Clipmarks | masbury's 'bush' clips

Bushco wrote war pitch BEFORE knowing intel

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 04:39:28 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: National Security Archive reports the Bush-Cheney White paper "justifying" the invasion was developed a full three months in advance of the intelligence data and analysis that should have served as the basis for that justification; then doctored NIE report to agree with their own White Paper. Only imminent threat mentioned was the possibility of Iraqi terrorism in USA if Saddam regime was threatened - but Bushco deleted it before giving the report to Congress.

Clip Source: www.opednews.com

the Bush-Cheney White paper "justifying" the invasion was developed a full three months in advance of the intelligence data and analysis that should have served as the basis for that justification. The National Security Archive summed it up succinctly:

"The U.S. intelligence community buckled sooner in 2002 than previously reported to Bush administration pressure for data justifying an invasion of Iraq,

"The documents suggest that the public relations push for war came before the intelligence analysis, which then conformed to public positions taken by Pentagon and White House officials. For example, a July 2002 draft of the "White Paper" ultimately issued by the CIA in October 2002 actually pre-dated the National Intelligence Estimate that the paper purportedly summarized, but which Congress did not insist on until September 2002." National Security Archive in "Scoop' Independent News, August 24, 2008.

4.0 million Iraqis are "displaced

ten percent of Iraq

dead or injured

5.0 million

orphan

Tags: bush, war, iraq

Cartoon: Truth about the war in Georgia

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:20:08 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: H.T oldephartte!

Clip Source: my.opera.com

The truth about the war in Georgia: http://war.georgia.su/

Tags: georgia, bush, russia

Georgia: Where US loss of moral authority matters

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 03:50:12 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Bush rebukes; Russians point to US invasion of Iraq

Clip Source: www.dailykos.com

Bush today:

"Russia has invaded a sovereign neighbouring state.... Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century.... We have no doubts about it. This is a deliberate attempt to destroy an entire country and change the regime."

Right. Invading a sovereign state to destroy a country and change the regime isn't acceptable in the 21st century. Good to know.

Charles King, Russia expert and professor in the School of Foreign Service and the Department of Government at Georgetown University, in an interivew with Glenn Greenwald:

there's that exchange in the UN where the US ambassador to the UN said that Russia had intended 'regime change' in Georgia, to which the Russian ambassador replied that that was an American concept

The U.S. has no moral authority, Bush's having "looked into Putin's soul" notwithstanding.

Tags: bush, georgia, foreign policy

DOJ: DOJ's own political judge appointments illegal

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:36:06 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Department of Justice's own report accuses Gonzales' aide Monica Goodling of "violating federal law and Justice Department policy by discriminating against job applicants who weren't Republican or conservative loyalists." Perjury charges against Goodling, Kyle Sampson, and Alberto Gonzales to be considered.

Clip Source: www.dailykos.com

DOJ: Former aide broke law in hiring scandal

By LARA JAKES JORDAN – 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new Justice Department report concludes that politics illegally influenced the hiring of career prosecutors and immigration judges, and largely lays the blame on top aides to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Monday's report singles out the department's former White House liaison, Monica Goodling, for violating federal law and Justice Department policy by discriminating against job applicants who weren't Republican or conservative loyalists.

"Goodling improperly subjected candidates for certain career positions to the same politically based evaluation she used on candidates for political positions," the report concludes.

Read the DOJ report (PDF)

If you haven't got the time for that, do be sure to check out The Gavel, where other Capitol Hill staffers have pulled out all the best parts for you.

Tags: justice, bush

White House used FoxNews to shape public opinion

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:48:27 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Hannity, O'Reilly implicated. "Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow point out that in the US, the government is forbidden to propagandize the public. Fox Cable News head Roger Ailes (a former Republican Party official) and other high executives routinely sent memos to the newsrooms instructing them to spin stories in particular ways"

Clip Source: www.juancole.com

Scott McClellan admits on Hardball that the White House fed Fox News hosts talking points. Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow point out that in the US, the government is forbidden to propagandize the public.

It has long been known that Fox Cable News head Roger Ailes (a former Republican Party official) and other high executives routinely sent memos to the newsrooms instructing them to spin stories in particular ways. And one always suspected that the talking points actually came over from Bush's and Cheney's offices. Now McClellan confirms it.

[Video]

Tags: foxnews, media, war on terror, bush

In Gitmo for giving a bad grade to a student

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:44:15 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: What the CIA told the Bush Admin in 2002

Clip Source: www.democracynow.org

AMY GOODMAN: Jane Mayer, you also report that back in 2002, the CIA warned that up to a third of the prisoners at Guantanamo may have been imprisoned by mistake.

