News 8 Austin recently reported on a growing number of active duty soldiers and recent Iraq war veterans who have begun speaking up about the war in Iraq — a number of soldiers are talking about their experiences in Iraq via online forums, blogs and pamphlets. Some Iraq war veterans feel it’s their duty to let the American public know the truth.
Fort Hood soldier Casey Porter, who started the local branch of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) there, said “We lost really good friends, really good leaders who died in Iraq. From my perspective, it didn’t make any sense, we didn’t accomplish anything, and I talked to a lot of other soldiers who feel the same way.”
Currently back in the U.S. for a limited time while waiting to be redeployed, Porter passes out pamphlets because he feels it’s his obligation to take action for his fallen brothers. Members of his local IVAW are trying to let other soldiers know it’s ok to do the same thing.
Ronn Cantu, another Fort Hood soldier awaiting redeployment to Iraq, says that it’s well within the rights service members have, but not many soldiers know what rights they do have. Knowing he might not live through his second tour, he feels the need to say things he needs to say.
Washington Lawmakers Filtering Iraq War Facts
Sgt. Selena Coppa blames lawmakers in Washington for filtering the facts on the Iraq war and says there’s no real end to the war in sight. “The honest truth is that if the American people knew what was going on over there everyday, they would be raising their voices too. They would be saying, ‘Hey, bring those guys home,” she said, adding that there is a cost to this war that is being paid in American blood.
As noted by News 8 Austin, those things are now being said loud and clear.
Links to More Information
Below are numerous links to and snippets of other interesting information:
Bush admin: U.S. has ‘lost intelligence’ article from Politico.com
More lies and Bull S**t from the Bush regime regarding the Protect America Act.
The Nexus of Politics & Terror (again) video from Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC
Ex-Congressman: U.S. Government Created Al-Qaeda, Involved in 9/11 article from Prison Planet:
“A former Congressman says that the U.S. government created Al-Qaeda and was involved in bombing its own citizens on 9/11, telling a national radio show that elements of the Bush administration assisted the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon.
Daniel Hamburg is a former Democratic Congressman who was elected to the 1st Congressional District of California in 1992 and also subsequently ran for Governor of California, finishing in 3rd place.
Hamburg co-wrote a well-received recent article carried by the San Francisco Chronicle in which he outlined the program to incarcerate American citizens in internment camps, which have already been publicly built, during a time of declared national emergency.
“Any government that could bomb its own citizens in the major city of the country could do anything….you can’t put anything past them,” said Hamburg, clarifying that he was referring to 9/11.”
Why Bush Made Plans to Invade the Netherlands article from The Existentialist Cowboy Blogspot
Inside the world of war profiteers article from Information Clearing House:
“From prostitutes to Super bowl tickets, a federal probe reveals how contractors in Iraq cheated the U.S.”
Dave Lindorff: The Bush/Cheney Administration Takes Us for Idiots article from Buzz Flash:
“Anybody who thinks that the government is telling the truth about the plan to shoot down a dead spy satellite — that it’s all about protecting us, and not about testing an anti-satellite weapon — has to be really stupid.
And stupid is what the Bush administration and the Pentagon apparently think we are.
If you want to know how likely it is that such a tank would make it to ground, check out the pieces of the space shuttle Columbia that made it back to Earth when it came down in pieces. That shuttle, a damned sight bigger than this spy satellite, included some heavy pieces of equipment such as landing gear that had to carry the full weight of the vehicle on the tarmac, and even that stuff got toasted. (The shuttle also contained tanks of hydrazine, by the way, which didn’t make it to Earth).
The only difference between the U.S. and China here is that the Chinese at least have the integrity to violate international law frontally. The U.S. has to do it dishonestly, pretending it is a public service.
Let’s at least not be willing stooges here.
We have had eight years of government by lying. It’s not that lies and deception weren’t practiced by governments before the advent of the Cheney/Bush regime, but this administration more than any other before it, clearly believes that democracy and integrity are simply obstacles to power, and has worked assiduously to try to eliminate them entirely from Washington.
