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More Evidence of US War With Iran Comment by Larry Ross, February 8, 2007
The US war with Iran is on schedule according to this impressive collection of articles by Evan Peterson, and will be arranged before the end of April 2007. In spite of millions of articles on Google about it and increasing US news coverage, the New Zealand media has managed to keep Kiwis in the dark about these extraordinary and dangerous developments, while repeating Bush's litany of lies about Iran. New Zealanders and their politicians are living in a bubble of ignorance and one wonders if that is deliberate. Or is it just a lazy, arrogant, smug "ignorance-is-king" attitude on the part of the press? New Zealanders are kept uninformed as well as conditioned, until the attack happens. Then there will be a sudden burst of publicity condemning Iran for crimes it did not commit and justifying a US attack - even with nuclear weapons, and calling for New Zealand to support Bush's new war. Much of New Zealand media is owned by US corporate interests and therefore has become an extension of US propaganda and pyswar conditioning. Unfortunately most kiwis don't know and don't really care. A worry is Helen Clark and Winston Peters going to the Whitehouse soon. Do they and their officials also live in a cocoon of ignorance about the facts on Iran , the nearness of war and that Bush will probably use nuclear weapons? Have they given any thought to possible consequences for the world and for New Zealand ? Or is ignorance king for them as it is for the New Zealand public? How really well informed are they? Do they know the real objectives and motives powering the Bush regime? Will they be star-struck and seduced into a worshipful attitude before Bush's altar? Will they manage to keep their distance from the US war machine as New Zealand has partially done so far, or will they be sucked in like Australia and Britain ? Will they pledge what New Zealand has always pledged in the past, "Where America, Britain and Australia goes, New Zealand will follow"? I hope not but anything is possible in this emerging US global Orwellian dictatorship. When it suddenly descends upon the human race in a cascade of warfare, explosions and huge casualties, and propaganda drowns out all else, people will begin to understand. Rugby, racing, beer and other escape mechanisms will no longer be enough. But by then the die will have been cast, and the Rubicon crossed. Certainly the mass media in the US is conditioning the public to hate and fear Iran , and because of Bush's lies, conditioning them to accept as justified, Bush's insane attack on Iran . This will be supported by 'coalition-of-the-willing' nations Britain and Australia who are subjected to a similar news blackout, mixed with 'demonise Iran ' conditioning. Believe me that every trick and device and psywar technique in the book will be used to justify Bush's use of nuclear weapons. Criticism is likely to be almost non-existent and any 'Doubting Thomas' articles, however informed and correct they may be, will never see the light of day. Public apathy is so deeply embedded, that only a real war may be enough to cause people to lift a finger. When the war actually starts, the news media is expected to give their readers Bush's version of 'the truth' about why he is subjecting the world to endless unnecessary and contrived wars. Among our misinformed, conditioned publics and politicians, this may be successful in gaining popular support for Bush's new war. It will be Iraq all over again. A majority will be fooled again and all for supporting "our friends and allies in this great crusade for freedom and democracy." However this time the deception will have far more serious consequences lasting generations in to the future.
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Provoking Iran - Bush targets Iran - U.S. war with Iran Compiled by Evan Augustine Peterson III, J.D., February 07, 2007
ACIL DIGEST CONTENTS:
Evan Augustine Peterson III, J.D., ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: PROVOKING IRAN by Faiz Shakir, Nico Pitney, Amanda Terkel, and Payson Schwin, co-authors of The Progress Report.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who came to power with an agenda to eradicate poverty and tackle unemployment, "is now facing increasingly fierce criticism for his failure to meet those promises." There has been talk of his impeachment in Iran. At the same time, he has aggressively pushed ahead Iran 's civilian nuclear energy program, shrugging off U.N. demands that the country halt uranium enrichment. As a result, the United Nations in December imposed sanctions on Iran. Rather than capitalize on Ahmadinejad's weak political circumstances, the Bush administration's bellicose rhetoric and repeated threats – which Ahmadinejad is more than happy to reciprocate -- serve to perpetuate his grasp on power by providing him with Iranian popular support for his confrontation with the international community. Ali Ansari, director of the Institute of Iranian Studies at St. Andrews University in Scotland, writes, "The reality is that while Ahmadinejad has been his own worst enemy, the U.S. hawks are his best friends."
Rather than pursuing a course that leads to diplomacy, the Bush administration is instead taunting Iran . In his Jan. 10 address to the nation on his new Iraq strategy, Bush included "some of his sharpest words of warning" to Iran. "I recently ordered the deployment of an additional carrier group to the region," he said. Referring to the deployment of the carrier USS John C. Stennis, Vice President Cheney said, "That sends a very strong signal to everybody in the region that the United States is here to stay, that we clearly have significant capabilities, and that we are working with friends and allies as well as the international organizations to deal with the Iranian threat." Shortly after Bush's speech, American forces stormed Iranian government offices in northern Iraq, detaining six people, including diplomats. Ansari called the administration's actions an "extreme provocation." Just weeks later, Bush confirmed he had authorized a Pentagon program to kill or capture Iranian operatives inside Iraq. Moreover, Pentagon officials said the Air Force is preparing for an expanded role in Iraq that could include aggressive new tactics designed to deter Iranian assistance to Iraqi militants. "Within the Pentagon, many active-duty officers are wary of an aggressive military response to Iran , arguing that there is no need to risk starting another war." Alarmed by rising tensions between the United States and Iran , "Iraqi government officials fear their country is in danger of being dragged into the middle of a new conflict between its two main allies."
