NOTE: The USA's 2006 mid-term elections are of profound and global importance. So I know my many friends and colleagues throughout the world, who read Words of Power for its focus on global risk and security issues, will indulge me as I focus on this do-or-die showdown over the next few days.
GS(3) Thunderbolt 11-4-06: Unlike Most of the Mainstream News Media, the Military Times Knows What Time It Is...
By Richard Power
Unlike most of the US mainstream news media, the Military Times knows what time it is -- it is time to dispense with the pretense, it is time to abandon caution, it is time to stand up and speak out. Indeed, it is way past due the time to speak out. If you care about this country, and what it is meant to be, you will refuse to sit down or be silenced in the days ahead. There may not be another chance...
Affixing a yellow ribbon to the rear of your gas-guzzling death trap is not "supporting the troops."
If you want to "support the troops," you will go to the polls and follow the exhortation of Major General John Batiste:
I challenge the American people to get informed and speak out. Remember that the Congress represents and works for the people. Congressional oversight committees have been strangely silent for too long, and our elected officials must step up to their responsibilities or be replaced. This is not about partisan politics, but rather what is good for our country. Our November elections are crucial. Every American needs to understand the issues and cast his or her vote. I believe that one needs to vote for the candidate who understands the issues and who has the moral courage to do the harder right rather than the easier wrong. Testimony of John R.S. Batiste, Major General US Army Retired, Senate Democratic Policy Committee Hearing, 9-25-06
And if, on Tuesday night, it becomes apparent that your vote has not been counted, you will take to the streets Wednesday morning.
Via former CIA official Larry Johnson's excellent blog,No Quarter, Brent Budowsky reports on the bold and unprecedented stand being taken by the Military Times. Let's hope the USA makes it until Monday, let's hope the Military Times gets to publish its editorial.
[Note from Larry Johnson: My friend and colleague, Brent Budowsky, a contributing editor to the Fighting Dems, was first out of the gate reacting to the news that the Military Times newspapers are calling for Rumsfeld to go. Here is his piece.]
The Military Times speaks truth to power and to America with its call for Rumsfeld to go. This is the beginning of the end for the Republican policy of failure, arrogance, corruption, dishonesty and war partisanship.
On Monday Marine Corps Times, Army Times, Navy Times, and Air Force Times are taking the extraordinary and courageous step of calling for Rumsfeld to go.
The voice of commanders, the troops and their families will speak. This madness must end. This policy must change. Rumsfeld must go. Enough is enough.
The pre-election timing of this statement is extraordinary; that the voice of our military and families would speak so powerfully for change, in the hours before the nation votes, is a breathtaking and decisive statement of how strongly they feel that this madness must end.
To save any semblance of rationality for American policy in Iraq new leaders, a Democratic Congress and the resignation of Secretary Rumsfeld are urgently needed.
This past week something extraordinariny and ominous happened. An American soldier was kidnapped. Going all out to leave no one behind, our mlitary established checkpoints.
What happened next? The government in Iraq under the control of pro-Iranian Shi'ite leaders, surrending to the will of murderous Shi'ite militia, ordered the checkpoint closed.
This is the government that more than 2800 Americans have given their lives for. This is the government of rampant corruption. This is the government that has virtually no police force to speak in the fourth year of this war and whatever police force does exist is heavily infiltrated by even more of these murderous military.
Meanwhile sectarian violence and bloodshed continue to rise in November and every day brings news of more carnage and corruption. And the Republican Congress now wants to cashier even the Republican Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, to protect those who have been stealing, pillaging, misusing, losing and corrupting more than $10 billion of our money.
Now, in one of the most extraordinary and important moments in the history of this war, the Military Times newspapers are calling for the removal of Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld.
Marine Corps Times, Army Times, Air Force Times and Navy Times are taking a principled and courageous stand sending a powerful pre-election message about what must be done....
Brent Budowsky, Military Times Throws Down the Guantlet: Rumsfeld Must Go, 11-4-06
SOME RELATED POSTS:
Words of Power # 30: Will the Republic Survive Beyond This Mid-Term Election?
Hard Rain Journal 9-27-06: The Republic Strikes Back!
Words of Power #28: On 9/11/06, Ask Yourself "Is This My Country?"
Hard Rain Journal Weekend Edition (9/9-9/10): Five Years into the Era of the National Insecurity State, Some Context & Continuity
Hard Rain Journal 9-7-06: While ABC Catapults the Propaganda, Bush’s “Key Ally” Makes Peace with Al Qaeda
Hard Rain Journal 9-3-06: Remember, Remember the First Week of September
Hard Rain Journal 8-22-06: The Central Theme of Future Historians will be Betrayal, Just Ask Judge Anna Diggs Taylor, Spike Lee & Valerie Plame Wilson
Hard Rain Journal 7-25-06: As the Next Bait & Switch Get Pulled, Remember Osama Bin Laden & the Child Brides of Afghanistan
Hard Rain Journal 7-5-06: Al Qaeda Endorsed Bush-Cheney in 2004, But US Mainstream News Media Chose to Ignore It
Hard Rain Journal 6-19-06: Coulter, Beck and The Death of The News
Hard Rain Journal 6-15-06: Foreign Affairs survey of 100 US policy leaders grades Bush-Cheney "failed" at 1.8 out of 10
Hard Rain Journal 6-14-06: Wrongly Premised “War on Terrorism” has Increased Danger from Terrorism, and Ignored Greater Risks
Words of Power #23: A Reality Check, What A Real World War on Terrorism Would Look Like, and a US Mid-Term Election Strategy
Words of Power #21: Judith Miller, Ken Lay, Florida, 9/11 and The Return of The Forbidden Truths?
Words of Power #15: Bring Me the Head of Osama, Nero Fiddles while the Planet Burns, Religion as the Crystal Meth of the People, & The Democrats' Plan
Words of Power #13: What You Need To Know About The Port Security Scandal
Words of Power #21: Judith Miller, Ken Lay, Florida, 9/11 and The Return of The Forbidden Truths?
Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and http://www.wordsofpower.net. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net
Military Times,Iraq, Brent Budowsky, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld,Larry Johnson, Major General John Batiste,Elections, Voting, Election Fraud,Richard Power, Words of Power
