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Here's what Bush said in 2002:
Q Mr. President, how important is it that that resolution give you an authorization of the use of force?
BUSH: That will be part of the resolution, the authorization to use force. If you want to keep the peace, you've got to have the authorization to use force. But it's -- this will be -- this is a chance for Congress to indicate support. It's a chance for Congress to say, we support the administration's ability to keep the peace. That's what this is all about.
Okay, once again:
BUSH: It's a chance for Congress to say, we support the administration's ability to keep the peace. That's what this is all about.
Remember? Bush said he wanted the authorization to use force so that he'd have a strong bargaining chip at the United Nations--and that the U.N. would get new inspectors in, and that, maybe, this would lead to Saddam disarming without a war.
That's why Kerry voted for the resolution. As he said at the time,
"Let me be clear, the vote I will give to the President is for one reason and one reason only: To disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, if we cannot accomplish that objective through new, tough weapons inspections in joint concert with our allies."
And we did get new, tough weapons inspections in joint concert with our allies. And then Bush blew it by invading anyway.
It wasn't just possible to support the resolution without supporting Bush's war--avoiding war was the specific reason Bush gave to support the resolution. There's nothing incoherent about Kerry's position. Bush blew it. The resolution had the effect (getting inspectors back in) that Kerry had intended. He was right. W was wrong.
(Oh, and when Bush's spokesman says "John Kerry voted for the war"--it's a lie.)
This whole "flip flop" mess seems vastly misguided when Kerry's "war vote" is seen in the proper light, doesn't it?
The House of Representatives on Oct. 10 passed the resolution (H.J. Res. 114) by a vote of 296-133. Senate approval came in a late-night vote of 77-23.
Resolution Authorizes Use of Military Forces in Iraq
Specifically, the resolution authorizes President Bush to:
use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to--
(1) defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and
(2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq.
Determining Need for Force
Before employing military force in Iraq, the resolution requires that the president first determine that continued diplomatic efforts "or other peaceful means alone," will not "adequately protect the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq or is not likely to lead to enforcement of all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq."
President Must Notify Congress
The resolution also requires the president to notify Congress before or within 48 hours after actually committing military forces against Iraq.
President Must Report to Congress
The president is also required to report to Congress at least once every 60 days a report on all actions taken in relationship to the powers granted to him in the resolution and on any planning efforts regarding the potential use of military forces against Iraq.
President Reacts to Passage
In a brief statement following passage of the use of force resolution in the House, President Bush stated, ""The House of Representatives has spoken clearly to the world and to the United Nations Security Council. The gathering threat of Iraq must be confronted fully and finally. ... Today's vote also sends a clear message to the Iraqi regime: It must disarm and comply with all existing U.N. resolutions, or it will be forced to comply."
You will get your price for BLTI today. The Question is do you want it?
08:59 ET Biolase Technology, Inc. sees prelim Q3 results below consensus; launches Waterlase MD product (BLTI) 8.49: Co announced preliminary Q3 results of revs between $11.5-12.1 mln, Reuters consensus is $15.8 mln. Co states, "We are disappointed in the level of sales for the quarter. Our initial analysis indicates that sales were adversely impacted by two factors. The first factor was rumors concerning the introduction of the new advanced Waterlase MD. We believe some potential buyers withheld their decision to purchase the Waterlase in anticipation of the Company's new product launch at the American Dental Association (A.D.A.) Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL. The second factor was the series of devastating hurricanes that struck the Gulf region resulting in the cancellation of the New Orleans Dental Conference 2004 as well as other scheduled sales activities. Historically, these events have been important vehicles for securing sales in the third quarter,". Co also lowers Q4 revs range to $17-20 mln (previously $23-25 mln), Reuters consensus is $24 mln, due to the disappointing A.D.A. attendance and product transition challenges as well as a possible lull in demand for capital equipment.
'Fahrenheit' Burns Home-Video Sales Records
By Brett Sporich / Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
LOS ANGELES - Michael Moore's politically charged documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" sold about 2 million combined DVD and VHS units Tuesday (Oct. 5), its first day in release, according to industry sources.
That Day 1 sales figure and projected Week 1 sales of 3 million combined units set the benchmark as the most successful documentary ever released on home video.
While initial home video sales figures for "Fahrenheit" were expected to break records -- considering its $119 million domestic boxoffice take -- industry observers are watching closely to see how the title will sell and rent over time.
Of the units sold Tuesday, about 1.4 million were sold to rental stores, sources said.
Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, which is distributing "Fahrenheit" in the United States, has taken a conservative approach to releasing the title, shipping about 3.4 million combined units to retail and rental stores for its launch week, sources said.
Last week's best-selling DVD and rental title was MGM Home Entertainment's "Walking Tall," which generated about $6.11 million in gross rental spending during its first five days on store shelves, according to Nielsen VideoScan and Video Store magazine research, respectively.
Lions Gate's "Barbie as the Prince and the Pauper" was the nation's best-selling VHS and the sixth-best-selling DVD for the week ending Oct. 3, according to VideoScan. The latest direct-to-video release of "Barbie" is believed to have sold more than 800,000 combined DVD and VHS units during its first five days on store shelves.
Universal Studios Home Video's release of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," starring Jim Carrey, was the third-best-selling DVD and the fourth-best-renting video during the same frame. "Eternal Sunshine" generated about $4.5 million in gross rental spending, or 13.3% of its domestic boxoffice take, according to Video Store magazine.
Undercutting the Bush's administration's rationale for invading Iraq
October 6th, 2004 6:03 pm
The Associated Press
Report Finds Saddam Didn't Pursue Weapons Program, Undercuts Bush Rationale for Invading Iraq
WASHINGTON Oct. 6, 2004 -- Undercutting the Bush's administration's rationale for invading Iraq, the final report of the chief U.S. arms inspector concludes that Saddam Hussein did not vigorously pursue a program to develop weapons of mass destruction after international inspectors left Baghdad in 1998, according to lawmakers and others briefed on the report.
In drafts, weapons hunter Charles Duelfer concluded that Saddam's Iraq had no stockpiles of the banned weapons but said he found signs of idle programs that Saddam could have revived if international attention had waned.
"It appears that he did not vigorously pursue those programs after the inspectors left," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in advance of the report's release.
Duelfer was providing his findings Wednesday to the Senate Armed Services Committee. His team compiled a 1,500-page report after his predecessor, David Kay, who quit last December, also found no evidence of weapons stockpiles.
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., briefed on the report earlier Wednesday, said Duelfer found Iraq's capability to produce and develop weapons of mass destruction had degraded since 1998.
The report was "inconclusive" about what ultimately happened to Saddam's supposed weapons stockpiles from earlier in the 1990s, which might have been destroyed or transferred to Syria, said Roberts, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Pointing to apparent prewar confusion inside the country itself, the report suggests that Saddam's senior advisers, and perhaps Saddam himself, actually believed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction even when it did not, Roberts said.
A Democratic senator briefed on the report, Dick Durbin of Illinois, said the Bush administration, in justifying war, "created a worse-case scenario on virtually no evidence."
"There were no weapons of mass destruction," Durbin said. "At most, there was an intention or desire to create them."
The White House continued to maintain that the findings support the view that Saddam was a threat.
"We knew the dictator had a history of using weapons of mass destruction, a long record of aggression and hatred for America," President Bush said in a speech Wednesday in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. "There was a risk, a real risk, that Saddam Hussein would pass weapons or materials or information to terrorist networks. In the world after Sept. 11, that was a risk we could not afford to take."
Saddam was importing banned materials, working on unmanned aerial vehicles in violation of U.N. agreements and maintaining industrial capability that could be converted to produce weapons, officials have said. Duelfer also describes Saddam's Iraq as having had limited research efforts into chemical and biological weapons.
Duelfer's report will come on a week that the White House has been put on the defensive in a number of Iraq issues.
Remarks this week by L. Paul Bremer, former U.S. administrator in occupied Iraq, suggested he argued for more troops in the immediate aftermath of the invasion, when looting was rampant. A spokesman for Bush's re-election campaign said Bremer indeed differed with military commanders.
Bush's election rival, Democrat John Kerry, pounced on Bremer's statements that the United States "paid a big price" for having insufficient troop levels. On weapons, however, the Massachusetts senator has said he still would have voted to authorize the invasion even if he had known none would be found.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the Duelfer report "will continue to show that he was a gathering threat that needed to be taken seriously, that it was a matter of time before he was going to begin pursuing those weapons of mass destruction."
Compare that to the words of Vice President Dick Cheney, in a speech on Aug. 26, 2002, 6 1/2 months before the invasion:
"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction," Cheney said then. "There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies and against us."
On Wednesday, the White House also continued to assert that there were clear ties between Saddam before the invasion and the al-Qaida linked terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. But a CIA report recently given to the White House found no conclusive evidence that Saddam harbored al-Zarqawi before the war, two U.S. government officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
They stressed, though, that the report did not make a final conclusion and the question of the al-Zaraqwi-Saddam ties is still being pursued. One of the officials said it is clear that al-Zarqawi had been planning terrorist attacks while operating out of Baghdad.
The CIA report was first revealed by Knight-Ridder.
During Tuesday night's debate, Cheney said "there is still debate over this question." But he added: "At one point, some of Zarqawi's people were arrested. Saddam personally intervened to have them released."
In a speech on Oct. 7, 2002, Bush laid out what he described then as Iraq's threat:
"It possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons."
"We've also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas."
"Iraq possesses ballistic missiles with a likely range of hundreds of miles far enough to strike Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey and other nations in a region where more than 135,000 American civilians and service members live and work."
Meeting Was Not First for Cheney, Edwards
The Associated Press
Vice President Dick Cheney, Sen. John Edwards Met Twice Before Debate, Contrary to Cheney's Statement
CLEVELAND Oct. 6, 2004 -- Vice President Dick Cheney said Tuesday night that the debate with Democratic Sen. John Edwards marked the first time they had met. In fact, the two had met at least three times previously.
Cheney made the remark while accusing Edwards of frequent absences from Senate votes.
"Now, in my capacity as vice president, I am the president of Senate, the presiding officer. I'm up in the Senate most Tuesdays when they're in session. The first time I ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight," Cheney told Edwards during the debate.
On Feb. 1, 2001, the vice president thanked Edwards by name at a Senate prayer breakfast and sat beside him during the event.
On April 8, 2001, Cheney and Edwards shook hands when they met off-camera during a taping of NBC's "Meet the Press," moderator Tim Russert said Wednesday on "Today."
On Jan. 8, 2003, the two met when the first-term North Carolina senator accompanied Elizabeth Dole to her swearing-in by Cheney as a North Carolina senator, Edwards aides also said.
Edwards didn't forget their prayer-breakfast meeting. The Democratic vice presidential candidate noted the discrepancy at a post-debate rally in a Cleveland park, calling it an example of Cheney "still not being straight with the American people."
"The vice president said that the first time I met Senator Edwards was tonight when we walked on the stage. I guess he forgot the time we sat next to each other for a couple hours about three years ago. I guess he forgot the time we met at the swearing in of another senator. So, my wife Elizabeth reminded him on the stage," Edwards said as the crowd roared.
According to Edwards' staff, Cheney replied, "Oh, yeah."
"She reminded him about the truth," Edwards told the crowd, "and come November, we're going to remind him that the American people do not want four more years of George W. Bush."
Truth really hurts does'nt it?
CHENEY vs REALITY
Don Imus: "The Vice President spent 90 minutes lying." [MSNBC, 10/6/04]
Slate.com: "In tonight's debate, Vice President Dick Cheney made a lot of false and misleading statements about his foreign and defense policies...." [Fred Kaplan, Slate.com, 10/5/04]
Joe Scarborough: "This is Dick Cheney denying that he ever suggested [laughs]… I can't even say it with a straight face [crosstalk] that Iraq and al-Qaeda were partners in terror." [MSNBC, 10/06/04]
Chris Matthews: "The only reason we know tonight that the vice-president asserted a connection between Saddam Hussein and 9/11 was we at NBC dug up the tape. He couldn't dig up the memory. And that is a problem." [MSNBC, 10/5/04]
Tom Edsall, Washington Post: "I think these two points that were just made about the Iraq and Al-Qaeda connection and the never having met Kerry - ah - Edwards before, are the kind of things that can come back and haunt you after a debate." [Fox News 10/6/04]
Melinda Henneberger, Newsweek: "I though did not think that Cheney did the ticket any good tonight. In fact, I think if there is one damaging thing that comes out of it that will be remembered, it will be his strange insistence that he never drew the line between Iraq and 9/11." [MSNBC, 10/6/04]
Melinda Henneberger: "It's difficult to say, but I do think that the vice president made the statement that may have done the most lasting damage when he said that I never drew a connection between 9/11 and Iraq. I also thought that when he made his remark to Senator Edwards I've never -- you know, I've never seen you before, I have never met you before, whatever the exact words were. I thought that came across as a little nasty, and now that that turns out not to have been true too is obviously not a positive for him." [Fox News 10/6/04]
Aaron Brown: [CNN showed footage of Cheney and Edwards next to each other at the Prayer Breakfast]
"A, in fact he had met him and was sitting reasonably close to him and tomorrow there'll be a fair amount of talk about the fact that while it was a very good zinger, it wasn't true." [CNN, 10/06/04]
Chris Matthews: "The vice president said that he never said that Saddam Hussein was responsible in any way for what happened to us at the World Trade Center in 2001. Brian Williams and his people pulled up the tapes of him saying exactly that. Now this is a question of honesty. Why did the vice president deny something that he had said, which is on the record? It's not a question of what you think, it's a question of what you said. And if the vice president denied last night he ever said that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11, he's not telling the truth." [Chris Matthews, MSNBC, 10/6/04]
Melinda Henneberger, Newsweek: "When Cheney said ‘I've never seen you before,' or whatever his line was, I thought he just seemed nasty and now that it turns out not to even be true." [MSNBC, 10/06/04]
Chris Matthews: "Why would the Vice President deny something that's on public record? We've got the tape to show it. He has connected 9/11 to Saddam Hussein. He has said it, we have it on tape, and he denied it tonight. That's not honest is it?" [MSNBC, 10/05/04]
Mark Hosenball: "Cheney also said a couple things that, to my mind, that weren't true. He said that this guy Zarqawi, the notorious terrorist, moved from Afghanistan after the U.S. attacked there to Baghdad. That just flatly isn't true. Zarqawi went from, for many months, first to Iran before going to Iraq, and there's no clear evidence Saddam's regime knew that he was there. So, there's not just one thing that Cheney said that wasn't true." [Fox News, 10/6/04]
Los Angeles Times: "Edwards, who may have been even more relentless than Cheney about pressing the offensive, constantly sought to turn the focus back to the record of the Bush-Cheney administration. Signaling an increasing Democratic priority, Edwards was especially dogged in charging that Bush and Cheney had misled the country, especially on Iraq…" [Los Angeles Times, 10/6/04]
"What Edwards did best was act as a truth squad. One good moment came when he rebutted the Republican's ‘global test' line of attack, noting, accurately, that they were distorting Kerry's debate comment about the need for US military action to be seen as legitimate in the eyes of the world. Meanwhile he reminded voters again and again that despite Cheney's frequent suggestions of connections between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, no operational ties have been discovered. When Cheney justified the administration's aggressive use of military force by saying that the United States had been attacked and the president had responded, Edwards seized the moment: ‘Mr. Vice President, we were attacked, but we weren't attacked by Saddam Hussein.'" [Scot Lehigh, Op-Ed, Boston Globe, 10/6/04]]
Boston Globe: "Edwards was ready with a sharp accusation of his own, that Bush and Cheney had not been leveling with the people on Iraq. Like the trial lawyer he once was, Edwards kept returning to his core point: that Cheney has misled the public by suggesting a tie between the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and Saddam Hussein's Iraq." [Boston Globe, 10/6/04]
BUSH'S FOUR SYLLABLES: DES-PER-A-TION
John Kerry summed it up best in four words: more of the same. George Bush showed it in four syllables; des-per-a-tion. If there was any confusion about whether George Bush is honest with the American people, this speech confirms that he is not. This was a mulligan speech where the President tried to redo the debate from last week by giving a speech full of untruths he couldn't say on stage with John Kerry because he knew Kerry would knock them down. George Bush needs to get real with the American people and start telling the truth.
DESPERATE LINES FOR DESPERATE TIMES:
à Bush claimed he has a plan for victory in Iraq, but Bush rushed to war without a plan; has no plan to win the peace. Kerry's plan is a strategy to win.
à Bush claimed Kerry doesn't understand post 9/11 world, but Bush took his eye off the war on terror and al-Qaeda.
à Bush got it wrong - Iraq is a terrorist haven NOW, while it was not before.
à Bush says problems with economy not his fault, but he hasn't lived up to his own promises
à Bush says Kerry has supported higher taxes, but Kerry voted or cosponsored over 600 tax cuts, and Cheney supported higher taxes, including on Social Security.
à Bush attacked Kerry on the deficit, but Bush has taken us from a 5 trillion surplus to a $3 trillion deficit, and has no plan to pay for his trillions of promises.
à Bush attacked Kerry's health care plan with a charge ABC has called not true.
à Bush claimed he's tripled homeland security funding, but that is false.
