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| Dubya Tops List of Biggest Presidential Liars on "The Mendacity Index" |
| 08.31.03 (7:29 am) [edit] |
Dubya tops the list of the biggest presidential liars in recent history, according to a survey done by "The Washington Monthly" on http://www.washingtonmonthly.... .
"The Mendacity Index: Which president told the biggest whoppers?" was a survey comprising both conservative and liberal journalists and historians, who were asked to rank the most serious lies told by the last four presidents: Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush 41, William J. Clinton, and George W. Bush 43.
Their guidelines: "To come up with our Mendacity Index, we asked a nominating committee of noted journalists and pundits to pick the most serious fibs, deceptions, and untruths spoken by each of the four most recent presidents. We selected the top six for each commander-in-chief, then presented the list to a panel of judges with longtime experience in Washington. Panel members were instructed to rate each deception on a scale of 1 (least serious) to 5 (most serious). Then we averaged the scores for each deception and for each president. We believe their validity rests somewhere between the Periodic Table and the U.S. News & World Report college rankings." (Probably true, as Bush 43's mendacity resulting in the never-ending massacre of thousands in his illegal & immoral incursion into Iraq, warrants a rating "off-the-charts", as the most criminal deception in recent history!)
Visit the site and you can take the survey yourself. You will also discover the mendacity indices of the other presidents who lost out to Bush 43, and find out for yourself who was deemed the least dishonest!
George W. Bush's Overall Mendacity Rating = 3.6
(Some of us think Bush deserves a Mendacity Rating of 1,000,000!)
The Trifecta.
On many occasions during 2001 and 2002, President Bush talked about a campaign promise made in Chicago that he would only deficit spend "if there is a national emergency, if there is a recession, or if there's a war," sometimes adding, after 9/11, "Never did I dream we'd have a trifecta." Reporters pressed the Bush's communications staff to prove that Bush had actually made such a statement during the 2000 campaign, but the White House couldn't turn up any proof. Bush continued to insist he'd made the promise. Score = 2.9
Cutting AmeriCorps.
In his 2002 State of the Union Address, President Bush made AmeriCorps the centerpiece of his new, post-9/11 service agenda, promising to expand the program's roster by 50 percent in order that Americans might serve "goals larger than self." But in 2003, he signed legislation that cut the program's operating budget by 30 percent. This year, AmeriCorps has half as many members as it did in 2001. Score = 3.9
Going to War.
During a visit to West Virginia in January 2002, Bush joked, "I've been to war. I've raised twins. If I had a choice, I'd rather go to war." During the Vietnam War, however, Bush served with the Air National Guard in Texas, and had specifically noted on his Air Force officers test that he did not wish to serve overseas. Score = 3.1
16 Words.
In making the case for a U.S. invasion of Iraq, President Bush stated in early 2003, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." Yet the CIA had itself previously warned top White House officials and British intelligence that the reports of an Iraqi attempt to buy uranium from African countries were almost certainly untrue, and no nuclear program nor weapons of mass destruction have yet been found in Iraq. Score = 4.5
"Average" Tax Cuts.
Announcing his second big tax cut package in January 2003, Bush stated that "These tax reductions will bring real and immediate benefits to middle-income Americans. Ninety-two million Americans will keep an average of $1,083 more of their own money." But because the package was tilted heavily towards the very wealthy, the average tax cut for households in the middle quintile of the income spectrum was only $217, according to the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. Score = 3.6
What WMDs?
In May 2003, President Bush stated, "We found the weapons of mass destruction." U.S. forces have yet to find any evidence of chemical, nuclear, or biological weapons in Iraq. Score = 3.8
Sorry, Dubya, but apparently, much to the surprise of your "Brain" Karl Rove, You Can't Fool "We the People" All of the Time!
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| The Neo-Relevant United Nations is Now Needed to Clean-Up the Bush Regime's Fiasco in Iraq! |
| 08.31.03 (7:14 am) [edit] |
It would seem that the United Nations is far from being as "irrelevant" as the Bush Regime so dishonestly implied, when they were unable to coerce the Security Council into supporting an illegal and immoral incursion into a sovereign nation that represented no threat to any other country. Now that the Bush Regime's "post-war" plan has proved to be a disastrous, bloody & extravagantly costly fiasco, the very "relevant" United Nations is called upon to clean-up Bush's bungled mess.
For many weeks, Republican and Democratic Congressmen, Middle-east and State Department experts alike, have all called upon the Bush Gang, to ask the United Nations, with their expertise in building governmental institutions to provide assistance in Iraq.
The Bush Regime have foolishly refused wise counsel, most probably, for the following major reasons:
1. The arrogant "chicken-hawk" Rummy Rumsfeld told everyone what "geniuses" (ha!) himself & Wolfy Wolfowitz are, and that they could go-it-alone, as they are truly "arm-chair" macho-men. Perish the thought, that Rummy & Wolfy must share the decision-making with others, and it's unthinkable that they might not continue to hog all the media celebrity they've relished and clearly enjoyed, while over 330 US & British Soldiers and over 7000 innocent Iraqi civilians have been unconscionably massacred.
2. Bush's, Cheney's and Rice's paymasters: Halliburton, Bechtel, Carlyle Group, Lockheed Martin, Big Oil, and the other corporate robber-barons don't want to share a "piece-of-the-action" with anyone else. These greedy ghouls are lining their pockets with gold (hundreds of billions of dollars), from the deaths, maiming, injury & misery of Americans and Iraqis who must pay with their lives and in treasure.
Meanwhile the corporate "top dogs" & "fat cats", and the richest-of-the-rich also made out with massive tax cuts (welfare for the rich), along with their immoral war profiterring to live the Belle Epoque, while the rest of us bear the brunt of the back-breaking burden and heart-breaking bloodshed.
Please refer to "The Price of Freedom in Iraq and Power in Washington", by Ceara Donnelley and William D. Hartung, by the World Policy Institute on http://www.worldpolicy.org/pr... .
3. Karl Rove (Bush's Brain) was hoping beyond all reasoned hope, that the bloody, tragic guerrilla quagmire would pass, and that he could plan on staging more "Top Gun" photo-op circus acts, like the disgusting display by Bush aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on 1st May, which has now become a garish, tinny & cruel joke.
Now America is faced with record-level deficits and debts far into the future, created by a Republican (sic?) Spend-Spend-and-Spend President and his cabal, who waged an unnecessary war in Iraq to enable them to carry-out their corrupt "bait-and-switch" tax cuts for the corporations & rich, which would have otherwise been debated in the public sphere.
What is the status report to-date?
- More killed in Iraq since Bush declared "Mission Accomplished", with a death toll of 330 US & British Soldiers and over 7000 innocent Iraqi civilians-- and no end in sight to the killings. [Refs. "CNN: US & Coalition/Casulaties" on http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2... and "Iraq Body Count" on http://www.iraqbodycount.net/... ]
- Over $71 billion squandered in Iraq thus far, and an exorbitant price tag of $4 billion per month-- and no end in sight to the spending spree to enrich the Bush Regime's corporate paymasters. [Refs. "Cost of War in Iraq" on http://www.costofwar.com/ ]
- Federal tax cuts that will create a $5 trillion deficit in the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office; but not for the richest Americans-- and no end in sight to the higher costs of oil, fuel, goods & services, as well as local & state taxes, that will hit hard the poor, lower economic, middle-class & fixed-income retirees. [Ref: "Study says deficit could soar" by Stephen J. Glain on http://www.boston.com/news/na... ]
L. Paul Bremer, who made a shameful propaganda tour with Wolfy Wolfowitz a few weeks ago, claiming that all was rosy in Iraq, and that our US Soldiers and Iraqi people were tickled-pink; is now saying that the billions Bush is recklessly squandering in Iraq won't be enough.
In "Iraq set to swallow up countless billions as costs soar, US admits", by Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington and Jamie Wilson in Baghdad, they report on http://www.guardian.co.uk/Ira...,2763,1030528,00.html :
"In an interview with the Washington Post, the head of the occupation authority, Paul Bremer, said it would require a huge undertaking and countless billions to rebuild the infrastructure and economy. It is estimated that it will cost $2bn to meet the current demand for electricity, and $16bn to deliver drinking water."
Countless billions? ... Countless billions? ... My goodness, now it's countless billions! ... "We the People" weren't told anything about countless billions, prior to the Bush cabal launching their "fun-and-games" incursion into Iraq! (We were told that a war was needed to protect us against an "imminent threat" of attack by Saddam Hussein using massive tons of WMDs and, a nuclear "mushroom cloud" wiping millions of us out! ... All Bush Lies, Deceit & Corruption!)
"We the People" must surely recognize that the staggering $6.7 trillion national debt, that the Bush Regime has wantonly increased due to their obscene tax cuts and greedy spending on behalf of corporations to the tune of a $480 billion deficit in 2003, and $1.9 trillion deficit by the end of 2004, demonstrates a callous disregard for the health and well-being of the United States of America and the rest of the world.
Congress must be called upon to do their duty, and investigate into the Bush Regime's lies, deceptions & corruptions, in leading this country into an illegal & immoral incursion into Iraq to enrich their corporate cronies. Moreover, we citizens should do our duty and oust the corrupt Bushies in 2004, for having, in their hubris, created such havoc and misery here at home and abroad.
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| U.S.A. Leads the World in Traffic Fatalities: Death Toll of 42,815 People and Rising |
| 08.30.03 (7:20 am) [edit] |
Every year, the United States of America loses more people due to fatalities caused by traffic accidents on our nation's highways, than any other country in the world.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released numbers comparing 2002 to 2001 with percent change: [Ref. http://www.usatoday.com/news/... ]
Total: 42,815 vs. 42,196; 1.4%
Alcohol-related: 17,419 vs. 17,400, 0.1%
Rollovers: 10,666 vs. 10,157; 5%
Large-truck crashes: 4,897 vs. 5,111; -4.2%
Total injuries:2.92 million vs. 3.03 million; -3.6%.
The death toll of 42,815 fatalities caused by automobile accidents in 2002, represents the highest point (# of deaths) in over 12 years. We are tragically on-target to surpass that goal in 2003. Many of these deaths are alcohol-related and, also result from drivers and/or their occupants not wearing seat-belts, amongst other reasons. Poor roads and bad road conditions contribute to approximately 25,000 people killed annually, demonstrating insufficient investment in our federal and state infrastructures.
[Aside: Would the American so-called "Health Care System (sic: our system is a scam & a scandal)" be to blame for these fatalities? Probably not any more than the French Health Care System is to blame for the lack of air-conditioning and social welfare for the elderly in France who tragically died this summer, due to an unprecedented heat wave ... During colossal traffic accidents, our hospitals in the USA have become over-stressed, as did those in France this summer dealing with an unpredictable catastrophe.]
America should be pursuing mass transit systems that would encourage greater safety, energy conservation, reduced pollutants, and, a more economical means of transportation.
"We the People" need to co-operate together again in endeavours that collectively will enable all of our people to participate in our civic and social life, at the most affordable prices possible. It might also save lives!
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| Gunter Grass Winner of 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature |
| 08.28.03 (8:57 am) [edit] |
Gunter Grass, Winner of 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature wrote the following article during Bush's illegal & immoral war on Iraq ... it is worth reading:
Published on Monday, April 7, 2003 by the Los Angeles Times on http://www.commondreams.org/v... .
