Trust the people Houston
PROTEST BUSH AT UN 9am-12:30pm/Sept 24th Message List
Reply Message #1693 of 6415 < Prev | Next >

Group on September 11, 2001

PROTEST THE ILLEGITIMATE RESIDENT WHO HAS THE NERVE TO SPEAK AT THE UN WHEN HE WON'T LET THE US SIGN IMPORTANT TREATIES AND THEREFORE MAKES THE WORLD MORE DANGEROUS! BUSH IS A NATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT AND AN INTERNATIONAL DISGRACE!!!

Here are the details of the protest:

(1)The protest at Dag Hammarskjold (47th St. btwn. 1st and 2nd) will be between 9 am and 12:30 p.m. on Monday Sept. 24th

(2) . However, if you only have one hour to spare please make it either 9:00 a.m.-10 a.m. or 11:30-12:30 since these are the hours that the press will either be coming or going from Bush's speech

(3)Voter March has a permit at Ralphe Bunche Park on 1st ave and 43rd which will hold only 50 people--therefore any additional people who are turned away from this park should join the anti-Bush protest at Dag Hammarskjold where Voter March is a co-sponsor. (If necessary we will send people from Dag Hammarskjold to Ralphe Bunche to keep it at 50--we will communicate by cell phone-- since we want at many people as the park will hold to scream at Bush at this location.) These are the only two locations the police will allow us to demonstrate.

(4) To Volunteer for flyering/postering, phonebanking, and/or outreach to other groups please send your name, email, and (optional) phone number to volunteer@.... There will be petitions to demand the impeachment for the Supreme Court 5 and for a Congressional investigation into the Florida Presidential election and voter registration forms available for tabling.

5) For updates on this protest, any latebreaking protests against Bush during his three day stay in NY (Sept 24th-27th), and future events sign our MAILING LIST, or keep checking http://www.democracymarch.org/unprotest.html or call 212-803-5410 to hear our updated message.

1694
Hi all,

Reporting from mid-town Manhattan. Looking down the Avenue, I can see a
huge cloud of gray and white smoke hovering over downtown Manhattan. The
streets are crowded with people evacuating and emergency vehicles with
sirens are everywhere. Ambulances are coming in from outside the City.
People are trying to call on their cellular phones most of which are not
working. Some people are upset and crying.

Almost everybody in New York has a friend or relative that works at the
WTC. On of my best friend works at a high floor at WTC and I am trying to
contact the family. My 12 year old son was at school when the attack
occurred and they turned on the radio. Two of his classmates had parents
who were working at the WTC and they broke out crying. One of the students
has not heard from his father who works on a high floor. At my son's
school, I met one mother who was trembling. She said she was a few blocks
away from the WTC when one of the buildings blew up and she saw blood soaked
bodies hurled from the building.

I just heard from Tom Kiely of Voter March NY who was outside when the
second WTC Building blew up. He told me that a plume of gray smoke came up
the street and he ran, but got covered with smoke and soot. He is OK now.

Lou Posner
www.votermarch.org

1695
Friends,

I saw the towers on fire and tumble down this morning with thousands
feared dead or maimed.

For all the dialogue and understanding that we have called for, I
can't help thinking of the failure of the left and progressive
movements to stop the horror that has occurred, as we have let this
country slip in adventurism and militarism.

We now will have to revise the way we look at the world and realize
that no one is protected and priviledged, that the actions of our
governement elsewhere have created tremendous hatred for our country
as oppression and dispair has been inflicted in our name.

We cannot call ourselves pacifists if we witness this desintegration
of our world and do not actively oppose the evils our own government
has wreaked on other nations and the resulting madness thus witnessed.

This country, as self-proclaimed leader of the free world, has brought
us closer to a conflagration of scary proportions.

I am calling on all people to remain calm and refrain from fueling the
fire of vengeance and beat the drums of warfare.