THE ECONOMY:
BUSH: Bush Making Excuses on the Economy
REALITY:
à The Economy is 7 million jobs Short of Bush Administration Prediction. The economy needed to create more than 6 million jobs during the Bush administration just to keep up with population growth. In fact, the 2002 Economic Report of the President projected more than 6 million new jobs between January 2001 and August 2004. Instead, we have lost 900,000 million jobs. As a result, we are more than 7 million jobs short of the prediction which President Bush made after 9/11, the tech bubble, and the recession. [BLS and Economic Report of the President, 2002. Note the Economic Report of the President projected an average of 138.3 million jobs in 2004. That corresponds to roughly 138.7 million jobs in August; the actual jobs total in August was 131.5 million.]
à Family Income Has Declined $1,535 Under President Bush. Under President Bush the typical family has seen its inflation-adjusted income decline by $1,535, based on the most recent data showing the change from 2000 to 2003. Under President Clinton the typical family saw its inflation-adjusted income rise by $5,489. [Census Bureau]
TAXES:
BUSH: Kerry Has Voted for Higher Taxes
REALITY: Cheney Voted for the Largest Peacetime Tax Increase in History. As a member of Congress, Cheney voted for the largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history. Cheney voted for 144 tax and fee increases that became law. Cheney voted to increase Social Security taxes - increasing 11 Social Security taxes in his career. Cheney repeatedly voted against the child-care tax credit, one of only 53 House members to oppose final passage in 1987.
1982: Cheney Supported the Largest Tax Hike in Peacetime History. Cheney voted in favor of the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 -- the largest peacetime tax hike in history. The plan hiked taxes by $298 billion (over 5 years) in 1993 constant dollars. [HR 4961, 1982 CQ Almanac, vote #289, 84-H; Wall Street Journal, 10/26/94; FY85-90 Federal Budgets, internal calculations; Tax descriptions from the 1982 Congressional Quarterly Almanac]
1983: Cheney Voted for the Social Security Tax Hike of 1983. In 1983, Cheney voted for the Social Security Amendments of 1983. The legislation taxed Social Security benefits, increased taxes for those who are self-employed and increased Social Security payroll taxes. [1983 CQ Almanac p. 219; vote #43, 18-H; HR 1900; tax descriptions from the 1983 Congressional Quarterly Almanac]
BUSH: We Provided Tax Relief
REALITY: Bush Shifted the Tax Burden Onto The Middle Class. "Since 2001, President Bush's tax cuts have shifted federal tax payments from the richest Americans to a wide swath of middle-class families, the Congressional Budget Office has found." [Washington Post, "Tax Burden Shifts to the Middle," 8/13/04]
BUSH: Kerry Will Explode the Deficit
REALITY: Bush Has Failed To Balance a Single Budget: $5.6 Trillion Surplus Replaced With $2.3 Trillion Deficit. The $5.6 trillion ten-year surplus projected in January 2001 is gone, replaced with $2.3 trillion in deficits over the next ten years--a fiscal decline of $7.9 trillion in just three years. The Congressional Budget Office projects that the federal budget deficit will be a record $442 billion in 2004. [CBO, The Budget And Economic Outlook: An Update, 9/04]
Bush is More Irresponsible on the Budget. According to the Washington Post, "The expansive agenda President Bush laid out at the Republican National Convention was missing a price tag, but administration figures show the total is likely to be well in excess of $3 trillion over a decade… The cost of the new tax breaks and spending outlined by Bush at the GOP convention far eclipses that of the Kerry plan." This is why Goldman Sachs says that, "on the budget, Senator Kerry is more credible." [Washington Post, "$3 Trillion Price Tag Left Out as Bush Details His Agenda," 9/14/2004; Goldman Sachs, "Bush vs. Kerry," 9/10/2004]
BUSH: Kerry Will Raise Taxes on 900,000 Small Businesses
REALITY: "Undoing Tax Cuts Will Have Little Impact on Small Businesses" according to the Wall Street Journal and "Bush Assertion on Tax Cuts Is at Odds With IRS Data" according to the Washington Post. George Bush uses a misleading definition of small business, a definition that factcheck.org points out would include George Bush himself because "He reported $84 of business income from his part ownership of a timber-growing enterprise." The Wall Street Journal says that, "Few of them [small businesses] make enough money to be affected by Sen. Kerry's proposal to undo the Bush tax cuts on those with incomes above $200,000." Finally, the Bush charges ignore the 35 million small businesses that pay lower taxes under the Kerry proposals - including tax cuts for small businesses that create jobs, provide health insurance, zero capital gains for startup investments in small businesses, and a 5 percent reduction in the corporate rate. [Wall Street Journal, "Undoing Tax Cuts Will Have Little Impact on Small Businesses," 4/1/2004; Washington Post, "Bush Assertion on Tax Cuts Is at Odds With IRS Data," 2/24/2004; factcheck.org, "A Bush-Cheney ad says Kerry would raise taxes for 900,000 ‘small businesses' and ‘hurt jobs.' It's a big exaggeration," 9/23/2004]
HEALTH CARE:
BUSH: Kerry's Plan Is Government Run.
REALITY: Bush's Charge is "Not True … Far From It." PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: "I'm running against a fellah who has got a massive, complicated blueprint to have our government take over the decision-making in health care." . . . TERRY MORAN: (Off Camera) "But, but that's not true. John Kerry's plan does not call for a government takeover of the health care system. Far from it." [ABC News, World News Tonight, 9/13/04]
HOMELAND SECURITY:
BUSH: We've Tripled Funding For Homeland Security
REALITY: Homeland Security Spending Did Not Come Close To Tripling Under Bush. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), "Gross budget authority for those functions in that year, excluding supplemental appropriations enacted immediately after September 11, totaled about $17 billion. Adding the supplemental appropriations raises that figure by almost $4 billion, bringing total funding for 2001 to $21 billion. The Congress and the President increased that amount to… an estimated $41 billion for 2004." These CBO estimates are for the homeland security function, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget. The Bush administration's own estimates show that the Department of Homeland Security itself did not even see its budget double: growing from $19.7 billion in FY 2001 to $36.5 billion in FY 2004. [CBO, "Federal Funding for Homeland Security," 4/30/2004 and OMB, Budget FY 2005, page 178]
FOREIGN POLICY:
BUSH: Claimed He Has a Plan for Victory in Iraq
REALITY: Bush Rushed to War Without a Plan; John Kerry Has a Plan to Win
John Kerry Has a Plan to Win the Peace in Iraq. John Kerry and John Edwards believe the following principles should guide American policy in Iraq right now: internationalize, because others must share the burden; train Iraqis, because they must be responsible for their own security; move forward with reconstruction because that's an important way to stop the spread of terror; and help Iraqis achieve a viable government, because it is up to them to run their own country. [www.johnkerry.com]
Bush Rushed To War With No Plan To Win The Peace. Bush told the country that the administration would "plan carefully" for a war in Iraq. Yet in August 2003, the Joint Chiefs of Staff prepared a secret report assessing the post-war planning for Iraq. The report blamed "setbacks in Iraq on a flawed and rushed war-planning process." It also said "planners were not given enough time" to plan for reconstruction. A New York Times report found that, "A yearlong State Department study predicted many of the problems that have plagued the American-led occupation of Iraq." The study was produced by experts on Iraq from various fields, yet "several officials said that many of the findings in the $5 million study were ignored by Pentagon officials" until after the war. [Bush Remarks, 10/7/02; Washington Times, 9/3/03, emphasis added; New York Times, 10/19/03]
Members of the President's Own Party Criticized Failure to Plan. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN): "Clearly, the administration's planning for the post-conflict phase in Iraq was inadequate." Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE): "We weren't prepared for an occupation. We made a tremendous amount of mistakes. We did essentially go after this in a unilateral way." [Lugar Op-ed, Washington Post, 5/22/03, emphasis added; CNN, "Inside Politics," 7/1/04, emphasis added]
BUSH: Claims Iraq is the Main Front in the War on Terror
REALITY: BUSH DIVERTED RESOURCES FROM TRUE THREATS
Failing to go After a Cornered Bin Laden The "Gravest Error" in the War on Terror. "The Bush administration has concluded that Osama bin Laden was present during the battle for Tora Bora late last year and that failure to commit U.S. ground troops to hunt him was its gravest error in the war against al Qaeda, according to civilian and military officials with first-hand knowledge." [Washington Post, 4/17/02]
Special Forces Pulled Away From Hunt of Bin Laden to go to Iraq. "In 2002, troops from the 5th Special Forces Group who specialize in the Middle East were pulled out of the hunt for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan to prepare for their next assignment: Iraq. Their replacements were troops with expertise in Spanish cultures. The CIA, meanwhile, was stretched badly in its capacity to collect, translate and analyze information coming from Afghanistan." [USA Today, 3/29/04]
Franks Told Graham That Resources Were Being Diverted To Iraq 14 Months Before The Invasion. In an excerpt read NBC's "Meet the Press," Senator Bob Graham said Gen. Tommy Franks told him in February 2002 that "his men and resources were being moved to Iraq, where he felt that our intelligence was shoddy. This admission was coming almost 14 months before the beginning of combat operations in Iraq and only five months after the commencement of combat in Afghanistan." [AP, 9/5/04]
BUSH: Claimed The Khan Smuggling Network has been Shutdown
FACT: Recent Arrests Show the Network May Be Still Active
Arrests of South African and Germans Show A.Q. Khan Network May Still Be Active. A South African man arrested Thursday is suspected of playing a major role in the nuclear black market that supplied Libya, according to American and foreign officials. According to investigators, who could discuss the matter only on the condition of anonymity, Meyer was doing business with two German businessmen who are also being investigated for their ties to South Africa, Libya and the Khan network. German authorities announced that they had arrested a man suspected of selling high-tech equipment on the nuclear black market, the third German businessman named as a suspect in the past month in an investigation into the trade in several countries . The arrests and charges are part of a global investigation, spearheaded by the International Atomic Energy Agency, that extends to about 20 countries. The probe's focus is a nuclear technology network run by Pakistan's top atomic scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan. [Washington Post, 9/4/04; 9/24/04]
BUSH: Claimed Kerry Said Iraq was Diversion from War on Terror While Saying There are Terrorists in Iraq
FACT: EXPERTS AGREE IRAQ HAS BECOME HAVEN FOR TERRORISM SINCE OUR INVASION
Musharraf Says War Is More Dangerous: "[The world] is more dangerous [because of the war in Iraq]. It is not safer, certainly, not…it has aroused the passions of the Muslims more. This arouses certain sentiments of the Muslim world. And then the response is the latest phenomenon of explosives, remotely controlled bombs and suicide bombings. This phenomenon is extremely dangerous." [CNN, 9/25/04]
Cofer Black Says Iraq Is A Training Ground For Terrorists. "J. Cofer Black, the State Department's coordinator for counterterrorism, told Congress last week: ‘Iraq is currently serving as a focal point for foreign jihadist fighters, who are united in a common goal with former regime elements, criminals and more established foreign terrorist organization members to conduct attacks against coalition and Iraqi civilian targets. These jihadists view Iraq as a new training ground to build their extremist credentials and hone the skills of the terrorist.'" [New York Times, 4/4/04]
Hagel Says Iraq Is A Terrorist Training Ground. According to Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE), the American occupation of Iraq "put in motion a new geographic dispersion [of the terrorists]. It's harder to deal with them because they're not as contained. Iraq has become a training ground." [San Francisco Chronicle, 6/30/04]
BUSH: Claimed Kerry Called for a ‘Global Test' Before Defending America
FACT: BUSH'S NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY ENDORSES THE GLOBAL TEST
According to the National Security Strategy published in September 2002, the Bush Administration doctrine states: "We will always proceed deliberately, weighing the consequences of our action. To support preemptive options, we will: coordinate closely with allies to form a common assessment of the most dangerous threats." [National Security Strategy, 9/02]
Cheney Promoted the Global Test: "I know that he will proceed cautiously and deliberately to consider all possible options to deal with the threat that Iraq, ruled by Saddam Hussein, represents. And I am confident that he will, as he said he would, consult widely with our Congress, with our friends and allies around the world before deciding on a course of action." [Cheney, 8/29/02]
WHAT KERRY ACTUALLY SAID: ...no president through all of American history has ever ceded and nor would I the right to pre-empt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America. But if and when you do it, Jim, you've got to do it in a way that passes the test. That passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing. And you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons. [First Presidential Debate (Miami, FL), 9/30/04]
Republicans, Out of Ideas, Ask Prosecutors to Arrest Michael Moore
10/6/04
Dear Friends,
You may have heard by now that the Michigan Republican Party has called for my arrest. That's right. They literally want me brought up on charges -- and hope that I'm locked up.
No, I'm not kidding. The Republican Party, yesterday, filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutors in each of the counties where I spoke last week in Michigan.
My crime? Clean underwear for anyone who will vote in the upcoming election.
Each night on our 60-city "Slacker Uprising Tour" through the 20 battleground states, I've been registering hundreds (and on some nights, thousands) of voters at my arena and stadium events. I then ask for everyone over 23 who has never voted (or didn't vote in the last election) to stand up. I tell these slackers that I understand and respect why they think politicians are not worth the bother. I tell them that I may have been the original slacker, and that I do not want them to change their slacker ways. Keep sleeping 'til noon! Keep drinking beer! Stay on the sofa and watch as much TV as possible! But, please, just for me, on 11/2, I want you to leave the house and give voting a try -- just this once. The stakes this time are just too high.
If they promise me that they'll do this, I give the guys a 3-pack of new Fruit of the Loom underwear, and the women get a day's supply of Ramen noodles, the sustenance of slackers everywhere.
I then close by having them repeat the 2004 Slacker Oath: "Pick nose! Pick butt! Pick Kerry."
It seems to have worked, as each night the volunteer tables are swamped afterwards with hundreds of new and young voters signing up to campaign for regime change for the next four weeks.
The satire of all this seems to have been lost on the Republicans. Or maybe it hasn't. The state of Michigan (where we spent most of last week) reported that over 100,000 young people recently registered to vote, a record that no one saw coming. The Slacker Tour has turned into a huge steamroller with a momentum all its own.
So, the Republican Party, to show their gratitude that so many young people will now be involved in our system, has demanded that I be sent to jail for trying to "bribe" students to vote.
Of course, this would be quite laughable if they weren't so serious about their charges. But they are. I may soon be a wanted man in Michigan -- simply because I convinced a few slackers to change their underwear and eat a healthy meal of artificially flavored noodles.
I thought I'd seen it all this year -- Disney refusing to distribute the film they paid for, right-wingers harassing theater owners who showed "Fahrenheit 9/11," conservative action groups trying to get the FEC to kick our film ads off the air, the unnecessary restrictive R-rating that forced teenagers to sneak in to see it, and all the stupid, crazy attacks on me and my movie that I've had to listen to as I watched the public ignore them and pack the movie houses anyway, where my film was being shown. And when all that failed, five different Republican groups made five different attack dog tapes (oops, "documentaries"!) against me in a period of about six weeks. But they were all so bad, so boring, so right-wing, no one wanted to watch them and they too went away, a sad waste of good videotape.
Now, after enduring all this, with no tricks left in their bag, they've just decided, "Let's toss his sorry ass behind bars -- him and his noodles and his gift of clean underwear!"
My friends, they will not catch me. Though I may be on the run, and I may never be able to return home to my beloved Michigan, I make this solemn vow to you and yours: The slackers of America shall not be denied their noodles, they will proudly wear their clean underwear as free Americans, and they will vote Bush out of office come November 2nd (though they will not show up to the polls until well after noon)!
Stay strong, stay slacker, and please remember to turn the underwear inside out every three days. As for the noodles, add boiling water, stir.
Yours,
Michael Moore
Desperation among the republicans...
State GOP says Michael Moore illegally offered underwear in exchange for voting
(Lansing-AP, October 6, 2004, 8:00 a.m.) The Michigan Republican Party is asking four county prosecutors to file charges against filmmaker Michael Moore, charging that he illegally offered underwear, noodles and snacks to college students in exchange for their promise to vote.
"We want everyone to participate in this year's election, but not because they were bribed or coerced by the likes of Michael Moore," said Greg McNeilly, executive director of the state Republican Party.
The GOP said it asked prosecutors in Wayne, Ingham, Antrim and Isabella counties to charge Moore with violating Michigan's election law. The law prohibits a person from contracting with another for something of value in exchange for agreeing to vote.
Moore, a native of Flint, is touring the country and imploring"slackers" who usually don't vote to head to the polls this year, saying they could make the difference in the presidential race.
He made stops at Michigan State University, the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Central Michigan University and Elk Rapids High School on the first leg of a 60-city pre-election tour.
During each program, habitual nonvoters are invited on stage to pledge to vote. First-time student voters are offered gag prizes such as clean underwear.
The GOP said Moore also offered students a clean dorm room, a year's supply of Tostitos and a package of Ramen noodles.
Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County prosecutor's office, refused to comment on the matter. Calls to Moore and the other county prosecutors weren't immediately returned Tuesday.
DJ Salix Pharma Down; Clinical Trial Disappoints - Wachovia
By Michelle Rama
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Shares of Salix Pharmaceuticals Inc. (SLXP) shed 14% Wednesday on reports its Xifaxan study in hepatic encephalopathy patients didn't show statistical significance.
Salix, which develops drugs to treat gastrointestinal diseases, in May received approval for Xifaxan, an oral antibiotic, as a treatment for traveler's diarrhea caused by noninvasive strains of E. coli. The drug recently completed tests for the additional use of treating hepatic encephalopathy, which is brain and nervous system damage observed in patients with cirrhosis or other liver diseases.
