Tommy Franks: Martial Law Will Replace Constitution After Next Terror Attack November 21, 2003 Newsmax Gen. Tommy Franks says that if the United States is hit with a weapon of mass destruction that inflicts large casualties, the Constitution will likely be discarded in favor of a military form of government. Franks, who successfully led the U.S. military operation to liberate Iraq, expressed his worries in an extensive interview he gave to the men’s lifestyle magazine Cigar Aficionado. In the magazine’s December edition, the former commander of the military’s Central Command warned that if terrorists succeeded in using a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) against the U.S. or one of our allies, it would likely have catastrophic consequences for our cherished republican form of government. propagandamatrix.com

Project for the New American Century: A roadmap for global domination November 21, 2003 "Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor... And advanced forms of biological warfare that can “target” specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool." -- from "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century," September, 2000. terraknowledge.net

Bush surprises Pentagon on Iraq troops November 21, 2003 LONDON, (UPI) -- President George Bush blindsided the Pentagon in London Thursday, saying if more troops were needed in Iraq, they would be sent. That contradicted earlier Pentagon statements claiming the goal was to reduce troop strength, and reportedly startled both National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell at the news conference. washingtontimes.com

US hid vital war data from allies November 21, 2003 By Marian Wilkinson United States Correspondent November 21, 2003 Australian officers were denied access to critical US intelligence during the Iraq war, potentially putting their lives at risk, under a policy described by a senior US Air Force intelligence officer as "damn silly". theage.com.au

Grim forecast challenges Bush November 21, 2003 By PATRICK COCKBURN American policymakers are studying an unprecedented and bleak assessment of the deteriorating military situation in Iraq which contradicts many claims made by the Bush Administration. The report is based on briefings by Paul Bremer, the US de facto governor of Iraq, military commanders, unnamed intelligence officers and Dr David Kay, the American who leads the hunt for Saddam's alleged weapons of mass destruction. nzherald.co.nz

MoveOn.org ad slams Bush for job losses November 21, 2003 By LIZ SIDOTI The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush's job-loss record is the topic of the first television commercial in a liberal activist group's planned advertising campaign to highlight what it calls Bush's failures as president. The 30-second ad by MoveOn.org labels Bush a "misleader" and blames him for the loss of more than 2 million jobs during his tenure. "George Bush is doing something Bill Clinton didn't do ... his father didn't do ... not Reagan, or Carter, or Ford, or Nixon ... Not LBJ, or JFK ... Not Eisenhower, or Harry Truman ... Not in any of FDR's four terms," an announcer says as pictures of the former presidents fill the screen. The ad then says Bush is on track to be the first president since Herbert Hoover to end his term with a net job loss record. "Didn't George Bush say his tax cuts would create jobs?" the announcer asks. nj.com

bush Topple

And down comes the statue... but this time it's Trafalgar Square November 21, 2003 Jamie Wilson and Matthew Taylor The Guardian Mass turnout of young and old watches overturn of US president's effigy. At first George Bush gently rocked, then he began to sway, before finally the figure started toppling, slowly but inexorably on to the pavement below. The symbolic end of the five-metre (17ft) tall effigy - a riposte to the pulling down of the statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad - brought the biggest cheer of the day: louder than the boos when the seemingly never ending procession made its way past Downing Street; bigger even than the shouts and whistles that rang out when Britain's sixth anti-war demonstration in a year began its snaking path through London to Trafalgar Square. guardian.co.uk

200,000 MARCH AGAINST BUSH IN LONDON November 21, 2003 By Naveed Raja A massive demonstration against George Bush drew up to 200,000 marchers on the streets of London today. Organisers of the march, ending in a rally at Trafalgar Square, said the number was a record for any weekday protest in Britain. With a huge police presence the Met reported no incidents of violence and the march passed off peacefully. "This phenomenal response shows the depth of feeling of the British public towards this visit," said a spokesman for the Stop The War Coalition. mirror.co.uk

Baghdad Burning November 21, 2003 blog They've been bombing houses in Tikrit and other areas! Unbelievable… I'm so angry it makes me want to break something!!!! What the hell is going on?! What do the Americans think Tikrit is?! Some sort of city of monsters or beasts? The people there are simple people. Most of them make a living off of their land and their livestock- the rest are teachers, professors and merchants- they have lives and families… Tikrit is nothing more than a bunch of low buildings and a palace that was as inaccessible to the Tikritis as it was to everyone else! riverbendblog.blogspot.com

