Thursday, August 24, 2006
They want war !!!!
Air America Radio |: "They want war. The America-hating Republican Neo-Conservatives who are eating the U.S. alive want more war. Iran is next in their sites. And it matters not what Iran does or does not do. These evil thugs want war and they want it before the elections this fall. The leading MSM enabler of the Bush Crime Family – the New York Times – today published on the newspaper’s front page an article stating that some senior Bush administration officials and top Republican lawmakers are voicing anger that American spy agencies have not issued more ominous warnings about the threats that they say Iran presents to the United States, even though those threats simply do not exist. (See: Iraq! WMDs!) Put more honestly, the warmongers now in control of our nation want the same sort of lies and deceptions made public that were used to invade and occupy Iraq. More death! More war! More insanity! And who or what is acting to stop this madness? The Democratic Party leadership? The military? Millions of Americans in the streets saying no to these killers? Is it not time for us to do exactly that?"
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
THE BUSH CRIME FAMILY
THE BUSH CRIME FAMILY
In the 1980s, the Republican team of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush tried to destroy the Central American nation of Nicaragua. After a century of U.S. support for yet another right-wing dictatorship dedicated to the protection of America’s corporate interests, Nicaraguan freedom fighters – the Sandinistas - overthrew the Somoza family and began the difficult work of salvaging their country. The leader of the Socialist revolution was Daniel Ortega and for most of the decade the Regan-Bush team tried to kill him, his family, his army and his country. The killers – the Contras – hired by the Regan-Bush hit team failed. Daniel Ortega served as president from 1985 to 1990 and was defeated in the 1990 election. Now there is news that Ortega is leading in the latest poll of that country’s top presidential contenders. A footnote to US intervention in Nicaragua in the 80s is the fact that so many of the hired killers, whose objective was murder and counterrevolution, are once again working in a Bush Administration: The criminal enterprise of George W.
In the 1980s, the Republican team of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush tried to destroy the Central American nation of Nicaragua. After a century of U.S. support for yet another right-wing dictatorship dedicated to the protection of America’s corporate interests, Nicaraguan freedom fighters – the Sandinistas - overthrew the Somoza family and began the difficult work of salvaging their country. The leader of the Socialist revolution was Daniel Ortega and for most of the decade the Regan-Bush team tried to kill him, his family, his army and his country. The killers – the Contras – hired by the Regan-Bush hit team failed. Daniel Ortega served as president from 1985 to 1990 and was defeated in the 1990 election. Now there is news that Ortega is leading in the latest poll of that country’s top presidential contenders. A footnote to US intervention in Nicaragua in the 80s is the fact that so many of the hired killers, whose objective was murder and counterrevolution, are once again working in a Bush Administration: The criminal enterprise of George W.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Bush the World's # 1 Terrorist !!!
Bush the World's # 1 Terrorist
Impeach Bush!!!!
Bush will cause total destrruction of the Earth !!!
We have to stop the Bush Crime family from destroying the World !!!
Stop the Republican Party in the upcoming elections !!!
Vote for the Democrats next elections !!!!
Don't let the Bush Crime Family steal the third election in a row !!!!
Idiot or Liar? Either way, Bush is not fit for Office
Idiot or Liar? Either Way, Bush Is Unfit for Office
John V. Whitbeck • Special to Arab News
JEDDAH, 19 August 2003 — On July 25, President George W. Bush made a truly staggering statement to the press after a meeting with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan: “The fundamental question is, did Saddam Hussein have a weapons program?
And the answer is, absolutely. And we gave him a chance to allow inspectors in, and he wouldn’t let them in. And therefore, after a reasonable request, we decided to remove him from power, along with other nations, so as to make sure he was not a threat to the United States and our friends and allies in the region.”
This statement is worth reading carefully. The president of the United States has stated, in a public forum, that he invaded Iraq because Saddam Hussein would not allow weapons inspectors back into his country.
So far as I am aware, this statement has not been the subject of any serious critical analysis in the mainstream American media.
I will therefore provide my own brief analysis.
Assuming, as seems reasonable, that the president of the United States was neither drunk nor on LSD, there can be only two possible explanations for this statement:
Explanation 1: The president of the United States believed what he said. In this case, he is so dim-witted and/or totally divorced from reality as to be mentally unfit to hold his current job — or, indeed, any job — and should be taken into medical care.
Explanation 2: The president did not believe what he said but, rather, believes (unfortunately not without compelling post-Sept.11 evidence) that the vast majority of the American people are so dim-witted and/or uninformed and the vast majority of the American media is so sycophantic and/or terrified of being branded “unpatriotic” (or simply losing White House “access”) that he can now tell any lie, no matter how obvious and outrageous, and get away with it. In this case, he is morally unfit to hold his current job and should, by constitutional means, be forced to relinquish it as soon as possible.
Either explanation should scare the wits out of anyone who is not comatose.
