Government tries to Sweep Autism/Pharmaceutical Industry Link Under Rug

There are a few Republican politicians with some ethics left. Previously here I pointed to Sens. McCain and Lugar as examples of US Senators who often tell the truth while their party line is to tell the American People the lie du jour. They must do so sparingly for fear of retribution. You can add another to the list of Republican politicians who have not yet sold their soul to the devil. Recently the federal government has been working hard to conceal the scientific evidence linking vaccine preservative thimerosal to the epidemic of neurological disorders among American children including autism. The New York Times reported an "unusual" "invitation-only" press conference in which representatives of the three federal agencies involved in the cover-up, the CDC, the FDA and the National Institute of Child Health Development, defended the use of thimerosal in vaccines. Following that press conference, Republican Congressman Dave Weldon, who is sponsoring legislation to ban thimerosal, denounced the trio for misleading the American public.

"It seemed that this was an effort to assuage public concerns, but I think parents are much smarter than some people give them credit for," said Mr. Weldon, who was a practicing physician before his election to the House in 1994.

Thimerosal is now discontinued in most American vaccines (with the exception of flu shots), but it is still being given to millions of children in the developing world with the help of our tax dollars. Powerful pharmaceutical companies who contribute a great deal of money to politicians have a vested interest in keeping the suspected link between thimerosal and autism and other neurological disorders among our children (and now the world’s children) under wraps. Congressman Weldon is breaking with his party to expose the dangers of this substance which has no medical benefit being injected into children’s veins. Don’t get me wrong, vaccines are a valuable weapon in the fight against childhood diseases, but if we are alarmed enough to remove thimerosal from vaccines in the US for fear of its effect, why is it permissible to administer it to poor children in other countries? Weldon’s bill seeks to remove thimerosal from flu shots, but I would recommend our removing it from the vaccines our US companies give to third world children as well paid for with our tax dollars.

Joe

Conservative Voice Reports Intelligence Officers Testify Bush Admin has Made Job of Protecting Nation More Difficult For CIA and Other Intel Agencies

Conservative Voice a Conservative News Source reports that a number of former U.S. intelligence officers who had risked their lives in the service of our country criticized President Bush’s Administration for making their jobs harder if not impossible. They testified before members of Congress that because CIA operatives (not just Valerie Plame Wilson, but all the CIA operatives who worked at the company she worked for which was a “CIA front” to keep Weapons of Mass Destruction out of the hands of Terrorists and enemy nations) were exposed and all their contacts in other countries were exposed because they had talked to our operatives outed when Valerie Plame Wilson was outed. The former US Inel officers testified that now it is nearly impossible to get contacts in other countries to confide in them. These contacts now fear that the Bush Administration might out the agent they have spoken too thereby endangering their lives. These Americans who risked their lives by serving in the Intelligence Service are amazed that the American People aren’t demanding the Bush Administration discipline those who spoke to reporters about Valerie Plame Wilson’s identity as a CIA operative.

"I wouldn't be here this morning if President Bush had done the one thing required of him as commander in chief – protect and defend the Constitution," said Larry Johnson, a former CIA analyst and registered Republican.

Patrick Lang, a retired Army colonel and defense intelligence officer, said Bush's silence on the issue sends a bad signal to foreigners who might be thinking of cooperating with the U.S. on intelligence matters.

"This says to them that if you decide to cooperate, someone will give you up, so you don't do it," Lang said. "They are not going to trust you in any way."

Johnson, a registered Republican, said he wished a GOP lawmaker would have the courage to stand up and "call the ugly dog the ugly dog."

"Where are these men and women with any integrity to speak out against this?" Johnson asked. "I expect better behavior out of my fellow Republicans."

"What has suffered irreversible damage is the credibility of our case officers when they try to convince an overseas contact that their safety is of primary importance to us," Jim Marcinkowski, a former CIA case officer, said.

He also criticized Republican efforts to minimize the damage caused by the leak.

"Each time the political machine made up of prime-time patriots and partisan ninnies display their ignorance by deriding Valerie Plame as a mere paper pusher or belittling the varying degrees of cover used to protect our officers or continuing to play partisan politics with our national security, it's a disservice to this country," he added.

Republicans have refused to condemn the outing of Mrs. Wilson and the other CIA agents she worked with. Instead they have called for the Democratic Party to apologize for condemning it.

Timeline:

July 6, 2003: Joe Wilson's column, "What I Didn't Find in Africa," is published in The New York Times. In it he concludes, "some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat."

July 7, 2003: President Bush is onboard Air Force One along with a top-secret briefing book containing a memo prepared by the State Department identifying Valerie Wilson as a CIA officer and as the wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson.

Sometime between July 7, 2003 and July 14, 2003: Rove and at least one other Senior Bush Administration Official talk to Columnist Robert Novak about Wilson’s wife being a CIA operative.

July 11, 2003: According to Time reporter Matthew Cooper, Karl Rove told him, "I've already said too much" after revealing that the wife of administration critic Joseph Wilson apparently worked at the CIA.

July 14, 2003: Robert Novak reveals that Wilson's wife is a CIA operative, attributes "two senior administration officials."

July 22, 2003: At a White House news briefing, McClellan, when asked about the administration leaking Plame's name, states: "That is not the way this president or this White House operates."

Really?

Joe

Greatest Republican Leaders of Past Criticized the President During Wartime!

I posted here before how powerful Republican Leaders have criticized the President during times of war. Former Republican President Teddy Roosevelt criticized Democratic President Wilson during WWI, and said that people who claimed you must not criticize the president especially during war were themselves the traitors because they were "morally treasonous to the American public." Republican Senator Robert Taft who was known as "Mr. Republican" and was the son of Republican President William Howard Taft, was openly critical of Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and throughout WWII. He scoffed at those who said that criticism of the President during war time was giving aid and comfort to the enemy. He said, “if that comfort makes the enemy feel better for a few moments they are welcome to it... because the maintenance of the right to criticism in the long run will do the country maintaining it a good deal more good than it will do the enemy." Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower also supported criticism of the President as honest patriotic dissent reminiscent of the founders of our nation.

