tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64752312024-03-08T11:12:40.951-07:00The "Red, White and Blue" in "Black and White"A weblog for posting articles and/or my latest essays regarding the present political climate and its issues, as well as Human and Civil Rights issues, for reflection; thus, this blog is for True Conservatives. False "conservatives" need not access if they spew "defense" of their NeoCon insanity and Machiavellian-Straussian policies, ways, means, aims, ends, and actions, and/or spew hate towards True Individuals like myself who represent Truly Logical, Sane writings in this great format.Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.comBlogger166125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-10283112116861291322009-12-07T12:57:00.004-07:002010-11-19T20:37:49.140-07:00FABLED ENEMIES, by Jason Bermas<p align="justify"> </p>
<br /><strong><p style="margin-left: 0; margin-right: 0; margin-top: 0" valign="top" align="center"><font size="5"><b>"Dissent is the essential<br /><br /> aspect of patriotism"!<br /><br /><br /> --Thomas Jefferson</b></font></p>
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<p style="margin-left: 0; margin-right: 0; margin-top: 0" valign="top" align="center"><font face="verdana" size="2"><b><a target="_blank" class="links" href="http://www.InternationalANSWER.org/" onMouseOver="document.images['i1'].src='http://www.Form-Legal.com/grey_wolf1.jpg'" onMouseOut="document.images['i1'].src='http://www.Form-Legal.com/endlesswar2.jpg'">International A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition<br />Click Here to A.ct N.ow and Ask<br /><img height=172 width=225 name="i1" src="http://www.Form-Legal.com/endlesswar2.jpg" border=0 alt="Click here to go to International A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition's website!"><br />S.top W.ar and E.nd R.acism!<br />(! "Mouse-Over" Pics to See Others !)</a></b></font></p>
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<p style="margin-left: 0; margin-right: 0; margin-top: 0" valign="top" align="justify"><font size="4"><b>We are all relevant. Even the delusional NeoCons in the White House right now would be relevant if not for the fact that they are mass-murdering thousands of innocent non-combatants in the name of corporate-fascist world domination. But because they are the opposite of a force for good in this world, they are not relevant except as they are the most-serious terrorist threat to the U.S. and the whole world, and must be non-violently resisted. Therefore, this blog is a relevant "counter-action" to their psychotic blight on the U.S. and entire world.</b></font></p>
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<p style="margin-left: 0; margin-right: 0; margin-top: 0" valign="top" align="justify"><font size="3"><b>PLEASE TAKE NOTICE: All entries are in descending order by the date(s) that they were posted, and in some cases are in ascending order by the date(s) written.]</b></font></p></strong>
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<a name="FabledEnemies"> </a>
<strong><p align="center"><font size="7"><a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank"><u>FABLED</u></a></font></p><br /><p align="center"><font size="7"><a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank"><u>ENEMIES</u></a></font></p><br /><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank">"Excellent documentary giving a great<br />deal of the evidence that 9-11 was<br />an 'inside job' perpetrated by the<br />U.S. government itself through its<br />'intelligence' and/or 'national<br />security' agencies, branches of<br />the U.S. military, and others"</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank">VERY important that you watch now!<br />(View for FREE below)</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4">Posted on 7 December 2009<br />by S. Wolf Britain<br /><a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/" target="_blank">"And Now The Apocalypse!"<br />http://www.wolfbritain.com/</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4">[Copyright (c) 2009-2012 in the U.S.A.<br />and Internationally by<br /><a href="http://www.prisonplanet.tv/" target="_blank">Jason Bermas and "Alex Jones Productions"</a>,<br /><a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank">"InfoWars.com: Because There Is A War On<br />For Your Mind (And Soul)"</a>, and<br /><a href="http://www.fabledenemies.com/" target="_blank">"FabledEnemies.com"</a>.<br />All rights reserved.]</font></p></strong>
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<div align="center"><object width="395" height="321"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/28tE0fKpISM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/28tE0fKpISM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="395" height="321"></embed></object></div><p></p>
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<strong><p align="center"><font size="4">Proof of the FEMA concentration camps<br />all over the U.S., in every state<br />including Alaska and Hawaii:</font></p><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.campfema.com/" target="_blank">http://www.campfema.com/</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7763" target="_blank">http://www.globalresearch.ca/index<br />.php?context=va&aid=7763</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=118135173934136151745.00045bc25ee928a8872d0&z=3" target="_blank">http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=<br />us&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=<br />118135173934136151745.00045<br />bc25ee928a8872d0&z=3</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4">Now please watch next video, as follows....</font></p></strong>
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<p align="justify"> </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-73487269778493366672009-11-18T13:30:00.015-07:002010-11-19T16:18:31.928-07:00Three Videos: 1.) FALL OF THE REPUBLIC; 2.) THE OBAMA DECEPTION; and 3.) ENDGAME: BLUEPRINT FOR GLOBAL ENSLAVEMENT<p align="justify"> </p>
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<a name="FallOfTheRepublic"> </a>
<strong><p align="center"><font size="7"><a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank"><u>FALL OF THE</u></a></font></p><br /><p align="center"><font size="7"><a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank"><u>REPUBLIC</u></a></font></p><br /><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank">Excellent documentary on the grave<br />situation that now faces us in the<br />United States and the World</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank">VERY important that you watch now!<br />(View for FREE below)</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4">Posted on 14 November 2009<br />by S. Wolf Britain<br /><a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/" target="_blank">"And Now The Apocalypse!"<br />http://www.wolfbritain.com/</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4">[Copyright (c) 2009-2012 in the U.S.A.<br />and Internationally by<br /><a href="http://www.prisonplanet.tv/" target="_blank">"Alex Jones Productions"</a>, <a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank">"InfoWars.com:<br />Because There Is A War On For<br />Your Mind (And Soul)"</a>, and<br /><a href="http://www.falloftherepublic.com/" target="_blank">"FallOfTheRepublic.com"</a>.<br />All rights reserved.]</font></p></strong>
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<div align="center"><object width="395" height="321"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VebOTc-7shU&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VebOTc-7shU&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="395" height="321"></embed></object></div><p></p>
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<strong><p align="center"><font size="4">Proof of the FEMA concentration camps<br />all over the U.S., in every state<br />including Alaska and Hawaii:</font></p><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.campfema.com/" target="_blank">http://www.campfema.com/</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7763" target="_blank">http://www.globalresearch.ca/index<br />.php?context=va&aid=7763</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=118135173934136151745.00045bc25ee928a8872d0&z=3" target="_blank">http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=<br />us&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=<br />118135173934136151745.00045<br />bc25ee928a8872d0&z=3</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4">Now please watch next video, as follows....</font></p></strong>
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<a name="TheObamaDeception"> </a>
<strong><p align="center"><font size="7"><a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank"><u>THE OBAMA</u></a></font></p><br /><p align="center"><font size="7"><a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank"><u>DECEPTION</u></a></font></p><br /><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank">Excellent documentary on the grave<br />situation that now faces us in the<br />United States and the World</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank">VERY important that you watch now!<br />(View for FREE below)</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4">Posted on 14 November 2009<br />by S. Wolf Britain<br /><a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/" target="_blank">"And Now The Apocalypse!"<br />http://www.wolfbritain.com/</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4">[Copyright (c) 2008-2012 in the U.S.A.<br />and Internationally by<br /><a href="http://www.prisonplanet.tv/" target="_blank">"Alex Jones Productions"</a>, <a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank">"InfoWars.com:<br />Because There Is A War On For<br />Your Mind (And Soul)"</a>, and<br /><a href="http://www.obamadeception.net/" target="_blank">"ObamaDeception.net"</a>.<br />All rights reserved.]</font></p></strong>
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<div align="center"><object width="395" height="321"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eAaQNACwaLw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eAaQNACwaLw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="395" height="321"></embed></object></div><p></p>
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<strong><p align="center"><font size="4">Proof of the FEMA concentration camps<br />all over the U.S., in every state<br />including Alaska and Hawaii:</font></p><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.campfema.com/" target="_blank">http://www.campfema.com/</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7763" target="_blank">http://www.globalresearch.ca/index<br />.php?context=va&aid=7763</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=118135173934136151745.00045bc25ee928a8872d0&z=3" target="_blank">http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=<br />us&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=<br />118135173934136151745.00045<br />bc25ee928a8872d0&z=3</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4">Now please watch next video, as follows....</font></p></strong>
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<a name="Endgame:Blueprint"> </a>
<strong><p align="center"><font size="7"><a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank"><u>ENDGAME:</u></a></font></p><br /><p align="center"><font size="7"><a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank"><u>BLUEPRINT FOR</u></a></font></p><br /><p align="center"><font size="7"><a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank"><u>GLOBAL</u></a></font></p><br /><p align="center"><font size="7"><a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank"><u>ENSLAVEMENT</u></a></font></p><br /><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank">Excellent documentary on the grave<br />situation that now faces us in the<br />United States and the World</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank">VERY important that you watch now!<br />(View for FREE below)</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4">Posted on 14 November 2009<br />by S. Wolf Britain<br /><a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/" target="_blank">"And Now The Apocalypse!"<br />http://www.wolfbritain.com/</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4">[Copyright (c) 2007-2012 in the U.S.A.<br />and Internationally by<br /><a href="http://www.prisonplanet.tv/" target="_blank">"Alex Jones Productions"</a>, <a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank">"InfoWars.com:<br />Because There Is A War On For<br />Your Mind (And Soul)"</a>, and<br /><a href="http://www.endgamethemovie.com/" target="_blank">"EndgameTheMovie.com"</a>.<br />All rights reserved.]</font></p></strong>
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<div align="center"><object width="395" height="321"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/x-CrNlilZho?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/x-CrNlilZho?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="395" height="321"></embed></object></div><p></p>
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<strong><p align="center"><font size="4">Proof of the FEMA concentration camps<br />all over the U.S., in every state<br />including Alaska and Hawaii:</font></p><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.campfema.com/" target="_blank">http://www.campfema.com/</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7763" target="_blank">http://www.globalresearch.ca/index<br />.php?context=va&aid=7763</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=118135173934136151745.00045bc25ee928a8872d0&z=3" target="_blank">http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=<br />us&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=<br />118135173934136151745.00045<br />bc25ee928a8872d0&z=3</a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4">Now please view the following video(s); read the following article(s); and/or go to my main blog, at <a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/" target="_blank">http://www.wolfbritain.com/</a>, to read my articles posted there....</font></p></strong>
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<p align="justify"> </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1162537862719272702006-11-03T00:03:00.002-07:002009-11-02T17:48:23.389-07:00AMERICA: Freedom to Fascism Authorized Version (Aaron Russo)<p align="justify"> </p>
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<DIV style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: -10px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 5px" align="center" valign="top"><a href="http://www.freedomtofascism.com/" target="_blank"><img height="60" src="http://www.form-legal.com/241006ff.gif" width="400" border="2"></a></DIV><BR>
<DIV style="LEFT: 0px; WIDTH: 410px; POSITION: relative; TOP: 0px" align="center" valign="top"><h3>America Freedom to Fascism<BR>Authorized Version<BR>(Aaron Russo)</h3><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tr><td><embed style="width:400px; height:326px;" id="VideoPlayback" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-1656880303867390173&hl=en" flashvars=""> </embed></td></tr></table></div><BR><BR><table><tr><td><div align="justify">Please visit: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.freedomtofascism.com/">http://www.freedomtofascism.com/</a> to purchase the DVD.</div><BR>
<div align="justify"> This is the "Director's Final Cut" authorized version of Aaron Russo's documentary, America: Freedom To Fascism (AFTF). It is being uploaded to Google Video for the first time during the evening of October 19-20th, 2006. Aaron has listened to everyone's feedback - volunteers, students, lovers of freedom & liberty, young and old alike - and, true to his word, he is putting this up "for free" on Google Video knowing that the hour has come for Americans to either be awakened to restore the Republic or be swept aside by the dark global forces of fascism that seeks to enslave mankind.</div><BR>
<div align="justify"> AFTF's main focus comes in a statement with six very simple words: SHUT DOWN THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM!!</div><BR>
<div align="justify"> After viewing the movie, please be sure to visit <a target="_blank" href="http://www.freedomtofascism.com/">http://www.freedomtofascism.com/</a> where you will soon be able to view a much higher quality "pay per view" Internet version of AFTF, buy the DVD and sign up as an affiliate to sell/distribute DVDs to others.</div><BR>
<div align="justify"> We also urge everyone to be sure to sign up as volunteers, register for email alerts and tell your family, friends and neighbors about this groundbreaking movie.</div>
</td></tr></table></STRONG><BR><BR><BR><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1160947996842306732006-10-15T15:31:00.002-06:002008-04-07T01:08:49.592-06:00FATAL VISION: The Deeper Evil Behind The Detainee Bill, by Chris Floyd<p align="justify"> </p>
<strong><blockquote><p align="justify"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">The American flag, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights have now been torn to shreads. "Rest In Peace (RIP)", Freedom and Liberty. RIP, "the experiment in democracy".</p><BR>
<p align="justify">We have watched in dumb amazement (those of us who have realized what is really going on, that is) as for the past five years the Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution, liberty, and freedom have been step by step, systematically eviscerated, first with the so-called "USA P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act (those who criticize it supposedly aren't patriots)", and then with the latest afront on domestic freedom and liberty, the "Military Commissions Act of 2006," also known among other names as the "Detainee Bill", passed by an almost completely cowed Senate in the dead of night on Friday, the 29th day of September, 2006.</p><BR>
<p align="justify">Now NONE OF US is safe. Not civil libertarians, not dissenters, not protesters of even the mildest variety (as virtually everything is now considered "terrorism"), and not even those blind worshippers of the U.S. government or its agents; because, if someone decides they don't like you, or gets jealous or resentful of you, all they need do is CLAIM you criticized the government, defended "rights", felt that certain force used against someone was excessive, or committed some other equally innocent "perceived threatening conduct" (some of the federal government's favorite wording that they now use for those who exercise their inalienable, immutable, inviolable First Amendment rights of Freedom of Speech, Belief and Dissent to disagree with their government), and you will very likely be "disappeared" into custody, stripped of U.S. citizenship, and be interro(r)gated, intimidated, humiliated, terrorized, tortured, and/or very possibly murdered, all without "Due Process of Law" under the Fifth and Fourteen Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, or a fair, unbiased hearing, access to an impartial lawyer, court, judge, or jury; and, if you live through this process, you could be kept secretly imprisoned forever without access to ANYONE important to you. This is NO exageration WHATSOVER; and, if "We, The People" don't repeal this horrific law, or the U.S. Supreme court doesn't overturn it, this is the END of our Republic, of Democracy, and of ALL Liberty and Freedom in "the land of the free, and the home of the brave", and THE END OF ALL protection(s) from a capricious, out of control, dictatorial government.</p><BR>
<p align="justify">So, you see, the inviolable freedoms and liberties that we have so taken for granted, and that most Americans now have so little understanding of the supreme importance of, much to our grave detriment, were not overturned by "Islamo-Fascist terrorists", nor by protesting, dissenting U.S. citizens, nor journalists critical of the government, nor any other equally illusory, contrived, manufactured, engineered, and/or U.S.-government-created, state-sponsored "enemy(ies)", agents, assets, patsies, bogeymen, infiltra(i)tors, disinfo-agents, detractors, distractors, naysayers, actors, shills, trolls, hackers, informers, spies, entrappers, and/or agents provocateur, etc., but this act of true terrorism was carried out by the very people in our own government who are literally sworn to uphold and protect the U.S. Constitution "from all enemies, foreign AND DOMESTIC", including from THEMSELVES and other tyrannical, 'absolutely despotic' (to loosely quote the Declaration of Independence) forces in that very government; and the vast majority of them have COMPLETELY failed us and thrown EVERY SINGLE PERSON in this great country OF OURS into limitless danger and threat(s) by that government to the very safety of EACH AND EVERY ONE OF OUR LIVES.</p><BR>
<p align="justify">The following is very likely the best article on this subject that has thus far been written, at least as far as I am aware; and, therefore, I share it with you at this time to further clarify just how truly catastrophic, life-threatening and consequential the situation we are now in actually is for every single man, woman, child, and little baby in this entire country, and ultimately in this entire world. The world-renowned True Journalist who wrote this great article, Chris Floyd, is also a True Hero and an exceedingly courageous human being for writing such an accurate article of warning to world-citizens planet-wide, and such an accurate portrayal of the extremely dire situation the U.S. and the world are in as a direct result of the subject matter it covers, as follows:</p></font></blockquote>
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<p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/printer_100206A.shtml" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.print.gif" border="0" width="18" height="11"> Print This Story</a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"><!-- Start ApplyTools code --><a href = '#' onclick = "window.open('http://refer.truthout.org/cgi-bin/applyrefer.cgi?job=refer&URL='+self.location.href,'','width=400,height=450,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes');"><font style = 'weight:bold;'><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.mail.gif" border="0" width="18" height="10"> E-mail This Story</font></a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"></font><br></p><!-- End ApplyTools code -->
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="http://www.chris-floyd.com/" target="_blank">Read more of Chris Floyd's columns.</a></font></p>
<P><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><A href="http://www.chris-floyd.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1&limit=8&limitstart=8" target="_blank">Go to Original.</A></font></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.chris-floyd.com/" target="_blank"><img height="197" alt="Click here to go to Chris Floyd's blog, 'Empire Burlesque'!" src="http://www.form-legal.com/ChrisFloyd.jpg" width="144" border="2" align="left"/></a> <a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/"><u>FATAL VISION: THE DEEPER EVIL</u><br>
<u>BEHIND THE DETAINEE BILL</u><br>
("Big Brother" Government<br>
Is Now Here In The U.S.)</a><br>
By Chris Floyd, T.O. UK Reporter<br>
t r u t h o u t | Perspective<br>
Tuesday, 3 October 2006<br>
[Copyright (c) 2006 in the<br>
U.S.A. and Internationally<br>
by t r u t h o u t (.org),<br>
Empire Burlesque (Chris' blog)<br>
and/or Chris Floyd.<br>
All rights reserved.]</p>
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<blockquote><p align="justify"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F1847289703%3Fie%3DUTF8&tag=apocnowlifein-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325" target="_blank"><img height="250" src="http://www.form-legal.com/ChrisFloyd'sBook.gif" width="150" alt="Click here to go buy Chris Floyd's book, 'Empire Burlesque: High Crimes and Low Comedy in the Bush Imperium'!" align="left" /></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=apocnowlifein-20&l=ur2&o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> <em><u>(This is a slightly revised version of a piece that first appeared on the Oct. 2nd edition of Truthout.org .)</u><BR><BR> <u>There is no week nor day nor hour when tyranny may not enter upon this country -- if the people lose their confidence in themselves -- and lose their roughness and spirit of defiance.</u></em><BR>--- Walt Whitman</p></blockquote><BR>
<p align="justify"> <u>I.</u></p>
<p align="justify"> It was a dark hour indeed (on Friday, September 29th, 2006) when the United States Senate voted to end the constitutional republic and transform the country into a "Leader-State," giving the president and his agents the power to capture, torture and imprison forever anyone -- American citizens included -- whom they arbitrarily decide is an "enemy combatant." This also includes those who merely give "terrorism" some kind of "support," defined so vaguely that many experts say it could encompass legal advice, innocent gifts to charities or even political opposition to US government policy within its draconian strictures.</p>
<p align="center"><img src="http://www.form-legal.com/flagtorn.jpg" align="center" border="2" height="275" hspace="2" vspace="2" width="400"></p>
<p align="justify"> All of this is bad enough -- a sickening and cowardly surrender of liberty not seen in a major Western democracy since the Enabling Act passed by the German Reichstag in March 1933. But it is by no means the full extent of our degradation. In reality, the darkness is deeper, and more foul, than most people imagine. For in addition to the dictatorial powers of seizure and torment given by Congress on Thursday to George W. Bush -- powers he had already seized and exercised for five years anyway, even without this fig leaf of sham legality -- there is a far more sinister imperial right that Bush has claimed -- and used -- openly, without any demur or debate from Congress at all: ordering the "extrajudicial killing" of anyone on earth that he and his deputies decide -- arbitrarily, without charges, court hearing, formal evidence, or appeal -- is an "enemy combatant."</p>
<p align="justify"> That's right; from the earliest days of the Terror War -- September 17, 2001, to be exact -- Bush has claimed the peremptory power of life and death over the entire world. If he says you're an enemy of America, you are. If he wants to imprison you and torture you, he can. And if he decides you should die, he'll kill you. This is not hyperbole, liberal paranoia, or "conspiracy theory": it's simply a fact, reported by the mainstream media, attested by senior administration figures, recorded in official government documents -- and boasted about by the president himself, in front of Congress and a national television audience.</p>
<p align="justify"> And although the Republic-snuffing act just passed by Congress does not directly address Bush's royal prerogative of murder, it nonetheless strengthens it and enshrines it in law. For the measure sets forth clearly that the designation of an "enemy combatant" is left solely to the executive branch; neither Congress nor the courts have any say in the matter. When this new law is coupled with the existing "Executive Orders" authorizing "lethal force" against arbitrarily designated "enemy combatants," it becomes, quite literally, a license to kill -- with the seal of Congressional approval.</p>
<p align="justify"> How arbitrary is this process by which all our lives and liberties are now governed? Dave Niewert at Orcinus has unearthed a remarkable admission of its totally capricious nature. In an December 2002 story in the Washington Post, then-Solicitor General Ted Olson described the anarchy at the heart of the process with admirable frankness:</p>
<blockquote><p align="justify"> "[There is no] requirement that the executive branch spell out its criteria for determining who qualifies as an enemy combatant," Olson argues.</p>
<p align="justify"> "'There won't be 10 rules that trigger this or 10 rules that end this,' Olson said in the interview. 'There will be judgments and instincts and evaluations and implementations that have to be made by the executive that are probably going to be different from day to day, depending on the circumstances.'"</p></blockquote>
<p align="justify"> In other words, what is safe to do or say today might imperil your freedom or your life tomorrow. You can never know if you are on the right side of the law, because the "law" is merely the whim of the Leader and his minions: their "instincts" determine your guilt or innocence, and these flutterings in the gut can change from day to day. This radical uncertainty is the very essence of despotism -- and it is now, formally and officially, the guiding principle of the United States government.</p>
<p align="justify"> And underlying this edifice of tyranny is the prerogative of presidential murder. Perhaps the enormity of this monstrous perversion of law and morality has kept it from being fully comprehended. It sounds unbelievable to most people: a president ordering hits like a Mafia don? But that is our reality, and has been for five years. To overcome what seems to be a widespread cognitive dissonance over this concept, we need only examine the record -- a record, by the way, taken entirely from publicly available sources in the mass media. There's nothing secret or contentious about it, nothing that any ordinary citizen could not know -- if they choose to know it.</p><BR>
<p align="justify"> <u>II.</u></p>
<p align="justify"> Six days after the 9/11 attacks, George W. Bush signed a "presidential finding" authorizing the CIA to kill those individuals whom he had marked for death as terrorists. This in itself was not an entirely radical innovation; Bill Clinton's White House legal team had drawn up memos asserting the president's right to issue "an order to kill an individual enemy of the United States in self-defense," despite the legal prohibitions against assassination, the Washington Post reported in October 2001. The Clinton team based this ruling on the "inherent powers" of the "Commander in Chief" -- that mythical, ever-elastic construct that Bush has evoked over and over to defend his own unconstitutional usurpations.</p>
<p align="justify"> The practice of "targeted killing" was apparently never used by Clinton, however; despite the pro-assassination memos, Clinton followed the traditional presidential practice of bombing the hell out of a bunch of civilians whenever he wanted to lash out at some recalcitrant leader or international outlaw -- as in his bombing of the Sudanese pharmaceutical factory in 1998, or the two massive strikes he launched against Iraq in 1993 and 1998, or indeed the death and ruin that was deliberately inflicted on civilian infrastructure in Serbia during that nation's collective punishment for the crimes of Slobodan Milosevic. Here, was following the example set by George H.W. Bush, who killed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Panamanian civilians in his illegal arrest of Manuel Noriega in 1988, and Ronald Reagan, who killed Moamar Gadafy's adopted 2-year-old daughter and 100 other civilians in a punitive strike on Libya in 1986.</p>
<p align="justify"> Junior Bush, of course, was about to outdo all those blunderbuss strokes with his massive air attacks on Afghanistan, which killed thousands of civilians, and the later orgy of death and destruction in Iraq. But he also wanted the power to kill individuals at will. At first, the assassination program was restricted to direct orders from the president aimed at specific targets, as suggested by the Clinton memos. But soon the arbitrary power of life and death was delegated to agents in the field, after Bush signed orders allowing CIA assassins to kill targets without seeking presidential approval for each attack, the Washington Post reported in December 2002. Nor was it necessary any longer for the president to approve each new name added to the target list; the "security organs" could designate "enemy combatants" and kill them as they saw fit. However, Bush was always keen to get the details about the agency's wetwork, administration officials assured the Post.</p>
<p align="justify"> The first officially confirmed use of this power was the killing of an American citizen, along with several foreign nationals, by a CIA drone missile in Yemen on November 3, 2002. A similar strike occurred on December 4, 2005, when a CIA missile destroyed a house and purportedly killed Abu Hamza Rabia, a suspected al-Qaeda figure. But the only bodies found at the site were those of two children, the houseowner's son and nephew, Reuters reports. The grieving father denied any connection to terrorism. An earlier CIA strike on another house missed Rabia but killed his wife and children, Pakistani officials reported.</p>
<p align="justify"> However, there is simply no way of knowing at this point how many people have been killed by American agents operating outside all judicial process. Most of the assassinations are carried out in secret: quietly, professionally. As a Pentagon document uncovered by the New Yorker in December 2002 revealed, the death squads must be "small and agile," and "able to operate clandestinely, using a full range of official and non-official cover arrangements to ... enter countries surreptitiously."</p>
<p align="justify"> What's more, there are strong indications that the Bush administration has outsourced some of the contracts to outside operators. In the original Post story about the assassinations -- in those first heady weeks after 9/11, when administration officials were much more open about "going to the dark side," as Cheney boasted on national television -- Bush insiders told the paper that "it is also possible that the instrument of targeted killings will be foreign agents, the CIA's term for nonemployees who act on its behalf.</p>
<p align="justify"> Here we find a deadly echo of the "rendition" program that has sent so many captives to torture pits in Syria, Egypt and elsewhere -- including many whose innocence has been officially established, such as the Canadian businessman Maher Arar, German national Khalid El-Masri, UK native Mozzam Begg and many others. They had been subjected to imprisonment and torture despite their innocence, because of intelligence "mistakes." How many have fallen victim to Bush's hit squads on similar shaky grounds?</p>
<p align="justify"> So here we are. Congress has just entrenched the principle of Bush's "unitary executive" dictatorship into law; and it is this principle that undergirds the assassination program. As I wrote in December, it's hard to believe that any genuine democracy would accept a claim by its leader that he could have anyone killed simply by labeling them an "enemy." It's hard to believe that any adult with even the slightest knowledge of history or human nature could countenance such unlimited, arbitrary power, knowing the evil it is bound to produce. Yet this is exactly what the great and good in America have done.</p>
<p align="justify"> But this should come as no surprise. They have known about it all along, and have not only countenanced Bush's death squad, but even celebrated it. I'll end with one more passage from that December article, which sadly is even more apt for our degraded reality today. It was a depiction of the one of the most revolting scenes in recent American history: Bush's state of the Union address in January 2003, delivered live to the nation during the final warmongering frenzy before the rape of Iraq:</p>
<blockquote><p align="justify"> Trumpeting his successes in the Terror War, Bush claimed that "more than 3,000 suspected terrorists" had been arrested worldwide -- "and many others have met a different fate." His face then took on the characteristic leer, the strange, sickly half-smile it acquires whenever he speaks of killing people: "Let's put it this way. They are no longer a problem."</p>
<p align="justify"> In other words, the suspects -- and even Bush acknowledged they were only suspects -- had been murdered. Lynched. Killed by agents operating unsupervised in that shadow world where intelligence, terrorism, politics, finance and organized crime meld together in one amorphous, impenetrable mass. Killed on the word of a dubious informer, perhaps: a tortured captive willing to say anything to end his torment, a business rival, a personal foe, a bureaucrat looking to impress his superiors, a paid snitch in need of cash, a zealous crank pursuing ethnic, tribal or religious hatreds -- or any other purveyor of the garbage data that is coin of the realm in the shadow world.</p>
<p align="justify"> Bush proudly held up this hideous system as an example of what he called "the meaning of American justice." And the assembled legislators ... applauded. Oh, how they applauded! They roared with glee at the leering little man's bloodthirsty, B-movie machismo. They shared his sneering contempt for law -- our only shield, however imperfect, against the blind, brute, ignorant, ape-like force of raw power. Not a single voice among them was raised in protest against this tyrannical machtpolitik: not that night, not the next day, not ever.</p></blockquote>
<p align="justify"> And now, in September 2006, we know they will never raise that protest. Oh, a few Democrats stood up at the last minute on Thursday to posture nobly about the dangers of the detainee bill -- but only when they knew that it was certain to pass, when they had already given up their one weapon against it, the filibuster, in exchange for permission from their Republican masters to offer amendments that they also knew would fail. Had they been offering such speeches since October 2001, when the lineaments of Bush's presidential tyranny were already clear -- or at any other point during the systematic dismantling of America's liberties over the past five years -- these fine words might have had some effect.</p>
<p align="justify"> Now the killing will go on. The tyranny that has entered upon the country will grow stronger, more brazen; the darkness will deepen. Whitman, thou should'st be living at this hour; America has need of thee. (Subtitle and/or emphasis added by Wolf Britain.)</p>
<HR /><br />
<p align="justify"><em> <a href="mailto:cfloyd72@gmail.com" target="_blank">Chris Floyd</a> is an American journalist residing in the UK. His work has appeared in print and online in venues all over the world, including The Nation, Counterpunch, Columbia Journalism Review, the Christian Science Monitor, Il Manifesto, the Moscow Times, and many others. He is the author of</em> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F1847289703%3Fie%3DUTF8&tag=apocnowlifein-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325" target="_blank">Empire Burlesque: High Crimes and Low Comedy in the Bush Imperium</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=apocnowlifein-20&l=ur2&o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> <em>, and is co-founder and editor of the <a href="http://www.chris-floyd.com/" target="_blank">"Empire Burlesque"</a> political blog.</em></p>
<P> ________</P>
<p align="justify"><em>(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)</em></p>
<p align="justify"><em>"Go to Original" links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted on TO may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the "Go to Original" links.</em></p>
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<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="justify"><A target="_blank" href="http://technorati.com/tag/commentary" rel=tag>Commentary</A></p></strong>
<p align="justify"> </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1157406379651737332006-09-04T15:45:00.001-06:002009-05-05T15:35:43.795-06:00'IMPEACH BUSH NOW!' DO-IT-YOURSELF IMPEACHMENT, by ImpeachForPeace.org<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="justify"><font size="5"><strong><a href="http://www.impeachforpeace.org/ImpeachNow.html" target="_blank">DO-IT-YOURSELF IMPEACHMENT</a></strong></font></p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="justify"><a href="http://www.impeachforpeace.org/ImpeachNow.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.form-legal.com/DIYImpeachmentsml.jpg" alt="Impeach Bush Yourself!" name="" width="155" height="119" border="2" align="right" /></a>Impeach for Peace, a Minnesota-based impeachment group, has researched a method for impeaching the president using a little known and rarely used part of the Rules of the House of Representatives ("Jefferson’s Manual"). This document actually empowers individual citizens to initiate the impeachment process themselves.</p>
<p align="justify">"Jefferson's Manual" is an interpretive guide to parliamentary procedure, and is included (along with the Constitution) in the bound volumes of the Rules of the House of Representatives. The section covering impeachment lists the acceptable vehicles for bringing impeachment motions to the floor of the House.</p>
<p align="justify">Before the House Judiciary Committee can put together the Articles of Impeachment, someone must initiate the impeachment procedure. Most often, this occurs when members of the House pass a resolution. Another method outlined in the manual, however, is for individual citizens to submit a memorial for impeachment.</p>
<p align="justify">After learning this information, Minnesotan and Impeach for Peace member (Jodin Morey) found precedent in an 1826 memorial by Luke Edward Lawless which had been successful in initiating the impeachment of Federal Judge James H. Peck. Impeach for Peace then used this as a template for their "Do-It-Yourself Impeachment." Now any citizen can download the DIY Impeachment Memorial and submit it, making it possible for Americans to do what our representatives have been unwilling to do. The idea is for so many people to submit the Memorial that it cannot be ignored.</p>
<p align="justify">Feel free to download it, print out TWO copies, fill in your relevant information in the blanks (name, State, etc.), and send in two letters today (One to the head of the Judiciary, and the other to John Conyers lead Democrat in the House Judiciary). There's also extra credit for sending a DIY Impeachment to your own representative.</p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="justify"><font size="3"><strong>Hold on to the other copy of the two letters until October 12th when we're having everyone send them in again.</strong></font></p>
<p align="justify">That's right — to make a big impact, we're having everyone send it in on the same date (Over 30,000 downloads so far). We hope to flood the Judiciary Committee and John Conyers office with sacks of mail and cause a newsworthy event to further pressure the Congress to act on the memorials. Although, it's important to keep in mind that in the 1826 precedent, impeachment resulted as a result of a single memorial. Yours might be the one.</p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="justify"><font size="4">Get the (form) to send in, and DIRECTLY initiate the impeachment of Bush:</font></p><br>
<p align="justify"><strong><a href="http://www.beingism.org/cgi-bin/DIY.cgi" target="_blank">•Regular Version [pdf]</a></strong> <font size="1"><strong><a href="http://www.beingism.org/DIY/DIY.html" target="_blank">•(html version)</a></strong></font></p>
<p align="justify"><strong><a href="http://www.beingism.org/cgi-bin/DIYExtra.cgi" target="_blank">•Extra Credit (your representative) [pdf]</a></strong> <font size="1"><strong><a href="http://www.beingism.org/DIY/DIYExtra.html" target="_blank">•(html version)</a></strong></font></p>
<p align="justify"><strong><a href="http://www.beingism.org/cgi-bin/DIYDC.cgi" target="_blank">•For folks in District of Columbia [pdf]</a></strong> <font size="1"><strong><a href="http://www.beingism.org/DIY/DIY_DC.html" target="_blank">•(html version)</a></strong></font></p>
<p align="justify"><strong><a href="http://www.beingism.org/cgi-bin/DIYDCExtra.cgi" target="_blank">•District of Columbia Extra Credit!! [pdf]</a></strong> <font size="1"><strong><a href="http://www.beingism.org/DIY/DIYExtraDC.html" target="_blank">•(html version)</a></strong></font></p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="justify"><font size="4"><strong><a href="http://www.impeachforpeace.org/ImpeachNowQuestoins.html" target="_blank">Frequently Asked Questions and Answers</a></strong></font></p><br>
<p align="justify"><font size="4"><strong>Impeach Bush Yourself!</strong></font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="4"><strong>Questions from a supporter:</strong></font></p><br>
<p align="justify"><font size="3"><strong><em>"Why are you waiting until October 12th? That’s too late to force an impeachment before the elections."</em></strong></font></p>
<p align="justify">Actually, we’re asking people to send in the Do-It-Yourself Impeachment Memorials twice — once immediately, and again in October. Originally we were asking people to send the petitions in October only, but we realized that the situation is just too urgent to wait. We also wanted the time to get the word out about DIY Impeachment, however, so we thought this was the best compromise.</p><br>
<p align="justify"><font size="3"><strong><em>"Why did you choose October?"</em></strong></font></p>
<p align="justify">October was chosen because of its potential effect on the elections. With a Republican Congress, impeachment seems unlikely, so we're hoping to influence the vote. If we have sacks of mail all arriving at once, we hope it will hit the news in a big way, reminding people of all the corruption and crime in Bush’s administration and the rest of the Republican Party. We want people walking into the polls with these facts on their minds. This also is a few days after an <a href="http://www.worldcantwait.net/" target="_blank">October 5th national protest across the nation</a>. We're planning on marketing this idea during those protests to get hoards more people to send it in.</p><br>
<p align="justify"><font size="3"><strong><em>"Won't the new irradiation process (due to the anthrax scare) delay your mailings past election time?"</em></strong></font></p>
<p align="justify">According to the<a href="http://ribbs.usps.gov/files/mtac/%20highlights/0503_HIGHLIGHTS.DOC" target="_blank"> USPS's website</a>, “U. S. Mail is still being irradiated, [causing] a two day delay [in] the process from start to finish. The mail is irradiated for all government mail for zip codes in 202- 205 areas." This covers the zip code for Conyers and Sensenbrenner listed on the Memorial.</p>
<p align="justify">We also called Betty McCullum (one of our organizer's Representatives), and she told us it takes 1-2 weeks for her to receive U.S. Mail.</p><br>
<p align="justify"><font size="3"><strong><em>"Why didn't you include Cheney and Rice? They’ll become president if Bush is found guilty?"</em></strong></font></p>
<p align="justify">Cheney and Rice were deliberately not included because we need a focused message. Adding more people to the initiation of the impeachment process complicates the issue. Some people may not agree on impeaching Cheney or Rice because their crimes are less reported than Bush’s, but we want all the help we can get. However, Cheney and Rice will be impeached along with Bush when the investigation reveals their crimes.</p><br>
<p align="justify"><font size="3"><strong><em>"Who finances Impeach For Peace?"</em></strong></font></p>
<p align="justify">We receive donations from our organizers, and from our supportive friends. We also receive some online donations.</p><br>
<p align="justify"><font size="3"><strong><em>"Why did you change the address to which we're sending the memorials?"</em></strong></font></p>
<p align="justify">We discovered some potential procedural problems with having the memorial(s) go exclusively to Conyers. While we haven’t yet completely cleared this up, our current system of sending it to both Sensenbrenner and to Conyers will solve the issue one way or the other. We don't wish to send it exclusively to Sensenbrenner, as his agenda opposes ours, and he may never even acknowledge having received them. Conyers, however, is actively pursuing impeachment, and he’s a member of the Judiciary (the body which will need to eventually act on impeachment). It’s important that he know how many letters have been sent so that he can fight for us.</p><br>
<p align="justify"><font size="3"><strong><em>"I find no mention -- or means of locating -- the form for requesting a waiver so that I may file in forma pauperis."</em></strong></font></p>
<p align="justify">"IN FORMA PAUPERIS -- Someone who is without the funds to pursue the normal costs of a lawsuit or criminal defense (and the process by which they request a waiver of court fees and costs). Upon the court's granting of this status the person is entitled to waiver of normal (court fees and) costs, and/or appointment of counsel [but (the latter) seldom in other than a criminal case]."</p>
<p align="justify">(The) impeachment process isn't carried out in a normal court room, indeed, it is not even a legal indictment, but a political process. The "trial," if you will, would be carried out in the Senate. The memorialist (i.e., you and me), would not be prosecuting a "case." Rather, we are "praying" that our representatives take up the matter on our behalf on the floor of the House and Senate. Feel free to read the precedents on the <a href="http://www.impeachforpeace.org/ImpeachNow.html#peck" target="_blank">"DIY Impeachment" page (etc.)</a> for historical examples. The costs for the running of the House of Representatives, and any matter they wish to discuss/act upon are taken from our taxes.</p>
<p align="justify">We are petitioning our government, we can not be sued or fined for this. This is not the same process (requiring the same expense) as suing the government.</p><br>
<p align="justify"><font size="3"><strong><em>"Is there a way to gather signatures and have a single filing done in the names of ALL of the signatories?"</em></strong></font></p>
<p align="justify">Maybe. Feel free to research it and start one. However we are having each citizen do it individually. Why? Merely because that is the historical precedent, and therefore we know this method has been effective in the past. It is also more empowering.</p><br>
<p align="justify"><font size="3"><strong><em>"On a federal form with a place for a notary's signature, why do you emphasize that it isn't necessary? Surely you realize that ANY excuse will be used here, or could be (to not process these memorials accordingly). I would think that any base(s) that can be covered should be."</em></strong></font></p>
<p align="justify">The form is not a "federal form." It is one we developed based upon another individual citizen's memorial to congress. That historical memorial was not notarized. The inclusion of the notary section was initially placed there over confusion as to whether it was necessary due to more recent developments. According to the lead parliamentarian of the House of Representatives, there is no such need for the notary. However, we still think it's a good idea. So, we left it on and encourage people to do it. However, we wish for people to send their memorial in even if they're not going to go to that effort.</p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="justify"><font size="3">(Do you have additional) concerns over the strategy of pushing for impeachment in this way? See the 'Arguments Against Impeachment' at the bottom of the <a href="http://www.impeachforpeace.org/index.html#arguments" target="_blank">main page</a>.</font></p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<P align="justify"><FONT size="3"><A href="http://www.beingism.org/cgi-bin/audiomessage.cgi?malloy" target="_blank">Audio</A>, provided with permission from the "<A href="http://www.mikemalloy.com/" target="_blank">Mike Malloy Show</A>".</FONT></P>
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<p align="justify"><font size="3"><strong>EMAIL ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT THIS!!</strong></font></p>
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<p align="justify"><font size="3">We would especially like to thank <a href="http://www.impeachbush.tv" target="_blank">ImpeachBush.tv</a> for their support, and whose charges related to impeachment we used in the creation of this document.</font></p>
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<p align="justify"><font size="3">Also, if you're interested:</font></p><br>
<p align="justify"><font size="3"><a href="http://www.impeachforpeace.org/ImpeachNow.html#jefferson" target="_blank">Information regarding the Impeachment procedure</a>.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="3"><a href="http://www.impeachforpeace.org/ImpeachNow.html#peck" target="_blank">Precedent: Judge Peck's Impeachment</a> supplied by the U.S. House of Representatives and <a href="http://www.policyreview.org/" target="_blank">PolicyReview.org</a>.</font></p>
<p align="justify"><font size="3"><a href="http://www.impeachforpeace.org/ImpeachNow.html#memorial" target="_blank">House rules that allow for the submission of the memorial</a>.</font></p>
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<p align="justify"><A target="_blank" href="http://technorati.com/tag/commentary" rel=tag><strong>Commentary</strong></A></p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="justify"> </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1156793511272726082006-08-28T13:26:00.004-06:002008-07-24T00:17:49.208-06:00TERRORSTORM DELUXE HIGH QUALITY VIDEO (ALEX JONES) His great "Truth Movement" documentary:<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="left"><a href="http://www.infowars.com/" target="_blank"><img height="60" src="http://www.form-legal.com/230606terrorbanner2.gif" width="400" border="2"></a></p>
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<DIV align="center" style="LEFT: 0px; WIDTH: 400px; POSITION: relative; TOP: 0px"><h3>TERRORSTORM<BR>Deluxe High Quality Video<BR>(Alex Jones)</h3><table xmlns="http://purl.org/atom/ns#" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="2"><tr><td colspan="2"><embed style="width:400px; height:326px;" id="VideoPlayback" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-7152849288500417952&hl=en"> </embed></td></tr><tr/><tr><td><BR><P ALIGN="JUSTIFY"><strong>From documentary filmmaker, Alex Jones, who brought you documentaries such as "Martial Law 9/11: The Rise of the Police State" and "Dark Secrets Inside Bohemian Grove", comes a new movie to awaken the masses.<BR><BR>TerrorStorm goes into documented cases of government-sponsored terror before exposing the 7/7 bombings as an orchestrated event and brings another update on the current state of the 9/11 Truth Movement.<BR><BR>This video is copyrighted but is allowed for non-profit, educational distribution. If you like this film or any other, please visit the website's shop for this and other great documentary films, at: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.infowars.com/">http://www.infowars.com/</a></strong></P><BR></td></tr></table></div><BR><BR>
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<p align="justify"><A target="_blank" href="http://technorati.com/tag/commentary" rel=tag><strong>Commentary</strong></A></p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<!-- <table xmlns="http://purl.org/atom/ns#" border="2" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td colspan="2"><embed id="VideoPlayback" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-5948263607579389947&hl=en" style="width:400px; height:326px;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"> </embed></td></tr><tr/><tr><td>Alex Jones' latest film covers in detail the proven history of government sponsored terrorism, and focuses on the 7/7 London bombings and 9/11.
