Here are some of my sources for information on Iraq:
US casualties and some news stories:
http://icasualties.org/oif/
Daily blog of news stories from all over, along with a lively comment section that often catches errors in those news sources:
http://dailywarnews.blogspot.com/
Another one: http://warincontext.org/
Click on news, or editorials/opinions for various opinions:
http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news2005-08-2110492.htm
List of news stories here, and I always look at the photo slideshow. The photos often tell something the corporate press is overlooking: http://news.yahoo.com/fc?cid=34&tmpl=fc&in=World&cat=Iraq
The photos are often hard to look at. Imagine how hard it would be to live it. Keep in mind that no news source is infallible, the good ones however do self-correct. Juan Cole is very knowledgeable on the Middle East (Informed Comment blog) but he often jumps to the wrong conclusion.... like saying the death of the innocent guy (shot by police on the London subway) was the fault of the terrorists. He said this the day he was killed, and a couple of weeks later, the truth started coming out - and that innocent death is the rest of police bungling, if not outright testosterone poisoning.
And I also like to read Iraqi bloggers. Sunshine is one of my favorite bloggers, and she is a 13-year-old girl in Mosul. I also like Faiza’s writings and I am happy to say she is a friend of mine. Faiza writes the blog “A Family in Baghdad.” She and her family have moved to Amman, because of the danger. She has two sons who write blogs also. There are about 150 Iraqi bloggers now, with many different opinions (the pro-war ones are much more respectful of Cindy Sheehan than the pro-war crowd in the USA). I cannot read all the Iraqi bloggers any more.
Here’s an example of a news story from Iraq:
More Univ. professors killed By Mohammed Salah
Azzaman, August 28, 2005
Unidentified gunmen have gunned down three university professors, all of them from the University of Mustansiriya in Baghdad. The incident, which took place at main entrance to the campus, takes the number of professors murdered since the U.S.-led invasion of the country to 58. “Unidentified people shot and killed Dr. Zaki al-Ani from the College of Arts and Dr. Hashem Abdulamir from the College of Education,” a university source told the newspaper on condition of anonymity. The third professor, Dr. Sameer Yalda of the College of Economics and Administration, was kidnapped as he left the university and his body was found dumped on a main street in Baghdad. The incentives behind the killings are now known. And the police have not yet solved the mystery behind any of the previous 55 murders of Iraqi university professors. As a result, Iraqi professionals are leaving in droves. Statistics by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research show that more professors have left the country since the U.S. invasion than under the reign of former leader Saddam Hussein.
Without a question, this murder of these three professors did happen, since it is widely reported. It is also widely reported that professors are leaving Iraq in significant numbers. So, it is safe to say that the conclusions reached in this article are correct. How very sad.
The tragedy unfolding in the southern USA is also very, very sad. I would like to recommend that Americans call their local blood bank and see if they need more blood. I have heard they are low, and this is something no other country can do for us.
I wish that we had such extensive, heart-wrenching coverage of the reality of what is going on Iraq, particularly with the US bombing. First, it would inspire Americans to open their wallets to help Iraqis (directly, not via the US government corruption programs) and they would insist on an end to war. It amazes me that there are Americans who feel we cannot leave Iraq because the Iraqis could be worse off. This invasion and occupation has devastated that country and by every available measure, the Iraqis are worse off now than they were three years ago.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we started using our heads to create and protect and conserve – instead of destroy?
Imagine if we really protected and respected the environment, and respected and protected each other…….
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Letter to Christian Science Monitor
Here's what they published the other day (after I corrected the spelling errors):
Our US corporate media are focusing on Cindy Sheehan in an obsessive manner, as they are often prone to do, whether or not the story is of any substance. One could have a long discussion on why they act this way, but I do think this story has substance. We need to find out the real reasons we went to war in Iraq and what this administration hopes to accomplish there. There needs to be an accounting and responsibility for what has happened, both to the grieving parents and to our country and to the world.
But most importantly, to the Iraqi people.
Susan Oehler
Asheville, N.C.
And here is what they did not include, the first paragraph:
Mr. O'Neill claims in his opinion piece (The Iraq War and the Politics of Grief) that "antiwar forces push these families further into the spotlight." This is certainly not true for Cindy Sheehan. She has sought out the spotlight, and spoken out, at every opportunity allowed to her. She has publicly stated that she opposed this war from the very beginning, but did not act on her feelings until after her son's death. She has publicly stated that she regrets not having done so.
Our US corporate media are focusing on Cindy Sheehan in an obsessive manner, as they are often prone to do, whether or not the story is of any substance. One could have a long discussion on why they act this way, but I do think this story has substance. We need to find out the real reasons we went to war in Iraq and what this administration hopes to accomplish there. There needs to be an accounting and responsibility for what has happened, both to the grieving parents and to our country and to the world.
But most importantly, to the Iraqi people.
Susan Oehler
Asheville, N.C.
And here is what they did not include, the first paragraph:
Mr. O'Neill claims in his opinion piece (The Iraq War and the Politics of Grief) that "antiwar forces push these families further into the spotlight." This is certainly not true for Cindy Sheehan. She has sought out the spotlight, and spoken out, at every opportunity allowed to her. She has publicly stated that she opposed this war from the very beginning, but did not act on her feelings until after her son's death. She has publicly stated that she regrets not having done so.
Monday, August 22, 2005
Ali Nasir Jabur
Ali is a 10 year old who lives in Tikrit. I found his picture on Yahoo News photos by the Associated Press. Ali is squatting in the back of a truck, and in one photo he is looking at the photographer, and in another he is holding his head in his hands. There is not a single story written about Ali or what happened to him, just two photographs.
With Ali in the back of the truck is the dead bodies of his parents, his two brothers and his sister. The caption says that unknown gunman wearing Iraqi security forces raided their home the previous night, while Ali was hidden under a blanket. Ali survived. His family is dead. The world barely notices. I noticed.
I hope that the killers of these people are found and brought to justice. I hope the people who started this war, which lead to this awful, violent, lawless situation, are also brought to justice. I hope and pray that Ali will be okay, and I hope he finds this blog one day and knows that at least one American noticed what happened, that at least one American cared. And there is one more thing I will do: I will make 100 copies of the photo of Ali in the truck with his five dead family members and I will give one to each and every US Senator's office. I cannot guarantee that the Senators will see them, but someone working in their office will. I will write on there: HELP THIS CHILD. I will point out that they are responsible for having started this war which lead to this horrific loss for Ali, and that they are responsible for this child and his well being. And I will hold Ali and his friends, neighbors, relatives and fellow countrymen in the light.
I wish I could do more. I also wish (unkind and un-Christian as this may be) that this type of loss and suffering would come into the life of each and every warmonger.
May Ali's family rest in peace. May Ali find a decent life inspite of his unbelivable losses and his country in turmoil.
With Ali in the back of the truck is the dead bodies of his parents, his two brothers and his sister. The caption says that unknown gunman wearing Iraqi security forces raided their home the previous night, while Ali was hidden under a blanket. Ali survived. His family is dead. The world barely notices. I noticed.
I hope that the killers of these people are found and brought to justice. I hope the people who started this war, which lead to this awful, violent, lawless situation, are also brought to justice. I hope and pray that Ali will be okay, and I hope he finds this blog one day and knows that at least one American noticed what happened, that at least one American cared. And there is one more thing I will do: I will make 100 copies of the photo of Ali in the truck with his five dead family members and I will give one to each and every US Senator's office. I cannot guarantee that the Senators will see them, but someone working in their office will. I will write on there: HELP THIS CHILD. I will point out that they are responsible for having started this war which lead to this horrific loss for Ali, and that they are responsible for this child and his well being. And I will hold Ali and his friends, neighbors, relatives and fellow countrymen in the light.
I wish I could do more. I also wish (unkind and un-Christian as this may be) that this type of loss and suffering would come into the life of each and every warmonger.
May Ali's family rest in peace. May Ali find a decent life inspite of his unbelivable losses and his country in turmoil.
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Baghdad residents and US Troops
I was looking at Iraq Coalition Casualties webpage, and just noticed the following articles and what was said..... and what was NOT said.
Baghdad civilian death totals are extreme - from Washington Times
http://www.washtimes.com/upi/20050821-110618-6132r.htm
Here's the whole article: "Civilian deaths in Baghdad in July were more than New York City had in all of 2004, and that's excluding car bombings and suicide bombings. Time magazine reports the surge in non-combat related violence is due to the various sects in Iraq who want to start a civil war. Reports that death squads are entering quiet Baghdad neighborhoods and killing innocent civilians are growing. Baghdad central morgue director, Faiq Amin Bakr, said 880 violent deaths occurred in the city in July. There are more than 5 million people living in Baghdad. In New York City, with a population of about 8 million, 571 people were killed in 2004. In Baghdad, another 100 people were killed by terrorism in July.
(There you have it: all those deaths are caused by death squads and terrorists. No responsibility by Americans, and no excuses of PTSD either.)
However, this man lived to tell his tale:
Iraqi General Says US Troops Shot Him - Police
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - "An Iraqi general who commands the country's border defence force was shot and wounded while driving in Baghdad late on Saturday and accused U.S. troops of firing on his car, police and hospital sources said. The report could not be confirmed directly with the general; a U.S. military spokesman said he was unaware of an incident."
(Sorry not to link, but the link is so long, I'm afraid it will mess up the page.)
And finally, even though Baghdad residents are hearty souls who do not suffer from PTSD even after years of war in their city and seeing their neighbor down the street get blow to bits, having US troops fire at them, living without electricity, water, jobs, and the threat of night time raids into their homes by US troops, Iraqi troops, Wolf Brigade, and god-knows-who, this is not true of US service after a year in the conflict zone:
In Two Shooting by Iraq Vets, War Stress Blamed by Associated Press
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2005/aug/20/082010527.html
"One was a skinny 20-year-old discharged from the Army who couldn't shake the piercing rat-a-tat-tat reminders of combat. The other, a decorated Marine family man whose job preparing bodies of U.S. soldiers for burial had caused clammy, restless nights. Both home from duty in Iraq.."
"Flashbacks, nightmares, a struggle to reconnect to an old life - these are all signs of post-traumatic stress disorder that many soldiers suffer from. The Army's surgeon general has said 30 percent of U.S. troops surveyed have developed stress-related mental health problems just months after returning home. A New England Journal of Medicine study found almost 1 in 6 soldiers showing symptoms of mental stress."
That article is worth reading in full.
See how our media presents things? See how Americans can be so blind?
Baghdad civilian death totals are extreme - from Washington Times
http://www.washtimes.com/upi/20050821-110618-6132r.htm
Here's the whole article: "Civilian deaths in Baghdad in July were more than New York City had in all of 2004, and that's excluding car bombings and suicide bombings. Time magazine reports the surge in non-combat related violence is due to the various sects in Iraq who want to start a civil war. Reports that death squads are entering quiet Baghdad neighborhoods and killing innocent civilians are growing. Baghdad central morgue director, Faiq Amin Bakr, said 880 violent deaths occurred in the city in July. There are more than 5 million people living in Baghdad. In New York City, with a population of about 8 million, 571 people were killed in 2004. In Baghdad, another 100 people were killed by terrorism in July.
(There you have it: all those deaths are caused by death squads and terrorists. No responsibility by Americans, and no excuses of PTSD either.)
However, this man lived to tell his tale:
Iraqi General Says US Troops Shot Him - Police
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - "An Iraqi general who commands the country's border defence force was shot and wounded while driving in Baghdad late on Saturday and accused U.S. troops of firing on his car, police and hospital sources said. The report could not be confirmed directly with the general; a U.S. military spokesman said he was unaware of an incident."
(Sorry not to link, but the link is so long, I'm afraid it will mess up the page.)
And finally, even though Baghdad residents are hearty souls who do not suffer from PTSD even after years of war in their city and seeing their neighbor down the street get blow to bits, having US troops fire at them, living without electricity, water, jobs, and the threat of night time raids into their homes by US troops, Iraqi troops, Wolf Brigade, and god-knows-who, this is not true of US service after a year in the conflict zone:
In Two Shooting by Iraq Vets, War Stress Blamed by Associated Press
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2005/aug/20/082010527.html
"One was a skinny 20-year-old discharged from the Army who couldn't shake the piercing rat-a-tat-tat reminders of combat. The other, a decorated Marine family man whose job preparing bodies of U.S. soldiers for burial had caused clammy, restless nights. Both home from duty in Iraq.."
"Flashbacks, nightmares, a struggle to reconnect to an old life - these are all signs of post-traumatic stress disorder that many soldiers suffer from. The Army's surgeon general has said 30 percent of U.S. troops surveyed have developed stress-related mental health problems just months after returning home. A New England Journal of Medicine study found almost 1 in 6 soldiers showing symptoms of mental stress."
That article is worth reading in full.
See how our media presents things? See how Americans can be so blind?
Driving by......
Frank Rich (NYT) wrote an article today called "The Swift Boating of Cindy Sheehan" that has this statement:
"THIS summer in Crawford, the White House went to this playbook once too often. When Mr. Bush's motorcade left a grieving mother in the dust to speed on to a fund-raiser, that was one fat-cat party too far."
This reminded me of the first time I heard Cindy speak - at Eyes Wide Open in Washington DC last January. It was the evening of the inauguration, and as she spoke stretch limo after stretch limo after stretch limo after stretch limo drive by. Oblivious.
Crawford wasn't the first time Bush supporters drove by Cindy Sheehan and ignored her and the pain inherent in their war policies.
"THIS summer in Crawford, the White House went to this playbook once too often. When Mr. Bush's motorcade left a grieving mother in the dust to speed on to a fund-raiser, that was one fat-cat party too far."
This reminded me of the first time I heard Cindy speak - at Eyes Wide Open in Washington DC last January. It was the evening of the inauguration, and as she spoke stretch limo after stretch limo after stretch limo after stretch limo drive by. Oblivious.
Crawford wasn't the first time Bush supporters drove by Cindy Sheehan and ignored her and the pain inherent in their war policies.
They didn't know? Come on, now!
This is a clip from TV NEWS LIES:
"This weekend CNN will launch a full frontal assault on the truth with their expose on the “intelligence failure” that led the US to believe that Iraq had WMD.
There will be no mention of the overwhelming majority of the global intelligence community who knew Iraq posed no threat.
There will be no mention of the Office of Special Plans set up to re-evaluate the findings of the US intelligence community.
There will be no mention of the cherry picking or the ignoring all opinions that did not support findings that would indicate Iraq was a threat.
There will be no mention on how Scott Ritter, Hans Blix & every single anti-war Bush hater liberal, was 100% correct about Iraq not being a threat.
There will be no mention of the PNAC plan to invade Iraq and about their New Pearl Harbor comments that gave them their free ticket to proceed with their insane plan.
..........You will only see scabs who will take the blame for the administration in order to make it seem as if there were actually people who felt Iraq was a real threat."
Tonight I emailed a women on a local listserve about the war and how we got into it. I told her that I figured out that Iraq had no nuclear WMDs, and even if they did have biological or chemical WMDs, they were not a threat to the USA. I noticed that most of the rest of the world was opposed to this war, including the majority of Iraq's neighbors. Now, if I was smart enough to figure this all out, they were too. And that INCLUDES THE DEMOCRATS. Never forget that Edwards made a bunch of money on this war, all legally. As did Cheney.
The reasons for this war do not lie in failed "intelligence". The reasons lie in the lies. This war is a lie. I remember Aaron Brown on CNN on the night of Powell's presentation to the UN. One would have to conclude he had no ability for critical thinking after watching that. I noticed the rest of the world didn't buy it, and neither did the UN. One would think that was a BIG FREAKING CLUE, IF YOU HAD A CLUE!
I remember Aaron Brown having Scott Ritter on his program and then he spent all his time asking Ritter about a dismissed arrest record instead of the WMD programs in Iraq. Brown acted like a mouthpiece for the Bush administration, and helped keep the American people stupid.
Maybe Brown really is that stupid, I don't know. But the entire White House staff and nearly the entire US Senate can not be that stupid. Especially Edwards: I wrote and told him the truth.
This CNN piece on "intelligence failure" is on Sunday night at 8 and 11 PM. Somebody please watch it and tell me if TV NEWS LIES is correct or not. I pulled the plug on them back in June of 2003. I figured they were useless. I predict that Sunday's program will be a massive "feel good" attempt by CNN to convince the American people that we were all just mistaken, but it couldn't be helped. Everybody was fooled, and no one is to blame. Lest of all, CNN.
"This weekend CNN will launch a full frontal assault on the truth with their expose on the “intelligence failure” that led the US to believe that Iraq had WMD.
There will be no mention of the overwhelming majority of the global intelligence community who knew Iraq posed no threat.
There will be no mention of the Office of Special Plans set up to re-evaluate the findings of the US intelligence community.
There will be no mention of the cherry picking or the ignoring all opinions that did not support findings that would indicate Iraq was a threat.
There will be no mention on how Scott Ritter, Hans Blix & every single anti-war Bush hater liberal, was 100% correct about Iraq not being a threat.
There will be no mention of the PNAC plan to invade Iraq and about their New Pearl Harbor comments that gave them their free ticket to proceed with their insane plan.
..........You will only see scabs who will take the blame for the administration in order to make it seem as if there were actually people who felt Iraq was a real threat."