It’s past time to bring a little integrity and openness back.”
Web Site ‘Wikileaks’ Shuttered Over Post article from Wired.com
“SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge has set off a free speech tempest after shutting down a U.S. Web site for posting internal documents accusing a Cayman Islands’ bank branch of money laundering and tax evasion schemes.
“The order is clearly unconstitutional and exceeds its jurisdiction,” Wikileaks spokesman Julian Assange said in the e-mail statement issued from Paris on Monday. “Wikileaks will keep on publishing. In fact, given the level of suppression involved in this case, Wikileaks will step up publication of documents pertaining to illegal or unethical banking practices.”
Border Fence To Bypass Property Of Wealthy Oilman Who Donated $35 Million To Bush library article from Think Progress
Say What You Will (Requiem for a TV News Career) article from The Huffington Post
“Maybe this was always the way it had to be.
When I asked, just out of curiosity, who came across my blog and/or the columns in the Huffington Post, the woman from HR answered, “We have people within the company whose job is specifically to research this kind of thing in regard to employees.”
Jesus, we have a Gestapo?
As far as CNN (and to be fair, the mainstream TV press in general) believes, it still sits comfortably at the top of the food chain, unthreatened by any possibility of a major paradigm shift being brought to bear by a horde of little people with laptops and opinions. Although the big networks recognize the need to appeal to bloggers, they don’t fear them — and that means that they don’t respect them. Corporate-think dictates that the mainstream television press as a monstrous multi-headed hydra is the ultimate news authority and therefore is in possession of the one and only hotline to the ghosts of Murrow and Sevareid. Sure those bloggers are entertaining, but in the end they’re really just insects who either feed off the carcasses of news items vetted through various networks or, when they do break stories, want nothing more than to see themselves granted an audience by the kingmakers on television.
This, of course, is horseshit.”
When Change Is Not Enough: Seven Steps to Revolution article from AlterNet
When the Terrorists Were ‘Our Guys’ article from Consortium News
Seems the Bush family history has a bad history of repeating itself.
All Roads Lead to Dick Cheney article (2006) from George Washington Blogspot
Rigged Gitmo Trials Prove 9/11 Official Story Wrong article from Prison Planet
Defend Wikileaks! article from BinaryFreedom.info
The governmental censorship and attempts to cover up information are getting more ridiculous.
Push Truth – For the people, By the people
CNN’s John Roberts helps out Mike McConnell article from Glenn Greenwald of Salon News:
Another side show full of political propaganda from two peckerheads trying to get the public to allow the continued destruction of civil liberties by using fear for personal and political gain. CNN really needs to ask themselves what will happen in the near future after more people catch on their lies and propaganda. Apparently CNN wants to go down with a sinking ship. As for McConnell, apparently he’s a bigger moron than perviously thought.
“Michael McConnell was “interviewed” by CNN’s John Roberts this morning and here were the first two (and only) questions asked about telecom amnesty:
ROBERTS: Mr. McConnell, first of all, why the urgent need for retroactive immunity for these telecommunications companies?
MIKE MCCONNELL, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Good morning, John. The primary reason for retroactive immunity or liability protection from the carriers is to obtain their assistance. Quite frankly we cannot do the job we have to do without the cooperation of the private sector. So the situation we’re in now with private sector companies being subjected to huge suits, they’re not inclined to give us assistance. So there is varying arguments about having the bill expire, extending it or continuing it in its current form. In either case, all three of those, we are losing and will continue to lose significant amounts of information because we can’t do this mission without the cooperation and participation of the private sector.
ROBERTS: So you say it is important to protect these telecommunications companies from liability so that they continue to help in the program. But is it also important from your perspective to keep the prying eyes of attorneys who are launching these lawsuits away from uncovering information about the program as they go through the discovery process?
