War Is A Crime .org

Bush Believes Those Who Protest Iraq War Don't Want U.S. to Win 'War on Terror,' Spokesman Says

By E&P Staff

Published: August 23, 2005 11:30 AM ET

NEW YORK Meeting briefly with reporters Monday aboard Air Force One, Trent Duffy, a White House spokesman subbing for Scott McClellan, said that President Bush believes that those who want the U.S. to begin to change course in Iraq do not want America to win the overall "war on terror."

Duffy spoke on a day when a surprisingly large antiwar protest met the president during his stay in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he addressed a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention.

Taunts Anger Peace Supporters Who Have Sons in Iraq
By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY, AP

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Aug. 23) - Supporters of President Bush clashed with anti-war activists as they wound their way through California after rallying in the hometown of Cindy Sheehan, the mother who started a protest camp outside Bush's Texas ranch.

Conservative activists and military families embarked on the tour Monday, calling it "You don't speak for me, Cindy!" A verbal confrontation erupted when the caravan arrived in Sacramento and was met by anti-war protesters chanting for Bush to bring home the troops.

That makes 52 co-sponsors!

What about YOUR CONGRESS MEMBER??

MORE.

An Open Letter to Rep. Nancy Pelosi on Presidential Accountability and Impeachment
http://www.democrats.com/pelosi-letter

Dear Representative Pelosi,

Thank you for your letter requesting a contribution to elect a Democratic Congress in 2006 to "hold the President accountable."

This is a cause that I, and millions of Americans, wholeheartedly support. This includes Democrats, Independents, and a very large number of Republicans as well.

But I write to differ strongly with you on exactly how to "hold the President accountable."

Your letter delays George Bush's accountability until the distant date of January 2007 - the earliest time when Democrats could assume control of the House of Representatives after the election of November 2006.

A SPECIAL LIVE DAILY EDITION OF THE BRAD SHOW
HIGH NOON FROM CAMP CASEY NEAR CRAWFORD TEXAS
Operation Noble Cause

Beginning the week of August 22, 2005, a Special Edition of The BRAD SHOW with host Brad Friedman via RAW RADIO on the IBC Radio Network will broadcast daily at HIGH NOON from CRAWFORD TEXAS at Camp Casey for the duration of Gold Star Families For Peace Cindy Sheehan's vigil for truth. Operation Noble Cause is in affiliation with Raw Story and The LoneStar Iconoclast.

Join in on the discussion as radio host and investigative blogger Brad Friedman examines the reasons behind the Iraqi invasion and the failed policies of George W. Bush that have led to the deaths of nearly 1900 American soldiers. He will interview families of soldiers killed in Iraq, veterans, lawmakers, celebrities, newsmakers and peacemakers from Camp Casey and around the nation! Join us for continued debate on the most important national and international issues we face today LIVE on The BRAD SHOW via RAW Radio!

Rep. Jim Leach is the 51st Co-Sponsor of H Res 375.

What about YOUR Congress Member?

MORE

Bush Says Iraq Withdrawal Would Weaken US
By Daniela Deane
The Washington Post

Tuesday 23 August 2005

President Bush said Tuesday that anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan, who wants US troops to be immediately withdrawn from Iraq, was advocating a policy that would "weaken the United States" and was not representative of the views of most US military families.

"I disagree with her," Bush told reporters outside the exclusive resort where he is vacationing in Donnelly, Idaho. "I think immediate withdrawal from Iraq would be a mistake."

Bush seemed to suggest he would not be changing his mind about meeting with the California mother, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq last year. He said he met with her already and that two high-ranking aides also met with her during her recent vigil outside Bush's Texas ranch.

