~ Feed-Back from Here and There ~
To: Robert Sterling. Editor, The Konformist
http://www.konformist.com
Bush's War At Home
11/10/01
Ainsley
Sir,
I have been a subscriber of your's for almost 3 years and while I
have not agreed with you on every issue/point of view, I have basked
in the refreshing alternative you provide as opposed to regular,
canned broadcast media and those ultra-Conservative sites who think
George Bush, Jr is the best thing since sliced bread.
Sir, I am not a prophet; nor do I make claim to any special powers of
observation. I am old enough, I suppose (53 today) to have gained a
little wisdom and was educated to take nothing at face value, but
always to question and investigate. There was a time once when the
term Conservative would have been used to describe me and I would
have used that term myself. I stopped using the term a decade ago
(during the Newt Gingrich era) and when the radical-elitist-
Plutocratic regime we see over us today, was even then becoming
manifest for anyone with eyes to see.
You may as well know too, Sir, that I am an Evangelical Christian and
pro-Israel. Now let me qualify briefly. I am an Evangelical
Christian, but know that my theological persuasion does not flaunt
its wealth and good fortune to the deteriment of those less
fortunate. I know that my Christ will not sanction nor will He bless
my doing evil for good reasons or evil in the guise of some good end.
I am pro-Israel and believe they ought to be a nation unmolested.
However, as I have taught my own children, being a Christian or being
a Jew does not give you special sanctions to over-run the God given
rights of other men.
I said all of the above to form some background for the real reason
of this email to you. Thank you for the above mentioned article and
all the others I have enjoyed (even those I do not agree with
necessarily). You see: right now the real need in this Country is not
for everyone of us to fall into line behind the official dogma and
march in lock step to whatever the Bush Boys are leading us too. I
was brought up as an American to distrust goverment anyway. Since my
college days in the early 70s, I have learned too that far-Right and
far-Left govermental regimes always prop up their failing rulership
with "enemies" internal and external. We all know that ploy of
tyrants. I will not be "sucked-in" period! I will do my best to
verify, research and make informed decisions before I make any step.
This is where you and the Konformist come in again. I am very much in
fear that sites/voices such as your's will be the target of these
Fascists. I am very frightened that all of we "dissenters" will be
hushed and silenced forever by slander, repression and more lethal
attacks. There is a real menace in what is developing in this
nation's so-called leadership and I don't like it.
Keep in mind, Sir, that I said my social/political persuasions are a
little more right of center. That is until I see what Bush-Ashcroft-
Cheney and
Company have done (are doing) to my Country and my own people. This
is not what my Father flew and finished 40 missions over Nazi Germany
for. Since Sept 11 America has been in the morphing stage of a Nazi-
style police state and I am alarmed. That is why I respect your site,
your voice and courage in speaking out and those like you who take
great risk; if not so much now, then most certainly later. These are
dangerous times, indeed and for the first time, I am afraid of my own
Goverment! You are correct in your article when you state that all
these heavy-handed measures being used against immigrants and
foreigners now, will be and can be used against all citizens later.
Oh, I see full well where Bush and Company are going with this.
Now I do not think of myself in terms of Conservative or Right Wing
or even Left. What is going on in this country and the agenda being
worked out by the Plutocrats is going to impact all of us of either
end of the political spectrum. I am an American who loves the
freedoms of the Bill of Rights and the order simplified in our
Constitution. That is my sole creed.
Please keep speaking up and out...there are many of us who are in
need of the truth, unqualified and unshaken and you would be
surprised that many of us are from religious/theological and social
ground you would not believe would support you.
Thanks Again,
Ainsley Broussard
*****
Bush at U.N. - Freedom of speech is dead
11/10/01
Lee Markland
markland@rockisland.com
Looks like you, your contributors's, Free Speech TV and anyone who
does not believe the Bush regime or criticizes it is in trouble.
This morning at the U.N. " Let us not tolerate outrageous conspiracy
theories". - Bush 43. The Bush staff, DOJ and FBI must be reading
your email.
Combine this with the move to exclude from the country, those who
criticize the government and it's policies, such as Women in Black,
authors and speakers such as Nawal El Saadawi (The Hidden Face of
Eve), an Islamic feminist, and what we are left with is a self
righteous, intolerant Jewish-Christian Theocracy, in which only
approved and managed ideas, words, and actions will be tolerated and
dissenters will be persecuted.
