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BehindWar * CO2 RiseSurprise * Peace * NaderBush


11 October 2004

"It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong."

– Voltaire


1) Behind the War on Terror
- - "Inspection Process Rigged for War" -- Scott Ritter
- - The Oil Factor: Behind the War on Terror
- - "Fahrenheit 9/11" available for raising consciousness
- - Bush Puts Off Major Assault On Iraq Until After US Vote
- - Our Cheating President
- - Nonproliferation Politics
- - Daughter of Soldier Contaminated with Depleted Uranium
2) [NO] Surprise CO2 rise may speed up global warming
3) Peltier Support for 2004 Nobel Peace Prize
4) The Nader Factor - "Alliances with Bush in Key States"

"We've got a couple of surprises that we intend to spring."

- - Karl Rove

(9/29/04 - On ABC Radio to Sean Hannity)

Editor's Notes:

It must be for you, too, a good peaceful feeling getting a break from issues of Flyby News. What is happening these days is mind blowing enough, and then to get published resources. It is a lot to absorb, and to keep in balance. But the natural world is giving, and inspiring, full of grace and color these days.

Item 1 is on factors behind the war on terror, which may really be a war on democracy, and against life itself. These are the resources to absorb and utilize, especially in US swing states! Item 2 returns our attention on the exponential increase of carbon dioxide emissions, and acceleration of Global Warming climate changes overcoming former natural processes for effective carbon sinks. Our planet, without a miraculous turnaround, is leaning toward catastrophic consequences. As Bart Jordan pointed out years ago, we are headed toward the carbon atmospheric concentrations as exists around Venus and Mars. Yet anything is possible, but hopefully not another four years with George W. Bush as US President.

Item 3 is a statement from the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee congratulating Wangari Maathai on receiving the honor of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. "It was for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace."

Item 4 is press release on a report showing where Bush Republicans are supporting the Nader campaign.

I hope you make October a productive month, and support John F. Kerry for US President on November 2nd, 2004!

FN received the above quote and following from Rhino's Blog, also this historic landmark note:

OCT 12, 1992 -- Rallies, protests & arrests throughout the Western Hemisphere mark the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the European invasion of the Americas & genocide of its native peoples. "

Flyby News supports replacing "Columbus Day" for a holiday to honor "Indigenous Peoples Day." It is time to look back, and remember, and carry lessons with less mistakes, for a possible future. No matter how brief, time may appear. This Election presents an opportunity for the people to rise up and replace a misaligned pResident representing interests contrary to peace, democracy, and humanitarianism.

If there is one principle more deeply rooted in the mind of every American,
it is that we should have nothing to do with conquest."


-- Thomas Jefferson



1) Behind the War on Terror

- - "Inspection Process Rigged for War" -- Scott Ritter
- - The Oil Factor: Behind the War on Terror
- - "Fahrenheit 9/11" available for raising consciousness
- - Bush Puts Off Major Assault On Iraq Until After US Vote
- - Our Cheating President
- - Nonproliferation Politics
- - Daughter of Soldier Contaminated with Depleted Uranium


- - "Inspection Process Rigged for War" -- Scott Ritter

If You Had Seen What I Have Seen
The Inspection Process was Rigged to
Create Uncertainty Over WMD to
Bolster the US and UK's Case for War
by Scott Ritter

Published on Sunday, October 10, 2004 by the lndependent/UK

[Excerpts]

It appears that the last vestiges of perceived legitimacy regarding the decision of President George Bush and Tony Blair to invade Iraq have been eliminated with the release this week of the Iraq Survey Group's final report on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. The report's author, Charles Duelfer, underscored the finality of what the world had come to accept in the 18 months since the invasion of Iraq - that there were no stockpiles of WMD, or programs to produce WMD. Despite public statements made before the war by Bush, Blair and officials and pundits on both sides of the Atlantic to the contrary, the ISG report concludes that all of Iraq's WMD stockpiles had been destroyed in 1991, and WMD programs and facilities dismantled by 1996.

Duelfer's report does speak of Saddam Hussein's "intent" to acquire WMD once economic sanctions were lifted and UN inspections ended (although this conclusion is acknowledged to be derived from fragmentary and speculative sources). This judgement has been seized by Bush and Blair as they scramble to re-justify their respective decisions to wage war..

..When one examines the reality of the situation on the ground in Iraq today, it seems hard to draw any conclusion that postulates a scenario built around the notion of an improved environment of stability and security. Indeed, many Iraqis hold that life under Saddam was a better option than the life they re facing under an increasingly violent and destabilizing US-led occupation.

