THE HANDSTAND

APRIL 2004

doremus observes

Doremus Jessup, editor of the Fort Beulah The Daily Informer, in Sinclair Lewis' famous book "It Can't Happen Here", at its conclusion, "drove out saluted by the meadow larks, and onward all day, to a hidden cabin in the Northern Woods where quiet men awaited news of freedom.....still Doremus goes on, into the sunrise, for a Doremus Jessup can never die......
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> Israeli Lobby Slips Anti-Free Speech Bill Through House of
> Representatives...
> Bill Can Still Be Defeated in Senate if Citizens Act Now.

> By Michael Collins Piper


> The Israeli lobby has launched an all-out drive to ensure congressional passage of a bill (approved by the House and now before a Senate committee) that would set up a virtual federal tribunal to investigate and monitor criticism of Israel on American college campuses.

On September 17, 2003 the House Subcommittee on Select Education unanimously approved H.R. 3077, the International Studies in Higher Education Act, which was then passed by the full House of Representatives on October 21. The chief sponsor of the legislation was Rep. Peter Hoekstra, a conservative Republican from Michigan. This bill is dangerous--a direct affront to the First Amendment and the> product of intrigue by a small clique of individuals and organizations which combines the "elite" forces of the powerful Israeli lobby in official Washington.

There are absolutely no grass-roots organizations supporting this measure whatsoever. Instead, leading the push for Senate approval of the House-originated bill, are the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of B'nai B'rith, the American Jewish Congress, and the American Jewish Committee.  Also lending its support is Empower America, the neo-conservative front group established by longtime pro-Israel publicist William Kristol, editor and publisher of billionaire Rupert Murdoch's Weekly Standard which is said to be the "intellectual" journal that governs the train of foreign policy thinking in the Bush administration.

H.R. 3077 is innocuously worded and quite bureaucratic in its tone, decipherable only to those with the capacity to wade through legislative linguistics, but essentially it would set up a seven-member advisory board that would have the power to recommend cutting federal funding for colleges and universities that are viewed as harboring academic critics of Israel. Two members of the board would be appointed by the Senate, two by the House, and three by the Secretary of Education, two of whom are required to be from U.S. federal security agencies. The various appointees would be selected from what the Christian Science Monitor described on March 11 as "politicians, representatives of cultural and educational organizations, and private citizens." In other words, it would be another federal "blue ribbon" panel akin to the Warren Commission that ostensibly investigated the JFK assassination and the now highly-suspect federal commission looking> into the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
>
Gilbert Merkx, vice provost for international affairs and development and director of the Centre for International Studies at Duke University has echoed the fears of many when he charged that this so-called advisory board "could easily be hijacked by those who have a political axe to grind and become a vehicle for an inquisition."
>
> In fact, the primary individuals promoting this effort to control intellectual debate on the college campuses are known for having a political axe to grind: they are all prominent and outspoken supporters of Israel and harsh critics of the Arab and Muslim worlds. They are: 1). Martin Kramer, a professor of Arab studies at The Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University in Israel; 2). Stanley Kurtz, a contributor of ex-CIA man William F. Buckley Jr.'s bitterly anti-Arab National Review Online and a research fellow at the staunchly pro-Israel Hoover Institution; and 3). Daniel Pipes, founder of the pro-Israel Middle East Institute and its affiliate, Campus Watch, an ADL-style organization that keeps tabs on college professors and students who are-or are suspected of being-critics of Israel. Hiding behind the banner of defending America, these three-along with the Israeli lobby affiliates promoting H.R. 3077-are claiming that they are fighting "anti-Americanism" as it is being taught on the college campuses.The promoters are also suggesting that this legislation would-in the words of the American Jewish Committee-"enhance intellectual freedom on campus by enabling diverse viewpoints to be heard," when, of course, the legislation would do precisely the opposite.
>
The Republican House members who originally joined Hoekstra in co-sponsoring this dangerous legislation should be named for the record. They are: . John A. Boehner (Ohio) . John R. Carter (Texas) . Tom Cole (Oklahoma) . James Greenwood (Penn.) . Howard (Buck) McKeon (Calif.) . Patrick J. Tiberi (Ohio) . Joe Wilson (South Carolina) However, don't try to find out how your representative voted when the bill came before the full House. Hoekstra asked for a suspension of the House rules-which was approved-and made it possible for this controversial measure to be passed with an un-recorded "voice vote" wherein there is no record of how individual House members voted, or if they even voted at all.

In fact, the measure passed by the House is precisely the very same type of proposed "ideological diversity" legislation that American FreePress first warned about, although, at the time, the measure was being kicked around for possible introduction in the Senate by two prominent Republicans, Rick Santorum (Penn.) and Sam Brownback (Kan.). What happened was that AFP's initial report on the legislation gained so much widespread circulation in e-mails being sent out nationwide
> among American college and university professors and on the Internet, even so far as the Arab world, that the resulting negative publicity forced Santorum and Brownback to back off.

However, Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) picked up their torch and introduced H.R. 3077 in the House, containing precisely the language that his Senate colleagues had intended to introduce until AFP blew the whistle.  To their credit, virtually every major American education organization-including even the teacher's union, the National Education Association-have raised their concerns about this campaign to muzzle the free speech of teachers, professors and instructors. And the American Civil Liberties Union has also protested this measure. Critics say this is a new form of what has been known in the past as "McCarthyism" and no matter what you may think about the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy whose name rightly or wrongly inspired that terminology, the truth is that this legislation is "McCarthyism" by virtue of the popular definition.

The only chance to destroy this legislation and stop it dead in tracks is for enough grass-roots citizens to rise up and demand that H.R. 3077 be put to rest. And believe it or not, the one senator who may be able to stop it is Edward M. (Ted) Kennedy of Massachusetts. The Israeli lobby's pet project, H.R. 3077, innocuously named as The International Studies in Higher Education Act of 2003--and popularly known as "Title 6"--is now before the Senate's Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.> This committee is controlled by the Republican majority who are likely to support the bill, but the ranking minority member is powerful Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) who has been-perhaps to the surprise of many, including even AFP readers--an outspoken critic of Daniel Pipes, one of the leading proponents of H.R. 3077.

Although it is not well known, Kennedy's second wife is an Arab-American and he has become quite attune to Arab-bashing of the type that Pipes engages in. As such--despite what one may think of Kennedy's views on other issues--he is seen as a possible roadblock in the way of final approval by the Senate committee of H.R. 3077.

Contact Senate Members.
Urge that H.R. 3077 be shelved.


Homeland Security's New Truck For US
Built in partnership with International Truck and Engine Corporation, the vehicle showcases the latest in armor protection, and detection and deterrent capabilities. Smar Truck lll is equipped with a weapons station module featuring a remote controlled .50-caliber machine gun which rises from the back of the vehicle and has sniper-detection directional sound capabilities.

Source URL: http://www.rense.com/general50/hom.htm

From Richard Sauder, PhD
The Army's new Smart Truck lll concept, designed for America's homeland security, or for use in a war zone, sits outside Cobo Center March 6, 2004 before being put on display for it's March 8 unveilling at the Society of Automotive Engineers 2004 World Congress.

FYI. Homeland Security's new armored truck, with a remote-controlled .50 cal machine gun on the roof. For controlling American crowds when they realize how they've been betrayed by the Patriot Act, and the White House and Congress and Supreme Court, and the NWO, and the totalitarian Skull and Bones global agenda of absolute, violent social control?

."DON'T YOU KNOW IT IS MORE DIFFICULT TO SPEAK UP IF YOU DELAY?"

..RALPH NADER IN JUNE

The American Bar Association last year did manage to speak out against the Justice Department snooping on conversations between clients and their attorneys. But they stopped short of going into the other areas, the other canyons of the Patriot Act.

This is very troubling. It brings to mind the words of that German theologian. I have tried myself to get some bar groups of general application, not the civil rights bar groups, the state bar association and national, to speak out. And they just don't think things are bad enough.

And I told them; well what is your breaking point? How bad should it be? Don't you know that it's more difficult to speak up the more you delay?

We shouldn't be too cocky about the inherent defenses for our liberties and our rights that we assume too quickly, lie in the interstices of our democratic fabric. We're entitled to be very, very worried and very concerned. Not only on behalf of the hundreds who are incarcerated without charges, without their names being released, without access to lawyers. But for all of their relatives and all other Americans who wished and wanted to speak out but they kept it within themselves for fear of being labeled, of being placed under surveillance. How many of you since September 11th have wanted to speak your mind on numerous occasions, but thought better of it?

A few days ago, the Inspector General for the Justice Department came out with a report wrapping the knuckles of the Attorney General and his associates for not adequately distinguishing between innocent people with Arab or Islamic surnames and people who evidence would show deserved scrutiny.

When the Inspector General inside the Justice Department goes that far and I commend that report to you, it's on their website, you can imagine how far he would have liked to go. Because he is under the supervision of the attorney general. And he does like his job.

But this is the first glimmer of public concern within the government that is shared by the concern of many attorneys in the civil rights division and other areas of the Justice Department. And by many people in the State Department. And by many people who have recently worked for the government. But they haven't yet organized themselves to take a stand.

We have noted, of course, in our own experience what kind of discrimination we have been encountering. The first and second generation of immigrants from Lebanon and Syria suffered a lot of the discrimination. But they were too -- what is the word -- they were too either cautious to speak out or tried to shrug it off or tried to say, well compared to the discrimination that we're getting in this country, it's nothing compared to the Ottoman Empire. But it was there in all its forms: social, occupational, professional, political, economic.

But the third and fourth generations helped organize this group because they just didn't want to take it anymore. They'd seen the work of professor Shaheen and the way their ethnic groups were depicted in Hollywood films. They personally felt the sting and it was a sting that often came with a reward if you didn't organize against it. You got a job. You sold something to a buyer or a wholesaler.

But I think it's time now to expand the resistance to this because of the Patriot Act and all that I have mentioned that's been going on in terms of Mis-law enforcement.

