Imperial Defiance: Some people cannot be defeated.
"Ragged rebels against the crown" sounded a lot like "insurgents" or "terrorist" to the ears of 18th century Englishmen. The weapon-bearing farmers who attacked the orderly rows of uniformed soldiers from hidden positions behind trees and rocks were described as cowardly and immoral for not fighting on an open field as prescribed by the conventions of war. The guerilla tactics of the colonial minutemen awakened the same revulsion and fear among the British troops 230 years ago as suicide bombers and IED-attacks do today among American troops.
Some things never change. Some people never learn. Some people cannot be defeated.

Definition of silence
War is hellish and hateful. But even more hateful is the hypocrite who endorses, encourages and champions war, while avoiding any personal involvement or risk for himself, his relatives or his friends.
In 2005, the American establishment -- political, economic and journalistic -- has with only a handful of admirable exceptions no personal stake in the armed forces of the United States.
The incontrovertible premise of the administration's war policy, for everyone except those who do serve and their loved ones, is that sacrifice is only for suckers.
In George W. Bush's wartime, no inconvenience, let alone sacrifice, is asked of citizens, and patriotism is painless and can be profitable.

Noise distracts us from the truth
Whether it is Durbin's comments, Newsweek, the unfortunate use of the Terri Schiavo tragedy, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, or demanding a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, the chattering class has the public conversation focused on the inconsequential.
We are addicted to cacophony, feeding our obsession with the empty calories of obfuscation, while the truth stands alone in deafening silence. Sadly, the media has been complicit in its willingness to cover the noise.
The real problem lies in our preference for the noise.
For if there was no noise distracting us, we would be forced to sit with the truth.

Supporting the war takes more than hanging up yellow ribbons
In the end, the political rhetoric and opinion polls mean nothing. If Americans aren't signing up to fight the war, then it's over.
If you are one of those who supports the war, ask yourself this question. Why don't you sign up to fight it, or urge your children or others who are capable to serve to sign up? If you aren't willing to do that, then do you really support the war? Does that yellow ribbon on your car really mean anything?
If this war isn't worth interrupting your current civilian life to go and fight, perhaps it's not worth fighting.
The failure of war supporters to volunteer to fight speaks louder than any protester about what a debacle this has become. It's easy to send other people to fight your battles. But if you aren't willing to make any real sacrifice, then you have to question whether it's worth fighting.

Former MI5 Agent Says 9/11 An Inside Job
Shayler was forthright in his assertion that the attack was planned and executed within the jurisdiction of the military-industrial complex.
"They let it happen, they made it happen to create a trigger to be able to allow the invasion of Afghanistan, the invasion of Iraq and of course what they're trying to do now is the same thing with the invasion of Iran and Syria."
Shayler ended by questioning the highly suspicious nature of the collapse of the twin towers and Building 7, the first buildings in history, all in the same day, to collapse from so-called fire damage alone.

General Abizaid is a liar
When asked if the war in Iraq has made America safer, he responded:
"Absolutely, I think this war has made us safer. We are fighting the same people in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and our partners are fighting the same people in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan that brought us 9/11, we should never lose sight of that."

Three Things About Iraq
New York Times
June 25, 2005
To have the sober conversation about the war in Iraq that America badly needs, it is vital to acknowledge three facts:
The war has nothing to do with Sept. 11.
The war has not made the world, or this nation, safer from terrorism.
If the war is going according to plan, someone needs to rethink the plan.

Iraqis Fear Era of Relentless Chaos, Cruelty
"It seems that we are reaching a point of no return," said an exasperated Abed Qadeer, a local architect.

"I would say we have been relatively successful in reducing the violence in Baghdad," Army Maj. Gen. William G. Webster, whose forces patrolled the city and environs, said before the latest spasm of attacks. "I believe that … saying anything about 'breaking the back' or 'about to reach the end of the line' or those kinds of things do not apply to the insurgency at this point.

"The insurgency is shifting all the time," he said. "This is a learning enemy."

"Saddam used to kill the people who opposed him, but the killing nowadays is random," said Yahya Salem, a retired government worker in Karada. "We have transformed from a dictatorship into something far worse. We have lost our country."

"This is no longer a place where people can live," said Khilood Mohammed, a mother of three whose neighborhood has been the scene of intense clashes. "No light of hope can be seen on the horizon."

As U.S. commanders wonder how to disengage from a conflict that appears increasingly unpopular at home, edgy troops grapple with an unnerving truth: Their very presence inspires the rebellion they seek to crush.

"Part of the recruitment for this insurgency is fueled by the perception that we are an occupying power and have no intention of leaving," Army Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, commander of the Multinational Corps, said in a recent interview. "I think we need to make it clear that we intend to draw down, and we intend to drawn down relatively soon, and we have no aspirations here."

