Fw: Hold the Bush Administration Accountable

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Cameron McLaughlin

To: cwolman@mcn.org

Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 5:03 PM

Subject: Fwd: Help Hold the Bush Administration Accountable for Their Crimes

From: "PeopleJudgeBush.org" <actioncenter@action-mail.org>
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Help Hold the Bush Administration Accountable for Their Crimes

Only a Peoples' Movement Can Stop this Criminal War!

---

Global Condemnatation of  a Criminal Regime

U.S. violations of international law have become so outrageous and widespread that even  mainstream organizations, including Amnesty International, International Comittee of the Red Cross, and Physicians for Human Rights have issued statements condemning the Bush Administration's lawlessness.

In addition, representatives of the media worldwide, including CNN, BBC,  the Newspaper Guild, and widely respected organizations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders  have spoken out against the military's attempt to silence coverage of war crimes by political pressure and by directly targeting journalists.

The U.S. - A Rogue State

According to a 308-page report issued last week by Amnesty International, the U.S. is "thumbing its nose at the rule of law," by engaging in torture, abuse, and illegal detentions. 

More than a year ago, grisly pictures of the torture chambers of Abu Ghraib came to light, sparking justifiable outrage, particularly throughout the Arab world.  The Pentagon reponded by banning cell phone cameras which had been used to photograph the abuse.  They then selected a few low-ranking soldiers to punish for executing policies that we now know originated in the Washington, DC.  Alberto Gonzales who drafted the memo advising the President that he was not bound by international law was subsequently promoted to Attorney General. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld approved many of the interrrogation techniques used in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and Bagram Prison.

A year after the Abu Ghraib photographs exposed the real character and intent of U.S. occupation, the conditions and apparatus remain in place for torture, abuse, and illegal detentions.  While the Pentagon is engaging in a public relations campaign to convince the public that these crimes are the actions of a few "bad apples," tens of thousands of detainees in U.S. prison camps in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, and secret locations elsewhere remain in brutal and inhumane conditions.

Evidence of torture and abuse by U.S. forces continues to mount.  According to the May 29 Washington Post, "The latest FBI documents detailing allegations of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay are, like previous FBI documents, highly disturbing. They contain prisoners' descriptions of beatings, strippings and abuse of the Koran. Detainees variously claim the Muslim holy book has been thrown on the floor, thrown against a wall and, yes, flushed in a toilet. There are also references to these kinds of events having led to an "altercation" between detainees and guards."

The government was forced to release 1,000 pages of transcripts this week.  The testimonies included offer a shocking look into the torture chambers of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where about 520 men from 40 countries remain held, some for as long as three years.

A recent report from Physicians for Human Rights examining the use of psychological torture against prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba says that the abuse was a direct result of decisions developed by civilian and military leaders to "take the gloves off" during interrogations and "break" prisoners through the use of techniques such as "sensory deprivation, isolation, sleep deprivation, forced nudity, the use of military working dogs to instill fear, cultural and sexual humiliation, mock executions, and the threat of violence or death toward detainees or their loved ones." 

"Although the evidence is far from complete," the report says, "what is known warrants the inference that psychological torture was central to the interrogation process and reinforced through conditions of confinement."

Torture and abuse are not the work of a few "bad apples."  These inhumane and brutal policies flow directly from the highest levels of government.

Amnesty International recognized this and suggested that foreign governments investigate senior U.S. officials involved in torture and abuse and arrest and question Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, former CIA Director William Tenet, and Vice President Dick Cheney.

The Pentagon's Response:  Target the Press

In response to the growing global outrage at U.S. torture, the Bush Administration is taking steps, not to halt its criminal actions, but to stop media coverage of the abuse.

On May 1, Newsweek magazine revealed that an internal US military investigation had found substantial evidence interrogators at Guantanamo Bay had desecrated the Koran. Newsweek's story led to outrage against the US in Afghanistan and elsewhere where violent protests led to at least 15 deaths and hundreds of injuries.

