Demonstrators Smash
Peugeot to Show Support for the US Troops


More than 100 Nashvillians turned out this afternoon to hit a French car with a
sledgehammer in support of America's troops and to protest French anti-American
sentiments.

The "Bash A Peugeot For Peace" event at the Beaman Automotive Group on
Broadway was sponsored by WWTN radio talk-show host Steve Gill. All proceeds
are going to charities that send supplies to troops overseas and their families,
who have remained at hom

National terror alert lowered to yellow;
public told to stay 'defiant and alert'

JOHN J. LUMPKIN, Associated Press Writer




The Bush administration lowered the national terror alert
Thursday from orange to yellow, suggesting the immediate
threat of an attack on U.S. soil had eased. Still, Americans were
warned to "continue to be defiant and alert."

Morford's take:

== Please Also Be A Little Clenched Up And Twitchy ==
The Bush administration lowered the national terror alert Thursday from
orange to yellow, suggesting the immediate threat of an attack on U.S.
soil had eased, and also indicating that the administration was, as
everyone suspected, full of crap when it issued the warning in the
first place, which just so happened to coincide with Powell trying to
hammer the UN into submission so Junior could launch his sniveling
little war. Still, Americans were warned to "continue to be defiant and
alert," whatever the hell that means, defiant as in what, righteous and
angry and insistent that no gol durn furriner id gonna come over here
and blowd up your face? Alert as in what, beware your
suspicious-looking Pakistani grocery clerk? Double check your felafel
for anthrax? The administration also really, really urges all Americans
to be also "docile and easily misled," "ream-able and slappable," or in
the case of the twins and Noelle, "drunk and disorderly and in deep
need of a mental colonic.

In The Interests of International
Stability



<<>>"The United States suffered a significant setback Friday in its
attempts to win U.N. backing for military action in Iraq when Russia’s foreign
minister said Moscow was prepared to veto a war resolution “in the interests
of international stability.”..." A Kremlin source told NBC News that Moscow
was serious about using their veto if the war resolution backed by the United
States, Britain and Spain came to a vote. “We are strongly against against
the document that would start a war and President (Vladimir) Putin has said
it before, he reserves the right to use a veto,” the Kremlin official told NBC
on condition of anonymity.

Building a Coalition of the
Coerced


Jim Lobe,Inter Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb 26 (IPS) - While U.S.
President George W. Bush (news - web sites) insists
that many countries are eager to join what
he calls a ''coalition of the willing'', a more apt name
may be ''coalition of the coerced'',
according to a report released Wednesday by the Institute
for Policy Studies, a progressive Washington
think tank.



''Almost all, by
our count, join only through coercion,
bullying,
bribery, or the implied threat of U.S. action that
would directly
damage the interests of the country,'' adds
the 13-page
report. ''This 'coalition of the coerced' stands in
direct conflict
with democracy.''

While U.S. officials insist publicly that
they are not bargaining over members' votes, this has
evoked widespread skepticism - not to say
derision - even from the generally credulous White
House press corps, which broke out in
laughter Tuesday after White House spokesman Ari
Fleischer (news - web sites) rejected a
question that suggested that ''the leaders of other
nations are buyable''.

Quote of the Day(Thanks, MWO):

"I think people, if they want
to know what's going to happen in
Iraq, consider this analogy.
Now they've tried to present it like
it's all going to be rose
petals on the liberators as they march
down the streets in Baghdad.

No, what you should picture is
Waco.

Iraq is Waco. Saddam Hussein
is David Koresh.

He's a real bad guy, an evil
man who's got an arsenal that we
don't like. And, of course, we
shouldn't like it, but I think right
wingers always defended David
Koresh because the idea was,
'Well, he's not using it. It's
just going to make matters worse if
we go in there.' And that's
what -- I've seen this movie. And in
this case, our army is the FBI
and he [Saddam] is David Koresh.

And I know how it ends. The
FBI gets decimated when they go in
and the nut bar takes the
whole place with him rather than give
up his weapons. He uses them.

We are forcing this guy to use
his chemical and biological
weapons when I don't think --
for 12 years he has not so much
crossed against a red light
and suddenly he has become this
menace who is about to attack
us."

-- Bill Maher, CNN Larry King
Live, Feb. 26, 2003

I wrote OReilly:

I want to report traitors talking against the war
Date:
Thu, 27 Feb 2003 16:38:43 -0500
From:
Leah Faerstein
To:
O'Reilly




You promised to spotlight all traitors speaking against a war while it's
going on. This article will give you all the information you need. Go
get them!

Congressional Republicans

This was in response to this exhortation:
"
"Once the war against Saddam Hussein begins, we expect every
American to support our military, and if you can't do that, just
shut up.

Americans, and indeed our foreign allies who actively work
against our military once the war is underway, will be considered
enemies of the state by me.

Just fair warning to you, Barbra Streisand and others who see
the world as you do. I don't want to demonize anyone, but
anyone who hurts this country in a time like this, well. Let's just
say you will be spotlighted.

Talking points invites all points of view and believes vigorous
debate strengthens the country, but once decisions have been
made and lives are on the line, patriotism must be factored in."

Posted by Joe Bacon on Bartcop Forum:
"How I was treated by the White House"



I called the White House at 5:05 PM stating that i was calling from Move
On and I was urging the President to let the inspectors work.The operator
said F YOU and hung up.Amazing--I called both Feinstein and Boxer and
their staffers replied in a courteous manner. Did anyone else get the F
word uttered at them from the White House?

OOps! Rummy slipped:



"The full intention is that in the event there is a post-Saddam Hussein
regime in Iraq, that the oil would be operated and sold for the benefit of the
Iraqi people, I suppose initially by the coalition forces or some
international group of some sort, and then shortly thereafter by some
legitimate Iraqi operation that would be managing that important natural
resource," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said this week.

On MSNBC Dumping Donahue:

n internal NBC study that described Donahue as "a tired, left-wing liberal
out of touch with the current marketplace." The report allegedly said
Donahue presented a difficult face for NBC at a time of war, saying a
nightmare scenario would be one in which his show becomes "a home for
the liberal anti-war agenda at the same time our competitors are waving
the flag at every opportunity." Marlaine Selip, executive producer of
"Donahue," said she was unaware of any such report. "I think it's pretty
incredible, if in fact it's true," she said.

Virtual March today

I called Schumer and Hillary at the designated times. Their local offices were not busy - I told them I don't want war and that any terrorist act coming from this - I'll hold them personally rsponsible. Got Malloney as well. Not the White House or Senate Majority, Minority. Here's one write up:
Anti-War Protesters Send Faxes, E-Mails

By VANESSA PALO, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Anti-war protesters on
Wednesday made hundreds of thousands of phone
calls and sent faxes and e-mails to senators
and the White House to voice their opposition to a
war on Iraq as part of a "virtual march" on
the nation's capital.

Senators,
regardless of their position on the war, were
barraged with
calls. Other calls to both Democrat and
Republican Senate
offices could not be completed because
of busy circuits.

"We will let our
fingers do the marching and demand that
our voices be
heard," said Tom Andrews, the national
director for Win
for War, the group that organized the
protest.

Andrews said about 400,000 people had
registered through the group's Web site for the call-in
campaign. By Wednesday afternoon, he
projected the number of calls made and faxes sent
exceeded 1 million.