But I forgot to mention the first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, while he was a Congressman during the Mexican American War – a war declared by Congress – openly challenged Democratic President Polk insisting that the president had lied to the American people in order to start the war. Lincoln demanded the proof of the claims that Polk had made – the equivalent of Bush’s claims that Iraq had WMDs including nuclear weapons and the Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11 – both claims which have been proven false yet many Americans still believe them because the Corporate-Owned News Media is failing to do their job of informing them.

These Republican leaders of the past were 100% right to defend the American right to disagree with the President even during war. To question the President’s truthfulness and even accuse him of lying to start a war if there is any suspicion he did so. They were 100% right to dismiss the charges that criticism of the President or his administration gives aid and comfort to the enemy. The enemy gets great comfort when the American people’s right to criticize the President is taken away or disparaged as unpatriotic. That is Treason as Teddy Roosevelt observed.

Anyone who thinks that this is an unpatriotic blog is either not reading it or just too blinded by propaganda to see the truth. I pity them.

Joe

Bush Administration Memo Clearly Shows CIA Agent's Identity Was "Secret" & "Classified" Material and that SHE WAS AN *UNDERCOVER* CIA OPERATIVE

The Republican supporters of Karl Rove have been saying that Ambassador Joe Wilson's wife's identity as a CIA operative was not secret information. It was learned today that the Bush Admin memo from which Karl Rove probably learned her identity as a CIA agent clearly marked that information as "Secret" and "Classified" material. An article explaining this confirmed by two CIA sources says, "The paragraph identifying her as the wife of former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV was clearly marked to show that it contained classified material at the "secret" level, two sources said. The CIA classifies as "secret" the names of officers whose identities are covert [undercover], according to former senior [CIA] agency officials. Anyone reading that paragraph should have been aware that it contained secret information…It is a federal crime, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, for a federal official to knowingly disclose the identity of a covert CIA official if the person knows the government is trying to keep it secret. ”

“The memo was delivered to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell on July 7, 2003, as he headed to Africa for a trip with President Bush aboard Air Force One. Plame [the CIA operative] was unmasked in a syndicated column by Robert D. Novak seven days later [after he spoke to Rove].”

Another excuse Rove’s supporters are using is the claim that Rove merely confirmed Novak’s suspicion that Joe Wilson’s wife was a CIA operative. The problem with this is that Rove signed an oath that he would not do this. The briefing book that Rove was given when signing the oath stated that confirming classified or secret information was the same thing as leaking it, and that he would need to check if the information was declassified or else he would be considered leaking the information. As it was explained by experts, “When one is given classified clearance, they are asked to sign an oath, and they are given a briefing book with form -- Standard Form 312, it's called. And if you read this briefing book, it says this: ‘Before ... confirming the accuracy of what appears in the public source, the signer of [the] SF 312 must confirm through an authorized official that the information has, in fact, been declassified. If it has not ... confirmation of its accuracy is also an unauthorized disclosure.’”So by confirming a story from Robert Novak or sharing information with Matt Cooper, no matter where it came from without seeking to determine whether it was declassified, it is unauthorized disclosure of classified information.

The Republican Party Chairman is still demanding that the Democratic Party apologize to Karl Rove for accusing him of doing what Rove’s lawyer and at least one reporter has already admitted that he did! I am not too proud to do this. I hereby declare that I am very very sorry that Karl Rove, President Bush’s chief political advisor, is a traitor to the United States of America! There, is that what you wanted?

Joe

Bush Admin Admits Plans to Interfere in Iraq Elections – Says They Never Actually Did It, Though

The Bush administration has admitted that President Bush authorized covert plans last year to support the election campaigns of Iraqis with close ties to the White House, but government and intelligence officials said yesterday the plan was scrapped before the January vote. Some officials with knowledge of the original proposal said the Bush administration backed down after congressional objections, but others cited concerns within the intelligence community that the effort was likely to backfire.

Karl Rove Withheld Information from FBI Investigating CIA Agent Betrayal and Damage to National Security

In 2003 when Karl Rove was being interviewed by the FBI about someone in the White House revealing the identity of an undercover CIA operative, he withheld the fact that he had revealed the information to Time Magazine’s Matt Cooper in addition to discussing it with columnist Robert Novak. The article includes this paragraph:

Novak's column came during a period of time when senior White House officials were attempting to discredit Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who was then asserting that the Bush administration had relied on faulty intelligence to bolster its case to go to war with Iraq. Wilson had only recently led a CIA-sponsored mission to Niger to investigate claims that Saddam Hussein was covertly attempting to buy enriched uranium from the African nation to build a nuclear weapon. Wilson reported back that the claims were most likely the result of a hoax. But President Bush had still cited them during a State of the Union address as evidence that Hussein had an aggressive program to develop weapons of mass destruction.

Novak used the term “agency operative” to describe Valarie Plame (Mrs. Joe Wilson). A term that is reserved for describing undercover operatives. Novak is now backpedaling that he uses the term “agency operative” to describe anyone working at the CIA, but experts combing through his past columns show that he has only used this term to describe undercover operatives as is the common usage among Washington journalists. Novak identified the sources of the leak as two “senior administration officials” a term usually reserved for either members of the President’s cabinet, the Vice President or others very close to the President. Rove is the Bush’s chief political adviser and the “architect of his campaign” according to the President. He is also deputy chief of staff for the White House. The article also explaines the following:

Finally, also driving Fitzgerald's investigation has been Rove's assertions that he only found out about Plame's status with the CIA from a journalist -- and one whose name he does not recall. But as The New York Times first disclosed on July 16, senior Bush administration officials first learned that Plame worked for the CIA from a classified briefing paper on July 7, 2003, exactly a week before Novak's column naming Plame appeared and at the time that senior Bush administration officials were devising a strategy to discredit Wilson. .

Novak followed up his first column with a second that not only included her maiden name but her middle initial and the name of the CIA front company where she worked. That information allowed enemy nations to search their records to find any instance where she or members of her “company” visited our nations plants (undercover contacts) in those enemy nations. All of those individuals lives are now at risk. That “company” was keeping weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) out of the hands of terrorists and enemy nations. After those columns came out the CIA had to close up the front company, sacrifice all work they were doing, and the careers of all of the undercover operatives at that company were over. The damage to US National Security and our ability to eliminate WMDs is incalculable.

