IRAQ-IRAN war is a racket... proof

War with Iraq and Afghanistan, Rhetoric for War with Iran

Here's a nice summary of recent years of wrongdoing.
Written by Carl Herman.

carlherman.pdf 382.02 KB
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/sites/afterdowningstreet.org/files/carlherman.pdf (easier to read!)

full text here:


North Korea nuclear Israel non proliferation treaty
War with Iraq and Afghanistan, Rhetoric for War with Iran

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."
* George Orwell, preface to Animal Farm

The following background paper is my best understanding of the facts concerning war with Iraq
and rhetoric for war with Iran. I submitted this paper for peer review to LCHS colleagues in
January, 2008 and to colleagues at previous schools. To date, only one error has been reported:
President Bush, Secretary of State Rice and UN Ambassador Bolton clarified after the war began
that they were not claiming the US was under imminent threat from Iraq, and I had assumed their
language implied they were making that legal point. I update the information in this paper as we
learn more from credible sources. As stated, this government class will operate from the classical
and conservative format of prima facie evidence. This information is offered in good faith of its
factual accuracy and presented with its claims’ documentation for your consideration. As always,
I am open to any correction of alleged facts that are in error. As always, I am open to the
inclusion of important facts that are not mentioned
Some people have asked me why I have written this background paper instead of using the
writing of others. I have done so because I wanted a comprehensively accurate paper that sticks
to the facts. If you know of a better factual background paper, please let me know
Justifications for War with Iraq: The Bush administration asked the American public for their
support for war with Iraq based on the primary claim that Saddam had weapons of mass
destruction (WMD) that he would soon use against the US. The US government would have to
invade to avoid the coming attack by Iraq or agents that Iraq would supply. The timing was
urgent,1 pre-empting UN approval. Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Powell and others made
claims of known biological and chemical WMD, attempts to develop nuclear weapons through
purchase of aluminum tubes for nuclear refinement, attempts to buy uranium yellowcake from
Niger, and direct relations with Al Qaeda
Advocates for the "War on Terror," also claim the need for action against "Islamofascism," an
interpretation that Muslim fanatics are the majority force in the Middle East that requires US
military response to crush and our direct intervention to rebuild their society.2 This position sees
inevitable increase of Islamic fanaticism that will increase terrorism until their social evolution
reaches a "Renaissance" that tolerates other religious and political views. The primary evidence
for Islamofascism is the attacks of September 11, 2001. War advocates link this attack to all
Muslim fanaticism, predicting further attacks from various sources until we destroy this

1 MoveOn.org: The Administration’s use of the word "imminent." url>>civic.moveon.org/censure//imminent.html
2 Consider Amazon.com review discussion of Norman Podhoretz, World War IV: The Long Struggle Against
Islamofascism: url>>www.amazon.com/World-War-IV-Struggle-Islamofascism/dp/0385522215 , and Wikipedia:
url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamofascism
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philosophy. Advocates believe war is an effective strategy to help evolve religious fanaticism
into tolerance despite rhetoric that fanaticism is an anomaly among Muslims.3
Independent reporting, the US State Department, and the US National Intelligence Estimate from
April 2006 report increasing terrorism in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007.4 This data sparks
war advocates’ response for increased militarism rather than alternative strategy, perhaps best
argued by famous US historian Howard Zinn.5 They point to the US troop "surge" as a sign of
success, as sectarian violence in Iraq decreased in late 2007.6 The US Government
Accountability Office reported ethnic violence might be decreasing only because killings have
forced up to 100,000 people a month to abandon their homes when they are the ethnic minority.7
Reports from Iraq journalists, rather than US major media, claim that people will be killed if they
cross US-constructed concrete walls (12 feet high) into hostile neighborhoods between Sunni and
Shia, bombings are frequent, and living standards for clean water, sewage, electricity, and basic
infrastructure have devolved to primitive levels.8
In assessing the reasons for war with Iraq, we now know through declassified intelligence
reports, congressional testimony, official documents such as the Senate Committee on
Intelligence and the 9/11 Commission, and other documented and corroborated sources that the
claims of WMD as an immediate threat to the US, aluminum tubes for use in making nuclear
weapons, uranium yellowcake to produce nuclear weapons, and links to Al Qaeda were known
by the Bush administration to be false at the time they were told to the American public.9 There
are several best-selling books that document this information;10 you can also find accurate


3 DanielPipes.org. (President Bush and) Naming the enemy. New York Sun. Aug. 17, 2004:
url>>www.danielpipes.org/article/2021
4 Washington Post. Glasser, S. US Figures Show Sharp Global Rise in Terrorism
url>>www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/26/AR2005042601623.html . New York Times
Mazzetti, M. Spy Agencies Says Iraq War Worsens Terrorism:
url>>www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/world/middleeast/24terror.html?_r=1&oref=slogin , Foreign Policy.com:
Terrorism Index. September/October, 2007: url>>www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3924
5 Boston Globe. Zinn, H
url>>www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/07/17/memo_to_obama_mccain_no_one_
wins_in_a_war/
6 Summary from Wikipedia: url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War#2007:_U.S._troop_surge
7 The Australian. Surge hasn’t curbed violence in Iraq. Sept. 5, 2007
url>>www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22366787-2703,00.html , and Alternet. Cole, J. Forget the
Surge * violence is down in Iraq because ethnic cleansing was brutally effective. July 29, 2008:
url>>www.alternet.org/waroniraq/93081/forget_the_surge_--
_violence_is_down_in_iraq_because_ethnic_cleansing_was_brutally_effective/
8 Alternet. Heller, Z.P. Baghdad 5 years on: city of walls. Aug. 7, 2008:
url>>www.alternet.org/blogs/waroniraq/94234/baghdad_5_years_on%3A_city_of_walls/
9 Center for Public Integrity. Iraq: The War Card. Orchestrated Deception on the Path to War:
url>>www.publicintegrity.org/projects/entry/276/ , and What Really Happened. Iraq WMD Lies: Words of Mass
Deception: url>>www.whatreallyhappened.com/WMDlies.html . Lies began immidiately after 9/11: Bush Caught
Lying About September 11th: url>>www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm73wOuPL60&feature=related
10 I recommend the four I’ve read: Elizabeth de la Vega’s U.S. V. Bush, Dave Lindorff and Barbara Olshansky’s
The Case for Impeachment, Naomi Wolf’s The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, and Dennis
Loo and Peter Phillips’ edited essays Impeach the President: The Case Against Bush and Cheney
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documentation of these public records on the Internet, along with supporting circumstantial
evidence and testimony.11
The WMD was chemical and biological weapons. Assuming that the US was concerned about
these weapons that the US originally supplied Saddam during his invasion of Iran from 1980-
1988,12 the conservative first option should have been the UN Security Council voting for the
UN WMD agency, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to
directly request Saddam to submit to OPCW’s authority. The Director-general of OPCW, Jose
Bustani, was in talks with Saddam to do so. Instead of supporting this reasonable alternative to
war, the US promised to withhold its funding of the UN (22% of the UN’s budget) until Bustani
was fired. The US called Bustani’s talks with Saddam an "ill-considered initiative." The US
request was honored; the US then paid its 2002 UN dues in April 2002; less than one year before
the US invasion of Iraq. This was the first time in UN history where the Director of an
international program was fired.13 By the way, the US does not cooperate with the OPCW to
ensure US compliance with International Laws of chemical and biological WMD
The US Congressional authorization for military force in Iraq relied heavily upon the Bush
administration’s claims of Saddam’s WMD. On November 3, 2002, Iraq submitted to the UN an
11,800 page report of its history of WMD. The US requested that over 8,000 pages of the report
be removed for US "national security." The US media complied, but not the international media
What these redacted pages documented was US supplying Iraq with all elements of the WMD
program in support of Saddam’s dictatorship and Iraq’s War of Aggression against Iran.14 The
US was one of many countries supplying these materials
CIA Director George Tenet explicitly stated that the October 2002 CIA National Intelligence
Estimate (NIE) reported that Iraq was not an imminent threat to the US because any attack would
cause war with the world’s most powerful military.15 This assessment was subsequently repeated
in official reports from several agencies.16 However, the October NIE remained classified to
11 Try Common Dreams. Perry, S. The Bush Administration's Top 40 Lies about War and Terrorism Bring 'em On!
July 30, 2003: url>>www.commondreams.org/views03/0730-06.htm , Impeach Bush homepage:
url>>www.impeachbush.tv/index.html , Impeach Bush/Vote to Impeach homepage:
url>>www.impeachbush.org/site/PageServer , and Seymour Hersh’s article from The New Yorker, "The
Stovepipe," Oct. 27, 2003: url>>www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/031027fa_fact?031027fa_fact
12 US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs: Second Staff Report on U.S. Chemical and
Biological Warfare-Related Dual-Use Exports to Iraq and The Possible Impact on the Health Consequences of the
War. May 25, 1994: url>>www.gulfwarvets.com/arison/banking.htm , DemocracyRising.US. Arming of Iraq and
the Iraq-Iran War: url>>democracyrising.us/content/view/30/74/ , National Security Archive. Battle, J. Shaking
Hands with Saddam Hussein. Feb. 25, 2003: url>>www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/ , and
Wikipedia background summary: url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._support_for_Iraq_during_the_Iran-Iraq_war
13 Wanttoknow.info. Burks, F. Key move made quietly in 2002 set the stage for war with Iraq:
url>>www.wanttoknow.info/iraqwarsetup
14 Project Censored. Lough, T. & Brage, L. #3 in top 25 censored stories for 2004: US illegally removes pages from
Iraq UN report: url>>www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/3-us-illegally-removes-pages-from-iraq-unreport/

