2005 TIMELINE OF WORLD WRECKS WITH A MANIAC AT THE HELM

[Guest guest]

2005: The Year of Consequences

by Manuel Garcia, Jr.

http://www.dissidentvoice.org

December 17, 2005

 

How will the year 2005 be remembered in the mind of the public? One American

view follows.

2005 was a year in which the consequences of the policies and attitudes used

to maintain the Anglo-American and " Group of 8 " way of life burst into plain

view despite the best efforts of governments and major media to shroud the

truth.

 

The political lies of the Bush Administration exploded with increasing frequency

as the Iraq War and occupation degenerated during the year. The satisfying sense

of distance many Europeans felt regarding America's " dirty war " against

" terrorists " was uncomfortably shattered with the revelations of European

government knowledge of and cooperation with " extraordinary renditions " and the

maintenance of secret CIA gulags on the Continent. The falsity of our

energy-intensive Western mode of life was dramatically proclaimed by Nature

itself with the cracking of polar ice. The vast inadequacies of our national and

global social arrangements were pitilessly exposed in just three days, after

Nature slapped us with: the Andaman Sea Tsunami of 26 December 2004, the

flooding of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina on 29 August 2005, and the Kashmir

Earthquake of 8 October 2005.

 

The chickens are coming home to roost, and they are infected with Avian Flu.

 

Let us consider the events of twenty-nine separate days to help suggest the

overall contours of this year-long segment in the stream of time. Admittedly,

this list is arbitrary, and the endpoints of this year " 2005 " are loosely

defined to fall in mid-December.

 

26 December 2004 -- The Andaman Sea earthquake and tsunami kill 275,000.

 

A major undersea earthquake south of Myanmar and west of Sumatra raises a

tsunami that devastates shoreline in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India,

killing up to 275,000 people and displacing millions. The West is concerned

about tourists on Christmas holiday at the Thai seashore; Indonesia is concerned

about the separatist rebels in Aceh Province, Sumatra, which is thoroughly

destroyed. Eventually, the magnitude of the disaster elicits a broader

humanitarian response.

 

12 January -- WMD in Iraq RIP.

 

US military forces in Iraq, having located no weapons of mass destruction,

formally abandoned the search.

 

20 January -- George W. Bush is inaugurated to a second term as US President.

 

30 January -- Elections are held in Iraq.

 

14 February -- Rafik Hariri is assassinated.

 

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 20 others were killed by a

truck-bomb in Beirut, Lebanon. This precipitates a political crisis in Lebanon

and Syria, the latter being forced to withdraw from its 29 year military

occupation of Lebanon.

 

1 May -- The Times publishes the Downing Street Memo.

 

The Times publishes a leaked UK secret memo, being the minutes of 26 July 2002

meeting questioning the legal basis of the yet-to-be-launched Iraq War. It

included the statements: " Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action,

justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and

facts were being fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN

route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime's record.

There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military

action...It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action,

even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not

threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya,

North Korea or Iran. "

 

10 June -- " Peak Oil " becomes common knowledge.

 

Peak Oil, the crisis of finite and diminishing world oil reserves at a time of

growing demand, becomes a matter of open discussion in major media. An indicator

of this media exposure is the publication of Matthew R. Simmons book Twilight in

the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy.

 

25 July -- The AFL-CIO, the labor union federation splits.

 

The Teamsters and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) split from

the AFL-CIO as the federation met for its national convention in Chicago. Soon

after, the United Food and Commercial Workers also left the federation. Other

unions mull taking similar action.

 

11 August -- Jack Abramoff is indicted and arrested.

 

Jack Abramoff, a lobbyist closely associated with Tom DeLay and other

" conservative " Republicans, is indicted by a federal grand jury in Florida for

bank fraud, and he was arrested in Los Angeles, California. There are three

simultaneous grand jury investigations of Abramoff. The investigations widen in

November to include at least four Republican members of Congress: Tom DeLay

(R-TX, former Majority Leader), Bob Ney (R-OH), John Doolittle (R-CA) and Conrad

Burns (R-MT).

 

12 August -- Cindy Sheehan is declared " a threat to the President. "

 

Cindy Sheehan, the bereaved mother of a soldier killed in Iraq, is camped out by

a ditch along the road to Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, seeking a meeting

with the president to ask what purpose was served by her son's death. She

becomes the symbol of anti-war protest, and the focus of international

attention. Officials declare her " a threat to the President, " which is an

accepted legal justification for a possible arrest. Cindy Sheehan and others who

join her become the US equivalents of Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo of Argentina.

