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HighDisaster * DowningAssault * ArcticBoom


29 November 2005

"This is America's war. This is Bill Clinton's war.
This is the Congress of the United States' war.
This is an indifferent American public's war.
This is our war. We're to blame. We're responsible.
We're the ones that facilitated this mad rush to
insanity that has occurred in Iraq today."


Scott Ritter

1) Higher Ground US Disaster Pending In Iraq
- - US may use planes as substitute for troops in Iraq
- - Where is the Iraq war headed next?
- - Sunnis Accuse Iraqi Military of Kidnappings and Slayings
- - America's War
- - Russ Feingold: A Timeframe in Iraq - Makes America Safer
2) An Explosive Downing Street Memo
- - So What Have They To Hide - About the Assault on Fallujah?
3) Arctic Booms as Climate Change Melts Polar Ice Cap



It's the eternal question:
Are They STUPID or LYING

"..When David Brooks suggests that it is Tinfoil-Hat
LUNACY to believe that the Bush administration
manipulated pre-war intelligence..

‘Crazy conspiracy theorists! ha ha! Next thing you know,
they'll suggest that REPUBLICAN TALKING POINTS
are some how Coordinated...'"

For the complete cartoon, text and drawing, see:

This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow:

Stupid or lying?



Editor's Notes:

With the intention of being ‘Masters of Space', as the US Space Command announced around the turn of the Millennium, the first item warns us about the coming days in Iraq. As troops are pulled out, (unless there is a draft, or John McCain gets his way..), US air strikes may take the place of US Troops on the ground. This will likely lead to more innocent civilians' harmed, and more chaos, while the US wrestles to maintain access for Iraq's oil reserves and an inserted military alliance, which actually destabilizes the region. This past Sunday on ABC TV's "This Week," Senator Russ Feingold was interviewed by George Stephanopoulos. This Senator from Wisconsin is the first candidate to announce interest in running for US President in 2008 that voted NO on the Bush preemptive war resolution! Feingold said that he was simply not fooled by the administration's propaganda on what it was to be patriotic, and saw no evidence that Saddam's Iraq was in alliance with those of al-Qaida that attacked the US on 9/11/01, and on overdone claims of the threat of weapons of mass destruction. The evidence showed that to attack Iraq was a diversion for special interests, which played into the hands of terrorism. Senator Feingold also declared his position for a US universal health care system, and energy independence. The real war is within US; Feingold's leadership, now, and for a 2008 Presidential campaign, can be helpful, if people unite with a candidate of substance, record, and vision.

Item two is another explosive revelation from Downing Street. "The British attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, ‘threatened newspapers with the Official Secrets Act if they revealed the contents' of the document which allegedly contains Bush's threat to bomb al-Jazeera.'"

The third item is about raping the Arctic as the ice melts, and gaining access to resources known to be causing climate change, hastening an end to life's biodiversity on Earth.

"Only two things are infinite,
the universe and human stupidity,
and I'm not sure about the former."


~ Albert Einstein



1) Higher Ground US Disaster Pending In Iraq

- - US may use planes as substitute for troops in Iraq
- - Where is the Iraq war headed next?
- - Sunnis Accuse Iraqi Military of Kidnappings and Slayings
- - America's War
- - Russ Feingold: A Timeframe in Iraq - Makes America Safer

US may use planes as substitute for troops in Iraq
Jamie Wilson in Washington
Monday November 28, 2005
The Guardian

The Bush administration is considering a plan to put America's awesome airpower at the disposal of Iraqi commanders, as a way of reducing the number of US troops on the ground. The plan is causing consternation among commanders in US air force, who say it could lead to increased civilian casualties and lead to airstrikes being used as means of settling old scores.

According to an article in the New Yorker magazine by Seymour Hersh, the possibility of using airpower as a substitute for American troops on the ground has caused unease in the military, with air force commanders objecting to the possibility that Iraqis will eventually be responsible for target selection.

"Will the Iraqis call in air strikes in order to snuff rivals, or other warlords, or to snuff members of your own sect and blame it on someone else?" a senior military planner told the magazine. "Will some Iraqis be targeting on behalf of al-Qaida, or the insurgency, or the Iranians?"

With the White House under increasing pressure over its handling of the war in Iraq, senior administration figures are for the first time signalling the possibility of significant troop reductions. In a departure from previous statements the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, said last week that the training of Iraqi soldiers had advanced so far that the current number of US troops in the country probably would not be needed much longer.

However, there remains scepticism about the ability of Iraqi forces to take over from the 160,000 US troops in the country. Under the plans reported in the New Yorker, air power will be used to try to fill the gap left by troop reductions. But with the insurgency operating mostly within urban environments, and planes relying on laser-guided bombs directed from the ground to try to avoid collateral damage, there are fears that turning the process over the Iraqis could lead to increased civilian casualties.