When a single individual combines ignorance, immorality, dry-drunk syndrome, a publicly proclaimed commitment to perpetual military domination of the entire world by his country, a publicly expressed belief that God personally instructs him to make war on specific countries and a wildly irrational born-again brand of Christianity that views the Battle of Armageddon and the consequent end of life on earth as desirable developments and, at the same time, has command authority over an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction more than sufficient to achieve the end of life on earth, it is difficult to argue that this individual is not the most dangerous person who has ever lived.
When (if ever) will the American people wake up to the real threat facing America and the world?
— John V. Whitbeck is an international lawyer.
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P
John V. Whitbeck • Special to Arab News
JEDDAH, 19 August 2003 — On July 25, President George W. Bush made a truly staggering statement to the press after a meeting with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan: “The fundamental question is, did Saddam Hussein have a weapons program?
And the answer is, absolutely. And we gave him a chance to allow inspectors in, and he wouldn’t let them in. And therefore, after a reasonable request, we decided to remove him from power, along with other nations, so as to make sure he was not a threat to the United States and our friends and allies in the region.”
This statement is worth reading carefully. The president of the United States has stated, in a public forum, that he invaded Iraq because Saddam Hussein would not allow weapons inspectors back into his country.
So far as I am aware, this statement has not been the subject of any serious critical analysis in the mainstream American media.
I will therefore provide my own brief analysis.
Assuming, as seems reasonable, that the president of the United States was neither drunk nor on LSD, there can be only two possible explanations for this statement:
Explanation 1: The president of the United States believed what he said. In this case, he is so dim-witted and/or totally divorced from reality as to be mentally unfit to hold his current job — or, indeed, any job — and should be taken into medical care.
Explanation 2: The president did not believe what he said but, rather, believes (unfortunately not without compelling post-Sept.11 evidence) that the vast majority of the American people are so dim-witted and/or uninformed and the vast majority of the American media is so sycophantic and/or terrified of being branded “unpatriotic” (or simply losing White House “access”) that he can now tell any lie, no matter how obvious and outrageous, and get away with it. In this case, he is morally unfit to hold his current job and should, by constitutional means, be forced to relinquish it as soon as possible.
Either explanation should scare the wits out of anyone who is not comatose.
When a single individual combines ignorance, immorality, dry-drunk syndrome, a publicly proclaimed commitment to perpetual military domination of the entire world by his country, a publicly expressed belief that God personally instructs him to make war on specific countries and a wildly irrational born-again brand of Christianity that views the Battle of Armageddon and the consequent end of life on earth as desirable developments and, at the same time, has command authority over an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction more than sufficient to achieve the end of life on earth, it is difficult to argue that this individual is not the most dangerous person who has ever lived.
When (if ever) will the American people wake up to the real threat facing America and the world?
— John V. Whitbeck is an international lawyer.
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P
IS BUSH AL-QAEDA;S 'USEFUL IDIOT' ?
jbcard's Xanga Site: "If Western intelligence agencies are right – that the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the two-year-plus military occupation have been recruiting boons for Islamic terrorism – why is it logical to commit American troops to an indefinite deployment there? Won’t that just create more terrorists?
Put differently, has George W. Bush’s Iraq policy done more to help than hurt al-Qaeda, from Bush’s hasty decision to redirect U.S. military assets from Afghanistan to Iraq while Osama bin-Laden was still at large, to the loose talks about an American “crusade,” to supplanting Iraq’s secular government with one favoring Islamic fundamentalism?
In the 1980s, when I was covering the wars in Central America, neoconservative theorists liked to call U.S. peace activists “useful idiots” because their opposition to the hard-line Reagan administration was seen as unwittingly aiding and abetting communists and other leftist enemies. In that vein, is Bush now al-Qaeda’s “useful idiot”?
These q"
Put differently, has George W. Bush’s Iraq policy done more to help than hurt al-Qaeda, from Bush’s hasty decision to redirect U.S. military assets from Afghanistan to Iraq while Osama bin-Laden was still at large, to the loose talks about an American “crusade,” to supplanting Iraq’s secular government with one favoring Islamic fundamentalism?
In the 1980s, when I was covering the wars in Central America, neoconservative theorists liked to call U.S. peace activists “useful idiots” because their opposition to the hard-line Reagan administration was seen as unwittingly aiding and abetting communists and other leftist enemies. In that vein, is Bush now al-Qaeda’s “useful idiot”?
These q"
Bush's Iraq Idiocy
Bush's Iraq Idiocy
by mcjoan
Thu Aug 17, 2006 at 04:21:38 PM PDT
Scarborough's question has reverberated in the last few days, as the news from Iraq becomes increasingly bleak. There's little question that, if not an idiot, he's dangerously disconnected from what his Iraq Debacle has wrought. Try as he might, he can't create a new reality. A few days ago, we learned that he's peeved with the Iraqis for not being more grateful to America. Yeah, hard to imagine the Iraqis aren't grateful for all this.