Back in October of 2003 about three months after this betrayal of our country occurred, four current and former CIA operatives testified before congress on how damaging this betrayal of our nation is. They declared before Congress that the individuals involved in this betrayal are our enemy and have sent a clear message to all U.S. intelligence officers that they are at risk in order to allow political vindictiveness by the Bush Administration. Their testimony before Congress can be found here. Supporters of Rove try to paint Wilson as a life long democrat which is not true. Remember that Joe Wilson and his wife were Republicans before all this and had voted for George W. Bush in 2000. Naturally they decided to vote against him in 2004 after their lives were endangered for political purposes.

Rove Admitted he had “Said Too Much” When he Identified Undercover CIA Agent – He Knew He Had Outed Her!

Karl Rove now claims that he didn’t even know that Joe Wilson’s wife was an undercover CIA operative, and that he learned it from the press. But Matt Cooper one of the reporters he called to tell this to testified under oath before a grand jury that Rove told him that she was a CIA operative, and that he said, “I’ve already said too much.” He knew he has outed her. He could have at that point said that this information was “off the record.” This would have prevented Cooper from being able to print it according to the media rules concerning off the record information. But Rove did not tell him that this was off the record even when he realized he had revealed her identity as an undercover CIA agent. This was before Robert Novak printed the information after talking to Rove. Another “senior White House official” besides Rove spoke to Novak and told him that Wilson’s wife was a CIA operative, too. According to the rules, Novak needed at least two anonymous sources to go to print, and Rove and the other “senior White House official” made two! We now know that Cooper talked to Rove and Vice President Cheney’s chief of staff, Scooter Libby. Those were his two anonymous sources. When this first came out Bush and his spokesman, Scott McClellan, said that anyone involved in leaking that information to the press would no longer be working for the administration. Now Bush says that anyone “convicted” of the crime would be fired. If Rove and Libby are convicted I fully expect him to change it to “Anyone executed for treason will no longer work for this administration. Indicted, convicted. Fine! But mark my words…once they are executed they will never work for my administration again! I have said this from the start, and I mean it.”

Washington Post Continues to Lie to Readers About CIA Agent Betrayed by Rove and Others in Bush Administration - TV News Does Same!

The Washington Post continues to tell the American people three lies about the Bush Admin outing of a CIA agent. Lie 1: Joe Wilson’s trip to Niger strengthened the Bush Admin’s clam that Iraq tied to buy Uranium. Lie 2: Wilson’s wife was the one who decided he go to Niger to investigate the WMD issue. Lie 3: Rove was just trying to correct Wilson’s alleged claim that Cheney had sent him, and he may have accidentally outed Wilson’s wife as an undercover CIA agent. All three are untrue as shown in this analysis. The third one is an especially low blow since Wilson didn’t claim this. In his editorial that predated Rove’s leaks to reporters he said that "agency officials" asked him to travel to Niger in response to questions posed by Cheney regarding the Niger allegation. The CIA told him that this was to follow up on questions made by Cheney’s office. Wilson never claimed Cheney sent him, but the Corporate-Owned Media keeps saying otherwise.

From Wilson's July 6, 2003, op-ed:

In February 2002, I was informed by officials at the Central Intelligence Agency that Vice President Dick Cheney's office had questions about a particular intelligence report. While I never saw the report, I was told that it referred to a memorandum of agreement that documented the sale of uranium yellowcake -- a form of lightly processed ore -- by Niger to Iraq in the late 1990's. The agency officials asked if I would travel to Niger to check out the story so they could provide a response to the vice president's office.

From the Senate intelligence report:

Officials from the CIA's DO [Directorate of Operations] Counterproliferation Division (CPD) told Committee staff that in response to question's from the Vice-President's office and the Departments of State and Defense on the alleged Iraq-Uranium deal, CPD officials discussed ways to obtain additional information. [REDACTED] who could make immediate inquiries into the reporting, CPD decided to contact a former ambassador to Gabon [Wilson] who had a posting early in his career in Niger.

So Wilson’s claim matches the CIA’s testimony under oath before the Senate. Rove’s claim contradicts it. The Corporate-Owned Media continue to air Rove’s already disproved claims rather than Wilson’s proved ones. The televised news from ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox News are even more one-sided in favor of Rove’s lies. Any more evidence needed to show that the Corporations that own ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox News aren’t interested in telling the American People the truth?

Joe

Reporter Testifies Karl Rove TOLD HIM About Plame's Identity at CIA and That She Worked on Weapons of Mass Destruction, Not, As Rove Now Claims!

Karl Rove and his supporters have been claiming that the reporter told him that Joe Wilson’s wife worked for the CIA and that she worked to eliminate Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) not the other way around. But the reporter has come forward saying that Rove told him, and he has testified to the grand jury under oath and under penalty of imprisonment as to this. The Republican Party is calling on the Democratic Party to apologize for saying that Rove leaked the info to a reporter. Read the reporter’s own words here.

In related news the reporter testified that Vice President Dick Cheney’s Chief of Staff also gave him this information in an effort to get him to publish it and apparently punish Joe Wilson for divulging that Bush had lied about WMD to the country in his State of the Union Address. The Corporate-Owned Media continues to report the Rove story that the reporter told him, though. Slowly the real story is getting out -- bit by bit.

Nationwide “Christian” Adoption Agency that Receives State Funds Refuses to Place Children with Catholic Parents – Says Catholics Are NOT Christians

Read this article about a nationwide “Christian” adoption agency that receives state funds and refuses to place children with parents who are Catholic. “Catholicism does not agree with our Statement of Faith” They said adding, “Our practice to not accept applications from Catholics was an effort to be good stewards of an adoptive applicant's time, money and emotional energy.” They’ll accept Catholic’s tax dollars, but not their adoption applications.

Before the 2000 and 2004 elections George W. Bush made stops at Bob Jones University a “Christian” school that still teaches that Catholics are not Christian and will go to hell and that the Pope is the Anti-Christ. At least that’s what they said about John Paul II. I don’t know if they have given the role to the new pope. Probably since the world didn’t end yet, and the Anti-Christ is supposed to kick that off. Bob Jones University gave a PhD to Ian Paisley, the Belfast politician who says that Catholics (especially those in Ireland) are mongrels and demon-spawn. Paisley has been invited back to speak at the school many times. I’m glad that faith-based programs are providing our tax dollars to organizations like the afore mentioned adoption agency that discriminates against Catholics. And our President visits and speaks at schools that teach that Catholics are followers of the devil.