Tonight I emailed a women on a local listserve about the war and how we got into it. I told her that I figured out that Iraq had no nuclear WMDs, and even if they did have biological or chemical WMDs, they were not a threat to the USA. I noticed that most of the rest of the world was opposed to this war, including the majority of Iraq's neighbors. Now, if I was smart enough to figure this all out, they were too. And that INCLUDES THE DEMOCRATS. Never forget that Edwards made a bunch of money on this war, all legally. As did Cheney.
The reasons for this war do not lie in failed "intelligence". The reasons lie in the lies. This war is a lie. I remember Aaron Brown on CNN on the night of Powell's presentation to the UN. One would have to conclude he had no ability for critical thinking after watching that. I noticed the rest of the world didn't buy it, and neither did the UN. One would think that was a BIG FREAKING CLUE, IF YOU HAD A CLUE!
I remember Aaron Brown having Scott Ritter on his program and then he spent all his time asking Ritter about a dismissed arrest record instead of the WMD programs in Iraq. Brown acted like a mouthpiece for the Bush administration, and helped keep the American people stupid.
Maybe Brown really is that stupid, I don't know. But the entire White House staff and nearly the entire US Senate can not be that stupid. Especially Edwards: I wrote and told him the truth.
This CNN piece on "intelligence failure" is on Sunday night at 8 and 11 PM. Somebody please watch it and tell me if TV NEWS LIES is correct or not. I pulled the plug on them back in June of 2003. I figured they were useless. I predict that Sunday's program will be a massive "feel good" attempt by CNN to convince the American people that we were all just mistaken, but it couldn't be helped. Everybody was fooled, and no one is to blame. Lest of all, CNN.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
The story of our "Vigil for Cindy"
Tonight, over 264 people in Asheville came together to hold a candlelight vigil to show support for Cindy Sheehan. The main reason Cindy is popular in Asheville is because she came to speak at our Peace Rally last March and she touched a lot of hearts. I first started emailing Cindy sometime last fall. In January, I realized that she would be at the EYES WIDE OPEN exhibit in DC, where I was volunteering to work. That was the first time I got to talk to her in person. She was a terrific speaker, and as she spoke, I struggled to keep the candles going in the cold DC wind. (More on my experiences in DC last January are in my blog.)
I asked Cindy to come to Asheville to speak at our rally, which she gladly did, at her own expense. She had spoken in Fayetteville the day before. As always, she was a great speaker. Some time after that, I looked at Cindy's statements and pictures with her meeting with Bush in June 2004. I asked her about these statements, and the first thing she said was that she was still in shock when that meeting took place. She then said that she went on (after the Bush meeting) to investigate further what was going on in Iraq and how we got into that war in the first place. In short, she educated herself. She saw through all the lies behind this war. That was what inspired her to become an activist. And she is, quite clearly, driven.
It was a great pleasure to go on the radio program Listen To Women with Cindy and two Vets for Peace and two local poets on the evening of the Peace Rally. It was a great program that we did.
I have found over the past year that I do not agree 100% with Cindy's positions. One example of that was when I gave her grief this past June for giving hugs to Representative Walter Jones (R- NC). Jones had changed his position on the war: when it started, he was all for it. Today, he is calling for the US troops to come home. But I was still thinking that Jones was doing this for political expediency, not from a change of heart. One factor that caused me to see him in this light was the fact that he eloquently went on and on about the American losses in this war, while he did not bring up the Iraqi losses, which were far, far worse. Cindy defended him, saying that he had to come farther than she did, but the important thing is that he has awakened to the truth about this war. So, I decided to go meet Representative Walter Jones, and it was claiming that I was a friend of Cindy's that got me in the door. I took along my display boards of Iraqi casualties, which I showed to his staff. I did not see Representative Jones until I returned later to see if Cindy was available to go to lunch with me (she was involved with the media, I think Democracy Now! was doing an interview). Then I got to talk to Jones, and I could tell that he was aware of the price the Iraqi people are paying and aware of the nonsense of this war.
Tonight, we held a "Vigil for Cindy." It was one of 1,700+ rallies across the nation. As people spoke and sang, I did exactly what I did in DC when I listened to Cindy speak: I struggled to keep the candles light. Tonight, it was not a cold wind that blew out the candles, it was instead a soft and gentle summer rain. I find gentle summertime rains to be a blessing and a joy.
They did weaken the paper bags used for the luminaries, however, which caused them to fall over on the flame and then go up in a small, but spectacular fire.
It was cool to watch.
I asked Cindy to come to Asheville to speak at our rally, which she gladly did, at her own expense. She had spoken in Fayetteville the day before. As always, she was a great speaker. Some time after that, I looked at Cindy's statements and pictures with her meeting with Bush in June 2004. I asked her about these statements, and the first thing she said was that she was still in shock when that meeting took place. She then said that she went on (after the Bush meeting) to investigate further what was going on in Iraq and how we got into that war in the first place. In short, she educated herself. She saw through all the lies behind this war. That was what inspired her to become an activist. And she is, quite clearly, driven.
It was a great pleasure to go on the radio program Listen To Women with Cindy and two Vets for Peace and two local poets on the evening of the Peace Rally. It was a great program that we did.
I have found over the past year that I do not agree 100% with Cindy's positions. One example of that was when I gave her grief this past June for giving hugs to Representative Walter Jones (R- NC). Jones had changed his position on the war: when it started, he was all for it. Today, he is calling for the US troops to come home. But I was still thinking that Jones was doing this for political expediency, not from a change of heart. One factor that caused me to see him in this light was the fact that he eloquently went on and on about the American losses in this war, while he did not bring up the Iraqi losses, which were far, far worse. Cindy defended him, saying that he had to come farther than she did, but the important thing is that he has awakened to the truth about this war. So, I decided to go meet Representative Walter Jones, and it was claiming that I was a friend of Cindy's that got me in the door. I took along my display boards of Iraqi casualties, which I showed to his staff. I did not see Representative Jones until I returned later to see if Cindy was available to go to lunch with me (she was involved with the media, I think Democracy Now! was doing an interview). Then I got to talk to Jones, and I could tell that he was aware of the price the Iraqi people are paying and aware of the nonsense of this war.
Tonight, we held a "Vigil for Cindy." It was one of 1,700+ rallies across the nation. As people spoke and sang, I did exactly what I did in DC when I listened to Cindy speak: I struggled to keep the candles light. Tonight, it was not a cold wind that blew out the candles, it was instead a soft and gentle summer rain. I find gentle summertime rains to be a blessing and a joy.
They did weaken the paper bags used for the luminaries, however, which caused them to fall over on the flame and then go up in a small, but spectacular fire.
It was cool to watch.
Monday, August 15, 2005
Cindy Sheehan's statement
This is George Bush’s Accountability Moment
This is George Bush’s accountability moment. That’s why I’m here.
The mainstream media aren’t holding him accountable. Neither is Congress. So I’m not leaving Crawford until he’s held accountable. It’s ironic, given the attacks leveled at me recently, how some in the media are so quick to scrutinize -- and distort -- the words and actions of a grieving mother but not the words and actions of the president of the United States.
But now it’s time for him to level with me and with the American people. I think that’s why there’s been such an outpouring of support. This is giving the 61 percent of Americans who feel that the war is wrong something to do -- something that allows their voices to be heard. It’s a way for them to stand up and show that they DO want our troops home, and that they know this war IS a mistake… a mistake they want to see corrected.
It’s too late to bring back the people who are already dead, but there are tens of thousands of people still in harm’s way. There is too much at stake to worry about our own egos. When my son was killed, I had to face the fact that I was somehow also responsible for what happened.
Every American that allows this to continue has, to some extent, blood on their hands. Some of us have a little bit, and some of us are soaked in it. People have asked what it is I want to say to President Bush. Well, my message is a simple one. He’s said that my son -- and the other children we’ve lost -- died for a noble cause. I want to find out what that noble cause is. And I want to ask him: “If it’s such a noble cause, have you asked your daughters to enlist? Have you encouraged them to go take the place of soldiers who are on their third tour of duty?” I also want him to stop using my son’s name to justify the war. The idea that we have to “complete the mission” in Iraq to honor Casey’s sacrifice is, to me, a sacrilege to my son’s name. Besides, does the president any longer even know what “the mission” really is over there?
Casey knew that the war was wrong from the beginning. But he felt it was his duty to go, that his buddies were going, and that he had no choice. The people who send our young, honorable, brave soldiers to die in this war, have no skin in the game. They don’t have any loved ones in harm’s way. As for people like O’Reilly and Hannity and Michelle Malkin and Rush Limbaugh and all the others who are attacking me and parroting the administration line that we must complete the mission there -- they don’t have one thing at stake. They don’t suffer through sleepless nights worrying about their loved ones.
Before this all started, I used to think that one person couldn’t make a difference... but now I see that one person who has the backing and support of millions of people can make a huge difference. That’s why I’m going to be out here until one of three things happens: It’s August 31st and the president’s vacation ends and he leaves Crawford. They take me away in a squad car. Or he finally agrees to speak with me.
If he does, he’d better be prepared for me to hold his feet to the fire. If he starts talking about freedom and democracy -- or about how the war in Iraq is protecting America -- I’m not going to let him get away with it. Like I said, this is George Bush’s accountability moment.
MoveOn and True Majority has asked people to hold candlelight vigils to show support for Cindy Sheehan. I often find I am not on the same page as MoveOn, but this is one event I agreed to host. There will be a candlelight vigil at 7:30 PM on August 17, 2005 at Pack Square in downtown Asheville. I will do the candle luminary around the fountain again, and after it gets dark, it is beautiful.
This is George Bush’s accountability moment. That’s why I’m here.
The mainstream media aren’t holding him accountable. Neither is Congress. So I’m not leaving Crawford until he’s held accountable. It’s ironic, given the attacks leveled at me recently, how some in the media are so quick to scrutinize -- and distort -- the words and actions of a grieving mother but not the words and actions of the president of the United States.
But now it’s time for him to level with me and with the American people. I think that’s why there’s been such an outpouring of support. This is giving the 61 percent of Americans who feel that the war is wrong something to do -- something that allows their voices to be heard. It’s a way for them to stand up and show that they DO want our troops home, and that they know this war IS a mistake… a mistake they want to see corrected.
It’s too late to bring back the people who are already dead, but there are tens of thousands of people still in harm’s way. There is too much at stake to worry about our own egos. When my son was killed, I had to face the fact that I was somehow also responsible for what happened.
Every American that allows this to continue has, to some extent, blood on their hands. Some of us have a little bit, and some of us are soaked in it. People have asked what it is I want to say to President Bush. Well, my message is a simple one. He’s said that my son -- and the other children we’ve lost -- died for a noble cause. I want to find out what that noble cause is. And I want to ask him: “If it’s such a noble cause, have you asked your daughters to enlist? Have you encouraged them to go take the place of soldiers who are on their third tour of duty?” I also want him to stop using my son’s name to justify the war. The idea that we have to “complete the mission” in Iraq to honor Casey’s sacrifice is, to me, a sacrilege to my son’s name. Besides, does the president any longer even know what “the mission” really is over there?
Casey knew that the war was wrong from the beginning. But he felt it was his duty to go, that his buddies were going, and that he had no choice. The people who send our young, honorable, brave soldiers to die in this war, have no skin in the game. They don’t have any loved ones in harm’s way. As for people like O’Reilly and Hannity and Michelle Malkin and Rush Limbaugh and all the others who are attacking me and parroting the administration line that we must complete the mission there -- they don’t have one thing at stake. They don’t suffer through sleepless nights worrying about their loved ones.
Before this all started, I used to think that one person couldn’t make a difference... but now I see that one person who has the backing and support of millions of people can make a huge difference. That’s why I’m going to be out here until one of three things happens: It’s August 31st and the president’s vacation ends and he leaves Crawford. They take me away in a squad car. Or he finally agrees to speak with me.
If he does, he’d better be prepared for me to hold his feet to the fire. If he starts talking about freedom and democracy -- or about how the war in Iraq is protecting America -- I’m not going to let him get away with it. Like I said, this is George Bush’s accountability moment.
MoveOn and True Majority has asked people to hold candlelight vigils to show support for Cindy Sheehan. I often find I am not on the same page as MoveOn, but this is one event I agreed to host. There will be a candlelight vigil at 7:30 PM on August 17, 2005 at Pack Square in downtown Asheville. I will do the candle luminary around the fountain again, and after it gets dark, it is beautiful.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Bless the children....
Every night, I look at the photos from Yahoo News. There are a bunch of photos there tonight of children who have been hurt by violence in Iraq. The news story says the Iraqis claim the US military fired at them, and the US military claims they did not. Regardless of who fired the weapon, it is the US military's responsibility to keep the children safe. They are failing to do so.
There are also pictures of Iraqi homes that have been trashed by US troops doing searches at 3 AM. If this happened in America, having foreign troops come into people's homes for searches and trashing the homes, there would be an insurgency that would put all prior insurgencies in the entire history of the world to shame. Imagine how that type of search in the middle of the night would scare the heck out of the children..... Imagine how it would undermine their beliefs that Mommy and Daddy, who are big and strong and know everything, would keep them safe......
God Bless the Children caught up in war.
There are also pictures of Iraqi homes that have been trashed by US troops doing searches at 3 AM. If this happened in America, having foreign troops come into people's homes for searches and trashing the homes, there would be an insurgency that would put all prior insurgencies in the entire history of the world to shame. Imagine how that type of search in the middle of the night would scare the heck out of the children..... Imagine how it would undermine their beliefs that Mommy and Daddy, who are big and strong and know everything, would keep them safe......
God Bless the Children caught up in war.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Lighting Candles
Last night, our local Peace Coalition group marked the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki. We had a candlelight prayer vigil in our square downtown here in Asheville. We started with a circle with about 35 people there, and then we set up candle luminaries and floating candles around the fountain in Pack Square. It looked quite beautiful and peaceful.
I don’t know if our prayers and wishes for the innocent victims of war will stop any future killing or stop any future wars or even stop any more dropping of nuclear bombs. I just know I have to light a candle (well, many of them) against the darkness and the evil of war and nuclear bombs. I know we have to win this struggle before we put an end to any more innocent lives, before we ruin our world with nuclear pollution. Never in the history of humankind has a weapon been made and then not utilized, but with these nuclear weapons, we must make sure that does not happen – not now, not ever.
Also, I want to say I am so proud of my friend, Cindy Sheehan, who is protesting outside Bush’s ranch in Texas. She is finally getting some publicity (more than she got for our March 19th/20th rallies and march). I am proud of what she is doing, and proud to call her my friend. I can only imagine that camping out in the Texas heat is much easier than burying your child from a senseless war.
Cindy and Gold Star Families for Peace have asked all of us to call the White House (202-456-1111) or email Mr. Bush (president@whitehouse.gov) and tell him: “ Talk to Cindy”.
And contributions to Gold Star Families for Peace or Code Pink would also be appreciated.
I don’t know if our prayers and wishes for the innocent victims of war will stop any future killing or stop any future wars or even stop any more dropping of nuclear bombs. I just know I have to light a candle (well, many of them) against the darkness and the evil of war and nuclear bombs. I know we have to win this struggle before we put an end to any more innocent lives, before we ruin our world with nuclear pollution. Never in the history of humankind has a weapon been made and then not utilized, but with these nuclear weapons, we must make sure that does not happen – not now, not ever.
Also, I want to say I am so proud of my friend, Cindy Sheehan, who is protesting outside Bush’s ranch in Texas. She is finally getting some publicity (more than she got for our March 19th/20th rallies and march). I am proud of what she is doing, and proud to call her my friend. I can only imagine that camping out in the Texas heat is much easier than burying your child from a senseless war.
Cindy and Gold Star Families for Peace have asked all of us to call the White House (202-456-1111) or email Mr. Bush (president@whitehouse.gov) and tell him: “ Talk to Cindy”.
And contributions to Gold Star Families for Peace or Code Pink would also be appreciated.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
response to those on the wrong side of things
The following comments were in response to a website called Right Wing News. The comments from Right Wing News are in quotes.
"Given all that, how any informed person can buy into Lancet's numbers is simply beyond me."
The larger point is this: if we are there to bring the Iraqi people freedom and democracy, how come this administration is making NO efforts to record and document the number and type and severity of civilian casualties and civilian suffering? This speaks volumes.
"Furthermore, after the war had begun, in September of 2003, President Bush himself publicly & explicitly said: "We have no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the 11 September attacks." It doesn't get much clearer than that."
You are right, it doesn't get much clearer than that, even though Bush mentioned terrorism about 33 times in his speech last month to bolster support for the Iraq war. Why are we in Iraq? WHY HAVEN'T WE CAUGHT BIN LADEN?
"The problem with trying to claim that the war in Iraq was preordained during some 1998 PNAC meeting is that the United States government has been trying to find a way to get rid of Saddam Hussein since the Gulf War."
Go read PNAC. They are interested in way more than the Middle East. If you have no morals and want to get rich, buy stock in companies like Lockheed Martin. The time to do something about Saddam was early 1980's. Reagan blew it. Rumsfeld was buddy-buddy with Saddam back then. Oh, and who was it that thought we should have a proxy war against the Russians in Afghanistan???? That turned out not to be such a great idea, arming and training Bin Laden's group. But for those with no morals and the right stocks, it was financially very rewarding.