But reality is coming back to bite BushCo in the butt--all the purple fingers in Iraq can't actually bring about democracy. An election conducted during a foreign occupation and absent any domestic normalization or reconciliation isn't a real election, and the violence just keeps getting worse.
Along with a sharp increase in sectarian attacks, the number of daily strikes against American and Iraqi security forces has doubled since January. The deadliest means of attack, roadside bombs, made up much of that increase. In July, of 2,625 explosive devices, 1,666 exploded and 959 were discovered before they went off. In January, 1,454 bombs exploded or were found....
"The insurgency has gotten worse by almost all measures, with insurgent attacks at historically high levels," said a senior Defense Department official who agreed to discuss the issue only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for attribution. "The insurgency has more public support and is demonstrably more capable in numbers of people active and in its ability to direct violence than at any point in time."
A separate, classified report by the Defense Intelligence Agency, dated Aug. 3, details worsening security conditions inside the country and describes how Iraq risks sliding toward civil war, according to several officials who have read the document or who have received a briefing on its contents.
The administration continues to steadfastly deny that Iraq is sliding toward civil war, much less in the throes of one right now. Despite all evidence to the contrary, they insist that everything is going according to plan. Meanwhile, commanders on the ground have to try to marshall limited resources to respond to increasing violence around the country, like some kind of gruesome game of whack-a-mole, deploying troops first here and then there, with casualty counts continuing apace and serious injuries increasing.
Some see movement in the administration on Iraq, an indication that perhaps what can only be called the real reality is sinking in.
by mcjoan
Thu Aug 17, 2006 at 04:21:38 PM PDT
Scarborough's question has reverberated in the last few days, as the news from Iraq becomes increasingly bleak. There's little question that, if not an idiot, he's dangerously disconnected from what his Iraq Debacle has wrought. Try as he might, he can't create a new reality. A few days ago, we learned that he's peeved with the Iraqis for not being more grateful to America. Yeah, hard to imagine the Iraqis aren't grateful for all this.
But reality is coming back to bite BushCo in the butt--all the purple fingers in Iraq can't actually bring about democracy. An election conducted during a foreign occupation and absent any domestic normalization or reconciliation isn't a real election, and the violence just keeps getting worse.
Along with a sharp increase in sectarian attacks, the number of daily strikes against American and Iraqi security forces has doubled since January. The deadliest means of attack, roadside bombs, made up much of that increase. In July, of 2,625 explosive devices, 1,666 exploded and 959 were discovered before they went off. In January, 1,454 bombs exploded or were found....
"The insurgency has gotten worse by almost all measures, with insurgent attacks at historically high levels," said a senior Defense Department official who agreed to discuss the issue only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for attribution. "The insurgency has more public support and is demonstrably more capable in numbers of people active and in its ability to direct violence than at any point in time."
A separate, classified report by the Defense Intelligence Agency, dated Aug. 3, details worsening security conditions inside the country and describes how Iraq risks sliding toward civil war, according to several officials who have read the document or who have received a briefing on its contents.
The administration continues to steadfastly deny that Iraq is sliding toward civil war, much less in the throes of one right now. Despite all evidence to the contrary, they insist that everything is going according to plan. Meanwhile, commanders on the ground have to try to marshall limited resources to respond to increasing violence around the country, like some kind of gruesome game of whack-a-mole, deploying troops first here and then there, with casualty counts continuing apace and serious injuries increasing.
Some see movement in the administration on Iraq, an indication that perhaps what can only be called the real reality is sinking in.
Monday, August 14, 2006
You Can Impeach the President !!!
You Can Impeach the President
By Dan DeWalt
In mid January of this year, in a moment of quixotic zeal, I wrote a five point resolution calling for the impeachment of G W Bush. With 5% of the towns registered voters signing on, it went to the selectboard and was included in the warning for Newfane Town Meeting on March 7.
By the end of Town Meeting day, five towns across Vermont had overwhelmingly adopted this resolution. My phone started ringing within an hour or two, and a day and a half later, I had given more than 30 interviews to media outlets, from FOX and CNN radio to several Boston and local Vermont radio stations, from a Massachusetts ABC-affiliate to Bloomberg News, the Washington Times (snake in the grass), Boston Globe and Reuters.
I soon found out that Vermonters had already been hard at work drafting the “Rutland Resolution," which is an impeachment resolution to be passed by the state legislature, and forces the federal House of Representatives to forward it to the Judiciary Committee. We are continuing our efforts and are making headway, with over half of the state's Democratic County Committees passing it. The state Democratic Committee will be considering this on April 10. Several legislators have expressed a willingness to go along, if not to lead.
I also discovered that all across the country, this call for accountability is being received with welcome and relief. People who have identified themselves as Republicans, evangelicals, many veterans, many elder Americans, contacted me or Newfane to say that they are supporting us and appreciate our speaking out.
Those who support this effort can bring it to their home towns. Whether you have Town Meeting, town council, county supervisors, or any other local political structure, you can petition them to adopt a resolution. Gathering signatures to persuade them may be easier than you would imagine. Support for this president’s actions is very thin. As more revelations dribble out from the mainstream press, more Americans are willing to reconsider their willingness to be unquestionably led by this malignant administration.
