Impeach Now
...Or Face the End of Constitutional Democracy

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

Unless Congress immediately impeaches Bush and Cheney, a year from now the US could be a dictatorial police state at war with Iran.

Bush has put in place all the necessary measures for dictatorship in the form of "executive orders" that are triggered whenever Bush declares a national emergency. Recent statements by Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff, former Republican senator Rick Santorum and others suggest that Americans might expect a series of staged, or false flag, "terrorist" events in the near future.

Many attentive people believe that the reason the Bush administration will not bow to expert advice and public opinion and begin withdrawing US troops from Iraq is that the administration intends to rescue its unpopular position with false flag operations that can be used to expand the war to Iran.

Too much is going wrong for the Bush administration: the failure of its Middle East wars, Republican senators jumping ship, Turkish troops massed on northern Iraq's border poised for an invasion to deal with Kurds, and a majority of Americans favoring the impeachment of Cheney and a near-majority favoring Bush's impeachment. The Bush administration desperately needs dramatic events to scare the American people and the Congress back in line with the militarist-police state that Bush and Cheney have fostered.

William Norman Grigg recently wrote that the GOP is "praying for a terrorist strike" to save the party from electoral wipeout in 2008.
Chertoff, Cheney, the neocon nazis, and Mossad would have no qualms about saving the bacon for the Republicans, who have enabled Bush to start two unjustified wars, with Iran waiting in the wings to be attacked in a third war.

The Bush administration has tried unsuccessfully to resurrect the terrorist fear factor by infiltrating some blowhard groups and encouraging them to talk about staging "terrorist" events. The talk, encouraged by federal agents, resulted in "terrorist" arrests hyped by the media, but even the captive media was unable to scare people with such transparent sting operations.

If the Bush administration wants to continue its wars in the Middle East and to entrench the "unitary executive" at home, it will have to conduct some false flag operations that will both frighten and anger the American people and make them accept Bush's declaration of "national emergency" and the return of the draft. Alternatively, the administration could simply allow any real terrorist plot to proceed without hindrance.

A series of staged or permitted attacks would be spun by the captive media as a vindication of the neoconsevatives' Islamophobic policy, the intention of which is to destroy all Middle Eastern governments that are not American puppet states. Success would give the US control over oil, but the main purpose is to eliminate any resistance to Israel's complete absorption of Palestine into Greater Israel.

Think about it. If another 9/11-type "security failure" were not in the works, why would Homeland Security czar Chertoff go to the trouble of convincing the Chicago Tribune that Americans have become complacent about terrorist threats and that he has "a gut feeling" that America will soon be hit hard?

Why would Republican warmonger Rick Santorum say on the Hugh Hewitt radio show that "between now and November, a lot of things are going to happen, and I believe that by this time next year, the American public's (sic) going to have a very different view of this war."

Throughout its existence the US government has staged incidents that the government then used in behalf of purposes that it could not otherwise have pursued. According to a number of writers, false flag operations have been routinely used by the Israeli state. During the Czarist era in Russia, the secret police would set off bombs in order to arrest those the secret police regarded as troublesome. Hitler was a dramatic orchestrator of false flag operations. False flag operations are a commonplace tool of governments.

Ask yourself: Would a government that has lied us into two wars and is working to lie us into an attack on Iran shrink from staging "terrorist" attacks in order to remove opposition to its agenda?

Only a diehard minority believes in the honesty and integrity of the Bush-Cheney administration and in the truthfulness of the corporate media.

Hitler, who never achieved majority support in a German election, used the Reichstag fire to fan hysteria and push through the Enabling Act, which made him dictator. Determined tyrants never require majority support in order to overthrow constitutional orders.

The American constitutional system is near to being overthrown. Are coming "terrorist" events of which Chertoff warns and Santorum promises the means for overthrowing our constitutional democracy?

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review.

_________
We had better pay attention everybody

Get it through your heads people, nothing Bush does will prevent him from leaving office in 2009. He can make all the Executive decisions he wants, but he can not change the constitutional law without congresses support, and Congress will NOT under any circumstance agree to a change that allows a president to remain in office after 2 consecutive terms.

