Sunday Reader

Time to brush up on your facts, folks. The following are MUST READ'S for all who are searching for Truth in the Land of Doublespeak:

• Why the U.S. is targeting Iran


• Coup Co-Conspirators as Free-Speech Martyrs:

  "Distorting the Venezuelan media story

• The real reason Wolfowitz is under fire


• Arabs make plans for nuclear power | Los Angeles Times


• LegalTimes | DOJ Made Immigration Judgeships Political

  "The Justice Department considered political affiliation in screening applicants for immigration court judgeships for several years until hiring was frozen in December after objections from department lawyers, current and former officials said."

• Ann Wright | What Congress Really Approved: Benchmark No. 1: Privatizing Iraq's Oil for US Companies:

  Retired Army Colonel Ann Wright says the supplemental bill Congress passed to continue funding the Iraq war is really about "stealing Iraq's oil - the second largest reserves in the world. The "benchmark," or goal, the Bush administration has been working on furiously since the US invaded Iraq is privatization of Iraq's oil. Now they have Congress blackmailing the Iraqi Parliament and the Iraqi people: no privatization of Iraqi oil, no reconstruction funds."

• ZNet | The Republic of Poetry:

  Hampshire College Commencement Address by Martín Espada

• Poll Shows View of Iraq War Is Most Negative Since Start | New York Times


• Kucinich claims war masks the real objective: Iraqi oil


• NBC: CIA warned of risks of war in the Mideast - Lisa Myers & the NBC News Investigative Unit

  "In a move sure to raise even more questions about the decision to go to war with Iraq, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence will on Friday release selected portions of pre-war intelligence in which the CIA warned the administration of the risk and consequences of a conflict in the Middle East.
  
  Among other things, the 40-page Senate report reveals that two intelligence assessments before the war accurately predicted that toppling Saddam could lead to a dangerous period of internal violence and provide a boost to terrorists. But those warnings were seemingly ignored."

• McClatchy's D.C. Bureau Claims It's Barred From Defense Secretary Plane


• AlterNet: Is Bush Leading Us to Nuclear War?


• Democracy Now! | Seymour Hersh: U.S. Indirectly Backed Islamist Militants Fighting Lebanese Army

  Journalist Seymour Hersh joins us to talk about another theory of who is backing the militant group - the Lebanese government itself, along with the United States

• GOP Candidates Criticize ABC News Report on CIA-Iran Plan


• Maverick Mike Gravel | The Progressive

  "Our leaders are promoting delusional thinking when boasting that the United States and Americans are superior to the rest of the world," says the Democratic Presidential candidate.

• Feingold, Kucinich Denounce the Democratic Cave | The Progressive


• Greg Palast, Author of Armed Madhouse, on How Rove May Have Already Stolen the 2008 Election | BuzzFlash.org


• Truthdig - Trading Secrets by Amy Goodman


• AlterNet: Worse Than Watergate:

  "While Gonzales has been associated with a pernicious assault on our freedoms, he has never been the independent actor, but rather a dutiful toady carrying out the wishes of a tightly monitored White House with the blessings of the president."

• William Fisher | Goodling Broke Law in Some DOJ Hirings, Testimony Reveals:

  Monica Goodling, the former White House liaison for the Justice Department, testified Wednesday that she used a political litmus test in screening applicants for hire as Justice Department employees, in what appears to be a violation of numerous federal laws.

• Sibel Edmonds: There are traitors in our midst. Call Waxman. Demand hearings. (with video!)


• Asia Times Online :: Tehran ignores the bluff and bluster


• In Carter-Bush Duel, Dual Retreats....

  Carter caves. And lets us all down.