Friday, May 14, 2004

OK, Ted Rall is just being provocative now, I suspect. I mean, come on. Rall is not a stupid man. He knows that it's possible to support our troops as individuals but to oppose Gee Dubya's Little Iraq Venture. Perhaps -- I hope that -- it's a semantics problem.   I personally believe that most who join the military are misguided -- they drank the Kool-Aid, like the man who identified himself as a Marine who, after he read my weblog, wrote me a nice e-mail in which he said that he would pray for me. (It really was a nice e-mail, as non-fan e-mail goes, although when people say that they'll pray for me it seems like a bit of an insult, and I don't think that you're supposed to tell someone that you'll pray for him as an insult. And, unlike the vast majority of the e-mail I get from people who disagree with me, the Marine guy misspelled only one word. [Ted Rall correctly notes on his blog, "The future, after all, belongs to those who can spell."])   I myself wouldn't join the military because I think that violence is not only morally wrong, but that people who settle differences through violence are just fucking stupid, and I'm not fucking stupid. Many, if not most, people who join the military can't think for themselves and are wrapped up in the sick and twisted mindset that their "Christian" God wants them to kill non-Christians because theirs is The One True Religion (sound like anyone else we know?). They view military service, especially in the Middle East, as a crusade, if you will.   While I wouldn't pick such people as friends, it still pains me to see them shot, maimed, kidnapped, beheaded, etc. I don't agree with their beliefs and I don't agree with what they've chosen to do with themselves. But I support them as fellow human beings, and I hope that Ted Rall gets that, or I won't be able to remain a fan of his, and I don't think that I'm alone. 11:19:43 PM    Comments []

Thousands of Cubans in Havana today protest the Bush regime's meddling in their affairs, appropriately comparing "President" Bush to the fascistic, genocidal Adolf Hitler on a sign in the middle photo ("Abajo el genocidio y el fascismo" translates, "Down with genocide and fascism"). The sign in the photo at the bottom -- with the now-infamous picture of a U.S. soldier treating an Iraqi detainee in Iraq like an animal -- roughly translates, "This will never happen in Cuba." (Reuters photos) Viva la revolucion cubana! This, in a nutshell, is the main problem that the right-wingers/Republicans have with Cuba: They can't stand it when a large group of people aren't slaves to an oppressive capitalistic system of which they are in control. All of those unexploited people! It pains them deeply to see all of those people who aren't doing their bidding for their personal fortunes, just as it pains them to see a square inch of land without pavement or a building -- their pavement or building -- on it, and just as it pains them to see any natural resource (such as, oh, say -- oil) that they haven't appropriated for their own profit. Because, you see, people and, indeed, the entire world, exist for one thing and for one thing only: Profit. Their profit.  I'm not saying that Cuban leader Fidel Castro hasn't committed serious human-rights violations. Of course, as the whole world knows now, the United States has committed serious human-rights violations -- including, apparently, murder -- in the name of "democracy" and "freedom" and "liberation." Recently. And probably still is, somewhere, right now, as I type this sentence. I can't see how the Cuban people would be any better off under a Bush-style capitalist regime in which they are wage slaves than they are right now. You can't argue with some statements that Castro made today, as reported by Reuters: "You have no right whatsoever, except for that of brute force, to intervene in Cuba's affairs...and proclaim the transition from one system to another and take measures to make this happen," Castro said in a speech. Castro said Bush had no moral authority to speak of freedom, democracy and human rights in Cuba when his election to the White House was a "fraud" and U.S. troops were killing Iraqis. "The unbelievable torture applied to prisoners in Iraq has rendered the world speechless," Castro said. ...Castro defended Cuban socialism which had achieved literacy and educational levels of an industrialized nation and an infant mortality rate lower than that of the United States. "You are attacking Cuba for petty, political reasons, trying to obtain electoral support from a shrinking group of renegades," he said in reference to Cuban-American exiles in Miami. All that Cuba represents to the Bush regime is, as Castro correctly identifies, more votes in the crucial state of Florida. Cuban-American exiles -- most of whom live in Florida and support the Republican Party and who apparently are for the capitalist exploitation of Cuba -- should not dictate U.S. policy toward Cuba. For years the fucking ingrates -- a good many of whom, I surmise, had to leave Cuba because they were some of the capitalist oppressors that Castro's revolution overthrew -- have made selfish demands of the nation that took them in. Did their selfish demands of the U.S. government, in fact, not contribute to the near-result of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis? I think it's long past time that the pro-exploitation Cuban-American exiles shut the fuck up and stop telling the U.S. government what to do. (Hell, if Bush really wanted to get Castro's goat, he could put the annoying Cuban-American exiles on boats and send them back to Cuba.)  