contributions

By Grace Reid
We found the smoking bullet in the smoking gun of the Downing Street Memos, that being the massive pre-war bombing campaign intended to provoke Saddam into war. Now here is the “massive intelligence failure." Bush and Rumsfeld had the intelligence and it came from the Pentagon. But they failed to read it, and they failed to understand it. George Bush himself is the “massive intelligence failure.”
This following is one you can bank on. It is the Pentagon’s own Defence (…)

Recognizing that the people of the United States have turned dramatically against the war and occupation of Iraq, Bush went on national television tonight to defend his imperial foreign policy. He repeatedly invoked September 11 as a pretext for the criminal and illegal war against Iraq. Bush took to the airwaves tonight because the antiwar movement is growing in strength. Our power poses a major political obstacle to the continuation of the war and occupation. Now Bush has taken on the (…)

Symbol of a Failed Presidency:
The Bush Flag
Thanks to MichaelMoore.com for this heads-up.
Good to use at any neocon protest!

(CBS 5) President Bush spoke to the nation Tuesday night in an attempt to address many concerns about the war in Iraq.
But among those questioning U.S. policy are a number of Republicans.
"I don’t see a direction out of him in terms of where he’s trying to take the country," said Jeff Werolin, 44, a Republican and a real estate agent in Folsom.
Werolin voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004, but says the president’s message on the war has gotten muddy since November 2nd.
"I just (…)

by Wayne Besen
First, I want to say that in some respects I am an Andrew Sullivan fan. At his best, he is an articulate spokesperson and a brilliant writer. On more than one occasion, he has obliterated gay rights opponents on television, helping to advance our cause. As an openly gay man living with HIV, Sullivan has also accomplished the remarkable feat of starting a wildly popular Blog with a sizable conservative following. For this, he deserves nothing but respect and admiration. (…)

By Eric Silver in Jerusalem
A former Israeli soldier has been found guilty by a military court of shooting dead the British student Tom Hurndall while he acted as a human shield for Palestinian children amid gunfire in the Gaza Strip.
Anthony Hurndall, Tom’s father, welcomed the outcome, but said he was disappointed the Israeli judges had not investigated higher up the chain of command.
Tom, 22, a photography student, was shot in the head with a single round in April 2003. The three (…)

By Walden Bello* It was on the second day that I got the sense that things were coming together in a way akin to that whereby several climatic disturbances fuse to create what meteorologists have called the “perfect storm.”
It was probably the combination of eyewitness accounts that made clear beyond a shadow of doubt that the siege of Fallujah in November 2004 was a case of collective punishment; a damning expose of how the so-called reconstruction of Iraq was actually meant to (…)

by Apian
There’s been a lot of reckoning about the cost of Bush’s illegal war in Iraq. That’s right, as of two days ago, when the public withdrew support for Mr. Bush’s war (not President Bush, as he stole that, too) More than 50% of the population says that it was Mr. Bush who provoked Saddam into war. More than 50% of the population do not support him. This should be an interesting night.
When reckoning the cost of the illegal war in Iraq, we count 1,700 US killed in action, more (…)

Tonight at Fort Bragg, in front of a backdrop of American service members, President Bush will tell the nation that victory is at hand, as long as we stay the course. Add a banner praising a job well-done and an aircraft carrier, and this all begins to seem eerily familiar.
But the men and women of the American military have had enough of what’s familiar from this administration. For us there is no alternative but to serve when called, as we have in Iraq for the past two years.
Mr. (…)

Kucinich: It Is Time To Begin Troop Withdrawal "Mission Accomplished" Again? Over 1,600 Troops Have Died Since Last Time President Addressed The Nation In Prime Time In Front Of Troops
In advance of the President’s prime time address to the nation, Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) issued the following statement:
"The President is misleading us. After over 1,700 deaths, over 12,000 wounded, and over $200 billion spent, we must begin the process of bringing our troops home.
"At some (…)