CIVIL LIBERTIES  
Democracy Now! / By Amy Goodman
comments_imageCOMMENTS: 451

Seymour Hersh: Secret U.S. Forces Carried Out Assassinations in 'a Lot of' Countries, Including in Latin America

The investigative journalist for The New Yorker explains his recent bombshell revelation about Dick Cheney's "executive assassination" squads.
March 31, 2009  |  
 
 
LIKE THIS ARTICLE ?
Join our mailing list:

Sign up to stay up to date on the latest Civil Liberties headlines via email.

 
 
Advertisement
 

Amy Goodman: Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh created a stir last month when he said the Bush administration ran an executive assassination ring that reported directly to Vice President Dick Cheney. Hersh made the comment during a speech at the University of Minnesota on March 10th.

Seymour Hersh: Congress has no oversight of it. It's an executive assassination wing, essentially. And it's been going on and on and on. And just today in the Times there was a story saying that its leader, a three-star admiral named McRaven, ordered a stop to certain activities because there were so many collateral deaths. It's been going in -- under President Bush's authority, they've been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or to the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving.

Amy Goodman: Yesterday, CNN interviewed Dick Cheney's former national security adviser, John Hannah. Wolf Blitzer asked Hannah about Sy Hersh's claim.

Wolf Blitzer: Is there a list of terrorists, suspected terrorists out there who can be assassinated?
John Hannah: There is clearly a group of people that go through a very extremely well-vetted process, inter-agency process, as I think was explained in your piece, that have committed acts of war against the United States, who are at war with the United States, or are suspected of planning operations of war against the United States, who authority is given to the troops in the field and in certain war theaters to capture or kill those individuals. That is certainly true.
Wolf Blitzer: And so, this would be, and from your perspective -- and you worked in the Bush administration for many year-- it would be totally constitutional, totally legal, to go out and find these guys and to whack 'em.
John Hannah: There's no question that in a theater of war, when we are at war, and we know -- there's no doubt, we are still at war against al-Qaeda in Iraq, al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and on that Pakistani border, that our troops have the authority to go after and capture and kill the enemy, including the leadership of the enemy.

Amy Goodman: That's John Hannah, Dick Cheney's former national security adviser. Seymour Hersh joins me now here in Washington, D.C., staff writer for The New Yorker magazine. His latest article appears in the current issue, called "Syria Calling: The Obama Administration's Chance to Engage in a Middle East Peace."

OK, welcome to Democracy Now!, Sy Hersh. It was good to see you last night at Georgetown. Talk about, first, these comments you made at the University of Minnesota.

Seymour Hersh: Well, it was sort of stupid of me to start talking about stuff I haven't written. I always kick myself when I do it. But I was with Walter Mondale, the former vice president, who was being amazingly open and sort of, for him -- he had come a long way … since I knew him as a senator who was reluctant to oppose the Vietnam War. And so, I was asked about future things, and I just -- I am looking into stuff. I've done -- there's really nothing I said at Minnesota I haven't written in the (New Yorker). Last summer, I wrote a long article about the Joint Special Operations Command.

And just to go back to what John Hannah, who … I think ended up being the senior national security adviser, almost -- if not the chief of staff, deputy chief of staff for Dick Cheney in the last three or four years, what he said is simply that, yes, we go after people suspected -- that was the word he used -- of crimes against America. And I have to tell you that there's an executive order, signed by Jerry Ford, President Ford, in the '70s, forbidding such action. It's not only contrary -- it's illegal, it's immoral, it's counterproductive.

The problem with having military go kill people when they're not directly in combat, these are asking American troops to go out and find people and, as you said earlier, in one of the statements I made that you played, they go into countries without telling any of the authorities, the American ambassador, the CIA chief, certainly nobody in the government that we're going into, and it's far more than just in combat areas. There's more -- at least a dozen countries, and perhaps more. The President has authorized these kinds of actions in the Middle East and also in Latin America, I will tell you, Central America, some countries. They've been -- our boys have been told they can go and take the kind of executive action they need, and that's simply -- there's no legal basis for it.

And not only that, if you look at Guantanamo, the American government knew by -- well, let's see, Guantanamo opened in early 2002. "Gitmo," they call it, the base down in Cuba for alleged al-Qaeda terrorists. An internal report that I wrote about in a book I did years ago, an internal report made by the summer of 2002, estimated that at least half and possibly more of those people had nothing to do with actions against America. The intelligence we have is often very fragmentary, not very good. And the idea that the American president would think he has the constitutional power or the legal right to tell soldiers not engaged in immediate combat to go out and find people based on lists and execute them is just amazing to me. It's amazing to me.

And not only that, Amy, the thing about George Bush is, everything's sort of done in plain sight. In his State of the Union address, I think January the 28th, 2003, about a month and a half before we went into Iraq, Bush was describing the progress in the war, and he said -- I'm paraphrasing, but this is pretty close -- he said that we've captured more than 3,000 members of al-Qaeda and suspected members, people suspected of operations against us. And then he added with that little smile he has, "And let me tell you, some of those people will not be able to ever operate again. I can assure you that. They will not be in a position." He's clearly talking about killing people, and to applause.

So, there we are. I don't back off what I said. I wish I hadn't said it ad hoc, because, like I hope we're going to talk about in a minute, I spend a lot of time writing stories for The New Yorker, and they're very carefully vetted, and sometimes when you speak off the top, you're not as precise.

Amy Goodman: Explain what the Joint Special Operations Command is and what oversight Congress has of it.

Seymour Hersh: Well, it's a special unit. We have something called the Special Operations Command that operates out of Florida, and it involves a lot of wings. And one of the units that work under the umbrella of the Special Operations Command is known as Joint Special Op -- JSOC. It's a special unit. What makes it so special, it's a group of elite people that include Navy Seals, some Navy Seals, Delta Force -- what we call our black units, the commando units. "Commando" is a word they don't like, but that's what we, most of us, refer to them as. And they promote from within. It's a unit that has its own promotion structure. And one of the elements, I must tell you, about getting ahead in promotion is the number of kills you have. Of course. Because it's basically devised -- it's been transmogrified, if you will, into this unit that goes after high-value targets.

And where Cheney comes in and the idea of an assassination ring -- I actually said "wing," but of an assassination wing -- that reports to Cheney was simply that they clear lists through the Vice President's office. He's not sitting around picking targets. They clear the lists. And he's certainly deeply involved, less and less as time went on, of course, but in the beginning very closely involved. And this is the elite unit. I think they do three-month tours. And last summer, I wrote a long article in The New Yorker, last July, about how the JSOC operation is simply not available, and there's no information provided by the executive to Congress.

Amy Goodman: What countries, Sy Hersh -- what countries are they operating in?

Seymour Hersh: A lot of countries.

Amy Goodman: Name some.

Seymour Hersh: No, because I haven't written about it, Amy. And I will tell you, as I say, in Central America, it's far more than just the areas that Mr. Hannah talked about -- Afghanistan, Iraq. You can understand an operation like this in the heat of battle in Iraq, killing, I mean, taking out enemy. That's war. But when you go into other countries -- let's say Yemen, let's say Peru, let's say Colombia, let's say Eritrea, let's say Madagascar, let's say Kenya, countries like that -- and kill people who are believed on a list to be al-Qaeda or al-Qaeda-linked or anti-American, you're violating most of the tenets.

We're a country that believes very much in due process. That's what it's all about. We don't give the President of United States the right to tell military people, even in a war -- and it's a war against an idea, war against terrorism. It's not as if we're at war against a committed uniformed enemy. It's a very complicated war we're in. And with each of those actions, of course, there's always collateral deaths, and there's always more people ending up becoming our enemies. That's the tragedy of Guantanamo. By the time people, whether they were with us or against us when they got there, by the time they've been there three or four months, they're dangerous to us, because of the way they've been treated …

Amy Goodman: One question: Is the assassination wing continuing under President Obama?

Seymour Hersh: How do I know? I hope not.


  • 1
View as a single page
 
Amy Goodman is the host of the nationally syndicated radio news program, Democracy Now!
Email
Print
Share
Post on reddit
Post on stumbleupon
Post on facebook
Post on digg
Post on twitter
Post on delicious
LIKED THIS ARTICLE? JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST
Stay up to date with the latest Civil Liberties headlines via email
See more stories tagged with: al qaeda, dick cheney, cnn, guantanamo, seymour hersh, latin america, barack obama, george w. bush, wolf blitzer, walter mondale, john hannah, university of minnesota

comments COMMENTS ( 451 )
READ COMMENTS
LOGIN OR REGISTER TO POST A COMMENT
 

Comments are closed-

Made in the USA
[Report this comment]
Posted by: laoma on Mar 31, 2009 12:07 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If Hersh dies suddenly for whatever reason, you'll have to wonder.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Straw man Posted by: Defenestrator
» More specious lies, anti-Semite? Posted by: GuitarBill
» Glad you finally said it . . . Posted by: dustdevil
» "Shalom"? Posted by: GuitarBill
» That is hilarious Posted by: Defenestrator
» How would you know? Posted by: GuitarBill
» RE: Coverup of a crime... Posted by: kogwonton
» "Pools of molten steel"? Bunk! Posted by: GuitarBill
» RE: Answer this question. Posted by: Cybershaman
» RE: Answer this question. Posted by: GuitarBill
» If Saddam had WMD's Posted by: Bliss Doubt
» RE: If Saddam had WMD's Posted by: Cybershaman
» RE: Answer this question. Posted by: EncinoM
» RE: Answer this question. Posted by: Quannah
» WMD's in Iraq Posted by: Bliss Doubt
» Let's say... Posted by: Bliss Doubt
» You didn't debunk anything. Posted by: GuitarBill
» What's next, GB, pole vaulting? Posted by: LeftWright
» Debunking Bazant and NIST Posted by: LeftWright
» Here you go, dipstick. Posted by: GuitarBill
» RE: Yo, dipstick. Posted by: kogwonton
» RE: Yo, dipstick. Posted by: GuitarBill
» RE: Yo, dipstick. Posted by: kogwonton
» RE: typo Posted by: kogwonton
» "Free fall"? BS! Posted by: GuitarBill
» RE: Good point Posted by: kogwonton
» RE: Made in the USA Posted by: LTBROWN
» Pls. see all MSM/PBS/NPR Posted by: weathered
» RE: Made in the USA Posted by: kaelieh

Comments are closed-

Has this JSOC unit been disbanded? No
[Report this comment]
Posted by: LeftWright on Mar 31, 2009 12:12 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Of course it is still operating, under whose control is the question that needs to be answered.

Anyone who has studied the history of black ops knows that these programs are ongoing and surface from time to time, as they did in Vietnam and again during Iran-Contra.

I suspect that this is one of the reasons Mr. Obama kept Mr. Gates in place at the DoD.

This JSOC unit, along with the P2OG program and the use of global criminal organizations, explains much of the "chaos" we see taking place all over the world.

Mr. Hersh does everyone a grave disservice by not documenting this story and putting it out in the mainstream.

The American people need to take their government back, before these sociopaths start a world war.

The truth shall set us free. Love is the only way forward.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: JSOC unit Posted by: Sister_Lauren

Comments are closed-

Kinda Makes You Wonder
[Report this comment]
Posted by: theblackgeorgecarlin on Mar 31, 2009 1:25 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If there has been a secret assasination squad operating secretly, what other secrets groups Cheney and Bush had? How many of these assasination squads were there? Who did they kill and how many? I fear that more of this willl eventually come to light with the Bushie Boyz, gone, and it won't be pleasant at all. I wouldn't be suprised if this bastards are trying to kill Hugo Chavez the Venezuelan president, or Evo Morales, the Bolivian President, or some other leftist head of state that badmouthed the US, as we speak

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» You know they are . . . Posted by: dustdevil
» RE: Paul Wellstone... Posted by: Cybershaman
» RE: Kinda Makes You Wonder Posted by: inanaturallight

Comments are closed-

You have to wonder
[Report this comment]
Posted by: badkitty on Mar 31, 2009 2:32 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
You have to wonder just how badly Cheney flunked his civics class(es) in high school. Obviously the JSOC people couldn't, and didn't, pass them either. I know the standards for our military have been lowered, and it shows, but apparently this is true for our "elite" military too. Do we actually have to pay veterans benefits for these traitors?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Benefits...probably not for most of them Posted by: paulmagillsmith

Comments are closed-

Like this is news.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: gunboat diplomat on Mar 31, 2009 3:00 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Between the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War there was a short gap in which time the entire thing could have been averted. Neither Stalin nor the budding U.S. military-industrial complex were really interested in that, one being fixated on all enemies foreign and domestic, and the other being loathe to give up fantastic wartime profits.

