INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT - WILL THERE BE JUSTICE?

ICC fending off Darfur challenge

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

By Chris Stephen

With his call to indict Sudanese rebel leaders for crimes in Darfur, International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo will hope to blunt moves in the United Nations to grant immunity from a genocide charge to Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir.

Several UN members have indicated support for suspending a proposed ICC indictment against Mr Bashir if he co-operates in turning Darfur's delicate peace process into a reality.

To put ICC proceedings on hold in Darfur would send a dangerous signal to would-be war criminals that justice is negotiable Louise Arbour UN's former human rights chief

In announcing charges against Mr Bashir's foes, the prosecutor is hoping to show he is even handed.

Mr Bashir was accused of genocide in July, although the ICC has yet to confirm the charge.

Since then the Arab League and the African Union have called on the UN Security Council to use special powers, under Article 16 of the ICC constitution, to suspend the case against Mr al-Bashir.

Four of the five permanent members of the council - Britain, China, France and Russia - have indicated support for the plan.

"In the event the Sudan authorities do change, totally change, their policy," said French President Nikolas Sarkozy, "France would not be opposed to using, I believe it is, Article 16."

Stuck in the mud

Human rights groups complain that such a deal would be the kiss of death for international war crimes justice, setting a dangerous precedent.

An ICC prosecutor has sought a warrant for Mr Bashir's arrest

"An Article 16 deferral will send a message to human rights abusers around the world that justice can be bargained away," said Sara Darehshori of New York-based Human Rights Watch.

"It can send a signal that impunity can be tolerated."

The problem for the UN is that the Darfur peace process is stuck in the mud.

Talks between Sudan and more than 12 separate rebel groups have got nowhere and Khartoum is giving scant co-operation over the deployment of an African Union-UN peacekeeping force.

As fighting drags on, the UN is having to care for more than two million Darfur refugees living in vast camps in neighbouring Chad.

Meanwhile, Sudan has refused to hand over two men already indicted for Darfur crimes by the ICC, Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmed Haroun and militia leader Ali Mohamed Ali Abdel-Rahman - known as Ali Kushayb.

And it would be highly unlikely to hand over their president for trial in The Hague.

For many at the UN, suspending Mr Bashir's genocide charge would be a small price to pay for peace.

But one senior UN diplomat said: "There has to be a very substantial change in Sudan's co-operation."

"We're not getting involved in negotiations."

American pressure

Rights groups say making an exception with Mr Bashir risks opening the floodgates, with the Central African Republic and Uganda, also subject to ICC investigations, now calling for similar treatment.

ICC supporters have some influential friends.

More than 2.5 million people have been forced from their homes in Darfur

"To put ICC proceedings on hold in Darfur would send a dangerous signal to would-be war criminals that justice is negotiable," said Louise Arbour, the UN's former human rights chief.

And writing in the Financial Times, Richard Holbrooke, a former US Balkan envoy and adviser to President-elect Barack Obama, argues:

"Suspension may seem a safer course to follow in the short run, but it will embolden him [Mr Bashir] and other future suspected war criminals."

An irony not lost on ICC officials is that it was the UN who called them in to investigate Sudan in the first place.

The court had no formal powers to investigate Darfur until, in March 2005, the UN Security Council gave it a mandate.

Now, say ICC supporters, the UN is considering a U-turn because the court has indicted the man many consider responsible for ethnic cleansing estimated to have left some 300,000 dead.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo will hope his call to indict three rebel leaders for the murder of 12 AU peacekeepers in Haskanita, southern Darfur, in September last year will ease criticism from some in the AU that his investigations thus far have been one-sided.

Rights groups are pinning their hopes on the United States, the only member of the Permanent Five that has yet to express a view supporting an Article 16 suspension.

The Bush administration has already commissioned an independent report that concluded genocide had been committed in Darfur, and the cause of Darfur has galvanised both America's liberals and conservative evangelicals.

In this atmosphere, the incoming Obama administration may find it politically difficult to support any UN move to give Mr Bashir impunity.

Chris Stephen is author of Judgement Day: The Trial of Slobodan Milosevic, published by Atlantic Books in 2004.

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Be A Witness

The Museum’s Mapping Initiatives use tools such as Google Earth and animated maps to enable citizens to understand Holocaust history and to bear witness to current threats of genocide across the globe.

The Holocaust took place across the entire European continent, and for all of Europe's Jews, as well as other victims of Nazism, geography played a major role in determining their fate. The Holocaust Mapping Initiative overlays key Holocaust sites and historic content from the Museum's collections on Google Earth and other maps.

