Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Bush tries to get rid of 90% of the wildlife refuge in the U.S.
The U.S Fish & Wildlife Service website says "Congress has designated 75 wilderness areas on 63 units of the National Wildlife Refuge System in 26 states. Over 90 per cent — or 18.6 million acres — of Refuge System wilderness is in Alaska. The remaining 2.5 million wilderness acres are in the lower 48 states." That means that 90% of our refuge area would be destroyed by opening ANWR to drilling.
Wildlands threatened by this administration:
Now, since I am personally from the four corners area of Colorado (the junction of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona) you can see why I take this really seriously. The San Juan National Forest was like my childhood playground.
Every organization that deals with the outdoors from Greenpeace to Ducks Unlimited has blasted the Bush administration on this as well as the "Forest Initiative". See the article "Conservative Sportsmen Turn Against Bush" Published on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 by USA TODAY
Wildlands threatened by this administration:
- Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska
- Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument, Utah
- Rocky Mountain Front, Montana
- Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, Montana
- Red Desert, Wyoming
- California Coastal National Monument, California
- Carrizo Plains National Monument, California
- Little Missouri National Grasslands, North Dakota
- Otero Mesa, New Mexico
- Vermillion Basin, Colorado
- Book Cliffs, Utah
- Bridger-Teton National Forest, Wyoming
- Hanford Reach National Monument, Washington
- Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Colorado
- Ironwood Forest National Monument, Arizona
- Crown Point, New Mexico
- Kaibab National Forest, Arizona
- Valle Vidal/Carson National Forest, New Mexico
- San Juan National Forest, Colorado
- Weatherman Draw, Montana
Now, since I am personally from the four corners area of Colorado (the junction of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona) you can see why I take this really seriously. The San Juan National Forest was like my childhood playground.
Every organization that deals with the outdoors from Greenpeace to Ducks Unlimited has blasted the Bush administration on this as well as the "Forest Initiative". See the article "Conservative Sportsmen Turn Against Bush" Published on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 by USA TODAY
Monday, January 26, 2004
Congressional Budget Office projects U.S. deficit to hit $477 billion
January 26, 2004
The Congressional Budget Office on predicted a deficit of $477 billion in 2004. It said next year's deficit would total $362 billion, up from its previous forecast of $341 billion. And, based on current spending and tax policies, total deficits are now expected to reach almost $2.4 trillion between 2004 and 2013, up from a prior forecast of $1.4 trillion in the same period.
The Congressional Budget Office on predicted a deficit of $477 billion in 2004. It said next year's deficit would total $362 billion, up from its previous forecast of $341 billion. And, based on current spending and tax policies, total deficits are now expected to reach almost $2.4 trillion between 2004 and 2013, up from a prior forecast of $1.4 trillion in the same period.
Kay: No evidence Iraq stockpiled WMDs
Kay: No evidence Iraq stockpiled WMDs
Former chief U.S. inspector faults intelligence agencies
Monday, January 26, 2004 Posted: 10:55 AM EST (1555 GMT)
(CNN) -- Two days after resigning as the Bush administration's top weapons inspector in Iraq, David Kay said Sunday that his group found no evidence Iraq had stockpiled unconventional weapons before the U.S.-led invasion in March.
He said U.S. intelligence services owe President Bush an explanation for having concluded that Iraq had.
"My summary view, based on what I've seen, is we're very unlikely to find large stockpiles of weapons," he said on National Public Radio's "Weekend Edition." "I don't think they exist."
It was the consensus among the intelligence agencies that Iraq had such weapons that led Bush to conclude that it posed an imminent threat that justified the U.S.-led invasion, Kay said.
"I actually think the intelligence community owes the president rather than the president owing the American people," he said.
"We have to remember that this view of Iraq was held during the Clinton administration and didn't change in the Bush administration," Kay said.
"It is not a political 'gotcha' issue. It is a serious issue of 'How you can come to a conclusion that is not matched in the future?'"
Other countries' intelligence agencies shared the U.S. conclusion that Iraq had stockpiled such weapons, though most disagreed with the United States about how best to respond.