15 Information Clearing House. Bugliosi, V. The prosecution of George W. Bush for murder. May 10, 2008:
url>>www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19903.htm and Democracy Now! CIA’s Tenet: Iraq posed no
imminent threat: url>>www.democracynow.org/2004/2/6/cias_tenet_iraq_posed_no_imminent
16 Center for American Progress. Neglecting intelligence, ignoring warnings. Jan. 29, 2004:
url>>www.americanprogress.org/issues/kfiles/b24889.html
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Congress before their vote to authorize President Bush to use our military against Iraq. Instead,
the Bush Administration declassified a "White Paper" that changed language to escalate the
appearance of threat from Iraq and removed the language that Iraq was not an imminent threat to
US security.17 The White Paper for Congress was titled, "Iraq’s Continuing Programs for
WMD." Again, because we know that all of the alleged evidence was known to be false at the
time it was reported, the title of this "report" is misinformation. Republican chair of the Senate
Intelligence Committee, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas), understated this conclusion: "[T]oday we
know these assessments were wrong. And, as our inquiry will show, they were also unreasonable
and largely unsupported by the available evidence."18
Congress passed the "Joint Resolution Authorizing Use of Force Against Iraq" in October 2002
(the Iraq Resolution)19 that authorized President Bush to act pursuant to the War Powers Act of
1973 (WPA) regarding military action in Iraq. This legal authorization, H.J. Resolution 114,
states in Section 3 (c) (2): "Nothing in this joint resolution supersedes any requirement of the
War Powers Resolution."
The WPA20 states in Section 8 (d) (1): "Nothing in this joint resolution-- (1) is intended to alter
the constitutional authority of the Congress or of the President, or the provision of existing
treaties." The applicable treaties are the UN Charter21 and the Nuremburg Charter.22 As a
consequence of humanity’s experience of two global wars, all country-initiated warfare was
declared illegal except defensive wars when under direct attack. Iraq did not attack the US. The
NIE found no evidence of imminent danger of attack upon the US. To date, President Bush has
not presented such evidence. Therefore, the military campaign failed to meet the prima facie
legal requirement of defensive war and is illegal under US and international law.23 Specifically,
the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan are Wars of Aggression.24
No evidence of WMD was found in Iraq either before the war with UN inspections from
November 2002 to March 2003, or after the war.25 The Bush administration attacked Iraq even
though weapons inspections were in full progress
17 Information Clearing House. Bugliosi, V. Ibid. FAS.org. Levin, C. Opening statement of Senator Carl Levin at the
Senate Armed Services Committee with DCI Tenet and DIA Director Jacoby. March 9, 2004
url>>www.fas.org/irp/congress/2004_cr/levin030904.html , and excerpts from Vincent Bugliosi’s book, The
prosecution of George W. Bush for murder. Indictment for dummies: url>>ralphlopezworld.com/vince.html
18 The National Security Archive. CIA whites out controversial estimate on Iraq weapons. July 9, 2008:
url>>www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB129/index.htm
19 THOMAS (Library of Congress): url>>thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c107:5:./temp/~c107F27y2K::
20 Avalon Project. The War Powers Act: url>>avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/warpower.asp
21 United Nations: url>>www.un.org/aboutun/charter/ ; Articles 2, 33, 39, and 51
22 ICRC. International Humanitarian Law: Principles Nuremburg Tribunal 1950:
url>>www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/FULL/390?OpenDocument
23 The Modern Tribune. Young, D. L. Accountability for an illegal war. Jan. 14, 2005:
url>>www.themoderntribune.com/iraq_war_violating_the_war_powers_act.htm
24 For commentary, consider Wikipedia: url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_aggression
25 BBC. Report Concludes no WMD in Iraq. Oct. 7, 2004: url>>news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3718150.stm ,
GWU. Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction. National Security Archive Briefing Book #80. Updated Feb. 11,
2004: url>>www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB80/ , Wikipedia:
url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction
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The Bush administration claim of aluminum tubes that could only be used as centrifuges to
refine fissionable material for nuclear weapons26 is directly refuted by the best expert witnesses
available, the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA). Their conclusion is that the tubes in question had diameters too small, the tubes were
too thick, using aluminum as the material would be "a huge step backwards," and the surface
was anodized that made them impossible to serve this purpose.27 They also found that the tubes
were easily explained for use of conventional weapon manufacturing, as the specifications
perfectly matched tubing for that purpose
This clear refutation by the agency best able to assess the technical data was then spun by the
CIA in the 2002 NIE in the classified report and the white paper.28 The classified NIE:
"Most agencies believe that Saddam's personal interest in and Iraq's aggressive attempts
to obtain high-strength aluminum tubes for centrifuge rotors - as well as Iraq's attempts to
acquire magnets, high-speed balancing machines, and machine tools - provide compelling
evidence that Saddam is reconstituting a uranium enrichment effort for Baghdad's nuclear
weapons program. (The Department of Energy (DOE) agrees that reconstitution of the
nuclear program is underway but assesses that the tubes probably are not part of the
program.)"
The white paper:
"Iraq's aggressive attempts to obtain proscribed high-strength aluminum tubes are of
significant concern. All intelligence experts agree that Iraq is seeking nuclear weapons
and that these tubes could be used in a centrifuge enrichment program. Most intelligence
specialists assess this to be the intended use, but some believe that these tubes are
probably intended for conventional weapons programs."
I have not found whether DOE was asked for their technical assessment on the use of magnets,
balancing machines and machine tools. The IAEA assessed the magnets were for telephones or
other uses,29 and the postwar findings of the Senate Intelligence Committee concluded these
components were for other industries.30 The Senate Select Intelligence Committee in July 2004
concluded that this was one of many statements "not supported by the underlying intelligence
reporting."31 The NIE also chose to ignore the IAEA reports from 1992-2002, which documented
their on-the-ground assessment that Iraq had no nuclear weapon program.32 The DOE
26 ImpeachBush. Bush lied about aluminum tubes in Iraq. url>>www.impeachbush.tv/args/altubes.html
27 Tomgram. De La Vega: Bush’s War: A Case of Presidential War? Oct. 29, 2005:
url>>www.tomdispatch.com/post/32550/de_la_vega_bush_s_war_a_case_of_presidential_fraud_ and Left Coaster
Eriposte. WMDgate: Fixing Intelligence Around Policy * The Aluminum Tubes, Part 2A-3. Nov. 19, 2005:
url>>www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/006070.php
28 GlobalSecurity.org. Report on the US intelligence community’s prewar intelligence assessments on Iraq
url>>www.globalsecurity.org/intell/library/congress/2004_rpt/iraq-wmd-intell_chapter10-a.htm
29 GlobalPolicy.org. Judis, J. & Ackerman, S. The Selling of the Iraq War: the first casualty. New Republic. June 30,
2003: url>>www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/unmovic/2003/0630selling.htm
30 Senate.gov. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Phase II investigation
intelligence.senate.gov/080605/phase2a.pdf
31 Globalsecurity.org. ibid: url>>www.globalsecurity.org/intell/library/congress/2004_rpt/iraq-wmd-intell_introb
htm
32 Antiwar.com. Prather, G. Justifying the Iraq war: why the NIE is wrong. Dec. 22, 2007:
url>>www.antiwar.com/prather/?articleid=12092
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representative the CIA accepted to discuss their findings at CIA headquarters for the 2002 NIE
was a human resources bureaucrat who agreed to CIA Director Tenet framing DOE’s position as
in agreement with CIA except "probably" not for the aluminum tubes.33
The general public has no knowledge of the details of equipment for fissionable refinement. For
the CIA to take a clear technical evaluation from the agency responsible for understanding that
exact equipment and then publicly report any concern is a lie, a known falsehood. Apparently,
President Bush disagreed; he awarded CIA Director Tenet with the Medal of Freedom in 2004.34
President Bush claimed in his January 2003 State of the Union Address that Saddam attempted
to buy enriched uranium from Niger, implying the danger that this would be used to create
nuclear weapons.35 However, the Niger documents were written in grammatically poor French,
had a "childlike" forgery of the Niger President’s signature, and had a document signed by a
foreign minister who had been out of office for 14 years prior to the date on the document.36 The
forgeries showed-up shortly after the Niger embassy in Rome was robbed, with the only missing
items being stationery and Niger government stamps.37 The same stationery and stamps were
used for the forged documents. The CIA warned President Bush on at least three occasions to not
make the claim due to the ridiculous evidence.38 In addition, if Saddam really was making an
illegal uranium purchase, it’s likely that both Saddam and the Niger government officials would
insist on not having a written record that would document the crime. Republican US Ambassador
to Niger, Joseph Wilson, confirmed this information and reported in detail to Vice President
Cheney’s office and the CIA
When Wilson wrote his story for the New York Times to end the ongoing disinformation ("What
I Didn’t Find in Africa") 39, the Bush administration leaked the identity of Wilson’s wife to the
press, Valerie Plame, blowing her cover as a covert CIA agent, ending her career and threatening
her life.40 Ironically, Plame’s spy work was in the area of preventing the spread of nuclear
weapons.41
The Justice Department ended its investigation into who leaked Plame’s name with the
prosecution of Vice President Cheney’s Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby, for Perjury, Obstruction of
Justice, and False Statements to a Grand Jury. Because Mr. Libby obstructed the investigation
through lies and non-cooperation, we still don’t know who authorized the leak of Ms. Plame’s
33 WorldNetDaily. Energy rep at Iraq meeting lacked intelligence savvy. Aug. 6, 2003:
url>>www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.printable&pageId=20148
34 MedalofFreedom.com. George Tenet. url>>www.medaloffreedom.com/GeorgeTenet.htm
35 ImpeachBush. False claims about uranium from Niger: url>>www.impeachbush.tv/args/uniger.html
36 CNN. Ensor, D. Fake Iraq Documents "Embarrassing" for US. March 14, 2003:
url>>www.cnn.com/2003/US/03/14/sprj.irq.documents/
37 Counterpunch. Lindorff, D. Forging the case for war. Aug. 16, 2008:
url>>www.counterpunch.org/lindorff08162008.html
38 US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Dec. 18, 2008. The President’s
claim that Iraq sought uranium from Niger: url>>oversight.house.gov/documents/20081218120632.pdf
39 Wilson, J. What I Didn’t Find in Africa. July 6, 2003: url>>www.commondreams.org/views03/0706-02.htm
40 Think Progress. 23 Administration Officials Involved in Plame Leak: url>>thinkprogress.org/leak-scandal ,
Wikipedia: url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_leak_scandal
41 The Raw Story. Kane, M., Edwards, D. CBS confirms Raw Story scoop: Plame’s job was to keep nukes from
Iran. Oct. 20, 2007: url>>rawstory.com/news/2007/CBS_confirms_2006_Raw_Story_scoop_1020.html
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identity to the press. President Bush commuted Mr. Libby’s prison sentence. Wilson and Plame
are proceeding with a civil suit; President Bush is blocking any legal access to records of the
Vice President’s actions concerning the leak.42 Although there is much disinformation as to the
above facts, please verify them for yourself
As to the claim of a relationship between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda, all US intelligence
agencies reported that no such relationship existed.43
Additional Evidence of Intent for War and not Disarmament: The Downing Street Memos
are British government documents leaked to their press in May 2005 from the head of British
Intelligence (equivalent to the US Director of the CIA) reporting in July 2002 that the Bush
administration had already committed to war with Iraq:
"Military action was now seen as inevitable. 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. The NSC had no patience with the UN
route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime's record." 44
The Manning Memo is a record of a meeting between President Bush and UK Prime Minister
Tony Blair on January 31, 2003 by Blair’s National Security Advisor, Tony Manning. The memo
states that President Bush informed Blair that war with Iraq would begin in March whether or not
WMD were found. Bush also discussed how to provoke Saddam into beginning the war.45
In August 2008, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Ron Suskind’s book became public: The Way
of the World. Suskind interviewed the CIA’s former Deputy Chief of Clandestine Operations,
Robert Richer, who in a taped interview said that the White House ordered Richer to forge a
document that linked Saddam Hussein to the attacks of 9/11 and work to create nuclear
weapons.46 The document was leaked to the press in December 2003 for the purpose of creating
public support for the war. The person’s signature on the letter in question is former Iraq
Intelligence Chief, Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, a CIA double agent who reported to the Bush
and Blair administrations in January 2003 that Saddam had no WMD but was afraid for this to be
known because of his fear of attack from Iran. Curiously, the US paid Habbush $5 million and
resettled his family to Jordan. Suskind reports the reason for this act was to pay Habbush for his
42 Wilson’s Statement on Bush’s Invocation of Executive Privilege to Protect Cheney. July 16, 2008:
url>>emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/07/16/wilson-statement-on-bushs-invocation-of-executive-privilege-toprotect-
cheney/
43 Washington Post. Pincus, W & Milbank, D. Al Qaeda-Hussein Link is Dismissed. June 17, 2004:
url>>www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47812-2004Jun16.html , MSNBC. AP report. No Saddam, al-
Qaida Link Found. Sept. 8, 2007: url>>www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14728447/ , Wikipedia:
url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddam_Hussein_and_al-Qaeda
44 Downing Street Memo homepage: url>>downingstreetmemo.com/ , After Downing Street. Text of Downing
Street Memo. May 26, 2005: url>>www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/1 , and Wikipedia:
url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downing_street_memo
45 Alternet. Prados, J. Bush’s Paper Trail Grows. April 4, 2006: url>>www.alternet.org/waroniraq/34421/?page=1
46 The Raw Story. Byrne, J. Tape: top CIA official confesses order to forge Iraq-9/11 letter came on White House
stationery. Aug. 8, 2008: url>>rawstory.com/news/2008/Tape_Top_CIA_officer_confesses_order_0808.html
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silence because his testimony would have both proven the letter as a forgery and informed world
opinion that the US and UK invaded Iraq with all evidence that Saddam had no WMD.47
In August 2008, Scott Ritter, a former Marine Corps intelligence specialist and a chief weapons
inspector for the United Nations in Iraq, wrote that Iraq scientists and weapons technicians
testified to him that they were being paid by the US military to keep silent about their knowledge
that Iraq had no WMD prior to the war. These Iraqis also report that their lives are in danger for
telling the truth on this issue.48
The Democratic Party leadership have not clearly communicated the above to the American
public
Because US government "leaders" lied about their strongest arguments for a "defensive" war
against Iraq, it would be reasonable that US government leaders have lied in the past concerning
Iraq. Let’s look
The US and Iraq: The History You Didn’t Know: Saddam Hussein was a vicious dictator who
should have never ruled a nation. However, according to a dozen former US diplomats, US
intelligence officials, and British scholars, Saddam was supported by the US beginning in 1959
The US CIA authorized Saddam to assassinate Iraq’s dictator, Abd al-Karim Qasim, who had
recently withdrew from the pro-US Baghdad Pact and initiated friendly relations with the Soviet
Union.49 The assassination failed, but another succeeded in 1963. Saddam rose in power, and
became dictator in 1979. Saddam had US support to invade Iran in a War of Aggression from
1980 to 1988, including supplying him with biological and chemical weapons.50 When Saddam
invaded Kuwait in August of 1990, US cooperation with him was suspended. The UN Security
Council voted in favor of military action to remove Iraq from Kuwait
US Congressional and public opinion to support any UN military force was divided. President
George H.W. Bush spoke for US support of the war, emphasizing two areas of evidence. One
was testimony from a 15-year-old girl named Nayirah to Congress in October, 1990. Nayirah
claimed to be a refugee and hospital volunteer of the maternity ward of Al Adan hospital in
Kuwait City; stating she witnessed Iraqi soldiers steal the incubators and leave 312 infants to die
on the cold hospital floor.51 The second was that US satellite photos showed Iraqi forces massing
for attack on the Saudi Arabian border in September, 1990 with 250,000 troops and 1,500 tanks
The President and those who supported war spoke publicly of Iraqi cruelty and the need to
47 9/11 Blogger. Suskind, R. Smoking gun? Or smoking mushroom cloud? Aug. 7, 2008:
url>>www.911blogger.com/node/17025 . For an interview of Suskind by John Stewart on the Daily Show from
Aug. 11, 2008: url>>www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=178985&title=ron-suskind
48 Truthdig. Ritter, S. "Where are the weapons of mass destruction?" Aug. 11, 2008:
url>>www.truthdig.com/report/page4/20080811_where_are_the_weapons_of_mass_destruction/
49 Information Clearing House. Sale, R. Exclusive: Sadda Was Key in Early CIA Plot. April 11, 2003:
url>>www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2849.htm
50 Project Censored. Nouveaux, D. & Steiner, J. 5: U.S. Weapons mass Destruction Linked to the Deaths of a Half-
Million Children. Top 25 Censored Stories for 1999: url>>www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/5-u-sweapons-
mass-destruction-linked-to-the-deaths-of-a-half-million-child/
51 Video of her testimony: Barry Zweiker: Gulf War lies * conspiracy to gain support. Feb. 24, 2006:
url>>video.google.com/videosearch?q=nayirah&hl=en&sitesearch=#q=gulf%20war&hl=en&sitesearch=&start=10

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protect the innocent people of Saudi Arabia. Public opinion gradually shifted in favor for war
The Congressional vote passed by 52-47 in the Senate and 250-183 in the House on January 12,
1991.52
We now know that Nayirah lied about her identity; she was the daughter of Kuwait Ambassador
to the United States and member of the Kuwait royal family, Saud bin Nasir Al-Sabah. Nayirah
had no connection to the hospital and was coached on how to give her testimony by the US
public relations firm Hill and Knowlton.53 The only reasonable explanation I can see that the
Bush Senior administration was not lying about this evidence for war is if it never occurred to
anyone in leadership to verify the accuracy of this girl’s testimony. This is not likely. And
remember, George H.W. Bush was the Director of the CIA, an agency responsible for working
with accurate and contrived information
When a reporter purchased commercially available satellite photos of the region at the time
claimed to show massive Iraqi troop build-up and submitted them to experts for analysis, US
troop presence was visible on the Saudi side of the border but there was no evidence of Iraqi
troops. The Kuwaiti Air Base seemed deserted in the photos. When the reporter queried
Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney (now Vice President) about the satellite photos, she was told,
"Trust us." The alleged US satellite photos have never been released for reasons of "national
security."54
The US planning and execution of war in Iraq included the War Crime of targeting Iraq’s water
system, which is expressly forbidden by the Geneva Convention for the protection of the civilian
population. The documents proving the planning are from the US Defense Intelligence Agency,
and state their understanding that destroying water sanitation would result in the deaths of
thousands of civilians. After the US destroyed Iraq’s water purification plants, one of the
documents planned propaganda to blame Saddam for not supplying clean water in Iraq.55 The
UN reported that this US War Crime and preventing Iraq from importing essential supplies
caused the deaths of over one million Iraqis, most of them children.56
You may have heard criticism in the US mainstream media of UN officials in Iraq’s "Oil for
Food" program.57 What isn’t discussed is that the agency of the UN managing this program that
diverted funds to Saddam was the UN Security Council. A principle member of the Security
52 BBC on this day. 1991: US Congress votes for war in Iraq
url>>news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/12/newsid_4534000/4534588.stm
53 The Christian Science Monitor. Peterson, S. In war, some facts less factual. Sept. 6, 2002:
url>>www.csmonitor.com/2002/0906/p01s02-wosc.html
54 Project Censored. #6 1991 top 25 censored stories. No evidence of Iraqi threat to Saudi Arabia:
url>>www.projectcensored.org/static/1991/1991-story6.htm , and Iraqwar.org. Utley, J.B. Questions about the
supposed Iraqi threat to Saudi Arabia in 1990 * aerial photos were never released! url>>www.iraqwar.org/bush.htm