The Genocide Prevention Mapping Initiative brings together data, photographs, video, and eyewitness testimony in Google Earth to help inform citizens, governments, and institutions about current and potential genocides and related crimes against humanity, and to respond.

Download and install Google Earth

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Darfur Daily News

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum ~ Voices on Genocide Prevention

What is genocide?

World is Witness

BUSH RUINING THE LIVES OF CITIZENS IN HIS LAST DAYS

Last Call for the Bush Administration

November 21, 2008

Recommended: Brett Shipp's report on gas leaks causing deaths in homes

The following text is taken from www.pbs.org/moyers/journal

Time is running out for the Bush Administration, and it's making a last-minute push to enstate new policy changes — a practice commonly known as "midnight regulations." According to THE WASHINGTON POST, "as many as 90 new regulations are in the works." The POST goes on to assess the changes: "many of which would weaken government rules aimed at protecting consumers and the environment." That's a worry echoed by a number of government watchdog groups.

Of course, these last minute political giveaways are nothing new. Indeed, the name midnight regulations echoes the "midnight judges" — Federalist judges appointed by President John Adams way back in 1800, days before he turned over the Presidency to election-victor Thomas Jefferson.

In 2003, NOW WITH BILL MOYERS documented the ups and downs of a rule enacted in the final days of the Clinton administration in January 2001. The "Roadless Rule" — ending virtually all logging; roadbuilding; and coal, gas, oil, and other mineral leasing in 58 million acres of the wildest remaining national forest lands — had strong public support. Usually, a rule takes effect either 30 or 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register. Once that happens, it is law and can only be overturned by either an act of Congress or an official new rulemaking process. However, the Bush administration caught the Roadless Rule within this 60-day window, and its implementation was delayed numerous times. The fate of the rule has been the subject of several court challenges.

In May, White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten issued a memo spelling out a strict deadline government agencies need to meet when promulgating any new rules — perhaps to avoid situations where they could easily be reversed. But the incoming Obama administration is watching all such actions carefully.

Below you'll find some of the proposed regulations and changes and additional places to check on others.

• Mountaintop Mining: Rule would allow mining companies to dump waste into rivers and streams.

• Endangered Species Act: Rule would alter implementation of ESA to allow federal land-use managers to approve projects (like infrastructure creation, minerals extraction, or logging) without consulting federal habitat managers and biological health experts responsible for species protection.

• Power plants near National Parks: Environmental Protection Agency rule would ease current restrictions that make it difficult for power plants to operate near national parks and wilderness areas, which could increase air pollution in those areas.

• Truck Driver Safety: Department of Transportation rule will allow truck drivers to drive up to 11 consecutive hours and to spend seven consecutive days on the road with only a 34-hour break. Public Citizen and other safety advocates have sued successfully two times in the past three years to overturn this Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rule.

• On-the-Job-Risk: Department of Labor rule would change the way federal regulators calculate estimates for on-the-job risks, and add an extra comment period to new worker health standards, creating a delay.

• Family and Medical Leave: Department of Labor rule would limit employee access to family and medical leave — making it more difficult for workers to use paid vacation or personal time to take leave, and would allow employers to speak directly to an employee's health care provider.
• Domestic Surveillance: Department of Justice Rule would expand the power of state and local law enforcement agencies to investigate potential criminal activities and report the information to federal agencies. It would broaden the scope of activities authorities could monitor to include organizations as well as individuals, along with non-criminal activities that are deemed "suspicious."

Midnight Bureaucrats

THE WASHINGTON POST is also following the outgoing administration's movement of political appointees into civil service positions. "The transfer of political appointees into permanent federal positions, called 'burrowing' by career officials, creates security for those employees, and at least initially will deprive the incoming Obama administration of the chance to install its preferred appointees in some key jobs." The POST reports that: "between March 1 and Nov. 3, according to the federal Office of Personnel Management, the Bush administration allowed 20 political appointees to become career civil servants...In its last 12 months, the Clinton administration approved 47 such moves, including seven at the senior executive level." Civil service job protections make it very difficult to remove people once transfers have been made.

Published on November 21, 2008.

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EXPOSÉ on THE JOURNAL: Danger Beneath the North Texas Soil
Fatal flaws in gaslines. THE JOURNAL and EXPOSÉ AMERICA'S INVESTIGATIVE Reports present an investigative story into tragic accidents resulting from natural gas explosions. The report is part of BLUEPRINT AMERICA, a PBS-wide series on the nation's infrastructure.