Those who support the Bush regime's policy on Cuba desire the exploitation of Cuba's people and natural resources, just as the Bush regime and its cabal of war profiteers are exploiting Iraq's people and natural resources. The United States needs to leave Cuba the fuck alone, and we need to begin a revolution here at home. Update (Sunday, May 23, 2004): A Cuban-American who fought in the Bay of Pigs also believes that the United States should stop meddling in Cuba's affairs. Reports The Associated Press (salient portions I have put in bold): HAVANA -- Antonio Zamora was a teenager when he fled his native Cuba and joined a U.S.-led effort to topple the island's communist government. Now 63, the Miami-based lawyer was back on Cuban soil this week attending a ceremony to restore his citizenship and that of six other Cuban exiles who participated in the disastrous 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion. "This was a surprise," Zamora told reporters Friday at an immigration conference for overseas Cubans. "It signifies a gesture of reconciliation, of leaving behind an unpleasant period." After receiving his new Cuban passport, Zamora reflected on his participation in the U.S.-backed invasion. "It was the Cold War, and I was against communism," he said. "We fell into a historical trap." A young Zamora left Cuba in October of 1960 to join the plot to oust Fidel Castro, whose 1959 revolution roiled the island and pushed it toward a socialist system. In April of 1961, Zamora was among 1,500 exiles trained by the CIA in Guatemala who charged the island. The three-day invasion ended in debacle and more than 1,000 invaders were captured, Zamora among them. He spent more than 1 1/2 years in a Cuban prison before his release on Christmas Eve 1962. Zamora went to the United States to build a new life, spending time as a U.S. Navy officer then studying to become a lawyer. In 1981, he helped found the Cuban American National Foundation, one of the most powerful, anti-Castro exile organizations. He was a member until 1992. His attitude toward Cuba then began to soften. "After a lot of thinking, I came to the conclusion that dialogue was the best way to deal with Cuba," he said. He came back to the island for the first time in 1995, and has been trying to reach common ground with the government and its people ever since. He says he doesn't agree with the way many things work under Castro, but he resents the United States' meddling in Cuban affairs. He came to the immigration conference, the third of its kind in a decade, to show support for an independent Cuba and make suggestions for change. The first step, he believes, is to put politics aside and focus on improving the lives or regular Cubans. "There is a situation of great tension here," he said. "I think the Cuban people need some years of peace, of uninterrupted progress. Eventually, the political problems will resolve themselves." In the meantime, he said the U.S. government and Cuban exiles who have chosen to cut themselves off from their homeland should stop trying to plan Cuba's future. The Bush administration has taken an aggressive stance against Cuba. On May 6, Bush announced new measures to crack down on the island, including restrictions on money transfers and family visits, increased efforts to transmit anti-Castro television to Cuba and the appointment of a coordinator to plan a transition from socialism to capitalism. Zamora criticized the latest measures, particularly those affecting the ability of Cuban-Americans to visit and help relatives on the island. "They are completely ignorant about Cuban reality," he said of U.S. officials, adding that even many conservative, anti-Castro Cubans in Florida have told him they no longer support Bush, either. "His votes are going to be substantially reduced," said Zamora, who believes relations between the United States and Cuba could improve considerably were Bush's opponent, Democratic contender John Kerry, to win the presidential election in November. Many, if not most, Americans' "knowledge" of Cuba is no deeper than "Cuba = communist" and "communist = bad." That's all they know because that's all they've been told (capitalism = good, communism = bad) and they believe just about everything they've been told. They can't even correctly define communism (they usually give the definition of totalitarianism instead) and the very word "communism" is so taboo that the taboo itself is usually enough to keep them from educating themselves about it. For some, the Cold War never ended. 7:28:16 PM    Comments []