"The guy with the laser is the targeteer. Not the pilot ... The people on the ground are calling in targets that the pilots can't verify. And we're going to turn this process over to the Iraqis?" a former high-level intelligence official said.

www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1652244,00.html

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- - Where is the Iraq war headed next?
By Seymour M. Hersh

The covert war in Iraq has expanded in recent months to Syria. A composite American Special Forces team, known as an S.M.U., for "special-mission unit," has been ordered, under stringent cover, to target suspected supporters of the Iraqi insurgency across the border.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11162.htm

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- - Sunnis Accuse Iraqi Military of Kidnappings and Slayings
By Dexter Filkins
Published on November 29, 2005 by the New York Times -

Evidence has begun to mount suggesting that Iraqi forces are carrying out executions in predominantly Sunni neighborhoods.

For article, see:
www.nytimes.com/2005/11/29/international/middleeast/29securityhtml?th&emc=th

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- - America's War
by Scott Ritter

This is America's war. This is Bill Clinton's war. This is the Congress of the United States' war. This is an indifferent American public's war. This is our war. We're to blame. We're responsible. We're the ones that facilitated this mad rush to insanity that has occurred in Iraq today.

MP3 and transcript.
www.traprockpeace.org/podcasts_transcripts/

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- - Russ Feingold: A Timeframe in Iraq - Makes America Safer

Feingold: "A Timeframe To Finish The Military Mission In Iraq
Makes America Safer"

A Timetable Will Encourage Iraqis to Take Ownership of Their
Political Process and Their Country's Future
October 25, 2005

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold today, in the fourth in a series of speeches he has given on our nation's national security and the Administration's flawed policy in Iraq, spoke from the Senate floor on the need to develop a flexible timetable and strategy to finish the military mission in Iraq.

In June, Feingold introduced a resolution, the first of its kind in the Senate, that calls for the President to clarify the military mission in Iraq, lay out a plan and timeframe for accomplishing that mission, and publicly articulate a plan to withdraw American troops from Iraq. In August, Feingold again jumpstarted the discussion about Iraq by becoming the first member of the U.S. Senate to propose a target date to finish the military mission in Iraq – December 31, 2006. Because of the Administration's conflicting signals about the duration of U.S. troop deployments, Feingold said he felt obligated to propose a specific goal for bringing U.S. forces home from Iraq.

"The President is one of an ever-narrowing group of people who believe that a timetable works against our goals in Iraq, Feingold said. "Military experts, people I talked to in Iraq, the American people increasingly agree that the Administration's refusal to even suggest a timetable for meeting our military goals in Iraq is feeding the insurgency. And not only does the lack of a timetable feed the insurgency, it also discourages Iraqi ownership of their own political process. By making it clear that the U.S. will not be there indefinitely, we will help the Iraqis move toward the real political independence they need and dispel some of the cynicism about American intentions that empowers some of the more extreme elements of Iraqi society."

Today's remarks by Feingold are available here: www.feingold.senate.gov/~feingold/statements/05/10/20051025IQ.html

His July 27 speech, "The Lack of a Coherent Policy in Iraq," can be found at: http://feingold.senate.gov/~feingold/statements/05/07/2005728344.html.

The transcript of his August 23 speech, "American National Security and Finishing the Mission in Iraq," is available at:
http://feingold.senate.gov/~feingold/statements/05/08/2005823.html.

His September 29 speech, "The President's Policies in Iraq are Breaking the U.S. Army," is available here:
http://feingold.senate.gov/~feingold/statements/05/09/2005928.html.

Feingold has also debunked several myths the Administration and others have put forth about U.S. policy in Iraq. That is available here:
http://feingold.senate.gov/~feingold/releases/05/09/2005909346.html.

"A timetable is important because it enables us to devote more resources to the other national security issues that demand our attention," Feingold said. "To fight the global terrorist networks that threaten the U.S., we need to focus energy and resources on countering emerging terrorist tactics, dealing with the threat of "loose nukes," and repairing the damage to our Army, to name just a few urgent priorities. Drawing down U.S. troops in Iraq will allow us to focus on these priorities. It's time to make sure that our Iraq policy is advancing, not undermining, our national security goals."

Senator Russ Feingold's web site::
http://feingold.senate.gov/index.html

Washington, DC
506 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-4904
(202) 224-5323
TDD (202) 224-1280
Fax (202) 224-2725



2) An Explosive Downing Street Memo

- - So What Have They To Hide - About the Assault on Fallujah?

