Readers letters, May 8, 2003

Dear Dr. Hassan A. El-Najjar --

Please get your website up and running. There's plenty of news to cover regarding Bush's attempts at an occupation of Iraq.

Rob Cantoon

"Palestinians" will NOT get peace until they give it. God forbid Jerusalem ever goes to these racist, selfish Arabs.

As to the children, they are being most abused by the "Palestinians" themselves; money should be spent on them, not weapons.

It is RACIST to keep Jews and Christians from the Temple Mount you call by another name.

We will fight you as long as we live. Don't bother screwing with my computer I can afford many more and you'll only further my resolve.

Diana

Editor:

Diana,

Peace to your soul. There is enough room in the world for everybody. Why denying the true children of Israel, Isaac, Ismael, and Abraham (Palestinian Arabs: Jews, Christians, and Muslims) the right to coexist in peace.

God has promised the Holy Land to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (the Palestinian people). You are fighting God. Think again about what are you saying.

Hello and thank you for your time.

I know this may seem a little dated but I am wondering if you have any information on the toppling of the Saddam statue in Iraq being a fraud. I have heard that it was closed off by tanks and maybe 150 Iraqi's were present.....some of which were men brought by the Americans.

What do you think the authenticity of these claims are?

Do you have any evidence that they are valid?

Thanks again for your time

Willie Johnson

Editor: Several media reports were published about how this was staged. In particular, a US tank pulled the statue down, not the Iraqis. A US soldier put the US flag on Saddam's face, then he added an Iraqi flag without the Arabic words of Allahu Akbar (God is Greater). All this was on TV. Read yesterday's piece about the role of the media during the war.

I am a 38 year old, Christian, American woman. I want to apologize to the Palestinian people for paying (with my tax dollars) for the weapons that kill their people.

I must admit that I have been relatively ignorant about their situation and, having my problems to deal with, did not pay proper attention to their plight.

The fact that my country was going to war in Iraq prompted me to begin investigating what is really going on. I am not a peace activist. I have never protested anything in my life. We are a very patriotic family. My father fought in the Korean War and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

However, through my research, I have come to realize how unfairly the Palestinian people have been treated. I became interested when I read about a young American woman named Rachel Corrie who was killed by an Israeli bulldozer for trying to prevent a Palestinian family's home from being destroyed.

Where is the outrage in my country over this murder? Well, it was not even newsworthy here. I am proud of Rachel Corrie and wonder if I would have the courage to do the same.

I hope that the Palestinian people know to distinguish between actions by our government and the American people. We are not evil people, I swear to you. Most of us have no idea what is really going on in your region and that's the way they want to keep it.

I do not advocate violence and I denounce Palestinian (and all) terrorism. However, I apologize that my tax dollars go toward weapons that kill Palestinian children. I wish our peoples could get to know each other. I think we could be friends.

Dear Dr. Hassan A. El-Najjar ,

Having watched events of the last century come to a sort of first stage culmination with the end of Gulf War II, it is time to stop and reflect on a simple issue.

Who are the real culprits?

In my mind it is a set of political leaders of the Arab nations who could not for a single second talk to each other in honesty and trust in the interest of the Iraqi people. It is easy to blame Bush Sr, Bush Jr. or Blair, but the real culprits are in the Arab political and feudal hierarchy.

Before Gulf War II the entire free world public was with the Iraqi people. Not one would have shed a tear for Saddam. The Arab political leaders were unable to capitalise on this because of their own personal political agendas. The Arab leaders wanted to ensure that they stayed in power regardless. They behaved as true sycophants. There was not a single one, not one single Arab leader which stood alongside the world public when they took to the streets to prevent the massacre of the innocent Iraqi women and children. People of all complexions, of all religious beliefs, of all callings, stood up shoulder to shoulder and were counted as friends of the Iraqi people - but not one Arab leader came forward but many became collaborators to death and destruction of an innocent people.

Do you think that any single person of the world public will shed a single tear when each of these Arab leaders are picked off, one by one, in the coming years when their usefulness to the US is outlived.

As much as I oppose Bush and Blair. I, for one, will not care a damn when the present generation of Arab leaders is eliminated!

Regards'

Jacob Matthan

Oulu, Finland

Editor: When war breaks out, like the US-UK war on Iraq, it disrupts the life of the entire population. It's not a regime change, as they say. Arabs know that these leaders are imposed on them and backed by the United States and Britain, but they don't want to see any Arab state destroyed and looted like what happened to Iraq. Finally, Arabs went out in demonstrations against the war everywhere in the Arab World, just like people everywhere in the world. But you are right concerning rulers, they were also like most rulers in the world, either collaborating directly or indirectly with the war effort. Very few governments were brave enough to oppose the war: France, Germany, Russia, Belgium, Mexico, Chile, Syria, and the rest of the members of the Security Council who opposed it openly. It is not just an Arab problem, it's a world problem, too.

Rumsfeld Pushes For Pentagon Total Control
(A military dictatorship in the making)

Below are a series of links to recent articles concerning the latest legal developments in the War on Terror on the U.S. home-front. Some of you will already be familiar with debate over Patriot Act II, which if passed would effectively end the law of habeas corpus and the right to legal representation in the United States.

The stories below concern two other proposed law changes which have received far less attention, firstly there is a Pentagon Bill to give Rumsfeld what looks like effective absolute control at the Pentagon – eliminating Congressional oversight and granting him apparently unlimited powers to contract on behalf of the U.S. Government - and an Intelligence Bill which would if passed would give the CIA and Pentagon powers to spy domestically inside the United States.

Sent by John Kaminski

Plans For Iraq Attack Began On 9/11

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2002

(CBS) CBS News has learned that barely five hours after American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was telling his aides to come up with plans for striking Iraq — even though there was no evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the attacks.

That's according to notes taken by aides who were with Rumsfeld in the National Military Command Center on Sept. 11 – notes that show exactly where the road toward war with Iraq began, reports CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin.

