Dear Editors,

Now that the United States has attacked Iraq and subjected Iraqis to the

and from Afghanistan that for these poor people the worst is yet to come.

Credible studies have documented how thousands of children will die because

of the war and the continued failure of the occupiers to provide for the

Iraqis as international law requires them to do.

Will we wait while the US finishes its search for weapons of mass

destruction? Would any one believe the US even if it found weapons today? It

occupies Iraq, if weapons are found in Iraq today it is more likely that

they came from the US than from anyone else.

What if Iraqis admit they have weapons of mass destruction, you might say?

Will, we know the US has already treated its captives in violation of

international human rights law in an attempt to force them to admit this.

Furthermore, the US has said it will continue to do so and according to the

American courts no law prohibits them from doing so. Who will believe the

words of someone who had no choice but to say what his or her captives want

him or her to say to save his or her own life or the life of a family

member? The international community has roundly rejected accepting testimony

acquired by torture or other illegal means.

Even if we could not stand up to the United States has it illegally attacked

the Iraqi people as its illegal occupation and exploitation of the country

gets underway we must find the courage to oppose it by all necessary means.

This is not a time for cowardice among Arab leaders or indeed among people

anywhere in the world. We must act in the name of humanity, we must act to

condemn what has been done wrong, but more importantly to protect those

innocent people who can still be protected. And we must not wait. Can we not

learn from our hesitance to prevent and stop the war how deadly war can be?

Regards,

PR WATCH - A former State Department counter-terrorism expert and crisis

consulting CEO will step into the fray in Baghdad. Reuters reports L. Paul

Bremer is replacing retired general Jay Garner as the top U.S. civilian

official in postwar Iraq. Between 1986-89, Bremer served as President Ronald

Reagan's ambassador-at-large for counter-terrorism, "a post that made him

responsible for crafting U.S. policies to combat terrorism." After leaving

the State Department, Bremer worked at Kissinger Associates, former

Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's consulting firm. In 2002, Bremer was

appointed to the President's Homeland Security Advisory Council. Bremer

serves as chairman and CEO of the Crisis Consulting Practice of Marsh Inc.

According to its website, Marsh's mission is "to create and deliver risk

solutions and services that make our clients more successful." With an

annual revenue of $5.9 billion, Marsh is active in more than 100 countries.

According to Reuters, in a January Washington Times column entitled

"Charting a course for war," Bremer wrote: "This fight cannot be won on the

defensive ... So we must go on the offensive. To be blunt, we have to kill

the terrorists before they kill us."

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/

RUSSELL MOKHIBER AND ROBERT WEISSMAN, ALTERNET - The U.S. government this

week launched its Arabic language satellite TV news station for mostly

Muslim Iraq. It is being produced in a studio - Grace Digital Media -

controlled by fundamentalist Christians who are rabidly pro-Israel. That's

grace as in "by the grace of God."

Grace Digital Media is controlled by a fundamentalist Christian millionaire,

Cheryl Reagan, who last year wrested control of Federal News Service, a

transcription news service, from its former owner, Cortes Randell. Randell

says he met Reagan at a prayer meeting, brought her in as an investor in

Federal News Service, and then she forced him out of his own company. . .

The Broadcasting Board of Governors, the U.S. government agency producing

the television news broadcasts for Iraq, likes to say it is the BBC of the

USA. BBG runs Radio Free Europe, Voice of America, and Radio Sawa - Arabic

language radio for the Middle East. . .

BBG's Joan Mower said that Grace Digital Media is a mainstream production

house used by all kinds of mainstream news organizations. "Grace will have

nothing to do with the editorial side of the news broadcast," she said.

"They are renting us equipment, space, studio. The Grace personnel we use

include technicians, production people but no editorial people." But Mower

said she couldn't get us a copy of the contract between BBG and Grace

Digital Media. Nor could she say how Grace Digital was chosen as the

production studio.

Grace News Network proclaims that it will be a "unique tool in the Lord's

ministry plan for the world," according to the company's mission statement.

"Grace News Network provides networking links and portals to various

ministries and news services that will be of benefit to every Christian

believer and seeker of truth."