 

29 August -- Hurricane Katrina breaches the levees and floods New Orleans.

 

New Orleans is abandoned by the Federal government for 5 days, troops move in on

3 September. TV images show black throngs fending for themselves in the flooded

city, and bodies floating in the water. Official callousness and incompetence,

as well as American racism are widely commented on. The US government rejects

offers of help from Cuba and Venezuela. This year will set a record for the

number of hurricanes observed.

 

21 September -- Polar ice is rapidly melting.

 

A rapid and significant melting of polar ice is underway. Glaciers, sea ice, ice

shelves and tundras are all observed to be melting or thawing. One thorough

account of the reporting on polar melt is given by Maria Gilardin in an article

at Dissidentvoice.org on the 21st. Scientists note that methane gas released by

thawing tundras will accelerate global warming. The extent and the rate of the

melting are unprecedented.

 

6 October -- The US Senate votes 90-9 for the McCain " anti-torture " bill.

 

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) attached an " anti-torture " rider to the Defense

Authorization Bill (funding the military). The Bush Administration threatens to

veto any Defense Authorization Bill (agreed to by the House and Senate) with

McCain's rider attached. Later, the administration seeks a " compromise "

excepting the CIA from the proposed law -- an exception to torture.

 

8 October -- The Kashmir earthquake kills up to 87,000 and displaces 3 to 4

million.

 

This magnitude 7.6 earthquake causes landslides and road and building collapses

in a wide area of mountainous terrain primarily in northern Pakistan, and also

Kashmir and India. After some initial hesitation both India and Pakistan were

able to collaborate on relief efforts across their disputed boundaries in

Kashmir. Pakistan estimated a cost of $10B to resettle and rebuild, but the

world only pledged $5.1B. The Pakistani government of President Musharraf

decided to delay an order for $4B in US warplanes, and a $1B contract for an

aerial defense surveillance system from Sweden. The money is needed for the

survival of millions. Still, immediate funding remains a challenge because half

the world contribution is in the form of interest-bearing loans, and the

contributed funds are to be disbursed over the coming decade. Pakistan is faced

with rebuilding 19,000 schools, 600 colleges, hundreds of hospitals, almost a

million homes and other infrastructure in the stricken area. About

300,000 soldiers and 150,000 volunteers are working on continuous relief efforts

in Pakistan. There will be people cut off from help and exposed to the elements

for months.

 

10 October -- Delphi, a major US auto parts supplier, files for bankruptcy.

 

Analysts believe that General Motors (GM), the largest US auto maker will have

to file for bankruptcy within a year. GM is a victim of its own bad management

decisions, and is also saddled with large labor costs, primarily for health

care, because the U.S. lacks a national health care system. GM, Delphi and the

United Auto Workers are in discussions to see what if any arrangements they can

devise to save business entities, manufacturing jobs (well-paid, skilled and

unionized) and worker pensions.

 

12 October -- The Avian Flu arrives in Europe.

 

Previously observed in China, Vietnam and Indonesia, Avian Flu is reported in

Romania on 13 October. The fear of a pandemic grows, and governments intensify

their contingency planning and inspection protocols. By mid-December, the Avian

Flu death toll will stand at 120.

 

20 October -- Tom DeLay is booked.

 

The Republican Congressman and former majority leader in the US House of

Representatives is booked in the Sheriff's Department of Harris County, Texas on

conspiracy and money laundering charges.

 

29 October -- I. Lewis " Scooter " Libby indicted.

 

The former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney is indicted by a

federal grand jury on charges of obstruction of justice, lying under oath, and

false statements to the FBI. The indictment is the first result of the

investigation by Federal Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald into the illegal

exposure of CIA undercover agent Valerie Plame, the wife of Ambassador Joseph

Wilson. The exposure of Plame was a retaliation against Wilson, who published an

exposure of the falsity of a key justification for the Iraq War issued by

President Bush in his State of the Union address in January 2003. The false

claim was that Saddam Hussein had sought to purchase African uranium (for

bomb-making) from Niger. It now appears possible that the poorly forged

documents supposedly showing the connection between Iraq and Niger " yellowcake "

(uranium ore) may have been the work of agents sponsored by neo-cons in Dick

Cheney's circle. One is reminded of publisher William Randolph Hearst

fabricating

the justifications for the 1898 Spanish-American War, " You furnish the pictures

and I'll furnish the war. "

 

2 November -- The Washington Post publishes an exposé of the CIA's secret gulag.

 

A front-page Washington Post newspaper article describes in detail the CIA's

offshore gulag, a network of secret prisons in different countries, and of its

clandestine and illegal practice of " extraordinary rendition, " or surreptitious

kidnapping and torturous interrogation of targeted (and mis-targeted) foreign

nationals. While stories about several cases of extraordinary rendition had

surfaced previously, the scope and detail of this article, and the the fact of

secret US prisons in Europe, create an immediate furor. In Europe, there was a

combination of outrage, indignation and embarrassment, because it was evident

that several governments had become aware of the facts, and in some instances

cooperated with the US either to avoid exposing the facts, or more directly.

