Semantics used to soften the horrors of war and occupation 12-28-2005

December 28, 2005         Semantics used to soften the horrors of war and occupation

We are fast becoming a nation of drones where money and political power is transforming our lives. Newspaper editors and writers are under increasing pressure to use a PC lexicon to describe current events. Those who resist these pressures and attempt to maintain their traditional role as watch dogs of democracy often suffer the wrath of their corporate advertisers or the power brokers in Washington.  For example, the term illegal Jewish settlements has been replaced by the softer term, ‘settlements’, or ‘disputed settlements’ or ‘outposts’ by a directive from Colin Powell, in 2001, under pressure from the Jewish lobby.  The apartheid wall separating the West Bank from ‘greater Israel’ is now referred to as a ‘fence’. The language of the Iraq war and rules of engagement, conceived by the second pro-consul, Paul Bremer, was obediently followed by most of the US media.  Great care was taken to exclude the graphic images of the ‘shock and awe’ aerial attacks to minimize public outrage. Hidden from the American public were the US flag draped coffins and wounded American troops.

Iraqis who resisted the illegal invasion were demonized as terrorists, rebels, remnants of the former regime or simply the ‘bad guys’. Writers, or commentators who attempted to travel along the ‘road less traveled’ often suffered the ultimate fate. The semantic effect of this journalistic obfuscation is to sanitize the insane horrors of war and blunt public opposition to actions which violate the basic tenets of all great religions and basic human decency.

Senator Lieberman 12-13-2005

13, December 2005                Senator Lieberman should resign   

                                              

Senator Lieberman’s stubborn defense of President Bush’s disastrous Iraq adventure defies credulity. Lieberman has disgraced his elected office and performed a grave disservice to his Connecticut constituents and the Democratic party. This ‘closet Republican’ is so aligned with the core anti-democratic beliefs of the Bush White House that he should resign. He has deceived his Connecticut voters by masquerading as a Democratic when he espouses a Republican platform. He has undermined his party’s right to vigorously dissent over Bush’s Iraq policy and thereby is a continuous embarrassment and liability to his party.

Israel 12-12-2005

12, December 2005                Israel

In a stunning turnaround in policy, the Pentagon-commissioned study released in November 2005, suggested a welcome new approach to nuclear proliferation which might well be acceptable to all the warring factions in the Middle East. The study exposed the dark secret, largely hidden from the US public, of Israel's huge stockpile of WMD's. The study recommended the urgent need to dismantle Israel's stockpile of such weapons rather than focusing solely on pressuring Iran and other Middle Eastern countries from developing nuclear weapon capabilities.

As the sole nation which has exercised the destructive powers of these terrifying weapons we are morally and duty bound to limit their use and production. Israel is reported to possess a stockpile of WMD's including well over 100 nuclear, chemical and biological warheads. An interesting historical footnote was the ability of Israel to hide these illegal WMD's from U.S. inspectors in 1962 by building a false wall at its Dimona's generating plant. The Pentagon's authors which include retired Brig. Gen. Shlomo Brom and Patrick Clawson, deputy director of the pro-Israeli Washington Institute for Near East Policy deserve credit for their common-sense recommendations. Persuading Israel to dismantle its huge stockpile of WMD's and signing the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty would go a long way to defusing tensions in the Middle East and raise U.S. stature as an honest broker in the Middle East.

Torture & Mayhem 12-4-2005

4, December 2005                  Torture & Mayhem

Recently, a former U.S. Army interrogator Specialist Tony Lagouranis, talked about his involvement with abusing detainees in Iraq and torture carried out by the Navy Seals. The harsh interrogation techniques including the use of dogs, sleep deprivation, prolonged isolation and dietary manipulation. Navy SEALS induced hypothermia by using ice water to lower the body temperature of prisoners. They would often invade homes and torture residents in front of family members. This included breaking bones and causing excruciating pain with no real concern with establishing their guilt.  Lagouranis estimates the vast majority of those incarcerated or randomly selected, were innocent and the abuse occurred to provide Pentagon policy makers with bogus statistics to blunt war critics.  Lagouranis describes  a human grave yard in Fallujah consisting of hundreds of men,

women and children who had been lying in the streets for days and had been "eaten by dogs and birds and maggots."

Lagouranis confirmed what Senator McCain and others have claimed, namely the brutal torture of prisoners did not illicit any useful information and occasionally produced completely false information which was used to manipulate lawmakers and the American public. 

