US Culture
Some Views from Pravda 2006 11 21
Below is a collection of articles taken from Pravda -- these reflect a very different perspective of the US to that advocated by many Western media.
Martin
Frost 2006 11 21
- One Down; Two to Go
- Pentagon’s head falls off. Russia prepares to fight
- Pentagon thinks Saddam bought WMDs in Russia and hid them in Syria
- Pentagon to take the US society under total control
- Little-brained big heads of the States
- Articles of impeachment and indictment for high crimes and misdemeanors
- USA to keep its army bases in post-Soviet states to control Afghanistan and put pressure on China
- See also
14.11.2006, Rodrigue
Tremblay
"I'm the decider, and I decide what's best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the secretary of defense."
George W. Bush, American President, April 14, 2006
"One of Hitler's biggest lies was constantly to assure the world of peaceful intentions while obviously planning war by building up massively strong armed forces."
John Laffin, (Hitler Warned Us)
"Some of the most important decisions about U.S. national security – including vital decisions about postwar Iraq – were made by a secretive, little-known cabal. It was made up of a very small group of people led by Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld."
Col. Lawrence B. Wilkerson, Colin Powell’s former chief of staff, October 25, 2005
The tide is slowly turning in America. Things that seemed completely immutable just days before the Nov. 7 (2006) elections are no more so, as more and more people open their eyes to the grim reality. Even days ago, 'the Decider' professed not to have to listen to anybody and that he was not going to part with his Secretary of Defense. Now, the sovereign people have reminded him and everybody else who is the final decider in a democracy. Donald Rumsfeld was the third wheel in a disaster-prone triumvirate that included George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
The campaign to dismiss the Secretary of Defense was nearly universal, outside of the Bush White House. As the LA Times loudly spelled it out, it was time for Rumsfeld to go. American generals and soldiers alike were fed up with Rumsfeld's haughty incompetence. Just as with Bush II and Cheney, Rumsfeld's response to any international problem was to wage war. First, the triumvirate did it against Iraq, then against Lebanon through the surrogate country of Israel, and they were hurrying up plans to wage war against Iran and North Korea. In the Middle East, these actions are the result of a larger strategic policy to destabilize and subdue the entire region.
Many, including Bob Woodward, were puzzled and wondered aloud why President George W. Bush did not replace Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld sooner, especially after his own (former) chief of staff Andrew Card and numerous American generals recommended such a move. Well, one has to realize that Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld formed a family compact which was difficult to break up without betraying the very policies that this trio has implemented with such unpalatable results.
Now, even Ahmad Chalabi, the Iraqi expatriate behind much of the false intelligence leading up to the war in Iraq, says that the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld triumvirate was incompetent. Other prominent Neocons are also having a change of heart, now that it is obvious to all how devastatingly dysfunctional the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld administration has been, and now that disaster upon disaster have accumulated under their masquerade of waging 'good' wars. It's a bit late, coming after hundreds of thousands of people have been killed!
Still, a vast majority of people outside the United States consider the current American president to be a dangerous man. Indeed, poll after poll show that people around the world think George W. Bush has made the world a more dangerous place. In Britain, for example, 75 percent of people polled believe George W. Bush is a more dangerous politician than the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (62 percent do think he is a danger) and more dangerous than the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (69 percent think he is a danger). There is only one world character that beats Bush on this score: Osama bin Laden (87 percent think he is a menace to the world). Bush is seen as a loose cannon who can launch new wars on a whim. Unfortunately, these polls are rarely reported in American media. In his denial bubble, Bush has been dismissive of world opinion which pictures him as a threat to world peace. This does not, however, change reality.
On November 7 (2006), a majority of Americans seem to have reached the same conclusion about George W. Bush that the rest of the world has held for a long time, i.e. that his leadership cannot be trusted and that his war in Iraq is a disaster. Exit polls during the 2006 mid-term elections, for example, indicated that 60 percent of voting Americans opposed the war. And, what is more, the body in charge of voting war budgets, the U.S. House of Representatives, has swung solidly into the hands of the Democratic Party, Similarly, the U.S. Senate, which has to approve important political nominations, will also be under control of the Democratic Party. From now on, there is less chance that the President's undemocratic and imperial wars abroad will be automatically rubber-stamped by the new Congress, although there are pressures to designate pro-war Democratic senators and congressmen as chairmen of key foreign affairs committees, such as Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), who is in line to chair the important House International Affairs Committee. The fact remains that beginning on November 8, 2006, Bush II will be increasingly seen as a 'lame duck president', at least as far as domestic affairs are concerned. For international affairs, there is still a strong pro-war bipartisan coalition which is under the sway of the AIPAC/JINSA lobby.
