This is an anti-war-speech recently held by Robert Jensen, who is an associate professor of journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, a member of the Nowar Collective, and author of the book Writing Dissent: Taking Radical Ideas from the Margins to the Mainstreamand the pamphlet "Citizens of the Empire." I feel him on that one.

"A few weeks ago Jim McDermott, a courageous congressman from Washington state, traveled to Baghdad in pursuit of peace and was sharply criticized, particularly for his comment that George Bush "might mislead" the American public to build support for an attack on Iraq. He got only one thing wrong -- the "might."

George Bush HAS misled the American public. He IS misleading the American public, and we can assume he WILL continue to mislead the public. In fact, the entire Bush administration has been misleading the public, sometimes by misdirection, sometimes by fudging the facts, and sometimes by straightforward, outright lies.

Remember when Donald Rumsfeld told a congressional committee that Iraq kicked out U.N. weapons inspectors in 1998? That's a lie. The head of the inspection team pulled the inspectors out after being informed that the Clinton administration was going to proceed with Operation Desert Fox, its illegal bombing of Iraq.

Fudged facts? Well, remember Rumsfeld's declaration that the U.S. had "bulletproof evidence" of a connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda? For a bulletproof story, there certainly are a lot of holes, including a report from Czech President Vaclav Havel that suggests there is no evidence, at least of the long-rumored meeting between one of the 9/11 hijackers and an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague.

Some lies are not lies, of course, but just "alternative interpretations." Take the so-called no-fly zones, in the north and south of Iraq, where U.S. and U.K. planes patrol the skies and bomb Iraqi targets at will. The U.S. claims these zones are authorized by U.N. Security Council resolutions. That the rest of the world disagrees and sees it as a violation of Iraqisovereignty is of little concern to the U.S. Power means your alternative explanation can't be challenged.

Misdirection is helpful, too. Take Bush's assertion that if Iraq could "produce, buy, or steal an amount of highly enriched uranium a little larger than a single softball, it could have a nuclear weapon in less than a year." Yes, that's likely true, but it is the equivalent of saying, "If Iraq had a nuclear weapon, it would have a nuclear weapon." Creating the other components of a nuclear bomb would be relatively easy; the fissile material is the issue.

The question isn't whether Saddam Hussein is a nice guy or not; in case anyone isn't clear on that, he's not. The question is whether he is a real threat. Given that none of his neighbors feel threatened and are adamently against war, that Iraq is far weaker than in 1991, and that all the world thinks renewed weapons inspection and diplomacy is the proper course, it leaves the Bush administration only a few choices for dealing with other countries (mainly threats and bribery, what one British journalist called "diplomatic kneecapping") and only one choice for dealing with the U.S. public -- propaganda. They know that the only way they can get the American people is to frighten us with nightmare scenarios, no matter how implausible.

Well, on this one point, I actually agree. I am frightened, but not for the reasons Bush is pushing. International terrorism is a serious problem that requires serious attention, and there are reasons to be afraid of future attacks in the U.S. And if the U.S. goes to war against Iraq, the likelihood of such terrorists attack will increase dramatically. That's a real reason to be afraid.

But beyond that, I am afraid of other threats.

I am afraid for a country that protects the greed of the few over the needs of the many, the United States.

I am afraid for a Middle East flooded with weapons sold by the the #1 arms dealer in the world, the United States.

And I am afraid -- I am terrified -- for a world dominated by an empire that has acquired such a massive destructive capability, and a demonstrated willingness to use it. I am afraid of the empire in which I live, the empire of which I am a citizen. I am afraid of the men sitting in Washington -- of Rumsfeld and Cheney and Wolfowitz, and of George W. Bush -- who are planning the lives and the deaths of people all over this planet.

But I hope that I am not afraid to resist this madness. I hope I am not afraid to speak out. That is always easier if one's voice is not the only voice. So, today I hope we can all find our voices and come together to speak as one."

Here we go again ...SoulSearch, dont you have any leaders in your country you can question? I am sure your country has many issues...

