Rumsfeld, Defence Industries, 911, & Corporate Government in Retrospect

Rumsfeld, Defence Industries, 911, & Corporate Government in Retrospect

On September 10, 2001 Rummy said this in a speech at the Pentagon

“Today’s announcements are only the first of many. We will launch others ourselves, and we will ask Congress for legislative help as well. We have, for example, asked Congress for permission to begin the process of closing excess bases and consolidating the B-1 bomber force.”

One month later…

Rumsfeld Visits B-2 Bomber Base as Afghan Campaign Heats Up

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo., Oct. 19, 2001 – Amid news reports that U.S. ground troops are aiding anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld flew to this Missouri air base today to meet B-2 Spirit bomber pilots and support crews.

Speaking to reporters en route here, Rumsfeld praised the air base’s service members and declared that the B-2’s more than 40-hour missions to Afghanistan are “amazing.”

The secretary declined to give specifics on reported U.S. ground operations in Afghanistan. He noted that providing operations information about U.S. air attacks or the involvement of U.S. troops could imperil lives, missions and damage national security.

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Jeremy Scahill mentioned the speech that Donald Rumsfeld made at the Pentagon on the day before September 11, 2001 in his book Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army. In this address Rummy outlined the streamlining of the DOD and changes in CIA policy, where radical changes would be implemented in the military, especially in the organization of the National Guard and the three branches of the armed sevices.

This speech can be found on the DOD web site and should be required reading for those who are interested in the history of what is now being called The Long War.

MORE on Home Nature Report

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Obama to reverse Bu$hco’s emphasis on covert CIA actions

FBI planning a bigger role in terrorism fight

Bureau agents will gather evidence to ensure that criminal prosecutions of alleged terrorists are an option. The move is a reversal of the Bush administration’s emphasis on covert CIA actions.

Los Angeles Times

By Josh Meyer
May 28, 2009

Reporting from Washington — The FBI and Justice Department plan to significantly expand their role in global counter-terrorism operations, part of a U.S. policy shift that will replace a CIA-dominated system of clandestine detentions and interrogations with one built around transparent investigations and prosecutions.

Under the “global justice” initiative, which has been in the works for several months, FBI agents will have a central role in overseas counter-terrorism cases. They will expand their questioning of suspects and evidence-gathering to try to ensure that criminal prosecutions are an option, officials familiar with the effort said.

Though the initiative is a work in progress, some senior counter-terrorism officials and administration policy-makers envision it as key to the national security strategy President Obama laid out last week — one that presumes most accused terrorists have the right to contest the charges against them in a “legitimate” setting.

The approach effectively reverses a mainstay of the Bush administration’s war on terrorism, in which global counter-terrorism was treated primarily as an intelligence and military problem, not a law enforcement one. That policy led to the establishment of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; harsh interrogations; and detentions without trials.

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Is Cheney taking the same pill as “Rush” Limbaugh

This is Keith Olbermann’s Top 9/11 Story: The Promotion Of Failure In Bush Administration. It was aired in September 2007 and presents a powerful statement about the Bu$h administration. Some of the 911 truth movement criticized Olbermann for not mentioning that 911 was an inside job, while not even considering the ramifications of his doing so. An open and independent investigation is what is needed, and this is what the people of this country want. I’m sure that Olbermann would agree on that, but 911 is only one of 945 issues or more that need to be addressed.

Darth Cheney expresses his fondness for Rush Limpballs, like he is the only voice in the corpo-media, but hopefully he isn’t taking the same pill as “Rush”.
Oxycontin is pretty powerful stuff and it would be nice if Darth lived to be a ripe old age because it might be a while before he is put on the stand, or in stocks in front of the Lincoln Memorial building, or at least made to answer for his crimes.

Attention Dick Cheney

May 27, 2009 at 07:27:04

Diary Entry by Dean Hartwell

This letter calls out Dick Cheney and asks him to explain not just how he made us safer from terrorism during his time in office, but it also questions whether he should be indicted for participating in the attacks of 9/11.

Read it on OpEdNews.com

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Nuremberg Set a Valid Precedent for Trials of War-crime Suspects in Iraq’s Destruction

By Cesar Chelala | The Japan  Times, May 27, 2009

New York – The Nuremberg Principles, a set of guidelines established after World War II to try Nazi Party members, were developed to determine what constitutes a war crime. The principles can also be applied today when considering the conditions that led to the Iraq war and, in the process, to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, many of them children, and to the devastation of a country’s infrastructure.

In January 2003, a group of American law professors warned President George W. Bush that he and senior officials of his government could be prosecuted for war crimes if their military tactics violated international humanitarian law. The group, led by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, sent similar warnings to British Prime Minister Tony Blair and to Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

Although Washington is not part of the International Criminal Court (ICC), U.S. officials could be prosecuted in other countries under the Geneva Convention, says Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights. Ratner likened the situation to the attempt by Spanish magistrate Baltazar Garzon to prosecute former Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet when Pinochet was under house arrest in London.

