Revolution

The letter from Jamie Cooper's parents:

To Miss Julie Moore
C.E.O NHS Trust
Selly Oak Hospital
Birmingham

Dear Madam,

It is with regret that we find ourselves having to write to you in regards to our son Jamie Cooper, who is a patient at Selly Oak Hospital and has been for over two months. Jamie is a serving member of Her Majesty's Forces and was the victim of a double mortar attack whilst serving in Iraq. By the grace of God and the work of an excellent Surgeon our son's life was saved. Thus to the significance of this letter. Since our son's return we have had a catalogue of errors in regards to Jamie's ongoing care. We detail the problems below:

1.29 November 2006 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Jamie's colostomy bag was allowed to overflow.

2.1 December 2006 Jamie was moved to Selly Oak. He was placed with dementia patients. The duty nurse administered drugs via a syringe into Jamie's abdomen using water to dissolve tablets. This water was taken from his own drinking mug instead of using clean sterilized water.

3.4 December 2006 His colostomy bag was allowed to overflow once again.

4.6 December 2006 An inflatable pressure mattress deflated leaving Jamie in considerable pain.

5.Mid-December Jamie developed a pressure sore on the heel of his left foot. Nerve pain relief tablets were not given on schedule.

6.21 December 2006 Pain relief tablets were not administered due to lack of qualified trained staff on the ward.

7.29 December 2006 The family were informed that Jamie had MRSA.

8.8 January 2007 The pressure sore on Jamie's heel had reached a point where the wound had become so deep it had to be skin grafted.

9.1 February 2007 We were informed that the MRSA had now spread.

10.10 February 2007 Jamie asked that his colostomy bag be emptied. The bag was not emptied. Two other members of staff were asked to do this for him, one said that she did not know how to perform this task. The bag was not emptied. We decided to do the job ourselves.

Taking these events into consideration, we do not feel confident about the care that Selly Oak can offer a serving soldier. All servicemen and Women should receive first class care if injured whilst carrying out their duty at the behest of the country's leaders. All that we are parents want, as any parent would, is for our son to be given the treatment he deserves.

Yours faithfully,
Mr and Mrs P.D.Cooper

Blair blasted over troops
11/03/2007 14:20 - (SA)

London - Prime Minister Tony Blair was accused on Sunday of neglecting his duty to British troops over claims they lacked good equipment while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and received poor care when wounded.

Blair was taken to task by families of dead soldiers, members of parliament, actors, writers, human rights activists and others who signed an open letter published in the Independent on Sunday newspaper.

"We believe that the military covenant is broken, and that you have neglected the young men who carry out your orders in our name," said the letter.

"At a time when the country is asking so much of our overstretched forces, it is failing to play fair by them," said the letter signed by such prominent figures as playwright Harold Pinter and human rights campaigner Bianca Jagger.

"In this, you have prime responsibility, and you should at the very least meet the families of the bereaved to discuss their concerns," said the letter signed by 48 people, including the families of several dead servicemen.

"We shall call on you to reconsider your approach toward our military personnel, to restore the vital covenant, and to deliver to our men and women the just and proper treatment they deserve," the letter said.

The letter said some soldiers killed had died because they did not have the military equipment they needed. And it repeated previously aired complaints of sub-standard accommodation in Britain for soldiers and their families.

With a number of military hospitals in Britain closed, it said, "wounded soldiers evacuated from the battlefield suddenly find themselves on civilian wards and at risk of physical or verbal attack from members of the public."

It added: "We believe the government is failing properly to look after the British widows and the children left behind."

The Observer newspaper reported that it had received a series of letters from soldiers' families painting a "shocking picture of neglect and the appalling treatment of wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan."

The complaints were passed on to it from senior military sources who were alarmed at the level of care, said the newspaper.

One letter sent to the ministry of defence and the state-run national health service revealed how one teenage soldier spent a night lying in his faeces after hospital staff allowed his colostomy bag to overflow, the newspaper said.

Jamie Cooper, who at 18 was the youngest British soldier to be wounded in Iraq, also spent an uncomfortable night on a medical air mattress that deflated after medical staff failed to answer his summons for nursing staff, it said.

Cooper's stomach was torn open by mortar shrapnel.

