Progressive Minds

Two years ago, James B. Comey, the top deputy to then Attorney General John Aschcroft, refused to approve portions of BushCo's spy program that calls for domestic eavesdropping without obtaining a warrant first.

Comey was serving as Acting Attorney General while Aschcroft was in the hospital recuperating from gallbladder surgery.  Because of Comey's refusal to approve portions of the spy program, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, and Alberto Gonzales (then White House Counsel) visited Aschcroft in the hospital to discuss the program.

It is not known whether Aschcroft ultimately approved the program, or if the White House went ahead with DOJ's approval.

Justice Deputy Resisted Parts of Spy Program

According to an Associated Press article, the Iraq war has caused an increase in the number of soldiers trying to get out of the army.

The Army has seen an increase in the number of soldiers who are seeking an honorable discharge as conscientious objectors.  Some soldiers are suing the military, saying their service has been wrongfully extended.  In 2004, 110 soldiers filed paperwork to be classified as a conscientious objector--approximately four times the number from 2000.

Marti Hiken, Co-Chair of the National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force, says "As this war continues, we're going to see more refusals, disobeying of orders, stop-loss lawsuits."

Camilo Mejia, a former Staff Sgt., says he did some soul searching while he was on a two-week leave last year, after serving a year in Iraq. "Going home gave me the opportunity to put my thoughts in order and to listen to what my conscience had to say. People would ask me about my war experiences and answering them took me back to all the horrors, the firefights, the ambushes, the time I saw a young Iraqi dragged by his shoulders through a pool of his own blood or an innocent man was decapitated by our machine gun fire."

Some Soldiers Trying to Get Out of Army

Looks like the Bush apologists within our own military have their latest talking points from 1600.

BushCo knows they have some explaining to do to the American people for the failure to capture Osama bin Laden, so they trotted out General Allen Peck, the Number 2 person in charge of coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, to say that terrorism won't be eliminated even if Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi were to be captured.

Peck says "There's no single face to the enemy that we're fighting" and he questions whether bin Laden is the biggest threat to stability in the region.

Memo to General Peck and the rest of the Bush apologists: Of course terrorism will not be eliminated with bin Laden's capture.  Terrorism will never be eliminated as long as this earth exists in its present form. 

But we owe it to the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives on 9/11 to actively pursue the man responsible for that horrific event.

Instead, you serve as an apologist for a half a&s "Commander-in-Chief" who went from saying he wanted Osama bin Laden dead or alive, to saying he didn't know or care where Osama is.

In case the memory needs refreshing on Idiot Son's bin Laden bait and switch:

"I want justice.  And there's an old poster out West… I recall, that said, 'Wanted, Dead or Alive.'"

-  George W. Bush, September 17, 2001

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him."

- George W. Bush, September 13, 2001

"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."

- George W. Bush, March 13, 2002

"I am truly not that concerned about him."

- George W. Bush, March 13, 2002

Top General says 'getting' bin Laden and Zarqawi won't eliminate terror threat