Bush Lies (amsellem)
by charles amsellem July 23, 2003 for indymedia
Without going into detail about the Gulf of Tonkin, America has mislead its people onto the warpath throughout it's history. With all of the hoopla about pResident Bush's State of the Union speech blunder, in which he stated that Saddam Hussein was attempting to purchase uranium from Niger, the press has neglected to portray how history is repeating itself. In the last high level meeting between the USA and Iraq before both countries would descend into a major conflagration, US ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie met with Saddam Hussein to virtually give him the green light to invade Kuwait: "We have no opinion on your Arab-Arab conflicts," said Glasbie in the transcript of this meeting, "such as your dispute with Kuwait. Secretary [of State James] Baker has directed me to emphasize the instruction ... that Kuwait is not associated with America." It should be noted that the revlelation of this dialogue occured months before American troops were unleashed over the Kuwait border.
Another deliberate deception to urge Americans to accept the first Iraqi war under the first Bush administration was in the guise of a tearful fifteen year old girl. According to her now known to be false testimony before a Congressional hearing, Iraqi invaders were murdering infants in Kuwaiti nursuries by flinging them out of their incubators. Reporting for PR Watch, John Stauber, author of the newly released Weapons of Mass Deception writes "..that this testimony, which helped precipitate the first U.S. decision to go to war against Iraq, was the creation of the Hill & Knowlton PR firm, and the American people were duped into thinking that Saddam was a baby killer."
Aside from the lies about the purchase of Niger uranium, a host of other mendaciousness from the Bush administration has also gotten some press lately. Secretary Donald Rumsfeld consistently insisted that he had "bulletproof evidence" that Iraq was connected to Al Quaeda in direct contradiction to all intelligence agency claims.(NY Times, Schmitt, Eric, 9/28/2002, NY Times, Krugman, Paul, 7/15/2003) Secretary Rumsfeld also highlighted the unfounded claim that Iraq has a weapons of mass destruction program in a March 30th speech: "We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat?" (The Guardian, Whitaker, Brian and Rory McCarthy, 5/30/2003) Vice President Cheney echoed these prevarications with his statements up to the eve of war that Hussein had rebuilt his nuclear weapons program. (AP, 9/20/2002, NBC 3/16/2003) National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, asserted that intercepted aluminum tubes were "only really suited for nuclear weapons programs." Government experts have rejected those statements as untrue. (CNN, 9/08/2002, Knight Ridder News Service, 10/04/2002) Bush himself made a claim trasfixed between the ludicrous and the arrogant (on May 1, 2003) that the war in Iraq was over. Since then soldiers have died every day and top military officails have been kind enough to confirm the obvious; we are currently engaged in a guerrilla war of occupation with Iraq.(Abizaid, Gen. John, 7/16/2003) There is much more deciet by the Bush administration coming to light so I will stop here for the sake of brevity. The media watch dog group, Fairness and accuracy In Reporting has issued this media advisory on the subject.
The green party has issued a statement calling for Bush's impeachment and the return of our soldiers by the winter holidays.
Vote To Impeach has been calling for the ousting or censure of the pResident since long before the press and pundits have begun officailly recognizing george's duplicities.
Wonder who and where are the terrorists?
SANTA CRUZ COALITION PUSHES CITY COUNCIL TO SUPPORT IMPEACHMENT
By Ken McLaughlin
Mercury News
Santa Cruz's city council was the first in the country to oppose the war in Iraq. Now a coalition of Santa Cruz groups wants the council to be the first to register its support for impeaching President Bush.
About 100 activists packed the council chamber Tuesday night to ask the council to help a nascent movement aimed at sending ``pink slips'' to Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Attorney General John Ashcroft and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice for their roles in going to war and creating anti-terrorism legislation.
``They've really run amok,'' said Sherry Conable.
She and other activists, many wearing pink slips, staged a demonstration in front of City Hall carrying signs that read ``The USA is a Security Risk'' and ``The Earth is My Homeland.''
`Impeachment fairy'
Melissa Bernstein, a self-styled ``impeachment fairy'' wearing a black and hot-fuchsia feather-boa bra, wrote ``Impeach the Cowboy'' on her midriff and wore hip-huggers that appeared to be left over from the Summer of Love.
The parade at the ``oral communications'' segment of the council meeting provided some comic relief before the council got down to the grim business of beginning to cut about $3 million from the city budget -- which may involve closing or mothballing cherished facilities such as the Civic Auditorium and Harvey West Pool.
The big cuts won't be made until September, after the council returns from its August break. But the council decided to impose a roughly $3.50 monthly fee on phone bills for ``911'' service and to chop $90,000 in annual funding for school-crossing guards.
The police department has trained and provided the guards for years. It's an unusual responsibility that usually falls to school districts. Indeed, Santa Cruz is apparently the only California city that provides crossing guards.
To end funding
The council voted 4-3 to end the funding for the program in October to give the district time to hire crossing guards or get volunteers. Mayor Emily Reilly and council members Tim Fitzmaurice and Ed Porter failed in their attempt to continue the service at some level.
Councilman Mike Rotkin argued that he didn't want to hold out false hope that the council wouldn't vote to cut the service in September.
``We are presiding over our own little Depression here,'' said Councilman Mark Primack.
The mood in the chamber at the beginning of the night was more joyous.
Anti-war activist Louis LaFortune drew a round of laughs when he pulled off his shirt to reveal his pink slip. But he and others turned dead serious when they spoke about impeachment -- which most activists concede will go nowhere fast in a Republican-controlled Congress.
``This is a non-partisan issue,'' said LaFortune. He argued that Bush had waged an illegal war, violated his oath of office and insulted protesters by comparing them to a ``focus group.''
Other speakers condemned the USA Patriot Act, the anti-terrorism law passed after Sept. 11. The legislation makes it easier for authorities to eavesdrop on phone conversations, seize voice messages, track e-mail and obtain certain confidential records.
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Contact Ken McLaughlin at kmclaughlin@mercurynews. com or (831) 423-3115.
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/6372736.htm
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