Concern that the United States may be on a collision course with Iran is driven by knowledge that the Bush administration has harbored designs on confronting that nation for years. In a recent interview in GQ Magazine, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) revealed that the Bush administration tried to get Congress to approve military action anywhere in the Middle East -- not just in Iraq -- in the fall of 2002. The White House "sent over a resolution for Congress to approve. Well, it was astounding. It said they could go anywhere in the region," said Hagel. In 2003, the administration rebuffed an offer by Iran to help stabilize Iraq. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, said, "We thought it was a very propitious moment to (strike the deal). But as soon as it got to the White House, and as soon as it got to the vice president's office, the old mantra of 'We don't talk to evil'...reasserted itself." Former administration insider Richard Perle, a leading neoconservative proponent of the Iraq war, said recently that Bush would attack Iran before he leaves office. "If he is told, 'Mr. President, you are at the point of no return,' I have very little doubt that this president would order the necessary military action," Perle said.
In recent months, administration officials have stridently claimed that Iran is stoking the violence in Iraq. "The Iranians need to know...that the United States is not finding it acceptable and is not going to simply tolerate their activities to try and harm our forces or to destabilize Iraq," said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Recently, outgoing National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told the Senate, " Iran has been emboldened in its behaviour during the past couple of years and has played a more assertive role and that certainly manifests itself in Iraq, where we have increasing evidence that they have been providing lethal assistance to extremist Shia groups in that country."
Bush's national security advisers have twice "ordered a delay in publication of evidence intended to support Washington 's contention that Iran supplies lethal technology and other aid to militias in Iraq." In a press briefing last Friday, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the delay was due to the fact that the intelligence on Iran had been hyped. "The truth is, quite frankly, we thought the briefing overstated, and we sent it back to get it narrowed and focused on the facts," he said. The newly-released National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq states that Iran is trying to cause trouble for the United States , but it "is not likely to be a major driver of violence." Moreocer, the Los Angeles Times recently reported, "[E]vidence of Iranian involvement in Iraq 's troubles is limited. ... [T]here has been little sign of more advanced weaponry crossing the border, and no Iranian agents have been found." Furthermore, three U.S. officials "familiar with unpublished intel" tell Newsweek that evidence of official Iranian involvement in Iraq is "ambiguous." Meanwhile, the New York Times reports, regarding Iran 's civilian nuclear energy program, that "many setbacks and outright failures of Tehran 's experimental program suggest that its bluster may outstrip its technical expertise."
Responding to the administration's provocations towards Iran, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said, "The president does not have the authority to launch military action in Iran without first seeking congressional authorization." Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), the ranking member on the Foreign Relations Committee, agreed that "the president would need authority." Encouraging more resistance to the Bush administration's current course, "three former high-ranking U.S. military officers have called for Britain to help defuse the crisis over Iran's nuclear program, saying military action against Tehran would be a disaster for the region." Additionally, a coalition of U.K. unions, faith groups, and think tanks warn in a new report that an attack on Iran could further destabilize neighboring Iraq, undermine hopes for Israeli-Palestinian peace, and embolden hard-liners in Ahmadinejad's government. It said an attack on oil-rich Iran could also drive up fuel prices, harming economies around the world. "The possible consequences of military action could be so serious that governments have a responsibility to ensure that all diplomatic options have been exhausted," the report said. "At present, this is not the case."
"Without a public debate or formal policy decision, contractors have become a virtual fourth branch of government," the New York Times reports today. "On the rise for decades, spending on federal contracts has soared during the Bush administration, to about $400 billion last year from $207 billion in 2000, fueled by the war in Iraq, domestic security and Hurricane Katrina, but also by a philosophy that encourages outsourcing almost everything government does." Competition for contracts has "sharply eroded" since 2001, and "the number of government workers overseeing contracts has remained level as spending has shot up," leading to stark examples of mismanagement. The Washington Post revealed last month that Lurita Alexis Doan, the chief of the U.S. General Services Administration, "attempted to give a no-bid contract to a company founded and operated by a longtime friend, sidestepping federal laws and regulations." The latest report by Stuart Bowen, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, detailed "government's failure to monitor how contractors were spending taxpayer money." Tomorrow, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) will begin hearings focused on the contracts in Iraq and at the Department of Homeland Security. Waxman introduced the "Clean Contracting Act" last year with the goals of promoting competition, increasing oversight, and deterring corruption. "After years of stockpiling findings and allegations," House oversight chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) will "unleash four days of hearings this week aimed at exposing an array of 'waste, fraud and abuse' in government." The first hearing will feature former US Ambassador and head of the Coalition Provisional Authority L. Paul Bremer III, who says he will present a "5,000- to 6,000-word treatise" explaining corruption during his tenure in Iraq.
[End of article.] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
II. BUSH TARGETS IRAN by Marjorie Cohn, February 3, 2007, by ZNet. As Congress and the American people protest the travesty Bush created in Iraq , our President is gunning for a confrontation with Iran . Bush is rattling the sabres and opting for gunboat diplomacy by pledging to "seek out and destroy" Iranian networks "providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies" in Iraq.