Other letters summarised how soldiers had been deprived of adequate pain relief and emotional support, and in some cases were unable to sleep because of the noise at night in NHS hospitals, the Observer reported

An open letter to Tony Blair

Dear Prime Minister

We the undersigned believe that the military covenant is a cornerstone of our democracy, a mutual obligation between the nation, the armed forces, and every serviceman and woman. It is a common bond of identity, loyalty and responsibility that has sustained the armed forces - and the country - throughout an often difficult history. In practice, this means that governments make the decisions, and the armed forces implement them. In return, the armed forces have:

* the right to expect any war to be lawful;

* the right to have adequate resources to carry out the tasks the politicians demand of them;

* the right to be properly cared for in the event of injury;

* the right to know that, in the event of their death, their families will be looked after properly.

This is a terrible war that has led to hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians being killed, maimed or displaced. At best, the legality of the war is dubious. Britain's hard-pressed armed forces have been denied the support they require; in some circumstances, service personnel have paid with their lives because of this failure to make required equipment available.

Accommodation for many of the armed forces and their families back home is, as General Sir Mike Jackson, former chief of the general staff, says, "frankly shaming". Military hospitals in this country have been closed while they have never been more essential, and wounded soldiers evacuated from the battlefield suddenly find themselves on civilian wards and at risk of physical or verbal attack from members of the public.

Servicemen and women are receiving insufficient treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, and many are desperately ill, out of work, homeless, and even suicidal. We also believe that the Government is failing properly to look after the British widows and the children left behind.

We believe that the military covenant is broken, and that you have neglected the young men and women who carry out your orders in our name. At a time when the country is asking so much of our overstretched forces, it is failing to play fair by them. In this, you have prime responsibility, and you should at the very least meet the families of the bereaved to discuss their concerns. We call on you to reconsider your approach towards our military personnel, to restore the vital covenant, and to deliver to our men and women the just and proper treatment they deserve.

Yours sincerely

Debbie Allbutt, wife of Cpl Stephen Allbutt, 35, of the Queen's Royal Lancers, died 25 March 2003;

Anna Aston, wife of Cpl Russell Aston, 30, of 156 Provost Company, died 24 June 2003;

Roger and Maureen Bacon, father and mother of Matthew Bacon, who died in Iraq in 2005;

Iain Banks, author;

Billy Bragg, musician;

Vince Cable, Lib Dem MP;

Simon Callow, actor;

Sir Menzies Campbell, leader of the Liberal Democrats;

Dominic Cooke, artistic director of the Royal Court Theatre;

Jeremy Corbyn, Labour MP;

George Crabb, formerly flight sergeant, RAF aircrew;

James and Ray Craw, parents of L/Cpl Andrew Craw, 21, of 1st Battalion, Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders, died 7 January 2004;

Andy de la Tour, actor, playwright;

Brian Eno, musician;

Rose Gentle, mother of Fusilier Gordon Gentle, 19, of 1st Battalion, Royal Highland Fusiliers, died 28 June 2004;

Richard, Karen and Catherine Green, parents and sister of Lt Philip Green, 30, of 849 Squadron, died 22 March 2003;

Katharine Hamnett, fashion designer;

Ed Harcourt, musician;

Mike Hancock, Lib Dem MP and member of Commons defence committee;

Nick Harvey, defence spokesman, Liberal Democrats;

Sharon Hehir, wife of Sgt Les Hehir, 34, of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, died 21 March 2003;

Pauline Hickey, mother of Sgt Chris Hickey, 30, of 1st Battalion the Coldstream Guards, died 18 October 2005;

Bianca Jagger, human rights campaigner;

Carol Jones, mother of Sgt John Jones of 1st Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, died 20 November 2005;

Reg Keys, father of L/Cpl Thomas Keys, 20, of 156 Provost Company, RMP, died 24 June 2003;

Peter Kilfoyle, Labour MP and former armed forces minister;

George and Ann Lawrence, parents of Lt Marc Lawrence, 26, of 849 Squadron, RNAS Culdrose, died 22 March 2003;

Ernie Morton, father of current serving member of the Parachute Regiment;

Tracy, Tony and Mair Pritchard, wife and parents of Cpl Dewi Pritchard, 32, of 116 Provost Company (volunteers), died 23 August 2003;

Elfyn Llwyd, Plaid Cymru MP;

Janet Lowrie, secretary for Military Families Against the War;

John McDonald, Labour MP;

Natasha McLellan, partner of Matthew Bacon;

Patrick Mercer, Conservative MP and former soldier;

Craig Murray, former British ambassador to Uzbekistan;

Harold Pinter, Nobel laureate and playwright;

Adam Price, Plaid Cymru MP and defence spokesman;

Mark Thomas, comedian;

Arthur Smith, comedian;

Sue Smith, mother of Pte Philip Hewett, 21, of 1st Battalion, Staffordshire Regiment, died 16 July 2005;

Janet Suzman, actress;

Ben Wallace, Conservative MPand former soldier;

Susannah York, actress

March 12th, 2007 10:37 pm
US war veterans need more mental help -study

By Andrew Stern / Reuters

CHICAGO, March 12 - Almost one-third of U.S. soldiers seeking government health care after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are diagnosed with a mental problem, researchers said on Monday in a study calling for more emphasis on the mental wounds of war.

Diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, substance abuse and other problems were most prevalent among younger soldiers, the veterans study found.

The challenge to provide better care to soldiers with mental problems as well as physical wounds comes amid revelations of substandard care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and other Veterans Affairs hospitals. The revelations have prompted the resignations of the Army secretary and the Army surgeon general.

Study author Dr. Karen Seal of the University of California and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center said the prevalence of mental problems among veterans threatens "to bring the war back home as a costly personal and public health burden."

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9396

Your country needs you... but not you: Soldiers' mother faces deportation
Leven Bowman served in Iraq. His brother Damian was an army poster boy. Now the Home Office wants to deport their mother and her 15-year-old daughter
By Ian Herbert and Nigel Morris
Published: 13 March 2007

Joy Bowman encouraged her Jamaican sons when they told her they wanted to join the Army in their adoptive country.

She watched them flourish as the youngest joined the British Army's Royal Logistics Corps and saw duty in Basra, while the eldest featured in a recruitment campaign to persuade more people from ethnic minorities to join the Army.

But five years after supporting her son during a perilous tour of Iraq, Mrs Bowman and her 15-year-old daughter, who is preparing for GCSEs, face being deported tomorrow - further victims of a Home Office that places its removal targets ahead of the role in British life played by those it is deporting.

Mrs Bowman, 49, who fled from an abusive husband in Jamaica six years ago, is due to be taken from her home in Newcastle upon Tyne's Benwell district today to a detention centre at Heathrow, where she is scheduled to be on a 12.40pm flight tomorrow to Jamaica - where domestic violence is a source of concern to Amnesty International.

Mrs Bowman's sons, whose army service brings an entitlement to British citizenship, said their mother had inspired them to join the forces. "I was proud to serve my country and the Government was happy enough for me to risk my life fighting in Iraq," said Leven Bowman, 28, who depended on letters, protein drinks and sun cream that his mother dispatched during his six months' service in Basra. "I can't understand how they can now threaten to deport my mother."

Damian Bowman, 24, a lorry driver in Northampton, added: "My mum wants to be a good citizen and to help people. It seems as though our service for this country counts for nothing."

Mrs Bowman has been a volunteer for the past five years at a children's hearing clinic in Gosforth, Newcastle, and has been studying at Sunderland University, with a view to becoming a nurse. She also helps elderly people with their gardens. Her Labour MP, David Clelland, and the Tyneside Community Action for Refugees paid tribute yesterday to her role in Newcastle life since arriving in 2000.

Details of Mrs Bowman's plight emerged as John Reid, the Home Secretary, hailed progress in streamlining the asylum system. "It is in nobody's interest for cases to drag on for years," he said yesterday. "It is not fair on those genuinely fleeing persecution who want to get on with their lives. It undermines our commitment to remove people who have no basis to be here."

Mrs Bowman said her British friends could not understand why she was encouraging her boys to enlist - an option available to them as immigrants from the Commonwealth. "I was really proud of them," she said. "I also felt the numb fear that every soldier's mother has felt - but when Levene said he had had enough of dodging bombs I said, 'No, stick with it.' Like many mothers, I think I've played my own little part for the country."

Mrs Bowman fears that her husband, from whom she is now divorced, will find her if she is sent back. "Jamaica is only a small island," she said. "I was repeatedly abused by my husband but the police ignored my complaints. Amnesty reports that thousands of women and girls in Jamaica are abused and that state is failing to effectively investigate the abuses."

The Refugee Council said the removal of a woman who had played a full role in British society reflected the Home Office practice of removing soft targets. "The Government is so focused on returns - and in many cases those who are less deserving of this outcome," said a spokeswoman.

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrats' home affairs spokesman, said: "The inefficiency of a system which allows years to elapse before a final decision is taken means that asylum seekers and their families develop roots in British society. Those roots then make any removal appear all the more unjust and illogical."

Mr Clelland said he hoped there could be "flexibility". "Joy's sons' role for this country is a factor which can play a part in her case."