"Why are we going to invade Iraq? Nine days after 9/11, George Bush said, "(W)e will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation in every region now has a decision to make: Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime."
Does this mean that Bush is going to do some shock and awe on Britain? They clearly have terrorists there, and if we bomb them to rubble, that will take care of that problem.
"Kerry even pointed out that he thought Saddam might give WMDs to terrorists."
Do you really think Kerry is that stupid? Or Bush? How come some right-wingers like you think the "Democrats are stupid, too!" is a valid argument? It makes you look stupid to argue that Democrats are as stupid as Republicans, because, frankly, neither group is stupid. And the political posturing done to make them look like they are really fighting each other is for the stupid American’s entertainment. It serves no other real purpose. Meanwhile, they get rich.
'The man who blew up the World Trade Center in 1993 was sheltered by Saddam Hussein'
I don't know about the rest of Hitchen's claims, but this one isn't true.
"What the 9/11 Commission was trying to get across was that there was no evidence that Saddam and Al-Qaeda collaborated on specific attacks, not that they didn't have a working relationship."
If they had a working relationship then they would have collaborated on attacks. That's what terrorism is: attacking civilians to inspire terror. It is not about garden parties or charity balls.
“Consider this comment by former CIA Director George Tenet in a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee on October 7, 2002: "Credible reporting states that al Qaeda leaders sought contacts in Iraq who could help them acquire WMD capabilities. The reporting also stated that Iraq has provided training to al Qaeda members in the areas of poisons and gases and making conventional bombs."
That would be the same Tenet that said finding the WMDs in Iraq would be a "slam dunk".
"Here's more from Richard Miniter, author of "Losing Bin Laden: How Bill Clinton's Failures Unleashed Global Terror": "
Hey, remember when Clinton wanted to bomb Afghanistan to get Bin Laden and the Republicans said he was "wagging the dog" to detract from his Oval Office blowjob? I'm glad Clinton didn't bomb Bin Laden because I am sure that he (like Bush) would have killed civilians. Do you think Bush is at all concerned about the civilians who died in the bombing of Iraq? No, I don't think so either. By the way, I know a couple of Americans who were in Baghdad in the summer and fall of 2003 and they met a baby whose parents, siblings and aunts were bombed to death in April 2003 by US bombs. The baby was thrown from the house and landed in a puddle in a neighbor's yard. They call her the "miracle baby" since she survived and no one else in her family did. That was one of the "surgical strikes" to get Saddam. The family had never even talked to Saddam, much less had him in their home. Do you think anyone will bomb you in your home one day?
“We had already been bombing the Iraqis in the no-fly zone and we increased the pace to soften them up a bit just in case we had to go in. It probably saved the lives of some of our soldiers and almost no one except members of Saddam's government seemed upset about it while it was actually going on."
That bombing killed civilians too, and I (for one) was upset about it. Why did we need to "soften them up"? Didn't we have the superior military? Do you think the 9/11 attacks and the London bombings were to "soften us up"? I know for a fact that lots of Iraqis were upset about the US bombings all along. I would be upset too if someone dropped (or set off) bombs in my country. How about you?
"Bush, like a lot of other people, was wrong about Saddam Hussein having stockpiles of WMDs. But without question, he did not lie about it."
Now, if I started a war that turned out to be over a bunch of baloney about invisible WMDs.... and I didn't lie about it.....I'd be pissed off as all hell at the fools who mislead me. I'd fire Tenet for his stupid comments about "slam-dunk". I'd damn sure fire a heck of a lot more people than just Tenet. But, I'm an audiologist. And I knew they were not going to find any nuclear WMDs in Iraq. That was very clear. And, it was unlikely they would find any other kind of WMDs there, but if they did, those weapons would not be able to hurt the USA. And, amazingly enough, most of the countries around Iraq did not feel threatened at all, and did not support a war. What's up with that? I remember Powell and Rice claiming in 2001 that Saddam was contained and not a threat. Funny how nobody else in DC remembers that. I knew Powell's presentation at the UN in 2003 was based on heresy and circumstantial evidence. The rest of the world (outside of the USA) figured that out too, which was why the UN did not pass a resolution to go to war in Iraq. I remember people like Cheney and Rumsfeld and Tenet saying they knew where the WMDs were - yet they would not tell the UN inspectors. Now, why was that?
Could it be they wanted a war, no matter what? And did all those Democrats who also claimed to believe all this WMD nonsense also feel that way? I sat in on a public US Senate Armed Services Committee meeting last month, and it was all about POLITICAL POSTURING and damn little else. Little concern about the troops, none for the Iraqi people that we are supposedly bringing "freedom and democracy" to (and I don't believe that one either), but lots of concern about how the American public is starting to NOT support this war - which impacts on their REELECTION PROSPECTS.
There is not a dime's worth of difference between most of the Republicans and the Democrats up in DC today. And none of them were so stupid to really think there was a treat in Iraq to the USA, no matter how they lie or how they act. And the majority of them (Cheney and Edwards, for sure) made a great deal of money off this war while their kids don't serve. Think about it. Either they lied, or they were very STUPID. Do you really think they are that STUPID with all that wealth they have?
"Given all that, how any informed person can buy into Lancet's numbers is simply beyond me."
The larger point is this: if we are there to bring the Iraqi people freedom and democracy, how come this administration is making NO efforts to record and document the number and type and severity of civilian casualties and civilian suffering? This speaks volumes.
"Furthermore, after the war had begun, in September of 2003, President Bush himself publicly & explicitly said: "We have no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the 11 September attacks." It doesn't get much clearer than that."
You are right, it doesn't get much clearer than that, even though Bush mentioned terrorism about 33 times in his speech last month to bolster support for the Iraq war. Why are we in Iraq? WHY HAVEN'T WE CAUGHT BIN LADEN?
"The problem with trying to claim that the war in Iraq was preordained during some 1998 PNAC meeting is that the United States government has been trying to find a way to get rid of Saddam Hussein since the Gulf War."
Go read PNAC. They are interested in way more than the Middle East. If you have no morals and want to get rich, buy stock in companies like Lockheed Martin. The time to do something about Saddam was early 1980's. Reagan blew it. Rumsfeld was buddy-buddy with Saddam back then. Oh, and who was it that thought we should have a proxy war against the Russians in Afghanistan???? That turned out not to be such a great idea, arming and training Bin Laden's group. But for those with no morals and the right stocks, it was financially very rewarding.
"Why are we going to invade Iraq? Nine days after 9/11, George Bush said, "(W)e will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation in every region now has a decision to make: Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime."
Does this mean that Bush is going to do some shock and awe on Britain? They clearly have terrorists there, and if we bomb them to rubble, that will take care of that problem.
"Kerry even pointed out that he thought Saddam might give WMDs to terrorists."
Do you really think Kerry is that stupid? Or Bush? How come some right-wingers like you think the "Democrats are stupid, too!" is a valid argument? It makes you look stupid to argue that Democrats are as stupid as Republicans, because, frankly, neither group is stupid. And the political posturing done to make them look like they are really fighting each other is for the stupid American’s entertainment. It serves no other real purpose. Meanwhile, they get rich.
'The man who blew up the World Trade Center in 1993 was sheltered by Saddam Hussein'
I don't know about the rest of Hitchen's claims, but this one isn't true.
"What the 9/11 Commission was trying to get across was that there was no evidence that Saddam and Al-Qaeda collaborated on specific attacks, not that they didn't have a working relationship."
If they had a working relationship then they would have collaborated on attacks. That's what terrorism is: attacking civilians to inspire terror. It is not about garden parties or charity balls.
“Consider this comment by former CIA Director George Tenet in a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee on October 7, 2002: "Credible reporting states that al Qaeda leaders sought contacts in Iraq who could help them acquire WMD capabilities. The reporting also stated that Iraq has provided training to al Qaeda members in the areas of poisons and gases and making conventional bombs."
That would be the same Tenet that said finding the WMDs in Iraq would be a "slam dunk".
"Here's more from Richard Miniter, author of "Losing Bin Laden: How Bill Clinton's Failures Unleashed Global Terror": "
Hey, remember when Clinton wanted to bomb Afghanistan to get Bin Laden and the Republicans said he was "wagging the dog" to detract from his Oval Office blowjob? I'm glad Clinton didn't bomb Bin Laden because I am sure that he (like Bush) would have killed civilians. Do you think Bush is at all concerned about the civilians who died in the bombing of Iraq? No, I don't think so either. By the way, I know a couple of Americans who were in Baghdad in the summer and fall of 2003 and they met a baby whose parents, siblings and aunts were bombed to death in April 2003 by US bombs. The baby was thrown from the house and landed in a puddle in a neighbor's yard. They call her the "miracle baby" since she survived and no one else in her family did. That was one of the "surgical strikes" to get Saddam. The family had never even talked to Saddam, much less had him in their home. Do you think anyone will bomb you in your home one day?
“We had already been bombing the Iraqis in the no-fly zone and we increased the pace to soften them up a bit just in case we had to go in. It probably saved the lives of some of our soldiers and almost no one except members of Saddam's government seemed upset about it while it was actually going on."
That bombing killed civilians too, and I (for one) was upset about it. Why did we need to "soften them up"? Didn't we have the superior military? Do you think the 9/11 attacks and the London bombings were to "soften us up"? I know for a fact that lots of Iraqis were upset about the US bombings all along. I would be upset too if someone dropped (or set off) bombs in my country. How about you?
"Bush, like a lot of other people, was wrong about Saddam Hussein having stockpiles of WMDs. But without question, he did not lie about it."
Now, if I started a war that turned out to be over a bunch of baloney about invisible WMDs.... and I didn't lie about it.....I'd be pissed off as all hell at the fools who mislead me. I'd fire Tenet for his stupid comments about "slam-dunk". I'd damn sure fire a heck of a lot more people than just Tenet. But, I'm an audiologist. And I knew they were not going to find any nuclear WMDs in Iraq. That was very clear. And, it was unlikely they would find any other kind of WMDs there, but if they did, those weapons would not be able to hurt the USA. And, amazingly enough, most of the countries around Iraq did not feel threatened at all, and did not support a war. What's up with that? I remember Powell and Rice claiming in 2001 that Saddam was contained and not a threat. Funny how nobody else in DC remembers that. I knew Powell's presentation at the UN in 2003 was based on heresy and circumstantial evidence. The rest of the world (outside of the USA) figured that out too, which was why the UN did not pass a resolution to go to war in Iraq. I remember people like Cheney and Rumsfeld and Tenet saying they knew where the WMDs were - yet they would not tell the UN inspectors. Now, why was that?
Could it be they wanted a war, no matter what? And did all those Democrats who also claimed to believe all this WMD nonsense also feel that way? I sat in on a public US Senate Armed Services Committee meeting last month, and it was all about POLITICAL POSTURING and damn little else. Little concern about the troops, none for the Iraqi people that we are supposedly bringing "freedom and democracy" to (and I don't believe that one either), but lots of concern about how the American public is starting to NOT support this war - which impacts on their REELECTION PROSPECTS.
There is not a dime's worth of difference between most of the Republicans and the Democrats up in DC today. And none of them were so stupid to really think there was a treat in Iraq to the USA, no matter how they lie or how they act. And the majority of them (Cheney and Edwards, for sure) made a great deal of money off this war while their kids don't serve. Think about it. Either they lied, or they were very STUPID. Do you really think they are that STUPID with all that wealth they have?
Saturday, July 30, 2005
USA: GO OUT!!
Today I read that al Sadr has collected signatures from over 1 million Iraqi citizens saying they want the US forces to leave now. Some of those Iraqis actually left their thumbprint in blood. I guess this was to insure that someone down the road can verify them through their DNA, and thereby make sure that all the signatures are from separate individuals. No, actually, I think they did it to make a statement.
The majority of Iraqis want us out of there, no matter what the so-called "Truth Tour" says.
The majority of Iraqis want us out of there, no matter what the so-called "Truth Tour" says.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Rummyland
From my op-ed:
“Sen. Levin pointed out that not meeting timetables in Iraq's political processes could have negative repercussions for U.S. troops. He suggested that consequences be lined up for the Iraqis for not getting things done on time.”
I did not put into my op-ed that Senator Collins stated the same ideas and sentiments. And, it looks like Rumsfeld took that to the Iraqis.
From a NY Times article today:
“Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld urged Iraqi political leaders today to settle their differences and agree on a new constitution quickly,”
And:
“Mr. Rumsfeld laid out a remarkably blunt prescription for what Iraqi leaders must do in the coming weeks and months to ensure that a stable, secure and popularly elected government survives,”
And:
“We don't want any delays," Mr. Rumsfeld said. "They're simply going to have to make the compromises necessary and get on with it." He added, "That's what politics is about."
Now, here’s were it gets interesting… or is that confusing? Rumsfeld is also apposed to any FOREIGN interference in Iraq! Yes, he truly feels that way, without noticing that the US government is directly interfering in Iraq! Well, maybe he considers Iraq to be the 51st state, I don’t know. But here is what he said:
From the NY Times article:
(Iraqi politicians are) ….”to exert more influence with Syria and Iran to force them to end support for the insurgency here.”
and from The Telegraph (UK):
"Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, has urged Iraqi leaders to resist interference by the country's neighbours Iran and Syria. Washington has accused Syria of allowing militants to enter Iraq, and says Iran is trying to gain political influence in Baghdad."
“Sen. Levin pointed out that not meeting timetables in Iraq's political processes could have negative repercussions for U.S. troops. He suggested that consequences be lined up for the Iraqis for not getting things done on time.”
I did not put into my op-ed that Senator Collins stated the same ideas and sentiments. And, it looks like Rumsfeld took that to the Iraqis.
From a NY Times article today:
“Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld urged Iraqi political leaders today to settle their differences and agree on a new constitution quickly,”
And:
“Mr. Rumsfeld laid out a remarkably blunt prescription for what Iraqi leaders must do in the coming weeks and months to ensure that a stable, secure and popularly elected government survives,”
And:
“We don't want any delays," Mr. Rumsfeld said. "They're simply going to have to make the compromises necessary and get on with it." He added, "That's what politics is about."
Now, here’s were it gets interesting… or is that confusing? Rumsfeld is also apposed to any FOREIGN interference in Iraq! Yes, he truly feels that way, without noticing that the US government is directly interfering in Iraq! Well, maybe he considers Iraq to be the 51st state, I don’t know. But here is what he said:
From the NY Times article:
(Iraqi politicians are) ….”to exert more influence with Syria and Iran to force them to end support for the insurgency here.”
and from The Telegraph (UK):
"Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, has urged Iraqi leaders to resist interference by the country's neighbours Iran and Syria. Washington has accused Syria of allowing militants to enter Iraq, and says Iran is trying to gain political influence in Baghdad."
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
US Congress Dog and Pony Show
The following is my op-ed published in the local paper last week. They picked the title.
Congress holds dog and pony shows on Iraq war while Americans keep dying
July 20, 2005
Last month, while in Washington, D.C., I sat through a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting. It struck me as a dog and pony show, with pointless political posturing by nearly all the senators. It seemed they were mainly concerned with declining public support for the ongoing war in Iraq and what impact that might have on their future reelection prospects. There was considerably less concern expressed for the U.S. troops in Iraq, and I heard no concern whatsoever expressed about the welfare of the Iraqi people.
In front of the senators were Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Gens. George Casey, John Abizaid and Richard Myers. Casey said that the insurgents in Iraq would be defeated when they see the political process as more viable. Several of the generals did express that they thought the insurgency was getting stronger, but that we are making progress and victory is certain. They commented on how pulling out of Iraq would plunge the country into chaos. From my perspective, chaos seems to be the ongoing state of Iraq since 2003.
Sen. Levin pointed out that not meeting timetables in Iraq's political processes could have negative repercussions for U.S. troops. He suggested that consequences be lined up for the Iraqis for not getting things done on time. I hope those Iraqis realize that they not only have to "do" democracy the way the senator wants, they had better be prompt about it too.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., ripped into Rumsfeld, reminding him of his many mistakes. This really struck me as useless, although it had some entertainment value. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., mostly followed Kennedy's example and sharply criticized Rumsfeld.
I do appreciate Byrd saying that not enough questions were asked before the war, and that Americans have not heard enough of the truth.
One of the generals claimed that terrorists want chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and that they will not hesitate to use them against us. I think it is odd that we know so much about the terrorists, except who they are, where they are, what they have planned, when they will attack, how they will attack and why they are interested in killing us. This general also stated that our enemies want people to believe that we don't respect Iraqis and that we are there to steal their resources. I would say that showing a total lack of concern for the suffering we've caused them does show disrespect. And I do not believe we are there to bring "freedom and democracy" to the Iraqi people any more than we are there to secure the invisible weapons of mass destruction.
Sen. McCain asked about how many Iraqi troops were ready, without anyone mentioning that a good number of the Iraqi troops are actually insurgents. He went on to say that the generals and Rumsfeld gave him hope and confidence. So, starting an optional war for bogus reasons and then totally bungling the aftermath inspires hope and confidence. Well, I guess you go to war with the politicians you have.
The military guys presented data on how they started paying Iraqis for "tips" this past April to catch the insurgents and terrorists, causing the number of tips to go up significantly. The number of attacks has also gone up significantly. They did not comment on (nor were they asked) how many of these tips were actually helpful. The day after this meeting, I read an Iraqi blogger's report that people are given money for tips even if the tips are useless.