But he has produced NO hard evidence that Iran is: supplying forces in Iraq with such weapons; or manufacturing their own nuclear weapons. When I say "gunboat diplomacy," I mean that literally. Bush recently sent US warships and Patriot missile batteries to the Persian Gulf and moved US attack aircraft to Turkey and other countries on Iran 's borders. US forces stormed the Iranian consulate in northern Iraq and captured six Iranian nationals, and Bush announced he will go after any Iranians he considers a threat. There are also indications the Bush administration would support military action by Israel against Iran.
On 1-30-07, the administration stepped up its inflammatory rhetoric. US officials said Iranians may have trained attackers who killed five Americans in Karbala on 1-20-07. They also implicated the Mahdi Army, the Iraqi militia controlled by Moktada al-Sadr. It's very interesting that the New York Times characterized the focus on Iran and the Mahdi Army as "convenient from the point of view of the Bush administration." Investigators were stumped at how the attackers, who wore American-style uniforms, secured forged US identity cards and American-style M-4 rifles, and used stun grenades like those used only by US forces. They are also confounded at the way the attackers' convoy of S.U.V.'s gave the impression that it was American and slipped through Iraqi checkpoints. Last Wednesday's article in the Times cites a theory that "a Western mercenary group" may have been involved. In the past the US government used the CIA to covertly overthrow governments, such as Iran's in 1953 and Chile 's in 1973.
The plan to attack Iran has been in the works since Bush inaugurated that country into his "axis of evil" in January 2002. Indeed, Bush's 2006 National Military Strategy says, "We may face no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran." Furthermore, in April 2006, Seymour Hersh revealed the US military was making preparations for an invasion of Iran . "Air Force planning groups are drawing up lists of targets, and teams of American combat troops have been ordered into Iran , under cover, to collect targeting data and to establish contact with anti-government ethnic-minority groups," Hersh learned from current and former American military intelligence officials.
One of the military proposals calls for the use of bunker-buster tactical nuclear weapons against underground civilian nuclear energy program sites in Iran. That would mean "mushroom clouds, radiation, mass casualties, and contamination over years," a former senior intelligence official told Hersh. A Pentagon adviser said the Air Force would strike many hundreds of targets in Iran, possibly none which have anything to do with nuclear weapons proliferation. A former defense official who still advises the Bush administration informed Hersh the military planning was grounded in the belief that "a sustained bombing campaign in Iran will humiliate the religious leadership and lead the public to rise up and overthrow the government." That's the same faulty logic the US government has used to justify its cruel embargo and blockade of Cuba since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution.
Congress has the responsibility to prevent Bush from attacking Iran. In view of congressional opposition to his war in Iraq, Bush will not likely ask permission to make war on Iran. We can expect Bush to provoke--or even fabricate a la Tonkin Gulf --an incident with Iran and then claim he's responding to Iranian aggression. Senior Pentagon officials reported in Wednesday's Los Angeles Times that Air Force and Navy fighter planes along the Iran-Iraq border may be used more aggressively. Bush will then try to bootstrap the September 2001 and October 2002 congressional authorizations for force in Afghanistan and Iraq respectively into consent to attack Iran.
Offensive military action against Iran would be illegal under the United Nations Charter, which requires that members settle international disputes by peaceful means. The UN Charter is a treaty ratified by the US and thus part of American law under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. Under the Charter, a country can attack another only in self-defense or with the blessing of the Security Council. Moreover, the use of nuclear weapons would violate our obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Congress should immediately pass a binding resolution reaffirming the United States' legal obligations and informing the Bush administration that it will not concur in any invasion or military action against Iran, would refuse to approve any funding for it, and would consider actions taken in contravention of the resolution as impeachable offenses, as per this open letter from legal and human rights groups: http://www.nlg.org/news/statements/Military_Iran_2007.htm --MARJORIE COHN
[End of article.] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
III. Please Also See 57 Excellent Related Articles
