Note from the Editor

"US warplanes mistakenly struck six Red Cross warehouses in Kabul -- two of them for a second time in less than 10 days," according to Yahoo News. Notice that it's always a mistake; a recurring mistake but still, only a mistake... "The US sincerely regrets this inadvertent strike on the ICRC warehouses," says the US Central Command in Tampa. It's due "to a human error in the targeting process." Oh well, there was the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, the entire Iraqi water system during the Gulf War, but no, absolutely not, we are not about creating famine in Afghanistan and bombing the civilian population into submission -- or oblivion (your choice, guys!). Look, we have even sent "them" 35,000 rations with peanut butter and all. See, we are not targeting the population. Never have, never will. We are a "compassionate," a "good," a "kind," a "generous" people. Says who? But our president, of course. That's whom.

...And we are being brainwashed, as Jan Baughman acutely demonstrates. When more and more indices point away from the Taliban and bin Laden -- Gilles d'Aymery has unearthed some interesting facts -- the Baghdad Connection (check this outside link) is being touted loud and clear by the main media. Stephen Gowans walks through this with great detail. Against all hope some of us try to keep reason alive, like Helen Mader, by answering the practical question, "What would you do?" But the scarcity of hope cannot compete with another truly scarce commodity, oil...

Sometimes one has to turn to laughter -- bitter laughter as it were -- if one does not want to become utterly despondent. Ed Herman helps in this category. Bombing a country already in rubble into more rubble is like winning a war on Vanuatu. Easy come, easy go! And do not let Milo Clark's sarcasm (and erudite prose) deter you from having a better understanding of the historical forces and trends at hand. You will assuredly learn a lot.

There is more than meets the eye in this rendition. So, take your time, read, think and then, as always, please form your own opinion...and do not forget to let your friends (and foes) know about Swans. It's your voice that makes ours grow.

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Group Thinking and Mind Control

Jan Baughman:  Mind Control in the New Kind of War

In response to the 9-11 attacks, an expert on cults and mind control, Steven Hassan, warned of the danger of jumping to "evil" conclusions. In his statement he explains the indoctrination that can lead an individual to join a cult, or to become a suicide bomber.   More...

Jan Baughman is a Biotech scientist and Swans' co-editor.

 

 
For Ever War – War For Ever.

Stephen Gowans:  Softening Public Opinion For All Out War On Iraq

"I'm convinced that the American people will not only tolerate the casualties that would come from war, they will demand victory."
--Former CIA Director James Woolsey   More...

Stephen Gowans is a writer, a political activist and a Swans' columnist.

 

 

Gilles d'Aymery:  Osama Bin Laden: Convenient Scapegoat?

Let us affirm loud and clear at the outset that we, in America, are a peaceful people. Peace is our god given aspiration. We are a loving people. Love is our god given guide.   More...

Gilles d'Aymery is Swans' publisher and co-editor.

 

 

Edward S. Herman:  Antiterrorism As A Cover For....Terrorism

During the Cold War the United States supported a string of terror states, from the immediate post-World War backing given Thailand dictator Phibun Songkhram, "the first pro-Axis dictator to regain power after the war," to its support of Suharto, Marcos, Mobutu, Diem, Duvalier, Trujillo, Somoza, and a string of murderous military regimes in Latin America.   More...

Edward S. Herman is a Professor Emeritus of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

 

 

Charles Buffalo:  Antiterrorism As A Cover For....Terrorism

I have been sitting back observing the situation presently at hand here, I believe that I am to address it as a state of war if I am to be politically correct.   More...

Charles Buffalo is an activist for Indian American rights.

 

 

Edward S. Herman:  U.S. Attacks Vanuatu! Wins Stunning Victory!

I've been dreaming often lately, but last night's dream had an eerie ring of truth to it and I wondered if this might not be a dream that genuinely sees into the future.   More...

Edward S. Herman is a Professor Emeritus of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

 

 
What would you do?

Gilles d'Aymery:  Terrorism And The Ozone Layer

According to President Bush's National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, the president made the decision to bomb Afghanistan on September 17, 2001, less than one full week after the catastrophe that took place on 9/11.   More...

Gilles d'Aymery is Swans' publisher and co-editor.

 

 

Helen L.H. Mader:  California State Proposed Legislation

Dear Deanna Sessums:

The following is my proposal for legislation to be introduced by Assemblyman Joe Simitian.   More...

Helen Mader is a community activist and a friend of Swans

 

 
More history about our state of barbaric affairs

Milo Clark:  Differences That Make Differences. . . Patterns Which Connect

The overall experience of humankind among the dominant species of earth over grand or geological time records moments of high joy against a deep theme of barbarity.   More...

Two areas of commentary: Barbarism and Joinin' 'em

Bill McKibben has speculated, accurately in many dimensions, that development in the Western, colonial, Savage Capitalist models has already gone too far.   More...

I've Got to Stop This. . . Crying in a Wilderness

I need to build a tall flag pole from which to fly an American flag, upside down; an internationally recognized distress symbol.   More...

Milo Clark is a Swans' founding member, advisor and columnist.

 

 
Poetry

Sandy Lulay:  Unnecessary Losses

I did not think to set the moments of
Our loving onto maps I could retrieve;
Realities of losing you came too slow
And then too fast slipped into disbelief.   More...

Sandy Lulay is Swans' in-house poet.

 

 
Excerpt of the novel The Judgment

D. W. Buffa:  Conversation With a Psychiatrist

"There's something I've always wanted to ask."

Yes, he replied carefully.

"You know that old line about if you speak to God, you're ok, but if God speaks to you, you're not?"   More...

D. W. Buffa is a lawyer and a novelist

 

 

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THE COMPANION OF THINKING PEOPLE

SWANS
URL: http://www.swans.com/library/past_issues/2001/011029.html
Created: November 11, 2001