Bush's alter ego has all along been Vice President Dick Cheney, the very person entrusted to designate the top level bureaucrats in the new 2001 administration and the central figure in the neoconservative cabal that assumed control of most of American foreign policy after September 11, 2001. Journalist Ron Susskind brilliantly described how V-P. Dick Cheney threw aside law, logic, experience and facts and recklessly embraced the irresponsible neocon ideology of 'preemptive wars'. In Mr. Susskind's book, to illustrate the central role played by Dick Cheney vis-a-vis George W. Bush and his dominance in the White House, it is revealed that within the CIA, operatives have the habit of referring to Mr. Cheney as "Edgar," a nickname referring to the famous ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his no less famous dummy 'Charlie McCarthy'.
Therefore, even if Rumsfeld is gone, there is still the political reality of a Bush-Cheney duo remaining in charge of American foreign policy, until January 2009, assisted by a powerful pro-war lobby and by neocon politicians deeply embedded in Congress. Even without Rumsfeld, this is still a truncated team that has demonstrated in the past its ignorance of, or its contempt for Islamic culture, for international law, for the fundamental principle of national sovereignty and for the most elementary humanistic principles of morality. Continued vigilance is thus required as future disasters may still be looming on the horizon. There is less change than meets the eyes.
Vice President Dick Cheney, for one, has already stated that his administration's plans for the Iraqi conflict would not be altered, even if Democrats gain control of Congress: ¨We have to continue the mission."... "It's full speed ahead." This ominous attitude may be more a portent of things to come than the outcome of the Nov. 7 ('06) elections.
Rodrigue Tremblay is
professor emeritus of economics at the University of Montreal and can
be reached at tremblay.rodrigue@yahoo.com
He is the author of the book 'The New American Empire.' Visit his blog
site at: www.thenewamericanempire.com/blog
09.11.2006
US President Bush got rid of one of the key personas in his administration yesterday. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (74 y.o.) was dismissed from his position. The Pentagon will definitely have the new administration soon. Bush said that the decision to dismiss Rumsfeld was taken after a series of conversations with the ex-chairman of the Pentagon. Rumsfeld took the office in January of 2001, i.e. from the first days of the Bush’s first-term presidency. It is worthy of note that Bush originally intended to keep Rumsfeld in the US administration till the end of his second presidential term (January 2009 that is).
Former CIA Director Roberts Gates (63 y.o.) will take the principal position in the Pentagon. Gates is considered to be a close friend of the Bush’s clan. He chaired the US intelligence during 1991-1993. At present moment Gates chairs a university in Texas.
The new appointment in the Pentagon requires an improvement at the US Senate. Bush stated that Gates would bring more than 25 years of his experience in the field of national security once the Senate approves his candidacy. Robert Gates served for six US presidents, both Republicans and Democrats. He started as a junior employee of the CIA and evolved to the CIA director. George W. Bush claimed that Robert Gates possesses the knowledge that will let him respond to challenges the USA will have to deal with during the forthcoming two years.
It is an open secret that the US Defense Secretary had to resign over the final results of congressional elections in the USA. Democrats have taken control over the House of Representatives owing to USA’s debacle in Iraq, first and foremost. Reps have been reigning in the House of Representative since 1994.
The change of power in the USA will lead to serious consequences both to US President Bush and Russia, taking into consideration Dems’ tough position towards Russia. The head of the Committee for International Affairs of the State Duma, Konstantin Kosachev, believes that the voting results in the USA will show a negative influence on the development of the US-Russian relationship. The official believes that the end of the Republican era in the USA may complicate the process of Russia’s incorporation in the WTO. “Difficulties may arise with the cancellation of the discriminatory Jackson-Vanik amendment which hinders the development of economic relations between Moscow and Washington. If both Republicans and Bush are interested in the cooperation with Russia in terms of global security and anti-terrorist struggle, then Democrats are concentrated on human rights issues. It is not ruled out that Dems may highlight this question to the detriment of US-Russian relations.
Democratic candidate to the House of Representative in California, Tom Lantos, (78 y.o.) won 75 percent of votes. Lantos is known for his anti-Russian statements and law-making initiatives, which particularly included a requirement to exclude Russia from the prestigious Group of Eight club.
The Director of Russian and Asian Programs of Washington-based Institute of Global Security, Nikolai Zlobin, is certain that the new staff of the US Congress will run tougher policies as far as Russia is concerned. “Anti-Russian criticism in the USA has become much more conspicuous these days against the background of criticism of the US-led foreign policies, including the establishment of the strategic partnership between Russia and the USA. The majority of Americans believe that Russia has become an authoritarian state, implying that it would be possible to cooperate on the solution of certain problems only,” the expert said in an interview with the Vremya Novostei newspaper.
Democrats completed their sweep Wednesday evening by ousting Republican Senator George Allen of Virginia, the last of six Republican incumbents to lose re-election bids in a midterm election marked by deep dissatisfaction with the president and the war in Iraq. The Democrats will have 51 seats in the 100-seat Senate when Congress reconvenes in January.
Democrats had 229 seats in the House, 11 more than the number necessary to hold the barest of majorities in the 435-member chamber.
