Apian, Author at Progress Pond

ZERO HOUR June 28, 2005; 8PM EST

There’s been a lot of reckoning about the cost of Bush’s illegal war in Iraq. That’s right, as of two days ago, when the public withdrew support for Mr. Bush’s war (not President Bush, as he stole that, too) More than 50% of the population says that it was Mr. Bush who provoked Saddam into war. More than 50% of the population do not support him. This should be an interesting night.

When reckoning the cost of the illegal war in Iraq, we count 1,700 US killed in action, more than 25,000 Iraqi civilians killed, and a cost to US taxpayers of something to the tune of $200 Billion. But there are more costs people don’t consider, especially the American people.
But there are some other costs. Ireland pays 10,000 Euros a day for military overflights. Ireland has paid grandly for the US use of Shannon Airport for its illegal CIA torture flights — in complete violation of our neutrality. The US has cost Ireland plenty, sending its uniformed soldiers on holidays in County Clare in complete violation of our neutrality. Ireland has paid and paid. 10 Million Euro over the past five years for military overflights. That’s right FIVE years. How can that be? We were told the war started in March 2003. Maybe it’s time to go over the books again. Maybe there’s more information to come from an island nation of 5 million souls who have watched in horror as their country was used to facilitate George Bush’s illegal war.

Mr. Bush’s War

For More On This Story:

“Shannon””overflights””IAA””US””military””Eurocontrol”: 10
Google Web Search Shannon overflights US military Eurocontrol

“Shannon””CIA””US””military””Iraq”: 43,100

Google Web Search Shannon CIA military Iraq

For More On This Story:

“Shannon””overflights””IAA””US””military””Eurocontrol”: 10
Google Web Search Shannon overflights US military Eurocontrol

“Shannon””CIA””US””military””Iraq”: 43,100

Google Web Search Shannon CIA military Iraq

Anti-War Group Stands Trial

By Mairead Carey

IRISH ABROAD

Have a nice night, Mr. Bush

Somehow I don’t think you’ll be clowning around tonight, Mr. Bush. Something gives me the idea you won’t be laughing about clemency for Navy Seals that murder prisoners of war. I have a feeling that we will be listening to Bob Dylan tonight, and not the Stars & Stripes. It’s time to pay up, Mr. Bush. The whole world is watching.

Masters of War

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin’
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it’s your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people’s blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You’ve thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain’t worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I’m young
You might say I’m unlearned
But there’s one thing I know
Though I’m younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death’ll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I’ll watch while you’re lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I’ll stand o’er your grave
‘Til I’m sure that you’re dead

WTF MSM? WaPo, A Demo & Bush’s Speech

Am I supposed to be celebrating the fact that after 58 days the Washington Post has condescended to cover the DSM story? And they still have not addressed Michael Smith’s May 29 article “RAF Bombing to Provoke Saddam Into War” which is part of the Downing Street Memos, the plan to “wrongfoot” Saddam.

No, Michael Getler said on the 14th of May that coverage of this story was “journalistically mandatory” That was six weeks ago. This is not progress, this is retrograde. This is not reporting, this is regurgitaion. After 58 days we turn to the Washington Post for a rewrite of Michael Smith’s articles from the last two years.

The only way to get the news is to follow the leaders.. dKos, Booman Tribune, RAWSTORY, and some news blogs like Why Are We Back In Iraq? I am so mad I could spit! The only thing to do is to get Walter Pincus to register as a new user to dKos, and after I finish this rant, I am going to write to Michael Getler and to Walter and give them the low-down on this story as it has been covered on dKos and Booman Tribune.

News Over There, Not Over Here

When Michael Getler wrote his piece, “News Over There, Not Over Here” I thought he perceived an aspect of this story that no one has caught since… until the RAF double bombing story of the 29th of May that has still not been picked up by the MSM. Nor has it been picked up by US news media since. (See below: MSM WTF? dKos & RAWSTORY on “Spikes of Activity”)

Walter Pincus, who finally reported on the 13th of May said the reason he had not gone into the story is that he was too busy following the UK election. I find that extremely interesting since as a result of the whole dossier of leaked documents, INCLUDING Wilmshurst’s resignation letter on the evening before the invasion, Blair was fighting for his political life – his party went from 167 to 61 seats, (correct me, I am wrong) and his party members said in the week after the election that the sooner he left the better, that they had won in spite of him, and that “he had become a liability” And this is all the result of the BBC recording March 20, the Goldsmith opinion, the Wilmshurst letter, and what we call the “Downing Street Minutes.” How is it possible that Walter Pincus did not draw any connection between events in Britain and the US? This is remarkable.

We are wired and networked in the midst of what they told us was an “information explosion” we are modemed and netted to the world wide web! We are brimming over with “Intelligence Technology” and “Computer Literacy” How can any person not be aware of the connexion between events in the UK election and the US? In Britain they call Tony Blair Bush’s poodle. And that’s not the left that’s talking that way… that’s the conservatives and moderates and leftists too.

The effort to blackout news from overseas is extraordinary. I mean physically, historically it should be impossible. This brings us back to the time of Columbus! Do we have to wait for a ship to come in bringing us news from the UK? If we waited for news off the boat it could have taken no longer.

What Else Is The Washington Post Missing?

Well there’s this from Newsday:

Memos show U.S. push for war
June 20, 2005

Associated Press story describing another six unvarnished pre-invasion memos now leaked from the UK.

Toby Dodge, identified as an Iraq expert who teaches at Queen Mary College, University of London:

Dodge said the memos also confirm that “soon after 9/11 happened, the starting gun was fired for the invasion of Iraq.”

