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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mighty_Mezz who wrote (6447)	2/7/2003 7:42:47 PM
From: Mighty_Mezz	Respond to of 25898

Justice Dept. Drafts Sweeping Expansion of Anti-Terrorism Act Center Publishes Secret Draft of ‘Patriot II’ Legislation By Charles Lewis and Adam Mayle (WASHINGTON, Feb. 7, 2003) -- The Bush Administration is preparing a bold, comprehensive sequel to the USA Patriot Act passed in the wake of September 11, 2001, which will give the government broad, sweeping new powers to increase domestic intelligence-gathering, surveillance and law enforcement prerogatives, and simultaneously decrease judicial review and public access to information. The Center for Public Integrity has obtained a draft, dated January 9, 2003, of this previously undisclosed legislation and is making it available in full text (12 MB). public-i.org

To: Mighty_Mezz who wrote (6447)	2/7/2003 7:49:52 PM
From: HG	Respond to of 25898

And they ridiculed Hillary for lifting a silly dinner set.....<g>

To: Mighty_Mezz who wrote (6447)	2/7/2003 8:12:28 PM
From: Mighty_Mezz	Respond to of 25898

The latest from moveon.org ======= 70 years ago, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave his inaugural address. It contained a phrase which has reverberated ever since: for our nation, Roosevelt said, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Times have changed. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the UN Security Council. Scripted to play well on the evening news -- the presentation was more for the benefit of the American public than for the Security Council -- Powell made a forceful argument that Iraq is being deceitful about its weapons of mass destruction. He had pictures. He had a vial of white powder. He had diagrams showing links between various terrorist cells. Powell looked like a rational man making a rational case. But by any legal or scientific standards, the evidence was shaky and marginal. Rather than relying on solid facts, Powell chose an emotional route: he played to fear. Powell and Bush know that they can't win over the American people on the merits of this war, because it just doesn't make sense. But if folks are scared enough of Saddam, they'll back it. Fear mongering is unacceptable. It's no way to lead a country. Please write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper today, explaining why you disagree with Powell's approach. We've included some samples below. A flood of letters could help remind the American public that there are alternatives to a policy of fear. Nowhere is that policy more transparent than in Powell's and the Bush Administration's repeated assertions that there are links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda. Ever since September 11th, President Bush has been looking for a way to link Iraq to those attacks. A link would allow the President to direct the nation's fear of al-Qaeda against Iraq -- an easier target for military action. But despite enormous efforts in the CIA and FBI, not a shred of real evidence has emerged. In a recent article, the New York Times reported that some CIA and FBI staffers have even made complaints that sketchy intelligence was being employed for political purposes. "'We've been looking at this hard for more than a year and you know what, we just don't think it's there,' a government official said." (The article is linked to below.) President Bush and his administration are trying to manipulate us. They are trying to use fear of terrorism and anger about September 11th to strong-arm a war that has nothing to do with either. We will not let them. And we will not let Colin Powell distract us from the possibility of a peaceful resolution through continued strong inspections. In a speech today, chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said "successful disarmament of Iraq was possible without Baghdad's active cooperation, but it would be faster with Iraq's help." (See below for the article about this statement.) Even if Saddam continues to play games, in other words, we can win this one without war. An article by two of the nation's foremost foreign policy experts affirms this point. In Foreign Policy magazine, John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt argue that Saddam can be contained. "Today, Iraq is weakened, its pursuit of nuclear weapons has been frustrated, and any regional ambitions it may once have cherished have been thwarted. We should perpetuate this state of affairs by maintaining vigilant containment, a policy the rest of the world regards as preferable and effective. Saddam Hussein needs to remain in his box -- but we don't need a war to keep him there." (Article linked to below.) We know that Saddam Hussein is a terrible man. We know he plays games. And it's possible that he has some bad weapons. But all that was true in the mid-1990s, when inspectors destroyed nearly all of his weapons and put an end to his nuclear development program. According to most reports, 95% of Saddam's weaponry was destroyed at that time. Then the inspectors were pulled out. Now inspectors are back in there. Let's get that last 5%. Our President and his cabinet have demonstrated that they are willing to resort to demagoguery. In a rush to war, they are using deception, omission, misinformation, and fear mongering. We will use the simple truth. Inspections can disarm Saddam. The inspectors know it, other countries know it, and history proves it. Please write a letter to the editor today. You'll find samples below. Fear is powerful, but hope is stronger. There is still real hope that we can disarm Iraq without anyone dying. Sincerely, --Eli Pariser International Campaigns Director MoveOn.org February 7th, 2003 _____________ LINKS TO ARTICLES MENTIONED SPLIT AT C.I.A. AND F.B.I. ON IRAQI TIES TO AL QAEDA By JAMES RISEN and DAVID JOHNSTON The New York Times February 2nd, 2003 nytimes.com BLIX SAYS IRAQ MAKING EFFORT, BUT WANTS MORE Reuters February 7, 2003 alertnet.org AN UNNECESSARY WAR By JOHN J. MEARSHEIMER and STEPHEN M. WALT Foreign Policy Magazine foreignpolicy.com ________________