Bush and America's willing executioners would be guilty at Nuremberg
If he launches an attack on Iraq without the approval of the United Nations Security Council, George W. Bush will be guilty of crimes on par with those committed by the infamous Nazi leaders who were tried at Nuremberg in 1946, after World War II.
The law is clear. At Nuremberg, American, British, French and Soviet jurists used international conventions, legal precedent and a global moral consensus to establish a code of conduct deemed the standard for all nations.
Key was the "crimes against humanity" prohibition stemming from the conscious slaughter of six million Jews, leftists, gypsies and others by the Nazi fanatics.
But also crucial was the ban on unprovoked attack by one nation against another. The explosive fuse that set off World War II was the September 1,1939 Nazi attack on Poland, which was unprovoked by any stretch of the military imagination. By all accounts it was an act of aggression and conquest, which led ultimately to as many as 50 million deaths over the next six years.
The law is clear. At Nuremberg, American, British, French and Soviet jurists used international conventions, legal precedent and a global moral consensus to establish a code of conduct deemed the standard for all nations.
Key was the "crimes against humanity" prohibition stemming from the conscious slaughter of six million Jews, leftists, gypsies and others by the Nazi fanatics.
But also crucial was the ban on unprovoked attack by one nation against another. The explosive fuse that set off World War II was the September 1,1939 Nazi attack on Poland, which was unprovoked by any stretch of the military imagination. By all accounts it was an act of aggression and conquest, which led ultimately to as many as 50 million deaths over the next six years.
Be it resolved: Blessed are the peacemakers
Only in Columbus. A thoughtful peace resolution is put forth by Columbus City Councilperson Charleta Tavares -- and if she hadn't withdrawn it for lack of support on Monday, February 24 -- Columbus would have joined 109 other U.S. cities advocating a peaceful diplomatic solution to the Bush administration's planned slaughter of up to 700,000 Iraqis.
Chicago passed the resolution 54-1, Cleveland had no problem, but in Columbus, WTVN radio, offering all-the-Bush-propaganda-all-the-time, instigated a letter writing campaign to City Council against the resolution. Tavares called it the most ìuncivil" letters ever to flood into Council chambers. The opposition took their cue from the so-called ìpreppie rioters" who aided the Bush family in stealing the 2000 presidential election using threats, intimidation and outright violence to halt the vote count in Florida.
Chicago passed the resolution 54-1, Cleveland had no problem, but in Columbus, WTVN radio, offering all-the-Bush-propaganda-all-the-time, instigated a letter writing campaign to City Council against the resolution. Tavares called it the most ìuncivil" letters ever to flood into Council chambers. The opposition took their cue from the so-called ìpreppie rioters" who aided the Bush family in stealing the 2000 presidential election using threats, intimidation and outright violence to halt the vote count in Florida.
Spying on the UN and other US antics
AUSTIN, Texas -- As we wend our weary way toward war, dragging the Turks -- whose price will be our betrayal of the Kurds (fourth time we've double-crossed Kurds, counting Henry Kissinger's triple-cross only once) -- it reminds me of the end of a bad election. Don't believe anything until it's over.
Now is the time we get Iraqi soldiers tossing Kuwaiti babies from incubators and other mind-boggling myths presented as reality. The Guardian is reporting this morning that the United States is wiretapping foreign delegations to the U.N. Security Council, and the worst thing about it is that no one is surprised.
Now is the time we get Iraqi soldiers tossing Kuwaiti babies from incubators and other mind-boggling myths presented as reality. The Guardian is reporting this morning that the United States is wiretapping foreign delegations to the U.N. Security Council, and the worst thing about it is that no one is surprised.