Even though, as UK Foreign Minister Jack Straw then wrote, “there has been no credible evidence to link Iraq with OBL [Osama bin Laden] and al-Qaida.”

Tomorrow’s Demonstration In Front Of Washington Post Building:

I am not at all appeased by today’s front page story on the DSM. Not a bit of it. And don’t think for a minute that Dana Milbank’s smear on the Democratic House Judiciary Hearing on the Downing Street Minutes is all forgiven and forgotten. The Washington Post let this piece of garbage past their editorial staff, while Newsday, which is considered a rag, got the scoop. Fie on you, Washington Post. Fie!

Protest to Target Washington Post Under-Reporting of Downing Street Papers

by davidswanson on Sun, 2005-06-26 19:36. Activism
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 27, 2005

WHAT: PICKET LINE AND DEMONSTRATION
WHEN: 5:00 PM, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29
WHERE: 1150 15TH ST., NW, WASHINGTON, DC

Members of a growing list of organizations concerned about the continued failure by the Washington Post, in particular, and much of the mainstream media, in general, to adequately cover the eight “Downing Street Papers”, will conduct a peaceful protest in front of the Washington, D. C. offices of the Washington Post from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM on Wednesday, June 29.

The demonstration has already been endorsed by the Progressive Democrats of America, Code Pink, AfterDowningStreet.org, Democrats.com, Northern Virginians United for Peace and Justice, with more groups signing on every day. Members of the DC Anti-War Network (DAWN), Gold Star Families for Peace, and other organizations will also participate in the demonstration.

Washington Post Demonstration

And On Tonight’s Speech:

Bush’s First Post-Downing Street Speech on Iraq

By Ralph Nadar and Kevin Zeese
June 27, 2005
President Bush will be addressing the nation about Iraq on Tuesday night. This is the first time he will be speaking to the country on the U.S. occupation of Iraq since the Downing Street Memos have been released. As ten senators pointed out in a letter on Friday, June 24 “at a time the White House was promising Congress and the American people that war would be their last resort, that they believed military action against Iraq was ‘inevitable.'”

American Chronicle: Nadar & Zeese

Previous Diaries WTF DSM:
MSM WTF? dKos and RAWSTORY on “Spikes of Activity”

WTF MSM DSM? An Alternate View of DSM Non-Reporting

WTF MSM DSM? A Retired Journalist Answers

Media Tracking to End War In Iraq;
Media Tracking RAF Bombing & “Spikes of Activity”:

IRAQ WAR MEDIA TRACKING — Thanks for Your Help

Going to take two extra-strength Tylenol now. See you in the funny papers, WaPo.

WTF MSM DSM ? A Retired Journalist Answers

A RETIRED JOURNALIST ANSWERS THE LACK OF DSM COVERAGE IN THE US MSM

I ran two diaries on the MSM non-coverage of the RAF bombing, “spikes of activity” and the Downing Street Memos. I ran polls on the last two, and put forth some theories I had heard little of.

How far off was I? Way off as ususal. This diary is called “A Retired Journalist Answers The Lack of DSM Coverage.” All of those out there who are involved in letter writing campaigns will be interested in what this retired journalist has to say.

There are very few articles, op-eds and letters to the editor that address the basic problem of WHY there is so little, or almost NO coverage in the US Main Stream Media about the Downing Street Documents, the RAF bombing, the pre-war bombing, etc.

Here follows Caneel’s answer. Let’s hear from all the journalists and editors at Booman Tribune.

A RETIRED JOURNALIST ANSWERS THE LACK OF DSM COVERAGE IN THE US MSM

As newspaper person (retired), I would suggest two factors in the delayed response of newspapers: One, no original documents are available in the U.S.; two, there was no “new” news in the first reports. This is not to excuse the initial response, but an attempt to explain why editors did not jump on it immediately.

News being the function of newspapers, puts this in the slot of “thumbsucker,” a think piece. Therefore, the result is little immediate reaction. But the more the DSM issue is brought to light and pressure exerted (logically and rationally), the more coverage will be elicited.

For those alerting newspapers, the point now to bear on is the “pre-war” bombings. On that issue, there is published material available. It is a matter of context now which is the story. I think we will see more of that, if we do not let the story die.

What’s wrong with broadcast news? Don’t even get me started. There’s a divide between print and broadcast, i.e., story choice, depth of coverage, which precludes lumping all together under “media.”

This issue will live longer in magazine journalism and on the op-ed pages, than in daily news sections of the newspapers. What’s to break? What is needed is thoughtful discussion of the issue. So, sharpen the mind and get out those Letters to the Editor and Op-Ed pieces. Local newspapers frequently publish commentary from readers. Go for it!

On the “war”: the best comment I saw was from a soldier. As he put it, the war is nothing more than fund-raising for Haliburton.

From my experience, the best question to raise — consistently — is WHY. As in, why are our sons and daughters still in Iraq? And, the follow-up is: why? And the follow-up to the follow-up is: why?

Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings. – Heinrich Heine (1821)

by Caneel

Thank you Caneel, Newton, MissReporter, and all the other journalists at dKos who have helped me with this one. Keep asking questions, Kossacks — it’s a great way to get answers!!

Check it out:

On the 14th of May Michael Getler, Ombudsman for the Washington Post answered lack of coverage for this most important story in his forum: “News Over There, Not Over Here. Here are the results of the most up to date Google News Searches for the period between May 1st and June 27, for the search terms “Downing Street””memo””Iraq.” These results raise more questions than they provide answers.

