Slashdot Mirror

"The Mind Has No Firewall"
Army article on psychotronic weapons

>>> The following article is from the US military publication Parameters, subtitled "US Army War College Quarterly." It describes itself as "The United States Army's Senior Professional Journal." [Click here to read a crucial excerpt.]

http://www.thememoryhole.org/mil/mind-firewall.htm

"The Mind Has No Firewall" by Timothy L. Thomas. Parameters, Spring 1998, pp. 84-92.

http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/

The human body, much like a computer, contains myriad data processors. They include, but are not limited to, the chemical-electrical activity of the brain, heart, and peripheral nervous system, the signals sent from the cortex region of the brain to other parts of our body, the tiny hair cells in the inner ear that process auditory signals, and the light-sensitive retina and cornea of the eye that process visual activity.[2] We are on the threshold of an era in which these data processors of the human body may be manipulated or debilitated. Examples of unplanned attacks on the body's data-processing capability are well-documented. Strobe lights have been known to cause epileptic seizures. Not long ago in Japan, children watching television cartoons were subjected to pulsating lights that caused seizures in some and made others very sick.

Defending friendly and targeting adversary data-processing capabilities of the body appears to be an area of weakness in the US approach to information warfare theory, a theory oriented heavily toward systems data-processing and designed to attain information dominance on the battlefield. Or so it would appear from information in the open, unclassified press. This US shortcoming may be a serious one, since the capabilities to alter the data- processing systems of the body already exist. A recent edition of U.S. News and World Report highlighted several of these "wonder weapons" (acoustics, microwaves, lasers) and noted that scientists are "searching the electromagnetic and sonic spectrums for wavelengths that can affect human behavior."[3] A recent Russian military article offered a slightly different slant to the problem, declaring that "humanity stands on the brink of a psychotronic war" with the mind and body as the focus. That article discussed Russian and international attempts to control the psycho-physical condition of man and his decisionmaking processes by the use of VHF-generators, "noiseless cassettes," and other technologies.

An entirely new arsenal of weapons, based on devices designed to introduce subliminal messages or to alter the body's psychological and data-processing capabilities, might be used to incapacitate individuals. These weapons aim to control or alter the psyche, or to attack the various sensory and data-processing systems of the human organism. In both cases, the goal is to confuse or destroy the signals that normally keep the body in equilibrium.

This article examines energy-based weapons, psychotronic weapons, and other developments designed to alter the ability of the human body to process stimuli. One consequence of this assessment is that the way we commonly use the term "information warfare" falls short when the individual soldier, not his equipment, becomes the target of attack.

Information Warfare Theory and the Data-Processing Element of Humans

In the United States the common conception of information warfare focuses primarily on the capabilities of hardware systems such as computers, satellites, and military equipment which process data in its various forms. According to Department of Defense Directive S-3600.1 of 9 December 1996, information warfare is defined as "an information operation conducted during time of crisis or conflict to achieve or promote specific objectives over a specific adversary or adversaries." An information operation is defined in the same directive as "

"In some ways you can think of a person's brain as a computer."

Indeed:

"The Mind Has No Firewall" Army article on psychotronic weapons
The following article is from the US military publication Parameters, subtitled "US Army War College Quarterly." It describes itself as "The United States Army's Senior Professional Journal."
http://www.thememoryhole.org/mil/mind-firewall2.htm

Exactly. Woodrow Wilson outlined exactly how the US school system should work:, "We want one class to have a liberal education. We want another class, a very much larger class of necessity, to forego the privilege of a liberal education and fit themselves to perform specific difficult manual tasks."

Sure, that quote was from a different time, but today the same principles apply. Remember: "Men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made stupid by education." (Bertrand Russell) Generally, school is meant to condition children for this purpose.

The Memory Hole is a pretty good site, especially when people are insisting how there are no terrorists because of the war on terror, or how profiling against brown people will save us. That said, it already looks mostly defunct without the help of the government, with the main page last updated in 2006, and links to a blog that almost certainly isn't Russ Kick's anymore.

Crytome is good too, collecting bits of information on certain topics from around the world, but it doesn't really filter for anything (top stories: new foia releases and LANL can't make nukes very fast, ho hum) so finding anything amazing is basically a matter of figuring out what's interesting to you out of the list of stuff they run, and the vast majority of it is stuff that's already openly published in some lonely corner of the world, and is just being brought to light.

