November 23, 2005

Fort Lewis - The Investigation Begins,...

THE
 
TORTURE AND PROSTITUTION
 
 OF
 
FORT LEWIS
 
PART ONE
 
 
by Tom Scott
 
 
It's about a 20 minute drive south from Tacoma in the beautiful state of Washington.  Amid the beauty of this great state sits Fort Lewis, a "once upon a time" for many veterans and currently a place called home to many of the finest military men and women in our Armed Forces.  I arrived in October as the leaves were awaiting their seasonal fall to earth and as about 4000 brave soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 25th Infrantry Division celebrated with their family and friends their return from the War of Lies. Many physically untouched, many scarred for life and all unaware of the nightmares they will carry for the rest of their days. You could smell it in the air, you could see it in their young eyes, the mixed emotions,  joy for being home, sad and confused from where they had been and why.  It reminded me of my tours in Nam, my years in Hell.
 
On the grounds of Fort Lewis sits the Regional Correctional Facility that houses close to 200 American military inmates. About 2,828 miles west from where the War of Lies is orchestrated by the true criminals - the other Washington. All these men in this facility are serving time in a military hell hole hidden away from the rest of world.  Many that live in the state of Washington don't even know this hell hole exists.  Millions upon millions of Americans don't know it exists. Not many of your Senators and Congressman know it exists. Not many of these returning soldiers, when asked, ever knew the RCF existed or what exactly went on behind it's gates. There are other military RCF's across our great country and I pray to God that what I have learned and witnessed at Fort Lewis, isn't happening elsewhere in our America.  
 
For it should be of concern to you that the U.S. has repudiated the Geneva accords and espoused the use of torture in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, and secretly through proxy regimes elsewhere with the so-called extraordinary rendition program. It is not only embarrassing but sickening to see this president and vice president insisting that the CIA should be free to perpetrate "cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment" on people in U.S. custody but neighbor, it's happening right here in our own back yard, to our own men in uniform.
 
Mind you, many a state prison and county jail across America are luxury hotels compared to what these soldiers are put through at Fort Lewis.  I was fortunate to meet up with several recently released soldiers and developed good relations with a few willing to talk that actually worked in this RCF.
 
For a Conscientious Objector to this War of Lies and placed in Fort Lewis, as I would be today, you just have to stop, think and say what hypocrisy this is.  The criminal mass murderers and liars to the world are alive and dining well 2,828 miles away and we are currently letting them ruin the America that we have espoused over the last 230 years.
 
At Fort Lewis, I heard one horror story after another and verified each with those who worked at the facility, brave enough to come forth and verify the truth.
 
So let me be blunt and give it to you straight up.
 
For example, the facility has many female guards - some of which have participated in an organized prostitution ring. A very well organized prostitution ring. Yes you read it right damn it. Several inmates have written in detail of such illegal activity to their Senators and Congresspersons.  Female guards also watch the all male inmates take showers and use the latrine, they have no privacy.  You would think that Lt. Colonel Stephanie Beavers, the Commanding Officer in Charge would correct this situation or is this the responsibility of Enos Hobbs, the Civilian Warden; or is this just our militaries way of humiliating it's "prisoners" of choice. 
 
According to office personnel, one of whom that was exposed for "playing" with the inmates now works in an non-existent program. What the hell is a non existent program may I ask? Makes you wonder who exactly is in charge.  These soldiers are kept from seeing their families.  They are kept from seeing legal representation.  There is no heat.  There are broken windows and windows that do not close, which at this time of year in Washington State it gets pretty damn cold at night.  They are given no blankets. There is a non existent educational program - did I mention that?.  Inmates are kept from seeing the Chaplin of their choice and if they do get to see one, it takes months of paperwork and background checks to make sure that Chaplin of Choice is not going to attempt to "spring" the inmate with the help of God. There are leaking sewage pipes with fresh raw sewage dripping from the ceilings, leaking toilets and sinks that flood the cells of inmates. Regulations state firmly that there is to be one shower head per 8 inmates but one honest guard reports that on several "blocks" there are only 4 shower heads for 50 inmates.  You have shower water building up under the bunks.  And did I mention there was no heat.  Abusive Guards become Counselors. Numerous uncalled for head counts within a single day - sometimes up to 40, as if the great escape was in the works - no State Prison conducts that many head counts in one day.  And remember, these are American soldiers, they know the drill.  Many suffer from PTSD without help. Some have been framed by the military itself. Telephone calls are monitored when allowed and cut off after 20 minutes and cost roughly $25 per call.  And did I mention torture,....can't have torture because it's against military regulations,....
 
