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Despite Bush Mindless 'Optimism', Analysts See “Failed Transition” in Iraq

09.30.04 (8:10 pm) [edit]

Despite President George W. Bush’s continued insistence that its efforts in Iraq are making steady progress, a new report by two Washington-based think tanks argues that the situation has deteriorated since the handover of “sovereignty” from the U.S.-led occupation authorities to the interim Iraq government.

More U.S. soldiers and contractors have been killed and injured over three months since the transition to Iraqi rule on June 28, 2004, than any other three-month period since the U.S.-led invasion in March, 2003, while the estimated strength of insurgent forces appears to have risen sharply, according to the report by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF).

In addition, more members of the 30-nation coalition that joined with the U.S. in support of the invasion have withdrawn their forces, the latest being Costa Rica which, although it never actually contributed troops, demanded earlier this month to be taken off the coalition list.

Body counts appear to be rising for Iraqis themselves, both as a result of the insurgency and U.S.-led efforts to put it down and as a result of a crime wave that has persisted, if not spread, since the U.S. invasion, according to the 86-page report, ‘[i]A Failed Transition: The Mounting Costs of the Iraq War[/i].’ http://www.ips-dc.org/iraq/fa...

“This is a re-run of the Vietnam War on fast-forward,” said IPS director John Cavanagh, who contributed to the study. “It’s astounding that the number of monthly U.S. casualties is higher during this so-called ‘transition’ to Iraqi rule than during the initial six weeks of the U.S. invasion.”

The report was released just hours before the first nationally televised presidential debate between Bush and his Democratic challenger, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who has in recent weeks become increasingly critical of the U.S. effort in Iraq and the way it has been carried out.

During a visit last week by Iraq’s interim president Iyad Allawi, Bush himself insisted that the more progress was being made on the ground in Iraq than the U.S. public was hearing about through the media. He also dismissed a particularly gloomy intelligence report that was leaked to the New York Times as guesswork.

But most independent experts – and what the Washington Post Wednesday called “a growing number of career professionals within national security agencies” – believe that the situation is in fact considerably worse than what the administration has conceded. Indeed, Secretary of State Colin Powell himself acknowledged Sunday that the insurgency in Iraq is “getting worse.”

The main author, Phyllis Bennis, a Middle East analyst based at IPS, has been keeping tabs on the costs of the U.S. campaign was launched 18 months ago.

The numbers her team recorded for the report pretty much bear out Powell’s own analysis. The Pentagon itself, according to the study, estimates that the number of Iraqi insurgents has quadrupled from some 5,000 in November, 2003, to 20,000 today, while the deputy commander of the coalition forces in Iraq, British Mar. Gen. Andrew Graham, has said he thinks the number is at least twice that many, from 40,000 to 50,000.

With the increase in the strength of the insurgency, both the number of attacks against coalition forces, as well as civilian targets, has also risen to twice what they were last winter.

U.S. casualties – both killed and wounded – are averaging 747 a month since the “transition” took place. That contrasts with a monthly average of 482 casualties during the six-week invasion in the spring of 2003 and 415 casualties from over the 13 months leading up to the transition. More than 1,040 U.S. soldiers have died and 7,413 have been wounded over the past 18 months, more than 90 percent of all of them since Bush declared an end to major hostilities.

Non-Iraqi contractor deaths have also been highest during the “transition,” according to the report, with a monthly average of 17.5 contractors killed over the past three months, versus a monthly average of 7.6 contractor deaths over the previous 15 months. A total of 52 U.S. contractors have died to date.

As of last week, an estimated 12,800 to 14,800 Iraqi civilians have been killed in connection with the invasion and ensuring occupation, according to the report, which estimated the total number of injured civilians at roughly 40,000.

But the failure to date of the U.S. and Iraqi government forces to enforce security has also had a major impact that is not only related to the insurgency. Murder, rape, and kidnapping have kept tens of thousands of women off the streets and children out of school – the opening of school this year has been delayed until next month – and a major exodus of members of the middle and professional classes, particularly Iraq’s Christian community.

Meanwhile, despite Congressional appropriation of some US$18 billion for reconstruction, unemployment is running at 50 percent or more – roughly double what it was before the invasion. According to the report, the U.S. is currently employing only 120,000 Iraqis out of a work force of some seven million.

Moreover, Iraq’s health infrastructure has been severely weakened, particularly as a result of looting in the invasion’s aftermath, as well as the demands placed on it by the continuing violence and the failure to date to repair damaged water and sewage systems that are contributing to an outbreak of infectious diseases, including hepatitis, in various parts of the country.

In terms of cost to the U.S. taxpayer, the study says that Congress has so far approved $151.1 billion for Iraq alone, and that Congressional leaders have said they expect the administration to request another $60 billion after the November election. In terms of long-term costs, at least one economist has estimated that the total war bill to date will add up to an average of at least $3,415 for every U.S. household.

Economic and social costs, especially to soldiers’ families, have also been high. Since 2001, some 364,000 reserve troops and National Guard soldiers have been called up and required to serve tours of duty that often last as much as 20 months, resulting in losses of income to their families.

The average tour of duty for all soldiers in Iraq has been 320 days, and various studies have shown that as many as half of the soldiers may not re-enlist. An Army study last March found that 52 percent of soldiers in Iraq reported low morale and 75 percent complained that they were poorly led. Meanwhile, 44 percent of the country’s police forces have lost officers to Iraq, which has also depleted the ranks of other “first responders,” such firefighters and emergency medical personnel in local communities.

Almost two-thirds of injuries suffered by U.S. forces in Iraq were severe enough to prevent them from returning to duty, while a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that one in six soldiers returning from Iraq showed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression, or severe anxiety.

Other costs resulting from the war, according to the report, include a sharp rise in recruitment by al Qaeda and like-minded groups, with the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies recently estimating al Qaeda’s active membership at some 18,000. - http://www.commondreams.org/h...

RealVoices.org: Families of Iraq War Dead Target Bush in Ads

09.30.04 (8:06 pm) [edit]

WASHINGTON - Angered by President Bush's policy in Iraq, a group of military families whose relatives died there is targeting the president in new television ads to be aired ahead of the Nov. 2 election.

"I think the American people need to know that we have been betrayed in this rush to war," said Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey is among the more than 1,000 U.S. troops who died in the war.

Sheehan is joining a small group of military families in Washington on Wednesday to launch new political ads by an interest group called RealVoices.org, http://www.realvoices.org/ which supports Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's bid for the White House.

"It's important that we get our troops home from Iraq as soon as possible so no other families have to go through what we are going through," said Sheehan of Vacaville, California.

The ads are expected to be aired nationally in the coming weeks and in battleground cities of Las Vegas, Orlando and Albuquerque.

In one ad, Sheehan is seen sobbing as she tells the story of her son, 24-year-old Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, who died in the arms of one of his friends in Iraq on April 4, 2004.

Al Zappala is active in "Military Families Speak Out" (www.mfso.org), a group that opposes the U.S. war in Iraq and has about 1,700 families among its members. He is in Washington for the ads and to attend a peace march on Saturday.

Zappala's son, Sgt. Sherwood Baker, was killed on April 26 in Iraq and was the first Pennsylvania National Guard soldier to die in action since World War II.