Now wikileaks, that one's a site I'd vote for. Just about everything there is hot-button and wanted shut down by someone. Unfortunately, given that their SSL cert is now 2 weeks expired and their "SSL Mail" was what they claimed to be an alternative to PGP, perhaps they're already coming apart at the seams.

http://thememoryhole.org/

http://wikileaks.org/

http://cryptome.org/

The Iranian revolutionaries did the same thing to CIA documents in the embassy. The re-assembled documents are available at www.memoryhole.org

I think you mean http://www.thememoryhole.org/

Clinton wasn't the first either...

http://www.thememoryhole.org/mil/bushsr-iraq.htm

...that the French had an aversion to things normal people like! Apparently they like stuff besides snails, frog's legs, and French military defeats!

Must I conclude from you half baked wrong arguments you are still pissed about being wrong about Irak?

In the name of France, and all the french people, I say "We're sorry."

Sorry for being right. Sorry for your not-so-funny comment. Sorry your life seem to be so miserable you need to hide it behind ill conceived contempt for the french.

And believe us, if is there something the french are immune to, it is contempt... You see, arrogance is so much in our DNA and culture you'll need talent to even attract anything from us but smiling frowns of pity for the average disdainful comment. (I'm not speaking of your above abysmal comment, of course. Please, check your facts and have some brain examination for a possible Hydrocephalus affliction)

You see, it's like a game, for us. The Brittish know that we like to argument for the sake of argument... And the other's utter humiliation. Not so dissimilar from Tauromachy. We, the french, take some fact, and go against the official trend saying something we know is true. (Note the we know is true part. It's important). And somehow, there is always some braindead macho man coming up with his "My own is longer than your's" challenge to defy us on our own grounds. And then, of course, the braindead monkey ridiculizes himself. Of course, even after admitting some semantic miscalculation, the victim can't still accept being in the bad end of an international joke, apparently everyone knowing it even before the beginning of the invasion.

And then, after all the efforts we put together, using our intelligence services, working night and day, trying not to spill the joke and contain our laughter, sending our most talented orators, having half the world agreeing with our viewpoint when you painfully put together your supporters, the only biting, acid, venomous answer you have is "Hey, I was told they eat frogs, Muah ah ah!" ???

WTF???

-- Yours truly, France, (very, very, very disappointed)

The pressure for such total information awareness is really coming from the US administration who sees the best defence against the terrorist threat to establish a buffer zone between it and what it sees as the gap, parts of the world where pax Americana can never be established. Of course it's ironic that in the quest for the defence of 'democracy' us here in the core will actually have to give up our own freedoms. And there is a flaw in such a strategy in that the 'disruptive perturbations' won't necessarly stay behide the firewall and uniteral action will shrink the gap.

'As globalization deepens and spreads, two groups of states are essentially pitted against one another: countries seeking to align their internal rule sets with the emerging global rule set .. I dub the former countries the Functioning Core of globalization, the latter the Non-Integrating Gap'

Of course there is another reading of the terrorist threat agenda. That being after the end of the cold war, the US needed a new pretext for militarily occupying those areas of the planet where it has a vital resources. It also gives the state a pretext for spying on its own citizens. To do that you have to get the people scared and keep them scared.

Yes I know there are real terrorists, but we here in the UK have been subjected to acts at least on par with 9/11. Two of the worst were Lockerbie and the attempt to assassinate the entire UK Cabinet. But the gov never saw fit to cancel democracy. How can you defend freedom by giving it up.

> Said "whackjobs" are less likely to be suicide attackers,

That makes it better how exactly?

> Secondly, I don't know of any homegrown terrorist
> plots by people who wanted to destroy America as a whole

You mean you don't remember the time a white supremacists group had plans to detonate cyanide bombs all over America. The leaders were caught in 2003 but they still believe a large portion of the members are still out there.

To jog your memory...
http://www.thememoryhole.org/terror/tyler-terror.h tm

Or how about the Anthrax letters. We know now that had nothing to do with Islamist terrorists. Hear anything about that recently?

