Another picture of setting the flags up

This is again from the Asheville Citizens Times website. This gives a better idea of the number of the flags. There are 1,400 for Iraqi civilian fatalities, and 23 for American fatalities.

May they all rest in peace.

May our country find peace.

Photo of the setting of the flags

This photo was taken by the Asheville Citizen Times and published on their website.

March 19, 2006

Rally for Peace 2006

On March 19, 2006, the Western North Carolina Peace Coalition held a Rally for Peace. This was the third annual rally to mark the start of the Iraq war, and this followed large pre-war rallies in 2002 and 2003. Our theme for this Rally for Peace was "the wages of peace".

This rally was held at Pack Square in downtown Asheville. We had over twenty different groups doing tables at the rally, and they included NOW, Women in Black, Kindness Campaign, Mountain Greens, Veterans for Peace, and Department of Peace Campaign. We had even more sponsors, and they included Physicians for Social Responsibility and several local churches.

We had 450 stickers to pass out to attendees that said "End the Occupation of Iraq". These stickers were from the Progressive Democrats of America, and we handed out all of them shortly before the program started. But people kept coming, and we estimate that another 150-250 people came after the start of the program. We had an activist table for the Peace Coalition, with petitions to be signed and pre-made postcards to send to our elected officials. The postcards said "WAGE PEACE for a better world" on the front along with a peace dove and "I believe in peace and ask you to support an end to the war in Iraq" on the back. We had hundreds of postcards signed and returned to us for mailing.

Several of our speakers were ministers from local churches, including one who was a member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and Voices in the Wilderness. He was in Iraq in 2003. We had a speaker from the local Department of Peace campaign and several music acts. We had a couple of exhibits at the rally. One was five display boards of the names of Iraqi civilians killed by this war and another was a sculpture by DeWayne Barton. That sculpture spoke to the Iraq war and the Katrina disaster. It showed how we waste our money on destructive activities instead of helping our own people.

The very best part of our program was, in my opinion, the ending. We had a musical group called Pure Energy that consisted of two young men, with one playing bells and another playing the didgeridoo. The music was both inspiring and mystical. Along with that, two young women released their Peace Doves, which were trained homing pigeons. They were snow white, and they started by releasing two doves, then a few more, and then an entire box full of doves. The doves were trained to fly together in formation, and they formed two distinct groups that flew above us, dipping and gliding and circling around, as we listened to the magical music.

It was the most spiritual experience that I have ever experienced while attending a public event. It was both moving and hopeful, and this was a feeling shared by all who watched the doves and listened to the music. It was inspiring to see some young adults show such creative talent and energy into expressing their personal desires for peace.

It was awesome.

We did get some coverage in the local paper, but we did not feel it was an accurate portrayal of the Rally for Peace.

Also, the WNC Peace Coalition made flags to commemorate the casualties of the Iraq war, and they are now on display at Unitarian Universalist Church in Asheville. The picture above is a close up of the flags. We made 1,400 of them for the Iraqi civilians and 23 for the US military casualties. I don't have any good pictures of the Rally for Peace 2006.

US Legislation

Good News from Friends Council on National Legislation in DC:

This week the House voted to approve one of two key components of FCNL’s Iraq STEP Resolution and to protect civilians in Darfur. These victories are the result of your hard work: the thousands of emails you’ve sent to your representatives on Iraq and Darfur, the in-district lobby meetings with your members of Congress, your efforts to gain endorsements for FCNL’s STEP proposal, and your phone calls. Congratulations!

The STEP resoluton is to ban any permanent military bases in Iraq. So, the House of Representatives passed a bill saying they can not do that.... but will Bush follow the law?

Bless the children

This picture is from Yahoo news, and it shows a child killed in a US bombing raid.... or, a US shooting raid, depending on who you talk to, in Iraq. There are more pictures on Yahoo news that show the 11 people killed in this incident. The US admits to 4 being killed, and say they were going after an insurgent. The pictures tell a different story. I printed up two copies of this picture and I am putting it on the back of an envelopes that will go to my Senators. That would be Dole and Burr.

Tomorrow is our Rally for Peace here in Asheville, where will will have speakers, music, poetry and peace doves released. We will think about and talk about what has happened in Iraq over the last three years, but we will never know the extent of it. And, our elected leaders will know even less. They don't care at all about the innocents who have lost their lives in Iraq.

More pictures of these children are on this website. This is not Yahoo News, so the pictures are even worse than above. They show the true reality of war. They also support the claim that the children were killed by shooting, not by a bomb blowing up their home.

God bless the children caught in this horrible conflict.

This is the weekend to Rally for Peace

Regarding this war, I can claim a lot less guilt than most Americans since I have put a LOT of effort into stopping this war. I will/have only done moral things, which means no violence. I have worked on it for hours per day, nearly every day. I have phone numbers of elected officials memorized by 2004 since I called so many times.


I feel sorry for the civilians, not the combatants. Particularly not for combatants that are not in their own homeland or doing it for defense. US troops are fighting for profit for Bush cronies.

Of course, we don't hear the stories of civilians who go through horrible things (like the dead children in today's news) and in Iraq, they not only lack press coverage, they lack medical care too (usually). They just die. Anyone should be able to use their imagaination to know what is happening to the citizens of Iraq.


This war is wicked evil, and the Americans who participated/supported/glamorized all this: shame on you.


This is the weekend to go to a rally and show the world where you stand on the issue of this war. United for Peace and Justice has the most complete list of events, if you are unsure of what is going on in your area. Asheville will have a Rally for Peace on Sunday at Pack Square from 2 to 4 PM. We expect better than 500 people.

Demonstration against Israeli government actions

URGENT: Demonstration at 5 PM at Vance Monument on 3/15/06 against the recent actions of the government of Israel (with USA and British help) in Palestine. This will be at Pack Square in downtown Asheville, NC.

UNCA students are organizing this event. This is their announcement:


EMERGENCY DEMONSTRATION TOMORROW (Wednesday March 15), VANCE MONUMENT, 5PM


Today the Israeli occupation forces launched a brutal and illegal raid on Jericho Prison with the goal of capturing or killing Palestinian resistance leader Ahmed Sa'adat. Sa'adat is the General Secretary ofthe Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He has been imprisoned since 2001 but has never been officially charged or tried. When the new Hamas government announced its intent to release Sa'adat and other prisoners of conscience held in the jail, the Israeli military responded with massive military force. Over 80 military vehicles, including two bulldozers and two helicopters, were sent to the prison in an all-out assault, only fifteen minutes after US andBritish overseers left the facility. The Israeli force attacked prisoners and guards indiscriminately, showing its willingness to kill whomever it needed to in order to keep the popular and respected resistance leader from going free. Two prison guards were killed anda number of other guards and prisoners were wounded before Sa'adat surrendered. Now his fate, in the hands of the Israeli military, is uncertain.Tomorrow at 5pm we will stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people to denounce this, the latest in a long list of Israeli crimes. We ask everyone who can to come out and show your support.

Color Coding

What happened to all those wonderful color coding exercises we did before the 2004 elections? How come we don't have Code Red days anymore? Did they catch bin Laden or something?

Well, that last one is probably never going to happen.... the Bush administration is either to incompetent or they just don't care. Hard to tell which.

Bush needs to be impeached, along with Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzales and all the evil neo-cons.

Andrew Sullivan is dumb

From Andrew's blog: "Thanks for all your emails. I'm aware of one person who clearly stated before the war that he believed that Saddam had no WMDs. That was Scott Ritter. This is not the same as saying that we didn't know for sure, or should have waited some more; or that containment could have worked for a few months or years longer. I mean: an anti-war commentator, writer or speaker who clearly said that Saddam had no WMDs before we invaded and that therefore the war was illegitimate. I remember being told by many who were against getting rid of Saddam that we shouldn't invade precisely because he had WMDs and our invasion would be the only occasion in which he'd use them. But I don't recall anyone saying flat out that there were no WMDs in Iraq. But I may have missed someone. I'll happily post such pre-war statements if you send them to me."


I went around to co-workers, family, friends saying that Iraq had no nuclear WMDs. And I also said that it was possible that they had chemical or biological WMDs, there is no way they could hurt the USA with them.... unless they Fed-Ex them to us???

I figured this all out with a six year old notebook computer and a phone line connection to AOL.

Two really, really BIG clues: Rice and Powell. Both were on record saying that Saddam was contained and not a threat... way back in 2001. Then, a year and a half later, Saddam supposed was in possession of nuclear WMDs without the IAEA even being aware of it. It takes longer than a year and half to make those things.

Furthermore, there were UN inspectors all over Iraq.... YET, AMAZINGLY, Rumsfeld (who claimed he knew where the WMDs were) COULD NOT TELL THE UN INSPECTORS WHERE THERE WERE!!!! WELL, DUH...... WHAT ABOUT THAT?

And then there was the silly performance of Powell in front of the UN Security Council in February, 2003. I watched that and thought "it's all circumstantial evidance" and thought that would easily be debunked. It was - by the foreign press. Apparently, the US press is incapable of thinking!!!!

This past Friday, someone from my Representative's office claimed that Saddam may have moved his chemical WMDs to Syria. That is total nonsense. These people are out of touch with reality. It is not possible to move a chemical weapons plant (lock, stock, and barrel) without even a trace left behind. Never mind that such a claim defies common sense!

