Picasso Dreams

Making War for Pleasure

"[I]f it shall become necessary, to repel invasion, the President may, without violation of the Constitution, cross the line, and invade the territory of another country; and that whether such necessity exists in any given case, the President is to be the sole judge."

- William H. Herndon in a letter to his former law partner, Abraham Lincoln -

"Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such a purpose -- and you allow him to make war at pleasure. If today, he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada, to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, 'I see no probability of the British invading us' but he will say to you, 'Be silent; I see it, if you don't.'"

- Abraham Lincoln in response to the letter from William H. Herndon, Feb. 15, 1848 -

George W. Bush has said Abraham Lincoln was the President he most admired. Too bad he did not heed Lincoln's words.

Something New to Swallow

The latest culinary trend?  From the kitchens of the country that made the deadly Puffership a menu staple, here comes a new form of haute cuisine - fish sperm.

Santoro Japanese Restaurant sushi chef Chong Y K said fish sperm is an acquired taste, not something many people take to very well after their first bite. Still, he recommends eating it raw.

This creamy-white delicacy melts in your mouth and is practically tasteless, save for a tinge of bitterness.

Hey, girls, mmm, protein!  And no calories!  If I had more caffeine in me, I could probably come up with some zingers, but it's late and I am depressed that the Astro's blew their lead to the Cardinals.  (At least the Red Sox kicked ass and beat those loser Yankees in Yankee stadium!  Yeah!  Now back to our regularly scheduled rant about fish semen.)  Since the prose is lackluster, I'll leave you with this image to ponder:

Intrigued by this new delicacy?  Click here to read of more about Japan's haute cuisine.  Bats, lizards, goat brains (tastes line tofu), or for the true connoisseur, goat veins.

 

"Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties"

The great uniter has managed to divide his biggest supporters. I wonder which "man of God" they'll believe. I was in the midst of trying to compose my thoughts when I stumbled onto this article by Cary W. Blankenship.

Found on Political Strategy - The Art of War

Bush Aides Call Pat Robertson a Liar

By Cary W. Blankenship

It is truly incredible. White House Spokesman Scott McClellan said "The president never made such a comment," This is in reference Pat Robertson recalling George W. Bush telling him that “Oh, no, we’re not going to have any casualties.” This was before the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Bush Aides Call Robertson a Liar

Karen Hughes, political advisor to Bush stated that Karl Rove was present at the meeting in Nashville on February 10, 2003 and that Bush never said there wouldn’t be casualties.

Even Karl Rove Says Robertson is Lying

Just for the record Pat Robertson stands by his statement and his support for George W. Bush.

9th Commandment; "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour." In other words thou shalt not lie.

So let me get this straight. God told Pat Robertson this would be a mess and he thought to ask Bush about the casualties. However, God told Bush it would be all right and don’t worry “gotcha covered.” OK so who does God really talk to and which one is a liar?

Ben Bradlee: "We should call Bush a liar""

Translation found on the WRH letters page.

READER: Mike, I have translated the Ben Bradlee Spiegel interview from the German. It may not be perfect, it's a rushed job, but consider it a small contribution.

SPIEGEL ONLINE - October 21, 2004, 15:26
URL: http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/gesellschaft/0,1518,324226,00.html

Interview with Watergate Legend Ben Bradlee

"We should call Bush a liar "

As chief editor of the Washington Post, Ben Bradlee revealed Richard Nixon’s lies about Watergate and compelled the American president to resign. In this interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE Bradlee asks his colleagues to deal likewise with George W. Bush.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: You chased the liar Nixon out of the White House in 1974. Was that a lesson for politicians, a lesson that they should stay closer to the truth?

Bradlee: Unfortunately often with terrible consequences. Just think of Lyndon B. Johnson and his dramatic speech about the alleged Vietnamese attack on US warships in the Gulf of Tonkin. In 1964 the Congress gave him the power to wage war on Vietnam for this. If voters had known at the time that the attack never took place, think how many might still be alive today. And our country would never have lost its trust in politicians the way it has.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Does the press not share part of the blame for this? Nearly all Americans, including the "Washington Post" avoid and step back from calling Bush a liar on account of the Iraq war.

(sidebar)Ben Bradlee, 83, is possibly the most influential American journalist of the twentieth century. During his time as chief editor of the "Washington Post" (1968-1991) the paper discovered in the "Pentagon Papers" the truth of the Vietnam war and as a result of its Watergate research compelled Richard Nixon to resign.