> MORE FROM EXPOSÉ: AMERICA'S INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS

GOVERNMENT GOLD
JOURNAL guest host Deborah Amos speaks with NEW YORK TIMES business columnist Joe Nocera about the bailout mania in Washington and who's next in line to get federal assistance

MORE AT: www.pbs.org/wnet/expose/2008/11/wfaa-homepage

PRESIDENT OBAMA IS HIS NAME

I am currently reading for the first time Dreams From My Father - A Story of Race and Inheritance written by Barack Obama. Although I purchased Mr. Obama's two books months ago, I am really just getting into the first book. It is very, very interesting to read the words now since we know he will be our 44th President. Here you can read what he added in the 2004 release in its Preface. The book can be purchased at www.amazon.com for $14.27 (HC). Paperback is $8.22.

For anyone to openly let others into their thinking as Barack Obama does in this book illustrates courage and a willingness to be vulnerable.

The marketing that is burgeoning on Barack Obama's story and all that surrounds him would make him rich if he trademarked his name. Maybe the economy nationally and internationally - could be boosted by the sales around his image and what all is being written about him.

I am choosing to mostly ignore all the negative and racist undercurrent that is being written. When I see something written, I immediately do a search on the person who has written the article or accusations. Considering the source is prudent.

Plenty of unhappy and needy people writing what you might expect from someone who has garbage residing in the place of a healthy soul.

Could you be a leader on the world stage and survive all the sickness masquerading as what is right, Christian thinking or political polarization?

I can't wait for Dana Perino to go. Robert Gibbs is named as President-elect Obama's White House Press Secretary. I will have to adjust my cringe-reflex reaction.

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Robert Gibbs takes it to Sean Hannity
Uploaded by ljones23213

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Here is Dana Perino - George Bush's current White House Press Secretary.
Is the Vice-President part of the Executive or Legistlative branch? Deputy White House Press Secretary Dana Perino encounters an inquisitive group of reporters.
Uploaded by Veracifier

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT-ELECT
Website: http://www.change.gov/

(AFP OUT) U.S. President-elect Barack Obama (L) salautes as he and Gulf War veteran Tammy Duckworth honor America's veterans on Veterans Day at the Bronze Soldiers Memorial November 11, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois, The national holiday, held on the anniversary of the end of World War I, honors all those who have served their country in the military.

(Photo by TANNEN MAURY/Getty Images North America)

(AFP OUT) U.S. President-elect Barack Obama (L) arrives with Gulf War veteran Tammy Duckworth to honor America's veterans on Veterans Day at the Bronze Soldiers Memorial November 11, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois, The national holiday, held on the anniversary of the end of World War I, honors all those who have served their country in the military.

(Photo by Pool/Getty Images North America)

(AFP OUT) U.S. President-elect Barack Obama (L) arrives with Gulf War veteran Tammy Duckworth to honor America's veterans on Veterans Day at the Bronze Soldiers Memorial November 11, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois, The national holiday, held on the anniversary of the end of World War I, honors all those who have served their country in the military.

(Photo by TANNEN MAURY/Getty Images North America)

(AFP OUT) U.S. President-elect Barack Obama (L) and Gulf War veteran Tammy Duckworth place a wreath to honor America's veterans on Veterans Day at the Bronze Soldiers Memorial November 11, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois, The national holiday, held on the anniversary of the end of World War I, honors all those who have served their country in the military.

(Photo by TANNEN MAURY/Getty Images North America)

(AFP OUT) U.S. President-elect Barack Obama (L) and Gulf War veteran Tammy Duckworth place a wreath to honor America's veterans on Veterans Day at the Bronze Soldiers Memorial November 11, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois, The national holiday, held on the anniversary of the end of World War I, honors all those who have served their country in the military.

(Photo by TANNEN MAURY/Getty Images North America)
(AFP OUT) U.S. President-elect Barack Obama (L) and Gulf War veteran Tammy Duckworth honor America's veterans on Veterans Day at the Bronze Soldiers Memorial November 11, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois, The national holiday, held on the anniversary of the end of World War I, honors all those who have served their country in the military. (Photo by TANNEN MAURY/Getty Images North America)

(AFP OUT) U.S. President George W. Bush (L) walks on the colonnade with U.S. President-elect Barack Obama at the White House November 10, 2008 in Washington, DC. On January 20th Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States.