Laura bush* forces "People with Disabilities" out into the cold by amen


....more of that "compassionate conservatism" in action....-snip-The arts
community is always thrilled when Laura Bush attends a cultural event. But some
audience members were peeved at the first lady's security arrangements when she
arrived Monday night for the Washington Opera's performance of Verdi's "Aida" at
Constitution Hall."The Secret Service blocked the one handicapped entrance,
refusing entrance to a woman in a walker and my husband, who uses two canes,
and insisting they use the steps," season ticket subscriber Erika Elvander told us
yesterday. "Everyone had to wait outside for at least 30 extra minutes (good thing
it wasn't raining or snowing) and the performance was
delayed."http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2443-2003Feb25.htmlas
usual, the standard shrub-family excuse....BLAME THE VICTIMS !!!!, people with
disabilities, forced to wait in the cold and painfully struggle up the
steps):-snip-"Opera lovers are so dramatic," quipped spokeswoman Suzanne
Stephens. Laura Bush's press secretary, Noelia Rodriguez, pointed out that her boss
isn't responsible for security logistics. "She hopes the audience enjoyed the
performance as much as she did."

NY Daily News:FAIR GAME:Bush gave the order to kill him" on a picture of Saddam with a target on his face.
Translation: MAKE MY DAY! ATTACK ALREADY!
I remember the good old days when the assassination plots were not on page one of newspapers...

French Correction: Revising

L'histoire to Justify War

By JUSTIN VAISSE


As a Frenchman, I have certainly learned a lot about my country in recent weeks.
''How dare the French forget,'' read a recent headline in the New York Post, on a
page
with a photograph of a military cemetery in Normandy.

I apologize for being so ungrateful. It's just that I learned in school that France
and Britain
declared war on Nazi Germany in September 1939, while the United States was
enacting
isolationist laws, and that America entered the war two years later, only after
Japan attacked
Pearl Harbor. But now I see that was just Gallic propaganda. How could I have
believed it?

I now know what really happened: Franklin D. Roosevelt felt that a country with
more than
300 kinds of cheese was worth liberating and for the love of France, he came to
our rescue.
Joseph Stalin came to the same conclusion, but fortunately for us, he was slower
and had to stop in Berlin.

Forthe Crime of Having Chemical Weapons, We'll Attack Iraq with... Chemical Weapons

"
Strange, then, to see one of COW's biggest bovines--Pentagon warlord
Donald
"Squinty" Rumsfeld--informing the dazed and docile rubberstamps of
Congress of
his intention to assault Iraq with, er, chemical weapons.

Rumsfeld told Congress he has asked COW head George W. Bush to sign a
special
waiver allowing American forces to use biochemical weapons against
Iraqi troops
and civilians in the upcoming stampede into Iraq, UPI reports. What's
more, the
COW chemicals would be launched unilaterally, as part of the standard
Rules of
Engagement--and not merely in retaliation for an attack with similar
weapons by
Saddam.

Bartop Quote:

"I say to O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Hedgecock, Hannity, and all others like them
haranguing for battle to put up or shut up. You guys had your chance to dress in a
green suit and pick up a rifle for your country, and you passed on it. You chose to
serve yourselves. Today you talk tough while reaping the wealth that this nation
can give, and you never sacrificed a thing for this country, just for yourselves. In
my opinion, you are no different than the man on the Titanic who put on a dress
and climbed aboard a lifeboat."
--Charles Henderson, a retired Marine Corps warrant officer

The
Debate that might have Been:



Tony Blair, moderator: Welcome to the first televised debate between
George W Bush and Saddam Hussein, live from United Nations headquarters
in New York. We will begin with a brief opening statement from each of you.

Bush: First of all I would just like to welcome my evil friend to the UN, one
of the great American institutions for the propulsion of freedom throughout
the world.

Saddam: Thank you, Great Satan. I hope that in today's debate we may find
some common ground between the Iraqi people's commitment to peace and
human progress and America's desire to destroy the Middle East.

Bush: Do I answer that?

Blair: No. The first question is quite simply this: do you have any links
with al-Qaida?

Bush: I do not.

Blair: The question is for President Saddam.

Saddam: As I told Mr Tony Benn clearly and simply, if I had links with
al-Qaida and I enjoyed those links then I would not be ashamed to tell the
world, but since I am ashamed to tell the world of this, it follows that I have
no such links.

Bush: Neither do I.

Ha! ha! NKorea nuclear testing? No oil there! Ha! Ha! Ha!
(or the Onion version: N Korea Wonders what to do to Attract Military Attention")
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (February 25, 2003 11:05 a.m. EST) - North Korea's test-firing of a
missile was "bizarre," President Bush's spokesman said Tuesday, joking that it was a
novel way for the communist nation to mark the inauguration of South Korea's new
president.

Pyongyang launched the anti-ship missile on Monday, the eve of Roh Moo-hyun's
inauguration. It splashed harmlessly into the Sea of Japan.

"Typically at times of inaugural festivities, most nations send flowers or bouquets or
visiting dignitaries. North Korea sent a short-range cruise missile," White House
spokesman Ari Fleischer quipped.

Iran sues U.S. in world court for helping Saddam kill Iranians

Translated from Der Spiegel
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,236508,00.html

A strange spectacle in court: As the USA prepares for a war against
Iraq, it is being sued by Iran for its previous close relationship to
Saddam Hussein. At the International Court of Justice, Teheran is
accusing the United States of delivering dangerous chemicals and deadly viruses to
Baghdad during the eighties.

The Hague - The oral deposition in Iran's suit against the United States in the matter
of the destruction of Iranian oil platforms in 1987/88
began on Monday. The suit was presented to the highest court of the
United Nations in 1992 and has been handled in writing ever since.

Teheran accuses Washington of the destruction of three oil platforms in the Persial
Gulf. The US argues that the attack was in retaliation of Iranian attacks of ships sailing
under the American flag. The court has scheduled three weeks to hear arguments from
both sides.

Terry Jones on jingoistic mangling of the vicabulary:

"'Cowardice',
according to Colin Powell, is the refusal to
injure thousands of innocent civilians living in Baghdad in
order to promote US oil interests in the Middle
East. The corollary is that 'bravery' must be the ability to
order the deaths of 100,000 Iraqis without
wincing or bringing up your Caesar salad.

I suppose Tony Blair is 'brave' because he is willing to
expose the people who voted for him to the threat
of terrorist reprisals in return for getting a red carpet
whenever he visits the White House, while Chirac is a
'coward' for standing up to the bigoted bullying of the
extremist right-wing Republican warmongers who
currently run the United States.

Dueling Resolutions at the UN

BERLIN AP - French President Jacques Chirac
announced a step-by-step disarmament plan for
Iraq sponsored by France, Germany and Russia
on Monday as part of a concerted European
drive to dissuade the U.N. Security Council
from backing military action.

The proposal, at
odds with a draft resolution by the United
States, Britain
and Spain declaring Iraq in violation of its
obligations to
disarm under a resolution adopted in
November, asks
the inspectors to set a "rigorous timeline"
to dismantle and
destroy its biological, chemical, nuclear
and missile
weapons programs.

Saul Zaentz's Comments:

FILM producer Saul Zaentz won a standing ovation as he blasted President Bush at last night's
Baftas.

The English Patient maker accused Bush of creating the "possibility of absolute government by
the few for the betterment of the few".

Zaentz, accepting a Bafta fellowship, urged Americans to fight back over war on Iraq, saying:
"In the words of Martin Luther King, we shall overcome - and we will."

He added later: "We have a leader who wants to go to war because 'Saddam once tried to kill
my daddy'."

The Boondocks:

"pResident Bush* said today that it was clear that nothing short of a conplete and utter disregard of a UN resolution would stop Saddam Hussein's complete and utter disregard of a UN resolution"

Bill Maher:

"In case of a terrorist attack, you need to have these four itens:
Duct tape, fresh water, a non-electric can opener and a battery-powered radio
so you can tune in and hear Rush Limbaugh blame everything on Bill Clinton."

The Pope Asks Catholics to Fast on March 5 against the War


"We Christians in particular are called upon to be sentinels of peace," John Paul
said, calling on Catholics to dedicate their fasting on Ash Wednesday, March 5, for
the cause of peace.