......unless you call chaining a soldier up with his arms and legs tied behind him for 4 straight days in a chair, making him sit in his own waste,  is torture,.....then Yes, we have torture, both mental and physical abuse conducted on our own soldiers,...right here in America, at Fort Lewis in Washington State. Violating all military regulations on our own soil. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. There is far more to report all because of this Neo Con War of Lies.
 
I repeat, all of this madness stems from this War of Lies and we have let this Neo Con Administration attempt to divide our precious America.  Wake Up, America!  Unite!
 
Retired U.S. Army Col. Larry Wilkerson, who served as former Secretary of State Colin Powell's chief of staff, told CNN that the practice of torture may be continuing in U.S.-run facilities.  He said and I quote: "There's no question in my mind that we did. There's no question in my mind that we may be still doing it," Wilkerson said on CNN's "Late Edition." 
 
Lt. Colonel Wilkerson, visit Fort Lewis right here in America and see for yourself.  Sir, make a surprise visit today. And being of military you should know the Art of Surprise, sir.
 
So I leave this information in your minds and in your hands my fellow Americans.  I, being a Vietnam Combat Vet, won't stand for such madness and suggest that you learn to take matters into your own hands and call every Senator and Congressperson you can think of in every state and report this abuse.  It is past time that we the people held our elected officials accountable for their actions and the actions of our own militaries lack of honorable leadership and demand they stop these Crimes Against Humanity immediately.
 
Fort Lewis, RCF;  America and the World is watching.  God help your Command and those that conspire to follow such madness.
 
 
Tom Scott is Senior Investigative Reporter for Choice America Network
He is a Vietnam Combat Veteran
  
 
 
 
Posted by ChoiceAmericaNetwork at 13:35:51 | Permanent Link | Comments (6) |

November 21, 2005

Truth Be Told

SGT. KEVIN BENDERMAN
AMERICA'S NEW GENERATION OF LEADERSHIP
 
AMERICA'S VETERANS
 
 
SUPPORT CONGRESSMAN MURTHA
 
BY SGT. KEVIN BENDERMAN
 
Congressman John Murtha, a veteran from the Viet Nam war, came up with a well reasoned plan to start withdrawing our military from this debacle that the war in Iraq has been shown to be.  Immediately after his introducing this proposal, elements of government that would not benefit from a military withdrawal, unleashed a vile personal attack on a decorated 27-year veteran.  I was enraged that someone even had the audacity to call this man a coward. 
 
Congressman Murtha received a Bronze Star and TWO Purple Hearts from action in Viet Nam.  I don't know about you, but from my standpoint, this man is the exact opposite of a coward.  Congressman Murtha, I salute you for your service to our country, and I salute your courage to stand up and make a well thought out, common sense proposal to get us out of this ill-conceived and completely unnecessary war in Iraq. 
 
I respectfully urge all Americans to stand with Congressman Murtha and demand that his proposal be entered into the Congressional Record and be given a fair and open hearing so that it may be judged on its merits.  The entire manner in which his courageous and wise proposal has been handled is a disgrace and an insult to Americans' intelligence. 
 
Please contact your elected representatives and let them know that you will not stand for such an obscene twisting of facts heard in the public statements made about Congressman Murtha's proposal, or such vile and disrespectful treatment of an honorable decorated war veteran. The American people need to send a message to Congress, we will not tolerate such political grandstanding with the lives of our service members at stake.
 