(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images North America)
(AFP OUT) U.S. President George W. Bush (R) walks on the colonnade with U.S. President-elect Barack Obama at the White House November 10, 2008 in Washington, DC. This is the first visit for Barack Obama to the White House before he is sworn into office as President of the United States. First lady Laura Bush took soon to be first lady Michelle Obama on a tour of the White House as the President and Mr. Obama walked along the colonnade to the Oval Office where they will have a meeting. On January 20th Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. (Photo by Pool/Getty Images North America)

(AFP OUT) U.S. President George W. Bush (R) walks on the colonnade with U.S. President-elect Barack Obama at the White House November 10, 2008 in Washington, DC. On January 20th Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images North America)
(AFP OUT) U.S. President George W. Bush (L) walks on the colonnade with U.S. President-elect Barack Obama at the White House November 10, 2008 in Washington, DC. This is the first visit for Barack Obama to the White House before he is sworn into office as President of the United States. First lady Laura Bush took soon to be first lady Michelle Obama on a tour of the White House as the President and Mr. Obama walked along the colonnade to the Oval Office where they will have a meeting. On January 20th Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. (Photo by Pool/Getty Images North America)

(AFP OUT) U.S. President George W. Bush (R) walks on the colonnade with U.S. President-elect Barack Obama at the White House November 10, 2008 in Washington, DC. On January 20th Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images North America)
(AFP OUT) U.S. President George W. Bush (R) walks on the colonnade with U.S. President-elect Barack Obama at the White House November 10, 2008 in Washington, DC. This is the first visit for Barack Obama to the White House before he is sworn into office as President of the United States. First lady Laura Bush took soon to be first lady Michelle Obama on a tour of the White House as the President and Mr. Obama walked along the colonnade to the Oval Office where they will have a meeting. On January 20th Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. (Photo by Pool/Getty Images North America)
(AFP OUT) U.S. President George W. Bush (R) walks on the colonnade with U.S. President-elect Barack Obama at the White House November 10, 2008 in Washington, DC. This is the first visit for Barack Obama to the White House before he is sworn into office as President of the United States. First lady Laura Bush took soon to be first lady Michelle Obama on a tour of the White House as the President and Mr. Obama walked along the colonnade to the Oval Office where they will have a meeting. On January 20th Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. (Photo by Pool/Getty Images North America)

(AFP OUT) U.S. President George W. Bush (R) walks on the colonnade with U.S. President-elect Barack Obama at the White House November 10, 2008 in Washington DC. On January 20th Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images North America) (AFP OUT) U.S. President George W. Bush (R) walks on the colonnade with U.S. President elect Barack Obama at the White House November 10, 2008 in Washington DC. On January 20th Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images North America) (AFP OUT) U.S. President George W. Bush (R) walks on the colonnade with U.S. President-elect Barack Obama at the White House November 10, 2008 in Washington, DC. This is the first visit for Barack Obama to the White House before he is sworn into office as President of the United States. First lady Laura Bush took soon to be first lady Michelle Obama on a tour of the White House as the President and Mr. Obama walked along the colonnade to the Oval Office where they will have a meeting. On January 20th Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. (Photo by Pool/Getty Images North America)

(AFP OUT) U.S. President George W. Bush (R) walks on the colonnade with U.S. President-elect Barack Obama at the White House November 10, 2008 in Washington, DC. On January 20th Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images North America)

U.S. President George W. Bush (L) and Laura Bush (2nd-L) greet U.S. President elect Barack Obama (R) and his wife Michelle (2nd-R) at the White House November 10, 2008 in Washington DC. On January 20th Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images North America)

(AFP OUT) U.S. President George W. Bush (L) and Laura Bush (2nd-L) greet U.S. President-elect Barack Obama (R) and his wife Michelle Obama (2nd-R) on the South Portico of the White House November 10, 2008 in Washington, DC. This is the first visit for Barack Obama to the White House before he is sworn into office as President of the United States. First lady Laura Bush took soon to be first lady Michelle Obama on a tour of the White House as the President and Mr. Obama walked along the colonnade to the Oval Office where they will have a meeting. On January 20th Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States.

(Photo by FABIANO/SIPA/Getty Images North America)

VOTE - LET'S GIVE PEACE A CHANCE - OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT

Today, in my state there is a TV ad running with Wright as the only subject. Of course, the reason it is running is to drum up votes for whom I consider ~ the Wrong candidate.

Last Friday night a story was illegally leaked that was for the purpose also to steer people toward the Wrong candidate. I have been disappointed before with the USA being fickle and attaching themselves to what amounts to non-issues ~ so we will see what effect this has on the election.

There is some man who is claiming on Youtube that he has proof that Barack Obama was born in Kenya. The problem is that Barack's mother would have had to be in Kenya for that to happen. And she wasn't.

It will be a very sad day if we don't get a chance to see a change.

