July 7 - US policies since the Soviet-Afghan war and continuing through the "war on terror" area destabilizing influence on Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

June 28 - The debate as presented in the Washington Post is thus not whether the government should have the power to strip prisoners of basic legal rights or not, but rather whether the best way to strip them of those rights is for the Executive or the Legislative branch to do so.

Featured at Counterpunch and Novakeo

June 12 - The threat of military attack against Iran has continued to escalate as the European Union this week conceded to pressure from the US to implement stricter sanctions against Iran for refusing to cease from enriching uranium for its nuclear program. Earlier this week, Israeli transport minister Shaul Mofaz threatened, "If Iran continues with its programme for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack it. The sanctions are ineffective. Attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable." 

Featured at Counterpunch, Atlantic Free Press, Novakeo, and OpEdNews

June 10 - The definition of the verb to "lie", according to Webster's dictionary, is "making untrue statements with intent to deceive" or "creating a false or misleading impression". That Bush and others in his administration lied isn't an "article of faith", but a demonstrable fact. And by the same standard, neither the members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence nor Fred Hiatt are being too honest, either. 

Headlined at OpEdNews

"a great article" -- OpEdNews

June 8 - In sum, the notion of an "intelligence failure" is a convenient myth for all who propagate it. 

Headlined at OpEdNews

"a great article" -- OpEdNews

June 8 - There is continuing talk that the cause of ever-increasing oil prices is the result of a speculative investment "bubble". But it's a dubious assumption. Certainly, it might play some role in driving prices higher, but it's doubtful to be all that significant a factor when there's a much simpler and more obvious explanation--indeed, it's hard to miss, the proverbial elephant in the room.

Featured at OpEdNews

June 5 - As the IAEA Secretary General Mohammed El Baradei noted at the World Economic Forum the week before the delivery of the May report to the UN, "We haven't seen indications or any concrete evidence that Iran is building a nuclear weapon and I've been saying that consistently for the last five years." One must be forgiven if one had arrived at a different conclusion based on contrary impressions delivered to the public by the US media.

Featured at OpEdNews

"ranked number one in its column for the day" -- OpEdNews

"This is a good investigative report that can rarely been found in US media." -- http://reportiran.blogspot.com

 2007

There’s no silver-bullet solution and the task of building peace, stability, and democracy in Pakistan is certain to be a long and arduous one. The most elementary step towards a solution would be to stop engaging in policies that have largely caused and which continue to escalate the problem.

Featured at OpEdNews

In the end, there is really no need to speculate about the reasons for the Iraq war, as policy-makers have quite openly and explicitly stated their reasons for desiring regime change since the end of the first Gulf War in public documents. The war was not fought to suit Israel's interests, but to suit the interests of the U.S. as perceived by policy-makers in Washington. Israeli and U.S. interests may coincide at times, but the ultimate objective, repeatedly declared, is U.S. global hegemony, which necessitates military preeminence and guaranteeing access, by force if necessary, to Middle Eastern oil.

This month saw yet another escalation of the U.S. policy of isolating and pressuring Iran as the White House announced its intention to add Iran's Revolutionary Guard to the State Department's list of terrorist organizations. There is something to be learned from this about the nature of U.S. foreign policy if we care to examine the implications; and the ramifications of such a decision could be quite serious and potentially deadly, so it warrants a look.

Featured at Information Clearing House, Atlantic Free Press, Dissident Voice, and Novakeo

The tragic consequences of our present course of action are predictable. They are also avoidable, but only if we discard the existing framework for discussion and adopt a framework more conducive to reason and to achieving the stated policy objective of ensuring peace and stability in the world.

Featured at Atlantic Free Press, Dissident Voice, OpEdNews, Online Journal and Novakeo

"Brilliant, well researched, and very thoughtful article." -- Publisher, Atlantic Free Press

Honored by Hatred

Elite Propaganda and U.S. Policy in the Middle East

The U.S. not only has done nothing to deserve the hatred of others, but they only hate us because we are so good, and so we should therefore take pride in the fact that we are so unloved by so many people in so much of the world.

Featured at Atlantic Free Press, Dissident Voice, OpEdNews, and Novakeo

That the discussion coming from the government and media could continue as long as it has under this basic framework, the incredible hypocrisy as the proverbial elephant in the room, speaks volumes about American society and the willingness of people on such a massive scale to deceive themselves about their own role and the role of their own government in the world.