US cybercrime push 'imperils personal security' of Americans November 21, 2003 By John Leyden White House plans to ratify a Council of Europe Cybercrime treaty will be a disaster for the privacy and security of Americans, Privacy International (PI), the human rights watchdog, claims. President Bush this week urged Senators to back the adoption of the mutual assistance Treaty into US law. The Treaty, designed to streamline cooperation between signatory countries, will significant expand the power of investigators to access data and prosecute offences ranging from copyright infringement to "hate speech". PI warns that if the Senate ratifies the Treaty, "dozens of countries will have 'on demand' access to the personal information and communications records of any American they may wish to investigate". This data - including full email logs, phone records and mobile phone location data together with account and financial records - could be "cherry picked" by investigating authorities in countries that ratify the treaty. theregister.co.uk

Defiant Israel vows to ignore UN resolution on roadmap November 21, 2003 JERUSALEM: A defiant Israel vowed to ignore a United Nations resolution endorsing the "roadmap" for peace plan and push on with its West Bank separation barrier despite sharp criticism from US President George W. Bush. Trade Minister Ehud Olmert, the official number two to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said Israel does not feel bound by the Security Council's unanimous resolution on the internationally-backed roadmap. channelnewsasia.com

There's Something Happening Here November 20, 2003 By Robert Scheer The echoes of Vietnam emanating from Iraq are all too clear. Here we go again. Only now it's the "Iraqification" rather than the "Vietnamization" of a quagmire war in another distant and increasingly hostile land. Washington's puppets are once again said to be on the verge of getting their act together, and the American people are daily assured that we are about to turn the corner. Soon we will be able to give Iraq back to the Iraqis, and some distant day the United States will get out. In the meantime, U.S. troops must continue in a "support role" while being maimed and killed with increasing frequency. latimes.com

In A Party Of Hypocrites, Neocons Are King November 20, 2003 By: Allen Snyder I've never been accused of being optimistic about human nature. Hobbes was right all along; we're selfish, violent, manipulative pigs. So naturally, I distrust all authority figures, most of all the illegally appointed buffoons who, by convenient miracles called "voter fraud", "public ignorance", and "tainted court" woke up one day in Washington with way too much power. As the country swirls around the bowl (is it clockwise or counter-clockwise in this hemisphere?); economic despair, constitutional rights erosion, perpetual lying, unnecessary recalls (CA), illegal redistricting fights (TX), a death or three a day in Iraq, and Presidential scandals that split 2-for-1, there is, believe it or not, some good news. enter.net

Bush’s London speech: A defense of aggression and lawlessness November 20, 2003 By Patrick Martin President Bush’s speech Wednesday to a London audience, the highlight of his three-day state visit to Great Britain, was an uncompromising defense of the conquest of Iraq and Afghanistan. He made it clear the US would not hesitate to employ whatever level of violence was necessary to suppress the Iraqi resistance, and left no doubt that his administration remained opposed to ceding political control of the occupied country to the United Nations. wsws.org

War critics astonished as US hawk admits invasion was illegal November 20, 2003 Oliver Burkeman and Julian Borger in Washington International lawyers and anti-war campaigners reacted with astonishment yesterday after the influential Pentagon hawk Richard Perle conceded that the invasion of Iraq had been illegal. In a startling break with the official White House and Downing Street lines, Mr Perle told an audience in London: "I think in this case international law stood in the way of doing the right thing." guardian.co.uk

U.S.'s 'Iron Hammer' Code Name 1st Used by Nazis November 19, 2003 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military's code name for a crackdown on resistance in Iraq was also used by the Nazis for an aborted operation to damage the Soviet power grid during World War II. "Operation Iron Hammer" this week launched the 1st Armored Division's 3rd Brigade into the roughest parts of Baghdad to ferret out the attackers who have killed scores of U.S. troops. news.yahoo.com

GIs razing homes of suspected Iraqi insurgents Families say they were given 5 minutes to get out November 19, 2003 BY JEFF WILKINSON KRT NEWS SERVICETIKRIT, Iraq -- In a tactic reminiscent of Israeli crackdowns in the West Bank and Gaza, the U.S. military has begun destroying the homes of suspected guerrilla fighters in Iraq's Sunni Triangle, evacuating women and children, then leveling their houses with heavy weaponry, tanks and Apache helicopters. nj.com