This of course applies to the anti WTO coalition, "tree huggers" and
any dissenting voice, and eventually anyone who disagrees with Bush,
his agenda, his supporters in any form or manner, even in the
farcial "democratic" political arena.
*****
OPEN LETTER TO THE SINGLAUB SET
11/9/01
babs7@ulster.net
Barbara Hartwell
Legal Defense and Research Fund
PO Box 832
Woodstock NY 12498
WEBSITE http://www.ulster.net/~babs7/
Dear Mr. Singlaub et al :
This open letter is addressed to you and all of your cronies and
associates, whoever and wherever they may be.
I probably should have written this letter long ago. Procrastination
is the thief of time...but, better late than never. How's that for a
two-fer ?
You see, Mr. Singlaub, I am really a straight arrow --as straight as
God makes them. And being the forthright, no-nonsense person I am, I
have some questions for you and while I'm at it, some comments.
Let me start with a couple questions:
Mr. Singlaub, do you have some 'issues' with me ? And if so, what
might those issues be ?
I only ask because I've heard tell that maybe I am not one of your
favorite people.....well, could be just idle gossip....but then
again, I think there might be something to these pesky little
rumours, so I thought it would be easiest just to come right out and
ask.
Yes, I know the identities of many of the programmed assassins
utilized in Operation Phoenix. (Didn't you run that operation ?
Correct me if I don't have my facts straight, but at least that's
what I've read and heard from trustworthy and credible sources. )
And yes, I have profiled and debriefed a number of 'your' men. Could
it be that --assuming you have some 'issues' with me--this might have
something to do with it ?
But even if I've been misinformed about your alleged dislike of me,
and you really think I'm the swellest gal that ever came down the
pike, I seem to keep running into these spooks and goons who I've
been told work for you...or maybe even someone up higher in the chain
of command.....
I've even --believe it or not-- been warned by certain sources that
I'm on a 'hit list', in connection with these goons, something I was
absolutely not happy to hear.
Now, I could be wrong, maybe these guys are just the OTHER spooks and
goons...you know, the standard-issue CIA types who have
OTHER 'issues' with me. That would come as no surprise, it's just so
hard to keep track of who's who these days. But then -- I'm used to
Spook Central so that doesn't really bother me.
Now, you may think I have a hell of a nerve, but I'm not accusing you
of any wrong-doing ( that would be libelous, to say the least ). I'm
just asking some pointed questions, just trying to get the facts
straight and resolve some of these 'issues'.
Let's get some of these issues out in the open so we understand each
other.
Issue # 1: This is the United States of America, Mr. Singlaub. It was
established as a Constitutional Republic ( Or have I got that one
wrong too ?) I am an American citizen. And what's more, I will
defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, as
is my sworn duty.
Issue # 2: It is illegal --not to mention unconstitutional--
to 'utilize' soldiers or civilians without their knowledge or
consent, under mind control programming, in nefarious black
operations where they are trained to kill targets, including whacking
their fellow servicemen.
Issue # 3: As a defender of the Constitution, as well as of the
Inviolability of Personhood, a God-given right of all human beings,
it naturally follows that I am a champion in service to any fellow
human beings whose rights have been violated by corrupt military and
gov't officials or other criminals affilated and in collusion with
them.
Now, if you understand what I've said so far, it's not much of a
stretch to understand that I consider it my duty to offer my services
in support and defense of any individuals whose constitutional rights
have been violated. And this of course includes some of the men
utilized in Operation Phoenix.
These men have been used and abused. Devastated and decimated.
Traumatized and tortured. Yes, I've spent many, many hours listening
to their testimony, that's how I know. These guys are telling the
truth, Mr. Singlaub. And I don't think you can imagine the pain it
has caused for me personally --over and over--every time I hear one
of them tell me about the horrors they endured and were forced to
commit -- often against their own wills. Some of them don't even
remember whole portions of certain operations or missions...that is,
until they start talking to someone like me.
You may be wondering why I would subject myself to such a painful
ordeal. And no, Mr. Singlaub, I don't get paid for this...it's a
mission, not a job. A mission in humble service to God. And I'm going
to tell you why I do what I do, whether you want to know or not. I
work with these men because I care, Mr. Singlaub. I care about each
and every one of them personally. All of them would have laid down
their lives defending our country, they would have died for me, and I
feel I owe it to them to give my all, just as they did.
