Obama Not Keen to Investigate Bush

It is critical to the future security and well-being of the USA to recognize the importance of holding public officials accountable for suspected violations of the law. If there is reasonable suspicion that crimes have taken place, then it is imperative to investigate and prosecute if warranted. Anything less would betray the justice system, and betray the laws which President-Elect Obama has sworn to protect.

How can we move safely and securely forward into the future if with a precedent to let suspected criminals just get away without even the slightest gesture of appointing a special investigator? Really, the investigation phase could probably be avoided, the intolerable abuses of members of the Bush Administration are so obvious and flagrant. If they tried to hide them they would be more likely to be called to account than if they, however audaciously, practice their heinous acts in broad daylight. Openness gives the appearance of prudence. But even a cursory analysis reveals many actions of the Bush Administration to be improper.

Bush and Cheney et al. must be held accountable. Our future well-being and security depend on it!

It's Not Too Late to Impeach! Please Call your Congressional Representative

I sent the following note out to some of my contacts today:

I just called the office of my Congressman, Brian Baird, to advocate impeachment. His Washington D.C. office telephone number is (202) 225-3536.

What did I say in specific? Well first I sincerely told the staffer who answered the phone: "good afternoon." Then I asked to speak directly with Congressman Baird: "Is Congressman Baird available?" To which the staffer replied quite rudely: he asked what I was calling about before informing me that Mr. Baird was busy "in a meeting."

I told him that I was calling with a message about impeaching President Bush and Vice-President Cheney.

When he said that Baird was busy, I left the staffer a more detailed message. It went something like this:

I urge Congressman Baird to support holding President Bush and the Office of the Executive, including Vice-President Cheney, accountable for various alleged criminal actions, malfeasances, and improprieties relating to the function of their official duties. We need to hold them accountable if we are truly a nation of laws and ideals, and not a nation dictated by the will of men.

I believe that impeachment will benefit all Americans. I urge the Congressman to sign on as a supporter of Congressman Kucinich's 35 articles of impeachment. Impeachment will be possible with enough support from Congressional Representatives, like Congressman Baird.

Then I said thank you to the staffer for making sure to deliver the message to the Congressman.

Please try it for yourself, call your Representative, Baird or whoever yours is. Finding the telephone number is as easy as looking it up on the Internet. Please do this today or tomorrow. Make sure to speak with a live person - don't leave a voice mail. Remember to first ask to speak directly with your representative. And be friendly. It helps the staffer to listen to your message.

Finally, please talk to your friends about impeachment, and consider sending a message to people in your network asking them to call Congress on behalf of the cause of impeachment.

Sincerely,

RFWW

It's not too late to impeach! Please call your Congressperson! It will only take a few minutes.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Been kind of quiet here at In the Course of Events. I have been posting a lot of blog entries at OlyBlog recently. Lots going on with the proposal to change zoning regulations on the Isthmus. OlyBlog Bert

I also uploaded some photos recently, including photos of a talk by Richard Hayes Phillips, whose recently released book, Witness to a Crime chronicles how Republicans stole the 2004 presidential election in Ohio. His story was an amazing account of election fraud. Fraud that brought America 4 more years of George W. Bush. photos: Richard Hayes Phillips at Media Island in Olympia, Washington

New FBI Rules would Draw Ire of Civil Rights Advocates, and Instill Fear

The Bush Administration reaches for further authoritarian controls:

Proposed new FBI rules draw civil liberties worries
Fri Sep 12, 2008 6:17pm EDT
By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department unveiled proposed new rules on Friday for FBI investigations, changes a civil liberties group criticized for giving agents powers to investigate Americans without proper suspicion.

In its first major change in years, the Justice Department proposed a consolidated set of guidelines for domestic FBI operations, seeking to apply the same rules for criminal and terrorism cases, and for collecting foreign intelligence.

The guidelines were first adopted in the 1970s following disclosures that the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover had run a widespread domestic surveillance program that spied on civil rights activists and political opponents.

Officials said the new guidelines, which total 45 pages, were still being revised after consultations with Congress and civil liberties groups. The new rules are expected to take effect on October 1.

Justice Department and FBI officials told a news briefing the changes would allow agents in some terrorism cases to use informants, do physical surveillance and conduct interviews without identifying themselves or their true purpose.

