You're Not Stupid!
Get the Truth

A Brief on the
Bush Presidency

By William John Cox

Progressive Press
Joshua Tree, California

You're Not Stupid!

Get the Truth:

A Brief on the Bush Presidency

Copyright © May, 2004

by William John Cox

www.YoureNotSrupid.com

A Progressive Press Book

Published by Tree of Life Publications,

PO Box 126, Joshua Tree CA 92252

www.progressivepress.com

Library of Congress
Cataloging-in-Publication
data has been applied for

ISBN 0-930852-32-X

First Printing June 2004

Printed in Canada by
Friesens Corp., Altona, Manitoba

DEDICATION

For Thomas Paine,

An American Patriot with Common Sense

and

For Helen,

An Uncommon Wife

IN SELF DEFENSE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book is written for you, a busy person, as a useful
compilation of political information and opinion drawn from
diverse published sources.

INTRODUCTION

The Bush administration has been running on lies in the belief
that we are too stupid to figure it out. The business of
exaggeration in politics has gone beyond the usual. It has
become a culture of nastiness and downright lies. Is this
acceptable?

We're Not As Stupid As They Think We Are 1

Nasty Political Lies 2

WHO'S BUSH? 5

How much do we really know about our president's life, his
background and his character? To understand George W.
Bush's administration better, it helps to become better
acquainted with the well-smoothed path he has followed to the
top.

To the Manner Born 5

"I do not have a perfect record as a youth." 8

Over the Hill 11

What an MBA Can Do for You 13

Let Them Eat Cake! 17

THE PREVARICATOR I:

THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN 23

Republican Senator McCain was tortured for five years in
Vietnam as a POW. Democrat Vice President Gore was a man
of vision and integrity. Yet Bush managed to destroy the
character of each of these men using twisted lies, setting
himself up to become president by judicial appointment.

vi You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

"John. It's politics." 23

The Goring of Gore 26

THE THEFT OF THE PRESIDENCY 31

Beyond the philosophical question of whether George W. Bush
represents the voters, there are very real questions that linger
about the legitimacy, the constitutionality, even the legality of
his election.

Casing the Joint 32

The Heist 36

A BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 41

Once having been established as president, no matter how
questionably, Bush set about thanking the corporate wealthy,
his peers who paid the contributions that elected (or selected)
him, by putting "his" executive branch at their service.

If It's Bad for Business, It's Too Bad for the Rest of Us 41
Reversal of Ergonomic Standards 44

Elimination of Overtime Pay 46

The Energy Companies' Crisis 48

NO CHILD LEFT UNTESTED 57

Bush claims a successful record on education both as governor
of Texas and as president, but a closer examination reveals it to
be largely a public relations smokescreen. His policies, once the
smoke has been blown aside, are revealed to be hostile to public
education and to the democratic values on which it rests.

Educating Docile Workers for the Corporate State 58

Dropouts Don't Count 60

Big Brother Knows Best 64

The Test Revolt 69

HAVE I GOT A DEAL FOR YOU 73

It's been observed that to find who has the most power in a
society, you need only look to see who does not pay taxes. The
touted Bush tax breaks, once the window dressing is removed,
are exposed as a public giveaway to those who already have the
most.

A Tax Cut for the Wealthy 75

Table of Con ten ts vii

Another Tax Break for the Rich and Richer 79

9/11: WHO KNEW WHAT AND WHEN,

AND WHAT, IF ANYTHING, DID HE DO? 83

The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, shocked the
nation. But what may be nearly as shocking is how much
information the government had beforehand, and how
stupendous were the incompetence and chicanery that attended
its failure to prevent that catastrophe.

Sowing the Wind and Reaping the Whirlwind 85

Neglect of Duty 93

The Attack 104

The Cover-up 107

The Why 118

THE PREVARICATOR II:

THE MIDTERM CAMPAIGN 135

The saga of the midterm elections in 2002 is not a shining hour
for American politics. Rather, it's a tale of new lows in dirty
tricks and a corrupt politicization of the war on terrorism.

Karl Rove's Political War 136

A Cowardly Attack on an American Patriot 137

BUSH'S WAR 141

Blood for oil? A closer look at the history of Iraqi-American
relations can tell what is really at stake. Just how much have
the interests of U.S. oil corporations influenced the
government's policies and actions, including the invasion of
Iraq? To whose benefit are we risking our soldiers, our
national treasury, and our traditional alliances with other
nations?

An Ideological History of

Bush's Never-Ending Preemptive War 149

The Propaganda and Politics of Bush's War 160

A Litany of Lies 162

Milestones Along the Road to Bush's War 171

The Shifting Mission in Bush's War 1 77

The Inhumanity of Bush's War 181

The Shameful Treatment of American Soldiers 185

viii You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

THE CRIMES OF GEORGE W. BUSH 203

International law establishes standards for national self defense
and the treatment of POWs, who are accorded certain rights,
but the Bush administration seems to be ignoring the law for
political reasons. In the name of national security, is the
United States becoming an outlaw state?

Illegal Use of Force 203

Illegal Detention of Prisoners of War 206

Impeachment 211

JUSTICE IN AMERICA 219

Superpatriots claiming that our nation is great because of
personal freedom say in the next breath that national security
demands less of it. America's top cop, while engaged in a
wholesale attack on constitutional rights, has turned a blind
eye to administration friends who break the law.

Discretionary Justice 219

The Would-Be President and Anointing of Ashcroft 221
Censoring the Freedom of Information Act 224

Patriot Games 225

The Non-Investigation of Corporate Corruption 234

BUSH ON DRUGS 241

Senior citizens must often depend upon prescription drugs to
stay alive. Although Bush tells them they have a drug benefit
coming from Medicare, the overwhelming benefit will go to the
hugely profitable pharmaceutical corporations who contribute
so generously to politicians.

Thar' s Gold in Them Thar Pills ! 244

The Large Print Giveth, the Small Print Taketh Away 249

THE MEDIA ARE NOT LIBERAL,

AND THEY DO NOT TELL YOU THE TRUTH! 255

For the last 30 years, right-wing millionaires have funded and
led an organized rout of liberal political expression while
convincing us that the media are too liberal. In fact, they've
tried to convince us that liberal is a dirty word.

The Attack of the Killer Neocons 260

Table of Con ten ts ix

Creating the Myth of the Liberal Media 263

In Fear of the Conservative Media 265

THE PREVARICATOR III:

THE CAMPAIGN FOR REELECTION 273

Get ready. In the next election, Bush will use every dirty trick
in Rove's book to win. The ballyhoo of his nominating
convention in September 2004 will be an insult to the
thousands who died, perhaps unnecessarily, on September 11,
2001.

Wired to Win 275

THE EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES 279

Who is the real George W. Bush? Is he the compassionate
conservative, policy-involved politician, and world leader he
plays on TV? Or behind the benevolent smile, is he an
ignoramus just as cold-blooded, ruthless and paranoid as his
personal political Macliiavelli Karl Rove?

A Reflection of Our Self-image? 283

The Image We Present to the World 287

The Stealth Co-President 290

The Mayberry Machiavellis 294

The Disappointment of Diogenes 298

NO END IN SIGHT 307

The Iraqi resistance to our occupation is intensifying, we are
losing control of the cities and supply lines, more soldiers are
dying every day, and our allies are abandoning us. What
happened?

BIBLIOGRAPHY 313

Washington Crossing the Delaware
By Emanuel G. Leutze (1816-1868)

IN SELF DEFENSE

Some of the things you will read in this book are painful
truths, and it will be difficult and distressing to
acknowledge the reality they portray.

As an intelligent, reading public, we must keep our
minds open and face these depressing facts, even while
supporting our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and
responding to the realistic threat of terrorism in our own
land. Americans have done this before and we can do it
again. Although we sometimes feel powerless, we are not.
By joining to support one another, and doing what is good
for people, for ourselves, we will take back our country and
assure that freedom continues to ring throughout the land!

This book is not an attack on our flag and the freedoms it
represents; it is, in fact, an alarm bell calling us to rally to its
defense by making us aware of how our common interests
are being ignored and our human rights violated. Not just
the human rights of a few minorities, but all of us. The truth
may appear to be an attack on the Republican Party, but it is
not. It just happens that a particular group of people who
represent the special interests of international corporations
have taken over the Republican Party and have
overshadowed the millions of Republicans who operate with
honesty and integrity, many of whom have themselves been
victimized. This is not about Democrats versus Republicans,
because there are also Democratic politicians who have sold
out and who have ceased to represent the people in their
own party. This is about you and me, the ordinary hard-
working people in this country, who need to look truth in
the face, take a deep breath, draw a line, and take a stand for
our own interests, our families, our communities, and our
nation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book is written for you, a busy person, as a
useful compilation of political information and
opinion drawn from diverse published sources.

After my mother died when I was four, my father took me to
his bed, where each night he would read dime western novels.
After I quickly became bored with the pictures on the covers, he
taught me to read. Since I was the youngest in the family and
my siblings were all in school, there was no one to watch me
during the day, so I rode on the tractor beside my father as he
plowed the fields. One night, as I listened from another room,
he and the school principal conspired at the kitchen table to use
my father's birthday in August, instead of mine in February, to
enroll me in the first grade a year early.

There was no mandatory kindergarten in Texas back then;
there still isn't. My teachers gave me new books to read and
taught me to comprehend the meaning of words. Lubbock
County established an extension library in the back room behind
Roy's Cafe across the highway from the school in Wolfforth, a
refuge of knowledge and a window to the world in a barren land
for a lonely little boy. Ever since, I have lived in a garden of
abundant literature, the bounty of a free society. For those who
taught me to read and think, and for those who have shared
their labor and creativity, I am indebted beyond words.

Back before the 2000 presidential election, Molly Ivins and
Lou Dubose tried to warn us in Shrub that George W. Bush was
"a fixin" (as we say in Lubbock) to mess with us. This year,
Ivins and Dubose are back again with Bushwhacked, telling us
how he's pulled it off and the hurt he's causing.

Al Franken made me laugh in Lies and the Lying Liars Who
Tell Them, and Greg Palast depressed me with The Best Democracy
Money Can Buy. Both were sources, but the two books that put
most of it together were The Lies of George W. Bush by David
Corn and The Book on Bush by Eric Alterman and Mark Green.
For those of you who want an excellent in-depth report of Bush's

xiv You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

politics of deception, stop: go pick up one or both of these
books. You'll be glad you did.

The problem is not that there is not enough information. It's
out there in dozens of excellent books and in hundreds of
articles, both in mainstream publications and on the Internet.
This is an attempt to synthesize and compile this information
into a brief overview of the Bush administration and its gross
deceptions. In addition to those authors named above, I have
specifically relied upon the works of others identified in the
bibliography as primary sources and who are entitled to
individual recognition for their substantial contributions: Paul
Begala; Noam Chomsky; Richard A. Clark, Joe Conason; Jim
Hightower; Douglas Kellner; Mark Crispin Miller; Bill
Minutaglio; James Moore and Wayne Slater; Kevin Phillips;
William Rivers Pitt and Scott Ritter; Sheldon Rampton and John
C. Stauber; Christopher and Robert Scheer and Lakshmi
Chaudhry; Norman Solomon and Reese Erlich; and Jennifer Van
Bergen. Heroes are defined by their courage in spite of the
dangers they face, using the weapons at hand. If we are to take
back our country and make the world a safer place, all of these
who wielded the pen must be counted among the warriors.

David Levinson was a great journalist and an even better
friend, who passed along to the great newsroom in the sky a few
years ago, where there are no deadlines and every hour is
happy. He would have said that this book was a "marvelous
idea," as he always did about my projects, and, as always, I
talked to him in my head as I slaved through the prose. Thanks,
David; I couldn't have done it without you.

An author couldn't have asked for an easier book deal or for
a more sensitive, knowledgeable and understanding publisher.
John Paul Leonard has been a godsend.

Finally, thank God for the Internet (and whoever invented it)
and Google.com. Our new "Fifth Estate" has been homesteaded
in the midst of our free society, and it is here to stay. With it and
the Fourth to protect us and as a balance against the power of
the other three, democracy will survive, and the voters of
America will again rule.

INTRODUCTION

I decided to prepare this book because I became convinced it
was needed. Back in 1980, 1 represented a survivor of Auschwitz
and filed a lawsuit against some radical right-wing organizations
that feed upon fear and hatred and who deny the Holocaust as a
publicity ploy. These were marginal groups largely composed
of kooks and nuts, some of whom celebrate the birthday of
Adolph Hitler and dream of a new Imperium. Although they
were actively seeking to mislead young people through the
establishment of a phony "institute" and the publication of a
"scholarly journal," I didn't believe they were an imminent
threat to our freedoms. The matter was resolved when a wise
Superior Court judge took judicial notice of the fact that Jews
were gassed to death in Auschwitz in the summer of 1944.

However, in the past three years I have watched our
government being taken over by another group of far more
sophisticated zealots, who have seized extraordinary power and
who appear to have engaged us in an unlawful war. It is not
terrorism that I fear most, it is the unbridled power that has been
assumed by our own government, to our detriment.

Next, I decided that I could write the book. One of the skills
I have acquired is the ability to absorb and compile large
amounts of information into brief, comprehensive documents
written in a simple language. Perhaps it's because I never
learned a whole lot of fancy words, but following the ABCs got
me by as I wrote the "Policy Manual" of the Los Angeles Police
Department and the "Role of the Police in America" for
President Nixon's National Advisory Commission on Criminal
Justice Standards and Goals. This skill has since served me well
in drafting legal briefs over the years.

Finally, once I concluded that the danger was real and
present, I had no choice. As Albert Camus once wrote, "And
henceforth, the only honorable course will be to stake everything
on a formidable gamble: that words are more powerful than
munitions."

Thousands of our young women and men are fighting in
Iraq and, whether or not we agree with their being there, we

xvi You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

must give credit to the bravery of our sons and daughters who
are being maimed and who are dying. They are the best, the
bravest, and the brightest the world has ever seen. They deserve
better than to be cynically used to promote selfish corporate and
corrupt political interests. They certainly deserve better than to
be sneaked back into the country in the middle of the night, once
they have given their lives and limbs in Bush's War.

Our soldiers deserve to come home to a country which
recognizes and honors their sacrifice by providing them with
adequate medical care and veterans' benefits to compensate
them for their losses. Finally, they deserve to come home to a
country where the Bill of Rights, which they allegedly fought to
defend, has been preserved for them and their descendants.
They are dying for us; we have to have the courage to fight for
them, though we risk being called unpatriotic and labeled as
traitors.

The ultimate conclusion of this book was not lightly arrived
at. It is not an easy thing to accuse our president of having failed
to protect us and to wonder if the failure was intentional or
negligent. It is not easy to accuse him of intentionally lying to
Congress and the American people and thereby committing
felony offenses. It is not easy to accuse him of violating
international laws against humanity, the laws of war, the
Charter of the United Nations, and the supreme law of the land.
It is not easy to accuse him of a wholesale violation of our
constitutional rights. It is not easy to question whether he
should be impeached and stand trial or be left to the mercy of
the voters. However, these things must be said.

We can no longer remain silent and hope for a better day.
Our freedom is too precious. It is as Thomas Paine wrote,
"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier
and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the
service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the
love and thanks of man and woman." It is time to hear the
evidence and if sufficient, to take action.

In view of the primitive simplicity of their minds, they
[the masses] more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a little
one, since they themselves lie in little things, but would be
ashamed of lies that were too big.

— Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf

Dynasty. In a dynasty, you don't have to earn anything.
—George W. Bush, New York Times, November 4, 1998

The President is merely the most important among a large
number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed
exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or
bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal,
able, and disinterested service to the nation as a whole.
Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full
liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is
exactly as necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to
praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an
American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that
there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to
stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic
and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.
Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one
else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or
unpleasant, about him than about any one else."

—Theodore Roosevelt, The Works of Theodore Roosevelt, 1926

PREFACE

The Bush administration has been running on lies
in the belief that we are too stupid to figure it out.
The business of exaggeration in politics has gone
beyond the usual. It has become a culture of
nastiness and downright lies. Is this acceptable?

We're Not As Stupid As They Think We Are

There's something going on, and we have to do something
about it. Otherwise, they're going to pull it off.

• Something is a movement to shift the burden of taxation
from corporations and the wealthy to the middle and working
class.

• Something is a movement to put business in control of
governments and to privatize all public services, including
education.

• Something is the surrender of individual freedoms in
response to cultivated fear.

They are getting away with it because they lie about what they
are doing, and we, you and me, seem to be swallowing it, hook,
line and sinker.

This is about the lies we're being told. Not about the usual
political puffing, exaggerations or spinning. It is about lies, plain
and simple. It's about who's telling the whoppers and about
who's being duped. It's about you and me, and about those who
are trying to take advantage of us and our trusting nature.

They believe that they can tell us they're going to do one thing
and that we're too stupid to see that they do something entirely
different. They believe that they can tell us something, and then
later say the opposite and that we're too stupid to notice. They
believe we are ignorant and are too lazy to become informed.
None of this is true.

America is the Promised Land. Our population comprises
the greatest genetic pool of humanity on earth. For over 500
years, the best the world has to offer have struggled to get here

2 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

and there's a reason why people line up at our embassies and
consulates in every country to legally immigrate here, and to
sneak across our borders when they can't. We have freedom,
and we have the intelligence and courage to defend it. We have
only to recognize the danger. The time is now. Read on. You're
not stupid! Get the truth.

Nasty Political Lies

Perhaps one way to define politics is the art of not telling the
truth. To be elected, politicians must avoid telling the truth at all
costs, because if they told the truth about everything all the time,
everyone would find something to disagree with, and no one
would ever get elected. So politicians learn to not tell the truth.
They avoid taking positions; they hedge their comments, speak
in ambiguities, abstain, hide and deny, dissemble, and otherwise
torture the true meaning of words. Perhaps it's always been that
way, and perhaps it'll always be that way. But, right now,
there's a new game in town.

In 1995, Representative Newt Gingrich said, "I think one of
the great problems we have in the Republican Party is that we
don't encourage you to be nasty." To overcome this character
defect, his advice was to "go negative early" and to "never back
off." 1 He published a political handbook entitled Language, a Key
Mechanism of Control, in which he encouraged Republicans to
paste labels on Democrats such as "corrupt," "sick," "pathetic,"
"greedy," "anti-flag," "traitors," "decay," "permissive attitude,"
"anti-family," "bizarre," and worst of all "liberals." 2 Throw it on
the wall and see if it sticks, who cares whether or not it's true?
Of course, Gingrich advised Republicans to refer to their own
party values using words and labels such as, "moral," "crusade,"
and "family." 3

Frank Luntz, who collaborated with Gingrich in drafting the
"Contract with America," advised "Republicans to call
themselves 'conservationists,' not 'environmentalists'; to talk of
'climate change' instead of the more alarming 'global warming';
and to foster skepticism about the science of environmental
problems." In a later memo to the Bush administration, Luntz

Preface 3

advised, "A compelling story, even if factually inaccurate, can be
more emotionally compelling than a dry recitation of the truth." 4

Since then, Gingrich's students have learned their lessons
well, and the nastiest lesson they have learned is how to tell lies,
how to deny their lies, and how to make it seem that others, who
are telling the truth, are lying.

Gingrich, who claims to be an historian, may have borrowed
some of his insights from Adolf Hitler, who taught, "By means
of shrewd lies, unremittingly repeated, it is possible to make
people believe that heaven is hell-and hell, heaven. The greater
the lie, the more readily it will be believed."

Today, in the United States, our president, George W. Bush,
has abandoned the principles of the proud party of Lincoln and
has advanced the political art of avoiding the truth to the high
science of flat out lying. This book will show how he has
institutionalized falsehood as a matter of policy, and how
frightening his success is. More than scary, his practice
absolutely threatens our freedoms and undermines our
democracy.

Do you believe it is acceptable for politicians to lie to us?
Have you given up hope on hearing the truth from politicians?
You're not stupid! Get the truth.*

1. Franken, Al, Lies and The Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and
Balanced Look at The Right (New York: Dutton Penguin Group, 2003), p.
139.

2. Conason, Joe, Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It
Distorts the Truth (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2003), p. 60.

3. Ibid., pp. 117, 118.

4. Alterman, Eric and Mark Green, The Book on Bush: How George W.
(Mis)leads America (New York: Viking, 2004), pp. 17, 20.

Note to reader: Many of the following references are to articles and
materials that were located on the Internet. Every attempt has been made to
provide accurate and current URLs; however, they are often changed. The
best solution, should you be unable to connect to a site, is to copy the entire
title in quotation marks, along with the author's name, into your search engine.
You should find either the correct URL or an alternative source.

WHO'S BUSH?

How much do we really know about our
president's life, his background and his character?
To understand George W. Bush's administration
better, it helps to become better acquainted with
the well-smoothed path he has followed to the top.

How is it that a lying and denying alcoholic, with arrests for
theft and disturbing the peace and a conviction for drunk
driving; one born with a silver spoon in his mouth, with no
empathy for the plight of ordinary people; an inarticulate
spoiled brat who just didn't get the lessons of a good education;
a chronically failed businessman who's never earned anything
on his own; and a high school cheerleader who avoided military
service in Viet Nam by joining the National Guard and then
going AWOL-gets himself elected as President of the United
States? Well, you can be darn sure he didn't exactly tell us the
truth about his background.

To the Manner Born

George W. Bush (Bush Jr.) was born to privilege, high
finance, and intrigue. His great-grandfathers, Samuel Bush and
George Herbert Walker, were among the founders of the
"military-industrial complex,"* making millions profiteering off
of World War I, thanks to their close connections with the
Rockefellers, Remingtons and the War Industries Board.

Bush's paternal grandfather, Prescott Bush, Sr., was a
wealthy banker involved in financing Hitler's war machine, and
a United States Senator instrumental in originally recruiting
Richard Nixon into politics. Prescott Bush served in military
intelligence during World War I, and later acted as a high-level
"confidant, 'asset,' or counselor" to the intelligence community.
All of these ancestors were graduates of Yale University and

*Defined by President Eisenhower in 1961 as a "conjunction of an
immense Military Establishment and a large arms industry." He
warned that "we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications."

6 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

members of its secret society, Skull and Bones, whose members
have been at the forefront of America's intelligence services. 5

In 1942, George Herbert Walker Bush (Bush Sr.) may have
been inducted into the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) as early
as age 18, upon his graduation from Phillips Academy- Andover.
Without any college and contrary to military regulations, he was
commissioned, trained as a Navy pilot, and assigned to the
South Pacific. During a patrol, his aircraft was struck by anti-
aircraft fire and the young pilot bailed out. In his panic, he
abandoned his two crewmen to their deaths, even though the
aircraft was designed to be crash landed on the ocean. 6

Bush Sr. returned from the war and attended Yale, where he
was initiated into Skull and Bones. If he was not already a CIA
"asset," it is probable that his athletic coach, Allen "Skip" Waltz,
who was the CIA's full-time headhunter at Yale, recruited him at
that time. Upon graduation, Bush Sr. was employed by Dresser
Industries, which had long-term connections with the
intelligence community. He subsequently moved to Texas and
incorporated Zapata Petroleum, which through its many
subsidiaries likely served as a conduit for money and supplies to
CIA operations in the Caribbean, including Guatemala and the
Bay of Pigs invasion. 7

With the support of Presidents Nixon and Ford, Bush Sr.
became a Congressman, the Chairman of the Republican
National Committee, and the Director of the CIA. Although
Ronald Reagan personally disliked Bush Sr., Reagan reluctantly
picked him as Vice President to unify the Republican Party. 8
Following Reagan's second term, Bush Sr. was elected President
of the United States and served one term before being defeated
for reelection by Bill Clinton in 1992. As president, Bush Sr. was
described as "remorselessly deceitful when it served his
purpose." 9

Bush Jr.'s mother, Barbara Pierce, is a descendant of
President Franklin Pierce, and her father was president of
McCall Publishing Company. 10

George and Barbara Bush were raised in wealthy households
attended by servants. Their marriage in 1945 brought together

Who's Bush? 7

two aristocratic lineages, and on July 6, 1946, the young prince,
George Jr., was born in New Haven, Connecticut.

In 1948, the Bushes moved to Odessa, Texas, where George
Sr. went into the oil business. He was frequently away from
home, and his wife, Barbara, primarily raised George Jr. It was
she who attended his Little League games and disciplined him.
When twelve-year-old George Jr. would get in a fight with Jeb,
his five-year-old little brother, "Bar would always get in the
middle of those fights and bust them up and slap them around,"
according to Uncle Jonathan Bush. Barbara Bush was "the one
who instills fear." 11 George Jr. describes her as "a very
outspoken person who vents very well-she'll just let it rip if
she's got something on her mind." 12 Jeb Bush recalls, "Mom was
always the one to hand out the goodies and the discipline. In a
sense, it was a matriarchal family." 13

The Bush family maid, Otha Taylor, said, "They would
squabble a lot. You know how kids and parents that are just
alike will get? He was definitely like his mother, they were
exactly alike, even their humor was alike." 14 When his mother's
favorite dog died, George Jr. mocked her distress, yelling out,
"Doggone it!" 15 He also inherited her sharp tongue. 16

Once after Barbara Bush allowed Otha Taylor to go home an
hour early because she didn't have any work to do, George Sr.
reprimanded Barbara, "Where's Otha? She's supposed to stay
here until her hour is up, regardless if she has anything to do or
not." Otha remembers, "He's a really mean man." According to
her, the Bushes believed in "teaching lessons." 17

Bush's younger brother Neil recalls when he was seven years
old and his little brother Marvin six, George Jr., age 16, would
give them ten seconds to start running down the hall before he
began shooting BB pellets at them. 18

Bush's boyhood friend Terry Throckmorton remembers how
he and Bush would capture frogs that would gather in the water
at a low spot behind Bush's house: "We'd put firecrackers in the
frogs and throw them and blow them up." 19

Bush Jr. followed his father's footsteps to Andover and Yale;
however, instead of graduating Phi Beta Kappa and being

8 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

captain of the baseball team like his daddy, Bush Jr. was a
cheerleader with a C average. Sponsored by his father, Bush
was initiated into Skull and Bones.

At Yale, Bush was elected president (like his father) of the
Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) fraternity at a time when new
pledges had to undergo physical and psychological abuse. The
Yale Daily News said that fraternity hazing at Yale was a
"degrading, sadistic and obscene process" and that the DKE
hazing ended with the burning of a half -inch-long Delta sign on
the pledge's back.

The New York Times reported on the hazing and quoted Bush
Jr. as saying the wound was "only a cigarette burn." Bush was
also quoted in the campus newspaper that there "was no
scarring mark, physically or mentally. I can't understand how
the authors ... can assume that Yale has to be so haughty not to
allow this type of pledging to go on at Yale." 20

In addition to a fully paid education at Andover, Yale, and
later at Harvard Business School, Bush has gone through life
never having to worry about paying the rent, where the next
meal was coming from, or if he could afford medical care for his
children.

Do you think Bush has any clue about our lives and the
difficulties we face? Do you think he has the ability to
empathize with ordinary working people? You're not stupid!
Get the truth.

"I do not have a perfect record as a youth."

That much is true. Not only was George W. Bush arrested in
1968 for stealing a Christmas wreath and again for disorderly
conduct at a football game while he was in college, but in
December 1972, after a Christmas drinking spree with his
teenage brother, Marvin, the 26 year-old Bush ran over a
neighbor's trash can as he drove home. When his father sought
to reprimand him about his drunken driving, Bush challenged
him to fight, "I hear you're looking for me. You want to go
mano a mano right here?" 21

Who's Bush? 9

At about the same time, Bush was probably arrested for
possession of cocaine in Houston, Texas. It appears that as part
of a deal with the judge, Bush Sr. arranged for Bush Jr. to serve a
few months of community service at Professionals United for
Leadership League, a youth organization chaired by Bush Sr. 22

Bush attended Harvard Business School between 1973 and
1975 and, according to him, spent his time "drinking and
carousing and fumbling around." 23

Then, in the early morning hours of September 4, 1976, a
Kennebunkport, Maine police officer saw 30-year-old Bush
driving erratically and swerving off the road into a hedge, with
his teenage sister, Dorothy, in the car. 24 Bush failed a sobriety
test, then was handcuffed and taken to the police station. He
pled guilty at a court hearing a month later, paid a fine, and his
Maine driver's license was suspended. In 1978, even though he
had not completed a required driver rehabilitation course, Bush
returned to court to get the suspension lifted, and denied having
a drinking problem.

Given an ultimatum by his wife, Bush says he swore off
drinking alcohol after a drunken 40 th birthday celebration on
July 6, 1986. 25 However, he wasn't fully weaned from the bottle,
and in April of 1987, he was out drinking in a Mexican
restaurant in Dallas when he spotted Al Hunt, the Wall Street
Journal's Washington bureau chief, with his wife and four-year-
old son. Hunt had contributed to a story that questioned
whether Bush Sr. would be elected president, and the drunk and
disorderly Bush yelled, "You no good f***ing son of a bitch. I
will never f***ing forget what you wrote" 26

When Bush ran for governor in 1994, he stated, "What I did
as a kid? I don't think it's relevant." 27 Only seven years before,
the drunken "kid" was stumbling around out of control. Not
relevant? One of his first acts as governor was to get a new
driver's license number and to purge his driving record.

In 1996, when then Governor Bush was called to jury duty,
he left blank the written questionnaire about prior arrests and
trials. When he was called to be on the jury in a drunk driving
case, his general counsel, Alberto Gonzales, met with the defense

10 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

attorney and judge in chambers and asked that Bush be excused
before the more difficult voir dire (Old French-" to speak the
truth") of jurors began. 28 In 1998, a reporter directly asked Bush
if he had ever been arrested. Bush lied, "After 1968? No." 29

During the 2000 presidential campaign, Bush's press
spokesperson, Karen Hughes, repeatedly denied that Bush had
ever been convicted. In 1999, Bush personally stated during one
television interview that there were no "smoking guns" and
during another that if there were any damaging information,
"you'd have heard about it by now." However, the truth caught
up with Bush just four days before the election when a Fox
television reporter was able to confirm Bush's drunk driving
conviction through the Maine Secretary of State.

When confronted, Bush said he had been driving "too slow"
and, after being arrested, had simply paid a fine and gone home.
He denied ever going to court in the matter. 30 He stated that he
did not disclose the conviction in order to be a good role model
for his twin daughters— who have been cited multiple times by
the police for underage alcohol-related criminal offenses. 31

Has Bush truly recovered? He denies that he was ever a
"clinical" alcoholic, and apparently he has never sought
professional help. Whether or not he has really stayed on the
wagon, his loud, foul-mouthed and rude behavior has
continued, such as his calling a New York Times reporter a "major
league asshole" over an open microphone during the 2000
campaign.

More bizarre, during a March 2002 briefing of three U.S.
Senators by his National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice,
President Bush stuck his head in the room and yelled, "F**k
Saddam. We're taking him out!"

Equally suspicious is the strange "pretzel" incident in which
he fell on his face in his White House bedroom while watching a
ball game on television. He blamed his passing out on having
failed to properly chew a pretzel.

Do you believe Bush has successfully overcome his alcohol
addiction? You're not stupid! Get the truth.

Over the Hill

In 1968, 296,406 American boys were drafted into the
military service. Most of them were sent to Vietnam, many of
them were wounded, maimed, and crippled for life, and 6,332
came home in body bags. George W. Bush was not one of them.
Even though Bush lost his draft deferment upon graduation
from Yale, even though there was a waiting list of 500 to get into
the Texas Air National Guard, and even though he could only
answer 25 out of 100 questions on the pilot aptitude test, 32 strings
were pulled, calls were made, and Bush was allowed to sign up
for a six-year hitch in one of the coveted slots. 33 In his
application, he was asked if he was willing to volunteer for
overseas duty (i.e., Vietnam). He checked the box, "do not
volunteer." 34

When Bush was asked in 1990 if he had joined the National
Guard to avoid service in Vietnam, he said, "I was not prepared
to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun in order to get a
deferment. Nor was I willing to go to Canada. So I chose to
better myself by learning how to fly airplanes." When the same
question was asked during the governor's race in 1994, he said,
"Hell no. Do you think I'm going to admit that?" By 1999, he
had decided that a better answer was, "At the time I wanted to

fight." 3 5

In 1969, 283,586 American boys were drafted into the
military service, and 6,249 came home from Vietnam in body
bags. George W. Bush was not one of them. He was home
learning to fly an old F-102 fighter that was being phased out of
military service. 36

In 1970, 162,746 American boys were drafted into the
military service, and 4,911 came home from Vietnam in body
bags. George W. Bush was not one of them. In his ghostwritten
autobiography, A Charge to Keep, Bush says that he completed
flight training in 1970 and "continued flying with my unit for the
next several years." Well, let's see if that was true.

In 1971, 94,092 American boys were drafted into the military
service, and 2,867 came home from Vietnam in body bags. And,
in 1972, 49,514 American boys were drafted into the military

12 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

service, and 2,609 came home in body bags. George W. Bush
was not one of them. On August 1, 1972, he lost his flight status
for failing to submit to an annual physical examination, a few
months after the Air Force instituted a rigorous random drug
testing policy. 37 He was grounded, never to fly again. A month
later, Major James R. Bath, one of Bush's "lot of fun" buddies,
was also suspended for the same reason. 38 (Remember this
name.)

Bush received permission in May 1972 to do his training in
Alabama, where he was working on the political campaign of a
family friend, Winston Blount. He was specifically ordered to
report to "Lt. Col. William Turnipseed, DCO, to perform
equivalent training." At this point, it appears that Bush went
AWOL for the next year, as Retired General Turnipseed later
stated he was certain that Bush never reported for duty. 39 Nor
does it appear that he did anything of significance in the
campaign. A full-time senior staffer reports that Bush was
"worthless" and "not dependable." He was "rarely available" to
work on the campaign, but he never requested any time off to
attend National Guard meetings. The staffer said "the guard
was the last thing on Bush's mind." 40

After the Alabama election in November, Bush didn't return
to his Houston assignment. He didn't come back from "over the
hill" until after May 1973, when two of his superior officers
noted that they could not perform his annual evaluation because
he had "not been observed at this unit" during the preceding 12
months. But, what the heck, the war was winding down
anyway, and Bush was no longer needed to defend the
Homeland. When later asked about being AWOL, Bush said, "I
did the duty necessary. ... Any allegations other than that are
simply not true."* 9,087,000 military personnel really did do
their "duty" during the Vietnam era, and over 58,000 died.

*On February 14, 2004, faced with a likely race against Democratic
Senator John Kerry, a Vietnam War hero, Bush released his military
records in which the only evidence that he ever appeared at the
Alabama National Guard was a dental examination performed there on

Who's Bush? 13

When Bush went off to study at the Harvard Business
School, he continued to wear his National Guard flight jacket to
classes, creating a perception that he had served in the military.
As we will see, perceptions are very important to Bush. 41

Do you think Bush did his duty? You're not stupid! Get the
truth.

What an MBA Can Do for You

After the University of Texas turned down Bush's
application to attend its law school, he decided to get a graduate
business administration degree from Harvard instead. The legal
profession's loss turned out to be the business profession's gain,
as Bush over and over showed the rest of us how to make
lemonade out of lemons. Where anyone else would have
crashed and burned, Bush's golden parachute floated him safely
through the financial storms that continued to buffet his
business career.

In 1978, again following in his daddy's footsteps, Bush
decided to go into the oil business in Texas. He started up an
oil-drilling operation, Arbusto (Spanish-"bush, shrub") Energy
with the help of his uncle, Wall Street banker Jonathan Bush. 42
Even though the price of Texas crude quickly went into the
toilet, and Bush Jr. may have spent more time in barrooms and
on the golf course than in the oil patch, he was able to keep his
company afloat with continuing investments by family members
and international businessmen seeking to maintain favor with
Bush Sr., who was fortuitously elected Vice President in 1980.

In 1979, Bush sold five percent of Arbusto to his old buddy,
James Bath (remember) for $50,000. At the time, Bath was
operating as the U.S. front man for Salem bin Laden, the brother

January 6, 1973. He explained that he did not bother to report for
medical examinations after May 15, 1971 because he felt there was no
reason to take one because the Alabama National Guard did not fly the
type of jet he was trained on. (Bumiller, Elisabeth and Philip Shenon,
"Bush Acts Against Critics on Guard Records and 9/11," The New York
Times, February 14, 2004, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/14/
politics/14BUSH.html?th.)

14 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

of Osama bin Laden.* Given the fact that Bath was personally
without funds at the time, it is considered highly likely that the
money came from bin Laden. 43

When Salem bin Laden died in a Texas airplane crash in
1988, a powerful Saudi banker, Khalid bin Mahfouz, took over
bin Laden' s financial interests in Houston, Texas. Mahfouz' s
sister is married to Osama bin Laden, and Bath continued as
Mahfouz's U.S. front man. 44 Bath was later investigated by the
FBI for tunneling Saudi money through Houston business
relationships to influence the foreign policies of Presidents
Reagan and Bush Sr. 45

In 1982, with his company worth less than its debt of
$400,000 and with only $48,000 in the bank, Bush decided that he
needed to take his corporation public to raise some money. To
improve the balance sheet, an investor friend of James Baker III,
later Bush Sr.'s Secretary of State, stepped forward and
purchased ten percent of the company for $1,000,000. The
investor later called the purchase a "losing wicket." 46

Since his oil patch buddies were calling his company "are
busted," Bush renamed the company Bush Exploration and went
public. He wanted to issue $6 million in stock, but only raised
$1.14 million. Bush Exploration continued to lose money and
two years later was again on the verge of bankruptcy. 47

This time the bailout came from two investors from
Cincinnati who owned a company known as Spectrum 7. They
merged with Bush Exploration, and Bush ended up with 16.3
percent of Spectrum 7 and a salary of $75,000 a year. Since thus
far, all Bush had done was to drill dry holes and lose money, the
question is what did Bush bring to the table? Spectrum 7's
president, Paul Rea, reported that Bush's name was a "drawing
card" for investors. 48

By 1986, having lost another $400,000, more than $3,000,000
in debt, and with Spectrum 7's shares just about worthless,
another bailout was in order. This time the savior was Harken
Energy Corporation, which was operated by a Republican fund

* James Bath was "an asset of the CIA, reportedly recruited by George
Bush [Sr.] himself" in 1976. (Phillips, Kevin, American Dynasty, p. 269.)

Who's Bush? 15

raiser. Harken traded one each of its publicly traded shares for
every five of Spectrum 7's, and Bush ended up with stock worth
about half a million. He became a member of Harken's Board,
was given $600,000 in stock options and a consulting contract
paying him $120,000 a year.

What did Bush bring to the deal? One of Harken's major
investors stated that "he was supposed to bring in the Gulf
connection. But it didn't come to anything. We were buying
political influence. That was it. He was not much of a
businessman." 49 Equally candid was one of Harken's co-
founders, Phil Kendrick, who was smart enough to sell his stock
three years before Bush Jr. came aboard, and who said, "His
name was George Bush. That was worth the money they paid
him." 50

In 1987, Harken sold 17.6 percent of the company to Saudi
Sheik Abdullah Taha Bakhsh, whose banker was bin Mahfouz,
who, if you recall, also served as the bin Laden' s banker.

In 1989, after Bush Sr. was elected President and with an
introduction from the new ambassador, Harken was able to
obtain exclusive drilling rights for 35 years from Bahrain in the
Persian Gulf, and Harken's stock price began to rise. However,
Harken was actually losing money, and to hide 1989 losses of
$12.6 million, Harken engaged in a sham sale of a subsidiary to a
partnership of Harken insiders, allowing it to claim a profit of $8
million. Harken's accountant was Arthur Andersen, and this
was the same kind of "aggressive accounting" that later sank
Enron-and Andersen with it.

Bush chaired a special committee of Harken directors
convened to review Harken's $11 million loan to the insiders
that they used to finance the purchase. The next year, after the
SEC began to look into the phony sale, Harken had to restate its
actual 1989 losses, plus report additional millions in losses for
the first quarter of 1990. With this bad news, Harken stock took
a nosedive. In the meantime, instead of the usual bailout by his
daddy's friends, Bush had already bailed out. 51

Bush had attended a Harken Board of Directors meeting in
May 1990 where the crisis was discussed, and he served on the

16 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Board's Fairness Committee concerned with the effect
bankruptcy would have on the small shareholders. By late May
1990, a cash crunch was only days away and the repayment of
loans was questionable. Bush was an "insider," and he was a
member of the Audit Committee. On June 15, 1990, all members
of the Board, including Bush, were advised in writing that under
the circumstances, it would be illegal for them to sell any stock. 52

Undeterred, Bush sold two-thirds of his Harken stock for
$848,560 to an unidentified private purchaser on June 22, 1990,
but delayed reporting the sale to the SEC for eight months after
the filing deadline. The SEC (headed by a Bush Sr. appointee,
and whose General Counsel was Bush Jr.'s former attorney)
investigated and, surprise-surprise, failed to find sufficient
evidence of insider information. Nevertheless, the SEC letter
sent to Bush stated that the investigation "must in no way be
construed as indicating that the party has been exonerated or
that no action may ultimately result." 53

After the matter became public, Bush first stated in 1994 that
he was "absolutely certain" that he had complied with the law in
reporting the insider sale. Then his campaign for governor
claimed that he had filed the required report and that the SEC
had lost it. Bush personally claimed, "I was exonerated." Later
(as President), his press secretary claimed that Harken's lawyers
had mixed up the reporting, even though Harken's lawyers had
informed Bush in writing that reporting was his responsibility.
Regarding the phony sale of the Harken subsidiary that allowed
him to dump his stock without a loss, Bush himself stated, "All I
can tell you is - is in the corporate world, sometimes things
aren't exactly black and white when it comes to accounting
procedures." 54

Harken's small shareholders saw their stocks precipitously
drop from $4 a share (ultimately to forty-one cents); however,
Bush was able to sneak away with enough money to pay off a
half-million-dollar loan he had taken out the year before to
purchase a two-percent interest in the Texas Rangers, Dallas's
baseball franchise. Although Bush was named as one of two
managing partners, he was restricted from having anything to
do with the actual management of the franchise.

Who's Bush? 17

After the city of Arlington, Texas raised local taxes and
condemned private property to build a new $190 million
stadium, the partnership sold the franchise for $250 million. 55
Because of financial bonuses in the agreement for the two
"managing" partners, Bush ended up with almost $15 million
(more than the real managing partner), even though he had done
little or nothing to earn it except appear at the games and cheer
the players.

Thus it came to be that George W. Bush, who had never held
down a real job and whose only marketable asset was his family
name and his father's influence, became convinced he had
succeeded on his own and that he was ready for bigger and
better things. During the 1994 campaign for governor, he stated
that his success was due to "hard work, skillful investments, the
ability to read an environment that was ever-changing at times
and react quickly." He insisted that he had never profited from
his family connections.

Perhaps Bush's success really was the result of his Harvard
Business School training, but do you believe it? Do you think
Bush has any idea how hard ordinary people have to work just
to make ends meet? You're not stupid! Get the truth.

Let Them Eat Cake!

When he ran for president in 1999, Bush held himself out as a
"compassionate conservative." His campaign website reported
that he had led the nation in adopting a strong Patients' Bill of
Rights, and he claimed that he had signed legislation to improve
health care for children in Texas. 56 But was he telling the truth?

In 1995, the Texas legislature passed an HMO reform act to
improve patient protections. Bush vetoed the measure. Two
years later, the legislature passed a similar measure that
included a provision to allow patients to sue their HMO for
medical malpractice. Bush again threatened to veto the measure
unless the legislature "gutted" its protections. However, when it
appeared the legislature would be able to override his veto, Bush
allowed the measure to become law without his signature. Not
only did he not lead the nation in health care reform, he did
everything in his power to defeat health care reform in Texas. 57

18 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

During the election, Bush promised, "If I'm president...
people will be able to take their HMO insurance company to
court. That's what I've done in Texas and that's the kind of
leadership style I'll bring to Washington." However, when
insurance companies later sued Texas to void the Texas law and
block state lawsuits against HMO's for denying rights, the Bush
presidential administration joined with the insurance companies
and urged the Supreme Court to find that such state claims "are
subject to complete" preemption by federal law and must be
dismissed. Bush's lawyers claimed that allowing "patients to
sue their HMO will increase the cost of healthcare and add an
extra burden on employers." 58

Bush also bragged that "we" had passed legislation creating
the Children's Health Insurance Program. At the time, Texas
had the highest number of uninsured children per capita in the
United States. The legislature wanted to make the program
available to all uninsured children whose families earned up to
twice the poverty level, or $33,000. Bush fought to lower the
standard to $25,000 a year. Under his plan, almost half, or
220,000, of these 500,000 uninsured children would not have
qualified for the coverage. After a five-year battle, during which
500,000 children went without adequate health care, the
legislature finally prevailed, and Bush ungraciously told one of
the measure's proponents, "Congratulations. You crammed it
down our throats." 59 The truth is that he was not a part of the we
who fought for children's medical care in Texas.

When television commentator Dan Rather questioned Bush
about the abysmal level of medical coverage in Texas, he
parried, "I think you can find all kinds of statistics to make all
kinds of cases. ... I don't know the statistics." 60 While Bush
didn't directly deny that the statistics were wrong, and while he
did not outright admit that he didn't know what he was talking
about, he certainly did not show any compassion for the health
of poor Texas children.

Do you believe Bush truly cares about the health and well
being of you and your family? You're not stupid! Get the truth.

5. Phillips, Kevin, American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics
of Deceit in the House of Bush (New York: Viking, 2004), 178-185, 195-
199, Appendix A, pp. 335-341.

6. Sampley, Ted, "George Bush Parachutes Again to Exorcize Demons
of Past Betrayal, March-May 1997, www.usvetdsp.com/story46.htm.

7. Phillips, op. cit, pp. 200-208.

8. Ibid., p. 32.

9. Ibid., p. 148.

10. Minutaglio, Bill, First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family
Dynasty (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2001), p. 23.

11. Ibid., p. 49.

12. Ibid.

13. Ibid., p. 57.

14. Ibid., p. 48.

15. Ibid., p. 98.

16. Ibid., p. 100.

17. Ibid., pp. 48, 49.

18. Miller, Mark Crispin, The Bush Dyslexicon: Observations on a National
Disorder (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2002), p. 338.

19. Hightower, Jim, 1 ' di iH iPl t ey'\ Stolen Ow Country-
And It's Time To Take It Back (New York: Viking Press, 2003), p. 14.

20. Minutaglio, op. cit., pp. 111-113.

21. Ibid., pp. 99, 147-148.

22. Phillips, op. cit., p. 45.

23. Begala, Paul, Is Our Children Learning?: The Case Against George W.
Bush (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000), p. 27.

24. Franken, op. cit., p. 46.

25. Minutaglio, op. cit., p. 210.

26. Miller, op. cit., p. 50.

27. Corn, David, The Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering The Politics of
Deception (New York: Crown Publishers, 2003), p. 28.

28. Moore, James and Wayne Slater, Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made
George W. Bush Presidential (Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2003), p. 278.

29. Corn, op. cit., pp. 29, 30; see also "Busted," November 3, 2000,
http://dir.salon.com/politics/feature.

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

30. "Bush Jr.'s Skeleton Closet," www.realchange.org/bushjr.html.

31. "Family Ties," www.thedubyareport.com/family.html.

32. Palast, Greg, The Best Democracy M ne\ iBm TheTrutli A oi
Corporate Cons, Globalization, and High-Tinance Traudsters (New York:
Plume, Penguin Group, 2002), p. 107.

33. Minutaglio, op. cit, p. 121.

34. Corn, op. cit., p. 25.

35. Ibid., pp. 24, 25.

36. Minutaglio, op. cit., p. 125.

37. Conason, op. cit., p. 65.

38. Moore, James, Bush's War for Reelection: Iraq, The White House, and
the People, (Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2004),

p. 177; see also Miller, Roger, "Bush & Bin Laden - George W. Bush
Had Ties to Billionaire bin Laden Brood," October 7, 2001, American
Free Press, www.americanfreepress.net/10_07_01/Bush_Bin_Laden_-
_George_W_B/bush.

39. Conason, op. cit., p. 64.

40. Moore, Bush's War for Reelection, op. cit., p. 154.

41. Minutaglio, op. cit., p. 156.

42. Ibid., p. 198.

43. Wiles, Rick, "Bush's Former Oil Company Linked to bin Laden
Family," October 3, 2001,
http://www.rense.com/generall4/bushformer.htm.

44. Palast, op. cit., p. 104; see also Kellner, Douglas, Prom 9/11 to Terror
War. The Dangers of the Bush Legacy (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman &
Littlefield, 2003), p. 35; see also Ahmed, Nafeez Mosaddeq and John
Leonard The War on Freedom: How and Why America was Attacked,
September 11, 2001 (Joshua Tree, California: Tree of Life Publications.
2002), pp.194-197.

45. Ahmed, op. cit., p. 194.

46. Ivins, Molly and Lou Dubose, Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush's
America (New York: Random House, 2003), p. 7.

47. Ibid.

48. Ibid., p. 8.

49. Corn, op. cit., p. 191.

50. Ivins, op. cit., p. 8.

51. Ivins, op. cit., p. 9.

52. Corn, op. cit., pp. 193, 196-197.

53. Ivins, op. cit., pp. 11-14; see also Alterman and Green, op. cit.,
pp 70, 71.

54. Ibid., p. 12; see also Corn, op. cit., pp. 193, 195.

55. Minutaglio, op. cit., p. 322.

56. Corn, op. cit., p. 17.

57. Ibid.

58. Savage, David G., "Patients' Right to Sue HMOs Before High
Court," Los Angeles Times, March 24, 2004, p. A12.

59. Corn, op. cit., pp. 17, 18.

60. Ibid., p. 18.

THE PREVARICATOR* I:
THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

Republican Senator McCain was tortured for five
years in Vietnam as a POW. Democrat Vice
President Gore was a man of vision and integrity.
Yet Bush managed to destroy the character of each
of these men using twisted lies, setting himself up
to become president by judicial appointment.

When George W. Bush announced his candidacy for
president in 1999, he promised, "We will prove that someone
who is conservative and compassionate can win without
sacrificing principle. We will show that politics, after a time of
tarnished ideals, can be higher and better. We will give our
country a fresh start after a season of cynicism." 61 But did he?
The truth is quite to the contrary.

Throughout the campaign, Bush misrepresented his
accomplishments as governor of Texas, taking credit for things
he had nothing to do with and misrepresenting the benefit of the
things he did. It turns out that the tax cuts he claimed to have
made really didn't reduce the tax burden of the ordinary people;
the size of government in Texas increased rather than decreased
as he asserted it had; the "improvement" in student test scores
was jiggered; and the quality of air in Texas got worse rather
than better during his stewardship. However, these are
complicated matters subject to multiple interpretations. What
about basic political principles, shiny ideals, and the absence of
cynicism?

"John. It's politics."

In 1967, while Bush Jr. was drinking himself through Yale,
another son of an illustrious family was actually flying A-4E
Skyhawks over North Vietnam. John McCain, whose father and

* To prevaricate — to be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to
mislead or withhold information; to evade; equivocate; quibble;
shuffle.

24 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

grandfather were four-star admirals in the Navy, graduated
from the Naval Academy in 1958. McCain was shot down in
1967, and for the next 5Vi years, while Bush was using his
family's influence to avoid the draft, McCain was being tortured
because of his family connections.

In 1973, while Lieutenant Bush was still AWOL, Captain
McCain was released from prison, and for his heroism was
awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple
Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross. McCain went on to
represent the people of Arizona during two terms in the House
of Representatives and three terms in the U.S. Senate. Senator
McCain was an outspoken opponent of wasteful government
spending and an advocate for reform of the campaign finance
system. He was an expert on telecommunications and aviation
issues, and promoted business competition and government
deregulation. 62 A formidable candidate, Senator McCain ran in
the primaries in 1999 against Bush for the Republican
presidential nomination.

At the beginning of the campaign, Governor Bush and
Senator McCain shook hands and promised not to run negative
campaigns against each other. The promise held until McCain
won the primary in New Hampshire by a wide margin, and the
South Carolina primary became a must-win situation for the
Bush campaign. 63 Bush was overheard on an open microphone
speaking to South Carolina State Senator Mike Fair, who said,
"Y'all haven't even hit his soft spots." Bush replied, "We're
going to." And he added that he was "not going to do it on
TV." 6 *

On another platform, Bush stood silently by while the head
of the so-called "National Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans
Coalition" accused McCain of having always opposed Agent
Orange and Gulf War compensation measures. All of which
were absolute lies. McCain actually sponsored the Agent
Orange Act and testified in favor of compensation for Gulf War
Syndrome veterans. Did Bush stand up and correct these
malicious lies? Nope. He said, "Thank you, buddy." Even after
five senators (including two Republicans) who had also fought

The Prevaricator I: The Presidential Campaign 25

in Vietnam defended Senator McCain, Bush refused to
apologize. 65

This diatribe was only the shot across the bow of the McCain
campaign. What followed was a full broadside of nasty tactics,
including spreading rumors that McCain had been brainwashed
while a POW, and that he had infected his "mob-connected"
wife with a venereal disease. Perhaps more effectively in the
South, thousands of voters began receiving telephone calls in so-
called "push polls" pioneered by Bush's political advisor, Karl
Rove. In a real live caricature of Pinky and the Brain, Rove has
been called the "evil genius" behind Bush's political career.*
Pretending to represent a polling company, voters were asked
such questions as, "If you knew that Senator McCain had
fathered an illegitimate black child, would you be more likely or
less likely to vote for him?" Duh! How different the result, if the
voter had been asked if they were more or less likely to vote for
McCain if they knew that he and his wife had adopted a dark-
skinned orphan child from Bangladesh and rescued her from
poverty. But the truth would not have worked nearly so well.

Perhaps Bush's slickest trick was accusing Senator McCain,
who had sponsored campaign finance reform legislation, of
soliciting money from lobbyists who had special interests, and
pressuring "agencies on behalf of contributors," when in fact,
lobbyists had contributed five times as much to Bush as to
McCain. There was also the direct mail to Republicans accusing
Senator McCain of trying to remove the anti-abortion plank from
the Republican platform. 66 All lies. But it worked. Bush won
the South Carolina primary 53 to 42 percent.

After it became public that Bush had given a speech at Bob
Jones University (a fundamentalist Christian institution that
prohibits its students from interracial dating), Bush stated that
he "did denounce. I de-I denounced it. I denounced interracial
dating. I denounced anti-Catholic bigacy-bigotry. ... No, I— I— I— I
spoke out against interracial dating. I mean, I support inter-the
policy of interracial dating." 67 Whatever it was that he finally

*Bush Jr.'s nickname for Rove is "Turd Blossom," because whenever he
was around, something was sure to pop up.

26 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

spit out, Bush lied, because he had said nothing about the
University's racist policy during his speech. 68

A remarkable quote in the New York Times on March 15, 2000
clearly illustrates that perceptions are far more important to
Bush than the truth: "I readily concede I missed an opportunity
at Bob Jones; I'd have been a hero. If I had gone down there and
said, 'We're all God's children; we can receive redemption in all
different kinds of ways; the Catholic religion is a great religion.
Judaism is a great religion.' It's all I would have needed to have
said. One sentence." 69

When McCain sponsored an ad during the Michigan primary
revealing Bush's speech at the University, where it is taught that
the Pope is the "anti-Christ" and the Catholic Church is a
" satanic cult," Bush whined that McCain had called him "an
anti-Catholic bigot." 70 True or not, that's not what the ad said.

Just before a debate in the South Carolina primary, Bush and
Senator McCain stood next to each other. McCain looked sadly
at Bush and shook his head, saying, "George." Bush wimped,
"John. It's politics." McCain answered, "George, everything
isn't politics." 71

Do you think Bush ran an honest, "untarnished" campaign?
Do you think the best candidate became the Republican
nominee? Would you feel more secure if McCain had been
elected president? You're not stupid! Get the truth.

The Goring of Gore

Once Bush was able to wrest the nomination from McCain,
he turned his weapons of deception on Vice President Al Gore,
the candidate of the Democratic Party. A Karl Rove poll had
revealed a weakness-that voters had questions about Gore's
integrity. Therefore, Bush began to say repeatedly that Gore
would say anything to get elected, and the big lie of the Bush
campaign became that Gore was the liar. Bush said, "I have
always been concerned about Vice President Gore's willingness
to exaggerate in order to become elected. ... America had better
beware of a candidate who is willing to stretch reality in order to
win points." The Bush campaign ran an ad accusing Gore of

The Prevaricator I: The Presidential Campaign 27

"reinventing himself." 72 What was the truth? Who reinvented
whom?

Early in the campaign, after a three-city tour of Texas, Gore
was casually discussing movies late at night with several
reporters aboard Air Force Two. He mentioned a story in the
Nashville Tennessean newspaper that had apparently misquoted
Love Story author Erich Segal as saying that Al Gore and his wife,
Tipper, were the models for the lead characters in his book.
When Time magazine carried a story about Gore and included
the comment, Segal issued a correction to the effect that, while
he had combined Gore and his college roommate, actor Tommy
Lee Jones, to form the character of the male lead, the female lead
was based upon someone other than Tipper.

The Time reporter who wrote the story later said that what
Gore actually said was, "all I know is that's what he [Segal] told
reporters in Tennessee." Was this a lie? The Tennessean had in
fact quoted Segal (albeit wrongly) as saying that both were
models for the story. 73 Gore did not lie, but once the snowball
started rolling down the hill it sure got big before it crashed at
the bottom.

During a television interview in March 1999, Gore said,
"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the
initiative in creating the Internet." This is essentially a true
statement. Gore was a co-sponsor of the legislation that created
defensenet, a project that linked military computers and later
became the Worldwide Web. In the 1980' s, after the Pentagon
stopped funding a number of civilian projects that weren't
directly related to military applications, Gore was instrumental
in arranging for the National Science Foundation to create
nsfnet, which ultimately became today's Internet.

In 1989, Gore introduced the National High-Performance
Computer Technology Act, a five-year, $1.7 billion program to
expand the capacity of the Internet and to support research and
development for an improved national computer system, and to
assist colleges and libraries to connect to the new network.
Speaking in 1989, Gore told a House committee, "I genuinely
believe that the creation of this nationwide network will create
an environment where work stations are common in homes and

28 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

even small businesses." President Bush Sr. signed the bill in
1991. However, Republican Congressman Dick Armey created
the story that Gore claimed to have "invented" the Internet. It
was Armey's creative words that got picked up and misreported
by the media during the 2000 campaign. 74

In November 1999, Gore was speaking to a group of high
school students in Concord, New Hampshire. To encourage
them to get involved, he told about a young high school girl in
Toone, Tennessee, who reported a problem to him in the late
1970' s about toxic waste in her hometown. Gore had called for a
congressional investigation and held hearings, and, as he told
the students, "I looked around the country for other sites like
that. I found a little place in upstate New York called Love
Canal. Had the first hearing on that issue, and Toone,
Tennessee-that was the one you didn't hear of. But that was the
one that started it all. (emphasis added)" Gore went on to say,
"We passed a major national law to clean up hazardous dump
sites. And we had new efforts to stop the practices that ended
up poisoning water around the country. We've still got work to
do. But we made a huge difference. And it all happened
because one high school student got involved."

All this was totally true; however, the next day in reporting
the talk, the Washington Post ignored the context and twisted
Gore's words to ridicule him. The article said Gore had bragged
in saying, "T found a little place in upstate New York called
Love Canal,' he said, referring to the Niagara homes evacuated
in August 1978 because of chemical contamination. T had the
first hearing on this issue.'... Gore said his efforts made a lasting
impact. 'I was the one that started it all,' he said, (emphasis
added)" 75

The Republican National Committee seized upon the story,
stating, "Al Gore is simply unbelievable-in the most literal sense
of that term. ... It's a pattern of phoniness." The RNC then
edited the Post's misquotes even more to misrepresent Gore as
saying, "I was the one who started it all. (emphasis added)" As the
news media went wild over the story, the Concord students did
everything in their power to correct the record, finally issuing a
press release entitled, "Top 10 Reasons Why Many Concord

The Prevaricator I: The Presidential Campaign 29

High Students Feel Betrayed by Some of the Media Coverage of
Al Gore's Visit to their School." But who listens to children?

During the first presidential debate with Bush on October 3,
2000, Gore mistakenly mentioned that he had accompanied
FEMA director James Lee Witt on a trip to Texas after major fires
in the state. This was not quite true; Gore had actually traveled
to Texas with one of Witt's deputies, although he had
accompanied Witt on many such trips to other states. Karen
Hughes, Bush's spokesperson, immediately crowed, "He made
up the story." But what was the truth and what were the lies in
the debate? In refusing to accept an invitation from Gore to
endorse a campaign finance reform bill, Bush lied, "this man has
outspent me." 76 At that point, Bush had spent more than $121
million, more than double Gore's $60 million.

Bush also lied in saying that "all seniors are covered under
prescription drugs in my plan." However, according to Bush's
website, only seniors with incomes below $11,300 would receive
full coverage. Those with incomes below $14,600 would receive
partial coverage, and those above would only receive
approximately 25 percent of the premium costs for a drug plan.
When Bush and Gore differed over whose plan would provide
the greatest benefit to a senior earning $25,000 a year, and when
Gore seemed to be scoring points for accuracy, Bush took a
cheap shot saying Gore "is a man who's got great numbers. He
talks about numbers. I'm beginning to think not only did he
invent the Internet but he invented the calculator." 77

In the second debate on October 11, 2000, Bush claimed that
with his tax plan, "by far the vast majority of the help goes to the
people at the bottom end of the economic ladder." Actually,
under the proposed plan, the bottom half of the economic
"ladder," those earning less than $40,000, would only get ten
percent of the tax cut. If Bush's proposed elimination of the
estate tax were figured in, less than 13 percent would go to the
bottom 60 percent, and 51 percent would go to the top five
percent of the households. 78

Was Bush successful in his attack on Gore's credibility? As
they say, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating." Voters
were asked in exit polling "Which one candidate quality

30 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

mattered most in deciding how you voted?" The most frequent
answer, by 24 percent of voters, was "honesty." Of those, 80
percent said they voted for Bush; only 15 percent voted for
Gore. 79 Go figure? Beginning to see the light? You're not
stupid! Get the truth.

61. Corn, op. cit., pp. 12, 13.

62. "Senator John McCain Biography,"
www.vietnamwar.com/JohnMcCainBio.html.

63. Corn, op. cit., p. 33.

64. Moore, op. cit., p. 257.

65. Corn, op. cit., p. 34.

66. Ibid., pp. 35, 36.

67. Miller, op. cit., p. 189.

68. Corn, op. cit., pp. 36, 37.

69. Miller, op. cit., p. 248.

70. Corn, op. cit., p. 37.

71. Moore, op. cit., p. 257.

72. Corn, op. cit., pp. 38, 46.

73. Franken, op. cit., p. 41.

74. "Did Al Gore Invent the Internet?" August 18, 2000,
http://www.issues2000.org/askme.

75. "A Chronology of Media and GOP Distortions Re Gore's
Love Canal Statement," GoreWatch.net 2000,
http://www.bushwatch.com/goremarch.

76. Miller, op. cit., p. 163.

77. Corn, op. cit., p. 49.

78. Ibid., p. 40.

79. Ibid., p. 52.

THE THEFT OF THE PRESIDENCY

Beyond the philosophical question of whether
George W. Bush represents the voters, there are
very real questions that linger about the
legitimacy, the constitutionality, even the legality
of his election.

On November 7, 2000, a total of 105,405,100 Americans went
to the polls and voted in the 2000 general election for president.
Of these, 50,999,897 cast a vote for Al Gore, and 50,456,002 voted
for George W. Bush. Thus, by a plurality of over a half million,
more Americans thought that Vice President Gore would make a
better president than Texas Governor Bush. As to which way
the voters were leaning, if we add the 2,882,955 votes cast for
Ralph Nader to Gore's and the 448,895 cast for Patrick J.
Buchanan to Bush's, we find the balance well to the left, with
almost three million voters preferring a more liberal approach to
the country's problems.*

However, the people do not directly vote for their leader. If
they had, Al Gore would have been elected. The president of the
United States is the executive of the government formed by the
several states, united. Because of the Electoral College system
established by the Constitution, each state first determines which
candidate won a plurality of votes by the people in that state,
then that candidate's electors cast their votes in the Electoral
College. Since the number of electoral votes in each state
depends upon the number of representatives and senators that
state has in Congress, it is possible for a majority of the people to
vote for one candidate and for the states to vote for another.
This has happened before and it happened in 2000.

At the end of Election Day, it was close, awfully close, and it
all came down to Florida, where Bush's little brother, Jeb, was
governor. To win, 270 electoral votes are required. Except for

* If Nader and Buchanan had not run, and adding those votes to the
totals for Gore and Bush, Gore would have won New Hampshire with
four electoral votes and Florida with 25 for a total of 295. Winning
either state would have given Gore a majority in the Electoral College.

32 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Florida, Gore was ahead in the states with 266 votes; Bush had
246 votes. Gore was ahead by 20 electoral votes, but if Bush got
Florida's 25 votes, he would win 271 to 266 in the Electoral
College. Which he did. But how it came to be is a sad and sorry
tale.

Casing the Joint

It all started innocently enough. Following allegations of
wide-spread fraud in Miami's mayoral election in 1997, in which
the deceased voted early and often (as they used to say in
Chicago), the Florida legislature passed a law in 1998 to
eliminate registrants not entitled to vote because they were
deceased, mentally incompetent or had been convicted of a
felony. Clearly those pushing up daises or in the slammer
shouldn't vote, but what about those "felons" who have
successfully completed probation, their jail time, and parole?
Only 13 states, including Florida, prohibit such rehabilitated
felons from voting. In the remaining 37 states, they
automatically regain their rights. 80 Therein lay fertile ground for
sowing mischief.

The reform law required that a list of ineligible voters be
compiled and maintained by a private firm. Florida was the only
state ever to do this. The Division of Elections under the
Republican Secretary of State contracted with Database
Technologies, which, following a merger, became the DBT
Online subsidiary of Atlanta-based ChoicePoint Inc.
(ChoicePoint DBT). One problem with privatization of the
process is that the formulas and data involved are commercial
secrets, and are not a matter of public record. 81

In Florida, a more fundamental problem with private
preparation of the list is that once the state's Elections Division
sends the ineligible voter "list" to the county elections
supervisors, a presumption of guilt requires the elections
supervisors to eliminate these names from their registered voter
rolls, unless they "determine that the information provided by
the [state elections] division is incorrect." 82

Early indications that something was wrong came in a
memorandum from the Florida State Association of Supervisors

The Theft of the Presidency 33

of Elections in August 1998, warning the Secretary of State that
eligible voters were being "capriciously" removed from the
rolls. 83

In November 1998, Republican Jeb Bush was elected as
Governor of Florida and a political crony, Katherine Harris,
became the Secretary of State and head of the Division of
Elections. The plot thickens. While no smoking gun has ever
been found to provide direct evidence of specific intent, there is
abundant circumstantial evidence that someone must have
noticed that felons tend to vote for liberal Democrats more often
than for conservative Republicans.

One study estimated that 93 percent of felons of all races
supported President Clinton in 1996. 84 Moreover, it has been
estimated that 46 percent of convicted felons are African-
American, and while it can't be proven that anyone in the Jeb
Bush administration foresaw the outcome, in fact over 80 percent
of registered African-American voters voted in the 2000 Florida
election, and 93 percent of them voted for Vice President Gore. 85
So, it didn't take a genius for somebody to figure out that
eliminating African-Americans and people with felony
convictions would substantially reduce the number of registered
Democrats in Florida.

Given this opportunity for mischief, the Florida election was
rigged every way from Sunday right from the get-go, resulting
in the elimination of thousands of eligible voters and the
legitimate votes they should have been able to cast. First the
obvious, later the more insidious. Since the voting rights of
convicted felons in 37 states are automatically restored, the Full
Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution requires Florida
to allow those who move to Florida to vote without interference,
as the Florida Court of Appeals ordered in the case of Schlenther
v. Florida Department of State in June 1998. However, when
Governor Jeb Bush took office until as late as September 18, 2000,
his Office of Executive Clemency gave the following orders to
the Division of Elections: "Any individual whose civil rights
were restored automatically by statute in the state of conviction
and does not have a written certificate or order, would be

34 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

required to make application for restoration of civil rights in the
State of Florida."

Since civil rights are automatically restored in the majority of
states, there are no "written certificates or orders." Thus, all
rehabilitated felons moving into the State had to apply for
executive clemency from, guess who, Bush's little brother, Jeb.
Given the large number of persons moving into Florida and
basic demographics, it has been estimated that this scheme
denied thousands of eligible citizens their opportunity to ever
register to vote in the first place. 86

The Division of Elections provided ChoicePoint DBT with a
list of registered Florida voters, and selected which states to
include in its research to identify registered voters as convicted
felons. Following Florida's criteria, ChoicePoint DBT computers
generated a list of ineligible Florida voters that erroneously
included the names of 2,000 persons, convicted in Ohio and
Illinois, whose civil rights had been restored.

Then, in May 2000, 8,000 names were erroneously added to
the list from another state. These Florida voters were not even
felons; they had only been convicted of misdemeanors. Guess
which state provided those names? You got it. Texas, governed
by Jeb's big brother, George. 87 After an outcry, there was some
attempt to correct these blatant errors before the election, but
nonetheless, hundreds, if not thousands, of eligible voters were
illegally prevented from voting.

Now for the more insidious gaming of the system.
Remember that Florida was the only state that contracted
privately for the list to be prepared. The $2,317,800 bid
submitted by ChoicePoint DBT was the highest (the company
that initially had the contract had only charged $5,700). 88 For
this, ChoicePoint DBT promised to rely upon its 1,200 data bases
to process and cross reference a total of 273,318,667 records.
More importantly, the contract required ChoicePoint DBT to
conduct "manual verification using telephone calls and
statistical sampling."

Since any grown-up computer can crunch the numbers, it
appears that what the people of Florida were paying all this

The Theft of the Presidency 35

extra money for was a hands-on follow-up effort to make sure
that innocents were not included on the list of ineligible voters.
However, somebody in the Jeb Bush administration made the
decision that all these extra efforts were not really necessary. On
the State's copy of the contract is the notation "don't need," and
ChoicePoint DBT confirms that it never made any telephone
calls to verify the accuracy of the list of ineligible voters it
produced.

Even though ChoicePoint DBT later notified the State (as
required by the contract) that its statistician had certified the list
as 99.9 percent accurate, the reality was far different. Depending
upon the criteria, it is possible to reduce the error rate to
approximately one percent. For example, if the name, date of
birth, address and social security number all had to be exactly
the same, the error factor would be quite low. However, Florida
first requested only a 10 percent error factor. Thus, a
hypothetical "Alex Smyth" was deemed to be the same as "Alex
Smith," etc. Then, Florida upped the allowable error factor to 20
percent and instructed ChoicePoint DBT to ignore identifiers
such as middle names, initials, and "Jr." and "Sr." The company
later confirmed that Florida actually wanted the list to include
"more names than were actually verified as being a convicted
felon." 89

Now, it really gets slimy. Florida is one of the few states that
require voters to provide their race when registering. Even
though ChoicePoint DBT did not use race as a factor in its search
criteria, it did provide race on its list, and the county election
supervisors could use it as a match criteria in trying to determine
if a person on the list was the same as someone in their
registration files. In other words, if the other data was less than
a perfect match (such as John vs. Johnny), but they were both
black? 90 Well, you get the picture.

Some county election supervisors made telephone calls, sent
certified letters and published the names in the newspapers
trying to make sure the right individual was targeted. In at least
one county, the election supervisor herself got a letter notifying
her that she was not entitled to vote because she was a felon.
Another county that includes Tallahassee went to some effort to

36 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

verify that the 694 individuals named on the list as felons were
the same as on its rolls. It could only verify that 34 were the
same. Applying the percentage of error in this sample to the
state as a whole, it is estimated that as many as 52,000 of the
66,000 names provided by ChoicePoint DBT may have been
wrongly included on the list and were denied their legitimate
right to vote. 91

What does this mean in an election won by Jeb's big brother,
George, by 537 votes, one in which thousands and thousands of
eligible voters were kept from voting? It means that somebody in
Jeb's administration gamed the system in advance, and it
certainly appears they got away with it. How would you feel if
your name coincidentally showed up on such a list? You're not
stupid! Get the truth.