In the growing scandal of torture and mayhem in Iraq, we now learn of the existence of death squads within the Shiite police and special commandos.

I urge readers to express their outrage. We must halt these crimes against humanity. 

Jose Padilla 11-26-2005

26, November                                    Jose Padilla               

Once again the Bush cabal has demonstrated its complete contempt for the law and the basic right of due process, driving another stake into our cherished freedoms.

Jose Padilla a U.S. citizen has been charged as a trained terrorist and accused of making a ‘dirty bomb’ after returning from a visit to Pakistan. He has been incarcerated in a Navy brig for three long years without access to his family or lawyer. These charges have been suddenly dropped, and new, unsubstantiated charges have been filed. Attorney General Gonzales refused to discuss the earlier allegations in the indictment.

This latest maneuver is an obvious attempt by the administration to avoid a showdown with the Supreme Court. Retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor clarified the law in stark terms, “A state of war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation’s citizens.”

Law professor Eric Freedman said the Padilla indictment was an effort by the administration “to avoid an adverse decision of the Supreme Court.”

Jerry Martinez, a Stanford Law professor expressed a similar opinion. The government case is extremely weak and is based in double or triple hearsay evidence. 

As a US citizen Jose Padilla is entitled to his day in court, and the charges should remain as before. Failure to make a strong stand will create an extremely bad precedent for all Americans by granting unfettered powers to the president, in complete violation of the Constitution. 

Bush’s Speech 9-17-2005

17, September 2005               Bush’s Speech           

Bush’s speech to the nation last Thursday was a disappointing spectacle aimed at saving his beleaguered presidency and buttressing his declining approval ratings. The speed and efficiently of Karl Rove’s ‘makeover ‘image team, that offered the president a backdrop for his speech, was a sharp contrast to the glacial speed of the FEMA bureaucrats responsible for the Katrina relief efforts.

Bush’s tardy and disorganized performance to Katrina was eerily similar to his September 11 response exposing his complete lack of leadership qualities. There is little doubt that ‘no bid’ contracts will be offered to the well-connected Republican corporate benefactors who will return the favor by opening up their purse strings at election time to ensure the process of mutual enrichment continues.  Lucrative contracts have already been awarded to Halliburton, Bechtel and Flour Daniels, totally oblivious of the massive accounting fraud already perpetrated against US taxpayers in their virtual rebuilding efforts in Iraq. Billions of dollars will be squandered, with little oversight and when the dust settles, the poor and impoverished will be forgotten and invisible, the corporate robber barons will become richer and an enormous debt will be bequeathed to our children and the yet unborn.

Gaza Evacuation 8-17-2005

17, August 2005                                 Gaza Evacuation

We Americans must share the blame for the fiasco masquerading as US Middle East policy. We have funded Israel's occupation, colonization of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem and must therefore share the responsibility of aiding and abetting the enormous repression and suffering of the Palestinians. American Jews and the former settlers of Gaza should vent their anger and outrage against the Israeli government and Ariel Sharon, the undisputed architect of these illegal settlements. Since the inception of Israel in 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from their land and thousands of acres expropriated for the exclusive use of Israel's Jewish citizens.

Israeli historians, Israeli Human rights organizations and leading Israeli journalist, Amira Mass, have been highly critical of Israel's apartheid policy of ethnic cleansing. Consider one example of such a disparity. A majority of the Jewish settlers have accepted a compensation package - between $150,000 to $400,000 - from the Israeli government in return for leaving Gaza. In addition, they are reimbursed removal expenses and receive 2 years free rent! By contrast the thousands of Palestinians working for the settlers will receive nothing. Israel is seeking an additional $2 billion dollars in more aid to help defray operating costs to vacate the Gaza Strip which was seized illegally! While much of the world focuses on the evacuation of the Gaza Strip, Israel continues to build more settlements in the West Bank and is expropriating more Palestinian land to construct the apartheid wall. Such actions tarnish the image of the Jewish faith which is supposedly  based on truth, peace and justice for all.

