September 11th--Tributes & Troubling Questions
Editorials of Note
Of Altruism, Heroism and Nature's Gifts in the Face of Terror, by Natalie Angier, New York Times, September 18, 2001
This excellent article by the Pulitzer Prize winning NY Times journalist, Natalie Angier, will be included in the 2001edition of the prestigious annual publication The Best American Science Writing.
Post Hoc Miracles, by Bruce Monson, Atheists in Foxholes column, Freethought Today, June/July 2002
I take exception when I'm told (all too frequently) that "even though [I'm] an atheist [I'm] still being directed by God's loving hand," and whenever I do "good" I'm not really the one at work, but Jesus! But I'm still going to Hell!
Religion's Misguided Missiles, by Richard Dawkins
Promise a young man that death is not the end and he will willingly cause disaster
Atheists Are Citizens Too, by Katherine Bourdonnay
How Islam Lost it's Way... by Pervez Amir Ali Hoodbhoy
Leave God Out of It, by Christine Odone, The Observer
Bin Laden invokes Allah, Bush talks of a Christian crusade. Bad religion hides dirty politics
An Effective and
Reasonable 'Next Step'
A thought-provoking satire that holds a mirror up to the Bush administration and dares them to look at their reflections without the aid of rose-colored glasses.
"The Sad and Sordid Whereabouts of bin Cheney and bin Bush"--A Free Online Chapter addition to "Stupid White Men," by Michael Moore
See No Evil: U.S. policy results in slow genocide in the cradle of civilization -- Iraq, by Jane McBee, Colorado Springs Independent June 20-26, 2002
The Miracles, by Mark Vuletic
The War Prayer, by Mark Twain
It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety's sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way.
See also William Edelen's essay on The War Prayer
Of "Terrorists" and "Freedom Fighters"
Hearts
and Minds, National Public Radio's This American Life, Episode 200,
November 30, 2001«--- LISTEN!
Of all the wars to win, perhaps the
propaganda war is the hardest. In this show, we bring you stories of propaganda wars past
and present, by those who fought them, and those who survived them.
Dr. Robert Muller: A New Slant on the War and the UN, by Marilyn Zimman
No matter what happens, history will record that this is a new era, and that the 21st century has been initiated with the world in a global dialogue looking deeply, profoundly and responsibly as a global community at the legitimacy of the actions of a nation that is desperate to go to war.
I Was a Human Shield in Iraq, by Ryan Clancy, Buzzflash, 3/15/03
Sen. Lindsey Graham recently called our actions as Human Shields "treasonous" and hopes to see us punished for more than the ten years in jail and $1 million in fines that the law currently allows for. He said that we were "giving aid and comfort to the enemy." I was not comforting the enemy – I was comforting the Iraqi people. The only aid that I provided was construction paper and crayons for children, and I did so fairly confident that they would not be used to make weapons of mass destruction.
Bush's speech signaled the end of rule of law,
Denver
Post 2/23/03
On Jan. 28, in one speech, George W.
Bush threw away and rejected all this that I had learned. He scorned the rationality of
his opponents, scorned the diplomatic process, scorned containment, condemned deterrence,
declared the right of pre-emptive aggressive war, implied a willingness to use nuclear
weapons first and authored a new doctrine of American imperialism for the Middle East.
Superpower Gone Ballistic, Acting very Roguish (Risks Tomorrows Super Bowl, Now That is Quite Atrocious!), by Bruce Monson, 1/30/03
I saw an interesting commercial on the cable sports channel ESPN this morning. It said: "Without sports there would be no next year." I think they might be right—at least in America.
US Guns Ready To Irradiate, Poison Much More Of Iraq: A Silver Bullet's Toxic Legacy, by Scott Peterson, Rense.com, 12/23/02
- As American forces prepare to take on Iraq in a possible Gulf War II, analysts agree that the bad publicity and popular fears about depleted uranium (DU) use in the first Gulf War, and later in Kosovo and Afghanistan, have not dented Pentagon enthusiasm for its "silver bullet." US forces in Iraq will again deploy DU as their most effective - and most controversial - tank-busting bullet.
America the Hated, by Joe Sobran, Sobrans, 12/12/02 «--- READ!
The Bush administration’s threat to use nuclear weapons against Iraq, though thinly veiled in circumlocutions, should tell us all we need to know about the American image in the world today. The United States, once so admired over most of the earth, is now seen as a nuclear bully. No wonder it’s called “the great Satan” by Muslims and “arrogant” even by its European friends. And President Bush thinks they hate us for “our freedom, our democracy”?
Lesser of two 'evils' can save US a lot of trouble and lives, , November 18, 2002
Morality, War and Journalism, by Drew Oja Jay, Monkeyfist.com 10/14/02 «--- READ!
Is a war in Afghanistan (or Iraq) still an acceptable course of action if 1,000 innocents die as a result? What about 10,000? One million? Ten million? There is no publicly acknowledged limit.
REASONS WHY WE SHOULDN'T: Right, Left and Center, by TomPaine.com Staff, 10/28/02
Ivan Eland of the Cato Institute offers 10 compelling reasons why we
should not attack Iraq... Salman Rushdie points out the irony of a U.S.-inspired jihad...
Tom Tomorrow's cartoon commentary... and much more.
The Day After, By Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times, 9/28/02
As soon as American troops are rolling through Saddam Hussein's palaces, the odds are that this holy Shiite city 100 miles south of Baghdad will erupt in a fury of killing, torture, rape and chaos.
TOTAL ECLIPSE: When Did Iraq Become More Important Than America?, TomPaine.com OP AD in NY Times, 10/8/02 «--- READ!
