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 23 Jul 2004 @ 10:30
WSWS readers comment on US government discussions on postponing election
23 July 2004
The following is a selection of letters on the July 12 statement of the Socialist Equality Party, “Bush administration takes steps to cancel US election” and other WSWS articles on the same subject.
Dear Barry Grey,
I agree with most of what you say in your critique of the New York Times. You seem to me, however, to treat the events of 9/11 as the catalyst for a range of repressive measures such as the Patriot Act, et al.
I think that your analogy with the Reichstag fire of February 1933 is more prescient than you allow to develop. That fire was created by the Nazis for the express purpose of rousing the German population and passage of the Enabling Act. The evidence is in my view compelling that 9/11 performed exactly the same function and for the same reason: the Bush regime was complicit in the events of 9/11. What has followed since then, including the invasion of Iraq, was on the drawing board long before 9/11.
Americans would be right to be very afraid.
Kind regards,
JO
20 July 2004
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When I first brought up the WSWS article of 4-28-2004 about the Bush regime using criminal means to retain power by canceling the elections and declaring martial law, several people thought that this was just another extremist view. Now that the current regime is moving to stranglehold all branches of the government, the premise doesn’t seem so extreme anymore.
We have reached a point in this country where radical change is needed, radical change that is just as extreme as declaring martial law and canceling elections. Radical change that begins with the workers of this country supporting a true alternative to the gangster thug mentality of the rich Republican and Democrat parties. The workers of this country, the people that care about their families’ futures, need to stop cowering behind lies of changing the system from within, need to stop running scared from their shadows and the “Terrorist Menace” and support the only alternative that comes from outside the corrupt two-party system. The Socialist Equality Party is the only true way to force change and the last hope for the workers of this country and the world to rein in the jack booted thugs with their corrupt policies who have installed themselves in the highest offices in the world.
CV
13 July 13 2004
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Thank you for covering this and please, please continue your good work. The word must be gotten out regarding the current administration’s attempts to subvert the democratic process.
AT
16 July 2004
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Hello folks,
Although I am Canadian and live in Canada, I subscribe to the wsws.org for my real news.
Thanks for the reality checks. If I were an American I would definitely NOT vote for Bush or Kerry. That is if I could vote at all.
As a Canadian, and I believe as most Canadians or anyone else who is not an American, sees the US as the greatest terrorist threat this world has ever seen. Since the Bush administration’s Coup of the Whitehouse in 2000 the world has witnessed the end of the basic freedoms of a once respected country. Canada is an unfortunate neighbour to the next Nazi Germany.
If the demonic Bush clan calls off the election in November there will be no doubt in anyone’s mind that democracy is dead in the US and that the people are under the rule of the next Hitler. In fact I believe Georgie boy is starting to make Hitler look like a choirboy. I have no doubt in my mind that the Bush cabal was behind the 9/11 “attacks” in order to do exactly what they are doing now, stripping the freedoms away from the American working class and terrorizing the world into the submission of the corporate elite.
Although it is a scary thing to be living this close to the new Nazi Germany I am still glad I am not living in it.
Good luck to you all and I hope the Good People of the USA wake up and take back their country. It is the American people’s right and duty to revolt in a massive scale to remove the terrorists who are occupying the White House. I can only hope it is not too late.
NR
July 13, 2004
See Also:
Washington Post calls Bush moves to postpone US elections “appropriate”
[15 July 2004]
See Also:
Media suppresses news of Bush's moves to cancel US elections
[14 July 2004]
Bush administration takes steps to cancel US election
[13 July 2004]
Washington weighs terror's impact on presidential vote
A warning to the American people
[4 May 2004]
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12 Nov 2002 @ 12:50
FOR IMMEDIATE WORLDWIDE RELEASE
Require Weapons Inspections at US Secret Military Bases
We, the undersigned, hereby appeal to the UN Security Council to pass a resolution to require the United States to open its secret military and research facilities for inspection.
Evidence has been mounting, from the world's leading viral scientists, chemical weapons experts, and former military officers at these facilities, that highly dangerous and experimental technologies and weapons are being developed at US secret bases, under the cloak of "National Security."
The American people, including our representatives, can not gain access to these facilities, under threat of death (posted), and have no way of monitoring the threats to our security, health, and foreign relations. We can no longer trust our secret government agencies to tell us the truth.
