Save the USA

Yesterday it was 200 Troops (see below), then by early last night it was up to 350!

The only reaction yesterday, Madden said, came in the form of half a dozen e-mails he received at work from other Marines, mostly supportive.

“They weren’t letters of condemnation,” he said, except for one from a Marine officer at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

The others, he said, were commending him or asking questions about the Appeal for Redress.

Yesterday…

More than 200 servicemembers have signed on to a campaign asking Congress to pull all U.S. forces out of Iraq, saying military efforts there “will not work.”

“We’ve taken an oath and we have to follow orders, but many of us have reservations about those orders,” said Seaman Jonathan Hutto, one of the organizers of the effort. “While we are serving our country faithfully, we do feel this occupation needs to come to an end.”

“Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price,” the statement says. “It is time for U.S. troops to come home.”

“I feel it’s my duty to speak out, not as a Marine but as an informed citizen.

Congressman Kucinich, a long time defender of the military in Iraq, is the first to speak out in support of their efforts…

“No one speaks with more moral authority or understanding of the complexity of Iraq then the brave men and women who serve in our Armed Forces and who have done tours of duty in Iraq. The men and women who have joined this effort have demonstrated courage and bravery and represent the very best of our nation.

“These soldiers cut through the political spin and false rhetoric to deliver a stark and important message: It is time to end the war in Iraq and bring our troops home with the honor and dignity they deserve.

“I am proud to stand with the courageous men and women of Appeal for Redress and will continue my efforts to end the grave misadventure in Iraq and bring all our troops home.”

I encourage you all to contact your CongressCritter and their opponent(s) to request (demand) a public statement regarding these brave troops and their appeal for redress. Let’s make this THE issue of the 2006 election.

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Spread this link everywhere on the net
www.appealforredress.org

Dear Cindy,

I’m sure you heard that Sen. Barbara Boxer doesn’t want you to challenge Feinstein for the California Senate seat. I’d bet you have a bunch of other people whispering similar sentiments in your ear- “don’t challenge, it’ll divide the left”. That’s exactly the same line they used in 2004 when forcing Kerry on us. We were stuck with an idiot candidate, and all others were told to keep quiet, “or else we might hurt our chances.”

Don’t listen to them… America needs some heroic truth tellers right now. You are certainly one of them, but now is not the time to stop. We need you - a regular citizen that is mad as hell, and not going to take it anymore - to run for the Senate. You can beat Feinstein, because the truth resonates, and millions are fed up just like you. And just as importantly, your announcing could inspire others, hopefully 435 regular Americans to join you, so that We the People can Take Back America. With the power of the people, mobilized via the internet, we can do it.

Unfortunately, it appears that between now and the election the US will attack Iran. I think this is one of those “creating reality” moments for the Bushies, figuring that a new war will give us so much to talk about there won’t be any time for prosecuting the old scandals.

I hope and pray that we find a way to prevent this war before it happens- and in my opinion the only way to do that is with a sustained protest in DC. Just like you did in Crawford, this time to bring it to DC, but this time we need to invite everyone that’s been screwed by this gov’t in the last 5 years- there’s a whole lot of Katrina victims that should be joining you in DC.

That’s what the Capitol Mall is for, to peacefully assemble to protest the government’s actions. We just need someone to plant that flag of freedom and start it.

The Ukranians built a tent city, why can’t we? Only because the left’s “leaders” refuse to organize it. If MoveOn asked their members to donate to the DC Tent City, and to reimburse travel costs for all that make the trip… they could raise millions in a day or two.

If they won’t do it, who will? I would, but nobody’s listening to me, besides- I can’t afford the gas money. But you have the national spotlight, please use it, please do what you can to bring peace to this world, run for Senate.

Peace Now
ben frank

I’ve been busy, so no links or direct quotes this time…

In his State of the Union speech, Bush unabashedly declared the need for more war. According to him, we cannot sit idly by why “radical islam” plots to attack us, we must attack them first.

“Radical Islam” is the racist lie on which this phony war on terror is built. On the night of Sept 11th, Bush declared, “They hate us because we’re the brightest beacon of freedom,” establishing this lie that “wacko muslims hate us because we’re free”. That’s not why they hate us (mp3), if there is hatred for America, it’s because of our foreign policies around the world. Don’t take it from me, listen to former CIA Analyst Ray McGovern (mp3).

One glaring question to me is, why haven’t the Democrats called out Bush on this lie? Because they are the enablers. As we’ve seen over the past few years, the Democrats cannot call Bush on anything, especially the “war on terror”.

