5/28/04 Politics. It started with buzz after 9/11 that something was fishy, then anti-war protests before the war, the largest in history. Now, a few years and many deaths later, 
as gas prices skyrocket, the majority of Americans clearly disapprove of the job president Bush is doing. In fact, after the prisoner abuse scandal, more and more people, including conservatives and ex-military persons, are calling for resignations and/or impeachment of key administration officials. For example: The Pentagon has issued an apology to an Arizona-based web site in wake of profanity-laced email attack on editor by Rumsfeld public affairs officer.
"We recently ran a story in MilitaryCorruption.com - FIRE RUMSFELD NOW! - which we know angered people in the Pentagon," MacDonald said. "It's our opinion and belief that Hetlage's outburst was a result of our editorial criticism of his boss. Criticism, we might add, that was also expressed on the editorial pages of the Washington POST and the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps TIMES. "To question my loyalty or patriotism and label MilitaryCorruption.com a site that "supports terrorists" is the vilest insult we could imagine.
Concerned about terror threats this summer? Read some different ideas about what is really going on in our politics archives. ( Includes gems such as Ashcroft singing. ) Did you know that Michael Moore interviewed Nick Berg for Farenheit 911? Is something fishy about the death of Berg too? Some people think so.
5/26/04 Politics. (guardian) A CNN headline today read "Ashcroft: 'clear and present danger to the United States of America'."
And I thought, "He sure as hell is!" 
I don't have any real problem with Ashcroft's singing, or even his unique use of Crisco oil. Covering that statue was a bit of a waste of money, but not dangerous. What I find dangerous about a man in such a position of power is his fanatical witch hunt thinking. Oh, and this big list here.
Anyway, Ashcroft says there will be a major terrorist attack in the US this Summer. He has inside knowledge that they are 90% ready to attack. Below are the faces we are supposed to fear and blame for whatever happens.
Others think al-Qaeda is a scam, a non-entity, a political tool created and used by those supposedly fighting it. Why? To keep people stupid with fear, to get billions of dollars for defense, to obtain limitless power with no checks and balances, to be granted the power to violate human rights, to be given permission to attack anyone anywhere at any time. Everybody wants to rule the world. There is credible evidence that points to this disturbing possibility: one top al-Qaeda operative was a British intelligence agent. We also know that Bush gave 27 million to al-Qaeda. Sorry, Bush supporters, this is not a conspiracy theory, he really did this. AFTER 9-11 no less. Obvious question: how can Ashcroft know enough detail to be certain of an attack ( "credible intelligence from multiple sources" ) without knowing enough to stop it ... unless the whole thing is BS?
Well, let's assume it is all true. Who are these scary people in this "sleeper cell"?
``Though we do not have any reason at this time to believe that they are working in concert, we will not take any chances..."
We also do not have evidence that all drunk drivers aren't part of a sinister organized gang. Let's not take any chances. If you see any, report them!
Okay, here's what we could find on these most evil people in the world according to Ashcroft and Muller:
1. El-Maati: The first guy, Amer El-Maati, according to one site is already in jail. ( Isn't the information age great? With all the secret detentions, how would we know if someone is in jail or not?) He was born in Kuwait but is a Canadian citizen. Mueller said El-Maati is an al-Qaeda member and licensed pilot. AKA "Amro Badr Eldin Abou El-Maati"
2. Siddiqui: The next is a woman who is a doctor. "Aafia Siddiqui, who appears on the wanted poster issued today by Ashcroft, was arrested a year ago in Pakistan." A report from April 22, 2003 says she "has a biology degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and wrote a doctoral thesis on neurological sciences at Brandeis University in 2001." Was she ever released from jail in Pakistan?
3. Shukrijumah: "Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, who was born in Saudi Arabia to a Guyanese father and Saudi mother.
4. Mohammed: Abdallah Fazul ( Fazul Abdullah Mohammed ) of the Comoros Islands, was an American turned Qaida translator. He is very good with computers. Is this the same terrorist named Mohammed connected with the US Army and intelligence agencies? ( Sources:- Andrew Marshall, " Terror 'blowback' burns CIA: America's spies paid and trained their nation's worst enemies ", Independent on Sunday , 1 Nov. 1998; Ton Hays and Sharon Theimer, Associated Press, "Egyptian agent worked with Green Berets, bin Laden" , Jerusalem Post , 31 Dec. 2001. )
5. Gadahn: SF gate says #5 is a new addition, "a 25-year-old U.S. citizen named Adam Yahihye Gadahn, who grew up in Southern California, converted to Islam as a teenager and allegedly attended al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan and served as a translator for the group." There is a full story on him here. AKA: Al Abu Suhayb Al-Amriki ( al-Amriki is ``the American'' in Arabic.)
