Gyroscope

A newsletter for those unmoved by spin.
No. 37, April 26, 2004

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by John Nordin
Negroponte
And isn't it convenient for all concerned that his [Negroponte's] appointment coincides with the decision to give some old Baathist buzzards a role in forming The New Iraq? I mean, if we're going to be hiring guys with some death-squad experience, it's good that we have an ambassador in place who's equally familiar with the job. Anyway, Negroponte played a central role in a policy that at the very best winked at, and at the very worst encouraged, the wholesale slaughter of members of the Roman Catholic clergy. The Maryknolls hate him -- and he's damned lucky the Jesuits aren't doing business the way they once did.
Charles Pierce
As it turns out, the Maryknolls are ticked at him...
Negroponte helped conceal from Congress the murder, kidnapping and torture abuses of a CIA-equipped and -trained Honduran military unit, Battalion 3-16. No mention of these human rights violations ever appeared in State Department Human Rights reports for Honduras. The Baltimore Sun reports that Efrain Diaz Arrivillaga, then a delegate in the Honduran Congress and a voice of dissent, told the Sun that he complained to Negroponte on numerous occasions about the Honduran military's human rights abuses. Rick Chidester, a junior embassy official under Negroponte, reported to the Sun that he was forced to omit an exhaustive gathering of human rights violations from his 1982 State Department report.
Maryknoll Global Alerts
But notice how the mainstream press just has no idea what might have been going on...
Negroponte also has not served in the Middle East and does not speak Arabic. And he faces a lingering controversy about his tenure as ambassador to Honduras in the 1980s, when the Honduran military was accused of human rights abuses. ...

The Honduran government is accused of using such squads to murder, kidnap and torture political opponents. ...

Negroponte denies any knowledge of wrongdoing and was speedily confirmed after the Sept. 11 attacks, when even critics agreed that Bush deserved a full-time voice at the United Nations.

USA Today
"were accused" of human rights abuses? It's like saying, "the New York Yankees were accused of playing baseball." And I like that "even critics" clause - is there anyone who thought the US (not Bush) did not need a full time voice at the UN? Can you say "straw man"?
Sept 11th
If there is one thing that the FBI and CIA are good at doing, it is defending their patch; witness the complete absence of senior sackings after September 11th. Economist, April 17, p. 28
Shell deliberately misled investors about the financial health of the world's third largest oil company. ... The Anglo-Dutch company sacked its chairman ... and his exploration director ... earlier this year after admitting that it had overstated the amount of oil and gas reserves it had in the ground by 20% the Guardian Weekly, April 22, p.1

But if they'd overstated WMD by 20% - that would have been ok...

"I am satisfied that I never saw any intelligence that indicated there was going to be an attack on America - at a time and a place." The next day he added "There was nothing in there that said, you know, there's an imminent attack." Quoting George Bush, in April 2004
"Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have the terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike?" Both quotes, Derrick Jackson, quoting George Bush, in January 2003 State of the Union Speech. Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 15, p. B6.

And what did the President's daily brief actually say on Aug. 6, 2001?

Nevertheless, FBI information since that time indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York.

The FBI is conducting approximately 70 full field investigations throughout the US that it considers Bin Ladin-related. CIA and the FBI are investigating a call to our Embassy in the UAE in May saying that a group of Bin Ladin supporters was in the US planning attacks with explosives.

George Bush: the only man in America who can contradict himself and be wrong both times.
John Kerry

John Kerry .. is fluent in French, Italian, Portuguese, German and Spanish. ... some Republicans have seized on Kerry's linguistic skills and French relatives to tarnish him.... Commerce Secretary Don Evans struck a low blow, calling Kerry a "fellow of a different political stripe who looks French." House Majority Leader Tom DeLay started a lunchtime speech with "Good afternoon, or, as John Kerry might say, bonjour."

Instead of flaunting his world leadership skills Kerry has run for linguistic cover. ... He privately chats in French with continental reporters, but refuses to do TV interviews in French, or even to reply in French to a question if American reporters are around. Conor O'Clery, The Irish Times, April 17, p. 10.
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