Montgomery County, MD Green Party Blog

Rice, Gates to Discuss Arms Sale Plans with Gulf States, Egypt and Israel

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice formally announced today that the United States intends to provide billions of dollars in arms sales and assistance to six Gulf states, Egypt and Israel to boost security against Iran.

Rice made the announcement hours before she and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates left the United States to travel to the Middle East, where they will meet Arab and Israeli leaders to discuss the arms packages, as well as efforts to stabilize Iraq and possibilities for generating new movement in the Arab-Israeli peace process.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/30/AR2007073000623.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Well, there you have it folks:  Shrub plans to promote peace…by rearming everyone to the teeth!  Is the Man a hypocrite?  Or is he merely delusional?  I do know that he is a first class S.O.B.

I got this from S. L. Robinson via the Green All Views Listserve. As you can see from the article, Zionism as a racist ideology is alive and well…

A report by two major Israeli civil rights organizations that was issued Sunday indicates that Palestinians abandoned more than 1,000 homes and at least 1,829 businesses in the center of Hebron due to pressure by the Israel Defense Forces, the police and Jewish settlers. Many of those referred to fled during the second intifada, beginning in September 2000.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Civil Rights in the Occupied Territories, claim that a “policy of separation on a national basis” is being imposed in Hebron.

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It states furthermore that the fabric of Palestinian life in Hebron has been badly damaged as a result of the severe restriction of movement imposed by the IDF on the city’s Arab inhabitants, particularly since the outbreak of the second intifada. IDF policy prohibits Palestinians from walking or driving on the main streets of the city; the army also uses military orders to close Palestinian-owned business and prevents local authorities from enforcing the law against settlers who use violence against Palestinians and their property.

In addition, the organizations claim, there is a “routine of violence and harassment” on the part of the security forces against Palestinian residents. In the first three years of the intifada, curfews were imposed against those living in the center of Hebron on at least 377 days, often for days at a time, with short breaks in which those affected were allowed to stock up on provisions.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/859084.html

Dan Froomkin writes White House Watch for the WaPo website.

North Korean Humor
Reuters reports: “As military chiefs from both sides of the Korean peninsula met on Tuesday for talks, a general from the North started proceedings by telling a joke at George W. Bush’s expense.

“‘I recently read a piece of political humour on the Internet called ’saving the president’,’ Lieutenant-General Kim Yong-chol was quoted as saying in pool reports from the talks.

“He then retold the old yarn about Bush who goes out jogging one morning and, preoccupied with international affairs, fails to notice that a car is heading straight at him.

“A group of schoolchildren pull the president away just in time, saving his life, and a grateful Bush offers them anything they want in the world as a reward.

“‘We want a place reserved for us at Arlington Memorial Cemetery,’ say the children.

“‘Why is that?’ he asks.

“‘Because our parents will kill us if they find out what we’ve done.’”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/05/08/BL2007050800898_pf.html

Deregister the Democrats! 

The House Democratic leadership’s bill to end the war is a cruel hoax.

• It will keep the war going well into 2008.
• It omits Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s amendment which would have fully funded withdrawal by the end of 2007.
• It gives the President the right to waive requirements that troops sent to Iraq be properly trained, equipped and rested.
• There is no prohibition on using the money to attack Iraq.
• Troops can stay in Iraq beyond the deadline to “capture or kill” Al Qaeda or other terrorists, or to train Iraqi troops–effectively giving Bush a loophole big enough to do as he wishes.

Conscientious anti-war Democrats came under relentless pressure to abandon their principles.

Authors of the appropriation had to resort to illogical and false arguments: they did not have the votes to cut off funding (how many votes does it take not to pass a bill?)  The bill would outlaw the war after a certain  date (but has so many loopholes that it is totally ineffective.)  The bill would require that the troops be properly trained and equipped (unless Bush certified the need for them.)

Democrats selling a plan that it no better than the administration’s and they are being nearly as disingenuous in doing so.  We cannot survive having two war parties run our government.

Individuals have few tools with which to change Congress’ course.  The most powerful–the vote-is two years away.  We have called and written our legislators and occupied their offices and not yet been successful.  It is time to send the Democrats a message that we will not support a policy that continues this disastrous war. Change your registration, leave the party, and let your representatives know that if they don’t defund the war, you will not be back.

Here are links to state boards of elections with registration forms you can download.  Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, D.C., Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming.

“The time has come when silence is betrayal.” -Martin Luther King

Hundreds of Greens took part in Saturday’s march against the war. Greens from Illinois, Maine, Virginia, Florida and other states rallied at McPherson Square before the demonstration and then marched to the mall. Maryland Greens were well represented.

Many other Greens marched with local groups or (true to the Green grassroot democracy) dispersed among the crowd.

The Green Party table was busy with people signing up for information, buying flags, shirts, or bumper stickers.

I was approached by numerous people in the crowd looking for the “Green Party; Peace Party” flags. Unfortunately, our supply ran out before the requests did.

Rob Savidge from the Anne Arundel local reported for community radio station WRYR, which also webcast their live feed around the country. Around 100,000 people marched; others cheered from the sidelines, like the Iraqi Veterans against the war. The crowd was very diverse, including all ages and persuasions. It was a heartfelt demonstration against an unjust and illegal war.

GREEN PARTY! PEACE PARTY!