Soldiers,
Families Oppose Bush Casualties Mount Post Saddam
January 31, 2004 by Kerry Taylor President
Bush's war in Iraq faces growing opposition from those who are on the front
lines: soldiers, their families and veterans, including high-ranking officers. A
bipartisan poll published by Business Week in December showed approval for the
president at a mere 36 percent among soldiers, their families and veterans. war-times.org
Record Number to Run Out of Unemployment
Benefits January 31,
2004 By Kirstin Downey A record-high 375,000 jobless workers will
exhaust their unemployment insurance this month and an estimated 2 million
workers will find themselves in the same predicament during the first half of
the year, according to an analysis of Labor Department statistics by the Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities. washingtonpost.com
Bush
Seeking Big Increase in Missile Defense
January 31, 2004 By Jeremy Pelofsky The Bush administration will
ask Congress to boost spending on missile defense by $1.2 billion next year and
nearly double funding to modernize the Army in the $401.7 billion U.S. military
budget for 2005, according to Pentagon documents released on Friday. The defense
plan is part of a proposed $2.3 trillion federal budget President Bush will send
to lawmakers on Monday. It calls for a 7 percent increase in defense spending
over the current level of $375 billion. reuters.com
Minnesota to launch drug website
January 31, 2004 By Christopher Rowland, Globe
Staff State to offer residents information on buying products from
Canada. Minnesota plans to launch a website today offering its residents
information on how to order prescription drugs from Canada, making it the first
state to take concrete action in defiance of the federal government. The
plan represents an escalation of the confrontation over drug costs between the
federal government and the more than two dozen states that in one form or
another have expressed desires to import cheaper drugs from Canada. boston.com
New York Times calls for exclusion of
Kucinich and Sharpton from debates January
31, 2004 By Kate Randall In a January 28 editorial, (“Defrosting
the Primaries”), the New York Times called for candidates Dennis Kucinich and
Al Sharpton to be excluded from future debates in the contest for the Democratic
Party presidential nomination. The Times writes: “Representative Dennis
Kucinich has every right to keep campaigning despite his minuscule vote tallies,
but he should not be allowed to take up time in future candidate debates. wsws.org
Castro accuses
Bush of plotting with exiles to kill him January
31, 2004 By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press HAVANA
— Cuban President Fidel Castro accused President Bush on Friday of plotting
with Miami exiles to kill him as part of his administration's hardening policies
against the communist island. His comments came at
the end of a 51/2-hour speech that began Thursday night and continued into early
Friday at the close of a conference bringing together activists across the
region who oppose the Free Trade Area of the Americas. "We
know that Mr. Bush has committed himself to the mafia ... to assassinate
me," the Cuban president said, using the term commonly employed here to
describe anti-Castro Cuban Americans. naplesnews.com
Monsanto's chapati patent raises Indian ire
January 31, 2004 Randeep Ramesh in New Delhi. Monsanto, the world's
largest genetically modified seed company, has been awarded patents on the wheat
used for making chapati - the flat bread staple of northern India. The patents
give the US multinational exclusive ownership over Nap Hal, a strain of wheat
whose gene sequence makes it particularly suited to producing crisp breads.
Another patent, filed in Europe, gives Monsanto rights over the use of Nap Hal
wheat to make chapatis, which consist of flour, water and salt.
Environmentalists say Nap Hal's qualities are the result of generations of
farmers in India who spent years crossbreeding crops and collective, not
corporate, efforts should be recognised. Monsanto, activists claim, is simply
out to make "monopoly profits" from food on which millions depend.
"It is theft of the results of the work in cultivation made by Indian
farmers," said Dr Christoph Then, Greenpeace's patent expert after a
meeting with the European Commission in Delhi. guardian.co.uk
'The Americans Are Treating Us Like
Animals' US Misrepresenting Casualty
Counts And Beating Sheikhs In Ramadi January 30, 2004 By Dahr Jamail
Yesterday in Khaldiya, 60 miles west of Baghdad, a powerful roadside bomb
exploded killing US soldiers. Iraqi civilians were killed by US soldiers'
gunfire during the aftermath. However, questions about the conflicting numbers
as to the number of dead US soldiers and Iraqi civilians remain. In a CENTCOM
press release for the incident, the US Military claims that three task force
"All American" soldiers were killed in the blast by the Improvised
Explosive Device (IED), and one Iraqi killed. The press release also states that
one soldier and several Iraqis were wounded. Witnesses at the scene today told a
very different story, as did personnel at the Ramadi Hospital where the civilian
Iraqi casualties were taken. Mohammed (last name withheld), a 25 year old Iraqi
man who lives near the scene, said, "I saw 12 US soldiers killed. Body
parts were everywhere. There were also at least 5 injured." rense.com
Bush's
War Lie is a Historical Tragedy for America and Iraq January
30, 2004 By: Dave Chandler Let us 'remember' ... Less than one year ago,
George W. Bush knew the truth: Iraq posed no weapons of mass destruction threat.
He knew because that is what the United Nations weapons inspectors were telling
him and the whole world. Yet Bush clung to what he knew was a lie. He was not
mislead by American intelligence -- he decided to use the lie and start a war.
Since the beginning of the year, there have been momentous developments in the
tale about why George Bush ordered the unprovoked attack, invasion, and
occupation of Iraq. These days may be remembered as the point when the American
people started to come to the realization that when Bush was confronted with the
decision to choose war or peace -- he, and he alone, by virtue of his office --
betrayed the republic on what is the gravest action a nation can take, to make
war. thepeoplesvoice.org
Illegals rise 15% since Bush plan
January 30, 2004 WorldNetDaily.com Border Patrol seeing increase in
attempts at busiest crossing. Confirming the worst fears of those who oppose
President Bush's plans to change immigration laws, U.S. Border Patrol officials
report a 15 percent increase in the use of fraudulent documents at the world's
busiest land border crossing. worldnetdaily.com
Bush Declines to Back Call for Iraq Probe
January 30, 2004 By TERENCE HUNT, AP
President Bush said Friday "I want to know the facts" about any
intelligence failures concerning Saddam Hussein's alleged cache of forbidden
weapons but he declined to endorse calls for an independent investigation. The
issue of an independent commission has blossomed into an election-year problem
for the president, with Democrats and Republicans alike supporting the idea.