MCCONNELL: Well, certainly, John. That’s a part of it. This is a classified program. We are engaged in tracking foreign terrorists in a variety of ways around the world. So more and more of this is discussed in the public, revealed in the public and so on. Those that we are tracking are smart and they’re adaptable. And so what is revealed to them through whatever process they can change their techniques and makes it more difficult for us. Now, remember, these are terrorists who operate with the context of suicide that have sworn to commit mass casualties inside the United States greater than 9/11. So, these are very dangerous men that we’re attempting to track.
Their vote summed up everything that’s wrong with Washington politics today. Fear and hard campaign cash rule the roost, and the Constitution is regarded as a meaningless scrap of parchment, indeed, a nuisance.”
Help Dennis Kucinich keep his House seat article from The Smirking Chimp:
This man deserves to keep his seat in the House of Representatives.
“As you’re probably aware, Ohio’s 10th Congressional is in the midst of a fierce primary battle. Motivated to seize the House seat for its preferred corporate candidate, and driven by hatred stretching back to Muny Light, the Cleveland Plain Dealer — a very conservative newspaper and the town’s only daily — is trying to push Dennis Kucinich out after more than ten years of loyal and able service to his constituency.
Cleveland’s movers and shakers have thrown their support by sitting Ward 13 councilman Joe Cimperman, a corporate-owned politician. His argument for running is based in part on the most ludicrous of claims: that a sitting elected official ought not to spend taxpayer time and money running for another elected office. But that is precisely what Cimperman is doing. Furthermore, he is running on a patently false claim that Kucinich has missed more votes than almost any other member of Congress.”
New Mexico Clinton Endorser “Borrowed” Ballot Boxes Full o’Votes article from The Buckeye State Blog
Nick Davies: How “flat earth” news is killing journalism article from Media Workers Against the War
Our view on security vs. privacy: Bush uses scare tactics to railroad flawed spying act article from USA Today
“President Bush is rarely as vivid about the specter of terrorism as he is when he’s trying to stampede Congress into doing something it should think twice about. On Wednesday, he demanded quick passage of a flawed surveillance measure because “terrorists are planning attacks on our country … that will make Sept. 11 pale by comparison.”
Whoa. There’s little dispute that terrorists want to strike the United States in horrific ways, or that the government should aggressively hunt them down and stop them. But there’s a legitimate debate over how much of Americans’ hard-won civil liberties it’s necessary to trade away to fight and win, and how much to curtail the traditional role of judges in overseeing wiretapping that involves Americans. The president has frequently gotten this trade-off wrong, and he’s doing it again.
Bush wants to extend for six more years the broad eavesdropping powers a too-pliant Congress temporarily gave him last August. That law effectively legalized the illegal wiretapping the administration had already been conducting for years on Bush’s say-so. In a troubling twist, the follow-on measure approved by the Senate on Tuesday would also grant amnesty to phone companies that conducted the warrantless eavesdropping and now face about 40 lawsuits.
It’s regrettable that the Senate, including 19 Democrats, rolled over to the demands of the administration and telecommunication lobby. History shows that when judicial oversight is reduced, government agencies’ snooping inevitably extends beyond national security threats to political opponents, journalists, protesters and other domestic annoyances. When an administration tries to end run the law, telecommunication companies should be a crucial last line of resistance to protect your privacy.”
Talking Points Memo – Former Gitmo Prosecutor: Pentagon Official Said “We Can’t Have Acquittals” article from TPMMuckraker
World Court Orders Arrests of President Bush and VP Cheney video from Google.com
The gulag comes to America: The Don Siegelman case article from The Online Journal
Halliburton Detention Camps For Political Subversives article from Prison Planet
US FEMA Camps article (with footnotes) from GlobalResearch.ca
Fact-Checking The Fact-Checkers Who Fact-Checked Ron Paul article from The American Chronicle:
“Factcheck.org’s Joe Miller wrote an incendiary piece on Ron Paul that was picked up by Newsweek, which was titled “Wrong Paul: Fantasy, fallacy and factual fumbles from the Republican insurgent”. Miller packs it full of false and disingenuous assertions. Some could expose Miller, Factcheck.org, and Newsweek to a libel claim. The rest are just nonsense. Apparently, Miller has a history of obfuscation, if not outright polemics in his fact-checking. His opening paragraphs claim to deliver criticisms of Paul’s more “outlandish claims”, but some of the claims are not even Paul’s.
