[Mb-civic] Bush in India: Ghandhi

Wed Mar 1 03:01:16 PST 2006

isnt that obscene mary louise?
the antithesis of ghandi laying flowers at his grave
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mary Louise smn" <marylouiseparis at hotmail.com>
To: <ean at sbcglobal.net>; <mb-civic at islandlists.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 2:45 AM
Subject: Re: [Mb-civic] Bush in India: Ghandhi


>
> Ghandi's Memorial         I have placed flowers on Ghandi's memorial in
> Rajghat many times.  It is an oasis of calm, peace and reverence.   To
quote
> Ghandhi      "The moment there is suspicion of a person's motives,
> everything he does, become tainted."     I agree with the Indian people
who
> are objecting to Mr. Bush's planned visit to  the Rajghat memorial.
>       "What differance does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the
> homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of
> totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and  democracy."      Ghandhi
>
>
> >From: ean at sbcglobal.net
> >Reply-To: ean at sbcglobal.net, mb-civic at islandlists.com
> >To: ean at sbcglobal.net
> >Subject: [Mb-civic] Bush in India: Just Not Welcome & poll of soldiers:
> >"GetUs OUT"
> >Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 16:32:01 -0800
> >
> >Bush in India: Just Not Welcome
> >
> >By Arundhati Roy
> >
> >February 27, 2006, The Nation
> >
> >http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060313/roy
> >
> >On his triumphalist tour of India and Pakistan, where he
> >hopes to wave imperiously at people he considers potential
> >subjects, President Bush has an itinerary that's getting
> >curiouser and curiouser.
> >
> >For Bush's March 2 pit stop in New Delhi, the Indian
> >government tried very hard to have him address our
> >parliament. A not inconsequential number of MPs threatened to
> >heckle him, so Plan One was hastily shelved. Plan Two was to
> >have Bush address the masses from the ramparts of the
> >magnificent Red Fort, where the Indian prime minister
> >traditionally delivers his Independence Day address. But the
> >Red Fort, surrounded as it is by the predominantly Muslim
> >population of Old Delhi, was considered a security nightmare.
> >So now we're into Plan Three: President George Bush speaks
> >from Purana Qila, the Old Fort.
> >
> >Ironic, isn't it, that the only safe public space for a man
> >who has recently been so enthusiastic about India's modernity
> >should be a crumbling medieval fort?
> >
> >Since the Purana Qila also houses the Delhi zoo, George
> >Bush's audience will be a few hundred caged animals and an
> >approved list of caged human beings, who in India go under
> >the category of "eminent persons." They're mostly rich folk
> >who live in our poor country like captive animals,
> >incarcerated by their own wealth, locked and barred in their
> >gilded cages, protecting themselves from the threat of the
> >vulgar and unruly multitudes whom they have systematically
> >dispossessed over the centuries.
> >
> >So what's going to happen to George W. Bush? Will the
> >gorillas cheer him on? Will the gibbons curl their lips? Will
> >the brow-antlered deer sneer? Will the chimps make rude
> >noises? Will the owls hoot? Will the lions yawn and the
> >giraffes bat their beautiful eyelashes? Will the crocs
> >recognize a kindred soul? Will the quails give thanks that
> >Bush isn't traveling with Dick Cheney, his hunting partner
> >with the notoriously bad aim? Will the CEOs agree?
> >
> >Oh, and on March 2, Bush will be taken to visit Gandhi's
> >memorial in Rajghat. He's by no means the only war criminal
> >who has been invited by the Indian government to lay flowers
> >at Rajghat. (Only recently we had the Burmese dictator
> >General Than Shwe, no shrinking violet himself.) But when
> >Bush places flowers on that famous slab of highly polished
> >stone, millions of Indians will wince. It will be as though
> >he has poured a pint of blood on the memory of Gandhi.
> >
> >We really would prefer that he didn't.
> >
> >It is not in our power to stop Bush's visit. It is in our
> >power to protest it, and we will. The government, the police
> >and the corporate press will do everything they can to
> >minimize the extent of our outrage. Nothing the happy
> >newspapers say can change the fact that all over India, from
> >the biggest cities to the smallest villages, in public places
> >and private homes, George W. Bush, the President of the
> >United States of America, world nightmare incarnate, is just
> >not welcome.
> >
> >[Arundhati Roy, the Booker Prize-winning author of 'The God of
> >Small Things' and 'The Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire',
> >lives in New Delhi, India.]
> >
> >© 2006 The Nation
> >
> >-------
> >
>
>http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20060228/cm_huffpost/016497;_ylt=A86.I17t
> >fQRElUIBaxH9wxIF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhd
> >A--
> >
> >John Zogby: On a New Poll Of U.S. Soldiers During Their
> >Service in Iraq
> >
> >John Zogby
> >
> >Tue Feb 28, 11:03 AM ET
> >
> >In wars of America's century just past, we have sent our soldiers to
> >far-off fields of battle and were left to wonder about their opinions of
> >the life-and-death conflicts in which they were involved.
> >
> >Letters home, and more recently telephone calls and emails, would give us
> >a peek into their states of mind. Some who returned would regale friends
> >and family with tales from the front lines.
> >
> >Times have now changed. A first-ever survey of U.S. troops on the ground