"The U.S. Betrays Its Core Values", by Gunter Grass
BEHLENDORF, Germany -- A war long sought and planned for is now underway. All deliberations and warnings of the United Nations notwithstanding, an overpowering military apparatus has attacked preemptively in violation of international law. No objections were heeded. The Security Council was disdained and scorned as irrelevant. As the bombs fall and the battle for Baghdad continues, the law of might prevails.
And based on this injustice, the mighty have the power to buy and reward those who might be willing and to disdain and even punish the unwilling. The words of the current American president -- "Those not with us are against us" -- weighs on current events with the resonance of barbaric times. It is hardly surprising that the rhetoric of the aggressor increasingly resembles that of his enemy. Religious fundamentalism leads both sides to abuse what belongs to all religions, taking the notion of "God" hostage in accordance with their own fanatical understanding. Even the passionate warnings of the pope, who knows from experience how lasting and devastating the disasters wrought by the mentality and actions of Christian crusaders have been, were unsuccessful.
Disturbed and powerless, but also filled with anger, we are witnessing the moral decline of the world's only superpower, burdened by the knowledge that only one consequence of this organized madness is certain: Motivation for more terrorism is being provided, for more violence and counter-violence. Is this really the United States of America, the country we fondly remember for any number of reasons? The generous benefactor of the Marshall Plan? The forbearing instructor in the lessons of democracy? The candid self-critic? The country that once made use of the teachings of the European Enlightenment to throw off its colonial masters and to provide itself with an exemplary constitution? Is this the country that made freedom of speech an incontrovertible human right?
It is not just foreigners who cringe as this ideal pales to the point where it is now a caricature of itself. There are many Americans who love their country too, people who are horrified by the betrayal of their founding values and by the hubris of those holding the reins of power. I stand with them. By their side, I declare myself pro-American. I protest with them against the brutalities brought about by the injustice of the mighty, against all restrictions of the freedom of expression, against information control reminiscent of the practices of totalitarian states and against the cynical equations that make the death of thousands of women and children acceptable so long as economic and political interests are protected.
No, it is not anti-Americanism that is damaging the image of the United States; nor do the dictator Saddam Hussein and his extensively disarmed country endanger the most powerful country in the world. It is President Bush and his government that are diminishing democratic values, bringing sure disaster to their own country, ignoring the United Nations, and that are now terrifying the world with a war in violation of international law.
We Germans often are asked if we are proud of our country. To answer this question has always been a burden. There were reasons for our doubts. But now I can say that the rejection of this preemptive war on the part of a majority in my country has made me proud of Germany. After having been largely responsible for two world wars and their criminal consequences, we seem to have made a difficult step. We seem to have learned from history.
The Federal Republic of Germany has been a sovereign country since 1990. Our government made use of this sovereignty by having the courage to object to those allied in this cause, the courage to protect Germany from a step back to a kind of adolescent behavior. I thank Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, for their fortitude in spite of all the attacks and accusations, from abroad and from within.
Many people find themselves in a state of despair these days, and with good reason. Yet we must not let our voices, our no to war and yes to peace, be silenced. What has happened? The stone that we pushed to the peak is once again at the foot of the mountain. But we must push it back up, even with the knowledge that we can expect it to roll back down again.
Copyright 2003 Los Angeles Times
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| Majority of Americans Call for Universal Health Care |
| 08.27.03 (6:42 am) [edit] |
The United States of America is the only 1st-tier country that does not provide a comprehensive national health care system for all of its citizens. It is an appalling scandal that the richest country in the world ignores the needs of nearly 45 million people who lack health care insurance. The majority of Americans call for Universal Health Care, according to a PEW Research Center Survey on http://people-press.org/repor... . They cite the following results:
"Scrap Tax Cuts for Health Insurance"
"Fully 72% of Americans agree that the government should provide universal health care, even if it means repealing most tax cuts passed since Bush took office. Democrats overwhelmingly favor this proposal (86%-11%) and independents largely agree (78%-19%). Even a narrow majority of Republicans (51%) favor providing health insurance for all even if it means canceling the tax cuts, while 44% disagree.
"In addition, most Americans especially those who support repealing tax cuts to provide universal health coverage see this as a moral issue as well as a political issue. Just a third believes this is strictly a political issue, while a narrow majority (52%) views it also as a moral question. A big majority of those who support this proposal 61% think of it as a moral as well as a political issue, while most opponents tend to see this in strictly political terms (58%)."
Over 2.2 million Americans die each year, including hundreds of thousands of deaths that are preventable with proper health care. Refer to CDC National Center for Health Statistics on http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/produ... , which shows that out of a population of 280 million people, approximately 11% live below the poverty line and 17% have no health care. This is a damning indictment of the disparity between the richest and the many who live in misery. Under the Bush Regime, the number of people living in poverty has increased (refer to "Why isn't there a 'Pre-emptive' War on Poverty?" on http://www.tblog.com/template... ).
Compared with other 1st-tier countries who have a National Health Care System, our citizens fair much, much worse: American's life expectancy is on average 78 years; whereas in France and Canada it is 79.2 years, and all other 1st-tier countries providing health care have higher life expectancies than our own. Infant mortality rates in the USA are 6.7 per 1,000 for children under 1 year old and 8.7 per 1,000 for children under 5 years old; whereas in France it is 4.4 per 1,000 for children under 1 year old and 5.8 per 1,000 for children under 5 years old, and in Canada it is 5.0 per 1,000 for children under 1 year old and 6.7 per 1,000 for children under 5 years old. Other 1st-tier countries follow the same trend.
The USA's GNP (gross national product) earns approximately $10.1 trillion per year with a population of 280 million, as compared with $1.3 trillion in France with a population of 59.4 million, and $700.5 billion in Canada with a population of 31.4 million. This represents an average per capita earnings as follows:
Country / GDP Per Capita / Life Expectancy
U.S.A. / $35,060 / 78
France / $22,010 / 79.2
Canada / $22,300 / 79.2
In other words, we generate more wealth per person than any other country in the world, but all other 1st-tier countries provide a national health care system, and their mortality rates are lower and the health of their people is better. The vulnerable in France, Canada and other 1st-tier countries with national health care, including their infants, children and elderly live longer, and they are cared for when they fall ill or are injured, instead of ignored if lacking insurance as in the USA. (Refer to "The World Bank Group" statistics on http://www.worldbank.org/data... )
You don't see and won't see the majority of citizens of France, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, or other 1st-tier countries with a National Health Care calling for the privatization of their systems. They would certainly not replicate the disastrous, callous and greed-ridden scandal that we call health care in the U.S.A. Read "Universal Health Coverage: 'Let The Debate Resume'", by Rashi Fein, PhD, is Professor of the Economics of Medicine, Emeritus, at Harvard Medical School on http://www.tompaine.com/featu... .
Our own health care system is far too expensive due to exorbitant costs of health insurance and care, of which a large percentage represents over-heads. Similar to the greed of Enron, WorldCom, Halliburton, Bechtel, Big Oil, Eli Lily, etc., the CEOs and executives of HMOs and Insurance Corporations "take-the-money-and-run" greedily accumulating massive salaries far in excess of any right and proper compensation package.
The Bush Regime has worsened the situation, and is callous to the needs of our citizens-- indeed, they hypocritically brag about bringing back health care to Iraqi citizens (Iraq had National Health Care under Saddam Hussein), and yet the corrupt Bushies ignore the needs of millions of people, across the fruited plains in the USA. Moreover, the corrupt Bush Gang has awarded massive tax cuts to corporations and the wealthiest richest-of-the-rich, & recklessly spent a king's ransom on an illegal & immoral war in Iraq, instead of seeking to improve the lives of our countrymen and solving the horrific health care scandal here at home.
Americans are and should be outraged that our country is the richest in the world-- and yet our citizens are treated like those in 3rd world countries instead of 1st-tier countries.
We should reassess our priorities and demand that less be spent on Bush's Corporate Cronies, the Pentagon and the insane squandering of big bucks on the Defense Industry (over $450 billion per year), and more to improve the health and lives of "We the People".
Please read "U.S. Wastes Health-care Funds: Administrative Costs Double Canada's Rate - Better System Could Aid Millions Researchers Say", by Gene Emery, on http://www.commondreams.org/h... .
"BOSTON—Thirty-one cents of every dollar spent on health care in the United States goes to pay administrative costs — nearly double the rate in Canada, according to a new comparison that sees colossal bureaucratic waste in the American system.
Americans spend $752 more per person per year than Canadians on medical administrative costs alone, according to the study by investigators from Harvard University and the Canadian Institute for Health Information, which was published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers who prepared the comparison said yesterday that the United States wastes more money on health bureaucracy than it would cost to provide health care to the tens of millions of uninsured Americans.
The team, led by Steffie Woolhandler of Harvard, said a large sum of money might be saved in the United States if administrative costs could be trimmed by implementing a Canadian-style, single-payer health care system.
"The difference in the costs of health-care administration between the United States and Canada is clearly large and growing," the researchers said, questioning whether the $294.3 billion spent each year on U.S. health care administration is money well spent.
Woolhandler, and co-author David Himmelstein, also of Harvard and a founder of Physicians for a National Health Program, added that if the United States adopted a Canadian-style system the savings would likely pay for coverage for the more than 41 million Americans without health insurance.
The study found overhead costs for U.S. insurance companies — mostly for underwriting and advertising — ate up 11.7 cents of every health care dollar, compared with 1.3 cents for Canada's government-run system and 3.6 cents for the U.S. Medicare system for the elderly.
Among Canada's private insurance companies, the overhead costs were even higher: 13.2 cents per dollar.
The study also found that after certain exclusions, administration accounted for 31 per cent of health-care expenditures in the United States and 16.7 per cent in Canada. The estimates do not include the advertising costs of drug companies or hospitals, health care industry profits, or the value of patients' time spent on paperwork.
But in an editorial in the Journal, Henry Aaron of the Brookings Institution in Washington, said the administrative costs in the United States might be 24 per cent lower than the Woolhandler estimate.
He said the excess spending on health care administration in 1999 was probably closer to $159 billion, not $209 billion cited in the study.
Aaron said it also doesn't prove the United States would save a lot of money if it converted to the Canadian system."
