May 28, 2004
America Gone Mad
Can Bin Laden Save Bush? by Marc Ash: "On the 10th day of September 2001, George W. Bush's poll numbers were better than they are today, but not much. The Rehnquist-ordained presidency was having difficulty impressing anyone but the Republican faithful. That was about to change; as the towers fell, George W. Bush's fortunes rose. Overnight his approval ratings doubled, and that was just the start. Over the past two and a half years since the attacks, Bush has used the fear generated by September 11th to effect a broad social and economic agenda that had little or nothing to do with national security." Truthout
May 29, 2004
Tom Ridge "blindsided" by Ashcroft's announcement that a terrorist attack is on its way -- Hmmm.... What does that tell you? USA Today, Tom Paine, Tom Paine, Alternet, Alternet, Alternet, Yahoo, Yahoo
May 31, 2004
America Gone Mad -- South Tucson Police Use a Stun Gun on a Nine-Year-Old Girl. KGUN 9 Who Needs Enemies? Football star-turned-soldier Patrick Tillman was killed by American "friendly fire," military officials admitted. The Independent Democracy Our Way -- As the countdown for the "handover" approaches, negotiations stall because Iraqis don't want the right president. Toronto Star This is how sick it gets: Bush keeps Saddam Hussein's gun in the White House. This is a clue into the true nature of the perverse personal drama we have all been dragged into. MSNBC, Yahoo Iraq Disaster Deepens Tensions between military leaders and civilian goons Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz. SwissInfo Old Dog, New Tricks -- Meanwhile Rumsfeld, who scoffed at "Old Europe" and called the UN irrelevant, is now admitting the US needs help to stop the bloodshed in Iraq. "This cause is an international one," he said to the graduating class at West Point. "Its success depends on convincing friends and allies with whom we are so inter-dependent to not be terrorized by threats or isolated by fears." We want your help, but don't expect us to give up control of the oil. Independent Unrollable Heads -- Retired general and former chief of the CIA, Anthony Zinni said heads should roll over Iraq. The Iraq war and post war plans were the Iraqi war plans and postwar plans were "our mistake from the beginning ...if you are secretary of defense, you are responsible for this, if you were responsible for the planning and implementation on the ground, if you were responsible for other non-military forces, non-political, economic, social or security forces and all others, then you bear the responsibility." Arab News, Harretz Heads Must Roll! Retired Marine Corps major general William A. Whitlow writes in the Washington Post Truthout. "In the face of growing evidence that the president was deceived and misguided about the cause and urgency for waging war on Saddam Hussein, it is time for those responsible to stand forth and accept accountability. True, the president is ultimately responsible for the actions of his vice president, his Cabinet and the executive departments. But it has become clear that the counsel the president received from the vice president, secretary of defense, deputy secretary of defense and senior uniformed leadership was severely flawed and uncorroborated. Whether the president was intentionally misled by neoconservatives or whether their advice was a result of pure incompetence remains to be seen. The fact is that he was misled sufficiently to require him to take bold action to restore his diminished credibility." Proof Cheney Lied -- Documents surface showing Cheney lied about having "absolutely no influence of, involvement of, knowledge of in any way, shape or form of contracts" given by the military to Halliburton. Time Tear It Down! The new Indian government is repealing the anti-terrorist laws put into effect by the outgoing regime. As J. Sri Raman says, "The process, however, is likely to provoke a political counter-offensive from forces here that actually saw a golden opportunity in the ghastly Twin Towers tragedy." Gee, who does that sound like? The U.S. retreated from Najaf after failing in its objective to capture the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. As the Independent reported, "The American agreement to withdraw without capturing Sadr will be seen in Iraq as a second embarrassing capitulation in as many months, after US forces ended their April siege of the Sunni city of Fallujah without capturing those responsible for killing and mutilating the bodies of four American contractors - the original reason for the siege in which hundreds of Iraqi civilians are believed to have died." Truthout.org. U.S. Casualties in April and May Top 200 -- AP Too Little Too Late -- The New York Times' soul-wrenching confession about Jayson Blair's lies was much ado about nothing compared to its institutional lies about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Nevertheless, though it took thousands of unnecessary deaths to bring it about, the Times admission of its failure to do its job is extremely significant. It represents a sea change that is taking place as more and more people in all walks of life are deciding they have had enough and it is time to take action before the catastrophe of the Bush administration takes America all the way down. (See New York Times, samples of the coverage.) Bottom line, though, according to Norman Soloman in Counterpunch: "A terrible truth, still unacknowledged by the New York Times, is that the newspaper did not 'fall for misinformation' as much as eagerly jump for it. And no amount of self-examination, genuine or otherwise, can possibly make up for the carnage in Iraq that the Times facilitated." Who Killed Nick Berg? The questions mount. No answers are forthcoming. Sydney Morning Herald