JANE MAYER: Isn’t that—to me, this is one of the amazing anecdotes

It’s not the ACLU. It’s not, you know, some kind of outside human rights group. It’s the CIA

the CIA sent a particular expert down to Guantanamo in the summer of 2002 to figure out what’s going on. Why are we not getting better intelligence out of these detainees

he came back saying, “Bad news. The reason we’re not getting better intelligence,

is that about a third of the people are innocent.” From what he could tell, they were just mistakes.

AMY GOODMAN: Mistake, like, for example, bounty hunters.

JANE MAYER: Right, sure. Bounty hunters

and people who were put—there

because of personal grudges

one detainee

had been a teacher of somebody and given them a bad grade, and the person that he’d flunked pointed him out as a terrorist, and he was rounded up.

Tags: war on terror, war crimes, gitmo, bush

CIA to Bush in 2002: 1/3 of Gitmos imprisoned by mistake

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 02:52:51 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: CIA analyst concluded many were bystanders "swept up in dragnets or turned over to the US military by bounty hunters"

Clip Source: www.democracynow.org

Report: In 2002 CIA Warned 1/3 of Gitmo Prisoners Were Innocent

Jane Mayer also reveals that the Bush administration ignored warnings from the CIA six years ago that up to a third of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay may have been imprisoned by mistake. In 2002, a CIA analyst concluded that many of the prisoners were essentially bystanders who had been swept up in dragnets or turned over to the US military by bounty hunters. Mayer also reveals that the CIA is investigating whether its agents kidnapped at least six innocent men and held them in secret prisons as part of the agency’s extraordinary rendition program. Only one of the cases—that of Khalid El-Masri—has ever come to light.

Tags: gitmo, war on terror, bush

Red Cross: CIA actions "categorically" constitute torture

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 02:49:09 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Warned Bush Admin last year that it could make them guilty of war crimes

Clip Source: www.democracynow.org

Red Cross: CIA’s Handling of Prisoners Categorically Torture

A secret report by the International Red Cross warned the Bush administration last year that the CIA’s treatment of prisoners categorically constituted torture and could make Bush administration officials who approved the torture methods guilty of war crimes. One prisoner—Abu Zubaydah—told the Red Cross he had been waterboarded at least ten times in a single week. He was confined in a box so small that he had to double up his limbs in the fetal position. The details about the secret Red Cross report appear in a new book by investigative journalist Jane Mayer called The Dark Side.

Tags: torture, cia, bush, politics, news, war crimes

Bush urges expanded drilling of Alaskan wildlife

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 02:05:00 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: New tech allows boring through bull-walrus midsections. Conservatives rage against saying anything funny about not drilling in ANWR, citing apocalyptic destruction of American values. Urge technology tax credits for development of higher petroleum use. "Americans should be able to bathe themselves in light sweet crude."

Clip Source: www.theonion.com

Bush Urges Expanded Drilling Of Alaskan Wildlife

Workers near Alaska's Lake Teshekpuk take a core sample from a grizzly bear cub.

President Bush urged Congress Tuesday to pass an appropriations bill that would enable expanded drilling of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's animals.

"With more federal money we can invest in necessary hardware, such as more durable annular diamond-impregnated drill bits, which can bore two-inch diameter holes deep through a solid bull-walrus midsection in seconds."

Drill foremen have already begun digging shallow exploratory holes through the surface flesh of over 5 million animals to provide workspace for the drillers and their equipment. Once this step is complete, an electrical generator powered by a large diesel engine will plunge rotating carbide-steel-tipped drill bits through the animal, boring through the skin, bone, or blubber at speeds of up to 6,500 rpm.

"It's an exciting time to be in the wildlife-drilling field," Salinas added.

Tags: bush, humor, anwr

Senate Report: Bush Knew Intel on Iraq was False

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:24:54 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Investigation finally yields the official report.

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

More than five years after the initial invasion of Iraq, the Senate Intelligence Committee has finally gone on the record: the Bush administration misused, and in some cases disregarded, intelligence which led the nation into war. The two final sections of a long-delayed and much anticipated "Phase II" report on the Bush administration's use of prewar intelligence, released on Thursday morning, accuse senior White House officials of repeatedly misrepresenting the threat posed by Iraq.

In making the case for war, the Administration repeatedly presented intelligence as fact when

it was unsubstantiated, contradicted, or even non-existent

As a result, the American people were led to believe that the threat from Iraq was much greater than actually existed. ... There is no question we all relied on flawed intelligence. But, there is a fundamental difference between relying on incorrect intelligence and deliberately painting a picture to the American people that you know is not fully accurate

Tags: bush, iran

Bush: those who disagree with him "slander America"

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:47:12 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: How very, very cheap - taking those who disagree with HIM and labeling them slanderers of AMERICA. He attempts to manipulate people who want to be patriotic into sitting down, shutting up, and asking no questions about his abuse of power, so he can do whatever he wants with their money.

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

BOULTON: There are those who would say look, lets take Guantanamo Bay, and Abu Ghraib, and rendition and all those things and to them that is the complete opposite of freedom.

