The Smoking Gun...

As referenced in Alberto Gonzales' memo of January 25 of 2002, on January 18 of 2002, George W. Bush declared that the Geneva Convention did not apply to Al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners captured in Afghanistan. For the first time in over a century, since the US was signatory to the Second Geneva convention in 1882, the US government has decided not to honor its obligations under the Conventions.

In 1956, the US signed and ratified the Fourth Geneva Convention. And it was in 1996 that Congress passed the War Crimes Act. Thus, a "grave breach of the GC is a federal crime punishable by the imprisonment of the violator "for life or any term of years". The GC also states, in no unclear language that,

The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances. - Article 1 (emphasis mine)

The upshot of this, and the ICRC analysis of Article 1 agrees, is that nations signatory to the Geneva Convention are bound by its provisions under any and all circumstances. There can be no valid reason for failure to respect any part of the Convention.

In denying Geneva Convention protections to Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners, and later to prisoners in Iraq, which falls under Article III of the Convention as an occupied territory, the Bush administration has, in essence if not in fact, sought to subvert the Geneva Convention. This is a violation of federal law under the War Crimes Act of 1996. Thus it behooves the Senate to call for a special prosecutor to investigate this matter and, if warranted, begin impeachment proceedings for George W. Bush et al. Any who had a hand in the formulation and implementation this policy, beginning with Alberto Gonzales, former Deputy Attorney General John Yoo and Special Counsel Robert J. Delahunty, should be brought before the bar to answer for their actions in this matter as well.

The smoking gun has been found. All that remains to be seen now, is whether anyone is possessed of the courage to use the evidence before us and bring a close to this sorry chapter in American history.

We lost the war, and we never even noticed...

Could it be that Dubbyuh has already lost the "war on terrruh" and we haven't so much as even noticed?

It all began with the disclosures of the photos from Abu Ghraib. In them, Iraqis were subjected to abuses that are almost unspeakable to Muslims. Forced to strip naked...forced to mastubate in front of other Iraqis, US MP's and MI personel, some of them women...prisoners flexi-cuffed into what are euphemistically called "stress positions"...beatings...all recorded for posterity, causing further shame for them, and outrage in the rest of the Muslim world.

Then we were confronted with the Taguba Report, the memos from Alberto Gonzales dismissing the Geneva Conventions as "quaint" and "obsolete", the definition of torture as being "pain equivalent in intensity to major organ failure or death", the IRC report that methods used to interrogate prisoners at GTMO, Abu Ghraib and other US installations were torture.

All this, taken as a whole has ensured contiuing conflict with Muslim extremists for the foreseeable future. But what makes all this even more tragic is that these actions were relegated to a far back-burner. While they are being investigated by miltary authorites, those investigators can only look down the chain of command and not up it, to where the real culpability lies. With Republicans in control of both houses of Congress, one can rest assured that no active investigation will take place that might assign blame where it truly belongs...The Oval Office.

While we are shocked by the images coming from Abu Ghraib, those images have compartmentalized prisoner abuse to a "few bad apples" at that facility, despite documented evidence of such abuses being wide-spread in Iraq and elsewhere. The abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners, a direct outgrowth of Administration policy, has raised no outrage amongst US citizens. The Administration stands, albeit delicately, clear of the fallout from these abuses. And we, the people, continue to wonder, "why do they hate us?" We've lost the war...and we never even noticed.

Bitten in the ass...

Abu Ghraib, Gitmo scandals leave no room for U.S. to talk of human rights: Khatami

DAKAR (IRNA) -- President Mohammad Khatami rejected Saturday U.S. charges of human rights violations in Iran, denouncing Washington's own record in abusing prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and Cuba.

"Of all the people entitled to speak about human rights, we don't regard the Americans as having the right to talk about the respect for human rights in Iran," he told reporters here.

The United States was quoted Thursday as having expressed 'grave concern' over the human rights situation in Iran and potential court action against 2003 Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi. Khatami said, "I believe the Americans' claims of human rights violations in Iran are lies and they had better stand accountable for their own crimes in Iraq's Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo prisons."

Thanks to the policies promulgated by the Bush administration with regards to prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and Afghanistan, we have lost the moral high-ground. By denying prisoners from the Taliban and Al Qaeda, detained in GTMO and elsewhere, protection under the Geneva Conventions the Administration has abandoned the ideals for which generations of Americans have fought and died for. The Adminsitration has also acted contrary to both US and international law in this arena.

The end result now is that a nation with a miserable record on human rights, such as Iran...or China...or Myanmar...or North Korea can tell the US to pound sand with impunity. The decision to torture prisoners was made at the highest levels in the Administration, even to the Oval Office. The architect of those policies, Alberto Gonzalez, now stands to be the next Attorney General of the US. If he is confirmed in that office, America will lose what moral authority it has left, and we will all bear a measure of guilt for the policies he was instrumental in developing and the President allowed to be implemented. Most of us stood by passively and allowed this to happen. The scandal that should have bright down an administration was shuffled quietly into the background, and was not even an issue during the campaign, though it should have been.

So, when do we take a stand? If not now, when? If we let Alberto Gonzales become the next AG, how can we ever erase the shame he and the Bush administration have brought on this nation...For the first time in our history, our government sanctions torture, and makes a mockery of the values of "freedom and democracy" that Dubbyuh claims to be delivering to Iraq and throughout the Middle East. Write, e-mail, call, or camp out in, the office of your senators...let your voices be heard.

The price of pain

January 15, 2005

Declassified FBI and military documents point the finger at the White House for allowing the torture of suspected terrorists. Marian Wilkinson reports on the investigations and their implications for Australia.

The "urgent report" landed on the desk of the FBI director, Robert Mueller, just as Washington was preparing for the summer vacation last June. It was carefully copied to every key law enforcement officer in the bureau. It could not be lost, destroyed, misplaced or overlooked. It was explosive.

A witness had walked into the Sacramento office of the FBI with first-hand accounts of "serious physical abuses of civilian detainees" in Iraq. He described to agents "strangulation, beatings, placement of cigarettes into detainees' ear openings and unauthorised interrogations".

But these claims alone did not hold the shock value in the report. Two months earlier, sensational photographs from the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq depicting gross sexual and physical abuse of Iraqi detainees had been splashed across front pages and television screens around the world. What was more disturbing in this report was the allegation from the witness that US officials "were engaged in a cover-up of these abuses".

With Charles Graner, an army reserve Spc, found guilty on ten charges regarding the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, the first scapegoat has been sacrificed. And there seems to be little impetus to look higher up the chain of command, let alone the Oval Office. This despite continued allegations from FBI officers that the orders condoning torture seem to have emanated from that source.

Also at issue here is the apparent transfer of prisoners to third party nations which are neither signatories to UN Convention Against Torture and are known for there lack of inhibition regarding torture. According to the Convention, which the US is signatory to, "No State Party shall expel, return ("refouler") or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture." - Article 3; Para 1. This is a clear violation of the convention and while the US is signatory to the Convention, it has not yet ratified it, it is not legally bound to abide by its provisions. There is, however, a moral obligation to do so. However, the Bush Administration seems to be singularly lacking in morals.

A few, though, are questioning the policy put forth in the infamous torture memos. Among them is Senator Lindsay Graham, R- South Carolina. Senator Graham states,

"When you start looking at torture statutes and you look at ways around the spirit of the law ... you are losing the moral high ground," he said. The abuse at Abu Ghraib "has hurt us in many ways," he added. "I travel throughout the world like the rest of the members of the Senate, and I can tell you it is a club that our enemies use, and we need to take that club out of their hands."

This warning was also sounded by military commanders and lawyers even as these memos and orders were disseminated for implememtation. But they were ignored. So too were the protestations of trained interogators, who KNOW that torture provides little or no useful intel, ignored.

The pattern of abuse at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, and elsewhere, shows very clearly that these acts were not isolated cases of abuse carried out by a few "bad apples". But rather, they are the product of policy decisions made at the highest levels of US government, possiblly even to the Oval Office and George W. Bush. All due diligence must be applied to ferreting out the truth of this matter, regardless of where, or how high, the trail leads. And with that, the perpetrators brought to justice.

However, I am cynical enough to think that this will never happen. To many vested interests are at stake for the Bush Dynasty to be toppled over this issue. So, a few non-coms, and perhaps even a few low-ranking officers, will be thrown to the wolves while the true perpetrators go free. And this will be to our detriment. America wil have truly and thoroughly lost the moral high ground. The values of freedom and democracy will be made a mockery of and the Republic will perish from the face of this earth.