And this morning, while still half asleep, I heard someone on NPR go on and on about what we need to do in Iraq to "win" this conflict. He was spouting bullshit. Turns out it was Ken Pollack.... who has been wrong about Iraq for 16 YEARS. How long do you have to get things wrong before you are no longer interviewed on NPR?? How many decades??

We seriously, seriously, seriously need media reform here in the USA. They are pitiful.

It is with great sadness.....

That I have to report the death of Tom Fox. Below is an email sent to me by a local friend:


Our Friend Tom Fox, , the Christian Peacemaker of Langley Hills Meeting, who was captured last November by the "Swords of Righteousness Bridgade" in Baghdad, has been killed. CNN reports that Fox's body had two bullet wounds, his hands were bound, and there were cuts and bruises on his body that indicated physical abuse.

According to ABC News, "The State Department continues to call for the unconditional release of all other hostages in Iraq". This of course is completely and utterly false. The State Department is calling for the unconditional release of all hostages except the 20,000 or more being detained by Occupation forces. These hostages, some of whom have been tortured and killed, are used by terrorists as a convenient excuse to capture, torture, and kill innocent Americans.

Cynical warmongers claim that Fox and his compatriots were on a fool's errand. Nothing could be further from the truth, IMHO. It is the military that is on a fool's errand, one that has cost us over a half trillion dollars and 2,400 American lives. Anyone who thinks that Peacemakers are less safe because they are unarmed has forgotten what happened in Fallujah.

On Nov 25, 2005, the day before he was captured, Tom wrote this in his diary:

"Why are we here?" We are here to root out all aspects of dehumanization that exists within us. We are here to stand with those being dehumanized by oppressors and stand firm against that dehumanization. We are here to stop people, including ourselves, from dehumanizing any of God's children, no matter how much they dehumanize their own souls."

A true Peacemaker, Tom recognized that the first place to look for what stands in the way of peacemaking is within. Rest in Peace, Tom.

May your legacy live on, and triumph, before it is too late for all of us.


QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Too many are willing to die for war and too few are willing to die for peace.” – Thomas Fox, American member of Christian Peacemaker Team in Iraq.

Just says it all.....

And some people think our "image" in Muslims/Arabs/Iraqi minds are affected by such things as port deals or Americans speaking out against their government's policies.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

From Dede Miller, Gold Star Families for Peace

I got to meet Dede last year when she came to Asheville with her sister, Cindy Sheehan. Cindy was speaking at the Asheville Peace Rally in March 2005. I first met Cindy up in DC in January 2005, and I had asked her to speak in Asheville. She did, and she mainly did it at her own expense. The WNC Peace Coalition did make a donation to Gold Star Familes for Peace. Cindy and Dede are both great women. I agree with what Dede is calling for. I have long spells of calling the White House, Senators Burr and Dole and Representative Taylor every day. Lately, I have only been calling once or twice a week. They need to hear from other voices: they know me. I visited DC last year three times (and you can read about those trips on this blog) and I lobbied Burr, Dole and Taylor each time. And each time, I bumped into one of them in the halls of DC's office buildings. I am going to talk to Taylor's office staff again this Friday.

It does not take special knowledge or skills to lobby. All it take is time...... time to make a phone call or visit and tell them what you think. It pays to be polite, because you will have more of an impact that way. But you dont' need to know any facts, you can just speak from your heart.

Also, there is a RALLY FOR PEACE in Asheville on March 19, 2006 from 2 to 4 PM at Pack Square. There will be speakers, live music, poets, displays, tables, and a peace dove release. If you are in the area, we hope you will stop by for our rally.


Let's Go Gandhi -- By Dede Miller, www.gsfp.org

Yesterday my sister Cindy Sheehan was arrested outside of the U.S. mission to the United Nations. A contingent of Women which included Cindy, Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin, Missy Beattie a GSFP member whose Nephew Chase Comley was killed in Iraq and eight Iraqi women were attempting to deliver the Women Say no to War petition to the U.S. mission. This visit was pre approved by the mission. As the women arrived one of New York’s finest “cited a change of plans from “higher up” and moved in to arrest them. Four of the women, Cindy, Medea, Missy and code pink member Patti Ackerman were handled very roughly during their arrest. The women linked arms when it became apparent they were to be arrested. For this they were physically abused and charged with resisting arrest.

What will it take for the majority of you who don’t support the occupation of Iraq or the Bush regime to rise up? Polls tell us that 59% of you believe the occupation is wrong and we are being lied to by Bush. I do not see 160 million of you out in the streets. Again, what will it take? I will tell you what it took to get me off of my ass. It took my sweet beautiful nephew Casey’s blood spilling in Sadr City Baghdad. It took watching my sister and family suffer a pain I don’t think I can ever explain well enough but know it is a pain I would not even wish on the Bush family. I feel an indefensible guilt because of my apathy. I live daily thinking maybe Casey and 2300 other kids would still be alive if I had been in the streets prior to March 19 2003. Our civil rights are slowly being taken from us.

The Senate voted 89-10 to renew the Patriot Act. It still must pass the house. After hearing of the Dubai port deal and learning of the illegal wire tapping of Peace activists it is very apparent to me that the Patriot Act is used more to curtail the actions of U.S. citizens than to protect us from Terrorists. Patriot Act II will further increase the powers of the Bush regime and further diminish our rights.

So when will you wake up and rise up?

Will it be when you are arrested for trying to deliver a petition to a Government entity that your tax dollar pays?

Will it be when you are arrested for wearing a shirt a government official finds offensive?

Will it be when your e-mails and phone conversations are monitored by the NSA?

Will it be when your Child's brains are blown out in a foreign country?

Tell me please what it will take?

I was having this conversation with a dear friend of mine. Someone on our side. But a person comfortable in life and as yet untouched by the last 5 years. When I asked her to speak out, call her congressman, newspaper, etc. She said to me “who would listen?” My answer to her, no one if you don’t do anything.

I can’t stress it enough to you. At some point your life is going to be impacted by this administration of evil and greed. I implore you, I beg you, don’t wait until it is too late. The time is now to take our country back. The time is now to make our elected official do our will.

Non Violent Civil Disobedience is a time tested and proven tool to effect change.

To quote Gandhi:You assist an evil system most effectively by obeying its orders and decrees. An evil system never deserves such allegiance.Allegiance to it means partaking of the evil.A good person will resist an evil system with his or her whole soul.

We must as Rep. Maxine Waters puts it “put street heat” on congress. It is time for us to as Ralph Waldo Emerson put it “cast our whole vote”.

You must now be willing to do as much as you can to reclaim our country. Can you make daily phone calls to your Senators and Congressmen? I think you can. Can you get out one hour a week in front of the homes of your Congressional reps demanding they do our will?

I think you can. Will you dig your heals in and stand your ground when they will not listen? I think you should.

It is time to go Gandhi on them……will you?


.

In Peace,Dede MillerProud Auntie of Casey Sheehan KIA Iraq 04/04/04Gold Star Families for Peace
www.gsfp.org
Please visit our website for ways to get active

Another response to another blog

First off, Bush will make a "show" of drawing down troops, but there will be no complete withdrawal of US forces while he is around. Not going to happen. Those bases are expected to be "permanent" and to insure the oil companies and others make a ton of money there in Iraq. That was the point of the whole war, and they do not intend to abondon that.

That does not mean you should not make them as miserable as possible right here in the USA. It is your moral duty. Call them everyday and tell them what poor excuses for human beings they are. By "them" I mean the White House, Representatives, Senators. Go visit them and tell them. Write them. Do this as often as you possibly can. Do it daily.

And, what the French did in Algeria is exactly what will happen in Iraq, and the sooner we get out of there, the better. Saying we should stay is like a violent drunk claiming he has to stay with his family to provide for them. No, he has to GET OUT and SEND SUPPORT CHECKS. This is what needs to happen in Iraq.

And, just like we can expect to see US troops come home and do violent crimes from PTSD, we can expect that from Iraqi citizens too - except that they have even more PTSD than the US troops, since they have lost their homes, jobs, business, neighborhoods and country, and don't have hardly any access to health care. Those factors are not true for US troops.

I support allowing any Iraqi who wants to come to the USA to come.... but I'm sure that among that large crowd will be terrorists who want revenge.

It would be well for you to keep in mind that there are "loyal-to-America" Iraqis RIGHT NOW working with US troops and US occupation authorities in Iraq who are INFILTRATORS. This is how guerilla wars go. They may want to come over here also. How can we tell them apart? How can we know what PTSD will do to Iraqi citizens who immigrate over here? We can't.

I am willing to pay the price, are you?

I am also sure that getting Iraqis over here is in the hands of the Bush administration. And we are having great difficulty getting them to do anything decent, or even show signs of intelligent behavior.

How to tell if you are a moron

I wrote this in the comment section of another blog:

I thought I would drop in and tell everyone how they can tell if they are the true moron or not.

