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April 11, 2004

Behind Condi's smirk: spin v. reality, courtesy of the Center for American Progress

Today's Quote
"One power with a president who has no foresight and cannot think properly, is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust... Why is the United States behaving so arrogantly?... All that (Bush) wants is Iraqi oil."
Nelson Mandela, 30-Jan-03

	*DAY: 1250*

CIA Briefing of Bush Released: Bush Warned of Al-Qaida Planning Attacks, He Stayed on Vacation
"Bush was told more than a month before the Sept. 11 attacks that al-Qaida had reached America's shores, had a support system in place for its operatives and that the FBI had detected suspicious activity that might involve a hijacking plot... The document also said the CIA and FBI were investigating a call to the U.S. embassy in the United Arab Emirates in May 2001 'saying that a group of (Osama) bin Laden supporters was in the U.S. planning attacks with explosives'... Bob Kerrey... said the memo's details should have given Bush enough warning to push for more intelligence information about possible domestic hijackings. 'The whole argument the government used that we were focusing overseas, that we thought the attack was coming from outside the United States -- this memo said an attack could come in the United States. And we didn't scramble our agencies to that,' he said. Richard Ben-Veniste... said the memo calls into question [Condi Rice's claim that it was] a 'historical' document."

Full Text of Bush's Briefing by the CIA
"Al-Qa'ida members -- including some who are US citizens --have resided in or traveled to the US for years, and the group apparently maintains a support structure that could aid attacks... FBI information since that time indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York." There were at least eight measures Bush could have taken in response to this warning of possible hijackings: (1) Canvassed flight schools for suspicious students present and past; (2) Conducted a nation-wide manhunt for the two known terrorists who were already in the country; (3) Double-checked passenger lists against terrorist suspects; (4) Upgraded airport passenger screening; (5) Hardened cockpit doors; (6) Put air marshals on more flights; (7) Gave pilots stun guns; (8) Patrolled the skies (esp. NYC's) with fighter jets. Instead Bush chose to remain on vacation.

Bush on the Campaign Trail Photo Gallery (humor)
Dark times call for dark humor and there are few things more darkly humorous than Bush on the campaign trail! Here is Cheryl Seal's weekend political photo gallery

The Smoking Memo: Will August 6, 2001 Become the Bush Administration's Doomsday?
Leaked details of the August 6 memo and statements from at least one government official present at the Aug 6 briefing when the memo was presented, reveal Condi Rice and her boss as inconscionable liars. BBC: "In her testimony, Ms Rice said the briefing referred to uncorroborated reports from 1998 that a terrorist might try to hijack a plane but did not raise the possibility that airplanes might be used as missiles." However, the memo "made it clear that it was in the 2001 time frame and that the FBI and other intelligence agencies were investigating the reports. The New York Times also quotes a government official who says that Bush was told in the briefing that al-Qaeda supporters were plotting an attack in the US and wanted to hijack airplanes." This means that when Bush told Condi her testimony was great, he did so knowing she lied. In short, the entire administration should be impeached, starting with Condi, and culminating with Bush and Cheney.

Bush Puts Bin Laden Back on Ice...at least Until the Run Up to Election Day!
Here's the official story via AP: "The U.S. military pulled back Saturday from an earlier prediction that Osama bin Laden would be captured this year, even while preparing its largest force to date for operations along the Pakistani border where the al-Qaida chief is suspected to be hiding....now the military has followed Rumsfeld's lead in appearing to lower expectations that a top fugitive would be unveiled during an election campaign.".Our guess is that this is a double blind ploy. Rummy wants to make it look like he doesn't think OBL will be caught before the election so Bush & Co. can appear shocked and amazed when the "capture" goes off as planned in, say, mid-October! (whaddya wanna bet OBL's already on ice somehwere?)

Rightwing Fundie Pundit Uses Slanted AOL Poll to Slam Air America Radio
First, here's a quick lesson in current corporate media poll tactics: take a poll within hours of an event, before any change in public opinion has a chance to emerge (it usually takes a week to 10 days for that to happen). Thus we have AP polling the public within hours of Clarke's 60 minutes appearance and finding no change toward Bush. A week later, several polls, of course, showed Bush numbers plummeting from Clarke's revelations. Now AOL (synonymous with Bush media central) whose polls are often dominated by "on-call" Freepers - canvassed "public" reaction to the new radio lineup within a day or so of the debut. These preemie results were used by rightwing fundie Richard Mullinax to trash the entire concept of liberal radio. Don't let em get to ya, Al F. and Co! Give it time! During its first whole season, M.A.S.H. didn't even make the top 50!

Kerry: Bush's 'False Pride and Ideological Rigidity' Perpetuating Current Crisis in Iraq
Boston.com: "John F. Kerry, in his most detailed remarks yet on the intense fighting in Iraq, declared yesterday that stabilizing the country will require more involvement by Arab and European nations, a diplomatic effort he says the Bush administration has failed to mount because of false pride and ideological rigidity. Kerry, who has come under pressure in recent days to specify how his approach to Iraq would differ from Bush's, advocated turning over control of Iraq to an international body that would make decisions about governing and rebuilding Iraq. He also called for imploring Arab and European allies to realize they are at risk for terrorism emanating from an unstable Iraq. 'If you have a global sense of purpose, the capacity of an insurgency to take hold becomes much harder,' Kerry said."

Respected Theologian Suspects Bush of Complicity in 9/11
Santa Barbara Independent: "There's nothing the least bit wild-eyed or hysterical about David Ray Griffin. In person, he's disarmingly calm, and speaks in the unflappably precise and deliberate style of a lifelong academic. Griffin is now raising questions that even President Bush's harshest critics are afraid to think, let alone ask aloud. In his latest book, The New Pearl Harbor, Griffin all but accuses the Bush administration of taking a dive on September 11 and giving Al Qaeda terrorists an unobstructed shot at the World Trade Center. According to Griffin, a case can be made that the Bush administration arranged the attack, or allowed it to happen. He is aware that he may be dismissed as a conspiracy nut, but given the 'transcendent importance' of the issue, Griffin is willing to assume that risk and has taken to repeating Michael Moore's line on the subject: 'Personally, I'm not into conspiracy theories except those that are true.' "

US troops among 50 killed in major offensive on coalition forces convoy in Afghanistan
Several US troops are reported to have been killed and five military vehicles destroyed when some unidentified armed militants ambushed a coalition forces convoy in valley Sanzala, a place known as death valley for Russian troops during Afghan Jehad against Russia.