They said such techniques currently could be used in ordinary criminal cases, but not for those involving national security, before an investigation has begun.

The American Civil Liberties Union expressed concern the rewritten rules had been drafted in a way to allow the FBI to begin surveillance without factual evidence to back it up.

It said that under the new guidelines, a person's race or ethnic background could be used as a factor in opening an investigation, a move the ACLU believes will institute racial profiling as a matter of policy.

ACLU Washington legislative director Caroline Fredrickson said, "Agents will be given unparalleled leeway to investigate Americans without proper suspicion, and that will inevitably result in constitutional violations."

Anthony Romero, the ACLU's executive director, said, "Issuing guidelines that permit racial profiling the day after the 9/11 anniversary and in the midst of a historic presidential campaign is typical Bush administration stagecraft designed to exploit legitimate security concerns for partisan political purposes."

Department officials said the guidelines would not allow an investigation based solely on a person's race or religion. "We are not changing our basic approach when race, religion or ethnicity may be taken into consideration," said one official who declined to be identified.

"The Department of Justice has long been concerned about the use of race or ethnicity in investigations. But it is simply not responsible to say that race may never be taken into account when conducting an investigation," spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said in a statement after the briefing.

(Editing by Peter Cooney)

Aligning of the Souls

this is cross posted from OlyBlog:

The Aligning of the Souls gathering was great. Many stories, prayers - and jokes - were shared amongst the participants. The gathering kicked off last night (Wednesday night) with a potluck meal and the sharing of prayers and stories relating to the topic of healing and peace in the wake of the horrible events of September 11, 2001. Some people sang songs or read poems, some people told stories and shared wisdom, everyone listened.

This morning the gathering continued at dawn (Thursday morning, September 11, 2008) with the commencement of a day long continuous heart beat drum rhythm. We prayed for peace and healing as the cool and foggy air and mist of dawn gradually gave way to a brilliantly blue sunny and cloudless September Eleventh day. A ceremonial fire was lit in a very special outdoor fire place. The fire burned throughout the day, carefully observed, attended and listened to.

Many wonderful prayers were shared. I often times wish that I had recordings after such events, because it would be good to remember and know the specifics of what people said. However, although I may not remember the specific words, the feelings are very present - and I know they will always remain so, with me. The feelings will stay true to the original intent and meaning of the words. (Maybe this is how de ja vu works - i.e. specific emotional memories trigger thought memories.) It was a full day and night of remembrance and holding the hope of healing and peace in a vigilant way. It was a great experience and I am glad that I participated.

The theme of the gathering was Living on the Bridge from Fear to Courage. It was relevant both in a societal sense and also on a personal level, for me. I appreciate approaching the horrible events of 9/11 and the following disasters from this perspective. Moving from fear to courage: how can we learn from fear - acknowledge it and understand it - and choose, separately, to act, instead - not out of fear, but out of courage, and love. Fear can knock me down. But community can give me courage - song and dance, sharing, holding vigil and vigilant drumming, awareness and consciousness and conscientiousness raising, conversation, intentionality - these can further the cause of courage and give me (and perhaps you too) the strength to act despite fear - or to, even better, eclipse fear entirely, or even better yet, to replace fear with love, pure and simple.

Again, many people shared many beautiful and deeply meaningful stories. I wish I could share them all with you! But I will share a couple of my prayers, which I shared with some who were there. First off, in the morning I asked the sun for strength to carry us and help us through the long day of presence, to stand by us in vigilant witness - witness to and of the will for healing, and of the will for peace.

Another prayer that came to me was to send positive regards to all of the people whom are in positions of power, people in places like Congress (and public officials generally), in the media, and in other positions of power (spiritual, religious, etc.) to ask them, and support them (lend them courage), to ask the appropriate and perhaps difficult questions about the horrible events of September 11th, 2001. For example, when did the US Government stop providing Osama bin Laden with material support to conduct his activities? ... I prayed (and I continue to do so) for those people (in positions of power) - and I send them my positive regards in hope that they will have the courage to stand up and begin to ask these important questions.

I also prayed for peace and healing and relief for those whom continue to suffer as a result of the horrible attacks of September 11th, 2001 (and any other related incidents as well as any incidents which are similar in nature.)