Sen. Elizabeth Dole commented on the "Terrorism in the Hands of Justice" TV program in Iraq. This program shows men confessing to terrorist acts after they have clearly been beaten. There is no evidence, no judge, no jury and no trial, just tortured confessions, which are probably bogus. Dole also commented on the reconstruction in Iraq and how the good news isn't getting out. (And here's why, Sen. Dole: because the death rate keeps going up and up and up).
There were no calls to withdraw from Iraq, nor where there calls to increase U.S. troop numbers. This Senate dog and pony show was a sequel to the "Everyone but ME is responsible for this mess" positioning which followed the "How could we know that he got rid of the weapons of mass destruction?" posturing, which came after the "Let's vote for optional war! It's patriotic!" game.
Meanwhile, on the day of this dog and pony show, eight U.S. troops were killed. More than 700 Iraqi civilians, army and police were killed in the month of June alone, and life in most of Iraq has been turned into a living hell. It seems to me that the senators have their priorities, and a lot of their information, wrong.
Susan Oehler has lived in Asheville for the past eight years. She is an audiologist with more than 22 years experience. She is also a member of the WNC Peace Coalition.
And the link to the op-ed:
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050720/OPINION03/507200307/1058/OPINION01
Congress holds dog and pony shows on Iraq war while Americans keep dying
July 20, 2005
Last month, while in Washington, D.C., I sat through a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting. It struck me as a dog and pony show, with pointless political posturing by nearly all the senators. It seemed they were mainly concerned with declining public support for the ongoing war in Iraq and what impact that might have on their future reelection prospects. There was considerably less concern expressed for the U.S. troops in Iraq, and I heard no concern whatsoever expressed about the welfare of the Iraqi people.
In front of the senators were Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Gens. George Casey, John Abizaid and Richard Myers. Casey said that the insurgents in Iraq would be defeated when they see the political process as more viable. Several of the generals did express that they thought the insurgency was getting stronger, but that we are making progress and victory is certain. They commented on how pulling out of Iraq would plunge the country into chaos. From my perspective, chaos seems to be the ongoing state of Iraq since 2003.
Sen. Levin pointed out that not meeting timetables in Iraq's political processes could have negative repercussions for U.S. troops. He suggested that consequences be lined up for the Iraqis for not getting things done on time. I hope those Iraqis realize that they not only have to "do" democracy the way the senator wants, they had better be prompt about it too.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., ripped into Rumsfeld, reminding him of his many mistakes. This really struck me as useless, although it had some entertainment value. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., mostly followed Kennedy's example and sharply criticized Rumsfeld.
I do appreciate Byrd saying that not enough questions were asked before the war, and that Americans have not heard enough of the truth.
One of the generals claimed that terrorists want chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and that they will not hesitate to use them against us. I think it is odd that we know so much about the terrorists, except who they are, where they are, what they have planned, when they will attack, how they will attack and why they are interested in killing us. This general also stated that our enemies want people to believe that we don't respect Iraqis and that we are there to steal their resources. I would say that showing a total lack of concern for the suffering we've caused them does show disrespect. And I do not believe we are there to bring "freedom and democracy" to the Iraqi people any more than we are there to secure the invisible weapons of mass destruction.
Sen. McCain asked about how many Iraqi troops were ready, without anyone mentioning that a good number of the Iraqi troops are actually insurgents. He went on to say that the generals and Rumsfeld gave him hope and confidence. So, starting an optional war for bogus reasons and then totally bungling the aftermath inspires hope and confidence. Well, I guess you go to war with the politicians you have.
The military guys presented data on how they started paying Iraqis for "tips" this past April to catch the insurgents and terrorists, causing the number of tips to go up significantly. The number of attacks has also gone up significantly. They did not comment on (nor were they asked) how many of these tips were actually helpful. The day after this meeting, I read an Iraqi blogger's report that people are given money for tips even if the tips are useless.
Sen. Elizabeth Dole commented on the "Terrorism in the Hands of Justice" TV program in Iraq. This program shows men confessing to terrorist acts after they have clearly been beaten. There is no evidence, no judge, no jury and no trial, just tortured confessions, which are probably bogus. Dole also commented on the reconstruction in Iraq and how the good news isn't getting out. (And here's why, Sen. Dole: because the death rate keeps going up and up and up).
There were no calls to withdraw from Iraq, nor where there calls to increase U.S. troop numbers. This Senate dog and pony show was a sequel to the "Everyone but ME is responsible for this mess" positioning which followed the "How could we know that he got rid of the weapons of mass destruction?" posturing, which came after the "Let's vote for optional war! It's patriotic!" game.
Meanwhile, on the day of this dog and pony show, eight U.S. troops were killed. More than 700 Iraqi civilians, army and police were killed in the month of June alone, and life in most of Iraq has been turned into a living hell. It seems to me that the senators have their priorities, and a lot of their information, wrong.
Susan Oehler has lived in Asheville for the past eight years. She is an audiologist with more than 22 years experience. She is also a member of the WNC Peace Coalition.
And the link to the op-ed:
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050720/OPINION03/507200307/1058/OPINION01
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Khalid is free!
I have been so worried about Khalid and his mother, Faiza. I just read that Khalid is now out of jail on his brother's blog Raed in the Middle.
I am so grateful. The Jarrars are good people who do not believe in violence and do not support lies - no matter who tells them.
I am so happy. I hope Khalid and Faiza get back to Amman soon and blog all about their experiences.
I am so grateful. The Jarrars are good people who do not believe in violence and do not support lies - no matter who tells them.
I am so happy. I hope Khalid and Faiza get back to Amman soon and blog all about their experiences.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Silence
Today, the Iraqi people stood in silence in remembrance of the victims of last week's car bombs. Today, they stood in silence to take a stand against terrorists, against violence.
Today, I suspect some London punks set out to scare the local population. They succeeded.
Today, I made copies of Helena's excellent handout (adapted for our use) of the danger of nuclear bombs. I can't help thinking the real danger though, far and away, is the nuclear materials and nuclear waste being transported on our highways. All it would take is a truck accident to have a nuclear disaster. Today, people are worried about terrorists (the non-state kind) getting their hands on a nuclear bomb. I would say that is unlikely. Think truck accidents.
Today, NPR went on and on about baseball and steroids. It seems they are going down the same road as the network and cable TV "news" - which is, telling us stories about junk that is not significant and will not impact on our lives. Filling our heads with garbage, while we ignore the important issues.
I worship in silence, and believe that the wisdom of the world and it's strength, comes from silence. I think the word of God comes through the silence, and all each of us needs to do is listen for it. Today, I stood in silence with the Iraqi people, and held them in the light.
Today, I wait in hopeful silence for news about Khalid and his mother, Faiza.
Today, I suspect some London punks set out to scare the local population. They succeeded.
Today, I made copies of Helena's excellent handout (adapted for our use) of the danger of nuclear bombs. I can't help thinking the real danger though, far and away, is the nuclear materials and nuclear waste being transported on our highways. All it would take is a truck accident to have a nuclear disaster. Today, people are worried about terrorists (the non-state kind) getting their hands on a nuclear bomb. I would say that is unlikely. Think truck accidents.
Today, NPR went on and on about baseball and steroids. It seems they are going down the same road as the network and cable TV "news" - which is, telling us stories about junk that is not significant and will not impact on our lives. Filling our heads with garbage, while we ignore the important issues.
I worship in silence, and believe that the wisdom of the world and it's strength, comes from silence. I think the word of God comes through the silence, and all each of us needs to do is listen for it. Today, I stood in silence with the Iraqi people, and held them in the light.
Today, I wait in hopeful silence for news about Khalid and his mother, Faiza.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Indeed, what difference does it make?
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy? Gandhi
And Mr. Aaron Brown: Please go to Iraq and show them how to make lemonade out of the bombs we sent them.
And somebody explain to idiots at CNN that you can't deliver democracy to people via bullets and bombs before they help start another war.
And Mr. Aaron Brown: Please go to Iraq and show them how to make lemonade out of the bombs we sent them.
And somebody explain to idiots at CNN that you can't deliver democracy to people via bullets and bombs before they help start another war.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Emailing with Martha
This is an email exchange between me and Martha Zoller, of the Truth Tour to Iraq.
Me:
I wish you would talk to ordinary Iraqis and find out what they think, and how their life is going. Sticking to the Green Zone leaves a very incomplete picture.
Martha:
We will do that but it's one step at a time. We did talk to ordinary Iraqis and overwhelmingly they want the soldiers to stay and with the bombings being targeted on civilians--it is driving them to the coalition even more strongly. It is a start, I wouldn't expect to get the whole picture in a week, but you have to start somewhere. The goal of the trip was to talk to soldiers. The next trip will be to go to outlying areas and then back to the cities. One step at a time. Thanks for taking the time to write. Martha
Me:
First you said you will do that (talk to ordinary Iraqis) then you said you did do that??? ..... I'm confused. thanks.
Martha:
We will do more of that is what I meant-- A little jet lagged, please forgive me--we plugged a three week trip into 4 days. Martha
Me:
Oh, I wish you could have stayed longer. thanks.
So, she spent 4 days in the Green Zone, the goal was to talk to soldiers, and she intends to talk to ordinary Iraqis more next time. In spite of those limitations, she makes the claim that ordinary Iraqis (who are in the Green Zone, and who, I would suppose, speak English) want US troops to stay and the bombings targeting the civilians are driving them to the coalition even more strongly.
Well, here's her contact information, in case anyone's interested:
> MARTHA HAS A NEW DIRECT LINE-- 770 531 6504> > Reply to this email via mzoller@wdun.com or martha@marthazoller.com. > These are my only two email addresses.> > You can listen to The Martha Zoller Show streaming live on> www.marthazoller.com or www.wdun.com and on www.rightalk.com> > > Martha> WDUN AM 550's> The Martha Zoller Show> Fox 5 Atlanta's The Georgia Gang> 770 532 9921> 1102 Thompson Bridge Road> Gainesville, GA 30501> www.marthazoller.com
I did maintain a polite tone with her (and maybe I will get some more responses from her?!) but I think if I listened to her show, I'd probably lose it. And now you know that email to me is fair game!
Me:
I wish you would talk to ordinary Iraqis and find out what they think, and how their life is going. Sticking to the Green Zone leaves a very incomplete picture.
Martha:
We will do that but it's one step at a time. We did talk to ordinary Iraqis and overwhelmingly they want the soldiers to stay and with the bombings being targeted on civilians--it is driving them to the coalition even more strongly. It is a start, I wouldn't expect to get the whole picture in a week, but you have to start somewhere. The goal of the trip was to talk to soldiers. The next trip will be to go to outlying areas and then back to the cities. One step at a time. Thanks for taking the time to write. Martha
Me:
First you said you will do that (talk to ordinary Iraqis) then you said you did do that??? ..... I'm confused. thanks.
Martha:
We will do more of that is what I meant-- A little jet lagged, please forgive me--we plugged a three week trip into 4 days. Martha
Me:
Oh, I wish you could have stayed longer. thanks.
So, she spent 4 days in the Green Zone, the goal was to talk to soldiers, and she intends to talk to ordinary Iraqis more next time. In spite of those limitations, she makes the claim that ordinary Iraqis (who are in the Green Zone, and who, I would suppose, speak English) want US troops to stay and the bombings targeting the civilians are driving them to the coalition even more strongly.
Well, here's her contact information, in case anyone's interested:
> MARTHA HAS A NEW DIRECT LINE-- 770 531 6504> > Reply to this email via mzoller@wdun.com or martha@marthazoller.com. > These are my only two email addresses.> > You can listen to The Martha Zoller Show streaming live on> www.marthazoller.com or www.wdun.com and on www.rightalk.com> > > Martha> WDUN AM 550's> The Martha Zoller Show> Fox 5 Atlanta's The Georgia Gang> 770 532 9921> 1102 Thompson Bridge Road> Gainesville, GA 30501> www.marthazoller.com
I did maintain a polite tone with her (and maybe I will get some more responses from her?!) but I think if I listened to her show, I'd probably lose it. And now you know that email to me is fair game!
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Please come to Washington, DC
An adaption on the lyrics of a song called "Chicago" written many years ago by Graham Nash.
"So your brother's bound and gagged
And they've chained him to a chair
Won't you please come to the Senate just to sing
In a land that's known as Freedom
How can such a thing be fair?
Won't you please come to Washington for the help that we can bring
We can change the world
Rearrange the world
It's dying - to get better
Politicians get yourselves lost
We are sick of you here
Won't you please come to Washington for a ride
Don't ask them to help you'Cause they'll turn a deaf ear
Won't you please come to Washington or else join the other side
We can change the world
Rearrange the world
It's dying - if you believe in justice
It's dying - and if you believe in freedom
It's dying - let a man live his own life
It's dying - wars and occupations
Who needs them, open up the door
Somehow Iraqis must be free
I hope the day comes soon
Won't you please come to Washington, show your face
From the bottom of the ocean
To the mountains of the moon
Won't you please come to Washington, no one else can take your place
We can change the world............
Well, what we really need to change is in Washington DC. United for Peace and Justice is having a march and rally on September 24, 2005. This will be followed by a day of interfaith services and training for lobbying. And this will be followed by a day of lobbying on Capitol Hill. We need millions to show up.
More information at: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2854
Please come to Washington, no one else can take your place.
"So your brother's bound and gagged
And they've chained him to a chair
Won't you please come to the Senate just to sing
In a land that's known as Freedom
How can such a thing be fair?
Won't you please come to Washington for the help that we can bring
We can change the world
Rearrange the world
It's dying - to get better
Politicians get yourselves lost
We are sick of you here
Won't you please come to Washington for a ride
Don't ask them to help you'Cause they'll turn a deaf ear
Won't you please come to Washington or else join the other side
We can change the world
Rearrange the world
It's dying - if you believe in justice
It's dying - and if you believe in freedom
It's dying - let a man live his own life
It's dying - wars and occupations
Who needs them, open up the door
Somehow Iraqis must be free
I hope the day comes soon
Won't you please come to Washington, show your face
From the bottom of the ocean
To the mountains of the moon
Won't you please come to Washington, no one else can take your place
We can change the world............
Well, what we really need to change is in Washington DC. United for Peace and Justice is having a march and rally on September 24, 2005. This will be followed by a day of interfaith services and training for lobbying. And this will be followed by a day of lobbying on Capitol Hill. We need millions to show up.
More information at: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2854
Please come to Washington, no one else can take your place.
Interior Minister Soulagh
Faiza is in Baghdad (reportedly) and she said she will go and talk with the Interior Minister about Khalid's detention. Today, I read this on the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count.
07/16/05 M&C: Iraq foils assassination attempt
An independent Iraqi newspaper Saturday said Iraq`s Interior Minister Bayan Soulagh escaped an assassination attempt. The attacker, dressed in an Iraqi police uniform, had sneaked into the Convention Center, located in the high security Green Zone.
What a horrible, horrible mess the Bush administration has created.
07/16/05 M&C: Iraq foils assassination attempt
An independent Iraqi newspaper Saturday said Iraq`s Interior Minister Bayan Soulagh escaped an assassination attempt. The attacker, dressed in an Iraqi police uniform, had sneaked into the Convention Center, located in the high security Green Zone.
What a horrible, horrible mess the Bush administration has created.
Faiza goes to Baghdad
Faiza has gone to Baghdad to try to talk to the Interior Minister about Khalid's being in the jail of the secret police (under the CIA, apparently). She asks for our prayers.
I think this is going to turn out okay, once the authorities (is that what they are? I don't know.) figure out that Khalid and his family is against all violence.
I think this is going to turn out okay, once the authorities (is that what they are? I don't know.) figure out that Khalid and his family is against all violence.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Silence speaks volumes and Khalid is detained
Today, the British people observed a couple of minutes of silence in memory of the victims of last weeks' terrorist bombings. I am very impressed that the whole country took part in this display of solidarity in the face of fear and violence. It shows amazing strength. In the Quaker faith, the silence of the meeting is where we connect with the voice and messages of God. May they find comfort in their faith. Their silence spoke volumes about faith and goodness.
And today, I got the awful news that Khalid Jarrar has gone missing. His brother reports that he was detained by the Mukhabarat, a secret service agency run in Iraq by the CIA. Per Raed Jarrar, this was the best outcome they could have hoped for: other alternatives were much more gruesome. I cannot imagine what they detained Khalid for, but Raed says it has to do with his writings or his blog. I met up with Khalid's mother last month in Washington, DC. Her blog is called "A Family in Baghdad". Most of the family is now in Amman, since Baghdad is so dangerous. Khalid went back to Baghdad because the family home was broken into - and his hard drive on his computer stolen. It looks like the Mukhabarat took it.
I have not heard much on the Mukhabarat, but I found this article today:
Amidst Doubts, CIA Hangs on to Control of Iraqi Intelligence Service By Hannah Allam and Warren P. Strobel Knight Ridder May 8, 2005 The CIA has so far refused to hand over control of Iraq's intelligence service to the newly elected Iraqi government in a turf war that exposes serious doubts the Bush administration has over the ability of Iraqi leaders to fight the insurgency and worries about the new government's close ties to Iran. The director of Iraq's secret police, a general who took part in a failed coup attempt against Saddam Hussein, was handpicked and funded by the U.S. government, and he still reports directly to the CIA, Iraqi politicians and intelligence officials in Baghdad said last week. Immediately after the elections in January, several Iraqi officials said, U.S. forces stashed the sensitive national intelligence archives of the past year inside American headquarters in Baghdad in order to keep them off-limits to the new government.
