Get out of Afghanistan, pass meaningful healthcare and if it fails, move on.
Regulate financial industries. Jobs, Jobs, and Jobs.
Stop building unwanted bridges and schools in Afghanistan. We need them at home.
The terrorist are not warriors. They have no army to blow up. We give them creditability calling their gang an army.
The FBI and CIA can chase them. Use the law to prosecute them, jails to hold them and the electric chair to kill them.
Stop spending our precious resources outside of the country and spend it at home.
Don't become "Bushed!"
Stand by the progressives, discipline the blue dogs and bring bills to the floor. If they don't pass it is OUR job (not yours alone) to fix it.
Oh, most important to you. You're not only slipping in the polls, you are losing your base. I love ya, but sometimes action is better than wimpy results!!
Stop enjoying yourself soo.... much. We are living hard lives and are trying to get through tough times.
Where is the "OLD" Barack? Bring him back and if bills go up or down, we will at least have a great time trying.
Good Luck, I am still in your camp for now. I don't think I can afford to give any more money. At least not until things change.
Irena Salina’s award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Water Crisis.
Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world’s dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel.
Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question “CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?”
Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround. (Excerpt from main website)
Please visit the official website for more information: http://www.flowthefilm.com
Click the Fullscreen Button for a larger version.
http://politicalpete.com/forum/index.php
http://politicalpete.com/
Torture is an international and US crime.
Does the United States want to be or look like the street thug, an international bully, or an international criminal to alienate allies, used for propaganda to recruit terrorists and increase terrorism?
Or
Does the Unites States stand for Justice, with the justification to go after international criminals where ever they hide, with the support of allies and the international community?
CIA-Central Intelligence Agency
Can’t Include All the Constant Inappropriate Alibis
Everybody knows the Agency is built on deception and lies
Nancy didn’t know her husband of 10 years
To be Collaborating In Assignations, not like what he appears
Ronald Comes Into Airports and with the greatest of ease
Arranges to pass through without examination for disease
Like a Conceal Identity Arranged this special pass
I Can’t Imagine Allowing some Contaminations In, Alas
No one should have the kind of clout
To keep Compromising It All as they travel about
Effectively transferring disease like the Swine Flu
Let this epidemic become pandemic by the stupidity they do
Like my friend who Covertly Indulges Adultery
Incorporates his Creative Inventive Aliases for infidelity
Government’s Clandestine Indecent Actions in guise of work
Evil man calling himself patriotic but I call him a jerk
Night and day he goes about in his double life
Cold Ignorant Asinine fool who lies to his wife
Every one working there or at least the majority
Are working in a Corrupted Intolerant Agency
Government people trained to deceive with lovers glances
Every one of them Coming Into Acute circumstances
Never Could I Agree to a job that requires such deceptions
Change I Accepted and now most Countries Imagine Americans
You Can Install A more truthful Central Intelligence Agency
I to would like to see Donald Rumsfelt, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice and George Tenet face charges, but first I want to see how our current administration handles this black mark on our country’s history, without outside interference. Basically, whose going to align themselves on whose side.
Think about it for a moment – Here’s Dick Cheney with every opportunity he can get a hold of, to voice his displeasure with any and all of Obama’s policies with the media; what other former Vice Presidents has done that? Not a one!
Now his daughter is getting into the act:
Liz Cheney Defends Father ‘Dick Cheney’ Torture Legacy/Policies
So Why, easy, to confuse along with attempting to defuse the issue at hand, his own personal involvement with authorizing torture.
Rice, Cheney Approved Waterboarding Associated Press
The Director of Central Intelligence in the spring of 2003 sought a reaffirmation of the legality of the interrogation methods. Cheney, Rice, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft and White House counsel Alberto Gonzales were among those at a meeting where it was decided that the policies would continue. Rumsfeld and Powell weren’t.
Additional postings regarding this topic and others may be found here:
Nuremberg Trials
America, as all countries today, is undergoing a vast amount of change; however there exists a hopefully small number of individuals within our country who in essence mistakenly subscribe to the notion “the Bush doctrine on terror” was correct and righteous, which includes the use of torture to obtain supposed Intel information.
I believe our President is taking the right steps, as he promised during his campaign to “right the wrongs” of our country’s past eight years of injustice regarding our treatment of combative detainees. First by releasing the Bush Administration’s memos condoning torture (listed here and here also here), which he followed up by insuring his release would not produce a witch hunt (as some want) by traveling to CIA’s Headquarters and assuring employees individual prosecution would not be presumed and finally, most importantly turned the entire matter over to our Justice Department and directly to Eric Holder, the Attorney General.
On this past Wednesday (22 Apr 09) an article in the Washington Post, authored by Craig Whitlock, of Washington Post’s Foreign Service Department and entitled: “European Nations May Investigate Bush Officials Over Prisoner Treatment” confirms my beliefs by the following excerpt:
On Tuesday, Obama for the first time raised the possibility of creating a bipartisan commission to examine the Bush administration’s handling of terrorism suspects. He also said he would leave it up to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to determine whether to prosecute senior officials who approved waterboarding and other tactics.
This was further confirmed in a statement published by the American Civil Liberties Union, entitled: “Attorney General Holder Says He Will “Follow The Law” And Investigate Torture” where the following excerpt stated:
Attorney General Eric Holder said today that the Justice Department will “follow the law wherever it takes us” in investigating the U.S. officials behind the CIA torture policies under the Bush administration.
Europe, you have every obligation and right to legally pursue whatever action you feel is appropriate, but please let our present administration do what they can to correct these past “wrongs”; in our way of first and let America reestablish itself under the “Rule of Law”.
A.G. Holder: Investigate Torture
The people who authorized Bush’s torture program shouldn’t get off scot-free. It’s time for Attorney General Holder to appoint an independent special prosecutor.
Update 23 Apr 09:
Clinton Questions Cheney’s Credibility: “I Don’t Consider Him A Particularly Reliable Source Of Information” Huffington Post | Nicholas Graham
The sensitive topic of the release of the torture memos came to the forefront when Republican Rep. Dana Rohrbacker asked Clinton if she agreed with Dick Cheney’s request that documents ostensibly showing the efficacy of the torture programs should be declassified. Clinton ultimately replied that she believes “we ought to get to the bottom of this entire matter” and that it “is in the best interest of our country” to do so, but not before she took a shot at Cheney’s credibility, saying “I don’t consider him to be a particularly reliable source of information.”
Stephen Views the News April 21, 2009
http://stephenviewsthenews.blogspot.com/
Tea and Torture on a Spring Day
* The prestidigitation of the political right – There was much ado about very little with last week’s tax day Tea-Bagging protests about taxes and an assortment of sometimes hate-filled accusations. Although it was billed as a populist movement of significant proportions it was neither populist nor populous.
The event was repeatedly promoted by FOX News. While some consider FOX News a news station what it has demonstrated over the last 10 years is that it is the public relations arm of the Republican Party. FOX silence was telling on the subject of federal spending during the years that Bush and Republicans blew through the Clinton budget surplus and proceeded to build huge deficits. Who were the other movers and shakers behind Tea-Bagging?
Americans for Prosperity – a right wing think tank funded by billionaire David Koch. Koch Industries was fined $35 million dollars in 2000 for oil spills resulting from eroded and broken pipelines. “During the 1990s, the firm's faulty pipelines were responsible for more than 300 oil spills in five states, prompting a penalty of $35 million. In 1996, a flawed pipeline caused an explosion outside of Dallas in which two teenagers were killed. In a lawsuit related to the deaths, a trial court returned a judgment of $376.69 million against the company. Now there is a populist face to put on your tea bag tag.
The Independence Institute – This very conservative think tank is funded by the Coors Foundation’s Castle Rock Foundation both of whom advocate for the wealthy interests and their privileged needs. Just because they supply beer to the masses does not mean they are interested in the masses beyond the purchase of the next six-pack.
FreedomWorks – An organization that supports and promotes the interests of lobbyist Dick Armey. Those interests include Bristol-Myers Squibb, the insurance industry, and oil interests. Armey opposes health reform that would cut into the profits of branded drugs, works for deregulated life insurance reform and supports the status quo reliance on fossil fuels. Not to go unnoticed, none of these issues are in the interests of the American people.
The funders of the Tea-Bagging movement are to populism what the Republican Party was to the religious right. It is the illusion of representing the interests of a broad segment of the citizenry while in fact representing the interests of a select few. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had the appropriate response to the Tea-Bagging magical mystery tour. “The president, he stressed, had just recently passed a ‘tax cut that covers the most people in the history of this country’…The president promised significant tax relief for working families of this country, and in the first month of the administration delivered that to the American people.”