Americans turn Tikrit into Iraq's own West Bank November 19, 2003 By Phil Reeves in Awja It is the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but transported to Iraq. A town is imprisoned by razor wire. The entrance is guarded by soldiers, protected by sand bags, concrete barricades and a machine-gun nest. Only those people with an identification card issued by the occupation authorities are allowed in or, more importantly, out. "Hey, this is just like Gaza, isn't it?" a fiery-eyed young Iraqi policeman shouted at us, "We're not happy. Not happy!" news.independent.co.uk

Jose Padilla is you November 19, 2003 Reader Commentary JOSE PADILLA IS AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. An American citizen who - on the whim of our esteemed moronic leader, who is know far and wide for his brilliant ability to weigh evidence and Intelligence information in the most incisive manner- has been jailed, incommunicado, for a year and a half, with no legal recourse, and no charges filed against him. The American Revolution was fought precisely against this - the English were arresting people - with no charges or evidence, and jailing them incommunicado for years. We have been invaded. There has been a Regime Change in the US. If this is OK with you, then do nothing. informationclearinghouse.info

Opposition to USA Patriot Act Swells November 19, 2003 By KEN RITTER LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Rebecca Foster couldn't believe it when a bank cited the USA Patriot Act and asked her and fellow homeowners association board members for their Social Security and driver's license numbers. "They said they had to check us against a terrorist list," said Foster, a grandmother whose five-member board oversees a Las Vegas community. "That seemed kind of preposterous. None of us are terrorists." customwire.ap.org

America can wage war again, alone: Bush November 19, 2003 London, (Reuters): The US would wage war again, and alone if necessary, President George W. Bush said in an interview published today. telegraphindia.com

Slain troops' parents could be hard on Bush November 19, 2003 By Peter Graff LONDON (Reuters) - Reg Keys, whose son Thomas was killed in Iraq, is not on the list of family members of fallen British servicemen invited to meet George W. Bush this week, but he wishes he was: he has a message for the U.S. president. "I'd love to meet him, but I'd refuse his hand," he said. "I'd say: 'I can't shake that hand. It's stained with the blood of my son.'" reuters.co.uk

Love, American Style November 19, 2003 By Daniel Patrick Welch Can the Brits feel the love yet? Exporting democracy, it turns out, means more than just showing unfortunate non-westerners the joys of having someone else write a decent constitution for them. We have now advanced to the point where we can tell even the land of the Magna Carta just where they went wrong. Apparently, they are so inept at running their own country that George Bush and his coterie of war criminals need to tell them just how to tailor democracy to American tastes. danielpwelch.com

Wal-Mart Collapses Cities and Towns U.S. November 19, 2003 by Richard Freeman During the last 20 years, Wal-Mart has moved into communities and destroyed them, wiping out stores, slashing the tax base, and turning downtown areas into ghost-towns. This is accomplished through Wal-Mart's policy of paying workers below subsistence wages, and importing goods that have been produced under slave-labor conditions overseas. Often, communities will even give Wal-Mart tax incentives, for the right to be destroyed. larouchepub.com

The Fiddle and The Drum November 19, 2003 A Readers Commentary (ICH) I was reading the Guardian's "Letters to George Bush", and I was struck by how many UK writers made mention of the disappointment they felt that Bush's policies had betrayed much of what the rest of the world admired about America. informationclearinghouse.info

Arizona sheriff introduces female chain gangs November 19, 2003 By Elisa Brehm A recent newspaper item provides a horrifying glimpse into an aspect of modern life in the US that is not generally publicized. It describes the phenomenon of female chain gangs. This practice occurs not in a rural southern American town, but Maricopa County, Arizona, which covers an area that includes the 3 million residents of metropolitan Phoenix, one of the country’s largest urban centers. wsws.org

BUSH: CLAP ME OR NO EU SPEECH November 18, 2003 By Paul Gilfeather GEORGE Bush pulled out of a speech to the European Parliament when MEPs wouldn't guarantee a standing ovation. Senior White House officials said the President would only go to Strasbourg to talk about Iraq if he had a stage-managed welcome. A source close to negotiations said last night: "President Bush agreed to a speech but insisted he get a standing ovation like at the State of the Union address. mirror.co.uk

Republicans sneak privatization of Medicare into prescription drug benefit bill November 18, 2003 by Joanne Kenen, Reuters News Agency Republicans were gearing up Thursday to begin selling a complex Medicare plan while congressional Democrats assailed it as bringing on the demise of the health program for the elderly. "There is absolutely no way that I would, or would encourage others to, support a bill that undermines Medicare, that gives a windfall to the pharmaceutical industry, a slush fund to the HMOs (health maintenance organizations) and does not give seniors what they deserve," said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California. unknownnews.net

