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Congressman Calls Latest Report: 'The smoking bullet in the smoking gun'
By Brad Friedman on 5/31/2005 3:25pm PT  

In regards to what John Conyers over the weekend reportedly described as "the smoking bullet in the smoking gun", a letter has just been sent to Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, asking questions about the recent reports that the U.S. and U.K. stepped up their air attacks in the Iraqi "No-Fly-Zone" prior to the war in "an attempt to provoke Saddam Hussein into giving the allies an excuse for war." A draft version of Conyers' letter was published over the holiday weekend by RAW STORY.

This latest information on the covert way in which the Bush Administration may have pushed the world towards war is based on a new report from Rupert Murdoch's London Times which reported over the weekend that "despite the lack of an Iraqi reaction, the air war began anyway in September [of 2002] with a 100-plane raid."

In fact, the original Downing Street Memo/Minutes mention that "The Defence Secretary said that the US had already begun 'spikes of activity' to put pressure on the regime."

Concerning the latest report, Conyers writes in his letter to Rumsfeld today:

If true, these assertions indicate that not only had the Administration secretly and perhaps illegally agreed to go to war by the summer of 2002, but it also took specific and tangible military actions before asking Congress or the United Nations for authority, and absent an actual or imminent threat.

Thus, while there is considerable doubt as to whether the U.S. had authority to invade Iraq, given, among other things, the failure of the U.N. to issue a follow-up resolution to the November 8, 2002, Resolution 1441, it would seem that the act of engaging in military action via stepped up bombing raids that were not in response to an actual or imminent threat before our government asked for military authority would be even more problematic from a legal as well as a moral perspective.

...He then goes on to ask Rumsfeld for a response to the following questions, along with a request for "any memorandum, notes, minutes, documents, phone and other records, e-mails, computer files (including back-up records) or other material of any kind or nature concerning or relating thereto which are in the possession of or accessible by the Department of Defense."

Did the RAF and the United States military increase the rate that they were dropping bombs in Iraq in 2002? If so, what was the extent and timing of the increase?

What was the justification for any such increase in the rate of bombing in Iraq at this time? Was this justification reviewed by legal authorities in the U.S.?

To the best of your knowledge, was there any agreement with any representative of the British government to engage in military action in Iraq before authority was sought from the Congress or the U.N.? If so, what was the nature of the agreement?

Conyers, along with 88 members of Congress recently sent a letter to George W. Bush asking for information concerning the now-infamous Downing Street Memo (actually Minutes, not a Memo) which was also first reported by Murdoch's paper. That document --- written a full eight months prior to the war --- revealed, amongst other things, that "Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."

It also goes on to say that "Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran."

The members of Congress have yet to receive a response from the White House, though neither the Bush nor Blair Administrations have disputed the authenticity of the information contained within the minutes.

An alliance of citizens groups has recently been formed at AfterDowningStreet.org to petition congress to launch a "Resolution of Inquiry" into the matter. A congressional "Resolution of Inquiry" is considered the first step towards Presidential Impeachment. (Both The BRAD BLOG and Velvet Revolution, which we helped to co-found, are members of that alliance.)

Conyers also has asked citizens to sign the same letter they sent to Bush, and has promised to hand-deliver it to the White House once he receives at least 100,000 signature.

The complete text of Conyers' finalized letter to Rumsfeld is below...

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---




By Brad Friedman on 5/31/2005 2:19pm PT  

Never mind the allegations that he abused his wife by forcing her to participate in group sex. Never mind the allegations that he abused his position to spy on other government officials who opposed him at various times. One might also feel inclined to ignore the 43 former U.S. ambassadors who have added their names to a letter signed earlier by 59 ex-ambassadors opposing Bolton's nomination (most of whom served in Republican administrations, according to AP.)

Never mind all of that (since the Corporate Media has been largely doing so anyway, as per their custom). If you go back to the initial criticisms of John Bolton --- that his past statements about the U.N. make him amongst the least appropriate human beings on this planet to be our U.N. Ambassador at a time when the U.S. so desperately needs cooperation from that world body --- you will likely understand immediately what a boondoggle this man's nomination is. And why it's taken so long to get him through what should have been a very friendly Congress.

As much as the actual words by which Bolton condemns the U.N. itself, it's the way in which he did so that has set off our personal alarm bells about this guy. (Though we admit that, on its own, the statement that losing ten stories today from the U.N. Building "wouldn't make a bit of difference" is troubling, to say the least, for a guy who would be our lead "diplomat" in that body!)

Give his actual statements a look in this very short Quicktime video.