This is "President" Dumbfuck at the White House today right before he flies to a "re"-election fund-raiser in Missouri, where he exploits the death of Nick Berg to once again make the false connection between 9/11 and al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein and Iraq in order to shore up his dwindling chances for "re"-election. Nick Berg's father, Michael Berg, blames Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for Nick's death. Uber-smug, forked-tongued Bush mouthpiece Scott McClellan responded to that by insinuating that the Bergs are so overcome with grief that they are talking crazy. (Associated Press photo)   Bush uses Berg's death for political gain It didn't take long for "President" Dumbfuck to shamelessly exploit Nick Berg's death to try to bolster his crumbling Iraq venture in order to shore up his chances for "re"-election, which are withering by the day. No sooner was Nick buried today than the "president" used Berg's death to try to make, once again, the false link between 9/11 and Iraq -- at a fucking fund-raiser. Reports Reuters: President Bush [today] blamed al-Qaeda supporter Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for beheading American Nicholas Berg and cited him as an example of Saddam Hussein's "terrorist ties" before the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Bush's revival of accusations linking Saddam to terrorism comes as the president faces growing doubts among Americans over his Iraq policy. At a fund-raising lunch in Bridgeton, Mo., Bush said Zarqawi was an example of the threat posed by the ousted Iraqi leader. "We knew he (Saddam) had terrorist ties. The person responsible for the Berg death, Zarqawi, was in and out of Baghdad prior to our arrival, for example," Bush said. A video of Berg's beheading was posted this week to an Islamist Web site. The grisly film included a statement, signed off with Zarqawi's name, that urged Muslims to take revenge for Iraqi prisoners abused by U.S. soldiers at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. The CIA [yesterday] said Zarqawi was probably the one who beheaded Berg. American doubts over Bush's Iraq policy have been fueled by the Abu Ghraib scandal, uncertainties over the planned June 30 transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis and a violent insurgency. Furthermore, the United States has failed to find alleged unconventional weapons in Iraq that were the heart of Bush's case for going to war. Although Bush administration officials had raised the possibility Saddam helped al-Qaeda plan the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Bush eventually said there was no evidence. Bush has previously cited Zarqawi as a link between Saddam and al Qaeda. The president, in his stops in two battleground states for this November's presidential election, sought to reassure Americans his Iraq policy was on track. Bush said in Bridgeton the transfer of sovereignty could provide hope for Iraqis, although his administration has been criticized for lacking a clear plan. "They're glad to be rid of Saddam," he said. "And they obviously want to run their own country. If I were them I'd want to run my own country too." We Americans want to run our own country, too, King George, and come January, we will. Note that the Reuters story reiterates basic facts that many, if not most, Americans don't believe, such as "the United States has failed to find alleged unconventional weapons in Iraq that were the heart of Bush's case for going to war" and "Although Bush administration officials had raised the possibility Saddam helped al-Qaeda plan the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Bush eventually said there was no evidence." (See what you learn when you read about current events instead of watching "reality" television?) It was looking like Bush wouldn't be able to exploit Berg's murder for political gain -- any more than he can now use those images of him in the flight suit for political gain -- because Berg's father, Michael Berg, has been appropriately publicly critical of the Bush regime. Reports Reuters: PHILADELPHIA -- The father of Nick Berg, the American beheaded in Iraq, directly blamed President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld [yesterday] for his son's death. "My son died for the sins of George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. This administration did this," Berg said in an interview with radio station KYW-AM two days after a video showing the execution of his son was shown on an Islamist Web site. In the interview from outside his home in West Chester, Pa., a seething Michael Berg also said his 26-year-old son, a civilian contractor, probably would have felt positive, even about his executioners, until the last minute. "I am sure that he only saw the good in his captors until the last second of his life," Berg said. "They did not know what they were doing. They killed their best friend." Asked to respond to Berg's comments about the president, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, "The Berg family is going through a very difficult period and they remain in our thoughts and prayers." I would like to strangle Bush mouthpiece Scott McClellan. I would. Bush mouthpiece Karen Hughes, too. They both came straight from the bowels of hell to do Satan's bidding. If their tongues were forked any more than they already are, they'd each have two tongues. The subtext of McClellan's usual non-response to a simple fucking question is, "The Bergs are overwhelmed with grief, so clearly they're talking crazy." Actions speak so much louder than