Featured at Dissident Voice, Online Journal, OpEdNews, Novakeo, Infowars, and Prison Planet

The moral is that consumers of media, particularly the U.S. media, need to be aware of the institutionalized system of propaganda that exists and learn to recognize the difference between news and misinformation, which begins with a healthy skepticism, particularly when the topic is U.S. foreign policy. But one striking example is presented here.

Featured at OpEdNews

Aside from claims of Iranian support for attacks on US troops in Iraq, the government has also charged that Iran is intent on producing nuclear weapons and the President has declared that “all options are on the table” for dealing with the alleged threat, including the use of military force, presumably in the form of air strikes against targets inside Iran.

Featured at Atlantic Free Press, Online Journal, Dissident Voice, OpEdNews, World News Trust, Novakeo, Information Liberation, and Spinwatch

 2006

Iran and the Violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty

Iran is under no obligation to acquiesce to “demands” that prejudice its rights under the NPT Treaty, and any demand which prejudice Iran’s rights is itself a violation of the Treaty. While “Iran’s response” is dismissed, Iran is correct that “a suspension would abrogate its rights under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty”. Furthermore, Iran has “surrendered” none of its rights by claiming its rights under the Treaty and refusing to acquiesce to requests and demands that prejudice those same rights in violation of the very same Treaty.

Featured at ZNet, Atlantic Free Press, World News Trust, Online Journal, Dissident Voice, OpEdNews, and Novakeo

Responses to "An Open Letter to Senator Carl Levin"

This kind of nonsense is hardly worth responding to, but I take note of it because I think the level of intellectual dishonesty it demonstrates from people who disagree with my position is instructive.

Questioning the Logic of Occupation in Iraq

There are no simple solutions to resolve the crisis in Iraq, and it would be a mistake to pretend otherwise. But if solutions are to be found, the most imperative of which is to bring an end to the violence and bloodshed, then we must cast aside myths about the US role in the world, be more willing to question dogmatic assumptions, consider a wider range of possibilities than those presented to us in the limited framework of elite consensus, and seek more honestly to assess the roots of the problems Iraq is faced with, beginning with the US role in and responsibility for the current situation.

Featured at Atlantic Free Press, Dissident Voice, OpEdNews, Novakeo

Our "Enemy" Islam

There is no great lack of ignorance about the religion of Islam in the United States. In a recent New York Times editorial, entitled "Can You Tell a Sunni From a Shiite", Jeff Stein relates having asked intelligence and law enforcement officials, as well as members of Congress, what the difference is between as Sunni and a Shiite. Not surprisingly, in his quest, he found that "Too many officials in charge of the war on terrorism just don't care to learn much, if anything, about the enemy we're fighting."

Featured at OpEdNews and Novakeo

An Open Letter to Senator Carl Levin

You wrote, in your recent correspondence, that you told the servicemen and women in Iraq "that Congress and the American people are proud of them and back them one hundred percent..." Since you presume to be speak for not only your constituents, such as myself, but for the American people in general, I think it is incumbent upon you to explain what it means to be "proud" of the troops in Iraq, and what it means to "back them one hundred percent."

Featured at OpEdNews and Novakeo

The "Option" of Military Force

The statement is clear, the principle universal: The resort to violence must be a last one. One might add that it must also be for legitimate self-defense, but let us set this latter principle aside for the moment and concentrate on the former. A mildly curious observer might question whether Bush (or anyone in his administration) actually believes in this universal principle, and a rational inquisitor might examine the not-too-distant past to test the claim provided as evidence of genuine adherence to the declared doctrine.

Featured at OpEdNews and Novakeo

Testing the Definition of "Terrorist"

Luis Posada Carriles and the U.S.

As a thought experiment, one might imagine the reaction from the U.S. if it was learned after September 11, 2001 that a terrorist who trained on Iraqi soil, with tacit Iraqi approval, was largely responsible for the terrorist attacks of that day. One might imagine further if it was then learned that Saddam Hussein's regime had learned of the plan by a terrorist operating within its borders to hijack planes and fly them into buildings but had done nothing to stop them or warn the U.S. government. As a footnote, we could contemplate the reaction if Iraq later employed this same terrorist in a war of state sponsored terrorism against one of its neighbors. In contrast, the reaction in the U.S. to the U.S. having behaved exactly as the Iraq in our thought experiment is muted.

Featured at ZNet, OpEdNews and Novakeo

An Unpredicted "Disaster"?

