Flyby News
"News Fit to Transmit in the Post Cassini Flyby Era"
9/11 Obstruction * Oil & Nukes * Forest4Sale
22 March 2006
They could be made to accept the most flagrant violations
of reality, because they never fully grasped the enormity
of what was demanded of them, and were not sufficiently
interested in public events to notice what was happening.
-- George Orwell1) Agent Faults FBI on 9/11
2) Bush Didn't Bungle Iraq, You Fools- - MSNBC Poll Results - Progress in Iraq?
- - Military builds up its bases in Iraq
- - The Nuclear Madness of George Bush
- - India/USA Nuke Deal With Australian Uranium Exports Possible
- - Deranged, Disconnected, and Dangerous
- - Stop Bush from Selling 300,000 Acres of National Forests
3) Richard Sitcha Defense Update- - Prison Update from Jehan Abdur-Raheem
Editor's Notes:The FBI agent who arrested Zacarias Moussaoui weeks before Sept. 11, Special Agent Harry Samit, 'told a federal jury Monday that his own superiors were guilty of "criminal negligence and obstruction" for blocking his attempts to learn whether the terrorist was part of a larger cell about to hijack planes in the United States.' Agent Samit was suppose to be a star witness for the Prosecution to give Moussaoui the death penalty. Instead, the testimony put the Prosecution on the defense, and documented the obstruction of justice that enabled the attacks of 9/11/01. The second item begins with a powerful commentary by Greg Palast showing how Bush/Cheney reached their objectives in the US invasion/occupation of Iraq. Also note article on military bases for so-called long-term interests. Other articles include about the nuclear madness of this current Bush administration, and its plans ti sell 300,000 Acres of National Forests. The third item has an important update from the Richard Sitcha Defense Committe, and an update from another friend in prison, Jehan Abdur-Raheem. Now is not the time to give up. Please take actions for human rights, for our environment, and help get 9/11 truth DVDs out for massive grassroots' campaigns to stop planeticide by renegade governments.
For updated film resources, see:
Films that Make a Difference!
1) Agent Faults FBI on 9/11Published on March 21, 2006 by the Los Angeles Times
[EXCERPTS]
Agent Faults FBI on 9/11
The man who caught Zacarias Moussaoui testifies that higher-ups blocked
his efforts to determine whether there was a larger plot.
by Richard A. Serrano
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia - The FBI agent who arrested Zacarias Moussaoui weeks before Sept. 11 told a federal jury Monday that his own superiors were guilty of "criminal negligence and obstruction" for blocking his attempts to learn whether the terrorist was part of a larger cell about to hijack planes in the United States.
During intense cross-examination, Special Agent Harry Samit - a witness for the prosecution - accused his bosses of acting only to protect their positions within the FBI.
His testimony appeared to undermine the prosecution's case for the death penalty. Prosecutors argue that had Moussaoui cooperated by identifying some of the 19 hijackers, the FBI could have alerted airport security and kept them off the planes.
Samit's recollections Monday were the first ground-level account of how FBI agents in Minneapolis - where Moussaoui was arrested on a visa violation 3½ weeks before the attacks - were appalled that their Washington supervisors denied their requests for search warrants in the effort to find out why the Frenchman was taking flying lessons and what role he might have in a wider plan to attack America.
"They obstructed it," a still-frustrated Samit told the jury, calling his superiors' actions a calculated management decision "that cost us the opportunity to stop the attacks."
Samit was not alone in his contempt for his superiors.
His suspicions were backed up by Coleen Rowley, then an FBI lawyer in Minneapolis, who in a May 2002 memo to FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III complained that Washington had blocked efforts to determine what Moussaoui was really doing. Rowley is not scheduled to testify during the sentencing phase.
Moussaoui pleaded guilty last year to being a part of the Sept. 11 conspiracy. His lawyers maintain that the government had plenty of leads in the summer of 2001 that a major terrorist action was afoot, even without Moussaoui's cooperation. They point to a memo by an FBI agent in Phoenix warning of Middle Eastern men taking flying lessons, and the fact that then-CIA Director George J. Tenet was apprised of Moussaoui's arrest.
Under MacMahon's daylong questioning, Samit said that officials at the FBI headquarters in Washington rejected a series of attempts to obtain a warrant to search Moussaoui's personal belongings.
Had the belongings been opened before Sept. 11, agents would have found numerous small knives, jumbo-jet pilot manuals, rosters of flight schools and other clues that might have helped them understand the Sept. 11 plot.
