Dallas County Democrats
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SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 |
Opinions mixed in with the facts here, unless otherwise attributed, were those of the then County Chair, Bill Howell. If you disagree, please blame him, not the party. Thanks.
DEC. 10:
HELP STOP WAR WITH IRAQ
[We are forwarding this Action Alert received from the Dallas Peace Center. The only Texas member of the House committee considering this proposal to expand the war is Ron Paul, a Republican(!) from Lake Jackson. It will not hurt to contact your own members of Congress anyway and urge them to also oppose this bill.
[The Taliban has been mostly defeated, and allied forces seem to be closing in on Bin Laden's hiding place. The justification for the massive assault on our domestic rights and liberties, and for the huge give-aways to big corporations, is coming to an end. That also means the tradional American loyalty to the Commander-in-Chief when attacked, is about to be replaced with concerns about the Bush economic disaster which began long before the terrorist attacks. In this climate some of the usual suspects are thinking of how they can prolong the sense of crisis. --Bill Howell]
URGENT Action Alert - Dec. 10
I. Hard-liners in CONGRESS declare WAR on IRAQ
II. TAKE ACTION! Call your REPRESENTATIVE TODAY! Urge your Representative to sign on to Rep. Ron Paul's (R-TX) LETTER. Switchboard (202)224-3121. See full alert below.
III. Rep. Paul's SIGN-ON LETTER to the PRESIDENT
I. Hard-liners in CONGRESS declare WAR on IRAQ
Since President Bush declared war against global terrorism, pressure has been building in Washington to make Iraq the next target. Last week, ten key Members of Congress sent a letter to the President declaring: "as we work to clean up Afghanistan and destroy al Qaeda, it is imperative that we plan to eliminate the threat from Iraq." Signers included Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Joseph Lieberman (D-CN), Jesse Helms (R-NC), Trent Lott (R-MS), Richard Shelby (R-AL), and Chair of the House International Relations Committee Henry Hyde (R-IL).
Now, the House International Relations Committee is scheduled to consider HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 75, a resolution that declares any "refusal by Iraq to admit United Nations weapons inspectors ... should be considered an act of aggression against the United States and its allies." This is a clear move to authorize large-scale bombing of Iraq. Introduced by Rep. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) the bill is cosponsored by Chairman Hyde (R-IL) and Representatives Goss (R-FL), Schrock (R-VA), Cantor (R-VA), Burr (R-NC), Cooksey (R-LA), Rohrabacher (R-CA), and Watkins (R-OK). The House International Relations Committee will consider the legislation on Tuesday at 4pm EST. This "mark up" hearing provides us with our best opportunity to defeat the bill.
Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) is circulating a CONGRESSIONAL SIGN-ON LETTER calling any war with Iraq "unwise and dangerous in the extreme" and urging the President to "limit the use of force to the apprehension of those who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001." Citing strong world opinion against taking phase II of the war on terrorism to Iraq, the letter states: "An attack on Iraq, or any other nation not involved in the 9/11 attacks, would.exceed the authority given by Congress in the joint resolution of September 14." The letter warns that an expansion of the war would cause a massive loss of life, lead to an international backlash against the U.S., and help "terrorists advance their ultimate goal" by "inflam[ing] the Muslim world into an all-out holy war against the United States. Representatives Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), Bartlett (R-MD), Houghton (R-NY) and Duncan (R-TN) have all signed on.
II. TAKE ACTION! Call your REPRESENTATIVE TODAY!
Urge your Representative to sign on to Rep. Ron Paul's letter (see full text below) and encourage them to speak out against HJ Res. 75 (scheduled for mark up on Tuesday, 4pm). Be sure to let them know that Representatives McKinney (D-GA), Bartlett (R-MD), Houghton (R-NY) and Duncan (R-TN) have already signed on, and many more are expected to sign on today. You can call your Representative via the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 225-3121 or (202) 224-3121. Ask to speak to the legislative aide that handles international relations. To sign on to the letter, congressional offices should contact Daniel McAdams in the Office of Ron Paul at 5-2831. DEADLINE END OF BUSINESS TUESDAY, 11 DECEMBER.
Please TAKE ACTION now to prevent the WAR from spreading even further.
III. Rep. Paul's SIGN-ON LETTER to the PRESIDENT:
President George W. Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500
December 6, 2001
"Dear Mr. President:
"The volume of those voices demanding a massive ground invasion of Iraq has been on the increase of late. These voices demand that the U.S. government move American troops from Afghanistan to Iraq, to overthrow Saddam Hussein and install a new government there. It would be unwise and dangerous in the extreme, however, to heed these calls to widen American military action, and we urge you to stay the course in responding to those who attacked the United States on September 11.
"Mr. President, there is no evidence that Iraq had any part in the September 11 attacks against the United States. Our allies, including Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, have agreed that Iraq had no role in the attack. According to the joint Congressional resolution authorizing the use of force, passed on September 14, "The President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons..." An attack on Iraq, or any other nation not involved in the 9/11 attacks, would therefore exceed the authority given by Congress in the joint resolution of September 14.
"We are also concerned that far from punishing terrorists who threaten the United States, an invasion of Iraq would undermine our security and open the door to an exponential increase in threats to our survival. An attack on Iraq could destroy the international coalition against terrorism, a carefully assembled construct that has allowed us to successfully traverse the geographic and political minefields of diverse nations with often conflicting interests, but united now in common cause. Most of our European allies - critical in maintaining this coalition - have explicitly stated their opposition to any attack on Iraq. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer warned recently that Europe was "completely united" in opposition to any attack on Iraq.
"Likewise, U.S. relations with the Gulf states like Saudi Arabia could collapse should the United States initiate an attack on Iraq. Not only would our Saudi allies deny us the use of their territory to launch the attack, but a certain backlash from all Gulf and Arab states could well produce even an oil embargo against the U.S. Egypt, a key ally in our fight against terrorism, has also warned against any attack on Iraq. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said recently of the coalition that, "If we want to keep consensus...we should not resort, after Afghanistan, to military means."
"Osama bin Laden has consistently made his goals known to his followers and the rest of the world: he seeks to inflame the Muslim world into an all-out holy war against the United States. Invading Iraq, with the massive loss of life on both sides, would only forward bin Laden's twisted and hateful plan. It would be both tragic and ironic if U.S. policy actually helped terrorists advance their ultimate goal of a world war between Islam and the West.
"Mr. President, we urge you to stay the course. We urge you to continue to act within the authority granted you in the joint Congressional resolution of September 14, and limit the use of force to the apprehension of those who "planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.""
--Ron Paul
NOTE: To sign on, Congressional offices should contact Daniel McAdams, Office of Ron Paul (203 Cannon HOB), at 225-2831. DEADLINE END OF BUSINESS TUESDAY, 11 DECEMBER
Please forward this appeal to friends, family, and anyone else who might be interested. "It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness".
NOV. 14:
TYRANNY BEGINS
The ancient Roman Republic lasted far longer than ours has so far. It finally was destroyed by a family of rich politicians who set up the Roman Empire. The end of liberty began by importing to Rome itself the methods used by the military against other countries.
Now that process has begun here.
"President Bush declared an "extraordinary emergency" yesterday that empowers him to order military trials for suspected international terrorists and their collaborators, bypassing the American criminal justice system, its rules of evidence and its constitutional guarantees."
See "Military May Try Terrorism Cases" here.
The order includes this: "it is not practicable to apply in military commissions under this order the principles of law and the rules of evidence generally recognized in the trial of criminal cases in the United States district courts."
For the text of the actual order see: "Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War Against Terrorism" here.
Among other provisions, it has "the military commission sitting as the triers of both fact and law". This violates the 6th Amendment to our U.S. Constitution, which says "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury..." But Bush says that's okay, because these people won't be citizens.
You've no doubt seen some version of the words of German pastor Martin Niemoller about the Nazis. This seems to be the accurate quote: "When Hitler attacked the Jews I was not a Jew, therefore I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the Catholics, I was not a Catholic, and therefore, I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the unions and the industrialists, I was not a member of the unions and I was not concerned. Then Hitler attacked me and the Protestant church -- and there was nobody left to be concerned."