Those Who Forget History...

Of course, it helps to have learned history in the first place.

In 1215, a document was produced that became the foundation for western jurisprudence and our own Constitution. That document was the Magna Carta. Most relevant to the discussion at hand are are articles 38 and 39 of the Magna Carta, which is the basis of habeas corpus.

38 In future no official shall place a man on trial upon his own unsupported statement, without producing credible witnesses to the truth of it.

"39 No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.

Heady stuff in those days, but the application was strictly for landed gentry and nobles until about 1628. Until then, the typical yeoman could be imprisoned by the king without charge or recourse to the courts.

In 1628, several knights, imprisoned over a tax-dispute with the king. These knights invoked habeas corpus, where they were to be freed or on bail unless they have been convicted of a crime.

In response, Charles I invoked his right, as king, to imprison anybody he wanted, any time he wanted. This led to the a series of laws over the next 50 years which strengthened habeas corpus to the point where only Parliament could revoke it, which they did in the case of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Mow, fast forward to the 21st century. Dubbyuh has invoked per speciale Mandatum Domini Regis, or the right to imrison anyone he wishes any time he wishes. But unlike George III in the case of Napoleon, Dubbyuh feels he needs no act of Congress to overturn the 4th through 8th amendments to the Constitution. In order to circumvent these protections, new legal terms such a 'enemy combatants' and 'terrorists' were created as well as a whole new set of laws to deal with them.

Dubbyuh forgot one thing though. He does not have the right to suspend habeas corpus. While the Constitution provides a mechanism for the temporary suspension of habeas corpus, he does not have the power to do so...Only Congress has that power, and they have...not...done...so.

Since this country was founded, there are two classses of people who can be legally imprisoned, prisoners of war and criminals. This first class is protected under the Geneva Convention and US law while the second class is protected under the US Constitution. These two classes have covered every threat to nations and their people in the 800+ years since the Magna Carta was signed on the banks of the Thames.

But jast as Hitler and his fellow travelers used the burning of the Reichstag to justify an unending war on terrorism and suspension of habeas corpus, so to have George W. Buhs and his merry band, including Alberto Gonzalez.

"The establishment of the writ of habeas corpus ... are perhaps greater securities to liberty and republicanism than any it [the Constitution] contains. ...[T]he practice of arbitrary imprisonments have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny. The observations of the judicious [British 18th century legal scholar] Blackstone, in reference to the latter, are well worthy of recital:

"'To bereave a man of life,' says he, 'or by violence to confiscate his estate, without accusation or trial, would be so gross and notorious an act of despotism, as must at once convey the alarm of tyranny throughout the whole nation; but confinement of the person, by secretly hurrying him to jail, where his sufferings are unknown or forgotten, is a less public, a less striking, and therefore A MORE DANGEROUS ENGINE of arbitrary government.''' [Capitals all Hamilton's from the original.]

This by Alexander Hamilton, one of the most conservative authors of the Federalist Papers. The Founding Fathers recognized no situation in which the President could arbitrarily suspend habeas corpus.

While we are all familiar with Mr. Gonzales' involvement in the torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, this is just a part of a larger issue. That being whether the POTUS has the right to ignore the Constitution, international law and treatties, violate civil and human rights and build concentration camps for the permanent imprisonment of untired and uncharged individuals. Dubbyuh's exercise of per speciale Mandatum Domini Regis puts us all at risk of imprisonment by presidential fiant. Do we really want a man as Attorney General of the US who agrees with such policy? They always start with the terrorists first.

"A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JOE THE BUSH SUPPORTER"

Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.

All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Joe gets it too.

He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.

Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

He walks on the government-provided sidewalk to subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union.

If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune. It is noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe also forgets that his in addition to his federally subsidized student loans, he attended a state funded university.

Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards to go along with the tax-payer funded roads.

He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans.

The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.

Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like me!

The Myth Exploded, or, The Emperor STILL Has No Clothes

Four months after Charles A. Duelfer, who led the weapons hunt in 2004, submitted an interim report to Congress that contradicted nearly every prewar assertion about Iraq made by top Bush administration officials, a senior intelligence official said the findings will stand as the ISG's final conclusions and will be published this spring.

And the conclusion is...SURPRISE!...no different than it was four months ago. No evidence of reconstituted NBC programs has been found. No evidence of the movement of stockpiles of NBC weapons to other countries has been found. No evidence of transfer of said weapons or technologies to third parties has been found. Zero...Zilch...Nada...Zip. And the Bush administration stands, yet again, naked and blinking stupidly into the sun still trying to convince us that they are clothed in magnificent robes of righteous indignation.

They are still trying to spin their fabric of lies in a futile attempt to justify the invasion of Iraq. They continue to defend the indefensible. They still try to convince us of their good intentions, as they pave the road to hell with them.

Now, I'm sure there are those of you who will buy the party line and say, "But intelligence agencies all over the world said...", blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Mohammed El Baradei, Hans Blix, and former UNSCOM inspectors, including Scott Ritter stated flat out, before this whole nightmare even began, that there were no WMD's in Iraq...That these programs had not be reconstituted. They had the most recent experience in Iraq. They had most recently had boots on the ground in Iraq. The intel available to Bush, Blair, and others was had from the since discredited Ahmed Chalabi and other members of the Iraqi National Congress, who were all looking to set themselves up as the leaders of a new Iraq. And in case you haven't noticed, as soon as it looked as if the whole premise for war was going to be exposed as a lie, Chalabi was branded a criminal and and a traitor, with a warrant issued for his arrest on murder charges. What was it Machiavelli said about "foreign princes"?

As this new information comes to light, if it ever does, you can be certain that the Adminstration will go on high spin cycle. Even though the initial Duelfer Report exploded the myth that Iraq had WMD's and was poised to strike with them, Dick Cheney went so far as to say the Duelfer Report "confirmed our assertions". This in the hopes that enough people who would never read the report would accept his word as the gospel truth. As November 2 showed, enough did buy into the lie.

Reagan's Ghost Haunts the Bush Administration

The shade of Ronald Reagan has been spotted in the White House. He keeps moaning "El Salvador...! El Salvador...!"

Since then, there has been talk in the Administration, the military and the CIA about instituting US special forces trained and/or led Iraqi units to engage in operations throughout Iraq and even into Syria. What has yet to be decided though is whether these operations will be snatch-and-grabs or outright assassination. Having seen what occured in El Salvador and Central America during the Reagan administration, the latter choice seems to be the likely one.

Another strange reminder of that era is that John Negroponte is now the ambassador to Iraq, despite the fact that he has no previous experience in the Middle-East. He was however, US ambassador to Honduras during the Reagan administration. During that time, he was the goto for coordination between the the CIA and Nicaraguan Contra death-squads as well as the death-squad in Honduras. These two items, taken together seem to make the death-squad option the most likely choice.

That this discussion is occuring now...on the eve of elections in Iraq...shows just how desperate the situation is becoming in that country. The insurgents strike with impunity and increasing ferocity against both Iraqis and our troops, who were wrongly sent into harms way to begin with. We have the mass resignation of the members of the Independent Election Commission in Mosul...Polling places will not be named until shortly before the election...insurgents have warned that snipers will be stationed around polling places.

The best hope of salvaging the situation will be if Iraqi voters, as did voters in El Salvador, remain undeterred by these threats and turn out to vote despite them. Equally important is the participation of ALL parties...Sunni, Shia'a and Kurd as well as the other ethnic minorities. Failing either of these two things will lead to further chaos and likley a bloody civil war.

While we may fervently wish for a peaceful transfer of power to a legitimately elected government in Iraq and the safe return of our troops, wishing accomplishes nothing. We can only watch an wait. And pray to whatever powers we might believe in that peace, or at least a semblance of it, comes to pass.

We don't need no steenkeen mandate...!

As the day of Dubbyuh's coronation...er...inauguration approaches, we should examine Dubbyuh's mandate or rather, his lack thereof.

Let's take a brief look at the historical record. In 2000, Dubbyuh lost the popular vote, and his "political capital" was non-existent though he claimed a mandate even then. He barely maintained his hold on power in 2004, and his "political capital" was only marginally better than that in 2000.

