Flyby News
"News Fit to Transmit in the Post Cassini Flyby Era"
Vanity Fair - Edmonds * 911 Empire * Human Rights
05 August 2005
"War paralyzes your courage and deadens the spirit of true manhood.
It degrades and stupefies with the sense that you are not responsible,
that 'tis not yours to think and reason why, but to do and die,'
like the hundred thousand others doomed like yourself.
War means blind obedience, unthinking stupidity,
brutish callousness, wanton destruction,
and irresponsible murder."
Alexander Berkman1) Vanity Fair floats allegations GOP chief Hastert took Turkish bribes- - Vanity Fair - Sibel Edmonds - 9/11 CitizensWatch
- - ACLU Urges Supreme Court to Review Case of FBI Whistleblower
- - 9/11 and the American Empire - a film by Ken Jenkins
2) "What Have We Done?" by Dahr Jamail
3) Electromagnetic Weapons - The Technology of Political Control
4) Leonard Peltier's Plight
Editor's Notes:It has been quite a commotion, stirred up by Tom Flocco's article on indictment. Sooner or later, perhaps..
TomFlocco.com was down when I last checked, or "under construction." In any case, the story, credible or incredible, was newsworthy due to the substance of our concern. There were crimes committed like misleading the US into an unwinnable war .Yet the increase in recent fatalities is only making hawks rise up the call for greater battles, and the doves in seeking an uncertain disengagement from the policies of past mistakes.. or fraudulent manipulations. Item one features the September 2005's Vanity Fair article on 9/11 FBI whistleblower, Sibel Edmonds. Besides linking to read the article online, subsections include an ACLU press release on Edmonds' behalf, and new information on a film by Ken Jenkins, covering David Ray Griffin's presentation, which was broadcast on C-Span: "9/11 and the American Empire."
Item 2 is by Dahr Jamail, a telling of the empire story from a human questioning perspective. Meanwhile item 3 visits the warped reality of Electromagnetic Weapons, technologies for political control. .This Monday, August 8, 2005, a radio program will cover this topic - at Noon – 1 PM Pacific Time.
Coop Radio, with host, Alfred Lambremont Webre, is interviewing Leuren Moret, Environmental Commissioner, City of Berkeley, CA.
Item 4 is from Leonard Peltier, via his Defense Committee's blog, updating his case, struggles, and reveals the endless game of a system, which is not about justice or fairness.
This August 6 and 9th represent the 60th year anniversary date
of the US use of atomic weapons over civilian areas.
Two free films will be shown in Northampton, MA:
at the Media Education Foundation - Aug. 5th - 7pm
THE FORGOTTEN FOOTAGE OF HIROSHIMA
A month after the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, the Japanese Education Ministry filmed the
aftermath. The film was confiscated by occupation
forces, but a secret copy was hidden, forgotten, then
discovered in 1993. It is now available as a short video.
"WHY THE BOMB WAS DROPPED
The 1996 ABC News documentary "Why the Bomb Was Dropped,"
hosted by Peter Jennings, calls into question the widely held
assumption that the attacks were militarily necessary. Instead, it
argues, the bombings may have been undertaken as a show of
force to establish post-war military dominance by the United States.
For more information on these films and actions to stop the war, visit:
The Northampton Committee to Stop the War in Iraq
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
~ A-Bomb Survivors for 2005 Nobel Peace Prize ~
Flyby News is one of many Organizations supporting
the Nihon Hidankyo, an organization of Hibakusha —
survivors of the A-bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
and the subsequent H-bomb testing in the Bikini Atoll,
for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize award in 2005,
the 60th anniversary of the dropped Atomic Bombs.
The focus of this group is for healing, and
for the abolition of atomic bombs for all.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Peace cannot be achieved through violence;
it can only be attained through understanding.