Emergency Petition to the Security Council
Sign the petition (text and link below) and please ask your friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances -- anyone you know who shares this concern -- to
sign on today. As the New York Times put it, "there may still
be two superpowers on the planet: the United States and world
public opinion." The Bush Administration's been flexing its
muscles. Now let's flex ours.
www.moveon.org/emergency/
Dear Member of the U.N. Security Council,
We are citizens from countries all over the world. We are speaking together because we will all be affected by a decision in which your country has a major part -- the decision of how to disarm Iraq.
www.moveon.org/emergency/
Dear Member of the U.N. Security Council,
We are citizens from countries all over the world. We are speaking together because we will all be affected by a decision in which your country has a major part -- the decision of how to disarm Iraq.
Followup needed after Newsweek story on Iraqi weapons
You gotta hand it to America's mass media: When war hangs in
the balance, they sure know how to bury a story.
After devoting thousands of network hours and oceans of ink to stories about "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq, major U.S. news outlets did little but yawn in the days after the latest Newsweek published an exclusive report on the subject -- a piece headlined "The Defector's Secrets."
It's hard to imagine how any journalist on the war beat could read the article's lead without doing a double take: "Hussein Kamel, the highest-ranking Iraqi official ever to defect from Saddam Hussein's inner circle, told CIA and British intelligence officers and U.N. inspectors in the summer of 1995 that after the Gulf War, Iraq destroyed all its chemical and biological weapons stocks and the missiles to deliver them."
After devoting thousands of network hours and oceans of ink to stories about "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq, major U.S. news outlets did little but yawn in the days after the latest Newsweek published an exclusive report on the subject -- a piece headlined "The Defector's Secrets."
It's hard to imagine how any journalist on the war beat could read the article's lead without doing a double take: "Hussein Kamel, the highest-ranking Iraqi official ever to defect from Saddam Hussein's inner circle, told CIA and British intelligence officers and U.N. inspectors in the summer of 1995 that after the Gulf War, Iraq destroyed all its chemical and biological weapons stocks and the missiles to deliver them."
Axis of evil boomerang
AUSTIN, Texas -- When we need a laugh in grim times, we count on our Attorney General John Ashcroft, the Whoopi Goldberg of the Bush administration. This week, Ashcroft took time off from tracking down terrorists in order to bust 55 people for selling for selling rolling papers, pipes and other drug paraphernalia. Nice to see a man who's got his priorities straight.
Onward. Let's review the bidding on North Korea. "Review the bidding" is a bridge term for "how the hell did we get into this mess?" In 1994, the Clinton administration came to something called the Agreed Framework with North Korea, under which Pyongyang agreed to put its 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods -- which can be easily converted into weapons-grade plutonium -- into storage, watched over by U.N. inspectors and cameras. In return, they were supposed to get two light-water nuclear reactors and economic and diplomatic relations.
Onward. Let's review the bidding on North Korea. "Review the bidding" is a bridge term for "how the hell did we get into this mess?" In 1994, the Clinton administration came to something called the Agreed Framework with North Korea, under which Pyongyang agreed to put its 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods -- which can be easily converted into weapons-grade plutonium -- into storage, watched over by U.N. inspectors and cameras. In return, they were supposed to get two light-water nuclear reactors and economic and diplomatic relations.
Bush has another plan
AUSTIN, Texas -- You ain't no John Snow when it comes to pensions. Snow, our new treasury secretary, was CEO of the railroad company CSX Corp. and got a platinum parachute when he bailed. He gets $2.47 million a year for life in retirement benefits. This package was based on the premise that he'd worked for the company for 44 years, even though he'd been there only 25. Now that's creative accounting.
Plus, CSX decided to let him factor in the stock benefits he had received as regular income, instead of just salary, as is normally done. At the same time CSX was giving Snow this lovely deal, it was cutting the health benefits in its retirement plan for lesser workers. Since Secretary Snow is now in charge of pension policy at the Treasury, can we look forward to similar deals for ourselves? Nope, we're in the class that gets the cuts.
