news aggregator

March 21, 2006

09:30
Not that this wasn't obvious, but now we know. Bush equates leaving with losing.
Source: Atrios Blog
Categories: Blogs
09:07

Err, how about if I come this close to telling the truth?

Bush this morning: "I didn't want war. To assume I wanted war is just flat wrong ... with all due respect," he told a reporter. "No president wants war." To those who say otherwise, "it's simply not true," Bush said.

Every time Bush is asked about the false claims that he and his staff used to promote this war, he avoids the subject of WMDs and repeats yet again one of his more ludicrous false claims, namely that he tried to avoid war and was forced into it by Saddam Hussein. Yet, we know from numerous sources that Bush and others planned this war before he even moved to Washington. We know from the 2002 Downing Street Documents, the January 2003 White House Memo, and many other sources that Bush was intent on going to war and devoting his efforts not to avoiding it, but to selling it to the public. Bush tried to persuade the United Nations to give Iraq an ultimatum on inspections, in hopes that it would be rejected, thus justifying war. He proposed flying planes painted with UN colors where Iraqis might shoot them, in hopes of justifying war. Bush made no fewer than 55 knowingly misleading statements in public and misled Congress in his report three years ago this past Saturday about an imaginary threat to the United States from Iraq. The UN never did authorize a war. Inspections were moving ahead when Bush pulled the inspectors out in order to bomb the nation in an aggressive and fraudulent crime that has killed hundreds of thousands and left the rest of us in every way worse off. Here is documentation of Bush's dishonesty.

FOX's Carl Cameron asked Bush about impeachment: "At a time of war, what kind of a message does it send the terrorists for Democrats to talk about impeachment?"

Bush called such talk purely political, which is odd since Democratic political startegists are misguidedly advising against it, and it is only the few Democrats with spines (and political sense) who are talking about the need to do it for the good of the country.

Bush also dared Democrats to debate him on whether we should cancel the "terrorist surveillance program." As Bob Fertik points out on www.Democrats.com , "this is another outrageous lie, because there isn't a single Democrat - not one! - who has called for an end to terrorist surveillance as defined under the FISA law, which was written specifically to permit terrorist surveillance. The whole problem is that Bush is deliberately and openly breaking the FISA law to go beyond terrorist surveillance in order to spy on innocent American citizens!"

Categories: Blogs
09:01
From Roy:

One of the benefits of making fun of people who never learn anything is that you can go away for a long while and when you come back, they're still idiots.


In Jeff Goldstein's case, HE went away from a long time and when he came back he was an even bigger idiot.
Source: Atrios Blog
Categories: Blogs
09:00
Iraq War coverage has destroyed the image of the press as the institution that brought you Watergate.
Source: AlterNet
Categories: News
08:57

This is how scared the Republicans are of Cheney and Bush. What explains the Democrats' fear of opposing them?

Categories: Blogs
08:49
Where the hell did that come from?
Source: Atrios Blog
Categories: Blogs
08:37

DEMOCRACY NOW!

* Videotape Forces Pentagon to Investigate Claims U.S. Marines Shot Dead 15
Iraqi Civilians in Apparent Revenge Killings *

The U.S. military is conducting a criminal investigation into allegations
that marines shot and killed 15 civilians, including seven women and three
children, in the Iraqi town of Haditha last November in an apparent act of
revenge for the death of a U.S. soldier by a roadside bomb. A videotape

Categories: Blogs
08:24

By Michael J. Sniffen, Associated Press

Alexandria, Va. - The FBI agent who arrested Zacarias Moussaoui in August 2001 testified Monday he spent almost four weeks trying to warn U.S. officials about the radical Islamic student pilot but "criminal negligence" by superiors in Washington thwarted a chance to stop the 9/11 attacks.

FBI agent Harry Samit of Minneapolis originally testified as a government witness, on March 9, but his daylong cross examination by defense attorney Edward MacMahon was the strongest moment so far for the court-appointed lawyers defending Moussaoui. The 37-year-old Frenchman of Moroccan descent is the only person charged in this country in connection with al-Qaida's Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Categories: Blogs
08:16

Narges Niedzwiecki is a long time supporter of Latinos for America. Democracy for America welcomes LFA columnists on Tuesdays.

"The war is being paid for with the lives of young Latinos, many of whom went to Iraq under force or deception," Fernando Suarez, leader of "Guerrero Azteca" (Aztec Warrior), a movement that demands the United States withdraw its troops from the Middle East.

Now more than ever, the unjust war in Iraq is a Latino issue. Recently there has been a sharp rise in the number of Latinos who have died during the occupation of Iraq. Of the 135,000 troops presently fighting in Iraq, roughly 22 percent are of Latino descent. Many Latinos sign up for military service because they are enticed by the promise of citizenship, credit and funding for university education. As a patriotic measure, the US Department of Defense has granted US citizenship status to fallen soldiers, posthumously.

The US Army reports a 23 percent drop in recruitment of new soldiers. As a result, bilingual recruitment in predominantly Latino neighborhoods has increased. Spanish-language networks like Univision and Telemundo help sell the military's campaign in an effort to recruit more Latinos. One of the main motivations for enlistment is the sense of patriotism that first and second generation Latinos feel to their newly-adopted nation. Recruiters attend high schools, churches, swap meets, and special Latino events in an effort to increase contact and recruitment.

Not all Latinos, though, are in step with the military's recruitment. The time to act is now. The Latino community cannot afford to sacrifice their youth. Community lead grassroots anti-recruitment efforts and organization are necessary to combat aggressive recruitment, confusion among immigrant parents and false promises.

As of March 2006, there have been 2,318 confirmed US military fatalities in the Iraq War, of which roughly 12 percent are Latinos. The glorification of war within our society coupled with the ultimate sacrifice for flag and country has created the idea of tragic nobility, the fallen warrior. What's forgotten in this dismal image is that ultimately, war is murder.

—Narges Niedzwiecki

Categories: Blogs
08:00
A new service allows you to track your every web move -- but how private is it really?
Source: AlterNet
Categories: News
07:30
The Donald has a new baby. Prince sued for painting house purple. Plus: Colbert's writing a book!
Source: Salon.com
Categories: News
06:05
Former Vice President Al Gore said Monday he’s not planning to run for president in 2008 but hasn’t ruled out a future in politics.
Categories: News
05:16
Sociobiology founder Edward O. Wilson explains why we're hard-wired to form tribalistic religions, denies that "evolutionism" is a faith, and says that heaven, if it existed, would be hell.
Source: Salon.com
Categories: News
05:00
The director of a PBS documentary about a Girl Scout troop whose moms are behind bars says our obsession with locking up women is harming their kids.
Source: Salon.com
Categories: News
04:53
I have so much potential I can't decide what to do!
Source: Salon.com
Categories: News
04:51
Can a program pioneered by young women who were victims of dating violence teach teens to end the abuse?
Source: Salon.com
Categories: News
04:39
The latest scoring screw-up offers a golden opportunity to find out just how predictive -- or biased -- the controversial test really is.
Source: Salon.com
Categories: News
03:15
Is there no return from Money Mountain?
Source: Salon.com
Categories: News
01:00
A news reporter in Iraq describes his time in captivity after he wrongly ends up on a U.S. military 'wanted list.'
Source: AlterNet
Categories: News