55 Project Censored. Nagy, J. #5 in top 25 censored stories for 2003: U.S. intentionally destroyed Iraq’s water
system: url>>www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/5-us-intentionally-destroyed-iraqs-water-system/
56 CNN. Iraq condemns embargo on 9th anniversary. Aug. 6, 1999:
url>>www.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/9908/06/iraq.sanctions/
57 Such as, FOX News. Unraveling the UN Oil-for-Food Scandal. Sept. 25, 2004:
url>>www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,133484,00.html
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Council is the US.58 Another guilty party was Chevron, who paid a $25 million fine in response
to being charged under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.59
Under the Clinton administration in 1998, the US demanded that weapons inspectors have
complete access to Saddam Hussein’s presidential palaces while prominent US political leaders
were calling for Saddam’s assassination.60 Hussein refused. Despite the US Chief Weapons
Inspector declaring that Iraq was disarmed, Clinton removed weapons inspectors and bombed
Iraq.61 This act of war was without authorization from the UN Security Council. Since then,
Hillary Clinton has lied at every opportunity regarding this history, including in her presidential
campaign, by saying that Saddam "threw out the inspectors."
Additional useful history is the testimony of General Smedley Buter, who was the most
decorated Marine in US History. Upon his retirement, General Butler wrote the book, War is a
Racket, which powerfully communicates to the American public that political and media rhetoric
for war often masks the real incentives: massive profits for our most powerful corporations
Follow the below link for a two-page summary in General Butler’s own words.62
Bill Moyers, President Lyndon Johnson’s former Press Secretary and exemplary journalist with
over thirty career Emmy awards, documented much of this evidence in his televised 1986 work,
The Secret Government.63 Turner Broadcasting produced and aired a 1998 documentary, Secrets
of the CIA, which highlights further evidence.64
US Department of Defense complicity for war profit has strong evidence. Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld publicly acknowledged that his department had "lost" over $2.3 trillion,
extending back through the Clinton administration.65 To date, our government has not
investigated. This is an astounding amount of money; equating to $23,000 "lost" per US
household. Since the average La Cañada Flintridge household earns 2.5 times the national
income, our community has been subjected to criminal negligence and/or theft for about $75,000
per household
"The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know." * Harry Truman, as quoted in Plain
Speaking : An Oral Biography of Harry S Truman (1974) by Merle Miller, p. 26
58 Project Censored. McNamara, R. & Murrell, D. #6 in top 25 censored stories for 2006: The real oil for food scam:
url>>www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/6-the-real-oil-for-food-scam/
59 News Sophisticate. Chevron’s treasonous oil for food scandal. Nov. 15, 2007:
url>>newssophisticate.blogspot.com/2007/11/chevrons-treasonous-un-oil-for-food.html
60 CommonDreams. Zunes, S. Hillary Clinton again lies about Iraq. Feb. 2, 2008:
url>>www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/02/6802/
61 CommonDreams. Ritter, S. See Hillary run (from her husband’s past on Iraq). March 3, 2007:
url>>www.commondreams.org/views07/0303-23.htm
62 Butler, S. War is a Racket. 1935. Two-page summary from Wanttoknow.info:
url>>www.wanttoknow.info/warcoverup
63 Summary and links from Wanttoknow.info: url>>www.wanttoknow.info/050423secretgovernment
64 Summary and links from Wanttoknow.info: url>>www.wanttoknow.info/051130ciasecrets
65 Summary of mainstream news reports at Wanttoknow.info:
url>>www.wanttoknow.info/corruptiongovernmentmilitary
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Disinformation during the War in Iraq: The House Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform reported in July, 2008 that because top military and White House "striking lack of
recollection," responsibility could not be determined for official misinformation on the death of
Pat Tillman in 2004 and the circumstances for the recovery of Jessica Lynch.66 Pat Tillman was
the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year and All-Pro linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals,
breaking their single-season record for tackles. When Pat turned down a $3.6 million contract to
join the US Army Rangers, he became a poster-boy for supporting the war
Kevin Tillman, Pat’s brother who served with him up, wrote that they discovered that the "War
on Terror" was an illegal invasion, subverted the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, included
US torture of detainees, was all based on lies, and that American leadership had made a more
dangerous world.67 One of Pat’s fellow soldiers reported Pat stating, "You know, this war is so f-
--ing illegal."68 Pat’s mother, Mary Tillman, also says that Pat concluded the war was illegal,69
and that Pat arranged to meet with MIT Professor Noam Chomsky to discuss the illegality of the
war.70 Given that Chomsky is one of the US’ strongest and most prolific spokespersons against
the war, the probable result of such a meeting would be Chomsky and/or Tillman going public
with their report. Mary Tillman would like to publicize Pat’s diary to confirm Pat’s exact
impressions. However, the military informed her that his diary was "accidentally" completely
burned, along with his uniform and body armor (perhaps these were destroyed to cover-up
evidence that would have falsified the military’s report that Pat was killed by enemy fire to the
chest). The official US story on Tillman’s death was that he died heroically engaging the enemy
in a fierce firefight. After the public funeral and publicity, and five weeks after his death, the
government acknowledged that Pat was killed by his own troops in "an accident." Documents
released under the Freedom of Information Act showed the medical examiners of Pat’s body
reported that he was killed by three shots to the forehead in a tight pattern, concluding the shots
came from 10 yards or so away.71 Military personnel familiar with firing the specific weapon
report that to have such a tight pattern with three rounds would require being no more than ten
feet away, or the result of three separate snipers firing simultaneously.72 Because of this strong
physical evidence, Army doctors requested an investigation for murder (fratricide). Both of their
requests were denied. In addition, there was zero evidence of any enemy fire at the scene (no
other person or equipment was shot and no shell casings were found), Special Forces snipers
were among the unit that fired on Pat, Army attorneys sent each other congratulatory e-mails in
keeping information away from the public and securing non-criminal reprimands, and the three-
66 Common Dreams. AP Report. Probe of Tillman Misinformation Goes Nowhere:
url>>www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/15/10364/
67 After Pat’s Birthday. Oct. 19, 2006: url>>www.truthdig.com/report/item/200601019_after_pats_birthday/
68 SFGate. Collier, R. Family Demands the Truth. Sept. 25, 2005: url>>www.sfgate.com/cgibin/
article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/25/MNGD7ETMNM1.DTL
69 Crooks and Liars. Silent Patriot. Mary Tillman Demands Answers. March 28, 2007:
url>>www.crooksandliars.com/2007/03/28/mary-tillman-demands-answers
70 Common Dreams. Zirin, D. The meeting that never was: Pat Tillman and Noam Chomsky. Oct. 7, 2005:
url>>www.commondreams.org/views05/1007-22.htm
71 Was Tillman Murdered? AP Gets New Information. July 26, 2007:
url>>www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003617692 and Kevin’s
testimony to Congress. Hearing on Tillman, Lynch Incidents. Kevin Tillman’s Opening:
url>>www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUCyr3B3IlM
72 Mail Online. Laurence, C. Was the pin-up boy of Bush’s war on terror assassinated? Aug. 3, 2007:
url>>www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-473037/Was-pin-boy-Bushs-War-Terror-assassinated.html
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star general who managed the disinformation responded to over 70 specific questions from the
official investigation with the answer, "I don’t remember."73
The US is using illegal WMD in Iraq that kills and damages US troops and Iraqi civilians:
depleted uranium shells (DU).74 The UN declared DU weapons in violation of several
International Laws and UN conventions in August 2002. Independent medical research found
increases in cancer and birth defects at 400% of previous rates in areas of DU use
In 2004, the US military planned to spend $100 million to hire at least 100 people as covert
counter-intelligence agents in Iraq to provoke terrorist groups to cause acts of terrorism against
the Iraqi people. The stated purpose of this project was to expose terrorist groups for
counterattack by US forces.75 This means that the US planned to incite terrorism that would
injure and kill Iraqi civilians, making the US an accomplice to terrorism
Among the provisions of US occupation of Iraq is that it is now illegal for Iraqi farmers to use
their own seeds; this in the Fertile Crescent where much of agriculture began. Iraqi farmers must
buy their seeds from US companies, and only use genetically modified seeds where farmers pay
a licensing fee for each use.76 This act is done under US rhetoric for "freedom for the Iraqi
people."
In December, 2004, the US announced a military siege of the Iraq city of Fallujah, home to
300,000 Iraqis (equivalent to 15 La Cañadas). The US gave the city residents the ultimatum of
abandoning their homes or being attacked as terrorists. 250,000 left the city, becoming refugees
with no provisions for their care. The US military estimated that Fallujah contained a "few
thousand" terrorists; but all remaining 50,000 residents were targeted as the enemy. When the
US attacked Falujah, their structural targets included the four water purification plants,
destroying three and severely damaging the fourth. Again, this is a War Crime.77
Beginning in November, 2005, US war strategy increased the use of air strikes against Iraqi
urban areas to nearly 1,000 sorties a month, deploying 500 and 1,000 pound bombs. The most
respected medical journal in the UK, The Lancet, reported that the US and coalition forces cause
85% of all violent deaths in Iraq, with 95% of those coming from aerial attacks.78
73 USA Today. Mendoza, M. New Details on Tillman’s Death. July 27, 2007:
url>>www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-07-26-tillman-friendly-fire_N.htm
74 Project Censored. Williams, R., Jacks, S., Spencer, J. #8 in top 25 censored stories for 2004: US/British forces
continue use of depleted uranium weapons despite negative health effects. url>>www.projectcensored.org/topstories/
articles/8-us-british-forces-continue-use-of-depleted-uranium-weapons-despite-negati/
75 Project Censored. Nelson, C., Storino, M., Scanlan, J. #4 in top 25 censored stories for 2004: Rumsfeld’s plan to
provoke terrorists. url>>www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/4-rumsfelds-plan-to-provoke-terrorists/
76 Project Censored. Wingard, J., Barker, C. #8 in top 25 censored stories for 2006: Iraqi farmers threatened by
Bremer’s mandates. url>>www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/8-iraqi-farmers-threatened-by-bremersmandates/