As for this election cycle Dubbyuh only won by 34 electors, the smallest margin of electoral victory for any US president. His margin of victory in the popular vote was 51%, hardly an overwhelming majority and not the mandate he claims. His 3% margin of victory is well within the margin of error given most polls.

As for the mandate he claims, reforming social security, selecting conservative judges and "simplifying" the tax code, were not the issue he ran on in the election. Had he run on those issue he would have been soundly defeated. Intsead, Karl Rove played the fear card. Fear of terrorism...fear of attack...fear of same-gender marriage...He did not run on substantive domestic issues. He ran on intangible emotional issues.

In the end, Dubbyuh's mandate is, like the rest of his administration, a fabric of obfuscation, disinformation, misdirection and outright lies. The emperor has no clothes, nor does he have a mandate.

It's Just Plain Wrong

In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Rear Admiral John Hutson pointed out that Mr. Gonzales’ recommendations regarding torture brought increased animosity toward the United States, hurt our intelligence effort, and increased the risks to our troops.

This is true. Torture IS counterproductive. But actually it’s a lot worse. It’s also just plain wrong .

That’s why there are so many laws against it. Not because it’s counterproductive...but because it’s just plain wrong. And it is the rule of law that distinguishes us from animals who don’t know right from wrong.

With some things—like torture, like slavery—well, no matter how many people might say such practices are okay, they are not okay. They are objectively evil. They are morally abhorrent...or, at least, they should be.

Antonio Gonzales attempted to justify inhumane practices in pursuit of a higher good, but no good can ever come from such practices. They merely serve to desensitize others to those practices and dehumanize those who are the subjects of those practices.

Mr. Gonzales is a professed born again Christian, yet I don't ever recall Jesus advocating torture. He admonished us to visit prisoners, not torture them. In attempting to rationalize and justify torture and the violation of international human rights accords the US is signatory to, Mr. Gonzales acted contrary to his own self- professed religious beliefs. Like many in the current administration, Mr. Gonzales wears the mantle of religion like a rabid wolf wears sheeps clothing, so it may go ravening amongst the flock.

Mr. Gonzales, by his words and deeds, has shown himself unfit for the post of Attorney General of the US. He should, in good conscience, remove himself from consideration for this, or any other government post.

An Election Stolen

Ten preliminary reasons why the Bush vote does not compute, and why Congress must investigate rather than certify the Electoral College (Part One of Two)
by Bob Fitrakis, Steve Rosenfeld and Harvey Wasserman
January 3, 2005

The presidential vote for George W. Bush does not compute.

By examining a very wide range of sworn testimonies from voters, polling officials and others close to the administration of the Nov. 2 election; by statistical analysis of the certified vote by mathematicians, election experts and independent research teams who have conducted detailed studies of the results in Ohio, New Mexico, Florida and elsewhere; from experts who studied the voting machines, tabulators and other electronic equipment on which a fair vote count has depended; and from a team of attorneys and others who have challenged the Ohio results; the freepress.org investigative team has compiled a portrait of an election whose true outcome must be investigated further by the Congress, the media and all Americans -- because it was almost certainly not an honest victory for George W. Bush.

The major media outlets have pooh-poohed this story. The Reichpublicans decry it as a wild-eyed conspiracy theory, methinks they dost protest too much. If all of the evidence is not brought to light and examined...NOW...it will be buried and forgotten, along with the Republic.
The major media outlets have pooh-poohed this story. The Reichpublicans decry it as a wild-eyed conspiracy theory, methinks they dost protest too much. If all of the evidence is not brought to light and examined...NOW...it will be buried and forgotten, along with the Republic.

The Scum Also Rises...

U.S. officials who take part in torture, authorize it, or even close their eyes to it, can be prosecuted by courts anywhere in the world [under international law].
Kenneth Roth, executive director, Human Rights Watch, December 27, 2002

U.S. Navy documents released today by the American Civil Liberties Union reveal that abuse and even torture of detainees by U.S. Marines in Iraq was widespread. . . . ACLU executive director Anthony D. Romero [said] "this kind of widespread abuse could not have taken place without a leadership failure of the highest order."
American Civil Liberties Union, December 14, 2004

The president insists that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will remain in office, and on December 19, Bush's chief of staff, Andrew Card Jr., said on ABC News' This Week that "Secretary Rumsfeld is doing a spectacular job and the president has great confidence in him."

However, on December 9, Senator Jeff Bingaman, Democrat of New Mexico, wrote Rumsfeld to express his "deep concern over issues related to detainees being held in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Recent reports indicate that not only were detainees mishandled and interrogated in a manner inconsistent with the Geneva Conventions, but that subsequent internal reports of abuse appear to have been suppressed . . .

"...internal reports of abuse appear to have been suppressed . . ." If that isn't damning in and of itself, I don't know what is. Beginning with Alberto Gonzales' vetting and signing off on memos which condoned mistreatment and torture of prisoners and dismissed the Geneva Convention as "quaint" and "obsolete" to the current flip-flop on the issue, the Bush administration has been complicit and complacent with regards to the mistreatment of prisoners. And let's not forget the utter contempt the Administration has displayed towards international law, save where it advances US business interests.

It also shows us that Abu Ghraib was not the result of a "few bad apples" "blowing off steam" with a few "fraternity pranks". It was the result of policy explicitly stated by the administration, and implemented in the field by members of our armed forces. But that does not excuse their actions. That such policies would be known and condoned in the highest circles of governement, all the way up to the Oval Office, only reveals the unfitness to command at those levels.

The Administration did a grave disservice to our troops in producing the DOJ memos in an attempt to justify outright violations of international law, the Geneva Convention, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and plain human decency. The recent attempts to distance themselves from those earlier memos with one repudiating them shows that they know that they were in violation of the afore mentioned laws and treaties. Their guilt is plain for all to see. Their actions brand them war-criminals and they must be brought to justice as such. This Administration and its actions represent a shameful chapter in US history...A chapter which should be brought to a close with all deliberate speed.

And the First Rat Outta the Trap Is...

Off to a bad start

January 3, 2005

AUSTIN, Texas -- Oh boy! Starting the year off briskly, lending it such tone already, such cachet, such je ne sais quoi -- those Republicans are so special, aren't they? Their first move, first rat out of the trap, top priority: lower ethics standards. Yessiree, this 2005 is going to be quite a year, some pip.

Let's put that to a vote. Many problems before us -- Iraq, a Social Security "crisis," a real health care crisis, world terrorism, our international reputation possibly at its lowest ever ... who is in favor of lowering ethics standards first? Who thinks ethics standards in Washington are too high?

With the moral waters already murky, the current Reichpublican efforts to further gut the already toothless ethics rules will only further stir up the mud. These folks are getting waaaaay to big for their britches, they seem intent on placing themselves above the law...No, wait, they are the law, and they can do anything they damn well please.

And I thought my expectations for our great and fearless leaders couldn't get any lower. Suprise! They are now lower than whale-shit on the bottom of the ocean. I expect nothing but the worst from our elected leaders, and I am certain they will deliver.

If these changes to the ethics rules pass, the Reichpublicans will have abandoned even the pretense of moral superiority they so successfully played on during the 2004 election. Their morality does "...indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness..." . They are hypocrites of the worst stripe.

Modern Pharisees

26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto 1whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,

30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the 1children of them which killed the prophets.

32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? - Matthew 23; 26-31

In perusing the websites of the various religious broadcasters, I find little or no mention of the devastation and tragedy in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and other areas ravaged by earthquake and tsunami. On Jerry Falwell's website, the focus is on registering "...millions of new evangelical voters..." and hawking tickets for a cruise with Mr. Falwell on the Queen Mary II. No mention of, or solicitation for, donations to help the victims of the afore mentioned disaster.

The World Harvest Church pastored by Rod Parsley, seems to be more concerned with the non-threat posed by same-gender marriage and fattening the church's coffers. Again, no mention is made of the victims of natural disaster of last week.

I found the same thing on John Hagee's website and Jimmy Swaggart's website. What I want to know is, "what has become of the imperative to feed the hungry...? Clothe the naked...? Give shelter to the homeless...? Tend to the sick...?" Are they more interested in pursing a political agenda rather than the teachings of their faith. If so, they are, indeed, modern day Pharisees...Outwardly righteous, but inwardly full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Amendment XIV - Citizenship rights.

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. - The US Constitution

Montana High Court Says University System Must Provide Gay Employees with Domestic Partner Benefits

...the Montana Supreme Court ruled today that the state must provide lesbian and gay employees of the University of Montana System with the option of purchasing health insurance and other employee benefits for their domestic partners.