August 20 – 21, 2005
Submitted by Carly Miller, carly@cotam.org

I can’t imagine Hell being much hotter than Crawford, Texas. Exhausted, saddened and inspired, I have just returned from a two-day stint at Camp Casey, located adjacent to President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, where the temperature lingered around 105 degrees and, combined with the 40% humidity, was nothing short of oppressive. I am in awe of and deeply moved by the thousands of peace activists who have been at Camp Casey for what is now days, and in some cases weeks, on end, enduring the heat, insects, portable restrooms and surmountable other deterrents. For many, this is certainly not an ideal place to set up camp in a ditch on the side of a dirt road. But, for those of us who believe that the U.S. is waging an illegal, immoral, devastating war on the Iraqi people, comfort and life’s little luxuries are the least of our worries. More important for us are the increasing numbers of American soldiers dying daily, the lives of nearly 100,000 slain innocent Iraqi civilians and the utter physical and psychological destruction of a country that never posed an imminent threat or committed any actions to provoke such an unjust invasion, occupation and mass death. This is why we are in Crawford and this is why we are demanding answers.

By David Sirota
Huffington Post

Back in May when ABC News openly justified the media's refusal to cover the Iraq War, I thought it couldn't get worse. Then, a few months later, we saw that it could, as the Washington Post began trying to intimidate Democratic politicians and prevent them from standing up to voice opposition to the war. I figured that was rock bottom, but in recent days, we've seen that yes, the braindead insulated elitists in the Beltway media have found an even lower road to take than this.

In the last 48 hours, we've seen the "objective" mainstream media now openly attacking people who oppose the Iraq War. Mind you, these aren't the editorialists or the opinion pundits, these are the people who are supposed to be telling the objective truth - and instead they are literally attacking war critics.

Petition Launched in Support of Exit Strategy for Iraq
-- Congressional Hearings Scheduled for Next Month

Last week, two organizations seeking an end to the Iraq War, began collecting signatures on a petition to Congress calling for an exit strategy. Thus far over 13,000 signatures have been collected on the websites of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) and Peace Action.

The petition, whose chief author is PDA Cofounder Tom Hayden, can be read at http://www.pdamerica.org or http://www.peace-action.org It will be delivered to members of Congress on September 15.

A growing number of organizations are promoting the petition, including: After Downing Street, National Organization for Women (NOW), Democrats.com, Women's Action for New Directions, Peace Majority, and others.

By Cindy Sheehan
The Huffington Post

"President Bush charged Tuesday that anti-war protesters like Cindy Sheehan who want troops brought home immediately do not represent the views of most U.S. military families and are 'advocating a policy that would weaken the United States.'"

Bringing our troops home from the quagmire that he has gotten us into will be weakening the United States? George: even if you pretend you didn't know that Saddam did not have weapons of mass destruction and Iraq was not threat to the USA before you invaded, Americans know differently. We have read the reports and the Downing Street Memos.

By Jeff Norman
U.S. Tour of Duty
August 23, 2005

My day began yesterday with breakfast at Spanos Coffee Station in Crawford, which is a sort of a George W. Bush shrine. According to the lovely proprietor, Dorothy Spanos, the president generally eats there at least once when he is in town for extendended stays. But she told me she doesn't think Bush will be popping in anytime soon, even though he is here for the whole month of August. Hmmm...

Although she seemed unprepared for a couple of my requests, Dorothy did her best to serve an omlette that would satisfy my cityfolk palate. When I asked her what kind of cheese she had, she replied cheerfully, "Shredded."

Institute for Public Accuracy
915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
(202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.org
___________________________________________________

PM Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Interviews Available

Critical Analysis on Iraq

GREG ROLLINS, gsrollins@hotmail.com,
http://www.selvesandothers.org/view2869.html
A member of the Christian Peacemaker Team, Rollins has just returned
from a three-month stay in Iraq, his fourth visit to that country. He has
written several articles including "The Other Iraq," "A Police State" and

IN THESE TIMES
By Tom Hayden, August 23, 2005

When you're in the middle of a conflict, you're trying to find pillars of strength to lean on," an American officer in Iraq said recently. With those words he provided a clue to ending the war: Undermine the pillars of Pentagon policy through people power.

Those pillars--among them public cooperation, Iraqi cooperation, congressional compliance, centrist caution, military recruitment and U.S. alliances--are weakening.

