Panel denies air-code changes
BY MICHELLE HILLEN
Posted on Saturday, June 28, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/229886/
Saying the request was premature, the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission on Friday unanimously rejected a request by environmental groups to change Arkansas’ air code to consider carbon dioxide an “air contaminant.”
“I do think this is putting the cart before the horse,” commission member Scott Henderson, explaining that he believes the governor’s Global Warming Commission should have first crack at determining how carbon dioxide emissions should be regulated.
The commission, established last year, is studying ways state agencies can offset factors that might contribute to climate change.
“I don’t agree with the discussion about waiting for the federal government to do it, but I do think the Global Warming Commission has to do its work,” Henderson said.
The Arkansas Sierra Club, Audubon Arkansas and the Environmental Integrity Project had filed a petition seeking to amend definitions included in Regulations 18 and 26 of the state’s airquality regulations. The proposal called for the definitions in both regulations to eliminate carbon dioxide from a list of emissions not considered air contaminants, including water vapor, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen and inert gases.
The petition cited concerns that increased concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can lead to higher maximum temperatures, more hot days, higher minimum temperatures, fewer cold days, more intense “precipitation events” and increased risk of drought.
Environmentalists argued their proposal wouldn’t immediately require regulation of carbon dioxide by the Environmental Quality Department. But industry and department officials disagreed.
“We are not opposed to the removal of this exemption.... We realize that global warming is a global problem,” department Director Teresa Marks said. “Our concern is unintended consequences, and the practicality of what we would do if the exemption was removed immediately.”
Marks said existing regulations would require the department to regulate anyone who emits more than 25 tons per year of an “air contaminant.” The department today doesn’t have the technology available to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide, she said.
After more than a half-hour of comments from industry leaders and environmentalists, the commission approved an order supplied by the Arkansas Environmental Federation, an organization that lobbies on behalf of companies on environmental matters.
The order states that the request from the environmental- ists was defective for a number of reasons, including that it failed to include an economic impact statement and an environmental benefit analysis. Such statements are required by state law if the proposed change is more stringent than federal requirements.
Glen Hooks, regional representative of the Sierra Club, said he was surprised by the decision.
“I think what these guys have done is stand up and say we know CO 2 is a pollutant, we know it is a contaminant, but we don’t want to do anything about it,” Hooks said.
“They said it publicly, and I found it amazing.”
He said he and other environmentalists expect to bring forward a new petition that addresses the commissioners’ concerns sooner rather than later.
“We’ll be back,” said Ilan Levin of the Environmental Integrity Project.
The concerns can be addressed in a number of ways, including by increasing the allowable emission threshold from 25 tons per year, Levin said.
Copyright © 2001-2008 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. Contact: webmaster@nwanews.com
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Telecom Board's recommendation to council doesn't please administration
Please click on images to read Susan Thomas' letter and Richard Drake's letter to the Fayetteville City Council.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Petition to protect council-, citizen-initiated forums on government channel
PLEASE KEEP OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT CHANNEL ISSUE FORUMS OPEN!
The City Administration recently cancelled issue forums about Fayetteville High School and Walton Arts Center, although the forums were requested by a City Council member. The City has arbitrarily decided that they will not allow such forums, although they have served our community for over 15 years. Please keep television Channel 16 open to requests by city council members and citizens, so that the channel can continue to help create an open and participatory city government, as called for in Fayetteville Ordinance 4504 and current Government Channel policy.
SIGN HERE TO ENSURE THAT OUR CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS AND ALL CITIZENS
CAN CONTINUE TO REQUEST LOCAL ISSUE FORUMS ON CITY 16 TV:
I, being a registered voter, living within the city limits of Fayetteville, ask that the Telecommunications Board and City Council continue the current policy and procedures of allowing City Council members and citizens to request forums, about issues faced by local governments, to be produced and shown on the Government Channel.
Printed Name Signature Address Telephone and/or E-mail¬¬¬¬¬
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The City Administration recently cancelled issue forums about Fayetteville High School and Walton Arts Center, although the forums were requested by a City Council member. The City has arbitrarily decided that they will not allow such forums, although they have served our community for over 15 years. Please keep television Channel 16 open to requests by city council members and citizens, so that the channel can continue to help create an open and participatory city government, as called for in Fayetteville Ordinance 4504 and current Government Channel policy.
SIGN HERE TO ENSURE THAT OUR CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS AND ALL CITIZENS
CAN CONTINUE TO REQUEST LOCAL ISSUE FORUMS ON CITY 16 TV:
I, being a registered voter, living within the city limits of Fayetteville, ask that the Telecommunications Board and City Council continue the current policy and procedures of allowing City Council members and citizens to request forums, about issues faced by local governments, to be produced and shown on the Government Channel.
Printed Name Signature Address Telephone and/or E-mail¬¬¬¬¬
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Printed Name Signature Address Telephone and/or E-mail ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Printed Name Signature Address Telephone and/or E-mail _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Monday, June 23, 2008
Ozark Highlands Group of Sierra Club to meet with James Burke to discuss fight against dirty coal burning in Arkansas at Smiling Jack's at 7 p.m. Wed.
Our June monthly meeting will be this Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Smiling Jack's just off Dixon Street behind the Dixon Street book shop.
James Burke will be joining us to talk about the coal campaign and the progress we are making in that area. It will be very informal; this is a great opportunity to learn more about what we can do to make sure Arkansas doesn't build any new coal fired power plants. Bring your coal questions for James to answer!
Our Arkansas Chapter chair, Adrienne, will be bringing some yard signs protesting dirty coal if you would like one.
As always, please forward this email along to others you think might be interested.
Molly Rawn
Sierra Club, Ozark Headwaters Group
Intern
(479) 879-1620
James Burke will be joining us to talk about the coal campaign and the progress we are making in that area. It will be very informal; this is a great opportunity to learn more about what we can do to make sure Arkansas doesn't build any new coal fired power plants. Bring your coal questions for James to answer!
Our Arkansas Chapter chair, Adrienne, will be bringing some yard signs protesting dirty coal if you would like one.
As always, please forward this email along to others you think might be interested.
Molly Rawn
Sierra Club, Ozark Headwaters Group
Intern
(479) 879-1620
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Despite congress' effort, impeachment off the table
NEWSLETTER 5 ON IMPEACHMENT
From: Omnicenter Communications (omninews@listserv.uark.edu) on behalf of Dick Bennett (jbennet@uark.edu)
Sent: Sat 6/21/08 11:29 AM
OMNI NEWSLETTER, SPECIAL NUMBER 5 to IMPEACH BUSH AND CHENEY, JUNE 21, 2008, WE, THE PEOPLE FOR A CULTURE OF PEACE AND JUSTICE
Editor: Dick Bennett (Previous Impeachment Newsletters, available in OMNI’s web site, www.omnicenter.org: 1) Dec. 7, 2006; 2)June 17, 2007; 3)October 25, 2007; 4) Feb. 12, 2008. Plenty of material for your own analysis and letters and calls against attacking Iran and for impeach ing Bush and Cheney ! )
CONTENTS
Kucinich’s Articles of Impeachment
Iran and Impeachment
Possible Iranian Reactions to Attack
Ray McGovern
[Go to www.omnicenter.org for full newsletter]
Second Statement by McGovern
New Play in San Francisco for Impeachment
Impeachment Movement
New Hampshire Resolution
Brattleboro, VT on War Crimes
Kucinich Introduces Impeachment Articles Against Bush
Tuesday 10 June 2008 by: Christopher Kuttruff, t r u t h o u t | Report
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduced 35 articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush late on Monday during a speech on the House floor.
Kucinich, a former contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, pointed to "high crimes and misdemeanors" committed by the Bush administration, including misrepresenting intelligence in the lead-up to the war, violating domestic and international laws against torture, illegally spying on American citizens, obstructing justice and governmental oversight, and dozens of other violations.
The impeachment resolution came four days after a June 5 Senate Select Intelligence Committee report that vigorously challenged statements made by the Bush administration regarding military intelligence in the runup to the invasion of Iraq. Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee John D. Rockefeller said in a press release, "Before taking the country to war, this Administration owed it to the American people to give them a 100 percent accurate picture of the threat we faced. Unfortunately, our Committee has concluded that the Administration made significant claims that were not supported by the intelligence."
"It is my belief that the Bush Administration was fixated on Iraq, and used the 9/11 attacks by al Qa'ida as justification for overthrowing Saddam Hussein," Rockefeller noted.
While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and other members of the Democratic leadership maintain that such a resolution is "off the table," Kucinich, along with a group of his colleagues, has consistently pressed for a more urgent and direct response to the often unilateral and controversial actions of the Bush administration.
Despite the unlikeliness of impeachment gaining much traction in Congress, advocates of such a resolution continue to demand greater accountability of the executive branch.
As Kucinich began to issue his remarks, shuffling and talking could be heard in the background of the House chamber. Responding to the disarray, Kucinich objected to the Speaker, "The House is not in order." After several strikes of Pelosi's gavel, Kucinich started reading his articles into the record.
"In violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of president ..." Kucinich stated, "George W. Bush ... both personally and through his subordinates ... illegally spent public dollars on a secret propaganda campaign to manufacture a false cause for war against Iraq."
Kucinich started his speech by referencing a variety of news and intelligence reports regarding White House communications, specifically the White House Iraq Group, which was composed of senior officials (then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, Karl Rove, then-Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes, former chief of staff Andrew Card, then-chief of staff to the Vice President I. Lewis Libby, then-White House press secretary Scott McClellan and others) who "produced white papers detailing so-called intelligence of Iraq's nuclear threat that later proved to be false." These papers included later-debunked claims that Iraq sought uranium and specialized centrifuges for enrichment.
These claims, which were central to the administration's rationale for preemptive action against Iraq, were used, according to Kucinich, to "market an invasion of Iraq to the American people."
Kucinich also noted that the White House Iraq Group papers "were written at same time and by the same people as speeches and talking points prepared for President Bush and for some of his top officials."
Congressman Kucinich went on to challenge the administration's policies toward Iran, as well as its conduct regarding military interrogations.
The resolution comes days after a sharply written letter by 56 Congress members requesting that Attorney General Michael Mukasey investigate potential crimes committed by the Bush administration during the course of its interrogation program. The letter, signed by House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Barney Frank, Jan Schakowsky, Dennis Kucinich and other House Democrats, urged that the seriousness of the evidence on the program warrants a thorough investigation by a special counsel.
Revelations about the Bush administration's interrogations policies, along with its systematic practice of controlling information provided to the media and the American people, led Kucinich to conclude that the president has "misled the Congress and the citizens of the United States" and should be held accountable for violating his oaths of office to "faithfully execute the office of the president" and "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution."
CHRISTOPHER KUTTRUFF IS AN EDITOR AND REPORTER FOR TRUTHOUT.
Articles of Impeachment
Dear Friend:
Under circumstances that can best be described as "suspicious," the www.kucinich.us website was crippled early this morning a few hours after Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced 35 extensively documented Articles of Impeachment against President George W. Bush.
Until we can restore the website and implement additional security measures, you can find the full list and detailed Articles at
http://www.democrats.com/files/amomentoftruth.pdf
and http://chun.afterdowningstreet.org/amomentoftruth.pdf
If you would like to show your support for the Congressman's efforts, please go to myinfo.kucinich.us to offer your comments and provide us with contact information so that we can continue to keep you informed.