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| The Difference Between Genius and Stupidity is that Genius has Its Limits |
| 08.26.03 (9:20 am) [edit] |
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." - Galileo Galilei
"Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations,--entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies; the preservation of the general government in its whole constitutional vigour, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad;...freedom of religion; freedom of the press; freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected,--these principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation." - First Inaugural Address. March 4, 1801, by Thomas Jefferson
"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." - Thomas Jefferson
"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude." - Thomas Jefferson
" I have never been able to conceive how any rational being could propose happiness to himself from the exercise of power over others." - Thomas Jefferson
And now folks, consider the mentality of George W. Bush (43) : "A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it." My goodness, how far we've fallen from the great mind of Thomas Jefferson to the mean, petty, and stupid mind of George W. Bush. Of course, the Bush Regime has indeed, abused their powers to enact bizarre Executive Orders and, intimidates a terrified Congress into passing anti-constitutional Patriot Acts:-- in order to install their 1st American Dictatorship! (Refer to "Reign of Terror: EOs & Patriot Acts" on http://www.tblog.com/template... )
President Bush, Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, and France's President Jacques Chirac were discussing economics and, in particular, problems with the French economy. "The problem with the French," Bush afterwards confided in Blair, "is that they don't have a word for 'entrepreneur'." What? Only one amongst many of Bush's infinitely stupid blunders and buffooneries. (Refer to "The Complete Bushisms" on http://slate.msn.com/id/76886... )
"We the People" may not have the option of selecting a genius as a leader, since true genius is rare, but surely we can do better than the wooden-headedness, imbecility, and limitless corruption of the Bush Regime. America and France enjoy long-standing bonds and historical ties that will survive childish "french-bashing" by the Bushies to punish them for having the audacity to question the wisdom of an immoral and illegal incursion into Iraq, based upon a phony pretext of WMDs posing an "imminent threat", that has indeed been proved to be a disastrous guerrilla quagmire, resulting in a heart-breaking blood-bath and a back-breaking cost in treasure. (Refer to "Bush's March of Folly" on http://www.tblog.com/template... )
Reflect upon: "How the French View the American Predicament" by James P. Pinkerton, Arab News, on http://www.aljazeerah.info/Op...%20editorials/2003%20Opin ion%20Editorials/August/2 5%200/How%20the%20French% 20View%20the%20American%2 0Predicament%20James%20P.%20Pinkerton.htm .
PARIS, 25 August 2003 — "What’s French for quagmire? I learned the answer in the wake of the bombing attack that struck United Nations offices in Baghdad, Iraq.
"The word is bourbier. As the left-wing daily Liberation put it, America has found itself in a “bourbier sanglant a la Vietnamienne’’ — that is, a “bloody quagmire, Vietnam-style.’’ The even more left-wing l’Humanite argued that it’s a bourbier into which “American leaders are sinking, day to day.’’
"The other papers here were kinder, but not much more hopeful. Atop The Wall Street Journal Europe’s front page was this banner: “Bomb Attack on UN HQ in Iraq Underscores US Security Crisis.’’
"On the front page of Le Monde, the paper of record here, a front-pager was “Disarray in Washington.’’
"And Le Parisien, the daily for the city’s working-stiff subway riders, offered nearly the same header: “Disarray in the United States.’’
"Should Americans care what the French think about our occupation of Iraq? Not if they’re happy with the way things are going over there. But for those Americans who think that the United States could use some help extricating itself from this bourbier, maybe it’s worth pondering the experience of a country that’s been down this same quagmire road.
"That is, France.
"The French, too, went through their expansionary phase. They first set about colonizing Vietnam, for instance, in the late 19th century; but in 1954 they were defeated and expelled.
"Too bad Americans weren’t paying attention to that dolorous French precedent when they launched their own Vietnam crusade in the early ‘60s.
"Today, the French seem to have a better feel for the dynamics of anti-Western insurgencies than the American government.
"President Bush insists, as always, that there is light at the end of the tunnel in Iraq. But in the words of Le Parisien: “This new act of violence confirms that the country is far from from being secured. Even if the Americans are congratulating themselves for having arrested or killed most of those close to Saddam Hussein over the last three months, the situation is deteriorating from day to day.’’ So one might ask, “Who’s got a better handle on the Battle of Baghdad — the man in the White House or the reader in the Paris subway?’’
"Indeed, the words of Le Figaro, the pro-American daily, seem particularly pointed — and poignant. In an editorial titled ‘’Irak: les erreurs americaines,” the paper begins by asserting, ‘’In the West, everyone hopes — or should hope — that the American pro-consulate won’t come to a bad end.”
"So far, so good. But, the piece continues, ‘’No one, even in the United States, really believes it anymore.”
"Next, the editorial considers the origins of the Bush policy.
"American neoconservatives, described with Gallic precision as ‘’a powerful lobby of ideologues,” believe that ‘’the best of all possible worlds is the one where America uses its power to impose its views and its model of social organization, whatever the other nations may think.” But in following that logic, this lobby has made three errors, according to Le Figaro.
"First, the neocons ‘’faked” the danger from Iraq, thereby reducing Washington’s ability to deal with ‘’the real menaces,” Iran and North Korea. Second, the neocons thought that they could ‘’nation-build” a democracy in Iraq; instead, “the Americans are now realizing that political surgery on a foreign body is an art much more difficult than they imagined.”
"A third error was for the United States to think, ‘’I am the strongest; therefore I don’t listen to the advice of others, even if it comes from realms as diverse as old Europe, Russia, India, China, Latin America.”
"That third item goes to what was always at the heart of the anti-Iraq war argument. And that is, if Uncle Sam couldn’t convince the rest of the world that ‘’regime change” was a good idea, then maybe it wasn’t such a good idea.
"After all, alliances and international law are the friends of the peaceful and the law-abiding; the United States, for example, put consultation and consensus at the heart of its strategy in two world wars and the Cold War.
"And we won those wars — which is more than we are likely to be able to say, in the long run, about Iraq."
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| Bush's March of Folly : Upholding a Long Tradition of Bloodshed & Misery |
| 08.23.03 (5:20 pm) [edit] |
Bush's March of Folly in Iraq, demonstrates a failure by Americans, to learn from history and demand greater integrity and wisdom from our leadership. The Bush Regime have failed miserably, having recklessly launched an arrogant "war on terrorism" (euphemism for stage 1: war on Iraq), lashing out against whomsoever they choose, ignoring the warnings and advice from many Military, Middle-east and United Nations experts who predicted that the USA would trigger increased terror, greater danger and, wide-spread destablization of the Middle-East, and consequently the World.
Bush was wrong, and his critics have been vindicated-- although those like Hans Blix (who was demonized) and, General Eric Shinseki (who warned against pursuing "a 12-division strategy with a 10-division Army"), are nonetheless not boasting, but are sick-at-heart, as are all conscious and enlightened human beings.
Congress have not as yet commenced to do their duty and investigate into the misdeeds and betrayal of the Bush Regime's oaths of office. It is clear that darker motives (not the Bush Gang's phony pretexts based upon "sexed-up" lies & deceit about WMDs posing an "imminent threat") drove the Bush cabal's lust for the war on Iraq, and reading an outstanding report by the World Policy Organisation entitled "Arms Trade Resource Center New Numbers: The Price of Freedom in Iraq and Power in Washington", by Ceara Donnelley and William D. Hartung, August 2003, "Introduction: A Privatised Occupation" on http://www.worldpolicy.org/pr... ), reveals the real motives for Bush's Global Corporate Empire:
"It is clear that there needs to be more accountability – both to the people of Iraq and the American taxpayers – about how the privatized rebuilding process in Iraq is going to proceed. Contracts should be opened to true competitive bidding, involving not only U.S. firms but competent companies from allied nations. The decisions about which tasks are appropriate for private corporations, as opposed to U.S. government entities or non-profit, non-governmental organizations, should be made openly and transparently, with appropriate Congressional oversight and public input."
Instead, the Bush Regime have rewarded their Corporate Cronies, who are exploiting the average & low-income American taxpayers (Bush's corporations & rich have enjoyed the bounty & booty of this insane war) and Iraqi people in a brutish, ruthless and reckless manner. Donnelley & Hartung conclude "Long before the Bush Administration could sufficiently sell its case to the United Nations, Congress, and the American people, it was planning for war against Saddam and his Republican Guard. For companies like Raytheon, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin this meant a big boom in business in exchange for the big booms their weapons and bombs showered on Iraq months later. Though the ties that bind these companies to the Bush administration are not quite as controversial as those linking rebuilding and private military companies such as Halliburton and Bechtel, it is still clear, by tracing overlapping personnel, that far from being a relic of the Cold War, the military-industrial complex is alive and well and thriving in George W. Bush’s Washington."
Barbara W. Tuchman describes in her masterpiece "The March of Folly" examples of catastrophic wars resulting in horrific bloodshed and misery to the populations, ranging from Montezuma's senseless surrender of his empire in 1520 to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and to the Vietnam fiasco. She concludes with some profound observations:
"If pursuing disadvantage after the disadvantages has become obvious is irrational, then rejection of reason is the prime characteristic of folly." Even when advised that their course of action were destined to fail, foolish leaders would ignore advice and considered themselves on a mission directed by God, and they could not see clearly for their emotion. Sound familiar?
"Persistence in error is the problem. Practitioners of government continue down the wrong road as if in thrall to some Merlin with magical powers to direct their steps. ... The test [of leadership] comes in recognizing when persistence in error has become self-damaging."
"Refusal to draw inference from negative signs, which under the rubric "wooden-headedness" has played so large a part in these pages [March of Folly], was recognized in the most pessimistic work of modern times, George Orwell's 1984, as what the author called "Crimestop." "Crimestop" means the faculty of stopping short, as though by instinct, at the threshold of any dangerous thought. It includes the power of not grasping analogies, of failing to perceive logical errors, of misunderstanding the simplest arguments ... and of being bored and repelled by any train of thought which is capable of leading in a heretical direction. Crimestop, in short, means protective stupidity."
"We the People" must not participate in the Bush Regime's "Crimestop", but must finally acknowledge that Bush is "wooden-headed" and foolishly led this country into the first 21st Century March of Folly. Let us make our voice heard and ask Congress to commence an investigation into the Bush Regime's Crimes Against Humanity, and work closely with the United Nations to repair the disastrous damage in Iraq to enable the Iraqi people to rule their own country instead of Bush's Global Corporate Empire. Let us put a stop to a long traditional of bloodshed & misery designed to enrich the few at the cost in lives and treasure of the many.
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| A Thing is Not Necessarily True Because a Man Dies For It |
| 08.22.03 (5:43 pm) [edit] |
"A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it." - Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Portrait of Mr. W. H.
"If you shut up truth and bury it under the ground, it will but grow, and gather itself to such explosive power that the day it bursts through, it will blow up everything in its way." - Emile Zola (1840-1902) J'accuse
"Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." - New Testament: John, viii, 32
Americans are finding out the hard way, that "winning-at-all-costs" is a losing strategy in the longer-term. War is not a football game, as Bush & Rice like to imagine ... indeed, they seem to prefer to watch sports than perform their duties and oaths of office ... and thus should resign and play together instead of creating havoc with such obscene hubris, resulting in the unnecessary deaths, maiming, and misery of US & British Soldiers and Innocent Iraqis on a daily basis. The Death Toll has reached 315 US & British Soldiers, and many thousands (over 7700) of Innocent Iraqis, used as Cannon Fodder in Bush's insane war games on behalf of their Global Corporate interests (The Price of Freedom in Iraq and Power in Washington, by Ceara Donnelley and William D. Hartung, August 2003 on http://www.worldpolicy.org/pr... )
The Bush Regime has tried to cover-up their lies and deceit told to America and the World in order to wage their illegal and immoral incursion into Iraq. To no avail: the truth is being exposed in Great Britain, Australia, and slowly but surely across our fruited plains from sea-to-shining-sea. A ground-swell of anger and disappointment is brewing in America, most probably because we didn't "win" a decisive victory and enjoy a peaceful transformation of Iraqi society with a pliant and grateful population, instead of for moral reasons (tragically).