On that day, the pope said, faithful will pray for "the conversion of hearts and the
long- range vision of just decisions to resolve disputes with adequate and
peaceful means."

He said that the fast, which Catholics traditionally conduct at the start of Lent to
prepare themselves for Easter, is an "expression of penitence for the hate and
violence which pollute human relations." ...

So, let me see if I get this straight: that means Bush* doesn't have a direct mandate from God to remake the world in PNAC's image and he did not speak for Christians any more than he speaks for the American people? Wow! I guess the moral "high ground" just shifted under his feet.

Dowd on Ridge's Duct Tape Security:


He's not supposed to be selling security, or spinning it;
he's supposed to be providing it.

He doesn't need to make security more alluring to us. We
already find it absolutely alluring. We'd just like to get
some more of it. 

Bush Courting
terrorist Suspect during 2000 campaign

Freeper signature line:


Thank the Military for your freedom and security....and thank a Rich person for
jobs.

Bush* to UN: Give Me War or Die


CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President Bush said on Saturday the United Nations had a last chance to prove its
relevance by adopting a resolution the United States will propose that could pave the way for war on Iraq.

Let's see, who else did he give last chances? Saddam, Osama, North Korea, the Chinese (before being very, very sorry), Democrats, the environment...just about everyone except death row inmates.

Jimmy
Breslin :Free Speech Gets Mugged


Mike Bloomberg, who is George Bush's mayor, was on TV after the march
that didn't take
place last Saturday and said he thought that people who wanted to
protest certainly had that
ability to do so.

"Maybe not as much as they'd like, but given that this is a dangerous
world, I thought the
Police Department did an excellent job of balancing the rights of people
to say what they want
to say with the needs of all of us, and all of them, to provide security
for everybody."

I don't know where Bloomberg gets that from. I don't know where he gets
the idea that
anybody can be pleased with any situation in which the right to assemble
can be blocked and
the right to speak can be thwarted.

He Will Be Remembered as an Asshole
Ben Tripp muses over Bush*'s legacy


"Another first: George will be remembered for reversing the outcome of
both the
Civil War and the Civil Rights movement. He will be remembered for
mixing Church
and State: his invisible cloud superhero and your tax dollars,
together at last. He
will be remembered for nose-diving the economy from a great height.
For record
deficits and massive bureaucratic expansion- he'll knock Reagan off
the charts. For
50 bankrupt states. He will be remembered for turning his back on
treaties. For
insulting great nations. For calling the leader of Russia 'Pooty
Poot'. For oppressing
the weak and unleashing the mighty upon them. For eviscerating the
Bill of Rights,
and for secret detentions. For ignoring the desperate environmental
crisis which
grips the globe like a gut-spasming case of Montezuma's Revenge. For
slipping the
government's unclean fingers back into the womb of every woman in
America. For
stealing the election of 2000. For rigging the election of 2002, and
probably for
canceling the election of 2004. ..."

Is Tim Russert running the country?

He told Condi Rice - last week I think : "Say we give Saddam until March 14"....
Now, Colon Bowell tells BBC: Saddam has until March 14"

Well, If Timeeh doesn't run the country, he let it slip that he was reading from the talking points..

Wash Post says: Protesters make Saddam Bold
Gratuitous responds on BC Forum:



This week's RNC blast fax talking point is a two-fer, in case you hadn't noticed: First,
all those millions of people demonstrating in the streets all over the world weren't
sufficiently anti-Saddam (well, pardon the heck out of us for recognizing Cowboy
Dumbya as the bigger threat to world peace), and now Saddam's all emboldened
(There's that word "bold" again! Someone buy Karl Rove a thesaurus, please) because
of it.

Let's deal with the lies and distortions in order: First, there has been plenty of
anti-Saddam sentiment in the anti-war camp, and we've got nothing to apologize for.
This whole charade by the RNC is to try to see if we'll preface every comment with
"Saddam is a bad, bad man." Sort of their version of "Simon says."

Second, Saddam is "emboldened." To do WHAT? He hasn't done anything since his
hash got settled back in 1991, and he doesn't have the capability to do anything now.
Anyone can tell you that a rattlesnake is a deadly animal, but a rattlesnake in a
terrarium isn't going to hurt anyone unless you stick your hand in there. And there's Lil
George, poking his hammy, grasping, greedy little hand into the terrarium, and trying
to convince us all how brave he is, when the overriding sentiment in the world is, "Stop
doing that, you mor

NY Post gets slapped for the "weasels"


Last Friday, as U.N. Security Council ministers were to meet on
Iraq, the New York Post -- another paper owned by Rupert
Murdoch's News Corp. -- doctored a front-page photograph to show
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin and his anti-war
ally, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, as weasels.

After delegates broke protocol and applauded de Villepin's
emotional speech declaring that war must be a last resort, a
French official said de Villepin's opponents should be wary:
"Weasels have sharp teeth."

White House advisors looking
for a "way out" of war with Iraq
By CHB Staff
Feb 20, 2003, 05:47

Some strategists within the Bush Administration are urging the President to look for an "exit
strategy" on Iraq, warning the tough stance on war with the Arab country has left the country
in a "no win" situation.

"At this point, the United States and Britain does not have the support for passage of a
second UN resolution," admits a White House aide.

In addition, Republican leaders in both the House and Senate are telling the Presidently
privately that he is losing support in Congress for a "go it alone war" against Iraq.

Chirac's Script for Backing Down:


Don't you think it would be extremely difficult politically for President Bush to pull back
from war? I'm not so sure about that. He would have two advantages if he brought his soldiers
back. I'm talking about a situation, obviously, where the inspectors say now there's nothing left,
and that will take a certain number of weeks. If Iraq doesn't cooperate and the inspectors say this
isn't working, it could be war. If Iraq is stripped of its weapons of mass destruction and that's
been verified by the inspectors, then Mr. Bush can say two things: first, "Thanks to my
intervention, Iraq has been disarmed," and second, "I achieved all that without spilling any blood."
In the life of a statesman, that counts—no blood spilled.

http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=9169

Lebensraum



CUMHURIYET- Regular columnist and former Finance Minister Zekeriya Temizel comments on
the prospect of a US-led war against Iraq. A summary of his column is as follows:

snip

But what is the real, behind-the-scenes reason? It is 'lebensraum.' This is a German word that
could be translated as 'living space,' a word which forces us to remember the horrors of
World War II.

For Hitler, lebensraum meant all of the geographical space needed to supply the German
nation with its material demands and security. [Directorate note: Hitler used these alleged
needs as pretexts for invading Czechoslovakia, Poland, Russia, and other countries.] '
snip
Then, what does 'living space' mean for the US? To see, just take a look at the US Energy
Information Administration's official website at http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu. In 1960, the
US produced 33.5% of the world's total oil output, while it consumed 31% of it. But by 2000,
these figures changed to 8.5% and 25.9% respectively. And today the US alone consumes
one-fourth of the world's oil production yet produces just one-fifteenth of it. Statistics
predict that within seven years, the US will have completely exhausted all of its own domestic
oil resources.
More...

Back from Leafletting for Moveon

We were a group of about 8 enthusiastic people. We split amongst us about 800 leaflets about the virtual march in Washington. I gave out most of my batch - will finish it up tomorrow. It felt great! This action has to date


-- 4044 total participants.
-- 823 total meetings scheduled.
-- 50 states and 560 cities covered.

CNN: W goes to Crawford. Pete Hissey comments on BC Forum:



Dick and Rummy told him to go home and stop bothering them. "No, George, the
"Turkeys" didn't take our offer. No, George, the "Francers" still think you're a fucking
moron. No, George, the Germaners still think you're an asshole. Look, go to your ranch
and drive your pickup truck and we'll call you."

To me, shades of summer 2001 when it was reported that W said: if they don't stop attacking me, I'm taking my toys and go to Crawford.

