Dahbud's 2003 Archive

Our deepest national conviction is that every life is precious, because every life is the gift of a Creator who intended us to live in liberty and equality. More than anything else, this separates us from the enemy we fight. We value every life; our enemies value none -- not even the innocent; not even their own. And we seek the freedom and opportunity that give meaning and value to life. There is a line in our time, and in every time, between those who believe that all men are created equal, and those who believe that some men, and women, and children, are expendable in the pursuit of power.
The President's Address to the Nation

The following inspired by BROKEN LINK (see below) in Palestinian territories.
http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=3501526

Israeli defense chief calls pilots traitors

BROKEN LINK (see below)
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0903/30mideast.html;COXnetJSessionID=155bSXS3YerByqhlx7ZVnSdTC9Q92eNUPQzMcQ13kb2rxcgpzd19!146917677?urac=n&urvf=10649255950970.08963923249429251

In their petition, the pilots, who fly F-15 jet fighters and Apache, Cobra and Black Hawk helicopters, said they would refuse to "continue to harm innocent civilians" through so-called "targeted killings" of terrorists and their political leaders, and would no longer conduct other "immoral and illegal" operations that are "part of the occupation."

Mordechai Vanunu, Israel's nuclear whistleblower, was jailed in 1986 for publishing photographs of Israel's nuclear bomb factory at Dimona.

"I have sacrificed my freedom and risked my life in order to expose
the danger of nuclear weapons which threatens this whole region.
I acted on behalf of all citizens and all of humanity."

Mordechai Vanunu - BROKEN LINK (see below)
http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/peaceheroes/mordechai_vanunu.html

The US Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu - BROKEN LINK (see below)
http://www.nonviolence.org/vanunu/

FREE VANUNU VIGILS AROUND THE WORLD - BROKEN LINK (see below)
http://www.nonviolence.org/vanunu/sep25vigils.html
On and around September 30, the 17th anniversary of
Mordechai Vanunu's kidnapping and imprisonment.

Vigil at the Israeli Consulate, 456 Montgomery Street, on Tuesday, September 30, from noon to one p.m. For more information, call 510-548-3048.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Vigil at the Israeli Embassy on Tuesday, September 30, from noon to one p.m. Gather at the corner of Van Ness and Connecticut Ave. and process up Van Ness to the Israeli Embassy, 3514 International Drive. For more information, call 202-882-9649.

DULUTH, MINNESOTA
Prayer service for Mordechai at Pax Christi meeting, Sunday, September 28.

Israeli Anti-Nuclear Whistleblower and Prisoner of Conscience

BBC Transcript of "Israel's Secret Weapon" - BROKEN LINK (see below)
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/Miscellaneous/israels_secret_weapon.htm

Israeli Likens BBC Program to Nazi Press - BROKEN LINK (see below)
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/6199583.htm

An Israeli government official said Sunday that a BBC program charging Israel with secretly stockpiling nuclear and chemical weapons demonized Israel in a way reminiscent of anti-Semitic tracts published in Nazi Germany.

Israel severs ties with BBC over 'biased' documentary

In an angry response, the Sharon Government has accused the BBC of a systematic attempt to demonise Israel and it's now barred senior Israeli officials from appearing on the BBC, also limiting BBC access to some of the special arrangements for foreign correspondents reporting from the country.

Israel to lobby ABC over nerve gas documentary

The program, Israel's Secret Weapon, asserts that Israel has used nerve gas against Palestinians and possesses an arsenal of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.

BBC Journalists Excluded From Press Conference After Bias Allegations - BROKEN LINK (see below)
http://www.townhall.com/news/politics/200307/FOR20030715f.shtml

BBC journalists were excluded from a news conference held by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and British premier Tony Blair on Tuesday amid allegations of bias in the BBC's reporting on Israel.

Sharon shuns BBC over documentary

A preview focused on Mordechai Vanunu, a former technician at Dimona, who has spent 17 years in jail after the Israelis kidnapped him from Italy because he revealed secrets about the Israeli nuclear programme to the Sunday Times.

and this:

THE LAVON AFFAIR

How any person on this earth can support a cause that slaughters civilians is beyond me. It is incomprehensible. You can make all the excuses you want, but only barbarians attack women and children.
[Wednesday, April 03, 2002 Bill O'Reilly-FOX]

White House "Senior Administration" Officials Guilty of Treason?

