The Village Voice: Features: The Jesus Landing Pad by Rick Perlstein: "Bush White House checked with rapture Christians before latest Israel move | May 18th, 2004 10:00 AM

It was an e-mail we weren't meant to see. Not for our eyes were the notes that showed White House staffers taking two-hour meetings with Christian fundamentalists, ... Everything that you're discussing is information you're not supposed to have," barked Pentecostal minister Robert G. Upton ...

The e-mailed meeting summary reveals NSC Near East and North African Affairs director Elliott Abrams sitting down with the Apostolic Congress and massaging their theological concerns. Claiming to be "the Christian Voice in the Nation's Capital," the members vociferously oppose the idea of a Palestinian state. They fear an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza might enable just that, and they object on the grounds that all of Old Testament Israel belongs to the Jews. Until Israel is intact and Solomon's temple rebuilt, they believe, Christ won't come back to earth.

Abrams attempted to assuage their concerns by stating that "the Gaza Strip had no significant Biblical influence such as Joseph's tomb or Rachel's tomb and therefore is a piece of land that can be sacrificed for the cause of peace."
...
While the language of apocalyptic Christianity is absent from George W. Bush's speeches, he has proven eager to work with apocalyptics—a point of pride for Upton. "We're in constant contact with the White House," he boasts. "I'm briefed at least once a week via telephone briefings. . . . I was there about two weeks ago . . . At that time we met with the president."
...
Kim Johnson doesn't call it converting Jews to Christianity. She calls it "Circumcision of the Heart"—a spiritual circumcision Jews must undergo because, she writes in paraphrase of Jeremiah, chapter 9, "God will destroy all the uncircumcised nations along with the House of Israel, because the House of Israel is uncircumcised in the heart . . . [I]t is through the Gospel . . . that men's hearts are circumcised."

Apostolics believe that only 144,000 Jews who have not, prior to the Second Coming of Christ, acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah will be saved in the end times. Though even for those who do not believe in this literal interpretation of the Bible—or for anyone who lives in Israel, or who cares about Israel, or whose security might be affected by a widespread conflagration in the Middle East, which is everyone—the scriptural prophecies of the Christian Zionists should be the least of their worries.

Instead, we should be worried about self-fulfilling prophecies. "Biblically," stated one South Carolina minister in support of the anti-Road Map billboard campaign, "there's always going to be a war."

Don Wagner, an evangelical, worries that in the Republican Party, people who believe this "are dominating the discourse now, in an election year." He calls the attempt to yoke Scripture to current events "a modern heresy, with cultish proportions.

"I mean, it's appalling," he rails on. "And it also shows how marginalized mainstream Christian thinking, and the majority of evangelical thought, have become."

It demonstrates, he says, "the absolute convergence of the neoconservatives with the Christian Zionists and the pro-Israel lobby, driving U.S. Mideast policy."

- posted by Editor @ 5:55 AM

The Nation: "

In a recent rambling essay, the novelist Kurt Vonnegut mused aloud about the odd absence of the teachings of Jesus from the canon of conservative thought:
--How about Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes?
-----Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.
-----Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
-----Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
--And so on.

Not exactly planks in a Republican platform. Not exactly Donald Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney stuff.

For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes.
...
... I haven't heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere. "Blessed are the merciful" in a courtroom? "Blessed are the peacemakers" in the Pentagon? Give me a break!

It's an excellent question. Why do all of the professionally self- proclaimed Christians -- the ones who, like the hypocrites Jesus warned against, pray so loudly in public -- prefer the harsh first half of the Bible to the entirely Christian second book?
...
No, it's apocalyptic, as in: Christians who eagerly seek the end of the world (preferably via a Middle East conflagration) because they believe it will bring the rapture -- a Second Coming of Christ.
...
But back to the Bush Administration. We've long known that fundamentalist Christians are granted a staggering level of White House attention, about which they brag regularly.

Now, however, The Village Voice reports, "the National Security Council's top Middle East aide consults with apocalyptic Christians eager to ensure American policy on Israel conforms with their sectarian doomsday scenarios."
...
That high-placed NSC aide would be yet another Reagan-era Iran- Contra retread: the unsinkable Elliott Abrams. ...

Abrams sat down on March 25 with leaders of the Apostolic Congress -- a group that keeps, among its modest website, a personal page about George W. Bush, complete with photos of Karl Rove at bottom. The group's official symbol - - much like that of the Presidential Prayer Team -- is a mirror of the US Presidential seal.
...
The Village Voice reports these particular Old Testies oppose a Palestinian state -- on grounds that all of Old Testament Israel has to be in Jewish hands, and Solomon's Temple rebuilt, before Christ will come back.

