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IraqShift * DowningDirty * 9/11 * G8-Heat * Fraud
15 June 2005
"..I just feel that the reason of going in for weapons of mass destruction,
the ability of the Iraqis to make a nuclear weapon,
that's all been proven that it was never there..'
- - Walter B. Jones, Republican Congressman (NC)1) Republican lawmakers urge shift in Iraq plans- - Will Introduce Legislation For Troop Withdrawal Timetable
2) Downing Street Story ~ Down and Dirty- - Downing Street Hearings Set for 1:00 pm Thursday, June 16
- - Iraq war planned two years before 9/11
- - Ministers Were Told of Need for Gulf War 'Excuse'
- - Kerry is seeking Senators to Co-sign Downing Street Letter
- - Resources on a Bleak US Operation in Iraq
3) Global Warming: The US Contribution in Figures
4) Ex-Bush official: 9/11 was an inside job
5) Election Assessment Hearing in Houston June 29- - Test shows voter fraud is possible
Editor's Notes:Yes, for all of us, it is difficult to keep up with all the devastation happening to our planet. Besides the stories in this issue, this week the US Senate will be voting on an US energy plan. The lying forces in power want more nukes, and are continuing to deny any real commitment to sustainable clean power sources, or even fuel efficient automobiles. Meanwhile the earth is shaking in California, people are dying everyday in Iraq, which is why the news in item 1 is big. North Carolina Republican Congressman, Walter B. Jones, realized that his so-called patriotic renaming of the French Fry to "Freedom Fries," (when France wanted to enable the completion of the work of the weapons inspectors before supporting an attack on Iraq) was based on misleading intelligence. Now this member of Congress is introducing legislation for a timetable to get US Troops out of Iraq. Such a turnaround within a segment of the Republican Party is most welcome. Jones named the neoconservatives as responsible for the misleading information.
Item 2 is more on the big happenings with the Downing Street Memos.., which provides evidence as to the real reason why the Intelligence on Iraq was incorrect. This was a pre-planned war by an administration betraying the US, its Constitution, and world community. Forget about sperm on an intern's dress. This issue has killed and maimed tens of thousands of Americans and more than 100,000 Iraqis . . . for a campaign resulting in more hatred against the US!
Item 3 is more on global warming.. And why impeachment of those now in power is critical, and getting rid of those continuing to fuel the corrupt nuclear-oil-military-industrial-academic-media complex. Much appreciation goes especially to Congressman John Conyers. Though global warming appears out of control, it will never be too late for us to stand up to the cut throats of life. Item 4 is another piece of the puzzle, provided by a Bush insider "..voicing serious doubts about the collapse of the World Trade Center on 9-11." Item 5 is more on the analysis of the potential of US electronic vote fraud.
"We have guided missiles and misguided men."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
1) Republican lawmakers urge shift in Iraq plans- - Will Introduce Legislation For Troop Withdrawal Timetable
Republican lawmakers urge shift in Iraq plans
By Vicki Allen
Reuters
Sunday, June 12, 2005; 11:59 PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican congressman called for a deadline to pull U.S. troops from Iraq, while some other members of President Bush's party urged on Sunday that his administration come to grips with a persistent insurgency and revamp Iraq policy.
Rep. Walter Jones, a North Carolina conservative, said on ABC's "This Week" that he would offer legislation this week setting a timetable for the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.
"I voted for the resolution to commit the troops, and I feel that we've done about as much as we can do," said Jones, who coined the phrase "freedom fries" to lash out at the French for opposing the Iraq invasion.
[EXCERPT]
Jones, a member of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, said "primarily the neoconservatives" in the administration were to blame for flawed war planning.
"The reason of going in for weapons of mass destruction, the ability of the Iraqis to make a nuclear weapon, that's all been proven that it was never there," he said.
Jones joins some of Congress' most liberal Democrats in demanding a deadline to withdraw troops from a conflict they said has been too costly in U.S. lives and money.
According to a new Gallup Poll, nearly six in 10 Americans say the United States should withdraw some or all of its troops from Iraq, up from 49 percent who held that view in February, USA Today reported in its Monday edition.
[ARTICLE TRUNCATED]
For the complete article, see:
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/12/AR2005061201048.html= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - Will Introduce Legislation For Troop Withdrawal TimetableCBS4 Denver | news4colorado.com
Will Introduce Legislation For Troop Withdrawal Timetable
Jun 12, 2005 4:02 pm US/Mountain
A Republican congressman who voted for the Iraq war said Sunday that "we've done about as much as we can do" in the country and that the reason for invading Iraq has proven false.
Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina will be among the lawmakers introducing legislation this week calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops in Iraq.