1. There is need for donating blood. Please, head for the nearest
location.
2. Call upon our own citizens and government to oppose all calls of
massive retaliation. There is a real possibility that nuclear attacks
may result and the mindless assurances of safety and security given by
our government have shown to be a mere illusion.
3. Step up demands for pacific resolutions of world conflicts as the
ONLY way to save us from further horror.

I will hope that hatred and nationalistic instincts will not have the
best of us and that the people of this world will unite to stop any
further bloodshed.

Please, go to the nearest hospital and give your blood.

Fred
--- End forwarded message ---
1696

What can one say to express the feelings that go through one's mind, heart &
soul at a time like this? Our world is forever changed.

Our hearts go out to all the victims, their families, friends & co-workers
that are effected by the horrible actions that hit home. Our hearts go out
to you.

We may or may not ever learn the full truth. In any event now is the time
for action. We are a people with strength & resolve. We must join together..
blood drives, volunteering, donations, prayers, meditations..

Here is one option:

RED CROSS INFORMATION
http://www.redcross.org/news
http://www.redcross.org/donate/give/
http://www.redcross.org/where/where.html

From the site: To help the victims of disaster, you may make a secure online
credit card donation or call 1-800-HELP NOW (1-800-435-7669) or 1-800-257-
7575 (Spanish). Or you may send your donation to your local Red Cross or to
the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013. To donate
blood, please call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE (1-800-448-3543), or contact your local
Red Cross....

"Whatever you do may seem insignificant, but it is most important that you
do it." ~Gandhi