Results of the trial were called "disappointing" by Wachovia analyst Michael Tong in a research note Wednesday. Tong noted that Xifaxan "showed some therapeutic benefit but did not achieve significance in the blood ammonia primary endpoint."
In the study's three endpoints, both Xifaxan and placebo achieved statistical significance compared with baseline, Tong said. But this was more likely due to a large placebo effect, not a failure of Xifaxan. Placebo effect refers to an improvement in health observed in patients who are taking the placebo instead of the actual treatment, usually associated with a psychological benefit from the patient's belief that he is being treated.
Salix officials were unavailable for comment.
An abstract of the hepatic encephalopathy study results were available to members of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, or AASLD, on the organization's Web site. Salix will present the abstract at the AASLD meeting in Boston on Oct. 29 through Nov. 2.
Shares recently changed hands 11% lower, or $2.09, to $17.10 on volume of 3.3 million. Average daily volume is 360,602.
"These results may not be robust enough to support an additional approved indication or significant off-label use of Xifaxan in the treatment of hepatic encephalopathy," Wells Fargo analyst Robert Uhl said of the study in a research note Wednesday.
In addition, the analyst raised questions about weekly prescription trends for Xifaxan, initial shipments of which were $12 million in July. Given the number of prescriptions that have been written, "it could be some months before trade inventory has fallen enough to warrant significant reorders of Xifaxan."
Xifaxan also has been tested as a treatment for Crohn's disease and the prevention of traveler's diarrhea. It is currently in trials for the prevention of Shigella-induced diarrhea.
Operation Iraqi Freedom began on 20 March 2003. President Bush declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq on 01 May 2003. The single worst day of Major Combat Operations was 23 March 2003, on which 30 American soldiers died. A total of 116 service members were killed in action during major combat operations, and another 25 died due to non-hostile causes such as accidents.
Army Lt. Gen. Richardo Sanchez, the allied forces commander in Iraq, stated on 07 August 2003 that US forces will remain in Iraq for at least two years. Long-term estimates for U.S. presence in Iraq will certainly come with increased US attacks, though President Bush refuses to speculate the price the U.S. forces will pay in casualties. The attacks fuel the growing concern whether the guerilla attacks against Coalition Forces are part of a larger coordinated campaign.
Military officials said the number of attacks had decreased significantly -- down from about 50 a day in mid-September 2003 to an average of about 15 a day in December 2003, spiking to 18 on Christmas Day. At a briefing on 02 January 2004 it was reported that engagements against coalition military have averaged 20 a day, thought the area of operations remains stable.
During the first week of January 2004 there was an average of 18 engagements launched against coalition military targets daily. Attacks against Iraqi security forces averaged slightly more than two per day, with an average of and one attack daily against Iraqi civilians. During the third week in January 2004, there were an average of 17 engagements daily against coalition military personnel, just under four attacks daily against Iraqi security forces and a bit more than one attack daily against Iraqi civilians.
Acording to one report, at least 80 foreign mercenaries - security guards recruited from the United States, Europe and South Africa and working for American companies - had been killed in the second week of April 2004 in Iraq. According to this report, at least 18,000 mercenaries, many of them tasked to protect US troops and personnel, were believed to be in Iraq. By mid-April 2004 Halliburton acknowledged that over 30 of its employees and contractors [12 Halliburton employees and 21 subcontractors] had died since the war began a year earlier. Titan Corporation of San Diego, lost 13 staff employees and contractors in Iraq over the same period.
US Casualties
In early October 2003, the Army Surgeon General's office said 3,915 soldiers had been evacuated from Operation Iraqi Freedom for non-combat injuries and illnesses, including 478 with psychological problems and 387 for neurological reasons.
According to US Central Command, as of 31 August 2003 a total of 1,111 US personnel had been wounded in action since the start of hostilities, including 561 since May 1. Over the same period, 178 had been killed in action, 66 since May 1.
Of the 6,497 nonhostile injuries suffered in Iraq through 29 October 2003, a total of 3,897 were suffered by active-duty soldiers, while 2,600 were suffered by reserves. While reserves account for 27% or about 35,000, of the roughly 130,000 US forces in Iraq, they constitute 40% of nonhostile injuries.
As of 13 November 2003 a total of 7,714 ill and injured American troops had been evacuated from the theater. Of these, the Pentagon said 937 had suffered so-called combat injuries, as opposed to non-hostile injuries.
As of 14 November 2003 a total of 1,967 American troops had been wounded, and a further 6,861 troops were medically evacuated for non-combat conditions between 19 March 2003 and 30 October 2003, according to figures released by the Army Surgeon General's office. Total casualties among all services reached more than 9,200, representing an increase of nearly 3,000 non-combat medical evacuations reported since the first week of October. Of the non-combat medical evacuations 2,464 were for injuries, such as those sustained in vehicle accidents, 4,397 were due to illness, 504 of those were classified as psychiatric, 378 as neurological, and another 150 as neurosurgery.
As of 28 November 2003 a total of 437 American troops had died in Iraq since the war began. A total of 2,094 were listed as wounded in action, with an additional 2,464 having suffered noncombat-related injuries. In late November 2003 the Department of Defense began releasing summaries of US casualities in Iraq, and began producing these casuality summaries on a daily basis starting in early December 2003. These summaries included totals of Wounded in Action [WIA] and "non-hostile wounded." This Non-hostile wounded category is clearly different from the previously reported "noncombat-related injury" category, since as of the end of November 2003 the "noncombat-related injury" total was nearly 2,500, while the "non-hostile wounded" total was only 350.
As of late July 2004 US forces continued to do about 12,000 total patrols per week. About a quarter of that is done either in a unilateral sense or in a joint patrol context with Iraqi security forces. The level of effort is roughly the same as it was before the 30 June 2004 transition.
Coalition Casualties
As of 14 November 2003 British military officials say 52 of their soldiers had died in Iraq, while Italy reported 19 dead soldiers. Denmark, Spain, Ukraine and Poland each say one soldier has died from their country.
A Spanish naval officer was among the 22 people killed in the August 2003 suicide bomb attack on the Baghdad headquarters of the United Nations. In October 2003, an officer attached to Spain's intelligence agency was gunned down near his home in Baghdad. On 29 November 2003 seven Spanish intelligence agents were killed and one wounded in Iraq in an attack on their convoy on a road south of Baghdad. On 12 November, an attack on an Italian military base in the southern city of Al-Nasiriyah killed 19 Italians.
As of 27 December 2003 a total of 88 allied forces had been killed and 100 wounded. The British military had reported 52 deaths; Italy, 17; Spain, eight; Denmark, Ukraine and Poland have reported one each. Five Bulgarian soldiers were killed and 27 wounded in suicide bombings in the southern Iraqi city of Karbala on 27 December. They were the first Bulgarian troops to die in the country. Two Thais were also killed in this attack.
As of 27 December 2003 some 150 UN, international aid personnel, and foreign contractors had been killed since 19 March 2003.
As of January 24, 2004 a total of 56 Britons, five Bulgarians, one Dane, 17 Italians, two Poles, eight Spaniards, two Thai and one Ukrainian had been killed in the war. As of 01 February 2004 twenty British soldiers have died in combat since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and 37 have been killed in non-combat incidents.
One soldier from El Salvador was killed on April 4, 2004 during violent protests in Najaf. 19 Salvadorans were also wounded.
On April 6, 2004, a soldier from Ukraine was killed in fighting in S. Iraq.
A Bulgarian soldier died 23 April 2004 after his unit was attacked in the flashpoint city of Karbala. Five Bulgarian soldiers were killed in a bomb attack in the city on 27 December 2003.
As of 23 April 2004 at least 59 Britons, six Bulgarians, one Dane, one Estonian, 17 Italians, two Poles, one Salvadoran, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and four Ukrainians had been killed, for a total of 114.
On April 24, 2004, a story in The Scotsman newspaper reported that since February 2003, 2,228 injured British personel had been repatriated back home for treatment and care. It also reported that about 50 combat-related injuries were being suffered each month by British troops stationned in Iraq and that attacks on them were taking place on a daily basis. A total of about 60,000 British military personnel have served in Iraq during Operation Telic. Compared to the American total of about 3,800 wounded in action, the 2,200 total is quite high relative to the total number of UK troops [no more than a quarter that of the US] or the ratio of wounded in action to deaths from all causes [about 5 to 1 for the US, versus 35 to 1 for the UK].
On April 28, 2004, coalition Forces patrol was ambushed and attacked in the vicinity of As Suwaiyrah in Wasit province by RPG and machine gun fire. As a result of attack one Ukrainian soldier was killed, two were injured.
On May 10, 2004, a Dutch sergeant serving with B Co., 12th Air Assault Bn, was killed, resulting in the Netherlands' first casualty in Iraq.
As of May 25, 2004, a total of six Ukrainians had been killed with more than 20 were wounded.
On June 28, 2004, a soldier with the 1st Bn, British Royal Highland Fusiliers was killed by a bomb during a routine patrol in Basrah. This marked the 60th British serviceman to die since the beginning of operations in Iraq. A British military serviceman died on July 19, 2004 at Basra airport, bringing the total of British casualties in Iraq to 61. On August 4, a British soldier was killed at Amarah in an accident. On August 9, 2004, another British solder was killed in Basra during an attack and on August 12, another British soldier was killed as a result of an IED exploding, bringing the total of British troops killed in Iraq to 64.
On July 29, 2004, a Polish soldier died in an IED attack during a patrol northeast of Madlul.
On August 15, 2004, a Ukrainian platoon commander from the 62nd separate mechanized infantry battalion of the Ukrainian 6th separate mechanized infantry brigade was killed in an IED attack near As Suveira, Iraq.
On August 19, 2004, a UK Black Watch soldier was killed in a roadside bomb blast in Basra. On August 21, 2004, a Polish soldier was killed in a car bomb explosion.
On September 13, three Polish Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team members were killed when they came under attack from anti-Iraqi forces using rocket propelled grenades (RPG) and small arms.
On September 28, 2004, two British soldiers were killed in an ambush on a convoy in Basrah. The next day, a Ukrainian soldier died in a vehicle accident.
Iraqi Casualties
On 20 October 2003 the Project on Defense Alternatives estimated that between 10,800 and 15,100 Iraqis were killed in the war. Of these, between 3,200 and 4,300 were noncombatants -- that is: civilians who did not take up arms.
On 12 November 2003 the British Medact [an affiliate of the nonprofit International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War] estimated total Iraqi casualties from the war could range from 21,700 to 55,000. This study placed Iraqi military casualties at somewhere between 13,500 and 45,000. As of the same date, the IraqBodyCount.net estimated total Iraqi deaths as a range of between 7,840 and 9,668, derived from thousands of media reports from Iraq.
On 10 February 2004 the head of Iraq's police force, Lieutenant General Ahmed Kazem Ibrahim said a total of 604 policemen had been killed in attacks or during operations since a new police force was established by the US-led coalition the fall of president Saddam Hussein. In late January 2004, interim interior minister Nuri Basra gave a death toll of some 300 for the force.
In numerous interviews, Cheney has skated close to the line in ways that may have certainly left that impression on viewers, usually when he cited the possibility that Mohamed Atta, one of the hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001, met with an Iraqi official -- even after that theory was largely discredited.
On Dec. 9, 2001, Cheney said on NBC's "Meet The Press" that "it's been pretty well confirmed that [Atta] did go to Prague and he did meet with a senior official of the Iraqi intelligence service in Czechoslovakia last April, several months before the attack." On March 24, 2002, Cheney again told NBC, "We discovered ... the allegation that one of the lead hijackers, Mohamed Atta, had, in fact, met with Iraqi intelligence in Prague."
On Sept. 8, 2002, Cheney, again on "Meet the Press," said that Atta "did apparently travel to Prague. ... We have reporting that places him in Prague with a senior Iraqi intelligence officer a few months before the attacks on the World Trade Center." And a year ago, also on "Meet the Press," Cheney described Iraq as part of "the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault for many years, but most especially on 9/11."
In the debate, Cheney referred to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as having "an established relationship with al Qaeda" and said then-CIA Director George J. Tenet talked about "a 10-year relationship" in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. What Tenet cited were several "high-level contacts" over a 10-year period, but he also said the agency reported they never led to any cooperative activity.
How "dare" you forget the largest coalition member, the Iraqis. It was America and Iraq attacking Iraq all along, did'nt you know? BTW the largest casualties were borne by the poor civilians (15-20 thousand and counting), the so called collateral damage.
Cheney vs. Reality Debate Wrap-Up
IRAQ
CHENEY: "I have not suggested there's a connection between Iraq and 9/11." - Dick Cheney [Presidential Debates, 10/5/04]
REALITY:
Cheney Made That Claim repeatedly before and after the war
Cheney: "His regime has had high-level contacts with al Qaeda going back a decade and has provided training to al Qaeda terrorists." [Cheney Remarks, 12/2/02]
Cheney: "I think there's overwhelming evidence that there was a connection between al-Qaeda and the Iraqi government." [National Public Radio, "Morning Edition," 1/22/04]
FACT: 9-11 Commission Report Said No "Collaborative Operational Relationship" Existed Between Iraq and Al Qaeda. "We have seen no evidence that these or the earlier contacts ever developed into a collaborative operational relationship. Nor have we seen evidence indicating that Iraq cooperated with al Qaeda in developing or carrying out any attacks against the United States." [9-11 Commission Final Report, 7/22/04]
FACT: Senate Intelligence Committee Report Found No "Established, Formal" Relationship Between Iraq and Al Qaeda. "The Senate Intelligence Committee's report said CIA analysts were reasonable in their conclusion that there was no ‘established, formal' relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda, nor proof that the two had collaborated in attacks. The committee noted that no new information had emerged since the CIA's key reports to suggest otherwise." [LA Times, 7/10/04]
FACT: Secretary Rumsfeld Said On October 4, 2004, that He Had No "Hard Evidence" to Link Two. "…To my knowledge, I have not seen any strong, hard evidence that links the two." [Donald Rumsfeld at Council on Foreign Relations, 10/4/04]
CHENEY: "And with respect to this operation, we have seen the situation in which, first, they voted to commit the troops, to send them to war, John Edwards and John Kerry. Then they came back and when the question was whether or not you provide them with the resources they needed, body armor, spare parts and ammunition, they voted against it." - Dick Cheney [Presidential Debates, 10/5/04]
REALITY:
Kerry has been Absolutely Clear on Supporting Our Troops
John Kerry Voted to Fund Iraq's Reconstruction Through Shared Sacrifice - Not a Blank Check for a Failed Policy. After witnessing the way in which the president went to war - without our allies, without properly equipping the troops, without a plan to win the peace - John Kerry supported a responsible plan to pay for George Bush's $87 billion Iraq reconstruction plan, co-sponsoring and voting for an amendment to rescind the tax cut for the wealthiest Americans in order to pay for Iraq. The amendment failed, and the Bush administration still has no plan to win the peace or a way to pay the bill. "The best way to support our troops and take the target off their backs is with a real strategy to win the peace in Iraq - not by throwing $87 billion at George Bush's failed policies," Kerry said. "I am voting ‘no' on the Iraq resolution to hold the President accountable and force him finally to develop a real plan that secures the safety of our troops and stabilizes Iraq." [SA 1796, Kerry original cosponsor 10/1/03; Vote #373, 10/2/03; Vote #400, 10/17/03; Kerry statement, Congressional Record, 10/17/03]
This Was A Vote to Protest Bush's Failed Policy in Iraq - Kerry KNEW the $87 Billion Would Pass: "KERRY: It will get about 90 votes, maybe 85 votes. There's no question it will pass. But I think it is important to make it clear to America this is not the right way. We are--I mean, look, we're spending $30,000 for pickup trucks in this bill. We've got $6,000 cell phones. We're building prisons for them for years to come. We have an extraordinary amount of padding in this expenditure, and we do not have the kind of support on the ground that really protects our troops. There's a better way to carry out this policy, and I intend to stand up and fight for America's interests, for our troops' interests, for the long-term security of our country, and that's what I'm doing with this vote." [CNBC Capital Report, 10/17/03]
WHITE HOUSE THREATENED TO VETO ITS OWN BILL
White House Threatened to Veto $87 Billion if Congress Made the Funds a Loan. George Bush repeatedly says on the campaign trail that "There is nothing complicated about supporting our troops in combat." But "The White House threatened … to veto its own spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan if Congress made reconstruction aid a loan, taking its most forceful stand on the issue even as more lawmakers supported a reimbursement by Iraq. … ‘If this provision is not removed, the president's senior advisers would recommend that he veto the bill,' Joshua B. Bolten, the White House budget director, wrote in a letter to Congressional leaders." [Bush remarks, 9/13/04; New York Times, 10/22/03]
WAR ON TERRORISM
CHENEY: "We heard Senator Kerry say the other night there should be some global test before U.S. Troops are deployed preemptively to protect the United States."- Dick Cheney [Presidential Debates, 10/5/04]
REALITY: John Kerry Will Not Hesitate to Use Military Force to Protect America
Kerry Will Never Hesitate To Use Military Force To Preempt Any Imminent Threat to America's Security. "As president, I will never hesitate to use military force to pre-empt any imminent threat to our nations security. I will never give any country or any international institution a veto over our national security. I will use all of America's power to defeat terrorists before they strike us." [Associated Press, 9/16/04]
Kerry Has Said He Would Launch Preemptive Strikes Against Terrorists. "Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Friday he would be willing to launch a pre-emptive strike against terrorists if he had adequate intelligence of a threat. Kerry offered some support for one of the most controversial aspects of President Bush's national security policy, even as he criticized the president for not reforming intelligence agencies after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. ‘Am I prepared as president to go get them before they get us if we locate them and have the sufficient intelligence? You bet I am,' he said at a news conference at his Washington headquarters." [Associated Press, 7/16/04]
Kerry: "The President Always Has The Right, And Always Has Had The Right For Preemptive Strike." [First Presidential Debate, Miami, FL, 9/30/04]
CHENEY: "Concern about Iraq specifically focused on the fact that Saddam Hussein had been, for years, listed on the state sponsor of terror, that they he had established relationships with Abu Nidal, who operated out of Baghdad; he paid $25,000 to the families of suicide bombers; and he had an established relationship with al Qaeda."
