Commentary The Oil War Counter Punch by Dan Brook

"Prior to formally ordering the invasion of Iraq, Bush warned the Iraqis: 'Do not destroy the oil wells'. The war on Iraq was, reportedly, originally named Operation Iraqi Liberation, instead of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Someone realized, however, that the acronym would be OIL. That wouldn't make for good PR-not that it didn't clearly represent their interests, but not the interests they care to advertise." (04/17/03)

http://www.counterpunch.org/brook04172003.html

Commentary Legislators lose jobs The Onion by staff

"Continuing a trend that began in the Senate last November, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) announced Monday that 45 members of the House of Representatives would be laid off and replaced by cost-efficient heavy legislating machinery. 'I feel awful for my colleagues who are now out of work,' DeLay told reporters at a press conference. 'I've known some of these people for years, but the fact remains that these new machines can pass bills up to 10 times faster than their human counterparts. Like it or not, this is the future.'" (satire) (04/16/03)

http://www.theonion.com/onion3914/legislators_lose_jobs.html


News Romania building £3m super prison to tackle corruption Ananova

"Romania is to spend £3 million on a super prison to stop criminal masterminds from running their illegal empires from behind bars .... 'The reason is that very important people who held high positions in the administration, or who are financially very powerful, are still running illegal activities from the prisons in which they are now.'" (04/17/03)

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_771475.html?menu=news.quirkies

News To have freedom, 'let people be free' Arizona Republic

"The late March story went on to say that the Mesa criminal defense attorney, a marijuana legalization activist and member of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), felt he couldn't honestly dole out the required mandated punishment for drug offenders.... Intrigued, I gave the guy, Marc Victor, a call to set up a bong sess . . . I mean an interview ... Victor, 34, turned out to be a teetotaling, ex-Marine sergeant ... a squeaky clean Desert Storm vet with the look of a Republican but the soul of a rebel." (04/17/03)

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/eastvalleyopinions/articles/0417matera0417.html

News Elderly woman agrees to obey judge, released from jail after four years the State

"A 75-year-old woman who served almost four years in jail has been released after she finally agreed to obey a judge's order. Mary Peters was freed Wednesday from the Beaufort County Detention Center after she agreed to keep off a piece of land she once owned on St. Helena Island.... Peters had long argued that Kemmerlin had no jurisdiction over her or her three-acre piece of land because St. Helena Island isn't part of South Carolina or Beaufort County." (04/17/03)

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/local/5650904.htm

News Voucher program is law Rocky Mountain News

"Colorado's first school voucher program became law on Wednesday, hailed by supporters as 'just the beginning' of school choice here and decried by opponents who called it 'a sad day' for children.... Wednesday's signing ceremony had all the zeal of a religious rally, with a group prayer followed by children singing, dancing, cheerleading and waving American flags. Most students were black or Hispanic, and ethnicity was a key theme for speakers." (04/17/03)

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/education/article/0,1299,DRMN_957_1895022,00.html

News Prankster web site draws Wal-Mart ire Miami Herald

"The very technology that revolutionized retail checkout -- the bar code -- is now being subverted by anti-capitalist protesters who fancy themselves cyberpranksters. The activists drew the ire of Wal-Mart Inc., the world's largest retailer, with a Web site that encouraged people to 'name their own prices' by offering hundreds of substitute bar codes." (04/15/03)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/5639724.htm




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Commentary Ashcroft's new ally Village Voice by Chisun Lee

"He calls it 'logical.' If federal agents hesitate to investigate terrorist suspects because they are daunted by a legal hurdle, then remove that hurdle. At least if the suspects are foreigners .... He is not President George Bush or Attorney General John Ashcroft, but U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, Democrat from New York. To the consternation of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Human Rights Watch, among others, the senator is spearheading a bill that would enable federal agents to more easily monitor individuals in the U.S. using powerful foreign intelligence surveillance warrants. His co-sponsorship of the measure, with Republican Jon Kyl of Arizona, has helped assure bipartisan popularity to the extent that, as Schumer told the Voice last week, 'there is virtually no opposition to this in Congress.'" (04/17/03)

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0316/lee2.php


Commentary Familiar hawks take aim Asia Times by Jim Lobe

"Many of the same people who led the campaign for war against Iraq signed a report released three years ago that called for using military force to disarm Syria of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and to end its military presence in Lebanon ... The study, 'Ending Syria's Occupation of Lebanon: The US Role', was co-authored by Daniel Pipes, who has just been nominated by Bush to a post at the US Institute of Peace." (04/17/03)