I sent this email out today to USA citizens who want the genocide on the Darfuri people to end:

Dear Person of Conscience,

If you have voted already - Thank you. If you are planning to vote election day, please don’t allow anything to keep you from it. As someone who has been active in trying to bring our politicians along regarding the well-being of the Darfuri families and the genocide, you know how important it is to have a President who actually will do what needs to be done.

As someone who has never volunteered before in an election before this one, I know first hand - millions of hours by volunteers are presently and have been working in the primaries and the general election months to get people to the polls. It is startling to realize that we have to work so hard to get people informed and then get them to actually vote.

Please, vote. And encourage all you know to vote. And make sure you know your rights: http://www.aclu.org/votingrights/gen/36695res20080909.html

I have information below for my home state of Rhode Island, as well as Massachusetts and Connecticut.

If you want to help out, contact me and I will give you the phone number to call and address where you can go today, tonight and/or tomorrow to help out all the over-worked volunteers here in Rhode Island. This work includes calling to battleground states, as well as standing out with signs for visibility.

Thank you.

Let’s give peace a chance.

Rhode Island voters
https://www.ri.gov/SOS/vic//

http://www.sec.state.ri.us/

and
http://www.sec.state.ri.us/elections/news-items/last-minute-options-for-voting

There are last-minute alternatives for Rhode Islanders who missed the deadline to register to vote or who find they will be out-of-town unexpectedly on November 4.

"Same-day" Ballots

If you missed the October 4 deadline to register to vote, you will not be able to vote for statewide or local races on Election Day. However, you will be able to cast a "same-day" ballot for President and Vice President if you are otherwise eligible to register to vote. In most places, just to go to your community's city or town hall on November 4.

Four cities and towns have set up special locations instead of town hall on Election Day: Coventry Town Hall Annex, 1675 Flat River Road; Little Compton, Wilbur McMann School, 28 Commons; Providence, Dunkin Donuts Center, 1 LaSalle Square; and Smithfield Senior Center, 1 William J. Hawkins Jr. Trail.

Whether you go to town hall or a special location, local elections officials will be on hand to help. You can register to vote and cast a ballot in the presidential race on the spot. And you are officially registered in Rhode Island for future elections.

Emergency Ballots

If you unexpectedly find you will be out-of-town on Election Day, you can go to your community's city or town hall and request an Emergency Ballot. You must be eligible to vote on Election Day in order to qualify. You will fill out a ballot at town hall and seal it in a privacy envelope. Your vote will be counted on Election Day the same as absentee and voting-machine ballots.

Massachusetts voters

http://www.sec.state.ma.us/

and

http://www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/myelectioninfo.php

Connecticut voters

http://www.ct.gov/sots/cwp/view.asp?a=3179&Q=411292&sotsNav=|47610|&sotsNav_GID=1846

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Dick Cheney "delighted to endorse McCain"
Uploaded by ElPresidenteNuevo

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GENOCIDE STOPS WITH US - LET'S MAKE IT PAST HISTORY

From www.savedarfur.org:

Daily News: Monday, November 2, 2008

Reuters: Darfuris march in The Hague to back court's action. More than 100 Darfuris marched through The Hague on Friday to show their support for the International Criminal Court's (ICC) move to indict Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. "We've come here to support the ICC and to support justice because without justice, there will be no peace," said Mohammed Ismail from the Darfur Union, a civil society group that helped organise the demonstration. The ICC's top prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked the global court's judges to issue the warrant in July, accusing Bashir of orchestrating a campaign of genocide in Darfur that has killed thousands and forced millions from their homes.

Agence France-Presse: JEM to mull Qatar proposal for Sudan peace talks. The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), militarily the most powerful rebel group in Darfur, will send delegates to Qatar to sound out plans for possible talks with Sudan, a JEM official said on Saturday. "JEM has made it very clear that its delegation will go to Doha to give a first-hand explanation, and the position of JEM regarding the Darfur problem, and the Sudan problem as a whole, and at the same time listen to the Qataris to see what their initiative is," Tahir el-Faki told AFP by telephone from London. Darfur rebel groups have been critical of Arab-led peace efforts, saying they were designed to save Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir from international court proceedings for alleged war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

Daily Press Briefing: Friday, October 31, 2008

THE WHITE HOUSE

The daily press briefing by conducted by Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto did not mention Darfur.

THE STATE DEPARTMENT

The daily press briefing conducted by State Department spokesman Sean McCormack did not mention Darfur.

UNITED NATIONS

The noon briefing by Michelle Montas did not mention Darfur.