Let us know if you agree that this revealing video --- all by itself --- would seem to indicate that John Bolton is, indeed, a crazy man.

More info, a TV ad, and phone numbers by which you can call your Senators are available via StopBolton.org.




By Brad Friedman on 5/30/2005 12:01pm PT  

American Troops Killed (as of 5/29/05)
In Afghanistan: 184
In Iraq: 1,657

Funerals Attended by George W. Bush
0




Conyers Competes Against Friedman! ;-)
By Brad Friedman on 5/28/2005 4:03pm PT  

C-SPAN will be airing Conyers' Media Bias forum from earlier this week, at 8pm ET this evening (Saturday). Hopefully it'll later be online for download as well.

(And a reminder that last week's BRAD SHOW repeats tonight from 7p - 11p ET this week if you want to get your Media Reform hammer in both ears ;-)




Few House Members, None from Texas Delegation Showed Up Despite Free Tickets!
But Tom Feeney Was There!
By Brad Friedman on 5/28/2005 3:16pm PT  

Featuring actual reporting (as opposed to just rewritten press releases), the Texas Observer actually writes about what happened at Tom DeLay's recent "Conservative Movement Salute" held in D.C. recently to shore up the failing GOP House Leader.

They accomplished this feat by actually attending the event, talking to people who were there, and reporting on what they saw and what they didn't see. Imagine that.

What they didn't see, was the bulk of DeLay's Republican colleagues, nor the many K Street lobbyists with whom DeLay has infamously raised millions...

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---




One Small Victory for Democracy...
By Brad Friedman on 5/28/2005 1:05pm PT  

Look what happens when people actually pay attention to their democracy. As reported in today's South Florida Sun-Sentinel...

After repeated embarrassing glitches at the polls, elections officials in Miami-Dade County have recommended scrapping the county's $24.5 million electronic voting system in favor of paper ballots with optical scanners.

Supervisor of Elections Lester Sola made the recommendation Friday in an initial analysis of the county's voting system and the feasibility of adopting a new one. In his report, Sola said that adopting the simpler system could save county taxpayers millions and restore voter confidence by providing a paper record of ballots cast.
...
Sola's report comes days after a voter advocacy group released a disparaging report that cited a litany of problems during last fall's general elections, among them malfunctioning voting machines.

We previously linked to a Miami Herald news article describing the report referred to above.

The report from earlier this month demonstrated, amongst other things, that "there were 5,917 cases where there were more votes than signatures" and that "In another 2,208 cases, there were more signatures than votes."

The voting machines in question, which failed the voters and costs millions of wasted tax dollars, were made by Electronic Systems & Software (ES&S), one of two companies (along with Diebold) which record and count 80% of the votes in the United States of America.

UPDATE: From Miami-Herald's article today on the same issue...

...if commissioners vote in favor of the change, it could be a public relations black eye for ES&S, which sold the machines to Miami-Dade in 2002 for $24.5 million.

Broward County also uses ES&S machines.

Dade is one of ES&S' biggest clients. The company has more than 40,000 units in 20 states.
...
In Broward, there is no effort to replace the [ES&S] iVotronics the county purchased for $17.2 million in late 2001.
...
''It doesn't really make any sense to put more money into these machines that nobody trusts,'' Sorenson said.

Either way, the county will continue to pay for its decision to buy iVotronics --- at least for the next seven years. It owes ES&S $20.5 million.

ATTENTION BROWARD COUNTY (and all other counties and Secretary's of State now using or considering purchasing from ES&S and other private and unaccountable voting machine companies): Save your tax payers' money NOW! Don't buy these pieces of junk from irresponsible companies like ES&S and Diebold!

FURTHER UPDATE: ES&S seems to be gaming the system further in what appears to be a specific bid by the company to supress sales of technology by AutoMARK which creates both a paper trail and assists disabled voters. ES&S entered an agreement with AutoMARK to help sell their machines, but appears to be in the business of doing precisely the opposite! Thanks to John Gideon of VotersUnite.org for his excellent work on this report exposing the chicanery that ES&S is up to!




In Observation of Memorial Day Weekend...
By Brad Friedman on 5/27/2005 4:40pm PT  

We'll be re-broadcasting a previous show (probably last week's) since it's a Holiday Weekend. Be sure to catch it (7p - 11p ET on Saturday) via www.BradShow.com if you didn't last week! It was a great show and includes interviews with Jim Lampley, Sen. Dick Durbin, and "Operation Iraqi Freedom" vet USMC 1st Lt. Andrew Borene amongst others!