Former chief weapons inspector David Kay has concluded that Iraq did not possess
weapons of mass destruction, which Bush had cited as a rationale for going to
war against Iraq. story.news.yahoo.com
Justice Warns
Against Civil Rights Apathy January
30,
2004 By GINA HOLLAND, Associated
Press Writer Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg said Thursday that people concerned about losing freedom to government
anti-terrorism efforts should speak out. The
Supreme Court is taking up several terror-related cases this spring, including
challenges to the government detention of terror suspects without legal rights.
Ginsburg, speaking to a group of women's rights lawyers,
was asked if people's rights were in danger. "On
important issues, like the balance between liberty and security, if the public
doesn't care, then the security side is going to overweigh the other," she
said. That would change, Ginsburg said, "if
people come forward and say we are proud to live in the USA, a land that has
been more free, and we want to keep it that way." yahoo.com
Bill calls for paper record
of all votes January
30, 2004 By TOM BELL AUGUSTA
Touch-screen voting machines will be in every Maine precinct in two years, and
people who worry about the potential for fraud are pushing for a law to ban
machines that don't keep a voter-verified paper trail. Legislation
proposed by Rep. Hannah Pingree, D-North Haven, would require that both voters
and municipalities get a paper record of all votes. pressherald.com
Russia
planning maneuvers of its nuclear forces next month
January 30,
2004 VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV MOSCOW (AP)
Russia's nuclear forces reportedly are preparing their largest maneuvers in two
decades, an exercise involving the test-firing of missiles and flights by dozens
of bombers in a massive simulation of an all-out nuclear war. President Vladimir
Putin is expected to personally oversee the maneuvers, which are apparently
aimed at demonstrating the revival of the nation's military might and come ahead
of Russian elections in March. sfgate.com
Error
in Terror “HONEST
MISTAKES? January
29, 2004 By: Ted Lang Well who’d have thunk it?
The invasion of Iraq was just an honest mistake – kinda like a
homeowner of a real old house putting a penny in an antique, screw-in fuse
socket and then watching his house catch fire and burn to the ground from
the resultant electrical overload. Oh
well, simple error in judgment! Any
family members trapped in the blaze? Only
one? Too bad!
Hey, an honest mistake is an honest mistake!
No one planned on killing anyone. Can you see such an argument justifying dismissal in an ordinary
criminal or civil court? thepeoplesvoice.org
'War based on the
big lie' January
29, 2004 WILLIAM T. PHILLIPS As far as lessening the threat of terrorism, the war in Iraq
will accomplish precisely the opposite. There is no evidence that Saddam Hussein
aided any terrorism organizations against the U.S. The war has markedly
increased hatred against the United States, not only in the Muslim world, but
even throughout Europe, Asia, South America and Africa. We have provided Al
Qaeda and other radical groups millions of new sympathizers and certainly
thousands of zealots motivated enough to become suicide bombers against us. Shortly after 9-11,
Wolfowitz,
Perle and their ilk began asserting that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD),
and the only way to get rid of them was by going to war. Even the White House
and State Department showed satellite photos of supposed WMD sites. Of course,
if they had any true evidence, they would have informed the inspectors where the
weapons were but none were found. So
America went to war based on the big lie.
pe-online.com
We were all wrong, says
ex-weapons inspector
January 29, 2004 Simon Jeffery The former head of the US weapons inspection
teams in Iraq has said "we were almost all wrong" in believing before
the war that Saddam Hussein had chemical or biological arms. David
Kay, who last week resigned from the Iraq Survey Group, told a Senate hearing
yesterday that failures had become too apparent in the US's
intelligence-gathering capabilities. "Let
me begin by saying, we were almost all wrong, and I certainly include myself
here," he said. guardian.co.uk
Why We'll Pay a Price for Bush's Fibs About Iraq's WMD
January 29,
2004 By P. M. Carpenter TV-mag journalist Diane Sawyer recently asked the
president why, in the prewar stage, he portrayed Iraqi weapons as an imminent
threat to U.S. security when intelligence reports, replete with cautionary tones
and caveats, more often referred to potentialities. The president answered,
“So what's the difference?” Those were
astonishing words, even for famously indifferent George W. Bush. Impossible to
know is if he let them escape out of peerless arrogance or mere ignorance; yet,
using his own standard of critical analysis, what difference does it make? The
frightening reality is this: Either a want in character or deficiency of
intellect has produced a president capable of dragging the nation to
unparalleled heights of international loathing, all the while he was without a
clue or a care. hnn.us
Thirteen American Soldiers Court Martialled
January
29, 2004 AFP Adultery,
assault, drunkenness, kidnapping, stealing computers, abusing prisoners and
attempting to flee to Syria are some of the offences US soldiers have been
charged with in court martial cases since Americans landed in Iraq. At least 13
soldiers have gone up for court martial hearings in Iraq since May 1, the
official end of major combat in the strife-torn country, according to an
official army list obtained by AFP. jihadunspun.com
Afghan Weapons
Cache Blast Kills 7 GIs January
29, 2004 KABUL,
Afghanistan (AP) - Seven U.S. soldiers were killed and three injured in an
explosion Thursday, U.S. Central Command said. One American soldier was missing.