New York Times: 11

Google News Search NYTimes

Los Angeles Times: 16

Google News Search LA Times

Washington Post: 18

Google News Search Washington Post

Chicago Tribune: 8

Google News Search Chicago Tribune

Houston Chronicle: 10

Google News Search Houston Chronicle

CNN: 4

Google News Search CNN

Times On Line UK: 2,600

Google News Search TimesOnLine UK

“The Game’s Afoot, Watson!”

WTF MSM DSM ? An Alternate View of MSM Non-Reporting DSM

I’ve got almost as many op-eds in

my files with theories as to why the MSM does

not report on the DSM, as those that do report.

There are more letters to the editor

demanding coverage, as there are letters by

informed citizens with good advice for action to

take (i.e. Congress, the Senate, and Coalition

efforts)

But there are very few articles, op-eds and

letters to the editor that address the basic

problem of WHY there is so little, or almost NO

coverage in the US Main Stream Media about

the Downing Street Documents, the RAF

bombing, the pre-war bombing, etc.

Here follows four theories. You might not

like this.
THEORY ONE

BRANZBURG V. HAYES

Branzburg v. Hayes is a court case from 1972

that addresses the journalist’s rights to protect

his/her sources. The passage from the

judge’s ruling that has bearing on the US

non-reporting of the DSM is here:

There remain those

situations where a source is not engaged in

criminal conduct but has information suggesting

illegal conduct by others. Newsmen frequently

receive information from such sources pursuant

to a tacit or express agreement to withhold the

source’s name and suppress any information

that the source wishes not published. Such

informants presumably desire anonymity in order

to avoid being entangled as a witness in a

criminal trial or grand jury investigation. They

may fear that disclosure will threaten their job

security or personal safety or that it will simply

result in dishonor or

embarrassment.

Now in this situation we are dealing with

reporting on the illegality of the war in Iraq is

made almost impossible by journalists in the

Main Stream Media because of what is

contained in Branzburg v. Hayes. We are

talking about criminality at the very highest level

of US government, and an involvement that is all

encompassing… nearly every branch of

government is involved. Congress, too,

I’m sorry to say. The October Resolution

was not Constitutional.

THEORY TWO

You will not believe me when I tell you that the

top reporter on the story of the illegal war in Iraq

for the last three years, was told by his

managing editor not to write stories that reported

the truth of the situation because it was

unpatriotic and would lead to non-support for the

President’s policies. Yet, it

happened.

On what basis can this be considered allowable

within First Ammendment protections of the

freedom of speech?

Well, there’s this:

Types of

censorship

Censorship can be explicit, as in laws passed to

prevent information being published or

propagated (as in Australia, or Saudi Arabia

where certain Internet pages are not permitted

entry), or it can be implicit, taking the form of

intimidation by government or even by

popular censure, where people are afraid to

express or support certain opinions for fear of

losing their lives, or their jobs, position in

society, or in academia, their academic

credibility. In this latter form it is similar to

McCarthyism.

These two forms (explicit and

implicit) can be generalized to represent laws

and government authority (explicit) and social

forces or social persuasion (implicit).

During wartime, censorship is carried out

with the intention of preventing the release of

information that might be advantageous to the

enemy Typically it involves obfuscation of

times or locations, or delaying the release of

information (e.g. the objective of an operation)

until it is of no possible use to enemy forces.

Mention of weapons and equipment (especially if

newly introduced) is another favourite area for

censorship.

The moral issues here are

somewhat different as release of the information

carries a high risk of increased casualties

among one’s own forces and possibly loss of the

overall conflict.

Censorship is regarded as a

typical feature of dictatorships and other

authoritarian political systems. Democratic

nations usually have far less institutionalized

censorship, and instead tout the importance of

freedom of speech

Some thinkers understand

censorship to include other attempts to suppress

points of view or ideas such as negative

propaganda, media manipulation, spin,

disinformation, or “free speech zones”

(ghettoizing or containing speech). These

methods, collectively, tend to work by

disseminating misleading information or by

preventing other ideas from obtaining a receptive

audience

Wikipedia

Encyclopedia

Now it is possible that the US government has

imposed censorship on the fourth estate using

as its argument that during wartime, accurate

reporting of bombing campaigns, US casualties,

and battle/attack figures would be aiding and

abetting the enemy. But in our situation,

the only enemy that would have been aided by

reporting the truth are those enemies to tyranny

and Empire that have been trying to correct the

excesses and abuses of power of this

administration.

THEORY THREE

Is it possible that the truth HAS been reported,

but the people, in their stupor did not recognize

it?

Certainly. Case in point, my hero, Bob

Woodward. There has been so much

Woodward slamming around dKos ever since the

outing of “Deep Throat” that I had to give up

defending him.

One of the avenues of attack was Woodward’s

book “Plan of Attack.” The following

passage is from Shakespeare’s Sister, at: THE DAILY

HOWLER

PIMPING WISE

LEADER! Amazing! When Plan of Attack first

appeared, the press said it proved Bush’s

honesty!

Yes–Woodward’s book does show the Bush

Admin “fixing the facts and the intelligence.” And

yes, it does show them starting to do this shortly

after the Downing Street memo appeared. But

when this fascinating book first appeared, it

wasn’t used by the Washington press to batter

the Bush Admin on this score. Quite the

contrary–the book was used to praise Wise

Leader Bush for the great depth of his honesty!

How did this odd transaction occur? Let’s go

back to the front-page report with which the Post

introduced this new book–a front-page report

which took us straight to the book’s most

ballyhooed passage.

“Plan of Attack” was released in April 2004. On

Saturday morning, April 17, the Post ran a

front-page report on its contents, written by

reporter William Hamilton. In his second

paragraph, Hamilton cited the puzzling anecdote

which became the book’s most famous passage.

