seven U.S. Marines were killed on Monday when an apparent suicide car bomb exploded near their military convoy on the outskirts of Fallujah. The attack, which also killed three Iraqi national guardsmen, was the deadliest for U.S. troops in four months of clashes with insurgents. "
General Says Less Coercion of Captives Yields Better Data: "American interrogators working in Iraq have obtained as much as 50 percent more high-value intelligence since a series of coercive practices like hooding, stripping and sleep deprivation were banned, a senior American official said Monday.
Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, the American commander in charge of detentions and interrogations, said that the number of 'high-value' intelligence reports drawn from interrogations of Iraqi prisoners had increased by more than half on a monthly basis since January. That was when American officials first disclosed that they were investigating abuses of Iraqi prisoners at the hands of American military police and intelligence officers at Abu Ghraib."
So all those harsh tactics actually were counter to their stated purpose, apart from being completely immoral and disgusting abuses of human rights, and any rights that a civilized country might think of upholding.