Albert Einstein
1) Vanity Fair floats allegations GOP chief Hastert took Turkish bribes- - Vanity Fair - Sibel Edmonds - 9/11 CitizensWatch
- - ACLU Urges Supreme Court to Review Case of FBI Whistleblower
- - 9/11 and the American Empire - a film by Ken Jenkins
Vanity Fair floats allegations GOP chief Hastert took Turkish bribes
RAW STORY
Vanity Fair's September edition, now out in New York but yet to hit national newsstands, packs a punch with an article about Sibel Edmonds, the FBI translator who has been gagged by the Bush Administration from revealing information about conversations she translated surrounding a seemingly major corruption scandal involving Turkish nationals and U.S. lawmakers,
RAW STORY acquired a copy of the article by David Rose Wednesday evening. The following are some brief excerpts surrounding the meatier allegations Edmonds has made-some of which the FBI has confirmed-about the specifics surrounding her case. According to those briefed on the case, Edmonds says she has heard classified wiretaps which indicate Turkish nationals tried to bribe both Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Chicago and Washington.
Edmonds was fired from the FBI after trying to persuade her bosses to investigate a Turkish family, the Dickersons, she said was trying to trade on her status as an FBI operative. She suspected that the American Turkish Council, which the family tried to persuade her to join, was a front group for criminal activity.
[Article Truncated]
For the complete RAW Story, see:
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Vanity_Fair_floats_allegations_GOP_chief_Hastert_took_Turkish__0803.html= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - Vanity Fair - Sibel Edmonds - 9/11 CitizensWatchFor more on Vanity Fair, Sibel Edmonds, see:
National Security Watch: FBI whistle-blower petitions high court Sibel Edmondsand
http://911citizenswatch.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=609= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - ACLU Urges Supreme Court to Review Case of FBI WhistleblowerPress Releases:
ACLU Urges Supreme Court to Review Case of
FBI Whistleblower Thursday, August 04, 2005 -
NEW YORK -- The American Civil Liberties Union today urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower court's dismissal of the case of Sibel Edmonds, a former FBI translator who was fired in retaliation for reporting security breaches and possible espionage within the Bureau. Lower courts dismissed the case when former Attorney General John Ashcroft invoked the rarely used "state secrets" privilege.
Vanity Fair Profile Reveals New Facts About FBI's
Termination of Former Translator Sibel Edmonds
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@aclu.org
NEW YORK -- The American Civil Liberties Union today urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower court's dismissal of the case of Sibel Edmonds, a former FBI translator who was fired in retaliation for reporting security breaches and possible espionage within the Bureau. Lower courts dismissed the case when former Attorney General John Ashcroft invoked the rarely used "state secrets" privilege.
The Court created the so-called state secrets privilege more than 50 years ago but has not considered it since. The need for clarification of the doctrine is acute, the ACLU said, because the government is increasingly using the privilege to cover up its own wrongdoing and to keep legitimate cases out of court.
"Edmonds' case is not an isolated incident," said ACLU Associate Legal Director Ann Beeson. "The federal government is routinely retaliating against government employees who uncover weaknesses in our ability to prevent terrorist attacks or protect public safety."
The states secrets privilege, Beeson said, "should be used a shield for sensitive evidence, not a sword the government can use at will to cut off argument in a case before the evidence can be presented. We are urging the Supreme Court, which has not directly addressed this issue in 50 years, to rein in the government's misuse of this privilege."
The ACLU is also asking the Supreme Court to reverse the D.C. appeals court's decision to exclude the press and public from the court hearing of Edmonds' case in April. The appeals court closed the hearing at the eleventh hour without any specific findings that secrecy was necessary. In fact, the government had agreed to argue the case in public. A media consortium that included The New York Times , The Washington Post , and CNN intervened in the case to object to the closure.
Edmonds, a former Middle Eastern language specialist hired by the FBI shortly after 9/11, was fired in 2002 and filed a lawsuit later that year challenging the retaliatory dismissal.
Her ordeal is highlighted in a 10-page article about whistleblowers in the September 2005 issue of Vanity Fair which links Edmonds' allegations and the subsequent retaliation to possible "illicit activity involving Turkish nationals" and a high-level member of Congress. The ACLU said the article, titled "An Inconvenient Patriot," further undercuts the government's claim that the case can't be litigated because certain information is secret.
In addition, a report by the Inspector General, made public in January 2005, contains a tremendous amount of detail about Edmonds' job, the structure of the FBI translation unit , and the substance of her allegations. The report concluded that Edmonds' whistleblower allegations were "the most significant factor" in the FBI's decision to terminate her.