IT CAN HAPPEN HERE, AND IT IS STARTING ALREADY.
It is time for us all to rage against the snuffing out of liberty's torch. Call, write, email -- use any means you can to tell Bush, his cabinet, all the members of Congress, and any papers or other news media you can reach, that this is AMERICA, and we won't put up with penny-ante Caesars here.
THIS ORDER IS ILLEGAL AND VIOLATES BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS AND IT MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO STAND.
OCT. 23:
A truly frightening story about the FBI in my last email got one troubling response. The recipient quoted that paragraph and said this:
"I support our using tough tactics against Islam."
Our country is not fighting Islam, but a specific terrorist group and one nation which has been harboring them. Their crimes compel us to action no matter what their religion is. The fact that those criminals proclaim their belief in Islam does not justify condemning all Muslims any more than the crusade of Richard the Lionhearted would justify condemning all Christians as murderous warmongers. In fact, many Muslim leaders and scholars denounced these attacks as prohibited by their religion. I previously sent out quotes from the Koran showing its condemnation of the killing of innocent people.
He then quoted an email from a friend with this line:
"Those fools who think that Islam is a peaceful, tolerant religion should read a translated version of the Koran. Especially the book titled "Women"."
I have read a translated version of the Koran. I can flatly state that there is no such titled book, or chapter, or section. Read the real thing and see for yourself.
The Bible has been quoted to seemingly justify many things, including slavery, lying, torture, murder, and mass slaughter of innocent people. Just as with Islam, many Jewish and Christian leaders and scholars have denounced those distortions -- but some people still believe in them, and use them to justify things like bombing abortion clinics. That doesn't mean those criminals are right about the Bible, and it doesn't mean we should condemn all Jews or Christians.
The old line is that "the devil can quote scripture for his own purpose." Well, the devil can just as easily quote Islamic scripture for his purpose, but that doesn't mean he's right about it either.
As for the "tough tactics" the FBI is considering in its frustration, the reason why all those witch hunts of just a few centuries ago kept finding more witches is that they were allowed to torture the suspects. Put someone on a rack and attack them with hot pokers and tongs and they will almost always confess to anything you want, just to stop the pain. Many other countries, such as Argentina, have been notorious in recent decades for doing just that. Not surprisingly, they got a whole lot of confessions by "terrorists", many of whom were innocent people forced into phony "confessions".
All of the Bill of Rights and our protections against police abuses are aimed not to protect the gulity, but to protect the innocent. And none of us should ever believe we will never need those protections ourself. This was stated well in a play a few decades ago. I found this on the web, from Robert Bolt's "A Man For All Seasons":
"Roper: So now you'd give the Devil benefit of law!
"More: Yes. What would you do: Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
"Roper: I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
"More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you -- where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country's planted thick with laws from coast to coast -- man's laws, not God's -- and if you cut them all down -- and you're just the man to do it -- d'you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake."
OCT. 22:
As more people die each day from germ warfare and U.S. troops are under fire, what the world needs are coldly rational, precisely targeted efforts against the murderers, not abuse of innocents, suppression of disagreement, or demagogic pandering.
"NO ONE EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION":
"AMERICAN investigators are considering resorting to harsher interrogation techniques, including torture, after facing a wall of silence from jailed suspected members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network... Options being weighed include "truth" drugs, pressure tactics and extraditing the suspects to countries whose security services are more used to employing a heavy-handed approach during interrogations... Some legal experts believe that the US Supreme Court, which has a conservative tilt, might be prepared to support curtailing the civil liberties of prisoners in terrorism cases."
See "FBI considers torture as suspects stay silent" here.
HOME-GROWN TERRORISTS WITH BIO-WEAPONS:
"In 1995, antigovernment activist Larry Wayne Harris was arrested for possession of a strain of anthrax that turned out to be nonlethal. He had previously been caught with the bacterium that causes the plague, and had written a self-published book on how to create and use biological weapons."
See "Watch out for America's own extremists" here.
PAT ROBERTSON KEEPS FANNING THE FLAMES:
""The Lord is getting ready to shake this nation. We have not yet seen his judgment on America," Robertson told a crowd.... "This thing that happened in New York was child's play compared to what's going to happen."
See "Pat Robertson: His Liberia Deal" here.
FANATIC TYRANNY = AN OLD AFGHAN TRADITION:
"The attention of their ruler to science aggravated the religious extremists.... Ulughbek was beheaded, and his observatory razed to the ground...."
See "Afghanistan's Ill-Fated Astronomer-Prince" here.
[Thanks to Don Kirk for all of these except the one about Ulughbek.]
OCT. 20:
The best line about what's going on is by a German poet: "The man who laughs has not yet heard the terrible news."
PHILADELPHIA KEEPS A MAN OFF A PLANE TWICE BECAUSE OF TWO NOVELS: (MY SUGGESTION: READ "FAHRENHEIT 451" BY RAY BRADBURY)
[This was in the Philadelphia City Paper on line, but the link has been removed. Thanks to Don Kirk for all three of these items.]
"Neil Godfrey arrived at Philadelphia International Airport around 9:30 a.m. on Wed., Oct. 10. ...As he passed through the metal detector, an airport security guard furrowed his brow at Godfrey's reading selections as they disappeared through the conveyor belt. On the cover of the book, HAYDUKE LIVES! by Edward Abbey, is an illustration of a man's hand holding several sticks of dynamite. The 1991 novel is about a radical environmentalist, George Washington Hayduke III, who blows up bridges, burns tractors and sabotages other projects he believes are destroying the beautiful Southwest landscape. "For the first time, it occurred to me the book may be a problem," Godfrey recalls.
He proceeded through the security checkpoint and sat down to read... About 10 minutes had passed when a National Guardsman approached Godfrey. "He told me to step aside," Godfrey says. "Then he took my book and asked me why I was reading it."
Within minutes, Godfrey says, Philadelphia Police officers, Pennsylvania State Troopers and airport security officials joined the National Guardsman. About 10 to 12 people examined the novel for 45 minutes, scratching out notes the entire time.
...Eventually, one of the law enforcement officials told Godfrey his book was "innocuous" and he would be allowed to board the plane. ....Another 10 minutes or so passed while he sat in the waiting area. A female United employee ...came over and informed him that he wouldn't be allowed to fly, "for three reasons." The first reason, she said, was that Godfrey was reading a book with an illustration of a bomb on the cover. Secondly, she said, he purchased his ticket on Sept. 11. (Godfrey bought the ticket on Priceline.com shortly after midnight, at least eight hours before the World Trade Center was attacked).
And the final reason cited by the United employee was that Godfrey's Arizona driver's license had expired. The employee pointed to a date to substantiate this allegation. "No," Godfrey told her. "That's the day the license was issued." The woman then pointed to another date on the card, Feb. 17, 2000, contending it was the expiration date. Godfrey countered that the date identified him as "under 21" until then. "Too bad, it's too late," the flight attendant informed him. A defeated and disappointed Godfrey reclaimed his luggage and was escorted out of the airport.
...Godfrey's mother offered to call United and attempt to straighten things out. A central reservation clerk assured her that her son was not banned from ever flying United again. She booked him on a different flight to Phoenix, this one departing Philadelphia at 3:04 p.m. that same afternoon. Godfrey scurried back to the airport, leaving the Abbey novel at home. He exchanged it for a seemingly benign novel, HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN.
When Godfrey arrived at the airport around 1:15 p.m., his luggage was again searched. But as Godfrey passed through the metal detector, a police officer recognized him from the commotion just a few hours earlier. The cop pulled Godfrey aside and made a few phone calls. Ultimately, he declared that everything checked out fine. But a National Guardsman standing nearby vetoed that decision.
"This time, they took my Harry Potter book and about four people studied it for 20 minutes," Godfrey says. Finally, at about 1:45 p.m., officials apparently felt reassured that Godfrey was not a security threat. They told Godfrey he would be permitted on the plane, but that he couldn't pass through security until 2:30 p.m.
