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Friday, February 13, 2004
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- Subject: Electric ghosts
From: "openDemocracy"
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2004 22:55:15 -0000
ELECTRIC GHOSTS
This week http://www.openDemocracy.net is haunted by the spectres of past
and future wars, and the rise of African and European fundamentalisms.
Our columnists Todd Gitlin and Paul Rogers assess the low politics and
high rhetoric of the United States' election year, in the long shadow of
Iraq and Vietnam.
Plus: Alessandra Buonfino dissects Italians against migration, Chris
McWatters dislikes Cold Mountain, and David Hayes digests Britain's
nervous breakdown
Tomorrow: Sami Zubaida on religious or secular law in Iraq, and Globolog
asks: what is the World Bank for?
--------------
THE WEEK'S TOP FIVE
POWER AND THE MEDIA: TALL TALES AND HOME TRUTHS
The bitterness of Britain's public culture is rooted in the clashing
stories of its great institutions. This damages democracy. It must change,
says TOM BENTLEY
http://www.opendemocracy.net/email/ed3400/Bentley_1723.jsp
THE PILLARS OF GEORGIA'S POLITICAL TRANSITION
After the "rose revolution", Mikhail Saakashvili's real work begins.
SABINE FREIZER, recently in Tbilisi, assesses the new Georgian
president's political project
http://www.opendemocracy.net/email/ed3400/Freizer_1732.jsp
BAD SEEDS
Africa already has messy borders, repressive leaders, and poor citizens.
It doesn't need religious zealotry as well, says VICTOR YOUMBI
http://www.opendemocracy.net/email/ed3400/Youmbi_1726.jsp
MY MOTHER'S CITY
For CEM ÖZDEMIR, a child of Istanbul and German-Turkish politician,
recent terrorist bombs assail but can't destroy the city's precious,
multicultural heritage
http://www.opendemocracy.net/email/ed3400/Ozdemir_1724.jsp
THE BEAT GOES ON
CANDIDA CLARK celebrates MICHAEL HOROVITZ, one of the last great Beat
poets, who then presents two poems for St Valentine's day, beside David
Hockney's portrait
http://www.opendemocracy.net/email/ed3400/Horovitz_1725.jsp
---------------
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COLUMNS
FROM HIPPY TO ZIPPY
"If The Beatles were alive today, they'd be a speed garage act." DOMINIC
HILTON on a world with no time to lose
http://www.opendemocracy.net/email/ed3400/Hilton_1728.jsp
OUR ELECTION YEAR: BUSH OFF BALANCE
>From primetime to blogworld, a Vietnam-era scandal returns to haunt the
president, reports TODD GITLIN
http://www.opendemocracy.net/email/ed3400/Gitlin_1730.jsp
GLOBAL SECURITY: GREATER MIDDLE EAST - VISION OR MIRAGE?
The words are velvet, but where is the cloth? The Bush administration's
grand ambitions leave many in the Middle East wary. PAUL ROGERS explains
why
http://www.opendemocracy.net/email/ed3400/Rogers_1731.jsp
WORLD DIARY: MADMEN AND NUKES
George Bush, Colonel Gaddafi, Prince Charles et al. DOMINIC HILTON takes
cover
http://www.opendemocracy.net/email/ed3400/Hilton_1733.jsp
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news George and the Guard: The real question, writes LOU DUBOSE, is how young Bush got into the National Guard in the first place. It is a story of family influence — and worse. The Campaign Doctor: Bob Shrum has saved political campaigns for decades. Now he’s renting out his services to John Kerry. BY DOUG IRELAND The Fog of WMD: Listening to George Bush talk about those nasty weapons never found in Iraq, DAVID CORN couldn’t help but wonder if the president was having one of those Monica moments. You know, when he wants to confess but can’t. ... Plus, ... ALI AHMED RIND, writing from Pakistan, on the meaning of the nuclear-secrets flap; ... ALSO: I Am A Traitor STEVE ERICKSON on George Bush and the treacherous country.
More MoveOn goodness:
Subject: Tell Bush to Keep his Oval Office Promise
Dear MoveOn member,
Broadcasting from the Oval Office, Tim Russert asked George W. Bush if he would end doubt surrounding his military service by releasing his "entire files...pay stubs, tax records, anything to show that you were serving...Would you authorize the release of everything to settle this?" The most powerful man in the world answered without hesitation, "Yeah...Yeah, if we still have them...Yes, absolutely."
That was on Sunday. Just days later, the White House is emphatically refusing to release Bush's full military record.