Surely, you recall that “slam dunk:”

HAMILTON (4/17/04): Beginning in late

December 2001, President Bush met repeatedly

with Army Gen. Tommy R. Franks and his war

cabinet to plan the U.S. attack on Iraq even as

he and administration spokesmen insisted they

were pursuing a diplomatic solution, according to

a new book on the origins of the war.

The intensive war planning throughout 2002

created its own momentum, according to “Plan of

Attack” by Bob Woodward, fueled in part by the

CIA’s conclusion that Saddam Hussein could not

be removed from power except through a war

and CIA Director George J. Tenet’s assurance to

the president that it was a “slam dunk” case that

Iraq possessed weapons of mass

destruction.

THEORY FOUR

For six weeks now, we

have been examining the Downing Street

Minutes. Of all eight Downing Street

Memos, this one continues to be the most

damning. And it is the phrase “intelligence

was being fixed” to fit the policy of illegal war

with Iraq that is smoking gun in that one.

The MSM in the United States has been and

continues to be part of that system of

“intelligence was fixed.” If you want to see

this in action, follow the Newsweek story on the

desecration of the Qu’ran.

How did that one go again? Newsweek reported

the truth, as had the International Committee of

the Red Cross, Human Rights Watch, and

Amnesty before them. A massive amount of FBI

emails released through the FOIA by the ACLU

last December told the same story. Yet the US

government stepped in and demanded that

Newsweek retract, and blamed the press for the

ensuing violence for having reported the truth.

The Qu’ran was desecrated, but one was not to

report it.

At a White House Press Conference one bold

journalist asked Scott McClellan when he

became the managing editor of Newsweek.

I don’t think we have yet to get an answer

to that one.

There’s my four theories. Of all of them, I

would ask you to consider theory number one,

Branzburg v. Hayes. Put yourself in the

place of the journalist who is more loyal to the

pursuit of the truth than he is to his newspaper’s

editorial policy. He is going to lose his/her job,

his/her standing in the pecking order, or his/her mind.

(His/her) What would you do?

Report, tone it down, or look for a new

job?

I have found that it’s job security that cuts right

through the BS every time. We all talk a

good game, until we are looking at our last

paycheck. It takes courage of the very

highest order to take on this story.

Courage I think very few of us possess.

I’ll close now with a list of the most

courageous Americans on my list at

present.

Great People of

Our Time

National Security Whistleblowers Coalition

Bittler, Thomas, Training Coordinator, TSA-DHS

Carman, John, Former Senior Inspector, U.S.

Customs
Chudson, Jonathan, Former
Special Agents, IG-Office, EPA
Cole, John M., Former Veteran Intelligence
Operations Specialist, FBI
Conrad, David “Mark”, Retired Agent in Charge,

Internal Affairs, U.S. Customs
Connolly, Frank, Senior Screening Manager @

Buffalo, TSA
Copley, James, Project Manager, DOE Costello,

Edward J. Jr., Former Special Agent,

Counterintelligence, FBI
Cruse, Larry, Army Intelligence Analyst, DOD

Dzakovic, Bogdan, Former Red Team Leader,

FAA
Edmonds, Sibel, Former Language Specialist,

FBI
Ellsberg, Dan, Former Special Assistant to the

Assistant Secretary of Defense (ISA), DOD
Elson, Steve, Veteran Agent, FAA
Forbes, David, Aviation, Logistics and Govt.

Security Analysts
German, Mike, Former Special Agent,

Counterterrorism, FBI
Goodman, Melvin A., Former Senior Analyst/

Division Manager, CIA; Senior Fellow at the

Center for International Policy
Guagliardi, Ray, training coordinator, TSA-DHS

Jenkins, Steve, Intelligence Analyst, NGIC, US

Army
Kwiatkowski, Karen U., Lt. Col. USAF (ret.),
Veteran Policy Analyst-DOD
Larkin, Lynne A., Former Operations Officer, CIA

Lau, Lok, Former Special Agent,

Counterintelligence, FBI
Lipsky, John, Supervisory Special Agent, FBI

Mansour, Joe, Occupational Safety Specialist,

Federal Bureau of Prisons
MacMichael, David, Former Senior Estimates

Officer, CIA
McGovern, Raymond L., Former Analyst, CIA

Nunn, Sandy, Former Special Agent, US

Customs
Pahle, Theodore J., Senior Intelligence Officer

(Ret), DIA
Price, Paul, Language Analyst, NSA
Sarshar, Behrooz, Retired Language Specialist,

FBI
Sculimbrene, Dennis, Former Special Agent, FBI

Springmann, Mike, Foreign Service Officer-5;

Second Secretary & Vice Consul,

Department of State
Starns, Robert, Special Agent in Charge,

Diplomatic Security Service, Department of

State Stroup, Jay, Former Federal Security

Director, TSA
Sullivan, Brian, Special Agent, Risk Program

Management Specialist, FAA
Tice, Russ, Senior Intelligence Analyst &

Action Officer, NSA
Tortorich, Larry J., Retired Naval Officer, US

Navy & Dept. of Homeland Security/TSA,

Turner, Jane, Veteran Special Agent, FBI
Vincent, John, Veteran Special Agent,

Counterterrorism, FBI
Walp, Glenn, PhD, Former Office Leader of the

Office of Security Inquiries, Los Alamos National

Lab, DOE
Woo, Robert, Special Agent, Counterintelligence,

FBI
Wright, Robert, Veteran Special agent,
Counterterrorism, FBI

Veterans Affairs Whistleblowers Coalition

Government Accountability Project

MSM WTF ? Non-Reporting on “SPIKES OF ACTIVITY”

NON-REPORTING BETWEEN MAY 29 AND JUNE 26, 2005

This HAS been reported before on

dKos, Booman Tribune, and EuroTrib. It has been reported from the 29th

of May when Welshman brought us the Michael

Smith article, “RAF Bombing to Goad Saddam

Into War”. It was reported by

Congressman John Conyers in dKos “Smoking

Bullet In The Smoking Gun,” It was

reported by RAWSTORY on the 29th of

May:

Raw Story, MA – May

29, 2005
… 1) Did the RAF and the United States military

increase the rate that they … was the

justification for any such increase in the rate of

bombing in Iraq at this …

WHERE, IF EVER WAS THIS STORY

REPORTED IN THE US MAIN STREAM

MEDIA?