A Glide Path to Ruin
By Nicholas D. Kristof
The New York Times
Sunday 26 June 2005
The biggest risk we Americans face to our way of life and our place in the world probably doesn't come from Al Qaeda or the Iraq war.
Rather, the biggest risk may come from this administration's fiscal recklessness and the way this is putting us in hock to China.
"I think the greatest threat to our future is our fiscal irresponsibility," warns David Walker, the comptroller general of the United States.

Regarding Flag Burning
If I go to the Post Office and take down their flag and stomp on it and kick it and inadvertantly allow it to become stained with urine and burn it; I would expect to be arrested.
If I go to Walmart and buy my own god-damned 'made in China' star-spangled banner I can do anything I want with it. Burn flags now. Glue them to the streets where they will be destroyed by traffic. Wear them on the soles of your shoes. Draw them on the sidewalk where they will be erased by pedestrians. Put vinyl flag stickers in urinals. Be sure to wash your hands afterwards.

U.S. headed for disaster when efforts in Iraq collapse
We may now be only weeks away from a complete collapse of the Iraqi army and the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq in the face of overwhelming public pressure on Tony Blair.
That is a realistic projection based on the reports of two Washington Post reporters, whose dispatches from inside Iraqi Army units and U.S. units assigned to train and work with the Iraqi military have just been published.
Interviews by the Post reporters show that many U.S. and Iraqi troops no longer know what they are fighting for.

US acknowledges torture at Guantanamo and Iraq, Afghanistan: UN source
GENEVA (AFP) - Washington has for the first time acknowledged to the United Nations that prisoners have been tortured at US detention centres in Guantanamo Bay, as well as Afghanistan and Iraq, a UN source said.

President must answer to Downing Street Memo
This massive scandal will not go away. The president's apparently soiled hands are dyed with the blood of more than 1,700 American soldiers and 100,000 Iraqi citizens. The potential crimes of George Bush reduce Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton's misdeeds into subjects for a comedy act.
But this is no time for laughter.
America's credibility, its conscience and soul, stand at a crossroad. George Bush should be thoroughly investigated by a congressional committee or independent counsel. And, if these allegations hold true, Bush should be impeached and then imprisoned for war crimes against humanity.

Relatives of some troops killed in Iraq seek hearings on Downing Street memo
Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Friday, June 17, 2005
“I envy the parents who support this war, because if I did I’d sleep better,” said Dianne Davis Santorello, a Pennsylvania resident whose son was killed in August 2004. “But I don’t sleep well. My son died for a lie.”
She said the Downing Street memo would “bring down the house of cards” if lawmakers choose to investigate it, and compared it to the Watergate scandal which eventually forced President Richard Nixon from office.

President Bush 06/18/05
"We went to war because we were attacked, and we are at war today because there are still people out there who want to harm our country and hurt our citizens."
But Mr. President, you have already stated "We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with September 11." - G.W. Bush 9/18/2003

Memos Show British Concern Over Iraq Plans
"If 11 September had not happened, it is doubtful that the U.S. would now be considering military action against Iraq," Straw wrote. "In addition, there has been no credible evidence to link Iraq with OBL (Osama bin Laden) and al-Qaida."
He also questioned stability in a post-Saddam Iraq: "We have also to answer the big question — what will this action achieve?

catapult the propaganda

"See in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda."


mp3 audio file

"We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with September 11." - G.W. Bush 9/18/2003

mp3 audio file of the above statement.

Paper trail mounts
In a March 22, 2002, letter to British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Blair political adviser Peter Ricketts advised steering the public rationale for war away from "regime change."
"'Regime change' does not stack up. It sounds like a grudge between Bush and Saddam," Ricketts wrote.
Four days after the Sept. 11 attacks, during a crisis meeting at Camp David, Wolfowitz argued for attacking Iraq in response, as first recounted in journalist Bob Woodward's book "Plan of Attack."
Later that month, Wolfowitz helped arrange a trip by former CIA Director James Woolsey to the United Kingdom to look for evidence of an Iraqi role in Sept. 11.
The search for evidence, along with claims about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs, continued for more than a year.
No Iraqi link to Sept. 11 has been found, and most of the intelligence about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction has since proved to be bogus.
"US scrambling to establish a link between Iraq and al (Qaida) is so far frankly unconvincing," Ricketts reported earlier in his March 2002 letter to Straw.
In his own letter to Blair three days later, Straw also seemed to question the scale of the threat. "In the documents so far presented, it has been hard to glean whether the threat from Iraq is so significantly different from that of Iran and North Korea as to justify military action," he wrote.

Never admit to a mistake
Two Years Before 9/11, Candidate Bush was Already Talking Privately About Attacking Iraq, According to His Former Ghost Writer.
According to Herskowitz, who has authored more than 30 books, many of them jointly written autobiographies of famous Americans in politics, sports and media, Bush and his advisers were sold on the idea that it was difficult for a president to accomplish an electoral agenda without the record-high approval numbers that accompany successful if modest wars.
According to Herskowitz, George W. Bush's beliefs on Iraq were based in part on a notion dating back to the Reagan White House - ascribed in part to now-vice president Dick Cheney, Chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee under Reagan. "Start a small war. Pick a country where there is justification you can jump on, go ahead and invade."
"He told me that as a leader, you can never admit to a mistake," Herskowitz said. "That was one of the keys to being a leader."

