destruction

Wednesday, October 26th, 2005 Grim Milestone A message from Cindy Sheehan As we all know, the American death toll in Iraq reached 2000 yesterday. I believe most people in America are in mourning today whether we are pro- or anti-war. I can speak for myself, I am. A few dozen of us held vigil at the White House yesterday. At 6 PM about 15 or 20 of us "died" to symbolize the unnecessary deaths in Iraq. We all represented one soldier and 50 Iraqis. We are hoping that 2000 Americans come out in support of us during the next 3 days and "die" with us to show our misleaders and media what 2000 dead Americans looks like. Today at 11 AM we will take a wreath to Arlington Cemetery to mourn all of our citizens who have been killed in war, but especially this war. Then we will vigil at the White House from 12 PM to 8 PM. There will be other vigils at the White House this evening. At 7:30 PM tonight we will symbolically die again. Tonight, I won't get up when they tell me to. It is insane that there are so many people living and working in the White House that are responsible for war crimes, high crimes and misdemeanors and other crimes against humanity and they are wandering free to enjoy their lives and live fat off of their war profits. We will probably be arrested for exercising our rights to freedom of speech and freedom to peaceably assemble. Yesterday in another hand-picked audience propaganda speech in front of military spouses, George Bush said: "This war will require more sacrifice, more time and more resolve." Besides asking him for What Noble Cause did he kill 2000 of our wonderful and brave young people, I would also like to ask George what he is sacrificing. Is he even sacrificing a good night's sleep? Is he sacrificing his future with his child? He is not sacrificing anything. He and his cabal of warmongering crooks are asking us Americans to give up our lives and our children's lives for his lies and mistakes and I am sure the grim milestone barely caused a blip in their souls yesterday. George and his wealthy buddies don't even have to pay more taxes for the horror in Iraq or to rebuild New Orleans which is another Bush horror. The indictments will hopefully be coming down to highlight the culture of corruption in this criminal administration that extends down to Congress and the Senate. What the indictments highlight to America and to the world is the wanton disregard for laws and humanity that Bush and Co. have. They also highlight to the world how apathetic we in America are towards letting criminals run our country. The upcoming indictments show me AGAIN that they stole Casey's life and 1999 other lives. They show me that we are allowing them to also steal our treasure and good reputations. I have had enough. I will not allow them to steal anything else from me.

DUDE it so was not you just say it is because he has an opinion.

Circle of lies coming to a close by Imad Khadouri Sunday 10 August 2003 10:15 AM GMT The consequences of the US failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq extend beyond the political controversies now raging in London and Washington over the false justifications for invading the country. The specious claims also consigned thousands of Iraqi children, women and men to their deaths at the hands of UN economic sanctions which strangled the country for 13 years. Iraq's chemical and biological weapons capability and its nuclear weapons programme were roundly destroyed in the 1991 Gulf War. But western and Israeli intelligence communities are not prepared to accept that Iraq had actually taken such a step. The Americans have been scouring Iraq for WMDs for months to little avail. Barton Gellman reported in the Washington Post on 13 June 2003 that “A covert Army Special Forces unit, operating in Iraq even before the war began in March, has played a dominant but ultimately unsuccessful role in the Bush administration's stymied hunt for weapons of mass destruction, according to military and intelligence sources in Baghdad and Washington. The unit was called Task Force 20, and was drawn from elite Army units known popularly as Delta Force. Its principle aim was to "seize, destroy, render safe, capture, or recover weapons of mass destructionâ€. Reports indicate that Delta Force troops arrived in Iraq in early February. Despite their impressive support facilities and detection capabilities, including roving biological and chemical laboratories, they have failed to uncover any evidence of Iraqi WMDs. Task Force 20 was followed in April 2003 by more than 900 specialists of the 75th Exploitation Task Force. It has also “found no working non-conventional munitions, long-range missiles or missile parts, bulk stores of chemical or biological warfare agents or enrichment technology for the core of a nuclear weapon†which were specifically cited by the Americans as part of Iraq's concealed WMDs arsenal. The task force left Iraq in early June empty-handed and thoroughly dismayed. Fiasco The neo-conservatives have responded to their failure by passing the buck. After 11 September 2001, the Deputy Secretary of Defence Paul Wolfowitz established a small super-intelligence group, who self-mockingly called themselves "the cabal." They were based in the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans. They relied on data gathered by other intelligence agencies and also on information provided by the Iraqi National Congress, the exile group headed by Ahmad Chalabi. The director of the Special Plans operation was Abram Shulsky, a scholarly expert on the works of the political philosopher Leo Strauss, a neo-conservative ideologue. He served in the Pentagon under Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle during the Reagan Administration, after which he joined the Rand Corporation. By last fall the weight of the Office of Special Plans had rivalled both the CIA and the Pentagon's own Defence Intelligence Agency as President Bush's main source of intelligence. This office cherry-picked and funnelled information regarding Iraq's possible possession of weapons of mass destruction and its alleged connection with al-Qaida. A great deal of the bad information produced by Shulsky's office, which found its way into speeches by Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and President George Bush, came from Chalabi's INC. The INC itself was sustained by its neo-conservative allies in Washington, including the shadow "Central Command" at the American Enterprise Institute. Recanting too late In mid-June 2003 the White House changed tack and put the CIA head George Tenet in charge of the search for WMDs, shifting the responsibility away from the Pentagon. By this time the CIA had already downgraded its two own specialised teams on Iraq, the Iraq Task Force, a special unit set up to provide 24-hour support to military commanders during the war, and the Iraq Issue Group which is responsible for the core analysis of all the intelligence the United States collects on Iraq. A senior official of the former was recently reassigned to the CIA's personnel department and the head of the latter was despatched on an extended mission to Iraq. On 14 June 2003 Greg Miller of the LA Times quoted an anonymous agency official as saying that "two of the key players on this problem have essentially been sent into deep exile." The official added that the changes seemed designed to show the administration that "we're being responsive to charges that we did not perform well." In taking over the search from the Pentagon, CIA Director George Tenet had direct responsibility over a newly created Iraq Survey Group, which is now in the country, to "significantly expand" the hunt for chemical and biological weapons. Tenet adroitly passed the baton to David Kay, a former UNSCOM inspector in 1991, to serve as a "special advisor" to the newly formed 1400 strong team, and to be in charge of “refining†the overall approach for the search for Iraq’s weapons. Kay’s aim is summed up in the following statement he made: “For me, the real change occurred in '94. By 1994 I was no longer an inspector, but I was testifying and writing on Iraq that 'There is no ultimate success that involves UNSCOM. It's got to be a change of regime. It's got to be a change of Saddam'." Elusive mystery By that time, all that was left of Iraq’s WMD programmes were reports, memories and ruined establishments. Hussain Kamil, who headed all Iraqi WMD programmes, had attested to that in his testimony to Hans Blix, who was in charge of UNSCOM in 1995. Kamil died in 1996 but his testimony was suppressed for another seven years. Kay, who is now in Baghdad, may soon be jarringly awakened to the reality of his sustained misinformation on Iraqi WMDs with the capture of Abid al-Hamid Mahmood Himood, Saddam’s most trusted secretary. Himood was in total charge of preventing the UN inspection teams from encroaching upon Saddam’s palaces and private spaces. He was privy to relevant communications with Iraqi officials during their encounters with UN inspection teams searching Iraq before 1998 and the rejuvenated inspections teams in the autumn of 2002. Himood will only be collaborating the claims of Amer al-Saadi, the chief scientific consultant to the Iraqi government who surrendered to the occupation forces in April 2003. Al-Saadi maintains that Iraq has had no WMDs for the past 10 years. Himood will confirm that this was in fact true. Kay has probably interrogated Himood by now. Kay cannot any longer claim to be stymied by the tricks and subterfuges of an intact Iraqi regime so expect him to produce ever more imaginative explanations for the mystery of the elusive Iraqi WMDs. Devastating economic sanctions When Denis Halliday, the courtly Irishman who spent 34 years with the UN, resigned in 1998 as the UN's Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq in protest at the effects of the embargo on the civilian population, he gave the following explanation: "...the policy of economic sanctions is totally bankrupt. We are in the process of destroying an entire society. It is as simple as that ... Five thousand children are dying every month ... I don't want to administer a programme that results in figures like these." "We have heard that half a million children have died [because of sanctions against Iraq]. I mean that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And - you know, is the price worth it?" The US secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, was asked this on 11 May 1996 in a “60 Minutes†programme in the US. She answered: "It is a very hard choice, but I think, we think, the price is worth it."