I care so much that I can even be grateful to my handlers for
training me so well. Because now I can use my talents and expertise
to help those who were 'utilized' in one way or another by the
tyrants, the evil-doers, who thought they could usurp the power of
God by trying to co-opt the minds and souls of those who wanted
nothing more than to serve their country with honor.
Well, they did serve with honor. It's what's in their hearts that
counts, in the eyes of God and their fellow citizens.
So please, Mr. Singlaub, if you do in fact have any 'issues' with me,
perhaps because you don't approve of my mission, please understand
that I will continue in this mission whether you and your cronies
like it or not.
Also please understand that I am a law-abiding citizen, abiding by
the duly-established Constitutional laws of our country and the moral
and spiritual imperatives understood by those who know and love God.
You see, Mr. Singlaub, God works in mysterious ways, ways beyond our
understanding. So with all due respect, I will ask that you and your
cohorts cease and desist from any actions you may have instigated or
may be contemplating that would get in the way of myself and my
fellow patriots and friends exercising our God-given and
Constitutional rights.
Please understand, there are more of us than you know. We'll fight
for our country, we'll do it with honor and we will be able to look
ourselves in the mirror every morning. And if we can't sleep at
night, it won't be because we didn't do our damndest to do the right
thing.
--Barbara Hartwell
The military is a great matter of the state.
It is the ground of death and life,
The Tao of survival or extinction.
One cannot but examine it.
If the general is not victorious over his anger and sets them
swarming like ants,
One third of the soldiers are killed and the walled city not uprooted-
-
This is the calamity of attack.
One hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the most
skillful.
Subduing the other's military without battle is the most skillful.
The Rearing Serpent sports in the mists, the Flying Dragon rides on
the clouds.
But when the clouds are gone and the mists have cleared,
They are no different than earthworms.
Invincibility lies in oneself. Vincibility lies in the enemy.
And so in the military--
Knowing the other and knowing oneself,
In one hundred battles no danger.
Not knowing the other and knowing oneself,
One victory for one loss.
Not knowing the other and not knowing oneself,
In every battle certain defeat.
Sun Tzu........The Art of War
Love is the astrolabe of God's mysteries
--Persian mystic Rumi
*****
http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=103717
Robert Fisk: Hypocrisy, hatred and the war on terror
'If the US attacks were an assault on "civilisation", why shouldn't
Muslims regard the Afganistan attack as a war on Islam?'
08 November 2001
"Air campaign"? "Coalition forces"? "War on terror"? How much longer
must we go on enduring these lies? There is no "campaign" – merely an
air bombardment of the poorest and most broken country in the world
by the world's richest and most sophisticated nation. No MiGs have
taken to the skies to do battle with the American B-52s or F-18s. The
only ammunition soaring into the air over Kabul comes from Russian
anti-aircraft guns manufactured around 1943.
Coalition? Hands up who's seen the Luftwaffe in the skies over
Kandahar, or the Italian air force or the French air force over
Herat. Or even the Pakistani air force. The Americans are bombing
Afghanistan with a few British missiles thrown in. "Coalition"
indeed.
Then there's the "war on terror". When are we moving on to bomb the
Jaffna peninsula? Or Chechnya – which we have already left in
Vladimir Putin's bloody hands? I even seem to recall a massive
terrorist car bomb that exploded in Beirut in 1985 – targeting Sayed
Hassan Nasrallah, the spiritual inspiration to the Hezbollah, who now
appears to be back on Washington's hit list – and which missed
Nasrallah but slaughtered 85 innocent Lebanese civilians. Years
later, Carl Bernstein revealed in his book, Veil, that the CIA was
behind the bomb after the Saudis agreed to fund the operation. So
will the US President George Bush be hunting down the CIA murderers
involved? The hell he will.
So why on earth are all my chums on CNN and Sky and the BBC rabbiting
on about the "air campaign", "coalition forces" and the "war on
terror"? Do they think their viewers believe this twaddle?
Certainly Muslims don't. In fact, you don't have to spend long in
Pakistan to realise that the Pakistani press gives an infinitely more
truthful and balanced account of the "war" – publishing work by local
intellectuals, historians and opposition writers along with Taliban
comments and pro-government statements as well as syndicated Western
analyses – than The New York Times; and all this, remember, in a
military dictatorship.