The court, in a four-to-three decision, ruled that the University System's policy of excluding lesbian and gay employees from equal employment benefits violates the state constitution's equal protection guarantees.

The legal precedent now exists to enforce the US Constitution's equal protection clause on behalf of same-gender couples across the country and overturn both federal and state "Defense of Marriage" laws.

Meanwhile, Deep in the Bible-belt...

Arkansas Anti-Gay Foster Care Ban Overturned

December 29, 2004

LITTLE ROCK - - Finding that children are not harmed by living with gay or lesbian parents, an Arkansas court today struck down a state regulation that banned gay people and anyone living in a household with a gay adult from being foster parents in the state. The American Civil Liberties Union brought the lawsuit against the state in 1999 on behalf of three prospective foster parents.

"Throughout this case, the state has relied on ugly stereotypes to deny children in the Arkansas foster care system the chance of having the widest possible pool of foster families available to them," said Rita Sklar, Executive Director of the ACLU of Arkansas. "We’re very pleased that the court saw through these arguments and has recognized that gay and lesbian people can provide homes just as loving and stable as anyone else’s."

Who'd a thunk it. Deep in the bible-belt, in the little state of Arkansas, gay an lesbian folks can now provide foster care for kids abused by their straight parents. Gosh, they can find a loving, nurturing relationship with gay and lesbian couples, that they can't find in their own homes.

Guess that shoots the stereo-type of the ignorant, homophobic bible-belter right in the ass...doncha think? Probably not. The same nasty stereotypes will be throw up by the same ugly minded folks who oppose the very concept of same-gender relationships. These sick sots need to clean their own houses and take stock of their own relationships before they even begin to worry about those of others.

Poll: Most Americans Now Say War Was a Mistake

NEW YORK In a historic shift, a majority of Americans express the view that the U.S. made a mistake in going to war against Iraq, according to a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll.

The poll, released on Tuesday, shows that 51% now hold this view, with 48% supporting the decision to go to war. In November those numbers were virtually reversed.

Now that the hype and hoopla of the campaign season has faded, and folks are taking a closer look at what is going on, they're begining to realize that they've been sold a bill of goods. But for all those who have so ardently and slavishly supported Dubbyuh's dirty little war, and still do...I told ya so. Now you own it.

A guilty conscience?

Ohio Republican election officials thumbed their noses at a subpoena Monday, December 27, as Republican Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell refused to appear at a deposition in an election challenge lawsuit filed at the Ohio Supreme Court. Meanwhile John Kerry is reported to have filed a federal legal action aimed at preserving crucial recount evidence, which has been under GOP assault throughout the state.

Richard Congianese, Ohio Assistant Attorney General, is seeking a court order to protect Blackwell from testifying under oath about how the election was run. Blackwell, who administered Ohio's November 2 balloting, served as co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign.

Hmmmm...Something's rotten in the State of Ohio. Why is Blackwell worried about testifying under oath? Besides the fact that he was co-chair of Ohio's Bush n' Dick Show...? Besides the fact that he was in political bed with Wally O'Dell, Diebold executive and Major contributor to the Republican machine in Ohio...? And let's not forget that Wally promised to help deliver Ohio's electoral votes to Dubbyuh.

Sounds like a guilty conscience to me. But even if it isn't, even the appearance of impropriety is damning in and of itself. Ken Blackwell can kiss his political career in Ohio "Goodbye!".

Faith

Faith>; noun: (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion (2) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof

The key word in this definition is "belief". Belief is a box that can trap us. It leads us to think we know all we need to know and need explore or question no further. It can lead us to a seemingly inescapable intellectual and epistemological dead-end.

In the ancient Pali texts, wherein the earliest recorded teachings of the Buddha are preserved, "faith" is mentioned frequently. But it is a verb and not...a noun. This frees us from the trap of belief. Faith becomes a dynamic and ongoing process...a path to be traveled, not a box to be trapped within. It becomes a living thing rather than an ossified edifice.

Belief grips you...Faith frees you. - Roshi Phillip Kapleau

Merry Effing Christmas!

With the budget deficit growing and President Bush promising to reduce spending, the administration has told representatives of several charities that it was unable to honor some earlier promises and would have money to pay for food only in emergency crises like that in Darfur, in western Sudan. The cutbacks, estimated by some charities at up to $100 million, come at a time when the number of hungry in the world is rising for the first time in years and all food programs are being stretched.

Perhaps if Dubbyuh could tap his corporate pimps and johns for some cash for aiding those in need rather than having sumptuous inaugurals topping the $40 million mark, he wouldn't have to cut this aid. Or perhaps if he rolled back a tiny fraction of the $89 billion in tax cuts he wants to make permanent, he wouldn't have to cut food aid.

But no, it is more important to bow and scrape to the money machine that is politics today than it is to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, give shelter to the homeless, clothe the naked, comfort the sick, or ease the torment of the imprisoned. So much for Christian virtue. It's just another tool in the political bag to be trotted out when the opinion polls drop.

Dubbyuh's religious conversion was one of convenience, not conviction. Were it otherwise, we would see it reflected in his words and actions, but all we hear are words unsupported by action or conviction.

So, despite the horrors we see loosed upon the world, and my being non-Christian, I ask all who read this to remember the true meaning of Christmas...I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

Do we see a pattern emerging here?

New allegations of prisoner abuse at both Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay are surfacing, and these events occurred some two months after the whole nauseating mess first erupted. The allegations include, "...strangulation, beatings and the placing of lit cigarettes into detainees' ears...

...shackled to the floor in foetal positions for more than 24 hours at a time, left without food and water and allowed to defecate on themselves..." - BBC World Service.

Such actions clearly violate not only US law, but also international law and the UN Convention Against Torture, which the US has long been a signatory to. And let's not forget Executive Order 13107. Issued by Bill Clinton in 1998, it enjoins the US and its forces to abide by ALL conventtions on human rights, and it's one Dubbyuh hasn't gotten around to rescinding...at least not publicly.

We can see a clear pattern here starting with the memos written by John Yoo, and others, which were vetted and approved by then White House counsel, Alberto Gonzales. Torture is O.K., unlimited and arbitrary presidential power is O.K. In short, anything which furthers the neo-con agenda is O.K., the ends justify the means, reagrdless of where that path might lead.

The Bid for Unchecked Presidential Powers

Just two weeks after the September 11 attacks, a secret memo to White House counsel Alberto Gonzales’ office concluded that President Bush had the power to deploy military force “preemptively” against any terrorist groups or countries that supported them—regardless of whether they had any connection to the attacks on the World Trade Towers or the Pentagon.

The memo, written by Justice Department lawyer John Yoo, argues that there are effectively “no limits” on the president’s authority to wage war—a sweeping assertion of executive power that some constitutional scholars say goes considerably beyond any that had previously been articulated by the department.

Although it makes no reference to Saddam Hussein’s government, the 15-page memo also seems to lay a legal groundwork for the president to invade Iraq—without approval of Congress—long before the White House had publicly expressed any intent to do so. “The President may deploy military force preemptively against terrorist organizations or the States that harbor or support them, whether or not they can be linked to the specific terrorist incidents of Sept. 11,” the memo states.

In addition to providing a rationale for invading Iraq, or any other country, the memo also stated that "...the president's decisions are for him alone and are unreviewable...". While this is in regards to the president's use of military force, it sets a precedent for unlimited...unchecked...unquestioned presidential power. Such power in the hands of the Executive, or any other branch of governement, clearly flies in the face of the intent of the framers of the Constitution, who sought to maintain checks and balances amongst all three branches so that none gains absolute control of the government.

Even more disturbing is that Alberto Gonzales, Dubbyuh's nominee to replace John Ashcroft, vetted and signed off on this memo. Is this really the kind of man we want as Attorney General...? One who would so cavalierly dispense with 200+ years of constitutional government as if it were toilet paper...?

The true colors of the Bush administration are revealed with the release of this memo. They care not one whit for the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. They scoff at the concept of international law, and view the Geneva Convention with utter, unveiled contempt. Power is their only goal, and they care not how many bodies they must climb over to reach it. They are unworthy of the offices they hold and they are a disgrace to the memories of our Founding Fathers.

Civil War...? In Iraq...? Inconceivable...!