NEVER. OK, exactly once. Washington

Post ran a story on the 23 of June based on the

Michael Smith (UK) story in the LA Times on the

same day. We can’t call this reporting, this is

regurgitating. This story went unreported except

for Michael Smith of the UK, dKos, and

RAWSTORY.
dKos COVERAGE

2. The Iraq War Started

A Lot Sooner Than You’ve Been Told

(Diaries, Diary)
posted by TheOrchid on 06/25/2005 19:17:57

GMT

4. DSM buried lede: It’s the Bombing

Stupid! (Diaries, Diary)
posted by kant on 06/25/2005 15:37:46

GMT

12. DON’T READ THIS !! US Hawk Admits

Iraq War Illegal
by Apian [Subscribe] [Edit Diary]
Fri Jun 24th, 2005 at 15:57:10 GMT

15. MICHAEL SMITH IN LA TIMES The

Downing Street Memos
by Apian [Subscribe] [Edit Diary]
Thu Jun 23rd, 2005 at 13:20:55 GMT

17. IRAQ WAR MEDIA TRACKING — Thanks For

Your Help (Diaries, dKos)
posted by Apian on 06/23/2005 01:56:06

GMT

32. Lies, Damn Lies, and Government Economic

Statistics: Part II (Diaries, Diary)
posted by gjohnsit on 06/21/2005 02:53:08

GMT

35. IMPORTANT ! MEDIA TRACKING — Need

Kossacks Help
by Apian [Subscribe] [Edit Diary]
Tue Jun 21st, 2005 at 06:11:03 GMT

43. Bush Screws Blair Again (Diaries,

Diary)
posted by jakal on 06/20/2005 12:56:45

GMT

50. Time for Blair to divorce Bush

(Diaries, Diary)
posted by taonow on 06/19/2005 03:01:22

GMT

56. THE WORDS HEARD ROUND THE WORLD

— Downing Street Hearings (Diaries,

Diary)
posted by Apian on 06/18/2005 07:11:45

GMT

58. THE “WRIGHT STUFF” — Downing Street

Hearings (Diaries, dKos)
posted by Apian on 06/17/2005 20:28:42

GMT

88. New Pre-War UK Memo; War Started

8/2002; NYT absolves Bush (Diaries,

dKos)
posted by lapin on 06/13/2005 23:19:13

GMT

109. Bush Illegally Shifted $700 Million to Begin

War on Iraq (Diaries, Diary)
posted by AHiddenSaint on 06/11/2005 04:49:40

GMT

146. WaPo Front Page: “Downing St. Memo

won’t Die” (Diaries, Diary)
posted by Al Rodgers on 06/07/2005 17:09:59

GMT

168. US troops first invaded Iraq 8-8-2002:

IraqFact Inquiry Series (Diaries,

Diary)
posted by Duke1676 on 06/04/2005 21:47:27

GMT

182. Downing Street Memo for Dummies

(Diaries, Diary)
posted by michael in chicago on 06/03/2005

01:27:22 GMT

188. DSM Letter Update: 86,000 and Counting

(Diaries, Diary)
posted by Congressman John Conyers on

06/02/2005 19:27:04 GMT

214. Pre-War Bombing (Diaries,

Diary)
posted by NoInfo on 05/31/2005 20:05:39

GMT

230. Smoking Bullet in the Smoking

Gun? (Diaries, Diary)
posted by Congressman John Conyers on

05/29/2005 16:19:14 GMT

232. New Sunday Times War

Preparation Relevations (Diaries,

Diary)
posted by Welshman on 05/29/2005 03:24:54

GMT

RAWSTORY COVERAGE “SPIKES OF

ACTIVITY”

new revelations surface in London,

congressman readies new …
Raw Story, MA – May 29, 2005
Conyers’ early draft, leaked to RAW STORY,

raises a battery … time “the US had already

begun `spikes of activity’ to put … twice as many

bombs on Iraq in the …

UK DSM REPORTER:

BLOGGERS HAVE “SMOKING

GUN”

THE BLOGGER WITH THE SMOKING

GUN:

‘Spikes of Activity’ In

The DSM

WHY ARE WE BACK IN IRAQ?

On Thursday, Michael Smith, the reporter for The

Sunday Times who broke the Downing Street

minutes story, wrote a must-read op-ed for the

L.A. Times (“The Real News in the Downing

Street Memos”) which relates to an overlooked

part of the memos and provides some more

background on the “deep throats” who leaked the

REVENGE OF THE TEXAS KILLER BEES — Watch Out, George !!

Texas stops quarantining counties with `killer’ bees

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — When Africanized “killer bees” first buzzed into South Texas, alarmists warned the rest of the state to brace for deadly swarms.

Although there have been 11 deaths in Texas in the 15 years since, that falls far short of the doom projected by some. In fact, the bees have become so common they now can be found in most Texas counties, prompting agricultural officials to announce this week that restrictions have been lifted on the movement of commercial bees.

