Information is Power!

The information in The Art of Deception is a result of many years of research. Every effort was made to insure its accuracy. Any inaccuracies are totally unintentional, and te author takes no responsibility. There are many ways to view events in history, and many different opinions may be drawn. The author presents views based upon research findings. The goal is to be informative and to inspire interest and involvement in the political process. The United States has a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. In order to properly exercise our duty as citizens, we the people need to be aware of our government's activities.

As Bush’s war dragged on, more and more Iraqis became disenchanted with their country’s dilemma as well as disgusted with the occupation of United States troops.

A September 2006 study by the University of Maryland’s Program of International Policy Attitudes showed:

61 percent of Iraqis supported attacks on United States military forces and favored Americans being killed.

58 percent said that, if United States forces withdrew in six months, violence would decrease.

71 percent want United States troops to withdraw within one year.

79 percent said the United States had a negative influence on the situation in Iraq.

53 percent said setting a timeline for withdrawal “would strengthen the government.”

80 percent said the United States military force in Iraq provoked more violence than it prevented.

An overwhelmingly majority of Iraqis had a negative opinion of bin Laden.

More than half, 57 percent, disapproving of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

75 percent said they believed the United States would keep military bases in Iraq permanently.

72 percent said they thought Iraq would be one state within five years. Shi’ite Iraqis were most likely to feel that way, though a majority of Sunnis and Kurds also believed that would be the case.

(Source: Program of International Policy Attitudes, September 27, 2006)

Bush was the only president who had been convicted of a misdemeanor, the only president to join the National Guard to avoid serving in a war, and the only president to had gone AWOL in the military.

Once he went into the oil industry, Bush was the only person destined to become president whose businesses went bankrupt.

As president, Bush:

*Invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week.

*Spent the United States surplus and effectively bankrupted the United States Treasury.

*Shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in United States history.

*Set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.

*Set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.

*Set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the United States stock market.

*Saw over 2 million Americans lost their jobs and that trend continues every month in his first year.

*Presided over the biggest energy crisis in United States history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed.

*Presided over the highest gasoline prices in United States history.

*Changed the United States policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.

*Appointed more convicted criminals to administration than any president in United States history.

*Created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government.

*Broke more international treaties than any president in United States history.

*Became the first president in United States history to have the United Nations remove the United States from the Human Rights Commission.

*Withdrew the United States from the World Court of Law.

*Refused to allow inspectors access to United States “prisoners of war” detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.

*Became the first president in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 United States election).

*Set the record for fewest numbers of press conferences of any president since the advent of television.

*Set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period.

*Presided over the worst security failure in United States history.

*Set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protests against any person in the history of mankind.

*Became the first president in United States history to order an unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. He did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of United States citizens, and the world community.

*Cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families-in-wartime.

*Lied in his State of the Union Address about our reasons for attacking Iraq and then blamed the lies on our British friends.

*Became the first president in history to have a majority of Europeans (71 percent) view his presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.

*Supported development of a nuclear “Tactical Bunker Buster,” a WMD.

*Failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama bin Laden to justice.

*Sealed all his records as governor of Texas.

*Sealed all records of SEC investigations into his insider trading and my bankrupt companies.

*Sealed all records or minutes from meetings that he and his vice-president attended regarding public energy policy.

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Bush duped the world in order to march off to war in Iraq. Here is the misinformation and disinformation disseminated by the Bush administration to convince the world that an invasion of Iraq would be justified.

THE BATTLE TO TOPPLE SADDAM HUSSEIN: BUSH’S FAILURE IN IRAQ

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BUSH’S MANY LIES ABOUT IRAQ …

1. Saddam was pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

2. Iraq was developing an 800-mile-plus range missile. A United Nations resolution made it illegal for Iraq to build missiles that had a range in excess of 93 miles. The al-Samoud 2, the missile to which the Bush administration referred, flew 15 miles too far in tests. That was because it was not loaded down with its guidance system.

3. Bush claimed they had satellite photographs that showed new research buildings at Iraqi nuclear sites. When United Nations inspectors entered the sites, they found nothing.

4. The Bush administration asserted that specific presidential palaces were places the inspectors would find incriminating evidence. Again, they found nothing.

5. The International Atomic Energy Agency said that a report cited by Bush as evidence that Iraq in 1998 was ‘six months away’ from developing a nuclear weapon never existed. IAEA spokesman Mark Gwozdecky said, “There’s never been a report like that issued from this agency.”

6. It was reported that an al Qaeda informant claimed that terrorists had found a way of smuggling radioactive material through airports without being detected. However, the “informant” then failed a polygraph test.