An Afghan interpreter
also was injured in the 3 p.m. explosion near the city of Ghazni, 60 miles
southwest of the capital, Kabul. The soldiers had been working around a weapons
cache when the blast happened, Centcom said in a statement. pnews.myway.com
Bush to eliminate nuclear plant standards Plan to let contractors devise new
rules January
29, 2004 By NANCY ZUCKERBROD Associated Press WASHINGTON -- The Bush
administration is moving to replace government safety standards at federal
nuclear facilities with requirements written by contractors -- after Congress
directed it to start fining the contractors for violations. Long-established
government minimum standards at the more than two dozen nuclear weapons plants
and research labs around the nation would become unenforceable guidelines under
the Energy Department proposal. chron.com
Truth
catching up to Bush January
29, 2004 HAROON SIDDIQUI Regardless
of who emerges as the Democratic presidential nominee, the race has already
served its greater democratic purpose: It has blown away George W. Bush's
wartime aura of patriotic infallibility. Not
only Howard Dean, the passionate truth-teller about Iraq, but Senator John
Kerry, Gen. Wesley Clark and others have found their voices to question almost
all aspects of Bush's post-Sept. 11 performance. thestar.com
New Hampshire vote shows widespread antiwar, anti-Bush sentiment
January
29, 2004 By Patrick Martin The record turnout in the New
Hampshire Democratic primary and the dismal fifth-place showing of Senator
Joseph Lieberman, the only candidate to identify himself with the Bush
administration’s war in Iraq, demonstrate the deep-seated antiwar sentiment
among wide layers of the American population. wsws.org
What
Just One Company Can Do To the World Sanjay Suri
Just one oil company has thrown three times as much carbon dioxide into the air
as the current annual emissions from fossil fuels, a new study by Friends of the
Earth claims. (IPS) Just one oil company has thrown three times as much carbon dioxide into the
air as the current annual emissions from fossil fuels, a new study by Friends of
the Earth claims. ipsnews.net
Ashcroft: Bush would veto
bill scaling back Patriot Act January
29, 2004 CURT ANDERSON The Bush administration
issued a veto threat Thursday against legislation introduced in Congress that
would scale back key parts of the anti-terrorism Patriot Act. In
a letter to Senate leaders, Attorney General John Ashcroft said the changes
contemplated by the Security and Freedom Ensured Act, or SAFE, would
"undermine our ongoing campaign to detect and prevent catastrophic
terrorist attacks." If
the bill reaches President Bush's desk in its current form, Ashcroft said,
"the president's senior advisers will recommend that it be vetoed." The threat comes a week after
Bush, in his State of the Union address, called for Congress to reauthorize the
Patriot Act before it expires in 2005. www.sfgate.com
Let's be Explicit and Clear: George McGovern Was Right About the Vietnam War
-- And He's Right About the Iraq War January
29, 2004 A
BUZZFLASH INTERVIEW "Let
me say that one thing that Richard Pearle and Dick Cheney and George W. Bush
have in common is that none of them have ever been near a combat scene.
They're perfectly willing to send younger people -- other people's sons --
into war. They're very generous with that blood of the young men and women
that they throw into combat so casually. But they've protected their blood and
their limbs by never serving near a battlefield. That's true of the President.
It's true of the Vice President. It's true of Pearle and Wolfowitz -- that
whole crowd of neo-conservatives that have the ear of the President." --
Former Senator George McGovern and 1972 Democratic Candidate for President buzzflash.com
9/11 Commission Says It Needs More Time
January
29, 2004 By PHILIP
SHENON WASHINGTON
The independent commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks
announced on Tuesday that it was seeking an extension of its deadline to
complete the investigation until at least July, raising the prospect of a public
fight with the White House and a final report delivered in the heat of the
presidential campaign. The White House and Republican Congressional leaders have
said they see no need to extend the congressionally mandated deadline, now set
for May 27, and a spokesman for Speaker J. Dennis Hastert said Tuesday that Mr.
Hastert would oppose any legislation to grant the extension? nytimes.com
11-year-old boy among eight killed in Israeli tank raid on Gaza City
January 29, 2004 By Sa'id Ghazali and Justin Huggler At least eight Palestinians
were killed in an Israeli raid into Gaza City yesterday - among them an
11-year-old boy, according to Palestinian doctors. Witnesses identified two of
the dead, in addition to the 11-year-old, as civilians. independent.co.uk
Protester=Criminal?
January 28, 2004 by
Matthew Rothschild In many
places across George Bush's America, you may be losing your ability to exercise
your lawful First Amendment rights of speech and assembly. Increasingly, some
police departments, the FBI, and the Secret Service are engaging in the
criminalization--or, at the very least, the marginalization--of dissent. "We
have not seen such a crackdown on First Amendment activities since the Vietnam
War," says Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU). This crackdown took a violent turn in late November at
the Miami protests against the Free Trade Area of the Americas and at an
anti-war protest at the Port of Oakland last April. In both cases, the police
used astonishing force to break up protests. But even when the police do not
engage in violence, they sometimes blatantly interfere with the right to dissent
by preemptively arresting people on specious grounds.
progressive.org
Political Repression in the Belly of the Beast
January
28, 2004 While some segments of U.S. society like rightwing
fundamentalists are being given the right to proselytize
in national parks, other citizens are finding their civil rights being
curtailed. Some activists in the States have been denied
the right to travel and, of course, the recent police
state installed in Miami during the FTAA demonstrations denied citizens the
right to free assembly and protection from unreasonable search and seizure. The
top cop behind the Miami outrage was police chief John
Timoney, who also created similar zones of constitutional abuse during the
Republican National Convention in 2000. One of the activists arrested there is
still facing
charges brought by Timoney. indymedia.org
Working and Poor in the USA January
28,
2004 by Beth Shulman IF
or generations, Americans shared a tacit understanding that if you worked hard,
you could earn a livable income and provide basic security for yourself and your
family. That promise has been broken. More than 30 million Americans--one in
four workers--are stuck in low-wage jobs that do not provide the basics for a
decent life. thenation.com
UNITED STATES: Dock workers to stop work to protest Iraq war