"When I look at the number of men and women who have been killed — it's almost 1,700 now, in addition to close to 12,000 have been severely wounded — and I just feel that the reason of going in for weapons of mass destruction, the ability of the Iraqis to make a nuclear weapon, that's all been proven that it was never there," Jones said on a network news program.
President Bush has said any timetable for withdrawal would encourage insurgents to wait for the foreign troops to leave, but Jones said he believed Iraqis can defend their own country.
His stance leaves Jones sided with Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, the most prominent Democrat calling for a timetable to leave Iraq. Jones said he had not discussed the issue with Kennedy.
Two years ago, Jones helped lead an effort to make sure Capitol Hill cafeterias retooled their menus to advertise "freedom fries" instead of french fries to protest France's opposition to the war.
Jones said he began changing his mind about the war after attending the funeral in April 2003 for Sgt. Michael Bitz, 31, who was killed in the southern city of Nasiriyah. He recalled that Bitz's widow read the last letter she received from her husband.
"And that really has been on my mind and my heart ever since," he said.
Jones, whose district includes Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point, has written condolence letters to the families of more than 1,300 service people killed in Iraq, and posters outside his congressional office show the faces of those killed.
© 2005 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
http://news4colorado.com/topstories/topstories_story_163195740.html
2) Downing Street Story ~ Down and Dirty- - Downing Street Hearings Set for 1 pm Thursday, June 16
- - Iraq war planned two years before 9/11
- - Ministers Were Told of Need for Gulf War 'Excuse'
- - Kerry seeking Senators to Co-sign Downing Street Letter
- - Resources on a Bleak US Operation in Iraq
"Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action,
justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD.
But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."From After Downing Street Dot Org
BREAKING NEWS
Later today RawStory.com [1] will be posting an article that they have been researching for several days. Six new secret British documents have been leaked and made widely available on the internet. These were retyped from the originals to protect the source, but
RawStory.com has verified the authenticity and will be reporting on that research, on the significance of the documents, and on the timeline of the events illuminated by this information, known to the British media but new on this side of the pond.
For the complete posting of this article After Downing Street Dot Org, see
www.afterdowningstreet.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=205 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - Downing Street Hearings Set for Thursday, June 16Update from AfterDowningStreet.org
HEARINGS ON DOWNING STREET MINUTES SET FOR 2;30 PM THURSDAY
June 16, 2005, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Room HC-9 of the U.S. Capitol, Rep. John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and other Congress Members will hold a hearing on the Downing Street Minutes and related evidence of efforts to cook the books on pre-war intelligence
The hearings had been scheduled at the Democratic National Committee,
because the Republicans controlling the House Judiciary Committee refused to permit the ranking Democratic Member to use a room on the Hill. Nonetheless, Republicans are welcome to attend.
Among those speaking at the hearings will be: Joe Wilson, Former Ambassador and WMD Expert; Ray McGovern, 27-year CIA analyst who prepared regular Presidential briefings during the Reagan administration; Cindy Sheehan, mother of fallen American soldier; John Bonifaz, renowned constitutional lawyer and co-founder of AfterDowningStreet.org.
Members of the media will be welcome, but citizens in town for the 5 p.m. rally at the White House will have difficulty getting into the 2:30 hearings.
The DNC will serve as an overflow room, so people can still go there: the Wasserman Room at 430 S Capitol St. SE.
Later on the same day at 5:00 p.m. ET in Lafayette Square Park, in front of the White House, a large rally will support Congressman Conyers who plans to deliver to the White House a letter addressed to President Bush and signed by over 500,000 Americans and at least 94 Congress Members. The letter asks the President to respond to questions raised by the Downing Street Minutes.
Among those speaking at the rally will be: Congressman Conyers and various other Congress Members, Cindy Sheehan of Gold Star Families for Peace, John Bonifaz of AfterDowningStreet.org, Ray McGovern former CIA analyst, Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange, Rev. Lennox Yearwood of Progressive Democrats of America, Stephen Cleghorn of Military Families Speak Out, Kevin Zeese, Director of Democracy Rising. More information, and flyers promoting the rally, are available at www.afterdowningstreet.org
Flyers to print, copy, and distribute widely:
www.afterdowningstreet.org/downloads/rally.pdf LOCAL RALLIES PLANNED AROUND COUNTRY
Supporters of this campaign are independently organizing rallies on Thursday at locations around the country.
www.afterdowningstreet.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=211 AfterDowningStreet.org is a rapidly growing coalition of veterans' groups, peace groups, and political activist groups, which launched on May 26, 2005, a campaign to urge the U.S. Congress to begin a formal investigation into whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war.