"The man's father, Phillip Gadahn, said he didn't think his son had been a part of a terrorist organization. He told KCAL-TV that FBI agents told him his son was not wanted and no arrest warrant had been issued for his son's arrest."
6. Jdey: Abd Al-Rauf Bin Al-Habib Bin Yousef Al-Jiddi of Tunisia "Aberraouf Jdey, 38, was born in Tunisia and is a former Montrealer who became a Canadian citizen in 1995"
7. Ghailani: Ahmad Khalafan Ghilani of Tanzania.
5/24/04 Politics. (cbsnews) "Retired General Anthony Zinni is one of the most respected and outspoken military leaders of the past two decades. ... From 1997 to 2000, he was 
commander-in-chief of the United States Central Command, in charge of all American troops in the Middle East. ... the Bush administration thought so highly of Zinni that it appointed him to one of its highest diplomatic posts -- special envoy to the Middle East. But Zinni broke ranks with the administration over the war in Iraq, and now, in his harshest criticism yet, he says senior officials at the Pentagon are guilty of dereliction of duty -- and that the time has come for heads to roll.
“There has been poor strategic thinking in this,” says Zinni. “There has been poor operational planning and execution on the ground. And to think that we are going to ‘stay the course,' the course is headed over Niagara Falls. I think it's time to change course a little bit, or at least hold somebody responsible for putting you on this course. Because it's been a failure.”
5/18/04 Politics. (SacBee) Skepticism on spy case reported.
A former member of Air Force intelligence who led the probe of Al Halabi said in a sworn 74-page statement that "she frequently found herself at odds with another translator who was not as fluent in Arabic. 'And he would say, "Well this word means this, so it must have to do with al-Qaida or it must have to do with something like a plan to go against whatever" ... and I was like "I don't think so." Al Halabi's boss, Capt. James Yee was held for two months while the Army tried to come up with a case of espionage against him, but officals dropped the case and he was eventually released. Some charges against Al Halabi have also been dropped.
Military investigators repeatedly overstated their evidence and pushed "forward at all costs to prove the Travis airman was 'a little fish' in an al-Qaida ring based at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba." Interesting and frightening.
We only had to burn a lot of innocent woman at the stake to find out we were in no danger from witches. But it was worth it. Why? Because we are all safe from witches now! Same with "al-Qaida"? Oh, but what about 9-11, they did that! Oh? The director of the FBI says nothing links al-Qaida to 9/11.
"The hijackers also left no paper trail. In our investigation, we have not uncovered a single piece of paper - either here in the U.S. or in the treasure trove of information that has turned up in Afghanistan and elsewhere - that mentioned any aspect of the September 11th plot. ... The hijackers had no computers, no laptops, no storage media of any kind. They used hundreds of different pay phones and cell phones, often with prepaid calling cards that are extremely difficult to trace. And they made sure that all the money sent to them to fund their attacks was wired in small amounts to avoid detection."
Will we find out one day that the whole thing was BS and the real perps got away with it? If so, I'll say, "Ha. I knew it from day one." If Arab terrorists really hijacked the planes on 9-11, explain this: Offical Autopsy list: No Arabs on Flight 77.
"The AFIP claims that the only “passenger” body that they were not able to identify is the toddler... three ADDITIONAL people not listed by American Airline sneaked in. I have seen no explanation for these extras. I did give American the opportunity to “revise” their original list, but they have not responded. The new names are: Robert Ploger, Zandra Ploger, and Sandra Teague."
5/16/04 Politics / Freedom. I just saw an article that says "Why prisoner photos should be released". Here's my reason: To correct ignorant talk show hosts who say things like "All we did is strip them naked and put them in some embarrassing situations."