Newsweek wasn't the first media outlet to report on the trashing of the holy Islamic text by US military personal at Guantanamo.  Reports in  the Independent of London, the Washington Post, the NY Daily News, and the Financial Times have all described desecration of the Koran, including throwing it into the toilet.

However, the White House damage control team was able to successfully pressure Newsweek to retract the story amd issue an apology.  The Bush Administration claims Newsweek's story led to preventable deaths that resulted from the protests. "People lost their lives. People are dead," Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said. "People need to be very careful about what they say, just as they need to be careful about what they do."  This is the same man who lied to the U.S. public, saying he knew exactly where the Iraqi people were hiding weapons of mass destruction.  His lies helped lead the U.S. into a war cost the lives of more than 100,000 Iraqis and 1600 U.S. soldiers.

Newsweek's retraction had nothing to do with the veracity of the article.  There is ample evidence that the acts described are standard procedure in U.S. prison camps.   The retraction came in repsonse to Pentagon pressure, part of a campaign by the Bush Administration to silence any media coverage that does not follow its script.  Newseek's only mistake in this matter was caving in and retracting the story.
The White House campaign to block coverage of its crimes doesn't stop at just putting public pressure on media outlets. Reports of the killing, torture, and harassment of journalists by "coalition" forces in Iraq have been well documented by organizations including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders, and the International Federation of Journalists.

One of the most powerful executives in the news business, CNN's Eason Jordan, was forced out after he spoke at a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in January, reportedly saying that the U.S. military had targeted a dozen journalists who had been killed in Iraq.

One of the BBC's top news anchors, Nik Gowing, said recently that he was "speak[ing] for a large number of news organizations, many of whom are not really talking publicly about this at the moment," when he made this statement about the dangers facing reporters in Iraq: "The trouble is that a lot of the military--particularly the American...military--do not want us there. And they make it very uncomfortable for us to work. And I think that this...is leading to security forces in some instances feeling it is legitimate to target us with deadly force and with impunity."

At a May 13 meeting in St. Louis, Newspaper Guild President Linda Foley said: "Journalists, by the way, are not just being targeted verbally or politically. They are also being targeted for real in places like Iraq. What outrages me as a representative of journalists is that there's not more outrage about the number, and the brutality, and the cavalier nature of the U.S. military toward the killing of journalists in Iraq."

These attacks include air raids on Al Jazeera offices in Baghdad and Kabul, tank assaults on hotels where journalists were known to be housed, and the assassination of a Reuters cameraman filming outside of Abu Ghraib prison.

That the U.S. military has targeted news media is beyond dispute – and such actions are war crimes.  The Geneva Conventions’ Protocol I, Article 79, says, "Journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflicts shall be considered civilians.... They shall be protected as such under the Conventions and this Protocol, provided they take no action adversely affecting their status as civilians."


Help Build a Movement to Hold the War Criminals Accountable

George W. Bush and his Administration have committed numerous War Crimes. They lied in order to lead the U.S. into a war of aggression.  They have killed more than 100,000 Iraqi people.  They have engaged in torture, abuse, and assassination.  They have committed crimes against peace and crimes against humanity, and they must be held accountable.

These lawless killers have already demonstrated their absolute contempt for any legal restraint, whether domestic or international.  The only force that can stop their drive to globalize Abu Ghraib is the power of the people. 

We must build a mass grass roots movement to end the Bush drive for empire and to demand justice. 

PeopleJudgeBush.org was launched in the summer of 2004 as part of the organizing for a week of protests against the Republican National Convention in New York City.  Organizers sponsored  the August 26 War Crimes Tribunal, where an international panel of witnesses and experts presented conclusive evidence of the crimes committed by the Bush Administration.   Findings from the Tribunal, including documentation and testimony are available online. 

The Tribunal was more than a series of presentations, however.  It was conceived as a Tribunal to Build Resistance, recognizing that the people have a right and an obligation to resist.  The Tribunal's Journal doubled as a Field Guide to the Republican National Convention Week of Resistance, including a calendar of protests.

The extensive media and organizational coverage of the U.S. abuse and torture is not happening  in a vacuum.  They are forced to acknowledge it because activists, bloggers, independent journalists by the thousands have already spread this information globally--it is now common knowledge..  In order to maintain a shred of credibility, even the corporate media is forced to report on these crimes.