According to reports today, car bombs exploded near the Ali Iman shrine in Najaf, one of the most sacred sites to Shia Islam, and at a bus station in Karbala. Both cities are Shia controlled. According the BBC,

"...the aim of the bombers - believed to be Sunni insurgents - is to kill as many Shias as possible and try to stir up sectarian trouble ahead of the 30 January poll, our correspondent says.But leading Shias urged their supporters not to respond in kind.

"The Shias are committed not to respond with violence, which will only lead to violence. We are determined on elections," said one of the most respected Shia clerics, Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum..."

The key to avoiding all out civil-war between the Sunnis and the Shias lies in whether or not the Shia clerics can keep their followers in check. If they cannot, todays car bombings are but the first volley in a bloody internecine struggle between the Sunnis and the Shias. As to what the Kurds will do, that is anyone's guess. They may be content to play wait-and-see, letting the Sunnis and Shias slaughter each other. But should they be regularly attacked by either, or both, the Sunnis or Shias all bets are off. Iraq will become embroiled in a three-way civil war that will make Lebanon look like a Sunday-school picnic, as well as further radicalize and destabilize the entire region. If American forces step in, they will be accused of playing favorites, and will become targets to all involved.

Both British and US intelligence summaries pointed to the very real possibility of a three way civil war in Iraq. But, as is typical of the Bush administration, if the projections donnot pass their ideological litmus test, they are ignored. If civil war does erupt it, and its consequences, can be laid squarely upon the doorstep of the Bush administration. They were warned against going into Iraq to begin with, but they chose to ignore those warnings...The blood, both US and Iraqi, is on their hands.

Orwell Lives!

AUSTIN, Texas -- "The aide (a senior adviser to President Bush) said that guys like me were 'in what we call the reality-based community,' which he defined as people who 'believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. 'That's not the way the world really works anymore,' he continued. 'We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors ... and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do." -- Ron Suskind, New York Times Magazine, Oct. 17, 2004.

And the greates impact will be on the environment. The Administration's Empire status notwithstanding, the problems of global warming and environmental degradation will accelerate under another four years of Dubbyuh's gross mismanagement. Among other things, the following are being stripped from Clinton-Era enviromental law:

-- Reducing risk to human health and the environment by identifying, evaluating and, where necessary, remediating contamination resulting from past DoD activities.

-- Protecting, preserving and, when required, restoring and enhancing the quality of the environment.

-- Conserving and restoring, where necessary, the natural and cultural heritage represented on DoD installations within the United States.

There has been no public debate or congressional review of the new policy. The policy was written by the man who watched the looting of Baghdad and said, "Stuff happens."

Also, sewage treatment regulations are being relaxed to allow sewage treatment plants to routinely mix partially treated sewage with treated sewage for discharge into our waterways. This normally should only happen during emergencies like...oh...a hurricaine. Now it can happen anytime it rains. The impacts to public health from this policy will result in higher incidences of disease and death in the elderly, children, and those who are otherwise at risk, from bacteria, viruses and parasites contaminating our watersupplies as a result of this routine sewage discharge.

These, and other environmental issues are not being subjected to congressional scrutiny or public debate. It's just Dubbyuh puttin' out for his corporate pimps and johns. So the Administraion's Orwellian double-speak like, the Clear Skies Initiative, Healthy Forests Initiative, etc. are just that, double-speak. The oligarchs are in control, and the rest of us are just plain fucked. Orwell was right.

Church and State

Since November 2nd, there has been a noticable upsurge in concern with regards to issues of separation of Church and State. Especially since the White House has taken a definite turn towards the religious right.

_A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom_



SECTION I. Well aware that the opinions and belief of men

depend not on their own will, but follow involuntarily the evidence

proposed to their minds; that Almighty God hath created the mind

free, and manifested his supreme will that free it shall remain by

making it altogether insusceptible of restraint; that all attempts to

influence it by temporal punishments, or burthens, or by civil

incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness,

and are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion,

who being lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it

by coercions on either, as was in his Almighty power to do, but to

extend it by its influence on reason alone; that the impious

presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as

ecclesiastical, who, being themselves but fallible and uninspired

men, have assumed dominion over the faith of others, setting up their

own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible,

and as such endeavoring to impose them on others, hath established

and maintained false religions over the greatest part of the world

and through all time: That to compel a man to furnish contributions

of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and

abhors, is sinful and tyrannical; that even the forcing him to

support this or that teacher of his own religious persuasion, is

depriving him of the comfortable liberty of giving his contributions

to the particular pastor whose morals he would make his pattern, and

whose powers he feels most persuasive to righteousness; and is

withdrawing from the ministry those temporary rewards, which

proceeding from an approbation of their personal conduct, are an

additional incitement to earnest and unremitting labours for the

instruction of mankind; that our civil rights have no dependance on

our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or

geometry; that therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the

public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to

offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or

that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those

privileges and advantages to which, in common with his fellow

citizens, he has a natural right; that it tends also to corrupt the

principles of that very religion it is meant to encourage, by

bribing, with a monopoly of worldly honours and emoluments, those who

will externally profess and conform to it; that though indeed these

are criminal who do not withstand such temptation, yet neither are

those innocent who lay the bait in their way; that the opinions of

men are not the object of civil government, nor under its

jurisdiction; that to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude his

powers into the field of opinion and to restrain the profession or

propagation of principles on supposition of their ill tendency is a

dangerous falacy, which at once destroys all religious liberty,

because he being of course judge of that tendency will make his

opinions the rule of judgment, and approve or condemn the sentiments

of others only as they shall square with or differ from his own; that

it is time enough for the rightful purposes of civil government for

its officers to interfere when principles break out into overt acts

against peace and good order; and finally, that truth is great and

will prevail if left to herself; that she is the proper and

sufficient antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the

conflict unless by human interposition disarmed of her natural

weapons, free argument and debate; errors ceasing to be dangerous

when it is permitted freely to contradict them.



SECT. II. WE the General Assembly of Virginia do enact that no

man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship,

place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained,

molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise

suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all

men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their

opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise

diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.



SECT. III. AND though we well know that this Assembly, elected

by the people for the ordinary purposes of legislation only, have no

power to restrain the acts of succeeding Assemblies, constituted with

powers equal to our own, and that therefore to declare this act

irrevocable would be of no effect in law; yet we are free to declare,

and do declare, that the rights hereby asserted are of the natural

rights of mankind, and that if any act shall be hereafter passed to

repeal the present or to narrow its operation, such act will be an

infringement of natural right.

(emphasis mine)


This statute, penned by Thomas Jefferson in 1779, is a clear indication of his feeling towards the relationship between church and state. They were, indeed, to kept apart. By providing a religion with the priviledge inherent in government recognition of it, that religion can and does become corrupt. History has shown us this repeatedly.

This does not mean, however, that our elected officials must check their faith at the door. If they are truly devoted to the teachings of their religion, and strive to live by those beliefs in accordance with their conscience, then those beliefs will show in their every action. If it is otherwise, that they simply don the mantle of religion for mere political expediency, then too will their hypocrisy be revealed in their every action.

Star Wars...? Hell, it can't even get off the ground!

For a system meant to be operational by the end of the year, Dubbyuh's fantasy missile defense system ain't workin' too well. The test before this was was cancelled because it was 'overcast' in Alaska. It seems to me that if you're gonna shoot down nukes you oughtta be able to do it any time. After all, someone launching ballistic missiles at us isn't going to cancel their plans due to bad weather.

This time the interceptor couldn't even get off the ground. The system shut down because of an "unknowm anomaly". I know I'm feeling more secure now that we have a recalcitrant and essentially useless missile defense system in place. I'm sure that's going to protect us from some nut-case slipping a nuke into the US in an uninspected cargo-container, or infecting themselves with smallpox and wandering the streets of Anytown, USA and starting a major epidemic.

It seems to me that the $10 billion, yes that's BILLION, a year being poured down this rat-hole could be better used funding our first responders here in the States and purchasing body-armor for our troops caught up in Dubbyuh's dirty little war in Iraq.