REALITY: Cheney's Halliburton Did Business With Iraq, Iran; Both Were State Sponsors of Terrorism
While Cheney Was CEO, Halliburton Acquired Companies That Held Contracts With Saddam. Despite the fact that Cheney claimed that we've not done any business in Iraq since the sanctions are imposed, and I had a standing policy that I wouldn't do that, under Cheneys leadership, Halliburton acquired two subsidiaries which had signed contracts to sell more than $ 73 million in oil production equipment to Iraq under the oil-for-food program. The subsidiaries, based in France, sold water and sewage treatment pumps, spare parts for oil facilities and pipeline equipment to Baghdad through French affiliates from the first half of 1997 to the summer of 2000, U.N. records show. The subsidiaries traded with Iraq for more than a year under Cheney, signing nearly $30 million in contracts before Cheney sold off Halliburtons stake in the subsidiaries. [Washington Post, 6/23/01; Petroleum Economist, 6/93; ABC News, This Week, 7/30/00]
Under Cheney, Halliburton Subsidiaries Did Business In Iran. Under Cheneys leadership, Halliburton bought out Dresser Industries in 1998 and, subsequently, acquired Dressers subsidiary Kellogg Iran. A report release by New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson showed that Halliburton had opened an office in Iran under the name Halliburton Products and Services Ltd., its Cayman Islands subsidiary, in February 2000 and forecasts more than $39 million worth of services for 2003. A 60 Minutes report found little separation between Halliburton headquarters and their Cayman subsidiary and that if mail for the Halliburton subsidiary comes here, to this address, they reroute it to Halliburton headquarters in Houston. [Houston Chronicle, 12/15/03; Office of New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, 12/15/03; Halliburton Co. 10-Q, 5/7/04; Halliburton 10-K, 4/5/99; Russian Oil and Gas Report, 6/27/01; ABC, This Week, 7/30/00; New York Times, 9/10/02; CBS News, 60 Minutes, 1/25/04]
IRAN
Q: "After four years of vice president and with Iran having been declared by your administration as part of the axis of evil, do you still believe we should lift sanctions on Iran?
CHENEY: "No, I do not. And at the time I was talking specifically about this question of unilateral sanctions."
REALITY: Cheney Pushed To Have Sanctions Lifted
While in Canada, Cheney Called for End to U.S. Sanctions Against Iran. In June 2000, Cheney called for an end to U.S. sanctions against Iran. Speaking at the World Petroleum Congress in Calgary, Canada, Cheney said, "I would hope we could find ways to improve [US-Iran relations]. One of the ways I think is to allow American firms to do the same thing that most other firms around the world are able to do now, and that is to be active in Iran. ... We're kept out of there primarily by our own government, which has made a decision that U.S. firms should not be allowed to invest significantly in Iran, and I think that's a mistake." Cheney said Halliburton has some operations in Iran through foreign subsidiaries, but that "we would like to do more than we're able to do in Iran at present." [Hart's Middle East Oil and Gas, 6/27/00; Calgary Herald, 6/15/00]
Cheney Called Getting U.S. Business Into Iran His "Favorite Hobby Horse." When he ran Halliburton, Cheney "frequently complained about the Iran sanctions. In a 1998 speech he called the topic ‘my favorite hobby horse,' arguing that unilateral U.S. sanctions aimed at changing other nations' behaviors usually end up penalizing U.S. companies." [Dallas Morning News, 9/8/04]
ECONOMY
CHENEY: "We have added 1.7 million jobs to the economy."- Dick Cheney [Presidential Debates, 10/5/04]
REALITY:
The Economy is 7 million jobs Short of Bush Administration Prediction. The economy needed to create more than 6 million jobs during the Bush administration just to keep up with population growth. In fact, the 2002 Economic Report of the President projected more than 6 million new jobs between January 2001 and August 2004. Instead, we have lost 900,000 million jobs. As a result, we are more than 7 million jobs short of the prediction which President Bush made after 9/11, the tech bubble, and the recession. [BLS and Economic Report of the President, 2002. Note the Economic Report of the President projected an average of 138.3 million jobs in 2004. That corresponds to roughly 138.7 million jobs in August; the actual jobs total in August was 131.5 million.]
CHENEY: "We, of course, have been through a difficult recession and then the aftermath of 9/11 where we lost over a million jobs after that attack.."- Dick Cheney [Presidential Debate*s, 10/5/04]
REALITY:
MANY PRESIDENTS HAVE FACED WAR AND MANAGED TO CREATE JOBS. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and George Bush Sr. all faced wars and managed to create jobs. Franklin Roosevelt led America toward victory in World War II, after recovering from a devastating attack upon Pearl Harbor. Yet Roosevelt still managed to create jobs: from 1941 until his death in 1945, FDR created 5,567,000 private sector jobs. Truman led the United States to victory over Japan in World War II, and acted to prevent Communist North Korea from taking over South Korea, yet he managed to create 6,452,000 private sector jobs during his term. LBJ committed the United States to the divisive war in Vietnam, yet managed to create 9,458,000 private sector jobs during his term. Nixon faced the Vietnam War, yet created 7,117,000 private sector jobs during his term.The first Bush's recession lasted July 1990-March 1991. George H.W. Bush led a victorious world coalition against Iraq after Iraq invaded Kuwait. Yet George H.W. Bush created 1,465,000 private sector jobs during his term. [Bureau of Labor Statistics; National Bureau of Economic Research]
FACT: Bush On Track To Become First President Since Hoover To Experience Net Job Loss. Despite the fact the other presidents faced challenges such as Pearl Harbor, World War II, Vietnam, and a number of recessions-and all of whom created jobs during their terms-Bush blames 9/11 for the net job losses during his term in office. Bush has lost 1.6 million private sector jobs since taking office. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
SMALL BUSINESS
CHENEY: "A great many of our small businesses pay taxes under the personal income taxes rather than the corporate, and about nine hundred thousand small businesses will be hit if you do in fact do what they want to do at the top bracket. That's not smart because 7 out of 10 new jobs in america are created by small businesses. You do not want to tax them. Bad idea to increase the burden on those folks."- Dick Cheney [Presidential Debates, 10/5/04]
REALITY:
Undoing Tax Cuts Will Have Little Impact on Small Businesses. According to the Wall Street Journal, undoing tax cuts "Will Have Little Impact on Small Businesses" and "Bush Assertion on Tax Cuts Is at Odds With IRS Data," according to the Washington Post. George Bush uses a misleading definition of small business, a definition that factcheck.org points out would include George Bush himself because "He reported $84 of business income from his part ownership of a timber-growing enterprise." The Wall Street Journal says that, "Few of them [small businesses] make enough money to be affected by Sen. Kerry's proposal to undo the Bush tax cuts on those with incomes above $200,000." Finally, the Bush charges ignore the 35 million small businesses that pay lower taxes under the Kerry proposals - including tax cuts for small businesses that create jobs, provide health insurance, zero capital gains for startup investments in small businesses, and a 5 percent reduction in the corporate rate. [Wall Street Journal, "Undoing Tax Cuts Will Have Little Impact on Small Businesses," 4/1/2004; Washington Post, "Bush Assertion on Tax Cuts Is at Odds With IRS Data," 2/24/2004; factcheck.org, "A Bush-Cheney ad says Kerry would raise taxes for 900,000 ‘small businesses' and ‘hurt jobs.' It's a big exaggeration," 9/23/2004]
EDUCATION
CHENEY: "I think the most important thing we can do is have a first class public school system. I'm a product of public schools much the president's first legislative priority was the no child left behind act, the first legislation we introduced and we got it passed that first summer on a bipartisan basis." - Dick Cheney [Presidential Debates, 10/5/04]
REALITY:
Cheney Twice Voted Against Creation of Department of Education, Repeatedly Voted Against Education and Head Start Funding. In 1979, Cheney voted against the House passage of the bill and the conference report that created the Department of Education. Cheney also voted against the House version, which passed 210 to 206; the conference report passed 215 to 201. Over his career in Congress, Cheney voted against funding the Department of Education on at least 12 occasions, as well as repeatedly voting against funding for Head Start. [H.R. 2444, 1979 CQ Almanac, p. 87-H, #289; S. 210, 1979 CQ Almanac, p. 137, #468; H.R. 4389, 7998 7205, 3913, 6028, 3424, 5233, 3058, 4783, 4091, 3058, 4783; H.R. 4298, 5145, 5885, 4421]
Senior Diplomats Endorse John Kerry
Washington, DC - United by a deep concern about the mounting failures of the Bush administration's foreign policy, more than 180 former United States Ambassadors who have served under Republican and Democratic presidents endorsed John Kerry for president on Monday.
At a news conference at the National Press Club, members of Ambassadors for Kerry-Edwards issued a letter stating, We believe it is imperative to our national security that we change the leadership of the nation we all love and elect John Kerry and John Edwards. The statement criticized President Bush for needlessly squandering the good will and support of the world following the September 11 attacks and undermining our ability to win the war on terror by eroding our strong international alliances.
The war on terror can only be won with the active cooperation of people and governments around the world, said Ambassador Sol Polansky, who represented the United States to Bulgaria, and served as a Foreign Service officer for almost 40 years before his retirement in 1990. We've spent our careers building that kind of cooperation for the sake of our country's security. But in the last three years, the Bush administration has undermined the strong alliances American leaders worked half a century to build.
"Senator Kerry, in whom I am willing to place my trust, has demonstrated that he is courageous, sober, competent, and concerned with fighting the dangers associated with the widening socio-economic gap in this country. I will vote for him enthusiastically, wrote John Eisenhower in an opinion article entitled, Why I will vote for John Kerry for President in New Hampshire's Union Leader. The fact is that today's 'Republican' Party is one with which I am totally unfamiliar. Leadership involves setting a direction and building consensus, not viewing other countries as practically devoid of significance. Recent developments indicate that the current Republican Party leadership has confused confident leadership with hubris and arrogance.
Eisenhower, who served as Ambassador to Belgium is a lifelong Republican and the son of Republican President Dwight Eisenhower.
This unprecedented show of support from this group of former Ambassadors and national security professionals includes more than 80 career Foreign Service Officers and 100 non-career appointees, who have represented the United States under both Republican and Democratic administrations in postings around the world.
John Kerry has the capacity to renew America's credibility around the world and find solutions to global problems. John Kerry will fight a more effective war on terror, and he has a plan to win the peace in Iraq. He has the strength, experience, and resolve to make America safer and more secure, said Ambassador Pete Peterson, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam.
Republicans are abandoning George Bush's sinking ship. The latest news comes from Arizona, where the Arizona Republic reports that Marshall Wittmann, a top-ranking aide to Senator McCain, has just resigned with a blast at the Bush administration:
"But there is no remaining shred of doubt that another four years of a Bush presidency would have a toxic effect on American politics. If George W. Bush is re-elected, unlimited corporate power, cynicism and division will ride high in the saddle."
Here's the full story
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1005mccainaide-kerry.html
Kerry: Cheney, Bush should follow Bremer's lead on Iraq
'The president ... needs to tell the truth to the American people'
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/05/kerry.tuesday.ap/index.html
Rumsfeld weakens a pillar of war
By Paul Reynolds
BBC News Online world affairs correspondent
Donald Rumsfeld has a habit of speaking his mind and damning the consequences, but his latest outburst - that there was no strong evidence linking al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein - could have considerable consequences.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3717024.stm
Kerry dismisses criticism of 'global test' remark as 'pathetic'
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/04/kerry.global/index.html
Planned Job-cuts jump in September
Companies announce highest number of cuts since January, according to survey; hiring plans fall.
October 5, 2004: 10:00 AM EDT
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The number of job cuts planned by U.S. employers jumped to an eight-month high in September, while hiring announcements fell sharply, an outplacement firm said Tuesday.
http://money.cnn.com/2004/10/05/news/economy/challenger/index.htm?cnn=yes
BUSH-CHENEY AD FACT CHECK: "Thinking Mom"
George W. Bush has had four years to reduce America's dependence on Middle East Oil. He's done nothing and gas prices are skyrocketing. John Kerry will put an end to the Bush energy policy which puts the Saudi Royal family before America's working families.
AD TITLE: "Thinking Mom"
TYPE: TV
DATE: 10/04/04
THE RHETORIC FROM BUSH & CHENEY
Mom Voiceover: 5:30, I need to get groceries. I'm gonna be late.
Radio Voiceover: John Kerry and the liberals in Congress have voted to raise gas taxes 10 times.
Mom Voiceover: 10 times.... gas prices are high enough already.
THE REALITY: Kerry's Real Record
· Another Bogus, Misleading Attack: John Kerry voted for the 1993 Clinton economic plan which helped create 22.9 million new jobs and cut the deficit by ½ a trillion dollars. He never said he was proud of raising gas taxes, and the Bush campaign also keeps counting procedural votes and even votes that would lower the gas tax. [Factcheck.org]
· Kerry Voted Against an 18% increase in Gas Taxes. Kerry voted against an amendment that would raise the Federal excise tax on motor fuels by 18 cents a gallon, with the resulting revenues going to the reduction of the Federal deficit. [Vote #218, 10/10/85, motion to table S.AMDT.753 to H.J.RES.372, passed 89-9, Kerry-Y]
· Kerry Voted for Gas Tax Exemptions. Kerry voted for a tax package that extended or created tax credits for energy and provided some gas excise tax exemptions, a gasohol exemption, and eliminated diesel fuel excise tax for farmers. [Vote #366, 10/11/88, H.R.4333 passed 87-1, Kerry-Y; CQ & The Nation 1985-88, p. 98-106]
· Kerry Voted Against a Five Cent Gas Tax. Kerry voted against a budget resolution that included a five cent gas tax. [Vote #261, 10/9/90, on conference report to H.CON.RES.310, passed 66-33, Kerry-N; CQ Congress & The Nation 1989-1992, p. 55]
· Kerry Voted to Eliminate the Gas Tax Increase. Kerry voted to waive the budget act to consider an amendment to increase the marginal income tax rate to 35 and eliminate the gas tax increase. [Vote #289, 10/18/1990, motion to waive budget act to consider AMDT to S.3209 Failed 44-56, Kerry-Y]
· Kerry Voted Against George H.W. Bush Five Cent Gas Increase that Became Law. Kerry voted against the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1990 that increased the gas tax from 9 to 14 cents a gallon. [Vote #292, 10/19/90, H.R.5835 passed 54-46, Kerry-N]
· Kerry actually voted for a Lower Gas Tax and to Keep Medicare from Getting Cut. A third vote was actually a lower gas tax. The tax that was in the bill was 9 cents per gallon. John Kerry voted for an amendment that would have replaced that with a 6 cent per gallon gas tax. And once other provisions of the bill were calculated in, it would have only been a 3.5 cent increase. [Associated Press, 10/18/90]
· Kerry Voted to Oppose $3/Gallon Gas Tax Hike. Kerry voted for a substitute amendment that would strike the text of the previous amendment and replace it with language that would express the sense of the Senate that the Senate will not increase gasoline and diesel fuel taxes by $1.50 per gallon effective July 1, 2000, and by an additional $1.50 per gallon in fiscal year 2005. [Vote #60, 4/6/00, Fiscal 2001 Budget Resolution (S.Con.Res. 101), amdt passed 99-0, Kerry: Yes]
THE REALITY: Bogus Attacks
· In One "Kerry" Vote, 37 Republicans voted with Kerry These "liberals" included Senators Allard Bennett Bond Burns Campbell Chafee Cochran Collins Craig D'Amato DeWine Domenici Enzi Faircloth Frist Gorton Gramm Grams Grassley Hagel Hatch Helms Hutchinson Jeffords Kempthorne Lott McConnell Murkowski Roberts Roth Santorum Smith Snowe Specter Stevens Thomas Warner [S. 1173, CQ Vote #26: Motion Rejected 18-80: R 16-37; D 2-43, 3/11/98, Kerry Voted Nay]
THE REALITY: The Republican Record
· Bush put tax cuts for the wealthy ahead of tax cuts for families. Bush has proposed trillions in tax cuts, but never proposed cutting the gas tax. However, one third of Bush's tax cuts benefited the top one percent. [CBO]
· Bush's Chief Economic Adviser Advocated Hiking the Gas Tax by 50 Cents in 1999. Greg Mankiw: "Many members of Congress have been pushing for a cut in income taxes, but they've been unsure how to pay for it. Fortunately, I've figured out an answer: with a tax increase. Let's cut income taxes by 10% and finance it with a 50-cent-per-gallon hike in the gasoline tax." [Chair of President's Council of Economic Advisers Greg Mankiw, May 1999, Fortune, emphasis added]
· Republicans Recently Opposed Repeal of Gas Tax. 'Absolutely the dumbest thing ever thought of," Rep. Don Young (R-AK) said about repealing the gas tax. [Anchorage Daily News, 3/16/00] Speaker Dennis Hastert said that it "doesn't solve the problem….that's just a little tick in what the cost of gas is. We need to solve the real problems out there." [Fox News Sunday, 3/26/00] And Republican Transportation Committee Chair Bud Shuster said repealing the gas tax "is counterproductive because reducing a portion of the price without reducing the underlining cost of crude oil makes it easier for OPEC countries to keep the prices high." [Anchorage Daily News, 3/16/00; USA Today, 3/15/00]
· Bush's Own Energy Information Administration Found the Bush Plan Wouldn't Impact Prices. Bush's own Energy Information Administration found that the effect of the proposal would be "negligible" with respect to production, consumption, imports, and energy prices.. [EIA, http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/twip/twip.asp]
· $708 a Year More Per Household with Teenagers for Gasoline. Households with teenagers are paying higher prices for gasoline than ever before. In the United States, households with teenagers are paying $708 more per year for gasoline since George Bush took office. They now pay on average $2,829 per year. [Department of Energy, Household Vehicles Energy Consumption 1994, Table 5.2, August 1997]
· Oil Prices "Stabilizing" at All Time High of $50 per Barrel. "[Analyst Kevin] Baker added that oil prices, though still high, appear to be stabilizing around the $50 a barrel level. [Reuters, 10/4/04]
THE RHETORIC FROM BUSH & CHENEY
Radio Voiceover: They voted to raise taxes on senior social security benefits
THE REALITY: The Real Record
Bush Opposes a Repeal, Kerry Supported One: Democratic efforts supported by John Kerry to REPEAL the 1993 Social Security tax last year increase were thwarted by Republicans who were bent on enacting George Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy. [S1054, 5/15/2003, #149]
Bush put tax cuts for the wealthy ahead of Social Security tax cuts. Bush has proposed trillions in tax cuts, but never proposed repealing the 1993 Social Security tax. However, one third of Bush's tax cuts benefited the top one percent. [CBO]
THE REALITY: Bogus Attacks
· In One "Kerry Vote" Bush Supporters John McCain and Bill Frist Supported Kerry's Position: John McCain and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist both voted "wrong" according to the Bush logic, along with Republicans George Voinovich and Lincoln Chafee. [S. Con. Res. 23, CQ Vote #94: Rejected 48-51: R 48-4; D 0-47; I 0-1, 3/25/03, Kerry Voted Nay]
THE REALITY: The Republican Record
· Bush Opposes a Repeal: Democratic efforts to REPEAL the 1993 Social Security tax last year increase were thwarted by Republicans who were bent on enacting George Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy. [S1054, 5/15/2003, #149] It's George Bush who is leading Medicare into bankruptcy. His failure to lead has shaved 10 years off the life expectancy of Medicare. He has never proposed a repeal.