If the UN Security Council does not intervene, and no action is taken to expose the deadly nuclear, biological, chemical, and energy weapons in various stages of deployment, then we believe the survival of humanity may be jeopardized.
We appeal to the international community to rise up with us and confront this military danger to our children and our future.
Please Sign this Petition Today! Send to as many People as Possible...
[link]
WHAT SOME THOUGHTFUL & CARING PEOPLE HAVE TO SAY:
As far as those who are killed are concerned, it would not make any difference whatsoever as to whether such people are killed by enemy fire or by friendly fire. Their life is gone for ever just the same. If such countries as Iraq and North Korea are required to open their secret military bases for inspection because of the possibility that they may have a few weapons of brutal destruction, such countries as the United States and Great Britain, which have tons and tons of such brutal and dangerous weapons, ought to be required to open their secret military bases in no lesser way. And if such countries as Iraq and North Korea are expected to comply, countries such as the United States and Great Britain are also expected to comply by all means.
Charles Mercieca Huntsville
The most dangerous country on earth is the one with the most / most destructive weapons and the ability to deliver those weapons anywhere. The U.S. holds no "moral superiority" over the rest of the world, and must be held to the same standards.
Mark Rushton Oxford
Let's stop the hypocrisy of the US dictating to the rest of the world about "weapons of mass destruction", when it is the No. 1 threat to the world.
Nathan M. Gant Oviedo
"Only after the Last Tree has been cut down, Only after the Last River has been poisoned, Only after the Last Fish has been caught, Only then will you find that Money cannot be Eaten." Cree Indian Prophecy To us all that lives is sacred. Please think about the future, about what kind of a World we will leave to our children and grandchildren. Please be fully aware of the choices you are making now. Choose and decide with your HEART. There is SO much at stake! Please take note of our concerns: there are many more of us who just don't know the ways to speak out. Let us speak on behalf of All of them.
Jan Gosen and Margot Wolff Zwolle
The whole world is copying the U.S. in the worse possible ways. Bombings in multiple countries, North Korea admitting to secret nuclear weapons and WMD, human rights and liberties being suspended worldwide under the guise of security etc. The One World Order and WTO must be stopped before they destroy any resemblance to normal happy life for any living thing on this planet. The U.S. should lead by example, not force.
meria Heller Phoenix
Please don't accept the argument that Iraq is the only dangerous country with 'weapons of mass destruction'. ALL countries with 'weapons of mass destruction' are dangerous and this includes the United States among others.
susan ambler katoomba
When President Bush repeatedly uses statements such as, "...the forces of evil..." he is guiding his followers towards hatred. He invented a great oxymoron when he said that if Iraq doesn't comply, then we will use force to create peace. He sounds a lot like the big bully in school! "You do as I say or I'll shove this fist down your throat!" ...It's easy to fight with brute force. The real challenge is resolving the situation in a mutually beneficial way...Additionally, what is the integrity in forcing others to comply to a rule that we consider ourselves exempt from??? What if we began preaching what we practice? I wonder how we would sound then?
Angie Watson Salt Lake City
It is a great hypocrisy that the US demands weapons inspections in Iraq, yet itself retains the most advanced program of developing weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The US is not interested in disarmament - its a weapons monopoly that it is after. In the interest of world peace, the Security Council must demand access for inspections of the US military bases.
Karol Florek Lidcombe
I urge you not to bow down to US Government pressure to attack Iraq. Granted, Saddam Hussain is a tyrant to his people but he is not the threat to the world that George Bush Junior would have us believe. I am gravely concerned by the holier than thou stance the US Government is taking on this issue considering its own dark past in terms crimes against humanity (bombing Hiroshima being one of many deplorable acts of barbarity). That it has the nerve to feel it has the moral superiority to just take over another country is outrageous. This is imperialism at it's worse and will only seek to promote hatred of the west in nations that have been exploited by the west for centuries.
Ann Carroll Melbourne
I believe that weapons inspections should begin with the U.S. government. The U.S. develops and supplies weapons to many nations and has done so for many years. This proliferation of weaponry promotes deadly conflict and misuses resources which would better be used for the enhancement of human life.
Justine Shrider Huntsville
The secret US military bases that hide "weapons of mass destruction" should be under just as much scrutiny as those in Iraq. Do not let our government push the rest of the world around. Please hold our country accountable for it's actions. Please also save countless lives by standing up against our country's agenda against Iraq.