Already efforts are underway in California, Hawaii, Indiana, Arizona, Utah, as well as more in VT, just to name some locations where initiatives have sprung up in response to our Town Meeting actions.
If you want to read a concise primer on how to take on an initiative in your town, go here.
Dan DeWalt is a woodworker and selectboard member in the town of Newfane, Vermont, and the author of a successful town resolution calling for the impeachment of President Bush.
By Dan DeWalt
In mid January of this year, in a moment of quixotic zeal, I wrote a five point resolution calling for the impeachment of G W Bush. With 5% of the towns registered voters signing on, it went to the selectboard and was included in the warning for Newfane Town Meeting on March 7.
By the end of Town Meeting day, five towns across Vermont had overwhelmingly adopted this resolution. My phone started ringing within an hour or two, and a day and a half later, I had given more than 30 interviews to media outlets, from FOX and CNN radio to several Boston and local Vermont radio stations, from a Massachusetts ABC-affiliate to Bloomberg News, the Washington Times (snake in the grass), Boston Globe and Reuters.
I soon found out that Vermonters had already been hard at work drafting the “Rutland Resolution," which is an impeachment resolution to be passed by the state legislature, and forces the federal House of Representatives to forward it to the Judiciary Committee. We are continuing our efforts and are making headway, with over half of the state's Democratic County Committees passing it. The state Democratic Committee will be considering this on April 10. Several legislators have expressed a willingness to go along, if not to lead.
I also discovered that all across the country, this call for accountability is being received with welcome and relief. People who have identified themselves as Republicans, evangelicals, many veterans, many elder Americans, contacted me or Newfane to say that they are supporting us and appreciate our speaking out.
Those who support this effort can bring it to their home towns. Whether you have Town Meeting, town council, county supervisors, or any other local political structure, you can petition them to adopt a resolution. Gathering signatures to persuade them may be easier than you would imagine. Support for this president’s actions is very thin. As more revelations dribble out from the mainstream press, more Americans are willing to reconsider their willingness to be unquestionably led by this malignant administration.
Already efforts are underway in California, Hawaii, Indiana, Arizona, Utah, as well as more in VT, just to name some locations where initiatives have sprung up in response to our Town Meeting actions.
If you want to read a concise primer on how to take on an initiative in your town, go here.
Dan DeWalt is a woodworker and selectboard member in the town of Newfane, Vermont, and the author of a successful town resolution calling for the impeachment of President Bush.
Daily Kos: Bush Seeks Retroactive Immunity From US War Crimes Prosecution
Daily Kos: Bush Seeks Retroactive Immunity From US War Crimes Prosecution: "Bush Seeks Retroactive Immunity From US War Crimes Prosecution
by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse
Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 09:41:03 AM PDT
Now that the Bush team faces possible prosecution for war crimes under US law, the team is quietly changing the law to provide a 'legal escape hatch.' The recent US Supreme Court decision in Hamdan removed a potential defense from war crimes prosecution that the Bush team had been relying upon. So now the Decider is quietly changing this US law to exempt himself and other officials from criminal prosecutions that may not occur until the next administration. One thing for sure -- Bush is not much of a planner for wars, natural disasters, and terror attacks -- but he sure does plan years in advance to save his own hide."
by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse
Thu Aug 03, 2006 at 09:41:03 AM PDT
Now that the Bush team faces possible prosecution for war crimes under US law, the team is quietly changing the law to provide a 'legal escape hatch.' The recent US Supreme Court decision in Hamdan removed a potential defense from war crimes prosecution that the Bush team had been relying upon. So now the Decider is quietly changing this US law to exempt himself and other officials from criminal prosecutions that may not occur until the next administration. One thing for sure -- Bush is not much of a planner for wars, natural disasters, and terror attacks -- but he sure does plan years in advance to save his own hide."
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Diebold's Voting Machine worst flaw ever
PRESS RELEASE -- JULY 31, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Subject: WORST EVER SECURITY FLAW FOUND IN DIEBOLD TS VOTING MACHINE
Contact: Alan Dechert
Reference: PICTURES
(Click on thumbnail. Click again on lower half of picture for high resolution)
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA -- “This may be the worst security flaw we have seen in touch screen voting machines,” says Open Voting Foundation president, Alan Dechert. Upon examining the inner workings of one of the most popular paperless touch screen voting machines used in public elections in the United States, it has been determined that with the flip of a single switch inside, the machine can behave in a completely different manner compared to the tested and certified version.
“Diebold has made the testing and certification process practically irrelevant,” according to Dechert. “If you have access to these machines and you want to rig an election, anything is possible with the Diebold TS -- and it could be done without leaving a trace. All you need is a screwdriver.” This model does not produce a voter verified paper trail so there is no way to check if the voter’s choices are accurately reflected in the tabulation.
