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EX-STATE DEPT.SECURITY OFFICER SPELLS OUT 9/11 COVER-UP
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Today's Stories February 18 / 19, 2006 Werther
February 17, 2006 Floyd
Rudmin Gervasio
Rodríguez Gary
Leupp Ramzy
Baroud Amira
Hass Matthew
Koehler Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Debbie
Nathan Website
of the Day
Febrauary 16, 2006 Lila
Rajiva Norman
Solomon Ron
Jacobs Paul
Craig Roberts Website
of the Day
February 15, 2006 Brian
Conacnnon, Jr. Dave
Lindorff Saree
Makdisi Joshua
Frank Amira
Hass CounterPunch
Wire Robert
Bryce Website
of the Day February 14, 2006 John
Sugg Don
Santina William
A. Cook Ray
McGovern John
Ross Website
of the Day
Lila
Rajiva Christopher
Brauchli Dave
Lindorff Ron
Jacobs Mike
Whitney Michael
Neumann Website
of the Day
February 11 / 12, 2006 Alexander
Cockburn Ralph
Nader Paul Craig
Roberts Pat Williams Fred Gardner Saul Landau John Chuckman Roger Burbach Seth Sandronsky Website of
the Weekend
February 10, 2006 Carl
G. Estabrook Sen.
Russell Feingold Roxanne
Dunbar----Ortiz Saree Makdisi Website of
the Day
February 9, 2006 Dave Lindorff Mike Marqusee Paul Craig Roberts Peter Phillips William S. Lind Christine Tomlinson Innocent Targets in the "Long War": False Positives and Bush's Eavesdropping Program Will Youmans Robert Robideau Richard Neville Peter Rost Website of the Day
February 8, 2006 Ron Jacobs Stan Cox Sen. Russ Feingold Robert Jensen Rep. Cynthia McKinney Niranjan Ramakrishnan Don Monkerud David Swanson C.L. Cook Christopher
Fons Jeffrey Ballinger Website of
the Day
February 7, 2006 Edward Lucie-Smith Robert Fisk Paul Craig Roberts Neve Gordon Joshua Frank Peter Montague Jackie Corr Jeffrey St.
Clair Website of the Day
February 6, 2006 Christopher
Brauchli Robert Fisk John Chuckman Jenna Orkin Paul Craig
Roberts
February 4 / 5, 2006 Alexander Cockburn Mike Ferner James Petras Alan Maass Fred Gardner Ralph Nader Bill Glahn Saul Landau Laura Carlsen James Brooks Mike Roselle John Holt Sarah Ferguson William S.
Lind Niranjan Ramakrishnan Seth Sandronsky Derrick O'Keefe Michael Donnelly Ron Jacobs Elisa Salasin St. Clair / Vest Stew Albert Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
February 3, 2006 Toufic Haddad Heather Gray Tim Wise Conn Hallinan Eva Golinger Daniel Ellsberg Dave Zirin Robert Bryce Website of
the Day
February 2, 2006 Winslow T.
Wheeler Stan Cox Rachard Itani Mike Whitney Amira Hass Norman Solomon Michael Simmons Christopher
Reed Website of the Day
February 1, 2006 Sharon Smith Jason Leopold Cindy Sheehan Joseph Grosso Earl Ofari Hutchinson Steven Higgs Robert Robideau R. Siddharth Jim Retherford Rep. Cynthia
McKinney Paul Craig
Roberts Website of
the Day
January 31, 2006 Jeffrey St.
Clair Clancy Chassay Dave Lindorff Niranjan Ramakrishnan Oren Ben-Dor Winslow Wheeler John Ryan Mike Marqusee Ron Jacobs Andrew Cockburn Website of
the Day
January 30, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Winslow Wheeler Niranjan Ramakrishnan Marcus Dam John Bomar Ben Beachy Gideon Levy Michael Carmichael Missy Comley
Beattie Norman Solomon Brian Concannon,
Jr. Michael Ratner Website of
the Day
January 28 / 29, 2006 Alexander Cockburn
Ralph Nader Col. Dan Smith Paul Craig Roberts Tammara Rosenleaf Ron Jacobs Harry Browne Fred Gardner Christopher
Reed Bernard Chazelle Daniel Wolff Tom Kerr Asad Abu Khalil Chris Murphy Dr. Susan Block Kathy Deacon St. Clair /
Walker / Palmer / Shields Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
Suren Pillay Lawrence R.