At 9:53 a.m., just 15 minutes after the hijacked plane had hit the Pentagon, and while Rumsfeld was still outside helping with the injured, the National Security Agency, which monitors communications worldwide, intercepted a phone call from one of Osama bin Laden's operatives in Afghanistan to a phone number in the former Soviet! Republic of Georgia.

The caller said he had "heard good news" and that another target was still to come; an indication he knew another airliner, the one that eventually crashed in Pennsylvania, was at that very moment zeroing in on Washington.

It was 12:05 p.m. when the director of Central Intelligence told Rumsfeld about the intercepted conversation.

Rumsfeld felt it was "vague," that it "might not mean something," and that there was "no good basis for hanging hat." In other words, the evidence was not clear-cut enough to justify military action against bin Laden.

But later that afternoon, the

Still No Signs of Iraqs Alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction

Report by YellowTimes.org

CHICAGO (NFTF.org) -- Despite the U.S. having secured military control in Iraq, the Bush administration has not yet uncovered Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction. Before the conflict, the Bush administration frequently claimed that they had evidence proving Iraq was hiding massive quantities of weapons of mass destruction; to date, these weapons have not been found, if they do indeed exist.

There are still no signs of Iraq's biological weapons materials capable of producing "over 25,000 liters of anthrax," as President Bush accused in his State of the Union Address. There are also no signs of Saddam Hussein's materials capable of producing "more than 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin."

Doubts have been raised on U.S. "intelligence officials [who] estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent."

The President also stated that "U.S. intelligence indicates that Saddam Hussein had upwards of 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents." The President argued that "Saddam Hussein has not accounted for the remaining 29,984 of these prohibited munitions."

Other than these accusations, the President argued that the "British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." But this report turned out to be fraudulent and forged.

The President also argued that Iraq has "attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production." Yet the IAEA and the U.N. has refuted these claims, saying that the tubes could only be used for rockets, and not in the creation of nuclear weapons.

The main justification for the war in Iraq was that Saddam Hussein was preparing weapons of mass destruction that could be used against the United States and its allies; as of now, the world is still waiting for these weapons to be revealed.

India and Pakistan should rename the special US envoy Richard Armitage as Richard Dis-Armitage. He is not coming only for Kashmir or the gas pipeline project; though both issues are in the pipeline.

The real US agenda behind all the hyperactivity to a force a shot-gun marriage between the two un-willing neighbours is to disarm both of them, of their nuclear arsenal, so that there should not remain any open threat to both, from each other to justify the nuclear stock-pile in the first place; while at the same time in so many other ways, their dubious status as ‘nuclear powers’, does not threaten the monopoly of the super-power to deal with them according to its own over-riding interests.

It is also to ensure that they do not get into the lucrative business of exporting technology to other victimized countries, in the manner Pakistan is alleged to have managed in case of North Korea as exchange for North Korea supplying it with Long Range missiles to carry their nuclear warheads.

The most glaring fact that has come out of the whole exercise is the abject helplessness of both India and Pakistan to be masters of their own destinies. Both countries, personified in the persona of their ineffective leaders, are so heavily dependant on US controlled international finance, that their show of ‘freedom’ and bravado is a big sham. That facile freedom too is a gift of the super-power that has found it absolutely essential to cooperate in maintaining the façade of freedom of both governments, lest their own people may not rise up in revolt.

GHULAM MUHAMMED

ghulam_muhammed@hotmail.com

Published on Sunday, May 4, 2003 by the Toronto Star

The Real 'Saving of Private Lynch'
Iraqi Medical Staff Tell a Different Story Than US Military
'We all became friends with her, we liked her so much'

by Mitch Potter

NASIRIYA, Iraq—The fog of war comes sometimes with a certain odor, and cutting through its layers, like cutting through an onion, can bring tears to the eyes.

Such is the case with what is far and away the most oft-told story of the Persian Gulf War II — the saga of Saving Private Lynch.

Branded on to our consciousness by media frenzy, the flawless midnight rescue of 19-year-old Private First Class Jessica Lynch hardly bears repeating even a month after the fact.

Precision teams of U.S. Army Rangers and Navy Seals, acting on intelligence information and supported by four helicopter gunships, ended Lynch's nine-day Iraqi imprisonment in true Rambo style, raising America's spirits when it needed it most.

All Hollywood could ever hope to have in a movie was there in this extraordinary feat of rescue — except, perhaps, the truth.

So say three Nasiriya doctors, two nurses, one hospital administrator and local residents interviewed separately last week in a Toronto Star investigation.

The medical team that cared for Lynch at the hospital formerly known as Saddam Hospital is only now beginning to appreciate how grand a myth was built around the four hours the U.S. raiding party spent with them early on April Fool's Day.

And they are disappointed.

For Dr. Harith Houssona, 24, who came to consider Lynch a friend after nurturing her through the worst of her injuries, the ironies are almost beyond tabulation.

"The most important thing to know is that the Iraqi soldiers and commanders had left the hospital almost two days earlier," Houssona said. "The night they left, a few of the senior medical staff tried to give Jessica back. We carefully moved her out of intensive care and into an ambulance and began to drive to the Americans, who were just one kilometer away. But when the ambulance got within 300 meters, they began to shoot. There wasn't even a chance to tell them `We have Jessica. Take her.'"

One night later, the raid unfolded. Hassam Hamoud, 35, a waiter at Nasiriya's al-Diwan Restaurant, describes the preamble, when he was approached outside his home near the hospital by U.S. Special Forces troops accompanied by an Arabic translator from Qatar.

"They asked me if any troops were still in the hospital and I said `No, they're all gone.' Then they asked about Uday Hussein, and again, I said `No,'" Hamoud said. "The translator seemed satisfied with my answers, but the soldiers were very nervous."