But it is not enough to acknowledge that the Bush Administration is a criminal regime.  We must also defend the right and obligation to resist.  The people of Iraq have the right to defend themselves and resist illegal U.S. invasion and colonial occupation.  Members of the military have the right to refuse to obey orders to fight in an illegal war.  And the people have the right and the obligation to organize and take to the streets to demand that George W. Bush be held accountable.

Now that the crimes have been exposed, we are compelled to respond.  People Judge Bush will be participating in an important unity meeting on June 11 at the New School University in New York City (Saturday, June 11, 11 am - 5 pm, the Lang Center at New School University, 55 W. 13th St. in Manhattan, between 5th & 6th Aves).  This meeting will bring together activists and organizations from across the country who recognize that the brutality of this criminal regime demands a unified response.

Global opposition to this criminal regime has created a crisis for the Bush Administration.  Because activists have exposed the truth about the war, recruiting is down by more than 30% and is at its lowest point in decades.  Grassroots activism is having an impact, and now is the time to turn up the heat.

We need your help to continue organizing this summer.  We are producing new educational materials, organizing tools, and activists resources.  We are organizing meetings in schools, places of worship, and community centers across the country.  We are also planning a major national meeting at the end of the summer to bring together veterans, military families, youth, and activists from across the country to discuss practical steps and tactics to challenge the criminal regime in Washington.

Here's how you can get involved:

• Spread the word by forwarding this email
• Sign the On-Line Petition --Vote Bush Guilty of War Crimes.
• Download flyers
• Donate
• You can also hep by purchasing People Judge Bush t-shirts and other merchandise at http://www.cafepress.com/peoplejudgebush

PeopleJudgeBush.org

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Impeachment Fever and Media Politics by Norman Solomon

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0531-20.htm

 

