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Volume 6 Issue 33…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…August 22, 2003
Castro's Cuba (1953-2003)
In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on the Caribbean Island of Cuba, which became an important base for Spain. West Africans replaced native Cubans, decimated by abuse and Western diseases, as the workforce on sugar plantations in the 18th century. Uprisings against Spanish colonial rule occurred in the 19th century. After the Spanish-American War (1898), Cuba came under US military occupation from 1899-1902 and 1906-09. Between 1924 and 1959, most of Cuba’s rulers were US-backed dictators. Fulgencio Batista came to power in 1940.
On July 26, 1953, Fidel Castro, a young law student and son of a sugar planter, led an unsuccessful revolt against the brutal Batista regime. Captured, Fidel and his brother, Raul, were sentenced to fifteen years in prison. A remarkable orator, Fidel’s two-hour address to the court at his sentencing hearing ended with, "Condemn me, it doesn’t matter. History will absolve me." On May 14, 1955, the Batista regime granted the rebels amnesty. Fidel went into exile.
Aided by guerrilla leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara de la Serna (1928-1967), Castro returned to Cuba on December 2, 1956. Against overwhelming odds, his small contingent of men, with popular support, waged a successful guerrilla campaign to oust the Batista regime.
In 1959, as Cuba’s premier, Castro established a socialist state and instituted sweeping land, industrial and educational reforms. After the nationalization of foreign firms (1960), the US imposed an embargo and arranged the merger of a number of anti-Castro factions, which became the Cuban Revolutionary Council (CRC).
Trained by the CIA in Central America for an armed invasion, on April 19, 1961, they landed at Cuba’s Bahiá de Cocchinos (Bay of Pigs). The invasion failed. In December 1962, most of the invaders were ransomed to the United States in exchange for $53 million in food and medicine. Earlier in 1962, Cuba accepted Russian nuclear missiles, which led to the infamous Cuba missile crisis, a major confrontation between the US and USSR. Through negotiations, the missiles were withdrawn, defusing the standoff between the two superpowers.
For more than 40 years, the US has imposed economic sanctions against Cuba, while continuing to lease the Guantánamo Naval Base on the island’s eastern shore. According to Senate Foreign Intelligence Oversight Committee records, Castro has been the target of numerous CIA-backed assassination attempts; he is lucky to be alive. Cuba has survived the onus of economic warfare and Fidel Castro remains at its helm. On July 26, 2003, Cuba celebrated its 50th year of independence. So, in many ways, history has absolved its revolutionary leader. (Sources: Encyclopedia Americana, www.bbc.co.uk and www.cbs.com)
The Debt
By Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)
This is the debt I pay
Just for one riotous day,
Years of regret and grief,
Sorrow without relief.
Pay it I will to the end--
Until the grave, my friend,
Gives me a true release--
Gives me the clasp of peace.
Slight was the thing I bought,
Small was the debt I thought,
Poor was the loan at best--
God! but the interest!
Dirty Trickster: Karl Rove
Essays by Wayne Madsen and James C. Moore offer insight into the modus operandi (MO) of political strategist Karl Rove, the man who orchestrated George W. Bush's presidential 'victory' and continues to be the brain behind Bush. Investigative journalist Madsen (WMadsen777@aol.com) wrote Exposing Karl Rove. Co-author of "Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential," Moore's essay at www.buzzflash.com is a mea culpa for having voted for George W. Bush. Their essays are condensed below.
Likening Karl Rove to Joseph Goebbels, Madsen suggests to understand Rove one must know his mentor, Richard Nixon's chief dirty trickster Donald Segretti, the man behind Senator Ed Muskie's tearful breakdown. In the 1972 campaign, Segretti planted lies about Muskie and his wife, forged letters, disrupted campaign events, and spread lies about candidates' sex lives. He went to prison for distributing illegal campaign material.
In the spirit of Segretti, Rove honed his skills in the 2000 GOP primary by trashing Senator John McCain and his family. Rove's operation spread false stories about McCain's "homosexuality," claimed he was a stoolie for his Vietnamese captors, fathered a black child and his wife abused drugs. McCain joined Muskie, McGovern, Carter, Mondale, Dukakis, Hart, Tsongas, Clinton, Biden, Dole, Perot, Gore and others singed by the Segretti/Rove dirty tricks' modus operandi (MO).
Rove's dirty tricks work because the public has a short memory and we are too busy to pay attention to details. With the media cowed, Bush can land on an aircraft carrier and pretend to be a warrior leader without fear of accusations of hypocrisy. He avoided combat in Vietnam by using family privilege and connections, and then disappeared from his unit for the last two years of his hitch. Yet, he dared to stand in the midst of US troops and suggest that he was one of them.
In the mid-1930s, German opposition figures lamented the fact that they did not stop the Nazis. Falling prey to Goebbels' media manipulation, they fought among themselves rather than unite to defeat the far right menace. The only way to stop the Rasputin-like Rove and his puppet is for voters to take their citizenship more seriously. Democracy only works when the electorate is vigilant and informed. United, we can expose Rove and end the regime of political dirty tricks.