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<p align="justify"> </p> --><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1156657230831180392006-08-26T23:33:00.000-06:002006-09-22T00:59:15.560-06:00'CALL (FOR) ACTION' ON SEPTEMBER 1ST FOR IMPEACHMENT, by Impeachnet.net<p align="justify"> </p>
<div align="center"><a href="http://www.impeachnet.net/blog/about/" target="_blank"><img height="137" src="http://www.form-legal.com/cropped-impeach3.png" width="385" border="2"></a></div>
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<p align="justify"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.impeachnet.net/blog/"><strong>CALL TO ACTION</strong></a></p>
<p align="justify">Starting at noon on September 1 2006, participating websites and blogs will replace their front pages with the single word “Impeach” in simple white text on a black background. (See <a target="_blank" href="http://www.impeachnet.net/">this page</a> for an example.) For 24 hours, web surfers and blog readers will see that word first when they visit their favorite sites. In this way, we hope to get the public talking about the one tool guaranteed by the Founders to restore our Constitutional Democracy.</p>
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<p align="justify"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.impeachnet.net/blog/about/"><strong>About</strong></a></p>
<p align="justify"><strong><em>What can I do?</em></strong> If you run a website or blog, then on September 1 2006, replace your home page with the single word “Impeach” in bold Times New Roman white text on a black background. Feel free to help yourself to the code <a target="_blank" href="http://www.impeachnet.net/source.html">here</a> (getting a single word to display in the center of a page in all browsers is a little trickier than you might think). Back up your existing home page first (often <em>index.html</em>) and display this new one for 24 hours, from noon September 1 to noon September 2. If you use the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.impeachnet.net/source.html">provided code</a> , we have made the “period” a link which you can customize to allow visitors to enter the rest of your web page.</p>
<p align="justify">If you don’t have your own webpage or blog but still think that this is a good idea, then please send this information to your favorite sites and convince them to participate ( <a target="_blank" href="http://www.impeachnet.net/blog/sample-message-for-websites/">click here for a sample message</a> ). Additionally, please feel free to leave a comment <a target="_blank" href="http://www.impeachnet.net/blog/about/#comment">here</a> and/or on <a target="_blank" href="http://www.impeachnet.net/blog/">the Impeachnet.net blog</a> . Just as important as replacing your home page for one day is letting your website visitors know why, so please publicize this both beforehand and afterward. Also, let us know that you plan to participate and we will include a link to your site in our blogroll.</p>
<p align="justify">For additional impeachment resources, visit <a target="_blank" href="http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/"><em>AfterDowningStreet.org</em></a> ; and/or, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.impeachforpeace.org/"><em>ImpeachForPeace.org/</em></a> .</p>
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<p align="justify"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.impeachnet.net/blog/about/"><strong>Frequently Unasked Questions</strong></a></p>
<p align="justify"><strong><em>Why just the one word?</em></strong> It is <em>the</em> word. Everyone who sees it will know exactly who and what we are talking about. And it is the one word that most of our elected leaders are afraid to utter.</p>
<p align="justify"><strong><em>Doesn’t talk of impeachment just play into the Republican Party’s hands?</em></strong> That’s what they want us to think. Nancy Pelosi, for one, seems to have bought that argument. We don’t. We think that many thoughtful Republicans are looking at the abridgements of Constitutional Democracy perpetrated by this administration against the citizens and the Congress of the United States and understand that impeachment is a very real solution, and they are scared.</p>
<p align="justify"><strong><em>Could Bush really be impeached?</em></strong> Yes, and we have a moral obligation to carry this through. It is not necessary for us to list here all of the High Crimes and Misdemeanors committed by this White House. You know them all. The most critical point is this: as bad as this administration is, if we don’t stop them now, then the bar will be set even lower for the next group of criminals that takes over the White House. This is not a partisan issue. This is a citizen’s issue.</p>
<p align="justify"><strong><em>But do we really want a President Cheney?</em></strong> Well, no, he’s next. But we would rather have a Cheney who is afraid of us than the other way around.</p>
<p align="justify"><strong><em>Why September 1?</em></strong> It’s good timing. It gives us enough weeks to get this proposal off the ground and to reach out to webmasters and bloggers across the globe. September 1 is an easy date to remember. It is also a Friday, a good day to plan a large event in time for the weekend news cycle. We need the press and the public to be talking about this for at least a week before the White House takes over the airwaves with their fifth anniversary 9/11 celebrations commemorations.</p>
<hr /><br />
<p align="justify">This project was inspired by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.freewayblogger.com/"><em>The Freeway Blogger</em></a> , the great "outlaw" artist who has posted over 2500 freeway signs protesting the war and inspired a legion of followers, and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/home.asp"><em>The Center for Constitutional Rights</em></a> . Both entities have worked tirelessly to bring the word “impeach” back into the public lexicon. </p>
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<strong><p align="justify"><A target="_blank" href="http://technorati.com/tag/commentary" rel=tag>Commentary</A></p></strong>
<p align="justify"> </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1155442325993285252006-08-12T22:11:00.001-06:002009-05-09T16:20:50.053-06:00THE VERY IMPORTANT LAST FIVE TRUTHOUT (.ORG) ARTICLES BY MARJORIE COHN<p align="justify"> </p>
<br /><strong><DIV style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px" align=center valign="top"><FONT style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-VARIANT: normal"><B><A class=links href="http://www.nlg.org/" target=_blank><IMG alt="Also become a card-carrying member of the NLG today!" src="http://www.form-legal.com/newbluebar2.jpg" border=2><BR>Join the top U.S. legal advocates organization in fighting for True Liberty!</A></B></FONT></DIV>
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<blockquote><p align="justify"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> In honor of Marjorie Cohn, Professor of Law at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California, and her TruthOut (.org) articles which she has been absent from writing and posting for the past two months, I hereby post the following series of her last five excellent and very important articles leading up to that absence, as her at-least-weekly articles of truth have been very much missed on TruthOut and by this blogger:</font></p></blockquote>
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<p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/printer_052206J.shtml" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.print.gif" border="0" width="18" height="11"> Print This Story</a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"><!-- Start ApplyTools code --><a href = '#' onclick = "window.open('http://refer.truthout.org/cgi-bin/applyrefer.cgi?job=refer&URL='+self.location.href,'','width=400,height=450,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes');"><font style = 'weight:bold;'><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.mail.gif" border="0" width="18" height="10"> E-mail This Story</font></a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"></font><br></p><!-- End ApplyTools code -->
<p align="justify"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">What do <em>you</em> think? The <a href="http://forum.truthout.org/blog/" target="_blank">t r u t h o u t Town Meeting</a> is in progress. <a href="http://forum.truthout.org/blog/" target="_blank">Join the debate!</a></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/marjoriecohn.shtml" target="_blank">Read more of Marjorie Cohn's columns.</a></font></p>
<P align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">For background, see:<BR><A href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/122605I.shtml" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn | Big Brother Bush Is Listening</A><BR><A href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020706J.shtml" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn | Bush Mouthpiece Defends Illegal Spying</a></font></p>
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<font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
<p><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/marjoriecohn.shtml" target="_blank"><img height="197" alt="Click here to go to t r u t h o u t ' s 'Marjorie Cohn' Page!" src="http://www.form-legal.com/1.BIO.marjorie.jpg" width="144" border="2" align="left"/></a> <a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/"><u>THE HAYDEN CHARADE</u><br> ("Big Brother" is Watching<br> All of Us to See Who is a<br> "Good Citizen" or "Not")</a><br> By Marjorie Cohn<br> t r u t h o u t | Perspective<br> Monday, 22 May 2006<br> [Copyright (c) 2006 in the<br> U.S.A. and Internationally<br> by t r u t h o u t (.org)<br> and/or Marjorie Cohn.<br> All rights reserved.]</p>
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<p align="justify"> In his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday, General Michael Hayden promised to promote autonomy and objectivity in the CIA if confirmed as its new director. Hayden assured the senators he would provide "hard-edged assessments" and be tolerant of dissenting views on intelligence matters. "When it comes to speaking truth to power," Hayden declared, "I will lead CIA analysts by example. I will... always give our nation's leaders the best analytic judgment."</p>
<p align="justify"> The evidence, however, suggests precisely the opposite. As head of the National Security Agency, this 4-star general walked in lockstep with his commander in chief, George W. Bush. Hayden helped designed the illegal program of spying on our telephone calls and emails and then repeatedly defended it when interrogated by the senators at his hearing, citing "legal" opinions of Bush's hired guns in the Justice Department.</p>
<p align="justify"> Rather than providing the White House with a neutral assessment of Iran's nuclear capabilities, we can expect Hayden to give Bush the "intelligence" the president seeks to justify his war on Iran. Things did not run as smoothly as Bush would have wished under the last two CIA directors. He had to dispatch Dick Cheney to the CIA several times to furnish the "intelligence" he needed to rationalize his war on Iraq. </p>
<p align="justify"> Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) asked Hayden if he was "comfortable" with under secretary of defense for policy Douglas Feith's personal intelligence-analysis cell, which hyped a link between Iraq and Al Qaeda. Hayden said he wasn't comfortable with it and protested that he wasn't aware of a lot of the activity going on leading up to the Iraq war. </p>
<p align="justify"> But when questioned about Colin Powell's use of false WMD information to support his infamous appearance before the United Nations in the run-up the war, Hayden made a telling admission. </p>
<p align="justify"> In response to Levin's question about the legal standard for declassifying information in the public interest, Hayden said, "We used that in Powell's speech. George [Tenet] had to call me for three tapes." Hayden was right in the middle of the preparation for Powell's disingenuous presentation.</p>
<p align="justify"> Hayden, who will be the third director of the CIA in two years, will salute and march to Bush's agenda. The nation's chief spook will shape the "intelligence" to fit Bush's policy of regime change in Iran.</p>
<p align="justify"> Hayden vowed to "reaffirm CIA's proud culture of risk-taking and excellence." Not one of the senators, from either party, interrogated Hayden about the CIA's checkered past. </p>
<p align="justify"> There was no mention of the CIA's 1953 coup that ousted Iran's democratically-elected president Mohammed Mosadeq and replaced him with the US-friendly tyrant, the Shah Reza Pahlavi. The 1979 Iranian revolution lead to the overthrow of the Shah's regime and the rise of Islamic fascism under the leadership of the Ayatollah Khomeini, providing a model of theocracy for much of the Muslim world.</p>
<p align="justify"> Absent was any reference in the hearing to the CIA's support for Osama bin Laden in his fight against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. The defeat of the USSR there, and the rise of the Mujahedin, enabled the Taliban to come to power....</p>
<p align="justify"> Today we are reaping what the CIA sowed in Iran and Afghanistan. </p>
<p align="justify"> None of the senators asked Hayden about the CIA's torture manuals, which have been utilized by myriad Latin American dictators to repress their people.</p>
<p align="justify"> Much of the CIA's risk-taking is nothing to be proud of. There is no indication that Hayden will bring new integrity to the CIA.</p>
<p align="justify"> Hayden's defense of the NSA's warrantless surveillance program was incredible. When questioned about the Fourth Amendment's standard for searches and seizures, Hayden assured the senators that he had consulted with his relatives who are in law school for legal advice. </p>
<p align="justify"> The Fourth Amendment says the people shall be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures, and that no warrant shall issue but upon probable cause. For more than a century, the Supreme Court has held that in order to be reasonable, a search or seizure must be supported by a search warrant based on probable cause and issued by a judge. Only when certain narrowly-defined exceptions apply can the government dispense with a warrant.</p>
<p align="justify"> Hayden and his law student relatives have reversed that presumption. He told the senators that only reasonableness, not a warrant, is necessary to intercept our private communications. Hayden said the NSA uses a probable cause standard. But the Supreme Court has consistently declared that a judge must determine whether probable cause exists.</p>
<p align="justify"> When confronted with USA Today's report that the NSA is collecting data on tens of millions of Americans, monitoring the calls we make and receive, Hayden refused to confirm or deny it.</p>
<p align="justify"> Two of the long-distance companies named in that article, Verizon Communications and BellSouth, both facing lawsuits for invasion of privacy, have denied giving the government these records. AT&T has refused comment.</p>
<p align="justify"> Interestingly, Bush issued an executive order on May 5 that allows Director of Intelligence John Negroponte - Michael Hayden's boss - to authorize a company to conceal activities related to "national security." Thus, we cannot trust the denials by Verizon and BellSouth.</p>
<p align="justify"> Like Bush's warrantless eavesdropping on calls where one party is abroad, the NSA's massive data collection is illegal.</p>
<p align="justify"> Both of these programs violate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, which clearly requires a warrant issued by a FISA court judge.</p>
<p align="justify"> It is illegal for the NSA to collect phone numbers from phone companies unless the FISA court authorizes it. </p>
<p align="justify"> Telephone records that show what numbers have called a specific telephone are captured by a "trap and trace" device. A "pen register" shows what number a specific telephone has called.</p>
<p align="justify"> The law on pen registers and trap and trace devices requires that a court order be obtained either under FISA or Title III, the criminal wiretap law.</p>
<p align="justify"> In order to intercept communications, the NSA would have to demonstrate to the court that the person whose calls are being targeted is an agent of a foreign power or that the information is relevant to an ongoing terrorism investigation.</p>
<p align="justify"> The Patriot Act allows the FBI to use a national security letter - a kind of administrative subpoena - to obtain these records. But Congress specifically withheld this subpoena power from the NSA, which must convince the FISA court that the information is relevant.</p>
<p align="justify"> There is no evidence that NSA has obtained court orders before obtaining the phone records of millions of Americans. </p>
<p align="justify"> There is evidence, however, that the FBI is using national security letters to go after journalists critical of the administration. Brian Ross from ABC News told Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! that the government's methods are changing the way he operates. It makes his work "very, very difficult," he said. "And, you know, you sort of have to start thinking, I guess, like some sort of Mafia capo," Ross noted. "You make your phone calls with bags of quarters at pay phones, if you can find them anymore. It's chilling to say the least." So much for a free press.</p>
<p align="justify"> Last year, the FBI issued a total of 9,254 national security letters, targeting 3,500 citizens and legal residents.</p>
<p align="justify"> In October 2002, while serving as NSA director, Hayden misled Congress about the extent of the NSA's warrantless domestic surveillance. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) told Hayden at the hearing, "I now have a difficult time with your credibility."</p>
<p align="justify"> Earlier this year, Hayden made more misleading statements in an appearance before the National Press Club. He said, "The intrusion into privacy is also limited: only international calls." In fact, the NSA is collecting data on millions of purely domestic calls.</p>
<p align="justify"> Hayden ducked several questions, deferring his answers to the closed session that followed the public hearing on Thursday. Senators who hear his secret testimony are forbidden to publicize it. Hayden refused to publicly answer seven questions posed by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) about whether the NSA has sought FISA warrants for pen register and trap and trace devices; whether terror suspects in secret CIA prisons are likely to remain incommunicado until the war on terror ends; whether there is periodic review of what useful intelligence can be gathered by interrogations of terrorists held for years with no contact with Al Qaeda; whether "water boarding," recently classified as torture by the UN, is acceptable; whether the CIA will obey laws and treaties in light of the Detainee Treatment Act; whether Hayden agreed with the CIA inspector general's conclusion that certain interrogation techniques constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment prohibited by the Convention Against Torture; whether Hayden agreed with estimates that Iran is some years away from nuclear weapons capability; and whether the CIA has received new guidance from the Justice Department about acceptable interrogation techniques since the passage of the Detainee Treatment Act. </p>
<p align="justify"> Although Hayden pledged objectivity in his opening statement, he let slip his real intention under questioning by Levin. Hayden said the war on terror "is fundamentally a war of ideas. And we have to skew our intelligence to support the other elements of national power as well." Hayden admitted he will skew the intelligence to fit Bush's agenda.</p>
<p align="justify"> During the hearing, Wyden nailed it. He asked Hayden, "Where is the independent check, General, the independent check that can be verified on these programs that the newspapers are reporting on?"</p>
<p align="justify"> James Madison wrote in 1822: "A popular Government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance. And a people who mean to be their own Governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."</p>
<p align="justify"> General Michael Hayden as CIA director will see to it that we continue to be kept in the dark about how our liberties are swiftly vanishing. The future of our democracy is at stake. (Subtitle and/or emphasis added by Wolf Britain.)</p>
<HR /><br />
<p align="justify"><em> <A href="http://truthout.org/contactmc.php" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn</a> is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, President-elect of the National Lawyers Guild, and the US representative to the executive committee of the American Association of Jurists. She writes a weekly column for the great and powerful t r u t h o u t website.</em></p>
<P> ________</P>
<p align="justify"><em>(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)</em></p>
<p align="justify"><em>"Go to Original" links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted on TO may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the "Go to Original" links.</em></p>
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<p align="justify"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">What do <em>you</em> think? The <a href="http://forum.truthout.org/blog/" target="_blank">t r u t h o u t Town Meeting</a> is in progress. <a href="http://forum.truthout.org/blog/" target="_blank">Join the debate!</a></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/marjoriecohn.shtml" target="_blank">Read more of Marjorie Cohn's columns.</a></font></p>
<P align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">For background, see:<BR><A href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/113004A.shtml" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn | Setting the Conditions for War Crimes</A></font></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/marjoriecohn.shtml" target="_blank"><img height="197" alt="Click here to go to t r u t h o u t ' s 'Marjorie Cohn' Page!" src="http://www.form-legal.com/1.BIO.marjorie.jpg" width="144" border="2" align="left"/></a> <a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/"><u>THE HADITHA MASSACRE</u><br> (The U.S. Government Is Now<br> Habitually Initiating and<br> Perpetrating War Crimes)</a><br> By Marjorie Cohn<br> t r u t h o u t | Perspective<br> Tuesday, 30 May 2006<br> [Copyright (c) 2006 in the<br> U.S.A. and Internationally<br> by t r u t h o u t (.org)<br> and/or Marjorie Cohn.<br> All rights reserved.]</p>
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<blockquote><p align="justify"> <em><u>They ranged from little babies to adult males and females. I'll never be able to get that out of my head. I can still smell the blood. This left something in my head and heart.</u><br> --- Observations of Lance Cpl. Roel Ryan Briones after the Haditha Massacre</em></p></blockquote>
<p align="justify"> On November 19, 2005, Marines from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division based at Camp Pendleton allegedly killed 24 unarmed civilians in Haditha, Iraq, in a three to five hour rampage. One victim was a 76-year-old amputee in a wheelchair holding a Koran. A mother and child bent over as if in prayer were also among the fallen. "I pretended that I was dead when my brother's body fell on me, and he was bleeding like a faucet," said Safa Younis Salim, a 13-year-old girl who survived by faking her death.</p>
<p align="justify"> Other victims included girls and boys ages 14, 10, 5, 4, 3 and 1. The Washington Post reported, "Most of the shots ... were fired at such close range that they went through the bodies of the family members and plowed into walls or the floor, doctors at Haditha's hospital said."</p>
<p align="justify"> The executions of 24 unarmed civilians were conducted in apparent retaliation for the death of Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas when a small Marine convoy hit a roadside bomb earlier that day.</p>
<p align="justify"> A statement issued by a US Marine Corps spokesman the next day claimed: "A US Marine and 15 civilians were killed yesterday from the blast of a roadside bomb in Haditha. Immediately following the bombing, gunmen attacked the convoy with small-arms fire. Iraqi army soldiers and Marines returned fire, killing eight insurgents and wounding another."</p>
<p align="justify"> A subsequent Marine version of the events said the victims were killed inadvertently in a running gun battle with insurgents.</p>
<p align="justify"> Both of these stories were false and the Marines knew it. They were blatant attempts to cover up the atrocity, disguised as "collateral damage."</p>
<p align="justify"> The Marine Corps paid $38,000 in compensation to relatives of the victims, according to a report in the Denver Post. These types of payments are made only to compensate for accidental deaths inflicted by US troops. This was a relatively large amount, indicating the Marines knew something was not right during that operation, according to Mike Coffman, the Colorado state treasurer who served in Iraq recently as a Marine reservist.</p>
<p align="justify"> Congressman John Murtha, D-Pa., a former Marine, was briefed on the Haditha investigation by Marine Corps Commandant Michael Hagee. Murtha said Sunday, "The reports I have from the highest level: No firing at all. No interaction. No military action at all in this particular incident. It was an explosive device, which killed a Marine. From then on, it was purely shooting people."</p>
<p align="justify"> The Haditha massacre did not become public until Time Magazine ran a story about it in March of this year. Time had turned over the results of its investigation, including a videotape, to the US military in January. Only then did the military launch an investigation.</p>
<p align="justify"> These Marines "suffered a total breakdown in morality and leadership, with tragic results," a US official told the Los Angeles Times.</p>
<p align="justify"> "Marines over-reacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood," Murtha said.</p>
<p align="justify"> Murtha's statement both indicts and exonerates the Marines of the crime of murder.</p>
<p align="justify"> Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought. Premeditation and deliberation -- cold-blooded planning -- are required for first degree murder. Complete self-defense can be demonstrated by an honest and reasonable belief in the need to defend oneself against death or great bodily injury. The Marines might be able to show that, in the wake of the killing of their buddy Terrazas by an improvised explosive device, they acted in an honest belief that they might be killed in this hostile area. But the belief that unarmed civilians inside their homes posed a deadly threat to the Marines would be unreasonable. An honest but unreasonable belief in the need to defend constitutes imperfect self-defense, which negates the malice required for murder, and reduces murder to manslaughter.</p>
<p align="justify"> An honest but <em>unreasonable</em> belief in the need to defend constitutes imperfect self-defense, which negates the malice required for murder, and reduces murder to manslaughter.</p>
<p align="justify"> Many of our troops suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Lance Cpl. Roel Ryan Briones, a Marine in Kilo Company, did not participate in the Haditha massacre. TJ Terrazas was his best friend. Briones, who was 20 years old at the time, saw Terrazas after he was killed. "He had a giant hole in his chin. His eyes were rolled back up in his skull," Briones said of his buddy.</p>
<p align="justify"> "A lot of people were mad," Briones said. "Everyone had just a [terrible] feeling about what had happened to TJ."</p>
<p align="justify"> After the massacre, Briones was ordered to take photographs of the victims and help carry their bodies out of their homes. He is still haunted by what he had to do that day. Briones picked up a young girl who was shot in the head. "I held her out like this," he said, extending his arms, "but her head was bobbing up and down and the insides fell on my legs."</p>
<p align="justify"> "I used to be one of those Marines who said that post-traumatic stress is a bunch of bull," said Briones, who has gotten into serious trouble since he returned home. "But all this stuff that keeps going through my head is eating me up. I need immediate help."</p>
<p align="justify"> A key quote from a Marine officer could be used to show premeditation -- and thus malice -- in support of a possible murder charge against the shooters. An article in yesterday's San Diego Union-Tribune which is reprinted from the New York Times News Service, cites a report by "one Marine officer" that "inspectors suspected at least part of the motive for the killings was to send a message to local residents that they would 'pay a price' for failing to warn the Marines about insurgent activity in the area."</p>
<p align="justify"> Curiously, that paragraph is missing from the same story in both the print and online editions of yesterday's New York Times. For some reason, the Times had second thoughts about that paragraph, and removed it, after the copy had been sent to other papers over the wire.</p>
<p align="justify"> Regardless of how those who may ultimately be charged with murder fare in court, a more significant question is whether George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld will be charged with war crimes on a theory of command responsibility.</p>
<p align="justify"> Willful killing is considered a war crime under the US War Crimes Act. People who commit war crimes can be punished by life in prison, or even the death penalty if the victim dies. Under the doctrine of command responsibility, a commander can be held liable if he knew or should have known his inferiors were committing war crimes and he failed to stop or prevent it.</p>
<p align="justify"> Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld are knowingly prosecuting a war of aggression in Iraq. Under the United Nations Charter, a country cannot invade another country unless it is acting in self-defense or it has permission from the Security Council. Iraq had invaded no country for 11 years before "Operation Iraqi Freedom," and the council never authorized the invasion.</p>
<p align="justify"> A war that violates the UN Charter is a war of aggression.</p>
<p align="justify"> Under the Nuremberg Tribunal, aggressive war is the supreme international crime.</p>
<p align="justify"> Hagee flew from Washington to Iraq last week to brief US forces on the Geneva Conventions, the international laws of armed conflict and the US military's own rules of engagement. He is reportedly telling the troops they should use deadly force "only when justified, proportional and, most importantly, lawful." This creates a strong inference that our leaders had not adequately briefed our troops on how to behave in this war.</p>
<p align="justify"> This, combined with the evidence that US forces are committing torture based on policies from the highest levels of government, as well as reports of war crimes committed in places such as Fallujah, served to put Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld on notice that Marines would likely commit war crimes in places such as Haditha. Our highest leaders thus should have known this would happen, and they should be prosecuted under the War Crimes Act.</p>
<p align="justify"> Murtha told ABC there was "no question" the US military tried to "cover up" the Haditha incident, which Murtha called "worse than Abu Ghraib." Murtha's high-level briefings indicated, "There was an investigation right afterward, but then it was stifled," he said.</p>
<p align="justify"> "Who covered it up, why did they cover it up, why did they wait so long?" Murtha asked on "This Week" on ABC. "We don't know how far it goes. It goes right up the chain of command."</p>
<p align="justify"> Murtha said the decision to pay compensation to families of the victims is strong evidence that officers up the chain of command knew what had happened in Haditha. "That doesn't happen at the lowest level. That happens at the highest level before they make a decision to make payments to the families."</p>
<p align="justify"> Haditha is likely the tip of the iceberg in Bush's illegal war of aggression in Iraq.</p>
<p align="justify"> "We have a Haditha every day," declared Muhanned Jasim, an Iraqi merchant. "Were [those killed in Haditha] the first ... Iraqis to be killed for no reason?" asked pharmacist Ghasan Jayih. "We're used to being killed. It's normal now to hear 25 Iraqis are killed in one day."</p>
<p align="justify"> "We have a Fallujah and Karbala every day," Jasim added, referring to the 2004 slaughter by US forces in Fallujah and bombings by resistance fighters in the Shiite city of Karbala.</p>
<p align="justify"> In Fallujah, US soldiers opened fire on houses, and US helicopters fired on and killed women, old men and young children, according to Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein.</p>
<p align="justify"> "What we're seeing more of now, and these incidents will increase monthly, is the end result of fuzzy, imprecise national direction combined with situational ethics at the highest levels of this government," said retired Air Force Col. Mike Turner, a former planner at the Joint Chiefs of Staff.</p>
<p align="justify"> Senator John Warner, R-Va., head of the Armed Services Committee, pledged to hold hearings on the Haditha killings at the conclusion of the military investigation. "I'll do exactly what we did with Abu Ghraib," he told ABC News.</p>
<p align="justify"> Warner's pledge provides little solace to those who seek justice. Congress has yet to hold our leaders to account for the torture by US forces at Abu Ghraib prison. Only a few low-ranking soldiers have been prosecuted. The Bush administration has swept the scandal under the rug.</p>
<p align="justify"> During the Vietnam War, the US military spoke of winning the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people. But in 1968, US soldiers massacred about 400 unarmed elderly men, women and children in the small village of My Lai. A cover-up ensued, and it wasn't until Seymour Hersh broke the story that it became public.</p>
<p align="justify"> "America in the view of many Iraqis has no credibility. We do not believe what they say is correct," said Sheik Sattar al-Aasaaf, a tribal leader in Anbar province, which includes Haditha. "US troops are very well-trained and when they shoot, it isn't random but due to an order to kill Iraqis. People say they are the killers."</p>
<p align="justify"> Graffiti on one of the Haditha victims' houses reads, "Democracy assassinated the family that was here."</p>
<p align="justify"> So much for winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people.</p>
<p align="justify"> We must pull our troops out of Iraq immediately, and insist that our leaders be held to account for the war crimes committed there. (Subtitle and/or emphasis added by Wolf Britain.)</p>
<HR /><br />
<p align="justify"><em> <A href="http://truthout.org/contactmc.php" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn</a> is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, President-elect of the National Lawyers Guild, and the US representative to the executive committee of the American Association of Jurists. She writes a weekly column for the great and powerful t r u t h o u t website.</em></p>
<P> ________</P>
<p align="justify"><em>(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)</em></p>
<p align="justify"><em>"Go to Original" links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted on TO may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the "Go to Original" links.</em></p>
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<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/marjoriecohn.shtml" target="_blank">Read more of Marjorie Cohn's columns.</a></font></p>
<P align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">For background, see:<BR><A href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050806Z.shtml" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn | Bush Setting Up Attack on Iran</A><BR><A href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/110904A.shtml" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn | Aggressive War: Supreme International Crime</A></font></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/marjoriecohn.shtml" target="_blank"><img height="197" alt="Click here to go to t r u t h o u t ' s 'Marjorie Cohn' Page!" src="http://www.form-legal.com/1.BIO.marjorie.jpg" width="144" border="2" align="left"/></a> <a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/"><u>STOP THE BEAST( ! )</u><br> (The U.S. Government's Military-<br> Industrial "Death Machine" is<br> Completely Out of Control ! )</a><br> By Marjorie Cohn<br> t r u t h o u t | Perspective<br> Monday, 5 June 2006<br> [Copyright (c) 2006 in the<br> U.S.A. and Internationally<br> by t r u t h o u t (.org)<br> and/or Marjorie Cohn.<br> All rights reserved.]</p>
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<blockquote><p align="justify"> <em><u>To date, the Iraq War represents the fullest and most relentless application of the Bush Agenda. The "freer and safer world" envisioned by Bush and his administration is ultimately one of an ever-expanding American empire driven forward by the growing powers of the nation's largest multinational corporations and unrivaled military.</u><br> --- Antonia Juhasz, </em>The Bu$h Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time</p></blockquote>
<p align="justify"> In an annual security conference on Saturday, Donald Rumsfeld assured the audience, "We don't intend to occupy [Iraq] for any period of time. Our troops would like to go home and they will go home."</p>
<p align="justify"> Why, then, would the United States be building an enormous embassy in Baghdad and a base so large it eclipses Kosovo's Camp Bondsteel, which had been the largest foreign US military base built since Vietnam?</p>
<p align="justify"> The new embassy, which occupies a space two-thirds the area of the national mall in Washington DC, comprises 21 buildings that will house over 8,000 government officials. It has a huge pool, gym, theater, beauty salon, school, and six apartment buildings.</p>
<p align="justify"> The gargantuan military base, Camp Anaconda, occupies 15 square miles of Iraqi soil near Balad. The base is home to 20,000 soldiers and thousands of "contractors," or mercenaries. The aircraft runway at Anaconda is the second busiest in the world, behind only Chicago's O'Hare airport. And, depending on which report you read, between six and fourteen more US military bases are under construction in Iraq. It doesn't appear we'll be leaving anytime soon -- or anytime, really.</p>
<p align="justify"> Bush's trumped-up war on Iraq has claimed nearly 2,500 US military lives and tens of thousands of Iraqi lives. Thousands of US soldiers suffer in military hospitals, most with head injuries, many missing limbs. Thousands more have PTSD. Our economy is in shambles from the war and Bush's tax-cuts-for-the-rich. And America's moral standing in the world continues to plummet.</p>
<p align="justify"> So, with all the construction activity in Iraq, and with an overextended military and an under funded budget, how could the Bush administration possibly consider expanding the fight and attacking Iran? Logic and reason say it couldn't happen and shouldn't happen. But this administration has rarely paid much heed to logic and reason.</p>
<p align="justify"> The plan to attack Iran has long been in the works. Bush gave us a preview in January 2002 when he inaugurated it into his "axis of evil." His 2006 National Military Strategy says, "We may face no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran." On Saturday, Donald Rumsfeld called Iran the world's leading terrorist nation. Does any of this have a familiar ring to it?</p>
<p align="justify"> To understand why the US may attack Iran, one must consider the underlying motive of US militarism. The recent US strategy is calculated to maintain economic, political and military hegemony over oil-rich areas of the world. A 1992 draft of the Pentagon Defense Planning Guidance on post Cold War Strategy that was leaked to the New York Times said, "Our overall objective is to remain the predominant outside power in [the Middle East and Southwest Asia to] preserve US and Western access to the region's oil."</p>
<p align="justify"> Truthout writer Dahr Jamail, an independent journalist who spent eight months in occupied Iraq, told a gathering at Thomas Jefferson School of Law on Friday that the US has been conducting ongoing special operations inside Iran. He cited unmanned surveillance drones flying over Iran. Jamail predicts Bush will invade Iran before the November election.</p>
<p align="justify"> Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern agrees with Jamail's prediction, but thinks it will happen in June or July. "There is already one carrier task force there in the Gulf, two are steaming toward it at the last report I have at least -- they will be there in another week or so," McGovern said on the Alex Jones Show.</p>
<p align="justify"> Team Bush is following the same game plan used in the run-up to Iraq -- hyping a threat that doesn't exist and going through the motions of diplomacy.</p>
<p align="justify"> Bush & Co. are not motivated by rationality. They act in the interests of the huge corporations, at the expense of humanity. During the Bush years, oil companies have earned record profits. Dick Cheney's Halliburton has landed many of the juiciest contracts in Iraq. New Iraqi laws that US ambassador Paul Bremer put in place lock in significant advantages for US corporations in Iraq, including corporate control of Iraq's oil.</p>
<p align="justify"> Neoconservative Thomas Friedman, in a March 1999 New York Times article illustrated by an American flag on a fist, accurately summed up US foreign policy:</p>
<blockquote><p align="justify"> For globalism to work, America can't be afraid to act like the almighty superpower that it is ... The hidden hand of the market will never work without a hidden fist -- McDonald's cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas, the designer of the F-15. And the hidden fist that keeps the world safe for Silicon Valley's technologies is called the United States Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.</p></blockquote>
<p align="justify"> As long as we allow our government to pursue this strategy, Abu Ghraibs and Hadithas will continue to emerge, our soldiers and thousands of people in other countries will continue to die, and our economy will continue toward bankruptcy. It is up to us to stop the beast -- now! (Subtitle and/or emphasis added by Wolf Britain.)</p>
<HR /><br />
<p align="justify"><em> <A href="http://truthout.org/contactmc.php" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn</a> is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, President-elect of the National Lawyers Guild, and the US representative to the executive committee of the American Association of Jurists. She writes a weekly column for the great and powerful t r u t h o u t website.</em></p>
<P> ________</P>
<p align="justify"><em>(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)</em></p>
<p align="justify"><em>"Go to Original" links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted on TO may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the "Go to Original" links.</em></p>
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<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/marjoriecohn.shtml" target="_blank">Read more of Marjorie Cohn's columns.</a></font></p>
<P align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">For background, see:<BR><A href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/051305X.shtml" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn | Navy Judge Finds War Protest Reasonable</A></font></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/marjoriecohn.shtml" target="_blank"><img height="197" alt="Click here to go to t r u t h o u t ' s 'Marjorie Cohn' Page!" src="http://www.form-legal.com/1.BIO.marjorie.jpg" width="144" border="2" align="left"/></a> <a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/"><u>FIRST (COMMISSIONED) OFFICER</u><br> <u>PUBLICLY RESISTS WAR</u><br> (Totally Justified Refusal<br> to Serve in Illegal Wars<br> is Growing Very Rapidly)</a><br> By Marjorie Cohn<br> t r u t h o u t | Perspective<br> Thursday, 8 June 2006<br> [Copyright (c) 2006 in the<br> U.S.A. and Internationally<br> by t r u t h o u t (.org)<br> and/or Marjorie Cohn.<br> All rights reserved.]</p>