Eric Grossmann Elgin
in the name of international rights and the worlds indigenous peoples the un must recognise and deconstruct the us hegemony that is choking the world. no one appointed the us government/cia/military industrial complex as 'our' world leader.
ray jackson Sydney
Stop this ridicules imperialistic action!! The US does not own everything in the world and therefore have the right to destroy at will!! Basta!!
lucille cordova Albuquerque
There should be no double standard. These weapons and chemicals are dangerous to ALL people of the world. The U.S. Government must not be allowed to hold itself above international law. Please make them accountable.
Catana Weinbrown Sea Cliff
PLEASE ADD YOUR VOICE TODAY: TO BE SUBMITTED TO UN SECURITY COUNCIL
[link]
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DECLARING WAR AGAINST INJUSTICE: USING WAR TOOLS TO WAGE PEACE “Human Rights and the Empowerment of Women,” Barbara Aronstein Black Lecture at Columbia University School of Law
by Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights, by Marta Steele, words, UnLtd., NoBloodForOil.org
No Blood For Oil [ www.NoBloodForOil.org or www.NoBloodForOil.net ] is a new affiliate of Voter March that fully supports the peace and anti-war movements and is adamantly opposed to the unelected, illegitimate, unmandated President Bush and his Administration's plans to wage unilateral war against Iraq.
The new website is linked to the main VoterMarch website and includes: Action Alerts, Peace and Anti-War Links, News Links, a Protests Calendar and Banners.
Please link to us at www.NoBloodForOil.org
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IraqAction.org
[link]
An online media and activists' resource center for groups and activists who
are working to end the war against the people of Iraq.
Education for Peace in Iraq
[link]
Working to improve conditions in Iraq through education and advocacy, not war.
AntiWar.com
[link]
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Why We Must Invade Iraq, Mark Fiore, Humor and animation.
ChickenHawks Symbolman.com Humor and animation
Make Your Own Bush Speech UK. Humor, animation and audio.
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"It is a conviction that war is not an answer to human conflict any more
than cannibalism is to human hunger."
-- Bruce Kent, International Peace Bureau President
"As far as I am concerned, war itself is immoral."
-- Omar Bradley, U.S. 5-Star General
"Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind"
-- John F. Kennedy
"I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running
from the wounded.I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed.
I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war."
-- Franklin. D. Roosevelt
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."
-- George Orwell
Hidden Elitist Conspiracies?
Visit BeamShip MUTANEX
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MetaMagic Media Network
Salvation thru Mutation!
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Will Transmit Environmental, Alternative, and Humanitarian News to Asia, the Americas & Africa! Please Join Our Information Revolution! Become a Founding Member Today!
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"I think the subject which will be of most importance politically
is Mass Psychology... Its importance has been enormously increased
by the growth of modern methods of propaganda. Although this
science will be diligently studied, it will be rigidly confined to
the governing class. The populace will not be allowed to know
how its convictions are generated."
-- Bertrand Russel
FutureFest Media Ministry
[link]
STOP Big Oil, Big Drugs & Big Weapons!!!
EVERY GALLON OF GAS IS A VOTE FOR BIG OIL!
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ride a bike More >
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23 Oct 2002 @ 20:36
SECURITY: BLANK IT
In the name of keeping sensitive information out of the hands of
terrorists, the Bush administration has restricted access to a broad
range of scientific research -- removing Internet links, deleting
information from websites, and even requiring federal librarians to
destroy a CD-ROM about public water supplies. The information
lockdown is making it tough for scientists to get their work done and
for the public to keep an eye on government goings-on; for example,
researchers at the University of Michigan lost access to a U.S. EPA
database that was crucial to their three-year study of
hazardous-waste facilities. Environmental organizations are dismayed
by the limited, expensive, or nonexistent access -- as are the
National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and
National Institute of Medicine. The heads of the three independent
academies sent a letter to President Bush Friday criticizing his
administration's creation of an ill-defined category of "sensitive
but unclassified" research that has been used to withdraw thousands
of reports and papers from the public eye.
straight to the source: CNN.com, Associated Press, 15 Oct 2002
straight to the source: New York Times, William J. Broad, 19 Oct 2002
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14 Oct 2002 @ 11:04
The following was a speech given at the national convention of Concerned Voters, receiving a standing ovation to a crowd of over 2800 people, on October 5th, 2002.