The Theft of Your Vote Is Just a Chip Away
"The right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which all other rights are protected. To take away this right is to reduce a man to slavery." Thomas Paine
Nationally syndicated talk show host and author Thom Hartmann's must-read essay with, the above title is at www.AlterNet.org. In it, he identifies problems associated with computerized voting, addresses issues from previous elections and ponders future dilemmas.
A bad computer chip can misread votes. Without a paper trail, there is no backup. Hartmann's examples of this are "just the tip of the iceberg of irregularities, as reported by www.votewatch.us. In '00 and '02, the system was either broken ... hacked, or voters became more fickle than at any time since Truman beat Dewey."
A noteworthy case concerns the head of an electronic voting machine company who left his job to run for the U.S. Senate in 1996. According to his company's computer-controlled voting machines, Chuck Hagel won almost every demographic group, including blacks that normally vote Democratic. Hagel became the first Republican in 24 years to win a Senate seat in Nebraska. Six years later, he repeated his stunning victory with 83% of the vote. Machines built and programmed by Hagel's company tallied the votes. His company also manufactures the computer chip. To his Democratic opponent, Charlie Matulka, "This is a big story, bigger than Watergate ever was." See www.lancastercountydemocrats.org/matulka.htm.
With electronic and Internet voting, hackers gaining access to the database is always a problem. Yet, the Pentagon plans to use Internet voting for GIs overseas in 2004. As Hartmann suggests, "the results could be disastrous: even the CIA has not been able to prevent hackers from penetrating parts of its computer systems attached to the Internet."
Fallout from Election 2000 includes the exit of exit-polling, the statewide consolidation of voter rolls and the purging of voters based on bogus felons' lists. In Florida, Secretary of State, Katherine Harris, who was also chairman of the Florida campaign to elect George W. Bush, spent millions to "clean up" the Florida list. More than 94,000 voters were erroneously purged. About half of the purged voters were black Democrats.
By John Burl Smith
Few gales have battered the British Isles like the political storm bearing down on Number 10 Downing Street. Blowing ill leaving the US, it rolled ashore like a giant tsunami, flooding the English heartland in a rush to war. Not to be confused with William Shakespeare's comedy, this tempest increased in ferocity with Dr. David Kelly's death. Drenched in foreboding, Dr. Kelly's tragedy typifies Hamlet, Macbeth and Othello. Embodying a basic principle of Shakespearean classics, this tragedy begins with the search for truth.
Opening in a torrent of skepticism and cynicism, the Hutton inquiry made credibility channel markers and integrity a lifeline for Prime Minister Tony Blair. Tacking to face the oncoming storm, Nick Higham of the BBC warned, "A whole series of individuals and institutions will be tested, so far, none have emerged with their reputations unscathed."
Betrayed by the BBC's "most respected journalist," Dr. Kelly's greatest error in judgement, given the turbulence on the horizon, has proven to be Susan Watts. Having trusted her in dire straits, she now blows the doc off as a "tempest in a teapot." Even if she initially dismissed him, even without hindsight, evidence known today should have changed her "glib" and "gossipy" assessment of such a tragic figure. With a reputation to enhance and sources far more valuable to her than Dr. Kelly, Watts is like US journalists that excuse Bush's lies to maintain White House access.
Caught in the storm of the century, even if BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan overstated the case, at worst, his offense is mass deception. Conversely, if Alastair Campbell is guilty as charged, at best, Blair's crimes include mass murder. Summarizing the facts, Dr. Kelly's central charge -- the September dossier was 'hardened up" to enhanced Blair's case for war -- like George Bush's State of the Union address, foretold Number 10's stormy petrel. No "Mutiny on the Bounty," by attacking Dr. Kelly, a "good and decent man," who tried to stop pain, destruction and needless slaughter, Blair reversed roles. In choosing honor and truth over greed and power, Dr. Kelly was hounded, branded a traitor and set adrift in a leaky lifeboat amid stormy shark-infested waters by "Captain Bly" of Number 10 Downing Street.
Journalists, like Mazen Dana, make the ultimate sacrifice for truth; survivors owe it to such shining exemplars to continue their struggle. Readers and viewers deserve nothing less. Making value judgements, as Susan Watts, denies the public the ability to make informed decisions regarding the September dossier and the need for war. Watts had no right to decide how much and what parts of Dr. Kelly's statements warranted public dissemination. Had she been his only access to the media, the public may never have known his story. Without Andrew Gilligan's account, the public may have only known about his untimely and tragic death, just another victim buried under Number 10 propaganda.
Boycott Coke: Stop Road Map Through Baghdad
Conspiracy theories abound prior to the US-led pre-emptive strike against Iraq. Even Iraq’s neighbors did not fear its alleged arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. Some conspiracy theorists said the US wanted to control Iraq’s oil reserves and stop its switch to euros. Others saw improving the geopolitical position of US ally and Middle East toehold - Israel - as the "real motive." Conspiracy or not, defending the oil pipelines has been a top priority. The Iraqi economy is dollar dominated and Israel has a weekly Baghdad-Tel Aviv flight and a center in Baghdad, the Arab citadel.
