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FAILED PRESIDENCY
REX BABIN (THE SACRAMENTO BEE)
BY MARK A. GOLDMAN
The territory of a state is inviolable It may not be
the object, even temporarily, of military occupation or
other measures of force taken by another state directly
or indirectly on any grounds whatsoever.
-ARTICLE 20, OAS CHARTER
We hear reports of George W. Bush receiving approval
ratings of upwards of 80%. As for me, I already see a failed
presidency and an arrogant President destined for impeach
ment
On November 2, 2001, Bush signed an executive order
giving sitting Presidents the power to seal the records of any
previous President even if the previous President wants the
records made public. I see this as a thinly veiled attempt by the
current sitting President to cover up illegal acts and atrocities by
his father during the former Bush’s presidency — which crimes,
I might add, should have resulted in the father's impeachment.
This, along with the military tribunals, dismantling of civil
liberties, denial of established legal procedures (as in detaining
suspects without charge; the inappropriate monitoring of conver
sations between clients and their attorneys; the attempt to deny
public access and scrutiny of legal processes; eliminating legiti
mate judicial review of trials), clamping down on the press and
impeding its investigations into various allegations about illegal
activities of the CIA and its affiliates, expanded wire and internet
tapping privileges in favor of security police as they intrude into
the privacy of citizens (resulting in harassment of innocent
people as well as besmirching their reputations), the effective
merging of the FBI into the CIA, heightened rhetoric and
disinformation promulgated by this administration in an effort
to quell dissent, is, I believe, all part of a conspiracy designed
at least in part to insulate Bush Sr. from ever having to face fair
and adequate public scrutiny of his alleged crimes against the
Constitution and humanity.
Given its true rationale, the dismantling of Constitutional
protections and usurping power legitimately reserved for the
people is, in this layman’s view, patently illegal. Undermining the
Constitution to cover up his father’s illegal acts and and/or the
illegal acts of others is obstruction of justice — an impeachable
offense — and I predict Bush Jr. will wither be impeached by
Congress or by history. If not the former, we might as well begin
shedding tears now
Why are we all trapped in this coverup? I don’t know all
the many truths that now hide in secret files, but I do know that
as a result of 9/11 some Americans are taking a closer look at
U S foreign policy to review what behaviors this country might
have engaged in that would cause people in other parts of the
world to hate and/or distrust the USA as much as they do. There
is a lot to review The evidence is voluminous and damning
One example alone should be enough to illustrate Bush's claim
that we are hated because we love freedom and democracy is
R iver S ea
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both silly and absurd: On December 20, 1989, on orders from
then President George Bush Sr., U.S. troops descended on
Panama in what was reported to be a legitimate hunt for
“strongman" Manuel Noriega. The mission was called Operation
Just Cause By January 3, 1990, Noriega was in hand and the
operation was labeled a success. Mainstream media outlets,
repeating what they were told, reported that about 250
Panamanians had lost their lives in the operation and Bush Sr.
reported to Congress and the American people that Panama
was returned to democratic rule.Thus the beginning of a big lie.
What was not reported was this little excursion caused
as many as 20,000 Panamanian civilians to lose their homes
and possessions, while upwards of 4,000 men, women and
children lost their lives — wantonly murdered as U.S. personnel
laid waste large residential areas in the poorest districts of
Panama City. There are documented reports that U.S. troops
purposely burned entire neighborhoods to the ground, moving
from house to house, block by block. Journalists were shot
dead on the spot with cameras still in hand. There are reports
that during the incursion, American soldiers shot and killed
indiscriminately anything and everything that moved, and then,
in the weeks following, rounded up blacklisted Panamanians,
executing some on the spot and detaining others without charge
or trial, some of whom may still be unlawfully detained to this
day. While the mainstream press was censored (or censored
themselves), eyewitnesses were reporting that they saw Ameri
can troops collecting the bodies of scores of dead civilians and
burying them in mass unmarked graves — only to be dug up
later by survivors looking for the dead and missing. While there
is no way to tell for certain how many Panamanians lost their
lives, estimates from four human rights groups range from 2,500
to 4,000.
The source of this information is credible, much of it
documented in the film, The Panama Deception, which won an
Academy Award in 1993 for best documentary But an ‘Oscar’ or
not, chances are you never saw The Panama Deception, not
even on PBS. I am interested to know why. (Other sources I
looked at before writing this article will be posted at the following
web address: www.qpln.com/panama htm. I’m sure you can find
more.)
While the American people celebrated their victory over
Panama, the United Nations and world community condemned
the United States for the invasion, which clearly took place with
out legal authority under U.S. law, or under any law. It was a
contravention of various treaties signed by the U.S., the Geneva
Convention and other authorities of international law This fact
was ignored by the American Press.
For many years before, during and after his ascent to
power, Manuel Noriega was bought and paid for by the CIA. The
CIA always knew Noriega was a corrupt despot, a drug smuggler
and an arms dealer. He did not become an anathema to the
U.S. until he was finally more of a liability to the CIA than an
asset, at which time he took on a new persona — “Strongman"
Noriega, drug dealer and enemy of freedom loving peoples
everywhere In the same tradition it might be noticed that the
Taliban rulers of Afghanistan were transformed into the world’s
great enslavers and tormentors of women, but only after 9/11.
