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About That Apology
Washington Post, DC - 5-7-04
...Typically, when you apologize, you apologize to the people
who have been harmed. But instead, Bush here is not apologizing directly to
the Iraqis, he is reporting that he apologized to a third party.
Does that meet the schoolyard test? If your little boy came home and said
that after he kicked Tommy he apologized to Jimmy, would you be
satisfied?...
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Rumsfeld apologises for Iraq prison abuse
Reuters, UK - 5-7-04
"In recent days, there has been a good deal of discussion
about who bears responsibility for the terrible activities that took place
at Abu Ghraib (prison). ...
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POW abuse not new
San Francisco Examiner,CA -5-7-04
As long as there have been wars, there have been prisoners of
war, and abuse of prisoners... |
"I told him [King Abdullah] I
was sorry for the humiliation suffered by the Iraqi prisoners, and the
humiliation suffered by their families. I told him I was equally sorry that
people who have been seeing those pictures didn't understand the true nature and
heart of America." - President "Too Stupid to know who to apologize to"
Bush
transcript
www.internetweekly.org
"No, he went on to tell the
Arab people that the pictures of the Iraqi POWs being abused was abhorrent.
Abhorrent. He also said they were terriblement and disgustingment."
Jay Leno
The-World-Is-A-Safer-Place-Without-Saddam-News
Fiore presents: The physics of war
"June 30th is the day
we're handing sovereignty back to the Iraqis. Hey, forget sovereignty - I think
they'll be happy just to get their clothes back." Jay Leno
"The Disney Company is
blocking the distribution of Michael Moore's new documentary, because it
criticizes President Bush. Yeah, when asked if the block has anything to do with
the tax break Disney wants from Florida Governor Jeb Bush, a spokesman for
Disney said, 'It's a small world after all.'" Conan O'Brien
EMAIL
Thought you might enjoy this
quote from the novel Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins. It speaks directly to
the purpose of your web site.
“The monkey wrench in the progressive machinery of primate evolution was the
propensity of the primate band to take its political leaders - its dominant
males - too seriously. Of benefit to the band only when it was actively
threatened by predators, the dominant male (or political boss) was almost wholly
self serving and was naturally dedicated not to liberation, but to control.
Behind his chest-banging and fang display, he was largely a joke and could be
kept in his place (his place being that of a necessary evil) by disrespect and
laughter. If, for example, when Hitler stood up to rant in the beer halls of
Munich, the good drinkers had taken him more lightly; had they, instead of
buying his act, snickered and hooted and pelted him with sausage skins, the
Holocaust might have been avoided.”
Thanks
Bo Ketchin
Thank you
Bo.
I find it so
disturbing that about half this country thinks Bush is a great leader. I
guess it is a case of -- Monkey see, Monkey do.
President Monkey in a Man
Suit*
*
www.bartcop.com
coined that phrase
Pentagoon - In honor of Donald Rumsfeld
http://www.takebackthemedia.com/pentagoon2.html
Disturbing News
ATTENTION ALL AMERICAN
MEN & WOMEN AGED 16-45:
Pursuant to Sub-Section 8, Paragraph C of Executive Branch Classified
Directive #13334-P, dated 1 May 2004, the Armed Forces of the United States
stand directed by President George W. Bush to accelerate preparations for
compulsory induction of the adult non-homosexual population into active combat
duty in the War Against Terror...
http://www.draftregistration.us/
This is a scary thought from
www.mystolennation.com
"He [Bush] gave the interview
to a reporter from the Al-Hura news channel. That's an Arab news channel
sponsored by the US government that's broadcast in the Middle East. In this
country, it's known as 'Fox News.'" Jay Leno
Business/Tech News
Evasion
tactics for the new draft
Cartoon by Ted Rall
Click Here
Thanks to Barb and Jim for the appetizers!
Nursery Crimes (5)
corrected version
Yellow cake, yellow cake,
uranium,
make me a bomb as quick as you can;
mark it "W" and send it to Saddam
yellow cake, yellow cake, uranium.
John Grant - Japan
Will Ferrell impersonating
President Hotdog
Hi Lisa,
i would like to know, what you think about this new song i just
produced.
Link:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/6/andresgermanymusic.htm
Click on "Play hi-fi" to listen to it.
I am a 36 years old professional musician/singer and song writer.
I wrote music, text, played all instruments, sang and recorded this
song on my own.
G.Bush is very dangerous to my world, so i decided to do something!
to stop him.
Regards
Andre S - Germany
Thank you
for writing. And thank you for your creativity in this time of turmoil in this
world.
And here is
another song by Matt Angus Thing
http://mattangusthing.com/music
try "president's son"
Republican Shenanigans
Running the Ship-of-State
Aground
By Walter Brasch
Let’s pretend it’s wartime, and the nation’s largest aircraft carrier has
just run aground.
(OK, so it’s not likely that a carrier will ever run aground, but in the
past three years we’ve been asked to pretend a lot. Let’s pretend George W. Bush
was not elected by a 5-4 vote . . . Let’s pretend that the Saudis had no
culpability in the 9/11 murders . . . Let’s pretend there’s a connection
between Saddam and 9/11 . . . Let’s pretend there really are weapons of mass
destruction in Iraq.)