At midnight, the sound of helicopters circling the hospital's upper floors sent staff scurrying for the x-ray department — the only part of the hospital with no outside windows. The power was cut, followed by small explosions as the raiding teams blasted through locked doors.

A few minutes later, they heard a man's voice shout, "Go! Go! Go!" in English. Seconds later, the door burst open and a red laser light cut through the darkness, trained on the forehead of the chief resident.

"We were pretty frightened. There were about 40 medical staff together in the x-ray department," said Dr. Anmar Uday, 24. "Everyone expected the Americans to come that day because the city had fallen. But we didn't expect them to blast through the doors like a Hollywood movie."

Dr. Mudhafer Raazk, 27, observed dryly that two cameramen and a still photographer, also in uniform, accompanied the U.S. teams into the hospital. Maybe this was a movie after all.

Separately, the Iraqi doctors describe how the tension fell away rapidly once the Americans realized no threat existed on the premises. A U.S. medic was led to Lynch's room as others secured the rest of the three-wing hospital. Several staff and patients were placed in plastic handcuffs, including, according to Houssona, one Iraqi civilian who was already immobilized with abdominal wounds from an earlier explosion.

One group of soldiers returned to the x-ray room to ask about the bodies of missing U.S. soldiers and was led to a graveyard opposite the hospital's south wall. All were dead on arrival, the doctors say.

"The whole thing lasted about four hours," Raazk said. "When they left, they turned to us and said `Thank you.' That was it."

The Iraqi medical staff fanned out to assess the damage. In all, 12 doors were broken, a sterilized operating theatre contaminated, and the specialized traction bed in which Lynch had been placed was trashed.

"That was a special bed, the only one like it in the hospital, but we gave it to Jessica because she was developing a bed sore," Houssona said.

What bothers Raazk most is not what was said about Lynch's rescue, so much as what wasn't said about her time in hospital.

"We all became friends with her, we liked her so much," Houssona said. "Especially because we all speak a little English, we were able to assure her the whole time that there was no danger, that she would go home soon."

Initial reports indicated Lynch had been shot and stabbed after emptying her weapon in a pitched battle when her unit, the U.S. Army's 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company, was ambushed after its convoy became lost near Nasiriya.

A few days after her release, Lynch's father told reporters none of the wounds were battle-related. The Iraqi doctors are more specific. Houssona said the injuries were blunt in nature, possible stemming from a fall from her vehicle.

"She was in pretty bad shape. There was blunt trauma, resulting in compound fractures of the left femur (upper leg) and the right humerus (upper arm). And also a deep laceration on her head," Houssona said. "She took two pints of blood and we stabilized her. The cut required stitches to close. But the leg and arm injuries were more serious."

Nasiriya's medical team was going all out at this point, due to the enormous influx of casualties from throughout the region. The hospital lists 400 dead and 2,000 wounded in the span of two weeks before and during Lynch's eight-day stay.

"Almost all were civilians, but I don't just blame the Americans," Raazk said. "Many of those casualties were the fault of the fedayeen, who had been using people as shields and in some cases just shooting people who wouldn't fight alongside them. It was horrible."

But they all made a point of giving Lynch the best of everything, he added. Despite a scarcity of food, extra juice and cookie were scavenged for their American guest.

They also assigned to Lynch the hospital's most nurturing nurse, Khalida Shinah. At 43, Shinah has three daughters close to Lynch's age. She immediately embraced her foreign patient as one of her own.

"It was so scary for her," Shinah said through a translator. "Not only was she badly hurt, but she was in a strange country. I felt more like a mother than a nurse. I told her again and again, Allah would watch over her. And many nights I sang her to sleep."

In the first few days, Houssona said the doctors were somewhat nervous as to whether Iraqi intelligence agents would show any interest in Lynch. But when the road between Nasiriya and Baghdad fell to the U.S.-led coalition, they knew the danger had passed.

"At first, Jessica was very frightened. Everybody was poking their head in the room to see her and she said `Do they want to hurt me?' I told her, `Of course not. They're just curious. They've never seen anyone like you before.'

"But after a few days, she began to relax. And she really bonded with Khalida. She told me, `I'm going to take her back to America with me."

Three days before the U.S. raid, Lynch had regained enough strength that the team was ready to proceed with orthopedic surgery on her left leg. The procedure involved cutting through muscle to install a platinum plate to both ends of the compound fracture. "We only had three platinum plates left in our supply and at least 100 Iraqis were in need," Raazk said. "But we gave one to Jessica."

A second surgery, and a second platinum plate, was scheduled for Lynch's fractured arm. But U.S. forces removed her before it took place, Raazk said.

Three days after the raid, the doctors had a visit from one of their U.S. military counterparts. He came, they say, to thank them for the superb surgery.

"He was an older doctor with gray hair and he wore a military uniform," Raazk said.

"I told him he was very welcome, that it was our pleasure. And then I told him: `You do realize you could have just knocked on the door and we would have wheeled Jessica down to you, don't you?'

"He was shocked when I told him the real story. That's when I realized this rescue probably didn't happen for propaganda reasons. I think this American army is just such a huge machine, the left hand never knows what the right hand is doing."

What troubles the staff in Nasiriya most are reports that Lynch was abused while in their case. All vehemently deny it.

Told of the allegation through an interpreter, nurse Shinah wells up with tears. Gathering herself, she responds quietly: "This is a lie. But why ask me? Why don't you ask Jessica what kind of treatment she received?"

But that is easier said than done. At the Pentagon last week, U.S. Army spokesman Lt.-Col. Ryan Yantis said the door to Lynch remains closed as she continues her recovery at Washington's Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

"Until such time as she wants to talk — and that's going to be no time soon, and it may be never at all — the press is simply going to have to wait."

