28, June 2006 NYT editorial
Dear Editor,
I applaud your courageous editorial, June 28, 2006, defending your decision to publish the shadowy surveillance of bank data by this thoroughly discredited administration. The White House has repeatedly lied to the American people and has attempted to justify every egregious action by its ‘concern to protect the American people’ and slamming the media for exposing its illegal actions and misdeeds. Does anyone believe that Karl Rove, and his gang of neocon Swift Boaters would hesitate to use this sensitive information to advance the GOP’s political agenda? Have we so quickly forgotten the exposure of Valerie Plame, as a CIA operative by the White House? The outcome of the ’04 election might well have been different if The Times had not withheld publication of the government’s illegal anti-terror wiretapping. If only The Times had been more aggressive in challenging this administration, before the Iraq debacle, we might not be having this debate.
24, June 2006 Prisoner Abuse
The Pentagon in its relentless immoral crusade of abusing prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan has defended the practice of holding Iraqi detainees in tiny cells as “reasonable”. The cells measured "four feet high, four feet long and 20 inches wide" which makes it impossible for prisoners to stand up or lie down – a clear violation of the Geneva Convention. Once again the Pentagon reneged on its promise to treat prisoners humanely. The cells bore a striking resemblance to tiny cells in Auschwitz where prisoners were unable to stand up or lie down.
There can never be a favorable outcome of this immoral war – only revulsion and shame and anger at the president and his advisors who have used a web of deceit and fear to maintain their dwindling grip on power. This war is a sad testimony to our compliant media and our lawmakers who have been cowered by indecision and misguided patriotism. It is a pity the pro-life Republicans who want to ‘stay the course’ fail to ‘walk the walk’ by sending their sons and daughters to the killing fields of Iraq.
21, June 2006 Letter to Newsweek RE: Zarqawi
I am appalled by your coverage of the assassination of Zarqawi. You chose to omit the obvious fact this low level thug did not exist before we chose to unleash a war of terror on the hapless Iraqis. All Americans, with the possible exception of the brain dead 29% of Bush supporters, are convinced that we attacked Iraq without any provocation and are the unlawful occupiers of that country. You continue to offer Bush political cover instead of holding him accountable for his disastrous foreign policy debacles. You choose not to print graphic photographs of the dead and wounded – both Iraqis and American soldiers. Even the coffins of our fallen heroes are withheld from the US public. Yet, you do not hesitate to publish graphic photographs of Zarqawi. You claim that Zarqawi was killed by the 2-500 pound bombs. This fact was largely challenged by the international press which reported that Zarqawi survived the aerial attacks but was ‘kicked to death’ by US soldiers.
20, June 2006 Ethnic Cleansing after Katrina
Ethnic cleansing began in earnest immediately after Hurricane Katrina. A staggering 7,500 teachers were fired condemning them to a wasteland of denied medical coverage and pensions. The state-run school district has ceded control of many of the schools to private charter organizations with virtually no discussion on the planned curriculum.
The announcement by federal housing authorities to close more than 5,000 low income housing units will effectively cleanse the city of tens of thousands of predominately former black residents. The federal government’s action will result in the loss of 85% of its former public housing.
The overt racism which determines public policy was epitomized by the disgusting comment of Richard Baker, ten-year Republican from Baton Rouge who told lobbyists, “We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it. But God did.”
I urge readers to peruse Bill Quigley recent article on the website Counterpunch, “Bulldozing Hope, HUD to New Orleans’ Poor’ Go F(ind) Yourself (Housing)! . Bill Quigley is a law professor at Loyola University in New Orleans and director of the Law Clinic and Gillis Long Poverty Law Center at Loyola University.
15, June 2006 Karl Rove
The decision by special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, not to bring charges against Karl Rove comes as no surprise. The war on the freedom of the press and confidentially of news sources has been relentlessly pursued by draconian measures of intimidation. Confidential news sources and journalists are no longer willing to risk jail terms to report on the misdeeds and crimes of this administration. Does anybody still believe the public statements of President Bush who promised ‘zero tolerance’ and instant dismissal of any member of his staff who revealed the identity of covert CIA operator, Valerie Plame? It is sad that Fitzgerald buckled under White House pressure to allow Rove to escape a long jail term. Valerie Plame, her husband, Joseph Wilson, and millions of Americans must be bitterly disappointed at the injustice of our present system of justice.
5, June 2006 Geneva Convention Ignored
It is outrageous that at a time of world-wide criticism of our brutal treatment of prisoners, a key clause in the Geneva Convention which explicitly bans "humiliating and degrading treatment”, has been omitted from the Pentagon’s new detainee policy guidelines. The Pentagon is planning to issue a new Army Field Manual on interrogation techniques which will grant interrogators impunity if they violate the basic code of ethics included in the Geneva Convention. This flies in the face of the anti-torture measure Senator John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) submitted to Congress last year. "The rest of the world is completely convinced that we are busy torturing people," said Oona A. Hathaway, an expert in international law at Yale Law School. This will intensify the anger towards the U.S. and convince much of the world that we have degenerated into a lawless rogue state.