Aside from gains in Congress, Democrats took 20 of 36 governors' races to give them a majority of top state jobs - 28 - for the first time in a dozen years. New York, Ohio, Massachusetts, Colorado, Maryland and Arkansas went into the Democratic column.
Almost 79 million people voted in Tuesday's election, with Democrats drawing more support than Republicans for the first time in a midterm election since 1990.
The overall turnout rate, reflecting a percentage of voting age population, was 40.4 percent, compared with 39.7 percent in 2002, according to an Associated Press vote count and an analysis by American University's Center for the Study of the American Electorate.
21.02.2006,Vasily Bubnov
If you think the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq came to nothing and that the pretext for the war was unjustified, then you would be mistaken. Saddam possessed a huge arsenal which he managed to smuggle out of Iraq with the help of Russian special forces. Indeed this story came to light several years ago. The source of this story is John Shaw, the former high-ranking Pentagon official. In October 2004 he announced to the world that Russian special forces had hidden the Iraqi dictator’s weapons in Syria and Lebanon. It is true that not even those in the organization itself believed him. Did the head of the Pentagon Donald Rumsfeld dream of finding WMDs in Iraq?
Since his resignation, Shaw has not stopped voicing his views. Last Saturday at the so-called “International Intelligence Summit” he again linked Saddam, Syria and Russian special forces.
“Weapons of mass destruction bought by Saddam in Russia were taken to Syria and Lebanon,” announced the former deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security, who was speaking at the summit held in Arlington .
“They were moved by Russian special forces dressed in civilian clothing, who had been instructed to enter Iraq to move the weapons and destroy all the evidence that would prove their existence,” he declared.
Shaw called the removal of weapons from Iraq “an organized campaign in which the neighboring states were directly involved. There is a long history of relations between these states and Russia.”
The former official of the US Defense Department thinks that Saddam managed to amass more than 100 million tones of weapons and ammunition. This makes up approximately 60% of the US’s military arsenal. In his words, these weapons came into Iraq’s hands from Russia, China and France .
John Shaw’s information comes from British intelligence service: “Intelligence services noticed numerous occurrences of lorries crossing Syria ’s border and then returning empty.”
Shaw worked closely on a report with Julian Walker, the former British ambassador to Iraq, where he spent some twenty years or so. Shaw also helped a certain Ukrainian, who subsequently held a high position in the Ukraine ’s intelligence services.
The Ukraine, as a way of expressing their gratitude for the US’s help in them gaining independence, has pulled certain highly important documents out of their archives. The documents give evidence of the transfer of weapons from the Soviet Union to Iraq and also show that Russia has given support to Saddam Hussein’s regime.
In 2004, when John Shaw presented his information to the Defense Departments of both the USA and the Central Intelligence Agency, they unanimously declared it be to false intelligence. However, thanks to Shaw’s connections in Great Britain and in the Ukraine, his report has been released.
The transfer of the WMDs to Syria and Lebanon was carried out by Russian forces. One of the main aims of the operation was to “hide all traces of Russian involvement in Iraq’s WMD program.”
Shaw believes that the publishing of his findings, which show that Bush’s administration ignored the fact that Russia helped Iraq , could lead to very serious consequences.
However, retired General-Lieutenant of the US Air Force Thomas McInerney has not been worried about giving his opinion and he cites the Iran as one of the main reasons for the current politics of Bush’s administration. “ Iran’s nuclear program is advancing more quickly than anyone can imagine. The USA now relies on Russia, China and France. The Bush administration does not want to release any information which would cast them in a bad light.”
Information on the summit
The International Intelligence Summitsm, a non-partisan, non-profit, neutral forum that uses private charitable funds to bring together for the first time the intelligence agencies of the free world and the emerging democracies. The purpose of The Summit is to provide an opportunity for the international intelligence community to listen to and learn from each other, and to share ideas in the common war against terrorism. The Summit's Advisory Council includes Generals, former senior FBI official, former senior Mossad officer, and the former Chair of British Joint Intelligence Committee, says the official website (www.intelligencesummit.org).
One of the main sponsors of the summit is a charitable fund of Michael Cherny, the former Russian aluminum tycoon. He now lives in Israel .
John Shaw himself has been involved in one of the scandals at the centre of the reconstruction work in Iraq . He in particular has tried to attain contracts for firms of his friends and their business partners. Once, when presenting himself as a worker for the notorious company Halliburton, Shaw tried to enter restricted territory of one of Iraq’s ports. The scandal occurred in 2004. Two and a half months later he appeared with his evidence.
03.02.2006
America has changed a lot during the time of George W. Bush's presidency. Many things are still the same in the every-day life of the Unites States, of course. On the other hand, average Americans could see dramatic changes in culture, economy and politics. As a rule, the changes took place because of the ongoing war against the international terrorism. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the fact that the Pentagon has undergone the majority of the changes against such a background.