In The Washington Post's October 2 article, "Iraq War Naysayers May Have Hindsight Bias," author Shankar Vedantum asserts that "it isn't quite true" that "we saw the disaster coming" in Iraq, with the "disaster" being a reference to the National Intelligence Estimate conclusion "that the war in Iraq was creating more terrorists than it was eliminating." The only problem with this argument, which would be more at home in the op-eds, rather than posing as an objective news item, is that it is perfectly true that an increased threat of terrorism was both predictable and well predicted.

Featured at OpEdNews

Escalating Terrorism

U.S. policy and the Israel-Hezbollah war

There are a great number of possible steps that could be taken to help mitigate the threat of terrorism in the world today. Choosing to do so would be a good alternative to the course so commonly plotted by U.S. policy makers.

Featured at OpEdNews and Novakeo

A Few (Irrelevant) Observations on Bush's Speech to the UN

"The Palestinian people have suffered from decades of corruption and violence and the daily humiliation of occupation," which we support, irrelevantly. Israeli "Prime Minister Olmert is committed to peace," despite having just accomplished the devastation of Gaza and Lebanon (again) and killing hundreds of civilians. But those facts, too, are most irrelevant.

The New York Times: Top Ten Ways to Prevent Another 9/11

Much thought was clearly put into each of these astounding answers, and it must have been extremely difficult for the Times to choose only ten from what must surely have been an extraordinarily broad range of inspiring solutions from the American intelligentsia.

Questioning Israel's "Right to Exist"

A principle obstacle to peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we are frequently told, is Palestinian rejection of Israel's "right to exist".

The Revision of the Iraq War

The revision of the history of the Iraq war continues incessantly, undaunted by fact or reason, with the intelligentsia compliantly playing their role in the development and establishment of any number of popular myths. Peter Wehner's recent piece in the Wall Street Journal, entitled "Revisionist History: Antiwar myths about Iraq, debunked" is no exception.

War and the Limits of Debate

Reasoned debate is healthy and necessary for a functioning democracy. But for reasoned debate to occur, the framework within which debate is so often limited must be recognized and discarded. Only by doing so may rational analysis and healthy debate occur, and only by this occurring may present policies, the "mistakes" of the future, be prevented.

Charlie Sheen and the Questioning of 9/11

In the end, the conspiracy theorists have a very good point. If the official version is so easily demonstrably correct, so self-evident for any person, as the pundits would have it, with even a modicum of intelligence, then why are the personal attacks, such as those witnessed against Charlie Sheen for voicing his mind, necessary? Why not just answer the questions, as Sheen and so many others of reasonable intelligence have implored for so long? The answer to that question, to date, yet remains perhaps the most significant of the unanswered questions surrounding the tragic events of September 11, 2001.

9/11 and the Pakistan Connection

The final report of the 9/11 Commission assured us that "To date, the U.S. government has not been able to determine the origin of the money used for the 9/11 attacks." One might be inclined to think that the inability to track the money trail to the parties responsible for financing the terrorist attacks was a significant failure in the investigation, were it not that the report also assures us that "the question" of who funded the operations "is of little practical significance."

Denial and Deception

Iraq's Aluminum Tubes and the Case for War

A simple analysis comparing the administration's claims about Iraq with the facts known at the time reveals serious flaws in the "intelligence failure" hypothesis. Such an analysis reveals that not only was there was no credible evidence supporting the administrations claims, but there was enough information available publicly to easily demonstrate well before the invasion commenced that this was so. A simple examination of the facts reveals that the claims made by the Bush administration varied from deceptive and misleading to outright fabrications and lies. What follows is an extensive chronological review of what information was known and when and by whom it was known.

Iraq's Anthrax and the Myth of "Intelligence Failure"

As with other aspects of the government's case for war, the story of Iraq's anthrax is instructive, if we are willing to accept the conclusions a review of the facts inevitably leads to.

The Truth About Christmas

Christians annually celebrate the holiday of Christmas, but do they really know where this holiday came from or what the Bible really has to say about it?

Peak Oil and the War on Iraq

by Bill Benders (contributing author)

If Americans want to end this illegal occupation and its atrocities (polls show that they overwhelmingly do), then they must be willing to make changes in the way that they consume energy.  This is a mounting task, which some believe is a true question of survival for the whole human race, as the oil age has brought with it the destruction of our life giving resources. 

