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Monday, April 7, 2003 |
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"If it takes a bloodbath, let's get it over with."
- - Governor & soon-to-be President Ronald Reagan
(April 7, 1970, referring to student civil rights activists, dissenters, & Vietnam
War protestors)
April 7th IN HISTORY:
1922 -- US: Secretary of Interior Albert Fall leases the entire Teapot Dome oil
field, set aside as a naval oil reserve, to his close friend Harry Sinclair,
head of Mammoth Oil Company. It's later revealed Fall accepted a $25,000 "unsecured
loan" from Sinclair. The Teapot Dome Scandal nearly brought down the government
yet it is dwarfed by the now infamous ENRON SCANDAL.
1948 -- Switzerland: World Health Organization (WHO) formed in Geneva, with the
stated goal of making health care available to everyone in the world by the year
2000.
1990 -- US: John Poindexter convicted of 5 felony charges in Iran-Contra trial.
One of many "patriots" involved in criminal schemes under President
Ronald Reagan.
RHINO HERE:
Saturday morning I caught part of a WorldLinkTV (http://www.worldlinktv.com)
program called "Bridge To Baghdad" which used a live satellite link
to bring 2 groups of teenagers together, 1 from New York City and the other from
Baghdad. It had occurred shortly before the invasion and they spoke to each other
on everything from from dating to Metal Rock 'n' Roll. They also discussed the
impending war.
The Iraqi kids were so amazingly normal. It broke my heart to imagine the kids
in New York still going about their business and the Iraqi kids in God knows
what kind of hell right now. As I made my way to the 1st of 2 events featuring
presidential candidate, Dennis Kucinich, I endured through waves of emotions;
anger at U.S. leaders, sadness for all the civilians caught under the bombing,
thoughts of revenge on those perpetrating the killing in my name, feelings of
frustration about how little can be done to stop them and lastly wondering if
I've been wasting my time writing these blogs and maybe I should just move out
to the woods somewhere and disconnect from this crazy world.
Then I arrived at the church where the organization Americans Against The War
In Iraq (http://www.democrats.com/elandslide/index.cfm?campaign=iraq)
was holding a town meeting with Kucinich. It was packed to the rafters & Dennis,
who I'd describe as a little angel with a tiger's heart, spoke eloquently and
passionately & it seemed, right to me about the feelings I'd had that day.
Since it's too early for his speech to be posted on his website, I'll paraphrase:
This is a time when the peace movement could become angry and discouraged. But
this is not the time to give up. People who love America and understand what
democracy truly means have a responsibility to speak out. This is a time for
courage. War is not inevitable. Peace is inevitable.
Kucinich ran down a list of the transgressions against American democracy
that the current administration has perpetrated, and with each one, he explained
what
he would do as President to right the wrong. He spent an hour fielding questions.
On each exchange, he was diplomatic & inspired.
At this point I wholeheartedly support Dennis Kucinich for President. I also
am in support of Howard Dean's candidacy. I believe the way to have a democratic
win in 2004, both for President and in Congress, is to have a candidate principled
enough to inspire the mass of registered voters who don't usually vote. So far,
Kucinich & Dean are the only ones I believe that can inspire that sort of
outcome. But they will need money. So I urge each one of my readers to send what
you can to either or both of these courageous men. Learn more about Dennis Kucinich
at:
http://www.kucinich.us
A Note From Peter Coyote
Friends,
If three people were to give $25 dollars each and each notify 3 people and get
them to do the same, in a month around a billion dollars would be accumulated.
I'm writing to urge each of you to send $25.00 to the campaign of Dennis Kucinich
and to commit to organize three others to do the same thing. Dennis is the most
progressive candidate currently running for President. Whether or not you finally
vote for him is immaterial. A small donation now will advance his campaign immeasurably,
force the media to pay attention to him, and spread his positions: National Health
for all, anti-Nafta and Gatt, ending the war, de-militarizing space. There is
virtually no difference between his positions and the Green Party platform, but
as a Democratic Congressman, he is not a symbolic candidate. He is a tried and
tested politician who has stayed true to his principles.
He must have $20,000,000 in the bank by June (this is true for all candidates)
to be taken seriously. We could do this for less than the cost of good bottle
of wine. Send $25.00 and get three people to commit to the same. Support Democratic
diversity, support a peace initiative and support a progressive agenda. Try it.
It doesn't preclude you from supporting other candidates, but if you simply support
who you think will "win", you can't complain when they don't represent
your interests.
Go to: https://www.kucinich.us/ and hit "contribute." The
internet is changing national politics. Please participate.
Thanks,
Peter Coyote
THE DEAD, THE CAPTIVES, THE MIAS
2 Notes From An American Indian Vet; Vic Glover
March 25, 2003
We know these things happen when a nation goes to war. There will be people killed.