"I feel so let down by the Bush administration," said Zappala, who said Military Families Speak Out was a non-partisan group.

[b]OPPOSING VIEWS[/b]

Another group, "Military Moms with a Mission," is campaigning in 30 cities across America to tell people why they should vote for Kerry.

"They are traveling the country telling people their stories and why George Bush has let them down. Many are frustrated that George Bush is not telling the truth about the reality in Iraq," said Kerry campaign spokesman Chad Clanton.

Countering this campaign to support Kerry are similar groups who back Bush and his policy in Iraq.

Retired Air Force Capt. Linda Bergin is campaigning on behalf of military families and others in New Jersey and says Bush is the only leader capable of leading America following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

She said many veterans and people still in the military felt Kerry had been disloyal, particularly after he returned home from Vietnam and criticized the U.S. presence there.

"People are heartbroken their people are over there but out of respect of their child, they want to support the president," she said.

Nancy Kennon, founder of the group "Security Moms For Bush," said many military families had contacted her Web site (www.moms4Bush.com) to lend their support and were sick of the negative message pushed by the Kerry campaign.

"I have got some letters from active military moms and they have been saddened by the negative spin," said Kennon, who lives in Westchester, New York. She is the mother of young twin daughters and does not have a child in the military.

The Bush campaign could not immediately be reached for comment on the new ads. - http://www.commondreams.org/h...

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To 'The Truth'

09.30.04 (7:38 pm) [edit]

I am a conservative Republican who has come to the conclusion over the past 12 months that I would not vote for Bush Cheney 2004 under bribe, duress or at gunpoint. I have come to that conclusion for many reasons that are well documented and in some instances is information that is known only to myself and several executives that I work with.

I have written a book about my experiences with the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Bush Cheney, and bring forth facts that I found stunning and disgusting to the point that I am convinced that both the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and RNC, and our political system, are in need a serious house cleaning. America needs leadership, not an endless stream of talking heads and game show hosts to keep us entertained. That is my opinion and I am sticking to it.

It would also help if Americans had The Truth but that seems to be something that Washington, DC fears these days.

I read the recent analysis written by Sibel D. Edmonds regarding the 9-11 Commission findings and recommendations. That article was posted on Antiwar.com for those readers that missed it. For those that do not know who Sibel Edmonds is, she is the FBI translator that Bush, Cheney and Ashcroft have gone to great lengths to silence.

The 9-11 attorneys Motley & Rice zeroed in on her as a possible key witness after filing that $1 trillion lawsuit, and when that happened none of us should be surprised that Bush, Cheney and Ashcroft went into "shut her up mode."

Out of curiosity as to how her facts might concur or disagree with the facts I assembled in my book, I tracked Sibel down and we had a long visit via telephone. That conversation was just another example of "don't believe everything you read" in our major media outlets.

I followed her story as it developed and the media always reported to us "mushrooms" that her testimony was being blocked "due to national security" and "protecting the Global War on Terrorism." Good enough reasons I thought at first, until I had the chance to hear it from the source.

During the FBI translations Sibel came across pre-9-11 drug trafficking and money laundering and that is evidently what they are trying to keep quiet. It does not take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that first, the Saudis do not need drug trafficking to generate cash flow to finance terrorism if they are in fact the culprits, and secondly, that tidbit of information does not fit what we have all been told about how al Qaeda financed the attack upon America. After I weighed it all, I thought the 9-11 attorneys might not be as interested in Sibel Edmonds' testimony as they first thought because drug trafficking and money laundering is not exactly a Saudi modus operandi.

More importantly, what Sibel Edmonds found was not from counter-terrorism sources. It was from ongoing FBI investigations of Americans and foreign nationals involved in drug trafficking, money laundering and apparently pre-9-11 activities and financing of that attack. Now that explains why Emperor GW cannot dare let Sibel Edmonds testify under oath in that $1 trillion lawsuit, or before Congress or before the 9-11 Commission. We have not been told that Americans might have been in part involved in 9-11. Wouldn't that be a hoot compared to the endless lies we have heard from the Bush administration?

No wonder her testimony (if ever heard in an open forum) is giving heart palpitations to Emperor George, Prince Dick, and Squire Ashcroft.

Hmmm, I said to myself. That Sibel story sounds familiar, like Iran-Contra, which was in part run through my home state of Arkansas. Who in this menagerie of current "bad actors" has that type of MO and history, including involvement in Iran-Contra? The first name that comes to mind is Richard Armitage of the State Department and reportedly our go between with the Pakistani ISI. Hmmm, it was the former director of ISI that wired Mohammed Atta that $100,000 for 9-11 and then was conveniently in Washington, DC, when 9-11 happened, meeting with Senators Graham and Kyl and Congressman Porter Goss, Bush's pick to keep the lid on at CIA.

Hmm, Richard Armitage, drug trafficking, money laundering, Iran-Contra, Pakistan ISI, what is the connection?

Then there is Baron Rumsfeld over at DoD, who seemed to dart around like a bee pollinating CBW (chemical and biological weapons) to Saddam under the Reagan administration, being part of Iran-Contra, planning and practicing the invasion of Afghanistan in early 2001 well in advance of 9-11, attacking on October 7, 2001, to get rid of those silly Taliban folks, and immediately after 9-11 wanted to start planning to go kick Saddam really good.

Somewhere along the way Baron Rummy forgot to tell us all what Karen Kwiatkowski disclosed, that being the Pentagon was running a little shop of lies known as The Office of Special Plans to skew intelligence to fit the policy that Emperor George II, Prince Dick and Baron Rumsfeld wanted us all to believe. I think the entire world now knows they lied, so no sense wasting time here to belabour that point any further today.

Before I forget, of course George H.W. Bush was vice president and former head of the CIA when Iran-Contra was being done as a CIA black op. CIA, GHWB, Drug trafficking, money laundering, Armitage, Pakistan ISI, what is the connection? I seem to recall that when Barry Seal's body was found (he was the drug part of Iran-Contra) they found George H W Bush's personal telephone number in his car. Curious indeed. Maybe GW should slap "SECRET" all the way back to before his birth just to be on the safe side.

However, I have come across other facts due to personal and professional reasons that the Bush–Cheney Administration and the 9-11 Commission evidently do not what you as a reader to know.

Do you recall in March 2003 when the FBI and Ashcroft flashed the photographs and name of Adnan G. El Shukrijumah across our TV screens and the next day in major newspapers? Following my divorce in 2002, I dated a lady from Canada for close to 20 months and when those photographs first appeared she recognized him immediately. Two of the five photographs shown on the FBI website directly involved how she knew it was him. He was in Hamilton, Ontario, at McMaster University and under an alias.

The call to the FBI was made from my home office telephone.

The FBI did not go after him. They don't want the "mushroom Americans" to know that fact, either. If you happen to have caught US Attorney Comey's press conference on Shukrijumah recently, at least one aggressive (i.e. awake) reporter pinned him down that they do not have enough evidence on Shukrijumah to arrest or convict him.

Hmmm, then why run his name and photographs on the national and international TV stations claiming he is the ultimate boogeyman? They are looking for him for what exact reason?

I have repeatedly asked the FBI to update their website to include that new alias or provide an explanation as to why they have not done so. I have asked the same of Homeland Security and they of course, never respond to mere American citizens who pose an embarrassing question as to their ineptitude.

