US-based Norwegian Weapons Inspector Accuses The USA And Secretary Of State Colin Powell With Providing ‘Incorrect and Misleading’ Information To U.N. Security Council

Leave a reply

USA lied about Iraq’s weapons
By Jonathan Tisdall for the Aftenposten English Web Desk.

A US-based Norwegian weapons inspector accuses the USA and Secretary of State Colin Powell with providing the United Nations Security Council with incorrect and misleading information about Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), newspaper Dagbladet reports…
Siljeholm told Dagbladet that Colin Powell’s report to the Security Council on how Iraq camouflaged their WMD program was full of holes.
“Much of what he said was wrong. It did not match up at all with our information. The entire speech was misleading,” Siljeholm said.
Asked if the Americans lied, Siljeholm said: “Lie is a strong word – but yes, the information Powell presented about Iraq’s nuclear program was simply incorrect,” Siljeholm said.
“We received much incomplete and poor intelligence information from the Americans, and our cooperation developed accordingly. Much of what has been claimed about WMDs has proven to be sheer nonsense. From what I have seen they are going to war on very little,” Siljeholm told Dagbladet.

Continue reading →

Ed Felten Explains How Black Boxes Interfere With Effective Public Policy

5 Replies

A number of distinguished organizations sponsored the Law and Technology of DRM conference that took place February 27 – March 1, 2003.
This presentation by Ed Felten is a real mind blower. The public is expected to tolerate the use of black box technologies in situations where doing so cannot possibly be in our best interest to do so, such as electronic voting machine systems.
The stills below explain a bit about this, but you’ll really want to listen to the whole thing for yourself. Please do. It’s really important that we all start taking this stuff very seriously so that we can start making our representatives aware of the current intolerable situation.
Ed Felten – Part 1 of 2 (Small – 10 MB)
Ed Felten – Part 2 of 2 (Small – 8 MB)
Ed Felten – Complete (Small – 17 MB)
Ed Felten – Complete (Hi-Res – 226 MB)
Audio – Ed Felten – Complete (MP3 – 12 MB)
Here’s a transcript.











Public Domain Dedication
This work is dedicated to the
Public Domain. (Take it and run, baby!)

Powell Defends WMD Claims

5 Replies

Colin Powell has spoken up about the onslaught of allegations that he (along with the rest of the Shrub Administration) lied to Congress and the U.N. and the American People and the rest of the world about having indisputable evidence of Sadaam’s WMDs.
He’s spoken up to say, in a nutshell, “Did not! You can take my word for it.”
We’re not taking your word for anything Colin. That’s what got us into this mess in the first place. Cough up with the evidence or forget it. Put up or shut up.
And this doesn’t count (shown within context below) “Iraq used these weapons against Iran in the late ’80s” — what does having weapons in the late 80’s have to do with having them last February? You told us that he had them THIS YEAR. Remember? That’s why we had to go in to protect ourselves and the rest of the world…remember?
And what’s this stuff about not using the information about buying uranium from Niger in his speech? I thought he absolutely used that evidence in one of his U.N. speeches.
You guys want to help me clarify this one way or the other? (Whether or not he used the Niger evidence in his U.N. speech.)
Update 11:13 am PST – Readers have refreshed my memory that it was the Shrub that used the Niger evidence in his January speech, not Colin who used it in one of his U.N. speeches.
So that means tha the “evidence” was credible enough for our Shrub of a “president” to use in one of his State of the Union addresses, but it wasn’t credible enough for the Secretary of State who works for him to use it in one of his own speeches to the U.N. (?)
Still putting together docs/video/anything I can find to clarify the facts.
Thanks for your help on this guys. — lisa
Powell Defends Intelligence on Suspected Iraq Arms
By Arshad Mohammed for FindLaw.

Speaking in Rome, Powell said he thought the evidence that Iraq had continued to develop such weapons was “overwhelming.”
“There were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It wasn’t a figment of anyone’s imagination. Iraq used these weapons against Iran in the late ’80s,” Powell said. “There is no question, there is no debate here.”
“There was no doubt in my mind as I went through the intelligence and as I prepared myself for the (Feb. 5) briefing … that the evidence was overwhelming that they had continued to develop these programs,” he added…
Powell told reporters as he flew to Egypt he chose not to cite intelligence suggesting Iraq tried to buy “yellow cake” uranium from Niger — quoted by other U.S. officials but later found by the International Atomic Energy Agency to be based partly on forged documents — because he felt there was insufficient substantiation.
“Not that I thought it was untrue, it’s just that I didn’t think it was solid enough for the kind of presentation I had to give,” Powell said. “It turned out to be untrue. That happens a lot in the intelligence business.”