Velvel J.L. Chestnut,
Jr Uri Avnery Gary Leupp Samar Assad Jeffrey St.
Clair Website of the Day
January 26, 2006 Robert Robideau Paul Craig
Roberts Gilad Atzmon Jason Leopold Joshua Frank Dave Lindorff Susan Lee Missy Comley Beattie Michael Carmichael Michael Neumann Website of
the Day
January 25, 2006 Saul Landau James Petras Lawrence R.
Velvel Vijay Prashad Kevin Zeese Alison Weir Bruce K. Gagnon Joan Roelofs Website of
the Day
January 24, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Kathy Kelly Jorge Mariscal Winslow T.
Wheeler John Walsh Youmans / Muaddi Roger Burbach Fr. Gerard
Jean-Juste Noam Chomsky Website of
the Day
Uri Avnery Susan Pynchon William Loren
Katz Christopher Brauchli Chris Floyd Joshua Frank Norman Solomon Jackie Corr Paul Craig
Roberts Website of the Day
January 21/22, 2006 Tim Shorrock Ralph Nader Peter Feng Brian Cloughley Michael Donnelly Tom Kerr Dave Lindorff Daniel Wolff Fred Gardner Jason Leopold Matthew Koehler John Bomar Ron Jacobs Becky Akers Joanne Mariner St. Clair / Walker / Pollack Poets' Basement Website of the Day
Brian J. Foley Richard Gott Joshua Frank Pierre Tristam Bernstein /
Allegretto Elizabeth Schulte Website of
the Day
January 19, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Bill Simpich Kevin Alexander
Gray Sam Husseini Sam Smith Monica Benderman Winslow T.
Wheeler Website of the Day
January 18, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Norman Solomon Jonathan M.
Feldman Michael Carmichael Paul D'Amato Cynthia McKinney Norman Finkelstein Website of the Day
January 17, 2006 M. Shahid Alam John Ross Tariq Ali Michael Donnelly Amira Hass Doug Giebel Bill Quigley Ron Jacobs Mike Stark Werther
John Walsh Earl Ofari
Hutchinson Roger Burbach Norman Solomon Robert Jensen Sam Husseini Paul Craig
Roberts Website of the Day
January 14 / 15, 2006 Alexander Cockburn JoAnn Wypijewski James Petras Ron Jacobs Brian Cloughley Marianne McDonald Bruce Tyler Wick Fred Gardner Flavia Alaya Gary Leupp Dr. Susan Block Nicole Colson Jeffrey Kolakowski Missy Comley
Beattie Charles Thomson St. Clair /
Walker / Vest Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
January 13, 2006 Ralph Nader Leonard Weinglass Amira Hass Chris Kutalik
/ Jennifer Biddle Lawrence R. Velvel Dave Lindorff Mike Whitney David Price
January 12, 2006 Jennifer Van
Bergen Jeremy Brecher / Brendan Smith Lawrence R.
Velvel Ralph Nader / Robert Weissman Jackie Corr Jared Bernstein Russell D.