BLAIR: I WILL ANSWER TO GOD FOR WAR

PM's guilt over civvy deaths

By James Hardy, Political Editor

Daily Mirror

May 3, 2003

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12917085&method=full&siteid=

50143&headline=BLAIR%3A%20I%20WILL%20ANSWER%20TO%20GOD%20FOR%20WAR

TONY Blair is ready to answer to God for the deaths of innocent civilians

in Iraq.

The Prime Minister said he could justify to his maker the military

decisions that led to the killing and maiming of hundreds of ordinary

people during the war.

He admitted feeling the strain over the tragedies. "It really gets to

you," he said.

But he added that he was ready to answer before God "for those who have

died or have been horribly maimed as a result of my decisions".

Mr Blair's comments were made to former Times editor Peter Stothard, who

followed him for 30 days during the crisis.

Yesterday, the Premier met US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who

later revealed that America now wanted the United Nations to play a part

in the rebuilding of Iraq.

He said: "I hope they do play a role. The coalition forces have been in

contact with the UN and I suspect there will be...intensive discussions

as to what role they may or may not wish to play."

Only last month, US Vice-President Dick Cheney said: "We don't believe

the UN is equipped to play that central role."

Mr Rumsfeld, speaking after meeting Mr Blair at Chequers, denied that UN

co-operation was necessary to legitimise the war in Iraq. Earlier, he had

talks with Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, who said they had made

"extremely good" progress over Iraq and Afghanistan.

Three more of Saddam's top aides have been held.

They are Abdul Tawab Mullah Hwaish, who oversaw the development of

weapons of mass destruction in the 1980s, an Iraqi vice president, Taha

Mohieddin Ma'rouf, and Mizban Khadr Hadi, commander of one of four

military regions that Saddam established on the eve of the war.

Meanwhile, the Parachute Regiment's 1st Battalion has re-occupied the

British embassy in Baghdad after 13 years.

The building was evacuated just before first Gulf War. It will re-open in

a few weeks.

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government

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Links to these and other stories are found on our website at:
http://legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news

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White House refuses to release Sept. 11 info --The Bush dictatorship and the nation's intelligence agencies are blocking the release of sensitive information about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, delaying publication of a 900-page congressional report on how the terrorist assault happened. Petition to Senate to Investigate Oddities of 9/11 surpasses 19,600 signatures -- please add yours!

Bechtel tied to bin Ladens --Osama bin Laden family members invested $10M in an equity fund run by former Bechtel unit. The Bush dictatorship launched a war on terror because of the alleged acts of Osama bin Laden. Ironically, one of the companies the regime has picked to rebuild Iraq after the latest phase of that war has ties to bin Laden's family, according to a published report. [Lest we forget, the Idiot Usurper awarded billions to the DynCorp child molesters. *See Scandal-hit US firm wins key contracts A US military contractor accused of human rights violations has won a multi-million-dollar contract to police post-Saddam Iraq, The Observer can reveal. DynCorp, which has donated more than £100,000 to the Republican Party, began recruiting for a private police force in Iraq last week on behalf of the US State Department. While the US has promised help in bringing law and order to Iraq, the involvement of DynCorp has caused concern as it has been involved in a series of recent high-profile scandals involving personnel in sensitive missions overseas. DynCorp personnel contracted to the United Nations police service in Bosnia were implicated in buying and selling prostitutes, including a girl as young as 12. Several DynCorp employees were also accused of videotaping the rape of one of the women.]

Bechtel's roots in Mideast --Lucrative projects date back to WWIII --In the mid-1980s, Bechtel pursued construction of a pipeline linking Iraq's Kirkuk oil fields to the Jordanian port of Aqaba on the Red Sea. According to documents recently obtained by the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C., Saddam Hussein discussed the project during a 1983 meeting with current Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who at the time was serving as an envoy for President Ronald Reagan.

Rep. Henry A. Waxman questions Donald Rumsfeld about Halliburton --"I am writing about Halliburton's ties to countries that sponsor terrorism" (.pdf)

US force incites terror: Governor --Western Australia Governor John Sanderson has accused the United States of provoking terrorism by flexing its military might outside the United Nations.

Britain and US accused over cluster bombs --The lives of Iraqi civilians are being endangered because Britain and the United States are failing to provide adequate information about their forces' use of cluster bombs, says the New York-based monitoring group Human Rights Watch.

Despite US denials, cluster bombs continue to claim lives in Iraq --As George W. Bush gloats over the US "victory" in Iraq, Iraqi civilians continue to be terrorised by unexploded cluster bomblets.

Iraqi welcome for US turns to fury --The mood is changing for the worse in Umm Qasr where food and medicine is desperately needed, writes Mark Baker from southern Iraq. "This is the way the war ends: not with the jubilation of the liberated but with the whimpering of ragged children. 'Water! Water!' they cry, running from the roadside towards passing cars, thrusting their fingers towards their mouths in the salute of the thirsty..."

Picture on website: AFP An Iraqi mother carries her son, burned after a coalition bomb caused a house fire, to Umm Qasr for medical help.

So he thinks it's all over... --by Robert Fisk "When Iraqi civilians look into the faces of American troops, President [sic] Bush famously told the world on Thursday, 'they see strength and kindness and goodwill'. Untrue, Mr Bush. They see occupation... The Shia Muslim community, now supported by thousands of Badr Brigade Iraqis trained in Iran, believes the US is in Iraq for its oil. It is furious at America’s treatment of Iraq’s citizens; in three days last week at least 17 Sunni demonstrators were killed, two of them less than 11 years old."

'Comical Ali' kept broadcasting until the last minute --Iraq's former information minister Mohammad Saeed al-Sahhaf kept broadcasting until the last minute while Bagdad was being destroyed around him. WeLoveTheIraqiInformationMinister.com "This site is a coalition effort of bloodthirsty hawks and ineffectual doves united in admiration for Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, Iraqi Minister of Information (currently on administrative leave)." "I speak better English than this villain Bush" --Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, Iraqi Minister of Information

U.S. Says Iran Failing to Clear Up Nuclear Concerns --Iran has done little to cooperate with U.N. inspectors examining its nuclear program, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday, reinforcing Washington's view that Tehran is violating a key treaty and should face more international pressure.