You are a world class moron if you ever believed any of the following, even for a second:

1. there were nuclear weapons in Iraq
2. Iraq was a threat to the USA
3. Iraq had anything to do with 9/11
4. Bush administration was capable of doing anything right
5. Bush administration ever wanted what was best for other people beyond their "base"
6. Bush administration had any degree of competence, ever
7. Bush administration went into Iraq for WMDs or to bring "freedom and democracy" to Iraqis or to fight terrorism
8. This war in Iraq would reduce terrorism world-wide
9. Bush administration cares about what happens to the Iraqi people or US/UK troops ... or even the vast majority of Americans
10. Bush administration intends to get Iraq to a point where they are functioning normally and living a decent life
11. Bush administration did NOT intend to make a big, fat pile of money off of Iraq (with American taxpayer's help, of course)
12. Bush administration intends to leave Iraq permanently and not have any US bases left behind
13. Iran has nuclear weapons
14. Iran is a threat to the USA
15. Iran had anything to do with 9/11
16. Bush administration cares about democracy in Iran or cares one whit about the people of Iran
17. Bush administration would allow large scale immigration of poor Iraqis into the USA - (rich Iraqis may qualify as part of the "base")

Now, if you have, at any point in your life believed two or more of the above, then you are a huge moron. And you should get some red lipstick and write on your bathroom mirror: I AM A TRUE MORON AND A GULLIBLE FOOL, just so you don't forget it.

If you believe three of the above, then you should tattoo the word MORON on your forehead so the rest of us can identify you and look out for you when you try to cross streets or go vote or something.

Update on an Iraqi town that had "wall" built around it

Siniyah: An Iraqi Town That is Now a Prison

Twice now, an IPS correspondent has been refused entry to this town that has become a prison for its inhabitants. Contact with residents of the town came only at the checkpoint. A month back, the United States military built a 10 kilometre wall of sand around the town of Siniyah, 220km north of Baghdad. The town is close to Saddam Hussein’s hometown Tikrit and the oil refining centre at Beiji. Construction of a sand wall around the town began on January 7 in response to repeated attacks against the 101st Airborne US forces stationed in the area. A night curfew has been imposed in the area. “Journalists have not been limited or prevented from travelling in and around Siniyah,” US military spokesman Major Tim Keefe told IPS.

“Coalition and Iraqi Forces go to great lengths to make sure journalists are able to do their job in a safe environment.” That was after soldiers stopped the IPS correspondent entering the town on two occasions. But in the queue to the main checkpoint many people were more than willing to speak to IPS about the situation within.“On the 7th of January, the US troops started building this wall around Siniyah,” said Mohammed, a 34-year-old engineer from Siniyah.

“They are trying to isolate Iraqi fighters who are attacking them every day. The troops have been exposed to attacks near Siniyah by roadside bombs and by different weapons... Also, the resistance blows up the petrol pipelines leading to Turkey.” The issue of the pipeline is a salient one for residents of Siniyah. The town has been sealed off not because of attacks within the town, but due to the belief it is being used as a staging ground for attacks outside. The coalition forces are attempting to halt attacks directed mainly at the Beiji refinery and at convoys serving the coalition.

The chosen targets have brought general support for Iraqi resistance within Siniyah. Mohammed says the attacks are taking place because “this petrol will go to Turkey and is stolen by occupation forces, or when Turkey buys this petrol the money is taken by the occupation forces.” Residents of Siniyah speak also of injustices by the occupation troops. The wall of sand is now dividing residents from the Iraqi government, they say.“Siniyah has become a real battlefield now, and the occupation forces have destroyed many of our homes,” said Sumiya, a 33-year-old housewife. “There is no security inside Siniyah and it is worse than any place in Iraq now. The occupation forces and Iraqi National Guard are raiding Siniyah houses everyday and arresting many people. There is a curfew from 5pm to 5am; in Baghdad it is only midnight to 5am.”

Some info on national security

The War At Home: National Security: Live Discussion with Post writer Dana Priest

Fairfax County, Va.: Dana, What could you tell us about the intelligence community's view of the President's persistent claim that the war in Iraq is not creating more terrorists? It has been my impression that the war was at the very least contributing to radicalization in much of the Arab and Muslim world. Is the president being, at the least, disingenuous in continuing his emphasis only on the potential benefits of the intervention, and not on the costs? Thanks as always.

Dana Priest: It is now a core belief, among every single intelligence person--inside and outside government, both foreign and domestic--that the Iraq war is pouring fuel on the fire, boosting recruitment and given individuals an anti-American ideology and the commitment to undertake suicide bombings. There is no dispute here.


So, this tells us that all the evil bombing and war-making is not even making us any safer here at home.

It is surely making us more hated.

An Army interrogator speaks out

"Following orders that I believed were legal, I used military working dogs during interrogations. I terrified my interrogation subjects, but I never got intelligence (mostly because 90 percent of them were probably innocent, but that's another story). Perhaps, I have thought for a long time, I also deserve to be prosecuted. But if that is the case, culpability goes much farther up the chain of command than the Army and the Bush administration have so far been willing to admit....
In training, we learned that all P.O.W.'s are protected against actual and implied threats. You can never put a "knife on the table" to get someone to talk. That was clear. But our Iraqi prisoners weren't clearly classified as P.O.W.'s, so I never knew what laws applied. Instead, a confusing set of verbal and written orders had supplanted the Geneva Conventions."
- Anthony Lagouranis, who served as an Army interrogator from January 2004 to January 2005.

My heart breaks for Iraq

PHOTO: Iraqi women grieve over a dead child under a blanket at a hospital after a mortar attack in Baghdad February 27, 2006. Mortar fire killed 15 people and shooting erupted around two Baghdad mosques on Sunday but pleas for unity and a third day of curfew in the city seemed to dampen sectarian violence that has pitched Iraq toward civil war. REUTERS/Namir Noor-Eldeen



Toll in Iraq's Deadly Surge: 1,300

Grisly attacks and other sectarian violence unleashed by last week's bombing of a Shiite Muslim shrine have killed more than 1,300 Iraqis, making the past few days the deadliest of the war outside of major U.S. offensives, according to Baghdad's main morgue. The toll was more than three times higher than the figure previously reported by the U.S. military and the news media.

Hundreds of unclaimed dead lay at the morgue at midday Monday -- blood-caked men who had been shot, knifed, garroted or apparently suffocated by the plastic bags still over their heads. Many of the bodies were sprawled with their hands still bound -- and many of them had wound up at the morgue after what their families said was their abduction by the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Aides to Sadr denied the allegations, calling them part of a smear campaign by unspecified political rivals.

By Monday, violence between Sunni Arabs and Shiites appeared to have eased. The disclosure of the death tolls followed accusations by the U.S. military and later Iraqi officials that the news media had exaggerated the violence between Shiites and Sunnis over the past few days. The bulk of the previously known deaths were caused by bombings and other large-scale attacks. But the scene at the morgue and accounts related by relatives indicated that most of the bloodletting came at the hands of self-styled executioners.


Violence in Iraq-from Monday and Tuesday (Sure does not look like it has calmed down to me. These are from Reuters Alertnet.)

NAHRAWAN - Interior Ministry police commandos killed five suspected Sunni insurgents and captured 25 in an evening battle near Nakhrawan just southeast of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said. Eight police were also killed and six wounded.
BAGHDAD - Iraqi Interior Ministry forces have captured a senior aide to al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, state television said on Monday. Iraqiya television named the man as Abu Farouq and said he was captured with five others in the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Ramadi, west of the capital.
ISKANDARIYA - Two insurgents were killed and another wounded while they were trying to plant a bomb which exploded prematurely in the main road between Iskandariya and Latifiya, south of Baghdad, police said.
RIYADH - Three civilians were killed when a roadside bomb exploded in Riyadh town, 60 km (40 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, police said.
BAGHDAD - A mortar attack killed four people and wounded 17 in Shola, a Shi'ite district in Sunni-dominated western Baghdad on Monday, police said.
BAQUBA - Gunmen shot dead the owner of a glaziers and an employee and wounded five others in Baquba, 60 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
KERBALA - Iraqi police arrested three suspects while they were planting bombs near a Shiite Shrine of al-Hur al-Riyahi near Kerbala, 110 km (68 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
FALLUJA - A civilian was killed by Iraqi soldiers while he was heading to work in Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.
TUZ KHUMATO - Iraqi police arrested 16 suspects on Saturday and Sunday in Tuz Khurmato, 70 km south of Kirkuk, and Dibis, 40 km (25 miles) northwest of Kirkuk, police said. Two of them were arrested while they were trying to plant bombs near a Shi'ite mosque, police added.
TUZ KHURMATO - The head of the education directorate escaped an assassination attempt when gunmen threw a hand grenade at his office in Tuz Khurmato, police said.
BAGHDAD - A U.S. soldier was killed by small-arms fire on Sunday in central Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement.
BAGHDAD - Jawad al-Samara'i, a member of Iraq's student union who was abducted on Saturday by gunmen in the northeastern Hurriya district of the capital, was found dead with several marks of torture, the union said.
TIKRIT - The mosque over the grace of Saddam Hussein'a father was badly damaged by a bomb, police and officials said.
BAGHDAD - A U.S. soldier was killed by small-arms fire west of Baghdad on Monday, the U.S. military said.
BAQUBA - Nine bodies of shooting victims were found just south of the city of Baquba on Tuesday, the army said. The corpses were found in wastelands in the hamlet of Tarfaya, the officials said.
BAGHDAD - Interior Ministry sources said that a Sunni Arab mosque was damaged by a bomb early Tuesday morning.


May God forgive Mr. Bush for the evil he has unleashed on these poor people.