Where it gets even more curious is following positive ID of Shukrijumah and the FBI did not go after him, they called the person I know in Canada that knows him, and demanded that she never tell anyone that she had identified him within 10 minutes of them running his photographs and name. They have since run his name and photographs at least four more times since March 2003, pretending to be looking for him, and I emphasize, pretending to be looking for him. They had a chance and did not even go after him.

The FBI never gets around to mentioning that Adnan G. El Shukrijumah and the rest of his family have lived in Florida since 1986 without incident. That is, until someone dreamed up what I am beginning to believe is a GWOT (global war on terror) Fable to cover up other actions.

Hmmm, who is dropping his name as the boogeyman and he is not the boogeyman? I want to know who is doing that and why they are doing it.

Then it gets even more curious. I met a company in 1999 about oil and gas row across South America in key places. The name of that company is Bridas Corporation of Argentina. Well, 1999 was a long time before 9-11 and it was of little importance to me at that time when they told me that they had filed a $15 billion interference of contract lawsuit against Unocal for interference of contract in Turkmenistan.

They also informed me that they had signed contracts with General Rashid Dostum (that Uzbek who controls the northern part of Afghanistan) and the Taliban.

Seems Bush and Cheney do not want anyone to know that Bridas had contracts to build that pipeline across Afghanistan and we now control it after October 7, 2001, and the attack we levied on Afghanistan. That pipeline is now under construction, is under US control, so it's Miller Time, Emperor GW finally got a "Mission Accomplished."

Now, why didn't Emperor George, Prince Dick or the 9-11 Commission ever say a word about a non-US company having beat the US to that pipeline contract across Afghanistan? Did any of you readers hear a word about Bridas Corporation, Afghanistan, or that pipeline, or that lawsuit in Texas?

Didn't think so.

That sort of explains to me why Emperor George wanted a whole new CIA division just for Argentina, since Bridas is from Argentina.

For you information sleuths, on September 9, 2003, Bridas Corporation prevailed in the Fifth Circuit US Court of Appeals on an arbitration award, reportedly over $500 million, in the matter of Bridas Corporation v. Turkmenneft, the oil ministry arm of Turkmenistan. For the geographically impaired, that is the northwest end of the pipeline that is going across Afghanistan even as you read this, but under US control. Of course, the Bush friends went running to the US Supreme Court, but on March 22, 2004, the high court denied writ of certiorari and left intact the decision out of New Orleans; matter of Turkmenneft v. Bridas Corporation 03-1018, U.S. Supreme Court.

Drug trafficking, money laundering, 9-11, attacking to take away that oil pipeline contract so Emperor George can claim "Mission Accomplished" on something, all of the big Caspian Basin oil deals that need that pipeline.

Seems Sibel Edmonds might have stumbled across a key link that might unravel why the World Trade Center (WTC) is now a hole in the ground and US companies now control a pipeline they had not a chance of controlling, that is until 9-11 and October 7, 2001.

I keep thinking about that Project for a New American Century announcement in 2000:

In 2000 PNAC issued a report predicting that their proposed "transformation" of U.S. military and diplomatic policy in the Middle East wouldn't come very quickly, barring the occurrence of "some catastrophic and catalyzing event, like a new Pearl Harbor."

Hmm, Pearl Harbor and WTC, what is the connection?

Guess what law firm represented Turkmenneft to keep Bridas tied up in court? Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw, and senior partner Richard Ben Veniste was sitting on that 9-11 Commission while Bridas was winning. His law firm stands to make hundreds of millions in fees having now positioned themselves in Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Isn't DC policy a wonderfully profitable endeavor?

I was part of a 9-11 program presented in New York City and when the panel I was on was completed, a woman got past security and came running up to me on the stage, wanting to tell me something. She had just been fired from a job in Argentina with one of our major banks and informed that all of Argentina is hoping an American figured out what Bush/Cheney, et al, did to Bridas Corporation. I had a strange peace before that presentation, maybe I knew she would be there to let me know that my information is right on target.

Lastly, eight of the 10 9-11 Commission members (that I know of) are directly benefiting from 9-11 or companies they represent or sit on the board of directors of that pipeline, that big Caspian Oil deal being "open for business" soon, thanks to the US controlled pipeline, so I think we can all rest assured that The Truth Commission on 9-11 has yet to convene. The ones with serious conflicts are Kean, Fielding, Lehman, Thompson, Hamilton, Gorelick, Ben Veniste, and Roemer and just for kicks, a former Lee Hamilton staffer, Christopher Kojm, was in the back office with Zelikow.

Stay tuned—there is plenty of truth to be found. There are few if any truth seekers in Washington, DC. The truth will not set some of them free.

[b]Karl W. B. Schwarz lives in Little Rock, Ark., and is the author of "One-Way Ticket to Crawford, Texas, a Conservative Republican Speaks Out." He is the President and Chief Executive Office of Patmos Nanotechnologies, LLC and I-nets Security Systems, a designer of intelligence and UAV systems[/b]. - http://www.onlinejournal.com/...

Over 2300 Attacks in Iraq- Hey George, is this Progress?

09.30.04 (11:08 am) [edit]

International Herald Tribune writes, "Over the past month, more than 2,300 attacks have been directed against civilians and military targets in Iraq, in a pattern that sprawls over nearly every major population center outside the Kurdish north, according to comprehensive data compiled by a private security company with access to military intelligence reports and its own network of Iraqi informants." Add to this that over 75 brave American soldiers were killed in Iraq this month as well. Here are some real flip flops for you George- You say "healthy forest"- reality says screw the forest. You say "clean air" act, reality says don't breathe it. You say "Iraqi progress", reality says Iraq is a disaster.

[b]More[/b] ... http://www.iht.com/articles/5...

Bush/Republicans' Lack of 'Wisdom' Horrifies Allies

09.30.04 (11:05 am) [edit]

[b]London Review of Books:[/b] "America is now offering lessons in what little wisdom it takes to govern the world. Confounded in Iraq, isolated from its traditional allies, shamed over Abu Ghraib, soaked in corporate corruption and the backwash of environmental harm, sustaining an uninherited budget deficit while preparing more tax rewards for the rich, as dismissive of the unhealthy as the foreign, as terrified of the unfolding truth as of mailed anthrax, it is a society made menacing by a notion of God's great plan. America is tolerance-challenged, integrity-poor, frightened to death, and yet, beneath its patriotic hosannahs, a country in delirium before the recognition that it might have spent the last three years not only squandering the sympathy of the world but hot-housing hatreds more ferocious than those it had wished to banish for ever from the clear blue skies."

[b]More[/b] ... http://www.lrb.co.uk/v26/n18/...

Military Insiders Warn: Bush's Politically Timed Iraq 'Fall Offensive' Ill-Advised & Disastrous

09.30.04 (11:04 am) [edit]

[b]Navy Times: [/b]"A U.S. military offensive planned in key Iraqi cities this fall could still be delayed or avoided altogether. One key factor in deciding whether to press ahead is if Baghdad and Washington settle for partial, rather than full, Iraqi participation in elections in January. Another problem arguing against an early offensive: Fears that Iraqi forces may not be strong enough to hold cities like Fallujah and Ramadi, even if American forces manage to root out insurgents there, Pentagon officials and defense analysts say. An offensive also carries risks - including numerous civilian casualties and the danger of further inflaming anti-U.S. feelings Ã¢?? with no assurance it would put an end to the insurgency, which even Bush administration officials concede is getting worse as Iraqi elections approach." The ONLY reason for the fall offensive is to dupe voters: "Stick with me - we're just about to really break through!" Meanwhile, how many must die or be maimed?