First Anti-American Protest Held in Afghan Capital --About 300 Afghans chanted anti-American and anti-British slogans in Kabul on Tuesday in the first such protest since U.S.-led forces toppled the fundamentalist Taliban in late 2001. [Americans are hated all over the world, thanks to the actions of international terrorist, George Bush. --Lori Price]

Trained by US, Colombia unit "gains" --Reports "successes" [?!?] against guerrillas --Opening a new front in the war on terrorism, Colombian soldiers trained by the US military have killed or captured at least six guerrilla leaders as part of a ''decapitation strategy'' to defeat the country's rebel groups and "strike a blow against the drug trade", American military and intelligence officials told the Globe. [LOL, if the US government wants to stop the drug trade, why did Bush install the current regime in Afghanistan, which is producing record amounts of opium?] On Thursday, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said the United States is considering transferring some military equipment from Iraq to Colombia.

Web Used to Trace Rally's Organizers --Why was the NYPD willing to skate so close to the edge of the law in questioning anti-war protesters about their political beliefs and affiliations, a policy Police Commissioner Ray Kelly abandoned when it became public? Stunned by its failure to predict the large turnout on Feb. 15, the source said, the NYPD sought to trace the event's organizers through at least one anti-war Web site.

Media Monopolies Have Muzzled Dissent --by Ian Masters "If information is the oxygen of democracy, the United States has just been gassed, not by weapons of mass destruction but by a weapon of mass distraction. With George W. Bush basking in glorious ratings and Fox News climbing in the ratings, we may be moving toward a coronation instead of a reelection [sic: re-s-election] in 2004. It was, after all, Rupert Murdoch's unilateral anointment of Bush as the winner in the early hours of the morning after the undecided 2000 election that led Al Gore to foolishly concede, because he and the other networks believed what they saw on Fox Television."

The Iceman Cometh --by Maureen Dowd "[Bush:] Like greed, aggression is good. Aggression has marked the upward surge of mankind. Aggression breeds patriotism, and patriotism curbs dissent. Aggression has made Democrats cower, the press purr and the world quake. Aggression — you mark my words — will not only save humanity, but it will soon color all the states Republican red. Mission accomplished."

George W. Bush Military Record — and Misrepresentations Pertaining to Military Records --George W. Bush, whose permission to fly was revoked by the military (he was suspended, assigned to a disciplinary unit and not allowed to fly military assignments again) liked to portray himself to voters as a "fighter pilot."

Media AWOL in noting irony of Bush's flight --by Eric Zorn "During the presidential campaign of 2000, it started going around that Texas Gov. George W. Bush, then the leading Republican candidate, had significant gaps in his military record. Specifically, that Bush failed to report for duty for an entire year toward the end of his hitch with the Texas Air National Guard... A search of all news publications and programs archived in the LexisNexis database for the last seven months of the 2000 campaign found 114 stories referencing Bush, the Texas Air National Guard and Alabama. Over that same span, nearly 10 times that many stories--1,076 to be exact--referenced Al Gore and the expression "invented the internet," an allusion to the bogus charge then haunting Gore that he had wildly inflated his role in the online revolution."

Man on Horseback --by Paul Krugman "...nobody seemed bothered that Mr. Bush, who appears to have skipped more than a year of the National Guard service that kept him out of Vietnam, is now emphasizing his flying experience. (...An exhaustive study by The Boston Globe found no evidence that Mr. Bush fulfilled any of his duties during that missing year. And since Mr. Bush has chosen to play up his National Guard career, this can't be shrugged off as old news.) ...Luckily for Mr. Bush, the frustrating search for Osama bin Laden somehow morphed into a good old-fashioned war, the kind where you seize the enemy's capital and get to declare victory after a cheering crowd pulls down the tyrant's statue. (It wasn't much of a crowd, and American soldiers actually brought down the statue, but it looked great on TV.)"

Fruitcakes --by John Brand, D.Min., J.D. "How does one explain a government claiming to bring democracy to Iraq while imposing the Patriot Act on its own people? How does the Chief Executive justify repetition of a failed program, the tax cut, to stimulate the economy? How does Kenneth Lay rationalize sale of his own stock while prohibiting his employees from selling theirs? How can a Pat Robertson claim to preach the message of the Prince of Peace while spouting hatred and venom? In other words, what causes seemingly normal people to act like a bunch of fruitcakes?"

DJs Suspended for Playing Dixie Chicks --Country station KKCS has suspended two disc jockeys for playing the Dixie Chicks, violating a ban imposed after the group criticized Dictator Bush.

Anti-War Protesters March Through Midtown (New York City Indymedia) "Several hundred anti-war protesters marked the 33rd anniversary of the Kent State Massacre by marching down 5th Avenue Sunday afternoon demanding the Bush Administration tell the truth about its endless 'War on Terror' abroad and it's repression of civil liberties here in the U.S." Images: Truth March; Additional Truth March Photos

Patriot Act Defeated in Florida's Largest County --Broward County Board of Commissioners today voted unanimously against an act that most seriously threatens civil rights and liberties of all people in America. Broward's resolution affirms all people's rights in accordance with the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

52 sent home after refusing anthrax jabs --Fifty-two Australian defence force personnel were returned from the Persian Gulf because they refused an anthrax vaccination, the Federal Government revealed yesterday.

UC Berkeley Bars Students From SARS Areas --The University of California at Berkeley will turn away new students from SARS-infected China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong this summer in what is believed to be the first such move by a major U.S. university to prevent the spread of the virus.

Secret Joe McCarthy Hearings Opened After 50 Years --Fifty years after Sen. Joseph McCarthy's scorched earth investigation into supposed communist infiltration of America's most sensitive institutions, secret transcripts released on Monday add another layer of tarnish to his place in history. Transcripts can be viewed here.

