The World Can't Wait

Reading the corporate media this week, I find some commentators are bothered by the lies coming out of the Bush regime.

A committee of the US Senate argued over a report for 5 years, just releasing the news - gasp! - that the Bush administration lied about Iraq. Dan Froomkin writes in The Washington Post, "Some of what President Bush and others said about Iraq was corroborated by what later turned out to be inaccurate intelligence. But their most compelling and gut-wrenching allegations -- for instance, that Saddam Hussein was ready to supply his friends in al-Qaeda with nuclear weapons -- were simply made up. In an accident of timing, the report also validates former press secretary Scott McClellan's conclusion in his new book that the White House pursued a "political propaganda campaign" to market the war."

Tim Rutten, in The Los Angeles Times, writes about the arraignment of 5 alleged Al Queda operatives before the military tribunal in Guantanamo, "By any reasonable standard, the Guantanamo tribunals are a farce. By the government's own admission, Mohammed and other high-level Al Qaeda detainees have been tortured. The five men arraigned Thursday all face execution if convicted. Their military defense lawyers say they've been denied adequate access to their clients or time to prepare a reasonable defense. The pool reporters the Pentagon is allowing to cover the proceedings have to sit behind a glass partition and listen over a sound system with a 20-second delay. Ostensibly that's to prevent the media from hearing any national security secret inadvertently blurted out during the testimony. Thursday, it apparently was used to shut off any mention of torture."

The price of oil jumped suddenly yesterday because of the threat by Israel's Deputy Prime Minister that Israel "will attack" Iran if it continues pursuing what he said is Iran's nuclear weapons program. Scott Peterson, in the Christian Science Monitor writes about reponse to the International Atomic Energy Agency"s ambiguous report on Monday that Iran is not giving them enough information about its nuclear program,

"Analysts say that cherry-picking of quotes and Western spin, coupled with 'breathless' media reporting about Iranian recalcitrance, could point in a nondiplomatic direction. Rhetoric ratcheted higher this week, with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday warning that 'for the sake of peace, the world must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.' Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, speaking to the same pro-Israel lobby group, AIPAC, in Washington, said 'the Iranian threat must be stopped by all possible means,' adding that it was a global 'duty' to take 'drastic measures' to prevent it. Even Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who says the US must engage Iran with 'strong diplomacy' - and told AIPAC Wednesday that this would enhance Israel's security also - said the 'danger from Iran is grave,' and that he would 'do everything in my power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon - everything."'

If you agree the Bush regime is still dangerous, the torture and war still need to be stopped, you can support that work right now by donating online. Or, when you get a phone call or piece of mail from World Can't Wait, respond with a check or pledge.

Sincerely,
Debra Sweet, Director, The World Can't Wait - Drive Out the Bush Regime


P.S. - Seymour Hersh has an article coming out soon on Iran, and did not scoop himself. He did say, in response to a question on the Bush threats to Iran, "This administration will not quit work until 11:59 on January 20, 2009. You cannot assume that no matter what happens on November 4, 2008 that they will step aside." (fair warning)