An Immigration and Nationality Directorate spokesman said: "The Government has made it clear that it will take a robust approach to removing people from the country where they have no legal right to be here."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Really want to support the troops? Get down there and voice your anger at the treatment of this woman, whose sons are good enough to serve their country in Iraq - but who are rewarded by having their mother and sister taken from them - what a disgusting Government.

Self-Harm in Immigration Removal Centres


Every other day a detainee incarcerated in a UK Immigration Removal Centre (IRC), makes an attempt at self-harm (suicide), serious enough to require medical treatment.
In the 10 months from April 2006 to January 2007 there were 176 attempts to self-harm that required medical treatment. That is one incident of self-harm every 1.7 days.
In the same period, 1,643 detainees were put on 'Formal Self-Harm at Risk'.
Detainees and campaigners believe the actual numbers are way higher than those reported.
Since the first Immigration Removal Centre opened in the UK, there have been 10 deaths from self-harm.

46 asylum seekers/migrants in the UK, have taken their own lives (since 2000)
30 in the community - 6 in prisons
10 in Immigration Removal Centres

Details: http://www.ncadc.org.uk/resources/selfharm.html

A full break down for the 10 months April 2006 to January 2007;
http://www.ncadc.org.uk/resources/self-harm2006.html

Introducing the March on the Pentagon
Saturday, March 17, 2007

http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8107

From the organisers of World Can't Wait
Why you should march
March on the Pentagon March 17

http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3870&Itemid=223


Initial endorsers include:

Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General
Maxine Waters, Congresswoman
Alice Walker, Pulitzer prize winning author
Cynthia McKinney, Congresswoman
Cindy Sheehan, co-founder Gold Star Families for Peace, author
Ron Kovic, Vietnam Veteran, author, Born on the 4th of July
Malik Rahim, Founder, Common Ground Collective, New Orleans
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit
Paul Haggis, Director of Crash, 2005 Academy Award for Best Picture
Elias Rashmawi, National Coordinator, National Council of Arab Americans (NCA)
Howard Zinn, Author, A People's History of the United States
Rev. Luis Barrios, Iglesia de San Romero de las Americas, UCC
Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild
Chaplain James Yee, former Army chaplain, Guantánamo Detention Center

(to name but a few)

Their Statement
http://answer.pephost.org/site/News2?abbr=ANS_&page=NewsArticle&id=8157

NEWS YOU WON'T FIND ON CNN

FUNDING FOR AN ATTACK ON IRAN

URGENT ACTION NEEDED

Last night, Rep. Pelosi and the democratic leadership decided to pull language from the Supplemental Appropriations bill which stated that no funds may be authorized for military operations in or related to Iran unless specifically authorized by the Congress.

We DO have a chance to reverse this in committee, but we urgently need you to send action alerts to your constituents and make phone calls TODAY AND TOMORROW (TUESDAY, MARCH 13, AND WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14).

TOLL FREE NUMBER FOR CONGRESS
(800) 828-0498
OTHER NUMBER FOR CONGRESS
(202) 224-3121

The Supplemental Appropriations bill is scheduled to be marked up in full committee Thursday (MARCH 15) at 9 am.

More
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17302.htm

Trident plan wins Commons support

Vanguard submarine
The government said a decision on Trident must be taken now

Vote reaction
The government has won Commons support for plans to renew the UK's nuclear submarine system,
despite a large rebellion by Labour MPs.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6448173.stm

That's a damn shame - but I don't think it's the end of it

95 Labour MPs say no. But Blair gets his missile


· Biggest rebellion on domestic issue since 1997
· Vote won thanks to Tories

Patrick Wintour
Thursday March 15, 2007
The Guardian

Labour's historic divisions over nuclear weapons came back to haunt Tony Blair yesterday when 95 Labour backbench MPs rejected his plans to commence the £20bn renewal of the Trident nuclear submarine system.

The scale of the rebellion, the largest on a domestic issue since 1997, forced the government to rely on the support of the Conservatives to win the vote - a political fact that the Tories will deploy with a vengeance in the next general election.[/b]

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,2034300,00.html

Sassoon Spoke Out



WWI - and a certain British Officer wrote a letter attacking the British Government for prolonging the war unnecessarily.
In that letter, Sassoon spoke of the lasting horror his men were needlessly being subjected to. He also spoke of the general public's support for the war and how "they do not possess the imagination" to begin to understand what the soldiers are going through.