Bradlee: Oh, I think they ought clearly to call him a liar in their leading articles. There have been some commentaries on WMD which go almost as far as this. But as journalists we are frightened of calling someone a liar. During Watergate we knew that the Nixon administration was lying in our faces. We could have written at the time: "Richard Nixon explained today that he could not speak about Watergate, because these are matters of national security. That is a lie." But I would have felt uncomfortable with this. American reporters want to report objectively, and not rush to judgment. We put our trust in the truth coming out, bit by bit.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: The "Washington Post" and the "New York Times" seem to be feeling a tiny bit guilty already. Both papers have apologised for their overly uncritical reporting of the Iraq war.

Bradlee: Of course, and they were too slow about it. They believed the administration’s explanations for too long. And of course after September 11, 2001 the Republicans were skilful at burying every critical report under a wave of patriotism.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Such a climate demands much greater courage and spine to call a lie a lie.

Bradlee: If as a journalist in the US you mess with the best connected elements of the religious right, then you get into genuine difficulties. And it’s also a problem of research. In the Lewinsky scandal it was easy to call Bill Clinton a liar, because it was all so clear. With Bush you have to do research. It’s true that there a thousands of newspapers in the US, but many publishers won’t pay for background reporting. At the "Washington Post" Katharine Graham, the publisher, supported me and Watergate reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein while the White House was threatening to destroy her whole publishing enterprise.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: So will politicians keep on lying?

Bradlee: It’s got to be getting harder for them. Society has become much more mistrustful over the last few decades – on account of Vietnam, on account of Watergate. And also on account of equal rights: women who work in leading positions in society or the media today don’t want emulate the secretiveness and lies of men.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: But will that be reflected in critical reporting?

Bradlee: After Watergate many smarter, more critical people went into journalism. Now they have to pull themselves together and do their homework: why is he telling me this? Is it really true? And where can I find independent sources to verify the story?

Interviewer: Gregor Schmit

Bush, Kerry and Sinclair Broadcasting

Sinclair is more than broadcasting
Sinclair's connections explains the Kerry hit piece it wanted to broadcast

By Karl W. B. Schwarz
Online Journal Contributing Writer

Originally published here.

October 20, 2004—Many Americans do not know that before his days of crime at Enron, Andy Fastow was intimately involved in another "American Energy and Finance Scam" named Penn Central and that sleazy deal wound up toppling Continental Illinois Bank at a taxpayer costs of billions.

Andy Fastow was an employee at Continental Illinois Bank and learned his "Special Purpose Entity (SPE)" skills from Michael Milken and others and was hired by Enron because he did so well at hiding stuff at Continental Illinois. In short, he was a trained and "uncaught" criminal already that was recruited to Enron to do the same.

Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw (Richard Ben Veniste's law firm and him on the 9-11 Commission) prides itself in offshore SPEs to circumvent US law (ask Cheney), hide assets, offshore games, SPEs, etc., and was the major law firm representing Enron. Probably are still representing Cayman Islands based Prisma Energy International. Many of those Fastow SPEs were Cayman Islands entities.

Most Americans do not know that Continental Illinois was based in Chicago, and so are the law firms of Mayer Brown, Rowe & Maw (Richard Ben Veniste, 9-11 Commission) and Winston Strawn (former Illinois Republican Governor James Thompson, also 9-11 Commission member).

If you look under Prisma Energy international" "Corporate Governance" —there are many former Enron International and Halliburton people involved in the post-bankruptcy Enron. This is an excellent example of the "hired help" stealing the company from its owners (shareholders and vested employees).

The reason that I point this out is that I learned many years ago to dig deeper than one inch to effect "due diligence" and know the facts. We have a situation where Sinclair Broadcasting had made it clear they intended to run a very negative film documentary about John Kerry, titled Stolen Honor. Now, that could be partisanship, or maybe there is a "highly-motivated party" here in Sinclair as to why they are taking such actions. They have come before this nation without clean hands and I will show you why that is so.

Dig deep folks and always– follow the money.

"FOLSOM, Calif., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ﾗJadoo Power Systems, Inc (Jadoo), a leading provider of portable power products, was awarded a contract to develop power systems for the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM). The program's goal is to reduce the weight of energy storage carried in the field by the Special Forces . . ."