Dubbyuh Continues to Reward Failure

Why does Dubbyuh persist in rewarding failure? First he promotes Condi-mima to Secretary of State after her unimpressive and utterly unconvincing testimony before the 9/11 Commission. Next, he keeps Donald Rumsfeld on as Secretary of Defense, even though his miscalculations, underestimations and disregard for the opinions of battle-tested generals have led us to a quagmire in Iraq. Now he awards George Tenet and J. Paul Bremer with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

George "Fall-On-Your-Sword" Tenet, stated that the evicence for Saddam's WMD's was a "slam dunk". But, SURPRISE!, they were nowhere to be found. And from the looks of things there never was anything to be found. But Scott Ritter, Hans Blix and Mohammed el-Baradei were telling us that six months before Dubbyuh ordered troops into Iraq. And, there was that little thing about 9/11. George had a plan for dealing with the perpetrators of 9/11, but he wasn't so much able to prevent it.

J. Paul "Proconsul" Bremer took over in Iraq and promptly disbanded the Iraqi army. This left thousands of unemployed, armed, pissed-off men roaming the streets of Baghdad and the country-side. Gosh, I wonder how many of them are fighting for the insurgency now? And, who can forget his throwing Iraq open to pillaging...er...free-market reforms. Just think of all the jobs provided to foreign workers who are willing to work for 25 cents a day. Iraqis have nobody but themselves to blame for refusing to work for anything less than 50 cents an hour. And besides, J. Paul is a "fashion pioneer" (yes, that's an actual quote). Not only was he Proconsul of Iraq, but he looked good doing it too!

Maybe Dubbyuh just roots for the underdog...Nah. He simply prefers blind loyalty over competence. Just look at his 'economic conference'. But that's for another time.

Adulterer and Murderer meet to discuss fate of Crook

Strain Is Seen in Giuliani Ties With President

By ELISABETH BUMILLER and ERIC LIPTON

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 - Former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani had a Christmas dinner at the White House on Sunday night, and he attended with an important goal in mind: to apologize to his host for pushing Bernard B. Kerik as homeland security secretary and then watching as Mr. Kerik's nomination collapsed in legal problems and embarrassed the president of the United States.

Rudy Giuliani And Dubbyuh met for dinner Sunday night. Among issues discussed was Bernie Kerick. One can only imagine the bowing and scraping Rudy had to do over Keriks hiring of a "Nanny". But further investigation shows that there was far more to Kerik's problems than the immigration status of a nanny.

Before the ink was dry on a contract with Taser International to supply tasers to the NYPD, Kerik was appointed as a "Director" in the company and made a cool $6.2 million on the deal. Can you say "conflict of interest"? I knew you could.

In April, Kerik set up a consulting firm, pimping his NYPD props to wealthy corporate johns. Among his first clients was the pharmaceutical industry. He helped drum up opposition to letting seniors citizen buy FDA approved drugs from Canadian pharmacies for far less than they do in the US. He claimed that reimportation of drugs would place the US at risk for a bio-terror attack under the guise of a legal purchase.

I could go on, but I'm sure you get the point. Bernie Kerik is unfit to be dog-catcher, let alone head of the Department of Homeland Security. I'm certain Rudy ate alot of crow Sunday evening.

It's me

School of the Americas, Not just for fascists from south of the border anymore

Victim of Latin American torture claims Abu Ghraib abuse was official US policy

By Andrew McLeod

FOR many Latin American victims of torture, the infamous pictures of abuse at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison brought back not only chilling recollections of their own experiences, but also confirmed what they have long maintained: that their torturers were following interrogation guidelines set by the US Army School of the Americas (SOA).

“I had flashbacks when I saw the guy with the hood [at Abu Ghraib],” says Carlos Mauricio, a Salvadorean who was tortured in 1983. Founder of Stop Impunity, a group that seeks to prosecute human rights violators, dismisses as a “whitewash” the Bush administration’s view that Abu Ghraib abuse was the work of a few US army misfits.

“What happened at Abu Ghraib was torture by the book; they were implementing US policy,” Mauricio, 51, told the Sunday Herald.

“The US military deny they teach torture and say it happens in Latin America because soldiers have always been brutal. But what happened at Abu Ghraib belies this.”

Among the SOA’s 60,000 graduates are former dictators Manuel Noriega and Omar Torrijos of Panama, Leopoldo Galtieri and Roberto Viola of Argentina, Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru, Guillermo Rodriguez of Ecuador and Hugo Banzer Suarez of Bolivia. Lower-ranking graduates were involved in the 1980 assassination of Salvadorean Archbishop Oscar Romero and the massacre of 900 civilians at El Mozote, El Salvador, in 1980.

Given the august body of graduates, and their body counts, it should really come as no surprise that the techniques utilized at Abu Ghraib are the same as those taught by the School of the Americas. After all, the faculty of the school wrote the book on 'intelligence gathering' from recalicitrant prisoners, and it seems fairly certain that they were also supervising operations at both Abu Ghraib and Gitmo.

That John Negroponte, who was heavily involved with the Contras and involved in the cover-up of abuses by the US and Argentine-trained Honduran Battalion 316 during his tenure as ambassador to Honduras in the 1980's, is now Iraq's ambassador should give us a good indication of things to come...More cover-ups of human rights abuses of Iraqi prisoners.

It seems to be no coincidence that key figures in the Iran-Contra scandal have made political comebacks that would have left Dick Nixon blushing. Figures such as Elliot Abrams, Otto Reich and others are the intellectual fore-fathers of the neo-con movement. So, with John Negroponte as America's pro-consul...er, ambassador...to Iraq, don't expect any startling new revelations...Just more of the same old, sick shit.

Coalition...? Of the willing...?

It's really long past time to put paid to the Dubbyuh's myth about a "coalition" in Iraq. Of the 28 countries represented in the "Coalition", only 8 have contingents of greater than 500 troops.

As it stands now, 7 countries have pulled out, 3 are planning to pull out and 5 are planning to reduce their troops strenght with upcoming rotations. Only Armenia and Fiji (as part of a UN force) are planning new troop deployments to Iraq.

With few exceptions, the "Coalition" members were strong-armed or bribed into provide support for the war in Iraq, either in terms of manpower or in non-material support, such as flyovers and staging areas or simply statements of support for the war.

We cannot, however, belittle the sacrifices made by those "Coalition" troops anymore than we can those made by our own troops in Iraq. They are there at the orders of their government, just as our troops are. That those orders are in support of an illegal and illegitimate war is no fault of their own. It is the politicians who use them as disposable pawns in a ruthless game of realpolitik who are at fault. And as more and more people around the world and in the US realize the gross error made in invading Iraq, the smaller the "Coalition" will become, and the fewer Americans will be willing to participate in the hugely dangerous exercise in foreign adventurism that Iraq is. At that point, the Administration will either have to change its policy regarding Iraq or institute a draft to provide sufficient numbers of troops to secure the country.

So long as America bears the vast majority of the costs and casualties in Iraq, there really is no coalition...There is only us, and we will pay the price for this debacle for decades to come.

Time to take off the rose colored glasses

The recipe for civil war

By Pepe Escobar

Najaf was bombed in August. Samarra was bombed in September. Sadr City was bombed in October. Fallujah was bombed in November. Mosul may be bombed in December. And Kirkuk may be bombed in January.

This is the calendar in the runup to the Iraqi elections set for January 30 next year. Then there will be another set of questions. Will the Iraqi elections be stolen? Will votes "disappear"? Instead of Florida or Ohio, will there be demands for recounts in Fallujah and Samarra? Like Ukrainians in Kiev, will Sunnis in Baghdad take to the streets contesting the results of their elections? Will interim premier Iyad Allawi - with a little help from his Washington friends - prevail?

With most of the recent insurgent violence directed at Iraqi civilians rather than US forces, the conflict in Iraq is taking a nasty turn for the worse. A similar pattern of attacks heralded the begining of Lebanon's long civil-war. Mosul, which Ayahd Allawi can't even claim to control already in the grips of a bitter internecine struggle as Kurds, Sunnis, Shi'ites and other smaller factions, battle for control of the city. Matters took a turn for the worse in Mosul as Sheikh Faidh Muhammad Amin al-Faidhi was assasinated this past Monday. al-Faidhi, a Sunni, was well respected by Shi'ites and Kurds, and wielded a great deal of influence with the Association of Muslim Scholars, which was calling for an election boycott.

But our American Nero continues to fiddle and his puppet, Ayad Allawi, continues to insist that elections will go forward as planned in January. Unless the security situation changes drastically for the better, however, any meaningful elections are an impossibility. Iraq will continue to degenerate into a full blown civil-war as American forces stand helplessly by in their fortified compounds.