January 28, 2004 Shane Bentley At its
January 15 membership meeting, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU)
Local 10 voted to hold a stop-work meeting on March 20 to shut down San
Francisco Bay docks in solidarity with protest marches taking place that day
against the US occupation of Iraq. The dockers' union branch is using a
contract provision that allows for a monthly stop-work meeting to conduct its
solidarity action. Local 10 is trying to organise all US West Coast ports to
take the same action. greenleft.org.au
The First Lie January
28, 2004 John C. Bonifaz attorney While
all of the Democratic presidential candidates (except Sen. Joseph Lieberman)
criticize President George W. Bush for his unilateral recklessness in starting a
war against Iraq, they are missing a larger point: The invasion was not just
reckless. It was unconstitutional. It is time to set the record straight. The
United States Congress never voted for the Iraq war. Rather, Congress voted for
a resolution in October 2002 which unlawfully transferred to the president the
decision-making power of whether to launch a first-strike invasion of Iraq. The
United States Constitution vests the awesome power of deciding whether to send
the nation into war solely in the United States Congress. tompaine.com
UN warns over Israeli demolitions
January
28, 2004 By James Rodgers
BBC Gaza correspondent The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees is warning that it
may not be able to cope with the number of people made homeless by Israeli army
demolitions. The head of the organisation,
Peter Hansen - on a visit to the southern Gaza Strip - condemned Israel's policy
of demolishing houses as a hugely disproportionate military response. news.bbc.co.uk
Give You Liberty or Give You Death
January
28, 2004 by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. "The
people of Iraq are free," said President Bush in his State of the Union
speech. A few days later, a terrible problem presented itself. It seems that the
best-selling popular
music in Iraq heralds the resistance and condemns the occupation. Here's
a sample lyric:
"America has come and occupied Baghdad. The army and people have weapons
and ammunition. Let's go fight and call out the name of God." CD
shops around the country admit, when pressed, that this music is far more
popular than the American and Arabic tunes that the US occupation forces
stations to play. The US may call it terrorist music, but its message is
enormously popular. lewrockwell.com
America: An empire to rival Rome? January
28, 2004 In a new six-part series entitled Age
of Empire, the BBC's Jonathan Marcus sets out on a journey to examine America's
place in the modern world. "America has no empire
to extend or utopia to establish. We wish for others only what we wish for
ourselves - safety from violence, the rewards of liberty, and the hope for a
better life." So declared President George Bush in
the traditional graduation address at the US Military academy at West Point in
June 2002. But despite his insistence that the US has no
imperial ambitions, the word "empire" is increasingly used by
academics and pundits alike when talking about America's role in the world. news.bbc.co.uk
America's War for Global
Domination
January 28, 2004 by Michel Chossudovsky We are the
juncture of the most serious crisis in modern history. The
Bush Administration has embarked upon a military adventure which threatens the
future of humanity. The wars on Afghanistan and Iraq
are part of a broader military agenda, which was launched at the end of the Cold
War. The ongoing war agenda is a continuation of the 1991 Gulf War and the NATO
led wars on Yugoslavia (1991-2001). The post Cold
War period has also been marked by numerous US covert intelligence operations
within the former Soviet Union, which were instrumental in triggering civil wars
in several of the former republics including Chechnya (within the Russian
Federation), Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the latter, these covert operations were
launched with a view to securing strategic control over oil and gas pipeline
corridors. globalresearch.ca
Connected Iraq War Opponent a "Suicide" by DCDave
Picture of Gus
Weiss Gus W. Weiss, 72, adviser to four presidents on top secret policy
matters, died violently in Washington, DC, on November 25, 2003, but his death
was not reported by The Washington Post until December 7, 2003, in the obitiuary
section at the bottom of page C12. His home town newspaper, The Nashville
Tennessean, was only a week late in reporting his death, but at that late date
all they could say was, "The circumstances surrounding his death could not
be confirmed last night." thebird.org
UN overwhelmed by Palestinian homeless demands
GAZA CITY (AFP) The head of the UN
agency for Palestinian refugees says his organisation is unable to keep pace
with the demand for housing from families made homeless by the Israeli army's
demolitions in the Gaza Strip Peter Hansen,
commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), told
AFP in an interview here Wednesday that his organisation did not have the funds
to provide adequate shelter to refugees after the destruction of some 1,400
houses in Gaza. news.yahoo.com
Is That All There Is? January
28,
2004 By Sam Smith IF things keep going the way they are, the Democrats
will nominate for president a man who was wrong on the Iraq war, wrong on the
Bush tax cuts, wrong on the Bush education disaster, and wrong on the Patriot
Act. And despite intimations of immutability by the media, all this has happened
many, if not most, Democrats being unaware of the aforementioned. In short, the
Democrats are preparing to nominate someone who agreed with George Bush on many
of the major issues of the day and has only lately discovered that this may not
have been such a good idea. scoop.co.nz
Second Amendment Foundation Says Spokane's
'Zero Tolerance Equals Zero Common Sense' January
28,
2004 BELLEVUE, Wash., /U.S.
Newswire/ The Spokane School District's "zero tolerance policy" on
weapons that left three boys suspended for bringing tiny 2-inch-long
"action figure toy guns" to school reflects zero common sense on the
part of school administrators, the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) said today.
SAF founder Alan Gottlieb said the school district, and
especially Bemiss Elementary Principal Lorna Spear, "should be kept after
school for this foolishness." "I get the
feeling that when Spear was in school, she skipped class the day they covered
the lesson on common sense," Gottlieb stated. "Zero tolerance policies
are excuses that allow bureaucrats to escape making reasonable decisions on
their own. "It doesn't take any brains at all for a
rational adult to determine that a 2-inch-long toy gun is not a threat to
anyone," he continued. "Then, again, writing an inflexible zero
tolerance policy evidently doesn't take any brains, either. "Instead
of an education, these kids got the inquisition," he concluded.