The unexampled modernization of the US Army, which started during Bill Clinton's era, continues to determine the activities and priorities of the US military officials. Apparently, the Pentagon has a goal to create the army of the future as seen in Hollywood blockbusters.
It goes without saying that maintaining the military modernization is especially profitable to the powerful defense complex of the USA . The project to set up the so-called evolutionary brigade is said to become highly lucrative for the US defense industry. The project is set to be launched in March of 2007 in Texas .
There is hardly any information available presently about the military unit of the future. It is only known that the unit will include about 800 best soldiers. The servicemen will be using up-to-date development of the US defense science. The program will supposedly last before 2016. Needless to say that it is going to bring immense profits to the US defense industry.
Another novelty which the Pentagon had to experience during George W. Bush's presidency is connected with the increasing role of military officials in the USA's foreign politics. The Pentagon has virtually become as important as the US Department of State. The Pentagon has been recently given a legal permission to fund the armies of USA's allies. Such an opportunity seemed absolutely impossible not so long ago: the Department of State was solely in charge of such financial assistance. US diplomats originally expressed their indignation about the new law. According to the law, any regime could gain access to financial sources for its army once it claims its status of a US ally. No one can give a precise answer to the question of whether the US administration sticks to certain criteria when rendering such foreign assistance. Some specialists say that a non-democratic state could also receive funds from the Pentagon to destroy its own population under the guise of the anti-terrorist struggle.
The military politics run by the US administration is rather tough. Even US Secretary of State Condoleezza rice prefers not to raise any objections to the Pentagon. To crown it all, Donald Rumsfeld is more of a diplomat than Ms. Rice.
The life of common US servicemen has undergone considerable changes as well recently. The Pentagon comprehends the experience which the US army gained in Afghanistan and Iraq . The Pentagon changes its strategies and tactics for the first time since the war in Vietnam . US servicemen in Iraq look especially carefree and off-handed even in comparison with their British allies. As a result, the number of US casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan continues to grow speedily. Nowadays the Pentagon uses several survival training programs for US military men to teach them how to survive in the enemy country before they are deployed there.
Hollywood companies built a prototype of an oriental country near Fort Irwin , California . The project, the cost of which made up some $50 million, resulted in the construction of a town with houses, local civilians, gunmen, Western journalists and employees of humanitarian and charitable organizations. The US administration uses this state-of-the-art military theater for training the goal of which is to reduce the number of losses in Afghanistan and Iraq .
One can assume that every year of the anti-terrorist campaign, the duration of which could be likened to the one of the Cold War, as Mr. Rumsfeld put it, will finally make a military society in the USA . It is interesting, though, how the US administration is going to glorify democratic values at this point. It is an open secret that there is no democracy at war.
08.11.2005, Dr.Gamini
Mithra
Brutal effects of America's Agent Orange in Vietnam and Nuclear Bombs in Japan's Hiroshima and Nagasaki still continue
The use of Agent Orange and the massive napalming of the forests and consequent pollution of the water supply have created problems which are still manifesting as birth defects. One of the lectures I attended was on “auricular reconstruction” which is about giving people ears when they are born without them”. This is what Dr. Meredith Burgmann, the President of New South Wales Legislative Council, who returned recently from a trip to Vietnam, has written in the Daily Telegraph of 25th October 2005.
The above comments from Dr. Burgmann serve as the latest proofs of the US Crimes against humanity inflicted on the Vietnamese people by the US forces during their invasion of Vietnam. In spite of the constant flow of facts about the consequence of USA's crimes against humanity most of the heads of states seem to lack the courage to call it what it was to put an end to continuation of America's policy of aggression in the world.
Agent Orange and Napalm Bombs are America's own, purposely built WMDs.
One could imagine how loud and fierce would have been the US retaliation if it was the American babies who continue to pay decades long “price” for not fault of their own. There are no “embedded American journalists” in Vietnam to rally relief for the Vietnamese victims of the crimes committed by US. It has been politically incorrect and will be soon prohibited in Australia, to talk about US, in those terms.
Howard's new anti-terror laws which are about to be steam rolled through the Senate and the House of Representatives will give powers to ASIO to interpret an article such as this as a “threat to national security” and to arrest and detain the author indefinitely. They will dig in to peoples political beliefs to fabricate anything to convict anybody under any pretext. They have teams of spin doctors to come up with the “appropriate justification.”
Some people, who have strong feelings about human rights, and state sponsored terrorism would rather be silent than “inviting themselves trouble” this is exactly what the new laws are aimed at. But many others will shed their differences to unite against the new laws. It has started to happen already. A strong public opinion is being born across the wide and deep fabric of the Australian society, including religious, political, independent media and business leaders and also ordinary Australian of various political, religious and ethnic backgrounds. Worse draconian laws introduced in other parts of the world have not been able to keep the truth away from the public.
