Showing posts with label President Bush. Show all posts
Showing posts with label President Bush. Show all posts
Friday, August 1, 2008
John McCain appears to value nothing beyond sheer military might-- even if it has shady contacts to al-Qaeda - Juan Cole
From Juan Cole's Informed CommentFriday, August 01, 2008
ISI Linked to Indian Embassy Bombing;
McCain client Musharraf Likely Implicated
How much of the $10 billion in aid Bush and Cheney gave to Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf after September 11 ended up being used to kill US, NATO and Afghan troops in Afghanistan?
NYT reports that US intelligence intercepted communications between elements of the Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan's military intelligence division, indicating that they gave support to the Haqqani group of Pushtun guerrillas in bombing the Indian embassy in Kabul.
There have long been suspicions that the Pakistani military was using Pushtun guerrillas to project power into Afghanistan, even as they fought them inside Pakistan itself. The NYT was told by US government officials that this intercept was the first smoking gun proving that active-duty ISI officers were complicit with violence in Afghanistan (and therefore with attacks on US and NATO troops.)
The Pakistani military has tight command and control. ISI's collaboration with the neo-Taliban and other guerrilla groups could not occur without the knowledge and acquiescence of Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf, who was chief of staff until last fall. That is, Cheney, Bush and McCain have backed to the hilt a military dictator who has continued the old 1980s and 1990s policy of supporting Pushtun guerrillas as a way of a) dominating Afghanistan and b) training other guerrillas to hit Kashmir.
Here is what McCain said about Musharraf last winter:
' "I continue to believe Musharraf has done a pretty good job, done a lot of the things that we wanted him to do . . . I would remind some of my fellow Americans that Benazir Bhutto and [former prime minister Nawaz] Sharif presided over failed states, there was corruption, there was a failed state in Pakistan when Musharraf took charge...I would like to give Musharraf some credit for taking the measures that we asked him to do." 'Musharraf's 'successful state' involved dismissing the Supreme Court, provoking massive and repeated demonstrations, violating the constitution, interfering with free and fair elections, and presiding over a virtual national meltdown on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto late last December. McCain appears to value nothing beyond sheer military might-- even if it has shady contacts to al-Qaeda!
In Full
Thanks For Stopping By
Friday, July 25, 2008
Dennis Kucinich Testifies on Abuses of Executive Power
By JOHN W. DEAN
July 25 2008
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) testified about President Bush’s culpability for leading the country to war today at a House Judiciary Committee hearing entitled “Executive Power and its Constitutional Limitations.”Our country has been at war in Iraq, and has occupied the streets and villages of Iraq for five years, four months, and 6 days. The war has caused the deaths of 4,127 American soldiers and the deaths of as many as one million innocent Iraqis. The war will cost the American people upwards of $3 trillion and is the main contributing factor to the destruction of our domestic economy.
The full text of the statement follows:
Mr. Chairman, I would ask unanimous consent to enter S.J. Res. 45 into the record. The primary justifications for going to war, outlined in the legislation which the White House sent to Congress in October of 2002, have been determined conclusively to be untrue:
* Iraq was not “continuing to threaten the national security interests of the United States”* Iraq was not “continuing to possess and develop a significant chemical and biological weapons capability. . .”
* Iraq was not “actively seeking a nuclear weapons capability”
* Iraq did not have the “willingness to attack, the United States”
* Members of Al Qaeda were not “known to be in Iraq”
* Iraq had not “demonstrated capability and willingness to use weapons of mass destruction. . .”
* Iraq could not “launch a surprise attack against the United States or its Armed Forces”
* Therefore there was not an “extreme magnitude of harm that would result to the United States and its citizens from such an attack”
* The aforementioned did not “justify the use of force by the United States to defend itself”
* Iraq had no connection with the attacks of 9/11 or with al Qaeda's role in 9/11
* Iraq possessed no weapons of mass destruction to transfer to anyone
* Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction and therefore had no capability of launching a surprise attack against the United States or its Armed Forces and no capability to provide them to international terrorists who would do so
However, many Members of Congress relied on these representations from the White House to inform their decision to support the legislation that authorized the use of force against Iraq. We all know present and former colleagues who have said that if they knew then what they know now, they would not have voted to permit an attack upon Iraq.
The war was totally unnecessary, unprovoked and unjustified. The question for Congress is this: what responsibility do the President and members of his Administration have for that unnecessary, unprovoked and unjustified war?The rules of the House prevent me or any witness from utilizing familiar terms. But we can put two and two together in our minds. We can draw inferences about culpability.
Mr. Chairman, I would ask unanimous consent to enter H. Res. 333, H. Res. 1258, and H. Res. 1345 into the record. I request that each Member read the three bills I have authored, bills which are now awaiting consideration by the Judiciary Committee. I am confident the reader will reach the same conclusions that I have about culpability.
What, then, should we do about it?
The decision before us is whether to honor our oath as Members of Congress to support and defend the Constitution that has been trampled time and again over the last seven years.The decision before us is whether to stand up for the checks and balances designed by our founding fathers to prevent excessive power grabs by either the judicial, legislative or executive branch of government.
The decision before us is whether to restore faith in government, in justice, and in the rule of law.
The decision before us is whether Congress will endorse with its silence the methods used to take us into the Iraq war.
The decision before us is whether to demand accountability for one of the gravest injustices imaginable.
The decision before us is whether Congress will stand up to tell future Presidents that America has seen the last of these injustices, not the first.
I believe the choice is clear.
I ask this committee to think, and then to act, in order to enable this Congress to right a very great wrong and to hold accountable those who have misled this Nation.
Source, Op-Ed News
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Guess Who's Coming To Bohemian Grove... 2008 Guest List
According to the guest list, this year's attendees include George H. W. Bush, David Rockefeller, Henry Kissinger, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, several former CIA directors and Paul Pelosi, Nancy's husband. Also attending are two members of the Grateful Dead, one of whom is camping with the elder Bush.Courtesy of Indybay, IndyMedia
DOWNLOAD THE LIST HERE:
Bohemian Grove 2008 Guest List REVEALED
Activists Take 9/11 Truth to Elite's Summer Retreat
July 23, 2008
truthaction. org
http://truthaction. org/forum/viewtopic. php?t=3873
Activists from truthaction. org have obtained the official guest list for Bohemian Grove's 2008 midsummer encampment along with a map of the Grove's facilities. According to the guest list, this year's attendees include George H. W. Bush, David Rockefeller, Henry Kissinger, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, several former CIA directors and Paul Pelosi, Nancy's husband. Also attending are two members of the Grateful Dead, one of whom is camping with the elder Bush.
The Bohemian Grove, located in the small town of Monte Rio in Sonoma County, California is notorious for its annual summer retreats for the rich and powerful during which participants kick back, relax and enjoy a simulated child sacrifice called "Cremation of Care". The Grove is strictly off-limits to the uninvited and much effort is made to maintain secrecy. Workers at the retreat must sign a comprehensive confidentiality agreement and the entrance to the 2,700 acre getaway is guarded not only by private security but also the local Sheriff's department, at taxpayers expense.
Statement and more in full @ Indymedia
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