The "Legitimate" Use of Napalm and Phosphorus in Iraq

This message is instructive. The use of firebombs “remarkably similar” to napalm is perfectly “legal”, and the use of white phosphorus as a weapon is totally “legitimate”. And if anyone thinks otherwise, it’s only due to a “public relations failure”. The Pentagon just has not done a good enough job of defending its use of these weapons against baseless propaganda, if we interpret the message correctly; that is, as we are supposed to. Nothing to see here. Move along.

The Hypocrisy of Mr. Cheney

And so for Cheney to say that it is "dishonest and reprehensible", and "revisionism of the most corrupt and shameless variety" for people to point out his dishonesty and shameless revisionism is the height of hypocrisy. A person just couldn't get much more dishonest, shameless, or hypocritical than that, though I don't think Mr. Cheney should be applauded for his achievement.

The U.S. "intelligence failure" and Iraq's UAVs

Of course, Iraq’s UAVs were not the charge against Iraq. But they provide an instructive example of official deceit in making the case for war.

Proposed Pretexts for War

Operation Northwoods

While the radical methods of Operation Northwoods were never implemented, it would be a mistake to say that the U.S. has never created a false “pretext” in order to start a war, the manufacturing of the case for war in Iraq being a prime example. If the revelation of the existence of Operation Northwoods has anything to teach us, it’s that we have reason to be skeptical of any proposed “pretext” that may be given once the drums of war have begun beating.

The Splendid Little War

True to the desires of many, despite empty rhetoric to the contrary, the U.S. had emerged from what Secretary of State John Hay called a “splendid little war”, as an imperialistic world power.

Polk's War

Taking Nothing by Conquest

It was the “manifest destiny” of the U.S., John O’Sullivan famously wrote, “to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.” In furtherance of this “manifest destiny”, President James Polk sent General Taylor to the Rio Grande, within what Mexico regarded as its territory, inhabited by Mexicans, despite the real possibility that this might provoke an attack.

Iraq and the Politics of the "Conspiracy Theory"

Let’s recognize an incontrovertible fact: the United States engaged in aggression against Iraq based upon an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory.

Accusing Syria

Government officials are right to say that those responsible for the act of terrorism that resulted in the murder of Rafik Hariri should be held accountable. But we should seek to ensure that we know for certain who was responsible before we start suggesting who to hold to account.

Negligence in the '93 World Trade Center Bombing

But if the Port Authority was negligent, how much more so the FBI, which had a mole planted in the terrorist group that committed the ‘93 bombing and was well aware of the plot? Not only were they aware of a bomb plot, but they had an opportunity to thwart the attack.

Wiping Palestine from the Map

The contrasting reactions from the U.S. toward the statement from the Iranian President versus official Israeli policy are perhaps not insignificant. They may even be highly instructive, if we care to take a moment to examine them.

Connecting the Dots

The 9/11 Commission's "Failure of Imagination"

There are dots all over the map, and they are not difficult to connect, but the picture that emerges is a complicated web of circumstantial links that will inevitably be explained away as strange coincidences. But if we apply the lesson given by the 9/11 Commission and use our imaginations, there’s certainly no shortages of conclusions that could be drawn. One of the more important of those conclusions is that the Commission, far from helping us to further understand the terrorist attacks, was actively involved in helping to ensure that certain information remained concealed from the American public, and from the world. At the very least, we may conclude, with great confidence, that despite the best efforts of the 9/11 Commission, many unanswered questions remain.

Applying the U.S. Standard

State Sponsors of Terrorism

The irony of such talk about remaking the Middle East in one’s own image by toppling foreign governments temporarily aside, it may be observed that mention of “terrorists” is often spoken of in the same breath as “insurgents”, and the distinction between the two are often blurred or discarded altogether. Moreover, the standards applied against those the U.S. considers terrorists, terrorist organizations, or state sponsors of terrorism, are instructive, particularly if one is inclined to apply the same standard to the U.S. as it applies elsewhere.

Featured at Counterpunch

Depleted Uranium

Lessons in "Humanitarian" and Other Warfare

The use of depleted uranium weaponry is anathema to any concept of “humanitarian” warfare and a serious obstacle to the hypothesis, so often proposed, that the US government does everything it can to prevent the loss of innocent lives in its military conflicts abroad.

What's so great about democracy?

It is right to question the sincerity of government authorities when they declare pure intentions for military interventions abroad, such as “spreading democracy”. It is reasonable to wish to examine evidence for this, rather than to accept declarations of noble intent as absolute truth. But while it is widely recognized that democracy is not the object of our wars, it should not be lost upon us, as the war of words is waged in the media, that neither is it desirable - at least not according to our Founding Fathers.