Samit wanted to seek a criminal search warrant, and later one from a special intelligence court. But officials at the FBI headquarters refused to let him, because they did not believe he had enough evidence to prove Moussaoui was anything but a wealthy man who had come to this country to follow his dream of becoming a pilot.
He said that as Washington kept telling him there was "no urgency and no threat," his FBI superiors sent him on "wild goose chases."
Samit said that when he asked permission to place an Arabic-speaking federal officer as a plant inside Moussaoui's cell to find out what Moussaoui was up to, Washington said no.
And he said that when he prepared a lengthy memo about Moussaoui for Federal Aviation Administration officials, Washington deleted key sections, including a part connecting Moussaoui with Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Samit said he was so frustrated and so convinced that attacks were imminent that he bypassed FBI officials in Washington and met with an FAA officer he knew in Minneapolis. But he said FAA agents never got back to him, and never asked to see a pair of small knives, similar to box cutters, that Samit had found in Moussaoui's pocket and in his car.
Samit further described how he took it upon himself to cable the Secret Service that the president's safety might be in jeopardy. He recounted in the cable how Moussaoui had told him he hoped to be able to one day fly a Boeing 747 from London's Heathrow Airport to New York, and how he also hoped to visit the White House one day.
For the complete article, see:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0321-11.htmFor FN's resources on this topic, see:
Bush Conspiracy and 9/11 Investigative Reports,
looking into the unanswered questions.
2) Bush Didn't Bungle Iraq, You Fools- - MSNBC Poll Results - Progress in Iraq?
- - Military builds up its bases in Iraq
- - The Nuclear Madness of George Bush
- - India/USA Nuke Deal With Australian Uranium Exports Possible
- - Deranged, Disconnected, and Dangerous
- - Stop Bush from Selling 300,000 Acres of National Forests
Bush Didn't Bungle Iraq, You Fools
THE MISSION WAS INDEED ACCCOMPLISHED
by Greg Palast for The Guardian, 20 March 2006
Get off it. All the carping, belly-aching and complaining about George Bush's incompetence in Iraq, from both the Left and now the Right, is just dead wrong.
On the third anniversary of the tanks rolling over Iraq's border, most of the 59 million Homer Simpsons who voted for Bush are beginning to doubt if his mission was accomplished.
But don't kid yourself -- Bush and his co-conspirator, Dick Cheney, accomplished exactly what they set out to do. In case you've forgotten what their real mission was, let me remind you of White House spokesman Ari Fleisher's original announcement, three years ago, launching of what he called,
"Operation Iraqi Liberation."
O.I.L. How droll of them, how cute. Then, Karl Rove made the giggling boys in the White House change it to "OIF" -- Operation Iraqi Freedom. But the 101st Airborne wasn't sent to Basra to get its hands on Iraq's OIF.
"It's about oil," Robert Ebel told me. Who is Ebel? Formerly the CIA's top oil analyst, he was sent by the Pentagon, about a month before the invasion, to a secret confab in London with Saddam's former oil minister to finalize the plans for "liberating" Iraq's oil industry. In London, Bush's emissary Ebel also instructed Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum, the man the Pentagon would choose as post-OIF oil minister for Iraq, on the correct method of disposing Iraq's crude.
And what did the USA want Iraq to do with Iraq's oil? The answer will surprise many of you: and it is uglier, more twisted, devilish and devious than anything imagined by the most conspiracy-addicted blogger. The answer can be found in a 323-page plan for Iraq's oil secretly drafted by the State Department. Our team got a hold of a copy; how, doesn't matter. The key thing is what's inside this thick Bush diktat: a directive to Iraqis to maintain a state oil company that will "enhance its relationship with OPEC."
Enhance its relationship with OPEC??? How strange: the government of the United States ordering Iraq to support the very OPEC oil cartel which is strangling our nation with outrageously high prices for crude.
Specifically, the system ordered up by the Bush cabal would keep a lid on Iraq's oil production -- limiting Iraq's oil pumping to the tight quota set by Saudi Arabia and the OPEC cartel.
There you have it. Yes, Bush went in for the oil -- not to get MORE of Iraq's oil, but to prevent Iraq producing TOO MUCH of it.
You must keep in mind who paid for George's ranch and Dick's bunker: Big Oil. And Big Oil -- and their buck-buddies, the Saudis -- don't make money from pumping more oil, but from pumping LESS of it. The lower the supply, the higher the price.