UNMIS

Daily Media Monitoring Report for October 31:

http://www.unmis.org/english/2008Docs/mmr-oct31.pdf

DOWNING STREET

The morning press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman did not mention Darfur.

Richard M. Stazinski

National Outreach Coordinator

Save Darfur Coalition

www.savedarfur.org

WISDOM OF KNOWING WHAT OTHERS THINK ABOUT USA NEEDS TO BE PART OF USA'S STRENGTH

OTHERWISE OUR IGNORANCE BECOMES STRONGER THAN OUR WISHFUL THINKING

THAT WE STILL ARE IN CHARGE

WHAT EXACTLY ARE WE IN CHARGE OF?

I am not supposed to be here. I am supposed to be where anyone should be at midnight who is not working at a job. But just as I was trying to wind down my internet obsession, I went over to what has become a "must" website for me ~ Watching America - News

I found this article and had to post it.

Die Welt, Germany

Osama Obama

By Philipp Neumann, Political Editor

But then what really stunned me were the arguments Carl and his three companions brought out against Obama.

Translated By Ron Argentati

28 October 2008


Germany - Die Welt - Original Article (German)

What some McCain fans say about the Democratic presidential candidate.

“Where are you from? Germany? That’s really nice! I was stationed there in 1972.” It’s hard to believe how easily one can get into a conversation in the United States, especially when you look as un-American (and as German) as I do. Most people guess it right off the bat. Some have to work their way through Holland or Switzerland before they peg me as German. A few others think I come from England – something really astounding considering my accent – but maybe it’s because I persist in pronouncing the “a” in “can’t” as if it were spelled “cawnt.” But I digress.

Such small talk is always nice, even if you don’t learn much about your partner. The subject of politics is generally avoided in small talk. At least that’s what I thought until I had my first political discussion last night in a restaurant. As usual, it began innocently. The two elderly couples and I exchanged glances, then came the “Where froms?” and then the “Where tos?” followed by a few sightseeing tips around New York City. And then came the question, “What do you think of the presidential election?” I admitted I was for Obama.

Silence.

One of the husbands, Carl, said they were against Obama. They were for McCain and asked whether I had thought about why Obama really wanted to be President. “Because he wants the power?” I guessed. “Exactly,” said Carl, “and McCain wants to be President because he wants to serve his country.”

Well, O.K. I don’t really believe anyone who’s looking to get the most powerful political job in the world is driven by pure altruism, but I have to admit there might be something to the idea that there could be other motivating forces besides just the desire for power. There may at least be another basic philosophy, but I don’t really know if that’s true. In Germany, it’s normal for politicians to have always been politicians; they’ve never had any other profession. In the United States, the idea of anyone planning a political career as thoroughly as Obama has is somehow distasteful.

But then what really stunned me were the arguments Carl and his three companions brought out against Obama. He has no character, he’s a Muslim, he hobnobs with terrorists – the whole palette of cheap right-wing propaganda. And besides, they said, Sarah Palin was more intelligent than Obama. Excuse me? I’d had about enough. I finished my beer, signed the credit card receipt and departed the way everyone here departs after some small talk: “Nice meeting you!” Source: http://watchingamerica.com/News/10031/osama-obama/

CLICK HERE FOR ORIGINAL VERSION

And this is worth reading

Original Article (German)	Die Welt, Germany The Unrepresentative American Election
	Surveys show that Democratic contender Barack Obama will likely be elected president. That’s not as certain as some polls indicate, however, because the electoral system in the U.S. wasn’t created to best represent the will of the people. It was created to create the most stable majorities...

Link to this article: watchingamerica.com/News/10131/the-unrepresentative-american-election

I have noticed the few Russian articles that I have read at Watching America are putting the USA and Russia at real odds, today. Russia is not keen on the USA. Anyone remember, not long ago, about the Russia - USA relationship that was called the Cold_War?

It is a wise thing to know what others are writing about the USA...

From Izvestia, Russia

The Dollar Is Being Inflated:
One Day It Will Burst…

By Anna Kaledina

As it turns out, the United States is inflating the demand for its currency and printing the dollars at full speed.

Translated By Irina Tanurcov

October 28, 2008

Link to the article listen-if-the-dollar-is-being-inflated-one-day-it-will-burst


And then there is this from

Die Zeit, Germany
That's Not What We Intended

the following is a portion of the article:


From Paul Wolfowitz to Richard Perle: How the American architects of the Iraq war explain their failure.