- Why don't they ever listen? -

Bobble-head Congress

Each branch of government -- legislative, executive and judicial -- has some constitutionally structured means of preventing the other branches from abusing power, since all power, in theory, derives from We, the People. Yet, as never before, the three branches are working in collusion. The result is that the office of the presidency is accountable to no body, and the Constitution can be flouted, American people lied to and political enemies destroyed with nary a whimper from anyone in Washington. The Congress is now an assemblage of 535 yes-men and women, as unimpressive a group of lackies as has ever disgraced the hallowed halls of the U.S. Capitol. While one need only pick a week, any week, to confirm this, the past week has been particularly instructive.

Imagine, if you would, 535 bobble-head figures all nodding yes and you would have Congress as it now stands. With only a few exceptions, no member in either house of Congress has been willing to tackle the White House head on on any issue. Rather than serving as a check to urestrained presidential power, Congress has become complicit in the Bush administration's rampant disregard for the Constitution they are all sworn to "...protect and defend from all enemies, foreign and domestic..." They have become the enemy. But our founding fathers provided us with the justification neccessary to remove the stain upon their memory and the Republic the fought and died for..."all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

The Bush administration has become destructive to these ends, and it is past time to seek their removal. By impeachment or election or by such means as were used by Mahatma Gandhi to bring down the British rule in India. It is time. No, it is past time...

Social Insecurity

Never mind the $2 trillion spending gap if Dubbyuh's scheme for social security privatization gets pushed through Congress. According to a study comissioned by Paul O'Neil while he was Secretary of Treasury, the Fiscal Imbalance, the current federal debt held by the public plus the value in today's dollars of all projected non-interest spending, minus all projected federal receipts, is somewhere in the neighborhood of $51 trillion. That's nearly 5 years worth of the total current US GDP to pay for future expenditiures, primarily in the form of Social Security payouts as well Medicare and Medicaide claims. Sound fiscal policy mandates a fiscal imbnalance of zero...zip...nada.

This information was supressed by Dubbyuh's White House, but was revealed by economist Laurence Kotlikoff in a book entitled "The Coming Generational Storm: What You Need to Know about America's Economic Future"which was released last spring, so both presidential candidates had the information available to them, both failed to address it. This is the "economic Armageddon" Stephen Roach, of Morgan-Stanley, spoke of recently. It is a case of "fiscal child abuse" because, unless we deal with this problem now, our descendents will be paying for it for the foreseeable future. According to Mr. Kotlikoff if a 78% tax rate were to be imposed now, we might just cover the expense. If we wait 5 years, that tax rate would jump to 84%. There is no easy way to solve this problem and it will require sacrifices on the part of all of us, and soon, to dodge this bullet. But the easy way seems to be the only way Dubbyuh and his merry band seem willing to entertain. Or at least any way which benefits Dubbyuh' political pimps and johns, the rest of us can suck hind tit.

All hail to Caligula's horse

Bush's new head of homeland security is perfect for the job

Sidney Blumenthal,
Thursday December 9, 2004

In the legend of the war on terrorism, Bernard Kerik, with his trademark shaven head, bristling moustache and black belt in karate, occupies a special place as rough and ready hero. Having risen from military policeman to narcotics detective to New York City police commissioner, he finds himself on 9/11 shoulder to shoulder with Mayor Rudy Giuliani. As the towers crumble the mayor confides in his buddy: "Bernie, thank God George Bush is president."

In line with other second-term cabinet appointments - Alberto Gonzales as attorney general, Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state - Kerik will be an enforcer, a loyalist and an incompetent. The resemblance is less to Inspector Clouseau or Chauncy Gardner than to Caligula's horse.

Dubbyuh is only further insulating himself from the realities of the world he is creating. Unable to acknowledge, let alone accept responsibility for, his errors and their tragic consequences he is appointing dogmatically, fanatically loyal people to his cabinet in order to protect his fragile psyche. We have, ladies and gentlemen, an oedipal, narcisstic psychopath occupying the Oval Office. Be afraid.

In Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania, 1+1 doesn't equal 2

Prof. says vote numbers don't add up

By Rob Zaleski,
December 9, 2004

Surely there must be some logical explanation.

That's the first thing Steven Freeman thought the night of Nov. 2, after exit polls showing that John Kerry would win most of the key battleground states turned out to be wrong, and George W. Bush ended up being re-elected by nearly 3.5 million votes...

Either the exit polls were off or the count was off, says Freeman, who has a Ph.D. in organizational studies from MIT.

"And beyond that, every deviation was in the same direction" - showing more support for Kerry than the actual vote - "so I thought that ought to be explained as well. And the more I looked into it, the more interesting it was."...

...Freeman concluded in a paper on Nov. 10 - a paper, by the way, he has revised twice since - that the odds of exit polls in the critical states of Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania all being so far off were roughly 662,000 to 1...

One stands a better chance of dying in a plane crash.

"Citing the disturbing fact that official results diverged sharply from a range of surveys of voters a polling places, Republican Senator Richard G. Lugar said, "A concerted and forceful program of election-day fraud and abuse was enacted with either the leadership or cooperation of governmental authorities." - Greg Palast

But the good Senator from Indiana wasn't talking about US elections, he was talking about elections in Ukraine, whose Supreme Court has since ruled the elections invalid and ordered new elections.

The Scum Also Rises...Part 2

Prisoner abuse was worse than officials admitted, documents show

By Drew Brown

Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - More than two months after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq shocked the world, an official memo described how military intelligence officers witnessed further prisoner abuse in Baghdad but were threatened to prevent them from reporting it.

The memo was the most recent in a collection of government documents released Tuesday. It was dated June 25 and written by Vice Adm. Lowell E. Jacoby, who directs the Defense Intelligence Agency. Lowell described how two DIA officers, assigned as interrogators to a special operations unit designated as Task Force 6-26, witnessed evidence of prisoner abuse while working at an unnamed "temporary detention facility" in Baghdad.

The extensive collection of government documents suggests that abuse of detainees in Iraq and elsewhere was more widespread and systematic than senior officials have admitted publicly. The officials repeatedly have tried to characterize abuse last year at Abu Ghraib as an isolated series of incidents. A small number of low-ranking soldiers already have been prosecuted or are awaiting trial in these cases.

The documents released Tuesday, however, reveal that senior U.S. officials, who claimed they were unaware of the abuse, were repeatedly informed of accusations of abuse through official channels. They also suggest that these and other reports of abuse failed to trigger investigations into what increasingly appears to have been a widespread pattern of prisoner abuse in Afghanistan, Iraq and at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba.

In a memo sent upranks by Vice Admiral Lowell Jacoby, the abuse of prisoners was described, but only as a "problem", not as a matter requiring corrective action. This memo went to Stephen J. Cambone, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. Mr. Cambone reports to Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz. So knowledge of ongoing abuse of prisoners in Iraq goes all the way up to Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz, who...did...nothing.

In condoning what was torture, nothing more or less, the Bush adminstration only further stiffened resistance to US forces in Iraq and further jeopardized the lives of any US troops who should fall into guerilla hands. The aggressive indifference of the Administration to these reports is simply a measure of the unfitness to command, at any level, of the members of this Administration.

The C.A.S.E. for recounting Ohio's votes.

The sunshine and brillant blue sky mocked the enthusiastic crowd in front of Ohio's statehouse today, as biting winds rattled the trees and sent flags snapping on their masts. The crowd had gathered for a rally sponsored by Citizens’ Alliance for Secure Elections. C.A.S.E. is a non-partisan organization of people from all over Ohio working to ensure reliability, security and access for all Ohio voters.

As I arrived, "The Carpenter Ants", warmed the crowd up with their mix of soul/gospel/bluegrass tunes. As they finished their set, Susan Truit, a founding member of C.A.S.E., stepped up to begin presenting speakers at the rally.

The speakers included Anita Rios, Co-Chair of the US Green Party; Judith Powell, a local black activist; Reuben Herrera, Chairman of Adelante - Latino/Latina Democrats, Greg Moore of the NAACP; John Bonifaz, founder of and and general counsel to the National Voting Rights Institute; Harvey Wasserman, senior editor of "The Columbus Free Press"; Bob Fitrakis editor of "The Columbus Free Press" and Greg Palast, BBC documentarian, investigative journalist and irritant to all of the right people.


The goal of the rally was to gather support for action leading to a timely and accurate recount of all of Ohio's ballots from the 2004 election. Standing in the way of this is Ohio Secretary of State and chairman of Ohio's committee to re-elect the president, J. Kenneth Blackwell.