Guantánamo Bay - a human rights scandal Hypocrisy, an overarching war mentality and a disregard for basic human rights principles and international legal obligations continue to mark the USA's "war on terror". Serious human rights violations are the inevitable result. The detention camp at the US Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay in Cuba has become a symbol of the US administration’s refusal to put human rights and the rule of law at the heart of its response to the atrocities of 11 September 2001. Hundreds of people of around 35 different nationalities remain held in effect in a legal black hole, many without access to any court, legal counsel or family visits. As evidence of torture and widespread cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment mounts, it is more urgent than ever that the US Government bring the Guantánamo Bay detention camp and any other facilities it is operating outside the USA into full compliance with international law and standards. The only alternative is to close them down. In depth report It is over a year since the United States Supreme Court ruled that US courts have the jurisdiction to consider appeals from detainees in Guantánamo Bay. This report shows how the US administration, in seeking to block judicial review every step of the way, has ensured that not a single detainee has had the lawfulness of his detention judicially reviewed. And though over a year since the Abu Ghraib torture scandal broke, the conditions remain in place for torture and ill-treatment, in Guantánamo Bay and beyond, to occur. Read the full report Spotlight on Guantanámo Bay The brother of a Bahrani detainee in Guantánamo Bay: "If they have something they believe those people have done, they should be tried, and if they haven't, they should be released". http://web.amnesty.org/pages/guantanamobay-index-eng

What Fox News Channel Would Have Done to Rosa Parks Cenk Uygur Aug 12, 2005 Cindy Sheehan - in case you've been living in a box or you only watch the mainstream media - is the mom of slain Iraq War veteran Casey Sheehan. She is protesting in front of George Bush's Crawford ranch this month. This grieving mom has been characterized as a flip-flopper, accused of putting on a public circus, lambasted as a publicity seeking grandstander and criticized for not truly speaking for her family since an aunt and a godmother Matt Drudge found somewhere in the Sheehan family disagrees with her. The conservative attack machine is in high gear in the efforts to tear this woman down. That made me think of how it would have been in the Civil Rights era if Fox News Channel, Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge and the rest of the gang were around back then. O'Reilly: "Rosa Parks claims she speaks for all of the African-Americans in the South, but in fact, we have found two African-Americans who say they disagree with her. They say she's just trying to gain publicity and doesn't speak for anyone in her race. They would know, they're black." Hannity: "Could Rosa Parks be angling for a Senate run? What does she have to gain from her public stand? Coming up next, the incredible story of how this woman might be deceiving the whole country!" Drudge: "We have found three members of the Parks family who say that Rosa doesn't speak for them. That, in fact, they are very happy with the government of the state of Alabama. The uncle, step-brother-in-law and niece three-times removed all agree that the better route is a dignified, respectful silent deference to authority. Developing..." Limbaugh: "We have just found information that before Rosa Parks sat in the front of the bus, there were numerous times, she sat in the back of the bus! Ah ha! A flip-flopper!" Drudge: "More stories on Rosa Parks scandalous history of consistently sitting in the back of the bus before she changed her position and insisted she would only sit in the front of the bus. Developing..." Malkin: "I think I speak for the entire Parks family, and especially her children, when I say that they are so embarrassed by their mother who is making a public spectacle of herself." Hannity: "Rosa Parks has turned this whole so-called civil rights issue into a public circus. We have information that Ted Kennedy might have put her up to this. That amazing story when we come back!" Colmes: "You're right, Sean. I'm sorry." O'Reilly: "To question the government of Alabama and implicitly the entire United States government by defying the political order like this has to be considered treasonous. Civil disobedience is a code word for I hate America. These people are criminals, simple criminals. It's ridiculous that they think they don't have to live by the same rules as the rest of us." Scarborough: "Yeah, whatever they just said on Fox News Channel! Well... I mostly agree with it." Kaplan: "Can we hire Shep Smith to cover this? Maybe give him his own show?" Limbaugh: "What did I tell you folks? These libs like Parks would rather live in France where they can sit anywhere they want on the bus. They hate America. They want special privileges to be able to sit anywhere they want. They hide behind the color of their skin to try to undermine this country." Coulter: "Rosa Parks is a dyke!" Blitzer: "Dr. King, is it true that you support the liberal agitator Rosa Parks in her defiance of America? Can you confirm whether she has in fact sat in the back of the bus before? Do you think this makes her a flip-flopper? If she has been so inconsistent on this, how can we trust her on anything?" Drudge: "MY SOURCES TELL ME THAT THIS MIGHT BE THE FIRST TIME ROSA PARKS HAS EVER SAT IN THE FRONT OF THE BUS. A whole life of sitting in the back of the bus and now this woman claims all of a sudden she wants to sit in the front of the bus. Developing..." O'Reilly: "Unbelievable, just unbelievable. Ridiculous!" Hannity: "Incredible!" Scarborough: "What did they just say?" In Unison: "Flip-flopper! Flip-flopper! Flip-flopper!" Blitzer: "Ms. Parks left the bus in disgrace today after it was confirmed that some members of her family did not agree with her, she had ruined her credibility by working for the NAACP before the bus incident, and she had in fact sat in the back of the bus on previous occasions. Now back to the emotionally wrenching story of the girl missing in..."