...Over lunch at the Bombay Club, Paul Wolfowitz, the Pentagon’s number two man at the time, begins with a surprising admission: “Contrary to what you read everywhere, I wasn’t the mastermind, the string-puller.” Richard Perle, known as the “Prince of Darkness” to opponents of re-armament in the eighties and who works today at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, says much the same thing: “We three had the least to say; Rummy (Rumsfeld) made all the decisions. We didn’t have any real influence, although I wanted it very much. He usually ignored our advice. Doug (Feith) had no operative power. I saw Rumsfeld perhaps only three or four times outside the Defense Policy Board.” The Defense Policy Board was an advisory forum where Rumsfeld appeared every six months...

...Surprise number two: The original objective wasn’t regime change and democracy. Regime change was “the result, and not the object of the war,” – although Wolfowitz himself believed whole-heartedly in the benefits of democracy. “Just think of democratic Poland, with its totally changed, western-oriented policies.”

...Why did it go so badly? Wolfowitz: “We didn’t know our enemy. Saddam had already been planning a revolt for two years. We had no idea of the internal infighting that would be stirred up.” Perle recounts another fiasco: “We wanted to be liberators but within five or six months we became occupiers and targets.”

....Was it a war to bring democracy to Iraq in the sense recounted by the eminent scholar Bernard Lewis? In truth, no. A distressed Feith writes in his book “War and Decision” that democracy “required Iraqi leadership, and there weren’t enough Iraqis with experience in democratic practice.” And so? It would be “naïve to think that democracy would have taken hold if we had just left Iraq alone.”

And, as misfortune would have it, the country really wasn’t left alone. Enter L. Paul (Jerry) Bremer in the role of Viceroy after Donald Rumsfeld called him out of retirement in Vermont. Bremer is no Lawrence of Arabia and proceeded with Plan F, which was to solve all the problems by dissolving the military and all the political parties. With that decision, the United States was transformed from liberator to conqueror. “We had the best intentions,” Richard Perle recalls, but under Bremer, the United States treated the Iraqis with “condescension and contempt.” The United States “was suddenly responsible for everything,” but without the expertise it needed. “All at once, 8,000 Americans had occupied one of Saddam’s former palaces in the Green Zone and half of them had never been in a foreign country before.”

Why did the plundering begin so early? The mind-boggling answer: “Tommy Franks (the top military commander) claimed he wasn’t responsible for internal security.” Perle’s conclusion: “I never thought we would botch it so badly.” And on the subject of democratization he added: “That wasn’t our main objective. If Saddam had brought out every bit of information he had on his WMD on the evening of the invasion, the whole war would have been called off. We were one hundred percent certain that Saddam had hidden all the stuff.”

So does the Iraq war shrink down to a saga of incompetence and ignorance? No other result than blood, tears and a big bill? $600 billion spent and 4,500 dead Americans so far? David Frum, coiner of the label “axis of evil” and member of the American Enterprise Institute, takes a protective stance with his colleagues: “Bush and Cheney really believed Saddam had WMD.” When asked why nobody bothered questioning this belief, Frum rages, “Do you know what would have happened if anyone had opposed him in February 2003 by saying ‘Mr. President, we’re not prepared to act. Please consider what will happen if anything goes wrong?’ He would have gone crazy and screamed, “I already told you we’re going in March!” That’s the way it was.

But the irony, Frum adds, is that “Iraq will become a stable, pro-Western country, it will return to the oil markets and it will play a positive role in the Middle East.” On the other hand, the war in Afghanistan, the one everyone called the one worth fighting, isn’t going well at all. Even if Frum wants to maintain he was right, it was an extravagant project that, despite all the talk in Washington, still has no clear meaning.

But why? An old Bush insider who absolutely refuses to be identified answers with the biggest surprise of all: “It was an act of imperial ego-boosting. We had to do something because we had been humiliated on September 11th and made into a laughing stock. We had to show our determination and power.” Would you do it all over again? The answer: “You would have to be crazy to do it again.”


CLICK HERE FOR ORIGINAL VERSION

Another story found at Watching America

Impoverished Americans Lean Toward Spoiled Food

Some of our best journalism in the USA is done by foreign journalists. They aren't pandering to our entertainment level of news so much as the USA media.

See TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE. INDICT CRIMINALS BUSH, CHENEY and RUMSFELD

"The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.….All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger."
Hermann Goering, Luftwaffe Commander and Nazi Leader
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Find this ~ Taxi to the Dark Side~ see it and demand justice return to the USA
Uploaded by radio24

Please, make an effort to see Taxi to the Dark Side

I have found bits of it on Youtube which are included on this page.