Beyond that, enjoy the weekend and take a break from saving democracy if you wish! I'm guessing that you, like I, can use the break! Though I have a feeling I'll still be on duty throughout the next few days...at least somewhat.

While we take the time to remember those who fought and died for what's left of our freedoms and those who are doing so on behalf of this country even as I write...allow me to thank all of you who have fought so hard and so tirelessly over the last several months and years attempting to preserve those same freedoms. I know that it's been easy for none of us and --- though nothing like those who have given their lives for the cause --- has taken a toll on all of us. A toll, however, that I firmly believe will prove before long to have been well worth it.

So thank you endlessly to all of the BRAD BLOG Freedom Fighters! Now go enjoy the weekend!




A Call to Action for the BRAD BLOG '6 or 7'!
By Brad Friedman on 5/27/2005 2:43pm PT  

John Conyers has just posted a request for 100,000 signatures by citizens on the same letter that he and 88 other Congressmen sent to George W. Bush concerning the Downing Street Memo/Minutes. The same letter from Congress that Bush has arrogantly seen fit to ignore completely for more than three weeks!

He has been there for us, it's our turn to be there for him!

If Conyers is able to collect 100,000 signatures, he has promised to hand deliver them to the White House. Let's ensure that he gets that many and more!

Please sign Conyers' letter here, asap! (and be sure to answer the "Validation Email" that will come to you afterward!)

And, as well, if you haven't already, be sure to sign the petion to Congress for a "Resolution of Inquiry" into the matter created by the citizens coalition as discussed yesterday. That petition can be found here.

Yes, these signatures matter. Please sign them both and spread the word! While we are privileged to enjoy Memorial Day Weekend BBQ'ing and frolicking in rememberance of those who gave their lives for this country, the least we can do is a click a couple of links and fill out a petition or two! Please do so now! And that means all "6 or 7" of you and your friends and family!

(Feel free to use the "Email it to someone" link at the bottom of this item to make it easier!)




Even the Prince of Darkness Begins to Display Doubts...
(Another chapter from the quickly-growing "Listen to the Thunder" File)
By Brad Friedman on 5/27/2005 1:33pm PT  

When they even begin to lose Novak, that should tell you something.

This from his column yesterday --- headlined "Army's recruitment crisis deepens" --- in which he quoted from an Email exchange with a friend of his, Retired Army Lt. Col. Charles Krohn:

''Army recruiting is in a death spiral, through no fault of the Army,'' Krohn told me.
...
The Army's dilemma is maintaining an all-volunteer service when volunteering means going in harm's way in Iraq. The dilemma extends to national policy. How can the United States maintain its global credibility against the Islamists, if military ranks cannot be filled by volunteers and there is no public will for a draft?

Krohn's e-mail describes the problem: ''Consider the implications of being unable to find sufficient volunteers, as seen by our adversaries. Has the United States lost its will to survive? What's happened to the Great Satan when so few are willing to fight to defend the country? Surely bin Laden et al are making this argument, telling supporters victory is just around the corner if they are a bit more patient. And if they're successful, the energy sources in the Mideast may be within their grasp.''

A trial balloon being floated there concerning a Draft? Perhaps. Novak floats many balloons for his friends in the White House (just ask Valerie Plame).

And then, of course, Krohn's admission about what he fears most --- a loss of "energy sources in the Mideast" --- is rather revealing. Not that it's a war about Oil or anything.

But the bottom line is that even Novak seems to be seeing the light of day: George W. Bush's colossal failure in Iraq is the real problem...

Krohn's message goes on to say ''the recruiting problem is an unintended consequence of a prolonged war in Iraq, especially given the failure to find WMD.'' He therefore calls for a ''national consensus to address the root causes'' of the recruiting problem --- that is, the war in Iraq.
...
Krohn is a lifelong Republican who actively supported George W. Bush's presidential candidacy in 2000. He specified in his e-mail that ''I'm not now blaming'' President Bush or Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for the situation. ''We have a problem that transcends politics,'' Krohn added.
...
That means the problem goes beyond mechanics of recruiting and the details of volunteer service and is found in the war itself.

Oh, do ya think, Bob? Not to go all Rush on ya to say "see, we told ya so", but we will say, where the fuck were you two years, 1600 dead troops and 100,000 dead Iraqis ago, Bob?

Anyway, we'll attempt to be generous as is our proclivity even in these dark days, and simply hope that is a signal that even Novak is joining the club of those many Republicans now taking baby-steps towards joining the rest of us back here in the Reality-Based Community.

