Boston Globe
Bring back UN inspectors
By Jacqueline Shire, 10/5/2003
"....David Kay's report is an interim one. As National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice noted, analysts are still debriefing Iraqi officials and poring over "miles of documents." This must have brought a smile to the faces of UN inspectors who have spent 12 years analyzing thousands of pages of documentation. Their findings are a matter of public record, and a close reading would show that Iraq must still account for plenty: chemical and biological munitions it claims were destroyed unilaterally, stocks of agent and chemical precursors, drawings, plans, and prototypes for various weapons systems.
Ultimately, this is where the full story of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction will be told -- sorting through the muddled gray area of "unaccounted for" stockpiles and reports of "unconfirmed" destruction.
UN inspectors have a head start, and can do the job for a fraction of the cost..."
U.S. ISRAEL ATTACKS SYRIA
"We've consistently told Syria that it must cease harboring terrorists, and make a clean break from those responsible for planning and directing terrorist attacks from Syrian soil."
Adam Ereli, a State Department spokesman
"Israel has cast its strike against Syria as justifiable in a war against terrorism..."
Douglas Jehl - NY Times
In the NY Times today: "The White House said President Bush had called the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, after the predawn airstrike and urged him to avoid further heightening tensions in the region. A senior administration official said the United States was seeking "full details" about the raid [in Syria}....But the administration seemed to be avoiding any criticism of the attack, which Israel described as retaliation for the suicide bombing that killed 19 people in Haifa....In its reluctance to criticize the Israeli raid, the American stance was at odds with that of most of Europe and the Arab world, whose leaders roundly condemned what they called a dangerous increase in tensions in the Middle East by Israel."
In the Guardian today, "Islamic Jihad, which admitted responsibility, has once again done grave disservice to the Palestinian cause. But Israel's response to the attack is equally unjustified. Its air raid deep inside Syrian territory was a reckless act typical of Israel's leader, Ariel Sharon. It will dissipate international sympathy and further entrench Arab hostility. Mr Sharon has a genius for putting Israel in the wrong...... As for George Bush, he certainly needs to think again - and act quickly. US pressure on Syria and Iran has been intense of late. Far from reining in Mr Sharon, Washington's effete, partial policy seems to have emboldened him to attack, to escalate, to spread the conflict in the much-abused name of the "war on terror", while actively subverting the road map. This is no Bush-ian vision of a transformed, peaceful Middle East. This is a vision of hell, of a Haifa every day."
Bush twiddles thumbs while a very dangerous Sharon widens and fuels Middle East disaster
The United States, no longer considered a relevant or respected "player" at the U.N., puts in their
barren and hollow two-cents worth:
"..The US ambassador to the UN, John Negroponte, called on all sides to avoid heightening tension.
But he said: "The United States believes that Syria is on the wrong side of the war on terrorism..."
*What's new? The Bush administration is avoiding the Middle East conflict altogether...instead turning the actions from a dangerous Sharon into 'just another day in the war on terror'. Complacency: a recipe for death and destruction in that unfortunate land.*
Dear God....What Has This President Done to Our America?
(Bush Is Mostly Responsible For The Global Collapse In U.S. Support)
Washington Post Editorial
Talking to the World
Monday, October 6, 2003; Page A22
"....The collapse in global support for the United States during the past several years is hard to overstate..."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Hypocrisy Central: What has this President's administration done to the word..and to the very essence of... "democracy"?
Democracy on Hold
By Fred Hiatt
"......Throughout this administration, there are career bureaucrats and political appointees who are passionately committed to promoting democracy. But at the top, democracy seems to have become an afterthought, except when its championing is politically useful (Iraq, Afghanistan) or relatively cost-free (Burma, Zimbabwe). And even in Burma, it's not clear the administration will spend chits to influence other nations that could help..."
Washington Post feature by Samuel R. Berger and Ivo H. Daalder:
The Long Haul
Sunday, October 5, 2003; Page B07
Bush May Be In Too Deep In Iraq Failure To Tell Allies, Iraqis, And The People The Truth
"...The administration has embarked on a high-risk strategy -- that we can fix Iraq better and faster by ourselves than with others -- in the hope that we will win the race between dramatic improvement on the ground and the American people's loss of patience as they come to realize that we are in this largely alone. But to succeed, we need a strategy that is sustainable. As others have said, reconstructing Iraq is a marathon, not the sprint the administration assumed."