An Israeli response to what his government is doing

I just wanted to present a view on what one Israeli thinks about his government's actions in relation to Hamas:


”Even if we put aside the awful political inanity of pushing Hamas into a corner instead of giving it a chance to change its ways, and even if we ignore the fact that Israel plans to confiscate tax revenues that do not belong to it, the policy of the Kadima government raises questions about its humanity. Where do we get the right to abuse an entire people this way? Is it only because of our great power and the fact that the U.S. allows us to run wild and do whatever we want? . . .

What country would dare to exacerbate the living conditions (which are so miserable in any case) of the residents of a territory under its occupation? What was the sin of the 4,000 lucky people from Gaza whom Israel still allowed to work within its borders, and to whom it is now closing the gates? Did the decision-makers call to mind the sight of these downtrodden people, crowded and humiliated at the Erez crossing on their way home from an exhausting day of work?

More than half of all Palestinians are already living in poverty according to the last United Nations report, published in December. Last year, 37 percent had difficulties obtaining food and 54 percent of the residents of the "liberated" Gaza Strip cut back the amount of food they consume. Child mortality rose by 15 percent and the average unemployment rate reached 28 percent. To travel in the West Bank, the Palestinians have to traverse no fewer than 397 checkpoints and, in addition to this, Israel now wants to wield an even heavier hand. . ."

It is opinions like this, and the actions of the peacemakers in Israel that give me hope.


Full article is here.

2006 Precinct Meeting

This morning, we held a precinct meeting for the local Democratic party. One of the points of this meeting is to present and vote on resolutions that will go on to the county convention, then the district convention and finally the state convention. Anyone can come to the precinct meeting, but to go on to the next step in these meetings means you have to be elected. This is not hard, since there are generally more available slots than people wanting to fill them.

At first, we did not have enough to have a quarum for the meeting, but one guy there called his wife and got her to come in, so we then had five people: Kathy (chair), me (vice chair), Charles, Melody and Merlinda. Merlinda came with one resolution, about the Dept of Peace. I had this resolution also, and that one passed. I presented a resolution on NC Energy Future, and that passed. I also presented a resolution on stopping the transport of nuclear materials, and that passed. We had a resolution on Health Care reform, and that passed also.

I presented a resolution on Campaign reform and voter owned elections, and that one failed, mainly because Charles thinks that non-partisan elections are dirty elections. He claims that when you have a non-partisan race, then there are back room deals were they decide who is going to get the spot instead of a race between the Democrats and Republicans. I don't agree with him on that one, and have seen no evidence to support his claim. So, that one was voted down, even though it really dealt with how campaigns are financed, not if they are non- partisan or not.

There was a resolution for a temporary moratorium on Big Box Developments in Buncombe County. That also did not pass, so I can only surmise that this group feels the more big box stores, the better. We already have one big box Wal Mart here in Asheville, and they are talking about making another one.

But the one that really got me was the resolution to withdraw troops from Iraq. These four individuals feel we have to stay there and "do right by the Iraqis" and Charles also objected to the resolution saying we should leave no "structures" behind. He was concerned that it would be wasteful to tear down buildings instead of leaving them for the Iraqis. Well, I am sure when we do get kicked out of Iraq, the Iraqis themselves will burn the buildings down. I am also sure that Bush does not intend to EVER leave Iraq, which is why he is building permanent bases there. Anyway, it was clear that these four folks, like most Americans, are very ignorant of what is happening in Iraq. But I truly find amazing, and very depressing, is to run into Democrats who support Bush's policies. If they want to be Republicans, what are they doing at a Democratic meeting? Can't they see how bad Bush and his policies are for the USA? I guess not.

More folks that are doomed to learn the hard way, which means America will learn the hard way also.

Kathy is stepping down as chair, and I know I am too busy to do the job, so finally Charles took on being chair for the precinct. I think he has a lot of Republican policies, which really means he is not very well informed.

oh, well............

Really....

Congressional Probe of NSA Spying Is in Doubt

(Never was any doubt in my mind that they would not go through with this. They already have the goods on these Republicans. - Susan)

The Senate intelligence committee is scheduled to vote tomorrow on a Democratic-sponsored motion to start an inquiry into the recently revealed program in which the National Security Agency eavesdrops on an undisclosed number of phone calls and e-mails involving U.S. residents without obtaining warrants from a secret court. Two committee Democrats said the panel -- made up of eight Republicans and seven Democrats -- was clearly leaning in favor of the motion last week but now is closely divided and possibly inclined against it.
They attributed the shift to last week's closed briefings given by top administration officials to the full House and Senate intelligence committees, and to private appeals to wavering GOP senators by officials, including Vice President Cheney. "It's been a full-court press," said a top Senate Republican aide who asked to speak only on background -- as did several others for this story -- because of the classified nature of the intelligence committees' work.



An Arrogance of Power

The most recent example of politicized intelligence was President Bush's statement on Feb. 9 that the United States had "derailed" a 2002 plot to fly a plane into the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles. Bush spoke about four al Qaeda plotters who had planned to use shoe bombs to blow open the cockpit door. But a foreign official with detailed knowledge of the intelligence scoffed at Bush's account, saying that the information obtained from Khalid Sheik Mohammed and an Indonesian operative known as Hambali was not an operational plan so much as an aspiration to destroy the tallest building on the West Coast. When I asked a former high-level U.S. intelligence official about Bush's comment, he agreed that Bush had overstated the intelligence.

Bush and Cheney are in the bunker. That's the only way I can make sense of their actions. They are steaming in a broth of daily intelligence reports that highlight the grim terrorist threats facing America. They have sworn blood oaths that they will defend the United States from its adversaries -- no matter what. They have blown past the usual rules and restraints into territory where few presidents have ventured -- a region where the president conducts warrantless wiretaps against Americans in violation of a federal statute, where he authorizes harsh interrogation methods that amount to torture.

When critics question the legality of the administration's actions, Bush and Cheney assert the commander in chief's power under Article II of the Constitution. When Congress passes a law forbidding torture, the White House appends a signing statement insisting that Article II -- the power of the commander in chief -- trumps everything else. When the administration's Republican friends suggest amending the wiretapping law to make its program legal, the administration refuses.

Let's say it plainly: This is the arrogance of power, and it has gone too far in the Bush White House.


(Could not have said it better. I suspected from the start that the claims about the terrorist bombing of LA was fabricated or overblown. - Susan)

Rank Ignorance

The following is a part of an article about how Americans are being misinformed and deceived by our "news" media. The drumbeats for a war (or bombing raid) on Iran are getting stronger, and if our government does this, we will all be sorry.


Rank Ignorance Reigns

In keeping with its established role as purveyor of disinformation, Fox "News" talking head Brit Hume misreported Fox’s own poll. On "Special Report" (January 26) Hume said that 51% of Americans "would now support" air strikes on Iran. What the poll found is that if diplomacy fails, 51% would support air strikes. Can we be optimistic and assume that the American public would not regard an orchestrated failure by the Bush administration as a true diplomatic failure?

Alas, we cannot expect too much from a population in thrall to disinformation.

The "evidence" that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons consists of mere assertion by members of the Bush administration and the neoconservative media. Iran says it is not pursuing nuclear weapons, and the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors have found no evidence of a weapons program. Iran is a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Under the treaty, signatories have the right to develop nuclear energy. All they are required to do is to make reports to the IAEA and keep their facilities open to inspection. Iran complies with these requirements.

There is no Iranian "defiance." When news media report "defiance," they purvey disinformation. The "seals" on Iranian nuclear facilities were placed there voluntarily by the Iranians while they attempted to resolve the false charges brought by the Bush administration.

The "Iran crisis" is entirely the product of the Bush administration’s determination to deprive Iran of its rights as a signatory of the non-proliferation treaty. It is one more demonstration of President Bush’s belief that his policies are not constrained by fact, law and international treaties. Despite the clear and unambiguous facts, the Fox/Opinion Dynamics poll reports that 60% of Republicans, 41% of Independents, and 36% of Democrats support using air strikes and ground troops against Iran in order to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. This poll indicates an appalling extent of ignorance and misinformation among the American public. The Bush administration will take advantage of this ignorance to initiate another war in the Middle East.

Moonlight and moon shadows

I saw the rising moon tonight as I left work (I work kinda late) and it was a beautiful yellow full moon, hanging low in the sky. I decided to go up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and take a longer look at the moon on this cold winter night. I'm sure if I was allowed to drive further on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I would have found snow, but they close the parkway down when there is snow or ice. They don't want people going headfirst into the closest ravine, not to be discovered for weeks or months, maybe. But such thoughts as that were not on my mind tonight.

I pulled off the side of the road and walked up the Parkway to the bridge over the Swannanoa river. The moon was higher in the sky, and a clearer shade of white, and still very beautiful. My shadow was easy to see. I walked to where the moon was shinning down on the river, not in a perfect circle, but a messy oblong white reflection. The ripples in the Swannanoa were pretty to watch, but it is overall a calm river..... not like the wild whitewater rivers I used to kayak.

And as I stand there in a beautiful spot that I am fortunately enough to live close to, I thought again of what is happening to my country, the USA. I remember the energy and enthusiasm that went into the Dean campaign a few years back. The slogan we had then was "Let's take our country back!" Well, we did not succeed in doing that. We are still meeting, organizing, trying to improve things, but my fear is that we are losing our country, in spite of all our efforts. And the people we are losing our country to are not conservatives. No, they are radicals who are trying to destroy our constitution. They are trying to ruin our country with debt and our world with war.