The Cold War neatly solved that problem, and constructing nuclear weapons turned out to be just as profitable, with the waste and pollution covered by secrecy - you don't want to live above Hanford, WA, or Arco, ID.

The Soviet dictatorship was not exactly interested in the people's welfare either - look at the vast environmental disasters in the Soviet Union, from the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan to Cherynobyl in the Ukraine (notice that the most polluting industries were outsourced to Soviet slave economies... what does that remind you of?)

To counter Soviet aggression, the tale goes, the U.S. had to act decisively whenever Soviet agents appeared in nations like Cuba, Iran, Vietnam, Burma etc. If this meant fomenting coups in Iran to overthrow the democratically elected Mossadegh, so be it.

It was just a struggle for control between the Soviet empire and the budding American system of colonialism based largely on loansharking. For that approach to work there always had to be a steel fist behind the velvet glove - again, this was justified because the Soviets were ever so much worse. This was the justification for the assassinations of the presidents of Panama and Ecuador in the 1980s.

Otherwise, we are told, the communists would have taken over in Nicaragua and Guatemala, joined forces with the Cubans and overrun Mexico, which would lead to the installation of Soviet missiles on Mexican territory just over the border, followed by a ruthless Soviet invasion, the burning and looting of churches, and the imposition of communist committee rule in every town in America.

The assassinations are a relatively minor thing, though - it's the propaganda and information wars that occupied the intelligence services during the Cold War. (The development of chemical torture/interrogation techniques and biological warfare by the U.S. Army SOD in collaboration with the CIA in the 1950s and 60s is a slightly different story - ARTICHOKE, BLUEBIRD, MK_ULTRA, MK_NAOMI and the Frank Olson LSD story).

In their propaganda wars, the CIA and the KGB relied heavily on underground newspapers and attractive young activists in an endless game of spy-vs-spy in Europe. Tactics included the use of underground newspapers to attack and discredit various suspected "communist sympathizers" or "decadent Westerners", depending on affiliation.

During the popular upheavals of the late 1960s, those tactics were imported to the U.S. and used to disrupt antiwar groups, including everything from pushing drugs on them to discrediting them by violent acts to causing splits within groups. This was the first phase of the government crackdown on dissent, dubbed "OPERATION CHAOS" by the CIA and run out of Langley, VA, over the period 1963-1969. The second period was run by the FBI, and was called COINTELPRO, c. 1968-1972.

At that point, the whole domestic propaganda program was called before Congress and partially exposed by the Church Committee - but it was soon taken over by large-scale private sector foundations with close ties to the U.S. government - the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations being very notable examples - and they don't give $150,000 grants to anti-government radicals, no they do not.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Like this is news. Posted by: inanaturallight
» RE: Like this is news. Posted by: Don't Panic

Comments are closed-

international rules of law seem to be missing in John Hannah's comment
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Guatemala on Mar 31, 2009 3:07 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Amy -- I am unsure what John Hannah means when he says "group of people ... (who) have committed acts of war against the United States." What acts of war is he talking about? The Geneva Conventions define and rule 'acts of war' internationally. But the US doesn't much like the Geneva Conventions. And normally, these acts of war are committed by agents of states ... against which the US should be directing its attention ... not against individuals.
This seems to be a really serious 'rule of law' issue...
Graeme Thompson, Guatemala

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

bluebama II
[Report this comment]
Posted by: bluebama II on Mar 31, 2009 3:52 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
We have become the Romans and Betty Bubba Crocker is baking terrorists faster than you can say oil theft in the Cradle of Civilization. We be de man. Always, the manifest destiny of bipeds. Murderin colored folk for their betterment and dragging their goods back to the cave to quelch our righteousness. This nation has a million on a watch list and is illegally chemically bombing and occupying the second largest oil reserve on the planet to privatize it for corporate enrichment. Forrest said stupid is as stupid does. It is ALL about BIG OIL having way toooo much powerade in its little Dixie Cup. Fly low and stay beneath the radar.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

I don't get it
[Report this comment]
Posted by: ivanguar on Mar 31, 2009 3:51 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I don't get you Americans. I can't believe you could be surprised about stuff like this.
When I was a little kid in early 70s growing up in South America, that was widely known, and a reality we had to deal with every single day of our lives.
Back then were the Comando Sur and the CIA who organized the "killing squads" all around Central and South America.
El Salvador, Guatemala, Chile, Nicaragua, Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, Brasil, Bolivia, Colombia... what part of your own history are you guys missing?
You guys have been assassinating us for decades and by the hundreds of thousands either by using your own hands or by hireing native mercenaries.
So, why are the news about Cheney commanding an asessination ring so scandalous but instead if the Comando Sur or the CIA does it is perfectly acceptable?
There is a lot of hipocresy in people like this journalist from the New Yorker, who "suddenly" discovers that the American Empire assassinates people all around the world, but he tries to blame it on Cheney.
Cheney may be a murderous nazi, but so it was (and may be way worst) Ronald Reagan, Ford, Nixon, Bush senior, and all.
The hipocrasy is in the fact that he tries to put the blame on one particular person, when he knows very well that these are the methodologies that allow the American Empire to mantain its economic-political and financial control over weaker countries.
These policies are not exceptional but actually the normality of the foreign policy of the Empire in the era of senility of capitalism.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: I don't get it Posted by: Quannah
» RE: Bullsh*t ? Posted by: inanaturallight
» Mr. gunboat diplomat... Posted by: Quannah
» RE: An excellent response... Posted by: kogwonton
» You don't know 3rd parties sir. Posted by: JenniferBedingfield
» You're welcome. Posted by: GuitarBill
» Nader Posted by: Bliss Doubt
» ivanguar; How Do You Know? Posted by: AlteredStates
» all too true Posted by: we_need_Abe
» RE: I don't get it Posted by: Vik
» RE: I don't get it Posted by: kogwonton
» RE: Correct Posted by: kogwonton

Comments are closed-

Barry could have picked Seymour Hersh to replace Bob Gates as DoD Sec.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: JenniferBedingfield on Mar 31, 2009 4:22 PM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Unfortunately, Barry's just a lying status quo puppet for the Military Industrial Complex who wouldn't treat Hersh kindly. Mr. Hersh, Nader would have appointed you to replacing Gates unlike Barry.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Benazir Bhutto ?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: US Citizen on Mar 31, 2009 5:25 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Was Cheney responsible for the assassination of Pakistani Presidential candidate Benazir Bhutto?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Benazir Bhutto ? Posted by: left_witch
» RE: Benazir Bhutto ? Posted by: theblackgeorgecarlin
» I could be wrong but... Posted by: kogwonton
» Wow - You're right... Posted by: kogwonton

Comments are closed-

Salvador Allende of Chile
[Report this comment]
Posted by: US Citizen on Mar 31, 2009 7:22 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
We, including us people from the US, all know that Richard Nixon was responsible for the murder of popular President Salvador Allende of Chile. After that, the US installed General Pinochet who terrorized the people of Chile for many years. Cheney got his start in the Nixon administration.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Dejavu
[Report this comment]
Posted by: gGreen on Mar 31, 2009 7:54 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The CIA and other CIA sponsored entities tried over 600 times to kill Fidel Castro, sometimes being within a hair's width of killing him, but being hampered by bad luck or wimping out.

You can find '613 ways to kill Castro' on Google video or You Tube, I think.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» So when do we get to abolish the CIA? Posted by: JenniferBedingfield
» RE: So when do we get to abolish the CIA? Posted by: JenniferBedingfield
» RE: So when do we get to abolish the CIA? Posted by: LaughingModerateIndependent
» RE: Dejavu Posted by: kogwonton
» RE: Dejavu Posted by: Sister_Lauren

Comments are closed-

CIA has been involved in assassinations of foreign leaders for a long time
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Quannah on Mar 31, 2009 8:29 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The CIA was involved, directly or indirectly, in plots against at least seven foreign leaders:

* Castro

* Patrice Lumumba of the Congo

* Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic

* President Salvador Allende of Chile

* President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam

* President Francois Duvalier of Haiti

* President Sukarno of Indonesia

Four of these leaders died violently.

The prohibition of assassination, executive order #12333, was first signed by President Gerald Ford and stipulated that foreign leaders cannot be killed by any member of the US government. Because of that law, the army is allowed to kill enemy underlings in battle but not the people in power making decisions.

Cheney, or anyone else, does not have the authority to employ assassination "death squads." As if it needs to be... it is EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED BY LAW, thanks for Gerald Ford. He did something right.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» So when will Barry push to get rid of the CIA? Posted by: JenniferBedingfield
» Your putdown has improved . . . Posted by: dustdevil
» That got us King George Posted by: Bliss Doubt
» Outstanding comment, Quannah. Posted by: GuitarBill
» RE: Outstanding comment, Quannah. Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» Rightwingers? Maybe. Skinheads ??? Posted by: FLYING DOOFUS
» RE: Outstanding comment, Quannah. Posted by: FLYING DOOFUS
» RE: Outstanding comment, Quannah. Posted by: FLYING DOOFUS
» RE: Outstanding comment, Quannah. Posted by: LaughingModerateIndependent
» Patrice Lumumba Posted by: Bliss Doubt
» RE: Patrice Lumumba Posted by: Quannah

Comments are closed-

Continuity
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Revolutionary (Direct) Democracy on Mar 31, 2009 11:23 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
We have yet to hear President Obama acknowledge the illegal assassination program existed or to state that it no longer exists and that Cheney will be investigated.

It's safe to assume the illegal assassination program is still in operation.


FREE AMERICA

REVOLUTIONARY (DIRECT) DEMOCRACY

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

no mention of Economic Hit Man from posters? murder is one of the things that powerful people do
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Suzon on Apr 1, 2009 3:11 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
There are no national boundries or laws that powerful people are forced to respect. Why is that so?

If you look at corporations (and government itself is a form of corporation) you will see power anti-democratically concentrated at the top. There is no real justification for this. The idea of hierarchy has a long and successful history ("might makes right").

The aristocratic mindset is firmly entrenched in American life. Aristocrats and their Mini-Me henchpersons are characterized by recklessness, murder, acquisition, consolidation and display, all underpinned by indifference to the suffering of others.

Hannah's defense of being "in a state of war with Al Queda" conveniently omits that the war itself was an invention of the Bush administration.

Throughout our history American lawlessness has been dressed up as "help" thanks to the MSM. Are we beginning to see through this sham?

If so, there is hope for the country to restore Jefferson's ideal of egalitarianism.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Justice for the Dickster
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Tom Degan on Apr 1, 2009 3:43 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If this is true (and I have no logical reason to doubt Sy Hersh) Cheney should be prosecuted for war crimes.

To those of you who would say that Cheney wouldn't be involved in something this monstrous I would only say:

"You don't know Dick"

Thank you Paul Begala and James Carvelle.

Lethal Nation

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Justice for the Dickster Posted by: HLbuchanan

Comments are closed-

To those referencing Carter's executive order 12333
[Report this comment]
Posted by: NyghtOwl on Apr 1, 2009 4:12 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
There were several orders after 2000, that amended the original order, making assasination of foreign counterparts illegal. I am sure if one follows that paper trail, you will find the loop holes.