[1] Robert Parry's 2-4-07 Truthout/Consortium News essay, "BUSH IS HIDING THE BALL ON IRAN" [George W. Bush is again guiding the nation toward a preemptive war - this time with Iran - without allowing anything like a full debate of the underlying facts, THE probable consequences of the conflict, or peaceful alternatives. (A must read essay.)]: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020407G.shtml [2] Ethan Heitner's 2-5-07 Tom Paine essay, "ASKING THE WRONG QUESTIONS ABOUT IRAN" [Like that phantom Iraqi WMD arsenal that wasn't really there, Iran's purported military nuclear ambitions are a distraction from the real questions. There isn't any evidence to back the Bush administration's allegations, so Congressional Democrats must find the spine to openly and publicly de-escalate the rhetoric about Iran. ]: [3] Michael Stetz's 2-5-07 BBC News Article, "IRAN STRIKE 'WOULD BE A DISASTER'" [A report just released by the London Centre for Foreign Policy and various British NGOs explores the consequences of a hypothetical military attack against Iran. They have warned Prime Minister Tony Blair that such an attack would have unthinkable consequences, and that the result would be "disastrous". [4] BBC's 2-4-07 Common Dreams/BBC News Article, "US GENERALS REJECT IRAN STRIKE" [Three former high-ranking American military officers have warned against any military attack on Iran . They said such action would have "disastrous consequences" for security in the Middle East and also for coalition forces in Iraq . They said the crisis over Iran 's civilian nuclear programme must be resolved through diplomacy, usging Washinton to start direct talks with Iran. ]: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0204-02.htm [5] Ali Ansari's 2-5-07 The Guardian essay, "BUYING AHMADINEJAD'S WAY OUT" [Are U.S. hawks trying to save Ahmadinejad's presidency?]: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2001703,00.html [6] Kim R. Holmes' 2-5-07 Spero Forum essay, "DECISION TIME ON IRAN: TRADE AND INVESTMENT MATTER GREATLY TO TEHRAN; IT NEEDS FOREIGN INVESTMENT TO MAINTAIN A STEADY FLOW OF OIL REVENUES" [We should launch public diplomacy initiatives to drive wedges further between Ahmadine jad's regime and the restive Iranian people. It's easy to find topics for such initiatives -- from the regime's human-rights abuses to its ties to terrorism. Our current public-diplomacy efforts have been disjointed and too much below the radar. We need to Coordinate them better at the highest levels of government.]: http://www.speroforum.com/site/print.asp?idarticle=7745 [7] Suzzanne Nossel's 2-4-07 Huffingham Post essay, "SEPARATING AHMADINEJAD FROM IRAN" [As the White House heats up the rhetoric on Iran 's role in fomenting violence in Iraq , little effort is made to differentiate between the present regime and the country as a whole, including its population. If our goal is to pry Ahmadinejad away from his support base, that important distinction should be drawn (as was done with the Taliban vis-a-vis the people of Afghanistan , and with Saddam in relation to Iraq ).]: [8] Frank Rich's 2-5-07 New York Times essay, "WHY DICK CHENEY CRACKED UP" [9] John Pilger's 2-3-07 Information Clearing House Blog/The Statesman essay, "IRAN: THE WAR BEGINS" [As opposition grows in America to the failed Iraq adventure, the Bush administration is preparing public opinion for an attack on Iran, its latest target, by the spring.]: [10] Maura Reynolds' 2-3-07 Common Dreams/Los Angeles Times article, "US CANNOT PROVE IRAN-IRAQ LINK: Despite Pledges To Show Evidence, Officials Have Repeatedly Put Off Presenting Their Case." [Bush administration officials acknowledged Friday that they had yet to compile evidence strong enough to back up publicly their claims that Iran is fomenting violence against U.S. troops in Iraq. ]: [11] Philip Sherwell's 2-4-07 Telegraph (UK) article, "US MILITARY CHIEFS EYE CONFRONTATION WITH IRAN" [America's military chiefs are at loggerheads with the country's diplomats and spies over tactics for confronting Iranian agents in Iraq over their role in lethal attacks n US forces. ... It is fueling fears among some US diplomats - shared by Britain and its European allies – that hawks within President Bush's administration are preparing the ground for military action against Tehran before he leaves office in 23 months.]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=JBAXDRIQMGORTQFIQMFSFFOA VCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2007/02/04/wiran04.xml [12] Mathew Wagner and Laura Rheinheimer's 2-4-07 Jerusalem Post essay, "US MEDIA REJECT CAMPAIGN AGAINST AHMADINEJAD" [Leading American news media have refused to sell Internet site ad space to the Jewish Agency for an advertising campaign against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to Jewish Agency (JA) Spokesman Yarden Vatikay. (Good. This is propaganda the USA doesn't need.)]: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1170359780247&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter [13] Sarah Baxte's 2-4-07 Times OnLine ( UK ) article, "IRANIAN NUCLEAR SCIENTIST 'ASSASSINATED BY MOSSAD'" [A prize-winning Iranian nuclear scientist has died in mysterious circumstances, according to Radio Farda, which is funded by the US State Department and broadcasts to Iran . An intelligence source suggested that Ardeshire Hassanpour, 44, a nuclear physicist, had been assassinated by Mossad, the Israeli security service. Hassanpour worked at a plant in Isfahan where uranium hexafluoride gas is produced. The gas is needed to enrich uranium in another plant at Natanz. ... Rheva Bhalla of Stratfor, the US intelligence company, claimed on Friday that Mossad had targeted Hassanpour and that there was “very strong intelligence” to suggest that he had been assassinated by the Israelis, who have repeatedly threatened to prevent Iran acquiring the bomb.]: http://tailrank.com/1204584/Iranian-nuclear-scientist-assassinated-by-Mossad [14] National Lawyers Guild's 2-3-07 Common Dreams article , "LEGAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS ISSUE OPEN LETTER WARNING OF THE ILLEGALITY OF ANY OFFENSIVE MILITARY ACTION BY U.S. AGAINST IRAN [Offensive military action against Iran would be illegal, as the United States is bound under the United Nations Charter to settle international disputes by peaceful means and to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity of any state or act in any other manner inconsistent with the purpose of the United Nations (Article 2 sections 3 and 4).]: http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/0201-08.htm [15] Damien Cave and Richard A. Oppel jr.'s 2-5-07 New York Times essay, "IRAQIS FAULT PACE OF U.S. PLAN IN ATTACK" [A growing number of