Showing posts with label US casualties. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US casualties. Show all posts

Saturday, July 21, 2007

A "Bellyful" of Right Wing Oil Frauds, War Crimes and High Treason

Americans are fed up with Bush and his moribund party. His GOP gang has gotten lazy, crooked, and stupid. But that's old news. More worrisome is the undisguised glee with which prominent goppers describe impending terrorist attacks on US citizens. One of them mused wistfully that Americans would soon have a different view of Bush's quagmire, his agenda, his place in history! Whenever I hear this kind of talk from a Republican, I instinctively grab my wallet and my..uh..my ass! In these times, no one should leave anything hangin' out.

Now --about those predictions of "spectacular" attacks on US citizens over the next several months. Presidential hopeful Ron Paul flat out stated that such attacks might be staged by the Bush government. Republicans, spare me your scripted, parroted remarks about "tin foil hats". Paul is one of your own. Maybe he should know!

The GOP overtly exploited the events of 911 and the 2004 campaign sought to capitalize on America's emotional response. I cannot believe that an innocent, responsible administration would try to restrict public disclosure about what really happened that day. A single term sums it up: cover up! An oil puppet wishing to make war in the middle east would need a pre-text. If anything said about the events of 911 had been true, truth itself would have been the case for war. Conclusion: the truth was covered up because it undermines the Bush case for war.

An 800 page "secret report" prepared by the joint congressional inquiry is said to detail the many intelligence failures preceding the attacks. Congressman Paul, however, raises an equally credible explanation for Bush's every move. It is to be contrasted to the "coincidence theories" designed by GOP consultants and strategists to fool a stunned and gullible public.
That governments have permitted terrorist acts against their own people , and have even themselves been perpetrators in order to find strategic advantage is quite likely true, but this is the United States we're talking about.

That intelligence agencies, financiers, terrorists and narco-criminals have a long history together is well established, but the Nugan Hand Bank , BCCI , Banco Ambrosiano , the P2 Lodge , the CIA/Mafia anti-Castro/Kennedy alliance, Iran/Contra and the rest were a long time ago, so there's no need to rehash all that . That was then, this is now !

That Jonathan Bush's Riggs Bank has been found guilty of laundering terrorist funds and fined a US-record $25 million must embarrass his nephew George, but it's still no justification for leaping to paranoid conclusions.

That George Bush's brother Marvin sat on the board of the Kuwaiti-owned company which provided electronic security to the World Trade Centre, Dulles Airport and United Airlines means nothing more than you must admit those Bush boys have done alright for themselves.

That George Bush found success as a businessman only after the investment of Osama's brother Salem and reputed al Qaeda financier Khalid bin Mahfouz is just one of those things - one of those crazy things.

That Osama bin Laden is known to have been an asset of US foreign policy in no way implies he still is .

That al Qaeda was active in the Balkan conflict, fighting on the same side as the US as recently as 1999, while the US protected its cells, is merely one of history's little aberrations .

--The Coincidence Theorist's Guide to 9/11

We know from our first semester Psychology courses that a conditioned reflex wears thin without reinforcement. Negative "training" even more quickly. The GOP has looked at the polls and have come to the same conclusions --the old 911 magic just "ain't workin' anymore". Who remembers the color codes of the Department of Homeland Security? A "red alert", as I recall, always seemed to come on the heels of a dip in Bush's approval rating. The GOP must surely think us well-trained and conditioned. I have a different view. It is an unimaginative GOP that is trained like Pavlov's dogs to scream bloody terror whenever it begins to look as if Bush is no longer loved. I don't like to think about what might be up their checkered sleeves. I hope Lou Dobbs is correct.
It's beginning to look like the American people may finally have had a bellyful of elected officials who do little more than shill for lobbyists, ignore the interests of America's citizens and perpetuate rather than solve the problems facing this nation.

Lou Dobbs, Lame ducks in a row

The GOP is out of ideas, out of gas, out of its tiny mind. A growing number of people have, at last, figured that out with a lot of help from idiots like Ric Santorum, Bill Frist, Orrin Hatch and, of course, Bush himself, role models of what not to be.

George W. Bush committed high treason by deliberately lying to the people, the congress, the UN so that he could take this nation to war. When his every pretext for that war is now established, beyond any reasonable doubt, to have been false, the burden of proof is now on Bush.

A veritable gestalt of black-hearted lies about WMD was but a pretext to begin a war of naked aggression in violation of the Nuremberg Principles and our own US Codes, Title 18, Section 2441 War Crimes, which prescribes the death penalty for those war crimes resulting in death. This is not about politics Karl Rove style. This is a capital crime, a case of mass murder.