OCEANA said:

Of course, Oceana. I do that all day. However, not here, because too few people are aware of whats going on in my country. If you wanna discuss it --- go ahead. But I doubt you know anything on the topic at all.
Why dont you READ what that man has to say? You rarely comment anything I post in relation to the matter. Is it because you dont really know anything about your own government as well??

[This message was edited Wed Oct 30 3:12:32 PST 2002 by soulpower]

Thank you for the interesting article soulpower.

I hope you are able to see the difference between this and the tripe you usually post.

soulpower said:

LOL You are right...You know more about my country than I do... but you never did answer any or your 52 questions ..I bet my life I know more about your country than you do...your country I KNOW has got many issues and it is obvious you dont have access to most of those issues because you sure do spend alot of time looking into ours... ...The info you have is UN-classified ...and the info you have on ours is also un-classified...which makes these topics NOW SO BORING! If your job or your info was so legitimate you would not be posting about the U.S so much...

2the9s said:

the "tripe" I usually post is mainly coming from the same sources as this speach...
anyway, I remember you asking me about my avatar. The meaning is a simple one: I am a writer, I write with my hands, and I am opening people's eyes through the written word... maybe not your's cuz then you'd look like this:
Its from the cover of the second Mandrill album "Mandrill Is" (Polydor 1972). No secret ribbon, just a funk group

OCEANA said:

If you only knew litte about my country you'd know that my newspaper is the most powerful news source on the continent... Oceana, having a son in service in Germany doesnt make you knowledgable about its people and politics. If you know MORE than me about my own country ... lol.. lets start a thread on the last german election. I'll have lunch now, meet you after that, k? I'm looking forward to it..

OCEANA said:

See Oceana, this is exactly the problem: The info on the US which I post is UN-classified. It available anywhere. Still you and many people in your country do not CONSIDER this information. If you did, you wouldnt accept a government like that. But since you do, having all that information, you seem either ignorant or outrageously stupid.

soulpower said:

So why waste your time in Germany...why not run for U.S President? Come on over with all your intell I am sure you will make a difference...WE NEED SOULPOWER!!!

soulpower said:

Litte? You mean little , right? LOL..."the most powerful news source on the continent" than why do you question others (us) should'nt you and your powerful newspaper on the continent have all that info already? We work we pay our taxes and we vote,,what else do you expect from us P.orgers? Go dictate somewhere else. My son in Germany has nothing to do with our conversations at all plus I had 7 uncles all in Germany also...so what? Does this make me smart As far as my son, he can spell better than you and he can speak better German than you You know nothing about me...and if you did you would !! I tell you what...I have a 17 year old here...when he gets home from school he WILL tell you more about your country and its leaders past present and where we see your future heading..(backstabbers)! Oh and he will even teach you how to spell!

What is the name of your "most powerful newpaper (news source) ? And no more questions and answers...you dont play fair...you ask and then when you dont have the answers to your own question you get pist at us for not knowing the answers to nonsense!

There is definitely something fishy about some of the Iraq propoganda coming from Bush and gang. Here's just one example--that Hussein allegedly tried to assassinate Bush senior...doesn't seem to be quite true:

http://www.newyorker.com/..._archive02

OCEANA said:

I'm assuming OCEANA (from the fact that soulpower posted this thread in General Discussion) that what he expects from "us P.orgers" is some reasonable, intelligent discussion.

Everyone, please keep the petty off-topic flaming out of the forums and discuss the topic of the thread, or else don't post. I don't care what soulpower thinks of OCEANA or what OCEANA thinks of soulpower - and nobody else cares either.



Okay, that "backstabbers" comment is sounding like a racist generalisation. And this thread isn't about Germany (so keep that discussion to another thread please).

OCEANA said:

Actually SoulSearch..you are a total waste of my time..and you mispell all the time...Yes we all do from time to time which is ok..(normal) but you make far to many for being a journalist!

OCEANA said:

Stop criticising each other's spelling - I thought we put that shit to rest when we nuked a certain person's account recently.

This is the net. People make typos. You aren't composing dissertations here, so quit the petty spelling corrections and discuss the point at hand. OK?

And I imagine most journalists have access to a proof reader and spell checkers etc. That won't be necessary for posting on the Org, you'll be happy to hear.