What are the facts concerning U.S. tax policy? A report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: “Federal Tax Burdens for Most Near Their Lowest Levels in Decades” concludes: Overall Federal Tax Burdens Are Low by Historical Standards; Federal Individual Income Tax Burdens Have Fallen Significantly; and Tax Burdens Have Dropped Most Sharply for the Highest-Income Households. I would suggest that this is what the Tea-Bagging rallies were about. It involved the wealthiest of society protecting their privileged tax concessions which they manipulated through congress in recent decades. And the sly shysters at FOX carried their water. What is being touted as a grassroots movement is little more than an assroots movement ensconced in deception and illusion.
John Perr at Crooks and Liars compiled a list of 10 Republican Tax Day Lies. They are listed below and the link provides fuller explanations:
1. President Obama will raise taxes on small businesses.
2. The estate tax devastates small businesses and family farms.
3. 40% of Americans pay no taxes.
4. Tax cuts always increase revenue.
5. The GOP is the party of fiscal discipline.
6. Ronald Reagan was the greatest tax cutter of all time.
7. FDR caused the Great Depression, or at least made it worse.
8. Obama's cap-and-trade plan will cost each American family $3,100 a year.
9. Obama's tax proposals will undermine charitable giving.
10. The rich pay too much in taxes already.
* The Torture Memos –Obama’s release of Bush’s Justice Department torture memos showed courage and at the same time focused attention once again on some of the moral and legal issues these memos engender. It required courage to go against the national security community, some of his advisors and the bulk of the political right. These memos broke laws and their release exposes the shrewd but amoral reasoning used by the Bush appointees who concocted these “justifications.” And make no mistake! U.S. laws and international laws were broken, as pointed out by constitutional lawyer Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com. How many times in the last two decades have we heard conservatives lecture about the rule of law, at least until the law is an inconvenient truth? Our laws, including international treaties, exist apart from political party or political perspective. They exist regardless of issue or circumstance.
My ambiguity about the CIA interrogators empowered by these memos uncomfortably surfaced when Obama said that CIA operatives would not be prosecuted for committing torture. This is a difficult subject to embrace from either side. From one standpoint if one thought that they were following the law they should be free of prosecution. And yet, the Nuremburg trials concluded that this was not a satisfactory defense. This is not an attempt to equate the widespread inhuman acts of the Nazi regime against innocent and defenseless people to what occurred at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and secret prison sites. It is a question of where one draws the line. It is my strong feeling that the line must not be subject to situational ethics. It is also a matter that these operatives were burdened with directives that stemmed from the Bush administration’s strained attempts to circumvent the law. It is interesting that when Obama said that CIA personnel involved in these interrogations would not be prosecuted there was no mention of a pass for the people that designed and authorized these programs. Perhaps there will be consequences but in either case we are at least addressing this difficult and challenging subject. Democracy and morality are not always easy and the fact that we question our actions in an open forum only adds gravitas to the proud claims we proclaim as a nation.
* Quotes of the Week:
~ Richard Armitage, second in command at the State Department under George W. Bush, said in an interview (about the torture of detainees), "I hope, had I known about it at the time I was serving, I would've had the courage to resign,"
~ “The image of the United States of America throughout the world (committing torture) is a recruiting tool for Islamic extremists.” John McCain 4/20/09
* “The healthy man does not torture others - generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers”Carl Gustav Jung (1875 – 1961) Swiss psychiatrist
DIMUAT DI WWW.KATAKAMI.COM & WWW.REDAKSIKATAKAMI.WORDPRESS.COM
Jakarta 18 April 2009 (KATAKAMI) Kadang-kadang, ada manusia yang sulit untuk membaca tanda-tanda perubahan zaman yang arahnya sudah begitu positif dan sangat pantas dihargai.
Radio BBC London memberitakan tentang diumbarnya rasa kecewa kelompok HAM tertentu kepada Presiden AS Barack Obama yang dinilai enggan mengadili agen-agen rahasia Dinas Intelijen AS (CIA) karena menggunakan teknik integorasi yang kejam sepanjang era kepemimpinan Presiden BUSH.
Kita simak dulu berita selengkapnya dari Radio BBC London :
16 April, 2009 - Published 20:58 GMT
Obama membuat kecewa
Kelompok hak asasi manusia di Amerika Serikat menyatakan kecewa bahwa agen CIA tidak akan diadili dalam soal teknik interogasi di masa Bush.
Para pegiat menyambut baik keputusan Gedung Putih menerbitkan rincian teknik interogasi yang sekarang sudah dilarang oleh Presiden Barack Obama.
Namun kelompok hak asasi mengatakan keputusan untuk tidak mengadili para agen itu merupakan kegagalan menegakkan hukum di negara tersebut.
Yang lainnya membela dengan mengatakan integorasi itu telah membuat Amerika Serikat lebih aman.
Mantan ketua CIA, Michael Hayden, yang menjalankan badan tersebut di bawah kepemimpinan Bush mengatakan langkah Gedung Putih ini akan mengganggu tugas-tugas intelejen, dan membuat badan asing enggan berbagi informasi dengan CIA.
Penerbitan laporan
Sebelumnya, Amerika Serikat menerbitkan empat memo rahasia yang merinci alasan hukum untuk cara interogasi CIA yang dilakukan pada masa Bush.
Para pengkritik program interogasi itu mengatakan cara yang digunakan itu sama dengan penyiksaan.
Presiden Barack Obama juga menerbitkan satu pernyataan yang menjamin bahwa tidak ada staf CIA yang akan dihukum karena perbuatan mereka dalam program interogasi itu.
Sebagian orang di CIA menghendaki agar sejumlah bagian memo itu tidak dipublikasikan, khawatir kalau-kalau penerbitan secara penuh akan memicu gugatan hukum terhadap para agen rahasia, kata laporan itu.
Penerbitan memo-memo itu berasal dari permintaan kelompok pembela hak sipil American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Teknik kejam
Tiga di antara dokumen tersebut dtulis pada bulan Mei 2005 oleh orang yang waktu itu menjabat kepala Kantor Penasihat Hukum Departemen Kehakiman, Stephen G. Bradbury.
Mereka memberikan dukungan legal untuk penggunaan kombinasi berbagai teknik pemaksaan, dan menyimpulkan bahwa cara yang dipakai CIA tidak “kejam, tak manusiawi, atau melecehkan” berdasarkan hukum internasional.
Obama, adalah pemimpin yang konsisten pada janjinya. Ini yang harusnya sangat cepat disadari, dikenali, dirasakan dan diakui oleh rakyat AS sendiri. Walaupun bergabung dalam sebuah wadah kelompok pembela hak sipil sekalipun, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) harus adil dan cerdas dalam “membaca” bagaimana karakter kepemimpinan yang membanggakan dari Obama.
Memang betul bahwa berbagai tindak penyiksaan yang terjadi sepanjang masa pemerintahan Presiden Bush terkait penanganan terorisme, sangat amat memalukan bagi AS.
Itulah sebabnya, Obama menjanjikan bahwa jika ia terpilih sebagai Presiden AS maka yang pertama akan dilakukannya adalah menutup kamp tahanan Guantanamo di Kuba.
Dan apa yang terjadi ?
Persis di hari pertama Obama bekerja secara resmi di Gedung Putih sebagai Presiden AS yang ke-44, memo pertama yang ditanda-tanganinya adalah keputusan untuk menutup Penjara Guantanamo dengan kebijakan bahwa penutupan itu secara resmi akan dilakukan paling lambat satu tahun setelah keputusan itu ditanda-tangani. Artinya, Penjara Guantanamo akan ditutup pada bulan Januari 2010.
Kami menuliskan hal ini secara khusus lewat tulisan berjudul “Misteri Angka Satu Presiden Obama Yang Antiklimaks”.
Mengapa kami sebut antiklimaks ?
Ya sebab masa satu tahun itu termasuk sangat lama untuk dinantikan oleh para tahanan yang ada di Penjara Guantanamo, jika patut dapat diduga penjara itu hanyalah kedok untuk melakukan berbagai tindakan penyiksaan kepada warga negara asing yang ditangkapi seenaknya saja dan ditahan disana hanya untuk disiksa. Tidak ada proses hukum yang diberikan dan tidak ada juga akses apapun yang diberikan kepada negara yang menjadi tanah kelahiran atau tempat asal para tahanan disana.
Sehingga, keputusan untuk menutup setahun ke depan rasanya terlalu lama. Mengapa bukan menutupnya sebulan setelah Presiden Obama menanda-tangani keputusan itu ?