 
 

Please visit the Benderman’s websites at www.BendermanDefense.org

 
 
Hon. Cynthia McKinney
Contact - Richard Searcy
North DeKalb Mall Ste D-46
Decatur, GA 30033
404-633-0927
 
 
 
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November 19, 2005

Bush fears an informed America

Bush's War on the Press
 
by John Nichols & Robert W. McChesney
 
In his speech to last spring's National Media Reform Conference in St. Louis, Bill Moyers accused the Bush Administration not merely of attacking his highly regarded PBS program NOW but of declaring war on journalism itself. "We're seeing unfold a contemporary example of the age-old ambition of power and ideology to squelch and punish journalists who tell the stories that make princes and priests uncomfortable," explained Moyers. With the November resignation of Moyers's nemesis, Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) board chair Ken Tomlinson, amid charges of personal and political wrongdoing and a host of other recent developments, it becomes increasingly clear that this White House is doing battle with the journalistic underpinnings of democracy.

To be sure, every administration has tried to manipulate the nation's media system. Bill Clinton's wrongheaded support for the Telecommunications Act of 1996 cleared the way for George W. Bush's attempts to give media companies the power to create ever larger and more irresponsible monopolies. But with its unprecedented campaign to undermine and, where possible, eliminate independent journalism, the Bush Administration has demonstrated astonishing contempt for the Constitution and considerable fear of an informed public. Consider the bill of particulars:

Corrupting PBS. Tomlinson's tenure at the CPB, which annually distributes $400 million in federal funding to broadcast outlets, was characterized by an assault on the news operations of the Public Broadcasting Service in general, and Moyers in particular, for airing dissenting voices and preparing investigative reports on the Administration. His goal was clearly to fire a shot across the bow of all public stations so managers would shy away from the sort of investigative journalism that might expose Bush Administration malfeasance. On November 15, on the heels of Tomlinson's resignation, the CPB's inspector general issued a sixty-seven-page report documenting Tomlinson's repeated violations of the Public Broadcasting Act, CPB rules and the CPB code of ethics with his political meddling, though it stopped short of calling for prosecution, or of examining the link between Tomlinson's actions and White House directives.

 Faking TV News. Under Bush Administration directives, at least twenty federal agencies have produced and distributed scores, perhaps hundreds, of "video news segments" out of a $254 million slush fund. These bogus and deceptive stories have been broadcast on TV stations nationwide without any acknowledgment that they were prepared by the government rather than local journalists. The segments--which trumpet Administration "successes," promote its controversial line on issues like Medicare reform and feature Americans "thanking" Bush--have been labeled "covert propaganda" by the Government Accountability Office.

Paying Off Pundits. The Administration has made under-the-table payments to at least three pundits to sing its praises, including Armstrong Williams, the conservative columnist who collected $240,000 from the Education Department and then cheered on the ill-conceived No Child Left Behind Act.

Turning Press Conferences Into Charades. Bush has all but avoided traditional press conferences, closing down a prime venue for holding the executive accountable. On those rare occasions when he deigned to meet reporters, presidential aides turned the press conferences into parodies by seating a friendly right-wing "journalist," former male escort Jeff Gannon, amid the reporters and then steering questions to him when tough issues arose. They have effectively silenced serious questioners, like veteran journalist Helen Thomas, by refusing to have the President or his aides call on reporters who challenge them. And they have established a hierarchy for journalists seeking interviews with Administration officials, which favors networks that give the White House favorable coverage--as the frequent appearances by Bush and Dick Cheney on Fox News programs will attest.

Gutting the Freedom of Information Act. As Eric Alterman detailed in a May 9 report in these pages, the Administration has scrapped enforcement of the Freedom of Information Act and has made it harder for reporters to do their jobs by refusing to cooperate with even the most basic requests for comment and data from government agencies. This is part of a broader clampdown on access to information that has made it virtually impossible for journalists to cover vast areas of government activity.

Obscuring the Iraq War. In addition to setting up a system for embedding reporters covering the war--which denied Americans a full picture of what was happening during the invasion--the Defense Department has denied access to basic information regarding the war, from accurate casualty counts to images of flag-draped coffins of US dead to the Abu Ghraib torture photos.

