Monday, October 25, 2004

Monday Briefing FEATURED ARTICLES - UN warns of missing Iraqi nuclear equipment, AP - DOD Cover-Up: 350 Tons of Unguarded Hi Explosives Stolen In Iraq, Talking Points Memo - An Agonizing Choice, By Bob Barr - The Coming Post-Election Chaos, By John W. Dean QUOTE OF THE DAY "If all that Americans want is security, they can go to prison. They'll have enough to eat, a bed and a roof over their heads. But if an American wants to preserve his dignity and his equality as a human being, he must not bow his neck to any dictatorial government." - - Dwight D. Eisenhower KNOW YOUR HISTORY - October 25th 2001 -- The US Congress passes The Patriot Act, formally called "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001". This trashing of the best of what the U.S.A. is supposed to be about gave Attorney General John Ashcroft sweeping new powers to search homes & business records secretly & eavesdrop on phone & computer conversations. Odd how those conservatives who "hate big government" & its intrusions always make it bigger & more intrusive, & the liberals who claim to "defend" civil rights are so quick to give them up. RHINO HERE: Anyone who thinks the shrub gang invaded Iraq to make America more secure... anyone who thinks they have done a good enough job of conducting their war to warrant another 4 years... anyone who thinks dubya was being reasonable or genuine when he can't think of any mistakes he & his crew have made, needs to read the 1st two articles posted here today. Those who were paying attention to news reports during the invasion of Iraq will remember that US troops were ordered to guard the Iraqi Ministry of Oil while looters helped themselves not only to many treasures of antiquity from Iraqi museums, but also to weapons caches in countless locations in Iraq. The ramifications of the Rumsfeld / Cheney / Halliburton / Blood For Oil, blind-sided non-strategies have been exploding across the country ever since, killing our American youth. And the shrubies knew about it & have been covering it up. Rhino suggests sending today's Blog to any Republicans who are not so far downstream in denial that they can still be shocked into waking up & voting these guys out. As my old friend Reuben Snake used to say, "If we don't change direction, we're gonna wind up where we're heading." UN warns of missing Iraqi nuclear equipment Associated Press, October 12, 2004 The UN nuclear watchdog is concerned at the disappearance of high-precision equipment from Iraq's nuclear facilities that could be used to make nuclear weapons. In a letter to the UN Security Council, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said some industrial material that Iraq sent overseas has been located in other countries but not high-precision items including milling machines and electron beam welders that have both commercial and military uses. "As the disappearance of such equipment and materials may be of proliferation significance, any state that has information about the location of such items should provide IAEA with that information," said the agency's director-general, Mohamed El Baradei. IAEA inspectors left Iraq just before the March 2003 war. US President George Bush's administration then barred UN weapons inspectors from returning, deploying US teams in an unsuccessful search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Nonetheless, IAEA teams were allowed into Iraq in June 2003 to investigate reports of widespread looting of storage rooms at the main nuclear complex at Tuwaitha, and in August to take inventory of "several tons" of natural uranium in storage near Tuwaitha... MORE AT: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=571251 DOD Cover-Up: 350 Tons of Unguarded High Explosives Stolen In Iraq Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo, 10/24/04 This has been rumored in Washington for several days. And now the Nelson Report has broken the story. Some 350 tons of high explosives (RDX <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RDX> and HMX <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMX> ), which were under IAEA seal while Saddam was in power, were looted during the early days of the US occupation. Like so much else, it was just left unguarded. Not only are these super-high-yield explosives probably being used in many, if not most, of the various suicide and car bombings in Iraq, but these particular explosives are ones used in the triggering process for nuclear weapons. In other words, it's bad stuff. What also emerges in the Nelson Report is that the Defense Department has been trying to keep this secret for some time. The DOD even went so far as to order the Iraqis not to inform the IAEA that the materials had gone missing. Informing the IAEA, of course, would lead to it becoming public knowledge in the United States... MORE AT: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_10_24.php#003777 Bob Barr was U.S. attorney for the Georgia district which includes the City of Atlanta before serving in Congress from 1995-2003. He was also a high profile player in the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He is also today's featured Republican. RHINO'S FEATURED REPUBLICAN An Agonizing Choice: Conservatives Have Plenty of Cause to Abandon Bush By Bob Barr, Creative Loafing, October 7, 2004 Voting for president used to be so easy, at least for a conservative. There was the Republican candidate. You knew he generally stood for lower taxes, less government spending, giving fewer powers to the government, lower deficits and a zealous regard for individual privacy. Then, there was the Democrat. You knew he generally stood for higher taxes, more government and deficit spending, and a zealous regard for civil liberties. Throughout my own presidential voting history, the choices have rarely, if ever, been agonizing. Nixon vs. McGovern? Carter vs. Reagan? Reagan-Mondale? Dukakis, a Massachusetts liberal? Clinton? Al Gore? Ah, the good ol' days. Each of those races presented clear choices, easily resolved. Now we have the election of 2004. For the first time in my voting life, the choice in the race for president isn't so clear And, among true conservatives, I'm not alone. What's making the contest so difficult? It's certainly not that both candidates are so conservative that we have a choice of riches. It's not even that John Kerry is sort of right wing compared to George W. Bush. The incumbent clearly is the more "conservative" of the two. But the concerns for many conservative voters - concerns that may cause them not to vote for Mr. Bush on Nov. 2 - fall generally into three categories: fiscal, physical (as in the physical security of our nation) and freedom (as in protecting our civil liberties)... READ IT ALL AT: http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/2004-10-07/news_flankingaction.html Today's Bottom Line was written by John Dean, former counsel to President Nixon from 1970 to 1972. He was charged with obstruction of justice and spent four months in prison for his role in the Watergate cover-up. Before becoming presidential counsel, Dean served as Chief Minority Counsel to the Judiciary Committee of the US House of Representatives, the Associate Director of a law reform commission, and Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States. He wrote the Watergate memoirs Blind Ambition (1976) and Lost Honor (1982) and is now a columnist for FindLaw. 8:02:27 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - The Coming Post-Election Chaos The Coming Post-Election Chaos By John W. Dean, FindLaw, October 22, 2004 This next presidential election, on November 2, may be followed by post-election chaos unlike any we've ever known. Look at the swirling, ugly currents currently at work in this conspicuously close race. There is Republicans' history of going negative to win elections. There is Karl Rove's disposition to challenge close elections in post-election brawls. And there is Democrats' (and others) new unwillingness to roll over, as was done in 2000. Finally, look at the fact that a half-dozen lawsuits are in the works in the key states and more are being developed. This is a climate for trouble. A storm warning is appropriate. In the end, attorneys and legal strategy could prove as important, if not more so, to the outcome of this election as the traditional political strategists and strategy.  Let's go over each factor that spells trouble - and see how they may combine. - A GOP Disposition for Nasty Campaigns... - The GOP's Campaign Tactic of Attempting to Disqualify Votes and Voters... - Rove's Refusal to Accept Defeat: The Knee-jerk Response of Suing... - Still Too Close to Call: The Conspicuous Closeness of the 2004 Race... - An Election for Attorneys: Neither Side Will Budge If Litigation Begins... - The Nightmare Scenario: An Election up in the Air for Months... READ IT ALL AT: http://writ.corporate.findlaw.com/dean/20041022.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 6:40:34 AM    comment

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