Contacts:
David Swanson david@davidswanson.org 202-329-7847
Jonathan Schwarz jonathan_schwarz@sbcglobal.net 773-296-0838
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - Iraq war planned two years before 9/11 According to author and journalist Mickey Herskowitz, then presidential candidate George W. Bush was already talking privately about the political benefits of attacking Iraq two years before September 11 occurred.
"He was thinking about invading Iraq in 1999," said President [sic] Bush's former ghost writer.
"It was on his mind. He said to me: 'One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief.' And he said, 'My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it.' He said, 'If I have a chance to invade, if I had that much capital, I'm not going to waste it. I'm going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I'm going to have a successful presidency."
[EXCERPTS]
According to Herskowitz, George W. Bush's beliefs on Iraq were based in part on a notion dating back to the Reagan White House - ascribed in part to now-vice president Dick Cheney, Chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee under Reagan. "Start a small war. Pick a country where there is justification you can jump on, go ahead and invade."
The notion that President Bush held unrealistic or naive views about the consequences of war was further advanced recently by a Bush supporter, the evangelist Pat Robertson, who revealed that Bush had told him the Iraq invasion would yield no casualties.
In the end, campaign officials decided not to go with Herskowitz's account, and, moreover, demanded everything back. "The lawyer called me and said, 'Delete it. Shred it. Just do it.' "
Source:
http://globalnewsmatrix.comThe complete article is posted at:
www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/conspiracy_theory/fullstory.asp?id=233= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - Ministers Were Told of Need for Gulf War 'Excuse'"The briefing paper, for participants at a meeting of Blair's inner circle on July 23, 2002, said that since regime change was illegal it was 'necessary to create the conditions' which would make it legal."
By Michael Smith
The Sunday Times UK
Sunday 12 June 2005
[EXCERPTS]
Ministers were warned in July 2002 that Britain was committed to taking part in an American-led invasion of Iraq and they had no choice but to find a way of making it legal.
The warning, in a leaked Cabinet Office briefing paper, said Tony Blair had already agreed to back military action to get rid of Saddam Hussein at a summit at the Texas ranch of President George W Bush three months earlier.
The briefing paper, for participants at a meeting of Blair's inner circle on July 23, 2002, said that since regime change was illegal it was "necessary to create the conditions" which would make it legal..
John Conyers, the Democratic congressman who drafted the letter to Bush, has now written to Dearlove asking him to say whether or not it was accurate that he believed the intelligence was being "fixed" around the policy. He also asked the former MI6 chief precisely when Bush and Blair had agreed to invade Iraq and whether it is true they agreed to "manufacture" the UN ultimatum in order to justify the war.
He and other Democratic congressmen plan to hold their own inquiry this Thursday with witnesses including Joe Wilson, the American former ambassador who went to Niger to investigate claims that Iraq was seeking to buy uranium ore for its nuclear weapons programme.
Frustrated at the refusal by the White House to respond to their letter, the congressmen have set up a website -
www.downingstreetmemo.com - to collect signatures on a petition demanding the same answers.
Conyers promised to deliver it to Bush once it reached 250,000 signatures. By Friday morning it already had more than 500,000 with as many as 1m expected to have been obtained when he delivers it to the White House on Thursday.
AfterDowningStreet.org, another website set up as a result of the memo, is calling for a congressional committee to consider whether Bush's actions as depicted in the memo constitute grounds for impeachment.
It has been flooded with visits from people angry at what they see as media self-censorship in ignoring the memo. It claims to have attracted more than 1m hits a day.
The complaints of media self-censorship have been backed up by the ombudsmen of The Washington Post, The New York Times and National Public Radio, who have questioned the lack of attention the minutes have received from their organisations.
For the complete article, see original posting:
www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1650822,00.htmlor
www.truthout.org/docs_2005/061205Z.shtml= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - Kerry seeking Senators to Co-sign Downing Street LetterThis is a developing story, for more info:
rawstory.com= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - Resources on a Bleak US Operation in Iraq"Poll: USA Is Losing Patience on Iraq"
www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0613-03.htm"Officers, Military Can't End Insurgency,"
www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0613-01.htm"As Iraqi Army Trains, Word in the Field Is It May Take Years"
www.nytimes.com/2005/06/13/international/middleeast/13training.html?pagewanted=print"Building Iraq's Army: Mission Improbable"
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/09/AR2005060902245_pf.html"Militia Backed by Iraqi Leaders Accused in Attacks"
www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/breaking_news/11858216.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp"Insurgency Seen Forcing Change in Iraq Strategy"
www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/06/10/insurgency_seen_forcing_change_in_iraq_strategy?mode=PF"
"Sunni-Shiite Quarrel Edges Closer to Political Stalemate"
www.nytimes.com/2005/06/13/international/middleeast/13iraq.html?pagewanted=print
3) Global Warming: The US Contribution in FiguresPublished on Monday, June 13, 2005 by the lndependent/UK
Beckett Exposes G8 Rift on Global Warming
Global Warming: The US Contribution in Figures
by Marie Woolf in London and Colin Brown in Moscow
[EXCERPTS]
The British Government is deeply disappointed that President George Bush has not made a greater commitment to tackling climate change before the G8 summit, the Environment Secretary has disclosed. In a rare, outspoken critique of the US position on global warming, Margaret Beckett told The Independent of the Government's frustration at the lack of "common ground" with Washington on the need for action on the environment. The US has consistently blocked attempts by Britain to put progress on tackling climate change alongside G8's moves to scrap African debt at the Gleneagles meeting of the leading industrialized nations next month.