"Principal Spear and Spokane school administrators need to stand in the
corner until they grow up." usnewswire.com
Record
Number of Unemployed Going Without Aid Due to Ending of Federal Unemployment
Benefits Program January 28, 2004 usnewswire
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities will hold a conference call briefing
on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 3:00 p.m. (ET) to release a study showing that the
number of jobless workers who are exhausting their regular unemployment benefits
and receiving no further unemployment assistance - and thus are getting neither
a paycheck nor unemployment benefits - is hitting a record level in January. The
study shows that the number of such unemployed workers aid is expected to remain
at record levels at least through the first half of 2004. Nearly two million
unemployed workers are expected to be in this situation over the January -- June
period. releases.usnewswire.com
Damn Hippie Liberal Trees BushCo wants
you to know: Caring about the environment is for pinko terrorist idiots
January 28, 2004 By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist As if
600-year-old redwoods give a damn for your politics. As if struggling salmon
care a whit for the Catholic Church's sneering homophobic stance on gay
marriage. Like Alaskan elk think your viewpoints on war are far too lopsided to
hold sway in the national dialogue. There are typical GOP evils and there are
warmongering BushCo flying monkeys and there is Dick Cheney's pallid sneer as he
slaughters a small mountain of birds for blood
sport, and then there is perhaps the most vile and destructive notion the
GOP has succeeded in foisting upon the numbed nation to date: that caring about
Mother Nature makes you, yet again, a "goddamn hippie liberal." sfgate.com
Iraq Bombings Kills 6 U.S. Soldiers
January 28, 2004 By HAMZA HENDAWI BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The United Nations agreed
Tuesday to send a team to Iraq to help break the impasse over electing a new
government as the deaths of six more American soldiers in roadside
bombings underscored concerns about security in the volatile nation. A bomb that
exploded south of Baghdad killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded three
others Tuesday night, hours after another bombing west of the capital killed
three U.S. paratroopers and wounded one, the military said. In addition, two
employees of Cable News Network died in a shooting south of Baghdad. guardian.co.uk
Iraq war unjustified says human rights group
January 28, 2004 Ewen MacAskill The US and British governments cannot
justify the Iraq war on humanitarian grounds, according to the annual report of
Human Rights Watch published yesterday. Kenneth Roth, executive director of the
human rights organisation, said at the launch of its 407-page report in London:
"The Bush administration cannot justify the war in Iraq as a humanitarian
intervention, and neither can Tony Blair. guardian.co.uk
Water, sickness, and a
brewing Storm January
28, 2004 Dahr Jamail “I think the
American’s came here because they want something, not just because they love
the Iraqi people. If they really came to help, then they should leave quickly.
Now we are waiting for the next 6 months. The longer we wait, the more we see
their promises are not being kept.” He takes a sip of chai, thinks for a
moment, and says, “No occupation ever makes things good for the people. All
the people in the world must know the American’s are here just to help Mr.
Bush win this next election. The same people who benefited under Saddam are
benefiting more now. And the same people who suffered under Saddam, are
suffering even more now.” electroniciraq.net
Iraqi whispers
mull repeat of 1920s revolt over Western occupation January 28, 2004 By
Hannah Allam and Tom Lasseter Knight Ridder BAGHDAD,
Iraq - Whispers of "revolution" are growing louder in Baghdad this
month at teahouses, public protests and tribal meetings as Iraqis point to the
past as an omen for the future. Iraqis
remember 1920 as one of the most glorious moments in modern history, one
followed by nearly eight decades of tumult. The bloody rebellion against British
rule that year is memorialized in schoolbooks, monuments and mass-produced
tapestries that hang in living rooms. Now,
many say there's an uncanny similarity with today: unpopular foreign occupiers,
unelected governing bodies and unhappy residents eager for self-determination.
The result could be another bloody uprising. realcities.com
Bush
'stole' the presidential election: Cherie January
28, 2004 LONDON In a forthright view that is likely
to embarrass her husband, Cherie Blair, wife of Prime Minister Tony Blair, is
reported to have observed that George W Bush "stole" the US
presidential election from Al Gore. Cherie Blair still believed that Bush had
stolen the White House from Gore," author Philip Stephens wrote in his book
"Tony Blair: The Making of a World Leader. " Although Tony Blair was
pragmatic about Bush's victory, Mrs Blair was far less sanguine about the
Supreme Court decision that gave him the keys to the White House. timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Will Vice President Cheney be
indicted—and will the US media report it?
January 28, 2004 By Patrick Martin A French investigation into $180
million in bribes paid by oil companies to government officials in Nigeria
threatens to implicate US Vice President Richard Cheney, according to reports in
the French and British press. The conservative French daily newspaper Le Figaro
wrote last month that “the Paris court contemplates an eventual indictment of
the present United States’ vice president, Richard Cheney, in his capacity as
former CEO of Halliburton.” wsws.org
US denies 'imminent'
threat warning January
28, 2004 AFP Correspondents in Washington THE White House today denied it ever warned that
Saddam Hussein posed an "imminent" threat to the United States. It is
already smarting from the failure so far to find weapons of mass destruction in
Iraq. "I think some in the media have chosento use the word 'imminent'.
Those were not words we used. We used 'grave and gathering' threat,"
spokesman Scott McClellan said. But if US President George W. Bush never
called Saddam's Iraq an "imminent threat" in so many words, he said
it was "urgent"."immediate" to Defence Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld. theaustralian.news.com
Kay Testimony Impeaches Bush
January 28, 2004 By Robert Scheer Can we now talk impeachment? The rueful
admission by the chief U.S. weapons inspector David Kay that Saddam Hussein did
not possess weapons of mass destruction or the means to create them raises the
prospect that the Bush administration is complicit in the greatest scandal in
U.S. history. Yet, we hear no calls for a broad-ranging investigation of the
type that led to the discovery of Monica Lewinsky's infamous blue dress. alternet.org
Bush Backs Away From His Claims About
Iraq Arms By DAVID E. SANGER President Bush declined Tuesday to repeat
his claims that evidence that Saddam Hussein had illicit weapons would
eventually be found in Iraq, but he insisted that the war was nonetheless
justified because Mr. Hussein posed "a grave and gathering threat to
America and the world." nytimes.com
The conservatives are outraged -- about
Bush January 28, 2004 By Michelle Goldberg
At the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, foot soldiers of the
right rail against the big-government, free-spending ways of the White House.
Razor-tongued right-wing darling Michelle Malkin stood before a cheering crowd
at the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday and denounced George
Bush's new immigration policy. Her voice oozing contempt, she described Bush as
"Clintonian" for claiming to oppose amnesty in his State of the Union
speech. She held up an orange sign with Bush's words, "I oppose
amnesty," written on it. Then she ripped it up and roared, "What part
of amnesty doesn't he understand?" salon.com
John Kerry voters intent on beating Bush January
28, 2004 By Mike Mokrzycki, Associated Press CONCORD, N.H.