The full article is here was on the Iraq Coalition Casualties page.
I am hopeful that this will turn out okay, but I cannot imagine what the CIA is doing with Khalid or his computer or his blog. I sure hope they are reading my blog... and all my emails. Maybe they will learn something.
And today, I got the awful news that Khalid Jarrar has gone missing. His brother reports that he was detained by the Mukhabarat, a secret service agency run in Iraq by the CIA. Per Raed Jarrar, this was the best outcome they could have hoped for: other alternatives were much more gruesome. I cannot imagine what they detained Khalid for, but Raed says it has to do with his writings or his blog. I met up with Khalid's mother last month in Washington, DC. Her blog is called "A Family in Baghdad". Most of the family is now in Amman, since Baghdad is so dangerous. Khalid went back to Baghdad because the family home was broken into - and his hard drive on his computer stolen. It looks like the Mukhabarat took it.
I have not heard much on the Mukhabarat, but I found this article today:
Amidst Doubts, CIA Hangs on to Control of Iraqi Intelligence Service By Hannah Allam and Warren P. Strobel Knight Ridder May 8, 2005 The CIA has so far refused to hand over control of Iraq's intelligence service to the newly elected Iraqi government in a turf war that exposes serious doubts the Bush administration has over the ability of Iraqi leaders to fight the insurgency and worries about the new government's close ties to Iran. The director of Iraq's secret police, a general who took part in a failed coup attempt against Saddam Hussein, was handpicked and funded by the U.S. government, and he still reports directly to the CIA, Iraqi politicians and intelligence officials in Baghdad said last week. Immediately after the elections in January, several Iraqi officials said, U.S. forces stashed the sensitive national intelligence archives of the past year inside American headquarters in Baghdad in order to keep them off-limits to the new government.
The full article is here was on the Iraq Coalition Casualties page.
I am hopeful that this will turn out okay, but I cannot imagine what the CIA is doing with Khalid or his computer or his blog. I sure hope they are reading my blog... and all my emails. Maybe they will learn something.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Another "key operative" of Zarqawi caught!
He sure does have a lot of "aides" and "operatives" in his staff.
And one has to wonder when our US media is going to learn anything. Someone in the Canadian press got it though: Haroon Siddiqui wrote an article for the Toronto Star titled "Bush's war on terror is a colossal failure". Not only is it (will be proved to be) a failure, it is highly immoral, illegal and oh-so-breathtakingly-stupid.
I heard a great song today by Pete Seeger titled "garbage". Here's one verse:
"Getting home and taking off his shoes he settles with the evening news
While the kids do homework with the TV in one ear
While Superman for thousandth's time sell talking dolls and conquers crime
(They) dutifully learn the date of birth of Paul Revere
In the paper there's a piece about the mayor's middle name
(And) he gets it done in time to watch the all-star bingo game
Oh, Garbage
We're filling up our minds with garbage
What will we do when there's nothing left to read
And there's nothing left to need, there's nothing left to watch, there's nothing left to touch, there's nothing left to walk upon and nothing left to ponder on, nothing left to see and nothing left to be - but garbage"
Well, that about sums up the state of corporate TV news in the USA.
And one has to wonder when our US media is going to learn anything. Someone in the Canadian press got it though: Haroon Siddiqui wrote an article for the Toronto Star titled "Bush's war on terror is a colossal failure". Not only is it (will be proved to be) a failure, it is highly immoral, illegal and oh-so-breathtakingly-stupid.
I heard a great song today by Pete Seeger titled "garbage". Here's one verse:
"Getting home and taking off his shoes he settles with the evening news
While the kids do homework with the TV in one ear
While Superman for thousandth's time sell talking dolls and conquers crime
(They) dutifully learn the date of birth of Paul Revere
In the paper there's a piece about the mayor's middle name
(And) he gets it done in time to watch the all-star bingo game
Oh, Garbage
We're filling up our minds with garbage
What will we do when there's nothing left to read
And there's nothing left to need, there's nothing left to watch, there's nothing left to touch, there's nothing left to walk upon and nothing left to ponder on, nothing left to see and nothing left to be - but garbage"
Well, that about sums up the state of corporate TV news in the USA.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Summertime Rain and Christine Kane
Tonight, I decided to take a break from work and activism and go see Christine Kane in concert. I was hoping she would sing "I'm a Southern Girl Now" but she didn't. She is terrific to listen to, and she is a great performer. She also writes great stuff, and the lyrics to the last song she sang is printed below. She addressed this song to a local environmental group, after someone said to her that they wonder what good they are doing with their activism. They are not seeing results. Of course, those of us in the Peace Movement feel the same way a good deal of the time.
When we left, the heavens opened up and lots of rain (from Hurricane Dennis) came down. Some beautiful lightening in the distance. Big puddles everywhere, the air smelling sweet and soft, and the rain and air so warm that it does not matter that one gets all wet. The wonderful gift of rain and summertime warmth was with me tonight. I love a rainy night.
Tonight, I passed up going to a town hall meeting with US Representative Charles Taylor (R- NC). It turns out I missed something. I just heard that he said "we have got to go and fight for the oil" and they got it on video! I wish I had taken my Iraqi Civilian Casualties display boards down there and then confronted him with the "fight for oil" in the face of the deaths of so many innocents. I am hoping they can get this video clip on the web soon. I will post a link if they can.
The last song Christine Kane did was called "The Good You Do" and here are the lyrics:
You say that in times like these
You're driven down to your knees
Looking around grieving what peace there was
You promised yourself you would
Work for a world of good
Look at you now, wondering what good it does
No lost hope, no violent point of view
Can erase all of the good you do
There's nothing as dark as night
But nothing so strong as light
Here is the choice: to let it burn out or bright
In a world where the fear and force
Have buried the silent source
Can you deny the need for a light like yours?
No fast pace, no jaded attitude
Can erase all of the good you do
If someone has left his wrath
On everything in his path
Taking the wealth and leaving his trash behind
Will you be peace or pride?
Can you at last decide?
There's no one to fight - we are the same inside
So go home and get some rest
There's many more miles and tests
All about love - what if it comes to be all that we have left?
No dark place, no debt, and no abuse
Can erase all of the good you do
(You can look Christine Kane up on the web and listen to her songs. Let's hope all the work we do has a great deal of good coming from them and brings good into our hearts and lives. Thank you Christine for such a lovely song. The Quakers believe there is the light of God in all people, and that we can connect more deeply with God by meeting for silent worship. In silence, we can hear the essence of God's light speak to us in our lives and in the world. We regularly strive to stay connected to the silent source of God. Do not let fear and violence bury your "silent source".)
When we left, the heavens opened up and lots of rain (from Hurricane Dennis) came down. Some beautiful lightening in the distance. Big puddles everywhere, the air smelling sweet and soft, and the rain and air so warm that it does not matter that one gets all wet. The wonderful gift of rain and summertime warmth was with me tonight. I love a rainy night.
Tonight, I passed up going to a town hall meeting with US Representative Charles Taylor (R- NC). It turns out I missed something. I just heard that he said "we have got to go and fight for the oil" and they got it on video! I wish I had taken my Iraqi Civilian Casualties display boards down there and then confronted him with the "fight for oil" in the face of the deaths of so many innocents. I am hoping they can get this video clip on the web soon. I will post a link if they can.
The last song Christine Kane did was called "The Good You Do" and here are the lyrics:
You say that in times like these
You're driven down to your knees
Looking around grieving what peace there was
You promised yourself you would
Work for a world of good
Look at you now, wondering what good it does
No lost hope, no violent point of view
Can erase all of the good you do
There's nothing as dark as night
But nothing so strong as light
Here is the choice: to let it burn out or bright
In a world where the fear and force
Have buried the silent source
Can you deny the need for a light like yours?
No fast pace, no jaded attitude
Can erase all of the good you do
If someone has left his wrath
On everything in his path
Taking the wealth and leaving his trash behind
Will you be peace or pride?
Can you at last decide?
There's no one to fight - we are the same inside
So go home and get some rest
There's many more miles and tests
All about love - what if it comes to be all that we have left?
No dark place, no debt, and no abuse
Can erase all of the good you do
(You can look Christine Kane up on the web and listen to her songs. Let's hope all the work we do has a great deal of good coming from them and brings good into our hearts and lives. Thank you Christine for such a lovely song. The Quakers believe there is the light of God in all people, and that we can connect more deeply with God by meeting for silent worship. In silence, we can hear the essence of God's light speak to us in our lives and in the world. We regularly strive to stay connected to the silent source of God. Do not let fear and violence bury your "silent source".)
Friday, July 08, 2005
Bombs on Thursday
On Thursday, there were 21 people killed in Iraq from mortars, bombs, bullets. This is from Iraq Coalition Casualties site, and I doubt it is a complete listing of all press articles about Iraq. I doubt that all the violence in Iraq makes it into the press.
And on Thursday, over 50 people were killed by bombs in London's subway and a bus.
Last week, we know that US bombs killed 17 civilians in Afghanistan.
I would say we are not winning our *war* on terror here. I would say it is getting worse. Violence begets violence, as always. It does seem to me that if war solved problems, we would have solved a few by now. Instead, it seems war leads to severe problems for civilians and lays the conditions for the next war.
Also, when I woke up on Thursday, I thought I heard NPR say that there were six bombings in London. Today I learned there were four bombs that went off and two found unexploded. This has struck me as very odd. Why were they reporting six bombs having gone off, when it was only four? How long did it take to find the unexploded bombs? Who found them? I sure hope they find whoever did this horrible crime.
And I hope they find out who had done all the bombings in Iraq (well, we know who dropped the air bombs already) and bring them to justice.
My heart goes out to all the innocent victims of violence.
Peace.
And on Thursday, over 50 people were killed by bombs in London's subway and a bus.
Last week, we know that US bombs killed 17 civilians in Afghanistan.
I would say we are not winning our *war* on terror here. I would say it is getting worse. Violence begets violence, as always. It does seem to me that if war solved problems, we would have solved a few by now. Instead, it seems war leads to severe problems for civilians and lays the conditions for the next war.
Also, when I woke up on Thursday, I thought I heard NPR say that there were six bombings in London. Today I learned there were four bombs that went off and two found unexploded. This has struck me as very odd. Why were they reporting six bombs having gone off, when it was only four? How long did it take to find the unexploded bombs? Who found them? I sure hope they find whoever did this horrible crime.
And I hope they find out who had done all the bombings in Iraq (well, we know who dropped the air bombs already) and bring them to justice.
My heart goes out to all the innocent victims of violence.
Peace.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Judith Miller goes to jail for the wrong reasons!
Time for a party. Judith Miller went to jail for the wrong reasons, so to celebrate that, I am having a party on Saturday, July 9, at 6 PM. We can all sit around and talk about why Judith Miller should have been sent to jail instead of why she was sent to jail. I hope being in jail gives her time to think about all the people who are suffering in Iraq because of her war-mongering, but I doubt she will give it any thought.
Current History of Iraq
Below is a link to a website that has a list of the acts of violence in Iraq for the last two years (since Mr. Bush said "Bring 'em on!") Please take a look at it: http://dailywarnews.blogspot.com/
Friday, July 01, 2005
Visiting Senator's offices again
Today, I joined up with a women named Laura, who I met at the UFPJ meeting. She was from Texas, so we were going to go and visit her Senators, and stop in at Senator Reid's office and Senator Lautenberg's office. We went into the Russell Senate Office Building, and we were stopped because of my display boards. The officer there said we had to go to Special Events and get a special permit to get in. Since it was lunch time, and we had no appointments to talk to any Senators, I felt that this was going nowhere.
Odd, since I got in okay just two days before. Today, they were telling me that this was a protest. I tried to tell them it was just information. I did have on a tee shirt that said "Democracy is best taught by example, not by war" and I guess that could be considered a protest shirt.
I am now in Front Royal at a cafe. I am headed to the mountains and back to sweet home Asheville.
Odd, since I got in okay just two days before. Today, they were telling me that this was a protest. I tried to tell them it was just information. I did have on a tee shirt that said "Democracy is best taught by example, not by war" and I guess that could be considered a protest shirt.
I am now in Front Royal at a cafe. I am headed to the mountains and back to sweet home Asheville.
Meeting with UFPJ
Today, United for Peace with Justice had an organizational meeting. I have to admit I went brain-dead after five hours of the meeting, but it was very exciting to see and meet and talk to so many people who are involved in the peace movement here in the USA. There were four people from North Carolina, so that was really cool. One was a women that none of us knew, but the other three women did know each other from prior political/peace work.
There were 34 people present at this meeting, but a few more came in later. Some of the groups represented were PDA, DowningStreetMemo, Tax Resistors, Psychologists for Social Responsibility, Code Pink, 9/11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, Historians against the War, WNC Peace Coalition, and probably a few more that I missed. There was talk about stopping the funding for the war, the Out of Iraq Caucus, the Abercreombie-Jones bill, the Iraq Policy Working Group (by EPIC, funded by FCNL and others), the Downing Street Memo, and talk about legislative goals. There was also talk on opening an office for UFPJ in the DC area.
Bill Goold came and spoke to the group and also stayed to listen to what we were talking about and what goals and plans we were making. Bill is working with the Progressive Caucus, and I think he is a lobbyist for them, but I'm not totally clear on that.
There was a lot of talk on the upcoming events in September to be held here in DC. This is a huge undertaking, and a lot of logistics work will have to be done by the DC folks to make this happen. There will be a march on Washington on September 24th to end the war on Iraq. There will be an interfaith service and grassroots training on September 25th for all the peace activists. And there will be a day of visiting congress members on September 26th to educate them about war and peace issues. That last one is on a Monday, so this will be a full weekend. There is more information at http://www.unitedforpeace.org/
Some other goals proposed by this group:
*get all eight Downing Street Memos out to legislative aids
*establish a working relationship with the Out Of Iraq Caucus
*identify which congressional districts to target for lobbying and education
*organize legislation alerts network
*develop material for handouts on the congressional visits on Sept 26th.
The above is just a brief summary, but more information will be forthcoming. I hope you will consider going to DC in September to support this effort.
There were 34 people present at this meeting, but a few more came in later. Some of the groups represented were PDA, DowningStreetMemo, Tax Resistors, Psychologists for Social Responsibility, Code Pink, 9/11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, Historians against the War, WNC Peace Coalition, and probably a few more that I missed. There was talk about stopping the funding for the war, the Out of Iraq Caucus, the Abercreombie-Jones bill, the Iraq Policy Working Group (by EPIC, funded by FCNL and others), the Downing Street Memo, and talk about legislative goals. There was also talk on opening an office for UFPJ in the DC area.
Bill Goold came and spoke to the group and also stayed to listen to what we were talking about and what goals and plans we were making. Bill is working with the Progressive Caucus, and I think he is a lobbyist for them, but I'm not totally clear on that.
There was a lot of talk on the upcoming events in September to be held here in DC. This is a huge undertaking, and a lot of logistics work will have to be done by the DC folks to make this happen. There will be a march on Washington on September 24th to end the war on Iraq. There will be an interfaith service and grassroots training on September 25th for all the peace activists. And there will be a day of visiting congress members on September 26th to educate them about war and peace issues. That last one is on a Monday, so this will be a full weekend. There is more information at http://www.unitedforpeace.org/
Some other goals proposed by this group:
*get all eight Downing Street Memos out to legislative aids
*establish a working relationship with the Out Of Iraq Caucus
*identify which congressional districts to target for lobbying and education
*organize legislation alerts network
*develop material for handouts on the congressional visits on Sept 26th.
The above is just a brief summary, but more information will be forthcoming. I hope you will consider going to DC in September to support this effort.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Visiting Congressional offices
Visiting Congressional offices
This day started with meeting for worship at the Wm. Penn House. I not only wanted to be grounded for today, I had told a few contacts that they should meet me there if they could join me. No one was there to join me, but it was still a nice way to start the day, with silent worship. I started thinking about a story from Iraq at meeting for worship. In September 2004, a US humvee or tank (or something) was hit by an IED. The US troops had left already, but there was a reporter from Al Arabiya on the air, reporting on the attack and the wreckage behind him. While he was on air, US gunships arrived and shot him. His last report, still live on air, was "I'm dying, I'm dying". This was broadcast all over the Middle East.
There was another reporter there, a young man who was an architect in Baghdad before the war, and was now employed by the Guardian newspaper of London. He was taking pictures of the scene, and he wrote up a long report on what happened there. The US gunships came back several times to shoot at the people who were in the area, and I think about 9 or 10 people were killed. None of them had anything to do with the original attack. The reasons the US military gave for coming back to shoot at these people changed several times.
But what I was thinking about in meeting for worship was one man in the scene. He was leaning against a small wall, with his leg bent grotesquely out of shape. He was also bleeding, and he was aware of people around him. He showed no signs in the photos or the reporter's story of pain or fear, he was just mainly looking, looking, looking, down the street - like he was waiting for someone to arrive, for someone to come to him. He was aware of the people around him, and the US gunships coming back to fire, but he didn't seem to be too concerned with them. He was just looking.... and waiting to die.