More than 60 percent of the state’s counties now have populations of killer bee. One expert said the bee’s “killer” reputation was overstated. “I feel like it was exaggerated, and partly due to media wanting to make a big splash,” said Bill Baxter, a bee inspector with the Texas Apiary Inspection Service. “People didn’t know and we did not know what was going to happen.”

Africanized honey bees are similar to common honey bees but more aggressive when they feel threatened. The bees have been detected in New Mexico, California, Nevada and Arizona since they were first found in Texas in 1990.

For years, commercial bee-keepers had been prevented from moving their hives to a new county without first certifying that the new destination was not contaminated with the Africanized bee. The tests cost as much as $600, Baxter said.

The quarantines proved that beekeepers weren’t the reason for the spread of killer bees, said Paul Jackson, the state’s inspector for the service. “The quarantine proved that the spread of Africanized honey bee in Texas is the result of natural migration of the insect,” Jackson said.

No other state opted to quarantine their counties upon detection of the bees. The Africanized bee or a crossbred variety has killed 11 people in Texas since 1990, according to the Texas Honey Bee Identification Lab in College Station. Hundreds more have been stung, and nearly 100 animals have been killed.

“In some situations, they can be deadly,” said Anita Collins, a research geneticist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. who has studied the bee since the early 1970s in South America. “But usually it’s been people who’ve had other health problems.”

Apian’s Note: Well of course we can be deadly, but for the most part we just keep busy. We never sting unless provoked, and even then we are not deadly. Yeah, sure there have been eleven deaths in 15 years, but compared to the mortality rate of prisoners during Bush’s reign as governor, with Gonzales as the hanging judge, our murder rate doesn’t even make the chart!

There is no quarantine can contain us – the idea is laughable. But then again most of what humans do is laughable to a bee. We have varieties in almost every temperate country in the world. We’re just kind of hard for people to keep track of. For instance, we have a small but thriving colony off the west coast of Ireland, in the Aran Islands. Those islands are dedicated to the Bee Goddess, (Gobnait, in Irish.)

We bees don’t mind much, really, and almost everything amuses us. We love life, and beauty and music (Greek bouzouki music) and dancing. We always dance as soon as we get home. We dance the dance of our escapades and adventures and dance out a map for our fellow bees to tell them where the flowers are blooming and the pollen is rich.

When it comes to gathering honey, the human beings smoke us until we’re dopey, then come to rip us off. The thing is, we always produce a surplus – and that’s why we don’t sting the bee keepers. Actually we enjoy them because they appreciate us. However, there’s only so much ripping off we will put up with – too much of a mild annoyance can become a cause for an out and out swarm attack. Or, we just pack up and move hive.

Now the Texas branch of our family is very militant. They fly the flag of “Don’t Tread On Me” and they mean it!! They are aiming to make a stand in Crawford, Texas soon. So if any government officials, or British intel ops or foreign office officials, any Condi Rice or Blair or Tenet or Dearlove or Goldsmith, or Straw or Gonzales, or Ashcroft or Rumsfeld or Wolfowitz or any of that lot plans a picnic in Crawford to seal the deal for the next war in Iran, maybe they had better bring a bee venom kit of super strength. The Texas Killer Bees are stinging mad and they’re LETHAL !

Illustration: Pieter Brueghel, The Beekeepers, 1567, San Francisco Museum of Art.

DON’T READ THIS !! Human Rights First Censored By Congress

DON’T READ THIS !! YOU WERE WARNED !!

Dear Apian,

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart lampooned a recent hearing on torture in which the microphones of several witnesses – including HRF’s Deborah Pearlstein – were turned off by the Chairman because he did not like what they were saying about the U.S. and torture.

After cutting off a number of speakers, the chairman “literally took his gavel and went home,” Jon Stewart said in disbelief. “We are officially being governed by children.” Watch the Daily Show clip by clicking here. HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST CENSORED BY CONGRESS

While some Members of Congress refuse to listen to the need for a credible investigation into the torture of detainees, a growing number of moderate Republicans and Democrats now support such an initiative. That is why we need your help

. Visit the link below to ask your Member of Congress to support an independent inquiry. HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST INDEPENDENT INQUIRY

What Deborah Pearlstein tried to say – but couldn’t – was that an independent, bipartisan commission is essential to ensuring that further abuse and torture does not take place in U.S. detention facilities. (She also wanted to thank the committee for its consideration.)

To date, the investigations into U.S. interrogation practices have been woefully inadequate. With the number of individuals in U.S. custody worldwide having increased to nearly 12,000, it is more urgent than ever for the government to make some critical policy changes and ensure an end to torture.

Write Congress TODAY and help stop further abuse in America’s name. HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST WRITE TO CONGRESS.

An independent commission is not only critical to restoring America’s commitment to protecting basic human rights, but also is an increasingly urgent requirement to promote U.S. national security.

Sincerely,

Jill Savitt
Communications Director
Human Rights First

DON’T READ THIS !!

Don’t read this. This didn’t happen. This was just a glitch. It is not true that Congress turned off the mikes so as not to hear the testimony.

Go to sleep, children. All is well in Bush land. There is not big bad boogeyman. There are no witches, either.

There is no censorship of the news in America. The White House did not plant an ex call-boy in its press corps. The Bush Administration never bought a journalist in its life.

No US journalist was ever ordered not to report on the illegality of the war in Iraq. No US journalist was ever ordered to doctor casualty numbers of the war in Iraq, thus “fixing facts to suit the policy.” No journalist was ever ordered to change the truth in the reporting of the news of the war in Iraq to bolster support for an illegal criminal war. No journalist ever reported what the Pentagon said were numbers of attacks when those numbers had been doctored to make it look like the US was winning.