Pushing Media Monopoly. The Administration continues to make common cause with the most powerful broadcast corporations in an effort to rewrite ownership laws in a manner that favors dramatic new conglomeratization and monopoly control of information. The Administration's desired rules changes would strike a mortal blow to local journalism, as media "company towns" would be the order of the day. This cozy relationship between media owners and the White House (remember Viacom chair Sumner Redstone's 2004 declaration that re-electing Bush would be "good for Viacom"?) puts additional pressure on journalists who know that when they displease the Administration they also displease their bosses.

In his famous opinion in the 1945 Associated Press v. US case, Justice Hugo Black said that "the First Amendment rests on the assumption that the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources is essential to the welfare of the public, that a free press is a condition of a free society." In other words, a free press is the sine qua non of the entire American Constitution and republican experiment.

The Bush Administration attack on the foundations of self-government demands a response of similar caliber. Under pressure from media-reform activists Congress has begun to push back, with a strong bipartisan vote in the Senate Commerce Committee to limit the ability of federal agencies to produce covert video news segments and to investigate Defense Department spending on propaganda initiatives. But until the Administration is held accountable by Congress for all its assaults on journalism, and until standards are developed to assure that such abuses will not be repeated by future administrations, freedom of the press will exist in name only, with all that suggests for our polity.

John Nichols, The Nation's Washington correspondent, has covered progressive politics and activism in the United States and abroad for more than a decade. He is currently the editor of the editorial page of Madison, Wisconsin's Capital Times. Nichols is the author of two books: It's the Media, Stupid and Jews for Buchanan.

Robert W. McChesney, who teaches at the University of Illinois, is the author of Rich Media, Poor Democracy (New Press) and, with John Nichols, of It's the Media, Stupid (Seven Stories). With John Nichols, he founded Free Press, a media reform network.

© 2005 The Nation

CHOICE AMERICA NETWORK

 

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November 17, 2005

Health - Look, Listen, Learn and Love,...

A Secret

 That Should Not

 Kept Quiet 

By Jeanne Jackson DeVoe

Stephanie Fritz was a beautiful and popular 15-year-old, a varsity tennis player, junior varsity swimmer and a good student. On the night of Nov. 11, 2003, she did her homework and discussed plans for an upcoming vacation. Then she took her life.

Two months later, Sean Quigley, a friend of the Fritzes, who was an outgoing good student, loved to swim and belonged to the drama club, killed himself.

The teens' suicides imposed a "life sentence" of grief on their families, as Don Quigley, Sean's father, puts it. "It doesn't get easier, it's always there, it doesn't go away," says Quigley.

The suicides were a wake-up call that came too late. The families learned weeks later that suicide is the third leading cause of death in those from 10 to 24. The two fathers decided to bring the terrible lesson they had learned to other parents and families.

Don Fritz has overcome his lifelong fear of talking to large crowds and the two men have traveled to high schools and PTAs throughout New Jersey to tell their stories. They have urged parents and young people to seek help. They've talked about Yellow Ribbon International, a suicide-prevention program. They have distributed dozens of cards from Yellow Ribbon that young people can give to a trusted adult if they are having suicidal thoughts. They recently organized a fund-raiser for the group at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park.

The effort to reach others has helped ease their grief, the fathers say. Fritz, 48, the owner of Fritz Sales, has moved his family from Tinton Falls to Long Beach Island because he and his wife can no longer bear to live in the house where their middle daughter took her life. An older daughter, Lindsay, 20, is in college and the youngest, Caroline, 13, was to sing at the fund-raiser.

"If we could save just one life, if we could save just one family from going through what we've gone through, all of the effort would have been absolutely worthwhile," says Quigley, 54, of Manalapan, who has two other sons, Frank, 21, and Matthew, 19.