	Home | Newswire | About Us | Donate | Sign-Up | Archives	Tuesday, May 31, 2005
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	Published on Tuesday, May 31, 2005 by CommonDreams.org Impeachment Fever and Media Politics by Norman Solomon   If you think President Bush should be impeached, it's time to get serious. We're facing huge obstacles -- and they have nothing to do with legal standards for impeachment. This is all about media and politics. Five months into 2005, the movement to impeach Bush is very small. And three enormous factors weigh against it: 1) Republicans control Congress. 2) Most congressional Democrats are routinely gutless. 3) Big media outlets shun the idea that the president might really be a war criminal. For now, we can't end the GOP's majority. But we could proceed to light a fire under congressional Democrats. And during the next several weeks, it's possible to have major impacts on news media by launching a massive educational and "agitational" campaign -- spotlighting the newly leaked Downing Street Memo and explaining why its significance must be pursued as a grave constitutional issue. The leak of the memo weeks ago, providing minutes from a high-level meeting that Prime Minister Tony Blair held with aides in July 2002, may be the strongest evidence yet that Bush is guilty of an impeachable offense. As Rep. John Conyers, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, wrote in late May: * "First, the memo appears to directly contradict the administration's assertions to Congress and the American people that it would exhaust all options before going to war. According to the minutes, in July 2002, the administration had already decided to go to war against Iraq." * "Second, a debate has raged in the United States over the last year and one half about whether the obviously flawed intelligence that falsely stated that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction was a mere 'failure' or the result of intentional manipulation to reach foreordained conclusions supporting the case for war. The memo appears to close the case on that issue stating that in the United States the intelligence and facts were being 'fixed' around the decision to go to war." The May 26 launch of www.AfterDowningStreet.org comes from a coalition of solid progressive groups opting to take on this issue with a step-by-step approach that recognizes the need to build a case in the arena of media and politics. The coalition is calling for a Resolution of Inquiry in the House of Representatives that would require a formal investigation by the Judiciary Committee. "The recent release of the Downing Street Memo provides new and compelling evidence that the President of the United States has been actively engaged in a conspiracy to deceive and mislead the United States Congress and the American people about the basis for going to war against Iraq," attorney John C. Bonifaz recently wrote to Conyers. "If true, such conduct constitutes a High Crime under Article II, Section 4 of the United States Constitution: 'The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.'" Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution gives Congress the sole power to declare war -- and the argument can be made that White House deception in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq amounted to a criminal assault on that constitutional provision. But "high crimes and misdemeanors" is a very general term. And history tells us that in Washington's pivotal matrix of media and politics, crimes of war have rarely even registered on the impeachment scale. In 1974, President Nixon avoided impeachment only by resigning soon after the Judiciary Committee, by a 27-11 vote, approved a recommendation that the full House impeach him for obstruction of justice in the Watergate scandal. Only 12 members of the committee voted to include Nixon's illegal bombing of Cambodia -- and his lies about that bombing -- among the articles of impeachment. Another war-related impeachment effort came in response to the Iran-Contra scandal. You wouldn't have known it from media coverage or congressional debate, but the Reagan administration's Iran-Contra maneuvers were part of a Washington-driven war that enabled the U.S.-backed Contra guerrillas to terrorize Nicaraguan civilians, killing thousands in the process. When Rep. Henry Gonzalez, a Democrat from Texas, pushed for impeachment of President Reagan (and, for good measure, Vice President George H. W. Bush) in 1987, he stood virtually alone on Capitol Hill. Gonzalez was back on high moral ground the day before the first President Bush launched the Gulf War. On Jan. 16, 1991, the maverick Democrat stood on the House floor and announced he was introducing a resolution with five impeachment charges against Bush. The National Journal reported: "Among the constitutional violations Bush committed, according to Gonzalez, were commanding a volunteer military whose 'soldiers in the Middle East are overwhelmingly poor white, black and Mexican-American or Hispanic-American,' in violation of the equal protection clause, and 'bribing, intimidating and threatening' members of the United Nations Security Council 'to support belligerent acts against Iraq,' in violation of the U.N. charter." In the past, attempts to impeach presidents for war crimes have sunk like a stone in the Potomac. If this time is going to be different, we need to get to work -- organizing around the country -- making the case for a thorough public inquiry and creating a groundswell that emerges as a powerful force from the grassroots. Only a massive movement will be strong enough to push over the media obstacles and drag politicians into a real debate about presidential war crimes and the appropriate constitutional punishment. Norman Solomon's new book, "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death," comes off the press in June. For information, go to: www.WarMadeEasy.com ### Printer Friendly Version E-Mail This Article
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Fw: Can US lose whole world and its own soul too?

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Karim A G

To: Karim A G

Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2005 4:45 AM

Subject: Can US lose whole world and its own soul too?

 http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=13625

 

Can US lose whole world and its own soul too?

 

The United States, which stood prior to 9/11 as the defender of human rights, is now as guilty of violating human rights as any of the authoritarian regimes it repudiates, says Louay Safi.

 

Under a tremendous pressure from the White House, the Newsweek finally retracted its story on the desecration of the Koran at Guananamo prison, and apologized for being sloppy in verifying sources. Rather than convincing the world that the interrogators at Guananamo are innocent of the charges of abusing Islam’s holy book, the Newsweek’s retraction reinforced the perception that US media is toeing the government’s line and that it has become impotent to challenge government’s excesses.

Once again the Bush administration demonstrated its inability to deal with excesses committed by US security agencies. Many have hoped that the administration gets tough with those who violate basic human rights, tarnish the US image, and undermine the moral and political authority of the United States.

Many have also hoped that the White House and the Pentagon would appoint a neutral fact-finding team to investigate the charges, and either bring to task individuals implicated in torture, or declare that the charges are false and groundless. Instead, the administration took a defensive posture and haphazardly dismissed serious charges, placing the blame for the public uproar in several Muslim countries squarely on the Newsweek.

The charges of torture and abuse have been told repeatedly in many news reports, including reports that were published in three mainstream newspapers: New York Times, Financial Times, and Denver Post. A report published by the New York Times on May 1, 2005, cited a former American interrogator who corroborated early accounts by several detainees alleging that guards at Guananamo had tossed copies of the Koran into a pile and stepped on them. The International Red Cross Committee also confirmed that it has received complaints from Guananamo prisoners concerning Koran desecration long before the Newsweek broke the news.