It's Economics 101. The oil industry is run by a cartel, OPEC, and what economists call an "oligopoly" -- a tiny handful of operators who make more money when there's less oil, not more of it. So, every time the "insurgents" blow up a pipeline in Basra, every time Mad Mahmoud in Tehran threatens to cut supply, the price of oil leaps. And Dick and George just LOVE it.
Dick and George didn't want more oil from Iraq, they wanted less. I know some of you, no matter what I write, insist that our President and his Veep are on the hunt for more crude so you can cheaply fill your family Hummer; that somehow, these two oil-patch babies are concerned that the price of gas in the USA is bumping up to $3 a gallon.
No so, gentle souls. Three bucks a gallon in the States (and a quid a litre in Britain) means colossal profits for Big Oil, and that makes Dick's ticker go pitty-pat with joy. The top oily-gopolists, the five
largest oil companies, pulled in $113 billion in profit in 2005 -- compared to a piddly $34 billion in 2002 before Operation Iraqi Liberation. In other words, it's been a good war for Big Oil.
As per Plan Bush, Bahr Al-Ulum became Iraq's occupation oil minister; the conquered nation "enhanced its relationship with OPEC;" and the price of oil, from Clinton peace-time to Bush war-time, shot up 317%.
In other words, on the third anniversary of invasion, we can say the attack and occupation is, indeed, a Mission Accomplished. However, it wasn't America's mission, nor the Iraqis'. It was an Mission
Accomplished for OPEC and Big Oil.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
{Palast returns to the pages of the Guardian today
with this column. Catch his commentaries weekly.}
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
On June 6, Penguin Dutton will release GREG PALAST'S NEW BOOK, "ARMED
MADHOUSE: DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINES OF THE CLASS WAR." Order it
today -- and view his investigative reports for Harper's Magazine and BBC television's Newsnight -- at
http://www.GregPalast.com.= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - MSNBC Poll Results - Progress in Iraq?March 21, 2006
Do you agree with President Bush that real progress is being made in Iraq?
* 16596 responses
Yes - 17%
No - 83%
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3080= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - Military builds up its bases in IraqU.S. officials talk of a long-term commitment, but they avoid using the word "permanent."
Published by Associated Press; March 21, 2006
www.sptimes.com/2006/03/21/Worldandnation/Military_builds_up_it.shtml= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - The Nuclear Madness of George BushGreen Left Weekly #661, March 22, 2006
On February 6, US President George Bush confirmed his intention to commit the US to a program of reprocessing nuclear fuel. Touted as a key measure in the ''Advanced Energy Initiative'', outlined in Bush's January State of the Union speech, the plutonium extracted from spent fuel is allegedly to be used as a fuel source for a new generation of nuclear power plants across the US and elsewhere. The proposal will overturn a 29-year ban in the US on reprocessing spent nuclear fuel to extract plutonium.
[Full article]
www.greenleft.org.au/back/2006/661/661p12.htm* US nuclear hypocrisy: Bush pushes Iran sanctions
www.greenleft.org.au/back/2006/661/661p12b.htm= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - India/USA Nuke Deal With Australian Uranium Exports PossibleFrom: "Bill Smirnow" < smirnowb@ix.netcom.com >
Subject: Calls, Lobbying Needed..
The article below doesn't mention that not only is this not a done deal but that there's significant opposition to it at least here in the USA. Hence the need for those of us in India, USA, and Australia to lobby our representatives to kill this deal dead in it's tracks.
In the USA please call your Reps & Senators at: 202-224-3121 & 1-877-762-8762 and push strongly to kill this deal. The destruction of the NPT Treaty and nuclear weapons proliferation may hang in the balance. Please forward this to other related lists and individuals.
Bush Briefs Australia PM on India Nuclear Deal
www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-nuclear-india-australia.html= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - Deranged, Disconnected, and Dangerous
By Paul Craig Roberts
Not since Abraham Lincoln have American civil liberties been so threatened as by the Bush regime. America even has an Attorney General, a Vice President, and a Secretary of Defense who believe in torture. How do they differ from officials in the Third Reich or Stalin's KGB? Anyone who believes in torture is not an American.
For the article, see;
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12432.htm= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - Stop Bush from Selling 300,000 Acres of National ForestsFrom: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Dear NRDC BioGems Defender,
The Bush administration wants to sell off an astonishing 300,000 acres of our national forest lands across 35 different states -- to pay for its mismanagement of America's finances.