 

4 November -- Latin Americans repudiate Bush and the FTAA.

 

Massive protests greet Bush at the Mar del Plata (Argentina) OAS Summit of

Americas, while President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is warmly received at the

alternative gathering, the People's Summit, also hosting Cuban government

representatives. The Free Trade Area of the Americas, a version of NAFTA for all

of Latin America, promoted by Bush and Vicente Fox of Mexico, is popularly

rejected.

 

5 November -- Corporate support erodes for Bush Administration war policy.

 

" Right now the US government is not a credible messenger, " states a group of

corporate executives who have come together as Business for Diplomatic Action

(BDA). While tax cuts, relaxation of regulations, and a hard line on labor

issues are hailed by business leaders, they are disenchanted with the Iraq War

and the continuing occupation because it weakens the fiscal stability of the

U.S., creates business expenses and profit losses, and it sours the entire

international climate for business opportunities. Mark Engler's summary of this

business outlook, " Will Big Business Turn On Bush? " appeared in Counterpunch on

5 November, and Tomdispatch earlier.

 

27 October to 14 November -- North African youth riot in France.

 

17 November -- Rep. John Murtha calls for a US withdrawal from Iraq.

 

In a speech in the US House of Representatives, John Murtha (D-PA), a highly

decorated soldier, a long-time Congressman and strong supporter of the US

military calls for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. His speech is seen as the

collective voice of US military commanders making their case to the nation, and

abandoning their political support for the Bush Administration.

 

22 November -- The Shia-Sunni civil war in Iraq becomes evident.

 

American troops discover 173 prisoners in the basement of an Interior Ministry

building in a Baghdad suburb. The prisoners were Sunnis and they had been

tortured and starved. Their captors were Shiite police officers loyal to the

Badr organization, a militia with links to Iran. National elections are

scheduled for 15 December, for a complete, four year government.

 

5 December -- The first snows of the Himalayan winter fall.

 

Soon, a four month period of deep cold and snow will descend on the people who

survived the 8 October Kashmir earthquake. Millions are without adequate shelter

or supplies.

 

8 December -- The US Congress passes a $56B capital gains tax-cut.

 

The US House of Representatives issues tax-cut legislation of most significance

to investors and the wealthy (it continues lowered tax rates for capital gains

and dividends for two years). Since 25 November (just before Thanksgiving), the

Congress has been rolling in an orgiastic spasm of tax-cutting and entitlement

cutting. The first objective was to cut into entitlement programs for the poor

(medical, food, education) so as to reduce the projected Federal deficit in

anticipation of the large expenses to be assumed in the rebuilding of the Gulf

Coast region after Hurricane Katrina. A rescinding of the earlier tax cuts for

the wealthy could have accomplished the same goal. The subsequent tax cutting

measures are projected to swell the Federal deficit by $20B, despite the

cut-backs for the neediest Americans. So much for Christmas spirit, or

" conservative " principles. It is hard to imagine theft on a grander scale, or

carried out more openly. As one ponders the stone ears and lying

tongues of our elite, one is led inexorably to a nostalgia for guillotines.

 

12 December -- A magnitude 6.7 earthquake shakes the Hindu Kush.

 

An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 6.7 shakes southeastern Afghanistan

and northern Pakistan, being felt across Kashmir into India.

12 December -- Second day of racial riots in Sydney, Australia.

 

Tensions between white and Muslim youths break out in violence. The initial

incident may have been provoked by white supremacist individuals; eventually

youth roamed through beachside suburbs smashing windows. There has been much

hostility to Muslims and Arabs in Australia since 11 September 2001 and then the

Bali bombings.

 

12 December -- Syria implicated in two UN reports on Hariri murder; another

assassination occurs.

 

Gebran Tueni, a prominent journalist, Christian legislator and leading opponent

of Syrian domination of Lebanon, is killed by a powerful car-bomb in Beirut. The

second of German magistrate Detlev Mehlis' reports to the UN on the

investigation of the Hariri murder is presented. It names 19 suspects (not made

public) including Syrian officials as key suspects, and questions Syrian

cooperation with the investigation. New witnesses state that Lebanese and Syrian

intelligence services plotted the killing of Hariri as a coordinated effort.