No, Mark Williams of KFBK, that is not all we did. Read about the gaping dog wounds. We set trained attack dogs, German Sheppards, on at least one naked defenseless man. This is terror and torture at OUR hands, Mark. There are photos before and after, solid evidence. The photos are real, Mark. This horror is real. The use of dogs in this way is brutal and sadistic. Yes, the terrorist beheading of Berg is extremely gross and disturbing. So is being attacked by dogs, Mark.
"When the boy's body was found police first suspected that he had been killed by a brutal sadist, before realising (sic) that the killer was in fact a German Shepherd owned by a neighbour (sic) of the boy's." - 1
I condemn brutality. Torture of and by all persons of all races, colors, religions and political ideologies must be stopped. Those responsible must be caught and punished. Mark, when you say that torture is "all those people understand," don't you realize that you are sharing a view with torturers like Saddam? Where is your humanity, Mark Williams of Clear Channel, hate radio talk show host?
You say that foreigners attacked us on 9/11 and, therefore, all foreigners must leave the country. Sure, Mark Williams, xenophobic talk show host, some terrorists are forigners. But if you believe the mainstream media and the FBI, some red blooded Americans (Brandon Mayfield, (cnn) a lawyer and former Army officer, and Timothy McVeigh, for example) are also terrorists. By your own logic, Mark, all Americans must also leave the country! Everyone out. Then you will be safe, Mark.
Former CIA Bureau Chief Bob Baer said, "If there's ever a reason to get rid of Saddam Hussein, it's because of Abu Ghraib ... There were bodies that were eaten by dogs, torture. You know, electrodes coming out of the walls. It was an awful place." (cbsnews) I agree. Those in charge who use dogs and electrodes for torture of prisoners must not remain in power. Therefore, let's get rid of Rumsfeld and Cambone.
"The New Yorker magazine quotes unidentified current and former U.S. intelligence officials as saying Mr. Rumsfeld and his Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, Stephen Cambone, approved the use of physical coercion and sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners." - voanews
U.S. Defense Department is calling the New Yorker accusation "outlandish, conspiratorial and filled with error[s] and anonymous conjecture." Perhaps. It will be interesting to see where this investigation goes. Stay balanced. Hear all sides, then THINK. For some views alternative to hate radio, try this unconservative listening page.
5/13/04 Politics. Whodoneit? Today the New York Times says the CIA claims "Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is believed with "high probability" to have been the masked man who beheaded the 26-year-old American Nicholas Berg in a gruesome video clip posed on an Islamist Web site". Great, we may be closer to catching the bastards who did this. Oddly, however, this statement contradicts reliable sources in our own media. "CNN staffers familiar with al - Zarqawi's voice said the voice on the tape did not sound like him". Also, according to foxnews, a statement circulated in Fallujah this week and signed by the ``Leadership of the Allahu Akbar Mujahedeen" claims Abu 
Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in the Sulaimaniyah mountains of northern Iraq ``during the American bombing there.'' Some speculate that the tape was spliced, the scream was dubbed in, and Berg was already dead when his head was removed. (No struggle, no blood. Sorry to be so graphic.) Did a supposedly dead guy kill an already dead guy, resulting in the non-release of 1,200 photos (the mirror today says 1,800) of Iraqi prisoner abuse at US hands, including rape and murder? (According to Republican Sen . Lindsey Graham.) Berg's parents and a friend say he was in US custody for two weeks right before being killed. Before Berg was killed FBI met with him several times and with his family. Berg was on a conservative list of enemies of the war, but he was actually a Bush supporter. Ironically, his death will probably save Bush who was hitting the danger zone in the polls until Americans now had a new horrible thing to focus on instead of the torture of Iraqi prisoners. It is a bit freaky that Berg was wearing the same orange jumpsuit seen on US prisoners in Guantanamo. Why are the supposed al-Quaeda guys so fat? All of the Iraqi prisoners we've seen are lean and hungry from being constantly on the run. What will Air America (new liberal radio station) say? Why is our species so cruel?
5/12/04 Politics. The news is disgusting beyond words this week. Watch yourself for signs of stress. If you are normal, you are feeling traumatized. When a population is tramatized, it stands behind its current leader. 
This happens because trauma causes us to revert to more primitive thinking. This is normal. Simplistic and dangerous "good versus evil," "bad guys versus good guys" perceptions happen naturally when our minds are stressed out. Reasonable persons must keep thinking even when the going gets ugly.