UPDATE: Last weekend on CNN's Capitol Gang Novak said that his Pentagon sources feel that "it is imperative to get the hell out of there". He also goes on to say "I really believe that we've done all we can and it's time we go and hope things work out for the better."

Video clip in two flavors courtesy of David Edwards: Streaming Real Player, Windows Media




Congress Doing Its Job?! What's This World Coming To?!
(Okay, so it was only for 30 minutes, but it's a start!)
By Brad Friedman on 5/26/2005 6:17pm PT  

Finally. The United States Congress was allowed 30 minutes by the Republican Majority to debate the War in Iraq!

Yesterday, an amendment by Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) to the Pentagon's $491 Billion Appropriation Bill was debated on the floor of congress. Woolsey's amendment called on Bush to begin planning an Exit Strategy for Iraq.

Imagine that! An actual dialogue --- out loud, and on the floor of the U.S. Congress! --- about one of the most botched, illegitimate, ill-conceived and ill-waged foreign policies in the history of the United States of America. One that has taken hundreds of thousands of innocent lives, has made the world more dangerous (by the Pentagon's own admission!) and has no end in sight.

The amendment didn't pass, of course, but the topic is finally being discussed. Albeit all too briefly.

Nonetheless, even five Republicans, one of them Walter Jones (R-NC) of Freedom Fries fame (see yesterday's story on his change of heart and regret over both the fries and the war) voted in favor of the amendment!

Despite the overwhelming defeat, about two-thirds of Democrats voted for it and so did five Republicans – a dramatic shift from just a few months ago, when talk of a potential withdrawal was taboo for even the most progressive lawmakers.

Of the five Republicans to vote for Woolsey's amendment, only one, Representative Walter Jones of North Carolina, spoke in favor of it on the House floor. Jones, one of the most conservative members in Congress, led the campaign in 2003 to change French fries to freedom fries.

"We've never voted one time together in my eleven years here," said Jones, referring to Representative Woolsey. "When I voted two years ago to submit the troops, I was making my decisions on facts. Since that time, I've been very disappointed on what I've learned about the justification of going into Iraq. Afghanistan, absolutely, we should be there. We should have more troops, but we can't have more troops there when they're in Iraq."

Read the tea-leaves. Listen to the thunder.




By Brad Friedman on 5/26/2005 12:14pm PT  

RAW STORY's Larisa Alexandrovna is set to report shortly that a movement seeking a "Resolution of Inquiry" by members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee into details surrounding the Downing Street Memo is now under way.

A number of grassroots citizens organizations, including The BRAD BLOG and Velvet Revolution have issued our support for such a Resolution, which could potentially be the first move towards a criminal investigation and/or Impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives.

In the now-infamous July 2002 memo (issued a full 8 months prior to the War on Iraq), it is said that "Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."

Neither the Bush or Tony Blair administrations have disputed the authenticity of the memo or the information contained within it.

89 Members of Congress recently sent a letter to George W. Bush inquiring about the memo. As of today, no response has been received by Congress.

UPDATE: Alexandrovna's story is now up at RAW STORY. It begins...

Coalition of citizen groups seek formal inquiry into whether Bush acted illegally in push for Iraq war

A coalition of citizen activist groups running the gamut of social and political issues will ask Congress to file a Resolution of Inquiry, the first necessary legal step to determine whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in misleading the country about his decision to go to war in Iraq...

FURTHER UPDATE: A website has now been established for the newly emerging citizen's coaltion at AfterDowningStreet.org

FURTHER FURTHER UPDATE: Velvet Revolution's official statement is now online here. Please sign this petition to your lawmakers now!




Taking the Media to Task for their Delinquency in reporting on 'Biggest Crime in History of the Nation'!
By Brad Friedman on 5/26/2005 11:43am PT  

In a follow-up posted yesterday by Jim Lampley at HuffingtonPost.com, Lampley discusses his original blog item which set off a firestorm when he claimed that Election 2004 was "the biggest crime in the history of the nation".

His latest item suggests what we have been saying here for months: "a mountain of evidence suggests the 2004 Presidential election was decisively tampered with and general media are doing nothing about it."

He also answers back directly to his critics and once again compares the gaming of Election 2004 to Watergate and even links to a BRAD BLOG story in the bargain...

