Peace and War

Is Marie Cocco Coocoo?

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By David Swanson

Liberal columnist Marie Cocco maintains her progressive positions right up to the point where she might diverge in the slightest from the Democratic leadership in Congress. Last spring she wasn’t so noticeable. Most progressive pundits back in March and May were playing right along with the pretense that the Democrats in Congress didn’t have the power to end the occupation of Iraq. This was and is simply not true.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry read more

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Now What?

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By David Swanson

Over the past day or so, the following things have happened:

The Senate passed language aimed at antagonizing Iran.

The House approved billions more dollars to extend the occupation of Iraq a couple of more months and also joined the Senate in passing a condemnation of an activist group for telling the truth about a lying warmongering general.

A number of Democratic presidential candidates refused to commit to ending the occupation of Iraq by 2013, practically guaranteeing a Republican read more

Now What? Read More »

Whistleblowers on Tape

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By David Swanson

While they may not be in Congress, there are members of our government willing to risk their careers and more to blow the whistle on the criminal takeover of our former democracy. One of them is Sam Provance.

I’ve just posted an amazing video of Sam Provance telling his story, along with videos of others telling theirs, including: Dan Ellsberg, Ann Wright, Larry Johnson, Coleen Rowley, Bob Parry, Akbar Ahmed, Peter Kuznick, Edward Mortimer, Max Friedman, and Ray McGovern: read more

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Observing Our Government Through Blackwater

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By David Swanson

Jeremy Scahill, author of a terrific book on the Blackwater mercenary army, spoke in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Tuesday to a packed hall. He took questions at the end, and one man asked something to the effect of “Why does the government want to privatize the military? We taxpayers have been paying for the Army.” I wished Scahill had pointed out that it’s the tax payers who are now paying the private corporations, but the answer Scahill gave was critical. read more

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Peace and Hillary Clinton

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By David Swanson

This past Sunday, crime thriller author John Grisham hosted a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in my town. I talked with a lot of the people attending. Some said they supported Clinton because they wanted to keep troops in Iraq. But most were there because they opposed Bush and Cheney’s policies on Iraq. Who was confused, and who was not? Or could they both be right?

Among the protest posters at the event: “You and Rupert Murdoch are raising $ for the same candidate.” read more

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Telling the Truth

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By David Swanson

Sam Provance exposed the torture in Abu Ghraib and as thanks had his career ruined, was threatened with prison, has had his wife leave him, and is now barely scraping by. He said Thursday evening that on a personal level his choice to speak out was not worth it. “But,” he said, “this is not about me.” And everyone in the auditorium where he was speaking knew exactly what he meant, because we had just heard Dan Ellsberg, Ann Wright, Larry Johnson, Coleen read more

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Corpse's Point of View

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By David Swanson

From the point of view of a corpse, Thursday’s die-in on the steps of the U.S. Capitol was overwhelming and diminishing. I was one of twenty some corpses lying dead in a river of blood in front of police and tourists and a color guard of Iraq veterans. I was one of a pile of corpses. You could have added or taken away a corpse or two, and nobody would have noticed. Thirty or forty other corpses were picked up inside the Capitol and taken to jail, and nobody noticed. read more

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Questions for General Petraeus

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By David Swanson, www.BetrayUsReport.com

Are you here to communicate your own view, that of the White House, or both?

Please name all the people with whom you have had communications in preparing for this testimony.

What does the White House expect from your testimony?

Are you submitting a written report to this Congress? Did you ever plan to do so? What changed your mind?

Are you submitting a written report to the White House? Why not?

Are you aware that the President is required by law to submit read more

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Betray Us Report

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By David Swanson, http://www.BetrayUsReport.com

“Someone must have been telling lies about Joseph K., for without having done anything wrong he was arrested one fine morning…”

If you read the rest of The Trial by Franz Kafka you’ll find that K. is not just arrested, but also executed, and that his execution comes as the perfectly natural conclusion to a series of infuriating steps, stages, and shiftings of goal posts.

In the end, General David Petraeus will appear in Congress read more

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