'Fortress Washington'
Starmail - 5. Jul, 23:04
War On Terror
5
Jul
2004
2
Jul
2004
US will override Baghdad in war on terrorism
American commanders will risk launching high-profile military actions at targets in Iraq even if they go directly against the wishes of the new Iraqi government, a senior US general said yesterday...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1251033,00.html
From Information Clearing House
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1251033,00.html
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 2. Jul, 10:01
1
Jul
2004
Defining Terrorism
From: Hank Roth
Topic: empire
Collateral Damage (known in Germany in WWII as terror bombing) is what happens when you drop bombs somewhere and someone who is not the intended victim also dies or is maimed. It is the collateral consequence of war. A lot of Afghans died in the bloodlust for Osama bin Laden, especially with 15,000 pound daisy cutter bombs being dropped on them, which are almost equivalent to low yield nuclear weapons. It is the closest weapon the U.S. has in it's arsenal to a nuclear bomb without being one...
http://g0lem.net/vortal/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=39
Informant: ARISTOTLE
Topic: empire
Collateral Damage (known in Germany in WWII as terror bombing) is what happens when you drop bombs somewhere and someone who is not the intended victim also dies or is maimed. It is the collateral consequence of war. A lot of Afghans died in the bloodlust for Osama bin Laden, especially with 15,000 pound daisy cutter bombs being dropped on them, which are almost equivalent to low yield nuclear weapons. It is the closest weapon the U.S. has in it's arsenal to a nuclear bomb without being one...
http://g0lem.net/vortal/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=39
Informant: ARISTOTLE
Starmail - 1. Jul, 19:05
The war we're losing
Patrick J. Buchanan
The war on Iraq into which his neo-conservative advisers prodded the president seems to have ignited the very "war of civilizations" between Islam and America that the president said he wanted to avoid...
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=39199
From Information Clearing House
The war on Iraq into which his neo-conservative advisers prodded the president seems to have ignited the very "war of civilizations" between Islam and America that the president said he wanted to avoid...
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=39199
From Information Clearing House
Starmail - 1. Jul, 11:10
The Wrong War
How the war in Iraq has fueled Al Qaeda and ignited its dream of global jihad...
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2004/07/07_401.html
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2004/07/07_401.html
Starmail - 1. Jul, 10:45
Republican Senator Rips Bush on Iraq Strategy
Published on Wednesday, June 30, 2004 by the San Francisco Chronicle
Republican Senator Rips Bush on Iraq Strategy
Hagel says war hurt U.S. in terror battle
by James Sterngold
LOS ANGELES -- Sen. Chuck Hagel, an influential moderate Republican from Nebraska, sharply criticized the Bush administration in an interview here Tuesday, saying that the war in Iraq appears to have hurt America in its battle against terrorism.
Hagel, a politician sometimes mentioned as a future presidential contender, also said the United States is going to have to consider restarting the draft to maintain its many military commitments abroad.
In a sharp critique of the leader of his own party, Hagel said he believes the occupation of Iraq by the American military was poorly planned and has spread terrorist cells more widely around the world.
"This put in motion a new geographic dispersion" of the terrorists, said Hagel, 58, in an interview before delivering a speech to the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles. "It's harder to deal with them because they're not as contained. Iraq has become a training ground."
He added that although it is too soon to judge how the war in Iraq will ultimately influence the war on terror, in the short term it has created more terrorists and given them more targets -- American soldiers.
Hagel, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, said he agrees with President Bush that the duration of the war on terror might be measured in generations and that to sustain the badly overstretched military for the struggle, a new draft may be needed.
"We are seeing huge cracks developing in our force structure," he said. "The fact is, if we're going to continue with this, we're going to have to be honest with the American people."
Hagel is clearly trying to carve out a role for himself as a leading moderate voice within the Republican Party, particularly in foreign policy. He has given a string of speeches over the past year advocating a cooperative approach in foreign policy, and he wrote an essay in the current issue of "Foreign Affairs," a policy journal, in which he spells out his principles for a more internationalist and pragmatic Republican foreign policy.
A two-term senator, Hagel is regarded as a pragmatist who is ideologically out of line with the conservatives in the Bush administration. There were even reports recently that he had been courted by Sen. John Kerry, the likely Democratic nominee for president, as a vice presidential candidate.
Asked if he had been approached or if he would consider the offer, Hagel said he is a diehard Republican "and I'll stay in the Republican Party."
But after finding his moderate views largely ignored by the president, Hagel said he feels that Bush, who has taken a strong unilateral approach to foreign policy, is now being forced to embrace positions much closer to those Hagel and other moderates have advocated.
Hagel has pushed for the United States to work much more closely with the United Nations, NATO and America's principal allies in Europe. The president has been in Europe this week offering a more conciliatory face to the allies, and Hagel said the harsh reality of the war in Iraq has forced his hand.
"It's a whole different administration approach,'' Hagel said. "There is a newfound humility, a newfound realism" in the Bush administration.
In another area in which Hagel's views differ sharply from the president's, he suggested that the best way to ultimately win the war on terror is to earn the trust and respect of foreigners, especially younger people in the Arab world and other parts of the globe. The best way to do that, he said, is to make the United States more accessible to them and more open to immigration.
