HonestE-The DJ of Truth: Let's Dance, Feds!

“I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man." ~George Washington_____________ “Loyalty is the realization that America was born of revolt, flourished in dissent, became great through experimentation. Our tradition is one of protest and revolt, and it is stultifying to celebrate the rebels of the past while we silence the rebels of the present.” ~Henry Steele Commager, Historian

Name:

Ex-US Army Paratrooper and Infantryman, Veterans for Peace, Chapter 69, San Francisco, CA. Graduate: The Colorado College, May 1996. Sower of hope; Farmer of ideas; Guardian of the Republic; I live and work in San Francisco, California. Formerly, I owned a business building marketing-style-relational-databases. Currently, I am employed with a company in San Francisco. In 1989 I volunteered for service in the United States Army Airborne (paratroopers) where I took an oath to uphold and defend the U.S. CONSTITUTION against all enemies foreign and DOMESTIC and that is exactly what I aim to do. My intent is to keep writing and publishing openly and widely waging peace in defense of my brothers-in-arms in Iraq and Afghanistan to bring them home. BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!! Politically, my inner stars shine brightly progressive yet I also bear strong libertarian stripes. I love writing, activism, working hard, music, art, reading, truth-telling with realism, speaking out for peace and speaking out for justice in defense of the highest ideals upon which our country was founded. I consider myself a principled patriot.

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Sunday, November 26, 2006

WHY IS BUSH SENTENCING THE TROOPS TO DIE IN THE CROSSFIRE OF AN IRAQI CIVIL WAR?............CUSTER ALSO STAYED THE COURSE

WHY IS BUSH SENTENCING THE TROOPS TO DIE IN THE CROSSFIRE OF AN IRAQI CIVIL WAR?

CUSTER ALSO STAYED THE COURSE.


I have quotation to share with you, Mr. Bush:
“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.”
~Abraham Lincoln
http://honeste--djoftruth.blogspot.com/2006/10/why-does-mr-bush-lack-courage-to-lead.html

First, let me say how heartened and inspired I was by the impressive turnout of the youth vote in the most recent Congressional election. If the youth of this country could turn out with such impressive numbers in every election, we would be able to move the agenda farther and faster together than has ever been done before. Keep voting and agitating.
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/3676
http://www.mandateforpeace.org/article.php?list=type&type=181
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=21677
Thank Goodness for the bold, 50-state strategy employed by Governor Howard Dean:
http://mydd.com/story/2006/11/20/171354/93
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/early-advice-for-08-hope_b_34542.html
But our voting system still desperately needs greater oversight and a paper trail for sure:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112406C.shtml
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/23/AR2006112300965.html
http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/1122-02.htm


THE WAR IN IRAQ:
THE GREATEST STRATEGIC DISASTER IN U.S. HISTORY

THE RESULTS OF WHAT MR. BUSH HAS BROUGHT YOU BY HIS WAR:

● 3012 troops dead, 655,000 Iraqi’s dead
http://honeste--djoftruth.blogspot.com/2006/10/in-memory-of-fallen.html
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1121-22.htm
● Over 21,000 wounded troops in the Iraq war disaster
● Twice as many Iraqi's killed under the U.S. occupation of Iraq than under all of the years of Saddam's rule; Saddam is gone, why aren't we?
● $300 million dollars a day
● $Half a trillion dollars spent on the colossal Iraq disaster
● $2 trillion dollar projected cost for the sum of the Iraq war and occupation
● A full scale civil war now being waged in Iraq – with our troops caught in the deadly crossfire of violence
● Diminished U.S. national security
● Greatly diminished U.S. hard-power – the military machine is breaking down, it is overstretched and overextended.
● Greatly diminished U.S. soft power – who can trust liars?
● The loss of the moral high ground – no city on the hill for the world to look to.
● An international community of nations that is justifiably disgusted with Imperial American foreign policy of aggression
● A war and occupation based on lies and cooked intelligence
● A war that has only bred more terrorism around the globe

Where are the weapons of mass destruction, Mr. Bush?
North Korea it would seem…another Bush defeat for his list of defeats.

And an attack on Iran is tantamount to murdering and betraying our own troops in Iraq since Iran will counter-attack us in Iraq, likely severing the troops supply lines from the Gulf to Baghdad – thus forcing an Iraqi-styled dunkirk or a Vietnam-styled Khe-Sanh or a Vietnam-styled Dien Bien Phu. This is especially true in light of U.S. intelligence that Iran is 10 years away from acquiring any viable wmd, which leaves plenty of time for carrot-and-stick diplomacy. Besides, we will need the support and cooperation of Syria and Iran to help contain regional spillover from the existing civil war in Iraq.
Betrayal:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1122-07.htm
AND THIS HAS ALL BEEN WAGED FOR THE RIDICULOUSLY NAMED, “WAR ON TERROR.” BUT THE REALITY IS THAT THE ONLY WAR, FOLKS, IS ON IRAQ BECAUSE WAR CANNOT BE DECLARED AGAINST INTERNATIONAL CRIMINALS GUILTY OF THE CRIME OF MASS MURDER PERPETRATED ON AMERICAN SOIL ON 9/11.
FOR SUCH A HEINOUS CRIME, WE MUST INSTEAD FOCUS ON PURSUING AN AGGRESSIVE PROSECUTION AND TURN TO USING OUR LAW-ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ASSETS, NAMELY THE FBI AND CIA.
THE “WAR ON TERROR” IS THE BIGGEST LOAD OF BULLSHIT PROPAGANDA EVER SOLD TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111906Z.shtml
http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/fairenough/latimes571.html
http://www.newyorker.com/printables/fact/061127fa_fact
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1121/p01s03-usmi.html
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1124-05.htm
The reality about Iraq, folks, is that neither more troops nor keeping our current forces there, neither of these options can bring stability to Iraq and we cannot rebuild Iraq’s infrastructure or restore electricity to homes or fresh water because most of the country is in a state of civil war and is completely chaotic. Without adequate security, the basics like rebuilding Iraq cannot be accomplished. As long as our forces remain in Iraq, the chaos will endure. The reality is that we have no control over what happens in Iraq. The presence of our forces in Iraq only exacerbates the entire hopeless and violent situation. And that is why bringing all of the troops home now is the least evil of bad options. It is the best moral option both for the Iraqi people and for the lives of our troops. At this point, folks, the only reason why our troops are dying is because Washington politicians are mostly a bunch of friggin’ cowards without the balls to level with the American people and tell them we have no control over the situation and that we must withdraw.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1124-22.htm
Ray McGovern article
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1124-27.htm
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1562867,00.html
Bloomberg article
Larry Johnson article
BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tZRQNnXN80