Open Voting Foundation is releasing 22 high-resolution close up pictures of the system. This picture, in particular, shows a “BOOT AREA CONFIGURATION” chart painted on the system board.
The most serious issue is the ability to choose between "EPROM" and "FLASH" boot configurations. Both of these memory sources are present. All of the switches in question (JP2, JP3, JP8, SW2 and SW4) are physically present on the board. It is clear that this system can ship with live boot profiles in two locations, and switching back and forth could change literally everything regarding how the machine works and counts votes. This could be done before or after the so-called "Logic And Accuracy Tests".
A third possible profile could be field-added in minutes and selected in the "external flash" memory location, the interface for which is present on the motherboard.
This is not a minor variation from the previously documented attack point on the newer Diebold TSx. To its credit, the TSx can only contain one boot profile at a time. Diebold has ensured that it is extremely difficult to confirm what code is in a TSx (or TS) at any one time but it is at least theoretically possible to do so. But in the TS, a completely legal and certified set of files can be instantly overridden and illegal uncertified code be made dominant in the system, and then this situation can be reversed leaving the legal code dominant again in a matter of minutes.
“These findings underscore the need for open testing and certification. There is no way such a security vulnerability should be allowed. These systems should be recalled”
OPEN VOTING FOUNDATION is a nonprofit non stock California corporation dedicated to demonstrating the need for and benefits of voting technology that can be publicly scrutinized.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Subject: WORST EVER SECURITY FLAW FOUND IN DIEBOLD TS VOTING MACHINE
Contact: Alan Dechert
Reference: PICTURES
(Click on thumbnail. Click again on lower half of picture for high resolution)
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA -- “This may be the worst security flaw we have seen in touch screen voting machines,” says Open Voting Foundation president, Alan Dechert. Upon examining the inner workings of one of the most popular paperless touch screen voting machines used in public elections in the United States, it has been determined that with the flip of a single switch inside, the machine can behave in a completely different manner compared to the tested and certified version.
“Diebold has made the testing and certification process practically irrelevant,” according to Dechert. “If you have access to these machines and you want to rig an election, anything is possible with the Diebold TS -- and it could be done without leaving a trace. All you need is a screwdriver.” This model does not produce a voter verified paper trail so there is no way to check if the voter’s choices are accurately reflected in the tabulation.
Open Voting Foundation is releasing 22 high-resolution close up pictures of the system. This picture, in particular, shows a “BOOT AREA CONFIGURATION” chart painted on the system board.
The most serious issue is the ability to choose between "EPROM" and "FLASH" boot configurations. Both of these memory sources are present. All of the switches in question (JP2, JP3, JP8, SW2 and SW4) are physically present on the board. It is clear that this system can ship with live boot profiles in two locations, and switching back and forth could change literally everything regarding how the machine works and counts votes. This could be done before or after the so-called "Logic And Accuracy Tests".
A third possible profile could be field-added in minutes and selected in the "external flash" memory location, the interface for which is present on the motherboard.
This is not a minor variation from the previously documented attack point on the newer Diebold TSx. To its credit, the TSx can only contain one boot profile at a time. Diebold has ensured that it is extremely difficult to confirm what code is in a TSx (or TS) at any one time but it is at least theoretically possible to do so. But in the TS, a completely legal and certified set of files can be instantly overridden and illegal uncertified code be made dominant in the system, and then this situation can be reversed leaving the legal code dominant again in a matter of minutes.
“These findings underscore the need for open testing and certification. There is no way such a security vulnerability should be allowed. These systems should be recalled”
OPEN VOTING FOUNDATION is a nonprofit non stock California corporation dedicated to demonstrating the need for and benefits of voting technology that can be publicly scrutinized.
US begins building treaty-breaching germ war defence
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | US begins building treaty-breaching germ war defence centre
US begins building treaty-breaching germ war defence centre Julian Borger in Washington Monday July 31, 2006 The Guardian Construction work has begun near Washington on a vast germ warfare laboratory intended to help protect the US against an attack with biological weapon, but critics say the laboratory's work will violate international law and its extreme secrecy will exacerbate a biological arms race. The National Biodefence Analysis and Countermeasures Centre (NBACC), due to be completed in 2008, will house heavily guarded and hermetically sealed chambers in which scientists simulate potential terrorist attacks.
To do so, the centre will have to produce and stockpile the world's most lethal bacteria and viruses, which is forbidden by the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. Three years before that treaty was agreed, President Richard Nixon halted the production of US biological weapons at Fort Detrick in Maryland. The same military base is the site for the new $128m (£70m), 160,000 sq ft laboratory.
The green light for its construction was given after the September 11 attacks, which coincided with a series of still-unsolved anthrax incidents that killed five people. The department of homeland security, which will run the centre, says its work is necessary to protect the country. "All the programmes we do are defensive in nature," Maureen McCarthy, director of homeland security research and development, told the Washington Post. "Our job is to ensure that the civilian population of the country is protected, and that we know what the threats are."