Hoffman Aubrey Streit Clancy Sigal Website of the Day
January 11, 2006 Kevin Zeese Ray McGovern Allan Maass
/ Joe Allen Earl Ofari
Hutchinson Annie Murphy Allan Lichtman Ramzy Baroud Joshua Frank Kathleen and
Bill Christison Website of
the Day
January 10, 2006 Uri Avnery Saul Landau Noam Chomsky Brian J. Foley Lenni Brenner Ronan Sheehan Paul Craig
Roberts
January 9, 2006 Behzad Yaghmaian George Bisharat Dave Lindorff Norman Solomon Christopher Brauchli Aharon Shabtai Andrew Cockburn
January 7 / 8, 2006 Lawrence Velvel James Petras J.L. Chestnut Mike Ely Andrew Wilson Lila Rajiva William Cook Ramor Ryan Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff Peter Montague Ron Jacobs Neve Gordon Fred Gardner Josh Mahon Dr. Susan Block Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
January 6, 2006 José
Pertierra Joe Allen Winslow T. Wheeler John Bomar Jason Leopold Norman Solomon Robert Pollin
January 5, 2006 Scott Boehm Zoltan Grossman Heather Gray Haninah Levine Pierre Tristam Remi Kanazi Gilad Atzmon Kathleen and
Bill Christison
January 4, 2006 Ron Jacobs Lila Rajiva Huibin Amee
Chew Pat Williams Linda Milazzo Nick Dearden James Petras Website of
the Day
January 3, 2006 James Ridgeway Laith al-Saud Dick J. Reavis Joshua Frank Rochelle Gause Missy Comley
Beattie Paul de Rooij
January 2, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Clancy Sigal Cindy Sheehan Alexander Cockburn
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Weekend
Edition An Interview with Ann WrightEnd the War and Impeach BushBy THOMAS P. HEALY When Ann Wright's letter of resignation from the Foreign Service was posted on the Internet the day the Bush Administration commenced Operation Iraqi Freedom, it served as an eloquent refutation of the case for war. For the past three years, the former U.S. Army colonel and diplomat has been active in the peace movement, working closely with Cindy Sheehan at last summer's Camp Casey. On Valentine's Day, she spoke with Counterpunch by cell phone from New Orleans, where she and Sheehan were lobbying local, state and federal officials to relocate displaced residents in existing public housing. TH: Tell us about your current activities. AW: Right now I'm with Cindy Sheehan. For the last couple of days we've been speaking on the need to end the war, tying together the double tragedies of the U.S. going into Iraq as an act of aggression and the waste of U.S. monies in that illegal, immoral war and the lack of resources, the lack of leadership and management when we have a national tragedy here in our own country. The people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are suffering incredible problems trying to regain their lives. We've got a whole section of our country that's on its knees, that has no housing, no schools and no health clinics because of the ineptitude of the federal government. Of course, the state and city haven't done a heck of a lot better. But we've got tremendous resources that should be available from the federal level through FEMA. We had such plain gross negligence in preparing for the hurricane, and then the post-disaster scenario, and now the President is proposing a budget that asks for $128 billion for the war in Iraq and only $18 billion for Gulf Coast reconstruction and cuts $49 billion in social programs. We need to end the war in Iraq and bring the troops home to be available to take care of our own people if we have natural disasters here. It's just a tragedy on all levels that the reorganization of the federal government after 9/11 has crippled us rather than made us stronger. TH: After 9/11 you were part of the first State Department team to return to Kabul to reopen the U.S. Embassy there. Are reports accurate that suggest the civilian population suffered the most from U.S. military action in poor, beleaguered Afghanistan? AW: Well, yeah. Anytime the U.S. government goes to war the precursor of ground troops is always aerial bombardments, and as much as the Air Force likes to say that these are precision-guided munitions that cause minimal collateral damage to civilian populations, it ain't true. Any time you drop a bomb you're going to kill anything that's around it. And they cannot control what types of people are around there. Look at the Shock and Awe in Baghdad and the gratuitous destruction of buildings and infrastructure. There was no need for it. After 10 years of a "no fly zone" over Iraq--including Baghdad--the U.S. had taken out by Air Force missions everything that could possibly have harmed us. Shock and Awe was like a Blitzkrieg. It was unnecessary destruction of civilians and civilian property, in my opinion. TH: What's your take on the use of weaponry that includes depleted uranium? AW: Well, most of the bombs that the U.S. uses have DU in them. It's a way that the U.S. has decided to get rid of uranium byproducts. We give it away to the munitions industry and they use it because it's a dense material that heightens the impact of shells. We use it in virtually every type of bomb that the Air Force has and in most of the artillery shells that the Army and Marine Corps use. So we are polluting all of the areas we go to. And if you look at the unexplained Gulf War sickness, 10 to one it's probably DU that's causing it. The Pentagon is slow to undertake any substantive studies on the effects of DU but uses the lack of studies to justify withholding compensation for the healthcare costs of returning veterans suffering the effects of exposure to DU. Yeah, the U.S. military ought to go on strike! And I say that as a 29-year veteran of the military. The military ought to go