Let's go over to BuzzFlash to note a few things.
1) Thom Hartmann provides "They Died So Republicans Could Take the Senate:"
The real scandal of the Downing Street Memos, with the greatest potential to leave the Bush presidency in permanent disgrace, is their implication that lies may have been put forward to help Bush, Republicans, and Blair politically. If Bush lied to gain and keep political power, precedent suggests he and his collaborators in the administration may even be vulnerable to impeachment.
Conservatives say the Bush claims of WMD and "mushroom clouds" were a "lie of ignorance." Condoleezza Rice periodically does the talk-show circuit and repeats the "lie of ignorance" myth. "The entire world thought Saddam had WMD," she and other Bush representatives suggest over and over again. "We had bad intelligence."
This is a lie to cover up a more damaging lie. "The entire world" was, in fact, watching and listening to Hans Blix, who was telling us that he couldn't find any evidence of WMD - or any other sort of threat - in Iraq. Most of our allies were convinced that Saddam did not have WMD, or that if he did have some small stockpiles left they were so insignificant and degraded that they were irrelevant. This is why the only permanent member of the UN Security Council to join us in attacking Iraq was Blair's UK: China, France, and Russia didn't believe Iraq represented a threat to them, to us, or even to its neighbors.
2) Sibel Edmonds' "FBI & 9/11:A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION:"
The latest buzz topic regarding intelligence is the problem of sharing information, intelligence, within intelligence agencies and between intelligence agencies. To this date the public has not been told of intentional blocking of intelligence, and has not been told that certain information, despite its direct links, impacts and ties to terrorist related activities, is not given to or shared with Counterterrorism units, their investigations, and countering terrorism related activities. This was the case prior to 9/11, and remains in effect after 9/11. If Counterintelligence receives information that contains money laundering, illegal arms sale, and illegal drug activities, directly linked to terrorist activities; and if that information involves certain nations, certain semi- legit organizations, and ties to certain lucrative or political relations in this country, then, that information is not shared with Counterterrorism, regardless of the possible severe consequences. In certain cases, frustrated FBI agents cited 'direct pressure by the State Department,' and in other cases 'sensitive diplomatic relations' is cited. I provided the Department of Justice Inspector General and the 9/11 Commission with detailed and specific information and evidence regarding this issue, and the names of other witnesses willing to corroborate this, and the names of certain U.S. officials involved in these transactions and activities.
Now, after almost 4 years, we get to hear new bits & pieces: FBI & Midhar’s Case; FBI & Abdel-Hafiz Case; FBI & Saudi planes leaving just days after 9/11 without having the passengers questioned; FBI & Youssef Case;… and the list goes on.
Today, after nearly four years since 9/11, the American people still do not know that thousands of lives can be jeopardized under the unspoken policy of 'protecting certain foreign business relations.' The victims family members still do not realize that information and answers they have sought relentlessly for almost 4 years has been blocked due to the unspoken decisions made and disguised under 'safeguarding certain diplomatic relations .'
3) Shirley Smith's latest "Ms. Smith Goes To Washington: Apologies Are Best Served Up With Justice:"
Bush and his administration are leaders of a Democracy and they sold their lies under our flag of Democracy and their Christian flag of morality of Bush's religious base, the Christian Coalition. They are not Democracy and the Christian Coalition does not speak for all of the other religions in our Country. In my mind, this makes them worse than Hitler and Pol Pot. The US has had this problem before with some of these same warhawks and failed to bring them to justice. Now, we see a repetition of death and destruction all in the name of American democracy.
We don't need to apologize for calling Guantanamo what it is. The world knows what it is. If the US does any apologizing ... it needs to be to those innocent people in Guantanamo and all of those other prisons, where people have been taken and brutalized without representation or proof of any kind. If we are to apologize, it should be for allowing the attacking of innocent people in Afghanistan who had nothing to do with 911. If we are to apologize ... it should be to those hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have been brutalized, killed and had their Country devastated in the name of US Democracy. If we are to apologize, we need to apologize to our fellow Americans for allowing this administration to send our National Guard and our military to invade a Country for no other reason than because Bush and his administration "just wanted to overthrow Saddam and take over the Middle East."
4) Note, if this doesn't open by clicking, right click on link, then choose "open" from the pop up menu. It's included because the headline BuzzFlash gave it made Shirley laugh (the three previous links are all original content exclusive to BuzzFlash.):
"Biden says he's running for president -- the most exciting campaign since Joementum. 6.21"
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