77 Project Censored. Crowley, B., Jaffe, S., Lanphear, B. #2 in top 25 censored stories for 2006: Media coverage
fails on Iraq: Fallujah and the civilian deathtoll. url>>www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/2-mediacoverage-
fails-on-iraq-fallujah-and-the-civilian-deathtoll/
78 Project Censored. Manning, R., Fuchs, B. #10 in top 25 censored stories for 2007: Expanded air war in Iraq kills
more civilians. url>>www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/10-expanded-air-war-in-iraq-kills-more-civilians/
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The Bush administration has repeatedly assured the American public that our stay in Iraq is
temporary, just until the Iraqi people can manage themselves. However, the US has built four
military "super-bases," each housing tens of thousands of personnel that appear permanent.79 The
new US Embassy in prime-area Baghdad on the Tigris River is over 100 acres and will house
over 8,000 people (in comparison, LCHS is 18.5 acres and Descanso Gardens is 165 acres), also
appearing to manage greater responsibility than diplomacy in someone else’s country.80
Some people argue that the US should stay to repair the damage done in Iraq and Afghanistan
Unfortunately, the aid that is allocated seems to be subject to corrupt practices of over-priced
items of poor quality. The mark-up is called "phantom aid" because the money transfers directly
from aid agencies to the bank accountants of the "reconstruction" companies. Estimates of how
much aid is phantom range from 20% to 86%.81
No timetable for US troop withdrawal has been set by the President or Congress, despite the
facts that 70% of Iraqis want the US out immediately, Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Maliki has called
for the US to leave, and 60% of the American public want the US out within a year.82 I also note
significant similarities to both parties’ policies toward the Vietnam War and the media’s support
of the war. As with the Vietnam War, Democrats have become more vocal against the war, but
their party leadership continues its funding
War Crimes and War of Aggression in Iraq: A War of Aggression is defined as a nondefensive
war for territorial gain and unauthorized by the UN Security Council. The US legal
argument that the "War on Terror" is not a War of Aggression is that the US actions against Iraq
and Afghanistan were defensive. Saddam was in the process of executing an attack against the
US, and Osama bin Laden was being protected by the Afghan government, which made them coterrorists
This legal opinion of "defensive action" supersedes the opinion of the UN Security
Council
Because we now know that the principle claims of Saddam’s threat to the US were known to be
false at the time they were told to the American public, as documented in the first part of this
paper, there is no legal defense for the war in Iraq that I see except the following: the US
attacked Iraq legally because when we’re afraid that somehow, someday, they might decide to
commit suicide by attacking the most powerful military country in the world, it is self-defense to
lie about reasons they might attack us and then attack them even though we know we fabricated
79 See Information Clearing House. Lando, B. Total Withdrawal? Who Are You Kidding? March 12, 2007:
url>>www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17295.htm and Alternet. Von Hoffman, N. Finally, the US Mega-
Bases in Iraq are Under Debate. June 15, 2008:
url>>www.alternet.org/waroniraq/88225/?ses=fbfcb7bbac63ae4a7d8a3ea1b586faca
80 The Nation. Von Hoffman, N. Bush’s Baghdad Palace. June 20, 2006:
url>>www.thenation.com/doc/20060703/howl and Wikipedia:
url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embassy_of_the_United_States_in_Baghdad , and Daniel Pipes Blog. "The Largest
Embassy Ever Run by Any Country." March 9, 2004: url>>www.danielpipes.org/blog/196
81 Project Censored. Hall, M., Bickel, J., Dean, J. #11 in top 25 censored stories for 2008: The scam of
"reconstruction" in Afghanistan. url>>www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/11-the-scam-of-reconstructionin-
afghanistan/
82 ABC News Commentary. Sam Donaldson. Sam Dissects "Myth" Behind American Troop Presence. July 8, 2008:
url>>abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=5331769
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claims of their aggression. Unless you find this argument of defense compelling, the US war in
Iraq is a War of Aggression.83
An analogy might help: someone shoots and kills a person. The defendant claims self-defense
because the victim was about to use a lethal weapon against the defendant. No lethal weapon was
found on the victim’s body (you could add that the victim was being searched at the time he was
shot). The defendant claims that he had "good intelligence" that the victim was about to attack
with deadly force. After these claims are made, investigation shows that the defendant’s
information was not credible. The defendant still claims innocence because the world is a better
place without the victim
Sometimes people discuss that the US invasion of Iraq was legal due to UN Security Council
Resolution 1441 that demanded Saddam’s full cooperation to account for any WMD or face
"serious consequences."84 This claim is legal nonsense because the US does not speak and act for
the UN Security Council. The US only has authority for military force when they have the votes
from the Security Council. In this instance, the US specifically chose not to call for a vote
authorizing force because they didn’t have the votes. As a revealing sidelight, US leadership
used the NSA (National Security Agency) to spy on Security Council diplomats to gain
information that might have been helpful to influence their votes in favor of invading Iraq.85 The
purpose of the NSA is to access secret information
UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, asserted, "I have indicated it (the invasion of Iraq) was not
in conformity with the UN charter. From our point of view and from the charter point of view it
was illegal."86
War Crimes and War of Aggression in Afghanistan: Let’s review the history of the US
invasion of Afghanistan. After the attacks of 9/11, the US government requested the cooperation
of the Afghanistan government for extradition of Osama bid Laden to be charged with the 9/11
attacks. The Afghan government agreed, as per usual cooperative international law, as soon as
the US government provided evidence of bin Laden’s involvement.87 The US government
refused to provide any evidence. The Afghan government refused US troops entering their
country and extradition until evidence was provided, and made their argument to the world press
for the rule of law to apply to the US extradition request. The US invaded Afghanistan without
providing evidence and without UN Security Council approval. President Bush stated, "There’s
no need to discuss evidence of innocence or guilt. We know he’s guilty."88 Seven years later,
83 Peterson, E.A. Sept. 17, 2004. Was The Iraq War Legal, Or Illegal, Under International Law?
url>>www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6917.htm
84 One of many: Armscontrol.org. Disarming Saddam * a chronology of Iraq and UN weapons inspections from
2002-2003. July, 2003: url>>www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/iraqchron
85 Huffington Post. Solomon, N. NSA spied on U.N. diplomats in push for invasion of Iraq. Dec. 27, 2005:
url>>www.huffingtonpost.com/norman-solomon/nsa-spied-on-un-diploma_b_12927.html
86 Guardian. MacAskill, E., Borger, J. Iraq war was illegal and breached UN charter, says Annan. Sept. 16, 2004:
url>>www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/sep/16/iraq.iraq
87 Global Research. Rudmin, F. Military oaths confront the Constitution: the Omar Khadr case. Nov. 11, 2008:
url>>globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10899
88 The Guardian: Bush Rejects Taliban Offer to Hand bin Laden Over. Oct. 14, 2001:
url>>www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/oct/14/afghanistan.terrorism5
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despite promises to do so, the US has not provided any evidence that bin Laden was involved in
the 9/11 attacks. Indeed, the FBI does not seek bin Laden for the 9/11 attacks, stating "there is no
hard evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11."89 Some of you might have heard of a bin Laden
"confession video." The Pentagon’s "official translation" seems to indicate foreknowledge of the
attacks, but independent translations show that the "official" version is a manipulation and an
accurate translation shows no evidence of involvement.90 Apparently, the FBI is in agreement
with the independent translations. Indeed, Princeton professor of International Law Richard Falk
articulates doubts concerning many aspects of the government’s explanation of 9/11.91 This view
of a counter-government explanation is now shared by over 1,000 reputable scholars and
professionals with academic training and professional experience that qualify them as experts in
their testimonies.92
War Crimes: Torture: Wikipedia has increased their listing of impeachable evidence in its
main article of the Iraq War.93 When I first wrote this paper in March 2007, buried at the end,
after "references" in the section "external articles" under the "anti-war" section were a few links,
but only one was hard-hitting: a David Shuster MSNBC piece titled, "Road to War.94 Wikipedia
does have an article specifically listing arguments for impeachment for your consideration,95
including the War Crimes of torture and that this is a "War of Aggression," the most egregious
international crime
Ethical treatment of prisoners is a legal requirement under US and International law. In the socalled
"War on Terror," the Bush Administration, with Democratic leadership agreement,
invented the unique legal distinction of "unlawful enemy combatant." An enemy combatant
would not be covered by US or international law. From the passage of the 2006 Military
Commissions Act (MCA), it is now legal for the government to declare anyone, including US
citizens, as unlawful enemy combatants.96 We know it’s the government’s intent to apply MCA
to American citizens because they have declared American citizens as illegal enemy combatants
without legal protection from US law or the US Constitution. For example, the Bush
Administration, without complaint by Democratic leadership, argued for MCA application to
American citizen Jose Padilla all the way to the Supreme Court. Unlawful enemy combatants can
be detained forever, be denied legal representation and contact with family, have any testimony
obtained from "harsh interrogation techniques" used against them if the government brings
89 Project Censored. Top 25 Censored Stories for 2008. #16: No Hard Evidence Connecting bin Laden to 9/11:
url>>www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/16-no-hard-evidence-connecting-bin-laden-to-9-11/
90 911 Review.org. Bin Laden Confession: url>>911review.org/Wiki/BinLadenConfession.shtml and Lederman, R
German Media: bin Laden 'Smoking Gun' Tape Translation Inaccurate. Jan. 1, 2002:
url>>www.rense.com/general18/inac.htm
91 The Journal. Falk, R. 9/11: more than meets the eye. Nov. 9, 2008: url>>www.journal-online.co.uk/article/5056-
911-more-than-meets-the-eye and url>>www.911blogger.com/node/18483
92 Patriots for 9/11 Truth: url>>patriotsquestion911.com/professors.html
93 Wikipedia: url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_war
94 MSNBC. Shuster, D. Road to War: How the Bush Administration Sold the Iraq War to the American Public. Nov
8, 2005: url>>www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9962149/
95 Wikipedia: url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeach_Bush
96 Markon, J. U.S. Can Confine Citizens Without Charges, Court Rules. Sept. 10, 2005:
url>>www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/09/AR2005090900772.html
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charges ("harsh interrogation" is the exact term used by the Nazis97), be denied the right to
examine evidence against them for "national security" reasons but to only receive a summary of
the evidence (for example, the government could claim they have video of you killing American
children as an Al Qaeda terrorist, deny the court the right to see the video, but present a written
summary of what’s on the video that the court would have to accept as valid evidence), and
finally the same government that accused you would also appoint a three-person military tribunal
to decide your verdict, which includes the death penalty.98 Please do not believe me; look up the
MCA for yourself. While a recent Supreme Court decision reestablished Habeas Corpus only to
Guantanamo detainees, the rest of MCA has so far been upheld in Federal Courts.99
The US treatment of detainees has a deliberate history to circumvent previously established US
and International Law.100 The US has applied interrogation techniques to "enemy combatants"
that previous case law found were torture (these have also been applied by our government to
American citizens). For example, President Bush admitted to authorizing "waterboarding," found
by courts to be torture in all previous case law in the US and internationally.101 This
authorization was explicitly stated in memos from the White House.102 When previous courts are
unanimous in their findings, that means the legal definition of an act is absolutely certain. In this
case, waterboarding, or more accurately termed "controlled drowning," is torture. Curiously,
despite this clear legal definition, former US Attorney General John Ashcroft testified to the
House Judiciary Committee that waterboarding had been consistently defined as not torture. He
did not present any case law history in his defense or elaborate.103 However, other released
documents suggest the legal opinion supporting these "harsh interrogation techniques" were
based partly on the argument that it’s not torture if you don’t say it’s torture.104
John Yoo, the principle author of legal memos for the White House that supported torture, also
testified to Congress. In apparent support of the strategy that it’s not torture unless you admit it,
Yoo refused to answer the direct question whether the President could legally order detainees to
97 Andrew Sullivan: The Daily Dish. "Verschärfte Vernehmung." May 29, 2007:
url>>andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/05/verschfte_verne.html
98 Prison Planet. Watson, P.J. & Jone, A. Military Commissions Act Does Affect US Citizens. Oct. 22, 2006:
url>>www.prisonplanet.com/articles/october2006/221006doesaffect.htm , Repeal the Military Commissions Act
and Restore the Most American Human Right. Thom Hartman, Feb. 12, 2007:
url>>www.commondreams.org/views07/0212-24.htm , and The Day Habeas Corpus Died: Keith Olberrmann:
url>>www.crooksandliars.com/2006/10/17/olbermann-the-day-habeas-corpus-died/
99 Imprisonment by Executive Order. Ann Shibler, JBS, July 18, 2008. url>>www.prisonplanet.com/imprisonmentby-
executive-order.html
100 Lendman, S. Torture as Official US Policy. July 18, 2008: url>>www.afterdowningstreet.org/torturepolicy , and
Burghardt, T. Bush Adminstration Post-Constitutional Order: "It Was Real 'Manchurian Candidate' Stuff." June 19,
2008: url>>www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9382
101 ABC News.Greenburg, J.C., Rosenberg, H.L., de Vogue, A. Sources: Top Bush Officials Approved "Enhanced
Interrogation." April 9, 2008: url>>abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/LawPolitics/story?id=4583256&page=1 and Rall, T
Arrest Bush. Bush Confesses to Waterboarding. Call the DC Cops! April 30, 2008:
url>>www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/30/8611/
102 The Washington Post. Warrick, J. Oct. 15, 2008: url>>www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/
content/article/2008/10/14/AR2008101403331.html
103 Think Progress. Ryan. July 17, 2008: Ashcroft: Waterboarding ‘Consistently’ Seen As Legal, Refuses To Say
Use On U.S. Troops Is ‘Unacceptable’: url>>thinkprogress.org/2008/07/17/ashcroft-torture/
104 Warrick, J. CIA Played Larger Role In Advising Pentagon: Harsh Interrogation Methods Defended. June 18,
2008: url>>www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/17/AR2008061702862.html?hpid=topnews
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be buried alive and have that not be considered torture.105 Yoo’s legal memo said that
interrogation only became torture if it was "equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying
serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death."
Even then, for national security such pain and injury might be justified. Also, it’s only torture if
causing severe pain and injury was the "specific intent" of the interrogator rather than obtaining
information for the public good.106 There also seems to be no restraint on applying these
interrogation methods to children. Over 2,500 children have been declared as unlawful enemy
combatants and detained without being charged with a crime.107 Yoo testified that it would be
legal to take a detainee’s male child and crush the boy’s testicles in front of the parent to obtain
information from the detainee.108 Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh reported that
interrogators have raped children, and video-taped the rapes for their viewing pleasure.109
In International Law, torture is a War Crime. The US Constitution expressly forbids torture. The
US has refused for over a year the UN’s request to inspect the US prison at Guantanamo Bay to
evaluate claims of torture.110 The US has refused to release to the press the International Red
Cross’ findings of the treatment of detainees.111 Jane Mayer’s new book, The Dark Side, presents
the Red Cross reports that she obtained. The Red Cross concluded the US interrogation
techniques were "categorically torture."112 Torture was the topic of the 2008 Academy Award for
Documentaries for the film, Taxi to the Dark Side.113 The specific case study in the film is a 22-
year-old Afghan taxi driver who was beaten to death by US interrogators. His death certificate
from the US military was leaked: cause of death was marked as "homicide" from blunt force
trauma. He was never charged with a crime
The testimony pointing to torture is mounting, despite a lack of comprehensive coverage in the
mainstream media. For example, Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, the military’s chief investigator and
report author of the torture at Abu Ghraib reported in June, 2008:
"After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts and reports
from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current
administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered
105 July 1, 2008. Way Beyond Waterboarding:
url>>www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/20080701_way_beyond_waterboarding/
106 Redefining Torture. PBS. Oct. 18, 2005: url>>www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/torture/themes/redefining.html