Wednesday, October 26, 2005 By Jane Roh NEW YORK — The White House official who first identified the CIA officer at the heart of a yearslong leak investigation may have been Vice President Dick Cheney (search), sources close to the probe said. Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby (search), discussed Valerie Plame (search) with reporters and could be facing indictment as a special prosecutor's 22-month-long investigation nears its conclusion. But as first reported by the New York Times, notes of a conversation between Libby and his boss a month before Plame's name was made public indicate Libby learned about the CIA officer during a conversation with the vice president. The Times reported its sources were lawyers involved in the case. A separate source confirmed their account to FOX News. White House spokesman Scott McClellan on Tuesday repeated a phrase that's become very familiar to reporters, telling them he would not comment on "the investigation while it's ongoing." It would not likely have been a crime for Cheney and Libby to have discussed Plame, since both presumably possessed security clearances. But the revelation of the conversation, which was likely already well known by Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald (search) and comes mere days before possible criminal charges are expected, raises more questions than it answers. Among them: For what purpose did Cheney disclose Plame's identity to Libby? Was Cheney aware Libby apparently then discussed Plame with Karl Rove (search), President Bush's deputy chief of staff, and that both were talking about her with reporters? Did Cheney speak to reporters about Plame himself? Not all the sources in this case are known to the public. One of syndicated columnist Robert Novak's (search) sources is a mystery, as is the identity of the person who discussed Plame with Walter Pincus (search) of the Washington Post. New York Times reporter Judith Miller (search) said she "could not recall" who gave her Plame's name, which she misspelled as "Valerie Flame" in a notebook. The new development could mean Libby is at risk of perjury or obstruction charges, since it has been widely reported that he told a grand jury that he initially learned Plame's identity during conversations with journalists. The White House has been bracing itself for the end of Fitzgerald's probe, expected on Friday when the grand jury's term expires. Both Rove and Libby have been informed that they could face indictment. Fitzgerald, a U.S. prosecutor in Chicago, has been tasked with determining whether Plame's identity was leaked in order to discredit her husband, former Amb. Joseph C. Wilson. Wilson had traveled to Niger in a CIA-sponsored trip to check out allegations that Iraqi officials sought to purchase nuclear weapons materials there. Wilson wrote up his findings in a Times op-ed titled "What I Didn't Find in Africa." Wilson's report that the Iraq-Niger connection was dubious at best led to an embarrassing episode for Bush: the White House's retraction of 16 words in the 2003 State of the Union speech that were used to support the administration's decision to invade Iraq. Wilson was reportedly on the administration's radar as a potential troublemaker before Novak identified his wife, Plame, on July 14, 2003. According to Tuesday's Times report, Cheney learned Plame's identity in a conversation about her husband with then-CIA Director George Tenet. Wilson has been the subject of criticism himself. Libby and Rove apparently discussed Plame with reporters to wave them off Wilson's hints that Cheney's office had anything to do with his Niger trip. Defenders of the administration have said that Plame arranged her husband's trip, suggesting cronyism, but reports indicate she merely suggested him as qualified for the task. Tuesday's reports are the first indications that the vice president discussed Plame with aides. Since Fitzgerald last interviewed Cheney more than a year ago, the revelations could indicate that discrepancies between Cheney and Libby's testimony have surfaced. The contents of the memo also raise questions about a September 2003 Sunday talk show interview Cheney gave, in which he denied knowing Wilson and had "no idea who hired him." The Times reported that Cheney last gave testimony under oath a year ago. It is not yet known if he acknowledged speaking to Libby about Wilson's wife. McClellan dismissed the notion that Cheney was dishonest about his role in the leak. "I think it's a ridiculous question," he said. "The vice president, like the president, is a straightforward, plainspoken person." Before Tuesday, the only thing known about Libby's dealings with the grand jury was that he testified he first learned Plame's identity from other reporters. Most of the heat in this case had been on Rove, Bush's longtime adviser, who also discussed Plame with journalists. "I don't know whether it's a good day to be Karl Rove, but it's certainly taking the spotlight off him," said Michael Greenberger (search), director of the Center for Health and Homeland Security at the University of Maryland. "I still think Rove may have problems in things he told the grand jury that were inconsistent with later stories he told them. I certainly don't think he will rest easy until he hears he's not indicted." Greenberger said the last-minute revelation about Cheney might be an indication Fitzgerald has the case wrapped up. "Maybe there is some attempt going on now, if Libby is indicted, to turn him against the vice president," Greenberger said. "It appears what Fitzgerald has been trying to find out is whether Cheney set in motion an operation to try to leak the name of Valerie Plame." For several months, sources within the investigation have been telling reporters that it was unlikely anyone would be charged with violating a 1982 act that made it illegal to intentionally blow a covert U.S. agent's cover. Plame's undercover status has been the subject of debate, and testimony indicates there is little to prove Rove or Libby knew her identity was a secret. But Fitzgerald has reportedly been mulling other charges, possibly obstruction of justice in an investigation and conspiracy. That he is apparently waiting until the 11th hour to announce his findings has been the source of great tension and speculation in the Beltway. A former federal prosecutor who investigated national security matters for nearly three decades said Fitzgerald is just doing his duty by keeping details of the investigation top-secret. "The press has really been driving this story," said John L. Martin, now a consultant. "I don't know if we're seeing a tenth of the picture or half of it or even the whole picture. We just aren't even in a position to assess that," Martin said of media speculation. If Rove or Libby is indicted on anything, it is likely either or both would resign. While sitting presidents cannot be indicted, charges may be brought against sitting vice presidents. FOX News' Carl Cameron contributed to this report. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,173353,00.html