This story, and the pictures that went with it, reminded me so much of some of my experiences while working in an Emergency Room. On occasion, we would have someone come in who would just be looking, looking, looking, for someone or something. They were dying, but they showed no pain or fear, just looking for someone - like they were already nearby, only the rest of us could not see them.
I got to thinking that maybe the ones who have died in Iraq are really the fortunate ones, since they are beyond all pain and fear. Maybe it is those of us who are still living who are really in hell.
I took this story with me to the congressional offices, and along with the story of the "Miracle Baby" told to me by Mary Trotochaud (of FCNL), which I also retold to several people I talked with today. My first visit was to Walter Jones's office. Jones is a Congressman from the far eastern county of North Carolina, and he has recently decided that going into Iraq was a mistake. He has joined Kucinich in calling for the start of withdrawal in 2006. I wanted to say to him and his office (and I did get to see him briefly) that he is incorrect when he says that over 1,700 people have died and he cannot see what they died for. That number is only the Americans who have died, there is a record of over 29,000+ Iraqis who have been killed so far in our media outlets. That number is not an accurate count, however. I had no trouble getting my display boards into the building, and all the offices did at least look at the display and talk to me about them.
Jones was in the Cannon building, and I went on to visit two more congressman in the Cannon building from North Carolina. Both were Republican and still support the war in Iraq. One was from the Morganton district and the other from the eastern part of the state. I did not write down their names, unfortunately. I just stopped in their offices as I was walking by since I did not have an appointment with them. Then I visited Congressman Taylor's office. I was supposed to speak to Adam Shepard, but instead spoke to Jill Nelson. I now know that Adam was the legislative assistant and Jill was a correspondent. It would have been better to talk to Adam, but I think they did this switch on purpose. Jill took me to a private room to look at the Iraqi Civilian Casualties Display boards. She did listen and she seemed sympathetic.
I carried the display boards back to my car, and moved my car before I got a ticket. Then, I ate an early lunch, and moved my car again, this time to the Union Station garage. Having a car with you in DC is a hassle and parking somewhere is expensive. Not moving it every two hours gets you an even more expensive ticket.
When I walked into the Cannon building, I was approached by Senator Reid's (NV) congressional aide. I am not sure I am spelling his name correctly, but he told me that Reid was the minority leader of the Senate. He really liked the display boards, and asked me to bring them to his office, but I did not have time for that one.
I then carried the display boards to Senator Byrd's office. He is the longest serving member of the Senate, and I wanted to thank him for his antiwar stance. I was supposed to see one of his congressional aides, but somehow that did not work out. I went from there to visit Senator Lautenberg's office. They have a display of the fallen Americans outside their office. I just stopped in this office because I had not made an appointment. They were very impressed with my display boards and wanted their press people to see them, but the press people were in a meeting. I told them how they could make such boards. I then went on to visit Senator Dole's office, and the young staff there were very interested in the display boards and seemed rather impressed. I dropped off some literature for her congressional aide. After this, I was waiting in a hallway for some time to pass, since I needed a break. An older gentleman and two young men stopped to look at the display and asked me questions about them. One of the young men asked me if insurgents were on the boards, and I said no because they would be combatants, not civilians.
I stopped in Senator Leahy's office and talked to them about Marla Ruzicka and her work. I also stopped in the two Ohio Senator's office and handed them a poem written by my niece in Ohio. She is 14 years old and wrote a poem two years ago about how the war was over, but that hate and fear live on. These Senators were Dewine and Voinovich. I stopped in Senator Kerry's office to leave a note saying that the military recruitment problem would be much better if the Kerry, Edwards, Bush and Cheney kids all enlisted.
I stopped by Senator Graham's office to give him a letter I had written about the horrible practice of extraordinary rendition. At 4:00 PM, I had an appointment with Senator Burr's office to speak with D'Ann Grady. I was a bit early, and as I was sitting there, I found out there was a closed Armed Services Committee meeting across the hall. I saw McCain, Graham, and Dole go into this room. The room was not marked, and I wonder if the Democratic Senators were told about the meeting. I have heard stories that they were often not told about committee meetings. I also feel that what happened last week at the public Armed Services Committee meeting was a dog and pony show, and I would bet the real "work" of was done in the closed meeting. I wish I could have gone to that meeting.
I talked with Ms. Grady, and while I was talking to her, a group of three business men showed up and went in to talk to Senator Burr. And so it goes..... if you have money, you get to speak directly to the Senators. If not, you speak to some lowly aide, if you are lucky.
And, as I was leaving, I bumped into Senator Dole in the hallway. I immediately told her I was a constituent of North Carolina, and started talking about the display boards and my concerns for the Iraqi Civilian Casualties. She said she had to run to a meeting and suggested I make a copy and leave it with her office. I told her I could not make a copy because they were too big. It was obvious that she did not care at all about my display boards or have any concerns about the Iraqi people. And so it goes.....
We have got to elect a better class of person to run our country and make our laws.
I plan on coming back to DC in September to again visit my Senators and Representative. This time, I hope there are other people joining up with me on this journey. This will be a part of the United for Peace with Justice campaign on September 24, 25, 26.
I hope you can join me.
This day started with meeting for worship at the Wm. Penn House. I not only wanted to be grounded for today, I had told a few contacts that they should meet me there if they could join me. No one was there to join me, but it was still a nice way to start the day, with silent worship. I started thinking about a story from Iraq at meeting for worship. In September 2004, a US humvee or tank (or something) was hit by an IED. The US troops had left already, but there was a reporter from Al Arabiya on the air, reporting on the attack and the wreckage behind him. While he was on air, US gunships arrived and shot him. His last report, still live on air, was "I'm dying, I'm dying". This was broadcast all over the Middle East.
There was another reporter there, a young man who was an architect in Baghdad before the war, and was now employed by the Guardian newspaper of London. He was taking pictures of the scene, and he wrote up a long report on what happened there. The US gunships came back several times to shoot at the people who were in the area, and I think about 9 or 10 people were killed. None of them had anything to do with the original attack. The reasons the US military gave for coming back to shoot at these people changed several times.
But what I was thinking about in meeting for worship was one man in the scene. He was leaning against a small wall, with his leg bent grotesquely out of shape. He was also bleeding, and he was aware of people around him. He showed no signs in the photos or the reporter's story of pain or fear, he was just mainly looking, looking, looking, down the street - like he was waiting for someone to arrive, for someone to come to him. He was aware of the people around him, and the US gunships coming back to fire, but he didn't seem to be too concerned with them. He was just looking.... and waiting to die.
This story, and the pictures that went with it, reminded me so much of some of my experiences while working in an Emergency Room. On occasion, we would have someone come in who would just be looking, looking, looking, for someone or something. They were dying, but they showed no pain or fear, just looking for someone - like they were already nearby, only the rest of us could not see them.
I got to thinking that maybe the ones who have died in Iraq are really the fortunate ones, since they are beyond all pain and fear. Maybe it is those of us who are still living who are really in hell.
I took this story with me to the congressional offices, and along with the story of the "Miracle Baby" told to me by Mary Trotochaud (of FCNL), which I also retold to several people I talked with today. My first visit was to Walter Jones's office. Jones is a Congressman from the far eastern county of North Carolina, and he has recently decided that going into Iraq was a mistake. He has joined Kucinich in calling for the start of withdrawal in 2006. I wanted to say to him and his office (and I did get to see him briefly) that he is incorrect when he says that over 1,700 people have died and he cannot see what they died for. That number is only the Americans who have died, there is a record of over 29,000+ Iraqis who have been killed so far in our media outlets. That number is not an accurate count, however. I had no trouble getting my display boards into the building, and all the offices did at least look at the display and talk to me about them.
Jones was in the Cannon building, and I went on to visit two more congressman in the Cannon building from North Carolina. Both were Republican and still support the war in Iraq. One was from the Morganton district and the other from the eastern part of the state. I did not write down their names, unfortunately. I just stopped in their offices as I was walking by since I did not have an appointment with them. Then I visited Congressman Taylor's office. I was supposed to speak to Adam Shepard, but instead spoke to Jill Nelson. I now know that Adam was the legislative assistant and Jill was a correspondent. It would have been better to talk to Adam, but I think they did this switch on purpose. Jill took me to a private room to look at the Iraqi Civilian Casualties Display boards. She did listen and she seemed sympathetic.
I carried the display boards back to my car, and moved my car before I got a ticket. Then, I ate an early lunch, and moved my car again, this time to the Union Station garage. Having a car with you in DC is a hassle and parking somewhere is expensive. Not moving it every two hours gets you an even more expensive ticket.
When I walked into the Cannon building, I was approached by Senator Reid's (NV) congressional aide. I am not sure I am spelling his name correctly, but he told me that Reid was the minority leader of the Senate. He really liked the display boards, and asked me to bring them to his office, but I did not have time for that one.
I then carried the display boards to Senator Byrd's office. He is the longest serving member of the Senate, and I wanted to thank him for his antiwar stance. I was supposed to see one of his congressional aides, but somehow that did not work out. I went from there to visit Senator Lautenberg's office. They have a display of the fallen Americans outside their office. I just stopped in this office because I had not made an appointment. They were very impressed with my display boards and wanted their press people to see them, but the press people were in a meeting. I told them how they could make such boards. I then went on to visit Senator Dole's office, and the young staff there were very interested in the display boards and seemed rather impressed. I dropped off some literature for her congressional aide. After this, I was waiting in a hallway for some time to pass, since I needed a break. An older gentleman and two young men stopped to look at the display and asked me questions about them. One of the young men asked me if insurgents were on the boards, and I said no because they would be combatants, not civilians.
I stopped in Senator Leahy's office and talked to them about Marla Ruzicka and her work. I also stopped in the two Ohio Senator's office and handed them a poem written by my niece in Ohio. She is 14 years old and wrote a poem two years ago about how the war was over, but that hate and fear live on. These Senators were Dewine and Voinovich. I stopped in Senator Kerry's office to leave a note saying that the military recruitment problem would be much better if the Kerry, Edwards, Bush and Cheney kids all enlisted.
I stopped by Senator Graham's office to give him a letter I had written about the horrible practice of extraordinary rendition. At 4:00 PM, I had an appointment with Senator Burr's office to speak with D'Ann Grady. I was a bit early, and as I was sitting there, I found out there was a closed Armed Services Committee meeting across the hall. I saw McCain, Graham, and Dole go into this room. The room was not marked, and I wonder if the Democratic Senators were told about the meeting. I have heard stories that they were often not told about committee meetings. I also feel that what happened last week at the public Armed Services Committee meeting was a dog and pony show, and I would bet the real "work" of was done in the closed meeting. I wish I could have gone to that meeting.
I talked with Ms. Grady, and while I was talking to her, a group of three business men showed up and went in to talk to Senator Burr. And so it goes..... if you have money, you get to speak directly to the Senators. If not, you speak to some lowly aide, if you are lucky.
And, as I was leaving, I bumped into Senator Dole in the hallway. I immediately told her I was a constituent of North Carolina, and started talking about the display boards and my concerns for the Iraqi Civilian Casualties. She said she had to run to a meeting and suggested I make a copy and leave it with her office. I told her I could not make a copy because they were too big. It was obvious that she did not care at all about my display boards or have any concerns about the Iraqi people. And so it goes.....
We have got to elect a better class of person to run our country and make our laws.
I plan on coming back to DC in September to again visit my Senators and Representative. This time, I hope there are other people joining up with me on this journey. This will be a part of the United for Peace with Justice campaign on September 24, 25, 26.
I hope you can join me.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Real People???
I spent the weekend camping out at Gooney Creek, near Front Royal, VA. I told the lady who runs the campground about the great service I got at one local restaurant and the terrible service I got at another local restaurant. She asked me if the restaurant was run by real people or by Chinese or Vietnamese people.
Sometimes, I wonder just how truly stupid Americans are.
Today was not successful - no one was at the AFSC when I went there today, and neither Getler or Milbank was at the Washington Post when I showed up there with my display boards. But Cindy Sheehan is going to meet me at Rep. Jones office on Wednesday, and I hope she will stick with me for the rest of the day. Cindy's son, Casey Sheehan, was killed in Iraq in April 2004. Cindy is now a powerful voice for peace. She knows the terrible true cost of this war.
I finished reading "A Distant Mirror" by Barbara Truchan, which I don't really recommend. It is a long, sad tale of the 14th century and the stupidity of man. But here are some quotes from the book:
"Neither party could know that they were opening a war that would outlast both of them, that would develop a life of it's own, defying parleys and truces and treaties designed to stop it, that would drag on into their son's lives and the lives of their grandsons and great grandsons and great great grandsons to the fifth generation, that would bring havoc to both sides and become, as it's damage spread through Europe, the final torment of the Middle Ages."
"As the era of the sword was ending, that of firearms began, in time to allow no lapse in man's belligerent capacity."
"...... force, once employed, quickly became rapine, difficult to restrain."
And in all the history of the world, weapons once designed and produced, were always utilized. So far, only on two occasions has nuclear weapons been used, but the weapons are still present and ready to be used by many nations. This does not bode well for the future of the world.
Sometimes, I wonder just how truly stupid Americans are.
Today was not successful - no one was at the AFSC when I went there today, and neither Getler or Milbank was at the Washington Post when I showed up there with my display boards. But Cindy Sheehan is going to meet me at Rep. Jones office on Wednesday, and I hope she will stick with me for the rest of the day. Cindy's son, Casey Sheehan, was killed in Iraq in April 2004. Cindy is now a powerful voice for peace. She knows the terrible true cost of this war.
I finished reading "A Distant Mirror" by Barbara Truchan, which I don't really recommend. It is a long, sad tale of the 14th century and the stupidity of man. But here are some quotes from the book:
"Neither party could know that they were opening a war that would outlast both of them, that would develop a life of it's own, defying parleys and truces and treaties designed to stop it, that would drag on into their son's lives and the lives of their grandsons and great grandsons and great great grandsons to the fifth generation, that would bring havoc to both sides and become, as it's damage spread through Europe, the final torment of the Middle Ages."
"As the era of the sword was ending, that of firearms began, in time to allow no lapse in man's belligerent capacity."
"...... force, once employed, quickly became rapine, difficult to restrain."
And in all the history of the world, weapons once designed and produced, were always utilized. So far, only on two occasions has nuclear weapons been used, but the weapons are still present and ready to be used by many nations. This does not bode well for the future of the world.
Friday, June 24, 2005
Dog and Pony Show at the US Senate
6/23/05
Today, I went and sat in on most of the Armed Services Committee meeting. Answering questions were Gen Myers, Rumsfeld, Gen Casey, and Gen Abizaid.
Casey said the insurgents will be defeated when they see the political process as more viable. He seems to indicate that this needs a political, not a military solution. Abizaid said he sees the political process as a solution.
Levine pointed out that not meeting timetables will have negative repercussions on our troops. Levine suggests that we have some repercussions lined up for Iraqis not getting things done! (Yes, he does think the Iraqis should do "democracy" on our time schedule!) I stopped by Levine's office later in the day and pointed out the discrepancy in his remarks.
Rumsfeld said that "I do know what I think" and he sees the importance of progress on the political side. He says the insurgents realize that they will lose if democracy is established. He does not elaborate on how this can be "democracy" if we are telling them what to do.
McCain said that the worst thing we can do is set a timetable for withdrawal.
Casey says the number of attacks are the same as a year ago, against civilians and against the military. I certainly don't think this is the whole truth.
McCain asked how many Iraqi troops are ready. Casey replied that we are training Iraqi troops and putting them in charge more and more.
McCain said that he felt the men there in the armed services and Rumsfeld himself gave him confidence and hope. (I made a visit later to McCain's office to say that those people who got us into an optional war for bogus reasons and then totally bunged the aftermath do not inspire any confidence or hope in me!)
Edwards piled it on. He said we have a responsibility to get it correct, and then said we are in serious trouble with no end in sight. He reminded Rumsfeld of WMD claims and threats of Saddam's regime. He reminded him of the "stuff happens" and "you go to war with the military you have".
Rumsfeld said he didn't think there would be a guerilla war, and Edwards asked him what do you call a "suicide bomber" and then he asked him to resign. Rumsfeld said that he offered to resign twice to Bush, but Bush turned him down.
Both Rumsfeld and Casey said that Iraq is not a quagmire.
Reed mentioned a credibility gap and "erosion of trust".
Sessions claimed that all the troops involved in torture or abuse were prosecuted, and that there is no systematic abuse, and then said the fake Newsweek story is total cause of the riots and deaths in Pakistan. (Obviously, he is clueless.)
One of the generals claimed that terrorists want chemical and biological and nuclear weapons and that they will use them against us. He further stated that our enemies want people to believe that we don't respect them and that we are there to steal their resources. (Funny, but when they start going on like this, I start thinking they are really talking about themselves. That means the US military wants these weapons to use against people who they think are there to steal "our" resources - a big problem, of course, is that "our" resources are not located inside our country.)
Clinton talked about the "tone" in the Senate and in the nation.