Google never censored the news either. Google is a Good Blue company. Google does not censor the news in China, Australia or Saudi Arablia. Google does not censor the news in the US. Google does not answer to Michelle Malkin, Google does not favor right wing blogs in it’s news listing. Google is the best cooles bluest truest company there is. Google is your friend.

Don’t worry. Censorship may have happened during the McCatthy era but it is not happening now. Not in the US, not in Congress, and not at dKos. Go to sleep children, all is well in Bushland.

AND WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T READ THIS !!!

Types of censorship

Censorship can be explicit, as in laws passed to prevent information being published or propagated (as in Australia, or Saudi Arabiawhere certain Internet pages are not permitted entry), or it can be implicit, taking the form of intimidation by government or even by popular censure, where people are afraid to express or support certain opinions for fear of losing their lives, or their jobs, position in society, or in academia, their academic credibility. In this latter form it is similar to McCarthyismThese two forms (explicit and implicit) can be generalized to represent laws and government authority (explicit) and social forces or social persuasion (implicit).

During wartime, censorship is carried out with the intention of preventing the release of information that might be advantageous to the enemy Typically it involves obfuscation of times or locations, or delaying the release of information (e.g. the objective of an operation) until it is of no possible use to enemy forces. Mention of weapons and equipment (especially if newly introduced) is another favourite area for censorship. The moral issues here are somewhat different as release of the information carries a high risk of increased casualties among one’s own forces and possibly loss of the overall conflict.

Censorship is regarded as a typical feature of dictatorships and other authoritarian political systems. Democratic nations usually have far less institutionalized censorship, and instead tout the importance of freedom of speech

Some thinkers understand censorship to include other attempts to suppress points of view or ideas such as negative propaganda, media manipulation, spin, disinformation, or “free speech zones” (ghettoizing or containing speech). These methods, collectively, tend to work by disseminating misleading information or by preventing other ideas from obtaining a receptive audience

Wilipedia Encyclopedia

Goodnight, kids.

DON’T READ THIS !! US Hawk Admits Iraq War Illegal

DON’T READ THIS !

THIS GUARDIAN ARTICLE COMES FROM 2003 !!

THIS ARTICLE COMES FROM THE UK !!

War critics astonished as US hawk admits invasion was illegal

Oliver Burkeman and Julian Borger in Washington

Thursday November 20, 2003

The Guardian

International lawyers and anti-war campaigners reacted with astonishment yesterday after the influential Pentagon hawk Richard Perle conceded that the invasion of Iraq had been illegal.

In a startling break with the official White House and Downing Street lines, Mr Perle told an audience in London: “I think in this case international law stood in the way of doing the right thing.”

“President George Bush has consistently argued that the war was legal either because of existing UN security council resolutions on Iraq – also the British government’s publicly stated view – or as an act of self-defence permitted by international law.

“But Mr Perle, a key member of the defence policy board, which advises the US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, said that “international law … would have required us to leave Saddam Hussein alone”, and this would have been morally unacceptable.

French intransigence, he added, meant there had been “no practical mechanism consistent with the rules of the UN for dealing with Saddam Hussein”.

War critics astonished as US hawk admits invasion was illegal

Now forgive me all to heck if this has been diaried before… like say over the last two years.

And forgive me if I refer again to Kofi Annan who said straight out in September of 2004, “The war in Iraq is illegal.”

And forgive me if I repeat what we have known since 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005, that war in Iraq is illegal.

But the clear fact of the case is that war in Iraq is now and was always illegal.
* That means the case against George Bush, and pushing for a Resolution of Inquiry has merit.
* That means that the cases of the conscientious objectors have merit.
* That means that the legislation being discussed now for a pull out from Iraq in 2006 do not have merit, as they are proposing that we extend an illegal war for another year.

There are now more than 1,700 Americans dead, maybe as many as 100,000 Iraqis dead. And the reason this has happened is that no one read this article in 2003.
* No one listened to Clarke and O’Neill.
* No one listened to Wilmshurst.* No one read, no one listened, no one understood.
* No one reported in the US that Perle said war with Iraq was/is illegal.
* No one paid attention to Seymour Hersh in 2002: THE DEBATE WITHIN “The objective is clear–topple Saddam. But how?”

If the war in Iraq is illegal then the US has involved the UK, Australia and all the other coutries with troops in Iraq in War Crimes.

We must bring an end to this illegal war in Iraq. NOW.

Apian
June 24, 2005
17:54 GMT

SEE MORE AT:

MEDIA TRACKING — Need Boo Trib Help — MEDIA TRACKING TO BRING AN END TO WAR IN IRAQ

MICHAEL SMITH IN LA TIMES The Downing Street Memos

The Real News in the Downing Street Memos

Los Angeles Times
By Michael Smith

Michael Smith writes on defense issues for the Sunday Times of London.

June 23, 2005

It is now nine months since I obtained the first of the “Downing Street memos,” thrust into my hand by someone who asked me to meet him in a quiet watering hole in London for what I imagined would just be a friendly drink.

At the time, I was defense correspondent of the London Daily Telegraph, and a staunch supporter of the decision to oust Saddam Hussein. The source was a friend. He’d given me a few stories before but nothing nearly as interesting as this.
The six leaked documents I took away with me that night were to change completely my opinion of the decision to go to war and the honesty of Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush.

They focused on the period leading up to the Crawford, Texas, summit between Blair and Bush in early April 2002, and were most striking for the way in which British officials warned the prime minister, with remarkable prescience, what a mess post-war Iraq would become. Even by the cynical standards of realpolitik, the decision to overrule this expert advice seemed to be criminal.