Many people died. Many families lost loved ones. I pray for those who lost family and friends. I pray that they may find healing and peace - and even perhaps somehow come out of this experience as somehow improved - better somehow, as a result of all this horrible pain and loss, this tragedy and madness.

So, out of such a terrible event such as the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, it may be something beautiful can be birthed. A phoenix may, out of the ashes, rise. I pray for that. I pray for the birth of a culture of true peace and respect, based in love (not fear.)

Blackhawk Over Olympia

A blackhawk helicopter flies noisily over Olympia. This one, or another or others like it, were out and about a lot yesterday. Well what do I have to say about it?

Stop the War!


...

The war was unnecessary. It never needed to happen. Iraq didn't pose a threat. The government and military of the USA have been hi-jacked by zealots.

Read more from Liet. Gen. Greg Newbold: Why Iraq was a Mistake

Sign the Kucinich Impeachment Petition

Hello - !!! - Have you signed Dennis Kucinich's petition to impeach President Bush? If not, please sign the petition, http://impeachment.kucinich.us/petition/ - hyperlinked: Kucinich petition to impeach President Bush.

It reads:

WHEREAS, in his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has committed abuses of power.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that President George W. Bush has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and Commander in Chief, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States and that he be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Signed by me and who knows how many others who are pro-troops, pro-impeachment, pro-justice, pro-peace, pro-nonviolence, pro- rule-of-law, etc....

Letter to President George W. Bush

I have been thinking about writing a letter to George W. Bush. I got the idea yesterday while meditating and sign-holding at a weekly peace vigil. I am furious with President Bush for driving the USA into an unnecessary war, costing trillions of dollars, the lives of so many people, and causing immense environmental and social degradation.

So I want to write him and tell him how I feel, and some of my observations about his behavior.

I want to vent. So I think I'll do that here, rather than in a personal letter to the President, because a lot of the things that I want to say aren't necessarily constructive or nonviolent. I feel better already.

I wonder if the President George W. Bush has a conscience. Does he feel any genuine sorrow or remorse about (allegedly) intentionally using deceit to drive the nation into an unnecessary war?

Does he care about the lives of others? Perhaps the Bohemian Grove "Cremation of Care" ceremonies have been too effective for the President. Perhaps he was born without a conscience.

Anyway, this man must be held accountable. So I am somewhat hopeful and optimistic, with all sorts of new information coming out, and new efforts being made toward the goal of investigating official misconduct, and holding those responsible for grievous breaches of the public trust, to account for their actions.

Check out the new Bill Moyers Journal program with Andrew J. Bacevich: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08152008/profile.html

Also please see information about Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine

Short Film on Shock Doctrine:


and

Ron Suskind's The Way of the World

Back from Protesting Illegal War at the Port of Tacoma

I just got back from the Port of Tacoma. I went to protest the shipment of a military cargo that was destined to further the occupation of Iraq by my government of the USA. Why would I protest? Lots of reasons, but there are a few, really just one or two, that stand out most prominently. The main reason that I protest is that the war is illegal. Of course, if you have been following my position on the war, you'll realize that this is nothing new. If you have been following my position on the war then hopefully you will understand the basic foundations of my assessment of the war's illegality. Yes, it is simply because the President (George W. Bush) lied to me (and to you) about the nature of the threat posed by the state of Iraq (Iraq didn't pose a threat).

Okay. So I am aggravated by the protest, and the Port of Tacoma's and Tacoma Police Department's willingness to enable an act of aggression by the federal government. Tacoma is enabling the needless slaughter and sacrifice of American soldiers and innocent Iraqis. It's disgusting - hideous - obscene, I could go on...

It was an interesting night altogether, and less so in terms of interactions with the police than for interactions I had with fellow protesters, some of them "black bloc." I had some interesting discussions about the role of the black bloc and how some of the black bloc people see themselves and their role in promoting social change (if those are the right terms - they might not be; it is late and I am tired.) Hopefully I will have more to write, and feel like doing so, about the details of the night's events. I took a few pictures that might turn out too. so stay tuned

ANYWAY, after discovering that the quick release on my rear bicycle wheel had been loosened and the brake cable released, I rode safely home through a beautiful night under a somewhat (Olympia is a moderate sized urban area) thick blanket of stars.

Ahhh... the beauty of the stars!