Nationwide, the teen suicide rate has decreased by 25 percent since the early 1990s and New Jersey's rate is among the lowest. Still, there were 3,924 deaths due to suicide in 2003, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

In New Jersey, 60 young people kill themselves each year. Fritz says that amounts to about two busloads of adolescents. That is an alarming number, he says, and society should consider suicide a grave health epidemic. He is fighting to make suicide prevention programs mandatory at every high school through his work as vice chairman of the New Jersey Youth Suicide Prevention Council.

Before his daughter's death, Fritz had the same misconceptions that many people have. He believed that only the most troubled teens would ever think of killing themselves. Stephanie had been depressed and unhappy and had seen a psychiatrist who put her on the antidepressant Zoloft.

Sean Quigley, who had known Stephanie because the two families were friends, had been bullied at school a year and a half earlier, his father said. He had seemed somewhat moodier and sometimes complained of stomachaches, but he was getting good grades and active in school activities.

Research has shown that showing details about suicides or relating stories that romanticize suicide may lead to "copy cat" attempts by troubled teens. As longtime friends, Quigley and Fritz wonder whether Stephanie's suicide may have influenced Sean.

High-achievers such as Stephanie and Sean often feel under the most pressure and are hardest on themselves, explains Alec J. Miller, chief of the Adolescent Depression and Suicide Program at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. "In general, I think the stress level for these kids is much higher than it was 20 years ago," he says.

But 80 percent of young people who attempt suicide give some warning signs, Miller says. There is usually an underlying problem, perhaps depression or substance abuse, that is followed by an event such as a breakup, bullying or parents' divorce. If there is a gun in the house, the risk teen suicide is five times greater, Miller says.

Obvious signs that a teen is at risk are alcohol abuse, withdrawal from friends or family, aggressive behavior or a preoccupation with death, according to the American Psychiatric Association.

While some teens may start giving away their possessions or create artwork or writing centering on death, others do not give such obvious signals. Stephanie and Sean, for example, did not seem to be in crisis. But Stephanie was on Zoloft, which now is linked to suicidal thoughts in some teens.

Less-obvious signs of trouble include headaches or stomachaches, increased irritability and changes in moods and appetite or difficulty concentrating, Miller says.

How can parents tell whether a teen is just displaying normal adolescent moodiness or has deeper problems? That is the "million-dollar question," Miller admits. If their problems seem to be affecting how they function at school and with friends and family, then they should be evaluated by a professional, he says.

One out of five high school students reported having serious thoughts about suicide during the past year, according to a study by the CDC. Younger children from age 10 to 14, the fastest-growing age group of those attempting suicide, may not grasp the finality of death. Older teens, having trouble coping with the roller coaster of teen emotions, may see suicide as a way to escape their pain.

It's not always easy to communicate with teenagers but Miller says parents should make an effort to validate how a teen feels - even if they don't agree with them. It might seem easier to bark, "Come home on time and that's final," but teens need to hear that you understand their feelings of frustration and disappointment before you lay down the law.

The most difficult task for parents may simply be to listen to teens without judging. Parents have to be willing to ask their teens whether they've thought about suicide and to hear the answer without panicking, Miller says.

Even if a teen isn't suicidal, they need to know how important it is to tell an adult if a friend is talking about suicide, Miller says. He tells young people that "the worst thing you can do is keep that secret."

Since Fritz and Quigley have embarked on their educational campaign, they have spoken to dozens of teens who have either contemplated suicide or know someone who has. At least three teens have used the Yellow Ribbon cards to ask adults for help.

Jeanne Jackson DeVoe is a journalist who lives in Princeton.

 E-mail her at jeanne@devoecom.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

CCHR International

 

CHOICE AMERICA NETWORK 

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November 16, 2005

Congressman Ford - Helping America Sustain

 

 U.S. HOUSE PASSES FORD'S YOUTH

 DEVELOPMENT ACT

 ( Washington, DC ) The House of Representatives passed the Federal Youth Development Act, a bipartisan bill that Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. helped introduce last February. The bill would establish a federal council to improve coordination of federal and state programs serving youth and to provide grants to promote local youth programs. In a statement, Congressman Ford said:

"I am proud of this bipartisan effort to focus our energies on building up the future of our nation's children. Too often, the efforts of state and local programs have been hampered due to a lack of coordination at the federal level. With the help of this bill, youth programs in Tennessee and across the country will have access to a single point of contact at the federal level for grants and leadership, allowing them to reach their full potential and effectively serve 's youth."