Thank you
Committee to Re-Elect Congressman Kucinich
PO Box 110475 | Cleveland | OH | 44111 | 216-252-9000
FROM DAVE DAVISON OF PN0 ON KUCINICH’S ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT
To Members & Friends of the Peace Network of the Ozarks,
We have all heard about Dennis Kucinich presenting 35 articles of impeachment against Bush to the House floor this last Monday night. I watched it on C-SPAN, and he did such a good job to emphasize the gross illegalities of the Bush-Cheny Adminsitration it took him over four hours to make his presentation. On Tuesday night all of the 35 articles were read into the House Record. On Wednesday the House voted to send the impeachment demand to the House Judiciary Committee.
We are planning an updated "Support Impeachment" rally soon.
US PUBLIC FOR IMPEACHMENT
The other day, due to the Kucinich action in the House for impeachment, MSNBC did a live poll on impeachment. Over 700,000 people participated in the poll, which is a large enough segment to make the wishes of America quite plain. I am showing you the MSNBC graph below that indicates 89% of those polled approve, and want impeachment of the white house crazies, starting at the top.
Live Vote
Do you believe President Bush's actions justify impeachment? * 702770 responses
Yes, between the secret spying, the deceptions leading to war and more, there is plenty to justify putting him on trial.
89%
No, like any president, he has made a few missteps, but nothing approaching "high crimes and misdemeanors."
4.2%
No, the man has done absolutely nothing wrong. Impeachment would just be a political lynching.
4.6%
I don't know.
2%
Not a scientific survey. Click to learn more. Results may not total 100% due to rounding.
Peace.
Dave
“Full House sends Articles of Impeachment to Judiciary”
Thursday, June 12, 2008 8:41 AM (from Larry W)
Submitted by Bob Fertik on June 11, 2008 - 2:47pm.
Dennis Kucinich
Impeach.TV
ImpeachForChange
John Conyers
Nancy Pelosi
By a bipartisan vote of 251-166, the full House of Representatives sent Dennis Kucinich's 35 Articles of Impeachment to the Judiciary Committee.
That means Chairman John Conyers now has the power to decide whether to hold impeachment hearings - or not.
Incredibly, 24 Republicans voted with 227 Democrats; the 166 no votes came exclusively from Republicans.
So what will Conyers do? After the Downing Street Memo was published on May 1, 2005, Democrats.com worked closely with Conyers to hold the famous basement hearings featuring Cindy Sheehan, Ray McGovern, and John Bonifaz. In August 2006, Conyers published all of the evidence of Bush's crimes in The Constitution in Crisis. Many of us believed he would begin impeachment proceedings if Democrats won the House, which they did that November.
But in the spring of 2006, Nancy Pelosi declared impeachment "off the table." And when Democrats took control and Conyers was sworn in as Judiciary Chairman, he fell firmly into line behind the Speaker. (Conyers insists Pelosi did not threaten to deny him the Chairmanship.)
Since 2005, Conyers has received millions of impeachment petitions. Hundreds if not thousands of activists have spoken to him personally. But he remains adamantly opposed to hearings, for one simple reason: he fears it will hurt the Democratic candidate for President (now Barack Obama) in November.
http://www.democrats.com/house-sends-impeachment-to-john-conyers
LETTER FROM PRES. OF PNO ON IRAN AND IMPEACHMENT: WE, THE PEOPLE, MUST TAKE ACTION
From: peacenetwork@ozarkpeace.net [mailto:peacenetwork@ozarkpeace.net]
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 12:21 PM
To: lgddavison@aol.com
Subject: The Prospective Attack On Iran
To Members & Friends of the Peace Network of the Ozarks,
The prospective attack on Iran is heating up. Many of us are seeing the blathering Bush rhetoric on televsion, and reading the latest internet reports of the Israeli practice attack maneuver that describes the practice utilizing 100 war planes. This is getting more and more serious, and all without correct methods of diplomacy by reasonable minded men. The cowboy diplomacy and considerations of the Bush Adminstration fall far short of understanding what agreements may be made, and what will happen if Iran is attacked by the war mongerinig right wing leaders of America and Israel.
Experts are saying that if the attack occurs the price of oil will increase to $300 per barrel immediately. If we think we are having a hard time in in our daily routines now in just moving around for the necessary purposes of work and family, we haven't seen anything yet compared to the difficultuties that will come to America and the entire world in energy costs. What do we think that will cause in the American transportation industry, the many trucking companies that serve America? Will food and supplies be readily available to American shelves when the independent truckers, the vast majority of trucks on the road, have to increase their prices astronomically in order to stay alive in their business? What will the price effects be in the insurance costs of the ocean going oil tankers who will suffer war risks in their business? What do we think the reaction of the entire world will be who will be equally affected by the tremendously increased oil price?
Regardless of the administration's cowboy bravado, our own military indicates large concerns in what the reaction to the attack will be. Shites throughout the middle east will unite to attack our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan as a minimum. Its no telling what the reaction may be with retaliatory missle strikes on the nearby American bases, and on Israel, and maybe on the oil fields. After all the back and forth blathering for so many months in the poor cowboy tactics, do our leaders really believe Iran has not taken many steps to withstand an attack with their most lethal weapons that will respond to the attack?
This is crazy!!! Consequently there are a growing number of notable Americans who are standing up for impeachment to begin as a method to deter the attack and dramatically expanded war. The former commander of American Forces in Kuwait stood up the other day to recommend charges against Bush for war crimes. Ray McGovern, the former CIA analyst we met in Springfield over a year ago, while undergoing treatment for cancer, and many other notable Americans, are literally pounding on the table for impeachment action before something really bad happens. Kucinich is ready to go with another 25 articles of impeachment additional to the the initial 35 articles presented to the House last week... while the national Democratic leaders and the Judiciary Committee are just sitting on their duff. It is time for our 2006 elected leaders to stop fooling around and rolling over for their Bush tummy rub, and AIPAC money in their bank accounts.
All Peace Keepers... let’s all write a letter to our local newspaper reporter. The Springfield News-Leader has assigned a bright, new, energetic reporter to cover such actions and events. His name is Chad Livengood, and his email address is... clivengood@springfi.gannett.com [WHO ARE THE EQUIVALENT REPORTS WITH TMN, NAT, AND ADG?] Also please send a copy to PNO by pasting it in an email you can punch back on the reply button, and we will print them and hand carry them to the News-Leader. We will also hand deliver them to local offices of Blunt and McCaskill. [GOOD IDEAS FOR US.]
Print this email and give it to others, your friends and neighbors, with our email address... peacenetwork@ozarkpeace.net [ANOTHER GOOD IDEA]
We NEED to pay attention to this, and we NEED your help. Everybody please follow through with a letter. We have to make the consequences of the very ill advised attack known to our community.
I am embedding a copy of an article from this morning. See below.
Thanks to all. We all always wish for peace, and now it is time for us to pray in our own various ways for the insanity to be halted in time.
Peace to all, including our many Republican friends who have become much more aware of the poor leadership and their antics in their quest for profit and oil, not to mention the poor economic policies that are breaking our country's economy.
Dave Davison Pres. PNO http://www.ozarkpeace.net/
How Iran would retaliate if it comes to war
Military analysts say the Islamic Republic would strike back in unconventional ways - targeting American interests in Iraq and Afghanistan.
By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the June 20, 2008 edition
Istanbul, Turkey - Pressure is building on Iran. This week Europe agreed to new sanctions and President Bush again suggested something more serious - possible military strikes - if the Islamic Republic doesn't bend to the will of the international community on its nuclear program.
But increasingly military analysts are warning of severe consequences if the US begins a shooting war with Iran. While Iranian forces are no match for American technology on a conventional battlefield, Iran has shown that it can bite back in unconventional ways.
Iranian networks in Iraq and Afghanistan could imperil US interests there; American forces throughout the Gulf region could be targeted by asymmetric methods and lethal rocket barrages; and Iranian partners across the region - such as Hezbollah in Lebanon - could be mobilized to engage in an anti-US fight.
Iran's response could also be global, analysts say, but the scale would depend on the scale of the US attack. "One very important issue from a US intelligence perspective, [the Iranian reaction] is probably more unpredictable than the Al Qaeda threat," says Magnus Ranstorp at the Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defense College in Stockholm.
"I doubt very much our ability to manage some of the consequences," says Mr. Ranstorp, noting that Iranian revenge attacks in the past have been marked by "plausible deniability" and have had global reach.
"If you attack Iran you are unleashing a firestorm of reaction internally that will only strengthen revolutionary forces, and externally in the region," says Ranstorp. "It's a nightmare scenario for any contingency planner, and I think you really enter the twilight zone if you strike Iran."
Though the US military has since early 2007 accused Iran's Qods Force - an elite element of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) - of providing anti-US militias in Iraq with lethal roadside bombs, and of training and backing "special groups" in actions that the US government alleges have cost "thousands" of lives, US commanders have played down Iran's military capabilities.
Even Admiral William Fallon, who publicly opposed a US strike on Iran before he resigned in April, dismissed Iran as a military threat. "Get serious," Adm. Fallon told Esquire in March. "These guys are ants. When the time comes, you crush them."
But that has not kept Iran from rhetorical chest-beating, with an active military manpower of 540,000 - the largest in the Middle East - dependent on some of the lowest per capita defense spending in the region. Iran "can deal fatal blows to aggressor America by unpredictable and creative tactical moves," the senior commander Brig. Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid said in late May. "It is meaningless to back down before an enemy who has targeted the roots of our existence."
Iran's supreme religious leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei also warned of far-reaching revenge in 2006. "The Americans should know that if they assault Iran, their interests will be harmed anywhere in the world that is possible," he said. "The Iranian nation will respond to any blow with double the intensity."
Analysts say Iran has a number of tools to make good on those threats and take pride in taking on a more powerful enemy. "This is not something they are shying away from," says Alex Vatanka, a Middle East security analyst at Jane's Information Group in Washington.
"They say: 'Conventional warfare is not something we can win against the US, but we have other assets in the toolbox,' " says Mr. Vatanka, noting that the IRGC commander appointed last fall has been "marketed as this genius behind asymmetric warfare doctrine."
"What they are really worried about is the idea of massive aerial attacks on literally thousands of targets inside Iran," says Vatanka, also an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute. "Their reading of America's intentions in that scenario would be twofold: One is to obviously dismantle as much as possible the nuclear program; and [the other], indirectly try to weaken the [Islamic] regime."
Any US-Iran conflict would push up oil prices, and though Iran could disrupt shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf, its weak economy depends on oil revenues.
But nearby US forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Gulf provide a host of targets. Iran claimed last October that it could rain down 11,000 rockets upon "the enemy" within one minute of an attack and that rate "would continue."
Further afield, Israel is within range of Iran's Shahab-3 ballistic missiles, and Hezbollah claims its rockets - enhanced and resupplied by Iran since the 2006 war to an estimated 30,000 - can now hit anywhere in the Jewish state, including its nuclear plant at Dimona.
Closer to home, Iran has honed a swarming tactic, in which small and lightly armed speedboats come at far larger warships from different directions. A classified Pentagon war game in 2002 simulated just such an attack and in it the Navy lost 16 major warships, according to a report in The New York Times last January.