At the appointed time, an escort took Godfrey through security, while at least 15 law enforcement officials looked on. Rather than taking Godfrey directly to his gate, however, he was ushered into a private interrogation room. "They patted me down and found nothing," Godfrey says. But when he emerged from this room, Burt Zastera, supervisor of airport operations for United, told him he would not be allowed to fly.
"He told me he didn't know the reason why, that he was 'just conveying the information,'" Godfrey recalls. Zastera gave Godfrey a contact number he could call for a full explanation. Godfrey's father called that number and was told his son was banned from flying United because he cracked "a joke about bombs."
"That is totally false," Godfrey says, pointing out that no one at the airport ever mentioned this to him. Plus, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations stipulate that any passenger who jokes about explosives be arrested on the spot. By contrast, Godfrey was never charged or even accused of breaking the law. In fact, Philadelphia Police officers didn't even file an incident report, according to department spokesman Cpl. Jim Pauley."
CONGRESS GIVES UP OUR FREEDOM TO SHOW THEY'RE ANGRY AT FOREIGN TERRORISTS -- PAVING THE WAY FOR DOMESTIC TYRRANY: (FOR THIS ONE READ "IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE" BY SINCLAIR LEWIS)
"The genius of the Bill of Rights is that it compels political factions to agree: "I won't put you in jail for your political ideas when I'm in power if you won't put me in jail for my political ideas when you're in power." The Bush Administration wants to break that historic consensus.
...Among the other flaws of the bill, as detailed by the ACLU, are "Sneak and Peak Searches," which allow the government to obtain secret warrants to enter homes, offices and places of business and download computer files without first informing the subjects of the search, and "Forum Shopping," which allow police to obtain a search warrant from any jurisdiction in the country regardless of where the search is to take place.
..."There is no doubt that if we lived in a police state, it would be easier to catch terrorists...," Feingold said in a speech to Congress. "But that wouldn't be a country in which we would want to live.... That country wouldn't be America." One of the goals of the 9/11 terrorists was to undermine our freedoms by fomenting political hysteria. With the so-called anti-terrorist bill now being negotiated in Congress, the terrorists are succeeding in that goal."
See "Attack on the Bill of Rights" here.
AFTER BEING CRITICIZED FOR BLAMING GAYS, FEMINISTS, AND THE ACLU FOR THE THE TERRORIST ATTACK, PAT ROBERTSON TRIES TO FIND ANOTHER SCAPEGOAT: (NO READING SUGGESTION FOR THIS; HE'S BEYOND FICTION)
"...Robertson offered an on-air commentary, saying there may be 100 million to 150 million Muslims who are fundamentalists, who ''take the words of Mohammed that are in the Koran that basically say kill Jews and Christians and launch a jihad against those who don't believe in Allah and submit to Islam.''"
See "Pat Robertson draws criticism for remarks on Islam" here.
FINALLY, FOR THOSE WHO WONDER WHY THEY'RE DOING THIS TO US, AND WHY THEY STOLE THE 2000 ELECTION:
"The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power. ...We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power."
--George Orwell, "1984"
OCT. 19:
[We are passing on this alert and this article about the horrors of life under the Taliban for women in Afghanistan, and the urgent need to make sure Bush's right-wing machine doesn't abandon them to more repression once the conflict ends. The alert comes from NOW, and the article was forwarded by Kay Cole.]
Action Alert
Help Women Rebuild Afghan Democracy
October 18, 2001
As U.S.-led military attacks on Afghanistan continue, world leaders have begun to discuss the future of Afghanistan if the Taliban is overthrown as a part of the war on terrorism. While both President Bush and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell have condemned the Taliban, they have suggested that factions of the Taliban might be included in efforts to restructure the Afghan government.
We need your help to demand that the U.S. include Afghan women leaders, many living in exile or under virtual house arrest, in rebuilding a democratic government in Afghanistan. The U.S. must not lend credence to the human rights abuses suffered by Afghan women and girls by allowing members of the Taliban to participate in reconstructing the country. Afghan women leaders - not Taliban extremists - must be at the table.
ACTION NEEDED:
We need your help to call on Secretary of State Colin Powell, President Bush, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Joseph Biden and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to:
1. Insist that Afghan women leaders be included in the rebuilding of a democratic government.
2. Demand that members of the Taliban be barred from participating in efforts to restructure the Afghan government.
Connect to www.now.org/congress to send an email to Secretary of State Colin Powell, President Bush, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Joseph Biden and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan demanding that Afghan women leaders be included in the rebuilding of a democratic government, and that women's human and democratic rights be protected against the warlords fighting for post-Taliban control.
If possible, please also call the U.S. State Department at 202-647-4000, the White House at 202-456-1414, Sen. Joseph Biden at 202-224-5042 and the United Nations at 212-3267000 to express these views.
BACKGROUND
The deplorable repression of Afghan women and girls under the Taliban regime has become headline news in recent weeks, but it has lasted for five long years. Women are prevented from working, attending school, receiving health care, going outside without both a male relative and a headtotoe covering and the beatings, torture and executions for violation of these and other strict rules have horrified the world.
Prior to the Taliban's 1996 takeover of the country, Afghan women were 70 percent of the school teachers, 40 percent of the doctors, 50 percent of government workers and 50 percent of the college students in Afghanistan. They were scientists, professors, members of parliament and university professors. They led corporations and nonprofit organizations in local communities. There are many women who are well equipped to participate in leading this country back to full democracy, and the U.S. must not allow the warlords to divide the spoils and spoil the opportunity for a government that includes women as full and equal human beings."
October 19, 2001
The Rifle and the Veil
By JAN GOODWIN and JESSICA NEUWIRTH
Anyone who has paid attention to the situation of women in Afghanistan should not have been surprised to learn that the Taliban are complicit in terrorism. When radical Muslim movements are on the rise, women are the canaries in the mines. The very visible repression of forced veiling and loss of hard-won freedoms coexists naturally with a general disrespect for human rights. This repression of women is not about religion; it is a political tool for achieving and consolidating power.
Sher Abbas Stanakzai, then the Taliban regime's deputy foreign minister, admitted as much in a 1997 interview. "Our current restrictions of women are necessary in order to bring the Afghan people under control," he said. "We need these restrictions until people learn to obey the Taliban."
In the same way that many Islamic extremist crusades use the oppression of women to help them gain control over wider populations, the Taliban and Osama bin Laden are now employing the tactics of terrorism to gain control.
The Taliban did not start the oppression of Afghan women, nor have they been its only practitioners.
In 1989, Arab militants working with the Afghan resistance to the Soviet Union based in Peshawar, Pakistan -- and helping to finance the resistance fighters -- issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, stating that Afghan women would be killed if they worked for humanitarian organizations. At that time, a third of the Afghan population of 15 million were displaced from their homes, and many were heavily dependent on humanitarian groups for food and other necessities. Among the 3.5 million of these refugees who were then living in Pakistan, many were war widows supporting their families by working for the aid groups. After the fatwa, Afghan women going to work were shot at and several were murdered. Some international aid groups promptly stopped employing Afghan women, and though many women were infuriated, most complied after being intimidated by the violent attacks. Soon afterward, another edict in Peshawar forbade Afghan women to "walk with pride" or walk in the middle of the street and said they must wear the hijab, the Arab black head and body covering and half-face veil. Again, most women felt they had no choice but to comply.
In 1990, a fatwa from Afghan leaders in Peshawar decreed that women should not attend schools or become educated, and that if they did, the Islamic movement would meet with failure. The document measured 2 feet by 3 feet to accommodate the signatures of about 200 mullahs and political leaders representing the majority of the seven main mujahedeen parties of Afghanistan. The leading school for Afghan girls in Peshawar, where many Afghan refugees still lived, was sprayed with Kalashnikov gunfire. It closed for months, and its principal was forced into hiding.
When an alliance of mujahedeen groups took over in Kabul in 1992, it forced women out of news broadcasting and government ministry jobs and required them to wear veils. But it was the Taliban who institutionalized the total oppression of women after Kabul fell to them four years later, and who required the total coverage of the now familiar burqa.