Media Repeats Rove’s Lies: Wilson Said Cheney Sent Him To Niger and Rove was Just Trying to Set the Record Straight, Wilson's wife not undercover, etc

Read this analysis of the LIES that the media continues to tell in support of Karl Rove.

Rove and his supporte claim that he was trying to correct Wilson’s claim that Cheney sent him (a claim that Wilson never made as you will learn from the analysis). But this is impossible since Rove spoke to the reporters outing Wilson's CIA wife more than three weeks before Wilson was supposed to have made the claim which it turns out was taken out of context anyway. How could Rove had predicted that Wilson was going to misspeak three weeks later, and why would he call reporters then to correct a statement yet to be made? He wouldn’t. It is a LIE fabricated and perpetuated to protect a TRAITOR from going to prison because he is central to the Bush Administration. In spite of the IMPOSSIBLITY of Rove’s claim, the Corporate-Owned Media continue to tell it to the American People.

The analysis shows no fewer than eight instances of the Corporate-Owned News Media repeating this false claim. AP News Source falsely reported Wilson "acknowledged his wife was no longer in an undercover job" when her identity was first publicly leaked this has been showed to be false by another analysis of the record. As if that wasn’t enough, CNN also reported falsely that Mrs. Wilson was not an undercover officer. In addition the Mainstream Media is misrepresenting the Presidents pledge to fire anyone involved in the leak. Just go to http://mediamatters.org/ to see dozens of instances where the Corporate-Owned News Outlets are misleading the American People on this issue! Can we get a free press for a change? I hope future generations understand the level of falseness we had to contend with from our media and government in the early days of the 21st Century. I yearn for those days in the future when this will all come to light to the extent that the majority of Americans know the truth.

Republicans Afraid to Say Rove’s Outing of Several CIA Agents Wrong

Republican politicians and operatives are afraid of the unchecked power that Rove, as the “architect” the Bush Administration, weilds. Think about it: Rove betrayed not just a single CIA Agent, but an entire CIA Front Company filled with CIA Agents working to keep WMDs out of the hands of terrorists during a war against those terrorists, and you can't find a single Washington Republican willing to say that was wrong. Not a single Washington Republican has condemned that act of betrayal which compromised our ability to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of our enemies (that is what the front company specialized in). That is beyond mere cultish ideological loyalty, that is pure fear. It must be. Either they are afraid of opposing Rove, or they just don’t care if terrorists get nuclear weapons. That is too hard to believe. I am hoping to God it is fear. But we shall see.

Congressman Peter King: Traitor to America

I used to respect Congressman Peter King, but not anymore. He once had the guts to stand up to his party and their wrongheaded polices. But not anymore. He has turned his back on all that is American. He is blaming CIA Agent Valerie Plame Wilson for Karl Rove revealing that she was an Undercover CIA Operative because King thinks that her husband lied when he said that Vice President Cheney had requested that the CIA investigate claims that Saddam Hussein tried to buy Uranium from the country of Niger. Rove’s act of treason not only revealed that one covert CIA operations officer, but he outed every other CIA Operative working at the “energy company” where Valerie Plame Wilson worked. It was actually a CIA Front for work in eliminating Weapons of Mass Destruction from falling into the hands of our nation’s enemies. Every contact in every country that those CIA Operatives communicated with have been outed, too. They were all risking their lives for America, and now they have all been endangered. All for political payback. And now he and others in the Republican Party are blaming the victims for this. King said that members of the news media should be “shot” if they don’t attack Valerie and her husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson and blame them, too. The rest of the Republicans are on the televised news attacking the Wilsons saying that they are to blame for Rove’s act of Treason, and King wants the media to more fully back this lie. HOW UN-AMERICAN, UNPATRIOTIC AND PRO-ENEMY CAN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY GET BEFORE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE REALIZE THAT THEY DON’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT CIA AGENTS AND SERVICE MEMBERS RISKING THEIR LIVES ON A DAILY BASIS. IN MY EYES CONGRESSMAN PETER KING IS NO LONGER AN AMERICAN!!!! HE AND THE OTHERS WHO ARE CRUCIFYING THE ACTUAL VICTIMS OF THIS TREASON HAVE SOLD THEIR SOULS TO THE DEVIL. I AM ASHAMED TO LIVE IN A TIME WHEN TRAITORS TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE IN CONTROL OF THE GOVERNMENT!!!!!! I long for the day when the truth is known by the American People and names like Peter King and Karl Rove are remembered like the name of Benedict Arnold. Traitors All!

Republican OH Chief Justice disqualifies all Democratic Judges from hearing case on Republican Corruption

I have been reporting here about the cesspool that is the Corruption Riddled Ohio State Government that stole workers compensation funds and retiree accounts and gave it to Republican Fundraisers who lost the money on flimsy risky investments akin to betting the state funds on the horses. Some of those funds may have ended up being contributed to state Republican politicians’ campaign funds. Some may have found their way into President Bush’s re-election campaign according to sources. Now Ohio’s Chief Justice, who is a Republican, has disqualified all Judges who are members of the Democratic Party from hearing the case. He says he wants to avoid the perception of bias, but he’s really hoping to avoid these thieves from being convicted and implicating all the Republicans in the Ohio State Government all the way up to the Governor and the Secretary of State as well as President Bush who received contributions and funds raised by these criminals. The Secretary of State for Ohio, who was Bush’s state campaign manager and controlled elections in Ohio, is widely suspected as being involved in the many voting irregularities which plagued Ohio in the 2004 Presidential Election. The people of Ohio have been suffering from a crime ridden state government for many years now. I have in-laws born and raised in Ohio who have left the state because it is such a den of iniquity. I feel sorry for the people still stuck in the state. The Ohio Republican Party runs the state like the mob. There is no hope that the wrongdoers will come to justice. None. Even less now that only Republican Judges can hear the case that implicates Republican Politicians and Republican Fundraisers.

Iraqi Humanitarian Organization Reports 128,000 Iraqi Civilians Killed in Iraq War – Who Would Jesus Kill?

