Government Cheese

INFO, ACTION AND HUMOR Sponsored by The Praxis Project www.thepraxisproject.org

Lies, Lies, And More Lies

Compiled by the Red-Eye Crew
SeeingBlack.com Contributing Writers

Talk about Government Cheese on our Black Politics board! Click here.

INFO
At our deadline, it seemed as if the mountain of lies piled up by the Bush administration was finally, perhaps, going to fall down on its head. A four-year-old story from The Boston Globe about Bush’s questionable military service with the national guard was suddenly receiving attention from the corporate media, and members of the administration were being questioned in connection with the investigation into who blew the cover of a CIA operative as part of a possible political vendetta.

But, here in the nation’s capital, as elsewhere, no lies fascinate us more than the bold ones told last year to lead the United States into war with Iraq. This year, Black Voices For Peace celebrated the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. in the nation’s capital with a packed community forum where “Lies, Lies, Lies” was the drumbeat of the day. According to Black Voices of Peace, co-chaired by Damu Smith and the Rev. Carolyn Boyd, these are some of the biggest lies that Bush, Cheney, Powell, Rice, Rumsfeld and the crew have told:

1)Iraq Has/Had Weapons Of Mass Destruction.
FALSE! After months of searching by hundreds of professional U.S. and United Nations weapons inspectors, none have been found. Many of the U.S. weapons inspectors have been quietly withdrawn from Iraq and sent home because they had nothing to do after months of fruitless searching for weapons which apparently don't exist. Bush, Powell. Cheney, Rice, Wolfowitz and other U.S. officials now resort to saying that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction "programs," even if we can't find actual weapons!!

2)Iraq and al-Qa'ida had links and worked together.
FALSE! No evidence of any kind has been produced to prove this claim by Bush administration officials. A leaked British Defense Intelligence Staff report said there were no current links between al Qa'ida and Iraq.

3)Iraq obtained weapons grade uranium from the African country of Niger.
FALSE! Bush made this claim in his State of the Union speech in January 2003 during the U.S. build up for the war against Iraq. A former U.S. ambassador sent to investigate this matter exposed this Bush administration claim as being false. As a result his wife—a CIA operative—was revealed as such by someone in the administration.

4)The war (against Iraq) will be easy and U.S. troops would be welcomed as liberators.
FALSE! Depending on which estimate or figure is believed, reports say between 3,000 and 8,000 U.S. service men and women have been maimed or wounded in Iraq as of January 2004. And as of mid-January 2004, nearly 500 U.S. soldiers had died. [By SeeingBlack.com’s deadline, the U.S. death toll was at least 530]. The U.S. casualties are the result of stiff, determined and unrelenting armed resistance by mainly Iraqis who view U.S. troops as occupiers and criminals who kill, maim and disrespect the Iraqi people. The capture of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has done nothing to lessen the resistance and the attacks on U.S. troops.

5)U.S. citizens and other people around the world are now safer and more secure as a result of the Bush adminstration's anti-terrorism and "national security" policies.
FALSE! In December 2003, during the onset of and throughout holiday season, the director of Homeland Security Tom Ridge issued the Code Orange alert, just a notch below the highest security alert status. Flights from Britain and France were cancelled or delayed, and security searches and seizures were increased at U.S. airports and other installations around the nation.

Groups alleged to have links to Osama Bin Laden and al Qa'ida have increased attacks abroad. The Taliban and al Qa'ida are alleged to be behind increased violence in Afghanistan.

If this is more security then it was also warm in D.C. in January 2004!

The Bush administration's policies have increased acts of terrorism around the world. The Bush administration's policies against Iraq and in support of Israel's policies against the Palestinian people can be characterized as acts of terrorism. This causes hatred among people towards the United States and increases the possibilities of acts of violence against innocent people in the United States.

6) The U.S. economy is booming and in good shape.
FALSE! Booming and in good shape for whom? Certainly for the arms manufacturers and big corporations—not the working, middle class people and poor people of the country. The 2004 Fiscal year budget includes $399 billion for military spending. This is almost 20 times the amount requested for training, employment and social services; 13 times the amount requested for housing assistance; eight times more requested for health and seven times the amount requested for education. Unemployment, underemployment and poverty are at very high levels as more poor and working people are homeless, hungry and have no access to health care.

ACTION
For more information, contact Black Voices for Peace, 1400 16th Street NW, Suite 225, Washington, D.C. 20036. www.BVFP.org 202-232-5690. Or www.internationalanswer.org.

-- February 13, 2004

© Copyright 2001-05 Seeing Black, Inc. All Rights Reserved.