While the award of a government contract is not always newsworthy, a closer look reveals this:

"Jadoo Power Systems, Inc. (Jadoo) is a market-focused company that has developed next-generation portable energy storage and power generation products. Jadoo is a privately-held company with individual and organizational investors."

The two investors listed are:

1. Sinclair Ventures: a wholly owned subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. and

2. Contango Capital Management: formed to bring capital to innovative entrepreneurs who are working hard to answer the energy challenges facing our world today and in the near future.

We know who Sinclair is (Stolen Honor), but check out where some Enron and Harvard Business School people now work: Contango Capital Partners—look at John Berger's "resume"

John Berger Managing Partner Contango Capital Partners Mr. Berger is a founding partner of the General Partner and its Managing Partner. Mr. Berger has over eight years of experience in the energy industry, during which he managed energy trading books for Enron Corporation and initiated development of the new Enron Premium Power Division. As a Manager, he made the previously unprofitable southeast short term trading operation for the Enron East Power Trading Division profitable by approximately $30 million over a two year period. Under his management, the southeast short term trading operation successfully administered the largest long-term customer deal in the industry, and increased the average daily volume in the southeast trading hub by ten times the former volume. Mr. Berger also managed the Enron Hourly Trading Desk, and operated a utility system in the southeastern United States. At Enron Energy Services he led and developed Enron's corporate strategy for new energy technologies and energy reliability financial products. In addition, Mr. Berger spearheaded development, investment, and partnership opportunities in fuel cell technologies.

Hmm, what a catchy name for a venture capital fund, "Con-tango."

That Berger division of Enron is the exact one that was plundering the State of California. Both Enron and El Paso executives have pleaded guilty to criminal charges and Mr. Berger gets to go out and do more deals. Criminal charges are also pending against Dynegy in California too.

Guess what, Enron, Dynegy, and El Paso are all involved in Pakistan and the Caspian Basin and would all benefit from the forced removal of the Taliban and Bridas Corporation.

Of course, he worked under Thomas White, vice chairman of that Enron division that was promoted by Bush to Secretary of the Army during the period of time that BUSH & Co were planning and practicing the assault on Afghanistan and BRIDAS CORPORATION and take over that Afghanistan pipeline.

Criminal charges were pending, and now confirmed with an Enron executive pleading guilty in California and an El Paso executive, too.

What an easy way to co-opt someone into doing evil. Criminal charges- that up and vanish against all but an unlucky fall guy.

Go an inch deeper. Who was representing Governor Gray Davis while all of this was under investigation and 21 US energy companies were caught red-handed fleecing $5.5 to $7.5 billion from California electricity customers?

From Chapter 13 of One-Way Ticket to Crawford, Texas, a Conservative Republican Speaks Out:

Footnote 689: www.sacbee.com/static/archive/news/special/power/080401data.htm l Meanwhile, Joseph Fichera and Michael Hoffman, two Davis administration advisers who had been criticized for failing to disclose energy-related stock holdings, sent letters to Davis on Friday saying they owned no stock in firms involved in providing power to the state.

Footnote 693: Special Consultants to Gov.; Name Agreement Date Service Term Date SEI Signed Notes Richard Ferreira 1/30/01 1/31/01 to 12/31/02 7/10/01 A-1 assets listed; $2k-$10k Calpine acquired 8/17/00; address redacted

Joseph Fichera - Saber Partners 3/1/01 3/1/01 to 6/30/01 exemption 1 negotiated transmission line deal; commission contract
** Kevin Stacey (director)
** William Moore (director)
** Paul Sutherland (director)
** Alan Blinder (advisory board chair)
Michael Hoffman - Blackstone Group 3/1/01 3/1/01 to 6/30/01 exemption 1 negotiated transmission line deal; commission contract
** Peter Peterson (chairman)
** Stephen Schwarzman (pres & ceo)
** Michael Puglisi (cfo)
** 15 staff working on the deal

Of course, Mr. Schwartzman is a Skull & Bonesman, a year behind George W. Bush, and a Bush Pioneer.

Talk about letting the fox watch the henhouse. Criminal conduct in California by the division of Enron that did it, and take one of the executives (Berger) and have him advising the prosecution (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission—FERC) as to what steps to take.