America, Babylon and the Ten Commandments

God knows (if the reader will pardon the expression) that there's plenty of other ways in which we could make better use of our time. Lucifer, the Morning Star and god of “illumination”, on the other hand, if he truly exists, must certainly delight in the distraction resulting from the present quarrel over a matter of such questionable significance.

U.S.A., Inc.

Like any corporation, the United States chooses profit over humanity. But the United States is unique in that it operates less like Unocal or Halliburton and more like the mafia, complete with “hits” upon any competitors which might threaten the existing order (“nothing personal, just business”). But even the most violently diabolical members of organized crime can only drool with envy at the military might the U.S.A., Inc. has at its disposal to enforce its will upon the world.

Alberto Gonzales and the Rule of Lawlessness

In the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Alberto Gonzalez, George W. Bush's nominee for Attorney General professed to be committed to "the rule of law". A critical analysis of his assurances, however, reveal a distinctly different reality.

Disregarding International Humanitarian Law

In a memorandum for Alberto R. Gonzales, Counsel to the President, and William J. Haynes, General Counsel of the Department of Defense, Assistant Attorney General Jay S. Bybee concludes that the Geneva Conventions "do not protect members of the al Qaeda organization", and, furthermore, that the "President has sufficient grounds to find that these treaties do not protect members of the Taliban militia."

Lessons Disregarded

The U.S. and Cluster Munitions

The U.S. has a long history of using cluster munitions, indiscriminate weapons which continue to kill long after the bombs have stopped falling. One might be tempted to say that the lessons learned from past conflicts have gone unlearned by the U.S. military, but the truth is much more frightening.

The Selective Application of the Geneva Conventions

An analysis of the Justice Department January 9, 2002 draft memorandum  to the Department of Defense on the applicability of International Humanitarian Law to the "war on terrorism"

The Pros and Cons of the Geneva Conventions

An analysis of Secretary of State Colin Powell's follow-up memorandum regarding the State Department's January 25, 2002 draft memorandum on the applicability of the International Humanitarian Law to the "war on terrorism"

The "Constraints" of International Humanitarian Law

An analysis of the Justice Department's memo to George W. Bush regarding the applicability of International Humanitarian Law in the "war on terrorism"

The "Risk" of Justice

An analysis of the Justice Department's memo to the Department of Defense regarding the applicability of International Humanitarian Law in the "war on terrorism"

The Mea Culpa of Our Times

A closer look at The New York Times editorial of May 26, 2004, entitled "The Times and Iraq", reveals that it is a far cry from the mea culpa it purports to be.

Did the Jews Kill Jesus?

Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" has evoked some strong criticism of anti-Semitism for picturing the Jews as killing Jesus. But an honest look at the Bible reveals that this is precisely the picture it paints.

Was Jesus Married?

The book Holy Blood, Holy Grail presents the typical arguments favoring the theory that Jesus was married. A closer examination of these arguments prove them to be fallacious.

Inconvenient Facts and "Conspiracy Theories"

A second glimpse at the neocons and the case for war

In his January 6 op-ed in The New York Times, entitled "The Era of Distortion", David Brooks argues that those who have suggested that the "neocons" have had a substantial influence in our government are "conspiracy theorists" given in to "anti-Semitism".  "Inconvenient Facts and Conspiracy Theories" is my answer to his question, "Do you ever get the sense the whole world is becoming unhinged from reality?"

The Status Quo

Bush discourages "change" in China-Taiwan relations

While China lauded George W. Bush's recent "rebuke" of Taiwan's President, Chen Shui-bian, the leader of the United States, in turn, received criticism for declaring that "comments and actions made by the leader of Taiwan indicate that he may be willing to make decisions unilaterally to change the status quo, which we oppose".

Redress of Grievances

A brief glimpse into the unlawful income tax and the corrupt Federal Reserve system, with regards to the enslavement of the American people; an overview of the USA PATRIOT Act with regards to our loss of essential liberties; conflicts of interest among members of our government which can be described as nothing less than criminal; how our government desired another "Pearl Harbor", and how they got it on September 11, 2001; the lies told in an attempt to make the case for war with Iraq and how our government deceived a nation in order to steal natural resources from a foreign sovereign nation; the illegality of the invasion of Iraq, according to our Constitution and international law; and finally, the enormous U.S. financial and military support for Israel, a nation which consistently commits violations of basic human rights.  In this letter, I make a case for why I will no longer pay a single cent to the U.S. government to fund its increasingly lawless and murderous actions.