-- John Kerry scored big among New Hampshire Democratic primary voters most
concerned about beating President George W. Bush in November, while Howard Dean
edged out Kerry among those angry with the Bush administration and most opposed
to the war in Iraq, an Associated Press exit poll found. boston.com
ACLU Files Complaint with United Nations
in Geneva Seeking Justice for Immigrants Detained and Deported after 9/11 January
28, 2004 GENEVA/NEW YORK In its first-ever official submission to the
United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the American Civil
Liberties Union today presented an official complaint to the United Nations on
behalf of immigrants imprisoned and deported from the United States after 9/11. aclu.org
Cartoonist calls Condi Rice 'murderer'
– again This time 'Boondocks' creator levels charge on national TV
January 28, 2004 By Paul Sperry WASHINGTON – He did it again, but this time on national
TV. Aaron
McGruder, a black syndicated cartoonist who's getting his own prime-time TV
series on Fox, called National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice "a
murderer" for her role in the Iraq war. He made the remark as a guest on
the nationally syndicated TV show www.abftv.com>
"America's Black Forum," hosted by syndicated columnist and Fox News
contributor Juan Williams. worldnetdaily.com
A surprise in a Wal-Mart shirt
January. 28, 2004 by Underground Panther in the Sky A couple of years ago
sometime, I bought a workout shirt from Wal-Mart. Mom was getting something
there and I decided to go because I needed a new shirt to sweat up at the gym
and I had nothing better to do. I decided to take up the armholes in a rather
cool manner and alter the design by installing "panels" in the pits to
hide parts that need not be showing. Well, I laid the shirt on the table. I
started to cut where I needed to cut. As I cut my shirt, I hit something hard in
the fabric, embedded in it. It was a little less than about a quarter inch big.
It made a faint noise as the scissors banged into it. I put down my scissors,
picked at the fabric and found a computer-type chip. unknownnews.net
Klayman says Castro has biochemical weapons
in CubaJanuary 28,
2004 By BRENT KALLESTAD Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Republican
U.S. Senate hopeful Larry Klayman stepped up his call Tuesday to forcibly
remove Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, whom he described as "a master
terrorist" and a primary threat to U.S. security. heraldtribune.com
Leaked
News Network Memos: Election 2004 to be stolen again; Media to interview actors
posing as troops on how great the war was... January
27, 2004 TBR
News There
are two major and very serious problems looming on the horizon for us. The first
is the coming vote in November and the strong probability that there will be a
reprise of the Florida mess. Our sources, Beltway rumor and other indicators,
are very clear that vote stealing via badly flawed “electronic voting” is in
train now. This has the fingerprints of Rove all over it but there is always
plausible deniability, as in the Wilson “leak” case. The NYT has been pounding on this and it
is also a favorite theme of anti-Bush internet sites. If the White House rams
this national “Electronic Voting” program through, it could lead to another
stolen election and that could lead to revolt inside both the Congress and the
public…We have also learned that it is being “suggested” that all GI
absentee votes be “directed” towards a Bush election.
propagandamatrix.com
Stop Bush's Energy Bill
January
27, 2004 By Robert Redford Over the next few weeks, President Bush and his
congressional allies will try once again to ram their disastrous energy bill
through the U.S. Senate. They fell only two votes short in November and
they've vowed to make passage of the bill their top priority now that
Congress has returned from recess. This bill may be
the worst piece of legislation you and I will see in our lifetimes. It would
pick your pocket, despoil your natural heritage, endanger your family's
health and smother your hope for a more secure energy future. We ignore this
bill at our own peril. Let me tell you our simple
plan for thwarting this shameless attack on our environment and pocketbooks.
If millions of Americans each took one minute to protest this bill, it would
cause every senator who is tempted to vote for it to think twice about doing
so. Send this message-http://www.savebiogems.org/redford.asp/
Tell your senators to defeat the Bush-Cheney energy bill-http://www.savebiogems.org/takeaction.asp?src=RR0401
American Ali Baba: George W. Bush and the Stealing of America
January
27, 2004 By Manuel Valenzuela Iraqis have a slang term for those
whom they believe guilty of thievery and chicanery, those people who steal, lie,
cheat and are endowed with low levels of scruples. This term, Ali Baba. To the
Iraqis, our nation and our occupying army are Ali Baba’s, plunderers of
resources and usurpers of foreign lands. George W. Bush is seen as the greatest
Ali Baba of them all, a thief and a liar, enriching his friends, cronies and
contributors through the privatization of most of Iraq’s economy, businesses
and government institutions, laying waste to a proud nation and ruining the
lives of millions of its citizens. Colonizing and occupying Iraq under the façade
of bringing freedom and instilling democracy, Bush is fooling nobody in Iraq. scoop.co.nz
U.S. Threatened with Iraq War Crimes Trial
January
27, 2004 Some Iraqis say the U.S. military committed war
crimes, including the bombing of a Baghdad market.
Iraqi civilians are reportedly intending to bring charges in Belgium against
U.S. General Tommy Franks for war crimes, possibly further straining ties with
Washington after Brussels’ opposition to the war in Iraq. Ten
Iraqi civilians are planning to press war crimes charges against U.S. General
Tommy Franks, the commander of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, the American newspaper the
Washington Times reported. The
Iraqis, eyewitnesses and victims of U.S. atrocities, hold coalition forces
responsible for numerous crimes, including failing to prevent looting, firing on
an ambulance, shooting and injuring Iraqi civilians, causing the deaths of
scores of people by bombing a Baghdad marketplace and killing at least ten
passengers driving in a civilian bus near the town of Hillah. According
to the report, Brussels-based human rights lawyer Jan Fermon, who intends to
represent the Iraqis, said the complaint against Franks and other U.S. military
officials would be filed in a Belgian court in about two weeks. dw-world.de
US abuses human rights in Iraq, useless
compensation system January
27, 2004 Chris
Spannos According to a new report, the US military
in Iraq is arrogant and cruel when dealing with Iraqis seeking compensation for
wrongful death, injuries and property destruction. The report, authored by Iraq
Occupation Watch and The National Association for the Defense of Human
Rights in Iraq (NADHRI), slams US military practice in Iraq since March 1, 2003
and charges that the US compensation system in Iraq is useless. electroniciraq.net
U.S. Is Violating Accord on POWs
January 27, 2004 By
Leon Friedman professor of constitutional law at
Hofstra Law School. On Jan.