107 George Washington’s Blog. May 21, 2008. Congratulations, America ... Children are being Tortured in Your
Name: url>>georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2008/05/they-torture-children-dont-they.html
108 Arnold, C. The Ticking Time Bomb Thought Experiment. Feb. 7, 2008:
url>>www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/07/6889/
109 Jardin, X. Hersh: Children Raped at Abu Ghraib, Pentagon has Videos. July 15, 2004:
url>>www.boingboing.net/2004/07/15/hersh-children-raped.html
110 US Faces Prison Ship Allegations. June 28, 2005: url>>news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4632087.stm
111 ICRC Raises Guantanamo Conditions. Feb. 15, 2005: url>>news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4267297.stm
112 Shane, S. July 11, 2008: Book Cites Secret Red Cross Report of C.I.A. Torture of Qaeda Captives:
url>>www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/washington/11detain.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&p
agewanted=all&adxnnlx=1216332316-zJaBg/c5NpVkgoMsrfKDSA&oref=slogin . For commentary, consider
Constitutional Law Scholar, Jonathan Turley: Countdown: Rachel Maddow and Jon Turley discuss Bushco war
crimes, possible prosecution:
url>>www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x156943
113 Taxi to the Dark Side: url>>www.taxitothedarkside.com/
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is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account ... The
commander-in-chief and those under him authorized a systematic regime of torture."114
The US military acknowledged that they "segregate" some detainees in "humane" sealed crates
measuring 3-feet square and 6-feet high for up to 12 hours.115 There was no mention if the crates
are stored outside, where the average daily temperature in Baghdad from June to August is 110
degrees
According to Seton Hall’s Law Center for Policy and Research, over 24,000 US interrogations of
enemy combatants were video-recorded at Guantanamo Prison. These might reveal extensive
torture.116 Indeed, the organization Physicians for Human Rights concluded in their medical
examination of released enemy combatants that each person had been subjected to multiple
torture techniques over a period of years.117 These medical findings support the testimony of the
released detainees that they were repeatedly tortured
A recent poll reported that 44% of Americans approve of torture for terrorist suspects.118 Perhaps
they trust their government to not break the law, are unclear of the facts you’ve just read, or
believe torture is a necessary evil to "protect America." History has shown that torture is not an
effective interrogation technique to get accurate information, as the victims will say what they
believe the torturer wants to hear in order to make the torture stop.119
"Should any American soldier be so base and infamous as to injure any [prisoner]. . . I do most
earnestly enjoin you to bring him to such severe and exemplary punishment as the enormity of
the crime may require. Should it extend to death itself, it will not be disproportional to its guilt at
such a time and in such a cause... for by such conduct they bring shame, disgrace and ruin to
themselves and their country."
- General George Washington, letter to the Northern Expeditionary Force, Sept. 14, 1775
Cost in money and lives: Current war expenditures are now ~$15 billion/month.120 According
to Nobel Prize winning economist, Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard professor, Linda Bilmes, the
114 Empire Burlesque. Floyd, C. Torturegate: Truth but no Consequences. June 20, 2008: url>>www.chrisfloyd
com/content/view/1543/135/
115 CNN. Starr, B. U.S. segregates violent Iraqi prisoners in crates. Aug. 7, 2008:
url>>edition.cnn.com/2008/US/08/07/segregation.boxes/index.html
116 Cohn, M. Feb. 15, 2008: Injustice at Guantanamo: Torture Evidence and the Military Commissions Act:
url>>jurist.law.pitt.edu/forumy/2008/02/injustice-at-guantanamo-torture.php
117 CNN. Report: Exams Reveal Abuse, Torture of Detainees. June 18, 2008:
url>>www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/18/gitmo.detainees/index.html , and Spratley, S. Broken Laws, Broken Lives:
Review of Physicians for Human Rights’ Report. June 20, 2008:
url>>www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9396
118 Raw Story. Juliano, N. June 24, 2008: url>>rawstory.com/news08/2008/06/24/poll-44-of-americans-favortorture-
for-terrorist-suspects/
119 Human Rights First. Top Interrogators Declare Torture Ineffective in Intelligence Gathering. June 24, 2008:
url>>www.humanrightsfirst.org/media/etn/2008/alert/313/ and George Washington’s Blog. Forget Morality,
Humanity or Legality: Torture Doesn’t Work. July 15, 2008:
url>>georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2008/07/torture-doesnt-work.html
120 Pincus, W. War Costs $15 Billion a Month, GOP Senator Says. Dec. 27, 2007:
url>>www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/26/AR2007122601542.html?hpid=moreheadlines
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long-term costs of the Iraq war as of Spring, 2008, are conservatively figured at over $3 trillion,
~$30,000 each for the ~100 million American households.121 Given the average income of La
Cañada households is at the 95th national percentile and almost three times the average, your
family’s share of the bill, so far, is ~$80,000. Adjusted for inflation, this is now the second most
costly war in US history.122 And remember, in the prelude to war when the American public
began wondering how much this war would cost if the US acted without the UN sharing the bill,
President Bush’s lead economic advisor, Lawrence Lindsey, reported to the Wall Street Journal
that costs could exceed $200 billion to the American taxpayers. The Bush administration quickly
refuted his professional estimate, promising that the war would cost no more than $60 billion,
but providing no evidence for this claim.123 Mr. Lindsey resigned shortly thereafter
The war has fraudulently allowed at least tens of billions of US taxpayer money to disappear
without effective oversight or prosecution.124 While this information is generally suppressed by
mainstream media, the good news is that it’s still legal to communicate. In contrast, Americans
who spoke against World War I in any way were prosecuted. This included US Senator Richard
Pettigrew, who wrote extensively of the war profiteering of US companies at the expense of the
US taxpayers.125
According to the John Hopkins School of Public Health published in the esteemed Lancet
Medical Journal using the best academic and professional methodology, as of October, 2006,
over 650,000 more Iraqis have been killed since the US invasion than would be expected in prewar
conditions.126 Despite this being the only peer-reviewed study, the US government dismisses
this study without giving reason, saying that less than 100,000 Iraqis have died.127 In December
2007, the number of violent Iraqi deaths is probably over 1.2 million (about 20,000 per
month).128 From these deaths, the Iraqi government reports that five million children have
become orphans; horrific even if overestimated by a factor of two.129
121 For more background, Stiglitz homepage: url>>www2.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/jstiglitz/
122 SF Chronicle. Coile, Z. Only World War II was Costlier than Iraq War. March 18, 2008
url>>www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/17/MNBVVL9GK.DTL
123 Raw Story. Byrne, J. Price of Iraq War Now Outpaces Vietnam. March 18, 2008:
url>>rawstory.com/news/2008/Price_of_Iraq_war_now_outpaces_0318.html , Wikipedia:
url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Lindsey , and Iraq Foundation. Bumiller, E. White House Cuts Estimate of
Cost of War with Iraq. Jan. 2, 2003: url>>www.iraqfoundation.org/news/2003/ajan/2_whitehouse.html
124 Project Censored. Top 25 censored stories for 2009: #13: tracking billions of dollars lost in Iraq
url>>www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/13-tracking-billions-of-dollars-lost-in-iraq/ , AP. Iraq corruption
whistleblowers vilified. Aug. 25, 2007: url>>www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20430153/ , and Glanz, J. Premier of Iraq is
quietly firing fraud monitors. Nov. 17, 2008: url>>www.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/world/middleeast/18maliki.html
125 Follow the link to read pages 373-387 of Pettigrew’s Triumphant Plutocracy:
url>>reykr.livejournal.com/869777.html
126 Infowars. Watson, S. Government Dismissed Iraq Death Toll Report In Full Knowledge It Was Likely Accurate
March 27, 2007: url>>www.infowars.net/articles/march2007/270307Iraq_toll.htm
127 See Bush press conference. YouTube. Bush Admits: "A lot of innocent people have died in Iraq." :
url>>www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAlnMD2u5to
128 Antiwar homepage: url>>www.antiwar.com/casualties/
129 Gorilla’s Guides. Ibn Hussein, K. 5 Million Orphans. Dec. 15, 2007: url>>gorillasguides.com/2007/12/15/5-
million-orphans/
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A 2008 UN report documents over 800,000 displaced children, most of whom are so
impoverished that they don’t have access to clean water.130 There are now about 2.8 million
displaced Iraqis within the country, having fled from their homes to escape sectarian violence.131
In addition, the war has caused over 2 million Iraqis to flee their country, 7.7% of their
population,132 with many of the most desperate families using their young girls and women for
prostitution.133 The unemployment rate in Iraq is 60-70%.134 Getting clean water is a daily
struggle, and sanitation is a nightmare with 250 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the
water system daily.135
Iraq has a population of 26 million. Those percentages translated to the US population of 300
million would be as if another country came to "liberate" us, built 48 permanent military bases
over four years, causing the violent deaths of over 12,000,000 Americans, forcing 23 million
Americans to leave the US, and creating over 30 million Americans to become homeless
A comparison to California’s 34 million population: Indonesia liberated us, but the ensuing
violence is killing 30,000 Californians each month, a total of 1.6 million since your LCHS class
of 2009 were in your second semester of the 8th grade. To translate to La Cañada’s 20,000
population: the city of Riverside "rescued" us from my friend, Mayor Steve DelGuercio
Riverside’s government has promised to stay until they restore order, but the violence claims 15
La Cañada lives a month, with over 50 wounded (conservatively assuming ~5 wounded for every
kill in Iraq; half the US troop ratio of over 10:1). Since 2003, close to 1,000 LCF residents have
died in car bombs, drive-by-shootings, and general violence, with 5,000 wounded. Four thousand
of us have fled our homes, about half leaving LCF, and about 2,000 homeless within LCF
Finally, on a scale at LCHS: after being taken over by the LAPD, intra-school wars kill 1-2
students a month, wounding ~15. The class of 2009 will have seen just under 100 of their LCHS
classmates killed since their 8th grade year, with one quarter of you having been wounded. The
new principal elected under the supervision of the invading power assures us that their "surge" of
troops and Blackwater’s private military company is working, LCHS is now safer, and they’ll
stay until they defeat our "terrorists." One in every 20 LCHS students has been killed since
"liberation." Thirty-five percent of LCHS students have had a parent killed, over 600 of you
Any of us can be labeled a "terrorist suspect," detained indefinitely without habeas corpus or
communication to friends and family, and be tortured136 (controlled drowning, naked in 45° F
130 Silent Victims of the Iraq War. June 20, 2008: url>>www.uruknet.de/?p=m45043&hd=&size=1&l=e
131 Displaced Iraqis Struggle for Food, Services: IOM. July 18, 2008:
url>>www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1890387520080718
132 Der Spiegel. Putz, U. Fleeing from Baghdad to Damascus: Refugees on the Highway from Hell. March 27, 2007:
url>>www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,474205,00.html
133 Zoepf, K. Desperate Iraqi Refugees Turn to Sex Trade. May 29, 2007:
url>>www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/world/middleeast/29syria.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
134 Countercurrents.org. Ali, A., Jamail, D. Iraq: Unemployment too becomes an epidemic. Feb. 21, 2008:
url>>www.countercurrents.org/jamail210208.htm
135 Reuters. Ryan, M., Rahim, S. After 5 years of war, Iraqis desperate for water. Aug. 24, 2008:
url>>uk.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUKLM554818._CH_.242020080824
136 What Really Happened. Torture of Iraqi POWs. May 10, 2004:
url>>www.whatreallyhappened.com/torture_pow.html , ABC News. Ross, B & Esposito, R. CIA’s Harsh
Interrogation Techniques Described. Nov. 18, 2005: url>>abcnews.go.com/WNT/print?id=1322866 , Hersh, S
Torture at Abu Ghraib. New Yorker, May 10, 2004: url>>www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/05/10/040510fa_fact
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cells for days, sleep and food deprivation for days, shackled in painful positions for days, threats
to sexually assault and torture your family members, and if Abu Ghraib tactics are included:
sodomizing with broom handles and lights, forced homosexual acts, rape, pouring on phosphoric
acid, smearing faces and bodies in feces, etc.). The mayor of Los Angeles tells the public (with
decreasing credibility) that LAPD needs to stay for the safety of the students because LCHS
would become more violent if they left, and that expanding their "War on Terror" to CVHS is
"on the table" because their "terrorists" are also attacking LAPD
Over 4,100 American troops have been killed in the War on Terror, with over 30,000 wounded,
as of mid-July, 2008 according to official government statistics.137 CBS News commissioned an
extensive study to measure how many US military veterans are committing suicide. Their report:
over 6,000 a year.138 Among active duty soldiers, over 580 have committed suicide since the war
began.139 The Veterans Affairs Department received over 22,000 calls from desperate veterans in
its first year of opening a suicide hotline.140 Over 10,000 active American troops are diagnosed
with the most severe classification of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,141 with one in eight
returning troops reporting symptoms.142 There are increasing reports that returning veterans are
not receiving proper care for PTSD and other ailments, as the suicide numbers of CBS
suggest.143
The endgame for US occupation of Iraq was legislated by the Iraqi Parliament on November 27,
2008. Under the Status of Forces Agreement, all 150,000 US troops will withdraw from all
cities, towns, and villages by June 30, 2009 and remain upon their bases unless authorized to
leave by Iraq’s government. All US troops shall withdraw from Iraq by December 31, 2011
Blackwater and other US security firms shall be subject to Iraq law rather than legal immunity
after the end of 2008.144
"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether
the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name
of liberty and democracy?" - Mohandas Gandhi, "Non-violence in Peace and War"
137 Antiwar.com homepage: url>>www.antiwar.com/casualties/
138 CBS News. Nov. 13, 2007: Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans:
url>>www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/13/cbsnews_investigates/main3496471.shtml
139 BET.com. Suicides Clime Among US Soldiers. June 12, 2008:
url>>blogs.bet.com/news/newsyoushouldknow/suicides-climb-among-us-soldiers/
140 Yahoo News. Euphrat, K. Suicide hot line got 22,000 calls from veterans. July 28, 2008:
url>>news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080728/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/veteran_suicide
141 Wood, D. Suicides in Army Increase by 13%. June 27, 2008
url>>www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9466
142 MSNBC. AP Report: June 30, 2004. 1 in 8 Returning Soldiers Suffers from PTSD:
url>>www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5334479/
143 Among many: KPFA 94.1. The War Comes Home. The Crisis in Veterans’ Health Care. Broadcast April 22,
2008: url>>warcomeshome.org/crisis_in_health_care_broadcast , ZDNet. Blankenhorn, D. Is Congress Looking at
the Right VA Scandal? April 24, 2008: url>>healthcare.zdnet.com/?p=910 , and Hull, A & Priest D. It is Just not
Walter Reed. March 5, 2007: url>>www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/
content/article/2007/03/04/AR2007030401394.html
144 Cockburn, P. It’s official: total defeat for U.S. in Iraq. Dec. 15, 2008. url>>www.alternet.org/story/112768/
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"This business of making people conscious of what is happening outside their own small circle is
one of the major problems of our time, and a new literary technique will have to be evolved to
meet it. Considering that the people of this country are not having a very comfortable time, you
can't perhaps, blame them for being somewhat callous about suffering elsewhere, but the
remarkable thing is the extent to which they manage to be unaware of it. Tales of starvation,
ruined cities, concentration camps, mass deportations, homeless refugees, persecuted Jews — all
this is received with a sort of incurious surprise, as though such things had never been heard of
but at the same time were not particularly interesting. The now-familiar photographs of skeletonlike
children make very little impression. As time goes on and the horrors pile up, the mind
seems to secrete a sort of self-protecting ignorance which needs a harder and harder shock to
pierce it, just as the body will become immunised to a drug and require bigger and bigger doses."
- George Orwell, "As I Please," The Tribune (1947-01-17)
Iran’s "Nuclear Program": The Bush administration has prepared the US military and the
American public for war with Iran. President Bush ordered three aircraft carrier strike groups
into the region145 and Israel and the US are engaged in military strategic planning for war.146 In
early August of 2008, unprecedented numbers of war ships are headed toward Iran.147 The Bush
Administration, along with Senators McCain, Obama and Clinton, continue heated rhetoric
regarding Iran’s "nuclear program" and alleging that Iran wants to destroy Israel, to "wipe Israel
off the map."148 Let’s examine the factual bases for both claims
Some necessary history in three brief paragraphs: first, the Non-Proliferation Treaty149 (NPT)
was designed to limit nuclear weapon development, facilitate availability of nuclear energy, and
lead to global nuclear disarmament. The treaty allows any country to develop nuclear material
for energy, receive the assistance of the nuclear countries to do so (US, UK, France, Russia, and
China), and then be inspected by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to verify they
do not refine fissionable material beyond energy-grade (3-5%) to weapons-grade (over 85%). To
date, no NPT country with a nuclear energy program has developed nuclear weapons. Iran and
the US are signatories of NPT. Therefore, the legal and Constitutional US response is to help
145 See SpaceWar. US Dismisses Iranian Offer as Warships Arrive. Feb. 21, 2007:
url>>www.spacewar.com/reports/US_Dismisses_Iranian_Nuclear_Offer_As_Warships_Arrive_999.html , Scoop
Sedov, D. Strike on Iran Would Signify Epoch of Nuclear War. Feb, 2007:
url>>www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0702/S00167.htm , and Global Research. Nazemroaya, M.D. The March to War:
Naval Build-up in the Persian Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean. Oct. 1, 2006:
url>>www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=NAZ20061001&articleId=3361
146 The Coming Catastrophe? David DeBatto, June 23, 2008
url>>www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9437
147 Global Research. Earl of Stirling. Massive US naval armada heads for Iran. Aug. 11, 2008:
url>>globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9799
148 CNN interview. Bush takes Iran "seriously." Sept. 20, 2006:
url>>www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2006/09/20/sot.bush.iran.cnn , Raw Story. Bush Warns of World War
III if Iran Goes Nuclear. Oct. 17, 2007: url>>rawstory.com/news/2007/Bush_warns_of_World_War_III_1017.html
and White House Press Conference. Dana Pushes Bush’s Big Lie. Reporters Sit on their Asses. Oct. 18, 2007:
url>>www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECVBzL9Q0nc . Transcript from the White House:
url>>www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/10/20071018-2.html
149 United Nations. Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons:
url>>www.un.org/Depts/dda/WMD/treaty/ , and Wikipedia: url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non_Proliferation_Treaty