Both former President George W. Bush and senior officials in his government could be tried for their responsibility for torture and other war crimes under the Geneva Conventions.

Continued >>

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Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• The Bush Administration Is an Ongoing Criminal Conspiracy Under Internation…
• Nuremberg Prosecutor: Gitmo Goes Against Nuremberg Principles

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Calls for Torture Inquiry Aren’t Going Away

William Fisher | Inter Press Service

NEW YORK, Apr 29 (IPS) – A coalition of 19 human rights, faith-based and justice organisations is calling on President Barack Obama to investigate torture they charge was sanctioned by the administration of former President George W. Bush.

The group, led by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT), is proposing both a special prosecutor and an “independent, non-partisan commission to examine and report publicly on torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees in the period since September 11, 2001.”

The campaign’s call for accountability comes just days after the release of the Senate Armed Services Committee report on interrogation and torture and the Justice Department legal memos sanctioning torture and inhumane treatment.

Rev. Richard Killmer, executive director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, told IPS, “NRCAT supports both the establishment of an independent, non-partisan commission of inquiry to investigate the use of torture and a Department of Justice investigation for criminal culpability of those who authorised or carried out acts of torture. Each process is important and can be pursued independently.”

He added, “A commission will help us understand how the illegal interrogation policies came into effect and how they were implemented so that we can ensure that safeguards are in place to prevent future administrations from following the same path.”

“A criminal investigation will send the clear message that government officials cannot violate laws against torture without facing serious criminal sanctions. If we hope to end the practice of torture by agents of the United States once and for all, we must pursue both avenues.”

The coalition proposes a commission, “comparable in stature to the 9/11 commission,” to “look into the facts and circumstances of such abuses, report on lessons learned and recommend measures that would prevent any future abuses.”

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Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• U.N. censures Bush Administration for waterboarding
• U.S. Torture and the Loss of American Identity
• NYT on the efficacy of a “Truth Commission”
• Bush’s Dangerous Torture(d) Stance

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what do we stand for anymore? do we even know?

by betmo

there have been innumerable assaults on the constitution- pretty much from its inception. the john adams contingent has not been pleased that ‘the great unwashed’ was given any say whatsoever in their own governance. those descendants we see today splashed all over fox noise, hate radio, state and local governments, tea parties, and now….. million militia marches. guess that’s why they are stock piling all that ammo.

but i just don’t know what to say about the torture issue. i have been a strident voice for years- pushing and pushing for people to realize that free societies take the risk of being ‘less secure’ in order to remain free. pushing for people to realize that we, the people, were losing the document that gave us our freedoms- legally- in america. and people were afraid. they were afraid of muslim extremists who may bomb our cities or unleash biological terror in ‘the homeland.’

but the people were wrong. the terrorists lived amongst us- called themselves americans. and willfully and gleefully stripped civil liberties away at a rate unprecedented in our history. and always my question was- why? why are they doing this? when is enough money and power enough? and i didn’t have a good, tangible answer. i still don’t. the closest i get is simply- because they could.

because they knew going in what they wanted to do- they created 9/11 to shock america into swallowing their lines of bullshit about the country being vulnerable. they created the crisis in order to go into war mode- special presidential war powers indefinitely. they manufactured reasons to go to war with iraq and decimated and tortured people and ruined the lives of millions of people.

because they could.

torture is arguably the worst thing you can do to a person. it effects them physically- and mentally- and if they survive– it effects them for the rest of their lives. and their families and neighbors and fellow countrymen– and it does not work for information. and americans authorized this- and carried it out. now, i realize that we have been doing this for years- at the very least training operatives on how to carry it out. but these folks planned to torture other folks to send a message loud and clear- that they were in charge and that’s it.

over the last 8 years or so, folks like me have been called traitors, conspiracy theorists, crazy, etc.- and while it generally came from the right, much came from the left too. folks simply didn’t want to believe that fellow americans could carry out what bushco and the rubber stamp legislative and judicial branches did. this couldn’t happen in america- we are the land of the free. but it did.

and i guess what my purpose in writing this post is- to say simply this- the people on the right are wrong. period. they are the traitors and the unpatriotic people. i don’t consider them americans at all. the people on the left who have been complicit and who have gone along with the right- in the name of power or blackmail or whatever- and didn’t stand up- same thing. there is nothing patriotic about stripping civil liberties away from a democratic republic in the name of security. there is nothing noble or patriotic or brave in advocating torturing another human being. these people are cowards.

for all of the grandstanding and pretending to give a damn about the founding fathers and the constitution- and apparently, the boston tea party- these folks have not actually read the documents. they didn’t listen to saint ronnie about america being an example to the world- ‘a shining city’ and blah, blah, blah- we were set up as the beacon of hope to the world- and we have no right to the title. so, it is time to let the people who claim to be americans know- you aren’t. the rest of us are going to have to grow a set- because if we want any semblance of the country we believed in- we are going to have to fight for it. the right is arming itself- and if you pooh pooh that off- well, you may end up in a detention facility right here in the us of a.

sorry shep- we do torture– did torture- probably still do torture. the next question is- will be hold onto our principles and hold folks accountable? or perhaps the better question is- do we have any principles left?