If the US goes and bombs Iran, the Iranians will be in world of hurt and we will be stepping into a world of shit. It is impossible to say how far this will go, or where it will all end. I used to wonder how the Germans could elect someone like Hitler and follow him, and then I see the same sort of thing happening before my eyes in my own country. This is not to say that Bush is a bad as Hitler. Hitler killed about 50 million people, and Bush has killed less than a quarter million. I guess things will never get that bad here in the USA.......... I don't know. I sure don't feel good about it. Americans are amazingly gullible or stupid: a great many of them now think Iran is a threat to our country. It, of course, is not. And there is no evidence that they are planning on building a nuclear bomb, but even if they did it would not be nearly as dangerous as Pakistan having a nuclear bomb.... which they already do.

How can people be so dumb?

And how can they be so blind to the suffering we have visited on the Iraqi citizens?

It is pathetic that Americans cannot see that.

Wiretaps and spying

I, like most Americans, feel the US government should listen to my calls and read my email and my mail just as much as they feel like. I just don't care, because, you see, I have nothing to hide. I'm not connected to anyone who engages in criminal behavior, and I certainly am not doing criminal things myself. As a matter of fact, I hope they read every last word I write. Maybe they will learn something.


But, unlike most Americans, I object to doing wiretapping or surveillance of any American without a warrant. This is a violation of our laws, for starters. Secondly, without judicial oversight, the presidential administration could use wiretapping and surveillance of people to maintain their hold on power. They could spy on their political opponents and thereby run an unfair campaign. They could collect "dirt" on people and then hold on to this to blackmail them or control them. And that is why the courts need to issue a wiretap permit for each and every wiretap the Bush administration (or any administration) wants to do....... to stop them from blackmailing their political opponents, and to stop them from running political campaigns unfairly. There are probably a host of other good reasons why warrantless wiretapping is a really bad idea. And actually, I think the people most likely to be hurt will be Republicans.

So, all you Republicans better keep your noses clean and don't go and get a blow job from someone who you are not married to, or something, cause they can use it against you.

How much will it cost us?

National Priorities Project Bulletin


Check figures for Bush's Budget and Cost of Iraq War

************************************************************************


The Bush administration released its budget request for fiscal year 2007 on February 6th. It proposes deep cuts in domestic programs, totaling a $15 billion loss in non-security domestic discretionary spending.


NPP has just released "The President's Budget: Impact on the States," which provides a brief publication for each state with an overview analysis and local numbers showing the impact of the proposed budget. The publication addresses seven different programs or issue areas: food and nutrition; community development; the environment; Head Start; Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP); education and community policing.


To find your state, click here.


While the administration claims that the proposed cuts are necessary to reduce the deficit, the budget would make the 2001-2003 tax cuts permanent, which would reduce revenues by $1.7 trillion over the next decade. The budget also does not include complete funding for the Iraq or Afghanistan wars, which could add another $70 billion to the deficit. Excluding war spending, the Defense Department budget would increase by 7 percent.

Breakdowns of the cost of the Iraq War by state are included in this release.

This candidate is a fool

This past Saturday, I attended the NC Democratic Party had a state executive meeting. This was about 400-500 people from around the state who gather a few times per year to do the work of the Democratic party. There was a Progressive Democrats caucus before the meeting, and I covered what we accomplished under the blog post "Voting to Impeach" below.

While at this meeting, I met a man named Mr. Tim Dunn, who is running for the US House of Representatives in the Eighth Congressional District in NC. He was at a table there that was promoting his campaign. He is a tall, good looking, articulate man who is also a veteran of the Iraq war. He is a lawyer. He is in the Marine Reserves. He claims he can "help America chart a better foreign policy course" on his campaign materials. He is one of the "fighting Dems".

He told me that while he was in Iraq, he was responsible for investigating for the upcoming trial for Saddam. This man does not know how to read, write, or speak Arabic, yet he is supposed to prepare data and evidence for this trial. I suppose that one cannot tell the Marines that one is incompetent to do the job. I suppose you do what you are told.

While talking to him, he claimed that we (meaning America) can make Iraq a success, if we "finish the job" which to him means getting an Iraqi army and police force to defend the country. He showed no signs that he understood the overall purpose of what the Bush administration intends to do there. He seems to believe that we (meaning America) can make a success of this project called 'the war in Iraq.'

I left him for a few minutes and then started thinking: if he has been in Iraq, and he thinks that we can make the invasion of Iraq a success, he should be able to respond to the common greeting in Iraq. So, I went back up to him and said "assalam aleikom". He had no clue what that meant or how to respond. So, I finally told him the response is "aleikom assalam" and what these expressions mean ("peace be to you" and "to you, also peace"). I went back to the meeting.

After the meeting, I was walking out with a group of my friends from here in the mountains. I bumped into Mr. Dunn again, and again said "assalam aleikom" to him. He grabbed my hand, and I don't really remember what he had to say, since I was saying "you can let go of my hand now". I don't know why men do this, but it creeps me out when they grab hold of your hand without asking and then don't let go.

But, Mr. Dunn still did not know the common response to the Iraqi greeting. I turned to a friend and said "assalam aleikom" and he immediately said "aleikom assalam" back to me. Neither of us has been in an Arabic country. I turned to Mr. Dunn and said "see, it's not that hard!"

My opinion of Mr. Dunn is that he is patriotic, loyal to the Marines, well educated, but he is also a fool.

Bush is full of......

Bush said: "Dictatorships shelter terrorists, feed resentment and radicalism, and seek weapons of mass destruction."

So, why are we arming and supporting Pakistan and their dictator? Then he goes and says that Iran is not a democracy. It is certainly closer to a democracy than Iraq or Afghanistan is!

Bush said: "and we will never surrender to evil."

When the US government does kidnapping, torture, rape, murder and starting up a war where none existed, they are not surrendering to evil. THEY ARE EVIL!!

Bush again: "I am confident in our plan for victory … I am confident in the will of the Iraqi people … I am confident in the skill and spirit of our military. Fellow citizens, we are in thisfight to win, and we are winning."

Johnson said in 1967: "Overall, we are making progress. We are satisfied with that progress. Our allies are pleased with that progress."

Bush again: "The same is true of Iran, a nation now held hostage by a small clericalelite that is isolating and repressing its people."

Someone should tell him that the Iranian people elected their leaders, and they had a healthy majority, more of a majority than Bush ever enjoyed.

Bush is so full of shit.

Should have listened to some more silence

Instead, I turned on the radio and heard the ending of the Democrat reply. He said the main thing we needed to do was "become one people" and overcome our partisan divide.


Why on earth would I want to "become one people" with people who promote kidnapping, torture, murder, and optional wars for bogus reasons? Why on earth would I want to walk with evil?


It is beyond me to understand that one.

Listening to Silence

Tonight, I will listen to silence rather than listen to the SOTU address.

Silence has more meaning.

Voting to Impeach!

Here in North Carolina, we had our state executive meeting for the Democratic Party today. We started the day with a meeting of the Progressive Caucus. We had presentations and introductions of the people associated with the caucus, other various groups, and the NC Progressive Democrats PAC. We discussed what we have done and accomplished in the last year or so.

From our county, Bryan, Isaac, Harold, Susan, Ellie, Anne, Doug, Betty and Rhett were among the 20 people who were elected to represent the local Democratic party at the state executive committee. All those names are of people who are progressive. A couple of other elected representatives (who were not progressives) also came to our early Progressive Caucus meeting to see what we were about.

The Progressive Caucus and PAC had come up with seven resolutions that they wished to present to the assembly. That meant, first of all, that we had to get the majority to agree to suspend the rules so we could present them and vote on them. Every progressive left that early morning meeting with a handout that had these seven resolutions on them, and about 70 of us went to the floor of the state executive meeting and started handing them out and asking people to vote to suspend the rules so we could present them.

Well, they did agree to vote to suspend the rules, then we voted on all seven resolutions, and they ALL PASSED. We are asking our state legislators to consider all the resolutions in the upcoming short session.

Here they are:
1. Resolution in support of strong state ethics legislation
2. Resolution in favor of a living minimum wage
3. Resolution in support of the "same-day voter registration" in NC
4. Resolution in favor of state funding the state energy office (oil companies are trying to disband this office)
5. Resolution to support clean cars legislation
6. Resolution in support of increased funding for the NC Housing Trust Fund
7. Resolution reaffirming the NC Democratic Party's support for a death penalty moratorium

EVEN BETTER, in my opinion, is the resolution the came from the floor of this meeting, which was only possible due to the suspension of the rules. Someone proposed that we ask our elected Democratic Representatives to Congress to sign on to legislation to IMPEACH Bush, Cheney and Gonzales.

AND IT PASSED.

We have come such a long way in one year. Today, I handed out flyers on the Progressive Democrats of America, and everyone was happy to take them. Today, I handed out over 200 stickers from the Progressive Democrats that say "Out of Iraq" and nearly everyone was happy to wear them. This was a group of people who a year ago thought we should stay and "finish the job" in Iraq. This is a group of people who now have a much better understanding of what Bush and Cheney and their group is doing to our country.