Certainly, there was no terrorism in Iraq before Bush ordered the US attack and invasion of a sovereign nation. It may be argued that there was no terrorism because Saddam's police state had crushed dissent. Bush, of course, tries to have it both ways: "Saddam was a brutal dictator" and we are fighting to defeat terrorists in Iraq so that they won't "follow us home". The GOP faithful cannot be expected to ask the tough questions: if there are "terrorists" in Iraq, then how and why are they there? The orthodoxy is never questioned.

Check out the poll that I added to my blog recently, an unscientific poll, to be sure. But as I consider visitors to my site to be literate, articulate and critical, the results may not be dismissed lightly. Significantly, no one participating in this poll has indicated that the US is fighting terrorism in Iraq. It is most often described as "resistance".

Tragically, millions of Americans, owned body and soul by big corporations, have willingly followed Bush into Iraq if not hell itself. These millions would have done so even if he had told the truth. Millions more would not have. Millions more would have insisted upon a lawful and free American. Bush dared not tell the truth about Iraq, that is, the US attacked an invaded Iraq because Bush and his oil partners wanted to control the world price of oil. Nothing had changed since Bush Sr ordered Operation Desert Storm. [See: The April Glaspie Transcript]

A decline in oil prices might have been a good thing for car markers and the SUV addicted but it was not a good thing for Bush and his sponsor --the oil companies.
Idaho GOP Sen. Larry Craig stood on the Senate floor late Tuesday night and said:

"What happens to the world energy supply if Iran does gain more control in the Middle East? What are the realities of the consequences of an Iran that possibly could gain control over 54% of the world energy supply? They could place a choke hold over the Strait of Hormuz and possibly in sea lanes in the region, severely limiting the supply of oil to the world market. That is not just a reality that the United States must face, but a reality for the world. I have worked very hard with my colleagues to lessen the US dependence on foreign oil.

He was cut off by the presiding officer, but later amended his remarks to include in the Congressional Record this:
However, we are not yet capable of raising production in the United States because we have been blocked by the other side of the aisle from doing so. Therefore, a premature withdrawal from Iraq could have dire consequences with our economy and energy supply; but would also have the same effects on the world economy.
Craig's Democratic challenger, Larry LaRocco reacted in an interview with NewWest.net
"Craig rose to his feet on the floor of the Senate to say we should not begin a responsible withdrawal of our troops because of oil... it’s an astounding admission, and it’s in black and white.

"This is the kind of rationale that many people have suspected, but now he has confirmed that it’s no longer about security, it’s no longer about squashing terrorists - he’s putting the lives of our great men and women at risk for oil....

"Craig’s silence all along on the Iraq war and his failure to challenge the Bush administration’s failed policies - even after the casualties mounted - led me to suspect there is something else beyond terrorism in his silence. And now we know."

Craig certainly isn't the only Republican who would use oil as the rationale for our continued occupation of Iraq. He's just about the only one who is arrogant enough and unconcerned enough about political repercussions to admit it. I suspect that's an attitude he'll come to regret.

-- Sen Larry Craig says it's all about the oil
Were it not so tragic, I would have found hilarious the fact that millions voted for Bush because they actually believed that he would lower the price of oil. If you are among them, you were duped and should have been. Neither Bush war was about lowering the price of gasoline. It was about keeping both high and the record shows they succeeded! Over the same period of time, America's privileged class has gotten exponentially richer at a time when America is a debtor nation --so what is the source of that wealth? That's another article.

Saudi Arabia and George W. Bush share an interest in higher prices for oil. Because of that, Saudi Arabia has always had a motive for involving itself in some way with pulling off 911. The House of Saud is most certainly a brutal family run dictatorship, a "mob", if you will! Corrupt, intolerant of dissent, it works stealthily behind the scenes to undermine consensus while maintaining the high price of oil. Unlike most Americans, a high price for oil is least among my objections. I support "green" energy sources and oil "ain't" green except for those getting paid for producing it and spreading it around like addicting dope.

Saudi Royals are motivated to conspire with whomever may be planning this new wave of terror that seems so eagerly awaited by the GOP, so conveniently predicted by the "prescient" swamis and seers inside this moribund party of no ideas, no ideals, no hope for America but fascism. I want to know --what ever does the GOP know about what has been planned, what might be in store for the US in the next several months? More importantly, I want to know how they know? Were they tipped off by their partners in oil --the Saudis? Or is the other way 'round?