7. Rupert Murdoch helped the Bush administration by spreading the lie that Saddam’s senior bodyguard fled with details of Iraq's secret arsenal. His revelations were supported by Bush’s claim that there was enough evidence from United Nations inspectors to justify going to war. The bodyguard provided Israeli intelligence with a list of sites that the inspectors were not visited.

8. Both before and after the invasion, Bush boldly pursued the idea that Saddam was responsible for 9/11.

9. The Bush White House claimed there was a meeting between 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta and an Iraqi agent in Prague in April 2001.

10. The Bush administration alleged al Qaeda operatives, including senior figures, were in Iraq. But evidence from United States intelligence indicated that al Qaeda members were believed to be simply moving through Iraq en route to their home countries.

11. The Bush administration claimed that Ramzi Yousef, who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993, escaped from New York on a false passport provided by Iraq.

12. Bush’s officials touted reports that al Qaeda operatives found refuge in Baghdad and that Iraq once helped them develop chemical weapons.

13. Bush claimed that al Qaeda refugees from the war in Afghanistan found refuge in Iraq. This accusation involved a group, called Ansar al, which moved to a small area near the Iranian border. This part of Iraq, however, was in Kurdish hands and outside the direct control of the Iraqi Government.

14. Rafed Ibrahim Fatah, an Ansar member, spoke of meetings between his group and al Qaeda members, though not bin Laden himself. Although the implication was that Fatah had ties to Iraq, this did not implicate the Iraqi government.

15. Rafed Fatah and a senior al-Qaeda operative captured in Morocco, Abu Zubair, supposedly underwent training in Iraq.. This "evidence" was touted to be a feature in the British Government's dossier against Iraq. In fact, they were not mentioned in the report. Nor was any alleged link between al Qaeda and Iraq.

16. In his speech to the Security Council on September 12, 2002, Bush said Iraq had made “several attempts to buy-high-strength aluminum tubes used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.”

17. In September 2002, the United States and Britain issued reports accusing Iraq of renewing its quest for nuclear weapons. In Britain’s assessment, Iraq reportedly had “sought significant amounts of uranium from Africa, despite having no active civil nuclear program that could require it.”

18. Bush cited a report by the United Nations Atomic Energy Agency as evidence of Iraq’s nuclear rearmament program. But later the administration acknowledged that the report drew no such conclusion and that the photograph had been misinterpreted.

19. Bush repeatedly lied about Iraq’s nuclear capabilities as well as its missile-delivery capabilities. Bush tried to frighten Americans by claiming that Iraq possessed a fleet of unmanned aircraft that could be used “for missions targeting the United States.”

20. Bush’s case against Saddam relied on a slanted and sometimes entirely false reading of the available United States intelligence.

21. Bush administration officials falsely claimed that Saddam evicted United Nations weapons inspectors in 1998. But Charles Duelfer, who was deputy chairman of the United Nations inspection agency, said, “We made the decision at the time.”

22. Bush warned the United Nations that Saddam could have nuclear weapons within one year of acquiring fissionable material. Cheney claimed hat Iraq would have nuclear weapons “fairly soon.”

23. The Bush administration characterized Saddam as a supporter of terrorism. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld told Congress, “Iraq’s ties to terrorist networks are long-standing.”

24. The Bush administration claimed that Saddam had the capability of destroying major computer systems in the United States.

25. Bush repeatedly noted he used chemical weapons against Iraqi Kurds in the late 1980s. That was an event that barely elicited a response from the Reagan administration at the time.

26. Saddam allegedly ordered an assassination attempt on President George Herbert Bush. Journalist Seymour Hersh wrote in 1993 that the charge was overstated: “And none of the Clinton administration officials have claimed that there was any empirical evidence - a ‘smoking gun’ -directly linking Saddam or any of his senior advisers to the alleged assassination attempt. The case against Iraq was, and remains, circumstantial.”

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WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BUSH’S AIDES WHO DUPED THE AMERICAN PUBLIC INTO GOING TO WAR

PAUL WOLFOWITZ. In going to war, Wolfowitz said the United States would be greeted as liberators, that Iraqi oil money for pay for the reconstruction, and that General Eric Shinseki’s estimate that several hundred thousand troops would be needed was “wildly off the mark.” (Washington Post, December 8, 2005)

Wolfowitz once said, “We are dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction and relatively soon.” (March 27, 2003)

Wolfowitz was promoted to head the World Bank in March 2005. (Washington Post, March 17, 2005)

DOUGLAS FEITH. As Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Feith spearheaded two secretive groups at the Pentagon -- the Counter Terrorism Evaluation Group and the Office of Special Plans -- that were instrumental in drawing up documents that explained the supposed ties between Saddam and al Qaeda.