· Cheney Has Terrible Record On Social Security: Cheney Repeatedly Voted Against Social Security Beneficiaries, Including Limiting Benefits, Raising the Retirement Age and Undermining the Social Security Trust Fund. Cheney voted in 1981 against restoring minimum monthly Social Security benefits. In 1983, he voted to raise the Social Security Retirement Age to 67 starting in 2000. In 1985, he voted against increasing Social Security Cost-of-Living adjustments. In that year he also cast three separate votes against protecting the Social Security Trust Fund. Cheney openly advocated for increasing Social Security taxes and pushing back the retirement age as chair of the House Republican Policy Committee. [1981 CQ Almanac, #178, 44-H; 1983 CQ Almanac, #20 and 22, 10-H; 1985 CQ Almanac, #113, 38-H; 1985 CQ Almanac, #351-353, 110-H; UPI, 11/16/82]
THE RHETORIC FROM BUSH & CHENEY
Radio Voiceover: and raise taxes on middle class parents 18 times....
THE REALITY: Kerry's Real Record
REALITY: Kerry Has a Long Record Supporting the Child Tax Credit, At Least 19 Times: John Kerry has long fought for middle-class tax cuts, including the child tax credit. He has voted repeatedly to expand it to more recipients and increase its size. This is a misleading and bogus attack. [Vote #40, 3/12/1992; Vote #51, 3/13/1992; Vote #243, 9/26/1992; Vote #140, 6/27/97; Amendment 532, introduced 6/26/1997; S 833, introduced 5/3/01; Vote #156, 6/27/97; Vote #211, 7/31/97; #69, 4/2/98; Vote #159, 5/23/01; Vote #107, 3/26/03; Vote #151, 5/15/03; Vote #153, 5/15/03; Vote #166, 5/15/03; Vote #210, 6/5/03; S 1434, introduced 7/21/2003; S1162, introduced 6/2/03]
THE REALITY: Bogus Attacks
REALITY: Kerry voted with "Liberal" Jesse Helms. [H.R. 2014, CQ Vote #160: Passed 80-18: R 51-4; D 29-14, 6/27/97, Kerry Voted Nay; Lauch Faircloth; Phil Gramm; Rod Grams; Jesse Helms]
In Another Bush Attack Vote, 23 Republicans Voted "Wrong" S. Con. Res. 13, CQ Vote #178, Rejected 31-69: R 31-23; D 0-46, 5/23/95, Kerry Voted Nay; Also voting Nay, 23 Conservative & Moderate Republican Senators: Kit Bond; Conrad Burns; John Chafee; Thad Cochran; William Cohen; Alfonse D'Amato; Mike Dewine; Pete Domenici; Slade Gorton; Charles Grassley; Judd Gregg; Mark Hatfield; James Jeffords; Nancy Kassebaum; Frank Murkowski; Bob Packwood; Larry Pressler; Alan Simpson; Olympia Snowe; Arlen Specter; Ted Stevens; Craig Thomas; and John Warner.
THE REALITY: The Bush Economy
Bush Has Given Us Record Deficits. This year the budget deficit will break a new record coming in at above $400 billion. This breaks last year's record of $375 billion. [CBO; OMB]
· $800 Billion Worse Than Four Years Ago. In 2001, the Congressional Budget Office estimated a budget surplus of $397 billion in FY2004. Instead, the Bush Administration has run the country on a budget deficit of $420 billion - $800 billion worse than four years than was predicted four years ago [Congressional - Budget Office; OMB]
1.6 Million Lost Jobs Under Bush. Since George Bush took office, the economy has lost 1.8 million private sector jobs. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
7 Million Jobs Short Of President Bush's Prediction. After 9/11, the tech bubble, and the recession, the Bush Administration predicted nearly 6 million new jobs would be created between January 2001 and May 2004. Instead, we lost more than 1 million jobs - seven million jobs short. [BLS; Economic Report of the President, 2002]
Jobs Are Shifting To Lower-Paying Industries Paying $9,160 Less. On average, jobs in growing industries pay $9,160 less - or 21 percent less - than jobs in contracting industries. [Economic Policy Institute, "Jobs Shift From Higher Paying to Lower Paying Industries," 1/21/04]
THE RHETORIC FROM BUSH & CHENEY
No relief there from the marriage penalty....
Mom Voiceover:: More taxes because I'm married.... what were they thinking?
THE REALITY: Kerry's Real Record
Kerry Has Supported Eliminating The Marriage Penalty At Least 12 Times: This is another bogus attack on John Kerry's record of fighting for tax relief for middle-class families. Kerry has voted to entirely repeal the marriage penalty and repeatedly for marriage penalty relief for working families. [Vote #59, 4/1/98; Vote #155, 6/10/98; Vote #243, 7/29/98; Vote #226, 7/28/99; Vote #233, 7/30/99; 107th Congress, S8; Vote #53, 4/5/00; Vote #200, 7/17/00; Vote #112, 5/17/01; Vote #143, 5/22/01; Vote #144, 5/22/01; Vote #155, 5/15/03]
THE REALITY: Bogus Attack
REALITY: In One Bush Attack Vote, 23 Republicans Voted "Wrong"
S. Con. Res. 13, CQ Vote # 178: Rejected 31-69: R 31-23; D 0-46, 5/23/95, Kerry Voted Nay; Kerry voted with: Kit Bond, Conrad Burns, John Chafee, Thad Cochran, Bill Cohen, Al D'Amato, Mike Dewine, Pete Domenici, Slade Gorton, Chuck Grassley, Judd Gregg, Mark Hatfield, James Jeffords, Nancy Kassenbaum, Frank Murkowski, Bob Packwood, Alan Simpson, Olympia Snowe, Arlen Specter, Ted Stevens, Craig Thomas, and John Warner
THE REALITY: The Bush Economy
Bush Has Given Us Record Deficits. This year the budget deficit will break a new record coming in at above $400 billion. This breaks last year's record of $375 billion. [CBO; OMB]
· $800 Billion Worse Than Four Years Ago. In 2001, the Congressional Budget Office estimated a budget surplus of $397 billion in FY2004. Instead, the Bush Administration has run the country on a budget deficit of $420 billion - $800 billion worse than four years than was predicted four years ago [Congressional - Budget Office; OMB]
1.6 Million Lost Jobs Under Bush. Since George Bush took office, the economy has lost 1.8 million private sector jobs. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
7 Million Jobs Short Of President Bush's Prediction. After 9/11, the tech bubble, and the recession, the Bush Administration predicted nearly 6 million new jobs would be created between January 2001 and May 2004. Instead, we lost more than 1 million jobs - seven million jobs short. [BLS; Economic Report of the President, 2002]
Jobs Are Shifting To Lower-Paying Industries Paying $9,160 Less. On average, jobs in growing industries pay $9,160 less - or 21 percent less - than jobs in contracting industries. [Economic Policy Institute, "Jobs Shift From Higher Paying to Lower Paying Industries," 1/21/04]
THE RHETORIC FROM BUSH & CHENEY
Radio Voiceover: 350 times.... Higher taxes from the liberals in Congress and John Kerry.
President Bush: I'm George W. Bush and I approve this message.
THE REALITY: "Bogus," "Misleading" Attacks That Are "Simply Untrue"
The last time the Bush campaign made this false attack, newspapers and independent experts across the nation said it was simply untrue. They count votes for lower taxes at least 80 times among their list of votes for "higher taxes."
The reality? Kerry has gone on the legislative record over 640 times for lower taxes. [CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY VOTES; CQ'S CONGRESS & THE NATION; CQ ALMANAC; SENATE REPUBLICAN POLICY COMMITTEE; CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE BILL SUMMARIES (VIA THOMAS.LOC.GOV), BILL TEXTS (VIA THOMAS.LOC.GOV)]
THE REALITY: The Reviews Are Already In On This Misleading Attack
· "Misleading" Says Washington Post: "For example, Cheney's claim in almost every speech that Kerry "has voted some 350 times for higher taxes" includes any vote in which Kerry voted to leave taxes unchanged or supported a smaller tax cut than some favored." "MISLEADING" [From Bush, Unprecedented Negativity; Scholars Say Campaign Is Making History With Often-Misleading Attacks," Washington Post, 5/31/04]
· "Gross Exaggeration" Says Cincinnati Inquirer: "A few weeks ago, Hot Air took President Bush's campaign to task for claiming that John Kerry, his Democratic foe, has supported 350 tax increases. It was a gross exaggeration larded with deceptive definitions and assumptions." ["A Swarm Of Distortions," Editorial, Cincinnati Inquirer, 5/26/04]
· FactCheck.Org: Bush Uses "Bogus Number"& "Procedural Trickery:" "‘That number is so bogus. What they're talking about here is votes he cast that would have made taxes higher than they might have been if some other amendment had passed. Procedural trickery, in other words. some votes counted twice.' " Kerry has not voted 350 times for tax increases," and points out that "In fact, even the President's own campaign organization now admits Kerry didn't vote for tax increases 350 times, or anything close to it." They conclude that "It's simply untrue that Kerry voted for tax increases 350 times." [NBC Nightly News, 4/6/04; Factcheck.org]
· "Not Quite Right" Says Pittsburgh Post Gazette: "The president's campaign has said Kerry voted for higher taxes 350 times, which is not quite right either." [Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 5/19/04]
· Columnist Michael Kinsley: New Bush Ad Is "Unfair", "Ridiculous" & "Phony": Bush's most recent misleading statements about John Kerry's record on taxes is "unfair," "ridiculous, and "phony." [Kinsley, Washington Post, 3/24/04]
· "False" Says Political Finance Newsletter: "56% of the respondents believe that Kerry voted 350 times for higher taxes, a false claim made in a Bush campaign ad." [Political Finance, The Newsletter, May 2004]
· "Padded," "Misleading," "So Off Base," "Bogus" Says Charleston Gazette: "But Bush padded numbers" [Editorial, Charleston Gazette, 4/12/04] "President Bush released yet another attack on Sen. John Kerry April 1, an ad appropriately named ‘troubling.' The Bush ad recycles a couple of bogus claims we've de-bunked before - a misleading claim that Kerry voted for ‘higher taxes' 350 times and a claim that "Kerry's plan will raise taxes by at least $ 900 billion."" "We pointed out previously that the 350-vote figure is so off base that it actually counts some Kerry votes for tax cuts as votes for "higher taxes." " [Editorial, Charleston Gazette, 4/11/04]
· "Magic Number," "Poofery," Says AP: "That magic number comes with a bit of poofery." [AP, 4/9/04]
· "Exists Only In Minds Of Spinners" Says Philadelphia Inquirer: "Kerry's 350 votes to raise taxes exist only in the minds of spinners." ["Spinsanity," Editorial, Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/8/04]
· "Checkered" Says USA TODAY: "Many of Kerry's votes were against tax cuts, not in favor of tax increases" ["Fact-checker: Ads' facts checkered," USA Today, 4/6/04]
· "Inaccurate," "Incredulous" Says LA Times: "But the claim was disputed by nonpartisan watchdog groups as being based on an inaccurate interpretation of Kerry's record." [LA Times, 3/30/04] "What made Bixby, the Kerry campaign and FactCheck.org perhaps most incredulous was the inclusion of "votes in favor of higher taxes" instances in which Kerry actually voted for a tax cut -- just not the biggest tax cut proposed." [LA Times, 3/30/04]
· Fails "Straight Face Test" Says Concord Coalition: ""Such a standard does not pass the straight-face test for credibility," said Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan budget watchdog group." [LA Times, 3/30/04]
· MSNBC said "the Bush campaign counted some Kerry votes for lower taxes as a vote for higher ones." [MSNBC's Hardball, 8/17/04]
· GOP Acknowledges Some Charge Untrue: "In fact, even the President's own campaign organization now admits Kerry didn't vote for tax increases 350 times, or anything close to it." "While Bush campaign aides say the claim is accurate and have made public a list of instances to which it refers, they acknowledge that in several of these cases Mr. Kerry had in fact either voted to maintain tax rates or even to cut them, but not by as much as Republicans had proposed." ["Campaign Ads Are Under Fire For Inaccuracy," New York Times, 5/25/04; Factcheck.org;]
The Falling Scales
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/05/opinion/05krugman.html?oref=login
------------------------------------------------------------
The Nuclear bomb that was'nt
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/05/opinion/05tue1.html
Excerpt :
The foundation for the administration's claim that it acted on an honest assessment of intelligence analysis - and the president's frequent claim that Congress had the same information he had - has been steadily eroded by the reports from the Senate Intelligence Committee and the 9/11 commission. A lengthy report in The Times on Sunday removed any lingering doubts.
The only physical evidence the administration offered for an Iraqi nuclear program were the 60,000 aluminum tubes that Baghdad set out to buy in early 2001; some of them were seized in Jordan. Even though Iraq had a history of using the same tubes to make small rockets, the president and his closest advisers told the American people that the overwhelming consensus of government experts was that these new tubes were to be used to make nuclear bomb fuel. Now we know there was no such consensus. Mr. Bush's closest advisers say they didn't know that until after they had made the case for war. But in fact, they had plenty of evidence that the claim was baseless; it was a long-discounted theory that had to be resurrected from the intelligence community's wastebasket when the administration needed justification for invading Iraq.
Flip Flop Flip Flop Flip .....
Rumsfeld: Al Qaeda comments 'misunderstood'
Also concedes WMD claims about Iraq were proved wrong
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/04/rumsfeld.iraq/index.html
So much for Poland's support for Iraq.
Poland aims for Iraq troop pullout by end of 2005
PARIS (AFP) - Poland said that it aims to withdraw all of its 2,500 troops from Iraq during the course of next year, a major disappointment for Washington which sees Warsaw as one of its staunchest allies in Iraq.
Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski said Monday after talks in Paris that no firm date to complete the withdrawal had been decided yet, but that Poland hoped "to finish our mission at the end of 2005."
Poland is the fourth largest troop contributor to the US-led coalition in Iraq, but there is strong popular opposition at home to the deployment.
Kwasniewski's remarks here after talks with French President Jacques Chirac followed confusion in Warsaw, where the defence minister announced the troop withdrawal only to be contradicted by other top government figures.
The president said the situation in Iraq would be different after January, when general elections are to take place, supposedly the last step in setting up a legitimate Iraqi government.
