Filed under: 2-party system, activists, Afghanistan, Anti-War, Barack Obama, Britain, british troops, code pink, Congress, Dissent, fallen soldiers, George Bush, Iraq, IVAW, left right paradigm, london, nation building, neocons, Neolibs, obama, obama surge, obamas surge, obamas war, occupation, Pentagon, poll, Protest, protests, rally, soldiers, Stanley McChrystal, surge, Troops, Uncategorized, United Kingdom, veterans, War Crimes, War On Terror | Tags: Sir David Richards, war of necessity
Anti-war groups turn against Obama after Afghan surge
UK Telegraph
August 31, 2009
There is rising disillusion among liberals and peace activists that a president who built his campaign on his opposition to the war in Iraq now views America’s other conflict as a “war of necessity”.
Mr Obama has already added 21,000 extra troops to the 38,000 stationed there by George W Bush. In the next few weeks, he is likely to receive requests from the Pentagon for more when Gen Stanley McChrystal, the US commander in Afghanistan, submits a report on the progress of the war.
It is expected to paint a grim picture and offer the president three options for action: increase troop numbers dramatically, increase them less dramatically or leave them as they are.
Some organizations that campaigned against the Iraq war are biding their time or are more inclined to side with the president’s argument that a stronger counter-insurgency effort in Afghanistan is in US national interests.
But others have run out of patience, and though they know they will not yet fill city centre streets with protestors, they plan to hold marches and smaller events such as forums with war veterans and troops’ families, as well as lobbying members of Congress.
“As progressives feel more comfortable protesting against the Obama administration and challenging Democrats as well as Republicans in Congress, then we’ll be back on track,” Medea Benjamin of the anti-war group Code Pink said.
Perry O’Brien, president of the New York chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War, said: “In the next year, it will more and more become Obama’s war. He’ll be held responsible for the bloodshed.”
Though public opinion in the US has not turned against the war as sharply as in Britain, for the first time a majority of respondents (51 per cent) in a recent Washington Post-ABC poll said the war was not worth the fight. Among liberals, strong approval of the war plummeted by 20 per cent.
On Friday the Pentagon confirmed that August was the deadliest month for US troops since the start of the war in October 2001 to remove the Taliban government, which had refused to hand over Osama bin Laden after the September 11 attacks.
Two thirds want British troops home from Afghanistan
UK Telegraph
August 29, 2009
The public’s growing opposition to the conflict comes after the number of British deaths in Afghanistan rose above 200 earlier this month.
Yesterday, Gen Sir David Richards took over as Chief of the General Staff and vowed to get better equipment for troops and improved care for those injured fighting for Britain.
A Daily Telegraph/YouGov poll showed 62 per cent of people opposed British troops staying in Afghanistan, while 26 per cent were in favour.
Previous polls had shown that most people backed the conflict in Afghanistan, unlike the war in Iraq. They accepted the argument espoused by ministers and the opposition that it was part of the fight against terrorism that could be exported to British streets.
But increasingly voters appear unwilling to accept that claim.
Filed under: 1st amendment, 2008 Election, 9/11, code pink, Daily Show, Dissent, Fred Thompson, free speech, George Bush, Iran, IVAW, John McCain, jon stewart, Keith Olbermann, Media, Minneapolis, minnesota, MSNBC, neocons, Police State, Propaganda, Protest, RNC, tear gas, US Constitution, veterans, White House
Jon Stewart: McCain 2008 = Bush 2000
Olbermann Smacks down the RNC over 9/11 Tribute
Iraq Veterans Against the War protester at RNC
Filed under: 2-party system, 2008 Election, amnesty, Amnesty Bill, Arizona, Border Patrol, CFR, code pink, DHS, George Bush, Globalism, heckled, Homeland Security, Illegal Immigration, Immigration, John McCain, left right paradigm, Mexico, neocons, Neolibs, Protest, Ted Kennedy, war on drugs
McCain Admits Supporting Illegal Immigration Bill
Code Pink Interrupts John McCain
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/..cord-to-woo-hispanics/
’McCain is mentally unstable and out of control’ : Arizona Republicans
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070305/blumenthal
McCain: It doesn’t matter that I don’t know cost of gas
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/McCain_It_doesnt_matter_that_I_0629.html
Fmr. Bush aide takes over McCain campaign
http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0..oday_operation.html
Filed under: Afghanistan, airstrikes, code pink, David Petraeus, DEBT, defense department, DoD, George Bush, Iran, Iraq, iraqi deaths, Mike Mullen, Military, military strike, nation building, occupation, Pentagon, PTSD, Tony Blair, Troops, War On Terror
Billions In Defense Spending Unchecked
AP
May 27, 2008
Pentagon auditors say billions of dollars in military spending is going unchecked because they are having trouble keeping pace with the ever-expanding defense budget and combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In a recent report, the Defense Department inspector general estimates that nearly half of the military’s $316 billion weapons budget went unchecked last year because the IG’s office lacked the manpower. Whereas 10 years ago when a single auditor would have reviewed some $642 million in defense contracts, individual investigators are now charged with auditing more than $2 billion in spending.