Bayangkan kalau dalam sehari saja, semua tahanan disana tetap mendapatkan penyiksaan fisik. Maka, mereka harus sangat tabah dan kuat sekuat-kuatnya untuk tetap disiksa selama 364 hari berturut-turut. Alangkah lamanya penderitaan itu.
Iya kalau misalnya mereka memang bersalah. Tapi bagaimana kalau mereka samasekali tidak bersalah ? Hak apa yang mau dikedepankan untuk menjadi pembenaran bahwa agen-agen rahasia CIA dan seluruh petugas disana bisa menyiksa warga negara orang lain “seenak udel-nya sendiri” ?
Tetapi, fokus utama yang harus dicermati disini adalah Presiden Obama menepati janjinya untuk menutup penjara itu.
Entah itu sebulan atau setahun kemudian, tetapi state policy atau kebijakan negara (AS) sudah dikeluarkan dan tak bisa ditarik lagi.
Presiden Obama tak berhenti sampai disitu. Ia membuka kepada publik tentang adanya memo-memo rahasia yang membenarkan dan menjadi landasan bagi agen-agen rahasia CIA melakukan teknik integorasi dengan cara penyiksaan fisik yang begitu kejam.
Secara politik, patut dapat diduga kebijakan pemerintahan Presiden Obama membuka rahasia era Bush kepada publik terkait kekejaman teknik interogasi itu bisa dipandang sebagai sebuah sign atau tanda kepada Bush dan jajarannya bahwa mereka punya banya kelemahan dan kekurangan yang bersifat fatal sekali.
Secara politik, patut dapat diduga Presiden Obama bermaksud untuk meminta perhatian dari seluruh perangkat yang bertugas dibawah pemerintahan Bush agar jangan coba-coba untuk membuat lebih banyak permasalahan yang merepotkan AS (terutama pemerintahan Obama sendiri).
Lalu, kalau sekarang Presiden Obama yang dinilai mengecewakan karena “state policy” yang dikeluarkan tidak mencakup proses hukum terhadap seluruh agen rahasia CIA yang melakukan penyiksaan itu, hal ini justru menjadi tanda tanya besar.
Lho, mengapa Obama yang dipersalahkan ?
Dengan menilai bahwa Obama mengecewakan karena tidak memerintahkan agar para agen rahasia CIA diadili, maka penilaian ini yang justru keliru dan perlu diluruskan.
Obama tidak mengecewakan siapapun, entah itu rakyat AS atau publik dunia.
Pasti ada sesuatu yang sifatnya sangat mendasar sehingga ditempuh kebijakan yang formatnya memberikan nuansa yang sangat “win-win solution”.
Proses peradilan yang dituntutkan kepada para agen rahasia CIA itu, tak mungkin hanya dilakukan kepada para agen rahasia tersebut. Tetapi harus terus bergulir sampai ke tingkat atas.
Bahkan, sampai kepada orang per orang yang menuliskan memo-memo rahasia berisi landasan atau menjadi pegangan bagi “aparat dibawah” untuk melaksanakan apa yang diperintahkan oleh atasan.
Bukan tak mungkin, proses peradilan itu bisa menembus ke Pejabat Gedung Putih semasa pemerintahan Presiden Bush.
Hingga puncaknya, justru patut dapat diduga bisa menjadi bumerang yang menempatkan Mantan Presiden Bush sebagai tersangka (juga).
Yang menjadi akar permasalahan terkait penyiksaan-penyiksaan kepada para tahanan di Penjara Guantanamo itu, sekarang sudah diredam, dikendalikan, ditekan dan dihilangkan oleh Presiden Obama.
Pelan-pelan, penjara Guantanamo akan ditutup.
Pelan-pelan, sambil menunggu proses penutupan itu maka seluruh landasan atau pegangan tertulis yang menjadi alat pembenaran terjadinya penyiksaan-penyiksaan kepada para tahanan sudah dicabut oleh Presiden Obama.
Para tahanan yang memang bisa dikembalikan ke negara asalnya masing-masing, sudah mulai dkembalikan. Lalu sisanya, dialihkan ke beberapa negara yang memang bersedia menampung para tahanan Guantanamo.
Kadang-kadang, tudingan yang asbun atau asal bunyi saja tetapi mengatas-namakan Hak Azasi Manusia (HAM), justru mengundang rasa prihatin dari publik dunia.
Apakah terlalu sulit untuk kelompok HAM tersebut untuk memberikan waktu dan kesempatan kepada Presiden mereka sendiri untuk membenahi betapa morat-maritnya penanganan terorisme sepanjang masa pemerintahan Presiden Bush ?
Jangan karena membawa isu HAM, maka dianggap sah-sah saja menuding Presiden Obama begini dan begitu dalam konotasi negatif.
Apa yang telah dilakukan oleh Presiden Obama selama 3 bulan pertama masa kekuasaannya ini terkait penanganan terorisme, sudah sangat baik sekali dan patut dihargai oleh siapapun.
Obama memberikan atmosfir yang kondusif dalam hal penanganan terorisme. Ia tak mau lagi secara bombastis mengumbang motto PERANG MELAWAN TEROR.
Obama tak mau lagi, atas nama PERANG MELAWAN TEROR maka AS memamerkan arogansi kekuasaan dan terus bertindak sewenang-wenang. Dan tindakan sewenang-wenang itu, patut dapat diduga ditiru juga oleh segelintir orang yang selama ini dilatih dan diberi kemudahan dalam segala peningkatan kemampuan diri masing-masing dalam hal penanganan terorisme di di negara-negara tertentu.
Ya bayangkan saja, sepanjang Bush berkuasa (pasca serangan teroris 11 September 2001 di AS), begitu atraktif dan agresif sekali terjadi peledakan-peledakan bom di beberapa negara.
Termasuk di Indonesia.
Waduh, seperti langganan saja. Periode 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 dan 2005 Indonesia terus mendapatkan serangan peledakan bom dalam kategori HIGH EXPLOSIVE.
Katanya sudah pada dilatih oleh AS dalam menangani terorisme, yang terjadi masalah semakin merajalelanya tindak pidana terorisme itu di Indonesia.
Yang mau dikatakan disini adalah Presiden Obama bukan cuma sekedar wacana dalam kaitan pemulihan metode penanganan teror yang sempat menjadi sangat menyimpang pada era pemerintahan Presiden Bush.
Ada “action” atau tindakan nyata dari Presiden Obama yang benar-benar sangat mengagumkan. Dia lakukan sesuatu sesuai dengan otoritas dan kewenangan yang dapat digunakannya sebagai seorang Kepala Negara.
Bagaimana mungkin, agen-agen rahasia CIA itu dapat diseret ke muka hukum jika ternyata pada kenyataannya ada surat tertulis yang keluar dari GEDUNG PUTIH berisi perintah resmi untuk menginterogasi para tahanan terorisme lewat metode yang kejam tadi ?
Para agen rahasia CIA itu tidak melakukan perbuatan yang menyimpang dari perintah atasan. Ya, mereka tidak melakukan yang disebut sebagai in sub ordiansi.
Kalau para agen rahasia CIA itu dituntut dan diseret misalnya ke muka hukum, maka patut dapat diduga para agen rahasia ini bisa berbalik menuntut jika ternyata tugas-tugas yang sudah mereka laksanakan dianggap sebagai perbuatan melawan hukum.
Lain halnya, kalau misalnya ada petugas yang berinisatif menyiksa sendiri para tahanan itu. Tetapi yang terjadi disini adalah kebalikannya. Ada perintah resmi dari Gedung Putih, lewat memo-memo rahasia yang dibongkar dan dibuka oleh Pemerintahan Presiden Obama.
Jadi, salah besar kalau dikatakan bahwa Presiden Obama sangat mengecewakan kelompok pembela hal sipil (ACLU) tadi.
Kami tidak sependapat.
Presiden Obama sudah melakukan hal yang benar dan terpuji. Ia justru harus didukung untuk terus melakukan PERBUAHAN atau CHANGE sehingga AS dapat menjadi negara adidaya yang sangat mengagumkan.
Jadi, janganlah ada yang asbun menuding bahwa seolah-olah Obama mengecewakan dan tidak memahami duduk persoalan.
Pahami dong duduk persoalannya. Sadari apa yang menjadi esensi dari kebijakan-kebijakan AS.