Of course your definition of terrorism is different to mine. It normally means to induce terror as a means to reach your objective. It doesn't always mean about killing. By defination the current administration would fall under that.

As for destroying the way of life? Your government is already doing a good job of that. I mean just think 5-10 years ago if I said that "The American way of life is to pick up people off the street who haven't been charged and torture them" I would of been laughed at. You can't seriously say that is the American way of life.

Also if you think closing your borders makes you safer, take a look at Israel. Possibly the best border control in the world. Do you think they are safer then the US?

Do the people who support racial profiling only support it because they know that it's not them that will be profiled?

I think they demand racial profiling because they're offended by being treated like criminals, when only the people who look like they might be criminals should be treated like criminals. Never mind that Oklahomans are responsible for the second largest terrorist attack on US soil, or more recently, attempting to bring a pipebomb on the plane. Never mind that kid with the gun in a teddy bear. Or the right-wing racists with their hydrogen-cyanide bombs. Of course, the UK has their share of right-wing homicidal nutters defended by the government. I'm even willing to bet the Russians who dragged radioactive crap through a number of European airports didn't look Islamic at all.

"But that's ok, as long as I don't have to stand in line and be searched, and they don't have to go over my children's stuff all that closely, I'm perfectly fine with getting blown up as long as it's not by a Muslim." pretty much sums up their thought process.

Look at the laws being enacted, the charges and/or suits being filed and the way our school system is run.

http://www.thememoryhole.org/edu/school-mission.ht m

Sure wouldn't have wanted people with these attitudes today back when me and my friends played chicken in the park with our ever present pocket knifes.

I used to carry mine to school. Not only was I not considered armed and dangerous, but I was considered one of the "good little boys," who didn't stir up any trouble; unless a grownup did something downright stupid. Then they were in trouble. I homed right in on stupid.

Frankly we have been going downhill for years.

Ya wanna know how the terrorists are going to win? Well, oddly enough, I'm willing to tell you how they're going to win.

No dirty nukes, no poisoning the water supply.

They're just going to sneak into all of our homes and place a pea under each mattress; after which we will simply whine ourselves to fucking death.

Why yes, I did take an extra spoonful of curmudgeon this morning. Why do you ask?

KFG

Ahh, hadn't seen it (here's the link, for anyone interested phoenix memo"). In any case, it doesn't support your use of the word "blocked", which implies an active role in supressing investigation. Negligent, incompentant? Absotlutely. Whaddelseyagot?

http://thememoryhole.org/edu/school-mission.htm

The base problem with our school system right here.

Example of the second problem:

The california education system used to be a lot better, at least there were stricter standards on the primary level back in the 1970's, before the unions took over. If you were a teacher and you couldnt handle the kids, you werent a teacher. you could lose your job if you sent too many kids to the principal's office. After all, since they spend part of their day with you, they have to learn to respect you.

Nowadays, the unions have taken away all responsibility from the teachers and created a joke out of teaching. Very few of my high school teachers were actually qualified to do their job, and yanno what's funny? they weren't in the union. They refused to be a part of it. They taught while the rest of my unionized teachers gloated how they just come in to collect a paycheck. I'm for unions, they're a nice contrast to the other problem that would arise without them, but they become just as equally corrupt. But those teachers had ALL of their credentials to teach, not just what was required.

I can name two of my teachers who outright defied the way the system demanded things being taught too. One of them had a doctorate. The other actually liked to teach outside the box and get you thinking.

To sum it up, the second problem is the lack of good teachers, and the ever decreasing requirements for someone to become a teacher.

Third problem: Lack of good parenting. I dont need to say much on this. We all know why this is the case. Want a clear cut example of how bad parenting is? Look at myspace, and all the assholes wanting to sue it because their misguided daughter went to play with that nice man on the other side of the screen. All because the site didnt watch her for them. replace myspace with the media, government, or school system, and the general scenario with what fits with each of those entities.