The time is now
Public support for the war is down, as are the president's ratings. Antiwar Democrats are coming back. Military recruiting is hitting a wall. The strategy of "Iraqization" is failing. The coalition of the willing is disintegrating. America's reputation is tattered.

DEMOCRACY NOW! DAILY EMAIL DIGEST
August 23, 2005

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NEW FEATURE: Democracy Now! now offers high-quality DivX video files for
download through the BitTorrent protocol. To learn more, see
http://www.democracynow.org/bittorrent_help.shtml or get started at
http://ewheel.democracynow.org/

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TODAY'S DEMOCRACY NOW!:

* Juan Cole's 10-Point Plan for U.S. Troop Withdrawal From Iraq

More than two years after the US invaded Iraq, there is a debate in this
country that is increasingly dominating the public discussion on the
occupation: the issue of withdrawing US troops. We speak one of the most

http://crawfordupdate.blogspot.com/

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee gave an incredible talk last night at Camp Casey. We were so happy to welcome this long-time supporter of civil rights and women's rights to speak to us about opposing the war.

Click here to be awed

http://crawfordupdate.blogspot.com/

http://www.alaskagyrl.blogspot.com/

http://crawfordupdate.blogspot.com/

Joan Baez stayed an extra day with us at Camp Casey to meet with Iraq vets and military families. Last night she performed again, interspersing stories of her activism during the Civil Rights and Vietnam era. She opened by leading us in an a capella version of "America the Beautiful."

Click here to listen

http://crawfordupdate.blogspot.com/

Here are some photos of the Move America Backward brigade stopping in Sacramento at the KFBK radio studios on 8/22 en route to Crawford, TX. They numbered about 40, and we also had about 40 to counter them. The caravan is supposed to arrive in Crawford on 8/27 after picking up "thousands" of Cindy stiflers on the way.

Gary Zimmerman, Sacramento, CA

By Nedra Pickler, Associated Press Writer

DONNELLY, Idaho (AP) - President Bush charged Tuesday that anti-war protesters like Cindy Sheehan who want troops brought home immediately do not represent the views of most U.S. military families and are "advocating a policy that would weaken the United States."

In brief remarks outside the resort where he is vacationing, Bush gave no indication that he would change his mind and meet with Sheehan after he returns to his Texas ranch Wednesday evening. Sheehan lost a son in Iraq and has emerged as a harsh critic of the war.

Sheehan has been maintaining a vigil outside Bush's ranch, a demonstration that has been joined by more and more other anti-war protesters.

By Chuck Pennacchio
http://www.chuck2006.com

"It is common knowledge that the Bush administration took America into war with Iraq by misleading the American public and the international community. Now the Bush Administration is keeping our military in Iraq -- also through deceptive means, specious arguments, and flawed thinking. We are spending hundreds of billions of dollars and spilling oceans of American and Iraqi blood based on false assumptions, ideological obsessions, and arrogant decision-making.

"The stated goal of the Bush Administration is to promote 'democracy' in Iraq. They claim that they are succeeding because there was an election there this past spring. But, as all Americans know, democracy is far more than a plebiscite boycotted by the second- largest population group (Iraqi Sunnis) in a 3000-year-old, war-torn nation with no tradition of participatory politics. To cite the example best known to us, our fledgling United States held its first national election in 1788 -- but only after we had a unified country, a federal constitution, and a functional post-war economy. By extreme contrast, Iraq is deeply divided along religious, cultural, ethnic, economic, and political lines. There is no constitution unifying these factions. The economy is in shambles, with an official unemployment rate of 50% and an unofficial rate of 75%. The supposed progress toward national unity, economic stability, and constitutional cohesion (delayed for yet another week) -- not to mention continued civil war and rampant anti-Americanism -- is all evidence that the Bush administration is in the midst a Vietnem-like quagmire. You need go no further than Senator Chuck Hagel's (R-NE) poignant critique on national television this past Sunday.