The IG also has been stretching its staff to investigate corruption and fraud cases overseas, primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan where the military is hiring contractors to help run operations.
“The continual degradation of audit resources that is occurring at a time when the (Defense Department) budget is growing larger leaves the department more vulnerable to fraud, waste, and, abuse and undermines the department’s mission,” the report states.
“Our coverage of high-risk areas and defense priorities is weakened and will continue to be weakened by insufficient personnel to accomplish our statutory duties,” it adds.
The March assessment was obtained by the Project on Government Oversight, a watchdog group based in Washington.
In this year’s budget, Congress approved an additional $24 million for the IG office to improve contract oversight. According to the IG, it will need another major boost—$25 million more than President Bush requested—to meet its requirements in 2009.
The IG says it plans to hire some 481 new personnel in the next seven years, expanding to more than 1,900 full-time employees.
Mullen Warns Military To Stay Out Of Politics
http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=13196027
Wartime PTSD Cases Jumped Near 50%
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20..nZOLTheFc5qm06CvVXFUuWwvIE
Tony Blair is barracked over Iraq by students at Yale
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10…d-Iraq-students-Yale.html
Iran: US conning Iraqis into slavery
http://www.euronews.net/index.php?page=info&article=488826&lng=1#
Pentagon Cannot Account For $15 Billion
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-..R2008052203751_pf.html
Petraeus confirmation interrupted by Code Pink protesters
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Petra..upted_by_Code_Pink_0522.html
Increased U.S. airstrikes in Iraq killing more civilians
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/U.S._airstrike_kills_8_Iraqi_civilians_0523.html
Filed under: 2008 Election, ABC, airstrikes, code pink, Coup, False Flag, Hillary Clinton, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Keith Olbermann, military strike, nation building, Neolibs, Nuke, Propaganda, Saber Rattling, Shock and Awe, Tehran, War On Terror, WW3, ww4
Hillary: “If I’m President, We Will Attack Iran”
AFP
April 22, 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abJ2jbXasNg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXZBlT0N-B8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz6X7x_-y7E
Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton threatened to “obliterate” Iran if it launches a nuclear attack on Israel, in an interview broadcast Tuesday.
“I want the Iranians to know that if I’m the president, we will attack Iran,” Clinton told ABC News, asked what she would do as president were Iran to launch a nuclear attack on Israel.
“In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them.”
The tough talk came just prior to Tuesday’s Pennsylvania primary, a key milestone in the marathon Democratic nominations race pitting Clinton against her rival Senator Barack Obama.
Clinton must win the Pennsylvania primary, but she needs to do more than simply scrape past Obama to rescue her trailing White House bid, pundits say.
Obama’s camp Monday accused Clinton of trying to scare voters, as she rocked their White House race with a dark campaign ad featuring images of Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden.
The ad uses pictures of Pearl Harbor, bin Laden and the devastating 2005 hurricane that swamped New Orleans, mirroring the “3:00 am phone call” spot credited with helping Clinton to win in Texas and Ohio last month.
“You need to be ready for anything — especially now, with two wars, oil prices skyrocketing and an economy in crisis,” the male narrator intones. “Who do you think has what it takes?”
Both Democrats have vowed to defend Israel against any Iranian attack, but they differ on how to engage the Islamic republic over its nuclear ambitions.
Both call for diplomacy, but Obama has gone further, renewing a promise of “direct talks” at a leaders’ level with Tehran and others the United States regards as foes, at a candidate debate here last week.
Iran should be presented with “carrots and sticks,” the Illinois senator said, while stressing “they should also know that I will take no options off the table when it comes to preventing them from using nuclear weapons or obtaining nuclear weapons.”
At the debate, he said: “An (Iranian) attack on Israel is an attack on our strongest ally in the region, one whose security we consider paramount.”