Israel 8-3-2005

3, August 2005                        Response to local letter RE: Israel

It is a pity that Shree Roth (Daily Tuesday August 2) failed to digest the premise of my letter regarding reparations for actions violating basic human rights. Roth's blinkered vision of the Middle East betrays her obvious bias. Roth fails to condemn the polices of the Bush administration which has caused so much suffering to the Iraqi people. The 'shock and awe' campaign based on 'cooked intelligence' has resulted in tens of thousands of Iraqi fatalities and over 1800 US soldiers. We attacked a sovereign state who posed no threat to us and we are therefore morally responsible to compensate the Iraqis for loss of life and property. Has Roth ignored our own history? Our ancestors were the enemy combatants or insurgents repelling the imperial armies of the British.

My original letter asked the Muslim community to unequivocally condemn the actions of the suicide bombers and offer to pay reparations to the families of the victims. Roth may not be aware that a disproportionate number of Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army. International and Israeli human rights groups have condemned such killings. Should not the families of all victims be compensated? Killing innocent civilians can never be justified and must be universally condemned. These are crimes against humanity and violate the basic tenets all religious faiths.

Israel undermining the PA 8-1-2005

1, August 2005                       Israel undermining the PA

It has patently evident to the most doubting Thomas that Ariel Sharon is hoping that the Palestinian Authority (PA) and President Mahmoud Abbas will implode following the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Sharon has made every effort to undermine Abbas’s PA and prevent it becoming a potent force to maintain law and order and thus serve as a reason to continue to maintain check points, and persecution of the Palestinians. Consider the facts. The PA was destroyed by the Israeli military three years ago and ceased to function as a stabilizing force to maintain law and order. Currently it is ill-equipped and under-armed and is in desperate need to have its security equipment upgraded. The US government has finally acknowledged this dire need and appointed Lt. General William Ward to coordinate the overhaul of PA’s arms and equipment. Predictably, the Israeli government has prevented the importation of new armed vehicles and a fresh supply of arms. This is yet another shameful example of the ‘the tail wagging the dog’ to ensure the PA fails in its mission thereby allowing Israel to continue its oppression of the Palestinian people and theft of its land and resources.

Isreal 7-11-2005

11, July 2005                          Israel

Once again Israel has demonstrated its callous disregard for the legitimate rights of the Palestinians. Israel has now admitted that its separation barrier in Jerusalem will cut off a staggering 55,000 Palestinians - about a quarter of the city's Arab

population from the rest of the city. More illegal settlements are planned in the West Bank The Israeli announcement came a year and a day after the International Court of Justice at The Hague ruled that the separation barrier inside the West Bank violated international law. It is tragic that US taxpayers continue to support Israel's land theft and ethnic cleansing by funding illegal settlements, construction of the separation wall and arms shipments which have been used to subjugate the Palestinians. Israel continues to be the largest recipient of US aid. Last year, it received $2.3 billion in military aid and $500 million in economic assistance. According to the Israeli embassy, Israel has received $100 billion since its founding in 1948. The Israeli government has now made an additional request for the costs incurred for resettling the illegal squatters in the Gaza Strip.

The new Israeli request is in addition to the regular annual assistance provided by Washington. It is time for US taxpayers to be heard. This continuous largesse cannot be tolerated. The blatant US partiality towards Israel is fueling much of the rage and frustration of the Palestinians and exposes the  hypocrisy of the US Middle East policy. Peace will never reign until the legitimate rights of the Palestinians has been realized.

Israel’s Apartheid Wall 7-7-2005

7 July, 2005                  Israel’s Apartheid Wall

Once again Israel has demonstrated its callous disregard for the legitimate rights of the Palestinians. Israel has now admitted that its apartheid wall will cut off a staggering 55,000 Palestinians - about a quarter of the city's Arab population . from the rest of the city. More illegal settlements are planned in the West Bank The Israeli announcement came a year and a day after the International Court of Justice at The Hague ruled that the separation barrier inside the West Bank violated international law.

It is tragic that US taxpayers continue to support Israel’s land theft by funding illegal settlements, construction of the separation wall and arms shipments which have been used to subjugate the Palestinians. Israel continues to be the largest recipient of US aid. Last year, it received $2.3 billion in military aid and $500 million in economic assistance. According to the Israeli embassy, Israel has received $100 billion since its founding in 1948. The Israeli government has now made an additional request for the costs incurred for resettling the illegal squatters in the Gaza Strip.

The new Israeli request is in addition to the regular annual assistance provided by Washington.

It is time for US taxpayers to be heard. This continuous largesse cannot be tolerated. The blatant US partiality towards Israel is fueling much of the rage and frustration of the Palestinians and exposes the   hypocrisy of the US Middle East policy. Peace will never reign until the legitimate rights of the Palestinians have been granted. 