We also covered some technical housekeeping details at this meeting, like one always has to do. One disappointment was the failure of the resolution to censure our NC House speaker who is under a cloud of suspicion concerning fraud and lobbying abuse. He is like our own little state version of the DeLay scandal, except this guy is a small potatoes and, unfortunately, a Democrat.

It was a great day, but a long way to go, both in distance and politically.

Resolution Calling for an Orderly Withdrawal from Iraq

I will present this resolution to my local precinct meeting next month. I will be asking people across the state to present this resolution to the Democratic party precinct meetings, and I hope to move our party in this direction. I will also be doing education/outreach this weekend at the NC Democratic Party State Executive Committee.


A resolution calling for an orderly and peaceful withdrawal of US troops from Iraq in 2006.


Whereas the Iraqi people have engaged in the political process by electing leaders and ratifying a constitution,

Whereas the US military presence in Iraq is seen as an occupying force by the majority of Iraqi citizens,

Whereas the US military does not understand the culture, religion, language or social structure of Iraq,

Whereas the presence of US troops in Iraq encourages terrorism against the Iraqi people and encourages a raging insurgency against our troops,

Be it resolved that we call upon our government to start the process of orderly, peaceful withdrawal all US troops and official personnel from Iraq, leaving behind no bases, equipment, arms or structures behind.

And be it further resolved that this process of withdrawal be completed in a peaceful, orderly fashion by the end of the year 2006.

Get up and walk out!

This would be so, so cool if they did it.....

William Rivers Pitt has suggested that the Democratic congress people should walk out of Bush's speech during the SOTU. Unfortunately, my Representative and two Senators are Republicans. So, no point in asking them to do this.

Here is a clip from Pitts:

"Understand this, congressional Democrats, and understand it well: you are not dealing merely with a body of political opponents in the GOP. You are dealing with a group of people that want you exterminated politically. The days of walking the halls of the Rayburn Building, sharing a bourbon with a colleague from the other side of the aisle, and hammering out a compromise are as dead as Julius Caesar. Collegiality is out. Mutual respect is out. They want you gone for good. Erased. Destroyed."

I have to admit there are some Democrats that they would not mind having around, like Lieberman for example. The Democrats that make us ashamed to call ourselves Democrats. The ones who are nearly as immoral and strong war-mongerers as most Republicians. But it is true that the good and decent Democrats they would like to see get out of there. Oh, and don't be fooled by the so-called attacks on some of the Democrats, like Kerry for instance. Kerry and Bush both belonged to Skull and Bones, they really were not that different from one another. And while they attacked Bill Clinton endlessly, now Bush the senior acts like he is Bill Clinton's best friend. They still hate Hillary Clinton, but she is as much of a war-mongerer as they are. She is as much of an unquestioning supporter of Israel as there are (why do we have Israel's interests ahead of America's?). She is as much of a corporation waterboy as any of them. Well, I think it is worse than "waterboy" but I don't generally use language like that!

If you have a Democratic congress person, please call and ask them to walk out of the SOTU. And then hold a press conference where they discuss what Bush said three years ago in the SOTU. And hold him accountable.

Oh, and call the White House and let them know what you think: 202-456-1111

I call nearly every day.

American Red Cross and training

This past week, our local chapter of the American Red Cross had a training in how to handle a response to a weapons of mass destruction attack or terrorist incident. Considering how the Bush government and the US military are doing everything possible to increase the chance of such an event in the USA, I thought I would go and listen to what they had to say.

The Red Cross is not a first responder. Basically, their job is to provide food, water, shelter, clothing to people who have been affected by a disaster of some type. They also provide for the first responders to a disaster (fire, police, health care workers, officials, public works, etc.).

The FBI defines a WMD as "any weapon that is designed or intended to cause death or serious bodily injury through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals, or their precursors; any weapon involving a disease organism; any weapon that is designed to release radiation or radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life or any destructive device."

So, those DU bombs we dropped in Iraq are definately WMDs. Iraq didn't have them before the US military got there, but they do now.

Back here in the USA, we have nuclear materials of one sort or another traveling all over our highways and railroads. That is where our biggest danger of radioactivity being released in the USA comes from.... an accident, from silly fools shipping the stuff all over the country. Last year, a truck full of nuclear waste was leaking on I-26 just south of Asheville. Oh, well.

The FBI defines terrorism as "the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a Government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives."

So, the war on Iraq was illegal, and was done to end the government of Saddam and bring the Iraqi people "freedom and democracy." Or, so they say. So, the entire enterprize counts as one giant act of terrorism, since it was never done for defense of the USA. Iraq never was a threat to the USA. Oh, but those new terrorists recruits - they may turn out to be a threat to the USA. Bin Laden says they will attack again, and he has been known to do what he says he will do.

Oh, and by the way, Bin Laden offered a truce in this war on terror.... and the Bush administration turned it down. What kind of idiot would turn down a truce (and negotiation) in a WAR???? Makes you wonder what their real goals are up there in DC.

This Red Cross course talked about prior terrorism attacks and possible types of attacks, and possible focuses of attacks, in the future. They talked about possible health hazards of the various types of attacks. They talked about the various information gathering they would have to do to prepare for a response to a WMD event, and what procedure we/they would follow.

They explained the Basic Incident Command Structure and how that works. They said the lead agency is Homeland Security, which means of course that we are in deep trouble. We all saw how well that worked in the Katrina aftermath. They also said the DOD is a support agency for the FBI and homeland insecurity, and we have seen how well they have functioned in Iraq! Yeap, we are in trouble.

The good news is that a WMD event, or terrorist attack, is unlikely to happen in my little town. However, a truck full of nuclear material crashing into the Pidgeon River gorge could happen!

Bombing people in Pakistan

The picture here is from MSNBC, and it comes from an article called "Pakistan Islamic Groups Decry US After Strike".

This "strike" was several bombs at civilian homes. There were reportedly al Qaeda there, but they have been consistently wrong about those claims. Even if it were accurrate, the smart move would be to go in and arrest the al Qaeda terrorists for the possible human intelligence they may provide.

But this government never does anything the intelligent way. And I, for one, am damn tired of the "we'zz bee dumb" excuse. Really, can they be that dumb? I say NO.

The film of people pulling children and women in their nightclothes out of the rubble from this bombing was shown on TV news around the world.... except in the USA. No, the American people never see the results of what their government orders their military to do. It is clear to me that this current government does not care at all about human rights or even allowing foreigners to live. They kill and kill and kill and they don't care who dies or how they feel about it. The picture above gives us an idea how they feel about our government's policies. And the title for the picture indicates that the corporate media thinks these are "Islamics" who are presented as irrational.

If someone bombed homes with innocents sleeping in them in the USA, then we would see irrational.

Women Say NO to war!

The following was taken from the Code Pink site concerning "Women Say No to War" They have a petition to sign there, please go HERE and sign it.

"Women are mobilizing women around the globe to call for an end to the occupation and the violence in Iraq. With the majority of people in Iraq, the U.S., the U.K., and around the world opposing this war, now is the time for women to step forward and make our opposition more visible and vocal. With the launch of Women Say No To War Campaign, we are asking women around the world to sign on to the Women's Call for Peace. We hope to obtain a minimum of 100,000 signatures by International Women's Day on March 8, 2006, when US and Iraqi women will deliver these signatures to leaders in Washington DC and women around the world will deliver them to US embassies.'


On March 8, 2006, I will be going to my local Representative's office and giving them the list of local women who signed the petition. Oh, it's fine for men to sign it also!

US troops build wall around a town

This will really win those 'hearts and minds' (not).

A bulldozer pushes sand to form a wall surrounding the city of Siniyah, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2006, 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq. Army units operating in the area believe the village had become a staging point for insurgents to attack coalition forces. (AP Photo/Ryan Lenz)


Reuters has this to say:

U.S. soldiers fed up with almost daily bomb attacks on their patrols near Iraq's main oil refinery are taking drastic measures to fight their shadowy enemy -- they're walling in an entire town.
Army bulldozers have begun building giant sand embankments around Siniya, a town of 50,000 close to the northern oil refining city of Baiji. When finished it will be 10 km (6 miles) long and more than 2 metres (nearly 8 feet) high. The U.S. army says it is to keep insurgents out and that it is being built with the agreement of local police, town council members and religious leaders, who complain that Siniya is being used as a safe haven by insurgents.

But some angry residents, including the head of the city council, complain it appears designed to keep residents in. "We oppose the building of this wall because it makes the city looks like a detention centre," said Nima al-Kawaz, the head of the city council.


It looks like an attempt at a giant prison to me too. And you can bet the locals are quite angry, with the recent bombing of the wrong house and all.

January 9, 2006 call in day

Demand Accountability
Call Congress on January 9, 2006.


Demand that they hold people accountable for the mess they have made in Iraq. Demand that they hold people accountable for having started this war for a pack of lies. Demand that they get honest about this unholy mess they have made and demand that they GET OUT OF IRAQ NOW.

It is certainly true that we owe Iraq quite a bit for having wrecked their country by war, but it is also true that we cannot fix it.

We can only make it worse the longer we stay, and the longer we stay there, the worse the violence will be when we leave.

Call today.... or follow my example and call on most weekdays.

White House 202-456-1111

I have the White House, Senators, and my Representative on speed dial.



