This was my response to comments made on today's "Truth Laid Bear" blog.
*See the discussion in question here*.

Here's what started it:

LT Smash said this:

'It really all boils down to this:
Just about everyone here would rather be at home right now—but nobody wants to go home a loser.
If we gave in to the snivelers and peaceniks who cry, “Bring our troops home now!” Iraq would undoubtedly descend into a bloody civil war, and God only knows who would come out on top. Saddam might even emerge from hiding, claiming to have driven the “infidels” out of his country. The United States would have suffered another black eye, and our enemies would be further emboldened to attack us again. We would have lost the war, and all of the brave Americans and British who gave their lives in this operation would have died in vain.
I am not willing to accept that scenario. You shouldn’t be, either.
What can I possibly add to that?'

My reply:

"This is an extremely interesting discussion.

Here's what it all boils down to:

We never, never, I repeat, NEVER should have
been hasty in going in to Iraq with the coalition for which we wound up "settling".

Clearly, it was inadequate.
Recent history is SCREAMING that it was inadequate.

Clearly, we needed an international peacekeeping force and a wider international effort... and our leader, GW Bush, and his administration did not see fit to do this thing right (since they were so determined to do it).They were prideful, hungry...wrong.

They didn't do it right.
They have made so many errors.
They were wrong in ignoring the concerns of the international community.
It was disrespectful and shameful towards the international community. It was ignorant of the basic rule of law.

We've made a mess of things.
Is it any wonder these nations aren't jumping at the chance to hop in and join the US effort in Iraq?


Now....today..we are at a point of no immediate return in Iraq.
We have to do whatever we have to do to see this thing through.
But all it truly amounts to is this dreadful feeling of "saving face" because so many of our courageous men and women have been brutally slain. We can't just drop all and say "so long". The Russians did that in Afghanistan. We did that in the last Gulf War. It doesn't work. It creates terrorism.

The Neo-Con ideals are not practicable when seen in real-time Iraq. They have not translated well at all. This nation, this America...what is to become of it? She's been brutally wounded by right-wing fanaticists. These are not your average Conservatives with a healthy respect for the true meaning of democracy (small-d). They are empire-driven.

No, we cannot be in denial about what we face in Iraq today.

At the same time, let us NOT forget WHY we are facing it..how it came to pass. And let us not forget all the lies, doublespeak, and exaggeration.

If we fail to learn that lesson, we are doomed to repeating it.

**Can you say Viet Nam?
When will we ever learn?

Jude"

Congratulations to Bill Keller!
New York Times names new executive editor

Posted: Monday, July 14, 1:01pm EDT

"Bill Keller, a columnist for The New York Times who previously served as the newspaper's managing editor and foreign editor and as its bureau chief in Moscow and Johannesburg, has been chosen as its executive editor, reports The New York Times.
Mr. Keller's appointment to the highest-ranking position in the newsroom was announced today by Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher of The Times and chairman of The New York Times Company. It is effective July 30. "

America Under Threat

Read this.
.. think about it.
Your American democracy may be dying.



"....The events in Iraq are not over; they're just getting started. In forcing Hussein's regime out of Baghdad, the allies
have rendered Iraq ungovernable. The democratic alternative for Iraq that they talk about at press conferences was never more than propaganda.
As a result, Washington and London don't have much of a choice about how to proceed. They can run the country as an occupying regime, risking increasing guerrilla activity in the cities, civil war and resistance from Hussein's clan, which has far from lost its political and military capabilities.
Or they can make a deal with Hussein's people..."

"...Since G.W. Bush came to power, we are witnessing the most dramatic attack on American democracy ever since the Revolution.
We, outside the US are astonished, shocked, angry and, honestly, somewhat scared..."

"...Different people write that America repeats the Rome way, from the Republic to the Empire.
With all the consequences for the democracy that follows it...." (See my own comments from a prior blog entry)

"....the devastation of Iraq can become the beginning of an end to the American civil society.
Neoliberal admirers of "American model" outside the US dismiss all these warnings reminding us that, unlike Saddam Hussein,
G.W. Bush was elected legally, democratically and in full accord with the Constitution. So was Julius Caesar in Ancient Rome.
And so was Hitler in Weimar Germany...."


***Commentaries are a premium sent to Sustainer Donors of Z/ZNet . To learn more, go to ZNet at http://www.zmag.org**

My contribution to the poetry contest

Dave Barry had a great suggestion..why not enter a poetry contest?
So inspiring was his suggestion that I became a Freemont and entered immediately.
My literary contribution:

He Really Did It Not Me

"the night..the night was filled with dread
a bounty placed upon my head

i run..i run- to God knows where
too numb to feel, too tired to care

the crime- the crime i did not do
yet they would kill him if they knew

the dog..the dog ate mother's toes
the proof's in the fur in her torn pantyhose

i sha'nt..i sha'nt let the poor ol' puppance
take the cruel and harsh comeuppance

o yes--o yes i'll take the blame
and let them chase me down til i'm lame"

Freemont Road
Copyright ©2003 Freemont Road


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Get yourselves over to the poetry contest and add your very own "the dog ate mother's toes" Freemont masterpiece.
:)
From your friend ,
Freemont

A Liar's Carousel



I last wrote about journalist Judith Miller on June 22nd. See here.