Some Dare Call It Treason - A Story of Two Unidentified "Senior Administration" Officials Who Allegedly Betrayed the National Security of the United States: No Response from the White House, and No Coverage in the Mainstream Press.

Dubya Bot
Chat with an AI President Bush
FUN

There appears to be an abundance of back peddling these days. Back peddling is when somebody gets caught 'stretching the truth' publicly and later attempts to 'cover their tracks' or retract what they said. For example:

Leak Wars

"As for Attorney General John Ashcroft, he simply cannot be trusted to oversee the Justice Department investigation requested by the C.I.A. His longstanding political ties with Mr. Rove alone require that he recuse himself and appoint an independent or special counsel. He should try to appoint someone of probity, if he is able to discern that quality. Perhaps Robert Fisk or William Weld would accept the job.

Driving dangerously with the Patriot Act

The Patriot Act and other Ashcroft tactics have the seeds of the same tactics used by Saddam Hussein. If we succumb to the temptation to use them, we will have yielded to the thing we say we are fighting. We will have lost the war on terror, and the terrorists will have won, no matter that we have blown up two of their countries.

Covertly Recruiting Kids

A WEEK before school started this year, I noticed a small advertisement in my local newspaper. It was from my school district, and buried in the ad's fine print was an announcement that the local high school would be sending the names and phone numbers for all juniors and seniors to U.S. military recruiters. This is more than a back-door assault on student privacy. It may have life-or-death consequences for unwitting kids who are contacted by recruiters.

This student information give-away was mandated in a little-known provision of the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush's sweeping education law. The law went into effect in 2002, but many schools only became aware of the obscure military recruiting provision in the last year. Schools risk losing all federal aid if they fail to provide military recruiters full access to their students; the aid is contingent on complying with federal law.

Daddy, why did we have to attack Iraq?

Questions and Answers about Foreign Policy (and the U.S. Invasion of Iraq)

(c) 2003 anarchie bunker

Permission is freely granted to copy, print, and distribute this material by any means, so long as the author is given proper credit and so long as this statement is included in any and all copies made for distribution.