The biological weapons convention stipulates that the signatories must not "develop, produce, stockpile, or otherwise acquire or retain" biological weapons, and does not distinguish between offensive and defensive intentions.
A presentation given by Lieutenant Colonel George Korch said the NBACC would be used to apply "red team operational scenarios and capabilities" - military jargon for simulating enemy attacks.
Some analysts say the extraordinary secrecy surrounding the project will heighten suspicions of US intentions and accelerate work on similar facilities around the world.
US begins building treaty-breaching germ war defence centre Julian Borger in Washington Monday July 31, 2006 The Guardian Construction work has begun near Washington on a vast germ warfare laboratory intended to help protect the US against an attack with biological weapon, but critics say the laboratory's work will violate international law and its extreme secrecy will exacerbate a biological arms race. The National Biodefence Analysis and Countermeasures Centre (NBACC), due to be completed in 2008, will house heavily guarded and hermetically sealed chambers in which scientists simulate potential terrorist attacks.
To do so, the centre will have to produce and stockpile the world's most lethal bacteria and viruses, which is forbidden by the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. Three years before that treaty was agreed, President Richard Nixon halted the production of US biological weapons at Fort Detrick in Maryland. The same military base is the site for the new $128m (£70m), 160,000 sq ft laboratory.
The green light for its construction was given after the September 11 attacks, which coincided with a series of still-unsolved anthrax incidents that killed five people. The department of homeland security, which will run the centre, says its work is necessary to protect the country. "All the programmes we do are defensive in nature," Maureen McCarthy, director of homeland security research and development, told the Washington Post. "Our job is to ensure that the civilian population of the country is protected, and that we know what the threats are."
The biological weapons convention stipulates that the signatories must not "develop, produce, stockpile, or otherwise acquire or retain" biological weapons, and does not distinguish between offensive and defensive intentions.
A presentation given by Lieutenant Colonel George Korch said the NBACC would be used to apply "red team operational scenarios and capabilities" - military jargon for simulating enemy attacks.
Some analysts say the extraordinary secrecy surrounding the project will heighten suspicions of US intentions and accelerate work on similar facilities around the world.
George W. Bush 2000 for President - Son of President Bush
ush was at least complicit in World Trade Center attack
The single thing that sticks out in my mind about the World Trade Center attack is the fact that no fighter jets were scrambled to intercept those commercial jets. Those planes were in the air for over an hour after being hijacked - yet no interceptors we scrambled to stop them.
I used to live in Springfield Missouri. And a few years ago a famous golfer named Payne Stewart was killed in a plane crash. He was from Springfield - so this story had a greater local impact. What happened was that his plane - a small private jet with less than 10 people on board took off from Florida. Shortly after takeoff the plane went off course and failed to respond by radio. Within minutes fighter jets were scrambled and intercepted the plane. They observed frost on the inside of the window indicating a loss of cabin pressure - and that everyone was probably dead. The plane was on autopilot and flew for several hours before running out of fuel and crashing in South Dakota. What I clearly remember was being impressed with how fast that plane was intercepted.
On September 11th there were 4 commercial jets hijacked. All went off course - turned off their transponders - and refused to answer the radio. There was no doubt on the ground that 4 commercial jets we hijacked - yet no intercepter were scrambled - even though these planes were in the air for over an hour. It is standard operating procedure to scramble jets to see wqhat is going on. It doesn't take an order from the President to do this. But someone made an order to stand down and stopped the interceptors. Whoever gave that order is part of a government plot to allow the 9-11 tragedy to occur. I'm not prepared to say we were behind it. But we let it happen. And I have no doubts about that.
The single thing that sticks out in my mind about the World Trade Center attack is the fact that no fighter jets were scrambled to intercept those commercial jets. Those planes were in the air for over an hour after being hijacked - yet no interceptors we scrambled to stop them.
I used to live in Springfield Missouri. And a few years ago a famous golfer named Payne Stewart was killed in a plane crash. He was from Springfield - so this story had a greater local impact. What happened was that his plane - a small private jet with less than 10 people on board took off from Florida. Shortly after takeoff the plane went off course and failed to respond by radio. Within minutes fighter jets were scrambled and intercepted the plane. They observed frost on the inside of the window indicating a loss of cabin pressure - and that everyone was probably dead. The plane was on autopilot and flew for several hours before running out of fuel and crashing in South Dakota. What I clearly remember was being impressed with how fast that plane was intercepted.
On September 11th there were 4 commercial jets hijacked. All went off course - turned off their transponders - and refused to answer the radio. There was no doubt on the ground that 4 commercial jets we hijacked - yet no intercepter were scrambled - even though these planes were in the air for over an hour. It is standard operating procedure to scramble jets to see wqhat is going on. It doesn't take an order from the President to do this. But someone made an order to stand down and stopped the interceptors. Whoever gave that order is part of a government plot to allow the 9-11 tragedy to occur. I'm not prepared to say we were behind it. But we let it happen. And I have no doubts about that.
