Wednesday, September 29, 2004

A Time For Truth FEATURED ARTICLES - Hijacking of the Presidential Debates, Bill Moyers' NOW - Prewar Assessment on Iraq Saw Chance of Strong Divisions, NY Times - BOTTOM LINE:  Truths Worth Telling, By Daniel Ellsberg, OP-ED, NY Times QUOTE OF THE DAY "Surely there are officials in the present administration who recognize that the United States has been misled into a war in Iraq, but who have so far kept their silence - as I long did about the war in Vietnam. To them I have a personal message: don't repeat my mistakes. Don't wait until more troops are sent, and thousands more have died, before telling truths that could end a war and save lives. Do what I wish I had done in 1964: go to the press, to Congress, and document your claims." - - Daniel Ellsberg (From today's BOTTOM LINE) KNOW YOUR HISTORY - September 29th 2001 -- Some 7,000 people marched for peace in Washington DC while an estimated 7-10 thousand marched in San Francisco. They marched to mourn terrorist victims, and to urge the nation to heal poverty and injustice that fuels global violence instead of focusing on military revenge. This was the beginning of a wave of demonstrations against the shrub administration's response to the 9/11 attacks culminating in a million people in the streets of cities round the world. RHINO HERE: Today's RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE is an historic call to action by Daniel Ellsberg, of "The Pentagon Papers,"  fame, or infamy depending on one's outlook. Mr. Ellsberg released the hard copy classified documents that finally broke the back of the government lies which sent thousands of American youth to die in an unjust & unnecessary war in Viet Nam. In yesterday's New York Times Op-Ed, Ellsberg calls on current government officials, who may have access to documents proving the dubya administration lied their way into the current unjust & unnecessary war. He encourages these public servants to risk their jobs, their careers, their friendships & possibly their family ties, & release those documents to Congress & the media. Ellsberg reasons that risking of all those things, even possible prosecution, would be risking less than the young men & women now serving in the military in Iraq. Mr. Ellsberg is author of "Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers," & founder of The Truth-Telling Coalition, comprised of high-level national security truth-tellers& non-profit whistleblower organizations. The group provides a personal & legal support network for each other & for government insiders considering becoming truth-tellers. The first activity of the Truth-Telling Project was to issue a Call to Patriotic Whistleblowing, addressed to current government insiders, signed by 11 former government employees. The Call was released to the public at a press conference in Washington, DC on September 9, 2004. To see press coverage, to learn more about the organization & its patriotic members, or TO HELP THEM WITH FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS, check out their website at: http://www.truthtellingproject.org Preceding Ellsberg's OpEd is a follow to the recent revelation that shrub & company received a classified report in July , a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), which predicted only terrible outcomes in Iraqi if the course is stayed. Last week, an  anonymous government, source described the contents to the times. So trying to spin it, the shrub said the authors of the report were "just guessing."  Then the "douche bag for liberty", Robert Novak, outed the leaker, lambasting him for criticizing the president.  Bear in mind the NIE was written by The National Intelligence Council, an independent group of academics & veteran intelligence professionals which the C.I.A. describes as the intelligence community's "center for midterm and long-term strategic thinking.'' No left leaning crazies here. The new revelation is that The National Intelligence Council authored 2 other classified reports that were delivered to the shrub gang before the war was started, & those reports seem to have been accurate in predicting the dire circumstances we see today in Iraq & the Islamic world. As Ellsberg says, knowing the documents exist by having government officials speaking about them anonymously is one thing, but if those documents in hard copy were released to the press, it could educate & prove to the American people what a pack of lies the gang's claims are, that they had bad intelligence & Lord knows what else. But first, a few links to prepare Rhino's Blog readers for the 1st of 3 Presidential Debates, to be broadcast on most tri-letter networks this Thursday, September 30, at 9pm EST (6pm PST) Bill Moyers' NOW - Coverage of the hijacking of the Presidential Debates Presidential debates can change the course of elections, but George Farah, executive director of Open Debates, has evidence showing that the debates' rules of order have been hijacked by the two main political parties. The result? Moderators can't ask follow-up questions, important issues are never raised, and credible third-party candidates are excluded from the proceedings altogether. CHECK IT OUT AT: http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/debates.html Open Debates http://www.opendebates.org The Commission oN Presidential Debates http://www.debates.org "SEND THIS ARTICLE TO A REPUBLICAN!" Prewar Assessment on Iraq Saw Chance of Strong Divisions By DOUGLAS JEHL and DAVID E. SANGER , NY Times, September 28, 2004 The same intelligence unit that produced a gloomy report in July about the prospect of growing instability in Iraq warned the Bush administration about the potential costly consequences of an American-led invasion two months before the war began, government officials said Monday. The estimate came in two classified reports prepared for President Bush in January 2003 by the National Intelligence Council, an independent group that advises the director of central intelligence. The assessments predicted that an American-led invasion of Iraq would increase support for political Islam and would result in a deeply divided Iraqi society prone to violent internal conflict. One of the reports also warned of a possible insurgency against the new Iraqi government or American-led forces, saying that rogue elements from Saddam Hussein's government could work with existing terrorist groups or act independently to wage guerrilla warfare, the officials said. The assessments also said a war would increase sympathy across the Islamic world for some terrorist objectives, at least in the short run, the officials said... MORE: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/28/politics/28intel.html?hp 8:20:00 AM    comment

Truths Worth Telling Truths Worth Telling By DANIEL ELLSBERG, OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR, NY Times, September 28, 2004 (Excerpted from end of the OpEd) ...All administrations classify far more information than is justifiable in a democracy - and the Bush administration has been especially secretive. Information should never be classified as secret merely because it is embarrassing or incriminating. But in practice, in this as in any administration, no information is guarded more closely. Surely there are officials in the present administration who recognize that the United States has been misled into a war in Iraq, but who have so far kept their silence - as I long did about the war in Vietnam. To them I have a personal message: don't repeat my mistakes. Don't wait until more troops are sent, and thousands more have died, before telling truths that could end a war and save lives. Do what I wish I had done in 1964: go to the press, to Congress, and document your claims. Technology may make it easier to tell your story, but the decision to do so will be no less difficult. The personal risks of making disclosures embarrassing to your superiors are real. If you are identified as the source, your career will be over; friendships will be lost; you may even be prosecuted. But some 140,000 Americans are risking their lives every day in Iraq. Our nation is in urgent need of comparable moral courage from its public officials. READ THIS HISTORICAL CALL TO ACTION AT: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/28/opinion/28ellsberg.html Rhino's Blog is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. Feedback & requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. (rhino@kifaru.com) Search the Rhino's Blog Archives, The Daily Rhino Photo, and lots of 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. Tell a friend about Rhino's Blog 7:24:47 AM    comment

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