From Iraq, a Soldier/Father's Perspective on the War
The captain who had led the raid was angry: 'Well, this is just great! Now we have to go give that family bags of money to shut them up ... '
"A family had just lost their beautiful baby boy, and this man is worried about having to pay for a family's grief and sorrow."
"To this day I still think about that raid, that family, that boy. I wonder if they are attacking us now. I would be. If someone took the life of my son or my daughter nothing other than my own death would stop me from killing them. I still cry when the memory hits me. I have served my time. I have my nightmares. I have enough blood on my hands. Just let me be a father, a husband, a daddy again."

Flag is a symbol, remember?
Destroying your own flag would be like printing a big letter "S" and burning it. You wouldn't do harm to the alphabet by destroying this "S" nor would you harm any words that used the letter. You would do no harm to the English language, yet if you did the same thing with a flag, people would erupt in violence.
If a man in North Korea were arrested for stomping on a newspaper photo of Kim Jong Il, we would condemn his arrest as a form of political repression. However, if a man in Denver were arrested for stomping on a U.S. flag that he purchased at Wal-Mart, many of us would not recognize it as political repression. Many would say it's OK to arrest a man for harming a flag, because we've forgotten that the flag is a symbol.

Downing Street debacle
Justice would demand impeachment, at a minimum, for the blood that has been shed and the military occupation that makes us less safe every day continues.
If the liars and criminals who started this war get away without punishment, the legal ramifications will influence every prospective military adventure in the coming decades. One more signal will be sent that our executive branch can act with complete impunity, even at the cost of tens of thousands of lives. Instead, let us send a message of outrage, let us stand up and say that Americans are tired of being force-fed official fabrications.

Why Did the Trade Center Skyscrapers Collapse?
by Morgan Reynolds
To explain the unanticipated free-fall collapses of the twin towers at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, mainstream experts (also see The American Professional Constructor, October 2004, pp. 12–18) offer a three-stage argument: 1) an airplane impact weakened each structure, 2) an intense fire thermally weakened structural components that may have suffered damage to fireproofing materials, causing buckling failures, which, in turn, 3) allowed the upper floors to pancake onto the floors below.
Many will nod their head, OK, that does it and go back to watching the NBA finals or whatever, but I find this theory just about as satisfying as the fantastic conspiracy theory that "19 young Arabs acting at the behest of Islamist extremists headquartered in distant Afghanistan" caused 9/11. The government’s collapse theory is highly vulnerable on its own terms, but its blinkered narrowness and lack of breadth is the paramount defect unshared by its principal scientific rival – controlled demolition. Only professional demolition appears to account for the full range of facts associated with the collapses of WTC 1 (North Tower), WTC 2 (South Tower), and the much-overlooked collapse of the 47-story WTC building 7 at 5:21 pm on that fateful day.

THERE IS NO MONEY IN THE USA TODAY.
IT IS DEBT, CREDIT AND FANTASY.
It is pathetic. It is disgusting and most of all, it is useless for the USA to pretend it isn't bankrupt. It is like an aristocrat pawning the family jewels to pay gambling debts. We are undone economically.

The American people have been had
Bush may not realize it, but Amnesty International may have done him a big favor. The controversy the human rights group ignited over the treatment of Muslim detainees at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has deflected the attention of journalists and war critics from an even more disturbing story - how all the president's talk about going to war as a last resort was just a ruse.
Some will ask: What's the point of bringing up the Downing Street memo now, two years after the invasion and at a time when terrorist suicide bombers are making life hell not only for U.S. troops but the Iraqi people? The point is this: President Bush didn't level with the American people before going to war. And he still hasn't.

Ministers were told of need for Gulf war ‘excuse’
Ministers were warned in July 2002 that Britain was committed to taking part in an American-led invasion of Iraq and they had no choice but to find a way of making it legal.
The warning, in a leaked Cabinet Office briefing paper, said Tony Blair had already agreed to back military action to get rid of Saddam Hussein at a summit at the Texas ranch of President George W Bush three months earlier.
The briefing paper, for participants at a meeting of Blair’s inner circle on July 23, 2002, said that since regime change was illegal it was “necessary to create the conditions” which would make it legal.

Former Bush Team Member Says WTC Collapse Likely A Controlled Demolition
"If demolition destroyed three steel skyscrapers at the World Trade Center on 9/11, then the case for an 'inside job' and a government attack on America would be compelling," said Morgan Reynolds, Ph.D, a former member of the Bush team who also served as director of the Criminal Justice Center at the National Center for Policy Analysis.
FDNY fire fighters still remain under a tight government gag order to not discuss the explosions they heard, felt and saw. FAA personnel are also under a similar 9/11 gag order.