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<p align="justify"> Yesterday, US Army First Lieutenant Ehren Watada became the first officer to publicly state his refusal to obey an order to deploy to Iraq. Lieutenant Watada said at a press conference in Tacoma, Washington, "The war in Iraq is in fact illegal. It is my obligation and my duty to refuse any orders to participate in this war." He stated, "An order to take part in an illegal war is unlawful in itself. So my obligation is not to follow the order to go to Iraq."</P>
<p align="justify"> Citing "deception and manipulation ... and willful misconduct by the highest levels of my chain of command," Lt. Watada declared there is "no greater betrayal to the American people" than the Iraq war.</P>
<p align="justify"> The "turning point" for Lt. Watada came when he "saw the pain and suffering of so many soldiers and their families, and innocent Iraqis." He said, "I best serve my soldiers by speaking out against unlawful orders of the highest levels of my chain of command, and making sure our leaders are held accountable." Lt. Watada felt he "had the obligation to step up and do whatever it takes," even if that means facing court-martial and imprisonment.</P>
<p align="justify"> Lt. Watada asked me to speak about the legality of the war at his press conference.</P>
<p align="justify"> I cited the Nuremberg Charter, which set forth the three most serious crimes: crimes against the peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The US Army Field Manual 27-10, art. 28, incorporates the prohibition against these three crimes. The United States is committing a crime against the peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Iraq.</P>
<p align="justify"> <U>The United States Is Committing a Crime Against the Peace in Iraq</U></P>
<p align="justify"> The Nuremberg Tribunal called the waging of aggressive war "essentially an evil thing ... to initiate a war of aggression ... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole."</P>
<p align="justify"> A war of aggression, prosecuted in violation of international treaties, is a crime against the peace. The war in Iraq violates the Charter of the United Nations, which prohibits the use of force. There are only two exceptions to that prohibition: self-defense and approval by the Security Council. A pre-emptive or preventive war is not allowed under the Charter.</P>
<p align="justify"> Bush's war in Iraq was not undertaken in self-defense. Iraq had not attacked the US, or any other country, for 12 years. And Saddam Hussein's military capability had been effectively neutered by the Gulf War, 12 years of punishing sanctions, and nearly daily bombing by the US and UK over the "no-fly-zones."</P>
<p align="justify"> Bush tried mightily to get the Security Council to sanction his war on Iraq. But the Council refused to give its stamp of approval. Bush then cobbled together prior Council resolutions, none of which, individually or collectively, authorized the use of force in Iraq. Although Bush claimed to be enforcing Security Council resolutions, the Charter empowers only the Council to enforce its resolutions.</P>
<p align="justify"> Moreover, the Constitution gives only Congress, not the President, the authority to declare war. Congress cannot delegate that authority to the President. Even if Congress could delegate the war power to the President, it cannot authorize the President to execute an aggressive war.</P>
<p align="justify"> <U>The United States Is Committing War Crimes in Iraq</U></P>
<p align="justify"> Violations of the laws of war, memorialized in the Hague and Geneva Conventions, constitute war crimes.</P>
<p align="justify"> All four Geneva Conventions have the same article 3, frequently referred to as Article 3 Common. Its terms apply to everyone, not just prisoners of war. It prohibits violence to life and person, murder, mutilation, cruel treatment, torture, and outrages upon personal dignity, particularly humiliating and degrading treatment. These prohibitions are memorialized in the Army Field Manual 27-10, art. 506. The Pentagon is trying to remove Article 3 Common from the newly revised instructions that go with the Manual. The implication is that the Defense Department intends to treat prisoners inhumanely.</P>
<p align="justify"> Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions constitute war crimes, for which individuals can be punished under the US War Crimes Act. Willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, and willfully causing great suffering or great bodily harm are grave breaches.</P>
<p align="justify"> The torture and inhuman treatment of prisoners in US custody at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere in Iraq are grave breaches of Geneva, and therefore, war crimes. The execution of unarmed civilians at Haditha and in other Iraqi cities are war crimes.</P>
<p align="justify"> Commanders in the chain of command, all the way up to the commander in chief, can be prosecuted for war crimes if they knew or should have known their inferiors were committing war crimes and failed to stop or prevent them. However, it is unlikely that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will charge Bush, Cheney or Rumseld with war crimes.</P>
<p align="justify"> <U>The United States Is Committing Crimes Against Humanity in Iraq</U></P>
<p align="justify"> Inhumane acts against a civilian population are crimes against humanity and violate the Fourth Geneva Convention. The targeting of civilians and failure to protect civilians and civilian objects are crimes against humanity.</P>
<p align="justify"> The dropping of 2,000-pound bombs in residential areas of Baghdad during "Shock and Awe" were crimes against humanity. The indiscriminate US attack on Fallujah, which was collective punishment in retaliation for the killing of four Blackwater mercenaries, was a crime against humanity. The destruction of hospitals in Fallujah by the US military, its refusal to let doctors treat patients, and shooting into ambulances were crimes against humanity. Declaring Fallujah a "weapons-free" zone, with orders to shoot anything that moved, was a crime against humanity.</P>
<p align="justify"> Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson was the chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg Tribunal. He wrote: "No political or economic situation can justify the crime of aggression. If certain acts in violation of treaties are crimes they are crimes whether the United States does them or whether Germany does them, and we are not prepared to lay down a rule of criminal conduct against others which we would not be willing to have invoked against us."</P>
<p align="justify"> The Uniform Code of Military Justice, in articles 90-92, sets forth the duty of military personnel to obey lawful commands. The Nuremberg Principles, which are part of US law, provide that all military personnel have the obligation not to obey illegal orders. The Army Field Manual 27-10, sec. 609 and UCMJ, art. 92, incorporate this principle. Article 92 says: "A general order or regulation is lawful unless it is contrary to the Constitution, the law of the United States ... "</P>
<p align="justify"> The Bush administration is committing crimes against the peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Iraq. Lieutenant Ehren Watada is correct when he says this is an illegal war. I salute his courage. (Subtitle and/or emphasis added by Wolf Britain.)</P>
<HR /><br />
<p align="justify"><em> <A href="http://truthout.org/contactmc.php" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn</a> is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, President-elect of the National Lawyers Guild, and the US representative to the executive committee of the American Association of Jurists. She writes a weekly column for the great and powerful t r u t h o u t website.</em></p>
<P> ________</P>
<p align="justify"><em>(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)</em></p>
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<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/marjoriecohn.shtml" target="_blank">Read more of Marjorie Cohn's columns.</a></font></p>
<P align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">For background, see:<BR><A href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052006X.shtml" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn | UN to US: Close Guantanamo</A><BR><A href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022006J.shtml" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn | US Force-Feeding Prisoners at Torture Camp</A><BR><A href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061605B.shtml" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn | Bush Plays Politics With Guantanamo "Gulag"</A><BR><A href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052305B.shtml" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn | Close Guantanamo Prison</A><BR><A href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032806J.shtml" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn | Supremes Consider Kangaroo Courts</A></font></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/marjoriecohn.shtml" target="_blank"><img height="197" alt="Click here to go to t r u t h o u t ' s 'Marjorie Cohn' Page!" src="http://www.form-legal.com/1.BIO.marjorie.jpg" width="144" border="2" align="left"/></a> <a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/"><u>SPINNING SUICIDE</u><br> (By Telling Lie Upon Lie that<br> Tortured Prisoners Committed<br> Suicide as "An Act of<br> Asymmetrical Warfare")</a><br> By Marjorie Cohn<br> t r u t h o u t | Perspective<br> Monday, 12 June 2006<br> [Copyright (c) 2006 in the<br> U.S.A. and Internationally<br> by t r u t h o u t (.org)<br> and/or Marjorie Cohn.<br> All rights reserved.]</p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<blockquote><p align="justify"> <em><u>They are smart, they are creative, they are committed. They have no regard for life, neither ours nor their own. I believe this was not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us.</u><br> --- Rear Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., Commander, Joint Task Force, Guantanamo</em></p></blockquote>
<p align="justify"> Three men being held in the United States military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, killed themselves by hanging in their cells on Saturday. The Team Bush spin machine immediately swept into high gear.</p>
<p align="justify"> Military officials characterized their deaths as a coordinated protest. The commander of the prison, Rear Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., called it "asymmetrical warfare."</p>
<p align="justify"> Colleen Graffy, the deputy assistant secretary of state for public diplomacy, said taking their lives "certainly is a good PR move."</p>
<p align="justify"> Meanwhile, George W. Bush expressed "serious concern" about the deaths. "He stressed the importance of treating the bodies in a humane and culturally sensitive manner," said Christie Parell, a White House spokeswoman.</p>
<p align="justify"> How nice that Bush wants their bodies treated humanely, after treating them like animals for four years while they were alive. Bush has defied the Geneva Conventions' command that all prisoners be treated humanely. He decided that "unlawful combatants" are not entitled to humane treatment because they are not prisoners of war.</p>
<p align="justify"> Article 3 Common to the Geneva Conventions requires that <i>no</i> prisoners, even "unlawful combatants," may be subjected to humiliating and degrading treatment. Incidentally, the Pentagon has decided to omit the mandates of Article 3 Common from its new detainee policies.</p>
<p align="justify"> Bush resisted the McCain anti-torture amendment to a spending bill at the end of last year, sending Dick Cheney to prevail upon John McCain to exempt the CIA from its prohibition on cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of prisoners. When McCain refused to alter his amendment, Bush signed the bill, quietly adding one of his "signing statements," saying that he feels free to ignore the prohibition if he wants to.</p>
<p align="justify"> Bush & Co. are fighting in the Supreme Court to deny the Guantanamo prisoners access to US courts to challenge their confinement. The Court will announce its decision in <i>Hamdan v. Rumsfeld</i> by the end of this month.</p>
<p align="justify"> This hardly sounds like a man who believes in humane treatment for live human beings.</p>
<p align="justify"> The three men who committed suicide, Mani bin Shaman bin Turki al-Habradi,Yasser Talal Abdulah Yahya al-Zahrani, and Ali Abdullah Ahmed, were being held indefinitely at Guantanamo. None had been charged with any crime. All had participated in hunger strikes and been force-fed, a procedure the United Nations Human Rights Commission called "torture."</p>
<p align="justify"> "A stench of despair hangs over Guantanamo. Everyone is shutting down and quitting," said Mark Denbeaux, a lawyer for two of the prisoners there. His client, Mohammed Abdul Rahman, "is trying to kill himself" in a hunger strike. "He told us he would rather die than stay in Guantanamo," Denbeaux added.</p>
<p align="justify"> While the Bush administration is attempting to characterize the three suicides as political acts of martyrdom, Shafiq Rasul, a former Guantanamo prisoner who himself participated in a hunger strike while there, disagrees. "Killing yourself is not something that is looked at lightly in Islam, but if you're told day after day by the Americans that you're never going to go home or you're put into isolation, these acts are committed simply out of desperation and loss of hope," he said. "This was not done as an act of martyrdom, warfare or anything else."</p>
<p align="justify"> "The total, intractable unwillingness of the Bush administration to provide any meaningful justice for these men is what is at the heart of these tragedies," according to Bill Goodman, the legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents many of the Guantanamo prisoners.</p>
<p align="justify"> Last year, at least 131 Guantanamo inmates engaged in hunger strikes, and 89 have participated this year. US military guards, with assistance from physicians, are tying them into restraint chairs and forcing large plastic tubes down their noses and into their stomachs to keep them alive. Lawyers for the prisoners have reported the pain is excruciating.</p>
<p align="justify"> The suicides came three weeks after two other prisoners tried to kill themselves by overdosing on antidepressant drugs.</p>
<p align="justify"> Bush is well aware that more dead US prisoners would be embarrassing for his administration, especially in light of the documented torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and the execution of civilians in Haditha.</p>
<p align="justify"> More than a year ago, the National Lawyers Guild and the American Association of Jurists called for the US government to shut down its "concentration camp" at Guantanamo. The UN Human Rights Commission, the UN Committee against Torture, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and the Council of Europe, have also advocated the closure of Guantanamo prison.</p>
<p align="justify"> Bush says he would like to close the prison, but is awaiting the Supreme Court's decision. At the same time, however, his administration is spending $30 million to construct permanent cells at Guantanamo. (Subtitle and/or emphasis added by Wolf Britain.)</P>
<HR /><br />
<p align="justify"><em> <A href="http://truthout.org/contactmc.php" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn</a> is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, President-elect of the National Lawyers Guild, and the US representative to the executive committee of the American Association of Jurists. She writes a weekly column for the great and powerful t r u t h o u t website.</em></p>
<P> ________</P>
<p align="justify"><em>(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)</em></p>
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<p align="justify"><A target="_blank" href="http://technorati.com/tag/commentary" rel=tag>Commentary</A></p></strong>
<p align="center"> </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1154938202098758742006-08-07T02:09:00.000-06:002006-09-06T18:18:28.596-06:00C-SPAN FIRESTORM: 9/11 Truth Symposium Gains Momentum, by Paul Joseph Watson<br /><p class="blogContent"><P class=headline align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2><IMG height=240 src="http://www.prisonplanet.com/images/july2006/310706cspan1.jpg" width=352></FONT></P>
<P class=headline align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT size=2><FONT size=4><STRONG><SPAN class=headline>C-Span Firestorm: 9/11 Truth Symposium<BR>Gains Momentum</SPAN><BR></STRONG></FONT><SPAN class=mediumtext1>Scholars symposium to re-air again on Tuesday</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=verdlight align=center><STRONG><A href="http://www.prisonplanet.com/index.html"><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>Paul Joseph Watson/Prison Planet.com | July 31 2006</FONT></A></STRONG></P>
<P class=mediumtext1 align=justify><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>Judging by the reaction on the web to C-Span's airing of the American Scholars Symposium, the 9/11 truth movement has been afforded another jolt of momentum in its quest to bring criminal proceedings against those complicit in the attack and its subsequent cover-up.</FONT></P>
<P class=mediumtext1 align=justify><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>C-Span repeated the show Sunday and set to re-air it again Tuesday at 6:10PM EST, 5:10 CST.</FONT></P>
<P class=mediumtext1 align=justify><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>The show is currently archived on C-Span's website and you can watch it for free </FONT><A href="http://www.c-span.org/homepage.asp?Cat=Series&Code=APS&ShowVidNum=10&Rot_Cat_CD=APS&Rot_HT=206&Rot_WD=&ShowVidDays=100&ShowVidDesc=&ArchiveDays=100"><STRONG><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>here</FONT></STRONG></A><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>.</FONT></P>
<P class=mediumtext1 align=justify><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>Webster Tarpley, one of the keynote speakers and panel members at the symposium, today calls for a concerted effort to use the C-Span broadcast to discredit phony left-right gatekeepers who have resolved to blindly accept the government's version of what happened on 9/11.</FONT></P>
<P class=mediumtext1 align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2><IMG height=240 src="http://www.prisonplanet.com/images/july2006/310706cspan2.jpg" width=352></FONT></P>
<P class=mediumtext1 align=justify><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><FONT size=2>"Let us mobilize to organize the biggest audience ever by an incessant and sustained intervention in radio and television call-in talk shows, by blast emails, by direct personal contact alerts, by public si<SPAN class=mediumtext1>gns, leaflets, and by every other means at our disposal," Tarpley wrote.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=mediumtext1 align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>See extended highlights of the conference with full speaker presentations, subscribe, download and share with your friends! <BR><STRONG><A href="http://www.prisonplanet.tv/subscribe.html">Click here</A></STRONG> to subscribe!<BR>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ </FONT></P>
<P class=mediumtext1 align=justify><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>"Let us overwhelm Rush Limbaugh, Hannity, Jerry Doyle, Glenn Beck, and the other fascist parrots of the airwaves with the announcement of the Tuesday broadcast. Let us confront Ed Shultz and the other Air America gatekeepers with reality of the Tuesday show. Please do the same in the rest of the world."</FONT></P>
<P class=mediumtext1 align=justify><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>Before its initial screening on Saturday evening, many were concerned that the conference was so unrelenting in its hardcore stance on 9/11, that C-Span would be pressured into canning the show. This proved not to be the case and multiple repeats of the conference within days at peak times prove the program has received very favorable ratings.</FONT></P>
<P class=mediumtext1 align=center><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2><IMG height=240 src="http://www.prisonplanet.com/images/july2006/310706cspan3.jpg" width=352></FONT></P>
<P class=mediumtext1 align=justify><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>This is another hammer blow to the establishment kingpins who had hoped questions about 9/11 would evaporate as we approach the 5th anniversary of the attack.</FONT></P>
<P class=mediumtext1 align=justify><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>The 9/11 Blogger website is coordinating numerous activism campaigns in alliance with the C-Span coverage, including </FONT><A href="http://www.911blogger.com/2006/07/urge-un-members-to-watch-c-span-aug.html"><STRONG><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>encouraging UN members</FONT></STRONG></A><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2> to view the broadcast, </FONT><A href="http://www.911blogger.com/2006/07/talk-radio-mass-mobilization.html"><STRONG><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>targeting left and right </FONT></STRONG></A><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>radio and TV gatekeepers, and also a </FONT><A href="http://www.911blogger.com/2006/07/fliers-for-tuesdays-cspan-broadcast.html"><STRONG><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>flyer campaign</FONT></STRONG></A><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>.</FONT></P>
<P class=mediumtext1 align=justify><FONT face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>We implore everyone to get onboard with these campaigns and help spread 9/11 truth to the four corners of the world via the exemplary platform of the American Scholars Symposium.</FONT></P>
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<p align="justify"> </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1154229087477688512006-07-29T21:11:00.000-06:002007-10-22T22:36:12.691-06:00<br /><strong><p align="center"><a href="http://www.kurtnimmo.com/?p=463" target="_blank"><font size="4">Reality in Lebanon </font></a></p><p align="center">Produced and Directed <br />by Kurt Nimmo </p> <p align="center">[Copyright (c) 2006 in the U.S.A. and <br />Internationally by Another Day in <br />the Empire (kurtnimmo.com), <br />and/or Kurt Nimmo. <br />All rights reserved.] </p>
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<p align="justify"><A href="http://technorati.com/tag/commentary" rel=tag>commentary</A></p></strong>
<p align="justify"> </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1153318364042801212006-07-19T07:30:00.000-06:002006-07-29T21:04:57.863-06:00<br /><strong><p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/printer_070506C.shtml" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.print.gif" border="0" width="18" height="11"> Print This Story</a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"><!-- Start ApplyTools code --><a href = '#' onclick = "window.open('http://refer.truthout.org/cgi-bin/applyrefer.cgi?job=refer&URL='+self.location.href,'','width=400,height=450,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes');"><font style = 'weight:bold;'><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.mail.gif" border="0" width="18" height="10"> E-mail This Story</font></a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"></font><br></p><!-- End ApplyTools code -->
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">What do <i>you</i> think? The <a href="http://forum.truthout.org/blog/" target="_blank">t r u t h o u t Town Meeting</a> is in progress. <a href="http://forum.truthout.org/blog/" target="_blank">Join the debate!</a></font></p>
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<P align="right">Also see below:<BR><A href="#1">Jim Lobe | "Decent Respect" Might Help Image Woes Abroad</A></p>
<P> <A href="http://www.alternet.org/story/38463/" target="_blank">Go to Original. </A></p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.howardzinn.org/default/" target="_blank"><img height="220" alt="Click here to go to the HowardZinn.org website!" src="http://www.form-legal.com/declaration_stone_thumb_197x166_dark_gray_bg.jpg" width="185" border="2" align="left"/></a> <a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/"><u>PATRIOTISM AND THE</u><br> <u>FOURTH OF JULY</u><br> (True Patriotism Versus<br> False Nationalism)</a><br> By Howard Zinn<br> AlterNet.org<br> Tuesday, 4 July 2006<br> [Copyright (c) 2006 in the<br> U.S.A. and Internationally<br> by AlterNet(.org)<br> and/or Howard Zinn.<br> All rights reserved.]</p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="justify"><blockquote><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=apocnowlifein-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0060838655&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" align="left" /></iframe> <em><u>The Declaration of Independence gives us the true meaning of a patriot, someone who supports a country's ideals, not necessarily its government.</u></em></p>
<p align="justify"> In celebration of the Fourth of July there will be many speeches about the young people who "died for their country." But those who gave their lives did not, as they were led to believe, die for their country; they died for their government. The distinction between country and government is at the heart of the Declaration of Independence, which will be referred to again and again on July 4, but without attention to its meaning.</blockquote></p>
<p align="justify"> The Declaration of Independence is the fundamental document of democracy. It says governments are artificial creations, established by the people, "deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed," and charged by the people to ensure the equal right of all to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Furthermore, as the Declaration says, "whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it." It is the country that is primary---the people, the ideals of the sanctity of human life and the promotion of liberty.</p>
<p align="justify"> When a government recklessly expends the lives of its young for crass motives of profit and power, while claiming that its motives are pure and moral, ("Operation Just Cause" was the invasion of Panama and "Operation Iraqi Freedom" in the present instance), it is violating its promise to the country. War is almost always a breaking of that promise. It does not enable the pursuit of happiness but brings despair and grief.</p>
<p align="justify"> Mark Twain, having been called a "traitor" for criticizing the U.S. invasion of the Philippines, derided what he called "monarchical patriotism." He said: "The gospel of the monarchical patriotism is: 'The King can do no wrong.' We have adopted it with all its servility, with an unimportant change in the wording: 'Our country, right or wrong!' We have thrown away the most valuable asset we had -- the individual's right to oppose both flag and country when he believed them to be in the wrong. We have thrown it away; and with it, all that was really respectable about that grotesque and laughable word, Patriotism."</p>
<p align="justify"> If patriotism in the best sense (not in the monarchical sense) is loyalty to the principles of democracy, then who was the true patriot? Theodore Roosevelt, who applauded a massacre by American soldiers of 600 Filipino men, women and children on a remote Philippine island, or Mark Twain, who denounced it? Today, U.S. soldiers who are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan are not dying for their country; they are dying for Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld. They are dying for the greed of the oil cartels, for the expansion of the American empire, for the political ambitions of the president. They are dying to cover up the theft of the nation's wealth to pay for the machines of death. As of July 4, 2006, more than 2,500 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq, more than 8,500 maimed or injured. With the war in Iraq long declared a "Mission Accomplished," shall we revel in American military power and insist that the American empire will be beneficent?</p>
<p align="justify"> Our own history is enough to make one wary. Empire begins with what was called, in our high school history classes, "westward expansion,"a euphemism for the annihilation or expulsion of the Indian tribes inhabiting the continent, in the name of "progress" and "civilization." It continues with the expansion of American power into the Caribbean at the turn of the 20th century, then into the Philippines, and then repeated Marine invasions of Central America and long military occupations of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. After World War II, Henry Luce, owner of Time, LIFE, and Fortune, spoke of "the American Century," in which this country would organize the world "as we see fit." Indeed, the expansion of American power continued, too often supporting military dictatorships in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, because they were friendly to American corporations and the American government. The record does not justify confidence in Bush's boast that the United States will bring democracy to Iraq.</p>
<p align="justify"> Should Americans welcome the expansion of the nation's power, with the anger this has generated among so many people in the world? Should we welcome the huge growth of the military budget at the expense of health, education, the needs of children, one fifth of whom grow up in poverty? Instead of being feared for our military prowess, we should want to be respected for our dedication to human rights. I suggest that a patriotic American who cares for her or his country might act on behalf of a different vision. Should we not begin to redefine patriotism? We need to expand it beyond that narrow nationalism that has caused so much death and suffering. If national boundaries should not be obstacles to trade---some call it "globalization"---should they also not be obstacles to compassion and generosity? Should we not begin to consider all children, everywhere, as our own? In that case, war, which in our time is always an assault on children, would be unacceptable as a solution to the problems of the world. Human ingenuity would have to search for other ways. [(Subtitle and/or emphasis added by Wolf Britain.)]</p>
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<p align="justify"> <em><A href="http://www.howardzinn.org/default/" target="_blank">Howard Zinn</a> is a veteran of World War II and author of the bestselling book,</em> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?link_code=ur2&tag=apocnowlifein-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fexec%2Fobidos%2FASIN%2F0060838655%2Fapocnowlifein-20%3F%255Fencoding%3DUTF8%26camp%3D1789%26link%255Fcode%3Dxm2" target="_blank">A People's History of the United States</a>. <em>The preceding essay is an excerpt from Zinn's forthcoming book,</em> A Power Governments Cannot Suppress.</p>
<P> ________</P>
<p align="justify"><em>(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)</em></p>
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<strong><p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/printer_070506C.shtml" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.print.gif" border="0" width="18" height="11"> Print This Story</a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"><!-- Start ApplyTools code --><a href = '#' onclick = "window.open('http://refer.truthout.org/cgi-bin/applyrefer.cgi?job=refer&URL='+self.location.href,'','width=400,height=450,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes');"><font style = 'weight:bold;'><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.mail.gif" border="0" width="18" height="10"> E-mail This Story</font></a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"></font><br></p><!-- End ApplyTools code -->
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<P> <A href="http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33844" target="_blank">Go to Original. </A></p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33844" target="_blank"><img height="220" alt="Click here to go to the HowardZinn.org website!" src="http://www.form-legal.com/declaration_stone_thumb_197x166_dark_gray_bg.jpg" width="185" border="2" align="left"/></a> <a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/"><u>"DECENT RESPECT" MIGHT</u><br /> <u>HELP IMAGE WOES ABROAD</u><br /> (International Multilateralism<br /> Versus National Unilateralism)</a><br /> By Jim Lobe<br /> Inter Press Service<br /> (IPSNews.net)<br /> Tuesday, 4 July 2006<br /> [Copyright (c) 2006 in the<br /> U.S.A. & Internationally<br /> by Inter Press Service<br /> (IPSNews.net),<br /> and/or Jim Lobe.<br /> All rights reserved.]</p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="justify"> Washington -- It was in 1776 that a group of British colonists living along the Atlantic seaboard of North America felt compelled to offer a public justification for their "Declaration of Independence" from their mother country out of "a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind". </p>
<p align="justify"> That justification, a bill of particulars against King George II for a host of offences, including violations of what would come to be called human rights, was designed to rally British and European public opinion behind the colonists' cause. </p>
<p align="justify"> As the nation marks that occasion exactly 230 years ago Tuesday, a series of surveys from around the world over the past three years makes clear that contemporary "Mankind" believes that the United States no longer accords its opinions the "decent respect" that those who founded the country believe was its due. </p>
<p align="justify"> Those surveys suggest that the image of the U.S. as a benign hegemon that takes account of the interests and opinions of the peoples of other nations -- consciously cultivated by Washington for more than a century -- has been effectively shattered by the unilateralism of the administration of President George W. Bush and particularly its invasion of Iraq. </p>
<p align="justify"> "One of the reasons that people around the world are so upset with the U.S. is the perception that in the post-World War II era, the U.S. was the champion and leader of an international order based on international law and mutual constraints, when it could have created a form of great-power domination," said Steven Kull, director of the University of Marylands Programme on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA). </p>
<p align="justify"> "As the leader and promoter of such a system, the U.S. was expected to set the example for all the rest, but Washington is now perceived as violating the same rules it did so much to establish," according to Kull, who cited Bush's decisions to ignore the United Nations in going to war and the Geneva Conventions in treating detainees in its "global war on terror" as key moves that both defied and outraged public opinion abroad. </p>
<p align="justify"> Even after 16 months of vigorous efforts by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to reassure U.S. allies and potential rivals, such as Russia and China, that Washington cares about their views and is committed to multilateralism, public opinion abroad has remained stubbornly sceptical, according to former Foreign Affairs editor, Fareed Zakaria. </p>
<p align="justify"> Rice, he wrote in a Newsweek column coincidentally entitled "Why We Don't Get No Respect", has "engineered a broad shift in American diplomacy over the last year, moving policy toward greater multilateralism, cooperation, and common sense on Iran, North Korea and Iraq, and several other issues." </p>
<p align="justify"> "And yet it hasn't produced a change in attitudes towards the United States," he went on, citing surveys by the Pew Global Attitudes Project and the Financial Times (FT) released just last month. </p>
<p align="justify"> The FT poll found that the U.S. under Bush is considered by European public opinion to be more dangerous than either North Korea or Iran. </p>
<p align="justify"> The Pew survey of 14 foreign countries found that strong pluralities or majorities in all but two nations said that the Iraq war had made the world "more dangerous" and that the U.S. presence in Iraq was "more dangerous" to world peace than the alleged nuclear-arms ambitions of North Korea and Iran. </p>
<p align="justify"> These findings were broadly consistent with previous surveys, including a Globescan-PIPA poll of 35 countries released in February, and a Pew poll released in June 2005 that found a sharp drop in the belief by respondents in Europe and the Islamic world that Washington took into account the interests of their countries in making its foreign policy decisions compared to the period before the Iraq war. </p>
<p align="justify"> In yet another poll Globescan-PIPA poll released in January 2005, large pluralities and majorities of respondents in 18 of 21 countries said they believed Bush's re-election to office would have a negative impact on global peace and security. </p>
<p align="justify"> What was particularly surprising about the latest Pew poll was the degree to which Washington's image, particularly in Europe and the Middle East, had slipped since the year before, when Rice's campaign to put diplomacy and consultation first had just gotten underway. </p>
<p align="justify"> In May 2005, Pew had found a rebound in foreign attitudes toward the U.S. compared to its findings in surveys conducted in the year following the Iraq war when foreign views of Washington, and particularly Bush, plunged to the lowest level ever recorded. Most analysts had expected continued, if modest, improvement between 2005 and 2006. </p>
<p align="justify"> In fact, however, U.S. favourability ratings, as well as support for Washington's "global war on terror", resumed their post-Iraq war decline in both Western Europe and the Islamic world, with particularly steep declines found in Spain, Russia, Indonesia, Jordan, and Turkey. </p>
<p align="justify"> Zakaria blamed this on a number of factors, including a lag between the general public, particularly in Europe, and governments which, he insisted, have been very appreciative of Rice's -- and Bush's -- efforts. </p>
<p align="justify"> Other important factors, he noted, included the continuing presence in the administration of arch-hawks, including Vice President Dick Cheney and Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld, who may be able to constrain Rice's flexibility, especially on Iran and North Korea. </p>
<p align="justify"> Moreoever, according to Zakaria, U.N. Amb. John Bolton's confrontational style has been particularly destructive and has contributed to the perception that the administration remains deeply divided and that its new emphasis on diplomacy and multilateralism has been dictated more by necessity than conviction. "In five minutes of posturing in front of a microphone, Bolton undoes five months of careful work by his boss, the secretary of State," he wrote. </p>
<p align="justify"> In fact, however, the problem lies much deeper---in the belief that the U.S., especially under Bush, still does not accord a decent respect to the views and opinions of other nations, whether it involves the invasion of Iraq and the refusal to apply the Geneva Conventions in the "war on terror" -- for which Bush remains unapologetic -- or global warming, the International Criminal Court, or the administration's doctrine of pre-emption. </p>
<p align="justify"> "An America that does not understand -- and makes little effort to understand -- why it has become so unpopular abroad is almost certain to find itself both disliked and ineffective in many parts of the world," noted political commentator David Rieff in a reflection on the latest Pew poll and U.S. "exceptionalism" that appeared in the New York Times Sunday Magazine this weekend. [(Subtitle and/or emphasis added by Wolf Britain.)]</p>
<P> ________</P>
<p align="justify"><em>(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)</em></p>
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<A href="http://technorati.com/tag/commentary" rel=tag>Commentary</A></p></strong><BR><BR><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1152090419775203392006-07-04T03:02:00.000-06:002006-07-19T08:41:55.850-06:00<br /><br /><strong><p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/printer_070206X.shtml" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.print.gif" border="0" width="18" height="11"> Print This Story</a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"><!-- Start ApplyTools code --><a href = '#' onclick = "window.open('http://refer.truthout.org/cgi-bin/applyrefer.cgi?job=refer&URL='+self.location.href,'','width=400,height=450,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes');"><font style = 'weight:bold;'><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.mail.gif" border="0" width="18" height="10"> E-mail This Story</font></a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"></font><br></p><!-- End ApplyTools code -->
<P align="justify"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">What do <i>you</i> think? The <a href="http://forum.truthout.org/blog/" target="_blank">t r u t h o u t Town Meeting</a> is in progress. <a href="http://forum.truthout.org/blog/" target="_blank">Join the debate!</a></font></p>
<P> <A href="http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/12564" target=_blank>Go to Original.</A><br><br><br>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
<p><a href="http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/" target="_blank"><img height="197" alt="Click here to go to the AfterDowningStreet.org website!" src="http://www.form-legal.com/declaration_stone_thumb_197x166_dark_gray_bg.jpg" width="166" border="2" align="left"/></a> <a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/"><u>ON THE 4TH OF JULY, READ "THE</u><br> <u>DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE</u><br> <u>FOR IMPEACHMENT" OF BUSHCO</u></a><br> By David Swanson<br> AfterDowningStreet.org<br> Sunday, 02 July 2006<br> [Copyright (c) 2006 in the<br> U.S.A. and Internationally<br> by AfterDowningStreet(.org)<br> and/or David Swanson.<br> All rights reserved.]</p><br>
<P align="justify"> Veterans for Peace has drafted a Declaration of Impeachment using nothing but excerpts from the Declaration of Independence (plus a few words in parentheses). It reads as follows, and should be read at picnics and protests on the Fourth of July: </P>
<P align="justify"> "... (W)henever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends ['... that all (people) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these (Rights) are Life, LIBERTY and the pursuit of Happiness..., (and that) Governments are instituted among (the People), deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ...'], it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their [Liberty,] Safety and Happiness ... </P>
<P align="justify"> "... (A)ll experience hath shewn, that (hu)mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations ... design(s) to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their DUTY, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security ... </P>
<P align="justify"> "The history of the present King (George)... is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States [and the world]. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. </P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<UL>
<LI>
<P align=justify>["He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for public good (and Liberty). He has forbidden his (more independent Lawmakers) to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to (obey) them (or to give his Assent that he must obey them) ...] </P>
<LI>
<P align=justify>"He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance ... </P>
<LI>
<P align=justify>"He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. </P>
<LI>
<P align=justify>["He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of (false and fraudulent) Legislation: For quartering large bodies of armed troops (and domestic mercenaries) among us: For protecting them... from punishment for any Murders which they... commit on the Inhabitants of these States ...] </P>
<LI>
<P align=justify>"(He has) ... deprive(ed) us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury ... transport(ed) us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences ... [taking away (recognition and observance of) our Charters (Treaties and International Laws), abolishing (or refusing to obey countless numbers of) our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Form(s) of our Government(s) ...] </P>
<LI>
<P align=justify>"He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us ... </P>
<LI>
<P align=justify>"He is at this time transporting large Armies ... to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. </P>
<LI>
<P align=justify>"He has constrained our fellow Citizens ... to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren [abroad], or to fall themselves by their Hands ... [and excited (and provoked) domestic insurrections amongst us ...]