Here is a link to a video in which you'll see police dressed in full combat gear, military uniforms, kevlar helmets, with dogs attack KIDS at a rave party in Utah.
LINK
Video also here:
LINK

An article.

Another.

Check out the photos of this protest - In Salt Lake City! http://whatreallyhappened.com/IMAGES/SLC8-22/

By Beau Elliot - The Daily Iowan
Published: Tuesday, August 23, 2005

If nothing else, the events of recent weeks have demonstrated the growing doubts the American people have about the great adventure in Iraq, the pit-bull eagerness of many on the right wing to blithely smear anyone who speaks out against the great adventure or the Cowboy-in-Chief, and the utter vacuity of said Cowboy.

And to think it only took one grieving mother.

Well, all right - that's simplifying life to the point of absurdity, and life does just fine in the absurdity department all by itself; it doesn't need our help. Not overtly, anyway.

Public Opinion (Chambersburg, PA)

Recently as I watched George Bush launch his dog and pony show from Fort Bragg, I was not impressed, as most Americans were not. The script was same as usual, filled with lies and no answers as to how and when our young men and women will be getting out of this disaster which Bush created in Iraq.

On May 1, the London Times made public a confidential memo detailing a July 2002 meeting held at Downing Street between Tony Blair and military intelligence chiefs. The subject was support for the Bush administration's plans for war in Iraq.

According to the minutes, the head of British Intelligence Service, Richard Dearlove, had just returned from a meeting in Washington to announce that the decision to invade had already been made. The Bush administration was working on building an intelligence case, based on terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, to justify the upcoming war. Vice President Cheney had made several visits to the CIA to make sure the intelligence would fit policy lies.

Tuesday August 23, 2005
BUSH in Donnelly, ID: The White House has said Bush will be staying at
the exclusive Tamarack Resort while participating in activities that
could include fishing for wild rainbow trout or riding a mountain bike
on forest trails with Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, also a Republican.
[Washington Post, 8/20/05]

Wednesday August 24, 2005
BUSH in Nampa, ID: Bush plans to travel to Nampa for a speaking
engagement where he'll discuss the U.S. war on terror. The Idaho Center
has been reserved for that date, though White House officials declined
to confirm if the president would be speaking there. [Associated Press,

By Glenda at DU

Go here to see a collection of political cartoons covering current events.

LINK

From Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee:

Iraq: Where Do We Go From Here?

PDF Flyer

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee will be holding a Town Hall meeting on Thursday August 25th, 2005, at 7 p.m. CT entitled Iraq: Where Do We Go From Here?

Almost 2,000 of our American soldiers are dead because of the War in Iraq. No plan exists from the Bush Administration for a successful exit strategy to end this war. Meanwhile mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, sons and daughters ones are mourning their loved ones who gave their lives in Iraq.

By Terry M. Neal
washingtonpost.com

There was an eye-opening article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette a few days ago that explored the increasing difficulty the military is having recruiting young people to enlist. As has been well reported in many newspapers, including The Washington Post, the Army and Marines are having a particularly tough time meeting recruitment objectives, in part because of Americans' concern about the war in Iraq.

When you dig deeper into the reason for this phenomenon, it turns out that parents of potential soldiers and sailors are becoming one of the biggest obstacles facing military recruiters. Even top military officials acknowledge this and unveiled a new series of ads this spring targeted at "influencers" such as parents, teachers and coaches.

By Ari Berman
The Nation
Monday 22 August 2005

There's a new batch of photos from Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, and these are reportedly far worse than the sickening originals. Naturally, the Pentagon is trying to block their release.

The ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in October 2003 to make public 87 photographs and four videos depicting prisoner abuse in Iraq. The Pentagon originally argued that releasing the images would violate the Geneva Convention rights of the detainees; a supreme irony considering that the US originally denied these very prisoners Geneva Convention protections. The ACLU agreed that the Pentagon could black out "identifying characteristics," but a federal judge in New York ruled last week that DoD must explain publicly why it's concealing the images. "By and large, I ruled for public disclosure," said US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein. A final ruling is expected on August 30.