Bush administration prepares strategy to revamp Social Security November 18, 2003 Leigh Strope Associated Press WASHINGTON - With the stock market climbing and a re-election campaign approaching, the Bush administration is renewing its push to overhaul Social Security with personal investment accounts. http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1117socialsecurity-ON.html
Social Security:
On our side: a broad coalition that believes in Social Security and strives to protect it. On the other side: anti-government and financial interests that would privatize it. Will Social Security be there for the future? That depends on who wins the fight.
"Zogby Misrepresents Public Opinion on Social Security."
By Hans Riemer (02/06/03)
"Democrats Won the Fight on Social Security in 2002."
By Hans Riemer (01/07/03)
National coalition fights Bush's stacked-deck Social Security Commission.
Special collection on Social Security in election 2002: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
. Administrative Costs of Privatization
. Bush Social Security Commission
. Money Trail and Wall Street
. Young people and Social Security

Stocks skid to three-week lows on security worries November 18, 2003 By Susan Lerner NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - U.S. stocks fell to a three-week low Monday Morning as security concerns pummeled stocks around the globe following several weekend terrorist attacks. biz.yahoo.com

American Gulag November 18, 2003 No American president should have the absolute power to imprison people at will, even when the nation is at war. That's the unfettered power President George W. Bush has claimed for himself in the war on terrorism. On his authority alone -- unchecked by courts or international convention -- 660 people from 42 nations captured in the Afghanistan war have been locked in a U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for two years. Two others -- American citizens -- have been held in military brigs almost as long, without criminal charges or access to family, lawyers or court. Bush has labeled them "enemy combatants." With those two words, the president says he can lawfully move anyone he chooses beyond the reach of any legal authority other than his own. newsday.com

The Zero Year Presidential Curse - Might Tragedy Strike? November 18, 2003  By William S. Connery Chief Tecumseh cursed William Henry Harrison before he took presidential office. Does the curse still linger? Bush was elected in the year 2000. Every president elected from 1840 onward in the years ending in 0 either has been shot or has died in office. Indeed, this odd coincidence seemingly fulfills the folk myth of a remarkable Indian curse. rense.com

GAO report: Some Army troops unpaid for weeks, denied medical care November 18, 2003 By Sandra Jontz, (Stars and Stripes) WASHINGTON — Army National Guard soldiers activated to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan are plagued with pay-and-benefits problems and even denial of medical care to those wounded, auditors reported. informationclearinghouse.info

Defense Department Deletes Notice About Draft Boards November 18, 2003 On 23 Sept 2003, the Defense Department Website called "Defend America" posted a notice for people to join local draft boards. In early November, that notice started to receive media attention, with articles from the Associated Press, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer , the Oregonian, the Toronto Star, the BBC, and London Guardian (unsurprisingly, none of the major papers or networks in the US covered it). In a familiar turn of events, the notice suddenly disappeared from the Website. See the mirrored page and posted here. thememoryhole.org

BRITS ARE NOT ANTI-US, JUST ANTI-BUSH November 18, 2003 By Jonathan Freedland TONY Blair already knows who they are. Before a single demonstrator has taken to the streets to protest at George W Bush's state visit, the Prime Minister is clear what kind of people they are and what they believe. Their creed, he insists, is "anti-Americanism" - opposition to the United States and everything it stands for. But the PM has got it badly wrong. mirror.co.uk

George W. Bush: The writing on the wall November 18, 2003 The massive security operation in London to protect George Bush, the lies and reiteration of lies and Washington's acts of butchery in Iraq spell a clear message to the President of the United States of America. In three years, George W. Bush and his odious regime have managed to destroy the carefully-built climate of trust between the USA and the international community, to create the most venomous anti-American feeling the planet has ever known. english.pravda.ru

Editor deemed 'National threat' November 18, 2003 When an Australian magazine editor flew to Los Angeles last week to interview Olivia Newton-John she had no idea she would become the story. New Idea editor Sue Smethurst said she would lodge a formal complaint with US authorities after she was treated as a threat to national security and deported back to Australia after nearly 15 hours of interrogation at Los Angeles airport. "I would have walked across broken glass to get home," Ms Smethurst said today. informationclearinghouse.info