Ray M. on Sept. 22, 2004 at USF
I'd say he was definitely MIHOP in 2004. He supported Cindy Sheehan's Crawford, TX protest, and he's also pretty active- writes a column at:
http://www.antiwar.com/mcgovern/?articleid=3236
Ray M. from:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0922-01.htm
"It wasn't a bipartisan commission; it was more like a bipolar commission," McGovern said. "To say that no one could prevent 9/11 was a bold-faced lie. It basically let the president and everyone responsible off the hook."
He went on to talk about the faulty intelligence attorney general John Ashcroft used when he announced that terrorist attacks may occur before or around election time, saying that elections might have to be postponed if the United States is attacked.
"There might be a real or staged terrorist attack in order to postpone the elections," McGovern said. "This might seem outlandish; I hope it is."
Former CIA Agent Says Bush to Blame for 9/11
by Chris Gardner
Bush "Signed Off" to Bomb Iran in June 2005?
I recently found this old (but still relevant?) news item:
http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/2295/
NEWS: Scott Ritter says US attack on Iran planned for June
Written by Mark Jensen Sunday, 20 February 2005
On Friday evening in Olympia, former UNSCOM weapons inspector Scott Ritter appeared with journalist Dahr Jamail. -- Ritter made two shocking claims: George W. Bush has "signed off" on plans to bomb Iran in June 2005, and the U.S. manipulated the results of the Jan. 30 elections in Iraq. -- NOTE: This article has generated extraordinary public and media interest. -- As of July 16, it has received 99,162 hits. -- The article, or parts of it, have also been posted on more than 11,000 web sites. -- It has been cited or alluded to by many publications and journalists, including the Economist, ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern, and a commentator for Salon.com (see below), as well as by web sites around the world, including in Iran, and inquiries have been from ABC News, Pacifica Radio, etc. -- Some believe that President George W. Bush's remarks at a Brussels news conference on Feb. 22 (the birthday of George Washington), at which he said that the idea of U.S. military action against Iran "is simply ridiculous," then provoked laughter by adding immediately afterwards, "But having said that, all options are on the table," had some connection to Scott Ritter's assertions.... SCOTT RITTER SAYS U.S. PLANS JUNE ATTACK ON IRAN, ‘COOKED’ JAN. 30 IRAQI ELECTION RESULTS
By Mark Jensen
United for Peace of Pierce County (WA)
February 19, 2005
Scott Ritter, appearing with journalist Dahr Jamail yesterday in Washington State, dropped two shocking bombshells in a talk delivered to a packed house in Olympia’s Capitol Theater. The ex-Marine turned UNSCOM weapons inspector said that George W. Bush has "signed off" on plans to bomb Iran in June 2005, and claimed the U.S. manipulated the results of the recent Jan. 30 elections in Iraq.
Olympians like to call the Capitol Theater "historic," but it's doubtful whether the eighty-year-old edifice has ever been the scene of more portentous revelations.
The principal theme of Scott Ritter's talk was Americans’ duty to protect the U.S. Constitution by taking action to bring an end to the illegal war in Iraq. But in passing, the former UNSCOM weapons inspector stunned his listeners with two pronouncements. Ritter said plans for a June attack on Iran have been submitted to President George W. Bush, and that the president has approved them. He also asserted that knowledgeable sources say U.S. officials "cooked" the results of the Jan. 30 elections in Iraq.
On Iran, Ritter said that President George W. Bush has received and signed off on orders for an aerial attack on Iran planned for June 2005. Its purported goal is the destruction of Iran’s alleged program to develop nuclear weapons, but Ritter said neoconservatives in the administration also expected that the attack would set in motion a chain of events leading to regime change in the oil-rich nation of 70 million -- a possibility Ritter regards with the greatest skepticism.
The former Marine also said that the Jan. 30 elections, which George W. Bush has called "a turning point in the history of Iraq, a milestone in the advance of freedom," were not so free after all. Ritter said that U.S. authorities in Iraq had manipulated the results in order to reduce the percentage of the vote received by the United Iraqi Alliance from 56% to 48%.
Asked by UFPPC's Ted Nation about this shocker, Ritter said an official involved in the manipulation was the source, and that this would soon be reported by a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist in a major metropolitan magazine -- an obvious allusion to New Yorker reporter Seymour M. Hersh.
