War... Who Needs It? Neocons Do

War...Who Needs It? Neocons Do

Prissy is a little behind, having been active last week in more of the "hands-on" Bring Our Troops Home type activities. Some people have said, (usually ones who voted for a war they knew nothing of) "Gee Prissy, do you feel like you are actually getting anywhere? I mean, Dubya says, Condi says, Rummy says 10 more years in Iraq..."

How do my fellow Americans propose we can do that? We do not have the troops, equipment or money. It is absurd...10 more years.The Iraqi people wish us gone now; they certainly will not tolerate another ten years of American occupation. And yes indeed, Prissy knows she is "getting somewhere" in her anti-war quest. She does them a favor by not calling the press. She and Military Families Speak Out supporters find minds are changing rapidly in both parties.

There are exit strategies and disengagment plans available, so politicians are getting the feeling they had better pick one. That is indeed a good thing. Sanity shall prevail-just not quickly enough for Prissy. Continue pressure on our representatives, trust Prissy on this-they feel it now more than ever. We are all making a difference. Global neighbors, write them too! Our representatives should be ashamed it has gone this far-where have they been?

Dear Readers, it seems the leaders and supporters of this war are clueless.Just as they did not really understand what the war in Iraq was about in the first place-they did not bother to see if the WMD were real. Prissy is amazed how many people in this country are so insensitive to the fact we are a country involved in starting a war.

As long as they can put gas in their SUV's, go out to dinner and shopping over the weekend-life is good. What war? Yet they become defensive when one will say,"A yellow magnet on ones car is not supporting the troops." Prissy is confused how these seemingly intelligent people completely disregard facts.

Do they disregard the facts when making their investment decisions? You can bet they do not.

Former U.N. Chief weapons Inspector and Marine Scott Ritter puts this best in an interview he gave to Seymour Hersh: "... I mean, why do we put the burden on the soldier to speak out instead of putting the burden on the American public to become more empowered, to become enraged about what's happening? We've got an election coming up in 2006. Rather than waiting for soldiers to resign, why don't we vote out of Congress everybody who voted in favor of this war?" Mr. Hersh: But let me ask you this, as somebody who knows the military pretty well, what about the failure of the military to speak out?

Mr. Ritter:

Well, I'm not saying that they shouldn't speak out. I mean, it would be wonderful if soldiers came back from Iraq and said this is a war that's not only unwinnable, but this is a war that's morally unacceptable, and I can no longer participate in this conflict. But it's a very difficult thing to ask a soldier to do what the average American citizen won't. I mean, why do we put the burden on the soldier to speak out instead of putting the burden on the American public to become more empowered, to become enraged about what's happening? We've got an election coming up in 2006. Rather than waiting for soldiers to resign, why don't we vote out of Congress everybody who voted in favor of this war? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mr. Hersh:

There's always the argument that one virtue of what we did, no matter how bad it is, we've got rid of a very bad dictator. What's your answer to that one?

Mr. Ritter:

That invokes the notion of the ends justify the means. I mean, that's basically what we're saying here is that who cares about the lie, who cares about the WMD. You know, we got rid of a bad guy. The ends justify the means. And I have to be frank. If there's anybody here who calls themselves a citizen of the United States of America and you endorse the notion of the ends justify the means, submit your passport for destruction and get the hell out of my country.

Because this is a country that is founded on the rule of law as set forth by the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution that the men and women who serve us swore an oath of allegiance to, the Constitution that our government, every government official swears an oath of allegiance to, and it's about due process. Democracy is ugly. Sometimes it doesn't work as smoothly as we want it to. But if you're sitting here and saying that when it comes to Saddam, that the ends justify the means, where do you draw the line? Where do you draw the line?

And you can't tell me that it's only going to stop here. It's about the rule of law, it's about the Constitution. And if we wanted to get rid of Saddam Hussein, then we should have had a debate, discussion, and dialogue about the real reasons and not make up some artificial WMD.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/102805K.shtml

Prissy would like to thank the Coastie mom who sent the Ritter/Hersh article.

