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The Bush administration may ratchet up the Iraq war.
That might seem unlikely, even farfetched. After all, the president is facing an upsurge of domestic opposition to the war. Under such circumstances, why would he escalate it?
A big ongoing factor is that George W. Bush and his top aides seem to believe in red-white-and-blue violence with a fervor akin to religiosity. For them, the Pentagon’s capacity to destroy is some kind of sacrament. And even if more troops aren’t readily available for duty in Iraq, huge supplies of aircraft and missiles are available to step up the killing from the air.
Back in the USA, while the growth of antiwar sentiment is apparent, much of the criticism -- especially what’s spotlighted in news media -- is based on distress that American casualties are continuing without any semblance of victory. In effect, many commentators see the problem as a grievous failure to kill enough of the bad guys in Iraq and sufficiently intimidate the rest.
That might seem unlikely, even farfetched. After all, the president is facing an upsurge of domestic opposition to the war. Under such circumstances, why would he escalate it?
A big ongoing factor is that George W. Bush and his top aides seem to believe in red-white-and-blue violence with a fervor akin to religiosity. For them, the Pentagon’s capacity to destroy is some kind of sacrament. And even if more troops aren’t readily available for duty in Iraq, huge supplies of aircraft and missiles are available to step up the killing from the air.
Back in the USA, while the growth of antiwar sentiment is apparent, much of the criticism -- especially what’s spotlighted in news media -- is based on distress that American casualties are continuing without any semblance of victory. In effect, many commentators see the problem as a grievous failure to kill enough of the bad guys in Iraq and sufficiently intimidate the rest.
I think you've done a great job in documenting the Bush election
stealers theft of the 2004 election but you haven't shown it as a
continuation of the theft of the 2000 election in Florida and I think
this is an important point. For the record, in 2000, Al Gore got the
most votes nationally as well as in Florida. I used to live in Flrida
and I volunteered on many election campaigns there. I know the laws that
required that the uncounted Florida votes be counted that the Bush
election sealers deliberately broke and the disputed territory lke the
back of my hand. It's very clear in 2000 that we the people both
nationally and in Florida chose Al Gore to be our President. I think
this fact makes a stronger argument for election theft than in 2004.
While it looks like Kerry would've won the electoral college vote had it
not been for the illegalities in Ohio, Kerry didn't get the most votes
nationally and I think that makes the case for 2004 weaker.Its Al Gore
who was really the choice of the people and who belogs n the White House
instead of Kerry. It's clear that democracy died in Florida in 2000.
Tom Hayden is an anti-war activist who most recently was the lead author of “The Peoples Petition for Iraqi Peace.” He was a leader of the student, civil rights and anti-war movements in the Sixties, and the environmental and anti-nuclear movements in the Seventies. He served in the California Assembly from 1982-1992. He is currently a professor at Occidental College and social science adviser for Animo public schools: Venice, Inglewood, Lennox, South Central and Boyle Heights, California. He is the author of nine books, including “The Lost Gospel of the Earth,” “The Whole World Was Watching” and “Irish Hunger.” The New York Times cited his 1988 book, “Reunion,” as one of the best 200 of the year.
The Washington Post today wondered out loud whether Cindy Sheehan might be a "catalyst for a muscular antiwar movement." In translation, this is an assertion that Cindy Sheehan has already become an accepted reason for the corporate media to finally acknowledge the existence of, and consequently help to build, the antiwar movement. There has, of course, been a major anti-war movement longer than there has been a war. And Cindy Sheehan has been speaking eloquently at anti-war events for many months. What has changed is primarily the media.
A website called Blue Oregon noticed this yesterday and wrote: "the Oregonian appears to be using Cindy Sheehan as cover to mention the lies upon which the war was justified." Yes, the Oregonian used the L word:
"The misty scrim that obscured our view of the war -- wishful thinking, distortions, outright lies -- is rapidly dissolving. Americans increasingly see the war as it is, and know it's going badly. Little wonder that when a gold-star mother parks herself inconsolably in Crawford, Texas, asking hard questions and spurning glib answers, she strikes a nerve."