Now, as Afghans, Pakistanis and Americans look to the future of Afghanistan, most plans call for a broad-based new government giving representation to all of Afghanistan's ethnic groups and major political parties, including the Taliban. No one, however, has called for the participation of women, even though women, after many years of war, now almost certainly make up the majority of the adult Afghan population.
Afghan women gradually gained rights in the first decades of the 20th century. Women helped write their country's Constitution in 1964. They served in parliament and the cabinet and were diplomats, academics, professionals, judges and even army generals. All of this happened well before the Soviets arrived in 1979, with their much-touted claim of liberating Afghan women.
Many of the forces now opposing the Taliban include signatories of the later fatwas that deprived Afghan women of their rights. History is repeating itself.
Any political process that moves forward without the representation and participation of women will undermine any chances that the principles of democracy and human rights will take hold in Afghanistan. It will be the first clue that little has changed.
Jan Goodwin is author of "Price of Honor," a book on women and Islamic extremism. Jessica Neuwirth is president of Equality Now, an international women's rights group.
OCT. 8:
Now that American forces are actually engaged in fighting, we all hope: 1 - that all the U.S. personnel return safely home as soon as possible, 2 - that no innocent civilians are casualties of the conflict, and 3 - that the cold-blooded mass murderers are finally stopped.
IS THIS FINALLY THE PROOF ABOUT BIN LADEN?
"The full text of the summary of evidence against Osama bin Laden in U.S. terrorist attacks, released by the British government: RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE TERRORIST ATROCITIES IN THE UNITED STATES, 11 SEPTEMBER 2001" here.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE:
"Two key pieces of evidence were missing from the British government's dossier on the US attacks, made public last week. Now full details of the case against Bin Laden can be disclosed" here.
A MORE SKEPTICAL REACTION:
"Only nine of the 70 points in the document relate to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and these often rely on conjecture rather than evidence."
"This Loose Conjecture is Unlikely to Cut Much Ice with the Arab Nations" here.
MEANWHILE, BIGOTS KEEP REARING THEIR HEADS EVEN IN TRAGEDY:
"Louis P. Sheldon, chairman and founder of the ultra-conservative Traditional Values Coalition, said yesterday that public and private relief agencies providing assistance to the survivors of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks should not give aid to surviving members of gay partnerships....Assistance "should be given on the basis and priority of one man and one woman in a marital relationship."
"Minister Says Gays Should Not Get Aid" here.
A DEMOCRAT STANDS UP FOR COMMON SENSE IN SHARED LOSS:
"Senator Hillary Clinton says gays, lesbian terrorist survivors deserve same benefits as other families" here.
REMEMBER, THERE ARE LOTS OF BIGOTS IN AFGHANISTAN TOO:
A reminder of what life is like for women there: "Many Vie for Control over Post-Taliban Afghanistan; Women's Lives Hang in the Balance" here.
And a campaign to help them here.
And here's another: "Help the Women Refugees of Afghanistan" here.
[Jean Ball passed on this suggestion: Maybe we could really scare the Taliban by threatening to send Afghan women to college?]
A DEMOCRAT REMINDS US TO GUARD OUR RIGHTS:
"Protecting Constitutional Freedoms in the Face of Terrorism" by Senator Patrick Leahy here.
TWO EXAMPLES OF WHY WE HAVE TO:
"Some Cry Foul As Authorities Cast a Wide Net" here.
And "Ashcroft Seeks To Boost Power Of Secret Court" here.
AND MORE DETAILS ON THE DOMESTIC THREAT:
"ACLU Calls New Senate Terrorism Bill Significantly Worse; Says Long-Term Impact on Freedom Cannot Be Justified" here.
HOPE FOR AN ABNORMAL WORLD:
It is disgusting, but not unexpected, that some people would use a world tragedy to try and ram through their own agenda of hatred, economic greed, environmental ruin, and repression of opinions. Here's a brighter vision of what might have been instead:
"A New York City church filled and emptied six times last Tuesday. People stood in lines to give blood, and prayed for the wounded. America was different since September 11. We wept for people we did not know. We sent money to families we've never seen. Talk-show hosts read Scriptures, journalists printed prayers. Our focus shifted from fashion hemlines and box scores to orphans and widows and the future of the world.
"We were different these two weeks. Republicans stood next to Democrats. Catholics prayed with Jews. Skin color was covered by the ash of burning towers. This is a different country than it was two weeks ago.
"We're not as self-centered as we were. We're not as self-reliant as we were. Hands are out. Knees are bent. This is not normal. And I have to ask the question, "Do we want to go back to normal?"
"Are we being given a glimpse of a new way of life? Are we, as a nation, being reminded that the enemy is not each other and the power is not in ourselves and the future is not in our bank accounts?
"Could this unselfish prayerfulness be the way God intended for us to live all along? Maybe this, in his eyes, is the way we are called to live. And perhaps the best response to this tragedy is to refuse to go back to normal.
"Perhaps the best response is to follow the example of Tom Burnet. He was a passenger on flight 93. Minutes before the plane crashed in the fields of Pennsylvania he reached his wife by cell phone. "We are all going to die," he told her, "but there are three of us who are going to do something about it."
"We can do something about it as well. We can resolve to care more. We can resolve to pray more. And we can resolve that, God being our helper, we'll never go back to normal again." --by Max Lucado
[Thanks to Kathleen To for forwarding this.]
SEPT. 27 - WHAT IS IN A NAME? TWO EXAMPLES:
CANDIDATE BOWS OUT
Yesterday I was visited at the party office by a former candidate. This man had run in the Democratic Primary before and lost, but was considering another race in 2002. He told me he has decided not to run in the present climate. The reason is the way people are reacting to his name since the terrorist attacks on New York.
He was born Adam Woods. He is African-American, and several years ago he decided to change his name to an African one. He adopted the Nigerian name of Ozumba Lnuk-x.
Unfortunately, most people don't know the difference between Arabic and Ibo names. This is just one more foreign-sounding name to the bigots out there who are primed to hate any Muslim right now. People who have known him for years assume he is a Muslim just because of his name, and now they are treating him differently. In fact, Ozumba has been a member of the Church of Christ his whole life.
It doesn't matter whether we think Ozumba would or would not be a good candidate and office-holder. Either way, we should condemn the kind of prejudice which has caused him not to run. And we should condemn it even if he were Muslim. No member of any group should be blamed for the actions of a few sick murderers who happen to be the same religiion, or nationality, or race, or anything else. As Martin Luther King said, we should judge each individual by the content of his character.
--Bill Howell
[The following was read last night to a meeting of the Dallas County East Democrats by their President, Jim Flood.]
WAQAR HASAN
Who was Waqar Hasan? On Saturday, September 15, about 10 PM, someone walked into his convenience store at the border of Pleasant Grove and Balch Springs, lured him out from behind his protective plexiglass wall under the guise of ordering a grilled sandwich, and shot him dead. Over $3,000 was left untouched in the cash register.
Who was Waqar Hasan? A human being. An immigrant who moved to New Jersey 10 years ago from Pakistan seeking a better life for his family and himself. Working hard he was seeking the American Dream.
Who was Waqar Hasan? Another victim of hate and ignorance and the senseless violence rooted in bigotry and intolerance.
Why in America? Is this the kind of hate crime that Democrats have fought so hard to put on the books of law, the kind of hate crime that Republicans have for years tried to keep out of the journals of law? Yes, it certainly is. One of the goals of working and voting as a Democrat is fighting injustice, intolerance and racism. This unforgivable murderous act is no less a hate crime than hog-tying a man and dragging him through the streets. Our job is not finished.
With certainty, sorrow and resolve we will never forget the terrible tragedy of September 11, 2001.
Who is Waqar Hasan?
We must never forget!
--Jim Flood
SEPT. 24 - LIES, LAWS, AND SPIES:
Mark Twain said, "A lie is halfway around the world before the truth can put on its boots."
"THE BIG LIE":
That is the term used for a propaganda technique most identified with Hitler's propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels. He is supposed to have said that if you tell a lie big enough, lots of people will believe it, because they think no one would lie about something that huge. He blamed all of Germany's woes on a Jewish plot, rather than corrupt and stupid German politicians. It seemed to work for the Nazis.
