Open letter to Dubya - Page 5

DeeGeMe · #61 05-12-2004, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissention

Did you see how much it costs to run the DU every month?! I almost ****. Over $13,000!!!

Once I get my finances situated, I'll donate to it and The Ledge, that's some major steak.

I made a donation to DU just yesterday. I couldn't believe how much it cost to run the site either. Those folks do a great job over there. And I need to make my Ledge donation too while I'm at it. These are my two favorite home-away-from homes!

dissention · #62 05-12-2004, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeeGeMe

I made a donation to DU just yesterday. I couldn't believe how much it cost to run the site either. Those folks do a great job over there. And I need to make my Ledge donation too while I'm at it. These are my two favorite home-away-from homes!

Oh, I know! They do a fantastic job and I'm over there just as much as I am here.

I like to surf the DU while I'm listening to Randi.

I'm going through all my bills and paying them (they're all a week late!) and it's driving me nuts. I need a respite.

DeeGeMe · #63 05-12-2004, 10:15 AM

Have you seen the latest? A US Government spokesman in Iraq is denying that Berg was ever in US custody!

gldstwmn · #64 05-12-2004, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissention

Did you see how much it costs to run the DU every month?! I almost ****. Over $13,000!!!

Once I get my finances situated, I'll donate to it and The Ledge, that's some major steak.

DU has a lot of people on it. They do a lot of good work over there.

gldstwmn · #65 05-12-2004, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeeGeMe

Have you seen the latest? A US Government spokesman in Iraq is denying that Berg was ever in US custody!

Here we go. His parent's sued Rumsfeld for his release for cripes sake. This whole thing has gotten mind boggling. I'm sorry but we need to leave Iraq. Write them a check and leave.

gldstwmn · #66 05-12-2004, 10:29 AM

One more thing to add to this already boiling pot. It isn't really Al Qaida's style to behead now is it? Historically what we have seen from them is acts that will inflict the most casualties. No, the beheading thing is a favorite of another group-our old friends the Saudi's. Food for thought.

The Tower · #67 05-12-2004, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissention

Hmmm. I seem to remember you saying on numerous occasions that you'll vote for Bush no matter what. A vote for that man is a vote of support for all the things I've outlined above. But I suspect you can't differentiate that, huh? You've said before that you could care less about the Constitutional amendment to write hate into the Constitution because it wasn't an issue you cared about. Look at the poverty levels that we're currently at and look at what this admin. is doing to stop it. Look at what they're doing to the environment. If you're voting simply based on this joke of a war on terror, you're in need of help.

I think this is the single most important talking point of this election, bar none.

If you vote for Bush, you are supporting ALL of his repressive policies. If you think he's great on Iraq, be prepared to defend all the other crap that comes along with the package. A vote for Bush supports and encourages his entire administration- abysmal enviromental policies, scary threats to civil liberties, prejudicial persecution of gays.... the whole deal. JOHN F**KING ASHCROFT!!!

A vote for Bush says that you want that piece of **** to be the enforcer of law in the U.S. Wake up, America!!!! Ya boneheads!!

gldstwmn · #68 05-12-2004, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Tower

I think this is the single most important talking point of this election, bar none.

If you vote for Bush, you are supporting ALL of his repressive policies. If you think he's great on Iraq, be prepared to defend all the other crap that comes along with the package. A vote for Bush supports and encourages his entire administration- abysmal enviromental policies, scary threats to civil liberties, prejudicial persecution of gays.... the whole deal. JOHN F**KING ASHCROFT!!!

A vote for Bush says that you want that piece of **** to be the enforcer of law in the U.S. Wake up, America!!!! Ya boneheads!!

Additionally, two words: SUPREME COURT.

dissention · #69 05-12-2004, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

Here we go. His parent's sued Rumsfeld for his release for cripes sake. This whole thing has gotten mind boggling. I'm sorry but we need to leave Iraq. Write them a check and leave.

There's an anonymous official who is now saying that Berg was told to leave Iraq and that he ignored them. Some of the things that are being said about this guy are cruel.

And, to add to an already long list of weird things on that tape, I read in the paper today that there is a time gap on the tape of 11 hours. The murderers make their statements and then it cuts to 11 hours later when the beheading takes place. The tape also cuts out before they lift up his head for the camera.

DeeGeMe · #70 05-12-2004, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissention

There's an anonymous official who is now saying that Berg was told to leave Iraq and that he ignored them. Some of the things that are being said about this guy are cruel.

And, to add to an already long list of weird things on that tape, I read in the paper today that there is a time gap on the tape of 11 hours. The murderers make their statements and then it cuts to 11 hours later when the beheading takes place. The tape also cuts out before they lift up his head for the camera.

This whole thing just keeps getting stranger and stranger. Why aren't the media asking the same questions we are?

dissention · #71 05-12-2004, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeeGeMe

This whole thing just keeps getting stranger and stranger. Why aren't the media asking the same questions we are?

They are, but very slowly and very matter-of-factly.

There are some articles about how the media is catching on over on the DU, click on the Latest News.

dissention · #72 05-12-2004, 05:14 PM

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/133/...g_Ameri:.shtml

Questions surround young American shown decapitated in video
By Robert H. Reid, Associated Press, 5/12/2004 17:09

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) The young American decapitated on a videotape posted by an al-Qaida-linked Web site was never in U.S. custody despite claims to the contrary by his family, U.S. authorities said Wednesday.

Statements by American officials in Iraq leave many unanswered questions, including why Iraqi police jailed Nicholas Berg for nearly two weeks and why U.S. officials repeatedly questioned him in custody.

Also unknown is where and under what circumstances Berg disappeared. He was last in contact with U.S. officials in Baghdad on April 10, and his body was found Saturday in Baghdad. Staff members at the $30-a-night Al-Fanar Hotel in Baghdad told The Associated Press that Berg stayed there for several days until April 10.