on strike and demand that until appropriate studies are done we stop using that stuff. The people being injured are not only the civilians in the countries we go into but our own military. When you're in the military you shut up, you don't question the orders that you're given. But I tell you right now, if I were still in the military I'd be marching outside with a placard saying, "Test every person that comes back from Iraq and Afghanistan." It is uranium, it is radioactive and there are effects. It boggles my mind that after all the years we've been using it the U.S. military says we're studying the problem. Well, that's unacceptable. TH: You bring up an interesting point. You've written that as a career military person you "held your nose" on a couple of occasions and followed the orders you were given. At some point, though, doesn't a soldier have the right--and the ethical obligation--to question orders that contravene international law? AW: They certainly do, although the reason you see them not standing up is because they get the hell slapped out of them when they do. You can disobey an illegal order and of course the sergeant or colonel that gives it to you says it's legal and then you as a private have to say you can't do it. Then you risk everything. We do have some people who are willing to do that but the system is set up so that it's very seldom that they do. TH: What's your take about the state of our union? AW: I'm very concerned about it. I think we are in serious trouble. We have a president and an administration that think that bullets and bombs, not words and peaceful actions, are what make America safer. I think we are faced with a critical budget crisis. This administration is mortgaging the future of at least one if not two generations by its incredible stupidity--cutting taxes for the rich and spending it all on corporate greed associated with the great war machine. We have outsourced the jobs of America. I don't know what future high school and college graduates have now. We've got to bring back jobs to America, start taxing people who can afford to pay so we can have services for the people of America. I am distraught about our image in the world because we are known as warmongers. We're known as arrogant, rude killers who don't care about the rest of the world. Environmentally, we are in the biggest doghouse in the world. I am not pleased at all with the state of the union. TH: What about the culture of corruption that seems to be part of the Bush Administration? AW: Oh, it's horrendous. It is one of the hallmarks of this administration and it is just so over the top that you couldn't write a novel that would have any crazier things happen than what these guys are trying to get away with, and unfortunately getting away with. TH: This March marks the third anniversary of not only the invasion of Iraq but also your resignation from the Foreign Service. Re-reading your resignation letter now, it seems prescient. AW: It's so sad. It wasn't just me who knew what was going to happen. Anyone who'd been around the Middle East knew exactly what was going to happen. TH: What's your exit strategy for Iraq? AW: What the U.S. needs to do is to tell the Iraqi government that we will be leaving in two months, four months--pick the date--but in the meantime please, you, the Iraqi government, contact any of the international community that you want to have work with you. Let them work out who's going to come in and who's going to provide whatever level of security they feel they need. The U.S. says OK, we're going to put in escrow a certain number of billions of dollars that will repair what we broke. And you all figure out who you want to contract to rebuild. If you want Iraqis to rebuild the stuff--which they certainly are capable of doing--hire Iraqis. Let's get all these construction firms and everybody that was in business before--let them work on their own country. And we back out. It's a hard thing for the Bush Administration to do--they're loath to do it--and that's where we come in. People need to put pressure on Congress to stop funding the war and, in my opinion, to impeach the President of the United States. I think that's the only way you can get rid of him and his ideas. There's certainly plenty of evidence that he has broken international law. He has committed crimes against humanity and war crimes. TH: Is the peace movement effective? AW: Yes. There are eight or 10 veterans of the Iraq war running for Congress and virtually all of them oppose the war. In the meantime we're putting pressure on the sitting Congressmen and women to get some backbone and vote against the defense budget and vote to bring the troops home. Slowly but surely we're making progress on that. It's been a real groundswell since August. It's still not big enough, but if you look at where we were in August before we started Camp Casey and then look at where we are now, there's a glimmer of hope that we may be able to effect change and end this war. I personally think we have to close down Washington. [Laughing] I think we gotta get in there, block all the roads, trap them and tell them they can't leave until they change their policy. Thomas P. Healy is a journalist in Indianapolis. He
can be reached at thomasphealy@sbcglobal.net |
from CounterPunch Books! The Case Against Israel By Michael Neumann  Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair          Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid? CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues, as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org.                  |
