that the system of government that we have did not respond adequately to the challenges it faced. The Congress and the Supreme Court did not restrain a criminal executive branch. The military blindly collaborated in a collective and individual war crime.

And, they could say, the Constitutional form of government having failed so signally, it is time to replace it with something else.

Something that might work better.

that I will have no rights and can be thrown in jail and the key thrown away and might never be brought to trial and won't be able to call a lawyer. My government sure as heck isn't going to do a damn thing about my rotting in a cell.

My crime would have been posting to sites like Agonist and surfing the Internet. That's all it takes--own a computer, have an Internet account and it doesn't matter whether you're guilty or innocent...no one gives a rat's petoote! It's enough that I'm not a American citizen--hey even if I were, I wouldn't have any additional rights. Homeland Security makes up its own laws and there isn't 'anything' I or members of my family could do. Use an invisible crayon to paint me gone, poof, out of sight, out of mind!

So if you ever see a post that I've decided to come to the United States to stay in our RV and you don't hear from me again, you'll known I'm incarcerated in a cell, never to see the light of day again. Haydn and my family will be sad, but they'll get over it. Who knows, maybe they'll blame me for being stupid enough to have joined a bulletin board and then take the risk of leaving Canada. Wow...and I so looked forward to just growing old and being able to travel to places I hadn't seen. C'est les vies! (Shit happens!) Sob...perhaps I should just say goodbye now ... nice to have known all of you.

I'll shout to the wind, "Homeland Security may you rot in hell!" I undoubtedly will add profanities as time goes on! I hear that the weather is nice in Guantánamo. I'll know in my heart that there isn't any snow, but will I ever see another dawn?

Before I disappear down the rabbit hole, I'll make this statement, "All Bush ever delivered was fear itself!"

Raw Story

National Intelligence Estimate lacks supporting evidence, possibly politicized, intelligence officials say
Larisa Alexandrovna
Published: Wednesday July 25, 2007

Current and former intelligence officials say the Bush Administration's National Intelligence Estimate regarding terrorist threats to the United States does not provide evidence to support its assertions and may have inflated the domestic threat posed by the Lebanese political and military group Hezbollah, perhaps because it receives financial support from Iran.

According to the report, Hezbollah – a Shi'a Muslim group with ties to Iran that has been labeled a terrorist organization by the United States – may target the US domestically if the US poses a serious threat to Iran. But sources say the allegations about Hezbollah were simply "thrown in."

Speaking under condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, several intelligence officers asserted that the report was sloppy and lacked supporting evidence. "The NIE seems… fiddled [with]," regarding Hezbollah, one high-ranking CIA official said. "Whether it is or isn't is not really the point. The point is that nobody is ready to believe it."

.....huge snip

Is there a focus on terrorism funding?

Sources interviewed for this article would not comment on whether Saudi Arabia was discussed or if terrorism funding was addressed in the classified version of the report.

One former high-ranking CIA official believes that the funding of terrorism should be seen as a priority target. The official said, however, that instead of "following the money," law enforcement and counter-terrorism efforts should be aimed at "following the heroin," the single largest currency for the terrorist market.

According to the US Department of Justice, as of 2005, Afghanistan was the leading supplier of heroin in the world. Its rise to that position followed the US-Afghanistan War, after which the US largely abandoned Afghanistan to focus on Iraq.

Table 6. Potential Worldwide Heroin Production, in Metric Tons, 2001-2005

..........2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Mexico 10.7 6.8 11.9 8.6 8.0
Colombia 11.4 8.5 7.8 3.8 *
Afghanistan 7.0 150.0 337.0 582.0 526.0
Burma 82.0 60.0 46.0 32.0 36.0
.....
Total 133.1 245.3 426.7 632.8 577.4