Two e-mails sent by Berg to his family and friends show the 26-year-old telecommunications expert traveled widely and unguarded in areas of Iraq a dangerous practice rarely done by Westerners.
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Here's another burning question: how did they identify the body? The videotape wasn't released until Monday.

dissention · #73 05-12-2004, 05:31 PM

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...st_pe/fbi_berg

FBI: Agents Advised Berg to Leave Iraq

1 hour, 46 minutes ago Add White House - AP Cabinet & State to My Yahoo!
By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The FBI (news - web sites) warned Nicholas Berg shortly before his disappearance that Iraq (news - web sites) was too volatile a place for unprotected American civilians but he turned down a State Department offer to fly him home, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

Berg was detained by Iraqi police at a checkpoint in the northern city of Mosul on March 24 and was released April 6.

FBI agents interviewed Berg three times while he was in the custody of Iraqi police, said a senior FBI official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The agents told him he was in a dangerous place and could be harmed, the official said.

A few days after his release, a U.S. consular officer offered Berg a chance to fly back to America but he declined, spokeswoman Kelly Shannon said.

"He told the consular officer that he planned to travel over land to Kuwait and would call the family from there," Shannon said.

Berg's family in West Chester, Pa., has said they did not hear from him after April 9. His decapitated body was discovered Saturday by U.S. military personnel.

A video posted Tuesday on a Web site linked to al-Qaida showed Berg beheaded by a group that said it was to avenge the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers.

The FBI will lead the investigation into Berg's death along with military, intelligence and other U.S. agencies.
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Why the f*ck did they let a CIVILIAN into Iraq in the first place?! His family needs to sue the State Department.

strandinthewind · #74 05-12-2004, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissention

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...st_pe/fbi_berg

FBI: Agents Advised Berg to Leave Iraq

1 hour, 46 minutes ago Add White House - AP Cabinet & State to My Yahoo!
By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The FBI (news - web sites) warned Nicholas Berg shortly before his disappearance that Iraq (news - web sites) was too volatile a place for unprotected American civilians but he turned down a State Department offer to fly him home, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

Berg was detained by Iraqi police at a checkpoint in the northern city of Mosul on March 24 and was released April 6.

FBI agents interviewed Berg three times while he was in the custody of Iraqi police, said a senior FBI official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The agents told him he was in a dangerous place and could be harmed, the official said.

A few days after his release, a U.S. consular officer offered Berg a chance to fly back to America but he declined, spokeswoman Kelly Shannon said.

"He told the consular officer that he planned to travel over land to Kuwait and would call the family from there," Shannon said.

Berg's family in West Chester, Pa., has said they did not hear from him after April 9. His decapitated body was discovered Saturday by U.S. military personnel.

A video posted Tuesday on a Web site linked to al-Qaida showed Berg beheaded by a group that said it was to avenge the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers.

The FBI will lead the investigation into Berg's death along with military, intelligence and other U.S. agencies.
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Why the f*ck did they let a CIVILIAN into Iraq in the first place?! His family needs to sue the State Department.

Well, actually, the govt. tried to get him out, but he refused. As for how he got there, he may have flown in with work orders, etc. Or, unbekownest to the State Dept., he may have flown to a country that currently flies into Iraq - like how Americans currently get to Cuba - or into Turkey or Kuwaitt and then crossed the border. In any event, it is strange. We do not know all of the facts. From this and others I have read, he was warned not to stay, but did. I find it strange that someone would willingly walk through the highly explosive Sunni Triangle and then across 1,000 or more miles of desert to get to Kuwait. It sounds to me like he was a spy, smuggling something, or up to something. I mean why else would he do this and why wlse would the Iraqi's take him into custody and then let the FBI have access to him several times. Then he refuses help

I have not read where he was working in any official capacity. But, I have not read everything, etc. This keeps getting stranger and stranger

dissention · #75 05-12-2004, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Well, actually, the govt. tried to get him out, but he refused. As for how he got there, he may have flown in with work orders, etc. Or, unbekownest to the State Dept., he may have flown to a country that currently flies into Iraq - like how Americans currently get to Cuba - or into Turkey or Kuwaitt and then crossed the border. In any event, it is strange. We do not know all of the facts. From this and others I have read, he was warned not to stay, but did. I find it strange that someone would willingly walk through the highly explosive Sunni Triangle and then across 1,000 or more miles of desert to get to Kuwait. It sounds to me like he was a spy, smuggling something, or up to something. I mean why else would he do this and why wlse would the Iraqi's take him into custody and then let the FBI have access to him several times. Then he refuses help

I have not read where he was working in any official capacity. But, I have not read everything, etc. This keeps getting stranger and stranger

He had no work orders, he went their to cash in on the rebuilding. The crossing the border theory doesn't fly because he emailed his family and said that in order to get home, he would have to go through Turkey; he said that a few days after he was supposedly asked by the State Department to return to the states. If he was warned not to stay but did anyway, the State Department had the power to physically put him on a plane and fly him home. The Iraqi's did not take him into custody; the US did. The US holds authority over and runs the Iraqi police force. Not only did the FBI have access to him, the CIA did, too. AND - the CIA and the FBI went to his family at home and grilled them about Berg and why he was in Iraq. Now, if the US claims that he wasn't int heir custody, it's proven to be a lie. He was wearing a US-issued detainee jumpsuit, his fmaily has emails from the State Department telling them that he was being held by the US, AND they filed suit against the State Department and Rumsfeld for holding him. Then, he is released the day after the lawsuit is filed. Oh, and he was working on the towers at Abu Ghairib, so he couldn't have sneaked in.

All I smell is fish.