As the ugly truth regarding the Bush Regime's corruption and lies are exposed, Americans have no excuse for feigning ignorance: Before Bush's war in Iraq, a plethora of experts warned the Bush Regime that (1) Saddam Hussein did not pose a danger or threat; (2) UN Inspectors should be given time to find weapons and that probably most were destroyed during the early 1990s inspection process; and (3), that war would be easy, and the peace would be the real challenge. Moreover the fabricated links between 9/11 and Iraq have been proved outright lies-- indeed, questions are still outstanding regarding what the Bush Regime knew prior to 9/11 and when they knew it ... and the Bush Family links with the Saudi Royal Family who did have connections with the 9/11 terrorists.
Forewarnings from knowledgeable experts were repeated over and over again, that Iraqi people would not welcome "occupiers", and our aggression might result in more terrorism around the world. The Bushies didn't listen to any of this advice: instead they are arrogant, greedy and foolhardy. Too much was at stake for Bush to be able to provide massive contracts to corporations and robber-barons who funnel them big bucks for their campaign: quid pro quo. The Bushies needed this war on Iraq, and they wanted it badly ... Halliburton's rolling in dough ... along with Bechtel ... Big Oil ... Carlyle Group ... Defense Contractors ... Pentagon big-spenders ... etc.
In "Is Saddam Hussein's post-war plan unfolding?", Ali Ballout, (The Daily Star, 8/21/03 http://www.aljazeerah.info/22...%20o/Is%20Saddam%20Hussei n's%20post-war%20plan%20u nfolding,%20Ali%20Ballout .htm ) reports:
"Saddam had been trying to establish a dialogue with Washington since the invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. In 1993, the former Iraqi leader asked me to transmit a message to the Clinton administration. In Washington, I contacted official and unofficial persons linked to the White House, among them a Pentagon expert on Iraq, Phoebe Marr, and former Under Secretary of State Joseph Cisco.
The thrust of the message was Saddam’s willingness to reach a comprehensive understanding with the US. It colorfully explained, “We cannot drink Iraqi oil,” adding, “the United States has the world’s best capacity to develop Iraq’s massive natural resources.” The response I received in Washington was: “We want the Iraqi body, but without the head.” I conveyed the reply to Saddam Hussein’s half-brother Barzan, then Iraq’s ambassador to Switzerland.
From that time on, Saddam’s strategy was to gain time in the hope that international developments would blunt Washington’s aims. Simultaneously, he reorganized his military. Eight months before receiving the German intelligence evaluation on the certainty of war, Saddam issued a circular to senior Baath Party officials instructing them to be prepared for a US attack “at any moment.” The July 2002 circular warned: “Iraq will be defeated militarily due to the imbalance in forces.” The balance would be re-established by “dragging the US military into Iraqi cities, villages and the desert and resorting to resistance tactics.”"
In other words, Saddam Hussein had no desire or interest in attacking us ... quite the contrary. Bush's imaginary massive stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction posing an imminent threat was a bold-faced lie used to scare the American population (who were the only citizens enmasse worldwide to believe Bush's swindle), into envisioning "mushroom clouds", biological attacks, and other nightmares that Saddam Hussein could launch within 45 minutes. It was all Bunk ... Bologny ... Bull ... Now, journalists and commentators who care about the truth and/or their reputation, across the political spectrum from ultra-conservative George Will to liberal writers including Noam Chomsky, and many, many in between: have loudly condemned the Bush Regime's abuse of intelligence to mislead the Nation into the war on Iraq.
The Bush Gang's newest spin, is this bizarre "generational commitment" to nation building, alongside the very United Nations that they trashed, condemned and called "irrelevant". Why weren't Americans told about this so-called "generational commitment" before the war? Why wasn't there a national debate on an issue of such vital importance to Americans and the World Community? Why were we told the war was to defend ourselves (& once Bush's lies & deceit were exposed), and now the purpose is supposedly to re-build the world in Bush's infantile image? (Only wishful thinkers, neo-con thugs or fools believe Bush's propaganda machine -- this war, as most wars, are about money: enriching greedy thugs off the blood of the poor dupes or "collateral damage").
Suddenly the United Nations becomes "relevant" now that we're in a tragic Guerrilla Quagmire that has evolved into an enormous out-of-control mess, as a result of the Bush Cabal's bungled planning. Of course it's the Average American who pays the price in blood and treasure, not the Bushies, neo-con bunglers, corporations or greedy robber-barons who have obscenely profited from this insanity.
Bush said today he wants United Nations involvement: first he treats them like s*it ... now they're key to bringing about peace. Ultimately, they will probably help to mop-up the catastrophe that Bush has created, when they persuade Bush's Gang that if Bush wants foreign Cannon Fodder to take the heat off of American Cannon Fodder, that they'll also want a "piece-of-the-action". Nobody is going to give their life's blood for zip ... zero ... nada ...
It's worth reading "Who Are The Extremists?" by John Pilger on http://www.zmag.org/content/s... . An excerpt:
"The "liberation" of Iraq is a cruel joke on a stricken people. The Americans and British, partners in a great recognized crime, have brought down on the Middle East, and much of the rest of the world, the prospect of terrorism and suffering on a scale that al-Qaeda could only imagine." ...
"It was this that crippled Iraq and, ironically, concentrated all domestic power in the hands of the regime, thus ending all hope of a successful uprising.
The other day I sat with Dennis Halliday, former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, and the UN in New York. Halliday was the senior UN official in Iraq in the mid-1990s, who resigned rather than administer the blockade.
"These sanctions," he said, "represented ongoing warfare against the people of Iraq. They became, in my view, genocidal in their impact over the years, and the Security Council maintained them, despite its full knowledge of their impact, particularly on the children of Iraq.
"We disregarded our own charter, international law, and we probably killed over a million people.
"It's a tragedy that will not be forgotten... I'm confident that the Iraqis will throw out the occupying forces. I don't know how long it will take, but they'll throw them out based on a nationalistic drive.
"They will not tolerate any foreign troops' presence in their country, dictating their lifestyle, their culture, their future, their politics.
"This is a very proud people, very conscious of a great history.
"It's grossly unacceptable. Every country that is now threatened by Mr Bush, which is his habit, presents an outrage to all of us.
"Should we stand by and merely watch while a man so dangerous he [Bush] is willing to sacrifice Americans lives and, worse, the lives of others?"
Mr. Pilger and Mr. Halliday, the answer is no. We should not stand by and watch this disgusting blood-letting.
"We the People" should refuse to be collaborators in this corrupt Bush Regime's Crimes Against Humanity. We should contact Congress and demand the truth be fully acknowledged and that the Bush administration be tried, impeached and removed from office.
Then we should mourn all those who died for a lie ... tragically died to enrich the Bush Regime's corrupt Global Corporate Empire. Only then can we be set free to begin to repair our damaged society from Bush's Corporate Land of the Screed and the Home of the Slave, to the noble America of the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.
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| No Rogue Nation Can Dominate the World - Not Even the Hyper-power USA |
| 08.21.03 (6:59 pm) [edit] |
As the catastrophic events in Iraq unfold, a consensus amongst both republican and democratic political experts is emerging that renders Bush's Neo-Con Doctrine of "pre-emptive" wars and invasions, null and void. The Bush Regime's "shell game" using lies and deceit to wage a corrupt war to benefit rich corporate cronies will not be re-produced elsewhere. The problem with con games is that they only work once (except with the brain-dead morons who fall for the same scam over and over again).
Citizens around the world fully recognize that no rogue nation, not even the hyper-power USA, can dominate the world and behave as arrogantly, corruptly and stupidly as has the Bush Gang, without dire consequences. The Neo-Con's lust for world domination has resulted in a terrible Guerrilla Quagmire in Iraq, and had any other country perpetrated this act, their leaders would be tried at the International World Court for Crimes Against Humanity.
Colin Powell claims we'll now turn to our friends for help in dealing with Iraq. What friends? Bush has treated them all like sh*t. Tony Blair is "in the dock" with his confidence ratings in Great Britain, badly damaged irreparably. Our traditional allies were insulted and treated brutishly by the Bush Junta, and now insist upon a UN Resolution if they are to assist in cleaning-up Bush's horrifying mess. The UN suddenly is "relevant" again, isn't it!
The Guerrilla Quagmire in Iraq won't disappear whether or not Saddam Hussein is caught, and irrespective of whether Hussein's henchmen like Chemical Ali are captured, prosecuted or even executed. Iraqis see the USA as occupiers, unconcerned with their welfare, but primarily interested in exploiting their oil. The Iraqis are right! Refer to "Arms Trade Resource Center, New Numbers: The Price of Freedom in Iraq and Power in Washington", by Ceara Donnelley and William D. Hartung, August 2003, "Introduction: A Privatized Occupation" on http://www.worldpolicy.org/pr... .
Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz were very wrong, and badly miscalculated that in the aftermath of a dramatic toppling of the Saddam Hussein government, Iraqis would dance in the streets lavishing flowered garlands upon our troops and popping open the champagne. They even made foolhardy comparisons between the so-called "liberation" of Iraq and Paris at the end of WW2. Respected historians were horrified at the appallingly idiotic and unrealistic comparisons-- Rice even played the "race card" recently in Dallas, Texas, where she compared "freeing the Iraqis" with the civil rights movement in Birmingham, Alabama, in the 1960s! Bush's cabal are clearly desperate and panic-stricken, and are prepared to say anything in the hopes that the ignorant will dumbly nod their heads in approval.
US Military and Middle-East experts alike warned the Bush Gang prior to waging their illegal & immoral incursion into Iraq, that since the USA overpowered Iraq militarily by many thousands of orders of magnitude, the "war" would be easy, but the "peace" would be hard. Before the war, for example, Army Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, the then Army chief, estimated that the United States would need 200,000 troops to provide security and stabilize Iraq. Rumsfeld punished him ... as others were punished. Hans Blix and Gen. Shinseki are both too honorable to gloat, although they've been exonerated and proved right!
Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz are an arrogant lot, ridiculing and punishing those who disagree with their dogmatic neo-con ideology consisting of global hegemony to enrich their corporate cronies. The Bush cabal didn't listen to advice from able military or civilian professionals knowledgeable in Middle East Affairs or Intelligence Agents who didn't "come-up" with the "answers" they wanted in their 'Ends Justify the Means' approach to achieving their obscene objectives. So they resorted to telling lies and intimidating those who asked questions, and bullied their way forward to war ... it's despicable!
The Bush Regime has been exposed as incompetent and inept, as well as corrupt. Congress will reconvene soon to consider the dire consequences of the Bush Gang's bungling of Middle-East affairs and the staggeringly obscene costs in excess of $70 Billion to-date, with over $4 Billion per month to occupy Iraq. Massive deficit spending by Bush will exceed $450 Billion this year alone, and is estimated to exceed $1.9 Trillion by the end of 2004, contributing to a backbreaking $6.7 Trillion National Debt, the highest in USA History. Moreover, with nearly 3 million jobs lost under Bush's watch, even Republicans are wondering whether Bush's economic strategy isn't voodoo economics, but doodoo economics.
The loss of life in Iraq is heartbreaking, with over 313 US and British Soldiers dead, and between 6600-7000 innocent Iraqi civilians. The death toll mounts daily. In Britain, with Tony Blair's reputation tattered and in shreds, the murmurings are commencing to "Bring the Troops Home", unless the UN becomes more heavily involved in managing the security and re-building operations.
