Monday, July 7, 2003

Commander Chicken-Hawk QUOTE OF THE DAY "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death." - - Martin Luther King Jr. KNOW YOUR HISTORY - JULY 7th 1979 -- US: 2,000 Indian activists & anti-nuclear demonstrators march through the Black Hills (South Dakota) to protest the development of uranium mines in sacred lands. 1981 -- First solar-powered aircraft, Solar Challenger, crosses English Channel. RHINO HERE: I can't help thinking that with all the "regular Joe" Americans who lost their pensions to the shrub gang corporate cronies' bookkeeping thievery, and all the people who've lost significant percentages of their life savings in the stock market, and those who have lost their jobs in the past couple years, and  and all those who are losing loved ones in these wars which were instigated by lies, that by now, a majority of America must be ready to chuck these scoundrels out on their ears. But then again, I live in California, "The Left Coast", so what do I know? Now comes the dim witted, tough talking, recovering alcoholic, never seen a day of real war in his life AWOL selected President actually taunting the Iraqi resistance who've been firing rocket-propelled grenades at our troops, to "Bring It On!" Is Rhino & his Left Coast Liberal friends the only ones who are outraged by shrub's battle ship mouth - row boat ass brashness? Bush: 'Bring Them On' Bush Vows to Punish Iraqi Insurgents By Scott Lindlaw, The Associated Press, Wednesday 02 July 2003 President Bush pledged Wednesday that the United States will deal harshly with those who attack American troops in Iraq, and said such violence will not undercut his resolve to keep Americans there until stability is restored. "Anybody who wants to harm American troops will be found and brought to justice," Bush said at an impromptu news conference at the White House. "There are some who feel like if they attack us, we may decide to leave prematurely. They don't understand what they're talking about if that's the case." Increasing attacks have killed 26 U.S. soldiers since Bush declared major combat over on May 1. On Tuesday, assailants traveling in a vehicle in central Baghdad fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a U.S. military vehicle, wounding three soldiers. Another grenade slammed into a U.S. truck on a road south of Baghdad, injuring three soldiers, one of whom died at a field hospital overnight. "There are some who feel like that, you know, the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is bring them on," Bush said. "We got the force necessary to deal with the security situation." ... http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/070303A.shtml Amnesty: US Violating International Law In Iraq Rights Group Says U.S. Detentions Of Iraqis May Violate International Law By Jim Krane, The Associated Press, Monday 30 June 2003 Amnesty International said Monday it has gathered evidence that points to U.S. violations of international law by subjecting Iraqi prisoners to ''cruel, inhuman or degrading'' conditions at its detention centers here. The report coincides with a two-day United Nations conference on human rights that began in Baghdad on Monday. The conference, which focuses on abuses committed during the rule of Saddam Hussein, will coordinate investigations into the regime's alleged killings of some 300,000 Iraqis.  London-based Amnesty International said hundreds of Iraqis held at U.S.-run tent camps and former Iraqi government prisons have been denied the right to see families or lawyers or have a judge review their detention.... http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/070203E.shtml RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE is a very appropriate response to shrub's off the wall egging on of the Iraqi resistance. It was written by Stan Goff, author of "Hideous Dream: A Soldier's Memoir of the US Invasion of Haiti" (Soft Skull Press, 2000) & the upcoming book "Full Spectrum Disorder" (Soft Skull Press, 2003). He retired in 1996 from the US Army, from 3rd Special Forces. 8:01:36 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - A Former Special Forces Soldier Responds to Bush's Invitation A Former Special Forces Soldier Responds to Bush's Invitation for Iraqis to Attack US Troops "Bring 'Em On?" By STAN GOFF, Counterpunch.com, 7/3/03 ...Yesterday, when I read that US Commander-in-Chief George W. Bush, in a moment of blustering arm-chair machismo, sent a message to the 'non-existent' Iraqi guerrillas to "bring 'em on," the first image in my mind was a 20-year-old soldier in an ever-more-fragile marriage, who'd been away from home for 8 months. He participated in the initial invasion, and was told he'd be home for the 4th of July. He has a newfound familiarity with corpses, and everything he thought he knew last year is now under revision. He is sent out into the streets of Fallujah (or some other city), where he has already been shot at once or twice with automatic weapons or an RPG, and his nerves are raw. He is wearing Kevlar and ceramic body armor, a Kevlar helmet, a load carrying harness with ammunition, grenades, flex-cuffs, first-aid gear, water, and assorted other paraphernalia. His weapon weighs seven pounds, ten with a double magazine. His boots are bloused, and his long-sleeve shirt is buttoned at the wrist. It is between 100-110 degrees Fahrenheit at midday. He's been eating MRE's three times a day, when he has an appetite in this heat, and even his urine is beginning to smell like preservatives. Mosquitoes and sand flies plague him in the evenings, and he probably pulls a guard shift every night, never sleeping straight through. He and his comrades are beginning to get on each others' nerves. The rumors of 'going-home, not-going-home' are keeping him on an emotional roller coaster. Directives from on high are contradictory, confusing, and often stupid. The whole population seems hostile to him and he is developing a deep animosity for Iraq and all its people--as well as for official narratives. This is the lad who will hear from someone that George W. Bush, dressed in a suit with a belly full of rich food, just hurled a manly taunt from a 72-degree studio at the 'non-existent' Iraqi resistance.... READ IT ALL AT: http://www.counterpunch.com/goff07032003.html "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. 7:07:09 AM    comment

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