1697
Message #1697 of 6415 < Prev | Next >

Was Salam bin Laden an embarrassing witness?
" Today one of the biggest construction groups in the kingdom [of
Saudi Arabia] and the Middle East, the "bin Laden empire" traces its
origins to Sheik Mohammed bin Laden, a native of the Chafeite (Sunni)
Hadramout who emigrated [from South Yemen] to Saudi Arabia at the
beginning of the century. The beginnings of his activity are shrouded
in mystery-Khaled Ben Abdullah (an associate of Suleiman Olayan),
still has free access to the king; and Salem bin Laden, who died in
1988. Like his father in 1968, Salem died in a 1988 air crash...in
Texas. He was flying a BAC 1-11 which had been bought in July 1977 by
Prince Mohammed Ben Fahd. The plane's flight plans had long been at
the center of a number of investigations. According to one of the
plane's American pilots, it had been used in October 1980 during
secret Paris meetings between US and Iranian emissaries. Nothing was
ever proven, but Salem bin Laden's accidental death revived some
speculation that he might have been "eliminated" as an embarrassing
witness. In fact, an inquiry was held to determine the exact
circumstances of the accident. The conclusions were never divulged.."
"October Surprise Conspirator on Bush-Cheney Team by URI DOWBENKO
Writing in his column, "Behind the Scenes in the Beltway," government
whistle-blower Al Martin reminds his readers that an old October
Surprise operative, C. Boyden Gray, has become part of the Bush-Cheney
team in the Florida Election Fraud Fiasco. "Bush-Cheney's attorney and
George Bush Sr.'s personal attorney, as well as presidential attorney
C. Boyden Gray is the famous 'Charles Smith' of the October Surprise
scandal," he writes. October Surprise was the name given to a scheme
which corrupted the 1980 presidential election by bribing the Iranians
who held 52 American prisoners hostage Teheran. The intent of this
successful plot was to alter the presidential election-to bring about
the defeat of President Jimmy Carter and to elect the Reagan-Bush
ticket by withholding the release of the American hostages until after
the election. "Gray's prominent facial feature, i.e., his big nose,
was remembered by hotel clerks in Paris and Madrid, and it led to the
busting open of the October Surprise Scandal," writes Martin."
conspiracy planet
4
Note from a different source on this
Consortiumnews Excerpted from article below found at url above "October Surprise: Time for Truth?
Part 2
By Robert Parry The diciest part of the October Surprise saga remains
the allegations of secret Paris meetings between Republicans and
Iranians in fall 1980. According to some of those alleging that the
GOP sabotaged President Carter's pre-election hostage negotiations,
the Paris meetings followed earlier contacts between William Casey and
Iranians in Madrid; in effect, the Paris talks cemented the deal. But
what has made the Paris allegations so controversial is the claim by
some that George Bush, the Republican vice presidential candidate and
former CIA director, slipped away on the weekend of Oct. 18-19, 1980,
and flew to Paris to assure the Iranians of high-level authorization.
The most adamant witness who has claimed to see Bush in Paris is
former Israeli intelligence official Ari Ben-Menashe. An Iraqi Jew
born in Iran, Ben-Menashe speaks fluent Farsi and served as an Israeli