Presiden Obama , kini seakan menjadi sebuah alunan melodi yang terdengar indah di telinga siapa saja di belahan dunia ini, saat dengan kesungguhannya Obama membenahi apapun juga yang selama ini memang kurang baik atau tidak pantas untuk menjadi bagian dari sistem pemerintahan sebuah bangsa yang terhormat bernama AMERIKA SERIKAT.
Meredam dan memerangi terorisme, bukan dengan cara mengobarkan secara lebih parah mata api perlawanan dari pelaku-pelaku terorisme itu sendiri atau orang-orang tertentu yang berkedok sebagai “teroris” padahal justru berniat untuk “cari makan” atau menggali harta karun yang bisa dikeruh dari rusaknya nilai-nilai peradaban manusia akibat dihajar oleh kekejaman terorisme.
Tak benar jika disebut Obama mengecewakan.
Yang benar adalah Presiden Obama sudah melakukan sesuatu yang benar seturut dengan kebijakan negara yang kini dipimpinnya, agar kebijakan itu tidak menimbulkan guncangan stabilitas (terutama didalam negara mereka sendiri).
Ke depan diharapkan, Presiden Obama sungguh serius untuk mengendalikan sebuah perangkat didalam sistem pemerintahannya agar jangan lagi ada keputusan, kebijakan atau tindakan yang menyalahi ketentuan hukum atau aturan yang berlaku dalam hal penanganan terorisme.
Juga diharapkan, agar Presiden Obama sungguh serius untuk menggunting secara cepat kesengajaan pihak tertentu di berbagai negara asing yang sengaja mengeruk keuntungan dari kocek anggaran AS selama bertahun-tahun terakhir ini atas nama penanganan terorisme.
Singkirkan dan hindari semua benalu-benalu yang cara hidupnya sudah menggerogoti AS dan negara yang menjadi basis gerakan oknum aparat di INDONESIA misalnya, yang patut dapat diduga menjadikan isu terorisme sebagai komoditi dagangan dan ladang emas yang mendapatkan seribu satu macam keuntungan.
Dukung Obama dalam membenahi semua penyimpangan dan ketimpangan terkait penanganan terorisme.
Dengan semua respek yang kita punya maka ketegasan dan keberanian Presiden Obama untuk melakukan pembenahan yang bersifat menyeluruh itu sangat pantas untuk dihargai dan didukung sepanjang masa pemerintahan Obama.
You are the best, Mr President !
(MS)
MEGA SIMARMATA
Editor In Chief Of WWW.KATAKAMI.COM
http://www.redaksikatakami.wordpress.com
http://www.theblogkatakami.wordpress.com
Admittedly before 911 we were open to terrorists and we’ve paid dearly for our lacks and arrogant mistakes in many ways; loss of life of those involved in the twin towers attack, individual freedoms, increased taxes, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and international embarrassment on the Bush’s administration policies regarding torture to name a few.
However, we keep reading and hearing, for the past five years, how we’re “winning” the “War on Terror”, and reading an article such as this posted in the New York Times, entitled “N.S.A.’s Intercepts Exceed Limits Set by Congress”, authored by Eric Lichtblau and James Risen is disturbing to me.
I was taught and agree with the fact; we live in a country governed by the “Rule of Law”, which to me implies our laws were authored for one sole purpose and to prosecute those who break this intended law. Not to use the congressional passed legislation to uncover personal information concerning individuals for storage in a National Database and used for unknown purposes.
Here are a few excerpts from the Post article which I feel are significant:
The National Security Agency intercepted private e-mail messages and phone calls of Americans in recent months on a scale that went beyond the broad legal limits established by Congress last year, government officials said in recent interviews.Several intelligence officials, as well as lawyers briefed about the matter, said the N.S.A. had been engaged in “overcollection” of domestic communications of Americans. They described the practice as significant and systemic, although one official said it was believed to have been unintentional.The Justice Department, in response to inquiries from The New York Times, acknowledged in a statement on Wednesday night that there had been problems with the N.S.A. surveillance operation, but said they had been resolved.The questions may not be settled yet. Intelligence officials say they are still examining the scope of the N.S.A. practices, and Congressional investigators say they hope to determine if any violations of Americans’ privacy occurred. It is not clear to what extent the agency may have actively listened in on conversations or read e-mail messages of Americans without proper court authority, rather than simply obtained access to themAfter a contentious three-year debate that was set off by the disclosure in 2005 of the program of wiretapping without warrants that President George W. Bush approved after the Sept. 11 attacks, Congress gave the N.S.A. broad new authority to collect, without court-approved warrants, vast streams of international phone and e-mail traffic as it passed through American telecommunications gateways. The targets of the eavesdropping had to be “reasonably believed” to be outside the United States. Under the new legislation, however, the N.S.A. still needed court approval to monitor the purely domestic communications of Americans who came under suspicion.One official said that led the agency to inadvertently “target” groups of Americans and collect their domestic communications without proper court authority. Officials are still trying to determine how many violations may have occurred.Notified of the problems by the N.S.A., officials with both the House and Senate intelligence committees said they had concerns that the agency had ignored civil liberties safeguards built into last year’s wiretapping law. “We have received notice of a serious issue involving the N.S.A., and we’ve begun inquiries into it,” a Congressional staff member said.And in one previously undisclosed episode, the N.S.A. tried to wiretap a member of Congress without a warrant, an intelligence official with direct knowledge of the matter said.Following is a video I produced during President Obama’s Presidential campaign, which I feel outlines the problems associated with the FISA legislation:
The National Security Agency intercepted private e-mail messages and phone calls of Americans in recent months on a scale that went beyond the broad legal limits established by Congress last year, government officials said in recent interviews.
Several intelligence officials, as well as lawyers briefed about the matter, said the N.S.A. had been engaged in “overcollection” of domestic communications of Americans. They described the practice as significant and systemic, although one official said it was believed to have been unintentional.
The Justice Department, in response to inquiries from The New York Times, acknowledged in a statement on Wednesday night that there had been problems with the N.S.A. surveillance operation, but said they had been resolved.
The questions may not be settled yet. Intelligence officials say they are still examining the scope of the N.S.A. practices, and Congressional investigators say they hope to determine if any violations of Americans’ privacy occurred. It is not clear to what extent the agency may have actively listened in on conversations or read e-mail messages of Americans without proper court authority, rather than simply obtained access to them
After a contentious three-year debate that was set off by the disclosure in 2005 of the program of wiretapping without warrants that President George W. Bush approved after the Sept. 11 attacks, Congress gave the N.S.A. broad new authority to collect, without court-approved warrants, vast streams of international phone and e-mail traffic as it passed through American telecommunications gateways. The targets of the eavesdropping had to be “reasonably believed” to be outside the United States. Under the new legislation, however, the N.S.A. still needed court approval to monitor the purely domestic communications of Americans who came under suspicion.
One official said that led the agency to inadvertently “target” groups of Americans and collect their domestic communications without proper court authority. Officials are still trying to determine how many violations may have occurred.
Notified of the problems by the N.S.A., officials with both the House and Senate intelligence committees said they had concerns that the agency had ignored civil liberties safeguards built into last year’s wiretapping law. “We have received notice of a serious issue involving the N.S.A., and we’ve begun inquiries into it,” a Congressional staff member said.
And in one previously undisclosed episode, the N.S.A. tried to wiretap a member of Congress without a warrant, an intelligence official with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Following is a video I produced during President Obama’s Presidential campaign, which I feel outlines the problems associated with the FISA legislation:
Senators Obama, Clinton, McCain - The Patriot Act
As one can surmise it is my personal feelings that in the coming November election we will be voting for Senators Obama, Clinton or McCain to be our next President. Also, it is my sincere hope that this newly elected president will restore many of the personal liberties, we as citizens of America have given up over the past eight years. One example of surrendering our liberty, and for me the most important, is our Patriot Act. If I resided or visited a country outside the United States, and this country was on our country’s “watch” list, as being hostile to America; then I would fully support our current Patriot Act, has authored. But, me visiting a “friendly” country, to our nation and electronically communicating to my family, friends or work from this country, then I deem this an uncalled and unjustified surveillance an invasion of my privacy. Over the past six months I have attempted to follow all the candidates closely through their web sites, televised debates (via the Internet wire services) and YouTube; but really do not have a clear understanding of their feelings on this issue. I am not expecting any direct response from any of these three aforementioned candidates, but would like clarification stated within their respective web sites’. The video, produced by the ACLU and distributed by iTV presents our two governmental agencies that facilitate the usage of the Patriot Act and how it is implemented to monitor our electronic communications.