9, the Defense Department announced that Saddam Hussein - often described by the
administration as a vicious supporter of al-Qaida - would be granted prisoner of
war status. Under the Geneva Convention, he is therefore entitled to humane
treatment; he is not required to supply information to his captors beyond his
name, rank and serial number; he is entitled to visits by international
humanitarian organizations (such as the Red Cross); and he must be
"repatriated" after the war is over. At the same time, Washington
continues to insist that the low-level Taliban troops and foreign fighters
captured in Afghanistan, who fought against the Northern Alliance to defend
their regime, are "enemy combatants" and not prisoners of war. newsday.com
CONSPIRACY OR COINCIDENCE?
January
27, 2004 Is it a conspiracy or a
coincidence? There is a long and tangled history between the Bush family and the
elite of Saudi Arabia. It begins in the 1970's in Houston, Texas, when George W.
Bush was just starting out in his family's two businesses of politics and oil.
The powerful - and very rich - Bin Laden family helped fund his first venture
into oil. The cozy friendship continued for decades. After a terrorist attack at
a barracks in Saudi Arabia which killed 19 Americans, the bin Laden family
received a multi-billion dollar contract to re-build. And incredibly, George
Bush Sr. was in a business meeting at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington on
the morning of September 11th with one of Osama Bin Laden's brothers. Below is a
timeline that details the relationship between the Bin Laden and Bush families
that culminates in the tragic events of September 11th. cbc.ca
Part of Patriot Act
Ruled Unconstitutional January
27, 2004 By
LINDA DEUTSCH LOS ANGELES (AP)--A federal judge has declared unconstitutional
a portion of the USA Patriot Act that bars giving expert advice or assistance to
groups designated foreign terrorist organizations. The ruling marks the first
court decision to declare a part of the post-Sept. 11 anti-terrorism statute
unconstitutional, said David Cole, a Georgetown University law professor who
argued the case on behalf of the Humanitarian Law Project. In
a ruling handed down late Friday and made available Monday, U.S. District Judge
Audrey Collins said the ban on providing ``expert advice or assistance'' is
impermissibly vague, in violation of the First and Fifth Amendments. rockymounttelegram.com
Couple lose their home over $120 debt January
27, 2004 By Michael Kolber COPPEROPOLIS -- A retired couple's
dispute with their homeowners association has spiraled out of control in this
Calaveras County community -- and now they have lost their home less than a year
after failing to pay $120 in annual dues. Anita Radcliff, who owns the home with
her husband, Thomas, said she had little hope of winning back the house, which
the association's collection firm sold at a foreclosure auction in December for
$70,000. "One of the unfortunate things about people is when you get a
little power, it goes to their heads," said Anita Radcliff, 61. "The
homeowners association has a lot of power." sacbee.com
U.N. Inspector David Kay resigned after nine fruitless months. |
The Evidence
Mounts! ANOTHER
BUSH DEFECTOR! January
26, 2004 By: Ted Lang The lies, fraud and misrepresentations on the part of the Bush
administration in usurping presidential authority, supported by Congress’
“war powers” carte blanche authority allowing President George W. Bush to
declare war on any nation of his choosing for any reason, is beginning to come
home to roost! On the
heels of the revelations made public by Bush’s former Secretary of the
Treasury, Paul O’Neill, confirming the activities of the Project for the New
American Century, or PNAC, this secret cabal of Bush advisors that no one in
America voted for has been exposed as a reality. And of course, the Bush apologists on talk radio and at
FOXNews
have hastened to damage control mode, as has the Bush administration, and have
denigrated O’Neill and his statements as merely those of a former
disgruntled employee who had been fired. thepeoplesvoice.org
1,700 U.S. soldiers quit Iraq January 26, 2004
PARIS One
thousand and seven hundred U.S. soldiers have deserted their posts in Iraq, with
many of them failing to return to military duty after getting permission to go
back to the United States, according to the French weekly magazine Le Canard
Enchaine. The magazine, known for its satires and exposes, said the French
intelligence agency obtained the information from what it described an
"American colleague." Citing a senior French official posted in
Washington, the magazine also said that 7,000 U.S. soldiers have left Iraq
allegedly due to psychological troubles and other illnesses. Some 2,200 others
sustained serious injuries including the loss of limbs, it said. highmarkfunds.stockpoint.com
Female GIs reporting rapes by U.S. soldiers Women say response lacking within military, some
even threatened January 26, 2004
MILES
MOFFEIT AND AMY HERDYFemale troops
serving in Iraq are reporting an insidious enemy in their own camps: fellow
American soldiers who sexually assault them.At
least 37 female service members have sought sexual-trauma counseling and other
assistance from civilian rape-crisis organizations after returning from war duty
in Iraq, Kuwait and other overseas stations, women's assistance and advocacy
organizations say."We have significant
concerns about the military's response to sexual assault in the combat
zone," said Christine Hansen, executive director of the Connecticut-based
Miles Foundation, which says it has assisted 31 women.The
women, ranging from enlisted soldiers to officers, have reported poor medical
treatment, lack of counseling and incomplete criminal investigations by military
officials. Some say they were threatened with punishment after reporting
assaults. charlotte.com
US plans for a new Iraqi regime in disarray January 26, 2004
By Mike Head In
his State of the Union address last week, President George W. Bush insisted that
the resistance to the US-led occupation of Iraq “will fail, and the Iraqi
people will live in freedom... Month by month, Iraqis are assuming more
responsibility for their own security and their own future.” The
reality is that events in Iraq are rapidly lurching out of control for the Bush
administration and its discredited Iraqi Governing Council (IGC). The past
several days have seen a deepening of the insurgent attacks on US troops and
Iraqi collaborators, accompanied by renewed calls by rival Shiite mullahs for
the rejection of the US plan to instal an unelected government on July 1. wsws.org
America losing world's trust
January 26, 2004 By David Sanger in Washington The blunt conclusion by David Kay, the
chief US arms inspector in Iraq, that Saddam Hussein "got rid" of his
unconventional weapons long before the Iraq invasion last year underscores what
has become clear to intelligence experts in recent months: President George Bush
moved against a country that posed a smaller risk than North Korea, Libya and
Iran, or even one of America's allies, Pakistan. smh.com.au
Bush's Military Record Reveals Grounding
and Absence for Two Full Years
January
26, 2004 by
Robert A. Rogers (USAF - Ret) "I
think that people need to be held responsible for the actions they take in
life." – George W. Bush -
1. Pilot George W. Bush did not simply "give up flying" with two years
left to fly, as has been reported. Instead, Bush was suspended and grounded,
very possibly as a direct or indirect result of substance abuse. 2. The crucial evidence – a Flight Inquiry Board – that would reveal the
true reasons for Bush's suspension, as well as the punishment that was
recommended, is missing from the records released so far. If no such Board was
convened, this raises further questions of extraordinary favoritism.