<P></P>
<P></P></LI></UL></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P align="justify"> "[In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress (of Grievances under the First Amendment of the Constitution, and Article Three of the Bill of Rights, of these United States) in the most humble terms. Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury(ies).] <u><i>A (President), whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people</i></u>. [Nor have We been wanting in attention to (the Bush administration). We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their ("Republican"/"Conservative") legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our (Freedom and Liberty) here (in this country). We have appealed to ... justice ... and we have (sought to influence) them by the ties of (Liberty and Freedom) to disavow these usurpations (of Freedom and Liberty), which would inevitably (destroy) our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and consanguin(u)ity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of (hu)mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.]</P>
<P align="justify"> "WE, THEREFORE, [the (People) of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA] ... do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People [of these United States], solemnly publish and declare, That these ... FREE AND INDEPENDENT (PEOPLE) ... are Absolved from all Allegiance to the (Bush administration), and that all political connection between them and (this administration), is and ought to be totally dissolved ... AND for the support of this Declaration, [with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence,] we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." [Emphasis, words in brackets ("[ ]"), mostly from the Declaration of Independence itself, which David Swanson left out (incorrectly in my opinion), and/or editing of the title, added by Wolf Britain.] </P>
<HR align=left width="100%"><br />
<P align="justify"><em> <A href="mailto:david@davidswanson.org" target="_blank">David Swanson</A> is creator of <a href="http://www.meetwithcindy.org/" target="_blank">MeetWithCindy(Sheehan).org</A>, co-founder of the <a href="http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/" target="_blank">AfterDowningStreet.org</A> coalition, a writer and activist, and the Washington Director of <a href="http://www.democrats.com/" target="_blank">Democrats.com</A>. He is a board member of Progressive Democrats of America, and serves on the Executive Council of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, TNG-CWA. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and as a communications director, with jobs including Press Secretary for Dennis Kucinich's 2004 presidential campaign, Media Coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association, and three years as Communications Coordinator for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Swanson obtained a Master's degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia in 1997. His website is <a href="http://www.davidswanson.org/" target="_blank">DavidSwanson.org</A>.</em></p>
<P> ________</P>
<P align="justify"><em>(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)</em></p>
<P align="justify"><em>"Go to Original" links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted on TO may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the "Go to Original" links.</em></p>
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<p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/printer_070206X.shtml" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.print.gif" border="0" width="18" height="11"> Print This Story</a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"><!-- Start ApplyTools code --><a href = '#' onclick = "window.open('http://refer.truthout.org/cgi-bin/applyrefer.cgi?job=refer&URL='+self.location.href,'','width=400,height=450,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes');"><font style = 'weight:bold;'><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.mail.gif" border="0" width="18" height="10"> E-mail This Story</font></a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"></font><br></p><!-- End ApplyTools code -->
<P align="justify"><A href="http://technorati.com/tag/commentary" rel=tag>Commentary</A></P></strong><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1151801308773659032006-07-01T18:47:00.000-06:002006-07-05T03:11:21.493-06:00<br /><br /><strong><p align="center"><a href="http://blog.myspace.com/wolfbritain" target="_blank"><img height="93" alt="Click here to go to my new MySpace blog!" src="http://form-legal.com/t_a_48.jpg" width="120" border="0"></a></p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/" target="_blank"><u>INDEPENDENCE DAY</u></a></font></p><p align="center"><a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/" target="_blank">For The Slaughtered Innocents</a></p><p align="center">Written on July 4th, 2004<br />By S. Wolf Britain<br /><a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/" target="_blank">( And Now The Apocalypse<br />http://www.wolfbritain.com/ )</a><br />[Copyright (c) 2006 in the U.S.A. and <br />Internationally by And Now The <br />Apocalypse! (wolfbritain.com), <br />and/or S. Wolf Britain. <br />All rights reserved.]</p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="center">Are we really independent,<br>
Or are we blindly believing<br>
The lies being told us by warmongers<br>
Lusting after death and destruction?
</p>
<p align="center">Is there autonomy between<br>
What the lying politicians say<br>
And the important truths we're hopefully<br>
Coming to learn about war versus peace?
</p>
<p align="center">Are we choosing life rather than death<br>
Or are we ignorantly condoning murder,<br>
Blindness not making us any less guilty<br>
For our complicity in the endless slaughter?
</p>
<p align="center">Is there the seeking of separation<br>
From the senseless, inhumane carnage,<br>
And only standing for blessed peacemaking,<br>
That mercy which glorifies humankind?
</p>
<p align="center">Are we the merciful who are the only ones'<br>
God will have mercy upon in the very near future,<br>
Instead of the unmerciful who will be condemned<br>
As they themselves condemned the weak and innocent?
</p>
<p align="center">Where lay our true days of independence?</p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="justify"><A href="http://technorati.com/tag/commentary" rel=tag>Commentary</A></strong>
<p align="justify"> </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1151281268746069572006-06-25T18:20:00.000-06:002007-10-22T22:37:21.646-06:00<br /><br /><br /><strong><!--begin bat blogroll--><p align="center"><u>BLOGGERS AGAINST TORTURE</u></p><p align="center"><a href="http://www.tortureawareness.org/" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.form-legal.com/logosmall7wr.gif" alt="Click here to go to the 'Torture Awareness Month' website!" /></a></p><p align="center"><a href="http://blogagainsttorture.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Join Bloggers Against<br />Torture by Clicking<br />on this Text Link!</a></p><!--end bat blogroll-->
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://www.kurtnimmo.com/?p=422" target="_blank"><font size="4">Ralph Schoenman: The </font><br /><font size="4">Category of Terror </font></a><br />Produced and Directed <br />by Kurt Nimmo <br />[Copyright (c) 2006 in the U.S.A. and <br />Internationally by Another Day in <br />the Empire (kurtnimmo.com), <br />Kurt Nimmo, and/or <br />Ralph Schoenman. <br />All rights reserved.] </p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="center"><object width="385" height="325"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/02FAf_j6lo4"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/02FAf_j6lo4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="385" height="325"></embed></object></p><br />
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="justify"><A href="http://technorati.com/tag/commentary" rel=tag>commentary</A></p></strong><BR /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1150092085548469352006-06-12T00:00:00.000-06:002006-08-16T03:25:06.826-06:00<p align="center"> </p>
<br /><strong><!--begin bat blogroll--><p align="center"><u>BLOGGERS AGAINST TORTURE</u></p><p align="center"><a href="http://www.tortureawareness.org/" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.form-legal.com/logosmall7wr.gif" alt="Click here to go to the 'Torture Awareness Month' website!" /></a></p><p align="center"><a href="http://blogagainsttorture.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Join Bloggers Against<br />Torture by Clicking<br />on this Text Link!</a></p><!--end bat blogroll-->
<p align="center"> </p>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><blockquote><p align="justify"> A Series of Very Important Recent Articles (most I've been meaning to post since they were issued, now posted in order of when they were issued), Particularly on Torture, in this month of June 2006, designated as <a href="http://www.tortureawareness.org/" target="_blank">Torture Awareness Month (http://www.tortureawareness.org/)</a> [and that link's associated <a href="http://blogagainsttorture.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">blogroll, "Bloggers Against Torture" (http://blogagainsttorture.blogspot.com/)</a> {please join both, especially the latter, in the struggle against torture}].</p></blockquote></font>
<p align="center"> </p>
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<p><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/willpitt.shtml" target="_blank"><img height="176" alt="Click here to go to t r u t h o u t ' s 'William Rivers Pitt' Page!" src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/willbio.jpg" width="198" border="2" align="left"/></a> <a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/"><u>HOW CRAZY ARE THEY?</u><br> (Crazy Enough to Carry Out<br> Systematic Terrorism, etc.)</a><br> By William Rivers Pitt<br> t r u t h o u t | Perspective<br> Tuesday, 11 April 2006<br> [Copyright (c) 2006 in the<br> U.S.A. and Internationally<br> by t r u t h o u t (.org)<br> and/or William Rivers<br> Pitt. All rights reserved.]</p>
<p align="justify"> I had a debate with my boss last night about Sy Hersh's <A href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040906Y.shtml" target="_blank">terrifying New Yorker article</A> describing Bush administration plans to attack Iran, potentially with nuclear weapons. After reading the Hersh piece, my boss was understandably worried, describing his reaction to the article in road-to-Damascus-revelation terms. They're going to do this, he said.
<p align="justify"> I told my boss that I couldn't believe it was possible the Bush administration would do this. I ran through all the reasons why an attack on Iran, especially with any kind of nuclear weaponry, would be the height of folly.
<p align="justify"> Iran, unlike Iraq, has a formidable military. They own the high ground over the Persian Gulf and have deployed missile batteries all throughout the mountains along the shore. Those missile batteries, I told him, include the Sunburn missile, which can travel in excess of Mach 2 and can spoof Aegis radar systems. Every American warship in the Gulf, including the carrier group currently deployed there, would be ducks on the pond.
<p align="justify"> The blowback in Iraq would be immediate and catastrophic, I reminded him. The Shi'ite majority that enjoys an alliance with Iran would go indiscriminately crazy and attack anyone and anything flying the stars and stripes.
<p align="justify"> Syria, which has inked a mutual defense pact with Iran and is believed to have significant chemical and biological weapons capabilities, would get into the game.
<p align="justify"> China, which has recently established a multi-billion dollar petroleum relationship with Iran, might step into the fray if it sees its new oil source at risk.
<p align="justify"> Russia, which has stapled itself to the idea that Iran's nuclear ambitions are for peaceful purposes, would likewise get pulled in.
<p align="justify"> Blair and Britain want nothing to do with an attack on Iran, Berlusconi appears to have lost his job in Italy, and Spain's Aznar is already gone. If the Bush administration does this, I told my boss, they'd instantly find themselves in a cold and lonely place.
<p align="justify"> The nuclear option, I told my boss, brings even more nightmarish possibilities. The reaction to an attack on Iran with conventional weapons would be bad enough. If we drop a nuke, that reaction will be worse by orders of magnitude and puts on the table the ultimate nightmare scenario: a region-wide conflagration that would reach all the way to Pakistan, where Pervez Musharraf is fending off the fundamentalists with both hands. If the US drops a nuke on Iran, it is possible that the Taliban-allied fundamentalists in Pakistan would rise up and overthrow Musharraf, thus gaining control of Pakistan's own arsenal of nuclear weapons. All of a sudden, those nukes would be loose, and India would lose its collective mind.
<p align="justify"> It was a cogent argument I made, filled with common sense. My boss seemed mollified, and we bid each other goodnight. Ten minutes later, I had an email from my boss in my Inbox. He'd sent me Paul Krugman's latest editorial from the New York Times, <A href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041106M.shtml" target="_blank">titled "Yes He Would."</A> Krugman's piece opens this way:
<BLOCKQUOTE>"But he wouldn't do that." That sentiment is what made it possible for President Bush to stampede America into the Iraq war and to fend off hard questions about the reasons for that war until after the 2004 election. Many people just didn't want to believe that an American president would deliberately mislead the nation on matters of war and peace. "But he wouldn't do that," say people who think they're being sensible. Given what we now know about the origins of the Iraq war, however, discounting the possibility that Mr. Bush will start another ill-conceived and unnecessary war isn't sensible. It's wishful thinking.</BLOCKQUOTE>
<p align="justify"> Great.
<p align="justify"> Things have come to a pretty pass in the United States of America when the first question you have to ask yourself on matters of war and death is, "Just how crazy are these people?" Every cogent estimate sees Iran's nuclear capabilities not becoming any kind of reality for another ten years, leaving open a dozen diplomatic and economic options for dealing with the situation. There is no good reason for attacking that country, but there are a few bad reasons to be found.
<p align="justify"> The worst of the bad reasons, of course, is that an attack on Iran would change the conversation in Washington as the 2006 midterm elections loom. Bush and his congressional allies are about as popular as scabies right now, according to every available poll. If the current trend is not altered or disrupted, January 2007 may come with Democratic Rep. John Conyers Jr. sitting as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee with subpoena powers in hand.
<p align="justify"> "As Joseph Cirincione of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace recently pointed out," continued Krugman in his editorial, "the administration seems to be following exactly the same script on Iran that it used on Iraq: 'The vice president of the United States gives a major speech focused on the threat from an oil-rich nation in the Middle East. The US secretary of state tells Congress that the same nation is our most serious global challenge. The secretary of defense calls that nation the leading supporter of global terrorism. The president blames it for attacks on US troops.'"
<p align="justify"> For the moment, one significant departure from the Iraq script has been the Bush administration vehemently denying that an attack on Iran, particularly with nuclear weapons, is an option being considered at this time. Bush himself called the Hersh article "wild speculation," and White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan bluntly stated that the US is committed to diplomacy. Gary Sick, an Iran expert quoted by columnist Jim Lobe in a recent article, seems to think the reputation for irrational and dangerous actions enjoyed by the Bush administration is being used as a psychological lever. "That is their record," said Sick, "so they have no need to invent it. If they can use that reputation to keep Iran -- and everybody else -- off balance, so much the better."
<p align="justify"> Then why this cold feeling in the pit of my stomach? Julian Borger, writing for the UK Guardian, has some added insight. "Vincent Cannistraro," writes Borger, "a former CIA counter-terrorism operations chief, said Mr. Bush had not yet made up his mind about the use of direct military action against Iran. 'There is a battle for Bush's soul over that,' he said, adding that Karl Rove, the president's chief political adviser is adamantly opposed to a war. However, Mr. Cannistraro said covert military action, in the form of special forces troops identifying targets and aiding dissident groups, is already under way. 'It's been authorized, and it's going on to the extent that there is some lethality to it. Some people have been killed.'"
<p align="justify"> A battle for Bush's soul? Some people have been killed? It's a wild day here in Bizarro World when I find myself in total agreement with Karl Rove. It is the uncertainty in all this that makes the situation truly terrifying. No sane person would undertake an action so fraught with peril, but if we have learned anything in the last few years, it is that sanity takes a back seat in this administration's hayride.
<p align="justify"> I bought a coffee this morning at the excellent cafe around the corner, which is run by a wonderful Iranian woman. I asked her point-blank what would happen in her home country if we did attack. She dismissed the possibility out of hand. "I read that Krugman article," she said, "but there's no way they would do this. They'd have to be crazy."</p>
<p align="justify"> Indeed. Too bad that hasn't stopped them yet. [(Subtitle and/or emphasis added by Wolf Britain.)]</p>
<HR align=left width="100%"><br />
<p align="justify"> <I><A target="_blank" href="mailto:william.pitt@truthout.org">William Rivers Pitt</A> is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author of two books: </i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&tag=apocnowlifein-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&path=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F1893956385%3Fcamp%3D1789%26link%255Fcode%3Dxm2%26n%3D283155" target="_blank">War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=apocnowlifein-20&l=ur2&o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><i> and</i> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?link_code=ur2&tag=apocnowlifein-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fexec%2Fobidos%2FASIN%2F0745320104%2Fapocnowlifein-20%3Fcreative%3D327641%26camp%3D14573%26adid%3D14XZ6DT7400A9S5JR3QP%26link_code%3Das1" target="_blank">The Greatest Sedition Is Silence.</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=apocnowlifein-20&l=ur2&o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /></p>
<P> ________</P>
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<P><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><A href="http://www.alternet.org/story/35040/" target="_blank">Go to Original </A></font></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.jimhightower.com/" target="_blank"><img height="148" alt="Click here to go to Jim Hightower's website!" target="_blank" src="http://www.alternet.org/images/managed/Columnists_hightower.jpg" width="137" border="2" align="left"/></a> <a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/"><u>BUSH'S IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY</u><br /> [The Country "Not Like Its<br /> Enemies", Becoming More and<br /> More Like Its Enemies! (Part 1)]</a><br /> By Jim Hightower<br /> The Hightower Lowdown<br /> Alternet.org<br /> Sunday, 30 April 2006<br /> [Copyright (c) 2006 in the<br /> U.S.A. & Internationally<br /> by Alternet (.org),<br /> HightowerLowdown (.org)<br /> and/or Jim Hightower.<br /> All rights reserved.]</p>
<blockquote><p align="justify"><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=apocnowlifein-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0002EARFM&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" align="left" /></iframe> <em><u>The Bush administration has pushed hard for limitless powers to spy on, imprison and torture American citizens in the name of 'security.' Is this really what America stands for?</u></em></p>
<p align="justify"> A fellow from a town just outside of Austin (Texas) wrote a four-sentence letter to the editor of our local daily that astonished me: "I want the government to please, please listen in on my phone calls. I have nothing to hide. It is also welcome to check my emails and give me a national identification card, which I will be proud to show when asked by people in authority. What's with all you people who need so much privacy?"</p></blockquote>
<p align="justify"> Well, gee where to start? How about with the founders? Many of the colonists who rose in support of the rebellion of '76 did so because their government kept snooping on them and invading their privacy. Especially offensive was the widespread use of "writs of assistance," which were sweeping warrants authorizing government agents to enter and search people's homes and businesses -- including those of people who had nothing to hide. The founders had a strong sense of the old English maxim "A man's house is his castle." They hated the government's "knock at the door," the forced intrusion into their private spheres, the arrogant abrogation of their personal liberty. So they fought a war to stop it. Once free of that government, they created a new one based on laws to protect liberty -- and this time they were determined to put a short, tight leash on government's inherently abusive search powers.</p>
<p align="justify"> Hence, the Fourth Amendment: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.</p>
<p align="justify"> Periodically in American history, presidents have tried to annul our basic right to be left alone. John Adams imposed the infamous Alien and Sedition Acts. Lincoln suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War. Woodrow Wilson conducted the Palmer Raids. FDR interned Japanese-Americans and others. And LBJ and Nixon used the COINTEL program to spy on war protestors and civil rights activists, including Martin Luther King Jr.</p>
<p align="justify"> In each case, however, the abuses were temporary. Americans rebelled and gradually brought the government back in line with our country's belief that privacy, a basic human right, is a cornerstone of democracy.</p>
<p align="justify"> <u>Bush's Push</u></p>
<p align="justify"> Now comes the Bush-Cheney regime, pushing the most massive and rapid expansion of presidential might America has ever known. "I believe in a strong, robust executive authority," growled Dick "Buckshot" Cheney, architect of the power grab. He added, "The president of the United States needs to have his constitutional powers unimpaired, if you will." I wouldn't, but they're nonetheless asserting an imperious view of unlimited executive power that is foreign to our Constitution, demolishes the founders' ingenious system of checks and balances (key to the functioning of our democratic republic), and transforms America's government into a de facto presidential autocracy.</p>
<p align="justify"> Their push includes a White House program of domestic spying so sweeping that it would make Nixon blush; an audacious claim of a unilateral executive right to suspend treaties and ignore U.S. laws; an insistence that a president can seize U.S. citizens with no due process of law and imprison them in CIA "black sites" or send them to foreign regimes to be tortured; a series of new plans for military spying on the American people; the repression of both internal dissenters and outside protestors; an all-out assault on the public's right to know; and well, way too much more.</p>
<p align="justify"> The rise of a supreme executive is such a fundamental threat to our constitutional form of government -- and to who we are as a people -- that the Lowdown will devote both this issue and next month's to it. The media barons have covered this rise only sporadically and disjointedly, but it's important for We The People to see the frightening whole of it and launch the rebellion of '06.</p>
<p align="justify"> <u>National Security Agency</u></p>
<p align="justify"> Richard Nixon is the godfather of the Bush-Cheney philosophy of executive supremacy. "Well, when the president does it, that means it is not illegal," Tricky Dick explained to us some 30 years ago. This plenipotentiary view of the American presidency (which would send shivers through the founders) is behind the unilateral, secret and illegal directive issued by Bush in 2001, ordering the NSA to spy on ordinary Americans. It's now conceded that untold thousands of citizens who have no connection at all to terrorism have had their phone conversations and emails swept up and monitored during the past four years by NSA agents.</p>
<p align="justify"> This is against the law. First, Bush's directive blatantly violates the Fourth Amendment, for it sends his agents stealing into our lives to search our private communications without probable cause and without a warrant. Second, it goes against the very law creating NSA, which prohibited the agency from domestic spying without court supervision. Third, it bypasses 1978's Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which set up a special FISA court specifically to issue secret warrants so a president could snoop on Americans suspected of being connected to terrorists. Going around this law is a felony, punishable by five years in prison. Yes: George W. Bush broke the law. He's a criminal.</p>
<p align="justify"> When this sweeping program of presidential eavesdropping was revealed last December by a leak to the New York Times, Bush first tried lying, scoffing that the news report was mere media "speculation." Didn't work. So then he turned defiant, belligerently declaring that damned right he was tapping phones. "If you're talking to a member of al-Qaida," he announced, "we want to know why."</p>
<p align="justify"> Of course, George, if you have reason to believe that a particular American is talking to al-Qaida, you should scoot over to FISA pronto and get a spy warrant. We don't have time to wait for no stinking court order, he shouts, we gotta jump on these traitors quicker than a gator on a poodle. The FISA system is "too cumbersome" -- we need "agility."</p>
<p align="justify"> Yeah, well, democracy is supposed to be a little cumbersome, so guys like you don't run amok. Fact is, FISA judges can act PDQ and are hardly restrictive. Of the 5,645 times Bush has requested surveillance warrants, how many did the court reject or defer? Only six! Besides, FISA lets presidents go a-snooping all they want, the instant they want, then come back to court three days later to get the warrant. How cumbersome is that? Even GOP lawmakers didn't buy the agility line, so Bush next tried claiming that Congress had actually given him the go-ahead to bypass the law. On Sept. 14, 2001, he said Congress passed the "authorization for use of military force," empowering him to use all necessary force against the 9/11 terrorists. Yet none of the 518 lawmakers who voted for this say that it included permission for Bush to spy illegally on our people. In fact, George W. specifically asked congressional leaders to give him this permission but was turned down. Finally, Bush has resorted to spouting Nixon's maxim that a president's official actions are inherently legal. Even though he broke the law knowingly and repeatedly, the Bushites assert that it's OK, citing a dangerous and thoroughly un-American defense that, as commander-in-chief, he has the constitutional right to break any law in the interest of national security. In matters of war and foreign policy, he, Cheney, and Alberto "See No Evil" Gonzales claim that the president's authority cannot be checked by Congress or the judiciary -- indeed, they don't even have to be informed.</p>
<p align="justify"> Nonsense. He's commander-in-chief of the military -- not of the country. He's president, not king. And as president, he's the head of only one of the three co-equal branches. Yet bizarrely and pathetically, Congress has rolled over and even cheered this gross usurpation of its clear constitutional responsibilities -- including its power to declare war, control the public purse, regulate the military, ratify treaties, make laws "necessary and proper" for the conduct of all government, provide oversight of executive actions and generally serve the public as a check and balance against presidential abuses. As Sen. Russ Feingold, the truly fine defender of our rights and liberties, wrote in a February blog: "I cannot describe the feeling I had, sitting on the House floor during Tuesday's State of the Union speech, listening to the president assert that his executive power is, basically, absolute, and watching several members of Congress stand up and cheer him on. It was surreal and disrespectful to our system of government and to the oath that as elected officials we have all sworn to uphold. Cheering? Clapping? Applause? All for violating the law?" The breathtaking notion that Bush can, on his own say-so, thumb his nose at the due process of law and even be a serial lawbreaker has astounded not only Feingold but also a slew of leading right-wing thinkers:</p>
<p align="justify"> Paul Weyerich of Free Congress Foundation: "My criteria for judging this stuff is, what would a President Hillary do with these same powers?"</p>
<p align="justify"> George Will, columnist: "[Executive] powers do not include deciding that a law -- FISA, for example -- is somehow exempted from the presidential duty to 'take care that the laws be faithfully executed.'"</p>
<p align="justify"> David Keene of the American Conservative Union: "The American system was set up on the assumption that you can't rely on the good will of people with power."</p>
<p align="justify"> Ironically, this Bush push to place himself above the law is centered on a failed program. The agents who are having to sift through piles of our calls and emails say that nearly all of the sifting is worthless, finding fewer than 10 citizens a year who even warrant further checking. In fact, the Bushites can point to only two "successes." They brag that the spying uncovered a plot to detonate fertilizer bombs in London -- but British officials deny that NSA spying helped uncover the plot. Their other "success" is ludicrous -- they claim to have found a guy who was going to cut down the Brooklyn Bridge. His weapon? A blowtorch. In response to Bush's illegal spying, Congress has been almost comical. After huffing and puffing about doing a deep investigation into the criminality of the program, Senate Republicans abruptly cancelled their plans for public hearings and ran to the White House waving surrender hankies. Last month, they announced that they had negotiated with Cheney, who graciously gave the Senate a grand oversight role. What did they get, specifically? A new subcommittee. TAH-DAH! Now seven senators will be allowed an occasional peek at whatever documents the White House is willing to send to them. In turn, Congress will sanction Bush's secret spying on Americans, letting him snoop on someone for 45 days without having to bother getting a warrant from that pesky FISA court. You can just hear Cheney guffawing back in his cave. Bush's assertion of extraordinary authority has nothing to do with terrorism and everything to do with his and Cheney's mad intent to enthrone the American presidency with "plenary" power -- i.e., unqualified, absolute power.</p>
<p align="justify"> <u>March of Autocracy</u>
<p align="justify"> It would be distressing enough if the Bush-Cheney NSA power play was their only assertion of authoritarian government, but it is just one item on an astoundingly long list. Here are two particularly brash examples:</p>
<p align="justify"> <u>IMPRISONMENT</u>. Bush maintains that, as "a war president," he has the inherent power (never claimed by any predecessor) to seize and imprison any American citizen suspected by his administration of having even the vaguest connection to terrorists. He declares that he can throw citizens in federal jails in perpetuity on his own authority, without consulting a judge or getting an arrest warrant. The hapless innocent suspects who wail that a nightmarish mistake is being made are out of luck. Bush says that his executive prisoners can be taken in secret (without even notifying their families), do not have to be told of any specific charges against them, have no right to lawyers and can be held without trial.</p>
<p align="justify"> They might be shipped to secret CIA prisons around the world, which were authorized not by Congress, but by a classified executive order signed by Bush on Sept. 17, 2001. Yes, the order creating the secret prisons was itself secret. These CIA "black sites," as they are called in Bush's bureaucratic netherworld, are not subject to congressional oversight. Last December, after members of Congress learned about these facilities, both chambers voted to get reports on where the CIA's prisons are and what goes on inside them. But at the behest of the White House, GOP leaders quietly took this provision behind closed doors and killed it -- the majority vote be damned.</p>
<p align="justify"> Accused citizens might also be secretly turned over to repressive foreign governments for interrogation -- an unpleasant, illegal and morally bankrupt practice known as "extraordinary rendition." Consider Maher Arar's case. Returning home from a family vacation in 2002, this Canadian software engineer was "detained" by the feds at Kennedy Airport, thrown into solitary confinement in Brooklyn, denied proper legal counsel, grilled and then "rendered" by the Bushites to a Syrian prison. He was held there for 10 months in a rat-infested dungeon and brutally tortured. Finally, finding that he had no connection to terrorism, the Syrians released him.</p>
<p align="justify"> Arar sued the U.S. government for knowingly sending him to a torture chamber. In February, a federal judge blocked Arar's case without even hearing it. Caving in to Bush's claim of supreme executive power, the judge ruled that extraordinary rendition is a foreign-policy matter that the courts cannot review.</p>
<p align="justify"> <u>TORTURE</u>. "We do not torture," says George W. in yet another bald-faced lie. Actually, he and his henchmen have bent themselves into contortions trying to assert that the commander-in-chief does, indeed, have the inherent right to torture suspects in U.S. custody. In 2002, when he learned that Afghan detainees were being abused in violation of the Geneva Conventions and our own War Crimes Act, Bush did not order the mistreatment to stop. Instead, he signed an order stating, "I have the authority under the Constitution to suspend Geneva." He might as well have shouted, "I am the king!"</p>
<p align="justify"> A year later, a White House memo tried to redefine torture, imperiously declaring that only gross brutality that causes "organ failure, impairment of bodily function or even death" can be called torture. John Yoo, the lawyer who has crafted many of Bush's claims of expansive executive authority, even argues that it would not be unlawful torture for a president to order that the testicles of a detainee's child be crushed. "I think it depends on why the president thinks he needs to do that," says Yoo.</p>
<p align="justify"> Human-rights groups report that more than 100 captives have died while being tortured by executive-branch interrogators. "We do not torture?" Then why did Bush and Cheney fight so ferociously last year to kill Sen. John McCain's bill that would ban our government from using torture? The White House pleaded, threatened, cajoled and demanded that Congress at least exempt the CIA. Only when the ban passed both houses by veto-proof margins did Bush appear to give in, even publicly hugging McCain in a gesture of concession.</p>
<p align="justify"> But when he signed the bill on Dec. 30, with Congress and the media out of town on holiday, Bush quietly added a "signing statement," augustly proclaiming that he retains the right to ignore the ban whenever he thinks it conflicts with his inherent authority as commander-in-chief. The Constitution clearly says that Congress -- and only Congress -- is empowered "to make all laws." Yet this president, who whines that "liberal" judges keep stretching the Constitution beyond the strict words of the founders, says that he can rewrite America's laws by interpreting them to mean what he wants them to mean.</p>
<p align="justify"> If Bush can spy illegally, arrest citizens and throw away the key, sanction torture, lie, make his own laws and not be held accountable, then what can't he do? More next month (below). [(Subtitle and/or emphasis added by Wolf Britain.)]</p>
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<p align="justify"><em> From <A href="http://www.hightowerlowdown.org/" target="_blank">The Hightower Lowdown</a>, edited by Jim Hightower and Phillip Frazer, April 2006.</em></p>
<p align="justify"><em> <A href="mailto:info@jimhightower.com" target="_blank">Jim Hightower</a> is the author of</em> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?link_code=ur2&tag=apocnowlifein-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fexec%2Fobidos%2FASIN%2FB0002EARFM%2Fapocnowlifein-20%3Fcreative%3D327641%26camp%3D14573%26adid%3D1NFC9GHE4BT46CB9Y85H%26link_code%3Das1" target="_blank">THIEVES IN HIGH PLACES: They've Stolen Our Country And It's Time To Take It Back(!)</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=apocnowlifein-20&l=ur2&o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />.<em> To purchase the book, go to</em> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?link_code=ur2&tag=apocnowlifein-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fexec%2Fobidos%2FASIN%2FB0002EARFM%2Fapocnowlifein-20%3Fcreative%3D327641%26camp%3D14573%26adid%3D1NFC9GHE4BT46CB9Y85H%26link_code%3Das1" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=apocnowlifein-20&l=ur2&o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />.<em> He publishes the monthly <A href="http://www.hightowerlowdown.org/" target="_blank">Hightower Lowdown</a>. For more information about Jim, visit <A href="http://www.jimhightower.com/" target="_blank">JimHightower.com</A>.</em></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.jimhightower.com/" target="_blank"><img height="148" alt="Click here to go to Jim Hightower's website!" target="_blank" src="http://www.alternet.org/images/managed/Columnists_hightower.jpg" width="137" border="2" align="left"/></a> <a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/"><u>INSIDE DONNIE RUMSFELD'S</u><br /> <u>ORWELLIAN PENTAGON</u><br /> [The Country "Not Like Its<br /> Enemies", Becoming More and<br /> More Like Its Enemies! (Part 2)]</a><br /> By Jim Hightower<br /> The Hightower Lowdown<br /> Alternet.org<br /> Wednesday, 24 May 2006<br /> [Copyright (c) 2006 in the<br /> U.S.A. & Internationally<br /> by Alternet (.org),<br /> HightowerLowdown (.org)<br /> and/or Jim Hightower.<br /> All rights reserved.]</p>
<blockquote><p align="justify"><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=apocnowlifein-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0002EARFM&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" align="left" /></iframe> <em><u>While claiming that they must "secure'" America for a post-9/11 world, the Bush-Cheney zealots are taking us back to a pre-1776 world.</u></em></p>
<p align="justify"> In 1928, Justice Louis Brandeis wrote that the real threat to American freedom was not from an outside assault, but from the devious manipulations of our own misguided leaders. "The greatest dangers to liberty," he observed, "lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning, but without understanding."</p></blockquote>
<p align="justify"> Nearly 80 years after Brandeis's warning, the zealots have been brought in from the far-right fringe on the golden chariot of George W, and they've shown that they have no understanding of the essence of America, which includes our hard-won liberties, our rule of law and our system of checked-and-balanced governmental power.</p>
<p align="justify"> But these men of zeal -- Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al. -- are hardly well-meaning. They are deliberately and determinedly striving to impose the AntiAmerica on our own land -- an unrecognizable America of supreme executive authority, constant surveillance of the citizenry, secret government and suppression of dissent. Their chief weapon is fear. They feverishly wave the bloody flag of 9/11, shouting that the citizenry must surrender liberties or be attacked again by The Madmen, that we mustn't question authority for this only encourages The Madmen, that all government operations must be cloaked in a dark veil of secrecy to keep The Madmen off balance, and that executive and police power must drastically expand to protect us from The Madmen.</p>
<p align="justify"> While claiming that they must "secure" America for a post-9/11 world, the Bush-Cheney zealots are taking us back to a pre-1776 world. They have been astonishingly successful in a remarkably short time, insidiously taking autocratic step after step, which a compliant Congress and the establishment media have mostly missed, ignored, minimized or applauded. These two "institutions of vigilance" have failed us. So it is up to "We, The People" to assert ourselves against this dangerous rise of authoritarianism in Bush's America.</p>
<p align="justify"> <u>The Spook Society</u></p>
<p align="justify"> "You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you have to concentrate on," George W said with a laugh at Washington's Gridiron dinner in 2001.</p>
<p align="justify"> If only we'd known then that behind George's snickers, the Bushites were serious. Employing a combination of deceit, defiance, arrogance, flag-waving and secrecy, they have fooled a majority of Congress and the media into accepting the overlay of a "spook society" on our "Land of the Free." The far-reaching extent of their efforts are only now becoming clear.</p>
<p align="justify"> Last month's installment covered Bush's secret and blatantly illegal directive for the National Security Agency to spy on citizens here at home. This clandestine four-year program of executive eavesdropping -- scooping up billions of phone calls and emails sent or received by innocent Americans -- has now been getting wide media coverage. But to focus only on this one piece is to miss the more startling reality: the quiet installation inside our country of a massive snoopervision complex, much of it initiated, funded and controlled by Donnie Rumsfeld's Orwellian Pentagon.</p>
<p align="justify"> Since the founding of America, a central tenet of our liberty has been that the military is not to be turned on our own people. Violations of this guiding rule have occurred in the past, but rarely and only temporarily, and when it's been violated, public outcry has forced the reinstatement of the rule.</p>
<p align="justify"> Bush & Co., however, has not only turned loose the military to spy extensively on the American people, but has also asserted the right to do so in perpetuity. Its claim is that 9/11 turned the homeland into a foreign battlefield, so the nation's historic prohibition against military surveillance of Americans is null and void. And since this war on terrorists has no end ("the long war," Rumsfeld calls it), the Bushites maintain that the Pentagon can engage in domestic spying ad infinitum.</p>
<p align="justify"> This military intrusion into our privacy has come with a heavy dose of linguistic perversions by top officials. For example, a secret Pentagon memo from Nov. 5, 2001, has now surfaced. In it, the Army's chief intelligence officer insists that while the Pentagon cannot "collect" information on citizens who have no connection to foreign terrorists, it can "receive" such information. "Remember," he wrote with Machiavellian delight, "merely receiving information does not constitute 'collection' [Military intelligence] may receive information from anyone, anytime."</p>
<p align="justify"> Meanwhile, the ever-sneaky Bushites have quietly been pushing legislation that would compel the FBI and other police agencies to give information that they collect on you and me to the Pentagon, as long as the info is somehow "related" to a foreign intelligence investigation. This does not mean that, to spy on you, the snoops must have cause to think that you are in any way tied to terrorism, but only that they claim their investigation to be vaguely related to some foreign matter -- a catchall that sweeps up war protestors, for example.</p>
<p align="justify"> The legislation has yet to pass, but intelligence watchdogs say that Bush has already implemented it by fiat -- Executive Order 13388 appears to authorize the Pentagon to access domestic intelligence files. Also, the military has already created a robust collection system of its own. A new Northern Command, established in Colorado in 2001 to monitor Americans, now employs more intelligence analysts than does the Homeland Security Department. Also, the Marines launched an operation under a 2004 executive order for the "collection, retention and dissemination of information concerning U.S. persons," noting that the corps will be "increasingly required to perform domestic missions." And, during the past five years, each of the service branches has created its own domestic snooping enterprises. As Sen. Ron Wyden (of Oregon) complained last year, "We are deputizing the military to spy on law-abiding Americans in America. This is a huge leap without even a [public] hearing."</p>
<p align="justify"> <u>Total Information Awareness</u>(TIA)</p>
<p align="justify"> A nightmare right out of 1984, complete with the ominous, all-seeing name it was given, TIA was the ugly spawn of John Poindexter, the convicted master schemer behind the Iran-Contra scandal in Reagan's White House. George W and Rummy had snuck him back into the government in 2001, ensconcing him deep inside the Pentagon, where he ran a team to develop TIA's unprecedented and voracious ability to grab every speck of private data on Americans from every public and corporate data bank. The plan was to put it all in a Pentagon supercomputer and mine it to build files on anyone the authorities might deem suspicious.</p>