Powell: Violations justified war
Asked if Iraq posed an imminent threat to the United States at the time of the invasion, Kay said, "Based on the intelligence that existed, I think it was reasonable to reach the conclusion that Iraq posed an imminent threat."
Although his team concluded that Iraq did not possess large amounts of weapons of mass destruction ready for use, that does not necessarily mean it posed no imminent threat, he said. "That is a political judgment, not a technical judgment."
Secretary of State Colin Powell defended the administration's moves Sunday. "Military action was justified by Iraq's violation of 12 years of U.N. resolutions," he said in an interview with First Channel Russia during a visit to Moscow.
"Iraq had the intent to have weapons of mass destruction and they had previously used weapons of mass destruction. They had programs to develop such weapons," Powell said.
"And what we were trying to find out was what inventory they actually had, and we are still examining that question."
Saddam Hussein was given the opportunity to divulge what his country was doing but chose not to do so, which resulted in the U.S.-led campaign to oust him, Powell said.
"And the world is better off, the Iraqi people are better off, because Saddam Hussein is gone," Powell said. "And we will continue to make sure we find all elements of his weapons of mass destruction programs and whatever weapons there might be."
Powell made the Bush administration's case that Saddam's regime possessed such weapons in a presentation to the U.N. Security Council last year.
Other failures
The discovery that Iran and Libya had nuclear programs also appears to have caught intelligence agencies by surprise, Kay said.
The Iranian program was uncovered not by intelligence agencies but by Iranian defectors, he said.
Libya's program contained a number of international clues, such as a connection to Pakistan and plants in Malaysia. "It was, in many ways, the biggest surprise of all, and it was missed," Kay said.
Last June, when he was appointed to lead the U.S. effort to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Kay expressed confidence they would be found.
Despite his group's failure to unearth such weapons, those predictions have not embarrassed him, he said.
"They're coming back to haunt me in the sense of why could we all be so wrong? ... It's an issue of the capabilities of one's intelligence service to collect valid, truthful information."
Kay said he would not submit a final report on his work in Iraq, since the task of searching for weapons will continue, led by Charles Duelfer, a longtime weapons inspector who replaces Kay as the new CIA special adviser. (Full story)
Despite not finding any WMD, Kay said his team found that the Iraqi senior leadership "had an intention to continue to pursue their WMD activities. That they, in fact, had a large number of WMD-related activities."
Kay predicted investigators would find that Iraqi scientists were "working on developing weapons or weapons concepts that they had not moved into actual production."
Kay alleges Syria connection
Kay also raised the possibility -- one he first discussed in a weekend interview with "The Sunday Telegraph" of London -- that clues about banned weapons programs might reside across Iraq's western border.
"There is ample evidence of movement to Syria before the war -- satellite photographs, reports on the ground of a constant stream of trucks, cars, rail traffic across the border. We simply don't know what was moved," Kay said.
But, he said, "the Syrian government there has shown absolutely no interest in helping us resolve this issue."
Kay acknowledged that the truth might never be revealed. Widespread looting in Baghdad after the invasion destroyed many government records. "There's always going to be unresolved ambiguity here."
Kay said he resigned after his resources were diverted to other work from the exclusive goal of searching for unconventional weapons.
"It's very hard to run organizations with multiple missions, particularly if one half is controlled by the Defense Department and one half is controlled by the CIA. ... I thought that was the wrong thing to do."
Kay said he would like to write a book dealing with the issue of proliferation and intelligence.
"I'm not doing a Paul O'Neill," he said, referring to the former Bush treasury secretary who was the primary source for "The Price of Loyalty," a recent book that said the Bush administration was planning to invade Iraq almost from the time Bush took office.
Former chief U.S. inspector faults intelligence agencies
Monday, January 26, 2004 Posted: 10:55 AM EST (1555 GMT)
(CNN) -- Two days after resigning as the Bush administration's top weapons inspector in Iraq, David Kay said Sunday that his group found no evidence Iraq had stockpiled unconventional weapons before the U.S.-led invasion in March.