The Heist

On November 7, 2000, the votes of 5,963,110 individuals for
president were counted in Florida. However, 179,855 votes were
not counted, and the reason these votes were not counted
depended, in large measure, upon the race of the voter. In those
counties that used optically scanned paper ballots, the machines
could be programmed to either reject or retain ballots that were
erroneously marked. For example, if someone voted for both
Bush and Gore, the reject mechanism, if activated, would return
the ballot to the voter to correct his or her error. However, in
those counties with the greatest percentage of African- American
voters, the reject mechanism was not activated and the voting
machine retained the erroneously-marked ballot and it was not
counted. In those counties with the greatest percentage of white
voters, the reject mechanism was activated, and the ballot was
returned to the voters to correct their errors.

Thus, 12 percent of the votes in Gadsden County with 52
percent African-Americans were not counted, while only one
percent of the votes in Citrus County with two percent African-
Americans were not counted. 92 Since it is statistically certain that
a substantial majority of these 179,855 voters wanted to,
intended to, and thought they had cast a vote for Vice President
Gore, what would have been the result if all the machines had

The Theft of the Presidency 3 7

been set the same? But, what the hey, a miss is as good as a mile,
and close only counts in horseshoes. The only votes that could
be counted were the ones that made it through all the hoops.

On November 7, 2000, 2,912,790 Florida citizens' votes were
counted for Bush and 2,912,253 for Gore, a difference of 537
votes. Because the count was so close, the Division of Elections
ordered a recount on November 8, 2000, as mandated by Florida
law. Most counties ran the ballots through the machines again;
however, 18 counties only verified their tallies and did not
reprocess the ballots. The partial recount lowered Bush's margin
to 327 votes. 93

Several major problems with the election quickly became
apparent. In Palm Beach, the use of a strange "butterfly" ballot
resulted in thousands of voters casting erroneous votes. Because
of the design of the ballot, many ended up voting for both Gore
and Buchanan, and others voted for Buchanan when they
thought they were voting for Gore. In a county where his own
Florida coordinator reported that Buchanan only had 300 to 500
supporters, Buchanan received 3,407 votes. Bush, speaking
through his later Press Secretary, Ari Fleischer, claimed that
Palm Beach was a Buchanan stronghold.

Using the reverse lie perfected in the campaign, Fleischer
said, "It's important that no party to this election act in a
precipitous manner to distort an existing voting pattern in an
effort to misinform the public." Even Buchanan himself said, "I
do believe a number of those votes cast for me were clearly
intended for Al Gore." Several major news outlets later
concluded that the "butterfly" ballots probably deprived Gore of
between 6,000 and 9,000 votes. 94 However, once the errors were
made, the intent of anonymous voters marking "butterfly"
ballots could not be reconstructed, and we can only wonder how
it could have been different.

But there were "rejected" ballots, thousands and thousands,
that could be manually examined to determine the voter's intent.
Approximately 60 percent of Florida counties used punch-card
ballots that required the voters to use a stylus to punch out a
perforation in the ballot for machine counting. The voter's intent
could be determined by visually examining the ballots to

38 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

determine if there was a "dimple" in the perforation or if the
"chad" was incompletely pushed out. These became known as
the "undercounted" ballots. To compel a manual recount in four
counties where he had the greatest support, Gore filed a lawsuit
against Katherine Harris, the Florida Secretary of State (who also
co-chaired Bush's Florida campaign). Bush could have done the
same thing in counties where he had the greatest support, but he
decided to stand pat. 95

On November 15, 2000, Bush stated, "We have a
responsibility to make sure that those who speak for us do not
poison our politics. And we have a responsibility to respect the
law, and not seek to undermine it when we do not like its
outcome." 96 Let us see if his deeds follow his words.

On December 8, 2000, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that
the totals certified by the Secretary of State should include
between 168 and 176 votes picked up for Gore in the Miami-
Dade County recount and 215 votes for Gore picked up in the
Palm Beach recount, even though it was not completed until
after the November 26 th statutory cutoff date. Moreover, the
Court ruled that the approximately 9,000 votes remaining to be
examined when Miami-Dade County suspended its recount
should be tabulated and included in the certified tally, and that
all other Florida counties should recount all undervoted ballots
to identify any uncounted legal ballots. The court directed that a
vote was legal if there is a "clear indication of the intent of the
voter." 97

How did those who "spoke" for Bush respond to this very
sensible ruling to let the clear intent of the voters govern the
result? They lied, naturally. Fleischer said, "What's happening
in Palm Beach is exactly why our nation switched from hand
counting ballots to the more precise, less subjective counts done
by precision machines." 98 True? Not at all. Experts at the very
companies that manufacture voting machines conceded that, "It
is totally reasonable that the most accurate way to do it is a
carefully run recount," and that "a manual recount can be
extremely accurate." Two officials of the Association for
Computing Machinery recommended that all the Florida votes
be recounted manually as being "the only fair course." 99

The Theft of the Presidency 39

Did Bush gracefully accept the Florida decision and avoid
"undermining it when [he] didn't like the outcome?" Of course
not. He immediately filed a lawsuit in federal court to stop the
true will of the Florida voters from being determined. Bush's
complaint alleged that the manual recount would be less
accurate and more subjective, resulting in a dilution of the votes
in the rest of the state. He complained that the standards used in
determining the validity or intent of the ballots were arbitrary
and could result in an inconsistent treatment of identical ballots
from two different counties. 100 Is this true?

In 1997, Governor George W. Bush signed a Texas law
requiring manual reviews in close elections. It stated "A manual
recount shall be conducted in preference to an electronic
recount." The law required a vote to be counted if "an
indentation on the chad from the stylus or other object is present
and indicates a clearly ascertainable intent of the voter to
vote." 101 How is this different from what the Florida Supreme
Court ordered?

No matter the well-reasoned opinion by the Florida Supreme
Court or the rights of the Florida voters to express their clear
intent, the United States Supreme Court in a "per curiam" and
highly curious opinion joined in by Chief Justice Rehnquist
(appointed by Reagan) and Justices Scalia (appointed by
Reagan), Thomas (appointed by Bush Sr.), Kennedy (appointed
by Reagan), and O'Connor (appointed by Reagan) ruled in Bush
v. Gore on December 12, 2000, in favor of the Republican
candidate George W. Bush.* Surprise? The Court found that the
"intent of the voter" standard may sound good in principle, but
it lacked specific standards to ensure equal application. The
final lie of the campaign.

Do you agree that the will of the people prevailed in the 2000
presidential election? You're not stupid! Get the truth.

Remember this lineup of justices later when you read about their
association with the Federalist Society.

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Palast, op. cit., p. 31.

Ibid., p. 23.

Ibid., p. 27.

Ibid., p. 38.

Ibid., p. 37.

Ibid., pp. 23, 32.

Ibid., pp. 35, 40, 41, 43, 69-71.

Ibid., pp. 30, 31.

Ibid., p. 44.

Ibid., pp. 57, 58.

90. Ibid., p. 60.

91. Ibid., p. 46.

92. Ibid., pp. 62, 63.

93. Corn, op. cit., p. 54.
Ibid., p. 55.
Ibid., p. 56.
Ibid., p. 60.
Tony Sutin, ed., "Presidential Election Law/ The Recount,"

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/election/electiontime.htm
Corn, op. cit., p. 57.
Ibid., pp. 57, 58.

100. Sutin, op. cit.

101. Corn, op. cit., pp. 58, 59.

A BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Once having been established as president, no
matter how questionably, Bush set about thanking
the corporate wealthy, his peers who paid the
contributions that elected (or selected) him, by
putting "his" executive branch at their service.

If you do something often enough and long enough, it can
become a habit, so we shouldn't have been surprised when the
incoming Bush administration accused the outgoing Clinton
staff of trashing the White House. A flood of leaks to the media
reported file cabinets with the drawers glued shut, obscene
graffiti scrawled on walls, cut telephone and computer lines,
viruses and pornographic images in computers, missing
keyboard keys, and piles of trash. True? Not a bit. Over a year
later the General Accounting Office reported to Congress that
there was no evidence of damage deliberately caused in the
White House by employees of the Clinton administration. So,
why the lies? Addictive behavior? It's hard to stop once you get
used to something that gets you high, and Bush and his gang,
who stole the presidency, were flying high indeed.

If It's Bad for Business, It's Too Bad for the Rest of Us

There's an analogy following, but first you've got to get the
setup. Remember when many of the states adopted lotteries to
raise money for the schools? Well, the first thing that happened
is that the legislatures reduced the budgets previously
earmarked for the schools by the amount brought in by the
lotteries, and the ones who really made out are the companies
that operate the lotteries, which is why they lobbied for them in
the first place. But, wait a second, how about the big winners,
the ones we see on television every month or so jumping up and
down, the instant millionaires who quit their jobs the next
morning? Yeah, someone wins every once in a while, but the
odds against it are millions and millions to one, a sucker bet at
best. The net effect of the lotteries is to impose an indirect tax on
the poor and working class, who buy into the pipe dream and
purchase most of the tickets.

42 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Now for the analogy. There are millions and millions of
Americans raised in the "me" generation, who are convinced
they are going to make it to the top. Well, it's true that we all
have the opportunity to start a business, work hard and,
perhaps, to get rich. That is the American Dream, but we're not
all named George Bush and it's more difficult for some than
others. While some of us may work our way to the top of a
corporation and get rich, many, if not most of us, will have to
continue working harder every day for a salary with ever
declining benefits. However, we continue to dream as we work,
and we accept onerous working conditions because we don't
want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Corporations count upon us to follow our fantasies, rather
than our logic. To keep the dream alive, average working people
have been brainwashed into believing that what's good for
business is good for them (in the long run). The truth is that
corporations simply consider labor as a factor in their economic
formulas, and they could care less about the aspirations of
workers and the dangers of the workplace, unless it affects the
bottom line. Hours worked and overtime become worker
"productivity," health care and worker's compensation become
"overhead." The number of workers injured or killed on the job
is just a cost of doing business, one to be managed like any other
element of production.

If you think that corporations have a soul and that any of
them give a darn about you and your family, go ahead and put
in your overtime without time-and-a-half, and try to squeeze out
an extra couple of dollars from your household budget to buy a
lottery ticket. It'll give you a better chance of making it to the
big time.

The problem is that corporations have just grown too
powerful. They, rather than you and me, decide who runs the
government, and the government now controls you and me,
rather than controlling the corporations. Our strength is no
longer in "We the People"; our salvation is in the profitability of
"Big Business." Today, 51 of the top 100 economies in the world
are corporations; the remaining 49 are governments.
Democracies are supposed to protect the rights of all citizens and

A Business Administration 43

to provide the people with voting power to express their desires
and define their political expectations. However, it is corporate
power that increasingly determines political policies and
insulates corporations from government regulation and taxation.

When Eisenhower was president, corporations paid
approximately a quarter of federal taxes. By 2000, their share
was down to 10 percent, and by 2001, they were only paying out
seven percent. 102 However, go down to the local courthouse and
see who is using our justice system to enforce their contracts,
collect their debts and block enforcement of environmental and
consumer protection laws. Look at the daily schedules of our
legislators and government executives and see who gets "face
time." Write a letter to any of them and see if you get a personal
answer; telephone and see if they'll take your call. It's our
government, we pay the politicians' salaries with our taxes, and
they need our votes to get elected, but big money talks and the
little guys get squat.

Are we really getting our share of the American pie through
our hard work? During the past 30 years, our average annual
salary (adjusted for inflation) has only edged up ten percent. At
the same time, the income of the top one percent has jumped 157
percent. In 1998, the wealthy in the top one percent earned more
than the 100 million workers in the bottom 40 percent. While
health benefits and overtime pay of workers were being cut, the
income of America's top ten corporate CEO's went from 39 times
that of the average worker's to more than 1,000 times. The
Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us that between 1989 and 1999,
the average American worker clocked an additional 184 hours
per year,* which was 550 hours more than the average European
worker. 103 That's called "productivity," and American workers
are the most productive on earth. However, management gets

* If we assume a two-week vacation and five holidays, the additional
184 hours calculates out to almost 9.5 percent longer we had to work to
earn the addition 10 percent increase in wages. Wow! Things really
are getting better. Maybe we should put in even more hours; we might
get another raise.

44 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

the credit for baking the pie, and the ones who tend the ovens
don't even get a sniff, much less a crumb.

The median income for a family of four is $44,000 a year, and
70 percent of Americans earn less than $50,000; however, when
asked in polls, approximately 90 percent of Americans claim to
be in the middle class. The truth is that during 2001, for the first
time since 1993, an additional million and a half Americans fell
below the federal poverty line drawn at $18,100 a year for a
family of four. That means that 33 million Americans, almost 12
percent of the population, including 13 million children, are at
risk. Almost three million of these children actually suffer from
hunger, having to skip meals and go without food. The gap
between the rich and the poor is greater in America than in any
other industrialized nation, and it is growing. 104

A free enterprise system can only operate effectively in the
long run if there is a balance of power between business and
labor, and a capitalist economy can only continue to exist in a
free and democratic society when there are well-conceived
government regulations to rein in the power generated by and
associated with the accumulation of money. In 2000, there was a
new honcho in the White House, bought and paid for by big
business. What did he do? Well, one of the first things Bush did
was to get rid of some troublesome worker protection
regulations left over from the Clinton administration that
interfered with the profits of his constituency.

Reversal of Ergonomic Standards

In 1988, Bush Sr.'s Labor Secretary, Elizabeth Dole, ordered
the drafting of regulations to protect workers from injuries, such
as carpal tunnel syndrome, caused by repetitive motions. It took
12 years and two administrations to complete these ergonomics
standards. One reason it took so long was that Big Business
fought them tooth and toenail, and their guy with the pliers was
attorney Eugene Scalia, the son of Supreme Court Justice
Antonin Scalia, who gave Bush Jr. the deciding vote for
president. (Eugene works for the same law firm that convinced
his father to give the presidency to Bush.) During hearings,
Scalia claimed that healthy workers milk the system by claiming

A Business Administration 45

"that they are injured in order to avoid work and obtain
benefits," and that one of the biggest risks in the workplace is
boredom. He claimed that ergonomics was founded on "junk
science," that increases in reported injuries were caused by a
form of hysteria, that complaining workers were "simply
unhappy or malingerers," and that they should buy their own
protective gear. 105 Do you know anyone who has suffered these
injuries? Ask them if their disabilities are caused by hysteria!

After the testimony of over a thousand witnesses and seven
thousand written comments, the proposed regulations were
drafted and, in the last days of his administration, President
Clinton ordered them to be published in the Federal Register in
order to become binding on employers. 106

However, as soon as Bush was installed in the White House,
he issued a press release in which he complained that the
ergonomics regulations "would cost employers, large and small,
billions of dollars annually while providing uncertain benefits."
They would require businesses to "provide compensation for an
extremely broad class of injuries, whose cause is subject to
considerable dispute." Thereby encouraged, Republican Senator
Tom DeLay was able to bring the regulations before the Senate
for a vote. After Bush's new Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao,
wrote a letter promising to work on new and better ergonomics
standards, the Senate voted to kill the proposed regulations. 107

In a demonstration of his compassion for injured workers,
Bush then nominated Eugene Scalia as the Solicitor of Labor in
April 2001 to represent them, since individual workers cannot
hire their own attorneys to enforce the federal regulations. A
conflict of interest? Senate Democrats expressed grave doubts
about his objectivity, and it appeared that Scalia' s nomination
might not be approved. However, Bush made a "recess
appointment" in January 2002, which allowed Scalia to
temporarily take the job. The temporary appointment expired
when the Senate went into recess in November 2002, and Bush
designated Scalia as the Acting Solicitor. Scalia stepped down
two months later citing among his accomplishments an
improvement in the "Department's enforcement and regulatory
programs." 108

46 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

In lieu of the mandatory standards, the Labor Department
circulated voluntary industry guidelines, and it rewards
companies who voluntarily comply by presenting them with a
flag to run up their company flagpole! In a speech on June 5,
2002, Deputy Labor Secretary D. Cameron Findlay proudly
reported that the Department of Labor had reduced its
regulatory agenda by 40 percent in less than one year, and that
the Department was focusing more on voluntary compliance
with the laws on the books, rather than on "heavy-handed"
enforcement. 109

When Bush signed the bill repealing the ergonomics
standards, he stated, "I was pleased to sign a bill that got rid of
needless regulations." The AFL-CIO estimates that U.S. workers
suffer a workplace ergonomic injury every 18 seconds, and the
National Academy of Sciences estimates that one million
workers a year lose work due to "work-related musculoskeletal
pain or impairment of function" and that these injuries drain
between $45 and $54 billion a year from the economy. 110

How many of you have suffered repetitive motion injuries?
How many of you have received adequate compensation? Do
you think Bush feels your pain? You're not stupid! Get the
truth.

Elimination of Overtime Pay

Once the Bush administration had adequately secured
corporate protection against on-the-job injuries, it set out to
ensure that millions of other workers were allowed to work as
long as they wanted without having to burden their employers
with overtime pay. One of the ways that American workers
have been sucked into pipe dreams of untold riches has been to
make them all managers of one sort or another. In convenience
stores across the nation, every clerk is an assistant manager, and
virtually every position in corporate America carries a title.
Often, all the worker gets is the title; the salary that's left over
after payroll taxes isn't enough to live on. In the past,
notwithstanding the title, managers really had to supervise
someone to be exempt, and administrative, technical, or
professional employees could not spend more than 20 percent of

A Business Administration 47

their time performing non-exempt duties; otherwise, they had to
be paid overtime. 111 No longer.

On March 27, 2003, the Department of Labor announced new
regulations governing enforcement of the Fair Labor Standards
Act. The 20-percent standard was eliminated and exemptions
from overtime were expanded to include thousands, if not
millions, of "white collar" workers, such as administrative
personnel, police officers, firefighters, and nurses, who formerly
had to be paid overtime. However, you would think that the
Department was doing these workers a favor. The news release
announcing this "modernization" stated, "By recognizing the
professional status of skilled employees, the proposed regulation
will provide them a guaranteed salary and flexible hours." 112

After both houses of Congress voted in 2003 to block
implementation of the new overtime rules, Democrats inserted a
provision in the 2004 omnibus- spending bill to prevent the
Labor Department from using government funds to put the new
rules into effect. However, after Bush threatened to veto the bill
if the provision was left in, the Republican leadership stripped it
from the bill. The bill was passed on January 22, 2004, and the
rules denying overtime pay to over eight million workers
became effective. 113

There was the expected outcry, and in April 2004, the
administration increased the ceiling where workers are almost
automatically disqualified for overtime pay from $65,000 to
$100,000. 114 However, the administration has been giving tips to
employers on how to avoid legitimate overtime pay. Business
have been told they can "cut workers' hourly wages and add the
overtime to equal the original salary, or raise salaries to the new
$22,100 annual minimum threshold, making [workers]
ineligible." 115

Are you losing your overtime rights? Do you think
President Bush cares about how many hours you have to work
to put food on the table, or whether you have any time to spend
with your children?

Bush is convinced that President Calvin Coolidge was right
when he said, "the chief business of the American people is

48 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

business." According to Randall Roden, Bush's best friend as
they were growing up, "Midland [Texas] is probably where he
first got the mistaken idea that doing well in business is the
solution to America's problems, that is, what's good for business
is good for America. 'Opportunity and business fortune for all'
isn't really true for everyone." 116

Do you believe that what is best for business is always best
for you and your family? You're not stupid! Get the truth.

The Energy Companies' Crisis

With the election of Bush in 2000, the energy industry was
faced with a crisis. Having fronted millions of dollars in political
contributions during the 1999-2000 election cycle, with
approximately 75 percent, or more than $48.3 million, going to
Republicans and nearly $3 million to Bush alone, it was in a rush
to seal the deal. It wasn't enough that the industry had installed
its man in the White House, the industry wanted it all. And
darn near got it. The Vice President, Dick Cheney, had been the
CEO of Halliburton Company, an oil industry service company.
The Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton, had represented the
mining industry and received nearly $800,000 from energy
industries during her race for the U.S. Senate in 1996. The
Secretary of Commerce, Don Evans, came from the oil and gas
industry. The Secretary of Energy, Spencer Abraham, was an
opponent of stricter fuel economy standards in the Senate, and
as a candidate, he received over $700,000 from the auto industry.
Bush's Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, served as a lobbyist against
stricter fuel economy standards. And Condoleezza Rice, Bush's
National Security Advisor, served for ten years on Chevron's
board of directors, which gave $758,588 to Republican
candidates and committees in the 1999-2000 election. In
addition, the energy industry supplied numerous deputy
secretaries, special assistants, and other senior administrators to
serve in the Bush administration. 117 Where is the balance? Who
represents our interests?

The takeover actually started before the inauguration when
Bush selected 31 representatives from the energy industry to
serve on his energy transition team. Then, within days of taking

A Business Administration 49

the oath, he created the National Energy Policy Development
Group, chaired by Vice President Cheney, to formulate energy
policy. For the next three months, working in secret, the Group
conferred with numerous representatives of the energy industry
to draft a recommended policy. Altogether, the task force had
714 direct contacts from energy company representatives and
only 29 with identified nonindustry groups. 118 Cheney said that
he was personally too busy to meet with representatives of
environmental groups, but he found time to meet with a number
of energy company executives. Among those he met with was
Ken Lay, the CEO of Enron, a Texas energy company that had
donated $563,000 to Bush's campaigns over the years and was
the energy industry's top contributor during the 1999-2000
election, giving more than $2.3 million, mostly to Republicans. 119

Bush and Lay go way back. Lay supported Bush Sr. as early
as 1980, when he unsuccessfully ran for president. In 1986, Bush
Jr.'s company, Spectrum 7, had a ten-percent piece of a
producing oil and natural gas well in Martin County, Texas,
operated by a subsidiary of Enron. 120 In 1988, Bush Jr.
telephoned Argentina's public works minister, identified himself
as the son of the U.S. vice president, about to become president,
and urged that Argentina award a pipeline contract to Enron
that could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. 121
According to Lay, he spent "quality time" with Bush Jr. in 1989
when Lay was trying to get Bush Sr. to locate his presidential
library in Houston. 122

During the 1992 presidential race, Lay worked closely with
Bush Jr. at the Republican nominating convention in Houston.
Then, when Bush ran for governor in 1994, Lay and his wife
donated $47,500 to Bush Jr. and $12,500 to his opponent,
incumbent Ann Richards. 123 In addition, Enron's political action
committee and its executives contributed a total of $146,500 to
Bush and $19,500 to Richards. During the 2000 election, Lay was
a "Pioneer," having raised over $100,000 for Bush, and he gave
more than $275,000 to the Republican Party. Enron sent the
Republicans more than a million, which helped pay for the
national convention. 124 In appreciation, Bush invited Lay to a
private lunch on his second day in the White House.

50 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

In March 2001, Lay suggested, and Bush Jr. appointed, two
commissioners to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC) who were in favor of electricity deregulation. 125 Then, on
April 17, 2001, Lay met privately with Cheney and gave him
Enron's wish list containing eight policy recommendations,
seven of which were subsequently adopted by Cheney. He also
advised Cheney how the administration should respond to the
crisis going on in California, which was suffering daily rolling
electrical blackouts, and to pleas for wholesale price caps
because of skyrocketing electric bills. 126 Cheney listened
carefully, and the next day he parroted the Enron line in
speaking out against price caps, confusing retail with wholesale
caps. The crisis continued for weeks with the energy companies,
including Enron, pumping billions of dollars from the California
economy into their coffers as they enjoyed profits of 400 to 600
percent.

Two years later the FERC concluded that "Enron and its
affiliates intentionally engaged in a variety of market
manipulation schemes that had profound adverse impacts on
market outcomes." One Enron division was able to earn over
$500 million by manipulating gas and electricity prices. 127

In December 2003, FERC reached settlements with two other
energy companies, Mirant Corporation and Duke Energy
Corporation, for a fraction of the claims by California regulators.
Mirant agreed to pay $3.7 million and Duke agreed to pay $2.05
million to settle allegations that the companies manipulated the
bidding process and intentionally withheld energy during the
electricity crisis.* California claimed that Mirant owed $28

* In October 2003, investigative reporter Greg Palast obtained 34 pages
of Enron memoranda regarding a meeting on May 17, 2001 in Los
Angeles involving Ken Lay, convicted stock swindler Mike Milken, and
future California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Lhe purpose of
the meeting was to find a way to sidetrack a $9 billion lawsuit filed by
California Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante against a group of
energy companies, including Enron. Lhe solution? Engineer a recall
election in which Schwarzenegger is elected governor. Once in office,
he can bless whatever sweetheart settlement the FERC comes up with.
Any surprise? Except for those of you who may have wondered why

A Business Administration 51

million and that Duke's settlement was far less than it owed.
The California Attorney General's spokesman stated, "FERC has
little or no credibility with California, and these settlements and
proposed settlements are the latest example of why." 128

Enron was not alone at the trough. The coal barons of West
Virginia were there as well as the electrical power industry. All
had been very generous during the campaign, and they all had
their wish list to manage their energy "crisis." The coal
companies wanted to be able to blow off the tops of mountains
to expose coal seams and to bulldoze the debris into streambeds.
The nuclear power industry wanted more nuclear plants, and
the coal-fired power plants wanted protection against
enforcement of the Clean Air Act. It was like Christmas when
Bush unveiled his energy plan. 129

When Bush established the Energy Group, he had directed it
to "develop a national energy policy designed to help the private
sector, State and local governments, promote dependable,
affordable, and environmentally sound production and
distribution of energy for the future." 130 Notice that he started
with helping the private sector and ended with protecting the
environment, and that's about the way the policy came down.
While there was a wink and a nod in the direction of
conservation, such as encouraging federal agencies to turn out
the lights, the emphasis in the report issued on May 16, 2001,
was to encourage development of fossil fuels and nuclear energy
and to ease pollution regulations for power plants, refineries,
and pipelines to facilitate increased production. Specifically,
while the Clinton EPA had begun to file suits against coal-fired
power plants that violated the Clean Air Act, the Bush energy
plan directed the Justice Department to consider reversing the
"existing enforcement actions" already filed against violators, a
blatant interference with law enforcement. Subsequent studies

the Terminator suddenly got interested in politics. (Palast, Greg,
"Arnold Unplugged: It's Hasta La Vista To $9 billion If The
Governator is Selected," October 3, 2003, www.gregpalast.com.detail.
cf m?artial+=2838row=l .)

52 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

have shown that relaxed enforcement will allow an additional
1.4 million tons of pollutants into the air. 131

The energy plan went on to encourage the development of
more nuclear power plants. The next day, Bush stated, "By
renewing and expanding existing nuclear facilities, we can
generate tens of thousands of megawatts of electricity at a
reasonable cost without pumping a gram of greenhouse gas into
the atmosphere." He also called for drilling for oil in Alaska's
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Bush opposed a bipartisan Congressional effort to require an
increase in the overall automobile fuel efficiency standards, even
though the auto industry has the technology to increase the
mileage efficiency of SUVs to 25 to 30 miles per gallon and to
bring standard vehicles up to 40 rnpg. An increase of just 0.4
mpg in the fuel efficiency of the nation's auto fleet would save
more oil than drilling in the Alaskan reserve would produce.
(Remember that Bush's chief of staff, Andrew Card, formerly
lobbied against increased standards.) 132

Regarding conservation, Cheney stated, "Virtually all of the
recommendations for financial incentives and assistance tax
credits and so forth are for conservation and increased efficiency
and renewables. There are no new financial subsidies of any
kind for the oil and gas industry." A complete lie! The Bush
Energy Plan provided for $28 billion in subsidies and tax breaks
for the oil, gas, coal and nuclear industries, in addition to $33
billion the energy industry was already scheduled to receive.
This giveaway cost each one of us about $220. 133

Cheney and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham had met
privately with over a hundred executives and lobbyists from the
energy industry while largely ignoring the environmentalists;
however, Cheney refused to provide any names. Congressional
Democrats requested the General Accounting Office (GAO) to
find out the names. Cheney refused a formal request from the
GAO, and for the first time in history, the GAO sued the
President for the release of the names. Bush refused, saying
confidentiality was necessary to ensure he received unfettered
advice. In December 2002, the federal court ruled that the GAO
lacked sufficient grounds to compel release of the names and the

A Business Administration 53

GAO dropped the case. However, there were additional suits
filed by the Sierra Club and Judicial Watch, but more about that
later. 134

But even Christmas in May was not enough for Enron. It
had set out in 1992 to build the world's largest natural gas fired
power plant in India in a joint venture with General Electric and
Bechtel. However, the next year, the World Bank declined to
finance the "Dabhol" project in Maharashtra state because it
concluded the plant was "not economically viable."
Undeterred, Enron obtained $302 million in loans from the U.S.
Export-Import Bank and the Overseas Private Investment
Corporation and was able to open the plant in 1999. When the
power it produced proved to be more expensive than supplies
from domestic producers, Maharashtra state stopped paying the
bills and tried to cancel the purchase agreement. Enron then
shut down the plant claimed the state owed it millions of dollars,
and tried to sell its interest for $2.3 billion.

In April 2001, Secretary of State Powell raised the matter
with India's foreign minister, and by June there was an
administration interagency working group coordinated by the
National Security Council pushing for India to settle. Cheney
"mentioned Enron" when he met with Sonia Gandhi, an
opposition leader, and the matter was on Bush's agenda for his
November 2001 meeting with India's foreign minister.
However, the item was hurriedly pulled when Enron imploded
on the day before the meeting. 135

Enron was forced to disclose that it had overstated its profits
by $600 million over the previous five years, and Enron's stock
lost $26 billion in market value during the next seven weeks.
During this period, thousands of its employees lost their life
savings when Enron prevented them from selling their Enron
stocks out of their retirement plans. While Enron was stiff-
arming its employees, its top managers were selling over $1
billion of their own shares, and while Lay was encouraging his
employees to keep their money in the company, he personally
sneaked away with $50 million.

It turns out that Enron had received some of the same advice
regarding phony partnerships that its accountant, Arthur

54 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Andersen, had given Harken when Bush was on its board of
directors. Enron had relied upon secret partnerships and
unscrupulous trading in derivatives to inflate its profits.
Moreover, it came to light that Enron had not paid any income
taxes in four of the previous five years, through a variety of
schemes. 136 When was the last time you got a free pass on your
income taxes?

In November 2001, Lay telephoned both Treasury Secretary
Paul O'Neill and Commerce Secretary Don Evans in an attempt
to get a last-minute government bailout of Enron. 137

So what did Bush have to say when asked about his buddy,
his most generous supporter? He lied, naturally. What he
actually said was, "First of all, Ken Lay is a supporter, and I got
to know Ken Lay when he was a head of the-what they call the
Governor's Business Council in Texas. He was a supporter of
Ann Richards in my run in 1994, and she had named him head
of the Governor's Business Council, and I decided to leave him
in place, for the sake of continuity. And, that's when I first got to
know Ken and worked with Ken, and he supported my candidacy
for-and-but this is what-anybody's going to find, if-is that this
administration will fully investigate issues such as the Enron
bankruptcy, (emphasis added)" 138 It's hard to be articulate and
to lie at the same time, even if one's had a lot of practice, but
even Bush couldn't pull it off. He had been in bed with Lay for a
long time before 1994, and they had snuggled a whole lot closer
than he was trying to make it seem.

On January 28, 2002, after being asked if Enron had received
any special treatment in Cheney's energy plan, Bush again lied,
naturally, "If they came to this administration looking for help,
they didn't find any." 139

If Bush and Lay spent "quality time" together in 1989, is
Bush telling the truth when he says they did not get to know one
another until 1994? Who did Bush support-Enron or the
working people who got screwed by Enron? You're not stupid!
Get the truth.

A Business Administration

102. Ivins, op. cit., p. 41.

103. Ibid., pp. 40-43.

104. Ibid., p. 39.

105. Ibid., pp. 52-55; see also Mirer, Frank, "Eugene Scalia Opposes
Making Employers Pay for Protective Equipment," December 2001,
(http://www.uaw.org/solidarity/01/1201/front06.html); see also
Ratner, David, "Bush's Pick for Nation's Chief Labor Law Enforcer
is Drawing Fire From Unions," July 13, 2001,
(www.laborresearch.org/story2).

106. Ivins, op. cit., p. 64.

107. Ibid., pp. 65-68.

108. Ibid., pp. 68-70; see also "Eugene Scalia to Step Down as Acting
Solicitor of Labor," OPA News Release, January 6, 2003,
www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/opa.

109. "U.S. Department of Labor Deputy Secretary Findlay Encourages
Electrical Contractors in Speech on 21 st Century Workforce,"

June 5, 2002, www.ieci.org/default.asp.

110. "Bush Worker Safety 'Plan' Fails to Protect Workers,"
December 5, 2002, www.aflcio.org/yourjobeconomy/safety.

111. "U.S. Department of Labor Proposal Will Secure Overtime for
1.3 Million More Low-Wage Workers," OPA News Release,
March 27, 2003, www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/opa.

112. Ibid.

113. Simon, Richard, "Senate OKs $328.5-Billion Spending Bill,"
Los Angeles Times, January 23, 2004, p. A14.

114. Greenhouse, Steven, "Labor Dept. Revises Plans to Cut Overtime
Eligibility," The New York Times, April 21, 2004,
www.nytimes.com/2004/04/21/politics/21WAGE.html.

115. "Bush Stiffs Workers on Overtime," The Daily Mis-Lead, April 20,
2004,http://daily.misleader.org/ctt/asp?u=2323986&l=29783.

116. Minutaglio, op. cit., p. 31.

117. "Industry Dream Team,"
www.ni dc .or g/ air/ energy/ aplayers .asp.

118. Alterman and Green, op. cit., p. 84.

119. Corn, op. cit., p. 184.

120. Ibid., p. 179.

121. Ibid., pp. 178, 179; see also Ivins, op. cit., pp. 189, 190.

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

122. Corn, op. cit, p. 177.

123. Ibid., p. 178.

124. Ivins, op. cit., pp. 188, 189.

125. Ibid., pp. 193-194; see also Corn, op. cit., p. 183.

126. Ivins, op. cit., p. 195.

127. Corn, op. cit., p. 185.

128. Werner, Erica, "Energy firms' fines hit $8M," Associated Press,
December 20, 2002.

129. www.nrdc.org/air/energy/aplayers.asp.

130. "National Energy Policy," www.blm.gov/energy/policy.

131. www.nrdc.org/air/energy/aplayers.asp.

132. Alterman and Green, op. cit., p. 22.

133. Ibid., p. 19.

134. "Sierra Club Files Suit Against Cheney's Energy Task Force,"
January 25, 2002, http://newyork.sierraclub.org/rochester/newsl.htm.

135. Ivins, op. cit., pp. 196, 197; see also Corn, op. cit., pp. 186-188.

136. Corn, op. cit., p. 175.

137. Ibid., p. 181.

138. Ibid., pp. 176, 177.

139. Ibid., p. 188.

NO CHILD LEFT UNTESTED

Bush claims a successful record on education both
as governor of Texas and as president, but a closer
examination reveals it to be largely a public
relations smokescreen. His policies, once the
smoke has been blown aside, are revealed to be
hostile to public education and to the democratic
values on which it rests.

The availability of a free public education in the United
States has been essential in the development of our free and
democratic society. Boston Latin School, the first publicly
funded secondary school in America, was founded in 1635, and
was attended by at least three founding fathers, Benjamin
Franklin, Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Thomas Jefferson,
the author of the Declaration of Independence, advocated
universal basic education paid for by taxes.

In 1837, Massachusetts became the first state to provide state
funds to establish free "common schools" throughout the state,
and in 1852, its legislature passed the first compulsory education
law covering all children. By the end of the Civil War, most
states provided free public education; however, its benefits were
not available for all children, most often for reasons of race. In
1905, the California Supreme Court ruled that the state could not
exclude Chinese children from its public schools, and in 1954,
the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the segregated educational
facilities in the South were inherently unequal and
unconstitutional. 140

Citing national security reasons, Congress passed the
National Defense Education Act in 1958 to provide federal funds
to improve the science and math curriculum of public schools.
In 1965, Congress passed the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act as part of the War on Poverty. Title I of the Act
provided the first federal aid to schools with large numbers of
students living in poverty, and the Act also established the Head
Start program to provide health, nutrition, and education for

58 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

low-income preschoolers. President Carter created a cabinet-
level Department of Education in 1979. 141

According to statistics gathered by the National Association
of State Boards of Education, in the 1998-1999 school year 14,883
public school districts employed 2,637,846 teachers in 87,125
schools to educate 45,228,526 students through high school.
Nineteen percent of these students lived in poverty, but overall,
85.8 percent of them graduated from high school. We spent a
total of $265,839,427,000 per year, or approximately $6,000 per
student, to educate them. The local districts raised 43.8 percent
of their budgets, the states contributed 46.8 percent, and the
federal government chipped in less than seven percent. 142

Teachers, 56 percent of whom have advanced degrees, are
paid, on average, $38,509 before taxes. For this, the average
teacher works 50 hours a week, including an average of 12 hours
of uncompensated school-related activities such as grading
papers, performing bus duty, and advising student clubs. Each
year, our teachers spend over $1 billion out of their own
pocketbooks for essential classroom supplies not provided by
their districts. This direct subsidy compares favorably to the
pittance provided by the federal government, and it comes with
no strings attached. 143

America's public schools and its teachers have served as the
catalyst for melding its immigrant population into a cohesive
society. They have provided our children with a sense of pride
in America and its role in world affairs; they have prepared our
children to become thoughtful adults in casting the responsible
votes essential for the preservation of a free and democratic
society; and they have empowered our children to defend their
freedoms.

Educating Docile Workers for the Corporate State

Horace Mann, the first secretary of education in
Massachusetts, encouraged business owners to contribute to the
state's public education system by promising them better
workers distinguished by their "docility and quickness in
applying themselves to work, personal cleanliness and fidelity in
the performance of duties." Today, businesses want useful

No Child Left Untested 59

workers who can read, write and do basic mathematics, but they
continue to want them to be competitive, obedient and to show
respect for authority. 144

Professionally trained business leaders obsessed with global
competition believe that educational theory should be primarily
economic. A former chairman of IBM once described children as
human capital, teachers as sellers in a marketplace, and the
public school system as a monopoly. According to the business
model, educators should become bean counters, weighing inputs
and outputs, such as the school budgets and test scores. To
encourage the maximum production, teaching failures must be
punished by the loss of bonuses and the imposition of
sanctions. 145

Since many of these business leaders believe that schools
already have adequate resources, they are convinced that the
only way to achieve success is to establish standards and to
impose accountability through testing, with sanctions for failure.
The Business Roundtable, a meeting of corporate leaders,
believes that testing is a "bedrock principle" and that the
"leadership and credibility of the business community is
needed" to ensure the adoption of universal standardized
testing. However, the Roundtable worries about the "voices of
opposition" that will "emanate from parents and teachers." 146

On his first day in office, President Bush gathered a group of
"education leaders" to meet with him in the White House.
However, the guest list was dominated by Big Business, and the
chairman of McGraw-Hill said, "It's a great day for education,
because we now have substantial alignment among all the key
constituents-the public, the education community, business and
political leaders-that results matter." Would it surprise anyone
to learn that McGraw-Hill wrote the statement of principles for
Bush's Texas Education Agency and designed the state's reading
curriculum? Or that McGraw-Hill then got the biggest market
share of the state's textbook market? 147 You're not stupid! Get
the truth.

60 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Dropouts Don't Count

In 1994, when George W. Bush first campaigned for governor
in Texas, he stole the Democrats' playbook in the area of
educational reform. Education had always been a Democratic
issue, and his opponent, Governor Ann Richards, had already
pushed through a reform bill during her tenure. First, Bush
called for the abolition of the regulatory power of the Texas
Education Agency, saying, "We must fund centrally, and we
must govern locally." At the same time, he called for
accountability and periodic standardized testing. 148

In 1995, the Texas legislature passed Senate Bill 1, which
rewrote the Texas education code to redirect education efforts
from providing students with a broad-based liberal arts
education to preparing them for employment. The State Board
of Education was required to revise curriculum requirements
with the "aid and advice" of Texas employers, and all school
districts were urged to adopt a school-to-work program that
would integrate vocational competencies commencing in
kindergarten, and to require all students to select a career
pathway no later than the eighth grade. 149 Next, students were
to be tested each year, and every school had to be rated in the
areas of dropout rate, attendance rate, and the percentage of
students who passed the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills
(TAAS) test. The net effect of the law was to move control over
the schools from the local school districts to the state, where
most curriculum decisions were to be made, a reversal of Bush's
campaign promises.

There was little objection to adoption or implementation of
the new law, even from the state's teaching professionals. One
reason may have been the relative weakness of the state's
teachers' unions, which have no rights to collective bargaining or
tenure. Teachers either cooperated and became true believers, or
else they hit the highway. 150

The same year Bush was elected governor, the board of the
Houston Independent School District (HISD) appointed one of
its members, Dr. Roderick Paige, as the superintendent of its

No Child Left Untested 61

schools. HISD is the seventh largest public school district in
America, with over 210,000 students.

Dr. Paige wasted no time in eliminating tenure for principals,
instituting performance contracts modeled on those in the
private sector, in which senior staff members' performance
determined their continued employment, and introducing
teacher incentive pay. He also formed a political alliance with
Governor Bush that was to pay dividends for both of them in the
future. 151

Operating under the shadow of the big stick in Austin,
powerless teachers gave up trying to teach students how to think
and began to teach to the test. Worried administrators began to
pore over their schools' statistics. Principals were pressured to
use "any means necessary" to raise test scores, and successful
curricula were replaced with practice test drills. Teachers were
encouraged to concentrate on the "bubble kids," those just below
the passing line, and to ignore those at the bottom who would
never pass. 152 And, lo and behold, student scores on the TAAS
tests began to increase. By 1996, the number of high school
graduates who passed the exit-level TAAS increased to 84.7
percent from 82.8 percent the year before. By then, Bush and
Paige were set to be nominated for sainthood for having pulled
off the "Texas Miracle." However, some dark clouds were
gathering on the horizon, but more about that later. First the
parade.

By 1999, after being re-elected governor, Bush decided he
was ready to run for the White House as the "education
candidate." He promised to do for the rest of the United States
what he had done in Texas, and he misled a lot of voters into
believing that would be a good thing. Once elected, and because
Dr. Paige had done such a "good" job in Houston, Bush
nominated him as his Secretary of Education. In January 2001,
the two set up shop in Washington, D.C.

One of the rules imposed by bank security is to require all
managers to take at least two weeks of uninterrupted vacation a
year. Banks do this to discover embezzlements during the
enforced absences, when managers are not around to cover their

62 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

tracks. Well, after Dr. Paige and Bush left Texas, some
interesting information began to come to light.

One of the first things that someone noticed was that while
student scores on the tests controlled by the Texas Education
Agency were steadily increasing, student scores on the
nationally administered Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the
American College Testing Program (ACT) were not. While the
Texas authorities were reportedly educating a new generation of
future Einsteins, the students' SAT and ACT scores were not
improving, and, in fact, they were near the bottom of the barrel.
Nationally, Texas students ranked 47 th on these entrance
exams. 153

Keep in mind that Texas school administrators receive
bonuses of up to $10,000 based upon attendance and dropout
rates, as well as improvements in test scores. Well, during the
school year 2000-2001, HISD's Sharpstown High School reported
no dropouts. None! In November 2002, one of the assistant
principals, apparently more concerned about integrity than
money, wrote to his principal and informed her that the dropout
statistics were being faked. He told her, "We go from 1,000
freshmen to less than 300 seniors with no dropouts?
Amazing!" 154 Nothing changed. Sharpstown High continued to
claim that it had no dropouts, at least until the state stepped in
and conducted an audit of the entire school district. The state
found that, while HISD had only reported a 2.5 percent dropout
rate overall, in fact over 3,000 students seemed to have
disappeared from the rolls; however, none of them were carried
as dropouts. The true dropout rate was determined to be
approximately 52 percent! HISD was actually found to have
one of the poorest graduation rates in the country, being
ranked in the bottom ten school districts, an honor also
accorded to Dallas and Fort Worth. 155

In some schools, low-performing students were encouraged
to drop out to avoid having them perform poorly on the
standardized tests and thereby reduce the average scores.
Another gaming of the system kept low-performing students
from taking the critical tenth grade exit examination. Students
who failed only one class in the ninth grade were kept there for

No Child Left Untested 63

up to three years if the state issued a waiver. Some were
discouraged from taking the course they needed to advance
toward graduation, and many simply dropped out (but not
according to the school district). In one HISD high school with
3,000 students, only 296 took the tenth grade test, when
statistically there should have been between 700 and 750
students in the tenth grade. 156

In a different twist, HISD's Jack Yates High School reported
that from 1998 to 2002, 100 percent of its graduates intended to
attend college. However, in 2002, only one third took the SAT,
and they only had a combined average score of 763 out of a
possible 1,600. Nationally, the combined average for all students
was 1,020. 157 In fact, less than 50 percent of the Yates graduates
ever took any classes at state colleges or universities. One
graduate commented on the false claims, "It doesn't mean
anything, because who cares. But it could mean they lie about a
lot more of other things." 158

Before we re-join Bush's parade to the White House, let's
take another look at his campaign promise to Texans, "We must
fund centrally, and we must govern locally." We saw how he
shifted education decision making from local school boards to
the state, but what about school funding? Keep in mind that
Texas does not have a state income tax, and that money to
operate the state government primarily comes from statewide
taxes on sales and real property. Because the regressive sales tax
produces 58 percent of the state's income, the poor pay a far
higher percentage of their incomes as taxes. People earning less
than $14,750 pay 16 percent, and those earning over $74,250 only
pay 3.8 percent. 159

In 1997, Bush called for a $3 billion cut in property taxes,
which would substantially benefit businesses, and the legislature
approved $1 billion. Two years later, in 1999, the economic
picture was looking good and, depending on who was cooking
the books, the state was expecting a budget surplus of between
$2.6 billion and $5.6 billion. Relying on the unrealistic higher
projection to pay for it, Bush proposed a $2.6 billion tax cut. The
Texas Legislature was leaning toward a $2 billion cut and was
trying to figure out how to balance the books. 160 Even though

64 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Texas ranked near the bottom nationally on spending for
education (41 st ), the Legislature cut proposed increases in teacher
pay by half, refused to fund mandatory kindergarten for all
students, and refused to reduce the class size of kindergarten to
fourth grade classes. These last two proposals would have
primarily benefited poor students (of whom Texas had more of
than any other state) and were estimated to cost approximately
$1.2 billion. When Bush was asked about his position on
mandatory kindergarten, he said Texas couldn't afford it and
that he would "be happy with the bill if it doesn't have
mandatory kindergarten." 161 Bush got his tax cut, and the poor
children of Texas largely paid for it.

Who suffered most from the failure of the Texas schools?
Does Bush care? Do you think there really was a "Texas
Miracle" in education? Do you think Bush was truthful about it?
You're not stupid! Get the truth.

Big Brother Knows Best

In the 2000 presidential campaign, George W. Bush ran as the
education candidate. He stated, "Rarely is the question asked, is
[sic] our children learning?" And he promised that, "My
education message will resignate [sic] amongst all parents."
(Could this man pass a basic English skills test?) Whatever that
means, Rove and Bush hammered together an education
platform and managed to stay "on message" throughout the
campaign.

During a Republican debate in the primaries, another
candidate, Steve Forbes, who accused him of lowering the Texas
standards to the extent that "your SAT ranking has gone from
40th in the nation to 46th in the nation", criticized Bush about his
record on education. Bush sarcastically replied, "objective
analysis after objective analysis has ranked Texas as one of the
best education states in the country. ... One reason-our SAT
scores have improved since I've been the governor. You need to
get your research to do a better job." Are you surprised by this
blatant lie? In fact, during the Bush administration, the average
verbal/ math combined SAT score in Texas had dropped three
points, while the national average had improved nine points. 162

No Child Left Untested 65

Once Bush won the nomination, he chose Richard B. Cheney
as his vice president— who as a congressman voted against the
creation of the U.S. Department of Education, opposed the Head
Start program, and supported a measure to deny federal aid to
any school that restricted prayer. 163 Bush quickly moved to
establish his "compassionate conservative" credentials by
reassuring folks that he wasn't going to do away with the
Department of Education or Head Start. At the same time, he
hewed to the conservative line in proposing the expansion of
charter schools, tax-exempt education savings accounts, and
school vouchers.

In 1998, President Clinton proposed voluntary national
testing of all fourth graders in reading and all eighth graders in
basic math. Instead of covering specific, detailed curriculum, the
tests would be basic, reflecting a common set of expectations.
The reading test would include open-ended essay questions as
well as multiple-choice questions, and the math test would
provide partial credit for wrong answers as long as students
demonstrated an understanding of how the problem should be
solved. The short 90-minute tests were intended to provide
reliable data on how American children were mastering the
basics, rather than to punish students, teachers, or schools for
failure. 164

Clinton's Secretary of Education, Richard Riley, stated, "If all
of our efforts to raise standards get reduced to one test, we've
gotten it wrong. If we force our teachers to teach only to the test,
we will lose their creativity. ... If we are so consumed with
making sure students pass a multiple-choice test that we throw
out the arts and civics then we will be going backwards instead
of forward." 165 A quiet voice of reason, yet the Republican
response was deafening.

Led by Missouri Senator Ashcroft (more about him later), the
Republicans managed to insert language in an essential 1998
appropriations bill that shelved the Clinton voluntary testing
plan for the balance of the fiscal year. Senator Ashcroft called it
an "important victory for local control," and he warned, "This
fight is not over. I am confident that the President and his allies
will be back in their effort to take power away from parents,

66 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

teachers and community school boards, seeking to place more
power over our schools in the hands of bureaucrats in
Washington." 166

What did presidential candidate Bush do? He continued to
play the education game with the stolen Democratic playbook,
but with a new referee and increased penalties. He called for
mandatory testing of all third through eighth grade students and
for a cut in federal funding of up to five percent in those states
where student performance failed to meet specific standards.

What could Vice President Gore say? He was also
determined to aggressively improve school accountability and
performance; however, he wanted to provide greater resources
to struggling schools, especially with respect to building and
renovation needs. However, it just didn't have the resonance of
"no child left behind."

As we have seen, Bush, not Gore, "won" the election. So,
what did the education candidate have to say after he was
inaugurated? "You teach a child to read, and he or her will be
able to pass a literacy test." Yes, you her'd right! Thus, Bush set
out to impose the "Texas Miracle" on the rest of the United
States.

After Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords was driven out of the
Republican Party by the arrogance of Bush and his evil brain,
Karl Rove, Democrats took control of the Senate, and Senator
Ted Kennedy became the Chairman of the Health, Education,
Labor and Pensions Committee. Since education had always
been a Democratic issue, and after Bush promised that the
neediest children would get the benefit of the reforms, Kennedy
agreed to work with the Bush administration on revisions of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which was up for
renewal. Kennedy's goals were to maximize funding and to
keep school vouchers out of the Act.

After the House and Senate produced different versions of
the "No Child Left Behind Act," it was discovered that under the
formulas in both bills for measuring educational achievement,
virtually every school in North Carolina and Texas would be
deemed a failure and be subject to reorganization. Since these

No Child Left Untested 67

two states were considered (at least at that time) as leaders in
school improvement efforts, there was a good chance for
massive national political embarrassment. To resolve the two
bills, the congressional conferees did a major revision, redefined
"adequate yearly progress," and finally produced a 1,200-page
bill that was signed by President Bush on January 8, 2002. 167

The Act dramatically increased the role of the federal
government in public education by requiring all students in
grades 3 through 8 to be tested every year in reading and math
and by providing measures to hold schools accountable. The
states were given until the 2005-2006 school year to develop and
implement tests to show adequate yearly progress towards their
statewide objectives. And the states had to demonstrate through
test scores that they could reach 100 percent proficiency for all
groups of students within 12 years. 168

Although Kennedy had been promised that there would be
adequate funding, Bush's budget for fiscal year 2004 eliminated
one-third of what he had earlier promised. While Congress later
restored some of the cuts, the final bill only pays for a small
fraction (seven percent) of the cost of public education. The first-
year increases to Title I funds amount to 0.4 percent of total
education spending, and even the "flexibility" procedures of the
Act only allow a local district to shift around approximately 4.3
percent of the Title I funds it had already been committed.
Finally, while the bill did not explicitly include school vouchers,
it did include a complicated after-school tutoring mechanism
that will move as much as $900 per student from schools "in
improvement" into the hands of alternative profit, non-profit,
and faith-based "supplemental-service providers."

Unfortunately, it is highly likely that the Act will do for the
rest of the United States what Bush's "miracle" did in Texas.
There is a grave risk that the big stick of being labeled as "low
performing" will drive administrators to lose dropouts and for
teachers to narrowly teach to the test. Students will still receive
a good education in more affluent districts, supplemented
through parent donations, but in those districts intended to be
aided by the Act, in the absence of any real increase in resources,
the poor children will be drilled like recruits in a military boot

68 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

camp. The emphasis on "accountability" will result in testing
being used to sort children and to treat them differently, rather
than to use testing to help all children receive a quality
education. Finally, there is no way there can be continual annual
increases in the percentage of students who score "proficient" or
above in testing, when the goals are set higher each year, and
states are required to list 20 percent of their schools as failures. 169

The existing appropriation was $11.3 billion and the Act
called for $18 billion for Title I spending; however, Bush only
requested $12.3 billion in his next budget, an increase of just $1
billion. It is estimated, conservatively, that the $1 billion increase
in Title I funding proposed by Bush would not even pay for the
added cost of testing and the other Title I mandates of the law,
much less have anything left over to keep poor students from
getting left behind. Fortunately, Congress rejected Bush's
miserly budget request and provided an additional $5 billion for
Title I programs. 170

William J. Mathis, writing in the Phi Delta Kappan, identified
several economic models that can be used to define the financial
resources actually needed for each child to meet the standards
set forth in the Act. To achieve the Act's mandates, the most
conservative estimate is that an additional 20 percent, or $84.5
billion, would be required. A more realistic 35 percent increase
would require $148 billion. 171

The states are faced with a dilemma. They can either come
up with $148 billion on their own to avoid losing the miserly
federal contribution-a bad bargain-or they can reject the Title I
money and the mandates. But if they accept the money and
impose the standards on their school districts, they can be sued
for the difference between the cost to implement the standards
and what they receive from Washington-another bad bargain.
Since the states are collectively facing a current deficit of $58
billion, it is unlikely that they can balance their budgets without
cutting basic educational funding, much less fund federal
mandates.

Several districts in Vermont and Connecticut have refused
funds to avoid having to comply with NCLB's mandates, and at
least seven states have passed resolutions criticizing the law or

No Child Left Untested 69

asking for federal waivers. Maine is considering a bill to prevent
state funding of reforms, and a bill to opt out of NCLB entirely
has passed the house education committee in the Utah
Legislature. Gary Orfield, a Harvard education professor, notes,
"Wealthy districts don't have to do much at all under this law.
Other districts face demands that are somewhere between
difficult and absurd. It's putting maximum pressure on the most
vulnerable districts." 172

Fourteen states have asked the Bush administration for
permission to use alternative methods for showing academic
gains. The states wrote that "within a few years, the vast
majority of all schools will be identified as in need of
improvement. Many of those schools will be given that
designation despite having shown steady and significant
improvement for all groups of students." 173

The most likely scenario is that the states will try,
educational professionals will try, children will try, but no
matter how hard they try, the number of drop-outs will increase,
schools will narrow their academic curriculum, and poor
students will be drilled 'til they drop. Many good schools will
be wrongly labeled as failing, and they and their students will be
punished for failing when they never had a fair chance. We will
all think less of our educational system and ourselves; we will be
less than we could have been.

Would you want your own child's performance to be
evaluated on one test score? Would you want your own child to
have limited opportunities as a result? You're not stupid! Get
the truth.

The Test Revolt

While the states have been busy preparing their plans to
comply with the Act, and none has the courage required to reject
the mandates and to go it alone, some groups are less reticent to
demonstrate their disapproval of the new law. Writing in "High
Stakes are for Tomatoes," Peter Schrag reported on some of these
demonstrations in The Atlantic.™

After a majority of students failed the Massachusetts
Comprehensive Assessment System tests, the state board of

70 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

education lowered the passing level. Nonetheless, a group of
300 students, backed by their parents, teachers and community
leaders, boycotted the test and demanded to be graduated if they
had good records and could demonstrate evidence of
achievement. Their slogan: "Be a hero, take a zero."

Middle-class parents in Wisconsin influenced the legislature
to refuse to fund the state's exit examination until an agreement
was reached to allow the achievement of failing students to be
assessed using other criteria and to avoid automatic denial of a
diploma.

In Virginia, a legislative bill was introduced to require new
members of the state's board of education to "take the eighth
grade Standards of Learning assessments in English,
mathematics, science, and social sciences" and that the results be
reported to the public.

Complaints range from the length of the test, which in
Massachusetts can take up to a total of 17 hours, to the fact that
they are unfair to poor or English-deficient students, or those
who simply cannot do well on tests. There is evidence that the
emphasis on testing, beginning as early as kindergarten, reduces
the teaching of academics and how to think, and that it destroys
the creativity and innovation of teachers.

Rather than, or at least as a supplement to standardized
testing, these revolutionists want authentic assessments, such as
portfolios of art, science and essay projects, and open-ended
exercises. One education official of the Bush administration has
labeled these test revolutionists as "crickets," few in number and
making a lot of noise. Well, crickets may not bite, but they can
sure keep you awake at night. 175

Maybe the answer is to go back to the voluntary national
testing proposed by President Clinton, where the emphasis is on
the positive and there are no sanctions. Or, as proposed by
Albert Shanker, former president of the American Federation of
Teachers, a basic level of competency could be established for all
students, low enough to ensure that most graduate from high
school, and provide honors diplomas for those students who
earn and deserve the recognition. 176

No Child Left Untested 71

Do you think that mandatory testing and the withdrawal of
funding from schools that need it the most is the best way to
ensure academic excellence in America? What's going to happen
in a couple of years when two thirds or as many as 85 percent of
our schools are declared to be failing? Do you want Bush and
his Dr. Paige to take over and run your local school? You're not
stupid! Get the truth.

140. "Education History," Good Schools Pennsylvania,
http://www.goodschoolspa.org.

141. Ibid.

142. "Education Issues," National Association of State Boards of
Education, www.nasbe.org/educational_issues/educational_issues.

143. "Not Just A Job," NEA NOW, Volume 24, No. 1, October 2003.

144. "Public Schools in the United States: Some History," Applied
Research Center, http://www.arc.org/erase/history.

145. Ivins, op. cit., p. 83.

146. Ibid., pp. 83, 84.

147. Ibid., p. 95n.

148. Robbins, Mary Alice, "Bush draws fire of education board,"
Amarillo Globe-News, February 8, 2000,
http://www.amarillonet.com/stories.

149. Patterson, Chris, "SCHOOL-TO-WORK IMPLEMENTATION IN
TEXAS," January 1998, http:www.tppf.org/education/stwky/stwky.

150. "The truth about Texas school reform,"
www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/ll/01/elpaso/indexl.html.

151. Dobbs, Michael, "Houston school district's accountability
questioned," November 9, 2003, Star-Telegram, www.dfw.com/mld/
startelegram/2003/ll/09/news/state/7221021.html.

152. Ivins, op. cit., pp. 77, 80.

153. Ibid., p. 78.

154. Brauchli, Christopher, "Droppin' Out and Droppin' Lies in
Houston," Common Dreams News Center, September 6, 2003,
http:www.commondreams.org/views03/0906-06.html.

155. Ibid; see also Schemo, Diana Jean, "Rod Paige Defends Houston
Schools," New York Times, July 26, 2003, www.interversity.org/
Iists/arn-l/archives/jul2003/msg00400.html.

156. Ivins, op. cit., pp. 79, 80.

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

157. http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/
news_info/cbsenior/yr2002/pdf/ table2.pdf.

158. Brauchli, op cit.

159. Hall, James, "Tax-Cutting, Texas-Style," 2001, www.american-
partisan.com/cols/2001/hall/qtrl/0313.htm.

160. Ibid.

161. Dubose, Louis, "The Education Governor: Will Bush rob school
kids to pay for a tax cut?" 1999, www.texasobserver.org.

162. Corn, op. cit., pp. 19, 20.

163. Begala, op. cit., p. 130.

164. Froomkin, Dan, "Tests Are Key to the Clinton Education Agenda,"
The Washington Post, 1998, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/
politics/ special/ testing/ testing.

165. Schrag, Peter, "High Stakes Are for Tomatoes," The Atlantic,
August 2000, http:www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/08/schrag.html.

166. "Clinton's National Testing Plan Defeated," Education Reporter,
December 1997, www.eagleforum.org/educate/1997/dec97/test.

167. Broder, David S., "Long Road to Reform," The Washington Post,
December 17, 2001, http://www.washingtonpost.com.

168. "The New Rules," Frontline, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/
frontline/ shows/schools/nochild/nclb. html.

169. "Initial Fair Test Analysis of ESEA As passed by Congress,
Dec. 2001," http://www.fairtest.org/nattest/ESEA.html.

170. Ivins, op. cit., p. 89.

171. Mathis, William J., "No Child Left Behind: Costs and Benefits,"
Phi Delta Kappan, http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0305mat.html.

172. Paulson, Amanda, "Fazed by the rules and reach of 'No Child Left
Behind,' more states opt out of the most substantive reform in a
generation," Christian Science Monitor, February 11, 2004,
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0211/p01s02-ussc.html.

173. Schemo, Diana Jean, "14 States Ask U.S. to Revise Some Education
Law Rules," The New York Times, March 25, 2004, www.nytimes.com/
2004/03/25/education/25CHIL.html.

174. Schrag, Peter, "High Stakes Are for Tomatoes," The Atlantic,
August 2000, www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/08/schrag.html.

175. Ibid.

176. Ibid.

HAVE I GOT A DEAL FOR YOU

It's been observed that to find who has the most
power in a society, you need only look to see who
does not pay taxes. The touted Bush tax breaks,
once the window dressing is removed, are exposed
as a public giveaway to those who already have the
most.

America's system of federal income taxation is founded upon
voluntary compliance with the law, and the only reason it has a
chance of working is that all are expected to pay their fair share.
At least you and I do, because our taxes are deducted from our
paycheck, or we're afraid we'll go to jail if we fudge on our
deductions. But what about the big guys?

Well, it all depends on whom you know and how much you
pay in political contributions to you-know-who. In 1995, 84
millionaires filed tax returns on which they owed no income tax,
and 17 percent of the 7,500 corporations having assets of over
$250 million paid no taxes at all. 177

Things haven't gotten any better. Between 1996 and 1998, 50
of our mega-corporations, including AT&T, Bristol-Myers
Squibb, Chase Manhattan, Enron, ExxonMobil, General Electric,
Microsoft, Pfizer, Philip Morris, and WorldCom, failed to pay
any federal income taxes at all. 178 None! One reason they didn't
have to pay taxes was because they received $55 billion in tax
breaks during the same period. Their cost? A mere $150 million
and change in political contributions between 1991 and 2001.
How much income tax do you pay each year?

The Halliburton Corporation, through the use of offshore
subsidiaries, evaded paying any income taxes during five of the
six years that Dick Cheney was its CEO, even though it received
over $2.3 billion in government contracts. For this, Cheney was
paid $36 million in salary, bonuses, and stock options during his
last year on their payroll. 179 What's your annual income?

Perhaps it all depends on who is in charge of collecting the
taxes. Bush's new Treasury Secretary is John Snow, who last

74 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

worked for CSX Corporation as its CEO.* He apparently did a
good job because CSX paid him over $10 million in his last year.
Why was he worth so much? Perhaps it's because CSX received
$122 million in tax rebates and didn't have to pay any taxes in
2000 or 2001. 180 Perhaps Snow can lend you and me a hand. But
don't hold your breath.

In 1995, Congress, under the leadership of Newt Gingrich,
passed a "tax reform" act that makes the Internal Revenue
Service increasingly concentrate its attention on the working
poor, rather than the lazy rich. By 2001, audits of the working
poor had increased by 48.6 percent, and those applying for the
Earned Income Tax Credit had a one-in-47 chance of being
audited. Those earning over $100,000 have only one chance in
208 of getting a call from the taxman, although there are
naturally far fewer of them. 181 Between 1993 and 2002, the
number of civil fraud penalties against corporations fell by two-
thirds, from 555 to 159.1 82

In November 2002, the White House prohibited Charles
Rossotti, the head of the IRS, from telling Congress that the IRS
needed a major increase in enforcement agents because it was
"steadily losing the war with tax cheats, especially the wealthiest
and most sophisticated among them." He wanted to alert
Congress that by investing an additional $2 billion in
enforcement, they could get back more than $70 billion. 183

It gets worse. Eighty-five percent of us lost real net worth
between 1983 and 1997, as 80 percent of our wealth was shifted
into the pockets of the top 10 percent. The 13,000 richest families
in America have more assets than its poorest 20 million people.
Another way to look at it is to see the top one percent of
households holding nearly 40 percent of America's wealth,
which is just about equal to what the bottom 95 percent of all
households share. 184

To fairly distribute wealth in its democratic society and to
avoid concentrating its wealth in an economic elite or royalty,

* Bush fired his first Treasury Secretary, Paul O'Neill, after he publicly
questioned the wisdom of Bush's proposed tax cuts in the face of
increasing deficits.

Have I Got a Deal for You 75

America has relied upon: (1) a progressive income tax, whereby
those who earn more pay a higher percentage of taxes on their
income; (2) an alternative minimum tax on income for high
earners who claim no real income (after adjustments); (3) a
capital gains tax that considers investment capital to be
"working," and imposes a tax on its income resulting from
interest, dividends and appreciation; and (4) an estate tax that
imposes a tax upon the estates of the very wealthy. Since the
working poor don't earn much income, have little investment
capital, and do not leave large estates, they rarely think about
these matters. But rich folks do. They think about them all the
time. They don't think the tax system is fair, and they pay
massive political contributions, primarily to Republicans, to get
rid of those taxes that keep them from getting all the marbles.

Almost one third of working poor families, over 12 million,
doesn't think about income taxes because they don't pay them.
However, they do pay substantial payroll taxes for Social
Security and excise taxes.* For a two-earner family making
$25,000 a year, this amounts to about $3,825, including employer
contributions. The economic elites resent that working folks
don't pay more. An editorial in the Wall Street Journal called
those who only earn $12,000 a year and who pay less than four
percent income taxes "lucky duckies." 185

So what happened to the middle class? They paid their taxes
instead of making political contributions, they were forgotten by
the politicians, they are fast disappearing, and nearly all their
marbles have been swiped by the upper class.

As Plato said in The Republic over 2,300 years ago, "When
there is an income tax, the just man will pay more and the unjust
less on the same amount of income."

A Tax Cut for the Wealthy

During the presidential campaign, when Vice President Gore
predicted that Bush's tax cuts would wreak havoc in Texas, Bush
cutely replied, "I hope I'm not here to deal with it." 186 Too bad

* Excise taxes are levied on a specific good or service, such as cigarettes,
alcohol or fuel.

76 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

he wasn't. For when the projected budget surplus failed to
materialize, the Texas legislature had to cut spending further.
The Texas budget deficit is currently around $10 billion and
rising. Bush bragged, "The national spotlight gives us a chance
to show how well limited government works. And together, we
can show Washington how to handle a budget surplus." Well,
that much, at least, he did, alright.

Bush promised to reduce taxes just like he had in Texas, and
once he was elected, he set out to do just that. Unfortunately,
just like in Texas, his tax cuts (or "tax relief" as he likes to say)
primarily benefited the rich and caused untold harm to the rest
of us.

In his first month in the White House, Bush proposed his
"tax relief" package. He asked Congress to cut income tax rates,
cancel the estate tax (he likes to call it a "death tax"), eliminate
the marriage penalty (which taxes couples at a higher rate than
they would each pay individually), double the child tax credit
from $500 to $1,000, and extend it to those earning between
$110,000 to $200,000 a year.i 8 ?

Bush promised that the cuts would help millions of the
working poor to move up to the middle class, would prime the
pump of a slowing economy, and avoid the breakup of family
farms and the forced sale of small businesses upon the death of
their owners. And, he said, just like he had in Texas, not to
worry, there was an adequate surplus to cover the cost and to
have enough money left over to pay for existing and new
programs. These were all lies, but it sure sounded good.

Bush said that his plan would "reduce taxes for everyone
who pays taxes" and that "the bottom end of the economic
ladder receives the biggest percentage cuts" from his tax
package. He promised that the poorest "six million families, one
out of every five families with children, will no longer pay
federal income taxes at all under our plan." 188 All lies and
misrepresentations .

In fact, those earning over $147,000 annually (the top five
percent) would receive almost 53 percent of the benefit, and the
top one percent, with incomes over $373,000, would receive 45

Have I Got a Deal for You 77

percent of the tax relief once all cuts were made. At the same
time, the bottom 20 percent, who earn less than $15,000, would
receive less than a one percent cut, and the bottom 40 percent,
earning less than $27,000, would be "relieved" by only 4.3
percent. 189

Because of the increase in the child tax credit, Bush
promised, "We will return $1,600 to the typical American family
with two children." Since a "typical" American family didn't
earn the $39,200 a year required to get the full $1,600, eighty-five
percent of families didn't get the "relief." However, since the
credit was to be extended to families earning between $100,000
and $220,000, nearly half of its benefit went to the top 20 percent
of earners. 190

Let's talk about Bush's "death tax." He said, "To keep family
farms in the family, we're going to get rid of the death tax." A
complete lie. A review of 1999 Internal Revenue Service returns
found "almost no working farmers" owing estate taxes. The
reason was that under existing tax laws, a married couple could
already pass along a family farm worth up to $4.1 million to
their children, as long as they agreed to work the property for 10
years. The average value of a farm in Iowa (a state with a lot of
farms) was only $1.2 million. 191

So why the big "whoop-de-do?" The estate tax only applied
to the top 1.9 percent of estates, because to qualify they had to be
valued in excess of $675,000, and the amount was already
scheduled to increase to $1 million in 2006. Nor did the tax
apply to estates left to spouses, and a married couple could leave
an estate of $1.35 million (up to $2 million in 2006) to their
children without taxes. 192

The reason Bush pushed this "relief" is that the estate tax
would have brought in an estimated $300 billion over the ten-
year period of tax cuts. 193 Yep! It's not a typo, $300 billion, paid
only by the super rich, the top 1.9 percent of Americans. That's
why they laid out the big bucks to elect Bush; they demanded a
return on their investment, and the rest of us will pick up the
tab.

78 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

The outgoing Clinton administration estimated it was
leaving a multi-trillion-dollar tax surplus over the next ten years,
and it had actually reduced the national debt for the first time in
modern history. 194 Bush's last big lie was that there was enough
of a surplus over the next ten years to pay for his tax relief. He
promised to not touch the Social Security surplus and said that,
after the cuts, there would still be "almost a trillion dollars ... for
additional needs." He joked, "My plan reduces the national debt
... so fast, in fact, that economists worry that we are going to run
out of debt to retire." Just like in Texas, he overestimated the
surplus at $3.1 trillion and low-balled the cost of the tax cuts at
$1.6 to $1.8 trillion. 1 ^

In April 2001, President "What, me worry?" Bush promised,
"We can proceed with tax relief without fear of budget deficits,
even if the economy softens." He predicted a $125 billion
surplus for the year. In May 2001, the Republican-controlled
Congress passed and Bush signed the measure that reduced the
government's income from taxes by a total of $1.65 trillion over
the next 10 years.

In August 2001, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
confirmed what many had feared. Because of the declining
economy and Bush's tax cuts, the year's surplus had
disappeared. The CBO estimated the year's deficit at $9 billion;
to cover the difference, the government would have to dip into
the Social Security surplus. 196 So much for Bush's promises, and,
as he told the Texans, he sure showed us how to handle a
surplus.

What did Bush do? He lied, naturally: "I've said that the
only reason we should use Social Security funds is in case of an
economic recession or war." 197 When did he say this? What he
had said, over and over, was that his cuts would not contribute
to deficits and that they would not threaten the Social Security
surplus.