The cable HBO schedule for its airings may be found at this link: Schedule ~ Taxi to the Dark Side
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Hear Dick Cheney talk about the "Dark Side"
and George Bush say: "One by one the terrorists are learning of American justice."
Uploaded by jigsawproductions
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"A Few Bad Apples .... " ~ Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzales
Uploaded by THINKFilmNY

Youtube of Alberto Gonzales

In George W Bush's first Inaugural Address he said:
"Much time has passed since Jefferson arrived for his inauguration. The years and changes accumulate. But the themes of this day he would know: our nation's grand story of courage and its simple dream of dignity."

Dignity is not something that describes the United States after Bagram in Afghanistan, Abu_Ghraib in Iraq and Guantanamo in Cuba. (A Growing Afghan Prison Rivals Bleak Guantanamo)

After seeing Alex Gibney's documentary Taxi to the Dark Side today with the free on demand feature, it was clear to me that George W Bush, Richard Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld need to be indicted. It is clear that they are criminals. I knew this before seeing the film, but it is so potent when seeing this documentary film. The three of them, as well as other Bush appointees have broken the U.S. Constitution and the oath they swore to. They have made us the United States citizens amoral bystanders. We have a corrupt government. The world knows it. The United States of America is bankrupt of accountability internationally.

There is no way that the behavior clearly shown in Taxi to the Dark Side wouldn't make the the USA targets of hate. Before the Bush administration, there were other acts done by the USA government that drew distaste and hatred toward the USA, but the Bush-Cheney administration has a case so deservingly merited to be tried in a court of justice somewhere. If not initiated by our apparently morally bankrupt congress, perhaps the International Criminal Court will indict the players. The buck stops at the administration's branch. And Bush and Cheney should not get away with their crimes.

Dennis Kucinich has been calling for Bush's impeachment. And you can sign the petition. Here is the text:

Kucinich Petition

WHEREAS, in his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has committed abuses of power.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that President George W. Bush has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and Commander in Chief, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States and that he be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Personally, I believe Congress has been derelict to the extreme in their duty to oversee the Administration's criminal activity. International law (Geneva Convention) has been broken, as well as national law. I would like to see the Intermational Criminal Court (ICC) look into the crimes done by the Administration. According to the text at this ICC link victims "have the possibility under the Statute to present their views and observations before the Court".

The Book: Impeach the President - The Case Against Bush and Cheney

George W Bush gives a tour of the Oval Office - this is worth a look just for the irony of his attempt to appear....well, I'll leave it to you to decide.

Dick Cheney gives a tour of Vice President office.

George W Bush and Dick Cheney have been in office since January 20, 2001.

Donald Rumsfeld was Secretary of Defense overseeing the army, navy, air force, and marines from 2001 to December 2006 for the Bush-Cheney administration.
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Taxi to the Dark Side: Exposé on US Abuses in "War on Terror" Wins Oscar for Best Documentary.
Alex Gibney joins Democracy Now to talk about his Academy Award win for his documentary Taxi to the Dark Side. The film investigates some of the most egregious abuses associated with the so-called "war on terror." Uploaded by IWantDemocracyNow

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn

Intel ops to expand at Bagram prison

By Peter Eisler - USA Today
Posted : Thursday Sep 18, 2008

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon plans to expand intelligence operations at its main prison in Afghanistan, records and interviews with military officials show.

Interrogators and analysts are being sought for a bigger Bagram prison scheduled to open next year. They will be hired to question prisoners and provide intelligence that can be used on the battlefield, according to contract solicitations reviewed by USA Today. The Army also is seeking a “trained Mullah” to conduct Islamic services for detainees and advise U.S. officials on religious issues...

“One thing we have not taken advantage of is just trying to understand what is motivating people to join the insurgency,” he said.

The new $60 million facility will also include more space for detainee religious services, education programs and family visits.

Read the full article.

Schedule ~ Taxi to the Dark Side

		HBO: Taxi to the Dark Side - Synopsis HBO Documentaries Online features show descriptions, interviews, video clips, and scheduling information.
		HBO: Taxi to the Dark Side - Interviews HBO Documentaries Online features show descriptions, interviews, video clips, and scheduling information.
		HBO: Taxi to the Dark Side HBO Documentaries Online features show descriptions, interviews, video clips, and scheduling information.
		HBO: Taxi to the Dark Side - Resources HBO Documentaries Online features show descriptions, interviews, video clips, and scheduling information.

"Violence with the detainees is a criminal act." from Taxi to the Dark Side documentary

"When justice isn't our compass, the USA no longer has national security."
Sandra Hammel