In order for Bush to remain in office after his elected term he would have to have military supporting him in a military takeover, and you and I both know the military will not back him up in that.

So, get off your high horse(s), stop trying to incite trouble.

I wouldn't put anything past the current administration. They've shown their true colours already.

I only post this because Roberts was a past member of the Reagan Administration and may have more insight on things than we possess...not trying to incite "fear" by posting this...

I wouldn't put it past them.....

HOWEVER....

If Bush...or ANY sitting President, for that matter, tried a stunt like that, this country would devolve into certain civil war. Most clear-thinking people believe the government interferes with their lives too much now. For a President to do something like this, America would be forced into a police state. How long will the general public stand for that?

I might not put it past them, but I don't think they'd do it.
Surely someone in that administation's smart enough to realize the consequences.

Terror threat against U.S. said serious By KATHERINE SHRADER and ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writers
5 minutes ago



The terrorist network Al-Qaida will likely leverage its contacts and capabilities in Iraq to mount an attack on U.S. soil, according to a new National Intelligence Estimate on threats to the United States.

The declassified key findings, to be released publicly on Tuesday, were obtained in advance by The Associated Press.

The report lays out a range of dangers — from al-Qaida to Lebanese Hezbollah to non-Muslim radical groups — that pose a "persistent and evolving threat" to the country over the next three years. As expected, however, the findings focus most of their attention on the gravest terror problem: Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.

The report makes clear that al-Qaida in Iraq, which has not yet posed a direct threat to U.S. soil, could become a problem here.

"Of note," the analysts said, "we assess that al-Qaida will probably seek to leverage the contacts and capabilities of al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI), its most visible and capable affiliate and the only one known to have expressed a desire to attack the homeland."

The analysts also found that al-Qaida's association with its Iraqi affiliate helps the group to energize the broader Sunni Muslim extremist community, raise resources and recruit and indoctrinate operatives — "including for homeland attacks."

National Intelligence Estimates are the most authoritative written judgments of the 16 spy agencies across the breadth of the U.S. government. These agencies reflect the consensus long-term thinking of top intelligence analysts. Portions of the documents are occasionally declassified for public release.

The White House brushed off critics who allege the administration released the intelligence estimate at the same time the Senate is debating Iraq. White House press secretary Tony Snow pushed back at the critics Tuesday, saying they are "engaged in a little selective hearing themselves to shape the story in their own political ways."

"We don't keep it on the shelf and say `Let's look for a convenient time,'" Snow said.

"We're trying to remind people is that this is a real threat. This is not an attempt to divert. As a matter of fact ... we would much rather — one of the things we'd like to do is call attention to the successes in the field" in Iraq, he said.

House Republican leader Rep. John Boehner of Ohio said the report confirms gains made by Bush and blamed Democrats for being too soft on terrorism.

"Retreat is not a new way forward when the safety and security of future generations of Americans are at stake," he said in a statement.

The new report echoed statements made by senior intelligence officials over the last year, including the assessment of spy agencies that the country is in a "heightened threat environment." It also provided new details on their thinking and concerns.

For instance, the report says that worldwide counterterrorism efforts since 2001 have constrained al-Qaida's ability to attack the U.S. again and convinced terror groups that U.S. soil is a tougher target.

But, the report quickly adds, analysts are concerned "that this level of international cooperation may wane as 9/11 becomes a more distant memory and perceptions of the threat diverge."

Among the report's other findings:

_Al-Qaida is likely to continue to focus on high-profile political, economic and infrastructure targets to cause mass casualties, visually dramatic destruction, economic aftershocks and fear. "The group is proficient with conventional small arms and improvised explosive devices and is innovative in creating new capabilities and overcoming security obstacles."

_The group has been able to restore key capabilities it would need to launch an attack on U.S. soil: a safe haven in Pakistan's tribal areas, operational lieutenants and senior leaders. U.S. officials have warned publicly that a deal between the Pakistani government and tribal leaders allowed al-Qaida to plot and train more freely in parts of western Pakistan for the last 10 months.

_The group will continue to seek weapons of mass destruction — chemical, biological or nuclear material — and "would not hesitate to use them."