<p align="justify"> Luckily, a couple of years ago, this massive invasive madness came to light. The public howled so loudly that Congress rose up and demanded that the program be terminated, and Poindexter was forced to slink away.</p>
<p align="justify"> But wait -- who's that guy in the shadows, and what's he doing? He's Brian Sharkey, Poindexter's close pal who was a key player in the creation of TIA. He now heads a firm that's been getting government contracts to keep pursuing TIA's shadowy projects. In an internal email to TIA's subcontractors, Sharkey gleefully announced: "Fortunately, a new sponsor has come forward that will enable us to continue much of our previous work." He added that the TIA effort would henceforth go by the cryptic code name of "Basketball."</p>
<p align="justify"> The new "sponsor" of this hoops game is a highly classified outfit called Advanced Research and Development Activity (ARDA) that is housed inside NSA (yes, the very agency that's been running George W's illegal domestic spying program). In a February public hearing, Sen. Wyden asked Bush's director of national security and the head of the FBI a direct question: "We want to know if Mr. Poindexter's programs are going on somewhere else." We don't know, replied our nation's top two snoops. When a reporter asked an NSA spokesman whether TIA had been moved to ARDA, he clammed shut: "We can neither confirm nor deny actual or alleged projects." ARDA itself is now being moved to the national intelligence agency and given a new name: "Disruptive Technology Office." It's hard to follow all of the trick passes of "Basketball," but the bottom line is that TIA was halted in name only, having been stealthily slipped into another agency that has been moved and had its own name changed.</p>
<p align="justify"> <u>Salute Your Big Brother</u></p>
<p align="justify"> Three years ago, the Pentagon set up a new, ultrasecret agency called CIFA, for Counterintelligence Field Activity. Its initial task was to detect terrorist plots against military installations in the United States, but two years ago, a directive from the Pentagon's top ranks ordered CIFA to broaden its scope by creating and maintaining "a domestic law enforcement database." The agency's motto became "Counterintelligence to the Edge."</p>
<p align="justify"> In May 2003, Rumsfeld's top deputy, "Howling Paul" Wolfowitz, authorized a new snooping operation code-named TALON (Threat And Local Observation Notice). It directed military officers throughout the country to collect raw information about suspicious activities by local people and to feed reports on them into CIFA's humming computers. In its first year alone, TALON's far-flung network of military snoops fed more than 5,000 "local activity" reports into the electronic maw of CIFA.</p>
<p align="justify"> Nearly everything about CIFA, including its budget, is kept secret, but it is known that the agency has generously spread its budgetary wealth to Pentagon contractors. Northrop Grumman, for example, received funds to develop a CIFA database dubbed "PersonSearch," and Computer Sciences Corp. got a grant for an electronic system to detect and monitor people's "abnormal activities and behaviors." You might say, OK, Hightower, but surely these fine public servants and civic-minded corporations are merely protecting us homelanders by watching known terrorist types with Arab-sounding names and Muslim affiliations. Right?</p>
<p align="justify"> Uh-uh. Forget about merely needing to defend the rights of Arab-Americans -- the Pentagon is invading everyone's liberties. You could ask these folks:</p>
<p align="justify"> In October 2004, the Broward County Anti-War Coalition was discovered by the ever-alert snoops to be planning a demonstration outside a military recruitment office. The group ended up in the CIFA database, even though the only crime of the 15-20 members who protested was to wave a giant sign proclaiming, "Bush Lied."</p>
<p align="justify"> In 2004, George Main, head of the Sacramento chapter of Vietnam Veterans for Peace, had organized a small Veterans Day protest in front of a military office. Not only did he and his VVP buddies end up with their names in a TALON report, but he also got a call from his government the night before the protest, pointedly suggesting that he was a threat to national security. "It was very intimidating to have a special agent call out of the ether," George says.</p>
<p align="justify"> About 10 peace activists who showed up outside Halliburton's Houston headquarters in June 2004 also were reported to CIFA by a TALON team. Why would Halliburton warrant coverage under a program supposedly designed to stave off attacks on military installations? Pentagon officials say that its "force protection" mission now includes its private contractors.</p>
<p align="justify"> These intrusions into perfectly legitimate First Amendment activities are not isolated mess-ups by a few overzealous military officers. Even the Pentagon concedes that thousands of TALON reports have been filed on totally innocent, nonthreatening civilians and are retained in CIFA's computer banks.</p>
<p align="justify"> <u>Data Mining</u></p>
<p align="justify"> The Pentagon is hardly alone in rummaging through America's vast array of computerized records -- collecting, crosschecking, storing, analyzing and monitoring trillions of bits of our personal data, from our credit card transactions and our phone calls to every single internet search we've ever made. The Government Accountability Office reports that 52 federal agencies now operate nearly 200 of these data-mining programs, building files on anyone that the computers and bureaucrats deem the least bit suspicious. As one privacy expert puts it, "We have lists that are having baby lists at this point. They're spawning faster than rabbits."</p>
<p align="justify"> The irony is that this mass invasion of our privacy does nothing to make Americans safer. Internet security expert Bruce Schneier points out that these data-mining systems are "so flooded with false alarms" that they're "useless," forcing agents to waste money and time chasing after thousands of innocent people.</p>
<p align="justify"> <u>Political Enemies</u></p>
<p align="justify"> Dick Nixon must be grinning in his grave, for the FBI is now reprising the abusive role it played in tracking down Tricky Dick's infamous enemies list. The FBI's own "terrorist" files show that the agency has again been spying on such nonthreats as peaceful demonstrators at the 2004 political conventions, while also maintaining a "Terrorist Watch" list that includes such groups as "Food Not Bombs," a volunteer group that serves vegetarian meals to homeless people.</p>
<p align="justify"> Also, in 2002, the FBI's Pittsburgh office spied on a group of "terrorists" operating in a "cell" called the Thomas Merton Center for Peace and Justice. An agency memo warned that the center "holds daily leaflet distribution activities in downtown Pittsburgh." The memo notes that the Merton Center "is a left-wing organization advocating, among many political causes, pacifism."</p>
<p align="justify"> Pacifism! Holy J. Edgar Hoover! Forget about terrorists attacks -- there are pacifists passing out leaflets in Pittsburgh!</p>
<p align="justify"> <u>Secret Service</u></p>
<p align="justify"> Speaking of disruptive, the newly extended Patriot Act creates a new class of federal felon: the disruptor.</p>
<p align="justify"> This chilling provision, tucked into the bill in January without a hearing or debate, authorizes the Secret Service "to charge suspects with breaching security or disruptive behavior at National Special Security Events." What is NSSE? An event where the president or other protected official "will be temporarily visiting," such as a public speech, a political rally, an inauguration ball, the Olympics, the Super Bowl or any other event designated by the Secret Service as being of "national significance."</p>
<p align="justify"> We've seen that simply wearing an anti-Bush T-shirt or having a pro-Democrat bumper sticker is enough to get you branded a disruptor, bounced from a Bush event and thrown in jail. But this provision broadens the reach of Bush's exclusion zones, sanctions the lockdown on free speech and assembly rights, and turns what was a trespassing misdemeanor into a felony. Also, you can be considered a disruptor even if the VIP has not arrived at the NSSE or has already left. Under this provision, not only is the public official protected from "disruptors," but also the NSSE itself becomes the protectee, criminalizing free speech at public events.</p>
<p align="justify"> <u>UnAmerican</u></p>
<p align="justify"> There are a thousand other cuts that the Bushites are making to America's Bill of Rights, the rule of law and separation of powers. Theirs has become, for example, the most secret government in our history, spending billions of tax dollars a year to classify millions of even mundane documents, issuing executive fiats to deny "We The People" access to crucial public information under right-to-know laws, and trying to make it a federal crime not only to leak internal executive information (unless, of course, the White House does the leaking), but also to receive any leaked info.</p>
<p align="justify"> The Bushites have made unprecedented efforts to silence scientists and dissenters within government. This administration has also launched a sweeping array of "citizen watch" programs with names like Coastal Beacon, CAT Eyes and Eagle Eyes, enlisting individuals and groups to spy on neighbors and report even the most unsubstantiated gossip to authorities. The eerie slogan of these watch programs is "Be our eyes and ears so we can calm your fears."</p>
<p align="justify"> Using its never-ending war as a bugaboo, the Bush-Cheney regime is asserting that it is entitled to operate as a military presidency. The Madmen hate our freedoms, the Bushites screech, so in order to defeat The Madmen, our freedoms must be suspended -- for as long as it takes. Not only is that grotesquely absurd, it is entirely un-American.</p>
<p align="justify"> --------</p>
<p align="justify"> <em>Editor's note: This is the second half of a two-part series from the Hightower Lowdown. Read last month's article <a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/043006D.shtml" target="_blank">here</a> (or above).</em> [(Subtitle and/or emphasis added by Wolf Britain.)]</p>
<HR align=left width="100%"><br />
<p align="justify"><em> From <A href="http://www.hightowerlowdown.org/" target="_blank">The Hightower Lowdown</a>, edited by Jim Hightower and Phillip Frazer, April 2006.</em></p>
<p align="justify"><em> <A href="mailto:info@jimhightower.com" target="_blank">Jim Hightower</a> is the author of</em> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?link_code=ur2&tag=apocnowlifein-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fexec%2Fobidos%2FASIN%2FB0002EARFM%2Fapocnowlifein-20%3Fcreative%3D327641%26camp%3D14573%26adid%3D1NFC9GHE4BT46CB9Y85H%26link_code%3Das1" target="_blank">THIEVES IN HIGH PLACES: They've Stolen Our Country And It's Time To Take It Back(!)</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=apocnowlifein-20&l=ur2&o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />.<em> To purchase the book, go to</em> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?link_code=ur2&tag=apocnowlifein-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fexec%2Fobidos%2FASIN%2FB0002EARFM%2Fapocnowlifein-20%3Fcreative%3D327641%26camp%3D14573%26adid%3D1NFC9GHE4BT46CB9Y85H%26link_code%3Das1" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=apocnowlifein-20&l=ur2&o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />.<em> He publishes the monthly <A href="http://www.hightowerlowdown.org/" target="_blank">Hightower Lowdown</a>. For more information about Jim, visit <A href="http://www.jimhightower.com/" target="_blank">JimHightower.com</A>.</em></p>
<P> ________</P>
<p align="justify"><em>(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)</em></p>
<p align="justify"><em>"Go to Original" links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted on TO may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the "Go to Original" links.</em></p>
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<strong><p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/printer_060206L.shtml" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.print.gif" border="0" width="18" height="11"> Print This Story</a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"><!-- Start ApplyTools code --><a href = '#' onclick = "window.open('http://refer.truthout.org/cgi-bin/applyrefer.cgi?job=refer&URL='+self.location.href,'','width=400,height=450,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes');"><font style = 'weight:bold;'><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.mail.gif" border="0" width="18" height="10"> E-mail This Story</font></a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"></font><br></p><!-- End ApplyTools code -->
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<P><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><A href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1787109,00.html" target="_blank">Go to Original </A></font></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/players/blumenthal.htm" target="_blank"><img height="165" alt="Click here to go to an old Washington Post 'Sidney Blumenthal' Page!" src="http://www.form-legal.com/SidneyBlumenthal2.jpg" width="137" border="2" align="left"/></a> <a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/"><u>A STATE OF EMERGENCY</u><br /> (The Bushcon/Neocons Are<br /> Violating and Destroying<br /> The U.S. Constitution!)</a><br /> By Sidney Blumenthal<br /> The Guardian, U.K.<br /> Thursday, 01 June 2006<br /> [Copyright (c) 2006 in the<br /> U.S.A. & Internationally<br /> by t r u t h o u t (.org)<br /> and/or Sid Blumenthal.<br /> All rights reserved.]</p>
<blockquote><p align="justify"><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=apocnowlifein-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0374125023&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" align="left" /></iframe> <em><u>Bush is a danger to the Constitution in his wartime capacity as Commander in Chief.</u></em></p>
<p align="justify"> Within the Bush administration something that senior officials call the "war paradigm" is the central organizing principle. They do not use the phrase publicly, but they bend policy to serve it. After September 11 the war paradigm was instantly adopted. George Bush, who proclaimed "I'm a war president", assumed the paradigm as his natural state and right. According to its imperatives, the president in his wartime capacity as commander in chief makes and enforces laws as he sees fit, overriding the constitutional system of checks and balances. Some of the paradigm's expressions include Bush's fiats on the treatment of detainees, domestic surveillance and international law, and his more than 750 "signing statements" -- interpretations of laws that he claims he can implement as he chooses.</p></blockquote>
<p align="justify"> In the beginning, the elements of the war paradigm appeared to be expediencies, conceived as emergency measures in the struggle against al-Qaida. But their precepts were developed before September 11 by John Yoo, promoted to deputy assistant attorney general in the office of legal counsel at the department of justice, where he was tasked to write secret memos on torture, surveillance and executive power.</p>
<p align="justify"> Once Bush approved them, the clerisy of neoconservative lawyers put them into effect. They believe fervently that the constitution is fatally flawed and must be circumscribed. The Bush administration's holy grail is to remove suspects' rights to due process, speedy trial and exculpatory evidence. The war paradigm is to be strengthened to conduct permanent war against terror that can never be finally defeated. There is no exit strategy from emergency.</p>
<p align="justify"> In the short run, Bush's defense of his war paradigm may precipitate three constitutional crises. In the first, freedom of the press is at issue. On May 21st (2006) Alberto Gonzales, the attorney general, announced the possibility that the New York Times would be prosecuted for publishing its Pulitzer prize-winning article on the administration's domestic surveillance. "It can't be the case," he said, that the first amendment trumps the right of the government "to go after criminal activity".</p>
<p align="justify"> In the second case, a wartime executive above the law may be asserted. Last week the special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who charged the vice-president's former chief of staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby with perjury and obstruction of justice, made plain his intention to summon Cheney to the witness stand to impeach Libby's credibility or else commit perjury himself. But will the administration fight the subpoena as an infringement on a unitary executive that should be immune from such distractions in wartime?</p>
<p align="justify"> In the third case, if either house of Congress should fall to the Democrats in the November midterm elections, the oversight suppressed during one-party rule would be restored. Would the administration refuse congressional requests for documents as it did when the Democratic Senate in Bush's first year asked for those pertaining to Cheney's energy taskforce, which reportedly included Enron's CEO Ken Lay, last week convicted on numerous counts of fraud?</p>
<p align="justify"> Bush does not contemplate retreat from the war paradigm, which he embraces as his reason for being. After his 2004 victory he claimed he had had his accountability moment. But the constitution is an intricate mechanism of checks and balances that creates constant accountability. The question at the heart of Bush's politics is whether that can be indefinitely suspended and the constitution radically revised. [(Subtitle and/or emphasis added by Wolf Britain.)]</p>
<HR align=left width="100%"><br />
<p align="justify"><em> <A href="mailto:sidney_blumenthal@yahoo.com" target="_blank">Sidney Blumenthal</a> is a former senior adviser to President Clinton, and is the author of</em> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&tag=apocnowlifein-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&path=ASIN%2F0374125023%2Fapocnowlifein-20%3Fcreative%3D327641%26camp%3D14573%26adid%3D1NJ40GMM6G07N670CZZA%26link_code%3Das1" target="_blank">The Clinton Wars</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=apocnowlifein-20&l=ur2&o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />.<em> To purchase the book, go to</em> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&tag=apocnowlifein-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&path=ASIN%2F0374125023%2Fapocnowlifein-20%3Fcreative%3D327641%26camp%3D14573%26adid%3D1NJ40GMM6G07N670CZZA%26link_code%3Das1" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=apocnowlifein-20&l=ur2&o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />.</p>
<P> ________</P>
<p align="justify"><em>(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)</em></p>
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<strong><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/"><u>THE LOGIC OF WAR CRIMES</u></a></font></p><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/"><u>IN A CRIMINAL WAR</u></a></font></p><p align="center"><a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/">(The Neocons And Bushcons Are</a><br /><a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/">Working Overtime to Terrorize,</a><br /><a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/" target="_blank">Imprison, Torture, and Murder)</a></p><p align="center">By Mara Verheyden-Hilliard<br />and Brian Becker<br />Friday, 02 June 2006<br /><a href="http://www.answerCoalition.org/" target="_blank">( International A.N.S.W.E.R.<br />{A.ct N.ow to S.top W.ar<br />and E.nd R.acism} Coalition<br />http://www.AnswerCoalition.org/ )</a><br />[Copyright (c) 2006 in the U.S.A. and <br />Internationally by the Interna-<br />tional A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition,<br />Mara Verheyden-Hilliard<br />and/or Bryan Becker. <br />All rights reserved.]</p>
<br />
<p align="justify"><a href="http://www.answerCoalition.org/" target="_blank"><img height="157" alt="Click here to go to the International A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition's website!" src="http://form-legal.com/constitution-banner125.gif" width="125" border="0" align="left"/></a> When U.S. marines carried out the savage and systematic execution of Iraqi families and small children in Haditha last November, it was initially reported as a "battle" with "insurgent casualties." A photo of a kneeling Iraqi civilian moments before he was murdered was taken by a Marine using his cell phone camera. Other pictures of the corpses of small children, families lying in pools of blood in their homes, students gunned down in a taxi are all part of the documentary evidence.</p>
<p align="justify">The massacre in Haditha took place one year after a much larger massacre of civilians in Fallujah. Four to six thousand civilians are estimated to have been killed in Fallujah in November 2004, according to credible independent sources reporting from the ground. The truth of Iraq is that there were other massacres almost every week in between the events that have made Haditha and Fallujah famous cities: famous in the way no city wants to become well known throughout the world. The attack on the people of Iraq and ensuing occupation by the United States government has caused the deaths of well over 100,000 Iraqi people (the British medical journal, The Lancet, reported an excess of 100,000 dead eighteen months ago).</p>
<p align="justify"><u>"Ethics Training" to Prevent Massacres</u></p>
<p align="justify">Now that the butchery in Haditha is making headlines in the United States, high ranking officials in the Pentagon as well as the President are promising an investigation. They have even announced "ethics training" for combat troops. The implication is that something unusual happened when unarmed civilians, including terrified small children and their mothers who were trying to shield them, were riddled with bullets by U.S. soldiers. Were they rogue soldiers lawlessly breaking ranks from an otherwise pristine mission aimed at liberating Iraqis? That is pure fiction. Those who criticize the management of the war are talking complete nonsense when they say that the actions of these Marines will make it "harder to carry out the mission in Iraq."</p>
<p align="justify">The Haditha massacre will not make the Iraqis think differently about the United States or Bush. It will only confirm their view, an outlook shaped by the cruel, cold-hard reality of the past years. </p>
<p align="justify"><u>A Routine Phenomenon</u></p>
<p align="justify">Just this week, on May 31, US soldiers in Iraq "killed two Iraqi women — one of them about to give birth — when the troops shot at a car that failed to stop at an observation post in a city north of Baghdad." The AP reports that Nabiha Nisaif Jassim, 35, was being raced to the maternity hospital in Samarra by her brother when the shooting occurred Tuesday. Jassim, the mother of two children, and her 57-year-old cousin, Saliha Mohammed Hassan, were killed by the U.S. forces, according to police Capt. Laith Mohammed and witnesses. Her husband was waiting for her at the maternity unit of the hospital when Jassim, pregnant with their child, and her cousin were murdered.</p>
<p align="justify">Yesterday, the BBC disclosed new video evidence that U.S. forces massacred another group of Iraqi civilians in the town of Ishaqi in March. The story, carried by Knight-Ridder in March, and denied by the U.S. government thereafter, stated that U.S. troops had rounded-up villagers into a single room of a house and then "executed 11 people, including a 75-year-old woman and a 6-month-old infant." BBC reported June 1 that of the eleven people murdered by U.S. troops, five were children. The soldiers then, "burned three vehicles, killed the villagers' animals and blew up the house."</p>
<p align="justify">In Afghanistan this week, large masses of people took to the streets throwing rocks at U.S. military vehicles following another incident in which U.S. military personnel raced through Kabul and then rammed passenger vehicles killing at least three people. A top Afghan police officer reported that U.S . soldiers then opened fire indiscriminately directly into the crowd killing at least four more people.</p>
<p align="justify"><u>Rejecting the Disney Version of U.S. Foreign Policy</u></p>
<p align="justify">The perception of the U.S. in the Arab world is based on actual information and knowledge of the Iraq war and the war in Afghanistan. The U.S. financing and support for the ongoing war waged by the Israeli military against the Palestinian people also contributes to the understanding of the U.S. role among the people of the Middle East. This perception is 100 percent different than the fantasy promoted in the United States. In the United States, facts are not allowed to stand in the way of the official legend.</p>
<p align="justify">All the mainstream media, the politicians and even some in the "peace movement" in the United States uphold the Disney version of U.S. imperialism: a fundamentally benign force, motivated by democratic values and a vision of freedom, that is suffering an unexplained outburst of criminality based on stress caused by poor management of the war. Haditha, and Fallujah before it, or Abu Ghraib, are registered as deviant behavior by out of control people. Conveniently they are all rank and file enlisted men and women. No Generals, Secretary of Defense or President need worry.</p>
<p align="justify">That every exposed crime is widely accepted to be "deviant" or aberrational in the United States is only a testament to the power of political indoctrination by the media and the government whose economic resources for "opinion-molding" are greater than that of any previous empire in human history.</p>
<p align="justify"><u>The Perception of U.S. Imperialism from The Middle East</u></p>
<p align="justify">"The deaths in Haditha, a volatile town in western Iraq, have barely caused a stir in Iraq and much of the Arab world — where American troops are reviled as brutal invaders who regularly commit such acts," writes AP reporter Hamza Hendawi, in a story filed on May 30, 2006.</p>
<p align="justify">The next day a dispatch from AP reporter Kim Gamel, reports the same sentiment, "People in Samarra are very angry with the Americans not only because of Haditha case but because the Americans kill people randomly especially recently," Khalid Nisaif Jassim said.</p>
<p align="justify">Closely connected by language, historical and geographic knowledge, and access to more comprehensive media reporting, the Arab people consider the entire war, including its unprovoked initiation by Bush on March 20, 2003, to be a criminal endeavor by large powers against a small but oil-rich nation. The racist character of the war itself is well recognized throughout the region. Having battled for a century against colonial and semi-colonial domination, the Arab people don't derive their knowledge about the intentions of Britain or the United States from FOX News or the New York Times.</p>
<p align="justify">In the U.S. media, Iraq is treated as a low-intensity war. When U.S. soldiers are killed their deaths are accompanied by a small article. The fact that well more than 100,000 Iraqis have died does not merit blazing headlines. Iraqi suffering is minimized or usually attributed to "terrorists." Thus, the people of the United States are shielded from that which the Arab people know all too well about the criminal character of the war of aggression.</p>
<p align="justify"><u>Fallujah and Hue City, Vietnam</u></p>
<p align="justify">The issue of Fallujah is a case in point. Fallujah is emblematic of the war. It is well understood throughout the Arab world but treated like ancient history by the U.S. media.</p>
<p align="justify">On the eve of the assault on Fallujah, the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition sent out an email to anti-war activists (November 7, 2004) under the headline: "Top U.S. Marine in Iraq Calls for Massacre in Fallujah." It reported that Sgt. Major Carlton W. Kent gave an emotional pep-talk to 2,500 Marines who were poised to attack the city. The marines had just notified the people of Fallujah that any male between the age of 15-55 who dared go outside would be automatically killed. "You're all in the process of making history," the Sgt. Major exhorted his soldiers. "This is another Hue City in the making. I, have no doubt, if we do get the word, that each and every one of you is going to do what you have always done kick some butt." (AP, November 7, 2004)</p>
<p align="justify">Evoking the events in Hue by U.S. officers, as a motivation for today's troops, shows the macabre criminality inherent in imperialism's war for conquest.</p>
<p align="justify">Hue was a city in South Vietnam that was a scene of horrific war crimes by military personnel when it was captured by U.S.-led forces in March 1968. U.S. Under-Secretary of the Air Force, Townsend Hoopes, admitted that Hue was left a "devastated and prostrate city. Eighty percent of the buildings had been reduced to rubble, and in the smashed ruins lay 2,000 dead civilians …" (Noam Chomsky's forward to the papers of the 1967 International War Crimes in Vietnam Tribunal.)</p>
<p align="justify"><u>The Machinery of Racism</u></p>
<p align="justify">How can 100,000 people die, how can children be murdered, how can the devastation and destruction of an entire society occur at the hands of the U.S. government without there being a huge outpouring of indignation and condemnation in the U.S. mass media, much less even acknowledgment by so many in the "loyal opposition"? Because the U.S. mainstream media is a corporate dominated propaganda machine that is part and parcel of the imperial establishment and shares its interests. It uses the instrument of racism, a tool that has been fine-tuned by the forces of militarism in the United States for nearly four centuries. The racist demonization of conquered and targeted people has been crafted with the idea of dehumanizing the victims so as to prevent the forging of human solidarity in opposition to the crimes of conquest and Empire. The mass media, always willing to exploit the emotional appeal of death and tragedy that occurs within the United States, can ignore or define the experiences of the people of Iraq as somehow less worthy, the death of Iraqi children as less agonizing, their lives less valuable.</p>
<p align="justify"><u>Bush Proclaims that Iraq "is only the beginning" of Endless War</u></p>
<p align="justify">The day after the NY Times front page story revealing the graphic details of the Haditha massacre, George W. Bush said these words about the Iraq war to the West Point graduating class of 2006: "This is only the beginning. The message has spread from Damascus to Tehran that the future belongs to freedom, and we will not rest until the promise of liberty reaches every people, in every nation." Reiterating his and Cheney's theme that the U.S. is now engaged in "endless war," Bush told the young cadets: "The war began on my watch, but its going to end on your watch."</p>
<p align="justify">While Bush was exhorting the next generation of privileged military officers to enthusiastically embrace his imperial crusade, the reality is that this administration sees in every rank and file enlisted man and woman nothing more than pawns. For the working class youth who make up the bulk of the military, the Bush administration has only callous disregard. Bush is willing to send these young people to kill and be killed while it carries out vicious cut-backs in education, job training and veterans benefits. The rich are always ready to have the working class and poor people do their fighting and dying.</p>
<p align="justify">The crimes of the U.S. soldiers in Iraq are as inevitable as the crimes committed by soldiers in imperial armies throughout history. The conquered people refuse to accept their fate. They rise up, they form resistance organizations. They take up arms and conspire to oust the foreign occupiers. They are then branded as terrorists and criminals by the Empire. To the extent that they enjoy popular support among the indigenous population, the population itself is considered "suspect" by the occupiers.</p>
<p align="justify">Civilians thus become a danger. Children and young teenagers can become the "enemy." The vehicles carrying expectant mothers to the hospital can thus become a threat because they must travel quickly, too quickly for the comfort of the occupying soldiers who are fearful of car bombs.</p>
<p align="justify"><u>A Pertinent Revelation this Week: 50 Years After the Fact</u></p>
<p align="justify">In the Korean War, U.S. soldiers gunned down hundreds and possibly thousands of South Korean civilians as they tried to escape the horrors of war. For five decades, the Pentagon and each successive U.S. administration denied these facts. South Korean survivors who tried to press their claims against the United States were labeled traitors and North Korean spies and put into prison for many years. After the killings of No Gun Ri in July 1950 were exposed decades later in the U.S. media, the Pentagon even carried out an "exhaustive" investigation and concluded that the actions were those of inexperienced soldiers. "The deaths and injuries of civilians, wherever they occurred, were an unfortunate tragedy inherent to war and not a deliberate killing.... Soldiers were not ordered to attack and kill civilian refugees in the vicinity of No Gun Ri." (Department of the Army Inspector General, No Gun Ri Review, Jan. 2001)</p>
<p align="justify">But just this week, as the Pentagon begins its new "investigation" into Haditha, a document has come to light that not only reveals the truth of the massacre of Koreans but that it was an act of official U.S. war policy. The day of the mass killings, the US Ambassador to South Korea sent a letter to State Department official Dean Rusk about the military decision arrived at a meeting on July 25, 1950 announcing that Korean war refugees would be shot if they approached US lines. The day after the decision the 7th U.S. Cavalry Regiment killed hundreds of civilians at No Gun Ri in South Korea.</p>
<p align="justify"><u>The Logic of War Crimes</u></p>
<p align="justify">There was a military rationale for killing the civilians at No Gun Ri and in scores of other sites throughout Korea during the war. The U.S. soldiers could not tell whether the civilians were sympathetic to the North Koreans or whether they would permit North Korean soldiers into their midst.</p>
<p align="justify">The Geneva Conventions expressly prohibit the targeting of civilians under any circumstances. But the Pentagon had a bigger political concern than adhering to international law. The fundamental fear of the Pentagon and the White House in Korea, as it was in Vietnam and during the first and current war against Iraq, was that public opinion at home would turn against the imperialist adventure and tie the hands of the warmakers. The logic of their political calculus was that U.S. public opinion would turn against the war directly as a result of a large number of U.S. casualties. This thought took them to the next murderous conclusion: if civilians pose even a remote risk to U.S. soldiers it is better to shoot the civilians first and ask questions later. Dead Korean or Vietnamese or Iraqi civilians will not be as politically damaging back home as dead American soldiers.</p>
<p align="justify">There is one more side to the logic of war crimes. If the civilian population is sympathetic to the resistance fighters it is necessary to terrorize the civilians as punishment for providing aid or shelter to a guerrilla army. This is not a new story. The Japanese wiped out whole villages and nearly some cities in China as a warning against aiding the communist-led resistance during World War II. The Nazi's policy in Serbia was to kill one hundred Serbs for every German soldier killed by the resistance. Under the direction of John Negroponte, current Director of US Intelligence services, the Salvadoran military carried out large-scale massacres of peasant communities that were considered supportive of the FMLN resistance fighters in El Salvador during the 1980's. In Vietnam, the CIA organized the Phoenix Program, a clandestine war that assassinated as many 50,000 south Vietnamese who were considered to be members or sympathizers of the National Liberation Front.</p>
<p align="justify"><u>The People of the United States Must Act to Stop Imperialist War</u></p>
<p align="justify">There is no investigation, no new training, or change in the way the war and occupation is administered that can stop massacres like Haditha, Fallujah and the day in and day out killings of Iraqis and destruction of their society. The only change that can bring about the hope of building a new future for Iraqis, one of self-determination and eventual peace, is to end the foreign occupation of Iraq and remove the invading army. Every day the U.S. and other troops remain in Iraq the situation grows more dire for the Iraqi people. We must demand that the troops be brought home now and reach out to our friends, families, co-workers and schoolmates to make this demand a powerful and undeniable force. The majority of people of the U.S. now oppose the war in Iraq - but at this very moment, many in the peace movement are urging that all focus turn towards the elections, just as they did two years ago. This is the road to irrelevance and it must be rejected.</p>
<p align="justify">The war in Vietnam was not ended because "better politicians" were elected. No one could assert that Richard Nixon was better than anything or anyone. What mattered was that millions of people used every avenue to intensify the mass struggle in the streets and in every community throughout the country. The Vietnamese people were clearly determined to fight until their homeland was free from foreign occupation. Ultimately, the U.S. soldier was only fighting to return to his or her home. The congruence of these factors and the ever-widening mass anti-war movement made the nearly genocidal conflict unsustainable for the Pentagon brass and the occupant of the White House. We must learn and re-learn these lessons and apply them to today. That is the challenge and obligation of the next period. [(Subtitle and/or emphasis added by Wolf Britain.)]</p>
<p><hr /></p>
<p align="justify"><em>Mara Verheyden-Hilliard is a civil rights attorney and co-founder of the Partnership for Civil Justice. Brian Becker is the National Coordinator of the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition.</em></p>
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<A href="http://technorati.com/tag/commentary" rel=tag>Commentary</A></strong><BR><BR><BR><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1148745787474525172006-05-27T10:02:00.000-06:002006-06-12T00:34:22.643-06:00<br /> <strong><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.kurtnimmo.com/?p=378" target="_blank">NSA Snoop Program: All About<br>The Neocon Enemies List</a></font></p><p align="center">Written by Kurt Nimmo <br />[Copyright (c) 2006 in the U.S.A. and <br />Internationally by Another Day in <br />the Empire (kurtnimmo.com), <br />and/or Kurt Nimmo. <br />All rights reserved.]</p>
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<p align="justify"><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=wordpandnowth-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=189330275X&fc1=000000&=1&lc1=0000ff&bc1=000000<1=_blank&IS2=1&f=ifr&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr" width="120" height="240" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" align="left"/></iframe> National Review Online, the home of many a Straussian neocon, has posted an excerpt from William Arkin on its <a href="http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTM1ODNhYjEzMTk2YzA5NmUyMDdkOTBkYzM5YmIzZTI=" target="_blank">Media Blog</a> page. Arkin, who writes a column for the CIA’s favorite newspaper, the Washington Post (the editors over there like to call Arkin’s <a href="http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/" target="_blank">Early Warning</a> a blog), declared on May 16, in regard to the massive NSA snoop program, “there is no enemies list” and the “Bush administration has been arrogant and incompetent in communicating to the American public. It has cynically split the country into red and blue in order to give itself greater power to pursue a wrong-headed national security strategy that it claims is red, white and blue…. The Congress has also utterly failed in five months to get to the bottom of the NSA’s warantless surveillance program and thereby resolve its legality and assuage public anxiety.” In other words, it is simply more partisan politics and splenetic political manipulation la mode de Karl Rove. Nothing to see here, except a bit of unresolved legality. Please move along. </p>
<p align="justify">If you believe that Bush and the neocons in the White House and the Pentagon, as Arkin suggests, have not drawn up a comprehensive list of domestic enemies, and are not snooping them right now, I have a chartreuse pony to sell you. </p>
<p align="justify">It’s no mistake Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden was breezily selected, as predicted, by a large number of senators (78-15 in his favor) earlier today. Hayden will merge CIA and Pentagon covert and snoop operations and scant little of the work will concentrate on Osama’s cartoonish cave dwellers and the spurious boogieman known as “al-Qaeda.” William Arkin may trust his government to employ a colossal snoop program in a myopic effort to gain short term political gain, but those of us who take a look at not too distant history understand otherwise. </p>
<p align="justify"><a href="http://www.serendipity.li/cia/lyon.html" target="_blank">Verne Lyon</a>, a former CIA undercover operative, wrote for Covert Action Information Bulletin, Summer 1990, that with “the DCS, the DOD [Domestic Operations Division], the old boy network, and the CIA Office of Security operating without congressional oversight or public knowledge, all that was needed to bring [Operation Chaos] together was a perceived threat to the national security and a presidential directive unleashing the dogs. That happened in 1965 when President Johnson instructed [John] McCone to provide an independent analysis of the growing problem of student protest against the war in Vietnam. Prior to this, Johnson had to rely on information provided by the FBI, intelligence that he perceived to be slanted by Hoover’s personal views, which often ignored the facts.” In order to “achieve the intelligence being asked for by the President, the CIA’s Office of Security, the Counter-Intelligence division, and the newly created DOD turned to the old boy network for help.” Lyon continues:</p>
<blockquote><p align="justify">As campus anti-war protest activity spread across the nation, the CIA reacted by implementing two new domestic operations. The first, Project RESISTANCE, was designed to provide security to CIA recruiters on college campuses. Under this program, the CIA sought active cooperation from college administrators, campus security, and local police to help identify anti-war activists, political dissidents, and “radicals.” Eventually information was provided to all government recruiters on college campuses and directly to the super-secret DOD on thousands of students and dozens of groups. The CIA’s Office of Security also created Project MERRIMAC, to provide warnings about demonstrations being carried out against CIA facilities or personnel in the Washington area.</p></blockquote>
<p align="justify">All of this should be familiar, as the Pentagon’s Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA) kept a database on “a motley group of about 10 peace activists [who] showed up outside the Houston headquarters of Halliburton” in 2004, according to <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10965509/site/newsweek/" target="_blank">Michael Isikoff</a> of Newsweek, in order to protest the corporation’s “supposed” war profiteering. “A Defense document shows that Army analysts wrote a report on the Halliburton protest and stored it in CIFA’s database. It’s not clear why the Pentagon considered the protest worthy of attention,” muses the clueless Isikoff, about as tuned in to domestic spook operations (in the case of the CIA, quite illegal under its charter) as his colleague, William Arkin, who should know better. The CIFA’s activity in regard to Haliburton is reminiscent of Project RESISTANCE, a domestic espionage operation coordinated under the DOD, a fact discovered with a simple Wikipedia search (obviously, writers working for Newsweek and the Washington Post cannot be bothered with online encyclopedias). </p>
<p align="justify">Under Operation Chaos and Project MERRIMAC, the CIA went about violating the strictures of the Bill of Rights with customary zeal. The CIA “infiltrated agents into domestic groups of all types and activities. It used its contacts with local police departments and their intelligence units to pick up its 'police skills'; and began in earnest to pull off burglaries, illegal entries, use of explosives, criminal frame-ups, shared interrogations, and disinformation. CIA teams purchased sophisticated equipment for many starved police departments and in return got to see arrest records, suspect lists, and intelligence reports. Many large police departments, in conjunction with the CIA, carried out illegal, warrantless searches of private properties, to provide intelligence for a report requested by President Johnson,” writes Lyon. </p>
<p align="justify">After Johnson left office, Nixon continued the programs. “In June 1970 Nixon met with Hoover, [Richard] Helms, NSA Director Admiral Noel Gaylor, and Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) representative Lt. Gen. Donald V. Bennett and told them he wanted a coordinated and concentrated effort against domestic dissenters. To do that, he was creating the Interagency Committee on Intelligence (ICI), chaired by Hoover. The first ICI report, in late June, recommended new efforts in ‘black bag operations,’ wiretapping, and a mail-opening program. In late July 1970... the members of the ICI (were told) that their recommendations had been accepted by the White House.” </p>