I Support the Military Personnel of the USA

I want to insert the fact that I am not "anti-troop." I support American Soldiers and I take great pity on all military personnel who are convinced and coerced into enabling an unjust and unlawful operation. In fact, I am "pro-troop." I don't want our troops to be put in harm's way without a damn good reason for doing so.

I ask that those who are responsible for the illegal invasion and occupation be held responsible. Who is responsible? Well, it's the sources of the lies and obfuscation about the war themselves - those prominent members of the Bush Administration who repeatedly told the People of the USA, the Congress and USA Military Personnel lies upon lies and falsehoods upon falsehoods in order to conjure up a war that is in their personal private interests.

They conjured a war to fulfill their idea of national interest - which is global dominance. But there is no way that global domination is in the true best interests of the USA. And thousands of soldiers have died - hundreds of thousands have likely been wounded (for more on this please see the website for Vincent Bugliosi's new book: The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder). Which is not to belittle the fact that millions of Iraqis have been killed and now suffer as a result.

Those who foisted this wrongful, ill begotten war of aggression deserve to be held accountable. Let them know that I oppose the war, and I simultaneously support the American soldier - I don't want my fellow Americans to be used for idiotic wars of imperialism. I know that Iraq didn't threaten the USA. So stop the war now! Stop the use of public ports for illegal wars of aggression and private interest!

Bush Administration Prewar Deception

Here are some excerpts from recent articles that support the claim that members of the Bush Administration knowingly and intentionally misled the people of the USA in regard to the threat posed by Iraq.

NYT:

WASHINGTON — A long-delayed Senate committee report endorsed by Democrats and some Republicans concluded that President Bush and his aides built the public case for war against Iraq by exaggerating available intelligence and by ignoring disagreements among spy agencies about Iraq’s weapons programs and Saddam Hussein’s links to Al Qaeda.
...

Washington Post:

As former White House press secretary Scott McClellan wrote in his recently released book, "What Happened," the Iraq Group "had been set up in the summer of 2002 to coordinate the marketing of the war to the public."

"The script had been finalized with great care over the summer," McClellan wrote, for a "campaign to convince Americans that war with Iraq was inevitable and necessary."
...

The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder (Promotional Video with author Vincent Bugliosi): Vincent Bugliosi lays out the case for prosecuting President Bush for murder, based on evidence that the President knowingly distorted the threat posed by Iraq in order to justify the invasion. Thousands of dead US military personnel and Hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis later, the case for holding the President accountable for this grievous foreign policy disaster is very strong. No Blood for Oil!

It IS about Oil

www.truthout.org/article/it-was-oil-all-along

Also see the Bill Moyers Journal excerpt: www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/06272008/watch3.html

Abusing Our Troops (Trading Blood for Oil)

President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. "Dick" Cheney are abusing the troops.


Photo by Laura Killian

Well, further, and according to Vincent Bugliosi, sending the troops into harm's way without national security imperative, prerogative, or necessity makes those culpable decision makers complicit in the murder of U.S. Soldiers. There was not national security justification for the invasion of Iraq. The justification for invasions/occupation is the policy of global dominance. Access to, and control of, the vast Middle East petroleum resources is a necessary ingredient in the maintenance of global dominance.

So, the essential truth is that the U.S. launched a military invasion - an act of aggression - designed to conquer, extract and exploit the mineral resources of a foreign nation. That is not okay with me. How's it by you?

Five Years of Lies on Iraq

On the occasion of the 5th year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq:

How President Bush and his advisors have spent each year of the war peddling mendacious tales about a mission accomplished.

By Juan Cole

Mar. 19, 2008 | Each year of George W. Bush's war in Iraq has been represented by a thematic falsehood. That Iraq is now calm or more stable is only the latest in a series of such whoppers, which the mainstream press eagerly repeats. The fifth anniversary of Bush's invasion of Iraq will be the last he presides over. Sen. John McCain, in turn, has now taken to dangling the bait of total victory before the American public, and some opinion polls suggest that Americans are swallowing it, hook, line and sinker.

The most famous falsehoods connected to the war were those deployed by the president and his close advisors to justify the invasion. But each of the subsequent years since U.S. troops barreled toward Baghdad in March 2003 has been marked by propaganda campaigns just as mendacious. Here are five big lies from the Bush administration that have shaped perceptions of the Iraq war.