Abrams [The Voice continues] attempted to assuage their concerns by stating that "the Gaza Strip had no significant Biblical influence such as Joseph's tomb or Rachel's tomb and therefore is a piece of land that can be sacrificed for the cause of peace."
...
Abrams was not the only top White House mind at the meeting with the rapture Christians this spring. Other officials spoke about how the 9-11 Commission is making America look bad; how same-sex marriage will change America; and how, as Karl Rove's lieutenant, Matt Schlapp, put it, the Bush Administration "is engaged in cultural, economical, and social struggle on every level."

Gee, Schlapp makes them sound like ... Bolsheviks.



- posted by Editor @ 5:39 AM

Excite News: "AP: Intelligence Agents Accused in Abuse | May 29, 7:10 AM (ET) | By MATT KELLEY

WASHINGTON (AP) - Several U.S. guards allege they witnessed military intelligence operatives encouraging the abuse of Iraqi prison inmates at four prisons other than Abu Ghraib, investigative documents show.

Court transcripts and Army investigator interviews provide the broadest view of evidence that abuses, from forcing inmates to stand in hoods in 120-degree heat to punching them, occurred at a Marine detention camp and three Army prison sites in Iraq besides Abu Ghraib.

That is the prison outside Baghdad that was the site of widely published and televised photographs of abuse of Iraqi detainees by Army troops.

Testimony about tactics used at a Marine prisoner of war camp near Nasiriyah also raises the question whether coercive techniques were standard procedure for military intelligence units in different service branches and throughout Iraq.

At the Marines' Camp Whitehorse, the guards were told to keep enemy prisoners of war - EPWs, in military jargon - standing for 50 minutes each hour for up to 10 hours. They would then be interrogated by "human exploitation teams," or HETs, comprising intelligence specialists.
...
Cpl. Robert Bruttomesso of the 325th Military Intelligence Battalion told Army investigators he reported that abuse to his chain of command. The report of his interview, obtained by The Associated Press, does not include details on what action, if any, Bruttomesso's commanders took.
- posted by Editor @ 5:16 AM

WorldNetDaily: Ashcroft's job: Scare people into voting for Bush: "Posted: May 28, 2004 | 1:00 a.m. Eastern | 2004 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

Panicked over plummeting poll numbers for President Bush, the White House has come up with a new strategy for winning re-election. They can't win on the economy. They can't win on health care, education or the environment. They can't win on Iraq. So they're trying to scare people into voting for George Bush.

Enter John Ashcroft – Mr. Doom and Gloom, himself – with another of his now-familiar warnings about terrorists about to strike the United States. According to Ashcroft, seven members of al-Qaida are at loose somewhere inside the country. They intend to "hit the United States hard." Their plans are 70 to 90 percent complete. Their targets are this summer's big events: Georgia's G-8 summit next month; Boston's Democratic Convention in July; and New York's Republican Convention in August.

Are you scared yet?
...
Consider the flimsiness of Ashcroft's latest case. The names of six of the seven al-Qaida suspects he trumpeted as "about to strike the United States" were first announced by the Justice Department months ago. And Justice Department officials admitted to the New York Times they had no reason to believe any of the suspects was actually in the country.
- posted by Editor @ 9:29 PM

USATODAY.com - Don't give up 1967 lands, DeLay tells Israel lobby: "04/23/2002 - Updated 10:28 PM ET | By Barbara Slavin, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — House Majority Whip Tom DeLay suggested Tuesday that Israel should not withdraw from territory captured in the 1967 war, and he equated Israel's struggle against the Palestinians with the U.S. war on terrorism.

DeLay's remarks were the latest example of unflinching support for Israel among many U.S. conservative Christians. The Texas Republican got a half-dozen standing ovations from a Washington conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the chief pro-Israel lobbying group.

An evangelical Christian, DeLay told a Texas audience earlier this month that Christianity offers the "only viable, reasonable, definitive answer" to life's key questions.
...
DeLay also suggested that Israel should not return territory despite the Bush administration's call for an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

He pointedly changed the phrase "West Bank" in the text of his speech to "Judea and Samaria," terms used by those who claim these biblical Jewish territories should remain part of the modern Jewish state. "I've toured Judea and Samaria," he said, "and stood on the Golan Heights (captured from Syria in 1967). I didn't see occupied territory. I saw Israel."


