Dicky's Doodles &Scribbles

Cartoons,editorials and comment about current events and more.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Rudy Giuliani Spreads Fear And Lies About 9/11



Rudy Giuliani is spreading fear and lies in his campaign for President.
Below is an article from the internet that is very informative.


June 27, 2007 by Faiz Shakir, Nico Pitney, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, and Matt Corley

Giuliani's 9/11 Conspiracy Theory
During a speech yesterday at Pat Robertson's Regent University, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani indirectly blamed President Clinton for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Echoing arguments offered frequently by Bush administration officials, Giuliani claimed that Clinton treated the 1993 World Trade Center bombing "as a criminal act instead of a terrorist attack," which "emboldened other strikes" on the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, Kenya, and Tanzania, and later on the USS Cole. "The United States government, then President Clinton, did not respond," Giuliani said. "Bin Laden declared war on us. We didn't hear it." The claim that Clinton "did not respond" to global terrorism during his administration is demonstrably and flagrantly false. (Giuliani himself knows this. Just last year, before he became a presidential candidate, he said, "The idea of trying to cast blame on Clinton [for the 9/11 attacks] is just wrong for many, many reasons, not the least of which is I don't think he deserves it.") Giuliani's fundamentally misguided approach to counterterrorism is evidenced not only by his dishonest smears of President Clinton, but by his embrace of the same national security strategy as President Bush, under whom global terrorism is rising, Osama bin Laden is resurgent, the Middle East is deeper in violent unrest, and the U.S. military is in the midst of a readiness crisis.

CLINTON'S TERRORISM RECORD: The Clinton administration's efforts to "thwart international terrorism and bin Laden's network were historic, unprecedented and, sadly, not followed up on." Richard Clarke, who served as counterterrorism czar for Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II, detailed Clinton's counterterrorism record after Vice President Cheney claimed in 2004 that the United States had "no great success in dealing with terrorists" during the 1990s: "It's possible that the vice president has spent so little time studying the terrorist phenomenon that he doesn't know about the successes in the 1990s," Clarke said. "There were many. The Clinton administration stopped Iraqi terrorism against the United States, through military intervention. It stopped Iranian terrorism against the United States, through covert action. It stopped the al-Qaida attempt to have a dominant influence in Bosnia. It stopped the terrorist attacks at the millennium. It stopped many other terrorist attacks, including on the U.S. embassy in Albania. And it began a lethal covert action program against al-Qaida," including military strikes against al Qaeda targets. Giuliani claims Clinton "did not respond" to bin Laden. In fact, Roger Cressy, former National Security Council director for counterterrorism, has written, "Mr. Clinton approved every request made of him by the CIA and the U.S. military involving using force against bin Laden and al Qaeda."

TERRORISM AS A CRIMINAL ACT: Giuliani's criticism that the 1993 World Trade Center bombing was considered "a criminal act instead of a terrorist attack" shows a deeply flawed understanding of counterterrorism. In fact, the United States "has long regarded [terrorist] acts as criminal," according to the 9/11 Commission Staff Report. This practice continues under Bush; last year, for example, Bush introduced a plan to "improve national legal and regulatory frameworks to ensure appropriate criminal and civil liability" for nuclear terrorists. However, it was under Clinton that terrorism was first treated as a national security threat. The 1993 World Trade Center attack, which occurred one month after Clinton took office, "called attention to a new kind of terrorist danger." Not until July 1995 did the U.S. intelligence community identify this "new terrorist phenomenon" characterized by "loose affiliations of Islamist extremists" who were "more fluid and multinational than the older organizations." Clinton had already taken action. A June 1995 Presidential Decision Directive issued by Clinton for the first time emphasized concern about terrorism "as a national security issue," not just a matter of law enforcement. Clinton's directive declared that the United States saw "terrorism as a potential threat to national security as well as a criminal act and will apply all appropriate means to combat it." By 1997, U.S. intelligence confirmed "the existence of al Qaeda as a worldwide terrorist organization," and for the last three years of his presidency, Clinton "raised the issue of terrorism in virtually every important speech he gave."

THE USS COLE MYTH: Giuliani has frequently repeated the claim that Clinton did not respond to the bombing of the USS Cole. "You know, we get attacked on the Cole. We don't do anything about it," he told Fox News earlier this month. In fact, President Clinton was eager -- at the recommendation of top counterterrorism aides -- to retaliate against al Qaeda for the USS Cole. But that attack took place in October 2000. As Clinton explained in a 2006 interview, both the CIA and FBI "refused to certify that Bin Laden was responsible" for the attack on the Cole until early 2001, which foreclosed the possibility of a full response during the Clinton administration.