Help us call on George W. Bush to make good on his Oval Office promise. Click here to sign the petition:
http://moveon.org/pac/promise/?id=2325-3261555-Zdjc73sR.cjVcSYCFRHnag
Bush says his service record is being raised by opponents for political gain. But it was the White House that brought up his service as a fighter pilot when they scripted his flight deck landing.
Perhaps Bush made his own service record an issue by cutting services for military personnel, families and veterans.
Please join us in signing the petition asking for Bush to keep his Oval Office promise to release all his military records. Let the White House and the press know that we expect the President to keep this promise:
http://moveon.org/pac/promise/?id=2325-3261555-Zdjc73sR.cjVcSYCFRHnag
Sincerely,
--Adam, Carrie, Eli, James, Joan, Laura, Noah, Peter, Wes, and Zack
The MoveOn.org PAC team
Febuary 12, 2004
Footnotes:
1. Full transcript of the Meet the Press interview.
2. Washington Post, Feb. 11
3. New York Times, May 16, 2003
4. Washington Post, Feb. 9 2004
5. Salon, Mar. 29, 2000
6. Newsweek, Dec. 10 2003
7. see document below.
On NBC's "Meet the Press" with Tim Russert, President Bush said: "Any time you commit your troops into harm's way, they must have the best equipment, the best training, and the best possible pay. That's where we owe it to their loved ones." In war it's impossible to foresee and meet all needs. But when compared to the Bush Administration's blank check policy with Pentagon contractors, how can the failings listed below be explained?
Nearly 25 Percent of U.S. Troops Weren't Issued Appropriate Body Armor Due to Pentagon Oversight, Delays. It was reported in October 2003 that nearly one-quarter of the 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq still hadn't been issued a new type of ceramic body armor strong enough to stop bullets fired from assault rifles. Delays in funding, production and shipping meant it would be December before all troops in Iraq would have the vests. The military's Interceptor vests, introduced in 1999, include removable ceramic plates in the front and back that can stop bullets such as the 7.62mm rounds fired by Kalashnikov rifles common in Iraq and Afghanistan . [ Associated Press , 10/13/03 ]
Soldiers Paying $650 Out of Their Own Pockets to Buy Body Armor. An October 2003 House Appropriations Committee report on how poorly-equipped America's soldiers were noted that "the committee has learned that some active-duty soldiers and reservists are spending as much as $650 out of pocket to buy Interceptor Body Armor vests and Small Arms Protective Insert plates to replace the Vietnam-era flak vests issued when they arrive in Iraq." [ Defense Week , 10/14/03 ]
Many Soldiers Arriving in Kuwait Hadn't Been Issued Essential Combat Gear, Paid for Equipment Themselves. As was reported in Defense Week and many other publications, many soldiers arriving in Kuwait before the start of Iraqi Freedom had not been issued essential combat gear, from desert boots and hand-held Global Positioning System locators to extra pistol magazine and Camelback-style canteens. The troops often paid for such equipment out of pocket. [ Defense Week , 10/14/03 ]
Administration Failed to Provide Funds for Portable Radio-Frequency Jammers That Could Foil Attacks. An October 2003 House Appropriations Committee report noted the lack of portable radio-frequency jammers that can foil some kinds of command-detonated explosives. Army leaders have acknowledged that "improvised explosive devices," usually artillery shells, mortars or grenades rigged to detonate on roadways, were a major threat to U.S. forces. "The capability of currently fielded portable radio jammers does not provide effective defense against remotely detonated explosives being used increasingly against American soldiers," the report said. [www.house.gov; Defense Week , 10/14/03 ]
Soldiers Forced to Fly Helicopters Without Basic Missile Defense Systems. "So the whistle blowers were right," said a November 2003 Peoria Journal Star editorial titled "First-Class Soldiers Deserve First-Class Protection." "A Peoria-based Illinois National Guard unit got second-class equipment to protect itself in Iraq…Accounts differ as to why six of the 14 helicopters belonging to the 106 th Aviation Battalion flew all summer without the basic missile defense systems considered standard in regular Army choppers, or the more advanced systems that represent the new standard…If the Army intends the Guard members and reservists being called to duty to be treated like first-class soldiers, then it owes them first-class protection." [ Peoria Journal Star , 11/12/03 ]
CUTTING FUNDS FOR VETERANS
Bush Gives Veterans Administration $1.2 Billion Lees Than it Requested. In a rare move by a Cabinet member, Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi told a House Committee in February 2004 that he had sought $1.2 billion more than President Bush was willing to put in his budget. "I asked OMB for $1.2 billion more than I received," Principi said, referring to the White House Office of Management and Budget. Bush's $2.4 trillion budget sent to Congress on Monday proposes $65.3 billion for the agency, including a 1.8 percent increase in discretionary spending to $29.7 billion, which pays for veterans medical care. [ Associated Press , 2/4/04 ]