"The sheer numbers involved overloaded their ability, both mentally and electronically, to handle the attack," Lt. Gen. K. Van Riper, a retired Marine Corps officer who commanded the swarming force, told the Times. "The whole thing was over in five, maybe 10 minutes."
During the 1990s, Iranian agents were believed to be behind the assassinations of scores of regime opponents in Europe, and German prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Iran's intelligence minister.
Iran and Hezbollah are alleged to have collaborated in the May 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in revenge for Israel's killing of a Hezbollah leader months before. Argentine prosecutors charge that they jointly struck again in 1994, bombing a Jewish community center in the Argentine capital that killed 85, one month after Israel attacked a Hezbollah base in Lebanon.
With some 30,000 on the payroll by one count, Iranian intelligence "is a superpower in intelligence terms in the region; they have global reach because of their reconnaissance ability and quite sophisticated ways of inflicting pain," says Ranstorp. "They have been expanding their influence.... Who would have predicted that Argentina would be the area that Hezbollah and the Iranians collectively would respond?"
Past examples show that "Tehran recognizes that at times its interest are best served by restraint," says a report on consequences of a strike on Iran published this week by Patrick Clawson and Michael Eisenstadt of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
But Iran could target the US, too, depending on the magnitude of any US strike. "Iran's capacity for terror and subversion remains one of its most potent levers in the event of a confrontation with the United States," says the report, adding that "success" in delaying Iran's nuclear programs could backfire.
If "US and world opinion were so angered by the strikes that they refused to support further pressure against Iran's nuclear ambitions, then prevention could paradoxically [eventually ensure] Iran's open pursuit of nuclear weapons," concludes the report.
And the long list of unconventional tactics should not be taken for granted in Tehran, says Vatanka, noting that the Islamic system's top priority is survival.
"So the Iranians have to be careful," says Vatanka. "Just because the US doesn't have the will right now, or the ability to produce the kind of stick that they would fear, doesn't mean the way of confrontation is going to pay off for them in the long run."
Two articles from Ray McGovern. In between is a message from Chris Rice about how to mobilize. (From Babs Bakie)
“Cheney Impeachment Not Off the Table” By Ray McGovern, Consortium News
Posted on March 21, 2008, Printed on May 25, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/story/79761/
You would not know it for the news blackout, but New Yorkers of Rep. Jerrold Nadler's district held a Town Hall/Impeachment Forum last Sunday to encourage Nadler, chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, to begin impeachment proceedings against Vice President Dick Cheney.
Panelists included former congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman, former Reagan Justice Department attorney Bruce Fein, human rights attorney and Harper's commentator Scott Horton, and John Nirenberg, the activist who at the turn of the year walked from Boston to Washington, D.C., in a futile attempt to meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on impeachment.
The organizers had asked me to be on the panel, but I had to send regrets and submitted a statement instead (see below). A video of the proceedings will be posted on afterdowningstreet.org.
Taking Stock
In a post mortem the next evening, the organizers reflected on what seemed to be a mixed picture of good and bad news.
On the positive side, Judson Memorial Church was crammed to overflowing with 300 folks. And this, despite the fact that most were already aware that Nadler had announced (late Friday afternoon) that he would be a no-show. He did not even send a representative.
The panelists' remarks were compelling. Blame for inaction on impeachment was laid squarely on our invertebrate Congress. (But ouch, that familiar whining can get a bit tiresome.)
The audience was described as well-educated, nonfringe, and polite.
On the negative side, despite Herculean efforts to interest the "mainstream media," no one showed. And the enthusiasm of those hardy souls trying to spur action on impeachment was dampened by continuing frustration at the obstacles, as politicians like Nadler continue to put political expedience above their sworn duty to protect and defend the Constitution.
Tories back in charge
It took some 230 years, but the Tories are back in charge -- I mean the Nadlers, the Conyers, the Pelosis, so bereft of the courage of our forebears to defy a new King George, preferring to let him dis us the people and trash the Constitution. Remember those stirring final words of the Declaration of Independence? "We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." We have come a long way. Surely, the Founders are rolling over in their graves.
Many of our forebears were also well-educated and nonfringe; fortunately, they were NOT polite.
Is it not clear, finally, that the time for politeness is over?
It is up to us, now, whether we shall have constitutional separation of powers or shall have kings. It is up to us whether an unrestrained executive will be able to march our children and grandchildren off to an endless series of resource wars likely to dominate this century.
The time for talking is over. Impeachment proceedings must begin. And no one is going to get that done but us.
We need to acknowledge that one of the hurdles is outrage fatigue; it is hard to decide where to start among the many high crimes and misdemeanors of which Vice President Cheney is demonstrably guilty. From my perspective as a former intelligence officer, we certainly cannot allow to escape censure Cheney's conjuring up false "intelligence" to justify what Nuremberg defined as the "supreme international crime" -- a war of aggression -- in Iraq.
My colleagues and I in Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity could see what was happening early on. That is why, in the first appeal of its kind by an intelligence alumni group, we wrote to President George W. Bush on July 14, 2003: "We strongly recommend that you ask for Cheney's immediate resignation (Memorandum for the President, "Intelligence Unglued").
As I mention in my statement to the NYC Town Hall, former CIA director George Tenet has since written that Cheney's warmongering "went well beyond what our analysis would support," and apparently came as something of a surprise to the president himself.
The Founders knew that, human nature being what it is, abuses like these were inevitable somewhere down the line. That's why they took such pains to provide an orderly political procedure to enable us to deal promptly and responsibly with such high crimes and misdemeanors. I doubt it ever entered their minds that their successors, for perceived partisan political advantage, would shun that orderly procedure upon which so much now depends.
The process is called impeachment; the rules are clear.
All it takes is courage. And I do not refer here to the invertebrates in Congress.
I mean us. Can we handle the truth? Can we press for our rights as courageously as the Founders? Everything hinges on our answers to these questions.
[End of McGovern's first statement]
Chris Rice www.votestrike.com: CALL FOR NATIONAL ACTION SEPTEMBER 11
Sooner or later all freedom loving Americans will realize that the only
way to stop those who would bleed our nation dry, dismantle our
constitution, and dissolve our national sovereignty is to say I will not
work for you, buy from you, fight for you, or die for you, until the
criminals are gone from the halls of our government.
Call to action: No work, No school on September 11, 2008. It also includes "no shopping;" a suspension of all purchasing during the strike. 75% of our economy is consumer spending, when Bush says to shop, we must STOP!
The general strike calls for participants to "Hit the Streets." But why spend our time protesting in DC to be ignored? Unless we get in the streets outside our rep’s personal residences- who is going to care?
We need to mobilize locally- & demand national action. Few of us could go to Washington, DC- but many of us- can go to our city halls or state legislatures- or local Congressional offices.
Tell the government that we're fed up with lies, war, torture, corruption, & special interest funding our elections & our media.
Strikes have brought civil rights in the U.S. & around the world. Help make our voices louder than the mainstream media & corporate dollars.
"It is not the function of our Government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government from falling into error".
U.S. Supreme Court, in American Communication Association v. Douds, 339 U.S. 382, 442
In order to get involved, here are the five best steps to take now:
1) Sign up with your email address HERE in order to get updates,
e-alerts@votestrike.com
2) Mark the day on your calendar and plan to be at a protest in your community,
3) Send this URL to all your friends, post it to forums, put it on your personal pages, http://www.votestrike.com
4) Be a volunteer activist, CONTACT OMNI .
5) Take the lead and help organize a protest on 9/11 , CONTACT OMNI.
[Go to www.omnicenter.org for full newsletter]
SENATOR LINCOLN (202) 224-4843 Fax: (202) 228-1371.
Senator Mark Pryor: Phone: (202) 224-2353 Fax: (202) 228-0908 .
CONGRESSMAN Boozman: Lowell office: 479-725-0400.
DC address: 1708 Longworth House Office Bldng., Washington, DC 20515; 202-225-4301.
OMNI SEEKS A WORLD FREE OF WAR AND THE THREAT OF WAR, A SOCIETY WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL, A COMMUNITY WHERE EVERY PERSON’S POTENTIAL MAY BE FULFILLED, AN EARTH RESTORED. GRASSROOTS NONVIOLENCE, WORLD PEACE, HUMAN RIGHTS, SOCIAL and ECONOMIC JUSTICE, ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP PROTECTING SPECIES AND THE EARTH.
END OF NEWSLETTER #5 ON IMPEACHMENT, June 21, 2008
From: Omnicenter Communications (omninews@listserv.uark.edu) on behalf of Dick Bennett (jbennet@uark.edu)
Sent: Sat 6/21/08 11:29 AM
OMNI NEWSLETTER, SPECIAL NUMBER 5 to IMPEACH BUSH AND CHENEY, JUNE 21, 2008, WE, THE PEOPLE FOR A CULTURE OF PEACE AND JUSTICE
Editor: Dick Bennett (Previous Impeachment Newsletters, available in OMNI’s web site, www.omnicenter.org: 1) Dec. 7, 2006; 2)June 17, 2007; 3)October 25, 2007; 4) Feb. 12, 2008. Plenty of material for your own analysis and letters and calls against attacking Iran and for impeach ing Bush and Cheney ! )
CONTENTS
Kucinich’s Articles of Impeachment
Iran and Impeachment
Possible Iranian Reactions to Attack
Ray McGovern
[Go to www.omnicenter.org for full newsletter]
Second Statement by McGovern
New Play in San Francisco for Impeachment
Impeachment Movement
New Hampshire Resolution
Brattleboro, VT on War Crimes
Kucinich Introduces Impeachment Articles Against Bush
Tuesday 10 June 2008 by: Christopher Kuttruff, t r u t h o u t | Report
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduced 35 articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush late on Monday during a speech on the House floor.
Kucinich, a former contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, pointed to "high crimes and misdemeanors" committed by the Bush administration, including misrepresenting intelligence in the lead-up to the war, violating domestic and international laws against torture, illegally spying on American citizens, obstructing justice and governmental oversight, and dozens of other violations.
The impeachment resolution came four days after a June 5 Senate Select Intelligence Committee report that vigorously challenged statements made by the Bush administration regarding military intelligence in the runup to the invasion of Iraq. Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee John D. Rockefeller said in a press release, "Before taking the country to war, this Administration owed it to the American people to give them a 100 percent accurate picture of the threat we faced. Unfortunately, our Committee has concluded that the Administration made significant claims that were not supported by the intelligence."
"It is my belief that the Bush Administration was fixated on Iraq, and used the 9/11 attacks by al Qa'ida as justification for overthrowing Saddam Hussein," Rockefeller noted.
While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and other members of the Democratic leadership maintain that such a resolution is "off the table," Kucinich, along with a group of his colleagues, has consistently pressed for a more urgent and direct response to the often unilateral and controversial actions of the Bush administration.
Despite the unlikeliness of impeachment gaining much traction in Congress, advocates of such a resolution continue to demand greater accountability of the executive branch.
As Kucinich began to issue his remarks, shuffling and talking could be heard in the background of the House chamber. Responding to the disarray, Kucinich objected to the Speaker, "The House is not in order." After several strikes of Pelosi's gavel, Kucinich started reading his articles into the record.