Xenophobia reaches hillarious hights!

A restaurant in North Carolina re-named "French Fries" into "Freedom Fries".
Trying to outdo them, Limpballs is urging his dittoheads to...boycott french fries (and wines)!
I am sure France will have a chuckle at the expense of McDonald and the Idaho Farmers. As for the French wines - I doubt that Limpballs audience was ever a market!

Rummy is accepting the risk that 20 million people will die

According to the NY Times he told Bush*:

"I'm not saying we
wouldn't get our hair mussed,
but
I do say no more than ten to
twenty million killed, tops, uh,
depending on the breaks."

Chiraq to "New Europe"-Si Taquises...


BRUSSELS, Belgium -- French President Jacques Chirac has attacked
eastern European countries hoping to join the EU, saying they missed a
great opportunity to "shut up" when they signed letters backing the U.S.
position on Iraq.

Organizations representing 130 millions worldwide say no to war


Unions organize against war

From 12 Years old speech at peace rally :


We feel scared when we don’t know if we’ll live another day.
We feel angry when people want to kill us or injure us or steal our future.
We feel sad because all we want is a mom and a dad who we know will be there the next day.
And, finally, we feel confused … because we don’t even know what we did wrong.

Mark Morford -20,000 More Really Miserable Guys with Guns
...patriotism means believing
everything they tell you so yeah go go go fight fight fight and just
remember, your bosses know better than those millions of goddamn hippie
freaks all over the world out their protesting your actions those damn
ungrateful punks don't they know Saddam wants to eat their babies and
steal their jeans and ruin their HBO signal? I mean, damn.

Dynamite
Breslin on the NYC Rally:


The idea of rebuffing and then penning people up is the respon-
sibility of Mayor Bloomberg and police commissioner Ray Kelly. They
decided to suffocate free speech and right of assembly and block
the march. They did it to stop the one picture that would have had
the most impact of any in the world, that of an immense crowd in
New York walking against war.

It was done to help George Bush have his war. Deny it if you can."


" Ray Kelly said at day's end that the crowd was 50,000. Sure. That's all.
Nobody is against this war.
He then went up to 100,000. What is he doing shilling for Bush? If they had let
people march and
had not chased them away, the full crowd of close to a million in plain view
would have made people
in Washington collapse.

Kelly also said at the end that "the crowd cooperated with the police." He had
that wrong. The police
are employees. They should cooperate with the public. Kelly, too. "

"Kill, kill, kill - electric chair, by proxy, bombing - KILLING!"

Checking off from a long list of enemy: the girl in grade school who didn't give him
the time of day, the jocks making fun of him for being a cheerleader, the teachers
who made him feel dumb,Clinton, Saddam, protestors, Jeffords, France - blowing
France up! Germany! Pooty-poot - how could you do that to me - you, i'll dice to
pieces. Greenspan - decapitation, Blix - impalling, Osama - no Chrismas bonus check
for ya, Pickles - first beat her to a pulp to brass band music then kill her, Karen -
killing her very - very slowly to striptease music. He is now on a big mountain of
skeletons - and has bags and bags of money in his arms. Poppy looks down: "good
job son, keep applying yourself and you'll soon catch up with Jebbie - he's on top of
that bigger mountain of bodies, with even more money...It's getting cold, but wait -
Babs appears and comes closer, ready to kiss him. She is soft and perfumed and
desirable , she'll make everything all right, but.... BAM! she smacks him with a
baseball bat yelling: "you had to shit that bed again, didn't you? You don't expect me
to change this diaper - and what did I do wrong for you to get born without a dick? BAM!

http://nyc.indymedia.org/archive/features/2003/02/2003-02.html#7358

Additional reports of the NYPD’s behind-the-scenes attempts to disrupt and even
thwart the
coordination of the demonstration have also come in as of late. Main organizers
United for
Peace and Justice (UPFJ) note that their phone lines went down Saturday morning, just
as the
67 feeder marches were getting underway. Each feeder march had a liaison but UPFJ
couldn't
communicate with them as they were being cut off, corralled and in some cases
arrested.

The Mirror article also mentions this:


"The office phone system of United for Peace and Justice, one of the main
co-ordinating groups, packed up half an hour before the rally began. Funny
that."

"Ha!Ha! Corporations start to turn against Chimpy!"



— NEW YORK (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. said on Monday that it
was teaming with General Motors Corp. and dozens of other major
U.S. companies to support a University of Michigan minority
student admissions policy.

Other Fortune 500 companies signing the brief include 3M, Abbott
Laboratories, Bank One, Boeing Co., Coca-Cola, Intel, Johnson &
Johnson, Pfizer, and Sara Lee .

The stance by these large corporate employers puts them at odds
with President Bush, whose administration has sounded its
opposition to the University of Michigan programs for using race
as a key factor in admissions decisions.More...

Bush to People of the world: "Drop Dead!"



"Bush Says War Protesters Won't Deter Him"




He said such a war remains a final resort, but "the risk of doing nothing is even a worse option as far as I'm concerned."


"Size of protest, it's like deciding, 'Well I'm going to decide policy based up on a focus group.' The role of a leader is to decide
policy based upon the security -- in this case -- security of the people."


"Democracy is a beautiful thing, and that people are allowed to express their opinion," Bush said.

"Some in the world don't view Saddam Hussein is a risk to peace," he added. "I respectfully disagree."

Feb-18-03, 09:26 AM (CST)

""But if we go to war, you'd want us to win" asked Hannity of a peace"


activist. "Who wins in an earthquake?" was the inspired answer. Sorry, I don't
remember the name, I was flipping fast since the hatred there is bad for me, but 12
hours later, the answer still rings in my ears.
I went on Hardball next (or was it the sucky show that had the TBTM guys on?) Anyway,
they were interviewing a Human Shield guy from Bagdad - and the same
McCarthy-esque question came: "Do you want Saddam to stay in power?" The answer
followed: "I am an American, what I want is irrelevant. It's up to the Iraqui people, not
us"

From The
NY Times : A New Power in the Streets


WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 -- The fracturing of the
Western alliance over Iraq and the huge
antiwar demonstrations around the world this weekend
are reminders that there may still be two
superpowers on the planet: the United States and
world public opinion.

In his campaign to disarm Iraq, by war if
necessary, President Bush appears to be eyeball
to eyeball with a tenacious new adversary: millions
of people who flooded the streets of New
York and dozens of other world cities to say they
are against war based on the evidence at
hand.

Happy
President's Day

Mrsrude writes on Bartcop Forum:


"Happy Elected Presidents' Day!"


In honor of the men who have been elected to serve as this country's president
throughout the course of its history, I offer a small sampling of quotes:

As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who
conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the
protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost
nations of justice and liberality.
--George Washington

Peace does not appear so distant as it did. I hope it will come soon, and come to stay;
and so come as to be worth the keeping in all future time.
--Abraham Lincoln

The hopes of the Republic cannot forever tolerate either undeserved poverty or
self-serving wealth.
--Franklin Delano Roosevelt

We need not fear the expression of ideas—we do need to fear their suppression.
--Harry S. Truman

War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an
evil, never a good. We will not learn to live together in peace by killing each other's
children.
--Jimmy Carter

Yes, we have to care for the security of our nation. This means, among other things, of
course that we have to fight terrorists. But we also have to build a world with more
partners and fewer terrorists. Of course we have to stand against weapons of mass
destruction -- but if we can, we have to do it in the context of building the international
institutions that in the end we will have to depend upon to guarantee the peace and
security of the world and the human rights of all people everywhere.
--Bill Clinton

If what America represents to the world is leadership in a commonwealth of equals,
then our friends are legions. If what we represent to the world is an empire, then it is
our enemies who will be legion.
--Al Gore


Alert | IP | Edit

Mossad

says US ignored their intelligence



..that Al Qaeda does not have the resources to mount another huge attack, but
will use disinformation to keep America in a state of terror...