Cindy Sheehan was arrested for a t-shirt, demonstrating they don’t need the new “Patriot” Act to arrest “disruptors”… unfortunately it seems like she was set-up. Having her arrested made all the news stories about that, and while it’s good to expose their fascist tactics, there were no headline stories about protests in 100 different cities. Activists around the country are talking about Cindy’s arrest, when they should be trying to prevent the coming war with Iran. I hate to say it, but Cindy was used, and it seems that Lynn Woolsey was part of the scam- why did her staffers call around telling the media Cindy was going to go… so much so that she felt obligated.
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Quotes from this WaPo article illustrate that contrary to what Bush says, Iraq is not getting better.

In the first month after the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division took over security duties in northern Iraq in late fall, roadside bombs killed or wounded more than a quarter of the 34-man platoon…

“It’s definitely more dangerous this time around,” agreed Spec. David Jones, 24, of New York, on his second tour in Iraq with the platoon. “I didn’t expect to lose so many friends so soon.”..

Heavy-handed sweeps through Baiji by U.S. forces in 2003 and 2004 left many people angry, frightened and humiliated, residents say.

“Most of the people fighting the Americans tell me they do nothing for us but destroy the houses and capture people,” Adil Faez Jeel, a director at the Baiji refinery, said of the U.S. forces. “There are no jobs, no water, no electricity.”..

“When Saddam was in power, we used to go to Mosul, to Tikrit, to Baghdad. . . . It was safer all over,” said Salah Aub Ramadan Obaydi, 65, a retired teacher.. Now “people get shot every day and no one cares.”..

“We have almost no support from the local people. We talk to 1,000 people and one will come forward.”

it continues with a somewhat gory scene
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Martin Luther King Jr on Vietnam- text, pics & audio

What would he be doing today? …. In his honor, wouldn’t it be cool to burn these mp3s of MLK, go to a church (with a lot of friends to stand with you) and ask to play these most inspiring 36 minutes for the congregation

We have a clear case that the president has broken the law, and the Democratic Party has proven itself unwilling to stand up. They are complicit. Enough time has passed, enough evidence has been made public and the Congressional Dems remain on vacation! It was just reported that the spying began BEFORE 9/11. That blows the whole ‘9/11 changed everything’ excuse out of the water….
Yet the Democrats remain silent.

Most of the America wants out of Iraq, but Congress doesn’t care. There is no good reason to stay, except that every 5 days the military-industrial complex scoops up another Billion Dollars of your Children’s money.
And the Democrcats remain silent.

A Zogby Poll says 52% of the public supports impeachment- but evidently, in Congress there is not even 1% support for impeachment- proof that the US Congress does not truly represent the will of the people.
The Democrats are the “loyal opposition” - loyal to Bush, not us.

The Senate is attending to Alito, business as usual… Bush just broke the law, lies and says it’s legal, and they’re content to wait til Feb to discuss it? They’re content to let Alito through, so the Illegal Spying case will go to the Supreme Court…duh!
And the Democrats remain silent.

“Oh well, let’s try to win in 2006.” is their plan- yet there was widespread evidence of election fraud in 2000, 2002 & 2004. What has been done to remedy the situation for 2006? Nothing.
The Democrats are silent on all that matters.

Wake Up America- The DC Democrats are complicit!

That is the problem. Good people across America refuse to believe that most DC “Democrats” are corrupt just like the Repubs. People want to believe that the Dems are fighting for them, because it allows citizens to shirk their responsibility to be informed- ‘the Dems are doing it for me’. No, they are not- and our children, and others around the world, are going to suffer the consequences- because the Good Americans refused to see that the Democrats are complicit.
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Why aren’t the big name progressive blogs trying to inform the non net-reading public? Why don’t they all post imformative impeach flyers for office workers across America to print out and post in the lunchroom. Why aren’t they all organizing for Jan 31? If not now, when?

..

modified for this 24×18 (or 11 x 8.5) Flyer - (268k)

In light of the increasing poverty in America, homeless veterans, Vets that just returned from Iraq and can’t get health care because the “Support our Troops” Republicans keep cutting their health care… these hypocrites are sick. BellaCiao

The Defense Department paid contractors $8 billion over five years in bonuses on weapons programs that were often dogged by severe cost overruns, performance problems and delays, the Government Accountability Office said.

The agency, an independent auditor for Congress, reviewed 93 of 597 military contracts in force between 1999 and 2004 that included the possibility of a bonus. Contractors on average were awarded about 90 percent of the bonus money available, the agency said in the draft of a report it sent to the Pentagon and plans to release next week.