"The best way to honor the sacrifice of our fallen troops is to complete the mission" What Bush is really saying: "The best way to honor the sacrifice of our fallen troops is to kill more of your kids." October 25th, 2005 7:21 pm Bush: U.S. Must Brace for More Casualties Bush Warns Nation to Brace for Even Higher Casualty Count As Iraq Mission Continues By Deb Riechmann / Associated Press WASHINGTON - President Bush tried Tuesday to begin reviving U.S. support for the war in Iraq and reinvigorating his troubled presidency as the U.S. military death toll topped 2,000. "I know this is a trying time for our military spouses," Bush said at a Joint Armed Forces Officer Wives' luncheon at Bolling Air Force Base. "We've lost some of our nation's finest men and women in the war on terror." "And the best way to honor the sacrifice of our fallen troops is to complete the mission and lay the foundation of peace by spreading freedom," he said. A few hours after Bush spoke, the Pentagon announced a fatality that raised The Associated Press count of military fatalities in the Iraq war to 2,000. The Senate observed a moment of silence in honor of the fallen. "We owe them a deep debt of gratitude for their courage, for their valor, for their strength," Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said. Then, one-by-one, Democrats spoke on the Senate floor to memorialize the dead and criticize the president's Iraq policies. "Our armed forces are serving ably in Iraq under enormously difficult circumstances, and the policy of our government must be worthy of their sacrifice. Unfortunately, it is not, and the American people know it," said Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. Added Dick Durbin of Illinois: "Words of tribute are in order to honor the sacrifice of these brave men and women and their loved ones. But words are not enough. We owe them leadership and a clear strategy to bring our troops home with their mission truly accomplished." Outside the White House, peace activist Cindy Sheehan whose 24-year old son, Casey, died in Iraq last year said she and others plan to "die symbolically" there over the next four days to protest U.S. involvement in Iraq. MoveOn.org Political Action unveiled a new television ad that asks "How many more?" In his 45-minute speech on Iraq, the president hailed the announcement in Baghdad that an election 10 days ago resulted in the adoption of a new constitution. There were some allegations of fraud in the Oct. 15 referendum, but election officials said the voting was fair. The charter is considered a major step, clearing the way for the election of a new, full-term parliament on Dec. 15. Such steps are important in any decision about the future withdrawal of U.S.-led forces. "Iraqis are making inspiring progress toward building a democracy," Bush said. Public support for Bush's handling of Iraq is at its lowest point, 37 percent, roughly where it has been since early August, according to AP-Ipsos polling. Bush's approval rating also is being weighed down by a special prosecutor's inquiry into the leak of a CIA operative's name, the rocky Supreme Court nomination of White House counsel Harriet Miers, high gas prices, hurricane reconstruction costs and declining consumer confidence. The president's schedule this week tracks these topics: An economic speech in Washington on Wednesday, a tour of hurricane damage in Florida on Thursday and a speech on the war on terror Friday in Norfolk, Va. Bush, who contends that setting a date for troop withdrawal would aid the enemy's cause, said that to fight Islamic radicals, the U.S. must work to prevent terrorist attacks before they occur, keep weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of "outlaw regimes" and deny radical groups the support and sanctuary of such governments. "State sponsors like Syria and Iran have a long history of collaboration with terrorists and they deserve no patience from the victims of terror," he said. "The United States makes no distinction between those who commit acts of terror and those who support and harbor them. Any government that chooses to be an ally of terror has chosen to be an enemy of civilization and the civilized world must hold those regimes to account." Bush sought to emphasize Iraq's progress in a second event of the day, appearing in the Oval Office beside Massoud Barzani, the president of the autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq. The two stood to offer reporters and photographers a view of Barzani's traditional Kurdish outfit a khaki jacket tucked into matching, loosely pleated pants adorned by a knotted sash at his waist and a red-and-white headdress. "It wasn't all that long ago if he had of worn this outfit and was captured by Saddam Hussein's thugs he would have been killed for wearing it," Bush said. "He feels comfortable wearing it here because we're a free land. He feels comfortable wearing it in his home country because Iraq is free."