Year 1's big lie was that the rising violence in Iraq was nothing out of the ordinary. The social turmoil kicked off by the invasion was repeatedly denied by Bush officials. When Iraqis massively looted government ministries and even private shops, then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld joked that U.S. media had videotape of one man carrying off a vase and that they kept looping it over and over again. The first year of the war saw the rise of a Sunni Arab guerrilla movement that repeatedly struck at U.S. troops and at members and leaders of the Shiite-dominated Interim Governing Council appointed by the American government.

[...]

...Bush set the tone for Year 3 with a speech at Fort Bragg on July 28, 2005, in which he said, "The only way our enemies can succeed is if we forget the lessons of September 11 ... if we abandon the Iraqi people to men like Zarqawi .. and if we yield the future of the Middle East to men like bin Laden." The previous week, Bush had said that the U.S. was in Iraq "because we were attacked." Zarqawi was the perfect plot device for an administration who wanted to perpetuate the falsehood that the Iraq war was directly connected with Sept. 11 and al-Qaida...

[...read more]

Threat to US from Iran: Geopolitical and Economic - Not Military

link to video

Thou Shalt Not Kill

Thou Shalt Not Kill: so whatever happened to that?

"The number one book
George Bush
& Dick Cheney
DO NOT WANT
YOU TO READ:

Dear Violet
letter from a desert grave
by N. Sigafoos

"Question for George W. Bush:
If you're such a devout Christian, what happened to Thou Shalt Not Kill ?
Is it okay if you just order other people to kill for you ?"

"To Whom It May Concern:

"I'm dead. 26 years old and deader than dead. My last memory being a face full of sand as the truck rolled over and threw me alongside the road. The last thing I heard was the snap of my neck, and that was it for me. New flash: there is no 'heaven, There is no hell. There's simply another layer where your energy goes without your body. My name is Charlie Day. The late Charlie Day, which is ironic, since during my life, I could never be anywhere on time."

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwhitlock/2330100803

More Evidence of Bush Administration Loyalty to Large Corporations

There are so many examples to choose from when pleading the case that President Bush, his Administration, and associated interests favor the interests of large (particularly multi-national) corporations over the common interests of the American People and humanity (in general.) Let's take a look at an example of George W. Bush White House rhetoric on global warming as it relates to the energy industry:

by Christopher Brauchli
...
In a speech on September 29, 2000, relying on statistics furnished by the Greening Earth Society, a think tank financed by seven coal burning utilities, Mr. Bush said the Internet consumed 8 percent of all the electricity produced in the United States and, therefore, the country needed many new power plants including coal-fired generators. In June 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency put out a report that said human activities such as oil refining, power plants and cars are major contributors to global warming. When asked about the report Mr. Bush said dismissively: “I read the report put out by the bureaucracy.” In Trenton, New Jersey on September 23, 2002 Mr. Bush said “we need an energy bill that encourages consumption.”
... [go to original]

The article (linked to above) also deals with how various other government agencies and entities relate to global warming. NASA chief Michael Griffin said that it was arrogant to assume that global warming would have harmful consequences for all humans. He supposes that there might be some benefit in global warming. I wonder what the many species of life that have gone extinct, and the many more that likely will go extinct because of global warming would say to Mr. Griffin if they could. Perhaps the NASA chief could use a primer in the ecological importance of bio-diversity and the interdependence of species upon each other across ecological systems.

from the article:

Mr. Bush still wants everything to be voluntary. He doesn’t want any fixed deadlines for reducing carbon emissions. James Connaughton, the White House environmental adviser said the Bush goal would be to get countries to set “aspirational goals.” “Each country will develop its own national strategies on a midterm basis in the next 10 to 20 years on where they want to take their efforts to . . . reduce air pollution and also reduce greenhouse gases, ” Mr. Connaughton said. Mr. Bush likes things that are aspirational rather than mandatory. It’s too bad he thinks that to have the air we aspirate be clean is nothing more than aspirational.

Bush Corporatism on Display

The President demonstrates his allegiance to Corporations at the sake of the safety of the American People:

Keith Olbermann:
[...]

As Sen. Edward Kennedy reminded us in December:

"The president has said that American lives will be sacrificed if Congress does not change FISA.

"But he has also said that he will veto any FISA bill that does not grant retroactive immunity.