Fourth Problem: Deep Flaws in society that kept getting inbred with each generation. American society has always boasted the stupid over the smart, but it has gotten worse with each new generation, to the point where if you're a major luddite and closed-minded, you're acceptable and a fine citizen, whereas if you're smart, open-minded, and a proponent of new ideas that will actually benefit society, you're seen as a problem, a degenerate, and anti-american! Unless you're a rich businessman or work under the government that is.. So being a sheep is acceptable, if you're smart and actually pay attention to reality, you're some sort of sick freak. My co-workers at work have trouble spelling basic words sometimes, they usually come to me because spelling is a strong point (though through using the interent, it tends to slip up every now and then. ;) ) yet they're socially acceptable and whatnot, while they look at me as some sort of freak because I dont keep my head involved in the latest music or who's fucking who in hollywood.

Fifth problem: The people put in charge of educating the masses are, for the most part, not elected, except the superintendent, the rest who make some of the most pivotal positions in a child's life are hired on with zero accountability. They also more times than not have little experience in managing an organization. Mostly paper pushers or disciplinarians. They otherwise have no idea what they're doing outside of what a piece of paper tells them. This is best demonstrated through school finances and spending. They are probably the most inefficient spenders out there next to our military. When it does come to cutting costs, they cut necessary programs and keep all the useless programs running. Compounded by the fact that most of the money they recieve is misspent and basically outright stolen from the schools for personal perks. Ever been in a school district's main office? Ever notice the cars driven by superintendents? I'm not about

I liked this little tidbit here...
"Boners Wanted"
Good to see they've got a sense of humour.

millions of people are living in poverty and rapidly becoming slaves because CNN choose the UN forces as the loosers?

Riiiiight. And had CNN said "Yay! The UN won!" the opposing forces would simply evaporate into thin air? I think the military would be looking into whatever weapons these journalists are carrying, they far outclass anything that the US currently employs.

America is "losing" in Iraq because we're building giant submarines like the newly commissioned USS Texas in order to torpedo Al Qaeda's massive Navy. The Republicans have us "staying the course" because their minds have been so poisoned by the "with us or against us" rhetoric, the only alternative they can fathom is to turn tail and run. Their minds are so twisted they can only see Plan A or Plan B, they are unable to count to C, because that would be neither with them or against them, so it does not exist. I see the Republicans' demands that the Democrats "propose a better plan" as a desparate plea of "I've got no ideas, and we're running out of buildings to blow up, please tell me what to do."

The fact is, on the defensive side, our government simply refuses to comprehend the depths to which our enemies will sink. The TSA currently bans baby bottles unless you're carrying a baby, blithely ignoring the fact that one pair of the british bombers allegedly intended to bring their baby specifically for the purpose of smuggling explosives in its bottle. Meanwhile fans of profiling scream about how we're wasting our time and efforts searching babies and grannies. Of course, they also scream about how we're wasting our time searching white people, so I generally just ignore them anyways. If they can't even fathom what form attacks will take, then how can they expect to defend us from them?

As for our offensive, the US is fighting against an idea, and they're trying to kill it with guns and bombs. The problem? The idea is that "The Westerners Are Evil". Muslim kids go to their religious schools every day where that idea is drilled into their heads. Muslims read their newspapers and their books, they listen to their preachers, all with the same message. So America shows up and starts blowing stuff up. We kill off a few fathers, sodomize a few brothers, disappear a few sons... and every time, the people left behind say "Look! The Westerners Are Evil!".

But it doesn't stop there. For all of the PsyOps and COINTELPRO that America threw millions of dollars at last century (and what about the truth serums and other drugs of the Cold War? Why are we using Middle Age technology to torture and sodomize people when all it takes is last century's syringe?), the Muslims have it down to an art. Muslims drive a carbomb into a crowd of schoolkids in order to kill the soldier handing out candy and toys? "Look! The Westerners Are Evil!" Muslims blow up other Muslims' weddings? "Look! The Westerners Are Evil!" Hezbollah "arrests" some random Jewish soldiers and gets the crap bombed out of them because unlike the Jews who had the foresight to build bomb shelters to protect civilians along the border, Hezbollah left the Lebanese citizens intentionally unprotected? "Look! The Westerners Are Evil!"