Just like Noriega, the Taliban were always despots and the
people they ruled were always in pain — But somehow, prior to
9/11 the treatment of women never seemed quite so troubling to
U.S. Presidents, their administrations or the CIA.
Once we take a look at what happened in Panama, we
will have to look into what happened in other countries as well.
Would it be a surprise to discover that U.S. strategy has, time
and again, been to destroy budding democracies? Why should
we do that? Because democracies are difficult to control,
whereas puppet dictatorships are easy to control — all that is
needed is to buy and make sure they stay bought, which is what
certain American interests have been after and usually get.
The tragedy of 9/11 will not be forgotten and those who
perpetrated the deadly deeds must be brought to justice. But
those who did this, while having the ability to kill our loved ones
and temporarily terrorize our nation, had no ability to fundamen
tally damage the Constitution itself. That task can only be
accomplished from within.
To limit dissent and the free flow of information under
the guise of National Security is simply a flagrant deception
and a scurrilous attack on our freedoms and on our posterity.
Covering up crimes and atrocities committed by a President or
a shadow government (either under his control or has control
over him) that operates under our national name but outside
the framework of the Constitution, and without any substantive
checks and balances, is not in the National Interest. It never
was and never will be.
The President is not a king or a ruler. He is servant
to The People. And if you and I, being no longer innocent or
ignorant, then we are not The People and he is not the servant
— and America is not America anymore.
To those who claim that only Americans are entitled to
justice, I say: You don't believe in justice, and you don’t believe
in America either.
Those who have carried out despicable and illegal acts
in our name have disgraced our country, its people and them
selves. If We The People are too afraid to seek the truth, to
know the truth, to tell the truth, or to believe in justice, how can
we rightfully call ourselves free?
There are too many dead and too many dying. There
are too many web sites, too many books, too many tapes, too
many allegations from credible, brave and honorable sources to
pretend any longer that we don't know, or can’t know, what has
been done in our name or who has been hurt by those acting in
our name. We must stand up to honor the living and dead, to
ask questions, to take responsibility for the crimes committed
without our approval or consent — to ask the world’s forgive
ness, and to make reparations where they are due. We must
pray and work for peace and justice, and we must turn this
treason around
Mark Goldman lives in Vashon, Washington
A BLEA T FROM THE PEN
BY ROBIN SAWYER
Americans are cowards. I can hear the gasps, angry
denouncements and cries of treason as the pigs rooting in this
country shake their snouts in rage at such a statement. There
have been times when Americans stood against great tyranny
to lift the world to a better place. Today we are often the tyrants,
as we have also been in the past.
It's laughable to watch Americans shake with fear as
they worry about dying in a terrorist commandeered plane, or
an anthrax attack Much more likely most of us will die of a self
induced heart attack, a stroke, or in one of the automobiles we
so dearly love I can almost hear my detractors shouting those
worn out words "Love it or leave it'" Those of us who do love
America know that the American dream is destroying this
country American prosperity is burying this nation in landfills,
pollution, sprawl and a host of other social illnesses.
It is doubtful George Bush and his Iran-Contra cabinet
could have asked for anything more than September 11 A
political blessing falling from the sky, it gave them something
to blame the economy on and a reason to spend lots of money
fighting wars that can’t be won
If you have read this far you probably agree with
much of what I’ve said If not, you're probably not reading this.
Most of us seem only to want an endorsement of the opinions
we form, seemingly based on popular opinion If I were to put
you in a room filled with Nazi peers for a while, you might very
likely come out wearing a swastika — not because you really
believe Nazi dogma, but because we really are much like sheep
(kind of a hybrid sheep/swine, really)
George really has the flock behind him now as he calls
out the sheepdogs to take care of the wolves surrounding us and
we huddle together, bleating for revenge from beneath our flag
What will we do with Osama if we catch him? The likely answer
is execute him, which is exactly what he hopes we will do. Of
course, action is necessary and there are a number of things
that can be done, including crippling the appropriate financial
networks, educating people who may be inclined to commit
terrorist acts, fixing the problems with our intelligence agencies,
and examining our own behaviors to see how we may be inciting
these terrorists It appears we are okay with terrorists (even
Osama) as long as they support our interests, meaning we have
often provided financial and other types of support to known
terrorists if it furthered our aims
What's new? We say one thing and do another —
kind of like our ancestors did with the treaties. So, when it is all
said and done, will the world be safe from terrorists? Not likely.
What's more likely is there will be more crusaders running
around avenging the deaths of their martyrs, calling for holy
wars and rallying the sheep in their countries to oppose the
wolves If it wasn't for the lost lives, the pain and the agony,
all this would almost be comical — like a cartoon. But it's not
a cartoon It’s the world we live in — a world fast running out of
resources to keep people happy What happens then?
I am old What happens to those who follow concerns
me only because I have a child who is part of the human
experience I often think of John Donne's words “No man is an
island," meaning what we do, and what happens to us, affects
ourselves and others. If the world does not come together it may
soon come apart — in our children's lifetimes. What will our
legacy be?
Robin Sawyer lives in Hillsboro His most recent article
for the NCTE, “Searching For Justice," appeared in May/June
2001