MWM: This study, described below, could have been performed monthly during the time under question by diligent organizations guarding the true common interest of the people, as indeed is being done now as related to Iran by many Iway groups. I guess it is kind of nice to have numbers to use but they are hardly necessary. Cornplanter correctly points to our collective dilemma: the 2008 candidates are totally avoiding the issue of the massive political dishonesty and shame in which the American people find themselves mired as a result of this collective abuse. No significant change in this people and their practices are possible UNTIL this central psychological issue is brought front and center and expurged through real acts. The abuse cannot be really stopped until it is all hung out for everyone to see. The NY Media Warlocks are attempting to repress this from happening through denial and distraction and they appear to have entrained the candidates into using the greatest mechanism of repression: raking fears about economic security.
I am afraid they are going to succeed on this go-round.
From: --- cornplanter
Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:53:42 -0700
Subject: [phoenix-quest] Yahoo! ran this AP story:
We all know the lies were knowingly distributed to the media and the
world.... but this is the first time I have seen it "matter-of-factly"
set forth by the very media which has supported the Bush Iraq Campaign
and promoted the criminals in power.
I see no politician in position to win the US presidency who will
back-track on the lies and do anything to change things, except a
couple of candidates who are being "censored" by the media and kept as
much as possible from getting favorable or any coverage.
-CP
Study: False statements preceded war
By DOUGLAS K. DANIEL, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found
that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of
false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the
two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.
The study concluded that the statements "were part of an orchestrated
campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the
process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses."
The study was posted Tuesday on the Web site of the Center for Public
Integrity, which worked with the Fund for Independence in Journalism.
White House spokesman Scott Stanzel did not comment on the merits of
the study Tuesday night but reiterated the administration's position
that the world community viewed Iraq's leader, Saddam Hussein, as a
threat.
"The actions taken in 2003 were based on the collective judgment of
intelligence agencies around the world," Stanzel said.
The study counted 935 false statements in the two-year period. It found
that in speeches, briefings, interviews and other venues, Bush and
administration officials stated unequivocally on at least 532 occasions
that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or was trying to produce or
obtain them or had links to al-Qaida or both.
"It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass
destruction or have meaningful ties to al-Qaida," according to Charles
Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith of the Fund for Independence in Journalism
staff members, writing an overview of the study. "In short, the Bush
administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous
information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in
military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003."
Named in the study along with Bush were top officials of the
administration during the period studied: Vice President Dick Cheney,
national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Defense Secretary
Paul Wolfowitz and White House press secretaries Ari Fleischer and
Scott McClellan.
Bush led with 259 false statements, 231 about weapons of mass
destruction in Iraq and 28 about Iraq's links to al-Qaida, the study
found. That was second only to Powell's 244 false statements about
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 10 about Iraq and al-Qaida.
The center said the study was based on a database created with public
statements over the two years beginning on Sept. 11, 2001, and
information from more than 25 government reports, books, articles,
speeches and interviews.
"The cumulative effect of these false statements amplified by
thousands of news stories and broadcasts was massive, with the media
coverage creating an almost impenetrable din for several critical
months in the run-up to war," the study concluded.
"Some journalists indeed, even some entire news organizations have
since acknowledged that their coverage during those prewar months was
far too deferential and uncritical. These mea culpas notwithstanding,
much of the wall-to-wall media coverage provided additional,
'independent' validation of the Bush administration's false statements
about Iraq," it said.
Yeah.
I read that story and I just have to sit here for a few minutes...what is it....disgust? sadness? No, that's not nearly deep enough...déjà vu, for sure. Anger? Yes, by God! And no, not really. But that sadness....how do you watch your nation die an obscene death? It's like watching your idol become fat and bloated, and then die in the bathroom while eating a Twinkie and having diarrhea: you really don't want to be there. But we are, and it stinks.
Well, you do what a servant does, what a steward does. You start cleaning up the mess and planning the funeral. But beyond that, you begin thinking about your next job.