In the meantime enormous deal of work has been carried out silently by many good hearted Australian Medical Professionals, Students and staff of the Universities and some Politicians to ease the pain of their Vietnamese neighbours suffering from US crimes against humanity. Chaired by Professor Bruce Robinson, Hoc Mai Foundation has been in the forefront in carrying out such relief work in Vietnam. This is a charity organisation for the medical exchange between the University of Sydney and the Viet Duc Hospital in Hanoi.
The Governor of New South Wales, Professor Marie Bashir is the patron of the Hoc Mai Foundation. The Asia Pacific Friendship Group, of the New South Wales Parliament has been active in fundraising and supporting the medical relief, training and exchange projects carried out in the Viet Duc Hospital.
Brutal effects of America's Agent Orange in Vietnam and Nuclear Bombs in Japan's Hiroshima and Nagasaki still continue in the form of various complications in pregnancies and babies with inborn defects. Some of these health problems can be partially cured with medical intervention whereas there are others which remain lifelong. The untold misery, pain and suffering of these victims do not find publicity in the media, as it is “politically incorrect” and “unpatriotic” to talk about these issues.
After half a century US aggression and inhuman policies still continue in Iraq. Instead of old WMDs this time US forces used depleted Uranium, Bombs, cluster bombs and other ordinance against the people of Iraq. US do not keep a record of the “enemy casualties”. Only after the dust has been settled (which is not likely to happen for quite a sometime) that the world would find out the enormity of the US crimes against humanity in Iraq. According to the latest statistics, the war in Iraq, which Rumsfeld initially promised to be a “Cake Walk,” has so far cost 2000 American Lives, and still keep on growing. Many Americans are taking to street to demand Bush to end this war.
It is our freedom of speech that Bush, Blair and Howard would like to restrict so that there would not be any voice against their “justification” of the unjustifiable. According to their model of democracy no one would dare write and speak the truth about their crimes against humanity, as according to Bush, Blair and Howard it will be “Alquidian,” Bin Ladinian” “Jihadist” or “unpatriotic” to do so.
While John Howard is continuing to act subservient to Bush in supporting the senseless continuation of crimes against humanity in Iraq, the ordinary Australians not only oppose the war but also open their hearts to carry out humanitarian aid to ease the pain already inflicted on many hundreds of thousands of fellow human beings by the previous crimes against humanity planned and carried out by the US.
It will be these humanitarian and big-hearted ordinary Aussies, the world would honour as the real heroes and leaders of our time.
Once the power is gone and struck off from the media lime light, Bush, Blair and Howard will only be remembered as the most deceptive, “Little Brained Big Heads of States” that the world has ever known.
08.08.2005,David
R. Hoffman
During the build-up to the illegal invasion of Iraq, some, particularly in the foreign media, accused Bush of wanting war simply for the sake of war
Prologue
As I was researching and preparing notes for this article, the bombings in London occurred. In the wake of these tragic events, I became outraged by the number of right-wing warmongers in America who callously exploited these attacks in a vacuous attempt to justify the Bush dictatorship's war against Iraq.
Naturally these hypocrites ignored the fact that those opposed to the illegal invasion of Iraq had already argued that such an invasion would cause America to lose the international support it enjoyed after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, and INCREASE the potential for terrorism. Now that these arguments had proven prophetic, it was contemptible to witness the warmongers attempting to distort them for their own advantage.
In several previous Pravda.Ru articles, I discussed my hypothesis that the primary motivating force in the world resides not in the struggle between “good and evil,” but in the competition between various forms of evil.
Saddam Hussein, for example, represented a recognizable form of evil with his overt use of repression, torture and murder. Yet during the Cold War Hussein's evil was perfectly acceptable to, and even encouraged by, the United States government. Only after Hussein's usefulness to the United States expired did his evil arouse members of the Bush dictatorship, lusting for war and eager to disseminate their lies about Iraq's alleged “weapons of mass destruction,” and Hussein's alleged “connection” to the events of September 11th.
George W. Bush and his criminal cabal, however, represent a more seductive, and therefore more dangerous, form of evil. This is the evil that deceives people into thinking that by supporting wrongdoing they are somehow supporting righteousness, that waging a war based upon lies somehow encourages peace and honesty, that creating the conditions for terrorism to thrive somehow “combats” terrorism, that promoting oppression somehow supports freedom, and that engaging in immoral and/or criminal conduct somehow makes one a moral person.
During the build-up to the illegal invasion of Iraq, some, particularly in the foreign media, accused Bush of wanting war simply for the sake of war. Yet even “mainstream” newspapers that opposed the war dismissed this statement as hyperbole. What these newspapers overlooked in their dismissal, however, were the two psychological characteristics of George W. Bush that make him the exemplar of the seductive brand of evil.
First, he is the epitome of the classic “bullying coward,” always willing to spew bellicose bluster as long as somebody else is doing the fighting and the dying. From the safety of the White House, one of the most fortified buildings in the world, he recklessly increased the risk to American troops by challenging Iraqi insurgents to “bring it on.” Yet, during the Vietnamese war, he did not hesitate to use his parent’s wealth and influence to avoid combat duty.