Russ Baker has written an interesting article for the Nation...see: " 'Scoops' and Truth at the Times"

"Probably the most instructive exercise in assessing {Judith} Miller's reporting is to compare her with the Post's Barton Gellman. You would think the two were in different countries, if not on different planets......."

Baker goes on to compare/contrast Miller's NY Times headlines to Gellman's Washington Post headlines.
A striking contrast.
Quote from Nation article:

"Here are typical Miller headlines from May:


May 21: "U.S. Analysts Link Iraq Labs to Germ Arms"

May 12: "Radioactive Material Found at a Test Site Near Baghdad"

May 11: "Trailer Is a Mobile Lab Capable of Turning Out Bioweapons, a Team Says"

May 9: "G.I.'s Search, Not Alone, In the Cellar of Secrets"

May 8: "U.S. Aides Say Iraqi Truck Could Be a Germ-War Lab"

Now Gellman:


May 18: "Odyssey of Frustration; In Search for Weapons, Army Team Finds Vacuum Cleaners"

May 11: "Frustrated, U.S. Arms Team to Leave Iraq; Task Force Unable to Find Any Weapons"

May 10: "Seven Nuclear Sites Looted; Iraqi Scientific Files, Some Containers Missing"

May 4: "Iraqi Nuclear Site Is Found Looted; U.S. Team Unable to Determine Whether Deadly Materials Are Missing"
___________________________________________


Since we're talking about professional people (journalists and leaders alike) misleading the American public, in a somewhat-related story from the Boston Globe entitled "Bush overstated Iraq links to al-Qaida, former intelligence officials say",
Matt Kelley quotes Gregory Treverton, a former chairman of the National Intelligence Council under President Clinton:

''You see the polls lots of Americans believe that there was a link between Iraq and al-Qaida despite the lack of intelligence evidence on that score.''


Look at the headlines we're seeing from columnists like Miller in our most influential newspapers.
Observe stories now coming out about all the lies, exaggerations, and erroneous dribble-doublespeak the Bush administration has fed to us.
Is it any wonder the American public winds up looking like complete suckers...or at best, like "people from a different planet"?

Donald Rumsfeld looked like an ornery old fool on the Sunday news-talk shows this morning trying to talk his way around and
out of all the things he has said in the past.
Condi Rice was dizzy on the liar's carousel on the Sunday FOX morning show, too. (Did you see Tony Snow acting as a Bush-apologist in his interview with Rice? He was absolutely leading Condi with candied questions...you would have thought he was her DEFENSE ATTORNEY, for God's sake!)

They're spinning away about their pre-war lies. (How about their post-war lies? See here.)

It's truly amazing watching these people...journalists and leaders alike...on the liar's carousel.
Round and round and round they go...where they'll stop....nobody knows.

Nobody knows.
Nobody knows.
(The polls..the polls will tell you so).

When is Congress going to listen to us and get some action going on investigating all these lies?
Republican Congresspeople--what on earth is wrong with you?
If Congress fails to take action, the lies will continue to snowball, our President will assume he can get away with more,
and America will remain on a liar's carousel to facist hell.



Companion piece from the Independent/UK: "20 Lies About The War"

This was fun!

Go here and take this quiz!
Where do you stand on the issues?
How close does your stand come to your favorite Presidential candidate?
These were my results:

Iddybud's Results:

1. Dean, Gov. Howard, VT - Democrat (99%)
2. Kucinich, Cong. Dennis, OH - Democrat (93%)
3. Kerry, Senator John, MA - Democrat (80%)
4. Sharpton, Reverend Al - Democrat (79%)
5. Gephardt, Cong. Dick, MO - Democrat (72%)
6. Edwards, Senator John, NC - Democrat (71%)
7. Lieberman Senator Joe CT - Democrat (69%)
8. Libertarian Candidate (67%)
9. Moseley-Braun, Former Senator Carol IL - Democrat (67%)
10. Graham, Senator Bob, FL - Democrat (58%)
11. Bush, George W. - US President (31%)
12. Phillips, Howard - Constitution (12%)
13. LaRouche, Lyndon H. Jr. - Democrat (0%)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.gaybetamax.co.uk/flash2.html