Q:	Daddy, why did we have to attack Iraq?
A:	Because they had weapons of mass destruction.
Q:	But the inspectors didn't find any weapons of mass destruction.
A:	That's because the Iraqis were hiding them.
Q:	And that's why we invaded Iraq?
A:	Yep. Invasions always work better than inspections.
Q:	But after we invaded them, we STILL didn't find any weapons of mass destruction, did we?
A:	That's because the weapons are so well hidden. Don't worry, we'll find something, probably right before the 2004 election.
Q:	Why did Iraq want all those weapons of mass destruction?
A:	To use them in a war, silly.
Q:	I'm confused. If they had all those weapons that they planned to use in a war, then why didn't they use any of those weapons when we went to war with them?
A:	Well, obviously they didn't want anyone to know they had those weapons, so they chose to die by the thousands rather than defend themselves.
Q:	That doesn't make sense. Why would they choose to die if they had all those big weapons with which they could have fought back?
A:	It's a different culture. It's not supposed to make sense.
Q:	I don't know about you, but I don't think they had any of those weapons our government said they did.
A:	Well, you know, it doesn't matter whether or not they had those weapons. We had another good reason to invade them anyway.
Q:	And what was that?
A:	Even if Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein was a cruel dictator, which is another good reason to invade another country.
Q:	Why? What does a cruel dictator do that makes it OK to invade his country?
A:	Well, for one thing, he tortured his own people.
Q:	Kind of like what they do in China?
A:	Don't go comparing China to Iraq. China is a good economic competitor, where millions of people work for slave wages in sweatshops to make U.S. corporations richer.
Q:	So if a country lets its people be exploited for American corporate gain, it's a good country, even if that country tortures people?
A:	Right.
Q:	Why were people in Iraq being tortured?
A:	For political crimes, mostly, like criticizing the government. People who criticized the government in Iraq were sent to prison and tortured.
Q:	Isn't that exactly what happens in China?
A:	I told you, China is different.
Q:	What's the difference between China and Iraq?
A:	Well, for one thing, Iraq was ruled by the Ba'ath party, while China is Communist.
Q:	Didn't you once tell me Communists were bad?
A:	No, just Cuban Communists are bad.
Q:	How are the Cuban Communists bad?
A:	Well, for one thing, people who criticize the government in Cuba are sent to prison and tortured.
Q:	Like in Iraq?
A:	Exactly.
Q:	And like in China, too?
A:	I told you, China's a good economic competitor. Cuba, on the other hand, is not.
Q:	How come Cuba isn't a good economic competitor?
A:	Well, you see, back in the early 1960s, our government passed some laws that made it illegal for Americans to trade or do any business with Cuba until they stopped being Communists and started being capitalists like us.
Q:	But if we got rid of those laws, opened up trade with Cuba, and started doing business with them, wouldn't that help the Cubans become capitalists?
A:	Don't be a smart-ass.
Q:	I didn't think I was being one.
A:	Well, anyway, they also don't have freedom of religion in Cuba.
Q:	Kind of like China and the Falun Gong movement?
A:	I told you, stop saying bad things about China. Anyway, Saddam Hussein came to power through a military coup, so he's not really a legitimate leader anyway.
Q:	What's a military coup?
A:	That's when a military general takes over the government of a country by force, instead of holding free elections like we do in the United States.
Q:	Didn't the ruler of Pakistan come to power by a military coup?
A:	You mean General Pervez Musharraf? Uh, yeah, he did, but Pakistan is our friend.
Q:	Why is Pakistan our friend if their leader is illegitimate?
A:	I never said Pervez Musharraf was illegitimate.
Q:	Didn't you just say a military general who comes to power by forcibly overthrowing the legitimate government of a nation is an illegitimate leader?
A:	Only Saddam Hussein. Pervez Musharraf is our friend, because he helped us invade Afghanistan.
Q:	Why did we invade Afghanistan?
A:	Because of what they did to us on September 11th.
Q:	What did Afghanistan do to us on September 11th?
A:	Well, on September 11th, nineteen men - fifteen of them Saudi Arabians - hijacked four airplanes and flew three of them into buildings in New York and Washington, killing 3,000 innocent people.
Q:	So how did Afghanistan figure into all that?
A:	Afghanistan was where those bad men trained, under the oppressive rule of the Taliban.
Q:	Aren't the Taliban those bad radical Islamics who chopped off people's heads and hands?
A:	Yes, that's exactly who they were. Not only did they chop off people's heads and hands, but they oppressed women, too.
Q:	Didn't the Bush administration give the Taliban 43 million dollars back in May of 2001?
A:	Yes, but that money was a reward because they did such a good job fighting drugs.
Q:	Fighting drugs?
A:	Yes, the Taliban were very helpful in stopping people from growing opium poppies.
Q:	How did they do such a good job?
A:	Simple. If people were caught growing opium poppies, the Taliban would have their hands and heads cut off.
Q:	So, when the Taliban cut off people's heads and hands for growing flowers, that was OK, but not if they cut people's heads and hands off for other reasons?
A:	Yes. It's OK with us if radical Islamic fundamentalists cut off people's hands for growing flowers, but it's cruel if they cut off people's hands for stealing bread.
Q:	Don't they also cut off people's hands and heads in Saudi Arabia?
A:	That's different. Afghanistan was ruled by a tyrannical patriarchy that oppressed women and forced them to wear burqas whenever they were in public, with death by stoning as the penalty for women who did not comply.
Q:	Don't Saudi women have to wear burqas in public, too?
A:	No, Saudi women merely wear a traditional Islamic body covering.
Q:	What's the difference?
A:	The traditional Islamic covering worn by Saudi women is a modest yet fashionable garment that covers all of a woman's body except for her eyes and fingers. The burqa, on the other hand, is an evil tool of patriarchal oppression that covers all of a woman's body except for her eyes and fingers.
Q:	It sounds like the same thing with a different name.
A:	Now, don't go comparing Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are our friends.
Q:	But I thought you said 15 of the 19 hijackers on September 11th were from Saudi Arabia.
A:	Yes, but they trained in Afghanistan.
Q:	Who trained them?
A:	A very bad man named Osama bin Laden.
Q:	Was he from Afghanistan?
A:	Uh, no, he was from Saudi Arabia too. But he was a bad man, a very bad man.
Q:	I seem to recall he was our friend once.
A:	Only when we helped him and the mujahadeen repel the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan back in the 1980s.
Q:	Who are the Soviets? Was that the Evil Communist Empire Ronald Reagan talked about?
A:	There are no more Soviets. The Soviet Union broke up in 1990 or thereabouts, and now they have elections and capitalism like us. We call them Russians now.
Q:	So the Soviets - I mean, the Russians - are now our friends?
A:	Well, not really. You see, they were our friends for many years after they stopped being Soviets, but then they decided not to support our invasion of Iraq, so we're mad at them now. We're also mad at the French and the Germans because they didn't help us invade Iraq either.
Q:	So the French and Germans are evil, too?
A:	Not exactly evil, but just bad enough that we had to rename French fries and French toast to Freedom Fries and Freedom Toast.
Q:	Do we always rename foods whenever another country doesn't do what we want them to do?
A:	No, we just do that to our friends. Our enemies, we invade.
Q:	But wasn't Iraq one of our friends back in the 1980s?
A:	Well, yeah. For a while.
Q:	Was Saddam Hussein ruler of Iraq back then?
A:	Yes, but at the time he was fighting against Iran, which made him our friend, temporarily.
Q:	Why did that make him our friend?
A:	Because at that time, Iran was our enemy.
Q:	Isn't that when he gassed the Kurds?
A:	Yeah, but since he was fighting against Iran at the time, we looked the other way, to show him we were his friend.
Q:	So anyone who fights against one of our enemies automatically becomes our friend?
A:	Most of the time, yes.
Q:	And anyone who fights against one of our friends is automatically an enemy?
A:	Sometimes that's true, too. However, if American corporations can profit by selling weapons to both sides at the same time, all the better.
Q:	Why?
A:	Because war is good for the economy, which means war is good for America. Also, since God is on America's side, anyone who opposes war is a godless unAmerican Communist. Do you understand now why we attacked Iraq?
Q:	I think so. We attacked them because God wanted us to, right?
A:	Yes.
Q:	But how did we know God wanted us to attack Iraq?
A:	Well, you see, God personally speaks to George W. Bush and tells him what to do.
Q:	So basically, what you're saying is that we attacked Iraq because George W. Bush hears voices in his head?
A:	Yes! You finally understand how the world works. Now close your eyes, make yourself comfortable, and go to sleep. Good night.
Q:	Good night, Daddy.