Tuesday, October 25th, 2005 C.D. in D.C. 2000, Why? Not One More A message from Cindy Sheehan Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the State becomes lawless and corrupt. Mahatma Gandhi Unfortunately the 2000th American death in Iraq is tragically coming up too soon. In addition to the wasted young lives in Iraq, 246 of our brave men and women have been killed in Afghanistan. Our troops and the war in Afghanistan get even less attention than Iraq, if possible. I am in Washington, DC now and along with a coalition of peace groups and local activists, we will be holding vigils at the White House for the rest of the week from 12 noon to 8 PM. Each day we will be passing out black wrist bands and we will have each person who picks one up write a KIA troops' name and number on it. Each wrist band will also stand for 50 innocent Iraqis killed. Everyday at 6 PM we will have a "die-in." We will ask everyone who is present at 6 PM to lie down and represent a dead soldier. At that point, the park police will give us 3 warnings before they arrest us. We are not encouraging people; to get arrested is a very personal decision. I am planning to not get up on the day after the 2000th soldier is killed. I may be arrested. Then when they let me out, I will go back and lie back down. We in America have let this criminal administration get away with murder for too long. Enough is enough. It's time to start practicing non-violent civil disobedience (C.D.) on a large scale. On Tuesday the 25th we will be fasting for the length of the vigil in solidarity with the hardships that Americans and Iraqis are enduring on a daily basis. We are asking America to fast in solidarity with us. On Wednesday the 26th at 10:30 AM, we will be going to Arlington Cemetery to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Then to the White House for our vigil. On Thursday the 27th at 10:30 AM we will be delivering a wreath and signed sympathy cards to the Iraqi Embassy. We are asking people who come out to our vigil on the Lafayette Park side to bring sympathy cards. Then to the White House for our vigil. On Friday the 28th at 10:30 AM we will be delivering flowers and get well wishes to Walter Reed Hospital and we are asking people to bring get well cards to our vigil. Then off to the White House for our vigil. Tomorrow I will be calling on President Bush to answer my original question: "What Noble Cause?" There is absolutely no noble cause. Our children and the Iraqi people are dying and suffering for no cause except for power and money greedy criminals. The numbers are staggering. More American soldiers have been KIA in the first 32 months of Iraq so far then in the first 4 years of Vietnam. This isn't another Vietnam people, this is worse. We cannot allow the people who are running our country to keep on running it into the ground. It is time to exercise our sacred duty as human beings. Let's get peacefully radical. http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=526

Happy now, racist neokkkon losers?? Former NAACP member.. Civil rights icon... I know how much you hate those words. I know how much you hate anyone whose skin isn't as pearly white as yours. I know you're glad Rosa Parks is dead. Admit it. Civil Rights Icon Parks Dies Published On Wednesday, October 26, 2005 1:49 AM By MADELINE W. LISSNER Contributing Writer Rosa Parks, the renowned civil rights icon, died of natural causes on Monday in her home in Detroit, Mich. She was 92. When Rosa Parks refused to move, a whole movement began. Park’s refusal to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Ala. bus sparked the influential 1960s civil rights movement. Her arrest in 1955 provoked the 381-day bus boycott in Montgomery, led by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Following the boycott, the United States government instituted the 1964 federal Civil Rights Act, which banned racial discrimination in public spaces. Parks has long been remembered in history as one of the pioneers in the civil rights movement. Although Parks was only a 42 year-old seamstress, her act is well-known by children and scholars alike. “I actually cried when I saw the news [of Parks’ death]. Rosa Parks is one of those titanic heroines that is rare in human history, a woman who seems by all means and standards [to have] lived a life of exceeding integrity and humility,” said Timothy P. McCarthy ’93, a residential tutor in Quincy and lecturer in History and Literature and a coauthor of The Radical Reader, a book documenting the history of the American radical tradition. McCarthy said that Parks will long be remembered as an example for how to live ones life on a daily basis. “Rosa Parks represents the power that is inherent in each individual person to change society for the better,” said McCarthy. “It does not require a social movement to create social change.” The nation recognized Park’s contribution to society in 1996 when she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an award to outstanding civilians, and in 1999 when she received the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Her hometown of Detroit, Mich. also named a street in her honor. “I think she’ll be remembered in many ways, perhaps most profoundly as an ordinary citizen who helped the nation take an extraordinary step to greater justice,” said Christopher Stone ’78, Guggenheim Professor of the Practice of Criminal Justice at the Kennedy School of Government. Yesterday, President Bush recognized Roses’ contribution to American history and the 20th century. Although the Harvard Black Students Association (BSA) said that they have not yet had an opportunity to discuss how they will commemorate Parks, they recognized her impact in history. According to BSA Political Action Chair Chaz M. Beasley ’08, “I think Rosa Parks had a tremendous impact on the black community not only at Harvard but everywhere. She was one of the guiding lights and guiding forces in the civil rights movement.” Later in her life, Parks devoted her attention to young people and developing their leadership qualities. “She was such a beacon of faith and hope for young people who are struggling,” said http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=509380

http://www.worldcantwait.org/media/TheLeashx.wmv

OWNED!! Lawmaker DeLay goes to court on finance charges Fri Oct 21, 2005 12:08 PM ET By Jeff Franks AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Rep. Tom DeLay appeared in court on Friday to face campaign-finance charges, but the session was cut short by his lawyer's argument that the judge is a Democrat who cannot give a fair trial to the former second-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives. State District Judge Bob Perkins said he would ask another judge to rule on a motion filed on Thursday by DeLay attorney Dick DeGuerin. The motion asks that Perkins step aside from the case on the grounds that he gave money to Democratic candidates and the activist group MoveOn.org. "It seems to me this is going to be a continuing issue when there's a Democratic judge and Republican defendant," Perkins said. DeLay was once one of the nation's most powerful politicians, nicknamed "The Hammer" for his iron-fisted control of House Republicans, but now is an indicted felon fighting aggressively for his political life. He strode into the heavily secured courtroom with a smile on his face and wife Christine by his side. Because of the abbreviated hearing, he did not stand before the judge to hear the charges against him or make any statements in court. Afterward, he went to the nearby Texas Capitol, and with it as a backdrop, repeated that he is not guilty of a crime and only the victim of a Democratic political vendetta. "I have been charged for defeating Democrats," a defiant DeLay said. "I have been charged for advancing the Republican agenda." He and colleagues Jim Ellis and John Colyandro have been indicted by state grand juries in Austin for conspiracy and money laundering in a campaign-finance plan conducted through DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority political action committee, or TRMPAC. They are accused of laundering $190,000 in corporate campaign contributions through the Republican National Committee for distribution to Republican candidates for the Texas Legislature. Texas law forbids the use of corporate money in political campaigns. DeLay faces a sentence as long as life in prison if convicted. TARGETED DeLay said he has been targeted by Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, a Democrat, because TRMPAC's activities helped Republicans take control of the Texas Legislature for the first time since the post-Civil War Reconstruction era. The legislature, under guidance from DeLay, then conducted a controversial remapping of Texas congressional districts and added five Republicans to the U.S. House. DeGuerin, one of Texas' most prominent defense attorneys, told reporters after the hearing that Perkins had contributed to MoveOn.org and to Democratic candidates since the case came into his court a year ago. He complained to Perkins that MoveOn.org was selling T-shirts of DeLay's mug shot taken on Thursday when he turned himself into police in Houston after an arrest warrant was issued. DeLay, who was fingerprinted and put up bail of $10,000, is smiling broadly in the mug shot for police files. The judge, DeGuerin complained, had "supported people who are in opposition to Congressman DeLay." Perkins told DeGuerin he had not seen or bought the T-shirt and had contributed to MoveOn.org only ahead of last year's presidential election. DeLay, who represents a Houston-area district, was indicted on September 28 and, as required by House Republican rules, resigned as majority leader. He was allowed to keep his congressional seat. Along with the TRMPAC investigation, DeLay has been criticized in the past year for ethics problems involving lobbyists, fund-raising and foreign travel. http://today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2005-10-21T160752Z_01_ROB155989_RTRUKOC_0_US-POLITICS-DELAY.xml