"We are pushing away our friends, our allies, the next generation around the world," Hagel said.
© Copyright 2004 San Francisco Chronicle
Informant: plion
Republican Senator Rips Bush on Iraq Strategy
Hagel says war hurt U.S. in terror battle
by James Sterngold
LOS ANGELES -- Sen. Chuck Hagel, an influential moderate Republican from Nebraska, sharply criticized the Bush administration in an interview here Tuesday, saying that the war in Iraq appears to have hurt America in its battle against terrorism.
Hagel, a politician sometimes mentioned as a future presidential contender, also said the United States is going to have to consider restarting the draft to maintain its many military commitments abroad.
In a sharp critique of the leader of his own party, Hagel said he believes the occupation of Iraq by the American military was poorly planned and has spread terrorist cells more widely around the world.
"This put in motion a new geographic dispersion" of the terrorists, said Hagel, 58, in an interview before delivering a speech to the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles. "It's harder to deal with them because they're not as contained. Iraq has become a training ground."
He added that although it is too soon to judge how the war in Iraq will ultimately influence the war on terror, in the short term it has created more terrorists and given them more targets -- American soldiers.
Hagel, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, said he agrees with President Bush that the duration of the war on terror might be measured in generations and that to sustain the badly overstretched military for the struggle, a new draft may be needed.
"We are seeing huge cracks developing in our force structure," he said. "The fact is, if we're going to continue with this, we're going to have to be honest with the American people."
Hagel is clearly trying to carve out a role for himself as a leading moderate voice within the Republican Party, particularly in foreign policy. He has given a string of speeches over the past year advocating a cooperative approach in foreign policy, and he wrote an essay in the current issue of "Foreign Affairs," a policy journal, in which he spells out his principles for a more internationalist and pragmatic Republican foreign policy.
A two-term senator, Hagel is regarded as a pragmatist who is ideologically out of line with the conservatives in the Bush administration. There were even reports recently that he had been courted by Sen. John Kerry, the likely Democratic nominee for president, as a vice presidential candidate.
Asked if he had been approached or if he would consider the offer, Hagel said he is a diehard Republican "and I'll stay in the Republican Party."
But after finding his moderate views largely ignored by the president, Hagel said he feels that Bush, who has taken a strong unilateral approach to foreign policy, is now being forced to embrace positions much closer to those Hagel and other moderates have advocated.
Hagel has pushed for the United States to work much more closely with the United Nations, NATO and America's principal allies in Europe. The president has been in Europe this week offering a more conciliatory face to the allies, and Hagel said the harsh reality of the war in Iraq has forced his hand.
"It's a whole different administration approach,'' Hagel said. "There is a newfound humility, a newfound realism" in the Bush administration.
In another area in which Hagel's views differ sharply from the president's, he suggested that the best way to ultimately win the war on terror is to earn the trust and respect of foreigners, especially younger people in the Arab world and other parts of the globe. The best way to do that, he said, is to make the United States more accessible to them and more open to immigration.
"We are pushing away our friends, our allies, the next generation around the world," Hagel said.
© Copyright 2004 San Francisco Chronicle
Informant: plion
Starmail - 1. Jul, 10:01
Supreme Court Ends Term With Reaffirmation of Rule of Law During Times of National Crisis
"The Supreme Court Term that ended today will long be remembered for its emphatic repudiation of the Bush Administration’s claim that it can conduct the war on terrorism as it sees fit with virtually no opportunity for meaningful judicial review," the American Civil Liberties Union said today.
Insisting that a system of checks and balances is essential to safeguarding both liberty and security, the Court ruled that foreign citizens detained at Guantánamo Bay and American citizens detained in military brigs are both entitled to their day in court.
“These are truly historic decisions,” said Steven R. Shapiro, the ACLU’s national legal director. “The administration has treated the rule of law as an inconvenience in the war against terrorism. In response, the Supreme Court has sent a powerful message that the end does not justify the means, and that it will not sit on the sidelines while the rule of law is ignored.”
To read the ACLU summary of the term, please click here
http://www.aclu.org/court/court.cfm?orgid=n&ID=16029&c=261&MX=1352&H=1
Insisting that a system of checks and balances is essential to safeguarding both liberty and security, the Court ruled that foreign citizens detained at Guantánamo Bay and American citizens detained in military brigs are both entitled to their day in court.
“These are truly historic decisions,” said Steven R. Shapiro, the ACLU’s national legal director. “The administration has treated the rule of law as an inconvenience in the war against terrorism. In response, the Supreme Court has sent a powerful message that the end does not justify the means, and that it will not sit on the sidelines while the rule of law is ignored.”
To read the ACLU summary of the term, please click here
http://www.aclu.org/court/court.cfm?orgid=n&ID=16029&c=261&MX=1352&H=1
Starmail - 1. Jul, 08:35
30
Jun
2004
Win Without War Calls Hand-Off Another "Mission Accomplished"
Raising False Expectations will Fuel Insurgency And International Terrorism, Making America Less Safe...
http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/0629-06.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/0629-06.htm
Starmail - 30. Jun, 18:08