THE BUSH/GIULIANI COUNTERTERRORISM STRATEGY -- INVADE IRAQ: When President Bush came into office, his administration was warned that no foe but al Qaeda posed "an immediate and serious threat to the United States." Yet in May 2001, Bush declared that "today's most urgent threat" was not terrorism but "ballistic missiles" in the hands of rogue states, specifically Iraq. In June 2001, Bush "outlined the five top defense issues" to NATO allies, and the "only reference to extremists was in Macedonia." Even as 9/11 occured, the focus remained on Iraq. On the day of the attacks, then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told aides he wanted "best info fast. Judge whether good enough hit S.H." -- meaning Saddam Hussein. One day later, Bush "testily" told Richard Clarke and other aides, "Go back over everything, everything. See if Saddam did this." Within three months, Bush began drawing up plans for the Iraq invasion. This singular, ideological focus culminated in a policy that has consumed countless resources that could have been used to eliminate global terrorist networks and bolster homeland security. Yet to this day, Giuliani remains supportive of Bush's approach. He said recently that invading Iraq was "absolutely the right thing to do," and claimed the war would "help reduce the risk for this country."

Links:
http://midlifemutations.blogspot.com/
http://www.ostroyreport.blogspot.com/
http://fuzzyandblue.blogspot.com/
http://orwellsgrave.blogspot.com/
http://jcdesigns.blogspot.com/
http://majikthise.typepad.com/
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/
http://www.slate.com/
http://www.dailykos.com/
http://www.impeach07.org/

Supreme Court Right Wing Tilt



The United States Supreme Court iis now living up to expectations as the right wing tilt is more in evidence with every key decision as the court votes 5-4 along idealogical grounds on many major cases.
This legal disaster will have long term negative effects and adds to the disaster of the Bush presidency.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Need A Jump?

Monday, June 11, 2007

G.W. and Laura Welcomed In Bulgaria!



G.W. and Laura were greeted by cheering crowds in Bulgaria and Albania on his historic visit to these Eastern European nations. He probably considred the possiblity of moving there!

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Texas Leads Nation In Air Pollution


I ran a cartoon the other day on this subject. It was a phtoshopped picture which is a lot of fun but I did that because my scanner was not working and I could not scan in this cartoon which I drew that day. Well, a friend came by and fixed my scanner, it was unplugged! Duh! So I am posting the cartoon I drew at this time. It doesn't hurt to emphasize this point again anyway, it is a disgraceful situation.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Bush Meets His Buddy Putin At G8

Monday, June 04, 2007

Texas Leads Nation In Carbon Emissions



According to a study just released by the Associated Press Texas leads the nation in emissions of greenhouse gasses. The culprit is the use of coal to generate electricity.
Large states with large populations obvioulsy produce more carbon dioxide than smaller states but according to an article published Friday, June 2, Texas emissions are more than twice the next two states on the list, California and Pennsylvania, combined.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Senator Cornyn In Town To Pump Up Oil Prices!


U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R Tx) is pushing to lower environmental standards to make it less expensive to build new refineries and expand existing ones.
Cornyn held a news conference in the parking lot of a Valero convenience store, which sells gasoline under the Valero label. Valero has a large refinery here in Corpus Christi.
"This is ground zero when it comes to producing gas and fuel," said Cornyn,
"We need to increase the domestic fuel supply and decrease our dependence on foreign oil. No complaining of the demagoguery or cursing the darkness will lead to a solution."
Corny knows a thing or two about demagoguery.
In a classic example of the politcal BS he is so good at he said "The problem is that the farming states urge ethanol use, but chicken farmers and tortilla factories complain of the high price of corn, It's not a crime to make a profit in America. Part of what we need to do in Congress is get out of the way of free enterprise. We haven't had a refinery built in about 30 years because of federal regulations. Things like this take time and there is no quick fix."
Yeah, that's it. It's the tortilla factories fault, and the farmers...yeah.
The local refineries have been undergoing steady expansions for as long as I can remember. Perhaps the oil companies don't want to build new ones when the old ones help them make new record profits each passing quarter.

Links:
http://midlifemutations.blogspot.com/
http://www.ostroyreport.blogspot.com/
http://fuzzyandblue.blogspot.com/
http://orwellsgrave.blogspot.com/
http://jcdesigns.blogspot.com/
http://majikthise.typepad.com/
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/
http://www.slate.com/
http://www.dailykos.com/
http://www.impeach07.org/