:lol3: Translation: Have a shitty weekend.

Translation:

BUSH, HITLER. . . AND YOU Revolution #019, October 23, 2005, posted at revcom.us "People look at all this and think of Hitler--and they are right to do so. The Bush regime is setting out to radically remake society very quickly, in a fascist way, and for generations to come. We must act now; the future is in the balance." From the Call for November 2 If you had gone to sleep five years ago and woken up today, you’d be shocked to find that a president had come to power without winning the election and that: The U.S. was in a bloody occupation of Iraq, after an illegal war justified by lies, that had already cost 100,000 lives; The White House had dismissed the Geneva Conventions as "quaint" and had threatened to veto a bill that would outlaw the torture of prisoners of war; The President had the right to detain anyone, indefinitely and without a trial or even charges, if he merely said that person might be a "terrorist"; A mass movement aiming for theocracy and actively enforcing religious dogma in the public sphere was riding high and had systematically put its people into many positions of military, judicial, and political power; Free inquiry had been stifled in the media and was rapidly being suppressed in academia; There was an aggressive, unapologetic demonization of immigrants, Muslims, gay people, Black people and anyone else who stood in the way of this fascist vision of a "new normalcy"; Women were being shoved back into traditional roles, with even the right to abortion in serious danger. Well, you didn’t go to sleep . . . but it is time to wake up. It’s all going on now and it has to be stopped. No, American fascism is not goose-stepping down our streets in funny mustaches. But the bedrock convictions, the inner logic, and the compulsions driving it forward are just as serious and deadly as what went down in Germany. And the people in power now--the Bush Regime-- are hell-bent on this course. Hitler achieved power in January of 1933. But it would be another eight years before he set the "final solution"--the death camps--into motion. In other words, there is a process by which people are led down a path. WE MUST STOP THAT PROCESS NOW. How much further does it have to go before you recognize it for what it is, and act? Yes, it will take a huge struggle to stop and reverse the horrific direction of U.S. society under the Bush regime. You are not going to "pendulum-swing" your way out of that. But there IS a way. It begins with facing reality, resisting, and mobilizing others to resist. And it takes a leap on November 2, with thousands and tens of thousands marching through the streets, demanding: THE WORLD CAN’T WAIT! DRIVE OUT THE BUSH REGIME! MOBILIZE NOVEMBER 2 Download PDF version

AND DIE If you really want to impress me, go to Baghdad. Translation: Nazi.

You better hide before they come for you.

POLITICS-IRAQ: Vote Figures for Crucial Province Don't Add Up Analysis by Gareth Porter* WASHINGTON, Oct 19 (IPS) - The early vote totals from Nineveh province, which suggested an overwhelming majority in favour of Iraq's draft constitution that assured its passage by national referendum, now appear to have been highly misleading. The final official figures for the province, obtained by IPS from a U.S. official in Mosul, actually have the constitution being rejected by a fairly wide margin, but less than the two-thirds majority required to defeat it outright. Both the initial figures and the new vote totals raise serious questions about the credibility of the reported results in Nineveh. A leading Sunni political figure has already charged that the Nineveh vote totals have been altered. According to the widely cited preliminary figures announced by the spokesman for the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) in Nineveh, 326,000 people voted for the constitution and 90,000 against. Those figures were said to be based on results from more than 90 percent of the 300 polling stations in the province. Relying on those "unofficial" figures, the media reported that the constitution appeared to have been passed -- on the assumption that the Sunnis had failed to muster the necessary two-thirds "no" vote in Nineveh. No further results have been released by the IECI since then, and the final tally from the national referendum is not expected until Friday at the earliest. However, according to the U.S. military liaison with the IECI in Nineveh, Maj. Jeffrey Houston, the final totals for the province were 424,491 "no" votes and 353,348 "yes" votes. This means that the earlier figures actually represented only 54 percent of the official vote total -- not 90 percent, as the media had been led to believe. And the votes which had not been revealed earlier went against the constitution by a ratio more than 12 to 1. These ballots could only have come from the Sunni sections of Mosul, a city of 1.7 million people. Although the votes from polling centres in those densely populated urban areas would take longer to count than those from more sparsely populated towns and cities outside Mosul, they should not have taken much longer than those for the Kurdish sections of Mosul. Thus there seems to be no logistical reason for failing to announce the results for the 340,000 votes that went overwhelmingly against the constitution. Rather, the evidence suggests that it was a deliberate effort to mislead the media by Kurdish and Shiite political leaders who were intent on ensuring that the constitution would pass. They knew that all eyes would be on Nineveh as the province where the referendum would be decided. By issuing figures that appeared to show that the vote in Nineveh was a runaway victory for the constitution, they not only shaped the main story line in the media that the constitution had already passed, but effectively discouraged any further media curiosity about the vote in that province. The final figures revealed by the U.S. military liaison with the IECI suggest a voter turnout in Nineveh that strains credibility. On a day when Sunni turnout reached 88 percent in Salahuddin province and 90 percent in Fallujah, a total of only 778,000 votes -- about 60 percent of the eligible voters -- in Nineveh appears anomalous. Even if the turnout in the province had only been 70 percent, the total would have been 930,000. The final vote totals suggest that the Sunnis, who clearly voted with near unanimity against the constitution, are a minority in the province. It is generally acknowledged that Sunnis constitute a hefty majority of the population of Nineveh, although Kurdish leaders have never conceded that fact. A total of 350,000 votes for the constitution in the province is questionable based on the area's ethnic-religious composition. The final vote breakdown for the January election reveals that the Kurds and Shiites in Nineveh had mustered a combined total of only 130,000 votes for Kurdish and Shiite candidates, despite high rates of turnout for both groups. To have amassed 350,000 votes for the constitution, they would have had to obtain overwhelming support from the non-Kurdish, non-Arab minorities in the province. According to official census data, before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Assyrian Christians and Sunni Arabs accounted 46 percent of the more than 350,000 people on the Nineveh plain. Most of the others are Shabaks and Yezidis. Kurds represented just 6 percent of the population. But the Kurds have asserted political control over the towns and villages of the plains, with a heavy Kurdish paramilitary and Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) presence. That Kurdish presence provoked widespread opposition and some public protests among non-Kurdish communities on the plains, especially Christians and Shabaks. Assyrian Christians are particularly afraid the constitution's article 135, which divides the Christian community into Chaldeans and Assyrians, will be used by Kurds to expropriate their lands and villages in North Iraq. Michael Youash, director of the Iraq Sustainable Democracy Project in Washington, has spoken with Assyrian Christian leaders in two district towns, Bakhdeda and BarTilla, on the Nineveh plain where Christians represent roughly half the combined total population of more than 100,000 people. He says Assyrian Christian political organisations mounted big demonstrations against the constitution in both towns, and that their local leaders are sure that very high percentages in both towns voted against the constitution. In response to an e-mail query, Maj. Houston, the U.S. military liaison with the IECI, said, "It was my understanding that the Christian communities would be opposed to the constitution," but he dismissed the suspicions of vote fraud in the province. Saleh al-Mutlek, one of the Sunni negotiators on the constitution last summer and now a leading opponent of the constitution, told reporters, "There is a scheme to alter the results" of the vote. He alleged that members of the Iraqi National Guard had seized ballot boxes from a polling station in Mosul and transferred them to a governorate office controlled by Kurds. A former U.S. military liaison with the Nineveh province IECI has confirmed a similar incident of seizure of ballot boxes from a polling station during the January elections. According to Maj. Anthony Cruz, Kurdish militiamen tried to bribe local electoral commission staff to accept ballots that had obviously been tampered with. Cruz also confirmed a much larger ballot-stuffing scheme by Kurdish officials in the province, as reported by IPS in September. On Monday, the Electoral Commission announced that it would conduct an audit to examine the high "yes" vote, but it is not clear that it will include the results in Nineveh. *Gareth Porter is an historian and national security policy analyst. His latest book, "Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam", was published in June. (END/2005) http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30692

