‘To quote the admirable US Marine Lieutenant-General
Newbold again: "My sincere view is that the commitment of our forces to
this fight was done with a casualness and swagger that are the special province
of those who have never had to execute these missions - or bury the
results." 

As we
have seen, John Howard and Lord Downer are terrific at casual swagger, although
neither has ever heard a bullet go pffwt-pzzz through the rubber trees.
Luckily, they have not had results to bury. But next time we might not be so
easily conned. After the never-ever GST, children overboard, Iraq, WorkChoices,
AWB and now Papua, Howard has lost public trust. The moment we hear him blather
that no decision has been made for war, that everyone is working for a peaceful
solution to the Iran crisis - that's when we know the SAS is already there.’ 

Tide
Turns On Dubya's Wreck

‘During the 1970s, I filmed secretly in Czechoslovakia,
then a Stalinist dictatorship. The dissident novelist Zdenek Urbánek told me,
"In one respect, we are more fortunate than you in the west. We believe
nothing of what we read in the newspapers and watch on television, nothing of
the official truth. Unlike you, we have learned to read between the lines,
because real truth is always subversive." 

This acute skepticism, this skill
of reading between the lines, is urgently needed in supposedly free societies
today. Take the reporting of state-sponsored war. The oldest cliché is that
truth is the first casualty of war. I disagree. 

Journalism is the first casualty.
Not only that: it has become a weapon of war, a virulent censorship that goes
unrecognized in the United States, Britain, and other democracies; censorship
by omission, whose power is such that, in war, it can mean the difference
between life and death for people in faraway countries, such as Iraq.’ 

The Real First
Casualty of War

‘To raze Israel to the ground, to
batter down, to destroy, to annihilate, to liquidate, to erase Israel, to wipe
it off the map - this is what Iran's President demanded - at least this is what
we read about or heard of at the end of October 2005. Spreading the news was
very effective. This is a declaration of war they said. Obviously government
and media were at one with their indignation. It goes around the world. 

But let's take a closer look at
what Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said. 

It is a merit of the 'New York
Times' that they placed the complete speech at our disposal. 

Here's an excerpt from the
publication dated October 30, 2005.’ 

Does Iran's
President Want Israel Wiped Of The Map

‘Joining Illinois, California has become the second state
in which a proposal to impeach President Bush has been introduced in the state
legislature. And this one includes Cheney as well. 

California Assemblyman Paul
Koretz of Los Angeles (where the LA Times has now called for Cheney's
resignation) has submitted amendments to Assembly Joint Resolution No. 39,
calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President
Richard Cheney. The amendments reference Section 603 of Jefferson's Manual of
the Rules of the United States House of Representatives, which allows federal
impeachment proceedings to be initiated by joint resolution of a state
legislature.  

The resolution, in the words of
Koretz's press release, "bases the call for impeachment upon the Bush
Administration intentionally misleading the Congress and the American people
regarding the threat from Iraq in order to justify an unnecessary war that has
cost billions of dollars and thousands of lives and casualties; exceeding
constitutional authority to wage war by invading Iraq; exceeding constitutional
authority by Federalizing the National Guard; conspiring to torture prisoners
in violation of the 'Federal Torture Act' and indicating intent to continue
such actions; spying on American citizens in violation of the 1978 Foreign
Agency Surveillance Act; leaking and covering up the leak of the identity of
Valerie Plame Wilson, and holding American citizens without charge or
trial."’ 

California Becomes
Second State To Introduce Bush Impeachment

I wonder if our close allies would consider adding the
names of “aussie tony” & “the rodent” to their list?

‘More precisely, this story could be called "The
President’s Youngest Brother, Marvin Bush, and a Trail of Corrupt Government
Officials from Page County, Virginia to Richmond."  

For most people, Page County, in
the Shenandoah Valley, is a lovely and tranquil place. For others, Page County
is a criminal profit center, humming with illegal activity. 

As a result of this illegal
activity, George Bush’s favorite brother is owed $34 million by the residents
of Page County. And so far he’s getting his money, every damn penny of it.’  

The President
& Page County

‘And what has the president's blundering accomplished? 

He's converted an old enemy of Iran into a new ally of
Iran. Did he hear the Iraqi prime minister when he said no attacks on Iran from
Iraqi soil will be tolerated? Did the president hear him when he said Iran has
a right to enrich uranium? The president has created gas lines in an oil-rich
country. He's restarted inflation and the Cold War. 

Perhaps we're the ones who should
be tearing up. We have two more years of this guy, and he still believes that,
except for a mis-spoke word now and then, he's done everything right. 

At least he's smart enough not to
go hunting with Dick Cheney. That's our small consolation.’ 

What Is the Mission?