"That is the reason why we decided to speak with the Iraqis and with our coalition partners, the United States, about a reduction of the Polish forces from January 1 and maybe to finish our mission at the end of 2005," he said.
Asked if there was a firm date, he replied: "No, this is not decided."
Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski in Warsaw had already announced in newspaper and radio interviews that Poland would withdraw its 2,500 troops from the country by the end of December 2005.
But as the issue provoked controversy, he later clarified his comments made in interviews with Polish public radio and daily Gazeta Wyborcza, saying they reflected his "personal view".
Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz distanced himself from the defence minister's statement, saying Poland did not want to "betray its ally" the United States.
And in a sign of the extreme sensitivity of the issue, Prime Minister Marek Belka said he had not been consulted and would seek clarification from Szmajdzinski, the PAP news agency reported.
Until now the Polish government had only said it would reduce its military presence in Iraq in 2005.
Analysts noted that the centre-left government faces heavy domestic criticism over the Polish military presence in Iraq ahead of elections next year.
But a planned pullout by Poland will spark dismay in Washington, where US President George W. Bush is under criticism over the troubled US-led occupation of Iraq as he seeks re-election next month.
"The Bush administration is of course going to be disappointed," political analyst Krzysztof Bobinski told AFP.
In last week's TV debate with Democratic challenger John Kerry, Bush specifically mentioned the Polish contribution.
Poland sent 2,500 troops to Iraq last year in the wake of the US-led invasion and heads up a multinational division of 6,000 soldiers in south-central Iraq.
But the intervention has proven costly. Seventeen Polish nationals have died in Iraq -- 13 soldiers and four civilians -- including three soldiers killed in an attack last month near the central Iraqi city of Hilla.
According to the latest poll, more than 70 percent of Poles are opposed to the presence of their country's troops in Iraq.
Parliamentary elections are due next year in Poland, with the ruling Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) party which sent Polish troops to Iraq currently credited with only seven percent support.
Moreover, its minority coalition partner, the Labour Union (UP), has threatened to withhold its support from prime minister Belka's government in a no confidence motion on October 15 unless it gives a firm timetable for an Iraqi pullout.
"The reason is we have elections coming up next year and the SLD wants to be able to say during the election campaign this is not an issue because we are withdrawing the troops by the end of 2005," Bobinski said.
Feeling a Draft?; Newsweek's youth columnist discusses her generation's take on rumors of a reinstated draft
By Traci E. Carpenter / Newsweek
For my generation, a draft only occurs when someone leaves the door open on a breezy day.
But with five weeks until the election, and a military stretched to capacity in the Middle East, the word has taken on a much different meaning that threatens to change our whole way of life.
In a recent talk at Michigan State University, Michael Moore, on his 60-city "Slackers Uprising" tour, brought 3,000 students to their feet as he warned of the impending dangers of a second Bush administration. He and other liberals insist that a re-election of Bush will guarantee the reinstatement of the draft. At Thursday's debate, Democratic candidate John Kerry asserted a de facto draft is already underway. "We've got [National Guard] and reserves that are doing double duty," he said. "We have a backdoor draft." Whether or not this is just a scare tactic to get the youth to the polls, it might just work.
Unlike generations before us, we did not grow up during a time of perpetual war and fear of nuclear attack. As children of the '90s, we were raised in an era of prosperity and, besides a few humanitarian missions and military interventions here and there, peace. How can we fathom being sent to die for a war we did not start when our parents were discouraged from even spanking us as children?
We have no concept of a lottery that determines who lives and who dies. We've heard the stories from our fathers, uncles and neighbors. We've seen the images in textbooks of draft cards in flames, tearful goodbyes and soldiers returning in body bags. So far, we've been able to contain the draft to a page in our history books, but with an overworked and understaffed military in Iraq and Afghanistan, these stories and images are creeping a little too close to home.
President Bush assures us, if he is re-elected, there will remain no need for a draft. But, he is also the same man who promised us a quick victory and warm welcome in Iraq. A year and a half later, casualties are at their highest rates yet. With 40 percent of the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan already National Guard and reserves and few allied armies in sight, Bush will need to look elsewhere for more soldiers to maintain his war, especially with Iran and North Korea demanding more attention than we can presently give.
Only time will tell how long it takes for him to turn his attention to the other 18-25-year-olds not yet in uniform. It's not surprising that the most overlooked constituency of this nation is the one to bear the most physical burden of this frivolous war--it's just sad. And it is not the fortunate sons and daughters of congressmen and women fighting overseas, it is poor people and minorities who are risking their lives for an administration that doesn't fight for them at home.
Our generation has strong beliefs that we would be willing to fight for any day, but oil and corporate greed are not two of them. Had we focused on the true threats to our security that attacked us on 9/11, perhaps more of us would be willing to serve.
Whether or not the draft is eventually reinstated, the fact that it's even being mentioned is enough to worry students on campuses across the country. In Vietnam, students had the option to defer as long as they remained full-time students pursuing a degree. Today, we probably wouldn't have that option. If the order was given to reinstate the draft, we would have as few as six months before the first sons and brothers (and, probably, daughters and sisters), are shipped off. Six months, and we could all be trading in our spring-break trips for a one-way ticket to basic training. Our finals would be in the deserts of the Middle East with dire consequences for failure.
We can breathe easy only until after Nov. 2. Neither candidate will admit to the possibility of implementing a draft if he is elected, which can't be too surprising to anyone involved. Even the slickest spin doctors couldn't cook up a good bumper sticker for that platform, and mothers don't often vote for the candidate who threatens to send her son to war.
After the vote, we'll know whether the Internet-fueled frenzy over the word is just unfounded hype or is in fact a serious threat. But our generation cannot afford to leave our fate to chance. Students, slackers and young adults of all creeds must rise up and let our government know we won't be used as, in Moore's words, weapons of mass destruction. Hopefully we can close the door on the issue before the government starts knocking on ours.
Going Upriver
http://www.goingupriver.com/
It's a powerful piece of work and I wish everyone could see this film before the election. One of the most shocking scenes is of the secret Nixon tapes, which show how he and his advisors secretly plot to create a phony group called Vietnam Veterans for a Just Peace to counteract John Kerry and his Vietnam Veterans Against the War. The film lets you listen to Nixon and hear how determined he is to crush Kerry, putting up another veteran who has offered to head this phony pro-war veterans group. The veteran was John O'Neill and to hear Nixon discuss how they are going to use O'Neill and the front group to battle Kerry with their lies and deceit is nothing less than chilling. O'Neill, of course, is the ringleader of today's Swiftboat Veterans for Truth and the author of Unfit for Command. How could this exact scenario be repeating itself? Go see this film if you can. You will be proud casting your vote for a man who stood up when it was not the popular thing to do.
Statement from Richard Holbrooke in Response to Bush Campaign Debate Comments
Former US ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke issued the following statement today in response to Bush campaign spokeswoman Nicolle Devenish's comments regarding Thursday's debate:
"President Bush had every opportunity in the debates to make his points, but he failed to explain his wrong choices. Now he's sending out his campaign operatives to clean up after his poor debate performance. Here are four alarming strategic mistakes President Bush made you won't hear them mention:
"First, he failed to defend his go-it-alone foreign policy that has alienated our allies and forced the United States to shoulder the overwhelming share of the casualties and cost of the war.
"Second, he chose not to level with the American people and our troops about the deteriorating situation in Iraq: we've lost over 1,000 U.S. soldiers, attacks on U.S. troops have increased every month, and terrorists are pouring into Iraq by the thousands.
"Third, instead of owning up to his mistakes in Iraq and outlining a real plan to win the peace, he smirked and scowled and refused to directly answer the hard questions.
"Fourth, when John Kerry outlined his plan to strengthen homeland security and make the investments we need to make, President Bush said he wasn't sure we could afford it, even as he continues to promise more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans."
BUSH-CHENEY AD FACT CHECK: Global Test
There's a reason why the Bush campaign is putting up this completely false ad. They know the president failed to make his case across the stage with John Kerry at the debate. Now they're flat out lying to try and repair the damage done. President Bush knows good and well that John Kerry said when it comes to America's national security, he'll never give a veto to any other country. John Kerry will take any action necessary to protect the United States from immediate danger
THE FACTS:
AD TITLE: "Global Test"
DATE: 10/2/04
TYPE: 30sec TV
PAID FOR BY: Bush-Cheney '04
BUSH-CHENEY CREDIBILITY GAP
VOICE OVER: "He said he'd attack terrorists who threaten America."
THE FACTS ON JOHN KERRY'S RECORD
Kerry Will Never Hesitate To Use Military Force To Preempt Any Imminent Threat to America's Security. "As president, I will never hesitate to use military force to pre-empt any imminent threat to our nations security. I will never give any country or any international institution a veto over our national security. I will use all of America's power to defeat terrorists before they strike us." [Associated Press, 9/16/04]
Kerry Has Said He Would Launch Preemptive Strikes Against Terrorists. "Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Friday he would be willing to launch a pre-emptive strike against terrorists if he had adequate intelligence of a threat. Kerry offered some support for one of the most controversial aspects of President Bush's national security policy, even as he criticized the president for not reforming intelligence agencies after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. ‘Am I prepared as president to go get them before they get us if we locate them and have the sufficient intelligence? You bet I am,' he said at a news conference at his Washington headquarters." [Associated Press, 7/16/04]
Kerry: "The President Always Has The Right, And Always Has Had The Right For Preemptive Strike." [First Presidential Debate, Miami, FL, 9/30/04]
GEORGE BUSH'S RECORD OF FAILURE
GEORGE BUSH HAS DIVERTED CRITICAL RESOURCES FROM THE WAR ON TERROR.
§ Bush Failure to Focus On Capturing Bin Laden The "Gravest Error" In The War on Terror. The Bush administration itself concluded that Osama bin Laden was present during the battle for Tora Bora late last year and that failure to commit U.S. ground troops to hunt him was its gravest error in the war against al Qaeda, according to civilian and military officials with first-hand knowledge. [Washington Post, 4/17/02]
§ The Rush To War In Iraq Took The Pressure Off Of Bin Laden And Al Qaeda. In 2002, troops from the 5th Special Forces Group who specialize in the Middle East were pulled out of the hunt for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan to prepare for their next assignment: Iraq. The CIA, meanwhile, was stretched badly in its capacity to collect, translate and analyze information coming from Afghanistan. US Intelligence officials said that as much as half of the intelligence and special forces assets in Afghanistan and Pakistan were diverted to support the war in Iraq. [USA Today, 3/29/04; KnightRidder, 9/5/03]
§ Bush Diverted "the Perfect Weapon" From the Hunt for Bin Laden to Iraq: Bush removed nearly all the Predator UAVs from Afghanistan in early 2002. According to a Senior Senate Intelligence Committee member, pulling the "perfect weapon" from Afghanistan for Iraq undermined the war against al Qaeda in Afghanistan. [Graham, Intelligence Matters, pg.121]
BUSH OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE REALITY THAT KEY AL QAEDA TERRORISTS ELUDE CAPTURE THREE YEARS AFTER THE SEPTEMBER 11TH ATTACKS.
§ Bush's Record of Failure: Three Years Later, Still No Ideas On Whereabouts Of Osama Bin Laden Or Ayman Al-Zawahiri. On the 3rd year anniversary of September 11th, Major General Eric Olsen, the commanding general of Combined Joint Task Forces in Afghanistan, told the Associated Press that the U.S. military has no ideas as to the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden nor his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, and that senior leaders of al Qaeda continue to direct attacks against Americans. [AP, 9/1/04]
§ Bush So Out of Touch, He Claims To Have Wiped Out 3/4 Of Al Qaeda, Yet The Organization Is Resurging And Morphing. Despite Bush's claims over the past several months that "much of Al Qaeda's leadership has been killed or captured," new evidence from Al Qaeda double-agent Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan's computer, seized in Pakistan, shows that a "new generation of operatives…[appears] to be filling the vacuum created when leaders were killed or captured." According to intelligence analysts, "Al Qaeda's upper ranks are being filled by lower-ranking members and more recent recruits." Al Qaeda is "more resilient than was previously understood and has sought to find replacements for operational commanders like Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah and Walid Muhammad Salih bin Attash, known as Khallad, all of whom have been captured." Although several major leaders have been captured, "the new operatives appear as committed to striking the U.S." [Bush Remarks, 9/14/04; New York Times, 8/10/04; Wall Street Journal, 8/16/04]
BUSH-CHENEY CREDIBILITY GAP
VOICEOVER: "But at the debate, John Kerry said America must pass a ‘global test' before we protect ourselves. The Kerry doctrine: A global test. So we must seek permission from foreign governments before protecting America?"
THE FACTS ON JOHN KERRY'S RECORD
John Kerry Will Take Any Action Necessary to Protect America And Will Never Give Another Country a Veto Over American Security - And Unlike Bush, Kerry Will Be Honest With America and the World About What He's Doing and Why. John Kerry said that when it comes to America's national security, he'll never give a veto to any other country. And he vowed to take any action necessary to protect the United States from immediate danger. But unlike Bush, Kerry will be honest with the American people and the world about what he is doing and why - the global test is not asking for a permission slip, but making sure that the decisions you make stand up to scrutiny and are backed by facts. John Kerry said that "no president through all of American history has ever ceded and nor would I the right to pre-empt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America. But if and when you do it, Jim, you've got to do it in a way that passes the test. That passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing. And you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons." [First Presidential Debate (Miami, FL), 9/30/04]
John Kerry has a Realistic Plan to Get Commitments of Troops and Resources from Allies, and the Leadership to Make it Happen. "The President should convene a summit meeting of the world's major powers and Iraq's neighbors, this week, in New York, where many leaders will attend the U.N. General Assembly. He should insist that they make good on that U.N. resolution. He should offer potential troop contributors specific, but critical roles, in training Iraqi security personnel and securing Iraq's borders. He should give other countries a stake in Iraq's future by encouraging them to help develop Iraq's oil resources and by letting them bid on contracts instead of locking them out of the reconstruction process." [John Kerry, 9/20/04]
John Kerry Has the Strength and Conviction to Move Past Bush Failures, Bring Allies To Our Side. "We have to move our allies beyond the resentment they feel about the Bush administration's failed diplomacy so they can focus on their interest in fighting terrorism and promoting peace. The best way to do that is to vest friends and allies in Iraq's future," Kerry said, by giving allies access to the multibillion-dollar reconstruction contracts and involving them in the reconstruction of Iraq's profitable oil industry in return for their forgiveness of Saddam Hussein's multibillion-dollar debts to their countries and payment of their fair share of the reconstruction bill. John Kerry also called for a regional conference with Iraq's neighbors to secure a pledge to respect the nation's borders and commit Iraq's leaders to provide clear protection for minorities; and for NATO to step up and accept a peacekeeping role in Iraq. [John Kerry op-ed, "A Realistic Path in Iraq," Washington Post, 7/4/04]
GEORGE BUSH'S RECORD OF FAILURE
GEORGE BUSH MISLED AMERICA ABOUT THE REASONS FOR WAR.
§ George Bush Said Saddam Hussein "Has Got Weapons of Mass Destruction" - But Inspectors, Outside Experts Say No Stockpiles Existed, and Powell and Blair Admit Errors. Bush said "The dictator of Iraq has got weapons of mass destruction." But Weapons inspector David Kay said there "were no large stockpiles of WMD," a conclusion agreed with by the new Duelfer report, which "finds no evidence that Iraq had begun any large-scale program for weapons production. Colin Powell said he was "not happy" that information he presented "turned out not to be accurate," and Tony Blair says the evidence "turned out to be wrong." Paul Wolfowitz later admitted that WMD was "settled on" as the cause for war because "everyone could agree on" it, not because it was the most compelling. [Bush, 1/22/03; Kay Testimony, 1/28/04; NY Times, 9/17/04; Remarks by Secretary Colin Powell, in Joe Davidson, BET.com, 9/24/04; New York Times, 9/28/04; Vanity Fair, 7/03]
§ George Bush Said Iraq Had Ties to al Qaeda - But Experts Found Claim Was Inaccurate. Bush said "evidence … reveal[ed] that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of al Qaeda." But the 9/11 Commission report said no "collaborative operational relationship" existed between Iraq and al Qaeda, and the Senate Intelligence Committee found no "established, formal" relationship. Dr. Jeffrey Record, a professor at the Air Force Air War College, called the conflation of Iraq and Al Qaeda "a strategic error of the first order." [Bush 2003 State of the Union, 1/28/03; 9-11 Commission Final Report, 7/22/04; LATimes, 7/10/04; "Bounding the Global War on Terror," December 2003, Army Strategic Studies Institute]
§ The Bush Administration Misled The Country on the Costs of War. The administration said that U.S. taxpayers would only have to spend $1.7 billion for Iraqi reconstruction, and Paul Wolfowitz called an estimate by retired Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Shinseki, who predicted several hundred thousand troops would be required to stabilize Iraq, "wildly off the mark." Bush's economic advisor Lawrence Lindsey was fired for saying the war could cost $200 billion. But the war is costing U.S. taxpayers $200 billion. [NBC, "Meet the Press," 3/16/03; House Appropriations Committee, 3/27/03; ABC, "Nightline," 4/23/03; USA Today, 6/2/03; New York Times, 9/17/02, 12/8/02; Houston Chronicle, 12/7/02; Washington Post, 12/7/02; Kosiak, Steven, "Funding for Defense, Military Operations, Homeland Security, and Related Activities Since 9-11," Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, 1/21/04; Bloomberg News, 8/23/04; Testimony of Acting Under Secretary of Defense Lawrence Lanzillotta to Defense Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, 6/2/04; "Fiscal Year 2004 Costs for the Global War on Terrorism Will Exceed Supplemental, Requiring DOD to Shift Funds From Other Uses," GAO, July, 2004
GEORGE BUSH ALIENATED OUR ALLIES AND TOOK AMERICA TO WAR VIRTUALLY ALONE.