Hold your horses. Don't count your chickens before they hatch. Posted on Wed, Oct. 19, 2005 Results from Iraq vote delayed By MARIAM FAM The Associated Press BAGHDAD, Iraq — Final results from Iraq’s landmark referendum on a new constitution will likely not be announced until Friday at the earliest because of delays getting counts to the capital and a wide-ranging audit of an unexpectedly high number of “yes” votes, election officials said. The returns have raised questions over the possibility of irregularities in the balloting. With the delays, the outcome of the crucial referendum will remain up in the air possibly into next week, at a time when the government had hoped to move public attention to a new milestone: the start of the trial of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein today. Meanwhile, insurgent attacks began to heat up again after being nearly silent on referendum day Saturday, when polling stations were heavily protected across the country. A U.S. soldier was shot and killed in Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, early Tuesday, the military said. In fighting in western Iraq, two U.S. Marines and four militants were killed Monday near the town of Rutba, not far from the Jordanian border, the military said. At least 1,980 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. Gunmen killed the deputy governor of Anbar province, Talib Ibrahim, spraying his car with automatic weapons fire in Ramadi and wounding two of his bodyguards, police said. Anbar, the vast western Sunni region, is the main battleground between insurgents and U.S.-Iraqi forces. Also Tuesday, an Internet statement released in the name of al Qaeda in Iraq denounced Arab League plans to stage a reconciliation conference among all Iraq’s factions. The Arab League plans to hold a reconciliation conference at its Cairo headquarters but a date has not been set. League Secretary-General Amr Moussa is expected to travel to Iraq on Thursday, his first visit since Saddam’s ouster, to try to organize it. http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/nation/12937913.htm

October 19th, 2005 2:23 pm Student ad triggers debate Some say Warwick High sophomore's ad 'undercuts the military' By Mike Dawson / Times Herald-Record Warwick – If creating a buzz is rule No. 1 in advertising, then an anonymous Warwick Valley High School sophomore has a bright future. Set on a backdrop of neat rows of tombstones, a full-page ad in October's The Survey, Warwick Valley High School's monthly student-run newspaper, reads: You can't be all that you can be if you're dead. There are other ways to serve your country. There are other ways to get money for college. There are other ways to be all you can be. THINK ABOUT IT. Before you sign your life away." The ad was created and paid for by a Warwick student who is a member of the Bruderhof community, a Christian-based communal order in Sugar Loaf that preaches pacifism. And since appearing last week, the ad has sparked controversy in the school district and the community and provoked lively First Amendment debates among students and teachers in the classroom. The ad was approved by the school's journalism teacher and faculty adviser for The Survey, Denise Markt, and Randy Barbarash, the school's principal. "I knew the ad would be controversial, but we felt it had a place in our publication as a matter of free speech," Barbarash said. "It has definitely been the source of some lively discussion in the classrooms." Chris Zimmerman, a member of the Bruderhof community, said the order, while it supports the student's effort and the ad's message, played no role in the ad's creation or placement. Calling it a political ad with religious ties, some parents, faculty members and students say the ad undercuts those serving in the military and shouldn't have appeared in a tax-funded public school newspaper. Many opposed to the ad noted the school's "Wall of Honor," which displays photos and names of about 20 recent Warwick graduates currently serving in the military, many of whom are in Iraq or Afghanistan. Maggie Adams, the Warwick High nurse, who has two sons who graduated from Warwick and are serving in the Marines, said she was outraged when she first saw the ad and has written a letter to the editor of The Survey. "I understand the right to free speech and I support that. But I don't think it's appropriate for a school newspaper," Adams said. "I refuse to believe what the ad says. I refuse to believe those people who choose to join the military, like my two sons, are wasting their lives." Army Capt. William Bliss, in charge of recruiting at Warwick High, said the ad was misleading and the Army is exploring placing some of its own ads in The Survey. "It's disappointing when you see something that blatantly attacks what you do and what you believe in a school newspaper," Bliss said. "But it's free speech, ideas and thoughts like that, whether you agree or not, the military is fighting to protect." The ad cost $50 and was part of a year-long buy totaling $450. The student was planning to create a string of different ads on various subjects for the year. While Barbarash said administrators have yet to determine if the controversial ad would run again, Zimmerman said the student has been told by school officials the district was pulling the ad for future issues. Zimmerman said the Bruderhof community supports veterans, the military and the government, but also democratic dissent. "The ad wasn't meant to create hate or anger," Zimmerman said. "It was to get people to think and discuss and it seems to be doing just that." http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/10/18/dad18.htm