- posted by Editor @ 9:25 PM

Chalabi-gate: None Dare Call It Treason- by Justin Raimondo: "May 28, 2004 | Neocons behind bars? Sounds good to me
...
At a well-appointed conservative think tank in downtown Washington and across the Potomac River at the Pentagon, FBI agents have begun paying quiet calls on prominent neoconservatives, who are being interviewed in an investigation of potential espionage, according to intelligence sources. Who gave Ahmed Chalabi classified information about the plans of the U.S. government and military?"
...
But why would the militantly pro-Israel neocons, American partisans of the ultra-nationalist Likud party, act as patrons and promoters of an outfit, Chalabi's INC, that was really a cover for Iranian intelligence – their alleged mortal enemies? ...
...
... One intelligence source told me that Israel's Likud government had quietly promoted Chalabi and his Iraqi National Congress with Washington's influential neoconservatives. That would help explain why the neoconservatives, who share an ideological alliance with the conservative Likud, would embrace and defend Chalabi even as the CIA and the State Department denounced him as a con man.

"The idea of Israel promoting an Iranian agent also is not far-fetched if one understands the history. The elder Bush could tell his son about the long-standing strategic ties that have existed between Israel and Iran, both before and after the Islamic revolution of 1979. ...
...
As UPI editor Martin Walker reports:

"The real target goes beyond Chalabi. The hunt is on, in the Republican Party, in Congress, in the CIA and State Department and in a media which is being deluged with leaks, for Chalabi's friends and sponsors in Washington – the group known as the neo-cons. In particular, the targets seem to be Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, the former assistant secretary (in Reagan's day) Richard Perle, Vice President Dick Cheney's national security aide Scooter Libby, and the National Security Council's Middle East aide Elliott Abrams. The leaking against them – from sources who insist on anonymity, but some CIA and FBI veterans – is intense. Some of the sources are now private citizens, making a good living through business connections in the Arab world."
...
"Perle went on to suggest an even darker motive behind the attacks on the neo-cons; that the real target was Israel's Likud government and the staunch support for Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon in the Bush administration. When this was put to one CIA source, the reply was mocking: 'That's what they always do. As soon as these guys get any criticism, they scream Israel and anti-Semitism, and I think people are finally beginning to see through that smokescreen.'"
...
We knew what the neocons were capable of: smearing their enemies, lying about practically anything, even outing a CIA agent doing high-priority undercover work. Is anyone surprised that they're capable of espionage?

Perle is right about one thing: it's time to take the gloves off.
- posted by Editor @ 9:20 PM

Department of Political Science at UIUC: "�Uncovering the Rationales for the War on Iraq: The Words of the Bush Administration, Congress, and the Media | from September 12, 2001 to October 11, 2002� Devon M. Largio | Senior Honors Thesis | Department of Political Science | University of Illinois
...
... Though not all of the statements for some officials could be found, this project analyzed every statement from President Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld, and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz (more than 150 remarks and interviews containing the topic “Iraq”) during the months chosen for review.

The results showed that twenty-seven rationales for the war on Iraq were used at one time or another, twenty-three of which can be attributed to the administration. Five rationales were prominent in all three phases: the war on terror, the desire to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the lack of inspections, the desire to remove the Hussein regime, and the fact that Saddam Hussein was an evil dictator. One rationale surfaced initially and gained favor over time: the interest in liberating the people of Iraq. One other rationale emerged later and became very important to official sources and the media: the imminent threat that Iraq posed, though the words “imminent threat” did not appear in official statements of the administration but became the catch-phrase in the media and the public.
- posted by Editor @ 9:11 PM

Amnesty Slams "Bankrupt" Vision of US in Damning Rights Report: "May 26, 2004 by Agence France Presse

LONDON - The United States has proved 'bankrupt of vision and bereft of principle' in its fight against terrorism and invasion of Iraq, human rights group Amnesty International charged in a scathing report.

The London-based organisation's 2004 report, while also damning of rights violations in dozens of other nations, particularly targeted the Washington-led 'war on terror' for sanctioning abuses in the name of freedom.

The unilateral nature of the conflict to unseat Saddam Hussein in Iraq had additionally 'virtually paralyzed' the United Nations' role in guaranteeing human rights on a global level, Amnesty said Wednesday. "
...
"The global security agenda promulgated by the US administration is bankrupt of vision and bereft of principle," she charged.

"Sacrificing human rights in the name of security at home, turning a blind eye to abuses abroad and using pre-emptive military force where and when it chooses have neither increased security nor ensured liberty."