In the USA, the Bush Gang's reputation and credibility are badly damaged, amongst those knowledgeable about their lies, deceit, bungling and outright arrogance in the face of this horrific Guerrilla Quagmire. The corporations and richest-of-the-rich who obtained lavish "welfare" in the form of tax cuts and billions in immoral (and possibly illegal) contracts, are thrilled with Bush's corruption-in-their-favor , and are writing him campaign checks as fast as their Mont Blanc pens can scratch their John Hancocks.
An unofficial MSNBC Poll taken today, asking the question regarding: "Troops in Iraq: Should the world step up? " * 5582 responses as of 5:30 PM EST
Yes 77%
No 23%
The Families of US Soldiers in Iraq and Veterans for Peace are waging their own battle to "Bring Them Home", and are asking why should we be the lone target in Iraq.
The Bush Gang are forced to go back to the U.N. for help: the very U.N. institution they ridiculed, mistreated, and said was "irrelevant" if it didn't do their bidding. Although they are trying to save face by suggesting that no real control will be turned over to an international coalition, it must be clear, that the Iraqi People and the World Community will not permit the USA to rape the assets and people of Iraq, as Bush's corporate cronies are doing to America.
"We the People" must stand against the immoral and aggressive tactics used by the Bush Rogue Regime, in order to make clear to the World Community that we are partners on this planet who wish to be a contributory nation, and who respect the rule of law. Frankly, we must stand against the corrupt Bush Regime for the sake of our own souls, to stop the Global Corporate Empire from exploiting this planet, its resources and people, for the benefit of a very few wealthy robber-barons.
Refer to the following article, typical of the virulent backlash against the USA, who is now seen as the Rogue Nation:
"UN is not the plaything of U.S."
Gulf News on http://www.aljazeerah.info/Op...%20editorials/2003%20Opin ion%20Editorials/August/2 1%20o/UN%20is%20not%20the %20plaything%20of%20U.S.,%20Gulf%20News.htm
21-08-2003
"The deaths of United Nations personnel in Baghdad after a massive truck bomb, signal the need for a serious rethink by the UN on its purpose. It must work to distance itself from the American administration, and to re-establish its independence. The United Nations was not created to serve the world's single superpower. It was set up to act as a central forum where all the world could meet.
The UN was confused at the highest level when it went back into Iraq after the war. Its relations with Washington were at an all-time low, but at the same time it was going to work alongside the coalition forces, accepting their presence in Iraq although many wanted the UN to take over the administration of the country. These issues were never properly debated, and a continuing pattern of giving way to the Americans continued. The terrorist attack was a callous act of brutality, but it is also the sign of an impending disaster for the United Nations and Kofi Annan's leadership. He made a great mistake in not standing up to the United States over the whole issue of how to handle Saddam's Iraq.
George W. Bush's administration wanted the invasion, and had the arrogance to tell the United Nations that it had to either approve of the invasion, or make itself irrelevant. Annan was wrong to accede to this, whether in the formal or informal debates before the war started, but also by acquiescing to the war once it had started without UN approval. By not fully backing Hans Blix's weapons inspectors and Mohammed Al Baradei's nuclear inspectors, he reduced any opposition to the war.
However, once the war was done, it was important for all able to help the Iraqi people to move into Iraq and try to help. UN officials in Iraq assumed that they were part of the old neutral UN. Annan said yesterday that "We have been in Iraq for 12 years and we have never been attacked," but those years were before the UN lost its neutrality and acquiesced in the invasion.
By working with the coalition and by not speaking out against its political failure, it is condoning the terrible lack of policy that the United States is now showing in Iraq. The world requires more of the United Nations, and its Secretary General."
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| Is This the Best the USA Can Do? |
| 08.20.03 (9:10 pm) [edit] |
Is this the best the USA can do?
Surely we can find better leaders who don't lie to us! We know we can find smarter ones! The Bush Gang bombarded Clinton from all sides with criticisms of his "tricky" use of words, obfuscation and, being "crooked". The neo-cons and right-wingers all claimed Bush would be a "straight-shooter". Bush himself said: "I'll say what I think." Hmmmm ... that turns out to be a real serious problem, as evidenced by:
"Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country."
--President Bush, on May 1.
"Actually, major military operations. (pause) Because we still have combat operations going on. It's a different kind of combat mission, but, nevertheless, it's combat, just ask the kids that are over there killing and being shot at."
--President Bush, on August 19, responding to questions about his statement that "major combat operations" were over.
Bush performed an extravagant, bombastic "Top Gun" photo-op on the USS Abraham Lincoln, on 1st May, declaring "Mission Accomplished!" and telling the world that the war in Iraq was over and had entered a "re-building" phase. Indeed, Rumsfeld denied reports the following week that we still faced opposition when asked about the looting and violence, arrogantly claiming "Stuff happens".
Since Bush's embarrassing bragging of "Mission Accomplished!", the situation in Iraq is deteriorating dramatically, and more violence is breaking out daily, not amongst the "remnants" of Saddam's supporters, as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz dishonestly barks (my gosh, Saddam sure as hell had a lot of supporters since we're told that more of his henchmen are captured every day, and yet the violence directed against us continues with an attack every 2-4 hrs!). The Iraqi population claim to hate Saddam, but say they hate the US occupiers even more. Life under Saddam Hussein was better as even today's article by Tom Friedman "No Time To Lose in Iraq" on http://www.nytimes.com/2003/0... , confirms:
"The Pentagon, with its insistence on doing nation-building in Iraq on the cheap, has been too slow in forming a provisional Iraqi government, too slow in getting the electricity on, too slow in turning security over to Iraqis. As a result, while most Iraqis are happy to be rid of Saddam, too many feel that their lives are tangibly worse in every other respect — jobs, electricity, roadblocks — because of the U.S. presence. "Saddam was paranoid, but he kept the streets open — you're closing all the arteries," Muhammad Kadhim, a Baghdad professor, said to me."
Rummy & Wolfy have really bungled Iraq with their arrogance refusing to listen to Military & Middle-East experts advising them long before the war, that the post-war re-building phase would be difficult. Rummy & Wolfy are dishonest, incompetent & inept having created a Guerrilla Quagmire for others to clean-up, and these thugs should be asked to resign.
Read Jessica Stern's (a lecturer at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, is author of "Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill.") article entitled "How America Created a Terrorist Haven" on http://www.nytimes.com/2003/0... . Ms. Stern reports:
"In the run-up to the war, most Iraqis viewed the foreign volunteers who were rushing in to fight against America as troublemakers, and Saddam Hussein's forces reportedly killed many of them. Today, according to Mr. Alani, these foreigners are increasingly welcomed by the public, especially in the former Baathist strongholds north of Baghdad.
As bad as the situation inside Iraq may be, the effect that the war has had on terrorist recruitment around the globe may be even more worrisome. Even before the coalition troops invaded, a senior United States counterterrorism official told reporters that "an American invasion of Iraq is already being used as a recruitment tool by Al Qaeda and other groups." Intelligence officials in the United States, Europe and Africa say that the recruits they are seeing now are younger than in the past. Television images of American soldiers and tanks in Baghdad are deeply humiliating to Muslims, even those who didn't like Saddam Hussein, explained Saad al-Faqih, head of Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia, a Saudi dissident group in London. He told me that some 3,000 young Saudis have entered Iraq in recent months, and called the war "a gift to Osama bin Laden." "
Families of the Military and Veterans for Peace have organized "Bring Them Home" because they are sick of the carnage of over 313 US & British Soldiers massacred, with no end in sight, by the Bush Gang to enrich their corrupt Corporate Cronies. The phony weapons of mass destruction lies and pretexts that really posed no imminent threat, have destroyed Blair's credibility in Great Britain, as it will Bush's in the USA, as more citizens realize that No Life is worth destroying to enrich this ghoulish cabal.
Yes, indeed, "stuff happens": we've been bamboozled, scammed and conned by an administration more devious and corrupt with the use of words, than any President in US History. Bush has spent over $70 Billion thus far in Iraq, and we are incurring $4 Billion per month, in an economy he is bankrupting us with his $450 Billion deficit in 2003 alone ($1.9 Trillion deficit by 2004) and a $6.7 Trillion national debt: both the largest in the history of our nation. Bush has incurred these debts to give massive tax cuts to the rich; lavish gifts to his corporate cronies; and to pay for a war for their power, glory & riches.
Bush has massacred over 313 US and British troops and between 6600 and 7700 innocent Iraqi soldiers. You should read "ARMS TRADE RESOURCE CENTER, New Numbers: The Price of Freedom in Iraq and Power in Washington, by Ceara Donnelley and William D. Hartung, August 2003, INTRODUCTION: A PRIVATIZED OCCUPATION on http://www.worldpolicy.org/pr...
"As costs mount for the U.S.-led rebuilding and occupation of Iraq, the profits of companies like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Bechtel, Halliburton, and Dyncorps are likely to rise substantially as a result of contracts steered their way by the Bush administration. Just last Friday, the New York Times reported yet another example of favoritism that benefited Halliburton (Neela Bannerjee, "Bechtel Ends Move for Work in Iraq, Seeing a Done Deal," August 8, 2003). " No bidding process-- just big gifts ("welfare for the rich & corporations" from the Bushies) at the good ole' USA Taxpayer's Expense.
"We the People" should contact Congress and demand an open-door investigation into the crimes and deceptions waged upon the USA and Iraq by the Bush Gang who are turning the world over to Corporate-take-all-intere sts to illegally and immorally exploit.
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| Bush's Lootocracy in the USA and Iraq |
| 08.19.03 (3:34 pm) [edit] |
Bush has raised Lootocracy to staggering new heights of obscenity and raw power, that the most corrupt despots in history would have never even dreamt of! No other President in US History has awarded such massive tax cuts to the wealthiest of its citizens in the aftermath of corporate scandals that left stockholders with no pensions; loss of 2.5 million jobs under his own watch; and, an unnecessary war in Iraq: costing in lives over 313 US & British Soldiers and over 7000 innocent Iraqi civilians, and in treasure $70 Billion thus far with no limits or restrictions at a continual tab of $4 Billion per month.
Bush has recklessly spent this country into a deficit exceeding $450 Billion for this year alone, and estimates are that he will have racked-up a $1.9 Trillion deficit by the end of his sorry 4 year term in office. Bush's track-record is appalling and has been disastrous for America. Is this the Republican idea of sound fiscal management? (What happened to Tom DeLay's sermons and condemnation of any President who overspends against the Budget? Tommy-boy is silent these days, unless he is playing the part of Robespierre to re-district states to support his fascist coup d'etat.) The US National Debt has skyrocketed under Bush's watch to over $6.7 Trillion (http://www.brillig.com/debt_c...) How long can this keep going on before we collapse as did the Weimar Republic in the 1920s? Maybe that's just what the Bushies want! Bush has shown a bizarre fetish for dressing up in military garb!
One could be forgiven for asking whether like Gov. Gray Davis, the Bush Gang should be recalled for utter incompetence, if not for obvious corruption? Many conscientious Americans believe at the very least Congress should investigate into the lies, deceit and falsehoods used by Bush to wage an illegal and immoral incursion into Iraq. In Britain, they have determined already that the Blair Government "sexed-up" the Dossiers and that Saddam Hussein had no interest in attacking other countries, and moreover, no capabilities to do so. There were no massive weapons of mass destruction, much less an imminent threat of attack.