For example, Lockheed Martin and Boeing, the two largest defense contractors, received $1.7 billion, or about 91 percent of $1.847 billion available on four major programs, including the Joint Strike Fighter, even as these programs “experienced significant cost increases, technical problems and development delays,” the draft said.

And this $8 Billion in bonuses is only for 93 out of 597 contracts- at that rate there could be another $40 Billion in bonuses the Pentagon auditor hasn’t reviewed yet. We only know about this because two Senators

asked the agency to review the bonus system after senior defense officials complained that the awards are paid regardless of performance.

There are homeless veterans in America, yet our gov’t is giving Billions of dollars in bonuses to the military-industrial complex, “regardless of performance”. Just like the tax cuts- billions to the rich while most of America suffers. Are these the actions of noble leaders, or con-men?

A coalition of Iraqi Resistance leaders have agreed to lay down their arms if the US agrees to withdraw no later than 6 months.

This initiative enjoys the backing of all elements ( political and the non-terrorist resistance) in Iraq and represent the Arab nationalist vision of transitional solution toward a peaceful and united Iraq.

Assuming that the situation in Iraq will remain chaotic despite the Bush administration claims otherwise even after the upcoming election, this initiative will have more momentum as a viable, concrete and reasonable alternative and realistic exit strategy.

They have an official looking 21 point plan

1- A declaration by the American side of an unequivocal decision to withdraw fully from Iraq according to a short time-table of no more than six months. In consequence, all American, and other occupying contingents, should withdraw their forces from all Iraqi cities toward temporary and recognized military bases in agreement with the new Iraqi Government. These forces should not engage in any security or military operations during the time of their withdrawal. Furthermore, by the end of the six months period, all of these forces should have completed their withdrawal from those bases [in Iraq].

2- The Iraqi National Resistance will declare a ceasefire, while keeping their arms, until the final withdrawal of the American and the other national occupation forces have been completed.

Seems reasonable to me, bring the troops home ASAP, then turn our attention towards the fools that made this mess.

This should be headline news on all the networks… maybe we should fax this info to Congress, Air America, CNN…

Oh, that’s right, we can’t leave because… civil war - no, that’s not it…. israel - no, don’t say that…. terrorists… the terrorists will be winning- that’s why.

Isn’t it sad that racism is at the heart of Bush’s argument… he say’s Iraqis resisting imperial domination are “terrrists” …. and some Americans are buying it. We couldn’t declare war on Sweden, nobody would believe they were terrists, but brown skinned aye-rabs, they are mostly terrists… we see it on hundreds of movies and tv shows. Kids grow up with it thanks to Disney- we all saw the Lion King, evil Scar the Arab killed Simba’s father and wanted to get pure, noble (whitey) Simba.

Funny how if you look at history, white missionaries wreaked havoc around the globe… and now its (anti) Christian George killing 100,000 needlessly while claiming that islam is a “murderous ideology” … yet Jesus is the most quoted prophet in the Koran.

The only “progress” in Iraq, unless you count the looting.

source: icasualties.org

Notice 2003 in red is consistently below ‘04 and ‘05

as you can see, a bit of forecasting on my part (- ;

14 bodies found in Iraq- killed by insurgents… that was the story until this memo suggests otherwise. It has the time of the abduction and the names of all 14 victims written down, described as ‘detainees’ by an Iraqi General.
[Tom Lasseter, Knight Ridder] hat tip: GI Special

A document obtained by Knight Ridder appears to reveal the existence of an Interior Ministry death squad.

A memo written by an Iraqi general in the ministry operations room and addressed to the minister’s office says on its subject line: “Names of detainees.” It lists 14 men who were taken from Iskan, a Sunni neighborhood in western Baghdad, during the early morning hours of Aug. 18. It also marks the time of their detention: 5:15 a.m.

The bodies of the same 14 men were found in the town of Badrah near the Iranian border .. killed by single gunshots to their heads.

The general who signed the Interior Ministry memo, Brig. Gen. Abdul Kareem Khalaf, confirmed its authenticity. But despite a heading that reads “Names of the detainees in the Iskan District,” Khalaf maintained that insurgents, not Interior Ministry police, had abducted the men.

It’s unclear, however, why an Interior Ministry general would refer to men who’d been kidnapped by Sunni insurgents as “detainees” in an official government document, or how the general knew the exact time of the abduction.

Pressed for more details, Khalaf said: “The minister is very upset. He wants to know how such a document slipped out of the ministry.“

ha ha ha- just like his American counterparts, not concerned about the crime, just about plugging the leak.