[b]More[/b] ... http://www.navytimes.com/stor...

ARMY TIMES: Myers Says Call-ups Expected after the Election

09.30.04 (10:59 am) [edit]

You won't see this mentioned by Tom 'Tokyo Rose' Brokaw, Britt Hume, Judy Woodruff, and the rest of the cast of corporate clowns posing as "journalists." Can't have any news "inconvenient" to Bush's campaign leaking out now can we? Instead, we have been treated to slams of Kerry, who dared to suggest that the Bush administration would call up more troops AFTER the election, and without mentioning that little detail to the public. This story in Army Times can only be accessed by subscription but the headline is there: "MYERS: CALL-UPS EXPECTED AFTER ELECTION" - right under the headline "RECRUITING FALLS SHORT OF GOAL." So tonight during the debates, if Bush denies the callups, he;ll be calling Gen. Myers a liar!

[b]More[/b] ... http://armytimes.com/

Military Insiders Warn: Bush's Politically Timed Iraq 'Fall Offensive' Ill-Advised & Disastrous

09.30.04 (10:59 am) [edit]

ARMY TIMES: Myers Says Call-ups Expected after the Election

09.30.04 (10:56 am) [edit]

Bush: Un-Christian, Blood-Thirsty and Hypocritical ...

09.29.04 (12:46 pm) [edit]

[b]The Bush Family Fortune

Gramps made nice with some not very nice people in the '30s[/b]

Within the chainsaw-wielding Texas rancher, the blue blood of Connecticut runs deep. But not so many people know that there are a couple of rocks to be turned over in the Bush family history.

Prescott Bush, sometimes described as a progressive Republican senator from Connecticut and often described as the man who looked like he should be president, turns out to have been a creepy front man for industrialists who bankrolled and built the Nazi war machine.

Over the weekend, The Guardian (U.K.) set out in a lengthy story based on files in the National Archives the story of how in the '30s, young Prescott Bush, with the help of his father, got together with Averill Harriman, son of the railroad scion E.H. Harriman, and set up a company called UBC (Union Banking Corporation). Bush was a founder and director and owned one share, valued at $125. As it turned out, UBC was an American shell company for the Thyssen family interests. The Thyssens were a preeminent German business family that dominated the nation's iron and steel and coal businesses and were crucial to bankrolling and building the Nazi war machine. UBC was a shell, owned by a Netherlands bank, with anonymous real owners who, on further inspection, turned out to be the Thyssens.

Young Fritz Thyssen was infatuated with Hitler and joined the Nazi party in 1931. When the Nazis were having a hard time, he bailed them out financially. By the late '30s, along with Harriman's Brown Brothers Harriman, which claimed to be the world's largest investment bank, Bush had bought and shipped millions of dollars of gold, fuel, steel, coal, and U.S. treasury bonds to Germany. In addition, it appears that Bush may have had ties to the Consolidated Silesian Steel Company, which during the war used slave labor from the Nazis' concentration camps. He might also have been involved through the Thyssens in another company that was linked to the chemical giant I.G. Farben, which used slave labor.

There was nothing illegal or even unusual about doing business with the Germans in the '30s before war broke out; numerous American companies had holdings in Germany during that era. The issue with Prescott Bush is whether he had actually owned shares in the Thyssen enterprise or was just holding them in a shell for the German owners. U.S. investigations never answered the question, and no one ever brought any charges.

John Loftus, a former U.S. attorney who prosecuted Nazi war criminals in the '70s, is working on a novel that relates to some of the material he found about the Bushes. He told The Guardian, "You can't blame Bush for what his grandfather did any more than you can blame Jack Kennedy for what his father did—bought Nazi stocks—but what is important is the cover-up, how it could have gone on so successfully for half a century, and does that have implications for us today? This was the mechanism by which Hitler was funded to come to power, this was the mechanism by which the Third Reich's defense industry was re-armed, this was the mechanism by which Nazi profits were repatriated back to the American owners, this was the mechanism by which investigations into the financial laundering of the Third Reich were blunted."

Loftus, who is vice chairman of a Holocaust museum in Saint Petersburg, Florida, added, "The Union Banking Corporation was a holding company for the Nazis, for Fritz Thyssen. At various times, the Bush family has tried to spin it, saying they were owned by a Dutch bank and it wasn't until the Nazis took over Holland that they realized that now the Nazis controlled the apparent company and that is why the Bush supporters claim when the war was over they got their money back. Both the American treasury investigations and the intelligence investigations in Europe completely belie that, it's absolute horseshit. They always knew who the ultimate beneficiaries were." - http://www.villagevoice.com/i...

Read "31 Similarities Between Hitler and President Bush" on http://www.dissidentvoice.org...

Bush: Un-Christian, Blood-Thirsty and Hypocritical ...

09.29.04 (12:43 pm) [edit]

Energy Efficiency Delays by Bush Administration Costing Consumers Billions

09.29.04 (12:33 pm) [edit]

President Bush's energy plan calls for aggressively drilling oil
and gas in pristine wilderness areas in the West and Alaska, as
well as construction of hundreds of new power plants across the
country. Many would be coal-fired plants, which contribute to
global warming and cause air pollution and acid rain.

But if the President simply accelerated new efficiency standards
for furnaces and boilers, commercial air conditioners and
transformers, this oil and gas drilling would be unnecessary,
according to a new report by three energy watchdog groups.

Under President Bush, the Department of Energy (DOE) has dragged
its feet for years on new energy standards, even though each
year's delay costs consumers and businesses over $7 billion in
higher energy costs over the lifetimes of the inefficient
equipment sold. Electricity savings each year would be enough to
power 330,000 U.S. homes. Natural gas savings could heat about
170,000 homes.

"Enormous energy savings are at stake," said Steve Nadel,
executive director of the American Council for an Energy
Efficient Economy http://www.aceee.org/ (ACEEE). "Strong standards for these three
products could slash U.S. electricity demand by about 22,000
megawatts, eliminating the need for as many as 70 new power
plants."

The Department of Energy named new standards for residential
furnaces and boilers, commercial air conditioners, and
distribution transformers as "high priorities" in 2001, but only
last month were initial proposals finally issued. Under DOE's
timetable, a final rule will not go into effect until 2009.

"With yet another winter of sky-high heating bills around the
corner, it's a horrible time for DOE to walk away from its
responsibility for establishing common-sense furnace efficiency
standards," said Nadel.

In addition to being years behind on the current rulemakings,
DOE has missed legal deadlines for another dozen products. The
ACEEE report includes an appendix with state-by-state estimates
of the impact new standards would have on energy use, energy
bills, and the environment.

"Powerful Priorities: Updating Energy Efficiency Standards for
Residential Furnaces, Commercial Air Conditioners, and
Distribution Transformers" can be downloaded at
www.standardsASAP.org.

###

http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/mt_archives/000195.php" title="http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/mt_archives/000195.php" target="_blank"http://www.bushgreenwatch.org...