Should Congress do its job properly, they would most probably find that Bush lied to lead us into a war, and as such, that is grounds for impeachment and removal from office. At minimum, they would find Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz guilty of having illegally pressured intelligence agents to fabricate and/or support false data & information to go to war on behalf of their corporate cronies.
Additionally, the Bush Gang is surely guilty of gross negligence for the inept bungling of the war planning efforts, now resulting in a guerrilla quagmire in Iraq:-- that warrants Bush and his Cabinet being forced to resign. There may also be grounds for criminal prosecution for lying, fabrication and revealing sensitive intelligence possibly endangering a CIA Agent to punish her husband for telling the truth & intimidating others (Joseph C. Wilson who exposed the phony Niger Uranium scandal - Refer to "Will the CIA Protect the White House" by David Corn on http://www.thenation.com/capi...).
A pernicious, invidious scandal underlies these recent horrific deceptions, payoffs, and, blood-letting by the Bush Gang: It is Bush's Lootocracy in the USA and Iraq. Bush is rapidly turning the assets, environment, wealth and people of the USA and Iraq over to the Global Corporate Empire comprising the richest people in the world. The USA and Iraq are the victims of Bush's robber-barons who are looting their assets; polluting their environments; stealing their wealth & future; and, enslaving their people in slave-wage jobs paying massive local taxes. The Bush Gang treat the Planet as their Playground, and it's Peoples as their Playthings, to be treated in manner they see fit and discarded as "collateral damage" when they're through. It is an affront to our Nation and must be stopped.
"We the People" must not be intimidated and fearful by the scare tactics used by the Bush Regime who are focusing our attention on the Enemy Without. Instead, we must face the Bush Gang, who are the Enemy Within, and their Corporations-and-Robber-b arons-take-all ideology, and fight to oppose them. They do not care for America, and they only take care of themselves, their rich cronies, and the richest-of-the-rich Corporate power-brokers who are running the show.
The evidence is all around us in the very Executive Orders Bush passes, in order to deny worker's rights; exploit the environment; allow Energy Companies to rape consumers; takeover Iraq's Oil Fields; and, protect Corporations from any liabilities whatsoever, if they harm innocent civilians or the world! Refer to "Why the Lessons of Vietnam DO Matter" by Pepe Escobar on http://www.atimes.com/atimes/...
Escobar describes Iraqis who hated Saddam Hussein, but indeed hate the USA more because they are not fooled by Bush's phony posturing: They see that the Bush Regime doesn't give a damn about the Iraqi people, but only the Oil. He cites: "In Iraq, corporate Bushites at least expect to get away with the oil. And this is basically what young American soldiers are dying for: Executive Order No 13303, signed by George W Bush in late May.
This states with respect to "all Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products, and interests therein", that "any attachment, judgment, decree, lien, execution, garnishment, or other judicial process is prohibited, and shall be deemed null and void". In other words, according to Jim Vallette of the Institute of Policy Studies in Washington, "Bush has in effect unilaterally declared Iraqi oil to be the unassailable province of US oil corporations."
The Iraqi resistance is very much aware of Executive Order 13303 - and that's why it sabotaged, and will continue to sabotage, the crucial Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. The more Iraqis have to wait for oil money to come flowing back and help the reconstruction of the country, the more the US-appointed interim government loses its already shaky credibility. The Iraqi population reads only one thing in all this: it has to buy motor fuel at inflated prices in the black market, and it has to come back to its living quarters and put up with only three hours of electricity a day."
Please refer also to "Lootocracy" by Paul Rogat Loeb on http://www.zmag.org/content/s... - Excerpt:
"...With an amazingly small amount of national debate, George Bush is installing a more global and sophisticated version-one where those on top can do whatever they choose without the slightest constraints. Bush began his presidency by giving the wealthiest five percent of all Americans massive tax breaks of $75 billion a year. He paid for them in part by cutting child abuse prevention, community policing, Americorps, low-income childcare, health care, housing, and even support for military families. This spring he passed another round of cuts, $35 billion a year targeted overwhelmingly to the same lucky lootocrats.
You'd think these victories would leave the Bush administration and its core supporters satisfied that they'd transferred more than enough wealth to the very richest Americans. You'd also think they might have notice that the first tax cut neither created new jobs or stemmed the continuing loss of existing jobs. But no. House Republicans have now just voted to end the Estate Tax permanently. If the Senate goes along, this will transfer a trillion dollars more, over the coming two decades, to an even tinier group of individuals. And key Republican strategist Grover Norquist promises more cuts down the line, explaining, "My goal is to cut government...down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub." Conservatives once preached fiscal restraint. Now strategists like Norquist view massive deficits as a tool to strip away government's ability to affect public life. And the administration neglects practically every real need so they can shift as much money as possible away from communities that could use it to the most to those who already have more than they know what to do with. As 2001 Nobel economics laureate George Akerlof said recently, in calling the administration "the worst government the US has ever had in its more than 200 years of history, "This is not normal government policy What we have here is a form of looting."
"There's a widespread temptation to identify with the winners. But in a lootocracy we all lose out. We lose our voice, our democracy, our confidence that we won't be bankrupted by medical bills or thrown into the street, our certainty that our air and drinking water are safe, our security against the bitter anger of new generations of terrorists. Ultimately, we lose our democracy. Those are the stakes, at home and abroad. We need to be clear about them. If we can give our fellow citizens sufficient context to reflect, most Americans will recognize that they don't want a world run by the Enrons and WorldComs. And that the administration's actions do not serve their interest, but only the interests of the small group that's on top.
They don't want their communities plundered or abandoned. They don't want to cannibalize the earth. They want a relationship with the world that makes us more safe, not less.
Whatever particular issues we care about and take on, we also need to focus on the larger pattern-the destructiveness of a regime based on pillage. The very outrageousness of this administration's reach must inspire us to act for a vision based on connection, respect, and learning to live within our limits. For only by rejecting the ethic of relentless taking do we honor the common ties that bind us all."
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| Is the Bush Regime turning Americans into Nazis? |
| 08.18.03 (2:59 pm) [edit] |
You might initially blush at this question, but it is well worth reflecting upon whether the Bush Regime is turning Americans into Nazis. There are indeed frightening parallels between the two regimes that surpass the usual cliches and simplistic comparisons.
Are you aware of what is being done to our society and in our name? You had better look deeper and think more profoundly, because (1) the erosions of our Rights; (2) the demonization of any Media that questions or criticizes; and, (3) the barbaric Crimes Against Humanity currently underway in our time, are eerily similar to the early days of Nazi Germany, and this is no exaggeration.
God help us if we ignore the disastrous changes underway since the Bush Regime and his Global Corporate Empire have taken over the country.
Ian Kershaw (Hitler 1889-1936 Hubris) describes the atmosphere in Germany in 1923: "Crisis was Hitler's oxygen. He needed it to survive. And the deteriorating conditions in Germany as summer turned to autumn, and the currency collapsed totally under the impact of the 'passive resistance' policy, guaranteed an increasing appeal for Hitler's brand of agitation. ... The country was bankrupt, its currency ruined. Inflation had gone into a dizzy tailspin. ... Speculators and profteers thrived. But the material consequences of the hyper-inflation for ordinary people were devastating, the psychological effects incalculable. Savings of a lifetime were wiped out within hours. Insurance policies were not worth the paper they were written on. Those with pensions or fixed incomes saw their only source of support dissolve into worthlessness".
These historical events are recurring today in the USA under the Bush Regime's plan to undermine the economy and our national psychological strength, in order to install their Global Corporate-take-all Empire.
(1) Erosion of our Rights
Our rights are protected in law, and under our system of checks and balances, no one is above the law, even Presidents, Pentagon Officials, Senators, National Security Advisors, etc. It is only a respect for law in which the rights of citizens are codified, that safeguards us as citizens and our society. The Bush Gang have shown outrageous contempt for the law.
In 1923s Germany, during the economic crisis, Kershaw describes "the conservatives and volkisch Right juxtaposed the negative view of a 'leaderless democracy' [parliamentary government] with a concept of a true leader as a man of destiny, born not elected to leadership, not bound by conventional rules or laws, 'hard, straightforward, and ruthless', but embodying the will of God in his actions. ''God gives us leaders and help us to true following', ... " Hitler's text.
Bush evokes the same emotive, biblical rhetoric in placing himself and the USA above any law or treaty that binds us all to civilized behavior. Americans are fooling ourselves into believing that he is protecting us, but in the meantime, Executive Orders and Patriot Acts are put in place, that directly undermine our US Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Just as Hitler set-up concentration camps far from the center of Germany, where people were transferred without any forewarning or legal process, Bush has established his own concentration camp in Guantanamo Bay, where prisoners are held without trial indefinitely under conditions that have been condemned by Amnesty International. The German concentration camps began as prison camps, evolved into work camps, and later became death camps.
(2) Demonization of the Media that Questions or Criticizes the Actions of our Government
Reich Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick drafted a decree in 1933 called "For the Protection of the People and State" extending emergency measures to the government. Hitler modified it with one brief paragragh, and wiped out "the personal liberties enshrined in the Weimar Constitution-- including freedom of speech, of association of the press, and privacy of postal and telephone communications-- [they were] suspended indefinitely".
The Bush Gang has punished press corps members who ask tough questions, and even restricted the White House Press briefings to "pre-packaged" question-and-answer-sessi ons, approved by the government in advance. (Just ask Helen Thomas and others how they have been treated.)
In the Sunday Observer, Brian Eno, writes a scathing attack entitled "Lessons in how to lie about Iraq, The problem is not propaganda but the relentless control of the kind of things we think about" (http://observer.guardian.co.u...,6903,1020303,00.html) in which he cites:
"Hired-gun PR companies were busy, preconditioning the emotional landscape. Their marketing talents were particularly useful in the large-scale manipulation of language that the campaign entailed. The Bushites realised, as all ideologues do, that words create realities, and that the right words can over whelm any chance of balanced discussion. Guided by the overtly imperial vision of the Project for a New American Century (whose members now form the core of the American administration), the PR companies helped finesse the language to create an atmosphere of simmering panic where American imperialism would come to seem not only acceptable but right, obvious, inevitable and even somehow kind.
Aside from the incessant 'weapons of mass destruction', there were 'regime change' (military invasion), 'pre-emptive defence' (attacking a country that is not attacking you), 'critical regions' (countries we want to control), the 'axis of evil' (countries we want to attack), 'shock and awe' (massive obliteration) and 'the war on terror' (a hold-all excuse for projecting American military force anywhere).
Meanwhile, US federal employees and military personnel were told to refer to the invasion as 'a war of liberation' and to the Iraqi paramilitaries as 'death squads', while the reliably sycophantic American TV networks spoke of 'Operation Iraqi Freedom' - just as the Pentagon asked them to - thus consolidating the supposition that Iraqi freedom was the point of the war. Anybody questioning the invasion was 'soft on terror' (liberal) or, in the case of the UN, 'in danger of losing its relevance'."