Graham said the only way we can lose in Iraq is to leave too soon and leave the country in shambles. He said "losing is leaving before the job is done." He notes that the public is losing support for this war. In a list of what "freedom and democracy" should look like, he made comment about "mothers (should) have a say about their children". So, I stopped into his office later in the day and left copies of two news articles - one about a 10 year old who was killed in a roadside bomb and one about a 10 year old shot by US troops. I said I wanted to know what the US has done to show it's sorrow for these events and what he thinks these mothers would say about what happened to their children.
Rumsfeld said he doesn't believe in polls (remember that for the update on Iraqi polls later in the day), but he said that leadership needs to lead. (Well, I guess that was what he was saying, I have to admit I really don't know.)
Then he made a comment on how the "terrorists" want to turn it back over to darkness - that is to people who want to behead other people. I sure wish I could ask him about the deference between beheading people and dropping a bomb on them. I would like to know what the difference is for the dead people.
Graham said that the same people who want us to leave Iraq are the same people who wanted us dead on 9/11. I guess he didn't notice that the people who wanted us dead on 9/11 also dead themselves.
Rumsfeld went on to say that 18 terrorists attacked us on 9/11, and as Rumsfeld was leaving I told him there were 19 terrorists that day, not 18.
Bayh asked how do we define success? What are the benchmarks for reaching that goal? When do we decide that the country is "stable enough"? As he was leaving, I stopped him and told him Iraq was stable on March 1, 2003. WE, and only WE, are the ones who destabilized the country.
Collins then spoke and said we should put political pressure on the Iraqis. So, this is what "freedom and democracy" means to Collins: the Iraqis get to do what we tell them to do. I stopped by Collins office later in the day and pointed out the discrepancy. She had much the same orientation as Levine did earlier in the Dog and Pony Show.
Ensign when on to state that what people may say will hurt the troops and he brought up Newsweek's article on the Koran and a Senator's comments about how Guantanamo is like the Nazi camps and the Soviet gulag. I visited Ensign's office after the Dog and Pony Show and told them it is not what people say about the torture, it is what was done and who was NOT held accountable in the chain of command that is the problem.
Byrd commented that Rumsfeld likes to lecture the committee and sneer at them, like no one before him has ever done. He commented that we didn't ask enough questions before the war and that the American people have not heard enough of the truth. Byrd was great, and always has been.
I believe that the military guys passed out their information on Iraq Public Perception of the Iraqi Security Forces at this point. Over all, this looks very positive. I have no idea how they surveyed people who are not able to leave their homes safely. No data was presented on how the survey was done or any margin of error. And I guess the military believes in polls even if Rumsfeld doesn't.
Then they presented data on the Iraqi hotline tips. The number of calls has gone up significantly since ads were done on TV in April 2005. No data presented on whether these tips were useful or not. I suspect it is a great way to get another tribal member or neighbor you don't like in trouble. In spite of the increased number of tips, attacks have gone up considerably, so it appears it is not working all that well.
Dole was one of the last to speak. She commented on the show "Terrorism in the hands of Justice" which is on Iraqi TV. On that show, men who have been beaten up confess to terrorism crimes. There is no trial, no evidence, no judge, no jury - just a confession extracted after torture. She also commented on reconstruction and how the "good news" isn't getting out. (And that's because the death toll keeps going up and up and up.)
I stopped by Dole's office today also and talked to "Chris" who is supposedly her foreign affairs person. He didn't think the US has any responsibility at all for the insurgents bombs that target US troops but killed a 10 year old child. He could not understand that if we had Chinese troops in our country and a US "insurgent" set off a bomb that was directed towards them, then most of the US population would hold the Chinese army responsible for being the cause of this violence.
He thought the US troops shooting a 10 year old child was an unfortunate mistake. I left my articles about these two children with him, and my pictures of how the Iraqi people are grieving. I argued with him on the "Terrorism in the Hands of Justice" show and told him that I would confess to killing my mother if I was tortured (that would be hard to pin on me, since my mother is still alive).
Basically, in the short time I talked to him, I don't think I got anywhere. He believes that the Iraqi people want the US troops there and they are much better off without Saddam. He didn't even believe my statements about mass graves in Iraq. He said he could show me the pictures of the graves. I could show him the pictures also. Best I can figure from articles on the web, about 10-12,000 Iraqis have been uncovered from mass graves. There are still many graves sites not explored, due to the security situation. But to claim that there are 400,000 graves is most likely not accurate. I told him about the 600 mass graves in Fallujah from April 2004, seen in the movie "The Dreams of Sparrows". He said he was familiar with the movie.
And our Senators have a Dog and Pony Show as a sequel to the "Everyone is Responsible For This Mess Except Me" routine, which followed the "How Could We Know He Got Rid of The WMDs?" posturing which came after the "Let's Vote for Optional War! It's Patriotic!" game they played in the fall of 2002.
They are mainly sickening.
Today, I went and sat in on most of the Armed Services Committee meeting. Answering questions were Gen Myers, Rumsfeld, Gen Casey, and Gen Abizaid.
Casey said the insurgents will be defeated when they see the political process as more viable. He seems to indicate that this needs a political, not a military solution. Abizaid said he sees the political process as a solution.
Levine pointed out that not meeting timetables will have negative repercussions on our troops. Levine suggests that we have some repercussions lined up for Iraqis not getting things done! (Yes, he does think the Iraqis should do "democracy" on our time schedule!) I stopped by Levine's office later in the day and pointed out the discrepancy in his remarks.
Rumsfeld said that "I do know what I think" and he sees the importance of progress on the political side. He says the insurgents realize that they will lose if democracy is established. He does not elaborate on how this can be "democracy" if we are telling them what to do.
McCain said that the worst thing we can do is set a timetable for withdrawal.
Casey says the number of attacks are the same as a year ago, against civilians and against the military. I certainly don't think this is the whole truth.
McCain asked how many Iraqi troops are ready. Casey replied that we are training Iraqi troops and putting them in charge more and more.
McCain said that he felt the men there in the armed services and Rumsfeld himself gave him confidence and hope. (I made a visit later to McCain's office to say that those people who got us into an optional war for bogus reasons and then totally bunged the aftermath do not inspire any confidence or hope in me!)
Edwards piled it on. He said we have a responsibility to get it correct, and then said we are in serious trouble with no end in sight. He reminded Rumsfeld of WMD claims and threats of Saddam's regime. He reminded him of the "stuff happens" and "you go to war with the military you have".
Rumsfeld said he didn't think there would be a guerilla war, and Edwards asked him what do you call a "suicide bomber" and then he asked him to resign. Rumsfeld said that he offered to resign twice to Bush, but Bush turned him down.
Both Rumsfeld and Casey said that Iraq is not a quagmire.
Reed mentioned a credibility gap and "erosion of trust".
Sessions claimed that all the troops involved in torture or abuse were prosecuted, and that there is no systematic abuse, and then said the fake Newsweek story is total cause of the riots and deaths in Pakistan. (Obviously, he is clueless.)
One of the generals claimed that terrorists want chemical and biological and nuclear weapons and that they will use them against us. He further stated that our enemies want people to believe that we don't respect them and that we are there to steal their resources. (Funny, but when they start going on like this, I start thinking they are really talking about themselves. That means the US military wants these weapons to use against people who they think are there to steal "our" resources - a big problem, of course, is that "our" resources are not located inside our country.)
Clinton talked about the "tone" in the Senate and in the nation.
Graham said the only way we can lose in Iraq is to leave too soon and leave the country in shambles. He said "losing is leaving before the job is done." He notes that the public is losing support for this war. In a list of what "freedom and democracy" should look like, he made comment about "mothers (should) have a say about their children". So, I stopped into his office later in the day and left copies of two news articles - one about a 10 year old who was killed in a roadside bomb and one about a 10 year old shot by US troops. I said I wanted to know what the US has done to show it's sorrow for these events and what he thinks these mothers would say about what happened to their children.
Rumsfeld said he doesn't believe in polls (remember that for the update on Iraqi polls later in the day), but he said that leadership needs to lead. (Well, I guess that was what he was saying, I have to admit I really don't know.)
Then he made a comment on how the "terrorists" want to turn it back over to darkness - that is to people who want to behead other people. I sure wish I could ask him about the deference between beheading people and dropping a bomb on them. I would like to know what the difference is for the dead people.
Graham said that the same people who want us to leave Iraq are the same people who wanted us dead on 9/11. I guess he didn't notice that the people who wanted us dead on 9/11 also dead themselves.
Rumsfeld went on to say that 18 terrorists attacked us on 9/11, and as Rumsfeld was leaving I told him there were 19 terrorists that day, not 18.
Bayh asked how do we define success? What are the benchmarks for reaching that goal? When do we decide that the country is "stable enough"? As he was leaving, I stopped him and told him Iraq was stable on March 1, 2003. WE, and only WE, are the ones who destabilized the country.
Collins then spoke and said we should put political pressure on the Iraqis. So, this is what "freedom and democracy" means to Collins: the Iraqis get to do what we tell them to do. I stopped by Collins office later in the day and pointed out the discrepancy. She had much the same orientation as Levine did earlier in the Dog and Pony Show.
Ensign when on to state that what people may say will hurt the troops and he brought up Newsweek's article on the Koran and a Senator's comments about how Guantanamo is like the Nazi camps and the Soviet gulag. I visited Ensign's office after the Dog and Pony Show and told them it is not what people say about the torture, it is what was done and who was NOT held accountable in the chain of command that is the problem.
Byrd commented that Rumsfeld likes to lecture the committee and sneer at them, like no one before him has ever done. He commented that we didn't ask enough questions before the war and that the American people have not heard enough of the truth. Byrd was great, and always has been.
I believe that the military guys passed out their information on Iraq Public Perception of the Iraqi Security Forces at this point. Over all, this looks very positive. I have no idea how they surveyed people who are not able to leave their homes safely. No data was presented on how the survey was done or any margin of error. And I guess the military believes in polls even if Rumsfeld doesn't.
Then they presented data on the Iraqi hotline tips. The number of calls has gone up significantly since ads were done on TV in April 2005. No data presented on whether these tips were useful or not. I suspect it is a great way to get another tribal member or neighbor you don't like in trouble. In spite of the increased number of tips, attacks have gone up considerably, so it appears it is not working all that well.
Dole was one of the last to speak. She commented on the show "Terrorism in the hands of Justice" which is on Iraqi TV. On that show, men who have been beaten up confess to terrorism crimes. There is no trial, no evidence, no judge, no jury - just a confession extracted after torture. She also commented on reconstruction and how the "good news" isn't getting out. (And that's because the death toll keeps going up and up and up.)
I stopped by Dole's office today also and talked to "Chris" who is supposedly her foreign affairs person. He didn't think the US has any responsibility at all for the insurgents bombs that target US troops but killed a 10 year old child. He could not understand that if we had Chinese troops in our country and a US "insurgent" set off a bomb that was directed towards them, then most of the US population would hold the Chinese army responsible for being the cause of this violence.
He thought the US troops shooting a 10 year old child was an unfortunate mistake. I left my articles about these two children with him, and my pictures of how the Iraqi people are grieving. I argued with him on the "Terrorism in the Hands of Justice" show and told him that I would confess to killing my mother if I was tortured (that would be hard to pin on me, since my mother is still alive).
Basically, in the short time I talked to him, I don't think I got anywhere. He believes that the Iraqi people want the US troops there and they are much better off without Saddam. He didn't even believe my statements about mass graves in Iraq. He said he could show me the pictures of the graves. I could show him the pictures also. Best I can figure from articles on the web, about 10-12,000 Iraqis have been uncovered from mass graves. There are still many graves sites not explored, due to the security situation. But to claim that there are 400,000 graves is most likely not accurate. I told him about the 600 mass graves in Fallujah from April 2004, seen in the movie "The Dreams of Sparrows". He said he was familiar with the movie.
And our Senators have a Dog and Pony Show as a sequel to the "Everyone is Responsible For This Mess Except Me" routine, which followed the "How Could We Know He Got Rid of The WMDs?" posturing which came after the "Let's Vote for Optional War! It's Patriotic!" game they played in the fall of 2002.
They are mainly sickening.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Dinner with Faiza, Mary and Rick
I am now in DC, and my first stop was to listen to a lecture by Faiza Jarrar of "A Family in Baghdad" blog. Faiza talked about the "divide to control" strategy being used by the Bush administration in Iraq. She said the Brits tried it also (a few decades back) and her grandparents told her about it. It didn't work then, and hopefully, it won't work now. Faiza commented repeatedly how "they" do not listen to her or other Iraqis. The "they" in this case is the US authorities, Bush administration, and US lawmakers in the Senate.
Faiza definitely thinks the US troops need to get out of Iraq.
She said if people are willing to come to Iraq to listen to them and help, then that is great. But if they come in with an attitude of "I know best" then she feels they should stay away.
I agree with Faiza.
Faiza definitely thinks the US troops need to get out of Iraq.
She said if people are willing to come to Iraq to listen to them and help, then that is great. But if they come in with an attitude of "I know best" then she feels they should stay away.
I agree with Faiza.
Sunday, June 12, 2005
More truth, and another "smoking gun"
In the Times on Line, UK:
Ministers were told of need for Gulf war ‘excuse’
byMichael Smith
MINISTERS were warned in July 2002 that Britain was committed to taking part in an American-led invasion of Iraq and they had no choice but to find a way of making it legal. The warning, in a leaked Cabinet Office briefing paper, said Tony Blair had already agreed to back military action to get rid of Saddam Hussein at a summit at the Texas ranch of President George W Bush three months earlier. The briefing paper, for participants at a meeting of Blair’s inner circle on July 23, 2002, said that since regime change was illegal it was “necessary to create the conditions” which would make it legal.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/ art...50822_1,00.html
Thanks to the leaking Brits, we have another "smoking gun" showing how Blair and Bush cooked the intelligence to start the illegal war on Iraq.
Ministers were told of need for Gulf war ‘excuse’
byMichael Smith
MINISTERS were warned in July 2002 that Britain was committed to taking part in an American-led invasion of Iraq and they had no choice but to find a way of making it legal. The warning, in a leaked Cabinet Office briefing paper, said Tony Blair had already agreed to back military action to get rid of Saddam Hussein at a summit at the Texas ranch of President George W Bush three months earlier. The briefing paper, for participants at a meeting of Blair’s inner circle on July 23, 2002, said that since regime change was illegal it was “necessary to create the conditions” which would make it legal.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/ art...50822_1,00.html
Thanks to the leaking Brits, we have another "smoking gun" showing how Blair and Bush cooked the intelligence to start the illegal war on Iraq.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Photo Captions from Yahoo News
The body of a driver is placed in the back of a vehicle
after he was killed when US troops opened fire in Baghdad
Monday June 6, 2005. US troops opened fire when the driver
reportedly ignored an order to stop and tried to overtake their
convoy. (AP Photo / Hadi Mizban)
The man was unarmed. Why is the US shooting unarmed men in Iraq?
Residents clear debris after an air strike on a house in the
western Iraqi city of Ramadi June 6, 2005. Witnesses said
seven people were killed, including three children, when a
fighter jet dropped a bomb on a house in Ramadi.
REUTERS/Ali Mashhadani
Why is the US killing Iraqi children?
I printed up both pictures and captions. They will go on the outside of an envelope addressed to Senator Burr and Senator Dole. Along with these questions: WHY ARE WE KILLING IRAQI CHILDREN? WHY ARE WE SHOOTING UNARMED IRAQI MEN?
Inside will be an article and a letter about Uzbekistan and how we need to stop supporting that brutal, evil dictator. A letter saying that we need to take action NOW to stop him, and I am not talking about military action. I am talking about public censure, stopping selling him arms, stopping diplomatic relationships with him, pulling our troops and our base out of that country, and bringing the dictator before the UN Security Council.
I do letters like this about once a week. I am so mad at all the evil people in America who start and continue and promote wars.... and prop up evil dictators along the way. I guess they do that so there is some reason for a future war.
And I have an idiot emailing me saying I would have preferred Saddam stay in power. I'll bet every last dime I have that he NEVER wrote to his Senators in the 1980's telling them to stop propping up Saddam. I am angry with the stupid people of America too.
I'm just very angry.
after he was killed when US troops opened fire in Baghdad
Monday June 6, 2005. US troops opened fire when the driver
reportedly ignored an order to stop and tried to overtake their
convoy. (AP Photo / Hadi Mizban)
The man was unarmed. Why is the US shooting unarmed men in Iraq?
Residents clear debris after an air strike on a house in the
western Iraqi city of Ramadi June 6, 2005. Witnesses said
seven people were killed, including three children, when a
fighter jet dropped a bomb on a house in Ramadi.
REUTERS/Ali Mashhadani
Why is the US killing Iraqi children?
I printed up both pictures and captions. They will go on the outside of an envelope addressed to Senator Burr and Senator Dole. Along with these questions: WHY ARE WE KILLING IRAQI CHILDREN? WHY ARE WE SHOOTING UNARMED IRAQI MEN?
Inside will be an article and a letter about Uzbekistan and how we need to stop supporting that brutal, evil dictator. A letter saying that we need to take action NOW to stop him, and I am not talking about military action. I am talking about public censure, stopping selling him arms, stopping diplomatic relationships with him, pulling our troops and our base out of that country, and bringing the dictator before the UN Security Council.