..We now know that Iraq's WMD were destroyed in 1991. The problem wasn't the weapons, but verification of Iraq's declarations. The standards of verification set by Duelfer-Blix were impossible for Iraq to meet, thus making closure on the "cluster" issues also an unattainable goal.

This situation answers the second point as well. Since the inspection process was pre-programmed to fail, there would be no way the US or the UK would accept any finding of compliance from the UN weapons inspectors. The inspection process was rigged to create uncertainty regarding Iraq's WMD, which was used by the US and the UK to bolster their case for war.

..The main reason for this was that the issue wasn't WMD per se, but Saddam. The true goal wasn't disarmament, but regime change. This, of course, clashed with the principles of international law set forth in the Security Council resolutions, voted on by the US and UK, and to which Saddam was ostensibly held to account. Economic sanctions, put in place by the UN in 1990 after Saddam's invasion of Iraq and continued in 1991, linked to Saddam's obligation to disarm, were designed to compel Iraq to comply with the Security Council's requirements.

Saddam did disarm, but since two members of that Security Council - the US and the UK - were implementing unilateral policies of regime change as opposed to disarmament, this compliance could never be recognised. Sadly, when one speaks of threats to international peace and security, history will show that it was the US and Britain that consistently operated outside the spirit and letter of international law in their approach towards dealing with Saddam.

..Saddam is gone, and the world is far worse for it - not because his regime posed no threat, perceived or otherwise, but because the threat to international peace and security resulting from the decisions made by Bush and Blair to invade Iraq in violation of international law make any threat emanating from an Iraq ruled by Saddam pale in comparison.

Scott Ritter is a former UN weapons inspector in Iraq (1991-1998) and the author of 'Frontier Justice: Weapons of Mass Destruction and theBushwhacking of America', published by Context Books

©2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=570477

also posted: www.commondreams.org/views04/1010-01.htm

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- - The Oil Factor: Behind the War on Terror
From the makers of
Hidden Wars of Desert Storm & Plan Colombia: Cashing-in on the Drug-War Failure

THE OIL FACTOR : Behind the War on Terror (90 min)

Everybody with common sense knows that George Bush invaded Iraq for its oil !

NOW do you know that:

* at the current production rate, North America and Western Europe will run out of oil in 2010 ?

* One million U.S. military personnel are deployed overseas near oil fields and oil routes ?

* U.S. military deployment in Afghanistan and Central Asia blocks China and Russia from accessing oil and natural gas they desperately need for their economies ?

Is invading foreign countries the solution to reducing terrorist threats against the United States ? Since George Bush's invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, Islamic fundamentalists are recruiting more than ever and acts of terrorism have multiplied around the world. Now Dick Cheney claims that "the American way of life is not negotiable". The real question becomes: is invading foreign countries the acceptable way to ensure that Joe Blow can go on driving his 8-mile-to-the-gallon Hummer or that the average American can go on consuming 4 times more energy that the average European or 32 times more energy than the average African?


After spending three months between Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Free-Will assesses the catastrophic results of Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and George Bush Jr.’s attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan. THE OIL FACTOR looks at both the human cost and the greater geo-strategic picture of these invasions that may precipitate the world toward the next global conflict.

Filled with solid facts and figures, easy-to-understand maps, original footage shot in Iraq and Afghanistan and interviews of such personalities as Zbigniew Brzezinski, Noam Chomsky, The Project for the New American Century Director Gary Schmitt, best-seller "Taliban" author Ahmed Rashid or Pentagon's Karen Kwiatkowski, THE OIL FACTOR is a must-see for anyone who wants to understand what is really at stake with today's "war-on-terror". It is a must-see also for anyone who wants to convince friends and family that another four years of such war may NOT be in the best interest of our nation and the world.

For more information, see: www.TheOilFactor.com

[From justicevision.org
Note: Take advantage now of a SPECIAL PRE-ELECTION RATE OF $ 10. VHS/DVD + $ 3. S&H instead of our regular $ 25. for VHS and $ 28. for DVD. This is an exclusive offer to Justice Vision's subscribers. Checks for $ 13. must be made out to GERARD UNGERMAN and mailed to: P.O. Box 5476 - N. Hollywood, CA 91616
Please, check for other specials at www.TheOilFactor.com]

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- - "Fahrenheit 9/11" available for raising consciousness

From Michael Moore

10/5/04

Dear Friends,

Today's the day! You can now own your own copy of "Fahrenheit 9/11." Or, you can rent it. It is now available in thousands of stores across the country for you to take into your possession and use as your own personal weapon of George Bush's mass defeat. You can also just have a nice movie night at home with the kids.