Evidently, the Bush administration has not been able to come to grips with the ramifications of such actions on the image and credibility of the United States. The United States, which stood prior to 9/11 as the defender of human rights, is now as guilty of violating human rights as any of the authoritarian regimes it repudiates.

And let us be clear, the image of the United States as a country guilty of human rights violations and of Muslim bashing was not created by the Newsweek account, but emerged as a result of a long list of missteps and abuses. Let us recall the most serious ones:

In 2001 and 2002, bigotry and intolerance were elevated to a tolerable national discourse by leading evangelical leader who insulted Islam and its prophet, and did it with impunity. Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson described Islam as "wicked, violent and not of the same god," and called the Prophet of Islam a “terrorist” and “paedophile,” and were allowed to get away with it. Little has been done so far to reign in Christian and Jewish extremists.

In November 2002, John Ashcroft, then the US attorney general, got away with similar bigoted remarks when he asserted that “Islam is a religion in which God requires you to send your son to die for him,” while “Christianity is a faith in which God sends his son to die for you.” Ashcroft never denied that he made the statement, nor did he apologize despite demands by several American Muslim organizations to retract his statement.

In the same year Ashcroft made his remarks, The Department of Justice embarked on a massive detention and deportation of thousands of innocent Muslim immigrants in the name of fighting terrorism. Many of those who were detained were denied visitation by family members, and representation by lawyers. Deprived from the due process enshrined in the US constitution, they were eventually deported on minor violations.

In October 2003, Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, the deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence, was allowed to keep his job after telling church gatherings that the Christian God is “real” and the Muslim is “idol." Secretary Rumsfeld defended Baykin’s bigoted remarks by citing the latter's freedom of speech.

In December 2003, the military accused Col. James Lee, a dedicated Muslim Chaplain and West Point graduate, of spying, and ordered his incarceration in a maximum security facility, but failed to provide any evidence to back up these serious charges. Chaplain Yee was eventually found innocent of all charges laid against him, including charges of adultery and pornography concocted when the spying charges were withdrawn. The army refused to issue an apology and Lee resigned.

In May 2004, Brandon Mayfield, a Muslim lawyer and former Army officer, was arrested by FBI agents in connection with the Madrid terrorist bombing. The FBI maintained its certainty that Mayfield’s fingerprints matched those found on bags left behind by the terrorists even after Spanish authorities said that the original image of the fingerprint did not match Mayfield’s. He was eventually released after spending two weeks in prison.

In December 2004, the open season on Islam and Muslims by extreme Religious Right pundits reached a new low, when the Washington Times, a leading American newspaper, published an article by Sam Harris, entitled "Mired in a Religious War." The article declared Islam the enemy, and openly advocates an all-out war on Islam and Muslims.

In December 2004, 46 American Muslims were fingerprinted, searched and held 6 hours by U.S. border agents upon returning from a religious conference in Canada. The incident is the latest in a series of overzealous ethnic and religious profiling, and of the targeting of law-abiding American Muslims in the name of national security.

The above list, though far from being complete, reveals disturbing patterns of Muslim bashing and abuse, and underscores the troubling fact that some public officials in various departments and at highest levels espouse prejudices toward Islam and Muslims. While the number of bigots and zealots is still limited, the damage they have done to both American Muslims and the reputation of the United States is enormous.

It is about time that the Bush administration becomes proactive in weeding out reckless public servants, takes a firm stance against violations of the civil rights of American Muslims and vigorously investigates such violations, and engages American Muslim leaders in consultation on ways and means to mend fences with the Muslim World.

Dr. Louay M. Safi serves as the executive director of ISNA Leadership Development Center, an Indiana based organization dedicated to enhancing leadership awareness and skills among American Muslim leaders, and a founding board member of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy. He writes and lectures on issues relating to Islam, American Muslims, democracy, human rights, leadership, and world peace. His commentaries are available at his Blog: http://blog.lsinsight.org