This is what we are fighting. We had numerous chances to turn it around, but because the Republicans slammed anything not involving guns and bombs as "liberal touchy feely shit", we were unable to stem the tide. We have failed to convince the neighbors and acquaintances of the militants that they are NOT their friends and that they must be turned over or else they will get them all killed. We have been unable to convince the mothers that the militants will slaughter their children and must be rooted out. We have been unable to convince the young men that suicide bombers do not go to heaven, they do not get virgins, and that they

Just don't ever allow your kids to shred anything, even once. If you do, you may find yourself re-filling your taxes, one piece of sellotape at a time.

Or have a bunch of fanatic Iranian students do it for you. I have a copy of Documents From the US Espionage Den, volume 5 [6 MB PDF] that is a quite good illustration of why US embassies have been incinerating and not shredding their paper waste since 1979.

Just don't ever allow your kids to shred anything, even once. If you do, you may find yourself re-filling your taxes, one piece of sellotape at a time.

Or have a bunch of fanatic Iranian students do it for you. I have a copy of Documents From the US Espionage Den, volume 5 [6 MB PDF] that is a quite good illustration of why US embassies have been incinerating and not shredding their paper waste since 1979.

The Memory Hole is da bomb! http://www.thememoryhole.org/

Far from it (I'm Polish-American, of mixed Jewish and Catholic ancestry - both sides of my family went through the Holocaust.) I'm just stating that the state of Israel isn't necessary for the success or continuation of Judaism, and might in fact be detrimental since it serves as the focus of Muslim hatred.

"... a replacement all seeing eye will be needed ..

Consider it done, it's called Operation TIPS and got its own all seeing eye as a logo.

.. to keep the same class of people in line ..."

You should consider that these 'class` of people are librarians and anti-war protestors and when they come after you, there will be no one left to speak out.

Let the BDS posts begin ... You guys really need to grow up and start thinking.

• Iraq has weapons of mass destruction? Nope.
• Saddam has links to al Qaeda? Nope.
• Katrina victims will receive the support they require in a timely fashion? Nope.
• US citizens will only be spied on using a court order? Nope.

and the fact that I am white and middle class. That was all they cared about.

Sadly, this is true on either side of the puddle. And one of these days some white Texan or some white Oklahoman will get away with it, and everyone will stand around in shock and awe that some white person would do such a thing. For about 30 minutes. Then everyone will go back to hurling epithets at people that don't look like they do.

Meanwhile we get pretend security against some enemies.

"During the September 11, 2001 attacks, the US was holding multiple annual and one-time war games with at least one resembling the actual attacks."
Link

"On 9/11, CIA Was Running Simulation of a Plane Crashing into a Building"
Link

For a full-on paranoid Google spree, try "9/11 + exercises" ...
Link

If your head hasn't already exploded or gone into hibernation, you might also inquire into the standing-down of air defense systems.

Maybe they would have made plans to secure the country after ousting Saddam instead of ignoring historians who predicted violent resistance to any occupation.

Or maybe Bush should have just listened to his pappy.

I quote extensively (or used to, when I was actually updating my blog), rather than just link, because the MSM and .gov sites would alter or delete content. I even blogged specifically about that activity a couple of times. thememoryhole.org is a site devoted to such behavior.

It's not a free market. They intentionally created bottlenecks.

I love capitalism. Is the oil industry a free market ? NO.

http://www.thememoryhole.org/corp/gas-prices.htm

There is a very strict and narrow definition of "Enemy Combatant". The term is defined in the geneva convention. Part of the definition is controlled by the government, wears identification (the reason for "Dog Tags") and a standardized Uniform.

The documents are available on the internet in PDF here (thememoryhole.org)

it's the Marines and not the Army or the Air Force doing it?

You're right. They hate our freedom and these are clearly terrorist acts. I don't think I even need to explain the link between them and 911, any idiot can see it.

We know they have weapons of mass destruction. We *KNOW* they have weapons of mass destruction. Freedom, freedom, stay the course, weapons of mass destruction. Freedom, freedom, stay the course, weapons of mass destruction.

Freedom, freedom, stay the course
Weapons of mass destruction

Bring 'em on!

Freedom, freedom, stay the course
Weapons of mass destruction

Fuck Greenland

Freedom, freedom, stay the course
Weapons of mass destruction

Fuck Greenland

Pussy, pansy motherfuckers
You know what you get
When you fuck with the red, the white, and the blue

We're coming to liberate you
We know who's responsible for 911
and it's fucking you

We're number one
We know what's best for you
We're coming to liberate you

what the hell could they think we've been doing since 10 minutes after the first plane struck the towers??