Don't ask....just watch and listen. ;)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Something's Got To "Give"--- and Bush Certainly Isn't Going to Offer to Step Down


Letter to the Editor / Boston Globe
Give Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz the boot

Today's News Headlines from Democracy Circles.org
*"Democracy* isn't done alone in front of the television."*


CNN - Current List of Casualties in the Iraq War

http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/

---------------------------------

Reuters - Iraq civilian body count passes 6,000

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=335889

---------------------------------

t r u t h o u t - How to Rig an American Election

http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/voting.shtml#article2

---------------------------------

What Really Happened : The History the Government Hopes You Don't Learn

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/

---------------------------------

TOMPAINE.com - The Insiders Are Coming Out by William Rivers Pitt

http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/8284

---------------------------------

National Review - Scandal!: Bush’s enemies aren't telling the truth about what he said by Clifford D. May

http://www.nationalreview.com/may/may071103.asp
---------------------------------

AlterNet - A Diplomat's Undiplomatic Truth by Robert Scheer

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16345

---------------------------------

Christian Science Monitor - Media feels the press by Sara B. Miller

http://search.csmonitor.com/search_content/0710/dailyUpdate.html

---------------------------------

Boston Globe - Bush and Rice say CIA cleared Bush's State of the Union speech

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/192/world/Bush_and_Rice_say_CIA_cleared_:.shtml

---------------------------------

Newsday - Franks: We’re Here for Years

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usfran113368129jul11,0,4847467.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines
---------------------------------

Guerrilla News Network - Eli Lily Rules by Jim Lobe

http://www.guerrillanews.com/sci-tech/doc2357.html

---------------------------------

Sydney Morning Herald - Beijing cadres scramble to assess HK crisis

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/07/11/1057783356399.html

---------------------------------

PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THIS ONE--OUR DEMOCRACY IS BEING GREATLY UNDERMINED!

Chicago Tribune - WTO Rules That U.S. Steel Duties Illegal

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-wto-us-steel,1,7129716.story?coll=chi-business-hed

_______________________________

**If you would like to receive this newsletter (somewhat) daily, just write to newsletter@democracycircles.org**
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Al From and Bruce Reed are, like, sooooooooo yesterday! Sorry to have to say it, but it's true! John Kerry, too. They tell us to get over Selection 2000....and Howard Dean is the way we're getting over, already! Wake up, DLC!

From the Washington Post article "Among Democrats, The Energy Seems To Be on the Left"

"....the left's energy is also a reflection of discontent with the party's Clinton-era leadership. Off the record, many on the left agree with one Democratic organizer who mused recently: "In some ways, Bill Clinton was the worst thing that could have happened to the Democratic Party" because he largely silenced the party's left and enervated efforts to build the party's base.

That sentiment is manifesting itself in a barrage of criticism aimed at the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, which was closely associated with Clinton's 1992 election. For years, DLC founder Al From and his associates have preached that "Old Democrat" liberalism equals landslide defeats. "The New Democrat formula is the only one to win in three decades," From said recently. Earlier this year, he and DLC President Bruce Reed -- who served as Clinton's chief domestic policy adviser for eight years -- fired off a broadside accusing Dean of being an "elitist" from the "McGovern-Mondale wing" of the party and warning that he would lead the party to disaster if he wins the nomination.

Instead of sinking, Dean surged...."

John Kerry and Howard Dean have allegedly been using this line: (article here)
"...Kerry recalled Bill Clinton's words that voters in 2004 "would rather vote for someone who is strong and wrong versus weak and right", a line that Dean has used regularly since February..."

Personally, I think that line should be dumped--pronto. If we want someone strong and damn wrong, we already have the nincompoop...he was given the Oval Office by a majority of one--one Justice's opinion tipped the undemocratic scale-- in 2000.
What's wrong with strong and right, anyhow? Are our leaders so insecure about fallibility that they can't even go with the word "right" from the get-go? We don't want another wrong-headed Bushlite.



**From the blogs, read this recent entry from Toby's Political Diary - 'Let it Begin Here'
SEE: Howard Dean and the Democrats

I was appalled when I heard now-retired Gen Tommy Franks defend and boldly repeat Bush's "Bring 'em on" Texas-schoolboy taunt. I respect him far less now because of it. He really lowered himself.

