Jefferson Corner

24 Jan 2006

The case of Jack Abramoff not only raises many questions, it demands more and creative measures to address the corruptions that have become the norm in a Republican led Congress.
It should not come as a surprise for us citizens to know that our Congress is up for sale. It has been the case for many years under both parties. However Republicans took corruption on the Hill to its highest levels ever. Democrats should not act as holier than though when they themselves benefited for a culture of corruption. All are guilty as charged.
I could never understand and I don’t want to understand the need for a member of Congress to engage on a daily basis to raise money for elections. It seems that members of Congress spend more time on raising money than on the people’s business and it shows in the quality of legislations coming out of our Congress.
I also could never understand and I don’t want to understand why it takes senators tens of millions of dollars to run for election. If they need to raise that kind of money, it goes without saying that they have to pay it back.
In our electoral system as it evolved over time, we have entrenched members of congress who with time become more and more powerful, with power comes more money and poor those who dare to challenge a sitting member of Congress. They hardly have any chance of winning let alone raising money. We are sitting a prime example of corruption to the world and since the world copy the US, I will not be surprised if the electoral system in France, Germany, England will evolves around the US system.
How could any one imagine that it costs more than $24 million for someone like Jesse Helms to run for Senate from North Carolina or for someone like Oliver North to raise more than $ 22 million to run for the Senate seat from Virginia.
I do have a suggestion and it may be far fetched but it does address the issue of both money and corruption. My idea is for us to divide the US House into two chambers, one chambers with 2/3 majority is for representatives to be elected by the people and for a limited tenure of some 6 years and the other 1/3 is for representatives to be appointed by US corporations and lobbyist. It is a fair and equitable distribution of powers. Those elected by the people will not need to raise lots of money to win and the maximum that any one single candidate can raise is $one dollar (yes one single dollar) for every registered voter in the congressional district. This way the field will be even for both present members of Congress and potential candidates. The same will be true for members of the US Senate.
However when it comes to taxes and our rights to be protected from big time corporations, it is the people representatives that has to make the decisions and if there is a conflict the issue goes to a conference committee for resolutions. Representative of corporation can vote on issues of war provided that such wars are entirely funded by corporations and entirely manpowered by corporate executives and lobbyist. Leaving us people to take care of our business, such as education, healthcare, housing, transportations, crimes, social justice among other issues of concerns to all of us. We leave those appointed by corporations and lobbyist to fight it out among themselves, and of course fighting wars they want and fund. It is only fair.
I also suggest that we establish a Congressional Bourse where members of Congress are traded publicly and openly on the market. This way we all can buy into the action.

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16 Oct 2005

Jennifer Bremer, a former State Department employee who was stationed in the Arab world and who studied Arab writes in the “Outlook” section in today’s Washington Post, writes about the lack of Arab speaking diplomats in the State Department and writes of the lack of interest from Arab American in joining the State Department. Of course there was something missing from the article, the way?
Back in the early and late 40’s, 50’s and 60’s there were many American diplomats who where called “Arabist” in the State Department. One has to ask the question what happened to all those “Arabist”.
When Henry Kissinger, the former National Security Council and the former Secretary of State during the Nixon years and a possible defendant in the International Court of Justice for War Crimes, when Kissinger took over the State Department he did what the United States did during the McCarthy era, he purged the State Department of all of its Arabist. Of course in the mind of Henry Kissinger, these diplomats by the very fact of their knowledge of Arabic they are influenced by the language and are sympathetic to the Arab cause and the Arab-Israel conflict and as such he made sure that there are non who may toe this line and he made sure to bring in new, young and committed diplomats from the Zionist work shops and organizations in Washington DC.
That is why for the last 30 some odd years, we did not see one single “Arabist” emerging as the lead in any of the Arab-Israeli negotiations, and all those who came to lead the US diplomacy in the Middle East came from the Israeli shop, AIPAC, the likes of Dennis Ross and Marin Indyke.
Of course one has to ask the question, why it that our State Department with the critical and many issues and conflicts facing the United States with the Arab and Muslim world did not have one single major player who is an Arabist and not one single Arabic speaking natives in any of our lead negotiating teams in the Middle East.
It is hard to believe that of the thousands of specialists around the United Stares in all major universities, leading diplomats are selected only from AIPAC and whenever there is a specialist on Islam, the specialist is not even a Muslim, again they come from, the Israeli workshop in Washington.
There are thousands of well-qualified Arab and Muslim candidates who are willing and able to serve this country and make a difference. However to do that, there is a need by the State Department to make it clear to these candidates that it is their loyalty to the US that is the determining factor in the selection process, not their loyalty or disloyalty to Israel. When the US policy becomes independent of Israel, I am sure there are thousands who are willing to join and serve. Kissinger for his own personal and his commitment to Zionism did such much damage to the interest of the United States and September 11th is only one example of the crimes he committed against the US interest home and abroad.