 

CHOICE AMERICA NETWORK

 

 

 

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November 15, 2005

Better to Laugh,...than Cry,...

Dubya - The Movie 

 

click above to watch the preview

 

CHOICE AMERICA NETWORK

 

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Action Alert: Restore Habeas Corpus

SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM PULLS A FAST ONE TO ABORT HABEAS CORPUS
 
With virtually no advance notice the Republican majority in the Senate (with the shameful complicity of Democrats Conrad, Landrieu, Lieberman, [Ben] Nelson, and Wyden) approved a last minute amendment to the Defense Authorization Act to deny U.S. courts jurisdiction to examine the legality of detainee detention in Guantanamo and elsewhere.  They did this in defiance of the not yet completely packed Supreme Court (another reason to reject Alito), whose authority they would annul.  This is all despite the well-known FACT that many scooped up into these hell holes of torture are not terrorists at all, some even having been sold for bounty.  Senator Bingaman immediately responded with a proposed corrective amendment (S.AMDT.2517) to restore jurisdiction.
 
ACTION PAGE: http://www.trotm.com/habeas.htm (Restore Habeas Corpus)
 
ACTION PAGE: http://www.trotm.com/no_conservative.htm (No right wing conservative to replace Sandra Day O'Connor)
 
Is our government telling us that there is no possible way any of those people can be convicted of a crime, by even an American jury, if they were to have a fair trial?  We also know that our own military attorneys were fired for protesting because the tribunals already established were such miscarriages of justice.  If there is nobody in detention who can be convicted of anything without special kangaroo courts, then the real terrorists have indeed won, for we will then have abdicated all moral authority.  Please contact your senators at once to tell them to support the Bingaman amendment.
 
 
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November 07, 2005

Exposing The Carlyle Group

 

Exposed: The Carlyle Group

Shocking Documentary

Uncovers the Subversion of Americas Democracy.

CHOICE AMERICA NETWORK 

 

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The Choice Is Yours,...

Lesser of the Evils
 
By Nolan K. Anderson

 

 

“Would the United States and other free nations be more safe, or less safe, with Zarqawi and Bin Laden in control of Iraq, its people, and its resources?" Mr. Bush asked.  

 

In order to answer Mr. Bush’s question one would have to be able to define “safe” with the same accuracy as Mr. Clinton sought to define “is”.  The first part of such an endeavor might involve one’s determining “whose” “is” is being considered.  You might answer, “the United States and other free nations”.

 

Well, let’s see about  “the United States”.  If we consider the service men and women of the United States, one could hardly say that they are more safe with George Bush as our commander-in-chief than they would have been allowing Sadaam Hussein or Bin Laden to control Iraq; on the other hand, they would probably be no less safe because as my father used to say when describing “normal” politicians,  “They wouldn’t go to hell for a nickel, but they would stand on the edge with a long stick fishing for the nickel and fall in”.  George wouldn’t invade Iraq for a nickel, but he would stand on the edge with his long sticks – his “pet media’, Rush Limbaugh, Neal Boortz and Sean Hannity - fishing for an excuse to invade and “fall in,” much as he has already done.  His fall would involve dragging (or would it have been pushing) 500,000 troops into Iraq, 2,000 of whom will never parent another child nor become president of the United States.  15,000 service people will carry mental and/or physical battle scars for life as George continues to work feverishly to establish a reason for their sacrifices.  (This is a Pentagon number and subject to a high degree of error.  Congress has been told that 103,000 service personnel have required hospitalization).