THIS IS A MUST READ:
http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/contributors/549
THIS IS A MUST READ:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110906Z.shtml
THIS IS A MUST READ:
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1107-33.htm
Cindy Sheehan also urges us remember that the real work for change begins now.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110906B.shtml
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1110-30.htm
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=138657
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061127/editors
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061211/wood
We must always remember that politicians are not leaders, they are followers, and even though there has been a sea change in the political landscape that will likely and ideally create the necessary means to enforce accountability and oversight which is best achieved by consistently avoiding any one-party domination of government, and hopefully lead to the repeal of such fascistic legislation such as the Military Commission Act, warrantless wiretapping, torture and maybe even lead to sunsetting the sunset provisions of the Patriot Act, it is ultimately up to us, average human citizens, to continue to lead the way for change. If we simply walk away now and expect the politicians to handle things, we are inviting nothing to change. We must stand up and lead, we must speak out and we must continue to wage peace and justice, because voting and making our voices heard are two entirely different acts of citizenship. Voting and elections have never been too effective at bringing change, but waging relentless activism has always been a reliable method to effecting substantive, enduring change. It is by the journey of waging peace and justice that compels us to hope. We must continue to hold politicians feet to the fire!
http://www.antiwar.com/roberts/?articleid=10010
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1113-21.htm
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112406F.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112506Y.shtml
Attorney General Gonzales is correct, liberty is the antithesis of security but I remind you Mr. Attorney General, that it is our continued liberty that licenses the continuity of the government. It is our liberty and our free speech that permits the government to exist.
“They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty nor security.”
~Benjamin Franklin
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-11-18-gonzales_x.htm
http://www.alternet.org/story/44376/
A Constitutional Convention, now there’s an idea:
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1117-32.htm
Campaign Financing reform, another great idea:
TomPaine.com article
http://www.publicampaign.org/
http://www.opensecrets.org/
http://www.instantrunoff.com/
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1122-28.htm
http://www.campaignmoney.org/
Just remember, folks, that until they actually pass campaign finance reform, that it will be necessary for small donations by each of us united together to out-power corporate cash.

It’s too bad the Democrats didn’t elect a leader as their Majority Figurehead like John Murtha, but it really doesn’t matter anyway since politicians are mostly followers and rarely leaders. I hope you do not become lax and lackadaisical now that the Democrats have the majority because it is now that citizen participation in the democratic process will be most vital because citizens, citizen-activists do the leading, the masses and the politicians do the following. So stand up, speak out, step forward and lead the followers, the politicians.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1116-23.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1115-32.htm
http://www.alternet.org/story/44547/

I try to consistently give my honest opinion even if people don’t like to hear my opinion. Many people in the anti-war movement seem to believe that impeachment should be our next objective, in fact, even I have called for impeachment in the past and it is true that this President more than any other deserves it. But we should remember that there are at least two sides to the impeachment argument. We must ask, would impeachment be a healthy means of healing our national psyche after the last six unnerving and painful years? Will impeachment serve as a rallying cry for the hard Right well into the future by victimizing (however false) and popularizing Mr. Bush, (which I find to be a sickening possibility)? As far as the argument that impeachment is a Constitutional proceeding, well, that may be true in theory but isn’t the reality that an impeachment process is actually a political undertaking much in the same way an election is a political undertaking with the exception that it produces a diametrically opposite result? Think about it. First, there must be wide-public support for such an undertaking, correct? Then there must be the willingness of politicians to nominate and table the idea and ultimately, there must be enough votes to carry the process so an impeachment like an election is ultimately a unique political affair. The reality is that there are not enough votes in the Senate to remove the President from office (which requires 2/3 majority) given the Democrats razor-thin majority. Furthermore, we must ask would impeachment alienate the Right, making the whole affair appear grossly partisan, and cementing the divisions that underlie our current political polarization for years to come? Would an impeachment process potentially open cracks in the unity of the Progressive Left? Would it squander most of the political capital that has been earned by the 2006 Congressional elections thereby stalling most, if not all, important legislation and encourage a hostile atmosphere likely to result in legislative gridlock? Most damagingly, could it consume the energies of activists and expend them in a cause that has no chance of succeeding?