Camp Casey III and Iraq
Monday, July 31st, 2006
Camp Casey III and Iraq
By Cindy Sheehan
After BushCo's stooge, Nouri al-Maliki was in America last week thanking soldiers for their sacrifices in helping the USA kill and oppress his very own people and thanking Congress for giving George a blank check to spend how he sees fit to kill and oppress the Iraqi people, almost 4,000 of our soldiers in Alaska's 172nd Stryker Brigade were shown how much they are appreciated by having their enlistments extended another 120 days.
I saw the Angel of Death in the skin of Donald Rumsfeld say, while he was busy rushing in or out of the Pentagon (it doesn't really matter), that it is "unfortunate" that the soldiers have to remain in Iraq. I think it is unfortunate for our troops and for the innocent people of Iraq and Afghanistan that Donald Rumsfeld has to remain as the Secretary of War.
I can't imagine how disappointed the families and the soldiers must feel. The 172nd has been in the violent Anbar Province for almost a year and I am sure they and their families were starting to really look forward to their homecoming. I can imagine that there are more than a few mothers out there who were allowing themselves to start breathing again. I am sure mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sisters, brothers, children, aunts and uncles, and extended friends and family were already planning coming home parties and anticipating the enormous hugs and overwhelming sense of relief that would accompany their soldiers home, too. Now the 172nd will be redeployed to Baghdad to be right smack dab in the middle of sectarian violence and back in the thick of things. Four more months of heat, spiders the size of puppies, MREs, anxiety and peril; as their Secretary of War and Commander in Chief drive around DC in cushy air-conditioned and up-armored SUVs and also get to sleep in comfy beds, cozy in the fact that the sacrifices of our children and their families are guaranteeing Exxon and other war bandits billions of dollars in profits.
Right-wing people who support the killing of innocent men, women, and children, are trying to stir up crap about my land purchase in Crawford, Tx to run Camp Casey. The worst thing that I have heard a Crawford resident say is that I am a "dumb Democrat." The crap that NEEDS to be stirred up in Crawford is that George and Co have the nerve to go on vacation when our soldiers can't get home after serving in the vile mess that BushCo created. Instead of working for peace and stability in the region, our continued presence there is encouraging and causing the violence. Our troops need to be removed---not increased.
Recent polls showed that 72% or our troops wanted to start coming home by the end of this year and 83% of the Iraqi people want the occupation to end. Those numbers are significant if only for the fact that they are probably low---soldiers and occupied peoples have never felt at liberty, or even secure to share their feelings with the oppressors.
To this end of creating a peace plan that the Iraqi people want and can feel comfortable and secure with (it is, after all, their country), a contingent of peace activists, including myself, will travel to Amman, Jordan to meet with Iraqi Parliamentarians who don't parrot what BushCo wants them to say and would actually like coalition forces to be removed from their country. It is an historic and significant step in this abominable and shameful episode of our history. The meeting is also highly significant since our State Department has been transformed into an adjunct of the War Department and is headed by the Deputy Secretary of War: Condi Rice. We have no diplomats in our country: just war mongers who can clear brush, shop for shoes, and laugh at gullible Americans all the way to the bank while they are depositing their war profits.
We will be meeting with the Iraqi representatives in Amman on August 4th, and many of us will return to Camp Casey in Crawford on August 6th to outline the plan and present a way that Americans and Iraqis can work together to end the killing on both sides of the conflict. August 6th is also a very meaningful date for me because it is the same day, one year ago, that I originally sat in the ditch with other peace mongers and we were eventually joined by thousands of peace mongers from all over the world.
On that day, we will ask to meet with George again to brief him on our meeting with real Iraqis who live, work, and raise their families outside of the Green Zone and outside of the influence of DC. Due to past performance, I don't think he will meet with us, (not very neighborly) but I am sure he will know that we are there and we have an Iraqi driven plan when his only plan is to kill more people because so many have already been killed---which is what "stay the course" and "honor the sacrifices of the fallen" really mean. George is so comfortable cutting and running from Crawford when he feels threatened by the truth, I wish he would cut our soldiers loose from the nightmare of occupation and allow Iraqis to run their own country.
Please come to Camp Casey this year, or donate to help promote peace for our time and our world. Since George has rescheduled his summer to avoid us, we will reschedule our summer to not allow him the pleasure of having a leisurely vacation while the Middle East is burning because of his policies.
If we can't count on our leaders to solve conflicts non-violently, then we must count on ourselves.
We need to get busy putting peace into practice. This is the time to do it and Camp Casey is the place where it will get done.
The Camp Casey dates have been changed to accommodate George's schedule and will be August 6th to September 2nd. Please go to the Gold Star Families for Peace website to stay posted on future exciting developments for Camp Casey III this summer.
Cindy Sheehan is the mother of Specialist Casey Austin Sheehan who was killed in Iraq on 04/04/04. She is the co-founder and President of Gold Star Families for Peace and currently on Day 27 of the Troops Home Fast.
