NotLW.004: The Collapse of the Bush Gang - but rise of democracy?

by redjade Fri Oct 06, 2006 00:25

After falling short of its goals last year, military recruiting in 2006 has been marked by upbeat pronouncements from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, claims of success by the White House, and a spate of recent press reports touting the military's achievement of its woman- and manpower goals.

[....]

Last year, despite NASCAR, professional bull-riding and Arena Football sponsorships, popular video games that doubled as recruiting tools, TV commercials dripping with seductive scenes of military glory, a "joint marketing communications and market research and studies" program designed to attract, among others, dropouts and those with criminal records for military service, and at least $16,000 in promotional costs for each soldier it managed to sign up, the U.S. military failed to meet its recruiting goals.

[....]

In 2004, the Pentagon published a "Moral Waiver Study," whose seemingly benign goal was "to better define relationships between pre-Service behaviors and subsequent Service success." That turned out to mean opening more recruitment doors to potential enlistees with criminal records.

In February, the Baltimore Sun wrote that there was "a significant increase in the number of recruits with what the Army terms 'serious criminal misconduct' in their background" -- a category that included "aggravated assault, robbery, vehicular manslaughter, receiving stolen property and making terrorist threats." From 2004 to 2005, the number of those recruits rose by more than 54 percent, while alcohol and illegal drug waivers, reversing a four-year decline, increased by more than 13 percent.

In June, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that, under pressure to fill the ranks, the Army had been allowing into its ranks increasing numbers of "recruits convicted of misdemeanor crimes, according to experts and military records." In fact, as the military's own data indicated, "the percentage of recruits entering the Army with waivers for misdemeanors and medical problems has more than doubled since 2001."

[....]

"We're looking for high school graduates with no more than one felony on their record," one recruiter said.

read more at
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronic...1.DTL

by redjade Fri Oct 06, 2006 00:36

20,000 Sailors Go To War - Massive US and Allied Naval Deployment

The March to War: Naval build-up in the Persian Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean

October 1, 2006
GlobalResearch.ca

The probability of another war in the Middle East is high. Only time will tell if the horrors of further warfare is to fully materialize. Even then, the shape of a war is still undecided in terms of its outcome.

If war is to be waged or not against Iran and Syria, there is still the undeniable build-up and development of measures that confirm a process of military deployment and preparation for war.

Please read this in its entirety....
http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/10/3/6116/80502

20,000 Sailors Go To War - Massive US and Allied Naval Deployment

by redjade Fri Oct 06, 2006 00:45

Plus, read Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s previous report: "Was the 2004 Election Stolen?"
http://www.rollingstone.com/election04
——————

Will The Next [US] Election Be Hacked?
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/11717105/rob...print

In October 2005, the government Accountability Office issued a damning report on electronic voting machines. Citing widespread irregularities and malfunctions, the government's top watchdog agency concluded that a host of weaknesses with touch-screen and optical-scan technology "could damage the integrity of ballots, votes and voting-system software by allowing unauthorized modifications." Some electronic systems used passwords that were "easily guessed" or employed identical passwords for numerous systems. Software could be handled and transported with no clear chain of custody, and locks protecting computer hardware were easy to pick. Unsecured memory cards could enable individuals to "vote multiple times, change vote totals and produce false election reports."

[....]

Computer experts have demonstrated that a successful attack would be relatively simple. In a study released on September 13th, computer scientists at Princeton University created vote-stealing software that can be injected into a Diebold machine in as little as a minute, obscuring all evidence of its presence. They also created a virus that can "infect" other units in a voting system, committing "widespread fraud" from a single machine. Within sixty seconds, a lone hacker can own an election.

[....]

In Florida, an astonishing new law actually makes it illegal to count paper ballots by hand after they've already been tallied by machine.

read the rest at...
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/11717105/rob...print

by redjade Fri Oct 06, 2006 01:02

According to Woodward, insurgent attacks against coalition troops occur, on average, every 15 minutes, a shocking fact the administration has kept secret. "It’s getting to the point now where there are eight-, nine-hundred attacks a week. That's more than 100 a day. That is four an hour attacking our forces," says Woodward.