According to the Saudi-based Voice of Iraq (VOI), the Middle East road map now ferries weapons to US forces from Israel. An affiliate of the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the center is a front for the Israeli secret police. An affront, this Mossad operation in Baghdad confirms that Israel and the US are two sides of the same coin.
Because the Middle East road map has taken a detour, the International Islamic Symposium (IIS) has decided to assist. IIS will selectively boycott businesses supporting Israel. Coca-Cola produces an unhealthy beverage and avidly supports Israel; it is the perfect choice. The goal is to reach 5 million people with the message: BOYCOTT COCA-COLA! Stop drinking it! Urge your mosque, community, group, wedding event, celebration, etc. not to use Coca-Cola or Coke products.
Call, write or FAX Coca-Cola to say: We are boycotting Coke because you support Israel. Located at One Coca-Cola Plaza, Atlanta, GA 30313, its telephone number is 404-676-2121 and the FAX is 404-676-6792. The company's web site is www.coca-cola.com. For more, email motisola_3@hotmail.com, call 410-435-5000, or visit www.newtrendmag.org.
Stranger Than Fiction
According to Peep City Barnabus, most Deep Cover Operatives (DCO) are dedicated patriots. Their pledge of loyalty is to the Constitution of the United States of America and their oath is to defend it against all who would undermine its ideals or attack its foundation, even the president. Words to that effect accompanied his first dispatch. Unfortunately, this report may be the DCO's last. Fleeing the scene of a top secret meeting between the "Shadow Government" and George Bush's Principles Committee in the Crawford, Texas bunker, Peep City is the object of an intense manhunt.
A fly on the wall, Barnabus eavesdropped on insiders, planning Bush's 2004 re-selection campaign. The buzz surrounded "keeping the lid on California." Attendees spoke in detail about the "Shadow Government" and Principles Committee's clandestine financing of the recall of California's Governor Gray Davis. Specifically, in late 2002, Bush strategists worried that a grassroots "get out the vote" effort, modeled on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Poor People's Campaign," could cause Bush problems in the South in 2004. Persuading Bush insiders they would need more than Florida in 2004, Karl Rove explained that a win in California would offset any loses in the South.
"California Dreaming," Rove revealed an odd-man-out.com scheme had funded the recall. Like a 49er prospecting for gold, Rove dug up hundreds of those rowdy Florida goons that stopped the Election 2000 vote count in Miami-Dade. Described as "unpaid volunteers," Rove brought these troops to California to gather recall signatures. Rove's target, as in Florida, is the golden state's 55 Electoral College votes, not the popular count, making California the "big enchilada."
Masking his intent, Rove planned to turn the recall into a circus, then select a big name as ringmaster. Reminiscent of ENRON's energy scam, the big question was, who could fool Californians? Enter "walk-on" Arnold Schwarzenegger. Spouting populist themes couched in neo-conservative rhetoric, Arnold is being spun as a Horatio Alger with an accent. Tutored by master dirty trickster Donald Segretti of "Watergate" fame, Rove has the money and muscle to direct "sound byte" Arnold to an academy award performance. A high stakes gamble for high roller Rove, Arnold in the governor's mansion would be the mother lode.
Peep City warns Americans that Rove's recall
circus will undermine the US' electoral process. Hiding behind Arnold's star
appeal, Rove plays "Florida-flip" in California. No one will miss a
few million immigrants classified as "illegal aliens or felons" that
get purged from voting rolls or notice a few thousand hanging or pregnant chads
or any other voting irregularities in minority precincts. America owes Peep
City a debt of gratitude. If voters do not watch the recall as if it is a game
show, then his fight for liberty will not be in vain.
Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes & Telephone Calls
Rep. Dennis Kucinich ---'I know where weapons of mass destruction are. Joblessness is a weapon of mass destruction. Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction. Homelessness is a weapon of mass destruction. Poor health care is a weapon of mass destruction. And when the government lies to the American people, that is a weapon of mass destruction.'
Email orbitx@bigpond.com Hours before the explosion rocked the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, the US Embassy canceled the booking of 10-20 rooms in that hotel. A Marriot Hotel employee explained that the booking was made several days before. The US Embassy's guests planned to stay for 3 days with a ceremony planned on Wednesday. JW Marriot Hotel is known to be used frequently by the US Embassy. On 4 July 2003, the US Independent Day was celebrated at this hotel. Last year, it was also celebrated there.
Email www.upi.com On May 2, the Pentagon issued documents outlining procedures for military tribunals. People believed to be members of al-Qaida or other terrorist organizations and believed to be guilty of any one of nearly 30 crimes, from using human shields on the battlefield to torture and murder will be tried. The commissions could also apply to people alleged to have harbored terrorists. An undisclosed number of detainees, held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are being considered for trial. Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the Pentagon plans is the imposition of a permanent gag order on attorneys who defend alleged terrorists or "enemy combatants" before any US military tribunals. All statements and information about the trials will be made through the Pentagon spokesman's office.
Fox News' Bill O'Reilly on Good Morning America, 3-18-03--"And I said on my program, if, if the Americans go in and overthrow Saddam Hussein and it's clean, he has nothing, I will apologize to the nation, and I will not trust the Bush Administration again."
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