Second, he is a megalomaniac with delusions of being remembered as an Abraham Lincoln or Franklin Roosevelt, boldly leading the nation through a time of crisis—a crisis which, not surprisingly, he and his minions helped to create. When British Prime Minister Tony Blair chose to ally himself with Bush's form of evil, it was the innocents in his nation who suffered.
Although the “high crimes and misdemeanors” committed by George W. Bush and his criminal cartel may never spawn impeachment proceedings or criminal prosecutions, there should, at the very least, be a record of their crimes.
Therefore, I present the "Articles of impeachment and indictment for high crimes and misdemeanors."
Count One
Theft
These articles and indictment hereby charge the following persons - George W. Bush, Jeb Bush, Katherine Harris, The Dishonorable Justices of the United States Supreme Court, and unnamed election officials in the States of Florida and Ohio - with engaging in, encouraging and/or permitting, through act or omission:
1. The theft of the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004, which fraudulently, and in defiance of the will of the American people, placed the Bush dictatorship into power;
2. The illegal occupation of government property known as The White House;
3. The denial of the right to vote based upon the race and/or political disposition of the prospective voter, by illegally purging registered voters in direct contravention of the United States Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965;
4. The destruction of democracy by unlawfully placing the nation's government into the hands of a venal oligarchy, also known as the military-industrial complex.
Count Two
Treason
These articles and indictment hereby charge the following persons - George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, Karl Rove, John Ashcroft, Paul Wolfowitz, and other conspirators - with engaging in, encouraging, and/or permitting, through act or omission:
1. The September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, to induce in the American populace the fear and hysteria necessary to facilitate the illegal invasion of Iraq;
2. The destruction of the American Constitution, more specifically The Bill of Rights, by exploiting this fear and hysteria to pass illegal and unconstitutional legislation, such as the so-called “Patriot Act”;
3. The illegal enforcement of laws, such as the so-called “Patriot Act,” by placing their “enforcement” into the hands of agencies, such as the FBI and the CIA, with histories of racism, lawbreaking, and human rights violations that have included, but are not limited to, illegal detentions and the encouragement of murder;
4. The destruction of America's “check-and-balance” system to create a neo-fascist dictatorship controlled exclusively by the executive branch of government, with the legislative and judicial branches remaining only as a facade.
Count Three
War crimes
These articles and indictment hereby charge the following persons - George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, Karl Rove, Paul Wolfowitz, Tony Blair and other conspirators - with engaging in, encouraging and/or permitting, through act or omission:
1. The dissemination of lies to the American and British people in order to wage an illegal war designed to profit political cronies and private corporations;
2. The fabrication of evidence and the malicious, intentional and illegal manipulation of “intelligence” information to deceive the American and British people into supporting an illegal war;
3. The attempts to undermine the credibility and/or destroy the reputation of anybody who challenged or questioned these lies or the manipulation of intelligence information, including, but not limited to, the deliberate undermining of national security by illegally, and with malice aforethought, revealing, or causing to be revealed, the name of a CIA operative whose husband had exposed the Bush dictatorship's “State of the Union” lie that Iraq had tried to purchase uranium from the African Nation of Niger;
4. The illegal wiretapping of the offices of United Nations officials who refused to accept the lies of the Bush dictatorship regarding Iraq;
5. The use of war as a first resort, as evidenced by the “Downing Street Memo,” and in direct contradiction to the Bush dictatorship’s assertion that war was “a last resort”;
Count Four
Criminal conversion
These articles and indictment hereby charge the following persons - George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, Karl Rove, Paul Wolfowitz, Tony Blair and other conspirators - with engaging in, encouraging and/or permitting, through act or omission:
1. The illegal conversion of resources lawfully owned by the United States and British governments, and paid for by American and British taxpayers, by using said resources to enhance the profits of private individuals and corporations, including those corporations where one or more of the individuals charged in this indictment, such as Dick Cheney, had and/or has financial interests;
2. The awarding of lucrative “rebuilding” contracts, at taxpayer expense, to corporations where one or more of the individuals charged in these articles and indictment had and/or has financial interests;
3. The unlawful appropriation of American and British troops and military resources to satiate the “bullying cowardice” and megalomania of George W. Bush;
4. The misappropriation of American troops and military resources for cheap political gain.
Is
it “Support the Troops” or “Exploit the Troops?”
As stated above, the lives of America's young men and women, and the resources of America's military are currently being exploited for the personal, political and financial gain of the corrupt oligarchs who rule America. This exploitation is possible because America no longer has a military draft, so the warmongers can argue that those who are now fighting in Iraq have voluntarily agreed to be there.
This was not the case several years ago, when America had compulsory military service. Those who opposed war and/or induction into the military were often taunted with the cry, “America, love it or leave it!” Today's all-volunteer military, however, now permits the anti-war movement to say to the warmongers and oligarchs, “You wanted war with Iraq. Now go fight in it!”