The groups were “created in order to find evidence of what of a project at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government to write an academic book on how to fight terrorism. Feith’s secretive groups at the Pentagon are under investigation by the Pentagon and the Senate Intelligence Committee for intelligence failures. (Washington Post, January 27, 2005; November 18, 2005; Washington Times, March 3, 2006)

Feith once said, “I am not asserting to you that I know that the answer is -- we did it right. What I am saying is it’s an extremely complex judgment to know whether the course that we chose with its pros and cons was more sensible.” (Washington Post, July 3, 2005)

STEPHEN HADLEY. As Deputy National Security Advisor, Hadley disregarded memos from the CIA and a personal phone call from Director George Tenet warning that references to Iraq’s pursuit of uranium be dropped from Bush’s speeches. The false information ended up in Bush’s 2003 State of the Union address. (Washington Post, July 23, 2005)

Hadley was promoted to National Security Advisor.

Hadley once said, “I should have recalled at the time of the State of the Union speech that there was controversy associated with the uranium issue. … And it is now clear to me that I failed in that responsibility in connection with the inclusion of these 16 words in the speech that he gave on the 28th of January.” (July 22, 2003)

RICHARD PERLE. Perle was the chairman of Defense Policy Board during the run-up to the Iraq war. He suggested Iraq had a hand in 9-11. In 1996, he authored “Clean Break,” a paper that was co-signed by Douglas Feith, David Wurmser, and others that argued for regime change in Iraq. Shortly after the war began, Perle resigned from the Board because he came under fire for having relationships with businesses that stood to profit from the war. (The Guardian, September 3, 2002; March 28, 2003; AFB, August 9, 2002)

Perle became a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where he specialized in national security and defense issues. He was investigated for ethical violations concerning war profiteering and other conflicts of interest. (Washington Post, September 1, 2004)

Perle once said, “And a year from now, I’ll be very surprised if there is not some grand square in Baghdad that is named after President Bush. There is no doubt that, with the exception of a very small number of people close to a vicious regime, the people of Iraq have been liberated and they understand that they’ve been liberated. And it is getting easier every day for Iraqis to express that sense of liberation.” (Perle, September 22, 2003)

ELLIOT ABRAMS. Abrams was one of the defendants in the Iran-Contra Affair, and he pled guilty to two misdemeanor counts of withholding information from Congress. He was appointed Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director on the National Security Council for Near East and North African Affairs during Bush’s first term, where he served as Bush’s chief advisor on the Middle East. His name surfaced as part of the investigation into who leaked the name of a undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame. Washington Post, May 27, 2003; February 3, 2005)

Abrams was promoted to deputy national security adviser in February of 2005.

Abrams once said, “We recognize that military action in Iraq, if necessary, will have adverse humanitarian consequences. We have been planning over the last several months, across all relevant agencies, to limit any such consequences and provide relief quickly.” (CNN, February 25, 2003)

DAVID WURMSER. Wurmser was a special assistant to John Bolton in the State Department. Wurmser long advocated the belief that both Syria and Iraq represented threats to the stability of the Middle East. In early 2001, Wurmser had issued a call for air strikes against Iraq and Syria. Along with Perle, he is considered a main author of “Clean Break.” (Asia Times, April 17, 2003; The Guardian, September 3, 2002)

Wurmser was promoted to Principal Deputy Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs. He was is in charge of coordinating Middle East strategy. His name was associated with the Plame Affair and with an FBI investigation into the passing of classified information to Chalabi and AIPAC. (Raw Story, October 19, 2005; Washington Post, September 4, 2004)

Wumser once said, “Syria, Iran, Iraq, the PLO and Sudan are playing a skillful game, but have consistently worked to undermine U.S( interests and influence in the region for years, and certainly will continue to do so now, even if they momentarily, out of fear, seem more forthcoming.” (Washington Post, September 24, 2001)

ANDREW NATSIOS. Shortly after the invasion of Iraq, Andrew Natsios, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, went on Nightline and claimed that the U.S. contribution to the rebuilding of Iraq would be just $1.7 billion. When it became quickly apparent that Natsios’ prediction would fall woefully short of reality, the government came under fire for scrubbing his comments from the USAID Web site. (Washington Post, December 18, 2003; ABC News, April 23, 2003)

Natsios stepped down as the head of USAID in January and taught at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh’s School of Foreign Service as a Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy and Advisor on International Development. (Associated Press, February 20, 2006;Georgetown, December 2, 2005)

Natsios was said, “The American part of this will be $1.7 billion. We have no plans for any further-on funding for this.” (Nightline, April 23, 2003)

DAN BARLETT. Dan Bartlett was the White House Communications Director at the time of the war and was a mouthpiece in hyping the Iraq threat. Bartlett was also a regular participant in the weekly meetings of the White House Iraq Group (WHIG). The main purpose of the group was the systematic coordination of the “marketing” of going to war with Iraq as well as selling the war here at home. (Washington Post, August 10, 2003)

Bartlett was promoted to Counselor to the President on January 5, 2005, and was responsible for the formulation of policy and implementation of the President’s agenda.