§ Bush Not Facing Reality That U.S., Britain, Australia Only Nations to Send Combat Troops for First Military Strike in Iraq. Besides the United States, which sent 250,000 combat troops to Iraq at the start of the war, "only Britain, with its 45,000 troops, planes and warships, and Australia, with its 2,000-strong phalanx of special forces, fighter planes and naval vessels, are offering up" combat troops. [Washington Post, 3/19/03; Knight-Ridder, 3/19/03]
§ Bush Refusing to Take Responsibility for Nearly 90 Percent Of Coalition Troops Being American. There are now 162,000 coalition troops in Iraq. 140,000 of those troops are American - nearly 90 percent. [Brookings Institution, "Iraq Index," Updated 9/16/04]
§ Bush Refusing to Take Responsibility for U.S. Forces Bearing Nearly 90 Percent of Casualties. "There have been 1,198 coalition deaths, 1,059 Americans, 68 Britons, six Bulgarians, one Dane, two Dutch, one Estonian, one Hungarian, 19 Italians, one Latvian, 13 Poles, one Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and nine Ukrainians, in the war in Iraq as of October 1, 2004." [CNN Special Reports, 10/2/04]
§ Bush Not Facing Reality That Coalition Nations Withdrawing Troops from Iraq. Since the beginning of the war, eight countries are planning to or have already withdrawn troops from the coalition in Iraq: Thailand, Norway, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, Philippines, Singapore, and Spain. In all, nearly 3,000 troops have pulled out or planning to pull out of Iraq this month. Costa Rica, which never offered any material support or troops for the war in Iraq, asked the United States to remove it from a list of Iraq coalition partners in September after the country's Constitutional Court ruled that inclusion on the list violated the Constitution, which bars support for any military action not authorized by the United Nations. [AP, 8/13/04, 9/10/04; Miami Herald, 9/18/04]
§ Bush Fractured Alliance With Schroeder In War on Terror. "The German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, has expressed strong reservations about any military attack on Iraq. Mr Schroeder, a staunch US ally in the ‘war on terror,' warned that such a move could destroy the international alliance set up following the 11 September attacks… ‘This war (on terror) is not yet won, so I warn against an attack on Iraq.'" [BBC, 8/7/02]
Ø Iraq War Damaged US-Mexico Friendship. "Fox has had to watch his stock plummet in Washington, where he was once feted as Bush's cowboy-boot-wearing friend. But after Sept. 11, Bush turned his back on Fox's immigration- reform ideas as a threat to U.S. border security. Mexico was all but forgotten in the U.S. -- until late 2002, when the country opposed Bush's Iraq war plan in the United Nations Security Council. Mexicans, whose foreign-policy attitudes are staunchly noninterventionist, applauded Fox -- but Bush took it as a betrayal and virtually blacklisted the Mexican leader." [Time, 1/11/04]
Ø Prodi: Iraq Divided Europe. "If Europe had been present and united, I believe, we would not have seen the war on Iraq," Prodi said, adding "Then we would have managed to find a solution to preserve the peace." [http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1465062,00.html]
IRAQ IS IN SHAMBLES, AND GEORGE BUSH HAS NO PLAN TO WIN THE PEACE.
§ Bush Rushed To War With No Plan To Win The Peace. In August 2003, the Joint Chiefs of Staff prepared a secret report assessing the post-war planning for Iraq. The report blamed "setbacks in Iraq on a flawed and rushed war-planning process." It also said "planners were not given enough time" to plan for reconstruction. A New York Times report found that, "A yearlong State Department study predicted many of the problems that have plagued the American-led occupation of Iraq." The study was produced by experts on Iraq from various fields, yet "several officials said that many of the findings in the $5 million study were ignored by Pentagon officials" until after the war. Several administration officials and Bush himself have admitted to a "miscalculation" of what postwar conditions would be. David Kay, former head of the Iraq Survey Group, believes the administration's plans for locating and securing Iraqi WMD were "practically useless" and it was "not a task that the military planned to take on or gave a high priority to." The Schlesinger Report, commissioned by the Pentagon, found that the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison were not just the failure of some individuals to follow known standards, and they are more than the failure of a few leaders to enforce proper discipline. There is both institutional and personal responsibility at higher levels" and said the administration had failed to plan for such a large population of prisoners. [Washington Times, 9/3/03, emphasis added; New York Times, 10/19/03; NYT, 8/27/04; Powell Interview, BBC Television, 6/24/04; Arms Control Today, 4/04; Schlesinger Report, August 2004, pg. 5 ]
§ Bush Can't Fix the Mess He Made - He Even Said "Knowing What I Know Today, I Would Have Made the Same Decision." "We didn't find the stockpiles we thought would be there -- that we all thought would be there. But Saddam Hussein had the capability of making weapons and he could have passed that capability on to the enemy. And that is a risk we could not afford to take after September 11th, 2001. Knowing what I know today, I would have made the same decision. And America and the world are safer with Saddam Hussein sitting in a prison cell. [Bush Remarks, 9/17/04]
§ Military Leaders: George Bush Sent Troops To Iraq Without Proper Protection.
Ø "In reference to armored vests, there was a shortage. … This is a long-term problem that should have been fixed, however, well before the Iraq war started." [Brigadier General David Grange (ret.), CNN, 3/14/04, emphasis added]
Ø "I visited one of these units in December that was getting ready to deploy. That was December, they were deploying in January, and they were short basic equipment: radios, vests, armored Humvees, et cetera. We're better than that as a nation, and we're better than that as a military." [General George A. Joulwan (ret.), CNN, 3/14/04, emphasis added]
Ø "Everybody had flack jackets and some body armor, but not the new body armor. They showed us the schedule, and said it was going to be done. They were short at that time, I believe, around 1,400 up-armored Humvees that were coming into the country … it does leave you wondering why couldn't we have done this before the war, and we simply didn't." [General Don Sheppherd (ret.), CNN, 3/14/04, emphasis added]
Ø Could not "answer for the record why we started this war with protective vests that were in short supply." [Gen. John Abizaid, House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, in Washington Post, 10/4/03, emphasis added]
BUSH-CHENEY CREDIBILITY GAP
VOICEOVER: "A global test? So America will be forced to wait while threats gather? President Bush believes decisions about protecting America should be made in the Oval Office, not foreign capitals."
GEORGE BUSH'S FAILURE TO COUNTER CRITICAL GATHERING THREATS
THE THREAT OF TERRORISM.
§ Bush Not Facing Reality that Taliban And Al Qaeda Are Resurging, Country Is Reverting to a Terrorist Breeding Ground: According to the operational commander of U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Eric Olson, the "Taliban has regrouped and sustained an insurgency across the south and east of the country" and is supported by foreign fighters. The New York Times reported that "new evidence suggests that [al Qaeda] is regenerating and bringing in new blood." "Relatively high ranking" members of the Taliban and Al Qaeda have been holding a series of meetings in Pakistan for discussions on how to disrupt the October elections, according to the U.S. military. And the United Nations warns that Afghanistan is on the brink of again becoming a terrorist breeding ground. [Associated Press, 9/11/04; 9/20/04; New York Times, 8/10/04; United Nations Development Report, 3/30/04]
§ Violence Against Americans in Afghanistan is Increasing: More than twice as many Americans have been killed in combat already in 2004 than in all of 2003. [icasualties.org]
THE THREAT OF NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION.
§ North Korea And Iran Building Nuclear Capacity As Bush Administration Struggles to Create Any Plan to Solve the Problems Diplomatically. Recently, North Korea announced that it has turned the plutonium from 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods into nuclear weapons to serve as a deterrent against increasing U.S. nuclear threats. Furthermore, the IAEA recently reported that Iran may have enough nuclear material to produce 4 nuclear bombs. "The International Atomic Energy Agency, a United Nations agency, said in a recent report that Iran plans to process more than 40 tons of uranium into uranium hexafluoride gas, which experts said was enough for four or five warheads. Diplomats have told The Associated Press that Iran also is planning to restart some of its centrifuges." [Associated Press Worldstream 9/6/04; The Union Leader, 9/28/2004]
§ North Korean Nuclear Capability Has Quadrupled Under Bush's Watch While He Sat By and Failed to Do Anything. The Bush administration's erratic handling of the North Korean nuclear crisis has served only to create confusion and put North Korea's despotic leader, Kim Jong Il, in the driver's seat. Bush initially said he would "not tolerate nuclear weapons in North Korea," yet since he took office, North Korea's nuclear capability has "quadrupled," with U.S. intelligence services estimating that Pyongyang now has fuel for up to eight nuclear weapons. According to Bush Administration officials, "The United States has determined that North Korea is working on new ballistic missile systems designed to deliver nuclear warheads and that it is testing the technology by proxy in Iran." [ABC, "This Week, 9/12/04; Christian Science Monitor, 9/15/04; Associated Press, 8/5/04; NYT, 9/12/04]
THE FACTS ON JOHN KERRY'S RECORD
JOHN KERRY WILL AGGRESSIVELY COUNTER THE THREAT OF TERRORISM.
§ John Kerry Will Focus The War On Terror On The Most Urgent National Security Challenges. "The most urgent national security challenge we face is the war against those who attacked our country on September 11th, the war against Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda," Kerry said. "As president, I will fight a tougher, smarter, more effective war on terror. My priority will be to find and capture or kill the terrorists before they get us - and I will never take my eye off the ball…George Bush made Saddam Hussein the priority..I would have made Osama bin Laden the priority. As president, I will finish the job in Iraq and refocus our energies on the real war on terror." John Kerry has a comprehensive strategy to win the war on terror and keep America safe. [John Kerry, 9/24/04; www.johnkerry.com]
JOHN KERRY WILL WORK TO END NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION.
§ Kerry Will Lead for Rigorous Verification of any Agreement with North Korea and Direct Negotiations. "We should have no illusions about Kim Jong II, so any agreement must have rigorous verification and lead to complete and irreversible elimination of North Korea's nuclear weapons program. We should maintain the six party talks, but we must also be prepared to talk directly with North Korea. This problem is too urgent to allow China, or others at the table, to speak for us. And we must be prepared to negotiate a comprehensive agreement that addresses the full range of issues of concern to us and our allies." [Kerry Speech, June 1, 2004]
§ While Bush Failed to Have a Plan, Kerry Will Make it A Priority To End Nuclear Weapons Programs In North Korea, Kerry will make it a priority to end nuclear weapons programs in states like North Korea and Iran. As President, Kerry will continue the six party negotiations, but will also be prepared to talk directly with North Korea. John Kerry would adopt a comprehensive approach based on the hard realities that confront us. While Kerry would maintain all options, including military ones, he would be willing to negotiate on a range of issues of concern to both parties, including North Korea's concerns for its security and economic development. [NYT, 9/12/04], [Washington Post, 7/9/04] [Washington Post, 8/6/04]
§ John Kerry Has the Conviction and Leadership To Keep Terrorists From Acquiring Nuclear Materials. He will: Secure and Reduce Nuclear Stockpiles. Kerry's plan will safeguard existing stockpiles of nuclear weapons and materials in the former Soviet Union within four years, create an international partnership to establish and enforce an international standard for the safe custody of nuclear weapons and materials, safeguard nuclear materials at research reactors around the world, and reduce existing stockpiles of nuclear weapons and materials; (2) Institute a Verifiable Global Ban on the Production of New Bomb Making Materials. A Kerry administration will end production of fissile materials for use in nuclear weapons through a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty with real verification mechanisms; (3) Lead an International Effort to End Nuclear Weapons Programs in Iran and North Korea; and (4) Strengthen the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). [Kerry Fact Sheet 9/25]
Bush & Co. Have a Long, Proud History of Taking Kerry's Words Out of Context
Bush Makes Things Up Regularly. "There is one good thing about President Bush's new advertisement showing John Kerry windsurfing: Kerry does enjoy windsurfing. That alone puts the ad on a higher plane of truthfulness than many of the statements the president regularly makes on the campaign trail. A press corps that relentlessly nitpicked Al Gore in 2000 in search of "little lies" and exaggerations has given Bush wide latitude to make things up. I guess the incumbent benefits from the soft bigotry of low expectations." [E.J.Dionne Jr., Washington Post, 9/24/04]
Republican Attacks "At Best Selective and In Many Cases Stripped Of Their Context." "Speakers at this week's Republican convention have relentlessly attacked John F. Kerry for statements he has made and votes he has taken in his long political career, but a number of their specific claims -- such as his votes on military programs -- are at best selective and in many cases stripped of their context, according to a review of the documentation provided by the Bush campaign." [Washington Post, 9/3/04]
If its Sunday, Its Mislead the Public
BUSH-CHENEY MISLEADING THE PUBLIC
Dan Bartlett, White House Communications Director Misleading the Public About John Kerry's Position on the Iraq War: "Senator Kerry drew very similar conclusions as the president did before the war, calling Saddam Hussein an imminent threat, saying he was a part of the war on terror." [CBS News, Face the Nation, 10/3/04]
THE TRUTH
John Kerry Did Not Say Saddam Was an Imminent Threat
John Kerry: Vote to Disarm Iraq If We Cannot Accomplish Through New, Tough Weapons Inspections. "Let me be clear, the vote I will give to the President is for one reason and one reason only: To disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, if we cannot accomplish that objective through new, tough weapons inspections in joint concert with our allies. In giving the President this authority, I expect him to fulfill the commitments he has made to the American people in recent days to work with the United Nations Security Council to adopt a new resolution setting out tough and immediate inspection requirements, and to act with our allies at our side if we have to disarm Saddam Hussein by force." [Kerry statement, Congressional Record, 10/9/02]
In October ‘02, Kerry Said If We Go To War, Imperative To Have Coalition. "If we do wind up going to war with Iraq, it is imperative that we do so with others in the international community, unless there is a showing of a grave, imminent - and I emphasize ‘imminent' - threat to this country which requires the President to respond in a way that protects our immediate national security needs." [Kerry statement, Congressional Record, 10/9/02]
Kerry's Position Has Been Consistent. "Kerry's position on Iraq for the last two years has been consistent...Kerry always called for a broad international coalition to confront Saddam Hussein, going to war only as a last resort...Then, as now, he urged Bush to work with the United Nations… Kerry's line [that he "actually voted for the $87 billion before he voted against it"] was but a clumsy way of saying that he had voted for a Democratic version of the bill that would have raised the $87 billion by repealing Bush's income-tax cuts for people making more than $300,000 [SIC] a year…Kerry said that even if he had known in October 2002 that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction, he still would have voted to authorize Bush to go to war. The President then hammered Kerry for more than a week, portraying the Democratic presidential nominee as endorsing his own approach. But Kerry's position had not changed." [Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/24/04]
BUSH-CHENEY MISLEADING THE PUBLIC
Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor Misleading the Public About Metal Tubes Being Used to Build Nuclear Weapons: "George, at the time, I knew that there was a dispute. I actually didn't really know the nature of the dispute. We learned that -- I learned that later as the NIE was being produced and that the Department of Energy had reservations about what these tubes were for. There were other people, of course, people, for instance, who did rocket launchers who said that they thought they were unlikely to be for rocket launchers so what you had was a debate within the intelligence community." [ABC, "This Week", 10/3/04]
THE TRUTH
In 2002, Rice Stated the Tubes Were "Only Really Suited for Nuclear Weapons." During a "CNN interview in 2002, Rice said the tubes were ‘only really suited for nuclear weapons programs.' In bolstering the administration's argument of the threat the nation faced, she added: ‘We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.' The Kerry campaign said the latest debate over flawed prewar intelligence only furthers its contention that the administration misled the country into invading Iraq. ‘What the Times article is saying is that the top nuclear experts in the country said those aluminum tubes were not for nuclear weapons, and that this was suppressed by the administration, particularly Vice President Cheney,' said Kerry foreign policy adviser and former U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke." [AP, 10/3/04]
NY Times Report: Rice's Staff Had Been Told the Tubes Were Not for Nuclear Weapons. "A New York Times story Sunday quoted four CIA officials and a senior administration official as saying that Rice's staff had been told in 2001 that Energy Department experts believed the tubes were probably intended for small artillery rockets -- and not nuclear weapons." [AP, 10/3/04]
BUSH-CHENEY MISLEADING THE PUBLIC
Ed Gillespie, Chairman of the Republican National Committee Misleading the Public About the Size of the Coalition in Iraq: "Well, start with the 30 that are in the coalition in Iraq today rebuilding Iraq." [CNN, Late Edition, 10/3/04]
THE TRUTH
U.S., Britain, Australia Only Nations to Send Combat Troops for First Military Strike in Iraq. Besides the United States, which sent 250,000 combat troops to Iraq at the start of the war, "only Britain, with its 45,000 troops, planes and warships, and Australia, with its 2,000-strong phalanx of special forces, fighter planes and naval vessels, are offering up" combat troops. [Washington Post, 3/19/03; Knight-Ridder, 3/19/03]
Coalition Nations Withdrawing Troops from Iraq. Since the beginning of the war, eight countries are planning to or have already withdrawn troops from the coalition in Iraq: Thailand, Norway, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, Philippines, Singapore, and Spain. In all, nearly 3,000 troops have pulled out or planning to pull out of Iraq this month. Costa Rica, which never offered any material support or troops for the war in Iraq, asked the United States to remove it from a list of Iraq coalition partners in September after the country's Constitutional Court ruled that inclusion on the list violated the Constitution, which bars support for any military action not authorized by the United Nations. [AP, 8/13/04, 9/10/04; Miami Herald, 9/18/04]
Bush Failed To Build A Real Coalition And U.S. Troops Are Carrying The Burden In Iraq.
