Pacific Free Press was launched in March 2007 by Dutch-Canadian Richard
Kastelein of V.O.F. Expathos, in the Netherlands along with Chris Cook- CFUV radio journalist and Editor in Chief of Pacific Free Press. Cook is based in , Victoria, British Columbia.
The mission of Pacific Free Press is simple: to dig out nuggets of truth from
the slag-heap of lies, ignorance and witless diversion that has buried
public discourse today. Pacific Free Press provides a new venue for
disseminating hard news and insightful, fact-based analysis of the
harsh realities too often ignored or distorted by the mainstream press.
The manic warriors, in Washington, are at it again, only now they've found someone who can manage more than one syllable at a time to head their team. Yes, not only is this a new year, but we now have a "new" strategy, at least in Bushspeak. And. how's this for the defense department's latest policy in the Gulf; Donald Rumsfeld's designation of the phrase "bad guys" for Al Qaeda has now been replaced by Robert Gates' new and improved phrase "very negative" when describing the actions of Iran; same stigma, different target.
During a stopover in Brussels en route to Kabul where our newly installed defense secretary was going not to buy another Persian rug for his office, but instead to clarify why this president, and his team have decided to buff up their military presence in the Gulf. Gates gave as a motive for the enhanced military presence only that Iran was "doing nothing to be helpful" in Iraq (International Herald Tribune). Well, then, what better reason to occupy and pummel Iran next than that they're doing "nothing to be helpful?"
But, how can it be that this is the same Robert Gates who, only a few years ago, spoke, with equal gusto and credibility, in favor of talks with Iran. Has he been instantly transformed into a born again bomber? My, my, what a quick study! One barely notices Rumsfeld's departure. When asked about his radical metamorphosis, Gates responded that the bad guys have gotten worse, and that diplomacy is now only possible when Iran comes to the table "prepared to play a constructive role." (IHT) Considering the demolition of Baghdad, over the past four years, it would be refreshing to see the U.S. come to the table prepared to play a "constructive role," too, but indeed that might only be possible after the decimation of Iran, too.
“The president does not have legal authority to go into Iran there’s no question in my mind about that; and he wouldn’t have the capability of doing that even if he wanted to.”
John Murtha (D-PA), ABC “This Week”
The traditionally-hawkish, Jack Murtha has been the standard bearer for the Democrats in his opposition to the war. He led the charge against the occupation of Iraq calling it “a failed policy wrapped in an illusion” and, now, he’s threatening to sabotage Bush’s plans for a troop-surge in Baghdad.
The crusty ex-Marine doesn’t mince words and he’s not afraid of the “Swift-boaters” and hatchet-men on the Bush team. He sticks to the facts (and his principles) and takes great pride in defending the interests of the men and women who wear the uniform.
Well it's a new year, and you know what that means... time to update the administration's list of stated reasons for it's war in Iraq, why we are there, why we are/must “win,” and why the loss of American lives there is a “price worth paying.”
Whew! Just typing the above sentence exhausted me. I am so tired of three years of struggling with this administration's full frontal assault on our collective intelligence. Tired of trying to untangle their torqued logic, fractured facts and their Orwellian-ization of our language, our traditions, our laws, our Constitution.
But I must – we all must. Because that beast, now boxed into a canyon of it's own making, is more dangerous today than ever before. Though evermore transparent, their lies have become even bolder. And, even with four years of disproved and discarded lies in their wake, far too many Americans – and even the media, seem prepared to once again give them the benefit of the doubt – when doubt itself should by now be the order of the day.
So climb into your haz-mat suits and join me one more time as we descend into the Bush administration's cesspool of excuses, misinformation, disinformation and downright lies.
2007 Syllabus of Iraq War Spinifcation
LIE No. 1: “When I addressed you just over a year ago, nearly12 million Iraqis had cast their ballots for a unified and democratic nation,"Bush said in a recent interview. , "We thought that these elections would bring Iraqis together – and that as we trained Iraqi security forces, we could accomplish our mission with fewer American troops."But in 2006, the opposite happened. They blew up one of the holiest shrines in Shia Islam – the Golden Mosque of Samarra – in a calculated effort to provoke Iraq's Shia population to retaliate,” The violence in Iraq – particularly in Baghdad – overwhelmed the political gains Iraqis had made. Al-Qaida terrorists and Sunni insurgents recognized the mortal danger that Iraq's election posed for their cause. And they responded with outrageous acts of murder aimed at innocent Iraqis.”