<p align="justify">If not for the Church Committee (the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, a Senate committee chaired by Senator Frank Church in 1975), the extent of crimes committed by the CIA, FBI, and the Pentagon would have likely remained secret. According to revelations brought forth by the committee (see the Church Committee’s supplementary detailed <a href="http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/cointelpro/churchfinalreportIIIi.htm" target="_blank">staff report</a> on Operation Chaos), during “the life of Operation CHAOS, the CIA had compiled personality files on over 13,000 individuals including more than 7,000 U.S. citizens as well as files on over 1,000 domestic groups. The CIA had shared information on more than 300,000 persons with different law enforcement agencies including the DIA and FBI. It had spied on, burglarized, intimidated, misinformed, lied to, deceived, and carried out criminal acts against thousands of citizens of the United States. It had placed itself above the law, above the Constitution, and in contempt of international diplomacy and the United States Congress. It had violated its charter and had contributed either directly or indirectly to the resignation of a President of the United States (Nixon). It had tainted itself beyond hope.”</p>
<blockquote><p align="justify">Of all this, the CIA’s blatant contempt for the rights of individuals was the worst. This record of deceit and illegality, implored Congress as well as the President to take extreme measures to control the Agency’s activities. However, except for a few cosmetic changes made for public consumption such as the Congressional intelligence oversight committee nothing has been done to control the CIA. In fact, subsequent administrations have chosen to use the CIA for domestic operations as well. These renewed domestic operations began with Gerald Ford, were briefly limited by Jimmy Carter, and then extended dramatically by Ronald Reagan.</p></blockquote>
<p align="justify">According to the corporate media and the standard gaggle of neocon pundits, we have nothing to fear now that Hayden has won over the Senate. After all, as the neocons assure us, the CIA and spook operations emanating out of the Pentagon (and the NSA) focus on “al-Qaeda,” a shadowy group with unestablished and undocumented ties within the United States, and those of us worried about the return of Operation Chaos, Project MERRIMAC, and the FBI’s COINTELPRO are simply paranoid tinfoil hatters or worse. </p>
<p align="justify">Never mind the superabundance of material demonstrating beyond a shadow of a doubt consistent government complicity in not only denying American citizens the right to dissent and seek redress of grievances, but also employing harassment and violence against them. It appears William Arkin simply does not bother to read history and is woefully ignorant of government subversion and desecration of the Constitution. His assertion that the Bush administration and the neocons at (their) core are not interested in “enemies list” a' la Nixon is, on its face, absurd and should be discarded as a dangerous fallacy. </p>
<p align="justify"><u>Addendum</u></p>
<p align="justify">Allan Uthman writes for the Buffalo Beast (<a href="http://buffalobeast.com/99/policestate.htm" target="_blank">Top 10 Signs of the Impending U.S. Police State</a>):</p>
<blockquote><p align="justify">If Bush’s nominee for CIA chief, Air Force General Michael Hayden, is confirmed, that will put every spy program in Washington under military control. Hayden, who oversaw the NSA warrantless wiretapping program... is clearly down with the program. (W)hat program? To weaken and dismantle or at least neuter the CIA. Despite its best efforts to blame the CIA for “intelligence errors” leading to the Iraq war, the picture has clearly emerged — through extensive CIA leaks — that the White House’s analysis of Saddam’s destructive capacity was not shared by the Agency. This has proved to be a real pain in the ass for Bush and the gang.</p>
<p align="justify">Who’d have thought that career spooks would have moral qualms about deceiving the American people? And what is a president to do about it? Simple: make the critical agents leave, and fill their slots with Bush/Cheney loyalists. Then again, why not simply replace the entire organization? That is essentially what both Rumsfeld at the DoD [Department of Defense, aka "Department of War"] and newly minted Director of National Intelligence John (Negroponte) are doing — they want to move intelligence analysis into the hands of people that they can control, so the next time they lie about an “imminent threat” nobody’s going to tell. And the press is applauding the move as a “necessary reform.”</p>
<p align="justify">Remember the good old days, when the CIA were the bad guys? </p></blockquote>
<p align="justify">It should be noted, regardless of the witless declarations of William Arkin and his ilk, the military is busy at work ferreting out and monitoring "terrorists", that is to say American citizens who have nothing to do with the CIA asset Osama bin Laden or the phantom “al-Qaeda,” the database. </p>
<p align="justify">“NBC investigative correspondent Lisa Myers reported that NBC News had obtained a secret 400-page Defense Department document listing more than 1,500 ’suspicious incidents’ across the country over a recent ten-month period,” <a href="http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/dec2005/pent-d15.shtml" target="_blank">Barry Grey</a> wrote last December. “One of the items listed as a "threat" was a meeting held by a group of activists a year ago at a Quaker Meeting House in Lake Worth, Florida to plan a protest against military recruiting at local high schools. Myers said the Defense Department data base obtained by NBC News included nearly four dozen anti-war meetings or protests. Among them was an anti-war protest held last March in Los Angeles, a planned protest against military recruiters last December in Boston, and a planned protest last April in Fort Lauderdale, Florida…. A separate press report noted that the Pentagon data base also mentioned weekly protests at an Atlanta, Georgia military recruiting station and an anti-war protest at the University of California in Santa Cruz.”</p>
<blockquote><p align="justify">These limited revelations in and of themselves reveal that the Bush administration and the Pentagon, with the collusion of congressional Democrats as well as Republicans, have pushed aside limits on military domestic spying that were imposed following congressional hearings in the 1970s on Pentagon spying against civil rights organizations and opponents of the Vietnam War.</p></blockquote>
<p align="justify">In addition to the creation of CIFA, mentioned above, a “second major effort to expand the military's domestic spying operations involves legislation being pushed by the Pentagon on Capitol Hill that would establish an exception to the Privacy Act, allowing the FBI and others to share information about US citizens with the Pentagon, the CIA and other agencies, as long as it was deemed that the information was related to foreign intelligence…. In addition, each of the military services has launched its own program to collect domestic intelligence. The Post quotes a Marine Corps order approved in April of 2004 that states the Marine Corps Intelligence Activity will be ‘increasingly required to perform domestic missions,’ and as a result ‘there will be increased instances whereby Marine intelligence activities may come across information regarding US persons.’” </p>
<p align="justify">Of course, since there is zero oversight, there really is no need to make the fraudulent claim these operations will be conducted only if “related to foreign intelligence.” As the above indicates, the government is primarily interested in snooping and subverting its own citizens, who are more of a threat to their stranglehold on power than any number of phony “al-Qaeda” groups or other contrived Freddy Kruger scarecrows.</p>
<p align="justify">[Privacy and the Constitution are systematically being done away with; and if "We, the People" continue to allow this to happen, very soon freedom and liberty will become a memory of something exceedingly important that no longer exists, and everyone will supposedly have to do what they're told "or else". But we must not capitulate to any of this. We must be truly courageous, and non-violently and peaceably stand up against all of these inroads of an authoritarian and totalitarian fascist police state, where liberty and freedom no longer exist, taking over the United States and the world. We must stand up against it with little or no concern(s) for what befalls us as a result of this which is doing nothing but standing up for what's right, true and in the interests of freedom and liberty, the principles upon which this country was monumentally, immutably and inalienably founded, and no less than our duty and responsibility to stand up for the preservation of, no matter what is inflicted upon us for doing so. LONG LIVE FREEDOM! (Subtitle, words in brackets ("[ ]") and/or emphasis added by Wolf Britain.)]</p>
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<A href="http://technorati.com/tag/commentary" rel=tag>commentary</A></strong><BR><BR><BR><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1148691398726980522006-05-26T18:53:00.000-06:002006-05-27T10:05:21.783-06:00<br /><br /><strong><p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/printer_052506F.shtml" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.print.gif" border="0" width="18" height="11"> Print This Story</a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"><!-- Start ApplyTools code --><a href = '#' onclick = "window.open('http://refer.truthout.org/cgi-bin/applyrefer.cgi?job=refer&URL='+self.location.href,'','width=400,height=450,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes');"><font style = 'weight:bold;'><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.mail.gif" border="0" width="18" height="10"> E-mail This Story</font></a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"></font><br></p><!-- End ApplyTools code -->
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<P><a href="http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/05/25/big_brothers_history.php" target="_blank">Go to Original</a></p>
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<p> <a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/"><u>BIG BROTHER'S HISTORY</u><br> (It Appears that the U.S. Constitution<br> Supposedly Doesn't Matter Anymore)</a><br> By John Prados<br> TomPaine.com</p><P> Thursday, 25 May 2006</p><P> [Copyright (c) 2006 in the<br> U.S.A. and Internationally<br> by TomPaine (.com)<br> and/or John Prados.<br> All rights reserved.]</p>
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<p align="justify"><a href="http://www.aclu.org/" target="_blank"><img height="157" alt="Click here to go to the ACLU's website!" src="http://form-legal.com/constitution-banner125.gif" width="125" border="0" align="left"/></a> The National Security Agency's [illegal] warrantless domestic wiretaps and its logs of Americans' phone calls are the most controversial, but by no means the only, surveillance initiative underway that has chilling implications for all Americans. American history is littered with examples of similar instances of security programs gone awry. It is three decades now since the Church Committee concluded, "The tendency of intelligence activities expanding beyond their initial scope is a theme which runs through every aspect of our investigative findings."</p>
<p align="justify"> In the 20th century, this history of misuse of security programs begins with World War I. A government-sponsored volunteer (read: vigilante) group, the American Protective League, was created to assist the Justice Department and military intelligence, resulting in nearly 2,000 prosecutions for allegedly "disloyal" utterances by Americans.</p>
<p align="justify"> Immediately after the war, the "Palmer Raids," named for then-Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, rounded up 10,000 persons for supposed anarchist or revolutionary views. These became a milestone in the creation of the FBI and the career of its first director (and Palmer's chief assistant) J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover went on to keep books on all manner of Americans; he used the information collected to exert political pressure at various times.</p>
<p align="justify"> Domestic intelligence programs were revived in 1936 and steadily increased in intrusiveness, impelled first by World War II, then by the Cold War. These began with the intention of monitoring foreign influence on American politics and ended up investigating "loyalty." We hardly need mention the internment of over 120,000 Japanese-Americans on hysterical suspicions of contact with the enemy in World War II.</p>
<p align="justify"> Though the two statutes are far different in detail, both the Internal Security Act of 1950 and today's Patriot Act represent encroachments on constitutionally guaranteed rights.Title II of the Internal Security Act actually permitted the detention of any person suspected of sabotage or espionage during invasion or insurrection and half a dozen holding camps were prepared. The Truman and Eisenhower administrations initiated "loyalty oaths" with boards to review the records of several million government employees-estimates of those fired or forced to resign range from about 2,500 to roughly 7,000. Although it never came to pass, the list of Americans to be rounded up under the Internal Security Act in the event of a national emergency numbered 26,000 persons in 1954.The inquiries carried out under the loyalty program were FBI-controlled. By 1960 it had opened approximately 432,000 files on groups or individual Americans, under guidelines that permitted investigation based on suspicion of "anarchistic or revolutionary beliefs" even if membership in any group had "not been proven" and in the absence of evidence of any current "activity of a subversive nature."</p>
<p align="justify"> The depredations of the House Un-American Activities Committee and the effects of Senator Joe McCarthy's charges of communist infiltration had disastrous impacts on Americans' lives, but they served merely as backdrop for more intrusive programs. In 1952 the U.S. Post Office began to record mail sent from the U.S. to Russia, a project taken over by the CIA counterintelligence staff in 1955 and called HT/Lingual. Aimed at identifying Russian spies, in the 1960s Lingual was diverted to spying on Vietnam war protesters. The mail program ended in 1973 when the post office stopped cooperating, but in its last year alone the CIA handled 4.3 million pieces of mail, photographed the envelopes of about 33,000, and opened and copied 8,700 letters-some 60 percent of them on the basis of FBI watch lists.</p>
<p align="justify"> The FBI, meanwhile, began an effort to infiltrate and destabilize the American communist party in 1956. Called COINTELPRO (Counterintelligence Project), the effort soon expanded. In the guise of preventing communist influence on community groups, in 1960 the FBI was authorized to include "legitimate mass organizations, such as Parent-Teacher Associations, civil organizations, and racial and religious groups." Only a year later was COINTELPRO applied to the Socialist Workers Party. Before long it extended to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the NAACP, the Ku Klux Klan, the women's liberation movement and a host of Vietnam antiwar groups.</p>
<p align="justify"> The campaign included planted news items, derogatory rumors spread inside groups, bogus hate mail, entrapment, wiretaps, deliberately aimed leaks and more. The FBI campaign against Martin Luther King, Jr. is a well-known example but only a tiny fraction of the overall effort. In creating its target lists the FBI developed a "Rabble Rouser/Agitator Index" it applied to individuals-"key agitators" and "key black extremists." There were a half million FBI files on citizens.</p>
<p align="justify"> The rest of the government was not far behind. Military intelligence agencies opened over 100,000 files on Americans from 1965 to 1971. The IRS compiled 11,000 "intelligence" files between 1969 and 1973 and opened tax investigations for political reasons. The CIA had another 10,000 files on Americans, and a computerized index of 300,000. Its Projects Chaos, Merrimack and Resistance were all aimed at American antiwar activists. Under Project Mudhen, the CIA, which is prohibited by law from actions inside the United States, followed journalist Jack Anderson and four colleagues in an effort to discover their sources.</p>
<p align="justify"> Today's Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act-the very law at issue in Bush's domestic wiretapping scandal-is the direct result of National Security Agency actions of that time. Then, too, there was an Air Force general, Lew Allen, Jr., who was obliged to admit the NSA had monitored international conversations of Americans without warrant, prohibited by the Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1968. Upwards of 1,600 Americans were on the NSA watch list, with an average of about 800 at any given time. Operation Shamrock, it was revealed, had begun in 1947 as an effort to intercept Soviet messages by examining the texts of telegrams handed over by the cable companies (illegal under the Communications Act of 1934). In October 1967, by Allen's account, the anti-Soviet program spilled over into domestic politics when the NSA began monitoring people on its watch list, averaging about two reports a day.</p>
<p align="justify"> There is an eerie convergence between then and now. The government made the same claims of how its efforts were tightly controlled. General Allen also asserted that the interception program was protecting against terrorism and drug running. The Ford administration made strenuous efforts to minimize the application of existing statutes and case law, that held that "a warrant must be obtained before a wiretap is installed on a domestic organization [in this case the Jewish Defense League] that is neither the agent of nor acting in collaboration with a foreign power, even if the surveillance is installed under Presidential directive in the name of foreign intelligence gathering for the protection of the national security." In February 1975, when a House committee headed by Bella Abzug issued subpoenas to further examine Operation Shamrock, the Ford administration claimed executive privilege. The author of the Justice Department memo recommending that course was Antonin Scalia.</p>
<p align="justify"> Ford was unable to shield the executives of the cable companies, who were eventually forced to divulge the extent of their cooperation with the NSA, which was shown to be massive. Various proposals for a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act followed, eventually resulting in the passage of the existing law. It is highly significant that while the administration considered this a "problem," the Ford Justice Department agreed to a provision in the 1976 version of the act that specified: "Nothing in this [law] shall be deemed to limit the authority of this Select Committee of Intelligence of the U.S. Senate to obtain such information as it may need to carry out its duties."</p>
<p align="justify"> Like these older cases, today's government surveillance issue features apparatus created for national security reaching beyond original purposes. Besides the NSA issue there is the Pentagon's "Talon" program, intended for base security, that has collected data on antiwar individuals and groups, and then failed to purge the information from its files. The FBI has monitored mosques, supposedly to watch for nuclear material. The Justice Department has engaged in runaway prosecutions of trumped-up terrorism charges in Detroit and other places. Local police forces-and the FBI, again-have infiltrated meetings, taken pictures of protests, and asked employers about individuals expressing political views protected by the First Amendment. They gained resources to execute these programs from federal grants intended to counter terrorism.</p>
<p align="justify"> What needs to happen before Americans understand that government surveillance is about more than protection against terrorism?</p>
<p align="justify">[Remember freedom and the Constitution, and that we have a duty to stand up against all of the modern-day versions of these incursions against, and violations of, liberty and the Constitution, even if they are supposedly legalized, as with the so-called "U.S.A. Patriot Act", and to stand up for freedom and the Constitution no matter what the cost(s). (Subtitle, words in brackets ("[ ]") and/or emphasis added by Wolf Britain.)]</p>
<HR align=left width="100%"><br />
<p align="justify"><em> John Prados is a senior fellow of the National Security Archive in Washington, D.C., and author of </em>Hoodwinked: The Documents that Reveal How Bush Sold Us a War<em> (The New Press).</em></p>
<P> ________</P>
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<A href="http://technorati.com/tag/commentary" rel=tag>commentary</A><BR><BR><BR><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1147722703215642702006-05-15T13:51:00.000-06:002006-05-25T17:41:26.646-06:00<br /><br /><strong><p align="justify">I thought it was about time, well past time actually, to return to my poems and post at least one of them on my blog(s):</p>
<br /><br />
<p align="center"><a href="http://blog.myspace.com/wolfbritain" target="_blank"><img height="93" alt="Click here to go to my new MySpace blog!" src="http://form-legal.com/t_a_48.jpg" width="120" border="0"></a></p><br /><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/" target="_blank"><u>THE THOUGHT POLICE</u></a></font></p><p align="center"><a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/" target="_blank">With many thanks to George Orwell</a><br /><a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/" target="_blank">Who warned us about what's coming</a></p><p align="center">Written on 11 November 2003<br />By S. Wolf Britain<br /><a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/" target="_blank">( And Now The Apocalypse<br />http://www.wolfbritain.com/ )</a><br />[Copyright (c) 2006 in the U.S.A. and <br />Internationally by And Now The <br />Apocalypse! (wolfbritain.com), <br />and/or S. Wolf Britain. <br />All rights reserved.]</p>
<br />
<p align="center">The U.S. government is not a benevolent caretaker<br />
But is rather despotic, malevolent and capricious<br />
While going about fascistically deceiving, colonizing<br />
Serving military-industrial "America" over humans<br />
That don't profit from insanity, bombing and death<br />
Unlike the many self-serving Machiavellian killers<br />
Who run the corporate murder-for-money machinery<br />
Which gains the whole world but has none of soul's<br />
Love and mercy for humanity needing to predominate<br />
Over their greed and hate that are compassionless
</p>
<p align="center">These "Big Brothers" want to control our thoughts<br />
Leaving us without any True Liberties or Freedoms<br />
And silence our "check and balance" on their aims<br />
Of totally enslaving, dominating and mastering us<br />
While making us absolutely subservient automatons<br />
That do nothing but what we're told by sociopaths<br />
Seeking to be our completely evil gods and rulers<br />
Who care for nothing and no one except their profits<br />
In the process of sacrificing the freedom of thoughts<br />
For True Liberty and Mastery ONLY over ourselves
</p>
<p align="center">Beware the thought police!</p></strong><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1145841427904348402006-04-23T19:15:00.000-06:002006-06-21T18:50:14.346-06:00<br /><strong><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/" target="_blank"><u>RICE ON WHITE</u></font></p><p align="center">In The Time Of Far-Right-Wing<br />U.S. Theo-Fascist Retribution</a></p><p align="center">By S. Wolf Britain<br /><a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/" target="_blank">( And Now The Apocalypse<br />http://www.wolfbritain.com/ )</a><br />[Copyright (c) 2006 in the U.S.A. and <br />Internationally by And Now The <br />Apocalypse! (wolfbritain.com), <br />and/or S. Wolf Britain. <br />All rights reserved.]</p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="justify"><a href="http://www.aclu.org/" target="_blank"><img height="157" alt="Click here to go to the ACLU's website!" src="http://form-legal.com/constitution-banner125.gif" width="125" border="0" align="left"/></a> <u>Repressive U.S. Government</u><br /> <u>Crackdown on Freedom(s)</u></p>
<p align="justify"> The United States and the world are going insane on an express train to hell. That is the ultimate logical conclusion that anyone like myself, who is not anti-religious, or at least anti-Christian, and who truly and fully discerns what is going on right now and refuses to bury their head(s) in the sand about it, has to come to once they cease their avoidance, denial and refusal to believe that it is indeed true, and that IT IS happening.</p>
<p align="justify">In particular, the U.S. government and the government of the U.K. are in the process of setting up <a href="http://www.kurtnimmo.com/?p=247" target="_blank">"panopticon" police states</a> in their respective countries that are almost every day becoming more and more authoritarian, oppressive and repressive like regimes of "third-world dictatorships". (SEE also Alex Jones' and Paul Joseph Watson's great article from the former's Prison Planet.com website, "<a href="http://prisonplanet.com/articles/january2006/110106thepanopticon.htm" target="_blank">The Panopticon: A Mass Surveillance Prison for Humanity</a>.")</p>
<p align="justify">If it wasn't for the "U.S.A. Patriot Act" recently having been "bipartisanly" (sic) reapproved and extended with very little added protections of civil liberties with any teeth to them, the U.K. would thus far almost appear to be the worst offender, with public video surveilance, invasion of privacy, and arrests of average "anti-war-sentiment" citizens more widespread than in the U.S. as yet, at least as far as most U.S. citizens are thus far aware.</p>
<p align="justify">But, as a result of the fact(s) that the "Patriot Act" does exist, with all of the truly-Orwellian, repressive authority that it gives to U.S. police agencies, both federal and local, in what is allegedly the freest, most democratic country on the planet, or ostensibly used to be, that the more and more severe and draconian crackdowns of dissent in the U.S. are ever-increasing and unprecidented, which in all likelihood will very soon, if they do not already, rival and go far beyond the U.K. government in level(s) of repressiveness and severity, in overall numbers of people repressed if nothing else, and the fact that the U.S. government's extremely dismal, violent, mass-murder, and mass-imprisonment human rights and civil liberties record exists as it does, those who are not and will not be in avoidance and denial of the facts must come to the inescapable and unavoidable conclusion that in sum-total the extent of repression by the U.S. government far exceeds that of the U.K. government, and that the U.S. government is the most extreme offender.</p>
<p align="justify">Yes, the U.K. government has its "counterpart repressive law(s)" which are in fact intentionally and/or inadvertanty competing "neck and neck" with the repressive "Patriot Act", yet the U.K. has never been as democratic and free of "monarchical-dictatorial repression" as the U.S. has been, or at least has never had as much of the appearance of being so-free as the U.S. has had.</p>
<br />
<p align="justify"><u>What do the "Red" Countries and other repressive regimes think of the U.S. government?</u></p>
<p align="justify">All of this ever-increasing repression in the U.S. must make communist China, other repressive regimes, and true terrorists who are not agents, assets, puppets, pawns, and/or patsies of U.S. government and allied "intelligence" and "counter-terrorism", as most of the "terrorists" are, exceedingly happy that the U.S. government and others' are "following in their footsteps" by way of instituting ever more red-communist-like crackdowns on freedom and dissent, and that the U.S. presidency is becoming increasingly monarchical and dictatorial, like <i><em>their</em></i> "rogue" regimes. Of course, as everyone who is knowledgeable of the True History of the U.S. government knows, the U.S. government is by far the worst "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&tag=apocnowlifein-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&path=ASIN%2F1567513743%2Fapocnowlifein-20%3Fcreative%3D327641%26camp%3D14573%26adid%3D0HREEC0TQJKK1GTXT0N9%26link_code%3Das1" target="_blank"><b><i><em>Rogue State</em></i></b></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=apocnowlifein-20&l=ur2&o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />" of them all; which, naturally, most if not all of the other "rogue states" have been well-aware of for quite some time, never mind that most of the "American" people have been "blissfully" unaware of that fact for just as long, and still are.</p>
<p align="justify">Now, enter the scene last week, President Hu Jintao, leader of red-communist China, in a visit to the U.S. during which, as he began to speak on the White House lawn, he was "heckled" <a href="http://www.kurtnimmo.com/?p=345" target="_blank">by a dissenting and protesting Chinese-American journalist for his and his country's notoriously horrific human rights record</a>, and asking President Bush to seek to stop Hu's and China's human rights offenses, only to have at least one hand of a U.S. Secret Service agent, as she was arrested and carted off, placed over her mouth in an attempt to silence her in front of God, country and the President of China, in the land of the Constitutional rights to exercise and carry out "free speech" and "dissent".</p>
<p align="justify">Almost but not quite needless to say, the U.S. far-right-wing radical extremist fascism- supporters, propagandists, agents, and/or assets are claiming that the fact this show of protest and dissent by this lone woman was not prevented, will supposedly make Hu and/or China's other leaders "....mistrust... American intentions towards China" (SEE previous link), while of course completely sidestepping the fact that Bush and Company's swift police-state response to the incident will undoubtedly make Chinese leaders at least somewhat gleeful for its distinct similarity(ies) to China's equally-swift responses to such dissent, and rather than "....play to their worst fears and suspicions about the United States....", on the contrary plays to their admiration for the ways in which China and the U.S. are alike, in ways that are anything but free and democratic, and that are completely contrary to the very Constitutional principles for which China no doubt knows the U.S. is supposed to stand.</p>
<p align="justify">In other words, the eerily similar response of the U.S. "goon squad", to how China's goon squad would have responded to the incident, is not lost on President Hu and the other leaders of China, and they undoubtedly revelled in it to some degree; in fact, it may very likely have made Hu feel at home, almost as if, at least somewhat, and/or momentarilly, he was home in the repressive country and regime of his birth. What an awful reflection the Bush police state thereby brought about on "....the land of the free...."!</p>
<p align="justify">Then add to that the fact that Bush apologized for the protester, which amounts to an apology for the Constitutional, First Amendment freedoms that supposedly exist in the U.S.; and, in addition, add the fact that the U.S. government is deeply "in bed", or "imbedded", with China in trade, commerce and in receipt of multi-billion dollar loans from China; and you have even more a recipe for increasing U.S.-government-created dissaster(s) and repression.</p>
<br />
<p align="justify">"<u>Revenge is a dish best served cold.</u>"</p>
<p align="justify">So why, aside from the obvious and/or already much publicized reasons, is the U.S. government now seeking to silence and destroy all dissent in "America" and abroad? What it boils down to is that all of the corporate-fascist neocons who make up the current "presidential" administration, including Bush, Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld, Rice, etc., along with all of the "Christian-Zionist" theocons who, including all of the former as well, make up most if not all of that current "presidential" adminstration's staff and/or advisors, so inextricably intertwined with one another as they are, and that infest, have taken over and almost completely control the entire present U.S. government, and may continue to do so as long as there still is a future, if much of any, are seeking unequivocal, absolute and final revenge against what they very falsely and wrongly perceive to be the entire so-called "weak", "cowardly", "dovish", "Godless", "God-hating", "bleeding-heart-liberal", and/or "Left-wing" segment of the U.S. and its allies in the rest of the world, for all of same, and for their fighting against and having often thwarted the corporate- and theo- fascist "Right-wing".</p>
<p align="justify">The peaceful, peace-seeking, non-violent, and anti-violence "Liberal Left" are the "White Knights", unarmed with weapons of mass death and destruction, but armed with True Democracy and Freedom, who have been, by the Grace of God, keeping some semblance of relative peace and short periods of time absent of world-engulfing war(s). But the evil, death-and-destruction-inspired "war-hawks" are so full of hate and lies in the guise of truth and righteousness, and hate the peace-seekers to such an extreme extent, that they are working as never before, like "Rice on White", to either bring us over to their side, the dark, evil side, as the so-called "Democratic Party" in the U.S. appears to have almost totally soldout to them, with very few exceptions, or to completely erradicate us.</p>
<p align="justify">Yet the One and Only True God and Jesus the Christ who they claim to know and obey, but do not know or obey at all, is much more powerful than they are; therefore, such is their final totalitarianism and Waterloo; for, though they will appear to obtain their final and absolute retribution against the "White Knights" of non-violence and peace-seeking, the True Grace and Peace of God will ultimately prevail, and God will completely destroy them.</p>
<p align="justify">"It is written, thus says the Lord [God in Jesus the Christ, the Word(s) of God]...." "....Vengeance (belongs to God), says the Lord (Jesus the Christ, and He) will (take vengeance against them)...."! (Romans 12:19; emphasis added by me.)</p>
<p align="justify">It is NOT our place to seek vengeance AGAINST ANYONE. We (must) leave it up to God, for He has promissed to destroy all evil doers, and destroy them HE WILL; therefore, all those who Truly Live His Will, have no desire(s) to harm ANYONE, as I too have NO desire(s) to harm ANYONE, IN ANY WAY(S).</p>
<br />
<p align="justify"><u>Where do we go from here?</u></p>
<p align="justify">Most of the "Left" has made it for many years, and must continue to make it, even more and without fail, their raison d'etre to nothing but peacefully and non-violently stand up against all of this criminal insanity that these psychotic, sociopathic fruitcakes are seeking to take over the U.S. and the world with, carry out their human rights and civil liberties movement to the greatest extent possible, and conduct it as blamelessly as possible.</p>
<p align="justify">Their enemy(ies), the "Black Knights" of violence, blood-lust, true hate, revenge, and mass destruction and death, will of course continue to fraudulently paint the non-violent and peaceful as hateful and violent, to falsely "perceive" all dissent and protest(s) as "threatening conduct", and to fraudulently accuse and "presume guilty" all protesters and dissenters of carrying out "perceived threatening conduct", but we must remain entirely peaceful and non-violent, giving them no excuse(s) whatsoever, other than the false ones they engineer, manufacture, plant, and/or otherwise falsely give themselves, for physically assaulting and harming us.</p>
<p align="justify">These "theo-neo-con", or "neo-theocon", counterfeit "Christians" and their "guards", though now in the majority for only a very short time more, are servants of darkness and evil, and they have already lost the spiritual war, they just don't know it or believe it yet, but their time is almost past, and God the Father and Jesus the Christ will very soon usher in the Millenium of Peace in Heaven, and the Eternity of Peace on Heaven, the New Earth.</p>
<p align="justify">They are inhaling their last gasp, and are very soon to exhale their last breath, so all we must do is remain faithful to non-violence and peace, and seek after oneness and holiness with the Prince of Peace, so that where we go from here will be to that millenium of eternal Peace, and not to become the "....ashes under the soles of (the righteous)...." (Malachi 4:3) that all of these "theo-neo-cons", or "neo-theocons", will very soon become.</p>
<p align="justify">Once more, "(i)t is written, thus says the Lord [God in Jesus the Christ, the Word(s) of God]...." "....Even so, (please return quickly), Lord Jesus...."! (Revelation 22:20; emphasis added by me.)</p>
<HR align=left width="100%"><br />
<p align="justify">E-mail "Signature":</p>
<p align="justify">Please check out my personal website for my latest comments and/or favorite quotes on issues related to the "War Against Terrorism", and the war against Iraq, at <a href="http://www.form-legal.com/comments-five.html" target="_blank">http://www.form-legal.com/comments-five.html</a> ; and my poetry on one of my poetry pages on my website, at <a href="http://www.form-legal.com/wolf-four.html" target="_blank">http://www.form-legal.com/wolf-four.html</a> . Thank you.</p>
<p align="justify">My NEW blog is at: <a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/" target="_blank">http://www.wolfbritain.com/</a></p>
<p align="justify">Please sign my petition seeking greater protest(s) against the Bush mobsters, at: <a href="http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/337236706" target="_blank">http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/<br />337236706</a></p>
<p align="justify">Also check out Kurt Nimmo's great alternative news blog, at: <a href="http://www.kurtnimmo.com/" target="_blank" target="_blank">http://www.kurtnimmo.com/</a></p>
<p align="justify">Please join Care2 and check out my Care2 Group, "Fans of Kurt Nimmo's 'Another Day in the Empire' Blog", at: <a href="http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/kurtnimmo" target="_blank">http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/kurtnimmo</a></p>
<p align="justify">Also check out my Care2 Photo Album(s), at: <a href="http://www.care2.com/c2c/photos/view/246814408/295859164/" target="_blank">http://www.care2.com/c2c/photos/view/246814408/295859164/</a></p>
<p align="justify">Go to Veterans Against the Iraq War (V.A.I.W.), at: <a href="http://www.vaiw.org/" target="_blank">http://www.vaiw.org/</a></p>
<p align="justify">Also, check out the International A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, one of the main organizations responsible for setting up and carrying out the huge, major protest gatherings and demonstrations nationwide and abroad, at: <a href="http://www.answerCoalition.org/" target="_blank">http://www.answerCoalition.org/</a></p>
<p align="justify">In addition, become familiar with the civil-liberties-protecting National Lawyers Guild, at: <a href="http://www.nlg.org/" target="_blank">http://www.nlg.org/</a></p>
<p align="justify">And familiarize yourself with the American Civil Liberties Union, at: <a href="http://www.aclu.org/" target="_blank">http://www.aclu.org/</a></p>
<p align="justify">Cast your vote now in the national referendum to stop the war in Iraq: <a href="http://www.votenowar.org/" target="_blank">http://www.votenowar.org/</a></p>
<p align="justify">To vote to impeach "'President'-by-Coup", G.W. Bush, please go to <a href="http://www.votetoimpeach.org/" target="_blank">http://www.votetoimpeach.org/</a> , or <a href="http://www.impeachbush.org/" target="_blank">http://www.impeachbush<br />.org/</a> , set up by former Attorney General (during the Johnson administration), Ramsey Clark, and his organization, International Action Center, at <a href="http://www.iacenter.org/" target="_blank">http://www.iacenter.org/</a> .</p></strong><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1144622977093917552006-04-09T16:48:00.000-06:002006-04-23T19:32:24.080-06:00<br /><strong><p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><a href="http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/newscommentary/000380.php" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.print.gif" border="0" width="18" height="11"> Print This Story</a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"><!-- Start ApplyTools code --><a href = '#' onclick = "window.open('http://refer.truthout.org/cgi-bin/applyrefer.cgi?job=refer&URL='+self.location.href,'','width=400,height=450,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes');"><font style = 'weight:bold;'><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.mail.gif" border="0" width="18" height="10"> E-mail This Story</font></a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"></font><br /></p><!-- End ApplyTools code -->
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<p><a href="http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/" target="_blank"><img height="190" alt="Click here to go to Dahr Jamail's "Iraq Dispatches: Hard News" Page!" src="http://www.form-legal.com/DahrJamail1.jpg" width="150" border="2" align="left"/></a>
<a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/"><u>HOW MASSACRES BECOME THE</u><br />
<u>NORM</u> (Yet More Crimes Against<br />
Humanity & War Crimes Committed<br />
by the United States Government)</a><br />
By Dahr Jamail, Journalist<br />
t r u t h o u t | Perspective<br />
Tuesday, 04 April 2006<br />
[Copyright (c) 2006 in the<br />
U.S.A. and Internationally<br />
by t r u t h o u t (.org),<br />
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches<br />
and/or DahrJamailIraq.com.<br />
All rights are reserved.]</p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="justify"> US soldiers killing innocent civilians in Iraq is not news. Just as it was not news that US soldiers slaughtered countless innocent civilians in Vietnam. However, when some rare reportage of this non news from Iraq does seep through the cracks of the corporate media, albeit briefly, the American public seems shocked. Private and public statements of denial and dismissal immediately start to fill the air. We hear, "American soldiers would never do such a thing," or "Who would make such a ridiculous claim?"</p>
<p align="justify"> It amazes me that so many people in the US today somehow seriously believe that American soldiers would never kill civilians. Despite the fact that they are in a no-win guerrilla war in Iraq which, like any other guerrilla war, always generates more civilian casualties than combatant casualties on either side.</p>
<p align="justify"> Robert J. Lifton is a prominent American psychiatrist who lobbied for the inclusion of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders after his work with US veterans from Vietnam. His studies on the behavior of those who have committed war crimes led him to believe it does not require an unusual level of mental illness or of personal evil to carry out such crimes. Rather, these crimes are nearly guaranteed to occur in what Lifton refers to as "atrocity-producing situations."</p>
<p align="justify"> Several of his books, like <em>The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide</em>, examine how abnormal conditions work on normal minds, enabling them to commit the most horrendous crimes imaginable.</p>
<p align="justify"> Iraq today is most certainly an "atrocity-producing situation," as it has been from the very beginning of the occupation.</p>
<p align="justify"> The latest reported war crime, a US military raid on the al-Mustafa Shia mosque in Baghdad on March 26th, which killed at least 16 people, is only one instance of the phenomena that Lifton has spoken of.</p>
<p align="justify"> An AP video of the scene shows male bodies tangled together in a bloody mass on the floor of the Imams' living quarters - all of them with shotgun wounds and other bullet holes. The tape also shows shell casings of the caliber used by the US military scattered about on the floor. An official from the al-Sadr political bloc reported that American forces had surrounded the hospital where the wounded were taken for treatment after the massacre.</p>
<p align="justify"> The slaughter was followed by an instant and predictable disinformation blitz by the US military. The second ranking US commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, told reporters "someone went in and made the scene look different from what it was."</p>
<p align="justify"> On March 15th, 11 Iraqis, mostly women and children, were massacred by US troops in Balad. Witnesses told reporters that US helicopters landed near a home, which was then stormed by US troops. Everyone visible was rounded up and taken inside the house where they were killed. The victims' ages ranged from six months to 75 years.</p>
<p align="justify"> The US military acknowledged the raid, but claimed to have captured a resistance fighter and insisted that only four people had been killed. Their claim would have held good but for the discrepancies that the available evidence presents. For one, the photographs that the AP reporter took of the scene reveal a collapsed roof, three destroyed cars and two dead cows. The other indictment comes from the detailed report of the incident prepared by Iraq Police. It matches witness accounts and accuses the American troops of murdering Iraqi civilians.</p>
<p align="justify"> "The American forces gathered the family members in one room and executed 11 persons, including five children, four women and two men. Then they bombed the house, burned three vehicles and killed the animals." The report includes the observation of local medics that all of the bodies had bullet wounds in the head.</p>
<p align="justify"> Ahmed Khalaf, the nephew of one of the victims said, "The killed family was not part of the resistance, they were women and children. The Americans have promised us a better life, but we get only death." AP photos of the aftermath showed the bodies of five children, two men and four others covered in blankets being driven to a nearby hospital.</p>