Energy Efficiency Delays by Bush Administration Costing Consumers Billions

09.29.04 (12:32 pm) [edit]

Energy Efficiency Delays by Bush Administration Costing Consumers Billions

09.29.04 (12:29 pm) [edit]

Bush is Contradicted by his own Top Officials ...

09.29.04 (12:26 pm) [edit]

[b]This Means War

General mischief hits the Bush camp; he goes one way, advisers another[/b]

Things were looking good for George W. Bush last week—Ohio and Florida safely tilting in his direction, John Kerry hanging on to a narrow lead in Michigan, and Pennsylvania seemingly drifting toward the Republicans. By week's end, New Jersey, a Democratic sure bet, was in play, with the Kerry campaign racing to shore up defenses in what should have been a done deal.

Then, four days before the first debate, out of the desert came Colin Powell, tossing a monkey wrench into the president's re-election campaign. "We have seen an increase in anti-Americanism in the Muslim world . . . I'm not denying this," Powell said on ABC's This Week. "We are fighting an intense insurgency. Yes, it's getting worse, and the reason it's getting worse is that they are determined to disrupt the election."

This statement came on the heels of Bush's U.N. speech, in which the president insisted that victory in Iraq is at hand, liberty and democracy assured. The centerpiece of the Republican campaign, the endlessly repeated message: "We're winning," now branded a virtual lie by Bush's own secretary of state and the military commander who led Desert Storm.

It gets worse. Earlier in the week, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, the Washington press corps's beloved goofball, said that maybe because of the fighting there would be elections in only part of Iraq. On Sunday, as Powell was speaking, another military commander, General John Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command, which covers Iraq and Afghanistan, said he was confident that elections would be possible in the "vast majority" of Iraq.

Bush is now being openly contradicted by his own top officials. What more could Kerry hope for? - http://villagevoice.com/issue...

Bush is Contradicted by his own Top Officials ...

09.29.04 (12:23 pm) [edit]

...... Bush is History's Top Terrorist ......

09.29.04 (12:19 pm) [edit]

As the fourth global-warmed hurricane in two months rips through Florida, we are reminded that George W. Bush is history's top terrorist.

We know, of course, that Bush has slaughtered thousands of Iraqis, imprisoned hundreds without trial or charges, and presided over the torture and sexual abuse of many of them. He is the world's leading recruiter for hate-America terrorists the world over.

Bush's preemptive militarism has paved the way for countless crusades for oil and fundamentalism in the decades to come. He overthrew the elected government of Haiti, resulting in hundreds of deaths. He tried to do the same in Venezuela. Other target nations are sure to follow.

Bush is also determined to turn AIDS into a profit center for the drug companies that help fund him. His attacks on sex education, birth control and reproductive choice will kill girls and women for the decades to come, especially if he re-criminalizes abortion in a second term.

As Texas's Governor Bush executed a record 150-plus people. He publically mocked at least one, Karla Faye Tucker, who had asked him to spare her. His escalated war on drugs has helped stuff 2.2 million Americans into the largest gulag in world history. Many suffer regular physical and sexual abuse. Many are also conveniently deprived of their right to vote.

Bush's catastrophic "No Child Left Behind" program is decimating America's once-proud educational system, vastly escalating illiteracy and ignorance. He is barring thousands of students who have traditionally come here from overseas. Their disappearance will further cripple American education, as well as America's historic role in spreading democratic values to young people around the world.

Bush has also decimated the Bill of Rights and basic freedoms embodied in the US Constitution, paving the way for a potential dictatorship should he get a second term.

In short, he has done to America things no foreign terrorist could ever imagine.

But it all pales before Bush's all-out attack on the natural environment, which will ultimately kill hundreds of millions of people.

Bush's eco-terror crusade has two primary roots: corporate greed and fundamental religious extremism.

On the corporate side, Bush's entire environmental policy can be summarized in a simple sentence: Any polluter favored by the Bush regime can pillage and destroy any sector of the American ecology, regardless of the consequences, with full official sanction, including huge taxpayer handouts.

Bush's signature flip flop has been on global warming. The scientific and insurance community is now virtually unanimous that rising carbon dioxide levels are wrecking utter havoc with global weather patterns, including this latest parade of Caribbean hurricanes. The only dissenters are oil company flacks, flat earth think tanks and fundamentalist fanatics.

Bush promised in 2000 that if elected he would endorse the Kyoto Accords to cut CO2 emissions. But then he joined Joseph Stalin in demanding that science fit his bizarre ideology. At the behest of his petro-backers, including Dick Cheney's Halliburton, Bush has scorned a global consensus that includes his primary ally in Iraq, British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Two of the world's biggest insurance companies, Swiss Re: and Munich Re:, have issued strong warnings about the skyrocketing costs of climate catastrophes. Even British Petroleum has voiced concern, at the same time making massive investments in solar power.

Bush's fossil-nuke energy plan gives huge tax credits for gas guzzling HumVees, but has cynically stalemated long-standing green energy tax easements, crippling the once-booming US wind power industry.

Three years after Bush allowed 9/11, America's 103 atomic power reactors remain vulnerable to attacks from the air. The first plane that flew into the World Trade Center could instead have turned the Indian Point reactors north of New York City into radioactive infernos. Such an apocalyptic attack could still happen, killing millions and costing trillions, dwarfing Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. By doing nothing significant to make US reactors safer, Bush has painted them with a big terror bullseye.

Bush is also reviving nuke weapons production and testing, escalating the likelihood of nuclear war and production disasters.

After 9/11, Bush lied to the people of New York about the toxic fallout from the WTC collapses. His cover-up caused countless avoidable deaths. His assaults on the air, water, food and other regulatory responsibilities daily poison millions worldwide. They feed the on-going plague of cancers, lung and heart disease, childhood afflictions and too much more to catalog here.

Acid rain and ozone destruction add to the horrors of global warming, as do Bush's attacks on America's national parks and public lands.

As history's most environmentally destructive human, Bush's hate-nature crusade has been blessed by fanatic fundamentalists who believe destruction of the planet will hasten the Messiah. James Watt, Ronald Reagan's Interior Secretary, scorned attempts to preserve the Earth by announcing that Jesus was coming soon anyway.

Bush spinmeister Karl Rove bans such blunt talk. But his all-out attacks on environmental protection, fuel efficiency, renewable energy and much more have already guaranteed an avoidable death toll unparalleled in human history. The evil winds of climate chaos now blasting through the Caribbean may soon seem like mild breezes compared to the ultimate eco-curse of George W. Bush.

Attila the Hun. Genghis Khan. The Kaiser. Hitler. Stalin. Saddam. Bin Laden. None have killed more than those dying and destined to die at Bush's anti-green hands. His terror attacks have driven Mother Earth to the very brink.

Four more years and he just might finish her off---and all of us with her. - http://www.freepress.org/colu...

--- George Bush and the Rise of Christian Fascism, by Rev. Rich Lang ---

09.28.04 (9:28 am) [edit]

[b]George Bush and the Rise of Christian Fascism

Rev. Rich Lang [/b]

The men who wrote the Constitution of the United States knew that we human beings have a tendency to 'not get along with each other'. They knew that if power accrued into the hands of an elite the experiment of democracy (power spread out into the realm of the people) would be over. So they created a system of checks and balances which blocked access to any one person, or any one special interest or elite gaining too much power over others. Thus our executive, legislative and judicial branches of government "checked" each other. The media was yet another "check" on the accrual of too much power as was the Bill of Rights which was written into the Constitution. The system wasn't perfect but it kept alive the possibility of true democracy. It kept alive the dream that one day "we the people" could live in a peaceful commonwealth where every person has what they need to survive and thrive.