At last, George Bush still insists Iraq is a "central front in the war on terrorism" --fallacy made flesh. It's a line given Bushies by highly paid consultants, spin doctors, and Rovian war mongers. Once you have learned to suppress your conscience, you, too, might earn six figures writing talking points for venal politicians. The Devil will always make a bargain. For these people, and they devil they bargain with, truth means nothing.

Because terrorism is whatever Bush says it is, it is fair to ask --are there any terrorists at all in Iraq? Why is terrorism ALWAYS worse under GOP regimes? [Also see: The GOP is not a political party. It's a GOP Crime Syndicate]

The US might have declared victory and pulled out. But the time is past for that. Bush invaded Iraq and destroyed Saddam's police state. It is easy enough to conclude that because of that, "terrorists" moved in order to "kill Americans" in a ready-made killing field. Sadly, there is no way to know. Because Bush has lied so often and so inconsistently, the truth about Iraq may never be known. The more rational explanation, the one that is most closely consonant with Occam's Razor, is simply this: there were and are no terrorists in Iraq. Bush simply defines anyone who resists his illegitimate occupation of that nation as terrorist! If, indeed, terrorists moved into Iraq --unthinkable under the regime of Saddam Hussein --Bush must be held to account.

Either terrorists are in Iraq or they are not. If they are not, then Bush's attack and invasion of Iraq is without it last rationale and Bush is a liar/war criminal. If there are terrorists in Iraq, then Bush is incompetent boob/moron who should never have aspired to office.

In the end, Bush's only choice is to withdraw US troops. There is no upside that will save him. If Bush should leave Iraq, he will have admitted that his war and occupation failed; that the lives of over 3,000 US soldiers were wasted upon his orders. It is most certainly no one else's fault but Bush's. Moreover, Bush will have lost his pretext to install a police state, a dictatorship of the GOP and the stupid.

Bush Executive Order: Criminalizing the Antiwar Movement

Prof. Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, July 20, 2007

The Executive Order entitled "Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq" provides the President with the authority to confiscate the assets of whoever opposes the US led war.

A presidential Executive Order issued on July 17th, repeals with the stroke of a pen the right to dissent and to oppose the Pentagon's military agenda in Iraq.
...
This latest executive order criminalizes the peace movement. It must be viewed in relation to various pieces of "anti-terrorist" legislation, the gamut of presidential and national security directives, etc., which are ultimately geared towards repealing constitutional government and installing martial law in the event of a "national emergency".

The war criminals in high office are intent upon repressing all forms of dissent which question the legitimacy of the war in Iraq.
In the end, ego and his mad desire to consolidate a dictatorship prevents Bush from making any correct decision. And, as Bush has never made a correct decision, he is cornered, a prisoner of his own devising.

The world knows that Bush has lost Iraq, his "Presidency", his legacy. That he tries to consolidate the powers of a despot merely seal his fate and ensure the judgement of history: the very worst, the most loathsome "President" in American history. Re-writing this history is beyond even the abilities of the omnipresent Homeland Security. Just this evening BBC reports that the Iraqi "government" (if you can call it that) is unraveling. Isn't it time we faced the similiar truth about the US and the illegitimate administration of George W. Bush?

By staying in Iraq, we capitulate the vocabulary of war. If we choose to remain and be targets, the war, indeed, goes on but never won.

An update

Bush tries to put down GOP revolt

By The Washington Post | Saturday, September 16, 2006

WASHINGTON — President Bush warned defiant Republican senators Friday that he will close down a CIA interrogation program that he credited with thwarting terrorist attacks if they pass a proposal regulating detention of enemy combatants, escalating a politically charged battle that has exposed divisions within his party. ...

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Friday, July 06, 2007

Democrats Fight Heroically for the Moral Middle Ground!


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is wrong about Bush when she says he is not worth impeaching. He is not worth not impeaching and neither is the rest of his junta. At a time when the only scientific study of Iraqi deaths now estimates almost a million Iraqi civilians are dead as a direct result of the evil, criminal conspiracy of a handful of administration miscreants, it is unthinkable that Democrats should try to triangulate a moral middle ground.

The legal standard to begin criminal charges is probable cause. Probable cause will normally empanel a Grand Jury with sweeping subpoena powers. In the case of Dick Cheney, there is often an open and shut case in the public record. Specifically, his participation with George W. Bush in a fraud perpetrated upon the America people. Not a mere felony under RICO statutes, this fraud amounts to high treason. The conspirators have been named: Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, and Donald Rumsfeld.

Representative Dennis Kucinich has most certainly learned by now how lonely it must be to have courage. Kucinich has moved to impeach Dick Cheney.

Throw these liars out of office. Demand that they be impeached. Demand that the Congress act now!