Yet an equally valid argument also exists on the opposite side of the coin. If we do not pursue impeachment against a President that has so willfully disobeyed the Constitution and broken so many laws, if we do not pursue impeachment what does that say about our democracy? Also, given the illegal actions of this President, namely warranting such policies as torture, warrantless wiretapping, illegal wars of aggression based on lies, the act of willfully cooking intelligence and most despicably, the act of treason against the United States by revealing the identity of a CIA operative, are we not obligated to pursue impeachment proceedings? And if we do not pursue impeachment proceedings then how do we the people enforce accountability in the future against pseudo-dictators who declare their right to rule as a Unitary Executive? The whole concept itself of the Unitary Executive should be deep-sixed. It is an abomination to any known concept of checks-and-balances democracy. The Office of the President was never meant to be a dictatorship, even though through the Defense Authorization Act of 2007 the Bush Administration seems to want to construct a dictatorship. An American dictatorship is the highway to discontinuity. If the government creates a dictatorship, then the government should be overthrown and I believe that is something that can be done. No-one wants that. The U.S. government will do the democracy-Constitution way or else they will be sent to the highway and they should take notice how this statement is not framed as a question. The government must uphold the Posse-Commitatus Act, period.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act
http://law.wustl.edu/WULQ/75-2/752-10.html
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1117-22.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1119-25.htm
http://www.trueblueliberal.com/2006/11/20/usurpation-of-power/
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/3725

So while I am conflicted as to whether impeachment would best serve our country I also feel that at this moment in history it is also most deserved. But at the same time, I encourage my fellow citizens to seize the moral high ground and act with love by continuing to relentlessly pursue our chief objective which is not political in nature, but life-saving in nature as we continue in our common quest to save the lives of the troops by continuing to demand that they be brought home now. For the sake of the lives of my brothers-in-arms, I implore you not to take your eyes off the ball. I urge people to focus their energies instead on bringing the troops home and avoiding political vengeance. It is in the troops best interest and also in the best interest of the Iraqi people to bring the troops home now. They need us to focus our energies on ensuring their survival not on wreaking political vengeance. Pursuing an un-winnable war under the pretenses that it can be won will only condemn many more troops and many more people to die for nothing. Stop divorcing yourself from reality and accept that we are already defeated in Iraq. Then demand change by stepping forward and speaking out.
SUPPORT THE TROOPS FOR REAL; BRING THEM HOME NOW!!
http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1119-24.htm
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112206E.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112206N.shtml
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003410658
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1124-21.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/20/AR2006112001101_pf.html
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110906C.shtml
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=202
http://www.fff.org/comment/com0611f.asp
http://www.alternet.org/story/44123/
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/11/16/a_way_out_of_iraq.php
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,447763,00.html
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1122-20.htm
http://www.insightmag.com/Media/MediaManager/Pelosi.htm
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111306Z.shtml
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1120-04.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1121-23.htm
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112106C.shtml
Larry Johnson article
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/13786
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061127/corn
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1122-33.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1122-01.htm
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?pid=141651
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=138775
http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/11/on_the_ground_i.html
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112106B.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112106K.shtml
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1110-09.htm
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1963273.ece
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1110-26.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1116-34.htm
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111206Y.shtml
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?bid=15
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/19/AR2006111900287_pf.html
http://www.antiwar.com/lind/?articleid=10012
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1116-08.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1110-23.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1116-21.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1111-27.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1110-24.htm
Larry Johnson article
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1109-31.htm
News article
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow?bid=4&pid=138250
Telegraph UK article
Moral courage:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/22/wusarmy22.xml
http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/content/blogcategory/26/40/

Don’t let the government or the media confuse you with all of their props and sensationalism about the hazards of withdrawing from Iraq. THE BEST AND MOST MORAL THING TO DO BOTH FOR THE TROOPS AND THE IRAQI PEOPLE IS TO WITHDRAW AMERICAN FORCES FROM IRAQ AND LET IRAQI’S ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN FUTURE. WE CANNOT ASK OUR TROOPS TO REMAIN CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE IN THE CIVIL WAR THAT IS IRAQ.
BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!!! IT IS THE BEST OF BAD CHOICES!!!
http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/

Too many of my fellow citizens on the extremes approach the issues with too much vindictiveness, for example some on the Left scream at the Democrats to either do as we say or we will beat the crap out of you but I remind you, folks, of an old American adage, “You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” Certainly, we do need to press our ambitious objectives, namely to bring the troops home, but we must also be careful not to overreach, we also need to work together, listen to each other more, remain open-minded, be willing to change our minds if presented with new evidence, facts or logical perspectives, focus on our common goals, and embrace what we all share in common rather than always focusing on our differences. We are all Americans, equal under the law and we the people are the embodiment of the American democratic experiment.
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/apps/nl/newsletter2.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=917053
http://www.crisispapers.org/essays6w/storm.htm
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2006/11/10/notes111006.DTL&nl=fix
http://nationaljournal.com/members/news/2006/11/1110nj1.htm
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111306P.shtml
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1116-32.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1115-26.htm
TomPaine.com article
Robert Kuttner article
Time to move the ball on the issue that affects us all, Global Warming
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1124-26.htm
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112506X.shtml
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1121-08.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1121-09.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1122-26.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1122-29.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1122-27.htm

I long for the day when the Democrats act with courage and conviction and demonstrate their toughness by their willingness to rhetorically bloody George W. Bush’s nose.
Let’s just hope the Democrats show some spine and cajones by blocking the following unreasonably and hard-right partisan demands of Mr. Bush. How typical of you, Mr. Bush, to yakkety-yak about bi-partisanship and then demonstrate partisanship.
Now if the Democrats confirm these nominations, then one must ask what the difference is between a Republican and a Democratic Congress if both act as a rubberstamp? Then, if the Democrats get weak-kneed on demanding the troops be brought home, it will make it much easier for us to call for a vote against them in 2008. Hopefully, that will not be the case because it would suggest that Congress has no power in the face of the President.
Defeating the following nominations will certainly demonstrate the strength of Congress:

· The nomination of six judicial nominees, all of whom have previously failed to receive confirmation from the Senate, have now been re-nominated. These nominees include "torture judge" William Haynes, and unanimously ABA-rated "not-qualified" Michael Wallace. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is correct in calling on President Bush to nominate more moderate judges.
· John Bolton has been re-nominated to the post of United Nations Ambassador, despite repeated failures to win confirmation in the current Senate. Bolton is well-known for bullying his subordinates, and twisting facts and fabricating intelligence in order to advance his neoconservative ideology.
· Kenneth Tomlinson has been re-nominated to chair the Broadcast Board of Governors, despite ample evidence of a partisan bias and questionable ethical practices such as cronyism in hiring, double-billing government agencies for his consulting hours, and using government resources to support his horse-racing business.
http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?itemid=21654&afccode=RSS101

Now is the time to provide the oversight and accountability for the last six years:
It is time to resurrect the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111006S.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111006D.shtml
Larry Johnson article
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1120-31.htm
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/44506/
As we move into the final months of the Republican lame-duck Congress, one must ask, do Republicans have any measure of principle to stand upon in the future or will they continue to rubber-stamp Bush policy in their final months? Redemption? Anyone?
Going once….going twice…I mean especially after how he Rumsfeld-ed you like he did!
I respect any leader who tells it like it is, demonstrates leadership and stands on principle even Republican politicians and one such leader I deeply respect is Senator Chuck Hagel:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/24/AR2006112401104.html

The resignation of Donald Rumsfeld should be seen exactly for what it is: It was a political ploy to distract the American people from the truth, and the truth is that the war in Iraq was not so much a failure of execution as Mr. Bush would have you believe, it was a bad idea from its very inception and it is a worse idea to continue the occupation of Iraq. Did you see how fast Mr. Bush dumped Rumsfeld after the election? Do you know why? Because Mr. Bush, just like most politicians, is a follower and not a leader at all. Remember that it was neo-conservatives at the Project for the New American Century who led a naive Mr. Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld and brought you this war.
http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=12196
http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2006/11/14/neocons/
http://www.antiwar.com/engelhardt/?articleid=10018\
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1116-25.htm
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/rw/3713
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1125-05.htm
http://harpers.org/sb-ken-adelman-1164050030.html
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20817682-601,00.html
And remember that Mr. Rumsfeld’s replacement has a reputation for cowardly cooking intelligence. But the question is, can he speak truth to power that inevitably leads to the formation of sensible policy rooted in reality? Indeed, time will tell.
Ray McGovern article
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111106A.shtml
Larry Johnson article
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?pid=138947
http://www.lewrockwell.com/kwiatkowski/kwiatkowski167.html

And just so you remember the names of the neo-conservatives in case they happen to mysteriously turn up on the editorial pages anywhere, most notably The Wall Street Journal, you will know their legacy and their lack of any viable credibility whatsoever. Don’t be fooled by their flowery and buttered-up writing styles, their basic ideas are crap:
Paul Wolfowitz, David Frum, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Max Boot, Charles Krauthammer, Elliott Abrams, Ken Adelman, David Wurmser, James Woolsey, Michael Ledeen, Christopher Hitchens, Joshua Muravchik, Norman Podhoretz, Michael Ignatieff, Naill Ferguson, Margaret MacMillan, William Kristol, Robert Kagan. Do us all a favor, take neoconservatism and all of its players and blast them into deep space.

We should also remember some of the predictions of the neoconservatives since they were categorically mistaken in most of their basic assumptions and predictions regarding the war of aggression on Iraq. Before the war, nearly all of the neoconservatives claimed that the road to peace in the Middle East did lie through Baghdad and this neoconservative conclusion is now by far the most discredited conclusion of all their wrong conclusions because the war in Iraq has, in fact, greatly destabilized the region and made Iran into a thriving, unchecked regional powerhouse. The reality that neoconservatives and sadly most politician-followers in Congress do continue to deny, is that the road to peace in the Middle East winds its way through the banustans of the Isreali-created apartheid of the West Bank, traverses a wall nearly twice the size and as choking as the Berlin Wall, and then cuts a clear, direct path into the halls of the Knesset in Tel Aviv. Peace, stability and prosperity will not come to the Middle East until the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved because it is this conflict that serves as a primary “cause-celebre” for many of the underlying ill-feelings in the Middle East that makes winning the hearts and minds of the people in the street nearly impossible to achieve. Winning the hearts and the minds of the people is a pre-requisite to building an enduring peace that engenders the majoritive moderate center, be it the majoritive moderate Arab center, the majoritive moderate Israeli center or any other majoritive, moderate center. One of the main problems in the Middle East is events are largely controlled by the extremists who must stifle dissent to advance their agendas but once people start talking, engaging in dialogue and honest conversation, power will gradually migrate to the center.

In approaching this issue, it is absolutely critical that activists be willing to take comfort in revealing the truth as they see it, even if the truth as they see it is terribly uncomfortable. It is critical to open the conversation and keep the conversation alive even if doing so creates controversy or a boomerang of criticism. I find it necessary to gather information from a variety of perspectives, synthesize it, read between the lines, and cut a direct path through the bullshit (and there’s plenty of bullshit, folks,so don’t believe everything you read, question it, analyze it, and draw your own conclusions), and then most importantly share your conclusions with others communicating the cold, hard, truth as you see it in the most direct and blunt way without any window dressing at all. Just tell it like it is, no bullshit. By delivering information that best reflects the nature of reality on the ground, policymakers can then craft sensible policy rooted in reality rather than being driven into un-reason by the politics of fear.