Nothing has changed.
People still romanticize war. But war is a barbaric and brutal exercise in supremacy and belongs in the past.

One of the saddest things about this shambles of a war is that we are torturing ourselves, as well as an innocent nation of people who we once thought of as our friends. We are torturing our soldiers just as much as those we psychologically torture in cells.

Maybe because, although men are trained and ordered and expected to behave like barbarians - deep down most of them are not. They make an oath to fight to Defend - and that is how we once saw ourselves - as Defenders of Life.

The picture below will become one of the outstanding images of the so-called "War On Terror" - I don't doubt it.

This dead Iraqi child is only one small reason to impeach George Bush and Tony Blair and charge them with war crimes.
The soldier grieving over her is one other good reason.




Our souls
Are crushed together
Pain like no other
For truly
As a species
We love one another


Endymion 2007


... To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget. ...

Arundhati Roy
from
(The God of Small Things)

US
March 17th, 2007 4:06 pm
Thousands march to protest Iraq war

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=9431

Palestinian unity cabinet approved

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3312A043-6678-4D2D-ABBB-2613D215D623.htm

Neocons in Cheney's Office Fund al Qaeda-Tied Groups ... and No One Cares?

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/49275/

Ireland shock sends Pakistan home
World Cup Group D, Jamaica
Ireland 133-7 beat Pakistan 132 by three wickets

Ireland produced one of the greatest victories in cricket's rich history by beating Pakistan on St Patrick's Day amid unbelievable tension in Jamaica.

Led by their brilliant wicket-keeper batsman Niall O'Brien, they reached a rain-adjusted target of 128 with three wickets remaining in near darkness.

Ireland's fans, who had been there to witness the tie against Zimbabwe, could barely contain themselves afterwards.



O'Brien - Man of the Match

And to think - I had a chance to be in Dublin for the weekend and I turned it down

(Not that I'm a fan of cricket - but what a st Patrick's day celebration.)

Nice one, lads

that last one...
it was their lucky day...but as for the Pakistanis: they're drowning Fast!!!(in many aspects!) and as for the title"Ireland shock sends Pakistan Home" .... 'home'....not for long as it seems...

anyways,

To Endymion

as i sit in the darkness
shivering in this winter eve
pondering over my lonesome existence
letting your words echo in my brain

my speculations lead
to obscure realities of stories untold
although your alliance is not harsh nor cold
it is made sore
by the answers i implore

you speak so much about revolution
so much about change
so much to be done
so much to tame

but dear Endy,
are you just a man of letters
or do you know
how to play the game
or do you know
how to bring this change
when the process is lame
though always the same

i presume,
a man with such scholarly penetration
would now
if revolt is the only answer
for revolution?

(IT'S NOT MEANT IN ANY OFFENSIVE WAY, what-so-ever, i'm just asking something....)



sounds like something from true and deep gothic literature....but anyways, it clarifies many things...
about: "to respect strenght, never power" i don't really agree....although it depends on the situation but none seems worth the respect(mostly)

thanks for sharing something this great!

Love
Naima
ps i love the part "never forget" the problem is....they do Forget!

I feel bad for Pakistan, who went to sleep Saturday night knowing they were out of the Cup - only to wake up Sunday morning to much worse news.


Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer dies




Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer has died of a suspected heart attack after being discovered unconscious in his Jamaica hotel room.

The 58-year-old former South Africa coach, who played for England between 1975 and 1981, was taken to hospital but never regained consciousness.

"It is very shocking news to all of the team and the team management," said Pakistan team manager Pervez Mir.

Woolmer died less than 24 hours after Pakistan exited the World Cup.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/other_international/pakistan/6464831.stm

Pakistan players join tributes

Pakistani cricketers have added to the chorus of tributes for their coach Bob Woolmer who died on Sunday after being found unconscious in his hotel room in Jamaica.

"Woolmer was a fatherly figure to all of us and we have lost our greatest supporter," said former captain Inzamam ul-haq.
Inzamam announced he would retire from one day cricket at the end of the next match against Zimbabwe.

Since joining the Pakistan team in July 2004, Woolmer had been credited with transforming an inconsistent and split Pakistan team into a united fighting unit.
"We owe him a great salute and would like to do anything his family wants from us," said Inzamam, who also pledged to carry the coffin of the late coach.
"We had two tragic events in the last two days. We had yet to cope with the defeat and our ouster from the World Cup - then a bigger tragedy came about," the 37 year old said.