The notion of fighting a campaign against terrorism so as to support human rights while simultaneously trampling on them to achieve this was no more than "double speak", she added.

The year 2003 had also "dealt a mortal blow" to the UN's vision of universal human rights, with the global body "virtually paralysed in its efforts to hold states to account" over the issue.
...
In the Middle East, both Israel and the Palestinian Authority were taken to task for alleged rights violations, with Amnesty saying that some actions by the Israeli army, such as the destruction of property, "constituted war crimes".
- posted by Editor @ 8:56 PM

The New York Times > International > Middle East > From the Editors: The Times and Iraq: A Sample of the Coverage: "The Times and Iraq: A Sample of the Coverage

The alleged Iraqi terrorist training camps, and Al Qaeda connection:
• October 26, 2001: Czechs Confirm Iraqi Agent Met With Terror Ringleader
• November 8, 2001: Defectors Cite Iraqi Training for Terrorism
The accounts of the terrorist training camp have not subsequently been verified.

On the subject of the meeting in Prague, a Times follow-up cast serious doubt:
• October 21, 2002: Prague Discounts An Iraqi Meeting

The hidden weapons facilities:
• December 20, 2001: Iraqi Tells of Renovations at Sites for Chemical and Nuclear Arms
According to Knight Ridder News, this scientist was taken back to Iraq earlier this year for a tour of sites where he worked. None of the sites showed evidence of illegal weapons activity.
• Follow-up: January 24, 2003: Defectors Bolster U.S. Case Against Iraq

The aluminum tubes:
• September 8, 2002: U.S. Says Hussein Intensified Quest For A-Bomb Parts
• September 13, 2002: White House Lists Iraq Steps To Build Banned Weapons
• January 10, 2003: Agency Challenges Evidence Against Iraq Cited By Bush
• January 28, 2003: Report's Findings Undercut U.S. Argument
For a discussion of this coverage by Michael R. Gordon, chief military correspondent of The Times, see this letter from April 8, 2004.

The Iraqi scientist and destruction of weapons:
• April 21, 2003:Illicit Arms Kept Till Eve of War, an Iraqi Scientist Is Said to Assert
Follow-ups:
• April 23, 2003: Focus Shifts From Weapons To the People Behind Them
• April 24: U.S.-Led Forces Occupy Baghdad Complex Filled with Chemical Agents
• July 20, 2003: A Chronicle of Confusion in the Hunt for Hussein's Weapons

The "biological weapons labs":
This is one example of a claim that was quickly and prominently challenged by additional reporting
• May 21, 2003: U.S. Analysts Link Iraq Labs to Germ Arms
The story left the impression that the Administration claims represented a consensus, because we did not know otherwise. By June 7, however, the same reporters, having dug deeper, published a front-page story describing the strong views of dissenting intelligence analysts that the trailers were not bio-weapons labs, and suggesting that the Administration may have strained to make the evidence fit its case for war. (Last Sunday, Mr. Powell conceded that the C.I.A. was misled about the trailers, apparently by an Iraqi defector.)
• June 7, 2003: Some Analysts of Iraq Trailers Reject Germ Use
• June 26, 2003: Agency Disputes C.I.A. View on Trailers as Weapons Labs

Raising doubts about intelligence:
Following are examples of stories that cast doubt on key claims about Iraq's weapons programs, and on the reliability of some defectors.
• October 9, 2002: Aides Split on Assessment of Iraq's Plans
• October 24, 2002: A C.I.A. Rival; Pentagon Sets up Intelligence Unit
• March 23, 2003: C.I.A. Aides Feel Pressure in Preparing Iraqi Reports
• July 20, 2003: In Sketchy Data, Trying to Gauge Iraq Threat
• September 28, 2003: Agency Belittles Information Given By Iraqi Defectors
• February 1, 2004: Powell's Case a Year Later: Gaps in Picture of Iraq Arms"
• February 7, 2004: Agency Alert About Iraqi Not Heeded, Officials Say
• February 13, 2004: Stung by Exiles's Role, C.I.A. Orders a Shift in Procedures
• March 6, 2004: U.S., Certain That Iraq Had Illicit Arms, Reportedly Ignored Contrary Reports
• January 26, 2004:Ex-Inspector Says C.I.A. Missed Disarray in Iraqi Arms Program
• May 22, 2003: Prewar Views of Iraq Threat Are Under Review by C.I.A.
• Feb. 2, 2003: Split at C.I.A. and F.B.I. on Iraqi Ties to Al Qaeda
- posted by Editor @ 8:50 PM

