December 3, 2000 (Observer)
Bush will continue to lean on the so-called 'Iron Triangle' of his closest aides throughout his political career. The most visible of these is spokeswoman Karen Hughes

The second point of the triangle is the buzz-cut Oklahoman Joe Allbaugh, quiet enforcer of the governor's will. He would be the White House 'thought police', with a further role to mediate friction that exists, hidden, between Hughes and the apex of the Iron Triangle, Karl Rove.
And so, behind the political 'Iron Triangle' is the real 'Iron Triangle' also lying in wait with Bush - the businessmen.
Foremost among these is Don Evans, the rainmaker.
Bush must thank Richard Rainwater for his money.
Rainwater is most famous for investing the oil wealth of the third point of Bush's business Iron Triangle - the Bass Brothers, builders of the metropolis Fort Worth. He turned the $50 million they invested with him in 1970 to $5 billion in 1986, mainly through timely investing in Texaco oil and Disney.

OK, I'll spell it out: George W. Bush and his entire senior administration lied, and continue to lie, flagrantly, openly, knowingly, with full intent, about the need to drive this nation into a brutal and unwinnable and fiscally debilitating war, one that protects no one and inhibits no terrorism and defends nothing


NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 26 through November 1, 2003, as Protection From Pornography Week.


It's the case that doesn't exist. Even though two different federal courts have conducted hearings and issued rulings, there has been no public record of any action. No documents are available. No files. No lawyer is allowed to speak about it. Period.
This is among the first of the post-Sept. 11 terrorism cases to wend its way to the nation's highest tribunal. There was no public record of its existence, however, until the appeal was filed with the clerk of the US Supreme Court.


Sept. 11/2001
The attack occurs. The morning of the attack George Bush Sr. is meets with members of the Carlyle Group in Washington. Bin Laden's own brother is at the meeting.


George Bush was picked as Ronald Reagan’s running mate at the very last moment and largely by a combination of chance and some behind-the-scenes maneuvering.


It came to my attention during my last days in Congress that Bobby was considering King for his running mate. Now, imagine the America we might have had.


Bowden concludes in the story's setup. "Hereafter I will use 'torture' to mean the more severe traditional outrages, and 'coercion' to refer to torture lite, or moderate physical pressure."


A scientist funded by the U.S. government has deliberately created an extremely deadly form of mousepox, a relative of the smallpox virus, through genetic engineering.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Coalition forces in Iraq have detained two Al-Jazeera staffers on allegations they had prior knowledge of a car bombing in Baghdad

'It's knowing who they are, where they are and when they act. If we know anything from Vietnam and the various things that have gone on in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is that our humint [human intelligence] is terrible. We know that we were woefully under-prepared in general.'

And they have very little difficulty in getting materiel for attacks or the money to finance the operations. Iraqi military doctrine under Saddam, especially after the first Gulf war, long envisaged the risk of a second US-led invasion that would attempt to depose the regime. The consequence was the placement across the country of hidden caches of weapons, explosives, fuel and cash, all in vast amounts - everything required to run a guerrilla war.

The bloody toll
US troops
359 dead - of which 234 died in combat (119 since end of the war) and 125 in non-combat (102 since end of the war)
563 wounded

UK troops
51 dead - of which 19 died in combat (11 since end of the war) and 32 in non-combat (seven since end of the war)
53 wounded

Iraqi forces
Estimates of between 4,895 and 6,370 (unofficial thinktank estimates) total deaths during the war.

Iraqi civilians
Estimates range from 7,784 to 20,000 (www.iraqbodycount.net)

Journalists and media workers
19 dead (Non-combat - accidents and friendly fire)



U.S. linguist and political dissident Noam Chomsky said on Wednesday that President Bush will have to "manufacture" another threat to American security to win reelection in 2004 after U.S failure in occupying Iraq.

After the "disaster" of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Bush could turn his sights on Communist-run Cuba, which his administration officials have charged with developing a biological weapons research program

"The country had been devastated by sanctions. The invasion ended sanctions. The tyrant is gone and there is no outside support for domestic dissidence," he said. "It takes real talent to fail in this endeavor."


Chomsky said it was reasonable to assume the Bush administration would try to "manufacture a short-term improvement in the economy" by incurring in enormous federal government debt and "imposing burdens on future generations."

The Bush administration was a continuation of the Ronald Reagan presidency that declared a national emergency over the threat posed by Nicaragua's leftist government in the 1980s, he said.

"The same people were able to present Grenada as a threat to survival of the United States the last time they were in office," Chomsky said, in reference to the U.S. invasion of the Caribbean island in 1983 to thwart Cuban influence.

"I am sometimes surprised to the degree to which the death of our democracy is reported as if that might really happen," Powell said "Hitler didn't bring down democracy. Stalin didn't bring down democracy. Civil war didn't bring down democracy. I don't think television in America is going to bring down democracy."