Did you get $1,600 from the tax cuts? What percentage of
your salary goes to pay income and payroll taxes? You're not
stupid! Get the truth.

Have I Got a Deal for You 79

Another Tax Break for the Rich and Richer

In 2003, President Bush took another run at getting rid of
some ugly taxes that were troubling his constituency. This time
he took aim at the capital gains tax. His father had tried to get
rid of it when he was president, but he wasn't as slick as his son.
Bush Jr. called for the elimination of the tax on "dividends," and
said that it was to benefit the elderly.

The overall proposal called for cutting taxes by $726 billion
over the next 10 years. It included the dividend tax cut (which
accounted for half) and an acceleration of other cuts included in
the previous year's legislation. These cuts had been scheduled
for 2004 and 2006, and included early implementation of the
expanded child tax credit and elimination of the marriage
penalty. 198

Bush claimed "These tax reductions will bring real and
immediate benefits to middle-income Americans. Ninety-two
million Americans will keep an average of $1,083 more of their
own money." However, Bush was again playing word games
with "average." Only about 20 percent of tax payers would get
that much. Almost half would receive less than $100. 199

Bush said he wanted the dividend tax eliminated for "the
good of our senior citizens." However, what he didn't say was
that, while it was true that 41 percent of the reduction would go
to people over 65 years, three-quarters would go to those
earning over $75,000, and 40 percent would go to the top 2.5
percent, those earning over $200,000. Another estimate gave 70
percent of the cut to those earning over $133,000. 200 In fact, the
proposal would do little or nothing to aid most of the elderly in
America, over half of whom would live in poverty if it was not
for Social Security. 201 But again, it sounded good.

To those who questioned his proposal, Bush retorted, "Oh
sure, you hear the typical class warfare rhetoric, trying to pit one
group of people against another." He had earlier said that he
expected critics to "turn this into class warfare." 202 What else
would you call tax cuts for the richest of the rich, which shove
more and more of the tax burden onto the working- and middle-
class?

80 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Bush blamed Congress for the need to accelerate reductions
in tax rates that had been scheduled for the future in his first tax
cut, saying that Congress had decided to phase them in over
"three or five or seven years. If the tax relief is good five years
from now, it makes a lot of sense to put the tax relief in today."
However, the year before, he had said, "The tax relief package
that I talked about in the campaign was phased in based upon
projections so we wouldn't run a deficit." 203 Which was the
truth, and which was the lie?

In April 2003, the Congressional Budget Office predicted a
record $400 billion deficit for the year, and it predicted that
Bush's tax cuts were "unlikely" to stimulate the economy. 204 No
matter, on May 23, the Republican-controlled Congress passed a
$320 billion tax cut plan that reduced the tax on most dividends
and capital gains to 15 percent. This reduction composed almost
half of the tax cut.

The program contained several accounting deceptions, and it
has been estimated that the true cost of Bush's new round of tax
cuts will fall between $800 billion and $1 trillion. 2 ^ All for what?
In the 2003 tax cut, half of the families in America got only $100
or less; however, those earning over $1 million each walked
away with $93,500. Bush personally pockets an extra $11,000
this year; his top contributors Charles Cawley, CEO of the
MBNA Bank, saves $276,000 and William MaGuire, CEO of
United Health Group gets to keep $329,000. 206 How much did
you get?

In an editorial, the Washington Post noted that "Whatever
relief such measure will provide, it cannot offset the enormous
damage that will be done to low-income families and low-
income children over the next few years. ... The effective federal
tax rate on households earning more than $416,000 will have
fallen from 32.7 percent when Bush took office to 26.9 percent by
2010, while their share of federal taxation will have dropped
from 24.3 percent to 22.8 percent. ... Conservatives and liberals
alike agree that Bush's tax policies have shifted more of the tax
burden to the middle class." 207 This was obviously what Bush
wanted to do, but was it what you wanted him to do? Perhaps
you can now see why more and more of the marbles are ending

Have I Got a Deal for You 81

up in the bags of the upper class, and the rest of us are working
harder for less.

On January 28, 2003, in his State of the Union address, Bush
stated, "We will not deny, we will not ignore, we will not pass
along our problems to other Congresses, to other presidents, and
other generations." 208 Well, who the heck does he think is going
to clean up the mess resulting from his tax cuts? Perhaps he
really doesn't have a clue. Whenever he hit a dry hole in the oil
patch, his father's wealthy friends or his Saudi and bin Laden
connections always came along and bailed him out. Who's
going to do it this time? Who else? You and me, our children,
and our grandchildren.

Do you believe that Bush was truly concerned about the
elderly, or do you think he cares only for the rich and mighty?
You're not stupid! Get the truth.

177. Ivins, op. cit., p. 42.

178. Ibid., p. 283.

179. Kellner, op. cit., pp. 16, 18.

180. Conason, op. cit., pp. 27, 28.

181. Ivins, op. cit., p. 42.

182. Alterman and Green, op. cit., p. 55.

183. Conason, op. cit., p. 28.

184. Ivins, op. cit., p. 44.

185. Hightower, op. cit., p. 39.

186. Zagorin, Adam, "When tax cuts hit Texas: Beyond the beltway."
www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/time/2001/03/12/texas, March 5,
2001.

187. Corn, op. cit., p. 79.

188. Ibid., p. 80.

189. Ibid., pp. 80, 81.

190. Ibid., pp. 83, 84.

191. Ibid., pp. 84, 85.

192. Ibid., p. 86.

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

93. Ibid.

Ibid., p. 87.

95. Ibid., p. 88.

96. Ibid., pp. 90, 91.

97. Ibid., p. 91.

;. Ibid., p. 243.

'. Ibid., pp. 243-245.

200. Ibid., pp. 245, 246.

201. http://www.concordcoalition.org/entitlements/justgenintro.pdf.

202. Corn, op. cit, p. 248.

203. Ibid., p. 252.

204. Ibid., p. 256.

205. Ibid., pp. 258, 259.

206. "Polls: Americans Not Buying Bush Tax Cut Rhetoric,"

The Daily Mis-Lead, April 15, 2004,
daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1218302&l=29034.

207. Corn, op. cit., p. 262.

208. Ivins, op. cit. p. 38.

9A1: WHO KNEW WHAT AND WHEN,
AND WHAT, IF ANYTHING, DID HE DO?

The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001,
shocked the nation. But what may be nearly as
shocking is how much information the
government had beforehand, and how stupendous
were the incompetence and chicanery that
attended its failure to prevent that catastrophe.

I was less than a year old on December 7, 1941, but as the
youngest of eight children, I was later told the stories of where
and how we all learned about the attack on Pearl Harbor as a
part of our family's oral history. Similarly, the events of
September 11, 2001 are imprinted in our consciousness.

We've had 60 years to figure out why the Japanese
government decided to start a war with the United States, but
we've yet to answer why the hijackers, primarily highly skilled,
well educated, middle-class professionals, acting contrary to
their own government's policies, would want to simultaneously
commit suicide in violently attacking the most visible symbols of
American culture.*

We will never know why each individual terrorist
participated, since they all died in the plane crashes, but if we
are to begin to comprehend their motivation, we must try

* Although President Bush's most common explanation is that the
terrorists hate freedom, a more thoughtful analysis by political scientist
Gilles Kepel reveals, "The terrorism of September 11 was above all a
provocation - albeit a provocation of gigantic proportions. Its purpose
was to provoke a similarly gigantic repression of the Afghan civilian
population and to build universal solidarity among Muslims in
reaction to the victimization and suffering of their Afghan brothers."
(Miller, Mark Crispin, The Bush Dyslexicon, p. 331) The hijackers could
not seriously have expected to defeat America and eliminate our
freedoms, but as we will see, they were wildly successful in causing
our own government to take away our freedoms and to violently
repress the Afghan people.

84 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

looking at things from their point of view. If we are to make
rational decisions leading to peace with our neighbors and
security in our neighborhoods, we must be prepared to abandon
some deep-seated prejudices and to draw some uncomfortable
conclusions.

America is not blameless. We, regrettably, have a long
history of having violently interfered with the societies, cultures
and governments of other peoples, beginning with annihilation
of the indigenous inhabitants of this country. We enslaved
millions of Africans and we denied the rights of citizenship to
Asian immigrants. It was not that long ago that we colonized
Hawaii and the Philippines, killing hundreds of thousands of
natives; that we routinely rotated the leadership of the republics
of Central and South America at will; and, more recently, that
we conspired in the removal of lawfully elected leaders of
nations such as Chile and Iran.

We have allied ourselves with repressive regimes and
supported their brutal policies. Commencing in 1965, the United
States backed the Indonesian army as it took control of the
country and organized the slaughter of hundreds of thousands
of people, mostly landless peasants. 209 Between 1984 and 1990,
the United States provided 80 percent of the arms for Turkey's
counterinsurgency campaign against its Kurdish minority. Tens
of thousands were killed, and 2-3 million were driven from their
homes, leaving 3,500 villages destroyed. 210

President Reagan came into office in 1980 proclaiming that
"international terrorism" sponsored by the USSR was the
greatest threat faced by the United States. To combat Russian
influence in Nicaragua, we mined its harbors and supported a
"Contra" army that regularly and routinely engaged in terrorist
activities.

After Nicaragua filed a lawsuit, the United States was
condemned by the World Court of Justice for its unlawful acts
and was ordered to desist and to pay reparations. We vetoed a
United Nations Security Council resolution calling on all states
(including the U.S.) to adhere to international law, and we and
only two other nations, Israel and El Salvador, voted against the
same resolution in the U.N. General Assembly. 211

9/11: Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do? 85

In 1985, the United States sponsored the setting of a truck
bomb outside a mosque in Beirut, targeted at a Muslim cleric
who had angered us. The bomb was timed to kill the maximum
number of people as they left prayer services. It missed the
cleric, but it killed 80 and wounded 250, mostly women and
children. Wouldn't we define this as an act of terrorism had it
occurred in the United States? 212

There is more, much more, but this is enough. It is one thing
to acknowledge our past policies of failure, which we are slowly
doing, but it is another to understand that history and to adopt
successful policies for the future based upon that understanding.

Sowing the Wind and Reaping the Whirlwind

President Carter's National Security Adviser, Zbigniew
Brzezinski, claims that he instigated secret support for the
Mujahideen, who were fighting against the communist
government of Afghanistan in 1979, in an effort to draw the
USSR into what he called an "Afghan trap." 213 After the USSR
sent in its army to prop up the government, the United States
and its allies organized, trained, and armed a mercenary army of
more than 100,000 to resist the "invasion." Many of the
Mujahideen were drawn from the most militant fighters
available, the radical Islamists, who viewed the Russians as
infidels and occupiers of Muslim lands. The United States
encouraged these extremist views as "war values" that made the
Mujahideen fierce fighters.

Osama bin Laden, a Saudi citizen, joined the fighters
sometime in 1980. He was one of nearly two dozen sons born to
Sheikh Muhammad bin Laden, who established a family
construction company that built roads, airports and other
infrastructure projects in the Middle East. The firm grew into a
conglomerate of companies and had become the largest private
construction contractor in the world by the time Sheikh
Muhammad died in a plane crash in Texas in 1966. One of his
older sons, Salem bin Laden took over control of the business.
Both the family and the Saudi government supported a younger
son, Osama bin Laden, in Afghanistan as he and the family

86 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

company, under contract with the CIA, brought in engineers and
heavy equipment to build roads and warehouses for the fighters.

Osama bin Laden obtained millions of dollars from his
family and his own inheritance to fund the establishment of al
Qaeda* in 1985. Osama bin Laden went on to supervise
construction of an extensive tunnel complex near the Pakistan
border used to store armaments and as a training and medical
facility. He also established extensive funding networks, which
remained in existence after the USSR retreated from Afghanistan
in 1989. In all of this, bin Laden worked closely with his friend,
Saudi Prince Turki Bin Faisal al-Saud, head of the Saudi
intelligence service. 214

Through al Qaeda, bin Laden continued to associate with
other fundamentalist Islamists, who believe they are fighting a
"Holy War" against the corrupt, repressive, and "un-Islamic"
regimes of the region and their supporters.t They believe it is
their duty to support Muslims everywhere who are defending
themselves against the invasion of infidels. It was for this reason
that Egyptian President Sadat was assassinated in 1981, and the
Marine barracks were bombed in Beirut in 1983, driving the
United States out of Lebanon. The Islamists consider the
governments of Saudi Arabia and others in the region, including
Iraq, to be corrupt, repressive, and not truly Islamic.

Following the Gulf War and the establishment of permanent
U.S. military bases in Saudi Arabia (where Mecca, Islam's holy
city is located), bin Laden and the organizations he was
associated with zeroed in on America as an infidel invader.

Not only did the USSR abandon Afghanistan in 1989, but
Bush Sr. did as well. Following the Russian withdrawal, the
United States did nothing as Afghanistan suffered through a
continuing civil war in which tens of thousands of civilians were
killed. A collection of warlords known as the "Northern
Alliance" brutally established limited control between 1992 and

* In Arabic, "al Qaeda" means a register (not "base"). It was a record
book of visitors to the bin Laden guesthouse in Peshawar.
t Islamists comprise a number of factions in Islam that want to rely
upon the Sharia (Islamic Law) to govern all aspects of their societies.

9/11 .Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do? 87

1995. The Alliance engaged in drug trafficking into Tajikistan, a
major way station for drugs en route to Europe and the United
States. The Alliance left a trail of burned out villages, and
carried out such terror that the population generally welcomed
the Taliban, a movement of fundamentalist Islamists with which
bin Laden and his al Qaeda network became associated. 215

The CIA was involved in the training and arming of Islamist
fighters against the USSR, bringing many of them to the United
States on visas issued in Saudi Arabia, and some of these
relationships were maintained. In 1990, during the

administration of President Bush Sr., a radical Islamist Egyptian
cleric by the name of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman entered the
United States with the full knowledge of CIA officials. Sheikh
Rahman was a member of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which had
affiliated itself with al Qaeda. Rahman, who was wanted by
Egypt on charges of terrorism, quickly attracted a following of
young radical Islamists. 216

In 1993, the Pentagon commissioned a study that discussed
how airplanes could be used as suicide bombs by terrorists to
crash into national landmarks, such as the CIA headquarters, the
White House or the Pentagon. The study was circulated through
the Pentagon, the Justice Department and the Federal
Emergency Management Service, but it was not publicly
released because of fears it might give terrorists ideas. 217

On February 26, 1993, the group of Islamists associated with
Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman parked a rented truck containing a
huge fertilizer bomb and tanks of hydrogen in the underground
parking basement of the World Trade Center, and set off an
explosion intended to topple one tower into the other. The
explosion killed six and injured a thousand. 218

Within days, law enforcement authorities were able to trace
the vehicle to the Islamists associated with Sheikh Rahman and
to begin making arrests. One of the primary organizers, Ramzi
Ahmed Yousef, escaped and became a fugitive. During
subsequent criminal trials, ten of the conspirators, including
Sheikh Rahman, were convicted of conspiring to wage a war of
urban terrorism against the United States, including planned
attacks against the United Nations building and the bridges and

88 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

tunnels leading into New York City. All were sentenced to
prison, with the Sheikh receiving a life term. Osama bin Laden
was named in the case as an unindicted co-conspirator. 219

In 1994, Clinton directed an extensive review of the
administration's terrorism policy. Once agreement was reached
between the various agencies and departments, Clinton signed
Presidential Decision Directive 39 (PDD-39), "U.S. Policy on
Counterterrorism." The Directive outlined actions to "reduce
terrorist capabilities" in order to "reduce vulnerabilities at home
and abroad." The Directive established there would be "no
greater priority than preventing the acquisition of weapons of
mass destruction" by terrorists. Failing that, there was no
greater priority than "removing that capability." 220

Although President Clinton was shrinking the overall federal
budget, he increased the counterterrorism budget from $5.7
billion in 1995 to $11.1 billion in 2000. During the same period,
he increased the FBI counterterrorism budget over 280 percent. 221

Following the first World Trade Center bombing, Ramzi
Yousef escaped from the U.S. and lived for a time in a boarding
house in Pakistan operated by Osama bin Laden. In January
1995, Yousef was in the Philippines, where he and others were
conspiring to blow up eleven U.S. commercial airplanes in one
day, or as an alternative, to simultaneously crash the planes into
symbols of American culture, such as the CIA headquarters, the
Pentagon, the World Trade Center, the Sears Tower in Chicago,
the TransAmerica Tower in San Francisco, and the White House.
One of the conspirators had obtained a commercial pilot's
license from a U.S. flight school. Fate interrupted these plans
when Yousef accidentally started a fire while mixing explosives
in a Manila apartment. He had to flee, but computer data found
in the room led to his arrest a month later by Pakistani
authorities. 222

Yousef was extradited to the United States and as a
helicopter transported him into New York City, an FBI agent
pointed out the World Trade Center towers and said, "They're
still standing." Yousef said, "Next time, if I have more money,
I'll knock it down." 223 Yousef was tried and convicted of both
the World Trade Center bombing and the conspiracy to destroy

9/11: Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do? 89

the eleven aircraft. He was convicted on September 11, 1996 and
was sentenced to 240 years in federal prison. 224 Exactly five
years later, the World Trade Center towers were no longer
standing!

In 1995, the United States began to back the Islamist Taliban
organization in its civil war against the Northern Alliance for
control of Afghanistan. While the Northern Alliance was
supported by Russia and Iran and was recognized by the United
Nations, the Taliban's march on Kabul was encouraged by the
CIA and funded with Saudi petrodollars. The Taliban took
power in 1996, with the support of the Pakistani secret service. 225

In 1996, the FBI began to investigate why so many Arab
students were attending flight schools in the United States to
learn how to fly commercial airplanes. 226

On June 25, 1996, Islamist terrorists associated with the
radical Saudi Hezbollah group exploded a truck bomb loaded
with 5,000 pounds of plastic explosives at the Khobar Towers in
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The goal of the terrorists was to drive
the United States military from Saudi Arabia. The Towers were
used as dormitories for U.S. Air Force personnel, 19 of whom
were killed and 372 injured. Following a comprehensive FBI
investigation, 14 members of Hizballah were indicted. 227 During
a trial of four defendants between February and July 2001, there
was testimony that two of bin Laden' s operatives had received
pilot training in the United States. 228

Another seemingly unrelated event that was to become
critically significant in the future occurred on October 27, 1997,
when following a feasibility study by Enron Corporation, six
international oil companies (led by the Union Oil Company of
California (Unocal) and the Delta Oil Company, Ltd., of Saudi
Arabia) incorporated Central Asia Gas Pipeline, Ltd. (CentGas)
along with the Government of Turkmenistan to build a 48-inch
pipeline across Afghanistan to Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban
had selected Unocal (which owned 46.5 percent of CentGas) over
a Brazilian competitor. 229

In February 1998, bin Laden issued a religious
announcement known as a "fatwa," which stated, "The ruling to

90 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

kill the Americans and their allies-civilians and military-is an
individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country
in which it is possible to." 230

In May 1998, President Clinton appointed Richard A. Clarke
as the first National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure
Protection, and Counterterrorism. Clarke was the Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence in the Reagan
administration and was the Assistant Secretary of State for
Politico-Military Affairs in the Bush Sr. administration. He had
been a member of Clinton's National Security Council staff with
the primary responsibility for counterterrorism.

Clarke chaired meetings of the Counterterrorism Security
Group and four committees made up of senior and midlevel
managers from the departments. The four committees reported
to the Cabinet-level Principals Committee, chaired by the
national security advisor, with cabinet-level representatives from
the departments and agencies. Clarke became a member of the
Principals Committee 231

On August 7, 1998, Islamists bombed the U.S. embassies in
Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 257 people
and injuring thousands. A suspect, Mohammad Sadik Howaida,
escaped from Nairobi but was arrested soon after his arrival in
Karachi, Pakistan. 232 Howaida, an associate of bin Laden, was
extradited to Kenya.

Two weeks later, the Clinton administration lashed out with
a barrage of ship-based Tomahawk missiles launched at al
Qaeda training bases in Afghanistan and at the al-Shifa
Pharmaceutical Company in Khartoum, Sudan, believed to be
linked to bin Laden, where the CIA thought a component of
nerve gas was being produced. It is not known what damage
was done at the training camps, but the pharmaceutical building
was destroyed. The Sudan attack was a horrible mistake
because the plant actually produced at least half of the nation's
essential medicines for the Sudanese and their herds of cattle. 233

On November 4, 1998, bin Laden was indicted in the
Manhattan federal district court for the embassy bombings and
for conspiring to kill Americans. The indictment alleged that bin

9/11: Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do? 91

Laden and four others were members of al Qaeda, and that they
conspired with a number of other terrorist organizations,
including one led by Sheik Rahman. 234

President Clinton issued a presidential order authorizing bin
Laden' s assassination. President Clinton ordered two
Tomahawk cruise-missile submarines to remain on standby in
waters near Afghanistan, and he exhausted intelligence sources
attempting to pinpoint the time and location when bin Laden
could be hit with a missile attack. 235

On December 4, 1998, in another seemingly unrelated event,
Unocal withdrew from the CentGas consortium for "business
reasons" and denied that it had ever entered into a commercial
agreement with the Taliban, although it had provided support. 236
However, as we will see, the pipeline deal was not dead.

The United Nations imposed economic sanctions on
Afghanistan that further isolated the Taliban, whose
"government" was only recognized by three countries, Saudi
Arabia, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates. 237

From at least 1998 forward, the Clinton administration was
entirely hostile to the Taliban regime. It made repeated requests
to the Taliban to arrest bin Laden and extradite him to the
United States. In April 2000, the Taliban were informed that "If
bin Laden or any of the organizations affiliated with him attacks
the United States or United States interests, we will hold you, the
leadership of the Taliban, personally accountable." 238

In 1999, the National Intelligence Council prepared a report
seeking to anticipate the al Qaeda response to Clinton's bombing
of the bin Laden camps in Afghanistan. The report stated,
"Suicide bomber(s) belonging to al-Qaida's Martyrdom Battalion
could crash-land an aircraft packed with high explosives (C-4
and semtex) into the Pentagon, the headquarters of the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA), or the White House." The report
referred to Ramiz Yousef's plans to engage in a suicide jetliner
mission. 239

In December 1999, the CIA learned that al Qaeda was
planning an attack in the U.S. around the Millennium rollover.
President Clinton instructed his national security advisor to hold

92 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

daily meetings with the attorney general and the directors of the
FBI and CIA to brief Clinton on what they had done and learned
in the last day about the al Qaeda terrorism threat. 240

When a U.S. Customs agent attempted to question Ahmed
Ressam as he was crossing into the United States from British
Columbia, he ran from the ferry. Ressam was arrested after a
brief chase, and an intensive federal investigation ensued.
Information was developed which led to an al Qaeda sleeper cell
in Montreal. Other leads resulted in at least one additional
arrest of an al Qaeda member in New York City. 241

Security planning for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney,
Australia included the danger of a fully loaded, fueled airliner
crashing into the opening ceremony before a worldwide
television audience, and bin Laden was the top suspect. Similar
concerns had caused the prohibition of aircraft above event
venues in Atlanta during the 1996 Olympic Games and the
deployment of military helicopters to intercept aircraft that
strayed into the restricted airspace. 242

On October 12, 2000, al Qaeda operatives set off a bomb
alongside the USS Cole, which was being refueled in the harbor
at Aden, Yemen. Seventeen U.S. sailors were killed, and 39 were
injured. President Clinton, who had increasingly concentrated
on the terrorist threat during his administration by doubling
counterterrorism funding and by identifying, arresting and
convicting individual terrorists, turned to Richard Clarke, the
White House Chief of Counterterrorism, and instructed him to
develop a plan to destroy the al Qaeda terrorist network. 243

Clarke immediately developed a comprehensive program to:
(1) target al Qaeda cells and arrest their members; (2) track and
attack al Qaeda financial networks; (3) freeze its assets and block
its funding through charity fronts; (4) support other
governments fighting against al Qaeda; (5) engage in covert
actions in Afghanistan against al Qaeda training camps; and (6)
go after bin Laden directly and forcefully. 244

On December 20, 2000, Clarke presented the program to
President Clinton's National Security Advisor, Sandy Berger,
who immediately approved it. However, since the U.S. Supreme

9/11: Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do? 93

Court had just decided on December 12, 2000, that George W.
Bush could have the presidency as a gift, the Clinton
administration decided to hold off launching any immediate
attacks against bin Laden and al Qaeda to avoid spoiling Bush's
Christmas and to allow him to implement the plan.

Two former counterterrorism officials of the Reagan
administration evaluated the Clinton administration's fight
against terrorism. Robert Oakley said, "Overall, I give them
very high marks. ... The only major criticism I have is the
obsession with Osama, which made him stronger." L. Paul
Bremer (the current administrator of Iraq) believed that Clinton
had "correctly focused on bin Laden." The Washington Post
agreed, "By any measure available, Clinton left office having
given greater priority to terrorism than any president before
him. ... [It was] the first administration to undertake a
systematic anti-terrorist effort." 245

Neglect of Duty

On the day he left office, Bill Clinton took a few minutes to
discuss with the new president what he considered to be the
most urgent matters. "First," he said, "There is bin Laden. He is
angry, and we have intelligence that indicates he is coming after
us, somehow. We've put together a plan to deal with terrorist
threats, and my people will brief you and your staff on its
details. I consider this the top priority." Clinton went on to
warn about the dangers of the Israelis and Palestinians, North
Korea, and Pakistan and India. He concluded, "Lastly, I'd watch
Saddam Hussein very closely. He's got oil money and anger
against the U.S." Bush responded, "I think you've got your
priorities wrong, I'm putting Saddam at the top of the list." 246

At Clinton's instructions, Sandy Berger met with Bush's new
National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, during one of the
ten briefing sessions he arranged for her that was dedicated to
terrorism. He told her, "I believe that the Bush administration
will spend more time on terrorism in general, and on al Qaeda
specifically, than any other subject." Rice continued the meeting
with Richard Clarke, who fully briefed her on the plan he had
developed to combat bin Laden and al Qaeda, and Rice decided

94 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

to keep Clarke on as the head of counterterrorism. 247 However,
Rice downgraded Clarke's position and ordered that the
Counterterrorism Security Group would no longer report to the
Principals Committee.

In addition to Rice, Clarke also briefed her deputy, Steve
Hadley, Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Powell.
Clarke provided the same warning to each: "al Qaeda is at war
with us, it is a highly capable organization, probably with
sleeper cells in the U.S., and it is clearly planning a major series
of attacks against us; we must act decisively and quickly,
deciding on the issues prepared after the attack on the Cole,
going on the offensive." 248

Immediately following the Inauguration, Clarke wrote to
Rice and Hadley urgently requesting a meeting of the Principals
Committee to discuss the imminent al Qaeda threat. Rice
decided that the Principals would not discuss terrorism policy
until it has been "framed" by the Deputy Secretaries. 249

In the meantime, the Bush administration had other more
pressing priorities than terrorism. Bush's Secretary of Defense,
Donald Rumsfeld, testified at his Senate confirmation hearing,
"We must develop the capabilities to defend against missiles,
terrorism and newer threats against our space assets and
information systems." He said, "The American people ... must
be protected against the threats with which modern technology
and its proliferation confront us." Rumsfeld said that improving
force readiness and strengthening intelligence and space
capabilities should be top priorities. 250

On February 9, 2000, Robert Walpole, the National
Intelligence Officer for Strategic and Nuclear Programs, testified
in Congress that while missile defense was an issue, an attack
with weapons of mass destruction delivered by non-missile
means was a significant concern, because these weapons are less
expensive than ICBMs, they "can be covertly developed and
employed; probably would be more reliable, accurate and
effective" and they would "avoid missile defenses." 251

Undeterred, the Bush administration continued to go
forward with Rumsfeld's expensive missile defense system and

9/11: Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do? 95

did nothing immediate to defend against the most critical threat,
the hijacking and use of civilian aircraft to crash into America's
major cultural landmarks.

On February 7, 2001, CIA Director George Tenet testified
before Congress and stated Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda
network were the single greatest threat to U.S. interests here and
abroad. He said: "Terrorists are also becoming more
operationally adept and more technically sophisticated in order
to defeat counter-terrorism measures. For example, as we have
increased security around government and military facilities,
terrorists are seeking out "softer" targets that provide
opportunities for mass casualties. Employing increasingly
advanced devices and using strategies such as simultaneous
attacks, the number of people killed... Usama bin Laden and his
global network of lieutenants and associates remain the most
immediate and serious threats." 252

On February 15, 2001, former senators Gary Hart and
Warren Rudman issued the final report of their commission that
had studied national security over a period of years. The report
warned that "mass-casualty terrorism directed against the U.S.
homeland was of serious and growing concern," and that
America was not prepared for a "catastrophic" terrorist attack.
The report concluded, "This commission believes that the
security of the American homeland from the threats of the new
century should be the primary national security mission of the
U.S. government." The report called for better information
sharing between federal agencies, and called for the
establishment of a National Homeland Security Agency to
combine some of the government's national security agencies
and departments. Bush opposed creation of such an agency, and
ignored the report. 253

On April 30, 2001, Clarke presented his al Qaeda plan to a
meeting of second-tier deputies of the Vice President, the
Defense Department, State Department, and CIA. The deputies
agreed to a leisurely meeting schedule to individually consider
the issues of al Qaeda, Pakistan, and the India-Pakistan
relationship, and to then to meet a fourth time to integrate the
issues. 254

96 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Rumsfeld's deputy secretary of defense, Paul Wolfowitz,
said, "I just don't understand why we are beginning by talking
about this one man bin Laden." Clark replied, "We are talking
about a network of terrorist organizations called al Qaeda, that
happens to be led by bin Laden, and we are talking about that
network because it and it alone poses an immediate and serious
threat to the United States." 255 As the spring wore on, Clarke e-
mailed Rice and her deputies warning them that "al Qaeda was
trying to kill Americans, to have hundreds of dead in the streets
of America." 256

On May 1, 2001, Bush gave a speech in which he argued the
necessity of a missile defense system because "today's most
urgent threat stems not from thousands of ballistic missiles in
Soviet hands, but from a small number of missiles in the hands
of ... states for whom terror and blackmail are a way of life,
(emphasis added)" 257 Bush was determined to spend billions of
dollars to fight a threat that did not exist, and to ignore,
generally, the most dangerous threat, the use of civilian aircraft
as fuel-loaded missiles.

To avoid congressional hearings on the Hart-Rudman report,
Bush announced formation of an antiterrorism task force on May
8, 2001. The task force was to be chaired by Vice President
Cheney to develop a plan to counter domestic terrorist attacks,
and Bush said that he would "periodically chair a meeting of the
National Security Council to review these efforts." Cheney's
task force never met, and Bush never chaired a meeting to
review the efforts. Instead, the national security agency deputies
began to attend their schedule of meetings and to leisurely talk
about the issues. 258

In May 2001, the Bush administration made it easier for
Saudi visitors to come to the United States by allowing them to
arrange visas through 10 travel agencies, avoiding the necessity
of being interviewed and identified at the U.S. Embassy or
consulate offices. 259

On June 7, 2001, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
addressed the Council on Foreign Relations on "Foreign Policy
Priorities and Challenges of the [Bush] Administration. While
she discussed the "values gap" and "strategic split" between the

9/11 .Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do? 97

U.S. and Europe, she did not mention terrorism as a priority or
challenge of the Bush administration. 260

On July 10, 2001, an FBI agent stationed in Phoenix, Arizona,
became concerned about the number of Middle Eastern students
attending a local flying school. He sent a report to Washington
D.C. in which he suggested al Qaeda operatives might be trying
to gain access to the United States civilian aviation system. He
recommended that the FBI contact other intelligence agencies to
determine if they had related information and to canvass other
flying schools to identify other Arab students. 261 The report was
laid aside because it was too "speculative." 262 Nothing was
done.

In the meantime, Clarke and CIA Director George Tenet
were becoming increasingly concerned about the likelihood of
an imminent major domestic terrorist attack. America's allies
were forwarding highly specific warnings that could not be
ignored. In June, Germany warned that Middle Eastern
terrorists were "planning to hijack commercial aircraft to use as
weapons to attack important symbols of American and Israeli
culture."

On June 13, Egypt warned that a plane stuffed with
explosives could be used as a weapon against Bush, possibly at
the Genoa summit of industrialized nations. Russia warned the
CIA that 25 terrorist pilots had been specially trained to execute
suicide missions against civilian buildings. 263 Tenet, "nearly
frantic" with worry, informed Rice in mid-July that there was
going to be a major attack.

On July 5, 2001, Clarke warned all of the domestic security
agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
and the FBI, to increase their security because of the impending
attack. The FAA, which had received specific warnings in the
past about the vulnerability of cockpit doors, failed to take any
steps to prevent hijackers from taking control of commercial
aircraft. 264

In July 2001, the CIA issued an intelligence briefing to
"senior government officials" that predicted that Osama bin
Laden was going to attack "in the coming weeks." The report

98 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

stated "The attack will be spectacular and designed to inflict
mass casualties against U.S. facilities or interests. Attack
preparations have been made. Attack will occur with little or no
warning." 265 As you will see later, the names of the recipients of
the briefing (including you-know-who) have been classified.

In July 2001, several FBI agents contacted an attorney, David
Philip Schippers, the former head prosecutor of Clinton's
impeachment trial, with their concerns about a massive attack
being planned by terrorists targeted against the financial district
of lower Manhattan (where the World Trade Center is located)
and their frustration at being restrained by their superiors.
Schippers attempted to personally contact Attorney General
Ashcroft with their concerns; however, his attempts were
rebuffed.

Prior to September 1, the FBI agents confirmed that such an
attack by bin Laden was imminent; however, they were ordered
by their superiors to shut down their investigation, and they
were threatened with prosecution under the National Security
Act if they went public with the information they had learned in
their investigation. 266

On July 12, 2001, Osama bin Laden was in the American
Hospital in Dubai for treatment. He had received visits from
many members of his extensive family and from Prince Turki al
Faisal, the head of Saudi intelligence, but on this day his guest
was CIA agent Larry Mitchell, an Arab specialist. 267 Although
bin Laden was wanted on an American arrest warrant for
murder, he was not arrested, nor did we hear about the visit.

On July 16, 2001, after three months of talking, the second-
tier national security agency deputies held their fourth meeting
and agreed to recommend Clarke's program to the Principals
Committee, composed of Cheney, Rice, Tenet, Powell, and
Rumsfeld. An attempt was made to schedule the meeting in
August; however, too many of the participants were
unavailable. 268

So what did Bush do? He did what he did best. On August
3, he took his dogs, Barney and Spot, on an extended vacation to
his Texas ranch. At this point in his term, when America's "most

9/11: Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do? 99

productive workers on earth" are lucky to get a two-week paid
vacation, Bush had spent 42 percent of his first seven months on
the job taking it easy at his ranch, at Camp David, or the Bush
family retreat in Kennebunkport. He had earned another month
off. 269

On August 6, 2003, the CIA delivered an intelligence report
entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." to Bush at his
ranch. Bush briefly interrupted his vacation to read the page-
and-a-quarter-long document. The briefing reported that al
Qaeda was active in the United States, that it was suspected of
recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York and that it
could be planning domestic hijackings. The report referred to
"patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with
preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks." 270

Prior to 9/11, Tenet attempted to warn Bush in more than 40
briefings of threats involving al Qaeda. Among the titles of the
briefings were: "Bin Laden planning multiple operations," "Bin
Laden network's plans advancing," and "Bin Laden threats are
real." 271

If you recall, when President Clinton was presented with
intelligence that warned of possible terrorist attacks during
December 1999, he ordered the heads of the FBI and the CIA to
report to the White House on a daily basis and account for what
they were doing to counter the threats. As a result, a terrorist
who was bringing explosives into the U.S. to attack the Los
Angeles airport was arrested, an intensive federal investigation
ensued, an al Qaeda sleeper cell was located in Montreal, and
another al Qaeda member was arrested in New York City. What
did President "What, me worry?" Bush do? He continued to
relax, played a little golf, cleared a little brush, and watched his
dogs chase the armadillos. 272 Nothing too brain taxing.

In August, the Israeli Mossad warned the CIA and the FBI
that as many as 200 al Qaeda members were infiltrating the
United States and were planning a "major assault" in the U.S.
against "a large-scale target" where Americans would be "very
vulnerable." 273

100 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Bush's attorney general, John Ashcroft, did not list
counterterrorism as one of his seven goals in a draft of his
"Strategic Plan" dated August 9, 2001. Fighting terrorism was a
secondary subgoal under gun violence and drugs. In April 2000,
Clinton's attorney general, Janet Reno, had called terrorism "the
most challenging threat in the criminal justice area." 274 She
ordered the preparation of an elaborate counterterrorism plan
known as MAX CAP 05, or Maximum Capacity by 2005 that
called for a huge build-up in the FBI's counterterrorism
operations. Ashcroft declined to adopt the plan once he took
office. 275

On August 16, 2001, the Immigration and Naturalization
Service arrested Zacharias Moussaoui, who had earlier flunked
out of a flight school in Oklahoma, and who was taking flight
simulator training for commercial airplanes at a flying school in
Minnesota. He was turned in by an instructor, who became
worried that Moussaoui had more interest in how much fuel a
commercial jet carried and how much damage it could do if it hit
anything and less interest in learning how to actually take off or
land an airplane. The instructor told agents, "Do you realize that
a 747 loaded with fuel can be used as a bomb?" The arresting
agent wrote that Moussaoui was "the type of person who could
fly something into the World Trade Center," and an FBI agent
seeking permission to obtain a search warrant to review
Moussaoui' s computer files suggested that a 747 airliner loaded
with fuel could be used as a missile.

FBI Headquarters refused to allow its agents to seek a search
warrant, even after France disclosed that Moussaoui had
connections with bin Laden and al Qaeda. Of the 12,000
applications for national security search warrants made since
they were authorized in 1978, only one had ever been denied. 276
There was no plausible reason to not obtain a warrant to follow
up on Moussaoui' s arrest.

Another terrorist, who was subject to telephone surveillance
(by the Egyptian secret service) and whose movements were
being monitored by the FBI, Mohamed Atta, had been allowed
to reenter the United States on January 10, 2001, on an expired
tourist visa, even though he informed immigration officers that

9/1 1 : Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do ? 1 01

he was taking flying lessons in the United States, which violated
his expired visa. Moreover, Israel had earlier notified the United
States that Atta had been involved in a bombing there even
before he was issued his original visa. 277

During the week before September 11, 2001, Lt. General
Mahmoud Ahmad, the Director-General of Pakistani military
intelligence, came to the United States to consult with high-level
officials of the CIA and the Pentagon. Before the trip, he had
ordered the transfer of $100,000 to Mohamed Atta in the United
States! 278

Meanwhile, down in East Texas, Bush continued to laze
about with Barney and Spot. 279

Back in Washington, Thomas J. Pickard, the acting Director
of the FBI, read a top-secret review of the Bureau's
counterterrorism programs calling for a dramatic increase in
funding. Concerned, Pickard met with his boss, Attorney
General John Ashcroft, and requested an additional $58 million
to improve the Bureau's capacity to deal with terrorist threats. 280
Note what later happens to Pickard' s request in evaluating the
priority that the Bush administration placed on the
counterterrorism effort.

On September 4, 2001, the national security principals,
Cheney et al., met and discussed Clarke's plan. They agreed to
implement it in phases by first demanding cooperation from the
Taliban and by establishing liaison with the Northern Alliance. 281
In preparation for the meeting, Clarke asked Rice "to put herself
in her own shoes when in the very near future al Qaeda had
killed hundreds of Americans." He asked her "What will you
wish then that you had already done?" 282

On September 7, 2001, the U.S. State Department issued a
worldwide alert warning that "American citizens may be the
target of a terrorist threat from extremist groups with links to the
al Qaeda organization." 283 However, the FAA did not take any
steps to put the domestic airline industry on high alert. Are you
beginning to get the feeling that there was little concern for the
safety of ordinary citizens? Read on.

102 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

On September 9, 2001, Congress was considering an increase
of $600 million for antiterrorist programs, with the funds to be
taken from Rumsfeld's missile defense program. Rumsfeld sent
a letter to Senator Carl Levin, then chairman of the Armed
Services Committee in response to Levin's attempt to transfer
money to counterterrorism. Rumsfeld said he would urge Bush
to veto the measure. 284

On September 9, 2001, two North African suicide bombers
posing as journalists from "Arabic News International"
exploded a bomb concealed in a video camera as they
interviewed Ahmed Shah Massoud, the popular leader of the
Northern Alliance and primary opponent of the Taliban.
Massoud died while being transported by helicopter to
Tajikistan.285

The National Security Agency began to intercept multiple
phone calls from Abu Zabaida, bin Laden' s chief of operations,
to the United States. The U.S. had broken the al Qaeda code;
however, the contents of these communications have never been
officially disclosed. 286 However, Sibel Edmonds, a former FBI
translator has come forward with detailed information that
specific intelligence documents pointing to the use of aircraft
against skyscrapers in major U.S. cities were in existence in April
and May 2001. 287

It has been revealed that bin Laden telephoned his mother on
September 9 th and told her that "In two days you're going to
hear big news, and you're not going to hear from me for a
while." The call was monitored by a foreign intelligence service
and was passed on to U.S. intelligence. 288

On September 10, 2001, Ashcroft turned down Pickard's
request for additional funding. The budget he did send to
Congress included spending increases in 68 different programs.
None had anything to do with terrorism. 289 (A month after the
9/11 attack, the FBI requested an additional $1.5 billion to create
2,024 positions to staff an enhanced counterterrorism effort.
However, the White House Office of Management and Budget
cut that request to $531 million. In response, Ashcroft cut the
FBI's request for "items such as computer networking and
foreign language intercepts by half, cut a cyber-security request

9/1 1 : Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do ? 1 03

by three quarters and eliminated entirely a request for
' collaborative capabilities .'" ) 290

As for Ashcroft personally, he had stopped flying on
commercial jets, choosing to use a luxurious $40 million FBI
Gulfstream 5 intended for special investigations and the
transportation of terrorists instead. 291 An interesting coincidence?

The Pentagon had been on high alert for several weeks;
however, a particularly urgent warning was received on the
evening of September 10, 2001, causing a number of top officials
to cancel their air travel plans for the next morning. 292 Why
wasn't the American public given the same warning?

Without a doubt, if the American public were provided the
same information available to the top government officials,
many may also have chosen to avoid commercial air travel. The
airlines may have suffered a loss of revenue, but it is equally
likely that an informed and alert public might have focused
attention on some, if not all of the hijackers before they were able
to board the planes.*

On September 11, 2001, the United States suffered the first
major attack on its "homeland" since the War of 1812. The White
House escaped being burned this time, but in a 2-hour, 11-
minute attack, 19 Islamist terrorists simultaneously hijacked and
converted four commercial airliners into low-tech weapons of
mass destruction which they piloted into their targets, killing
over 3,000 in New York City, almost 200 in Washington, D.C.,
and 40 in Pennsylvania. The attack resulted in losses of
hundreds of billions of dollars to United States property and its
economy, and inflicted a massive blow to our collective sense of
security from which we may never recover. Certainly not, unless
we learn what went wrong and make changes for the future.

* Eleanor Hill, the staff director of the Congressional Committee that
subsequently investigated the 9/11 attacks, noted that "prior to
September 11 th , the U.S. intelligence and law enforcement communities
were fighting a war against terrorism largely without the benefit of
what some would call their most potent weapon in that effort: an alert
and committed public. One need look no further for proof of the latter
point than the heroics of the passengers on Flight 93."

104 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Do you think that Bush and his administration considered
the fight against terrorism to be a priority? Do you believe Bush
took all appropriate steps to protect the American people?
You're not stupid! Get the truth.

The Attack

On September 10, 2001, President Bush spent the night at the
Colony Beach and Tennis Resort on Longboat Key, Florida, in
preparation for a political visit to Booker Elementary School in
Sarasota the next morning to push his education plan. His
schedule for the day was a matter of public record.

On September 11, 2001, Bush was awake at 6:00 a.m. and
preparing for his daily run when several Middle Eastern men
approached the Colony's guard station. They told the guard
they had an appointment to conduct a "pool side" interview
with the president and asked for a particular Secret Service agent
by name. The message was relayed to a Secret Service agent
inside the Colony, who had never heard of the requested agent,
nor was he aware of any scheduled interview. He instructed the
guard to turn the van away and to tell the men to contact the
White House public relations office in Washington, D.C. for an
appointment. 293

It is not known whether this was a suicide assassination
attempt similar to the one that had killed Ahmed Massoud two
days earlier in Afghanistan. However, once the men were
turned away without further investigation, they were never
identified or located. At the same time, a total of 19 hijackers
were preparing for and boarding at least four scheduled flights.
Nine of the hijackers were selected for special screening. Of
these, six were further selected for extra attention by a
computerized selection process to scan their checked baggage for
bombs or weapons, three because of irregularities in
identification documents. The names of two hijackers, who had
not been selected for special screening, were on a terrorists
watch list for international flights; however, the FAA had not
given this information to the domestic airlines. All 19 were
allowed to board their scheduled flights. 294

9/1 1 : Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do ? 1 05

A brief summary of each flight and the day's major events
follows:*

American Airlines Flight 11:

7:59 a.m. Departs Boston.

8:13 a.m. Becomes unresponsive to ground control.

8:20 a.m. Veers dramatically off course; considered to be

hijacked.
8:35 a.m. President Bush departs in motorcade for Booker

Elementary School (there are media reports that Bush

was informed of the hijacking of Flight 11 before he

departed the hotel). 295
8:40 a.m. North American Aerospace Defense Command

(NORAD) notified.
8:46 a.m. Plane piloted into the World Trade Center North

Tower; FAA establishes open line with Secret Service.
8:48 a.m. Presidential Spokesman Ari Fleischer notified of first

crash while presidential motorcade still en route to

school; CNN broadcasts first film.
8:55 a.m. President Bush arrives at school. Rice notifies him of

the first crash; however, he apparently was not advised

that it was the result of a hijacking nor that there was a

second hijacking, or he was so advised and failed to

comprehend. He engages in photo opportunities.
9:00 a.m. President Bush enters classroom and begins the

planned event.
9:03 a.m. Vice President Cheney is forcibly removed from his

office by Secret Service agents and moved to a secure

bunker.
9:07 a.m. President Bush notified of second crash in the

classroom. He continues with the reading program and

photo opportunity.

* Following the attack on September 11, 2001, there have been
numerous time lines published. For more detail, see: www.
cnparm.home.texas.net/911/911/911.html and www.geocities.com/
spdster2003/dtail3.html.

106 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

9:12 a.m. President Bush leaves the classroom, goes to vacant

classroom, meets with staff, watches television, and

prepares speech.
9:26 a.m. National ground stop issued by FAA, freezing all

takeoff s.
9:30 a.m. President Bush gives a brief speech at the school to

students, teachers and reporters. He announces that two

airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an

apparent terrorist attack.
9:34 a.m. Presidential motorcade leaves school en route to

airport.
9:56 a.m. President Bush departs Saratoga airport on Air Force

One. He speaks to Vice President Cheney and approves

shooting down hijacked commercial flights.
10:28 a.m. North Tower collapses.

United Airlines Flight 175:
8:14 a.m. Departs Boston.
8:42 a.m. Hijacked and veers from its course over New Jersey,

makes U-turn.
8:43 a.m. NORAD notified.
9:03 a.m. Plane piloted into the World Trade Center South

Tower.
9:59 a.m. South Tower collapses.
American Airlines Flight 77:
8:20 a.m. Departs Dulles International Airport outside of

Washington, D.C.
8:46 a.m. Hijacked and changes course.
9:05 a.m. West Virginia flight control notes eastbound plane

without transponder.
9:24 a.m. NORAD notified.
9:33 a.m. Plane passes over Pentagon at 7,000 feet, executes

complete circle, spiraling down, passes near White

House.
9:38 a.m. Piloted into the Pentagon.

9/1 1 : Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do? 107

United Airlines Flight 93:

8:41 a.m. Departs Newark en route to San Francisco.

9:00 a.m. United warns all aircraft of cockpit intrusions and to

barricade cockpit doors; Flight 93 pilots acknowledge;

however, hijacker in uniform pretending to be a pilot

may have already been in cockpit with permission.
9:27 a.m. (Or before) Three hijackers put red bandanas around

head, force way into cockpit.
9:30 a.m. Transponder turned off.
9:34 a.m. Hijacker pretending to be Captain tells passengers

there's a bomb on board; passenger on cell phone learns

about other highjackings, determines plane is on suicide

mission.
9:36 a.m. Plane turns around near Cleveland, Ohio; heads

toward Washington, D.C
9:47 a.m. Passengers vote to overcome hijackers;
9:50 a.m. Filling pitchers with hot water to use against hijackers;
9:57 a.m. Use galley cart in attempt to force cockpit door.
10:06 a.m. Plane crashes near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The Cover-up

At 8:30 p.m., President Bush made a speech to the nation in
which he stated that, "We will make no distinction between the
terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor
them." He also stated, "Immediately following the first attack, I
implemented our government's emergency response plans."
This was the first of many lies about 9/11.

What actually happened was that Bush did nothing for over
an hour between 8:46 a.m. (the time of the first crash and three
minutes after NOR AD was notified of the second hijacking) and
9:56 a.m., when he approved shooting down hijacked airplanes.
He continued to read to the children and to posture for the
cameras. One can only wonder what he was thinking. Was he
in denial because he had blown off so many warnings of just
such an occurrence? Or is he just not that bright and failed to
comprehend what was taking place?

108 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

When Bush was later asked about the attack, he stated, "I
was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an
airplane hit the tower-the TV was obviously on. And I used to
fly myself, and I said, well there's one terrible pilot. I said, it
must have been a horrible accident. But I was whisked off there.
I didn't have much time to think about it."

later said, "first of all, when we walked into the classroom, I
had seen this plane fly into the first building." 296 None of this
could be true. He wasn't whisked off and he could not have
seen the first crash, because it wasn't shown on television until
videotape later turned up. He said that his Chief of Staff,
Andrew Card, had informed him of the crash, saying, "here's
what you're going to be doing: You're going to meet so-and-so,
such-and-such.' Then Andy Card said, 'by the way, an aircraft
flew into the World Trade Center.'"

What we do know is that during a substantial period of time,
while time stood still for the rest of us and when the nation was
entitled to aggressive leadership, Bush continued to dither and
did nothing. He did not order the nation's commercial air fleet
grounded. It fell to a third-tier FAA manager, Ben Sliney, to take
that initiative. 297

Fighter jets were dispatched in an attempt to intercept the
remaining hijacked airliners; however, the only person who
could have authorized the use of weapons was reading to the
children. President Bush finally left for the airport and took off
in Air Force One. He wandered around the country for much of
the day, perhaps thinking about what to say to the American
people. We don't know. All we do know is that he lied about
taking immediate action, and he began to lie about his prior
knowledge concerning the likelihood of just such an attack.

In an attempt to cover for Bush's all-day absence from duty,
Karl Rove leaked that U.S. intelligence had received information
that Air Force One was under threat of attack. The information
was a complete lie. 298 The presidential communication codes
were not compromised; there was never any intelligence that
there was a risk to the airplane; Bush and Rove just needed time
to create a cover story.

9/1 1 : Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do ? 1 09

There were immediate calls for an independent investigation
of the attack. Initially Congress was unwilling to go against
White House suggestions that congressional hearings would
detract from the efforts to prevent further attacks and interfere
with the war in Afghanistan against the Taliban.

In the meantime, Bush began to take action that would
ensure that the truth would not come out. First, while air traffic
was still grounded, he allowed 11 members of Osama bin
Laden' s family to leave the United States for Saudi Arabia
without questioning. 299

Next, although the FBI was miraculously able to identify all
of the hijackers, complete with backgrounds and photographs,
within a couple of weeks (which is strong evidence that it knew
exactly who and where they were before the attack), on October
10, 2001, less than a month after the attack, FBI agents were
ordered to close their investigation. The case was considered
closed: "The investigative staff has to be made to understand
that we're not trying to solve a crime now." 300

The United States pressured Pakistani General Ahmad to
quietly announce his early retirement. He was never questioned
about his transfer of money to Mohamed Atta, the lead
hijacker. 301

On November 1, 2001, President Bush signed Executive
Order 13233, which ended 27 years of congressional and judicial
efforts to make presidential papers and records available.*
Executive Order 13233 shifts the burden of proof from the
former president to the person requesting presidential materials,
to show why he should be given them; it makes the sitting
president, rather than the Archivist of the United States, the
judge of whether invocation of executive privilege by a former
president should be honored; it allows a former president to
indefinitely block access to presidential papers; it commits the
Department of Justice to defend the former president's assertion

* Eleven months earlier Bush had transferred all of his Texas
gubernatorial papers to his father's presidential library in College
Station, Texas, in an attempt to remove them from the jurisdiction of
the Texas freedom of information statutes.

110 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

of privilege against legal attack; and it allows the sitting
president to withhold the records of a former president, even if
the former president wants the records released. 302 What this
means is that we may never have access to any of the documents
that can tell us what Bush may have known or what he did or
did not do in regard to 9/11.

In December 2001, resolutions were introduced in the Senate
to establish an independent bipartisan commission to investigate
9/11. The Bush administration opposed such a commission and
decided that an investigation by the House and Senate
intelligence committees would be more narrowly focused and
more easily controlled than either an independent outside
commission (as in the Warren Commission) or a special
congressional committee (as in the Watergate Committee).

In January 2002, Cheney attempted to quash even a limited
congressional inquiry. He telephoned Senate Majority Leader
Tom Daschle to warn that the investigation would divert
resources from the "war on terrorism." Later, on January 28,
Bush made the same request in person. 303 Nonetheless, the
congressional "Joint Inquiry Into Intelligence Community
Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 11,
2001" was convened on February 14, 2002.

The first bombshell exploded under Bush's cover-up on May
16, 2002, when Condoleezza Rice revealed that beginning in May
2001, Bush's daily briefings had included reports of increasing
numbers of general terrorist threats against the United States.
She said, "The most important and most likely thing was that
they would take over an airliner, holding passengers (hostage),
and demand the release of one of their operatives." Rice added,
"I don't think that anybody could have predicted that these
people would take an airplane and slam it into the World Trade
Center, take another and slam it into the Pentagon." 304
Apparently, serving on the board of directors of Chevron and
having a tanker named after you really do not qualify someone
to be the President's National Security Advisor.

Presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer said "The president did
not receive information about the use of airplanes as missiles by
suicide bombers. This was a new type of attack that had not

9/1 1 : Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do? Ill

been foreseen." In case you're wondering about this newly-
found candor after eight months of secrecy on the subject, be
reassured it didn't occur because of an attack of conscience.
Congressional staffers had learned of the presidential briefing
documents, and members of the joint committee were seeking to
review them. The cat was out of the bag.

Suddenly, there was a shift of emphasis. Only a few months
before, Bush had personally stated, "Never did we realize that
the enemy was so well organized." 305 Now it became known
that specific evidence of a high level of organization had been
available, and that Bush was so informed. Senator Daschle said
he was "gravely concerned," and asked President Bush to hand
over to Congress all the information he had received. Daschle
asked, "Why did it take eight months for us to receive this
information?" And secondly, "what specific actions were taken
by the White House in response?"

Rather than produce the information, the White House
unleashed an attack. Cheney warned Democrats "to be very
cautious" in blaming 9/11 on the Bush administration, saying
that it is "thoroughly irresponsible and totally unworthy of
national leaders in a time of war" to criticize Bush. 306 He
cautioned that the inquiry should be carefully handled because
"a very real threat of another perhaps more devastating attack
still exists." 307 Bush piled it on, saying, "Second guessing has
become second nature to Washington Democrats." He said,
"Had I known that the enemy was going to use airplanes to kill
on that fateful morning, I would have done everything in my
power to protect the American people." 308 Remember those
words.

On May 21, 2002, a second bombshell exploded under the
cover-up when a letter written by FBI Special Agent Coleen M.
Rowley, a 21-year veteran and Minneapolis Chief Division
Counsel, to FBI Director Robert Mueller was made public.
Rowley wrote about her "deep concerns that a delicate and
subtle shading/ skewing of facts by you and others ... has
occurred and is occurring." She continued, "I feel that certain
facts ... have, up to now, been omitted, downplayed, glossed
over and/ or mis-characterized in an effort to avoid or minimize

112 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

personal and/ or institutional embarrassment on the part of the
FBI and/ or perhaps even for improper political reasons."

Rowley's 13-page letter detailed the abundant probable
cause that had existed to justify a search warrant for
Moussaoui's computer disc and the improbable opposition of
the FBI headquarters' staff to even approve an application for a
warrant. Specifically, she complained about news accounts
attributed to headquarters saying she had concurred that there
was inadequate probable cause, saying these accounts were "in
error (or possibly the leak was deliberately skewed in this
fashion?)." Rowley directly contradicted the public statement
made by Mueller that "if the FBI had only had any advance
warning of the attacks, we [the FBI] may have been able to take
some action to prevent the tragedy." 309

The joint congressional intelligence inquiry employed a
special staff under the direction of Eleanor Hill, a former federal
prosecutor and Pentagon inspector general. The staff reviewed
hundreds of thousands of pages of classified documents and
conducted scores of interviews; however, investigators were not
allowed to interview Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld or
Colin Powell.

During a public hearing in September 2002, Hill exploded
another bombshell under Bush's cover-up. An even earlier CIA
briefing in July 2001 had specifically predicted that bin Laden
was about to launch a terrorist attack "in the coming weeks" and
that "The attack will be spectacular and designed to inflict mass
casualties against U.S. facilities or interests. Attack preparations
have been made. Attack will occur with little or no warning."
As Hill was about to disclose who, exactly, had received the
briefing, CIA Director Tenet quickly stepped in and said that the
names of the recipients were classified. 310 Huh?!!!! Perhaps the
briefing can be classified, but the briefee? Hill was only allowed
to say it was given to "senior government officials."

Now, remember Bush's words, "Had I known that the
enemy was going to use airplanes to kill on that fateful morning,
I would have done everything in my power to protect the
American people." Do you believe it?

9/1 1 : Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do? 113

The joint congressional committee completed its 800-page
report in December 2002; however, it largely remained a secret
from the American people, and only a brief list of "findings" was
made public. The Bush administration reviewed the report and
blocked its publication by refusing to declassify many of its
major conclusions.

Moreover, Bush attempted to reclassify some material that
had been discussed openly in public hearings, such as the
Arizona FBI memo. Democratic Senator Bob Graham accused
the administration of covering up information that could be a
political embarrassment. Even Republican Representative Porter
Goss said, "Senior intelligence officials said things in public
hearings that they [administration officials] don't want us to put
in the report. ... That's not something I can rationally accept." 311

The report was finally published in July 2003 with glaring
omissions, including the most obvious conclusions. Either Bush
was, in fact, aware that terrorists were likely to fly hijacked
airplanes into major public buildings, or the CIA was criminally
negligent in not providing him the information it had that the
risk was real, specifically defined, and immediate. The report
reveals its formal request to Bush for copies of the relevant
President's Daily Briefs and Bush's denial on the grounds of
executive privilege. (Remember Nixon?)

In answering the question as to whether it was Bush or the
CIA who was criminally negligent, the report points out that on
May 16, 2002, Condoleezza Rice conceded that Bush's August 6,
2001, briefing included "information about bin Laden's methods
of operation from a historical perspective dating back to 1997."
Going on to define an "historical perspective," the report lays
out 36 instances of such information dating back to 1997,
including: (1) September 1998 — "Bin Laden's next operation
might involve flying an explosive-laden aircraft into a U.S.
airport and detonating it"; (2) Fall 1998 — "Bin Laden plot
involving aircraft in New York and Washington, D.C. areas";
and (3) March 2000 — "types of targets that operatives of bin
Laden's network might strike. The Statute of Liberty was
specifically mentioned, as were skyscrapers, ports, airports, and
nuclear power plants." 312

1U You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Needless to say, few outside the White House were satisfied
with the joint Congressional Committee on Intelligence report,
specifically the relatives of those murdered on September 11,
2001. They continued to lobby for an independent investigation,
and over Bush's objections, Congress enacted legislation creating
and funding the "National Commission on Terrorist Attacks
upon the United States" to prepare a full and complete account
of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The commission was funded through May 2004.

When President Bush signed the legislation creating the
commission on November 27, 2002, he said its investigation
should "carefully examine all the evidence and follow all the
facts, wherever they lead." 313 Remember these words.

Under the legislation, Congress selected the members and
Bush appointed the Chair. So whom did the President select?
Henry Kissinger, as being synonymous with "cover-up" in your
thesaurus? You've got to be kidding. Kissinger, the guy wanted
for questioning by judges in war-crime cases in Chile, France,
and Spain, who can't even travel to Brazil because of protests by
human rights groups. 314 Poor choice. At least, the relatives of
9/11 victims had a few questions about it. During a meeting
with them, Kissinger reassured them that he would privately
disclose to the commission's members any "potential conflicts of
interests." That was not enough, as all members had to comply
with Senate ethics guidelines, including financial disclosure
requirements. Kissinger declined to release the secret list of
clients served by his consulting firm, Kissinger Associates (more
about this later), and resigned from the commission. 315

President Bush then appointed former New Jersey governor
Thomas Kean to take Kissinger's place. Kean agreed to work
only one day a week on the commission and continued as
president of Drew University. Kean's appointment posed a
significant conflict of interest as Kean also continued to serve on
the board of directors and executive committee at Amerada
Hess, an oil company extensively involved in Central Asia.

In 1998, Amerada Hess established a joint venture with the
Saudi oil company Delta Oil, which if you recall is involved with
Unocal in the Afghanistan pipeline venture. Delta is controlled

9/1 1 : Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do ? 1 15

by Khalid bin Mahfouz, who is Osama bin Laden' s brother-in-
law and the financial benefactor of both Bush and al Qaeda. 316

In another conflict of interest, Kean appointed Philip
Zelikow as the commission's staff director. Not only had
Zelikow co-authored a book in the 1990's with Condoleezza Rice,
he also worked on Bush's 2000 presidential transition team,
specifically in the area of reducing and redefining the role of the
National Security Council in the Bush administration. Following
9/11, Zelikow publicly praised Bush as having reached down
and found "the best elements in his character. He is being
authentic and plainspoken." 317

Thus, is there any surprise that the commission operated in a
"polite, friendly fashion"? Although Bush had promised
cooperation, requests for documents from the Department of
Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the White
House itself were met with delays and objections.

As time dragged on, and with the May 2004 cutoff date
approaching for delivery of the final report, the commission had
yet to use its subpoena power to obtain needed documents.
Advocates for the families of victims complained about the lack
of subpoenas, the lackluster hearings in which nobody testified
under oath, and staff comments that negotiations with the White
House over the production of documents were being carried on
in a "very congenial atmosphere."* The families didn't want
congenial, they wanted answers. 318 Don't you?

The commission was not given the power to issue subpoenas
unless the chairman approved. Thus, subpoenas were not
issued to the Federal Aviation Administration until October

* Ellen Mariani, the widow of Louis Neil Mariani, who died in the crash
of United Airlines Flight 175, has filed a lawsuit in the United States
District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, against Bush, Cheney,
Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, Lenet, Rice and other members of the Bush
administration. Lhe complaint, which was brought under the
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), alleges
that the defendants failed "to act and prevent" the murder of her
husband "for financial and political reasons" and that the defendants
have since "obstructed justice" (www.nancho.net/911/mariani.html).

116 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

2003, when it was learned that the FAA had withheld dozens of
boxes of requested documents concerning the 9/11 attack. 319 On
November 8, 2003, the commission issued subpoenas to the
Department of Defense because it had experienced "serious
delays" in obtaining records involving the performance of
NORAD on the morning of the attack. The commission stated,
"In several cases, we were assured that all requested records had
been produced, but we then discovered, through investigation,
that these assurances were mistaken." 320

The White House continued to stonewall the commission,
even under the threat of a subpoena, citing executive privilege.
Commission member Max Cleland, the former senator from
Georgia, stated, "It's obvious that the White House wants to run
out the clock here. ... It's disgusting ... as each day goes by, we
learn that this government knew a whole lot more about these
terrorists before September 11 th than it has ever admitted." 321

Fearing that a court battle over a rejected subpoena would
likely extend past the May 27, 2004 cutoff date, the commission
reached a wholly unsatisfactory agreement with the White
House by which four members of the commission will review
some of the documents, but only two of the four will get to
review others.* Moreover, the documents will be truncated
before they are turned over, and the White House will vet any
comments made by the members after reviewing the
documents. 322 (Remember Nixon and the "expletives deleted"
tape transcripts?)

Initially, the White House attempted to run out the clock by
refusing to allow Condoleezza Rice to testify in public and under
oath and by refusing to allow more that the chairman and vice
chairman to privately question Bush and Cheney for only one

The Commission has requested Congress to give it two additional
months, until July 26 th , to complete its report, and Bush has relaxed his
previous opposition to an extension. Moreover, the Commission has
reached an agreement to allow all commissioners to review the White
House edited notes taken by three commissioners and Zelikow
summarizing their review of pre-9/11 briefing documents. ("9/11
Panel Is Granted More Access to Data," Los Angeles Times, February 11,

2004, p. A32.)

9/1 1 : Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do? 117

hour each. However, two things happened in March 2003 that
changed the situation. First, Richard Clarke testified under oath
in a public hearing of the 9/11 commission; second, his book,
Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror was published
and immediately became a best seller.

In the book and in his testimony, Clarke reported that Bush
"failed to act prior to September 11 on the threat from al Qaeda
despite repeated warnings and then harvested a political
windfall for taking obvious yet insufficient steps after the
attacks; and... launched an unnecessary and costly war in Iraq
that strengthened the fundamentalist, radical Islamic terrorist
movement worldwide.

Clarke said that "the administration had squandered the
opportunity to eliminate al Qaeda and instead strengthened our
enemies by going off on a completely unnecessary tangent, the
invasion of Iraq. A new al Qaeda has emerged and is growing
stronger, in part because of our own actions and inactions. It is
in many ways a tougher opponent than the original threat we
faced before September 11 and we are not doing what is
necessary to make America safer from that threat." 323

On March 30 th after the commission demanded that Rice
appear and testify under oath, Bush agreed on the condition that
she cannot be recalled for further questions and that the
Commission will not call any other White House aides as
witnesses. She appeared on April 8, 2004 and continued to insist
that the August 6, 2001 intelligence briefing was "historical
information based on old reporting — there was no new threat
information." Despite the reports explicit reference to attacks on
America, she said, "all of the threat reporting that was actionable
was about threats abroad, not about the United States." 324 Bush,
who was on vacation in Texas, called Rice from his pickup truck
and congratulated her on her performance before the
Commission.

Although Bush agreed under pressure that he and Cheney
can be questioned by the entire commission, he insisted that they
appear together at the same time and that there be no transcript
made of the proceedings. 325 One has to wonder if Bush can't be
trusted to appear without his neocon handler, who, exactly, is in

118 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

control of our government, and why are we not entitled to know
what Bush said to the Commission investigating his failures?

Although former President Clinton testified (alone) before
the Commission that he had ranked Osama bin Laden as the
number one problem the new administration would face, Bush
told the Commission that Clinton "probably mentioned"
terrorism as a national security threat but "did not make it a
point of emphasis." Bush said that Clinton was more concerned
about North Korea's nuclear program and the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. 326 Since Bush was not under oath, he can't be charged
with perjury; however, we don't have to believe him.

We're still waiting for answers. What do you think? Is there
a cover-up going on? You're not stupid! Get the truth.

The Why

Why the dilly-dallying? Why did Bush completely ignore all
of the explicit warnings that a major terrorist attack using
hijacked commercial airplanes as flying bombs against United
States landmarks was imminent? Why the cover-up? The
answer is spelled "O-I-L." It's crudely spilled all over, Bush's
stepped in it, and he can't scrape it off his boots, no matter how
hard he tries.

The incoming Bush administration wanted to change the
aggressive tone of the Clinton administration into one more
accommodating toward Saudi Arabia. There was "a major
policy shift," and investigators were told to "back off"
investigations into Saudi financing of terrorism if they involved
the Saudi royal family or their associates, including the bin
Laden family. Two of Osama' s brothers, who were associated
with the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, a suspected terrorist
organization, were able to slip out of the United States before the
9/11 attacks after agents were ordered to stay away from
them.327

If you recall, Bush Jr. earlier received bailouts in his failed
business endeavors through his bin Laden and Saudi
connections, one of whom was Khalid bin Mahfouz. One of
Saudi Arabia's five wealthiest businessmen, Mahfouz diverted
over $3 million in pension funds to bank accounts linked to

9/11 .Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do? 119

terrorism. 328 Moreover, Bush Sr. continues to do business with
the bin Ladens through the Carlyle group, the massive but
largely unknown U.S. defense contractor. 329 The bin Laden
family was a major investor in the Carlyle group until shortly
after 9/11. Since leaving office, Bush Sr. has been employed to
give speeches for Carlyle, which pays him $80,000 to $100,000
per speech. Bush Sr., along with former Secretary of State James
Baker and former Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci (Carlyle' s
CEO), has visited the bin Laden family at their home in Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia, and called on Crown Prince Abdullah to discuss
Carlyle' s business interests. 330

The FBI's deputy director for counterterrorism, John O'Neill,
who was closing in on Osama bin Laden, quit in protest over the
Bush administration's obstruction of his investigation. He
stated, "The main obstacles to investigating Islamic terrorism
were U.S. oil corporate interests and the role played by Saudi
Arabia." Tragically, O'Neill retired to become the World Trade
Center's director of security and was killed in the 9/11 attack. 331

More specifically, remember another clue-the gas pipeline
that Unocal and the Saudis wanted to build across Afghanistan.
It was terminated in 1998 because of the way the Taliban treated
their women and for other "business reasons," back when
Clinton was sending cruise missiles to bin Laden in care of the
Taliban. 332 Well, beginning in January 2001, things had changed:
an MBA was in charge of the White House, and he believed he
could do business with the Taliban.

The Administration commenced a series of meetings with the
Taliban. The objectives: to stabilize the country, establish a
coalition government, complete the Unocal pipeline, and have
the Taliban arrest and extradite bin Laden. 333 The point of the
meetings was to convey to the Taliban that "if they did certain
things, then, gradually, they could win the jackpot, get
something in return from the international community." The
meetings were intended to persuade the Taliban that once a
broader-based government (a coalition with the Northern
Alliance) was in place and the gas pipeline underway, there
would be billions of dollars in commissions, and the Taliban

120 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

would have its own resources. 334 In other words, everything has
a price and everyone can be bought with money.

In March 2001, several Taliban officials, including Mullah
Omar's personal advisor, came to Washington, D.C., where they
met with representatives of the CIA and the State Department.
The agenda included both the arrest and extradition of bin
Laden, as well as access to the Central Asian oil and gas reserves
by American oil companies. Subsequently, there were other
meetings outside the United States. 335

In May 2001, Bush held out a carrot with his additional $43
million gift to the Taliban; however, in July 2001, during a
meeting in Berlin, the Bush administration arrogantly waved its
big stick. The Taliban were bluntly told, "Either you accept our
offer of a carpet of gold, or we will bury you under a carpet of
bombs."

More diplomatically, the former U.S. ambassador to
Pakistan, Tom Simons, said, "either the Taliban behave as they
ought to, or Pakistan convinces them to do so, or we will use
another option." 336 The other "option" was an open-ended
military operation from bases in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. This
was no idle threat. The Bush administration already had a war
plan in place to attack from the North in concert with Russia,
with Pakistan's agreement and with logistical support from
India and Iran. General Franks had already visited Dushanbe,
Tajikistan on May 16, 2001; Army Rangers were training Special
Forces inside Kyrgyzstan; and 17,000 Russian troops were on
standby. The plan was to launch the attack before snow started
falling, no later than October 2001. 337 The invasion was set: the
ultimatum had been given; all that was required was
provocation.

Although the Taliban walked out of the Berlin meeting after
the war threats, there was one further meeting in Islamabad,
Pakistan. In August 2001, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State
for Central Asian Affairs, Christina Rocca, met with the Taliban
ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef. 338

Note that the emphasis had shifted from Clinton's targeting
of bin Laden, and telling the Taliban to not assist him, to Bush's

9/11 .Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do? 121

targeting of the Taliban, telling them not to resist the pipeline,
and, by the way, to turn over bin Laden. This was essentially a
threat of war, not over terrorism but over oil. Unbelievable?
Perhaps a little more information will help you understand why
Bush's Business Administration thought the payoff was worth
the risk.