I wonder if this Death Squads story would have any effect on the Iraqi election?

This is a good idea from Kucinich:

Kucinich is working on a resolution to be introduced on the floor of Congress “soon” that would make it the sense of Congress that the United States would support an Iraqi referendum on the future of the U.S. occupation of the country.

But the election is This Thursday, Dec 15th- I sure hope he introduces this Monday, so Iraq has time to include it on their ballot (:

Every single member of Congress should be confronted with this, face to face- what will their excuse be for voting no… “Iraqi citizens don’t know what’s good for them” ?

A comprehensive report has analyzed the “production sharing agreements” signed by Bremer:

Iraqi public opinion is strongly opposed to handing control over oil development to foreign companies. But with the active involvement of the US and British governments a group of powerful Iraqi politicians and technocrats is pushing for a system of long term contracts with foreign oil companies which will be beyond the reach of Iraqi courts, public scrutiny or democratic control.

Economic projections published here for the first time show that the model of oil development that is being proposed will cost Iraq hundreds of billions of dollars in lost revenue, while providing foreign companies with enormous profits.

At an oil price of $40 per barrel, Iraq stands to lose between $74 billion and $194 billion over the lifetime of the proposed contracts, from only the first 12 oilfields to be developed.

The executive summary of the report can be found here, or the full report is here: html web page — 2.3mb pdf

or www.CrudeDesigns.org

Re: Iraqi Money- that’s $194 billion at $40 per barrel, but it’s $60 now and could go much higher…

And that estimate is only for, “the first 12 oilfields to be developed.” There are 80 total, 17 given to the Iraqi gov’t, that’s 63 left for the corporations.

So the $194 Billion is a lowball estimate, it’s more like a Trillion $$ or more that will be stolen from the Iraqi people, and given to big fat pigs.

A Brief Timeline of the Anthrax Vaccine

1998-2003: Military Enforces Mandatory Anthrax vaccinations

Dec 23, 2003: Judge Halts Mandatory Vaccinations- Troops shouldn’t be “Guinea Pigs” with an experimental (not approved by the FDA) vaccine

Dec 26, 2003: Defense Department Seeks Court Approval To Continue Illegal Vaccination Program

Dec 30, 2003: FDA Approves Anthrax Vaccine

[Historical context: When Rumsfeld was CEO of Searle (subsidiary of Monsanto) he “persuaded” the FDA to approve Aspartame (Nutrasweet) over the objections of FDA scientists.]

Jan 8, 2004: Pentagon Can Resume Mandatory Anthrax Shots

Oct 27, 2004: [Same] Judge says FDA approved vaccine illegally - stops mandatory vaccinations again

Dec 10 2004: Wolfowitz writes to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson “seeking emergency authority to resume administering the anthrax vaccine”

Dec 23, 2004: Despite judge’s ruling, Pentagon seeks to restart controversial program

The Department of Defense is discussing with other agencies how it might reopen and again make mandatory a controversial anthrax vaccination program despite a second federal court order enjoining DOD from forcing troops to take the shots…

The DOD and vaccine manufacturer Bioport, of Lansing, Mich., assert the vaccine is safe. They point to 18 studies, including one.. saying the vaccine is no more dangerous than any other vaccine.

[Now go get your flu shots- or else ; -]

May 25, 2005: DoD appeals judge’s ban on mandatory anthrax shots

Dec 02, 2005: Still Trying- US asks court to reinstate mandatory vaccinations

Dec 04, 2005: REVEALED- 20,000 Troops Hospitalized after receiving Anthrax Vaccine

It is clear that some very powerful people, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, (both PNACers) really want troops to get this potentially lethal vaccination. And why are they so damned pushy about it?

“I thank George Bush for making my son a killing machine,” the father of a soldier who is said to have confessed to killing his wife in Lakewood said on Thursday at his home in Ohio. “All he could talk about was how many people he killed over there and how easy he could do it,” James Pitts Sr. said. “He said he ran over kids and everything over there. . . . He went to Iraq, and he was fine. He came back a monster. How many more monsters are going to come back?”

Altogether since 2003, there have been seven homicides and three suicides on Western Washington soil involving active troops or veterans of Iraq, based on an accounting of medical examiner, military, and news reports. Fives wives, a girlfriend, and one child have been slain.

Army Spc. Thomas R. Stroh, 21, strangled his wife, Brittany Stroh, 17, and son Dylan Stroh, 2, at their Fort Lewis home. He later committed suicide driving head-on into a semi truck in Oregon.

