[Marxism] Cynthia McKinney Announces Run for President (911)

[Steffie Brooks]

On Dec 19, 2007 12:44 PM,  <Shacht at aol.com> wrote:
> I am referring to reports that McKinney stated that Bush wa involved in a
> plot to bring about 911

This is simply not true.

McKinney has said she thinks the Bush administration had foreknowledge
of the attack and didn't act to stop it. She has called for an
independent investigation of the government's failures to avert it.
She has also called for independent investigations of the failure to
respond to Katrina, of the failure to respond to the Rwanda massacre,
of continuing domestic spying and COINTELPRO operations, and of where
the missing billions of defense dollars went.

This is what a Congress member should do. There is nothing to
apologize for on her part or on the part of her supporters.

It is a BIG mistake to confuse the so-called "conspiracy theorists"
who claim that an unmanned drone hit the Pentagon or WTC 7 was
exploded from inside with the many millions of Americans, including
former intelligence people (Ray McGovern among others) who think, who
SAY the government is not telling the full truth about what they knew
and when they knew it -- why they ignored Israeli, Russian, FBI, and,
according to a recent report on Al Arabiya, Saudi intelligence
warnings in the summer of 2001 that a hit was imminent, and by plane,
and on the WTC.


For the record, here is a transcript of McKinney's first radio
interview on the subject (on Flashpoints, hosted by Dennis Bernstein
at Pacifica radio KPFA) .

more on McKinney and 911 (newspaper reports, the record of what she
has said and the timeline of when she said it) at
http://www.911truth.org/osamas/mckinney.html
-------------------------------
Thoughts On Our War Against Terrorism

KPFA, March 25, 2002, Flashpoints Producer Dennis Bernstein's
interview with Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. Taped speech and
interviewdrawn from
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/665750/posts.
Transcriptindependently verified and corrected 4/21/02.

Taped comments of Congresswoman Cynthia A. McKinney:

Authorities tell us that the world changed on September11. As a
result, university professors must watch what they say in classor be
turned in to the "speech" police. Elected  officials must
censorthemselves or be censured by the media. Citizens now report
behavior ofsuspicious-looking people to the police. Laws now exist
that erode ourcivil liberties.
Americans now accept these infringements as necessaryto win America's
New War. America, the world's only superpower, is stifledin its
ability to defend human rights and democracy abroad because it
hasfailed the fundamental test at home. Our combination of money and
militarymight, and our willingness to use them, did not make us a
superpower. Weare the most powerful nation on the face of the planet
because we havecombined raw power with American ideals such as
dignity, freedom, justice,and peace. These ideas and ideals are
admired around the globe and aremore important, in my view, to our
position of global strength than ourability to shoot a missile down a
chimney. We might be feared because ofour military, but we are loved
because of our ideals. Sadly, we have putAmerican  goodwill at risk
around the world because of an imbalancein our foreign policy that is
palpable even to the most disinterested observer.
In 1994, after an act of terrorism killed two sittingpresidents, the
Clinton Administration purposely failed to prevent thegenocide of one
million Rwandans in order to install favorable  regimesin the Central
Africa region. In 1999 Madeleine Albright OK'd a SierraLeone peace
plan that positioned Foday Sankoh as Chairman of the Commissionfor the
Management of Strategic Resources, a  position that placedhim
answerable only to the President despite the fact that his
terroristorganization raped little girls and chopped off their hands
as it financedits way to power with illegal diamond sales. Jonas
Savimbi, recently killedon the battlefield, helped the United States
protect the minority ruleof racists in South Africa and his
organization continues to rampage acrosssouthern  Africa in Angola,
Namibia, parts of Congo-Kinshasha, andRwanda without restriction,
financed again by illegal diamond sales. Thecontinued plunder of
Africa's rich resources without penalty and sadly with the knowledge
and support of powerful people in the US, serves asthe foundation of
the particular terrorism that victimizes Africans. Andnow, as Africans
grapple with the fundamental right to  control theirown resources and
despite United Nations reports making no such links,Bush
Administration experts seem prepared to link African diamonds
withanti-US terrorism, thus necessitating  tightened US control over
Africa'sresources.
And so, with no concern at all for the effects on othersof
US-supported terrorism, the US, with its bombs and military, embarkson
a worldwide crusade against terrorism that Bush says likely  willlast
as many as twenty years. The list of target countries is long
withAfghanistan, Somalia, Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan, the Philippines, and
Iraqoffering the starters. But what of the fact that Henry
Kissingerand the current new US Ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay
Khalilzad, bothonce lobbied Washington, DC on behalf of a US oil
company, Unocal, anda softer policy toward the Taliban? Whose war is
this really?
In November 2000, Republicans stole from America ourmost precious
right of all: the right to free and fair elections. In anorganized
manner, Florida Governor Jeb Bush and his Secretary of State Katherine
Harris created a list of convicted felons--57,700 to beexact--to
"scrub" from the state's voter rolls. The names were createdfrom
Florida records and from lists provided by 11 other states, the
largestlist coming from Texas. We now know that most of the people on
that listwere innocent of crimes. The list was a phony. And worse, the
majorityof these rightful voters were  people of color and likely
Democraticvoters. Of the thousands who ultimately lost their vote
through this scrubof voters, 80% are African-American. Had they voted,
the course of historywould have changed: Harris declared Bush the
victor by only 537 votes.President Carter has said that the Carter
Center would not certify theUS 2000 Presidential elections had they
had been asked to do so. Consequently, an Administration of
questionable legitimacy has been givenunprecedented power to fight
America's new war against terrorism.
Before September 11, two million Americans found themselvesbehind
bars: 80% of them people of color. Millions of Americans are
sleepingon the streets of American cities. All over America,  unarmed
blackmen are targeted by rogue police officers, who shoot first and
ask questionslater. While 52% of all black men feel they have been
victims of racialprofiling, the Supreme Court declines to  hear an
important case onracial profiling. The Bush Administration totally
"disses" the World ConferenceAgainst Racism and the people around the
world who care about eliminatingracism.
In February 2001, The United States Commission on NationalSecurity,
including Newt Gingrich, recommended that the National
HomelandSecurity Agency be established along with a hefty price tag.
Most peoplechuckled at the suggestion. After September 11, we have
OK'd the targetingand profiling of certain groups of people in America
while not arrestingin any way the racial profiling and discrimination
that existed prior toSeptember 11. Mass arrests, detention without
charge, military tribunals,and infringements on due process rights are
now realities in America. Evenmore alarming are  the calls in some
circles to allow the use of tortureand other brutal methods in pursuit
of so-called justice. Sadly, US administrationof justice will be
conducted by an Administration incapable of it. Interestingly,
prominent officials explain to us that September 11 happenedbecause we
are free. And they hate us because we are free.
Moreover, persons close to this Administration are poisedto make huge
profits off America's new war. Former President Bush sitson the board
of the Carlyle Group. The Los Angeles Times reports that on a single
day last month, Carlyle earned $237 million selling sharesin United
Defense Industries, the Army's fifth-largest contractor. Thestock
offering was well timed: Carlyle officials say  they decidedto take
the company public only after the Sept. 11 attacks. The stock
salecashed in on increased congressional support for hefty defense
spending,including one of United Defense's  cornerstone weapon
programs.
Now is the time for our elected officials to be heldaccountable. Now
is the time for the media to be held accountable. Whyaren't the hard
questions being asked. We know there were numerous warnings of the
events to come on September 11. Vladimir Putin, Presidentof Russia,
delivered one such warning. Those engaged in unusual stock
tradesimmediately before September 11 knew enough to make  millions of
dollarsfrom United and American airlines, certain insurance and
brokerage firms'stocks. What did this Administration know, and when
did it know it aboutthe events of September 11? Who else  knew and why
did they not warnthe innocent people of New York who were needlessly
murdered?
September 11 erased the line between "over there" and"over here." The
American people can longer afford to be detached fromthe world, as our
actions abroad will have a  direct impact on ourlives at home. In
Washington, DC, decisions affecting home and abroad aremade and too
many of us leave the responsibility of protecting our freedomsto other
people whose interests are not our own. From Durban to Kabul toAtlanta
to Washington, what our government does in our name is important.It is
now also clear that our future, our security, and our rights dependon
our  vigilance. It is also now clear that our future, our security,and
our rights depend on our vigilance.

Interview host Dennis Bernstein's questions and herresponses:

BERNSTEIN: Well, Congresswoman Cynthia Mckinney, it isgreat to have
you with us on Flashpoints. I wanted to follow up on thatvery powerful
commentary with just a few questions that come off speeches you have
made from the House floor on related information. Firstof all, why do
you oppose the Rumsfeld 48.1 billion dollar increase inthe military
budget? What is most troubling about this for you?
MCKINNEY: It was incredible sitting in the room on theday that
secretary Rumsfeld gave his presentation to members of the
ArmedServices Committee. Of course I serve on the House Armed
ServicesCommittee, and every year the Secretary of Defense comes
before that Committeewith a statement on the budget. Now, the 48.1
billion $ increase that SecretaryRumsfeld requested was interesting
because basically what he saidwas we can afford it. Notwithstanding
the fact that the Pentagon has lost2.3 trillion dollars that we very
well cannot afford to have lost.
BERNSTEIN: Lost it? Where did they lose it?
MCKINNEY: Well, that's a darn good question. You wouldthink that
Arthur Anderson is their accountant over there. They have lost2.3
trillion dollars, and they don't know where to find that  money.And of
course the Secretary acknowledged the fact 2.3 trillion dollarsremain
unaccounted for, but in his testimony to the House Armed
ServicesCommittee, the Secretary said that the US can afford  it. Now,
healso said that we have a responsibility in this brave new post
September11 world, to make sure that we can adequately defend
ourselves. And whathe used as a justification for this unprecedented
hike, the biggest hikein a generation, was the fact of the events
around September 11.
But as you know, and I know, it wasn't the military thatfailed. It was
a failure of people who had information to act. We knowthat there were
several warnings that were given prior to the  eventsof September 11.