We have to start with Vice President Dick Cheney, the man
who is just a beer and pretzel away from the presidency. After
he left government service with the first Bush administration,
Cheney was appointed as the CEO of the Halliburton
Corporation, a service firm that has worked the oil patch since
the dry hole was invented. With its subsidiaries, Halliburton
does just about every job connected with the production and
transportation of oil and gas, worldwide. Among its
subsidiaries is Bredero-Shaw, a Texas-based company that
provides anti-corrosion coatings for oil pipelines and which is a
joint partner of the Saudi bin-Laden Group, a pipeline
construction company owned by the bin Laden family. 339

Other Halliburton foreign subsidiaries sold $23.8 million
(maybe as much as $73 million 340 ) in oil field equipment to Iraq
in 1998 and 1999, even though U.S. oil companies were
prohibited from investing in or buying Iraqi oil, which is
probably why Cheney called for an end to the sanctions against
Iraq while he was still Halliburton's CEO 341 Cheney has denied
any knowledge of these sales; however, Halliburton's current
CEO stated that Cheney "unquestionably" knew. 342 Cheney
received $162,392 in deferred salary from Halliburton in 2002,
and he continues to own 433,333 stock options in the company.

In a speech on June 23, 1998, Cheney proclaimed, "the good
Lord didn't see fit to put oil and gas only where there are
democratically elected regimes friendly to the United States.
Occasionally we have to operate in places where, all things
considered, one would not normally choose to go. But we go
where the business is." And the "business" that is at issue here
derives from the oil and gas reserves in the Caspian Basin. In
1998, Cheney stated, "I can't think of a time when we've had a
region emerge as suddenly to become as strategically significant
as the Caspian." 343

122 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

In 1999, Congress passed the Silk Road Strategy Act to assist
and support the "economic and political independence of the
countries of the South Caucasus and Central Asia." Congress
noted that the region "could produce oil and gas in sufficient
quantities to reduce the dependence of the United States on
energy from the volatile Persian Gulf region" and that one of the
principal objectives was "to support United States business
interests and investments in the region." 344

The breakup of the USSR left a string of newly independent
nations arranged around and near the Caspian Sea and along the
southern border of Russia. These nations, Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, have
vast oil and gas deposits. The problem is that these countries are
landlocked, and all of the existing pipelines run north into
Russia, which, while no longer a cold war enemy, is a competitor
in the worldwide energy business.

A 1997 study written by Zbigniew Brzezinski for the Council
on Foreign Relations noted that any nation becoming
predominant in Central Asia would pose a direct threat to U.S.
control of oil resources and that "it is imperative that no
Eurasian challenger emerges, capable of dominating Eurasia and
thus of also challenging America. ... For America, the chief
geopolitical prize is Eurasia." 345

Cheney's energy task force projected a doubling of the
United States' consumption of fossil fuels over the next 25 years
and found that "A significant disruption in world oil supplies
could adversely affect our economy and our ability to promote
key foreign and economic policy objectives, regardless of the
level of U.S. dependence on oil imports." With a projected
yearly drop in domestic crude oil production, the report predicts
the U.S. will become increasingly dependent upon imported oil,
with a corresponding doubling of imports over the same 25
years. 346

Among the areas targeted by the plan was the Caspian
region with proven reserves of about 20 billion barrels of oil.
With the potential of 270 billion barrels, or almost one-fifth of the
world's oil reserves, it also has natural gas potential of 665

9/11: Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do? 123

trillion cubic feet, almost one-eighth of the world's gas reserves.
In 1997, all of this was estimated to be worth some $4 trillion. 347

Development of the Caspian Basin became a priority of the
Bush administration and a foundation of Cheney's energy
plan. 348 In the early days of September 2001, the U.S. Energy
Information Administration confirmed Afghanistan's strategic
"geographical position as a potential transit route for oil and
natural gas exports from Central Asia to the Arabian Sea." 349

We have seen that Unocal was vitally interested in building
at least one pipeline across Afghanistan; however, it was not
alone in wanting to do business in the Caspian oil patch. In
1996, Enron signed a contract to explore gas fields in Uzbekistan,
to sell gas to Russia, and to link up with Unocal's proposed
Afghanistan gas pipeline. In addition, Enron wanted to build a
gas pipeline north from its Dabhol generating plant in India to
connect with Unocal's gas pipeline coming out of Afghanistan.
It badly needed the supply of cheap natural gas to prop up its
failing Dabhol operation. 350

In 1998, Turkmenistan selected Enron to conduct a feasibility
study funded by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency for a
trans-Caspian gas pipeline, and in 1999, the country signed a
contract with Bechtel and GE Capital Services to build the
pipeline. 351

While he was Halliburton's CEO, Cheney also sat on
Kazakhstan's oil advisory board and helped broker a deal
between that country and Chevron, at a time when Condoleezza
Rice was on its board of directors, for half ownership of the
Tengiz oil field. (We'll later talk about a criminal bribery
investigation in this area.) Chevron and ExxonMobil are also
heavily invested in Azerbaijan's oil and gas fields, and in 2001,
Halliburton signed a 12-year contract with Azerbaijan.

Because Azerbaijan has blockaded Armenia over the
disputed Nagorno-Karabakh area, Section 907 of the Freedom
Support Act adopted by Congress in 1992 prohibited the United
States from providing most forms of assistance to Azerbaijan.
However, after Bush met separately with the leaders of Armenia
and Azerbaijan in April and July 2001, 352 and after Congress

124: You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

granted Bush's request post 9/11, he waived Section 907 and
extended $4.4 million in military assistance to Azerbaijan. 353
Bush also met with Uzbekistan's ambassador to the United
States. 354

In November 2001, Bush proudly announced the opening of
a new pipeline by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium: "The CPC
project also advances my Administration's National Energy
Policy by developing a network of multiple Caspian
pipelines." 355

Interestingly enough, John J. Maresca, a Unocal Vice
President, testified before Congress on February 12, 1998, and
asked for the repeal or removal of Section 907. In addition to the
Afghanistan gas pipeline, he also discussed other proposed
pipeline projects involving American oil companies. One would
run west from the northern Caspian to the Black Sea and another
(to be built by Unocal, Amoco, Exxon and Pennzoil) would
either run to the Black Sea or to the Mediterranean port of
Ceyhan, Turkey. To accommodate the growing Asian energy
markets, Maresca proposed a pipeline through China and the
Afghanistan gas pipeline. In addition, Maresca discussed
another pipeline to gather oil from the existing pipeline
infrastructure in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and
Russia, which would also run through Afghanistan to an export
terminal on the Pakistan coast. The 42-inch pipeline would have
a capacity of one million barrels of oil per day.

Maresca concluded, "We urge the Administration and the
Congress to give strong support to the U.N.-led peace process in
Afghanistan. ... U.S. assistance in developing these new
economies will be crucial to business success. ... Unocal and
other American companies like it are fully prepared to
undertake the job and to make Central Asia once again into the
crossroads it has been in the past." 356

When Unocal speaks, Bush listens. To more fully answer the
"Why" questions, we must continue to track Unocal's demands
and Bush's jumps. Immediately following the U.S. blitzkrieg in
Afghanistan, Bush appointed Zalmay Khalilzad as his special
envoy to the country. Khalilzad was well informed about
Afghanistan's oil issues because he and Henry Kissinger were

9/11 .Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do? 125

originally employed by Unocal to arrange the details of its
Afghanistan pipeline. Yes, Henry "no conflict of interest"
Kissinger and his Associates, including the present Deputy
Secretary of State Richard Armitage. Back in 1995, Kissinger had
helped put together the original pipeline deal between Unocal
and Turkmenistan, and he was present at the signing ceremony
in New York City. 357 However, at that time, Afghanistan was
still in turmoil, and the Taliban needed a little help to capture
Kabul. Enter the CIA, arrange a visit by Saudi intelligence chief
Prince Turki to spread some Saudi petrodollars, and voildl 358

Khalilzad had served in Bush Sr.'s administration as a special
assistant to the president and as a senior Defense Department
official for policy planning. He was later employed as an
advisor to Unocal to draw up the risk analysis for its proposed
gas pipeline across Afghanistan, and to facilitate the talks
between Unocal and the Taliban in 1997. Prior to Khalilzad' s
appointment by Bush Jr. as his special envoy to Afghanistan,
Khalilzad worked for Condoleezza Rice in the National Security
Council and served as a counselor to Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld. 359 (It's a small, small world after all.)

Back in 1996, just after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban,
Unocal Vice President Chris Taggart described the takeover as a
"very positive step" and called for the United States to recognize
the Taliban. Shortly thereafter, Khalilzad wrote an article urging
the United States to work with the Taliban to form a broad-based
coalition government. He wrote "we should use as a positive
incentive the benefits that will accrue to Afghanistan from the
construction of oil and gas pipelines across its territory. ... These
projects will only go forward if Afghanistan has a single
authoritative government." 360 As Yogi Berra once said, "It's deja
vu all over again."

At about the same time that Bush was appointing Khalilzad
as his special envoy to Afghanistan, he also appointed another
former Unocal employee, Hamid Karzai, as Afghanistan's
interim Prime Minister. Karzai had helped negotiate the
pipeline deal with the Taliban in 1997 on behalf of Unocal and
was closely associated with the CIA and its former director
William Casey. 361

126 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Karzai immediately set out to finish the job on behalf of his
former employers. On February 8, 2002, Karzai met with the
president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, who agreed to reinstate
the pipeline deal. He then met with President Saparmurat
Niyazov of Turkmenistan the next month to seal up the northern
end of the agreement. Niyazov stated the pipeline would allow
the export of his country's vast natural gas resources, and he
hoped that peace in Afghanistan would allow the work to go
forward. 362

With this agreement, Unocal may finally get to complete its
pipeline, but at what cost? Billions and billions of dollars and
thousands of lives? With this background information, we can
now begin to understand why Bush dilly-dallied around trying
to do business with the Taliban rather than stopping bin Laden.
We can better understand why he lied and denied, and perhaps
we are beginning to understand why Cheney refuses to turn
over documents relating to his energy task force.

Do you believe Bush acted in the best interests of the
American public, or did he act to defend oil company interests in
the Caspian Basin and the Afghanistan pipeline? You're not
stupid! Get the truth.

209. Chomsky, Noam, 9-22 (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2001),
p. 67.

210. Ibid., pp. 44, 45.

211. Ibid., pp. 23, 73.

212. Ibid., p. 44.

213. Ahmed, op. cit. p. 22.

214. Ibid., pp. 176, 177, 191.

215. Chomsky, op. cit., p. 43.

216. Marshall, Andrew, "Terror 'Blowback Burns CIA,"

The Independent, November 1, 1998, www.cooperativeresearch.org/
timeline/1990s/ independentll0198.html.

217. Warrick, Joby and Joe Stephens, "Before Attack, U.S. Expected
Different Hit," October 2, 2001, www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/
wp-dyn/A55607-2001Octl/language=printer.

9/1 1 : Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do? 127

218. Williams, Dave, "The Bombing of the World Trade Center in New
York City," 1998, www.interpol.int/Public/Publications/ICPR/
ICPR469_3.asp_38k_Jan2, 2004

219. Ibid.

220. Clarke, Richard A., Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on
Terror (New York: Free Press, 2004), p. 92.

221. Ibid., p. 97.

222. "Who is Ramzi Yousef?"
www.terrorismfiles.org/individuals/ramzi-yousef.html.

223. Waller, Douglas, "Inside The Hunt For Osama," Time
December 21, 1998, www.time.com/time/magazine/
story/0,9171,1101981221-140773,00.html.

224. "Ramzi Yousef Gets 240 Years," January 8, 1998,
www.ict.org.il/ spotlight/ det.cfm?id=5.

225. "Afghanistan, Turkmenistan Oil and Gas, and the Projected
Pipeline," October 21, 2001, http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/
~pdscott/q7.html; see also Cohn, Marjorie,

"The Deadly Pipeline War: US Afghan Policy Driven By Oil Interests,"
http://www.commondreams.org/views01/1208-04.html.

226. Martin, Patrick, "Was the US government alerted to September 11
attack?" www.wsws.org/articles/2002/jan2002/sept-jl6.shtml.

227. "U.S. Indicts Fourteen in Khobar Towers Bombing," June 22, 2001,
http://www.ict.org.il/ spotlight/ det.cfm?id=628.

228. Appleson, Gail, "US appeals court upholds cleric's conviction,"
http://www.metimes.com/issue99-34/eg/us_appeals_court.html.

229. "Consortium formed to build Central Asia gas pipeline," October
27, 1997, http://www.unocal.com/uclnews/97news/102797a.html.

230. "Family Affair: the Bushes and the Bin Ladens,"
www.thedubyareport.com/bushbin.html.

231. Clarke, op. cit, pp. 166-171.

232. "Pakistan hands over embassies bombing suspect to Kenya,"
August 16, 1998, www.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/9808/16/
embassy .bombings.

233. Chomsky, op. cit., p. 49; see also Riemer, Matthew, "The
Destruction Of The Al-Shifa Pharmaceutical Company," September 19,
2002, (http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=692).

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

234. Aita, Judy, "Bin Laden, Atef Indicted In U.S. Federal Court For
African Bombings," November 4, 1998, usinfo.state.gov/topical/
pol/terror/98110402.html.

235. Gellman, Barton, "Broad Effort Launched After '98 Attacks,"
Washington Post, December 19, 2001, www.washingtonpost.com/
ac2/wp-dyn/A62725-2001Decl8?language=printer.

236. "Unocal statement on withdrawal from the proposed Central Asia
Gas (CentGas) pipeline project," December 10, 1998,
http://www.unocal.com/uclnews/98news/centgas.html.

237. Al-Issawi, Tarek, "Saudi Arabia severs ties with Afghanistan's
Taliban," September 25, 2001, www.timesargus.com/Archive/
Articles/ Article/ 34434.

238. Gellman, op. cit.

239. Solomon, John, "1999 Report Warned of Suicide Hijack,"
Associated Press, May 17, 2002, www.commondreams.org/
cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/headlines02/0517-06.htm.

240. "Interview: Richard Clarke," Guardian, March 23, 2004,
www.guardian.co.uk/ septemberll/story/0,11209,1175817,00.html.

241. Clarke, op. cit., pp. 205, 211-212.

242. Martin, op. cit.

243. "Attack on the USS Cole," The History Guy,
http://www.historyguy.com/uss_cole.htm.

244. Bernton, Hal, Mike Carter, David Heath and James Neff,
"The Past is Prologue," The Seattle Times, June 23 - July 7, 2002,
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/nation-
world/terroristwithin/chapterl.html.

245. Franken, op. cit., pp. 107, 110.

246. Moore, Bush's War for Reelection, op. cit., pp. 16, 17.

247. "9-11 Commission, Attack Was Preventable,"
www.dailykos.com/comments/2003/12/18/03850/244/27.

248. Clarke, op. cit., p. 225.

249. Ibid., p. 231.

250. Ferullo, Mike, "Rumsfeld urges missile defense system during
confirmation hearing," January 11, 2001, www.cnn.com/2001/
ALLPOLITICS/stories/Ol/ll/rumsfeld.hearing?

251. "Statement by Robert D. Walpole, National Intelligence Officer
for Strategic and Nuclear Programs," February 9, 2000,
http://www.clw.org/coalition/walpole020900.htm.

9/1 1 : Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do? 129

252. Leopold, Jason, "CIA Intelligence Reports Seven Months Before
9/11 Said Iraq Posed No Threat To U.S., Containment Was Working,
June 27, 2003, www.scoop.co.nz/mason/storiesHL0306/S00211.htm.

253. Franken, op. cit, p. 117.

254. Ibid., p. 118.

255. Clarke, op. cit., p. 231.

256. Ibid., p. 236.

257. Corn, op. cit., p. 126.

258. Franken, op. cit., p. 118.

259. Ahmed, op. cit., p. 106.

260. "Foreign Policy Priorities and Challenges of the Administration,
June 7, 2001, Council on Foreign Relations, www.cfr.org/pub5161/
condoleezza_rice/foreign_policy_priorities_and_challenges_
of_the_administration.php.

261. Frankel, op. cit., p. 118.

262. Flocco, Tom, "Bush May Invoke 9/11 Executive Privilege and
Secrecy," www.tomflocco.com.

263. Ahmed, op. cit., p. 114.

264. Ibid., pp. 88, 90.

265. Corn, op. cit., p. 142.

266. Ahmed, op. cit., pp. 106-113; see also Davis, Walter E.,
"September 11 th and The Bush Administration: Compelling Evidence
for Complicity," 2003, (www.yuricareport.com/911/
davis_compellingEvidenceForComplicity.ltme).

267. Ahmed, op. cit., pp. 207-209.

268. Franken, op. cit., p. 119.

269. Ibid., pp. 119, 120.

270. Jehl, Douglas and David E. Sanger, "Pre-9/11 Secret Briefing Said
That Qaeda Was Active in U.S.," The New York Times, April 11, 2004,
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/ll/politics/HNTE.html.

271. "Bush Contradicts Self At His Own Press Conference," April 14,
2004,http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2323986&l=28723.

272. Franken, op. cit., p. 120.

273. Ahmed, op. cit., p. 114.

274. Milbank, Dana, "FBI Budget Squeezed After 9/ll:Request for New
Counterterror Funds Cut by Two-Thirds," Washington Post, March 22,

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

2004, http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A13541-
2004Mar21?language=printer.

275. Shenon, Philip and Lowell Bergman, "9/11 Panel Is Said to Offer
Harsh Review of Ashcroft," The New York Times, April 13, 2004,
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/13/politics/13PANE.html.

276. Franken, op. cit, p. 121; see also Ahmed, op. cit., pp. 93-95.

277. Ahmed, op. cit., pp. 95, 96.

278. Ibid., pp. 218, 219, 224.

279. Franken, op. cit., p. 121.

280. Ibid., p. 121.

281. Ibid., pp. 121, 122.

282. Clarke, op. cit., p. 237.

283. Ahmed, op. cit., p. 116.

284. Kellner, op. cit., p. 9; see also Johnson, David and Eric Schmitt,
"Uneven Response Seen on Terror in Summer of 2001," The New York
Times, April 4, 2004, www.nytimes.com/2004/04/04/politics/
04SUMM.html.

285. Wood, Allan and Paul Thompson, "It was an interesting day,"
www.talkleft.com/archives/003127.html.

286. Ahmed, op. cit., p. 89.

287. Harpter, Tim, "Ex-FBI worker challenges 9/11 Tie,'" Toronto Star,
April 5, 2004, www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?
pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1081
116611085&call_pageid=968332188854.

288. Ahmed, op. cit., p. 117.

289. Franken, op. cit., pp. 121, 122.

290. Milbank, Dana, op. cit.

291. Ahmed, op. cit., p. 125.

292. Ibid.

293. Wood, op. cit.

294. Ahmed, op. cit., p. 96.

295. IrvingShapiro.tripod.com/cgi.bin/flight_93/bush.html.

296. Alterman, Eric, "9/11/01: Where Was George?"
www.thenation.com/doc. mhtml%3Fi=20031006&s=alterman.

297. Ibid.

298. Kellner, op. cit., p. 77.

9/11: Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do? 131

299. Ahmed, op. cit., p. 184.

300. Ibid., p. 99.

301. Ibid., p. 226.

302. Flocco, op. cit.

303. Cornwell, Susan, "Daschle: Bush, Cheney Urged No Sept. 11
Inquiry," May 26, 2002, www.newsfrombabylon.com/
article.php?sid=1680.

304. "White House 'not warned of attacks,'" BBC News, May 17, 2002,
news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_19910000/
1991689.stm.

305. Eggen, Dan and Bill Miller, "Bush Was Told of Hijacking
Dangers," The Washington Post, May 16, 2002,
www.washingtonpost.com.

306. "White House 'not warned of attacks,'" BBC News, op. cit.

307. Kellner, op. cit., p. 238.

308. "Bush defends his actions before 9/11," LISA Today, May 17, 2002,
www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2002/05/17/bush-
defense.html.

309. "Coleen Rowley's Memo to FBI Director Robert Mueller," May 21,

2002, www.zpub.com/notes/rowleymemo.html.

310. Corn, op. cit., p. 143.

311. Isikoff, Michael and Mark Hosenball, "The Secrets of September
11," Newsweek, April 30, 2003, www.truthout.org/docs_03/
050203B.shtml.

312. Dean, John W., "The 9/11 Report Raises More Serious Questions,"
July 29, 2003, www.yuricareport.com.

313. "Commission in a hurry," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, October 28,

2003, http://www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/oct03/180742.asp.

314. Corn, David, "Kissinger's Back ... As 9/11 Truth-Seeker,"

The Nation, November 27, 2002, www.thenation.com/capitalgames/
index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=176.

315. Grigg, William Norman, "Kean Steps in for Kissinger,"

The New American, January 13, 2003, www.thenewamerican.com/
tna/2003/01-13-2003/vol9no01_kean.html.

316. Alterman and Green, op. cit., p. 223.

317. Boehlert, Eric, "Is the 9/11 commission too soft?" October 10, 2003,
www.voicesofseptll.org/news/101003.php.

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

319. Shenon, Phil, "White House Faces Subpoena Threat,"
International Herald Tribune, October 27, 2003, www.iht.com.

320. Shenon, Philip, "Panel Subpoenas Pentagon on 9/11," New York
Times, November 8, 2003, www.twincities.com/mld/PioneerPress.

321. "The Daily Briefing: October 27,"
www.thedailyenron.com/documents/20031027122859-17777.asp.

322. Harper, Tim, "What Did Bush Know Before 9/11?" November 4,

2003, www.commondreams.org; see also Shenon, Philip, "9/11
Commission 'Deal' With White House," November 14, 2003,
(www.vermontindymedia.org/newswire/display/1832/indexphp).

323. Clarke, op. cit., pp. ix, x.

324. Shenon, Philip, "Members of the 9/11 Commission Press Rice on
Early Warnings," The New York Times, April 9, 2004,
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/09/politics/09PANE.html.

325. Shenon, Philip and Elisabeth Bumiller, "Bush Allows Rice To
Testify on 9/11 in a Public Session," The New York Times, March 31,

2004, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/31/politics/31PANE.html.

326. "Bush, Clinton differ on security issue before 9/11 panel,"
The Hindu, May 3, 2004, www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/
003200405031072.htm.

327. Palast, op. cit., pp. 96, 97.

328. "Family Affair: the Bushes and the Bin Ladens,"
www.thedubyareport.com/bushbin.html.

329. Palast, op. cit., p. 104.

330. Kellner, op. cit., pp. 36, 37, 119; see also Ahmed, op. cit.,
pp.180-183; see also Rampton, Sheldon and John C. Stauber,
Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq
(New York: J.P. Tarcher, 2003), pp. 106, 107.

331. Rosebraugh, Craig, "Don't Mess with Unocal: The war against
terrorism may really be a battle over oil," Toward Freedom,
January 2002.

332. "Unocal statement on withdrawal from the proposed Central Asia
Gas (CentGas) pipeline project," December 10, 1998,
http://www.unocal.com/uclnews/98news/centgas.html.

333. Godoy, Julio, "U.S. Policy Towards Taliban Influenced by Oil -
Authors," November 15, 2001, www.truthout.org/docs_01/
11.17A.oil.taliban.html.

9/11: Who Knew What and When, and What, if Anything, did he do? 133

334. "Al-Qaeda monitored U.S. negotiations with Taliban over oil
pipeline," June 5, 2002, www.salon.com/news/feature/
2002/06/05/memo/index_np.html.

335. Steele, Jonathan, et. al, "Special Report: Pakistan," September 22,
2001, www.guardian.co.uk/ Archive/ Artilce/0,4273,4262511,00.html.

336. Godoy, op. cit.

337. Ahmed, op. cit., pp. 58-61.

338. Godoy, op. cit.

339. Ahmed, op. cit., p. 187.

340. "Halliburton Iraq ties more than Cheney said," June 25, 2001,
NewsMax.com.

341. Solomon, Norman and Reese Erlich, Target Iraq: What the News
Media Didn't Tell You (New York: Context Books, 2003), p. 110.

342. Kellner, op. cit., p. 251.

343. Cohn, Marjorie, "The Deadly Pipeline War: US Afghan Policy
Driven By Oil Interests," www.commondreams.org/views01/
1208-04.html.

344. Ahmed, op. cit., p. 70.

345. Ibid., p. 73-77.

346. "U.S. Department of Energy Plans an Accelerated Dependence
Upon Foreign Petroleum Sources,"
www.rainbow.net/ongwhehonwhe/energy/poli.html.

347. Kellner, op. cit., p. 37.

348. Aslam, Abid, "Bush-Cheney Energy Plan Bears Watching," July

2001, www.fpif.org/commentary/2001/0107energy_body.html.

349. Cohn, op. cit.

350. Neville, Harry, "Bush's Homeland Security Pipeline," March 29,

2002, www.buzzflash.com/contributors/
2002/03/29_homeland_security _pipeline.html.

351. "How Much Were Bush and Cheney Involved?"
www.alternet.org/letters_ed.html.

352. Aslam, op. cit.

353. "Section 907 of The Freedom Support act," April 12, 2002,
www.aaainc.org/press/section907.pdf.

354. Neville, op. cit.

355. Ahmed, op. cit., p. 259.

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

356. "It's All About Oil!" www.whatreallyhappened.com/oil.html.

357. "Kissinger, Unocal, Enron and Cheney," December 3, 2002,
www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex/Documents/kissingerunocal.html.

358. "Afghanistan, Turkmenistan Oil and Gas, and the Projected
Pipeline," October 21, 2001, (http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/
~pdscott/q7.html); see also Cohn, op. cit.

359. www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/zalmay-khalilzad.

360. "Al-Qaeda monitored U.S. negotiations with Taliban over oil
pipeline," June 5, 2002, (www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/06/05/
memo/index_np.html); see also Martin, Patrick, "USA: Unocal
Advisor Named Representative to Afghanistan," January 3, 2002,
(http://www.corpwatch.org/ news/PND.jsp?articleid=1149).

361. Madsen, Wayne, "Afghanistan, the Taliban and the Bush Oil
Team," 2002, http://www.globalresearchca/article/MAD201.A.html.

362. "Agreement On US 3.2 Billion Gas Pipeline Project Signed,"
December 28, 2002, www.truthout.org/docs_02/12.30A.afgh.pipe.htm;
see also Yant, Martin, "Enron played key role in events presaging war,"
Columbus Free Press, April 10, 2002, (www.freepress.org/journal.php?
strFunc=display&strID=54&strJournal=10).

THE PREVARICATOR II:
THE MIDTERM CAMPAIGN

The saga of the midterm elections in 2002 is not a
shining hour for American politics. Rather, it's a
tale of new lows in dirty tricks and a corrupt
politicization of the war on terrorism.

Not only was the presidential election in 2000 one of the
closest in history, but the total of all votes cast in the
congressional and senatorial elections was equally close. Only
half of one percent separated Bush and Gore, and approximately
the same percentage separated all the votes cast for Republican
candidates for Congress and for their Democratic opponents. 363

In 2001, Republican Senator James Jeffords of Vermont, fed
up with the extreme conservatism of the Republican Party,
announced that he would become an Independent. However,
since he no longer voted with the Republicans, his decision gave
the Democrats control of the Senate.

Going into the 2002 elections, the Republicans held a six-seat
advantage in the House of Representatives and, with
reapportionment reallocating 12 congressional seats from states
in the East and Midwest to states in the South and West, Bush
had hopes of increasing the Republican margin. 364 But what
Bush desperately wanted was to regain control of the Senate,
where his legislative agenda was stalled.

The Republicans raised a total of $400 million in hard money
compared to $220 million for the Democrats. Operating with
White House leadership, the Republican National Committee
organized the "72-Hour Task Force," and the Republican House
leadership organized the Strategic Taskforce to Organize and
Mobilize People (STOMP). So much for subtlety. The plan
included celebrity visits by Bush, Cheney, and their wives to
pump up Republican campaign workers and to gain news
coverage. 365

136 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Karl Rove's Political War

Karl Rove proposed to turn the war on terror into a political
weapon against the Democrats. At a meeting of the Republican
National Committee in Austin, Texas, Rove stated, "We can go
to the country on this issue, because they trust the Republican
Party to do a better job of protecting and strengthening
America's military might and thereby protecting America." 366

The fact that Rove was politicizing the war was confirmed
when a computer disc containing a power-point presentation
was found in Lafayette Park across the street from the White
House. Slide number 20 was entitled "Republican Strategy" and
listed six ways to win the election. The first was to "Focus on
War and the Economy." 367 Even Pat Buchanan observed, "I
think the way they rationalize ... Rove would rationalize it, is to
explain to the President the consequences ... the political
consequences of each of the choices he is considering, and that so
long as policy is not disturbed by doing something that helps us
politically, we should feel free to do something that helps us
politically." 368

Karl Rove's favorite propagandist, David Horowitz, wrote a
campaign booklet entitled "How to Beat the Democrats." He
emphasized that "mainstream Democrats [were] ... significant
players in the debacle of 9/11. And no one is more singularly
responsible for America's vulnerability on that fateful day than
the Democratic president, Bill Clinton, and his White House
staff." Clinton was accused of having "simply refused to do
anything serious about the threat." Horowitz concluded, "This
is a story the Republicans must tell the American people if they
are to be warned about the dangers of putting their trust in the
party of Bill Clinton by casting their votes for Democrats come
November." 369

In 1999, Bush had promised, "I've learned you cannot lead
by dividing people. This country is hungry for a new style of
campaign. Positive. Hopeful. Inclusive." Well, we saw how he
conducted the 2000 campaign, and like a movie that becomes a
box office success, he set out to make a sequel. During the 2002
campaign, Bush campaigned through 15 states. He stayed on

The Prevaricator II: The Midterm Campaign 137

message throughout and repeatedly accused Democrats of
sacrificing America's safety by supporting workplace protection
for the new employees of the Department of Homeland Security,
and that Democrats were therefore uninterested in the security
of the American people.

In the final days of the election, Karl Rove began to play his
usual dirty tricks. In Florida and Texas, two states considered
crucial to reelect Jeb Bush as governor and a Republican Senator,
voters began to receive telephone calls purportedly from gay
rights organizations encouraging them to vote for the
Democratic candidates because they supported gay marriage. 370

A Cowardly Attack on an American Patriot

Democrat Max Cleland was the senior Senator from Georgia.
Between 1965 and 1968, he had volunteered to fight in the
Vietnam War as a Captain in the Army's 1 st Calvary Division.
He lost both legs and his right arm in a grenade explosion, and
he received numerous awards for his bravery, including the
Silver Star for Gallantry in Action.* He went on to serve as the
youngest administrator ever of the Veterans Administration for
President Carter. As a senator, Cleland gained respect for his
work in health care, bio-terrorism preparedness, and homeland
security. 371 He was a liberal on economic issues and a moderate
on cultural and foreign affairs. He was an ardent
conservationist, receiving a perfect score of 100 percent on
environmental issues from the League of Conservation Voters.
The polls showed that Georgia voters had a generally favorable
impression of Cleland. 372

In the Senate, Cleland co-sponsored the legislation to
establish the Department of Homeland Security, which was
initially opposed by Bush; however, Cleland opposed Bush's

* Cleland was awarded the Silver Star because, "during heavy enemy
rocket and mortar attack, Capt. Cleland disregarded his own safety,
exposed himself to rocket barrage as he left his covered position to
administer first aid to his wounded comrades. He then assisted them
in moving the injured personnel to covered positions. Cleland's gallant
action is in keeping with the highest traditions of military service."

138 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

plan to deny civil service protection to Department employees.
This was enough to make him a target of the Republican
juggernaut. Cleland's opponent in the 2002 Senate race was
Republican Congressman Saxby Chambliss, a Chicken Hawk,
who had avoided service in Vietnam because of a "football
injury" and four student deferments. 373 Chambliss had a score of
zero percent on environmental issues. Chambliss once said that
to combat terrorism, a Georgia sheriff could be turned loose to
"arrest every Muslim that comes across the state line." 374

A true believer in going nasty, Chambliss began to run
television attack ads that questioned Cleland's patriotism. The
ads featured photographs of Osama bin Laden and Saddam
Hussein and attacked Cleland as supposedly voting against
homeland security and questioned his courage to lead.
Chambliss labeled Cleland as "the most liberal senator Georgia
has ever had."

Bush visited Georgia five times to campaign for Chambliss.
In October 2002, Bush spoke at a fund-raiser for Chambliss,
where he blamed Democrats for trying to "tie the hands of this
president and future presidents to be able to carry out one of our
most solemn duties, which is to protect the homeland." Since
Cleland was a Democrat, it wasn't hard for Georgia voters to get
the message. 375

After Bush put the boots to Cleland, his buddy Chambliss,
the crass bully, went on to defeat the brave and dignified
warrior, who had given so much for his country and who
deserved so much better. Who cares? Out of habit, Bush lied
that the Republicans had prevailed because they ran clean
campaigns, saying, "Their accent was on the positive."

The Weekly Scalawag reports that after his election, Chambliss
telephoned Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to ask a favor.
What he didn't know was that he was on a speaker phone and
that a reporter's tape recorder was running. Chambliss said that
a friend who helped "raise a chunk of money" to get him elected
wanted an "ambassadorship to an overseas economic
development organization." When Chambliss was later
confronted about the incident on Meet the Press, he said the
friend "just happens to be a donor." Nonetheless, he said, "the

The Prevaricator II: The Midterm Campaign 139

guy's qualified." Yet, he had told Frist, "I don't even know what
the hell he is, but he wants it." So much for integrity in politics.

The Republicans outspent the Democrats by $184 million and
succeeded in holding their House seats and regaining control of
the Senate. The new employees of the Department of Homeland
Security lost out on workplace protection, and the Department
was politicized when the Republican-controlled Congress
passed the law and Bush signed it.

Do you think Bush acted in the best interests of Americans
when he and Rove cynically used the 9/11 attacks as a political
weapon? Do you think he cared about Homeland Security when
he helped stomp on a true patriot, one who had really wanted to
fight in Vietnam, who was not afraid to volunteer, and who
really did give his right arm (and two legs) for his country?
You're not stupid! Get the truth.

363. Zogby, James J., "The stakes are high in the 2002 congressional
elections," January 15, 2002, www.jordanembassyus.org/
01152002009.html.

364. Ibid.

365. "The Last Hurrah? Soft Money And Issue Advocacy In The 2002
Congressional Elections," Edited by David B. Magleby and J. Quin
Monson, Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy, Brigham
Young University, Provo, Utah, 2003, www.byu.edu/outsidemoney.

366. Conason, op. cit., p. 192.

367. Moore, op. cit., pp. 290, 291.

368. Ibid., p. 291.

369. Conason, op. cit., p. 196.

370. Moore, op. cit., p. 320.

371. "Stories of Courage: Senator Max Cleland,"
www.loc.gov/cocoon/vhp-stories/loc.natlib.afc2001001.03512.

372. "Race At A Glance: Georgia Senate," League of Conservation
Voters, www.lev.org/ Campaigns/Campaigns.cfm?ID=1517&c=l.

373. Conason, op. cit., p. 68.

374. "Rep. Saxby Chambliss: Arrest every Muslim That Enters
Georgia," November 21, 2001, www/refuseandresist/org/
newrepression/120501chambliss.html.

375. Corn, op. cit., p. 156.

BUSH'S WAR

Blood for oil? A closer look at the history of Iraqi-
American relations can tell what is really at stake.
Just how much have the interests of U.S. oil
corporations influenced the government's policies
and actions, including the invasion of Iraq? To
whose benefit are we risking our soldiers, our
national treasury, and our traditional alliances
with other nations?

Following the defeat of the Ottoman Turks, England and
France artificially created the nation of Iraq at the end of World
War I when they occupied the Middle East as League of Nations'
Mandates. Arbitrarily drawing lines on maps back in Europe,
they dismembered Kurdistan, leaving half in Turkey and half in
"Iraq." Ignoring other tribal boundaries, they created the nation
of Iraq composed of Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites, and which for a
while included Kuwait. They installed Feisal, son of Hussein of
Mecca, to reign over their creation, and they installed another
son, Abdullah, to rule Trans Jordan. Hussein had been an ally in
the war against the Turks; however, he lost out to Ibn Saud for
control of Arabia.

In 1920, there was a national uprising against English rule in
Iraq. Although the revolt involved both Shiites and Sunnis, the
majority Shiite religious and tribal leaders played the leading
role. The revolt was violently put down by the English, and
thereafter they primarily relied upon the Sunnis to govern Iraq.

In 1932, after the mandate ended, Iraq became a sovereign
country and joined the League of Nations; however, its oil fields
and production facilities continued to be operated by foreign
interests. In 1958, a popular revolution led by Abd al-Karim
Qasim removed the king and ended foreign control.

Iraq, along with Britain, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan, was
a member of the "Baghdad Pact" formed in the 1950s to defend
the region against Soviet aggression.

When Qasim began to purchase arms from the Soviets
and to install communists in his government, the CIA recruited

U2 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Saddam Hussein to assassinate him. Saddam botched the
attempt and was slightly wounded in his calf by a fellow would-
be assassin. He escaped through Syria into Beirut, where he was
provided an apartment and was briefly trained by the CIA, who
then moved him to Egypt and installed him in an apartment in
the upper-class neighborhood of Dukki. He spent his time
playing dominos in a local cafe and visiting his CIA contacts at
the American Embassy. After Qasim was killed in a CIA
sponsored coup by the Ba'ath Party, Saddam returned to Iraq
where he became head of the al-Jihaz a-Khas, the Party's secret
intelligence service. 376

The Ba'athists did not consolidate their power until 1968,
when General Ahmed Hassan Bakr became president and
Saddam Hussein was appointed as his vice president. Saddam
created a secret police force to identify and eliminate all political
opponents. 377

In 1972, General Bakr nationalized Iraq's oil resources and
production facilities and quickly rose to the top of President
Nixon's list of foreign enemies. The United States placed Iraq on
its list of terrorist-sponsoring nations and began to arm the Iraqi
Kurds. However, once Iraq ceded control over the Shatt-al-Arab
waterway to America's ally the Shah of Iran, the flow of arms
ceased. 378

Coincident with the overthrow of the Shah of Iran in 1979,
Saddam's personal fortunes improved. In one bloody day, he
eliminated General Bakr and all of his Ba'athist rivals and seized
total dictatorial powers. In 1980, encouraged by President
Carter's National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski,
Saddam invaded Iran to regain control over the Shatt-al-Arab
waterway. Although the Reagan campaign had made a secret
deal with Iran to hold off on the release of the American
Embassy hostages until after Reagan was sworn in, once he was
in office, Reagan increasingly tilted toward Iraq and began to
actively supply arms and intelligence to Saddam. In 1982, Iraq
was removed from America's list of nations that support
terrorism, and full diplomatic relations were restored in 1984. 379

America became fully involved in Iraq's war against Iran
after it appeared that Iran might defeat Saddam. The United

Bush's War 143

States supplied advanced weapons, satellite and AWACS
intelligence, and helped plan and evaluate air strikes. Moreover,
there is substantial evidence that the Reagan administration,
which included Vice President Bush, was fully aware of and
condoned the regular use of chemical weapons against Iran. 380
Directly, and through other countries such as Chile, 381 the United
States authorized the sale to Iraq of poisonous chemicals and
biological viruses, including anthrax and bubonic plague. 382
The United Nations inspection teams later found documents
showing that Iraq dropped over 13,000 chemical bombs during
the war.

In 1984, Reagan sent Donald Rumsfeld as his special envoy
to shake Saddam's hand and to tell him that the United States
government "recognizes Iraq's current disadvantage in a war of
attrition since Iran has access to the gulf while Iraq does not (and
that the United States) would regard any major reversal of Iraq's
fortunes as a strategic defeat for the west." Rumsfeld wrote to
Secretary of State George Shultz, "I added that the U.S. had no
interest in an Iranian victory; to the contrary, we would not want
Iran's influence expanded at the expense of Iraq." 383

In 1986, Reagan sent a secret message to Saddam through
Vice President Bush urging Iraq to increase its air attacks and
bombings of Iran. However, Reagan was playing both sides,
and he approved the covert sale of 1,000 TOW missiles to Iran
and the secret transfer of the purchase money to the Nicaragua
Contras.

Vice President Bush also took a secret message in 1986 to
Saudi King Fahd and asked him to pressure OPEC to raise
prices. The Saudis complied with the request and raised the
price of oil to $18 a barrel, resulting in higher gas prices in the
United States and greater profits for American oil companies. 384

To facilitate Iraq's shipment of oil through the Persian Gulf
where Iran was bombing neutral Kuwaiti tankers, the United
States "ref lagged" the tankers with American registration and
deployed the U.S. Navy to protect them. 385

In 1987, Vice President Bush met with Iraq's ambassador to
the United States, Nizar Hamdoon, and informed him that Iraq

U4: You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

would be allowed to purchase dual-use technology, which could
be used for military purposes. 386

With the assistance of the CIA, U.S. military intelligence, and
Saudi AW ACS surveillance aircraft, Saddam was able to avoid
defeat and reach an agreement with Iran in 1988 to end the war,
which had consumed a million lives.

The next year, in 1989, President Bush Sr. signed a top-secret
directive ordering closer relations with Iraq and providing for
the delivery of $1 billion in aid over the objections of several
federal agencies. 387

Iraq's economy was in shambles, world oil prices were
falling, and Saddam blamed Kuwait for his inability to earn
more oil revenues. On July 25, 1990, Saddam met with U.S.
Ambassador April Glaspie regarding his dispute with Kuwait,
which Iraq claimed was an historical part of Iraq. Glaspie told
Saddam, "I have direct instructions from President Bush to
improve our relations with Iraq. We have considerable
sympathy for your quest for higher oil prices, the immediate
cause of your confrontation with Kuwait." Saddam stated he
would "give up all of the Shaft (waterway) to defend our claims
on Kuwait to keep the whole of Iraq in the shape we wish it to
be." In other words, he wished Kuwait to be a part of Iraq.
When Saddam asked what the United States' opinion was
regarding this, Glaspie answered, "We have no opinion on your
Arab-Arab conflicts, such as your dispute with Kuwait.
Secretary (of State James) Baker has directed me to emphasize
the instruction, first given to Iraq in the 1960's, that the Kuwait
issue is not associated with America." 388

Why would Bush Sr. do this? The answer is simple. Higher
oil prices would also prop up American oil companies and
increase their profits.

On August 3, 1990, apparently trusting in Bush Sr.'s lack of
concern, Saddam invaded and occupied Kuwait, threatening
Saudi Arabia and America's Middle East oil supply. The United
Nations condemned the invasion and imposed economic
sanctions that cut off 70 percent of Iraq's food supply. Acting
pursuant to a United Nations resolution, an international

coalition of military forces led by the United States deployed
400,000 troops in the region. On January 14, 1991, following an
ignored ultimatum, the coalition launched a bombing blitz
against Iraq that lasted for 42 days. The air assault had five basic
targets, one of which was "population will." The Iraqi civilian
infrastructure, including electricity, water, and sanitation, was
almost entirely wiped out to "degrade the will of the civilian
population." 389

When Saddam continued to refuse to leave Kuwait, a ground
invasion commenced on February 23, 1991; three days later
Saddam abandoned Kuwait, and Iraq agreed to a cease-fire on
February 28, 1991.

During the three-day invasion, thousands of Iraqi soldiers,
most of them conscripts and reserves armed with rifles, had been
deployed in World War I style trenches along Iraq's border.
Although some of them were able to surrender before the
mechanized invasion swept around and over them, thousands
were buried alive as Abrams battle tanks, equipped with huge
front plows, swept along both flanks of approximately 70 miles
of trenches, pouring avalanches of sand down upon the Iraqi
soldiers. The tanks were followed by combat earthmovers that
filled in and smoothed over the trenches creating unmarked
mass graves. 390

The Geneva Convention prohibits "denial of quarter," that is,
refusing to accept an enemy's offer of surrender. Following the
war, then Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney justified the live
burials in his report to Congress as being "a gap in the law of
war in defining precisely when surrender takes effect or how it
may be accomplished. ... Because of these uncertainties and the
need to minimize loss of U.S. lives, military necessity required
that the assault ... be conducted with maximum speed and
violence."

The United States refused to disclose the location of the
burials and has never officially published the numbers of
military and civilian deaths in Iraq resulting from the Gulf
War. 391 When later asked, Colin Powell stated it was not
something he was particularly interested in. During the Gulf
War, as many as 100,000 military personnel and 15,000 civilians

146 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

died. 392 Do you feel our government acted honorably in its
failure to comply with the rules of war? Does it bother you that
our government may have committed war crimes?

During the air assault, President Bush Sr. had urged the Iraqi
people to rise up against Saddam, and following the cease-fire,
there were rebellions by the Kurds in the north and the Shiites in
the south. These revolts were violently put down by Saddam
after Bush Sr. allowed him to fly his helicopters across U.S. lines
to attack the rebels. Tens of thousands were killed and were
buried in mass graves. When elements of the Republican Guard
rose up against Saddam, they were not allowed access to their
surrendered weapons. Once Bush Sr. failed to act, Saddam
violently crushed all resistance to his rule. 393

The United States, England, and France imposed, without
the authorization of the United Nations, a "no-fly" zone in the
north and south of Iraq. France later withdrew from
enforcement of the zone; however, the United States and
England continued to fly at will over the zones and to destroy
any radar installations that sought to "lock on" their planes. 394

In response to criticism of Bush Sr.'s failure to remove
Saddam, then Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney explained on
April 13, 1991, why they had not tried to impose a regime
change on Iraq during the Gulf War: "If you're going to go in
and try to topple Saddam Hussein, you have to go to Baghdad.
Once you've got Baghdad, it's not clear what you will do with it.
It's not clear what kind of government you would put in place of
the one that's currently there now. Is it going to be a Shia
regime, a Sunni regime or a Kurdish regime? Or one that tilts
toward the Ba'athists, or one that tilts toward the Islamic
fundamentalists? How much credibility is that government
going to have if it's set up by the United States military when it's
there? How long does the United States military have to stay to
protect the people that sign on for the government, and what
happens to it once we leave?" 395 Remember these words.

To end the Gulf War, Saddam agreed to eliminate all
weapons of mass destruction and to allow verification
inspections by the United Nations. In the meantime, the United
Nations economic sanctions were to continue. Because of the

Bush's War 147

sanctions, and certainly because of the priorities set by Saddam,
there were significant delays in obtaining spare parts to repair
Iraq's infrastructure, including its power grid, water treatment
plants and sanitation systems, much of which was destroyed in
the air attacks. Moreover, the population was denied access to
adequate food supplies and essential medicines. UNICEF has
estimated that as many as a million Iraqis died as a result of the
sanctions, and that 500,000 of them were children. 396

Between April 14 and April 16, 1993, Bush Sr. visited Kuwait,
ostensibly to commemorate the Gulf War victory. He was
accompanied by two of his sons and his former Secretary of
State, James Baker, who was there to arrange contracts for Enron
to rebuild Kuwait's damaged power plants. Neil Bush tagged
along because he wanted a part of the fees to operate Enron's
power plants, and Marvin Bush wanted to sell an electronic
security system to Kuwait on behalf of a Washington firm. 397

After Bush and his commercial entourage left, the Kuwait
government arrested 17 persons and accused them of having
plotted to kill Bush Sr. using a car bomb. The CIA concluded
that Saddam likely directed a plot to kill Bush Sr., and President
Clinton launched a cruise missile attack against the building in
Baghdad that housed the Iraqi intelligence service. The attack
killed eight persons, including one of Iraq's most gifted artists.
In an extensive article published on November 1, 1993, reporter
Seymour M. Hersh found that the "government's case against
Iraq-as it has been outlined in public, anyway-is seriously
flawed." 398

Between the end of the war in 1992 and 1998, the United
Nations conducted intensive and intrusive inspections
throughout Iraq and was able to verify that Iraq had destroyed
virtually all of its mass destruction capability, including all
factories used to produce nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons and all long-range missiles. What Iraq did not destroy,
the inspection teams did. Given the fact that chemicals and
biologicals used in weapons degrade with time and become
harmless within five years, and without factories to replace the
materials, it is relatively certain that Iraq ceased to have a
weapons capability.

148 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Initially, Saddam refused to allow Americans to be included
on the inspection teams; however, he relented, and CIA agents
were included on all inspection teams, as they had valuable
information useful to the inspection mission. However, the CIA
ultimately took over the signals intelligence program and used it
to directly spy on Saddam and his government.

Matters came to a head in 1998 when Richard Butler, the
UN's chief inspector was encouraged by the U.S. to "carry out
very sensitive inspections that had nothing to do with
disarmament but had everything to do with provoking the
Iraqis." Iraq agreed to a set of "Modalities for Sensitive Site
Inspections;" however, Butler insisted on unrestricted access to
the Ba'ath Party headquarters in violation of the Modalities.
When Saddam balked, Butler ordered the inspectors to leave the
country to clear the way for a U.S. bombing attack. The Iraqis
did not order the inspectors to leave. 399

On December 16, 1998, on the eve of his impeachment trial,
President Clinton announced "Operation Desert Fox" by U.S.
and British forces to "attack Iraq's nuclear, chemical and
biological weapons programs." Over the next four days, there
were repeated air strikes in central Iraq. However, none ever
targeted weapons of mass destruction, because no such weapons
could be identified. Instead, Iraq's conventional military assets
were targeted, along with its industrial infrastructure. The
inspectors did not return to Iraq, and over the next three years,
U.S. and British forces continued to fly at will in the no-fly zones
and to bomb radar targets. 400

Meanwhile, back in the United States, President Clinton was
acquitted in his impeachment trial; Vice President Gore received
the Democratic nomination; and the American people voted to
elect him. The Supreme Court gave the presidency to the losing
candidate, Bush Jr., who came to office determined to make up
for his father's failures in Iraq and to extend and consolidate the
United States' power over the Middle East and Central Asia.

An Ideological History of Bush's Never-Ending
Preemptive War

In 1986, Irving Kristol, co-editor of The Public Interest
magazine, proposed a doctrine of "global unilateralism" that
urged the United States to adopt a less risk averse policy and
become "far less inhibited in its use of military power." He
believed the U.S. would be better off acting alone than in concert
with allies "who were hampered by a failure of will, a loss of
faith in their own values, and a barely submerged hostility
toward Jews-which they manifested in an incurable hostility to
Israel." Irving Kristol is considered to be the "godfather" of
neoconservatism, and is the actual father of William Kristol, who
served as Vice President Dan Quayle's chief of staff. William
Kristol is editor of The Weekly Standard magazine, and is one of
America's most ardent "neocons." 401

In 1991, shortly after failing to remove Saddam overtly,
President Bush Sr. signed a secret directive ordering the CIA to
conduct a covert operation to overthrow him. The CIA
employed a public relations firm and spent more than $23
million producing videos and comic books ridiculing Saddam
and broadcasting radio programs over Iraqi airwaves mocking
his government. None of these were effective; however, the firm
helped organize the Iraqi National Congress (INC) to merge
various groups who opposed Saddam. The CIA appointed
Ahmed Chalabi as the head of the INC in 1992, although he had
been criminally convicted in 1989 in Jordan and was wanted to
serve a 22-year prison term for fraud and embezzlement of $70
million. The CIA channeled $12 million to the INC between 1992
and 1996, even though Chalabi failed to properly account for the
funds. 402

In 1992, Paul Wolfowitz was working on a policy paper for
then Secretary of Defense Cheney and included arguments for
an invasion of Iraq in a draft of the "Defense Policy Guidance."
The invasion proposal was leaked to the media, and President
Bush Sr. publicly rejected it. 403

In 1996, Richard Perle was working for Benjamin Netanyahu,
who was seeking election as Israel's prime minister. Perle co-

150 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

authored a study, "A Clean Break," in which he argued for a
"focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq-an
important Israeli strategic objective in its own right-as a means
of foiling Syria." 404

In 1996, William Kristol co-authored a document entitled,
"Toward a Neo-Reaganite Foreign Policy," 405 which became an
inspiration for the neocon movement. The next year, Kristol
helped establish The Project for the New American Century
(PNAC) at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative
think tank. Other founders included Dick Cheney, Donald
Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Newt Gingrich, Jeb Bush, and
Richard Perle (an associate of Chalabi).* PNAC advocated taking
a harder line with Iraq and lobbied for higher military spending
in a return to the "peace through strength" policies of the
Reagan administration. 406

In 1998, Congress was considering the Iraqi Liberation Act,
which endorsed a "regime change" in Iraq as U.S. policy and
authorized $97 million to help opposition groups make the
change. PNAC lobbied for its passage, and Paul Wolfowitz
testified that the act would get rid of Saddam without the
necessity of U.S. troops, saying "Help the Iraqi people remove
him from power. However-and I think this is very important-
the estimate that it would take a major invasion with U.S.
ground forces seriously overestimates Saddam Hussein." 407

In 1998, some of the PNAC founders, including Rumsfeld,
Wolfowitz, Kristol, Perle and others, wrote to President Clinton
and urged him "to take the necessary steps, including military
steps [in Iraq] to protect our vital interest in the Gulf." They
argued that Clinton "should aim, above all, at the removal of
Saddam Hussein's regime from power." 408

* Many neocons have also been labeled as "Chicken Hawks," because
they successfully managed to avoid actual military service, including
George W. and Jeb Bush, Cheney, Perle, Wolfowitz, William Kristol,
and Rush Limbaugh. (Lobe, Jim, "The Chicken Hawk Factor,"
AlterNet.org.)

Bush's War 151

In concert with the 2000 presidential campaign, PNAC
published a report entitled "Rebuilding America's Defenses:
Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century" as a military
battle plan for world domination.* The report was built upon the
Department of Defense's published policy in 1992 under Cheney
for "maintaining U.S. preeminence, precluding the rise of a great
power rival, and shaping the international security order in line
with American principles and interests." 409 According to PNAC,
as the "world's only superpower," which "faces no global rival,
America's grand strategy should aim to preserve and extend this
advantageous position as far into the future as possible." The
report called for the development of "a new family of nuclear
weapons ... safer and more effective nuclear weapons" required
"in targeting the very deep, underground bunkers that are being
built by many of our potential adversaries." Conventional
nuclear weapons and ICBM's were to "provide a secure basis for
U.S. power projection around the world." 410

To accomplish America's mission, the report stated that the
United States must "perform the 'constabulary' duties associated
with shaping the security environment in critical regions." The
report called for the deployment of U.S. troops throughout the
world as the "first line of defense" of America's "security
perimeter," to serve as "the cavalry on the new American
frontier." The report recommended new permanent and
"forward operating" military bases in the Middle East and
Southeast Asia. In the Persian Gulf, from an "American
perspective, the value of such bases would endure even should
Saddam pass from the scene ... and retaining forward-based
forces in the region would ... be an essential element in U.S.
security strategy given the longstanding American interests in

* PNAC called for the U.S. to "Control the New 'International
Commons' of Space and 'Cyberspace,' and pave the way for the
creation of a new military service-U.S. Space Forces-with the mission
of space control." The report envisioned a world-wide deployment of
an "effective, robust, layered, global system of missile defenses" based
on an array of "global reconnaissance and targeting satellites ... linked
to a global network of space-based interceptors (or space-based
lasers)." ("Rebuilding America's Defenses," pp. v, 54.)

152 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

the region." The report goes on, "The United States has for
decades sought to play a more permanent role in Gulf regional
security. While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the
immediate justification, the need for a substantial American
force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of
Saddam Hussein." 411 Read "American interests" as "O-I-L" and
"immediate justification" as an excuse for invasion.

As soon as he took office, Bush established the removal of
Saddam as an immediate priority. The subject was discussed at
his very first National Security Council meeting and a
memorandum was circulated that outlined a "Plan for post
Saddam Iraq." 412

Upon hearing about the 9/11 attack, Rumsfeld made the
following notes that were later leaked to the news media: "Best
info fast. Judge whether good enough hit S.H. [Saddam
Hussein] at same time. Not only UBL [Osama bin Laden]. Go
massive. Sweep it all up. Things related and not." 413 Crazy or
not, it is clear that Iraq was a target from the beginning and had
been for a long time.

The day after the 9/11 attack, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz
pressured Bush to target Iraq in the first battles against
terrorism, and Wolfowitz argued in a National Security Council
meeting that Iraq was an easier target than Afghanistan. 414
Rumsfeld complained there were insufficient targets in
Afghanistan and that the U.S. should consider bombing Iraq
where there were better targets. Bush replied that the U.S.
should change Iraq's government, not just strike it with cruise
missiles. 415

On September 12, 2001, Bush instructed Clarke "to go back
over everything, everything. See if Saddam did this. See if he's
linked in any way." Clarke responded, 'But, Mr. President, al
Qaeda did this.... We have looked several times for state
sponsorship of al Qaeda and not found any real linkages to
Iraq." Bush again directed, "Look into Iraq, Saddam." 416

Clarke complied with Bush's direction and developed an
official position on the relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda.
"All agencies and departments agreed there was no cooperation

Bush's War 153

between the two. A memorandum to that effect was sent up to
the President,..." 417

At a National Security Council meeting on September 15,
2001, Secretary of State Powell spoke against starting a war with
Iraq. He argued that since we weren't going after Iraq before
9/11 and there was no evidence that it was responsible for the
attack, the coalition he was building would "view it as a bait and
switch— it's not what they signed up to do." 418 Richard Clarke
thanked Powell for his support saying, "Having been attacked
by al Qaeda, for us now to go bombing Iraq in response would
be like our invading Mexico after the Japanese attacked us at
Pearl Harbor." 419 Powell later tells General Hugh Shelton,
"What the hell! What are these guys thinking about? Can't you
get these guys back in the box?" 420

On September 20, 2001, PNAC sent a letter to Bush
encouraging him to extend the war to Iraq, as well as destroying
the al Qaeda network.* He was also urged to take measures
against Iran, Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority. 421

On September 20, 2001, Bush hosted British Prime Minister
Blair and England's Ambassador to the U.S., Sir Christopher
Meyer, at a private White House dinner where the subject of
discussion was the U.S. intention to remove Saddam Hussein
from power. According to Meyer, Blair told Bush he should not
get distracted from dealing with the Taliban and al Qaeda in
Afghanistan. Bush agreed saying, "We must deal with this first.
But when we have dealt with Afghanistan, we must come back
to Iraq. Even though forewarned, Blair continued to insist that
"no decisions had been taken" regarding Iraq until just before
the subsequent invasion. 422

On January 8, 2002, the Pentagon provided Congress with a
secret report that detailed its contingency plans to use nuclear
weapons as a tool for fighting wars, as well as for deterrence.
The Pentagon had to be prepared to use nuclear weapons
against hardened targets designed to withstand conventional
attack or "in the event of surprising military developments." 423

* The letter was signed by 20 PNAC members, all but one of whom are
Chicken Hawks.

154 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

So we establish all these new military bases where we may not
be entirely welcome and then we go nuclear if they try to throw
us out and we get into trouble? Somewhere along the way, we
forgot the principles of "how to win friends and influence
people" — to put it mildly.

In early February 2002, in response to rumors that U.S.
attacks on Iraq were inevitable, Richard Perle, who had become
one of Rumsfeld's senior advisors, stated, "I don't think there's
anything Saddam Hussein could do that would convince us
there's no longer any danger coming from Iraq." He said that
Bush was on "a very clear path" in the direction of war with
Iraq. 424

In March 2002, Cheney confidentially informed a group of
U.S. senators that "The question was no longer if the U.S. would
attack Iraq." The only question was when. 425

On June 1, 2002, President Bush spoke at the West Point
graduation ceremony, telling cadets that "The only path to safety
is action, and this nation will act." He said that all Americans
must be "ready for preemptive action when necessary to defend
our liberty and to defend our lives." "If we wait for threats to
fully materialize, we will have waited too long." 426

On September 20, 2002, Bush released "The National Security
Strategy of the United States," in which enemies are to be
prevented from even threatening us with weapons of mass
destruction. In the future, the United States will be defended
"by identifying and destroying the threat before it reaches our
borders. While the United States will constantly strive to enlist
the support of the international community, we will not hesitate
to act alone, if necessary, to exercise our right of self defense by
acting preemptively against such terrorists."

While in the past, the legitimacy of preemption was
predicated upon the existence of "an imminent threat-most
often a visible mobilization of ... forces preparing to attack,"
Bush now declared: "We must adapt the concept of imminent
threat to the capabilities and objectives of today's adversaries."
And, "The greater the threat, the greater is the risk of inaction-
and the more compelling the case for taking anticipatory action

to defend ourselves, even if uncertainty remains as to the time
and place of the enemy's attack." 427 What then is the standard,
and who judges us if we are wrong?

In 1953, after he reviewed plans to launch a preventive war
against the Soviet Union, President Eisenhower stated, "All of us
have heard this term 'preventive war' since the earliest days of
Hitler. I recall that is about the first time I heard it. In this day
and time ... I don't believe there is such a thing; and, frankly, I
wouldn't even listen to anyone seriously that came in and talked
about such a thing." 428

As justification for Bush's War, the White House relied upon
misleading information provided by Chalabi and the INC over
the more accurate intelligence provided by the CIA. The
Pentagon brought pressure on the CIA to produce more
supportive intelligence reports; however, the CIA viewed
Chalabi as being ineffectual and the INC as corrupt. Vincent
Cannistraro, a former senior CIA official, stated that the INC's
intelligence wasn't "reliable at all. ... Much of it is propaganda ...
telling the Defense Department what they want to hear ... they
make no distinction between intelligence and propaganda, using
alleged informants and defectors who say what Chalabi wants
them to say, [creating] cooked information that goes right into
presidential and vice-presidential speeches." 429

Two days before Baghdad fell, the Pentagon flew members
of the "Free Iraqi Forces," the military wing of the INC, into Iraq.
Chalabi set up shop with his daughter in the Hunting Club, a
former hangout of Saddam's son, Uday. 430 On May 5, 2003, the
U.S. administrator, General Jay Garner, appointed Chalabi as
one of five members of the interim government.

Why was all the attention paid to Iraq? Why were so many
members of the Bush administration so determined to fight a
war against Iraq, and why was it so important to get Chalabi
into power? The answer should not even require a clue, but let's
spell it out. Iraq has proven "O-I-L" reserves of 112 billion
barrels, second only to Saudi Arabia in the world. 431 Chalabi and
the INC believe that Iraq's oil resources should be explored and
extracted by a private consortium of oil companies, including
British Petroleum, ChevronTexaco, and ExxonMobil. 432

156 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

In September 2002, Ariel Cohen of the Heritage Foundation,
which has close links with the Bush administration, presented
"The future of a Post-Saddam Iraq: A Blueprint for American
Involvement," which lays out a plan for the privatization of
Iraq's oil industry, and a warning that French, Russian, and
Chinese oil contracts would not be honored by the new INC-led
government. Cohen's proposal would split up the Iraqi National
Oil Company into three large companies, generally in line with
the ethnic and geographic divisions of Shia, Sunni, and Kurd. 433
So much for self-determination.

In October 2002, Chalabi met with the executives of three
U.S. oil companies to negotiate the division of Iraq's oil reserves
once Saddam was eliminated. Although Iraq has existing oil
contracts with Russia, France, and China, Chalabi has stated that
he would reward the United States with lucrative oil contracts
for removing Saddam, and that "American companies will have
a big shot at Iraqi oil." 434

In addition to simple greed on the part of the oil companies,
the neocons want to destroy OPEC, which they believe to be evil,
i.e., incompatible with American business interests.
Strategically, they want to reduce the United States' reliance
upon Saudi oil and diminish Saudi Arabia's influence on world
oil prices through its dominance of OPEC. In their view, once
the oil starts flowing from an Iraq controlled by the United
States, it will be much more difficult for OPEC to control prices.

On January 16, 2003, the Wall Street Journal reported that
government officials had been meeting informally with
executives from Halliburton, Schlumberger, ExxonMobil,
ChevronTexaco and ConocoPhillips to plan the expansion of
Iraq's oil production once Bush's War secured the fields. 435

Any question about Bush's business intentions in Iraq seems
to have been laid to rest on July 17, 2003, when Judicial Watch, a
conservative public interest group that investigates and
prosecutes government corruption and abuse, revealed the
product of its Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the

Bush's War 157

Department of Energy.* Surrendered documents from Cheney's
energy task force included a map of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines,
refineries and terminals, as well as two charts detailing Iraqi oil
and gas projects, and "Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield
Contracts." 436 Perhaps now we can better understand why
Cheney continues to be so afraid to reveal the participants and
proceedings of his task force. Moreover, is it any surprise that,
following the invasion, the Pentagon was more interested in
protecting Iraq's oil infrastructure than its archeological
treasures? 437

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz eliminated any
doubt as to Bush's intentions in Iraq when he candidly answered
a reporter's question about why North Korea, a nuclear power,
was being treated differently than Iraq, where no weapons of
mass destruction were located. Wolfowitz stated, "Let's look at
it simply. The most important difference between North Korea
and Iraq is that economically, we just had no choice in Iraq. The
country swims on a sea of oil." 438

More than the oil, there is yet another reason why Bush and
his gang of neocons were so eager to go to war with Iraq.
According to Olivier Roy, a specialist on the Islamic world at the
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, the "professional
thinkers" at the American Enterprise Institute believed "the
Israeli-Palestinian stalemate is America's most worrisome
foreign entanglement, and can be broken only if the overall
existing order in the Middle East is shaken up first." Roy goes
on to observe:

* Cheney continued to refuse to reveal who met with his energy task
force and appealed the District Court's order. After the U.S. Court of
Appeals in Washington upheld the order, U.S. Solicitor General
Theodore B. Olson filed an appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court. On
December 15, 2003, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal.
Three weeks later, Cheney flew with Justice Antonin Scalia on Air
Force Two to a duck hunting expedition in Louisiana. Should Scalia
recuse himself from hearing the case? He says no. "I do not think my
impartiality could reasonably be questioned?" (Savage, David G.,
"Senators Inquire of Justices' Recusal Rules," Los Angeles Times, January
23, 2004, p. A10.)

158 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

In this sense, the rationale for the military campaign in
Iraq was not that Iraq was the biggest threat but, on the
contrary, that it was the weakest and hence the easiest
to take care of. The invasion was largely aimed at
demonstrating America's political will and commitment
to go to war. Reshaping the Middle East does not mean
changing borders, but rather threatening existing
regimes through military pressure and destabilizing
them with calls for democratization.
After Baghdad's fall, Tehran, Damascus and Riyadh
should understand that America is back. The Israelis,
for their part, are now insisting that the Iranian nuclear
program be dealt with immediately. Pentagon officials
hint that Syria is the next target. 439

In late 2003, Bush poured gasoline on the flames of endless
war in the Middle East by giving Israel 100 Harpoon cruise
missiles, which Israel immediately equipped with nuclear
weapons and installed aboard three submarines purchased from
Germany. These missiles provide Israel with the ability to strike
any of its enemies in the Middle East, including all sites where
Iran may be working on nuclear weapons.

According to a story in the Los Angeles Times, "Arab
diplomats and UN. officials said Israel's steady enhancement of
its secret nuclear arsenal, and U.S. silence about it, has increased
the desire of Arab states for similar weapons. 'The presence of a
nuclear weapon program in the region that is not under
international safeguards gives other countries the spur to
develop weapons of mass destruction,' said Nabil Fahmy,
Egypt's ambassador to the United States. 'Any future conflict
becomes more dangerous.'" 440

Relying upon Bush's doctrine of preemptive war, a
spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry insisted, "Israel views
every state that is harboring terrorist organizations and the
leaders of those terrorist organizations who are attacking
innocent citizens of the state of Israel as legitimate targets of self
defense" 441

Bush's War 159

In February 2003, Undersecretary of State John Bolton
reassured Israeli officials that America would deal with Syria,
Iran, and North Korea after it finished with Iraq. He later
argued to Congress that Syria's possession of chemical and
biological weapons posed a threat to the stability in the Middle
East. One CIA official said that the neocons "want to go there
next." 442

William Kristol would seem to agree. He writes, "President
Bush is committed, pretty far down the road. The logic of events
says you can't go halfway. You can't liberate Iraq, then quit." 443

Richard Perle goes even further, "This is total war, ... We are
fighting a variety of enemies. There are lots of them out there.
All this talk about first we are going to do Afghanistan, then we
will do Iraq ... this is entirely the wrong way to go about it. If we
just let our vision of the world go forth, and we embrace it
entirely and we don't try to piece together clever diplomacy, but
just wage a total war ... our children will sing great songs about
us years from now." 444

When Rumsfeld was asked what would constitute a victory
in Bush's War, he stated, "Now, what is victory? I say that
victory is persuading the American people and the rest of the
world that this is not a quick matter that's going to be over in a
month or a year or even five years. It is something that we need
to do so that we can continue to live in a world with powerful
weapons and with people who are willing to use those powerful
weapons. And we can do that as a country. And that would be
a victory, in my view" 445

Thus, Bush's War may never end and victory becomes our
approval. On another occasion Rumsfeld said the war could last
as long as the cold war, perhaps for 50 years, and Cheney said it
could go on for a "long, long time, perhaps indefinitely." 446

Bush himself says, "Our war with terror begins with al
Qaeda, but it does not end ... until every terrorist group of global
reach has been found stopped and defeated." In doing so, Bush
doesn't mind if we alienate the rest of the world, "At some point,
we may be the only ones left. ... That's OK with me. We are
America." 447

160 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Thus it was that Bush's endless war came to be invented. Is
this the kind of world you want to live in? Have you ever read
2984? If not, you should. You're not stupid! Get the truth.

The Propaganda and Politics of Bush's War

During his trial for war crimes at Nuremberg, Hermann
Goering stated, "Of course the people don't want war. But after
all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and
it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's
a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a
communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can
always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy.
All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and
denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the
country to greater danger. It works the same way in every
country." 448 And it has worked that way in America for the past
three years.

Shortly after 9/11, Rumsfeld established the Office of
Strategic Influence (OSI) in the Department of Defense to
provide news items, including false information, to foreign
media organizations and the Internet. OSI was provided with a
multimillion-dollar budget to use disinformation and other
covert activities, any of which could easily flow back to the
United States and be republished and rebroadcast to domestic
audiences as fact.

Following an outpouring of opposition on editorial pages
and in Congress, Rumsfeld closed down the operation, saying he
had never seen its charter. Bush promised, "We'll tell the
American people the truth." Another pair of lies. In a later
moment of candor, Rumsfeld said, "And then there was the
Office of Strategic Influence. You may recall that. And 'Oh, my
goodness gracious, isn't that terrible, Henny Penny, the sky is
going to fall.' I went down that next day and said fine, if you
want to savage this thing, fine, I'll give you the corpse. There's
the name. You can have the name, but I'm going to keep doing
every single thing that needs to be done, and I have." 449

In the summer of 2002, Bush's chief of staff, Andrew Card,
told the New York Times, "From a marketing point of view, you

Bush's War 161

don't introduce new products in August." Card described a
"meticulously planned strategy to persuade the public, the
Congress, and the allies, of the need to confront the threat from
Saddam Hussein." 450 Far better to launch the campaign on a
symbolic date, like September 11 th and in conjunction with the
Congressional mid-term elections.

The White House created an Office of Global
Communications and funded it with $200 million to use
advertising techniques to persuade targeted groups that Saddam
must be removed. There was a daily meeting to plan media
strategy and to keep everyone on message. The White House
instructed all civilian and military employees to refer to the
invasion as a "war of liberation," and to refer to Iraqi
paramilitary forces as "death squads." 451

An observer of Rove's tricks over the years shared his
thoughts about Rove's use of provocative language in politics:
"it was starting to look like we couldn't win the war on
terrorism. Rather than lose that war we redefine that war.
Suddenly it wasn't the people who were terrorists who killed us.
It was evil itself. They [Bush and Rove] can apply that to anyone
they want. Tom Daschle or Hussein." 452 Another observer
added, "Timing is everything in politics and it certainly is
helping. ... I think it happened slowly through the Pentagon and
[Paul] Wolfowitz leading and Cheney right there with him and
Karl put his arms around it and said, 'Yeah, this is gonna help
us.'" 453 A merging of interests, "Chicken Hawks" plus "Turd
Blossom" equals war without end.