Sale of F16’s to Pakistan 6-11-2005

11 June, 2005                         Sale of F16’s to Pakistan

I am pleased to make an exception to my usual diatribe against Indian politicians. Jaswant Singh deserves credit for his harsh criticism of the U.S. decision to supply arms to Pakistan, a country that can hardly lay claim to being a pillar of democracy and freedom. What is surprising is the deafening silence of the vast population of Indo- Americans in opposing the planned sale to Pakistan of F-16 fighter jets capable of delivering nuclear war heads. How many of your readers are more interested in the obscene profits of Halliburton, Bechtel and Lockheed Martin than creating a world order based on peace and justice? Surely, the message of our religious masters is to revere and protect all of his people - especially the voiceless and powerless. The grand duchess of the imperial empire, Condi Rice clarified the core of American foreign policy in stark terms -"to promote American interests (code language for corporate interests)".

The timing of such a sale could not have come at a worse time. Just as India and Pakistan are tip toeing to a period of rapprochement and lowering tensions, the decision is certain to escalate tensions and reignite the arms race. Consider the facts: the U.S. invades Iraq, a country that didn't possess WMD's and had no alliance to Al Qaeda and rewards Pakistan, after Islamabad admitted that Pakistani nuclear weapons trafficker Abdul Wader Khan — the father of his nation's nuclear bomb — provided Iran and Libya with the centrifuges essential to such a program. This make a mockery of U.S. claims that it opposes nuclear proliferation. Now, Lockheed Martin has been saved from certain closure of its F-16 production line by the White House decision to lift the arms embargo on Pakistan. The decision, overrides a 1990 embargo put in place by Bush senior, to punish Pakistan's development of a nuclear arsenal. This decision seems particularly hypocritical at a time when the U.S. scolded European nations for considering lifting their arms embargo on China. Such is the morality of nations driven by corporate profits rather than the sanctity of human life.

The misdeeds of this administration has had a predictable impact on Bush's approval rating. In the latest AP-Imposes poll Bush's approval rating plummeted to a low 43%.   The noose seems to be tightening. We don't need a 'deep throat' to provide a 'smoking gun' to expose the pre-meditative illegal war on Iraq. The recently published Downing Street memo offers conclusive proof that this administration 'cooked' the evidence to justify this anti-Christ crusade against Iraq. I urge concerned readers to contact their senators and demand a full investigation into high crimes and misdemeanors committed by this administration. Finally, I urge Indo-American Republicans to burn your 'draft cards'. The choice is simple. Either you are with God or against him!

Israel 5-26-2005

26, May 2005             Response to local letter RE: Israel

Shree Roth letter (Daily 24 May) is replete with inaccuracies.

According to Donald Neff, Israel has violated scores of U.N resolutions pertaining to the human rights of the Palestinians, including deportations, demolition of thousands of homes, collective punishments, torture and assassinations and the wholesale theft of land in the establishment of illegal settlements - and its refusal to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention. To compound to the suffering of the Palestinians, is the establishment of checkpoints which has converted the remaining splintered, non-contiguous land into small prisons. Contrast the appalling living conditions of the Palestinians with the ultra-modern housing complexes of the illegal Jewish squatters - paid for by the largesse of US taxpayers!

Contrary to Roth's contention, the Palestinians living in Israel are treated as second class citizens and do not enjoy the same rights as Jews. Roth may not be aware that all Palestinians are not Muslim - many are Christians!

Roth states that 800,00 Jews were robbed and expelled from 10 Muslim lands. Perhaps, Roth could validate the source of this information. Roth is correct in criticizing many of the despotic rulers of the Arab world (all 'friends' of the current and prior US administrations) for the treatment of minorities and indeed their own people.

The Israeli government and military receives $15,139,178 every day. Contrast that with $232,290 received from USAID to Palestinian NGO's (source Richard Curtiss). It is time to put a stop payment on all further aid to Israel!

Friedman's op-ed 5-22-2005

22, May 2005             Sent to NYT in response to Friedman's op-ed piece:

Thomas Friedman's op-ed piece (18, May) offers a qualified condemnation of U.S. interrogators for desecration of the Koran but reserves most of his column castigating Muslim nations for their silence in the mayhem caused by suicide bombers. In the interest of fairness and balance, Friedman and other writers must share the blame for their failure to challenge the US Administration in the events leading up to the disastrous and immoral war in Iraq and their deafening silence of the inhumane treatment of the Palestinians. The seething rage of people whose country has occupied, its people killed, wounded and tortured, and its resources stolen, has produced a predictable response. Nothing will change until media pundits like Friedman and others inoculate themselves with mega doses of a truth serum and cease serving as apologists for the US government.