"No immunity, no FISA bill. So if we take the president at his word, he's willing to let Americans die to protect the phone companies."

And that literally cannot be. Even Mr. Bush could not overtly take a step that actually aids the terrorists. I am not talking about ethics here. I am talking about blame. If the president seems to be throwing the baby out with the bath water, it means we can safely conclude there is no baby.

Because if there were, sir, now that you have vetoed an extension of this eavesdropping, if some terrorist attack were to follow, you would not merely be guilty of siding with the terrorists. You would not merely be guilty of prioritizing the telecoms over the people. You would not merely be guilty of stupidity. You would not merely be guilty of treason, sir.

You would be personally, and eternally, responsible.

And if there is one thing we know about you, Mr. Bush, one thing that you have proved time and time again - it is that you are never responsible.

As recently ago as 2006, we spoke words like these with trepidation.

The idea that even the most cynical and untrustworthy of politicians in our history, George W. Bush, would use the literal form of terrorism against his own people was dangerous territory. It seemed to tempt fate, to heighten fear.

We will not fear any longer. We will not fear the international terrorists, and we will thwart them. We will not fear the recognition of the manipulation of our yearning for safety, and we will call it what it is: terrorism. We will not fear identifying the vulgar hypocrites in our government, and we will name them. And we will not fear George W. Bush. Nor will we fear because George W. Bush wants us to fear.

go to original

Is George W. Bush a Criminal?

Robert Parry has a well-written, informative, interesting and compelling perspective on a "Criminal" President...

G.W. Bush Is a Criminal, Like His Dad

By Robert Parry
January 31, 2008

Watching Attorney General Michael Mukasey evade the obvious fact that waterboarding is torture – and the reluctance of Democrats to press him – I was reminded of how the first President Bush got away with an earlier batch of national security crimes.

Indeed, one of the common questions I’ve been asked over the years is – if the evidence really does show that the Reagan-Bush crowd was guilty of illegal dealings with Iran, Iraq and the Nicaraguan contras – why didn’t the Democrats hold those Republicans to account?

For people who have posed that question, I would suggest that they watch the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Jan. 30 hearing with Mukasey. Everybody in the room knew what the unspoken reality was, but nobody dared say it: George W. Bush authorized torture, which is a crime under U.S. and international law.

However, if the Attorney General – the highest-ranking law-enforcement officer in the United States – recognized the obvious, he would have to either commence legal action against President Bush or send a referral to Congress for the initiation of impeachment proceedings.

If such a referral were sent to Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would have little choice but to permit the start of impeachment hearings in the House Judiciary Committee. A wide range of Bush’s illegal actions would then begin spilling out, provoking a political crisis in the United States.

Not only do Bush’s allies want to avoid that possibility but so do Democratic congressional leaders. They fear an impeachment battle would boomerang, putting them on the spot with both angry Republicans and a hostile Washington news media.
... read more: http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/013108.html

Can this be true? Can it be true that our democracy is being held hostage by a "hostile Washington news media"?

The war is illegal; it's about oil.

The war is illegal. It is illegal because it is an aggressive military action, and aggressive military actions are illegal, period. Members of the Bush Administration lied - numerous false statements have repeatedly been made - in order to justify an invasion that was based on the notion of "preemptive strike" (Center for Public Integrity War Card Report). They claimed a specific threat from Iraq to the security of the USA. But the reality was that Iraq did not pose an imminent or specific threat to the USA. Iraq certainly did not pose a threat that would have justified military intervention.

Essentially, the use of the phrase "preemptive strike" does not alter the fact that the invasion - the "strike" - was an aggressive maneuver. "The facts were being fixed to meet the policy" - so famously said the director of British Intelligence, Sir Richard Dearlove, in a memo (The Downing Street Memos) to the office of Tony blair, the Prime Minister of the UK.

So, the war is illegal. It was an attack. It was motivated not by desire for true security; it was motivated by desire for "global dominance." "Global Domination" is a Project for a New American Century key phrase for imperialism. There is a desire to project the power of the USA over a broad spectrum of economic and military channels. But American Empire cannot flourish without petroleum. Reliable access to consistent flows of crude oil are necessary to support the economic functions of the American Empire. Hence, the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Over one million Iraqis are said to have died as a result of the "war." The war is illegal; it's about oil.