In other words, "so, you say Al Quaeda is doing psychological terrorism on us? Well, those folks need a bigger loudspeaker. These folks need our help."

The "Orange alert" was maintained throughout the weekend (in spite of the news that it was based on lies). It was dropped as soon as the peace protests were over.

Posted by amen on Bartcop Forum:
"shrub endangers DC, leaves capital, demands snow plows for return "



SIX snow plows for shrub's entrance to OUR Nation's Capital, Camp David to DC, while
hospitals, fire depts wait....water treatment plants, senior citizens assisted living, wait
and wait...as shrub needs his Camp David vacation and left DC with our duct tape, a
war, a high terrorist alert, a missing Osama bin Laden, a nuclear crisis in Korea, and
two storms in route to DC....and then the snow plows must clear shrubs path...while the
most important areas, needing snow removal to save lives, wait for king george...only
an idiot would go up to the mountains (Camp David) in the winter, in front of TWO
predicted major snow storms...

hello king george, there is a state of emergency here in OUR Nation's Capitol, do you
think you might come back to your job anytime soon?, your job includes the WH, the
Peoples House where we expect you to live and work once in a while.....and don't
believe that WH spin at end of article, since at noon, local radio noted that shrub was
still up at Camp David, and WP put out this article at 7 PM to cover for shrub...by
leaving OUR Nation's Capitol, shrub let us know again that he reads little caterpillar
books while the Nation is under emergency....let them use duct tape....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16268-2003Feb16.html

-snip-

WP: Snowstorm Pummels Washington Area
Sunday, February 16, 2003; 7:07 PM

A thick layer of dry, grainy snow engulfed Washington today, snarling traffic, closing
airports, shutting churches and museums, sending homeowners out repeatedly to
shovel and delighting children heading for the sledding hills.

The National Weather Service reported that 10 to 16 inches of snow had fallen by
midday across the region, with the northern and western areas around the city being hit
the hardest. Snow was coming down at a rate of about an inch an hour this morning,
and heavy snows were expected to continue throughout the day and into tomorrow.
The National Weather Service said the area could get as much as two feet of snow by
the time the storm tapers off on Monday.

Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., Virginia Gov. Mark Warner and city officials in the
District of Columbia have all declared a state of emergency. That allows extra state
resources, including National Guard troops, to be used to help citizens if necessary.


-snip-

President Bush headed home from Camp David in rural Maryland early today, but the
storm forced him to travel by car instead of helicopter. The trip, normally a 90-minute
drive, took about 2 1/2 hours. A half dozen snow plows cleared I-270 about 15
minutes before the presidential motorcade came through, but White House officials
said the road work was unrelated to Bush's travels.

I AM DECLARING VICTORY:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=578&e=1&cid=578&u=/nm/20030216/ts_nm/iraq_dc
Anti-War Push Brings More Time for Iraq Diplomacy
Sun Feb 16, 2:33 PM ET




By Nadim Ladki and Saul Hudson

BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Britain considered
giving
diplomacy more time Sunday in the face of resistance at the United Nations
(news - web sites)
to their plans for war to disarm Iraq and after vast weekend peace protests.

Among more than six million people who marched in a wave

Time Interviews Chirac:
"
If the Americans were to bring a resolution for war before the U.N., would France use its
veto? In my view, there's no reason for a new resolution. We are in the framework of
(U.N. Security Council Resolution) 1441, and let's go on with it. I don't see what any
new resolution would add. Some charge you are motivated by anti-Americanism. I've
known the U.S. for a long time. I visit often, I've studied there, worked as a forklift
operator for Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis and as a soda jerk at Howard Johnson's. I've
hitchhiked across the whole United States; I even worked as a journalist and wrote a
story for the New Orleans Times-Picayune on the front page. I know the U.S. perhaps
better than most French people, and I really like the United States. I've made many
excellent friends there, I feel good there. I love junk food, and I always come home
with a few extra pounds. I've always worked and supported transatlantic solidarity.
When I hear people say that I'm anti-American, I'm sad—not angry, but really sad.
***********

Yet Washington may well go to war despite your plan. That will be their responsibility. But if
they were to ask me for my friendly advice, I would counsel against it.

Indy media protest numbers (still stand by 1 million in NYC):


http://www.indymedia.org/

Millions March Worldwide To Denounce Bush's War Plans

• Rome: 2.5 million
• London: 1.5 million
• Barcelona: 1 million
• Madrid: 1 million
• Paris: 800,000
• New York City: 500,000
• Berlin: 500,000
• Seville: 250,000
• Melbourne: 200,000
• Athens: 200,000
• Oviedo, Spain: 200,000
• Montreal: 150,000
• Dublin: 100,000+
• Brussels: 100,000
• Lisbon: 100,000
• Las Palmas, Spain: 100,000
• Cadiz, Spain: 100,000
• Amsterdam: 80,000
• Toronto: 80,000
• Stockholm: 80,000
• Los Angeles: 75-100,000
• Glasgow: 60,000+
• Oslo: 60,000
• Seattle: 55,000
• Montevideo: 50,000
• Stuttgart, Germany: 50,000
• Thessaloniki, Greece: 40,000
• Copenhagen: 35-40,000
• Berne, Switzerland: 40,000
• Sao Paulo: 30,000
• Girona, Spain: 30,000
• Vancouver: 30,000
• Goteborg, Sweden: 30,000
• Tokyo: 25,000
• Budapest: 20,000
• Newcastle, Australia: 20,000
• Vienna: 20,000
• Lyon: 20,000
• Perth, Australia: 20,000
• Irunea, Basque Country: 20,000
• Montpeilier, France: 15-20,000
• Luxemburg: 15-20,000
• Buenos Aires: 15,000
• Rio de Janeiro: 15,000
• Helsinki: 15,000
• Mexico City: 10-15,000
• Canberra, Australia: 10-15,000
• Trondheim, Norway: 11,000
• Kolkata, India: 10,000
• Johannesburg: 10,000
• Minneapolis: 10,000
• Zagreb, Croatia: 10,000
• San Diego: 10,000
• Philadelphia: 10,000
• Edmonton, Canada: 10,000
• Auckland: 8-10,000

And other cities: Tel Aviv: 1500, Adelaide, Bellingen, Bregenz: 1500, Bratislava, Cape
Town: 5000, Christchurch, Dunedin, Durban: 3000, Iraklio: 4000, Maine, Patras:
3500, Prague: 1000, Quito: 250, Rethimno: 2000, Rhodes: 2000, Santiago: 3000,
Taipei, Tampere: 2000, Tudela: 5000, Turku: 5000, Volos: 3000, Warsaw,
Wellington...

Ans here's Stranger's flash movie of the
NYC Peace rally

After more info:

The same sea of people I saw on 3rd Ave was on Second - uptown. The majority of protesters WERE NEVER ALLOWED AT THE RALLY SITE which was extended by 5 blocks. Yet they had the goal to report...100,000? The city was paralyzed - subway, buses, traffic. Even MIMS had to address us: "I am not a crook - ahem - a warmonger"

Feb-15-03, 02:53 PM (CST)

"Back from the march - I stand by 1 million there!"


We started up 3rd ave - the Lower East Side walking uptown - we stretched for blocks -
chanting and getting approval honkings from cars. By 23rd street, another group was on
the other side of the street. A few blocks later, new feeder marches joined with ours
and
soon, by the 40s we were occupying 3rd ave wall to wall. We passed 49 str, then 50th,
51 and the streets east were blocked - the cops wouldn't let us get to 1st ave (where
the rally was). Upon asking, tthey said that maybe 24 blocks later at 64str we can join
the rally - but they may close that too (the permit only went up to 68 str) I realized
that
we'll never make it so we squeezed out through the barricades, on Second ave, then to
First: we got right in front of the stage. We heard/saw Kuchinich, Sheila Jackson Lee,
heard Pete Seeger. The cops said we need to move (only the caged in the middle could
stay). So, we made our way back, advising journalists that Third ave is wall to wall
people (which is why I am doubling the 1/2 million estimate I heard on Link. They did
their best to keep us separated and fragmented so our numbers wouldn't show. But it
was great!