The outcome in Edmonds' case could significantly impact the government's ability to rely on secrecy to avoid accountability in future cases, the ACLU said, including one pending case charging the government with "rendering" detainees to be tortured.
In the 1953 Supreme Court case that was the basis for today's state secrets privilege doctrine, United States v. Reynolds, the government claimed that disclosing a military flight accident report would jeopardize secret military equipment and harm national security. Nearly 50 years later, in 2004, the truth came out: the accident report contained no state secrets, but instead confirmed that the cause of the crash was faulty maintenance of the B-29 fleet.
Fourteen 9/11 family member advocacy groups and public interest organizations filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Edmonds ' case before the District Court, and many are expected to join an amicus brief next month supporting Supreme Court review of the case, including the National Security Archive.
Edmonds is represented by Beeson, Melissa Goodman, and Ben Wizner of the national ACLU; Art Spitzer of the ACLU of the National Capital Area; and Mark Zaid, of Krieger and Zaid, PLLC.
The ACLU's Supreme Court cert petition is online at:
www.aclu.org/NationalSecurity/NationalSecurity.cfm?ID=18870&c=24 For this press release with additional links, see:
www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=18880&c=206= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
- - 9/11 and the American Empire - a film by Ken JenkinsThe new graphically enhanced David Ray Griffin DVD,
now at quantity discount prices.
Announcing special wholesale pricing on newly replicated DVDs of David Ray Griffin's C-SPAN talk. I have just received a large shipment of DVD's of my edit of Griffin's Madison presentation. Unlike the C-SPAN broadcast, this version is extensively illustrated and enhanced with graphics and video clips. I am now offering boxes of 30 at a new low wholesale price of $200 a box (plus shipping), which works out to $6.67 per DVD. The normal wholesale is $10/per DVD. These discs are replicated, not duplicated (meaning high compatibility with most players), packaged in a shrink wrapped, Amaray box with full color cover graphics and disc printing. A Deception Dollar is inside every box.
Many agree that Griffin's C-SPAN talk is the best introductory 9/11 DVD currently available. It is one of the strongest assets we have for sharing 9/11 truth; it is especially suitable for a wide audience. Griffin's superlative credentials and approachable presentation style combined with the perceived increase in legitimacy of having been broadcast on a national network is an unbeatable combination for reaching outside "the choir" to those still ignorant of and/or in denial of 9/11 truth. Please respond by sending an email to Ken Jenkins < kenjenkins@aol.com > to order.
Thanks!
Ken Jenkins
911TV
9/11 and the American Empire
David Ray Griffin
DVD (VHS also available)
83 minutes
This talk by David Ray Griffin at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, was first broadcast by C-SPAN on April 30, 2005. Griffin starts by establishing the American Empire as real and not benign, quoting numerous authors on the left and right. Then, following the reasoning put forth in his highly acclaimed book The New Pearl Harbor and his more recent book The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions, he gives abundant evidence that the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated by the Bush administration, for the purpose of expanding this empire. The talk concludes with suggestions of what we can do about this situation. A question-and-answer period follows.
This talk is aimed particularly at religious people who take seriously the moral principles that their religion has in common with the other religions of the world.
David Ray Griffin, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy of Religion and Theology at the Claremont School of Theology, has published over 25 books and 150 articles.
Video Producer Ken Jenkins worked as a video professional for over 30 years and a 9/11 activist for nearly 4 years.
Truth and Politics:
Unanswered Questions about 9/11
DVD or VHS
59 minutes + 40 minute interview.
For another source to get films and support 9/11 Visibility Project, see:
www.septembereleventh.org/donations.phpFor other links see FN's:
Films that Make a Difference!
2) "What Have We Done?" by Dahr JamailIraq Dispatches
August 05, 2005
"What Have We Done?"
As the blood of US soldiers continues to drain into the hot sands of Iraq over the last several days with at least 27 US soldiers killed and the approval rating for his handling of the debacle in Iraq dropping to an all-time low of 38%, Mr. Bush commented from the comforts of his ranch in Crawford, Texas today, "We will stay the course, we will complete the job in Iraq."