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Iran develop nuclear energy. However, the Bush administration rejects Iran’s proposal and
threatens war. The Bush administration doesn’t disclose Iran’s treaty-right to nuclear energy
under NPT and obfuscates the issue with rhetoric of Iran’s "nuclear program" to link energy with
weapons.150 Ironically, the US is in additional violation of NPT by developing new nuclear
weapons and threatening to use them rather than work for global disarmament as per treaty
terms.151
In 1953, the United States CIA led by one of President Theodore Roosevelt’s grandsons, initiated
a coup in Iran (Operation Ajax152) to remove the democratically elected Prime Minister
Mohammed Mossadegh. The Iranian government was understandably dissatisfied with the terms
of its contract with the Anglo-Persian Oil Company that allowed British interests to claim 85%
of the oil profit from Iran.153 Iran voted to nationalize the oil industry in 1951 after the British
declined to renegotiate the terms. The US-led coup was successful, and the royal monarch, Shah
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi,154 became virtual dictator. Fearing popular reprisal, Pahlavi’s
government was supported by the CIA in creating the Iranian SAVAK, a vicious secret police for
the Shah’s dictatorial government.155 We can only assume that the oil revenue sharing agreement
with the Shah was acceptable to the US and UK
Under the Eisenhower administration, the US cooperated with the Shah’s government for the
development of Iranian nuclear energy through the "Atoms for Peace" program.156 President
Ford agreed to US full cooperation to help Iran build about two dozen nuclear energy plants
When the Iranian people overthrew the Shah’s government in 1979, the US stopped cooperating
The US backed Iraq in their invasion of Iran in 1980 and throughout the war until 1988, seeking
a more US-friendly Iranian government. The US provided Saddam Hussein with the chemical
and biological weapons the W. Bush administration later used as justification for invading
Iraq.157 Since 1979, the US has worked to prevent Iran having a nuclear energy program, even
150 Heard, L. Iran is not the Belligerent Party. June 23, 2008:
url>>www.gulfnews.com/articles/08/06/24/10223329.html
151 Alternet. Berrigan, F. March 8, 2007. The United States Nuclear Hypocrisy:
url>>www.alternet.org/audits/48890/ and United States Government.net. United States Violating International
Treaties: url>>www.unitedstatesgovernment.net/violatinginternationaltreaties.htm , Wikipedia:
url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States-Iran_relations
152 Future of Freedom. Hornberger, J.G. An Anti-democracy Foreign Policy: Iran. Jan. 31, 2005:
url>>www.fff.org/comment/com0501i.asp , Wikipedia: url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax
153 Democracy Now: url>>www.democracynow.org/2003/8/25/50_years_after_the_cias_first , Wikipedia:
url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Iranian_Oil_Company
154 New York Times. Risen, J. April 16, 2000. The CIA in Iran:
url>>www.nytimes.com/library/world/mideast/041600iran-cia-index.html , Wikipedia:
url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Reza_Pahlavi
155 Federation of American Scientists. Pike J. Ministry of Security: SAVAK. Jan. 16, 2000:
url>>www.fas.org/irp/world/iran/savak/index.html ,Wikipedia: url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAVAK
156 World Nuclear University. President Eisenhower’s speech to the UN General Assembly. Dec. 8, 1953:
url>>world-nuclear-university.org/html/atoms_for_peace/ , Wikipedia:
url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_program_of_Iran
157 Iran Chamber Society. King, J. Arming Iraq: A Chronology of US Involvement. March, 2003:
url>>www.iranchamber.com/history/articles/arming_iraq.php , Wikipedia:
url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_iraq_war
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under the legal provisions of the NPT, and reneged on a multi-billion dollar contract to deliver
nuclear fuel to Iran without refunding Iran’s money.158
The previous three paragraphs are plain vanilla history in conservatively-known content. Neither
our government’s political leaders from either party or our major media give the US public the
context of history to evaluate the Bush administration’s statements advocating war with Iran. The
Bush administration, Democratic leadership and media’s use of the term "nuclear program" is
misleading. We could also call it fraud, as it deliberately misinforms.159 Objectively, the US
actions are in violation of NPT and the UN Charter in threatening war.160 Again, Democratic
Party leadership has not communicated these facts to the public
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Seymour Hersh, has reported since 2005 that government
insiders have disclosed to him that the CIA is presently engaged in covert operations similar to
1953 to overthrow the Iranian government.161 Hersh, claiming inside White House sources,
reported one idea from Vice President Dick Cheney was for the US Navy to build four or five
boats that looked like Iranian Naval PT boats, man and arm them with US Navy Seals, then have
the Navy Seals attack a US Navy ship off Iran’s coast. The incident would be filmed and used as
propaganda to enflame US public opinion for war with Iran.162 Hersh is the reporter who insiders
trusted to report the My Lai Massacre and its cover-up in the Vietnam War, and the Abu Ghraib
Torture Scandal in the current Iraq war. Scott Ritter, US former weapons inspector and officer
for US Marine Intelligence calls any covert planning and actions by their correct legal name:
Acts of War. Ritter states the obvious: the US would never allow Iran to take these actions
without calling them Acts of War.163
Most recently and disturbingly, was the US Air Force admission that they "mistakenly"
transported six live nuclear warheads attached to ready-to-launch cruise missiles to the US
military base that is the jump-off for US supplies to Middle East Operations. This could be a
veiled threat of nuclear war against Iran rather than explained by the long chain of continuous
"mistakes" required for such an event to occur.164 Nuclear weapons are protected by detailed
158 Antiwar. Prather, G. ElBaradei Isn’t Perfect. Dec. 27, 2005: url>>www.antiwar.com/prather/?articleid=8308 ,
and background: Wikipedia: url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_program_of_Iran#After_the_1979_Revolution
159 Legal Dictionary: url>>legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/fraud , Wikipedia:
url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraud
160 Foley, B. "Limiting War by Process: Congress, the UN and Iran. Jurist Legal News and Research. May 25, 2006
url>>jurist.law.pitt.edu/forumy/2006/05/limiting-war-by-process-congress-un.php
161 Hersh, S. Preparing the Battlefield: The Bush Administration Steps up its Secret Moves Against Iran. July 7,
2008: url>>www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/07/080707fa_fact_hersh and interviews on Preparing the
Battlefield: url>>www.911blogger.com/node/16388 ,
url>>therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=1812
162 Prison Planet. Watson, S. Media blackout on Cheney Iran false flag story. Aug. 2, 2008:
url>>www.prisonplanet.com/media-blackout-on-cheney-iran-false-flag-story.html
163 Truthdig.com. Ritter, S. Acts of war. July 29, 2008: url>>www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080729_acts_of_war/

164 Analyses: Project Camelot. Carter, J. What Really Happened at Minot AFB. :
url>>www.projectcamelot.org/jack_carter.html , Information Liberation. Lindorff, D. The Air Force Report on the
Minot-Barksdale Nuclear Missile Flight. Nov. 2, 2007: url>>www.informationliberation.com/?id=24191 , and
Rense. Twietmeyer, T. Missteps in the Bunker: Damage Control? Sept. 25, 2007:
url>>www.rense.com/general78/dmge.htm .
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protocol and lethal force; they go nowhere by mistake and had a 50 year perfect record for their
handling
We properly wonder why the Bush administration and Democratic leadership is using Iran’s
"nuclear program" as rhetoric linking Iran with atomic weapons, and the call for US war against
Iran. In academic analysis, "why" is a subjective question that cannot be answered in full
objective confidence. All we can do is discuss related facts to build broad-scale constructions of
circumstances, and then construct hypotheses that match those facts. Let’s examine one more
Iran war-related piece of propaganda before we attempt an analysis of why our government and
major media use this misleading language in support of war
"Wiping Israel off the Map": Wikipedia admits to "controversy" over the interpretation of
Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s meaning of an October, 2005 speech.165 However, Wikipedia
doesn’t mention the context within which it was spoken to help our understanding. In his speech,
Ahmadinejad was discussing how people once thought it was impossible to remove the Shah as
Iran’s dictator, but it was done. He then said that people thought the Soviet government and
Saddam’s government would never fall. He then quoted Ayatollah Khomeini’s words from
speeches he gave encouraging Iran’s persistence to oppose the Shah’s government that translate
awkwardly into English as, "erase from the page of time." Unless Khomeini and Ahmadinejad
were advocating for the destruction of their own country, the speech’s meaning is to encourage
the Iranian people to persist for change in Israel’s government.166 Again, please don’t believe
me. Look at the evidence; read the speech. If you have Persian friends as I do, talk with them to
gain their perspective of the discrepancy between our government and major media reporting of
the meaning of the speech and what Ahmadinejad actually said. My Persian friends are
understandably outraged by US threats to attack Iran, and frightened that what has happened in
Iraq will happen to their friends and families in Iran
Political leadership from both parties have not corrected this contrivance; rather they use it as an
argument to demonize Iran. The US House of Representatives passed a resolution requesting the
UN Security Council to charge President Ahmadinejad with the War Crime of inciting
genocide.167 John McCain has twice made public "jokes" about killing Iranians, escalating
concern.168 Senator McCain stated his position on Iran that includes this lie of President
Ahmadinejad’s speech:
165 Wikipedia: url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad_and_Israel
166 Among many: Information Clearing House. Does Iran’s President Want Israel Wiped Off the Map? Does He
Deny the Holocaust? : url>>www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12790.htm , Prison Planet. Watson, P.J. The
"Wipe Israel Off the Map Hoax." Jan. 26, 2007:
url>>www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2007/260107offthemap.htm , AntiWar. Norouzi, A. "Wiped Off the
Map:" the Rumor of the Century. May 26, 2007: url>>www.antiwar.com/orig/norouzi.php?articleid=11025 , and
The Guardian. Steele, J. Lost in Translations: Experts Confirm that Iran’s President did not Call for Israel to be
"Wiped Off the Map." June 14, 2006: url>>commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jonathan_steele/2006/06/post_155.html
167 Project Censored. Bazell, B., Phillips, P. #24 in top 25 censored stories for 2008: Media misquotes threat from
Iran’s president. url>>www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/24-media-misquotes-threat-from-iranspresident/

