911 REPORTING

THE TORTURER LED OPPOSITION IN HAITI

Even as John Kerry wins three more contests in the West, we move further west to the East to report on something that was not expected. We begin this morning with a tip of the Dissector’s keyboard to Inuka, the green polar bear of Singapore. BBC reports: “The green coloring is apparently the work of an algae which has found a new home in the bears’ translucent hair shafts." Now that that mystery has been solved, help me solve another one. Why are we losing the "war" on terror? Could the Bush military response not be working?

With Britain’s Home Secretary conceding that a terrorist attack on London is "inevitable" and US officials having alerts every other weekend, it seem as if "THEY" (AKA: the bad guys) have the total initiative on offense. And we are still playing DEFENSE.

In fact George Tenet, the CIA director who did so well defending America before 911 said yesterday on the Hill that THEY may be coming back. BBC reports "George Tenet said although the network had been seriously damaged, it continued to pose a major threat to the United States and its allies."

Amen, and we told you so, says the elusive on the run Al Qaeda mastermind Ayman al-Zawahiri, who has released a new tape charging that President Bush lied when he said his troops had “arrested more than two-thirds of al-Qaeda”. President Bush lying? Come on evil doers, that’s been said before. I note that we are not hearing Bush in response tell them to "Bring it on."

The Egyptian doctor and bin Laden cohort also says that newly liberated Iraq is not so liberated. "Iraq does not enjoy freedom and security but has gone from the tyranny of a secular dictator … to that of a crusader occupier hostile to Islam,” claims his voice on a tape played on Al-Jazeera.

FLASH BACK

One would hope that these predictions we are hearing mean that a real defense can be mounted. But don’t bet on it. I was just sent an article that refreshed my memory about what happened the last time there were warnings. Barton Gellman Reported in the Washington Post on May 17, 2002. Quoting:

"On July 5 of [2001], a month and a day before President Bush first heard that al Qaeda might plan a hijacking, the White House summoned officials of a dozen federal agencies to the Situation Room. “Something really spectacular is going to happen here, and it’s going to happen soon,” the government’s top counterterrorism official, Richard Clarke, told the assembled group, according to two of those present. The group included the Federal Aviation Administration, along with the Coast Guard, FBI, Secret Service and Immigration and Naturalization Service. Clarke directed every counterterrorist office to cancel vacations, defer nonvital travel, put off scheduled exercises and place domestic rapid-response teams on much shorter alert. For six weeks last summer, at home and overseas, the US government was at its highest possible state of readiness — and anxiety — against imminent terrorist attack. That intensity — defensive in nature — did not last.

"By the time Bush received his briefing at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., on Aug. 6, the government had begun to stand down from the alert. Offensive planning against al Qaeda remained in a mid-level interagency panel, which had spent half a year already in a policy review. …" [End quoting]

WHEN NEWS IS NOT NEW

The front page of the New York Times carried a report saying that the CIA knew the name and phone number of one of the 911 "pilots" who flew into the World Trade Center, courtesy of German intelligence, but didn’t do anything. This story got lots of national attention. Only one problem: This news was not new say the four "Jersey Girls, women who lost their husbands at the Trade Center on that fateful day. They have written to the Times. Quoting:

"Dear Editors,

"According to your article, “CIA Was Given Data on Hijackers Long Before 9/11,” the CIA not only had a hijacker’s name, but also his phone number. Apparently, long before 9/11 the CIA knew about these rogue 19 terrorists, and these men were not under the radar as has been the intelligence communities’ rote excuse for failing to thwart the 9/11 plot.

"This is big news, but this is not “new” news. This information was contained in the Joint Inquiry of Congress’ Final Classified Report that was released in December 2002. Its on the top of page 186 of the report. The information was kept classified for obvious reasons, namely it makes the CIA’s story that the terrorists caught them flat-footed — a big fat lie. But, why should the murder of 3000 people be covered up by over-classification in the name of “national security?”

"Perhaps the better question is why it took the 9/11 Commission 14 months to finally read the Joint Inquiry of Congress’ Final Report and “actively investigate” this information. We had hoped that the 9/11 Commission would come up with new information, not simply leak and regurgitate old information that was over-classified to begin with." [End quoting]

Meanwhile in Iraq deadly impact of an illegal weapon has been detected. Rob Edwards reported in the Sunday Herald in Glasgow. Quoting:

"An expert report warning that the long-term health of Iraq’s civilian population would be endangered by British and US depleted uranium weapons has been kept secret. The study by three leading radiation scientists cautioned that children and adults could contract cancer after breathing in dust containing DU, which is radioactive and chemically toxic. But it was blocked from publication by the World Health Organization, which employed the main author, Dr. Keith Baverstock, as a senior radiation advisor. He alleges that it was deliberately suppressed, though this is denied by WHO.

"Baverstock also believes that if the study had been published when it was completed in 2001, there would have been more pressure on the US and UK to limit their use of DU weapons in last year’s war, and to clean up afterwards. Hundreds of thousands of DU shells were fired by coalition tanks and planes during the conflict, and there has been no comprehensive decontamination. Experts from the United Nations Environment Program have so far not been allowed into Iraq to assess the pollution." [End quoting]

WAR COVERAGE, UK STYLE

In Britain, ITN won an award for best coverage of the Iraq war at the Royal Television Society’s journalism awards. Most Americans saw the BBC coverage. The Guardian reported, "judges said ITN“explored themes untouched by other broadcasters, and from the studio marshaled a vigorous dialogue about the rights and wrongs of the war and its conduct." Its reporters, notably the diplomatic correspondent, Lindsey Hilsum, “contributed poise and insight from the front-line.”