Last week Prissy had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Diana Delov and finding out more about her organization in Israel called ‚“New Profile.‚” Dr. Delov explained to Prissy and a group of wonderful college students how militarized society contributes to more war, not less.www.newprofile.org (Site in Hebrew)

A couple of things Prissy found most shocking was the fact that tranquilizers are marketed on television toward mothers of soldiers- "“My son is a combat soldier.The tension, the pressure, the telephone calls"…I asked my pharmacist for Calmanervin, and it helped me calm down." Lichtenson, 2000.

Another shocking fact is that young soldiers in uniform with no college are teaching schoolchildren in poorer Israeli neighborhoods. How long would American parents stand for that? Dr. Delov’s organization “refuses to choose war. New Profile is working to change Israel from a militarized to a civil society, from a discriminating and oppressive society to an egalitarian one, from an occupying nation to a respectful neighbor. Very noble goals, in Prissy's book. Lest anyone say "Prissy that was nearly anti-Semitic" in informing readers about New Profile -consider that Prissy'’s host and Dr. Delov are Jewish.

Never mess with women of any color, creed or what have you-especially when they are correct in their criticisms in speaking truth to power. Most of those killed in every war are women and children, not soldiers. We do not want to live in a militant society and women in all countries have the power to change that. Prissy laughs with mirth at anyone who thinks women do not . There are many strong men also supporting this goal. They do not prove their manhood by their ability to kill people or even more criminal in nature; to plan wars based on lies and order others to kill for them.

What Prissy wants to know is why women have to go first. No one can say women have no interest in such matters with a straight face. We can thank women who made the world a better place for others; Rosa Parks, Sojourner Truth (Isabella Baumfree) Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and more recently, Cindy Sheehan. So much for women as the supposed "“weaker sex." Sheesh...

Hot Links

Oh Dear Lord,save us all- more about Ohio/Bush and the mess they have made... toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051031/NEWS24/510310319Toldedo Blade A BLADE INVESTIGATION-Money fueled Ohio GOP, now puts future at risk-2 decades of planning paved way for Bush win

"George Bush comes to Ohio and inherits that very powerful Republican infrastructure to help him, and John Kerry comes to Ohio and inherits a very weak Democrat infrastructure," said Mark Weaver, a Republican consultant who has worked on Ohio campaigns since 1990. "In a race that was otherwise pretty much even, that was a factor."

But now scandal is threatening the GOP machine - and money is at its roots.

A Bush Pioneer, former Toledo-area coin dealer Tom Noe, was indicted last week on charges that included laundering money to Mr. Bush's re-election campaign.

The scandal surrounding Mr. Noe led to criminal ethics convictions for Mr. Taft, now the governor, and two of his top aides.

Prissy hears them playing taps here in Ohio for neoRepublicans...they took all the money and shipped the jobs overseas. Did they forget they did that? Ohioans won't. Lucky for Ohio, Paul Hackett and Ted Strickland did not forget about the "base".

A perspective from The Pen: opednews.com/articles/opedne_thepen_051031_the_department_of_to.htm

There isn't a "talking head" out there not drinking their own "talking points Kool-Aid" who believes the Fitzgerald investigation is remotely close to being finished. If anything, the allegations in the Libby indictment, which identify Cheney as the one who specifically advised Libby that Valerie (Plame) Wilson worked under the covert wing of the CIA, suggest that the Vice President is at least one of the big game that the Special Counsel is still pursuing. The tight-lipped Fifth Amendment-type reactions given by Cheney in the aftermath of the indictment to explain his own role in the leak scandal do nothing to dispel the intrigue. Instead the administration is circling the torture-advocate wagons even tighter with the promotion of Addington, while the shadow of Traitorgate continues to darken over their heads.