An Iraqi humanitarian organization is reporting that 128,000 Iraqis have been killed since President Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. We have just a few thousand more than that number of US troops in Iraq, and they’ve lost that many civilians. Over a year ago the Lancet, the leading British Medical Journal (the British equivalent of the Journal of the American Medical Association) estimated that at least 100,000 Iraqis had died in the war. An international research organization in Switzerland also estimated that 100,000 Iraqi civilians had died in the Iraq War. This latest estimate of 128,000 means that more than 40 times as many civilians died in the Iraq War as died in the September 11, 2001 attack on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. More than 40 times! What would America do if we had experienced more than 40 September 11 attacks? How would we feel if foreign troops controlled our country? I admit that the situation is not exactly the same, but considering how we would react in this situation may give us greater incites in what drives the Iraqi insurgents. And how they feel about us being there.

Jesus taught us to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. He also taught that rather than an eye for an eye we should love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. How much more should we love civilians who are not our enemies? Love thy neighbor. Jesus taught that on judgment day he would say whatever you did to the least of My brothers that you did unto Me. The lion share of Iraqi civilians killed were poor or just getting by in a country that now has little clean running water and electricity. The least of His brothers. We in the US are the richest people on earth. Jesus taught that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. The commands that Jesus left us are very difficult, and often oppose our natural urges of vengeance. I am no perfect Christian, I will admit. After 9/11 I was as angry as any American, and supported our going after bin Laden in Afghanistan. I try to do what Jesus commanded, but I fail sometimes. We all do. It's hard! But fail though we do it is important to consider what Jesus taught us and try to follow his teachings as best we can.

128,000 of the least of Jesus’ brothers have died as a result of the decision to invade Iraq. "Whatever you did to the least of My brothers that you did unto Me." What have we done to Him? Many Christians have the line "What would Jesus do?" on their cars, t-shirts, or homes. Whatever you did to the least of My brothers that you did unto Me. What would Jesus do? Who would Jesus kill?

May the blessing and mercy of God be on all of us.

Joe

Reaction From a CIA Agent: The Right and the Media are Lying About Valerie Plame Wilson

By Larry Johnson, former CIA analyst and counter-terrorism official at the US State Department

The misinformation being spread in the media about the Plame affair is alarming and damaging to the long-term security interests of the United States. Republicans' talking points are trying to savage Joe Wilson and, by implication, his wife, Valerie Plame as liars. That is the truly big lie.

For starters, Valerie Plame was an undercover operations officer until outed in the press by Robert Novak. Novak's column was not an isolated attack. It was in fact part of a coordinated, orchestrated smear that we now know includes at least Karl Rove.

Valerie Plame was a classmate of mine from the day she started with the CIA. I entered on duty at the CIA in September 1985. All of my classmates were undercover--in other words, we told our family and friends that we were working for other overt U.S. Government agencies. We had official cover. That means we had a black passport--i.e., a diplomatic passport. If we were caught overseas engaged in espionage activity the black passport was a get out of jail free card.

A few of my classmates, and Valerie was one of these, became a non-official cover officer. That meant she agreed to operate overseas without the protection of a diplomatic passport. If caught in that status she would have been executed.

The lies by people like Victoria Toensing, Representative Peter King, and P. J. O'Rourke insist that Valerie was nothing, just a desk jockey. Yet, until Robert Novak betrayed her she was still undercover and the company that was her front was still a secret to the world. When Novak outed Valerie he also compromised her company and every individual overseas who had been in contact with that company and with her.

The Republicans now want to hide behind the legalism that "no laws were broken". I don't know if a man made law was broken but an ethical and moral code was breached. For the first time a group of partisan political operatives publicly identified a CIA NOC. They have set a precedent that the next group of political hacks may feel free to violate.

They try to hide behind the specious claim that Joe Wilson "lied". Although Joe did not lie let's follow that reasoning to the logical conclusion. Let's use the same standard for the Bush Administration. Here are the facts. Bush's lies have resulted in the deaths of almost 1800 American soldiers and the mutilation of 12,000. Joe Wilson has not killed anyone. He tried to prevent the needless death of Americans and the loss of American prestige in the world.

But don't take my word for it, read the biased Senate intelligence committee report. Even though it was slanted to try to portray Joe in the worst possible light this fact emerges on page 52 of the report: According to the US Ambassador to Niger (who was commenting on Joe's visit in February 2002), "Ambassador Wilson reached the same conclusion that the Embassy has reached that it was highly unlikely that anything between Iraq and Niger was going on." Joe's findings were consistent with those of the Deputy Commander of the European Command, Major General Fulford.

The Republicans insist on the lie that Val got her husband the job. She did not. She was not a division director, instead she was the equivalent of an Army major. Yes it is true she recommended her husband to do the job that needed to be done but the decision to send Joe Wilson on this mission was made by her bosses.

At the end of the day, Joe Wilson was right. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It was the Bush Administration that pushed that lie and because of that lie Americans are dying. Shame on those who continue to slander Joe Wilson while giving Bush and his pack of liars a pass. That's the true outrage.

-- Mr. Johnson worked previously with the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. State Department’s Office of Counter Terrorism and is a recognized expert in the fields of terrorism, aviation security, crisis and risk management.

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First: The CIA requested this investigation into the outing of their agent not the Democratic Party like the Right are currently saying. Second: Bush and Rove by outing an undercover CIA Operative working at a company that was a CIA front actually outed every other CIA Operative working at that same company and every undercover contact in every country that those CIA Operatives had contacted. All of these people were working to protect America from our enemies. Many like Valerie were working to keep WMD out of the hands of our enemies! And all their work was sacrificed by Rove and others who contacted at least 3 journalists to tell them that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA and jeopardized National Security by doing that. Now they are trying to blame Wilson for their traitorous betrayal of America! And the Media is allowing them to do so! Today Fox News host John Gibson said that Karl Rove should be given a "medal" for outing the identity of Valerie Plame. Gibson also said that he is glad that someone finally outed Valerie Plame. Contact Traitor, John Gibson, at myword@foxnews.com The Mainstream Media and the Bush Administration are allowing petty political payback to undermine US National Security and they have already endangered many Americans doing dangerous intelligence work in doing so. A treasonous cowardly act if ever there was one! Report THAT Corporate-Owned US News Outlets! Every American should be outraged by this.