That dream died in December 2000 when the checks and balances of our Constitution collapsed and George Bush was inserted into the Presidency of the nited States. September 11, 2001 furthered the atrophying of democracy handing the country into the hands of an emerging Corporate (and I say Christian) Fascism.

Since that time we have witnessed and have been unable to prevent the emergence of an Imperial Presidency that has the unrestricted power to declare war against any country he chooses. The Imperial Presidency has brought to an end the Constitutional mandate that 'ONLY CONGRESS' has the authority to declare war. It has furthered weakened international law and has undermined the potential of the United Nations to spread democracy throughout the earth.

The President has also gained unrestricted power to round up unlimited numbers of American citizens and incarcerate them in military brigs or concentration camps for the rest of their lives. He can keep them from ever again communicating with friends, families, and attorneys, simply on the president's certification that the incarcerated are "terrorists," as he has done with Jose Padilla and Yaser Esam Hamdi. The President may also now kill American citizens abroad solely on the basis of his certification that the one killed is a "terrorist". Just ask the family and friends of Ahmed Hijazi, anAmerican killed with a U.S.-fired missile in Yemen. Therefore suspending the Constitutional right: "no person shall be denied life, liberty or property without due process of law."

Ominous signs are all around us concerning the accrual of power into the hands of the Presidency. If Mr. Bush stays in office I think our future will continue to witness shrinking political rights, financial collapse and endless war. Part of the power and seduction of this administration emerges from its diabolical manipulation of Christian rhetoric. I want to flesh out the ideology of the Christian Fascism that Mr. Bush articulates. It is a form of Christianity that is the mirror opposite of what Jesus embodied. It is, indeed, the materialization of the spirit of antichrist: a perversion of Christian faith and practice.

This country, like it or not, is overwhelmingly dominated by the ideology of the Christian story. It is not so much that our founders were all Christians. Rather, they lived in an atmosphere scented throughout by Christian thought and rhetoric. Just as most of us can't imagine how to keep things cold without refrigeration; so too our founders couldn't help but think through the lens of the Christian story. And what they saw was that America had become the New Israel (the new Promised Land) of God. America has understood itself as a benevolent nation seeking only the good of all. We have understand our wealth as a blessing given to us as a sign that we are a "chosen, special people" whose larger meaning is to help the world into an era of peace, prosperity and justice. Every politician draws on this "civil religion story" which gives authority to the politicians ambition and agenda. Another way of saying this is: every nation needs sacred legitimation. It needs the authority of transcendence: of a story larger than itself . a story that connects past with present and future. An Empire needs an even broader story: one that connects with cosmic and/or historical redemption and new creation.

Martin Luther King understood this sacred American civil religion and was able to wed it brilliantly with the prophetic religious teachings of the Bible. He drew upon Biblical narratives which limited the power and authority of the elite while calling for economic redistribution of wealth. He drew upon teachings rooted in the personal morality of nonviolence and compassion. George Bush, on the other hand, also understands this sacred American 'civic gospel' and has brilliantly merged it with Biblical Holiness and Holy War traditions. These traditions call for the emergence of the Righteous Warrior who will cleanse the land of its impurity. These traditions are rooted in the personal morality of righteous zeal and obedience.

For example:

1.. Mr. Bush consistently sends signals to his right wing religious base. In last year's State of the Union he exhorted: "there's power, wonder working power, in the goodness and idealism and faith of the American people". It's a phrase from a well known Communion hymn "there's power, wonder working power in the blood of the lamb". Bush brings together the holiness zeal of Christian evangelicalism with patriotic fundamentalism. The core belief system of this 'civic gospel' goes something like this: The United States was founded as a Christian nation with free enterprise as the only economic system truly compatible with Christian beliefs. These religious values are today under attack in America. The danger is that without faith in God America will lose its blessing. Therefore, the government needs to act to protect the nation's religious heritage.

2.. Mr. Bush's teachings on terrorism: "you are with us or against us" cements for the hearer the apocalyptic world of good versus evil. There can be no neutral ground. You have to make a decision. Patriotism is now all or nothing: it is either total agreement or a slippery slope towards treason. In the Church you come to Jesus alone for salvation. In the state you obey the God-annointed leader and are thereby secured. Renana Brooks writes (The Nation June 24, 2003: Bush Dominates A Nation of Victims):

"Bush is a master at inducing learned helplessness in the electorate. He uses pessimistic language that creates fear and disables people from feeling they can solve their problems. In his September 20, 2001 speech to Congress on the 9/11 attacks, he chose to increase people's sense of vulnerability: 'Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen. . I ask you to live your lives, and hug your children. I know many citizens have fears tonight . Be calm and resolute, even in the face of a continuing threat.' (Subsequent terror alerts .. have maintained and expanded this fear of unknown, sinister enemies.)"

The terror threat itself can only be combated with increases in military force, domestic security and curtailment of civil rights through Patriot Acts. There are no other options nor any dialogue or debate that would create an alternative way to deal with terrorism.

3.) Mr. Bush certainly sees himself as a Messiah figure. Listen to his language after 9-11: " I will not forget this wound to our country or those who inflicted it. I will not yield; I will not rest; I will not relent in waging this struggle for freedom and security for the American people." Or, in his 2003 State of the Union speech: "I will defend the freedom and security of the American people". He has become the nation. He is its embodiment. According to Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, - Bush told him: "God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you help me I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them." This is Biblical language . it isn't political script. This is Bush's soul language. He understands himself as a man with a Divine mission. It also means that for him leadership is not "representing the people" rather leadership means transcending the will of the people. George Bush already knows the truth before the evidence is presented. He is guided by God and must blaze the trial even if the people are reluctant.

Iraq, for example, was a necessary war whether or not Saddam had nukes. Saddam, for Bush, was a bad guy who tried to kill "my dad". The war, for Bush, was holy and justified and necessary. Purging evil is necessary in the Holiness/Holy War tradition of the Bible. The righteous will purge evil but the unrighteous will be consumed by it. Think of an alcoholic: it's all or nothing. The whole world is all or nothing.

Like all religions the Bible has various narratives within its pages: Jesus drew on the prophetic traditions that called upon the people to change their way of life even as it critiqued and called upon the elites to decentralize their power. Jesus himself role modeled a lifestyle of service. Mr. Bush, on the other hand, draws on traditions that call for purity and cleansing. It is a language of hostility towards enemies and a strident call for obedience. It calls forth a lifestyle of the RIGHTEOUS ONE who will purge evil from the world through sacred violence.