Bartlett once said, “President Bush understands that the need to disarm Saddam Hussein is necessary. He has made that case to the United Nations Security Council. He’s made that case to the United States Congress. The entire world rallied behind this resolution that gives him one last chance. He has that chance, but time is running out.” (CNN, January 26, 2003)

MITCH DANIELS. Mitch Daniels was the director of the Office of Management and Budget from January 2001 through June of 2003. In this capacity, he was responsible for releasing the initial budget estimates for the Iraq War which he pegged at $50 to $60 billion. The estimated cost of the war, including the full economic ramifications, approached $1 trillion. (MSNBC, March 17, 2006)

In 2004, Daniels was elected Governor of Indiana.

Daniels once said the war would be an “affordable endeavor” and rejected an estimate by the chief White House economic adviser that the war would cost between $100 billion and $200 billion as “very, very high.” [Christian Science Monitor, January 10, 2006)

GEORGE TENET. As CIA Director, Tenet was responsible for gathering information on Iraq and the potential threat posted by Saddam Hussein. According to author Bob Woodward, Tenet told Bush before the war that there was a “slam dunk case” that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction. Tenet remained publicly silent while the Bush administration made pre-war statements on Iraq’s supposed nuclear program and ties to al Qaeda that were contrary to the CIA’s judgments. Tenet issued a statement in July 2003, drafted by Karl Rove and Scooter Libby, taking responsibility for Bush’s false statements in his State of the Union address. (CNN, April 19, 2004; New York Times, July 22, 2005)

Tenet voluntarily resigned from the administration on June 3, 2004. He was later awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom. (Washington Post, June 3, 2004)

Tenet once commented on pre-war planning, “It’s a slam dunk case.” (CNN, April 19, 2004)

COLIN POWELL. Despite stating in February. 2001 that Saddam had not developed “any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction,” Powell made the case in front of the United Nations for a United States-led invasion of Iraq. He stated, “There can be no doubt that Saddam Hussein has biological weapons and the capability to rapidly produce more, many more. And he has the ability to dispense these lethal poisons and diseases in ways that can cause massive death and destruction.” [Powell, February 5, 2003; February 24, 2001)

Shortly after Bush won reelection in 2004, Powell resigned from the administration. Powell now sits on numerous corporate boards. He was succeeded Henry Kissinger as Chairman of the Eisenhower Fellowship Program at the City College of New York. In September 2005, Powell said of his United Nations speech that it was a “blot” on his record. He went on to say, “It will always be a part of my record. It was painful. It’s painful now.” [ABC News, September 9, 2005)

Powell once told Bush, “You are going to be the proud owner of 25 million people. You will own all their hopes, aspirations, and problems. You’ll own it all.” Privately, Powell and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage called this the Pottery Barn rule: ‘You break it, you own it.’ (Bob Woodward, Plan of Attack)

DONALD RUMSEFLD. Prior to the war, Rumsfeld repeatedly suggested the war in Iraq would be short and swift. He said, “The Gulf War in the 1990s lasted five days on the ground. I can’t tell you if the use of force in Iraq today would last five days, or five weeks, or five months, but it certainly isn’t going to last any longer than that.” He also said, “It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.” (Rumsfeld, November 14, 2002; USA Today, April 1, 2003)

Despite increased calls for his resignation, Rumsfeld refused to step down. He claimed that an early United States pullout would be the equivalent of leaving Germany in the hands of Nazis. (Washington Post, December 15, 2004;Reuters, March 19, 2006)

Rumsfeld once said, “You go to war with the Army you have. They’re not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time.” [CNN, December 9, 2004)

CONDOLEEZA RICE. As National Security Adviser, Rice disregarded at least two CIA memos and a personal phone call from Director George Tenet stating that the evidence behind Iraq’s supposed uranium acquisition was weak. She urged the necessity of war because “we don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.” (Washington Post, July 27, 2003; CNN, September 8, 2002)

Rice was promoted to Secretary of State.

Rice once said, “We did not know at the time -- maybe someone knew down in the bowels of the agency -- but no one in our circles knew that there were doubts and suspicions that this might be a forgery. Of course it was information that was mistaken.” (Meet the Press, June 8, 2003)

DICK CHENEY. Among a host of false pre-war statements, Cheney claimed that Iraq may have had a role in 9/11, stating that it was “pretty well confirmed” that 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta met with Iraqi intelligence officials. Cheney also claimed that Saddam was “in fact reconstituting his nuclear program” and that the U.S. would be “greeted as liberators.” (Meet the Press, December 9, 2001; March 16, 2003)

Cheney earned another four years in power when Bush won re-election in 2004. Despite recent calls from conservatives calling for him to be replaced, Cheney has said, “I’ve now been elected to a second term; I’ll serve out my term.” (CBS Face the Nation, March 19, 2006)

Cheney once said, “I think they’re in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.” (Larry King Live, June 20, 2005)

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THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION OPTS OUT OF NUMEROUS INTERNATIONAL TREATIES

The Bush administration rejected several international agreements:

*The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty on nuclear weapons.