Nancy Pelosi is playing cynical politics with this issue. Bush is not worth impeaching, she says. If he's not worth impeaching, then he is most certainly not worth the deaths of some one million innocent Iraqi civilians [See: Iraqi Deaths Due to Invasion]. He is most certainly not worth the lives of US service personnel sacrificed for Bush's psychotic delusions of vainglorious conquest. He is most certainly not worth the harms done the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the rule of law. He is most certainly not worth the betrayal we have suffered, the lies we have endured, the threats we must survive. Bush is not worth another hour, another minute in the White House.

It is clear to the world that a prima facie case --for which the penalty is death --can be made against the lot of them: George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld! To play politics at this tragic, crucial moment in our history is cynical, cruel, unforgivable. If Pelosi will not move, then she risks being considered an accessory to Bushco's perpetual betrayal of the American people.

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Friday, June 22, 2007

How the People May Bring Criminal Charges Against Bush

The people themselves may petition a court to convene a grand jury to investigate Bush's corrupt administration. Such a panel will have the power of the subpoena and the indictment.

It's not just 911 that such a panel might investigate. An overwhelming number of those favoring Bush's impeachment say that there is "plenty" to warrant Bush's removal from the office he seized.

But, given the recalcitrance of Congress, how are "the people" to proceed? I recommend the following handbook for the would-be activist: Facts About Grand Juries

In the year 2005, a growing majority of Americans were not only opposing the disastrous war against Iraq, they were opposing Bush on almost every issue from illegal government wiretapping to this government's planned theft of Social Security. It was in that year that a majority of Americans said that they supported the impeachment of George W. Bush. Even fewer support Dick Cheney. Others oppose impeachment and removing Bush simply because it would leave something even worse in his stead: Dick Cheney.

As I write this, Newsweek asks How Low Can He Go?
President Bush registers the lowest approval rating of his presidency—making him the least popular president since Nixon—in the new NEWSWEEK Poll.

June 21, 2007 - In 19 months, George W. Bush will leave the White House for the last time. The latest NEWSWEEK Poll suggests that he faces a steep climb if he hopes to coax the country back to his side before he goes. In the new poll, conducted Monday and Tuesday nights, President Bush’s approval rating has reached a record low. Only 26 percent of Americans, just over one in four, approve of the job the 43rd president is doing; while, a record 65 percent disapprove, including nearly a third of Republicans.
It's been some two years and nothing has been done. The situation is increasingly dangerous and demands a real investigation followed by impeachment, trial, and removal from office. Depending upon the specific charges, a criminal trial of Bush/Cheney's should begin immediately. Following that trial, Bush should be turned over to the International Tribunal at the Hague to stand trial for war crimes, crimes against the peace and crimes against humanity.

How frustrating it must be for thousands of bloggers, activists, journalists and writers to raise the issue of war crimes and high treason knowing that the odds of anything being done by officialdom are slim to none. Too often I am asked: you may be right but what the hell can we do about it? Too often I am left advising people to educate and agitate. At a time when not only the White House but Congress itself seems complicit in the ongoing war crime in Iraq, my answers are inadequate. Indeed, what can be done when the House of Representatives will not adequately investigate 911 let alone begin impeachment proceedings against George W. Bush.

On the other hand, a grand jury investigating the Bush White House would have sweeping powers to define the scope of its own investigation and the power of the subpoena to back it up. For example, Michael Moore wants the images made by hundreds of cameras trained on the Pentagon released. It would clear up the question: what did strike the Pentagon. Only a guilty government would not want you to know. It occurs to me that a Grand Jury could simply demand those items. Failure to comply is a crime.

Of course, Bushies will cite "national security" as did Nixon in Watergate. Bush prefers brinkmanship and, thus far, the Democrats have always backed down. But a Grand Jury is not the Congress. It does not have to stand for re-election. Would Bush really prefer to stonewall knowing that the issue would go straight to the Supreme Court? Would Bush risk a purely legal decision on the merits of the case?

In most instances, grand juries investigate issues brought to them by a prosecutor. In those cases, charges are returned in an indictment. Some states allow grand juries to act on their own. In those cases, charges are returned in what is called a "presentment". A presentment has the same legal effect and weight as an indictment, that is, both initiate a criminal case.

I want to know why a Federal Grand Jury was not convened to investigate 911 in the first place. Never mind! I know why! Bushco had a cover story to peddle. A real investigation would have only muddied the water. It would have delayed the onset of a war that Bush was hellbent and desperate to wage on behalf of his sponsors. Getting Bush out of the Oval Office is a matter of very real urgency.

