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Part 2 - Rep. McKinney's 9/11 Inquiry * 'Stupid Tour' Update * Star Wars Comments
29 March 2002 == Part two
4) Rep. McKinney - A hero in the demand for inquiry into 9-11
5) Michael Moore's ‘Stupid Tour' Update
6) Comments Requested by the Pentagon for a Star Wars Program
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4) Rep. McKinney - A hero in the demand for inquiry into 9-11
This information was received via Jean Hudon's list serve, posted on the web at http://www.cybernaute.com/earthconcert2000/Archives2002/TurningTide5.htm
(US) Rep. McKinney - A hero in the demand for inquiry into 9-11
DateThu, 28 Mar 2002
We have a hero in the demand for inquiry into 9-11. Congresswoman Cynthia Ann McKinney from Georgia has begun demanding that the Bush/Bin Laden connection and the bizarre fabrications making up the official story around the 9-11, WTC attacks, be FULLY INVESTIGATED.
She has suffered much hate mail from this, and she needs our support. In just five years, Cynthia Ann McKinney, Georgia's first African-American Congresswoman and the only woman serving in the state's congressional delegation, has emerged as an internationally renowned advocate for voting rights, human rights and the strengthening of business ties between Africa and the United States. She is known as a passionate, intelligent, charismatic and effective member of the House of Representatives.
As a Georgia state legislator from 1988 to 1992, Congresswoman McKinney gained national attention because of her determined struggle for a fair and just reapportionment plan in Georgia. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives by a decisive margin in 1992, McKinney has continued that struggle. Her new district, the Fourth Congressional District of Georgia, was redrawn as a result of recent US. Supreme Court decisions challenging the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act.
The New York Times reported this week the Senate committee voted unanimously to dramatically widen the 9-11 inquiries. This doesn't mean it's a done deal, it could still be glossed over. HOWEVER, with committed people of conscience like Rep. McKinney pushing and pushing behind the committees, WE COULD HAVE A REAL INQUIRY.
Here's a courageous person in government who deserves our support for standing up and speaking out.
Please send cards of thanks and support to:
Congresswoman Cynthia Ann McKinney
124 Cannon Building Washington, DC 20515
ph 202 225 1605 fax 202 226 0691
http://www.house.gov/mckinney/
McKinney Interview - Flashpoints!
DB: Well, Congresswoman Cynthia Mckinney, it is great to have you with us on Flashpoints. I wanted to follow up on that very powerful commentary with just a few questions that come off speeches you have made from the House floor on related information. First of all, why do you oppose the Rumsfeld 48.1 billion dollar increase in the military budget? What is most troubling about this for you?
CM: It was incredible sitting in the room on the day that secretary Rumsfeld gave his presentation to members of the Armed Services Committee. Of course I serve on the House Armed Services Committee, and every year the Secretary of Defense comes before that Committee with a statement on the budget.
Now, the $48.1 billion increase that Secretary Rumsfeld requested was interesting because basically what he said was we can afford it. Notwithstanding the fact that the Pentagon has lost 2.3 trillion dollars that we very well cannot afford to have lost.
DB: Lost it? Where did they lose it?
CM: That's a darn good question. You would think that Arthur Anderson is their accountant over there. They have lost 2.3 trillion dollars, and they don't know where to find that money. And of course the Secretary acknowledged the fact 2.3 trillion dollars remain unaccounted for, but in his testimony to the House Armed Services Committee, the Secretary said that the US can afford it. Now, he also said that we have a responsibility in this brave new post September 11 world, to make sure that we can adequately defend ourselves. And what he used as a justification for this unprecedented hike, the biggest hike in a generation, was the fact of the events around September 11. But as you know, and I know, it wasn't the military that failed. It was a failure of people who had information to act.
We know that there were several warnings that were given prior to the events of September 11. From people in Germany to people in the Cayman Islands to people even, now we learn about the owners of the pilot school. People were calling in to the FBI and the CIA and they were giving information that was critical.
Even prior to these warnings we had the trial itself from the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. And we had the trial from the American embassy bombing... And now the US government is being sued by survivors of the embassy bombings, because it is clear that America had warnings and did nothing. Did nothing to protect the lives of the people who serve in our foreign service and who serve us in other ways in our embassies around the world. Now the US government is being sued, and we're gonna have to pay for that, as those families are now paying every day with the loss of their loved ones
There was adequate warning. There were people who failed to act on the warning. And that's what ought to be investigated. But instead of requesting that Congress investigate what went wrong and why, we had president Bush (painful for me to say that, but) we had president Bush placing a call to Majority Leader Senator Tom Daschle asking him NOT to investigate the events of September 11, And then, hot on the heels of the president's phone call was another phone call from the vice president asking that Tom Daschle also not investigate the events that lead to September 11.