Just call

My letter to Airborne Division public relations

To: Loomis, Edward LTC USA 101st Airborne DivisionSubject: any proof?

Do you have any proof whatsoever that the hole they were digging was for an IED????

Do you know that there are gravel plants nearby for road building????

What if they were just fixing the road????

CNN reports today that you HIT THE WRONG HOUSE ANYWAY.

And that means 14 people are dead, with no arrest, no evidence, no trial, and no jury.

JUST DEATH. And that includes death to the innocent children who were killed.


your story:
AIR SUPPORT PREEMPTS POSSIBLE IED EMPLACEMENT

TIKRIT, Iraq – Coalition forces reconnaissance aircraft observed three men suspected of emplacing an improvised explosive device digging in a road near Bayji after 9:00 p.m. on Jan.2, prompting a military response against them. An unmanned aerial vehicle from 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division observed the would-be attackers as they dug a hole following the common pattern of road-side bomb emplacement. The individuals were assessed as posing a threat to Iraqi civilians and coalition forces, and the location of the three men was relayed to close air support pilots. The individuals left the road site and were followed from the air to a nearby building. Coalition forces employed precision guided munitions on the structure. Local Iraqi police were the first authorities at the scene to conduct post-event response.

For more information, please contact the 101st AIRBORNE DIVISION Public Affairs Office at EDWARD.LOOMIS@US.ARMY.MIL.



I am so angry about this. I am so sad about this. I wish that you, and the Bush administration, and all the war supporters and everyone involved in the military could fully, truly, madly, deeply, completely KNOW what it feels like to hold your child in your arms with their skulls half gone. I don't wish harm to any child, I just wish YOU WOULD KNOW WHAT THAT WOULD FEEL LIKE. But you never will, will you??

Susan



Mr. Loomis responded by asking me if I wrote a certain opinion piece, which shows he can do a google search. I responded to him by noting that he didn't answer my questions, and I have heard nothing since. I invite you to email Mr. Loomis and tell him that Susan sent you.

I will update if I hear anything.

Postcard to elected officials

This is what my postcard to my Representative and two Senators (all Republican war-supporters, by the way) said:

FROM CNN: "US Says Bomb Hit Wrong House in Iraq. Strike aimed at insurgents killed 6 family members

Washington (CNN) - A bomb that killed six civilians Monday near Baiji, Iraq, missed its target by 65 feet (20 meters) and hit the wrong house, military officials said. The bomb, which was dropped by a US fighter plane, was aimed at a building that three men entered after planting a roadside bomb as an unmanned surveillance plane watched from overhead, the officials said. A US Navy F-14 Tomcat fighter jet strafed the building before the bomb was dropped, according to a US military statement released after the nighttime attack."


It was not 6 people who were killed, it was 14. CNN cannot get it right either.

Furthermore, we have no evidence at all that the men were really planting a roadside bomb. That is what someone watching the drone video THINKS they saw. They have no evidence and no proof. And no trial and no jury. Just DEATH. And in this case, there was death handed out to the definately innocent.



I do wish that the people who started this war could truly, madly, deeply, completely, totally understand what it feels like to hold your own child in your arms with half their skull blown off. Maybe that understanding will come to them when they face God and stay with them for all of eternity.


I posted this article on Today in Iraq blog.


I am so sad. I am so angry.

For what?? Why did they do it??

Today, we are hearing about the Abramoff scandal, but I don't want to talk about that. It strikes me as small potatoes here in the USA.

We have a president who is a liar and a murderer. We have a congress that is also full of liars and murderers.

WHY???

Why are they so evil???

What do they get out of it?

How can they be so casual about all this death and all this evil??

Nearly every last damn one of them belongs in prison with Abramoff.

Picture of some of the deceased from US bombing

An Iraqi man weeps next to the bodies of victims of an alleged U.S. airstrike in Beiji, 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday Jan. 3, 2006. Iraqi police said U.S. aircraft bombed a house Monday night and that seven people were killed and four injured. The U.S. military had no immediate comment on the alleged airstrike or deaths, but the U.S. Central Command said in a press release that Navy F-14s in the vicinity of Beiji strafed a target and dropped a precision-guided bomb 'against insurgents placing an improvised explosive device.' (AP Photo/Bassim Daham)

Picture of aftermath of US bombing in Beiji

Iraqis search for the bodies of victims of an alleged U.S. airstrike in Beiji, 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday Jan. 3, 2005. Iraqi police said U.S. aircraft bombed a house Monday night and that seven people were killed and four injured. The U.S. military had no immediate comment on the alleged airstrike or deaths, but the U.S. Central Command said in a press release that Navy F-14s in the vicinity of Beiji strafed a target and dropped a precision-guided bomb 'against insurgents placing an improvised explosive device.' (AP Photo/Bassim Daham)

US air strikes in Iraq

US airstrikes in Iraq kill 14 members of a family, including several children. This story only report seven were killed, but later reports say 14 people were killed. This happened in Baiji. This happened because some drone supposedly saw some men digging a hole beside the road to supposedly plant a bomb, and then the three men were seen going into a home. So, no need for arrest, or trial, or evidence.... just a guilty sentence, and immediate execution that also includes any nearby family members and whoever is unlucky enough to be around.

I never, ever thought I would live to see my country act in such an evil manner. This is flat-out murder, and every war supporter, and every war cheerleader, and every one who helped start this war, along with the military guys behind this is (in my eyes) a MURDERER.



Another Reuters report today says that 5,736 civilians have died in Iraq from violence this past year. This is bunk, because the Baghdad morgue alone has over 1,000+ bodies per month who have died from violence (sometimes this is just body parts, and about 1/4 of them are unidentified). That is Baghdad alone and I am sure not all of the deceased even make it to the morgue in Baghdad. Surely, out in the countryside they don't all make it to an official morgue.

Bush, Rumsfeld and Cheney have MURDERED a lot of innocent people.

It sickens me.

Eid al - Fitr rememberance

Today In Iraq there is a holiday that celebrates the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, and the start of the Eid al-Fitr. This is a big holiday in Iraq, probably as big as the Christmas season is in the western world. Today In Iraq, there are hundreds of families trying to celebrate Eid after having buried a loved one, killed by violence, in just the last few days. Today In Iraq, there are thousands of families who are trying to celebrate Eid without a family member, killed by violence, who was with them last Eid. Today In Iraq, there are tens of thousands of families, or maybe hundreds of thousands of families, who are trying to celebrate Eid without loved ones who were with them just a few short years ago. They too have been killed in the violence unleashed by this war. I would like to wish them all solace in their grief, peace in the upcoming year, and a happy and prosperous future. I want them to know that we are paying attention, as we work to record on this blog what has happened Today In Iraq, as we all hope and pray that peace will return to Iraq in time for the next Eid.



The above piece was written by me and published on Today in Iraq blog on November 4, 2005.

US bombs innocents

"These people died silently, complaining to God of a guilt they did not commit," Zahid Mohammed Rawi, a physician, said in the town of Husaybah. Rawi said that after roughly one week into Operation Steel Curtain, which began on Nov. 5, medical workers had recorded 97 civilians killed. At least 38 insurgents were also killed in the offensive's early days, Rawi said.


The above quote came from a Washington Post article called "US Airstrikes Take Toll on Civilians" which was published on December 24, 2005.

This article documents the ongoing murderous assault against the Iraqi civilians. It tells of hundreds killed in these bombings, and hints at the terror these people must have felt when the bombs were dropping.

I am so disgusted with the US authorities of kidnapping, torture, rape and murder of innocents and not-so-innocents. It is sickening. And dropping bombs on people is simply MURDER.

The US Military inteactions with Iraqi kids

Military's interaction with foreign kids will be long remembered
published 12/28/05

This is a story about children in foreign lands and how Americans interact with them. The first part is from ABC News.

A little boy was brought to the station where the paramedics were working in a remote valley in Kashmir. He was lifeless in his father’s arms, and the paramedics from New York City could not even find a vein to start an IV due to his dehydration.

They started an IV into his shin, while the child showed no indication that anyone had touched him. A half hour later, the child was crying and protesting the strange men speaking a strange tongue who were sticking needles into his arm. As he tried to escape the strange (heat-retaining) blankets to get to his father, these same strange men would not let him. But he could clearly see his father, who had a smile on his face as he cried tears of joy. His son was clearly going to live.

Now that child did not understand the situation he was in, but it is clear that when he grows up, his father will see to it that he knows what happened.

He will know who exactly saved his life after he got sick with double pneumonia and became severely dehydrated. The father had already lost his wife and daughter to the earthquake, and his joy at seeing his son survive was very obvious and heart warming.

Another story involving children and American men came from the pages of the Asheville Citizen-Times, a story about U.S. troops interacting with Iraqi children. That article stated: “Soldiers generally believe the presence of children lowers the chance of enemy attack.” To believe such a thing, and to then go to where children are, would indicate that the soldiers are willing to use the children as human shields. I sincerely hope this is wrong.

Children are generally delightful, and I am sure that is true no matter what part of the world they come from. In the article called “Winning Small Hearts and Minds in Iraq” the soldiers were giving candy and toys to the children in Iraq. At first, the children reacted with fear to their presence, which in light of the fact that they are in a war zone, would be the normal and expected response. They soon warmed up to the men, and it appears all had a good time.