Propaganda, or media manipulation, is used to influence the
thinking of others. We have come to rely upon public opinion
polls to gauge the results, and there are two sets of data that
seem relevant here. On the morning of September 11, 2001,
Bush's standing in opinion polls hovered at 50 percent, but with
the crisis, it jumped to 82 percent within two days. 454 If only we
had known then what Bush had known when.

Shortly before Congress authorized Bush's War against Iraq
in October 2002, a CBS news poll found that 51 percent of
Americans believed that Saddam was involved in the 9/11
attacks. Later, the Pew Research Center found that two thirds of

162 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Americans agreed that "Saddam Hussein helped the terrorists in
the September 11 attacks." 455 (The percentage later rose to
approximately 70 percent, but more about that later.)

Another poll in January 2003 found that 44 percent of
Americans believed "most" or "some" of the 9/11 terrorists were
Iraqi citizens. Only 17 percent were aware that none were.
From this we can see that Bush's propaganda had produced
results. 456 We came to believe something that even Bush had
never said. Of course, Saddam had nothing at all to do with the
9/11 attacks.

However, by March 14, 2003, Bush's approval ratings had
again fallen to 53 percent, essentially where it was before 9/11.
Then, once he declared Bush's War on March 18, 2003, he got the
crisis bounce back up to 68 percent. 457

Common sense tells us that the greater knowledge we have,
the better decisions we make. However, war propaganda is not
used to inform people; rather, it is intended to mislead people
into believing that war is in their best interest. In 1991, a study
at the University of Massachusetts correlated public opinion and
knowledge of basic facts about the Gulf War. It found "a strong
correlation between knowledge and opposition to the war. The
more people know, in other words, the less likely they were to
support the war policy." 458

Were you misled by Bush's propaganda? Did you come to
believe that Saddam was somehow responsible for the 9/11
attacks? You're not stupid! Get the truth.

A Litany of Lies

Once Bush decided to go to war against Iraq, he and senior
members of his administration constantly lied to and misled the
American public about Iraq's possession of weapons of mass
destruction and its relationship to al Qaeda.

In July 2002, Richard Perle said, "It is likely that chemical
weapons, biological weapons in the possession of the Iraqis
derived during the Cold War from the Soviet Union, are now
being disseminated to terrorists." 459 In truth, if Saddam had
hidden such weapons and had provided them to these terrorists,

Bush's War 163

it is just as likely that they would have used them on him as on
us, since they despised him and his corrupt secular regime.

In August 2002, Rumsfeld lied in saying it "is a fact that there
are al Qaeda in a number of locations in Iraq." When asked in
September 2002, Condoleezza Rice repeated the lie: "There is
certainly evidence that al Qaeda people have been in Iraq. There
is certainly evidence that Saddam Hussein cavorts with
terrorists." 460 In fact, Greg Thielmann, a former official in the
State Department's intelligence office, later said, "The al Qaeda
connection and nuclear weapons issue were the only two ways
that you could link Iraq to an imminent security threat to the
U.S., and the administration was grossly distorting the
intelligence on both things." 461

It was not that the Bush administration was ignorant about
the absence of Iraqi links with terrorism. Even his father's
former National Security Advisor attempted to educate him.
General Brent Scowcroft wrote in August 2002: "But there is
scant evidence to tie Saddam to terrorist organizations, and even
less to the September 11 attacks. Indeed Saddam's goals have
little in common with the terrorists who threaten us, and there is
little incentive for him to make common cause with them." 462

In August 2002, Cheney said: "Many of us are convinced
that Saddam Hussein will acquire nuclear weapons fairly
soon." 463 He may have been convinced by his own self-delusion,
but in truth, the CIA had absolutely no evidence that Iraq had or
would soon have nuclear weapons. In fact, the Washington Post
later reported that Cheney and his chief of staff repeatedly
visited CIA headquarters and that some analysts "felt they were
being pressured to make their assessments fit with the Bush
administration's policy objectives." 464

On August 26, 2002, Cheney lied: "Simply stated, there's no
doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass
destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use
against our friends, against our allies, and against us." 465 The
truth is that Saddam no longer possessed weapons of mass
destruction. The fact is that Cheney knew his statements were
untrue, because he had been pressuring intelligence analysts to
alter their findings. Christian Westermann, a senior intelligence

164: You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

analyst at the State Department and an expert on biological and
chemical weapons, later revealed that he had been pressured to
alter his conclusions to conform to the administration's policy. 466

In September 2002, Cheney lied, or was at best disingenuous,
when he stated that "Mohamed Atta, who was the lead hijacker,
did apparently travel to Prague on a number of occasions. And
on at least one occasion, we have reporting that places him in
Prague with a senior Iraqi intelligence official a few months
before the attack on the World Trade Center." In truth, the CIA
had concluded there was no evidence to support the
"reporting," and U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials
actually believed that Atta wasn't even in Prague at the time. In
fact, Czech President Vaclav Havel quietly told the White House
in October there was no evidence to support the claim. 467

On September 3, 2002, Rumsfeld lied, "It is the Iraqis that
ended the inspections; that we know. We protested when the
Iraqis threw the inspectors out. ... Would it be nice if they had
not thrown the inspectors out? Yes, that would have been
preferable." 468 In truth, the United Nations pulled the inspectors
out for their own safety because the United States was preparing
to bomb Iraq.

On September 7, 2002, Bush lied about a report issued by the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA): "I would remind
you that when the inspectors first went to Iraq and were denied,
finally denied access, a report came out of the Atomic-the
IAEA-that they were six months away from developing a
weapon. I don't know what more evidence we need." 469 The
truth is that the IAEA never issued any such report. In fact, the
IAEA issued a report in 1998 that said, "Based on all credible
information to date, the IAEA has found no indication of Iraq
having achieved its program goal of producing nuclear weapons
or of Iraq having retained a physical capability for the
production of weapon-useable nuclear material or having
clandestinely obtained such material." 470

To cover up for the first lie, the White House told another
and said that Bush had really been referring to a 1991 IAEA
report that said Iraq was within six months of building a nuclear
weapon. However, the truth is that there was no such report.

Then, to cover up for the second lie, the White House told yet
another and said that Bush was actually referring to an
International Institute for Strategic Studies report that had
concluded that Iraq could develop a nuclear bomb in as few as
six months. However, the truth is that first, the report didn't
actually say that, and second, it wasn't even issued until two
days after Bush's speech. 471 (Is it time to say, "Liar, Liar, pants
on fire?")

On September 8, 2002, Condoleezza Rice confirmed Iraq's
attempt to purchase aluminum tubes that "are only suited for
nuclear weapons programs, centrifuge programs. ... The problem
here is that there will always be some uncertainty about how
quickly he can acquire nuclear weapons, but we don't want the
smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud." 472

On September 8, 2002, Cheney said, "We don't have all the
evidence [but evidence] tells us that he [Saddam] is in fact
actively and aggressively seeking to acquire nuclear
weapons." 473

Regarding Iraq's nuclear weapons program, former UN
weapons inspector Scott Ritter stated, "When I left Iraq in 1998,
when the UN. inspection program ended, the infrastructure and
facilities had been 100 percent eliminated. There's no debate
about that. All of their instruments and facilities had been
destroyed. The weapons design facility had been destroyed.
The production equipment had been hunted down and
destroyed. ... We can say unequivocally that the industrial
infrastructure needed by Iraq to produce nuclear weapons has
been eliminated." 474

On September 12, 2002, Bush addressed the delegates of the
United Nations and said that what makes Saddam Hussein
dangerous are his weapons. Bush then lied to them: "United
Nations inspections [in the 1990s] ... revealed that Iraq likely
maintains stockpiles of VX, mustard and other chemical agents
and that the regime is rebuilding and expanding facilities
capable of producing chemical weapons." 475

The truth is that when U.N. inspectors were pulled out of
Iraq in 1998, they may have had some lingering questions about

166 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

the existence of hidden chemical weapons, but they did not
know it as an established fact. In fact, Rolf Ekeus, the former
executive chairman of the inspection program, stated in 2000,
"UNSCOM was highly successful in identifying and eliminating
Iraq's prohibited weapons-but to the degree that everything was
destroyed. ... In my view, there are no large quantities of
weapons." 476

In the same speech, Bush lied to the delegates of the United
Nations and to the world when he referred to Iraq's "continued
appetite" for nuclear weapons. As evidence, he claimed that
Saddam purchased thousands of high-strength aluminum tubes
to be "used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons." He stated,
"Iraq has made several attempts to buy high-strength aluminum
tubes used to enrich uranium for a nuclear weapon. Should Iraq
acquire fissile material, it would be able to build a nuclear
weapon within a year."

In fact, the unanimous opinion of Department of Energy
experts was that the tubes in question were not intended for use
in centrifuges, since aluminum had not been used is centrifuge
construction since the 1950s, they were too long, the walls were
excessively thick, and the diameters were too narrow. However,
the experts were ordered by the White House to remain silent. 477

In addition, the IAEA, in January 2003, stated that the size of
the tubes was identical to those Iraq had used previously to
make conventional artillery rockets. Powell later repeated the lie
in his speech to the UN on February 5, 2003. 478

On September 13, 2002, Rumsfeld said: "There's no debate in
the world as to whether they have those weapons. ... We all
know that. A trained ape knows that." 479

On September 19, 2002, Rumsfeld told Congress that "There
are a number of terrorist states pursuing weapons of mass
destruction, but no terrorist state poses a greater or more
immediate threat to the security of our people than the regime of
Saddam Hussein and Iraq. 480

On September 26, 2002, Rumsfeld lied when he said he had
"bulletproof" evidence that Saddam and bin Laden were
connected. 481 In fact, there was no such evidence, and Rumsfeld

Bush's War 167

has yet to produce a smoking gun. In September 2003,
Rumsfeld, in response to a question about a poll that showed up
to 70 percent of Americans believing that Hussein was connected
with 9/11, stated, "I've not seen any indication that would lead
me to believe I could say that." 482

On September 28, 2002, Bush said: "The Iraqi regime
possesses biological and chemical weapons, is rebuilding the
facilities to make more, and according to the British government,
could launch a biological or chemical attack in as little as 45
minutes after the order is given." 483

On October 7, 2002, Bush lied during a speech in Cincinnati
regarding Saddam's nuclear weapons program, saying that Iraq
was "rebuilding facilities at sites that have been part of its
nuclear program in the past." 484 The truth is that when
inspectors searched those sites a few weeks later, they found "At
the majority of these sites, the equipment and laboratories have
deteriorated to such a degree that the resumption of nuclear
activities would require substantial renovation." 485

Bush continued to lie during his Cincinnati speech when he
stated that Saddam was a "significant danger to America," and
that "Iraq could decide on any given day to provide a biological
or chemical weapon to a terrorist group or individual terrorists.
Alliance with terrorists could allow the Iraqi regime to attack
America without leaving any fingerprints." 486

In truth, CIA director George Tenet reported that "Baghdad
for now appears to be drawing a line short of conducting
terrorist attacks with conventional or CBW (chemical and
biological weapons) against the United States. Tenet then went
on to warn, "Should Saddam conclude that a U.S.-led attack [against
Iraq] could no longer be deterred, he probably would become much less
constrained in adopting terrorist actions." Saddam might conclude
"that the extreme step of assisting Islamist terrorists in conducting a
WMD attack against the United States would be his last chance to
exact vengeance by taking a large number of victims with him.
(emphasis added)" 487

On November 7, 2002, Bush was asked during a press
conference about Tenet's warning. Bush stammered and lied:

168 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

"I'm sure that he said other sentences. ... I know George Tenet
well. I meet with him every single day. He sees Saddam
Hussein as a threat. I don't know what the context of that quote
is. I'm telling you, the guy knows what I know, that he is a
problem and we must deal with him. ... Well, if we don't do
something he might attack us, and he might attack us with a
more serious weapon. The man is a threat. ... He's a threat
because he is dealing with al Qaeda." 488 In truth, the intelligence
community had no such evidence, and Bush knew that Saddam
was not involved in the 9/11 attacks.

According to a story in USA Today, Cheney and Rumsfeld
had pressured the CIA to confirm reports that al Qaeda
members were "hiding in Iraq with Saddam's blessings." The
agency could not. Another story in the Los Angeles Times noted,
"Senior Bush administration officials are pressuring CIA
analysts to tailor their assessments of the Iraqi threat to help
build a case against Saddam Hussein." Sources identified these
officials as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz. 489

On November 20, 2002, Bush gave a speech in Prague in
which he lied: "Our goal is to secure the peace through the
comprehensive and verified disarmament of Iraq's weapons of
mass destruction." Or, was Cheney lying when he said in early
September, "The president made it clear that the goal of the
United States is regime change." 490

On December 2, 2002, Wolfowitz said that Bush's
"determination to use force if necessary is because of the threat
posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction." 491

On December 5, 2002, Fleischer said: "The president of the
United States and the secretary of defense would not assert as
plainly and bluntly as they have that Iraq has weapons of mass
destruction if it was not true, and if they did not have a solid
basis for saying it." 492

On December 12, 2002, Rumsfeld said: "It is clear that the
Iraqis have weapons of mass destruction. The issue is not
whether or not they have weapons of mass destruction." 493

Bush's War 169

On January 7, 2003, Rumsfeld said: "There is no doubt in my
mind but that they currently have chemical and biological
weapons." 494

On January 9, 2003, Fleischer said: "We know for a fact that
there are weapons there." 495

The truth of the matter is that back in September 2002, the
Defense Intelligence Agency had reported, "There is no reliable
information on whether Iraq is producing or stockpiling
chemical weapons, or whether Iraq has-or will-establish its
chemical warfare agent production facilities." 496

On January 28, 2003, in his State of the Union speech, Bush
stood before the American people, looked us in the eye, and once
more lied to us about Saddam's possession of nuclear weapons.
Even though he had earlier been caught in three different lies on
the same subject, he again lied when he said that the IAEA
"confirmed in the 1990's that Saddam Hussein had an advanced
nuclear weapons development program." 497 In truth, the IAEA
had maintained for years that it had destroyed Saddam's
program.

Bush again lied about Iraq's purchase of the high-quality
aluminum tubes "suitable for nuclear weapons production,"
even though the IAEA had already concluded that they were
"not directly suitable" for the refining of uranium. Moreover,
there was no secret about the acquisition, as Iraq had posted its
purchase order on the Internet. 498

Bush delivered his most deliberate lie when he said, "The
British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently
sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." In truth,
the CIA had informed the White House in March 2002 that it
could not confirm the "Niger" allegations and had labeled the
allegations as "highly dubious." In fact, the documents had been
shown to be crude forgeries. 499

In his speech to the United Nations on February 5, 2003,
Secretary of State Colin Powell was untruthful when he
described the "Khurmal" compound in northeastern Iraq
allegedly operated by the Islamist terrorist group Ansar al-Islam
as a "terrorist chemicals and poisons factory." 500 The truth is the

170 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

"compound" consisted of a few dilapidated concrete
outbuildings, with no evidence of chemicals whatsoever.
Tragically, the nearby town of Khurmal was mistakenly bombed
by cruise missiles in the first week of Bush's War, and 45
villagers were killed. 501

The Ansar al-Islam group was formerly known as Jund al-
Islam; it is a splinter of the Iranian-backed Islamic Unity
Movement of Kurdistan. Moreover, the group was actually
located in the Kurdish area outside of Saddam's control in the
northern no-fly zone. In fact, the group was attacked and many
were killed by the Kurds in early 2003 and the rest fled into
Iran. 502 Since the commencement of Bush's War, it appears that
Ansar and al Qaeda have begun to cooperate in their resistance
to the invasion. Ansar may be providing its knowledge of the
countryside and al Qaeda is providing explosives and volunteers
to act as suicide bombers. 503

Powell also repeated Bush's earlier lie to the delegates when
he said that "Most U.S. experts think they [the aluminum tubes]
are intended to serve as rotors in centrifuges used to enrich
uranium. Other experts, and the Iraqis themselves, say the tubes
were really for rockets." 504 As we have seen, most experts did
not believe the tubes were intended to enrich uranium.

On February 26, 2003, Bush addressed a partisan gathering
of the American Enterprise Institute at the Washington Hilton
Hotel, where he opined that at the Institute, "some of the finest
minds in our nation are at work on some of the greatest
challenges to our nation. You do such good work that my
administration has borrowed 20 such minds. ... We meet here
during a crucial period in the history of our nation, and of the
civilized world. Part of that history was written by others; the
rest will be written by us."

Unfortunately, the history written by the Institute moles in
Bush's administration, and by Bush himself, is replete with lies.
That night, Bush laced his speech with lies: "In Iraq, a dictator is
building and hiding weapons that could enable him to dominate
the Middle East and intimidate the civilized world. ... This same
tyrant has close ties to terrorist organizations, and could supply
them with the terrible means to strike this country. ... The safety

Bush's War 171

of the American people depends on ending this direct and
growing threat. Acting against the danger will also contribute
greatly to the long-term safety and stability of our world." 505

None of this was true. In fact, Bush's War has gravely
threatened the safety of the American people, and the stability of
the world has become greatly unbalanced as a consequence.

Do you believe Bush and his cohorts told you the truth to
justify his war? You're not stupid! Get the truth.

Milestones Along the Road to Bush's War

On November 21, 2001, Bush stated, "Afghanistan is just the
beginning of the war against terror. ... The most difficult steps in
this mission still lie ahead ... [because] there are other terrorists
who threaten America and our friends, and there are other
nations willing to sponsor them." 506

In his State of the Union address to Congress on January 29,
2002, Bush said that terrorist camps exist in "at least a dozen
countries." He said, "The United States of America will not
permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with
the world's most destructive weapons." First mentioning North
Korea and Iran, Bush said that Iraq had "agreed to international
inspection-then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime that
has something to hide from the civilized world. States like these,
and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, aiming to
threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass
destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger
(emphasis added)." 507

Following an eight-month campaign of propaganda and
deception, Bush made a speech in New York City on September
11, 2002, with the Statute of Liberty in the background; the next
day he requested the United Nations Security Council to
authorize his march to war, and a week later he asked Congress
to back him in his invasion of Iraq.

On October 10, the House of Representatives voted 296 to
133 to grant Bush the authority to attack Iraq, and the Senate
approved 77 to 23 the next day. Although a few members of
both parties crossed over the aisles to vote, the resolution was

172 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

largely supported by the Republicans and opposed by the
Democrats. Senior Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia
attempted to mount a filibuster, but was cut off. He said, "This
is the Tonkin Gulf resolution all over again. ... Let us stop, look
and listen. Let us not give this president or any president
unchecked power. Remember the Constitution." 508

The resolution authorized Bush "to use the Armed Forces of
the United States as he determines to be necessary and
appropriate in order to: "(1) defend the national security of the
United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and (2)
enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions
regarding Iraq." 509

On November 8, 2002, the members of the United Nations
Security Council, responding to intense pressure by the United
States, voted to adopt Resolution 1441 which afforded Iraq "a
final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations,"
and it "set up an enhanced inspection regime." It required Iraq
to provide, within 30 days, "a currently accurate, full, and
complete declaration of all aspects of its programmes to develop
chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, and
other delivery systems." It required Iraq to provide inspectors
with "immediate, unimpeded, unconditional, and unrestricted
access" to anything the inspectors wished to inspect.

The Security Council decided "to convene immediately upon
receipt of a report ... to consider the situation and the need for
full compliance with all of the relevant Council resolutions in
order to secure international peace and security;" it recalled "in
that context, that the Council has repeatedly warned Iraq that it
will face serious consequences as a result of its continued
violations of its obligations;" and finally, it decided "to remain
seized of the matter." 510 In other words, the Security Council
took all appropriate action to ensure that Iraq did not possess
weapons of mass destruction, and it kept the matter on its
agenda. It did not turn over enforcement of its resolution to the
United States!

The Security Council's intention to retain control was
confirmed by the United States' UN ambassador, John
Negroponte, who stated, "There's no 'automaticity,' and this is a

Bush's War 173

two-stage process. ... Whatever violation there is, or is judged to
exist, will be dealt with in the council, and the council will have
an opportunity to consider the matter before any other action is
taken." 5 "

Two days later, Bush's chief of staff, Andrew Card, stated:
"The UN can meet and discuss, but we don't need their
permission" before attacking Iraq. "The U.S. and our allies are
prepared to act." 512

Secretary of State Powell stated, "I can assure you that, if he
[Saddam Hussein] doesn't comply this time, we'll ask the U.N.
to give authorization for all necessary means, and if the U.N. is
not willing to do that, the United States, with like-minded
nations, will go and disarm him forcefully." 513

Richard Perle admitted that the U.S. would attack Iraq even
if the inspectors failed to find weapons, "All he [Dr. Hans Blix,
the Executive Chairman of the U.N. inspection teams] can know
is the results of his own investigations. And that does not prove
Saddam does not have weapons of mass destruction." 514

On November 14, 2002, Rumsfeld was asked what would
happen if the inspectors did not find weapons of mass
destruction, he answered, "What it would prove would be that
the inspection process has been successfully defeated by the
Iraqis." 515

On January 11, 2003, Cheney showed Saudi Ambassador
Prince Bandar the plans for the invasion of Iraq and asked if
Saudi Arabia was in or out. The Prince declined to commit until
he knew for sure the invasion was going to occur. Cheney told
him "You can count on this. You can take it to the bank. This is
going to happen." The next day, Bush asked Prince Bandar,
"Any questions for me?" Bandar replied no, and Bush said,
"The message you're taking is mine." 516

On January 27, 2003, Dr. Blix reported to the United Nations
that (1) Iraq submitted a 12,000 page declaration in compliance
with Rule 1441 and, while most was a reprint of earlier
documents, "in the fields of missiles and biotechnology, the
declaration contains a good deal of new material and
information covering the period from 1998 and onward. This is

174: You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

welcome." (2) While there had been some problems, "Iraq has on
the whole cooperated rather well so far with UNMOVIC in this
field. The most important point to make is that access has been
provided to all sites we have wanted to inspect and with one
exception it has been prompt. We have further had great help in
building up the infrastructure of our office in Baghdad and the
field office in Mosul. Arrangements and services for our planes
and our helicopters have been good. The environment has been
workable." (3) In the preceding two months, 300 inspections at
more than 230 different sites were conducted, including 20 sites
never before inspected; and (4) UNMOVIC had established "an
inspection apparatus that permits us to send multiple inspection
teams every day all over Iraq, by road or by air," all of which
was at the disposal of the Security Council. 517

On February 14, 2003, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, Director
General of the IAEA, reported to the United Nations Security
Council that "Iraq has continued to provide immediate access to
all locations." The IAEA completed a detailed review of the
2,000 pages of documents found at the private residence of an
Iraqi scientist and found nothing that was not already known to
the IAEA, nor anything to alter "the conclusions previously
drawn by the IAEA concerning the extent of Iraq's laser
enrichment programme." The report reiterated "by December
1998, that it had neutralized Iraq's past nuclear programme and
that, therefore, there were no unresolved disarmament issues left
at that time." It concluded: "We have to date found no
evidence of ongoing prohibited nuclear or nuclear related
activities in Iraq." 518

Bush refused to accept the observations and conclusions of
the United Nations and IAEA inspectors and continued to push
for a new Security Council resolution mandating an end to
inspections and immediate military action; however, on
February 24, 2003, France, Germany and Russia joined together
to issue a memorandum in which they concluded: "Full and
effective disarmament in accordance with the relevant UNSC
resolutions remains the imperative objective of the international
community. Our priority should be to achieve this peacefully
through the inspection regime. The military option should only

be a last resort. So far, the conditions for using force against Iraq
are not fulfilled. While suspicions remain, no evidence has been
given that Iraq still possesses weapons of mass destruction or
capabilities in this field; inspections have just reached their full
pace; they are functioning without hindrance; they have already
produced results." 519

With the threat of a veto in the Security Council by either
Russia or France, or both, Bush decided to ignore the United
Nations. He created a new "Transatlantic Alliance," consisting
of the United States, England and Spain to "face and overcome
together the twin threats of the 21 st century: terrorism and the
spread of weapons of mass destruction." 520

On March 16, 2003, the transatlantic triumvirate met in the
Azores and made their final plans for Bush's War. They issued a
"Statement of the Atlantic Summit," which warned, "The
responsibility is his. If Saddam refuses even now to cooperate
fully with the United Nations, he brings on himself the serious
consequences foreseen in UNSCR 1441 and previous
resolutions." 521 How was Saddam not cooperating? Who
appointed the triumvirate as the United Nation's police force,
and who gave Bush a badge?

On March 16, 2003, Cheney appeared on Meet the Press and
stated, "I think, if you look at the track record of the
International Atomic Energy Agency and this kind of issue,
especially where Iraq's concerned, they have consistently
underestimated or missed what it was Saddam Hussein was
doing. I don't have any reason to believe they're any more valid
this time than they've been in the past. We believe [Saddam]
has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons." 522

The following day, on March 17, 2003, Bush addressed the
American people and laid down a 48-hour ultimatum for
Saddam Hussein and his two sons to leave Iraq; otherwise,
"Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict,
commenced at a time of our choosing."

As justification for his demand, Bush continued his pattern
of lying to the American people: (1) "It [Iraq] has uniformly
defied Security Council resolutions demanding full

176 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

disarmament Peaceful efforts to disarm the Iraqi regime have

failed again and again." (2) "Intelligence gathered by this and
other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime
continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal
weapons ever devised." (3) Iraq "has aided, trained and
harbored terrorists, including operatives of al Qaeda " 523 Time
will tell that these were three of the greatest lies of this new
century.

Bush stated, "No nation can possibly claim that Iraq has
disarmed. ... Yet, some permanent members of the Security
Council have publicly announced they will veto any resolution
that compels the disarmament of Iraq. ... The United Nations
Security Council has not lived up to its responsibilities, so we
will rise to ours." He said, "The American people can know that
every measure has been taken to avoid war." 524

Every measure had not been taken to avoid war, and it was
not only the reasonableness of continued U.N. inspections that
could have avoided it. It later came out that Saddam was
desperately trying to make a last-minute deal with Bush to avoid
an invasion. Using a Lebanese- American businessman as a go-
between, Saddam was offering oil contracts for American
companies and to allow U.S. agents to search for weapons of
mass destruction. The offer eventually made it to the office of
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, where it was
presented to his aide, Jaymie Durnan. 525 The offer was never
acted upon because Bush was more interested in the ouster of
Saddam than in confirming that he did not have weapons of
mass destruction.

On March 19, 2003, at approximately 10:16 p.m., Bush
announced that, on his orders, military operations had
commenced "to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the
world from grave danger." He did so because we "will not live
at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with
weapons of mass murder." 526

Who was the outlaw threatening the peace? According to a
TIME EUROPE poll, 86.9 percent of over 700,000 respondents in
Europe consider the United States to pose the greatest danger to

world peace. Only 6.3 percent thought that Iraq was the most
serious threat. 527

Where are Iraq's weapons of mass destruction? Do you still
believe Iraq posed a grave danger to the United States? You're
not stupid! Get the truth.

The Shifting Mission in Bush's War

The United States had two objectives in its invasion of Iraq.
One, a regime change, took place rather quickly when Saddam
disappeared and the Iraqi army collapsed, with its soldiers either
surrendering or deserting. Under the Geneva Convention, the
United States and its coalition partners undertook the obligation
to govern the country. The second, the elimination of weapons
of mass destruction, was even easier, for there were none. To
make a long story short: nada, zip, none.

On March 25, 2003, Bush announced his war budget of $74.5
billion to protect the United States "from a brutal regime that is
armed with weapons that could kill thousands of innocent
people " 528 Rumsfeld repeatedly said that the immediate task
was "to find the weapons of mass destruction" and "to eliminate
the weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems,
production capabilities, and distribution networks." On March
30, 2003, he said, "We know where they are. They're in the area
around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south, and north
somewhat." 529

Less than two weeks later, on April 11, 2003, Rumsfeld
seemed to have become less concerned about weapons of mass
destruction (WMDs). He stated, "When there happens to be a
weapon of mass destruction site in an area that we occupy and if
people have time, they'll look at it." 530 When they have time?
What were they there for?

On April 17, 2003, Rumsfeld seems to have gotten lost
somewhere east, west, south and/ or north of Baghdad and/ or
Tikrit in his search for WMDs, admitting, "I don't think we'll
discover anything, myself. I think what will happen is we'll
discover people who will tell us where to go find it. It is not like
a treasure hunt where you just run around looking everywhere
hoping you find something." 531 The problem was, all of the

178 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

captured Iraqi officials were spilling their guts, but what they
were saying was that Iraq really, really did not have any WMDs.

Nonetheless, Bush continued to be convinced that he had
saved the world from Saddam's weapons of mass destruction:
"We know he had them. And whether he destroyed them,
moved them, or hid them, we're going to find out the truth." 532
Even so, it was time for Bush to duck and weave. The new line
from the White House was that the Iraqi had employed the very
latest in business school theory and relied upon a "just in time"
delivery system which ensured that no spare chemical
precursors were lying around on the shelf until just before they
were needed to be combined and loaded into shells or missiles —
now you see it, now you don't. 533

By mid-May, the 75 th Exploitation Task Force, whose job it
had been to find WMDs, was winding up and preparing to go
home. According to a story in the Washington Post, members
complained that they "consistently found targets identified by
Washington to be inaccurate, looted and burned, or both." 534

But in case all this is confusing you, rest assured you're not
alone. When asked about reports of the missing WMDs,
Rumsfeld stated, "Reports that say something hasn't happened
are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are
known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also
know there are known unknowns; that is to say, we know there
are some things we do not know. But, there are also unknown
unknowns-the ones we don't know we don't know." This
brilliant bit of logic earned Rumsfeld the BBC's 2003 "Foot in
Mouth" award. 535

With his usual regard for the truth, in late May 2003, Bush
responded to a Polish reporter's question about the absence of
WMDs: "We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found
biological laboratories. ... And we'll find more weapons as time
goes on. But for those who say we haven't found the banned
manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong. We
found them." 536 Perhaps he feels more secure telling such
whoppers when he's out of the country. Maybe, in a simple-
minded way, he actually believes that we won't hear about it, or
that we don't know that we know that we don't know.

Bush's War 179

By June 2003, it seems the administration was finally giving
up on actually finding WMDs, no matter Bush's delusions, and
the new mission settled on fighting terrorism. Wolfowitz said,
"The issue of WMDs has never been in controversy, where
there's been a lot of arguing back and forth about whether the
Iraqis have been involved in terrorism." 537

Someone changed Bush's cue card, and he too began to shift
the mission: "Intelligence throughout the decade showed they
had a weapons program. I am absolutely convinced, with time,
we'll find out that they did have a weapons program." 538 The
congressional resolution did not authorize him to find and
destroy weapons programs; it authorized him to wage war to find
and destroy actual weapons of mass destruction.

August 2003 brought yet another shift of mission in Bush's
War. L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. civilian administrator for Iraq,
marketed the latest theory. Regarding the influx of Islamic
militants into Iraq, he stated, "I suppose they could calculate that
if we can succeed in Iraq, it will change the entire structure of
this area of the world. And so it certainly is attracting a lot of
them here, and it shows what the stakes are for all Americans.
We've got to win this fight here." The Washington Times
reported, "Mr. Bremer avoided answering whether the Bush
administration set Iraq as a deliberate trap to capture terrorists,
although he previously has stated that it is 'better to fight it here
than to fight it somewhere else, like the United States.'" 539

Bremer was following Bush's lead, who had told reporters
on July 2, 2003, "There are some who feel that conditions are
such that they can attack us there. My answer is bring 'em
on." 540 Such is the braggadocio of a coward. One wonders if
Bush might feel differently about the cost of his war if he had
ever had a real fight in his life, if he had actually patrolled the
sky over North Viet Nam, rather than Houston, Texas, or if he
was a reservist facing hostile crowds in Falluja or Najaf. In the
real world, as of May 14, 2004, 571 of America's sons and
daughters have died in Iraq since Bush taunted the Iraqi
resistance to "bring 'em on." 541

Lt. General Ricardo S. Sanchez, the top military commander
in Iraq, said that Iraq was becoming a "terrorist magnet," which

180 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

was okay with him. He confided, "But this is exactly where we
want to fight them; we want to fight them here, we prepared for
them, and this will prevent the American people from having to
go through other attacks back in the United States" 542 Let's make
sure we understand this. We sent our sons and daughters to
fight in Iraq because we were told there were weapons of mass
destruction there, and when we find that there aren't any, we are
going to leave our children there as live bait for terrorists? I
don't think so.

And now we come to the enduring mission in Bush's never-
ending war. We are in Iraq to fight terrorism. However, in
actuality, we are fighting to overcome a primarily grassroots
resistance to our illegal invasion and occupation. We
euphemistically refer to this resistance as an insurgency.

There can be no retreat. On August 26, 2003, Bush stated,
"The civilized world will not be intimidated. Retreat in the face
of terror would only invite further and bolder attacks. There
will be no retreat. We are on the offensive." 543 Perhaps Bush
was suffering a hangover the morning in class when the battle of
Stalingrad was discussed and he failed to learn that lesson of
history. According to The Washington Times, Bush counsels that
"Americans must have patience as the nation begins a lengthy
battle to purge terrorism from the world."

Bush is wrong and his own experts know better. In January
2004, the Army War College published a report by Jeffrey
Record, a visiting research professor at the College's Strategic
Studies Institute, which called for a reduction in the war on
terrorism and a refocus on the al Qaeda threat. The report finds
Bush's endless war on terrorism may have set us "on a course of
open-ended and gratuitous conflict with states and non-state
entities that pose no serious threat to the United States."

According to the report, "The global war on terrorism as
presently defined and conducted is strategically unfocused,
promises much more than it can deliver, and threatens to
dissipate U.S. military and other resources in an endless and
hopeless search for absolute security. The United States may be
able to defeat, even destroy, al Qaeda, but it cannot rid the world
of terrorism, much less evil." Record says that Bush's War was

Bush's War 181

"an unnecessary preventative war" that has "diverted attention
and resources away from securing the American homeland
against further assault by an undeterrable al Qaeda." 544

In September 2002, Prince Moulay Hicham Ben Abdallah of
Morocco gave a speech at Princeton University. He said,
"Perhaps some American strategists now think it will be easy to
roll over these 'stirred-up' Muslims with military force alone.
But without a sophisticated concurrent political, diplomatic and
especially ideological strategy-one that distinguishes and
isolates the new jihad movement from the Muslim world in
general-any military offensive will only exacerbate the
polarization between America and the Islamic world. It will lead
to upheavals throughout the Muslim world, in which democratic
constituencies will find it even more difficult to mobilize, and
will increase the probability of prolonged bloody conflicts." 545

More simply, as Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak warned
us about going to war in Iraq, "there will be 100 bin Ladens
afterward." 546 Just like Hercules cutting off the heads of the
Hydra, for each one cut off, two grow back. How long will it
take us to understand that there is a whole generation of young
people growing up in the Muslim "street" who can't wait to be
old enough to give their lives to rid their world of infidel
crusaders? There will always be more of them there ready to lay
down their lives to defend their homes and their society, than
there will ever be of us here prepared to die to enrich Bush's oil
patch buddies.

Why do you think we invaded Iraq? Do you believe we had
adequate justification? You're not stupid! Get the truth.

The Inhumanity of Bush's War

In the statement of the "Atlantic Summit" on March 16, 2003,
Bush undertook "a solemn obligation to help the Iraqi people
build a new Iraq at peace with itself and its neighbors. The Iraqi
people deserve to be lifted from insecurity and tyranny, and
freed to determine for themselves the future of their country." 547
On March 19, 2003, Bush promised every "effort to spare
innocent civilians from harm." 548 In his efforts to liberate the
Iraqi people, he immediately caused the deaths of approximately

182 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

9,200 military personnel and 3,750 noncombatants. 549 Given the
tribal nature of Iraqi society, it is highly likely that the grief
associated with the loss of these lives has been visited upon
every family in Iraq. Especially if one considers the untold
number of serious injuries, one cannot help but wonder if there
is anyone in Iraq who does not have some good reason to hate
us.

Civilian suffering has always been associated with the
violence of war; however, the high ratio of civilian deaths to
military casualties in Iraq (about one civilian for every three Iraqi
soldiers) raises questions about Bush's concern for Saddam's
victims.

On May 1, 2003, Bush lied when he stated, "Today ... with
new tactics and precision weapons, we can achieve military
objectives without directing violence against civilians." 550 We
know this was untrue because only one month before, the
United States had finally admitted that it was using conventional
cluster bombs and artillery shells which were banned by a 1999
Ottawa agreement signed by Britain, France and more than 140
other nations and which have been condemned by Human
Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Oxfam International,
Christian Aid, and Save the Children. 551 The United States has
since admitted that it has used more than 10,782 cluster
munitions in Iraq.

The United States has refused to sign the Ottawa agreement
and continues to use the bombs, each of which contains about
200 bomblets the size of a tin can, which separate and saturate an
area the size of two football fields with tiny shards of razor-
sharp steel. These bombs kill indiscriminately, much like land
mines, because approximately 5 to 15 percent of the bomblets fail
to explode immediately and lay about on the ground waiting for
a curious child to pick them up. It has been estimated that over
1,000 Iraqis have been killed by cluster bombs in Bush's War. 552

On one hand, Rumsfeld says, "No nation in human history
has done more to avoid civilian casualties than the United States
has in this conflict." Then on the other, he says, "of course we
are using cluster bombs, and of course the purpose is to try to
kill them ... to be perfectly blunt." 553 Such a lie. Such arrogance!

Bush's War 183

In addition, the Pentagon repeatedly targeted approximately
50 "high value" individuals by tracking their satellite phone use.
When these targets were located, an area within a 100-yard
radius was saturated with bombs, irrespective of the risk to non-
combatants. 554

A discussion such as this is, in some respects, an intellectual
exercise, for we are not there, nor have most of us ever
experienced such horror; however, a couple of stories reported
by the Project on Defense Alternatives paints a human face on
the blank canvas of suffering innocent children: "In the
emergency room in the complex of hospitals in Baghdad's
Medical City ... eight-year-old Hamed AH lies unconscious after
surgery. Ali, his parents say, had been a curious boy and was
playing with unexploded ordnance when he was injured. ...
Surgeons give him a 50 percent change of survival-not because
of his injuries ... but because of the risk of infection in a ward
terribly short of antibiotics. Safah Ahmed, 12 ... was wounded
when an American bomb landed near her home. ... Now doctors
have amputated her leg. One of the U.S. Marine guards outside
the Medical City Complex ... recalls a boy brought in with all of
his face except his lower jaw shot away. The child had been
traveling in a car with his parents that had approached a U.S.
checkpoint too fast." 555

Following its occupation by U.S. troops, violence escalated in
Baghdad, which resulted in a tripling of violent deaths from
around 10 per day to over 28 per day. Prior to Bush's War,
gunshot wounds accounted for approximately ten percent of all
bodies brought to Baghdad's city morgue; however following
the fall of Baghdad, gunshot wounds account for over 60 percent
of deaths. Between April 14 and August 31, 2003, there were at
least 1,519 excess deaths over the pre-war rates. Similar statistics
are not available for other areas, but anecdotal evidence
indicates that the phenomenon is widespread throughout Iraq. 556

As the resistance to military occupation has become more
entrenched, it has also become more deadly for those Iraqis who
cooperate with the Americans. There have been repeated
bombings of police stations and a series of deadly attacks on
politicians, professors, and translators. More than 400 Iraqi

184 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

police and security personnel, including six police chiefs, have
been killed since May 2003. Even four women who worked in a
laundry at a U.S. military base were killed on their way to work.
An associate of the slain women said, "No one from around here
wants to work for the Americans. It is a worry for everybody.
We are just trying to make a living." A military spokesman
stated, "We believe that the purpose behind [the attack] is to
send a message of terror to those people that if you work for the
coalition ... we can reach out and touch you." 557

Deadly suicide attacks on their headquarters have caused the
United Nations and the Red Cross to withdraw their workers
from Iraq. The week ending February 14, 2004 saw two suicide
bombings that killed more than 100 Iraqi military recruits and
police officers and an organized attack on a police station in
Falluja that killed at least 15 police officers and freed dozens of
prisoners. Documents on four slain attackers identified two as
Lebanese and one as Iranian. 558

As an occupying power, the United States is bound by the
Fourth Geneva Convention to set up an effective military
government in Iraq to (1) maintain law and order; (2) provide
health and hospital services to the local population; and (3)
operate the basic infrastructure, such as electricity, water and
roads. Under these conventions, the United States does not have
an option. It has a legal duty to control rampant looting and to
safeguard civilian lives from violence, including that caused by
the negligence of the occupying power- 559

Finally, as long as we occupy Iraq and interfere with its
sovereignty in exercising government authority, we are subject
to the laws of occupation and international law. We are
responsible for the deaths of children killed and maimed by
playing with unexploded cluster bombs. We are responsible for
the deaths of children who die from a lack of basic medical care,
and we are responsible for the deaths of the elderly who die
from exposure and insufficient nutrition. For this reason, we
should withdraw, and we should withdraw as quickly as
possible.

Shall we deny the truth and continue to commit war crimes?
Or, should we acknowledge our error and encourage the United

Bush's War 185

Nations to undertake a humanitarian mission to stabilize Iraq,
aid its people, and establish a government? Should we provide
all possible support and play no further role in the occupation of
Iraq, or shall we continue to sacrifice our own children on the
altar of greed, attended by the oil-rich elite? You're not stupid!
Get the truth.

The Shameful Treatment of American Soldiers

The United States also has a legal, moral, and ethical duty to
protect the lives of the military personnel Bush has put in harm's
way. In launching his war on March 19, 2003, Bush stated: "I
know that the families of our military are praying that all those
who serve will return safely and soon. Millions of Americans
are praying with you for the safety of your loved ones and for
the protection of the innocent. For your sacrifice, you have the
gratitude and respect of the American people." 560 This at least
was true, we are praying for the safety of our children, and we
are grateful and respectful of their sacrifice. The problem is that
Bush does not share our concern, and his treatment of those who
have died and suffered grievous wounds in his war is shameful.

As of May 14, 2004, and the numbers mount every day, 777
U.S. service members have died in Iraq since March 20, 2003 and
one has been captured. 561 The majority of these are attributed to
hostile action; the remainder is due to accidents, suicide and
illness. During the same period, 4,327 soldiers have been
wounded in action in Iraq.

When Bush engaged in his phony "Mission Accomplished"
carrier landing on May 1, 2003, the death toll stood at 138. It has
now more than quintupled, and the attacks against our troops
are increasing in accuracy and intensity. Following the invasion,
the Iraqi army disintegrated, with most soldiers simply deserting
and going home. Now they are regrouping and are engaging in
a guerrilla resistance, injuring and killing more and more
American soldiers with rocket-propelled grenades, remote-
controlled mines, and "improvised explosive devices."

While the Pentagon cannot conceal the daily body count, it
does go to extraordinary efforts to conceal the number of
severely wounded soldiers. It does not announce such cases

186 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

unless a death occurs, and it refers to the wounded as "injured,"
as in "on the job." In fact, since most soldiers wear body armor
and many lives are saved by excellent trauma care in the field,
the wounds they do suffer are horrible and disabling. 562

Gene Bolles, the chief of neurosurgery at Landstuhl,
Germany, has cared for many grievously wounded soldiers from
Bush's War. He reports "a number of really horrific injuries now
from the war. They have lost arms, legs, hands; they have been
burned; they have had significant brain injuries and peripheral
nerve damage. These are young kids that are going to be, in
some regards, changed for life. I don't feel that people realize
that." 563

Other members of the coalition have also suffered loss of life:
British, 59; Italy, 17; Spain, 11, including seven military
intelligence agents killed in a single ambush; Bulgaria, 6;
Thailand, 2; Denmark, 1; Estonia, 1; El Salvador, 1; Ukraine, 6;
Poland, 4, and Netherlands, l. 564 Some attacks have targeted
civilian workers, including the deaths of two South Korean
electricians, a Colombian working as a military contractor, and
two Japanese diplomats killed when they stopped at a roadside
stand to eat. 565

A survey by Stars and Stripes, a military newspaper, found
that half of those questioned described their unit's morale as low
and their training insufficient for their assigned task. They had
no intent to reenlist. About a third characterized Bush's War as
of little or no value. Forty percent said their military
assignments had little or nothing to do with their training. The
article related that "Many soldiers, including several officers,
allege that VIP visits from the Pentagon and Capitol Hill are only
given handpicked troops to meet with during their tours of
Iraq." And some soldiers who have complained of morale
problems have been disciplined. 566

Many of the troops deployed in Iraq are reserves, and they
and their families have much to complain about. Their tours of
duty have been extended to 12 or 15 months, and they are often
made to feel like second-class soldiers. They are issued old and
ineffective body armor, and they are assigned thankless tasks
unrelated to their training. The military is offering bonuses of

Bush's War 187

$5,000 to $10,000 for soldiers who reenlist for three years.
However, even if solders refuse to reenlist, they are not being
allowed to come home. So far, thousands of soldiers have been
prohibited from leaving the service when their enlistments
expired. 567

One of the differences between this and previous wars is that
the soldiers have access to e-mail. One mother related what she
had learned from her son: "I don't care what the administration
says about flag-waving and children throwing flowers. It is just
not true. The stories coming back are horrific. All he told me
was that he had seen and done some horrible things, that they
had all done and seen some terrible things." 568

Reports are now coming to light about the torture of Iraqi
prisoners in military prisons by reserve troops acting under the
direction of active duty military intelligence personnel, CIA
officers and private contractors. An Army report detailed
"sadistic, blatant and wanton criminal abuses" at the Abu
Ghraib prison near Baghdad, the very same prison where
Saddam's regime tortured opponents. Detainees were beaten
with a boom handle and one was sodomized with "a chemical
light and perhaps a broom stick."

Photographs have been released showing a pyramid of
naked Iraqi prisoners in the presence of smiling and clowning
American soldiers, a naked Iraqi man kneeling in front of
another naked Iraqi man, and another showing a female
American soldier laughing and pointing to an Iraqi man with a
bag over his head, who is masturbating. The purpose was to
"set physical and mental conditions for favorable interrogation
of witnesses." Much of the abuse was sexual, and such
degradations "are particularly humiliating to Arabs because
Islamic law and culture so strongly condemn nudity and
homosexuality." 569

This then is the emotional harm done to our children in
uniform. By being used as live bait in a terrorist trap where they
are unwelcome and do not speak the language, they become
hardened and uncaring. According to a story in The Guardian,
"Others said they detected anger and depression in their e-mails
that would be difficult to fix when they returned. 'They're

188 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

changing. They have dehumanized the Iraqis. They call them
'haji' now-that's like 'gook.'" 570

How can it be different when our soldiers see or hear about
swarms of Iraqis kicking and looting the bodies of those who are
killed or injured? When they see crowds gather and cheer when
helicopters filled with troops are shot out of the sky? They are
human, after all. They are our children, and they deserve our
support and comfort. They deserve to be told the truth, and they
are entitled not to be used as pawns in an international chess
game between competing business interests.

At least 24 service members are believed to have committed
suicide, and as many as 4,500 returning troops have tried to
obtain counseling from veteran centers, rather than seek help
through military channels. 571 In an effort to help soldiers cope
with their depression, the military has commenced a furlough
program to allow them to come home for 15 days. However,
following the first flights home, about 30 soldiers declined to
return to Iraq. 572

The Pentagon announced in December 2003 that it plans to
completely rotate all troops out of Iraq within the next five
months, which will result in a dramatic rise in the number of
reserves deployed in the country. Although reserves presently
constitute approximately 20 percent of the deployment, after the
rotation, they will comprise approximately 40 percent. It is
likely that casualties will increase due to the inexperience of the
replacement units. As Rumsfeld says, "You lose situational
awareness, you lose relationships, you lose the experience." 573
Remember the lines from the Vietnam War era song, "Well there
ain't no time to wonder why, Whoopee! We're all gonna die." 574

In addition to combat-related injuries and accidents, Bush's
War has imposed other health costs as well. At least 100 soldiers
have gotten severe cases of pneumonia; two have died and 13
had to be placed on respirators. United Press International reports
the crusade of a father whose daughter died of pneumonia after
she received anthrax and smallpox vaccinations in preparation
for deployment to Iraq. The father, Moses Lacy, stated, "These
young people have given their lives to the military and they are
getting a raw deal. The Department of Defense is closing their

Bush's War 189

eyes." 575 A federal court ruled in December 2003 that the
military could not force its members to be guinea pigs and to
require them to undergo dangerous vaccinations for anthrax.
Would you take an anthrax vaccination?

The most shameful aspect of Bush's War is the way the
Department of Defense secretly brings home those who have
given their lives and health because of Bush's lies. A military
directive precludes any arrival ceremony or media coverage of
"deceased personnel" returning to the Dover Air Force Base, the
main reception area for those killed in action. Christopher
Simpson, professor of communications at American University
said, "In the beginning, the coverage was more personal. ... We
saw photos, we were given names. But as the deaths kept
coming it became more anonymous, more de-personalized." 576

According to a story in the Denver Post, "There are no public
ceremonies for the dead coming back through the military
receiving center in Dover, Del. The flights of wounded to Walter
Reed often arrive at night at Andrews Air Force Base in
Maryland."

Senator Patrick Leahy said, "The wounded are brought back
after midnight, making sure the press does not see the planes
coming in. These are not a broken wrist, or scratched leg. These
are terrible wounds: lost limbs, lost eyesight, lifetime
disabilities. It is something the administration prefers not to talk
about."

Pfc. Tristan Wyatt, who lost his leg in an ambush relates,
"They say 'wounded' like they have a cast, or a splinter. There
are people who lost both legs, in wheelchairs, here." 577 If your
son or daughter lost a limb or their eyesight in Bush's War,
would you want them to feel ashamed to come home?

David Wood of the Times Picayune graphically described the
injuries: "Explosions shatter and sever legs and arms. They char
flesh and drive debris deep into the soft tissue that remains.
Unattached muscles, nerves and tendons dangle. Red-hot
shrapnel sometimes punctures torsos below waist-length body
armor, ripping bowels and bladders. Concussions bruise skulls
and brains. Soldiers thrown into the air are injured again when

190 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

they hit the ground." In an interview with French writer,
Natasha Saulnier, a soldier who had lost one leg and the use of
the other, says, "Thank God I'm single. I wouldn't want to have
to go through what the other guys do. There's this one guy who
lost his sight and had both of his arms blown off. His wife is
pregnant but he's never gonna be able to hold his baby in his
arms." 578

Writing about "Our Wounded Warriors," Bob Herbert of The
New York Times says, "Thousands of U.S. troops have been
wounded and injured in Iraq. They have been paralyzed, lost
limbs, suffered blindness, been horribly burned and so on. They
are heroes, without question, but their stories have largely been
untold." 579

Retired Army Colonel David Hackworth, who has inside
sources at the Pentagon, reports our military has suffered as
many as 22,000 casualties since Bush's War started. Over 3,255
wounded-in-action soldiers and 18,717 non-battle casualties
have been evacuated from Iraq. 580

Although Bush has promised to give the troops whatever
they need to defend themselves, the truth is that he has withheld
funding and left major shortfalls in the military budget. Military
commanders desperately need an additional $132 million
shortfall for bolt-on vehicle armor and $40 million for body
armor and combat helmets. However, the Bush budget that
begins in October 2004 includes no money for Iraqi operations,
and there will be no requests until after January 2005 (after the
election). In the meantime, the Army has identified nearly $46
billion in funding needs that was not included in the 2005
budget. 581

What does the future hold for these grievously injured and
walking-wounded soldiers? On the same day it unanimously
passed a resolution pledging "unequivocal support" for our
soldiers in Iraq, the Republican-controlled House of
Representatives voted 215 to 212, largely along party lines, to
impose billions of dollars in cuts to veteran's programs over the
next 10 years. As a result, veterans' pensions are threatened and
almost half may lose their only source of medical care. 582 Why
were our veterans stabbed in the back? Congress had to come

Bush's War 191

up with the money to pay for Bush's $726 billion tax cut that
primarily benefited his wealthy contributors.

Is it any surprise that support for Bush's reelection is waning
among veterans, military personnel and their families? A
bipartisan poll in September 2003 of military families found
Bush's approval rating was only 36 percent. Jean Prewitt, the
mother of a soldier killed in Iraq says she "just feels deceived.
He just kept screaming, screaming, weapons of mass
destruction, weapons of mass destruction; we've got to get in
there. We got in there, and now there aren't any." A former
Bush supporter, a Vietnam veteran, said he was basically
"disappointed in his support of veterans... He's killing the
active-duty military.... Look at the reserves call-ups for Iraq, the
hardships. The National Guard— the state militia — is being used
improperly. I took the president at this word on Iraq, and now
you can't find a single report to back up or substantiate weapons
of mass destruction." 583

Military Families Speak Out has begun to organize
demonstrations to protest the war. Fernando Suarez del Solar
asks, "Bush lies and who dies? My son, Jesus Suarez del Solar
Navarro, March 27." Del Solar says he is "very disillusioned
with the American government. For it to get involved in an
illegal war and to play with the emotions of the American
people with 9/11 for politics is wrong." 584

Military families and antiwar activists have united in asking
Congress to censure Bush for his deception and manipulation of
intelligence before the Iraq war. Sue Niederer, whose son was
killed in Iraq, says "The best way that the United States
Congress can honor those brave men and women in uniform
who have served in Iraq, and who continue to serve in Iraq, is to
honor the truth. They can do so by holding accountable those
who deceived and manipulated the American people to justify
the invasion and occupation of Iraq, starting with President
Bush." The organization, Win Without War has gathered
460,340 signatures endorsing a censure resolution. 585

Cheney has stated that the U.S. must expand its military in
order to wage war quickly around the globe and with 49 percent
of soldiers stationed in Iraq saying they will not reenlist, it is

192 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

likely that Bush will reinstate the military draft next year if he is
reelected. Legislation has been introduced in the House and
Senate (S89 and HR163) to bring the draft back as early as spring
2005, just after the election.

The Selective Service System must report by March 31, 2005
that the system, which has lain dormant for years, is ready for
activation. "The Pentagon has already had to double the
deployment periods of some units, call up more reserves and
extend tours of duty by a year..." Reflecting Rumsfeld's
prediction that the permanent war on terrorism will be a "long,
hard slog," the Pentagon has begun a public campaign to fill all
10,350 draft board positions and 11,070 appeals board slots.
Under the new draft, there will be no college deferments, and
both boys and girls will be drafted right out of high school. 586

Are you prepared to allow your teenage sons and daughters,
your nieces and nephews, to be drafted? Is the oil worth it? It
was always for sale anyway. Is control of the whole wide world
worth it? Is our President's ego worth it? What do you think?
You're not stupid! Get the truth.

376. Sale, Richard, "Exclusive: Saddam key in early CIA plot,"
United Press International, April 10, 2003,
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030410-070214-6557r.

377. Palast, op. cit, pp. 17, 18.

378. Ibid., pp. 18, 19.

379. Ibid., pp. 19, 20.

380. Ibid., p. 21.

381. Bowen, Russell S., The Immaculate Deception: The Bush Crime Family
Exposed (Carson City, Nevada: American West Publications, 2001),

p. 92.

382. Rampton, Sheldon and lohn C. Stauber, Weapons of Mass Deception:
The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq (New York: J.P. Tarcher,
2003), pp. 19, 20.

383. Ibid., p. 20.

384. Bowen, op. cit., p. 150.

385. Clarke, op. cit. p. 42, 43.

386. Bowen, op. cit., p. 153.

387. Bowen, op. cit., pp. 150, 151; see also Rampton, op. cit., p. 22.

388. "Transcript of Meeting between Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein
and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie - July 25, 1990,"
www.ndtceda.com/archives/200311/0127.html.

389. Ahmed, op. cit., pp. 248, 249.

390. "Commentary & Opinion," Natio u I ■ i holii Register, December
8-14, 2002, (www.ncregister.com/register_news/120802war.html); see
also Sloyan, Patrick J., "What Bodies?" The Digital Journalist, November
2002, (www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0211/sloyan.html).

391. "U.S. Defends Burying Iraqi Troops Alive: Pentagon Cites 'Gap' in
International Law," San Francisco Chronicle,
nucnews.net/nucnews/2002nn/0212nn/021204.nn.html.

392. Solomon, op. cit, p. 81.

393. Palast, op. cit., p. 24.

394. Solomon, op. cit., p. 145.

395. Landau, Saul, "The Iraq Ploy And Resemblances To The Start Of
The Cold War," November 26, 2002, (zmag.org)
www.organizepittsburg.org/theiraqploy.html.

396. Solomon, op. cit., pp. 87, 92-94.

397. Conason, op. cit., p.157.

398. Hersh, Seymour M., "A Case Not Closed," The New Yorker,
November 11, 2001,
www.tomfolio.com/books.sub.asp?catid=91subid=91.

399. Palast, op. cit., pp. 56-59.

400. Solomon, op. cit., pp. 145, 161.

401. Alterman and Green, op. cit., pp. 323, 324.

402. Rampton, op. cit., pp. 42-46.

403. Alterman and Green, op. cit., p. 275.

404. Ibid.
405. Ibid.

406. Rampton, op. cit., pp. 46-48.

407. Ibid., p. 48.

408. Ivins, op. cit, p. 265.

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

409. "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources
For a New Century," A Report of The Project for the New American
Century, September 2000, p. ii, www.newamericancentury.org/.

410. Ibid., p. 8; see also Kellner, op. cit, p. 21; see also Rampton, op. cit.,
pp. 120, 121.

411. Ibid., pp. 14, 17, 19; see also Rampton, op. cit., pp. 121, 122.

412. Entous, Adam, "Bush Planned Iraqi Invasion Before 9/11, O'Neill
Says," Reuters, January 11, 2004, iraqeconomy.com.

413. Kellner, op. cit., p. 258.

414. Alterman and Green, op. cit., p. 274.

415. Clarke, op. cit., p. 31.

416. Ibid., p. 32.

417. Ibid., p. 33.

418. Scheer, Christopher, et. al, The Eve Biggest Lies bush Told Us About
Iraq, (New York: Akashic Books and Seven Stories Press, 2003)

pp. 40, 41.

419. Clarke, op. cit., pp. 30, 31.

420. Woodward, Bob, Plan of Attack (New York: Simon & Schuster,
2004), p. 25.

421. Rampton, op. cit., p. 49.

422. Rose, David, "Bush and Blair made secret pact for Iraq war,"
Guardian, April 4, 2004,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/ 0,2763,1185438,00.html.

423. Ahmed, op. cit., p. 256.

424. "Attack on Iraq Unavoidable-North Iraq Bombed-4 Iraqis Killed,"
February 2, 2002,

http://www.theexperiment.org/ articles. php?news_id=1822.

425. Corn, op. cit., p. 206.

426. "U.S. President Says Preemptive Strike Necessary To Deter
Terrorism,"
english.peopledaily.com.cn/200206/02/eng20020602_96946.shtml.

427. Kellner, op. cit., pp. 20, 21; see also
www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nssall.html.

428. Corti, Lillian, "Ultimatums and War," March 21, 2003,
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0321-01.html.

429. Rampton, op. cit., pp. 52, 53.

430. Steele, Jonathan, "Religion and Politics Resurface As the New
Voices of Iraqi Freedom," http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/text4-
21-2003-39381.asp.

431. Solomon, op. cit, p.107.

432. Rampton, op. cit., pp. 51, 52.

433. "Carve-up of oil riches begins," The Observer, November 3, 2002,
www. guardian.co.uk/iraq/ story/0,2763,825118,00. html.

434. Ibid.

435. "If ExxonMobil Is Not Indicted for Payments in Kazakhstan,
What Has This To Do With Iraq?"
ist.socrates.berkley.edu/~pdscott/qfmobil2.html.

436. "Cheney Energy Task Force Documents Feature Map of Iraqi
Oilfields," judicialwatch.org.

437. Klare, Michael T., "It's The Oil, Stupid," The Nation, May 2, 2003,
www.thenation.com/directory/ view.mhtml?t=0B0602.

438. Moore, Bush's War for Reelection, op. cit., p. 20.

439. Roy, Olivier, "Europe Won't Be Fooled Again," May 13, 2003,
http://titanus.romal.infn.it/sito_pol/Global_emp/OL_Roy.htm.

440. Frantz, Douglas, "Israel's Arsenal Is Point of Contention,"
Los Angeles Times, October 12, 2003, http://www.latimes.com/
la-fg-iznukesl2octl2.story.

441. Beaumont, Peter and Conal Urquhart, "Israel deploys nuclear
arms in submarines," The Guardian, October 12, 2003,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1061399,00.html.

442. Ibid., pp. 322, 323.

443. Alterman and Green, op. cit., p. 322.

444. Ibid.

445. Rampton, op. cit., p.130.

446. Kellner, op. cit., p. 20.

447. Alterman and Green, op. cit., p. 231.

448. Rampton, op. cit., pp. 136, 137.

449. Ibid., pp. 67, 68.

450. Ibid., p. 37.

451. Ibid., pp. 38, 39, 127.

452. Moore, op. cit., p. 293.

453. Ibid., p. 310.

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

454. Rampton, op. cit, p. 143.

455. Solomon, op. cit., p. 43.

456. Alterman and Green, op. cit., p. 282.

457. Rampton, op. cit., p. 143.

458. Ibid., pp. 175, 176.

459. Corn, op. cit., p. 215.

460. Ibid.

461. Ibid., p. 281.

462. Scheer, op. cit., p. 49.

463. Corn, op. cit., p. 213.

464. Ibid., p. 218.

465. Ibid., p. 208.

466. Ibid., p. 283.

467. Ibid., p. 217.

468. Solomon, op. cit., p. 29.

469. Corn, op. cit., p. 213.

470. Ibid., p. 214.

471. Ibid.

472. Alterman and Green, op. cit., p. 264.

473. Ibid.

474. Pitt, William Rivers and Scott Ritter, War on Iraq: What Team Bush
Doesn't Want You to Know (New York: Context Books, 2002), pp. 30, 31.

475. Corn, op. cit., p. 209.

476. Ibid., p. 210.

477. Moore, Bush's War for Reelection, op. cit., pp. 32-35.

478. Rampton, op. cit., p. 87.

479. Corn, op. cit., p. 211.

480. Daniszewski, John, "U.S. Combat fatalities in Iraq Surge
Suddenly," Los Angeles Times, March 15, 2004, p. A5.

481. Corn, op. cit., pp. 214, 215.

482. "Rumsfeld: Saddam not linked to Sept. 11," September 17, 2003,
The Olympian, http://www.theolympian.com.

483. Corn, op. cit., p. 211.

484. "Remarks by the President on Iraq,"
www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/10/20021007-8.html.

485. Corn, op. cit., pp. 214, 215.

486. "Remarks by the President on Iraq," op. cit.

487. Corn, op. cit., p. 220.

488. Ibid., pp. 221, 222.

489. Ibid., p. 223.

490. Ibid., p. 225.
491. Ibid.

492. Ibid.

493. Ibid.

494. Ibid.
495. Ibid.

496. Ibid.

497. Ibid., p. 228.

498. Ibid., p. 229.

499. Ibid., pp. 229, 230.

500. Ibid., pp. 232-235.

501. Rampton, op. cit., pp. 98, 99.

502. Corn, op. cit., p. 286; see also Palast, op. cit., pp. 50, 51; see also
Solomon, op. cit., p. 136.

503. Sanders, Edmund, "Ansar, Al Qaeda Seen as Working More
Closely," Los Angeles Times, February 26, 2004, p. A5.

504. Moore, Bush's War for Reelection, op. cit., pp. 32-35

505. Corn, op. cit., p. 236; see also "President Discusses the Future of
Iraq," (www.whitehouse.gov).

506. Kellner, op. cit., p. 126.

507. "The President's State of The Union Address," January 29, 2001,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases.

508. "Senate approves Iraq war resolution,"
www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/10/ll/iraq.us.

509. "Authorization For Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution
of 2002," Public Law 107-243-October 16, 2002, www.broadbandc-
span.org/downloads/hjresll4.pdf.

510. Solomon, op. cit., pp. 154-187.

511. Alterman and Green, op. cit., p. 285.

512. Solomon, op. cit., p. 70.

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

513. "White House: U.S. doesn't need U.N. permission on Iraq,"
November 10, 2002, www.cnn.com/2002/US/ll/10/iraq.policy/.

514. Solomon, op. cit., p. 71.

515. Ibid., p. 97.

516. Woodward, op. cit., pp. 269-270.

517. "The Security Council, 27 January 2003: An Update On
Inspection," www.aidanews.it/print.asp?IDarticle=529.

518. "The Status of Nuclear Inspections in Iraq: Statement to the
United Nations Security Council," International Atomic Energy
Agency, February 14, 2003, www.gwu.edu.

519. "Memorandum Submitted by France, Germany & Russia on Iraq
Weapons Inspections - Feb. 24, 2003," c-span.org/resources/fyi/
frenchresolution-asp.

520. "Statement of The Atlantic Summit: Commitment to Transatlantic
Solidarity - March 16, 2003,"
www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/200316-2.html.

521. "Statement of The Atlantic Summit: A Vision For Iraq and the
Iraqi People - March 16, 2003," c-span.org/ resources.

522. Alterman and Green, op. cit., p. 271.

523. "President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48
Hours," www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases.

524. Ibid.

525. Kamiya, Gary, "The case of the last-minute offer," November 7,
2003www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2003/ll/07/iraq/indexl.html.

526. "President Bush Addresses the Nation,"
www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases.

527. "The Biggest Threat To Peace," TIME EUROPE,
http://www.time.com/time/europe/gdml/peace2003.html

528. "Remarks by the President on the Wartime Supplemental Budget,
March 25, 2003,
www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030325-2.html.

529. Corn, op. cit., p. 267.

530. Ibid., p. 269.

531. Ibid., p. 270.

532. Ibid., p. 274.

533. "Vilified weapons inspectors may have got it right," May 1, 2003,
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/30/1051381997497.html.

534. Corn, op. cit., p. 276.

535. "Rum remark wins Rumsfeld an award," December 2, 2003,
http://news/bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas.

536. Corn, op. cit., p. 278.

537. Ibid., p. 280.

538. Ibid., p. 283.

539. Hudson, Audrey, "Foreign militants converging, making Iraq
terror battlefield," The Washington Times, August 25, 2003,
www.washingtontimes.com.

540. Alterman and Green, op. cit., p. 297.

541. "Iraq Coalition Casualty Count,"
http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx.

542. Hudson, op. cit.

543. Curl, Joseph, "Bush pledges 'no retreat' from Iraq,"
The Washington Times, August 27, 2003,
www.washingtontimes/national/20030827-120012-2591r.html.

544. Neubauer, Chuck and Ken Silverstein, "War College Study Calls
Iraq a 'Detour,'" Los Angeles Times, January 12, 2004, p. A4.

545. Rampton, op. cit., p. 204.

546. Ibid.

547. "Statement of The Atlantic Summit: A Vision For Iraq and the
Iraqi People - March 16, 2003," c-span.org/ resources.

548. "President Bush Addresses the Nation,"
www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases.

549. Goldenberg, Suzanne, "Up to 15,000 people killed in invasion,
claims thinktank," The Guardian, October 29, 2003,
www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/ 0,2763,1073070,00.html.

550. Rampton, op. cit., p. 192.

551. Kellner, op. cit., p. 94.

552. Ibid., p. 24; see also Rampton, op. cit., pp. 194-198.

553. Kellner, op. cit., pp. 94, 205.

554. Farley, Maggie, "Report Notes Toll of Cluster Bombs, Strikes in
Iraq," Los Angeles Times, December 12, 2003, p. A15.

555. Murphy, Melissa and Carl Conetta, "Civilian Casualties in the 2003
Iraq War: A Compendium of Accounts and Reports," Project on
Defense Alternatives, May 21, 2003, http://www.comw.org/pda/.

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

556. "Over 1,500 violent civilian deaths in occupied Baghdad,"
http://www.iraqbodycount.net/ibc23sep03.htm.

557. Rubin, Alissa J., "4 Iraqi Women Slain on Way to Work at Base,"
Los Angeles Times, January 23, 2004, p. A5; see also Gettleman, Jeffrey,
"11 Iraqi Police Officers Are Killed by Gunmen," The New York Times,
March 24, 2004, www.nytimes.com/2004/03/24/international/
middleeast/24IRAQ.html.

558. Filkins, Dexter, "25 Slain and 40 Wounded in Iraq as Raid on
Police Frees Prisoners," New York Times, February 15, 2004,
www.nytimes.com/2004/02/15/interntional/
middleeast/15IRAQ.html?th.

559. Rudd, Kevin, "Australia Is One Of The 3 'Occupying Powers' In
Iraq-But As Hospitals Are Looted The Red Cross Says The Occupying
Powers Aren't Doing Their Job," (www.alp.org.au//media/0403/
20004160.html); see also "Over 1,500 violent civilian deaths in occupied
Baghdad," (http://www.iraqbodycount.net/ibc23sep03.htm).

560. "President Bush Addresses the Nation,"
www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases.

561. "Iraq Coalition Casualty Count,"
http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx.

562. Loeb, Vernon, "Number of Wounded in Action on Rise: Iraq Toll
Reflects Medical Advances, Resistance Troops Face," Washington Post,
September 2, 2003, (washingtonpost.com); see also Goff, Stan, "The
Missing Wounded: Injury and Decorum in Iraq," Counterpunch,
August 1, 2003, (www.counterpunch.org/goff08012003.html).

563. Rampton, op. cit., p. 193.

564. Burns, Robert, "November Deadliest Month for U.S. Troops
in Iraq," Associated Press, November 9, 2003,
guestbooks.pathfinder.gr/read/HarryShannon?pass=&page=9.

565. Price, Niko, "U.S. Troops Kill Dozens of Iraqi Attackers,"
Associated Press, November 30, 2003,
www.siliconinvestor.com/stocktalk/mag.gsp?msquid=19548530.

566. "Poll: Many troops in Iraq dissatisfied," October 16, 2003,
www.msnbc.com/ news/980954.asp?0c/=c3.

567. Hendren, John, "Big Bonus for Re-Upping With Uncle Sam,"
Los Angeles Times, January 6, 2004, p. A6.

568. Goldenberg, Suzanne, "Dissent on the home front: families of US
soldiers in Iraq lead anti-war protests," The Guardian, October 25, 2003,
www.guardian.co.uk/international/ story/ 0,36041,00.html.

569. Shenon, Philip, "Officer Suggests Iraq Jail Abuse Was
Encouraged," The New York Times, May 2, 2004,
www.nytimes.com/ 2004/ 05/02/ international/ middleeast/
02ABUS.html; see also Risen, James, "Report on Abuse Faults 2 Officers
In Intelligence," The New York Times, May 3, 2004, www.nytimes.com/
2004/05/03/international/middleeast/03ABUS.html

570. Goldenberg, op. cit.

571. Goldenberg, Suzanne, "Psychological Cost of Iraq War Evidenced
by High Suicide Rate," Guardian, March 29, 2004,

www. guardian.co.uk/ international/ story/0,3604,1179916,00.html.

572. Goldenberg, "Dissent on the home front," op. cit.

573. Schrader, Esther, "U.S. Plans Massive Rotation of Troops,"
Los Angeles Times, December 10, 2003.

574. "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag," © 1965 by Joe McDonald.

575. Benjamin, Mark, "Father of dead soldier claims Army cover-up,"
United Press International, August 7, 2003,
www.avip2001.net/docs/cover-up.html.

576. Hewitt, Giles, "How US media cover military casualties in Iraq?"
indiaink.net/forums/general/posts/3070.html.

577. Emery, Erin and John Aloysius Farrell, "Iraq has them wounded
for life," Denver Post, November 23, 2003.

578. Saulnier, Natasha, "The Forgotten Soldiers of Operation 'Iraqi
Freedom,'" March 7, 2004, www.gregpalast.com/
detail.cfm?artid=317&row=0

579. Herbert, Bob, "Our Wounded Warriors," The New York Times,
March 12, 2004, www.nytimes.com/2004/03/12/opinion/
12HERB.html.

