The Bush administration fears a true American legion – that growing multitude of thinking people who love this country and hate what Bush's foreign policy and domestic abuses are doing to it. This is why Rummy needed to chide, to threaten, and to name-call in a crowd of reliable and erstwhile supporters. Even in Salt Lake City, at an American Legion convention, people are increasingly morally or intellectually confused about what the Bush administration is doing around the world, and at home. Last weeks' speeches indicate that Bush and Rumsfeld both know that if Americans become clear headed and logical, the Bush cabal loses and the party ends. Boldly unhampered by truth and increasingly menacing in tone, their words reveal panic and political desperation. My prediction is neither earth-shattering nor genius. But between now and the November elections, every opportunity to cause American emotion to trump American intellect will be seized, squeezed and sustained by this administration and its handmaidens. Karen Kwiatkowski, Without Reservation, Military Week, 9-4-06
MAX CLELAND (D), FORMER GEORGIA SENATOR: I don't agree with a damn thing the attorney general said. It is al Qaeda, stupid. It is Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cadre that must be killed or captured, period. If we don't have high government officials in Washington who understand that, we need new high government officials. This is five years after September 11th. I went through September 11th, along with this nation. I was in Washington. I was just a couple of miles from the pentagon. I saw the smoke. I thought I was back in Vietnam. It is al Qaeda, stupid. It is not Iraq. That is why we've got to redeploy the troops out of Iraq, recover them to this country and make sure that our national guard and our reserves take care of this country and refocus our active duty military on killing and capturing Osama bin Laden.
Situation Room, CNN, 9-5-06
Hard Rain Journal 9-7-06: While ABC Catapults the Propaganda, Bush’s “Key Ally” Makes Peace with Al Qaeda
By Richard Power
Just as Karen Kwiatkowski, Ph.D., Lt. Col. USAF (ret.), a true patriot, wrote in Millitary Week on 9-4-06, "between now and the November elections, every opportunity to cause American emotion to trump American intellect will be seized, squeezed and sustained by this administration and its handmaidens."
Just as I wrote in "Remember, Remember the First Week in September" on 9-3-06, the USA is headed for a clash on the streets and in the corridors of power. It will be a clash not only over the will of the people and the right to dissent, but over reality itself. The Rove machine is leaking oil and fuel. The Bush-Cheney cabal is looking worriedly over its shoulder for the first time. There is turmoil in the cult formerly known as the Republican Party. Therefore, it is very a dangerous time for the populace that this regime has threatened and lied to since 911.
The “Path to 911” scandal exposes ABC, which insists it will air a right-wing ideologue’s brazenly deceitful and blatantly inaccurate film, as a full partner in an Orwellian exercise in revisionism. The clear aim of this affront to the 3,000 innocents slaughtered on 911 is not only to directly influence the outcome of the upcoming mid-term elections and but also to warp the minds of the next generation. Scholastic, Inc. sent 100,000 letters to high school teachers, encouraging them to play the film for their students, and offering “teaching materials” to facilitate the indoctrination. (Unfortunately, contrary to an earlier story, Scholastic is sticking by its product. I wonder if they make Intelligent Design "teaching materials" too?)
Think Progress offers proof of ABC’s complicity in proffering this propaganda:
ABC won’t give President Clinton, Madeleine Albright or Sandy Berger a copy of its 9/11 docudrama, “The Path to 9/11.” But there is virtually nothing about the film ABC won’t share with the right-wing blogosphere.
For example, an ABC insider sent this missive to right-wing blogger Hugh Hewitt about potential edits to the film:
The Disney execs met all through the weekend - unheard of in this business - debating what changes would be made and what concessions should be given. Here is what looks to be the conclusion:
- There will be a handful of tweaks made to a few scenes.
- They are minor, and nuance in most cases - a line lift here, a tweak to the edit there.
- There are 900 screeners out there. When this airs this weekend, there will be a number of people who will spend their free evenings looking for these changes and will be hard pressed to identify them. They are that minor.
- The average viewer would not be able to tell the difference between the two versions.
- The message of the Clinton Admin failures remains fully intact. ABC Insider Assures Right-Wing Bloggers: ‘The Message of the Clinton Admin Failures Remains Fully Intact,’ Think Progress, 9-6-06
Even Howard Kurtz, the Washington Post’s milk toast “media critic,” felt compelled to give prominence to condemnations offered by high Clinton administration officials:
Former secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright called one scene involving her "false and defamatory." Former national security adviser Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger said the film "flagrantly misrepresents my personal actions." And former White House aide Bruce R. Lindsey, who now heads the William J. Clinton Foundation, said: "It is unconscionable to mislead the American public about one of the most horrendous tragedies our country has ever known." Howard Kurtz, Clinton Administration Officials Assail ABC's 'The Path to 9/11,' Washington Post, 9-7-06
In an open letter, Tom McMahon, Executive Director of the Democratic National Committee, blasted both ABC and Scholastic in a remarkably candid way:
ABC is trying to use of the airwaves -- airwaves owned by you and me, and loaned to broadcasters as a public trust -- to slander Democrats and sell a slanderous, irresponsible fraud to the American people, and they're shamefully doing it just weeks away from Election Day.