Torture – Official US policy 3-31-2005

31, March 2005                                 Torture – Official US policy

It is gratifying that more and more Americans are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the failed policies of the Bush Administration. Bush's approval rating has plummeted following the social security 'dog and pony' show which exposed the ill-conceived scheme of 'private accounts'. It is also gratifying to witness the courts stiffening their collective spines and resisting unwelcome interference from the White House and Congress in their unanimous decision to allow Terri Schiabo's feeding tube to be disconnected. Mercifully, the judicial branch of government seems to be functioning, while the executive and legislative branches of government have morphed into a plutocracy, beholden to the special interests of their benefactors who dispatch their powerful lobbyists who stalk the corridors of power and demand their 'quoits' after donating their 'quids'.

The Pentagon, the Justice Department and the White House are desperately trying to distance themselves from the growing scandal of prisoner abuse. Detainees have been killed, tortured, sexually humiliated in a systematic pattern of abuse. Courageous judges have admonished the Administration and the Department of Justice and ruled that such detainees must be afforded due process. Attempts to evade the watchful eyes of the courts, have resulted in the system of rendition whereby targeted individuals are kidnaped 'mafia' style and sent to countries such as Egypt and Syria to be interrogated and often tortured.

The smoking gun, linking prisoner abuse to the policy makers in the White House and the Pentagon, has now been exposed by the ACLU who obtained a copy of September 2003 memo by Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez who approved the use of guard dogs to scare detainees in an effort to exploit what Sanchez described as the "Arab fear of dogs." Sanchez also permitted interrogators to put prisoners in potentially painful bodily positions to try to force them to talk. Sanchez was the top commander in Iraq at the time U.S. soldiers abused Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib.

This should dispel any lingering doubts that torture is official US policy.

I urge Indo-Americans to contact their elected representatives and demand an immediate halt to the abuse of detainees and the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate these gross violations of international law and the Geneva Convention.

Media reporting of the Iraq war 3-19-2005

19, March 2005                           Media reporting of the Iraq war

Wanted 'Courageous reporter willing to travel to war zones to gather raw, unvarnished news to the American public. Urgently need material to serve as a counter-spin to imbedded reporting and VNR's. High risk, low pay!'

How many brave hearts would respond to such a tantalizing offer?   Sadly, It seems like an iron curtain has descended on independent media reporting. This trend threatens the very democracy that we all claim to cherish and for which wars were fought and tyrannical rulers overthrown. The anonymity of reporters' sources is also under grave threat. Consider the case of New York Times a Pulitzer prize reporter, Judith Miller, who is facing a jail term for refusing to reveal her news source in the Valerie Plame expose' as a CIA undercover operative. Ironically the real villains in this sad episode were reporter, Robert Novak who blew Ms. Plame's cover and an unnamed source (guess who?) from the White House. Many reporters are now loathe to criticize the US Administration lest they meet the same fate as Dan Rather, whose illustrious career was tarnished by a forged document allegedly planted by the same 'Darth Vader' of the White House.

Reports from Iraq, dispatched by 'imbedded reporters' are often edited, embellished versions of power-point presentations given by the PR field commanders, who invariably offer a sunny and rosy picture of the war. A carefully crafted lexicon of terms, such as 'Iraqi Freedom, democratization of Iraq' convey a false picture of US intentions. If the stated goals of withdrawing coalition forces from Iraq are to be believed why would the US build the largest embassy in the world and why are so many US bases being built with such haste, while the civilian population continues to suffer from lack of basic amenities such as electricity, clean water and security?

Our democracy and unimpeded access to reliable TV network news has been further compromised by the advent of pre-packaged TV segments that has been masquerading as real news on our local stations. These Video News Releases (VNR's) have been prepared by Public Relations Firms under contract with major federal agencies to put a positive spin on government policy decisions - all paid for by our tax dollars. It is appalling that the major TV networks are willing participants to this charade to mislead the American people.