Iraqis blamed the United States on Sunday for creating conditions that led to the worst single suicide bombing in the war, which devastated a Shiite market in Baghdad the day before. They argued that the Americans had been slow in completing the vaunted new American security plan, making Shiite neighborhoods much more vulnerable to such horrific attacks. Paid subscription required for access .]: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/05/world/middleeast/05iraq.html [16] Sameer N. Yacoub's 2-4-07 Truthout/Associated Press article, "MILITARY ADMITS FOUR US HELICOPTERS WERE SHOT DOWN" [The four US helicopters that have crashed in Iraq since January 20 were apparently shot down, the chief American military spokesman said Sunday - the first time the US command has publicly acknowledged that the aircraft were lost to enemy fire.]: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020407A.shtml [17] Ed Pikington's 2-5-07 The Guardian (UK) article, "INSURGENTS MAY HAVE NEW ANTI-AIRCRAFT WEAPON" [American military commanders in Iraq have been forced to adopt new security tactics in the wake of a fresh threat from insurgents after it was confirmed that all four US helicopters that have crashed there in the past two weeks were brought down by ground fire. The crashes raise concerns that insurgents, who have proved highly innovative in warfare, have acquired new weaponry.]: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020507C.shtml [18] Tom Lasseter's 2-3-07 McClatchy Newpapers article, "SOLDIERS IN IRAQ VIEW TROOP SURGE AS A LOST CAUSE" [While senior military officials and the Bush administration say the president's decision to send more American troops to pacify Baghdad will succeed, many of the soldiers who are already there say it's a lost cause.]: http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16616389.htm [19] RFE/RL's 2-5-07 article, "WORLD: CPJ DISCUSSES DANGERS, OBSTACLES JOURNALISTS FACE" [The Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, said today that 55 journalists were killed because they were doing their jobs in 2006. Among them were 32 killed covering the Iraq war -- 30 of them Iraqi journalists, according to the New York-based advocacy group. (I believe the CPJ recently reported that more journalists have been killed while covering the Iraq War than in any other war.)]: [20] Associated Press' 2-3-07 Truthout/AP article, "BUSH SEEKS $250 BILLION TO CONTINUE FIGHTING IRAQ WAR" [Keeping troops in Iraq for another year and a half will cost nearly a quarter-trillion dollars - about $800 for every man, woman and child in the US - under the budget President Bush will submit to Congress Monday. (Americans should be worried about the nation being bankrupted buy this trillion dollar boondoggle.]: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020307Z.shtml [21] Peter Spiegel's 2-5-07 Los Angeles Times article, "TANK SIZE DEFENSE REQUEST: BUSH'S MILITARY BUDGET REQUEST NEARS HISTORIC HIGHS" [The Bush administration is expected to ask for a military budget of $481 billion - near historic highs. It will also ask for supplemental funding for its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, taking the cost of those conflicts during this year to close to $165 billion, and will present additional estimates for next year's costs that will push war spending well above the total cost of the Vietnam War. But if the military's top officers have their way, today's proposal may be only a precursor to a future of even larger defense budgets.]: [22] Caren Bohan's 2-5-07 Capitol Hill Blue article, "BUSH'S BUDGET: CUT DOMESTIC SPENDING TO FUND IRAQ WAR" [President George W. Bush is expected on Monday to estimate the costs for the Iraq war at nearly $300 billion over the next 2 1/2 years and propose limiting domestic spending for fiscal year 2008. This new budget also includes a 10.5 percent increase for other military spending.]: http://www.capitolhillblue.com/wp/2007/02/05/1992 [23] Dan Lavoie's 2-2-07 Politics, Rhetoric and How Dumb Ideas Get Sold to Smart People essay, "BUT HOW WAS THE REST OF THE PLAY, MRS. LINCOLN?" [Tony Snow and Karen Hughes better get their golashes on -- they got some 'splaining to do. Looks like the newly released National Intelligence Estimate leaves no doubt whether Iraq is in the midst of a Civil War. It is.]: [24] Daniel Gallington's Frontpage Magazine.Com essay, "THE SUNNI SOLUTION" [Sen. Barack Obama, following President Bush's State of the Union address, said that we should not expect a "Jeffersonian democracy" to emerge in Iraq . This is an essential public diplomacy theme the White House is simply not getting across.]: http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=26772 [25] Karen de Young's 2-4-07 Truthout/Washington Post article, "DOUBTS RUN DEEP ON REFORMS CRUCIAL TO BUSH'S NEW IRAQ STRATEGY: AUTHORS OF BUSH'S NEW IRAQ STRATEGY FEAR REPEAT OF FAILURE" [The success of the Bush administration's new Iraq strategy depends on a series of rapid and dramatic political and economic reforms that even the plan's authors have little confidence will work.]: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020507N.shtml [26] Dale Mcfeatters 2-5-07 Capitol Hill Blue article, "OK! IT'S OFFICIAL! IRAQ IS A MESS!" [The 16 U.S. intelligence agencies have weighed in with their collective judgment on events in Iraq, and their findings, which should come as no surprise to anyone who keeps up with the news, are: The situation is bad and getting worse.]: http://www.capitolhillblue.com/wp/2007/02/03/1983 [27] Lynne Duke's 2-4-07 Washington Post essay, "WAR OPPONENTS EXPRESS PAIN, NOT VINDICATION: NO I-TOLD-YOU-SOs" [Sweet vindication. Who wouldn't want it? To be right. To be free of criticism and upheld by evidence, by actual proof, that one's predictions about a controversial war were correct. But on Iraq, the vindicated are still