[ In connection with the article below, you might want to consult the DemocracyNow! interview with Edmonds, who the Bush Administration wants to gag. –BL ] 26 April 2004 | The Independent by Andrew Buncombe in Washington The Bush administration will today seek to prevent a former FBI translator from providing evidence about 11 September intelligence failures to a group of relatives and survivors who have accused international banks and officials of aiding al-Qa’ida. Sibel Edmonds was subpoenaed by a law firm representing more than 500 family members and survivors of the attacks to testify that she had seen information proving […]
Daily Archives: April 27, 2004
10 posts
Pastrami & Champagne May 10, 2004 | The Nation by ROANE CAREY & ADAM SHATZ Three decades ago Winston Churchill’s grandson asked Ariel Sharon how Israel should deal with the Palestinians. “We’ll make a pastrami sandwich out of them,” he replied. “We’ll insert a strip of Jewish settlements in between the Palestinians, and then another strip of Jewish settlements right across the West Bank, so that in twenty-five years’ time, neither the United Nations nor the United States, nobody, will be able to tear it apart.” Mission accomplished. On April 14 in Washington, Sharon unwrapped his pastrami sandwich and received […]
April 26, 2004 | Reuters/AFP Four schoolchildren have been killed by gunfire in Baghdad, shortly after a roadside bomb ripped through a US military vehicle, witnesses said. Some witnesses said the children, all aged around 12, were shot dead by US troops who had opened fire randomly after the blast on Canal Street in eastern Baghdad. At least five other people were wounded. The children had left their nearby school to look at the burning Humvee, the witnesses said. Children and some passersby were “celebrating” the attack near the vehicle when the deadly shots were fired. The US military had […]
[ If the “coalition” occupying Iraq is frustrated that all Iraqis are not more appreciative of their liberators’ efforts, it would do well to recall the devasting effects of the 1991 bombing of Iraq, the sanctions that followed under which thousands of children per month died of preventable causes (see below), and the more than 10,000 civilian casualties (and uncounted tens of thousands of conscript deaths) suffered under recent “coalition” bombings and attacks, not to mention the “regime change” British invasion of 1941. While many Iraqis appreciate the removal of Saddam Hussein, they may be tiring of suffering under the […]
[ This in light of reports that U.S. soldiers shot dead four Iraqi children in Baghdad. –BL ] Extremism in the defence of liberty April 24, 2004 | The Spectator [UK] by Paul Robinson Paul Robinson says that some well-respected hawks are threatening civilisation by advocating terror tactics in the war on terror “I don’t know what effect these men will have upon the enemy,” said the Duke of Wellington of his troops, “but, by God, they terrify me.” I feel much the same way about some of those who purport to be on our side in the so-called Global […]
by Brendan Lalor While I am not a Kerry enthusiast, I am pleased to recommend this MoveOn.org ad for your viewing pleasure: click here to see the Bush-Kerry comparison ad. A little background: It is hard to imagine a more absurd angle of attack against John Kerry for the GOP than to question his military record, in particular, whether he deserves all three of his Purple Hearts. While the claim that George W. Bush fulfilled his military service requirements is iffy at best, and Dick Cheney had “other priorities” than military service, Kerry’s life was on the line in Vietnam. […]
Ad uses Saddam, bin Laden to question Cleland’s record Oct. 11, 2002 | Associated Press by JEFFREY McMURRAY WASHINGTON – Sen. Max Cleland is angrily defending himself against a rival’s television ad that shows pictures of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden and implies the Democratic incumbent is soft on homeland security. The ad, sponsored by Republican Rep. Saxby Chambliss’ Senate campaign, doesn’t directly compare Cleland and the rogue leaders but alleges the senator isn’t telling the truth when he claims to support some of President Bush’s efforts in the war against terrorism. It began airing Friday in the Atlanta […]
[ WARNING: “57 percent of respondents … said they believed Iraq was either ‘directly involved’ in carrying out the 9/11 attacks … or had provided ‘substantial support’ to al-Qaeda.” –BL ] April 22, 2004 | InterPress Service by Jim Lobe U.S. public perceptions about former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s alleged ties to al-Qaeda and stocks of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) continues to lag far behind the testimony of experts, boosting chances that President George W Bush will be re-elected, according to a survey and analysis released Thursday. WASHINGTON (IPS) – Despite statements by such officials as the Bush administration’s former […]
Why Bush is spending so much on nuclear weapons. by Fred Kaplan Friday, April 23, 2004 | Slate The budget is busted; American soldiers need more armor; they’re running out of supplies. Yet the Department of Energy is spending an astonishing $6.5 billion on nuclear weapons this year, and President Bush is requesting $6.8 billion more for next year and a total of $30 billion over the following four years. This does not include his much-cherished missile-defense program, by the way. This is simply for the maintenance, modernization, development, and production of nuclear bombs and warheads. Measured in “real dollars” […]
[ The article below is a primer on how companies like Bush-patron Enron (which was run by Bush pioneer Ken Lay) Harken Energy (with Bush on its board) Halliburton (with Cheney as its CEO) and their ilk evaded taxes — and continue to evade taxes — by setting up off-shore subsidiaries. (The Republican White House likes prefers “tax competitiveness” to “evasion.”) Of course, it goes without saying that education, health care, foreign aid, and more suffer for want of funds while the Bush Administration prefers to let the real anti-patriotic criminals go unpunished, as it expends IRS resources to catch […]