580. Hackworth, David, "14,000 and Counting," Press-Telegram,
January 1, 2004, p. A19.

581. Weisman, Jonathan, "War May Require More Money Soon,"
Washington Post, April 21, 2004, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/articles/A31211-2004Apr21.html.

582. Decker, Ashley L., "Support the Warrior Not the War: Give Them
Their Benefits!" Common Dreams, March 28, 2003,

(www.commondreams.org); see also Smith, David, "Veterans' Benefits
Cut," (www.futurenet.org/26courage/indicatorsmith.html); see also

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Sweet, Phoebe, "Bush, GOP take aim at vets' benefits," April 11, 2003,

(http://www.townonline.com/allston/news/local_regional/ab_covab

vets04112003.html).

583. Douglas, William, "Bush Military Support Slipping,"
Press-Telegram, March 14, 2004, p. A10.

584. Douglas, William, "Democracy and Dissent," Press-Telegram,
March 15, 2004, p. A7.

585. "Campaign Opens for Censure of Bush," Los Angeles Times, March
18, 2004, p. A22.

586. Stutz, Adam, "U.S. Preparing for Military Draft in Spring 2005,"
January 28, 2004, www.voiceoffreedom.com/draft/reinstatedraft.html;
see also Lindorff, Dave, "Oiling Up The Draft Machine," Salon,
November 3, 2003, www.informationclearinghouse.info/
article5146.htm; see also Cochran, Connor Freff, "The Coming Draft,"
Alternet, March 25, 2004,

http://www.alternet.org/ story.html?storyID=18255.

THE CRIMES OF GEORGE W. BUSH

International law establishes standards for
national self defense and the treatment of POWs,
who are accorded certain rights, but the Bush
administration seems to be ignoring the law for
political reasons. In the name of national security,
is the United States becoming an outlaw state?

In the closing days of World War II, the nations of the world
gathered together and established the United Nations to protect
international peace and to avoid a repeat of the war that had just
engaged practically every country on earth and cost millions of
lives. In its Charter, the United Nations defined the duties of a
nation to peacefully settle international disputes and provided
only a very limited right for a country to wage war against
another without drawing the condemnation of its peers. When
the United States ratified the Charter of the United Nations, it
became the supreme law of the land, binding on all those who
thereafter occupied the Oval Office.

Illegal Use of Force

When the United States adopted "regime change" as an
objective and when Bush threatened that he would use military
force against Iraq unless Saddam and his two sons left the
country, the United States violated sections three and four of
Article 2 of the United Nations Charter which provides, "All
members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful
means in such a manner that international peace and security,
and justice, are not endangered [and shall] refrain in their
international relations from the threat or use of force against the
territorial integrity or political independence of any state." 587

Article 51 of the Charter provides that "Nothing in the
present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or
collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a
Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has
taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and
security." This legitimate right of self-defense has been defined

204 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

as allowing anticipatory self-defense in response to an imminent
attack; but it is justified only when the necessity for action is
"instant, overwhelming, and leaving no choice of means, and no
moment for deliberation." However, there is no legal basis in
international law for Bush's new theory of preemptive war
against the potential "threat" of danger. 588

One reason that such preemptive wars are prohibited is
demonstrated by what happened in Bush's War. He was
determined to exact a "regime change" in Iraq, and although he
tried to justify his aggression through a massive campaign of
propaganda and deception, the invasion proved that there was
no imminent threat in the first place. No weapons of mass
destruction were found. Had the United States found ICBMs
armed with atomic, biological or chemical weapons, targeted at
America, the case might have been different. However, one
should keep in mind that in America today there are thousands
of ICBMs so armed and aimed at other countries. Does that give
all of the targeted countries the right to conduct a preemptive
strike against us?

We have to ask ourselves, assuming our invasion was
something like the service of a search warrant, what if any
evidence was found that might justify a prosecution of Saddam
in a court in the United States for a crime against the United
States, or its people? The answer is none. Without question,
Saddam has committed monstrous crimes against his own
people, and for that he should be prosecuted, convicted and
sentenced, by the people of Iraq.

The terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, provides no
justification for an invasion of Iraq. On January 31, 2003, before
he launched his war, a reporter specifically asked Bush if there
was any evidence of a direct link "between Saddam Hussein and
the men who attacked on September the 11*?" Bush answered,
"I can't make that claim." 589 Following the invasion, and after a
poll found approximately 70 percent of Americans to believe
that Saddam was connected, the White House denied ever

The Crimes of George W. Bush 205

linking Saddam to the 9/11 attacks.* On September 17, 2003,
Bush's spokesman Scott McClellan stated, "We said that we
don't have any evidence to suggest a connection." 590

Moreover, in July 2003, the joint congressional inquiry into
the 9/11 attacks reported that it had found no evidence that
Saddam was in any way connected with the al Qaeda
terrorists. 591

Therefore, what possible justification did we have to wage
Bush's War? One possibility might be Security Council
Resolution 687, adopted at the end of the Gulf War, which
authorized the continued use of force if Saddam was found to be
in noncompliance. However, that doesn't work either, because it
is the Security Council, and not member states operating
unilaterally, that has the right to use force.

The Security Council, in Resolution 1442, which ordered the
last minute inspections, remained "seized of the matter."
Therefore, the matter remained on the agenda, and it was up to
the Security Council to determine if Saddam was in compliance
with its Resolution, not up to the United States. It was the
Security Council which had the legitimate power to impose
"serious consequences" in the case of violations, not the United
States.

Bush lied when he declared, "The United Nations Security
Council has not lived up to its responsibilities," and he placed
himself in legal jeopardy when he continued, "so we will rise to
ours." 592 When on his "orders" American troops invaded Iraq,
he and those associated with him who shared his guilty
knowledge and malicious intent became war criminals under
international law.

However, there is no stopping Cheney from lying about the
connection and continuing to mislead the American people. On
January 22, 2004, he stated, "There's overwhelming evidence there was
a connection between al Qaeda and the Iraqi government. I am very
confident that there was an established relationship there." (Miller,
Greg, "Cheney Is Adamant on Iraq 'Evidence,'" Los Angeles Times,
January 23, 2004, p. Al.)

206 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

It is becoming increasingly accepted that Bush and his
administration lied to provide justification for his war, even by
Bush's staunchest allies. Poland's President Aleksander
Kwasniewski, recently remarked that Iraq "without Saddam
Hussein is truly better than Iraq with Saddam Hussein," but
went on to say, "naturally, I also feel uncomfortable, due to the
fact that we were misled with the information on weapons of
mass destruction." 593

Upon his election following the train bombings that killed at
least 200, Spain's new Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez
Zapatero said he would withdraw Spanish troops in Iraq by June
30 unless the United Nations issued a new mandate. Zapatero
said that Bush and Blair needed "to engage in some self-
criticism" over their war. "You can't bombard a people just in
case they pose a perceived threat. You can't organize a war on
the basis of lies." He said that such wars "only allow hatred,
violence and terror to proliferate." 594

Do you agree that the United States has the right to invade
any country our president deems to be a threat, just because we
have the military power to do so? You're not stupid! Get the
truth.

Illegal Detention of Prisoners of War

On November 13, 2001, as the "Commander in Chief of the
Armed Forces of the United States," Bush issued an executive
order creating military tribunals for the detention and trial of
non- American citizens taken into custody during the war against
terrorism. Individuals subject to the order are defined as those
who (1) are members of al Qaeda; (2) have engaged in, aided or
abetted, or conspired to commit, acts of international terrorism,
or acts in preparation therefor, that have caused, threaten to
cause, or have as their aim to cause injury or adverse effects on
the United States, its citizens, national security, foreign policy, or
economy; or (3) have knowingly harbored one or more such
individuals." 595 The order is so broadly written that it could be
applied to anyone, anywhere in the world, who displays an
intent to cause an adverse effect on citizens or the economy of

The Crimes of George W. Bush 207

the United States and to anyone who harbored them— which
could be just about anyone.

The order empowers Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld to
detain any subject individuals whenever and wherever he
chooses and to appoint military commissions to try them "for
any and all offenses triable by military commission that such
individual is alleged to have committed, and may be punished
in accordance with the penalties provided under applicable law,
including life imprisonment or death." There is no right to
access the civil courts of the United States, nor is there a right to
appeal. 596

Pursuant to the order, Rumsfeld established an outdoor
camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, where he has locked up
approximately 650 "enemy combatants" in six-by-eight-foot
chain-link cages open to the elements on three sides. Their only
protection from the sun and rain is a low sheet metal roof and
orange jumpsuits. They sleep on mats on the floor under
floodlighted conditions. Rumsfeld stated that the detainees are
not prisoners of war and have no rights under the Geneva
Conventions. Bush later said that "official Taliban" troops
would be considered as POWs; however, it is not clear if any of
the detainees have been so designated. 597

Many of the detainees have now been held in the cages for
two years, without access to counsel, trials or visitors.* The
military is considering constructing a death row and execution
chambers where selected detainees can be tried, convicted and

* The United States is prepared to hold some of these prisoners for
many years, perhaps indefinitely. Defense Department officials say
that a military panel will review the long-term prisoners' cases
annually to determine if they continue to be a threat to the United
States. Even if an individual is convicted by a military tribunal and
serves a long prison term, he would not be released if he were judged
to remain a danger. The military is building a hard-walled traditional
prison alongside the corrugated metal units which will house about 100
prisoners, although it denies that the prison will contain an execution
chamber. (Lewis, Neil A. and Eric Schmitt, "Cuba Detentions May Last
Years," The New York Times, February 13, 2004,
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/13/politics/13GITM.html7th.)

208 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

executed by military tribunals without leaving the camp, all
without a jury or right to appeal.

Although POWs are only required to provide their name,
date of birth, rank and serial number, the prisoners are
repeatedly subjected to intense interrogations and at least 18
have attempted suicide 598 How would we feel if American
citizens were being held under these conditions at any other
location in the world? We would be outraged!

The United States has ratified the four Geneva Conventions
of 1949, which establish the standards for protecting captured
combatants and civilians during armed conflicts. The Third
Geneva Convention defines prisoners of war (POWs) and lists
the protection to be accorded them. "Unlawful combatants,"
who are not accorded POW status, are still entitled to the
protections enumerated under the Fourth Convention, as they
relate to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

Under international humanitarian law, according to the
Commentary of the Geneva Conventions of the International
Committee of the Red Cross: "Every person in enemy hands
must have some status under international law: he is either a
prisoner of war and, as such, covered by the Third Convention, a
civilian covered by the Fourth convention, [or] a member of the
medical personnel of the armed forces who is covered by the
First Convention. There is no intermediate status; nobody in
enemy hands can fall outside the law." 599 Therefore, Bush and
Rumsfeld violate international law each and every day they
continue to deny basic rights to their prisoners.

The Third Geneva Convention establishes a presumption
that any doubt as to whether a detainee belongs to the category
of POW be resolved in favor of the individual. They are entitled
to the protection of the Convention until a competent tribunal
determines their status.

In 1997, the U.S. Military established detailed procedures for
tribunals to resolve any doubts as to status. These regulations
provide that detainees have the right to be advised of their
rights, to attend all sessions, to call and question witnesses, to
refuse to testify, and to address the tribunal. The standard of

The Crimes of George W. Bush 209

proof is a preponderance of the evidence, and the tribunal is
required to issue a written decision in every case. 600

POWs cannot be tried simply for having carried arms in
combat, and if "unlawful combatants" are prosecuted for war
crimes, they must be afforded the same rights provided to
members of the trying military forces. The Pentagon has
announced that the prisoners might not be released even if they
were tried and acquitted.

One thing that has characterized Bush and Rumsfeld's
detention of the prisoners is an information blackout. Visitors
are not allowed, nor is any information provided regarding the
prisoners. Although a few prisoners have been released, it does
not appear that the vast majority has had any status tribunals,
nor have there been any war crime trials. 601

The information blackout has led to the arrest of at least four
individuals who have attempted to get word out about the
identity of prisoners and the conditions under which they are
being caged. Colonel Jackie Farr was arrested as he attempted to
leave Guantanamo Bay with "classified" material in his luggage,
and Captain James (Yousef) Yee, a Muslim Chaplain, was
arrested for espionage and treason after being found to have
drawings of the camp and a list of prisoners in his luggage.

The charges against Yee were subsequently dropped in
March 2004 after he was held in solitary confinement in a naval
brig for nearly three months. Two Arabic translators, Senior
Airman Ahmed Halabi and civilian linguist Ahmed Mehalba,
were arrested for similar "offenses." 602 What are Bush and
Rumsfeld trying to hide?

In a case filed by the brother of one of the individuals
detained at Guantanamo Bay, the San Francisco-based 9 th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on December 19, 2003, that the
prisoners of the war on terrorism should have access to legal
counsel and the American court system. Judge Stephen
Reinhardt wrote, "Even in times of national emergency-indeed,
particularly in such times-it is the obligation of the Judicial
Branch to ensure the preservation of our constitutional values
and to prevent the Executive Branch from running roughshod

210 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

over the rights of citizens and aliens alike. ... We simply cannot
accept the government's position that the executive branch
possesses the unchecked authority to imprison indefinitely any
persons, foreign citizens included ... without permitting such
prisoners recourse of any kind to any judicial forum."

The U.S. Supreme Court has already agreed to review
another ruling by the Washington, D.C. Circuit Court of
Appeals, which rendered an opposite opinion, holding that
"enemy combatants" have no rights to the American legal
system. Given the domination of the Supreme Court by the
Federalist Society, it is unlikely that the opinion of the 9 th Circuit
will prevail. 603

In one of his last official acts, President Clinton signed the
"Rome" treaty establishing The International Criminal Court in
the Netherlands, based on the principles of the World War II war
crime trials, to judge individuals accused of mass murders, war
crimes, and other gross human rights violations. Clinton said,
"In taking this action, we join more than 130 other countries that
have signed ... the treaty. We do so to reaffirm our strong
support for international accountability and for bringing to
justice perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and crimes against
humanity." The Pentagon had opposed the court because it
could try U.S. military personnel who commit crimes outside the
United States. 604

The Rome treaty became effective on July 1, 2002, and the
Court assumed jurisdiction over war crimes; however, Bush had
already "unsigned" the treaty on behalf of the United States in
May 2002. He announced that the United States would provide
neither information nor cooperation. Bush also threatened to
veto any United Nations peacekeeping missions unless the
Security Council provided immunity to all Americans engaged
in the mission. He also announced that we were no longer
bound by the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which
establishes our obligations to conform to treaties that have been
signed, but not yet ratified. Accordingly, we are no longer
bound by the 1989 Convention on Children's Rights, because we
want to continue sending 17-year-old boys and girls into
battle. 605

The Crimes of George W. Bush 211

Among the prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay were five
British citizens who had been held since their capture in 2001
and 2002. They were finally released in March 2004 with the
United States insisting that they be "managed" with
"appropriate and specific steps." However, the Blair
government believes that "any evidence gathered under
Guantanamo' s vague legal standings probably would be ruled
inadmissible in British courts."

Four British citizens remain in custody at Guantanamo, and
the Blair government insists that "the right to a lawyer and the
right to appeal were essential" in any U.S. trial. "Lord Justice
Johan Steyn, a senior British judge, recently called the
Guantanamo detentions 'a monstrous failure of justice,' and
there is a sense in Britain that the Bush administration has
abandoned some of the principles it claims to be fighting for in
its campaign against terrorism." 606

As "Commander in Chief," Bush is responsible for all acts
committed under the authority of his orders, including the
unlawful detention of prisoners under inhumane conditions at
Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Whether the International Criminal
Court can or will assume jurisdiction is doubtful; however, Bush
will be judged by the people of the world and by the voters of
America when they go to the polls in November.

Are you proud of the fact that Bush and Rumsfeld are caging
individuals who had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks and
who, by any reasonable measure, are entitled to protection
under the Geneva Conventions? Under Bush's leadership, we
are increasingly going it alone. Is he right? Are we right to
blindly follow him? You're not stupid! Get the truth.

Impeachment

When Bush caused the United States to violate its duties
under international law, he also subjected himself to
impeachment. Article VI, Clause 2 of the United States
Constitution makes international treaties such as the United
Nations Charter, which was ratified by the Senate in 1945, the
"supreme law of the land." 607

212 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Not only did Bush cause the United States to violate the
Charter, but he also operated extralegally beyond the authority
granted him by Congress in its resolution of October 10, 2002.
He was not acting to enforce "all relevant United Nations
Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq," nor was he acting
to "defend the national security of the United States against the
continuing threat posed by Iraq." 608

Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution provides, "The
President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United
States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and
conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and
misdemeanors." By committing war crimes in violation of the
supreme law of the land, Bush also committed a high crime or
misdemeanor within the meaning of the Constitution.

Moreover, Bush is subject to impeachment for having lied to
Congress, repeatedly, specifically during his State of the Union
address on January 28, 2003, when he stated that the IAEA
"confirmed in the 1990's that Saddam Hussein had an advanced
nuclear weapons development program," and again when he
stated, "The British Government has learned that Saddam
Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from
Africa."

Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 1001 prohibits
anyone from "knowingly and willfully" making "any materially
false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation" in
"any matter within the jurisdiction of the ... legislative ... branch
of the Government." The U.S. Supreme Court upheld felony
prosecution under the statute in 1955, and a violation of the
statute is a crime. 609

Bush again violated Section 1001 when he wrote to Congress
on March 18, 2003, as required by the Congressional resolution
authorizing the use of military force against Iraq. In the letter,
Bush stated he had determined that:

(1) reliance by the United States on further diplomatic
and other peaceful means alone will neither (A)
adequately protect the national security of the United
States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq nor

The Crimes of George W. Bush 213

(B) likely lead to enforcement of all relevant United
Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq;
and

(2) acting pursuant to the Constitution and Public Law
107-243 is consistent with the United States and other
countries continuing to take the necessary actions
against international terrorists and terrorist
organizations, including those nations, organizations,
or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or
aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September
11, 2001.6io

The letter is a complete lie and distortion. Iraq did not pose a
threat to the United States, and further diplomatic and other
peaceful means would have adequately protected our national
security. The United States did not have to invade Iraq to
enforce Security Council resolutions, as continued U.N.
inspections would have likely succeeded. Most importantly, at
the time Bush wrote the letter, he knew that there was no
evidence that Iraq had "planned, authorized, committed, or
aided" the 9/11 attack."

Increasingly, there is no doubt that Bush has, in fact,
repeatedly lied to us. On January 8, 2004, the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace issued a comprehensive
report, "WMD in Iraq: Evidence and Implications." The authors
charge that the Bush administration "systematically
misrepresented" the threat posed by Saddam's WMDs and
called for the creation of an independent commission to fully
investigate what the U.S. intelligence community knew about
the true state of Iraq's WMD program. One of the authors,
Joseph Cirincione said, "It is very likely that intelligence officials
were pressured by senior administration officials to conform
their threat assessments to pre-existing policies."

The report finds "no solid evidence" of cooperation between
Saddam and al Qaeda. "The notion that any government would
give its principal security assets to people it could not control in
order to achieve its own political aims is highly dubious."
Finally, the report concludes that the United Nations inspection

2U You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

process, which was terminated by Bush's War, "appears to have
been much more successful than recognized before the war" 611

Congressman Henry A. Waxman, the senior Democratic
member of the House Government Reform Committee asked its
Special Investigations Division to examine the public statements
of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell, and Rice to identify the
extent that the five made false and misleading statements
regarding Bush's War.

On March 16, 2004, the committee staff submitted its report,
"Iraq on the Record: The Bush Administration's Public
Statements on Iraq," to the Committee. The investigators found
that the five made misleading statements about the threat posed
by Iraq in 125 public appearances and identified 237 specific
misleading statements. The deceptive statements were divided
into four categories. "There were 11 statements that claimed
Iraq posed an urgent threat; 81 statements that exaggerated
Iraq's nuclear activities; 84 statements that overstated Iraq's
chemical and biological weapons capabilities; and 61 statements
that misrepresented Iraq's ties to al Qaeda." 612

The false statements commenced on March 17, 2002 when
Cheney stated "We know they have biological and chemical
weapons," and continued through January 22, 2004 when he
claimed that "there's overwhelming evidence that there was a
connection between al-Qaeda and the Iraqi government." 613

The investigation found that most of the misleading
statements — 161— were made prior to the war, but 76 misleading
statements were made after its commencement to justify the
decision. During the 30-day period leading up to the
congressional vote on the war resolution Bush and the other four
engaged in a blistering pace of deception. They made a total of
64 misleading statements in 16 public appearances. 614

The report found that Bush individually made 55 misleading
statements about the threat posed by Iraq in 27 separate public
statements or appearances. Of these, "4 claimed that Iraq posed
an urgent threat; 14 exaggerated Iraq's efforts to develop nuclear
weapons; 18 overstated Iraq's chemical or biological weapons
capacity; and 19 misrepresented Iraq's links to al Qaeda." 615

The Crimes of George W. Bush 215

In just one speech, in Cincinnati, Ohio on October 7, 2002,
Bush made a total of 11 misleading statements, "the highest
number of misleading statements in any single appearance by
any of the five officials." 616

Some of the biggest whoppers told by Bush include:

• "On its present course, the Iraqi regime is a threat of
unique urgency. ... It has developed weapons of mass death."

• "The British government has learned that Saddam
Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from
Africa."

• "The liberation of Iraq. . .removed an ally of al Qaeda."

• "We found the weapons of mass destruction. ... [F]or those
who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices of
banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them." 617

How many of his crimes will the American public tolerate
before we insist that Bush be impeached? In fact, under the
doctrine of preemptive strike, shouldn't the House of
Representatives take action now before he brings down the fury
of the rest of the world upon the United States? You're not
stupid! Get the truth.

587. Mark, Peter, "The Case Against Preemption," Asia Times Online,
October 9, 2002, www.atimes.com.

588. Lobel, Jules, "The United Nations Charter And The Use Of Force
Against Iraq," October 2, 2002,

www.lcnp.org/ global/Iraqstatement.3.pdf.

589. "Bush Flatly Declares No Connection Between Saddam and

al Qaeda," www.thememoryhole.org/war/no-saddam-qaeda.htm.

590. "White House denies tying Iraq to September 11 attacks,"
September 17, 2003, Agence France-Presse,
http://quickstart.clari.net/qs_se/webnews.

591. Waterman, Shaun, "9/11 Report: No Iraq Link to al-Qaeda,"
July 23, 2003, United Press International, http://truthout.org/docs.

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

592. "President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48
Hours," www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases.

593. Richter, Paul, "Poles 'Misled' on Iraq, President Says,"
Los Angeles Times, March 19, 2004.

594. Efron, Sonni and Bruce Wallace, "Spanish Victor Says Iraq War
Based on 'Lies,'" Los Angeles Times, March 16, 2004,
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-
spainl6marl6,l,7723246.story?coll=la-home-headlines.

595. "Military Order, Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain
Non-Citizens in the War Against Terrorism,"
http://news.findlaw.com/cnn/docs/terrorism/bushtribunalordll301.

596. "President Bush Signs Executive Order Authorizing Military
Tribunals," http://www.hrcv.org/hottopics/tribunal.

597. "Guantanamo Bay Prisoners," http://www.strange-loops.com.

598. Ibid.

599. Human Rights Watch, "Background Paper on Geneva
Conventions and Persons Held by U.S. Forces,"
http://hrw.org/backgrounder/usa/pow-bck.html.

600. Ibid.

601. Ibid.; see also Seelye, Katharine Q., "War Captives Could Be Held
If Acquitted," March 23, 2002, (why-war.com).

602. Tully, Andrew, "U.S.: Military Probes Security At Base In Cuba
After Three Arrested," (www.rferl.org/nca/features); see also
Rosenberg, Carol, "Officer Charged With Guantanamo Security
Breach," (www.miami.com/mid/miamiherald); see also Lewis, Neil
A., "Charges Dropped Against Chaplain," The New York Times, March
20, 2004, (www.nytimes.com/2004/03/20/national/20YEE.html).

603. Mintz, John, "Detainee to Get Hearing," The Washington Post,
December 19, 2003, http://www.washingtonpost.com.

604. Charles, Deborah, "Clinton signs treaty to bring U.S.
under jurisdiction of global criminal court," December 31, 2000,
http://www.citizenreviewonline.org.

605. Ivins, op. cit, pp. 258, 259.

506. Wallace, Bruce, "5 Terror Suspects Return to Britain,"
Los Angeles Times, March 10, 2004, A3.

The Crimes of George W. Bush

607. Lobel, Jules, "The United Nations Charter And The Use Of Force
Against Iraq," October 2, 2002, www.lcnp.org/global/
Iraqstatement-3.pdf.

608. "Authorization For Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution
of 2002," Public Law 107-243-October 16, 2002, www.broadbandc-
span.org/downloads/hjresll4.pdf.

609. Dean, John W., "Why a Special Prosecutor's Investigation Is
Needed," July 18, 2003, writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20030718.html.

610. "Text of a Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House
of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate,"
March 18, 2003, www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/
2003/03/print/20030319-l.html.

611. Cirincione, Joseph, et. al. WMD in Iraq: Evidence and Implications,
Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for World Peace, January
2004, (www.ceip.org/files/Publications/IraqReport3.asp?
p=8&from=pubdate); see also Lobe, Jim, "New WMD Report Slams
Bush White House," Inter Press Service, January 9, 2004,
(http://www.alternet.org/ story.html?StoryID=17522).

612. "Iraq on the Record: The Bush Administration's Public Statements
on Iraq," United States House of Representatives, Committee on
Government Reform — Minority Staff, Special Investigations Division,
March 16, 2004, www.reform.house.gov/min.

613. Ibid.

614. Ibid.

615. Ibid., p. 25.

616. Ibid., p. 26.

617. Ibid., p. 26

JUSTICE IN AMERICA

Superpatriots claiming that our nation is great
because of personal freedom say in the next breath
that national security demands less of it.
America's top cop, while engaged in a wholesale
attack on constitutional rights, has turned a blind
eye to administration friends who break the law.

A self-employed Bavarian chicken farmer raised by a devout
Catholic schoolmaster, Heinrich Himmler became convinced
that Adolf Hitler was the messiah sent by God to lead Germany
to greatness, and he marched beside Hitler in his failed 1923 Beer
Hall Putsch. 618 Once the Nazis came to power and abolished the
freedom of the press, the freedom of labor to strike, and the
freedom of other political parties to participate in the
government, Himmler quickly rose through Party ranks to
become Germany's chief of police, second in absolute power
only to Hitler himself. Himmler established the concentration
camps, trained the guards, selected the inmates, scheduled the
transports, and created the gas chambers and cremation ovens. 619
Among those selected for transport was Pastor Martin
Niemoller, who opposed Hitler's efforts to bring German
churches under Nazi control. Pastor Niemoller was arrested in
1937 and was confined in concentration camps until 1945. He
later wrote,

"First they came for the Communists, but I was not a
Communist, so I said nothing. Then they came for the
Social Democrats, but I was not a Social Democrat, so I
did nothing. Then came the trade unionists, but I was
not a trade unionist. And then they came for the Jews,
but I was not a Jew, so I did little. Then when they came
for me, there was no one left to stand up for me." 620

Discretionary Justice

The Attorney General is not a constitutional officer, and the
Department of Justice was not created until 1870. Since then, the
Justice Department has grown into the largest law firm in the

220 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

country. Its primary task is to represent the citizens of America
in enforcing the law in the public interest. In addition to
supervising the U.S. Attorneys in the prosecution of the federal
criminal code, it also enforces the drug, immigration and
naturalization laws. 621

The Department of Justice does much more than prosecute.
It is also the nation's police force, fielding both the Federal
Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Moreover, through its Civil Rights Division, established in 1957,
the Justice Department enforces the Civil Rights Acts, the Voting
Rights Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Americans
with Disabilities Act, the National Voter Registration Act, the
Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act; the
Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act, the
Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, the Freedom of
Access to Clinic Entrances Act, the Police Misconduct Provision
of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994,
as well as Section 102 of the Immigration Reform and Control
Act of 1986, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of
national origin and citizenship status. It coordinates the civil
rights enforcement efforts of other federal agencies and assists
them in identifying and removing discriminatory provisions in
their policies and programs. 622

Thus, in one way or another, the activities of the Justice
Department impact the lives of virtually every person in
America. If we are to maintain our free society, the awesome
power vested in the Justice Department must be exercised in a
fair and even-handed manner, in accordance with the laws and
the Constitution.

Perhaps more so than anything else, the manner in which
our laws are enforced defines the very soul of our society. Are
the officers of the law and the judges rigid and uncaring, or do
they act with compassion and understanding? Are we treated
equally? Does our government recognize that it is our
government, that they are our laws that are being enforced by
our justice system, and that they are our rights that are protected
by our Constitution?

Jus tice in America 221

Law enforcement in a free society requires that there be a
high degree of discretion exercised at every level. Do we really
want robots making arrests for every single infraction,
unthinking automatons prosecuting every chargeable offense,
and heartless judges giving the maximum possible sentence in
every case? Of course not. Individual justice must be
administered in every individual case. Justice requires that all
facts and circumstances, including aggravating and mitigating
factors, be weighed and that discretion be exercised according to
thoughtful written policies that take into consideration the wide
range of human frailties and motivations, and the expectations
of our free society.

Moreover, given the fact that a limited budget requires the
establishment of priorities and the careful allocation of scarce
resources, the decisions made by the Attorney General must be
free of personal bias and political taint. Thus, there is the
potential for great good to be performed on behalf of the people
of the United States, and there is the risk of grave harm being
caused to us and to our institutions. Therein lies the rub.

The Would-Be President and the Anointing of Ashcroft

John Ashcroft wanted to be president of the United States.
He had the ambition, he had lived right, and he thought he had
the nod from God, but he just didn't have the political
horsepower.

Ashcroft grew up in a household dominated by his father, a
second generation Assemblies of God minister, who taught his
son that every child should grow up to be a preacher, learn to
speak in tongues, engage in faith healing, and spread the word.
Raised as a Pentecostal, Ashcroft doesn't believe in drinking,
smoking, gambling, or even dancing. He doesn't believe in
abortions, even in cases of rape or incest; nor the equal rights of
women, even for those with great talent; he doesn't believe in
equal rights of religion, especially for those "Oriental" ones; he
doesn't believe in equal rights for minorities, especially
affirmative action; he doesn't believe in the separation of church
and state, except to "protect the church;" but he does believe in

222 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Internet censorship, school vouchers, and everyone's right to
pack a gun. 623

In 1975, Ashcroft was appointed as an assistant attorney
general in Missouri; the next year he got the top job in a close
race. After serving eight years as attorney general, he was
elected governor and served two terms. In 1993, he tried and
failed to be elected chairman of the Republican Party, but he was
elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994.624

On May 8, 1999, Senator Ashcroft gave a speech in which he
stated, "Unique among the nations, America recognized the
source of our character as being godly and eternal, not being
civic and temporal. And because we have understood that our
source is eternal, America has been different. We have no king
but Jesus." 625 He has also said, "I think all we should legislate is
morality." 626

In 1999, Ashcroft thought he was positioned to become
president. He gained the unofficial support of Dr. James
Dobson, Pat Robertson and the Christian Coalition, as well as
some of Pat Buchanan's former supporters. He thought he could
beat Bush in the primaries, but he couldn't. 627 He thought he
could be reelected Senator, but he wasn't. A dead man defeated
him. That's right, for the first time in the history of the country.
His opponent was former Governor Mel Carnahan, who was
killed in a plane crash just weeks before the election. Ashcroft
was defeated, and Carnahan' s wife, Jean, was appointed to serve
the term. 628

Bush, a born-again Christian, was elected with the support of
the religious right wing of the Republican Party, and to placate
them, he nominated Ashcroft to be his Attorney General. It was
as Ashcroft wrote in his memoir, "for every crucifixion there's a
resurrection." 629 The only problem was to get him confirmed by
the Senate. Ordinarily, the Senate would pay great deference to
a former member of their exclusive club; however, those who
knew Ashcroft best, knew him well. After a brutal hearing in
which he swore he would not allow his religious beliefs to
influence his administration of the law, Ashcroft was confirmed,
barely, with 42 senators voting against him, including the new
Senator Carnahan. 630

Justice in America 223

Has he kept his promise? He immediately called upon
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to anoint him with
"holy oil" upon taking the office. (Like the messiahs of ancient
Israel, Ashcroft has always been anointed with oil upon taking
office, once with Crisco when nothing else was available.) 631 He
has continued to preach that "The source of freedom and human
dignity is the Creator. The guarding of freedom that God grants
is the noble charge of the Department of Justice."

Ashcroft leads morning prayer meetings in his office, in
which his staff has to join him in singing an inspirational song he
wrote, "Let the Eagle Soar." The song includes these lines, "Let
the mighty eagle soar. Soar with healing in her wings, as the
land beneath her sings: 'Only God, no other kings.'... Built by
toils and struggles God has led us through." 632 At a cost of
$8,000, he ordered curtains to be hung in front of the bare-
breasted Spirit of Justice statue in the Justice Department press
room to avoid having its bronze nipple appear over his shoulder
during photo opportunities. 633

Referring to the morning Bible study classes, one of
Ashcroft's lawyers said, "It strikes me and a lot of others as
offensive, disrespectful and unconstitutional." The

Government's guidelines on worship in the workplace seem to
agree, "Because supervisors have the power to hire, fire or
promote, employees may reasonably perceive their supervisors'
religious expression as coercive, even if it was not intended as
such." 634

As we saw earlier, Ashcroft entirely failed in his
management of the Department of Justice to avoid the terrorist
attacks of September 11, 2001. Perhaps if he had spent more
time listening to his FBI agents, who were worried about
terrorists flying airplanes loaded with fuel into the World Trade
Center, instead of preaching to them, he really could have led
the "noble charge" and arrested all of the hijackers before their
attack, or at least scared them off, instead of writing silly songs
and violating the civil rights of his staff.

Do you believe Ashcroft represents your personal values?
Do you believe he should be able to impose his personal values
on you? You're not stupid! Get the truth.

224: You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Censoring the Freedom of Information Act

James Madison, one of our founding fathers, once observed,
"A popular government, without popular information, or the
means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy-
or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and
a people who mean to be their own Governors must arm
themselves with the power which knowledge gives." Congress
passed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), in 1966 to give
meaning to Madison's words, and following the Watergate
scandal, it amended the Act to essentially open up all public
records to public view, with a few limited exceptions. 635

The Act provides that "Each agency shall make" public
information available, and empowered the federal courts to
prevent agencies from withholding agency records, to assess
reasonable attorney fees, and to punish irresponsible employees
for contempt of court. In addition, the employee who is
primarily responsible for improper withholding can be
disciplined. Finally, the Act requires the Department of Justice
to undertake efforts "to encourage agency compliance." 636

The FOIA is truly one of the greatest acts of federal
legislation ever enacted to facilitate the effectiveness of our free
democracy. It allows ordinary citizens, journalists, historians,
and any interested person or organization to request and to
quickly receive public documents. It has provided transparency
and avoided secrecy in the operation of our government. 637

The Act was amended in 1996 to facilitate on-line and
computer access to public records. When he signed the new
legislation, President Clinton stated that the FOIA "was the first
law to establish an effective legal right of access to government
information, underscoring the crucial need in a democracy for
open access to government information by citizens." 638 In
accordance with her duties, Attorney General Janet Reno wrote,
"We must ensure the principle of open government is applied in
each and every disclosure." She required that "In determining
whether or not to defend a nondisclosure decision, we will apply
a presumption of disclosure." 639

Justice in America 225

On October 12, 2001, Ashcroft pulled a fast one. One month
after 9/11 and without a press release, he sent out a memo
urging federal agencies to deny most FOIA requests. 640 In doing
so, he listed the fundamental values held by our society, which
included protecting "sensitive business information." He went
on to "encourage your agency to carefully consider the
protection of all such values and interests when making
disclosure determinations under the FOIA. Any discretionary
decision by your agency to disclose information protected under
the FOIA should be made only after full and deliberate
consideration of the institutional, commercial, and personal
privacy interests that could be implicated by disclosure of the
information, (emphasis added)"

Ashcroft promised, "When you carefully consider FOIA
requests and decide to withhold records, in whole or in part, you
can be assured that the Department of Justice will defend your
decisions unless they lack a sound legal basis or present an
unwarranted risk of adverse impact on the ability of other
agencies to protect other important records." 641

Federal agencies have never liked FOIA requests, and
Ashcroft' s memo gave them the green light to deny, deny, deny.
Ashcroft is charged by the law to encourage compliance;
however, he has taken steps to discourage compliance. What
would Madison have to say about it? Probably that it was
indeed the "Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy-or perhaps both."

Do you believe that Ashcroft's censoring of the Freedom of
Information Act protects your rights and freedom? You're not
stupid! Get the truth.

Patriot Games

Following 9/11, Ashcroft fired another salvo in his war
against freedom. He sent the Uniting and Strengthening
America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept
and Obstruct Terrorism Act (USA Patriot Act) to Congress. With
little consideration, Congress passed the Act on October 26, 2001,

226 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

with but one dissenting vote in the Senate.* The title was more
than a cute acronym; implicit in its selection is an assertion that
if you oppose the act, you aren't patriotic.

Although Ashcroft had all the "appropriate tools" needed
before 9/11 to "intercept and obstruct" that act of terrorism, and
instead of falling on his sword in shame, he used the results of
his own malfeasance to gather unprecedented powers. If you
recall, his FBI agents in Minneapolis were pleading with
headquarters to obtain a search warrant to review Moussaoui's
computer files. They were telling headquarters that a 747
airliner loaded with fuel could be used as a missile, and that
Moussaoui was connected with bin Laden and al Qaeda.
Ashcroft had all the authority he needed to stop the 9/11 attacks,
but he had been ordered to "back off" and didn't exercise his
authority.

The official reason for the failure to prevent the 9/11 attack
was information overload and a failure to coordinate reports,
such as one from agents in Minneapolis screaming that they had
a terrorist who wanted to fly a 747 into the World Trade Center,
and another in Phoenix pleading with headquarters to check
other flying schools. Mohamad Atta came and went as he
pleased, even after Israel informed us that he was a terrorist, and
two others hijackers on the international terrorist list were
allowed to board domestic flights at will. Let's make sure we get
this right: what Ashcroft wants is to dramatically increase the
amount of information flowing in, and that, somehow, is going
to make the bureaucrats at the top smarter and better at catching

Congressmen got no chance to read the bill before it was pushed
through during the frenzy of the anthrax scare. When attempts to
implicate Iraq failed and the anthrax trail led instead to a U.S. military
source, the investigation was pushed under the carpet-although U.S.
troops in Iraq still had to take the dangerous anthrax vaccine. Russ
Feingold, the only senator to vote against the bill, stated, "I believe we
must, we must, redouble our vigilance. We must redouble our
vigilance to ensure our security and to prevent further acts of terror.
But we must also redouble our vigilance to preserve our values and the
basic rights that make us who we are." (Alterman and Green, The Book
on Bush, p. 91.)

Jus tice in America 227

terrorists? Wouldn't it be better for Bush to simply order
Ashcroft to stop "backing off," or better yet, to hit the highway?

Clearly the Patriot Act had been planned for a long time, and
9/11 was just an excuse for Ashcroft to grab powers that had
been denied by Congress or that had been found to be
unconstitutional by the courts in the past 642 One reason that the
Act sailed through Congress so quickly was that nobody could
understand what it said without referring to numerous other
laws. For example, one section merely substituted the words, "a
significant purpose" for "the purpose" in another law.
However, that simple change allowed the government to obtain
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants in
primarily domestic "criminal" investigations, if the Attorney
General says the investigation also has a significant foreign
intelligence purpose.

The difference between criminal and intelligence
investigations is that, in domestic criminal matters, the Bill of
Rights prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures not based
upon probable cause. Ashcroft already had ample probable
cause to get a warrant to look at Moussaoui's computer disk; he
just didn't do it.

Fortunately, the FISA court has refused to go along with
Ashcroft' s power grab. In August 2002, the secret court released
an opinion for the first time in its history saying, "this Court (not
Ashcroft) is the arbiter of the FISA's terms and requirements." 643

In a six-part article, Professor Jennifer Van Bergen reviewed
the history of the Alien and Sedition Laws passed in 1798 by the
Federalist-controlled Congress, which "allowed the President to
arrest, imprison, and deport 'dangerous' immigrants on mere
suspicion of 'treasonable or secret machinations against the
government.' If a deported alien returned, the President could
imprison him for as long as he thought 'the public safety may
require.'" For over two hundred years we have been taught that
these were terrible laws used for a corrupt purpose to arrest and
detain political opponents. Now, they are back in vogue. 644

Since enactment of the Patriot Act, thousands of suspects
have been rounded up and held for months. Without having to

228 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

give any reason or explanation, all Ashcroft has to do is
pronounce the magic words, "terrorist," or "threat to national
security," and the suspect is locked up. For the first seven days,
no charges are required and the suspect is not even allowed
contact with legal counsel; thereafter, the Attorney General can
detain suspects indefinitely for nothing more than a violation of
their visa. Hearings, even the fact that they are held, and the
names of the detainees are kept secret. 645

Aliens can be deported because of what they "knew or
should have reasonably known" about organizations with which
they had contact. Even if they have only overstayed their visas
and want to return home, they can be held indefinitely; they are
being held as "material witnesses," and, administratively, under
"emergency" conditions, they are being held for indefinite
"reasonable" periods of time. 646

The Act's "sneak and peek" provisions allow the
government to obtain a warrant, sneak into your home, peek at
your computer files (and dirty laundry), copy your computer
hard drive (and digital photos of your girlfriend), and, if they
say the magic words, that "[notice would] seriously jeopardize
an investigation or unduly delay a trial," they don't even have to
tell you they've been there. 647

The Act allows the government to obtain blank search
warrants for electronic surveillance, without probable cause, as
long as the magic words, "relevant to an ongoing criminal
investigation" are spoken. Agents can then trap and trace the
telephone numbers you call and trace your e-mails and Internet
usage. 648

Under the Act, Ashcroft' s agents can review "business
records," including those of libraries, bookstores and Internet
service providers, without establishing probable cause sufficient
to show a connection to terrorism, espionage or another crime,
and they can forbid any notification to the patron, buyer or user;
they can issue "National Security Letters" to force production of
records and information, without having to obtain a court order;
and they can demand, without a court order, the production of
confidential education records, based only on their declaration
that the records are needed for a terrorism-related

Justice in America 229

investigation. 649 For example, they can check on what library
books you have been reading, and your librarian can go to jail
for telling you about it. How far from here to the next Gulag?

Also hidden among the Act's stealth provisions is an
amendment of the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 that expands the
definition of "financial institution" to include a variety of
businesses including insurance companies, car dealers, real
estate brokers and the U.S. Postal Service. Designed to prevent
money laundering, Section 326 requires all such institutions to
develop a Customer Identification Program for all new accounts
that includes screening their customers through a database
provided by the government. Section 314(a) requires these
institutions to respond within 14 days to search requests by
federal law enforcement agencies, and rules have been proposed
that would compel them to file suspicious activity reports when
they detect unusual activities by their customers. The effect of
this law is to impose law enforcement responsibilities on small
businesses, which are woefully ill equipped to keep track of their
customers for the government. 650

Most simply and most often, the Act changed the
requirement that the government have "probable cause" to a
requirement that it only has to show a "simple relevance" to an
investigation. Although Ashcroft keeps saying that the Act
"isn't something new ... this isn't some vast incursion into the
freedoms of the American people," 651 in fact, it is. Ashcroft
himself argued several years ago against Clinton's attempts to
expand the government's ability to monitor the Internet in
fighting terrorism: "The protections of the Fourth Amendment
are clear. The right to protection from unlawful searches is an
indivisible American value. Two hundred years of court
decisions have stood in defense of this fundamental right. The
state's interest in effective crime-fighting should never vitiate the
citizen's Bill of Rights." 652

If you oppose Ashcroft and what he's doing, you risk being
called (and investigated as) a traitor. He warns, "To those who
scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my
message to you is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists, for they
erode our national unity and resolve. They give ammunition to

230 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

America's enemies, and pause to America's friends."*
Remember what Goering said: "All you have to do is tell them
they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of
patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger." 653

If all this was not enough, Ashcroft had yet another card up
his sleeve as he played the Patriot Game. In February 2003, a
secret copy of the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003
(Patriot Act II) was leaked from the Justice Department even
though, for months, the Justice Department had been denying to
Congress that amendments to the Patriot Act were being
prepared, and only a week previously, Ashcroft had personally
denied the existence of a proposed amendment. However, the
smuggled copy of Patriot Act II was quickly posted on the
Internet and alarm bells began to ring across America. 654

Among other things, these "enhancements" would allow
Americans to be stripped of their citizenship without their
having to renounce it as is presently required. Patriot II says,
"the intent to relinquish nationality need not be manifested in
words, but can be inferred from conduct." So, if you provide
"material support" (whatever that means) to an organization
that has been designated a "terrorist organization" (whatever
that is), even if you were unaware of its activities, you could lose
your citizenship and be detained, indefinitely, as an alien. 655

Patriot II also allows the government, among other things, to
secretly detain citizens; access credit reports without a subpoena;
encourage police surveillance of non-criminal organizations and
public events; extend the authorization periods for secret
wiretaps and Internet surveillance; and make it easier to use
secret evidence. It prevents someone subpoenaed to a grand
jury from even disclosing that they have been subpoenaed. 656

To justify his new game, Ashcroft twisted the words of
Thomas Jefferson, who wrote in the Declaration of Independence
that governments are instituted to secure the "unalienable
rights" of the people. According to Ashcroft, "This then, is the
first responsibility of our government: to preserve the lives and

* Along with most of the other warmongers of the Bush administration,
Ashcroft is a Chicken Hawk.

Jus tice in America 231

liberty of Americans." He forgot two things: we also have an
unalienable right to pursue happiness, and "whenever any Form
of Government becomes destructive to these Ends, it is the Right
of the People to alter or to abolish it." 657

Idaho Republican Representative Butch Otter introduced
legislation to de-fund the Patriot Act's "Sneak and Peek"
provisions, which has passed in the House of Representatives by
a vote of 309-118. He more accurately quoted Jefferson, "In
questions of political power, speak to me not of confidence in
men, but bind them down from mischief with the chains of a
Constitution." Otter said, "That mischief is what we're seeing
today and could see tomorrow." 658

For now, it doesn't appear that Patriot II is going anywhere
soon; however, that hasn't stopped Ashcroft from playing other
games with our freedoms. The Justice Department has admitted
that it is using Patriot Act provisions to pursue common
criminals, such as suspected drug traffickers, white-collar
criminals, blackmailers, child pornographers, and money
launderers. Although Ashcroft has portrayed his new powers
almost exclusively as a tool to fight terrorism, his use of the
powers in traditional criminal investigations has caused critics to
assert that Bush has "sold the American public a false bill of
goods, using terrorism as a guise to pursue a broader law
enforcement agenda." 659

One of the primary characteristics of a totalitarian society is
the widespread practice of citizens spying upon each other, with
all of them reporting their observations to "big brother," who
decides who goes away and who stays. Last year, Big Brother
Ashcroft introduced Operation TIPS, another cute acronym for
Terrorism Information & Prevention System. He envisioned
millions of Americans, letter carriers, truckers, utility workers,
etc., reporting their suspicions to a central FBI database. He
didn't get away with it; even Republican Dick Armey opposed
it. 660

The government "has admitted that its failure to heed the
warnings [about 9/11] was not because of a lack of law
enforcement powers. Rather the failure was the result of an
information overload." 661 Aside from its unconstitutionality, can

232 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

you imagine the information overload if TIPS was put into
place?

Meanwhile, under the supervision of John Poindexter,
Reagan's disgraced National Security Advisor,* the Pentagon is
creating a "prototype" database called "Total Information
Awareness" (TIA). Working under the motto, "Knowledge is
Power," the TIA system is being designed to predict future acts
of terrorism through the correlation of hundreds of billions of
bits of disparate information gathered about each of us- 662

Conservative writer William Safire observed, "Every
purchase you make with a credit card, every magazine
subscription you buy and medical prescription you fill, every
web site you visit and e-mail you send or receive, every
academic grade you receive, every bank deposit you make,
every trip you book and every event you attend-all these
transactions and communications will go into what the Defense
Department describes as 'a virtual, centralized grand
database.'" 663 All of this would be done automatically, without a
search warrant.

Viet Dinh, who formerly worked for Ashcroft as the head of
the Office of Legal Policy and was one of the Patriot Act's
authors, has come to have concerns about its application. Dinh
has questioned Ashcroft' s continued detention of Jose Padilla,
the so-called "dirty bomber." Padilla, a Chicago street thug, has
been called a "small fish" by the FBI, which has cleared him of
any connection with al Qaeda. 664 Nonetheless, Ashcroft has held
Padilla, an American citizen, as an enemy combatant for two
years in a military prison without access to a lawyer. Dinh, who
now teaches law at Georgetown University, has come to the
conclusion that Ashcroft' s detention of Padilla is not legally

* Poindexter was convicted in connection with the Iran-Contra scandal
in 1990 of conspiracy, making false statements to Congress, and
obstructing congressional inquiries. His conviction was subsequently
reversed on a technicality associated with his receipt of Congressional
immunity. (Nash, Timothy, "John Poindexter, 'Outstanding
American,'" Slate, February 25, 2002, slate.msn.com/?id=2062542.)

Justice in America 233

"sustainable" and that it is unlikely to survive court review. It
appears he may have been right. 665

On December 19, 2003, the New York-based 2™* U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals ordered the government to release Padilla
from custody within 30 days, and, if the government chooses, to
try him in civilian court. 666 The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed
to hear the case, along with another involving the secret
detention of an American-born Saudi captured in Afghanistan. 667

In 2002, Ashcroft relaxed FBI surveillance rules dating from
the Vietnam era and gave agents authority to attend political
rallies, mosques and any event "open to the public." The FBI has
collected extensive information on the antiwar movement, and
in November 2003, it circulated a memorandum urging local law
enforcement to report any suspicious activity at protests to its
counterterrorism squads. The memo reviewed "innovative
strategies" used by demonstrators, such as videotaping arrests
as a means of "intimidation" against the police. It revealed that
protestors "often use the Internet to recruit, raise funds and
coordinate their activities prior to demonstrations." 668

If you protest too much, your name may show up on the
government's "no fly" list designed to keep suspected terrorists
from boarding commercial flights. The Transportation Security
Administration confirms that it has a list of about 1,000 people
who are deemed "threats to aviation" and who are not allowed
on airplanes. However, others who have been repeatedly
delayed and searched have been informed that their names are
also on a "list." These include John Dear, a Jesuit priest and
member of the Catholic peace group Pax Christi, Virgine
Lawinger, a 74-year-old nun and member of Peace Action,
Barbara Olshansky and Nancy Chang of the Center for
Constitutional Rights, and Green Party activists Nancy Oden
and Doug Stuber. Lawinger, with the help of the ACLU, filed a
Freedom of Information request with the TSA to learn why she
has been barred from flying. 669 Another group of antiwar
protestors has sued the government to learn how members'
names ended up on the list. 670

Does the Patriot Act make you feel more secure? Do you
think it is necessary for the government to collect information

234 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

about your bank account, your library checkouts, and your real
estate transactions? You're not stupid! Get the truth.

The Non-Investigation of Corporate Corruption

Ashcroft's Department of Justice lists "ensuring healthy
competition of business in our free enterprise system" as one of
its tasks in defining its "key role." In that connection, if you
recall, we earlier saw that Vice President Cheney, when he was
Halliburton's CEO, also sat on Kazakhstan's oil advisory board
and helped broker a deal between that country and Chevron for
half ownership of the Tengiz oil field. 671 ExxonMobil was also in
on the deal for a quarter share of the same field, and it turns out
that some palms also got greased in the deal. That's a crime,
especially if the palm is in another country. In our free enterprise
system, it's unfair competition to bribe some foreign despot to
make a deal with you. 672

Back in 1996, ExxonMobil (then Mobil), acting through a
senior manager, J. Bryan Williams III, allegedly paid James
Giffen, a broker acting on behalf of Kazakhstan, a $51 million
"success fee" on top of Mobil's $1 billion purchase price. Giffen,
in turn, paid over $20 million into the Kazakhs' Swiss bank
accounts. Allegedly, ExxonMobil later tried to make an illegal
oil swap with Iran to get the Kazakhstan oil to market more
quickly.* In addition, in 1997, one of BP-Amoco's subsidiaries,
Amoco Kazakhstan Petroleum, allegedly transferred $61 million
into Swiss bank accounts, where it quickly flowed into private
accounts benefiting several Kazakh leaders. 673

All of these alleged shenanigans came to the attention of the
Clinton administration, which initiated a major investigation to
determine if there were violations of the Foreign Corrupt
Practices Act and the 1996 Iran Trade Sanctions Act. The

* Executives of ExxonMobil (the second largest oil company contributor
to the Republican Party) and BP- Amoco met several times in secret
with Vice President Cheney and his Energy Task Force, after federal
grand juries had been impaneled in their criminal cases. Any wonder
why the Task Force report encouraged government agencies to
"deepen their commercial dialogue" with Kazakhstan? Any wonder
why Cheney continues to conceal the Task Force's working papers?

Justice in America 235

investigation was commenced in three locations, the Department
of Justice, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington D.C., and in
New York, where the U.S. Attorney, Mary Jo White, began to
present evidence to the grand jury. 674

Following the 9/11 attacks, the Department of Justice took
over all prosecutions of terrorists, including 15 who were
already under indictment in New York, even though the New
York U.S. Attorney's Office had successfully investigated
terrorists for almost ten years and had secured more than two
dozen convictions. Mary Jo White resigned in December 2001. 675

Immediately, there were reports from senior prosecutors in
both New York and Washington D.C. that Ashcroft was taking
control of the New York grand jury investigation of ExxonMobil
and BP- Amoco and was exercising "unusual" influence over the
Washington investigation.

One might wonder why, in the midst of the 9/11
investigations, Ashcroft would become personally concerned
about an investigation into corruption that took place in Central
Asia? Well, it turns out that ExxonMobil was the largest
contributor from the oil and gas industry to Ashcroft' s Senate
race, followed by Chevron, Enron, The Independent Petroleum
Association of America, BP-Amoco, and Halliburton. 676
Although sleeping with a close relative is called incest, covering
for a major contributor is just good politics.

Ashcroft quickly recused himself from the Enron
investigation (at least once his receipt of a total of $57,000 in
campaign contributions from Enron and its employees was
publicly questioned by Representative Henry Waxman). 677
However, he has not, apparently, done so in the Kazakh oil
company corruption investigations.

Interestingly enough, when the indictments finally came
down in April 2003, ExxonMobil itself was not indicted, but only
its manager, J. Bryan Williams III, and the broker, James Giffen.
However, the U.S. Attorney's Office has announced that
ExxonMobil continues to be the subject of the government's
ongoing investigation into the Kazakhstan contracts. 678

236 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Even FBI Director Robert Mueller got into the act. It seems
that, back before he was appointed to direct the FBI, he was
hired by Enron in 1993 to investigate a suspicious $600,000
payment by a subsidiary for a property worth only $41,000. He
concluded that the deal was just fine, and his investigator quit in
disgust. So, when Enron imploded and the FBI had to
investigate its financial machinations, did Mueller conclude that
he might have a conflict of interest? Of course not, and Deputy
Attorney General Larry Thompson agreed. This is the same
Larry Thompson who had earlier worked for the law firm that
represented Enron. 679 It is a small, small world, isn't it?

Ashcroft is democratic when it comes to the prosecution of
corporate crime. He doesn't just give energy companies a free
ride. During the first six months of the 2002 fiscal year, the
number of white-collar crimes referred to U.S. Attorneys was the
lowest it had been since the late 1980s. And of these, Ashcroft's
prosecutors only filed on 50 percent. 680

Do you believe Ashcroft has a conflict of interest in the
ExxonMobil and BP-Amoco investigations? Do you think he
should be allowed to interfere in the investigations? Should
Mueller recuse himself from the investigation of Enron? You're
not stupid! Get the truth.

618. "Heinrich Himmler," en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Himmler.

619. "Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945) Reichsfuehrer SS,"
http://www.joric.com/conspiHeinrich_Himmler.

620. "Pastor Niemoller," http://www.liv_coll.ac.uk/pa09/europetrip/
brussels/niemoller.htm.

621. Longley, Robert, "About the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ),"
http://wwwusgovinfo.about.com.

622. "Civil Rights Division Activities and Programs," August 2002
Edition, http://usdoj.gov/crt/activity.html.

623. Doherty, Brian, "John Ashcroft's Power Grab,"
reason.com/0206/fe.bd.john.shtml; see also Cogswell, Kelly, "Beware
Minorities, Women, Queers: Ashcroft is Coming!"
www.thegully.com/essays/america/001226ashcroft.html.

Justice in America

624. Doherty, Brian, "John Ashcroft's Power Grab,"
reason.com/0206/fe.bd.john.shtml.

625. Miller, op. cit, p. 335.

626. Doherty, op cit.

627. "The Two Faces of John Ashcroft,"
www.tylwythteg.com/enemies/Ashcroft/ashcroft.html.

628. Doherty, op. cit.

629. Ibid.

630. Espo, David, "Ashcroft confirmed in 58-42 Senate vote,"
Portsmouth Herald, February 2, 2001,
www.seacoastonline.com/2001/news/2_2_w2.htm.

631. Doherty, op. cit.

632. "John Ashcroft," www.zpub.com/un/ashcroft.html.

633. Franken, op. cit., p. 161.

634. Borger, Julian, "Dismay at US attorney general's Bible classes/'
The Guardian, May 15, 2001,

www. guardian.co.uk/ international/ story/0,3604,491125 / 000.html.

635. "Free Information For Our Free Country,"
www.aclu.org/library/foia.html.

636. The Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S. Code, Section 552,
As Amended By Public Law No. 104-231, 110 Statutes 3048.

637. Rosen, Ruth, "The Day Ashcroft Censored Freedom
of Information," San Francisco Chronicle, January 7, 2002,
www.commondreams.org/views02/0108-04.htm.

638. www.usdoj.gov/oip/foia_updates/Vol_XVII_4/page2.htm.

639. "Janet Reno Memorandum,"
www.usdoj.gov/oip/foia_updates/Vol_XIV_3/page3.htm.

640. Rosen, op. cit.

641. "New Attorney General FOIA Memorandum Issued,"
www.usdoj.gov/oip/foiapost/2001/foiapost/9.htm.

642. Van Bergen, Jennifer, "The USA PATRIOT Act Was Planned
Before 9/11." Truthout, May 20, 2002,
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/05.21B.jvb.usapa.911.htm.

643. Van Bergen, Jennifer, "Secret Court Decision Silently Overrules
Provision of PATRIOT Act," 2002, http://truthout.com/docs.

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

644. Van Bergen, Jennifer, "Repeal the USA Patriot Act," 2002,
http://truthout.com/docs.

645. Ibid.; see also Cole, David, "The Ashcroft Raids," Amnesty Now,
(www.amnestyusa.org/usacrisis/ashcroftraids.html); see also Taylor,
Stuart Jr., "Congress Should Investigate Ashcroft' s Detentions,"
National Journal, May 28, 2002,

(www.theatlantic.com/politics/nj/taylor2002-05-28); see also Riley,
Michael, "Lawsuits decry 'indefinite' detentions," Denver Post, March
20, 2002, (www.refuseandresist.org/ detentions/art.php?aid=659).

646. Ibid.

647. Van Bergen, Jennifer, "Repeal the USA Patriot Act," 2002,
http://truthout.com/docs.

648. Ibid.

649. Ibid.

650. Brom, Thomas, "Full Disclosure," California Lawyer, p. 31.

651. Hart, Peter and Rachel Coen, "John Ashcroft Needs Help," August
2003, http://www.fair.org/extra/0308/ashcroft.html.

652. Conason, op. cit., p. 108.

653. Ibid., p. 102.

654. Lumpkin, Beverley, "Patriot Act Redux," February 21, 2003,
civilliberty.about.com/cs/patriotact/; see also Alterman and Green,
op. cit., p. 95.

655. Hentoff, Nat, "Ashcroft Out of Control," The Village Voice,
February 28, 2003, www.villagevoice.com/issues/0310/hentoff.php.

656. Welch, Matt, "Get Ready for PATRIOT II," April 2, 2003,
Alternet.org.

657. Johnson, Jeff, "Congressional Opponents Lash out at PATRIOT
Act, Ashcroft," 2003, http://www.crosswalk.com/news/1221745.html.

658. Ibid.; see also Lithwick, Dahlia and Julia Turner, "A Guide to the
Patriot Act, Part 1," September 8, 2003, slate.msn.com/id/2087984/.

659. Lichtblau, Eric, "Feds widen use of Patriot Act beyond terror,"
New York Times, September 28, 2003, www.independent-
media.tv/item.cfm?media_id=2773&fcategory-
desc=under%20reported.

660. Conason, op. cit., p. 106.

661. Van Bergen, Jennifer, "Free Speech & G.W. Bush," Truthout,
October 15, 2002, www.truthout.com/docs_02/ll.16Ejvb.speech.html.

Justice in America

662. Hightower, op. cit., p. 88.

663. Conason, op. cit., pp. 106, 107.

664. Hightower, op. cit., p. 94.

665. Schmitt, Richard B., "Patriot Act Author Has Concerns,"
Los Angeles Times, November 30, 2003,

http://www.latimes.com/news/printededition/front/la-na-
justice30nov30,l,3885357.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage.

666. Mintz, John, "Detainee to Get Hearing," The Washington Post,
December 19, 2003, http://www.washingtonpost.com.

667. Savage, David G., "High Court Refuses to Take Up Case on Post-
Sept. 11 Arrests," Los Angeles Times, January 13, 2004, p. Al.

668. Lichtblau, Eric, "FBI Scrutinizes Antiwar Rallies."
The New York Times, November 22, 2003,
www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1122-09.htm.

669. Lindorff, Dave, "The No-Fly List: Is a federal agency
systematically harassing travelers for their political beliefs?"
In These Times, November 22, 2002,
www.inthesetimes.com/issue/27/02/feature3.shtml

670. Ibid.

671. Yant, Martin, "Enron played key role in events presaging war,"
Columbus Free Press, April 10, 2002, mywebpages.comcast.net/
howardluken/enron%20Afganistan%20pipeline.html.

672. Mann, Martin, "Swiss Investigation Into Bush/ Cheney
Involvement In Oil Company Bribes To Kazakhstan," August 14, 2000,
(www.whatreallyhappened.com/swiss.html); see also

"If ExxonMobil Is Not Indicted for Payments in Kazakhstan,
What Has This To Do With Iraq?" April 13, 2003,
(ist.socrates.berkley.edu/~pdscott/qfmobil2.html).

673. "If ExxonMobil Is Not Indicted for Payments in Kazakhstan, What
Has This To Do With Iraq?" April 13, 2003,
ist.socrates.berkley.edu/~pdscott/qfmobil2.html.

674. Ruppert, Michael C, "The Elephant In The Living Room - Part I,"
Fro; Tlicl il '. Publications, 2002,
www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/04_04_02_elephant.html.

675. Ibid.
676. Ibid.

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

677. Ivanovich, David, "Local Feds, Ashcroft Recused From Inquiry,"
Houston Chronicle, January 11, 2002, www.chron.com/cs/CDA/
story.hts/topstory2/1207236.

678. "If ExxonMobil Is Not Indicted for Payments in Kazakhstan,
What Has This To Do With Iraq?" April 13, 2003,
ist.socrates.berkley.edu/~pdscott/qfmobil2.html.

679. Yant, op cit.

680. Alterman and Green, op. cit., pp. 76, 77.

BUSH ON DRUGS

Senior citizens must often depend upon
prescription drugs to stay alive. Although Bush
tells them they have a drug benefit coming from
Medicare, the overwhelming benefit will go to the
hugely profitable pharmaceutical corporations who
contribute so generously to politicians.

Harry Truman believed it was a tragedy we didn't take
better care of the elderly in our society, and as soon as he became
president, he called for a national system of compulsory health
insurance, funded by payroll deductions, whereby all citizens
would receive medical and hospital services irrespective of their
ability to pay. Speaking at Oxford University on June 20, 1956,
Truman stated "we must declare in a new Magna Carta, in a new
Declaration of Independence, that henceforth economic well
being and security, that health and education and decent living
standards, are among our inalienable rights" 681

Although Truman failed to secure national health insurance
for all Americans, in the early 1950' s an idea began to take hold
that the Social Security system could never achieve its promise
until it provided protection against the high cost of medical care
for the elderly. Since insurance companies considered the
elderly bad risks and declined to insure them, the burden of
medical care stripped the elderly of their savings and reduced
them to poverty, no matter how hard they had worked and
saved. 682

Although he had promised to help indigents meet the cost of
medical care, President Eisenhower opposed the provision of
health insurance through the Social Security system, and it was
not until 1957 that government health insurance became the top
priority for organized labor. Coincidentally, the American
Hospital Association, whose members increasingly had to
absorb the cost of providing care to elderly charity cases, began
to favor the Social Security approach in 1958. However, the
American Medical Association remained adamantly opposed. 683

242 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

In 1960, Congress defeated both a Democratic Social Security
Medicare plan and a Republican supported "subsidy" plan.
Instead, it passed a compromise plan to increase medical vendor
payments through the States in matters of "medical
indigence." 684

During the 1960 presidential campaign, John Kennedy
proposed that the government provide medical care for the
elderly through Social Security, and immediately following his
inauguration, he sent a special message to Congress urging its
adoption. Supported by organized labor, Medicare bills were
introduced in the House and Senate, but the AMA attacked the
legislation as "the most deadly challenge ever faced by the
medical profession." Debate continued for a year, with
amendments and compromises; however, when the bill finally
came to a vote in the Senate, it was barely defeated by just two
votes. President Kennedy vowed to take the matter to the
voters. 685

Following the assassination of President Kennedy, and along
with the re-election of President Lyndon Johnson with the
greatest plurality in history, the Democrats made major gains in
Congress. President Johnson had vowed that Medicare was his
top priority, and bills to enact it were the first ones introduced in
both the House and Senate. Even though the AMA continued
with a last-ditch fight, Congress passed bills making medical
care an integral part of Social Security on July 9, 1965. 686

On July 30, 1965, standing beside a beaming Harry Truman
in Independence, Missouri, President Johnson signed the
Medicare bill and established the principle that caring for the
medical needs of our elderly is one of the duties of our "Great
Society." President Johnson proclaimed, "No longer will older
Americans be denied the healing miracle of modern medicine.
No longer will illness crush and destroy the savings they have so
carefully put away over a lifetime so that they might enjoy
dignity in their later years." 687

Medicare coverage was expanded to include disabled
persons under age 65 in 1972 and to all federal civilian
employees, including the judiciary, members of Congress and
the president, in 1984. There was a major overhaul of Medicare

Bush on Drugs 243

in 1988 that included coverage for prescription drugs; however,
the coverage was dropped the next year when seniors realized
they would have to pay its full cost through increased fees and
premiums. 688

President Reagan believed that Medicare represented
socialism at its worst and that, in the future, the elderly would
tell "our children and our children's children what it was like in
America when men were free." The attack against Medicare was
carried on by Newt Gingrich, who compared it to "centralized
command bureaucracies" in Moscow. Gingrich called for
significant reductions in the cost of Medicare through free-
market competition and private alternatives. 689

With advances in pharmaceutical science, much of it
conducted with government research grants, seniors became
increasingly dependent upon a wide range of prescription
medications for ailments such as arthritis, cardiovascular
problems, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer's disease. 690 However,
Medicare did not cover the costs of any of these drugs, if
prescribed on an outpatient basis. Many seniors purchased
Medigap insurance to help pay for essential prescriptions. These
plans are regulated by the government, with coverages labeled
from A to J, and premiums vary with the coverage and
deductible. Plans H, I, and J cover prescription drugs, and after
an annual deductible of $250, seniors pay one half of
prescription costs up to $6,250 per year (under Plan J). 691

Going into the 2000 presidential campaign, it was estimated
that Medicare provided health insurance coverage for 39 million
elderly and disabled Americans, about one out of every seven
people. At least one third of the beneficiaries did not have any
prescription drug coverage, requiring them to pay their
outpatient prescription drug costs out of their own pockets or do
without. With the senior population expected to double over the
next 25 years, growing to 20 percent of the population, polls
revealed that health care was the most important concern of
Americans. 692

Although both presidential candidates talked about health
care and providing prescription drug coverage, there were
differences in their positions. Gore stated that he would

24:4: You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

maintain the existing structure of Medicare but would add a
limited prescription drug benefit for all beneficiaries, with
deductibles and maximum limitations. 693

Bush essentially proposed the elimination of Medicare under
Social Security and urged its replacement with a "premium
support" program similar to the "subsidy" plan originally
supported by the Republicans in 1960. Instead of guaranteeing
specific health benefits, he wanted to provide a limited payment
to seniors in the form of a voucher to be used to purchase their
own health plan. Any difference between the voucher amount
and the cost of the plan would be paid by the senior." 694

Bush promised "to have prescription drugs as an integral
part of Medicare," but that was not exactly what he meant.
What he meant was that he wanted to privatize the process by
having seniors obtain prescription insurance offered by HMOs,
Medigap, retiree health insurance, and special prescription
plans. Under these plans, there would be no guarantee that
specific medicines would be covered, as the "formulary" would
be defined by each private plan.

Thar's Gold in Them Thar Pills!

There were two reasons why Bush began to support
Medicare reform and prescription drug coverage for the elderly.
One was to use "reform" as cover to get seniors out of traditional
"fee for services" plans, where they chose their own hospitals
and medical providers, and into lower cost HMO's. The second
reason was money, lots of money, tons of money.

First the payout, then the prize. Between 1997 and 2001, the
pharmaceutical industry spent at least $403 million on lobbying.
During the presidential campaign of 2000, the drug industry
spent at least $262 million on lobbying, direct campaign
contributions and issue ads. The drug industry fielded a virtual
army of lobbyists in Washington D.C. in 2001, with more than
one for each member of Congress. In addition, the industry
created two different tax-exempt groups (Citizens for Better

Bush on Drugs 245

Medicare and United Seniors Association*) to avoid disclosing
the $65 million these groups spent on issue ads. Some ads
opposed Medicare drug coverage, but many managed to get
messages out either supporting or opposing a candidate.
Finally, the drug industry contributed $625,000 to help make
Bush's inauguration party a smash. 695

During the last midterm election cycle in 2001 and 2002, the
drug industry gave a total of $12 million to federal candidates
and their political parties, with 74 percent going to Republicans
and 26 percent to Democrats. 696

What prize did the drug companies expect to win in return
for their political investment? Protection and cash, plenty of
protection and lots of cash! The national expenditure for
prescription drugs almost doubled in just four years, from $78.9
billion in 1997 to $154.5 billion in 2001.

The drug industry, by most measures, has been the most
profitable industry in America for the past 10 years, and was one
of the top two for the previous 20 years. In 2001, the 10 largest
drug companies posted a gross profit of $37.3 billion in 2001, an
increase of 33 percent. All of this money was made while most
other Fortune 500 companies were reporting a downturn in
profits consistent with the economic slowdown. 697

One company, Pfizer, earned $7.8 billion in 2001, more than
all of the Fortune 500 companies in the apparel, homebuilding,
publishing and railroad industries put together. Merck, at $7.3
billion, earned more than all the companies combined in the

The Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham
Young University was funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts to review
the 2002 midterm elections. It found that the United Seniors
Association was the most active issue advocacy group on television.
The Center's survey also found that, by using such a nondescript name
as United Seniors Association, the pharmaceutical industry was able to
avoid being associated with its message inasmuch as 58 percent of
seniors held an unfavorable impression of the industry. Following the
industry's advertising blitz, seniors had a 95 percent favorable
impression of the United Seniors Association. Talk about wrapping
your message in the good old USA!