First, Paul claims that a secret conspiracy composed of the Security and Prosperity Partnership and a cabal of foreign companies is behind plans to build a NAFTA Superhighway as the first step toward creating a North American Union. But the NAFTA Superhighway that Paul describes is a myth, and the groups supposedly behind the plans are neither secret nor nefarious.
Actually, Paul claimed the exact opposite. He said it was “not secret” and it was “not a conspiracy”. Instead, it is a “contest between ideologies”. That means Paul thinks there are people who are ideologically driven to unify North America. Big deal.
Not only was Miller wrong about Paul’s claim, but Paul’s supposedly “outlandish” claim is actually pretty trite. So why did Paul bring it up? He didn’t. He said it when he was asked one of his three questions at the CNN/Youtube debate. The first was something like: What are you going to do when you loose? The second was: do you believe in all this conspiracy stuff? I think the third one had a little more substance.
So where did fact-checker, Joe Miller get this? Miller cited blogs, no less. One of them came from the Washington Posts’ Fact-Checker, whose quote of Paul omits the part where he said, explicitly, “It’s not a conspiracy”.
ATTENTION BLOGOSPHERE! article from George Washington’s Blog
The man brings up a very good point.
House Calls Bush’s Bluff, Denying Him Life Jacket: Ann Woolner article from Bloomberg.com
Immunity: Not About Telecoms article from The New Republic blog:
“This makes a lot of sense. I sympathize with the telecoms too. It’s worth emphasizing, though, that there was an ideal solution to this problem: the Specter-Whitehouse substitution amendment, which would have allowed lawsuits to go forward but would have substituted the United States as a defendant, letting the telecoms off the hook. But the administration, Senate Republicans, and a handful of Democrats conspired to kill this amendment. The primary reason the Bush administration wants immunity isn’t to help out its telecom friends, but to prevent the details of the wiretapping program from being scrutinized–even confidentally–in a lawsuit, regardless of who the defendant is.
Indeed, though my view is that House Democrats did the right thing by standing firm and letting the Protect America Act expire, they also deserve credit for making a good-faith effort to compromise on the issue–first by passing temporary FISA fixes, and then by supporting amendments like Specter-Whitehouse. But the fact that Bush was willing to let the law expire rather than compromise is telling–if reforming FISA isn’t important enough for Bush to sacrifice immunity, then there’s no reason for Democrats to unilaterally give in. Ted Kennedy had the most apt summary of the situation:
Think about what we’ve been hearing from the White House in this debate. The President has said that American lives will be sacrificed if Congress does not change FISA. But he has also said that he will veto any FISA bill that does not grant retroactive immunity. No immunity, no new FISA bill. So if we take the President at his word, he is willing to let Americans die to protect the phone companies.”
Bush’s confounding confusion on surveillance law article from The Carpetbagger Report
Nobody Could Have Foreseen 9/11? article from OpEdNews:
“One of the oft-repeated mantras of those trying to prop up the official story of 9/11 is that “no one could have foreseen it”.
Is that true?
According to MSNBC, “There have been a slew of reports over the past decade of plots to use planes to strike American targets”.
In 1994, the government received information that international terrorists “had seriously considered the use of airplanes as a means of carrying out terrorist attacks” (see also this article).
According to the New York Times, “The F.B.I. had been aware for several years that Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network were training pilots in the United States ….”
In 1998, U.S. officials received reports concerning a “Bin Laden plot involving aircraft in the New York and Washington, areas.” Officials received reports that al Qaeda was trying to establish an operative cell in the United States and that bin Laden was attempting to recruit a group of five to seven young men from the United States to travel to the Middle East for training in conjunction with his plans to strike U.S. domestic targets. Indeed, the report concluded that “a group of unidentified Arabs planned to fly an explosive-laden plane . . . into the World Trade Center”.