The Walt Disney Corporation could have given Americans an honest look at September 11. Instead, the company abandoned its duty to the truth -- and embraced the fiction known as "The Path to 9/11."
But ABC isn't the only company pushing this gross revision of history. ABC has enlisted the reputable education and children's entertainment company Scholastic, Inc. to send 100,000 letters to high school teachers, urging them to show students "The Path to 9/11". Scholastic has also created a discussion guide for teachers to use to encourage students and their families to watch this irresponsible fraud and then discuss it in school. The discussion guide does not in any way point out the concerns and criticisms that have been raised about the validity and accuracy of the film. Executive Director of Democratic Party slams Disney/ABC for "slanderous" fictional TV show about 9/11, www.americablog.com, 9-6-06
Meanwhile, over in ABC’s news organization, Brian Ross, a real journalist, posted a story that should have shaken the foundations of the Bush-Cheney regime:
Osama bin Laden, America's most wanted man, will not face capture in Pakistan if he agrees to lead a "peaceful life," Pakistani officials tell ABC News. The surprising announcement comes as Pakistani army officials announced they were pulling their troops out of the North Waziristan region as part of a "peace deal" with the Taliban….In addition to the pullout of Pakistani troops, the "peace agreement" between Pakistan and the Taliban also provides for the Pakistani army to return captured Taliban weapons and prisoners.
"What this means is that the Taliban and al Qaeda leadership have effectively carved out a sanctuary inside Pakistan," said ABC News consultant Richard Clarke, the former White House counter-terrorism director….The Pakistani Army had gone into Waziristan, under heavy pressure from the United States, but faced a series of humiliating defeats at the hands of the Taliban and al Qaeda fighters. Brian Ross and Gretchen Peters, Bin Laden Gets a Pass from Pakistan, The Blotter, ABC, 9-5-06
And languishing out there, with no one in the mainstream news media to provide context and continuity, there is this story:
Pakistan's growing nuclear energy needs and its leaders' determination to look to China for investment and know-how in the field are proving an important incentive for the latter's ambitions of becoming a global player in the nuclear power industry….China has already completed a 300 Mw nuclear power plant in Chashma in Pakistan and is constructing another of the same size there During meetings with a delegation of the Chinese Communist Party in Islamabad late August, Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf sought more Chinese input in the sector, reportedly requesting a series of new plants to help his country boost its nuclear power capacity. Beijing aims to sign a deal in November that will see China helping Pakistan build six nuclear power plants with an installed capacity of 300 Mw each. Antoaneta Bezlova, Snubbed by US, Pakistan Doing Nuclear Deal With China, Inter Press Service, 9-4-06
So that’s Pakistan, after five years as a key ally in the Bush-Cheney cabal’s so-called “war on terror” -- a military dictatorship with an openly acknowledged sanctuary for Al Qaeda and Taliban, and an aggressive nuclear power plant program pushed forward by the Chinese.
And here's more glaring evidence of the Bush-Cheney regime's failures, weaknesses and deceits...
Wolf Blitzer of CNN is no Mike Wallace, and yet on the 9-5-06 edition of "The Situation Room," Blitzer caught Alberto Gonzalez equivocating about something that should be unequiovcal:
BLITZER: Most Americans look back at five years ago, what happened on 9/11 and they immediately ask this question -- where is the most wanted man in the world? Why haven't you, the United States government, been able to find, capture or kill Osama bin Laden?
GONZALES: Well, we have spent a lot of time and a lot of effort in trying to locate Bin Laden. And it again, as the president has said many times, it's not a question of if, it's simply a question of when. We are going to capture Bin Laden. And we're working with our friends and allies around the world to try to find out where he's at. But even if we -- BLITZER: You want him more than any other criminal out there?
GONZALES: I think it's very, very important.
BLITZER: He's at your top priority?
GONZALES: I think it's very important to get Bin Laden.
BLITZER: But is he your top priority?
GONZALES: Again --
BLITZER: In terms of America's most wanted.
GONZALES: There are a lot of very important people that we want to prosecute and Bin Laden would certainly be at the top of that list. But I don't want the American people to believe that if he were captured that America would be safe. I think that would be important in our battle against terrorism, but there are others who are dangerous and would want --
BLITZER: Who is at that level of Osama bin Laden?
GONZALES: Well, I'm not going to get into specific names, but as I said, Wolf, capturing Bin Laden would be very, very important. It would be important for operational reasons. It would be important for symbolic reasons. So clearly, he would be at the top of the list.