*The Kyoto Protocol. Additionally, in November and December 2005, government leaders from around the world met in Montreal to take further steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The United States was the lone nation to accept the Kyoto protocol. Though responsible for some 35 percent of worldwide emissions, the Bush administration pulled out of the treaty in 2001, saying that implementing it would gravely damage the national economy.

*The Treaty Banning Antipersonnel Mines.

A protocol to create a compliance regime for the Biological Weapons Convention.

*The Antiballistic Missile Treaty.

*The International Criminal Court Treaty.

*The Convention on the Rights of the Child.

*In 1979, the United Nations adopted the “Bill of Rights” Treaty for women that prohibited discrimination against women and set an agenda for national action to end abuse of women’s human rights. Eventually, it was endorsed by more than 170 nations. United States presidents, including that of Bush, refused to ratify the agreement.

*A treaty adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that protected cultural rights worldwide. The United States stood alone in its opposition. The treaty allowed nations to maintain, adopt, and implement policies they deemed appropriate to protect the diversity of cultural expressions on their territory. The Bush administration rejected the treaty by arguing that it could have an adverse effect on the ongoing negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Bush administration refused to comply with the following:

*The Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners, permitting the use of torture of suspects in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as other countries where they were sent to be interrogated.

*The United Nations Human Rights Commission, refusing to allow it to conduct a probe into the alleged torture abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo and other detention centers.

*The Chemical Weapons Commission.

*The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).

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Cheney’s 14 lies about the Iraq war:

1. Cheney claimed there were stockpiles of WMDs in Iraq.

2. Cheney said there was a revived nuclear weapons program in Iraq.

3. Cheney said the intelligence left “no doubt” that Iraq posed a direct WMD threat to the United States.

4. Cheney said Iraq had mobile biological weapons labs.

5. Cheney said, “We found the weapons of mass destruction.”

6. Cheney said “we know” where the WMDs are in Iraq.

7. Cheney said Saddam Hussein was “dealing with” Al Qaeda.

8. Cheney said the United States would be greeted as liberators.

9. Cheney said the reconstruction of Iraq would not burden United States taxpayers and that it could be self-financed via Iraqi oil revenues.

10. Cheney said that it would not require hundreds of thousands of United States troops to secure Iraq after an invasion.

11. Cheney said -- after the invasion -- that there was no insurgency in Iraq.

12. Cheney said the post-invasion looting was no big deal.

13. Cheney said that 140,000 Iraqi security forces were trained -- when the more accurate number was probably less than one-tenth of that.

14. Cheney said the insurgency was in its “last throes” when military commanders said it could take years to quash the insurgency.

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THREADS OF FASCISM IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism The government promotes the display of flags, the wearing patriotic lapel buttons, and excessive pride in the military.

2. Power of corporations protected. The nation’s large corporations operate in relative freedom was not compromised. The political ruling elite ensures a continued mutuality of interests, especially in the repression of have-not citizens.

Corporate leaders are close to the power elite and use their position to enrich themselves. The power elite would receive financial gifts from the economic elite, who in turn would gain the benefit of government favoritism. Yet, Halliburton received the vast majority of no-bid contracts in Iraq.

3. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated. Since organized labor was seen as the one power center that could challenge the political hegemony of the ruling elite and its corporate allies, it should be crushed or made impotent. The poor formed an underclass, viewed with suspicion or outright contempt.

4. Controlling the media. The government and corporate media combine to disseminate of misinformation and disinformation.

1. The Bush administration manipulated public opinion through the media, spending $254 million in four years. Bush used various fake segments and other public relations ploys to spread positive propaganda about his policies. (Washington Post, January 31, 2005)

2. Twenty different federal agencies were involved in producing hundreds of fake television news segments. They included the Defense Department and the Census Bureau which made and distributed hundreds of television news segments between 2001 and 2005. Many were subsequently broadcast on local stations across the country without any acknowledgement of the government's role in their production. (New York Times, March 13, 2005)

3. The Smith Mundt Act of 1948 prohibited the spread of government propaganda in the United States. Federal law warned federal agencies away from doing exactly that. The United States Code prohibited appropriated funds from being used to pay a publicity expert unless specifically appropriated for that purpose. The responsibility to enforce government propaganda lay with Congress and the White House. (Washington Post, January 30, 2005)

5. Obsession with secrecy and national security. National security is under direct control of the ruling elite. It is usually an instrument of oppression, operating in secret and beyond any constraints. Its actions are justified by protecting “national security,” and questioning its activities was portrayed as unpatriotic or even treasonous.