White House Budget Director to Resign --Mitch Daniels, Dictator Bush's budget director, will resign within the next 30 days, the White House announced Tuesday. Daniels has held the budget post since the beginning of the Bush regime, and his departure will mean that the dictator's entire initial economic team is gone. [Good. Can Bush resign now, too? Thanks.]

Budget Director to Quit to Run for Indiana Governor --It's official: Dictator Bush's sharp-tongued budget director, Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., is stepping down. The long-awaited announcement this morning that Daniels will resign within the next 30 days clears the way for the former aide to Ronald Reagan to run for governor of Indiana.

Job cuts skyrocket; Southwest hit hardest --The number of announced job cuts skyrocketed 71 percent in April to their highest nationwide level since November, dousing any hopes for a quick economic rebound after the war in Iraq, a study released Monday found.

More States Cut Aid for Child Care --Study Shows Fiscal Problems Led to Restrictions on Low-Income Families --Nearly half the states have reduced child-care subsidies for poor families during the past two years, according to a federal study to be released today, which shows that states' fiscal problems have prompted state agencies to restrict eligibility, stop accepting new families or charge them more for the care.

The Faces of Budget Cuts --by Bob Herbert "Oregon is one of many states caught in a fiscal quagmire. There are many reasons for the budgetary distress, which has spread from coast to coast. They include a lousy national economy, a widespread unwillingness locally and nationally to levy the taxes necessary to support government services, and the refusal of the Bush administration to help state and local governments that are experiencing their worst budget shortfalls since World War II."

Bush plan would wreck an already ailing economy --by Harry K. Schwartz "Even if Americans could afford President [sic] Bush’s original proposal to make all corporate dividends tax-free, it would be a profoundly bad idea. Congress is right to worry about the cost. But the most far-reaching impacts, and the most troublesome ones, have nothing to do with the federal deficit."

GOP Rep. Launches New Davis Recall --Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican multimillionaire from Vista, plans to provide a six-figure donation as "seed money" for a campaign to recall Governor Gray Davis, his political aides said. Sacramento political consultant Dave Gilliard said the committee will have sufficient money to hire professional petition circulators who will attempt to gather 700,000 to 800,000 signatures of registered voters.

7,200 Miami-Dade third graders may not advance --More than a quarter of Miami-Dade County's third-graders -- about 7,200 students -- will likely be held back after performing poorly on the state's standardized reading test, according to data released Monday. Most of Miami-Dade's lowest-performing third-graders were from inner-city schools, many of whose students live in poverty -- a factor often cited in research about underachievement.

William Bennett Says Gambling Days Over --Former education secretary and family values whackjob William Bennett says he is giving up the high-stakes casino gambling that has cost him millions over the past decade.

[May 5 lead stories:] US: 'Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction' --The Bush dictatorship has admitted that Saddam Hussein probably had no weapons of mass destruction. Senior officials in the Bush regime have admitted that they would be 'amazed' if weapons of mass destruction (WMD) were found in Iraq.

Ritter Blasts Bush's War --Ex-weapons inspector and former Marine Scott Ritter is calling for regime change in Washington. Scott Ritter may be the Bush re-s-election team’s worse nightmare. The former UN chief weapons inspector in Iraq and card-carrying Republican is barnstorming America with a blunt message: George W. Bush’s war on Iraq was waged on a "bodyguard of lies."

US invasion produces human catastrophe in Iraq --An unprecedented social calamity is confronting the Iraqi people as a result of the US invasion and the widespread looting that followed the removal of the Baghdad government.

UN Agency Wants to Investigate Iraq Nuclear Looting --The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said on Monday it had asked the United States to let it send a mission to Iraq to investigate reports of widespread looting at the country's nuclear facilities.

-- BREAKING NEWS AND COMMENTARY--

Links to these and other stories are found on our website at:
http://legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news

Bush vows to strike US enemies first --US Dictator George W Bush proclaimed victory in Iraq on Saturday but said the 'war on terror' was far from over and vowed to hunt down America’s enemies before they could strike. [Can Bu$h start with the Carlyle Group and the other terrorists involved with the September 11th attacks? --Lori Price]

Britain expects to control south-eastern Iraq --Britain is expected to take over the command of southeastern Iraq under a three-nation force set up by the United States to "stabilise" the country, the British ministry of defence said yesterday.

Allies carve up Iraq but sideline UN --Progress on giving the United Nations the 'vital' role in Iraq promised by the United States and Britain was described last night by a source close to Foreign Secretary Jack Straw as proceeding at a 'glacial pace'.

Tension seen on Iraq rebuilding --Showing strains within the Bush regime over rebuilding Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld responded testily yesterday to reports that a civilian former diplomat would be brought in to lead reconstruction efforts, outranking a retired general he had handpicked for the job.

Sources: Garner Out in Iraq Shuffle --In an apparent acknowledgment that postwar reconstruction efforts in Iraq are floundering, the White House plans to name a politically astute career diplomat to replace Jay Garner as the civilian administrator of the country, sources said Thursday.

Slain Iraqi cleric said to be CIA ally --$50, $100 bills fluttered out of robes as he died --The United States suffered a major blow in its campaign to recruit friendly Shiite clerics inside Iraq last month when it lost an influential religious ally to an angry mob — and as much as $13 million the CIA had given him to cultivate supporters [LOL!]

Did the Iraqi Army Take a Dive for the U.S.? --by Randolph T. Holhut "The Arabic-language weekly Arab Voice reported that there had been secret talks between U.S. forces and the Republican Guard. A deal was allegedly approved by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that offered large sums of money to the top echelon of the Republican Guard and offers of American citizenship for commanders and their families. If they chose to stay in Iraq, those commanders would be offered official roles in post-war Iraq, provided they hadn't committed war crimes." [a must read]

US appoints team to run Iraqi oil --US authorities announced a new top management team, headed by an Iraqi, to run the Iraqi oil ministry, and an advisory board headed by an American.