pained. There is no gloating - not with thousands of people dead, Americans and Iraqis; not with the Iraq war precipitating an ongoing foreign policy crisis that has left the United States ' global image in tatters.]: [28] Tomas Alex Tizon's 2-5-07 Los Angeles Times article , "INSTEAD OF IRAQ, A BATTLE ALL HIS OWN: STAND AGAINST IRAQ WAR SENDS OFFICER TO TRIAL; WATADA COURT-MARTIAL BEGINS TODAY" [Lt. Ehren Watada did what he believed he had to do seven months ago when he became the first - and only - commissioned officer in the United States to publicly refuse deployment to Iraq (he offered to serve in Afghanistan instead). His conscience, he said, had overtaken him. He told the world what he had privately told his superior officers months earlier: That he believed the Iraq War was illegal and immoral, and he would play no role in it.]: [29] Mike Barber and Kery Murakami's 2-5-07 Truthout/Seattle Post-Intelligencer article , "CONVICTIONS VS. CONVICTION: WATADA'S COURT-MARTIAL BEGINS--OPPONENTS, SUPPORTERS OF ARMY OFFICER FACE OFF" [Also includes Truthout's 2-5-07 exclusive interview with US Army First Lt. Ehren Watada. He was called an exemplary soldier. But then he decided to face court-martial rather than join a war he says is illegal.]: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020507A.shtml [30] Andrew J. Weaver and Ray Mcgovern's 2-5-07 Truthout/Baltimore Sun essay , "TROOPS RETURN TO PAINFUL WAIT FOR NEEDED HELP" [The California Nurses Association reported that in the first quarter of 2006, the US Department of Veterans Affairs 'treated 20,638 Iraq veterans for post-traumatic stress disorder, and they have a backlog of 400,000 cases.' A returning soldier has to wait an average of 165 days for a VA decision on initial disability benefits, and an appeal can take up to three years. This is unacceptable and reprehensible.]: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020507M.shtml [31] Kristi Nelson's 2-6-07 Knoxville News Sentinel article, "IN SEARCH OF SUUPORT FOR PTSD" [Since leaving Iraq in 2003, Jullian Philip Goodrum – like many soldiers - has been gradually overcoming the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. When he began experiencing mental problems consistent with PTSD, he couldn't get treatment, and he blames the army for their lack of resources.]: http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/health_and_fitness/article/0,1406,KNS_310_532851800.htm [32] Susan Cornwell's 2-5-07 Capitol Hill Blue article, "GOP WARNED: DON'T BLOCK IRAQ DEBATE" [Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein on Sunday warned Republicans not to block consideration of a measure opposing President Bush's troop increase in Iraq, saying it would be a “terrible mistake” to prevent debate on the top issue in America. (However, Republican Senators have done exactly that by filibustering.)]: http://www.capitolhillblue.com/wp/2007/02/05/1993 [33] Juan Cole's 2-5-07 Informed Comment essay, "SHAMS' PARODY OF BUSH: VIDEO CLIP AS RESISTANCE" ["When I hear Bush and Cheney keep talking about “getting the job done” in Iraq , the thing that most amazes me is that they don't know they are laughingstocks in the region. It isn't just that they are widely hated, or distrusted, or viewed as failures. It is that people are laughing at them. No surge can fix that."]: http://www.juancole.com/2007/02/shamss-parody-of-bush-video-clip-as.html [34] Marc Lynch's 2-2-07 Abu Aardvark essay , "JIHADI VIRAL VIDEOS" [These viral clips circulate under the radar of the mass media, and of increasing importance in shaping popular attitudes.]: http://abuaardvark.typepad.com/abuaardvark/2007/02/jihadi_viral_vi.html [35] Romesh Ratnesar and Elaine Shannon's 2-1-07 Time Magazine article, "RICE'S TOUGHEST MISSION" [After six years of tussling with others on Bush's national-security team, Secretary of State Rice has seen off her rivals and emerged as the principal spokesperson for Bush's foreign policy. However, Rice has been slow to recognize the extent to which the U.S. 's prestige has declined. And few believe she will ever usurp neocon Vice President Dick Cheney's policymaking supremacy.]: [36] Helene Cooper's 2-4-07 New York Times essay, "WASHINGTON MEMO: WITH RUMSFELD GONE, CRITICS OF WAR LOOK TO RICE" [Condoleezza Rice is now the only person left in the Bush administration who can speak with any independence on the tragic militarization of US foreign policy. Paid subscription required for access.]: [37] William Blum's 2-5-07 The People's Voice essay, "FULL SPECTRUM DOMINANCE" [Edward R. Murrow is a much-honored newsman and "legendary broadcaster." There's the annual Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy, with nominations made by the State Department, and there's the recent acclaimed film about Murrow, "Good Night, and Good Luck," amongst many other tributes. Murrow left broadcasting to become the director of the United States Information Agency, whose raison d'être was to make the United States look as good to the world as it does in American high school textbooks.]: [38] Gary Younge's 2-5-07 Common Dreams/The Guardian (UK) essay, "OBSESSED BY PERSONALITIES, THEY'VE FORGOTTEN WHAT DEMOCRACY IS FOR" [The US media is gripped by election fever, but discusses the candidates' high and lows rather than the real social issues.]: http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0205-21.htm [39] Rodrigue Tremblay's 2-5-07 The New American Empire essay, "WHY ARE CANADA AND NATO IN AFGHANISTAN ?" [Under the minority Conservative government of Stephen Harper, Canada's foreign policy has become subservient to American foreign policy, at a time when our neighbor is being governed by an administration which is not only unpopular worldwide, but which is rejected by two thirds of Americans. Indeed, in the words of TV star and mogul Donald Trump (NY Times, 12/23/06), “[George W.] Bush will