Veterans Groups Said Bush Budget Does Little for Veterans Medical Care. Veterans groups have been unhappy with the President's proposed budget for the Veterans agency, saying it provides little increase for medical care in an election year and at a time when the Afghanistan and Iraq wars have created a new generation of veterans in need of services. [ Associated Press , 2/4/04 ]
Bush Actively Opposed $1.3 Billion for Veterans Emergency Health Care Funding in FY04. In fall 2003, the Bush administration fought, unsuccessfully, in the end, a bid to add $1.3 billion in emergency health care funding for veterans in fiscal 2004. According to Steve Robertson, legislative director for the American Legion, many veterans were displeased that the administration's budget request would have raised the annual enrollment fee in veterans' medical facilities and increased their co-payments for pharmaceuticals and doctor visits. [ Charleston Daily Mail , 12/27/03 ]
Bush VA Spending Failed to Grow with Health Care Costs. Despite Bush's claims, "the annual percentage increase it requested for veterans' health care is 5.4 percent, hardly a windfall considering that the consumer price index for medical care was 13 percent during the fiscal year 2002. VA officials have testified that it would take a 13 to 14 percent hike in the VA's health care budget just to maintain the status quo." [ The Hill , Rep. Evans op/ed, 9/17/03 ]
Bush Proposed Doubling Costs of Prescription Drugs for Veterans. In 2003, Bush proposed increasing prescription drug costs for veterans. The Bush plan would have included a new $250 enrollment fee and a co-pay increase from $7 to $15 for veterans earning over $24,000. On July 21, 2003 , the House Appropriations Committee agreed to a Democratic amendment to reject the Bush fee increases and recoup the $264 million in costs by reducing administrative funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs. [ Reuters , 7/14/03 ; Washington Post , 7/22/03 ]
Bush Decided to Cut Benefits for Middle-Income Veterans. On January 16, 2003 , the Bush Administration announced it would cut access to health care benefits for 160,000 middle-income veterans due to budget constraints. "On one hand, we're sending our sons and daughters out to war and possibly to die, yet on the other hand we're punishing a certain class of veterans who've made money in the lives. The government made a promise to us. What they're doing now is wrong." [ Associated Press , 1/16/03 ; The Daily Oklahoman , 1/18/03 ]
SERVICE MEMBERS AND FAMILIES FACE DEVASTATING CUTS UNDER BUSH
Pentagon Planned to Cut Pay of Troops Serving in Iraq and Afghanistan . In April 2003, the U.S. Senate unanimously voted to increase pay for soldiers in imminent danger areas by 50 percent. The increase was the first to imminent-danger pay since the first Gulf War, and the first to families since 1997. The increases were temporary and set to expire at the end of the current fiscal year on September 30. Bush's Defense Department effectively decided "to cut the pay of its 148,000 U.S. troops in Iraq , who are already contending with guerilla-style attacks, homesickness and 120-degree plus heat" by opposing renewal of the pay raises. After criticism, the Pentagon announced that current salaries for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan would not be cut, but such efforts may come at the expense of troops serving elsewhere. [ Knight-Ridder , 4/5/03 ; Los Angeles Times , 4/3/03 ; CQ , 4/16/03 ; San Francisco Chronicle , 8/14/03 ; Army Times , 8/13/03 ; 8/20/03 ]
Army Times Called the Pay Cuts "Maddening." The Army Times , an independent paper distributed to Army personnel, criticized Bush, saying, "The bottom line: If the Bush administration felt in April that conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan warranted increases in danger pay and family separation allowances, it cannot plausibly argue that the higher rates are not still warranted today." The Times said the Bush administration "undermined" support for the troops, and called the pay cuts "maddening." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution called the Pentagon's plan "heartless" and "simply unacceptable." [ Army Times , 8/18/03 ; San Francisco Chronicle , 8/14/03 ; Atlanta Journal-Constitution , 8/15/03 ]
MISTREATMENT OF IRAQ TROOPS
Bush's FY2004 Budget Cuts Fund to Military Family Housing/Medical Facilities. Bush's FY'04 budget proposes a $1.5 billion reduction in funds to military family housing/medical facilities, amounting to a 14 percent cut. [Bush FY2004 Budget]