"In violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of president ..." Kucinich stated, "George W. Bush ... both personally and through his subordinates ... illegally spent public dollars on a secret propaganda campaign to manufacture a false cause for war against Iraq."
Kucinich started his speech by referencing a variety of news and intelligence reports regarding White House communications, specifically the White House Iraq Group, which was composed of senior officials (then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, Karl Rove, then-Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes, former chief of staff Andrew Card, then-chief of staff to the Vice President I. Lewis Libby, then-White House press secretary Scott McClellan and others) who "produced white papers detailing so-called intelligence of Iraq's nuclear threat that later proved to be false." These papers included later-debunked claims that Iraq sought uranium and specialized centrifuges for enrichment.
These claims, which were central to the administration's rationale for preemptive action against Iraq, were used, according to Kucinich, to "market an invasion of Iraq to the American people."
Kucinich also noted that the White House Iraq Group papers "were written at same time and by the same people as speeches and talking points prepared for President Bush and for some of his top officials."
Congressman Kucinich went on to challenge the administration's policies toward Iran, as well as its conduct regarding military interrogations.
The resolution comes days after a sharply written letter by 56 Congress members requesting that Attorney General Michael Mukasey investigate potential crimes committed by the Bush administration during the course of its interrogation program. The letter, signed by House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Barney Frank, Jan Schakowsky, Dennis Kucinich and other House Democrats, urged that the seriousness of the evidence on the program warrants a thorough investigation by a special counsel.
Revelations about the Bush administration's interrogations policies, along with its systematic practice of controlling information provided to the media and the American people, led Kucinich to conclude that the president has "misled the Congress and the citizens of the United States" and should be held accountable for violating his oaths of office to "faithfully execute the office of the president" and "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution."
CHRISTOPHER KUTTRUFF IS AN EDITOR AND REPORTER FOR TRUTHOUT.
Articles of Impeachment
Dear Friend:
Under circumstances that can best be described as "suspicious," the www.kucinich.us website was crippled early this morning a few hours after Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced 35 extensively documented Articles of Impeachment against President George W. Bush.
Until we can restore the website and implement additional security measures, you can find the full list and detailed Articles at
http://www.democrats.com/files/amomentoftruth.pdf
and http://chun.afterdowningstreet.org/amomentoftruth.pdf
If you would like to show your support for the Congressman's efforts, please go to myinfo.kucinich.us to offer your comments and provide us with contact information so that we can continue to keep you informed.
Thank you
Committee to Re-Elect Congressman Kucinich
PO Box 110475 | Cleveland | OH | 44111 | 216-252-9000
FROM DAVE DAVISON OF PN0 ON KUCINICH’S ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT
To Members & Friends of the Peace Network of the Ozarks,
We have all heard about Dennis Kucinich presenting 35 articles of impeachment against Bush to the House floor this last Monday night. I watched it on C-SPAN, and he did such a good job to emphasize the gross illegalities of the Bush-Cheny Adminsitration it took him over four hours to make his presentation. On Tuesday night all of the 35 articles were read into the House Record. On Wednesday the House voted to send the impeachment demand to the House Judiciary Committee.
We are planning an updated "Support Impeachment" rally soon.
US PUBLIC FOR IMPEACHMENT
The other day, due to the Kucinich action in the House for impeachment, MSNBC did a live poll on impeachment. Over 700,000 people participated in the poll, which is a large enough segment to make the wishes of America quite plain. I am showing you the MSNBC graph below that indicates 89% of those polled approve, and want impeachment of the white house crazies, starting at the top.
Live Vote
Do you believe President Bush's actions justify impeachment? * 702770 responses
Yes, between the secret spying, the deceptions leading to war and more, there is plenty to justify putting him on trial.
89%
No, like any president, he has made a few missteps, but nothing approaching "high crimes and misdemeanors."
4.2%
No, the man has done absolutely nothing wrong. Impeachment would just be a political lynching.
4.6%
I don't know.
2%
Not a scientific survey. Click to learn more. Results may not total 100% due to rounding.
Peace.
Dave
“Full House sends Articles of Impeachment to Judiciary”
Thursday, June 12, 2008 8:41 AM (from Larry W)
Submitted by Bob Fertik on June 11, 2008 - 2:47pm.
Dennis Kucinich
Impeach.TV
ImpeachForChange
John Conyers
Nancy Pelosi
By a bipartisan vote of 251-166, the full House of Representatives sent Dennis Kucinich's 35 Articles of Impeachment to the Judiciary Committee.
That means Chairman John Conyers now has the power to decide whether to hold impeachment hearings - or not.
Incredibly, 24 Republicans voted with 227 Democrats; the 166 no votes came exclusively from Republicans.
So what will Conyers do? After the Downing Street Memo was published on May 1, 2005, Democrats.com worked closely with Conyers to hold the famous basement hearings featuring Cindy Sheehan, Ray McGovern, and John Bonifaz. In August 2006, Conyers published all of the evidence of Bush's crimes in The Constitution in Crisis. Many of us believed he would begin impeachment proceedings if Democrats won the House, which they did that November.
But in the spring of 2006, Nancy Pelosi declared impeachment "off the table." And when Democrats took control and Conyers was sworn in as Judiciary Chairman, he fell firmly into line behind the Speaker. (Conyers insists Pelosi did not threaten to deny him the Chairmanship.)
Since 2005, Conyers has received millions of impeachment petitions. Hundreds if not thousands of activists have spoken to him personally. But he remains adamantly opposed to hearings, for one simple reason: he fears it will hurt the Democratic candidate for President (now Barack Obama) in November.
http://www.democrats.com/house-sends-impeachment-to-john-conyers
LETTER FROM PRES. OF PNO ON IRAN AND IMPEACHMENT: WE, THE PEOPLE, MUST TAKE ACTION
From: peacenetwork@ozarkpeace.net [mailto:peacenetwork@ozarkpeace.net]
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 12:21 PM
To: lgddavison@aol.com
Subject: The Prospective Attack On Iran
To Members & Friends of the Peace Network of the Ozarks,
The prospective attack on Iran is heating up. Many of us are seeing the blathering Bush rhetoric on televsion, and reading the latest internet reports of the Israeli practice attack maneuver that describes the practice utilizing 100 war planes. This is getting more and more serious, and all without correct methods of diplomacy by reasonable minded men. The cowboy diplomacy and considerations of the Bush Adminstration fall far short of understanding what agreements may be made, and what will happen if Iran is attacked by the war mongerinig right wing leaders of America and Israel.
Experts are saying that if the attack occurs the price of oil will increase to $300 per barrel immediately. If we think we are having a hard time in in our daily routines now in just moving around for the necessary purposes of work and family, we haven't seen anything yet compared to the difficultuties that will come to America and the entire world in energy costs. What do we think that will cause in the American transportation industry, the many trucking companies that serve America? Will food and supplies be readily available to American shelves when the independent truckers, the vast majority of trucks on the road, have to increase their prices astronomically in order to stay alive in their business? What will the price effects be in the insurance costs of the ocean going oil tankers who will suffer war risks in their business? What do we think the reaction of the entire world will be who will be equally affected by the tremendously increased oil price?
Regardless of the administration's cowboy bravado, our own military indicates large concerns in what the reaction to the attack will be. Shites throughout the middle east will unite to attack our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan as a minimum. Its no telling what the reaction may be with retaliatory missle strikes on the nearby American bases, and on Israel, and maybe on the oil fields. After all the back and forth blathering for so many months in the poor cowboy tactics, do our leaders really believe Iran has not taken many steps to withstand an attack with their most lethal weapons that will respond to the attack?
This is crazy!!! Consequently there are a growing number of notable Americans who are standing up for impeachment to begin as a method to deter the attack and dramatically expanded war. The former commander of American Forces in Kuwait stood up the other day to recommend charges against Bush for war crimes. Ray McGovern, the former CIA analyst we met in Springfield over a year ago, while undergoing treatment for cancer, and many other notable Americans, are literally pounding on the table for impeachment action before something really bad happens. Kucinich is ready to go with another 25 articles of impeachment additional to the the initial 35 articles presented to the House last week... while the national Democratic leaders and the Judiciary Committee are just sitting on their duff. It is time for our 2006 elected leaders to stop fooling around and rolling over for their Bush tummy rub, and AIPAC money in their bank accounts.
All Peace Keepers... let’s all write a letter to our local newspaper reporter. The Springfield News-Leader has assigned a bright, new, energetic reporter to cover such actions and events. His name is Chad Livengood, and his email address is... clivengood@springfi.gannett.com [WHO ARE THE EQUIVALENT REPORTS WITH TMN, NAT, AND ADG?] Also please send a copy to PNO by pasting it in an email you can punch back on the reply button, and we will print them and hand carry them to the News-Leader. We will also hand deliver them to local offices of Blunt and McCaskill. [GOOD IDEAS FOR US.]
Print this email and give it to others, your friends and neighbors, with our email address... peacenetwork@ozarkpeace.net [ANOTHER GOOD IDEA]
We NEED to pay attention to this, and we NEED your help. Everybody please follow through with a letter. We have to make the consequences of the very ill advised attack known to our community.
I am embedding a copy of an article from this morning. See below.
Thanks to all. We all always wish for peace, and now it is time for us to pray in our own various ways for the insanity to be halted in time.
Peace to all, including our many Republican friends who have become much more aware of the poor leadership and their antics in their quest for profit and oil, not to mention the poor economic policies that are breaking our country's economy.
Dave Davison Pres. PNO http://www.ozarkpeace.net/
How Iran would retaliate if it comes to war
Military analysts say the Islamic Republic would strike back in unconventional ways - targeting American interests in Iraq and Afghanistan.
By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the June 20, 2008 edition
Istanbul, Turkey - Pressure is building on Iran. This week Europe agreed to new sanctions and President Bush again suggested something more serious - possible military strikes - if the Islamic Republic doesn't bend to the will of the international community on its nuclear program.
But increasingly military analysts are warning of severe consequences if the US begins a shooting war with Iran. While Iranian forces are no match for American technology on a conventional battlefield, Iran has shown that it can bite back in unconventional ways.
Iranian networks in Iraq and Afghanistan could imperil US interests there; American forces throughout the Gulf region could be targeted by asymmetric methods and lethal rocket barrages; and Iranian partners across the region - such as Hezbollah in Lebanon - could be mobilized to engage in an anti-US fight.
Iran's response could also be global, analysts say, but the scale would depend on the scale of the US attack. "One very important issue from a US intelligence perspective, [the Iranian reaction] is probably more unpredictable than the Al Qaeda threat," says Magnus Ranstorp at the Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defense College in Stockholm.
"I doubt very much our ability to manage some of the consequences," says Mr. Ranstorp, noting that Iranian revenge attacks in the past have been marked by "plausible deniability" and have had global reach.
"If you attack Iran you are unleashing a firestorm of reaction internally that will only strengthen revolutionary forces, and externally in the region," says Ranstorp. "It's a nightmare scenario for any contingency planner, and I think you really enter the twilight zone if you strike Iran."
Though the US military has since early 2007 accused Iran's Qods Force - an elite element of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) - of providing anti-US militias in Iraq with lethal roadside bombs, and of training and backing "special groups" in actions that the US government alleges have cost "thousands" of lives, US commanders have played down Iran's military capabilities.