 

12 December -- Bush acknowledges that 30,000 Iraqis have been killed in the Iraq

War.

 

General Tommy Franks, 3 May 2003, " We don't do body counts " ; the Lancet, 28

October 2004, Iraqi civilian deaths up to that point of the war and occupation

were estimated at 100,000; Iraq Body Count (www.iraqbodycount.net) notes on this

day " civilians reported killed by military intervention in Iraq " at between

27,383 and 30,892. Bush gave the casualty estimate of 30,000 in answering the

first question after an address in Philadelphia. In his speech, he encouraged

Iraqis to vote in the new elections, " There's still a lot of difficult work to

be done in Iraq. But thanks to the courage of the Iraqi people, the year 2005

will be recorded as a turning point in the history of Iraq, the history of the

Middle East and the history of freedom. "

 

15 December -- Elections held in Iraq, peace remains elusive.

 

25 December -- Dare we predict?:

 

A vacation for President Bush in Crawford, Texas, to prepare his State of the

Union address for 2006 extolling the " plan for victory " , the " booming economy " ,

the " outlook for growth " , the " widespread prosperity " of " the ownership

society " ; how a reflection on past events will make us " proud to be an

American " ; and how evident it must be that indeed we receive a divinely

favorable response when we ask that " God bless America " ?

 

Let us picture the faces of year 2005: Cindy Sheehan and Patrick Fitzgerald; the

faces of northern Pakistan and Kashmir, New Orleans, Sri Lanka and northern

Sumatra; the face of a North African teenager in Paris; rock faces exposed to

sunlight after centuries buried in ice; the face of a drill bit on an oil rig;

the faces of currency traders tracking quotations; the faces of Iraq; the lost

faces of the lost souls in our hidden Bastilles, the faces of peasants looking

for wood to cut for cooking fires, the face of an African doctor walking to see

villagers with AIDS; these are the faces of consequences to be met. " As ye sow,

so shall ye reap. "

 

Happy New Year, world.

Manuel Garcia, Jr. works as a physicist, thinks as a poet, and can be reached

at: mango

 

* * * * *

Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed for

educational purposes, without profit and as such we believe constitutes a 'Fair

Use' as provided for in Sec.107 of the US Copyright Law and complies with the

Good Faith Fair Use Defense [17 USC 504©(2). For more information go to:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

* * * * *

" When rulers take grain so that they may feast,

Their people become hungry;

When rulers take action to serve their own interests,

Their people become rebellious;

When rulers take lives so that their own lives are maintained,

Their people no longer fear death.

When people act without regard for their own lives

They overcome those who value only their own lives. "

Tao Te Ching

* * * * *

We, the people of this country are fed up with all the suffering, deaths,

ineptitude, lies, corruption, cronyism, cowardice and the theft of our treasury

- whether in Iraq, Afghanistan or New Orleans. We need an administration of, by

and for the people. Not an administration which allows over 2000 children to go

missing from just one disaster and corpses in the thousands to rot for days. We

need leaders who care for the least of us as much as this administration cares

for their corporate cronies who loot with abandon - then cry 'foul' when

discovered. We need to restore democracy to the people of this country and stop

allowing it to be peddled abroad by hypocrites pretending messianic directive

when what they're really selling is imperialism, despotism and 21st century

slavery, starvation and death for the masses. We Americans are stirring, we are

angry and we shall take our country back from those who have stolen and hold her

hostage to fear, cynicism, war mongering and

calculated xenophobia all in the name of corporate profits.

* * * * *

Re: 9/11: " As Americans we can no longer live in fear of George W. Bush and his

band of criminals, who all belong behind bars in jail. I promise I will never

stop searching for the truth, and one day the truth will be told. " Phil Berg

(Attorney and Activist) 9/20/05

* * * * *

We live in anomic times - social instability resulting from a breakdown of

standards and values. George M. Bush's illegal regime causes the world’s

remaining inhabitants (not those already dead from his wars and his floods) to

suffer from unrest, alienation, and uncertainty that come from his total lack of

humanity and compassion. Whether from war or from flood the true body counts

and corpses continue to remain hidden from us.