The situation is getting much worse, says Woodward, despite what the White House and the Pentagon are saying in public. "The truth is that the assessment by intelligence experts is that next year, 2007, is going to get worse and, in public, you have the president and you have the Pentagon [saying], 'Oh, no, things are going to get better,'" he tells Wallace. "Now there’s public, and then there’s private. But what did they do with the private? They stamp it secret. No one is supposed to know," says Woodward.

"The insurgents know what they are doing. They know the level of violence and how effective they are. Who doesn't know? The American public," Woodward tells Wallace.

read more at
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/29/60minutes/mai...shtml

by redjade Fri Oct 06, 2006 01:06

In a CNN poll of 1,014 US adults done Sept. 29-Oct. 2:

• 39% think Bush is doing a good job as president.
• 42% will vote for the Republican candidate in November.
• 53% said that they planned to vote Democrat in November.
• 57% said the Iraq War has made the US less safe from terrorism
• 58% said that the Bush administration misled the public on how the war is going
• 59% said they disapproved of the job Bush is doing as president.
• 61% said that they oppose the Iraq War
• 66% said that they disapprove of the way that Bush is handling the Iraq War.

[....]

Here are the results of a McClatchy/MSNBC poll of Pennsylvanians in which they asked what should be done in Iraq.

What should the U.S. do in Iraq:
• Send more 11%
• Keep same 23%
• Withdraw some 21%
• Withdraw all 27%
• Not sure 18%

Juan Cole has the rest at.....
http://www.juancole.com/2006/10/23416-us-casualties-in-....html

by redjade Fri Oct 06, 2006 01:13

Using the polling firm Knowledge Networks, in late September we polled over 1,300 respondents nationally. Here are some of the key findings....

• Only 25 percent of respondents view Iraq as "the central front in the war against terrorism." In other words, they're not buying the current administration's line that Iraq is closely connected to the "war on terror."

• Even more shocking, 30 percent (a plurality) of respondents indicated that the United States is in Iraq to "ensure access to oil" -- and another 15% offered their own explanation, usually tied to administration "incompetence" or "greed."

• The public does not want more soldier's lives lost in Iraq. When asked to provide "an acceptable number of U.S. military deaths" in Iraq, 61 percent of respondents said zero -- the highest ever recorded in a poll about Iraq.

• When asked later in the survey how much more money the United States should "spend in order to complete the mission in Iraq," 55 percent of respondents said no additional dollars should be spent.

• 57 percent of respondents felt that the United States “should have stayed out” of Iraq and respondents were split 50-50 on whether U.S. efforts in Iraq would succeed or fail.

read more at
http://southernstudies.org/facingsouth/2006/10/news-new...g.asp

by redjade Fri Oct 06, 2006 01:22

sorry I don't have the source for what I am about to write....

There's a stat somewhere that says that American opposition to the Viet Nam War only reached the 50% point AFTER Nixon had declared his intention to pull out - with hounour, of course.

What has to absolutely freak out the American elites reading the stats posted above is that this war aint anywhere near the half way point and Bush has lost the confidence and support of the American people - big time.

'Iraq' is a disaster on so many levels that it is hard to even consider all the various meanings anymore.

More than ever before, Ireland could prove itself to be a straw that breaks the Neo-Con's back - all it has to do is deny US use of Shannon.

Sure, the planes could go elsewhere, but Ireland could set off a chain reaction throughout Europe that would end the particpation in the Iraq war from this side of the Atlantic.

by redjade Fri Oct 06, 2006 11:09

War or Rumors of War?
by Frida Berrigan
October 5, 2006

Given the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the sheer cost of existing military commitments, it would seem that the last thing the United States can afford right now is another war. But as retired Air Force Colonel Sam Gardiner observes, the Bush administration didn't apply the “making sense” filter over the past four years in Iraq. It is therefore unlikely to use common sense in evaluating whether to attack Iran.

