The Progress Report: SEPTEMBER 30, 2004

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Thu, 30 Sep 2004 08:29:15 -0700

Progress Report: Claim vs. Fact: What The President Will Say

" American Progress Action Fund "

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The Progress Report

 

by Christy Harvey, Judd Legum and Jonathan Baskin

SEPTEMBER 30, 2004

 

GLOBAL WARMING America's 'Disgraceful' Climate Policy

DEBATES Claim vs. Fact: What The President Will Say

UNDER THE RADAR Go Beyond The Headlines

 

 

GLOBAL WARMING

America's 'Disgraceful' Climate Policy

 

Today, the Russian Cabinet " approved the ratification of the Kyoto

Protocol on combating global warming. " Parliament still needs to vote

on the pact but its passage is all but assured after Andrei Illarionov

– President Vladimir Putin's top economic adviser, who had been the

country's fiercest critic of the pact – announced that " Russia will

ratify the international treaty. " Russia will join Australia, Germany,

Italy, Japan and most other major industrialized nations.

Significantly, Russia's participation will put the Kyoto protocol into

effect, leaving the United States on the outside looking in.

 

BLAIR PUSHES FOR ACTION: British Prime Minister Tony Blair has

promised to make global warming " the centerpiece of Britain's

residency of the G8 industrialized countries in 2005. " Blair

emphasized that absent aggressive international action, global warming

could become " irreversible in its destructive power. " He also noted

that while the richest countries contribute most the problem, the

poorest countries – such as Haiti – bare the brunt of the problem. In

an implicit criticism of the United States, Blair said " the world's

richest nations in the G8 have a responsibility to lead the way. "

 

GLOBAL WARMING MAY INCREASE HURRICANE INTENSITY: Four hurricanes

pounded Florida and other states this summer, killing dozens of people

and causing billions of dollars in property damage. While it has not

been shown that the four hurricanes this summer were the result of

global warming, unless the world – especially the United States – acts

quickly, the worst is yet to come. A new study, based on comprehensive

data analysis using supercomputers, found that, in the coming decades,

" global warming is likely to produce a significant increase in the

intensity and rainfall of hurricanes. " Dr. Kerry Emanuel, a hurricane

expert at M.I.T., said the study " clinches the issue " of the link

between warming of tropical oceans and storm intensity. Global warming

is also expected to raise sea levels, which " would lead to more

flooding from hurricanes. "

 

MCCAIN – ADMINISTRATION'S CLIMATE POLICY IS 'DISGRACEFUL': In the face

of growing danger from global warming, President Bush has broken his

promise to impose mandatory caps on carbon dioxide emissions – a major

cause of global warming – and has withdrawn the United States from the

Kyoto Protocol. In 2002, the Bush administration's administrator of

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Conrad

Lautenbacher, said there was nothing that could be done about rising

carbon dioxide levels " unless everyone on Earth goes to sleep for 30

years. " Greenwire reported that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) called the

administration's global warming policy " disgraceful. " McCain added,

" any scientists...can tell you there's a lot more that can be done,

and the administration is doing very little. "

 

LOTT – LET'S JUST BUILD STRONGER BUILDINGS: McCain and Sen. Joe

Lieberman (D-CT) are co-sponsoring a bill that would " force major

energy transportation and manufacturing companies to cut their

greenhouse gas emissions to year 2000 levels by 2010. " The bill was

defeated last October by conservatives in the Senate. Sen. Trent Lott

(R-MS) told a Greenwire reporter that instead of controlling

greenhouse gases, we should just build stronger buildings. Write your

Senator and tell him or her we must pass the McCain-Lieberman climate

bill now.

 

DEBATES

Claim vs. Fact: What The President Will Say

 

On the morning of the first presidential debate on foreign policy and

homeland security, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright wants

to ask President Bush, " How has the Iraq war made us safer, if it

transformed Iraq from a place whose military was surrounded and

contained, into what you have repeatedly called the 'central front' in

the war on terror?' " Arthur Schlesinger Jr., the Pulitzer

Prize-winning historian, wants to ask, " Do you really believe that

there are fewer terrorists plotting against America today than there

were before you began the invasion of Iraq? " And Richard Clarke,

Bush's former counterterrorism chief, wants to know " what steps " the

president has taken to defend the homeland from a Madrid-style attack.