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15801

US: 'Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction' --The Bush dictatorship has admitted that Saddam Hussein probably had no weapons of mass destruction. Senior officials in the Bush regime have admitted that they would be 'amazed' if weapons of mass destruction (WMD) were found in Iraq.

Ritter Blasts Bush's War --Ex-weapons inspector and former Marine Scott Ritter is calling for regime change in Washington. Scott Ritter may be the Bush re-s-election team’s worse nightmare. The former UN chief weapons inspector in Iraq and card-carrying Republican is barnstorming America with a blunt message: George W. Bush’s war on Iraq was waged on a "bodyguard of lies."

US invasion produces human catastrophe in Iraq --An unprecedented social calamity is confronting the Iraqi people as a result of the US invasion and the widespread looting that followed the removal of the Baghdad government.

UN Agency Wants to Investigate Iraq Nuclear Looting --The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said on Monday it had asked the United States to let it send a mission to Iraq to investigate reports of widespread looting at the country's nuclear facilities.

Peace force for Iraq may take half the Army --British defence chiefs are concerned that plans for Britain and America to set up a stabilisation force for Iraq without United Nations support will put impossible financial and manpower strains on the Army.

Rival groups set for Iraq's first ballot --Rival ethnic groups in Mosul are set to elect an interim council today and a leading Iraqi Kurdish group made its voice heard in Damascus. In Mosul, U.S. troops established a strong security presence at the community hall chosen to host the voting. [They can draw on the experience of the "Rove Rioters" -- the paid thugs who stopped the partial recount of the votes in Miami-Dade County on November 22, 2000, so that Bush could be installed in the coup. --Lori Price]

Director assaulted after Bush play --The director of a Paris theatre that staged a play critical of US Dictator George W. Bush, has been beaten and slashed across the face with a box cutter. One man held him down, while another cut his face.

Paris Theater Director Attacked --Two men attacked the director of a Paris theater Sunday, punching him and slashing his face, apparently because of a play he is staging that criticizes Dictator Bush, the theater said.

ROFL!!! Sources Say Jessica Lynch Has Amnesia --Rescued POW Jessica Lynch says she can't remember anything about her time in captivity in Iraq [!!!???!!!] a huge obstacle for military investigators who were hoping the 19-year-old soldier would be the key to revealing Iraqi war crimes, Fox News has learned. [It just gets "curiouser and curiouser"... --Lori Price] The real 'Saving Pte. Lynch' Iraqi medical staff tell a different story than U.S. military 'We all became friends with her, we liked her so much' --The medical team that cared for Lynch at the hospital formerly known as Saddam Hospital is only now beginning to appreciate how grand a myth was built around the four hours the U.S. raiding party spent with them early on April Fool's Day. And they are disappointed.

Bad news Bush --by Leo McKinney "I'm betting some of you were disgusted by the jingoism of the Lincoln speech and have misgivings about Howard aligning himself too closely with Bush, feelings stemming from the widely held beliefs that the war in Iraq was mostly about oil and defence contracts, that Bush and company don't always mean what they say, and that more military action is to come. Well, you're right to feel that way."

Dozen arrested at Kent anti-war rally --Police in riot gear arrested a dozen protesters at an anti-war rally that spilled off the Kent State University campus yesterday, hours after a peaceful commemoration of the May 4, 1970, student shootings.

Crawford authorities arrest five in Bush protest --Authorities arrested five protesters Saturday who were among a group of about 100 in Crawford attempting to demonstrate on the road leading to the Western White House.

Portland man indicted on terrorism charges --With the indictment of Maher (Mike) Hawash on terrorism charges this past Monday, the Bush dictatorship has added another sordid chapter to an already grim story. Hawash, a member of the Muslim community in the Portland, Oregon area, has been charged with three counts of aiding terrorism.

Secret Service grills students --Oakland [Fascist] teacher calls U.S. security agents after teens make in-class comments 'threatening' Dictator Bush --Two students at Oakland High School were interrogated last month by the U.S. Secret Service after allegedly 'threatening the life of Dictator Bush' in a classroom discussion, school officials have confirmed.