But even though there is a plethora of politicians, celebrities, pundits and everyday people who have applauded the illegal invasion of Iraq, most of them have conspicuously refrained from participating in it. Bush's own daughters have not supported “daddy's war” by joining the military, and one of the most rabid warmongers of the Bush dictatorship, Dick Cheney, was such a coward that, instead of facing the prospect of combat duty during the Vietnam era, he received five deferments to avoid military service.
So to counter the growing influence of “the Bush/Cheney School of Bellicose Cowardice,” perhaps it is time for a new form of military conscription, directed towards those who have interpreted “support the troops” to mean “exploit the troops.” After all, when the illegal invasion of Iraq began, the warmongers vociferously proclaimed that one could not “support the troops” without also supporting the war. What better way to “support the troops” than to become one of them?
Therefore I propose that the people in the following categories be immediately inducted into military service, sent into combat “with all deliberate speed,” and not relieved of combat duty for the entire duration of the war:
1. All politicians who promoted and/or voted for the Iraqi war, yet avoided military service themselves, as well as their military-age children. Bush and Cheney would be the first draftees;
2. All celebrities, pundits or other public figures who have avoided military service, but who have used the war and/or the troops for profit, publicity and/or promotional purposes in venues including, but not limited to: songs, televised specials, newspaper columns, television or radio talk shows, interviews, sponsorship of pro-war rallies, or simply by taking steps to ensure that their alleged “support of the troops” is public knowledge;
3. All the people who attended pro-war rallies, who voted for George W. Bush, and/or who have “Support the Troops” stickers or ribbons affixed to their vehicles.
In addition these individuals would be required to perform combat duty regardless of:
1. Age (except for those under eighteen)
2. Gender
3. Social Status
4. Disability
5. Martial status
Of course a military draft this equitable has never, and probably will never, occur, because, as the late British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli once observed, “[C]ourage is the rarest of all qualities to be found in public life.”
Disraeli's words also reveal why it is unlikely that impeachment or criminal proceedings will ever address the crimes committed by the Bush dictatorship. Bush enjoys almost fanatical support from a powerful voting bloc collectively called the “Christian right,” but more accurately described as “the pseudo-Christians.” These are the individuals or organizations that exploit Christianity for profit or political gain while ignoring everything Christianity stands for. They claim that George W. Bush is a “moral” man, and see no dichotomy between his warmongering lies, avarice, and cowardice and the truth, selflessness and courage embodied by Jesus Christ, who is also known as the “Prince of Peace.” To these pseudo-Christians “morality” is narrowly confined to issues regarding human sexuality. Therefore, while lying about an affair with a White House intern is an impeachable offense, lying to promote an illegal war is not.
Ironically, these pseudo-Christians are often at the forefront of the battles to prevent the removal of Ten Commandments displays from government property. Yet, in their dogma, defending the physical location of a symbol apparently must absolve them and those they support from honoring what the symbol represents.
George W. Bush, for example, in his corrupt political career, has easily broken at least half of these commandments:
1. Thou shalt not kill. While governor of Texas, Bush executed over one hundred and fifty people, routinely denying DNA tests that could have potentially exonerated one or more of these inmates. This death toll is in addition to the thousands of civilian casualties and military deaths he caused in Iraq.
2. Thou shalt not steal. Bush and his co-conspirators stole the elections of 2000 and 2004, as well as billions in tax dollars to benefit private companies now profiting from the Iraqi war.
3. Thou shalt not bear false witness. In order to commit his crimes, Bush bore false witness by deceitfully proclaiming that war was a last resort, by manipulating intelligence information, and by lying about the reasons for invading Iraq.
4. Thou shalt not covet. Bush and his co-conspirators coveted Iraqi oil as well as the profits and political windfall war would bring.
5. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Bush does this every time he professes to be “religious” “Christian,” “moral,” or “pro-life.”
So, to appease the “pseudo-Christians,” perhaps a compromise could be reached whereby the Ten Commandments would be replaced with the following “Bush Commandments”:
1. There is no “International Law,” only the concept that “might makes right.”
2. Only those who lose wars can be war criminals, even when the “winners” have engaged in similar misconduct.
3. There are no human rights you are bound to respect, since only one's enemies can violate human rights.
4. Always tell the populace that wars are being waged to promote democracy and freedom. Keep the truth to yourself.
5. Whenever troops are overseas purportedly fighting for this democracy and freedom, take the opportunity to undermine freedom and democracy at home.
6. Always condemn the evils of racial bigotry, religious intolerance, injustice, oppression and torture when utilized by your foes, but embrace these evils when they serve your own purposes.