Some will be captured, and some will be listed as missing in action. There will
be friendly fire casualties and non-combatant deaths. We expect it to happen.
We pray for them all, and hope that it doesn't happen too close to home. And
although we know and expect these sad occurrences, it is especially difficult
to accept it happening to our daughters.
April 5, 2003
Two weeks into the war, we've been shocked and awed. Don't want to say someone
told you so, but the stats are amazing. Half of the U.S. 'body count' were non-combat
casualties. 24 in helicopter crashes. 14 deaths by non-combat vehicular accidents
and drowning (do you think their parents asked, 'how in the world can you drown
in the desert?'). A half-dozen (they say) killed by friendly fire. A dozen missing.
Another dozen captive, including women. And what of the Iraqis?
THE BOTTOM LINE is
an excellent source of talking points for discussions with friends, neighbors,
etc The writer, Stephen R. Shalom, is the author of The United
States and the Philippines: A Study of Neocolonialism (1981); Imperial Alibis:
Rationalizing U.S. Intervention After the Cold War (South End Press, 1993); editor
of Socialist Visions (South End Press, 1984); and co-editor of The Philippines
Reader (South End Press, 1987), and Bitter Flowers, Sweet Flowers: East Timor,
Indonesia, and the World Community (Rowman & Littlefield, 2001). His new
text, Which Side Are You On? An Introduction to Politics, has recently been published.
He is on the editorial boards of Critical Asian Studies and New Politics, and
writes for Z Magazine. See his bio at:
http://www.wpunj.edu/cohss/polisci/faculty/shalom.htm
7:52:44 AM 
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THE BOTTOM LINE
Iraq War Quiz by Stephen R. Shalom
1. The anti-war movement supports our troops by urging that they be brought home
immediately so they neither kill nor get killed in a unjust war. How has the
Bush administration shown its support for our troops?
a. The Republican-controlled House Budget Committee voted to cut $25 billion
in veterans benefits over the next 10 years.
b. The Bush administration proposed cutting $172 million from impact aid programs
that provide school funding for children of military personnel.
c. The administration ordered the Dept. of Veterans Affairs to stop publicizing
health benefits available to veterans.
d. All of the above.
2. The anti-war movement believes that patriotism means urging our country to
do what is right. How do Bush administration officials define patriotism?
a. Patriotism means emulating Dick Cheney, who serves as Vice-President while
receiving $100,000-$1,000,000 a year from Halliburton, the multi-billion dollar
company which is already lining up for major contracts in post-war Iraq.
b. Patriotism means emulating Richard Perle, the warhawk who serves as head of
the Defense Intelligence Board while at the same time meeting with Saudi arms
dealer Adnan Khashoggi on behalf of Trireme, a company of which he is a managing
partner, involved in security and military technologies, and while agreeing to
work as a paid lobbyist for Global Crossing, a telecommunications giant seeking
a major Pentagon contract.
c. Patriotism means emulating George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard
Perle, John Bolton, Tom DeLay, John Ashcroft, Lewis Libby, and others who enthusiastically
supported the Vietnam War while avoiding serving in it and who now are sending
others to kill and be killed in Iraq.
d. All of the above.
3. The Bush administration has accused Saddam Hussein of lying regarding his
weapons of mass destruction. Which of the following might be considered less
than truthful?
a. Constant claims by the Bush administration that there was documentary evidence
linking Iraq to attempted uranium purchases in Niger, despite the fact that the
documents were forgeries and CIA analysts doubted their authenticity.
b. A British intelligence report on Iraq's security services that was in fact
plagiarized, with selected modifications, from a student article.
c. The frequent citation of the incriminating testimony of Iraqi defector Hussein
Kamel, while suppressing that part of the testimony in which Kamel stated that
Iraqi weapons of mass destruction had been destroyed following the 1991 Gulf
War.
d. All of the above.
4. White House Press Secretary Ari Fleisher stormed out of a press conference
when the assembled reporters broke into laughter after he declared that the U.S.
would never try to bribe members of the UN. What should Fleisher have said to
defend himself?
a. It wasn't just bribery; we also ordered the bugging of the home and office
phones and emails of the UN ambassadors of Security Council member states that
were undecided on war.
b. Oh, come on! We've been doing this for years. In 1990 when Yemen voted against
authorizing war with Iraq, the U.S. ambassador declared "That will be the
most expensive 'no' vote you ever cast."
c. Why do you think the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act makes one of the conditions
for an African country to receive preferential access to U.S. markets that it "not
engage in activities that undermine United States national security or foreign
policy interests"?
d. All of the above.