Even Admiral William Fallon, who publicly opposed a US strike on Iran before he resigned in April, dismissed Iran as a military threat. "Get serious," Adm. Fallon told Esquire in March. "These guys are ants. When the time comes, you crush them."
But that has not kept Iran from rhetorical chest-beating, with an active military manpower of 540,000 - the largest in the Middle East - dependent on some of the lowest per capita defense spending in the region. Iran "can deal fatal blows to aggressor America by unpredictable and creative tactical moves," the senior commander Brig. Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid said in late May. "It is meaningless to back down before an enemy who has targeted the roots of our existence."
Iran's supreme religious leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei also warned of far-reaching revenge in 2006. "The Americans should know that if they assault Iran, their interests will be harmed anywhere in the world that is possible," he said. "The Iranian nation will respond to any blow with double the intensity."
Analysts say Iran has a number of tools to make good on those threats and take pride in taking on a more powerful enemy. "This is not something they are shying away from," says Alex Vatanka, a Middle East security analyst at Jane's Information Group in Washington.
"They say: 'Conventional warfare is not something we can win against the US, but we have other assets in the toolbox,' " says Mr. Vatanka, noting that the IRGC commander appointed last fall has been "marketed as this genius behind asymmetric warfare doctrine."
"What they are really worried about is the idea of massive aerial attacks on literally thousands of targets inside Iran," says Vatanka, also an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute. "Their reading of America's intentions in that scenario would be twofold: One is to obviously dismantle as much as possible the nuclear program; and [the other], indirectly try to weaken the [Islamic] regime."
Any US-Iran conflict would push up oil prices, and though Iran could disrupt shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf, its weak economy depends on oil revenues.
But nearby US forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Gulf provide a host of targets. Iran claimed last October that it could rain down 11,000 rockets upon "the enemy" within one minute of an attack and that rate "would continue."
Further afield, Israel is within range of Iran's Shahab-3 ballistic missiles, and Hezbollah claims its rockets - enhanced and resupplied by Iran since the 2006 war to an estimated 30,000 - can now hit anywhere in the Jewish state, including its nuclear plant at Dimona.
Closer to home, Iran has honed a swarming tactic, in which small and lightly armed speedboats come at far larger warships from different directions. A classified Pentagon war game in 2002 simulated just such an attack and in it the Navy lost 16 major warships, according to a report in The New York Times last January.
"The sheer numbers involved overloaded their ability, both mentally and electronically, to handle the attack," Lt. Gen. K. Van Riper, a retired Marine Corps officer who commanded the swarming force, told the Times. "The whole thing was over in five, maybe 10 minutes."
During the 1990s, Iranian agents were believed to be behind the assassinations of scores of regime opponents in Europe, and German prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Iran's intelligence minister.
Iran and Hezbollah are alleged to have collaborated in the May 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in revenge for Israel's killing of a Hezbollah leader months before. Argentine prosecutors charge that they jointly struck again in 1994, bombing a Jewish community center in the Argentine capital that killed 85, one month after Israel attacked a Hezbollah base in Lebanon.
With some 30,000 on the payroll by one count, Iranian intelligence "is a superpower in intelligence terms in the region; they have global reach because of their reconnaissance ability and quite sophisticated ways of inflicting pain," says Ranstorp. "They have been expanding their influence.... Who would have predicted that Argentina would be the area that Hezbollah and the Iranians collectively would respond?"
Past examples show that "Tehran recognizes that at times its interest are best served by restraint," says a report on consequences of a strike on Iran published this week by Patrick Clawson and Michael Eisenstadt of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
But Iran could target the US, too, depending on the magnitude of any US strike. "Iran's capacity for terror and subversion remains one of its most potent levers in the event of a confrontation with the United States," says the report, adding that "success" in delaying Iran's nuclear programs could backfire.
If "US and world opinion were so angered by the strikes that they refused to support further pressure against Iran's nuclear ambitions, then prevention could paradoxically [eventually ensure] Iran's open pursuit of nuclear weapons," concludes the report.
And the long list of unconventional tactics should not be taken for granted in Tehran, says Vatanka, noting that the Islamic system's top priority is survival.
"So the Iranians have to be careful," says Vatanka. "Just because the US doesn't have the will right now, or the ability to produce the kind of stick that they would fear, doesn't mean the way of confrontation is going to pay off for them in the long run."
Two articles from Ray McGovern. In between is a message from Chris Rice about how to mobilize. (From Babs Bakie)
“Cheney Impeachment Not Off the Table” By Ray McGovern, Consortium News
Posted on March 21, 2008, Printed on May 25, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/story/79761/
You would not know it for the news blackout, but New Yorkers of Rep. Jerrold Nadler's district held a Town Hall/Impeachment Forum last Sunday to encourage Nadler, chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, to begin impeachment proceedings against Vice President Dick Cheney.
Panelists included former congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman, former Reagan Justice Department attorney Bruce Fein, human rights attorney and Harper's commentator Scott Horton, and John Nirenberg, the activist who at the turn of the year walked from Boston to Washington, D.C., in a futile attempt to meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on impeachment.
The organizers had asked me to be on the panel, but I had to send regrets and submitted a statement instead (see below). A video of the proceedings will be posted on afterdowningstreet.org.
Taking Stock
In a post mortem the next evening, the organizers reflected on what seemed to be a mixed picture of good and bad news.
On the positive side, Judson Memorial Church was crammed to overflowing with 300 folks. And this, despite the fact that most were already aware that Nadler had announced (late Friday afternoon) that he would be a no-show. He did not even send a representative.
The panelists' remarks were compelling. Blame for inaction on impeachment was laid squarely on our invertebrate Congress. (But ouch, that familiar whining can get a bit tiresome.)
The audience was described as well-educated, nonfringe, and polite.
On the negative side, despite Herculean efforts to interest the "mainstream media," no one showed. And the enthusiasm of those hardy souls trying to spur action on impeachment was dampened by continuing frustration at the obstacles, as politicians like Nadler continue to put political expedience above their sworn duty to protect and defend the Constitution.
Tories back in charge
It took some 230 years, but the Tories are back in charge -- I mean the Nadlers, the Conyers, the Pelosis, so bereft of the courage of our forebears to defy a new King George, preferring to let him dis us the people and trash the Constitution. Remember those stirring final words of the Declaration of Independence? "We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." We have come a long way. Surely, the Founders are rolling over in their graves.
Many of our forebears were also well-educated and nonfringe; fortunately, they were NOT polite.
Is it not clear, finally, that the time for politeness is over?
It is up to us, now, whether we shall have constitutional separation of powers or shall have kings. It is up to us whether an unrestrained executive will be able to march our children and grandchildren off to an endless series of resource wars likely to dominate this century.
The time for talking is over. Impeachment proceedings must begin. And no one is going to get that done but us.
We need to acknowledge that one of the hurdles is outrage fatigue; it is hard to decide where to start among the many high crimes and misdemeanors of which Vice President Cheney is demonstrably guilty. From my perspective as a former intelligence officer, we certainly cannot allow to escape censure Cheney's conjuring up false "intelligence" to justify what Nuremberg defined as the "supreme international crime" -- a war of aggression -- in Iraq.
My colleagues and I in Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity could see what was happening early on. That is why, in the first appeal of its kind by an intelligence alumni group, we wrote to President George W. Bush on July 14, 2003: "We strongly recommend that you ask for Cheney's immediate resignation (Memorandum for the President, "Intelligence Unglued").
As I mention in my statement to the NYC Town Hall, former CIA director George Tenet has since written that Cheney's warmongering "went well beyond what our analysis would support," and apparently came as something of a surprise to the president himself.
The Founders knew that, human nature being what it is, abuses like these were inevitable somewhere down the line. That's why they took such pains to provide an orderly political procedure to enable us to deal promptly and responsibly with such high crimes and misdemeanors. I doubt it ever entered their minds that their successors, for perceived partisan political advantage, would shun that orderly procedure upon which so much now depends.
The process is called impeachment; the rules are clear.
All it takes is courage. And I do not refer here to the invertebrates in Congress.
I mean us. Can we handle the truth? Can we press for our rights as courageously as the Founders? Everything hinges on our answers to these questions.
[End of McGovern's first statement]
Chris Rice www.votestrike.com: CALL FOR NATIONAL ACTION SEPTEMBER 11
Sooner or later all freedom loving Americans will realize that the only
way to stop those who would bleed our nation dry, dismantle our
constitution, and dissolve our national sovereignty is to say I will not
work for you, buy from you, fight for you, or die for you, until the
criminals are gone from the halls of our government.
Call to action: No work, No school on September 11, 2008. It also includes "no shopping;" a suspension of all purchasing during the strike. 75% of our economy is consumer spending, when Bush says to shop, we must STOP!
The general strike calls for participants to "Hit the Streets." But why spend our time protesting in DC to be ignored? Unless we get in the streets outside our rep’s personal residences- who is going to care?
We need to mobilize locally- & demand national action. Few of us could go to Washington, DC- but many of us- can go to our city halls or state legislatures- or local Congressional offices.
Tell the government that we're fed up with lies, war, torture, corruption, & special interest funding our elections & our media.
Strikes have brought civil rights in the U.S. & around the world. Help make our voices louder than the mainstream media & corporate dollars.
"It is not the function of our Government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government from falling into error".
U.S. Supreme Court, in American Communication Association v. Douds, 339 U.S. 382, 442
In order to get involved, here are the five best steps to take now:
1) Sign up with your email address HERE in order to get updates,
e-alerts@votestrike.com
2) Mark the day on your calendar and plan to be at a protest in your community,
3) Send this URL to all your friends, post it to forums, put it on your personal pages, http://www.votestrike.com
4) Be a volunteer activist, CONTACT OMNI .
5) Take the lead and help organize a protest on 9/11 , CONTACT OMNI.
[Go to www.omnicenter.org for full newsletter]
SENATOR LINCOLN (202) 224-4843 Fax: (202) 228-1371.
Senator Mark Pryor: Phone: (202) 224-2353 Fax: (202) 228-0908 .
CONGRESSMAN Boozman: Lowell office: 479-725-0400.
DC address: 1708 Longworth House Office Bldng., Washington, DC 20515; 202-225-4301.
OMNI SEEKS A WORLD FREE OF WAR AND THE THREAT OF WAR, A SOCIETY WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL, A COMMUNITY WHERE EVERY PERSON’S POTENTIAL MAY BE FULFILLED, AN EARTH RESTORED. GRASSROOTS NONVIOLENCE, WORLD PEACE, HUMAN RIGHTS, SOCIAL and ECONOMIC JUSTICE, ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP PROTECTING SPECIES AND THE EARTH.
END OF NEWSLETTER #5 ON IMPEACHMENT, June 21, 2008
ANTHOLOGY #5 to IMPEACH BUSH AND CHENEY
OMNI
ANTHOLOGY #5 to IMPEACH BUSH AND CHENEY
, JUNE 21, 2008,
Compiled
by Dick Bennett FOR A CULTURE OF PEACE, JUSTICE, ECOLOGY, AND DEMOCRACY
Editor:
Dick Bennett (Previous Impeachment Newsletters, available in OMNI’s web site, www.omnicenter.org: 1) Dec. 7, 2006; 2)June 17,
2007; 3)October 25, 2007; 4) Feb. 12, 2008).