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1005-23.htm

by W. Finnerty. Fri Oct 06, 2006 11:15

I wonder if anyone will properly investigate this alleged "slush fund" - which is the subject of a number of internet reports?

From what I have read, and assuming this fund actually exists, it would seem that President Bush is likely to be heavily involved?

by redjade Fri Oct 06, 2006 11:22

Deserter's Surrender Highlights War's Emotional Trauma
by Aaron Glantz / October 5, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO - The emotional ravages of war are at issue following the surrender to military officials of Specialist Darrell Anderson, a decorated U.S. soldier who fled to Canada rather than return to Iraq.
Anderson, who won a Purple Heart for taking shrapnel to protect the rest of his unit from a roadside bomb, turned himself in at Fort Knox, Kentucky on Tuesday after seeking refuge in Canada.

Anderson's mother and lawyer anticipated that the U.S. Army would spare him harsh punishment and instead allow him to receive treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

While military officials had yet to pronounce their final decision as of Wednesday, Anderson's case highlighted what veterans' advocates identified as the challenge of tending to returning warriors' emotional wounds.

more at
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1005-05.htm

by Seamuseen Fri Oct 06, 2006 12:13

Should we all be keeping a very careful eye on this lot from now on I wonder?

by redjade Fri Oct 06, 2006 13:14

'Chinese have Dolphins with Lasers'
ok, not really, but read on, it gets scarier...

China jamming test sparks U.S. satellite concerns
Reuters

China has beamed a ground-based laser at U.S. spy satellites over its territory, a U.S. agency said, in an action that exposed the potential vulnerability of space systems that provide crucial data to American troops and consumers around the world.

The Defense Department remains tight-lipped about details, including which satellite was involved or when it occurred.

The Pentagon's National Reconnaissance Office Director Donald Kerr last week acknowledged the incident, first reported by Defense News, but said it did not materially damage the U.S. satellite's ability to collect information.

"It makes us think," Kerr told reporters.

[....]

Air Force Space Commander Gen. Kevin Chilton said it was often difficult to know exactly what happened to satellites orbiting from 125 to 22,400 miles above the earth.

"We're at a point where the technology's out there and the capability for people to do things to our satellites is there. I'm focused on it beyond any single event," Chilton said.

Full text archived at...
http://groups.google.com/group/miscrandometc/browse_thr...b584/

———————————————

redjade note: Gosh, who would have thunk that someone could have developed a laser to knock out or simply disrupt US satellites?! Amazing how such relatively cheap and simple technology can be easily used against the most expensive and complex technology.

Remember the rumour from the 90's (confirmed by now, I don't remember) that the Chinese had been giving the Serbians live data from a Radar stationed in their embassy in Belgrade during that US War? Which was why the US bombed the Chinese Embassy there.

Maybe the Chinese don't even have to use their embassy in Tehran this time and can jam US satellites from China to help the Iranians in the coming war with the US?

Why would the Chinese help the Iranians?

Because Iran will be joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization by the end of this year.

A US War with Iran could bring in the Chinese and the Russians on the side of Iran.

Not that anyone seems to notices these little details anymore.

—————————

Shanghai Cooperation Organization
'In 2006, Iran is expected to be inducted as a full member of the SCO and will likely be included in joint military and economic activities, thus nearly eradicating its 20-year isolation.'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Cooperation_Organ...ation

I first wrote about the Shanghai Cooperation Organization last 18th of June
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/76687#comment154303

Laser Dolphin
(free video game)
http://www.dingogames.com/dolphin/

Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Iran to be a member this year

Evil Dolphins

by Mandy Fri Oct 06, 2006 16:21

I've just seen the following piece of text on a Wikipedia page, and I wonder if it can be correct?