words. How much do Bush and the members of his regime really care about Nick Berg and the Berg family? The Reuters story continues:  Meanwhile, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee to challenge Bush in the November election, said he had spoken to Michael Berg to express sympathy. "I know as a father how I would feel if it were one of my daughters or stepsons. I think every American is pained by what is going on." Asked if Bush had also called Nicholas Berg's family, McClellan said he had not but pointed to the president's public expressions of condolence to the family. I cannot help but notice that John Kerry (who, by the way, today picked up the endorsement of  the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, which had endorsed Bush in 2000) already is acting like the president that we should have! (The day when I don't have to put the word "president" in quotation marks because we have a legitimate, competent president instead of the lying, thieving, stupid sack of shit that occupies the Oval Office right now will be a great day.) Am I politicizing Berg's death right now? Technically, yes, I am, but the fact of the matter is that Berg was murdered for political reasons, so to talk about Berg's death in any meaningful way is to necessarily talk about politics. And my intention in talking about Berg's death is to prevent shit like this from continuing to happen. I'm sick of seeing people die for nothing because George W. Bush and his cabal of warmongerers and war-profiteers think absolutely nothing of thousands of people dying for their own personal profit and that of their equally weaselly associates. Clearly, they care more about their financial assets than they care about the very real potential that their woefully stupid actions, which are antagonizing the Muslim world (indeed, the entire world, with the exception, perhaps, of the state of Texas), are creating future terrorist attacks while they're trying to take political credit -- and, of course, billions and billions of U.S. taxpayers' dollars -- for waging their "war on terrorism." So what is Bush's intention in talking about Berg's death? Well, all I need to point out is that he used the occasion of Berg's murder to once again publicly make a false link between 9/11 and Saddam Hussein and Iraq, and that he did that at a fucking "re"-election fund-raiser.  Anyway, here is the rest of the Reuters story, which details the Berg family's allegations that the actions and the inaction of the U.S. government contributed to Nick Berg's capture and execution: Michael Berg's criticism came amid finger-pointing between Berg's family, U.S. military officials and Iraqi police over the young businessman's imprisonment before his execution. Berg rejected U.S. government claims that his son had never been held by American authorities in Iraq. The Iraqi police chief in the city of Mosul has also contradicted statements by the U.S.-led coalition concerning the younger Berg's detention. "I have a written statement from the State Department in Baghdad...saying that my son was being held by the military," Berg said. "I can also assure you that the FBI came to my house on March 31 and told me that the FBI had him in Mosul in an Iraqi prison." CBS reported [yesterday] that Berg was questioned by FBI agents who discovered he had been interviewed before because a computer password he used in college had turned up in the possession of accused Sept. 11 conspirator Zaccarias Moussaoui. It said the FBI had concluded there was nothing sinister in that. The FBI had no comment on the report. Dan Senor, spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority, said this week that Nick Berg was arrested in Mosul by Iraqi police on March 24 and released on April 6 and was visited by the FBI three times during his detention. Brig.-Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said American military police had seen Berg during his detention to make sure he was being fed and treated properly. Berg returned to Baghdad from Mosul in April and went missing on April 9, during a chaotic period when dozens of foreigners were snatched by guerrillas west of the capital. His body was discovered by a road near Baghdad and the video of his decapitation was posted on the Internet. Berg had been in Baghdad from late December to Feb. 1 and returned to Iraq in March. He did not find work and planned to return home at the end of March, according to his parents. Berg's communications to his parents stopped on March 24 and he told them later he was jailed by Iraqi officials after being picked up at a checkpoint in Mosul. On April 5, the Bergs filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government, naming Rumsfeld and alleging their son was being held illegally by the U.S. military in Iraq. The next day, he was released. 6:45:51 PM    Comments []

Quote unquote "My son died for the sins of George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. This administration did this." -- Michael Berg, father of slain American Nicholas Berg Michael Berg places a floral arrangement in the shape of the Star of David on his lawn this morning in West Chester, Pa. Nicholas Berg's memorial service was held today. (Associated Press photo) 3:20:35 AM    Comments []