“That would be an act of aggression that I would consider unacceptable, and the United States would take appropriate action.”
http://mparent7777-1.blogspot.com/2008/04/..untdown-with-keith.html
Clinton dramatically rewrites US nuclear weapons policy in the Middle East, then her staff says “never mind”
http://www.americablog.com/2008/04/hillary-dramatically-rewrites-us.html
British minister says Clinton’s ‘obliterate’ Iran tone imprudent
http://www.spacewar.com/2006/080423162446.qhk75inb.html
Hillary’s Lies About Iraq Vote Caught On Tape
http://sweetness-light.com/archive/hillary-clintons-lies-about-iraq-caught-on-video-tape
Filed under: 9/11 Truth, Alan Dershowitz, Andrew Meyer, code pink, Dissent, florida, Fox News, Geneva Convention, glenn beck, Hillary Clinton, Oppression, pain compliance, police brutality, Police State, Propaganda, Protest, Psyops, Ron Paul, Taser Guns, Torture, waterboarding, We Are Change
Fox Host Says Dissenters Should Be Tased
Kilmead laments that people who confront politicians aren’t “beaten to a pulp,” as establishment continues to sell war on anyone who disagrees with authority
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
November 20, 2007
During a discussion about a Code Pink member heckling Hillary Clinton at a recent event, Fox News host Brian Kilmead said that people who confront politicians are “threatening” and should be Tased or “beaten to a pulp,” as the establishment media continues to sell the idea that anyone who disagrees with authority should be brutally punished.
A segment on the Fox and Friends morning show yesterday turned into an opportunity for Kilmead to share his dictatorial fetish that dissenters be dealt with in the proper manner, as footage aired of Clinton’s heckler being removed from the event by security.
“They should Tase this guy,” Kilmead says. “At one point with security so high and tensions on edge, don’t you think they’re going to get at the very least Tased or beaten to a pulp by somebody? These people look threatening.”
Watch the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj94zmK9JKk
A number of other recent high profile public confrontations were reeled off, some of which involved We Are Change members, to paint a picture of a growing threat that needed to be quashed.
As the screams of tasered University of Florida student Andrew Meyer played in the background, the presenters seemed to react with glee, after which Kilmead concluded, “I would be for Tasing anyone in Code Pink,” adding “I’m pro-Pink Tasing.”
As we have reported in-depth, this is all part of an intimidation campaign to silence dissent as the apparatus of the police state turns against anyone who questions authority.
Since Tasing is all part of “pain compliance,” otherwise known as torture, why not go the whole hog and waterboard these potential terrorists? After all, if Ron Paul supporters are a terrorist threat, as CNN’s Glenn Beck has so enthusiastically pushed recently, then how far should we go to protect America?
If it was good enough for the Nazis to torture their political foes then it’s good enough for us, as Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz made clear last week.
“There are some who claim that torture is a nonissue because it never works — it only produces false information,” wrote Dershowitz in the Wall Street Journal. “This is simply not true, as evidenced by the many decent members of the French Resistance who, under Nazi torture, disclosed the locations of their closest friends and relatives.”
Wonderful – forget about those antiquated Geneva Conventions – let’s use what the Nazis did as a role model for how to conduct ourselves and see where it gets us.
Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer!
Filed under: California, code pink, Dissent, Fox News, Global Warming, heckled, Hillary Clinton, Neolibs, police brutality, Police State, Protest, Taser Guns
Clinton heckled by protester at Los Angeles environmental forum
Raw Story
November 19, 2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiRBQqIEgm8
A Clinton campaign stop in Los Angeles was interrupted by Code Pink peace activist Tyghe Berry on Saturday.
Asks Berry of Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), shortly before being ejected from the Wadsworth Theater: “How can you say you’re for the environment when you are always voting for war?”
Asks Sen. Clinton in response: “Were you invited to speak here this afternoon?”
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Senator John Edwards (D-NC) also spoke at the forum, sponsored by Grist Magazine and Public Radio International. Other candidates from both major parties were also invited, but only Clinton, Edwards and Kucinich accepted.
The three candidates, reports MyFox Los Angeles with video, and Marc Cooper at the the Huffington Post, gave their stances on environmental issues, especially global warming and energy conservation.
Fox News host ‘for Tasing anyone in Code Pink’ after Hillary heckled
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Fox_host_for_tasing_anyone_in_1119.html
Hillary Clinton Heckled During Forum on Global Warming in Los Angeles
http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/page…ode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1
Filed under: code pink, Condoleezza Rice, Congress, Dissent, George Bush, police brutality, Police State, Protest, War Crimes
Protester waves blood-colored hands in Rice’s face
Reuters
October 24, 2007
WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) – An anti-war protester waved blood-colored hands in U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s face at a congressional hearing on Wednesday and shouted “war criminal!”, but was pushed away and detained by police.
Rice, an architect of President George W. Bush’s Iraq policy, appeared unfazed by the incident, which occurred when she entered a House of Representatives meeting room to testify at a hearing on U.S. Middle East policy.
“Out!,” shouted the chairman of the Foreign Relations committee, Rep. Tom Lantos, as police moved in to hustle the woman protester away.
Lantos, a California Democrat, also demanded the removal of several other demonstrators from the Code Pink organization, an anti-war group that often disrupts hearings on Capitol Hill.
“What are you doing, what are you doing?” the protesters screamed as police dragged them away.
Capitol Police said later three people were arrested and charged with disruption of Congress.
Watch It:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocya61_qkqA
noworldsystem.com 