Israel, "America's Next Battle" That Will Never Be

A response to the WorldNetDaily article "The PLO: America's Next Battle", by Mike Evans.  In this article, Evans suggests that America's "next battle" in its "war on terrorism" should be against the Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian government.  Included in his arguments are the notion that the occupied territories belong to Israel and other such absurdities which reveal the astounding depth of the Christian-Zionist self-delusion.

Pearl Harbor, An Intelligence Success

In his article "Pearl Harbor: A Rude Awakening" from the BBC online history of World War II, Bruce Robinson adamantly defends the official version of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  He writes that "Rumours that began in the war are still hanging around, well past their sell-by date, fuelled only by revisionist historians and conspiracy cranks" and goes on to explain his hypothesis--essentially a retelling of an old theory--that "The real crime was one of incompetence on a huge scale".  The lessons learned from examining his hypothesis cannot be overemphasized in light of the events of September 11, 2001 and the alleged "intelligence breakdown" associated with "Black Tuesday".  The relevance of examining the historical truth regarding the "Day of Infamy" is no less reaffirmed by similar "intelligence failures" regarding Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction resulting in the criminal act of aggression against that nation by the United States of America.

"Come now and let us reason together..."

An open letter to the authors of Hebrew Roots, a Messianic newsletter.  Its purpose is to expose the lies about the state of Israel and the situation in Palestine that are commonly propagated--particularly by the Christian Right, which has allied itself with Zionism.  It includes an analysis of the biggest lie of them all; the blasphemous theological argument, used in an attempt to justify Israel's lawlessness and murder.

"O Yerushalayim, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved.  How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?"

-- Yirmeyahu 4:14

"Yet your eyes and your heart are for nothing but your covetousness, for shedding innocent blood, and practicing oppression and violence."

-- Yirmeyahu 22:17

Click here to see my letter to Hebrew Roots and their response!

"Obstacle to Peace"

A comparative analysis of Iraq, Israel, and the Palestinian territories regarding the need for a "solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and whether or not that "solution" need be "military" or not, using the criterion presented by National Security Advisor Condoleezza in a recent interview.

"There are several difference between the situation in Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict... In the case of Saddam Hussein, he was a dictator for over 30 years, had violated UN resolutions, he attacked his neighboring countries twice, and developed weapons of mass destruction. The solution to Saddam Hussein had to be military."

-- National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice

The FBI cover-up of the anthrax investigation

A look back at the anthrax scare after September 11, 2001, in which anthrax was mailed to Tom Brokaw, the editor of the New York Post, and Senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy, and how the FBI was involved in a clear cover-up of the incident.

"If Mr. Z were an Arab national, he would have been imprisoned long ago."

-- Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times, July 2, 2002

Articles of Excommunication

I hereby bring charges of criminal negligence, dereliction of duty, and complicity in high crimes against humanity upon all who call themselves Christian while having supported the unlawful acts of aggression committed by the United States against the sovereign nation of Iraq.

Declaration of War

I hereby declare a state of spiritual warfare upon all who call themselves Christian while having supported the unlawful acts of aggression committed by the United States against the sovereign nation of Iraq.  More than a declaration, this article is an in-depth analysis into the events surrounding and leading up to the invasion of Iraq.  It includes a brief overview of the history of U.S. intervention into Iraq, including the rise of Saddam Hussein to power, the Iran-Iraq war, the 1991 Gulf War, the U.N. weapons inspections, and events since September 11, 2001 which have led to the current war in the Middle East.

"If you are not with me, then you are against me."

-- Matthew 12:30

"All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats."

-- Matthew 25:32

Click here to read a follow-up on "Conservative Christian Communications" from "Declaration of War": "I would like to call your attention to what is perhaps the greatest threat to mankind in the world today.  I speak of a group of religions fanatics who are not afraid to lie in order to see their agenda set forth, who worship their god by destroying lives and propagating human suffering, who resort to tactics of terror in order to achieve their political/religious agenda, who possess the most dangerous weapons of mass destruction known to man, and who have a clear history of not being afraid to use them.  I speak of a group of people who commonly refer to themselves as 'Christians'..."

Lessons from East Timor and Kuwait

Oil is Thicker than Blood

"When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, President George Bush stated, 'America stands as it always has, against aggression, against those who would use force to replace the rule of law.'  Sadly, the truth is much different."