246 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

casino, crude oil production, food production, hotel, pipeline,
resort, and semiconductor industries. 698

The drug companies are able to make these obscene profits
because the government allows them to market their products
directly to consumers, provides them extended patent
protections, provides generous tax breaks, helps fund their
research, and prevents the imposition of price controls. 699

Americans pay between 35 and 60 percent more for the
identical medications than patients in most other industrialized
countries, and the primary reason is that the United States does
not impose any form of price control. One survey in 1994 found
that the 77 most frequently dispensed drugs in America cost 60
percent more than in England. More recently, a Canadian
survey of all patented drugs in 1999 found that Americans paid
between 35 and 50 percent more than Canadians for identical
medications. Because of this difference, the United States
accounts for 60 percent of the profits earned by drug companies
worldwide. 700

Other governments use a variety of means to ensure that
drug companies (many of the same companies that do business
in the United States) receive a fair profit, and that consumers pay
a fair price somewhat related to the cost of research and
production. Many countries, including Germany, Belgium and
the Netherlands, group drugs into clusters and establish a
"reference" price for the cluster. Companies may charge more,
but insurance companies will not pay the difference. France,
Italy and Portugal negotiate directly with each company to
determine a "fair" price for each medication after reviewing the
company's justification and conducting price comparisons with
other countries.

England directly controls manufacturers' profits by
negotiating a target rate of return on sales to the National Health
Service, currently between 17 and 21 percent. England pays the
least for its prescription drugs. Canada regulates the entry price
of newly patented drugs "to prevent brand name firms from
abusing their monopoly position during the market exclusivity
period." Canada has established a Patented Medicine Prices
Review Board to establish pricing rules. Most companies

Bush on Drugs 247

comply voluntarily, and in only four cases has the government
had to resort to legal action to compel price reductions. 701

Drug companies have avoided the imposition of price
controls in the United States by claiming that controls would
reduce their incentive to research and develop (R&D) new drugs
because they would not be able to recapture their investment
costs. This representation is suspect for a number of reasons, not
the least of which is the absolute refusal of drug companies to
reveal their R&D data, even after nine years of effort by the
General Accounting Office and a decision of the U.S. Supreme
Court. One thing that might be revealed by such disclosure
would be a significant portion of R&D devoted not to the
development of new drugs but to the tweaking of existing, so
called "me-too" drugs to extend their patent life.

Until 1992, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ranked
each new drug, 1A through 1C, by its ability to improve health.
A drug ranked as 1A represented an important therapeutic
breakthrough, and a 1C drug represented little or no therapeutic
gain. President Bush Sr. eliminated these distinctions; however,
the data show that between 1981 and 1991, more than half of the
new drugs approved were in the "me-too" category. Only 16
percent were rated as 1A. Since 1992, 560 out of 730 "new"
drugs approved by the FDA had therapeutic qualities similar to
ones already sold. 702

The National Institute of Health spent over $1 billion of our
tax dollars on drug R&D in 1996. This was a windfall benefit for
drug companies, but not for the rest of us. Between 1965 and
1992, publicly funded research helped develop 71 percent of the
21 most important drugs introduced during the period.
Between 1992 and 1997, taxpayers spent at least $175 million for
R&D of 45 of the 50 top-selling drugs during the period.
Another study found that 11 of the 14 most medically significant
drugs introduced in the last 25 years originated in government-
funded studies. Finally, NIH-funded scientists conducted 55
percent of the research that resulted in the five top-selling drugs
in 1995. 703

These statistics tell us that government funding pays for the
grunt work, and drug companies exploit it for free. A study by

248 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

the National Science Foundation established that only 14 percent
of the drug industry's R&D funds went to basic research; 38
percent went to applied research and 48 percent to product
development. In other words, the drug companies don't usually
start to work unless they believe they have a marketable
product. 704

Another benefit enjoyed by drug companies in the United
States is the lack of government control over the direct
marketing of drugs to citizens. Only the United States and New
Zealand, among the industrialized nations, allow drug
companies to directly create an individual's desire for particular
prescription drugs, irrespective of the medical provider's advice.

In 1997, the FDA weakened its rules for television
advertising of prescription drugs, and direct-to-consumer
advertising rapidly increased. In 1996, drug companies only
spent $220 million on TV ads. By 2000, they were spending $1.57
billion. By 2001, Fortune 500 drug companies were devoting
almost three times as much of their cash flow to marketing and
advertising (30.4 percent) as to R&D (12.5 percent). And it pays
off. Nearly one in three adults has spoken to their doctor about a
drug they have seen advertised, and one in eight has received a
prescription as a result. The 50 most advertised drugs resulted
in retail sales of $41.3 billion in 2000. 705

Since the drug companies are making all this money, you
would think that they are paying a bundle in taxes, right?
Wrong. Between 1993 and 1996, the drug industry averaged an
effective tax rate of 16 percent, compared to 27 percent for all
other major industries. Between 1990 and 1996, the drug
industry was able to use the tax credits provided by Congress to
reduce its taxes by almost $28 billion. 706

The Health Reform Program of Boston University has
estimated that the drug industry will garner $139 billion in
increased profit from the new prescription drug program's $400
billion cost over the next eight years. This windfall to the
world's most profitable industry will provide it with a 38
percent profit increase. 707

Bush on Drugs 249

The profits will likely be even more obscene because Bush
knowingly misled Congress as to the actual costs of the
legislation. The government's chief Medicare actuary had
estimated that the plan would cost $551 billion over 10 years;
however, he was ordered to withhold the information from
Congress and told that he would be fired for insubordination if
he disobeyed. 708

What is even more disgraceful, increases in profits by drug
companies may personally and directly benefit the Bushes. The
Bush family has been heavily invested in the prescription drug
industry for years. In 1977, Bush Sr. was appointed to the board
of directors of Eli Lilly, and he disclosed in 1979 that he was
invested in Lilly, Abbott, Bristol and Pfizer. While he was Vice
President, Bush Sr. lobbied to allow drug companies to dump
obsolete drugs in the Third World and for special tax breaks for
companies that manufactured drugs in Puerto Rico. 709

Do your prescription drugs cost a fortune? Are you taken
advantage of by the high price of prescription drugs? Have you
been manipulated by drug company advertising? You're not
stupid! Get the truth.

The Large Print Giveth and the Small Print Taketh Away

On November 26, 2003, Congress passed the Medicare
Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003
that created a Medicare prescription drug benefit and gave
private insurance companies $14 billion to lure elderly
beneficiaries from "fee for service" plans into HMOs. Employers
and unions received $71 billion in subsidies and $14 billion in tax
breaks to encourage them to continue health insurance benefits
for their employees and members. Nonetheless, it is estimated
that approximately four million retirees will lose their employer-
provided health benefits under the new prescription drug
plan. 7 ™

The vote was close and largely split along party lines, with
Republicans voting for the plan and Democrats against. The
vote in the House was 220-215, and in the Senate it was 54-44.
Primarily, the Democrats opposed the bill because they believed
it undermined traditional Medicare, allowing younger and

250 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

healthier retirees to abandon traditional Medicare for less
expensive government-subsidized HMOs, leaving the older and
more infirm to pay ever increasing premiums. The Alliance for
Retired Americans accused Congress of having "failed older
Americans." 711

Seniors at the lowest income levels will receive an
immediate $600 annual prescription drug subsidy. However,
the only immediate benefit for most disabled and elderly
beneficiaries is the availability of a $30 per year prescription
drug card for use in 2004 and 2005, to obtain prescription price
reductions of up to 15 percent. 712

That portion of the Medicare bill that created the drug card
program was crafted by David Halbert, one of Bush's friends,
who just happens to be the CEO of AdvancePCS, a drug card
company. Thus, is it any wonder that once seniors purchase a
card, the provider can change prices on a weekly basis,
providing no guarantee of continued savings? Rather than
admit this deficiency, Bush spent tens of millions of dollars on
television ads that misled seniors into believing the drug cards
would save them money, and some ads used fake reporters to
appear as serious news stories. The General Accounting Office
reported the ads contained "notable omissions and errors." 713

Commencing in 2006, seniors with individual incomes less
than $14,505 will, after paying a deductible of up to $50, receive
up to 85 percent of drug costs up to $5,100, with increased
benefits after that point. 714

The vast majority of seniors, those having incomes of more
than $19,577, will pay a monthly premium of $35 and an annual
deductible of $250. The plan will pay 75 percent of the next
$2,000 in costs. Seniors will then have to pay 100 percent of the
next $2,850 in annual drug costs, and after that the plan will pay
95 percent of costs over $5,100. Premiums and deductibles will
increase annually to $58 per month and $445 per year in 2013. 715
Is this not a strange payment schedule? What happens to
seniors on a fixed income?

The legislation prohibits the government from directly
negotiating with drug manufacturers to obtain lower prices.

Bush on Drugs 251

Instead, benefits will be administered regionally through private
insurers or pharmacy benefit managers. 716

At best, this is a ho-hum plan wherein most of the money
flows to employers and the drug industry. Its primary
consequence for retired individuals is to get them out of
traditional Medicare into less expensive HMOs, at least until
they get old enough and sick enough to be kicked out.
However, it does help the elderly pay for their medications,
right, at least after 2006?

There is a line in a song by poet-singer Tom Waits that goes,
"The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." Thus
it is with Bush's prescription drug benefit. One of its provisions
actually prohibits the sale of any Medigap policies after January
1, 2006 that would help seniors pay their drug costs. Now, why
would Congress do away with the benefits of Medigap policies?
They intentionally wanted the elderly to feel the pain of having
to pay for a large portion of their prescriptions so they would be
"sensitive" to the costs. In other words, seniors would not be
allowed to obtain a policy to help them to bridge the $2,850 gap
between the first $2,250 in costs and $5,100, where the benefit
kicks in again. 717 Do you know any seniors who are not sensitive
to costs? Do know any who will not still stop to pick up a
penny?

Get out your magnifying glass; there's more small print. The
new drug plans could, and probably will, establish lists of
preferred medicines known as "formularies." While the lists
will include drugs in each "therapeutic category and class," such
as cholesterol-lowering drugs, Medicare would not have to pay
for any prescription drug not listed in the formulary. Isn't this
increasing the risk of favoritism and corruption?

In addition, beneficiaries will not be allowed to purchase
Medigap insurance to cover unlisted drugs, nor will they be
allowed to count the price of unlisted drugs in reaching the
$5,100 level where the benefit kicks in again. 718 Remember, these
are medications that have been prescribed by a medical doctor
for a medical need.

252 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

There's even more small print. The 12 million retirees with
employer-provided health care and prescription drug plans may
sign up for the Medicare prescription drug benefit, but any
contribution from their employer plan will not count toward
reaching the $5,100 level. 719 Why do we want to punish our
elderly like this? What have they done to deserve this
treatment?

Now, the print gets really tiny. Those low-income
beneficiaries who have been receiving prescription drugs under
state-administered Medicaid programs are forced to move over
to the Medicare program, even if they have been receiving
medications no longer available under Medicare. The Act
prohibits state Medicaid programs from supplementing the
Medicare prescription drug benefit. If a state wants to provide
more than the Medicare benefits, they will have to pay the entire
cost, and they will not be entitled to receive any of the discounts
and rebates they now receive from drug companies. 720

There's more. A conference committee report that
accompanied the bill's passage encouraged the revision of
existing Medigap policies to require beneficiaries to pay
increased deductibles and more of the initial costs of physician
and hospital services. The justification according to the report is
that "Numerous studies have demonstrated that covering
deductibles and coinsurance has led to higher Medicare
spending because beneficiaries become insensitive to costs." 721
What this means is that those members of Congress who voted
for this Act and the president who signed it may pretend to feel
the pain suffered by the elderly, but they just don't care.

Or perhaps they really are so self-absorbed and isolated from
those who elect them that they really don't understand how
ordinary hard-working people feel and what is important in
their lives. Nearly half of the newly elected representatives and
senators in the class of 2002 are millionaires, and many own
stocks in the very drug companies receiving the primary benefits
from the legislation. 722 These are the same caring congressmen
who have given themselves $5,000 raises during four of the past
five years. This $20,000 pay raise is almost double the $10,712 a
minimum-wage worker earns for a full year's labor. 723

Bush on Drugs 253

There are some who believe that Bush Jr. will receive a
political benefit from the enactment of his prescription drug
benefit; however, that assumes that the elderly and their families
who have the responsibility for their care and support can't read
the fine print. We are smart enough to figure out where the
money is really going, and why, and who is going to suffer even
more as a result.

Who do you think benefited most from Bush's prescription
drug bill, the elderly or the drug companies? You're not stupid!
Get the truth.

681. McCullough, David, Truman (New York: Touchstone, 1992), p. 957.

682. Corning, Peter A. "The History of Medicare," 1969,
http://www.ssa.gov/history/ Corning.html.

683. Ibid.

684. Ibid.

685. Ibid.
686. Ibid.

687. Ibid.

688. "Brief History of the Medicare Program," www.seniorjournal.com
/NEWS/2000%20Files/Aug%2000/FTR-08-04-00MedCarHistry.htm.

689. Herbert, Bob, "The Downfall of Medicare," Press-Telegram,
December 9, 2003, p. A17.

690. "Prescription Drugs," The Center For Responsive Politics,
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/drug/.

691. "Medigap Plans: Medicare Supplemental Insurance Policies,"
http://www.aarp.org/Articles/a2003-06-03-medigapcharts2.html.

692. Pelosi, Nancy, "A Democratic Health Care Agenda,"
http://www.sfms.org/sfm/sfm400d.htm.

693. "Compare the Candidates on Medicare & Prescription Drugs,"
http://www.afscme.org/publications/political/pt00203.htm.
694. Ibid.

695. "America's Other Drug Problem: A Briefing Book On The Rx
Drug Debate," Public Citizen's Congress Watch, 2002,
http://www.citizen.org/ publications/release.cfm?ID=7188.

696. Ibid.

697. Ibid.

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

698. Ibid.

699. Ibid.

700. Ibid.

701. Ibid.

702. Ibid.

703. Ibid.

704. Ibid.

705. Ibid.

706. Ibid.

707. "The Big Medicare Fix," Public Campaign, November 20, 2003,
http://www.publicampaign.org/publications/ouch-cpi/121-
140/ouchl23.htm.

708. Pugh, Tony, "Bush administration ordered Medicare plan cost
estimates withheld," Knight Kidder Newspapers, March 11, 2004,
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/8164060.htm.

709. Bowen, op. cit, pp. 102, 103.

710. Kemper, Vicki, "Sweeping Medicare Changes Okd,"
Los Angeles Times, November 26, 2003, p. Al.

711. Kemper, Vicki, "Senate Poised to Pass Drug Plan That Would
Overhaul Medicare," Los Angeles Times, November 25, 2003, p. Al.

712. Kemper, Vicki, "Sweeping Medicare Changes Okd," op. cit.

713. "Bush Misleads Seniors On New Drug Cards," The Daily Mis-Lead,
April 27, 2004, daily.misleader.org/ ctt.asp?u=2323986&l=31346.

714. Kemper, Vicki, "Sweeping Medicare Changes Okd," op. cit.

715. Ibid.

716. Ibid.

717. Pear, Robert, "Medicare Plan for Drug Costs Bars Insurance,"
The New York Times, December 6, 2003,
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/4253120.html.

718. Ibid.

719. Ibid.

720. Ibid.

721. Ibid.

722. Salant, Jonathan D., "A Richer Congress," December 25, 2002,
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/1225-02.htm.

723. Hightower, op. cit., pp. xvi, xvii.

THE MEDIA ARE NOT LIBERAL,
AND THEY DO NOT TELL YOU THE TRUTH!

For the last 30 years, right-wing millionaires
have funded and led an organized rout of
liberal political expression while convincing
us that the media are too liberal. In fact,
they've tried to convince us that liberal is a
dirty word.

Once upon a time "liberal" was not a naughty word; it was
not a label to be avoided at all costs; in fact, it was a badge of
honor. It did not denote cowardice; it was used to describe
fighters. Liberals cared about you, your family, your community
and your nation. 724 The 20 th Century even started out with a
liberal Republican president, Theodore Roosevelt, and he was
followed throughout the century by other liberal presidents, no
less effective and no less brave, but all were Democrats.

When Theodore Roosevelt became president in 1901,
following the assassination of President McKinley, he brought
energy and excitement to the office and led the government and
the people towards progressive reforms. He believed that the
president should be the "steward of the people," and to ensure
their protection, he greatly expanded the power of the
presidency. Roosevelt believed that government should
arbitrate between the competing economic forces of business and
labor, favoring neither and guaranteeing justice to both. He
supported miners in their strike against the coal barons and
convinced the owners to accept arbitration.

Roosevelt became known as the "trust buster" as he broke up
the great railroad combinations and effectively made use of the
Sherman Antitrust Act against businesses, when it had only been
used to break up labor unions before. In pursuit of a "Square
Deal" for Americans, T.R. succeeded in getting the Pure Food &
Drug Act, a meat inspection bill, and an employer's liability law
passed. He was one of the first conservationists, setting aside
national forests and parks for public use and enjoyment.

256 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Roosevelt was no coward; he served as the Secretary of Navy
in preparing for the war against Spain, and he personally led the
charge of his "Rough Riders" up Kettle Hill in the battle for San
Juan?25.

Woodrow Wilson was elected president in 1912 in a three-
way race against William Howard Taft, the Republican nominee,
and Theodore Roosevelt, running as an independent. Wilson
called for a "New Freedom" to energize the economy by
reducing tariffs, reorganizing the banking and credit industries,
and strengthening and enforcing anti-trust laws. 726

Breaking with tradition, Wilson appeared personally in
Congress and advocated his legislative agenda. He succeeded in
pushing through the Underwood Act, which reduced tariffs
generally and greatly increased the free list, against the
opposition of manufacturing interests; the Federal Reserve Act,
which established Federal Reserve Banks and the issuance of
Federal Reserve notes and was opposed by banking interests;
and the Federal Trade Commission Act, which outlawed unfair
trade practices and empowered the Federal Trade Commission
to issue "cease and desist" orders to prevent unfair competition.
Wilson obtained legislation to outlaw child labor, and achieved
an eight-hour workday for railroad workers. 727

Wilson was no coward, and in 1917, when Germany declared
unrestricted submarine warfare against all maritime commerce,
including that of the nominally neutral United States, he asked
for and Congress granted a declaration of war against Germany.
Following the war, Wilson helped establish the League of
Nations; however, the opposition of isolationist Republicans, led
by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, delayed its Senate ratification as
Wilson became gravely ill. The opposition thereafter blocked
ratification by adding amendments that essentially nullified the
treaty, resulting in its defeat. 728

Following 12 years of Republican administration, Franklin
Roosevelt was elected president in 1932 in the depths of the
Great Depression. Thirteen million Americans were

unemployed, and virtually every bank was closed. In the first
"hundred days" of his administration, Roosevelt proposed, and
a Democratic-controlled Congress passed, a broad-based "New

The Media are Not Liberal, and They do Not Tell You the Truth! 257

Deal" to assist businesses and agriculture to recover and help the
unemployed keep their homes. With the establishment of the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to guarantee bank
deposits and the Security and Exchange Commission to regulate
stock exchanges, a limited degree of recovery was achieved. In
1935, over the objection of business and banking interests,
Roosevelt proposed and Congress passed legislation establishing
Social Security, increasing taxes on the wealthy and large-scale
work relief programs. 729

This Roosevelt was no coward either. A former secretary of
the Navy, he conceived of the Lend Lease Plan to assist England
and Russia in holding out against German aggression, and
following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he asked for and received a
declaration of war against the Axis powers. In cooperation with
the Allies, Roosevelt successfully worked until his death to
prosecute the war almost until its conclusion. 730

After Roosevelt's sudden death on April 12, 1945, Harry
Truman became president. He, too, was no coward. He had
fought in Europe during World War I as an artillery captain, and
he was quickly required, as president, to make courageous
decisions. The first was his decision to deploy atomic weapons
against Japan after the nation refused to surrender. The second
was his decision to deploy American forces in support of the
United Nations' defense of South Korea after it was invaded by
North Korea and later by China. He obtained aid for Greece and
Turkey to avoid a Soviet takeover, and he arranged a massive
airlift to supply Berlin when it was blockaded by Russian troops.
Truman witnessed the signing of the United Nations Charter in
June 1945, and he negotiated the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization in 1949. Domestically, Truman introduced his own
"Fair Deal" to expand Social Security, achieve full employment,
establish a permanent Fair Employment Act, and engage in the
building of public housing and slum clearance. By executive
order, he desegregated the armed forces and he fought to
maintain the bargaining power of unions. 731

Following eight years of the Eisenhower administration, John
Kennedy was elected president in 1960, the youngest ever to be
elected, and when he died in 1963, he was the youngest to die in

258 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

office. Kennedy was no coward. As a naval officer, when his PT
boat was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer, he
repeatedly swam out in the surrounding dangerous waters to
secure the rescue of his crew, despite serious injuries. During
the Cuban missile crisis, he faced down Russia, securing the
removal of nuclear missiles from the island and eliminating that
threat of nuclear blackmail. Thereafter he achieved an
agreement with Russia to ban above-ground testing of nuclear
weapons.

Although President Kennedy sent measures to Congress to
cut taxes to stimulate the economy and to protect civil rights,
they were not enacted until after his assassination. Nonetheless,
the programs he initiated commenced the longest period of
sustained economic expansion since World War II. 732

Lyndon Johnson succeeded to the presidency in 1963 and
quickly moved to obtain passage of Kennedy's tax cut and civil
rights plans. Reelected in 1964 by the largest margin in history,
Johnson pushed his "Great Society" agenda through a
Democrat-controlled Congress. Among the highlights were
Medicare, urban renewal, aid to education, voting rights,
conservation and the war against poverty. He fulfilled
Kennedy's promise to put man on the moon, and he effectively
ended hunger in the United States through a food-stamp
program. 733

Johnson was no coward. He fought in World War II and
won a Silver Star for bravery, and he carried out the Vietnam
War to support the commitments made by the United States,
even though his efforts were unsuccessful. 734

After eight years of Republican administration by Richard
Nixon and Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter was elected in 1976.
Carter was a Naval Academy graduate who served on nuclear
submarines. During his four years in office, in spite of high
inflation and energy costs, eight million new jobs were created,
and the budget deficit, as a percentage of the gross national
product, was reduced. He commenced deregulation of the
trucking and airline industries, expanded the national park
system, and created the Department of Education. He was
defeated for reelection by Ronald Reagan. 735

The Media are Not Liberal, and They do Not Tell You the Truth! 259

When President Clinton took office in 1994, the national debt
had quadrupled over the past 12 years of Republican
administration. While the income of America's wealthiest
families had increased by 67.3 percent thanks to Reagan's tax
cuts for the wealthy, the average middle-class family's income
had been reduced by 17 percent. President Clinton discovered
that Bush Sr. had left him a government that was running an
annual deficit estimated at $300 billion.

As a matter of fiscal urgency, Clinton managed to obtain a
modest increase in the tax rate for the top 1.2 percent of the
richest taxpayers. Senator Phil Gramm predicted that with
adoption of the increase, "the economy is going to get weaker
and not stronger, the deficit four years from today will be
higher." What actually happened is that President Clinton
presided over eight years of economic expansion, the longest in
history. During his term, 22 million new jobs were created, the
unemployment rate dropped to 4 percent, the median family
income increased by almost $6,500, the poverty rate decreased,
and between 1998 and 2000, the government paid off more than
$360 billion of the national debt. 736

Although the received wisdom is that Republicans are better
at business, which may be true (for many of them seem to be
living quite well), they do not appear to be better at running the
federal government. Over the past century and using a variety
of business measures, we find: (1) Democratic presidencies
produced an average return of 12.3 percent on the Standard &
Poor's 500 stock index, while Republican presidencies only
produced 8 percent; (2) Democratic control over Congress
produced stock returns of 10.7 percent, while Republican control
only produced 8.7 percent; and (3) Democratic presidencies
produced price gains of 13.4 percent on Dow Jones stocks, while
Republican ones only produced increases of 8.1 percent. 737

Overall, on average and by every measure, including
economic growth, reduced inflation, increased wages, and lower
government spending, Democratic presidents have done a better
job of managing the economy than have Republican
presidents. 738

260 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Thus, it appears that in the last century it has largely fallen
upon the Democratic presidents to fight the wars, straighten out
the economy, defend individual rights, and protect the
environment. So, if all this is true, why have the liberals gained
such a bad reputation? Why do the Republicans use "liberal" as
a dirty name? Why are the Democrats afraid to identify
themselves as liberals?

The Attack of the Killer Neocons

The modern political conservative movement may have
begun with the National Review in the late 1950's and William F.
Buckley Jr.'s editorializing about the civil rights movement. He
opposed the Voting Rights Act and called for the maintenance of
"states' rights" and Southern "civilized standards." In 1961, he
stated, "I am not ready to abandon the ideal of local government
in order to kill Jim Crow." He blamed the non- violent civil
rights marchers for their own beatings and the 1965 Watts riots
on Martin Luther King Jr.'s "anarchic teachings." 739

During the 1960's, whenever journalists needed expert
comment regarding political or foreign policy, they would
contact members of academia or one of several research
institutes such as the Council on Foreign Relations, the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace, or the Brookings Institution.
Scholars and staff members of these organizations were, on
average, probably a little left of center on most political and
economic questions, and, collectively, their research and
thoughts resulted in the "Establishment" opinion on most
issues. 740

The neo-conservative, or "neocon" movement arose in the
mid-1970s in reaction to the Establishment's influence on
political opinion. Irving Kristol, in cooperation with Robert
Bartley of the Wall Street Journal editorial page, and a few others,
set about creating a highly effective alternative to the
Establishment. All it took was a little money; actually, it took a
lot of money, but it was well targeted. Their success has been
overwhelming. 741

Much of the money came from family foundations, such as
those established by Lynde and Harry Bradley, John Olin, Sarah

The Media are Not Liberal, and They do Not Tell You the Truth! 261

Scaife, and Smith Richardson. 742 Individual supporters included
Bunker and Nelson Hunt, Joseph Coors, Richard Mellon Scaife,*
and Korean minister Sun Myung Moon. Hundreds of new think
tanks sprang up overnight, including The American Enterprise
Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and the Center for Strategic
and International Studies. Between 1992 and 1994, twelve
foundations gave $210 million to these institutions to fund
conservative agenda building. That is, the money was spent to
formulate and market conservative opinions. 743

These new organizations are far more proactive than the
Establishment ever was, and the emphasis is more on marketing
opinions than upon research. William Baroody, the former
president of the American Enterprise Institute, said, "I make no
bones about marketing. ... We pay as much attention to the
dissemination of the product as we do the content. We're
probably the first major think tank to get into the electronic
media. We hire ghost writers for scholars to produce op-ed
articles that are sent to the one hundred and one cooperating
newspapers-three pieces every two weeks." 744

In 1995, the Heritage Foundation's president, Edwin Feulner,
stated, "We don't just stress credibility. We stress timeliness.
We stress an efficient, effective delivery system. Production is
one side; marketing is equally important." Heritage vice
president Burton Pines states, "We're not here to be some kind of
Ph.D. committee giving equal time. Our role is to provide
conservative public-policymakers with arguments to bolster our
side." He adds, "Our targets are the policymakers and the
opinion-making elite. Not the public. The public gets it from
them." 745 Ronald Reagan bought the Heritage Foundation's
product wholeheartedly. At the Foundation's tenth-anniversary
banquet, Reagan stated, "Historians who seek the real meaning

* In 1981, Karen Rothmyer of the Columbia Journalism Review asked
Scaife about his financial backing of conservative groups. He
answered, "You f***ing Communist c**t, get out of here." He warned
her, "Don't look behind you." (Alterman Eric, What Liberal Media? page
245.)

262 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

of events in the latter part of the twentieth century must look
back on gatherings such as this."

The Heritage Foundation's influence continues unabated
under George W. Bush. The Foundation provided him with
between 1,200 and 1,300 names and resumes, including the
Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao, a former Heritage Distinguished
Fellow. 746 And if you recall, Bush addressed a gathering of the
American Enterprise Institute on February 26, 2003, and told
them that his administration had "borrowed" 20 of its members.

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting conducted a study to
determine the number of "expert" quotes found in the media
from the various foundations, which were then ranked from
conservative to centrist to progressive (liberal). Of 25,823
citations identified through Lexis, 48 percent of all mentions
came from conservatives, 36 from centrists, and only 16 percent
from progressives.

One of the most influential organizations funded by Richard
Scaife is the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies,
whose membership has grown to over 25,000. A legal society,
the Federalist acts as a watchdog on the American Bar
Association, publishing the ABA Watch to document the
Association's allegedly liberal stands on abortion, the death
penalty and gun control. The Federalists attack "judicial
activism" and praise "strict construction." 747 The society
includes some of the most influential judges in America,
including four close affiliates* who sit on the U.S. Supreme
Court. 748

Justice Antonin Scalia, considered one of the founders of the
society, declared in 2002 that "government ... derives its moral
authority from God" and acts as the "minister of God." Scalia

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia,
Anthony M. Kennedy, and Clarence Thomas. The Society was also
instrumental in the selection and confirmation of Justice Sandra Day
O'Connor. (Remember, these are the same five who gave the 2000
presidential election to Bush.) Other Federalist Society members are
Attorney General John Ashcroft, Solicitor General Ted Olson, Secretary
of Energy Spencer Abraham and Senator Orrin Hatch.

The Media are Not Liberal, and They do Not Tell You the Truth! 263

aggressively states, "The reaction of people of faith to this
tendency of democracy to obscure the divine authority behind
government should not be resignation to it, but the resolution to
combat it as effectively as possible." 749 What! Believers should
defeat democracy if necessary to avoid a separation of church
and state? On March 18, 2003, Justice Scalia said, "The
Constitution just sets minimums. Most of the rights that you
enjoy go way beyond the Constitution." 750 Says who?

The primary target of the conservative opinion mills is the
liberal enemy. Liberalism is painted as being illegitimate. The
attack is unrelenting and it is dirty. The object is to associate
liberalism with Democrats with socialism. Every opportunity is
taken to disparage liberals and progressives. Taking a clue from
Gingrich's game book, liberals are referred to as "elitist,"
"limousine liberals," "upper-class liberals," "Hollywood
liberals," "liberal snobs," and "liberal eggheads." 751 Ann Coulter
threatens them with execution to keep them from becoming
"outright traitors." Andrew Sullivan warns of liberals
"mounting a fifth column" against the war on terrorism. Steve
Dunleavy denounces "liberals, whom I regard as traitors" for
daring to quote the Constitution. 752

Do you believe the neocons represent your point of view?
Do you think they represent your best interests? You're not
stupid! Get the truth.

Creating the Myth of the Liberal Media

Not only have the neocons spent millions to establish their
superior position in rendering and controlling media opinions,
they have worked equally hard to convey the false impression
that liberals control the media. As far back as 1992, a former
chairman of the Republican National Committee, Rich Bond,
conceded that bashing the liberal media was just part of the
game. He explained, "There is some strategy to it. I'm a coach
of kids' basketball and Little League teams. If you watch any
great coach, what they try to do is 'work the refs.'" Working
"the ref" means to raise a stink about every adverse call the
referee makes so that "Maybe the ref will cut you a little slack on
the next one." 753

264: You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Accusations that liberals control the media are both unfair
and unfounded. In a moment of candor, the editor of the Weekly
Standard, William Kristol, stated, "I admit it. The liberal media
were never that powerful, and the whole thing was often used as
an excuse by conservatives for conservative failures."
Nevertheless, the truth doesn't stop him from complaining in
print, "The trouble with politics and political coverage today is
that there's too much liberal bias. ... There's too much tilt toward
the left-wing agenda. Too much apology for liberal policy
failures. Too much pandering to liberal candidates and
causes." 754 It is doubtful that the neocons would be satisfied
with the death of liberal thought; it's far more fun to kick the
whimpering dog.

Even Patrick Buchanan, who ran for president as a reform
candidate in the 2000 election, stated, "I've gotten balanced
coverage, and broad coverage-all we could have asked. For
heaven sakes, we kid about the 'liberal media,' but every
Republican on earth does that." 755

Nonetheless, the neo-conservative movement spends
millions to ensure that the public continues to believe that the
liberals have control of the media. Among the organizations
funded to monitor radio and television broadcasting is the
Media Research Center (MRC) chaired by William F. Buckley,
Jr.'s nephew, L. Brent Bozell III. Operating with a $7.8 million
annual budget, the MRC openly supports Republican and
conservative campaigns and causes. 756

MRC uses e-mail to alert its 11,000 followers on a daily basis
to any liberal leanings it may detect in the media and encourages
its members to send complaints. 757 Following 9/11, MRC
appointed itself as America's "Patriotism Police" and sent out an
e-mail threatening anyone who dared to oppose the Bush
administration's policies. MRC promised to attack any journalist
or media outlet that failed to support Bush. 758

All this money is not wasted. In September 2002, a Gallup
poll revealed that 47 percent of Americans believe the news
media is "too liberal," while only 13 percent believe the media is
biased toward conservatives.

The Media are Not Liberal, and They do Not Tell You the Truth! 265

How have we, average, hard-working people, allowed
ourselves to believe that "liberal" is a bad word, when it stands
for the social and economic progress that "We The People" have
made under the Roosevelts, Wilson, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson,
Carter and Clinton? Have you bought into the conservative
agenda? Have you been manipulated by right-wing
propaganda? You're not stupid! Get the truth.

In Fear of the Conservative Media

By every objective measure, the message one hears and reads
in America's news media is conservative, unrelentingly
conservative. One of the main reasons is that while most
individual journalists would define their personal politics as
centrists, their employers and managers (and advertisers) are
conservative, and the managers are the ones who control
content.

In the week before the 2000 election, Editor & Publisher
commissioned a poll of newspaper executives. The magazine
found that, by a wide margin, the executives were personally
going to vote for Bush and that their newspapers had endorsed
him by a 2-1 margin. The largest margin was with the smallest
newspapers (3-1), but even the largest newspapers supported
Bush by a 5-4 margin. Overall, 58 percent of the population read
that Bush was the favored candidate of their local newspaper.
Editor & Publisher wondered, "what ever happened to the so-
called 'liberal press?'" 759

Since these same newspaper executives decide who writes
what and how it is presented in their papers, it shouldn't be a
surprise to learn that conservatives control the op-ed pages. A
1990 independent study reviewed the writing of seven
syndicated columnists who regularly appeared in more than a
hundred newspapers with over ten million readers. Four were
conservative and only one might be called liberal. 760

Even the Heritage Foundation admits the shift to the right on
newspaper opinion pages. According to Adam Meyerson,
"Journalism today is very different from what it was ten or
twenty years ago. Today, op-ed pages are dominated by
conservatives." In 1999, Editor & Publisher found that the top

266 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

four columnists were all on the right or extreme right and that
they appeared in approximately 500 newspapers.

The choices made by newspaper executives on the op-ed
pages are also displayed on the front pages. A survey by the
Project for Excellence in Journalism of newspaper stories during
the critical month between late September and October 2000,
when Gore's solid lead in the polls dissolved, found twice as
many stories favoring Bush as Gore. 761 Where did the stories
appear in your local newspaper?

The Pew Charitable Trust's Project for Excellence in
Journalism at the Columbia School of Journalism reviewed 1,149
stories from 17 leading news sources published during the 2000
presidential election. It found 24 percent of the stories were
positive for Bush, while only 13 were positive for Gore; and that
56 percent of the stories were negative for Gore and 49 percent
were negative for Bush. The remaining stories were neutral.

In one area of the media- AM talk radio-the love for Bush is
never ending. Featuring personalities such as Rush Limbaugh,
Sean Hannity, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Michael Savage, Bob
Grant, Howard Stern, G. Gordon Liddy and, more recently, Bill
O'Reilly, AM talk radio reaches millions of Americans each day
with a message that is exclusively right wing. Almost
exclusively. Since the murder of Alan Berg by white
supremacists in 1984, there has not been a single liberal AM
radio talk show, until the recent advent of Air America Radio. 762

Talk radio is an angry medium. The hosts yell at callers and
cut them off. They loudly express their personal opinions and
deride any opposition. Talk radio feeds upon the displaced
anger in our society: anger over loss of employment or business
opportunities, over our increasingly multi-cultural society, over
changes in the role of women, over illegal immigration, and over
perceived defeats or slights in daily life. Talk radio taps into the
residual paranoia and anxiety left over from the Cold War and
the threats posed by terrorism. It is a place where one can
vicariously punch the boss or kick the dog, but it is not a very
good place to obtain unbiased news or political opinion. It also
functions to make liberal listeners feel they are a marginalized,
small minority.

The Media are Not Liberal, and They do Not Tell You the Truth! 267

Clear Channel Communications (CCC) owns half of the
radio outlets in America, more than 12,000 local stations. CCC
exercises almost total control over local programming, including
a ban on the Dixie Chicks band after one of its members (from
Lubbock, Texas) told fans in England they were ashamed to be
from the same state as Bush. CCC also provided financial
sponsorship and aired promotions for pro-war "Rallies for
America." 763

One of America's most popular commentators, Howard
Stern, has been suspended from appearing on CCC stations
because he began to deviate from the company's pro-Bush line.
Stern says, "I gotta tell you something, there's a lot of people
saying that the second that I started saying T think we gotta get
Bush out of the presidency,' that's when Clear Channel banged
my a** outta here. Then I find out that Clear Channel is such a
big contributor to President Bush, and in bed with the whole
Bush administration, I'm going, 'Maybe that's why I was thrown
off, because I don't like the way the country is leaning too much
to the religious right.'"

CCC also fired two other commentators for their anti-war
views. Roxanne Walker was discharged when she began to
charge that Bush's War was not justified, "I was reprimanded by
[Clear Channel] management that I need to tone that down.
Basically I was told to shut up." Phoenix talk show host Charles
Goyette was kicked off for "inviting administration critics like
former weapons inspector Scott Ritter on his show, and
discussing complaints from the intelligence community that the
analysis on Iraq was being cooked to support the White House's
pro- war agenda." 764

Surveys establish that 22 percent of Americans listen to talk
radio, up to as many as 40 percent in the major cities. 765 AM talk
radio is not only conservative, it is hard-hitting, take-no-
prisoners conservative. It is here, and not on the op-ed pages,
that the opinion of working Americans is most influenced.
There is no denial. Rush Limbaugh gloats, "There's been a
massive change in media in this country over the last 15 years. ...
Now it's 2002 and the traditional liberal media monopoly
doesn't exist anymore."

268 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Limbaugh has been credited with Bush's defeat of McCain in
the 1999 presidential primaries and of Gore in the general
election. William Kristol says that Limbaugh "helped make it
the orthodox conservative position that McCain was utterly
unacceptable and also that Bush was fine, neither of which were
intuitively obvious if you're a conservative." Newt Gingrich's
former press secretary Tom Blankley stated, "Given the
closeness of the election, but for Rush Limbaugh's broadcasts,
we would now be led by President Al Gore." 766

Once upon a time, the Federal Communication
Commission's Fairness Doctrine required broadcasters to
provide a balance of political opinion in their programming, and
the FCC would not have allowed the present monopoly of
conservative opinion. However, the Reagan-appointed FCC
repealed the doctrine in 1987, and Reagan vetoed attempts by
Congress to reinstate it.

Now that they are in control, the same neocons who once
relied upon the access doctrine believe that it would be an
unwarranted imposition on the First Amendment to allow
today's dissenters an equal opportunity to exercise their freedom
of speech. 767 Given the power of the media to shape opinion, do
you think we should allow it to be biased, without any
opportunity for the other side to provide balance?

Following his election, Bush enjoyed an extraordinarily long
honeymoon with the news media. On May 6, 2002, John Harris
wrote in the Washington Post, "Are the national news media soft
on Bush? ... The truth is, this new president has done things with
relative impunity that would have been huge uproars if they had
occurred under Clinton. Take it from someone who made a
living writing about those uproars." 768

The mainstream press is clearly intimidated by the
conservative media. For example, following Bush's State of the
Union address in January 2003, in which he repeatedly and
demonstrably lied, the New York Times "found little that could
lead to a conclusion that the president actually lied." Instead, it
was possible that Bush may have been guilty of having "stepped
over the line." Even the Washington Post, in a story entitled
"Presidential Tradition of Embroidering Key Assertions

The Media are Not Liberal, and They do Not Tell You the Truth! 269

Continues," only found Bush's statements to be "dubious, if not
wrong" and that they "outpaced the facts." 769

Bush told a bald-faced lie in Africa on July 14, 2003,
regarding Saddam: "We gave him a chance to allow the
inspectors in, and he wouldn't let them in. And, therefore, after
a reasonable request, we decided to remove him from power."
In fact, the inspectors returned to Iraq and essentially
determined that there was no current evidence of weapons of
mass destruction, before they had to leave so Bush could start
bombing Iraq. The Washington Post could only say that Bush's
lie "appeared to contradict the events leading up to war this
spring." 770 A lie is a lie, except when one has newspapers to sell
and one has come to live in fear of the truth.

The news media is big business, and journalists who rock the
boat really don't get ahead, All the President's Men to the contrary
notwithstanding. To get along, many journalists go along with
self-censorship. Dan Rather, who has been labeled a liberal by
the neocons, confesses, "There was a time in South Africa that
people would put flaming tires around people's necks if they
dissented. And in some ways the fear is that you will be
'necklaced' here, you will have a flaming tire of lack of
patriotism put around your neck. Now it is the fear that keeps
journalists from asking the toughest of the tough questions. ... I
do not except myself from this criticism. What we are talking
about here-whether one wants to recognize it or not, or call it by
its proper name or not-is a form of self-censorship. I worry that
patriotism run amok will trample the very values the country
seeks to defend." 771

In The Note, ABC's Internet publication, journalists are
warned, "Since the Republican party is the only one of our two
major political parties in America who believes the press is
routinely biased against them ... the press needs to be extra
careful in making sure that perspective and fairness are
maintained." In What Liberal Media?, Eric Alterman comments
on ABC's warning: "Talk about 'working the refs.' Between the
fear of appearing to tear down a national icon during wartime
and the effect of decades of fielding attacks by politically minded
conservatives drumming to a beat of their own invention, the

270 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

elite media has so internalized the false message of their own
'liberalism' that they were openly holding back on the
Republicans, as if in fear of where the truth might lead. The
media's gentle treatment of George W. Bush and his
administration was, in many ways, a tribute to decades of hard
spadework by conservative activities undertaken specifically for
this purpose. And given its effect across the broad swath of
American politics in the late 1990's and early 2000' s, they had
every right to take pride in their work." 772

Joe Conason concurs in Big Lies: "Conservatives enjoy their
virtual monopoly over the nation's political conversation, of
course. They paid a lot of money for it and they intend to keep
it. They dominate the national debate not because their ideas are
better (or more popular), but because they have more resources
and a vast, coordinated infrastructure that has been built up
during three decades. They also tend to dominate because-
unlike the supposedly liberal mainstream media-conservatives
are perfectly willing to stifle opposition. Liberal opinion is hard
to find in conservative newspapers and liberal voices are rarely
heard on conservative talk radio." 773

Bush of course would not agree. He complains that the
media "are biased against conservative thought." Yet another
lie?

We all want an honest and truthful parent figure to lead us
in times of adversity; however, when it turns out that our parent
is repeatedly lying to us and deceiving us about the dangers we
face, we must intervene and avoid becoming co-dependent
enablers. The President desperately needs to be helped "out."

Do you want the truth? Do you want to hear both sides of a
story, an issue, so you can make up your own mind and form
your own opinion? Are you concerned that the conservative
media is so willing to smother liberal thought? Is the
conservative media treating you like you are stupid? You're not
stupid! Get the truth.

The Media are Not Liberal, and They do Not Tell You the Truth! 271

724. Conason, op. cit., p. 3.

725. gi. grolier.com/presidents/ea/bios; see also
www. whitehouse. go v/ history / presidents .

726. Ibid.

727. Ibid.

728. Ibid.

729. Ibid.

730. Ibid.

731. Ibid.

732. Ibid.

733. Ibid.

734. Ibid.

735. Ibid.

736. Ibid.; see also Conason, op. cit., pp. 77-80.

737. Conason, op. cit., pp. 85, 86.

738. Ibid., p. 86.

739. Ibid., p. 135.

740. Alterman, Eric, What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the
News, (New York: Basic Books, 2003), p. 81.

741. Ibid., p. 81, 82.

742. Conason, op. cit., p. 35.

743. Alterman, op. cit., p. 82.

744. Ibid., p. 82.

745. Ibid., p. 83.

746. Ibid.

747. Ibid., pp. 249, 250.

748. "The Federalist Society: From Obscurity to Power," People For
The American Way Foundation, August 2001,

(www. pfaw.org/pfaw/ general/ default.aspx?oid=652); see also
Swomley, John M., "The Network of Righteousness. (The Federalist
Society)," Humanist, November 2000, (www.findarticles.com/cf_0/PI/
search.jhtml?key = % John % 20m. % 20swomley % 20) .

749. Conason, op. cit., p. 99.

750. Ivins, op. cit., pp. 278, 279.

751. Conason, op. cit., p. 19.

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

752. Ibid., p. 55.

753. Ibid., p. 34, 35; see also Alterman, op. cit, p. 2.

754. Ibid.; see also Alterman, op. cit., p. 23.

755. Alterman, op. cit., p. 2.

756. Conason, op. cit., p. 36.

757. Rampton, op. cit., pp. 166, 167.

758. Kellner, op. cit., p. 167.

759. Conason, op. cit., pp. 39, 40.

760. Ibid., pp. 41, 42.

761. Ibid., p. 45.

762. Ibid., p. 47; see also Alterman, op. cit., p. 70.

763. Rampton, op. cit., p. 170.

764. Boehlert, Eric, "The passion of Howard Stern," Salon, March 4,
2004, www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/03/04/stern/pring.html.

765. Alterman, op. cit., p. 70.

766. Ibid., p. 75.

767. Ibid., p. 71; see also Conason, op. cit., p. 50.

768. Conason, op. cit., p. 46.

769. Alterman, op. cit., pp. 198, 199.

770. Corn, op. cit., p. 292.

771. Solomon, op. cit., p. 23.

772. Alterman, op. cit., p. 223.

773. Conason, op. cit., p. 1.

THE PREVARICATOR III:
THE CAMPAIGN FOR REELECTION

Get ready. In the next election, Bush will use
every dirty trick in Rove's book to win. The
ballyhoo of his nominating convention in
September 2004 will be an insult to the thousands
who died unnecessarily on September 11, 2001.

Hollywood is not necessarily known for its creativity, and
once it gets a box-office hit, it keeps churning out sequels until
the public gets sick and tired of seeing the same old formula.
Running a negative attack campaign got Bush close enough to be
given the presidency, even though he lost the election, and it got
him control over Congress in the midterm elections, even though
he had to beat up a disabled war hero to do it. Now, he's
baaaack.

Bush has already exceeded his goal of raising $170 million in
campaign funds, and is on his way to $200 to $250 million. Even
though he has no opponent in the primaries, he decided to fire a
shot at the Democrats, just to keep their heads down. Timed to
coincide with a Democratic Primary Debate in Iowa during the
last week of November 2003, Bush ran a classic Rove attack ad.
Showing Bush presidentially delivering his State of the Union
lines, "Our war against terror is a contest of will in which
perseverance is power," the ominous screen line says, "Some are
now attacking the President for attacking the terrorists." Then,
as he says, "Some have said we must not act until the threat is
imminent," the screen line runs, "Some call for us to retreat,
putting our national security in the hands of others." 774 Bush
"knows we know" that "some" are Democrats, but it's an
"unknown unknown," whether he's going to get away with
"waving the bloody shirt" this time. 775

Prevaricator III will be loaded with symbolism. The White
House has announced that it is delaying the Republican
nominating convention, scheduled for New York City, until the
first week in September 2004, the latest in the party's history.
This will allow Bush's acceptance speech, slated for September 2,

274: You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

to coincide with the 9/11 commemoration events scheduled to
occur in the city. A coincidence?

Samuel Johnson once said, "Patriotism is the last refuge of a
scoundrel." Bush keeps running around the country posing for
photo ops in military jackets and spending millions in scarce
military funds so he can be photographed climbing out of an
airplane in front of a phony "Mission Accomplished" sign, and
holding up a fake Thanksgiving turkey in Baghdad. However,
he's not risking his life; he's putting the lives and futures of our
children at risk. And he is spending the capital of our youth
recklessly and cynically in fighting the wrong war for the wrong
reasons. We Americans are used to rallying around the flag, and
we will continue to do so. But once we realize that our President
has drenched our flag in the blood of our children and that he is
dragging our flag and their blood through the dirt of his nasty
lying politics, we will throw the scoundrel out of office.

No matter how much Bush and Ashcroft try to make it
appear unpatriotic to oppose Bush's War, opposition is a healthy
thing, and it is the American way. A few days after the attack on
Pearl Harbor, Republican Senator Robert Taft stated, "As a
matter of general principle, I believe there can be no doubt that
criticism in time of war is essential to the maintenance of any
kind of democratic government ... because the maintenance of
the right of criticism in the long run will do the country
maintaining it a great deal more good than it will do the enemy,
and will prevent mistakes which might otherwise occur." 776

Bush raised $100 million for the 2000 primaries and, even
though he is unopposed this time around, he has already raised
over $170 million in an attempt to bury the successful
Democratic candidate. Political scientist Donald F. Kettl believes
the Bush campaign is "lying in wait, hoping to kneecap a
Democratic candidate likely to emerge from the primaries
wobbly and out of cash. ... This could well be the most effective
Rose Garden campaign in history, backed by a war chest the
Democrats don't have a prayer of matching." 777

Bush is expected to take in as much as $250 million before
the election is over. As of March 14th, 187 "Rangers" have
raised at least $200,000 each for Bush, and 455 "Pioneers" have

The Prevaricator III: The Campaign for Reelection 275

raised at least $100,000. The campaign has banked
approximately $590,000 per day since June 2003. 778

But all that money really doesn't matter, Bush probably
won't need to waste a dime of his hard-earned funds on attack
ads. According to Pat Robertson, God has already picked the
winner. "The Lord has just blessed him. I mean he could make
terrible mistakes and come out of it. It doesn't make any
difference what he does, good or bad; God picks him up because
he's a man of prayer and God's blessing him." 779

Do you have questions in your mind about voting for the re-
election of Bush? Do you really want a president who cares
nothing for you, your children, and your aging parents? Do you
feel guilty, sinful or unpatriotic because of your thoughts?
You're not stupid! Get the truth.

Wired to Win

If you recall, Republican Saxby Chambliss allegedly defeated
Democrat Max Cleland in the 2002 senatorial race in Georgia.
Although the Chambliss victory undoubtedly benefited from
Bush's repeated personal attacks on Cleland and the "slime"
television ads questioning Cleland's patriotism, not to mention
the $14 million spent on the election by the Republicans, there
may have been another and more sinister factor at play.

The last minute pre-election polls showed Cleland ahead by
two to five points; however, Chambliss won 53 percent of the
votes in the election, a difference of 12 points, far beyond the
margin for statistical error. An analysis of the vote showed
Chambliss exceeding Republican totals from the primary by as
much as 22 points in the strongly Democratic regions of
southern Georgia. Equally surprising, votes for Cleland went up
14 percent in the Republican areas of northern Georgia.

Amazingly, in the race for governor, the pre-election polls
showed the Democratic incumbent ahead of the Republican
challenger by 9 to 11 percent; however, the Republican candidate
was elected by a margin of 51 to 46 percent, a statistical reversal
of 16 percent. These bizarre results are strangely coincidental
with the introduction of statewide computerized voting in
Georgia.™

276 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

In 2002, Georgia became the first state to use electronic
touch-screen voting in a statewide election as a result of the $3
billion Help American Vote Act signed by Bush following the
2000 election fiasco. Georgia paid Diebold Election Systems $54
million to install the secret computerized system, which leaves
no paper trail and which cannot be audited, post election, for
accuracy. 781

According to Rob Behler, a Diebold contractor, there were
constant problems with the touch-screen system that resulted in
at least three "patches" or updates to the programming being
installed at the last minute, after the equipment had been
independently certified and without the knowledge of the
secretary of state. Behler described the system as "JS
equipment" or "Junk s**t, with error rates of up to 25 percent, 782
and said that votes "could have been manipulated." 783

Behler reports that "the code for the patches was posted to
an Internet FTP [file transfer protocol] site, along with all of the
election software... However, even if the FTP site were
password protected, experts said it would have been a relatively
simple task to hack into the location and insert rogue code,
which might be designed to affect election results." 784

Diebold has refused to comment on its voting machines or
the Georgia election, except to deny that there were any patches
installed, claiming that to comment would place its proprietary,
copyrighted information at risk. Surprisingly, Diebold doesn't
have to discuss its system with anyone, including its own clients.
Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, purchasers are not
allowed access to information on how the results are recorded. 785

In August 2003, Diebold's CEO, Walden O'Dell, attended a
gathering of "Rangers and Pioneers" at Bush's ranch, where the
attendees pledged to raise money in bundles of $100,000 and
$200,000 for Bush's reelection. Eleven Diebold executives have
given a total of $22,000, the legal maximum, to Bush in the
current election cycle. O'Dell raised an additional $500,000 for
the campaign at a fundraiser he hosted for Vice President
Cheney at his home. 786

The Prevaricator III: The Campaign for Reelection 2 77

Neither Diebold, its CEO, any of its executives, or any other
manufacturer of voting systems have made campaign
contributions to any Democratic candidates. 787

Do you remember Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris
and the role she played in the 2000 presidential election?
Although the current Secretary of State, Glenda Hood, has
promised that Florida has "the very best" technology available,
there were abundant problems in the March 2004 primary.
"Voters were wrongly given computer cards that let them vote
only on local issues, not in the presidential primary," and many
machines did not work.

Since the Supreme Court ruling in Bush v. Gore requires
states to use comparable recount methods from county to
county, and since 15 Florida counties that use electronic voting
machines do not produce paper records that can be recounted, a
Florida congressman has filed a federal lawsuit to require paper
audit trails. 788

Do you trust election officials to remain nonpartisan in
deciding whether secret voting machines are properly certified
and operating as designed? In at least two swing states,
Missouri and Michigan, the secretaries of state occupy top
positions in their state's Bush-Cheney campaigns. 789

In California, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, a Democrat,
withdrew his approval of electronic voting machines throughout
the state after officials of Diebold Election Systems allegedly lied
to state officials and used unapproved software in its equipment.
Shelley said, "They broke the law. Their conduct was absolutely
reprehensible." Ten counties that rely upon other electronic
voting systems may be allowed to use the equipment if they
certify that they meet 23 new requirements, including offering a
paper ballot to any voter who requests it and releasing the
software code to the secretary of state for evaluation. 790

Should we trust Diebold or any other electronic voting
company to secretly make changes to computerized voting
machines after they have been certified, without notifying
election officials of the changes, without allowing us to know
how their systems operate, and without providing a paper audit

278 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

trail? If these practices disturb you, go to http:/ /www.
blackboxvoting.org to find like-minded patriots.
You're not stupid! Get the truth.

774. Saletan, William and Jacob Weisberg, "Treason's Greetings," Slate,
November 25, 2003, http://slate.msn.com/id/2091666/.

775. "More Waving of the Bloody Shirt," October 14, 2003,
http://www.discriminations.us/storage/002245.html.

776. The Papers of Robert Taft (Kent, 1997), p. 303,
http://hnn.us/articles/631.

777. Simon, Richard, "In Race for Funds, Bush Is the Winner,"
Los Angeles Times, January 8, 2004, p. A8.

778. Justice, Glen, "Newcomers Provide Fuel for Bush Money
Machine," The New York Times, March 14, 2004,
www.nytimes.com/2004/03/14/politics/campaign/14MONE.html.

779. Scheer, Robert, "Lord Knows What Robertson Wants,"
Los Angeles Times, January 6, 2004, p. B13.

780. Moore, Bush's War for Reelection, op. cit., pp. 289-293.

781. Ibid., p. 293.

782. Ibid., p. 294.

783. Cohen, Adam, "The Results Are in and the Winner Is. . .or Maybe
Not," The New York Times, February 29, 2004, www.nytimes.com/2004/
02/29/opinion/29SUN3.html.

784. Moore, Bush's War for Reelection, op. cit., p. 295.

785. Ibid., p. 296.

786. Ibid., p. 305, 306.

787. Ibid., p. 306.

788. "Florida as the Next Florida," The New York Times, March 14, 2004,
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/14/opinion/14SUNl.html.

789. "When the Umpires Take Sides," The New York Times, March 29,
2004, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/29/opinion/29MONl.html.

790. Pfeifer. Stuart, "State Blocks Digital Voting," Los Angeles Times,
May 1, 2004, http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-
machineslmay01,l,3927648. story ?coll=la-home; see also
Schwartz, John, "High-Tech Voting System Is Banned in California,"
The New York Times, May 1, 2004, http://www.nytimes.com/
2004/05/01/national/01VOTE.html.

THE EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES

Who is the real George W. Bush? Is he the
compassionate conservative, policy-involved
politician, and world leader he plays on TV? Or
behind the benevolent smile, is he an ignoramus
just as cold-blooded, ruthless and paranoid as his
personal political Machiavelli Karl Rove?

Bush is an illegitimate president. Although his father may
acknowledge paternity, a majority of the American voters
rejected him, and by his actions, he has proved our instincts
were right. Although outwardly likeable, he is a deeply flawed
individual, uncaring, devious, and lacking in moral character.
But other presidents may have shared some of these traits. What
is most troubling is that he just doesn't seem very smart, and
worst of all, he tells lies constantly. This trait makes him doubly
dangerous. To us, and to the world.

Bush makes poor decisions with little thought. He is easily
manipulated by the mega-rich, who seek greater wealth, and by
his own staff, who seek personal and political advantages.
Worst of all, he uses lies as a weapon, easily and cunningly, with
no regard for the truth or the irreparable harm he may cause, to
us and to world civilization.

Although Bush has exhibited all the outward symptoms of
alcoholism and other personality defects such as compulsive
lying,* he has never, to public knowledge, sought professional

* In his book, Lies! Lies!! Lies!!! The Psychology of Deceit, Charles Ford, a
professor of psychiatry, tells us that "words seem to flow out of [the]
mouths [of pathological liars] without them thinking about it," and that
they go from believing a falsehood could be true to believing that it is
in fact true. Robert Reich, M.D., an expert in psychopathology, tells us
that compulsive lying has no official diagnosis. It is associated with a
number of different personality disorders. (Jozefowicz, Chris,
"Understanding Compulsive Liars," Psychology Today, October 23, 2003,
www.psychologytoday.com.) One writer suggested that Bush might
suffer from a narcissistic personality disorder: arrogant, haughty
behaviors or attitudes; inability to recognize or identify with feelings of

280 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

treatment. He views politics as a game to be played, with no real
consequence for losing; however, the game he is playing
involves millions of lives, perhaps even the future of humanity.
We need to better understand what makes him tick so we can
better evaluate his effectiveness as the leader of the most
powerful nation on earth.

Bush can't remember any book that he ever read as a child. 791
He was a lazy student, preferring to collect baseball cards
instead of reading and thinking about life and events beyond his
comfortable surroundings. 792 It is not surprising that he has
grown up to be intellectually lazy, refusing to read newspapers
or briefing papers, or to spend more than 30 minutes considering
any problem, irrespective of its complexity. 793

Bush was a hyperactive child, throwing a football through
his classroom window and riding around Midland, Texas, on his
bicycle, stealing bags of drilling samples from the front porches
of geologists to use in mock battles with playmates 794 Is it any
surprise that he spends hours each day jogging, working out and
playing video games? 795

Bush played cruel games as a child, blowing up frogs with
firecrackers and shooting at his younger brothers with a BB gun
as they ran away; he teased his mother about the death of her
favorite dog, and he saw his father chastise his mother for
allowing their African-American maid to get off work an hour
early, even though she had nothing to do. Is it any surprise that
he grew up to have little empathy for others?

Bush worked on his father's political campaigns as the
"Roman candle," a temperamental "enforcer," 796 and he saw
Bush Sr. defeated for reelection because Bush perceived that his
father was perceived as too wimpy and too preppy. 797 Is it any
surprise that he grew up to be a governor who executed more
prisoners than most of the rest of the other states combined, that
he parodied one prisoner's plea for clemency as he was about to
execute her, and chuckled when asked during a debate about

others; and exploitation of others. (Parry, Sam, "The Bush Exit Ramp,
January 22, 2003, http://www.consortiumnews.com.)

The Emperor Has No Clothes 281

lawyers sleeping during their client's death-penalty trials in his
state? 798

Although Bush challenged his own father to go "mano a
mano," and although he is verbally nasty, it doesn't appear that
he has ever actually been in a real fight; therefore is it any
wonder that his challenge to the Iraqi resistance, "Bring 'em on,"
sounds more like an insecure cheerleader than a confident
fighter?

Bush's world is a dark place, and he thinks dark thoughts.
Although he professes a religion based upon the teachings of the
Prince of Peace, his speeches are obsessed with evil and threats
of danger. Rather than comfort us, he makes us fearful. Instead
of creating hope, he drives us to despair. He feeds upon his own
insecurities and strives to impose them on us. He cannot lead us
to the mountaintop; he can only drive us into the pit.

Bush does not accept he can do wrong or that there are limits
on his power, because he deeply believes "he was called by God
to lead the nation" and that he is "an instrument of Providence."
Bush says, "Events aren't moved by blind change and chance ...
[but] by the hand of a just and faithful God." Bush believes that
"heaven is open only to those who accept Jesus Christ." 799 There
is no salvation for Jews, Muslims, or Buddhists. David Frum, his
faithful former speechwriter reports that while he served in the
White House "attendance at Bible study was, if not compulsory,
not quite uncompulsory."

Another Bush admirer, Richard Brookhiser, believes that
"Bush's faith means that he does not tolerate, or even recognize,
ambiguity; there is an all-knowing God who decrees certain
behaviors, and leaders must obey." Bush is reported to have
told Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, "God told me
to strike at al Qaeda and I struck them, and then he instructed
me to strike at Saddam, which I did." 800

Perception is everything for George W. Bush. He once said,
"I don't care what anyone says, politics is all about
perception " 801 On becoming president, he said, "I hope I'm
viewed as a humble person." 802 However, once he was in office,
he said, "I'm the commander-see, I don't need to explain why I

282 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

say things. That's the interesting thing about being the
president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they
say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an
explanation." 803 These are opposite attributes, and only an
extremely arrogant or defective personality would fail to perceive
the inconsistency— and the contradiction with America's
Constitution and democratic way of life.

It is only important to Bush that he is perceived as having
compassion or as being a leader, when in fact he has no feelings
of truly caring for other people or any vision of what could be.
Instead of imagining a rich scholarly educational environment
for all of our children, he seeks to test and categorize them and
to punish their teachers for failing to whip them into shape.
Instead of imagining that it is the destiny of our children to fly to
the stars, to carry forth a message of gentle cooperation and
caring, he seeks to militarize space and the moon to benefit his
wealthy corporate contributors. Instead of imagining new and
innovative sources of energy and conservation programs, he
seeks to conquer other nations and peoples to exploit the world's
finite oil supplies for the benefit of his rich friends.

Bush once defined intelligence: "Intelligence is can you
think logically. Intelligence is do you have a basis from which to
make decisions. Intelligence in politics is do you have good
instincts." 804 What more can be said? The leadership of the most
powerful nation on earth requires a bit more insight than that.

Whether a consequence of having been a lazy student
and/ or because of excessive alcoholism or drug use into his 40s,
Bush has made hundreds and hundreds of really stupid public
statements. We keep overlooking them, hoping that he really
doesn't mean it when he says things like, "We are resolved to
rout out terror wherever it exists to save the world from
freedom." Or, "We're freeing women and children from
incredible impression!" 805 The frightening thing is that
whenever he forcefully delivers one of these dumb lines during a
speech, the audience applauds! It must be said. The Emperor
has no clothes.

The Emperor Has No Clothes 283

A Reflection of Our Self-Image?

Bush strives to create the perception that he is an ordinary
guy, but no matter how hard he tries, he remains a rich spoiled
brat at heart, one who has never earned anything on his own in
his life, including the presidency. And when he's with his peers,
he doesn't try to hide it.

On October 19, 2000, Bush addressed the Al Smith Memorial
Dinner in New York City, and some of his remarks are telling:
"This is an impressive crowd, the haves, and the have-mores.
Some people call you the elite. I call you my base." [laughter]
He joked, "[M]y opponent keeps saying I gave too much tax
relief to the top one percent. But he hadn't heard my latest
proposal. The bottom 99 percent will do well when they get to
split Dick Cheney's stock options." [laughter] 806 Not funny, at
least not to the hard-working, ordinary people who carry the
burden of supporting the government and economy that provide
Bush and his base with the lifestyle of the rich and famous.

Immediately after taking office, Bush demonstrated his true
sympathies. In March 2001, legislation written by bank and
credit company lawyers and lobbyists was quickly enacted by
his Republican-controlled Congress and was signed by Bush to
make it difficult or impossible for working families to discharge
their overwhelming personal debts in bankruptcy and to get a
"fresh start."

The biggest beneficiary of the legislation was MBNA
Corporation of Delaware, the world's largest independent credit
card company. Unsurprisingly, ranked by employee donations,
MBNA was the greatest corporate contributor to the Bush
campaign, having handed him $240,000, plus $100,000 for his
inaugural parties. 807

In April 2001, Bush visited the Wilmington, Delaware, Boys
and Girls Club to show off his gift of royalties from his book, A
Charge to Keep, to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. He said
he was making the gift because "I believe so profoundly, I
believe so strongly in mentoring. And I believe so strongly in
helping children understand somebody loves them." What he
did not reveal during the photo opportunity was that the budget

284 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

he had already submitted entirely eliminated the government's
$60 million in funding for the organization. 808

Needless to say, his royalties did not make up the deficit in
funding. If Bush had truly loved poor children and cared about
keeping the Boys and Girls Clubs open, he would have ensured
adequate funding. What he cared about most was creating a
perception that he cared, therefore the photo op and chump
change.

During his State of the Union address in January 2002, Bush
asked for an increase in the AmeriCorps program, saying,
"Americans are doing the work of compassion every day-
visiting prisoners, providing shelter for battered women,
bringing companionship to lonely seniors, ... These good works
deserve our praise; they deserve our personal support; and
when appropriate, they deserve the assistance of the federal
government." Are you surprised that a year later he proposed
an 80 percent cut in the program? 809 Were you one of the 50
million Americans who viewed his well-scripted performance
that evening? Did you form a perception that he cared about
battered women or lonely seniors? Listen not to what Bush says!
Rather, look to his deeds to measure his compassion.

In April 2002, Bush traveled to Albuquerque for a photo op
with Lucy Salazar, who collects books for Project Even Start and
tutors pre-kindergarten children in reading. Bush praised
Salazar; but failed to mention that his 2003 budget effectively cut
the Project's funding by 20 percent. 810 That night on the evening
news, it probably appeared that Bush cared about giving poor
children an even start in reading skills, but do you believe it?
Would it make you nervous to have the President praise
something you believed in, and which required his budgetary
support?

A few days after the 9/11 attacks, Bush went to Ground Zero
in New York City. As the workers cheered him, Bush yelled, "I
can hear you, and the rest of the world hears you, and the people
who-and the people [who] knocked these buildings down will
hear all of us soon." Bush wanted to project a perception of
strength and comradeship with the brave firefighters. However,
after he rejected a bill that contained $340 million to fund fire

The Emperor Has No Clothes 285

departments, the International Association of Fire Fighters
boycotted a national tribute to firefighters who died on 9/11,
and its general president, Harold Schaitberger, told Bush, "Don't
lionize our fallen brothers in one breath and then stab us in the
back" 8 "

Moreover, Bush exposed the rescue workers and others
employed in lower Manhattan to dangerous health risks when
the White House instructed the EPA to say it was safe to return
to work and breathe the air, a deliberate misrepresentation. 812

On August 5, 2002, Bush went to Somerset County,
Pennsylvania, to be photographed with nine coal miners who
had escaped after being trapped for three days in a flooded coal
mine. Bush threw his arms around them, smiled for the
cameras, and praised them and their rescuers for "showing our
fellow citizens that by serving something greater than yourself is
an important part of being an American." He said their ordeal
and rescue "really defines kind of a new spirit that's prevalent in
our country, that when one of us suffer, all of us suffer."

The miners' rescue had depended upon technical assistance
provided by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration;
however, Bush had already proposed a cut in the agency's
existing inadequate budget, and he had appointed an
administrator, dedicated to reducing or eliminating mine safety
regulations, to emasculate the agency. Bush had proposed a six-
percent reduction in the agency's budget, even though 42 miners
had been killed on the job during 2001, up from 29 in 2000.

If Bush had truly cared about miners and the dangers under
which they earn a living, he would not have cut the budget of
the agency that protects their safety, nor would he have
appointed someone dedicated to the elimination of mine safety
regulations 813 Rather, he cared only for the perception of concern,
thus the photo op and his somewhat mangled words of cheer.

On December 19, 2002, Bush visited the Capitol Area Food
Bank in Washington, D.C. for another staged event. He said,
"Those who are poor, those who suffer, those who have lost
hope are not strangers in our midst; they're our fellow citizens.
... And in this time of joy, in the time of blessing, we've got to

286 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

remember that. To make the season complete and the season
whole, we must help those who are in need." A perception of
caring? Just words. Only days before Bush had proposed
elimination of meal assistance for 36,000 seniors, after-school
program slots for 50,000 children, child care benefits for 33,000
families, and the termination of heating assistance for 532,000
families during the winter Christmas season. 814

On February 17, 2004, Bush addressed military personnel
and their families at Fort Polk, Louisiana. He stated, "In the war,
America depends on our military to meet the dangers abroad
and to keep our country safe. The American people appreciate
this sacrifice." 815 Bush wanted to create a perception that he cared
about the soldiers he was sending off to be killed in his war;
however, Bush doesn't appreciate their sacrifice enough to
adequately fund programs that benefit them and their families.
He has attempted to "roll back recent modest increase" in
combat imminent-danger pay, and refused to extend the child
tax credit to one million poor children living in military and
veteran families as a part of his tax cut package for the
wealthy. 816 In reviewing Bush's 2005 budget, The Veterans of
Foreign Wars stated, "This funding package is a disgrace and a
sham." 817

Any doubts as to Bush's empathy or lack thereof for those
who serve and who are dying in his war were laid to rest by his
performance at the Radio and Television Correspondents'
Association Dinner on March 24, 2004. Although in these
appearances the president is expected to be funny in his
remarks, Bush choose to narrate a slide show of himself on the
telephone with a finger in his ear while listening to his European
allies and searching under his office furniture for missing
weapons of mass destruction. Bush sought to convey a
perception that he is just a regular guy, without understanding
that his antics made fun of his justification for sending over 750
of our sons and daughters to their deaths in Iraq. 818

Bush says that he cares for the poor, those who suffer, and
those who have lost hope, but does he really do anything about
it? In 2002, the number of people living in poverty rose by 1.7

The Emperor Has No Clothes 287

million to a total of 34.6 million.^ What did he do? Bush cut
taxes on the wealthy and axed benefits for the poor.

Do you believe that Bush feels your pain and shares your
losses? Does he really care what happens to the rest of us?
You're not stupid! Get the truth.

The Image We Present to the World

Bush is the President of the United States of America. As
such, he is the political image we project to the rest of the world.
He is our most visible representative. Knowing what you know
now, would you buy a used car from him? Perhaps a better
question is, would you choose this man as your lawyer to
represent you in court and present your case to the jury,
particularly if you were falsely accused of murder and the
consequences were truly life or death? Would you trust his
devotion to your welfare, his intellect, his knowledge of the law,
his intuitive grasp of issues, his ability to formulate and ask
logical questions? Do you believe he could draw out favorable
testimony, ascertain subtle distinctions and explain them plainly
to the jury? Could he sense your motivations and fears, and
could he sympathetically convey them to the jury? Would you
trust him to stay awake and focused during your trial? Would
you trust him with your life, or the life of someone you love?
Aren't these the very questions we should be asking about our
president?