As one can surmise it is my personal feelings that in the coming November election we will be voting for Senators Obama, Clinton or McCain to be our next President. Also, it is my sincere hope that this newly elected president will restore many of the personal liberties, we as citizens of America have given up over the past eight years.
One example of surrendering our liberty, and for me the most important, is our Patriot Act. If I resided or visited a country outside the United States, and this country was on our country’s “watch” list, as being hostile to America; then I would fully support our current Patriot Act, has authored. But, me visiting a “friendly” country, to our nation and electronically communicating to my family, friends or work from this country, then I deem this an uncalled and unjustified surveillance an invasion of my privacy.
Over the past six months I have attempted to follow all the candidates closely through their web sites, televised debates (via the Internet wire services) and YouTube; but really do not have a clear understanding of their feelings on this issue. I am not expecting any direct response from any of these three aforementioned candidates, but would like clarification stated within their respective web sites’.
The video, produced by the ACLU and distributed by iTV presents our two governmental agencies that facilitate the usage of the Patriot Act and how it is implemented to monitor our electronic communications.
Film and video documentaries are beginning to roll out regarding the Bush years of echoing continuous threats to our livelihoods if we didn’t adhere, allow and fellow our vice assistant leader Dick Cheney and his chief adviser on torture assistant Mr. John Yoo, (John can recalled here and here to refresh your memories).
The latest and most popular is entitled “Torturing Democracy” and has been awarded the RFK Journalism Award, where the awards committee calls the film “The definitive broadcast account of a deeply troubling chapter in recent American history”.
National Security Archive Update, April 14, 2009:
Washington, DC - Today, the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights announced that “Torturing Democracy” has won a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for domestic television and is a finalist for the grand prize. Produced and written by eight-time Emmy winner and National Security Archive fellow Sherry Jones, the RFK Center called the documentary film on the Bush administration’s interrogation and detention policies “the definitive broadcast account of a deeply troubling chapter in recent American history.”
From the RFK Center’s Web site:
“Domestic Television Winner: “Torturing Democracy”, Sherry Jones, Washington Media Associates: Meticulous reporting unravels the inside story of how torture was adopted by the U.S. government as official policy in the aftermath of 9/11. With exclusive interviews, explosive documents and rare archival footage, the documentary has been called the definitive broadcast account of a deeply troubling chapter in recent American history.”The entire film can be viewed at the companion Web site, www.torturingdemocracy.org, along with key documents, a detailed timeline, the full annotated transcript of the show, and lengthy transcripts of major interviews carried out for the film. Hosted by the National Security Archive at George Washington University, the Web site will ultimately include a complete “Torture Archive” of primary sources.
“Domestic Television Winner: “Torturing Democracy”, Sherry Jones, Washington Media Associates: Meticulous reporting unravels the inside story of how torture was adopted by the U.S. government as official policy in the aftermath of 9/11. With exclusive interviews, explosive documents and rare archival footage, the documentary has been called the definitive broadcast account of a deeply troubling chapter in recent American history.”
The entire film can be viewed at the companion Web site, www.torturingdemocracy.org, along with key documents, a detailed timeline, the full annotated transcript of the show, and lengthy transcripts of major interviews carried out for the film. Hosted by the National Security Archive at George Washington University, the Web site will ultimately include a complete “Torture Archive” of primary sources.
Please consider giving the website a visit and reviewing this timely and informative film, it’s definitely worth a “watch”.
Prior to the just released nine memos of Bush Administration regarding torture, the following seven highly censored documents were released in the fall of 2008. All furnished documents are in pdf format:
Memo from John Yoo to Tim Flanigan - September 25 2001
Memo John Yoo to William Haynes - January 9, 2002
Letter from John Yoo to Alberto Gonzales - August 1 2002
Action Memo to Secretary Rumsfeld - November 27 2002
Memo from Alberto Gonzales to President Bush - January 25 2002
Colin Powell Memo to Alberto Gonzales - January 26 2002
Memo from Jay Bybee to Alberto Gonzales - February 7 2002
The following uploaded documents were just released by the Justice Department on the 16 of April 09:
Memorandum Regarding Applicability of 18 USC - 4001-a to Military Detention of United States Citizens 06-27-2002
Memorandum Regarding Authority for Use of Military Force to Combat Terrorist Activities within the United States 10-23-2001at-terrorist-activities-within-the-united-states-10-23-2001
Memorandum Regarding Authority of the President to Suspend Certain Provisions of the ABM Treaty 11-15-2001
Memorandum Regarding Constitutionality of Amending Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to Change the -Purpose- Standard for Searches 09-25-2001gence-surveillance-act-to-change-the-purpose-standard-for-searches-09-25-2001
Memorandum Regarding Determination of Enemy Belligerency and Military Detention 06-08-2002
Memorandum Regarding October 23 2001 OLC Opinion Addressing the Domestic Use of Military Force to Combat Terrorist Activities 10-06-2008
Memorandum Regarding Status of Certain OLC Opinions Issued in the Aftermath of the Terrorist Attacks of September 11 2001 - 01-15-2009
Memorandum Regarding Swift Justice Authorization Act 04-08-2002
Memorandum Regarding the President’s Power as Commander in Chief to Transfer Captured Terrorists to the Control and Custody of Foreign Nations 03-13-2002
Update 16 Apr 09:
Richard Armitage On Torture: I Should Have Resigned From Bush Administration (Video) Ryan Grim | HuffPost Reporting From DC
Richard Armitage, the second in command at the State Department under President Bush, told Al Jazeera English in an interview to be aired Thursday that had he known then what he knows now about the torture of detainees, the right thing to do would have been to resign. “I hope, had I known about it at the time I was serving, I would’ve had the courage to resign,” Armitage said in an interview, according to a transcript provided to the Huffington Post.
Richard Armitage, the second in command at the State Department under President Bush, told Al Jazeera English in an interview to be aired Thursday that had he known then what he knows now about the torture of detainees, the right thing to do would have been to resign.
“I hope, had I known about it at the time I was serving, I would’ve had the courage to resign,” Armitage said in an interview, according to a transcript provided to the Huffington Post.
Armitage: ‘Maybe I should have quit’ Richard Armitage, the former US Deputy Secretary of State, tells Avi Lewis on Al Jazeera’s Fault Lines why he should have resigned from the Bush administration over its lack of respect for the Geneva conventions. From Fault Lines, a new show on Al Jazeera English hosted by Avi Lewis and Josh Rushing. The first episode examines the Obama administration’s emerging policies on detention, rendition and torture.
Armitage: ‘Maybe I should have quit’
Richard Armitage, the former US Deputy Secretary of State, tells Avi Lewis on Al Jazeera’s Fault Lines why he should have resigned from the Bush administration over its lack of respect for the Geneva conventions.
From Fault Lines, a new show on Al Jazeera English hosted by Avi Lewis and Josh Rushing.
The first episode examines the Obama administration’s emerging policies on detention, rendition and torture.
Will Obama Block Release of Key Bush-era Torture Memos?
Huffington Post | Jeremy Scahill
On several occasions, Obama has invoked the “state secrets” doctrine, including to argue that a lawsuit filed against the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping should be thrown out.
Updates 16 & 17 April:
Statement of President Barack Obama on Release of OLC Memos The White House | Office of the Press Secretary
The Department of Justice will today release certain memos issued by the Office of Legal Counsel between 2002 and 2005 as part of an ongoing court case. These memos speak to techniques that were used in the interrogation of terrorism suspects during that period, and their release is required by the rule of law.
Obama To Release CIA Interrogation Memos, Defends State Secrets TIME | Posted by michaelscherer
The big news is that at any moment now, the world should know the contents of the once-secret memos that governed President Bush’s harsh interrogation program. The smaller news is that President Obama is further embracing his invocation of “states secrets” to attempt to derail lawsuits over the potentially illegal acts of the Bush Administration. According to a just-released statement.
CIA Off The Hook For Past Waterboarding from CBSNews.com
The Obama administration on Thursday informed CIA officials who used waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics on terror suspects that they will not be prosecuted, senior administration officials told The Associated Press.
Obama: Memo release a weighty decision from Politico by Josh Gerstein,Mike Allen
Obama consulted officials from the Justice Department, the CIA, the director of National Intelligence and the DHS.
Obama consulted widely on memos from Politico by Mike Allen
Axelrod says Obama considered it “a weighty decision.”
Annals of Torture: End Of The Story? from CBSNews.com
It was a great day for Alberto Gonzales, John Yoo, and Jay Bybee. Those ignominious men and dozens more learned that they would be spared from prosecution either here in the United States, where they formulated our odious torture policies.