BuzzFlash interview: Jamie Doran
Producer-director of 'Afghan Massacre: The Convoy Of Death'
This interview originally appeared on BuzzFlash, the pro-democracy news source.
This riveting documentary charges that American forces were present at and permitted the massacre of approximately 3,000 Taliban prisoners. Although it has been shown in Europe, "Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death" has received virtual little distribution or air time in the United States...."
**Note- It was broadcast tonight over American airwaves..I saw a portion of it on satellite television.**
Dad of slain agent calls CIA's leak 'treason'
October 3, 2003
BY DEVLIN BARRETT
Chicago Sun Times
WASHINGTON -- The father of slain CIA officer Johnny ''Mike'' Spann said Thursday he believes an independent counsel should investigate allegations that someone in the Bush administration exposed a CIA officer's identity -- an act he called treasonous.
Spann, the first American killed in Afghanistan, died in a prison uprising. His father, also named Johnny Spann, said he is still angry because he feels his son's identity and hometown were disclosed before his son's family could be adequately protected..."
Truth may be slowly emerging about Iraq
by James O. Goldsborough
THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
October 2, 2003
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~
American voters lose faith in Bush's foreign policy
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
04 October 2003
Independent UK
Reporters Trapped by a Promise
Unnamed Sources At Issue in CIA Leak
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 5, 2003; Page A01
"....There are at least six people in Washington who know the answer to the city's most politically charged mystery in years. And they're not talking.
That's because they're journalists..."
~~ ~~
"...critics say journalists sometimes abuse their power by allowing prosecutors -- such as Kenneth Starr during the Clinton impeachment, or authorities in the sexual assault case against Kobe Bryant -- to leak damaging details without having to go on the record..."
~~ ~~
"..Protecting sources is important, said Joe Conason, a columnist for Salon.com, but sometimes "you reach a breaking point with it."
"The knee-jerk reaction -- 'Oh no, these are sources and we can't talk about it' -- is a little too easy," Conason said. He said most of the journalists who received the CIA information "had this prod from the White House to go after Joe Wilson, and they didn't report that the White House was out to get a critic. Whenever Bill Clinton was seen to be doing something like that, it was always big news."
News in Blogging:
This weekend's Blogger Con
"On Saturday(today), one of the questions we'll consider is if the NY Times should have a weblog.
Let's say you got the job -- you're blogger in chief for the NY Times. What's the first post? How would you work with the reporters? How much writing would you do? How much editing? How much independence would you have? At what point would it no longer be a weblog? Is it enough for it to follow the form, or is there more to it? What would it look like in Year Two? Year Three?
We'll have several experts on the subject, including Len Apcar, editor in chief of New York Times on the Web, to discuss this interesting subject. Who knows, maybe the future BIC of the NYT will be in the room on Saturday..."
Crisis Papers: Whatever would we do without the Internet?
"....It is not too soon for progressives to ponder, “what would we do without the internet?” for it is folly for us to take the internet for granted...."
~~~~~~~~~
Go to: 
See the FCC page.
While you're there, you can read about Secretary of State Colin Powell's most recent lie (on On ABC's This Week 9/27/03), when he re-circulated a false story about United Nations weapons inspectors being kicked out of Iraq in 1998.
Some major media outlets let Powell's comments pass without comment or correction.
A Rare Interview With Michael Moore
Moore speaks about his new book-"Dude, Where's My Country?"
Saturday October 4, 2003
The Guardian
"The capped crusader"
In the US, a supposedly rightwing country, Michael Moore's fearless campaigning and coruscating criticism of 'that frat boy' Bush have aroused huge hostility but also rapturous fellow feeling. Gary Younge meets an engaging man, who is intent on mobilising America - and is extending the clarion call to us Brits, without whom, he believes, there would have been no war on Iraq.
See link for interview.
DEMOCRACY NOW Showcase:
Thursday, October 2nd, 2003
Former CIA Agent Lashes Out at White House For Blowing Colleague’s Cover
From the interview:
LARRY JOHNSON: "....instead of focusing on the substance of the issue what is underway we continue to see Scott McClellan engage in this to suggest that because of some political beliefs by ambassador Wilson that that discredits the substance of his report.