I saw an example this morning. An NBC News reporter interviewed a Muslim extremist in Pakistan who claimed Jews were really behind the attack on the World Trade Center, and that no Jews died in the tragedy. The reporter added that many people there seemed to believe this.
This is not just a "big lie", but one of the biggest I've ever heard in my life. It's almost like claiming the sun didn't come up yesterday morning, or denying that 2 and 2 are 4. But it will be believed by many who think that no one would have dreamed up such a tale. Uneducated, mostly illiterate people, with no access to independent TV, radio, internet, or newspapers, struggling to survive in a brutal subsistence economy, will be very vulnerable to this. That describes the bulk of the people of Afghanistan and its refugees across the Pakistani border.
Just remember that U.S. and British forces may shortly be on the ground among people who swallow this kind of nonsense. They may not find much support, even among the Taliban's own victims.
PHONY "PHONY PHOTOS":
(I said that email we got [see Sept. 20] didn't sound like the BBC to me, but by the time it got to us, that's who it purported to be from.)
"Marco Carvallo, a student at Campanos University in Brazil, claimed in an email he sent to some information resource sites that CNN's footage of Palestinians celebrating after the attacks on America were not current. In fact, he claimed, they were pictures taken in 1991, during the Gulf War, when Palestinians celebrated Saddam Hussein's Scuds landing on Tel Aviv. ...he put out another message in which he said that he talked again with his unversity lecturer, who originally put the idea in his head, and she said she wasn't absolutely sure and had no proof - a tape for example - to prove her theory.
"The truth of the media coverage of the Palestinian street reactions is quite the opposite: videotapes shot at celebrations in the territories were taken by the Associated Press but not broadcast, as was footage by other media groups, because of threats by Palestinian elements on the lives of reporters and cameramen."
The story also has a photo with this caption: "NO FABRICATION: Children near Jerusalem's Old City waving Palestinian flags and chanting anti-U.S. slogans after hearing of the World Trade Center attack. (Photo: AP )"
Remember the old song about "you've got to be carefully taught" to hate other races, religions, etc.? It is tragic that some people are so obsessed with revenge that they indoctrinate children to cheer at the murder of thousands of innocent human beings - including other children. Even Palestinian leaders have joined the worldwide chorus of Islamic condemnation of the terrorists, but some fanatics are blind.
See "And Arafat, of course, is always to blame" here.
[Thanks to Haiya F. Naftali for finding this story.]
WILL THE NEW TEXAS HATE CRIMES LAW WORK?
"About a week ago, Waqar Hasan was found shot to death at his store in the Pleasant Grove section of Dallas. He was a Pakistani Muslim. In Austin, firebombs were hurled at a mosque and Muslim-owned gas station."
(This was linked to an editorial called "First test for hate crimes law" in the Austin American Statesman on Sept. 24. They've now changed the link. If it can be found, we'll put the new link back here.)
REMEMBER: WAR HYSTERIA OFTEN IGNORES THE BILL OF RIGHTS:
"Where was the writ of habeas corpus, for example, during the Palmer raids of 1919, when thousands of immigrants were rounded up and detained for months following an explosion in attorney general Palmer's home? (About five hundred were eventually deported, and the others were released without apology). Or when an estimated 110,000 Japanese immigrants found themselves in internment camps in 1942 for the crime of having Japanese ancestry?"
See "Taking Liberties: Fear and the Constitution" here.
[Thanks to Elaine Wiant for finding the two stories above.]
TWO CALLS FOR FOR A LAW ENFORCEMENT APPROACH:
"A first principle, then, must be that we treat this as an international crime, not an act of war, and that the rules of law should guide international response."
See: "International Crime, Not War" here.
"When IRA bombs were set off in London, there was no call to bomb the US, the source of most of the financial support for the IRA. Rather, efforts were made to deal with what lay behind the resort to terror. When a federal building was blown up in Oklahoma City, there were calls for bombing the Middle East, and it probably would have happened if the source turned out to be there. When it was found to be a militia-based bombing, there was no call to obliterate Montana and Idaho. Rather, there was a search for the perpetrator, who was found, brought to court and sentenced..."
See "Composite Interview - Noam Chomsky" here.
HOW THE U.S. HELPED THE OPPRESSORS AND TERRORISTS:
See "Bush's Faustian Deal With the Taliban" here.
And "Osama Bin Laden: How the U.S. Helped Midwife a Terrorist" here.
A WARNING ABOUT THE CYCLE OF REVENGE:
""Blow Kabul from under them?" You might as well hand out box-cutters and directions to Kennedy Airport to every kid in Afghanistan unto the third generation."
See "Indiscriminate bombing?" here.
SEPT. 23 - A LONE VOICE:
Here is an example of the kind of political bravery that John Kennedy rightly praised in his Profiles In Courage. Whether we agree with her vote or not, we should respect that as all too rare. It is a sickening comment on how crazy people get in wartime that she had been getting death threats. She's no threat to anyone. When mob anger is unleashed, it strikes blindly at both the guilty and the innocent. All of us need to remember the quote in her final sentence below.
--Bill Howell
"The Capitol Police began guarding (Representative Barbara) Lee (D-California) on Saturday because of death threats she received after voting against a resolution authorizing President Bush to use military force against anyone associated with last week's terrorist attacks. The resolution passed 98-0 in the Senate and 420-1 in the House. Lee's was the sole dissenting vote....She is quick to point out that she voted to condemn last week's attacks and to allocate $40 billion to fight terrorism.
"She does not rule out military action, she says, but she voted against the authorization to use force because she opposes giving the president the sole decision on when and where to make war. "I believe we must make sure that Congress upholds its responsibilities and upholds checks and balances. This is a representative democracy and it's our responsibility."
"Her agony was exacerbated by the knowledge that her chief of staff, Sandre Swanson, was mourning the death of his cousin Wanda Green, who was a flight attendant on the hijacked United jet that crashed in Pennsylvania.
"I admire the courage of Barbara Lee," says Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who spent the 1960s in the front lines of the civil rights movement. "She demonstrated raw courage to stand up and vote the way she did. She stood alone -- one against 420. Several other members wanted to be there also but at the same time, like me, they didn't want to be seen as soft on terrorism."
"On Monday...California talk radio was abuzz with callers denouncing Lee as a communist."
See "The Solitary Vote Of Barbara Lee" here.
And here is what she said on the House floor:
Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart, one that is filled with sorrow for the families and loved ones who were killed and injured in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Only the most foolish or the most callous would not understand the grief that has gripped the American people and millions across the world.
This unspeakable attack on the United States has forced me to rely on my moral compass, my conscience, and my God for direction. September 11 changed the world. Our deepest fears now haunt us. Yet I am convinced that military action will not prevent further acts of international terrorism against the United States.
I know that this use-of-force resolution will pass although we all know that the President can wage a war even without this resolution. However difficult this vote may be, some of us must urge the use of restraint. There must be some of us who say, let's step back for a moment and think through the implications of our actions today -- let us more fully understand its consequences.
We are not dealing with a conventional war. We cannot respond in a conventional manner. I do not want to see this spiral out of control. This crisis involves issues of national security, foreign policy, public safety, intelligence gathering, economics, and murder. Our response must be equally multifaceted.
We must not rush to judgment. Far too many innocent people have already died. Our country is in mourning. If we rush to launch a counterattack, we run too great a risk that women, children, and other noncombatants will be caught in the crossfire.
Nor can we let our justified anger over these outrageous acts by vicious murderers inflame prejudice against all Arab Americans, Muslims, Southeast Asians, or any other people because of their race, religion, or ethnicity.
Finally, we must be careful not to embark on an open-ended war with neither an exit strategy nor a focused target. We cannot repeat past mistakes.
In 1964, Congress gave President Lyndon Johnson the power to "take all necessary measures" to repel attacks and prevent further aggression. In so doing, this House abandoned its own constitutional responsibilities and launched our country into years of undeclared war in Vietnam.
At that time, Sen. Wayne Morse, one of two lonely votes against the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, declared, "I believe that history will record that we have made a grave mistake in subverting and circumventing the Constitution of the United States ... I believe that within the next century, future generations will look with dismay and great disappointment upon a Congress which is now about to make such a historic mistake."