6. Nationalism and the military: attacking the enemy. The ruling elite is always identified closely with the military and the industrial infrastructure that supported it. A disproportionate share of national resources is allocated to the military, even when domestic programs are slashed.

*The government’s goal is to unify the nation by diverting the people’s attention from other domestic and foreign problems. Enemies of the state are frequently branded communists, socialists, liberals, Jews, ethnic and racial minorities, traditional national enemies, members of other religions, secularists, homosexuals, and terrorists.

*Bush attempts to inject fear into the minds of Americans in an effort to prevent people from feeling they can solve their problems. In his September 20, 2001 speech to Congress on the 9/11 attacks, Bush increased the American’s sense of vulnerability. Bush said, “Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen. I ask you to live your lives, and hug your children. I know many citizens have fears tonight. Be calm and resolute, even in the face of a continuing threat.”

*Bush’s Fiscal 2006 $2.5 trillion budget erased scores of domestic programs. Funds were slashed for the poor, particularly for Medicaid and for housing for the disabled.

7. Religion and the ruling elite tied together. The ruling elite identifies itself with the predominant religion of the country. The elite portrays itself as militant defenders of that religion. Ruling elites are defenders of the faith and opponents of the godless.

*Bush combined the zeal of Christian evangelicalism with patriotic fundamentalism. Fundamentalists believe the United States was founded as a Christian nation with free enterprise as the only economic system truly compatible with Christian beliefs. These religious values are today under attack in America. Therefore, the government needs to act to protect the nation’s religious heritage.

*Bush’s simplistic view of terrorism -- “You are with us or against us” – can be equated to the apocalyptic world of good versus evil. There can be no neutral ground. Patriotism is vital. One needs to agree with Bush or there is a tendency towards treason. Similarly in religion, there is no neutral ground. One must come to Jesus alone for salvation. In the state, one must obey the God-anointed leader to be safe and secure. (The Nation, June 24, 2003)

*After 9/11, Bush said, “I will not forget this wound to our country or those who inflicted it. I will not yield; I will not rest; I will not relent in waging this struggle for freedom and security for the American people." Or, in his 2003 State of the Union speech: “I will defend the freedom and security of the American people.” (Rev. Rich Lang, George Bush and the Rise of Christian Fascism)

8. Opposition to human rights.

*Bush ignoring the Geneva Conventions and changing policy on torture and the treatment of foreign detainees. Bush chose Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General. Gonzales rewrote laws that allowed for the torture of detainees.

*Bush seized unrestricted power to round up unlimited numbers of American citizens and incarcerate them in military brigs or concentration camps for the rest of their lives. He is able to keep them from ever again communicating with friends, families, and attorneys, simply on the president's certification that they are “terrorists.”

*Bush pulled out of a 2004 decision of the International Court of Justice in The Hague in order to execute Mexicans on Death Row in Texas prisons. The ICJ had ordered new hearings for 51 Mexicans on Death Row in Texas. The decision required American courts to grant “review and reconsideration” to claims that the inmates’ cases had been hurt by the failure of local authorities to allow them to contact consular officials. (International Herald Tribune, March 11, 2005)

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HOW DICK CHENEY EVADED THE DRAFT. In February 1962, when Cheney was classified as 1-A available for service he was doing poorly at Yale. But he seemed to have little concern about being drafted during the Vietnam War. In June, he left Yale and returned home to Casper, Wyoming where he worked as a lineman for a power company.

In 1962, only 82,060 men were inducted into the service, the fewest since 1949. Cheney was eligible for the draft but, as he said during his confirmation hearings in 1989, he was not called up because the Selective Service System was taking only older men.

Cheney enrolled in Casper Community College in January 1963 he turned 22 that month and sought his first student deferment on March 20. After transferring to the University of Wyoming at Laramie, he sought his second student deferment on July 23, 1963.

On August 7, 1964, Congress approved the Tonkin Resolution to allow President Lyndon Johnson unlimited military force in Vietnam, and so the war escalated rapidly.

Just 22 days later, Cheney married his high school sweetheart, Lynne, and on October 14 he received his third student deferment.

In May 1965, Mr. Cheney graduated from college and his draft status changed to 1-A. But he was married, which offered him some protection.

In July, President Johnson announced that he was doubling the number of men drafted. The number of inductions soared, to 382,010 in 1966 from 230,991 in 1965 and 112,386 in 1964. Cheney obtained his fourth deferment when he started graduate school at the University of Wyoming on November 1, 1965.