Nothing would make me happier than to have you share it with everyone you know. All surveys have shown that, the more people who see it -- especially those still sitting on the fence -- the more likely we will have regime change come November 2nd. As the critic from the New York Times wrote, "Mr. Bush is under no obligation to answer Mr. Moore's charges, but he will have to answer to Mrs. Lipscomb." In other words, it is impossible for any good American with a heart and a conscience to survive a viewing of "Fahrenheit 9/11" and not be profoundly moved by the grief of the mother from Flint who lost her son, Michael, in Iraq. What do we say to her when she asks us what exactly was it that her son died for? Mr. Bush can't tell her the real reason because the truth is so appalling that, if we were to stop and consider the true level of his deceit, it might cause more than just his defeat in November. They used to hold trials for crimes like his and Cheney's and Rumsfeld's and Wolfowitz's.

A few months ago I asked our film's distributor if they would shorten the time "Fahrenheit" would spend in the theaters and make it available on home video to everyone before the election -- and they agreed.

They also agreed to let me include an additional 90 new minutes worth of material on the DVD. These extras include never-before-seen footage outside Abu Ghraib prison, plus footage which we shot in Iraq just weeks before the invasion that clearly showed what we were in for ("Please tell America that Iraq will be their cemetery"), more words of truth from our soldiers in Iraq, and footage of Bush and Condoleezza Rice that is so frightening you will understand why the networks never showed it to you.

May I suggest that you take this DVD and run with it? Use it as a way to energize people of like-mind or convince recovering Republicans that this may be the most important election of our lifetime. Here is what you can do:

1. Hold Your Own Neighborhood Premiere of "Fahrenheit 9/11." Do it this week. Get the DVD, break out the biggest TV screen you have, pop the corn and invite over your friends, family, classmates, coworkers and neighbors for a couple of hours of laughter and tears. When it's over, take a few minutes to decide what everyone is going to do between now and November 2nd.

2. Become Your Own Fahrenheit Video Store. Buy a copy of the film and then just start lending it for free to everyone you know for a night at a time. Become known as "The Fahrenheit Connection" to those with whom you work or go to school.

3. Sponsor Large Community or School Screenings. You have my permission. Don't charge money (unless everyone has to chip in for the union hall or church basement). Invite everyone; pack the place. Have something for people to do afterwards, like volunteering for a "get out the vote" drive between now and November 2nd.

4. Give It Away. The politics and economics of the video business mean that those in poorer communities often have to resort to bootlegging. While I'm happy for people to see my movie by any means necessary, I would love for them to see it the way I made it and under the best possible conditions. If you have the wherewithal, donate copies of the DVD and VHS to your local library or to your school library. Get multiple copies and pass them out, especially to groups and people who can't afford to buy it. In a free society, which only survives if it has an enlightened electorate, information should be shared, not privately owned.

There you go. Let's flood the country with this movie. It's the Republicans' worst nightmare, should this happen. You know what to do; I don't need to say any more.

Thanks for your help in this. I think we can make a huge difference.

Yours,Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com

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- - Bush Puts Off Major Assault On Iraq Until After US Vote

Published on Monday, October 11, 2004 by the Los Angeles Times

Major Assaults on Hold Until After U.S. Vote

Attacks on Iraq's rebel-held cities will be delayed, officials say.
But that could make it harder to allow wider, and more legitimate, Iraqi voting in January.

by Mark Mazzetti

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration plans to delay major assaults on rebel-held cities in Iraq until after U.S. elections in November, say administration officials, mindful that large-scale military offensives could affect the U.S. presidential race.

For the complete article, see:
commondreams.org/headlines04/1011-02.htm

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- - Our Cheating President

Our Cheating President
By Wilson Ray, Southern Daily News, 10/10/04

The evidence is now overwhelming. The president who likes to make people think he is the biggest Christian to ever inhabit the White House is a liar and a cheat. His information comes to him in his ear from a radio transmitter device he wears on his back under his suit jacket. This is against the rules of using props set forth by the debate commission. The irony is, the photos that prove it were taken in violation of the rules by a Fox news pool camera operator. The rules prohibit photos from being taken from the rear of the candidates. The other irony is, we didn't learn this from the New York Times or the Washington Post or even CBS News. Independent Web sites, called Web logs or blogs for short, have been buzzing about this for days. My question is this: Is there a member of the debate commission or the national media with the guts to raise this question before the next debate? Would somebody in the White House press corps at least ask the damn question? And while you are at it, ask who is on the other end of the line? Karl Rove?...