Now, our US Soldiers are prohibited from speaking with any press corps in Iraq. Furthermore, the BBC is being demonized for using emotive language such as "sexed-up", when the Big Scandal is that the Blair Government knew their Dossier contained lies and fabrications ... but the British and American intelligence agencies were pressured into lying to prop-up a corrupt political agenda devised by Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, with Tony Blair and Colin Powell playing the poodles.
(3) barbaric Crimes against Humanity committed in our name
Ordinary German citizens were drafted or volunteered to join the Germany Army. The atrocities committed by ordinary Germany Soldiers against an "enemy" who was demonized and told represented a threat to the well-being of the nation, is recounted by eminent historians such as Martin Gilbert, Ian Kershaw, and others. Hitler said "It must be thoroughly understood that the lost land will never be won back by solemn appeals to the good God, nor by hopes in any League of Nations, but only by the force of arms". Hitler could have been quoting Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld, Condi Rice and/or Paul Wolfowitz: Their arrogant and reckless treatment of the United Nations and those countries that didn't blindly support our aggression and incursion into Iraq was unconscionable.
You must take the time to read Brian Cloughley's heart-breaking article entitled "What has happened to the US Army in Iraq?" (http://www.counterpunch.org/c... )
In it he cites atrocities (some of which have been recorded by such notable journalists on-the-ground in Iraq, such as Robert Fisk (Independent UK) committed against innocent Iraq civilians, Of course, our US Soldiers are fighting an immoral and illegal incursion into Iraq, and they are tired, understaffed, under pressure, and demoralized. An excerpt:
""Col. David Hogg, commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division, said tougher methods are being used to gather intelligence. On Wednesday night, he said, his troops picked up the wife and daughter of an Iraqi lieutenant general. They left a note: "If you want your family released, turn yourself in." Such tactics are justified, he said."
Since when were wives and children deemed non-civilians? Are children to be used as bargaining counters? This is totally against the Geneva Conventions and against all human decency. The Nazis did this, dammit. It was one of their preferred tactics in occupied territories. Are the wife and children of Colonel Hogg considered combatants, just because he wears uniform? Can this man imagine what it would be like for his own family to be treated like this? Do the American people know what is being done in their name? This is terrible, and I never thought that an officer of US Army could ever lower himself to this sort of despicable action. I served in the Australian army in Vietnam and knew the US army well. It was rough, tough and barbaric in these days, but I thought this type of brutish and uncivilised behaviour was a thing of the past that went out after exposure of the My Lai atrocities. Apparently not."
As Edward Gibbon author of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, declared "So long as mankind shall continue to lavish more praise upon its destroyers than upon its benefactors war shall remain the chief pursuit of ambitious minds."
For these reasons, "We the People" must reject the Bush Doctrine of Death and Destruction, and demand that Congress do its duty to investigate the Bush Regime's lies and deceit that led us into an unnecessary, bloody and costly war in Iraq, and also, to convict them of Crimes Against Humanity.
Let us not permit our US Soldiers to be dehumanized into committing further atrocities, and our American citizens dehumanized by turning our backs upon the destruction of the good and honorable principles upon which this country was founded.
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| Bush's Big Lies result in Big Quagmires costing Us Big in Lives & Treasure |
| 08.17.03 (9:24 am) [edit] |
The Bush Gang's performance becomes uglier and more destructive to our Nation's well-being, as each day passes:
1. Bush's Big Lies are being exposed each day, as so very crass and fraudulent, that Bush and his regime should be investigated for misleading the country into an illegal and immoral incursion into Iraq based upon LIES. Under the U.S. Constitution, Bush's actions are a crime.
Today, the British Press, is full of reports that demonstrate the "intelligence" was indeed "sexed-up", and that last minute changes were made by the Government who changed the name of the Dossier: "Right up until the publication of the final draft, and as late as 19 September, the document was entitled "Iraq's programme for weapons of mass destruction". But on 24 September, when the Government published the finished version, it left out the words "programme for". Moreover, even the plagarised document stolen from a student reported that Saddam Hussein was planning weapons programmes in the early 1990s-- i.e. no evidence of actual WMDs posing an "imminent threat". (Refer to "Revealed: last-minute changes to Iraq dossier" by Jo Dillon, Deputy Political Editor on : http://news.independent.co.uk... )
Dr. Kelly reported that it was false for the government to say that Saddam Hussein could launch WMDs within 45 minutes! Of course, he died (sic), since all who dare criticize this dangerous Bush Cabal are punished! Why isn't the Bush White House also being investigated for breaking the law with respect to destroying the career of Joseph Wilson's wife (Joseph Wilson had the audacity to tell the truth about the phony Niger uranium yellow cake sales, even neophytes could see was cooked-up by the Bushies to scare Americans witless! Refer to David Corn's article "Will the CIA Protect the White House?" on : http://www.thenation.com/capi... )
Also check out the Big Lies propagated by Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz on : http://www.ceip.org/files/pro...
The goons in the White House and Pentagon outright lied, and poodle-Blair (investigate links with BP) went along for the ride. All these corrupt thugs should be investigated and impeached, or asked to resign. Perhaps a little jail time would teach Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Blair, and the other neo-con criminals that abuse of power is not acceptable in a democracy.
2. Bush's Big Quagmire in Iraq, where our US Soldiers and innocent Iraqi civilian alike, are living in a state of fear, because the Pentagon so badly botched up the planning, depriving innocents of necessary security, infrastructure and support, that Bush's regime should be exposed and condemned vocally by the Media and Congress, instead of this cover-up to protect their corruptions.
Today, the BBC reports that "a key oil pipeline in northern Iraq could take up to a month following a suspected sabotage attack just three days after it reopened." (Refer to : "Disruption in Iraq amid sabotage fears" on : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wo...)
The situation is dire according to journalists on the ground who report that the infrastructure is a mess and the US Soldiers and Iraqi Population are demoralized and angry.
In fact, both families of US Soldiers in Iraq and Veterans for Peace want our troops home. (Refer to "Our Troops Are Now Oppressors, US Military Families Tell Bush" on : http://www.aljazeerah.info/Ne...%20archives/2003%20News%2 0archives/August/16n/Our% 20Troops%20Are%20Now%20Op pressors,%20US%20Military %20Families%20Tell%20Bush .htm )
Is it any wonder, since the White House & Pentagon had the audacity to propose cutting the allowances of US Soldiers in Iraq last week! (Refer to : http://www.ajc.com/news/conte... ) Why doesn't this corrupt Bush cabal have their salaries cut and all profits from war confiscated to pay off the massive deficit they've caused, resulting from their deceit, arrogance and bungling?
" “George Bush said, ‘Bring them on,’” said Nancy Lessin, co-founder of Military Families Speak Out, referring to the president’s response to post-war attacks on US troops occupying post-war Iraq. “Those three words galvanized Military Families Speak Out, Veterans for Peace and other veterans’ organizations to initiate the campaign we are launching today,” she said."
"“We say, ‘Bring them home now.’ Bring them home because our troops should not have been in Iraq in the first place. “Bring them home because there was no imminent danger to the United States. Bring them home because there were no weapons of mass destruction. Bring them home because there was no link between Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein,” said Lessin."
"“We are here today to say it was wrong for the US to invade Iraq, it is wrong for the US to be occupying Iraq, and there is no right way to do a wrong thing.”"
Why don't Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and the CEOs & Executives from Halliburton, Bechtel, Big Oil & Bush's Rich Campaign Contributors volunteer their kids and loved ones to go fight in Iraq? Aren't they "patriotic"? Ha ha ha ha ha -- These corrupt thugs are war-profitters, immorally getting rich off the blood of our soldiers. Daddy Bush 41 has hit the jackpot-- study the Carlyle Group's profits from the blood-letting and destruction in Iraq. (Read William Rivers Pitt's speech "We Stand Our Ground", delivered on August 10, 2003, as the keynote address at the Veterans for Peace National Convention in San Francisco. Read it on : http://www.tompaine.com/featu... )
3. Bush's Big Costs in lives and treasure, due to deceit, arrogance, and inept planning, results in over 312 US & British Deaths to-date, with almost a death per day, of a US Soldier following Bush's bombastic "Top Gun" photo-op on the USS Abraham Lincoln, declaring the war over, and "Mission Accomplished!", warrants an in-depth investigation. Moreover, the incompetence of Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, playing like kids in a nursery their "cowboys and indians" games, started out declaring the war would cost $1 Billion per Month, for approximately 3-6 Months. During the "war phase", it skyrocketed to $2 Billion per Month, for approximately 8 Months to 1 Year. When the predications of the Middle East Experts came true (that "know-it-all" Rummy & Wolfy ignored), and we're told now it will cost an obscene $4 Billion per Month, for a generation-- Why aren't the Media and Congress calling for these corrupt thugs to resign? It is an outrage that we've spent nearly $70 Billion already in Iraq with no end in sight to make Bush's Rich Cronies Richer! Meanwhile we've lost over 2 million jobs here at home, and are incurring record-level deficits and the highest National Debt in US History!
Read "New Numbers: The Price of Freedom in Iraq and Power in Washington", by Ceara Donnelley and William D. Hartung, August 2003, "INTRODUCTION: A PRIVATIZED OCCUPATION" published by the World Policy Institute" on : http://www.worldpolicy.org/pr... They cite the immoral profits being reaped by Bush's Corporate Cronies from warfare. An excerpt:
"Numbers dominate the recent headlines and sound bytes from Baghdad and the Pentagon."
"147,000: the number of U.S. ground troops on Iraqi soil.
237: the number of U.S. service men and women killed since the beginning of ground operations.
99: the number of these deaths since May 1, the day Bush declared combat victory for the coalition.
9: the number of months since members of the 3rd Infantry Division have seen their families.
3: the number of times their homecoming has been delayed.
$3.9 billion: the number of U.S. dollars, estimated by Donald Rumsfeld, it costs per month to support U.S. efforts in Iraq. $400 billion: the projected military budget recently approved by Congress for FY 2004."
"The list goes on."
"What many reports lack, despite all of these statistics, are the real details. When it comes to who is doing what in Iraq, the facts are less clear. Your average CNN-watching American may be able to report the latest on soldiers killed or Iraqis successfully "found, killed or captured," but you’d be hard pressed to find an average American who could tell you how the scene is really unfolding. How many Americans know who supplied the war, who is in charge of reconstruction, how much they are being paid for it, and how they were hired? "
"The answer is not quite so simple as a predictable response—"the military." Few know the real details: how the projects and personnel planning post-war Iraq come from private American corporations making world-class lemonade out of the sour situation in the Persian Gulf."
"From providing the weapons and tanks that took us to Baghdad, to the personnel rebuilding dams and bridges or operating ports, to the pencils and lesson plans revamping the education system for young Iraqis, private American corporations are spearheading U.S. campaigns in Iraq and reaping the financial rewards of warfare. "
"Private corporations have played an unprecedented role in the Second Gulf War, and from the looks of just one more number—$680 million, the projected contract with Bechtel Group Inc. for its reconstructive work in Iraq—they will continue to do so."
Why are Bush's Corrupt Corporate Robber-barons permitted to amasse great fortunes at the cost in misery of lives, and taxpayer dollars? Bush has already awarded massive tax cuts to the richest-of-the-rich and corporations-- and is now providing every incentive for the Corporations to push for warfare to fatten their greedy lusts to live the Belle Epoque.