Camp Casey III and Iraq
By Cindy Sheehan
After BushCo's stooge, Nouri al-Maliki was in America last week thanking soldiers for their sacrifices in helping the USA kill and oppress his very own people and thanking Congress for giving George a blank check to spend how he sees fit to kill and oppress the Iraqi people, almost 4,000 of our soldiers in Alaska's 172nd Stryker Brigade were shown how much they are appreciated by having their enlistments extended another 120 days.
I saw the Angel of Death in the skin of Donald Rumsfeld say, while he was busy rushing in or out of the Pentagon (it doesn't really matter), that it is "unfortunate" that the soldiers have to remain in Iraq. I think it is unfortunate for our troops and for the innocent people of Iraq and Afghanistan that Donald Rumsfeld has to remain as the Secretary of War.
I can't imagine how disappointed the families and the soldiers must feel. The 172nd has been in the violent Anbar Province for almost a year and I am sure they and their families were starting to really look forward to their homecoming. I can imagine that there are more than a few mothers out there who were allowing themselves to start breathing again. I am sure mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sisters, brothers, children, aunts and uncles, and extended friends and family were already planning coming home parties and anticipating the enormous hugs and overwhelming sense of relief that would accompany their soldiers home, too. Now the 172nd will be redeployed to Baghdad to be right smack dab in the middle of sectarian violence and back in the thick of things. Four more months of heat, spiders the size of puppies, MREs, anxiety and peril; as their Secretary of War and Commander in Chief drive around DC in cushy air-conditioned and up-armored SUVs and also get to sleep in comfy beds, cozy in the fact that the sacrifices of our children and their families are guaranteeing Exxon and other war bandits billions of dollars in profits.
Right-wing people who support the killing of innocent men, women, and children, are trying to stir up crap about my land purchase in Crawford, Tx to run Camp Casey. The worst thing that I have heard a Crawford resident say is that I am a "dumb Democrat." The crap that NEEDS to be stirred up in Crawford is that George and Co have the nerve to go on vacation when our soldiers can't get home after serving in the vile mess that BushCo created. Instead of working for peace and stability in the region, our continued presence there is encouraging and causing the violence. Our troops need to be removed---not increased.
Recent polls showed that 72% or our troops wanted to start coming home by the end of this year and 83% of the Iraqi people want the occupation to end. Those numbers are significant if only for the fact that they are probably low---soldiers and occupied peoples have never felt at liberty, or even secure to share their feelings with the oppressors.
To this end of creating a peace plan that the Iraqi people want and can feel comfortable and secure with (it is, after all, their country), a contingent of peace activists, including myself, will travel to Amman, Jordan to meet with Iraqi Parliamentarians who don't parrot what BushCo wants them to say and would actually like coalition forces to be removed from their country. It is an historic and significant step in this abominable and shameful episode of our history. The meeting is also highly significant since our State Department has been transformed into an adjunct of the War Department and is headed by the Deputy Secretary of War: Condi Rice. We have no diplomats in our country: just war mongers who can clear brush, shop for shoes, and laugh at gullible Americans all the way to the bank while they are depositing their war profits.
We will be meeting with the Iraqi representatives in Amman on August 4th, and many of us will return to Camp Casey in Crawford on August 6th to outline the plan and present a way that Americans and Iraqis can work together to end the killing on both sides of the conflict. August 6th is also a very meaningful date for me because it is the same day, one year ago, that I originally sat in the ditch with other peace mongers and we were eventually joined by thousands of peace mongers from all over the world.
On that day, we will ask to meet with George again to brief him on our meeting with real Iraqis who live, work, and raise their families outside of the Green Zone and outside of the influence of DC. Due to past performance, I don't think he will meet with us, (not very neighborly) but I am sure he will know that we are there and we have an Iraqi driven plan when his only plan is to kill more people because so many have already been killed---which is what "stay the course" and "honor the sacrifices of the fallen" really mean. George is so comfortable cutting and running from Crawford when he feels threatened by the truth, I wish he would cut our soldiers loose from the nightmare of occupation and allow Iraqis to run their own country.
Please come to Camp Casey this year, or donate to help promote peace for our time and our world. Since George has rescheduled his summer to avoid us, we will reschedule our summer to not allow him the pleasure of having a leisurely vacation while the Middle East is burning because of his policies.
If we can't count on our leaders to solve conflicts non-violently, then we must count on ourselves.
We need to get busy putting peace into practice. This is the time to do it and Camp Casey is the place where it will get done.
The Camp Casey dates have been changed to accommodate George's schedule and will be August 6th to September 2nd. Please go to the Gold Star Families for Peace website to stay posted on future exciting developments for Camp Casey III this summer.
Cindy Sheehan is the mother of Specialist Casey Austin Sheehan who was killed in Iraq on 04/04/04. She is the co-founder and President of Gold Star Families for Peace and currently on Day 27 of the Troops Home Fast.
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