He said U.S. intelligence services owe President Bush an explanation for having concluded that Iraq had.
"My summary view, based on what I've seen, is we're very unlikely to find large stockpiles of weapons," he said on National Public Radio's "Weekend Edition." "I don't think they exist."
It was the consensus among the intelligence agencies that Iraq had such weapons that led Bush to conclude that it posed an imminent threat that justified the U.S.-led invasion, Kay said.
"I actually think the intelligence community owes the president rather than the president owing the American people," he said.
"We have to remember that this view of Iraq was held during the Clinton administration and didn't change in the Bush administration," Kay said.
"It is not a political 'gotcha' issue. It is a serious issue of 'How you can come to a conclusion that is not matched in the future?'"
Other countries' intelligence agencies shared the U.S. conclusion that Iraq had stockpiled such weapons, though most disagreed with the United States about how best to respond.
Powell: Violations justified war
Asked if Iraq posed an imminent threat to the United States at the time of the invasion, Kay said, "Based on the intelligence that existed, I think it was reasonable to reach the conclusion that Iraq posed an imminent threat."
Although his team concluded that Iraq did not possess large amounts of weapons of mass destruction ready for use, that does not necessarily mean it posed no imminent threat, he said. "That is a political judgment, not a technical judgment."
Secretary of State Colin Powell defended the administration's moves Sunday. "Military action was justified by Iraq's violation of 12 years of U.N. resolutions," he said in an interview with First Channel Russia during a visit to Moscow.
"Iraq had the intent to have weapons of mass destruction and they had previously used weapons of mass destruction. They had programs to develop such weapons," Powell said.
"And what we were trying to find out was what inventory they actually had, and we are still examining that question."
Saddam Hussein was given the opportunity to divulge what his country was doing but chose not to do so, which resulted in the U.S.-led campaign to oust him, Powell said.
"And the world is better off, the Iraqi people are better off, because Saddam Hussein is gone," Powell said. "And we will continue to make sure we find all elements of his weapons of mass destruction programs and whatever weapons there might be."
Powell made the Bush administration's case that Saddam's regime possessed such weapons in a presentation to the U.N. Security Council last year.
Other failures
The discovery that Iran and Libya had nuclear programs also appears to have caught intelligence agencies by surprise, Kay said.
The Iranian program was uncovered not by intelligence agencies but by Iranian defectors, he said.
Libya's program contained a number of international clues, such as a connection to Pakistan and plants in Malaysia. "It was, in many ways, the biggest surprise of all, and it was missed," Kay said.
Last June, when he was appointed to lead the U.S. effort to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Kay expressed confidence they would be found.
Despite his group's failure to unearth such weapons, those predictions have not embarrassed him, he said.
"They're coming back to haunt me in the sense of why could we all be so wrong? ... It's an issue of the capabilities of one's intelligence service to collect valid, truthful information."
Kay said he would not submit a final report on his work in Iraq, since the task of searching for weapons will continue, led by Charles Duelfer, a longtime weapons inspector who replaces Kay as the new CIA special adviser. (Full story)
Despite not finding any WMD, Kay said his team found that the Iraqi senior leadership "had an intention to continue to pursue their WMD activities. That they, in fact, had a large number of WMD-related activities."
Kay predicted investigators would find that Iraqi scientists were "working on developing weapons or weapons concepts that they had not moved into actual production."
Kay alleges Syria connection
Kay also raised the possibility -- one he first discussed in a weekend interview with "The Sunday Telegraph" of London -- that clues about banned weapons programs might reside across Iraq's western border.
"There is ample evidence of movement to Syria before the war -- satellite photographs, reports on the ground of a constant stream of trucks, cars, rail traffic across the border. We simply don't know what was moved," Kay said.
But, he said, "the Syrian government there has shown absolutely no interest in helping us resolve this issue."
Kay acknowledged that the truth might never be revealed. Widespread looting in Baghdad after the invasion destroyed many government records. "There's always going to be unresolved ambiguity here."