Bush and "Affirmative Action"
RealVideo with Michael Moore

Enjoy the (Patriot Act) Police State
RealVideo with Steven Colbert

"Econo Eyes"
Flash by Mark Fiore

"There were only 49 media stories about Bush's military past during his presidential campaign. There were a whopping 13,641 media reports on Clinton's Vietnam-era draft dodging during his first presidential race."
Paul Begala

BROKEN LINK (see below)
http://www.internationalanswer.org/news/update/082603whyo25.html

The hunt for weapons of mass destruction yields - nothing
"It's clear that the US and British governments wildly exaggerated the case for going to war."

If you've been waiting for gas prices to settle down, as many experts expected they would after Labor Day weekend, you might want to stop waiting. Our friends at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (a.k.a. OPEC) have just agreed to decrease their oil output by 3.5%. And you know what generally happens to prices when supply shrinks, right? Right.

In Janklow's case, some have been less willing to see the crash as simply a tragic accident given the former governor's history of flouting the law. Between 1990 and 1994, according to the Associated Press, he received a dozen speeding tickets. And at the intersection where Janklow's car reportedly ran the stop sign and killed Randolph Scott, a woman told the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Janklow ran the sign and nearly crashed into her family in December.

Mr. Bush says he's a big fan of Teach For America - he even urged expansion of it in his 2002 State of the Union address. For good reason: The program attracts and trains some of the best recent college graduates and places them in just the kind of schools serving just the kind of students that Bush says need the most help. Yet this summer he did not convince majority leader Tom DeLay to bring to a House vote the $100 million Senate-approved supplemental appropriations bill for AmeriCorps, the umbrella organization that funds Teach For America. Nor did Bush persuade negotiators to restore AmeriCorps to the compromise package. So Teach For America loses part of its operating budget and corps members lose their education grants.