FAS Note: Executive Order 12333 was amended on January 23, 2003 by Executive Order 13284, on August 27, 2004 by Executive Order 13355, and further amended on July 30, 2008 by Executive Order 13470. The resulting text of Executive Order 12333, following the 2008 amendment can be found at full pdf document EO 12333 amended in 2008

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» That's incorrect Posted by: brunowe
» RE: brunowe Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» Wouldn't we all like to know... Posted by: LeftWright

Comments are closed-

Gravitas
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Sparks56 on Apr 1, 2009 4:25 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Matbe now, with a man with the gravitas of Mr. Hersh reporting crimes with the gravitas of assassinations ordered by a man whose Constitutional authority is limited to breaking Senate tie votes and stepping in if the President is dead or incapacitated, (I know George Bush was incapacitated from birth. Maybe that will be Cheney's defense.), there will be a real investigation into the real crimes of the Cheney, er, I mean Bush, Administration. I hope.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

CheneyCorp is a Vast, long standing Organized Crime Syndicate
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Purple Girl on Apr 1, 2009 5:00 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Hell bent on destroying US.
Who actually gave North the OK to undermine a sitting President in the Iran Contra Scandal.
Who ok'ed aid & comfort to Binny's 'Afgani Freedom Fighters' in the '80's.
Who ok'ed anthrax being given to Saddam in the '80's.
Who has been 'Kissin Cousins' to the Saudi's Oil Royal Regime who spawned the majority of 9/11 Attackers.
Who not only drained our Surplus,but squandered and thus indebted US through these Two needless 'Wars'
Who pushed through legislations to undermine our Economic solvency without regard to the historical facts about it's ramifications.
Who has worked for decades to divide the American people through social issue diversion tactics.
This is not just Repugs, but also a good number of theri covert operative who don themselves in Blue. How's Husband signed the Modernization act? Who's '08 campaign mirrored John McCains and joined withhim to try to bring down Obama? Who now is not trusted enough to act unilaterally in foreign Diplomacy? How many envoys will Obama send out to assure Hillary is not still acting as a Mole for CheneyCorp- Let US not forget she was a Goldwater Girl, before her opportunistic ambitions landed her a Rising Dem star. Did she and the DLC think we missed the Corp placating doctrine of the 'Third Way'?Not for the People or our Governing body, but for the Corps.
We have so many Traitors to prosecute for 30 yrs of High crimes we'll need to run the trials like 'American Idol'- and we have some Fabulous PARTING Gifts- an Amp'ed up Chair, a knotted necklace, or a stainless steel syringe, an Aromatherapy session, or a firm pillow to lay your head- Your choice!
As for DICK, we need to Hire the same guy who tied Saddams noose. Hang that SOB then zap his pacemaker back to life and repeat- for each year he has been the GodFather to this insideous seige upon US. "Cruel & Unusal", no just Poetic Justice.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

If anyone doubts
[Report this comment]
Posted by: LTBROWN on Apr 1, 2009 5:18 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
that Cheney is a terrorist, with a crew of Henchmen, then I've got a bridge, in Brooklyn, NY, to sale to you. Let the brainwashing end, completely please. Convict this terrorist monster, Cheney and his croonies and make the world a better place!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

JSOC? The JTTFs are worse - and see the Official Psyops Doctrine for Joint Operations.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: gunboat diplomat on Apr 1, 2009 5:58 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Everyone has a fascination with "special forces" and "elite military culture" because we live in a fairly militarized society, as do many other people. Beats living under the Nazis, doesn't it?

However, the question is what they were being used for. There were numerous reports of Special Forces colonels protesting to the Pentagon about how Rumsfeld and Cheney were using their troops. The Special Forces units were set up inside Iraq outside of normal military control - the regular military didn't know what they were up to, but all the evidence points to a large-scale assassination program in Iraq that coincided with the surge - an Operation Phoenix program that really has not yet come to light.

They were used to create splits between Sunni and Shia insurgents, and were probably responsible for the bombing of the Samarra shrine - it was reported that U.S. helicopters were providing air cover over the area right before the explosion, which was a carefully planned demolition of the structure. That was intended to split the insurgency and get the Iraqis fighting each other - and it worked, for a while, anyway.

That is all due to Cheney and Rumsfeld, who have read the manual:

www.iwar.org.uk/psyops/resources/us/jp3_53.pdf

"1. Scope: This doctrine addresses the use of military psychological operations (PSYOP) assets in planning and conducting PSYOP in support of joint operations across the range of military operations."

"Psychological operations (PSYOP) are operations planned to convey selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence their emotions, motives, objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of foreign governments, organizations, groups, and individuals."

It's like some psychotic marketing program, right out of the Nazi manual. Here are their "essential concepts":

A) Persuasive Communications. All communications systematically convey information and impressions directly to all involved.

Control of the media - including the "alternative media" - is essential. Check.

B) Command Disruption. Disruption of C4 not only directly interferes with the capabilities of an opponent to succeed in combat but also can have serious impact upon the opponent’s morale, cohesion, discipline, and public support essential to efficient operations.

The use of FBI and JTTF spies to infiltrate and disrupt anti-war groups in the U.S over the past eight years? Check.

C) Information Denial. Competing parties can systematically deny opponents information they require to formulate decisions.

A corrupt pandering corporate media? Check. An alternative media that stays dead silent about certain issues (anthrax attacks, AIG counterparty kickbacks to Citigroup, etc.)? Check.

D) Intelligence Shaping. It is possible to systematically convey and deny data to opposing intelligence systems with the objective of causing opposing analysts to derive selected judgments.

Well, that was how the Iraq war was sold, wasn't it? These tactics are widely used in the U.S. - NPR and Amy Goodman are shining examples of how PYSOP tactics are used against the American public - and it's obvious with the Goodman crowd, they're way too chuckly - bad actors.

Plus, if you look at Amy Goodman's funding, it somewhere to the right of Steve Forbes. That was aided by a Bush-era decision to reduce reporting requirements for non-profits - you want to find the real shadiness in the U.S., look no further than the large private foundations.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

This comment has been removed from the site due to non-compliance with AlterNet's community policies.

Comments are closed-

Alternet is of course in the same mold as Democracy Now!
[Report this comment]
Posted by: gunboat diplomat on Apr 1, 2009 6:08 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
For example, the car story posted yesterday was pulled from the front page, replaced by a David Sirota blog article from one month ago, no comments allowed.

Was that because I posted this on the car story?

GM and Chrysler and Ford sacrificed their future for the sake of Big Oil.
Posted by: gunboat diplomat on Mar 31, 2009 2:06 PM

Right at a time when any decent market analysis would have told you that Americans wanted to buy fast, fuel-efficient cars, not big SUVs, GM kept pushing their gas guzzlers.

The most obvious reason for them to do that is that their majority shareholders wanted them to do exactly that.

Let's go back to 2006 - here's something off the financial wire from that era:

"This is also a good time to point out that Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. is one of several investors owning big chunks of GM common stock. Others include State Street Global Advisors, Capital Research and Brandes Investment Partners. I don't know offhand if any of these or other major players own stock in either Nissan or Renault.

Are these and other GM shareholders saying anything behind the scenes?

P.S. The Financial Times reported late yesterday that GM's Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner has already had talks with Carlos Gohn, CEO of Nissan and Renault. And that the two will meet in Detroit this month.

That was relative to the proposed GM-Renault deal, which fell through.

So... what other car company in the U.S. might be able to profitably partner with GM? A small startup with a novel plan would be best...

"March 26, 2009, 8:05 pm
Tesla Model S Electric Sedan Breaks Cover
By Jerry Garrett for The New York Times

LOS ANGELES — Tesla Motors, the electric-car maker, unveiled its much-anticipated Model S sedan on Thursday, here at the SpaceX rocket plant, which is also owned by Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk.

Mr. Musk, in introducing the Model S, said the first cars would be delivered to customers in the third quarter of 2011. The company said it would build the car in Southern California, but would not say where."

Now, what would the explosive growth of the electric car industry in the United States as the result of a $30 billion government investment in a GM-Tesla manufacturing/engineering partnership do to GM's fortunes, to job creation in the Midwest, and to the U.S. global trading position with respect to electric vehicles?

Oh, I expect them to miss this opportunity, I expect rampant greed to prevail - but if that happens, screw paying taxes to the federal government. States should move forward as a group and co-opt 50% of the federal income tax receipts - by any means necessary - and that's my proposal if this B.S. continues.

Alternet is also a private foundation funded conglomerate - the pleas for public financing are just a front - look up the Independent Media Institute's financing - and their headquarters in in the Federal Building in San Francisco.

What a farce - the alternative media is nothing but PR put out by private foundations.
You can scrub this comment and delete my account now, assholes.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» I'm With You, Gunboat Posted by: PrinceRobert
» RE: Completely wrong Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» I don't work for Alternet... Posted by: brunowe
» Dude, you need to chill. Posted by: FLYING DOOFUS
» I'm fine, thanks, I was joking. Posted by: GuitarBill
» Ah, you really had me there, hehe. :) Posted by: FLYING DOOFUS
» Wow, Tinfoil hat time! Posted by: Joshua Holland

Comments are closed-

The Reagan death squads
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Perry Logan on Apr 1, 2009 6:39 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The atrocities just keep coming. For me, though, the assassinations pale next to the war itself, or the death squads Reagan unleashed on Central and South America.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: The Reagan death squads Posted by: Sister_Lauren

Comments are closed-

I'm not so sure they would
[Report this comment]
Posted by: ADCS on Apr 1, 2009 7:24 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The blowback from such a situation would be unimaginable. Entire sections of Latin America would be very hostile to the US after that point, as the relative good relations over the last 25 years has been with the idea that the US was granting them more sovereignty (of course, just a ruse in order to establish neoliberal trade policies, in which old colonialist hegemony is reestablished).

A major assassination would immediately be blamed on the US, and most people would realize that the bad old days of the 1960s never really went away, and that could lead to whole swaths of Latin America turning into a Guatemalan situation all over again.

Bad policy.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

JSOC is such a clumsy name: just call it SS
[Report this comment]
Posted by: peterjkraus on Apr 1, 2009 8:25 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
SS (the abbreviation of Schutzstaffel, which is super-clumsy) is well understood internationally to mean unscrupulous killers in the service of an unscrupulous dictator. Their justification was the fact they thought themselves members of a master race, created by god to subjugate lesser races. To thoroughly do that, the "lessers" had to be "taken out", a process that was idealized as the "final solution" (or, if you prefer, "collateral damage").

So, no big difference, huh? SS it is.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

syed salamah ali mahdi
[Report this comment]
Posted by: salamah on Apr 1, 2009 8:28 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It's only when the White House re-establishes its constitutional authority over CIA and Pentagon, with the immense financial and deadly 'resources' they have in their hands, will always have the power and potentials to act on their own, mostly roguely. Those who benefit from their hidden 'resources' are the ones who control Media, Wall Street and hence, the electioneering process. Don't believe me? Try getting a copy of a thirty year old CIA dossier titled Israel under Public Information Act or whatever it is called. What you will receive is twenty blank pages with only the 1st page having the word, Israel, as its heading. Now imagine what the blank pages have written on them. Again imagine how many billions were made available to the CIA to do what it wanted in support of Israel, right or wrong, all written in the file. Add to the billions conjured up in your imagination other billions doled out to Israel 'officially' over the past 30 years. Also remember the number of assassinations carried out by Israel within Palestine and outside Palestine with the support of CIA; tactical and financial. The Israeli file is just one such file. So, what can Americans do about it. Zilch!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: twenty blank pages Posted by: Sister_Lauren

Comments are closed-

NathanHail
[Report this comment]
Posted by: NathanHail on Apr 1, 2009 8:43 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
We are selective as to who we kill and who we partner with. How are the targets determined on what criteria? The Black Ops guys deal with treacherous folks all the time. The question is which do we whack and which do we pay off?
Who has the say in deciding? If it is jerks like Cheney or some twisted Generals we are all in big trouble. They are no different than the Mafia.
How much is to forward the interests of corporate America like in Chile, Viet Nam or Iran where the CIA killed their Presidents?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

We know they assassinated US citizen Ahmed Hijazi, they proudly announced it
[Report this comment]
Posted by: cplot on Apr 1, 2009 8:48 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
On November 3, 2002 US authorities proudly announced they had assassinated Abu Ali al-Harithi a citizen of Yemen. Along with Abu Ali al-Harithi, they also murdered Ahmed Hijazi a US citizen. The murders took place in Yemen. There's no need to turn to tabloid style rumor mongering. We have a direct confession of culpability in this action.

While the authorities claim that they didn't realize a US citizen was in the car with Abu Ali al-Harithi, this merely confirms why criminal justice cannot be handled through assassinations. Criminal justice can only be handled through due process where the accused have an opportunity to defend themselves. These assassinations essentially amount to bills of attainder. The Constitution prohibits Congress from enacting bills of attainer, but it is only through Bush-style legal acrobatics that anyone can claim that the prohibition to Congress meant it should be left to the executive branch.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Call Me Skeptical...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Urgelt on Apr 1, 2009 9:40 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
...but Mr. Hersh hasn't said anything worth hearing yet.

Which countries? Who was assassinated?

That JSOC exists is not news. Thus far that's the only fact Mr. Hersh has revealed about the organization.

You can read anything into Bush's innuendos and vague claims of success. Anything. Maybe there was something sinister behind his words. But journalism requires more than maybes.

Mr. Hersh, come back when you have something concrete, and I'll listen, gratefully. Until then, spare me your fishing expeditions.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Well Today My Daughter Has Been To School And Been To The G20 Meltdown Demonstrations
[Report this comment]
Posted by: tony_opmoc on Apr 1, 2009 9:55 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
link

She also has an interview for a job today.

Meanwhile, I have been for a walk in the Countryside with my Wife.

Its a beautiful Spring Day.

Hopefully she will come back with some Photographs that will enhance her "A" Level Grade - They gave her a theme of "Discord" which seems a pretty heavy assignment for an 18 year old girl - and also a temporary job to help pay for University.