I do letters like this about once a week. I am so mad at all the evil people in America who start and continue and promote wars.... and prop up evil dictators along the way. I guess they do that so there is some reason for a future war.
And I have an idiot emailing me saying I would have preferred Saddam stay in power. I'll bet every last dime I have that he NEVER wrote to his Senators in the 1980's telling them to stop propping up Saddam. I am angry with the stupid people of America too.
I'm just very angry.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Please sign
I just thought that I would put out another appeal to go and sign Rep. John Conyers letter to Bush about the Downing Street Memo:
http://www.johnconyers.com/index.asp?Type=NONE&SEC={456ECCD5-4EAC-4C6D-8A17-89728B250AE2
http://www.johnconyers.com/index.asp?Type=NONE&SEC={456ECCD5-4EAC-4C6D-8A17-89728B250AE2
Saturday, June 04, 2005
The Week in Review
I haven't posted all week, mostly because I don't have anything new to say. Obviously, our country is still being lead down the toilet, while people argue if Amnesty International got all their i's dotted and t's crossed properly. I think they did, so if you can afford to do so, please make a contribution to them here:
http://web.amnesty.org/pages/donate_now
I got a new bumper sticker that says:
W - Worst President Ever
That was from a Democracy for America meeting where they seem to mostly talk about social security and Walmart. I hate Walmart, and hope to collect social security one day. But right now, neither issue seems all that pressing. But maybe Walmart is. I also saw the movie "The Corporation" this week, and that is well worth watching. It shows how corporations are psychopaths, which reminded me of Bush and Cheney, and how the corporations (with the help of Bush and Cheney) are running our world and country into the toilet.
So, it has not been an especially exciting week here, hence no posts. But I think that will be changing in a couple of weeks, so come back then!
http://web.amnesty.org/pages/donate_now
I got a new bumper sticker that says:
W - Worst President Ever
That was from a Democracy for America meeting where they seem to mostly talk about social security and Walmart. I hate Walmart, and hope to collect social security one day. But right now, neither issue seems all that pressing. But maybe Walmart is. I also saw the movie "The Corporation" this week, and that is well worth watching. It shows how corporations are psychopaths, which reminded me of Bush and Cheney, and how the corporations (with the help of Bush and Cheney) are running our world and country into the toilet.
So, it has not been an especially exciting week here, hence no posts. But I think that will be changing in a couple of weeks, so come back then!
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Memorial Day
This weekend we have Memorial Day here in the USA. It is a day to remember the people who gave their lives in the service of our country. An example of this is Pat Tillman. He had a promising career, but decided to give that up and go serve his country. He figured, as many who enlist in our military services do, that his country needed him. Specifically, he figured he needed to help in the fight against "terrorism". He was sent to Afghanistan, and there was killed by friendly fire. Now, friendly fire will happen in any conflict, just as accidents will happen when you drive cars. It is just a part of war because people make mistakes.
What happened next was shameful: the US Army and US authorities lied about Tillman's death.
In a Washington Post article, Tillman's father said "Maybe lying's not a big deal anymore."
He also said ''All the people in positions of authority went out of their way to script this. They purposely interfered with the investigation. They covered it up. I think they thought they could control it and they realized their recruiting efforts were going to hell in a handbasket if the truth about his death got out. They blew up their poster boy."
And Tillman's mother said "If this is what happens when someone high profile dies, I can only imagine what happens with everyone else."
How ironic and very sad it is that a decent young man, with a prosperous career in front of him, goes off to fight the "terrorists" and ends up being killed by his fellow Americans. And then, on top of that, the US authorities LIE about it. I feel it is ironically symbolic of our entire "war on terrorism" - which they are also telling astounding lies about.
I respect the people who choose to serve our country. I am deeply saddened by the way the current US government are misusing and abusing them. I am deeply saddened that they are sent to fight in wars that are totally unnecessary. I am disgusted by the lies told by the US government.
It seems to me that we should have a *Memorial Day* to remember that all wars start with lies. Perhaps we should have a *Memorial Day* to identify and remember the people who told those lies. In the case of the Iraq war, the lies were told by the Bush administration. A "smoking gun" to prove those lies is the Downing Street Memo.
Representative John Conyers, Jr. is sending a letter to Mr. Bush concerning this memo and the need for an inquiry into the reasons given behind the war in Iraq. Mr. Conyers is asking Americans to sign his letter, and several organizations (PDA, Gold Star Families for Peace, Vets for Peace, Code Pink, and others) have started a website to work on this issue. There is much you can do! Together, we can get this into the public's consciousness. (That leaves us with a problem, as a commenter on this blog noted: after we impeach Bush, we have Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Rice, and god-knows-who-else we need to deal with! But I think we have to keep chipping away at their power and work for something better.)
The website to request a formal investigation into possible impeachable offences is at:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org
This website, and effort, is only two days old right now. I think this is going to be big. I hope so anyway.
What happened next was shameful: the US Army and US authorities lied about Tillman's death.
In a Washington Post article, Tillman's father said "Maybe lying's not a big deal anymore."
He also said ''All the people in positions of authority went out of their way to script this. They purposely interfered with the investigation. They covered it up. I think they thought they could control it and they realized their recruiting efforts were going to hell in a handbasket if the truth about his death got out. They blew up their poster boy."
And Tillman's mother said "If this is what happens when someone high profile dies, I can only imagine what happens with everyone else."
How ironic and very sad it is that a decent young man, with a prosperous career in front of him, goes off to fight the "terrorists" and ends up being killed by his fellow Americans. And then, on top of that, the US authorities LIE about it. I feel it is ironically symbolic of our entire "war on terrorism" - which they are also telling astounding lies about.
I respect the people who choose to serve our country. I am deeply saddened by the way the current US government are misusing and abusing them. I am deeply saddened that they are sent to fight in wars that are totally unnecessary. I am disgusted by the lies told by the US government.
It seems to me that we should have a *Memorial Day* to remember that all wars start with lies. Perhaps we should have a *Memorial Day* to identify and remember the people who told those lies. In the case of the Iraq war, the lies were told by the Bush administration. A "smoking gun" to prove those lies is the Downing Street Memo.
Representative John Conyers, Jr. is sending a letter to Mr. Bush concerning this memo and the need for an inquiry into the reasons given behind the war in Iraq. Mr. Conyers is asking Americans to sign his letter, and several organizations (PDA, Gold Star Families for Peace, Vets for Peace, Code Pink, and others) have started a website to work on this issue. There is much you can do! Together, we can get this into the public's consciousness. (That leaves us with a problem, as a commenter on this blog noted: after we impeach Bush, we have Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Rice, and god-knows-who-else we need to deal with! But I think we have to keep chipping away at their power and work for something better.)
The website to request a formal investigation into possible impeachable offences is at:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org
This website, and effort, is only two days old right now. I think this is going to be big. I hope so anyway.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Photos
I look at the pictures. No matter who takes them or where I find them, I look at the pictures. Last week at a local child care conference (I was presenting there), a former US soldier had pictures of Iraq. He was in the northern part of the country, and he came home in March 2004. He said that many good things are happening there, and that our media reports only the bad stuff. And he had photos, many photos of Iraqi children. Most of them were just doing everyday stuff, with the little boys showing great interest in the guns. One photo showed two children looking through some razor wire, but most were just ordinary kids doing ordinary things.
He also had photos of the living quarters of the US troops. He said he does not want to go back to Iraq, only because he has two small children, and being away for a whole year is hard on them. Other than that fact, he would like to go back and help Iraq and Iraqis. I'm pretty sure the US military is not helping Iraq.
Last week, the photos of Saddam in his underwear came out. I really don't know what they were thinking when they published these silly photos, but I suspect it was a way to distract people from what is really going on.... following our corporate media's plan to give everyone infotainment, and generally keep them ignorant and supporting programs and policies that clearly hurt them.
I got to thinking that photos of Bush and Cheney in their undies would do the world a great deal of good! And maybe help the sheeple see through their nonsense.
And today, I looked at the photos from Iraq on Yahoo News, like I do every evening. There is picture after picture of car bombings. And picture after picture of the injured people afterwards. There is face after face after face - full of grief, all from the agony that is going on in Iraq these days.
There were a couple of photos of a very young girl in a pretty green dress. Her mother died today in a car bombing in Iraq.
Also, 16 US troops (so far) have died this week. And it is only Tuesday. And still we continue on this march of folly, mostly blind to the reality that is coming our way.
He also had photos of the living quarters of the US troops. He said he does not want to go back to Iraq, only because he has two small children, and being away for a whole year is hard on them. Other than that fact, he would like to go back and help Iraq and Iraqis. I'm pretty sure the US military is not helping Iraq.
Last week, the photos of Saddam in his underwear came out. I really don't know what they were thinking when they published these silly photos, but I suspect it was a way to distract people from what is really going on.... following our corporate media's plan to give everyone infotainment, and generally keep them ignorant and supporting programs and policies that clearly hurt them.
I got to thinking that photos of Bush and Cheney in their undies would do the world a great deal of good! And maybe help the sheeple see through their nonsense.
And today, I looked at the photos from Iraq on Yahoo News, like I do every evening. There is picture after picture of car bombings. And picture after picture of the injured people afterwards. There is face after face after face - full of grief, all from the agony that is going on in Iraq these days.
There were a couple of photos of a very young girl in a pretty green dress. Her mother died today in a car bombing in Iraq.
Also, 16 US troops (so far) have died this week. And it is only Tuesday. And still we continue on this march of folly, mostly blind to the reality that is coming our way.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
And McClellan sprouts too (not edible)
Although that was "a good first step," McClellan said, the White House wants Newsweek "to help repair the damage" by explaining "what happened and why they got it wrong, particularly to people in the region."'The report had real consequences,' Mr. McClellan said. 'People have lost their lives. Our image abroad has been damaged.'
Well, I don't care much about someone's *IMAGE* - I care about reality. I care about what is actually happening, and who is getting hurt. So, McClellan and the Bush White House should explain why the US went to OPTIONAL war for totally BOGUS reasons. (Well, for LIES, actually.)
I would like an explanation as to why they got it wrong - PARTICULARLY TO THE IRAQI PEOPLE AND THE US FAMILIES WHO LOST LOVED ONES IN THIS SENSELESS WAR.
And then I would like an apology to the people who lost their lives, loved ones, health, homes, possessions, jobs, careers, businesses, and sanity. And then pay them compensation for the losses.
Like I said, I don't care about images. But a little honestly would improve the image of Rumsfeld, McClellan and Bush.
Well, I don't care much about someone's *IMAGE* - I care about reality. I care about what is actually happening, and who is getting hurt. So, McClellan and the Bush White House should explain why the US went to OPTIONAL war for totally BOGUS reasons. (Well, for LIES, actually.)
I would like an explanation as to why they got it wrong - PARTICULARLY TO THE IRAQI PEOPLE AND THE US FAMILIES WHO LOST LOVED ONES IN THIS SENSELESS WAR.
And then I would like an apology to the people who lost their lives, loved ones, health, homes, possessions, jobs, careers, businesses, and sanity. And then pay them compensation for the losses.
Like I said, I don't care about images. But a little honestly would improve the image of Rumsfeld, McClellan and Bush.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Rumsfeld sprouts (please note - not edible)
“People lost their lives. People are dead,” Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said. “People need to be very careful about what they say, just as they need to be careful about what they do.”
Amazing statement, in light of the lies that lead to this war from Rumsfeld himself, and his "stuff happens" comment when rioting and looting was widespread under US forces in Iraq.
The Quran story had "legs" because there are hundreds of people who saw it happen with their own eyes. And it will not go away for the same reason.
Amazing statement, in light of the lies that lead to this war from Rumsfeld himself, and his "stuff happens" comment when rioting and looting was widespread under US forces in Iraq.
The Quran story had "legs" because there are hundreds of people who saw it happen with their own eyes. And it will not go away for the same reason.
Monday, May 16, 2005
Rice Tells Lies
Rice said, "This war came to us, not the other way around."
That statement is a flat-out lie. She is speaking of Iraq, and Iraq did not attack the USA, Iraq did not threaten the USA, and as Ms. Rice herself claimed back in early 2001, Iraq was not a threat to the USA or even it’s neighboring countries. It amazes me that she can stand there and tell lies like this and get away with it.
She goes on and relates Iraq to the events of 9/11, even though Iraq, and Iraqis, had nothing to do with the events of 9/11:
Referring to the attacks of September 11, 2001, Rice said, "The absence of freedom in the Middle East -- the freedom deficit -- is what produced the ideology of hatred that allowed them to fly airplanes into a building on a fine September day."
This is also incorrect, however, I cannot call it a lie. She may be just really stupid. (Her stupidity is selective, however, as was the case about the claims of the threats of Saddam’s regime. In early 2001, she claimed Saddam was not a threat, in late 2003, she is talking of “mushroom clouds” from Saddam’s regime – a regime that didn’t even have an air force!) But, in the statement above, where she is totally incorrect is in claiming the “freedom deficit” produced the ideology of hatred. There are plenty of countries that do not have “freedom” in the style of the US, Canada, and most of Europe – yet they do not hate us. Furthermore, if there is a “freedom deficit” that produces hate – we should ask: how come they hate the USA, and not Canada or Sweden? Or poor health care system, maybe? That would make them hate us?
No, they hate us for our brutal, immoral and illegal foreign policy. (Hey, somebody tell the NY Times and WaPo and CNN that there is such a thing as INTERNATIONAL LAW and even MORALITY. They missed the memo.)
And, this is being brilliantly demonstrated for us today in what is going on in Uzbekistan! We have a dictator there who is being supported by the US administration, in spite of well-documented human rights abuses. We have a people there who have demonstrated against this dictator and his murder of his own people, and he then goes to murder even more of his own unarmed people. And this dictator claims the unarmed people are “terrorists” and the people they broke out of jail are “terrorists” (no evidence, beyond a torture-induced confession, to support that claim). The US administration does nothing. We have a military base there, and the US administration claims it is important in our fight against terrorism. It also has oil, gas and gold. (Funny how countries without such resources are not important in our ‘fight on terror’.) Does Bush stand up and condemn the violence against unarmed demonstrators in Uzbekistan, considering how he supported demonstrators in Lebanon and other places? NO, HE DOES NOT. Does Bush condemn the evil, brutal dictator of Uzbekistan – like he did Saddam? NO, HE DOES NOT.
Well, Bush is a hypocrite.
And Rice is a liar.
And we have pictures of Rumsfeld shaking hands with evil Saddam, and Bush shaking hands with the evil dictator of Uzbekistan. Like attracts like, I guess.
You can read more about Uzbekistan by going here:
Christian Science Monitor article on Uzbekistan
That statement is a flat-out lie. She is speaking of Iraq, and Iraq did not attack the USA, Iraq did not threaten the USA, and as Ms. Rice herself claimed back in early 2001, Iraq was not a threat to the USA or even it’s neighboring countries. It amazes me that she can stand there and tell lies like this and get away with it.
She goes on and relates Iraq to the events of 9/11, even though Iraq, and Iraqis, had nothing to do with the events of 9/11:
Referring to the attacks of September 11, 2001, Rice said, "The absence of freedom in the Middle East -- the freedom deficit -- is what produced the ideology of hatred that allowed them to fly airplanes into a building on a fine September day."
This is also incorrect, however, I cannot call it a lie. She may be just really stupid. (Her stupidity is selective, however, as was the case about the claims of the threats of Saddam’s regime. In early 2001, she claimed Saddam was not a threat, in late 2003, she is talking of “mushroom clouds” from Saddam’s regime – a regime that didn’t even have an air force!) But, in the statement above, where she is totally incorrect is in claiming the “freedom deficit” produced the ideology of hatred. There are plenty of countries that do not have “freedom” in the style of the US, Canada, and most of Europe – yet they do not hate us. Furthermore, if there is a “freedom deficit” that produces hate – we should ask: how come they hate the USA, and not Canada or Sweden? Or poor health care system, maybe? That would make them hate us?
No, they hate us for our brutal, immoral and illegal foreign policy. (Hey, somebody tell the NY Times and WaPo and CNN that there is such a thing as INTERNATIONAL LAW and even MORALITY. They missed the memo.)
And, this is being brilliantly demonstrated for us today in what is going on in Uzbekistan! We have a dictator there who is being supported by the US administration, in spite of well-documented human rights abuses. We have a people there who have demonstrated against this dictator and his murder of his own people, and he then goes to murder even more of his own unarmed people. And this dictator claims the unarmed people are “terrorists” and the people they broke out of jail are “terrorists” (no evidence, beyond a torture-induced confession, to support that claim). The US administration does nothing. We have a military base there, and the US administration claims it is important in our fight against terrorism. It also has oil, gas and gold. (Funny how countries without such resources are not important in our ‘fight on terror’.) Does Bush stand up and condemn the violence against unarmed demonstrators in Uzbekistan, considering how he supported demonstrators in Lebanon and other places? NO, HE DOES NOT. Does Bush condemn the evil, brutal dictator of Uzbekistan – like he did Saddam? NO, HE DOES NOT.
Well, Bush is a hypocrite.
And Rice is a liar.
And we have pictures of Rumsfeld shaking hands with evil Saddam, and Bush shaking hands with the evil dictator of Uzbekistan. Like attracts like, I guess.
You can read more about Uzbekistan by going here:
Christian Science Monitor article on Uzbekistan
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