At least 20 federal agencies, including the departments of Transportation and the Pentagon have used VNR's to advance their agenda and blunt any opposition to their policies. These pervasive actions by the government must be vigorously opposed by the American people. Failure to do so will be the death knell of a free, independent and reliable source of news. I urge readers to call their local TV stations and their elected representatives and demand a halt to this insidious, crude form of covert propaganda. Finally, I urge Indo-Americans to resist the siren song of 'wonderful career opportunities' espoused by the aggressive ROTC sharks lurking in hallways of college campuses.

Get a copy of Harper's magazine which details the utter dehumanizing, merciless abuse of Iraqi prisoners and dramatic increase of US soldiers going AWOL.   

Terri Schiavo – a wakeup call for Indo-Americans 3-7-2005

7, March 2005                    Terri Schiavo – a wakeup call for Indo-Americans

Media attention on the fading life of Terri Schiavo should be a wake-up call for many Indo-Americans who have not yet prepared and signed a "Living Will" or "Health Care Directive" to make their last wishes known to their loved ones. A number of Web-based services, such as Legal-Zoom, makes it relatively easy to create your own online documents. If Ms. Schiavo had prepared such a document, she could have died with dignity and away from the media spotlight.

Sadly, the Republicans are capitalizing on the raw human emotions surrounding the tragedy of Terri Schiavo's to advance their political agenda and pander to the religious right. This is reminiscent of the exploitation of the human tragedy of 9/11 to justify the disastrous, unlawful attack on Iraq.

These intrusions in the private life of Terri Schiavo are driven by ideological dogma and not humanitarian concerns. These same lawmakers did not hesitate to send 1500 plus US soldiers to their graves and thousands more condemned to a life of pain from physical and psychological war injuries. Over 1,000,000 innocent Iraqi victims civilian have perished and many more continue to languish in prisons or have been brutally treated or killed by sadistic prison guards. It is cruelly ironic that the bio-ethics committee that made the decision to withdraw Tern's feeding tube were following the 'right-to-die' law Bush signed as Texas governor!

President Bush has now reversed his earlier position to demonstrate his 'reverence to the preservation of life' once again placing political expediency over principle, the hallmark of this administration. Forgotten also, are the 152 inmates who were executed during Bush's tenure as governor of Texas. The following memo uncovered by ABC sent to Republican Senators - "The pro-life base will be excited...this is a great political issue...this is a tough issue for Democrats" - should dispel any lingering doubts of the real agenda of Bush, DeLay, Frisk and others. It is gratifying to see Bush's approval rating plummet as more and more Americans witness the shameless policies of this Administration. Even the most ardent Indo-Americans Republicans supporters are perplexed and outraged over the recent announcement of the sale of F16 fighters to Pakistan, a plane capable of carrying nuclear weapons. Pakistan is now being rewarded for selling nuclear bomb making secrets to nations who have a disdain for the international rule of law and democracy. Apparently, the financial health and profits of Lockheed Marietta is more important than the security of India.

The Iraq Election 2-8-2005

8, February 2005                        The Iraq Election

The White House script writers have been busy rewriting the block buster movie. 'The overthrow of Saddam Hussein'. The WMD plot proved to be bogus, after a fruitless search squandering tens of millions of tax dollars.

Never mind that 1400 young American soldiers have died and over 100.000 Iraq civilians have perished. Over 8.000 Iraqis are languishing in prisons, many brutally tortured, a despicable practice approved by a nod and wink from the White House and the Pentagon. Never mind that over that nearly one quarter of a trillion dollars has been squandered on this misadventure. This is a war of occupation to liberate the Iraqis of their most precious commodity - oil.

Paul Bremer. the former 'czar of Iraq', issued a number of proclamations prior to his departure, ceding control and ownership of much of Iraq's future wealth to US corporations. Also included, were tight legal provisions granting immunity from prosecution for military and corporate wrongdoing - for the next 40 years (order #'s 17 & 100)! Thus, the ongoing raping and pillaging of Iraqi resources is all but assured. Sadly, our troops will not be returning any time soon.

I would respectfully urge readers who were so vociferous in their admiration and support for President Bush to look beyond the rhetoric and examine the shameless, undemocratic polices of this administration.