Its a strange world

But I have to take my hat off to her - for the courage she displays.

I am of course a wimp/old fart/can't run fast enough when things get nasty.

From what I can tell the Police have acted extremely Sensibly.

They are just doing a job trying to keep the Peace.

Tony

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

The Jaworski doctrine
[Report this comment]
Posted by: astockton on Apr 1, 2009 10:04 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Leon Jaworski believed that the Constitution provided only impeachment as a remedy for a sitting president or VP who commits a crime. That's why he was not upset about Ford's pardon of Nixon, because he didn't really want to bring criminal charges against old Tricky Dick.

Well, Cheney's out of office. If he's still directing a hit squad, he needs to be charged with sedition and put on trial.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

bush made reference to this kind of thing
[Report this comment]
Posted by: CitizenX on Apr 1, 2009 10:20 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Doesn't anybody remember bushes SOTU speech where he made reference to the 300 people who were no longer a "problem"? Some of these people were of course captured but many of them were assassinated.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Indict Bush Now
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Defenestrator on Apr 1, 2009 10:40 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Indict Bush Now

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Last Night a Canadian Poster Made Me Feel Really Proud of Queen Elizabeth II
[Report this comment]
Posted by: tony_opmoc on Apr 1, 2009 10:51 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
He posted this .

I hadn't seen it before.

Tony

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Craig Murray Has My Utmost Respect - I Have Even Bought His Book
[Report this comment]
Posted by: tony_opmoc on Apr 1, 2009 11:15 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
But not read it yet.

Craig Murray is a Scottish dissident, human rights
activist, writer, and former British Ambassador. He is
currently Rector of the University of Dundee and an
Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Lancaster
School of Law.

I posted this on his website a few days ago

I sense a change - a turning point away from the ocean of depravity that our culture has become. Corruption is being exposed and Good People are standing up against it. Its easy to walk away and just accept the slide into evil. People from all political persuasions are demanding change. We really do not like living in a world where our leaders are so disgusting that they embrace torture. I am astonished that we have sunk so low. Things may get considerably worse before they get better. But we must support men of courage such as Craig Murray - who stand up against the tide of filth.

Torture happens in the UK too. My 15 year old daughter was subjected to it. She was walking home with her friends after an end of summer party in the local park. The police turned up with their meat wagons. All her friends ran for it. She had done absolutely nothing wrong and stood firm as she was smashed to the ground and had a knee in her back whilst being handcuffed and taken to the police cells to be interrogated until 3:00am.

She refused to give her real name and address. The police tortured her for 5 hours trying to obtain it. But she refused to tell them.

They wouldn't let me see her for over 4 hours. I of course did all the wrong things - and signed all the papers they put in front of me - just to get my daughter out of hell. We went to the official warning - and sucked up to the police - telling them what a brilliant job they were doing. We felt ashamed - until we discussed our experience with other parents - and found exactly the same thing had happenned to their teenage children. All in the name of Blair's war on terror and collecting eveyone's DNA.

Should we Protest - or should we allow such depravity to continue?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Is it just me or is there too much conspiracy theory wackiness going on here?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: FLYING DOOFUS on Apr 1, 2009 11:17 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Whatever is true from all this thread isn't being made clear.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: It is just you Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: It is just you Posted by: FLYING DOOFUS
» RE: It is not us, it is just you Posted by: Sister_Lauren

Comments are closed-

Remember Cheney was part of Iran/Contra
[Report this comment]
Posted by: delphicink on Apr 1, 2009 11:38 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Is he so vengeful that he and his "moles" will set up another deceptive catastrophic event to bring the neocons back to power?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Sister_Lauren Thanks For Your Prayers
[Report this comment]
Posted by: tony_opmoc on Apr 1, 2009 11:40 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Katy has just got home - dressed like a Press Photographer

I told her how PROUD I was of her and asked - What was it like - Did You Get any Good Photographs?

She said Of Course I did - THAT is Why I went There.

She is now eating a Jacket Potato with Cheese

Stripping Off Her Press Photographer Clothes

And about to go out

Completely Redressed For The Interview - with a completely Different Image in an attempt to get the Job

You may think this is not possible - taking the time difference into account - you in LA?

But she rescheduled the job interview to 9:00pm

The job involves night work

If she gets the job as well I will be gobsmacked

Tony

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: She is only 18 Posted by: Sister_Lauren

Comments are closed-

HOW GAY IS THIS ARTICLE? - GOOD FOR LAUGHS!!!
[Report this comment]
Posted by: ds1st on Apr 1, 2009 12:19 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This is not borderline stupid, it is STUPID.

A homophobic gay man wrote this, you can tell by his style. The author needs to spend some quality Barney “ZIPPY STICK” Frank.

Good for laughs.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Turn off the Game Boy, Congress
[Report this comment]
Posted by: JayHaden on Apr 1, 2009 12:42 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The most hair-pulling part of all this is that our bumbling poll-followers in Congress went along so knee-jerkedly with W/Dick in agreeing that a criminal attack on the WTC constituted a declaration of war by an eternal infinity of enemies. After K/Nixon, couldn't they see where the blank check would lead?

Whether or not we are at war is a debatable point, made less so because everyone, including Mr. Hersh, insists on calling it a war. Heretofore, we used "war" as both a legal and PR term (as in War on Drugs, War on Liberals, etc). Only Congress, however, can give it legal status as the mother-of-all-reasons-to-torture.

That Congress was stampeded into doing so by the PR genius of W/Dick and the fear-mongers of the MSM (surely American can survive a number of WTC-type attacks, even a nuke or two, without having to give up our guns, hummers and BBQs) illustrates what happens when the psychological effectiveness of the advertising world is capriciously applied to affect the most serious of public decisions.

The ultimate in bread and circuses is our present wonderland where a half-trillion/year military-industrial-intelligence game boy blows up real people and we applaud delightedly, sinking deeper into debt with each grisly fantasy brought to life .

Time to turn off the "war", Congress. Call our pre-emption of criminal conduct by disgruntled sociopaths a police action and send us back to do objective police work with proper safeguards for our Constitutional rights. All this military stuff, clumsy nation-building, support for the bad guys who are really good guys until they turn bad again, and putting human rights into cold, cold storage (solitary confinement?) is just getting in the way of relatively simple international police and intelligence work.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

A PERSON OF THOUGHTS
[Report this comment]
Posted by: foxxx on Apr 1, 2009 1:19 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
NOT UNUSUAL FROM THE TOP. BUT THERE'S AN OLE SAYING = WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND. AS IS THERE ARE ISLAMIC MUSLIM TERRORISTS IN 98 % OF STATES IN AMERICA. MUSLIM TERRORISTS TRAINING CAMPS GETTING READY TO KILL AMERICANS, ESPECIALLY THE FAMILIES OF THE MILITARY, SINCE THE ADDRESSES AND SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS OF ALL MILITARY HAVE HIT THE BLACK MARKET. ( A THOUGHT)= (SENATOR OBAMA HAD A ARGUEMENT IN AFGANISTAN WITH OSAMA BIN LADEN (SO TO SPEAK)= 2ND DAY IN OFFICE AS PRESIDENT. OBAMA SENDS A COMMITTEE TO IRAQ AND AFGANISTAN.= 4TH. DAY IN OFFICE, ALL MILITARY ADDRESSES AND SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS HIT THE BLACK MARKET IN IRAQ AND AFGANISTAN,) NOW THERE ARE REAL ISLAMIC MUSLIM TERRORISTS IN TRAINING CAMPS IN 98% OF AMERICA - ALMOST EVERY STATE IN OUR UNION. A THOUGHT = MAYBE ITS REVENGE, BUT EITHER WAY THEIR HERE NOW. SO EVERYONE READING THIS COMMENT TAKE THIS VERY SEROUS, BECAUSE THIS IS THE WAY IT IS. SO ALERT EVERYONE FOR ALL OUR SAFETY OR YOUR NOT AMERICANS. IF ANYONE SPOTS ANYTHING UNUSUAL ALERT YOUR AUTHORITIES. IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO CARRY A CAMERA PHONE AND ALWAYS BE WITH FRIENDS. ALERT THE MILITARY IN YOUR STATE. MIGHT BE SAFER FOR EVERYONE, SINCE ALOT OF YOU DONT HAVE WEAPONS OR THE TRAINING TO USE THEM. HAVE A NICE DAY. MIKE

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Rebel Rebel
[Report this comment]
Posted by: tony_opmoc on Apr 1, 2009 1:42 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
David Bowie - Rebel Rebel

I'm dying to see her Photographs - but the emotions are a bit manic in our house at the moment

I give my daughter complete Privacy and Freedom to do as she must do

I do not intrude

I do not search to find what she says and does with her friends in the "Real World" nor also on the Internet

Her Life is Her Destiny

I Have The Utmost Respect For Her

I do not need to Pry and attempt to Control

All I can do is Encourage and Support Her

I Know She is a Good Girl and Will Do Everything Possible To Keep Her Brother Alive If He Gets into Difficulties

Tony

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Rebel Rebel Posted by: tony_opmoc
» RE: It arrived on 11th September 2001 Posted by: Sister_Lauren

Comments are closed-

Jack Bauer and The Unit?!
[Report this comment]
Posted by: DaBear on Apr 1, 2009 1:56 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
So during the Bush regime, "art" was just flying cover for real life? The Unit was real? Jack Bauer was out there, torturing and whacking people Dick didn't like?

Too fucked up.

Here's hopin' Sy publishes the names of the whacked and who made up the death-lists.... and when the fuck is 'Bama going to let us indict these mofos? Oh wait, I forgot, hope not change...

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Jack Bauer and The Unit?! Posted by: FLYING DOOFUS

Comments are closed-

next step please
[Report this comment]
Posted by: remo on Apr 1, 2009 3:01 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
if the collective concious now accepts cheney as a murderer at this level,
then recognition of 9/11inside job atrocity is just around the corner. Get onto it Seymour. Amy.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
[Report this comment]
Posted by: tony_opmoc on Apr 1, 2009 3:44 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
My Daughter Has Got Her Photographs Out On The Web

They Are COMPLETELY AWESOME

I said link them as quick and as fast as you can to all the major News websites

Just post them

Tony

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Dude, calm yourself Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: just so wonderful Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» Tony's main job Posted by: Bliss Doubt

Comments are closed-

Petraeus: Israel Might Attack Iran
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Sister_Lauren on Apr 1, 2009 3:52 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Petraeus: Israel Might Attack Iran

From the comments,

CaptainVideo

The reality is that Obama is now facing a deadly serious threat to the vital interests of the United States. The warmongering fanatics currently in control of Israel seem determined to drag us into a disasterous war with Iran.

If you liked the war with Iraq, you will love the war with Iran.

If Obama wants to prevent this, he is going to have to get the balls to face the Israeli government, and the Israeli lobby in the U.S., down the way no President since Eisenhower has done, and make it clear that if they attack without our approval we will cut off all military and economic aid, and will not come to their assistance if Iran retaliates.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:14 PM on 04/01/2009
- kindGSL See Profile I'm a Fan of kindGSL permalink
This comment is pending approval and won't be displayed until it is approved.

I didn't like the war with Iraq. My 'christian' neighbor wanted to vote to draft my son to go there and kill those people for their religion.

I found that very upsetting and had an argument with him about it. I was very upset he wanted my son to go there and kill people like me. My husband didn't like my reaction and followed me all the around the house yelling at me about it. He wouldn't leave me alone and when he pulled and twisted my arm , I called the police. He had never hurt me before but he did that day.

When the police came, they lied to him about me. They had been casing me, why he was so upset with me, and they told him they weren't. He stopped listening to me and stopped believing me that day.

I was raped later, after the police told him it would be OK.

Sick.

I am still waiting for my mayor to call me back, I want to talk to her about how the police in my town said I was fair game for rape. I think political activists should be treated better than that.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Tradition
[Report this comment]
Posted by: westomoon on Apr 1, 2009 4:10 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Why do you think Ford wrote an executive order prohibiting death squads? People my age generally know at least one person who was drafted and turned into an assassin, usually in Special Forces or Special Ops. If someone tells you they were a sniper in Viet Nam, they are usually telling you they were an assassin.

As to freelance, widespread US assassination programs, Bill Moyers did a remarkable special in 1987 called "The Secret Government". You can view the full version here, or a shorter version here, or google it yourself. It's a revelation to most of us.