Army Investigating Complaints of Poor Treatment for Iraq Veterans. UPI learned that "hundreds of sick and wounded U.S. soldiers including many who served in the Iraq war are languishing in hot cement barracks while they wait, sometimes for months, to see doctors. The National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers' living conditions are so substandard, and the medical care so poor, that many of them believe the Army is trying to push them out with reduced benefits for their ailments. One document shown to UPI states that no more doctor appointments are available from Oct. 14 through Nov. 11, Veterans Day….One month after President Bush greeted soldiers at Fort Stewart…as heroes on their return from Iraq, approximately 600 sick or injured members of the Army Reserves and National Guard are warehoused in rows of spare, steamy and dark cement barracks in a sandy field, waiting for doctors to treat their wounds or illnesses." [ United Press International , 10/17/03 , 10/20/03 ]
Bush Administration Has Continued Delaying, Extending Troop Deployment Timetable. Troops were first told they'd be going home in May, then in early July, then late July, and then Rumsfeld said August. Then officials changed the story yet again, saying they could make no hard promises. Then the Pentagon announced for the first time since Vietnam , they might have to start serving back to back overseas tours of up to a year. And now the Pentagon acknowledges that the Untied States will have to provide the overwhelming majority of the occupying troops indefinitely. [ABC News, 7/16/03 ; USA Today , 8/24/03 ; New York Times , 10/27/03 ]
---Paid for by MOVEON.ORG PAC, P.O. Box 9218, Berkeley, CA 94709. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. Website: www.moveonpac.org.
Thursday, February 12, 2004
- David Kay said last week, "I'm personally convinced that there were not large stockpiles of newly produced weapons of mass destruction," and "We don't find the people, the documents or the physical plants that you would expect to find if the production was going on." 5 Kay said these things shortly after resigning from his post as Bush's chief weapons inspector in Iraq.
- Bush, in his 2003 State of the Union address, said, "the British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." 6Yet Ambassador Joe Wilson, who was sent to Niger in February 2002 to determine whether Iraq was trying to purchase uranium materials there, concluded that "intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat." 7
- A CIA report in February 2003 said: "We do not have any direct evidence that Iraq has used the period since [1998] to reconstitute its Weapons of Mass Destruction programs." 8
- The respected Carnegie Endowment for International Peace recently found that the administration "systematically misrepresented the threat" from Iraq. 9
- The basis for President Bush's African uranium claim was known at the time to be forged and not credible.10"Top White House officials knew that the CIA seriously disputed the claim that Saddam Hussein was seeking uranium in Africa long before the claim was included in Bush's January address to the nation," according to the Washington Post.11
- Secretary of State Colin Powell became alarmed at the level of intelligence distortion. When he read the first draft of his speech to the UN -- prepared for Powell by Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff -- he was so upset that he lost his temper, throwing several pages in the air and declaring, "I'm not reading this. This is bullsh--."12
Latest
More from MoveOn.org:
- Help us get our Polygraph ad on the air. If you donate $30 or more to the Voter Fund today, you'll also receive our new Bush in 30 Seconds video featuring the awards show with Michael Moore, Al Franken, Moby, Janeane Garofalo, and others, as well as the 26 finalists and 30 more great ads. Watch Polygraph and get the video.
Look at this here from MoveOn.org:
|
The response to our "Censure" campaign has been incredible. In just days, more than 250,000 people have joined our call on Congress to censure President Bush for misleading us in his rush to war -- a response among the strongest we've ever seen. True Majority, Working Assets, and the Win Without War coalition are also joining us in this campaign.
Tomorrow, we'll present our campaign to Congress at a press conference in Washington. We'll be joined by former top intelligence officers and by parents whose children have been injured and killed while serving in the military in Iraq.
With your help, we can make our statement even more powerful -- we're aiming for 300,000 signatures on our petition by tomorrow. We can also reach a major milestone in MoveOn's history: our two-millionth U.S. member.
Please send the note below along to people you know who would share your concern that President Bush deliberately deceived us in making the case for war.
President Bush's interview with Tim Russert yesterday showed that our campaign is more important than ever. Bush is still trying to mislead us with statements like, "I expected to find the weapons [because] I based my decision on the best intelligence possible." The facts show the opposite, of course, as outlined below.
There must be consequences when a President takes us to war based on assertions he knows are untrue. We've simply got to demand it.
Thank you. Together, our voices really will make a difference.