Bush's Inauguration speech 2-1-2005

1, February 2005                              Bush's Inauguration speech

It is baffling to understand the psyche of Indo Republicans who gushed over President Bush's inauguration speech (I-Abroad, January 28) desperately trying to find the right superlatives -"incredible, fantastic, awesome" - who were so moved by Bush's visions of spreading freedom and democracy. Are we Indians still carrying the burden of a conquered nation? Have we not yet jettisoned the ghost of British colonialism? How can so many intelligent medical doctors - who have reached the zenith of their respective medical specialties - be so naive. Dr. Zachariah and many of his elk have donated millions to the Republican Party who have repeatedly demonstrated their religious intolerance and duplicity in retaining the reins of power. Why does a coveted seat close to the president have such appeal? Have we forgotten George Bush's famous proclamation that Jesus Christ was his favorite philosopher? Would Jesus condone mendacity and the appalling abuse of Iraqi prisoners and detainees at Guantanamo Bay? Would Jesus approve of the 'shock and awe' destruction of Iraq and the death of 1,000,000 of its citizens? Why are we so vocal in our denunciation of the despicable crimes of Saddam Hussein but remain silent to the crimes committed by the Bush Administration and coalition forces in Iraq, and Afghanistan?

Bush used so much biblical, evangelical rhetoric in his campaigning and inauguration speech that one may have thought he was trying to upstart Reverend Billy Graham! The Christian Right and the Bush political machine are in tight embrace. This does not bode well for people of other faiths. The faith-based initiatives (FBI's) have disproportionately directed large sums of federal dollars to fund Christian institutions under the guise of supporting social programs, with virtually no oversight.

Remember Bob Jones, president of Bob Jones University letter to President Bush, ".. .God has graciously granted America a reprieve from paganism, " - urging Bush to pass legislation and appoint judges to conform to biblical norms!"

It is cruelly ironic that Bush's speech was replete with visions of freedom and liberty while so many Muslim men in the US, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay languish behind bars denied legal representation and are brutally tortured by their captors - in clear violation of international law.

There is joy and relief in the White House because Iraq held its first free election but regrettably this is a fig leaf to justify the illegal occupation of Iraq. Forgotten are the 1,400 of America troops that have died and thousands upon thousands of our troops that have been maimed. Nearly one-quarter of a trillion dollars of our tax money has been poured into this sink hole called the "war of liberation." The grand design to rob Iraq of her precious oil resources has failed. President Bush and his cultist band of neo-conservatives have committed crimes against humanity and must be held responsible.

Paul Bremer, the former 'czar of Iraq', issued a litany of proclamations prior to his departure, ceding control and ownership of much of Iraq's future wealth to US corporations. Also included, were tight legal provisions granting immunity from prosecution for military and corporate wrong doing for the next 40 years.  The Center for Public Integrity has maintained an excellent set of data tracking these provisions and the ongoing malfeasance of US corporations. Thus, the ongoing raping and pillaging of Iraqi resources is all but assured. Failure of US corporations to employ local Iraqis in the reconstruction projects has contributed to the extremely high unemployment rate of 70%. No spare parts were allowed to be imported from countries that did not support the war contributing to the dramatic increase in reconstruction costs. I would respectfully urge all the good doctors who were so vociferous in their admiration and support for President Bush to look beyond the rhetoric and examine the shameless, undemocratic polices of this administration.

Killing of Palestinian Children by Israel 1-10-2005

10, January 2005                Killing of Palestinian Children by Israel

The killing of seven young Palestinian children in a strawberry field by Israeli tank fire is the latest transgression by Israel. Predictably, there was no apology from the Israeli army and no condemnation by the US Administration in mortal fear of offending the strong Jewish lobby. Failure to censure Israel by our lawmakers and the White House, is stark evidence of a blatant partiality towards Israel that is a major obstacle to establishing peace in the Middle East. The much touted ‘road map’ has been a colossal failure. The slaughter of civilians, Israelis and Palestinians, must be vigorously condemned.

It is tragic that Israel, aided and abetted by military and economic aid supplied from the U.S., has coopted its great religion by its brutal occupation, theft of Palestinian land and resources. Land theft is a clear violation of Article 4 of the Geneva Convention. The savage brutality of the Israeli military has been documented by Israel’s leading civil rights group, ACRI. Palestinians have been driven from their homes and large swaths of land has been stolen to construct illegal settlements in defiance of international law and UN sanctions. Ethnic cleansing continues with the construction of Sharon’s apartheid wall which will further isolate Palestinians into smaller enclaves. House demolitions, arbitrary arrests, torture and assassinations, wanton destruction of crops and olive groves, curfews, are the order of the day. Chris Hedges, of the New York Times, reported on the ghoulish Israeli military practice of murdering Palestinian children for sport.