military intelligence operative for at least 10 years, from 1977-87.
In sworn testimony before Congress in 1991-92, Ben-Menashe declared
that he saw Bush and Casey at a downtown Paris hotel as they headed
into a meeting with radical Iranian cleric Mehdi Karrubi.
Ben-Menashe's claim received partial support from a pilot, Heinrich
Rupp, who said he flew Casey to Paris on that weekend and saw a man
resembling Bush at LeBourget airport. Also buttressing Ben-Menashe was
the recollection of Chicago Tribune reporter John Maclean who said he
was informed by a well-placed Republican source in mid-October 1980
that Bush was flying to Paris to meet with Iranians about the 52
Americans then held hostage in Iran. Maclean passed on that news to a
State Department acquaintance who dated their conversation as Oct. 18,
1980. [For more details, see Trick or Treason]." Does anyone really
believe assuming for a moment that the October Surprise theory is true
that Dubya's Daddy and company would do all that just to make Dubya's
Daddy Vice President if he had no higher goals in mind? Was Hinckley
related to Bush? What were the Hinckely Bush Connections? Afghanistan
Banana Republican Stand? Three dimensional Chess Game-James R. Bath
cash flow George W. Bush Bank Credit Commerce International BCCI
Official Reports and the Bush White House- Official US Senate
Report-BCCI Crimes Official US Senate Report-Ed Rogers and BCCI Ed
Rogers-Cash Flowchart BUSH AFGHANISTAN FLOWCHART Bush Afghanistan
Policy Flow Chart *LINK TO MONEY FUNNEL FROM BUSH TO BIN LADEN THE
GW-OSAMA CONNECTION-THE MONEY FUNNEL FROM BUSH TO OSAMA MONEY FLOW
GOES BOTH WAYS Sheikh bin Laden/BCCI to George W. Bush President Bush
to Pakistani General Pakistani General to Osama bin Laden. GENERAL ON
THE PHONE WITH BUSH- BACKER,BAHRAINI SHEIKH- Gen Musharraf further
telephoned Bahraini Emir Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa to inform him of
Pakistan's desire to continue its cooperation with Manama, the
official GNA news agency reported. DAWN OF PAKISTAN, OCT.22,'99
GENERAL OCCUPIES THE POSITION WHICH IS THE FUNNEL TO OSAMA THROUGHOUT
THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION, US FUNDS WERE SECRETLY GIVEN TO OSAMA BIN
LADEN TO ARM AND ORGANIZE THE MUJAHADDIN IN AFGHANISTAN. THE US
EMBASSY BEING CLOSED IN AFGHANISTAN, ALL OF THE MONIES WERE LAUNDERED
BY THE CIA AND TRANSFERRED IN A SURREPTITIOUS FASHION THROUGH THE
OLD-BOY SPY NETWORK-IN THIS CASE, THE PAKISTANI INTELLIGENCE
SERVICE-WHICH IS THE ARMY INTELLIGENCE. THE ARMY INTELLIGENCE IS
DIRECTLY COMMANDED BY THE PAKISTANI CHIEF OF STAFF. GENERAL PERVAIZ
MUSHARRAF IS THE PAKISTANI CHIEF OF STAFF. WHO IS THE SECRET OSAMA
FUNNEL TODAY? *LINK TO GENERAL IS HIS NAME GW BUSH KNOWS, FULL WELL,
THE NAME AND THE POSITION OF GENERAL PERVAIZ MUSHARRAF. HE IS THE
FUNNEL. GENERAL IS RAPIDLY CONSOLIDATING COMMAND GW BUSH PLAYS DUMB
WHEN IT COMES TO PAKISTAN-SOME SAY IT IS CONVINCING HILLER: Can you
name the general who's in BUSH: Wait a minute, is this a-is this a-is
this 50 questions? HILLER: No, it's four questions of four leaders in
four hot spots. BUSH: The new Pakistani General has just been
elected. He's not elected; this guy took over office. He appears he's
going to bring stability to the country, and I think that's good news
for the subcontinent. HILLER (on-camera): And you
can name him?
BUSH: General-I can name the general. HILLER: And
it's BUSH:
General."
Library