The New York Times > International > Middle East > From the Editors: The Times and Iraq: "The Times and Iraq | Published: May 26, 2004

Over the last year this newspaper has shone the bright light of hindsight on decisions that led the United States into Iraq. ...
...
But we have found a number of instances of coverage that was not as rigorous as it should have been. In some cases, information that was controversial then, and seems questionable now, was insufficiently qualified or allowed to stand unchallenged. Looking back, we wish we had been more aggressive in re-examining the claims as new evidence emerged — or failed to emerge.
...
On Oct. 26 and Nov. 8, 2001, for example, Page 1 articles cited Iraqi defectors who described a secret Iraqi camp where Islamic terrorists were trained and biological weapons produced. These accounts have never been independently verified.
...
On Sept. 8, 2002, the lead article of the paper was headlined "U.S. Says Hussein Intensified Quest for A-Bomb Parts." ... Administration officials were allowed to hold forth at length on why this evidence of Iraq's nuclear intentions ...
...
- posted by Editor @ 8:48 PM

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: A Speech That's No Joke: "By BOB HERBERT | Published: May 28, 2004"

It has always been easy to make fun of Al Gore. But if there's any truth to the thunderous criticism he's turned loose on the Bush administration this week, it's time to dispense with the jokes and listen seriously to what the man is saying.
...
The war in Iraq, said Mr. Gore, in an interview on Wednesday, "is the worst strategic fiasco in the history of the United States. It is an unfolding catastrophe without any comparison."

In an echo of the growing chorus of criticism here and around the world, he said the war has not only damaged "our strategic interests" and isolated the U.S. from its allies, it has also made the country more — not less — vulnerable to terror.

In a widely covered speech earlier in the day, Mr. Gore said that Iraq had not become, as President Bush has asserted, " `the central front in the war on terror.' " But he said it has become, unfortunately, "the central recruiting office for terrorists."
...
The president, said Mr. Gore, had "planted the seeds of war, and harvested a whirlwind."
...
"The same preference for ideology over reality has turned trillion-dollar surpluses into multitrillion-dollar deficits," said Mr. Gore. "And that same approach has led to the locking up of American citizens without recourse to lawyers or access to courts or even a right of their families to know they're being held in secret."

These and other matters are transforming the United States into a country that is more warlike, more brutal, less free, less just, less admirable and much less appealing than the nation that existed when Mr. Bush stepped into the presidency in January 2001.
...
But this was a speech in which the former vice president said: "What makes the United States special in the history of nations is our commitment to the rule of law and our carefully constructed system of checks and balances. Our natural distrust of concentrated power and our devotion to openness and democracy are what have led us as a people to consistently choose good over evil in our collective aspirations, more than the people of any other nation." ...
- posted by Editor @ 8:44 PM

The New York Times > Washington > Selecting a Leader: Surprising Choice for Premier of Iraq Reflects U.S. Influence: "By WARREN HOGE and STEVEN R. WEISMAN | Published: May 29, 2004

UNITED NATIONS, May 28 — After turning to the United Nations to shore up its failing effort to fashion a new government in Baghdad, the United States ended up Friday with a choice for prime minister certain to be seen more as an American candidate than one of the United Nations or the Iraqis themselves.

The man chosen to be prime minister, Iyad Alawi, is the secretary general of the Iraqi National Accord, an exile group that has received funds from the Central Intelligence Agency. His ties with the C.I.A., and his closeness to the United States could become an issue in a country where public opinion has grown almost universally hostile to the Americans. ...
- posted by Editor @ 8:39 PM

Palestinian family blames Israeli sniper for deaths of two children - Middle East Conflict - www.smh.com.au: "By Ed O'Loughlin, Herald Correspondent in Rafah | May 24, 2004

About 11.30am last Tuesday, within moments of each other, Asma al-Mughair, 16, and her brother Ahmed, 13, died on the roof of their home in the Tel Sultan district of Rafah.

The Israeli Defence Force, whose soldiers and tanks had just occupied Tel Sultan, said the next day that it had investigated the incident and concluded that the siblings were killed by 'a work accident' - a euphemism for a militant's bomb that explodes while it is being assembled - or by a roadside bomb set by Palestinian militants.

It rejected the family's claim that the two children were shot dead by an Israeli sniper - Asma as she took in laundry, Ahmed as he fed the family pigeons.

Dr Ahmed Abu Nkaria, deputy head of Rafah's tiny hospital, concluded that both children had been
killed by single gunshots to the head. There was no other sign of trauma, he told the Herald the following day.