There should be restrictions upon profits and prices charged by all Corporations awarded government contracts-- and moreover, no contract should be awarded without a proper bidding process with oversight and review by Congress and independent committees. The Bush Gang bypassed bidding and contract review processes in place so that the prices charged to the US Taxpayers are right and proper, and incentives are in place for solid, responsible contracting: 'cause Emperors Bush & Cheney give their Campaign Contributors Gifts (noblesse oblige? ... used to be called bribery & used to be a crime!)! The corrupt relationship between Bush/Cheney, the Pentagon & Defense Contractors is the Big Scandal, that the Media and Congress is hushing-up!
William D. Hartung is a Senior Fellow at the World Policy Institute and co-author with Ceara Donnelley of the new report, New Numbers: The Price of Freedom in Iraq and Power in Washington, and published a concise, must-read article entitled "Insiders Profit from Iraq" on : http://www.tompaine.com/featu...
Hartung cites : "Unfortunately, when it comes to rebuilding Iraq, the Bush administration has been ethically challenged and politically tone-deaf. The administration's privatized approach raises questions about insider-dealing and potential conflicts-of-interest. When the first major contract went to Dick Cheney's former firm, Halliburton, in a secret, no-bid deal; and the second major contract went from the U.S. Agency for International Development to Bechtel, a firm that USAID chief Andrew Natsios used to work for, it was painfully clear that the 'fix is in' when it comes to deciding who gets contracts for the rebuilding of Iraq."
"The Bush administration has personal and financial links to companies that have profited from the war in Iraq. These firms include Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Alliant Techsystems, Halliburton, Bechtel and Dyncorp. "
"We the People" should demand an end to this insanity and corruption. Contact Congress to demand a full and open-door investigation into the Bush Gang's crimes. These thugs should be tried and impeached for Crimes Against Humanity, and War-Profiteering on a scale that would make the most blood-thirsty Roman Emperors blush.
Nothing good for America has come from Bush's Corrupt Reign of Terror on behalf of the Global Corporate Empire.
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| Universal Health Care - An Expert's Assessment |
| 08.16.03 (12:06 pm) [edit] |
Even the "dumbest of the dumb" recognize that the existing system of providing health care to Americans isn't working (well, maybe not the "dumbest of the dumbest" & maybe the greedy neo-con rapists don't want to face reality)! Over 45 Million Americans lack Health Care Insurance, because the costs are excessively exorbitant (e.g. for the Kenny-boy-(Enron)-Lay Imperial Salaries paid to corrupt CEOs, lobbyists, and for pay-offs to slimy politicians.) Those lacking health care insurance are either unable to obtain care if ill, or lose their life savings, homes, and any assets they've worked hard to acquire, to pay "lone-shark" prices charged by the criminal-private-Health Care Gamesters. It's criminal that Americans pay over 200 to 1000 times the costs of some medical interventions, than Europeans (Americans HMO CEOs make over 500 times their European counterparts)! Refer to my previous logs entitled: (1) "The Perils of Privatized Health Care - Cut Out the Overheads", and (2) "Universal Health Care, A Reality for Iraqis, but Not Americans".
America is the only 1st-tier Nation (Bush is turning us into a 3rd world country) not to provide health care for all of it's citizens. It seems the Bush Gang are committed to only providing health care, education, services and protections for the richest-of-the-rich. No wonder Bush is callous to the sufferring in this country, as he is a spoiled child, only interested in campaigning with his Corporate Robber-Baron Cronies who write out fat checks, as their "thank you" for Bush's Gifts of "Welfare" in the form of massive tax cuts to the wealthy & corporations; while burdening the rest of us with the largest deficit and debt in our nation's history.
Dr. Rashi Fein, PhD, is Professor of the Economics of Medicine, Emeritus, at Harvard Medical School. He's just published an article entitled "Universal Health Coverage
Let The Debate Resume" on : http://www.tompaine.com/featu...
This article by the Physicians’ Working Group for single-payer national health insurance in the August 13, 2003, issue of JAMA should re-energize the much needed debate on universal health insurance. He cites:
"Whether one agrees or disagrees with the approach that nearly 8,000 physicians and medical students have endorsed, this group has provided a considerable service by fanning the almost extinguished spark called universal health insurance."
"The Physicians’ Working Group issues a challenge: those who reject its “solution” are challenged to present their own, better and stronger one as a replacement. Thus, it will not suffice simply to dismiss the Physicians’ Working Group solution as unworkable. The American health care system and American society face a real problem and are compelled to search for an answer."
In other words, if you don't like the proposals by over 8000 Physicans' Working Group, what's YOUR answer? It simply isn't good enough to say: "I've GOT MINE... The Rich have GOT THEIRS... TO HELL WITH THE REST OF YOU..." That's the answer the Roman Emperors like Caligula, gave their citizens: and it's barbaric, obscene, corrupt and uncivilized. We must solve this problem: to do otherwise, is to allow our own "Saddam Hussein-types" to exploit us for their own selfish gains.
Dr. Rashi Fein continues: "The proposal has numerous other features, one of which, although extraordinarily difficult to attain, would help return medicine to its earlier honored status -- the elimination of for-profit institutions and the corporatization of medicine and return to the broad-based not-for-profit community hospital and prepaid group practice. America’s physicians have never looked to government as their savior. However, while they were guarding their flanks against “big government” and its power, they were blind-sided by employers who discovered they could bargain with insurers over benefits and premiums, by insurers who -- responding to employers –- exercised control over issues of productivity, requiring more “output” at lower reimbursement, and by managed care organizations who organized delivery systems that tried to preempt the physician’s independence and exercise of clinical judgment."
"Although American medicine may fear government’s exercise of arbitrary power, government is accountable. The real danger lies in the faceless, inexorable, profit-motivated market, an institution from which there is no appeal."
The myth that private enterprise can do everything better than government, is a Corporate Lie. The demonization of government has been a fairy tale used to convince the "not-too-bright" to hand-over basic services to goons who will rape them for riches... It's as wrong-headed, foolhardy and dangerous to believe that government is BAD and corporations are GOOD, as it is to believe that the world is flat. Neither of these ghoulish, childish fairy tale fantasies are true and only the ignorant believes such nonsense.
Some of the brightest Americans are career professionals in education or the civil services including the state department, defense, energy, and other areas of our government. And, moreover, in countries where Government is not seen as "evil", to serve one's country is held in high estime and is prestigious because it is deemed an honor, as it was in the USA during the 1950s. The institutions of government are well-run in countries like France, The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, etc., and their public school systems, for example, are amongst the best in the world!
Indeed, American public schools were considered a model to the world, delivering superior education, from the 1950s to the early 1960s, but were tragically undermined, by lack of funding, in order to purposely instigate widespread failure such that Corporations could eventually move-in and takeover public services and brain-wash us into paying much more for much less. In the end, the Corporations want to exploit a populace of dumb serfs who will work for slave wages with no safety-nets, and worship the ruling class of Feudal Barons in the New Global Corporate Empire. With Bush's help, these Corporate Ghouls are succeeding in destroying the American Middle-Class: the backbone and strength of our society.
Privatisation isn't the answer for basic services needed by the public, because the "greed-factor" undermines safety and health issues. Services such as fire-fighting, policing, forestry, environmental protection, water systems, sewage systems, health care, libraries, the military and defense, education, energy industry, etc. should all be administered under stringent governmental regulation, in order that these services are delivered to the highest standards, and at a non-profit status-- in order that all citizens are able to live safe and decent lives. To allow the rich to put our health at risk by taking-over areas vital to our lives, in order that they can enjoy their Belle Epoque is no different than the corruptions of those regimes that the righteous (and hypocritical neo-cons) condemn.
We Americans have observed first-hand, the back-breaking and heart-wrenching consequences, of greed-ridden Corporations who exploit their workers; pollute the environment; scam their investors; and, place the public's safety and health in danger-- unless government steps in to administer and regulate their accounting, remunerations, practices and standards. (Sure, the Corporate Robber-barons prefer to amasse fabulous fortunes, rather than spend a dime to safeguard employees, stockholders or consumers-- but we can't permit their lust for riches to harm and con the rest of us into being looted and exploited miserably).
Many public institutions and services are managed in order to ensure the highest standards of safety and affordability to all the people for the benefit of the society at large. Would you really want to live in a society wherein only the wealthy could have clean water, policing, fire-fighters, etc.? Would you really want to live in a society whereby only the kids of the wealthy could visit libraries? Would you really want to live in a society where only the kids of the rich have opportunity? That's what they've got in 3rd World Countries. That's what creates misery, poverty and crime. That's what Bush's Global Corporate Empire will turn the USA into, unless we revolt in 2004!
The neo-con corporate goons who would privatize everything, place us at risk-- as evidenced throughout our history. These Corporate-take-all neo-cons are currently bankrupting any safety-net and social programme benefiting the low-income and middle-class workers, such as social security, education, medicare, unemployment insurance, welfare, etc. You'll notice however, they sure are protecting all government programmes for the Corporations & the Richest: awards of massive tax cuts & handouts, tax loopholes for the rich, subsidies, immoral tax codes, havens, pensions for the rich, and, corporate boon-doggles: all paid for by the good ole' American taxpayer.
Health care institutions should be not-for-profit-- they are better managed, when they exist to serve the public, and not the "Top Dogs" & "Fat Cats" who spend their time on the golf course, bribing politicians into enriching themselves beyond the wildest dreams of Saddam Hussein and the Roman Emperors combined! They Corporate Robber-barons Dream Big!
The Bush Family, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld & Wolfowitz & their Defense Industry Cronies (Halliburton, Bechtel, Big Oil, etc.) all are Dreaming Big:- but for themselves, and not for America, not for the good of the American people.
"We the People" should Dream Big for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness for all of our citizens. Let's make our voice heard by writing to our Congress demanding a Universal Health Care System.
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| David Kay's "Meaning of the Word Is, Is, Was, Was?" |
| 08.14.03 (6:29 pm) [edit] |
Robert Novak says David Kay will come up with a surprise regarding the phony WMDs. I'll bet.
All David Kay has said (if you parse his words-- it's harder to parse the Bush Gang's words than it was Clinton's "meaning of the word is, is"), is that there is substantial evidence that Hussein HAD programmes or biological weapons (back in the 1990s)! We knew that. Unless massive quantities of the REAL WMDs are found, it's all "window-dressing"!
The Bush Gang promised not to play with "technicalities" of words-- indeed, they criticized Clinton for doing so-- Clinton lied about sex-- Bush lied about war, killing hundreds of Americans & thousands of Iraqis. Anyone unable to see the difference is morally bankrupt akin to those Germans who followed Hitler.
"We the People" have been bamboozled by the neo-cons who are covering-up the Bushies scandal, more perilous for this nation, than were either Watergate or Lewinskygate.
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| Bush Gang Set to Cut Pay for US Soldiers in Iraq, while Awarding Massive Tax Cuts to the Richest |
| 08.14.03 (5:16 pm) [edit] |
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Another demonstration of the callous disregard for the lives of our American Soldiers, is exposed today. Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz: the goons whose inept planning has resulted in the unnecessary deaths of scores of American Soldiers and Innocent Iraqis, now want to penalize ou | |