Especially now, with the chickens of treason coming home to roost in the nest of the chicken hawks themselves, this is the last time in history for the authors of torture as official American policy to be allowed to push for largesse for even wider atrocities. We must all immediately contact our senators and members of the House of Representative who might have influence on the conference committee to demand that the overwhelmingly approved language of the McCain amendment remain intact in the final Defense Appropriations Bill.

The rest of the article also speaks of allowing torture of anyone, as long as only the CIA is doing it-children are not even exempt. So how is that the "American way"? McCain was right-it is more about us than them...

smh.com.au/news/world/washington-hid-damaging-vietnam-finding/2005/10/31/1130720481924.html Washington hid damaging Vietnam finding-SMH AU "This material is relevant to debates we as Americans are having about the war in Iraq and intelligence reform," he said.

Mr Hanyok believed the initial misinterpretation of North Vietnamese intercepts was probably an honest mistake. But after months of detective work in the agency's archives, Mr Hanyok concluded mid-level agency officials discovered the error almost immediately, but covered it up and doctored documents so that they appeared to provide evidence of an attack.

"Rather than come clean about their mistake, they helped launch the United States into a bloody war that would last for 10 years," Mr Aid said.

President Lyndon Johnson cited the August 4 episode to persuade Congress in 1964 to authorise military action in Vietnam, despite doubts about the attack that arose almost immediately. Asked about Mr Hanyok's research, an agency spokesman, Don Weber, said the agency intended to release the material late next month but delayed the release "in an effort to be consistent with our preferred practice of providing the public [with] a more contextual perspective".

smh.com.au/news/world/republicans-join-call-for-rove-to-resign/2005/10/31/1130720481927.html Republicans Join Call for Rove to Resign-SMH AU citizenspook.blogspot.com/ Spooks latest analysis

But Fitzgerald knows that this Iraq conflict is not a legally declared "war". It was not declared by Congress which is required by the Constitution, and it does not rise to the level necessary under the statute.

The statute was written in 1917. And at that time the Constitution was still in use (sarcasm laced with truth). The framers of the Espionage Act understood that "war" could not happen without an official "declaration of war" as was intended by the framers of the Constitution.

And this is why we are lucky to have Fitz as the captain of this ship right now. Nobody can say that Fitzgerald hasn't exercised prosecutorial restraint. Citizen Spook would have charged the bastards with 18 USC 794 and hung them on their own words, "We are at war." "I'm a war president."

Due to all the loss of life in an illegally waged war, Prissy is of opinion that Fitzgerald certainly should have used 18 USC 794. Prissy just doesn't see it as a stretch there at all, Spook. Why should Fitzgerald use legally unmandated restraint to those who have shown no restraint of misusing thousands of lives? (But certainly not their own)

news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article323451.ece UK Independent-Leak led to threats against CIA agent, husband reveals

The indictment sets the stage for either a trial next spring or a plea bargain that almost certainly would mean jail time for Mr Libby. A source close to the investigation told Time magazine that the prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and Mr Libby's lawyer discussed possible plea options before the indictment was issued last week. But the deal was scotched because the prosecutor insisted that Mr Libby do some "serious" jail time. (bold Prissy) Several intelligence specialists spoke out at the weekend about the gravity of what had been done to Ms Plame, who joined the CIA as a case officer two decades ago, when she was 22 years old. It's the "moral equivalent to exposing forward-deployed military units," said Arthur Brown, who retired in February as the CIA's Asian Division chief.

Mr Libby, who is expected to begin testifying to prosecutors this week, was charged on Friday with perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements in the course of an investigation into whether the White House deliberately disclosed Ms Plame's CIA role. The implication is that it was getting back at Mr Wilson, a diplomat, who had publicly accused the Bush administration of twisting the facts before going to war in Iraq.