US plan for Iraqi grain market deal --Australia and the United States may share the lucrative Iraq wheat market in the aftermath of the war, US ambassador Tom Schieffer has said.

Iraq police chief resigns --Iraq's police chief Zuhir al-Naimi, who was appointed to the post only ten days ago, resigned on Saturday.

Iraqi Nuclear Site Is Found Looted --A specially trained Defense Department team, dispatched after a month of official indecision to survey a major Iraqi radioactive waste repository, today found the site heavily looted and said it was impossible to tell whether nuclear materials were missing.

Saddam Manuscripts Library in Baghdad is Safe --We now have confirmation that the largest Iraqi MSS collection, in what was known as the Saddam Manuscripts Library in Baghdad, is safe. It contains more than 40,000 Arabic, Turkish, Persian & Kurdish MSS, including the collections formerly in the Iraq Museum as well as many other private and mosque collections. All of them were packed and transferred to safekeeping last winter, in anticipation of hostilities.

Laissez-loot --by Gabriel Ash "Looting the culture of the enemy is symbolic of victory, a kind of 'consummation' of the new imperial relation of domination. ...the looting of Baghdad's National Museum was almost de rigueur. True to its god, the U.S. empire didn't send its soldiers to loot the museum. It adopted a 'laissez-faire' attitude. The forces of the state stood by as the looting was conducted by 'private enterprise.' Iraq's heritage was not crated to the Metropolitan Museum. Instead, it ended up in the possession of Washington's supreme god -- the market."

'Liberators' find they are not wanted --Bedouin tribespeople are incensed that the Americans dare to occupy their town, Ed O'Loughlin reports from Fallujah. "Residents of the central Iraqi town of Fallujah say they will mount further bombing attacks against US troops unless the soldiers evacuate a position they occupy in a former Baath party building. The warning comes as resentment runs high in the city, a stronghold of Bedouin tribes, and a day after a grenade attack on the position left seven US soldiers injured."

'Unlike the American troops, we look the Iraqis in the eye' --As warfare has turned to peacekeeping, US and British soldiers are taking very different approaches to dealing with the Iraqis, reports Olga Craig in Baghdad "...To maintain control yet allow and encourage people to live in their traditional ways, they became accustomed to understanding and respecting local culture and customs. It is a lesson that the American army has yet, it seems, to learn."

Baghdad battle 'killed 2,300' --The battle for Baghdad cost the lives of at least 1,101 Iraqi civilians, many of them women and children, according to records at the city's 19 largest hospitals.

The real 'Saving Pte. Lynch' Iraqi medical staff tell a different story than U.S. military 'We all became friends with her, we liked her so much' --The medical team that cared for Lynch at the hospital formerly known as Saddam Hospital is only now beginning to appreciate how grand a myth was built around the four hours the U.S. raiding party spent with them early on April Fool's Day. And they are disappointed.

Impatient Justice Congratulations. We've just won the wrong war. --by William Saletan "The war on terror gives meaning to the battle of Iraq. And the battle of Iraq demonstrates tangible success in the war on terror. Except it doesn't. The two stories—Iraq and al-Qaida, the battle and the war—have never really meshed. Bush keeps saying they're the same thing. But saying doesn't make it so."

America has been weakened by its victory in Iraq --by Martin Woollacott "The world has not been made more pliant and respectful by a demonstration of American might, but is, on the contrary, more recalcitrant, sulky, and difficult than it was before the Iraq war. That recalcitrance is visible in many ways and at many levels..."

Carnage obscures fast track to peace --Robert Tait in Jerusalem charts the obstacles that appear to be looming larger in the wake of renewed violence across the Middle East following the publication of the Bush 'road map'

Theatrics of War --The problems in Iraq, like Afghanistan, are just beginning --Speaking to the nation from the deck of an aircraft carrier heading home is a metaphor designed to leave the impression that the war is over and American troops are leaving Iraq. But the fighting continues, and the troops aren’t coming home. The Pentagon dispatched fresh reinforcements this week.

Combat over, but there's no peace in Afghanistan Rumsfeld says most of country is secure, but citizens disagree --The United States says Afghanistan is no longer a combat zone, but revived Taliban and other radical guerrilla bands are targeting American soldiers, foreign relief workers and the government -- sometimes with deadly results.

Soldiers fear 'Afghan Vietnam' --Although Operation "Enduring Freedom" - launched 18 months ago in the wake of the devastating September 11 attacks in the US - has come to a close, the American death toll from the conflict shows no sign of abating.

Afghanistan: Launchpad for terror --Even as US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declared this week in Kabul that an end to military operations in Afghanistan is in sight, indications on the ground paint a somewhat different picture.

Rumsfeld taking no prisoners in Army power grab --by Robert Novak "Don Rumsfeld called Secretary of the Army Thomas White into his office last Friday afternoon for something the defense secretary had wanted to do for months. He fired White... With the Army secretary's post now also vacant, Rumsfeld can put his own people in charge of the nation's senior service as he proceeds with downsizing. His personal war against the U.S. Army is ending with a victory as complete as Saddam Hussein's defeat. It is now Don Rumsfeld's Army. "

Rumsfeld's soundbites take a back seat as he lashes out at waiting journalists --Through a crack in the wall we could see Mr Hoon, head bowed, a virtual statue as the man behind the world's most powerful military machine let rip. "Someone should tell Rummy to shut up," said one of the US press corps. "He won't let anyone get a word in." ...Step forward Jon Snow, the veteran Channel 4 presenter. "Given the intimacy you had with planning for this war, what role did you have in the decisions to protect the oil ministry and the museum in Baghdad, and could I ... " Mr Rumsfeld cut him dead. "Just one at a time."