The second batch of leaks arrived in the middle of this year’s British general election, by which time I was writing for a different newspaper, the Sunday Times. These documents, which came from a different source, related to a crucial meeting of Blair’s war Cabinet on July 23, 2002. The timing of the leak was significant, with Blair clearly in electoral difficulties because of an unpopular war.”

IRAQ WAR MEDIA TRACKING — Need Help — Part 2

IRAQ WAR MEDIA TRACKING — Thanks For Your Help

MEDIA TRACKING TO BRING END TO WAR IN IRAQ

Dear Everyone,

I have been receiving loads of replies on my media tracking project, and some surprising breaks in the US media reporting of the illegal war in Iraq.

I have started four blogs for media trackers who want to help in this project.

PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT

To break through media blackout. To bring the news to the US, (via the UK, if necessary) To counterattack falsehood with fact, to expose the illegal war as it was developing and reported in the US. Ultimately the goal of this project is to bring a speedy end to the war in Iraq through the public becoming more aware of the insidious origins of the illegal war of aggression against Iraq.

Pick a target area, and dates to work within (Google lets you search between certain dates) when you get your list, find US sources for stories, then a list of UK stories.

THERE ARE FOUR BLOGS YOU CAN POST TO. (e mail me if you want itsgrimm at hotmail dot com)

I need your help with US media tracking on some very important issues:

1. RAF Bombing to Goad Saddam Into War.

This was first reported to dKos by Welshman on the 29th of May. That was Michael Smith. RAF BOMBING TO GOAD SADDAM INTO WAR. Michael Smith of TimesOnLine, and formerly of the Telgraph is the best journalist on the subject of ILLEGAL WAR IRAQ that I have found.
Sunday we had another article on the same subject by Norton Taylor RAF bombing raids on Iraq no-fly zone defied Foreign Office legal advice, say Lib Dems .

It has been 32 days and this story has, as far as I can find, only been reported once in the US Main Stream Media. (I do mean mainstream, and not blogs, and not alternative news like Alternet, Common Dreams, or Iraq Occupation Watch.

ATTENTION: Media Trackers on this subject should pay special attention to the phrase “SPIKES OF ACTIVITY

“The details follow the leak to The Sunday Times of minutes of a key meeting in July 2002 at which Blair and his war cabinet discussed how to make “regime change” in Iraq legal.

“Geoff Hoon, then defence secretary, told the meeting that “the US had already begun `spikes of activity’ to put pressure on the regime”.

“The new information, obtained by the Liberal Democrats, shows that the allies dropped twice as many bombs on Iraq in the second half of 2002 as they did during the whole of 2001, and that the RAF increased their attacks even more quickly than the Americans did.” Michael Smith, “RAF bombing raids tried to goad Saddam into war”; TimesOnLine, May 29, 2005.

2. “ILLEGAL””WAR””IRAQ”

The first time these terms hit the US Media big time was September, 2004 when Koffi Annan said, “The war in Iraq is illegal.” Since that it is rare that you will find US news reports that include these three terms together. Why is this? The war in Iraq IS illegal, but apparently part of the Bush agenda is not to say this simple truth.

The operative term to articles to track US media is “illegal””war””Iraq” in that order. Google your little hearts out and try to find US media coverage on this most important story of our day. If you get tired of looking, try contrasting UK articles on the same terms. You could try, if you’re really ambitious from May 1, 2005, when the Downing Street Minutes were first published in the UK Sunday Times.

3. OP EDS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

I need articles, especially op-eds from US mainstream media in three categories:

Top Notch — This would be Bob Herbert’s Truth & Deceit”

Middle of the Road — These would be articles that say, “We knew the war was illegal, so what?” “Is there any substance to the allegations contained in the Downing Street Minutes?” along those lines.

Outrageous Bushthink. This would be Dana Milbank’s June 17, Democrats Play House to Rally Against War.”

An idea of how this media blackout has been working is given in the following diary:

DEARLOVE’S BRIEFING By Booman23.

“The reason the New York Times and the Washington Post don’t want to investigate the DSM leaks is because they were fully complicit in ‘fixing’ the intelligence.”
Dearlove’s Briefing, Booman23; June 18, 2005.

Thanks to everyone who has been helping on this project: Alex, Greg, Ben, David, Jonathan, Timbuk 3, Tom and the gang at ADS.

BLOG LIST:

1. RAF BOMBING TO GOAD SADDAM INTO WAR

US MAIN STREAM MEDIA COVERAGE

BLOG ONE: ILLEGAL WAR IRAQ RAF

Articles including the terms “SPIKES OF ACTIVITY” should be included here.

2. OP EDS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ILLEGAL WAR IRAQ

There are three categories:

1. The Best of the Lot:

* Bob Herbert
* Greg Mitchell of Editor & Publisher

2. The Middle of the Road:* “Stay the Course”
* “Yeah we knew the war was illegal, so what?”
* “Don’t see the significance in Downing Street Documents”

3. The Worst of the Worst:

* Dana Milbank “Democrats Play House to Rally Against War”

BLOG TWO: OP EDS LTE’s WAR IN IRAQ

3. SEARCH TERMS “ILLEGAL””WAR””IRAQ’

1. MAIN STREAM MEDIA UNITED STATES
2. MAIN STREAM MEDIA UNITED KINGDOM

BLOG THREE: ILLEGAL WAR IRAQ

THE HUB OF THE WHEEL:

AFTER DOWNING STREET DOT ORG

ATTENTION: SEE THIS SITE !!