John Berger
Managing Partner
Contango Capital Partners

During 2002 and 2003, Mr. Berger served as an advisor to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission where he drafted governance guidelines for the Regional Transmission Organizations and served as an advisor to the drafters of the Standard Market Design regulatory document that is currently before the United States Congress. He also advised the Commission on distributed generation, demand response, information gathering and application issues, investigations, and trade clearing/credit issues in the North American energy markets. Mr. Berger graduated cum laude from Texas A&M University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. In 2003, he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School where he founded and organized the first annual Harvard Business School Energy Symposium and was a finalist in the 2003 HBS Business Plan Contest.

Oh yeah, and he is a good Texas A&M Aggie, too, which is the location of that George H. W. Bush Presidential Library that is off-limits so Americans can't know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about Bush sleaze.

Karl W. B. Schwarz lives in Little Rock, AR and is the author of "One-Way Ticket to Crawford, Texas, a Conservative Republican Speaks Out." He is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Patmos Nanotechnologies, LLC and I-nets Security Systems, a designer of intelligence and UAV systems. You can email him here.

The views expressed herein are the writers' own and do not necessarily reflect those of Online Journal.
Email editor@onlinejournal.com
Copyright © 1998-2004 Online Journal™. All rights reserved.

You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.

All is not lost

"Flowers on the Wall #7" by Kelly Thomas

Thank you to Paula for sharing these words with me.

Inspiration by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world right now.

Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage
over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.

You are right in your assessments. The lustre and hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking. Yet, I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is that we were made for these times.

Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement...

I grew up on the Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy vessel when I see one. Regarding awakened souls, there have never been more able vessels in the waters than there are right now across the world. And they are fully provisioned and able to signal one another as never before in the history of humankind... Look out over the prow; there are millions of boats of righteous souls on the waters with you. Even though your veneers may shiver from every wave in this stormy world, I assure you that the long timbers composing your prow and rudder come from a greater forest. That long-grained lumber is known to withstand storms, to hold together, to hold its own, and to advance, regardless.

In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that. There is a tendency too to fall into being weakened by dwelling on what is outside your reach, by what cannot yet be. Do not focus there. That is spending the wind without raising the sails. We are needed, that is all we can know. And though we meet resistance, we more so will meet great souls who will hail us, love us and guide us, and we will know them when they appear. Didn't you say you were a believer? Didn't you say you pledged to listen to a voice greater? Didn't you ask for grace? Don't you remember that to be in grace means to submit to the voice greater?...

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once,
but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.

Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good. What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing.

We know that it does not take "everyone on Earth" to bring justice and peace,
but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second,
or hundredth gale.

One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these - to be fierce and to show mercy toward others, both, are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity.

Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it.
If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do.

There will always be times when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it; I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate. The reason is this: In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours: They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here. In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall:

When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt.
But that is not what great ships are built for.

This comes with much love and a prayer that you remember who you came from, and why you came to this beautiful, needful Earth.

by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D
Author of the best seller Women Who Run with the Wolves

Modern Life

Modern Life
by Kelly Ann Thomas

Iraq Must Pay Reparations to the Richest Countries in the World

Why is Iraq Giving $190,000 to Toys R Us?

by Naomi Klein

Excerpt:

Next week, something will happen that will unmask the upside-down morality of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. On October 21, Iraq will pay $200m in war reparations to some of the richest countries and corporations in the world.

...

Jean-Claude Aimé, the UN diplomat who headed the UNCC until December 2000, publicly questioned the practice. “This is the first time as far as I know that the UN is engaged in retrieving lost corporate assets and profits,” he told the Wall Street Journal in 1997, and then mused: “I often wonder at the correctness of that.”

But the UNCC’s corporate handouts only accelerated. Here is a small sample of who has been getting “reparation” awards from Iraq: Halliburton ($18m), Bechtel ($7m), Mobil ($2.3m), Shell ($1.6m), Nestlé ($2.6m), Pepsi ($3.8m), Philip Morris ($1.3m), Sheraton ($11m), Kentucky Fried Chicken ($321,000) and Toys R Us ($189,449). In the vast majority of cases, these corporations did not claim that Saddam’s forces damaged their property in Kuwait - only that they “lost profits” or, in the case of American Express, experienced a “decline in business” because of the invasion and occupation of Kuwait. One of the biggest winners has been Texaco, which was awarded $505m in 1999. According to a UNCC spokesperson, only 12% of that reparation award has been paid, which means hundreds of millions more will have to come out of the coffers of post-Saddam Iraq.

