Washington Chickenhawks Are "Cooking the Books" on the Iraq Threat
The view of U.S. intelligence officials, summarized in a letter written by CIA Director George Tenet, suggests that an attack on Baghdad is likely to trigger the one thing President Bush says he is trying to prevent: the use of weapons of mass destruction.
The classified CIA report delivered to the Senate Intelligence Committee stated that the likelihood of Iraq launching an unprovoked attack on the U.S. was low. But should Saddam conclude that a U.S.-led attack could no longer be deterred, "he probably would become much less constrained in adopting terrorist actions" — and might help Islamic militants use weapons of mass destruction as "his last chance to exact vengeance."
Call Congress. They are feckless, self-serving cowards who have allowed the abrogation of our Constitution and the hijacking of our foreign policy. The only language the politicians understand is the threat of popular outrage. Call your congressman: So, you want to get re-elected? Then vote against this war — or else.
Jimmy Carter — Man of Peace — Wins Nobel Prize
The award is a direct repudiation of Washington's confrontational and militaristic foreign policy. "It should be interpreted as a criticism of the line that the current administration has taken," said Gunnar Berge, chairman of the Nobel committee. "It's a kick in the leg to all that follow the same line as the United States."
Tampa's Orwellian Experiment: 36 Cameras Scan Every Face in Ybor City
Tampa's Mayor and City Council have quietly conspired to install an unprecedented surveillance system that intimately scans and maps the faces and identity of all visitors to the city's adult entertainment district. Tampa's political lightweights have transformed an already-struggling Ybor City into a Zero-Privacy police zone — more intrusive, arguably, than under the old Soviet or Chinese regimes. Zero tolerance. Zero growth. Zero respect for privacy.
"Bring Them Home Now!" — Soldiers' Families Mobilize as Casualties Mount
As daily U.S. soldier deaths continue in Iraq, families of deployed troops have begun organizing nationally to demand withdrawal. Meanwhile, a RAND Corporation report predicts a "rosy future for the terrorism business" — Washington's Forever War shows no signs of ending.
US Colonel Kidnaps, Holds Family of Iraqi General Hostage
In a case that drew international condemnation, a U.S. military colonel detained the family members of an Iraqi general in an effort to force his surrender. The incident prompted war crimes questions that the administration quickly buried. "Calculated is not collateral" — as the occupation deepens, the line between counterinsurgency and collective punishment blurs beyond recognition.
Attendance Plummets at Florida Aquarium — Tampa Taxpayers Engulfed by Losses
In addition to paying 100% of the annual $6.7 million "capital budget" (i.e., mortgage), the Tampa City Council's additional annual "operating budget" subsidy could balloon to $1,000,000 or more. Taxpayers assumed 100% of economic risk. City transportation bureaucrats, meanwhile, secured cushy new jobs and inflated salaries to oversee the $53 million Ybor City trolley — a 2.3-mile system no one rides.
Bread and Circuses: Bush Designates First Victims for Washington's Immoral "Show Trials"
The administration has designated the first six detainees for military commissions at Guantanamo Bay — proceedings that legal scholars across the political spectrum have called a fundamental violation of due process. Meanwhile, the Red Cross urges the U.S. to clarify the status of three dozen Iraqi scientists-prisoners held in unknown conditions near Baghdad — Washington's own "disappeared."
Washington Suspends Military Aid to 35 Countries That Supported International Criminal Court
In a breathtaking display of imperial hubris, the U.S. suspended military assistance to 35 nations that ratified the International Criminal Court treaty and refused to exempt American personnel from potential prosecution. The message from Washington: international law is for everyone else.