"BCCI financed some of the Enterprise's arms-for-hostages deals with Iran.
Arms merchants linked to the October Surprise banked with BCCI. The
CIA funneled funds through the bank to underwrite the Agency's secret
wars in Afghanistan and Nicaragua. Sheikh Kamal Adham, the founder of
Saudi Arabia's intelligence service, also played a key role on behalf
of BCCI in the takeover of Financial General, which was renamed First
American Bankshares. BCCI also was a channel for covert U.S. funds for
the Afghan mujehedin. The CIA transferred funds for weapons to the
mujehedin through BCCI branches in Pakistan. BCCI also helped the CIA,
NSC, and other U.S. agencies supply weapons clandestinely to the
mujehedin. During the 1980s, the U.S.secretly provided the mujehedin
with more than $2 billion, making the proxy war against the Soviet
forces in Afghanistan the biggest U.S. covert operation since World
War II Authorities say because BCCI's Abedi was so well connected to
the Pakistani government, the bank played a key role in organizing CIA
arms shipments from that country to the Afghan rebels. Abedi
facilitated secret visits by Casey to Islamabad, where Casey conferred
with Pakistani officials. BCCI had close ties to Pakistani
intelligence circles. Retired senior Pakistani intelligence officials
were employed by Attock Oil and International Travel Corporation,
companies connected to BCCI. The father of Amjad Awan of BCCI-Miami,
who managed Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega's accounts, was a former
head of Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence agency BCCI shareholder
Prince Turki worked hand-in-glove with the CIA in funding the proxy
war in Afghanistan. Turki, working closely with ISI, distributed more
than $ 1 billion in Saudi funds to the mujehedin in the 1980s. ISI
officials, with guidance from the CIA, provided day-to-day military
advice to the mujehedin." http://www.sfsu.edu/~abssa/Report7.html
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/cheney1.html "Cheney consistently
voted for President Reagan's domestic and foreign-policy agenda, and
was a steadfast supporter of the "Star Wars" program. He also backed
military funding of the Contras, as well as the rebels in Afghanistan
and Angola The World Trade Center bombers managed to vaporize
President Clinton's limo. More than likely, like the attempt on the
life of Al Haig when he was at NATO some years back, or the hit on
some important Russians in Chechnya , the World Trade Center bomb was
remote controlled. The presumed presence of numerous walkie talkies,
perhaps cell phones, etc. used by people, perhaps agents of the
American government in the World Trade Center involved in security for
that limo and other vehicles kept there may have accidentally hit the
detonating frequency for that bomb. The van used to bring the bomb
into the Trade Center was brought in on that Friday. Clinton was
scheduled for an appearance at Rutgers University in New Brunswick,New
Jersey the following Monday. The weekend would have little traffic so
bringing the bomb in that Friday with the cover of normal week-day
traffic would make more sense than looking out of place bringing it in
on the weekend. New Brunswick, New Jersey is a long drive but a short
helicopter ride from the World Trade Center in Manhattan which has a
heliport . Clinton would have presumably taken a chopper to that
heliport,gone down to the basement, gotten into his limo and then
someone on site would have detonated the van blowing the limo up with
Clinton inside it. Iraq may well have had a hand in this as another
key member of that gang is said to have escaped to Iraq using
documents provided by Iraq. During the Gulf War the same gang killed
the Speaker of the Egyptian Parliament when Egypt broke ranks with
Iraq over the invasion of Kuwait. The same gang is alleged to have
assassinated Sadat. They do heads of state and Parliament Speakers,
they don't do parking lots, unless there is a Presidential limo in
them, and unless there Is a President inside the limo. Please read 2
very important books on Iraq:
REPUBLIC OF FEAR: THE INSIDE STORY OF SADDAM'S IRAQ by SAMIR AL-KHALIL
Paperback (1991) DIANE Publishing Co; ISBN: 0091751713 SPIDER'S WEB :
THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOW THE WHITE HOUSE ILLEGALLY ARMED IRAQ by
Alan Friedman ASIN: 0553096508 http://www.v-2.org/infowar.html "The
first battle of the first war of the twenty-first century began and
ended in under 30 seconds sometime after 12:18 on the afternoon of
Friday, February 26th, 1993, with the detonation of a relatively small
explosive device that took out four levels of parking garage beneath
New York City's World Trade Center- some people made note of the fact
that the limousine President Clinton uses when in New York was berthed
in the garage where the bomb was detonated. OSAMA BIN LADEN BIDES HIS
TIME; TO STRIKE THE USA AGAIN? US airmen. There is also evidence that
bin Laden may had been connected to the February 1993 bombing of the
World Trade Center in New York City that killed six.
binLadin
"THE GW BUSH-OSAMA BIN
LADIN CONNECTION
Three dimensional Chess Game-Click on Writing James
R. Bath cash flow George W. Bush Bank Credit Commerce International
BCCI Official Reports and the Bush White House-click Official US
Senate Report-BCCI Crimes Official US Senate Report-Ed Rogers and BCCI