3. Contrary to Bush's emphatic statements and several published reports, Bush
never actually reported in person for the last two years of his service – in
direct violation of two separate written orders. Moreover, the lack of
punishment for this misconduct represents the crowning achievement of a military
career distinguished only by favoritism.
This in-depth investigation and analysis of Bush's apparent misconduct over the
last two years of his six year obligation suggests that Bush did not fulfill all
of his military obligations to the Texas Air National Guard and to his country,
contrary to his repeated assertions. informationclearinghouse.info
Bush's State of the Union Address Left
Republicans and Many Americans Disappointed Jan 26, 2004
By Edward W. Miller Our
President’s “State of the Union” address to Congress on the 20th of
January, left Republicans and many Americans disappointed, and provided the
Democrats with plenty of ammunition for their on going campaign for the
Whitehouse. Acknowledging his firm belief in Hermann Goering’s thesis, that a
lie repeated often enough will become accepted, Bush defiantly repeated his
canard that Saddam had been “developing weapons of mass destruction”. On
January 16th, Bush’s special weapons inspector, David Kay, with no
acknowledgment to the press, quietly left Iraq for his Christmas Holiday after
telling the Director of Central Intelligence, George Tenet, that “ He Doesn’t
want to go back” Kay’s expensive team of 1400 weapons experts also quietly
exited out the back door after spending well over $600 million of taxpayer’s
money to find nothing. aljazeerah.info
Financial titans supporting Bush
January 26, 2004 Ben White NEW YORK -
One unseasonably cool evening in late October, a group of Wall Street bankers
waited aboard a ferry in New York Harbor for the short trip to Ellis Island and
a thank-you event for major backers of President Bush's re-election campaign.
Ordinarily, the bankers - unaccustomed to waiting for anything - might be
annoyed. But on this night they were placid, even though Charlie Black, a top
adviser to the campaign, was running late. The Bush administration had given the
bankers almost everything they ever dreamed of: a reduction in dividend and
capital-gains taxes, a phase-out of the estate tax, an overall reduction in
income taxes. So they waited patiently, eager to do whatever they could to
ensure the president's re-election. azcentral.com
The US is now in the hands
of a group of extremists January 26, 2004 George
Soros Fundamentalism
has spawned an ideology of American supremacy The
invasion of Iraq was the first practical application of the pernicious Bush
doctrine of pre-emptive military action, and it elicited an allergic reaction
worldwide - not because anyone had a good word to say about Saddam Hussein, but
because we insisted on invading Iraq unilaterally without any clear evidence
that he had anything to do with September 11 or that he possessed weapons of
mass destruction. The
gap in perceptions between America and the rest of the world has never been
wider. Abroad, America is seen as abusing the dominant position it occupies;
opinion at home has been led to believe that Saddam posed a clear and present
danger to national security. Only in the aftermath of the Iraqi invasion are
people becoming aware they have been misled. guardian.co.uk
Stockholm conference seeks ways to prevent genocide, mass
killings January 26, 2004 STOCKHOLM A conference on ways to prevent genocide,
ethnic cleansing and mass killings opens in Stockholm on Monday with delegations
from around 60 countries and several international bodies, organizers said.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected to be among the
delegates, as are some 10 heads of state or government, including from countries
with experience of mass killings, like Bosnia-Hercegovina, Armenia and Rwanda.
Host Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson will be the only western European
leader at the three-day “Preventing Genocide” conference, the fourth and
final one in a “Stockholm International Forum” series initiated by Persson
in 2000. manilatimes.net
The Lie’s the
Limit? WHERE DOES
IT END? January 25, 2004 By: Ted Lang Those Americans not
dumbed-down by media propaganda are already more than up
to speed regarding the extracurricular activities of the Bush administration
and the lies told by President George W. Bush to engineer an unnecessary war
against a defenseless Third World dictatorship. If human rights are an
issue, where was America relative to the cause for world justice as regards
Rwanda? The denizens of talk radio and FAUXNews justify the unjust war by the
interventionist question: Aren’t the Iraqi people better off without
Saddam? Frankly, I cannot answer that question – I simply don’t
have enough information on the matter. Neither does anyone else in
Amerika. To be certain, the media hasn’t shed enough light on the
matter. In fact, the media is still in arrears as regards information
on TWA 800, JFK, RFK, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 9-11, Halliburton,
Bechtel, Enron, and on and on. So how could anyone in this nation of
propagandized news know what’s going on anywhere at anytime? thepeoplesvoice.org
The Bush Plan for America: The Rise of an American National
Security State January
25, 2004
By Jennifer Van Bergen My dictionary defines fascism as a
system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator,
stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror
and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
Americans may not realize it yet, but the United States under Bush is already
more than three-quarters of the way down the road to fascism.[1] This is no
conspiracy theory, no leftist complaint, no bleeding-heart sentiment. The facts
are all there, but Americans do not yet see this ominous truth. vancouver.indymedia.org
Corporate profits grow but wages stall January
25, 2004 Charles Stein Corporate profits are at a record
high. Wages are growing at the slowest pace in a decade. It sounds like a
diabolical Republican plot. A single word explains much of the profit explosion:
productivity. Companies have found a way to produce more with fewer people.
Using a variety of tools - layoffs, new technology, the outsourcing of jobs... azcentral.com
10 days, 4,600 jobs lost
January 25, 2004 By John Hogan First it
was Greenville's Electrolux, with 2,700 lost jobs. West
Michigan barely had a week to catch its breath before the next blow: 1,900
positions cut Friday at Meijer's 158 stores. And
as soon as this week, Steelcase Inc. is expected to announce a major
restructuring. No one is expecting the news to be good.
mlive.com