All of this is not to say that the political world is of less importance. We know that the planning for the Iraq war was at least a decade in preparation. We know that America has had imperial designs and has intervened militarily throughout the world. And we've known for 25 years that Corporations have been savagely reducing labor rights while looting the treasury. We know that Mr. Bush is not the cause of our problems. Rather, the point I am making is that Mr. Bush is a sincere front man for an emerging fascism. His religious rhetoric is an authentic merging of Holiness Christianity with Imperial Americanism. The emphasis on security, law and order is necessary to maintain the "high calling" of the American people. The policies of fascism, in other words, are consistent with religious holiness and holy war narratives. And fascism, woven underneath Christian Holiness/Holy War traditions, is a powerful symbolic narrative that speaks to the American people as evidenced by Mr. Bush's 58% approval rating.

The coming election will not be decided because of political policy. It will not be decided in a debate over free markets versus fair markets; tax cuts or no tax cuts, Patriot Act or no Patriot Act; war with Syria or no war. None of these issues will determine the election because the candidates are all for free markets, tax cuts, domestic security and a strong global military presence. The election will be determined by the candidate who can embody the deeply felt, often unarticulated religious yearnings of the populace. Yearnings such as "who will save us, secure us, lead us??? who will connect us with a power greater than the power of others?" Bush speaks this language. Democrats are stuck in political nuance. Or, in other words, Democrats cannot speak the language of Martin Luther King who understood that social transformation requires a transcendent authority.

The problem comes down to this: Democrats, liberals, and social progressives have simply not grasped how afraid, insecure and how deeply in despair the populace is. They keep speaking as if objective analysis and idealistic vision can win the day. What Bush and Rove, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz and Pearls, Abrams and Bolton, DeLay and Rice etc, have clearly understood is that truth is subjectivity. Unfortunately, the inner person of America today is a hollowed out consumer who lacks the will power, stamina and imagination to do anything more than be overwhelmed. Therefore, a politics of crisis, a politics of fear will keep us locked into a state of conformity.

On the "civic side" of things America is being inundated with a rhetoric of insecurity. Most of Bush's State of the Union was taken up with war themes reminding us all of the horrible new world we live in post 9/11. We know that further increases in the military and police budgets are on the way; we know that the Patriot Act is going to be extended and strengthened; we know that Homeland Security will continue to be a growth industry. We know that this administration wants to break down the wall between church and state with faith-based initiatives. The world is in chaos and the Bush-men will fix it bringing us peace, prosperity, purity and purpose.

On the religion side of things apocalyptic theology is booming. This is also a worldview of crisis and insecurity. It is a theology rooted in the Holiness/Holy War traditions and it dominates the spirituality of this current administration. More to the point, this is the dominant theology of the mass media expression of Christian faith. It is a theology of despair that has given up on the possibilities of redemption.

One of the most popular fiction series making the rounds these days is the LEFT BEHIND series written by Tim LaHaye & Jerry Jenkins. Multiple millions of people are reading these books which fictionalize the end of life as we know it. It used to be that the Church could control people through the fear of eternal damnation. Today it is through fear of the future. The theology is basically this: The Bible is a code book that when rightly interpreted reveals that we are living at the end of history. History is scripted and is about to come to a catastrophic conclusion. The only hope is to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior so that you can be "saved" from the future apocalypse. God will "snatch you up" (Rapture) right before a seven year series of horrible events that will see the rise of Antichrist and the rebuilding of the Jewish temple. There will be world war with most of humanity dying. At that point Jesus will return to restore law and order. This theology of despair "fits" our current culture of powerlessness and fear. From SARS to weapons of mass destruction to the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict, to ecological collapse, the whole world seems to be on a "no exit" slide into an end times abyss. The theology of despair is very seductive. It is shaping the spirituality of Christians which provides a strong core from which Bush draws political strength.

And it has, at least, five political implications that affect each one of us here today. FIRST: Israel is to be exalted and defended no matter what they do to the Palestinian people. They are God's chosen people and must reside in their Biblically anointed Land for the "end time clock" to tick to its final minute. Israel has a Biblical mandate to conquer and control all of the land from the Nile River to the Euphrates. Behind the politics of oil lie the religious passion to fulfill God's will: Syria must fall.

Secondly: institutions like the United Nations are not to be trusted because they are tools of the Antichrist. The Antichrist is thought of (not as a spirituality or ideology) but as an personal embodiment of evil. The Antichrist will be a living person who will come to power at the end of history and proclaim himself to be god on earth. The theory has it that his power will be generated from within a coalition of nations. Thus . America, as God's chosen nation, will need to go it alone so as not to be duped by Antichrist. Our destiny is to take the gospel to all the nations: a benevolent gospel of therapeutic salvation for all.

Thirdly: since the world is passing away the environment is not of great importance. There is no need to worry about issues of sustainability because the world is in its final countdown. Part of the unconcern towards global warming and other ecological crisis is the religious belief that we aren't going to be around in 100 years. We're in the end times now . every moment is merely preparation for eternity. Whether Bush himself believes this or not is irrelevant. This is the religious worldview of those who exalt him and the voter-bloc to which he plays. For Bush to act for sustainability would require a major shift in his religious narrative. . As an aside this past summer the National Park Service was instructed to approve the display of religious symbols and Bible verses, as well as the sale of creationist books at the Grand Canyon National Park. In December 2003 the Park Service was ordered to develop a "more balanced" version of an 8 minute video shown at the Lincoln Memorial Visitor Center. Conservative Christians wanted the removal of footage of gay rights, pro choice and anti-war demonstrations replacing it with footage of Christian rallies and pro-war demonstrations.

Fourth: the trust that Jesus died for "my sins" is far more important than the teachings of Jesus. This fosters a domesticated therapeutic religious expression that insists that "jesus in my heart" is more important than my lifestyle. It's like the Mafia don who could order his enemies killed while he himself was celebrating the baptism of his nephew. There is a disconnect between one's inner experience of God's loving grace and embodying that experience outwardly through one's politics. This leads to a discounting of following Jesus in a lifestyle of nonviolence, economic justice and compassion. Again as an aside . while Governor of Texas Mr. Bush was interviewed by Talk Magazine concerning the impending execution of fellow Christian Karla Faye Tucker. Bush imitated Tucker's appeal for him to spare her life . pursing his lips, squinting his eyes, and in a squeaky voice saying, "please don't kill me".

Fifth: a leader who loves Jesus is to be followed as God's man for the hour. The Christian leader is God's shepherd over the American flock. As stated before Bush sees himself as a Messiah figure (annointed by God for a special redemptive purpose). When he decided on running for the Presidency he called a group of evangelical Pastors together announcing to them "I have heard the call" and then receiving from them the "laying on of hands" which corresponds to divine ordination for the task ahead. On September 14, 2001 he stated: "our responsibility before history is already clear: to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil". He then launched the crusade Operation Infinite Freedom against Afghanistan. Yet other messainic statements from Bush:

"History has called America to action. . The great hope of our time, and the great hope of every time, now depends on us." ..

"We must also remember our calling as a blessed nation to make the world better . and confound the designs of evil men."

"Our nation has been chosen by God and commissioned by history, to be a model of justice before the world."

*** According to Vice-President Cheney: America "has the duty to act with force to construct a world in the image of the United States."

In return for this messianic leadership evangelical Christians have returned an annointing of prayer. During the Afghanistan crusade thousands of "Presidential Circles of Prayer" and "Wheels of Prayer" were organized on the Internet, running 24 hours a day.

[b]WHEEL OF PRAYER FOR OUR SOLDIERS[/b]

Lord hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us.