Ed Rogers-Cash Flowchart BUSH AFGHANISTAN FLOWCHART Bush Afghanistan
Policy Flow Chart *LINK TO MONEY FUNNEL FROM BUSH TO BIN LADEN THE
GW-OSAMA CONNECTION-THE MONEY FUNNEL FROM BUSH TO OSAMA MONEY FLOW
GOES BOTH WAYS Sheikh bin Laden/BCCI to George W. Bush President Bush
to Pakistani General Pakistani General to Osama bin Laden"
Subject: MER:
Diana
- The Saudi Connection At American University in Washington,
D.C., there is a very large building with the name ADNAN KHASHOGGI
writ large for all to see. Former Arab League Ambassador Clovis
Maksoud has his office nearby. It's also quite an embarrassment
however. Once praised as an international businessman, Khashoggi is
now known to have been an international arms salesman and a swindler
working closely with the Saudi Royal family as an intermediary.
Criminal indictments and law suits galore are now associated with his
name. AU took his money before the crash, and remains stuck with his
name, though rumors abound the university has been looking for some
other wealthy patron to make a new deal with. The family fortune of
Emad Mohamed "Dodi" el-Fayed can be traced not to Egypt, but rather to
the two sources of Muslim cash and unbridled corruption in our era -
the Saudi royal family and the Sultan of Brunei. Indeed, the main
reason Dodi's father has been unable to obtain British citizenship and
wasn't even sure he'd be able to bury his son in England, can be
traced back to his very shady business dealings where he repeatedly
lied about the source of his funds and on whose behalf he was acting.
The connection to the Saudi royal family is through Dodi's mother,
the sister of Adnan Khashoggi. And irony of ironies, much of the money
that has built the Mohamed Fayed empire and that however indirectly
contributed to the death of the Princess of Wales, so known in recent
days for her anti-land-mines and humanitarian efforts, began as
commissions and profits from arms sales." LePore Khashoggi Bush
Harriman Butterfly Ballot Designer Le Pore Khashoggi Bush The Wall
Street Journal of December 1st, 2000 page one states: " 'Madame
Butterfly' Theresa Le Pore wasn't always an embattled Palm Beach
ballots chief. In the 1980s she moonlighted as a flight attendant on
private planes owned by Saudi weapons dealer Adnan Khashoggi, a
middleman in Reagan administration arms sales to Iran." Theresa Le
Pore designed the infamous Butterfly Ballot in Palm Beach Florida.
The Plot Thickens as they say, or does it, time will tell. Pamela
Harriman was married to Randolph Churchill before she married Averell
Harriman. Averell Harriman was the partner in Brown Brothers,
Harriman, with Prescott Bush, the father of former President Bush, and
with George Herbert Walker, former President Bush's grandfather. The W
in George W. Bush stands for Walker. Pamela's son was named after his
grandfather, Winston Churchill. Pamela's son ,Winston's alleged
former mistress was Soraya Khashoggi, who was the former wife of arms
dealer Adnan Khashoggi. Small world isn't it. Khashoggi was also
allegedly deeply involved with former President Bush in the
Iran-Contra Affair. "The Churchill Society London Mr Churchill, whose
former mistress Soraya Khashoggi, the former wife of arms dealer Adnan
http://www.churchill-society-london.org.uk/wscminor.html "THE TIMES
NEWSPAPER 19th February 1997 By Andrew Pierce and Tom Rhodes
WINSTON CHURCHILL who spent most of his life living in the shadow of
his glamorous mother Pamela Harriman, was left $10 million (6.2
million pounds) in her will it was disclosed yesterday."
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1997/dom/970915/princess.outside_lok
in.html "OUTSIDE LOOKING IN to Saudi Arabia. The company took off,
and not long after, al Fayed married Khashoggi's sister Samira, who
gave birth to Dodi in 1955. He divorced her after" to prove, but
Richard Taus, former FBI agent, states that Al Fayed and Khashoggi
were connected to the Iran/Contra scandal through Castle Securities.
Castle ". http://paranoiamagazine.com/24Article2.htm "of Europe. Dodi
Fayed, beloved of Lady Diana, is a cousin of Adnan Khashoggi, a CIA
asset involved in sales of arms to Iran-he and Oliver North. Adnan"
http://www.konformist.com/vault/lady-di/lady-di-notes.txt "This is not
the first time LePore has changed parties. She first registered as a
Republican in 1973 but switched to non-party in 1978.
She has since said she followed her parents in registering with the
GOP but changed when she increasingly
was working with political candidates and campaigns in the elections
office. Before running for office in 1996, she became a Democrat, in
part because her predecessor was a Democrat. Brad Hahn can be reached
at bhahn@s... or 561-832-2905."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/sfl-pplepore09may09.story?coll=sfla%2
Dnews%2Dfront "a Web search turned up the site of
the London-based Burke's Peerage (www.burkestitles.com), I knew
I could stop looking. The company no longer puts out the
authoritative Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, which it sold off in
the 1970s, but it compiles a number of genealogical volumes, and its
publishing director, Harold Brooks-Baker (an American-and as yet
a commoner), is the world's most quoted expert on royalty and
aristocracy. It was Brooks-Baker who revealed that Colin Powell is
related to the late Princess Diana"
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2001/02/rocca.htm