Sitting in a classroom reading books...

Video and screencaps here: http://www.thememoryhole.org/911/bush-911.htm

LOL

You can't really prove a negative. He had some chemical weapons long ago, gassed some kurds a long time ago, detroyed the rest when told to, and appparently didn't keep good enough records for someone who was itching for an invasion. I never said Bush lied though, don't attribute that to me. I just think anyone who still believes there are WMDs has been sucking the presidential staff for too long.

But.. here's some evidence for you, at least:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7634313/
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/06/iraq.wmd .report/
http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/powell-no-wmd.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3135932.stm

I mean, I can keep pasting all day long, just do a search for WMD and Iraq, and you'll find pretty much every news agency in the world reporting there are none found, and admin officials saying there were none there. Unless it's a conspiracy, and the internet is all working together to discredit Bush and company.

The part that I don't get though, this man is not your better.. All men are not created equal. He is below average. The only advantage he has is money. He had benefit of inheritence. I don't understand how people could follow him. I only follow a person who is better then I am. I am better then this man. You are most likely better then him. Most americans I have met are better then him. Have people gotten so appethetic that mediocrity is now a virtue? Is being great just not so good anymore?

And of course the spies would have never thought of hidden, miniature cameras in buttons, purses, books and what not, yes? The actual purposes this (and many other equally ridiculous) prohibitions served were to: intimidate the population, empower the police to arrest people wantonly on a multitude of pretexts and to create a false impression that the state vigilantly guards you against the Emmanuel Goldsteins of the world. I feel rather sad that so many people fall for such obvious psych-ops manouvers.

You're probably thinking of the (now-defunct?) Information Awareness Office.

you're stating that you have no ethical problem with frightening people, but that you're too lazy to do it yourself?

I think the mujahedeen are working hard to obtain a nuclear or biological weapon. Once they unleash it in a major western city...

Probably because you simply define corporations as "evil" and take pleasure in thinking of them as mindless machiavellian monsters who would gladly grind baby bones into bone meal if it would make them money. If only you would apply the same degree of skepticism to governments' actions...

It's not okay to "coddle" fearful people but it is okay to create fearful people? It sounds like you want to do hurtful actions, and if people are hurt by your actions, then they "deserve it". Am I correct?

I definately agree that you are a snot-nosed, arrogant little shit (not to mention abusive and possibly undeserving of living in society), but I take exception to being characterized as such. What did I say that made you think I was "self-righteous"?

His father certainly did. Here's a quote George H. W. Bush, from back in 1991:

While we hoped that popular revolt or coup would topple Saddam, neither the U.S. nor the countries of the region wished to see the breakup of the Iraqi state. We were concerned about the long-term balance of power at the head of the Gulf. Trying to eliminate Saddam, extending the ground war into an occupation of Iraq, would have violated our guideline about not changing objectives in midstream, engaging in "mission creep," and would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. [...] Under those circumstances, furthermore, we had been self-consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-cold war world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the U.N.'s mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the U.S. could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land. It would have been a dramatically different--and perhaps barren--outcome.

What an ignorant wanker you are. A little research wouldn't be a bad thing, before you open your mouth proving how uneducated you are.

No, really, go do some reading. I'll wait. What's that? You can barely read? Let me throw some information your way:

The Kuwaitis had been regularly breaching agreements with the rest of OPEC, by selling more oil than their treaties allowed, cheaper than the other countries were prepared to. You'll probably try to argue something about a "free market" in spite of the existing treaties between the OPEC countries, as you appear to be a naive, barely educated American who believes the shit he's fed by the propaganda machine. Even America has a protectionist market, but that's a whinge and bitch session from you for another day.

The Kuwaitis treated the rest of the Arab population as inferior to themselves, creating a large amount of bad feeling in their general direction.

The Iraqis had reason to believe that the Kuwaitis were drilling on a steep angle, taking oil from the Iraqi oil-fields, rather than their own. We're talking millions of dollars of oil, not a few paltry barrels.

Here's the kicker: the Iraqi ambassador *ASKED* the United States if they had a problem with an invasion of Kuwait. The response from the American ambassador? Basically, go ahead: "We have no interest in border disputes."