Joe

White House Willing to Declare Rove Innocent Before Election – But Won’t Comment Now Evidence Points to His Guilt

For nearly two years the White House has repeatedly claimed that Karl Rove, the President’s Chief Political Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff for the White House, was completely uninvolved with the outing of an Undercover CIA Operative who is married to a man, Joe Wilson, that the Bush Administration wished to punish for telling the American People the truth which was contrary to what President Bush said during his 2003 State of the Union Address. The US Mainstream Media accepted those claims by the White House of Rove's innocence as the truth and refused to keep the American Public informed about the case which according to former President Bush is a case of Treason. Rove’s Lawyer has now admitted that Rove informed members of the press that Wilson’s wife was a CIA Operative working on Weapons of Mass Destruction (actually working on removing WMD from the hands of our enemies). But during today’s press briefing the President’s handpicked spokesman Scott McClellan repeatedly claimed that the White House could not comment on this because there was an ongoing investigation into this crime, but 3 times back in the fall of 2003 McClellan proclaimed that Rove was uninvolved with the crime. The criminal investigation was going on when he made this pronouncement on 3 separate occasions in the fall of 2003, but now when evidence is mounting that his earlier statements were false he claims that he cannot comment on them because the crime is under investigation. Before the 2004 election it was widely suspected that Rove was behind the crime which is a felony and which compromised National Security by placing a US Intelligence Operative in danger and compromised all of her work (eliminating Weapons of Mass Destruction from the hands of our enemies), and placed all of her contacts in danger of their lives as well. But because the White House assured the American Public that Rove was not involved the Mainstream Media refused to cover the issue in the run-up to the 2004 Presidential Election. Now it appears that it was all a lie. Surprise surprise. We’ll see if the Mainstream Media will cover the story now that there is no election to endanger. They certainly avoided it before the election!

Before the election Joe Wilson the husband of the illegally outed CIA operative said that he believed that Rove was one of the “Senior Administration Officials” who had betrayed his wife. The Mainstream Media tore him apart. How dare he say that when the White House had gone on record as saying the Rove was completely uninvolved? The Media and the White House demanded that Wilson show proof or apologize for his statement. Wilson whose wife’s career had been destroyed and her life endangered was forced to admit that he didn’t have hard evidence of Rove’s involvement. Republican leaders and pundits continued to call for Wilson to further humble himself or be punished for saying what Rove’s own lawyers have now admitted. The Media kept quiet on the story of the illegally outed CIA operative after that until now. Whether the Corporate-Owned US News Media willingly withheld the information from the American People or are so inept that they are unable to do their jobs of uncovering the truth is irrelevant. The Public deserves to know the Truth about their elected officials and the Media is not currently delivering that. This is why I created this site. The American People deserve to be told the whole story while the story is still news. Not long after it will do them any good in determining their future.

Joe

"Well, I've made it very clear that it was a ridiculous suggestion in the first place [that Rove was involved in the Plame outing]. ... I've said that it's not true. ... And I have spoken with Karl Rove."
-- Scott McClellan, White House Spokesman, 09/23/2003 while the investigation was going on

"I've made it very clear, he [Rove] was not involved, that there's no truth to the suggestion that he was."
-- Scott McClellan, White House Spokesman, 09/23/2003 while the investigation was going on

"There are unsubstantiated accusations that are made. And that's exactly what happened in the case of [Rove, Libby and Abrams]. They are good individuals. They are important members of our White House team. And that's why I spoke with them, so that I could come back to you and say that they were not involved. I had no doubt with that in the beginning, but I like to check my information to make sure it's accurate before I report back to you, and that's exactly what I did."
-- Scott McClellan, White House Spokesman, 10/07/2003 while the investigation was going on

"I spoke with [Rove, Libby and Abrams], as I pointed out, and those individuals assured me they were not involved in this. And that's where it stands. They assured me that they were not involved in this. The leaking of classified information."
-- Scott McClellan, White House Spokesman, 10/10/2003 while the investigation was going on

"This is an ongoing investigation at this point. The president directed the White House to cooperate fully with the investigation, and as part of cooperating fully with the investigation, that means we're not going to be commenting on it while it is ongoing."
-- Scott McClellan, White House Spokesman, 07/11/2005 while the investigation was still going on

American and Proud of It – That’s Why I Write These Posts

Some visiting my site have suggested that my posts are un-American or unpatriotic. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Most Americans get their news from televised newscasts on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and Fox News. If those networks refuse to carry or adequately cover important news items that the American People deserve to know, then US citizens need to find out this information from other sources. How can the people of our nation make informed decisions about our future if we are not fully informed about the present and the past? If I can help facilitate that in even a small way I look upon this as a very patriotic pro-American enterprise. Being critical of the decisions of a particular president does not constitute disloyalty to the United States. Many patriotic Americans including several Republican leaders of the past have made that point. Teddy Roosevelt made that clear when he, as a former Republican US President, often criticized then Democratic US President Woodrow Wilson during World War I. Roosevelt wrote in a famous quote:

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the president is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonous to the American public.”
- Teddy Roosevelt, in 1918 during the First World War

His point was that even in a time of war the US people must be allowed to criticize elected officials including the President, and anyone who tries to prevent or block such criticism is the un-American unpatriotic even treasonous one. This is because our nation became the greatest nation on earth because we allow the citizens to openly criticize the President even in a time of a declared war. And to block that will ultimately result in a less great United States. Anyone who participates in the lessoning of the US by blocking criticism was, in Teddy Roosevelt’s estimation, a traitor.

Another Republican leader said much the same during World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese:

"Too many people desire to suppress criticism simply because they think it will give some comfort to the enemy... if that comfort makes the enemy feel better for a few moments they are welcome to it... because the maintenance of the right to criticism in the long run will do the country maintaining it a good deal more good than it will do the enemy."
- Republican Senator Robert A. Taft, after the Pearl Harbor attack.

Here Republican Robert Taft was saying that the excuse that critism of the Government duing time of war is giving aid and confort to the enemy is nonesense. Since any confort the enemy may take in the criticism is more than made up for by the benefit to the United States of having the free right to make such criticism. Republican Taft was highly critical of Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt after we were attacked at Pearl Harbor.

Another former Republican President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, said much the same:

“Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels - men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, may we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.”
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Eisenhower really hit the nail on the head with that quote. Our country was founded by men and women who had the guts to criticize and oppose polices that were against the best interest of the people of our country. Continuing with that process is quintessentially American and patriotic and therefore beneficial and essential to the bettering of our nation. Opposing the right to do so is naturally the opposite of that. Case closed!