7. Always preserve the illusion of democracy, even though you know it doesn't exist.
8. Always remember that the flag is a better blindfold than the truth.
9. Always remember that being “pro-life” should not inhibit you from killing people for ego or profit.
10. Always remember to sow the seeds of hatred and divisiveness while professing to “Love Thy Neighbor.”
Epilogue
At one point during his distinguished career, Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, looked at the America of his day and said, “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.”
Today Jefferson would not only tremble for his country, but for the world, in the realization that God apparently continued to slumber while George W. Bush and his minions illegally seized the most powerful office on earth, then abused the authority of that office to eviscerate the Bill of Rights and to deceive the nation into spending billions of tax dollars, and sacrificing thousands of lives, for a war based upon nothing but lies, all with the acquiescence of the United States Congress and the Courts, and with scarcely a murmur of outrage from the American people, even though it is they who suffer the most from his crimes.
For the sake of humanity I hope God wakes up soon!
David R. Hoffman
Legal Editor of Pravda.Ru
USA to keep its army bases in post-Soviet states to control Afghanistan and put pressure on China
27.07.2005
Russia
and China are concerned about the US military presence in Asia
The USA is not going to withdraw the military base from the republic of Kyrgyzstan, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stated yesterday after the completion of negotiations with the Kyrgyz administration. “I would not be packing the bags,” Rumsfeld told US military men at the base deployed on the territory of Manas airport in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital.
The US Defense Secretary told reporters later that there was no threat to the US army base in Kyrgyzstan. The US troops were deployed in the post-Soviet republic on the base of bilateral and mutually beneficial agreements in December of 2001, Rumsfeld specified.
Acting Defense Minister of Kyrgyzstan, Ismail Isakov, confirmed the fact that the US Air Force army base would be preserved on the territory of Manas Airport in Bishkek. “The presence of the American army base on the territory of Kyrgyzstan solely depends on the situation in Afghanistan. Mr. Rumsfeld was correct when he said that the situation in Afghanistan had not been stabilized completely,” Isakov said.
The USA deployed the Gansi base in Kyrgyzstan in December of 2001 in connection with the military operation in Afghanistan. There are about 1,000 US military men serving at the base, nine KC-135 tanker transport planes and C-130 cargo planes.
The scandal around the base occurred on July 5th, when leaders of the countries included in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (incorporates Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) demanded the USA should specify terms for its air bases to stay in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The newly elected Kyrgyz President, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, stated soon after his victory at the election on July 10th that there was no need for such considerable contingent of US Armed forces to be present in the region, for the situation in Afghanistan had experienced a radical change.
The US administration reacted to the above-mentioned events immediately. The President of the Nixon Center, Dmitry Simes, said in an interview with Vremya Novostei that the Russian administration showed a certain pressure on Kyrgyz authorities. Furthermore, the US Congress believes that the decision of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was based on Russia's and China's intention to oust American military men from the region. Richard Myers, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated that Russia and China forced their colleagues to pass such a resolution.
US Defense Secretary personally arrived in Central Asia to look into the matter with US army bases. It is noteworthy that Rumsfeld visited Kyrgyzstan a short time ago – soon after the Kyrgyz revolution and the collapse of Askar Akayev's regime in the republic.
Major-General Vladimir Dvorkin, the senior specialists of the Institute of World Economics and International Relations told Vremya Novostei that “the statement from the new Kyrgyz administration could probably be initiated with Beijing's and Moscow's requirements.” “However, the pressure was not that strong to resist a possible contribution in the Kyrgyz economy on the part of the USA,” the expert said.
The USA has already assigned 750 million dollars of financial help to Kyrgyzstan during 14 years of the republic's independence. Apparently, the US administration is not going to stop these activities. However, as Mr. Rumsfeld put it, each state in the region should make its own decisions regarding relations with other states. The US defense secretary obviously implied that post-Soviet Asian states are supposed to take Washington's interests into consideration, pushing the ones of Moscow and Beijing aside.
Stephen Sestanovic, Bill Clinton's special advisor on the former Soviet states, said that the new Kyrgyz administration was highly interested in Mr. Rumsfeld's visit to Bishkek. “Kyrgyz President Bakiyev wanted to let Washington know that Kyrgyzstan was not going to put obstacles on NATO and the USA's way in their attempts to succeed in Afghanistan,” said he. According to Mr. Sestanovic, Moscow and Beijing made a mistake when they decided that they had obtained wider opportunities to win the support of Central Asian governmental regarding the question of US military bases. “I think that Kyrgyzstan has many reasons to value the cooperation with the USA. It is not all about the money here,” Stephen Sestanovic said.
The new Kyrgyz administration is skillfully using Moscow and Washington's confrontation in the region. Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has recently referred to Russia as the “explicit leader on the post-Soviet space.” “Achieving reciprocal security guarantees is a very important aspect of the Russian-Kyrgyz cooperation,” the Kyrgyz president emphasized. Mr. Bakiyev exemplified the statement with the fact that Russia opened its air base in the town of Kant in October of 2003.
See also
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Putin The next Czar
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Russia's arms exports