There have been at least 1,029 American casualties in Iraq since the beginning of the war. American troops have borne nearly 90 percent of the total number of casualties. There are 161,000 coalition troops in Iraq. 138,000 of those troops are American - nearly 90 percent of the coalition. No Arab troops have been part of the coalition. Since the beginning of the war, eight countries are planning to or have already withdrawn troops from the coalition in Iraq: Thailand, Norway, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, Philippines, Singapore, and Spain. In all, nearly 3,000 troops have pulled out or planning to pull out of Iraq in September. Costa Rica asked the United States to remove it from a list of Iraq coalition partners. [Brookings Institution, "Iraq Index," Updated 9/20/04; USA Today, 2/25/03; CBC News Online, 3/20/03; AP, 8/13/04, 9/10/04]
U.S. Taxpayers Are On The Hook For $200 Billion. There was $128 billion in supplemental funding for Iraq, according to the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. The FY05 defense authorization bill had approximately $21.8 billion in funding for Iraq. Additionally, the GAO has estimated that there is approximately $10.7 billion in cost overruns in FY04 for Iraq. A conservative estimate of the remaining costs for December 2004 - September 2005 is $43.2 billion, based on a burn rate of $4.8 billion per month. [Kosiak, Steven, "Funding for Defense, Military Operations, Homeland Security, and Related Activities Since 9-11," Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, 1/21/04; Bloomberg News, 8/23/04; Testimony of Acting Under Secretary of Defense Lawrence Lanzillotta to Defense Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, 6/2/04; "Fiscal Year 2004 Costs for the Global War on Terrorism Will Exceed Supplemental, Requiring DOD to Shift Funds From Other Uses," GAO, July, 2004]
BUSH-CHENEY MISLEADING THE PUBLIC
Condoleezza Rice Misleads the Public About the Bush Administration Falsely Link Saddam to 9/11.
Rice: "Wolf, no-one has ever said that Saddam Hussein operationally planned 9-11 or maybe even knew about 9-11. Nobody's tried to make that link."
Wolf Blitzer: "Well there are people out there…"
Rice: "Well, the administration has not made that link. And I think the president has said, I have said, Colin Powell has said there's no evidence of Saddam Hussein with a direct link to 9-11." [CNN, "Late Edition", 10/3/04]
THE TRUTH
Cheney Continues to Mislead the Public About Lack of Saddam & 9/11 Ties. "Cheney presses Hussein-Qaeda link; Despite questions, his claims persist" "The phrases vary. Some days, Vice President Dick Cheney says Saddam Hussein had ‘long-established' ties to Al Qaeda. Other days, he says the former Iraqi dictator ‘had a relationship' with the terrorist group. Despite questions, his claims persist - But the underlying message remains unchanged -- Cheney plants the idea that Hussein was allied with the group responsible for the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.Although the extent of any relationship between Al Qaeda and Hussein has been widely disputed, Cheney proceeds with his contention with nary a nod toward such questions. Cheney slips his reference to Hussein and Al Qaeda into his litany of Hussein's offenses: the regime's production and use of chemical weapons against enemies; support for the families of suicide bombers; and Iraq's defiance of various United Nations resolutions. Each has largely been established and is subject of little debate, with the exception of the tie to Al Qaeda. The bipartisan commission that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks said it had found no evidence of a ‘collaborative relationship' between Hussein and the terrorist organization led by Osama bin Laden. Its staff has said it had found ‘no credible evidence' that Iraq had cooperated with Al Qaeda in targeting the United States." [LA Times, Boston Globe, 10/3/04]
Its Hard Work
On Monday, George Bush travels to Iowa to tout his plans to exacerbate the tax burden on working families while John Kerry goes to New Hampshire to talk about ending Bush's virtual ban on using federal dollars for life-saving stem cell research. One can never say for sure but there's a fairly decent chance that Bush will also manufacture a new position for which to attack Kerry. Here's a quick review of things to look out for on Monday.
BUSH FAILED HIS GLOBAL TEST: When outlining the new doctrine of preemption in the National Security Strategy 2002, the Bush administration explained: "We will always proceed deliberately, weighing the consequences of our action. To support preemptive options, we will: coordinate closely with allies to form a common assessment of the most dangerous threats; …" [The National Security Strategy of the United States of America, September 2002, page 16] Guess they only read to page 15.
IF IT'S SUNDAY, IT'S MISLEAD THE PRESS: On Sunday, Condi Rice was asked about a new report indicating that the White House knew of a dispute over the evidence that was used to make the case for Iraq - evidence that has since been discredited. Rice's answer? "… at the time, I knew that there was a dispute. I actually didn't really know the nature of the dispute." So let's get this straight: Rice knew there was a dispute about the intelligence being used to lead the country to war, but didn't find out what the dispute was? That's not very reassuring.
KERRY LIKE A FOX: Michael J. Fox teams up with John Kerry on Monday to discuss how a Kerry White House will overturn Bush's virtual ban on federally-funded stem cell research. Bush bans 99.999% of stem cell lines from being used for future research. In fact, only a third of the stem cell lines he promised would be available are actually viable. A recent Harris Interactive poll, found that 73% of Americans support stem cell research, including 60 percent of Republicans.
ANOTHER FALSE ATTACK AD: Bush can't create any manufacturing jobs, but he sure can manufacture false attacks. If the buzz is right, the Bushies are putting out a new attack ad on Monday that goes after Kerry on taxes. In terms of accuracy, this one sounds like it was made by P.T. Barnum, asserting that Kerry voted to raise taxes 350 times. Factcheck.org points out that "Kerry has not voted 350 times for tax increases." In fact, 69 of the votes cited by Bush were actually for LOWERING taxes. Interestingly, the Bush campaign has alternated between two different numbers when accusing Kerry of raising taxes. Sometimes they use 350 and others they use 98. Math is hard work too.
GET A BETTER TAX CUT WITH KERRY: For those of us who focus on the differences between the candidates that are based on reality, Monday will showcase an explicit difference between Bush and Kerry. Bush wants more tax breaks for the wealthy, while Kerry wants to cut taxes for working families. In total, Kerry is supporting more than TWICE as much in new pro-family, pro-jobs tax cuts as Bush.
BUSH'S TAX CUTS HURT HOMELAND SECURITY: An alarming thing happened at the debate the other night. John Kerry laid out his plan to strengthen homeland security, including making the investments we need to make. Then, the President said he wasn't sure we could afford it. Why is the President more committed to tax cuts for the richest Americans than to making the investments we need to make to keep America safe. We can't afford not to make the investments we need to make to protect our homeland.
BUSH BOOSTS TAX BURDEN: Under George Bush, the tax burden has shifted unmistakably from those most blessed by the American economy to those struggling to make ends meet. In other words, Bush's tax breaks for the wealthy have shifted an even greater share of the tax burden on to the middle class. It really is a values-based policy.
David Brock, the reformed conservative noise-maker, on how the Right has sabotaged journalism, democracy, and truth.
David Brock
Interviewed By Bradford Plumer
September 1, 2004
http://www.motherjones.com/news/qa/2004/09/09_400.html
The republican Noise Machine.
http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/brock/excerpt.html
The coalition of the "willing"
Summary of who's in what coalition:
The Coalition of the Willing includes Blair and Berlusconi, but not most of the citizens of the UK or Italy (Total = 3)
The Coalition of the Bribed or Really Wanting to be Bribed includes Albania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Nicaragua, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Uzbekistan (Total = 16)
The Coalition of Those Who Need Help Squashing Resistance in Their Own Countries includes Colombia, The Philippines and Turkey (Total = 3)
The Coalition of Instrumental Friendship includes Eritrea and Ethiopia (Total = 2)
The Coalition of Those Who Benefited From the Last Regime Change Crusade and Therefore Don't Have Any Choice includes Afghanistan (Total = 1)
The Coalition of Those Hoping to Look Really Good Fixing Up the Mess (and who may get some preferential trade deals on oil though they wouldn't admit this was at all important) includes Japan, Denmark and The Netherlands (Total = 3)
The Coalition of We Like Americans includes Australians but not all of them (Total = 1)
The Coalition of We Hate Americans but Are Virtually an American Occupied Territory includes South Korea (Total = 1)
The Coalition of Those Opposed to the Young Emperor For One Reason or Another includes everyone else, about 160 governments - not counting the 15 secret friends Powell claims to have drummed up - and the citizens of many ‘coalition' nations. All in all, I think this is the biggest Coalition on the list (Total = billions)
Hey, We do have Poland and Tonga.
"Coalition of the Willing on the Eve of Transition"
with
Karsten Jensen, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Denmark
Stefano Stefanini, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Italy
Boguslaw Winid, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Poland
Introduced by
Simon Serfaty
Director, CSIS Europe Program
On June 8, 2004, the CSIS Europe Program hosted a Congressional Staff Forum to discuss the viewpoints of
three European states with forces in Iraq--Denmark, Italy, and Poland--regarding their participation in the
coalition of the willing. The deputy chiefs of mission at the three states' respective embassies led the discussion.
The continental European participants in the coalition of the willing have forces deployed in Iraq for diverse
reasons. Each of these states features different domestic circumstances and brings a unique perspective to the
situation in Iraq. Although outlooks and levels of public support vary, there is a general understanding in Denmark,
Italy, and Poland, as in Europe as a whole, that failure in Iraq is not an option.
Danish forces have been in Iraq since the start of the invasion because of a perception that the regime of Saddam
Hussein undermined the system of international law through its violation of United Nations resolutions and because
Denmark's allies requested assistance in the matter. Public opinion polls in Denmark show a high level of support
for the operations in Iraq, and Danish forces are committed to remaining in the country until the mission is
completed.
Polish troops also took part in the invasion. Poland has a history of strong economic involvement with Iraq, starting
in the 1970s, and was thus in a position to assist the United States and its citizens in Iraq during the first Gulf War
and in the interim. Poland took responsibility for Southern and Central Iraq by leading the international division, a
force that included Spanish and Ukrainian troops in addition to the Polish contingent of approximately 2,600. The
departure of Spanish forces was difficult to absorb from a military, political, and psychological standpoint, but the
division remains operational and the rotation of Polish troops will take place as scheduled at the end of June.
Numerous casualties in recent weeks have diminished domestic support for Poland's role in Iraq. It will be difficult
for Poland to maintain its presence in Iraq after January 1, 2005, for both political and financial reasons.
Italy supported the war politically, but Italian forces were not deployed on the ground until the rebuilding and
peacekeeping phase. Experience in the Balkans has led Italy to view coalitions of the willing as a necessary tool
when other structured international mechanisms fail or are not available.
BUSH vs. REALITY
BUSH: Mixed messages are bad for our troops, efforts in war on terror.
REALITY
Mixed Messages on Winning the War on Terror
Can't Win The War On Terror Asked Can we win [the war on terror]? Bush said, I don't think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that the - those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world. [NBC, The Today Show, 8/30/04]
Mixed Messages on Osama Bin Laden
QUESTION: Do you want bin Laden dead?
BUSH: I want justice. And there's an old poster out west, that I recall, that said, Wanted, Dead or Alive.[Bush Remarks, 9/17/01, emphasis added]
BUSH: And [Osama Bin Laden is] just he's a person who has now been marginalized. His network is -- his host government has been destroyed. He's the ultimate parasite who found weakness, exploited it, and met his match So I don't know where he is. Nor -- you know, I just don't spend that much time on him really, to be honest with you. I I truly am not that concerned about him. [Bush Remarks, 3/13/02]
Mixed Messages on Protecting the Homeland
Bush Thought Homeland Security Cabinet Position Was "Just Not Necessary And Blocked Its Creation. In October 2001, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said Bush opposed creating Office of Homeland Security position for Ridge. "[T]he president has suggested to members of Congress that they do not need to make this a statutory post, that he [Ridge] does not need Cabinet rank, for example, there does not need to be a Cabinet-level Office of Homeland Security is because there is such overlap among the various agencies, because every agency of the government has security concerns," Fleischer said. [White House Press Briefing, 10/24/01]
BUSH vs. REALITY
BUSH RHETORIC: HE HOPES HIS POLICY IN NORTH KOREA WORKS
North Korean Nuclear Capability Has Quadrupled Under Bush's Watch While He Sat By and Failed to Do Anything. The Bush administration's erratic handling of the North Korean nuclear crisis has served only to create confusion and put North Korea's despotic leader, Kim Jong Il, in the driver's seat. Bush initially said he would not tolerate nuclear weapons in North Korea, yet since he took office, North Korea's nuclear capability has quadrupled, with U.S. intelligence services estimating that Pyongyang now has fuel for up to eight nuclear weapons. According to Bush Administration officials, The United States has determined that North Korea is working on new ballistic missile systems designed to deliver nuclear warheads and that it is testing the technology by proxy in Iran. [ABC, This Week, 9/12/04; Christian Science Monitor, 9/15/04; Associated Press, 8/5/04; NYT, 9/12/04]
Former Bush Special Envoy to North Korea Said Bush Lacked An Effective Strategy To Deal With North Korea. Charles Pritchard, formerly Secretary of State Colin Powell's top official dealing with North Korea, has warned for months that "the White House lacks an effective strategy to dissuade North Korea from building up its nuclear arms." Under Bush's watch, "North Korea's nuclear arsenal, which was once thought to number one or two weapons, appears to be growing substantially." According to Pritchard, the situation has deteriorated because "the administration has neither offered much of a carrot nor wielded a stick." The administration has refused to engage North Korea in direct negotiations or "put the North Koreans on notice that further developments will trigger economic sanctions or perhaps even military actions." [United Press International, 9/21/04]
The Coalition of the Diminishing
Thailand: 423 troops leaving early on Aug. 31 instead of Sept. 20; 20 withdrawn on Aug. 10.
Norway: 10 currently in Iraq; 140 withdrawn on June 30. Cited reason: growing domestic opposition and peacekeepers needed elsewhere, such as Afghanistan.
Dominican Republic: 302 withdrawn on May 4. Cited reason: growing domestic opposition.
Honduras: 370 withdrawn on May 12. Cited reason: Troops were sent for reconstruction, not combat.
Nicaragua: 115 withdrawn on Feb. 4. Cited reason: lack of funds.
Philippines: 51 withdrawn on July 19. Cited reason: to save lives of hostages.
Singapore: 160 withdrawn on April 4. Cited reason: completed humanitarian mission.
Spain: 1,300 withdrawn on May 4. Cited reason: new government fulfilled campaign pledge.
BUSH vs. REALITY
BUSH
Iraq wasn't a diversion from the War on Terror
REALITY:
BUSH DIVERTED FROM WAR ON TERROR
The rush to war in Iraq took the pressure off of Bin Laden and al Qaeda. In 2002, troops from the 5th Special Forces Group who specialize in the Middle East were pulled out of the hunt for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan to prepare for their next assignment: Iraq. The CIA, meanwhile, was stretched badly in its capacity to collect, translate and analyze information coming from Afghanistan. US Intelligence officials said that as much as half of the intelligence and special forces assets in Afghanistan and Pakistan were diverted to support the war in Iraq. [USA Today, 3/29/04; KnightRidder, 9/5/03]
AND BECAUSE HE DIDN'T PLAN
Secret Joint Chiefs Report: Pentagon Planners Were Not Given Enough Time. In August 2003, the Joint Chiefs of Staff prepared a secret report assessing the post-war planning for Iraq. The report blamed setbacks in Iraq on a flawed and rushed war-planning process. It also said planners were not given enough time to plan for reconstruction. [Washington Times, 9/3/03, emphasis added]
WE ARE NOW BOGGED DOWN IN IRAQ
Security in Iraq Has Continually Deteriorated. On average, U.S. forces are now being attacked well over 60 times per day. This is a 20% increase from the three months before the transfer of sovereignty. Each month since June has seen a higher death toll for American soldiers: 42 were killed in June, 54 were killed in July, 66 were killed in August, and already, more than 77 have been killed in September. In the initial invasion of Iraq, 138 American soldiers were killed; since the handover, over 239 have been killed. [Los Angeles Times, 8/31/04; Reuters, 9/3/04; Brookings Institution, Iraq Index, 9/29/04]
Hunt down terrorists
1. Bush: you gotta have a president who'll persue the terrorists
But:
"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."
- G.W. Bush, 3/13/02
"I am truly not that concerned about him."
- G.W. Bush, repsonding to a question about bin Laden's whereabouts,
3/13/02 (The New American, 4/8/02)
DEBATE FACT: Afghanistan Voter Registration
Bush talked about 10 million registered voters in Afghanistan.
But: United Nations officials overseeing the elections admit that more than 10 million voting cards have been issued surpassing the estimated 9.8 million eligible voters.
"Probably there is a lot of multiple registering," U.N. spokesperson Manoel de Almeida e Silva said yesterday