Saddam Hussein is an imminent threat OR he's just a convenient
political distraction wielded by the White House. Whichever way you see it, you must
agree: The attack-Iraq tempest has eclipsed most other issues
Power Politics: March 12, 1998 (Excellent)
James Woolsey and Noam Chomsky debate how far the U.S. can go in it's foreign policy. «--- READ!
San Francisco Anti-War Speeches
Audio Excerpts From The Oct. 26 Protest Rally
INCREASES IN MILITARY SPENDING AND SECURITY ASSISTANCE SINCE 9/11/01, TomPaine.com Feature, 10/8/02 «--- READ!
A Fact Sheet Prepared By The Arms Trade Resource Center, by Arms Trade Research Center The Bush administration has sought more than $150 billion in new military spending, the vast majority of which has been approved by Congress with few questions asked.
The Altar of Heroism, by Bruce Monson, Atheists in Foxholes column, Freethought Today, September, 2002
IRAQ--NO!, by Joan Rothschild, PH.D, October, 2002
Univ. of Massachussettes-Lowell professor Joan Rothschild speaks-out against the drum beat of war being pandered by the Bush administration.
Drain the Swamp and There Will Be No More Mosquitoes By attacking Iraq, the US will invite a new wave of terrorist attacks, by Noam Chomsky, The Guardian, 9/9/2002
Iraq: The Lying Game, by John Pilger, The Mirror UK, 8/27/02
John Pilger on the deceit used to justify a war against Saddam Hussein--THE Blair government was told in January by the Americans that there was no justification for attacking Iraq in the "war on terrorism" and that their main aim was getting rid of Saddam Hussein who stood in the way of the West's control of Middle Eastern oil wealth.
Terrorism and the War Crisis, by Fidel Castro, November, 2001 «--- READ!
This is the text of a speech delivered by Cuban President Fidel Castro in Havana, September 22, 2001 in response to George W. Bush's speech to Congress following 9/11. I was impressed with Castro's even-handed logic and reasoning, and whatever one's views of Castro may be, I think he offers some valid arguments that should be heard. I think his comments are especially interesting considering that he made them a year ago, and how the beat of the war drum by the Bush administration has escalated in the interim.
LEARNING TO LOVE BIG BROTHER: George Bush Channels George Orwell, by Daniel Kurtzman «--- READ!
George Orwell's prophetic novel was intended to be read as a warning about the evils of totalitarianism -- not a how-to manual.
After the Attack . . . The War on Terrorism, by the Editors, the Monthly Review
Consider the following. The United States has employed its military forces in other countries over seventy times since 1945, not counting innumerable instances of counterinsurgency operations by the CIA.
CAN 'WE THE PEOPLE' STOP A WAR?: A Crucial Test Case For Citizen-Led Democracy, by Medea Benjamin
Right now I am desperately eager to be proven wrong about the lack of democracy in this country. I want us, the people, to stop a war with Iraq. Our task: turn Americans' latent misgivings into blatant opposition.
Camps for Citizens: Ashcroft's Hellish Vision, Los Angeles Times, 8/14/02 «--- READ!
Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft's announced desire for camps for U.S. citizens he deems to be "enemy combatants" has moved him from merely being a political embarrassment to being a constitutional menace.
REGIME CHANGE
NEEDED FOR ONE ROGUE STATE
A View Of The U.S. From Across The Pond, by Adrian Hamilton, 8/12/02 «--- READ!
Its government has no majority. It refuses arms monitoring. Its opponents are locked up without trial. But given time, this rogue superstate might take its place once again among the family of peace-loving nations.
The "War on Terror": Sense and Nonsense, by Dru Oja JAY, Monkeyfist.com, January 17, 2002
Flaws in U.S. Air War Left Hundreds of Civilians Dead, NY Times, 7/21/02
The American air campaign in Afghanistan, based on a high-tech, out-of-harm's-way strategy, has produced a pattern of mistakes that have killed hundreds of Afghan civilians.
The Great Charade, by John Pilger, The Observer--London, 7/14/02 «--- READ!
As the West prepares for an assault on Iraq, John Pilger argues that 'war on terror' is a smokescreen created by the ultimate terrorist ... America itself.
See also: Leading Rogue State and It's Mercenaries (7/7/02)
Hot Type Transcript: Noam Chomsky "9-11" Interview with Noam Chomsky April 16, 2002 «--- READ!
Those who
understand Bin Laden by Massimo Pigliucci, Rationally
Speaking, April, 2002
Leaders as far back as the Roman emperors have always realized that the threat of military danger and terrorism is an extremely efficient way of keeping your own people under control.
Noam Chomsky: The Salon Interview
Originally appeared as "Noam Chomsky: The nation's most implacable
critic of U.S. foreign policy argues that the war is unjust, America is the biggest
terrorist state and intellectuals always support official violence." on Salon.com
Interviewed by Suzy Hansen
Hard Talk: Chomsky Interview, February 27, 2002
Edited excerpts from an interview on the British Broadcasting Corporation's Hard Talk--Noam Chomsky interviewed by Tim Sebastian
The Campaign of Hatred Against Us - Noam Chomsky, January 2002
Edited excerpts of an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Four Corners Noam Chomsky interviewed by Ticky Fullerton
September 2001 interview with Noam Chomsky by Radio B92, Belgrade
The Real War, by Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times, 11/27/02
Other Items of Interest
Firefighters Blast Bush, by Helen Kennedy, New York Daily News, 8/15/02
WASHINGTON - The International Association of Firefighters caused a furor yesterday by voting unanimously to consider boycotting President Bush's October speech honoring the 343 FDNY personnel who died in New York.
In Memory & Tribute
In Memorial of the Victims of Mass Murder, by Richard Carrier, Internet Infidels 9/12/01
PBS FRONTLINE SPECIAL: Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero
Resources