<p align="justify"> Reminiscent of Vietnam?</p>
<p align="justify"> Another appalling example of the effect of an "atrocity-producing situation" was experienced last November 19th in Haditha. American troops, in retaliation against a roadside bomb attack, stormed nearby homes and shot dead 15 members of two families, including a three-year-old girl.</p>
<p align="justify"> US military response? All 15 civilians were killed by the blast of the roadside bomb.</p>
<p align="justify"> In this case, reality refuted their claim when a student of journalism from Haditha showed up with a video tape of the dead, still in their nightclothes.</p>
<p align="justify"> Killing Iraqis <a href="http://209.97.202.24/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album28&id=Image35" target="_blank">in their homes</a> and while they are <a href="http://209.97.202.24/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album28&id=Image36" target="_blank">in bed</a> is not news either, for during the aftermath of the November 2004 assault on Fallujah, scores of Iraqis were killed by US soldiers <a href="http://209.97.202.24/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album28&id=Image8" target="_blank">in this manner</a>.</p>
<p align="justify"> Neither is it news that the US military regularly <a href="http://www.brusselstribunal.org/DahrReport.htm" target="_blank">targets ambulances and medical infrastructure</a>. Khaled Ahmed Rsayef, whose brother and six other relatives were killed by the troops, vividly described the blind frustration of the American soldiers and their impulsive revenge at losing one of their own. "American troops immediately cordoned off the area and raided two nearby houses, shooting at everyone inside. It was a massacre in every sense of the word," said Rasayef. While he was not present at the scene, his 15-year-old niece was and her story was corroborated by other residents of the area who witnessed the carnage.</p>
<p align="justify"> A quick scan of some Arab media reportage for last month exposes further atrocities carried out by US forces in Iraq which find no mention in the corporate media.</p>
<p align="justify"> March 20, the Daily Dar Al-Salam reported: "US forces destroyed houses in Hasibah and displaced the inhabitants. Also, a source at Abu Ghurayb Secondary School said that US forces raided the school for the third time and arrested the guard."</p>
<p align="justify"> In December 2003, I personally witnessed US soldiers raid a secondary school in the al-Amiriyah district of Baghdad and detain 16 children.</p>
<p align="justify"> March 19, Al-Arabia reported: "In another development, seven people, including a woman, were killed in a raid carried out by joint American-Iraqi forces in Al-Dulu'iyah at dawn today. The US Army has so far not confirmed this information."</p>
<p align="justify"> March 9, Al Sharqiyah Television reported: "US troops opened fire at a civilian vehicle as it passed by Al-Hadba district in the western part of Mosul, northern Iraq. The three occupants of the vehicle were martyred in the incident."</p>
<p align="justify"> Throughout the three-year history of the US-led catastrophe that is the occupation of Iraq, we have had one instance after another of brutality meted out to innocent Iraqis, by way of direct executions or bombings from the air, or both.</p>
<p align="justify"> During an attack on a wedding party in May 2004, US troops killed over 40 people, mostly women and children, in a desert village on the Syrian border of Iraq.</p>
<p align="justify"> APTN footage showed fragments of musical instruments, blood stains, the headless body of a child, other dead children and clumps of women's hair in a destroyed house that was bombed by US warplanes. Other photographs showed dead women and children, and an AP reporter identified at least 10 of the bodies as those of children. Relatives who gathered at a cemetery outside of Ramadi, where all the bodies were buried, told reporters that each of the 28 fresh graves contained between one and three bodies.</p>
<p align="justify"> The few survivors of the massacre later recounted how in the middle of the night long after the wedding feast had ended, US jets began raining bombs on their tents and houses.</p>
<p align="justify"> Mrs. Shihab, a 30-year-old woman who survived the massacre, told the Guardian, "We went out of the house and the American soldiers started to shoot us. They were shooting low on the ground and targeting us one by one." She added that she ran with her two little boys before they were all shot, including herself in the leg. "I left them because they were dead," she said of her two little boys, one of whom was decapitated by a shell. "I fell into the mud and an American soldier came and kicked me. I pretended to be dead so he wouldn't kill me."</p>
<p align="justify"> Thereafter, armored military vehicles entered the village, shooting at all the other houses and the people who were starting to assemble in the open. Following these, two Chinook helicopters offloaded several dozen troops, some of who set explosives in one of the homes and a building next to it. Both exploded into rubble as the helicopters lifted off.</p>
<p align="justify"> Mr. Nawaf, one of the survivors, said, "I saw something that nobody ever saw in this world. There were children's bodies cut into pieces, women cut into pieces, men cut into pieces. The Americans call these people foreign fighters. It is a lie. I just want one piece of evidence of what they are saying."</p>
<p align="justify"> Hamdi Noor al-Alusi, the manager of al-Qa'im general hospital, the nearest medical facility to the scene of the slaughter, said that of the 42 killed, 14 were children and 11 women. "I want to know why the Americans targeted this small village," he said, "These people are my patients. I know each one of them. What has caused this disaster?"</p>
<p align="justify"> As usual, the US military ran a disinformation campaign saying the target was a "suspected safe-house" for foreign fighters and denied that any children were killed. The ever pliant US Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told reporters that the troops who reported back from the operation "told us they did not shoot women and children."</p>
<p align="justify"> Topping his ridiculous claim was the statement of Maj. Gen. James Mattis, commander of the 1st Marine Division. "How many people go to the middle of the desert ... to hold a wedding 80 miles (130km) from the nearest civilization?"</p>
<p align="justify"> Perhaps someone should have informed him that these farmers and nomads often "go to the middle of the desert" because they happen to live there.</p>
<p align="justify"> "These were more than two dozen military-age males. Let's not be naïve," Mattis stated before being asked by a reporter to comment on the footage on Arabic television which showed a child's body being lowered into a grave. His brilliant response was: "I have not seen the pictures but bad things happen in wars. I don't have to apologize for the conduct of my men."</p>
<p align="justify"> If the US were a member of the International Criminal Court, Maj. Gen. Mattis may well have been in The Hague right now being tried for aiding and abetting war crimes. How can someone holding an official position like Mattis publicly sanction atrocities?</p>
<p align="justify"> It is about unnatural responses such as these that Dr. Lifton has written extensively. In a piece he wrote for the New England Journal of Medicine in July 2004, Lifton addressed the issue of US doctors being complicit in torturing Iraqis in Abu Ghraib. This article sheds much light on the situation in Iraq. If we substitute "doctors" with "soldiers" it is easy to understand why American soldiers are regularly committing the excesses that we hear of.</p>
<p align="justify"> Lifton writes, "American doctors at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere have undoubtedly been aware of their medical responsibility to document injuries and raise questions about their possible source in abuse. But those doctors and other medical personnel were part of a command structure that permitted, encouraged, and sometimes orchestrated torture to a degree that it became the norm - with which they were expected to comply - in the immediate prison environment."</p>
<p align="justify"> He continues, "The doctors thus brought a medical component to what I call an "atrocity-producing situation" - one so structured, psychologically and militarily, that ordinary people can readily engage in atrocities. Even without directly participating in the abuse, doctors may have become socialized to an environment of torture and by virtue of their medical authority helped sustain it. In studying various forms of medical abuse, I have found that the participation of doctors can confer an aura of legitimacy and can even create an illusion of therapy and healing."</p>
<p align="justify"> I have personally experienced this. Standing with US soldiers at checkpoints and perimeters of operations in Iraq, I have seen them curse and kick Iraqis, heard them threatening to kill even women and children and then look at me as if they had merely said hello to them. My status of journalist did not deter them because they saw no need for checks.</p>
<p align="justify"> Having stood with soldiers anticipating that each moving car would turn into a bomb and each passerby into a suicide bomber, I have tasted the stress and fear these soldiers live with on a daily basis. When one of their fellow soldiers is killed by a roadside bomb, the need for revenge may be directed at anything. And repeated often enough, the process gets socialized.</p>
<p align="justify"> It's about this attitude brought on by the normalization of the abnormal under "atrocity-producing situations" that Dr. Lifton speaks. Unless of course we consider Mattis and others like him to be rare sociopaths who are able to participate in atrocities without suffering lasting emotional harm.</p>
<p align="justify"> And it is this attitude that is responsible for the incessant replication of wanton slaughter and madness in Iraq today.</p>
<p align="justify"> Back in November of 2004, I wrote about 12-year-old Fatima Harouz. She lay dazed in a crowded room in Yarmouk Hospital in Bahgdad, feebly waving her bruised arm at flies. <a href="http://209.97.202.24/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album18&id=1_G" target="_blank">Her shins had been shattered</a> by bullets from US soldiers when they fired through the front door of her home in Latifiya, a small city just south of Baghdad. Small plastic drainage bags filled with red fluid sat upon her abdomen, where she took shrapnel from another bullet.</p>
<p align="justify"> Her mother, who was standing with us, said, "They attacked our home and there weren't even any resistance fighters in our area." Her brother had been shot and killed, and his wife was wounded as their home was ransacked by soldiers. "Before they left, they killed all of our chickens," she added, her eyes a mixture of fear, shock and rage.</p>
<p align="justify"> On hearing the story, a doctor looked at me sternly and asked, "This is the freedom ... in their Disney Land are there kids just like this?"</p>
<p align="justify"> Another wounded young woman in a nearby hospital bed, Rana Obeidy, had been walking home with her brother. She assumed the soldiers shot her and her brother because he was carrying a bottle of soda. This happened in Baghdad. She had a <a href="http://209.97.202.24/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album18&id=2_G" target="_blank">chest wound</a> where a bullet had grazed her, unlike her little brother, whom the bullets had killed.</p>
<p align="justify"> There exist many more such cases. Amnesty International has documented scores of human rights violations committed by US troops in Iraq during the first six months of the occupation. To mention but a few:</p>
<p align="justify"> US troops shot dead and injured scores of Iraqi demonstrators in several incidents. For example, seven people were reportedly shot dead and dozens injured in Mosul on 15 April.</p>
<p align="justify"> At least 15 people, including children, were shot dead and more than 70 injured in Fallujah on 29 April.</p>
<p align="justify"> Two demonstrators were shot dead outside the Republican Palace in Baghdad on 18 June.</p>
<p align="justify"> On 14 May, two US armed vehicles broke through the perimeter wall of the home of Sa'adi Suleiman Ibrahim al-'Ubaydi in Ramadi. Soldiers beat him with rifle butts and then shot him dead as he tried to flee.</p>
<p align="justify"> US forces shot 12-year-old Mohammad al-Kubaisi as they carried out search operations around his house in the Hay al-Jihad area in Baghdad on 26 June. He was carrying the family bedding to the roof of his house when he was shot. Neighbors tried to rush him to the nearby hospital by car, but US soldiers stopped them and ordered them to go back. By the time they returned to his home, Mohammad al-Kubaisi was dead.</p>
<p align="justify"> On 17 September, a 14-year-old boy was killed and six people were injured when US troops opened fire at a wedding party in Fallujah.</p>
<p align="justify"> On 23 September, three farmers, 'Ali Khalaf, Sa'adi Faqri and Salem Khalil, were killed and three others injured when US troops opened a barrage of gunfire reportedly lasting for at least an hour in the village of al-Jisr near Fallujah. A US military official stated that this happened when the troops came under attack but this was vehemently denied by relatives of the dead. Later that day, US military officials reportedly went to the farmhouse, took photographs and apologized to the family.</p>
<p align="justify"> This last incident ended in a way similar to the one I covered in Ramadi in November, 2003. On the 23rd of that month during Ramadan, US soldiers raided a home where a family was just sitting down together to break their fast.</p>
<p align="justify"> Three men of the family had their hands tied behind them with plastic ties and were laid on the ground face down while the women and children were made to stand inside a nearby storage closet.</p>
<p align="justify"> Khalil Ahmed, 30 years old, the brother of two of the victims and cousin with a third, wept when he described to me how after executing the three men the soldiers completely <a href="http://209.97.202.24/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album07&id=ramadi_home" target="_blank">destroyed the home</a>, using Humvees with machine guns, small tanks, and gunfire from the many troops on foot and helicopters.</p>
<p align="justify"> "We don't know the reason why the soldiers came here. They didn't tell us the reason. We don't know why they killed our family members." Khalil seemed to demand an answer from me. "There are no weapons in this house, there are no resistance fighters. So why did these people have to die? Why?"</p>
<p align="justify"> Khalil told me that the day after the executions took place, soldiers returned to apologize. They handed him a cake saying they were sorry that they had been given wrong information by someone that told them there were resistance fighters in their house.</p>
<p align="justify"> This is only a very small sampling. The only way to prevent any of this from being repeated ad infinitum is to remove US soldiers from their "atrocity-producing situation" in Iraq. For it is clearer than ever that the longer the failed, illegal occupation persists, the larger will be the numbers of Iraqis slaughtered by the occupation forces. [(Subtitle and/or emphasis added by Wolf Britain.)]</p>
<HR align=left width="100%"><br />
<p align="justify"><em> <a href="http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/about/email.php?email=forum&topic=Dahr_Jamail_Iraq_forum_comment" target="_blank">Dahr Jamail</A> is an independent journalist who spent over 8 months reporting from occupied Iraq. He presented evidence of U.S. war crimes in Iraq at the International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration in New York City in January 2006. He writes regularly for <A href="http://www.truthout.org/" target="_blank">T r u t h O u t.org</A>, <A href="http://www.ipsnews.net/" target="_blank">Inter Press Service</A>, <A href="http://www.atimes.com/" target="_blank">Asia Times</A> and <A href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/" target="_blank">TomDispatch.com</A>, and maintains his own web site, <A href="http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com" target="_blank">DahrJamailIraq.com</A>.</em></p>
<P> ________</P>
<p align="justify"><em>(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)</em></p>
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<p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><a href="http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/newscommentary/000380.php" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.print.gif" border="0" width="18" height="11"> Print This Story</a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"><!-- Start ApplyTools code --><a href = '#' onclick = "window.open('http://refer.truthout.org/cgi-bin/applyrefer.cgi?job=refer&URL='+self.location.href,'','width=400,height=450,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes');"><font style = 'weight:bold;'><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.mail.gif" border="0" width="18" height="10"> E-mail This Story</font></a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"></font><br /></p><!-- End ApplyTools code --></strong><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1144607657665210602006-04-09T12:33:00.000-06:002006-04-09T16:51:55.230-06:00<br /><strong><p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><a href="http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/newscommentary/000378.php" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.print.gif" border="0" width="18" height="11"> Print This Story</a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"><!-- Start ApplyTools code --><a href = '#' onclick = "window.open('http://refer.truthout.org/cgi-bin/applyrefer.cgi?job=refer&URL='+self.location.href,'','width=400,height=450,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes');"><font style = 'weight:bold;'><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.mail.gif" border="0" width="18" height="10"> E-mail This Story</font></a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"></font><br /></p><!-- End ApplyTools code -->
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<p><a href="http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/" target="_blank"><img height="197" alt="Click here to go to Dahr Jamail's "Iraq Dispatches: Hard News" Page!" src="http://www.form-legal.com/DahrJamail1.jpg" width="150" border="2" align="left"/></a> <a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/"><u>OPERATION SWARM OF LIES</u><br />
(Crimes Against Humanity and War<br />
Crimes by the U.S. Government)</a><br />
By Dahr Jamail<br />
t r u t h o u t | Perspective<br />
Monday, 20 March 2006<br />
[Copyright (c) 2006 in the<br />
U.S.A. & Internationally<br />
by t r u t h o u t (.org),<br />
Dahr ...'s Iraq Dispatches<br />
and/or Dahr Jamail.<br />
All rights reserved.]</p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="justify"> The stated mission of Operation Swarmer, launched late last week in an area just northeast of Samarra, in Iraq, was to "break up a center of insurgent resistance" and to disrupt "terrorist activity," according to the US military.</p>
<p align="justify"> Comprised of over 1,500 US and Iraqi soldiers, 50 US attack and transport helicopters airlifted the bold force into a flat area of farmland filled not with fighters belonging to the "center of insurgent resistance," but with impoverished farmers, cows, goats and women baking bread. The first drop of soldiers onto the ground from this air-operation doubled the meager population of 1,500 souls living in the 50 square-mile area.</p>
<p align="justify"> US troops acted bravely, snatching up 48 "suspected insurgents," then promptly releasing 17 of them. They were precise in their operations, and did not detain a single cow or goat.</p>
<p align="justify"> What did the military say about why no resistance was met?</p>
<p align="justify"> "We believe we achieved tactical surprise," said Lt. Col. Edward Loomis, the spokesman for the 101st Airborne Division.</p>
<p align="justify"> Fallaciously hailed as the largest air assault in Iraq since the Anglo-American invasion three years ago, Lt. Col. Loomis said that two days into the operation his forces "continue to move" through the area, and "tactical interviews began immediately." According to <a href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1174448,00.html" target="_blank">Time magazine</a> reporters:</p>
<p align="justify"> "Four Black Hawk helicopters landed in a wheat field and dropped off a television crew, three photographers, three print reporters and three Iraqi government officials right into the middle of Operation Swarmer. Iraqi soldiers in newly painted humvees, green and red Iraqi flags stenciled on the tailgates, had just finished searching the farm populated by a half-dozen skinny cows and a woman kneading freshly risen dough and slapping it to the walls of a mud oven. But contrary to what many television networks erroneously reported, the operation was by no means the largest use of airpower since the start of the war. ("Air Assault" is a military term that refers specifically to transporting troops into an area.) In fact, there were no air-strikes and no leading insurgents were nabbed in an operation that some skeptical military analysts described as little more than a photo op. What's more, there were no shots fired at all and the units had met no resistance, said the US and Iraqi commanders."</p>
<p align="justify"> Of course, the US military claimed that two local leaders of the group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi were to have been in the area, but alas, they were not to be caught up in Operation Swarmer or any of the "tactical interviews."</p>
<p align="justify"> Meanwhile on Sunday, fresh from a relaxing weekend at Camp David, Mr. Bush said of Iraq, "I'm encouraged by the progress," while talking to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House.</p>
<p align="justify"> Bush, his comments sticking to the talking points of his administration which surround this three year anniversary of the launching of Operation Iraqi Freedom, nearly mirrored those made recently by General Peter Pace. Pace, as you recall, when asked on "Meet the Press" about Iraq, said things were "going very, very well from everything you look at."</p>
<p align="justify"> Operation Swarm of Lies is part of yet another Cheney administration media blitz to put a happy face on this horrendously failed misadventure in Iraq. All too aware of the plummeting US public support for the war effort, and with approval ratings for the so-called president at an all time low, Bush had been sent out on the campaign trail to apply fresh gloss to the tattered sheen of the US occupation of Iraq. Sticking with their talking points of having Iraqi forces take over security responsibilities, the primary purpose of Operation Swarm of Lies was obviously to send the message to Americans that the US military are allowing Iraqis to "take the fight to the enemy."</p>
<p align="justify"> But this operation of mass distraction has served other purposes as well.</p>
<p align="justify"> Operation Swarm of Lies served well in diverting media attention in the US from US/UK covert operations in Iran last Friday.</p>
<p align="justify"> Even the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/03/17/iran060317.html" target="_blank">reported</a> that Iran's national police chief, Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddamm, accused US and British agents of playing a role in the deaths of 21 people in southeastern Iran. Moghaddamm accused the intelligence services of both the US and UK of encouraging attacks by Iranian rebel groups against civilians.</p>
<p align="justify"> Operation Swarm of Lies also effectively distracted media attention from the arrest of an American "security contractor" in Tikrit last week. According to the Joint Coordination Center between the US and Iraqi military in Tikrit, "the man is described as a security contractor working for a private company," and he "possessed explosives which were found in his car" when he was <a href="http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-03-14T102336Z_01_OLI434593_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-AMERICAN.xml&archived=False" target="_blank">arrested last Tuesday</a>.</p>
<p align="justify"> This incident was also reported on al-Sharqiyah Television on March 14th , where they added that the man was arrested during an imposed curfew, and "he had explosives in his car, noting that contacts are being held between officials in Salah al-Din Governorate and US Army officials regarding the incident."</p>
<p align="justify"> Meanwhile back in the Motherland, "Vice" President Cheney said this past weekend that Iraq is not in a civil war, but that terrorists there were involved in desperate tactics to stop Iraq's move towards democracy.</p>
<p align="justify"> "What we've seen is a serious effort by them to foment a civil war," Cheney said during an interview on the CBS program "Face the Nation" recently, "But I don't think they've been successful."</p>
<p align="justify"> He's right - the Iraqi people have thus far managed, miraculously, to thwart the ongoing attempts by the occupiers to "foment civil war."</p>
<p align="justify"> Because the recent incident in Tikrit is but one example of many which have shown who the real terrorists are in Iraq. Even just last September, two undercover British SAS soldiers were detained by Iraqi police in Basra. The Brits were dressed as Iraqis, traveling in an unmarked civilian car, and "Iraqi security officials ... accused the two Britons they detained of shooting at Iraqi forces or trying to plant explosives. Photographs of the two men in custody showed them in civilian clothes."</p>
<p align="justify"> According the same article by the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/19/AR2005091900572.html" target="_blank">Washington Post</a>, the British military promptly razed the Iraqi jail in order to free their two soldiers. In response, Mohammed Walli, the governor of the province, told news agencies that the British assault was "barbaric, savage and irresponsible."</p>
<p align="justify"> Barbaric, savage and irresponsible are words that can also be used to describe the true nature of Operation Swarm of Lies.</p>
<p align="justify"> Just this past Sunday, the Director of the Monitoring Net of Human Rights in Iraq (MHRI), Muhamad al-Deraji, issued an appeal to the UN mission in Baghdad regarding violations committed by the US military operation near Samarra.</p>
<p align="justify"> "We have received information from citizens and human rights activists in Samarra stating that the region, under American and Iraqi military operation ... is witnessing dangerous human rights violations, which is confirmed by the following:</p>
<p align="justify"> 1 - The Red Crescent aiding missions are not allowed to enter the region.</p>
<p align="justify"> 2 - [Independent] Press and media are, as well, forbidden from entering the region.</p>
<p align="justify"> 3 - Women and children are not allowed to leave the region of military operations.</p>
<p align="justify"> 4 - Receipt of news indicates presence of violations and assault for citizens aiming to terrorize them and forces them to emigrate from this region, through arresting the men and forcing women and their horrified children to escape later, on and leave the region aiming to build a military base there."</p>
<p align="justify"> Most importantly, however, is the human tragedy which Operation Swarm of Lies has both generated as well as diverted attention from.</p>
<p align="justify"> The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, via the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) reported on Sunday, "<a href="http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52300&SelectRegion=Middle_East&SelectCountry=IRAQ" target="_blank">Hundreds of families displaced</a> due to major offensive."</p>
<p align="justify"> The report says "hundreds of families have fled the city of Samarra" as the result of Operation Swarmer. Barakat Muhammad, a resident and father of five who lives in Samarra told IRIN, "When they started to hit our city I didn't take anything. I just took my family and ran like hell. We don't have anything to eat or wear."</p>
<p align="justify"> Despite claims by the US military that no shots were fired, obviously bombs were dropped on civilians.</p>
<p align="justify"> The IRIN report adds that "local doctors say that at least 35 civilians, including women and children, have been treated at the local hospital with injuries caused by the air strikes. In addition, 18 bodies had been taken to the hospital since 17 March."</p>
<p align="justify"> Yet there have been ongoing air strikes north/northeast of Baghdad since at least last Wednesday.</p>
<p align="justify"> According to the aforementioned Iraqi NGO MHRI, as well as AP reporters, "eleven people - most of them women and children - have been killed after US forces bombed a house during a raid north of Baghdad." The US <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11819857/" target="_blank">military acknowledged</a> the raid which occurred near Balad, about 50 miles north of Baghdad, but said only four people were killed - a man, two women and a child.</p>
<p align="justify"> Relatives, however, said 11 bodies wrapped in blankets were driven in the back of three pickup trucks to the Tikrit General Hospital, about 40 miles north of where the air strike occurred.</p>
<p align="justify"> As usual, reality contradicted the claims by the US military of only four dead, when AP photographs showed the bodies of two men, five children and four other covered figures arriving at the hospital accompanied by grief-stricken relatives.</p>
<p align="justify"> Even a police captain from nearby Samarra, Laith Mohammed, said that American warplanes and armor were used in the strike which flatted the house, killing all 11 people inside.</p>
<p align="justify"> An AP reporter at the scene of the bombing in the rural area of Isahaqi said "the roof of the house collapsed, three cars were destroyed and two cows killed."</p>
<p align="justify"> Riyadh Majid, the nephew of the head of the family who was killed, told the AP that US forces landed in helicopters and raided the home early last Wednesday. Ahmed Khalaf, the brother of the deceased head of the household, said nine of the victims were family members who lived at the house and two were visitors.</p>
<p align="justify"> "The killed family was not part of the resistance, they were women and children," said Khalaf, "The Americans have promised us a better life, but we get only death."</p>
<p align="justify"> As per their now standard operating procedure, the US military claimed the strike targeted an individual "suspected" of supporting al-Qaida. And as usual, the military claimed they were under attack from the house.</p>
<p align="justify"> "Troops were engaged by enemy fire as they approached the building," according to Tech. Sgt. Stacy Simon, "Coalition forces returned fire utilizing both air and ground assets."</p>
<p align="justify"> And the al-Qaida suspects killed by this particular air strike were of the <a href="http://209.97.202.24/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album37&id=clip_image002" target="_blank">younger variety</a> this time around, again <a href="http://209.97.202.24/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album37&id=clip_image001">as usual</a> for the US military in Iraq.</p>
<p align="justify"> But of course, all of this was effectively overshadowed by Operation Swarm of Lies. </p>
<p>///</p>
<p align="justify"> To view more photos of the results of the US air-strike on the home in Balad, click <a href="http://209.97.202.24/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album37" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p align="justify"> [(Subtitle and/or emphasis added by Wolf Britain.)]</p>
<HR align=left width="100%"><br />
<p align="justify"><em> <a href="http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/about/email.php?email=forum&topic=Dahr_Jamail_Iraq_forum_comment" target="_blank">Dahr Jamail</A> is an independent journalist who spent over 8 months reporting from occupied Iraq. He presented evidence of U.S. war crimes in Iraq at the International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration in New York City in January 2006. He writes regularly for <A href="http://www.truthout.org/" target="_blank">T r u t h O u t.org</A>, <A href="http://www.ipsnews.net/" target="_blank">Inter Press Service</A>, <A href="http://www.atimes.com/" target="_blank">Asia Times</A> and <A href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/" target="_blank">TomDispatch.com</A>, and maintains his own web site, <A href="http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com" target="_blank">DahrJamailIraq.com</A>.</em></p>
<P> ________</P>
<p align="justify"><em>(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)</em></p>
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<p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><a href="http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/newscommentary/000378.php" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.print.gif" border="0" width="18" height="11"> Print This Story</a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"><!-- Start ApplyTools code --><a href = '#' onclick = "window.open('http://refer.truthout.org/cgi-bin/applyrefer.cgi?job=refer&URL='+self.location.href,'','width=400,height=450,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes');"><font style = 'weight:bold;'><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.mail.gif" border="0" width="18" height="10"> E-mail This Story</font></a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"></font><br /></p><!-- End ApplyTools code --></strong><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1144548050447423492006-04-08T19:57:00.000-06:002006-04-09T12:35:48.460-06:00<br /><strong><p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><a href="http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/newscommentary/000376.php#more" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.print.gif" border="0" width="18" height="11"> Print This Story</a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"><!-- Start ApplyTools code --><a href = '#' onclick = "window.open('http://refer.truthout.org/cgi-bin/applyrefer.cgi?job=refer&URL='+self.location.href,'','width=400,height=450,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes');"><font style = 'weight:bold;'><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.mail.gif" border="0" width="18" height="10"> E-mail This Story</font></a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"></font><br></p><!-- End ApplyTools code -->
<p align="justify"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">What do <i>you</i> think? The <a href="http://forum.truthout.org/blog/" target="_blank">t r u t h o u t Town Meeting</a> is in progress. <a href="http://forum.truthout.org/blog/" target="_blank">Join the debate!</a></font></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/" target="_blank"><img height="197" alt="Click here to go to Dahr Jamail's "Iraq Dispatches: Hard News" Page!" src="http://www.form-legal.com/DahrJamail1.jpg" width="150" border="2" align="left"/></a> <a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/"><u>IRAQ: PERMANENT U.S. COLONY</u><br>
(The U.S. Government is Building At<br>
Least Four Permanent Bases in Iraq)</a><br>
By Dahr Jamail<br>
t r u t h o u t | Perspective<br>
Tuesday, 14 March 2006<br>
[Copyright (c) 2006 in the<br>
U.S.A. and Internationally<br>
by t r u t h o u t (.org)<br>
and/or Dahr Jamail.<br>
All rights reserved.]</p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="justify"> Why does the Bush Administration refuse to discuss withdrawing occupation forces from Iraq? Why is Halliburton, who landed the no-bid contracts to construct and maintain US military bases in Iraq, posting higher profits than ever before in its 86-year history?</p>
<p align="justify"> Why do these bases in Iraq resemble self-contained cities as much as military outposts?</p>
<p> </p>
<p align="justify"> Why are we hearing such ludicrous and outrageous statements from the highest ranking military general in the United States, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace, who <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11654734/" target="_blank">when asked how things were going in Iraq on March 5th</a> in an interview on "Meet the Press" said, "I'd say they're going well. I wouldn't put a great big smiley face on it, but I would say they're going very, very well from everything you look at."</p>
<p align="justify"> I wonder if there is a training school, or at least talking point memos for these Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, because Pace's predecessor, Gen. Richard Myers, told Senator John McCain last September that "In a sense, things are going well [in Iraq]."</p>
<p align="justify"> General Pace also praised the Iraqi military, saying, "Now there are over 100 [Iraqi] battalions in the field."</p>
<p align="justify"> Wow! General Pace must have waved his magic wand and materialized all these 99 new Iraqi battalions that are diligently keeping things safe and secure in occupied Iraq. Because according to the top US general in Iraq, General George Casey, not long ago there was only one Iraqi battalion (about 500-600 soldiers) capable of fighting on its own in Iraq.</p>
<p align="justify"> During a late-September 2005 <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-09-29-iraq-withdrawl_x.htm" target="_blank">Senate Armed Services Committee hearing</a>, Casey acknowledged that the Pentagon estimate of three Iraqi battalions last June had shrunk to one in September. That is less than six months ago.</p>
<p align="justify"> I thought it would be a good idea to find someone who is qualified to discuss how feasible it would be to train 99 Iraqi battalions in less than six months, as Pace now claims has occurred.</p>
<p align="justify"> I decided that someone who was in the US Army for 26 years and who worked in eight conflict areas, starting in Vietnam and ending with Haiti, would be qualified. If he had served in two parachute infantry units, three Ranger units, two Special Forces Groups and in Delta Force that would be helpful as well. And just to make sure, if he taught tactics at the Jungle Operations Training Center in Panama and Military Science at the United States Military Academy at West Point, thus knowing a thing or two about training soldiers, that would be a bonus.</p>
<p align="justify"> That person is Stan Goff.</p>
<p align="justify"> "This is utter bullshit," was Goff's remark about the Pace claim of having 100 Iraqi battalions when I asked him to comment, "He must be counting the resistance among his forces."</p>
<p align="justify"> Goff adds, "That dip-shit [Pace] is saying he has 60,000 trained and disciplined people under arms ... 65,000 with all the staffs ... and almost 100,000 with the support units they would require. To train and oversee them would require thousands of American advisors. It must suck for a career Marine to be used so blatantly as a PR flak."</p>
<p align="justify"> Goff mentioned that Pace "and everyone else" knows that the Iraqi forces, "however many there are," are heavily cross-infiltrated.</p>
<p align="justify"> "He [Pace] is saying that the Bush administration is going to empower a pro-Iranian government with 100 ready battalions, when this administration was handed this particular government as the booby prize in exchange for Sistani pulling their cookies out of the fire during the joint rebellions in Najaf and Fallujah," added Goff.</p>
<p align="justify"> Further discrediting the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Goff said, "To train 99 [battalions] since last September is a claim only the average American might swallow. The right question to ask is, where are they? Where are they headquartered, and where are they in operation? Claiming operations security doesn't count, unless they believe they can hide 100 units of 600 people each in Iraq ... from other Iraqis ... who are often related to them."</p>
<p align="justify"> He concludes, "These guys have become accustomed to saying any damn thing, then counting on ignorance and apathy at home - along with hundreds of Democrats who need spine transplants - to get away with it. You can quote me on any of that."</p>
<p align="justify"> There's a good reason why Pace and others are busy spewing smoke - it's to hide the fact that there are no plans to leave Iraq.</p>
<p align="justify"> While we're addressing propaganda, we mustn't leave out our brilliant military strategist and warrior for protecting human rights, the illustrious Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.</p>
<p align="justify"> On March 8th, Rice delivered the opening remarks on the release of her Department's "<a href="http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61550.htm" target="_blank">2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices</a>."</p>
<p align="justify"> The introduction to the report says: "In Iraq, 2005 was a year of major progress for democracy, democratic rights and freedom. There was a steady growth of NGOs and other civil society associations that promote human rights."</p>
<p align="justify"> Uh, <a href="http://209.97.202.24/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=sbs_dateline_abu_ghraib_torture_photos_images_iraq_documentary_australia_february_16_2006" target="_blank">right</a>.</p>
<p align="justify"> This report is submitted to Congress by the State Department. I've often wondered if our politicians are just this ignorant, or simply horrifically misinformed like so many Americans. This report, perhaps, answers the latter.</p>
<p align="justify"> My point is, if there is a concerted effort by high-ranking officials of the Bush administration to portray things in Iraq as going well, then why are there permanent bases being constructed in Iraq?</p>
<p align="justify"> This media smokescreen from the likes of Pace, Rice and even "sharp-shooter" Cheney, who recently said things in Iraq are "improving steadily," conveniently leads the American people toward believing there will eventually be a withdrawal of American soldiers.</p>
<p align="justify"> But the problem with smokescreens is that pesky thing called "reality."</p>
<p align="justify"> And in Iraq, the reality is that people like Pace, Rice, Cheney and their ever-eloquent front man aren't telling the American public about their true plans for Iraq.</p>
<p align="justify"> One example that provides some insight into their agenda is the US "Embassy" which is under construction in the infamous "Green Zone."</p>
<p align="justify"> As you read this, a controversial Kuwait-based construction firm is building a $592 million <a href="http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=13258" target="_blank">US embassy</a> in Baghdad. When the dust settles, this compound will be the largest and most secure diplomatic compound in the world.</p>
<p align="justify"> The headquarters, I mean "Embassy," will be a self-sustaining cluster of 21 buildings reinforced 2.5 times the usual standards, with some walls to be as thick as 15 feet.</p>
<p align="justify"> Plans are for over 1,000 US "government officials" to staff and reside there. Lucky for them, they will have access to the gym, swimming pool, barber and beauty shops, food court and commissary. There will also be a large-scale barracks for troops, a school, locker rooms, a warehouse, a vehicle maintenance garage, and six apartment buildings with a total of 619 one-bedroom units. And luckily for the "government officials," their water, electricity and sewage treatment plants will all be independent from Baghdad's city utilities. The total site will be two-thirds the area of the National Mall in Washington, DC."</p>
<p align="justify"> I wonder if any liberated Iraqis will have access to their swimming pool?</p>
<p align="justify"> And unlike the Iraqi infrastructure, which is in total shambles and functioning below pre-invasion levels in nearly every area, the US "Embassy" is being constructed right on time. The US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee recently called this an "impressive" feat, considering the construction is taking place in one of the most violent and volatile spots on the planet.</p>
<p align="justify"> Then there are the permanent military bases.</p>
<p align="justify"> To give you an idea of what these look like in Iraq, let's start with Camp Anaconda, near Balad. Occupying 15 square miles of Iraq, the base boasts two swimming pools (not the plastic inflatable type), a gym, mini-golf course and first-run movie theater.</p>
<p align="justify"> The 20,000 soldiers who live at the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/03/AR2006020302994.html" target="_blank">Balad Air Base</a>, less than 1,000 of whom ever leave the base, can inspect new iPod accessories in one of the two base exchanges, which have piles of the latest electronics and racks of CDs to choose from. One of the PX managers recently boasted that every day he was selling 15 televisions to soldiers.</p>
<p align="justify"> At Camp Anaconda, located in Salahuddin province where resistance is fierce, the occupation forces live in air-conditioned units where plans are being drawn up to run internet, cable television and overseas telephone access to them.</p>
<p align="justify"> The thousands of civilian contractors live at the base in a section called "KBR-land," and there is a hospital where doctors carry out 400 surgeries every month on wounded troops.</p>
<p align="justify"> Air Force officials on the base claim the runway there is one of the busiest in the world, where unmanned Predator drones take off carrying their Hellfire missiles, along with F-16's, C-130's, helicopters, and countless others, as the bases houses over 250 aircraft.</p>
<p align="justify"> If troops aren't up for the rather lavish dinners served by "Third Country Nationals" from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh who work for slave wages, they can visit the Burger King, Pizza Hut, Popeye's or Subway, then wash it down with a mocha from the Starbucks.</p>