CNN transcript of the Blix report scrubs 750 words. Here are some of them:


At the recent meeting in
Baghdad, as on several earlier
occasions, my colleague Dr
ElBaradei and I have urged
the Iraqi side to enact
legislation implementing the
UN prohibitions regarding
weapons of mass destruction.

In a letter just received two
days ago, we were informed
that this process was
progressing well and this
morning we had a message
that legislation has now been
adopted by the Iraqi National
Assembly in an extraordinary
session.

This is a positive step.




snip

The presentation of
intelligence information by the
US secretary of state
suggested that Iraq had
prepared for inspections by
cleaning up sites and
removing evidence of
proscribed weapons
programmes.

I would like to comment only
on one case, which we are
familiar with, namely, the
trucks identified by analysts
as being for chemical
decontamination at a
munitions depot.

This was a declared site, and it
was certainly one of the sites
Iraq would have expected us
to inspect.

We have noted that the two
satellite images of the site
were taken several weeks
apart.

NY Post: THE WASLES WILL HEAR MORE EVIDENCE ON IRAQ IN UN TODAY"

The weasles, being of course "our former allies, France and Germany" whom Post expected to get properky humiliated. Nothing of the sort occured. Blix pretty much blew to smithereens Powell's presentations and, while trying to maintain the non-comitted tone remarked progress.
All the following speeches smacked Rummy's stupid comment on "the Old Europe"
France repeated several times "We are an old country - who remembers war" - their speech got applauded. China said: "We are an old culture" and Jack Straw got laughter by saying: "We are a very old country which was founded in 1066 by France".
So, Colon Bowell attempted to be witty only to manage a bushism: "We are a relatively new country, but the oldest democracy" (uh, Colon, there was a state in ancient Greece called Athens - oh, nevermind), and went downhill from there.

Let's recap: there was the Las Vegas guy who mentioned all NYC
landmarks to be blown up soon - turned out he was reminiscing a King Kong movie.
There was the arab medical students manhunt in Florida, and of course the 5 terraist
Chimpy was personally pursuing to Canadian merriment. Now it's the Bert to Ernie duck
tape story - have I missed anything?

Feb-13-03, 06:40 PM (CST)

"ABC News just reported that the Orange Alert is based on fabricated info."



This was the lead story on the ABC evening news. Saying
that the Orange Alert was based on information allegedly from a captured Al Queda
member of unknown veracity. Turns out, the Al Queda guy lied. (Duh.) The FBI or
whomever didn't see fit to put the guy under a polygraph until AFTER everyone had been
raised to Orange.

Tom Lantos and historical myopia

I read yesterday that the democratic congressman from California pronounced that France and Germany are beneath contempt for trying to avoid war. He seems to think that we saved them both from communism (a little revisionism here) and they should be grateful. His ignorance is inexcusable as a Holocaust survivor.
Today I caught his statement in a movie about the Hungarian Holocaust. He was saying: "We naively thought at the time: "It cannot happen here, this is Hungary"
He was talking about fascism and it seems he didn't learn anything from his life experience. How many times in life are you entitled to naivete, Tom?

t r u t h o u t | Statement
by US Senator Robert Byrd
Senate Floor Speech

We Stand Passively Mute
http://truthout.org/docs_02/021403A.p.htm
Wednesday 12 February 2003

"To contemplate war is to think about the most horrible of human
experiences. On this February day, as this nation
stands at the brink of battle, every American on some level must be
contemplating the horrors of war.

Yet, this Chamber is, for the most part, silent -- ominously,
dreadfully silent. There is no debate, no discussion, no
attempt to lay out for the nation the pros and cons of this particular
war. There is nothing.

Daschle Says Americans Need More Than Duct Tape

Feb 12,2003
By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said
on Wednesday the Bush administration must do more to protect
Americans against a suspected increased risk of terrorist attacks
than urge them to seal a designated room with duct tape and plastic
sheets.

"This administration has to do a lot better," said Daschle, a South
Dakota Democrat. "They have to do a lot more than tell people that
the responsibility is now on their shoulders."

Subject: Fear and Paranoia - part of a poignant e-mail

I should be very excited about my upcoming trip to England, but the fact
is I am not. The thought of being there during a war, ( I'm convinced
war is upon us) is a little unnerving. The sight of more than a thousand
troops with guns and tanks surrounding Heathrow Airport in London, only
added to my sense of unease. I even checked to make sure the hotel I
will be staying in London is not owned by Jews. I am a Jew myself and I
feel like I am giving into fear and paranoia which is so out of
character for me.

Neal Pollak offers the perfect
translation of the Osama tape

Conason Journal Reveals:

The first Bush
administration suppressed her horrifying estimates of the real "collateral damage" because they contradicted what
Dick Cheney was saying at the time. But the American Statistical Association endorsed her findings.


Daponte, who now teaches at Carnegie Mellon University, calculated that "13,000 civilians were killed directly by
American and allied forces, and about 70,000 civilians died subsequently from war-related damage to medical
facilities and supplies, the electric power grid, and the water system." Do you suppose anyone will poll Americans
to ask what level of death and devastation to innocent Iraqis would be too much?

Saddam Enrages Bush With Full Compliance
WASHINGTON, DC—President Bush expressed frustration and anger Monday over a
U.N. report stating that Iraqi president Saddam Hussein is now fully complying with
weapons inspections. "Enough is enough," a determined Bush told reporters. "We are
not fooled by Saddam's devious attempts to sway world opinion by doing everything
the U.N. asked him to do. We will not be intimidated into backing down and, if we have
any say in the matter, neither will Saddam." Bush added that any further Iraqi attempt
to meet the demands of the U.N. or U.S. will be regarded as "an act of war."

From The Onion

And this is the story that MSNBC
scrubbed about Osama wanting Saddam killed
and here is the MSNBC the switch by purging the non- war enabling text

The adventures of the Osama Tape
(as summed up by Felix on Bartcop Forum):
So lemme get this straight"



Good Ol' Colin goes before this Senate committee and sez:

"I have read the transcript of the inflammatory tape which will be aired on Aljareeza
tonight, and let me tell you that Osama is just the Devil because he admits he has
hooked up with the other Devil Saddam, just like we told you before. Now do you
believe me?"

So somebody checks with Aljareeza and they say, "What tape, what the hell are you
talking about?" "The one Good Ol' Colin talked about this morning on Capitol Hill. You
know, that one ." And Aljareeza sez, "Uh
unh, ain't no tape. Even if there were, how would anyone be sure it was Osama
anyway?"

Then later the same day ta-da! A TAPE arrives at Aljareeza that has a label on it --
"The Osama Tape!" and they play it, and sure enough, some dude sez something like
what Good Ol' Colin had previously read from a transcript, and Aljareeza sez, "Well we
better go with it, eh? "

Has there ever been a more transparent case of ... amateur propaganda committed by
our government?

Do you see why I say we are in growing mortal peril from the incompetence in DC?

Yikes!

It's based on this piece of news:
Al-Jazeera chief editor Ibrahim Hilal told The Associated Press his st...
LAST EDITED ON Feb-11-03 AT 12:00 PM (ET)

....

But Al-Jazeera chief editor Ibrahim Hilal told The Associated Press his station has no such tape.
....

Powell said he read a transcript of "what bin Laden — or who we believe to be bin Laden" will be saying on the
Al-Jazeera Arab satellite station later Tuesday, "where once again he speaks to the people of Iraq and talks
about their struggle and how he is in partnership with Iraq."