For me, what was shocking about Hersch's story was that the Vice President had a praetorian guard of assassins to play with, answerable to no one but him. Whatever weird capabilities our government still has in place, it is hard to imagine Joe Biden getting off on having his own personal death squad -- thank god!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Or Obama either Posted by: Sister_Lauren

Comments are closed-

Cheaper Assasinations.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: melpol on Apr 1, 2009 4:42 PM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It would not be in the interest of efficiency for the U.S. to send an assassination team into a foreign nation. They could find some underworld type close to their victim to do the job for a few bucks. The story is a fictional press release to get publicity.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Cheaper Assasinations. Posted by: Quannah

Comments are closed-

Set The Captives FREE
[Report this comment]
Posted by: tony_opmoc on Apr 1, 2009 5:48 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Bob Marley - Exodus

Men and people will fight ya down (tell me why!)
When ya see jah light. (ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!)
Let me tell you if youre not wrong; (then, why? )
Everything is all right.
So we gonna walk - all right! - through de roads of creation:
We the generation (tell me why!)
(trod through great tribulation) trod through great tribulation.

Exodus, all right! movement of jah people!
Oh, yeah! o-oo, yeah! all right!
Exodus: movement of jah people! oh, yeah!

Yeah-yeah-yeah, well!
Uh! open your eyes and look within:
Are you satisfied (with the life youre living)? uh!
We know where were going, uh!
We know where were from.
Were leaving babylon,
Were going to our father land.

Jah come to break downpression,
Rule equality,
Wipe away transgression,
Set the captives free.

Set the captives free.

SET The Captives FREE
SET The Captives FREE
SET The Captives FREE
SET The Captives FREE
SET The Captives FREE
SET The Captives FREE

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

for many years
[Report this comment]
Posted by: om7buss on Apr 1, 2009 7:24 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
that the USA has been used from the hidden world goverment to kill people around the world, that differs with their acts of satanist-jewish-goverment. we live in a satanic society, just look yourself and around you, and tell me....www.henrybook.com

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Whew, so many useless hate comments to wad through.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Benn_Miller on Apr 1, 2009 8:33 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Are the liberals and progressives this so divided like crazy or what? I hope I'm not in trouble for being a newcomer but I notice that on this site, a lot of newcomers get attacked by the senior members. I generally read what I can of these comments but I couldn't resist posting a thought of my own. Between the Naderites and the Obamaites, I can't stand the bickering.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Querulous bickering Posted by: westomoon
» RE: Querulous bickering Posted by: Benn_Miller
» RE: Querulous bickering Posted by: westomoon
» Welcome, welcome, Benn_Miller Posted by: LeftWright
» Nasty little Billy . . . Posted by: dustdevil
» "Pyroclastic flow"? BULLSHIT! Posted by: GuitarBill
» Are you on drugs again? Posted by: dustdevil
» Nice retreat there, GB! Posted by: LeftWright
» You're an idiot. Posted by: GuitarBill
» You don't cook, do you, GB? Posted by: LeftWright
» "Squibs"? BULLSH*T! Posted by: GuitarBill
» Another 911 "truth" lie. Posted by: GuitarBill
» Explosions? BULLSHIT! Posted by: GuitarBill
» RE: xplosions? BULLSHIT! Posted by: dustdevil
» A few points... Posted by: LeftWright
» Insane, much? Posted by: GuitarBill
» Here's your facts . . . Posted by: dustdevil
» More hearsay. Posted by: GuitarBill
» Organized? Posted by: GuitarBill
» Well, loosely organized . . . Posted by: dustdevil
» More "proof" from Rense.com? Posted by: GuitarBill
» RE: Welcome, welcome, Benn_Miller Posted by: Benn_Miller
» Survival tip Posted by: westomoon
» RE: Survival tip Posted by: Benn_Miller

Comments are closed-

tjcoop3
[Report this comment]
Posted by: tjcoop3 on Apr 2, 2009 6:56 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
One problem, while the Bush adm. probably went farther than than previous adms.
These forces have been employed in assassinations for 30 or more years. Further, the "founding fathers" ordered assissanations as well. Govt by nature will use all types of force to establish or perpetuate power.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

We have known about these CIA acts ongoing since 1978
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Dickinseattl on Apr 4, 2009 5:43 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Since Carl Bernstein, the legitement journalist of the Woodward/Bernstein Wash.Post duo, exposed the "H. W". Bush covered up report by the Church Committee in Rolling Stone of 10/22/78, and Daniel Schorr exposed the findings of House Pike committee, we have known about both these policies and the media's role in covering them up as CIA assets both witting and unwitting. Yet, given the media we have, nothing has been done other than to deny and mislead. With the cowards we have for Democrats, and the criminals we have as Republicans, there is little likelihood to see any change or justice. Sadly, much of our so called alternative media has been equally intimidated by the mainstream media and conspiracy deniers. (See: Real History Archives, CTKA, and Oil Empire sites.)

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Is anyone really surprised?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: dada on Apr 5, 2009 11:31 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I was in the Army over 20 years ago, and I know for a fact this stuff was going on in Latin America back then.
Don't be naive, people. The Nazis are running the show in the USA and they have been for a long time.
Check out "Operation Paperclip", etc.
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Thank you for this
[Report this comment]
Posted by: kogwonton on Apr 6, 2009 6:30 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I guess I shouldn't wonder where we are all headed. I just wish that all this happened during my prime, and when I didn't have others besides myself to protect. The sorts of organizing we need are exactly the sorts of things that corrupt governments have been both preparing against, and which they've been pushing us toward, like cattle, in what seems like provocation which only serves the state in further justifying lethal force by the police state. Eventually there will be unrest on a massive scale, for as many different reasons as there are crimes against liberty and justice. I don't look forward to it but it seems that maybe society has to collapse before it can completely wake up. I just wish we hadn't been frightened via the cold war for half a century into building such a vast war machine, and putting it into the hands of the criminals themselves. I think the near future will be interesting, to coin a Chinese curse.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Alternet Comments:

Comments are closed-

Made in the USA
[Report this comment]
Posted by: laoma on Mar 31, 2009 12:07 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If Hersh dies suddenly for whatever reason, you'll have to wonder.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Straw man Posted by: Defenestrator
» More specious lies, anti-Semite? Posted by: GuitarBill
» Glad you finally said it . . . Posted by: dustdevil
» "Shalom"? Posted by: GuitarBill
» That is hilarious Posted by: Defenestrator
» How would you know? Posted by: GuitarBill
» RE: Coverup of a crime... Posted by: kogwonton
» "Pools of molten steel"? Bunk! Posted by: GuitarBill
» RE: Answer this question. Posted by: Cybershaman
» RE: Answer this question. Posted by: GuitarBill
» If Saddam had WMD's Posted by: Bliss Doubt
» RE: If Saddam had WMD's Posted by: Cybershaman
» RE: Answer this question. Posted by: EncinoM
» RE: Answer this question. Posted by: Quannah
» WMD's in Iraq Posted by: Bliss Doubt
» Let's say... Posted by: Bliss Doubt
» You didn't debunk anything. Posted by: GuitarBill
» What's next, GB, pole vaulting? Posted by: LeftWright
» Debunking Bazant and NIST Posted by: LeftWright
» Here you go, dipstick. Posted by: GuitarBill
» RE: Yo, dipstick. Posted by: kogwonton
» RE: Yo, dipstick. Posted by: GuitarBill
» RE: Yo, dipstick. Posted by: kogwonton
» RE: typo Posted by: kogwonton
» "Free fall"? BS! Posted by: GuitarBill
» RE: Good point Posted by: kogwonton
» RE: Made in the USA Posted by: LTBROWN
» Pls. see all MSM/PBS/NPR Posted by: weathered
» RE: Made in the USA Posted by: kaelieh

Comments are closed-

Has this JSOC unit been disbanded? No
[Report this comment]
Posted by: LeftWright on Mar 31, 2009 12:12 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Of course it is still operating, under whose control is the question that needs to be answered.

Anyone who has studied the history of black ops knows that these programs are ongoing and surface from time to time, as they did in Vietnam and again during Iran-Contra.

I suspect that this is one of the reasons Mr. Obama kept Mr. Gates in place at the DoD.

This JSOC unit, along with the P2OG program and the use of global criminal organizations, explains much of the "chaos" we see taking place all over the world.

Mr. Hersh does everyone a grave disservice by not documenting this story and putting it out in the mainstream.

The American people need to take their government back, before these sociopaths start a world war.

The truth shall set us free. Love is the only way forward.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: JSOC unit Posted by: Sister_Lauren

Comments are closed-

Kinda Makes You Wonder
[Report this comment]
Posted by: theblackgeorgecarlin on Mar 31, 2009 1:25 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If there has been a secret assasination squad operating secretly, what other secrets groups Cheney and Bush had? How many of these assasination squads were there? Who did they kill and how many? I fear that more of this willl eventually come to light with the Bushie Boyz, gone, and it won't be pleasant at all. I wouldn't be suprised if this bastards are trying to kill Hugo Chavez the Venezuelan president, or Evo Morales, the Bolivian President, or some other leftist head of state that badmouthed the US, as we speak

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» You know they are . . . Posted by: dustdevil
» RE: Paul Wellstone... Posted by: Cybershaman
» RE: Kinda Makes You Wonder Posted by: inanaturallight

Comments are closed-

You have to wonder
[Report this comment]
Posted by: badkitty on Mar 31, 2009 2:32 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
You have to wonder just how badly Cheney flunked his civics class(es) in high school. Obviously the JSOC people couldn't, and didn't, pass them either. I know the standards for our military have been lowered, and it shows, but apparently this is true for our "elite" military too. Do we actually have to pay veterans benefits for these traitors?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Benefits...probably not for most of them Posted by: paulmagillsmith

Comments are closed-

Like this is news.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: gunboat diplomat on Mar 31, 2009 3:00 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Between the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War there was a short gap in which time the entire thing could have been averted. Neither Stalin nor the budding U.S. military-industrial complex were really interested in that, one being fixated on all enemies foreign and domestic, and the other being loathe to give up fantastic wartime profits.

The Cold War neatly solved that problem, and constructing nuclear weapons turned out to be just as profitable, with the waste and pollution covered by secrecy - you don't want to live above Hanford, WA, or Arco, ID.

The Soviet dictatorship was not exactly interested in the people's welfare either - look at the vast environmental disasters in the Soviet Union, from the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan to Cherynobyl in the Ukraine (notice that the most polluting industries were outsourced to Soviet slave economies... what does that remind you of?)

To counter Soviet aggression, the tale goes, the U.S. had to act decisively whenever Soviet agents appeared in nations like Cuba, Iran, Vietnam, Burma etc. If this meant fomenting coups in Iran to overthrow the democratically elected Mossadegh, so be it.

It was just a struggle for control between the Soviet empire and the budding American system of colonialism based largely on loansharking. For that approach to work there always had to be a steel fist behind the velvet glove - again, this was justified because the Soviets were ever so much worse. This was the justification for the assassinations of the presidents of Panama and Ecuador in the 1980s.

Otherwise, we are told, the communists would have taken over in Nicaragua and Guatemala, joined forces with the Cubans and overrun Mexico, which would lead to the installation of Soviet missiles on Mexican territory just over the border, followed by a ruthless Soviet invasion, the burning and looting of churches, and the imposition of communist committee rule in every town in America.

The assassinations are a relatively minor thing, though - it's the propaganda and information wars that occupied the intelligence services during the Cold War. (The development of chemical torture/interrogation techniques and biological warfare by the U.S. Army SOD in collaboration with the CIA in the 1950s and 60s is a slightly different story - ARTICHOKE, BLUEBIRD, MK_ULTRA, MK_NAOMI and the Frank Olson LSD story).

In their propaganda wars, the CIA and the KGB relied heavily on underground newspapers and attractive young activists in an endless game of spy-vs-spy in Europe. Tactics included the use of underground newspapers to attack and discredit various suspected "communist sympathizers" or "decadent Westerners", depending on affiliation.

During the popular upheavals of the late 1960s, those tactics were imported to the U.S. and used to disrupt antiwar groups, including everything from pushing drugs on them to discrediting them by violent acts to causing splits within groups. This was the first phase of the government crackdown on dissent, dubbed "OPERATION CHAOS" by the CIA and run out of Langley, VA, over the period 1963-1969. The second period was run by the FBI, and was called COINTELPRO, c. 1968-1972.