OCEANA said:

If you know more about my country than me, you shouldnt need to think longer than a second which is the largest newspaper in Germany (and Europe).

And the questions you are refering to: If you truly read that particular thread you'd know that I did not know the answers to them... that was the reason to ask them, silly. The questions were intended for people like you who blindly follow your governments actions. If you government was so positive and peaceful and open, then I'm sure you could have helped me in finding those answers.

And again, you have turned a thread of mine into something not related to the actual topic. Why dont you go up there, read it, and the post your opinion? Maybe you simply dont understand it?

Ya know...re-reading here, it seems like Oceana took soulpower's inital post to be some sort of attack on America. But I didn't get that vibe at all.

OCEANA said:

Well, I type very quick and english is my second language... it seems like you have nothing to criticize my information, you try to focus on something else... very low, oceana... then go ahead and waste your time somewhere else. my the way: its MISSPELL, not "mispell" as you write it...

teller said:

Homegirl's got a pretty lively imagination

oceana...you need to go back to lurking...your starting to annoy people again...

(i know ian, but...i had to say it )

soulpower said:

this is by far the most important statement...i hope people read this...

ian said:

Thats correct. MS spell checker and a human spell reader before a page goes into print. However, it doesnt excuse the mistakes. But if you have sometimes only 20 minutes to type up a whole article, then shit happens.

ian said:[quote]

I'm assuming OCEANA (from the fact that soulpower posted this thread in General Discussion) that what he expects from "us P.orgers" is some reasonable, intelligent discussion.

Everyone, please keep the petty off-topic flaming out of the forums and discuss the topic of the thread, or else don't post. I don't care what soulpower thinks of OCEANA or what OCEANA thinks of soulpower - and nobody else cares either.

Ian. For once cant you let SoulSearch fight his own battles. You really make him look bad by following him around protecting him. "backstabber" Racist remark? OMG...come on ian...get real...why do you all have to bring RACE into this...this has NOTHING to do with RACE but Politics and Government, "conspiracies"..."And this thread is not about Germany" ( so keep this discussion to another thread please) Yeah like the USA...! Stop being daddy ian...SoulSearch I am sure already has a mommy who's skirt he hides behind...YEAH, lets not talk about Germany lets talk about the United States, the country WE live in !

OCEANA said:

Ian. For once cant you let SoulSearch fight his own battles. You really make him look bad by following him around protecting him. "backstabber" Racist remark? OMG...come on ian...get real...why do you all have to bring RACE into this...this has NOTHING to do with RACE but Politics and Government, "conspiracies"..."And this thread is not about Germany" ( so keep this discussion to another thread please) Yeah like the USA...! Stop being daddy ian...SoulSearch I am sure already has a mommy who's skirt he hides behind...YEAH, lets not talk about Germany lets talk about the United States, the country WE live in ! [/quote]

Then go ahead and do it, Oceana. So far you have not made a single topic-related remark... neither on this thread, nor on the Germany-thread that I have opened just for you. Please give us your wisdom now, my mommy is waiting...

OCEANA said:[quote]

ian said:

There are no "battles" being fought here. This is a discussion, so either discuss or don't post. Got it? This isn't me "sticking up" for soulpower, this is me, as moderator telling you post on topic, and lose the petty attacks.

Hope that was loud and clear.

SkletonKee said:

Agreed...our hawkish posture will either intimidate our enemies into submission or really piss them off...and with terrorists, I fear it is the latter.

ian said:

She's not only blind, bro. She's def. Thats why she wont hear you when you speak loud and clear.
See, she has tried to degrade this thread by rating it 0 stars. What she doesnt understand is that there's no need for that. Its her uneducated babble which gives this thread 0 stars.

teller said:

Amen to that. Its not the big islamistic world conspiracy which leads to those attacks. Its simply some nations which had enough.

soulpower said:

Ever since the WTC bombing 1993, there's been this question in my mind--"why?"

Then when the towers fell, you hear the media, "Why do they hate us so much??" And the only answer you hear is "because of our freedom!" Bullshit...they don't hate our freedom...they're obviously pissed off at us for political reasons...but what?