Who's the fuckhead now? In case you can't work it out, in spite of the obvious sarcasm, it's you, you ignorant, brain dead cunt.

Here's a novel idea! Do some research like I did - read political journals, read analyses by various authors, even go as far as reading Bush sr talking and writing on the fucking invasion! You'll find that there's little pretense of invading for the good of the people. It was quite clearly acknowledged as eliminating a threat to a vital oil supply.

Bush Sr even went as far as arguing against an occupation of Iraq, for the fear of a long term engagement in that country, that would cost billions of dollars and the lives of many Americans. Here's a link to the Memory Hole:

http://www.thememoryhole.org/mil/bushsr-iraq.htm

It makes for interesting reading, if you can hold of lunging for the dictionary and the theasaurus for long enough to understand it.

Everyone except Colin Powell, you mean?

Did Bush sell nuclear secrets to the Chinese? First I heard. Only thing I heard in relation to the chinese was his brother taking a huge bribe from one of thier companies.

http://www.thememoryhole.org/pol/neil-bush-contrac t.htm

http://www.thememoryhole.org/terror/tyler-terror.h tm

Taft

ICANN is contracted by the Department of Commerce, which is controlled by -- you guessed it -- Congress. Congress has several times in the past tried to make laws governing Internet content (Communications Decency Act, anyone?). Fortunately, thanks to a sane supreme court, the law was struck down and freedoms were preserved. Unfortunately, however, the Supreme Court isn't guaranteed to remain sane, and I (along with a not insignifican percentage of Americans, and most other people in the world) don't really trust the president to appoint non-wingnuts.

Also, just because political speech is generally protected at the moment doesn't mean our freedoms aren't being eroded. Certain political parodies can result nowadays in run-ins with the police. And if you're a member of the press, Don't try to take pictures of coffins coming home from Iraq. Oh, and if you try to pull any of that peaceful protest stuff where news cameras might see you near the president, don't be surprised if the police escort you off to a 'free speech zone.'

This gets its own paragraph because it's particularly worrisome.

As for other expression involving consenting adults, take a look at the War on Porn, for instance. Porn may not be political expression, but it is expression nonetheless, and tax dollars are being wasted trying to stamp it out because some people disapprove of it on religious grounds. That's to say nothing of the fact that in Texas, anal sex (once again between consenting adults) would still be illegal (yes, on religious grounds again) had the Supreme Court (which, again, isn't guaranteed to remain sane) not stepped in. Sex toys are still illegal in Alabama... what non-religious reason could there possibly be for banning them?

Also, the United States isn't one to talk about human rights violations (is it really just a few soldiers acting on their own, or does it go all the way to the top?). Or internment camps.

Other countries may also be nervous about our constant attempts at setting up massive surveillance networks.

You're right on a few counts: China and Cuba are a lot worse than we are. Also, European anti-hate-speech laws are a violation of free speech. That does not excuse this country's conduct. As long as we aren't the most free country in the world, America has a problem. Say it with me.

America has a problem.

The rest of the world sees it. Half of us see it. We're just not responsible enough to handle control of the internet right now.

That's interesting. It should be modded higher. In any case, Time Magazine now claims the removal was due to copyright issues: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1998/dom/980302/ special_report.clintons_29.html.

Whether or not that's true, the original article can be read here: http://www.thememoryhole.org/mil/bushsr-iraq.htm.

• A war to bring democracy to a dictator-state, that simultaneously puts America in control of a vital natural resource, may be a good idea, or it may not.
  
• Unfortunately, nobody ever made that case. Instead, we heard about 9/11, and then "yellow cake," and then we heard about "WMD," and then we heard about toppling an evil dictator and the suffering of the Iraqi people.
  
• This duplicity is what opened up the hawks for all the criticism they have since received.
  
• The Bush administration has been embarassed and disgraced for its claims about Iraq and WMDs. If they had been honest, maybe it would have gone differently.
  
• The war in Iraq is backfiring horribly, just as most of those with expertise, including former president George Bush, predicted. Whether or not the war is "justified" is immaterial if it cannot reasonably be expected to succeed.
  