"Lessons from East Timor and Kuwait" is a brief analysis of U.S. foreign policy using East Timor and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait as case studies, written with regard to the then soon-to-be U.S. invasion of Iraq.  Click here to read some responses to this article, which was published in a local paper (local to my hometown, that is).

COINTELPRO, The FBI and Martin Luther King

The enactment of the USA PATRIOT Act gave vast new powers to both domestic law enforcement and international intelligence agencies. Previous checks and balances have been eliminated that were put in place after misuse of surveillance during the '60's and '70's.  The FBI had spied on thousands of citizens under it's "counter-intelligence" program, or COINTELPRO.  Malcolm X was also a target of a COINTELPRO operation, which was largely responsible for inciting the factionalism that led to his assassination.  Another target of the program, whom FBI Director Hoover called the "most notorious liar" in the country, was Martin Luther King, Jr., who was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

"The forces which are most anxious to weaken our internal security are not always easy to identify.  Communists have been trained in deceit and secretly work toward the day when they hope to replace our American way of life with a Communist dictatorship.  They utilize cleverly camouflaged movements, such as peace groups and civil rights groups to achieve their sinister purposes.  While they as individuals are difficult to identify, the Communist party line is clear.  Its first concern is the advancement of Soviet Russia and the godless Communist cause.  It is important to learn to know the enemies of the American way of life."

-- John Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI.

Remember the Maine

"Remember the Maine" is a brief look back at the media complicity in the framing of Spain for the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor, Cuba, in 1898.

"You furnish the pictures, I'll furnish the war."

– William Randolph Hearst

"Our Republic and its press will rise or fall together.  An able, disinterested, public-spirited press, with trained intelligence to know the right and courage to do it, can preserve that public virtue without which popular government is a sham and a mockery.  A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself.  The power to mould the future of the Republic will be in the hands of the journalists of future generations."

-- Joseph Pulitzer

The relevance today of such important historical lessons regarding the power of propaganda to influence public opinion should not be underemphasized.

The whole world watched the American media presentation of the liberation of Iraq as the U.S. forces took Baghdad.  We saw the scenes of the statue of Saddam being toppled and of the citizens of Baghdad celebrating the triumphal entry of U.S. forces into the city.  We were overwhelmed by sheer power of the spectacle; and in that moment, as we watched the ecstasy of the people in the streets, we knew that this war was a truly righteous war; and a momentous humanitarian effort.

The photo to the right is the "wag the dog" scene from Baghdad I just described.  A U.S. mechanized vehicle toppled the statue with a cable.  As you can see, there was only a small group of people.  The media, under the close supervision of the Pentagon, used close-ups and other simple techniques to make the crowd appear larger.  The entire area was closed of.  Some of the celebrators were even members of an Iraqi opposition group flown in just days earlier by the Pentagon!

The Day of Infamy

Would the government intentionally provoke another group of people hoping for a violent response, orchestrating events so that a foreign power, caught in a stranglehold by the U.S., would find it in the best interests of its own survival to strike back militarily?  Would the U.S. government intentionally allow thousands of American lives to be lost in order to create the "pretext" to go to war?  Could our own government willingly set the stage for 3000 U.S. citizens to be killed in order to promote its own agenda?  Don't think so?  Think again.

This article is a look back at the events leading up to the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941.

The So-Called "Patriot" Act

On October 24, 2001, in the wake of the events of September 11, a bill was pushed through Congress known as "Uniting and Strengthening America Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act" (USA PATRIOT Act), or simply the "anti-terrorism" bill.  This legislation effectively abrogates key elements of our Bill of Rights.

War in Afghanistan

We are told that the U.S. first began arming the mujahedeen in Afghanistan in response to the Soviet invasion, in order to combat the "international communist conspiracy".  This myth is easily dispelled, however, simply by pointing out the fact that the support of radical militants began six months prior to the Soviet invasion, with the stated purpose of drawing the Soviet Union into what was hoped would be "its Vietnam war".  Of course, Osama bin Laden was perhaps the CIA's greatest asset in Afghanistan, and he was nurtured tenderly by our government, through the intermediary of Pakistan's intelligence service.  It's also instructive to note that the U.S. supported the Taliban regime in its rise to power; and its further instructive to note the reasons for this.

The next greatest myth surrounding U.S. foreign policy in Afghanistan is that the recent invasion by our forces was about "defending the homeland" and "liberating" the Afghani people.  This theory runs into an opposing hypothesis when one considers the extensive relationship between the U.S. government and the oil industry and how this has effected the foreign policy of the U.S.  This theory runs into further problems when one considers the results of and the reasons for past intervention in Afghanistan.  Certainly, if one is going to have a modicum of objectivity, one must acknowledge that these lessons of history warrant calling into question the motives of the government.