Powell Warns U.S. Will Be 'Watching' Syria --Back from a Middle East trip, Secretary of State Colin Powell warned Syria on Sunday that the United States would closely watch for policy and behavior changes that reflect Syrian cooperation in a changing regional landscape.

North Korea Urges Workers to be Prepared for War With U.S. --North Korea marked May Day on Thursday by urging its workers to prepare for war with the United States, while South Korea's president said he will visit Washington to seek a peaceful solution to the nuclear crisis.

US ready for military trial of 'terrorists' --The Pentagon is ready to proceed with military trials of detained 'terrorist' suspects — possibly including those held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — when Dictator George Bush gives the green light, officials said on Friday.

Powell Urges Pentagon to Act on Detainees --In a strongly worded letter, Secretary of State Colin Powell has urged Pentagon officials to move faster in determining which prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay can be released, defense officials said Saturday. Human rights advocates also have repeatedly criticized the Bush regime plan to hold prisoners indefinitely and without trial, charges or access to lawyers.

Pentagon: Tribunals to include gag rule --The Pentagon plans to impose a permanent gag order on attorneys who defend alleged terrorists or "enemy combatants" before any U.S. military tribunals, senior defense officials said Friday. All statements and information about the trials will be made through the Pentagon spokesman's office.

Terrorism scare used to censor press --Governments across the globe, including the United States [Duh!], are using the worldwide war against terrorism as an excuse for controlling the press, in some cases denying access to information, Jim Ottaway Jr., Chairman of the World Press Freedom charged.

A mean-spirited America Today, I fear my own government more than I do terrorists --by Jill Nelson "These days, a sense of apprehension and foreboding lurks in the back of my head and the pit of my stomach. It’s a gut-wrenching reminder that something very bad has happened and is about to happen anew. It is an anticipation of the next insult and injury in an America that has been defined under the Bush administration by a profound meanness of spirit."

Jeffords Warns GOP: Pressure Can Backfire --Vermont Sen. James M. Jeffords had some not-too-subtle words of advice yesterday for Republicans as they push reluctant GOP moderates to support Dictator Bush's tax-cut package: Don't forget what happened the last time you tried this.

Gore visit to push for Kyoto --President AL Gore, who won the popular vote at the last presidential s-election, will visit Australia this month to urge the Howard Government to sign the Kyoto agreement on reducing greenhouse gases. In 2000, Mr Gore, the Democratic Party's nominee for president, won 500,000 more votes across America than Mr Bush. His supporters also argue that he won the key state of Florida but the Republican-dominated Supreme [Wh*re] Court ruled in favour of Mr Bush [in a coup d'etat].

South Carolina Democratic Party Presidential Debate --ABC --University of South Carolina --on C-SPAN Sunday, May 4

Democratic Hopefuls Debate Issues in S.C. --The nine Democrats vying for the White House clashed over the U.S.-led war against Iraq, health insurance and Dictator Bush's tax cut in an ultra early primary debate in which they hope to distinguish themselves from the pack.

Democratic Candidates Clash on Health Care --The nine Democratic presidential contenders clashed on health care and defense on Saturday night in the first debate of the 2004 campaign, but united in criticizing Dictator Bush on the economy.

Inspectors question safety commitment at Ohio nuke plant --A team of consultants hired to examine safety attitudes at the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant, where inspectors last year found acid had eaten into a steel reactor cap, say the plant needs a greater commitment to safety.

Pressure to change executive pay is mounting --Profits are down and stock prices are diving, but executive pay is still sky high.

Fla. Deputy Pepper Sprays 12-Year-Old Jaywalker --FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. --A deputy used pepper spray on a 12-year-old girl and wrestled her to the ground when she ignored repeated orders to stop jaywalking, the sheriff's office said Friday.

Abuse Accusations Plague Key West Police Department --KEY WEST, Fla. --Accusations that Key West officers have acted with excessive force over the last few years have tainted the reputation of the police department and cast a shadow over the town.

Tibet gets mobile clinics for family planning --A ceremony was held in the Potala Palace Square in Lhasa City, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, on Wednesday, to mark the hand-over of 64 specially equipped vehicles for use as mobile family planning clinics. The mobile clinics will be used for check-ups on local women, distributing contraceptives, transporting patients and publicizing the local family planning policy. [Why don't we have family planning mobile clinics here? Because some sickko-Santorum-whackjob would have them destroyed. --Lori Price]

SARS Can Live on Surfaces --Key to Its Spread Lies in Quantity --The SARS virus apparently can survive on common surfaces at room temperature for hours or even days, which could explain how people can catch the deadly lung infection without face-to-face contact with a sick person, scientists have found.

Long Island Man May Have SARS --A fourth resident of Nassau County may have SARS, Nassau County health department officials reported Friday.

[May 3 lead stories:] Doubts grow over Iraq 'smoking gun' --Saddam Hussein appears to have shut down or destroyed large parts of his unconventional weapons programmes before the war in Iraq, a senior Bush regime official who has been closely involved in the quest to purge Iraq of weapons of mass destruction said this week. The failure so far to find evidence of an Iraqi weapons programme has led to speculation that no such programme existed.

Iraqi Scientists Still Say Iraq Did Not Have Weapons of Mass Destruction --U.S. officials say Iraqi scientists in custody are sticking to their stories - that Iraq hasn't had chemical, biological or nuclear weapons programs in years.

Bush Convinced Will Find Iraqi Weapons --Dictator Bush, who went to war with Iraq over weapons of mass destruction, said on Saturday he was convinced it was only a matter of time until American forces found banned arms [after Rumsfeld has planted them].

Opinions expressed in various sections are the sole responsibility of their authors and they may not represent Al-Jazeerah's.

editor@aljazeerah.info

Rumsfeld Pushes For Pentagon Total Control (A military dictatorship in the making)

Rumsfeld Pushes For Pentagon Total Control
(A military dictatorship in the making)