Tuesday, August 5, 2003

Peace Action QUOTE OF THE DAY "Things like the continuance of British rule in India, the Russian purges and deportations, the dropping of the atom bombs on Japan, can indeed be defended, but only by arguments which are too brutal for most people to face, and which do not square with the professed aims of the political parties. Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness." - - George Orwell (in 1946) KNOW YOUR HISTORY - AUGUST 5th 1964 - President Lyndon Johnson asks Congress for a resolution against North Vietnam following the Gulf of Tonkin incident, an alleged attack on American ships off the coast of Viet Nam. It was later learned that the attacks never happened. The resulting Gulf of Tonkin Resolution allowed the president to take any necessary measures to repel further attacks and to provide military assistance to any South Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) member. Senators Wayne L. Morse of Oregon & Ernest Gruening of Alaska cast the only dissenting votes. Two days later, President Johnson ordered the bombing of North Vietnam, & 3 days later, the first American combat troops arrived in Vietnam. For more info, see "Chronology of U.S -Vietnam Relations" http://servercc.oakton.edu/~wittman/chronol.htm 1977 -- The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission audit cannot account for 4 tons of enriched uranium. RHINO HERE: How many times in history have world leaders told lies to convince their people it was necessary to squander valuable resources, including their youngsters' lives, on war? As the shrub gang told their lies about imminent threats & necessary preemptive attacks, who all recalled the Gulf of Tonkin? And when the Iraqis provided the exhaustive if incomplete records of what had become of their U.S. supplied chemical & bio weapons, & Powell  mumbled "smoking gun," who recalled the 1977 U.S. NRC audit, unable to account for 4 tons of enriched uranium? So Rummie & the boyz got their war, innocent people lost their lives, including American kids in uniform, & the war mongers accrue their profits. Some may say Rhino simplifies. A wise man once wrote & sang the words, "If you knew your history, then you would know where I'm coming from, and you wouldn't have to ask me, just who the hell do I think I am." (Twas Robert Nesta Marley) Peace Action / www.peace-action.org Peace Action was created by the merger of SANE and The Freeze. Asone of the nation's largest grassroots peace groups, it has mobilized for peace & disarmament for over 40 years getting results: from the 1963 treaty to ban above ground nuclear testing, to the 1996 signing of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, from ending the war in Vietnam, to blocking weapons sales to human rights abusing countries. Peace Action is proof that ordinary people can change the world. Peace Action works on the beliefs... - that every person has the right to live without the threat of nuclear weapons. - that war is not a suitable response to conflict. - that America has the resources to both protect and provide for its citizens. - that given the right tools, ordinary people can change the world. Their web site currently has an essay called "Lies, Lies, Lies" which ends by calling for a... Call for Full Disclosure Both Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) have introduced legislation that aims to investigate the administration's manipulation of intelligence in regard to Iraq. Contact your Senators and Representative and urge them to push for an independent investigation into whether the administration misled the public by claiming that Iraq was an imminent threat to the US and its neighbors. Call your members of Congress through the Capitol switchboard: (800) 839-5276. Urge your members of Congress to support an investigation that is open, thorough, timely, and has a broad mandate. The American people deserve the truth. We also deserve a foreign policy that will make our country more secure - one based on human rights and democracy, disarmament, and international cooperation. Please urge your members of Congress to sign on to Peace Action's Pledge for a New Foreign Policy. READ THE ENTIRE ESSAY AT: http://www.peace-action.org/home/lies.html To learn more about Peace Action and to join, go to: http://www.peace-action.org I've featured the writings of William Rivers Pitt on Rhino's Blog in the past. In today's RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE, Pitt looks head on at the lies which were used to convince the American Congress & people that war on Iraq was mandatory. The comparisons of the "imminent threat of Iraqi WMD's" to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident is all too telling. Also, note at the bottom of the article the links to several related articles by Pitt. Originally, Pitt's bio listed him as a teacher and author. He is now Managing Editor of truthout.org, a New York Times best-selling author of two books - "War On Iraq" available now from Context Books, and "The Greatest Sedition is Silence," now available from Pluto Press: The Greatest Sedition 7:34:43 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - The Crime and the Cover-Up The Crime and the Cover-Up By William Rivers Pitt, t r u t h o u t | Perspective, Monday 21 July 2003 ...The cover-up is one thing, the crime is another. The Bush administration, mainly in the form of Rumsfeld's Office of Special Plans, disregarded any and all intelligence which said Iraq was no threat. They supplanted reliable data with a slew of lies and exaggerations that were fed daily to the American people and Congress, and got their war. In the aftermath, nothing is being done for the millions of Iraqi civilians who suffer daily under their newfound 'liberty.' American soldiers continue to die. Two more, men from the 101st Airborne, were killed early Sunday when their convoy was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire. "You have these young American soldiers sitting in turrets," said Jodie Evans, "just sitting ducks for the rage and frustration and vengeance that is coming out."  This is a crime without peer in the annals of American history. The cover-up currently underway must not be allowed to succeed. When the American government gets hijacked by extremists like the men staffing the Office of Special Plans, when intelligence data stating flatly that Iraq presents no threat to America is disregarded or exaggerated because the truth does not fit ideological desires, when Congress is lied to, when the American people are lied to, when innocent civilians at the sharp end of these lies are left to rot in the dust and the bomb craters on purpose, when American soldiers are shot down in the street because of these lies, no kind of cover-up can be allowed to succeed... READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT: http://www.voice4change.org/stories/showstory.asp?file=030804~to.asp Author's Note: The data surrounding this developing story is voluminous, and seems to change every time an administration representative opens his or her mouth. I have collected below the last few stories I have written on this subject in chronological order. Please utilize this data to further your understanding of this matter. We Used To Impeach Liars (6/3/03) http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/060303A.shtml The Dog Ate My WMDs (6/13/03) http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/061303A.shtml Slaughtergate (6/23/03) http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/062303A.shtml Interview with 27-Year CIA Veteran Ray McGovern (6/26/03) http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/062603B.shtml The Insiders Are Coming Out (7/8/03) http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/070803A.shtml Mr. Bush, You Are A Liar (7/11/03) http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071103A.shtml The Dubious Suicide of George Tenet (7/14/03) http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071403A.shtml "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. 6:24:53 AM    comment

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