Genocide, “the systematic killing or program of action intended to destroy a whole nation or ethnic group”, seems to be an appropriate word to describe the actions of the Israeli military.

It is especially troublesome that any criticism of the brutal actions of Israel is interpreted as anti-Semitic. Those who attempt to silence the critics must accept responsibility for the increasing isolation of Israel and its pariah status in the international community. 

Bush 1-7-2005

7, January 2005         Response to local letter RE Bush

Permit me to respond to Vishwas More's, letter I-West, December 31. Mr. More errs in his belief that the majority of Americans support the polices of Mr. Bush. Mr. Bush won the election because the White House launched a relentless war of misinformation, character assassination, sound bites, and received unstinting support from the Christian coalition who coopted their faith by launching a phony campaign of 'family values'. Tragically, the powerful corporate media failed to hold the administration accountable for its failed policies under the misguided notion that to do so would be unpatriotic in a time of war.

The White House swat team of Karl Rove excelled in protecting their leader and deflecting criticism from his embarrassing public statements and disastrous press conferences (do a Google search on Bussism’s!). By far the most egregious policy decision of the Bush Administration, that dwarfs all others, was the decision to launch a preemptive strike on Iraq. The Bush White House neocons would have us believe that U.S. involvement in Iraq is part of a "global war on terrorism" in response to the Sept. 11 attacks ignoring the fact that Iraq had nothing to do with the attacks but has instead galvanized and energized the anti-American factions of Islam. Does Mr. More really believe that Iraqis who oppose the U.S. occupation 'hate freedom' as Mr. Bush contends? Or, perhaps our young men and women are dying on Iraqi soil to usher in freedom and democracy? This hasty action by an inept and incompetent president is by far the most disastrous foreign policy decision since the Vietnam war.

The has been confirmed unequivocally by the Defense Science Board on Strategic Communications, a 40 member task force made up of diplomatic, military, academic and business experts which advises the Pentagon on defense issues. Last September the panel issued a blistering report stating that "American efforts have not only failed" in the war of ideas or the struggle for the hearts and minds of the Iraqis, "they may have achieved the opposite of what they intended." Tragically, young American soldiers and large numbers of Iraqis will continue to die because an admission of a failed policy is anathema to Mr. Bush and his neocon advisers. Captured US prisoners can expect little mercy from their captors as the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, this 'good and decent man' as Mr. Bush describes him, has now approved aggressive new prisoner interrogation techniques which are tantamount to torture and a clear violation of the Geneva Convention. Day by day we seem to be mimicking the despicable behavior of Saddam Hussein! Compounding these failed policies, is the attack on civil liberties under the guise of the Patriot Act. Rest assured this resolute president is planning to further stifle political dissent. The much revered U.S Constitution is heading for the shredder! Finally, Mr. More is correct when he contends that Mr. Bush offers a clear vision, albeit a disastrous one -assault on our environment, social security and a road map 'hands off Middle Eastern policy that rewards the Israeli government for its continued repression of the Palestinian people. Sadly, I do not share Mr. More's optimistic vision of the future.

Pat Robertson 1-7-2005

7, January 2005 Pat Robertson

It is time Pat Robertson ceded to McCain’s anti-torture amendment by refraining from inflicting his brand of cruel, inhumane, degrading and hateful messages to his “700 Club television audience. Even his evangelical leaders were incensed by Robertson’s latest ‘God message’, that Ariel Sharon had suffered a massive stroke because God (the creator of all that is) had a particular fixation for the Gaza Strip and West Bank and was unhappy that a sliver of land had been ceded to the rightful owners from whom it was stolen, namely the Palestinians. Hard to believe that an all loving, creator should be so vengeful.

Earlier, Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, then in November he warned the people of Dover that it risked God’s wrath because voters had recalled conservative board members who favored teaching “intelligent design”. 

Sadly, the troubled, misguided Robertson is not alone in his unyielding support to Israel. A number of conservative Christian groups have become supporters of Israel because they believe a fully restored Jewish nation in the Holy’ Land is a precursor to the second coming of Christ. I wonder if Jesus would approve of the enormous suffering of the Palestinians displaced from their former homes  – all in an effort to prepare for his second coming.
I think it is time for Pat Robertson and his ilk to go back to Bible reading 101!