At that point, the whole domestic propaganda program was called before Congress and partially exposed by the Church Committee - but it was soon taken over by large-scale private sector foundations with close ties to the U.S. government - the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations being very notable examples - and they don't give $150,000 grants to anti-government radicals, no they do not.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Like this is news. Posted by: inanaturallight
» RE: Like this is news. Posted by: Don't Panic

Comments are closed-

international rules of law seem to be missing in John Hannah's comment
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Guatemala on Mar 31, 2009 3:07 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Amy -- I am unsure what John Hannah means when he says "group of people ... (who) have committed acts of war against the United States." What acts of war is he talking about? The Geneva Conventions define and rule 'acts of war' internationally. But the US doesn't much like the Geneva Conventions. And normally, these acts of war are committed by agents of states ... against which the US should be directing its attention ... not against individuals.
This seems to be a really serious 'rule of law' issue...
Graeme Thompson, Guatemala

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

bluebama II
[Report this comment]
Posted by: bluebama II on Mar 31, 2009 3:52 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
We have become the Romans and Betty Bubba Crocker is baking terrorists faster than you can say oil theft in the Cradle of Civilization. We be de man. Always, the manifest destiny of bipeds. Murderin colored folk for their betterment and dragging their goods back to the cave to quelch our righteousness. This nation has a million on a watch list and is illegally chemically bombing and occupying the second largest oil reserve on the planet to privatize it for corporate enrichment. Forrest said stupid is as stupid does. It is ALL about BIG OIL having way toooo much powerade in its little Dixie Cup. Fly low and stay beneath the radar.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

I don't get it
[Report this comment]
Posted by: ivanguar on Mar 31, 2009 3:51 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I don't get you Americans. I can't believe you could be surprised about stuff like this.
When I was a little kid in early 70s growing up in South America, that was widely known, and a reality we had to deal with every single day of our lives.
Back then were the Comando Sur and the CIA who organized the "killing squads" all around Central and South America.
El Salvador, Guatemala, Chile, Nicaragua, Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, Brasil, Bolivia, Colombia... what part of your own history are you guys missing?
You guys have been assassinating us for decades and by the hundreds of thousands either by using your own hands or by hireing native mercenaries.
So, why are the news about Cheney commanding an asessination ring so scandalous but instead if the Comando Sur or the CIA does it is perfectly acceptable?
There is a lot of hipocresy in people like this journalist from the New Yorker, who "suddenly" discovers that the American Empire assassinates people all around the world, but he tries to blame it on Cheney.
Cheney may be a murderous nazi, but so it was (and may be way worst) Ronald Reagan, Ford, Nixon, Bush senior, and all.
The hipocrasy is in the fact that he tries to put the blame on one particular person, when he knows very well that these are the methodologies that allow the American Empire to mantain its economic-political and financial control over weaker countries.
These policies are not exceptional but actually the normality of the foreign policy of the Empire in the era of senility of capitalism.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: I don't get it Posted by: Quannah
» RE: Bullsh*t ? Posted by: inanaturallight
» Mr. gunboat diplomat... Posted by: Quannah
» RE: An excellent response... Posted by: kogwonton
» You don't know 3rd parties sir. Posted by: JenniferBedingfield
» You're welcome. Posted by: GuitarBill
» Nader Posted by: Bliss Doubt
» ivanguar; How Do You Know? Posted by: AlteredStates
» all too true Posted by: we_need_Abe
» RE: I don't get it Posted by: Vik
» RE: I don't get it Posted by: kogwonton
» RE: Correct Posted by: kogwonton

Comments are closed-

Barry could have picked Seymour Hersh to replace Bob Gates as DoD Sec.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: JenniferBedingfield on Mar 31, 2009 4:22 PM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Unfortunately, Barry's just a lying status quo puppet for the Military Industrial Complex who wouldn't treat Hersh kindly. Mr. Hersh, Nader would have appointed you to replacing Gates unlike Barry.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Benazir Bhutto ?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: US Citizen on Mar 31, 2009 5:25 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Was Cheney responsible for the assassination of Pakistani Presidential candidate Benazir Bhutto?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Benazir Bhutto ? Posted by: left_witch
» RE: Benazir Bhutto ? Posted by: theblackgeorgecarlin
» I could be wrong but... Posted by: kogwonton
» Wow - You're right... Posted by: kogwonton

Comments are closed-

Salvador Allende of Chile
[Report this comment]
Posted by: US Citizen on Mar 31, 2009 7:22 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
We, including us people from the US, all know that Richard Nixon was responsible for the murder of popular President Salvador Allende of Chile. After that, the US installed General Pinochet who terrorized the people of Chile for many years. Cheney got his start in the Nixon administration.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Dejavu
[Report this comment]
Posted by: gGreen on Mar 31, 2009 7:54 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The CIA and other CIA sponsored entities tried over 600 times to kill Fidel Castro, sometimes being within a hair's width of killing him, but being hampered by bad luck or wimping out.

You can find '613 ways to kill Castro' on Google video or You Tube, I think.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» So when do we get to abolish the CIA? Posted by: JenniferBedingfield
» RE: So when do we get to abolish the CIA? Posted by: JenniferBedingfield
» RE: So when do we get to abolish the CIA? Posted by: LaughingModerateIndependent
» RE: Dejavu Posted by: kogwonton
» RE: Dejavu Posted by: Sister_Lauren

Comments are closed-

CIA has been involved in assassinations of foreign leaders for a long time
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Quannah on Mar 31, 2009 8:29 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The CIA was involved, directly or indirectly, in plots against at least seven foreign leaders:

* Castro

* Patrice Lumumba of the Congo

* Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic

* President Salvador Allende of Chile

* President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam

* President Francois Duvalier of Haiti

* President Sukarno of Indonesia

Four of these leaders died violently.

The prohibition of assassination, executive order #12333, was first signed by President Gerald Ford and stipulated that foreign leaders cannot be killed by any member of the US government. Because of that law, the army is allowed to kill enemy underlings in battle but not the people in power making decisions.

Cheney, or anyone else, does not have the authority to employ assassination "death squads." As if it needs to be... it is EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED BY LAW, thanks for Gerald Ford. He did something right.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» So when will Barry push to get rid of the CIA? Posted by: JenniferBedingfield
» Your putdown has improved . . . Posted by: dustdevil
» That got us King George Posted by: Bliss Doubt
» Outstanding comment, Quannah. Posted by: GuitarBill
» RE: Outstanding comment, Quannah. Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» Rightwingers? Maybe. Skinheads ??? Posted by: FLYING DOOFUS
» RE: Outstanding comment, Quannah. Posted by: FLYING DOOFUS
» RE: Outstanding comment, Quannah. Posted by: FLYING DOOFUS
» RE: Outstanding comment, Quannah. Posted by: LaughingModerateIndependent
» Patrice Lumumba Posted by: Bliss Doubt
» RE: Patrice Lumumba Posted by: Quannah

Comments are closed-

Continuity
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Revolutionary (Direct) Democracy on Mar 31, 2009 11:23 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
We have yet to hear President Obama acknowledge the illegal assassination program existed or to state that it no longer exists and that Cheney will be investigated.

It's safe to assume the illegal assassination program is still in operation.


FREE AMERICA

REVOLUTIONARY (DIRECT) DEMOCRACY

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

no mention of Economic Hit Man from posters? murder is one of the things that powerful people do
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Suzon on Apr 1, 2009 3:11 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
There are no national boundries or laws that powerful people are forced to respect. Why is that so?

If you look at corporations (and government itself is a form of corporation) you will see power anti-democratically concentrated at the top. There is no real justification for this. The idea of hierarchy has a long and successful history ("might makes right").

The aristocratic mindset is firmly entrenched in American life. Aristocrats and their Mini-Me henchpersons are characterized by recklessness, murder, acquisition, consolidation and display, all underpinned by indifference to the suffering of others.

Hannah's defense of being "in a state of war with Al Queda" conveniently omits that the war itself was an invention of the Bush administration.

Throughout our history American lawlessness has been dressed up as "help" thanks to the MSM. Are we beginning to see through this sham?

If so, there is hope for the country to restore Jefferson's ideal of egalitarianism.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Justice for the Dickster
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Tom Degan on Apr 1, 2009 3:43 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If this is true (and I have no logical reason to doubt Sy Hersh) Cheney should be prosecuted for war crimes.

To those of you who would say that Cheney wouldn't be involved in something this monstrous I would only say:

"You don't know Dick"

Thank you Paul Begala and James Carvelle.

Lethal Nation

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Justice for the Dickster Posted by: HLbuchanan

Comments are closed-

To those referencing Carter's executive order 12333
[Report this comment]
Posted by: NyghtOwl on Apr 1, 2009 4:12 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
There were several orders after 2000, that amended the original order, making assasination of foreign counterparts illegal. I am sure if one follows that paper trail, you will find the loop holes.

FAS Note: Executive Order 12333 was amended on January 23, 2003 by Executive Order 13284, on August 27, 2004 by Executive Order 13355, and further amended on July 30, 2008 by Executive Order 13470. The resulting text of Executive Order 12333, following the 2008 amendment can be found at full pdf document EO 12333 amended in 2008

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» That's incorrect Posted by: brunowe
» RE: brunowe Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» Wouldn't we all like to know... Posted by: LeftWright

Comments are closed-

Gravitas
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Sparks56 on Apr 1, 2009 4:25 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Matbe now, with a man with the gravitas of Mr. Hersh reporting crimes with the gravitas of assassinations ordered by a man whose Constitutional authority is limited to breaking Senate tie votes and stepping in if the President is dead or incapacitated, (I know George Bush was incapacitated from birth. Maybe that will be Cheney's defense.), there will be a real investigation into the real crimes of the Cheney, er, I mean Bush, Administration. I hope.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

CheneyCorp is a Vast, long standing Organized Crime Syndicate
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Purple Girl on Apr 1, 2009 5:00 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Hell bent on destroying US.
Who actually gave North the OK to undermine a sitting President in the Iran Contra Scandal.
Who ok'ed aid & comfort to Binny's 'Afgani Freedom Fighters' in the '80's.
Who ok'ed anthrax being given to Saddam in the '80's.
Who has been 'Kissin Cousins' to the Saudi's Oil Royal Regime who spawned the majority of 9/11 Attackers.
Who not only drained our Surplus,but squandered and thus indebted US through these Two needless 'Wars'
Who pushed through legislations to undermine our Economic solvency without regard to the historical facts about it's ramifications.
Who has worked for decades to divide the American people through social issue diversion tactics.
This is not just Repugs, but also a good number of theri covert operative who don themselves in Blue. How's Husband signed the Modernization act? Who's '08 campaign mirrored John McCains and joined withhim to try to bring down Obama? Who now is not trusted enough to act unilaterally in foreign Diplomacy? How many envoys will Obama send out to assure Hillary is not still acting as a Mole for CheneyCorp- Let US not forget she was a Goldwater Girl, before her opportunistic ambitions landed her a Rising Dem star. Did she and the DLC think we missed the Corp placating doctrine of the 'Third Way'?Not for the People or our Governing body, but for the Corps.
We have so many Traitors to prosecute for 30 yrs of High crimes we'll need to run the trials like 'American Idol'- and we have some Fabulous PARTING Gifts- an Amp'ed up Chair, a knotted necklace, or a stainless steel syringe, an Aromatherapy session, or a firm pillow to lay your head- Your choice!
As for DICK, we need to Hire the same guy who tied Saddams noose. Hang that SOB then zap his pacemaker back to life and repeat- for each year he has been the GodFather to this insideous seige upon US. "Cruel & Unusal", no just Poetic Justice.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

If anyone doubts
[Report this comment]
Posted by: LTBROWN on Apr 1, 2009 5:18 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
that Cheney is a terrorist, with a crew of Henchmen, then I've got a bridge, in Brooklyn, NY, to sale to you. Let the brainwashing end, completely please. Convict this terrorist monster, Cheney and his croonies and make the world a better place!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

JSOC? The JTTFs are worse - and see the Official Psyops Doctrine for Joint Operations.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: gunboat diplomat on Apr 1, 2009 5:58 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Everyone has a fascination with "special forces" and "elite military culture" because we live in a fairly militarized society, as do many other people. Beats living under the Nazis, doesn't it?

However, the question is what they were being used for. There were numerous reports of Special Forces colonels protesting to the Pentagon about how Rumsfeld and Cheney were using their troops. The Special Forces units were set up inside Iraq outside of normal military control - the regular military didn't know what they were up to, but all the evidence points to a large-scale assassination program in Iraq that coincided with the surge - an Operation Phoenix program that really has not yet come to light.

They were used to create splits between Sunni and Shia insurgents, and were probably responsible for the bombing of the Samarra shrine - it was reported that U.S. helicopters were providing air cover over the area right before the explosion, which was a carefully planned demolition of the structure. That was intended to split the insurgency and get the Iraqis fighting each other - and it worked, for a while, anyway.

That is all due to Cheney and Rumsfeld, who have read the manual:

www.iwar.org.uk/psyops/resources/us/jp3_53.pdf

"1. Scope: This doctrine addresses the use of military psychological operations (PSYOP) assets in planning and conducting PSYOP in support of joint operations across the range of military operations."