_Lebanese Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim extremist group that has conducted anti-American attacks overseas, may be more likely to consider attacking here, especially if it believes the United States is directly threatening the group or its main sponsor, Iran.

_Non-Muslim terrorist groups probably will attack here in the next several years, although on a smaller scale. The judgments don't name any specific groups, but the FBI often warns of violent environmental groups, such as Earth Liberation Front, and others.

The publicly disclosed judgments, laid out over two pages, are part of a longer document, which remains classified. It was approved by the heads of all 16 intelligence agencies on June 21.

In the last week, reports on this document and another threat assessment on al-Qaida's resurgence have renewed the debate in Washington about whether the Bush administration is on the right course in its war on terror, particularly in Iraq.

The White House has used the reports as evidence that the country must continue to go after al-Qaida in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. But critics say the evolving threat is evidence of a policy gone wrong.

The debate — and the underlying global problem — will not go away soon.

The high-level estimate notes that the spread of radical ideas, especially on the Internet, growing anti-U.S. rhetoric and increasing numbers of radical cells throughout Western countries indicate the violent segments of the Muslim populations is expanding.

"The arrest and prosecution by U.S. law enforcement of a small number of violent Islamic extremists inside the United States ... points to the possibility that others may become sufficiently radicalized that they will view the use of violence here as legitimate," the estimate said. "We assess that this internal Muslim terrorist threat is not likely to be as severe as it is in Europe, however."

Our current administration is the greatest terroristic threat to the American people.

couldnt agree more lily....

PERTINIENT!!!!!


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan has denied published reports that indicated al Qaeda is active and getting stronger in its tribal North Waziristan region along the country's border with Afghanistan.

Pakistani Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durani told CNN the reports -- initially from the New York Times -- are "ridiculous."

"We have deployed more than 80,000 troops in that area, and we are controlling that belt," Durani said. "And whenever we get any Taliban or al Qaeda activity report, we always go in with full force and destroy those camps. We ourselves are victims of these terrorist activities and cannot allow them to get stronger."

Durani also said that it is "ridiculous to point fingers without any reason."

"If someone has any information, they should have passed that on to us," he said.

Quoting unnamed American officials, the Times article -- published Monday morning -- said, "There was mounting evidence that Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, had been steadily building an operations hub in the mountainous Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan."

It added, "The United States has also identified several new al Qaeda compounds in North Waziristan, including one that officials said might be training operatives for strikes against targets beyond Afghanistan."

Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, Mahmud Durrani, said on CNN's "The Situation Room" that the reports were "not true."

"There may be some elements of al Qaeda," he said, "but not in the force that has been presented."

Durrani also said it is "totally and utterly incorrect" that elements of the Pakistani military are sympathetic to al Qaeda. He also denied that bin Laden and others are hiding in Pakistan.

Terrorism analyst Peter Bergen told CNN that it is the U.S. military position that al Qaeda forces are, in fact, operating out of Pakistan, where they have built new training camps.

"They're not large," he said. "We're talking about 10 or 20 people" in each camp.

U.S. officials believe al Qaeda and Taliban fighters train in these camps for targeted attacks in Afghanistan, Bergen said.

Davinci..how could you even post such a socialist communist piece of propaganda and expect anyone with at least one functioning cell left in their brain to believe it. You go on and on about Bush's war in Iraq..yet if you had at least one once of intelligence you'd know that the congree can put and end to the war at anytime they want...they hold the purse strings...they won't because despite what propaganda you read they'll never get enough votes to stop the funding because they know the underlying fact is that MOST americans support what we are doing there...if this was not the case everyone including Republicans in the senate would vote to stop the funding of the war and it would be over in a matter of months...so please..if you want to believe that crap..fine...but you'd be better posting it on some pro arab-alqaida web site. Try Al Jazzair...hmmmm...thats probably where this came from...nevermind...lol

since when does congress listen to the American people..lol

Redwine, where do you get your info? From the Bush indoctrination Manual.

I had to say that!
Now let me show you why....