 

Let’s examine how much better off financially the United States is with George in power here instead of Sadaam remaining in power there.  Thanks to incompetence, stupidity, negligence and blatant corruption, the cost of the war in Iraq is up to 6 billion dollars per month having risen from 1 billion dollars per week to 1½ billion dollars per week.  (But, not to worry, this is only the play money we are borrowing from the Chinese and the rest of the world and which we cannot possibly repay.  Repayment is being left to our children and grandchildren or, as is more likely, repayment will be made when the Chinese throttle our “economic engine” and extort repayment by threatening to foment the collapse of our national economic system.  Who can imagine life without Wal-Mart?  How else could we be reminded where American jobs are going)? But, this is for the future; what about the NOW?

 

George’s war to remove Sadaam has taken 2 million barrels per day of oil off the world market causing an almost 100 percent increase in oil prices.  (At least that is one of the stories we are being told).   The increase at the gas pumps for working Americans who have to commute is being severely felt, but whether or not one drives, the cost increase is being felt in every commodity everyone buys.  Who does the average American pass this cost to?  He can’t go borrow more play money from the Chinese on April 15; he has to borrow from a banker who definitely expects to be repaid in “real” money.

 

And safety?  When was the last time you boarded a plane in the United States?  The main difference in flying now and before George started his war is that there are now approximately 56,000 more fools on the government payroll who are charged with groping the young and well endowed and making life as miserable as possible for little old ladies with fingernail clippers. 

 

And safety?  Now, with George’s help, we have terrorists theoretically threatening to bomb the New York City subway system.  We have had subway bombs in London’s subways and terribly destructive bombings in Spain.  Sadaam in all his glory was never capable or stupid enough to threaten the US in any way.  In fact, Sadaam made every concession that George asked of him to avoid war.  Neither were there “Sadaam” bombings against our allies simply because they were our allies.

 

As for protecting his citizens, George presents a pitiful spectacle.  While bombing the infrastructure of Iraq “back to the stone age”, George had to divert monies from domestic infrastructure maintenance such as levy repair into “smart bombs” for his war on terror – against a country that had never been a threat to the US.  To add insult to the injury of New Orleans’ citizens, George had to make use of the FEMA branch of his 47.3 billion dollar per year Homeland Security boondoggle to thwart both domestic and foreign efforts for the relief of the people of New Orleans.  Meanwhile back at the borders.  Not even Hurricane Katrina slowed the illegal traffic into the United States.  An estimated one million illegals cross our borders each year – any of which could be a terrorist with murder or an American Social Security number or an American driving license on his mind.

 

But, let’s get back to George’s original question.  Is the world better off with George ruining the lives of Iraqis and stealing their oil or would we all be better off with Bin Laden ruining their lives and stealing their oil?  Who knows?  If Bin Laden had ever figured out how to depose Sadaam, Bin Laden would be living in Sadaam’s palaces instead of US Embassy and US military personnel.  Other than that, there isn’t much apparent difference.

 

Would Bin Laden have killed 100,000 Iraqi civilians, incarcerated another 40,000, tortured and killed untold numbers, set up gulags around the world for captured and purchased prisoners, used extraordinary rendition on those the CIA deems useful but uncooperative?  Would unemployment in Iraq under Bin Laden be over 50%? Who knows? Would Halliburton’s profits have jumped by 284% for the last year if Bin Laden controlled Iraq?  Probably not.

 

On the other hand, if Bin Laden were in control of Iraq, he might have decreed that Iraq go into competition with Afghanistan for the honor (and profits) of being the world’s foremost producer of poppies and illegal heroin.  Being an astute businessman he might have developed a deep jealousy toward Afghanistan’s control of 87% of the world’s heroin supply.   (Of course he might have had to enlist the help of the US military to become the top heroin producer).  After all, it was only after the US military had chased the Taliban out of Afghanistan that Afghanistan rose to its present number one heroin producing position.

 

So, you, Mr. and Mrs. America, decide for yourselves who represents the lesser of the evils – George or Bin Laden.

 

Nolan K. Anderson is a retired engineer and a veteran of Korea

who was once a “conservative” until he found there was nothing left to conserve.

(He may be reached at nkanders@tds.net ).

 

CHOICE AMERICA NETWORK

 

 

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November 06, 2005

Wage Peace,....

 
 
 
 
 
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