BLITZER: Because we hear from him occasionally, more often from his number two, Ayman Al Zawahiri. They show up on these videotapes and they make these declarations. You would think that that would be your number one priority.
GONZALES: Well, there's a lot of effort that is expended by the U.S. government in trying to identify, trying to locate where Bin Laden so that we can bring him to justice. Situation Room, CNN, 9-5-06
And that's the USA, five years after 911, one of the major TV networks (not even FOX) is planning to pipe reich-wing filth into your homes and into your children's classroom and the Attorney General of the United States won't unequivocally affirm that capturing or killing Osama Bin Laden is his number one priority.
Asked by Blitzer to comment on Gonzalez's remarks, former Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA), who lost three limbs in Vietnam, responded with courage and clarity of mind:
MAX CLELAND (D), FORMER GEORGIA SENATOR: I don't agree with a damn thing the attorney general said. It is al Qaeda, stupid. It is Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cadre that must be killed or captured, period. If we don't have high government officials in Washington who understand that, we need new high government officials. This is five years after September 11th. I went through September 11th, along with this nation. I was in Washington. I was just a couple of miles from the pentagon. I saw the smoke. I thought I was back in Vietnam.
It is al Qaeda, stupid. It is not Iraq. That is why we've got to redeploy the troops out of Iraq, recover them to this country and make sure that our national guard and our reserves take care of this country and refocus our active duty military on killing and capturing Osama bin Laden. He is the key to worldwide terrorism. If we don't get that now, we'll never get it.
Now, the thing that bothers me is that instead of going after Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cadre, they're going after Jack Murtha who after five years have looked at this situation and having more than 30 years experience in the marine corps and more than 30 years in congress, they're going after Jack Murtha and trying to take him out and strip vote him. And I'm not going to let that happen. Me and my fellow veterans are going to demonstrate in Johnstown, Pennsylvania for Jack Murtha September 30th. We invite all Americans to come. We're going to fight back this year.
BLITZER: Senator, listen to what President Bush says about al Qaeda and its current assessment of the war in Iraq. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: For al Qaeda, Iraq is not a distraction from their war on America. It is the central battlefield where the outcome of this struggle will be decided.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right he says it may not have been necessarily the central battlefield before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, but today for al Qaeda, the situation in Iraq is priority number one.
CLELAND: No. No. Al Qaeda is focusing and morphing in 60 different nations, Madrid, Spain, London, England. Where did the last attack on this country originate from or attempted attack? London. Now, my problem is that five years after this attack on our country, people in Washington, the president, the vice president and the attorney general obviously, and Secretary Rumsfeld don't get it. I can't believe it. And instead of attacking Bin Laden, they attack Jack Murtha.
I'm heading up an organization called Vets For Murtha.org. Www.vetsformurtha.org. And we are fighting back this year. We're not going to let somebody like Jack Murtha who has the experience, look at the president's policy in Iraq and say that the policy in Iraq has no clothes. If Iraq was so important, why didn't they put in the 500,000 troops that General Shinseki wanted.
Why didn't they put in the 500,000 troops that Tommy Franks briefed on the first visit to Crawford, Texas about this war. No, they put in just enough troops to lose. And they've gotten 2600 kids killed. 25,000 maimed and wounded. And this is enough. It's time to redeploy the troops and refocus our energies on killing and capturing Osama bin Laden.
Some Related Posts:
Hard Rain Journal 8-16-06: Soros calls "War on Terror" "Counterproductive, Self-Defeating," & "A False Metaphor," Sri Lanka Bombs "Terrorist" Children
Hard Rain Journal 7-25-06: As the Next Bait & Switch Get Pulled, Remember Osama Bin Laden & the Child Brides of Afghanistan
Hard Rain Journal 6-15-06: Foreign Affairs survey of 100 US policy leaders grades Bush-Cheney "failed" at 1.8 out of 10
Hard Rain Journal 6-14-06: Wrongly Premised “War on Terrorism” has Increased Danger from Terrorism, and Ignored Greater Risks
Words of Power #24: Lost Symbols, Part One – Aung San Suu Kyi, AQ Khan, & The World Tree
Words of Power #23: A Reality Check, What A Real World War on Terrorism Would Look Like, and a US Mid-Term Election Strategy
Words of Power #21: Judith Miller, Ken Lay, Florida, 9/11 and The Return of The Forbidden Truths?
Words of Power #13: What You Need To Know About The Port Security Scandal
Words of Power #15: Bring Me the Head of Osama, Nero Fiddles while the Planet Burns, Religion as the Crystal Meth of the People, & The Democrats' Plan
Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and http://www.wordsofpower.net. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net
911, Democratic National Committee, Bush, Cheney, ABC, Howard Kurtz, Clinton, Brian Ross, Pakistan, Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda, Terrorism, China, Wolf Blizter, CNN, Karen Kwiatkowski, Mike Cleland