"Psychological operations (PSYOP) are operations planned to convey selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence their emotions, motives, objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of foreign governments, organizations, groups, and individuals."

It's like some psychotic marketing program, right out of the Nazi manual. Here are their "essential concepts":

A) Persuasive Communications. All communications systematically convey information and impressions directly to all involved.

Control of the media - including the "alternative media" - is essential. Check.

B) Command Disruption. Disruption of C4 not only directly interferes with the capabilities of an opponent to succeed in combat but also can have serious impact upon the opponent’s morale, cohesion, discipline, and public support essential to efficient operations.

The use of FBI and JTTF spies to infiltrate and disrupt anti-war groups in the U.S over the past eight years? Check.

C) Information Denial. Competing parties can systematically deny opponents information they require to formulate decisions.

A corrupt pandering corporate media? Check. An alternative media that stays dead silent about certain issues (anthrax attacks, AIG counterparty kickbacks to Citigroup, etc.)? Check.

D) Intelligence Shaping. It is possible to systematically convey and deny data to opposing intelligence systems with the objective of causing opposing analysts to derive selected judgments.

Well, that was how the Iraq war was sold, wasn't it? These tactics are widely used in the U.S. - NPR and Amy Goodman are shining examples of how PYSOP tactics are used against the American public - and it's obvious with the Goodman crowd, they're way too chuckly - bad actors.

Plus, if you look at Amy Goodman's funding, it somewhere to the right of Steve Forbes. That was aided by a Bush-era decision to reduce reporting requirements for non-profits - you want to find the real shadiness in the U.S., look no further than the large private foundations.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

This comment has been removed from the site due to non-compliance with AlterNet's community policies.

Comments are closed-

Alternet is of course in the same mold as Democracy Now!
[Report this comment]
Posted by: gunboat diplomat on Apr 1, 2009 6:08 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
For example, the car story posted yesterday was pulled from the front page, replaced by a David Sirota blog article from one month ago, no comments allowed.

Was that because I posted this on the car story?

GM and Chrysler and Ford sacrificed their future for the sake of Big Oil.
Posted by: gunboat diplomat on Mar 31, 2009 2:06 PM

Right at a time when any decent market analysis would have told you that Americans wanted to buy fast, fuel-efficient cars, not big SUVs, GM kept pushing their gas guzzlers.

The most obvious reason for them to do that is that their majority shareholders wanted them to do exactly that.

Let's go back to 2006 - here's something off the financial wire from that era:

"This is also a good time to point out that Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. is one of several investors owning big chunks of GM common stock. Others include State Street Global Advisors, Capital Research and Brandes Investment Partners. I don't know offhand if any of these or other major players own stock in either Nissan or Renault.

Are these and other GM shareholders saying anything behind the scenes?

P.S. The Financial Times reported late yesterday that GM's Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner has already had talks with Carlos Gohn, CEO of Nissan and Renault. And that the two will meet in Detroit this month.

That was relative to the proposed GM-Renault deal, which fell through.

So... what other car company in the U.S. might be able to profitably partner with GM? A small startup with a novel plan would be best...

"March 26, 2009, 8:05 pm
Tesla Model S Electric Sedan Breaks Cover
By Jerry Garrett for The New York Times

LOS ANGELES — Tesla Motors, the electric-car maker, unveiled its much-anticipated Model S sedan on Thursday, here at the SpaceX rocket plant, which is also owned by Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk.

Mr. Musk, in introducing the Model S, said the first cars would be delivered to customers in the third quarter of 2011. The company said it would build the car in Southern California, but would not say where."

Now, what would the explosive growth of the electric car industry in the United States as the result of a $30 billion government investment in a GM-Tesla manufacturing/engineering partnership do to GM's fortunes, to job creation in the Midwest, and to the U.S. global trading position with respect to electric vehicles?

Oh, I expect them to miss this opportunity, I expect rampant greed to prevail - but if that happens, screw paying taxes to the federal government. States should move forward as a group and co-opt 50% of the federal income tax receipts - by any means necessary - and that's my proposal if this B.S. continues.

Alternet is also a private foundation funded conglomerate - the pleas for public financing are just a front - look up the Independent Media Institute's financing - and their headquarters in in the Federal Building in San Francisco.

What a farce - the alternative media is nothing but PR put out by private foundations.
You can scrub this comment and delete my account now, assholes.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» I'm With You, Gunboat Posted by: PrinceRobert
» RE: Completely wrong Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» I don't work for Alternet... Posted by: brunowe
» Dude, you need to chill. Posted by: FLYING DOOFUS
» I'm fine, thanks, I was joking. Posted by: GuitarBill
» Ah, you really had me there, hehe. :) Posted by: FLYING DOOFUS
» Wow, Tinfoil hat time! Posted by: Joshua Holland

Comments are closed-

The Reagan death squads
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Perry Logan on Apr 1, 2009 6:39 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The atrocities just keep coming. For me, though, the assassinations pale next to the war itself, or the death squads Reagan unleashed on Central and South America.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: The Reagan death squads Posted by: Sister_Lauren

Comments are closed-

I'm not so sure they would
[Report this comment]
Posted by: ADCS on Apr 1, 2009 7:24 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The blowback from such a situation would be unimaginable. Entire sections of Latin America would be very hostile to the US after that point, as the relative good relations over the last 25 years has been with the idea that the US was granting them more sovereignty (of course, just a ruse in order to establish neoliberal trade policies, in which old colonialist hegemony is reestablished).

A major assassination would immediately be blamed on the US, and most people would realize that the bad old days of the 1960s never really went away, and that could lead to whole swaths of Latin America turning into a Guatemalan situation all over again.

Bad policy.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

JSOC is such a clumsy name: just call it SS
[Report this comment]
Posted by: peterjkraus on Apr 1, 2009 8:25 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
SS (the abbreviation of Schutzstaffel, which is super-clumsy) is well understood internationally to mean unscrupulous killers in the service of an unscrupulous dictator. Their justification was the fact they thought themselves members of a master race, created by god to subjugate lesser races. To thoroughly do that, the "lessers" had to be "taken out", a process that was idealized as the "final solution" (or, if you prefer, "collateral damage").

So, no big difference, huh? SS it is.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

syed salamah ali mahdi
[Report this comment]
Posted by: salamah on Apr 1, 2009 8:28 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It's only when the White House re-establishes its constitutional authority over CIA and Pentagon, with the immense financial and deadly 'resources' they have in their hands, will always have the power and potentials to act on their own, mostly roguely. Those who benefit from their hidden 'resources' are the ones who control Media, Wall Street and hence, the electioneering process. Don't believe me? Try getting a copy of a thirty year old CIA dossier titled Israel under Public Information Act or whatever it is called. What you will receive is twenty blank pages with only the 1st page having the word, Israel, as its heading. Now imagine what the blank pages have written on them. Again imagine how many billions were made available to the CIA to do what it wanted in support of Israel, right or wrong, all written in the file. Add to the billions conjured up in your imagination other billions doled out to Israel 'officially' over the past 30 years. Also remember the number of assassinations carried out by Israel within Palestine and outside Palestine with the support of CIA; tactical and financial. The Israeli file is just one such file. So, what can Americans do about it. Zilch!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: twenty blank pages Posted by: Sister_Lauren

Comments are closed-

NathanHail
[Report this comment]
Posted by: NathanHail on Apr 1, 2009 8:43 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
We are selective as to who we kill and who we partner with. How are the targets determined on what criteria? The Black Ops guys deal with treacherous folks all the time. The question is which do we whack and which do we pay off?
Who has the say in deciding? If it is jerks like Cheney or some twisted Generals we are all in big trouble. They are no different than the Mafia.
How much is to forward the interests of corporate America like in Chile, Viet Nam or Iran where the CIA killed their Presidents?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

We know they assassinated US citizen Ahmed Hijazi, they proudly announced it
[Report this comment]
Posted by: cplot on Apr 1, 2009 8:48 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
On November 3, 2002 US authorities proudly announced they had assassinated Abu Ali al-Harithi a citizen of Yemen. Along with Abu Ali al-Harithi, they also murdered Ahmed Hijazi a US citizen. The murders took place in Yemen. There's no need to turn to tabloid style rumor mongering. We have a direct confession of culpability in this action.

While the authorities claim that they didn't realize a US citizen was in the car with Abu Ali al-Harithi, this merely confirms why criminal justice cannot be handled through assassinations. Criminal justice can only be handled through due process where the accused have an opportunity to defend themselves. These assassinations essentially amount to bills of attainder. The Constitution prohibits Congress from enacting bills of attainer, but it is only through Bush-style legal acrobatics that anyone can claim that the prohibition to Congress meant it should be left to the executive branch.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Call Me Skeptical...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Urgelt on Apr 1, 2009 9:40 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
...but Mr. Hersh hasn't said anything worth hearing yet.

Which countries? Who was assassinated?

That JSOC exists is not news. Thus far that's the only fact Mr. Hersh has revealed about the organization.

You can read anything into Bush's innuendos and vague claims of success. Anything. Maybe there was something sinister behind his words. But journalism requires more than maybes.

Mr. Hersh, come back when you have something concrete, and I'll listen, gratefully. Until then, spare me your fishing expeditions.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Well Today My Daughter Has Been To School And Been To The G20 Meltdown Demonstrations
[Report this comment]
Posted by: tony_opmoc on Apr 1, 2009 9:55 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
link

She also has an interview for a job today.

Meanwhile, I have been for a walk in the Countryside with my Wife.

Its a beautiful Spring Day.

Hopefully she will come back with some Photographs that will enhance her "A" Level Grade - They gave her a theme of "Discord" which seems a pretty heavy assignment for an 18 year old girl - and also a temporary job to help pay for University.

Its a strange world

But I have to take my hat off to her - for the courage she displays.

I am of course a wimp/old fart/can't run fast enough when things get nasty.

From what I can tell the Police have acted extremely Sensibly.

They are just doing a job trying to keep the Peace.

Tony

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

The Jaworski doctrine
[Report this comment]
Posted by: astockton on Apr 1, 2009 10:04 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Leon Jaworski believed that the Constitution provided only impeachment as a remedy for a sitting president or VP who commits a crime. That's why he was not upset about Ford's pardon of Nixon, because he didn't really want to bring criminal charges against old Tricky Dick.

Well, Cheney's out of office. If he's still directing a hit squad, he needs to be charged with sedition and put on trial.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

bush made reference to this kind of thing
[Report this comment]
Posted by: CitizenX on Apr 1, 2009 10:20 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Doesn't anybody remember bushes SOTU speech where he made reference to the 300 people who were no longer a "problem"? Some of these people were of course captured but many of them were assassinated.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Indict Bush Now
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Defenestrator on Apr 1, 2009 10:40 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Indict Bush Now

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Last Night a Canadian Poster Made Me Feel Really Proud of Queen Elizabeth II
[Report this comment]
Posted by: tony_opmoc on Apr 1, 2009 10:51 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
He posted this .

I hadn't seen it before.

Tony

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Craig Murray Has My Utmost Respect - I Have Even Bought His Book
[Report this comment]
Posted by: tony_opmoc on Apr 1, 2009 11:15 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
But not read it yet.

Craig Murray is a Scottish dissident, human rights
activist, writer, and former British Ambassador. He is
currently Rector of the University of Dundee and an
Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Lancaster
School of Law.

I posted this on his website a few days ago

I sense a change - a turning point away from the ocean of depravity that our culture has become. Corruption is being exposed and Good People are standing up against it. Its easy to walk away and just accept the slide into evil. People from all political persuasions are demanding change. We really do not like living in a world where our leaders are so disgusting that they embrace torture. I am astonished that we have sunk so low. Things may get considerably worse before they get better. But we must support men of courage such as Craig Murray - who stand up against the tide of filth.

Torture happens in the UK too. My 15 year old daughter was subjected to it. She was walking home with her friends after an end of summer party in the local park. The police turned up with their meat wagons. All her friends ran for it. She had done absolutely nothing wrong and stood firm as she was smashed to the ground and had a knee in her back whilst being handcuffed and taken to the police cells to be interrogated until 3:00am.

She refused to give her real name and address. The police tortured her for 5 hours trying to obtain it. But she refused to tell them.

They wouldn't let me see her for over 4 hours. I of course did all the wrong things - and signed all the papers they put in front of me - just to get my daughter out of hell. We went to the official warning - and sucked up to the police - telling them what a brilliant job they were doing. We felt ashamed - until we discussed our experience with other parents - and found exactly the same thing had happenned to their teenage children. All in the name of Blair's war on terror and collecting eveyone's DNA.