Plus, CSX decided to let him factor in the stock benefits he had received as regular income, instead of just salary, as is normally done. At the same time CSX was giving Snow this lovely deal, it was cutting the health benefits in its retirement plan for lesser workers. Since Secretary Snow is now in charge of pension policy at the Treasury, can we look forward to similar deals for ourselves? Nope, we're in the class that gets the cuts.
Let's eat.
President Bush's disparaging remarks yesterday can be found in the headlines of the major cities around the world. This (in and of itself) works great and unexpected wonders as he and the people around him have very nicely legitimized the peace movement. Simple analysis would confirm that matters of irrelevancy simply present no reason for comment (not to mention formal comment with the full power of media at ones' disposal). This administration (in concert with British counterparts) have breathed beautiful life into a large and growing movement. We must seize the opportunities afforded. the nerves of arrogant and insecure leaders have been exposed the light of a common peaceful vision by many people who will not be dissuaded by a campaign of fear or efforts to influence public opinion by the dissemination filtered information to evoke false emotions. This phenomenon has moved the president to call for us to react with social conscience and should compel us to turn up the already searing hot heat as we advocate decency and peace.
Rarely do we receive such engraved invitations. I'm hungry, how about you? Let's eat.
Rarely do we receive such engraved invitations. I'm hungry, how about you? Let's eat.
"Globalization" and its malcontents
One of the big media buzzwords to emerge in recent years is
"globalization." By now, we're likely to know what it means. That's
unfortunate -- because at this point the word is so ambiguous that it
doesn't really mean much of anything.
News outlets have reported that key international pacts like NAFTA and the World Trade Organization gained U.S. approval during the 1990s because most politicians in Washington favor "globalization." According to conventional media wisdom, those globalizers want to promote unfettered communication and joint endeavors across national boundaries.
Well, not quite. These days, at the White House and on Capitol Hill, the same boosters of "globalization" are upset about certain types of global action -- such as the current grassroots movement against a war on Iraq.
For the most part, the same elected officials and media commentators who have applauded money-driven globalization are now appalled by the sight of anti-war globalization. The recent spectacle of millions of people demonstrating against war on the same day around the world was enough to cause apoplexy at the White House.
News outlets have reported that key international pacts like NAFTA and the World Trade Organization gained U.S. approval during the 1990s because most politicians in Washington favor "globalization." According to conventional media wisdom, those globalizers want to promote unfettered communication and joint endeavors across national boundaries.
Well, not quite. These days, at the White House and on Capitol Hill, the same boosters of "globalization" are upset about certain types of global action -- such as the current grassroots movement against a war on Iraq.
For the most part, the same elected officials and media commentators who have applauded money-driven globalization are now appalled by the sight of anti-war globalization. The recent spectacle of millions of people demonstrating against war on the same day around the world was enough to cause apoplexy at the White House.
Patriotic or Not?
AUSTIN, Texas -- Before we all work ourselves into such righteous snits we can't even talk to one another anymore, let's see what we can agree on. Wanting to get rid of Saddam Hussein does not make anyone a bloodthirsty monster or a tool of the oil companies. Being worried to death about the consequences of invading Iraq does not make anyone unpatriotic or in favor of Saddam Hussein.
Whether t'is better to kill the snake or leave the snake alone, that is one question. But the question we're stuck on now is whether there's a better choice. Some of us think containment can work, and the reason we think so is because it already has. More Iraqi weapons were destroyed by U.N. inspectors in the ‘90s than were destroyed by the Gulf War. Why not see if it will work this time? What about a U.N. resolution saying, "Any place Saddam Hussein doesn't let the inspectors go into gets bombed immediately"?
Whether t'is better to kill the snake or leave the snake alone, that is one question. But the question we're stuck on now is whether there's a better choice. Some of us think containment can work, and the reason we think so is because it already has. More Iraqi weapons were destroyed by U.N. inspectors in the ‘90s than were destroyed by the Gulf War. Why not see if it will work this time? What about a U.N. resolution saying, "Any place Saddam Hussein doesn't let the inspectors go into gets bombed immediately"?