Update 18 Apr 09:
Harsh Interrogation Tactics Revealed in Torture Memos from ABC News: Home Page
Memos detail use of insects, confinement boxes and waterboards under Bush.
Ex-CIA Chiefs Slowed Torture Memos Release from Huffington Post | PAMELA HESS | April 17, 2009 04:48 PM EST
The Obama administration’s release of classified Bush-era memos on harsh CIA interrogations was delayed for nearly a month in part because of strenuous objections from four former intelligence directors.
Expedience and the Torture Amnesty from Huffington Post | David Bromwich | Professor of Literature at Yale
President Obama’s statement on releasing the Bush-era torture memos is a curious and depressing document, but it bears the marks of having been revised with care by the president himself. He takes the occasion to assure the country that a dark age has passed. At the same time he assures the agents of that darkness that they will be exempt from prosecution. The statement betrays an odd mixture of frankness and caution; the appearance of resolution, with a good deal of actual equivocation; a wish to channel the conspicuous truth to one’s own cause without revealing a disadvantageous quantity of truth.
Bush Torture Memos: Commercial Diets Used As Justification Sam Stein | Huffingtonpost.com
In an effort to rationalize the use of dietary manipulation on detainees, Bush administration officials turned to Slim Fast and Jenny Craig. In a footnote to a May 10, 2005, memorandum from the Office of Legal Council, the Bush attorney general’s office argued that restricting the caloric intake of terrorist suspects to 1000 calories a day was medically safe because people in the United States were dieting along those lines voluntarily.
In an effort to rationalize the use of dietary manipulation on detainees, Bush administration officials turned to Slim Fast and Jenny Craig.
In a footnote to a May 10, 2005, memorandum from the Office of Legal Council, the Bush attorney general’s office argued that restricting the caloric intake of terrorist suspects to 1000 calories a day was medically safe because people in the United States were dieting along those lines voluntarily.
U.N. Official: No Pass For Torturers from CBSNews.com
President Barack Obama’s decision not to prosecute CIA operatives who used questionable interrogation practices violates international law, the U.N.’s top torture investigator said.
Dear President Barack Obama -As it is widely recognized, your election to the highest office of the USA reaffirms and strengthens the fight for democracy and justice waged by honorable citizens in nations around the world. We believe that there is, in fact, a struggle in progress that goes beyond the ocean dealing with the welfare of the whole human community. It is in this spirit that we are sending this communication to your attention.Brazil is living moments of fragility, as the evidence of corruption schemes that threaten the sovereignty of our country is currently being assessed in the USA. We therefore need your support. We know, after all, that international crime organizations have no interest in the public value of nations, but only in its decimation, which perpetuates the scourge and suffering of hundreds of millions of human beings in all nations.The Brazilian fight against corruption has become more intensified in recent months as the Federal Police Satyagraha operations have evidenced to the Brazilian people the involvement of all three powers of the republic in corruption schemes. This became public with the seizure and conviction of banker-gangster Daniel Dantas, the financial agent of numerous frauds and criminal acts done in the past 15 years in conjunction with the highest government representatives of the executive, legislative and judiciary branches.As the result of this deplorable picture, the powers of the Brazilian republic have acted in ways that are patently arbitrary and undemocratic in order to obstruct due processes of law and order, thus betraying the interests of 190 million Brazilian citizens by favoring criminals that have been already convicted by the laws of the country.The fact is that 2 billion dollars have already been seized with the help of foreign governments – from a total of U$ 16 billion embezzled by banker-gangster Daniel Dantas – which shows the veracity of the crime and also proves that the fight indeed goes beyond the oceans. Even so and despite having been arrested twice, sentenced to ten years in jail and to pay a fine of R$ 12 million for trying to bribe a federal police officer, the convicted banker-gangster responds the verdict in liberty after two consecutives writs of Habeas Corpus were issued in contradiction with the whole history of judgment and dockets of the Brazilian Supreme Court.Unfortunately, it is not only the judiciary that is on the payroll of banker-gangster Daniel Dantas. The president of the republic, Lula, just put los amigos to take control over the Brazilian Intelligence System (Sisbin) with a decree on February 19, 2009, to obstruct proceedings concerning the sovereignty of the nation – indeed, a move not far from the Patriot Act that cost the USA a setback which you can measure better than anyone. In this case, 11 autonomous entities, including the Brazilian armed forces, formed a council that coordinated Sisbin. This council has now been replaced by a committee of six individuals, friends of Lula, all with a highly questionable ethical legacy.It is public knowledge that the information from the Satiagraha investigation containing evidence of the mentioned above crimes are in 12 hard disks found inside a hollow wall in the residence of the banker-gangster, which are currently in the hands of the CIA in the USA in order to be analyzed and reveal the schemes of corruption in Brazil that echoes in your own country. It is not difficult to imagine the reasons why such evidence was taken away from Brazil when we consider the seriousness of the crimes committed and the power of the criminals involved, including representatives of the international financial system, some already well known to the American public.Like you, Senator Russ Feingold and millions of honorable men and women in your country, the vast majority of Brazilians believe that the law applies to all equally, otherwise democracy becomes a fraud and we put at risk the future of freedom and citizenship in the world. We must fight together for justice and transparency, day and night, so that corrupt forces are not imposed over the forces of good. That is why we firmly believe that there can be no postponement of the justice claimed by the Brazilian people in the face of the moral crisis that plagues the country.Finally, we are fighting for justice TODAY. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Justice delayed is justice denied." So, we appreciate your vigilance and support to ensure that the processes of data evaluation and dissemination contained in the 12 hard disks in possession of the CIA are not obstructed. We want only the truth; for we know that the truth is sufficient to guarantee the sovereignty of our people.God bless you, your family, the American people and all their initiatives aiming at the social improvement of mankind.Sincerely,Protógenes Queirozwww.protogenescontraacorrupcao.ning.com--------------------------(Français)Cher Monsieur le Président des États-Unis Barack Obama,Comme il est largement reconnu, votre élection à la présidence des États-Unis réaffirme et renforce la lutte pour la démocratie et la justice menée par les citoyens de bien dans toutes les nations à travers du monde. Nous pensons qu'il existe, effectivement, “une lutte en marche qui va au-delà de l'océan” pour le bien-être de l'ensemble de l’humanité et il est dans cet esprit-là que nous vous envoyons cette lettre.Le Brésil vit aujourd’hui un moment d’épreuve de sa démocratie et les documents concernant les schémas de corruption qui menacent sa souveraineté sont en cours d'évaluation aux États-Unis. Ceci dit, nous avons besoin de votre soutien. Nous savons tous que les organisations criminelles internationaux n’ont aucun compromis avec les valeurs républicaines des nations, mais seulement avec leur destruction afin de perpétuer le fléau et les souffrances de centaines de millions d'êtres humains dans tous les pays.Au Brésil, la lutte contre la corruption est devenue de plus en plus intensifiée au cours de ces derniers mois, au fur et à mesure que l'opération Satiagraha menée par des agents de la Police Nationale (Polícia Federal Brésilienne) a devoilé pour les brésiliens que les trois Pouvoirs de la République sont impliqués dans des schémas de corruption. Fait qui est devenu publique dès la prison et la condamnation du banquier-gangster Daniel Dantas, qui il y a 15 ans est l’agent financier responsable par nombreuses fraudes et actes criminels à coté des plus hauts représentants des Pouvoirs Exécutif, Législatif et Judiciaire au Brésil.