CONTENTS
Kucinich’s Articles of Impeachment
Iran and Impeachment
Possible Iranian Reactions
Ray McGovern
New Play
Impeachment Movement
New Hampshire Resolution
Brattleboro, VT on War Crimes
Kucinich Introduces Impeachment Articles
Against Bush
Tuesday 10 June
2008 by: Christopher Kuttruff, t r u t h o u t | Report
Congressman
Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduced 35 articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush late on
Monday during a speech on the House floor.
Kucinich,
a former contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, pointed to
"high crimes and misdemeanors" committed by the Bush administration,
including misrepresenting intelligence in the lead-up to the war, violating
domestic and international laws against torture, illegally spying on American
citizens, obstructing justice and governmental oversight, and dozens of other
violations.
The
impeachment resolution came four days after a June 5 Senate Select Intelligence
Committee report that
vigorously challenged statements made by the Bush administration regarding
military intelligence in the runup to the invasion of Iraq. Chairman of the
Senate Intelligence Committee John D. Rockefeller said in a press release,
"Before taking the country to war, this Administration owed it to the
American people to give them a 100 percent accurate picture of the threat we
faced. Unfortunately, our Committee has concluded that the Administration made
significant claims that were not supported by the intelligence."
"It
is my belief that the Bush Administration was fixated on Iraq, and used the
9/11 attacks by al Qa'ida as justification for overthrowing Saddam
Hussein," Rockefeller noted.
While
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and other members of the Democratic
leadership maintain that such a resolution is "off the table,"
Kucinich, along with a group of his colleagues, has consistently pressed for a
more urgent and direct response to the often unilateral and controversial
actions of the Bush administration.
Despite
the unlikeliness of impeachment gaining much traction in Congress, advocates of
such a resolution continue to demand greater accountability of the executive
branch.
As
Kucinich began to issue his remarks, shuffling and talking could be heard in
the background of the House chamber. Responding to the disarray, Kucinich
objected to the Speaker, "The House is not in order." After several
strikes of Pelosi's gavel, Kucinich started reading his articles into the
record.
"In
violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of
president ..." Kucinich stated, "George W. Bush ... both personally
and through his subordinates ... illegally spent public dollars on a secret
propaganda campaign to manufacture a false cause for war against Iraq."
Kucinich
started his speech by referencing a variety of news and intelligence reports
regarding White House communications, specifically the White House Iraq Group,
which was composed of senior officials (then-National Security Adviser
Condoleezza Rice, then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, Karl
Rove, then-Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen
Hughes, former chief of staff Andrew Card, then-chief of staff to the Vice
President I. Lewis Libby, then-White House press secretary Scott McClellan and
others) who "produced white papers detailing so-called intelligence of
Iraq's nuclear threat that later proved to be false." These papers
included later-debunked claims that Iraq sought uranium and specialized centrifuges
for enrichment.
These
claims, which were central to the administration's rationale for preemptive
action against Iraq, were used, according to Kucinich, to "market an
invasion of Iraq to the American people."
Kucinich
also noted that the White House Iraq Group papers "were written at same
time and by the same people as speeches and talking points prepared for
President Bush and for some of his top officials."
Congressman
Kucinich went on to challenge the administration's policies toward Iran, as
well as its conduct regarding military interrogations.
The
resolution comes days after a sharply written letter by 56 Congress members
requesting that Attorney General Michael Mukasey investigate potential crimes
committed by the Bush administration during the course of its interrogation
program. The letter, signed by House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Barney Frank,
Jan Schakowsky, Dennis Kucinich and other House Democrats, urged that the
seriousness of the evidence on the program warrants a thorough investigation by
a special counsel.
Revelations about
the Bush administration's interrogations policies, along with its systematic
practice of controlling information provided to the media and the American
people, led Kucinich to conclude that the president has "misled the
Congress and the citizens of the United States" and should be held
accountable for violating his oaths of office to "faithfully execute the
office of the president" and "preserve, protect, and defend the
Constitution."
CHRISTOPHER
KUTTRUFF IS AN EDITOR AND REPORTER FOR
TRUTHOUT.
|
Articles
of Impeachment Dear Friend: Under circumstances that can best be described as
"suspicious," the www.kucinich.us
website was crippled early this morning a few hours after Congressman Dennis
Kucinich introduced 35 extensively documented Articles of Impeachment against
President George W. Bush. Until we can restore the website and implement additional
security measures, you can find the full list and detailed Articles at If you would like to show your support for the Congressman's
efforts, please go to myinfo.kucinich.us to
offer your comments and provide us with contact information so that we can
continue to keep you informed. Thank you |
|
PO Box 110475 | Cleveland | OH | 44111 |
216-252-9000 |
FROM DAVE DAVISON OF PN0 ON KUCINICH’S ARTICLES OF
IMPEACHMENT
To Members & Friends of the Peace Network of the Ozarks,
We have all heard about Dennis Kucinich presenting 35
articles of impeachment against Bush to the House floor this last Monday
night. I watched it on C-SPAN, and he did such a good job to
emphasize the gross illegalities of the Bush-Cheny Adminsitration it took
him over four hours to make his presentation. On Tuesday night all of the
35 articles were read into the House Record. On Wednesday the House voted
to send the impeachment demand to the House Judiciary Committee.
We are planning an updated "Support Impeachment"
rally soon.
US PUBLIC FOR IMPEACHMENT
The other day, due to the Kucinich action in the House for
impeachment, MSNBC did a live poll on impeachment. Over 700,000 people
participated in the poll, which is a large enough segment to make the
wishes of America quite plain. I am showing you the MSNBC graph below that
indicates 89% of those polled approve, and want impeachment of the white house
crazies, starting at the top.
Peace. Dave |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“Full
House sends Articles of Impeachment to Judiciary”
Thursday, June 12, 2008 8:41 AM (from Larry W)
Submitted by Bob Fertik on June 11, 2008 - 2:47pm.
By a bipartisan
vote of 251-166,
the full House of Representatives sent Dennis Kucinich's 35
Articles of Impeachment to the Judiciary Committee.
That means Chairman John
Conyers now has the power to decide whether to hold impeachment hearings -
or not.
Incredibly, 24 Republicans voted with 227
Democrats; the 166 no votes came exclusively from Republicans.
So what will Conyers do? After the Downing Street Memo was
published on May 1, 2005, Democrats.com worked closely with Conyers to
hold the famous basement hearings featuring Cindy Sheehan, Ray McGovern, and
John Bonifaz. In August 2006, Conyers published all of the evidence of Bush's
crimes in The
Constitution in Crisis. Many of us believed he would begin impeachment
proceedings if Democrats won the House, which they did that November.
But in the spring of 2006, Nancy Pelosi declared impeachment
"off the table." And when Democrats took control and Conyers was
sworn in as Judiciary Chairman, he fell firmly into line behind the Speaker.
(Conyers insists Pelosi did not threaten to deny him the
Chairmanship.)
Since 2005, Conyers has received millions of impeachment
petitions. Hundreds if not thousands of activists have spoken to him
personally. But he remains adamantly opposed to hearings, for one simple
reason: he fears it will hurt the Democratic candidate for President (now
Barack Obama) in November.
http://www.democrats.com/house-sends-impeachment-to-john-conyers
LETTER
FROM PRES. OF PNO ON IRAN AND
IMPEACHMENT: WE, THE PEOPLE, MUST TAKE ACTION
From:
peacenetwork@ozarkpeace.net [mailto:peacenetwork@ozarkpeace.net]
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 12:21 PM
To: lgddavison@aol.com
Subject: The Prospective Attack On
Iran
To
Members & Friends of the Peace Network of the Ozarks,
The prospective attack on Iran is heating up.
Many of us are seeing the blathering Bush rhetoric on televsion, and reading
the latest internet reports of the Israeli practice attack maneuver that
describes the practice utilizing 100 war planes. This is getting more and
more serious, and all without correct methods of diplomacy by reasonable minded
men. The cowboy diplomacy and considerations of the Bush Adminstration
fall far short of understanding what agreements may be made, and what will
happen if Iran is attacked by the war mongerinig right wing leaders of
America and Israel.
Experts are saying that if the attack occurs the price
of oil will increase to $300 per barrel immediately. If we think we are
having a hard time in in our daily routines now in just moving around for the
necessary purposes of work and family, we haven't seen anything yet compared to
the difficultuties that will come to America and the entire world in energy
costs. What do we think that will cause in the American transportation
industry, the many trucking companies that serve America? Will food
and supplies be readily available to American shelves when the independent
truckers, the vast majority of trucks on the road, have to increase their
prices astronomically in order to stay alive in their business? What will
the price effects be in the insurance costs of the ocean going oil tankers
who will suffer war risks in their business? What do we think the
reaction of the entire world will be who will be equally affected by the
tremendously increased oil price?
Regardless of the administration's cowboy bravado, our
own military indicates large concerns in what the reaction to the attack
will be. Shiites throughout the middle east will unite to attack our
soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan as a minimum. Its no telling what the
reaction may be with retaliatory missile strikes on the nearby American bases,
and on Israel, and maybe on the oil fields. After all the back and forth
blathering for so many months in the poor cowboy tactics, do our leaders really
believe Iran has not taken many steps to withstand an attack with their most
lethal weapons that will respond to the attack?
This is crazy!!! Consequently there are a growing
number of notable Americans who are standing up for impeachment to begin as a
method to deter the attack and dramatically expanded war. The former
commander of American Forces in Kuwait stood up the other day to recommend
charges against Bush for war crimes. Ray McGovern, the former CIA analyst
we met in Springfield over a year ago, while undergoing treatment for
cancer, and many other notable Americans, are literally pounding on
the table for impeachment action before something really bad
happens. Kucinich is ready to go with another 25 articles of impeachment
additional to the the initial 35 articles presented to the House last
week... while the national Democratic leaders and the Judiciary Committee are
just sitting on their duff. It is time for our 2006 elected
leaders to stop fooling around and rolling over for their Bush tummy rub,
and AIPAC money in their bank accounts.
All Peace Keepers... let’s all write a letter to our
local newspaper reporter. The Springfield News-Leader has assigned a
bright, new, energetic reporter to cover such actions and events. His
name is Chad Livengood, and his email address is... mailto:clivengood@springfi.gannett.commailto:clivengood@springfi.gannett.comclivengood@springfi.gannett.com
[WHO ARE THE EQUIVALENT REPORTS WITH TMN, NAT, AND ADG?] Also please send a copy to PNO by pasting
it in an email you can punch back on the reply button, and we will print them
and hand carry them to the News-Leader. We will also hand deliver them to
local offices of Blunt and McCaskill. [GOOD IDEAS FOR US.]
Print this email and give it to others, your friends and
neighbors, with our email address... mailto:peacenetwork@ozarkpeace.netpeacenetwork@ozarkpeace.net [ANOTHER GOOD IDEA]
We NEED to pay attention to this, and we NEED your
help. Everybody please follow through with a letter. We have to
make the consequences of the very ill advised attack known to our
community.
I am embedding a copy of an article from this
morning. See below.
Thanks to all. We all always wish for peace, and
now it is time for us to pray in our own various ways for the insanity to be
halted in time.