While Mr. Blackwell could have certified the election results as early as December 2nd he has, instead, chosen to wait until December 6th. This is one day before he certifies Ohio's electors. Two lawsuits to attempt to force Blackwell to certify the results earlier were denied in the federal courts as the courts determined "no harm" would be done to the plaintiffs as a result of delaying the vote certification. Of course, the harm done by an illegitimate presidency to the nation as a whole is irrelevant.

For more the full rundown on election issues in Ohio, go here:

The FreePress

Greg Palast at C.A.S.E. rally in Columbus, Ohio

The Scum also Rises

U.S. lawyers file complaint over abuses in Abu Ghraib
Rumsfeld, others named in case taken to German court

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER NEWS SERVICES

BERLIN -- A group of American civil rights attorneys filed a criminal complaint in German court yesterday against top U.S. authorities, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, for acts of torture committed at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

The complaint also names former CIA Director George Tenet; the former commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez; and seven other military leaders.

Attorneys from the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights said they filed the complaint because they were disappointed in U.S. investigations into the Abu Ghraib abuses and hoped the filing would prompt an investigation by German authorities.

Just how wrong have things gone in this country, when a foreign government is asked to look into the misdeeds of our own government? Ever since the attrocities at Abu Ghraib were revealed, the Bush administration ahs stone-walled or quashed any investigation into it.

But with the revelations of the DOJ memos approved by Alberto Gonzales and IRC reports of conditions at Guantanamo Bay being nothing short of torture, the moral bankruptcy of Dubbyuh's administration is being revealed. The attrocities at Abu Ghraib and the mistreatment and torture of detainees at Gitmo show a government dedicated, not to the ideals of "freedom loving people", but rather one dedicated to power at any cost...achievement of the ends by any means necessary...a callous disregard for human suffering. To win the "War on Terror", our government must live up to the ideals it so blatantly pays lip service to. Otherwise the war is lost, the terrorists will have won, not because of their moral or military superiority, but because of the weakness, the shortsightedness, the hypocrisy and utter moral bankruptcy of our elected leaders.

Fallujah and Jeddah, A Tale of Two Cities

Fallujah...A hotbed of anti-American activity in Iraq. Or, at least it was until the USMC rolled over it. Of course, the guerillas simply rolled up their operations and moved them elsewhere. So, while our Marines get capped by second and third stringers in the insurgency, the big boys(on both sides) run the show from a safe distance.

Also of interest is Fallujah's historical ties to Wahhabism. Ibn Abdul Wahhab spent many years in what is now Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and spread his teachings through out the region. His area of influence also encompassed what is now Fallujah, and for nearly two centuries that city has had a strong wahhabi following which even Saddam Hussein could not supress. Their dedication to a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam makes Jerry Falwell look like a drunken sybarite.

Now, let us turn to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Today, the US consulate compound came under attack from unknown Islamic terrorists. While no US personnel were injured, eight people are known dead with two of the attackers captured. While Saudi authorities attribute the attacks to a "deviant group", a common catch-phrase for followers of Osama bin Laden, it should be noted that Osama and the House of Saud spring from the same philosophical roots...Wahhabism.

Now, US forces are mopping up in Fallujah and, in the process, desecrated several mosques and sites sacred to the al-Muwahhiddun, or Wahhabis an attack is made on a US compound in Saudi Arabia. Now, with the Saudis brutally efficient secret police network, they should have caught this attack before it happened. There is every evidence that the attackers were well trained in small-unit tactics and were wearing combat fatigues and flack-jackets. Could there have been support for this attack from inside the Saudi state or even the government?

But this is just paranoid speculation...Or is it?

And Nero fiddles...

Surprise! The dollar is continuing its slide, accelerated somewhat by last weeks disappointing employment numbers. Economists were expecting in the neighborhood of 200,000 jobs, only about 112,000 were created.

As a result, Japan is now threatening a huge dollar sell-off to protect its fragile economic recovery. According to Kaoru Yosano, chairman of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party's policy committee, Japan is going to ask for a strong dollar policy from Dubbyuh's administration that amounts to something more than vague talk. Japan is also going to ask other G7 nations to demand that the Administration deal with the massive deficits that are the driving force behind the dollars slide.

But when we look at the policy stance of Dubbyuh's administration, social security privatization and tax-cuts, will deliver a $2 trillion plus hit to the US budget in the years to come. This could lead the US to a situation similar to Argentina, which followed similar policies and wound up defaulting on $100 billion in foreign debt in 2001. Given the size of the US economy, its outstanding debt overseas and its foreign trade deficit, the effects of such a collapse in the US are magnified far beyond the scale of what happened in Argentina.

The situation is reaching a point where Stephen Roach, of Morgan-Stanley, gives the US only a 10% chance of avoiding "economic Armageddon". This bearish outlook is being echoed by many others in the economic community.

The fact that Dubbyuh and his merry band don't find anything particularly worrisome here should give us all pause to wonder just how long our very own American Nero is going to continue to fiddle. With the US soaking up nearly $2.6 billion a day over overseas just to keep the doors open in Washington, one cannot help but wonder when the excrement is going to intersect the fan-blade. When it does, don't blame me...I didn't vote for his dumb ass.

Our only consolation is that the mid-term elections in '06 will allow us to put those members of congress, who have permitted the administration to spend tax-dollars like a drunken sailor on liberty, out to pasture. Hopefully, it won't be too late at that point, but it's not looking good.

PRESIDENT BUSH 'OUT OF TOUCH' WITH REALITY

By Joyce Marcel,
American Reporter Correspondent,
Dummerston, VT.

DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- As the election recedes, there's good news and bad news. And we're not going to like any of it.

Welcome to the world of investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, whose remarkable career has been bookended by two of the most shameful events in America's military history: My Lai in Vietnam, a story he broke as a free-lance reporter, and the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq, a story he broke for The New Yorker.

During his 38-year career, Hersh has written eight books, won the National Book Critics Circle Award, a Pulitzer and a host of other prizes. His sources serve at the highest levels of many governments, including our own.

In person, Hersh is tall, stooped, rumpled, gray-haired and bespectacled. He speaks rapidly and intensely in a deep voice. Currently touring to "pimp," as he put it, his newest book, "Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib," he spoke last week at Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., to a rapt audience of about 900 people. They greeted him with applause; he said, "Thank you, but you'll be less happy once I'm done."

Hersh's message is simple and frightening: "(George W.) Bush is an ideologue, a Utopian," Hersh said. "He wants to clean out the Middle East and install democracy. He doesn't care how many body bags come back home. There's nothing more dangerous than an ideologue who is completely bonkers and no one is going to tell him."

President Bush is committed to perpetual war, Hersh said.

The emperor continues to wander about with no clothes on and, seems intent on remaining in a state of deshabillé. This highlighted by the fact that he is stacking his cabinet with like-minded ideologues, also known as 'yes men'. In Condi's case, that would be 'yes woman'. Dubbyuh's cabinet, like so many bobble-head figures, will avidly nod yes at his every suggestion, no matter how ludicrous or outright mad it may be.

As his disconnect with reality continues to widen, events will spiral more and more wildly out of control and Dubbyuh will remain insulated in his blood-stained bubble. In the meantime, more of our soldiers will come home in body bags...Iraq will slide into civil-war...The US economy will continue to crumble, this as the world trades in euros rather than dollars...And our American Nero will continue to fiddle.

It's getting a bit drafty, don't you think

The number of US troops in Iraq is being ramped up by some 12,000 in advance of January's elections in Iraq. Dubbyuh's refusal to delay the elections ot the behest of Iraq's own political parties, is nothing short of simple, bullheaded intransigence. Especially in light of the decaying security situation in the country. When the folks on the ground and living there say, "Let's slow down a little.." it might be wise to listen to them.

In order to cover this build-up of personel units are, yet again, having their tours extended. The ready and inactive reserves are also being called up. Contributing to a shortage of personel is the ARNG's failure to meet its recent enlistment quotas. As troop losses mount and raw recruits are shipped in to replace the losses, unit cohesion and morale begin to decay. But this doesn't seem to matter to the administration. But that's the beauty of an all-volunteer force. When the potential enlistees begin to see how badly they would be used in some misguided foreign adventurism, they simply stop enlisting.

Of course, given the nature of Dubbyuh's administration, they would find an alternative. It's getting a bit drafty, don't you think?