• If the war in Iraq is actually helping the cause of Islamic Fascism, what then?
  
• Iran underscores the point - this has happened before. The end result is an excellent example of the very kind of Fascist Islamic state you are battling against.

"To my knowledge, in the time I have served as secretary of Defense, the idea of reinstating draft has never been debated, endorsed, discussed, theorized, pondered, or even whispered by anyone in the Bush administration."

This is technically true. The discussion went on in the DoD:

"...the Secretary of Defense and Department of Defense manpower officials have stated recently that a draft will not be necessary for any foreseeable crisis. They assume that sufficient fighting capability exists in today's "all-volunteer" active and reserved Armed Forces for likely contingencies, making a conventional draft of untrained manpower somewhat obsolete. Yet, Defense manpower officials concede there are critical shortages of military personnel with certain special skills such as medical personnel, linguists, computer network engineers, etc... a draft of men and women possessing these critical skills may be warranted in a future crisis."

Then they started setting up the databases, designing the draft cards, started putting out the call for draft board volunteers, and hired Widmeyer Communications to "secure compliance and... mold public opinion" to support it.

Rumsfeld employs classic Bush Administration spin tactics by changing the subject, arguing that the Administration has never considered bringing back the Vietnam-era draft, which is true. But the substance of the claim is that a Skills draft will be instituted, which Rumsfeld cleverly avoids by talking about something completely different.

Where I come from, this is called lying.

As a consequence there arose an undergound publishing network that used photocopiers and mimeograph machines to distribute writings not sanctioned, this was called samizdat.

It seems we are in a similar situation today. The major media decides what is newsworthy. The counter media is becoming the blogosphere. So to see Rep. Sensenbrunner's shutting of Patriot act debate in congress your best source is a blog that has captured the C-span broadcast.

Similarly, the Downing Street Memo was first available (in the US) online. And most of the followup clamor has been there as well.

This is both a good thing and an indication of how far the press has drifted from their role of shining a light into the dark recess of government and commerce.

What is lacking is a way for all the bits of information to be preserved and made available in a coherent fashion. For example, there is:
http://www.thememoryhole.org/

But, this seems to be basically a one person operation with limited funding.

A parallel concern can be illustrated by TPMcafe's request for a list of good history books. Such a list (especially annotated) can be a valuable resource for people trying to learn from the past. However, right now, it just a bunch or random comments in a blog. A formal bibliographic site would thus be much more useful.

Not only was it not an ideal choice, it was a counterproductive one. In 2002 those of us who gave this any serious thought predicted that invading that country would be destabilizing. And instability makes a perfect breeding ground for fundamentalism. An analogy to your statement would be a doctor saying "Tequila isn't the ideal medicine for your hangover, but it's the only available one".

As far as being "actively hostile", what were they doing? Planning an invasion of the U.S.? As Colin Powell said in February of 2001, "frankly they [sanctions] have worked. He [Saddam] has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors." This explains why "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy" instead of the other way around.

On the other hand, the elections are evidence that it is working, as are events in Libya and Lebanon. It's still too early to tell.

Democracy != Elections. Democracy means fair access to government. Iraq is a long way from that. Democracy *could* help make fundamentalism of all kinds less viable (though there's no guarantee of that), but elections by themselves have nothing to do with that.

Fundamentalist Christianity *has* been eliminated as a viable worldview.

It has merely been relabeled as "intelligent design" and "culture of life". True, it isn't viable in the sense of "logically defensible", but that hasn't stopped many Americans from calling for certain theocratic views to be imposed on public policy.

> What problem can you *possibly* have with US policy on this?

Bush is a very good friend of the president of that country. Very good friend. Of course its not overly advertised in the US.

Something else that is not overly advertised is what this president likes to do with people he doesn't like.

Like for example boiling a political prisoner alive. Then when the mother of the victim gets all public and demands justice he has her jailed too.

Lets not forget telling his army to gun down protesters and as for democratic reform you do know he passed laws to stay in power longe right?? right?

Don't believe me? go read up on him. Heres something to get you started..

http://www.thememoryhole.org/pol/us-and-uz.htm

Seeing how Osama Bin Laden had nothing to do with Iraq, the article may not have been the kind of polar opposite that an article by Saddam Hussein would be.