* * * *

If you voted for this current maladministration and feel badly about it – or if

you didn’t – but your vote was ‘adjusted’ anyway - you may wish to visit this

website and hookup with ways to impeach them all at: http://tinyurl.com/96yx6

* * * * *

Harridan’s Aphorism ala Marie Antoinette:

" And so many of the people in the arena here, you

know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she

chuckles slightly) is working very well for them. " Barbara Bush, Sept 9, 2005

 

* * * * *

 

Ever the cheerleader and never " the leader " on Sept 2, 2005 several days AFTER

New Orleans was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina - the worst natural disaster to

(yet) hit this country - Mr. bush declared with delight and gay bonhomie -

despite all evidence to the contrary – such as countless floating corpses and

the overwhelming and monumental sufferings of the evacuees - " Brownie, you're

doing a heck of a job. " This one sentence defines Mr. bush's life – not only a

life of lies - but also the lie that is his life. tpb

 

* * * * *

“Living in the United States during this current reign of darkness called the

Bush maladministration, I no longer believe that death is the worst thing that

can happen to any of us, in fact, I no longer believe at all.” Anonymous

 

* * * * *

Ask yourself this: " WHO ARE THE REAL WHORES OF WAR TODAY? " When the war crimes

trials begin can we - who have done nothing - absolve ourselves and expect

others to also? - or will we carry the guilt of countless hundreds of thousands

of dead innocents on our shoulders for all eternity?

 

* * * * *

Have you written your Senators, today? Share your outrage with them

at: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

There are endless reasons to do so, but if you need some, recently they voted

against American Citizens' interests by passing The Bankruptcy Act

http://ceb.com/info/BAPCPA2005.asp

and The National ID Act http://www.epic.org/privacy/id_cards/

Have you written your Representative, today? Share your outrage with

her/him at: http://www.house.gov/writerep/

There are endless reasons to do so, but if you need one, how about that they're

pretty much all bought and paid for by corporate campaign contributions and PAC

monies?

AND REMEMBER, YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IS UP FOR RE-ELECTION THIS YEAR - DOES S/HE

DESERVE YOUR VOTE? DID S/HE REPRESENT YOUR INTERESTS? SEE HOW S/HE VOTED AT:

http://tinyurl.com/d2r75

IF THEY'RE NOT DOING WHAT YOU WANT DONE, VOTE FOR SOMEONE ELSE IN 2006 AND 2008

 

Check often to see how these self-serving knaves and mountebanks voted at:

http://www3.capwiz.com/c-span/issues/ then enter your zip code. To sign up for

free, weekly emails for:

• Key votes by your two Senators and U.S. Representative.

• Links to send e-mail to your members of Congress using pre-addressed forms.

• Upcoming votes for your review and links to offer e-mail input before they

vote.

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/megavote/

 

* * * * *

Text of The secret Downing Street memo proving that Bush discussed with Blair

declaring war on Iraq months before going to Congress. Some call this treason.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1593607,00.html

 

* * * * *

Re: The USA Patriot Act: " ..I would like to convey the message that our system

works. We did not need to use a secret military tribunal, or detain the

defendant indefinitely as an enemy combatant, or deny him the right to counsel,

or invoke any proceedings beyond those guaranteed by or contrary to the United

States Constitution. ...We can deal with the threats to our national security

without denying the accused fundamental constitutional protections. ... "

 

-- U.S. Western District Judge John Coughenour, while sentencing 'Millennium

Bomber', Ahmed Ressam.

 

* * * * *

Oh, for those good old days when the worst thing a sitting US president

could do was merely disgrace his office. tpb

 

* * * * *

Privilege, lack of a mother's love and the frittering away of an

excellent education bred him;

Alcoholism, inadequacies, false friends, false bravado and false idols

fed him;

Ubiquitously distrustful and obsequious advisers led him;

Fear and self-loathing will end him. tpb

 

* * * * *

" It is well that the people of the nation do not understand our banking

and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a

revolution before tomorrow morning. " --Henry Ford

 

* * * * *

George Galloway's testimony:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1616578,00.html

before the Senate is not going to be made part of the Congressional Public

Record

 

AN ODE TO GEORGE GALLOWAY

On May 17, 2005 to this country came

A man, a hero who would not act out of shame;

He came and faced his tainted accusers, these liars and more

And laid to waste their verbal innuendo, these war profiteers and whores;

No one who saw, heard or felt his passion fueled as it was by his heat

Could but for a moment believe the words these cowards untiringly would bleat;

They were no match for Galloway, his courage, wit and ire

He told the truth about the food, the oil the liars;

Who send children to war to kill other children of mothers

Who sit and wait for their return - from this war, like all the others;

Not knowing the meaning as to what it is all for

Of all the madness, the countless deaths and senseless gore;

Could not have been for want of more

Than our country is blessed with from shore to shore;

Was Mr. Bush's " Call To War " only for the very oil

That traps forever our children’s blood within yet another country’s soil? tpb

* * * * *

" Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the

world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. " Margaret Mead

 

 

" When the power of love becomes stronger than the love of power, we will have

peace. "

Jimi Hendrix