....

So Colon the Clown has a transcript of what bin Laden WILL be saying???


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=542&ncid=703&e=1&u=/ap/20030211/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq

Bin Laden and Bush on the same side:



"At the same time, the message {from OBL} also called on Iraqis to rise up and oust
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who is a secular leader."

Osama bin Ladin status today: alive and talking


Report: New Bin Laden statement slams Arab leaders


Al Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden has issued a new statement on the current military buildup
in the Middle East, to coincide with the Muslim pilgrimage and festival of Hajj.

The statement, consisting of an audio recording and an English transcript, have been released
by Al-Ansaar News Agency in Birmingham, UK. The statement highlights a number of points,
including the lack of action by Arab leaders. (Albawaba.com)

Of course, out fearless leader (who bragged in SOTU about erradicating terrorism) takes this as meaning: "I fully suport Saddam, he is my accomplice, couldn't have done 9.11 without him" Hail fearless leader!

Townhall on Iraq - Alexandria, Va - seen on C-Span (TWICE)

Rep Jim Moran - one of the few who voted against for the Iraq resolution had set this up as a chance for his constituents to ask the Pentagon why do we need a war.
Victoria Clark, a Karen Hughes sound alike tried hard to put a "human face" on Rumsfield and the war, with such statements as" 9.11 was a blessing in disguise" and after 9.11 we cannot afford to only go to war when attacked"
A military man was on the panel as well - spoke a little and conceded that Saddam is no danger for us.
The audience was awesome - from the kurdish mother who spoke of what happends to women in war to the Vietnam vet who named all the Chickenhawks pushing for this war - starting with AWOL George - to the crowd applause.
The last word was from a woman in a NO WAR t-shirt:"This war started when the election was stolen"

When not buldozed or cremated...


According to
The Mirror

UP to 100,000 body bags and 6,000 coffins have been secretly delivered to a US base in Italy,
a Catholic archbishop claimed yesterday.

Archbishop Renato Martino, president of the Pope's Council of Peace and Justice, said the
consignment had arrived at the Sigonella base near Catania on the island of Sicily 10 days
ago.

He said: "Americans are expecting a high number of casualties. That is why so many body
bags and coffins have been sent to the base.

"I am very apprehensive about this. War brings only destruction, misery and hate. It doesn't
resolve anything and is always like this.

"A true preventative action would be to try and avoid war. The consequences of this war will
make themselves all too obvious on the American people when they start to see coffins with
loved ones in returning home."

Yet another war is threatened:


The United States will mount a naval blockade of North Korea and impose
sanctions if it begins to make nuclear weapons-grade plutonium, says a
high-ranking Bush official.

"


'Bomb' Package at Federal Building Is Pornography

BY DAVID FALCHEK THE SUNDAY TIMES 02/09/2003


With the nation on high alert against a terrorist attack, the discovery of a mysterious
package at Scranton's federal courthouse brought out the city's bomb squad and closed
several downtown blocks Saturday night.

The package turned out to be harmless.

The briefcase-sized box, wrapped in what appeared to be a green garbage bag and left at
the entrance of the William J. Nealon Federal Building in the 200 block of North Washington
Avenue, was full of pornographic magazines and videos. A note on the package was
addressed to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.

http://www.scrantontimes.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6990065&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=415898&rfi=8

Bush will end NATO - Not Subservient Enough

To punish Germany for their oposition he'll withdraw US troops from there. Ever since Stalin's killing of the generals on the eve of war, this ought to be the most irresponsible act in history! Watch out world: Chimpy is paying you back for laughing behind his back!

Today's 5 Minutes of Hate: France

NY Post has a headline: "HOW DARES FRANCE FORGET?" with Steve Dunn Leavy (formerly of the Current Affair celebrity gossip tabloid fame) strolling with a long face through a Normandie's cemetery: we sacrificed ourselves for them - goes the second page pictorial with an even sadder Dun Leavy among the crosses..."
Damn peace instigators!

Add on WBAI (NYC's Pacifica):

"Hello, I am Rudi Giuliani, former mayor of NYC and now international hero. I strongly urge you to not go to the February 15 anti-war rally"

The voice was pretty good too and the add reminded New Yorkers of a time when he got in hot water for urging kids to skip school to go to the ball game.

NBC:"France and Germany trying to twart out plans for war; Bush angry"

Actual headline on TV this morning - then they expounded on the sinister plans of a UN resolution for enhanced inspections that were kept secret and only a leak in a German newspaper made them public. I did not dream it!
Here is the France Press Headline:

US furious over reported Franco-German plan on Iraq

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld headed back to Washington from a brief European tour
Sunday as US officials lambasted France and Germany for allegedly leaving them out of the
loop on a joint plan to disarm Iraq.

Just figured it out: stripping of citizenship - no more voting rights for the opposition!

A Better Rendition of
Guernica

Calico Cat posted on Bartcop Forum:

I saw a French journalist on TV whose remarks I will never forget. She seemed
genuinely puzzled over the uproar. "Ze president has a girlfriend...and ze problem
is?"

But you know, she was French, after all...that was probably the beginning of the end
of our alliance right there.

"Cheap Bureaucrats Ruining Free Speech""by Jimmy Breslin




http://www.newsday.com/news/columnists/nyc-bres0208,0,2274234.column?coll=ny%2Dnews%2Dcolumnists

The city says the march can’t be held because of security reasons since Sept. 11. The
reasons they gave
Friday made no sense at all, unless you suspect that the march is being opposed
because Mayor
Bloomberg is trying to help Republicans by stopping a public outcry here against the
beautiful war that the
administration wants against Iraq. Ray Kelly, the police commissioner, is blocking the
march on behalf of
Bloomberg.

Peace Plan

BERLIN (AP) - Germany and France are working on a broad disarmament plan for Iraq
designed to avoid war, including the deployment of U.N. soldiers throughout the
country, reconnaissance flights and a tripling of the number of weapons inspectors, a
magazine reported Saturday.
The weekly Der Spiegel said the plan would have international peacekeepers "in effect
take control of the country for years," declare all of Iraq a no-fly zone and lead to
agreements with Iraq's neighbors to crack down on smuggled exports of Iraqi oil as
part of strengthened economic sanctions.

Ashcroft's Patriot II:



The Justice Department is considering legislative proposals that would significantly
expand the federal government's power to investigate, detain and punish suspected
terrorists in secret and without court supervision, according to a preliminary draft of
the bill disclosed yesterday.

Here's a taste :



Section 501, “Expatriation of Terrorists”: This provision, the drafters say, would
establish that an American citizen could be expatriated “if, with the intent to relinquish
his nationality, he becomes a member of, or provides material support to, a group
that the United Stated has designated as a ‘terrorist organization’.” But whereas a
citizen formerly had to state his intent to relinquish his citizenship, the new law affirms
that his intent can be “inferred from conduct.” Thus, engaging in the lawful activities
of a group designated as a “terrorist organization” by the Attorney General could be
presumptive grounds for expatriation.

French PM: Iraq crisis not a game

Saturday, February 8, 2003 Posted: 3:50 AM HKT (1950 GMT)

NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- U.S.
President George W. Bush's
declaration to Iraq that "the
game is over" has drawn a harsh
response from French Prime
Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin
I am relieved that there are grown-ups left in the world and they speak up.

U.S. Tells Diplomats to Leave Mideast - Shitstorm is starting.

February 8, 2003 05:30
AM EST


WASHINGTON - The
State Department
advised nonessential
U.S. diplomats and
family members on
Friday to leave Israel,
Jordan, Syria and
Lebanon. Private U.S.
citizens also were
advised to leave
those countries and
Americans were
cautioned not to travel
to Israel.