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED17Ak04.html

Commentary 'Brown finger' Bush Strike the Root by James Roger Brown

George W. Bush is assured his place in history for an event that has no clear equivalent since the destruction of the Library of Alexandria, Egypt during the Roman Era.... Congratulations for earning this unique place in history, Mr. President. Your arrogant negligence is responsible for the destruction of a significant portion of 5,000 years of archaeological artifacts. If Saddam Hussein is still alive, whatever money he made off with is free and clear, while you are left holding the bag for Iraq's debt management, providing food, essential services and housing for 24 million Iraqis, and the cost of rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure which you also paid to destroy. Who needs enemies when the United States has George Bush!" (04/17/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/3/brown/brown1.html

Commentary So who really did save Private Jessica?
Times Online by Richard Parry

"The rescue of Private Jessica Lynch, which inspired America during one of the most difficult periods of the war, was not the heroic Hollywood story told by the US military, but a staged operation that terrified patients and victimised the doctors who had struggled to save her life, according to Iraqi witnesses.... Four doctors and two patients, one of whom was paralysed and on an intravenous drip, were bound and handcuffed as American soldiers rampaged through the wards, searching for departed members of the Saddam regime.... An ambulance driver who tried to carry Private Lynch to the American forces close to the city was shot at by US troops the day before their mission. Far from winning hearts and minds, the US operation has angered and hurt doctors who risked their lives treating both Private Lynch and Iraqi victims of the war." (04/16/03)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,5944-648517,00.html

Commentary On Tim Robbins, the Hall of Fame, and First Amendment Strike the Root by Craig Russell

"The right to 'free speech' refers only to the actions of the federal government. What the government thinks is correct or incorrect, acceptable or unacceptable, speech must not be enforced upon all the people because each individual must remain free to make his own decision. But restricting the actions and reactions of individuals to speech would only result in the diminution of freedom. If someone’s speech offends me, I must be free to disassociate myself from him." (04/14/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/3/russell/russell1.html

Commentary Some thoughts about the war Strike the Root by Rob Moody

"Not since 9/11 have I seen such uncritical, unquestioning, mindless thinking. I hesitate to use the word 'think' since that implies a cognitive process performed by an individual. 'Groupthink' would be a more accurate term. No need to have any thoughts of your own, just mimic the group. If waging war is like pouring Miracle Grow on the State, it is also like pouring another kind of fertilizer into the cranial cavities of Americans. War causes the critical reasoning part of the brain to simply shut down in most people." (04/14/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/3/rob/rob1.html

Commentary Too many dots Strike the Root by Jim Rarey

"It doesn’t seem to make any difference whether a Republican or Democrat administration is in office, many of the same 'old reliables' are called back into service to 'investigate' high profile incidents when the public doesn’t 'need to know' all of the facts." (04/14/03)

http://www.strike-the-root.com/3/rarey/rarey2.html

Commentary Firms that gave to Bush get Iraq contracts Sunday Herald by Neil Mackay

"All the American firms to get Iraqi reconstruction contracts have bankrolled George Bush and the Republican Party or have direct links to USAID, the department of state handing out the Iraqi contracts. All the contracts are being negotiated in secret -- in the interests of national security -- and all the contracts will go to US firms. British firms are only allowed to bid for sub-contracted work. Yesterday, the US senate approved a $80 billion package to finance the war in iraq and its reconstruction." (04/14/03)

http://www.sundayherald.com/33046

Commentary Bush's war without end Counter Punch by Chris Floyd

"As shovels scoop the shredded viscera of cold collaterals in Baghdad, and brisk hoses scour the blood from market stalls and children's bedrooms -- festive preparations to make ready for the enthronement of the new lords of Babylon -- we cast an anxious gaze beyond the barbed steel of the security perimeter, to a column of troops and ordnance rumbling toward the horizon. Whither are they bound? Who's next to feel the mailed fist of liberation?" (04/14/03)


http://www.counterpunch.com/floyd04142003.html

Commentary The new Mongols of the Mideast Counter Punch by Wayne Masden

"Compare the invasion of Hulagu Khan in 1248 and America's invasion of 2003 and stark similarities quickly emerge. Like the Mongols, the United States has severely disrupted the water supply system of Baghdad. This has drastically affected public health, medical care, and sanitation in a city of over 5 million people. If such a calamity were to occur in a city of similar size from a natural disaster, international aid would quickly arrive. Yet, the United States is barring international relief efforts for Iraq unless it can control humanitarian workers and administer the distribution of assistance." (04/14/03)

http://www.counterpunch.com/madsen04142003.html