At his inauguration, Bush was introduced to teenage soprano
Charlotte Church, who had sung in the ceremony. Bush asked
"where does this lovely HI' lady hail from?" She answered, "I'm
from Wales." He asked, "What state is that in?" She replied,
"It's in Great Britain." Bush paused and a crease of perplexity
appeared on his presidential brow. He said, "Oh really? I'll have
my people look into that." Church said she found him "kind of
stupid" 820

In March 2001, shortly after taking office, Bush embarrassed
both South Korean president (and Nobel laureate) Kim Dae
Jung, who had been promoting a "sunshine" policy toward
North Korea, and Secretary of State Powell, who had just
endorsed the effort. Bush publicly repudiated the negotiations

288 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

and declared, "We're not certain as to whether or not they're
keeping all terms of all agreements." His own aides were unable
to find any evidence to support his public accusation. Bush later
launched into an embarrassing tirade to a group of U.S. senators
about Kim Jong II, calling him a "pygmy." 821

On September 5, 2001, at an informal press conference prior
to his first state dinner in honor of Mexican president Vincente
Fox, Bush told reporters to "shut up" in broken Spanish, and
then cut off inconvenient questions by saying, "No puedo oirle"
(Spanish-"I can't hear you"). 822

During another joint press conference a year later in Los
Cabos, Mexico, Bush, who was upset with Fox's failure to
support his invasion of Iraq, "glowered during Fox's windup
and looked annoyed at the unruliness of the camera crews."
According to the Washington Post, "The last straw was when a
cell phone went off, which infuriates Bush. ... In a breach of
protocol, Bush cut off the translator before Fox's answers could
be rendered into English" and walked out. 823

On the occasion of a joint press conference with British Prime
Minister Blair, Bush was asked what they had in common. He
answered, "We both use Colgate toothpaste " 824 Insipid, asinine,
or just ignorant?

In February 2002, Bush gave a speech to the Japanese
Parliament that stunned its members. Bush said, "My trip to
Asia begins here in Japan for an important reason, (applause.) It
begins here because for a century and a half now (emphasis
added), America and Japan have formed one of the great and
enduring alliances of modern times." (silence.) 825 The man was
either hung over, slept through, or just ditched his history
classes. Our alliance with Japan began a half century ago,
following our use of atomic weapons for the only time in history
to force its surrender in a war in which millions died.

In May 2002, Bush set off on a world tour to meet with other
leaders and to encourage the perception that he is presidential. In
Russia, he met with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, to whom
Bush had publicly given the insulting nickname "Pootie Poo."
Russian television repeatedly showed a video clip of Bush

The Emperor Has No Clothes 289

chewing gum as he entered a meeting with Putin, and then
spitting it into his hand before the press conference. 826

In Germany, Bush was greeted by massive demonstrations
against him and his plans to attack Iraq, and when he spoke in
the German parliament, members held up a peace flag and
walked out. The German magazine Der Spiegel held Bush up for
ridicule when it reported that he had embarrassingly asked
Brazilian President Fernando Enrique Cardozo, "Do you have
blacks, too?" And it told how National Security Advisor
Condoleezza Rice had to inform Bush that Brazil was populated
with more citizens of African descent than was the United
States. 827

Bush met with French President Jacques Chirac for two
hours and then participated in a lengthy joint press conference.
When asked a question, Bush verbally wandered around the
syntactical landscape until he was forced to admit that he had
forgotten the question, saying, "That's what happens when you
get past 55." Bush twice referred to President Chirac as
"President Jacques," and pronounced his last name throughout
as "shrak." 828

NBC reporter David Gregory asked Bush, "I wonder why it
is you think there are such strong sentiments in Europe against
you and against this administration? Why, particularly, there's a
view that you and your administration are trying to impose
America's will on the rest of the world, particularly when it
comes to the Middle East and where the war on terrorism goes
next?" Then, speaking in French, Gregory asked President
Chirac, "And, Mr. President, would you maybe comment on
that?" Bush retorted, "Very good. The guy memorizes four
words, and he plays like he's intercontinental." Gregory said, "I
can go on." Bush replied, "I'm impressed-^ue bueno (Spanish-
"how wonderful"). Now, I'm literate in two languages." He
then accused Gregory of "showing off as soon as you get in front
of a camera." 829 For Bush, it is all a matter of perception. But who
was showing off, and who came off as being both ignorant and
arrogant?

On March 18, 2003, the Pew Research Center for the People
and the Press released a survey of the changes in world opinion

290 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

about the United States between January 2002 and March 2003,
following the commencement of Bush's War. In France, the
percentage holding a favorable view plummeted from 63 to 31;
in Italy, from 70 to 34; in Russia, from 61 to 28; and in Turkey,
from 30 to 12. Even the citizens of our closest ally, England, lost
respect for America, from 75 to 48 percent. 830 Overall, America's
popularity roughly dropped 50 percent or more.

Does Bush represent the image of America you want to be
projected to the rest of the world? You're not stupid! Get the
truth.

The Stealth Co-President

Political consultant Karl Rove did the field research and
taught the classes on political dirty tricks. Starting as a paid
staffer for the Republican National Committee, he evolved an
anything-goes approach to political campaigning in which
winning becomes everything. Among his creations was the
phony "push poll," in which potential voters are called and
asked provocative questions, such as those asked in the 1999
primary campaign against McCain and in the midterm 2002
elections in Florida and Texas. More often, he relies upon the
false whisper campaign, such as his rumors of Governor Ann
Richard's appointment of gays and lesbians to state commissions
and McCain's fathering of an illegitimate black child.

Rove taught classes on negative political campaigning at the
University of Texas, relying upon the doctrine of war taught by
Sun-Tzu, "All we need to do is throw something odd and
unaccountable at the enemy." He taught that "Radio is really
good for a negative attack, because it's tough to figure what the
opposition is doing." He said, "The only thing worse to face is
mail." Because direct mail "is immune from press coverage." 831

When Bush Sr. was the chairman of the Republican National
Committee in 1973, the Washington Post ran a story entitled,
"GOP Probes Official as Teacher of Tricks." The teacher was
Karl Rove, and although Bush Sr. promised to "get to the
bottom" of the allegations that Rove was using dirty political
tricks, he later promoted Rove to be his special assistant. 832

The Emperor Has No Clothes 291

One of Rove's jobs was to make sure that Bush Jr. got the
keys to the family car whenever he came to visit in
Washington 833 Rove served as Bush Jr.'s political advisor in his
failed run for Congress in 1978. It is unknown whether Rove
had anything to do with Bush's television ads showing him
jogging through West Texas,* a scene which is downright
ridiculous 834

Karl Rove created George W. Bush, the politician. In 1990,
Bush hired Rove to do a makeover from being a failed
featherweight businessman into a heavyweight political
contender. Rove arranged tutoring sessions with experts in
juvenile justice, corrections, state government, school finance
and education issues, welfare, and social services. Bush was not
a quick study. For example, he had difficulty grasping the
difference between federal Medicare for the elderly and disabled
and state Medicaid for the indigent. He was better at business
issues. Whatever was good for the corporations had to be good
for the citizens of Texas; the issue just had to be properly
packaged and marketed.

Once Bush graduated from political kindergarten, Rove
enrolled him in public policy elementary school by creating
policy teams to formulate positions for Bush on education,
welfare, crime, and business issues, including "tort reform." 835
Rove would take the policy issues, place a political spin on them,
and reduce them to one or two simple themes for Bush to
memorize.

This approach worked well as the campaign for governor
commenced in 1993, unless Bush was questioned too closely,
which Rove normally would not allow. Once, however, after
Bush gave a prepared speech on education, a reporter
approached him and asked him about his plan to reform
education. After repeating a couple of his staple lines, Bush was
unable to answer basic questions about the workings of the state
education agency, how his plan would change the school-finance
formula, how much it would cost, and finally, if the voters

* Bush's opponent joked that in Muleshoe, Texas, the only people who
i were running away from something or somebody.

292 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

would know how much it would cost before the election. His
answer, "Probably not." 836

Bush was elected governor and settled into a job often
described as the fourth or fifth most powerful political office in
Texas, following even the lieutenant governor in authority.
According to his political ally Representative Paul Sadler, Bush
delegated responsibility to top aides to study issues and to
report back with recommended solutions for snap decisions.
Bush had a limited attention span and was uninterested in
discussing the philosophy of an issue. Sadler said, "I have
absolutely no question in his ability to make the right decision if
he's presented with the facts from all sides. I have watched him
do it. Where I found he gets off track is if he only has one voice
in the room. There's what's always bothered me. ... It's about the
need to have different viewpoints in the room. Part of my
training as a lawyer is trying to understand what the other side
thinks. He comes from an MBA background. He doesn't have
that training. I want to know why I think the way I do, but I
always want to know why the other side thinks the way they do.
He doesn't go through that thought process as often. To me, it
makes it more important to make sure the counselors around
him come from different viewpoints." 837 Do you think Bush is
exposed to differing viewpoints?

Bush concedes that he only "glance[s] at the headlines just to
[get a] kind of a flavor for what's moving. I rarely read the
stories." He says "the most objective sources I have are people
on my staff who tell me what's happening in the world." 838 Do
you believe Bush's "people" are objective enough to tell him
what he needs to know to make critical decisions?

Rove agrees that Bush "doesn't make decisions alone. That
is to say, you know, you get a sense of some people. They are
self-contained. They are totally self-contained so they need
nothing in order to arrive at a decision. He respects, he honors
the process that gives information." Bush honors Rove by giving
Rove control over the information that is provided to him, and
by accepting Rove's interpretation of that information, especially
as it relates to its political implications 839

The Emperor Has No Clothes 293

Bush repeatedly lies and says he does not govern by polls.
The truth is that Rove conducts the polls, discerns political
trends, and then advocates for policies that will move Bush in
the same direction. 840 Rove identifies the opponent's
weaknesses, designs the attack, and releases the attack dogs. For
Rove and Bush, the true course of a political campaign is attack,
attack, and attack. 841

For Rove and Bush, perception is reality. They engage in the
politics of pretense. 842 For Rove and Bush, it does not matter if
the President is in fact compassionate, it matters only that he is
perceived as being compassionate. In many respects, their belief
appears pathological in that they seem to really believe that the
rest of us will never catch on to their deceptions, or that if we do,
they will be able to convincingly lie their way out of it.

When Bush was asked about meeting with Log Cabin
Republicans, an affluent gay lobbying group, he said he
probably wouldn't meet with them. Why? "Well, because it
creates a huge political scene." 843

Message. For Bush to follow the program, Rove's themes and
messages have to be simple and repetitious. It does not matter
what the question is, the answer must always be the same. Rove
is proud of developing the theme and articulating the message,
and Bush is proud to deliver it. However, a part of the scheme is
to always give Bush credit for the thinking of others. An internal
memorandum instructs government spokespersons to refer to
Bush's "leadership" in all media contacts. His staff constantly
refers to "the president's position," and what "President Bush
believes" about different issues.

Writing in From 9/11 to Terror War, Douglas Kellner
concludes, "In fact, the pro-corporate, unilateralist, and militarist
hard-right corps of his administration formulates the plans,
makes the decisions, and carries out the policies, with Bush
serving as a mere figurehead and cheerleader. Bush's role is to
provide sound bites to the public when his handlers have agreed
on specific policies and to raise funds for the Republican
Party." 844

294 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Bush says, "The important question is, How many hands
have I shaked [sic]?" and "I don't want to win? If that were the
case, why the heck am I on the bus 16 hours a day, shaking
thousands of hands, giving hundreds of speeches, getting
pillared [sic] in the press and cartoons and still staying on
message to win?" 845

Rove and his relationship with Bush were described by a
well-connected business and political consultant: "Rove is
Nixonian in his cynicism and manipulation of patriotic themes.
The irony is that W., in many ways, is the anti-Nixon. Nixon
was brilliant but self-destructive. W. is dull but, in Rove's
hands, maniacally disciplined. It's like Rove is Nixon's heir.
Cold-blooded. Ruthless. Paranoid. But unlike Nixon, Rove has
figured out how to mask it all behind Bush's smile." 846 A smile,
or a smirk?

Is Rove the kind of guy you want making policy for
America? Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Suskind was once
waiting outside Rove's office and overheard him yelling, "We
will f**k him. Do you hear me? We will j**k him. We will ruin
him. Like no one has ever f**ked him." A real Christian
gentleman, right? 847

Since 1990, Bush and Rove have entered into a continuing
political marriage of convenience in which their thoughts and
actions have become inseparable. 848 Clinton openly said that, if
elected, he and Hillary would give us two for the price of one.
In contrast, Bush's political twin is kept out of view in a
backroom at the White House. But he's there, ruling the roost,
our unelected stealth co-president.

Do you trust Rove more than Bush? Did you vote for Karl
Rove? Did anyone? Does it bother you that Rove has so much
power and control over the president? You're not stupid! Get
the truth.

The Mayberry Machiavellis

It is not often that we are able to obtain inside information
about the high-level decision-making that takes place inside the
White House while the administration is still in power. Luckily,
John Dilulio, a former Assistant to the President, sent a lengthy

The Emperor Has No Clothes 295

"For/ On the Record" letter to journalist Ron Suskind that sheds
light on Bush's policy-making process. Dilulio, an author,
historian and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, was
appointed by Bush to create the Office of Faith-Based and
Community Initiatives, which Bush called the Cornerstone of his
"compassionate conservatism."

Once Suskind published an article in Esquire magazine,
based upon Dilulio' s letter, that was critical of Karl Rove and
Bush's policy-making apparatus, 849 Bush's press secretary Ari
Fleischer labeled the charges "groundless and baseless."
However, Dilulio stood by his assertions, at least initially, before
issuing an "apology." 850

Dilulio' s insights, based upon his 20 years of studying
American government and public policy formulation and his
personal observations made during numerous senior staff
meetings within the White House, are quoted here at some
length.

As of the date of the letter, October 24, 2002, Dilulio did not
believe the administration had done much, "either in absolute
terms, or in comparison to previous administrations at this stage,
on domestic policy. There is a virtual absence as yet of any
policy accomplishments that might, to a fair-minded non-
partisan, count as the flesh on the bones of so-called
compassionate conservatism."

Dilulio advised, "they could stand to find ways of inserting
more serious policy fiber into the West Wing diet, and engage
much less in on-the-fly policy-making by speech-making." He
believed that "what they needed ... was more policy-relevant
information, discussion, and deliberation." During all the
meetings attended by Dilulio, he heard perhaps three
"meaningful, substantive policy discussions. There were no
actual policy white papers on domestic issues. There were, truth
be told, only a couple of people in the West Wing who worried
at all about policy substance and analysis." 851

Dilulio found that "on social policy and related issues, the
lack of even basic policy knowledge, and the only casual interest
in knowing more, was somewhat breathtaking-discussions by

296 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

fairly senior people who meant Medicaid but were talking
Medicare; near-instant shifts from discussing any actual policy
pros and cons to discussing political communications, media
strategy, et cetera. Even quite junior staff would sometimes hear
quite senior staff pooh-pooh any need to dig deeper for pertinent
information on a given issue." 852

Dilulio continues, "This gave rise to what you might call
Mayberry* Machiavellist -staff, senior and junior, who
consistently talked and acted as if the height of political
sophistication consisted in reducing every issue to its simplest,
black-and-white terms for public consumption, then steering
legislative initiatives or policy proposals as far right as possible.
... Like college students who fall for the colorful, opinionated,
but intellectually third-rate professor, you could see these 20-
and 30-something junior White House staff falling for the
Mayberry Machiavellis." 853

Dilulio offers his insights regarding Rove: "Some are
inclined to blame the high political-to-policy ratios of this
administration on Karl Rove. Some in the press view Karl as
some sort of prince of darkness; actually, he is basically a nice
and good-humored man. And some staff members, senior and
junior, are awed and cowed by Karl's real or perceived powers.
They self-censor lots for fear of upsetting him, and, in turn, few

* The Andy Griffith Show was a highly successful sitcom that ran on
television from 1960 to 1968 featuring a small-town sheriff in
Mayberry, North Carolina who spent more time fishing and discussing
philosophy than fighting crime.

t Writing in The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli discussed the use of
deception by leaders: "the experience of our own time shows that
those princes who had little regard for their word and had the
craftiness to turn men's minds have accomplished great things and, in
the end, have overcome those who governed their actions by their
pledges." Machiavelli believed that "Men are so simple and so much
inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack
victims for his deceptions." The advantage goes to those "who broke
faith"; however, the prince "must know how to mask this nature
skillfully and be a great dissembler." (Corn, David, The Lies of George
W. Bush, p. 6)

The Emperor Has No Clothes 297

of the president's top people routinely tell the president what
they really think if they think that Karl will be brought up short
in the bargain. Karl is enormously powerful, maybe the single
most powerful person in the modern, post-Hoover era ever to
occupy a political advisor post near the Oval Office. The
Republican base constituencies, including beltway libertarian
policy elites and religious right leaders, trust him to keep Bush
'43' [Jr.] from behaving like Bush '41' [Sr.] and moving too far to
the center or inching at all center-left. ... Little happens on any
issue without Karl's okay, and, often, he supplies such policy
substance as the administration puts out." 854

Dilulio wonders, "A year after 9/11 and with a White House
that can find time enough to raise $140 million for campaigns,
it's becoming fair to ask, on domestic policy and compassionate
conservatism, 'where's the beef?'" 855

Dilulio was not alone in his questions. In his Esquire article,
"Why Are These Men Laughing?" Suskind quoted several other
senior White House officials, one of whom confided, "Many of
us feel it's our duty-our obligation as Americans-to get the word
out that, certainly in domestic policy, there has been almost no
meaningful consideration of any real issues. It's just kids on Big
Wheels, who talk politics and know nothing. It's depressing.
DPC [Domestic Policy Council] meetings are a farce." 856

Bush's former speech writer, David Frum, wrote a generally
favorable book about Bush, The Right Man, after he left the White
House, in which he describes Bush as "impatient and quick to
anger; sometimes glib, even dogmatic; often uncurious and as a
result ill informed." Frum said that Bush's staff has a "dearth of
really high-powered brains," and that one seldom "met someone
who possessed unusual knowledge." 857

Bush fired his first Treasury Secretary, Paul O'Neill, because
he publicly questioned the wisdom of Bush's second round of
tax cuts. In a recent book, The Price of Loyalty, by Ron Suskind,
O'Neill described a lack of real dialogue in the Cabinet meetings
he attended, saying that Bush "was like a blind man in a roomful
of deaf people." According to O'Neill, Bush is a disengaged
president, who doesn't encourage debate either at Cabinet

298 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

meetings or in one-on-one meetings with his Cabinet
secretaries. 858 So, who does Bush listen to?

Are you satisfied that Bush receives adequate advice on
alternatives before making policy decisions? Is Bush creating
sensible policies or is he pandering to political perceptions?
You're not stupid! Get the truth.

The Disappointment of Diogenes

In around 400 B.C., the Cynic philosopher Diogenes is said to
have walked through Athens in broad daylight carrying a
lighted lamp, hoping that its light might reflect upon a man of
virtue.

A person of virtue conforms to a standard of right, exhibits a
particular moral excellence, and displays courage. Would
Diogenes be disappointed, should the light of his lantern shine
in the direction of our president?

During the third presidential debate at Washington
University in St. Louis, Mo., the candidates were asked about the
"apathy amongst young people who feel there are no issues
directed to them and they don't plan to vote." Bush answered,
"I don't think it's the issues that turn kids off. I think it's the
tone. I think it's the attitude. I think it's a cynicism in
Washington and it doesn't have to be that way." He concluded,
"And finally, sir, to answer your question, it needs somebody in
office who'll tell the truth. That's the best way to get people
back in the system." 859 Bush's approach to truth-telling may be
getting people back into the system, not as he expected, but in
revolt against his lies and where they have taken us.

If nothing else, this book has shown that Bush does not tell
the truth and that he may be incapable of knowing or
recognizing the truth. Bush lies about the most serious and life-
threatening matters facing our country and its government. His
continued inability to tell even basic truths reflects no virtue.

On taking his oath of office, Bush placed his hand on the
Bible and swore to protect and defend the Constitution of the
United States. His willful refusal to defend America against the
9/11 terrorist attacks, although he was repeatedly given specific

The Emperor Has No Clothes 299

advance warnings, his subsequent abrogation of our freedoms
for no just cause, and his engaging us in an illegal war are all
violations of his Constitutional duties. There is no virtue in his
performance.

As this effort is being concluded, we learn that Saddam has
been finally captured in Iraq. 860 As an old cop, I cannot help but
feel excitement at the arrest of a mass murderer. But as an old
prosecutor, I have yet to identify any offense in America's
criminal codes for which Saddam could be indicted and
successfully tried in any court in this country. Certainly, the
people of Iraq have the right to draft a new constitution and to
form a lawful government, which would then have the authority
to try Saddam for his crimes against the people of Iraq. Even
though I generally believe the death penalty does little to deter
crime, I believe I could present the case against Saddam and
argue for the ultimate penalty if the evidence supported it, but
not here, and not now.

The facts that Iraq was invaded and conquered using the
military forces that Bush inherited from Clinton, and that the
military was successful in finally locating Saddam's hiding
place, reflects no virtue upon Bush. His secret trip to Baghdad
and his photo op with a phony Thanksgiving turkey contributed
nothing to the search. No, nothing about Bush's War and the
capture of Saddam reflects any virtue on the part of Bush.

His creation of endless preemptive war is not a virtue;
indeed it is a scandal. No, more than that, it is a crime, a war
crime that has made our world a less safe place to live in. In
Bush's dark world, our freedoms are continually at risk and our
peace is forever threatened.

Bush's War threatens the safety of ordinary people
everywhere, and they live in fear of his aggressive, never-ending
preemptive war. A survey was conducted of the European
Union public to identify the countries that currently present the
greatest threat to world peace. Fifty-three percent of those
surveyed believed that the United States threatened their
security, a distinction we shared with the "axis of evil," Iran,
North Korea, and Iraq 861

300 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Has Bush's War made you feel safer? If not, you're not
alone. An NBC /Wall Street Journal poll found that 79 percent of
Americans did not believe that Bush's War has made them feel
safer from terrorism. 862

Do you believe that Bush is telling you the truth about
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? If not, you're not alone. A
CBS poll has revealed that 53 percent of Americans believe that
Bush "either was hiding important elements of what he knew
about WMDs in Iraq (37 percent) or was mostly lying about
what he knew (16 percent). Another poll released by the
Program on International Policy Attitudes reveals that a majority
of Americans no longer see Bush as "honest and frank" (56
percent). 863

In his State of the Union address delivered on January 22,
2004, Bush stated, "Last March, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a
mastermind of September 11 th , awoke to find himself in the
custody of U.S. and Pakistani authorities." 864 What he did not
tell the American people is that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed has
told his American "interrogators that al Qaeda rejected the idea
of any working relationship with Iraq, which was seen by the
terrorist network as a corrupt, secular regime. When Hussein
was captured, he was found with a document warning his
supporters to be wary of working with foreign fighters." 865

In his address to Congress, Bush stated, "We are seeking all
the facts-already the Kay Report identified dozens of weapons
of mass destruction-related program activities and significant
amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United
Nations. Had we failed to act, the dictator's weapons of mass
destruction programs would continue to this day." 866 A lie.
David Kay revealed the truth the very next day when he
resigned as the chief U.S. arms hunter in Iraq. In fact Kay had
concluded that the stockpiles of biological and chemical
weapons that everyone expected to find in Iraq never existed
because they were eliminated by "a combination of U.N.
inspectors and unilateral Iraqi action."* Kay reported that Iraq's

* Bush's doctrine of preemptive war has been dealt a severe blow by his
inability to find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. David Kay

The Emperor Has No Clothes 301

nuclear program was only "rudimentary." He said, "It really
wasn't dormant because there were a few little things going on,
but it had not resumed in anything meaningful." 867

On February 8, 2004, Bush appeared on NBC's "Face the
Nation" and repeatedly lied about the justification for his war.
While he conceded the error of his pre-war statement that "the
intelligence ... left no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to
possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever
devised," he attempted to cover up by lamely suggesting that
Saddam may have hidden the weapons or moved them out of
the country. 868

Even if it was true that Saddam did not have any weapons of
mass destruction, Bush said that inspector "David Kay did
report to the American people that Saddam Hussein ... was
dangerous with the ability to make weapons." Another lie (see
above). According to a New York Times editorial, "Kay said that
Iraq's weapons program seemed to have ground to a halt under
the pressure of the United Nations inspections and sanctions
that Mr. Bush and his staff disdained last year. Mr. Kay said
Saddam Hussein retained only the basic ability to restart
weapons programs if that pressure was removed " 869

Bush argued that the war was necessary so people don't
"look at us and say, they don't mean what they say, they are not
willing to follow through." Bush warned, "In my judgment,
when the United States says there will be serious consequences,
and if there isn't [sic] serious consequences, it creates adverse
consequences." 870 However, it was the United Nations, not the
United States, that had threatened "serious consequences" in
Resolution 1441, and it was the United Nations inspectors who
had reported there was no evidence of an imminent threat from

states, "If you cannot rely on good, accurate intelligence that is credible
to the American people and others abroad, you certainly can't have a
policy of preemption. ... Pristine intelligence-good, accurate
intelligence - is a fundamental bench stone of any sort of preemption to
be even thought about." (Savage, David G., "Failed Arms Search
Called Blow to Strike-First Policy," Los Angeles Times, February 2, 2004,
p. A9.)

302 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Iraq. Bush insisted, "We had run the diplomatic string in Iraq;"
however, in truth, Bush rejected all diplomatic alternatives.

Perhaps the most chilling thing Bush said in the interview
was, "I believe it is essential that when we see a threat, we deal
with those threats before they become imminent. It's too late if
they become imminent." 871 Thus, in his arrogant aggrandizement
of power, Bush is now convinced he can launch an immoral war
without the legal justification required by international law.

Bush stated, "I'm a war president. I make decisions ... with
war on my mind. ... And the American people need to know
they got a president who sees the world the way it is." Does he?
He went on to say, "I'm not going to change, see? I'm not trying
to accommodate. I won't change my philosophy or my point of
view." 872 That much is certainly true. Since he won't or can't
change, we must. We have no choice. We must have a leader
who forms opinions based upon an informed reality, rather than
one who attempts to manipulate reality to conform to his
ignorant beliefs.

Increasingly, Bush is finding himself without official support
for his lies. CIA Director George J. Tenet stated on February 6,
2004, that his agency never warned Bush that Saddam's
government posed an "imminent threat." Tenet confirmed that
the CIA had allowed "fabricated" information from an
"unreliable" Iraqi defector about suspected mobile germ-
weapon labs to be used in its October 2002 National Intelligence
Estimate provided to Congress, just before it voted to approve
the use of force in Iraq, and later used by Secretary of State
Powell in his pre-war address to the United Nations- 873

Bush is without virtue as he continues to lie to Congress and
to the American people. As we learned earlier, Section 1001 of
Title 18 of the United States Code, prohibits anyone (including
the President of the United States) from "knowingly and
willfully" making "any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent
statement or representation to Congress. Bush continues to
commit high crimes and misdemeanors with impunity, and he
will do so until he is removed from office.

The Emperor Has No Clothes 303

Some day, when our children's grandchildren look back at
this moment, they will see the world we live in as it is, not the
imaginary perceptions our president and his gang of zealots
have attempted to pass off as the truth. History will judge us,
not by what we believe, but by what we do. Awareness will be
presumed, and ignorance will be no defense. If we continue to
allow the commission of horrible crimes against others on our
behalf, without protest, our names shall be joined in the
indictment engraved upon the monument of our civilization.
Will it be with pride that our descendants read the chronicle of
our lives or will they be filled with shame?

You're not stupid! Get the truth. Act upon it!

791. Miller, op. cit, p. 12.

792. Minutaglio, op. cit., p. 51.

793. Alterman and Green, op. cit., p.3.

794. Ibid., p. 50.

795. Ibid., p. 334.

796. Ibid., pp. 222, 225.

797. Ibid., p. 263.

798. Begala, op. cit., pp. 89-91.

799. Kinsley, Michael, "Go to Hell: The Gospel according to George
W.," July 4, 1999, Slate, http://slate.msn.com/id/32438/.

800. Alterman and Green, op. cit., pp. 189, 190, 301.

801. Minutaglio, op. cit., p. 330.

802. Huffington, Arianna, "White House Chutzpah," December 12,
2002, www.salon.com/news/col/huff/2002/12/12/bush/print.html.

803. "Bush's Vision Through a Veil Darkly," November 8, 2003,
http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/000772.html.

804. Miller, op. cit., p. 132.

805. Ibid., pp. 278, 280.

806. Ibid., pp. 166, 217.

807. Ibid., p. 218.

808. Conason, op. cit., p. 174.

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

809. Alterman and Green, op. cit, p. 172.

810. Ibid., p 49.

811. Alterman op. cit., p. 208.

812. Alterman and Green, op. cit., p. 251.

813. Conason, op. cit., pp. 14, 15.

814. Alterman and Green, op. cit., p. 166.
815.www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/02/20040217-5.html.

816. "Nothing but lip service," Army Times, June 30, 2003,
http://www.armytimes.com/ archivepaper.php?f=0-ARMYPAPER-
1954515.php; see also "12 Million Children Denied Child Tax Credit
Help: 1 Million Are Children in Military Families," June 6, 2003,
www.childrensdefense.org.

817. "VFW Terms President's VA Budget Proposal Harmful to
Veterans," February 2, 2004, http://www.vfw.org/
index.cfm?fa=news.newsDtl&did=1576.

818. Corn, David, "MIA WMD-For Bush, It's a Joke," The Nation,
March 25, 2004, www.veteransforcommonsense.org/
newsArticle.asp?id=1650

819. Alterman and Green, op. cit., p. 166.

820. Miller, op. cit., p. 301.

821. Parry, Sam, "The Bush Exit Ramp," January 22, 2003,
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2003/012203a.html.

822. Miller, op. cit., p. 318.

823. Alterman and Green, op. cit., p. 191.

824. Miller, op. cit., p. 201.

825. "Remarks by the President to the Diet, Tokyo, Japan," February 18,
2002, http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/ press/release/ 2002/ 0902-
gwbjapanl.html.

826. Kellner, op. cit., pp. 240, 242.

827. Ibid., pp. 241, 242.

828. Ibid., p. 241.

829. Ibid., pp. 241, 242.

830. Rampton, op. cit., p. 6.

831. Moore, op. cit., pp. 257, 258.

832. Minutaglio, op. cit., pp. 166, 167.

833. Ibid., p. 332.

The Emperor Has No Clothes

834. Ibid., pp. 179, 188.

835. Moore, op. cit, pp. 163, 167.

836. Ibid., p. 171.

837. Ibid., p. 232.

838. Alterman and Green, op. cit., p. 338.

839. Moore, op. cit., p. 337.

840. Ibid., p. 10.

841. Ibid., p. 205.

842. Ibid., p. 296.

843. Miller, op. cit., p. 144.

844. Kellner, op. cit., p. 243.

845. Miller, op. cit., pp. 246, 247.

846. Moore, op. cit., p. 298.

847. Franken, op. cit., p. 159.

848. Moore, op. cit., p. 11.

849. Suskind, Ron, "Why Are These Men Laughing," Esquire,
www.esquire.com/features/articles/2002/021202_mfe_rove.html.

850. Conason, op. cit., pp. 187-189.

851. "The Dilulio Letter," www.esquire.com/features/articles/
2002/021202_mfe_diiulio_l.html.

852. Ibid.

853. Ibid.

854. Ibid.
855. Ibid.

856. Suskind, op cit. (n. 724).

857. Parry, op. cit.

858. Crutsinger, Martin, "O/Neill Calls Bush a Disengaged President,"
Associated Press, January 9, 2004, http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?
tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040109/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/bush_o_neill_l.

859. "The Third 2000 Gore-Bush Presidential Debate: October 17, 2000,"
Commission on Presidential Debates, http://www.debates.org/
pages/ trans2000c.html, p.18.

860. Hendawi, Hamza, "Saddam Captured," York Sunday News,
December 14, 2003, www.yorksundaynews.com/Stories/
0,1413,137~10047~1830740,00.html.

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

861. Kohut, Andrew, "Anti- Americanism: Causes and Characteristics,"
The Pew Research Center For the People and the Press, December 10,

2003, people-press.org/commentary/display.php3? AnalysisID=77.

862. Teixeira, Ruy, "Worth The Cost?" TomPaine.common sense,
http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/9447.

863. Ibid.

864. "Text of President Bush's State of the Union speech,"
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0122/p25s02-uspo.html.

865. Miller, Greg, "Cheney Is Adamant on Iraq 'Evidence,'"
Los Angeles Times, January 23, 2004, p. Al

866. "Text of President Bush's State of the Union speech," op. cit.

867. Zakaria, Tabassum, "U.S. arms hunter says no Iraq WMD,"
Reuters, January 24, 2004, www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.
jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=444547&section=news.

868. "Interview With President George W. Bush," NBC News,
"Meet the Press With Tim Russert," February 8, 2004,
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4179618/.

869. "Mr. Bush's Version," Editorial, The New York Times, February 9,

2004, http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0209-04.htm.

870. "Interview With President George W. Bush," NBC News,
"Meet the Press With Tim Russert," February 8, 2004,
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4179618/.

871. Ibid.

872. Ibid.; see also Saletan, William, "You Can Make It With Plato:
Bush's difficult relationship with reality," Slate, February 8, 2004,
http://slate.msn.com/id/2095I60/.

873. Drogin, Bob and Greg Miller, "CIA Chief Saw No Imminent Threat
in Iraq," Los Angeles Times, February 6, 2004, p. Al.

NO END IN SIGHT

The Iraqi resistance to our occupation is
intensifying, we are losing control of the cities and
supply lines, more soldiers are dying every day,
and our allies are abandoning us. What
happened?

On April 1, 2004, the front page of my daily newspaper
carried a large color photograph of a jubilant mob of Iraqis in the
city of Falluja dancing around and upon the smoldering wrecks
of two automobiles following the ambush and killing of four
U.S. civilian security guards.

That evening, television news showed the partial remains
of one of them thrown over a telephone line, another was
dragged down the street tied to a car, and the burned corpses of
the other two were hung from a nearby bridge. Although there
are a number of police stations and a military base of more than
4,000 marines nearby, the desecration and demonstration
continued for hours as the crowd chanted, "Viva Mujahideen!"
(Long live the resistance!)

Al Qaeda did not kill these brave Americans; Iraqis who
consider us to be invaders of their country killed them. Bush
uses the euphemism "insurgents" and labels them as "cowards,"
but no matter what you and I may think about their motives, the
truth is that these cheering Iraqis are celebrating a victory in
their resistance to our occupation. 874

What happened? Just days before President Bush
ordered the invasion of Iraq a year ago, Vice President Cheney
was asked if Americans were prepared for a "long, costly and
bloody battle?" He replied, "The read we get on the people of
Iraq is there is no question but what they want is to get rid of
Saddam Hussein and they will welcome as liberators the United
States when we come to do that." Deputy Secretary of Defense
Wolfowitz stated, "Like the people of France in the 1940s, they
view us as their hoped-for liberator."

A year ago, on April 30, 2003, Secretary of Defense
Rumsfeld told the U.S. troops in Iraq, "You came not to conquer,

308 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

not to occupy, but to liberate, and the Iraqi people know this."
Only a few days before Rumsfeld spoke, American troops had
shot down 13 Iraqi civilians during a pro-Saddam march in
Falluja. Rumsfeld promised that he would be able to reduce the
number of troops in Iraq to 30,000 by September. 875

What happened? Either Bush and his gang of zealots
really think we are stupid and that they can get away with lying
to us, or, they are really stupid and they believed their own lies.

In the week before April 1st, recently deployed American
marines conducting roadblocks and armed searches in Falluja
fought a street battle resulting in the deaths of a marine, 18
members of the resistance and other innocent bystanders,
including an 11-year-old boy and an ABC cameraman.

A local teacher said, "They are always provoking the
people, blocking the streets, detaining the civilians, under the
pretext of searching for weaponry and insurgents. If they
continue to behave like this, the response of the people will be
more tough." City walls in Falluja are covered with graffiti that
say it is "halal" (clean) to kill Americans. 876

The sad truth is that the American people want to believe
we are liberators, and we are spending a billion dollars and the
lives of a dozen soldiers every week to prove it, but to the Iraqi
people, we are just the latest conquerors to occupy their
homeland.

The carnage in Falluja was no April Fool's joke, yet
Osama bin Laden surely laughed. Bush and his flock of Chicken
Hawks have swallowed bin Laden' s bait, and they have dragged
the rest of us into the trap. Al Qaeda is stronger than ever.

Throughout the Middle East, thousands of young men
and women are proudly lining up to surrender their lives in
suicide attacks to expel the modern infidel crusaders. Richard
Clarke wrote in Against All Enemies, "It was as if Usama bin
Laden, hidden in some high mountain redoubt, were engaging
in long-range mind control of George Bush, chanting "invade
Iraq, you must invade Iraq." 877

Whether it is bin Laden, Cheney, Karl Rove or the other
neocon zealots who control Bush's mind, it is up to us to end this

No End in Sight 309

tragedy. It is all but certain that al Qaeda will launch another
terrorist attack on America, and the next time Bush and his
zealots are likely to suspend the Constitution. 878

Then it will be too late. The torch of freedom will be
extinguished, and the voice of democracy will be silenced.

It has proven difficult to end this book. Every day there's
more death and destruction, and the entire nature of Bush's War
changed during the month of April. Most obviously, it is clear
that a year after Bush announced "Mission Accomplished," his
war is far from over. The mission has again shifted. It is no
longer the "insurgents" or terrorists who are threatening U.S.
troops; it is simply the Iraqis who must be defeated.

The Iraqi resistance repelled an assault by American
marines to regain control of Falluja. Not only did the Iraqi
security forces we have trained to take over policing in Iraq
refuse to assist the marines, many joined with the resistance.
Now, we have made a deal with one of Saddam's former
generals to raise an army and take over the task of pacifying the
city as the marines withdraw from their siege of the city.

The Shiite "Mahdi Army" has denied American troops
entry into the holy city of Najaf and has established occupation-
free zones in Kufa and Karbala. There are increasingly violent
attacks in the usually peaceful areas in southern Iraq, including
Basra.

Spain has withdrawn its troops, and Honduras is posed
to follow "in the shortest time possible." The Dominican
Republic, Nicaragua and Kazakhstan are withdrawing their
forces, and it appears that El Salvador, Norway, the Netherlands
and Thailand will be next. New Zealand is withdrawing its
engineers, and South Korea and Bulgaria have pulled their
troops back to their bases. 879

The resistance has begun to take and hold hostages, and
a strange videotape of the beheading of an American visitor has
shocked the world. The main highways through Iraq are no
longer under the control of American forces. Money budgeted
to rebuild Iraq is being diverted to pay for private security
forces, which operate outside the control of American

310 You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

commanders. Two major contractors, General Electric and
Siemens have suspended operations with the Iraqi Ministry of
Electricity and the Coalition Provisional Authority. 880

Finally, the world has been outraged in the last month by
the publication of dozens of photographs depicting widespread
torture and sexual abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers.
Although the Pentagon attempted to suppress its own report on
the outrage, it was quickly revealed that the International Red
Cross had notified American authorities of the prisoner abuse
months before the photographs were taken. We also learned
that Paul Bremer repeatedly raised the issue of prison conditions
with Rumsfeld and other top officials last year, yet nothing was
done.

More troubling was the revelation that Major General
Geoffrey Miller, the commander of the Guantanamo Bay prison,
visited Iraq last year and advised Iraqi military jailers to follow
his Guantanamo model. Specifically, military guards should
soften up prisoners to improve the conditions for interrogations
by intelligence officers.

It was no surprise that Bush defended Rumsfeld and the
top military commanders or that he blamed the torture and
abuse on a few bad apples at the bottom of the barrel; however,
he demonstrated his absolute arrogance and total lack of
remorse by reassigning General Miller to take over and run the
Iraqi prisons.

In spite of all of this, Bush says, "We will stay the course
in Iraq. We're not going to be intimidated by thugs or assassins.
We're not going to cut and run from the people who long for
freedom. Because, you know what? We understand a free Iraq
is an historic opportunity to help change the world to be more
peaceful." 881 In announcing that he was delaying bringing home
as many as 25,000 troops as scheduled, Rumsfeld said, "We're
facing a test of will, and we will meet that test. 882

The widespread Iraqi uprising caused April to be the
bloodiest month since the war began, including the initial
invasion. 140 American soldiers were killed and 1,073 were
wounded. Since the war started, 777 American soldiers have lost

No End in Sight 311

their lives, and 4,327 have been wounded in action. 109 soldiers
from other countries have been killed, for a total of 886, an
average of almost three a day. 883 They each have a name and a
family. They each had a future. Has it been worth the price?
What happened?

This must end...

874. Sanders, Edmund, "Iraqi Mob Kills 4 Americans: Civilians' Bodies
Are Mutilated by a Cheering Crowd in Falluja," Los Angeles Times,
April 1, 2004, p. Al.

875. Sheer, op. cit., pp. 123, 129, 132.

876. "Marines engage in deadly battle," March 27, 2004,
Los Angeles Times, http://www.magicvalley.com/news/
worldnation/index.asp?StoryID=8258.

877. Clarke, op. cit., p.246.

878. "General Franks Doubts Constitution Will Survive WMD Attack,"
November 21, 2003, www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/
2003/ll/20/185048.shtml.

879. Klein, Naomi, "Mutiny is the only way out of Iraq's Inferno,"
The Guardian, May 1, 2004, www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/
0,2763,1207504,00.html.

880. Glanz, James, "Violence in Iraq Forces 2 Big Contractors to Curb
Work," The New York Times, April 22, 2004, www.nytimes.
com/2004/04/22/international/middleeast/22REBU.html.

881. Gettleman, Jeffrey and Douglas Jehl, "Fierce Fighting With Sunnis
and Shiites Spreads to 6 Iraqi Cities, The New York Times, April 7, 2004,
www.nytimes.com/ 2004/ 04/07/ international/ middleeast/
07IRAQ.html.

882. Hauser, Christine, "Iraq Uprising Spreads; Rumsfeld Sees It as
'Test of Will,'" The New York Times, April 8, 2004, www.nytimes.com/
2004/04/08/international/middleeast/08IRAQ.html.

883. "Iraq Coalition Casualty Count,"
http://www.lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx.

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Abbas, Mahmoud, 281

Abbott, 249

Abdallah, Moulay Hicham Ben,

181
Abraham, Spencer, 48
Afghanistan, 85, 86, 91, 92, 119,

125, 126, 152, 171

Northern, 102

Northern Alliance, 87, 89, 101,
120

oil connections, 123-125

Taliban, 87, 89, 101, 109, 119-
121, 125, 126
AFL-CIO, 46

Ahmad, Mahmoud, 101, 109
al Faisal, Turki, 98, 125
al Qaeda, 86-102, 115, 152, 153,

163, 168, 170, 176, 180, 205,

206, 213, 226, 232, 300, 309
Al Smith Memorial Dinner, 283
Alien and Sedition Laws, 227
Alliance for Retired Americans,

250
al-Saud, Turki Bin Faisal, 86
al-Shifa Pharmaceutical

Company, 90
Alterman, Eric

quote, on media slant, 269
Amerada Hess, 114
American Bar Association, 262
American College Testing

Program, 62
American Enterprise Institute,

150, 157, 170, 261, 262
American Hospital Association,

241
American Medical Association,

241, 242
American Soldiers

deaths, 185, 188

injuries, 185-190

reserves, 186

treatment of, 185-190
Amnesty International, 182
Amoco, 124

Ansar al-Islam, 169, 170
anthrax, 188
Arbusto, 13

as Bush Exploration, 14
Armenia, 123
Armey, Dick, 28, 231
Armitage, Richard, 125
Army War College, 180
Arthur Andersen, 15, 53
Ashcroft, John, 65, 98, 101-103,

221, 222, 226, 227

church and state, 223

counterterrorism priorities,
100

crime, 234

information access, 231

Let the Eagle Soar, 223

oil connections, 235

policies, 221, 222, 230-234

quote, 66

quote, on church and state,
222, 223

quote, on information access,
225, 229

religious beliefs, 222

September 11, 2001, 223

unchecked power, 227-235
AT&T, 73
Atta, Mohamed, 100, 109, 164,

226
Azerbaijan, 122, 123
Ba'ath Party, 142, 146, 148

connections to CIA, 142
Baghdad Pact, 141
Baker, James, 14, 119, 144, 147

322

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Bakr, Ahmed Hassan, 142
Baroody, William, 261
Bartley, Robert, 260
Bath, James

connections to Bin Laden, 13
Bechtel, 53, 123
Behler, Rob, 276
Belgium, 246
Berger, Sandy, 93
Berra, Yogi

quote, 125
Bill of Rights, 227
bin Laden, Muhammed (father

of Osama), 85
bin Laden, Osama, 14, 85-93, 98,

100, 102, 109, 112, 113, 118-

121, 126, 152, 166, 226, 308

quote, 90
bin Mahfouz, Khalid, 14, 15, 115,

119
Blankley, Tom, 268
Blix, Hans, 173
Bob Jones University, 26
Bolles, Gene, 186
Bolton, John, 159
Bond, Rich, 263

Booker Elementary School, 104
Boys and Girls Club, 283
Bozell, L. Brent III, 264
BP-Amoco, 234, 235
Bradley, Harry, 260
Bredero-Shaw, 121
Bremer, L. Paul, 93, 179
Bristol-Myers Squibb, 73, 249
British Petroleum, 155
Brookhiser, Richard, 281
Brzezinski, Zbigniew, 85, 122,

142
Buchanan, Patrick J., 31, 37

quote, 136

quote, on media slant, 264
Buckley, William F. Jr., 264

quote, on Jim Crow, 260
Bulgaria, 186

Bureau of Labor Statistics, 43
Bush v. Gore, decision, 39
Bush, Barbara Pierce, 6, 7
Bush, George (father), 14, 15, 86,
87, 119, 125, 144-149, 290
connections to bin Laden, 119
deceitfulness, 6
drug connections, 249
military service, 6
Office of Strategic Services

(OSS), 6
on health, 247
racial attitudes, 7
Bush, George W.
arrests, 8-10
as figurehead, 293
axis of evil, 171
baseball franchise, 16
behavior on 9/11, 105-108
brothers, relationship with, 7
campaigns, Congressional,

135, 138, 139
campaigns, gubernatorial, 16,

17, 49, 291
campaigns, president, 23, 29,

31, 61, 66, 148, 274
cheerleader, 8
childhood years, 7
compassionate conservative,

17, 23, 65, 295
connections to bin Laden, 115,

119
conservation policies, 52
counterterrorism budget cuts,

102
drinking problems, 8, 9, 10,

12, 279, 282
education of, 6, 7, 9, 280, 282
energy plan, 51, 52
energy policy, 124

323

exploding frogs, 7
fraternity involvement, 8
health care, 244, 251
international image, 287-290
lack of empathy, 280
lies, 268, 269, 279, 285, 293,

301
making decisions, 292
military service, 5, 11, 12
on vacation, 99
perceptions of, 274
perceptions, importance of,

280-286
policies, 282, 292
program cuts, 284-286
quote, anger, 8-10, 18
quote, arrogance, 281
quote, business, 16-18, 46, 51,

52,76
quote, dirty tricks, 24, 26, 29
quote, dumb, 282, 287-289
quote, lack of empathy, 7, 18,

75, 79
quote, lies, 16, 25, 29, 54, 76-

80, 107, 108, 111, 160, 165-

168, 175-178, 300
quote, military service, 11, 12
quote, on dynasty, xvii
quote, on hazing, 8
quote, on health, 45
quote, on intelligence, 282
quote, on lies, 298
quote, on peace, 181
quote, on reckless youth, 8-10
quote, on terrorism, 171, 176,

180, 273
quote, on terrorist threats

priorities, 93
quote, on the elite, 283
quote, on truth, 298
quote, on war, 154, 155, 164,

185, 204, 286, 301, 302

quote, politics, 23, 26, 38, 136,

293
quote, religious beliefs, 281
quote, taxes, 76-80, 283
quote, unchecked power, 159,

281
quote, vulgar, 10
religious beliefs, 222, 281
Rome treaty, 210
stock-sale controversy, 16
tax plan, 29, 80
unchecked power, 174, 176,

205, 302
weapons of mass destruction,

179
world domination, 170, 176,
203

Bush, Jeb, 7, 33, 35, 137, 150

Bush, Jonathan (uncle), 7, 13

Bush, Marvin, 7, 147

Bush, Neil, 7, 147

Bush, Prescott (paternal
grandfather)
connections to CIA, 5
connections to Hitler, 5

Bush, Samuel (great-
grandfather), 5

Bush's War, 141, 154-156, 159,
161, 269, 290

American Soldiers, 185-188
an option, 120, 121, 152, 164
as unnecessary, 180
background of, 141-147, 157
cluster bombs, 182, 184
connection to Israel, 158, 159
cost of, 177, 183
deaths of the innocent, 170,

181-183
history of, 149-152, 171-176
lies in justification of, 162-171,

175-178, 182, 205, 300, 301
like Hitler, 155

324

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

never-ending war, 149, 159,
180

preemptive strikes, 154, 155,
180, 204

propaganda, 161, 162, 171

shifting mission, 177-181

terrorist magnet, 179

unchecked power, 172, 175

war crimes, 182, 184, 203-212,
302

weapons of mass destruction,
204

world domination, 158, 159
Business Roundtable, 59
Butler, Richard, 148
Byrd, Robert, 172
California Supreme Court, 57
Camus, Albert, xv
Canada, 246
Cannistraro, Vincent, 155

quote, 155
Card, Andrew, 48, 52, 108, 160

quote, 161

unchecked power, 173
Cardozo, Fernando Enrique, 289
Carlucci, Frank, 119
Carlyle group, 119
Carnahan, Jean, 222
Carnahan, Mel, 222
Carnegie Endowment for

International Peace, 213
Carter, Jimmy, 85, 137, 142

Department of Education, 258

military service, 258

policies, 258
Casey, William, 126
Caspian Basin, 123

oil connections, 122
Caspian Pipeline Consortium,

124
Cawley, Charles, 80
CBS, 161, 300

Center for Strategic and

International Studies, 261
CentGas, Central Asia Gas

Pipeline, Ltd., 89, 91
Chalabi, Ahmed, 149, 155, 156
Chambliss, Saxby, 138, 139, 275
Chao, Elaine, 45, 262
Chase Manhattan, 73
Cheney, Dick

CEO of Halliburton, 48, 73,
121, 123

dirty tricks, 161

energy policy, 52, 122, 123

energy task force, 122, 126,
157

Enron connections, 50, 53, 54

lies in justification of war, 163,
164, 168, 307

oil connections, 121, 123, 234

quote, business, 121, 122

quote, lies, 52

quote, on war, 146, 159

Secretary of Defense, 145, 146,
149

Vice President, 48, 49, 52, 65,
96, 98, 101, 105, 106, 110,
111, 121, 135, 154, 276
Chevron, 48, 123, 234, 235
ChevronTexaco, 155, 156
Chicken Hawks, 161
Chile, 143
China, 124, 156
Chirac, Jacques, 289
ChoicePoint DBT, 34-36
Christian Aid, 182
Christian Coalition, 222
Church, Charlotte, 287
CIA, 6, 86-90, 95-101, 113, 120,

125, 126, 141, 147-149, 155,

163, 164, 167-169
Circuit Court of Appeals,

Washington, D.C., 210

INDEX

325

Cirincione, Joseph, 213
Citizens for Better Medicare, 244
Clarke, Richard, 90-97, 308

9/11 testimony, 117

quote, counterterrorism
priorities, 94

quote, on al Qaeda, 101

quote, on counterterrorism,
153
Clean Air Act, 51
Clear Channel Communications,

267
Cleland, Max, 116, 137-139, 275
Clinton administration, 229

counterterrorism budget, 88

economy, 259

lies about them, 41

on education, 65

on taxes, 78

perceptions of, 136

policies, 44, 45, 51, 88, 210, 224

policies in Middle East, 90-93,
118-121, 147, 148, 234

taxes, 259
Clinton, Bill, 33, 136, 259, 294

counterterrorism priorities, 93

economic expansion, 259

impeachment, 148

on education, 65, 70

PNAC lobby, 150

policies, 259

quote, on information access,
224

quote, on war, 210

Rome treaty, 210
CNN, 105
Cohen, Ariel, 156
Colombia, 186
Columbia School of Journalism,

266
Conason, Joe

quote, on media slant, 270

ConocoPhillips, 156
Convention on Children's

Rights, 210
Coolidge, Calvin, President, 47
Coors, Joseph, 261
corporations

oil connections, 118-124, 144,
152, 156

power, 42-46, 73, 143, 156
Coulter, Ann, 263
CSX Corporation, 74
Dabhol project, 53, 123
Daschle, Tom, 110, 111, 161
Declaration of Independence,

230
Defense Intelligence Agency, 169
Delay, Tom, 45
Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE)

hazing, 8
Delta Oil Company, 89, 115
Denmark, 186
Denver Post, 189
Department of Defense, 115, 116,

125, 155, 160, 188
Department of Energy, 157
Department of Homeland

Security, 137-139
Department of Justice, 110
Department of Labor, 47
Der Spiegel, 289
Diebold Election Systems, 276
Digital Millennium Copyright

Act, 276
Dilulio, John

letter to Suskind, 294-297

Mayberry Machiavellis, 296

quote, on policy-making, 295

quote, on Rove, 296
Dinh, Viet, 232
Diogenes, 298
Dixie Chicks band, 267
Dobson, James, 222

526

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Dole, Elizabeth, 44
draft, military, 192
drug industry

connections to politics, 244-
249

cost of, 248

cost to consumer, 245-248

direct marketing, 248

no taxes, 248

payoffs, 244, 245

price controls, 246, 247

research and development,
247, 248
Duke Energy Corporation, 50
Dunleavy, Steve, 263
Durnan, Jaymie, 176
Editor & Publisher, 265
Edmonds, Sibel, 102
education

business goals, 59

business model, 59, 60

cost of, 58, 67, 68

dropout rates, Texas, 62, 63

history of, 57, 58

No Child Left Behind Act, 66,
67

teachers, 58

test revolt, 69, 70

Texas, 59-61
Egypt, 97, 181
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 43

on health, 241

quote, on preventive war, 155
Ekeus, Rolf, 166
El Salvador, 84
ElBaradei, Mohamed, 174
Eli Lilly, 249
energy industry, 48, 122
England, 146, 148, 169, 175, 182,

186, 211, 246, 290
Enron, 15, 49, 50, 53, 54, 73, 89,

123, 147, 235, 236

Esquire, 295, 297
Evans, Don, 48, 54
Executive Order 13233, 109
ExxonMobil, 73, 123, 124, 156,

234, 235
Fahmy, Nabil, 158
Fair, Mike, 24
Fairness and Accuracy in

Reporting, 262
Farr, Jackie, 209
FBI, 88, 89, 97-101, 109, 111, 119,

226, 232, 233, 236
Federal Aviation

Administration, FAA, 97, 101,

105, 106, 108, 115, 116
Federal Communication

Commission

Fairness Doctrine, 268
federal court rulings, 52, 57
Federal Emergency Management

Service, 87
Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission, 50
Federal Register, 45
Federalist Society, 210, 262
Feulner, Edwin, 261
Findlay, D. Cameron, 46
Fleischer, Ari, 37, 38, 105, 295

lies in justification of war, 168,
169

quote, 111
Florida voting, 32-39
Ford, Gerald, 6
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,

234
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance

Act, 227
Fox, Vincente, 288
France, 146, 156, 174, 175, 246,

290
Franks, Tommy, 120

Freedom of Information Act,

224, 225
Freedom of Information Act

lawsuit, 156
Freedom Support Act, 123
Frum, David, 281, 297
Gandhi, Sonia, 53
Garner, Jay, 155
GE Capital Services, 123
General Electric, 53, 73
Geneva Convention, 145, 177,

184, 207-209

violations of, 208, 209
Germany, 97, 174, 186, 219, 246,

289
Giffen, James, 234, 235
Gingrich, Newt, 74, 150, 263, 268

on health, 243

quote, 2
Glaspie, April, 144
global unilateralism, 149
Goering, Hermann

quote, 160

quote, politics, 230
Gore, Al, 29, 37, 268

as Bush-alleged liar, 26, 27

campaign, president, 31, 66,
135, 148

high school students, 28, 29

on health, 243
Goss, Porter, 113
Graham, Bob, 113
Gramm, Phil, 259
Grant, Bob, 266
Gregory, David, 289
Guantanamo Bay, 207, 209

unchecked power, 207
Gulf War, 24, 86, 145-147, 162,

205

buried alive, 145

war crimes, 146
Hackworth, David, 190

Hadley, Steve, 94
Halabi, Ahmed, 209
Halliburton Company, 48, 73,

121, 123, 156, 234, 235
Hamdoon, Nizar, 143
Hannity, Sean, 266
Harken Energy Corporation, 14,

15, 54
Harris, John

quote, on media slant, 268
Harris, Katherine, 38
Hart, Gary, 95
Havel, Vaclav, 164
Head Start, 57, 65
health care, 241

history of, 241-243

lack of empathy, 251, 252

loss of retirement benefits, 249

Medicaid, 252

Medicare, 242, 243, 249-252

Medigap, 243, 244, 251, 252

premiums, 250-252
health care

carpal tunnel syndrome, 44,
46

quote, 29

Texas, 17, 18
Health Reform Program of

Boston University, 248
Help American Vote Act, 276
Heritage Foundation, 156, 261,

262, 265
Hezbollah, 89
Hill, Eleanor, 112
Himmler, Heinrich, 219
Hitler, Adolf, xvii, 3, 219

connections to Bush family, 5
Holocaust Case, xv
Hood, Glenda, 277
Horowitz, David, 136
Houston Independent School

District, 60, 62, 63

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

How to Beat the Democrats, 136
Howaida, Mohammad Sadik, 90
Human Rights Watch, 182
Hunt, Nelson, 261
Hussein, Saddam, 142-152, 156,

161-163, 166, 168, 170, 175,

204, 269

capture of, 299

connections to CIA, 142

nuclear weapons, 166-169

perceptions of, 161, 162

to negotiate peace, 176

weapons of mass destruction,
163, 165, 167, 169
Immigration and Naturalization

Service, 100
Impeachment, 211, 213, 214

lies, 212, 213

war crimes, 212
Independent Petroleum

Association of America, 235
India, 95, 120

Internal Revenue Service, 74
International Association of Fire

Fighters, 285
International Atomic Energy

Agency, IAEA, 164, 169, 174,

212
Iran, 120, 142, 143, 153, 157-159,

170, 171, 234, 299
Iraq, 121, 141-158, 163-171, 175,

299, 300

Falluja, 307, 308, 311

inspection, 143, 146-148, 164-
166, 171-174, 269

nuclear weapons, 165, 166

use of chemical weapons, 143

weapons of mass destruction,
165, 167, 168, 174, 178, 300
Iraqi National Congress, INC,

149, 155, 156
Iraqi National Oil Company, 156

Israel, 84, 97, 149, 226

nuclear weapons, 158
Italy, 186, 246, 290
Japan, 186

Japanese Parliament, 288
Jefferson, Thomas, 57, 230

quote, 231
Jeffords, James, 66, 135
jihad movement, 181
Johnson, Lyndon

Great Society, 258

Medicare, 258

military service, 258

on health, 242

policies, 258
Johnson, Samuel

quote, on patriotism, 274
Jordan, 141, 149
Judicial Watch, 53, 156
Jung, Kim Dae, 287
Justice Department, 87, 219

civil rights enforcement, 220
Karzai, Hamid, 125
Kay, David, 300, 301
Kazakhstan, 122-124, 234, 235
Kean, Thomas, 114
Kellner, Douglas

quote, Bush as figurehead,
293
Kendrick, Phil, 15
Kennedy, John

military service, 258

on health, 242

policies, 257
Kennedy, Ted, 66
Kenya, 90

Kettl, Donald F., 274
Khalilzad, Zalmay, 125
Kissinger, Henry, 114, 125
Kristol, Irving, 149, 260
Kristol, William, 149, 150, 159,

268

329

quote, on media slant, 264
Kurdistan, 141, 170
Kurds, 146, 156, 170
Kuwait, 141, 143-145, 147
Kwasniewski, Aleksander, 206
Kyrgyzstan, 122
Lay, Ken, 49, 50, 53, 54
League of Conservation Voters,

137
League of Nations, 141
Leahy, Patrick, 189
Lebanon, 85, 153
Levin, Carl, 102
Liddy, G. Gordon, 266
Limbaugh, Rush, 266, 268

quote, on media slant, 267
Los Angeles Times, 158, 168
Luntz, Frank, 2
Madison, James, 224
MaGuire, William, 80
Mann, Horace, 58
Maresca, John J., 124
Massoud, Ahmed Shah, 102
Mathis, William J., 68
MBNA Corporation, 217., 283
McCain, John, 23-25, 268, 290
McClellan, Scott, 205
McGraw-Hill, 59
media

AM talk radio, 266, 267

bias, 265, 266

myth of liberal bias, 263, 264

perceptions of, 264
Media Research Center, 264

suppressed dissent, 264
Mehalba, Ahmed, 209
Merck, 245
Meyerson, Adam, 265
Microsoft, 73
middle class, 44, 75
Mine Safety and Health

Administration, 285

Mirant Corporation, 50
Mitchell, Larry, 98
Mohammed, Khalid Shaikh, 300
Moon, Sun Myung, 261
Morocco, 181
Moussaoui, Zacharias, 100, 112,

226, 227
Mubarak, Hosni, 181
Mueller, Robert, 111, 236
Musharraf, Pervez, 126
Nader, Ralph, 31
Nairobi, 90
National Commission on

Terrorist Attacks upon the

United States, 114, 117, 118
National Energy Policy

Development Group, 49
National Institute of Health, 247
National Review, 260
National Security Council, 152
Nazis, 219
NBC, 299
neocon movement, 149, 150, 159,

260-264
Netanyahu, Benjamin, 149
Netherlands, 246
New York Times, 8, 160, 268
New Zealand, 248
Nicaragua, 84, 143
Niederer, Sue, 191
Niemoller, Martin, 219

quote, unchecked power, 219
Nixon, Richard M., 5, 6, 142
Niyazov, Saparmurat, 126
North American Aerospace

Defense Command, NORAD,

105-107, 116
North Korea, 159, 171, 287, 299
Norton, Gale, 48
O'Dell, Walden, 276
O'Neill, John, 119
O'Neill, Paul, 54

330

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

quote, on Bush, 297
O'Reilly, Bill, 266
Oakley, Robert, 93
Office of Global

Communications, 161
Office of Strategic Influence, OSI,

160
Office of Strategic Services, OSS,

6
Olin, John, 260
Olympic Games, 92
Omar, Mullah, 120
OPEC, 143, 156
Operation Desert Fox, 148
Otter, Butch, 231
Overseas Private Investment

Corporation, 53
overtime pay, 46
Oxfam International, 182
Padilla, Jose, 232, 233
Paige, Roderick, 60
Paine, Thomas

quote, xvi
Pakistan, 89-91, 95, 101, 120, 124,

126
Palestinian Authority, 153
Patriot Act, 230, See USA Patriot

Act
Patriot Act II, 230, 231
Pearl Harbor, 274
Pennzoil, 124
Pentagon, 27, 87, 101, 103, 106,

153, 155, 157, 161, 183, 185,

209, 210, 232

use of nuclear weapons, 153
Perle, Richard, 149, 150, 154, 162

quote, 154

unchecked power, 173

world domination, 159
Pew Charitable Trusts, 266
Pew Research Center, 161, 289
Pfizer, 73, 245, 249

Philip Morris, 73

Pickard, Thomas J., 101, 102

Pierce, Franklin, 6

Pines, Burton, 261

Plato, 75

Poindexter, John, 232

Poland, 186, 206

Portugal, 246

Powell, Colin, 53, 98, 112, 153,

166

lies in justification of war, 169,
302

quote International Law, 145

unchecked power, 173
Prewitt, Jean, 191
Prince Bandar, 173
prisoners of war

abuse of, 187
Project for Excellence in

Journalism, 266
Project for the New American

Century, PNAC, 150, 153

world domination, 151
Project on Defense Alternatives,

183
Puerto Rico, 249
Putin, Vladimir, 288
Qasim, Abd al-Karim, 141

connections to CIA, 142
Rahman, Sheikh Omar Abdel,

87,91
Rather, Dan, 18

quote, on intimidation, 269
Rea, Paul, 14
Reagan administration, 143, 150

bias, 268
Reagan, Ronald, 6, 14, 84, 142,

143

on health, 243

quote, 261
Record, Jeffrey, 180
Red Cross, 208

INDEX

331

Reinhardt, Stephen, 209
Reno, Janet, 224

counterterrorism priorities,
100
Republican National Committee,

28, 135, 136, 263, 290
Ressam, Ahmed, 92
Rice, Condoleezza, 48, 94, 97, 98,

105, 110, 112, 113, 115, 117,

123, 125, 289

counterterrorism effort, 93

lies in justification of war, 163

quote, 110
Richards, Ann, 49, 54, 60, 290
Richardson, Smith, 261
Riley, Richard, 65
Ritter, Scott, 165
Robertson, Pat, 222, 275
Rocca, Christina, 121
Roden, Randall, 48
Roosevelt, Franklin

military service, 257

New Deal, 256

policies, 256

social security, 257

taxes, 257
Roosevelt, Theodore

military service, 256

policies, 255

Sherman Antitrust Act, 255

Square Deal, 255
Rossotti, Charles, 74
Rove, Karl, 161, 295

as Bush's teacher, 291

campaigns, Congressional,
136

compassionate conservative,
293

dirty tricks, 25, 26, 64, 66, 108,
109, 136, 137, 139, 161, 290

false whisper campaign, 290

like Nixon, 294

on politics, 136
perceptions, importance of,

293
phony push poll, 290
policies, 293
propaganda, 136
quote, dirty tricks, 136, 290
quote, on Bush, 292
quote, vulgar, 294
Rowley, Coleen M.

the letter, 111
Roy, Olivier, 157
Rudman, Warren, 95
Rumsfeld, Donald

connections with Saddam, 143

known unknowns, 178

lies in justification of war, 163,

164, 166, 167-169, 173, 177,

182, 307
Office of Strategic Influence,

160
policies on defense, 95, 102,

152
Project for a New American

Century, PNAC, 150
quote, on Office of Strategic

Influence, 160
quote, on technology, 94
quote, on war, 159, 173, 182,

188
quote, politics, 143, 167
Secretary of Defense, 94, 98,

112, 125, 154, 160
September 11 notes, 152
unchecked power, 207
weapons of mass destruction,

173, 177
Russia, 97, 120, 122-124, 156, 174,

175, 288, 290
Sadler, Paul, 292

quote, on Bush, 292
Satire, William, 232

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Sanchez, Ricardo S.

quote, on war, 180
Saudi Arabia, 87, 89, 91, 109, 118,

119, 125, 143, 144, 155, 156
Saudi bin-Laden Group, 121
Savage, Michael, 266
Save the Children, 182
Scaife, Richard Mellon, 261, 262
Scaife, Sarah, 261
Scalia, Antonin, 39, 44

quote, on church and state,
262, 263

quote, on civil rights, 263
Scalia, Eugene, 44, 45
Schaitberger, Harold, 285
Schippers, David Philip, 98
Schlessinger, Laura, 266
Schlumberger, 156
Scholastic Aptitude Test, 62
Schrag, Peter, 69
Scowcroft, Brent, 163
Segal, Erich, 27
September 11, 2001, 83, 161, 162

American Airlines Flight 11,
105

American Airlines Flight 77,
106

causes of, 84-87, 91, 96, 98,
102, 104, 226

events that day, 104-107

manipulation of, 124, 136, 139,
152, 153, 160, 161, 168, 171,
204, 226, 227, 273

National Homeland Security
Agency, 95

perceptions of, 161, 162

the attack, 103, 104

the coverup, 107-110, 113, 114,
116, 118

United Airlines Flight 175, 106

United Airlines Flight 93, 107

warnings of, 87-90, 92, 95, 97-
103, 112, 114, 116
Shah of Iran, 142
Shanker, Albert, 70
Shatt-al-Arab waterway, 142, 144
Shelton, Hugh, 153
Shiites, 141, 146, 156
Shultz, George, 143
Sierra Club, 53
Silk Road Strategy Act, 122
Simons, Tom, 120
Simpson, Christopher, 189
Skull and Bones, 6, 8
Sliney, Ben, 108
Snow, John, 73
South Korea, 186, 287
Spain, 175, 186, 206
Spectrum 7, 14, 49
Stars and Stripes

low morale among troups,
186
Stern, Howard, 266
Steyn, Johan, 211
Strategic Taskforce to Organize

and Mobilize People, STOMP,

135
Suarez del Solar, Fernando, 191
Sudan, 90

Sullivan, Andrew, 263
Sunnis, 141, 156
Sun-Tzu, 290
Suskind, Ron, 294
Syria, 142, 153, 159
Taft, Robert

quote, on war and dissent, 274
Taggart, Chris, 125
Tanzania, 90
taxes, 73, 75-77

capital gains tax, 79

Earned Income Tax Credit, 74

estate taxes, 77
Taylor, Otha, 7

INDEX

Tenet, George, 97-99, 112, 167,

168, 302

quote, 167
Terrorism Information &

Prevention System, 231
Texas Assessment of Academic

Skills, 60, 61
Texas Education Agency, 59, 60
Thailand, 186
The Guardian

low morale among troups,
187
The National Security Strategy

of the United States, 154
The Note

quote, on media slant, 269
The Washington Times, 179, 180
Thielmann, Greg, 163
Thomas, Clarence, 223
Thompson, Larry, 236
Throckmorton, Terry, 7
top one percent, 73

getting richer, 73-80, 245-249

power, 43, 63, 247, 249, 252
Total Information Awareness,

232
Transatlantic Alliance, 175
Truman, Harry, 241

Fair Deal, 257

military service, 257

North Atlantic Treaty
Organization, 257

policies, 257

quote, on health, 241
Turkey, 84, 124, 141, 290
Turkmenistan, 89, 122-126
U.N. General Assembly, 84
U.S. Energy Information

Administration, 123
U.S. Export-Import Bank, 53
U.S. Food and Drug

Administration, 247, 248

U.S. Policy on Counterterrorism,

88
U.S. Postal Service, 229
U.S. State Department, 101
U.S. Supreme Court, 39, 93, 210,

247, 262
Ukraine, 186
UNICEF, 147
United Arab Emirates, 91
United Nations, 144, 146, 147,

164, 165, 169, 171, 175

Charter of, 203, 211

inspection, 173, 174, 213

weapons of mass destruction,
165, 166
United Nations Security Council,

84, 172, 174, 175
United Press International, 188
United Seniors Association, 245
United States

perceptions of, 299
United States Constitution, 211,

212, 220
University of Massachusetts, 162
University of Pennsylvania, 294
Unocal, Union Oil Company of

California, 89, 91, 115, 119,

123-125
USA Patriot Act, 225, 227-229,

232
LISA Today, 168
USS Cole, 92

USSR, 85-87, 122, 155, 162
Uzbekistan, 122-124
Van Bergen, Jennifer, 227
Veterans of Foreign Wars, 286
Vienna Convention, 210
Vietnam, 11, 24, 25, 137, 138, 233
Waits, Tom, 251
Walker, George Herbert (great-
grandfather), 5

You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth

Wall Street Journal, 75, 156, 260,

299
Walpole, Robert, 94
Waltz, Allen, 6
war crimes, 212

Bush's War, 181
Washington Post, 28, 178, 268,

269

on taxes, 80

quote, 163, 288

quote, dirty tricks, 290

quote, on terrorism, 93
Watergate scandal, 224
Waxman, Henry, 235
weapons of mass destruction,

146-148, 158, 163, 177, 300
Weekly Standard, 264
Westermann, Christian, 163
White, Mary Jo, 235
Williams, J. Bryan III, 234, 235
Wilson, Woodrow

Federal Reserve Act, 256

New Freedom, 256

policies, 256
Win Without War, 191
Witt, James Lee, 29

Wolfowitz, Paul, 149, 150, 152,

161, 176

lies in justification of war, 168,
307

quote, 150

weapons of mass destruction,
179
World Assembly of Muslim

Youth, 118
World Bank, 53
World Court of Justice, 84
World Trade Center, 87, 119, 164,

226
WorldCom, 73
Wyatt, Tristan, 189
Yale, 6, 8
Yale Daily News, 8
Yee, James (Yousef), 209
Yemen, 92

Yousef, Ramzi Ahmed, 87, 88
Zabaida, Abucit, 102
Zaeef, Abdul Salam, 121
Zapata Petroleum, 6
Zapatero, Jose Luis Rodriquez,

206
Zelikow, Philip, 115