go down as the worst and by far the dumbest president in [ U.S. ] history.” Why the Harper government would choose to follow the dictates of such a flawed U.S. administration is hard to understand, unless it shares the latter's far right imperial ideology.]: [40] Terry Friel's 2-4-07 Reuters article, "US TAKES OVER NATO ON AFGHANISTAN " [The United States, which has just doubled its combat troops in Afghanistan , takes over command of the 33,000-strong NATO force in the country on Sunday amid warnings of a bloody spring offensive by the resurgent Taliban.]: [41] Tom Regan's 2-5-07 Christian Science Monitor article, "BRITISH WORRY US APPROACH TO AFGHANISTAN WILL PLAY INTO TALIBAN'S HANDS" [The British government has expressed concerns that the Bush administration's approach to the Phoenix-like rise of the Taliban will not work in Afghanistan, and Britain is also at odds with Pentagon over lack of US cooperation in friendly-fire inquests.]: [42] Ann Jones' 2-5-07 Common Dreams/Tom Dispatch essay, "NOT THE SAME AS BEING EQUAL: WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN" [Born in Afghanistan but raised in the United States, like many in the worldwide Afghan Diaspora, Manizha Naderi is devoted to helping her homeland. For years she worked with Women for Afghan Women, a New York-based organization serving Afghan women wherever they may be. Last fall, she returned to Kabul , the capital, to try to create a Family Guidance Center. Its goal was to rescue women - and their families - from homemade violence.]: http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0205-24.htm [43] Shmuel Rosner's 2-5-07 Haaretz article, "ABASHED BY BUSH" [The Israeli Jews comprise perhaps the most sympathetic group toward Bush in the entire world. On the other hand, American Jews constitute one of the least sympathetic groups.]: [44] Julian Borger's 2-5-07 Common Dreams/The Guardian (UK) article, "PROMINENT JEWS CALL FOR OPEN DEBATE ON ISRAEL" [A group of prominent British Jews will today declare independence from the country's Jewish establishment, arguing that it puts support for Israel above the human rights of the Palestinians. Independent Jewish Voices will publish an open letter ... calling for a freer debate about the Middle East within the Jewsih community. Harold Pinter and Nicole Farhi are among the many signatories to the open letter. Institutions which claim the authority to represent the Jewish community as a whole are accused of not being representative of the British Jewish community.]: [45] John V. Whitbeck's 2-2-07 Christian Science Monitor essay, "WHAT ISRAEL'S 'RIGHT TO EXIST' MEANS TO PALESTINIANS: RECOGNITION WOULD IMPLY ACCEPTANCE THAT THEY DESERVE TO BE TREATED AS SUBHUMANS" [Since the Palestinian elections in 2006, Israel and much of the West have asserted that the principal obstacle to any progress toward Israeli-Palestinian peace is the refusal of Hamas to "recognize Israel," or to "recognize Israel's existence," or to "recognize Israel's right to exist. "These three verbal formulations have been used by Israel , the US , and the EU as a rationale for collective punishment of the Palestinian people. The phrases are also used by the media, politicians, and even diplomats interchangeably, as though they mean the same thing. They do not]: [46] Nidal Abu Arif's 2-4-07 Islamonline essay, "FIRST DANISH MOVIE ON CARTOONS CRISIS" [Famed Danish Director Erik Clausen has unveiled plans to Produce the first movie on the cartoons crisis that triggered fears of a "clash of civilizations" between the European West and Islam.]: http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1170514817369&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout [47]
Robert Marquand's 2-6-07 Christian Science Monitor article, "IN EUROPE, PUSHBACK AGAINST US 'WAR ON TERROR': GERMAN SOLIDARITY WITH THE INDICTMENT OF 13 CIA OPERATIVES UNDERSCORES A SHIFTING TONE ACROSS EUROPE" [As changes of leadership loom in Britain and France, and capitals contemplate relations with a post-Bush US, Uncle Sam may expect stronger "pushbacks" from Europe, experts here say. Public disapproval of the US-led "war on terror" is also growing, spurring the change.]: [48] Scott Shane and Ron Nixon's 2-4-07 New York Times article, "IN WASHINGTON, CONTRACTORS TAKE ON BIGGEST ROLE EVER" [Without a public debate or formal policy decision, contractors have become a virtual fourth branch of the US government. On the rise for decades, spending on federal contracts to do government jobs has soared during the Bush administration, from $207 billion in 2000 to about $400 billion last year, fueled by the war in Iraq , domestic security and Hurricane Katrina, but also by a dogmatic philosophy that encourages outsourcing almost everything government does to private corporations. All at the US taxpayer's expense, of course. Paid subscription required for access.]: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/04/washington/04contract.html [49] Ruth Rosen's 2-5-07 Tom Paine/Alternet.org essay, "CHALLENGE MARKET FUNDAMENTALISM" [For progressive causes to succeed, we must challenge the erroneous belief that the market can solve all of our problems.]: [50] Paul Krugman's 2-5-07 Truthout/New York Times essay, "THE GREEN-ZONING OF AMERICA" [One of the best of the many recent books about the Iraq debacle is Rajiv Chandrasekaran's 'Imperial Life in the Emerald City .' The book tells a tale of hopes squandered in the name of politicization and privatization: key jobs in Baghdad 's Green Zone were assigned on the basis of loyalty rather than know-how, while key functions were outsourced to private contractors. Two recent reports in the New York Times serve as a reminder that the Bush administration has brought the same corruption of governance to the home front. Call it the Green-Zoning of America. ]: [51] Stephanie Kirchgaessner's 2-5-07 Truthout/Financial