Peace to all, including our many Republican friends who
have become much more aware of the poor leadership and their antics
in their quest for profit and oil, not to mention the poor economic
policies that are breaking our country's economy.
Dave Davison
Pres. PNO http://www.ozarkpeace.net/http://www.ozarkpeace.net/
How Iran would retaliate if it comes to war
Military analysts say the Islamic Republic
would strike back in unconventional ways - targeting American interests in Iraq
and Afghanistan.
By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of
The Christian Science Monitor from the June 20, 2008 edition
Istanbul, Turkey - Pressure is building on Iran. This week
Europe agreed to new sanctions and President Bush again suggested something
more serious - possible military strikes - if the Islamic Republic doesn't bend
to the will of the international community on its nuclear program.
But increasingly military analysts are warning of severe
consequences if the US begins a shooting war with Iran. While Iranian forces
are no match for American technology on a conventional battlefield, Iran has
shown that it can bite back in unconventional ways.
Iranian networks in Iraq and Afghanistan could imperil US
interests there; American forces throughout the Gulf region could be targeted
by asymmetric methods and lethal rocket barrages; and Iranian partners across
the region - such as Hezbollah in Lebanon - could be mobilized to engage in an
anti-US fight.
Iran's response could also be global, analysts say, but the
scale would depend on the scale of the US attack. "One very important
issue from a US intelligence perspective, [the Iranian reaction] is probably
more unpredictable than the Al Qaeda threat," says Magnus Ranstorp at the
Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defense College in
Stockholm.
"I doubt very much our ability to manage some of the
consequences," says Mr. Ranstorp, noting that Iranian revenge attacks in
the past have been marked by "plausible deniability" and have had
global reach.
"If you attack Iran you are unleashing a firestorm of
reaction internally that will only strengthen revolutionary forces, and
externally in the region," says Ranstorp. "It's a nightmare scenario
for any contingency planner, and I think you really enter the twilight zone if
you strike Iran."
Though the US military has since early 2007 accused Iran's
Qods Force - an elite element of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) -
of providing anti-US militias in Iraq with lethal roadside bombs, and of
training and backing "special groups" in actions that the US
government alleges have cost "thousands" of lives, US commanders have
played down Iran's military capabilities.
Even Admiral William Fallon, who publicly opposed a US
strike on Iran before he resigned in April, dismissed Iran as a military
threat. "Get serious," Adm. Fallon told Esquire in March. "These
guys are ants. When the time comes, you crush them."
But that has not kept Iran from rhetorical chest-beating,
with an active military manpower of 540,000 - the largest in the Middle East -
dependent on some of the lowest per capita defense spending in the region. Iran
"can deal fatal blows to aggressor America by unpredictable and creative
tactical moves," the senior commander Brig. Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid said in
late May. "It is meaningless to back down before an enemy who has targeted
the roots of our existence."
Iran's supreme religious leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali
Khamenei also warned of far-reaching revenge in 2006. "The Americans
should know that if they assault Iran, their interests will be harmed anywhere
in the world that is possible," he said. "The Iranian nation will
respond to any blow with double the intensity."
Analysts say Iran has a number of tools to make good on
those threats and take pride in taking on a more powerful enemy. "This is
not something they are shying away from," says Alex Vatanka, a Middle East
security analyst at Jane's Information Group in Washington.
"They say: 'Conventional warfare is not something we
can win against the US, but we have other assets in the toolbox,' " says
Mr. Vatanka, noting that the IRGC commander appointed last fall has been
"marketed as this genius behind asymmetric warfare doctrine."
"What they are really worried about is the idea of
massive aerial attacks on literally thousands of targets inside Iran,"
says Vatanka, also an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute. "Their
reading of America's intentions in that scenario would be twofold: One is to
obviously dismantle as much as possible the nuclear program; and [the other],
indirectly try to weaken the [Islamic] regime."
Any US-Iran conflict would push up oil prices, and though
Iran could disrupt shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf, its weak economy depends
on oil revenues.
But nearby US forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Gulf
provide a host of targets. Iran claimed last October that it could rain down
11,000 rockets upon "the enemy" within one minute of an attack and
that rate "would continue."
Further afield, Israel is within range of Iran's Shahab-3
ballistic missiles, and Hezbollah claims its rockets - enhanced and resupplied
by Iran since the 2006 war to an estimated 30,000 - can now hit anywhere in the
Jewish state, including its nuclear plant at Dimona.
Closer to home, Iran has honed a swarming tactic, in which
small and lightly armed speedboats come at far larger warships from different
directions. A classified Pentagon war game in 2002 simulated just such an
attack and in it the Navy lost 16 major warships, according to a report in The
New York Times last January.
"The sheer numbers involved overloaded their ability,
both mentally and electronically, to handle the attack," Lt. Gen. K. Van
Riper, a retired Marine Corps officer who commanded the swarming force, told
the Times. "The whole thing was over in five, maybe 10 minutes."
During the 1990s, Iranian agents were believed to be behind
the assassinations of scores of regime opponents in Europe, and German
prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Iran's intelligence minister.
Iran and Hezbollah are alleged to have collaborated in the
May 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in revenge for Israel's
killing of a Hezbollah leader months before. Argentine prosecutors charge that
they jointly struck again in 1994, bombing a Jewish community center in the
Argentine capital that killed 85, one month after Israel attacked a Hezbollah
base in Lebanon.
With some 30,000 on the payroll by one count, Iranian
intelligence "is a superpower in intelligence terms in the region; they
have global reach because of their reconnaissance ability and quite
sophisticated ways of inflicting pain," says Ranstorp. "They have
been expanding their influence.... Who would have predicted that Argentina
would be the area that Hezbollah and the Iranians collectively would
respond?"
Past examples show that "Tehran recognizes that at
times its interest are best served by restraint," says a report on
consequences of a strike on Iran published this week by Patrick Clawson and
Michael Eisenstadt of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
But Iran could target the US, too, depending on the
magnitude of any US strike. "Iran's capacity for terror and subversion
remains one of its most potent levers in the event of a confrontation with the
United States," says the report, adding that "success" in
delaying Iran's nuclear programs could backfire.
If "US and world opinion were so angered by the strikes
that they refused to support further pressure against Iran's nuclear ambitions,
then prevention could paradoxically [eventually ensure] Iran's open pursuit of
nuclear weapons," concludes the report.
And the long list of unconventional tactics should not be
taken for granted in Tehran, says Vatanka, noting that the Islamic system's top
priority is survival.
"So the Iranians have to be careful," says
Vatanka. "Just because the US doesn't have the will right now, or the
ability to produce the kind of stick that they would fear, doesn't mean the way
of confrontation is going to pay off for them in the long run."
Two articles from Ray McGovern. In between is a message from Chris
Rice about how to mobilize. (From Babs Bakie)
“Cheney
Impeachment Not Off the Table” By Ray McGovern, Consortium News
Posted on March 21, 2008, Printed on May 25, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/story/79761/
You
would not know it for the news blackout, but New Yorkers of Rep. Jerrold
Nadler's district held a Town Hall/Impeachment Forum last Sunday to encourage
Nadler, chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, to begin
impeachment proceedings against Vice President Dick Cheney.
Panelists
included former congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman, former Reagan Justice
Department attorney Bruce Fein, human rights attorney and Harper's commentator
Scott Horton, and John Nirenberg, the activist who at the turn of the year
walked from Boston to Washington, D.C., in a futile attempt to meet with House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi on impeachment.
The
organizers had asked me to be on the panel, but I had to send regrets and
submitted a statement instead (see below). A video of the proceedings will be
posted on afterdowningstreet.org.
Taking Stock
In
a post mortem the next evening, the organizers reflected on what seemed to be a
mixed picture of good and bad news.
On
the positive side, Judson Memorial Church was crammed to overflowing with 300
folks. And this, despite the fact that most were already aware that Nadler had
announced (late Friday afternoon) that he would be a no-show. He did not even
send a representative.
The
panelists' remarks were compelling. Blame for inaction on impeachment was laid
squarely on our invertebrate Congress. (But ouch, that familiar whining can get
a bit tiresome.)
The
audience was described as well-educated, nonfringe, and polite.
On
the negative side, despite Herculean efforts to interest the "mainstream
media," no one showed. And the enthusiasm of those hardy souls trying to
spur action on impeachment was dampened by continuing frustration at the
obstacles, as politicians like Nadler continue to put political expedience
above their sworn duty to protect and defend the Constitution.
Tories back in charge
It
took some 230 years, but the Tories are back in charge -- I mean the Nadlers,
the Conyers, the Pelosis, so bereft of the courage of our forebears to defy a
new King George, preferring to let him dis us the people and trash the
Constitution. Remember those stirring final words of the Declaration of
Independence? "We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes,
and our sacred honor." We have come a long way. Surely, the Founders are
rolling over in their graves.
Many
of our forebears were also well-educated and nonfringe; fortunately, they were
NOT polite.
Is
it not clear, finally, that the time for politeness is over?
It
is up to us, now, whether we shall have constitutional separation of powers or
shall have kings. It is up to us whether an unrestrained executive will be able
to march our children and grandchildren off to an endless series of resource
wars likely to dominate this century.
The
time for talking is over. Impeachment proceedings must begin. And no one is
going to get that done but us.
We
need to acknowledge that one of the hurdles is outrage fatigue; it is hard to
decide where to start among the many high crimes and misdemeanors of which Vice
President Cheney is demonstrably guilty. From my perspective as a former
intelligence officer, we certainly cannot allow to escape censure Cheney's
conjuring up false "intelligence" to justify what Nuremberg defined
as the "supreme international crime" -- a war of aggression -- in
Iraq.
My
colleagues and I in Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity could see
what was happening early on. That is why, in the first appeal of its kind by an
intelligence alumni group, we wrote to President George W. Bush on July 14,
2003: "We strongly recommend that you ask for Cheney's immediate
resignation (Memorandum for the President, "Intelligence Unglued").
As
I mention in my statement to the NYC Town Hall, former CIA director George
Tenet has since written that Cheney's warmongering "went well beyond what
our analysis would support," and apparently came as something of a
surprise to the president himself.
The
Founders knew that, human nature being what it is, abuses like these were
inevitable somewhere down the line. That's why they took such pains to provide
an orderly political procedure to enable us to deal promptly and responsibly
with such high crimes and misdemeanors. I doubt it ever entered their minds
that their successors, for perceived partisan political advantage, would shun
that orderly procedure upon which so much now depends.
The
process is called impeachment; the rules are clear.
All
it takes is courage. And I do not refer here to the invertebrates in Congress.
I
mean us. Can we handle the truth? Can we press for our rights as courageously
as the Founders? Everything hinges on our answers to these questions.
Chris
Rice www.votestrike.com:
Sooner or later all freedom loving Americans will realize
that the only
way to stop those who would bleed our nation dry, dismantle our
constitution, and dissolve our national sovereignty is to say I will
not
work for you, buy from you, fight for you, or die for you, until the
criminals are gone from the halls of our government.
Call to action: No
work, No school on September 11, 2008. It also includes "no
shopping;" a suspension of all purchasing during the strike. 75% of our
economy is consumer spending, when Bush says to shop, we must STOP!
The general strike calls for participants to "Hit
the Streets." But why spend our time
protesting in DC to be ignored? Unless we get in the streets outside our rep’s
personal residences- who is going to care?