What Was In Building 7? article from WTC7.net – the hidden story of Building 7
Very interesting to note who the occupants of building 7 were before it was conveniently imploded with the attacks on the World Trade Center…CIA, Secret Service, IRS, SEC to name a few.
Top US accountability officer quits over job constraints article from The Raw Story / AFP
The Powerful and Obnoxious Odor of Mendacity: FISA and the Bill of Rights article from OpEdNews
The Man Who Sold the War article from James Bamford of Rolling Stone Magazine (2005):
“Meet John Rendon, Bush’s general in the propaganda war.”
George W. Bush – AWOL from Supporting our Troops article from AWOLBush.com
Swiftboating: Texas GOP Demands Rick Noriega’s Military Records article from Daily Kos
The Emperor has No Votes article from George Washington’s Blog:
“It is now beyond dispute that the 2004 election was stolen.
The non-partisan and highly-respected government agency, the Government Accountability Office, verified that the electronic voting machines used in 2004 were wide open to fraud, and that fraud likely occured in Ohio, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, and other states.
The security flaws in electronic voting machines are so complete that anyone can instantaneously install software which will change the vote counts. See this New York Times’ Magazine analysis, and also E-Voting Machine an Easy Hack from Wired Magazine.
Exit polling data shows that there was vote fraud.
And Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and leading reporter Greg Palast have shown that the emperor’s cronies intentionally spoiled, rejected, purged and otherwise refused to count enough ballots to take the election away from Kerry (not that I like Kerry). See also this article.”
Defending Liberty: Fighting Terror and Treason in America article from WhiteHouser.com
Intel chair to Bush on FISA: I will not back down to you article from The Raw Story
SCIENCE-US: Top Scientists Want Research Free From Politics article from IPS News:
“BOSTON, Feb 14 (IPS) – Leading U.S. scientists called on Congress Thursday to make sure the next president does not do what they say the George W. Bush Administration has done: censor, suppress and falsify important environmental and health research.
“The next president and Congress must cultivate an environment where reliable scientific advice flows freely,” said Susan Wood, a former director of women’s research at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Wood resigned her post in 2005 in protest over the FDA’s delay in getting emergency, over-the-counter birth control onto the market.
“Serious consequences can result when drug safety decisions are not based on the best available scientific advice from staff scientists and experts,” she said.
Wood joined a panel of prominent scientists in Boston — convened by the Union of Concerned Scientists, an activist group — to announce a joint statement asking Congress to protect scientific integrity. Among the more than 15,000 government scientists signing onto the statement are Harold Varmus, president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre and former director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH); and Anthony Robbins, professor of medicine at Tufts University and former director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
“Although surely the worst, the Bush Administration is not the first, nor will it be the last administration to mistreat and misuse science and scientists,” Robbins said. The White House itself has been directly involved in the suppression and falsification of science, Robbins stressed.”
The invasion of America article from The Los Angeles Times
Written, amazingly enough, by the senior judicial analyst at the Fox News Channel.
Court Rejects Domestic Spying Appeal article from The Associate Press
Another outrageous example of the ‘supreme’ court allowing the Bush Administration get away with serious crimes, as well as another terrific argument that the President should not be allowed to appoint ‘justices,’ since they quickly become politically motivated.
Complete 911 Timeline article from The Cooperative Research History Commons:
“2/14/2008: Newly Released FBI Timeline Reveals New Information about 9/11 Hijackers that Was Ignored by 9/11 Commission
Latest Findings Raise New Questions about Hijackers and Suggest Incomplete Investigation
A contributor to the History Commons has obtained a 298-page document entitled Hijackers Timeline (Redacted) from the FBI, subsequent to a Freedom of Information Act request. The document was a major source of information for the 9/11 Commission’s final report. Though the commission cited the timeline 52 times in its report, it failed to include some of the document’s most important material.”
I never expected this in a country which I thought was free and whose rule of law I trusted article and video from Presscue.com
“We’re Making This Up as We Go Along” article from CounterPunch.com:
“Michael Goldfarb on Guantanamo and the War on Terror.”
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