There are remedies. The people waited patiently for a Democratic majority. Having got one, we are constantly disappointed. There must be millions, like me, who are sick to death of waiting for justice, millions like me who feel disenfranchised and abandoned by this "government of the people". The people simply must not wait for Congress to begin a real investigation.

Unless every judge in every state, in every county, in every town or city is crooked or, in other ways, bought and paid for by Bush's crooked gang, there may be a way to convene a Grand Jury that will fully investigate the events of 911 and bring charges against administration officials who may have facilitated or helped plan it. Simply, the people may petition a judge to convene a grand jury.

The time has come to brush up on some basics, in this case, the Grand Jury system. Here is a great link: Using a Grand Jury to Investigate the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks. What is often called a "runaway" Grand Jury could be useful right now. As pointed out in the article, Federal grand juries have already played central roles in the investigations of the Oklahoma City bombing, the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and the bombing of two US embassies in Africa.

Grand juries are typically summoned by a court when an attorney general or a district attorney’s motion is granted by the chief judge to empanel the body. But a court may also summons a grand jury upon its own motion and grand jurors are summoned from the same pool as trial jurors.

Abortion-Rights Opponents File Petition For Grand Jury To Investigate Death Of Woman Who Received Abortion At Kansas Clinic

Abortion-rights opponents on Friday submitted a petition with 7,754 local signatures to a Sedgwick County, Kan., court to convene a grand jury to investigate the death of a woman who died three days after undergoing an abortion at the Women's Health Care Services clinic in Wichita, Kan., the AP/Wichita Eagle reports (Hegeman, AP/Wichita Eagle, 4/7). Kansas law allows a grand jury to be formed within 60 days of a petition filed with a state district court if the petition has at least 100 more signatures than 2% of the number of people in the county who voted in the most recent gubernatorial election.
The point being --the people may petition a court to convene a grand jury. Here's an excerpt from just such a petition:
"We, the undersigned qualified electors of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, petition the Court to immediately call a Grand Jury to convene in Oklahoma County for the purpose of conducting a thorough investigation into all aspects of the operations of the Police Department of Midwest City, Oklahoma; and, in addition to investigate into the offices, affairs, and conduct of the City Manager, Mayor, and City Council of Midwest City, Oklahoma; and, in addition, to investigate into any and all other matters called to the attention of the Grand Jury."

-STATE OF OKLAHOMA EX REL. BOB HARRIS, PETITIONER, v. HONORABLE CARMON C. HARRIS, CHIEF JUDGE OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF OKLAHOMA COUNTY, STATE OF OKLAHOMA, RESPONDENT.

From the same case:
14 We cannot determine as a matter of law that the petition for grand jury is a witch hunt based upon speculation or conjecture by the circulators and signers of the petition, nor can we carte blanche impugn their motive. This is the function of the grand jury. While the grand jury may, after investigation, return indictments, ouster proceedings, or otherwise make critical written reports as to the condition and operation of these offices, they may on the other hand submit a complimentary report on those officials and their offices. In any event, the discretion and authority lies with the grand jury as an inquisitorial body.
Grand Juries typically meet in secret and there have been instances in which "runaway grand juries" abused their power and authority. But it was a runaway grand jury in the 1930s that investigated widespread mob corruption in New York and returned a number of bona fide indictments against mafia bosses. Recently, a grand jury in California almost closed down a county when it indicted almost every member of the government.

UPI/Zogby Poll: Majority give Bush Negative Ratings on Keeping U.S. Safe from Terrorism

But half of Americans believe Bush Administration has allowed security measures to trump personal freedoms

More than half of Americans give President Bush 55% negative ratings on his performance in keeping the United States safe from terrorism and give the Department of Homeland Security a similar negative rating (56%) on its efforts. Nearly half of Americans (49%) believe the Bush administration has tipped the balance between personal security and personal freedom too far towards security, depriving the American people of too many freedoms, a new UPI/Zogby Interactive poll shows.

Slightly more than half (53%) said they are against the government having the ability to temporarily suspend federal privacy laws to enable agencies to better share counter-terrorism information, including the personal data of American citizens. Americans are divided over the Terrorism Surveillance Program. Half said they have a favorable view of the TSP under which the National Security Agency can monitor the international telephone and email communications of American citizens without a warrant if the communication includes and individual suspected of having ties to a terrorist organization like al-Qaeda. But nearly as many (45%) said they have a unfavorable view of the program. More than half (55%) said the TSP is a necessary and legal tool to protect Americans against terrorist activity, while 42% disagree.

The interactive survey of 5,932 adults nationwide was conducted from April 13-16, 2007 and carries a margin of error of +/- 1.3 percentage points.
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