An Explosive Downing Street Memo
From: AmericanProgressAction.org

Last Tuesday, the British tabloid the Daily Mirror reported President Bush revealed a plan "to bomb Arab TV station al-Jazeera in friendly Qatar...at a White House face-to-face with [Prime Minister Tony] Blair on April 16 last year." (At the time "the administration was infuriated with the al-Jazeera coverage of [a] battle [in Fallujah], and the way the station focused on the deaths of hundreds of people, including civilians, rather than the necessity of ridding the town of dangerous terrorists.") According to the Mirror, Blair talked him out of it. The details of the conversation are allegedly contained in "a 'Top Secret' No 10 [Downing St.] memo." One source cited by the Mirror said Bush's threat to bomb al-Jazeera was "humorous, not serious." Another claimed, "Bush was deadly serious, as was Blair. That much is absolutely clear from the language used by both men." Although the report remains largely uncorroborated and unconfirmed, both the Bush administration and the British government have reacted to the news as if they have something to hide.

BRITISH GOVERNMENT THREATENS TO PROSECUTE
NEWSPAPERS THAT PUBLISH THE MEMO:

The British attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, "threatened newspapers with the Official Secrets Act if they revealed the contents" of the document which allegedly contains Bush's threat to bomb al-Jazeera. Under that Act, it "is an offense to have come into the possession of government information, or a document from a crown servant, if that person discloses it without lawful authority." The Guardian reports that it is "the first time the Blair government has threatened newspapers in this way." Previously, the British government had "never prosecuted editors for publishing the contents of leaked documents, including highly sensitive ones about the run-up to the invasion of Iraq." (Goldsmith claims he was "not attempting to gag newspapers but merely pointing out the legal position.") Leo O'Conner, a former researcher for a British MP, and David Keogh, a former Cabinet Office official, have already been charged under the Official Secrets Act for receiving and passing the document.

TORY MP OFFERS TO GO TO JAIL TO GET THE TRUTH OUT:

Boris Johnson, a Tory MP, wrote in the Daily Telegraph that he was "quite prepared to believe that the Daily Mirror is wrong." But Johnson noted "if there is one thing that would seem to confirm the essential accuracy of the story, it is that the Attorney General has announced that he will prosecute anyone printing the exact facts." At the end of his column Johnson makes a generous offer: "If someone passes me the document within the next few days I will be very happy to publish it in The Spectator, and risk a jail sentence. The public needs to judge for themselves. Sunlight is the best disinfectant."

For complete report, and references, see:
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=914257&ct=1634747

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"I'll go to jail to print the truth about Bush and al-Jazeera"
Posted from: http://legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news

Bush and Al-Jazeera
By Boris Johnson, MP and Editor, The Spectator 24 Nov 2005

"The Attorney General's ban is ridiculous, untenable, and redolent of guilt. I do not like people to break the Official Secrets Act ....we now have allegations of such severity, against the US President and his motives, that we need to clear them up. If someone passes me the document within the next few days I will be very happy to publish it in The Spectator, and risk a jail sentence. ...Sunlight is the best disinfectant. If we suppress the truth, we forget what we are fighting for. I'll go to jail to print the truth about Bush and al-Jazeera."
Article posted: www.boris-johnson.com/archives/2005/11/bush_and_al-jaz.html

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- - So What Have They To Hide - About the Assault on Fallujah?

Published November 27, 2005 by the Independent
So What Have They To Hide? Official Secrets, Lies,
and the Truth About the Assault on Fallujah

The trial of two Whitehall workers this week could reveal
Britain's role in one of the Iraq war's darkest episodes.
by Raymond Whitaker and Marie Woolf
Posted: www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1127-05.htm



3) Arctic Booms as Climate Change Melts Polar Ice Cap

Published November 27, 2005 by the Observer/UK
Arctic Booms as Climate Change Melts Polar Ice Cap

The global hunger for oil is fueling a new gold rush.

by Alex Duval-Smith

Giant snowflakes tumble down outside the Kaikanten bar. Inside, Mustafa Mirreh from Somalia stares down his pool cue, trying to pot the black. His opponent, Italian engineer Pier Luigi Poletto, has turned to the slot machine. The Kilkenny beer has run out. There is only canned Guinness. This could be grounds for a fight, but French fishermen J-P and Max have been distracted by the rare sight of a woman crossing the floor.

These are the Klondikers of global warming: men from all over the world who have come to Hammerfest, gateway to the Barents Sea, to make their fortune from new resources - oil, gas, fish and diamonds - made accessible by the receding ice.

For this article, see:
www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1127-03.htm

For FN's updated resource page, see:

Mounting Evidence of Global Warming!



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