There's a sharp political divide on the funding issue. Most Democrats (77 percent) and Independents (60 percent) think funding should be tied to a pullout timetable, while more than half of Republicans (53 percent) think funding for war should continue unfettered.

Americans remain extremely dissatisfied with the course of the war. Seventy-four percent, about the same number as last month, say the war is going badly, including 45 percent who say it's going very badly.

Again, there's a strong political split, with large majorities of Democrats (91 percent) and Independents (76 percent) saying the war is going badly, while half of Republicans say it's going well.


Now you see where I get the Bushies from!!
Keep reading that indoctrination manual, and watch the elections!!!

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/18/opinion/polls/main3071073.shtml

NEW YORK, July 18, 2007

BAGHDAD - The U.S. command announced on Wednesday the arrest of an al-Qaida leader it said served as the link between the organization's command in Iraq and Osama bin Laden's inner circle, enabling it to wield considerable influence over the Iraqi group.

The announcement was made as the White House steps up efforts to link the war in Iraq to the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, with a growing number of Americans opposing the Iraq conflict. Some independent analysts question the extent of al-Qaida's role in Iraq.

Khaled Abdul-Fattah Dawoud Mahmoud al-Mashhadani was the highest-ranking Iraqi in the al-Qaida in Iraq leadership when he was captured July 4 in Mosul, U.S. military spokesman Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner said.

Bergner told reporters that al-Mashhadani carried messages from bin Laden, and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, to the Egyptian-born head of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri.

"There is a clear connection between al-Qaida in Iraq and al-Qaida senior leadership outside Iraq," Bergner said.

He said al-Mashhadani had told interrogators that al-Qaida's global leadership provides "directions, they continue to provide a focus for operations" and "they continue to flow foreign fighters into Iraq, foreign terrorists."

The relationship between bin Laden and the al-Qaida in Iraq leadership has long been the subject of debate. Some private analysts believe the foreign-based leadership plays a minor role in day-to-day operations.

Analysts have also questioned U.S. military assertions that al-Qaida in Iraq is the main threat to U.S. forces here.

Former Pentagon analyst Anthony Cordesman quoted a background brief by U.S. military experts in Iraq this month that said al-Qaida in Iraq was responsible for only 15 percent of the attacks here in the first half of 2007.

Even before al-Mashhadani's arrest, U.S. military officials have insisted that links exist between the local al-Qaida group and the bin Laden clique. From time to time, officials have released captured letters indicating a flow of policy instructions to the group's commanders in Iraq.

Although numerous armed groups operate here, al-Qaida in Iraq's signature attacks — high-profile truck bombings against civilian targets — were largely responsible for unleashing the wave of sectarian slaughter last year that transformed the character of the conflict, U.S. officials say.

"What we've learned from not just from the capture of al-Mashhadani but from other al-Qaida operatives is that there is a flow of strategic directions of prioritization, of messaging and other guidance that comes from al-Qaida senior leadership to the al-Qaida in Iraq leadership," Bergner said.

Al-Qaida in Iraq was proclaimed in 2004 by Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He led a group called Tawhid and Jihad, responsible for the beheading of several foreign hostages, whose final moments were captured on videotapes provided to Arab television stations.

Al-Zarqawi posted Web statements declaring his allegiance to bin Laden and began using the name of al-Qaida in Iraq. Al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Diyala province in June 2006 and was replaced by al-Masri.

Although al-Qaida in Iraq's rank-and-file are mostly Iraqis, the Iraqi group's top leadership is dominated by foreigners, Bergner said. That includes al-Masri, who joined an al-Qaida forerunner in Egypt in the 1980s and later helped train fighters who drove the Soviet army from Afghanistan.

Pointing to the foreign influence within al-Qaida in Iraq could undermine support for the organization among nationalistically minded Iraqis, including some in insurgent groups that have broken with al-Qaida.

In an effort to give al-Qaida an Iraqi face, Bergner said al-Mashhadani and al-Masri established a front organization known as the Islamic State of Iraq, which the general described as "a virtual organization in cyberspace."

In Web postings, the Islamic State of Iraq has identified its leader as Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, a name indicating Iraqi origin, with the Egyptian al-Masri as minister of war. There are no known photos of al-Baghdadi.