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They banned the wrong George

Sudhan @17:30 CET

Erik Wallenberg wonders about the mix-up in Canada where the government allowed in a known war criminal, but kept out a leading opponent of war.

Socialist Worker, March 27, 2009

George Galloway speaking at a 2008 protest of George W. Bush’s visit to London (Davide Simonetti)

IT SEEMS that the Canadian government, and the immigration ministry in particular, has gotten their Georges confused. Though how you could confuse a bumbling idiot with a Texas drawl for an erudite Scotsman with an oratory of the first degree, is hard to imagine.

George W. Bush was granted safe passage to Calgary earlier this month for a speaking engagement that netted him some $400-a-plate to talk about his eight years in the White House–God only knows what anyone would want to hear him talk about. Meanwhile, George Galloway was branded an “infandous street-corner Cromwell” by Alykhan Velshi, spokesperson for Canada’s immigration minister Jason Kenney, and refused entry into the country.

Continued >>

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• Galloway: We Are The Authors Of This Tragedy
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• Canada bans George Galloway for ’supporting’ terrorists
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Criminals In The White House For 8 Years!

UPDATE w/ comment from K.O.: Olbermann’s Recap of the Bush Admin Must Not Be Missed

UPDATE:  From Keith Olbermann himself, in the comments:

Nobody Likes Kudos Better Than I Do

But I’m passing all these on to my segment producer, Jonathan Larsen, with whom I’ve worked on and off since we were at CNN in 2001-02. He compiled and wrote this one; I honestly made about four small changes in it.

Monday we go gently after the Torture Prosecution…

Thanks to all, and to all a good night.

Offered with as little commentary as possible: the most astonishing and damning review of the Bush Administration ever seen, courtesy of Keith Olbermann.  And half of the administration’s morally negligent or even criminal activities didn’t even make it into the 8-minute summary; much of the other half was mentioned only briefly.

Still, if you can bear to watch a replay of the misery through with we have suffered these last eight years, it has never been done better than this:

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Tom Friedman Offers a Perfect Definition of ‘Terrorism’

by Geezer Power

CommonDreams.org January 15.2009

by Glenn Greenwald

Tom Friedman, one of the nation’s leading propagandists for the Iraq War and a vigorous supporter of all of Israel’s wars, has a column today in The New York Times explaining and praising the Israeli attack on Gaza. For the sake of robust and diverse debate (for which our Liberal Media is so well known), Friedman’s column today appears alongside an Op-Ed from The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, one of the nation’s leading (and most deceitful) propagandists for the Iraq War and a vigorous supporter of all of Israel’s wars, who explains that Hamas is incorrigibly hateful and radical and cannot be negotiated with. One can hardly imagine a more compelling exhibit demonstrating the complete lack of accountability in the “journalism” profession — at least for those who are loyal establishment spokespeople who reflexively cheer on wars — than a leading Op-Ed page presenting these two war advocates, of all people, as experts, of all things, on the joys and glories of the latest Middle East war.

MORE

Al Jazeera’s Sherine Tadros reports from Gaza on the 20th day of the war.

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Conyers Report: “Reining In The Imperial Presidency: Lessons And Recommendations Relating To The Presidency Of George W. Bush”

Conyers publishes massive report on ‘Imperial Presidency’

Raw Story- Stephen C. Webster
Published: Tuesday January 13, 2009

Report demands investigation of Bush administration’s abuses of power

Everyone wants to know: will Obama order investigations into the Bush administration’s abuses of power? But, perhaps a better question would be: if he doesn’t, who will?

House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), it appears, will at least try.

Conyers published a 487-page report (PDF link) Tuesday titled, “Reining in the Imperial Presidency: Lessons and Recommendations Relating to the presidency of George W. Bush.”

Conyers’ report makes 47 recommendations “designed to restore the traditional checks and balances of our constitutional system,” reads the foreward. Recommendations include the establishment of a ‘blue ribbon’ commission to fully investigate the Bush administration, and the launch of criminal probes.

“Even after scores of hearings, investigations, and reports, we still do not have answers to some of the most fundamental questions left in the wake of Bush’s Imperial Presidency,” Conyers said in a release. “Investigations are not a matter of payback or political revenge – it is our responsibility to examine what has occurred and to set an appropriate baseline of conduct for future administrations.”

On Jan. 6, Conyers introduced a bill that, if passed, would create the “Commission on Presidential War Powers and Civil Liberties,” which would seek to root out President Bush’s abuses.

MORE HERE

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