Team Bush did not play when they attempted to crush dissent...The wrong doers will find Pat Fitzgerald does not play with those who attempt to crush lawful dissent.

amconmag.com/2005/2005_11_07/feature.html November 21, 2005 Issue- The American Conservative Forging the Case for War-Who was behind the Niger uranium documents? by Philip Giraldi

At this point, any American connection to the actual forgeries remains unsubstantiated, though the OSP at a minimum connived to circumvent established procedures to present the information directly to receptive policy makers in the White House. But if the OSP is more deeply involved, Michael Ledeen, who denies any connection with the Niger documents, would have been a logical intermediary in co-ordinating the falsification of the documents and their surfacing, as he was both a Pentagon contractor and was frequently in Italy. He could have easily been assisted by ex-CIA friends from Iran-Contra days, including a former Chief of Station from Rome, who, like Ledeen, was also a consultant for the Pentagon and the Iraqi National Congress.

It would have been extremely convenient for the administration, struggling to explain why Iraq was a threat, to be able to produce information from an unimpeachable "“foreign intelligence source" to confirm the Iraqi worst-case.

The possible forgery of the information by Defense Department employees would explain the viciousness of the attack on Valerie Plame and her husband. Wilson, when he denounced the forgeries in the New York Times in July 2003, turned an issue in which there was little public interest into something much bigger. The investigation continues, but the campaign against this lone detractor suggests that the administration was concerned about something far weightier than his critical op-ed.

Philip Giraldi, a former CIA Officer, is a partner in Cannistraro Associates, an international security consultancy.

Whoever forged the Niger documents, should they be found Americans-must be tried for treason. Creating a false senario, complete with forged documents begs for Nuremberg like trials. Thousands of people have died due to the false evidence presented for this war.-PP

aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/review/article_full_story.asp?service_id=9949Al-Jazeera-An alternative strategy for the U.S.-lost war style the war on 'terror'.

From John Kerry: But the war on terror is not a convenient political distraction, it's a war we have to win. And to win the war on "terror", we can't afford to have senior administration officials playing political games with national security. The President needs to get serious about addressing our nation’s problems, starting by cleaning out the corruption in his Administration and then addressing the situation in Iraq." Kerry repeated his criticism of Bush's admin. for the way it started this war in the first place, saying it failed to impose order in Iraq after toppling the former regime and keep a structure of civil services available to Iraq...

Although he voted for the resolution authorizing the invasion in 2002, Kerry said "the country and the Congress were misled into war."

"I regret that we were not given the truth", he said, referring to flawed intelligence collected about the toppled Iraqi President's alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction that the Bush administration used to justify his unwise decision. "If the Bush administration had come to the United States Senate and acknowledged there was no "slam dunk case” that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction there never would have even been a vote to authorize use of force," he said, referring to pre-Iraq war intelligence presented by George Tenet, former director of the CIA...

Look how long it has taken the Ivy Leaguers to figure this out...Prissy told you their degrees are without substance-the supporters and architects of this war offer us much proof of the "without substance" theory.

telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/31/wbush31.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/10/31/ixnewstop.html The Telegraph-Bush resists White House reshuffle-By Alec Russell in Washington (Filed: 31/10/2005)

Democrats intensified the pressure on Mr Bush yesterday, calling for an apology from him and Dick Cheney, the vice-president, in the wake of the indictment of a senior aide for perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements.

It was the first indictment of a sitting White House official in more than a century and marked the climax of an appalling week for the President.The week also saw the United States military's death toll in Iraq reach 2,000 and the humiliating defeat of his attempt to install a friend and his former personal lawyer on the Supreme Court.

Republicans and Democrats have both called on him to shake up his team as Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton did when confronted by crises. Calling for an immediate purge and instead hopes to regain momentum by announcing a new candidate for the Supreme Court, as early as today.

Quotes of the Day

Diplomacy is about surviving until the next century. Politics is about surviving until Friday afternoon. ~Sir Humphrey Appleby

You can build a throne with bayonets, but you can't sit on it for long. ~Boris Yeltsin

Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied. ~Otto Von Bismark, 1871–1890 Chancellor of Germany (nicknamed the Iron Chancellor)

He knows nothing and thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.~George Bernard Shaw