Coronated whore.

If you want to impress me, go to Baghdad.

Saturday, October 15th, 2005 Supporting Hillary ...a message from Cindy Sheehan I would love to support Hillary for President if she would come out against the travesty in Iraq. But I don't think she can speak out against the occupation, because she supports it. I will not make the mistake of supporting another pro-war Democrat for president again: As I won't support a pro-war Republican. This country wants this occupation to end. The world wants the occupation to end. People in Iraq want this occupation to end. Senator Clinton: taking the peace road would not prove you are weak. Instead, it would prove that you are the strongest and wisest candidate. As a mom, as an American, as a patriot: I implore you to have the strength and courage to lead the fight for peace. I want to support you, I want to work for you, but like many American moms, I will resist your candidacy with every bit of my power and strength unless you show us the wisdom it takes to be a truly great leader. Prove that you are "passionate" and reflect our nations' values and refusal to support imperialism, greed and torture. Senator Clinton: come out against this occupation of Iraq. Not because it is the politically expedient thing to do but because it is the humane thing to do. If you want to make Casey's sacrifice count, bring the rest of his buddies home alive. *** I did meet with Sen. Clinton, along with Sen. Harry Reid, on September 22, 2005. No one has asked me how it went with Sen. Reid, but I've been asked about my meeting with Sen. Clinton many times. A few days earlier in Brooklyn, I had referred to her as waiting for a politically "expedient" moment to speak out against the war in Iraq. I, of course, think that this tactic is wrong, because politics has nothing to do with the slaughter going on in Iraq. No one asked the almost 2000 Americans and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis who have been killed what political party they were rooting for. When a mother receives the news that her son or daughter has been killed for lies she never thinks "Oh no, how could this have happened? I am a Democrat (Republican)!!!" Playing politics with our soldiers' lives is despicable. I thought the meeting with Sen. Clinton went well. I thought she listened and heard what we had to say. I went with another Gold Star Mother, Lynn Braddach, and my sister, Dede Miller. After Sen. Reid left, Mrs. Clinton stayed for a few more moments and she told us that she had met with the other Gold Star Mothers who had a different view from ours. I said it didn't really matter, because our view is right. Lynn, Dede, and I don't want our loved ones to be used as political pawns to justify the killing spree in Iraq. I can't believe any mother who has had her heart and soul torn out would wish that on another mother. How often do the lies have to be exposed before every American (elected official, media representative, average citizen) wakes up and says, "enough killing is enough!" I thought Mrs. Clinton listened, but apparently she didn't because immediately afterwards she said the following to Sarah Ferguson of the Village Voice: "My bottom line is that I don't want their sons to die in vain... I don't believe it's smart to set a date for withdrawal... I don't think it's the right time to withdraw." That quote sounds exactly like what the few Republicans I talked to that week said. Making sure that our children did not die in "vain" sounds exactly like something George Bush says. A "date" for withdrawal? That sounds like Rush Limbaugh to me. That doesn't sound like an opposition party leader speaking to me. What Sen. Clinton said after our meeting sounds exactly like the Republican Party talking points I heard from Senators Dole and McCain. Sen. Clinton is in California today to raise money for her political campaigns. An invitation to one star-studded gala reads: "We must stand with Senator Clinton as she stands up for what we believe in. Hillary is and always has been our champion in the White House and the Senate." And she's one of the "strongest, most passionate and intelligent Democrats." I didn't get an invitation to any of the events, but maybe it's because she doesn't stand up for what I believe in. I don't believe in continuing this occupation of Iraq and I don't believe in killing more of our soldiers because my son has already been needlessly and tragically killed. I don't believe she is passionate. I think she is a political animal who believes she has to be a war hawk to keep up with the big boys. She is intelligent, there's no doubt about that. However, I believe that the intelligent thing for Democrats to do for 2006 and 2008 would be to come out strongly and correctly against the botched, bungled, illegal, and immoral occupation of Iraq. 62% of Americans now believe that this war is based on lies and betrayals and want our troops to start coming home. 53% of Americans want our troops to come home immediately. The last time I looked, Democrats did not comprise 62% of our population. Americans oppose this war in overwhelming numbers and it crosses party lines. Because America can see that the war in Iraq has fueled terrorism and has made the world and our country less secure. America can see that the murder of innocents is not a "right and left" issue, it is a "right and wrong" issue. Sixty-nine of our best and brightest have been sent meaninglessly and unnecessarily to their premature deaths since I met with Mrs. Clinton on September 22nd. Sixty-nine mothers and fathers and who knows how many spouses, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, cousins, and friends have been meaninglessly and unnecessarily sent into tailspins of grief and emptiness since that meeting. We all know that Sen. Clinton, along with many other Representatives and Senators voted to give George Bush the authority to invade a sovereign nation that was no threat to the USA. We know that they spinelessly abrogated their constitutional responsibility and duty to declare war. We (and most of them) know that voting to give an irresponsible person authority to wage war was a devastating mistake. But I know that knowing all of that will not bring my son or almost 2000 other Americans back and it won't bring back that nation's war dead, either. http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=519