American Progress suggests ten debate questions of its own. Below are

some of the things President Bush might say to defend his foreign

policy record. Beneath them are facts explaining why the statements

are misleading. Read the complete list of what the president will

likely say, versus what you should know.

 

CLAIM 1: I HAD A CHOICE TO MAKE: When prodded on his decision to

invade Iraq, President Bush may say, " I had a choice to make: take the

word of a madman…or do what's necessary to defend this country. " But

Bush didn't have to take the " word of a madman " to know Iraq did not

possess weapons of mass destruction. He could have taken the word of

the CIA, which reported in February 2001, " We do not have any direct

evidence that Iraq has used the period since Desert Fox to

reconstitute its weapons of mass destruction programs. " He could have

taken the word of his own secretary of state, who said Saddam Hussein

" has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons

of mass destruction. " Or he could have taken the word of a 2002

Defense Intelligence Agency report, which said there was " no reliable

information " proving Iraq was producing chemical weapons. Finally, he

could have taken the word of chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix,

who said the WMD intelligence was weak and asked for more time to

carry out inspections.

 

CLAIM 2: WAR HAS MADE THE WORLD SAFER: When asked to confront evidence

that the war in Iraq has increased terrorism worldwide, the president

has a stock answer ready: because of the war, he says, " America and

the world are safer. " Every available piece of evidence indicates just

the opposite. Reports by both the International Institute of Strategic

Studies and the British House of Commons concluded the world was less

safe because of the war, with al Qaeda recruitment soaring. Earlier

this week, the Los Angeles Times reported Iraq had emerged as a

" rallying point for a seemingly endless supply of young extremists

willing to die in a jihad, or holy war. " And government data shows

" significant " terrorist attacks were at a 21-year high in 2003. When

asked if he agreed with the president's assessment, U.N.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, " No, I cannot say the world is

safer today than it was two, three years ago. "

 

CLAIM 3: THE TALIBAN IS GONE, 10 MILLION WILL VOTE: The President will

likely claim unmitigated success in Afghanistan. He said on Monday

that the " Taliban no longer is in existence, " and he repeatedly claims

" 10 million " Afghanis have registered to vote. In fact, with American

resources diverted in Iraq, the Taliban has been making a steady

comeback since 2001. The Afghan death toll attributed to the Taliban

rose by 45 percent this year, and more than forty election workers

have been killed or wounded in the past four months. A new report by

Human Rights Watch states that warlords are threatening voters and the

number of registered voters is probably much lower than the 10 million

President Bush cites. The United Nations says many areas of the

country are still too dangerous for people to register there.

 

CLAIM 4: I LEAD WITH CLARITY: When questioned on the way he has

handled the insurgency in Iraq, President Bush may say, " In order to

have credibility with those people who are fighting for freedom, the

leaders of this country must not send mixed signals. " But Bush sent

mixed signals in his ambivalent approach to Fallujah. Marine Commander

Lt. Gen. James T. Conway said, " When you order elements of a Marine

division to attack a city, you really need to...not vacillate in the

middle of something like that. Once you commit, you have to stay

committed. " In the October issue of the Army Times, Col. Joe Anderson

echoes Conway's frustration. " I was in Fallujah in June standing

downtown, " he says, " and I don't know why we ever left…It's just a

damn shame we're [starting over] a year later. " For other Bush

flip-flops,

 

 

Under the Radar

 