168 Prison Planet. Watson, P.J. McCain Jokes About Killing Iranians Again. July 9, 2008:
url>>www.prisonplanet.com/mccain-jokes-about-killing-iranians-again.html
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"The leadership of Iran has repeatedly used violence to undermine Israel and the Middle East
peace process. It has trained, financed, and equipped extremists in Iraq who have killed American
soldiers fighting to bring freedom to that country. It remains the world's chief sponsor of
terrorism and threatens to destabilize the entire Middle East, from Basra to Beirut ... It's hard to
see what ... a summit with President Ahmadinejad would actually gain, except an earful of anti-
Semitic rants, and a worldwide audience for a man who denies one Holocaust and talks before
frenzied crowds about starting another."169
Senator Obama spoke in Israel and seems to endorse this lie, stating that Iran "sponsors
terrorism, pursues nuclear weapons and threatens Israel’s existence."170 One of President Bush’s
advisors and the author of the idea for the troop "surge" in 2007, Fred Kagan, stated on MSNBC
on July 23, 2008:
"Well, there’s nothing we can do short of an attack to force Iran to give up its nuclear
program. ... At the end of the day, the only way that you can make for sure that [a
nuclear arm’s race] doesn’t happen is with an attack."171
In apparent complicity in this deliberate misinformation, and perhaps working for war against
Iran, the UK’s Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, stated in his speech to the Israeli Legislature, the
Knesset, on July 21, 2008, "It is totally abhorrent for the President of Iran to call for Israel to be
wiped from the map of the world."172
Mike Wallace of the famed television show 60 Minutes won an Emmy for a contrived interview
with President Ahmadinejad in 2006, where Mr. Ahmadinejad’s comments encouraging
democracy for Palestinians was edited to appear that he was hostile to Israel. You can verify this
by watching the brief 5-minute clip for yourself:
url>>de.youtube.com/watch?v=onNzrNEFs1E&feature=related
One scenario for initiating war with Iran came from Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter’s
National Security Advisor and the National Security Advisor to Senator Obama’s presidential
campaign. Brzezinski testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on February 1, 2007:
"A plausible scenario for a military collision with Iran involves Iraqi failure to meet the
benchmarks; followed by accusations of Iranian responsibility for the failure; then by
some provocation in Iraq or a terrorist act in the U.S. blamed on Iran; culminating in a
169 Washington Post.com. Shear, M. McCain Calls Iran "Foremost" Middle East Enemy. June 2, 2008:
url>>blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/06/02/mccain_calls_iran_foremost_mid.html
170 New York Times. Obama’s Speech in Sderot, Israel. July 23, 2008:
url>>www.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/us/politics/23text-obama.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin
171 Think Progress. "The Only Way" to "Force" Iran to Halt its Nuclear Program is an "Attack." July 23, 2008:
url>>thinkprogress.org/2008/07/23/kagan-the-only-way-to-force-iran-to-halt-nuclear-program-is-an-attack/
172 Yahoo News. Weizman, S. British Premier Vows to Thrwart Iranian Atomic Arms. July 21, 2008:
url>>news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080721/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_brown , Mathaba News Agency. Brown Criticized
for Misquoting Iranian President on Israel. July 23, 2008: url>>mathaba.net/0_index.shtml?x=599460 and on video:
SkyNews. Brown’s Warning to Pro-Nuclear Iran. July 21, 2008: url>>news.sky.com/skynews/Home/video/Gordon-
Brown-leads-charge-against-nuclear-Iran-during-Israelvisit/
Video/200807315048471?lpos=video_1&lid=VIDEO_15048471_Gordon%2BBrown%2Bleads%2Bcharge%2
Bagainst%2Bnuclear%2BIran%2Bduring%2BIsrael%2Bvisit
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‘defensive’ U.S. military action against Iran that plunges a lonely America into a
spreading and deepening quagmire eventually ranging across Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and
Pakistan."173
This strategy was echoed by retired CIA Analyst, Ray McGovern, who served under seven US
Presidents. McGovern’s comprehensive understanding of intelligence work qualified him as one
of the few analysts chosen to present the President’s Daily Brief in morning meetings to
Presidents.174 McGovern states that Israel and/or the CIA have numerous possibilities to attack
US interests (known as a false-flag attack), blame Iran, then use the media to stoke public
opinion in favor of war.175
In history, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff unanimously approved of a US-initiated false-flag
operation in 1962, named Operation Northwoods. The plan included killing American citizens
and/or US military personnel, blaming Cuba, and then riding public anger for a military
operation to invade Cuba.176 False-flag operations have been used extensively in history to rally
public opinion for an offensive war.177
US atrocities have also occurred under Democratic presidents. Vietnam is a similar story of an
illegal invasion; that time in support of a dictatorship in South Vietnam after the US rejected an
election for the people of Vietnam to choose their own leadership. Most recently, President
Clinton violated the UN Genocide Convention by taking no action during the Rwanda genocide
of 1994 that killed between 500,000 and 800,000 human beings. In fact, Secretary of State
Madeline Albright blocked UN Security Council action to prevent the slaughter: a simple
proposal to increase UN troop presence from 2,000 to 5,000 from the request of Canadian
Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire, the Commander of the UN troops in Rwanda.178
In addition, it’s useful to know that US refusal of International Laws and Treaties is common
The US is currently in violation of nine179:
• The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT),
• The Treaty Banning Antipersonnel Mines,
• The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC),
173 Further context: proudprimate.com: url>>www.proudprimate.com/Placards/zbig.DOC , and So What Really
Happened in the Gulf? url>>www.btinternet.com/~nlpWESSEX/Documents/WATgoingsonintheGulf.htm
174 McGovern, R. Israel Planning a September/October Surprise? July 17, 2008:
url>>www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20300.htm
175 Ray McGovern’s False Flag Warning * June 24, 2008: url>>www.911blogger.com/node/16542
176 Wikipedia for background: url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods and Operation Northwoods
Bamford, J from his book Body of Secrets, pg. 82. US Planned Fake Terror Attacks on Citizens to Create Support
for Cuban War: url>>www.whatreallyhappened.com/northwoods.html
177 George Washington’s Blog. If We Don’t Learn our History, We’re Doomed to Repeat it. April 10, 2008:
url>>georgewashington.blogspot.com/
178 Project Censored. Phillips, P., Sullens, A., Runas, M. #6 in top 25 censored stories for 2001: International report
blames U.S. and others for genocide in Rwanda. url>>www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/6-internationalreport-
blames-us-and-others-for-genocide-in-rwanda/
179 Project Censored. Cominsky, L., et al. #7 in top 25 censored stories for 2004: Treaty busting by the United
States. url>>www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/7-treaty-busting-by-the-united-states/
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• A protocol to create a compliance regime for the Biological Weapons Convention
(BWC),
• The Kyoto Protocol on global warming,
• The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM),
• The nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),
• The Chemical Weapons Commission (CWC),
• The UN framework Convention on Climate Change
"I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the
ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world
today — my own government ... We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow
before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of
hate. And history is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this selfdefeating
path of hate."
* Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "Beyond Vietnam * A Time to Break Silence," 1967. Text and
audio: url>>www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm
Cui Bono? An economic motivation for the US invasions of Iraq and Iran is those countries’
shifts from selling oil exclusively in dollars to including Euros and Yen. The drop in demand for
dollars would decrease the US government’s ability to fund programs by selling government
securities. Saddam became the first OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)
member to sell oil for Euros in November, 2000. President Bush’s Treasury Secretary, Paul
O’Neill, wrote that the President began discussing removing Saddam as soon as he moved into
the White House in January, 2001.180 As soon as the US was prepared to export oil from Iraq, the
currency was reestablished for dollars only.181 Iran began accepting Euros in 2003; US rhetoric
for attacking Iran began shortly thereafter. Iran increased their market for Euros in 2006.182
If another attack occurs against the US, false-flag or real, President Bush has the legal authority
to declare himself the sole authority of US government, bypassing any authority of Congress and
the Federal Court System. Under National Security Presidential Directive 51183 (NSPD-51),
issued May 9, 2007, if the President declares a "national emergency," all government authority is
"coordinated by the President, as a matter of comity with respect to the legislative and judicial
branches." This means that the President is the legal dictator of the United States, with only his
discretion allowing influence by Congress and/or the Courts. Details of this plan are secret for
"national security," even to the members in Congress on the Committee for Homeland
Security.184 Just after passing the MCA, Congress also repealed the Posse Comitatus Act, and
180 CBS News. Bush sought "way" to invade Iraq? Jan. 11, 2004:
url>>www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/09/60minutes/main592330.shtml
181 Project Censored. Liddell, W., et al. #19 in top 25 censored stories for 2004: U.S. dollar vs. the Euro: another
reason for the invasion of Iraq: url>>www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/19-us-dollar-vs-the-euro-anotherreason-
for-the-invasion-of-iraq/
182 Project Censored. Beard, P., Miller, B. #9 in top 25 censored stories for 2006: Iran’s new oil trade system
challenges U.S. currency. url>>www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/9-irans-new-oil-trade-systemchallenges-
us-currency/
183 NSPD-51 and the Potential for a Coup d'état by National Emergency. William H. White . March 4, 2008:
url>>www.concordbridge.net/NSPD-51.htm
184 YouTube. Continuity of the US Government ... Top Secret: url>>www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdfjsS9Wqk8
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gave the President legal authority to command the state’s National Guard without consulting
with state governors for the purpose of "suppressing public disorder."185
If the President invoked NSPD-51 and the states’ National Guards to suppress public protest,
Americans would have to be arrested and detained in large facilities. For the past several years,
FEMA has been constructing and renovating such "camps" with Congressional funding.186 The
existence of detention camps for Americans was originally disclosed to the public in
Congressional Hearings on the Iran-Contra scandal in 1987 under the name REX-84.187
Information Operations Roadmap is a program approved by Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld in
2003, and surprisingly released to George Washington University’s National Security Archive in
a Freedom of Information Act request.188 Wikipedia acknowledges its existence, but fails to
inform of its content for government influence of American public opinion for support of US
military operations. The existence of this document confirms governmental planning to replace
fact with spin for the American public’s consumption.189
In 2000, CNN reluctantly acknowledged that they employ military PSYOPS (Psychological
Operations Group) personnel at their news station.190 The express purpose of US military
PSYOPS is propaganda; to manipulate public opinion in favor of government military policy
The Pentagon complied with Freedom of Information requests and released over 8,000 pages that
confirmed beginning in January 2002, they recruited over 75 former military "experts" to be
what they termed as their "surrogates" and "message force multiplies" to appear in major media
to advocate for the War on Terror under the disguise of independent analysts.191 They
collectively appeared over 4,500 times to reinforce the government’s military positions while the
media called them "military experts."192 The program was managed by the Assistant Secretary of
Defense for Public Affairs, Victoria Clark, funded by our tax dollars, and again had the express
185 Project Censored. Top 25 Censored Stories for 2008. #2. Bush Moves Towards Martial Law:
url>>www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/2-bush-moves-toward-martial-law/
186 The Village Voice. General Ashcroft’s Detention Camps. Sept. 4, 2002:
url>>www.prisonplanet.com/090402camps.html , Truthout. Parry, N. Bush’s Mysterious "New Programs."
February 21, 2006. url>>www.truthout.org/article/bushs-mysterious-new-programs , Above Top Secret. US
Concentration Camps: url>>www.abovetopsecret.com/pages/camps.html , and video: Prison Planet. High Quality
video of FEMA Detention Camp: url>>www.prisonplanet.com/articles/September2006/170906Camp.htm
187 Global Research. Roland, A. REX-84: FEMA’s Blueprint for Martial Law in America. Aug. 20, 2006:
url>>www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=3010
188 National Security Archive: url>>www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB177/index.htm , Wikipedia:
url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Operations_Roadmap
189 Try these: The National Security Archive. Rumsfeld’s Roadmap to Propaganda. National Security Archive
Electronic Briefing Book #177: url>>www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB177/index.htm , and BBC
Brookes, A. US Plans to "Fight the Net" Revealed. Jan. 27, 2006:
url>>news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4655196.stm
190 CommonDreams.org. Cockburn, A. The military and CNN. March 23, 2000:
url>>www.commondreams.org/views/032300-107.htm
191 New York Times. Barstow, D. Behind TV analysts, Pentagon’s hidden hand. April 20, 2008:
url>>www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/washington/20generals.html
192 Media Matters. Military analysts named by Times expose appeared or were quoted more than 4,500 times on
broadcast nets, cables, NPR. May 13, 2008: url>>mediamatters.org/items/200805130001
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30
purpose of propaganda. The title for this episode that stuck was "PSYOPS on steroids." The
Pentagon claims to have discontinued the program
Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan confirmed that the Bush administration
directly sent "talking points" to Fox News for their communication to the American public.193
Americans seem to be taking notice of at least some of this information. According to a poll by
the Pew Research Center, the majority of the American public see the US major media news
organizations as politically biased, inaccurate, and uncaring. Among those who use the Internet,
two-thirds report that major media news do not care about the people they report on, 59% say the
news is inaccurate, 64% see bias, and 53% summarize their view on major media news as,
"failing to stand up for America."194
A hypothesis to explain our government’s motivation to disinform the public in favor of Middle
East wars that seems to be supported by the facts is to dominate the Middle East’s oil supply
Indeed, the Bush administration first named the Iraq war, "Operation Iraqi Liberation."195
Wikipedia used to have an article explaining that the project name was changed due to people
wondering if its acronym, O.I.L., was the war’s real purpose. Regarding war with Iran, 90% of
their oil and gas reserves are in the province that borders Iraq, most of which is right on the
border, a tempting and nearby target should the control of oil be the objective.196
For those who cling to the notion that the purpose of the war was to remove a vicious dictator for
the good of the Iraqi people and the safety of the world rather than for oil, consider that the US
supports vicious dictators in Africa who cooperate with their oil exports to the US. The second
and third largest oil producers of Africa are Angola and Gabon; neither belong to OPEC. In
addition, Equatorial Guinea is a significant exporter of oil. All three countries have dictators at
least as bad as Saddam. All three are on favorable terms with the US and welcome to meet with
President Bush.197
Also consider the CIA program, "Operation Mockingbird,"198 disclosed to the public in the
Church Senate Committee hearings in 1976, then reported in detail by Woodward and Bernstein
193 Truthdig.com. Scott McClellan: White House fed "talking points" to Fox News. July 27, 2008
url>>www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/20080727_scott_mcclellan_white_house_fed_talking_points_to_fox_news/
194 In From the Cold. And they wonder why we despise them. Aug. 10, 2007:
url>>formerspook.blogspot.com/2007/08/and-they-wonder-why-we-despise-them.html
195 White House Press Briefing of March 24, 2003: url>>www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030324-
4.html , Wikipedia: url>>en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Iraqi_Liberation&redirect=no
196 For additional background: Westminster Committee on Iran. Iran After the NIE Report: Exploring the Issues,
Exploding the Myths. Dec. 20, 2007: url>>www.payvand.com/news/07/dec/1205.html and map of Iran’s Petroleum
Facilities, 2004: url>>www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/iran_petroleum_facilities_2004.jpg
197 There are many updated articles you can research. For foundation: Energy Bulletin. Beinart, P. Rigged. June 9,
2004: url>>www.energybulletin.net/node/596
198 What Really Happened. Mockingbird: The Subversion of the Free Press by the CIA:
url>>www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/MOCK/mockingbird.html , Prison Planet. Louise, M
Operation Mockingbird: CIA Media Manipulation:
url>>www.prisonplanet.com/analysis_louise_01_03_03_mockingbird.html , Brandt, D. Journalism and the CIA: the
Mighty Wurlitzer. April-June, 1997: url>>www.freedomofthepress.net/journalismandtheciathemightywurlitzer.htm
, Wikipedia: url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird
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in the Washington Post.199 This was a fully implemented CIA program to spread disinformation
throughout American media. CIA Director William Colby testified to the Church Committee that
over 400 CIA agents were active in the US media to control what was reported through
American mainstream television, newspapers, and magazines. President Ford fired Colby after
his testimony, replacing him with George H. W. Bush. Bush Sr. ended the CIA’s testimony,
stating that there were no other programs of concern to disclose and promising that the CIA
would no longer influence the media
An historical precedent of US government manipulation of the media that may have encouraged
such a program was the successful cover-up of the destructive effects of the US use of nuclear
weapons against Japan. After the US used the world’s most destructive WMD in history, General
MacArthur closed southern Japan to reporters. The War Department hired NY Times Pulitzer
Prize-winning journalist, William Laurence, to report to the American public on the
accomplishment of the US nuclear weapons program. Part of Laurence’s instruction was to
specifically state that nuclear weapons had no danger of radiation. Laurence did so, discounting
Japanese reports of radiation fallout poisoning as "propaganda." Laurence was rewarded for his
"reporting" with a second Pulitzer.200
I can’t answer with certainty why the Bush Jr. administration, Democratic leadership, and our
major media have lied about Iraq’s WMD, Iran’s right to nuclear energy, and "wiping Israel off
the map." The Constitutional response of impeachment hearings to consider if "high crimes and
misdemeanors" have occurred is not seriously considered by leadership of either party
Democrat and Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, stated she’d support impeachment "if anyone
knew of a crime" that had been committed,201 but admitted that she had not read the Articles of
Impeachment introduced by Congressman Kucinich and heard in the House Judiciary
Committee.202 I do observe that many historical governments have considered manipulating
people toward their policy preferences as more important than objective reporting of the facts,
civil conversation, and democratic vote. As you know, there is strong historical precedent for
leaders of government preferring dictatorial powers rather than serving the will of the public
Indeed, President Bush has joked on at least three occasions that a dictatorship in America would
be easier than democracy as long as he were the dictator.203 President Bush was also quoted by
three White House sources of exploding in a meeting with Republican leadership over the
Constitutionality of the Patriot Act, shouting, "I don't give a goddamn. I'm the President and the
199 Bernstein, C. The CIA and the Media. Oct. 20, 1977: url>>carlbernstein.com/magazine_cia_and_media.php
200 Wanttoknow.info. Cover-up of Original Atomic Bomb Effects in New York Times Rings True Today:
url>>www.wanttoknow.info/atomicbombcoverup
201 After Downing Street.org. Swanson, D. $1,000 to ask Pelosi a question. July 29, 2008:
url>>www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/35102
202 Crooks and Liars. Bluegal. Pelosi says she "hasn’t read" articles of impeachment. Aug. 10, 2008:
url>>www.crooksandliars.com/2008/08/10/pelosi-says-she-hasnt-read-articles-of-impeachment/
203 Conspiracy Planet. If I were a Dictator:
url>>www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=96&contentid=778 , and video. President Bush * As
Long as I am the Dictator:
url>>video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=bush%20dictatorship%20video%20easier&um=1&ie=UTF-
8&sa=N&tab=wv#
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Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way. Stop throwing the Constitution in my face, it's just a
goddamned piece of paper!"204
If this information is new to you, you’re welcome to be shocked and skeptical. Please confirm
these facts for yourself. You are not welcome to disbelieve it. Disbelief means that you’re using
your personal belief system to evaluate these claims rather than the factual evidence. I know that
you have historical information of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal. I also know that
if this is your first time feeling the magnitude of these scandals you might be shocked. This
process of fighting your way to the essential history and facts of policy, considering its economic
costs and benefits, and determining your voice and vote is what US citizenry is all about
Competent citizenry requires your ongoing personal growth, academic excellence, and
being a leader in service to humanity
LCUSD MISSION: We are a learning community committed to personal growth and academic
excellence
LCHS MISSION: It is the mission of La Canada High School, through the coordinated efforts
of its faculty, staff, and community, to provide programs so that, upon graduation, all students
will be inspired and able to use their developed skills to become leaders in service to society
Quotes on the responsibility of public vigilance to safeguard our Constitutional rights:
"Those who would give up ESSENTIAL LIBERTY to purchase a little TEMPORARY SAFETY, deserve
neither LIBERTY nor SAFETY."
- Attributed to Benjamin Franklin, 1738, url>>en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin
"The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all
hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair
inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and
expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring
an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer
them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the
artifices of false and designing men. Of the latter we are in most danger at present: Let us
therefore be aware of it. Let us contemplate our forefathers and posterity; and resolve to maintain
the rights bequeath'd to us from the former, for the sake of the latter. — Instead of sitting down
satisfied with the efforts we have already made, which is the wish of our enemies, the
necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation,
fortitude, and perseverance. Let us remember that "if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon
our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom." It is a very serious consideration,
which should deeply impress our minds, that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers of
the event."
- Samuel Adams, Essay, written under the pseudonym "Candidus," in The Boston Gazette (14
October 1771)
204 Capital Hill Blue. Thompson, D. The Rant. Bush on the Constitution: a Goddamned Piece of Paper. Dec. 5, 2005:
url>>www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7779.shtml
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"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man
living with power to endanger the public liberty."
* John Adams, Notes for an oration at Braintree (Spring 1772)
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit
of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their
just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government." - Declaration of Independence
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of
freedom * go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick
the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that
you were our countrymen!"
- Samuel Adams, speech at the State House of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, August 1, 1776
"It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself."
- T. Jefferson, notes on the state of Virginia, Ch. 17, 1781
On September 18, 1787, just after signing the US Constitution, Benjamin Franklin met with
members of the press. He was asked what kind of government America would have. Franklin:
"A republic, if you can keep it." In his speech to the Constitutional Convention, Franklin
admonished: "This [U.S. Constitution] is likely to be administered for a course of years and then
end in despotism... when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government,
being incapable of any other."
The Quotable Founding Fathers, pg. 39 url>>books.google.com/books?id=TizXI1yOTBQC&dq