On October 6, 1965, the Selective Service lifted its ban against drafting married men who had no children. Nine months and two days later, Cheney’s first daughter, Elizabeth, was born. On January 19, 1966, when his wife was about 10 weeks pregnant, Cheney applied for 3-A status, the “hardship” exemption, which excluded men with children or dependent parents. It was granted.

In January 1967, Cheney turned 26 and was no longer eligible for the draft.

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GEORGE W. BUSH’S DOMESTIC AGENDA: 2001 TO THE PRESENT

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COWBOY DIPLOMACY: BUSH’S FOREIGN POLICY: 2001 TO THE PRESENT

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HOW LONG WILL AMERICANS BELIEVE HIM?

Before he went to war, George W. Bush told the American people:

1. Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

2. Iraq purchased nuclear materials from Niger.

3. Iraq was six months away from building nuclear weapons

4. Iraq had ties to Al Qaeda and to the 9/11 attacks on American soil.

5. Iraq was manufacturing poison gas in northern Iraq.

6. Iraq had drones capable of reaching cities on the Atlantic seaboard.

7. Iraq planned to destroy America’s computer systems.

8. Iraq was a major threat to the United States and to the rest of the world.

9. Oil was not the reason to go to war.

… AND THESE WERE ALL LIES

Bush promised us that by toppling the Saddam regime:

1. Terrorism in the United States and throughout the rest of the world would diminish.

2. Iraqi oil would pay for the war and reconstruction.

Bush promised …

1. Tax cuts would create more jobs … but he lost more jobs since Herbert Hoover.

The Medicare drug program would cost $400 billion … but they cost taxpayers $540 billion.

These were all lies to the American people. How long will Americans tolerate these lies?

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In the 2000 campaign, George W. Bush made a plethora of promises, many of which he broke. Additionally, his dismal track record – a result of ignorance and incompetence and recklessness – has contributed to his failure as president.

A SUMMARY OF BUSH’S FOUR YEARS: BLUNDERS, LIES, AND BROKEN PROMISES

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George W. Bush’s upbringing, coupled with learning disabilities and alcohol, created a potentially deadly force. The lethal combination of denial, blame, and bravado distracted Bush from his own shame.

PSYCHOANALYZING GEORGE W. BUSH

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BUSH’S TIES TO THE BIN LADENS. According to an Air National Guard document, dated September 29, 1972, Bush was suspended from flying because of his “failure to accomplish (his) annual medical examination.” When the Bush administration released that document in 2004, it had blotted out two names. (www.salon.com, April 20, 2004)

However, film-maker Michael Moore gained access to the same document four years earlier during the 2004 campaign. Those two names were not blotted out. They were George W. Bush and James Bath. (Michael Moore, “Fahrenheit 9/11”)

Obviously, the Bush administration did not want to show a connection between Bath and the president. This showed that Bush also had ties to Khalid Bin Mahfouz and the Bin Laden family.

Four years later, Bath was appointed by CIA Chief George Herbert Bush as a CIA operative in 1976 leasing aircraft in Houston. Bath also served as a liaison between wealthy Arab sheiks -- that included the Bin Ladens -- and American entrepreneurs.

Bath was a close business partner of Saudi banker Khalid Bin Mahfouz, owner of the National Commercial Bank (NCB). The billionaire Malfouz invested $50,000 through Bath in Bush’s first company, Arbusto Energy. Most of Bath’s investments were really fronts for Mahfouz and other Saudis connected with the Bank of Credit and Commerce (BCCI), notorious for fraudulent activities that included laundering money during the Contra war. (The Mafia, CIA, and George Bush)

In 1979, Mahfouz purchased the Houston River Oaks mansion of Chester Reed, father-in-law of John Ballis, who pled guilty to Savings and Loan fraud. Mahfouz paid $4.23 million through Houston’s Baker & Botts -- a law firm traversing many Bush family business deals -- which handled the Saudi Sheikh’s Houston land investments through Bath. (www.scoop.co.nz, April 24, 2004)

In 1985, Mahfouz purchased the Texas Commerce Bank Tower for $200 million. Bath’s partner Bill White said Mahfouz’s purchase greatly benefited the fortunes of President George Herbert Bush and Secretary of State James Baker, Baker & Botts law firm, and Baker’s family -- founders and principal holders of Texas Commerce stock. (www.scoop.co.nz, April 24, 2004)

Beaty said the Tower was built for $140 million at the peak of the oil boom; but Mahfouz paid the elder Bush’s family friends $200 million at the bottom of the real estate crash. Mafouz’s partner in that purchase, Saudi-based billionaire Rafik Hariri, also over-paid Florida Senator Bill Nelson $2 million more than the assessed value to buy his McLean, Virginia home in 1989. (www.scoop.co.nz, April 24, 2004)