PICTURES OF THE BUMP ON SHRUB'S BACK & MORE AT: www.southerner.net/blog/weeklyblog045.html

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- - Nonproliferation Politics
by MICHAEL T. KLARE
Published in the October 11, 2004 issue of The Nation

Nonproliferation--the global campaign to prevent the further spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons--must be applied in a nondiscriminatory fashion to be effective. But the Bush Administration has been using nonproliferation policy to demonize foreign governments it doesn't like and to manipulate US public opinion. The most egregious example was the totally discredited claim that Saddam Hussein was on the verge of manufacturing nuclear weapons--a claim used to manufacture support for the US invasion of Iraq.

For the article, see:
www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041011&s=klare

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- - Daughter of Soldier Contaminated with Depleted Uranium

From DemocracyNow.org
www.democracynow.org

* Daughter of Soldier Contaminated with Depleted Uranium in Iraq Born with Deformities *

In a major expose in the New York Daily News, Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez uncovered the story of how a new-born baby may have suffered deformities because her father was exposed to depleted uranium while deployed as a soldier in Iraq. We are joined in our studio by Guardsman Gerard Darren Matthew and Sgt. Ray Ramos, one of the first confirmed cases of inhaled depleted uranium exposure from the current Iraq conflict.

Listen/Watch/Read
www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/30/1411222



2) [NO] Surprise CO2 rise may speed up global warming

Surprise CO2 rise may speed up global warming
By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor

11 October 2004

Surprise CO2 rise may speed up global warming

How 'feedback' can suppress the earth's ability to remove greenhouse gases

The rate at which global warming gases are accumulating in the atmosphere has taken a sharp leap upwards, leading to fears that the devastating effects of climate change may hit the world even sooner than has been predicted.

Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO2 ), the principal greenhouse gas, have made a sudden jump that cannot be explained by any corresponding jump in terrestrial emissions of CO2 from power stations and motor vehicles - because there has been none.

Some scientists think instead that the abrupt speed-up may be evidence of the long-feared climate change "feedback" mechanism, by which global warming causes alterations to the earth's natural systems and then, in turn, causes the warming to increase even more rapidly than before.

Such a development would mean the worldwide droughts, agricultural failure, sea-level rise, increased weather turbulence and flooding all predicted as consequences of climate change would arrive on much shorter time-scales than present scenarios suggest, and the world would have much less time to co-ordinate its response.

Only last month, Tony Blair expressed anxiety that global warming's dire effects would arrive not just in his children's lifetime, but in his own, and would "radically alter human existence".

The feedback phenomenon has already been predicted in the supercomputer models of the global climate on which the current forecasts of warming are based. A key aspect is the weakening, caused by the warming itself, of the earth's ability to remove huge amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere by absorbing it annually in its forests and oceans, in the so-called carbon cycle. (The forests and oceans are referred to as carbon "sinks".)

Hitherto, however, that weakening has been put decades into the future.

The possibility that it may be occurring now is suggested in the long run of atmospheric CO2 measurements that have been made since 1958 at the observatory on the top of Mauna Loa, an 11,000ft volcano in Hawaii, by the American physicist Charles Keeling, from the University of California at San Diego.

When he began, Dr Keeling, who is still in charge of the project and who might be said to be the Grand Old Man of CO2 , found the amount of the gas present in the atmosphere to be 315 parts per million by volume (ppm); today, after the remorseless increase in emissions from power stations and motor vehicles over the past four and a half decades, the figure stands at 376ppm.

This growth is what most scientists believe is causing the earth's atmosphere to warm up, as the increasing CO2 retains more and more of the sun's heat in the atmosphere, like the panes of a greenhouse. But the worry now is not merely the swelling volume of CO2 but the sudden leap in its increase rate. Across all 46 years of Dr Keeling's measurements, the average annual CO2 rise has been 1.3ppm, although in recent decades it has gone up to about 1.6ppm.

There have been several peaks, all associated with El Niño, the disruption of th atmosphere-ocean system in the tropical Pacific Ocean that causes changes to global weather patterns. In 1988, for example, the annual increase was 2.45ppm; in 1998, 2.74ppm; both were El
Niño years.

Throughout the series those peaks have been followed by troughs, and there has been no annual increase in CO2 above 2ppm that has been sustained for more than a year. Until now.