The uncomfortable, hard, cold, blunt truth and reality as I see it is that the state of Israel holds more of the cards and thus more of the power than do the Palestinians and yet the Israeli government seems to give greater priority to the ambition to create a “Greater Israel” that does not include the Palestinians or a Palestinian state than they do to the creation of a viable, just peace and a common, shared future with the Palestinians and because of this observation, this unwillingness to aggressively pursue peace while instead pursuing a horribly aggressive Occupation is what makes the state of Israel an oppressor nation. And we should not be afraid to tell the truth and say that the state of Israel is an oppressor nation even though some people will invent any excuse to say that isn’t true and some people will rudely launch any number of false accusations against people who affirm the reality and the truth that Israel is an oppressor nation with a horrendous human rights record comparable to its Arab counterparts. For some this reality is likely painful to hear but altering the path of injustice requires the truth to be told and to be challenged in the hope of bringing lasting change, peace and justice. Since the state of Israel bears more power, it also bears greater responsibility and shares a disproportionately greater share of the blame for failing to move the crisis closer to peaceful resolution and reconciliation. Palestinians, while certainly bearing some measure of responsibility too especially for inexusable acts of violence which cuts both ways, are primarily the oppressed vicitims in this conflict. While there are certainly victims on both sides, the Palestinian people are victimized and oppressed in a way and on a much greater scale than the Israeli’s. As activists, we must continue to raise this critical issue and get the conversation about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict rolling because through reason and conversation the power to bring change will slowly migrate to the moderate center, and it is by the moderate center that peace can most effectively be waged.

We must also recognize that the Palestinian people have a valid right to self-determination and statehood and furthermore, each Palestinian has a right to be treated with the same degree of respect and dignity as Israeli’s treat each other, because ultimately, Israeli’s and Palestinians are the same people, a people who do share in their common humanity and brotherhood. One Israeli life is equal to one Palestinian life because ALL PERSONS WERE CREATED EQUAL. Concessions and compromises will also need to be made by Palestinians such as the acknowledgement that Israel has a right to exist and will continue to exist as a Jewish state and that returning to lands inside the 1967 Green Line is not going to happen. How can we as Americans bring this region to peace? How do we make these two peoples sit down and work for peace? It will not happen until American leadership demonstrates enough integrity, honesty and primarily courage to employ carrot-and-stick diplomacy to force both sides to the peace table. The carrot, of course, is the promise of American financial aid, and the stick (and this stick needs to be the size of a baseball bat) is the suspension of financial aid to each side and it is clear to me that this needs to be rhetorically whacked over the head of the Israeli’s and the Palestinians to force them both to the peace table for talks. That action will take courage and demonstrably strong American leadership to bring to fruition and enforce. The American President who achieves it will certainly go down in history as one of the greatest peacemakers, greatest diplomats and greatest statesman of our time. The question is who will step up to the plate to bring peace to the Middle East by rhetorically cracking some skulls, both Israeli skulls and Palestinian skulls to force them to the peace table? If you want to move the ball, sometimes you gotta kick the ball. That may not sound nice, but unfornately, it is also the hard, cold, uncomfortable reality. Politicians are not known to move until they have been swiftly kicked in the ass or had their asses set on fire. Do you want a politician to move? Then you must lead the politician because politicians are mostly followers and not leaders. Because I am pro-human, I both pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian, pro-peace, pro-justice and pro-equality. Enduring peace is in the best long-term interest of the state of Israel and Palestine and the region at large but getting from here to there will require accepting difficult-to-swallow truths, painful and uncomfortable truths that will pave the way toward peace crafted on policy that reflects reality. Anyone who cares about Israel and Middle East peace will wrestle with the truth, wrestle with the justice and wrestle with the peace as I do wrestle.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1121-05.htm
http://www.fpif.org/fpifoped/3714
Chris Hedges article
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061121/ts_nm/mideast_settlements_dc
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112106D.shtml
http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/1121-12.htm
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/788997.html
NY Times article
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2677481&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
Gush Shalom, The Israeli Peace Movement:
http://www.gush-shalom.org/english/index.html
Uri Avnery, Israeli Peace Leader: I salute you, Uri. Keep waging peace, friend!!!
http://www.avnery-news.co.il/english/index.html
http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/
http://www.tikkun.org/
http://www.rhr.israel.net/
http://www.shalomctr.org/
http://www.seruv.org.il/defaulteng.asp
http://www.refusersolidarity.net/
http://www.btvshalom.org/
THIS SHOULD BE A GREAT READ:
http://www.amazon.ca/Palestine-Peace-Apartheid-Jimmy-Carter/dp/0743285026
There is hope yet:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2474712,00.htmlhttp://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/793397.html

ALL PERSONS WERE CREATED EQUAL: WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
In the most simplistic of mathematical terms, this is what it means to me:
I=You=SomeoneElse=Christian=Jew=Muslim=Buddhist
=Atheist=Agnostic=Hindu=Arab=Asian=African=European=
LatinAmerican=American=Black=White=Yellow=Red=
Sunni=Shiite=Israeli=Palestinian=Gay=Straight=
Bisexual=Queer=Man=Woman=Transgender=Rich=Poor=
GeorgeBush=Mahmoud Ahmadinejad=DickCheney=OsamabinLaden=
BarackObama=TrentLott=PaulWolfowitz=MuqtadaAlSadr=
LawAbider=Criminal=Terrorist=HospitalPatient=
HealthyPerson=Soldier=Peacemaker=I=You=SomeoneElse=..….etc., etc….

A Poem About Being Human Like You And I.
I exist therefore I am;
I wage activism therefore I hope;
I am human thererfore I am equal;
I love therefore I care;
I am curious therefore I stay informed;
I know I can make a difference therefore I step forward.
I am righteous therefore I speak out;
I am not afraid therefore I inspire;
I understand therefore I teach;
I am human therefore I am just like you yet unique too.