<p align="justify"> There are several other gigantic bases in Iraq besides camp Anaconda, such as Camp Victory near Baghdad Airport, which - according to a reporter for Mother Jones magazine - when complete will be twice the size of Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo. The Kosovo base is currently one of the largest overseas bases built since the war in Vietnam.</p>
<p align="justify"> Camp Liberty is adjacent to Camp Victory - where soldiers even compete in their own triathlons. "The course, longer than 140 total miles, spanned several bases in the greater Camp Victory area in west Baghdad," says a <a href="http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/nov2005/a110705dg2.html" target="_blank">news article on a DOD web site</a>.</p>
<p align="justify"> Mr. Bush <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/11/30/us.iraq/" target="_blank">refuses to set a timetable for withdrawal</a> from Iraq because he doesn't intend to withdraw. He doesn't intend to because he's following a larger plan for the US in the Middle East.</p>
<p align="justify"> Less than two weeks after the fall of Baghdad on April 9, 2003, <a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/042103B.shtml" target="_blank">US military officials</a> announced the intention to maintain at least four large bases in Iraq that could be used in the future.</p>
<p align="justify"> These are located near Baghdad International Airport (where the triathlon was), Tallil (near Nasiriyah, in the south), one in the Kurdish north at either Irbil or Qayyarah (they are only 80 kilometers apart) and one in western al-Anbar province at Al-Asad. Of course, let's not forget the aforementioned Camp Anaconda in Balad.</p>
<p align="justify"> More recently, on May 22 of last year, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/21/AR2005052100611_pf.html" target="_blank">US military commanders</a> announced that they would consolidate troops into four large air bases. It was announced at this time that while buildings were being made of concrete instead of the usual metal trailers and tin-sheathed buildings, military officers working on the plan "said the consolidation plan was not meant to establish a permanent US military presence in Iraq."</p>
<p align="justify"> Right.</p>
<p align="justify"> The US has at least four of these massive bases in Iraq. Billions of dollars have been spent in their construction, and they are in about the same locations where they were mentioned they would be by military planners back before Mr. Bush declared that <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/01/iraq/main551946.shtml" target="_blank">major combat operations were over</a> in Iraq.</p>
<p align="justify"> It appears as though "<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/05/01/bush.carrier.landing/" target="_blank">mission accomplished</a>" in Iraq was not necessarily referring to guarding the Ministry of Oil and occupying the country indefinitely (or finding WMDs, disrupting al-Qaeda, or liberating Iraqis, blah-blah-blah), but to having a military beach-head in the heart of the Middle East.</p>
<p align="justify"> Note that while US officials don't dare say the word "permanent" when referring to military bases in Iraq, they will say "permanent access." An article entitled "Pentagon Expects Long-Term Access to Four Key Bases in Iraq," which was a front-page story in the New York Times on April 19, 2003, reads: "There will probably never be an announcement of permanent stationing of troops. Not permanent basing, but permanent access is all that is required, officials say."</p>
<p> </p>
<p align="justify"> Why all of this? Why these obviously permanent bases? Why the beach-head?</p>
<p align="justify"> A quick glance at US government military strategy documents is even more revealing.</p>
<p align="justify"> "Our forces will be strong enough to dissuade potential adversaries from pursuing a military build-up in hopes of surpassing, or equaling, the power of the United States," reads the <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nssall.html" target="_blank">2002 National Security Strategy</a>.</p>
<p align="justify"> To accomplish this, the US will "require bases and stations within and beyond Western Europe and Northeast Asia."</p>
<p align="justify"> Another interesting document is "Joint Vision 2020" from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, whose "vision" is "Dedicated individuals and innovative organizations transforming the joint force of the 21st Century to achieve full spectrum dominance [bold type theirs]: persuasive in peace, decisive in war, preeminent in any form of conflict [italics theirs]."</p>
<p align="justify"> US policymakers have replaced the Cold War with the Long War for Global Empire and Unchallenged Military Hegemony. This is the lens through which we must view Iraq to better understand why there are permanent US bases there.</p>
<p align="justify"> In the Quadrennial Defense Review Report released on February 6, 2006, there is a stated ambition to fight "multiple, overlapping wars" and to "ensure that all major and emerging powers are integrated as constructive actors and stakeholders into the international system." The report goes on to say that the US will "also seek to ensure that no foreign power can dictate terms of regional or global security. It will attempt to dissuade any military competitor from developing disruptive or other capabilities that could enable regional hegemony or hostile action against the United States or other friendly countries, and it will seek to deter aggression or coercion. Should deterrence fail, the United States would deny a hostile power its strategic and operational objectives."</p>
<p align="justify"> In sum, what is the purpose of permanent US military garrisons in Iraq and the implicit goals of these government documents?</p>
<p align="justify"> Empire.</p>
<p align="justify"> [(Subtitle and/or emphasis added by Wolf Britain.)]</p>
<HR align=left width="100%"><br />
<p align="justify"><em> <a href="http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/about/email.php?email=forum&topic=Dahr_Jamail_Iraq_forum_comment" target="_blank">Dahr Jamail</A> is an independent journalist who spent over 8 months reporting from occupied Iraq. He presented evidence of U.S. war crimes in Iraq at the International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration in New York City in January 2006. He writes regularly for <A href="http://www.truthout.org/" target="_blank">T r u t h O u t.org</A>, <A href="http://www.ipsnews.net/" target="_blank">Inter Press Service</A>, <A href="http://www.atimes.com/" target="_blank">Asia Times</A> and <A href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/" target="_blank">TomDispatch.com</A>, and maintains his own web site, <A href="http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com" target="_blank">DahrJamailIraq.com</A>.</em></p>
<P> ________</P>
<p align="justify"><em>(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)</em></p>
<p align="justify"><em>"Go to Original" links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted on TO may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the "Go to Original" links.</em></p>
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<p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><a href="http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/newscommentary/000376.php#more" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.print.gif" border="0" width="18" height="11"> Print This Story</a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"><!-- Start ApplyTools code --><a href = '#' onclick = "window.open('http://refer.truthout.org/cgi-bin/applyrefer.cgi?job=refer&URL='+self.location.href,'','width=400,height=450,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes');"><font style = 'weight:bold;'><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.mail.gif" border="0" width="18" height="10"> E-mail This Story</font></a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"></font><br></p><!-- End ApplyTools code --></strong><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1144515788532514622006-04-08T11:02:00.000-06:002006-04-08T20:01:24.886-06:00<br /><strong><p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/printer_033106J.shtml" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.print.gif" border="0" width="18" height="11"> Print This Story</a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"><!-- Start ApplyTools code --><a href = '#' onclick = "window.open('http://refer.truthout.org/cgi-bin/applyrefer.cgi?job=refer&URL='+self.location.href,'','width=400,height=450,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes');"><font style = 'weight:bold;'><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.mail.gif" border="0" width="18" height="10"> E-mail This Story</font></a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"></font><br></p><!-- End ApplyTools code -->
<p align="justify"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">What do <i>you</i> think? The <a href="http://forum.truthout.org/blog/" target="_blank">t r u t h o u t Town Meeting</a> is in progress. <a href="http://forum.truthout.org/blog/" target="_blank">Join the debate!</a></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/marjoriecohn.shtml" target="_blank">Read more of Marjorie Cohn's columns.</a></font></p>
<!-- <P align=right><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">For background, see:<BR><A href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/111405Z.shtml" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn | Graham Amendment Invokes Constitutional Crisis</A><BR><A href="http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/4/5047" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn | Supreme Court: War No Blank Check for Bush</A></font></p> -->
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<p align="justify"> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/marjoriecohn.shtml" target="_blank"><img height="197" alt="Click here to go to t r u t h o u t ' s 'Marjorie Cohn' Page!" src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/1.BIO.marjorie.jpg" width="144" border="2" align="left"/></a> <a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/"><u>THE NEW CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT</u><br>
(Despite the Curbing of Dissent,<br>
It Is Increasing Exponentially)</a><br>
By Marjorie Cohn<br>
t r u t h o u t | Perspective<br>
Friday, 31 March 2006<br>
[Copyright (c) 2006 in the<br>
U.S.A. and Internationally<br>
by t r u t h o u t (.org)<br>
and/or Marjorie Cohn.<br>
All rights reserved.]</p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="justify"> In a wave of mass protest not seen since the 1960s, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to demand justice for the undocumented. An unprecedented alliance between labor unions, immigrant support groups, churches, and Spanish-language radio and television has fueled the burgeoning civil rights movement.</p>
<p align="justify"> The demonstrations were triggered by the confluence of a draconian House bill that would make felons out of undocumented immigrants and HBO's broadcast of Edward James Olmos's film, "Walkout." But the depth of discontent reflects a history of discrimination against those who are branded "illegal aliens."</p>
<p align="justify"> Since September 11, 2001, immigrants have become the whipping boys for the "war on terror." Calls for enhanced militarization of the southern US border - including a 700-mile-long Sisyphean fence - reached a crescendo in the bill passed by the House of Representatives.</p>
<p align="justify"> Under its terms, three million US-citizen children could be separated from their parents, who would be declared felons and be subject to immediate detention and deportation. Those who employ them, and churches and nonprofits that support them, could face fines or even prison.</p>
<p align="justify"> Cardinal Roger Mahony called it a "blameful, vicious" bill, and vowed to continue serving the undocumented even if it were outlawed.</p>
<p align="justify"> Immigrants comprise one-third of California's labor force. But claims that immigrants take jobs away from Americans are overblown. Last summer, California suffered from labor shortages in spite of the high percentage of undocumented workers who labor in the fields.</p>
<p align="justify"> As a likely result of pressure from business dependent on cheap labor and the escalating protests around the country, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill that strikes a more reasonable balance. It would legalize the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants, and provide them with the opportunity to become citizens. They would have to remain employed, pass criminal background checks, learn English and civics, and pay fines and back taxes. A temporary worker program would allow about 400,000 foreign nationals to enter the United States each year; they too could be granted citizenship.</p>
<p align="justify"> The current debate in the full Senate has focused on accusations and denials of "amnesty" and threats to national security. But the "immigration problem" is more complex than the sound bytes that proliferate. Seventy-eight percent of the 11 million undocumented immigrants are from Mexico or other Latin American countries.</p>
<p align="justify"> According to Michael Lettieri, a Research Fellow with the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, "The free trade accords that the Bush administration so tirelessly promotes do little to remedy such maladies, as both NAFTA and CAFTA-DR leave regional agricultural sectors profoundly vulnerable, as well as disadvantaged, in the face of robustly subsidized US agribusiness that enables Iowa to undersell Mexico when it comes to corn."</p>
<p align="justify"> The US was instrumental in the passage of NAFTA, which protects the rights of employers and investors but not workers. As a result of NAFTA, wages in Mexico, Canada and the United States have fallen. US food exports have driven millions of poor Mexican peasants from their communities. They come north to find work.</p>
<p align="justify"> Seventeen-year-old Carlos Moreno was among the thousands of students in Los Angeles who walked out of their high schools to protest the attack on immigrants. "I was born here," he said, "but I'm doing it for my parents, and for my family, and for all the Latinos, because I know what the struggle is."</p>
<p align="justify"> Sergio, an undocumented tenth grader from San Diego High School, attended a rally in San Diego's historic Chicano Park. "My parents are proud of me," he said. "They told me that I should help every time I can."</p>
<p align="justify"> A few years ago, San Diego filmmakers Issac and Judith Artenstein released "A Day Without a Mexican." In the film, all of the Mexicans in California disappeared one day. Gone were the cooks, gardeners, nannies, policemen, doctors, farm and construction workers, entertainers, athletes, as well as the largest growing market of consumers. The world's fifth largest economy was paralyzed.</p>
<p align="justify"> Today we celebrate the birthday of Ceasar Chavez, one of the most influential labor leaders this country has ever known. In the 1970s, when undocumented workers crossed the border and went to work in California's fields for lower wages than employers had to pay union members, the United Farm Workers began to call the <i>migra</i> to have them deported. Eventually, Ceasar realized that a much better solution was to organize those immigrants into the union.</p>
<p align="justify"> The answer is not to shut out those who work for less than minimum wage, without workers' compensation, occupational safety protections, and overtime pay. "It is a common-sense solution to bring an underground economy above ground," Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) said, "with strong labor protections to improve working conditions for all."</p>
<p align="justify">[The protesters are not the extremists. The "Far-Right Theocratic Corporate-Fascists" who are running and destroying True Democracy and Freedom in our country right now are the extremists. They are the radicals, not the dissenters who are doing nothing but exercising and carrying out their Constitutional rights to protest in a country that is supposed to be a True Democracy, and a country "....OF the People, BY the People, FOR the People....", where they too are SUPPOSED TO BE, and IT IS THEIR DUTY TO BE, a check and balance on the government, as well as "the three branches of government" which are failing us miserably right now, in fact which are selling "We, The People" out to hundreds of billions of dollars in profits for the military-industrial complex that President-General Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about, and that are draining the U.S. Treasury dry by design.</p>
<p align="justify">More and more of us True Americans must stand up against all of the insanity that is presently being foisted upon us in droves, and go out and protest and dissent against it as it is our True Patriotic duty to do. Greater and greater numbers of us will, and the mass-protests will only increase; and it should point out to, and open the eyes of, those who very falsely and wrongly think dissent and protest are "unAmerican", that the more the protests and dissent increase, it shows and proves that very seriously wrong things are going on that are an extreme threat to the liberty(ies) of ALL Americans; and, rather than fighting against the protests and/or dissenters, they should join with them in seeking to take our country back from going over the brink into self-destruction. (Subtitle, and Words in brackets {"[ ]"} and/or emphasis, added by Wolf Britain.)]</p>
<HR align=left width="100%"><br />
<p align="justify"><i> <A href="http://truthout.org/contactmc.php" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn</a> is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, President-elect of the National Lawyers Guild, and the US representative to the executive committee of the American Association of Jurists. She writes a weekly column for the great and powerful t r u t h o u t website.</i></p>
<P> ________</P>
<p align="justify"><em>(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)</em></p>
<p align="justify"><em>"Go to Original" links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted on TO may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the "Go to Original" links.</em></p>
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<p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/printer_033106J.shtml" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.print.gif" border="0" width="18" height="11"> Print This Story</a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"><!-- Start ApplyTools code --><a href = '#' onclick = "window.open('http://refer.truthout.org/cgi-bin/applyrefer.cgi?job=refer&URL='+self.location.href,'','width=400,height=450,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes');"><font style = 'weight:bold;'><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.mail.gif" border="0" width="18" height="10"> E-mail This Story</font></a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"></font><br></p><!-- End ApplyTools code --></strong><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1144351162862702472006-04-06T13:16:00.000-06:002006-07-02T19:55:08.100-06:00<br /> <strong><p align="center"><font size="4"><a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/" target="_blank">MY COMPLAINT TO THE ACLU </a></font></p><p align="center">Written by S. Wolf Britain <br />[Copyright (c) 2006 in the U.S.A. and <br />Internationally by And Now The <br />Apocalypse! (wolfbritain.com), <br />and/or S. Wolf Britain. <br />All rights reserved.]</p>
<p align="justify"> </p>
<p align="justify">I have decided to post online a copy of a complaint that I have filed with the ACLU. It speaks for itself, so I will let it explain what it's about, as follows:</p>
<p align="justify"><a href="http://www.aclu.org/" target="_blank"><img height="157" alt="Click here to go to the ACLU's website!" src="http://form-legal.com/constitution-banner125.gif" width="125" border="0" align="left"/></a> On Friday, 3 March 2006, at about 12:00 p.m., I was visited by two (2) officers of the Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Federal Protective Service ( FPS ), ..., Law Enforcement Inspector, to serve two documents upon me, 1.) "Letter of Restriction, U.S.D.A. Rural Development and Notice of Rules and Regulations Governing Conduct on Federal Property", and 2.) the U.S.D.A. "Letter of Restriction", untitled directly.</p>
<p align="justify">According to (the) Officer ..., these documents resulted from a (false) claim by a U.S.D.A. Rural Development (USDA-RD) employee, ... of USDA-RD's ... office(s), that I allegedly threatened her by calling her an "evil bitch" on the telephone several months ago, though these specifics are NOT addressed in either of the above-referenced documents, and though same was not alleged to have literally occurred on federal propery [I have not visited USDA-RD offices, or ANY (other) federal offices and/or property in many years, other than the U.S. Post Office]. No other accusations and/or allegations whatsoever are made.</p>
<p align="justify">The DHS "cover letter" only states very generally that "...FPS has received a complaint regarding your alleged disruptive and perceived threatening conduct during the past several years while addressing United States Department of Agriculture staff and personnel acting in an official capacity to carry out duties related to Rural Development programs..."</p>
<p align="justify">The USDA-RD "Letter of Restriction" states the following in pertinent part, "...Effective immediately and until further notice, the USDA, Rural Development, State Office, ..., has hereby restricted your access regarding the Multi-Family Housing 515 program and your tenancy in .... This restriction requires you to communicate with the USDA, Rural Development, State Office, ..., solely in a written format sent through the United States Postal Service mail system, addressed as specified below: USDA, Rural Development, State Office, ATTN: Civil Rights Coordinator, .... This includes, but is not limited to faxes, telephone calls, e-mails, cell phone and voice mail. Failure to strictly comply with the restriction notice above could negatively impact your continued participation in the USDA, Rural Development, Multi-Family Housing, 515 Program..." Signed..., "State Director", at the same address.</p>
<p align="justify">The foregoing documents are NOT issued by a(ny) court of law, or signed by a(ny) judge. Neither do they IN ANY WAY written therein provide any due process rights, appeal procedure(s), etc., or any other legal recourse(s) whatsoever. The notice of "Rules and Regulations Governing Conduct on Federal Property" is extremely general, simply summarizes definitions and penalties, and does NOT provide ANY appeal rights and/or procedures IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER.</p>
<p align="justify">ALL I have done for the past three and a half (3 and 1/2) years that I have resided in ..., is file in good faith legitimate, non-frivolous complaints with USDA-RD and four (4) other federal and state government agencies (H.U.D. Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, Section 8 Complaints department in ...; ... Human Rights Bureau in ...; ... Department of Commerce, Section 8 Housing Voucher program, in ...; and the ... Housing Authority in ..., also regarding the Section 8 Housing Voucher program) concerning the illegal activities of my and other government-subsidized apartment owners and management, ..., owner and operator, and ..., Resident/On-Site Managers of ... (where I presently reside), government agencies and/or employees, and other property and/or apartment management, blown the whistle on those illegal activities, and exercised my Constitutional rights to freedom of speech, to complain about illegal activity(ies), to file appeals (known as Grievances) with USDA-RD, to expect complete, proper and completely legal (administrative) Due Process without exception(s), and "to petition the Government for redress of grievances", on behalf of myself alone, Pro Se, but ultimately seeking to benefit all of the tenants in my present government-subsidized apartment complex in the case of my complaints against the owners and management thereof.</p>
<p align="justify">The aforementioned apartment complex is owned and operated by owners of the property which received government loans from USDA-RD for the construction and/or operation thereof, and is government-subsidized by USDA-RD for monetary rental assistance payments to aid the low-income elderly and/or disabled tenants in being able to thereby afford to reside therein. I am a fully, very physically disabled tenant therein, fifty years of age as 4-15-06, and not elderly.</p>
<p align="justify">The foregoing law-violating agencies, owners, management, and/or offices, particularly USDA-RD, have habitually and consistently violated the law in numerous ways, including but not limited to not processing Grievance appeals, failing to respond AT ALL in writing regarding same and/or other complaints, habitually and consistently failing to uphold administrative due process requirements under their own regulations, the ... State Constitution, and the U.S. Constitution, as well as other laws, allowing ongoing threats against the health and safety of myself and all the tenants residing in my present USDA-RD government subsidized apartment complex, the above-named complex in ..., still ongoing, etc.; and I have done NOTHING but carry out and/or exercise my legal rights and duties to report violations of law, file legitimate, non-frivolous complaints, legally demand and/or request that all rights and/or laws connected therewith be upheld, and complain vociferously, though completely legally and without ANY literal threats or illegal activities of ANY kind(s), when those laws and/or rights were not, and still aren't being, upheld.</p>
<p align="justify">All of the foregoing is nothing more and(/or) nothing less than USDA-RD, DHS, the federal government in general, employees of state and local Section 8 housing assistance offices, and/or the owners and/or management of said government-subsidized apartment complexe(s), perpetrating vindictive retribution(s), retaliation(s), extra-, and/or "quasi-", judicial punishment(s) against me, presumption of guilt based upon nothing but "perceived" conduct and nothing but the word of one (1) federal employee, with absolutely no corroborating evidence whatsoever, curtailing and/or abrogating my Constitutional rights to Due Process of Law and Freedom of Speech, seeking to silence my voice of dissent, whistleblowing, complaint, grievance, and/or appeal for redress of grievances, and for my political ideology, beliefs and/or stand against corporate and government abuses as result of my being a Pro Se Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, Disability, Health, Patient, Transportation, Parental, Housing, Tenant, Homelessness, and Liberty Rights Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger/Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet, etc.</p>
<p align="justify">It is also a clearcut attempt to seek removal of (all?) legal exposure, "justified" by the "USA Patriot Act", for violation(s) of civil and/or Constitutional rights; and, specifically, removing their exposure to (all?) seeking of legal redress from and/or by me (and millions of other Americans nationwide).</p>
<p align="justify">Other than the foregoing, no other explanations have been given for the actions thus far taken against me.</p>
<p align="justify">I am also under grave and imminent threat of being railroaded, imprisoned, "disappeared", and/or physically harmed for all of the foregoing; as all it would take to bring about my false arrest and incarceration, as well as physical harm of my person while in the custody of the government, is for a fraudulent claim to be made that I made contact with ANY other employee and/or agent of USDA-RD other than the one (1) office and employee that they "have granted me permission to contact"; and, considering what has already transpired, this is very likely to occur, and/or some other pretext for taking further retributive, retaliatory action(s) against me, such as quasi- and/or extra- legally evicting me, leaving me with no options of a place to live since I am at the mercy of subsidized housing waiting lists, causing me to become homeless, claiming I'm a "vagrant" and therefore an "additional threat to society", and incarcerating me therefor.</p>
<p align="justify">No, I have taken absolutely NO action(s) other than below. I HAVE seriously considered writing to the above-referenced party at said address to file a "Civil Rights Complaint" alleging that DHS and USDA-RD are violating my civil rights; but I'm understandably and justly very concerned that anything and everything I said to them, no matter how legal, tactful and/or appropriate, and/or simply stating the foregoing, would in all likelihood be interpretted as "further threats" which would no doubt almost-immediately bring about my "disappearance", imprisonment, demise, homelessness, and/or other physical harm. In fact, it is highly likely that all parties involved are hoping that I'll make ANY such contact, have by the service and "requirements" of the foregoing documents sought to "set me up" and/or "entrap(ped) me", so that if I do make ANY such contact and/or claims, it will give them the "excuse(s)" they're looking for to railroad me; so, though I believe it is my legal and/or Constitutional right and duty to write said "Civil Rights Complaint" to them, I am "darned if I do and darned if I don't", and under grave "fear" that if I do so I will be "asking for" further retaliations and/or retribution from them; therefore, at least at this stage, I am NOT going to address ANY contact to and/or with them WHATSOEVER. In additional fact, I am even avoiding my apartment management for "fear" that any contact of and/or with them may be interpretted as violating what those documents essentially amount to, a "federal restraining order", by contacting an "agent" of USDA-RD other than the one and only person and/or office which I have been "authorized" to contact.</p>
<p align="justify">I have gone to no other agencies with ANY formal, official complaints, other than to send emails expressing what happened and my concerns to the local ACLU attorney and/or office in ..., to employees of the National Lawyers Guild, and to other agencies, family and/or friends, to which I have received little or no response(s).</p>
<p align="justify">No, I have not consulted with ANY attorney(s) regarding these matters, as I cannot afford the costs of an attorney, and I have found ... legal aid, et al. to be extremely unresponsive and/or beligerant in response to previous matters.</p>
<p align="justify">I request that the ... ACLU please file a lawsuit on my and(/or) other similarly-situated complainants' and/or plaintiffs' behalf seeking any and all just and equitable relief for violation of civil rights by the government. Clearly my instant situation is a case by the federal government of using the "Patriot Act" to allegedly justify abrogating citizens civil rights in retribution and retaliation for exercising those rights and expecting complete legal relief therefrom, and seeking to unConstitutionally and/or otherwise illegally silence such individuals, including myself and no doubt many others' similarly-situated, and to prevent us/them from even seeking any relief, let alone obtaining any(, etc).</p>
<p align="justify">I hereby declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of ..., and/or of the United States of America, that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, and that a true and correct copy of this instant "ACLU Complaint" was executed, electronically-signed, served, and/or submitted to all of the above- and/or below- referenced parties by online (internet) complaint-registration form- ("Powered by Sporg.com") and/or e-mail- transmission at and/or to their usual places of business (and/or residence) by standard business internet and/or e-mail registration and/or practices, on the 27th day of March, 2006, at and/or from the ..., in the United States of America.</p>
<p align="justify">Very respectfully executed, electronically-signed, served, and/or submitted by,</p>
<p align="justify">/s./</p>
<p align="justify">S. Wolf Britain, Fully Disabled Sui Juris/Pro Esse Suo/Pro Se Equal, Human, Civil, and Legal Rights Advocate</p>
<p align="justify">SWB:swb</p>
<p align="justify">Electronically signed by: S. Wolf Britain 03/27/06 16:00 (M.S.T.)</p>
<p align="justify">CC and/or BCC: National Lawyers Guild; et al.</p>
<p align="justify">E-mail "Signature":</p>
<p align="justify">Please check out my personal website for my latest comments and/or favorite quotes on issues related to the "War Against Terrorism", and the war against Iraq, at <a href="http://www.form-legal.com/comments-five.html" target="_blank">http://www.form-legal.com/comments-five.html</a> ; and my poetry on one of my poetry pages on my website, at <a href="http://www.form-legal.com/wolf-four.html" target="_blank">http://www.form-legal.com/wolf-four.html</a> . Thank you.</p>
<p align="justify">My NEW blog is at: <a href="http://www.wolfbritain.com/" target="_blank">http://www.wolfbritain.com/</a></p>
<p align="justify">Please sign my petition seeking greater protest(s) against the Bush mobsters, at: <a href="http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/337236706" target="_blank">http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/<br />337236706</a></p>
<p align="justify">Also check out Kurt Nimmo's great alternative news blog, at: <a href="http://www.kurtnimmo.com/" target="_blank" target="_blank">http://www.kurtnimmo.com/</a></p>
<p align="justify">Please join Care2 and check out my Care2 Group, "Fans of Kurt Nimmo's 'Another Day in the Empire' Blog", at: <a href="http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/kurtnimmo" target="_blank">http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/kurtnimmo</a></p>
<p align="justify">Also check out my Care2 Photo Album(s), at: <a href="http://www.care2.com/c2c/photos/view/246814408/295859164/" target="_blank">http://www.care2.com/c2c/photos/view/246814408/295859164/</a></p>
<p align="justify">Go to Veterans Against the Iraq War (V.A.I.W.), at: <a href="http://www.vaiw.org/" target="_blank">http://www.vaiw.org/</a></p>
<p align="justify">Also, check out the International A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, one of the main organizations responsible for setting up and carrying out the huge, major protest gatherings and demonstrations nationwide and abroad, at: <a href="http://www.answerCoalition.org/" target="_blank">http://www.answerCoalition.org/</a></p>
<p align="justify">In addition, become familiar with the civil-liberties-protecting National Lawyers Guild, at: <a href="http://www.nlg.org/" target="_blank">http://www.nlg.org/</a></p>
<p align="justify">And familiarize yourself with the American Civil Liberties Union, at: <a href="http://www.aclu.org/" target="_blank">http://www.aclu.org/</a></p>
<p align="justify">Cast your vote now in the national referendum to stop the war in Iraq: <a href="http://www.votenowar.org/" target="_blank">http://www.votenowar.org/</a></p>
<p align="justify">To vote to impeach "'President'-by-Coup", G.W. Bush, please go to <a href="http://www.votetoimpeach.org/" target="_blank">http://www.votetoimpeach.org/</a> , or <a href="http://www.impeachbush.org/" target="_blank">http://www.impeachbush<br />.org/</a> , set up by former Attorney General (during the Johnson administration), Ramsey Clark, and his organization, International Action Center, at <a href="http://www.iacenter.org/" target="_blank">http://www.iacenter.org/</a> .</p></strong><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6475231.post-1143679713223481892006-03-29T17:48:00.000-07:002006-04-06T13:21:13.716-06:00<br /><strong><p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/printer_032806J.shtml" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.print.gif" border="0" width="18" height="11"> Print This Story</a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"><!-- Start ApplyTools code --><a href = '#' onclick = "window.open('http://refer.truthout.org/cgi-bin/applyrefer.cgi?job=refer&URL='+self.location.href,'','width=400,height=450,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes');"><font style = 'weight:bold;'><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.mail.gif" border="0" width="18" height="10"> E-mail This Story</font></a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"></font><br></p><!-- End ApplyTools code -->
<p align="justify"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">What do <i>you</i> think? The <a href="http://forum.truthout.org/blog/" target="_blank">t r u t h o u t Town Meeting</a> is in progress. <a href="http://forum.truthout.org/blog/" target="_blank">Join the debate!</a></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/marjoriecohn.shtml" target="_blank">Read more of Marjorie Cohn's columns.</a></font></p>
<P align=right><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">For background, see:<BR><A href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/111405Z.shtml" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn | Graham Amendment Invokes Constitutional Crisis</A><BR><A href="http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/4/5047" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn | Supreme Court: War No Blank Check for Bush</A></font></p><br>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
<p><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/marjoriecohn.shtml" target="_blank"><img height="197" alt="Click here to go to t r u t h o u t ' s 'Marjorie Cohn' Page!" src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/1.BIO.marjorie.jpg" width="144" border="2" align="left"/></a> <a href="http://form-legal.blogspot.com/"><u>SUPREMES CONSIDER KANGAROO</u><br>
<u>COURTS</u> (Will Anyone Have<br>
Any Rights Soon?)</a><br>
By Marjorie Cohn<br>
t r u t h o u t | Perspective<br>
Tuesday, 28 March 2006<br>
[Copyright (c) 2006 in the<br>
U.S.A. and Internationally<br>
by t r u t h o u t (.org)<br>
and/or Marjorie Cohn.<br>
All rights reserved.]</p><br>
<p align="justify"> Today the Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments in the most significant case to date on the limits of George W. Bush's authority in his "war on terror." In the first two cases it heard, the high court reined in Bush for his unprecedented assertion of executive power. It held in <i>Rasul v. Bush</i> that the Guantanamo prisoners could challenge their confinement in US federal courts. In <i>Hamdi v. Rumsfeld</i>, the Court said that "a state of war is not a blank check for the President when it comes to rights of the Nation's citizens."</p>
<p align="justify"> Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's chauffeur, is facing trial in one of the military commissions that Bush created on November 13, 2001. The case pending in the high court will determine the legality of those military commissions, and will decide whether Hamdan and other Guantanamo detainees can challenge their detention in US federal courts.</p>
<p align="justify"> The importance of <i>Hamdan v. Rumsfeld</i> is evident from the sheer number of amicus briefs it has garnered. Of the 42 amici in this case, 37 - including one filed by 280 law professors, this writer among them - support Hamdan's position.</p>
<p align="justify"> Afghani militia forces captured Hamdan in Afghanistan in November 2001. They turned him over to the United States military, which transported him to the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba, where he continues to be detained.</p>
<p align="justify"> In 2004, the US government designated Hamdan an "enemy combatant" and charged him with conspiracy to commit the following crimes: attacks on civilians and civilian objects, murder and destruction of property by an unprivileged belligerent, and terrorism. Hamdan has not been charged with committing the underlying substantive crimes. The military commissions only have jurisdiction to try war crimes. Conspiracy is not a war crime.</p>
<p align="justify"> In November 2004, the US District Court for the District of Columbia granted Hamdan's petition for habeas corpus. That court held that Hamdan could not be tried by a military commission unless a competent tribunal first determined that he was not a prisoner of war under the Third Geneva Convention. The district court also forbade the military commission from trying Hamdan unless the rules for those commissions are amended to be consistent with and not contrary to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).
</p>
<p align="justify"> The Third Geneva Convention requires that if there is a doubt about whether someone is a POW, a "competent tribunal" shall make the determination; meanwhile, the prisoner must be treated as a POW.</p>
<p align="justify"> Geneva III also provides that prisoners of war shall be tried in the same types of courts as members of the armed forces of the detaining power. It says, "In no circumstances whatever shall a prisoner of war be tried by a court of any kind which does not offer the essential guarantees of independence and impartiality as generally recognized."</p>
<p align="justify"> Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions prohibits "the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples."</p>
<p align="justify"> Bush crafted the military commissions to deny the accused due process protections the UCMJ guarantees. The accused can be convicted and sentenced to death based on evidence he never sees, in proceedings where he cannot be present. Hearsay is admissible and the standard for admissibility of evidence falls below that required by US military and civilian courts.</p>
<p align="justify"> In July 2005, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit overturned the district court's ruling. The appellate court held that the Geneva Convention is unenforceable in court, and that Geneva does not apply to al Q'aeda. Chief Justice John Roberts, who voted against Hamdan in the Court of Appeals, will not take part in the Supreme Court decision.</p>
<p align="justify"> Meanwhile, on December 30, 2005, Congress passed the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, which codifies US law against cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. But the act also purports to strip our federal courts of jurisdiction to hear the Guantanamo detainees' habeas corpus petitions, including those that complain of mistreatment.</p>
<p align="justify"> The Bush administration then moved to dismiss Hamdan's petition, but the Supreme Court kept the case alive and will hear it today.</p>
<p align="justify"> Hamdan's brief challenges the Supreme Court to stop "this unprecedented arrogation of power." It warns that "if in the interest of 'national security,' this Court concludes that the President has such authority, it will be hard pressed to limit, in any principled manner, the President's assertion of similarly unprecedented powers in other areas of civil society, so long as they purport to serve the same objective. Indeed, it is not hard to imagine a future President invoking this case as precedent, and asserting the need to subject American citizens to military commissions for any offense somehow connected to the 'war on terror.'"</p>
<p align="justify"> "In the end," the Hamdan brief says, "the President cannot claim that the criminal offenses of the laws of war apply to the war on terror, and at the same time deny the accused the right to invoke any of the protections of the laws of war [the Geneva Conventions]."</p>
<p align="justify"> Steve Clemons, of <A href="http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/" target="_blank">The Washington Note</A>, recently quoted Sonia Picado, former Costa Rican ambassador to the US, and the first and only woman judge on the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Picado said that Bush's military commissions sent "a cold chill" through democracies around the world, which had suffered historically from oppressive secret military tribunals.</p>
<p align="justify"> Justice Antonin Scalia, who has already pre-judged this case, should recuse himself. In a March 8 talk at the University of Freiberg in Switzerland, Scalia denied that the detainees have legal rights. "War is war," he declared, "and it has never been the case that when you captured a combatant you have to give them a jury trial in your civil courts." Scalia, who flipped his middle finger at reporters in Boston on Sunday, will give the finger to Salim Ahmed Hamdan and the rule of law if he remains on the case. [(Subtitle and/or emphasis added by Wolf Britain.)]</p>
<HR align=left width="100%"><br />
<p align="justify"><i> <A href="http://truthout.org/contactmc.php" target="_blank">Marjorie Cohn</a> is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, President-elect of the National Lawyers Guild, and the US representative to the executive committee of the American Association of Jurists. She writes a weekly column for the great and powerful t r u t h o u t website.</i></p>
<P> ________</P>
<p align="justify"><em>(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)</em></p>
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<p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/printer_032806J.shtml" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.print.gif" border="0" width="18" height="11"> Print This Story</a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"><!-- Start ApplyTools code --><a href = '#' onclick = "window.open('http://refer.truthout.org/cgi-bin/applyrefer.cgi?job=refer&URL='+self.location.href,'','width=400,height=450,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes');"><font style = 'weight:bold;'><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.mail.gif" border="0" width="18" height="10"> E-mail This Story</font></a><img src="http://www.truthout.org/imgs.site_01/2.ClrSpc.indent_2.gif" width="20" height="1"></font><br></p><!-- End ApplyTools code --></strong><div class="blogger-post-footer">Wolf Britain, the blogmaster of this weblog, is an Equal, Human, Civil, Legal, and Liberty Rigths Advocate; Independent Legal Assistant, Troubleshooter and/or Whistleblower; Personal Computer Specialist; Blogger / Blogmaster; Webmaster; Writer; and Poet; Sui Juris / Pro Esse Suo / Pro Se (essentially meaning he represents himself as best he can and does NOT practice law without a license, or give legal advice).</div>Wolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04068990452249589426noreply@blogger.com0