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Original Post: 16 Oct 2005

One has to be a genius to understand the process of political and financial corruption of Republican operatives in the nation capital. The story of Tom Delay and the way he managed and transfer the money back and forth is a challenge to us poor souls.
The Washington Post lead article on “How a Lobbyist Stacked the Deck” in today’s Washington Post is a must read for any one who want to understand how this nation capital work and how Republicans trade and use money to pass or kill legislations. It has nothing to with ideology or patriotism, or nationalism; it is all about money and how the money is used to advance the Republican Agenda.
One need to read the article and see and understand the graphics and charts to understand how money is used and how lobbyist and legislative assistants and congressmen uses the money to make a difference where American get screwed by the very few or American is the winner. For the most part, those guys who claim to be the most patriotic and “Christians” are out to screw America and screw every little guy in this country.
In Washington as the article shows, there are no red lines drawn between legislative aids and their bosses in Congress and the many lobbyist shops in Washington DC.
Jack Abramoff, that most famous Republican lobbyist who is under indictment is the main character in the scenario of money, politics, business and sleaze and how money and politics play a big role in the halls of Congress and how the money the money is channeled from the source and goes through many sources to companies and Jewish foundations to hide the they lobbyist work and how wives and family members get hired by these organizing as an indirect payments to congressional staffers.
$750,000 is used to defeat certain legislation in Congress, legislation that would have brought in millions of dollars to the national treasury. Then we always reminded by there patriotic American about the love of country. Who are these crooks and cheaters to teach us about patriotism and commitment to our nation? Certainly they are not the example top follow. It seems that few hundred thousands dollars channeled to Tom Delay and his staffers and his organizations will make all of the difference in Congress.
On another story concerning the election of governor in Virginia. It is interesting with over 500,000 persons living in absolute poverty, the Republican Jerry Kilgore have nothing to say about all of these poor souls who are on the verge of personal disaster, and who are at risk of losing every thing, and he has the audacity to talk and make a priority capital punishment. One would think that a person running for such a leadership position in the state of Virginia will make it a priority to help these poor souls and find ways to help with at a time when the economy is leaving them behind, forgotten by the Republican candidates and the only thing on his mind is the score of people on death row. Why in the hell make inmate on death row an issue when there are over 500,000 innocent and free citizen who are put on death row by a candidate who refuse to address their needs and who refuse to come forward with programs to help these poor souls. But then not much one expect from a Republican Party that nominates a convicted felon to be its candidate for the US Senate. If one is talk about sleaze they should talk about Republican leaders who are on their way to jail.

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Original Post: 18 Oct 2005

Of course the world is looking forward to seeing Saddam stand trial for crimes against his people. As some simply hated Saddam and thought he was a war criminal when he started his war with Iran, I am very happy that finally he will be put on trial. GWU has an excellent resource center and I am taking the liberty to copy it here for the reader. Thank you GWU

“Washington D.C. October 18, 2005 - The National Security Archive today posted a series of declassified U.S. intelligence documents and other U.S. agency reports on Saddam Hussein’s human rights abuses, one of which is the subject of the first trial of Saddam which begins tomorrow in Iraq. The first set of charges concerns Saddam’s responsibility, along with seven co-defendants, for the 1982 massacre of 143 Shiites in Dujail, a town 35 miles north of Baghdad, after an unsuccessful assassination attempt against Saddam. Procedures for the trial are the subject of significant controversy, as reported by the New York Times’ John Burns today. The Archive’s posting gives a preview of the evidence that the U.S. government may be providing to the trial process.