Kay said he resigned after his resources were diverted to other work from the exclusive goal of searching for unconventional weapons.
"It's very hard to run organizations with multiple missions, particularly if one half is controlled by the Defense Department and one half is controlled by the CIA. ... I thought that was the wrong thing to do."
Kay said he would like to write a book dealing with the issue of proliferation and intelligence.
"I'm not doing a Paul O'Neill," he said, referring to the former Bush treasury secretary who was the primary source for "The Price of Loyalty," a recent book that said the Bush administration was planning to invade Iraq almost from the time Bush took office.
Saturday, January 24, 2004
Iraq Illicit Arms Gone Before War, Departing Inspector States
Iraq Illicit Arms Gone Before War, Departing Inspector States
By RICHARD W. STEVENSON
Published: January 24, 2004
WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 — David Kay, who led the American effort to find banned weapons in Iraq, said Friday after stepping down from his post that he has concluded that Iraq had no stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons at the start of the war last year.
In an interview with Reuters, Dr. Kay said he now thought that Iraq had illicit weapons at the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf war, but that the subsequent combination of United Nations inspections and Iraq's own decisions "got rid of them."
By RICHARD W. STEVENSON
Published: January 24, 2004
WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 — David Kay, who led the American effort to find banned weapons in Iraq, said Friday after stepping down from his post that he has concluded that Iraq had no stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons at the start of the war last year.
In an interview with Reuters, Dr. Kay said he now thought that Iraq had illicit weapons at the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf war, but that the subsequent combination of United Nations inspections and Iraq's own decisions "got rid of them."
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
O'Neill: Bush planned Iraq invasion before 9/11
O'Neill: Bush planned Iraq invasion before 9/11
In new book, ex-Treasury secretary criticizes administration
Wednesday, January 14, 2004 Posted: 2:12 AM EST (0712 GMT)
(CNN) -- The Bush administration began planning to use U.S. troops to invade Iraq within days after the former Texas governor entered the White House three years ago, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill told CBS News' 60 Minutes.
"From the very beginning, there was a conviction that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go," O'Neill told CBS, according to excerpts released Saturday by the network. "For me, the notion of pre-emption, that the U.S. has the unilateral right to do whatever we decide to do, is a really huge leap."
In the book, O'Neill is quoted as saying he was surprised that no one in a National Security Council meeting asked why Iraq should be invaded.
"It was all about finding a way to do it. That was the tone of it. The president saying 'Go find me a way to do this,'" O'Neill said.
In new book, ex-Treasury secretary criticizes administration
Wednesday, January 14, 2004 Posted: 2:12 AM EST (0712 GMT)
(CNN) -- The Bush administration began planning to use U.S. troops to invade Iraq within days after the former Texas governor entered the White House three years ago, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill told CBS News' 60 Minutes.
"From the very beginning, there was a conviction that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go," O'Neill told CBS, according to excerpts released Saturday by the network. "For me, the notion of pre-emption, that the U.S. has the unilateral right to do whatever we decide to do, is a really huge leap."
In the book, O'Neill is quoted as saying he was surprised that no one in a National Security Council meeting asked why Iraq should be invaded.
"It was all about finding a way to do it. That was the tone of it. The president saying 'Go find me a way to do this,'" O'Neill said.
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Corroborating O’Neill’s Account
Corroborating O’Neill’s Account
Official Confirms Claims That Saddam Was Bush’s Focus Before 9/11
By John Cochran
ABC News
Jan. 13— President Bush ordered the Pentagon to explore the possibility of a ground invasion of Iraq well before the United States was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, an official told ABCNEWS, confirming the account former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill gives in a book written by former Wall Street Journal reporter Ron Suskind.
The official, who asked not to be identified, was present in the same National Security Council meetings as O'Neill immediately after Bush's inauguration in January and February of 2001.
"The president told his Pentagon officials to explore the military options, including use of ground forces," the official told ABCNEWS. "That went beyond the Clinton administration's halfhearted attempts to overthrow Hussein without force."