Unfortunately, that is what has become typical of politics. We saw it under the Clinton administration and now we're seeing it under the Bush administration. George Bush promised a new tone in town and got the same old note..."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
AMY GOODMAN: "Larry Johnson to say the least, this is a political firestorm. You're a Republican. Why are you speaking out?"
LARRY JOHNSON: "There's right and wrong in this. I was disgusted by a lot of things I saw happening under the Clinton administration, and I expected a new tone and new direction. Instead we're getting a level of thuggery with -- the White House continues to do it.
What's unfortunate, when I say White House I mean Scott McClellan by raising questions about Joe Wilson's political affiliation. It's not relevant The simple question is, who revealed the name of his wife and compromised her cover status; and why are they attacking Joe Wilson for bringing the news that was available also in other sources which told them that that report that the President based his State of the Union message on was erroneous; and that there was in fact no credible evidence that Iraq was trying to obtain nuclear material. That was used as a pretext for war. That's wrong.."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SEE THE REPLY TO AMY GOODMAN'S QUESTION:
AMY GOODMAN: " Larry Johnson, it was interesting to watch the Vice President, Dick Cheney, on “Meet the Press” with Tim Russert a couple of weeks ago, because when he was asked about Joe Wilson he said, I never met Joe Wilson, I don't know Joe Wilson.
We did a piece called “Does a Felon Rove the White House” I did with fellow producer Jeremy Scahill.
Looking at what Cheney said, he then went on to say when Russert told him, “Well he was sent by the C.I.A. “ he said, “Who sent him?” clearly raising this question of his wife, I think is the suggestion.
But what about Dick Cheney going to the C.I.A. with Scooter Libby, his top aide, I believe Scooter Libby went, "Washington Post" reported, many times perhaps close to 20, the Vice President went a number of times as well during the period after Joe Wilson gave his report. He says he never heard about this, which is quite hard to believe considering the unprecedented nature of his visits as well as Scooter Libby's. Do you think they have anything to do with this?............................................"
_________________________________
This is what our nation needs:
"The People Speak: America Debates Its Role in the World"
See article about the organization's positive effect on American community here.
Related article by Swanee Hunt of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government here.
___________________________
TELECASTS OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES/ONE HOUR EACH/ ONE ON ONE BEGINNING OCT 13:
Speaking of the Harvard Kennedy School, the Institute of Politics at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government will host a series of one-on-one, hour-long, live forums with the Presidential candidates. MSNBC will produce and telecast each forum as part of its program "Hardball: Battle for the White House."
See article.
All the Democratic candidates have been invited to participate. Currently, the following candidates and dates are confirmed.
Oct. 13 - Sen. John Edwards
Oct. 20 - Sen. John Kerry
Oct. 27 - Rev. Al Sharpton
Nov. 3 - Rep. Dick Gephardt
Nov. 10 - Sen. Bob Graham
Nov. 17 - Former U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand Carol Moseley Braun
This is a Must-Read:
Has Bush Become a Threat to the Ruling Elite?
Who Got Us Into This Mess and Why?
By SAUL LANDAU
Readers, I do not want you to miss this article.
In my humble opinion, truer words about the current state of the Bush administration were never spoken.
The only part in which I tend to disagree is the possibility of the entrance of one Hillary Clinton into this race. I don't believe you'll see that happen.
"....the Bush Administration, now faced with its first serious opposition from Congress members and editorial writers from leading newspapers, no longer speaks with one clear, albeit simplistic voice..."
Kazakhs: Let's talk about succession
By Sergei Blagov
Asia Times
**Corruption Probe Involving US Oil in Kazakhstan**
Greed in America:
This is what happens when good oil men go bad.
The eldest daughter of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has told the Russian media that her father's opponents "could relax" for the next decade. However, she has become increasingly high-profile in terms of Kazakh domestic politics..
Excerpts:
".....in recent months talk of succession has gained new momentum, being somewhat fueled by an ongoing criminal investigation in New York into alleged kickbacks to top Kazakh officials as part of oil deals between the government and Western oil majors.