"The right of a nation to kill a tyrant, in cases of necessity, can no more be doubted, than to hang
a robber, or kill a flea. But killing one tyrant only makes way for worse, unless the people have
sense, spirit and honesty enough to establish and support a constitution guarded at all points
against the tyranny of the one, the few, and the many. Let it be the study, therefore, of lawgivers
and philosophers, to enlighten the people's understandings and improve their morals, by good
and general education; to enable them to comprehend the scheme of government, and to know
upon what points their liberties depend; to dissipate those vulgar prejudices and popular
superstitions that oppose themselves to good government; and to teach them that obedience to
the laws is as indispensable in them as in lords and kings."
- John Adams, A Defence of the Constitutions of Government (1787), Ch. 18
"A mere demarcation on parchment of the constitutional limits (of government) is not a
sufficient guard against those encroachments which lead to a tyrannical concentration of all the
powers of government in the same hands." - James Madison, Federalist Paper #48, 1788
"Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises
and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and
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taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under
the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its
influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of
seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force, of the people. The same malignant
aspect in republicanism may be traced in the inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of
fraud, growing out of a state of war, and in the degeneracy of manners and of morals engendered
by both. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."
* James Madison, "Political Observations" (1795-04-20); also in Letters and Other Writings of
James Madison (1865), Vol. IV, p. 491
"All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under
whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the
regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental
principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and
extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party,
often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the
alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the illconcerted
and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome
plans digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests
However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then
answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines,
by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the
people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very
engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion ...
In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I
dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish; that they will
control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation from running the course which
has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. But, if I may even flatter myself that they may be
productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good; that they may now and then recur to
moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard
against the impostures of pretended patriotism; this hope will be a full recompense for the
solicitude for your welfare, by which they have been dictated." * George Washington, Farewell
Address, an open letter to the American public published on September 19, 1796
"It is jealousy and not confidence which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind down those
whom we are obliged to trust with power... Our Constitution has accordingly fixed the limits to
which, and no further, our confidence may go... In questions of power, then, let no more be heard
of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."
- Thomas Jefferson, Draft Kentucky Resolution (1798. ME 17:388)
"I can never join with my voice in the toast which I see in the papers attributed to one of our
gallant naval heroes. I cannot ask of heaven’s success, even for my country, in a cause where she
should be in the wrong. Fiat justitia, pereat coelum." - John Quincy Adams, Letter to John
Adams (1816-08-01), speaking of the popular phrase "My Country, Right or Wrong!" The Latin
phrase is an ancient one: "Let justice be done though heaven should fall."
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"A popular Government without popular information, or the means of acquiring, it is but a
Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy, or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance:
And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which
knowledge gives." * James Madison, Letter to W.T. Barry (1822-08-04)
The following five paragraphs are from Abraham Lincoln in his Lyceum Address, January 27
1838. url>>showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/lyceum.htm
"I know the American People are much attached to their Government;--I know they
would suffer much for its sake;--I know they would endure evils long and patiently, before they
would ever think of exchanging it for another. Yet, notwithstanding all this, if the laws be
continually despised and disregarded, if their rights to be secure in their persons and property,
are held by no better tenure than the caprice of a mob, the alienation of their affections from the
Government is the natural consequence; and to that, sooner or later, it must come
Here then, is one point at which danger may be expected
The question recurs, "how shall we fortify against it?" The answer is simple. Let every
American, every lover of liberty, every well wisher to his posterity, swear by the blood of the
Revolution, never to violate in the least particular, the laws of the country; and never to tolerate
their violation by others. As the patriots of seventy-six did to the support of the Declaration of
Independence, so to the support of the Constitution and Laws, let every American pledge his life,
his property, and his sacred honor;--let every man remember that to violate the law, is to trample
on the blood of his father, and to tear the character of his own, and his children's liberty. Let
reverence for the laws, be breathed by every American mother, to the lisping babe, that prattles
on her lap--let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in Primers,
spelling books, and in Almanacs;--let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative
halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the
nation; and let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay, of all sexes
and tongues, and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly upon its altars
While ever a state of feeling, such as this, shall universally, or even, very generally
prevail throughout the nation, vain will be every effort, and fruitless every attempt, to subvert our
national freedom
... Passion has helped us; but can do so no more. It will in future be our enemy. Reason,
cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason, must furnish all the materials for our future support and
defence.--Let those materials be moulded into general intelligence, sound morality, and in
particular, a reverence for the constitution and laws."
"The citizen who thinks he sees that the commonwealth's political clothes are worn out, and yet
holds his peace and does not agitate for a new suit, is disloyal, he is a traitor. That he may be the
only one who thinks he sees this decay, does not excuse him: it is his duty to agitate anyway, and
it is the duty of others to vote him down if they do not see the matter as he does."
* Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, 1889, Ch. 13
"In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave and hated and scorned
When his cause succeeds the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot."
* Mark Twain, Notebook, 1904
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"The only rational patriotism is loyalty to the Nation ALL the time, loyalty to the Government
when it deserves it." * Mark Twain, Czar Nicholas II, 1905, Collected Tales, Sketches, Speeches,
& Essays, 1891-1910 (1992) ed. Louis J. Budd
"The loud little handful -- as usual -- will shout for the war. The pulpit will -- warily and
cautiously -- object -- at first; the great, big, dull bulk of the nation will rub its sleepy eyes and
try to make out why there should be a war, and will say, earnestly and indignantly, "It is unjust
and dishonorable, and there is no necessity for it." Then the handful will shout louder. A few fair
men on the other side will argue and reason against the war with speech and pen, and at first will
have a hearing and be applauded; but it will not last long; those others will outshout them, and
presently the anti-war audiences will thin out and lose popularity. Before long you will see this
curious thing: the speakers stoned from the platform, and free speech strangled by hordes of
furious men who in their secret hearts are still at one with those stoned speakers -- as earlier --
but do not dare to say so. And now the whole nation -- pulpit and all -- will take up the war-cry,
and shout itself hoarse, and mob any honest man who ventures to open his mouth; and presently
such mouths will cease to open. Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame
upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing
falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus
he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he
enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception."
* Mark Twain, The Chronicle of Satan, 1905
"Citizenship? We have none! In place of it we teach patriotism which Samuel Johnson said a
hundred and forty or a hundred and fifty years ago was the last refuge of the scoundrel -- and I
believe that he was right. I remember when I was a boy and I heard repeated time and time again
the phrase, 'My country, right or wrong, my country!' How absolutely absurd is such an idea
How absolutely absurd to teach this idea to the youth of the country."
* Mark Twain, True Citizenship at the Children’s Theatre, 1907
"Political parties exist to secure responsible government and to execute the will of the people
From these great tasks both of the old parties have turned aside. Instead of instruments to
promote the general welfare they have become the tools of corrupt interests, which use them
impartially to serve their selfish purposes. Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an
invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To
destroy this invisible government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and
corrupt politics, is the first task of the statesmanship of the day."
- Theodore Roosevelt, "The Progressive Covenant With The People" speech (August, 1912)
"Since I entered politics I have chiefly had men’s view confided to me privately. Some of the
biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of
something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so
interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when
they speak in condemnation of it."
-Woodrow Wilson, The New Freedom, Section I: The Old Order Changeth, 1913
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"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should
be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad
conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the
Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the
truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong
as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and
servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by
the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the
American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is
even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."
* Theodore Roosevelt, Kansas City Star, May 7, 1918
"The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for
himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to
the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable, and so, if
he is romantic, he tries to change it. And even if he is not romantic personally he is very apt to
spread discontent among those who are."
* H.L. Mencken, famous American writer, Smart Set (December 1919)
"All this was inspired by the principle - which is quite true in itself - that in the big lie there is
always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily
corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus
in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the
small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to
resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal
untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so
infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so are brought clearly to their minds,
they will still doubt and waver and continue to think that there may be some other explanation
For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a
fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of
lying. These people know only too well how to use falsehood for the basest purposes."
- Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf , 1925
"First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win."
- unsourced, but attributed to Gandhi
"Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America,
nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country
who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is
a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship. ...voice or no
voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have
to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and
exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
* Hermann Goering, 1946 Nuremberg Trial. Quoted by Nuremberg prison psychologist, Gilbert
Gustave in Nuremberg Diary, page 278, published by Da Capo Press, 1995
ISBN 0306806614, 9780306806612
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"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted
influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial-Congressional complex.* The
potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the
weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take
nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing
of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so
that security and liberty may prosper together
During the long lane of the history yet to be written, America knows that this world of
ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be,
instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect. Such a confederation must be one of
equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we,
protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by
many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield
Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together
we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose
Because this need is so sharp and apparent, I confess that I lay down my official responsibilities
in this field with a definite sense of disappointment. As one who has witnessed the horror and the
lingering sadness of war, as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this
civilization which has been so slowly and painfully built over thousands of years, I wish I could
say tonight that a lasting peace is in sight
You and I, my fellow citizens, need to be strong in our faith that all nations, under God,
will reach the goal of peace with justice. May we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle,
confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the Nations' great goals
To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America's prayerful and
continuing aspiration: We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their
great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full;
that all who yearn for freedom may experience its few spiritual blessings. Those who have
freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibility; that all who are insensitive to the needs
of others will learn charity; and that the sources -- scourges of poverty, disease, and ignorance
will be made [to] disappear from the earth; and that in the goodness of time, all peoples will
come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love." *
Dwight Eisenhower, Presidential Farewell Address, January 17, 1961. * "Congressional" was
removed after the final draft was written and just before delivery to placate Congress according
to Susan Eisenhower, daughter of Dwight Eisenhower:
url>>www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuwtG9dL-CM (flim clip from "Why We Fight")
Background: url>>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military-industrial_complex
"The very word ‘secrecy’ is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people
inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings
We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent
facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in
opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is
little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there
is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those
anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I
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do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control. And no official of my
Administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words
here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes or to
withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know ...
No President should fear public scrutiny of his programs. For from that scrutiny comes
understanding; and from that understanding comes support or opposition. And both are
necessary. I am not asking your newspapers to support the Administration, but I am asking your
help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the American people. For I have complete
confidence in the response and dedication of our citizens whenever they are fully informed
I not only could not stifle controversy among your readers--I welcome it. This
Administration intends to be candid about its errors; for as a wise man once said: "An error does
not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it." We intend to accept full responsibility for
our errors; and we expect you to point them out when we miss them
Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed--and no
republic can survive. That is why the Athenian lawmaker Solon decreed it a crime for any citizen
to shrink from controversy. And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment--
the only business in America specifically protected by the Constitution- -not primarily to amuse
and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and the sentimental, not to simply "give the public
what it wants"--but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to
indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public
opinion
This means greater coverage and analysis of international news--for it is no longer far
away and foreign but close at hand and local. It means greater attention to improved
understanding of the news as well as improved transmission. And it means, finally, that
government at all levels, must meet its obligation to provide you with the fullest possible
information outside the narrowest limits of national security--and we intend to do it
And so it is to the printing press--to the recorder of man's deeds, the keeper of his
conscience, the courier of his news--that we look for strength and assistance, confident that with
your help man will be what he was born to be: free and independent." - President John F
Kennedy, Address before the American Newspaper Publishers Association. April 27, 1961
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, NY city. To hear these excerpts:
url>>www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhZk8ronces&feature=related
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our
children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the
same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children what it was once like in the
United States when men were free." * Ronald Reagan, address to the annual meeting of the
Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, (1961-03-30)
"The Trilateral Commission is intended to be the vehicle for multinational consolidation of the
commercial and banking interests by seizing control of the political government of the United
States. The Trilateral Commission represents a skillful, coordinated effort to seize control and
consolidate the four centers of power political, monetary, intellectual and ecclesiastical. What the
Trilateral Commission intends is to create a worldwide economic power superior to the political
governments of the nationstates involved. As managers and creators of the system, they will rule
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the future." - U.S. Senator and 1964 Republican candidate for President Barry Goldwater in his
l964 book: With No Apologies
"Those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are
simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth. And let me remind
you, they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyrannies. Absolute power does
corrupt, and those who seek it must be suspect and must be opposed. Their mistaken course
stems from false notions of equality, ladies and gentlemen. Equality, rightly understood, as our
founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences
Wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then
to despotism." - Barry Goldwater, Acceptance Speech as the 1964 Republican Presidential
candidate
"The powers of financial capitalism had another far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a
world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each
country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist
fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements, arrived at in
frequent private meetings and conferences. The apex of the system was the Bank for
International Settlements in Basle, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the
worlds' central banks which were themselves private corporations. The growth of financial
capitalism made possible a centralization of world economic control and use of this power for
the direct benefit of financiers and the indirect injury of all other economic groups." - Mentor to
Bill Clinton and Georgetown University History Professor, Carroll Quigley in Tragedy and
Hope, 1966. Recorded interview: url>>www.infowars.com/?p=2757
"Look, if you think any American official is going to tell you the truth, then you're stupid. Did
you hear that? - Stupid." - Arthur Sylvester, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs,
1965, at a Vietnam press meeting as reported by: Hammond, William M. Reporting Vietnam:
Media and Military at War, 1998
"The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know." * Harry Truman, as quoted in
Plain Speaking : An Oral Biography of Harry S Truman (1974) by Merle Miller, p. 26
"The drive of the Rockefellers and their allies is to create a one-world government combining
supercapitalism and Communism under the same tent, all under their control ... . Do I mean
conspiracy? Yes I do. I am convinced there is such a plot, international in scope, generations old
in planning, and incredibly evil in intent." - Congressman Larry P. McDonald, writing in the
forward, The Rockefeller File by Gary Allen, 1976
Background quotes concerning our status of safeguarding Constitutional rights in the
present:
"The United States is committed to the worldwide elimination of torture and we are leading this
fight by example." * President George W. Bush, June 26, 2003
url>>www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/06/20030626-3.html
"Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere."
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* President Bush, joking on March 25, 2004
url>>www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/03/26/bush.wmd.jokes/index.html
and on video (warning: some graphic war images)
url>>www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKX6luiMINQ
"Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it
requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're
talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so
It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional
guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland,
because we value the Constitution."
- President Bush, speech at Kleinshans Music Hall, Buffalo, New York, 20 April 2004,
url>>www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/04/20040420-2.html
"This young century will be liberty's century. By promoting liberty abroad, we will build a safer
world. By encouraging liberty at home, we will build a more hopeful America. Like generations
before us, we have a calling from beyond the stars to stand for freedom. This is the everlasting
dream of America." - President Bush, Remarks at 2004 Republican National Convention,
url>>www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/09/20040902-2.html
"On United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the United States
reaffirms its commitment to the worldwide elimination of torture. Freedom from torture is an
inalienable human right, and we are committed to building a world where human rights are
respected and protected by the rule of law ... Throughout the world, there are many who have
been seeking to have their voices heard, to stand up for their right to freedom, and to break the
chains of tyranny. Too many of those courageous women and men are paying a terrible price for
their brave acts of dissent. Many have been detained, arrested, thrown in prison, and subjected to
torture by regimes that fail to understand that their habits of control will not serve them well in
the long-term."
* President Bush, June 27, 2005. url>>usinfo.state.gov/dhr/Archive/2005/Jun/27-499670.html
"Should any American soldier be so base and infamous as to injure any [prisoner]. . . I do most
earnestly enjoin you to bring him to such severe and exemplary punishment as the enormity of
the crime may require. Should it extend to death itself, it will not be disproportional to its guilt at
such a time and in such a cause... for by such conduct they bring shame, disgrace and ruin to
themselves and their country."
- General George Washington, letter to the Northern Expeditionary Force, Sept. 14, 1775
Background against "Conspiracy Theories": "Conspiracy theories are often not taken
seriously, because so many conspiracy theories - almost by definition - lack readily verifiable
evidence. This raises the question of what mechanisms might exist in popular culture that lead to
the invention and subsequent dissemination of unsubstantiated theories. Conspiratorial accounts
can be emotionally satisfying when they place events in a readily-understandable, moral
context ... The subscriber to the theory is able to assign moral responsibility for an emotionally
troubling event or situation to a clearly-conceived group of individuals. Crucially, that group
does not include the believer. The believer may then feel excused of any moral or political
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responsibility for remedying whatever institutional or societal flaw might be the actual source of
the dissonance." * for your consideration from Wikipedia

url>>www.afterdowningstreet.org/sites/afterdowningstreet.org/files/carlherman.pdf