Sen. Morse was correct, and I fear we make the same mistake today.
And I fear the consequences.
I have agonized over this vote. But I came to grips with it in the very painful yet beautiful memorial service today at the National Cathedral. As a member of the clergy so eloquently said, "As we act, let us not become the evil that we deplore."
SEPT. 22 - REACTIONS TO TERROR:
FROM HISTORY: "MILLIONS FOR DEFENSE, BUT NOT ONE CENT FOR TRIBUTE!":
Two hundred years ago our first Democratic President, Thomas Jefferson, refused to pay extortion to north African pirate states and instead sent in the Marines. Here's a quick summary:
"Barbary Wars" here.
NOW: BILLIONS FOR CORPORATIONS, BUT PEANUTS FOR LAID-OFF WORKERS:
"Congress Passes $15 Billion Airline Bailout" here.
REPUBLICANS USE THE CRISIS TO PUSH THEIR OWN AGENDA:
"No Time for Partisan Pleaders" here.
HERE'S JUST ONE EXAMPLE:
"Alaska Drilling Debate Heats Up" here.
MORE FOOLS FAN FLAMES OF HATE:
"...in Louisiana, Rep. John Cooksey was telling a radio interviewer that anyone wearing "a diaper on his head and a fan belt wrapped around the diaper" ought to be "pulled over" for extra questioning at airports."
"Fueling Bigotry" here.
FIGHTING AGAINST THE TIDE OF PREJUDICE:
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's site has a long list of links to condemnations of the terrorists by Muslim leaders worldwide, and of statements by American leaders (from Bush to Jesse Jackson) calling for tolerance and denouncing bigotry here at home, here.
Sadly, they have felt the need to put up a page with this: "Arab-American and Muslim children may feel a sense of stigma as a result of these attacks. They may have questions like, "Why do Arabs and Muslims commit such terrible acts?" It is important to let children know that these are the acts of a very few people. Most Arabs and Muslims are very good people who are horrified by the attacks. Every country has bad people who harm others. There were Arab Americans and Muslims who died in the World Trade Center and among the rescuers trying to save people. Arab Americans, both Christians and Muslims, have been praying for the victims and donating blood for the survivors."
"Advice to Arab-American Parents - Helping Children Cope" here.
HERE IS BIN LADEN'S OWN PROCLAMATION:
And yes, it is a gross distortion of Islamic doctrine.
"Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders World Islamic Front Statement 23 February 1998" here.
SOME POINT OUT THE TERRORISTS ARE A SYMPTOM, NOT A CAUSE:
"In Malaysia, state news agency Bernama quoted Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad as saying: "Hunting terrorism with weapons alone will not solve the problem completely as long as the anger among the oppressed still exists. If [we] want to wipe out terrorism, the problem in Palestine must be eradicated as well as that in Iraq and Chechnya."
Quoted (way down) in "Senate Passes $15 Billion Airline Aid Bill" here.
AND SOME SAY APPEASEMENT OF TERRORISTS HAS LED TO THIS:
"We Are All Israelis Now" here.
A LOCAL CALL FOR CALM AND REASON:
"Violence should not be returned" here.
ARTISTS TRY TO EXPRESS OUR PAIN:
An article about this is "Online, Artists Ask 'Why'?" here.
And the gallery of work is here.
A PRESCIENT POET?
An article about "Auden on Bin Laden" here.
And the poem itself: "September 1, 1939" by W. H. Auden here.
AND HERE'S THE POEM I THINK SUMS IT UP BEST:
"The Second Coming" by William Butler Yeats here.
AND LAST, A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT APPROACH:
Several people sent us this email. We don't know the original source:
"A military response, particularly an attack on Afghanistan, is exactly what the terrorists want. It will strengthen and swell their small but fanatical ranks.
Instead, bomb Afghanistan with butter, with rice, bread, clothing and medicine. It will cost less than conventional arms, poses no threat of US casualties and just might get the populace thinking that maybe the Taliban don't have the answers. After three years of drought and with starvation looming, let's offer the Afghani people the vision of a new future. One that includes full stomachs.
Bomb them with information. Video players and cassettes of world leaders, particularly Islamic leaders, condemning terrorism. Carpet the country with magazines and newspapers showing the horror of terrorism committed by their "guest". Blitz them with laptop computers and DVD players filled with a perspective that is denied them by their government. Saturation bombing with hope will mean that some of it gets through. Send so much that the Taliban can't collect and hide it all.
The Taliban are telling their people to prepare for Jihad. Instead, let's give the Afghani people their first good meal in years. Seeing your family fully fed and the prospect of stability in terms of food and a future is a powerful deterrent to martyrdom. All we ask in return is that they, as a people, agree to enter the civilized world. That includes handing over terrorists in their midst.
In responding to terrorism we need to do something different. Something unexpected..something that addresses the root of the problem. We need to take away the well of despair, ignorance and brutality from which the Osama bin Laden's of the world water their gardens of terror."
SEPT. 20:
GLOBAL PHOTOS OF SUPPORT:
For some beautiful and very touching shots of people around the world expressing sympathy with victims of last week's tragedy, see this url.
PHONY PHOTOS OF HATE?
Remember those pictures of Palestinians "celebrating the news of the attack"? We just received this umpteenth-hand forwarded email. We don't know if it's true; if so, it's terrible news about the media. On the other hand, the spelling and grammar don't sound like the BBC.
From: Eric Rosenthal:
"...one set of images caught my attention: the Palestinians celebrating the bombing, out on the streets, eating celebration sweets and making funny faces for the camera. Well, THOSE IMAGES WERE SHOT BACK IN 1991!!! Those are images of Palestinians celebrating the invasion of Kuwait! It's simply unacceptable that a super-power of communications as CNN uses images which do not correspond to the reality in talking about so serious of an issue. At the BBC here, we have these footages on videotapes recorded in 1991, with the very same images. But now, think for a moment about the impact of such images. Your people are hurt, emotionally fragile, and this kind of broadcast has very high possiblity of causing waves of anger and rage against the Palestinians. It's simply irresponsible to show images such as those."
IS IRAQ THE REAL ENEMY?
Here's an article from overseas saying Israel suspects Iraq of being the sponsor of the attacks: "Who did it? Foreign Report presents an alternative view" at this url.
And here's a column claiming the U.S. really is after Iraq:
"Bin Laden Best Left To Rot" at this url.
MORE ON HOW RESTRICTING OUR RIGHTS WOULDN'T PREVENT ATTACKS:
"Controlling encryption will not stop terrorists" at this url.
BUT BUSH GOES AHEAD DEMANDING MORE POWER ANYWAY:
"Bush Submits His Laws for War" at this url.
BUT A BROAD ALLIANCE FORMS TO OPPOSE THAT:
"Coalition to Congress: Slow Down" at this url.
AND A RELATED NOTE OF IRONY TOO GOOD TO MISS:
"Gran Hermano Is Watching" at this url.
SEPT. 18 - BAD AND HOPEFUL NEWS:
HOPEFUL: These two stories together give some hope that this could yet be ended without war:
"The Taliban...has said a group of Islamic clerics will decide whether to aid U.S. effort to apprehend bin Laden...A Pakistani government official...said the Afghan clerics might consider extraditing bin Laden to a country other than the United States...."
See "Delegation Returns to Pakistan" under "Ashcroft: 75 Immigrants Now Detained" at this url.
"Afghanistan's Taliban leaders, who have said bin Laden is a "guest" in their country, said on Tuesday they would consider surrendering him only if they had proof that he masterminded the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon...."Give us proof that he did it, because without that how can we give him up?" the Taliban's Information Minister Qudrutullah Jamal told Reuters.
"British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Tuesday that he had seen evidence pointing to...bin Laden as the prime suspect...."There is no doubt at all that he (bin Laden) is the prime suspect." Asked whether he had seen evidence himself, Blair said "Yes of course.""
See "UK's Blair Says Evidence Points to Osama Bin Laden" at this url.