Bergner said al-Mashhadani had told interrogators that al-Baghdadi is a "fictional role" created by al-Masri and that an actor with an Iraqi accent is used for audio recordings of speeches posted on the Web.

"In his words, the Islamic State of Iraq is a front organization that masks the foreign influence and leadership within al-Qaida in Iraq in an attempt to put an Iraqi face on the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq," Bergner said.

Proclamation of the Islamic State is widely seen as a blunder by al-Qaida because it alienated independently minded insurgent groups that opposed the religious zealots' goal of an Islamic caliphate.

Fearing they would be marginalized by al-Qaida, Sunni sheiks and insurgent leaders began turning against the terror movement, in some cases cooperating with U.S. forces, notably in Anbar province.

White House spokesman Tony Snow told a news conference Wednesday that he didn't know why news of al-Mashhadani's arrest was withheld for two weeks. He dismissed a suggestion that the timing was linked to the Senate debate over withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

Also Wednesday, the U.S. military said three American soldiers were killed the day before in separate bombings in the capital. Two were killed in west Baghdad and another died in east Baghdad, the military said.

Four other Americans were wounded in the east Baghdad blast, the command said. Two insurgents responsible for the attack were identified, engaged and killed, the statement added.

At least 12 people were killed Wednesday in a series of bombings in mostly Shiite areas of eastern Baghdad. Seven of them died in two back-to-back bombings near a gas station in the Amin district, police said.

Eight civilians were killed when gunmen opened fire in the city of Khalis, a Shiite enclave in a mostly Sunni area 50 miles north of Baghdad, police said.

all the democrats are capable of doing is having an over night pajama party...
that is all they have accomplished since the elections 7 mos ago...pathetic

What happened to they both suck!
I agree with that. At least the democrats arent starting a new war. They might get something constructive done if it werent for the few republicans that refuse to pull their head out of Bush's ass!

The Republican party is full of dumbasses that cant think for themselves, and would rather see the country go to hell than listen to the majority of Americans!

I agree fanta...the repubs are cowards also...they should all go..

Fanta46,

Read Ezekiel 36 through 39. War between Iran, Russia and Israel is inevitable. It's because of the people who refuse to accept that sometimes war is necessary to keep the peace that the Jews will once again be at risk of genocide.

When America invaded Iraq, we seemed to gain a new, ignorant, catch-phrase.....

"BAH GAWD, I'd rather fight them over there than over here, BAH GAWD!!!".

Funny, but most imbeciles who repeat this "mantra" over and over have never fought anyone, anywhere. Yes, Cheney, I'm looking at YOU!

Recents reports have stated al-Qaida is now the strongest it's been since before 9/11. We are now repeatedly warned that another attack on U.S. soil is not only a possibility, but most likely a certainty.

Excuse me, but aren't we over there to put an end to al-Qaida? You know, fight them over there so we won't have to fight them here, BAH GAWD?

"We will be greeted as liberators"-Cheney.
"We are not-repeat-not liberators"-Bush.
Both statements made within days of each other just prior to the "invasion". Feel free to Google it.

We are now reduced to being smack-dab in the middle of massive civil war in Iraq. Is the "inner circle" of Bush, Cheney, Rice, and Rove trying to figure out a resolution to this? Nope. They're WAY too busy trying to figure how soon we can get ourselves into Iran. Time for a sequel:

"The (not so)Great Middle East Misadventure, Part Two: This Time It's Not REALLY About Oil"

Time to bring the curtain down on the White House clown show. January 2009 can't get here fast enough for me.

hmmm Fanta...alas..your polls only give %'s of people who say "war is going badly"....what the hell is that...it is not saying we should pull out..if fact new poll out today says 51%Americans support our efforts in Iraq...64% say we should wait until Sept report from Gen Patreaus before making any withdrawal plans and 75% say Al Quaeda will take over country if we leave...but aside from what your or my %'s of Ind,Dems and Republicans THINK how the war is going there is certainly not enough support to end the war..or the Dems in Congress would have cut the purse strings already...its just alot of lip service for the Move-on.org crowd who think they are in the majority..lol