Joe

Major City Newspaper Editor Admits They Sit On Stories the Public Deserves to Know Because the Media Fears Reprisals from Government

Doug Clifton, Editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, that city’s largest and most respected newspaper, recently admitted that the newspaper is currently sitting on two hugely important stories that the public deserves to know. It is because of legal fears of prosecution they are withholding the stories from the public. Lawyers for the Corporation that owns the newspaper have informed Clifton that he must keep both stories secret for fear of prosecution because the stories are based on leaked documents. Downing Street Memos anyone? Clifton wonders how many other stories are being suppressed for fear of the government’s response. Hundreds if not more. This is a growing problem in the US today as the Mainstream Media keeps critically important stories from the public for fear of Governmental Retribution. It is heartening to know that editors (and not just the reporters) are feeling frustrated that they are not being allowed to inform the American Public of issues that we need to know because the powers that be don’t want us to know. I'm frustrated too!

Former Diplomat Once Honored by First Pres. Bush Now Deemed Dangerous – For what? Telling Americans to Become Active Citizens!

Read this account of a former US diplomat honored by the first President Bush as one of the Thousand Points of Light for his “work in fostering the health of this democracy” by encouraging Americans to become active in political issues. He is now permanently on the NO FLY LIST and the Government won’t say why, but his work to encourage Americans to become active in political issues and his work to establish world peace seems to have prompted someone in the Government to endanger this man’s livelihood by keeping him off of flights he needs to do his job. Why? Read this article to learn that thousands of Americans have had similar experiences and no one will tell them why they are being restricted from free travel. If they are terrorists, arrest them and convict them and lock them up and throw away the key and good riddance to them. But there is no oversight to determine why these people are being put on this list, and if it is or is not politically motivated. As the author says he used to think these were the ravings of crackpot conspiracy theorists until it happened to him. Remember the words written on the wall at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, “When they came for the gypsies, I did not speak, for I am not a gypsy. When they came for the Jews, I did not speak, because I wasn't a Jew. When they came for the Catholics, I did not speak, for I am not a Catholic. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak.” Don’t wait until they come for you. Contact your Congressman and Senators and ask to establish Congressional Oversight to investigate and determine the criteria with which the Administration is using to put thousands of Americans on the No Fly List. Don't wait until you are on this list. Your Congressman and Senators won't listen to you then.

Fox News hosts happy about London terror attack near G8 summit -- Brit Hume wants to make money off of the tragedy

I’m so glad that Fox News is happy about the Terrorist Attacks on London this morning. And remember that another Fox News host said that being a victim of torture wasn’t so bad. Of course he himself never experienced it, but he didn’t think it would be all that terrible. And the King of Fox News, Brit Hume, what was his first response to the London Terrorist bombings? During Fox News' coverage of the July 7 London bombings, Washington managing editor Brit Hume told host Shepard Smith that his "first thought," when he "heard there had been this attack" and saw the low futures market, was "Hmmm, time to buy." An entire city in chaos -- dozens dead -- hundreds wounded -- on the same island as the world leaders including President Bush -- and Brit Hume's first thought is how to make money off of it. Typical Republican member of the Corporate-Owned News Media. Gotta love Faux News for its chutzpa! At least they were being honest about their priorities. Money first! Money money money money!

National Guard Erases Data Related to Group Spying on US Citizens Critical of Iraq War

A few weeks ago I reported here what Mercury News had uncovered that Governor Schwarzenegger had sic’ed the California National Guard’s new Intelligence arm (that was created to thwart terrorists) on American Citizens whose only crime is that they attended a Mothers’ Day protest organized by families of fallen soldiers. These protests questioned President Bush’s decision to invade Iraq. A California State Senator requested that the National Guard preserve all record related to their spying on US Citizens so that this practice could be investigated. Instead the National Guard erased the hard drive containing the details of their monitoring of US Citizens who were critical of the Bush Administration on the day that the Senator called for the records to be preserved. This Mercury News follow up gives the details of this cover up. The National Guard claims that they cannot comment on this because of a Federal Investigation. But if there really were a Federal Investigation why would they have destroyed the evidence? They further say that the timing of the wiping of the hard disk with the evidence was just coincidental. Mercury News reports, “Known as the Information Synchronization, Knowledge Management and Intelligence Fusion program, the project has raised concerns that the National Guard is laying the groundwork for a new domestic spying operation.” Domestic Spying on US Citizens who are critical of the President’s decision to go to war. Now why does that sound familiar? Oh, yeah, the same thing happened during Viet Nam and let to Nixon’s Enemies List and the Watergate break-in and cover up. History is repeating itself! Unfortunately, the last time we still had Free Press willing to report the wrongdoings of the Government. Now we don’t.

James Madison on the Need for the American People to Inform Themselves to Prevent Despotism

"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."
-- James Madison (1751-1836), U.S. president;(letter to W.T. Barry, August 4, 1822).

Check out the "Read these to be informed" links in the left hand column to "arm yourself with the power which knowledge gives" as President Madison recommended. Let's make this a nation of the people, for the people and by the people again. Knowledge is power.

Message Clear: If You Disagree With Bush You Are Unpatriotic! According To Mainstream US Media!

President Bush gave another July 4 speech in West Virginia this year. There were 300 to 500 protestors according to witnesses. MS-NBC in their web coverage of the event didn’t mention the protestors, but on the air their reporter said, “There were some protestors but mostly it was patriotic Americans.” So if you disagree with Bush you are unpatriotic or not an American at all! During Clinton’s presidency there were many Americans who strongly disagreed with him. Google “Clinton” AND “Hitler” and you will find almost a million hits many in Mainstream Media calling either Bill Clinton or Hillary Clinton Hitler. During his years as president, no one, but no one was stupid enough to call those who disagreed with Clinton un-American or unpatriotic. As soon as George W. Bush was sworn into office the Republicans branded everyone who disagreed with Bush as un-American or unpatriotic or both. The mainstream media gladly joined in doing the same. Now more than 4 ½ years later they’re still at it. If you disagree with President Bush you are unpatriotic or un-American or both. The message couldn’t be clearer.