From Democrats.com:

Tommy Franks Says 10-25 Attacks a Day on U.S. Troops in Iraq -- But He and Bush Want More

From Reuters: "U.S. troops in Iraq face 10 to 25 attacks a day, partly because they are hunting for Baathists, 'jihadists' and fighters crossing the border from Syria, Gen. Tommy Franks, who ran the war against Baghdad, said on Thursday. Franks, who stepped down recently as head of U.S. Central Command and will soon retire, told the House Armed Services Committee that 'on a given day, there will be somewhere between 10 and 25 violent incidents' in Iraq where 148,000 U.S. troops are located." But this isn't enough for Tommy-gun -- he seconded Bush's 'Bring 'Em On' the other day. And the specter of guerilla war is raised. "Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, the senior Democrat on the panel, said if the current pattern were left unchecked, the United States may find itself 'in the throes of guerrilla warfare for years.'"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39523-2003Jul10.html

From Howard Dean Weblog:

Dean Says Those Who Misled Nation Should Resign

Click here to add your name to a petition demanding that those responsible for misleading the American people resign. Let others know about the petition by telling them about this link: http://www.deanforamerica.com/truth

Manchester, NH -- Governor Howard Dean issued the following statement today:

"Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld's statement yesterday -- that he only found out that the Niger
documents were forgeries --within recent days was stunning.
What is now clear is that there are those in this administration that misled the President,
misled the nation, and misled the world in making the case for the war in Iraq.
They know who they are. And they should resign today.
There will be investigations, and the truth will come out - the American people must know the truth -
and those in this administration must be held accountable for their failure to give us the truth before we went to war.
But we do not need to wait for the investigations to rid these people from our government -
they can resign on their own today.
I am now convinced more than ever that it was a mistake to have given this administration a
blank check to engage in this war -
as too many in Congress did when they supported the Iraqi war resolution."

Investors Pull Out of Markets

and....
"The weekly report on claims for jobless benefits showed the lines of the newly-unemployed grew by about 5,000 people last week to 439,000 and the total number of people drawing benefits hit 3.8 million -- the highest in 20 years."

Great job on the economy, Dubs.

Bush Knew Iraq Info Was False!
WASHINGTON, July 10, 2003

"Senior administration officials tell CBS News the President’s mistaken claim that Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa was included in his State
of the Union address -- despite objections from the CIA.

Before the speech was delivered, the portions dealing with Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction were checked with the CIA for accuracy, reports CBS
News National Security Correspondent David Martin.

CIA officials warned members of the President’s National Security Council staff the intelligence was not good enough to make the flat statement Iraq
tried to buy uranium from Africa.

The White House officials responded that a paper issued by the British government contained the unequivocal assertion: “Iraq has ... sought
significant quantities of uranium from Africa.” As long as the statement was attributed to British Intelligence, the White House officials argued,
it would be factually accurate. The CIA officials dropped their objections and that’s how it was delivered.

“The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa,” Mr. Bush said.

The statement was technically correct, since it accurately reflected the British paper. But the bottom line is the White House knowingly included
in a presidential address information its own CIA had explicitly warned might not be true."

More of this breaking story at:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/25/iraq/main560449.shtml

Hell, no, George didn't go.





George Wins the Lottery
Hustler, September 2003


George Bush said--2 days before ordering our troops into Iraq--
"There's no certainty in war but the certainty of sacrifice."

That is true, unless your name is Bush and your Poppy has lots of bribe money and enough influence to get some other poor schlepp to take your place in Sacrifice alley. Greg Palast has uncovered another Bush family lie. Do these people EVER tell the truth about anything?

Watch the skies tonight!



see link

Dear God....

"Up to 800 possibly dead"



10/07/2003 19:30 - (SA)

Chandpur, Bangladesh - Hopes were fading on Thursday of finding hundreds of people missing after a ferry sank in a Bangladesh river, as lashing rains and strong currents brought rescue operations to a near standstill....."

The number feared lost is over half of the number lost on the Titanic.
It didn't even make the headlines of the American network news. What is wrong with American journalism? Have they lost their souls? Have we lost ours?

How We Know the Ground is Beginning to Open Under Bush's Feet...and Soon He Will Sink into



the Land of Liar's Consequences

GW Bush:
"There's going to be, you know, a lot of attempts to try to rewrite
history, and I can understand that. But I'm absolutely confident in
the decision I made."
Excerpt from this article


Bush now realizes how history will portray him. He's already defending a history which will someday prove him to be the President who tried to revise history first, the accuse others of doing it later.

Why is John Kerry Telling Us To "Get Over" Selection 2000 (see Buzzflash reader's commentary) When The Stolen Election Is Still In the News? (see July 9th Daily Business Review)

U.S. authorities need to move quickly to either set up a national security system run by Iraqis or bring in international peacekeeping troops from other nations, possibly including Muslim countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh
U.S. Military Scholars Warn of Wider Iraqi Insurgency

``If U.S. forces are still there a year from now, individuals who suggest the United States is there for bad motives will feel more comfortable stirring up problems,'' said W. Andrew Terrill, research professor at the Carlisle, Pa.-based War College's Strategic Studies Institute.

``Even the (Shi'ites) are saying you need to think about leaving, and they're the ones we're getting along with at the moment,'' he added.