Just a two hour drive away in Dallas, at the Veterans for Peace National Convention in Dallas, I'm sitting with a roomful of veterans from the current quagmire.
When asked what he would say to Mr. Bush if he had the chance to speak to him, Abdul Henderson, a corporal in the Marines who served in Iraq from March until May, 2003, took a deep breath and said, "It would be two hits-me hitting him and him hitting the floor. I see this guy in the most prestigious office in the world, and this guy says ‘bring it on.' A guy who ain't never been shot at, never seen anyone suffering, saying ‘bring it on?' He gets to act like a cowboy in a western movie…it's sickening to me."
The other vets with him nod in agreement as he speaks somberly…his anger seething.
One of them, Alex Ryabov, a corporal in an artillery unit which was in Iraq the first three months of the invasion, asked for some time to formulate his response to the same question.
"I don't think Bush will ever realize how many millions of lives he and his lackeys have ruined on their quest for money, greed and power," he says, "To take the patriotism of the American people for granted…the fact that people (his administration) are willing to lie and make excuses for you while you continue to kill and maim the youth of America and ruin countless families…and still manage to do so with a smile on your face."
Taking a deep breath to steady himself he continues as if addressing Bush first-hand; "You needs to resign, take the billions of dollars you've made off the blood and sweat of US service members….all the suffering you've caused us, and put those billions of dollars into the VA to take care of the men and women you sent to be slaughtered. Yet all those billions aren't enough to even try to compensate all the people who have been affected by this."
These new additions to Veterans for Peace are actively living the statement of purpose of the organization, having pledged to work with others towards increasing public awareness of the costs of war, to work to restrain their government from intervening, overtly and covertly, in the internal affairs of other nations and to see justice for veterans and victims of war, among other goals.
I type furiously for three hours, trying to keep up with the stories each of the men shared….about the atrocities of what they saw, and committed, while in Iraq.
Camilo Mejia, an army staff sergeant who was sentenced to a year in military prison in May, 2004 for refusing to return to Iraq after being home on leave, talks openly about what he did there:
"What it all comes down to is redemption for what was done there. I was turning ambulances away from going to hospitals, I killed civilians, I tortured guys…and I'm ashamed of that. Once you are there, it has nothing to do with politics…it has to do with you as an individual being there and killing people for no reason. There is no purpose, and now I'm sick at myself for doing these things. I kept telling myself I was there for my buddies. It was a weak reasoning…because I still shut my mouth and did my job."
Mejia then spoke candidly about why he refused to return:
"It wasn't until I came home that I felt it-how wrong it all was and that I was a coward for pushing my principles aside. I'm trying to buy my way back into heaven…and it's not so much what I did, but what I didn't do to stop it when I was there. So now it's a way of trying to undo the evil that we did over there. This is why I'm speaking out, and not going back. This is a painful process and we're going through it."
Camilo Mejia was then quick to point towards the success of his organization and his colleagues. "When I went back to Iraq in October of 2003, the Pentagon said there were 22 AWOL's. Five months later it was 500, and when I got out of jail that number was 5,000. These are the Pentagons' numbers for the military. Two things are significant here-the number went from 500-5,000 in 11 months, and these are the numbers from the Pentagon."
While the military is falling short of its recruitment goals across the board and the disaster in Iraq spiraling deeper into chaos with each passing day, these are little consolation for these men who have paid the price they've had to pay to be at this convention. They continue to pay, but at the same time stand firm in their resolve to bring an end to the occupation of Iraq and to help their fellow soldiers.
ARTICLE TRUNCATED
For the complete article posting by Dahr Jamail, see:
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/weblog/archives/dispatches/000271.php#more
3) Electromagnetic Weapons - The Technology of Political ControlCoop Radio: Electromagnetic Weapons - The Technology of Political Control
When: Monday August 8, 2005 at Noon – 1 PM Pacific Time
Where: Coop Radio: CFRO 102.7 FM Vancouver, B.C.