À la suite de ce lamentable fait, les Pouvoirs de la République Brésilienne sont en train d’agir de façon manifestement arbitraire et antidémocratique, afin d'entraver les processus de la loi et de l'ordre, trahissant ainsi les intérêts de 190 millions de citoyens brésiliens et encourageant les criminels déjà condamnés par les lois du pays.Il y a déjà 2 milliards de dollars bloqués grâce à l'aide de gouvernements étrangers ce qui montre la gravité des crimes et preuve que la lutte contre la corruption croise l’océan. Il faut rémarquer que le montant total de dollars détournés par le banquier-gangster Daniel Dantas est de 16 milliards de dollars. Ceci dit et malgré le fait de Daniel Dantas avoir été condamné à dix ans de prison et à payer une amende de 12 millions de dollars après essayer de corrompre un représentant de la Polícia Federal, le banquier-gangster condamné répond au jugement em liberté puisqu’en contrariant l’histoire et les registres des procès de la Cour de Cassation Brésilienne (Suprema Corte), a fait droit a 2 Habeas Corpus successifs.Malheureusement, il n'est pas seulement le Pouvoir Judiciaire qui est sur “le carnet de paie“ du bandit-gangster Daniel Dantas. Le Président de la République, M. Lula lui-même, vient de nommer “les copains” pour diriger le Service de Renseignement de l’État (Sistema Brasileiro de Inteligência – SISBIN), décret du 19 Février, 2009, afin d’entraver les informations des processus concernant la souveraineté de la Nation, l’action de M. Lula a éte, d’ailleurs, assez semblable au Patriot Act du Président G.W. BUSH qui a couté aux États-Unis le prix que vous pouvez mesurer mieux que quiconque. En ce que concerne la SISBIN, il y avait 11 entités autonomes, y compris l’Armée Brésilienne, qui formaient un Conseil pour sa coordination. Maintenant, ce Conseil a été remplacé par un petit comité de 6 amis de M. Lula, tous les 6 avec des passés moralement douteux.Il est publiquement connu que les informations de l’opération Satiagraha et les preuves des crimes mentionnés ci-dessus qui lui appartiennent sont réunies dans 12 disques-dûrs qui ont été trouvé dans un mur creux chez le banquier-gangster Daniel Dantas. Il est aussi publiquement connu que ces 12 disques-dûrs sont actuellement avec la CIA aux États-Unis pour être analysés et révéler les schémas de corruption au Brésil lesquels doivent avoir des réflexes aussi dans votre pays. Il n'est pas difficile d'imaginer les raisons pour lesquelles ces éléments de preuve ont été mis en dehors du Brésil, il suffit de prendre en compte la gravité des crimes commis et le pouvoir des criminels concernés, dont la liste comprend des représentants du système financier international, certains déjà bien connus du public américain.Ainsi comme vous, comme le Sénateur Russ Feingold et des millions d'hommes et de femmes de bien de votre pays, la majeur partie du peuple brésilien croit que la loi doit s'appliquer à tous également car, du contraire, la démocratie n'est qu’un mensonge et l’avenir de la liberté et de la citoyenneté dans le monde entier est mis en risque. Nous avons besoin d´être ensemble dans la lutte pour la justice et pour la transparence des faits, jour après jour, sans cesse, afin d’empêcher que les forces de la corruption s’imposent aux forces du bien. Par tous les faits décrits et face à la crise morale qui a dévasté le Brésil, nous croyons fermement qu'il ne peut point y avoir des retards de justice dans nos revendications.Enfin, nos combats pour la justice sont pour AUJOURD’HUI. Comme a écrit Martin Luther King Jr.: “Une justice trop longtemps retardée est une justice refusée”. Nous comptons sur vous pour nous soutenir et pour veiller à ce que les processus de l'évaluation et la diffusion des informations contenues dans les 12 disques dûrs qui sont avec la CIA ne soient pas obstrués. Nous ne voulons que connaître la vérité, parce que nous savons que il suffit la verité pour assurer la souveraineté de notre peuple.Que Dieu vous bénisse et à votre famille, que Dieu bénisse tous les américans et toutes vos initiatives d’améliorer le développment social de l’humanité.Avec mes sentiments les meilleurs,Protógenes Queirozwww.protogenescontraacorrupcao.ning.com
I will remember the last 8 years of financial destruction here in the US and the bloodshed of millions of civilians on a global scale. most honest political and financial experts consider him the worst leader america has ever had and this is why.
Worst fiscal crisis since the Great DepressionLied about the war in IraqNo WMD's found in IraqVetoed health coverage for kidsIgnored law, allowed tortureIllegal wiretappingHad enough info to stop 9/11 and didn't, hid that fact from the publicLost Bin laden at Tora BoraCrassly unconstitutional signing statementsStripped resources from Afghanistan and sent them to IraqDidn't catch Bin LadenAllowed Al Qaeda to regroup in Pakistan Afghan war out of controlLied about reducing greenhouse emissions, ignored warmingMuzzled warming scientists in NASA and elsewherePolitical appointments to Department of Justice and political prosecutionsCheney, Rove, and others in contempt of Congress -- refused to tell the American people the truthFooled public into believing Saddam was involved in 9/11 when he knew otherwiseMade light of inabilty to find WMD'sPlease sign the petition to investigate Bush/Cheney for war crimes. Then pass it on to everyony you know that will sign it.
Petition link http://www.petitiononline.com/856798/petition.html
Our accounts and blogs on MYBO are still active, and still free! How kewl is that!
So, we've elected the man, now what? Well updates from the White House are making tree-hugging liberals think we've died and gone to Heaven (Summerland for my fellow neo-pagans). And each day deepens my Presidential Crush:
1/22/09: Obama's third Executive Order issued on his second day in office will see Guantanamo Bay closing in a year's time and emphasizes detainee constitutional privilege of the writ of habeas corpus and enforces standards of the Geneva Conventions. His fourth Order in the same day forms a task force of high level officials to determine future detainee policy
Wait, it gets better, his next Order, issued on the same day, ensures lawful interrogations--effectively taking care of that torture problem we've been having since 2007. The order creates a task force of high level officials to "study and evaluate whether the interrogation practices and techniques in Army Field Manual 2 22.3, when employed by departments or agencies outside the military, provide an appropriate means of acquiring the intelligence necessary to protect the Nation." Thus examining existing interrogation techniques.
And it gets still better! This same order also deals with CIA "dark" prisons: The CIA shall close as expeditiously as possible any detention facilities that it currently operates and shall not operate any such detention facility in the future."
Three dark blots removed from the conscience of the nation in one day.
But one wonders. In that fifth Order there's this statement: "From this day forward, unless the Attorney General with appropriate consultation provides further guidance, officers, employees, and other agents of the United States Government may, in conducting interrogations, act in reliance upon Army Field Manual 2 22.3, but may not, in conducting interrogations, rely upon any interpretation of the law governing interrogation -- including interpretations of Federal criminal laws, the Convention Against Torture, Common Article 3, Army Field Manual 2 22.3, and its predecessor document, Army Field Manual 34 52 . . . ."
Is this intended to prevent lower rank military personnel from again taking the fall for bad decisions on interrogations? Does this put that onus on higher level officials? Is anyone familiar with military law reading my blog???
Well we've only covered one day, and it gets better. . . so I hope Jimmy Carter doesn't get too jealous while I wallow for several blog entries on how Obama has saved the New World--oh make that Renewed World: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/a_national_day_of_renewal_and_reconciliation/
Until next time Renewed Nation . . . . .
P.S. As promised! Informative links! http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing_room/executive_orders/
Arrogance. What does it really mean...that word? Earlier today, I used the word to describe the reason that Governor Rod, of Illinois, is being brought down. The man has rebuilt the freeway system through Chicago and added the drive-by I-Pass to all toll exchanges, thereby cutting traffic tie-ups, and also making driving life a lot easier. He has attempted to fund education, feed poor people and supported 'fair trade' over 'free trade.' The campaign contribution stuff? Which, of any political officeholder, is not involved in that stuff? The 'selling' of the open Senate seat? Which of them (the other 49 governors) is without sin there? But in making my argument about the governor I was brought up short. Way short. I was informed by someone who has known me for years, that it was arrogance on my part which brought me down back in the early nineties (when I went from being a government agent, wearing a white hat, to being a scuzzball 'skell,' with no hat at all!). The same arrogance that is bringing down Governor Rod. I told another friend about that conversation, later in the day, and kind of got the same response.
Am i arrogant? Was i arrogant, and did that really 'bring me down,' as conjectured? Maybe I was. Maybe I am. I don't feel arrogant. By the way, the definition of that word kind of makes it's way around a central theme, from dictionary to dictionary. The theme being one of 'superior to inferior,' posturing. My dominance, or assumed superior positioning, would come from applied intellect and verbal skills. Governor Rod's would come from his office. I do not want to be placed into the same category as Governor Rod. I do not like him either, mostly because of his public presentation. I have nothing else to judge him by, which is pretty weak, as well. But I have plenty to judge me by. How do i evidence intellect and life experience without 'offending' my audience (the person I may be talking to)? There are ways to do that, I know. Why am I not good at those? And I must not be, at all, or I would not be writing this blog in this way. The criticism would never have been leveled if there was not some substance to it. After all, the people who leveled it actually like me!