Polls show Bush at his lowest levels ever and things are poised to get much worse for the self-proclaimed "war president." According to yesterday's LA Times,
"... A military official who has seen the photos said that one depicts soldiers sodomizing ... He added that of the more than 1,200 images being reviewed by Pentagon ..."
The decision has not yet been made about releasing these photos to the press. Will the most recent gruesome killing of an American be used to keep the photos of prisoner abuse from the media? To some, the facts seem fishy. The prisoner abuse photos, according to Private England, where taken on orders for psychological operations. If that is true, someone in command of mind games is behind wide spread human rights abuse in Iraq. To stop the abuse, we Americans need to feel appropriate anger at our leaders who allowed this to happen.
The trauma you feel now is the result of a mind game on you. Keep perspective. One or two people die (many in ugly ways) every second on our planet ... but about four people are born each second. In the balance of creation and destruction, the energy of creation is still winning.
5/12/04 Politics. (austrailian | firstcoast ) Army private Lynndie England says she was just following orders. Historically, the Nuremberg 
Tribunal shows that soldiers who follow illegal orders may be convicted and punished.
(tvbarn.com) After listening to Rumsfeld's report, Sen. Lindsey Graham told reporters he wanted to ”prepare the public: Apparently the worst is yet to come, in terms of disturbing events. The American public needs to understand we're talking about rape and murder here. “We're not just talking about giving people a humiliating experience.”
The veterans for peace point out that the entire Iraq war was illegal. "The legality of pre-emptive self-defense has been rejected on the basis that use of force to deter future use of force constitutes punitive rather than defensive action."
5/7/04 Politics (Washpost) Iraqi prisoner abuse at the hands of some Americans (like the photos below) are the main item in the news this week. Some good Americans came forward to put a stop to this, so we get some points there, but this is still disgusting. This morning I was watching TV live when about eight protesters interrupted the sworn testimony of Secretary Rumsfeld to a Senate panel on this topic.
The Washington Post in its transcript correctly writes that they chanted "Fire Rumsfeld!" but where the Post writes "(PROTESTERS SHOUTING)" they leave out one clearly audible and interesting "shout."
A woman protesting asked, "What about the illegal detentions?"
Yesterday Rush Limbaugh called the humiliation a brilliant maneuver by US soldiers. Today, on the public air waves via my radio, Rush called Rumsfeld's protestors "nut cases".
Shouting, "What about the invisible leaping donut king?" would make you a nutcase. Shouting "What about the illegal detentions?" seems focused and relevant. How about we boycott this hateful drug abuser?
Really, how do we know that the same humiliation and torture is not also going on at Guantanamo? 
Rumsfeld repeatedly has had bad intelligence. Why keep a guy around when he doesn't seem to have the facts he should? Bad facts make bad decisions. For example, he was dead wrong about the immediate threat posed by Iraq's WMDs. To make matters worse, he later tried to re-write history by claiming he never said "immediate threat". He did. Why trust him? He really should have known. The Red Cross told Rice and Bremer about these abuses months ago, but "the appeals often seemed to fall on deaf ears." I heard early on that there were hundreds of photos being passed around. Today Rumsfeld confirmed that.
"HUNDREDS more photographs and at least two videos of abuse of Iraqi prisoners could worsen the scandal that has engulfed the US military, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned today, as he apologised for the scandal. ... America's CBS television ignited a storm on April 28 when it aired photographs of naked Iraqi prisoners shown in sexually humilitaing poses, sometimes with grinning male and female soldiers looking on or pointing at their private parts." - news.com
There are reports that "at least 25 prisoners have died in custody in Iraq and Afghanistan." That may be like saying there are at least 25 people in Hollywood. 
What about reports that hundreds of prisoners died from lack of air (and from being shot) in transport containers "after surrendering to Northern Alliance and US forces in the Afghan city of Kunduz in late November"? - abc.net, freedomfiles.
If we are to make America the home of people who do the right thing, we should investigate and stop all war prisoner abuse, not just what is now visible on the surface.
From the images we've seen, the treatment and even the transport of detainees at Guantanamo is abusive. Imagine being strapped down, having a hood or goggles over your eyes and never knowing when you are going to be slapped, kicked or worse.