We need to mobilize locally- &
demand national action. Few of us could go to Washington, DC- but many of us-
can go to our city halls or state legislatures- or local Congressional offices.
Tell the government
that we're fed up with lies, war, torture, corruption, & special interest
funding our elections & our media.
Strikes have brought
civil rights in the U.S. & around the world. Help make our voices louder
than the mainstream media & corporate dollars.
"It is not the function of our
Government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of
the citizen to keep the Government from falling into error".
U.S. Supreme Court, in American
Communication Association v. Douds, 339 U.S. 382, 442
In order to get
involved, here are the five best steps to take
now:
1) Sign up with your email address HERE in order to get updates,
2) Mark the day on your calendar and
plan to be at a protest in your community,
3) Send this URL to all your friends,
post it to forums, put it on your personal pages, http://www.votestrike.com
4) Be a volunteer activist, ask us how.
5) Take the lead and help organize a
protest on 9/11
--------------------------------------------------
SECOND
STATEMENT BY RAY MCGOVERN
“Is Impeachment Necessary to Protect
the Constitution?”
Town Hall Meeting/Impeachment Forum
March 9, 2008
Congressman
Nadler, I am Ray McGovern, born and bred in the Bronx a bit north of your
district.
I
regret not being able to be with you in person to give my perspective on
whether impeachment is necessary to protect the Constitution -- and
specifically, whether the manufacturing of false intelligence to
"justify" an unprovoked war fits the category of "high crime or
misdemeanor."
I
was an analyst at the CIA for 27 years after serving as an Army
infantry/intelligence officer in the early '60s. You may recall that we first
met on June 16, 2005, in the basement of the Capitol, the only room made
available to congressman John Conyers to take testimony on the Downing Street
Minutes.
The
minutes were the official British record of a briefing of then-Prime Minister
Tony Blair on July 23, 2002. At that briefing, the chief of British
intelligence reported on his discussions with his counterpart in Washington,
who told him three days earlier that, President George W. Bush had decided to
make war on Iraq and that "the intelligence and facts were being fixed
around the policy."
In
my testimony in the Capitol that day I drew attention to the words of Vice
President Dick Cheney on August 26, 2002 -- words that framed the discussion
for the next 45 days during which Congress was deliberately misled into giving
the president approval to make war on Iraq.
This
is what Cheney said:
"We
now know that Saddam has resumed his efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. Among
other sources, we've gotten this from the firsthand testimony of defectors --
including Saddam's own son-in-law."
This
was a lie.
Saddam's
son-in-law told us just the opposite when he defected in 1995.
You
can find it on page 13 of his debriefing report. He said: "All weapons --
biological, chemical, missile, nuclear were destroyed."
Cheney
continued:
"Simply
stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass
destruction ... Many of us are convinced that [Saddam] will acquire nuclear
weapons fairly soon."
In
a memoir published last year, then CIA Director George Tenet complained that
Cheney did not follow the usual practice of clearing the speech with the CIA,
and that what Cheney said "went well beyond what our analysis could
support." Tenet added his "impression" that "the president
really wasn't any more aware of what his number two was going to say."
Yet, Tenet admits that he did not raise the issue with either the president or
vice president. Tenet was all too well aware that the intelligence was being "fixed
around the policy."
The power to intimidate
Intimidated
by the vice president, Tenet ended up ordering his analysts, my former
colleagues, to prepare a National Intelligence Estimate to Cheney's terms of
reference -- you remember, the one that said Iraq had weapons of mass
destruction and ties with al-Qaeda; the NIE that appeared just ten days before
Congress voted to give the president the power to make war on Iraq.
Col.
Lawrence Wilkerson, who was chief of staff to then Secretary of State Colin
Powell, and who chaired the preparation of Powell's Feb. 5, 2003, speech at the
United Nations, was asked about all this when Wilkerson testified before
Congress on June 26, 2006.
The
question came from Republican Congressman Walter Jones of North Carolina: Why
was it that a small number of individuals got so much power in the
administration that they "had more influence than the professionals?"
Wilkerson
gave a three-word answer: "the vice president."
Torture
It
is an open secret that Vice President Cheney was, and continues to be the prime
mover behind torture. As some will recall, speaking on open radio Cheney called
the use of water boarding a "no-brainer."
It
was his lawyer, David Addington, who prepared the Jan. 25, 2002, memorandum
signed by then White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, recommending that the laws
against torture could be circumvented.
George
Bush applied that advice in his own presidential memorandum of Feb. 7, 2002,
launching our country onto "the dark side," as Cheney has put it.
That memorandum opened the gaping loophole through which the administration
drove the Mack truck of torture.
High
crimes? Misdemeanors? Who will argue the point?
The Constitution
Congressman
Nadler, articles of impeachment for Dick Cheney have sat in your in-box since
last November. You are chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the
Constitution; you have refused to take action.
As
an Army officer I took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the
United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic. You took that same basic
oath as a congressman.
With
all due respect, let me suggest you have a duty to act on that oath -- and not
on some promise you may have made to avoid anything that could be viewed as
divisive and thus jeopardize Democratic Party election wins in November.
I
hope you will agree that the transcendent value is to protect the Constitution,
and for that, impeachment is indeed necessary. Please take the articles of
impeachment regarding Dick Cheney out of your in-box and launch the
investigation.
Thank you. Ray McGovern
Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern is
co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.
© 2008 Consortium News All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/79761/
NEW
PLAY ON IMPEACHMENT
We have some incredible news, we're doing a PLAY!!!
On her way back from the Take Back America Conference last week Shirley Golub,
who is challenging Nancy Pelosi for the Democratic primary nomination in San
Francisco in June, heard from a playwright working with impeachment scholar
Bruce Fein on a new impeachment passion play with a socko surprise ending that
will have you on your feet clapping and cheering, and Shirley has stepped up to
finance a
full legit theater production of this inspirational and education! all new
play, and with your help we can make it happen in a couple weeks.
Picture this scene in your mind.
The audience is cast as the members of the U.S. Senate hearing evidence in the
impeachment trial of George Bush and Dick Cheney. With all the damning evidence
presented of their many high crimes, the lies to go to war, the illegal
wiretaps, the secret torture of detainees, the outing of a CIA agent, the law
defying signing statements and everything else, it looks very bad for Bush and
Cheney
for anyone with a fair, open and patriotic mind. But Bush still remains
arrogant, and at the end he taunts the audience, thinking he will still be able
to skate away from the whole thing.
"And that's why I'm going to finish my term ! as your president . . . and
who's going to stand up to stop me?" And there is silence in the theater.
And then . . . we hear a single voice from the back of the audience, calling
out in loud voice from the dark.
"I . . . I will stand up. I will for impeachment."
And whole audience turns their heads to see who this person is who has stood up
to protect and defend the Constitution.
And then we hear another voice from the other side of the audience, just as
brave and courageous,
"I . . . I too will stand up. Now there are two of us standing together.
If that's all it took to make it happen, to just stand up in our seats right
now, will we do it?"
And then another and another, and it turns in to a standing ovation with
everyone clapping and cheering, "Impeach, Impeach!!!".
THE END of the Bush/Cheney nightmare.
Have you got a lump in your throat? Is that amazing or what? To have an
inspirational mobilizing vehicle, where people can actually visualize what it
would be like to make impeachment happen now, with your help.
Impeachment Play Donations; http://www.shirley08.com/donations.phphttp://www.shirley08.com/donations.php
Paid for by Shirley Golub for Congress
If you would like to get alerts like these, you can do so at
http://www.shirley08.com/in.htmhttp://www.shirley08.com/in.htm
Care2 -
The "On
The Table" Impeachment Movement Spreads, More ...
|
Care2 - The largest
progressive online community - Free! |
FindLaw's
Writ - Dean: Refocusing the Impeachment Movement on ...
|
Dec 15, 2006 ... There is a well-organized and
growing movement to impeach ... that impeachment
of Bush or Cheney would be off the table
if they won control ... |
Flash:
The "On
The Table" Impeachment Movement Spreads, More ...
|
about the growing "On The Table" impeachment movement, and take heart
that in just the next couple months we can apply enough pressure ... |
A28
|
Grassroots Impeachment Movement · Green Party of
the United States .... our I.M.P.E.A.C.H spell out with our table cloths we did get many a good
shot of our ... |
Movement to impeach George
W. Bush - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
5 Criticism of the impeachment movement; 6 See also; 7
References; 8 Further reading ......
"Impeachment Should Be on the Table": Rep. Keith
Ellison (D-MN). ... |
Whoa!
Murtha Puts Impeachment
On The Table on Face The Nation ...
|
Murtha Puts Impeachment On The Table on Face The
Nation ... Murtha's comments are a
huge step forward for the impeachment
movement and for Congressional ... |
Maverick Republican Drops WC Bomb on
Bush/Cheney
Headlined on 2/20/08:
by
Dan DeWalt
In a packed hearing
room on Feb 19th, under a carved wooden sign reading "Live Free or
Die"-, the New Hampshire House committee of State-Federal Relations and
Veterans' Affairs heard testimony on Representative Betty Hall's HR 24, which
calls on the U.S. Congress to begin impeachment hearings for George W. Bush and
Dick Cheney.
What was most notable about the four straight hours of testimony was not that
opponents of the resolution could only muster two people willing to testify
against it, both Republican stalwarts using selected excerpts from Jefferson's
parliamentary manual or from the bill itself, whose arguments were
embarrassingly empty….
The
most remarkable moment came late in the afternoon when Republican House member
Steve Vaillancourt strode into the room to testify. After passing out copies of
the second chapter of Patrick Buchanan's "Day of Reckoning"- as
supporting evidence, Vaillancourt opened his remarks quoting "fools rush
in where wise men fear to tread"-, and it sounded like a set up to condemn
a rush to impeach. But instead he said that Betty Hall is neither fool nor wise
man, but is a model of courage and that her impeachment resolution should be
supported.
And then the fun began.
http://www.opednews
.com/articles/ opedne_dan_ dewa_080220_ maverick_ republican_ .htm
Impeach Bush & Cheney
for War Crimes
& Crimes against Humanity!
BRATTLEBORO, VT
VOTERS AND IN ANOTHER TOWN CALL FOR THE INDICTMENT OF BUSH AND CHENEY FOR WAR
CRIMES. TMN (3-5-08).
SENATOR LINCOLN (202) 224-4843 Fax: (202) 228-1371.
Fayetteville office:
251-1380
Senator Mark Pryor:
Phone: (202) 224-2353 Fax: (202) 228-0908
CONGRESSMAN
Boozman: Lowell office: 479-725-0400.
DC
address: 1708 Longworth House Office Bldng., Washington, DC 20515;
202-225-4301.
OMNI SEEKS A WORLD FREE OF WAR AND THE THREAT OF WAR, A
SOCIETY WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL, A COMMUNITY WHERE EVERY PERSON’S
POTENTIAL MAY BE FULFILLED, AN EARTH RESTORED.
GRASSROOTS NONVIOLENCE, WORLD PEACE, HUMAN RIGHTS, SOCIAL and ECONOMIC
JUSTICE, ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP PROTECTING SPECIES AND THE EARTH.
END OF NEWSLETTER
#5 ON IMPEACHMENT, June 21, 2008
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