The differences between the US and Britain were starkly illustrated in a leaked G8 document seen by The Independent. President Bush said last week that he wanted more international co-operation on "clean nuke." But a draft of a G8 communiqué shows disagreement over the US's wish for separate section on the role of nuclear power. The draft, Powering a Cleaner Future, says a "UK red line" - area not for negotiation - was the US's singling out of nuclear power as a clean energy source.
It said: "UK red line: Avoid US suggestion for a separate nuclear heading. This would be quite a serious jump in political attention from previous ... texts. Any statement should be couched in language that leaves it up to individual governments to decide whether nuclear is a suitable part of their energy mix."
Mrs Beckett gave a strong indication that she did not support the revival of nuclear power, and construction of new plants, believed to be favored by Mr Blair, to tackle global warming.
She said new power stations were not the answer to meeting the goal of a 20 per cent cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2010 or a 60 per cent cut by 2050.
She admitted CO2 emissions were rising in Britain, along with the rest of the Northern hemisphere, and said she was "very" disappointed that the UK was in danger of missing those targets.
© 2005 Independent News & Media (UK) Ltd.For the complete article, search at above link, or:
www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0613-02.htmFor FN's extensive resources, see:
The Mounting Evidence of Global Warming!
4) Ex-Bush official: 9/11 was an inside jobBy John Daly
UPI International Correspondent
A former Bush team member during his first administration is now voicing serious doubts about the collapse of the World Trade Center on 9-11.
Former chief economist for the Department of Labor during President George W. Bush's first term Morgan Reynolds comments that the official story about the collapse of the WTC is "bogus" and that it is more likely that a controlled demolition destroyed the Twin Towers and adjacent Building No. 7. Reynolds, who also served as director of the Criminal Justice Center at the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas and is now professor emeritus at Texas A&M University said, "If demolition destroyed three steel skyscrapers at the World Trade Center on 9/11, then the case for an 'inside job' and a government attack on America would be compelling."
Reynolds commented from his Texas A&M office, "It is hard to exaggerate the importance of a scientific debate over the cause of the collapse of the twin towers and building 7. If the official wisdom on the collapses is wrong, as I believe it is, then policy based on such erroneous engineering analysis is not likely to be correct either. The government's collapse theory is highly vulnerable on its own terms. Only professional demolition appears to account for the full range of facts associated with the collapse of the three buildings."
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050613-102755-6408r.htm
5) Election Assessment Hearing in Houston June 29- - Test shows voter fraud is possible
- - Election Assessment Hearing in Houston June 29
The Election Assessment Hearing is an initial step in an effort to help assure sustainable election reform through the application of proven quality analysis, improvement and control methods which provide an effective framework that encompasses election processes as a whole.
A summary statement of findings from this hearing will be issued to government agencies and other stewards of election processes, and will also be made available for public review. This statement will be submitted to the Commission on Federal Election Reform, which is holding their final hearing at the James Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston, Texas on June 30th. The Commission is slated to issue a report in September and has not yet received crucial testimony from many election process observers.
Please support our efforts and participate in making the Election Assessment Hearing a valuable contributor to assuring the reliability of our election processes.
Press Announcement (6/9/05):
www.electionassessment.org/downloads/eah_press_announcement_6_9_05.pdfCall For Submissions:
www.electionassessment.org/downloads/eah_call_for_submissions.doc What: Election Assessment Hearing
When: Wednesday, June 29 2005
Where: The Garden Center at Hermann Park
1500 Hermann Drive
Houston, Texas 77004
For more information, see:
ElectionAssessment.org= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - Test shows voter fraud is possibleMachines are vulnerable to manipulation
04 June 2005
With the right access, an election worker could manipulate voting results in the computers that read paper ballots - without leaving any digital fingerprints. That was the verdict after Leon County Elections Supervisor Ion Sancho invited a team of researchers to look for holes in election software.
For article, see:
www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/11811936.htm
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