We need your immediate action to stop this raid on our natural heritage, which would sacrifice some of our nation's most treasured wildlands, including irreplaceable expanses of several NRDC BioGems.
Go to
www.savebiogems.org/takeaction.asp and tell the U.S. Forest Service to withdraw this proposal to sell off any part of our national forests for the sake of funding budget shortfalls.
The Bush administration has cynically put forward this national forest sell-off as a fast way to raise millions to pay for a rural schools program that has run out of funding.
America's rural schools deserve financial support -- but destroying our legacy of national forests to pay the bills is unconscionable.
The Bush administration's lengthy list of "Forests For Sale" includes prime habitat in Montana for bears, elk and wolves; popular recreation spots in Alaska's Tongass National Forest; old-growth forests in northern California; wildlife-rich ecosystems in the Appalachians and hundreds of other natural treasures.
Logging companies, real estate developers and other commercial interests are already lining up to start the bidding.
Go to
www.savebiogems.org/takeaction.asp and tell the Forest Service to protect these priceless wildlands for all Americans, present and future.
Thank you for helping to protect the legacy of America's national forests.
Sincerely,
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
NRDC Senior Attorney
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - Green Living Journal - Now linked from FlybyNews.com
Green Living is a practical journal for friends of the environment, publishing news you can use, mostly related to environmental issues. Based in Vermont, the Journal has regular topics that include organic gardening, green building, health, ecocareers and right livelihood, outdoors/sports, socially responsible investing, econotes, questions and answers, book reviews, and features on topical environmental issues. Flyby News places an ad in this special journal and helps distribute it in southwest NH and central Massachusetts. We recommend your visiting it online for a green perspective:
GreenLivingJournal.com
3) Richard Sitcha Defense Update- - Prison Update from Jehan Abdur-Raheem
Richard Sitcha Defense Committee -
Dear friends of Richard Sitcha,
After 2 1/2 years in detention, Richard's case is on the docket to be heard in the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (New York City) (above the Fed. District Court of Hartford). The court announced a 30-day deadline to submit an appeal brief, that is March 30, 2006.
After a year without an attorney, and much support from Malik Ndaula of the National Immigration Project (Boston) in filing pro se motions/petitions -- succeeding in rerouting the case back to the Hartford District and in line for this appeal to the Circuit Court level, we have scrambled to find an attorney.
Kevin Hoffkins of Westport CT has agreed to take on the case. We expect he will file immediately for an extension of the deadline, in order to give him time to dig through the files, do research, and prepare the brief.
The Sitcha Defense Fund has $2000 to transfer to this case, and Lorena will advance the other $3000. We are asking for donations and will probably plan an event to raise support and funds.
This is our moment to help move Richard along toward freedom and to join him in his "house of hope". Your ongoing support for Richard is most appreciated: prayers, letters, and donations.
Letters to: Richard Sitcha
#39823; DN1-Room 205;
Plymouth County Correctional Facility;
26 Long Pond Road;
Plymouth MA 02360.
Donations, comments, questions: Suzanne Carlson,
Sitcha Defense Committee, P O Box 1263, Greenfield MA 01302. Email - suzannec@crocker.com
With hope,
Suzanne Carlson
for the Sitcha Defense Committee
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - Prison Update from Jehan Abdur-RaheemFrom his letter to Jonathan Mark, March 16, 2006
"..My own situation has taken a turn for the worse.. The Transfer [to another prison facility] was denied for a year. The Administration here says I'm an "influential Muslim" and I pose a danger to the facility; so although I broke no prison rule, they will keep me in "The BOX" and out of the population. Another year in solitary - not a good thing, but I will make it good somehow. Enough for now - Stay strong and thanks for your support."
Jehan Abdur-Raheem
77A1180
Elmira Correctional Facility
P.O. Box 500
Elmira, NY 14902-0500
Translate this Page!
The views expressed herein are the writers' own and not necessarily those of Flyby News.
A "Fair Use Policy" that describes FNs' use of copyrighted material is posted at FlybyNews.com.
Your feedback for story suggestions and networking Flyby News are welcomed and appreciated.
You can write to the publisher/editor Jonathan Mark via email: info@flybynews.com
Flyby News is educational and nonviolent in focus, and has supported critical campaigns
for a healthy environment, human rights, justice, peace, and nonviolence,
since the launching of NASA's Cassini space probe in 1997.=====News Fit to Transmit in the Post Cassini Flyby Era====> = = = = = = www.FlybyNews.com = = = = =