From 2001 to 2002, the increase was 2.08ppm (from 371.02 to 373.10); and from 2002 to 2003 the increase was 2.54ppm (from 373.10 to 375.64). Neither of these were El Niño years, and there has been no sudden leap in emissions.

The greater-than-two rise is also visible in two separate sets of CO2 measurements made by America's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, at Mauna Loa and other stations around the world.

At the weekend, Dr Keeling told The Independent the rise was real and worrying as it might indeed represent the beginnings of a feedback.

He said it might be associated with the Southern Oscillation, a pattern of high and low atmospheric pressure previously always associated with El Niños, or it might be something new.

"The rise in the annual rate of CO2 increase to above two parts per million for two consecutive years is a real phenomenon," Dr Keeling said.

"It is possible this is merely a reflection of the Southern Oscillation, like previous peaks in the rate, but it is possible it is the beginning of a natural process unprecedented in records.

"This could be a decoupling of the Southern Oscillation from El Niño events, which itself could be caused by increased CO2 in the atmosphere; or it could be a weakening of the earth's carbon sinks. It is a cause for concern."

Leading British scientists and environmentalists agree. "If this is a rate change [in the CO2 rise], of course it will be very significant," said Dr Piers Forster of the meteorology department of the University of Reading. "It will be of enormous concern, because it will imply that all our global warming predictions for the next 100 years or so will have to be redone. If the higher rate of increase continues, things will get very much worse. It will makes our predicament even more catastrophic."

Tom Burke, a former government adviser on green issues who is now an academic and environmental adviser to business, said: "This series of CO2 measurements is the world's climate clock, and it looks as if it may be ticking faster,"

"That means we are running out of time to stabilise the climate. Governments and business will both have to invest dramatically more if we are to avoid the global warming catastrophe that Tony Blair has warned against."

For article and links to resources, see:
news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=570734



3) Peltier Support for 2004 Nobel Peace Prize

From the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2004 to Wangari Maathai for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.

The Nobel Committee has chosen wisely and acknowledged that peace on earth depends on our ability to protect our living environment.

"Maathai stands at the front of the fight to promote ecologically viable social, economic and cultural development in Kenya and in Africa. She has taken a holistic approach to sustainable development that embraces democracy, human rights and women's rights in particular. She thinks globally and acts locally. Maathai stood up courageously against the former oppressive regime in Kenya. Her unique forms of action have contributed to drawing attention to political oppression - nationally and internationally."

Protecting forests against desertification is a vital factor in the struggle to strengthen and protect our Mother Earth. Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement where, for nearly thirty years, she has mobilized poor women to plant 30 million trees. Through education, family planning, nutrition and the fight against corruption, the Green Belt Movement has prepared the way for grass-root action and been a "strong voice speaking for the best forces in Africa to promote peace and good living conditions on that continent".

Wangari Maathai is the first woman from Africa to be honored with the Nobel Peace Prize. She represents "an example and a source of inspiration for everyone in Africa fighting for sustainable development, democracy and peace".

Leonard Peltier and his Defense Committee wish to congratulate Wangari Maathai on receiving this great honor.

We also wish to thank those who nominated Leonard for the Prize and the supporters worldwide who wrote to the Nobel Committee to support Leonard's nomination.

Mitakuye Oyasin.

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,

The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
www.leonardpeltier.org



4) The Nader Factor - "Alliances with Bush in Key States"

From the NaderFactor.com:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 7, 2004
CONTACT: David Jones
202-347-5607

NEW REPORT: "ALLIANCE BETWEEN NADER & BUSH IN KEY STATES"
Read the report: www.thenaderfactor.com/press/072304/

WASHINGTON, DC - TheNaderFactor.com today released a comprehensive, documented report detailing one of the strangest alliances in American political history - Ralph Nader & George W. Bush. This report is the first to document, in one place, the extensive political support given to Ralph Nader by supporters of his alleged opponent, George W. Bush.

A four month review has revealed a disturbing pattern of Bush supporters providing organized assistance to the struggling campaign of Ralph Nader, almost entirely in key "battleground" states, including AZ, CO, FL, IA, NV, NH, NM, MI, OH, OR, VA, WV, and WI.

The report also detailed instances, in Florida and Arizona, where Mr. Nader has actually hired Bush supporters to lead his efforts. Nader is accepting this support despite months of public commitments to turn back cynical Bush assistance intended to use him to siphon votes from John Kerry.

For a copy of the report, click the link below:
www.thenaderfactor.com/press/072304


The views expressed herein are the writers' own and not necessarily those of Flyby News.
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=====News Fit to Transmit in the Post Cassini Flyby Era====>

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