Anyhow, for the sake of the argument, let’s pretend a carrier really did run
aground. Capt. Horatio Hornswaggle says he’s really ticked off about it, has
admonished his lesser officers, but he can’t be blamed since he had just come
off a 16-hour work shift and was getting a much-needed sleep. Cdr. Lesley
Lobridge says it’s not really his fault because he was in the officer’s mess at
the time, grabbing a quick snack before getting back to work. Lt. Cdr. Mizzen
Mast says he wasn’t on the bridge because he had to take a head break.
By the time the investigation ends, Petty Officer Second Class Peachfuzz
Pitfall, the helmsman, is found guilty of dereliction of duty, malfeasance, and
running a red light. No one else is charged—they weren’t responsible.
Is this scene really plausible? Of course not. The captain, even when
asleep, has a responsibility for the proper discipline, education, and execution
of his crew and the ship’s mission. And, it’s not likely that the Navy’s mission
is to run billion-dollar carriers onto a reef. The captain, and all others in
the chain of command, and maybe even a flag officer, might be brought before
courts martial.
In Iraq, several American soldiers abused, assaulted, manhandled, and
humiliated Iraqi prisoners. A scathing 53-page report by Maj. Gen. Antonio M.
Taguba, classified in late February 2004 and not meant for public release, but
leaked to investigative journalist Seymour M. Hersh, found that the Army in Iraq
had committed numerous instances of “sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal
abuses.” “60 Minutes II” released some of the pictures showing gloating American
soldiers. An Army investigation led to charges included aggravated assault,
battery, maltreatment, and dereliction of duty for seven soldiers.
President George W. Bush was quick to condemn the actions as “disgusting.”
He and his national security advisor went on Arab television to apologize for
American atrocities. He scolded Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for not
advising him of the problem until pictures appeared on television. Rumsfeld said
the Defense Department was taking care of the problem of these “rogue” soldiers,
although innumerable officials, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, had
said that numerous attempts to have Defense take care of wide-ranging problems
in Iraq had gone unanswered. Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, said that the problem was small, caused by “just a handful” of
soldiers—but he hadn’t read the report several weeks after a draft was
available. Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, a Reserve officer in charge of all
prisons in Iraq, rightly blamed military interrogators for establishing
conditions that led to the abuse, but didn’t seem to want to take any blame.
Taguba’s report didn’t just stop with condemnation of enlisted soldiers.
Seymour Hersh, in “The New Yorker,” said that report revealed “a much broader
pattern of command failures than initially acknowledged by the Pentagon and the
Bush administration in responding to outrage over the abuse.” Taguba blamed
interrogators, military intelligence officers, and civilians hired by the
Department of Defense for not only allowing but also encouraging the prison
guards to “soften” up the prisoners.
One of the soldiers who was charged with the crimes told “60 Minutes II”
that the prison guards “had no support, no training whatsoever. And I kept
asking my chain of command for certain things . . . like rules and regulations.
And it just wasn’t happening.”
Innumerable times, President Bush told the nation he was giving his military
all the resources they needed to fight. Either this was political spin of the
truth, or his subordinates didn’t take him seriously. Gen. Karpinski told
Newsweek she didn’t have enough troops or resources, that her brigade wasn’t
properly trained, and that when she complained to her superiors, they ignored
her. “They just wanted it to go away,” she said.
Almost a year earlier, the inspector general of the Department of Justice
revealed the detention of individuals in the United States was “indiscriminate
and haphazard,” and that there were “significant instances” of “a pattern of
physical and verbal abuse,” including beatings of illegal immigrants, most of
them Muslim or Arab, almost all imprisoned for minor offenses, by various
employees and officials of the Department of Justice. Included were employees of
the FBI, Bureau of Prisons, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and
Naturalization Service.
In England, Lord Justice Johan Steyn, senior judge in the House of Lords,
and one of the nation’s most respected judges, said that conditions imposed by
the Department of Defense at Guantánamo Bay were of “utter lawlessness,” a
“monstrous failure of justice,” and “not quite torture, but as close as you can
get.” BBC diplomatic correspondent Barnaby Mason pointed out, “It is rare for
British judges to speak on contentious political issues and almost unheard of
for them to attack a foreign government.”
President Bush may condemn the actions of a “few.” He, like the rest of the
world, was be personally “disgusted.” He may rebuke his subordinates. His staff
and cabinet secretaries may launch investigations. And, there will be courts
martial, especially since the world now knows what happened in Iraq. But, the
problem, as others are pointing out, goes far beyond the actions of “just a
handful” to expose critical problems in how this country has undertaken its
mission in the President’s self-proclaimed “War on Terror.”
This president has defined himself as a commander-in-chief. As a war
president. As the leader of this war, in which almost 800 American soldiers, and
several thousand others, most of them civilians, have died. He is the one
guiding this ship-of-state. The loss of civil rights of American citizens and
human rights of all persons was, and is, his responsibility. It’s one from which
he can’t deflect criticism or go AWOL.
[Walter Brasch’s latest book is Sex and the Single Beer Can, a witty
and insightful look at the media and American politics. You may address him at
brasch@bloomu.edu
or through his web site,
www.walterbrasch.com]
You are free to use
this picture…
Greetings,
Rado Vleugel
The Netherlands
Thank you
Rado.
Good
News
A woman walked into the kitchen
to find her husband stalking around
with a fly swatter.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"Hunting Flies" He responded.
"Oh. Killing any?" She asked.
"Yep, 3 males, 2 Females," he replied.
Intrigued, she asked. "How can you tell?"
He responded, "3 were on a beer can, 2 were on the phone."
ODD NEWS
Swimming like an Egyptian.
Peace.