This is a look at the history of U.S. foreign policy in Afghanistan showing clearly how the U.S. created a monster it now seeks to hold responsible for the world's ills in the post Cold War world we live in today, where the word "communism" no longer serves the same purpose it once did.  It is also a look at the importance the U.S. places on oil, and particularly on a pipeline to be built allowing natural resources from the Caspian Sea basin to be exported to the large market in the East and elsewhere; the "silk road" of the 21st century.

Will the Real Osama Please Stand Up?

The fact is that the FBI has intentionally misinformed the American public as to the identity of the true hijackers.  Could it also, then, be possible that they are also intentionally misinforming America as to even Osama bin Laden's involvement in the plot to destroy the World Trade Center towers?

Osama bin Laden has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks.  However, one video emerged wherein the Saudi-born militant allegedly confessed his guilt as the mastermind behind the attacks.

"In our investigation, we have not uncovered a single piece of paper--either here in the United States or in the treasure trove of information that has turned up in Afghanistan and elsewhere--that mentioned any aspect of the Sept. 11 plot."

-- FBI Director Robert Mueller

"The truth is there is no information I have that directly links al Qaeda to September the eleventh."

-- British Prime Minister Tony Blair

George W. Bush's Response to 911

George W. Bush had an interesting response to the 9/11 attacks. He did nothing. Then he told a story about how he first learned of the attacks that simply could not be true.

Weekend Update, September 29, 2002

A look back at the news on this date: Saddam accepts weapons inspectors, Israel besieges Arafat's compound and kills civilians during an attempt to assassinate Hamas members, Syria points out U.S. double-standard, war crimes in Afghanistan, U.S. rejects ICC, new policy of "preemption", a Blair dossier, Al Gore criticizes Bush, Bush seeks authorization for force against Iraq and also for approval to provide training to Iraqi opposition forces.

"The commonly held view at the FBI prior to September 11 was that bin Laden needed pilots to operate aircraft he had purchased in the United States to move men and material." -- Eleanor Hill, staff director of the inquiry into the FBI failures regarding September 11, 2001, explaining why the FBI did not investigate associates of Osama bin Laden who were training at flight schools

"We move stuff around all the time." -- a Pentagon spokeswoman, explaining why the U.S. had deployed additional Patriot missile batteries in Kuwait prior to the invasion of Iraq

"This nation has defeated tyrants, liberated death camps and raised this lamp of liberty to every captive land... We have no intention of ignoring or appeasing history's latest gang of fanatics trying to murder their way to power.  They are discovering, as others before them, the resolve of a great democracy... We will not relent until justice is done and our nation is secured.  What our enemies have begun, we will finish... We will not allow any terrorist or tyrant to threaten civilization with weapons of mass murder... The ideal of America is the hope of all mankind.  That hope drew millions to this harbor.  That hope still lights our way.  And the light shines in the darkness.  And the darkness will not overcome it." -- George W. Bush, September 11, 2002

Weekend Update, June 1, 2002

A look back at the news on this date: The weapons treaty with Russia, U.S. opposition to the ICC, high terror alerts, the Phoenix memo, Bush administrations blocks into investigations, intelligence failures, Israel in Jenin, Kashmir, and my movie review of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

"I don't think anybody could have predicted these people would take an airplane and slam it into the World Trade Center . . . that they would . . . use an airplane as a missile." -- National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, apparently forgetting terrorist plots to fly a plane into the Eiffel tower and another into CIA headquarters

"Nobody was looking domestically.  We didn't think they had the people to mount an operation here." -- F.B.I. official, on the intelligence failures regarding September 11, 2001, apparently forgetting the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center

"There were no warning signs that I'm aware of that would indicate this type of operation in the country." -- F.B.I. Director Robert Mueller, apparently forgetting about a plot to bomb the L.A. airport, the "millennium bombings" scare, and the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center

"We strongly deplore and condemn terrorist violence.  There are people who don't want peace and therefore they are willing to kill to make sure we don't have peace." -- George W. Bush, apparently forgetting about U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East

"Israeli settlement must stop." -- George W. Bush, apparently forgetting about the 35 or so U.S. vetoes of UN resolutions against Israel, the continued ignorance of the 70 or so resolutions passed in condemnation of Israel, and the continued U.S. financing of the illegal settlements