In June, a former US oil executive, J Bryan Williams, pleaded guilty to charges of tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud the US government in connection with a deal to develop Kazakhstan's energy sector. Williams, a lawyer, aided Mobil's oil operations in Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union, including Kazakhstan. The guilty plea of Williams is helping to refocus attention on a bribery case involving unnamed Kazakh officials and merchant banker James Giffen........."
~~~~~
....Giffen, who is chairman of the New York-based Mercator Corp, was arraigned on March 31 on two counts of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. According to the indictment, Giffen allegedly funneled $78 million in fees from a deal between Mobil Oil Corp and the Kazakh government to two bank accounts controlled by top Kazakh officials. The indictment does not name the Kazakh leaders.
The Giffen indictment is part of a wider US corruption probe that is examining the dealings of oil conglomerates in Kazakhstan. Giffen reportedly served as an adviser to Nazarbayev, and had close ties with Kazakh Oil Minister Nurlan Balgymbayev.
Therefore, Nazarbayev is now understood to be seeking to position his daughter as his successor, allowing him the option of quickly departing office if developments in the graft probe made it expedient to do so. Dynastic succession would also secure life-long immunity from prosecution for Nazarbayev..."
______________________
Companion article: Ex-Mobil executive gets prison in Kazakhstan case
"...He [Williams] said that after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, he realized that, if he had been killed, his family would have been left to deal with the result of his crimes.
"It would have been a huge mess," he said, explaining that he then hired tax lawyers to help resolve the problem. But the government had already begun its investigation..."
This is why Howard Dean is successful on the road to
President of the United States in 2004-
He understands and in many ways,
has created "the new rules"
A very interesting case made by Joan Vennochi of the Boston Globe.
The new rules of political rhetoric
By Joan Vennochi, 10/2/2003
Boston Globe
Excerpt:
"...Candidates like Schwarzenegger, Romney, and former Vermont governor Howard Dean are bypassing the traditional political constituencies and cutting right to the chase, the general voting population. They are banking on their gut feeling that American voters are sick to their stomachs of the same old rhetoric, the same old jargon, the same old broken promises.
Much of the Democratic presidential field is stuck in the old rhetoric, jargon and symbolism. Missouri congressman Richard Gephardt and Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts are up in arms over the notion that a Democrat -- specifically, Howard Dean -- once said something to the effect that Medicare is poorly run. They are so incensed they are trying to crucify him politically in Iowa and New Hampshire by comparing him with Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House who remains the devil incarnate to old-fashioned liberals.
Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut is also outraged by Dean's suggestion that Mideast peace negotiations might take an actual turn toward peace if the United States isn't automatically on Israel's side in every "negotiation." Then there is all the vying for endorsements from labor unions, women's organizations, and failed politicians like Gary Hart. Within the context of Democratic primary politics, it is heavy pressure, and Dean is clearly trying to placate the interest groups who hold enormous sway in the process. Every time he does, he weakens his campaign argument to the general voting population...."
'Slime and Defend'
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: October 3, 2003
NY Times
Bottom line...Bush knew about the inexcusable leaks 11 weeks ago.
What did he do?
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
"....as long as the media were willing to let the story lie — which, with a few honorable exceptions, like David Corn at The Nation and Knut Royce and Timothy Phelps at Newsday, they were — he didn't think this outrage required any action..."
And Cheney of course, went out on Meet The Press and pretended he'd never heard of Joseph Wilson.
***AS IF!***
It's no wonder a solid majority of Americans no longer have confidence in these so-called "leaders".
They display very few positive elements of good character when times get tough.
When they're caught in their web of lies, they make an outer-transformation to the sludge they really are under the surface.
As Paul Krugman aptly states:
".... the true test of patriotism isn't whether you are willing to wave the flag, or agree with whatever the president says. It's whether you are willing to take risks and make sacrifices, including political sacrifices, for the sake of your country. This episode is a test for Mr. Bush and his inner circle: a true patriot wouldn't hesitate about doing the right thing in the Plame affair, whatever the political costs.
Mr. Bush is failing that test."
~~~
As I commented just yesterday, "A determination to live sustained, proud, cold, and hard lies will never translate to consensus...within or without these United States.
This, ultimately, is the failure of the Bush presidency."