Times article, "HEARINGS MARK TOUGHER OVERSIGHT OF WAR CONTRACTS" [Executives from government contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, including KBR and Compass of the UK, face a rocky ride in Washington this week as Henry Waxman, new chairman of the House of Representatives' chief investigative committee, begins hearings on allegations of "waste, fraud and abuse.]: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020507T.shtml [52] Dan Eggin's 2-5-07 Washington Post article, "US ATTORNEY FIRINGS SET STAGE FOR CONGRESSIONAL BATTLE" [A little-noticed provision passed last year allows Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales to appoint political hacks as interim US attorneys indefinitely without seeking approval from the Senate. Fearing an attempted end run around Congressional prerogatives, both House and Senate Democrats have introduced legislation to repeal the provision. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the issue Tuesday.]: [53] Karen Russell's 2-5-07 Huffington Post essay, "THE FIRST BLACK COACH IN US SPORTS ON THE SUPER BOWL" [When my Dad, NBA legend Bill Russell, was asked what he thought about having [Chicago Bears head coach] Lovie Smith and [Indianapolis Colts head coach] Tony Dungy break the racial glass ceiling in The Super Bowl, he told Metro Boston this: "It makes me extraordinarily proud to be part of the coaching profession. They have conducted their careers and their lives with dignity and success."]: [54] David Bacon's 2-5-07 Tom Paine essay, "LEGALIZING AN AMERICAN UNDERCLASS" [Powerful politicians, industry groups and think tanks want a supply of disposable, unempowered immigrant workers.]: [55] Susan Keith's 2-4-07 Atlanta Progressive News article, "ATLANTA PEACE ACTIVISTS STORM DC" [Hundreds of Metro Atlantans traveled to Washington, DC, last weekend to join an estimated 500,000 others for a march and rally on January 27, 2007, to end the US Invasion of Iraq and bring the troops home now.... The turnout at the protest showed how public opposition against the Invasion And Occupation continues to grow, and how many Atlanta peace activists are concerned about a possible US Invasion of Iran.]: [56] Ted Lang's 2-4-07 Rense.Com essay, "POWER OF THE PEOPLE" [ America must join all anti-government, anti-war, and anti-Bush factions together, and unite as one people, and may even have to consider shutting down the country. ... [57] Andrew Bard Schmookler's 2-5-07 None So Blind essay, "CONGRESS AND THE DISMANTLING OF THE BUSHITE REGIME: SOME THOUGHTS" [Having watched how Congress eventually brought down Nixon during Watergate, I feel more confident now that the Bushite regime is heading toward its downfall. It won't happen as quickly or decisively as we would wish, because the politicians are like a flock of birds, figuring out on the wing where they're going. But the dynamic of the regime's defeat is now unfolding. And here's an idea on how to speed it along.]: http://www.nonesoblind.org/blog/?p=448
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IV. Finally, nine quotations worth considering: [1] “The moral flabbiness born of the exclusive worship of the bitch-goddess success. That, with the squalid cash interpretation put on the word success, is our national disease.” [2] “'Took us a long time to get in the situation we're in, and to say that -- and to somehow assume that in a few months, that things are going to get all better, I think is not realistic.” Versus Stephanopoulos: 'You say it's all in. How long are you going to give it to work?' McCain: 'I think in the case of the Iraqi government cooperating and doing what's necessary, we can know fairly well in a few months.'”
Versus “Ready For Some Football?” --Page-one headline in online edition of Washington Times on 2-4-07, regarding the Superbowl:
[4]“I Wish They Would Attack Us With a Nuclear Bomb and Kill Us All.” --Haydar Abdul Jabbar, 28, a car mechanic who was standing near a barber Shop when the recent Baghdad bombing took place; cited in Damien Cave and Richard A. Oppel Jr.'s 2-4-07 New York Times article, “Iraqis Say U.S. Plan Allowed Deadly Attack” [5] “An Historic Senate Debate Over President Bush's War Policy Is Set To Begin Today, 'But It's Not Clear Whether There Will Be A Vote.' Conservatives are threatening to use a filibuster to block a vote on an anti-escalation resolution. 'It may be the only way for Bush supporters to prevent a bipartisan vote of no confidence,' USA Today reports.” [6] “When Sen. John E. Sununu (R-NH) Saw Reporters Approaching Him Last Week, He Took Off In A Sprint, determined to say as little as possible about a nonbinding resolution opposing President Bush's troop-escalation plan, which is expected to come before the Senate today. 'You know where I stand,' the senator...said repeatedly as he fled down stairways at the Capitol. 'I'm still looking.'” [7] “1,000: Number of People that the Iraqi Interior Ministry Estimates to Have Been Killed This Past Week, 'Due to Gunbattles, Drive-By Shootings and Bomb Attacks.' This announcement follows an attack killing 130 people on Sunday, the second-deadliest attack since the U.S. invasion in 2003.” [8] “Lawmakers Express 'Sticker Shock Over The President's Proposed 2008 Budget, Which Estimates $300 Billion In New Iraq War Spending and $100 Billion in Cuts for Medicare and Medicaid.' The budget also would 'provide insufficient extra cash to maintain coverage for poor children currently enrolled in the Children's Health Insurance Program.'” [9] “Truth, it is said, is the first casualty of war. Civilizations on earth have waged war since the beginning of time and those who wage it were the first to recognize that truth and war could not co-exist.” In war, truth is the first casualty,“ said Greek dramatist Aeschylus somewhere around 500 BC.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