My question is, What do they have to hide? And why is it that the American people are being asked to make tremendous sacrifices now in our civil liberties. And the fact that we got this request for an unprecedented hike in -- the hike alone of 48.1 billion dollars is more than any one of our allies spend total on their defense.
And then the other issue that saddens me is the fact that the former President, president Bush's daddy, sits on the board of the Carlyle Group. And so we get this presidency, of questionable legitimacy, requesting a nearly unprecedented amount of money to go into a defense budget for defense spending that will directly benefit his father.
Where are the brakes on transparency and corruption that I see happening as a result of the fact that the president's father stands to make money off of the very requests that the president has made, on what I would call a specious argument saying that we need to increase defense spending because of Sept 11, when we now know that there was enough warning that we didn't have to even experience September 11 at all; at least that's the way it is now beginning to appear.
DB: How would the father make money on this budget?
CM: The father sits on the board of an organization called the Carlyle Group. Now when we had Frank Carlucci come to testify at the House International Relations Committee shortly after George W was sworn in,
DB: former Defense Secretary
CM: former Defense Secretary -- and we have a requirement that organizations that come before our committee, the House International Relations Committee, have to disclose Federal contracts. And so I requested of our chairman, Chairman Hyde, whether or not the Carlyle Group would be subjected to that requirement, since everyone else has to do it. And of course the Carlyle Group was NOT required to make any disclosure as to the Federal contracts that it had. That in itself means that they are skirting the rules of the House.
Notwithstanding that, the fact that the father sits on the board of the Carlyle Group, which is one of the highest level defense contractors in the country. I think they're number 11 or 12 in defense contracts. And they have at least one program, the Crusader, which doesn't work, it's a weapons system that doesn't work, has experienced tremendous cost overruns, and yet it continues to be funded, and we can only think that it's the heavy hand of very well-placed lobbyists that make sure that weapons systems that are, that have a connection with the Carlyle Group get funded. And even building contracts: bases abroad, all of the bases that we are now looking at, new bases going into Uzbekistan. The positioning of troops in former Soviet Georgia -- those troops are going to have to be housed, fed, and the weapons systems are going to have to be contained, and all of that is money. And sadly the Carlyle Group will benefit from this increase in funding that has been requested by the president.
Interestingly also, and probably the scariest of all, was the new mission, as identified by the Secretary, for our Armed Services. And that is that a major role now for the US military will be to occupy an opponent's capital and displace its regime.
Now, if that's the mission -- and we've been told that there are as many as 60 countries around the world that host terror cells that we need to go in and flush out -- then basically what we're talking about is expanding US military presence all over the planet. And that is a frightening experience and a frightening thought for me because I know that if we provide weapons they get used. And if our troops are there, they are going to use those weapons and those weapons that we provide might even be used against our own troops; we have to be very careful about that.
But interestingly the Secretary said that they intend to "drain the swamp", and it's interesting to me that it appears to me that this new mission of our military to go into a capital and take it over was started in Washington DC.
DB: Final question, Congresswoman McKinney. These are mighty powerful thoughts you're expressing here. I'm wondering how much support you have in Congress, and perhaps you have heard from people who are quite unhappy with your voicing these kinds of very strong, controversial thoughts
CM: It's always good to hear from people who think like you. I definitely hear from people who don't think like you. And that's healthy. It's a part of the American process. But just as it's healthy for me to hear from people who don't think like me, it's also very healthy for people like me to have a voice and to be willing to speak. And it's totally inappropriate, I believe, for my patriotism to be questioned, my feelings of attachment and loyalty for America to be questioned
DB: Has it been questioned?
CM: You would be surprised at the hate mail that I get in the Congressional office.
DB: What do people say to you?
CM: I wish I had a piece right here and I'd read it to you. We got one piece that told me that I needed to go back to Africa and take Jesse with me. it seems that the people who write in find it impossible to omit the fact that I'm black. And so the racial aspect of the hatred also comes out. I can accept people who disagree. But I don't know that we need thought police in our universities, because our universities are supposed to teach freedom of thought. And I don't know that we need thought police and speech police inside the US Congress, because the Congress is supposed to represent Americans of all stripes and all ideologies. And I know that there is a very powerful peace movement in this country. I hear from them, I know they're out there. I'd love to hear a little bit more from them.
DB: Well, we have very much appreciated hearing from you today. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, reading her essay "Thoughts on our war against terrorism", and then speaking with us on Flashpoints here on Pacifica radio. We thank you so much for your time and your good
information and commentary.
CM: Thank you very much and I look forward to talking with you again.
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For a related story, the BBC reports:
Did Secret CIA Anthrax Mailing 'Test' Go Terribly Wrong?
BBCNews.co.uk
3-18-2
An investigation raised the possibility that there was a secret CIA project to investigate methods of sending anthrax through the mail which went madly out of control. The shocking assertion is that a key member of the covert operation may have removed, refined and eventually posted weapons-grade anthrax which killed five people.