BUSH: Of course, if you want to slander America.

a short — but by no means exhaustive — list of those who have

slandered America:

– The United States Supreme Court: The Court ruled last week that “terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay have a right to seek their release in federal court” saying that Bush’s policy compromised “the Constitution’s guarantee of liberty.”

– McClatchy Newspapers:

the U.S. has wrongfully imprisoned “perhaps hundreds” of men “in Afghanistan, Cuba and elsewhere on the basis of flimsy or fabricated evidence, old personal scores or bounty payments.”

– The Federal Bureau of Investigation:

according to its agents, “[m]ilitary officials at Guantanamo Bay used some aggressive techniques before they were approved, possibly in violation of Defense Department policy and U.S. law.”

Tags: bush, gitmo, war on terror

US General: Bush committed war crimes, must be prosecuted

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:53:59 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Maj. Gen. Taguba led the US Army's official investigation into the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and testified before Congress on his findings in May 2004. Taguba retired in January 2007, later alleging that Pentagon officials had ordered him to retire for being "overzealous" in his criticisms of the military. He writes here, in the Preface to the report "Broken Laws, Broken Lives."

Clip Source: www.truthout.org

This report tells the largely untold human story of what happened to detainees in our custody when the Commander-in-Chief and those under him authorized a systematic regime of torture. This story is not only written in words: It is scrawled for the rest of these individuals' lives on their bodies and minds. Our national honor is stained by the indignity and inhumane treatment these men received from their captors.

The profiles of these eleven former detainees, none of whom were ever charged with a crime or told why they were detained, are tragic and brutal

In order for these individuals to suffer the wanton cruelty to which they were subjected, a government policy was promulgated to the field whereby the Geneva Conventions and the Uniform Code of Military Justice were disregarded

there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes

The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.

Tags: bush, torture, war on terror

92% of max Bush contributors not giving now; Iraq concern

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:51:55 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: "I always considered myself a Republican, primarily because of a belief in smaller government. And if you want a smaller government, you don’t want wars — especially wars that can be avoided."

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

Citing Iraq opposition, former Bush donors are reluctant to donate to McCain.»

A CQ analysis shows that only about 8 percent of the 62,800 donors who gave the maximum contribution of $2,000 to Bush in 2004 had given to McCain as of April 30. Moreover, at least 46 of Bush’s 2004 donors have contributed significantly to both Obama and Clinton but are not listed as McCain donors. One, a lifelong Republican who donated $2,000 to Bush in 2004, said that he will not donate to McCain because of the senator’s fervent support of the Iraq war:

I always considered myself a Republican, primarily because of a belief in smaller government. And if you want a smaller government, you don’t want wars — especially wars that can be avoided.

Tags: bush, republicans, politics

$80M Pentagon contract to FBI fugitive; Bush crony

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 05:08:11 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Saudi national, barred from doing business in the USA, indicted by FBI, classmate of Bush

Clip Source: www.dailykos.com

Gretchen Peters reports that the Pentagon has awarded an international fugitive, shadowy Saudi financier Gaith Pharaon, an $80 million contract to supply jet fuel in Afghanistan (h/t Ron Beasley). Pharaon is a fugitive from the FBI as well as the subject of investigations by France and Italy.

Pharaon was also an investor in President George W. Bush's first business venture, Arbusto Energy.

Pharaon was a Harvard classmate of Bush's and a key investor in Arbusto/Harken Energy.

In the US, he was the second largest shareholder in CenTrust when it went belly up. The Federal Reserve then barred Pharaon from doing business in the US, and the FBI indicted him. Pharaon has been a fugitive ever since.

The FBI accuses the Saudi millionaire of fraud "involving millions of dollars" in the case of the Bank of Commerce and Credit International...In 1995 a US judge ordered Pharaon to give up $102m of his assets for his role in the BCCI fraud

Another in a long line of scandalous war-contracts

Tags: bush, war, military

Clarke to McClellan: I think I can forgive you now

Fri, 30 May 2008 21:28:57 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Now under fire, McClellan got the job of blasting Clarke when Clarke wrote a book similar to Mc's in 2004.

Clip Source: thelede.blogs.nytimes.com

In 2004, Richard A. Clarke, the former counterterrorism adviser, was criticized by Mr. McClellan for writing a scathing book against the Bush administration. Now, the shoe is on the other foot — as Mr. Clarke noted earlier this week. The reversal was not lost on Mr. McClellan when he ran into Mr. Clarke this week in Manhattan. From ABC News:

“I should have known how personal it would get when they went after me, well, I mean, after what I said about you,” Clarke says McClellan told him in the lobby of New York’s Essex House.

“I think I can forgive you now,” Clarke says he replied.

“I’d like to ask you to,” McClellan reportedly answered.

Tags: bush, clarke, mcclellan, news