On Saturday two small groups of journalists picked their way past the Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles surrounding Tel Sultan to become the first to enter since the curfew was eased the day before.

At the Mughairs' three-storey house the children's older brother, Ali, 26, showed us the spot in the corner of the rooftop where, he said, Asma had been taking in laundry when a bullet blew the side of her head off. There was still a thick stain of blood and brain matter there."
- posted by Editor @ 8:27 PM

SignOnSanDiego.com > In Iraq -- Marines admit abuse at second prison: "By Rick Rogers | UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER | May 22, 2004

While world attention was focused on the scandal at Abu Ghraib prison, two Marines were court-martialed May 14 for abusing an Iraqi prisoner with electricity, it was disclosed yesterday.

Five more Marines have been implicated in the same early April incident at a Marine-run detention facility and might face charges, according to Marine officials in Iraq. "
- posted by Editor @ 8:16 PM

On Israel: "May 24, 2004 | by Daniel Barenboim

On May 9 in Jerusalem, conductor Daniel Barenboim was awarded the prestigious Wolf Prize, established to honor outstanding artists and scientists who have worked 'in the interest of mankind and friendly relations among people.' Exemplifying these qualities in his own life, Barenboim was a friend of and collaborator with the late Palestinian intellectual and Nation contributor Edward Said. Barenhoim's acceptance speech before the Knesset prompted Israeli politicians to denounce him for his criticism of Israel's policies toward the Palestinians as well as for his willingness to perform the work of Richard Wagner, regarded by many Holocaust survivors as having inspired Hitler. We reproduce his speech below.
--The Editors"
...
... The Declaration of Independence was a source of inspiration to believe in ideals that transformed us from Jews to Israelis. This remarkable document expressed the commitment: "The state of Israel will devote itself to the development of this country for the benefit of all its people. It will be founded on the principles of freedom, justice and peace, guided by the visions of the prophets of Israel. It will grant full equal, social and political rights to all its citizens regardless of differences of religious faith, race or sex. It will ensure freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture."
...
I am asking today with deep sorrow: Can we, despite all our achievements, ignore the intolerable gap between what the Declaration of Independence promised and what was fulfilled, the gap between the idea and the realities of Israel? Does the condition of occupation and domination over another people fit the Declaration of Independence? Is there any sense in the independence of one at the expense of the fundamental rights of the other? Can the Jewish people, whose history is a record of continued suffering and relentless persecution, allow themselves to be indifferent to the rights and suffering of a neighboring people? Can the State of Israel allow itself an unrealistic dream of an ideological end to the conflict instead of pursuing a pragmatic, humanitarian one based on social justice?
- posted by Editor @ 8:13 PM

History Profs Rate Bush a Disaster: "Sunday, May 23, 2004 by the Cleveland Plaine Dealer | by Tom Brazaitis

President George W. Bush's campaign for a second term got a big break last week from the nation's historians. Responding to a national survey by George Mason University's History News Network, 81 percent of the 415 historians who expressed a view of the Bush presidency so far classified it as a failure and 12 percent see it as the worst presidency in American history.

At least eight of the 77 historians who expressed a belief that Bush's presidency has been a success so far seemed to be pulling our leg. Seven said Bush's presidency is only the best since that of Bill Clinton, his immediate predecessor, and one said the country hasn't seen a president of Bush's caliber since Millard Fillmore (1850-53) who filled the remaining term of Gen. Zachary Taylor after Taylor's death. Fillmore's time in office was unmemorable. He was defeated by a rival from within his own party.

'Actually, I think [Bush's] presidency may exceed the disaster that was Nixon,' said one historian who was not named. 'He has systematically lied to the American public about almost every policy that his administration promotes.' "
- posted by Editor @ 8:08 PM

History Lesson: GOP Must Stop Bush: "Monday, May 24, 2004 by USA Today | by Carl Bernstein

Thirty years ago, a Republican president, facing impeachment by the House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate, was forced to resign because of unprecedented crimes he and his aides committed against the Constitution and people of the United States. Ultimately, Richard Nixon left office voluntarily because courageous leaders of the Republican Party put principle above party and acted with heroism in defense of the Constitution and rule of law.

'What did the president know and when did he know it?' a Republican senator � Howard Baker of Tennessee � famously asked of Nixon 30 springtimes ago.

Today, confronted by the graphic horrors of Abu Ghraib prison, by ginned-up intelligence to justify war, by 652 American deaths since presidential operatives declared 'Mission Accomplished,' Republican leaders have yet to suggest that George W. Bush be held responsible for the disaster in Iraq and that perhaps he, not just Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, is ill-suited for his job.