Mahfouz also had links by marriage to Osama Bin Laden. Mahfouz’s sister was married to the Al Qaeda leader. According to former CIA Director James Woolsey and Jean-Charles Brisard, the lead 9/11 lawsuit attorney, Mahfouz laundered money into tax-exempt United States entities for years as a foreign financier of terrorism. In 1999, he transferred personal funds along with $3 million diverted from a Saudi pension fund, to New York and London banks with accounts linked to terrorism. (USA Today, October 28, 1999; www.scoop.co.nz, April 24, 2004)

In the spring of 2001, Bush was so elated with Afghanistan’s Taliban attempt to lower opium production that he rewarded them with $40 million. During the summer, Bush invited several Taliban diplomats to his Crawford, Texas ranch. A few months later on September 11, Al Qaeda attacked the United States.

In 2002, over 900 families of 9/11 victims filed a trillion-dollar lawsuit against members of the royal Saudi family, businessmen worth a combined $5 billion, and banks and charities. The lawsuit accused them of financing Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda, and the Taliban government. One of the defendants was Saudi Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz. (www.scoop.co.nz, August 28, 2002)

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THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION ALLOWS BIN LADEN FAMILY MEMBERS TO ESCAPE AFTER 9/11. All airlines in the United States were grounded for two days after 9/11. One of Bin Laden’s brothers frantically called the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Washington looking for protection. Saudi’s King Fahd sent an urgent message to his embassy in Washington pointing out that there were “Bin Laden children all over America” and ordered, “Take measures to protect the innocents,” the ambassador said.

Two days after the 9/11 attacks, the White House authorized Saudi jets to fly 24 Bin Laden relatives out of the United States. The members of the Bin Laden family were never questioned by United States authorities. A small jet landed at Tampa International Airport and picked up three young Saudi men, one of whom was believed to be a member of the Saudi royal family. He plane flew to Lexington, Kentucky where the passengers changed planes and flew out of the United States.

Yet, the Bush administration -- as well as aviation and law enforcement officials -- insisted the flight never took place and denied published reports about the flight. Finally in June 2004, the Tampa International Airport acknowledged the flights happened. (Wall Street Journal, September 27, 2001; Judicial Watch, March 5, 2001, September 28, 2001; CNews, September 30, 2003; St. Petersburg Times, June 9, 2004; Michael Moore, Dude, Where’s My Country?; Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride Into the Secret Heart of BCCI, New York: Random House, 1993; Judicial Watch: Bush/Bin Laden Connection, October 6, 2001)

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GRANDFATHER BUSH'S TIES TO NAZI GERMANY. George W. Bush’s grandfather, Prescott Sheldon Bush, had close connections to Nazi Germany, helping to fund its industrial build-up in the 1930s. Without the large-scale support of Bush and other bankers, Hitler would have been unable to create his war machine.

Grandfather Bush was an executive with Union Banking Company and W. A.Harriman & Company which sold over $50 million in German bonds in the United States starting in 1924. That was one year after the Munich Beer Hall Putsch when the Nazi Party showed their willingness to employ violent tactics. George Walker helped to facilitate the take-over of Hamburg-American Line which allegedly was a cover for I.G. Farben’s Nazi espionage unit in the United States.

Grandfather Bush lost a fortune after the 1929 stock market crash. Then W.A. Harriman and Company merged with Brown Brothers, a British-American banking firm, in 1931. Bush became a managing partner with the new company. Brown Brothers underwrote a Standard Oil agreement in cooperation with General Motors to supply ethyl lead to Nazi Germany. Just before the outbreak of World War II, the Ethyl Export Corporation loaned 500 tons of tetraethyl lead to Germany. (Russell Bowen, The Immaculate Deception)

The president of the Florida Holocaust Museum said that Grandfather Bush derived a portion of his personal fortune through his affiliation with a Nazi-controlled bank. John Loftus, a former prosecutor in the Justice Department’s Nazi War Crimes Unit, said his research found that Prescott Bush, was a principal in the Union Banking Corporation in Manhattan in the late 1930s and the 1940s. Leading Nazi industrialists secretly owned the bank at that time, Loftus said, and were moving money into it through a second bank in Holland even after the United States declared war on Germany. The bank was liquidated in 1951, Loftus said, and Bush’s grandfather and great-grandfather received $1.5 million from the bank as part of that dissolution. “That’s where the Bush family fortune came from: It came from the Third Reich,” Loftus said. He also pointed out that the Bush family would not be the only American political dynasty to have ties to the “wrong side of World War II.” The Rockefellers had financial connections to Nazi Germany, he said. (Newscoast, November 16, 2000)