A website called Blue Oregon noticed this yesterday and wrote: "the Oregonian appears to be using Cindy Sheehan as cover to mention the lies upon which the war was justified." Yes, the Oregonian used the L word:
"The misty scrim that obscured our view of the war -- wishful thinking, distortions, outright lies -- is rapidly dissolving. Americans increasingly see the war as it is, and know it's going badly. Little wonder that when a gold-star mother parks herself inconsolably in Crawford, Texas, asking hard questions and spurning glib answers, she strikes a nerve."
The day after Wednesday night’s nationwide vigils, the big headline
at the top of the MoveOn.org home page said: “Support Cindy Sheehan.”
But MoveOn does not support Cindy Sheehan’s call for swift withdrawal of
U.S. troops from Iraq.
Many groups were important to the success of the Aug. 17 vigils, but the online powerhouse MoveOn was the largest and most prominent. After a long stretch of virtual absence from Iraq war issues, the organization deserves credit for getting re-involved in recent months. But the disconnects between MoveOn and much of the grassroots antiwar movement are disturbing.
Part of the problem is MoveOn’s routine fuzziness about the war -- and the way that the group is inclined to water down the messages of antiwar activism, much of which is not connected to the organization.
Many groups were important to the success of the Aug. 17 vigils, but the online powerhouse MoveOn was the largest and most prominent. After a long stretch of virtual absence from Iraq war issues, the organization deserves credit for getting re-involved in recent months. But the disconnects between MoveOn and much of the grassroots antiwar movement are disturbing.
Part of the problem is MoveOn’s routine fuzziness about the war -- and the way that the group is inclined to water down the messages of antiwar activism, much of which is not connected to the organization.
Siddique Abdullah Hasan co-founded Compassion newsletter to develop healing communication between capital punishment offenders and murdered victims’ families. The respected Sunni Muslim prison Imam was sentenced to death for his alleged leadership in the 1993 Lucasville prison rebellion. Hasan, who is on death row at Ohio’s supermax prison in Youngstown, is appealing the sentence. In the current interview, he discusses the potential move of Ohio's death row from Mansfield to Youngstown.
Sturm: How do you think the relocation of death row inmates is going to impact the situation for current prisoners?
Sturm: How do you think the relocation of death row inmates is going to impact the situation for current prisoners?
“Some people are trying to paint her as one crazy woman against the war, and she’s not. A lot of people feel like her and want to know what the noble cause is,” said Karen Meredith, referring to Cindy Sheehan.
Meredith should know. Her son, Ken Ballard, was killed in Iraq. And she’s going to Crawford, Texas this weekend.
However, the 51 year-old mother, whose only child was killed by small arms fire in Najaf, May 30, 2004, is making the trip from Mountain View California for somewhat different reasons than what prompted Sheehan to camp out near George Bush’s vacation home and wait for an answer.
“Personally, I don’t want to meet with the President. I don’t think there’s anything he could tell me,” Meredith said. “One of the reasons I’m going is because there’s a whole other story going on besides Cindy. I don’t want to take anything away from her,” but wants to keep the focus on the larger question of the war in Iraq.
Meredith should know. Her son, Ken Ballard, was killed in Iraq. And she’s going to Crawford, Texas this weekend.
However, the 51 year-old mother, whose only child was killed by small arms fire in Najaf, May 30, 2004, is making the trip from Mountain View California for somewhat different reasons than what prompted Sheehan to camp out near George Bush’s vacation home and wait for an answer.
“Personally, I don’t want to meet with the President. I don’t think there’s anything he could tell me,” Meredith said. “One of the reasons I’m going is because there’s a whole other story going on besides Cindy. I don’t want to take anything away from her,” but wants to keep the focus on the larger question of the war in Iraq.