On Jan. 17, the New Yorker posted an article by Hersh entitled The Coming Wars (New Yorker, January 24-31, 2005). In it, the well-known investigative journalist claimed that for the Bush administration, "The next strategic target [is] Iran." Hersh also reported that "The Administration has been conducting secret reconnaissance missions inside Iran at least since last summer." According to Hersh, "Defense Department civilians, under the leadership of Douglas Feith, have been working with Israeli planners and consultants to develop and refine potential nuclear, chemical-weapons, and missile targets inside Iran. . . . Strategists at the headquarters of the U.S. Central Command, in Tampa, Florida, have been asked to revise the military’s war plan, providing for a maximum ground and air invasion of Iran. . . . The hawks in the Administration believe that it will soon become clear that the Europeans’ negotiated approach [to Iran] cannot succeed, and that at that time the Administration will act."
Scott Ritter said that although the peace movement failed to stop the war in Iraq, it had a chance to stop the expansion of the war to other nations like Iran and Syria. He held up the specter of a day when the Iraq war might be remembered as a relatively minor event that preceded an even greater conflagration.
Scott Ritter's talk was the culmination of a long evening devoted to discussion of Iraq and U.S. foreign policy. Before Ritter spoke, Dahr Jamail narrated a slide show on Iraq focusing on Fallujah. He showed more than a hundred vivid photographs taken in Iraq, mostly by himself. Many of them showed the horrific slaughter of civilians.
Dahr Jamail argued that U.S. mainstream media sources are complicit in the war and help sustain support for it by deliberately downplaying the truth about the devastation and death it is causing.
Jamail was, until recently, one of the few unembedded journalists in Iraq and one of the only independent ones. His reports have gained a substantial following and are available online at dahrjamailiraq.com.
Friday evening's event in Olympia was sponsored by the Heroico Batallon de San Patricio and the BRICK student organization at South Puget Sound Community College; South Puget Sound Community College's Student Activities Board, Veterans for Peace, 100 Thousand and Counting, Olympia Movement for Justice & Peace, and United for Peace of Pierce County were co-sponsors.
--
NOTE: Dahr Jamail will make three more appearances in the Puget Sound area this weekend: (1) SATURDAY, FEB. 19, 7:00 p.m., at the Kirkland Congregational Church, 106 5th Avenue, Kirkland WA. Admission $5 -- Sponsored by Evergreen Peace & Justice; (2) SUNDAY, FEB. 20, 1:00 p.m. at the Vashon Land Trust. Vashon Islanders for Peace will be hosting Dahr Jamail and Bert Sacks on the subject of Exit Strategies from Iraq; (3) SUNDAY, FEB. 20, 7:30 p.m. at UW Kane Hall, Room 120. Hosted by the Interfaith Network Of Concern for the people of Iraq (INOC), the University of Washington -- Department of Communication, the Iraqi Community Center of Seattle (ICCS), and the United Nations Association, Seattle.
NOTE: This piece generated extraordinary public and media interest. As of Mar. 13, it has received 85,775 hits; the volume of hits caused the UFPPC web site to crash several times on Feb. 21. The article, or parts of it, have also been posted on more than 3,000 web sites. It has been cited or alluded to by many publications and journalists, including the Economist, ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern, and a commentator for Salon.com (see below), as well as by web sites around the world, including in Iran, and inquiries have been from ABC News, Pacifica Radio, etc. -- Some believe that President George W. Bush's remarks at a Brussels news conference on Feb. 22 (the birthday of George Washington), at which he said that the idea of U.S. military action against Iran "is simply ridiculous," then provoked laughter by adding immediately afterwards, "But having said that, all options are on the table," had some connection to Scott Ritter's assertions. -- Event organizer Dan Leahy of Evergreen College suggests those trying to reach Scott Ritter write to at Jef@GreaterTalent.com
ADDENDUM: Scott Ritter spoke on KIRO 710 radio on Feb. 21. Bob Rudolph of UFPPC (and Veterans of Peace) reports that he repeated then the substance of what he said in Olympia on Feb. 18. A little later Ritter also confirmed the assertions to Salon.com.
--Mark Jensen is a member of United for Peace of Pierce County.
Last Updated ( Sunday, 17 July 2005 )
