Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Shakespeare Turns A Spotlight On Bush And Iraq



By Arianna Huffington

June 02, 2004

As our anger, anguish and anxiety about Iraq continue to mount, I find myself looking for clarity and understanding not in the media’s daily play-by-play, which confuses more than it illuminates (Did we win in Fallujah or get our butts kicked?), but rather in Shakespeare’s “Henry V.” I’ve found it contains far more truth about our present situation than anything coming out of the White House or the Pentagon.

The impetus for this rearward search for insight was an invitation to take part in a debate sponsored by The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C., about the wisdom of King Henry V’s decision to lead an English army into France in 1415.

The parallels between Shakespeare’s wartime king and our current president, George II, are many and delicious — from the pair’s hard-partying younger days (Prince Hal was a 15th-century feckless frat boy-prankster) to the challenge of following in a powerful father’s footsteps right up to the critical matter of whether their wartime adventures made them courageous commanders or failed leaders.

The central question, then as now, was whether the invasion of another country was a war of choice or a war of necessity. If the answer is a war of choice — and it is for both Henry and W — then the inevitable conclusion is that they were both immoral wars. For there can be no moral war of choice.

For complete article:
http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/column.php?id=714

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Ashcroft's bias shows in his actions

NY Times
June 22, 2004
Noonday in the Shade
By PAUL KRUGMAN

In April 2003, John Ashcroft's Justice Department disrupted what appears to have been a horrifying terrorist plot. In the small town of Noonday, Tex., F.B.I. agents discovered a weapons cache containing fully automatic machine guns, remote-controlled explosive devices disguised as briefcases, 60 pipe bombs and a chemical weapon -- a cyanide bomb -- big enough to kill everyone in a 30,000-square-foot building.

Strangely, though, the attorney general didn't call a press conference to announce the discovery of the weapons cache, or the arrest of William Krar, its owner. He didn't even issue a press release. This was, to say the least, out of character. Jose Padilla, the accused "dirty bomber," didn't have any bomb-making material or even a plausible way to acquire such material, yet Mr. Ashcroft put him on front pages around the world. Mr. Krar was caught with an actual chemical bomb, yet Mr. Ashcroft acted as if nothing had happened.

Incidentally, if Mr. Ashcroft's intention was to keep the case low-profile, the media have been highly cooperative. To this day, the Noonday conspiracy has received little national coverage.

Full article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/22/opinion/22KRUG.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fOp%2dEd%2fColumnists


In the article you will find the following intriguing question:

"Was Mr. Ashcroft, who once gave an interview with Southern Partisan magazine in which he praised "Southern patriots" like Jefferson Davis, reluctant to publicize the case of a terrorist who happened to be a white supremacist?"

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The Rev. Moon Honored at Hill Reception



The Rev. Moon Honored at Hill Reception
Lawmakers Say They Were Misled

By Charles Babington and Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, June 23, 2004; Page A01

More than a dozen lawmakers attended a congressional reception this year honoring the Rev. Sun Myung Moon (owner of the Washington Times newspaper) in which Moon declared himself the Messiah and said his teachings have helped Hitler and Stalin be "reborn as new persons."

Full article at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61932-2004Jun22.html

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Bush Administration Documents on Interrogation



White House, Pentagon and Justice Department documents about interrogation policies.

The documents were released by the Bush administration on June 22, 2004, and can be found at the link below:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62516-2004Jun22.html

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Tuesday, June 22, 2004

Poll Shows Bush Losing Ground on Antiterror Policy



By Gary Langer
ABC News

June 21, 2004

Amid rising disenchantment with the war in Iraq, President Bush has lost significant ground on the issue on which he's staked his presidency: fighting terrorism.

For the first time in ABC News/Washington Post polls, more than half of Americans, 52 percent, say the Iraq war was not worth fighting. Seven in 10 call U.S. casualties there "unacceptable," a new high. And there's been a steady slide in belief that the war has enhanced long-term U.S. security; 51 percent now say so, down 11 points this year.

Bush, moreover, has weakened in his once-strongest area. Approval of his handling of the U.S. campaign against terrorism has fallen to 50 percent, its lowest yet -- down eight points in the last month and 29 points below its immediate postwar peak. In a hazardous turn of fortune for Bush, Democrat John Kerry now runs evenly with him in trust to handle terrorism; Bush had led by 13 points on this issue a month ago, and by 21 points the month before.

Full article at:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/Polls/iraq_election_040621.html

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State Dept. Corrects Report on Terrorism



Correcting a previously issued report, the State Department has announced that acts of terror have increased slightly worldwide since last year and that the number of people wounded has risen dramatically.

Full article at:
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040622_862.html

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Monday, June 21, 2004

Cheney in firing line over Nigerian bribery claims



Antony Barnett and Martin Bright
Sunday June 20, 2004
The Observer

A British lawyer is emerging as a key witness in a $180 million bribery investigation that could lead to the indictment of US vice president Dick Cheney.

Last week, US oil corporation Halliburton cut all ties with a former senior executive, Albert Stanley, after it emerged he had received as much as $5m in 'improper personal benefits' as part of a $4bn gas project in Nigeria. Halliburton also sacked a second 'consultant', William Chaudan in connection with the bribery allegations. At the time of these alleged payments, Cheney was chief executive of the corporation.

Full story at:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1243393,00.html

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Sunday, June 20, 2004

Will Michael Moore's Facts Check Out?



Michael Moore's new documentary movie "Fahrenheit 9/11" is bound to generate lots of talking heads trying to dispute or spin the facts in this movie. But apparently Mr. Moore is prepared. According to a NY Times article on June 20, 2004 titled "Will Michael Moore's Facts Check Out?," Mr. Moore is "readying for a conservative counterattack, saying he has created a political-style 'war room' to offer an instant response to any assault on the film's credibility." He has hired some highly respected strategists and fact-checkers to vet the film and is threatening to "bring defamation suits against anyone who maligns the film or damages his reputation." Moore says "Any attempts to libel me will be met by force." He goes on to say: "The most important thing we have is truth on our side. If they persist in telling lies, knowingly telling a lie with malice, then I'll take them to court."

The most talked-about moments in the film may prove to be the least impeachable. As stated in the article: "Mr. Moore makes extensive use of obscure footage from White House and network-news video archives, including long scenes that capture President Bush at his least articulate. For the White House, the most devastating segment of 'Fahrenheit 9/11' may be the video of a befuddled-looking President Bush staying put for nearly seven minutes at a Florida elementary school on the morning of Sept. 11, continuing to read a copy of 'My Pet Goat' to schoolchildren even after an aide has told him that a second plane has struck the twin towers. Mr. Bush's slow, hesitant reaction to the disastrous news has never been a secret. But seeing the actual footage, with the minutes ticking by, may prove more damaging to the White House than all the statistics in the world."

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