"On September 27, 2006 the US Congress passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 which enables the executive branch to designate US citizens, foreign nationals and other world citizens as unlawful enemy combatants effectively stripping them of their citizenship. This allows legal torture, and detention of all designates for an unlimited period of time. This negates all provisions contained within the Geneva Convention, the Bill of Rights and the 4th amendment. Convictions are based upon secret evidence are delivered before a military court while the defendant is declined a jury of his peers. This bill can also apply to political subversives, dissidents and anyone who disagrees with the president, as detailed in Bill, HR 6616."

by redjade Fri Oct 06, 2006 17:23

The war just ain't going according to plan....

[S]igns of progress were not much in evidence in the first hours of her visit.

It began inauspiciously when the military transport plane that brought her to Baghdad was forced to circle the city for about 40 minutes because of what a State Department spokesman later said was either mortar fire or rockets at the airport.

On Thursday evening, during her meeting with President Jalal Talabani, the lights went out, forcing Rice to continue the discussion in the dark. It was a reminder of the city's erratic -- and sometimes nonexistent -- electrical service.

She arrived in the midst of an especially bloody few days for American troops. At least 21 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Saturday, most in Baghdad. Two car bombings in the city Thursday left at least four Iraqi civilians dead.

read more at
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/world/middleeast/06di...c=rss

Inspriational source for this post:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/6/104610/359

—————————

redjade note: As poorly funded as the the US Military is these days it seems that they cannot even fund Bullet Proof vests in sufficient number for its 150,000+ US Troops in Iraq.

The Pentagon quite simple cannot afford these life saving vest and now relies on family members to pass the hat and fund raise on their own.

Please check out.... http://www.operationsoldier.com

Condi getting off plane & greeted by U.S. ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad

by redjade Fri Oct 06, 2006 23:43

Gitmo Guards Brag of Beatings

Guards at Guantanamo Bay bragged about beating detainees and described it as common practice, a Marine sergeant said in a sworn statement obtained by The Associated Press.

The two-page statement was sent Wednesday to the Inspector General at the Department of Defense by a high-ranking Marine Corps defense lawyer.

The lawyer sent the statement on behalf of a paralegal who said men she met on Sept. 23 at a bar on the base identified themselves to her as guards. The woman, whose name was blacked out, said she spent about an hour talking with them. No one was in uniform, she said.

A 19-year-old sailor referred to only as Bo "told the other guards and me about him beating different detainees being held in the prison," the statement said.

"One such story Bo told involved him taking a detainee by the head and hitting the detainee's head into the cell door. Bo said that his actions were known by others," but that he was never punished, the statement said. The paralegal was identified in the affidavit as a sergeant working on an unidentified Guantanamo-related case.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/10/06...5.DTL

by redjade Sat Oct 07, 2006 23:44

source: http://turcopolier.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/phot...e.jpg

also see: http://turcopolier.typepad.com/

notice what is typically 'Bush America' is NOT where the deaths are

by redjade Sun Oct 08, 2006 09:06

EL CAJON, Calif. — Sgt. Cameron Murad wanders the strip malls and parking lots of this Iraqi immigrant enclave in the arid foothills beyond San Diego. Wherever he goes, a hush seems to follow.

[....]

He remembers a day in 2002 when the comedian Drew Carey visited a base in Saudi Arabia where he was working. During a skit, Sergeant Murad recalled, Mr. Carey dropped to the ground to mimic the Muslim prayer. As the troops roared with laughter, Sergeant Murad walked out.

“I thought about my mom when she prays, how humble she is,” he said.

Yet, day after day, Sergeant Murad sets out to sell other immigrants on the life he has lived. He believes that Muslims need the military more than ever, he said: At a time when many feel alienated, it offers them a path to assimilation, a way to become undeniably American.

It has proved, for him and others, the ultimate rite of passage.

more at
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/us/07recruit.html?ex=...c=rss

the Arabic texts on it says, "If you can read this."

by anon Thu Oct 12, 2006 14:27

Amazing story of a AWOL soldier and the opportunites giving to him by the Army.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiVzu766nPg

You Wouldn't Catch Me Dead in Iraq
http://ageofjahiliyah.blogspot.com/2006/08/you-wouldnt-....html