Huge Homeland Security Drill Planned --'Dirty Bomb' in Seattle, Disease in Chicago --Part of Scenario for May 12 Exercise Dubbed TOPOFF 2 (for Top Officials), the exercise will cost an estimated $16 million and involve more than 100 federal, state and local agencies, the American Red Cross and Canadian government agencies and organizations. [What is the Bush team of terrorists actually planning, as the Idiot Usurper's poll numbers tank with the economy? Rove needs a major distraction, as big as the 9-11 terrorist attacks. --Lori Price]

Radiological and Bioterror-Attack Exercise Starts May 12 (DoD) "Citizens of Chicago and Seattle shouldn't become alarmed if they see 'space suit'-attired groups of people rushing around May 12." [Right, don't be alarmed. It's just the Bush Terror Team trying to divert national attention away from the flatline economy. --Lori Price]

U.S. Army to Free Two Dozen Guantanamo Captives --The U.S. government is preparing to release another group of prisoners from the high-security jail for terrorist suspects in Cuba, defense officials said Monday.

Taleban leader warns of jihad --One of the most senior former Taleban leaders ousted from power in Afghanistan has emerged from a hideout promising "holy war" against the Americans and their allies.

U.S. Pressures Russia Over Iran Nuclear Cooperation --The United States held high-level talks with Russia on Iran on Monday but appeared to have failed to win Moscow over to its view that the Islamic republic was actively trying to develop nuclear weapons.

US rejects North Korean proposals for defusing confrontation --The Bush regime last week dismissed out-of-hand North Korean proposals to end months of tensions over the country’s nuclear program.

N. Korea has '300 nukes' --North Korea has up to 300 nuclear warheads, all locked onto American cities, the unofficial spokesman for North Korea has said.

Bush Shifts Focus to Nuclear Sales by North Korea --Tacitly acknowledging that North Korea may not be deterred from producing plutonium for nuclear weapons, Dictator Bush is now trying to marshal international support for preventing the country from exporting nuclear material, American and foreign officials say.

Observers disagree on how official the North Korean drug trade is --The United Nations is at odds with the United States over the activities of another member of the so-called axis of evil, with its international narcotics agency saying it has no evidence that North Korea is operating an illicit drug trade.

Bribery alleged in Kazakh oil deals Charges strain ties to key ally in war on terror --A little-noticed prosecution in a New York courtroom threatens to throw a harsh spotlight on a key U.S. partner in the war on terrorism and provide an unflattering view of the multibillion-dollar global oil industry.

ChevronTexaco faces $5 bln Ecuador pollution suit --ChevronTexaco next week will begin its defense in a multibillion dollar legal battle in Ecuador against accusations it has polluted portions of the country's Amazon region, the company said.

State, Local Govt. Cash Crisis Hitting U.S. Economy --A spreading fiscal crisis at the state and local government level in the United States is having a measurable effect on the national economy, analysts say.

Bush Turns Up Heat on Congress to Approve Tax Cut --Dictator Bush urged Americans on Monday to pressure their representatives in Congress to approve a tax cut of at least $550 billion and said the need to restore economic growth outweighed the need to control deficit spending.

Bush targets swing votes for tax cuts --The White House, working to build support for Dictator Bush's embattled tax-cut plan, is focusing on a few defiant Republicans and some moderate Democrats for the needed votes.

Jeffords rips Bush's tax cut plan --Senator James Jeffords criticized Dictator Bush's tax cut proposal yesterday, saying the debate reminded him of two years ago when he decided to leave the Republican Party.

Pot plan puts U.S. noses out of joint --Trade at risk, warns drug czar --Even as the wounds from a winter of bilateral discontent fester, Washington this week sharpened its attack on Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's plans to decriminalize marijuana, indicating a move most Canadians are prepared to accept with a shrug is seen as an affront to the administration of U.S. Dictator George W. Bush.

Key McVeigh Witness Criticized FBI Lab --A prominent FBI science witness told federal investigators that his lab colleagues had performed shoddy work in the Timothy McVeigh case, then abruptly retracted several statements before appearing as a prosecution witness at trial, a transcript shows.

China Villagers Riot Over SARS, WHO Renews Warning --Villagers in China rioted when they learned suspected SARS patients would be quarantined near their homes and China reported scores of new cases on Monday, suggesting the deadly disease was far from under control.