Peace and War

By David Swanson

Yesterday I spoke on a panel in Los Angeles organized by the California Democratic Party Progressive Caucus, a body that is leading the way in promoting a plan to end the occupation. Below are my answers to the moderator’s thoughtful questions.

QUESTION: During the Vietnam War, there was considerable propaganda that was disseminated and incorporated into the discussion about the war around the dreaded “domino effect

By David Swanson

Testimony for International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration, Riverside Church, New York, Jan 20-22, 2006. Thanks to Jonathan Schwarz and Bob Fertik for assistance.

Accompanying Powerpoint

[Powerpoint Slide 1]

Were I to list all the pieces of evidence that Bush took us to war with lies, we’d have lost tens of thousands of lives and tens of billions of dollars before I finished. So, I’ll give you a short version. But read more

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 read more

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 read more

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.

Photo album.

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 read more

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 read more

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 read more

‘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 read more

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, read more