You only have to spend a few weeks in the Middle East and the
subcontinent to realise why Tony Blair's interviews on al-Jazeera and
Larry King Live don't amount to a hill of beans. The Beirut daily As-
Safir ran a widely-praised editorial asking why an Arab who wanted to
express the anger and humiliation of millions of other Arabs was
forced to do so from a cave in a non-Arab country. The implication,
of course, was that this – rather than the crimes against humanity on
11 September – was the reason for America's determination to
liquidate Osama bin Laden. Far more persuasive has been a series of
articles in the Pakistani press on the outrageous treatment of
Muslims arrested in the United States in the aftermath of the
September atrocities.
One such article should suffice. Headlined "Hate crime victim's
diary", in The News of Lahore, it outlined the suffering of Hasnain
Javed, who was arrested in Alabama on 19 September with an expired
visa. In prison in Mississippi, he was beaten up by a prisoner who
also broke his tooth. Then, long after he had sounded the warden's
alarm bell, more men beat him against a wall with the words: "Hey bin
Laden, this is the first round. There are going to be 10 rounds like
this." There are dozens of other such stories in the Pakistani press
and most of them appear to be true.
Again, Muslims have been outraged by the hypocrisy of the West's
supposed "respect" for Islam. We are not, so we have informed the
world, going to suspend military operations in Afghanistan during the
holy fasting month of Ramadan. After all, the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq
conflict continued during Ramadan. So have Arab-Israeli conflicts.
True enough. But why, then, did we make such a show of suspending
bombing on the first Friday of the bombardment last month out of
our "respect" for Islam? Because we were more respectful then than
now? Or because – the Taliban remaining unbroken – we've decided to
forget about all that "respect"?
"I can see why you want to separate bin Laden from our religion," a
Peshawar journalist said to me a few days ago. "Of course you want to
tell us that this isn't a religious war, but Mr Robert, please,
please stop telling us how much you respect Islam."
There is another disturbing argument I hear in Pakistan. If, as Mr
Bush claims, the attacks on New York and Washington were an assault
on "civilisation", why shouldn't Muslims regard an attack on
Afghanistan as a war on Islam?
The Pakistanis swiftly spotted the hypocrisy of the Australians.
While itching to get into the fight against Mr bin Laden, the
Australians have sent armed troops to force destitute Afghan refugees
out of their territorial waters. The Aussies want to bomb
Afghanistan – but they don't want to save the Afghans. Pakistan, it
should be added, hosts 2.5 million Afghan refugees. Needless to say,
this discrepancy doesn't get much of an airing on our satellite
channels. Indeed, I have never heard so much fury directed at
journalists as I have in Pakistan these past few weeks. Nor am I
surprised.
What, after all, are we supposed to make of the so-called "liberal"
American television journalist Geraldo Rivera who is just moving to
Fox TV, a Murdoch channel? "I'm feeling more patriotic than at any
time in my life, itching for justice, or maybe just revenge," he
announced this week. "And this catharsis I've gone through has caused
me to reassess what I do for a living." This is truly chilling stuff.
Here is an American journalist actually revealing that he's
possibly "itching for revenge".
Infinitely more shameful – and unethical – were the disgraceful words
of Walter Isaacson, the chairman of CNN, to his staff. Showing the
misery of Afghanistan ran the risk of promoting enemy propaganda, he
said. "It seems perverse to focus too much on the casualties or
hardship in Afghanistan ... we must talk about how the Taliban are
using civilian shields and how the Taliban have harboured the
terrorists responsible for killing close up to 5,000 innocent
people."
Mr Isaacson was an unimaginative boss of Time magazine but these
latest words will do more to damage the supposed impartiality of CNN
than anything on the air in recent years. Perverse? Why perverse? Why
are Afghan casualties so far down Mr Isaacson's compassion? Or is Mr
Isaacson just following the lead set down for him a few days earlier
by the White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, who portentously
announced to the Washington press corps that in times like
these "people have to watch what they say and watch what they do".
Needless to say, CNN has caved in to the US government's demand not
to broadcast Mr bin Laden's words in toto lest they contain "coded
messages". But the coded messages go out on television every hour.
They are "air campaign", "coalition forces" and "war on terror".
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