Vice-captain Younis Khan spoke of his warm relationship with the coach.
"He was a friend of all the players. I used to call his wife, Gill, mom so he used to tease her that I am their third son," remembered Younis, who in the last 18 months has lost his father, sister and two brothers in a series of tragedies.





"I know how it feels when you lose your close ones. Bob used to help each and every player and he has left a big void in Pakistan cricket," said Younis, who is expected to take over the captaincy.

Big hitting all-rounder Shahid Afridi, banned from the first two matches for violating the ICC code of conduct, said Woolmer was like a father to him.
"Bob always treated me and other players as his sons. He would help any player who was in difficulty and he was the best coach under whom I have played," said Afridi.

Another all-rounder Azhar Mahmood said Woolmer was always accessible.
"He used to follow my county performance even when I was not in the Pakistan team. I owe him a great deal and we can never repay his help and services to us," said Mahmood.
Pakistan's assistant manager, Asad Mustafa, said players had been left shell-shocked by the news of Woolmer's death.
"I used to deal all his travel arrangements, so he was close to me and would talk with a big smile all the time. We will not be able to overcome this loss," said Mustafa.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DE6D88B4-E99B-47C4-A5C1-6316E67BF6F4.htm



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Speak to you soon Naima

Kucinich


Transcript of "Impeachment: I'm asking you. Do you think it's time?"

My fellow Americans. We are in an interesting condition in this country, where we are told to take impeachment off the table, and keep on the table a U.S. military attack against Iran.

This really calls for a new thinking. It calls for us to reconsider very deeply the moment that we're in - where our Constitution is being trashed, where international law is being violated, where our hopes and dreams for the education of our children, for the health of our people, for housing, for our veterans, are being set aside as we go deeper and deeper into war.

We need a whole discussion in America. And with your help, we're about to have one.

This past week, in the Congress of the United States, I noted that the administration has threatened aggressive war against Iran. This is a violation of the UN charter. Charters are treaties. Article 6 of the Constitution of the United States says that treaties are the law of our land, the supreme law of our land.

It's illegal to threaten aggressive war against another nation. Iran has no ability to attack us. And they do not have the intention to attack the United States.

We are at a moment in human history where we have to make a decision whether we are going to go deeper into war, or whether we are going to take a stand on behalf of peace.

I determined a long time ago to take that stand on behalf of peace. And I want to enlist you and enroll you in taking that same stand.

We cannot let this administration go any deeper into this journey, into destroying democratic governance, trashing our Constitution, forgetting the very purpose of this nation. America was never meant to be a nation forever on the warpath. It was meant to be a nation which also had the capacity to "Promote the General Welfare."

We need to reevaluate the direction of this administration by looking at its conduct in office, by determining whether it has faithfully followed the laws of our nation.

I'm prepared to start that process. I began this week with a speech on the floor of the House, which warned the administration that its actions toward Iran already constitute a case to ask the question about impeachment.

So I'm asking you, what do you think?
Do you think it's time?


http://kucinich.us/node/3696/play

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Yeah, man it's about f*cking TIME!!!

This is going to be one heck of a year for the Pakistanis....Worst Cricket crisis in the history of Pakistan cricket....considering their political position, media crisis, social conditions, and now this!Seems like a bottomless pit they're falling in
thanks for this update though.



How much more guilty can it get....

*******************************
waiting for the answer, Endy :wink:

New York, NY - March 13, 2007. Approximately 100 students, all members of SDS New York, occupied an Armed Forces Recruiting Center for two hours on Monday, March 12. The occupation ended when 20 students were arrested by the NYPD. The students were charged with criminal trespass. The nonviolent protest kicked off what promises to be a long, hot week of antiwar action as the fourth anniversary of the War On Iraq approaches. Uruj Sheikh, an activist with Pace (University) SDS said, "The fourth anniversary of the occupation of Iraq is in one week. Billions of dollars are being spent and hundreds of thousands have been murdered. Military recruitment has been systematically deceptive and we as students, as targets of recruitment, say something must be done to stop the war aboard and at home."





3/13/07: The Fourth Brigade of the Army's Second Infantry Division is scheduled to leave for Iraq in April from the port at Tacoma, Washington. In a righteous act of resistance to and unjust war, hundreds of protesters have attempted to block their shipment of vehicles and equipment from leaving the port. The police responded by shooting protesters with rubber bullets, tear gas, and brutalizing and arresting protesters. Watch video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1_lmvhkv3c

Unbelievable!!
**********************************************

Speak to you soon Naima

I've heard that they think the Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer might have been murdered -- ssshit.