What should the anti-war movement expect from Democrats in the House and Senate?
I think Antiwar.com, a site run by libertarians, summed it up best:
· An investigation into how intelligence was cooked and how we were lied into war.
· In conjunction with cutting-off the funding for the Occupation of Iraq, we expect the announcement of a definite timetable for withdrawal of U.S. forces and an exit strategy.
· A regional settlement of the outstanding issues between Iran and the United States, beginning with negations in good faith with Tehran and a ratcheting-down of the rhetoric emanating from Washington. Opening of negotiations with both Syria and Iran in the interest of containing regional spillover from the existing civil war being waged in Iraq.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/11/08/the_iraq_mandate.php
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1108-22.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1108-24.htm
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/11/10/cities_for_peace.php
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111306M.shtml
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1117-07.htm
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/11/13/no_exit_strategy.php
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112606D.shtml
BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!!!!!!!!!

The Iraq Study Group is bogus because it is BIPARTISAN, it should be NON-PARTISAN. All they’re trying to do is find a way to stay the course of occupation in Iraq.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/44511/
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1122-32.htm
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112406D.shtml
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/44767/
THIS IS A MUST READ:
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1126-27.htm

And a word of advice for you, Senator Hilary Clinton: It is not triangulation that impresses us, and it is not triangulation that inspires us or fuses us with energy, rather what fuses us with energy and what gives us hope and inspiration is the willingness to stand up for what is what we think is right, against all odds, and take principled but difficult stands. That is why I am very sorry to hear that Russ Feingold will not be running for President because, as he is one of the few leaders in the Senate, he surely would have gotten my vote and the votes of many others like me. However, the candidacy of Senator Chris Dodd is beginning to sound more attractive so a word of advice to you Senator Clinton, if you always try to appeal to everyone, well in the end, you may find that you appeal to no one. If however, you demonstrate some courage and principle by taking difficult but respectable stands for what you think is right, then you may earn a following but I strongly remind you and caution you that continuing the losing strategy of triangulation is not the act of a leader, but the act of a follower.

Repeal the Military Commissions Act:
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Nov06/Sussman04.htm
TomPaine.com article
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/111706Z.shtml
A stricter adherence to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, protection of individual rights, some libertarian values in conjunction with some community values would certainly serve our nation much better into the future. Think part progressive, part libertarian. Be open to new ideas. There are too many closed-minded people on the Right and the Left.
Be different by remaining open-minded, read perspectives across the political spectrum.
http://www.fff.org/comment/com0611a.asp
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig7/greenwald1.html
The problem with detainees not having any rights (besides the fact that they are subject to gross human rights violations) is this: First, as has been widely reported numerous detainees housed at Guantanamo Bay apparently were swept up without confirmation about their involvement in terrorism, i.e., apparently some innocent bystanders got caught up in the government sweep……yeah, big surprise, the government making mistakes seems to be what they do best. Secondly, if they can take rights away from people arbitrarily, then they can take your rights away arbitrarily. But they can only take away your rights and freedoms if you allow them and the way that you prevent them from doing so, is by forcing them to recognize everyone’s rights and by speaking out.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/11/13/national/w121615S90.DTL&type=politics
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/mariner/20061122.html

Accountability across the board:
http://www.antiwar.com/pilger/?articleid=9987
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1557842,00.html
And I hope more citizens follow the example of Doug Cowie in Maine:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112106T.shtml
Part of what it means to be a democracy is for government to be transparent, that is, that Freedom of Information Act requests be honored and that we the people can openly see what the government does and how the government acts and what the government, which should never be blindly trusted, is doing in our name because we own the government.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1124-07.htm
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112406E.shtml

Ignore the pundits, THE LEFT IS ON THE MARCH!!!
A PAT ON THE BACK OF ORTEGA, LULA DE SILVA, CHAVEZ, CORREA AND MORALES
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1122-25.htm
POPULISM IS ON THE RISE AND POPULISM IS THE WAY OF THE FUTURE.
And a big middle finger to all those in Washington who hate the rise of populism.
LEFT, LEFT, LITTLE LIBERTARIAN RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, WE MARCH!!!
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1122-25.htm
http://davidsirota.com/index.php/2006/11/23/bipartisanship-hides-the-real-power-equation-that-no-one-talks-about/

DO RIGHT BY THE TROOPS AND BY THE IRAQI PEOPLE:
BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!!!!!!!!! WITHDRAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CONTINUE TO SPEAK OUT, CONTINUE TO ENGAGE IN ACTIVISM!!!!
YOUR FREEDOM IS YOUR LIBERTY TO STAY INFORMED, STAY INVOLVED AND PERSEVERE TO BRING CHANGE BY WAGING PEACE AND JUSTICE!!!!!

Now that we know that the Pentagon has listed Veterans for Peace as a National Security threat as per this article,
http://www.ksby.com/home/headlines/4738066.html
Let’s just tell it like it is: Veterans for Peace is no National Security threat but the Military-Industrial-Complex itself is the greatest threat to the American Republic and the greatest threat to world peace and the greatest threat to long-term U.S. National Security and now that we know that our forces cannot defeat any guerilla insurgency anywhere in the world as proven in Vietnam thirty-some-odd years ago and in Iraq today, we must ask, why does this country need such an overgrown, fat-ass, uselessly large and astronomically expensive military that serves to kill the poor while it enriches the rich???
MASSIVELY CUT THE FAT AND UNNECESSARY U.S. DEFENSE BUDGET!!!!!
CONFISCATE 100% OF WAR-PROFITS TO PAY FOR THESE NEEDLESS WARS!!!
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!! MONEY FOR THE PEOPLE NOT FOR UNJUST WARS!!
SUPPORT THE TROOPS BY SAVING THEIR LIVES; BRING THEM HOME NOW!!

"We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex."
~Dwight D. Eisenhower
http://www.sonyclassics.com/whywefight/
http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182

WAGE PEACE!!!!!