Who Do We Think We Are?
It’s really very interesting when you think about it, in realizing the fact that throughout all this talk of war with Iraq, never does anyone in government or the media ever ask; “Hey, why is this our business?” Iraq isn’t a state, or a territory, or a province of the United States. It doesn’t hold any special obligation to our country that I know of, which specifies how it should run its own affairs. So who do we think we are, telling another country what to do? Who are we to invade and occupy any other country, simply because we don’t approve of their leaders or policies? Who are we to install puppet dictators out of convenience one year, and knock them down the next?
Some will say that “Being the only remaining ‘superpower’, makes it our responsibility to guide the world”. Yeah? Who says so? Upon what democratically granted or God given powers, is the United States supposedly invested, to dictate to the world how it should govern its affairs? We have no such power. No one “voted us into office” as a world policeman. No one elected the U.S. as Judge, Jury and Executioner, who holds all worldly wrongs to the light of our superior justice. The world does not bankroll us to militarize it’s borders or agreements, nor do we have any special providence through international law to function as an Overseer for the people’s of all nations. Only WE claim to have such authority, (by “WE”, I mean the U.S. government currently in power). Why? Because we have such a huge military….everybody else is scared stiff of us, that’s why. But that isn’t real authority is it? This is merely the power of the bully who hasn’t yet been seriously challenged. It is by no means the authority invested in having any “moral high ground“. Quite the contrary, ours is increasingly the “moral low ground”.
Some will say that “Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction” and is a menace to the world. Others say that although there is no proof Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction, he never the less wants and actively seeks them. Now here’s another question the government and media never ask; “Out of the 200 largest countries in the world, how many DO NOT either possess weapons of mass destruction or actively seek them out?” Well the answer is obvious…NO ONE. So what does this imply regarding our indictment of Saddam Hussein, and his not-so-special desire for such weapons? It implies that he is only one in a very large crowd, and by no means special, nor is he deserving of any special criticisms or treatment in the international community on that basis. So how then can the American government justify going to war with Iraq on these grounds? It absolutely can’t. It CANNOT! The possession of a weapon is insufficient grounds to convict a person of murder, much less execute them for a crime against their fellow human beings. Under any honest or logical standard of international law the same should, and in fact MUST, be said of any country. We do not execute people as murderers for crimes they MIGHT commit, nor do we have the right to destroy countries who MIGHT use weapons of mass destruction. Also, is it not more than just a little ironic that throughout all this discussion of removing weapons of mass destruction from Saddam Hussein, that the United States openly discusses when, how and where they will use those very same weapons to accomplish this end?
Is it not more than a little ironic that WE GAVE nerve gas and various biological agents to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war, less than two decades ago, urging them to use these on their neighbors? Where was all our moralizing then? That’s another issue the media and government wont touch.
In all this talk of war and its “cost” to taxpayers, never is there any real consideration of how many Iraqi lives will be lost, most of which will no doubt be civilian. It’s clear that the government and medias’ focus, is as usual, money considerations before lives or mass suffering.
Some will say that Saddam Hussein is a ruthless dictator, a despot and a tyrant, and therefore cannot be trusted by the international community. Well here’s another question never asked by the government or the media…”How many governments in the world are run by ruthless dictators, tyrants and despots?” If you are any student of international relations or history, then you know the answer….COUNTLESS. Once again we are faced with the quandary of U.S. government insanity…On the one hand we are told that we must kill Saddam Hussein and by necessity, 100,000 or so of his fellow Iraqi military and civilians, because he is a tyrant.. On the other we are faced with the fact that the world is full of tyrants, not the least of which, it is arguable, the current president of the United States, via his virtual declaration of war on half the world through the so-called “War on Terror”. Who would be more ruthless and tyrannical, Saddam Hussein and his “threat to the world community” or US, (the U.S.) in the carpet bombing of Baghdad and all other Iraqi cities? Who’s talking about killing who here?