BAD: BIGOTS CONTINUE HATE CRIMES AT HOME:
"An Indian-immigrant gas station owner was shot to death and a Lebanese-American clerk was targeted, but not injured, by gunfire at another Mesa gas station, police said Sunday. Shots were also fired at a home where a family of Afghani descent live. Frank Roque, 42, was charged with attempted murder in two of the three attacks Saturday...Roque shouted, "I stand for America all the way," as he was handcuffed Saturday night.
"Since Tuesday's attacks, authorities across the country have reported a number of attacks and threats against people of Middle Eastern descent. Among them: an attack on a Moroccan gas station attendant in Palos Heights, Ill.; an attempt to run over a Pakistani woman in a parking lot in Huntington, N.Y.; and the arrest of an armed man who allegedly set fire to a Seattle mosque."
See "Gunman kills immigrant in Arizona" at this url.
SOME PEOPLE TURN ON THE VICTIMS INSTEAD:
"The National Mental Health Association accused the Church of Scientology of attempting to recruit members under the guise of providing mental health counseling after last week's terrorist attacks. NMHA spokesman Mark Helmke said at least one television outlet, Fox News, publicized a toll-free number for the church last week as one to call for people seeking mental health counseling. A Fox official in New York confirmed the number was on the screen for about two hours. "Someone who called that number found out what it was and then they called us immediately and then we took it down immediately," said the official....A press release sent to Fox identified the number as belonging to the National Mental Health Assistance crisis hot line. It made no mention of Scientology.
"Here they create a National Mental Health Assistance organization, with the same initials as our organization's and convince one major news outlet to post their mental health number, and what does it go to? It goes to a place where they are trying to get people to join Scientology," said Helmke. "It's clear they aren't trying to help people with mental health but to get them to join their cult," he said.
See "Scientologists accused of misrepresenting selves during crisis" at this url.
IT SEEMS WARNINGS WERE IGNORED:
"Mossad officials traveled to Washington last month to warn the CIA and the FBI that a cell of up to 200 terrorists was planning a major operation, according to a report in the Sunday Telegraph here yesterday. The paper said the Israeli officials specifically warned their counterparts in Washington that "large-scale terrorist attacks on highly visible targets on the American mainland were imminent."
See "Mossad warned CIA of attacks" at this url.
SO MUCH FOR CALLS FOR MORE INTERNET SPYING AT HOME:
"Osama bin Laden...is outfoxing intelligence agencies with his low-tech communication methods. "...bin Laden has ditched his satellite-linked phones, mobile handsets and Internet access....he has reverted to the Stone Age and simply receives emissaries and issues his orders in person...." "There is an absence of communication -- they are not using e-mail, telephones or cellular. In this day and age of technology all those systems are vulnerable.""
See "Bin Laden goes low-tech to avoid a trace" at this url.
NO, I'M NOT SPREADING THIS URL:
One website (at least!) is seriously calling for an end to the ban on guns aboard aircraft, saying armed passengers could have stopped these attacks. Considering that story above about hate crimes, they could have killed a lot of "suspicious-looking" innocent people too. I have visions of Hollywood-style gun battles on planes. This should make stocks of bus lines go up. Maybe the planes would give us a choice: "Do you want a shooting or a non-shooting flight?"
SEPT. 16 - "FREEDOM WAS ATTACKED":
First the good news: it seems that Pakistan is cooperating fully in our efforts to retrieve the alleged leader of Tuesday's mass murderers from his haven in their neighbor Afghanistan.
Meanwhile at home, the number of confirmed dead still is rising toward an estimate of over five thousand -- twice those killed at Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Amid our shock and horror, rumors have flown thick and fast. Overwhelmed with pain, we have often believed them and called for action without thinking through the consequences. This is understandable. We were even warned about this within hours of the explosions. On Tuesday afternoon Guy Jackson, Secretary of the Texas Democratic County Chairs Association, sent out an email with this reminder:
"AS DEMOCRATS, WE MUST ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT TO KEEP OUR NATION FREE AND MAINTAIN THE PEOPLE'S FREEDOM OF SPEECH, WE HAVE A HARD ROAD TO HOE, BALANCING INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM WITH COLLECTIVE SECURITY. DICTATORS COME TO POWER BY CONVINCING THE POPULACE THAT AN EXCHANGE OF PERSONAL FREEDOM FOR COLLECTIVE SECURITY IS A GOOD TRADE....
"I AM AFRAID WE WILL NOW BE INUNDATED BY CALLS FOR THE RESTRICTION OF OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS UNDER THE GUISE OF "PROTECTING THE PUBLIC". TAKE CARE. I ALSO FEAR THAT THE REPUBLICANS WILL LEAD THE CHARGE ON THIS ISSUE. TAKE TIME TO LISTEN TO THE NEWS AND WATCH TV AND MARK DOWN WHAT POLITICIAN SAYS WHAT."
It appears that his words may come true. Here are a few signs:
The Senate caves in to fear:
"...the Senate approved the "Combating Terrorism Act of 2001", which enhances police wiretap powers and permits monitoring in more situations....The measure...says any U.S. attorney or state attorney general can order the installation of the FBI's Carnivore surveillance system....Under the Combating Terrorism Act, prosecutors could authorize surveillance for 48-hour periods WITHOUT A JUDGE'S APPROVAL...."
"Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont)...suggested that the bill went far beyond merely thwarting terrorism and could endanger Americans' privacy. He also said he had a chance to read the Combating Terrorism Act just 30 minutes before the floor debate began. "Maybe the Senate wants to just go ahead and adopt new abilities to wiretap our citizens," Leahy said. "Maybe they want to adopt new abilities to go into people's computers. Maybe that will make us feel safer. Maybe. And maybe what the terrorists have done made us a little bit less safe. Maybe they have increased Big Brother in this country.""
See "Senate OKs FBI Net Spying".
The FBI seizes the moment:
"Just hours after three airplanes smashed into the buildings...FBI agents began to visit Web-based, e-mail firms and network providers...An administrator at one major network service provider said that FBI agents showed up at his workplace on Tuesday "with a couple of Carnivores, requesting permission to place them in our core..." The FBI's controversial Carnivore spy system...is a specially configured Windows computer designed to sit on an Internet provider's network and monitor electronic ommunications...A few years ago, one House committee approved a bill that would have banned any encryption product without a back door entrance for the federal government...Tuesday afternoon...one... defense expert...warned that "PGP and Internet encryption" would be blamed for the attacks."
See "Anti-Attack Feds Push Carnivore".
A dash of cold facts from overseas:
"The US operates the most technologically sophisticated international surveillance network in the world....it runs an international eavesdropping system known as "Echelon". A system of newly installed internet taps code-named Carnivore also gives US law enforcers the power to trawl email messages for information. But none of this gave any hint of the audacious and tragic events which destroyed the World Trade Center and killed many thousands of people. Even a ploy as simple as previously-agreed code words can effectively disable these huge data screening operations....the communications methods employed by such organisations are designed to defy technological surveillance..."some of the most important information is relayed non-technologically, often carried by human couriers....""
See "Intelligence technology may not stop terrorists".
One thing the government SHOULD have done to help prevent this:
"Yet airports throughout the United States rely on security personnel who are paid about $6 an hour, less than they could earn serving fast food. These guardians of our lives receive only a few hours of training, and more than 90 percent of the people screening bags have been on the job for less than six months."
See "Paying the Price" by Paul Krugman.
Another Democrat in Congress raises questions, and debate rages:
"Saturday a small group of people, including U.S. Representative Lynn Rivers, from Michigan's 13th Congressional District, met in the University of Maryland Baltimore County library to discuss ways to maintain Americans' civil liberties despite major pressure to curtail them in the name of "fighting terrorism."...Rep. Rivers said half the people in her district's gut reaction to the idea of legislation allowing government to read their email without getting a warrant first was along the lines of, "So what? I don't break any laws, so I have nothing to hide."
"In 1996, TWA Flight 800 exploded and crashed in the Atlantic. Originally people thought it was a missile attack. The FBI demanded, and Congress passed, a law giving law enforcement greater abilities to expel aliens from the country. Eventually we learned the crash was caused by a mechanical malfunction, but the law still stands."