> >fighting a war overseas has revealed surprising findings, not the least
of
> >which is that an overwhelming majority of 72% of American troops in Iraq
> >think the U.S. should exit the country within the next year.
> >
> >Further, a new Le Moyne College/Zogby International survey shows that
more
> >than one in four (29%) thought the U.S. should pull its troops
> >immediately.
> >
> >The poll, conducted in conjunction with Le Moyne College's Center for
> >Peace and Global Studies, also showed that another 22% of the
respondents,
> >serving in various branches of the armed forces, said the U.S. should
> >leave Iraq in the next six months. One in every five troops - 21% - said
> >troops should be out between six and 12 months. Nearly a quarter - 23% -
> >said they should stay "as long as they are needed."
> >
> >The troops have drawn different conclusions about fellow citizens back
> >home. Asked why they think some Americans favor rapid U.S. troop
> >withdrawal from Iraq, 37% of troops serving there said those Americans
are
> >unpatriotic, while 20% believe people back home don't believe a continued
> >occupation will work. Another 16% said they believe those favoring a
quick
> >withdrawal do so because they oppose the use of the military in a
> >pre-emptive war, while 15% said they do not believe those Americans
> >understand the need for the U.S. troops in Iraq.
> >
> >At 55%, reservists serving in Iraq were most likely to see those back
home
> >as unpatriotic for wanting a rapid withdrawal, while 45% of Marines and
> >33% of members of the regular Army agreed.
> >
> >The wide-ranging poll also shows that 58% of those serving in country say
> >the U.S. mission in Iraq is clear in their minds, while 42% said it is
> >either somewhat or very unclear to them, that they have no understanding
> >of it at all, or are unsure. Nearly nine of every 10 - 85% - said the
U.S.
> >mission is "to retaliate for Saddam's role in the 9-11 attacks," while
77%
> >said they believe the main or a major reason for the war was "to stop
> >Saddam from protecting al Qaeda in Iraq."
> >
> >Ninety-three percent said that removing weapons of mass destruction is
not
> >a reason for U.S. troops being there. Instead, that initial rationale
went
> >by the wayside and, in the minds of 68% of the troops, the real mission
> >became to remove Saddam Hussein.
> >
> >Just 24% said that "establishing a democracy that can be a model for the
> >Arab World" was the main or a major reason for the war. Only small
> >percentages see the mission there as securing oil supplies (11%) or to
> >provide long-term bases for US troops in the region (6%).
> >
> >More than 80% of the troops said they did not hold a negative view of
> >Iraqis because of continuing insurgent attacks against them. Only about
> >two in five see the insurgency as being comprised of discontented Sunnis
> >with very few non-Iraqi helpers.
> >
> >On this question there appears to be some confusion among the troops, but
> >two in every three do not agree that if non-Iraqi terrorists could be
> >prevented from crossing the border into Iraq, the insurgency would end.
> >
> >To control the insurgency, a majority of respondents (53%) said the U.S.
> >should double both the number of troops and bombing missions, an option
> >absolutely no one back in Washington is considering.
> >
> >Reservists were most enthusiastic about using bombing runs and a doubling
> >of ground troops to counter the enemy, with 70% agreeing that would work
> >to control the insurgency. Among regular Army respondents, 48% favored
> >more troops and bombing, and 47% of Marines agreed. However, 36% of
> >Marines said they were uncertain that strategy would work, compared to
> >just 9% of regular Army, 6% of National Guard respondents, and 2% of
> >reservists who said they were not sure.
> >
> >Those in Iraq on their first tour of duty were less optimistic that more
> >troops and bombing runs would work. While 38% of first-timers agreed, 62%
> >of those on their second tour and 53% in Iraq at least three times
favored
> >more U.S. troops and firepower.
> >
> >As new photos of prisoner abuse in Iraq surface, a majority of troops
> >serving there said they oppose harsh interrogation methods. A majority -
> >55% - said it is not appropriate or standard military conduct to use
harsh
> >and threatening methods on possible insurgent prisoners to information of
> >military value.
> >
> >Among all respondents, 26% said they were on their first tour of duty in
> >Iraq, while 45% said they were on their second tour, and 29% said they
> >were in Iraq for a third time, or more. Three of every four were male
> >respondents, with 63% under the age of 30.
> >
> >The survey included 944 military respondents interviewed at several
> >undisclosed locations throughout Iraq. The names of the specific
locations
> >and specific personnel who conducted the survey are being withheld for
> >security purposes. Surveys were conducted face-to-face using random
> >sampling techniques. The margin of error for the survey, conducted Jan.
18
> >through Feb. 14, 2006, is +/- 3.3 percentage points.
> >
> >In other words, the poll is a sound, solid measurement of what is going
> >through the minds of our front-line warriors. It's no letter home, but
> >it's still good to hear from them.
> >
> >
> >--
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> >
> >
> >"A war of aggression is the supreme international crime." -- Robert
> >Jackson,
> >  former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice and Nuremberg prosecutor
> >
>
>
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