But if I've learned anything from the TC (and I think I've learned several things), it is that the Divine really is everywhere and in everything. The paradox is that there is no darkness without the light. The light creates the darkness by its lack, even though it vanquishes it as soon as it touches it. This is not a koan that we can unwind.
Bush and his people have got the pedal to the metal. They're pushing the envelope beyond reason. I don't know if they are insane or what. It doesn't really matter. Something's going to explode. A real depression would take the wind out of Bush's sails faster than you could say depleted uranium, and maybe that will happen. Maybe it's part of what they want to happen.
As I was growing up and growing older, one of the things I prayed often for was "to see the Big Picture." When that prayer began to be granted, it terrified me at first. But as I've learned to really see the Divine at work in everything - as I've learned that reality really is just me and God, which is just me which is nothing at all which is also you which is everything - I've learned that I can't possibly see the whole picture, and the part I can see, because it does extend into the future a ways, comforts me.
Still. How do we look the world in the face again? Ask the Germans. I don't know the answer to that one. How do we express the depth of our sorrow, our anguish, our shame? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.
D
Dave, Thank you for your perceptions and your honesty.
When I look at the adversities in my own life, the problems of abuse and poverty I grew up with, and my own mistakes I have made and overcome, I thought I had finally experienced the worst of life. But the shier scope of this last 7 years now outlined in this very honest report, is a numbing effect. It cannot be denied and as difficult as such a proceeding would be, I feel that the group of despots that are responsible for this must be brought before the world court.
I have been before the court myself because of the mistakes I made in my life and I have gone through the sentencing and shame of going to prison for my mistakes, but I also understand that this was a necessary transition in order to get to this very point in my own life. So in that respect I can say "I have been there, I have done that." And the highlight of that experience for me was a Transformation that very literally took place one night in the prison washroom as I stood before the mirror shaving. "Alone that night after most had gone to bed, I faced myself in the mirror. I looked deep into those eyes that were reflecting back at me. I knew the moment had come – I started to choke up, tears ran down into the soap on my face. I said, "Carl, I forgive you – Carl, . . . I love you. The tears continued like a river and then I said. Carl – I forgive you, because . . . I love you." And suddenly that love filled me to overflowing.
Dave, I know that LOVE is the answer, but I cannot force that reality on any other person. That is what each of us must find out for our selves. Even God will not force that realization upon us. And so in the same way, I realize that we cannot force that reality on our world leaders. But there must be some way that we can say, OK, enough is enough, and for what ever it will take, we have not only the right, but our duty as members of this world order, to bring these people before the court of justice – If for no other reason than to STOP this madness from continuing. The same as society has the right to restrain anyone from bringing harm against another person.
That is the bottom line. WIthout that as a solution, nothing in this life is any longer rational.
Carl Azcar
I am really touched by what you wrote Carl. Thank you. It seems to me that politics here and perhaps everywhere, is corrupt and may be beyond redemption--which is not to say don't participate but rather don't expect much. I agree with Fred that the change that is coming is coming from below, from us and not the bought, bribed or threatened politicians. From the inner work that allows us to open our own hearts in forgiveness, compassion and understanding a redeemed world can emerge.
Blessings,
John
I feel that the group of despots that are responsible for this must be brought before the world court.
Carl, nothing would make me happier to see this take place, especially if it could happen as a result of our own congress and courts. If we fail to do this, we'll lose even more worldwide credibility and respect. We don't have too much left to lose. I can't say I have faith that it WILL happen.
Dave, I know that LOVE is the answer, but I cannot force that reality on any other person.
No, we can't do that. It's occurred to me to wonder where Bush will go, where he will live. In this country, he would be a pariah almost everywhere - another OJ. I read somewhere that Cheney has bought property in Costa Rica. Carl, your description of forgiving yourself is very moving. I have this perverse parody in my mind of Bush breaking down and forgiving himself in the prison mirror. What a pathetic human being. In a strange way, I pity him deeply.
8-D