The Daily Telegraph reports that "The Conservatives moved to reposition themselves as the friend of the BBC in its battle with Labour last night and backed away from proposals to scrap the license fee." Meanwhile, the march to reality programming continues unabated as well, lest you think British TV immune to the crapola flooding our airwaves. The Daily Star reports, "TV bosses have been slammed over Too Posh to Wash, a new show from the makers of How Clean is Your House that will feature people with personal hygiene problems." Can’t wait.

HAITI: WHO ARE THE REBELS?

What’s at stake in Haiti: With no army in place, Haiti has become very attractive to drug traffickers and the narco terror gangs. The "opposition" rejected a US brokered "peace proposal" that would replace the Prime Minister but keep President Aristide in office — but not in power. US human rights lawyer Jennifer Harbury identifies torturers from the old regime as being part of what she says is hardly a democratic opposition. Quoting:

"Two of the opposition leaders reported to have engaged in killings of police officers in Haiti’s Central Plateau, include Guy Philippe, a US-trained former Haitian soldier who has attempted at least three coups in the last four years, and Louis Jodel Chamblain, the #2 ranked leader of the notorious CIA-backed FRAPH death squad. Chamblain was convicted in both the assassination of Antoine Izmery, a pro-democracy businessman in 1993, and the 1994 Raboteau massacre.

"Jean Pierre, alias Tatoune, was a local FRAPH leader and was serving a life sentence for the Raboteau massacre, until his escape in a 2002 jailbreak. The opposition also includes civilians like sweat shop owner and US citizen Andy Apaid, who opposed an increase of the minimum wage last year, when Aristide attempted to raise it from the $1.60 per day where it now stands." [End quoting]

INDIANS SUE, CHARGE MASSIVE RIP-OFF

"I met you years ago (early 1970s) at KPFA in Berkeley when I sang there — songs for the farmworkers and the peace movement.

"You may find something of interest in this interview I did with a medic just back from Iraq. There’s a lot in here. Let me mention two items to pique your interest:

"1. The day before Bush went to the Baghdad Airport, my source (who remains anonymous, as he is active duty and thus has limited free speech) says all the soldiers had to fill out a questionnaire, in which they were asked, “Do you support the president?” Those who were not 100% enthusiastic in their political support got to eat MREs in their rooms rather than turkey with the president.

"2. He is extremely concerned about the change to a much more Reserve-dependent troop mix, which is occurring between now and June. Concerned that they are poorly trained and will be unequipped for what they will be facing.

"I want to add that this medic is one of the most impressive people I have ever met. I had to remove all specific identifiers, which is too bad.

"The article will be published next week in Pathways, an alternative press free quarterly in Washington, circulation of 40,000. I’ve written book reviews and interviews for them since 1983. It is not yet posted on a website.

"Please let me know if you decide to use this in any way. I have not yet seen such an article coming out of the Iraq war." [End quoting]

Anita Nowell writes about another "soldier." Quoting:

"Did you read the article, truthout.org, printed yesterday? It was in LA Weekly by Marc Cooper titled, “Soldier for the Truth“. It is about a 43 year lady who served 20 yrs. in the US Air Force, Lt. Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski, who resigned the same week the troops invaded Iraq. She talks about Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bill Luti and many more. She tells all. So revealing. She was transferred in the spring of 2002 to a post as a political/military desk officer @ the Defense Dept’s ofc. for Near East South Asia (NESA), a policy arm of the Pentagon. A must read!

"Saw on PBS Fri, 02/20/04, NOW, a wonderful lady, Constance Rice, Civil Rights Attorney from CA., She is second cousin to Condaleezza Rice. And stated she is on the total opposite end of her cousin. I went to every site on the internet w/her name and couldn’t find one that gave an email address for her. Do you know about her? Thanks Danny, so glad you’re there to keep us up there on all issues." [End quoting]

http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/13/news-cooper.php
 

DOWN ON NADER

Andrew Stone writes. Quoting:

"My father - a devout republican - was bragging to me in 2000 that he and his fellow bigwig republicans were asked by the party to give as much as possible (wasn’t it $1000 last time?) to the Ralph Nader campaign, which they gleefully did.

"No, Ralph’s not funded by “Corporations” as he always claims - just the people who get their money from the corporations. His point about bringing up issues is important, so as you say, he’ll further the debate. But none of my liberal friends can afford to take the risk this time. I’ll keep my mind open, but not so wide to let my brains fall out.

"Can I ask you to research the significance of Kerry and Bush belonging to that secret occult lodge, Skull & Bones? http://www.bilderberg.org/skulbone.htm Seems like a pardon-in-advance … " [End quoting]

MEDIA BIAS AS PER ECONOMIST/WRITER PAUL KRUGMAN

"The media are desperately afraid of being accused of bias. And that’s partly because there’s a whole machine out there, an organized attempt to accuse them of bias whenever they say anything that the Right doesn’t like. So rather than really try to report things objectively, they settle for being evenhanded, which is not the same thing. One of my lines in a column — in which a number of people thought I was insulting them personally — was that if Bush said the Earth was flat, the mainstream media would have stories with the headline: ‘Shape of Earth — Views Differ.’ Then they’d quote some Democrats saying that it was round." Thanks to Ted Pease for this.

WINNING THE BIG ONE

Speaking of bias, especially my own, I was pleased to find that the American Dialect Society has named its top words of 2003, at its annual conference in Boston.

The envelope please:

"While 2002’s winner was “weapons of mass destruction,” 2003 brought us “weapons of mass deception,” an entry Preston says he specifically voted for because it reflected a desire to lessen the nation’s collective anxiety. "

Is that what was behind all the deception? An effort to reduce anxiety? Only in America. Keep your responses coming. Write: dissector@mediachannel.org