During the summer of 2002, four soldiers at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, killed their wives — and three of them killed themselves. Three of the four men had been taking Lariam before their suicides…

Nine days after Pfc. Stephen S. Sherwood, 35, came home to cheering crowds at a welcoming ceremony at the post near Colorado Springs, neighbors reported hearing gunshots at the Fort Collins home he shared with his wife of seven years, Sara E. Sherwood, 30.

An autopsy Thursday evening found Sherwood shot his wife five times in the head and neck with a pistol before killing himself with a shotgun blast to the head.

I suppose there’s lots of Americans committing murder/suicides and the army is no exception…. or is something happening to people after they join the army that makes them more violent, like the notorius Anthrax shots?

NY Times via Crooks&Liars:

“More than three years before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, American diplomats warned Saudi officials that Osama bin Laden might target civilian aircraft, according to a newly declassified State Department cable…

This whole Able Danger deal is a setup- we could have arrested the hijackers beforehand, if we had these new nazi powers we’re asking for. Give us the power to protect you.

It’s so obviously Orwellian… and it’s coming from proven liars- so why should anyone believe it- they have no credibility.

And most importantly, it is they who will gain from the next terrorist attack, “there’s no time to investigate our corruption, we’ve got to focus on protecting you- give us more power to spy and arrest, even kill, at will.”

100s killed by Tasers

The media reports, “Air Marshalls shoot man with bomb,” but unreported are the eyewitnesses that did not hear the man say “bomb “. (or Bellaciao)

Listen to Bush on the Patriot Act:

In the war on terror, we cannot afford to be without that vital law for a single moment.'’

Freedom or protection- that’s your choice. It is 1984 - the story wasn’t just about a Big Brother Police state, it was about the government terrorizing it’s own citizens into accepting perpetual war and gov’t spying. It’s not to protect, but to take out dissenters. They haven’t dragged too many off yet- but they’re just putting things in place.

* Judge tosses Fourth Amendment
Random searches without warrant, without cause for suspicion ruled OK

* Woman arrested for refusing to “show papers” on public bus

‘This is not a police state or communist Russia’, she thought. From her 8th grade Civics class she knew there is no law requiring her, as an American citizen, to carry ID or any papers, much less show them to anyone on a public bus.

She decided she would no longer show her ID on the bus.

* Bush wants to use the Katrina Failure to change 100yr old law, use military for law enforcement on US citizens, martial law.

* Rep. Cynthia McKinney says (mp3) the US Gov’t had (has?) a plan for martial law “in case of a national black uprising”, they’d like to round up “at least 21 million negroes” and put them in relocation camps.

And they’re going full steam ahead because the fake Democrats rolling over in DC are complicit in covering up the truth about this war, the election fraud, the use of depleted uranium- all of it. $6 Billion per month continues to flow to the war profiteers while these “Democrats” allow Bushco to sink our kids ever deeper in debt.

When the next big one happens, will it be New Orleans everywhere? Wouldn’t it be better to arrest these neoCon-artists before the next attack allows them to clamp down and start the war with Syria and Iran.

This is a fact everyone needs to know. In pherhaps his finest moment, Mohammed El Baradei went before the Security Council and exposed the Niger doucments as cheap forgeries two weeks before the war began. He stood up to the United States and exposed their lie to the world. This act of courage was a major factor forcing Bush to pull the 2nd UN Resolution before the Security Council could vote it down.

The exposed forgery was headline news around the world- but not in America. CommonDreams carried it, and a few other alternative news sites, but TV and Radio News did not report it. Is this not criminal intent to deceive on the part of the networks? Had they aired this news, it might have stopped the war- yet now 100,000 are dead.

Now the media is pretending to be tough on Bush, but they’re still burying the important stories, like the 20,000 Soldiers Hospitalized after receiving Anthrax Shots…. that’s huge. Every potential recruit has the right to know this fact before being coerced into receiving these shots with sometimes catastrophic side effects. If a kid turns 18 then and joins the army, then ends up psychotic from these shots, killing his young wife upon return from Iraq- who is to blame. First off Rummy for ordering the mandatory shots, others at the Pentagon are guilty of witholding this info from Congress, but now the media is withholding this information from the public- directly putting young Americans at risk thru their silence-is-betrayal complicity.

We need to make it clear that it’s the top media executives and everyone down the line that will go to prison for putting our kids in harms way in such a brazen and callous manner. Prison AND they lose all of their assets- let their children make it on minimum wage for a while.