Now one day after Independence Day let us remember that our nation’s founding fathers were considered unpatriotic by the then ruling British Government and the media which were supportive of it. Nathan Hale as they put a noose around his neck for defying the British Government at the time of the Revolution said, “My only regret is that I have but one life to give to my country.” If Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, George Washington, Nathan Hale and so many other heros of America can be unpatriotic for disagreeing with King George, we can to. God bless America!

Happy Independence Day – Let Us Celebrate as It Was Celebrated In 1776

"...Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government..." From the Declaration of Independence signed July 4, 1776

Below you will read what happened to the signers of the Declaration of Independence after they signed. The brave Americans of that time were courageous enough to stand up to King George and demand the rights that the Government denied them and the rest of the people. They risked their lives, liberty, livelihood and property. We the citizens of the US today should show the same courage to stand up to those in power and expose them when they misuse their power against the people. We must not be afraid of retribution from an administration which has often shown a vicious vindictiveness toward those who expose their immoral underside. That is why I am asking you to read this website, http://eatatjoesplace.blogspot.com/. I truly and fervently believe the things I’ve written there, and I further believe that to remain silent when I honestly believe those in power are misusing that power would be unpatriotic and un-American. Many Americans who have publicly questioned the policy decisions of the Bush Administration have found themselves questioned by the FBI or other authorities. They have been visited at their work, and their supervisors have been questioned as well. Often this results in their losing their jobs. I fully understand that this may happen to me as well. I hope it does not, but in the hope of a better America, I will take that chance. In honor of our brave founders who stood up and spoke truth to power in spite of the danger, I will do the same. Happy Independence Day. God Bless America, the greatest nation on Earth. May we one day be as great as we can be - for our children and our children’s children’s sake.

Now then, about the signers: Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

Remember: freedom is never free!

I hope you will show your support by sending this to as many people as you can, please.

It's time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball games. Real Americans Stand Up For America! Stand Up and Speak Out! Don't Be Afraid Of King George. God Bless America!

US Combat Veterans who served in Iraq describe occupation of Iraq as a “runaway train” and say Bush speech flies in the face of reality in Iraq

A group of US Service members who served in Iraq called “Iraq Veterans Against the War” are calling into question the President Bush’s view of the Iraq War. You can read a recent article from them here. The Bush Administration has continually put pressure on current US Service Members preventing them from saying anything critical of Bush or his administration, but these are Vets who are no longer under subject to Pentagon rules keeping active service members silent. Here is the text of that article:

Bush speech flies in the face of reality in Iraq.
Iraq Combat Veterans describe occupation of Iraq as a “runaway train.”

“President Bush misled the American public last night,” says Mike Hoffman, Iraq combat veteran and founder of Iraq Veterans Against the War. The President’s speech delivered at Fort Bragg (NC) yesterday attempted to shore up the flagging support of the American public, who are growing doubtful that the U.S. will have success in Iraq. Delivered before a disciplined captive audience of 82nd Airborne troops, serving as hand-picked stage props, the presidential address emphasized the supposed connection between the war in Iraq and the events of September 11, 2001, despite recent revelations brought about by the Downing Street memo, that claims the Bush Administration was “fixing” the facts to justify an Iraq invasion. Patrick Resta, a medic who served in Iraq says, “Let’s be clear - the Iraq War has nothing to do with 9-11. The so-called Iraqi insurgents are not the terrorists who bombed the World Trade Center.”

The President’s assertion last night that “our commanders tell me they have the number of troops they need to do their job,” flies in the face of military commanders’ advice to both Bush and Sec. Rumsfeld that a “successful” occupation would require a minimum of 500, 000 troops, not the 140,000 who are currently there. However, the military is currently overstretched forcing many soldiers to return to Iraq for two and three tours of duty against their will thru its Stop Loss policy. Troops are being cycled through Iraq with increasingly short breaks in between deployments, family crises are multiplying, divorce rates are rising, desertion rates are mounting, and recruitment standards are being scaled down. There is a dire recruiting and retention crisis developing in the military, with many refusing to fight in a war they see as a quagmire. Jimmy Massey, a Marine recruiter who resigned upon returning from Iraq believes that many are unknowingly joining the Marines “to kill civilians on behalf of their government.”

“The Iraqi resistance is only growing stronger,” says Charlie Anderson, a Navy Corpsman who also served in Iraq. “The insurgents are mostly Iraqi citizens who are taking up arms, determined to drive us out. I don’t blame them. We are occupying their country.” Among U.S. troops in Iraq, there is a psychological shift from mission-focus to self-protection, and the singular goal is to get home alive. Many troops on the ground in Iraq believe the war is “un-winnable.” Sec. Rumsfeld admitted two days ago that this war could go on for another 12 years. The President asserted in his speech last night that the Iraqi resistance is mostly foreign, but U.S. troops and their commanders know that the resistance is home-grown and cannot be militarily defeated.

Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) believe that bringing the troops home now is the only solution to the deteriorating situation in Iraq. “Bush says, ‘stay the course,” says Kelly Dougherty, IVAW member and a former military police sergeant who served in Iraq last year. “If you are driving home, staying the course might be a good idea. If you are on a runaway train, that seems like a really bad idea.”

Bush Admin Continues to Give Lip Service to Veterans and Cut Their Benefits

Veterans are outraged that the Bush Administration continues to use them to push policies while shortchanging those who sacrificed for our nation. Read this editorial by a veteran who is tired of Bush and his lackeys giving lip service to veterans while continuing to slash funding for vets’ medical care. Read the editorial which contains the telling statement, “Republicans have continually thwarted Democratic attempts to give the VA more money under the guise of budget restraint.” This has been happening throughout Bush’s presidency, but gets little play on US TV news. Demand that CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN and Fox News report this and other issues embarrassing to the Administration!

Republican State Lawmaker Calls Constituents “Idiots” in Email to Constituents

Republican NY State Assemblyman Willis Stephens sent an email calling his constituents “idiots” out to 300 of his constituents. He apologized saying that he thought he was just sending the email to one of his aides and not to his constituents, the very people he was calling idiots. I’m glad he cleared that up. I don’t see what the big deal is. He was just saying what most politicians in the GOP think anyway. I wish more politicians would do this. It would do the American People well to know what our elected officials think of the people who elect them.