Continue reading →

The Daily Show’s Lewis Black On The New Tax Cuts For The Rich

4 Replies

According to the IRS Website, thanks to the extra $400 you might be able to get for each kid this summer, parenting doesn’t have to be the same old thankless, pain in the ass of an experience:

In the summer of 2003, your kids could be memorable for more than just a skinned knee, a stray dog, or a boyfriend with an earring. This summer your kids could be the reason you get a special check from Uncle Sam! And all you have to do is cash it.

By the way, there are parts of this bit that Lewis Black isn’t kidding about. There really is a baby surrounded by money on the cover of the IRS Website.
Here’s a link to the
other section of the IRS website he pokes fun at. (Yes I’ve saved a picture of it in case they take it down, but right now you can look for yourself.)
Lewis Black On The New Tax Cuts (Small – 9 MB)
Lewis Black On The New Tax Cuts (Hi-Res – 115 MB)







Republican Kiddie Porn

Findlaw’s John W. Dean On The Implications Of The Shrub’s WMD Lies

3 Replies

Missing Weapons Of Mass Destruction: Is Lying About The Reason For War An Impeachable Offense?
By John W. Dean for FindLaw.

In the three decades since Watergate, this is the first potential scandal I have seen that could make Watergate pale by comparison. If the Bush Administration intentionally manipulated or misrepresented intelligence to get Congress to authorize, and the public to support, military action to take control of Iraq, then that would be a monstrous misdeed…this Administration may be due for a scandal. While Bush narrowly escaped being dragged into Enron, it was not, in any event, his doing. But the war in Iraq is all Bush’s doing, and it is appropriate that he be held accountable.
To put it bluntly, if Bush has taken Congress and the nation into war based on bogus information, he is cooked. Manipulation or deliberate misuse of national security intelligence data, if proven, could be “a high crime” under the Constitution’s impeachment clause. It would also be a violation of federal criminal law, including the broad federal anti-conspiracy statute, which renders it a felony “to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose.”

Continue reading →

Important Message From Move On About The FCC Media Ownership Rules

Leave a reply

Sorry I can’t talk about this stuff more today (no time till the weekend), but I did want to make sure you saw this message from Move On about what happened Wednesday, June 4, 2003 between Congress and the FCC. Namely, that Congress basically told the FCC to not be so hasty. I’m still trying to understand completely how the power struggle will operate from here and I promise when I figure it out I’ll let you know.
For know, here’s the scoop on what you can do to take this to the next level:

Luckily, democracy’s awful resilient. Congress has the power to
overturn these rule changes. More than 100 members of the House and
roughly 20 members of the Senate asked the FCC not to approve these
rule changes at this time. The members of Congress were right to be
concerned, and they have the authority to act on those concerns now by
introducing legislation that will undo these changes. Our friends at
Common Cause have made it easy to contact your Representatives and
Senators and let them know that you want the FCC’s rules repealed.
You can take action now at:
http://causenet.commoncause.org/afr/issues/alert/?alertid=2446521
Link to above URL
Thus far, we’ve had a truly remarkable campaign. Here are some of the
highlights:
* The Stop Media Monopoly petition now has just under 200,000 signers
— one of the largest public statements ever made on this issue.
Combined with comments from members of the NRA, Common Cause, the
Consumer Federation of America, and other groups, the FCC has
received over 700,000 comments on this issue. As of last count,
about 1 in 1,000 of these supported the rule change. So the FCC
clearly knows where the public stands.
* So many MoveOn and Common Cause members called and emailed the FCC
on Friday that their voicemail system and web site went down. CNN
covered the story.
* MoveOn members raised over $180,000 to pay for print and TV ads,
which we ran in partnership with Common Cause and Free Press. The
ads played an instrumental role in making newspapers and TV
stations cover the rule change: the day after they were launched,
the Washington Post discussed them in a front-page story. George
Stephanopoulos showed our TV ad to Michael Powell and Senator John
McCain on Sunday, and grilled them on the media issues. They also
attracted the attention of the New York Times, ABC World News
Tonight, CNN, MSNBC, Newshour with Jim Lehrer, and even The
Guardian in the UK — and that’s only a partial list. Common Cause
President Chellie Pingree and I were both invited on to cable news
shows to debate the issue.
It’s pretty clear where Americans stand on this issue: no one wants a
few big companies controlling their access to news and entertainment.
Thank you for being a part of the first stage of an incredible
campaign, and stay tuned for the next steps.
Sincerely,
–Carrie, Eli, Joan, Peter, Wes, and Zack

Daily Show On The FCC Media Ownership Vote

4 Replies

You may not have seen anything on television in the news this week about the FCC Media Ownership Vote, probably because the five media conglomerates that own the news didn’t think it was important to tell you about it. (And that’s what happens when there are only five different companies deciding what you see and don’t see on television.)
Luckily, The Daily Show came through with a full report.
Daily Show On FCC Vote (Small – 10 MB)
Daily Show On FCC Vote (Hi-res – 91 MB)


The Daily Show (the best news on television).