Among the most interesting observations were those of the large number of conservative critics who defined my position as "liberal". One website headquartered in Philadelphia called me "somewhere to the left of Leon Trotsky". That's fascinating. I had never realized the belief in free, full and fair elections was a socialist or communist tenet. I had thought it was a fundamental element of democracy.
...
I'll remind you again that the truth of Watergate was still well-submerged at this point in 1973. But the New York Times and the Washington Post ultimately did their jobs back then. The Post showed its colors yesterday, moving a story about the vast disparity between pre-Iraq war military assessments and what the Bush Administration chose to tell the public from its original placing on page one to a main edition spot on page twenty-six. I don't think we can count on Katherine Graham to shepherd the truth anymore, and Ben Bradlee's gone. As for the Times, it is of course the constant target of the right-wing media conspiracy which labors so hard to cover the crimes of this Administration up. The Times will try, but it needs our help.
...
The cretins in the Bush Administration are no doubt thrilled to have made Amnesty International's select list of human rights abusers. They're actually being cited there for some of their smaller crimes. The biggest one was domestic, not international. It's the one you are reading about, if you care. I pray to all the traditions of democracy that you do.

Jim Lampley appeared for an exclusive interview on our radio program, The BRAD SHOW, recently. You may listen to an .MP3 archive of our interview with him, in which he goes into great detail on this matter, at that page.

UPDATE: HuffPost has now added COMMENTS for each blog item! Go put in a good word for Lampley over there! Looks like the Freepers are trying to (surprise, surprise) avoid, distract and deflect over there. Go get 'em! Tell 'em the truth!




As Previously Reported in Miami-Herald and Eerily Similar to Recent Report from Arizona!
By Brad Friedman on 5/26/2005 11:20am PT  

After reading the item posted here last night about what seems to have happened in Arizona, please take a look at what AP is now reporting as having happened in Miami-Dade...

A report released by the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition said during the elections there were "serious problems with policies and procedures that are supposed to protect the integrity of the ballot."

In many precincts, the number of people who signed in to cast votes was not tracked carefully, or in some cases was not compared with the actual number of ballots cast at those precincts.

The group also said there was a touchscreen machine malfunction; when votes were tallied the results from one machine had been counted three times, creating a discrepancy of 171 votes that became part of the certified canvass, the group said.

"It slid right through and nobody caught it," said Martha Mahoney, a professor at University of Miami and a group member.

Fifteen of Florida's 67 counties used touchscreen machines, including most of the heavily populated ones.

Election officials welcomed the criticism and said the machine that gave a 3-for-1 tally has been sent for testing.

The item above, run this morning by AP seems to be a report on the same news item run by Miami-Herald almost three weeks ago which includes many more details on just how out of line the final results were from the information in the poll books.

All of this is a pattern that most of us --- who have being paying attention --- saw months ago. Will the MSM see it now that these various reports are being confirmed in various segments of the "legit" media?




John Brakey Makes the Case for Fraud in His Home Precinct
By Brad Friedman on 5/25/2005 11:02pm PT  

We look forward to digging into this one a bit, hopefully in the morning or at least after some elusive but much needed rest.

In any case, this template for a stolen national election, as presented by one man who's been diligently compiling his case since Election Day, is certainly compelling. We urge you to give it a look.

The Tuscon Weekly is to be lauded for their fine coverage of this story.

The rest of the media can largely go to hell for not doing same in every damn town and precinct across this country.

"No way was this gross error," he insists. "The only way you screw things up this bad is you have to plan. It was methodically planned out. But if it was gross error, we have a pretty bad system, and your vote is a joke."

More on the story of John Brakey as we can find the time to look into it a bit more. But please do give the full article a read and let us know your thoughts.

(Thanks to our friend David Edwards for the tip!)




Conyers Interview Describes 'Serious Abuses of Power', and Impeachment 'Being Discussed'
"We’re moving into a different kind of country under different kind of law," says the Ranking Minority Member of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee
By Brad Friedman on 5/25/2005 7:48pm PT  

Not that we enjoy being "All-Conyers-All-The-Time" around here, but he is the man out in front of nearly everything these days, demonstrating what an actual opposition party is supposed to look and sound and act like.

As well, it should not go unnoticed that in the case of a Democratic Majority returning to the U.S. House of Representatives in '06 (yeah, we know the possibilities for that, given who owns the voting machines, but still...), Congressman John Conyers would be the Chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. That is the House Committee which would begin Impeachment Hearings were George W. Bush ever to have done anything that could possibly be considered an Impeachable Offense (as impossible as such as thing is to imagine!)

All of that said, Conyers made a few fairly remarkable comments in his recent interview with RAW STORY which we've only today been able to read in full.

We recommend a read of the entire transcript. The following few grafs, amongst many, certainly caught our attention...

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---




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