Watching the slow-motion march to war against Iran is a bit like watching a terminal cancer patient in a hospice. We know how it's going to end. We know it's going to be tragic and ugly. But we are powerless to stop it.
There is a difference of course.
For the cancer patient, there really is no alternative.
For us, there is an alternative to the catastrophe which President Bush and his regent, Dick Cheney, are preparing for us all.
We could rise up as a nation and demand that our elected representatives pass a Boland-type amendment banning any use of the military in Iraq. We could demand that a resolution be passed revoking the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force against Iraq. We could demand the revocation of the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force which the president has improperly cited as giving him extra-Constitutional powers. And we could demand that Congress tell the president and vice president that if they attack Iran without explicit congressional authorization they will both be immediately impeached.
The unwillingness of American and Western societies to confront naked Islamophobic incitement recalls so many pathological actions associated with the development of modern anti-Semitism in Central and Eastern Europe. It is an indication of the power of the Israel Lobby and the level of moral corruption to which America has sunk under the Bush Regime that Islamophobia has been normalized.
Islamophobia: The New Anti-Semitism
For several years the news media have reported increasing numbers of controversies involving Muslim communities throughout the USA as well as in Europe.
Recently, Representative Virgil Goode (R-VA) and US Holocaust Museum Memorial Museum Council member Dennis Prager objected to Representative Ellison's (D-MN) use of a Quran during a private swearing-in ceremony.
Since Ellison's election, Goode and many other politicians and pundits have been demanding changes in immigration law to decrease or to stop the immigration of Muslims to the USA, as if the Ellison's ancestors have not been residing in the territory of the USA since the eighteenth century.
Such proposals constitute an unsubtle statement that Muslims have no
place in America. Muslims seem to us somewhat exotic, and are,
therefore, easy to stereotype. Dumping on Muslims is fun, cheap, and
easy.
The unwillingness of American and Western societies, in general, to
confront naked Islamophobic incitement recalls so many pathological
actions associated with the development of modern anti-Semitism in
Central and Eastern Europe that we Americans must ask ourselves whether
Islamophobia is the New Anti-Semitism.
Unabashed Islamophobe Robert Spencer, who has strong associations with
neocon organizations and leaders, routinely mischaracterizes Islamic
religion and cultures.
The title of his book, Islam Unveiled, is strongly reminiscent of
Eisenmenger's classic anti-Jewish text, Entdecktes Judentum (Judaism
Unmasked). [1]
Rampant Racism in America: This time it's Muslims who are the demonized enemy
Now that the Stalinist/Maoist regimes have collapsed or evolved toward
capitalism and no fascist states with imperial ambitions exist (besides
the United States and its few allies), the American Empire needed to
find a new "enemy" to replace Stalinists and Nazis.
Much of the soft power employed by the leaders of America’s "top down
democracy" stems from psychological manipulation of "the mob".
Mobilization of the masses against a common enemy "threatening the very
existence of the American Way" has long been a staple in the United
States’ ruling elites’ ongoing push to monopolize the world’s wealth,
power, and prestige.
And who better to vilify than Islamic people? Many are dark-skinned and
live in developing nations, meaning their lives are inconsequential in
the prevailing moral calculus of the West.
The Middle East is predominately Islamic, its sands are oozing with
crude oil, and it is home to Israel. From the perspective of the
Empire, what better region to target than the Middle East?
Writings
The manic warriors, in Washington, are at it again, only now they've found someone who can manage more than one syllable at a time to head their team. Yes, not only is this a new year, but we now have a "new" strategy, at least in Bushspeak. And. how's this for the defense department's latest policy in the Gulf; Donald Rumsfeld's designation of the phrase "bad guys" for Al Qaeda has now been replaced by Robert Gates' new and improved phrase "very negative" when describing the actions of Iran; same stigma, different target. 
Well it's a new year, and you know what that means... time to update the administration's list of stated reasons for it's war in Iraq, why we are there, why we are/must “win,” and why the loss of American lives there is a “price worth paying.”
by Edward Strong