The fact that Iraqis have been paying reparations to their occupiers is all the more shocking in the context of how little these countries have actually spent on aid in Iraq. Despite the $18.4bn of US tax dollars allocated for Iraq’s reconstruction, the Washington Post estimates that only $29m has been spent on water, sanitation, health, roads, bridges, and public safety combined. And in July (the latest figure available), the Department of Defence estimated that only $4m had been spent compensating Iraqis who had been injured, or who lost family members or property as a direct result of the occupation - a fraction of what the US has collected from Iraq in reparations since its occupation began.

Halloween Fun

Something a little less depressing is in order. I took the "What Halloween character are you?" test via At the Heart of It and after seeing my results, I had to post. Halloween has been hard for me since I lost my soulcat, Midnight, a year-and-a-half ago. Halloween was her favorite time of year. We always had a bonfire or fire in the chiminea. She would circle the fire all night long stare at the moon, and delight in seeing trick-or-treaters. That my ideal character is a black chocoholic cat is special for me, even if it is a silly quiz.

You're a cat - The sexiest halloween symbol.
You're very laid back about the whole thing but
you feel most comfortable at this time of year.
You'll do anything for a treat!

"A spooky hallowe'en quiz!"
brought to you by Quizilla

The United States of Illusion

I am catching up with my fellow bloggers and two items have made me scramble back to Picasso Dreams in able to share this disturbing information with you.

The first tidbit is from The Grudge Report, a link to the "14 Signs of Fascism" by political scientist Dr. Lawrence Britt. I may have posted it here before, but it is worth repeating.

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause

4. Supremacy of the Military

5. Rampant Sexism

6. Controlled Mass Media

7. Obsession with National Security

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined

9. Corporate Power is Protected

10. Labor Power is Suppressed

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption

14. Fraudulent Elections

Click on the link for further definitions.

If that's not bad enough, I found this excerpt from The New York Times on Republic of T:

In the summer of 2002, after I had written an article in Esquire that the White House didn't like about Bush's former communications director, Karen Hughes, I had a meeting with a senior adviser to Bush. He expressed the White House's displeasure, and then he told me something that at the time I didn't fully comprehend -- but which I now believe gets to the very heart of the Bush presidency.

The aide said that guys like me were ''in what we call the reality-based community,'' which he defined as people who ''believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.'' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. ''That's not the way the world really works anymore,'' he continued. ''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.''

Who besides guys like me are part of the reality-based community? Many of the other elected officials in Washington, it would seem. A group of Democratic and Republican members of Congress were called in to discuss Iraq sometime before the October 2002 vote authorizing Bush to move forward. A Republican senator recently told Time Magazine that the president walked in and said: ''Look, I want your vote. I'm not going to debate it with you.'' When one of the senators began to ask a question, Bush snapped, ''Look, I'm not going to debate it with you.''

Why are Americans letting the cabal get away with this? We need to get past the "it can never happen here - this is America!" mindset because it is happening. If Bush steals the election again, come November there will be a mass exodus of intelligent American citizens and their assets from these man-made borders. People will not tolerate four more years, and they certainly won't work as taxpaying slaves to fuel the demands of imperialism. The United States has a military presence in almost every nation on this planet! Over 130 countries! This is insane!

My solution? Send George and Dick and Don and Paul and Condoleeza and Greenspan and every CEO of every defense contactor and every person who voted for the war in Iraq and Patriot Act to Gitmo or Abu Ghraib. Seize all of their assets; cancel ALL debt, what you have is what you have (but adopt a one house per person rule) and use the seized assets to finance the next several years of government. “Victory through Hemp” will be the new motto. Defense will be a state industry. There will be no biological weapons laboratories, chemical weapons laboratories, or nuclear weapon production. We have enough lethal weapons. How many times over do we have to There will be no profit on war. (Gun sales to the public will remain private, for-profit businesses. While I'm on the soapbox, all troops will be returned to the United States and replaced with a strong National Guard who will be used in emergencies, which would hopefully be only natural disaster-related. Think of the money we would save! Let's face it, we are an isolated country. Canada and Mexico are our friends. They are not going to overrun the United States. The Russians and Chinese are not going to send nuclear missiles into the United States and try to kill all Americans and move their populations into a radioactive wasteland. It makes no sense! I cannot believe that fear mongering that created the Cuban Missile Crisis, all because the US government intervened in another nation's affairs to install a capitalism-friendly dictator. Defense companies were salivating over that one.