"Descents from Edward I [descendant of Henry III] James Madison, US
President William Henry Harrison, US President (Benjamin Harrison, US President
Grover Cleveland, US President Walt Disney Gerald Ford, US President
George Bush, US President George W. Bush General Colin Powell"
http://www.christianity.com/partner/Article_Display_Page/1,1183,PTID25
46%7CCHID101697%7CCIID142477,00.html
"Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson was born on March 22, 1930, in
Lexington, Virginia, to A. Willis Robertson and Gladys Churchill
Robertson. His father served for 34 years in the U.S. House of
Representatives and Senate. Robertson's ancestry includes Benjamin
Harrison, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and governor of
Virginia, and two United States presidents, William Henry Harrison
and Benjamin Harrison, Robertson also shares ancestry with
WinstonChurchill." The illustrious Dulles Family is described below
http://www.petersvoice.com/dulles.htm "FRIDAY January 26, 2001
With all respect to his great-grandfather who was Secretary of State
under President Benjamin Harrison in the 19th century; with reverence
to his grandfather who was a respected Presbyterian minister and
professor of theology; with all consideration to his father who was
Secretary of State and had an airport named after him in Washington,
D.C.; and in courtesy to his uncle who was CIA Director, the greatest
honor for the illustrious Dulles dynasty will come on February 21,
when Father Avery Dulles, S.J. is presented the scarlet biretta by
Pope John Paul II in Rome." The Dulles brothers, Allen Dulles (later
to become CIA director) and John Foster Dulles, Later to become
Secretary of State are described in Spanning the Century: The Life
of W. Averell Harriman, 1891-1986 Hardcover, Morrow/Avon, July 1992
ISBN: 0688043526 Author: Abramson, Rudy on page 159 as : "Averell's
lawyers, the brothers Allen and John Foster Dulles."
http://www.observer.com/pages/story.asp?ID=3774 "Another dependable
Bush ally is Pat Robertson. The wealthy televangelist and Christian
Coalition leader also controls Operation Blessing, a far-flung
charitable outfit that he expects to benefit from the President's
faith-based federal boodle. He, too, has had his troubles with
government authorities, due to violations of the Christian Coalition's
tax-exempt status and also because of Operation Blessing's misuse of
certain assets to serve his commercial enterprises. Specifically, the
charity's airplanes were found to have secretly transported personnel
and equipment for a diamond-mining enterprise in Zaire, undertaken
by Mr. Robertson in 1994 with the blessing of the late and unlamented
dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. An expose of that affair by the
Virginian-Pilot newspaper led to a state investigation of Operation
Blessing two years ago. That probe's findings were embarrassing, but
Virginia's Republican governor and attorney general-both recipients of
large contributions from Mr Robertson-saw no reason to seek
indictments or fines. And now, quite predictably, Mr. Robertson
anticipates a nice big check for Operation Blessing from his White
House friends. With one hand he feeds the hungry, while with the other
he endorses and finances candidates like George W. Bush."
http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4096508,00.h
tml "Bush could redeem himself in Africa. In 1996, as genocide in
Rwanda fomented civil war in Zaire, Barrick smelt opportunity. We have
learnt that, at that time, Bush spoke with his old golfing buddy,
Mobutu Sese Seko (then dictator of Zaire) about diamond concessions. I
don't know what ex-CIA director Bush told the panicked dictator, but
we do know that Mobutu granted Barrick exclusive rights to mine
diamonds in north-west Zaire. Maybe Bush talked about Barrick's mining
experience in neighbouring Tanzania where, according
to Amnesty International, Barrick's subsidiary carried out
'extra-judicial killings'. Amnesty reports that 50 independent miners
who refused to move off the Barrick unit's concession were buried
alive in the pits by company bulldozers. Ex-Pres George Bush was
lucky, too. When the electorate booted him from the White House, he
landed softly - on the Barrick Goldstrike payroll, where he
comfortably nested until last year. Who is Barrick? Its founder,
Peter Munk, made his name in Canada in the 1950s as the figure in an
infamous insider stock-trading scandal. Munk headed a small speaker
manufacturer that went belly-up, just after he sold his stock. This
is not quite the expected pedigree for an international minerals
mogul. If we look in the shadows behind Munk we can see the more
accomplished player who provided the capital to set up Barrick -
Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. During Bush's presidency, Khashoggi
was identified as conduit in the Iran-Contra conspiracy. He had
already run into trouble with US lawmen when, in 1986, he was arrested
and charged - but not convicted - of fraud. He was bailed out of the
New York prison by Munk, who provided the $4m bond. Bush performed an
even bigger favour for Khashoggi: as his last act in office, the
president pardoned Khashoggi's alleged co-conspirators, key members of
Bush's own cabinet. As a result, no case could be made against
Khashoggi." (Had Weinberger not been pardoned by Bush he might have
been forced to testify against Bush.)