There is also the thought that I am not nearly as smart as I think, or present, that I am. That psychologist at the Medical Center in North Chicago did say to me once, in an aside; "you know, you are not nearly as intelligent as you think. You are just really good at portraying yourself as that intelligent." And this is a guy I respected, and still respect. I smiled. I had some great comeback, back then, that I do not recall now. And I smile now. Yeah, I am smart. I know that. I wish I was not so smart, as there is a much greater chance for continued bliss if you are not fully aware of what is happening all over the place. And I do like having bliss. in fact, it was Victor Hugo who penned: "Ignorance is bliss." But ignorance is not really a function of intellect, not directly anyway. Yes, a truly brilliant mind can hypothecate circumstance exclusive of experience (otherwise would have no theories at all about the origin of the universe), but ignorance is more about the lack of life experience (which would include formal education). No knowing some things is great. If you think that you would like to know everything than think about what your life would be like if you knew the date you were going to die! So, maybe, the assumption of my arrogance comes from the simple fact that the 'dominance' of intellect I am assuming exists within me, and does not, (which my audience knows), and it is this element which creates animosity towards me. Or maybe I am being too smart. I don't know.
Writing of that subject (death), the Israeli Army continued on with it's devastation of the Gaza Strip, and the people who live there, this day. Schools and such. Civilians all over the place. Artillery is a cruel and general killer. As are air strikes, no matter how 'surgical' they appear when films are shown later on. We, the United States, stepped up to the plate at the U.N. and did not even swing on the thrown third strike at the U.N. A request that a cease fire be enjoined was put forward. Yes, we, the good guys vetoed that. Why? Because the Hamas people, if that is really who they are, would somehow have to prove that they were not going to send any more of their idiotic home made rockets into Israel. Brooks, in the New York Times, approved of that this morning. You see, the Israeli's have to stand tough. They have to 'succeed.' This 'success' can only be gained by destruction. Any failure, later on, is attributed to not having been violent enough, with the death and destruction. His platform is another of the new neocon movement planks. 'Brutal violence is cleansing and pure.' It is part of the mantra.
But you note that we do not go in and do anything at all to Iran. We cry, off in the distance, with Israel at our side, that Iran is providing all sorts of arms to both Iraq and Hamas. But we do nothing. Why? Because Iran has what North Korea has. Nukes. That is all that has stopped us from going into those countries. So, thank God for nuclear proliferation! Gates' job as Defense Secretary might just be a bit at risk if he were to phone home to report that we just lost the sixth fleet one morning! Aggressors are notedly and historically very poor judges of the need for war and the need for aggression. Hamas is not the aggressor in this new war. It is Israel. They are killing the Palestinians out of love. Because they care for them and want to protect them. And here we are, the United States, doing the same thing over and over and over again. Is there any wonder that we are going broke?
Obama appointed a new head of the CIA. You go, Barack! Lou Pennata. What a great choice! The man has no CIA background. Hooray. The Agency is so rife with the seasoned 'non-warrior' and 'mean office analyst' types that it needs a wake up call. I just hope, upon getting the proper approvals, that Lou cleans house. Out with all the sub-directors. Each and every one. They have done about as good as job as the executives who have been running the car companies, and the guys who have been CEO's of the financial houses. We need new blood, and a lot of it. The examination, in hominids, for self-awareness, is to give the subject an anesthetic. When the subject is out cold, a red magic marker spot is placed on his or her forehead. The subject is awakened to stand before a full length mirror at arm's length. If the subject touches the mirror it is deemed to not be self-aware. If the subject touches it's own forehead, he or she is deemed to be self-aware. The entire CIA needs to be tested. We would lose half of the entire agency to this test. But then, our current President would seen rubbing the mirror, as well.
I suppose that whole entry above is one of arrogance. I wonder. And, if I am arrogant, what is it I would be like if I were not? Would I be able to live with me?
from-the-chateau-dif.blogspot.com
Our president elect has given reason to believe that his will be a transparent administration; that his policies will be both reparative and in the interest of the general public, that he is not in the corporate pocket. For this I voted, I am proud to have done so.
His lack of candor however about root causes within government and powered circles end in no little anxiety. Institutions such as DHS, Federal Reserve, CIA, corporate military interests, have evolved into unaccountable, expensive, secret powerbases not unlike governments unto themselves. The assembly over the last eight years of unprecedented and incredible power of the presidency has played out in the public sphere as grotesque fait accompli. Power grabs, both corporate and governmental, the likes of which have only appeared occasionally during the history of the US are occurring daily. A kind of insectile sociopathy pervades.
The public, within what is presumed to be its own media, appears to be viewed with suspicion, parameters of acceptable citizenry narrows, while the value of the dollar and ultimately of labor dwindles progressively to the point of desperation. We the working class are not just alienated but divested. Ours has become a versus relationship with government; one in which interface with institutions common to our experience represent compromise of safety and are therefore avoided.
The ideal of government of and by the people is dead. Left to fend for ourselves within this context we turn on one another, deconstructing our only hope, unity. To what or whom shall we turn? Or is this turning a foolish extension of an ideal long dead? There must be clarity and honesty. No ugliness can be left unaccounted or an already lost citizenry will remain turned away.
From this new administration I then ask this; please, if nothing else, tell the truth. Say it like it is, all of it. Give voice to what is obvious and let us know you see it too. K.
I am fully awake, as I got the papers from under another layer of deep snow. And I found the envelope from the newspaper wraith. What do I put in it? No check because it is addressed to "Delivery Service." I feel like I am getting my papers directly from Langley (CIA) Headquarters. A twenty? Is that too little? Maybe a fifty. I don't have a fifty (this is Southern Outback Wisconsin and they don't know what a fifty is out here, unless is refers to a clothing size) so I would have to put in two twenties and a ten. But that wad seems excessive. But it is Christmas. But it is a tough financial time for all of us. But I am afraid of the Newspaper Delivery Service. I was once a very decisive person, but look at me now. I am still three presents 'short of a full deck' and it is Christmas Eve, and snowing to beat all get out. What do I do? Where do I go? Lake Geneva has a bunch of stores, each about the size of an airport kiosk. Will they even open in the middle of this, the most aggressive winter attack of recorded history out here? I don't know. The aging dinosaur of a Rover sits patiently in the garage, crying softly to be decked out in the chains that even Professor Machado, the smartest man any of us have ever known, can't fathom the directions to install. But they are back there, all shiny on the floor behind the front seats. And 'Bertram' my old wonderful troll of a beaten-up four-wheel-drive is ready for anything.
Oliver Morton. He wrote a column for the New York Times this morning. He slipped through, like Thomas L. Friedman. The editorial board of the Times must be on Christmas furlough. Both of the columns were pretty extraordinary, bright as they were accurate. Morton wrote of the earth, its condition and prospects, while Friedman wrote about the silly and destructive celebration of stupidity that has taken over this country and caused much of what we are experiencing now. Yes, Thomas stole some of my stuff, then wrote it better. Usually, I only celebrate Maureen Dowd's assumption of my blog material (I can't call it stealing as her fan club gets all upset, and besides, its not. We don't own this stuff out here anymore. What we bloggers write is like air. You just breathe it in and then it gets re-breathed again). So Thomas, you may have my stuff and I doff my non-existent hat at the elegant manner in which you chose to use it. But back to Morton's column. He writes about the earth as George Carlin used to describe it. If the earth ever figures out we (homo sapiens) are here, and causing trouble, then we are screwed. We have almost no power over this blue and white ball of water and ice. Even our limp-wristed influence over base temperature is a mere nothing to this planet. And the only one's to actually suffer from our excess are likely to be, well, us. The Earth turns and moves on inexorably and it is unaffected, really, in the scale of things, by even such events as large astroid strikes. That stuff merely impacts on the ecosystem. Life goes up and down and around stuff like that all the time. Way to go Morton. A scientist. A brain. No more of that Bush stuff. Okay, okay, I am not going there. I will even give that low-life scum bag of a drooling president a break today. It is Christmas Eve. And life is cold, snow-buried, but good. Christmas music plays, I have the wood for a fire to burn through this day, on into my own personal Eve, and I have a prime rib for the oven. Harvey is ever loyal and only mildly condescending. Cat bliss.
Now, I shall get cleaned up and go out there into the whiteness of day. It is Christmas Eve and there just have to be more people God wants to put in my way. Merry Christmas!
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By RAY McGOVERN
You've got to hand it to them. Torture aficionados at the White House and CIA have conned key congressional leaders into insisting not only that torture-lite would be a swell idea, but advocating also that the overseers of torture be kept on.
From change-you-can-believe-in we seem to be slipping back to fear-you-can-trade-on. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, has publicly warned those in charge of the administration transition that "continuity is going to be pivotal in keeping us safe and secure." Thus, he argues, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell and CIA Director Michael Hayden should stay in their posts.......
ENTIRE POST - http://www.counterpunch.org/mcgovern12112008.html