The Bush administration has openly discussed the “option” of using nuclear weapons in battle, and has constantly repeated the “pre-emptive strike” mantra of “hit them first before they hit us”. Once again, who does the law hold accountable for assault and battery, when one person hits another without provocation? The person who strikes first, that’s who. I can just see the defendant in such a case pleading with the judge…“But your honor, I only hit him because I figured he might hit me in the future!“ The Judge would not only put him away because this is a ridiculous defense, he would probably unload a few more years of prison time on this guy, for being a maniac.. So why should international law be any different? Why should one country be able to appoint itself as the policeman of the world, and then proceed to sock “the other guy “ in the jaw first, as a so-called “pre-emptive” strike? So let’s not look too closely at what tyrants and despots do as an excuse for U.S. war plans, because there lingers here the unmistakable stench of hypocrisy and war mongering. At least, don’t look too close if you want to remain “loyal” to the so-called “war effort”. Face it people! This government line is WHOLLY CRIMINAL and outright mass murderous! There is no excuse for such behavior as going to war with Iraq “pre-emotively”. Any one who supports this nonsense is just as liable for rightful punishment for mass murder, under any international war crimes hearing, as is George Bush and his team of war mongering murderers. No more, no less., just like Hitler was.
Besides, who here doesn’t know yet, that all this “Showdown with Iraq” nonsense is about getting their oil? Iraq has the second largest reserve of oil in the world, and this has nothing to do with it, we’re supposed to believe. Uh huh. I wonder how God-awful hell-bent on war the Bush Administration would be, if there was no oil in Iraq? Or better yet, what if the United Nations said, “Sure, take over Iraq, but give every drop of oil proceeds right back to the Iraqi citizens”. You can bet that will never happen!
Let us also take a minute to discuss the possibility of creating World War 3, with our reckless and criminal actions as a country. Some will say that even discussing this possibility is over-reacting, that this will never happen so long as the U.S. is “taking care of the world”. Well stop and think for a minute longer, as to what kind of precedent our new set of international policies creates. Rather than the old fashioned diplomacy and peaceful, mutual understanding approach to international relations, now we have “you are either with us or against us”. Rather than disarmament we have a new escalation in military spending the world over, as every national leader tries to keep pace with the New World Order of George Bush. Rather than working together for the greater good of humanity, we have the “War on Terror”, which would be more aptly named the “War of Terror” one that is literally terrorizing the majority of the world. It’s got a number a nation states at each other’s throats, such as in the case of India and Pakistan. It’s got every nation persecuting their political opposition by branding them as “terrorists”, as an excuse for torture, mass imprisonment and mass murder. You can literally cut the escalating world tensions with a knife on any given day, and guess what…the United States is behind it all.
Given the above mentioned criteria for going to war with another country, “pre-emptively”, who among you thinks that Iraq will be the last and final target of U.S. plans for world domination? Who will bet their life savings that George Bush will not find another excuse, using yet another tireless media campaign, to go to war, destroy and conquer such countries as Iran, Libya, Yemen, North Korea and a host of others? What? No one will take this bet? Well, then, maybe you should begin taking this whole matter more seriously. By “this whole matter” I mean the “War of Terror”, George Bush as a murdering maniac in control of the largest military in the world, just twitching with trigger happy glee as he rapes one nation after the next in the name of “democracy”? People seem to think this whole affair is just a game…after all, it’s just, “those people, you know, over there” who are getting killed by the bombs we pay for, and by the military our sons and daughters belong to, and by the government whose flag we fly on our cars and homes. Is this what you stand for when you fly this flag?
Given the precedent we’re providing, who is to say that India should not launch a nuclear attack against Pakistan, or Pakistan against India for the same reason, to “pre-emptively” prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction? Who could rightly criticize one invading the other, killing millions of people, based on such a criteria for war? Who will criticize China for destroying Taiwan, or Japan for destroying North Korea, or Israel for destroying Palestine? Or for that matter, anybody destroying anybody on behalf of half baked assertions, and big talk but little proof of anything?!! Who will count all the bodies if everybody destroys everybody else “pre-emptively”. It’s all sheer Madness!
So when the world gets so fed up with us that it simply will not take any more lies and bullying, just remember why nuclear and/or biological war began in the first place. It began because WE CREATED IT, or at the very least, as average citizens, let it happen. Don’t blame Saddam Hussein, or Osama Bin Laden or any other tyrant. Blame George Bush and the Congress and Senate, as well as the average American who didn’t have the guts to speak their mind and say what’s right, while there was still time to prevent the destruction of mankind. More >
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