However, it was not prudent on the part of the soldiers to reduce the children’s fear of getting close to U.S. troops. It puts them at risk, since there are 80 to 100 attacks per day against U.S. troops in Iraq. (This is the overwhelming majority of attacks, by the way, even though we hear more about the attacks against civilians, which result in a higher death toll.) One teacher at this school stated very plainly: her primary concern was the sewers. It matters not if the children get candy and trinkets if they get sick from the unclean water and lack of sanitation.

The soldiers and their families gathered the toys and the candies that were handed out that day. I applaud them for trying to brighten the children’s lives. However, I do not feel it is prudent or safe (at this time) for them to personally hand out these items or interact with the children. They could certainly place the items in boxes with a note saying they are from the Americans, and drop the boxes off with the teachers.

I have heard many painful stories of children around U.S. troops who have fallen victim to the violence overwhelming Iraq at this time. The fact that they are near U.S. troops marks them as targets for the terrorists. Recently there was a report of a terrorist bombing directed toward U.S. troops handing out toys to children in a hospital in central Iraq.

We must do everything possible to keep these children alive and provide them with a future. I would like to see our U.S. Congress, particularly Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., who serves on the U.S. Armed Services Committee, redirect our troops’ efforts in Iraq. The troops should focus on providing security, clean water, sewers, electricity and medical services in Iraq, all of which are in dire need of improvement.

They can collect and distribute toys and candy for children, but their interaction with the children should be limited to providing direct medical care only in the event of an emergency. Playing with the children, and interacting with the children, will have to wait until the day when peace comes to Iraq.

And when these children grow up, their parents will see to it that they understand and remember what happened when they were too young to understand.

Link to publication.

About Zarqawi's letters

Isn't it rather odd that the US military in Iraq can intercept a letter reportedly to Zarqawi, yet they cannot find Zarqawi himself?

And isn't this the third or fourth letter intercepted? How come they seem to mirror Mr. Bush's ominous talking points about Iraq?

What ever happened to that Pentagon "Office of Strategic Influence" anyway? Well, here's what Mr. Rumsfeld had to say about it:

"And then there was the Office of Strategic Influence. You may recall that. And 'oh my goodness gracious isn't that terrible, Henny Penny the sky is going to fall.' I went down that next day and said fine, if you want to savage this thing fine I'll give you the corpse. There's the name. You can have the name, but I'm gonna keep doing every single thing that needs to be done and I have."

Indeed, I think he has.

Concerning Zarqawi's letters (letter to the editor)

Isn't it rather odd that the US military in Iraq can intercept a letter reportedly to Zarqawi, yet they cannot find Zarqawi himself?

And isn't this the third or fourth letter intercepted? How come they seem to mirror Mr. Bush's ominous talking points about Iraq?

What ever happened to that Pentagon "Office of Strategic Influence" anyway? Well, here's what Mr. Rumsfeld had to say about it:

"And then there was the Office of Strategic Influence. You may recall that. And 'oh my goodness gracious isn't that terrible, Henny Penny the sky is going to fall.' I went down that next day and said fine, if you want to savage this thing fine I'll give you the corpse. There's the name. You can have the name, but I'm gonna keep doing every single thing that needs to be done and I have."

Indeed, I think he has.

Letter to Christian Science Monitor

John Hughes claims in his article that "...people must decide whether Bush, in the face of all this opinion, was lying and really knew Hussein did not have these weapons, or whether he believed, on the basis of overwhelming opinion at the time (which ultimately proved to be wrong), that the threat was real."

It certainly was a popular position at the time (and now) that "overwhelming opinion" said that Iraq had WMDs, but this most certainly not the case outside the USA, then or now.

I work as a pediatric audiologist in North Carolina, and I used my six year old notebook computer and an AOL connection to determine that there were no nuclear WMDs in Iraq by October 2002. Furthermore, if there were chemical or biological weapons there (which was plausible) there was certainly no means for Saddam to deliver them to the USA, hence no threat. I reached these conclusions by reading widely from around the world, and researching available evidence.

If I could do this, so could the White House and the US Congress. My conclusion is that they are either liars or amazingly gullible fools.

Here is some memorable evidence I uncovered:

Rice and Powell both publicly stated in early 2001 that Saddam was contained and not a threat.

Many on the UN Security Council did not believe that Iraq was a threat.

There had been no WMDs uncovered in Iraq since 1991.

All prior WMDs uncovered in Iraq were done so with the assistance of Iraqi weapons and intelligence experts.

In 1998, the UN weapons inspectors left because Clinton was going to start bombing Iraq, not because Saddam kicked them out. The UN weapons inspections had been compromised by political agendas back here in the USA which Clinton signed on to.

There was no concrete evidence that Saddam had restarted his nuclear weapons program since 1998, and there was no nuclear weapons program in 1998.

There were credible former UN weapons inspectors (notable Ritter) claiming that Iraq had no nuclear weapons.

A working connection between Saddam and bin Laden defied common sense.

After October 2002, more evidence emerged:

UN weapons inspectors numbered in the hundreds were on the ground and were finding nothing of significance.

With the exception of Kuwait and Israel, Iraq's neighboring countries did not feel Iraq was a threat and did not want a war started there in Iraq. If Jordan, Turkey, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran and several other middle eastern countries did not feel a threat, how could there possibly be a threat to the USA or Europe? Again, it defied common sense.

Powell's presentation at the UN was based on circumstantial evidence. Almost no one at the UN bought it. Many sources outside the USA discredited what he had to say immediately afterwards. This mainly went unreported in the US media.

Saddam publicly stated on British TV that he had no WMDs and no connections to bin Laden. He said if he did have a connection, he would be proud to announce it. This went unreported in the US media.

Tens of millions of people around the world demonstrated against this war, which was unprecedented in history. With a few minor exceptions, this was mainly ignored in the US media. I saw no real attempt to have a discussion with these protestors as to why they were objecting to this war. There was no real attempt to bring in dissenting voices of some authority into the mainstream of discussion. Rather, they were often ridiculed and dismissed, both in the media and by US officials.

With these above mentioned events going on in the world, it was clear to me that mainstream media in the USA, particularly television, was not to be trusted.

There was growing and growing evidence in 2003 that there were no WMDs in Iraq. After the war started, I remember sending an emotional letter to one of my Senators, John Edwards, saying "I hope you find those WMDs in Iraq so you can justify this illegal and immoral war."

I knew he would not. I knew the nuclear WMDs were not there, and quite likely there were no biological or chemical ones either. I predicted, and I sincerely hope I am someday proven wrong, that Iraq would melt down into a civil war that will spread to a regional war engulfing the entire middle east. I would be very happy to be wrong about something concerning this war. I do not buy that "everyone thought" that Iraq had WMDs because that is simply not true, particularly in the world at large. I do not believe that this administration and the prior US Congress could not figure this out. If that premise is true, then they are fools. And if they did figure it out, then they are tools (liars).

Fools or tools.... you pick. Either way, we need to get them out of office and elect people who are both intelligent and honest. I do hope you publish this to counter the prevailing position that "overwhelming opinion" around the world said that Iraq had WMDs. That was delusional then, and now.


They did not publish my letter.

Information on Progressive Democrats of America

How is PDA Different From DFA (Democracy For America), MoveOn, Progressive Majority, etc?

This question is asked so many times that we thought we’d give you some talking points to help answer the question.

PDA is the only group that coordinates with progressive leaders on the hill. By organizing on a Congressional District model, PDA serves as the grassroots base for the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC).

PDA is the only group organizing progressives within the DNC.

PDA is the only group that works through our inside/outside strategy to move social movements into the political process of the Democratic Party.

PDA works on state party reform by supporting progressive activists to gain voice and vote within their state party structure and by embracing the Progressive Caucus model within the Democratic Party’s State Committee.

PDA is accountable to no one except the grassroots who support us. We rely on donations from grassroots “Sustainers” to support our work. Please go here to contribute.

More information on Progressive Democrats of America here.

PDA is not a click-and-join organization. We are about feet on the street and heat in the street.


“Who is left to open the eyes of the country – to tell Americans what is happening? There is no one left, none but all of us.” Bill Moyers 10/1/05

Bush makes some comments

From Bush's comments on 12/19/05



BUSH: "If you think the terrorists would become peaceful if only America would stop provoking them, then it might make sense to leave them alone."

I recommend we stop provoking them and NOT leave them alone. Talk to them, study them, try to understand what they are about and try to anticipate what they might try next. As soon as they commit a crime, arrest them, try them, and if guilty, lock them up for life. Conspiracy to commit murder is a crime.



BUSH: "September the 11th, 2001 required us to take every emerging threat to our country seriously, and it shattered the illusion that terrorists attack us only after we provoke them."

This ignores the reality that you and former US officials, had been provoking them for decades.



BUSH: "My conviction comes down to this: We do not create terrorism by fighting the terrorists. We invite terrorism by ignoring them."

No, you create terrorists by killing and harming innocents. You invite terrorism by ignoring this reality and showing the world you do not care.



BUSH (referring to terrorists): "fear the rise of a democratic Iraq."

So how come they called a truce for the election?



BUSH: "I see the consequences when I talk to parents who miss a child so much -- but tell me he loved being a soldier, he believed in his mission, and, Mr. President, finish the job."

I want to see you publicly encourage your daughters to serve in Iraq.