For this complete article, visit:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/audiovideo/programmes/newsnight/archive/newsid_1873000/1873368.stm
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5) Michael Moore's ‘Stupid Tour' Update
An update from Michael Moore: The Stupid Tour Is Extended
Monday, March 25, 2001
Dear friends,
Good news... I've been able to line up (with the help of lots of good people around the country), more than a DOZEN extra cities for the "Stupid White Men" book tour.
Today's #1 ranking for "Stupid White Men" on the New York Times bestseller list has, I honestly believe, very little to do with me and a WHOLE LOT to do with you and the powerful rebuttal you have given to the media mantra of "GEORGE W. BUSH HAS THE HIGHEST APPROVAL RATINGS IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND!"
That more Americans are reading this book, this week, than any other book in the country has sent a stunning dagger to the heart of the right-wing agenda -- and they are going bonkers trying to figure it out! Well, there is nothing to figure out. Those approval ratings are the biggest bunch of B.S. since daddy Bush's 90% approval rating one year before he was sent packing. Take heart in this folks. I want you to share this day, this incredible victory with me. Let's hope it's the beginning of the end for those boys who are occupying our Oval Office.
Gee, did I just break their new Patriot Act by saying that? Let's hope so!
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I will be in Kansas City for two events tonight, Monday, March 25th (the first is at UMKC, the second event will be at 10pm at the Uptown Theatre). Then I'll be back in New York at NYU on Wednesday (March 27th).
Other dates include Northwest Michigan College in Traverse City on Monday, April 1st; Ithaca on April 3rd; and at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, on April 4th. Later in April, I will be coming to Tufts University near Boston, Denton and Dallas, TX; Oklahoma City and Norman, OK; Champaign-Urbana, IL; Palo Alto, CA; Portland and Eugene, OR, and Seattle.
Tentative cities still in the works include Philadelphia, Atlanta, Tampa, Raleigh-Durham, Grand Rapids, East Lansing, Saginaw, Athens, OH -- and more are planned for later.
A Canadian tour is also being put together. The book has been #1 in Canada for the past three weeks. Many thanks to all of you up there who look south and roll your eyes in disbelief.
Please go to my website to get the exact times and locations.
Michael Moore
Author
Filmmaker
Middle East Envoy
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
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6) Comments Requested by the Pentagon for a Star Wars Program
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Office of the Secretary; Preparation of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense Extended Test Range Environmental Impact Statement
ACTION Public Comment Period - COMMENTS DUE BY APRIL 25
SUMMARY
In order to meet the requirement to increase the realism of GMD integrated flight testing, MDA proposes to enhance the current test capability that includes the missile launch sites and array of sensors and other test equipment associated with the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Test Site (RTS) at Kwajalein Atoll, the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) in Hawaii and Vandenberg Air Force Base (AFB) in California.
The Department of Defense is publishing this notice to announce the initiation and preparation of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Extended Test Range (ETR) Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) per Council of Environmental Quality regulations.
BACKGROUND
The Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Joint Program Office of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has been directed to conduct more operationally realistic testing of the GMD element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS).
The GMD element of BMDS is being developed to protect the entire United States against limited ballistic missile threats during the midcourse segment of an attacking missile's flight. The extension of the GMD test range would increase the realism of GMD testing by using multiple engagement scenarios, trajectories, geometry, distances, speeds of targets and interceptors that closely resemble those in which an operational system would be required to provide an effective defense.
Scoping Process
This EIS will assess environmental issues associated with the proposed action; reasonable alternatives including the no-action alternative; foreseeable future actions; and cumulative effects.
Public input and comments are solicited concerning the environmental safety and occupational health issues related to the proposed action. As a part of the decision-making process, the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (USASMDC) is managing the preparation of the EIS for flight-testing of GMD on behalf of the MDA.
PUBLIC COMMENTS/SEND TO THIS ADDRESS
Comments concerning the public scoping process or the EIS process should be addressed to U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, ATTNSMDC-EN-V (Mrs. Julia Hudson-Elliott), 106 Wynn Drive, Huntsville, AL 35805, or by e-mail at gmdetreis@smdc.army.mil.
[Federal Register: March 28, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 60)] [Notices] [Page 14919-14920]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCIDfr28mr02-38]
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The Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space suggests that you reply soon with the following points for their consideration:
1) Star Wars test expansion will be expensive and will require cuts in education, health care, social security and the like.
2) No real threat has been established. Who is the enemy?
3) Star Wars will be destabilizing and create a new arms race.
4) This program is really about U.S. "control and domination" and will in the end only benefit the military industrial complex.
For more information on the Global Network and to join their campaigns, contact the
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
Bruce Gagnon - globalnet@mindspring.com
PO Box 90083
Gainesville, FL. 32607
(352) 337-9274
http://www.space4peace.org
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