Plagiarism Story coming to our media so...ORANGE ALERT!

keep shopping, don't pay attention to no plagiarism news, anyway it was that lefty Blair's fault, and be affraid and patriotic...The terrorist government our taxes pay for.

Felix posts on Bartcop Forum about our "allies":




There was a report the other day that Turkey was being bribed with $4 billion in loans
and military equipment, but before that another story appeared that said the "real"
amount of the bribe was about $23 billion. Every step of Turkish engagement is being
run by their parliament to make it look like there is public assent. Nevertheless, the
Turks are 80% or more opposed to war on Iraq. IOW, the government and military is
being bought off against the will of the Turkish people.

Eastern European "allies" are being bribed both with money and with attention. They
seem to need to be prostrate at the feet of a superpower, and with Moscow on the
decline, they choose Warshington. The fact that European unity is being undermined
and demolished is merely a bonus. Whoo-hoo. Nevertheless, the majority of Eastern
Europeans are opposed to war on Iraq. Their governments are at odds with their
people.

The Fascist "allies," Spain and Italy, are merely doing what comes naturally, hooking
up with their pals (just like Spain and Italy got it on with Germany when time was.) To
the Fascist governments of these countries, Bush is a suitable heir to Mussolini, Franco
and Hitler. Why can't anyone in our own media figure that out? Nevertheless, the
people of Spain and Italy are passionately opposed to war on Iraq. Yesterday there
was a "disturbance" in the Italian parliament as Fascist Duce Berlusconi read out his
reasons for backing Bush. Fight broke out. The police were called. The "leftist" agitator
MPs expelled.

Anti-BushWar sentiment is about 75% in Britain. Nevertheless, Blair goes right along
with Bush, spurring him this way and that sometimes, but dedicated to BushWar. Our
British "ally" is essentially the very articulate Tony Blair and no one else.

Russia, China, France, Germany, Belgium, Mexico, many, many other nations, and the
Vatican, nearly all Christian denominations -- among others -- are strongly opposed to
unilateral American (or Anglo-American) action on Iraq. They can stop it, but the risk
is great. For us and for them. They may have to use the argument that Bush is too
much like Hitler, regardless of Saddam's perfidy, and the priority for the World is to
thwart Bush, before dealing with the other, lesser, monsters.

The shame I feel for my country at this moment could not be greater.

The junta may get its war on Iraq, but the consequences for all of us (let alone the
exterminated Iraqis) will linger and fester and metastasize.

"Story just got
legs : No 10 admits mistake in copying Iraq dossier"


Downing Street today said it made a mistake in failing to acknowledge that a
large section of a dossier on Saddam Hussein was copied from a Californian
postgraduate student’s outdated thesis.

The dossier was designed to help win over sceptics by outlining Iraq’s alleged
efforts to hide its weapons of mass destruction. It said UN weapons inspectors
were outnumbered by 200 to one by Iraqi agents trying to deceive them, and
provided "up to date details" of Iraq’s security organisations.

Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, even recommended it to the world in his
keynote UN presentation on Wednesday, in which he called the document a "fine
paper".

There's a synergy at work - we had just started an e-mail campaign to get our media to air this story.(so far everyone is crowing on Powell's making the case). This will make it harder for them to ignore.
Also, what I missed from last night Blair conference:
"
"The fact that we used some of his work does not
throw into question the accuracy of the document as
a whole, as he himself acknowledged on Newsnight
last night, where he said that in his opinion the
document overall was accurate."
But Toni, the subject was Iraq in 1991, dear, Poppy's war, not the sequel!

The Horse said it: The Nation and Snitchens Deserved Each Other:


Snitch Hitchens, Pride of the Right and The Nation
"I Hope [Al Gore and Hillary Clinton] Get Some Sort of Wasting Disease"
vanden Heuvel: "He'd be Welcomed Back"
Is Any Self-Respecting Source Still Publishing this Sad Case?

Christopher Hitchens Has Lost It

" And now Gore and wife say that Bush is picking a fight with
Iraq? Fuck them. I really mean it. I have nothing but
contempt for them. We are risking people’s lives, and all they
can be is flippant...The thought of these people in power
frightens me."

A lot of innocuous things seem to "frighten" Hitchens these days,
including,
retroactively, CIA double-agent operative Bill Clinton, who has finally sent
poor Snitch over the edge.

" And I’m very glad that Nader stayed in to the end, because he
hurt Al Gore’s chances of winning. ..."

Therein lies the reason for the Nation's undying loyalty to the Snitch.

However, Nader didn't "hurt Gore's chances of winning," since Gore won,
after
all.

Posted on Barcop Forum by BushCrimeFamily:



"NEWS FLASH:: O'REILLY REFERRED TO MEXICANS AS 'WETBACKS'"


During an interview with congressman Silvestre Reyes ... time to bring him down
now!

here's the full quote:
"We save lives because Mexican wetbacks, whatever you want to call them coyotes,
they're not going to do what we're doing no people are not going to die in the
desert. We seal it down and maket 100 times harder to come across. You know,
79% of Americans see that, congressman. You are in the minority on this one. And
so is pResident Bush."

Toni Blair on Iraq

C-Span showed last night this amazing exercise in Democracy: Toni Blair in a one on one talk show format was answering the interviewer and audience's questions on Iraq. His answers were all wrong, but the audience was 100% anti-war, and so was the interviewer. Much as he was trying to legitimize Bush here, at least his arguments were cogent and well expressed and he was EXPLAINING HIMSELF!
Much as I disagreed with everything he said, my heart went out to him, when this woman asked: "Do you think you have anyone behind you on this?"
The remarkable part of the answer was this: "Of course the Parliament has to approve..." Wow! In UK the Parliament actually decided war and peace! I remember something like this in our Constitution too, but our Senators gave it away to the king.Anyway, for all Blair's talking, it meand that UK WON"T GO TO WAR - its parliament will never approve it! It'll be just us, cowboys there, starting WWIII then!

"Exquisite Detail" British papers (Powell's Proof) Plagiarized from Student's Work on Iraq 1991



BREAKING: Channel 4 UK TV - British goverment papers on Iraq are cut and pasted
from a essay by a student. It's been partly copied from a site called MERIA, complete
with spelling errors. This paper was praised by Colin Powell yesterday in his speech
and has been passed around as an official government paper.
Also the students work regarding the Iraqi intelligence structure was written in a
historical perspective on pre-1991 Iraq and is being used as a description of todays
Iraq. Apart from pages 6 to 16 that have been directly cut and pasted other sections
have had words altered to make it sound more sinister.

Ma'm? I have a telegram and a fat envelope for ya. Don't think it's money"

Here's the ovens article


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The
Pentagon is considering
cremating remains of
soldiers who may die in an
Iraqi chemical or biological
attack in the Persian Gulf,
officials said Thursday.

Use of field cremation would alter a
longtime U.S. military tradition of
making every effort to return each
person's body home in a flag-draped
casket.

It is not yet clear if the military
would operate some sort of
crematorium facility in the region,
how the ashes would be sorted and
returned to their families, and how
the Pentagon would address
expected cultural and religious objections by some service members.

Robert Fisk :You Wanted to Believe Him But It's like something out of Becket

Powell's presentation was a mixture of
awesomely funny recordings of Iraqi Republican
Guard telephone intercepts à la Samuel Beckett
that just might have been some terrifying little
proof that Saddam really is conning the UN
inspectors again, and some ancient material on
the Monster of Baghdad's all too well known
record of beastliness. I am still waiting to hear the
Arabic for the State Department's translation of
"Okay Buddy" – "Consider it done, Sir" – this from
the Republican Guard's "Captain Ibrahim", for
heaven's sake – and some dinky illustrations of
mobile bio-labs whose lorries and railway trucks
were in such perfect condition that they
suggested the Pentagon didn't have much idea of
the dilapidated state of Saddam's army.