Writings, video, audio by David Swanson
By David Swanson, www.blackcommentator.com
Can you imagine having an opportunity to address the United Nations Security Council about a matter of great global importance, with all the world’s media watching, and using it to… well, to make shit up – to lie with a straight face, and with a CIA director propped up behind you, I mean to spew one world-class, for-the-record-books stream of bull, to utter nary a breath without a couple of whoppers in it, and to look like you really mean it
By David Swanson
[[Remarks prepared for Out of Iraq event in Washington, D.C., on day of 164 Out of Iraq Events around the country, Jan. 7, 2006.]]
President Nixon famously said that if the President does it, it’s legal. And he didn’t think that up on his own – that’s a way of thinking that has long had currency in America.
Today there are over 150 Out of Iraq events like this one happening around the country. A dozen members of Congress are taking part. Numerous candidates
A town hall forum hosted by Congressman Jim Moran and featuring Congressman Jack Murtha packed a large room in Arlington, Va., Thursday evening, and filled an overflow room, and had to turn away another 500 people. The media was well represented.
Audio: MP3. 75.7 MB, over an hour.
Both Moran and Murtha spoke strongly in support of ending the war as quickly as possible and pulling all U.S. troops out of Iraq. Murtha complained repeatedly that the Bush Administration contributes only
By David Swanson
The minority of Americans who support the war largely do so out of a sense of responsibility to Iraqis. They favor reconstruction and restoration as well as ongoing occupation. And most of the majority who favor ending the war support the financing of reconstruction, which – after all – costs less than war. Reconstruction seems to be something we generally agree on.
Of course, very little reconstruction has been done or appears likely to be done, and recent reports are that
By David Swanson
U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has admitted that he “ghosted” a detainee, meaning that he made the decision to hold a prisoner without keeping any records of the fact.
While prisoners of war can be theoretically stripped of their rights by calling them other names (like “unlawful combatants”), they are probably most effectively stripped of all rights by keeping their imprisonment secret. That is what Rumsfeld says he did.
An account of what
‘Downing Street Documents’ – Confirmed and Corroborated!
Leaked Top-Secret British Documents Revealing Bush Intended to Launch a War on Iraq — No Matter What — Have Been Proven Legitimate and Correct
John Conyers’ Latest Report Provides a Point-by-Point Verification
Guest Blogged by David Swanson, co-founder of AfterDowningStreet.org and CensureBush.org In the eight months since the so-called “Downing Street Documents” have been made public, certain
By David Swanson
Try as I might to believe that the President accidentally got it all wrong about those weapons of mass destruction and ties to 9-11, I just can’t seem to square it with the fact that the White House pressured the CIA to get it wrong or else.
And pressure the CIA they did.
This story is nicely documented on pages 54-55 of Congressman John Conyers’ report, “The Constitution in Crisis; The Downing Street Minutes and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution,
By David Swanson
House Judiciary Committee Democratic staff members report that the White House and the Departments of State and Defense have for six months refused to comply with a request filed under the Freedom of Information Act by 52 Congress Members – a request seeking information on the Bush Administration’s reasons for going to war.
On June 30th of this year, Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers Jr. (Dem., Mich.) and 51 other Congress Members submitted a
By David Swanson
The U.S. military used white phosphorous as a weapon in Fallujah, and the U.S. military says such use is illegal. That’s one heck of a fog fact (Larry Beinhart’s term for a fact that is neither secret nor known). This fact has appeared in an article in the Guardian (UK) and been circulated on the internet, but has just not interested the corporate media in the United States.
It interests Congressman John Conyers, however. Last week, Conyers released a 273-page
By David Swanson
A new report looks into instances in which the Bush Administration leaked classified information to support its case that Iraq was a threat to the United States.
While that case was, of course, ridiculous and the information falsified, the leaking of it was illegal. And the leaks appear to have been part of a coordinated effort. Immediately following important leaks, top administration officials appeared on talk shows to discuss information that they could not have legally discussed