Bless them and their families for the altruistic actions they are performing

for us in our time of need. This I ask in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen

This prayer was so popular and was hit so often that the website crashed within days.

Pastor Charles Stanley distributed among Marines as they entered into combat thousands of pamphlets entitled "Duty of a Christian in Time of War". With the pamphlet went a card instructing them to sign and send directly to Mr. Bush. The card says: "I have committed to pray for you, your family and your Administration." Specific prayers for the President were included for each day.

[b]CONCLUSION:[/b]

The point I'm trying to make is that we are not dealing simply with politics when it comes to the Bush administration. The progressive left, which often pays little attention to Christianity, will be making a huge mistake if they overlook the religious ideology at the core of Mr. Bush personally and the movement he represents. And we are talking about a "movement" (a movement of 'the people' not just the elites). We are seeing today the emergence of a "fascist movement". It is bankrolled and organized by Corporations, articulated through the ideology of neo-conservativism. but is fueled by the right-wing church drawing upon Holiness/Holy War Biblical narratives.

When Dave Korten (author of When Corporations Rule the World) says that we need a "new story"; he is talking about needing a transcendent authority in which we root our political culture. Human beings cannot live in societal form without a sacred narrative. Neither anarchy nor atheism can construct a house that will hold our future. The Republicans know this well. But the Democrats seem clueless.

In Biblical language the Republicans have become Pharaoh whose house is strong because of economic exploitation of the populace and military repression of the people. The populace is being asked to make bricks without straw. We are seeking a "savior" . a Moses who can rally us out of these mudpits towards the promise of a land flowing with milk and honey. Unfortunately most Democrats are simply offering Pharaoh-lite: they still will keep us in the mudpit making bricks.

What we need is a movement of spiritual justice. We need the language of those who can wed America's civil religion with Biblical prophetic narrative. We need to expand that language so that it can include the language and stories that are emerging from the antiwar, fair trade and human rights movements. Together this language can form a unique new narrative that has the power to inspire imagination and courage. A language that call forth a new coalition powerful enough to leave behind the mudpit and to enter the promise of a new beginning. A coalition that understands that "we are the ones we are looking for". Indeed, the new narrative will proclaim "God with us" not "God above us".

[b]Rev. Rich Lang oddrev@yahoo.com Trinity United Methodist Church Seattle. [/b] - http://www.opednews.com/lang0...

--- George Bush and the Rise of Christian Fascism, by Rev. Rich Lang ---

09.28.04 (9:25 am) [edit]

Europe to Bush: GET LOST!

09.28.04 (7:47 am) [edit]

[b]SFGate: [/b]"Why Bush must be beaten," screamed the headline of Le Nouvel Observateur, a left-leaning French newsweekly. Smaller type above the U.S. president's half profile provided the answer: "His re-election will be a catastrophe for the world and for America." That sentiment may have been expressed more bluntly than the opinions of many Europeans, yet it captured the passions on this continent over who will occupy the White House come January. Fredet's article listed numerous reasons why Bush should go: "unprecedented" American isolationism since 2000; "unequaled arrogance" in Bush's leadership style; intolerant religious fervor; and the growing millions of Americans without proper health insurance. On a continent with largely free health services, many Europeans cite that last reason as their major dislike for the U.S. system and are often dumbfounded about why Americans do not push politicians for universal health care. "

[b]More[/b] ... http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin...

Dwight Eisenhower's Son is Voting for Kerry

09.28.04 (7:45 am) [edit]

[b]John Eisenhower writes[/b], "As son of a Republican President, it is automatically expected by many that I am a Republican. For 50 years, through the election of 2000, I was. With the current administration's decision to invade Iraq unilaterally, however, I changed my voter registration to independent, and barring some utterly unforeseen development, I intend to vote for the Democratic Presidential candidate, Sen. John Kerry... To me, the word 'Republican' has always been synonymous with the word 'responsibility,' which has meant limiting our governmental obligations to those we can afford in human and financial terms. Today's whopping budget deficit of some $440 billion does not meet that criterion... Leadership involves setting a direction and building consensus, not viewing other countries as practically devoid of significance. Recent developments indicate that the current Republican Party leadership has confused confident leadership with hubris and arrogance. "

[b]More [/b]... http://www.theunionleader.com...

Bush Crime Family: Jeb's Gestapo Intimidates Black Voters in Orlando

09.28.04 (7:42 am) [edit]

"In early June uniformed officers began knocking on doors and asking threatening questions of dozens of black voters who had been in contact with Ezzie Thomas. Several said the [Florida State Troopers] 'took-off their jackets and exposed their firearms', while questioning them. In at least one case, the officer crossed his legs and tapped a 9mm pistol sitting in an ankle holster while he asked detailed questions about the interviewee's reasons for voting absentee. (Absentee voting is a choice under Florida law, so one can wonder about the line of questioning.) 'I felt threatened, embarrassed and like I was being accused of being a criminal,' one interviewee, Willie Thomas, wrote in a statement. Many others told attorney Joe Egan later, that they 'no longer wanted to vote absentee', because they felt it was somehow 'illegal'... [Firefighter] Steve Clelland also noticed the officer tapping the 9mm pistol in his ankle-holster, as he let loose his barrage of questions."

[b]More[/b] ... http://news.independent.co.uk...

BUSH'S BLOODBATH: Human and Financial Costs of Iraq War Continue to Rise

09.28.04 (7:10 am) [edit]

The human and financial costs of the Iraq War continue to climb, with no end in sight. Every day on average, two U. S. soldiers are killed and 30 wounded. More than 1,000 U. S. troops have already been killed in Iraq, three times the number that died in the first Persian Gulf War. Meanwhile, the cost of the war to taxpayers has eclipsed $150 billion, according to National Priorities Project.

Information about the cost of the Iraq War for each of the 50 states can be found in the publication Americans Pay High Cost for War, on the National Priorities Project web page, www.nationalpriorities.org/highcostofwar. The non-partisan National Priorities Project creates reliable estimates using data from various sources, primarily the federal government.

In addition to the number of troops killed in Iraq, more than 7,000 have been wounded to date, 15 times the number wounded in the first Gulf War. Nearly 170,000 Reservists and National Guard troops are currently on active duty, compared to 50,000 prior to the beginning of the Iraq War.

It is estimated that $50 billion will be needed for each year the U. S. remains in Iraq beyond 2004, adding to the $152.6 billion Congress has allocated so far. One result has been a neglect of homeland security. The $474 billion spent on the military in Fiscal Year 2005, for example, amounts to seven times the amount spent on homeland and all other non-military security combined.

“We’re quantifying the costs and bringing them down to a local level so that we can all better understand the enormity of this war,” said Greg Speeter, Executive Director of the National Priorities Project. “With the situation appearing to worsen every day, hopefully this information will challenge us to explore options that can provide real security.”

The publication discusses critiques of U.S. security policy as well as alternatives, including shifting billions of dollars from military spending to non-military security tools such as increased funding for port container inspection, nonproliferation, and international intelligence sharing. - http://www.commondreams.org/n...

[b]CONTACT:[/b] National Priorities Project, http://www.nationalpriorities...
Anita Dancs, 413-584-9556, Russell Powell

BUSH'S BLOODBATH: Human and Financial Costs of Iraq War Continue to Rise

09.28.04 (7:09 am) [edit]