Having read the report of Major Gen. Antonio Taguba, I expect Baker's question will resound again in another congressional investigation. The equally relevant question is whether Republicans will, Pavlov-like, continue to defend their president with ideological and partisan reflex, or remember the example of principled predecessors who pursued truth at another dark moment.

Today, the issue may not be high crimes and misdemeanors, but rather Bush's failure, or inability, to lead competently and honestly.

"You are courageously leading our nation in the war against terror," Bush told Rumsfeld in a Wizard-of-Oz moment May 10, as Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell and senior generals looked on. "You are a strong secretary of Defense, and our nation owes you a debt of gratitude." The scene recalled another Oz moment: Nixon praising his enablers, Bob Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, as "two of the finest public servants I've ever known."
...
Another precedent is apt: In 1968, a few Democratic senators — J. William Fulbright, Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern and Robert F. Kennedy — challenged their party's torpor and insisted that President Lyndon Johnson be held accountable for his disastrous and disingenuous conduct of the Vietnam War, adding weight to public pressure, which, eventually, forced Johnson not to seek re-election.
...
To curtail any hint of dissension in the ranks, Bush scheduled a "pep rally" with congressional Republicans — speaking 35 minutes, after which, characteristically, he took no questions and lawmakers dutifully circled the wagons.
...
But among Republicans today, there seems to be scant interest in asking tough questions — or honoring the example of courageous leaders of Congress who, not long ago, stepped forward, setting principle before party, to hold accountable presidents who put their country in peril.
- posted by Editor @ 7:56 PM

Kurt Nimmo: Dirty Tricks and TortureGate: The Missing Taguba Pages: "May 24, 2004 | By KURT NIMMO

It sure is curious how documents entering the Bush Machine exit with blank pages.

It happened with Iraq's 11,800-page dossier on weapons and now it has happened again with the report on prison abuse produced by Major General Antonio M. Taguba.
'The copy [the Senate Armed Services Committee] got after Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's testimony on May 7 was a thick document with 106 annexes, and it was quickly arranged into separate binders. Only later did the committee stack up all the pages, compare them with a ream of 6,000 blank pages and decide that at least 2,000 pages were missing,' reports Time Magazine.

If indeed the Bushites filched the pages it would hardly be surprising or unusual. This is a criminal administration at ease with deception and thievery. Lies, dirty tricks, and theft are their modus operandi -- from the 2000 election onward." ...
- posted by Editor @ 7:41 PM

Excite - News: "New Images Amplify Abuse at Iraq Prison -Report | May 21, 3:53 pm ET | By Jacqueline Frank

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hundreds of new images and sworn statements from Iraqis held at Abu Ghraib prison that depict harrowing sexual humiliation and religious intimidation at the hands of U.S. soldiers were broadcast around the world on Friday.
...
One detainee said he was told during the holy month of Ramadan he would be released if he cooperated and was ordered to curse Islam. "Because they started to hit my broken leg, I curse my religion. They ordered me to thank Jesus I am alive."

The abuses were said to include prisoners being fondled by female soldiers and forced to masturbate in front of them, as well as an Army translator having sex with a screaming boy 15 to 18 years old, an incident detainee Kasim Mehaddi Hilas said was documented in photos taken by a female soldier.
- posted by Editor @ 6:27 PM

sacbee.com -- Opinion -- Atrocities in Iraq: 'I killed innocent people for our government': "By Paul Rockwell -- Special to The Bee | Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, May 16, 2004
...
Q: Were you in the vicinity of of depleted uranium?

A: Oh, yeah. It's everywhere. DU is everywhere on the battlefield. If you hit a tank, there's dust.

Q: Did you breath any dust?

A: Yeah.

Q: And if DU is affecting you or our troops, it's impacting Iraqi civilians.

A: Oh, yeah. They got a big wasteland problem.

Q: Do Marines have any precautions about dealing with DU?

A: Not that I know of. Well, if a tank gets hit, crews are detained for a little while to make sure there are no signs or symptoms. American tanks have depleted uranium on the sides, and the projectiles have DU in them. If an enemy vehicle gets hit, the area gets contaminated. ...
- posted by Editor @ 8:36 PM

sacbee.com -- Opinion -- Atrocities in Iraq: 'I killed innocent people for our government': "By Paul Rockwell -- Special to The Bee | Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, May 16, 2004
...
Q: Who gave the order to wipe the demonstrators out?