See "Preserve Your Rights Online - Act Now".
While we rightly seek to find and punish the vile perpetrators of the worst act of terrorism in our history, let us also remember the words of Benjamin Franklin: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
A HAND IN THE DARKNESS:
This shows what America is supposed to be all about.
"My name is Usman Farman and I graduated from Bentley with a Finance degree last May. I am 21 years old, turning 22 in October; I am Pakistani, and I am Muslim. Until September 10th 2001, I used to work at the World Trade Center....
"We were evacuated.... I stopped and turned around to watch. With a thousand people staring, we saw in shock as the first tower collapsed....a dark cloud of glass and debris about 50 stories high came tumbling towards us.... I fell down trying to get away.
"I was on my back, facing this massive cloud that was approaching, it must have been 600 feet off, everything was already dark. I normally wear a pendant around my neck, inscribed with an Arabic prayer for safety; similar to the cross. A Hasidic Jewish man came up to me and held the pendant in his hand, and looked at it. He read the Arabic out loud for a second. What he said next, I will never forget. With a deep Brooklyn accent he said "Brother, if you don't mind, there is a cloud of glass coming at us, grab my hand, lets get the hell out of here". He helped me stand up, and we ran for what seemed like forever without looking back....
"As the world continues to reel from this tragedy, people in the streets are lashing out. Not far from my home, a Pakistani woman was run over on purpose as she was crossing the parking lot to put groceries in her car. Her only fault? That she had her head covered and was wearing the traditional clothing of my homeland. I am afraid for my family's well being within our community. My older sister is too scared to take the subway into work now. My 8-year-old sister's school is under lockdown and armed watch by police.
"Violence only begets violence, and by lashing out at each other in fear and hatred, we will become no better than the faceless cowards who committed this atrocity. If it weren't for that man who helped me get up, I would most likely be in the hospital right now, if not dead. Help came from the least expected place, and goes only to show, that we are all in this together ... regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity. Those are principles that this country was founded on.... The one thing that won't help, is if we fight amongst ourselves, because it is then that we are doing exactly what they want us to do....
"I am Pakistani, and I am Muslim, and I too have been victimized by this awful tragedy. The next time you feel angry about this, and perhaps want to retaliate in your own way, please remember these words: "Brother, if you don't mind, there is a cloud of glass coming at us, grab my hand, let's get the hell out of here.""
If you want to read the entire account, go here.
SEPT. 14: HATRED SPREADS / LIGHT A CANDLE
I've warned (see stories below) about the scapegoating and hatred, the threats and actual acts of violence, already being directed toward American Muslims in the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. It seems I underestimated the grasp of the venomous hate-mongers out there. This story is just mind boggling.
On Pat Robertswon's so-called "Christian" news program (I resent and reject his claim to speak for Christians), he asked Jerry Falwell to comment on Tuesday's attacks. Among his comments were these:
"The ACLU's got to take a lot of blame for this...throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle...all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say, 'You helped this happen.'"
The best response I have seen yet to this madness is from Lorri L. Jean, the executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, who said "The terrible tragedy that has befallen our nation, and indeed the entire global community, is the sad byproduct of fanaticism. It has its roots in the same fanaticism that enables people like Jerry Falwell to preach hate against those who do not think, live, or love in the exact same way he does. The tragedies that have occurred this week did not occur because someone made God mad, as Mr. Falwell asserts. They occurred because of hate. It is time to move beyond a place of hate and to a place of healing. We hope that Mr. Falwell will apologize to the U.S. and world communities. Our hearts go out to the victims of this week's tragedies and their friends and family members."
I wish I could say this would be enough to discredit Falwell with his followers, but I fear that some may be as blind to common human feeling as the fanatics who took over and crashed those planes. On the other hand, one of the first emails I got after the tragedy was from one of our candidates for Judge, PATRICK STRAUSS, who sent me twelve prayers for peace from all different religions. Yes, that included a Muslim prayer too. And last night Dallas Mayor RON KIRK arrived late for his talk to the Garland Democrats. That was because he had been at a city prayer vigil earlier in the evening. And former Dallas County Precinct Chair Kathleen To sent me this:
Subject: Candle Lighting
Friday night (Sept. 14) at 7:00 p.m. step out your door, stop your car, or step out of your establishment and light a candle. We will show the world that Americans are strong and united together against terrorism. Please pass this to everyone on your e-mail list. We need to reach everyone across the United States quickly. The message: WE STAND UNITED - WE WILL NOT TOLERATE TERRORISM.
Thankfully, most Americans, and yes, most Democrats, are far better people than demagogues like Falwell could imagine.
Mayor Kirk also told me that TONY SANCHEZ was among those stranded in New York City by the shutdown of the nation's airports. He had been there Tuesday to meet with some people in the very same part of town that the terrorists attacked. We usually forget that all of us are always closer to death and tragedy than we imagine. Life is too fragile and too short to waste any of it hating each other. Let us renew our dedication to making this a better world for everyone.
SEPT. 13 UPDATE:
Sadly, my fears (see the story below) were correct. Already a mosque in Carrollton had something thrown through it's window, one in Irving had six shots fired into it, and a crude firebomb was thrown at one in Denton. Similar hate crimes are occurring around the country. The venom and hatred being put up by some people on the web against Muslims is sickening. Leaders of all these local groups have condemned the terrorist acts in New York and Washington. The Koran says that whoever kills an innocent soul "it is as if he had slain mankind entirely."
Meanwhile hundreds of brave persons of all faiths are still laboring to save people from the rubble in New York. They are not asking the victims which religion they follow. The Koran goes on: "And whoever saves one, it is as if he had saved mankind entirely." We may wish that both the terrorists and the local anti-Muslim thugs had all read this and followed it. Obviously all those firefighters and rescue workers, many of whom died trying to help, already believed this in their hearts.
SEPT. 12: RABID DOGS AND BLIND RAGE:
The nightmare began early Tuesday morning, September 11. Well-organized suicidal terrorists highjacked four jet airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Casualties are in the thousands.
This brutal mass slaughter has united Americans. Untold numbers are volunteering to help, or donating blood, or holding prayer meetings in churches, synagogues, and mosques all over the country. Even the very polarized members of both parties in Congress held hands and sang "God Bless America" together.
The news cast a special shadow on a breakfast with Hadassah Lieberman. She reminded people how her parents had been in a death camp and a slave labor camp in Nazi Germany. Unlike six million others, they survived. They came to America to escape persecution. Now it seemed religious hatred and mass murder may have come here too.
The actual highjackers are dead, but this effort required a lot of expensive support from somewhere. There are growing demands to find out who the backers of this crime were and bring them to justice. To many (86% in one overnight poll), justice would be to kill them all in a military attack. These conspirators are the human equivalent of rabid dogs. No civilized person would weep for them.
A President once said "we have nothing to fear but fear itself" -- and there is lots of fear. Many downtown office buildings were closed down across the country. All airports were shut down. No terrorists could have done that themselves. Only our own government had that power.
Suspicion is being directed at Islamic terrorist groups like those connected to the previous bombing of the World Trade Center. Muslim nations and groups worldwide have condemned this terrorist action. Islamic law prohibits such crimes. Of course, that law is not always followed by everyone, just as not all Christians always follow the teachings of Jesus.
Unfortunately, shock and anger has made some Americans blind with rage. Instead of just blaming the actual perpetrators, they hate anyone of the supposed criminals' religion. Mosques and Muslim organizations nationwide have received bomb threats and death threats. One report said an Arab cabdriver was dragged from his cab and beaten.
This kind of religious bigotry and collective guilt by association only spreads the same poison that has been killing people in the Middle East for generations. As Gandhi said to one fanatic religious murderer, "There is a way out of Hell." What we need to do is identify those individuals who are guilty and punish them. We don't need to blame others who are just as outraged by this crime. If we do that, we become victims twice -- once of the terrorist act, and once of the self-inflicted cancer of hate. Let's not repeat the same mistakes of the old world in the new.
I close with this morning's words from House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt: "They do not know America, and they do not know Americans. They think freedom is our vulnerability. It is our strength."
For regular political news, see News.