Saddam may face up to a dozen trials for crimes alleged to have been committed by his regime - among them the gassing of Kurds in Halabja and the suppression of a Shiite uprising in the south. However, in September it was reported that the Iraqi government may waive further proceedings if Saddam is convicted in the first trial, a conviction which could bring the death penalty. (Note 1)

During his years in power, the U.S. Intelligence Community produced estimates and studies of Iraq’s foreign and defense policies, its military capabilities and activities, and analyses of the regime’s domestic policies and actions. Other U.S. agencies, both before and after the termination of Saddam’s rule, also produced reports on the regime’s internal activities.

The collection below contains a number of documents produced by U.S. agencies over the last thirty years concerning the Iraqi regime’s policies and activities directed at maintaining itself in power and eliminating or neutralizing opposition to the regime.”

There are a whole lots of people who should stand trail with him, not only his close associates, but all those who supported him and gave him poltical, economic and miliatry support. All should be on trial so that they neverr again support such criminal dictators. I would like to see few of our officials stand trail with him. He pulled the trigger, they gave him the gun

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18 Oct 2005

Before Saddam assumed real power within the Iraqi Baathist party in November of 69, the wonder boy of Iraq used to meet almost every week with the CIA station chief at the US Embassy in Cairo. Saddam was not a stranger to the US, since he was adopted by the US at an early stage of his career. PBS’s “Front Line” had a two-hour documentary on the very warm and loving relationship the US had with Saddam.
The US continued to play a major role in mentoring Saddam and have insisted a number of Arab countries to give him this thug, this criminal legitimacy and power and money.
When Saddam started his proxy war with Iran for an on behalf of some Arab countries and the US, Iraq had over $50 BILLION sitting in international banks and Iraq unlike many of the Gulf countries had a very well educated citizens and a very bountiful agriculture and it has all the things the other Gulf counties did not have.
The US anxious to teach Khomeni, (another evil and war criminal) a lesson for humiliating the Shah and humiliating the US, the Reagan Administration was ready to go into action. It recruited a number of Arab countries to give financial support to Saddam and give him “Arab legitimacy” for his war against Iran. Of course some Arab countries, especially the Gulf States had good reason to fear Khomeni and his new and fire brand Islamic Revolution of Iran. Khomeni is as guilty as Saddam in the Iran –Iraq war and he is as guilty as Saddam for the killing and murder of millions of young and innocent lives and for wasting both countries wealth and its manpower, and for what?
Saddam went to war claiming he is reliving the glorious Arab past and claiming he is the guardian of the Arabs against the barbarian Persians. I know many Arab people went along with Saddam and where cheering him on, even when they knew the man was nothing but a total fraud and criminal.
Saddam went to war and the US was an active party to the war supplying Saddam with critical line of credit and of course satellite photos of the battlefield.
Oh, yah, the present secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld was the emissary to Saddam visiting him twice and offering military, political and financial support at a time when Saddam was using chemical weapons against the Iranian in the battle field and against the Kurds in northern Iraq.
Poor souls tens and hundreds of thousands died, without one single voice of dissent, not in the Arab world, not hear in Washington and not any where in any of the Western capitals. After all Saddam was Washington boy. He can get away with murder and he did.
Well now many years later this hero to many crawled out of his rat hall, like a beggar asking for mercy from the American soldiers who pulled him of his rat hole.
Sometimes, not really, all of the times I blame the Iraqi people for not going out in the millions defying Saddam and bring him down, just like the Iranians when they forced the Shah of Iran to leave in disgrace. Saddam killed millions of them and they could not go out and topple him down. What a pity, because they are now paying the very heavy price, perhaps much more than the one they would have to pay to bring Saddam down.
It makes me wonder about the people in the Arab world. They have no courage and no imagination to defy the odd and go out and topple all of these useless governments and criminal dictatorships. I guess, they are always used to have someone else do the fighting for them and they end up paying a very heavy price in all cases.
Well, Saddam on trial tomorrow and it must be a site to see. I hope his trial does not turn out to be a joke like the “Almahdawi court” the famous criminal courts of the Iraqi revolutions after 58. As a young boy I used to listen to these horrific courts.