A: Higher command. We were told to be on the lookout for the civilians because a lot of the Fedayeen and the Republican Guards had tossed away uniforms and put on civilian clothes and were mounting terrorist attacks on American soldiers. The intelligence reports that were given to us were basically known by every member of the chain of command. The rank structure that was implemented in Iraq by the chain of command was evident to every Marine in Iraq. The order to shoot the demonstrators, I believe, came from senior government officials, including intelligence communities within the military and the U.S. government.

Q: What kind of firepower was employed?

A: M-16s, 50-cal. machine guns.

Q: You fired into six or ten kids? Were they all taken out?

A: Oh, yeah.

- posted by Editor @ 8:34 PM

Excite - News: "Berg Died for Bush, Rumsfeld 'Sins' - Father | May 13, 9:47 pm ET | By Jon Hurdle

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The father of Nick Berg, the American beheaded in Iraq, directly blamed President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday for his son's death.

'My son died for the sins of George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. This administration did this,' Berg said in an interview with radio station KYW-AM two days after a video showing the execution of his son was shown on an Islamist Web site."
...
On April 5, the Bergs filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government, naming Rumsfeld and alleging their son was being held illegally by the U.S. military in Iraq. The next day, he was released.
- posted by Editor @ 7:59 PM

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Harsh methods approved at top: "Julian Borger in Washington | Wednesday May 12, 2004 | The Guardian

Donald Rumsfeld approved the use of 'harsh' interrogation techniques at Guant�namo Bay, including stripping detainees naked, making them hold 'stress' positions and prolonged sleep deprivation, a senior Pentagon official confirmed yesterday.

Stephen Cambone, the under-secretary of defence for intelligence, also said severe interrogation techniques, including the use of dogs to intimidate prisoners, had been approved for use by military commanders in Iraq.

But Mr Cambone insisted that all US soldiers in Iraq were under orders to obey the Geneva Conventions and denied that the US military leadership had helped to create a climate for prison abuse.
...
Critics have argued that Mr Rumsfeld's decision to suspend Geneva Convention safeguards for prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, and the transfer of interrogation techniques used there to Iraq, helped create the conditions for the Abu Ghraib scandal, even if no order was issued to use torture. ...
- posted by Editor @ 2:59 PM

80% in Iraq Distrust Occupation Authority (washingtonpost.com): "Results of Poll, Taken Before Prison Scandal Came to Light, Worry U.S. Officials | By Thomas E. Ricks | Washington Post Staff Writer | Thursday, May 13, 2004; Page A10

Four out of five Iraqis report holding a negative view of the U.S. occupation authority and of coalition forces, according to a new poll conducted for the occupation authority.

In the poll, 80 percent of the Iraqis questioned reported a lack of confidence in the Coalition Provisional Authority, and 82 percent said they disapprove of the U.S. and allied militaries in Iraq.
..
... provide additional evidence that the U.S. effort in Iraq is not winning over Iraqi public opinion.
...
The new data reflect the fact that "the occupation, and the occupation forces, are getting increasingly unpopular," ...
...
There were a few bright spots in the poll. The Iraqi police received a 79 percent positive rating, the best of the seven institutions about which questions were asked. The reformed Iraqi army was not far behind, with a 61 percent positive rating.

- posted by Editor @ 8:05 PM

News: "Poll shows majority want UK troops to pull out | By Nigel Morris | 10 May 2004 | Independent/MOP poll

Should British troops pull out of Iraq by 30th June?

55 per cent: YES
28 per cent: NO
17 per cent: DON'T KNOW

Voters support the withdrawal of all British troops from Iraq by the end of next month by a majority of two to one, a poll for The Independent reveals today."
- posted by Editor @ 9:45 PM

Excite - News: "General Finds 'Leadership Failure' Behind Abuse | May 11, 8:06 pm ET | By Vicki Allen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The abuse of Iraqi prisoners reflected a failure of leadership in the U.S. armed forces, the general who investigated the mistreatment testified on Tuesday, but he found no evidence that American soldiers had acted on direct orders of higher-ups.

Asked directly in 'your own soldier's language' what had caused the abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison, once the feared symbol of Saddam Hussein's dictatorial rule, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba recited a litany of ills.

'Failure in leadership, sir, from the brigade commander on down, lack of discipline, no training whatsoever and no supervision,' Taguba, the author of a Pentagon report on the abuse, told the latest Senate hearing on the scandal, which has drawn worldwide outrage."
- posted by Editor @ 9:03 PM