In The Price of Loyalty, O'Neill says that from the very start of his administration, Bush was focused on ousting Saddam. Bush says that his policy at the time was merely a continuation of the Clinton administration's stance. White House aides have suggested O'Neill, whom Bush fired in December 2002, is merely trying to sell books.
Both the official who spoke to ABCNEWS and O'Neill have acknowledged that Bush had not yet made up his mind for a ground invasion at the start of his administration, but they say officials were told to find ways to get rid of the Iraqi leader.
"Getting Hussein was now the administration's focus, that much was already clear," O'Neill said.
Defense Secretary Rumsfeld disputed O'Neill's account today. "I don't know what meetings he could have been in," Rumsfeld told reporters during a Pentagon briefing.
Classified Documents?
A briefing paper for O'Neill — and obtained exclusively by ABCNEWS — directed him to work on "keeping Saddam's finger off the trigger" by stopping imports of military technology. The Treasury Department is now investigating whether O'Neill removed classified documents from the department. He says he did not.
"I don't honestly think there's anything that's classified in those 19,000 documents," O'Neill said on NBC's Today Show today.
Regardless of whether the book uses classified documents, it has been a headache for the White House. O'Neill insists he did not intend to cause the president any embarrassment.
Official Confirms Claims That Saddam Was Bush’s Focus Before 9/11
By John Cochran
ABC News
Jan. 13— President Bush ordered the Pentagon to explore the possibility of a ground invasion of Iraq well before the United States was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, an official told ABCNEWS, confirming the account former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill gives in a book written by former Wall Street Journal reporter Ron Suskind.
The official, who asked not to be identified, was present in the same National Security Council meetings as O'Neill immediately after Bush's inauguration in January and February of 2001.
"The president told his Pentagon officials to explore the military options, including use of ground forces," the official told ABCNEWS. "That went beyond the Clinton administration's halfhearted attempts to overthrow Hussein without force."
In The Price of Loyalty, O'Neill says that from the very start of his administration, Bush was focused on ousting Saddam. Bush says that his policy at the time was merely a continuation of the Clinton administration's stance. White House aides have suggested O'Neill, whom Bush fired in December 2002, is merely trying to sell books.
Both the official who spoke to ABCNEWS and O'Neill have acknowledged that Bush had not yet made up his mind for a ground invasion at the start of his administration, but they say officials were told to find ways to get rid of the Iraqi leader.
"Getting Hussein was now the administration's focus, that much was already clear," O'Neill said.
Defense Secretary Rumsfeld disputed O'Neill's account today. "I don't know what meetings he could have been in," Rumsfeld told reporters during a Pentagon briefing.
Classified Documents?
A briefing paper for O'Neill — and obtained exclusively by ABCNEWS — directed him to work on "keeping Saddam's finger off the trigger" by stopping imports of military technology. The Treasury Department is now investigating whether O'Neill removed classified documents from the department. He says he did not.
"I don't honestly think there's anything that's classified in those 19,000 documents," O'Neill said on NBC's Today Show today.
Regardless of whether the book uses classified documents, it has been a headache for the White House. O'Neill insists he did not intend to cause the president any embarrassment.
Official Confirms O'Neill's Iraq Claim
Corroborating O’Neill’s Account
Official Confirms Claims That Saddam Was Bush’s Focus Before 9/11
By John Cochran
Jan. 13— President Bush ordered the Pentagon to explore the possibility of a ground invasion of Iraq well before the United States was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, an official told ABCNEWS, confirming the account former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill gives in a book written by former Wall Street Journal reporter Ron Suskind.
Official Confirms Claims That Saddam Was Bush’s Focus Before 9/11
By John Cochran
Jan. 13— President Bush ordered the Pentagon to explore the possibility of a ground invasion of Iraq well before the United States was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, an official told ABCNEWS, confirming the account former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill gives in a book written by former Wall Street Journal reporter Ron Suskind.
All articles in this archive are used under "fair use" as they are important to the national discussion of whether or not the people of this country are being deceived by their government. These articles are used as evidence in that discussion.