5. George Bush has declared that "we have no fight with the Iraqi people." What
could he have cited as supporting evidence?
a. U.S. maintenance of 12 years of crippling sanctions that strengthened Saddam
Hussein while contributing to the death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians.
b. The fact that "coalition" forces have indicated that they will use
cluster bombs in Iraq, despite warnings from human rights groups that "The
use of cluster munitions in Iraq will endanger civilians for years to come."
c. By pointing to the analogy of Afghanistan, which the U.S. pledged not to forget
about when the war was over, and for which the current Bush administration foreign
aid budget request included not one cent in aid.
d. All of the above.
6. The Bush administration has touted the many nations that are part of the "coalition
of the willing." Which of the following statements about this coalition
is true?
a. In most of the coalition countries polls show that a majority, often an overwhelming
majority, of the people oppose the war.
b. More than ten of the members of the coalition of the willing are actually
a coalition of the unwilling - unwilling to reveal their names.
c. Coalition members - most of whose contributions to the war are negligible
or even zero - constitute less than a quarter of the countries in the UN and
contain less than 20% of the world's population.
d. All of the above.
7. The war on Iraq is said to be part of the "war on terrorism." Which
of the following is true?
a. A senior American counterintelligence official said: "An American invasion
of Iraq is already being used as a recruitment tool by Al Qaeda and other groups...
And it is a very effective tool."
b. An American official, based in Europe, said Iraq had become "a battle
cry, in a way," for Al Qaeda recruiters.
c. France's leading counter-terrorism judge said: "Bin Laden's strategy
has always been to demonstrate to the Islamic community that the West, and especially
the U.S., is starting a global war against Muslims. An attack on Iraq might confirm
this vision for many Muslims. I am very worried about the next wave of recruits."
d. All of the above.
8. The Bush administration says it is waging war to stop the spread of weapons
of mass destruction. Which of the following is true?
a. The United States has refused to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty,
viewed worldwide as the litmus test for seriousness about nuclear disarmament.
b. The United States has insisted on a reservation to the Chemical Weapons Convention
allowing the U.S. President the right to refuse an inspection of U.S. facilities
on national security grounds, and blocked efforts to improve compliance with
the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.
c. Vice Admiral Lowell E. Jacoby, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency,
testified on Feb. 11, 2003, "The long-term trends with respect to WMD and
missile proliferation are bleak. States seek these capabilities for regional
purposes, or to provide a hedge to deter or offset U.S. military superiority."
d. All of the above.
9. The Bush administration says it wants to bring democracy to Iraq and the Middle
East. Which of the following is true?
a. If there were democracy in Saudi Arabia today, backing for the U.S. war effort
would be the first thing to go, given the country's "increasingly anti-American
population deeply opposed to the war."
b. The United States subverted some of the few democratic governments in the
Middle East (Syria in 1949, Iran in 1953), and has backed undemocratic regimes
in the region ever since.
c. The United States supported the crushing of anti-Saddam Hussein revolts in
Iraq in 1991.
d. All of the above.
10. Colin Powell cited as evidence of an Iraq-Al Qaeda link an audiotape from
bin Laden in which he called Saddam Hussein and his Baath Party regime "infidels." Which
of the following is more compelling evidence?
a. An FBI official told the New York Times: "We've been looking at this
hard for more than a year and you know what, we just don't think it's there."
b. According to a classified British intelligence report seen by BBC News, "There
are no current links between the Iraqi regime and the al-Qaeda network."
c. According to Rohan Gunaratna, author of Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of
Terror, "Since U.S. intervention in Afghanistan in October 2001, I have
examined several tens of thousands of documents recovered from Al Qaeda and Taliban
sources. In addition to listening to 240 tapes taken from Al Qaeda's central
registry, I debriefed several Al Qaeda and Taliban detainees. I could find no
evidence of links between Iraq and Al Qaeda."
d. All of the above.
THE ANSWERS
All answers are "d. All of the above"
INTERPRETING YOUR SCORE
9-10 Correct: Excellent. Contact United for Peace and Justice, http://www.unitedforpeace.org/,
and work to fight the war and the system that produced it.
6-8 Correct: Fair. You've been watching a few too many former generals and government
officials who provide the "expert" commentary for the mainstream media.
Read the alternative media!
3-5 Correct: Poor. Don't feel bad. George W. Bush only got a C- in International
Relations in College.
0-2 Correct: Failing. You have a bright future as an "embedded" journalist.
THE QUIZ, ITS ANSWERS & THE SOURCES TO BACK IT ALL UP ARE AT:
http://truthout.org/docs_03/040103H.shtml
7:31:04 AM
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© Copyright 2005 Gary Rhine.
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