Eric E. Johansson
Veterans for Peace
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/
http://www.ivaw.org/
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/
http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/
http://honeste--djoftruth.blogspot.com/

WEBSITES TO HELP YOU STAY INFORMED:
http://honeste--djoftruth.blogspot.com/2006/10/websites-to-help-you-stay-informed.html

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

WHAT’S THE BUSH-REPUBLICAN PLAN FOR IRAQ: OUR TROOPS ARE DYING TO KNOW

THIS IS WHAT 3012 DEAD TROOPS LOOKS LIKE:
http://honeste--djoftruth.blogspot.com/2006/10/in-memory-of-fallen.html

IF THE TROOPS CAN LIVE IN THE HELL THAT IS IRAQ EVERDAY, YOU CAN MAKE IT TO THE POLLS ON ONE DAY AND HELP BRING THEM HOME NOW!!

The only apology owed to the troops are from those cowardly bastards who sent them to die in vain in an unjust war of imperial aggression based on lies and cooked intelligence.And still an apology would be grossly inadequate. The only moral way to honor their sacrifice is to save the lives of their foremost loyalty, their fellow brothers-in-arms.
SUPPORT THE TROOPS FOR REAL; BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW!!!!!!!!!!!
To do any less is, to leave them in Iraq is to screw our troops, and Iraqi’s more than they already have been screwed by Bush who places the politics of power before their lives.Staying the course, refusing to leave Iraq, is equal to spitting into the faces of our troops.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110206Z.shtml
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/11/01/olbermanns-special-comment-there-is-no-line-this-president-has-not-crossed-nor-will-not-cross-to-keep-one-political-party-in-power/
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110706K.shtml
http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/11/military_times_.html
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1104-28.htmhttp://www.commondreams.org/views06/1105-22.htmhttp://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110606Z.shtml
The painful reality which the Bush Administration does not want you to know is that our troops can never alone bring stability to Iraq; they can only bring instability because it is our military occupation of Iraq that feeds the violence. Our Occupation of Iraq is the problem, not the solution. Iraqi’s can and will recover Iraq only on their own with help from Iran and Syria to contain regional spillover which is why it will be absolutely necessary for the U.S. to engage both of those nations diplomatically. The U.S. is learning in Iraq that no military superpower, no matter how technologically advanced, can ever defeat widespread fourth-generation warfare. It is through fourth generation guerilla warfare that nearly every superpower in recent history, nearly every colonizer and nearly every invader has been repeatedly and consistently defeated politically and war is simply a brutal application of politics in the final sense. War is waged mostly by those who lack the diplomatic creativity and the imagination and the determination to wrestle with the far more difficult, far less costly and far more powerful enterprise of sustained peace and common prosperity. War is nothing less than the dull politics of destruction whereas peace, diplomacy and cooperation are the arts of flourishing creation.
http://honeste--djoftruth.blogspot.com/2006/11/why-do-frail-bush-republicans-stay.html

REMEMBER AND NEVER FORGET: THE POWER OF THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE POWER OF THE SWORD.

WAGE PEACE AND DO RIGHT BY THE TROOPS: BRING THEM HOME NOW!!!!

Wage Peace,
Eric E. Johansson
Veterans for Peace
http://www.veteransforpeace.org
http://www.bringthemhomenow.org
http://www.ivaw.org
http://honeste--djoftruth.blogspot.com
I only my sign my name to act as an antidote to fear. I speak out in the hope you will too.

WEBSITES TO HELP YOU STAY INFORMED
http://honeste--djoftruth.blogspot.com/2006/10/websites-to-help-you-stay-informed.html

And now after several hard weeks, I need a little break.
I'll be back and posting all over the place for peace once again in about 3 weeks.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

ON THE EVE OF THIS CRUCIAL ELECTION, MY FELLOW AMERICANS, THIS IS WHAT I WANT YOU MOST TO REMEMBER

Below is a letter I wrote to my aunt in reference to a letter I wrote to Professor Stephen Zunes.

Dear Nancy,

Below is a letter I wrote to Professor Stephen Zunes in relation to the Green Party. Since I know you have often supported Green Party politics in the past I wanted you to read my letter. I would like to remind you that loyalty to party is not what matters. What matters, is loyalty to set of ideas and values that can be impressed upon society if one chooses to work with others and unite in common solidarity for the sake of the common good by relaxing one's insistence of principle for only as long as is necessary to hold a voting bloc coalition together. Just prior to an election, unity is the key to helping foster and promote the principles one will stand upon after the election. You scratch my back and I will scratch yours. We help each other by uniting together so that later, after the election, we will listen to each other's ideas.

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1104-27.htm
Dear Sir,

With all due respect, I often agree with you on a great many topics, but this time I must say that I do not agree with your article on Commondreams for the following argument that I would make:

The fault for going to war as is the fault for many of our corrupt policies is not the fault of the politicians, Democrat or Republican, it is the fault of the American people who prefer not to get involved and as a result power defaults to those who do get involved, namely the corporations. If the Greens were elected, after one election cycle, they would act much in the same manner as the Democrats act. This has been demonstrated in foreign countries where the Greens took power. Why? Because politicians respond to those who are involved and when the masses of people refuse involvement, power defaults to the corporations.

This article assumes that politicians are leaders and control the course of our future. Nothing could be further from the truth. Politicians are generally not leaders but followers and the failure of the politicians to legislate in ways that are good for the common good as opposed to the monopolistic elite is not a failure of their leadership but a failure of leadership by the masses to get involved and demand otherwise. We are where we are today because most people don't get involved nor vote nor do much of anything political and thus the political system defaults to those who do understand its power, the corporations. The people lead and politicians follow and since most of the time the corporations do most of the leading, that's where the politicians follow. The rot and decay of the American political system has little to do with the structural system and is mostly a result of the American people choosing not to get involved, period.