Should we Protest - or should we allow such depravity to continue?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Is it just me or is there too much conspiracy theory wackiness going on here?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: FLYING DOOFUS on Apr 1, 2009 11:17 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Whatever is true from all this thread isn't being made clear.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: It is just you Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: It is just you Posted by: FLYING DOOFUS
» RE: It is not us, it is just you Posted by: Sister_Lauren

Comments are closed-

Remember Cheney was part of Iran/Contra
[Report this comment]
Posted by: delphicink on Apr 1, 2009 11:38 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Is he so vengeful that he and his "moles" will set up another deceptive catastrophic event to bring the neocons back to power?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Sister_Lauren Thanks For Your Prayers
[Report this comment]
Posted by: tony_opmoc on Apr 1, 2009 11:40 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Katy has just got home - dressed like a Press Photographer

I told her how PROUD I was of her and asked - What was it like - Did You Get any Good Photographs?

She said Of Course I did - THAT is Why I went There.

She is now eating a Jacket Potato with Cheese

Stripping Off Her Press Photographer Clothes

And about to go out

Completely Redressed For The Interview - with a completely Different Image in an attempt to get the Job

You may think this is not possible - taking the time difference into account - you in LA?

But she rescheduled the job interview to 9:00pm

The job involves night work

If she gets the job as well I will be gobsmacked

Tony

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: She is only 18 Posted by: Sister_Lauren

Comments are closed-

HOW GAY IS THIS ARTICLE? - GOOD FOR LAUGHS!!!
[Report this comment]
Posted by: ds1st on Apr 1, 2009 12:19 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This is not borderline stupid, it is STUPID.

A homophobic gay man wrote this, you can tell by his style. The author needs to spend some quality Barney “ZIPPY STICK” Frank.

Good for laughs.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Turn off the Game Boy, Congress
[Report this comment]
Posted by: JayHaden on Apr 1, 2009 12:42 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The most hair-pulling part of all this is that our bumbling poll-followers in Congress went along so knee-jerkedly with W/Dick in agreeing that a criminal attack on the WTC constituted a declaration of war by an eternal infinity of enemies. After K/Nixon, couldn't they see where the blank check would lead?

Whether or not we are at war is a debatable point, made less so because everyone, including Mr. Hersh, insists on calling it a war. Heretofore, we used "war" as both a legal and PR term (as in War on Drugs, War on Liberals, etc). Only Congress, however, can give it legal status as the mother-of-all-reasons-to-torture.

That Congress was stampeded into doing so by the PR genius of W/Dick and the fear-mongers of the MSM (surely American can survive a number of WTC-type attacks, even a nuke or two, without having to give up our guns, hummers and BBQs) illustrates what happens when the psychological effectiveness of the advertising world is capriciously applied to affect the most serious of public decisions.

The ultimate in bread and circuses is our present wonderland where a half-trillion/year military-industrial-intelligence game boy blows up real people and we applaud delightedly, sinking deeper into debt with each grisly fantasy brought to life .

Time to turn off the "war", Congress. Call our pre-emption of criminal conduct by disgruntled sociopaths a police action and send us back to do objective police work with proper safeguards for our Constitutional rights. All this military stuff, clumsy nation-building, support for the bad guys who are really good guys until they turn bad again, and putting human rights into cold, cold storage (solitary confinement?) is just getting in the way of relatively simple international police and intelligence work.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

A PERSON OF THOUGHTS
[Report this comment]
Posted by: foxxx on Apr 1, 2009 1:19 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
NOT UNUSUAL FROM THE TOP. BUT THERE'S AN OLE SAYING = WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND. AS IS THERE ARE ISLAMIC MUSLIM TERRORISTS IN 98 % OF STATES IN AMERICA. MUSLIM TERRORISTS TRAINING CAMPS GETTING READY TO KILL AMERICANS, ESPECIALLY THE FAMILIES OF THE MILITARY, SINCE THE ADDRESSES AND SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS OF ALL MILITARY HAVE HIT THE BLACK MARKET. ( A THOUGHT)= (SENATOR OBAMA HAD A ARGUEMENT IN AFGANISTAN WITH OSAMA BIN LADEN (SO TO SPEAK)= 2ND DAY IN OFFICE AS PRESIDENT. OBAMA SENDS A COMMITTEE TO IRAQ AND AFGANISTAN.= 4TH. DAY IN OFFICE, ALL MILITARY ADDRESSES AND SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS HIT THE BLACK MARKET IN IRAQ AND AFGANISTAN,) NOW THERE ARE REAL ISLAMIC MUSLIM TERRORISTS IN TRAINING CAMPS IN 98% OF AMERICA - ALMOST EVERY STATE IN OUR UNION. A THOUGHT = MAYBE ITS REVENGE, BUT EITHER WAY THEIR HERE NOW. SO EVERYONE READING THIS COMMENT TAKE THIS VERY SEROUS, BECAUSE THIS IS THE WAY IT IS. SO ALERT EVERYONE FOR ALL OUR SAFETY OR YOUR NOT AMERICANS. IF ANYONE SPOTS ANYTHING UNUSUAL ALERT YOUR AUTHORITIES. IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO CARRY A CAMERA PHONE AND ALWAYS BE WITH FRIENDS. ALERT THE MILITARY IN YOUR STATE. MIGHT BE SAFER FOR EVERYONE, SINCE ALOT OF YOU DONT HAVE WEAPONS OR THE TRAINING TO USE THEM. HAVE A NICE DAY. MIKE

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Rebel Rebel
[Report this comment]
Posted by: tony_opmoc on Apr 1, 2009 1:42 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
David Bowie - Rebel Rebel

I'm dying to see her Photographs - but the emotions are a bit manic in our house at the moment

I give my daughter complete Privacy and Freedom to do as she must do

I do not intrude

I do not search to find what she says and does with her friends in the "Real World" nor also on the Internet

Her Life is Her Destiny

I Have The Utmost Respect For Her

I do not need to Pry and attempt to Control

All I can do is Encourage and Support Her

I Know She is a Good Girl and Will Do Everything Possible To Keep Her Brother Alive If He Gets into Difficulties

Tony

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Rebel Rebel Posted by: tony_opmoc
» RE: It arrived on 11th September 2001 Posted by: Sister_Lauren

Comments are closed-

Jack Bauer and The Unit?!
[Report this comment]
Posted by: DaBear on Apr 1, 2009 1:56 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
So during the Bush regime, "art" was just flying cover for real life? The Unit was real? Jack Bauer was out there, torturing and whacking people Dick didn't like?

Too fucked up.

Here's hopin' Sy publishes the names of the whacked and who made up the death-lists.... and when the fuck is 'Bama going to let us indict these mofos? Oh wait, I forgot, hope not change...

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Jack Bauer and The Unit?! Posted by: FLYING DOOFUS

Comments are closed-

next step please
[Report this comment]
Posted by: remo on Apr 1, 2009 3:01 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
if the collective concious now accepts cheney as a murderer at this level,
then recognition of 9/11inside job atrocity is just around the corner. Get onto it Seymour. Amy.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
[Report this comment]
Posted by: tony_opmoc on Apr 1, 2009 3:44 PM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
My Daughter Has Got Her Photographs Out On The Web

They Are COMPLETELY AWESOME

I said link them as quick and as fast as you can to all the major News websites

Just post them

Tony

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Dude, calm yourself Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: just so wonderful Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» Tony's main job Posted by: Bliss Doubt

Comments are closed-

Petraeus: Israel Might Attack Iran
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Sister_Lauren on Apr 1, 2009 3:52 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Petraeus: Israel Might Attack Iran

From the comments,

CaptainVideo

The reality is that Obama is now facing a deadly serious threat to the vital interests of the United States. The warmongering fanatics currently in control of Israel seem determined to drag us into a disasterous war with Iran.

If you liked the war with Iraq, you will love the war with Iran.

If Obama wants to prevent this, he is going to have to get the balls to face the Israeli government, and the Israeli lobby in the U.S., down the way no President since Eisenhower has done, and make it clear that if they attack without our approval we will cut off all military and economic aid, and will not come to their assistance if Iran retaliates.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:14 PM on 04/01/2009
- kindGSL See Profile I'm a Fan of kindGSL permalink
This comment is pending approval and won't be displayed until it is approved.

I didn't like the war with Iraq. My 'christian' neighbor wanted to vote to draft my son to go there and kill those people for their religion.

I found that very upsetting and had an argument with him about it. I was very upset he wanted my son to go there and kill people like me. My husband didn't like my reaction and followed me all the around the house yelling at me about it. He wouldn't leave me alone and when he pulled and twisted my arm , I called the police. He had never hurt me before but he did that day.

When the police came, they lied to him about me. They had been casing me, why he was so upset with me, and they told him they weren't. He stopped listening to me and stopped believing me that day.

I was raped later, after the police told him it would be OK.

Sick.

I am still waiting for my mayor to call me back, I want to talk to her about how the police in my town said I was fair game for rape. I think political activists should be treated better than that.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Tradition
[Report this comment]
Posted by: westomoon on Apr 1, 2009 4:10 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Why do you think Ford wrote an executive order prohibiting death squads? People my age generally know at least one person who was drafted and turned into an assassin, usually in Special Forces or Special Ops. If someone tells you they were a sniper in Viet Nam, they are usually telling you they were an assassin.

As to freelance, widespread US assassination programs, Bill Moyers did a remarkable special in 1987 called "The Secret Government". You can view the full version here, or a shorter version here, or google it yourself. It's a revelation to most of us.

For me, what was shocking about Hersch's story was that the Vice President had a praetorian guard of assassins to play with, answerable to no one but him. Whatever weird capabilities our government still has in place, it is hard to imagine Joe Biden getting off on having his own personal death squad -- thank god!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Or Obama either Posted by: Sister_Lauren

Comments are closed-

Cheaper Assasinations.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: melpol on Apr 1, 2009 4:42 PM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It would not be in the interest of efficiency for the U.S. to send an assassination team into a foreign nation. They could find some underworld type close to their victim to do the job for a few bucks. The story is a fictional press release to get publicity.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Cheaper Assasinations. Posted by: Quannah

Comments are closed-

Set The Captives FREE
[Report this comment]
Posted by: tony_opmoc on Apr 1, 2009 5:48 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Bob Marley - Exodus

Men and people will fight ya down (tell me why!)
When ya see jah light. (ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!)
Let me tell you if youre not wrong; (then, why? )
Everything is all right.
So we gonna walk - all right! - through de roads of creation:
We the generation (tell me why!)
(trod through great tribulation) trod through great tribulation.

Exodus, all right! movement of jah people!
Oh, yeah! o-oo, yeah! all right!
Exodus: movement of jah people! oh, yeah!

Yeah-yeah-yeah, well!
Uh! open your eyes and look within:
Are you satisfied (with the life youre living)? uh!
We know where were going, uh!
We know where were from.
Were leaving babylon,
Were going to our father land.

Jah come to break downpression,
Rule equality,
Wipe away transgression,
Set the captives free.

Set the captives free.

SET The Captives FREE
SET The Captives FREE
SET The Captives FREE
SET The Captives FREE
SET The Captives FREE
SET The Captives FREE

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

for many years
[Report this comment]
Posted by: om7buss on Apr 1, 2009 7:24 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
that the USA has been used from the hidden world goverment to kill people around the world, that differs with their acts of satanist-jewish-goverment. we live in a satanic society, just look yourself and around you, and tell me....www.henrybook.com

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Whew, so many useless hate comments to wad through.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Benn_Miller on Apr 1, 2009 8:33 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Are the liberals and progressives this so divided like crazy or what? I hope I'm not in trouble for being a newcomer but I notice that on this site, a lot of newcomers get attacked by the senior members. I generally read what I can of these comments but I couldn't resist posting a thought of my own. Between the Naderites and the Obamaites, I can't stand the bickering.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Querulous bickering Posted by: westomoon
» RE: Querulous bickering Posted by: Benn_Miller
» RE: Querulous bickering Posted by: westomoon
» Welcome, welcome, Benn_Miller Posted by: LeftWright
» Nasty little Billy . . . Posted by: dustdevil
» "Pyroclastic flow"? BULLSHIT! Posted by: GuitarBill
» Are you on drugs again? Posted by: dustdevil
» Nice retreat there, GB! Posted by: LeftWright
» You're an idiot. Posted by: GuitarBill
» You don't cook, do you, GB? Posted by: LeftWright
» "Squibs"? BULLSH*T! Posted by: GuitarBill
» Another 911 "truth" lie. Posted by: GuitarBill
» Explosions? BULLSHIT! Posted by: GuitarBill
» RE: xplosions? BULLSHIT! Posted by: dustdevil