LISTEN LIVE:
coopradio.orgHost: Alfred Lambremont Webre, JD, MEd
Guest: Leuren Moret, Environmental Commissioner, City of Berkeley, CA
http://peaceinspace.blogs.com/peaceinspaceorg/2005/06/leuren_moret_wa.htmlInternational Movement for the Global Ban of Weapons
which Manipulate the Human Nervous System
http://home.comcast.net/~jmontemayor10/For MORE on this post, the EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT:
"Banning HAARP/EMF WEAPONS" - Minutes 28/01/1999
See::
http://peaceinspace.blogs.com/peaceinspaceorg/2005/08/coop_radio_elec.html- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For FN archives on this topic, see:
Military Weather Experiments, ChemTrails, and Psychotronic Warfare
4) Leonard Peltier's PlightUpdate from Leonard Peltier, from the LPDC Blog @
http://lpdcinc.blogspot.com/Wednesday, August 03, 2005
UPDATE FROM LEONARD PELTIER
July 30, 2005
Aho my relations,
As I sit here in my solitary confinement cell at USP Terre Haute, and reflect over the past month's events, I can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of love and gratitude for each and every one of you who have so diligently stood by me in this time of crisis. As you already know by now, on June 30, 2005, I was transferred from Leavenworth Facility, to Terre Haute USP. The reason for my transfer, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons Administrative staff was that the Leavenworth Facility was downgraded from maximum security level to medium, and therefore I could not remain at Leavenworth due to my illegal sentencing and consequent maximum security rank.
I was transferred without notification to my attorney, Barry Bachrach, and my family. Upon my arrival to Terre Haute I was placed in solitary confinement and was told that I would remain in solitary confinement until my personal file arrived. My personal file arrived, but I remain in solitary confinement allegedly for security reasons. I am confined to a cell that is 8'X 8', it has a window that is covered from the outside with an elaborate shield that allows me to see 2-3 inches of the sky out of the top and 2-3 inches of the ground. All prisoners are supposed to get at least one hour of sunlight or outdoors and so I am taken from my cell to what is called a Recreation Room (Rec Cage), and the only sun or outdoors that I see is from some windows high up in this large room with a few air holes in them. I am able to walk up and down and this fulfills the one hour of sunlight or outdoors recreation time.
Whatever the system's logic is, it seems that I won't stay in Terre Haute for much longer and will be transferred again. I do not know when and where, nor do I know if this cruel game will be over after another transfer. After all, removal and relocation have been used to break our people from the beginning of this country's history. This keeps my Defense Committee from taking the necessary steps to re-establish an office, but they are doing everything they can to help me in this most precarious and uncertain situation.
Before this situation developed, I asked Russ Redner to be the National/International Executive Director of the LPDC. Russ is a brother from our original Northwest AIM crew, a long time ally, and one of the original founders of the LPDC. I have trusted Russ with my life many times and he's proven himself at every turn. I want him to be the last person I ever have to ask to guide the LPDC, and as such I have given him full authority to do whatever is necessary to prevent problems that have plagued us in the past from ever surfacing again. He and his wife, Paula, bring a renewed energy to the LPDC. It is essential that Russ, Barry Bachrach, Mike Kuzma, and the new team at the LPDC be supported so they can work most effectively to achieve my freedom and accomplish the things that need to be done for my people. I have confidence that all of you who truly support me will extend your vote of confidence to Russ and my new team.
A month in solitary is beginning to take a toll on me but your letters give me much hope and encouragement. Many of you have written, e-mailed and called USP Terre Haute, and other organizations. This has brought some improvement to my solitary confinement. I am now getting my medications on a daily basis, I can write out, I am receiving my mail, and I am allowed one phone call a month. I am allowed contact visits for those persons authorized on my visiting list. The contact visit is restricted to a two hour period, and is conducted through a glass pane and a phone. I am allowed to visit with my attorney without those restrictions.
At this time I am asking that you continue to call/write/e-mail contacts requesting that my security level be downgraded to medium due to my health, age and good behavior and that I be transferred to a medium security institution with all my hard earned prisoner privileges restored. In case I am transferred please add the new facility (keep checking our official website:
leonardpeltier.org) to your contact list and ask them to respect my human rights and prisoner privileges. Again, I thank you for your support and prayers and hope that I may one day soon be among you.
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,
Leonard Peltier
*-*-*-*
ONLINE PETITION FOR PAROLE
http://campaign-pyramid.com/kola/leonard/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For FN's updated resource: Free Leonard Peltier
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