Sincerely,
- Adam, Carrie, Eli, James, Joan, Laura, Noah, Peter, Wes, and Zack
The MoveOn.org Team
Monday, February 9, 2004
P.S. Why not give your Senators and Representative a call too, and ask them to censure President Bush for misleading us?:
Senator Dianne Feinstein
DC Phone: 202-224-3841
Local Phone: 310-914-7300
Senator Barbara Boxer
DC Phone: 202-224-3553
Local Phone: 415-403-0100
Representative Xavier Becerra
DC Phone: 202-225-6235
Local Phone: 213-483-1425
Please let us know you're calling, by clicking here.Dear friend,
During the buildup to war, President Bush said the United States "must not ignore the threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.... We have every reason to assume the worst, and we have an urgent duty to prevent the worst from occurring." 1
On the eve of sending troops into battle, Bush asserted that "intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised." 2
Now David Kay, the CIA’s chief weapons inspector, has testified before Congress that these weapons do not exist.
In an attempt to evade responsibility for the misleading statements that pushed the nation into war, Bush has announced plans to form an independent inquiry to look into what went wrong. An inquiry would serve the Bush administration well: it would envelop the issue in a fog of uncertainty, deflect blame onto the intelligence services, and delay any political damage until 2005, after the upcoming election. 3
But the facts need no clarification. Despite repeated warnings from the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency, President Bush and his administration hyped and distorted the threat that Iraq posed. 4 And now that reality is setting in, the President wants to pin the blame on someone else. We can't let him.
Congress has the power to censure the President -- to formally reprimand him for betraying the nation's trust. If ever there was a time for this, it's now. Join our call on Congress to censure President Bush at:
http://www.moveon.org/censure/
It's clear that we’ve been misled:
It's also clear that the misleading was deliberate:
Our democracy only works when we know the truth. We now know President Bush and his administration deliberately misled Congress and the American people. Censure is the least we should expect in response.
The independent inquiry will need a year or more to come to a conclusion, according to the Bush administration. It took less time than that for the country to go to war. We don't need more investigation, we need accountability, and we need it now.
Join our call on Congress to censure President Bush at:
http://www.moveon.org/censure/
We'll be holding a press conference in Washington on Thursday, announcing our campaign for Censure. If you sign on now, we can count your signature at the press conference. Please sign on right away.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
- Adam, Carrie, Eli, James, Joan, Laura, Noah, Peter, Wes, and Zack
The MoveOn.org Team
Monday, February 9, 2004
Footnotes:
1. Washington Post, January 28, 2004
2. Official White House transcript, March 17, 2003
3. Washington Post, February 2, 2004
4. An excellent, comprehensive rundown on the Bush administration's deliberate distortion of intelligence is available from the Center for American Progress
5. New York Times, January 26, 2004
6. Official White House transcript, January 28, 2003
7. Joseph Wilson Op-Ed, New York Times, July 6, 2003
Note: Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, had her CIA cover blown, possibly by the White House, in apparent retaliation for Wilson's contradicting the White House's line on WMDs.
10. New York Times, July 8, 2003
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
- The Village Voice's Mondo Washington this week:
Dubya in 'Bama 'God's Gift to Women'
Duck and Cover Here Comes Another Patriot Missile!
Briefly Noted U.S. Intelligence Questioned
The Noise Business Something for Dean to Scream About
Who Should Run Against Bush? Kerry vs. Edwards
plus!
MOSSBACK A Boob Exposed Though the real Bush agenda is cover-up.
by Knute Berger, Seattle Weekly, February 11 - 17, 2004
- _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
t r u t h o u t | 02.11
Leak Probe: Several White House Officials Contacted Novak
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/printer_021104A.shtml
Claim vs. Fact: The President on Meet the Press
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/printer_021104B.shtml
50 Die in Truck Bombing South of Baghdad
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/printer_021104C.shtml
Comparing Kerry-Bush Military Records
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/printer_021104D.shtml
Mike Ferner | Terror By Another Name
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/printer_021104E.shtml
Report Details Cheney-Halliburton Connection
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/printer_021104F.shtml
NRDC: Bush Budget Balloons America's Environmental Deficit
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/printer_021104G.shtml
Khadafi's Son: Iraq War Didn't Cause Nuclear Disarmament
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/printer_021104H.shtml
Andrew Sullivan | Bush's Attention Deficit
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/printer_021104I.shtml
Will the Election Be Hacked?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/printer_021104J.shtml
Click to SUBSCRIBE -> https://www.truthout.org/membership/sub_mgmt.php
Go direct to our HomePage : http://www.truthout.org
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