Otherwise what will happen is that the penumbra of discrimination will expand rapidly in proportion to the hard-core and serious violation of people's rights and the incarceration of innocent people.

I hope that you'll consider, when you go back to your homes, doing what citizens are now building in places like Illinois and Connecticut -- small groups of councils focusing on the Patriot Act, focusing on stopping Patriot Act II, focusing on educating people that this threat applies to all of them.

And in so doing, thousands of these little informal groups are holding teach-ins, meetings in living rooms and I hope that you will join some of your friends who are already doing this as well as others.


March 16, 2004

Seventh Iraq War Veteran Kills Himself

By Mark Benjamin, United Press International

WASHINGTON -- A Colorado-based Army Special Forces soldier back from Iraq shot himself in the head in his front yard Sunday night, according to police -- at least the seventh soldier who has committed suicide after serving there.William Howell, 36, shot himself after following his wife around the yard with a handgun, according to the El Paso County Sheriff's Office. Howell served with the 10th Special Forces group in Iraq and returned to Fort Carson last month, according to the Army.

Another soldier who was attached to that unit in Iraq, Staff Sgt. Georg-Andreas Pogany, has claimed that the 10th Special Forces Group ignored him when he sought help with mental problems there, and then charged him with cowardice instead. Pogany, 32, also says the Army is ignoring the side effects of an anti-malaria drug called Lariam he took with the Special Forces, which has been linked to mental problems, aggression and suicides.

The Army's Special Operations Command did not respond to a question Tuesday about whether Howell had taken the drug or had sought help for mental health concerns. The El Paso County Sheriff's Department got a phone call just before 9:30 Sunday night from Howell's wife about a "physical disturbance" at their home in Monument. She said her husband had gone to get a gun. Police said the line then went dead. When they called back, Howell said there was no problem. When police arrived, Howell was following his wife around the yard with a handgun and talking to her. "He was ordered to drop his weapon by one of the officers, but instead placed the weapon to his head and pulled the trigger," the sheriff's office said in a statement. One officer fired at Howell, not realizing whom Howell was shooting at, and hit Howell in the arm. The El Paso County Coroner said Howell died from his own shot. Howell's wife was treated for a minor head injury. A 13-year-old and two infants were in the house, unharmed. Police said they have no records of previous domestic disputes involving Howell or his address.

Pogany, the soldier who was charged with cowardice, has said he suffered a debilitating panic attack in Iraq last fall after seeing the body of a mangled Iraqi while with 10th Special Forces. He says he sought help, but was rebuffed, and eventually charged with cowardice, which is punishable by death. The Army has since withdrawn those charges but he continues to fight the Army on others. In Iraq, the Special Forces had just given Pogany his third Lariam pill when he suffered the attack. The Food and Drug Administration warns that Lariam can cause panic attacks, thoughts of suicide, depression, anxiety, paranoia, delusions and psychosis that can occur long after taking the drug.

A leading veterans' advocate two months ago warned Congress that soldiers who experience mental problems during or after deployments need help and not punishment. "Nowhere is this apparent disregard for psychological injuries more apparent than in the case of Sgt. Georg-Andreas Pogany, who was charged with cowardice," Steve Robinson, Executive Director of the National Gulf War Resource Center, told a House Armed Services Committee panel on Jan. 21. Robinson, a former Army Ranger, told UPI that some soldiers have heard about the Pogany case and are afraid of seeking help because of what happened to him. "This Pogany case has had a chilling effect on soldiers coming forward. I have talked to soldiers who have said it," he said. Robinson also asked Congress to look into Lariam. "This drug needs to be investigated to determine if it is harming and in some cases killing our own soldiers," Robinson told that panel.

It is not clear whether Howell ever asked for help when he returned from Iraq, but Pogany's attorney, Rich Travis, said the Special Forces have created an "atmosphere" that makes soldiers afraid to seek help. "I think it is the Special Forces that does create an atmosphere where you can not approach your commander and ask for help," Travis said. "I don't think it is a leap of logic to think (Howell) knew how Georg was treated by the chain of command. I think it was pretty well known."

Travis also said the Army, which invented Lariam, is now ignoring its side effects. Three special operations soldiers who served in Afghanistan and had apparently taken Lariam allegedly killed their wives at Fort Bragg in the summer of 2002. Those three soldiers also committed suicide. In the investigation into the Fort Bragg killings, the Army said that Lariam could not have triggered a cluster of five apparent murders and three suicides from that summer because some suspects did not take Lariam. Suicides in connection with Operation Iraqi Freedom have become an issue after an unusual spike occurred last summer in Iraq. The Pentagon says 21 Army suicides have been confirmed in Iraq and Kuwait -- reflecting a suicide rate within the normal range. A report on mental health problems in Iraq was ordered last August by the Army surgeon general but has not been released.

According to the Army, six soldiers have killed themselves after returning from Iraq, not counting Howell. UPI reported that one soldier back from Iraq died last July, and another this January, at Walter
Reed Army Medical Center. A Fort Campbell soldier who had been in Iraq killed himself in January.