CIVIL LIBERTIES – PATRIOT ACT DEALT BLOW: U.S. District Judge Victor

Marrero yesterday struck down one of the key provisions of the

controversial Patriot Act as unconstitutional. The current law " allows

the FBI to demand information from Internet service providers without

judicial oversight or public review. " The judge ruled this

" effectively bars or substantially deters any judicial challenge " and

violates free-speech rights by imposing permanent silence on targeted

companies. Writing that " democracy abhors undue secrecy, " Marrero

ruled that " an unlimited government warrant to conceal…has no place in

our open society. " He further stated, " Under the mantle of secrecy,

the self-preservation that ordinarily impels our government to

censorship and secrecy may potentially be turned on ourselves as a

weapon of self-destruction….At that point, secrecy's protective shield

may serve not as much to secure a safe country as simply to save face. "

 

IRAQ – STUDIES SAY MILITARY SHORT ON TROOPS: According to an

independent study commissioned by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld,

" the military doesn't have enough people for its missions " in Iraq.

But even as the insurgency grows in Iraq, Rumsfeld said he " won't

immediately act on the panel's recommendations. " At a 9/23 Senate

Armed Services Committee hearing, Sen. Jack Reed, (D-RI) " disclosed

that Rumsfeld recently asked the Defense Science Board to study

long-term troop levels. According to Reed, that advisory panel

concluded the Pentagon has 'inadequate total numbers of troops and

lack of long-term endurance.' " Reed said he found it " puzzling " that

Rumsfeld has not supported the study's recommendation to increase

troops. Before the war, Rumsfeld and other Pentagon authorities

publicly rebuked army officials who estimated " several hundred

thousand troops " would be necessary to provide security in post-war Iraq.

 

INFLUENCE – PROTECTING INDUSTRY, NOT PEOPLE: The Washington Post

reports, " food industry lobbyists met privately with Bush

administration officials 10 times while the government was crafting

rules to protect the food supply from bioterrorism and those

congressionally required rules emerged in significantly weakened form

as a result. " Caroline Smith DeWaal, of the Center for Science in the

Public Interest, said, " the result is regulations that the industry

likes, but that don't fully protect the public interest. " The Bush

administration has a history of meeting secretly with industry groups

when crafting important legislation: Vice President Cheney had back

room meetings with energy officials when crafting his energy policy;

the White House also met with the owner of one of the largest pharmacy

benefits management companies in drafting prescription drug card

legislation; the new mercury emission rules from the EPA contained " at

least a dozen paragraphs [that] were lifted, sometimes verbatim, from

the industry suggestions. "

 

MILITARY – NO BID CONTRACTS GONE WILD: A new report by the Center for

Public Integrity shows over the past six years, more than half the

Pentagon's $900 billion budget was given out to contractors. More than

40 percent of that was awarded without competitive bidding. Also,

points out the Wall Street Journal, the Pentagon " doesn't adequately

monitor its contractors, " with poor record-keeping and weak

accountability. Some of the Pentagon's largest contractors, " including

Lockheed Martin Corp. and General Dynamics Corp., received a majority

of their defense revenue through no-bid contracts. " You get what you

pay for: the top 10 contractors " won $340 billion in contracts over

the six-year period. In that time, the companies gave $35.7 million to

political campaigns and spent $414.6 million on lobbying. " The study

concluded, " The 10 biggest defense contractors all spent heavily on

both campaign contributions and lobbying. But the return on their

investment was staggering. "

 

CIVIL LIBERTIES – SHIPPED OFF TO TORTURE: The Washington Post reports

the Bush administration is supporting a provision that " would allow

U.S. authorities to deport certain foreigners to countries where they

are likely to be tortured or abused, " which is prohibited by

international law. The provision, which is part of a massive

intelligence reform bill sponsored by House Speaker Dennis Hastert,

would allow the U.S. to deport people who have not been tried on or

convicted of any charges, " regardless of the likelihood of torture or

abuse. " It shifts the burden of proof to the suspect, saying that to

challenge the deportation, he or she must prove " by clear and

convincing evidence that he or she would be tortured. " Human rights

groups say that burden is impossible to satisfy. If passed, this

provision " could result in the torture of hundreds of people now held

in the United States who could be sent to such countries as Egypt,

Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Jordan and Pakistan, " all of which have nasty,

nasty human rights records.