If we take the profit out of war and make it illegal for any person elected or working for the government to deliberately misconstrue or lie to the public, with strong repercussions if caught, there will be no more war in the United States. Instead, web sites are shut down for trying to expose the truth.

Perhaps the scariest news story of the week came from TBRNEWS.org, which disappeared off the net for a few days after the story broke. Coincidence? There are so . It disappeared after a presence on the net for over a year. Was it coincidental that the site was taken down shortly after publishing this?

http://tbrnews.org/Archives/a1130.htm October 10, 2004: “This time, friends, I have some very important news for all of you. Unlike the usual silly gossip that goes on around the White House, intermingled with loud praying, this is really news. We are about to embark on another war! Yes, it has been decided and carefully planned. Who are we going to war with? Iran. Background here: (I am taking this from a paper which I have to return)

Thesis: Iran hates the United States and Israel. Iran has atomic weapons and missiles (the Shahab, courtesy of North Korean/Russian technicians) It can easily reach Tel Aviv. It can also reach US troop concentrations in Iraq. Israel is scared shitless. Their pressure groups have leaned on the White House, with a great deal of assistance from Cheney and the Neocons. The actual plan is this:

The U.S. has no troops available for an Iranian adventure and the Israelis would rather not lose any warm bodies so…it has been firmly decided that both Israel and the U.S. will launch a surprise attack against 1., Iranian missile sites, 2. Iranian nuclear facilities and 3. the leadership of Iran located in and around Tehran. How will this be done? By aircraft attack using U.S. developed “smart bombs” and the so-called “bunker-buster” bombs designed to destroy underground reinforced concrete facilities .We just sent these to Israel. Because of the political ramifications, the Israelis will conduct the main strikes, supported by U.S. aircraft as needed. The aim will be to wipe out any vestige of nuclear weaponry, its delivery system and all the Iranian leaders capable of starting any attacks on Israel (mostly Tel Aviv…too many fellow Muslims in Jerusalem.) Since it would be a problem for Israeli Air Force units to fly round trip from Israel, the solution will be to launch these attacks from U.S. aircraft carriers located in the Persian Gulf area. As I write, the super carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) is now in the Persian Gulf along with the so-called Essex Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) [31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) (SOC)] which consists of:: USS Essex (LHD 2) USS Juneau (LPD 10) USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) USS Mobile Bay (CG 53USS Hopper (DDG 70) USS Preble (DDG 88) The initial attacks will be an early-morning surprise attack launched to coincide with religious services in Tehran’s Muslim mosques with the idea of catching not only the leading Mullahs inside but a large number of their congregations as well. One attack will concentrate on these religious centers and the other will hit both the underground nuclear facilities and identified (courtesy of U.S. satellite shots) missile-launching sites. The U.S. will supply observation and radio surveillance aircraft with radar-jamming capacities operating out of Turkey and Italy. The entire attack is scheduled to last no more than one hour with at least three waves of Israeli aircraft utilized. No warning will be given to the Iranians and no declaration of war. The possible deaths of foreign diplomats in the attacks has been discussed and accepted as part of the price. This attack has the full support of the President who wants it launched before the elections. He can then make a speech to the American people stating that the evil Iranian nuclear weaponry has been destroyed by the Israelis with the full cooperation of his government as part of his heroic war against terrorists. Believe me, that speech has already been written and I have seen a copy of it. The brass here feels that this will have a tremendous impact on the American people, just before the elections. No U.S. ground troops will be used; Bush will stress that this is a joint U.S.-Israeli anti-terrorist project. Part of the speech deals with ongoing Shiite Iranian physical support of their Shiite brethren in Iraq and that by knocking out the Iranian nuclear weaponry, at the same time, they are protecting GIs from ongoing guerrilla warfare. The brass is literally rubbing it’s hands and drooling over what they see as Bush’s Final Victory. I have seen a negative report copy from someone in the Pentagon [who is not going to get promoted] that says if the Iranians get wind of this little game, they might strike first and they might also realize that large numbers of vulnerable American troops are concentrated inside Iraqi cities, prime targets for a nuclear tactical attack. These people are literally insane and I really hope you don’t delete this. Something really has to be done to stop these maniacs before we all die of radiation sickness!”

Is this just alarmist, some crazy conspiracy theory? Or is it just coincidence theory and Bush-bashing at it finest? Did TBR pull a fast one, or did they stumble onto something big? Do stories like this derail the plans of those who may want to stage another Reichstag illusion?

I want to escape this madness and star my own version of Christiana.