The Green Party will never become a majority party because most people vote Democratic or Republican reflexively. Therefore, the only viable means to change things is to reclaim the Democratic Party from the inside out. It will take years to accomplish but it has been done many times before, very successfully, and it must be done again. Place your hopes in third parties and we will become a fascist country or vice-versa because it is our disunity that strengthens the opposition whereas our greatest strength lies in our common solidarity. Together, we are strong. Pursuing a strategy of disunity is political suicide. Unity and solidarity must always take precedence over principle for the sake of the common good. Furthermore, by always promoting people to vote Green and acting as a spoiler for elections in which the Left of Center always loses because of the obstinancy and vindictiveness of the rigid Left, the center (where most Americans, in fact, reside) will become hateful of the spoilers on the rigid Left (Greens) who keep spoiling the elections for the Left-of-Center Democrats and as a result, the masses will choose to ignore the message being propagated by the rigid Left rather than migrate toward that position. In this all too real scenario, we all lose. The old addage, you scratch my back and I will scratch yours holds true most in politics. By helping the Left-of-Center Democrats win, the masses will be grateful and thus receptive to the ideas one imports into the process, thus over time, incorporating those ideas
into the common pursuit and common phraseology thus ultimately changing things over time as long as people stay involved.

The magic pill offered by simply voting Green and all your troubles will be solved is not a cure but a placebo. It's just plain wrong and illogical. One must choose to reclaim the system, stay involved, stay informed, remain engaged and above all, remain patient because change will come but it will not ever come overnight, it will take time, a long time and a lifetime of hard work. You must remain involved and engaged for the remainder of your entire life. Along the way, you will witness many changes worth fighting for.

There is no magic pill.

Only relentless, perpetual, consistent, perseverance of engagement and involvement and hard work will earn the change so desired. There is no magic pill but beleiving there is a magic pill is perhaps the most dangerous belief of all. In our system, you must get involved or default to being ruled by those who do get involved. To beleive that you can elect people who seem to represent your interests and then walk away and think that you no longer have to be involved is misguided and flatly mistaken and only invites the system to revert to its typical state, an invitation for the Greens to act like the Democrats have in the past. Once the masses get involved, the politicians will follow. I offer up the issue of Net Neutrality among other issues that have garnered wide public support like the resistance to the Iraq War which is now building in Congress due only to the people getting involved and staying engaged.

The reason things are so messed up is not the fault of the politicians, for they are followers not leaders, it is the fault of the American people who through their common apathy have defaulted from their responsibility to lead and build the kind of country they wish to live. At the very least, all they need to do is vote. They can do more if they wish to do more but voting is a basic responsibility of citizenship. I place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the American people. There is no magic pill and there is no magic Party. There is only hard work, perseverance, staying informed and involved and a relentless pursuit of peace and justice that will save us.

Sincerely,

Eric Johansson

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

WHY DO FRAIL BUSH-REPUBLICANS STAY THE WEAK COURSE OF DEFEAT IN IRAQ?

WHY DO FRAIL BUSH-REPUBLICANS STAY THE WEAK COURSE OF DEFEAT IN IRAQ?
http://sf.indymedia.org/print.php?id=1732807

How can one tell that Mr. Bush’s denial he is staying the course in Iraq is a load of bull? The troops are still in Iraq, aren’t they? Call it whatever, Mr. Bush, but so long as the troops remain in Iraq and more are being sent, it is still staying the weak course of defeat, isn’t it?
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/10/30/bush_the_cheerleader.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEfxRfl03b4
THIS IS A MUST READ:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-odom31oct31,0,4260170.story?coll=la-home-commentary

STAYING THE WEAK COURSE OF DEFEAT IN IRAQ:
http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/sf/nyt10_25_6_2.htm
http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/sf/nyt10_25_6_2.htm
AND THE TROOPS WHO WANT TO COME HOME NOW!!!!
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1025-02.htm
http://www.appealforredress.org/
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/200601019_after_pats_birthday
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102506C.shtml
http://www.andnetwork.com/index?service=direct/0/Home/older.fullStory&sp=l54562
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/10/25/generals/
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1027-03.htm
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1031-24.htm

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110206C.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102706B.shtml
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2004/11/10_400.html

WEBSITES TO HELP YOU STAY INFORMED: (NEARLY 700)
http://sf.indymedia.org/print.php?id=1732806
or
http://sf.indymedia.org/print.php?id=1732806

Below, I invite you to scroll down and remember what this war has cost and will continue to cost until the troops are brought home. Every time I scroll through these images, I get real angry because I love the troops and to see them treated with such disdain and such disrespect, left to die in an un-winnable war by politicians who care more about their reputations than the lives of the troops, well, that makes me real angry. Furthermore, knowing that the Iraq war based on lies and cooked intelligence, that our current Occupation of Iraq is the problem, not the solution and that the longer we stay in Iraq, more Iraqi’s will die and more of our troops will also die for a war that is already long lost, well that’s simply outrageous!! One must ask: How can you ask the last man to die for a mistake?

Wage Peace,
Eric E. Johansson
Veterans for Peace
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/
http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/
I only my sign my name to act as an antidote to fear. I speak out in the hope you will too.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, how many words, then, are 167 pictures worth? (167 * 18) + 6 = 3011 (Just remember that every one of these “numbers” had a name, a face, a personality, hopes and dreams, a family, friends, a bright future, maybe even a wife, husband or partner and maybe even a child.) The value of each of their lives was equal to and no less valuable than my life, your life, or Mr. Bush’s life.
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/
http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/list.php

Imagine scrolling through this repetition of pictures 230 times and that would be how many Iraqi’s have died in this unjust, needless war of aggression based on lies and cooked intelligence. The war on Iraq is not a failure of execution, it was a bad idea from the start.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6-2414249,00.html


THIS IS WHAT 2954 DEAD TROOPS LOOKS LIKE:
http://honeste--djoftruth.blogspot.com/2006/10/in-memory-of-fallen.html