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22 Oct 2005

All Arab criminal regimes always hid behind Arab nationalism. Saddam killed millions and was an agent of the CIA (a must see PPS documentary- Front Line) while serving the interest of the US and the UK and his war on Iran was nothing but a proxy war on behalf of the West. Of course not to mention that lunatic in Tripoli.
Hafiz Assad, the long time champion of Arab nationalism was also a big time criminal who managed to kill tens of thousands and who appointed a war criminal who killed thousands of Palestinians as a minister in Lebanon. The Phalangist under the watchful eye of the Syrian murdered over 4,900 Palestinians in Tal-Zaater.
The Ba’athist regime in Syria is not different from its brothers under Saddam, committing murder and getting away with it. So-called Palestinians nationalist in Syria are bought and sold by the Syrians and do Syria’s bidding, and Ahmed Jebril and Abu-Musa are agents of Syria, in the same way Saddam used Palestinians to commit crimes against the Kuwaitis. The murder of Rafiq Hariri finally caught up with the thugs running Damascus. These same thugs that can arrange the murder of thousands could not protect couple of Palestinians who where murdered in Damascus by the Israeli Mossad. A country that is run by stupid intelligence and security organizations will always fail.
For a long time, Syria has been committing murder and getting away with it. Syria killed Kamal Jumblat and got away with it, killed Ahmed Laouzi and got away with it. Conspired with the Phalanges of Lebanon in the massacres of thousands of Palestinians and got away with it. It was a party in the killing of many Lebanese nationalist, like the late George Hawi and Samir Qassir, and for sure organized and supervised the killing and murder of Rafiq Hariri.
However, Syria should not be the only that is blamed for the big mess in Lebanon. The Lebanese and especially the Lebanese politicians are also to blame for playing Syria’s game in Lebanon. There were the “kiss ass” big times. All Lebanese politicians at one time or the other took their cues and instructions from “Anjar” the border town, which was the seat of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon. The late Ghazi Kana’an ran Syria as it was a grocery store, and Syria ran Lebanon not for the sake of its security, but for the sake of all of the money, corruption and bootlegging could bring to Syria. It was the dollars and the Euros that Syria and its Baathis where after. Syrian could not and was unable to protect is own soldiers from frequent raids by Israel, how could it protect the Lebanese from Israel?
Perhaps the worst things after the Ba’athist in the Arab world are the Lebanese politicians. A very unique breed of sophisticated corrupt politicians unlike anywhere else. Who in their right mind would expect that the Lebanese as sophisticated as they are, (you know the high class there, converse only in French,) how could these politicians ever accept and promote sectarian politics, where citizenship and rights arising from it are based on “religious confession” of whether a Lebanese is a Muslim, Druze, Shiite, or Christians, and even Christians are not all equal? It is a country that after couple of hundred thousands dead, gave leadership of the country to warlords and war criminals. It is the only country in the Arab world, where the throats of innocent people were slashed based on the pronunciations of “tomato”. The Palestinians pronounced at “Bandoura” and the blue-blooded Lebanese pronounce it “Banadoura”. The letter A made the difference in life and death in Lebanon during the civil war. Yet with all of this Lebanon remains a country of sectarian warlords. I hope the Syrian people will put the Baathist out of business and not wait for the Americans to come in and take Bashar and his thugs out.

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