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In our latest podcast, (left to right) editors Henry See, Scott Ogrin, and Joe Quinn discuss the latest on the Bush regime and give an update on the recent bombings in London.

Below are some of the articles cited so that you can read the material yourselves.

Next show we'll be discussing the events of 9/11, complete with an exclusive interview with Darren Williams. Darren is the creator of the P3nt4gon Str!ke video that has been seen by over 300 million people around the world. If you haven't seen it, check it out at the P3nt4gon Str!ke web site.

If you have any questions, write us at:

If you like music but don't like Bush, then check out the latest Signs of the Times production, You Lied.

LOS ANGELES, June 29 (Xinhuanet) -- US President George W. Bush's latest address to call Americans to stand firm in Iraq drew the smallest US TV audience of his tenure, according to a study released in New York on Wednesday.

Nielsen Media Research, a media tracking company headquartered in New York, US, said that an estimated 23 million television viewers tuned in to Bush's half hour speech on the Iraq war on Tuesday night. [...]

In a news release issued from its headquarters in New York Wednesday, the company said the number was 8.6 million viewers below Bush's previous low as president, his August 9, 2001, speechon stem cell research, which was carried on six networks.

By comparison, his May 1, 2003 speech from the deck of an aircraft carrier declaring an end to major combat operations in Iraq averaged 48.4 million viewers.

Bush garnered the biggest US TV audience of his presidency -- 82 million viewers on nine networks -- when he addressed a joint session of the US Congress nine days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks on America.

Tonight at Fort Bragg, in front of a backdrop of American service members, President Bush will tell the nation that victory is at hand, as long as we stay the course. Add a banner praising a job well-done and an aircraft carrier, and this all begins to seem eerily familiar.

But the men and women of the American military have had enough of what's familiar from this administration. For us there is no alternative but to serve when called, as we have in Iraq for the past two years.

Mr. President, this is a time for hard truths, and now that the opinion polls on the war have started to turn, you are going to Fort Bragg to make your case. Will it continue to be one version of progress from our Commander in Chief, but a very different measure from our commanders in the field? Why does your view of Iraq look so different from ours?

We agree there is no choice but to succeed in Iraq. But, Mr. President, what is the plan to get there? We still don't know. To quote Senator Chuck Hagel, a great patriot, it seems to those of us who served in Iraq that your administration is "making it up as they go along."

What is success? Tonight you will tell us Iraq is on the path to freedom and stability, but what does right look like? The CIA tells us Iraq is now a top breeding ground for terrorists. Are we killing more enemies than we're making?

Last week, Vice President Cheney said the insurgency is in its last throes, but this week we're told to dig in for a 12-year battle. Have you asked your Secretary of Defense and Vice President to offer the Troops a straight answer?

We don't need to be told about the political successes in Iraq, because we were there to safeguard an election one-year ago that you will certainly cite as progress. And we know that now is not a time for cheerleading.

Mr. President, we don't need to be told that the insurgents intend to shake our will, because we've sifted through the havoc wreaked by even the crudest weapons, then watched our friends sent home, changed forever. We don't need to be told that your administration is committed to taking care of the Troops, because we've already gotten the bill you sent us for the meals we ate while recovering at Walter Reed.

We don't need to be told that flak jackets and safer Humvees are on the way, because we've already learned that a phone-call home and a few hundred bucks is probably the quickest way to get body armor. Hundreds of Troops have been wounded or killed because of faulty vehicles or missing armor, but who has been held accountable?

Each day we fulfill our commitment to this country, but we are still waiting for a Veteran's Administration that is properly funded and prepared to handle the consequences of this war. This past week it was revealed the VA was one billion dollars short of its health care need. Whose fault is that, and have you punished them for their failure to serve America's heroes?

We have come a long way since the early days of tough talk and "Mission Accomplished" banners. The body count has increased exponentially, and the rumbling of an awakening public can now be heard. But for American Troops on the ground in Iraq, little has changed. For their families back home, the sleepless nights continue. The members of the military have long agreed that the strength of our force in Iraq cannot be sustained with an all-volunteer Army and dwindling recruitment numbers. Are you prepared to tell America's parents that their children will be needed to finish the job?

Mr. President, we need honest answers, not pep rallies.

Paul Rieckhoff is the Executive Director of Operation Truth. He is served in Iraq from April 2003 to February 2004. During that time, he was a 1st Lieutenant, and served as an Infantry Platoon Leader in the 3rd Infantry and 1st Armored Divisions.

WASHINGTON - President Bush granted the new national intelligence chief expanded power over the FBI on Wednesday and ordered dozens of other spy agency changes as the White House heeded a presidential commission that condemned the intelligence community for failures in Iraq and elsewhere.

But almost as soon as the details were unveiled, the White House was defending itself against suggestions that the moves were simply adding more bureaucracy without making changes that could have prevented misjudgments like those made on Iraq.

"It's an unfair characterization to say it's simply a restructuring," said Bush's homeland security adviser, Frances Fragos Townsend, who led the 90-day review of the recommendations from the president's commission on weapons of mass destruction. "It's a fundamental strengthening of our intelligence capabilities."

The White House said it endorsed 70 of the 74 recommendations from the commission, which was led by Republican Judge Laurence Silberman and former Democratic Sen. Charles Robb and conducted a yearlong review of the 15 intelligence agencies. Bush formed the commission under pressure after the top U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq resigned and started a firestorm of controversy over the accuracy of the prewar Iraq intelligence.

In its scathing 600-page report released in March, the commission called the spy community "dead wrong on almost all of its prewar judgments" about Iraq's weapons.

Robb called the White House's broad acceptance of the commission's proposals "truly extraordinary."

Among the most significant changes the White House offered Wednesday, the Justice Department will be directed - with congressional approval - to consolidate its counterterrorism, espionage and intelligence units under one new assistant attorney general for national security.

The White House ordered the creation of a National Security Service inside the FBI. And Bush sought to strengthen the hand of the new national intelligence director over the FBI, giving him expanded budget and management powers over the bureau.

In a statement, the American Civil Liberties Union said the FBI's new security service would lead to an "erosion of constitutional protections against law enforcement actions."

But Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said, "Every law enforcement official within the FBI is going to remain under the supervision of the FBI director and, ultimately, the attorney general."

The White House will also have the national intelligence director, John Negroponte, establish a National Counter-Proliferation Center that will coordinate the U.S. government's collection and analysis of intelligence on nuclear, biological and chemical weapons - a task now performed by many national security agencies.

Negroponte's top deputy, Gen. Michael Hayden, said the center would only have 50 to 100 employees, thereby avoiding some insiders' worries of "brain drain" as new offices tap into existing ones.

A number of Bush administration critics welcomed the reforms.
President Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger, called the changes to Negroponte's authority over the Justice Department and the counterproliferation center "very positive."

"All of this is moving boxes to some degree," said Berger. "I do think that in this case organization is important. ... The real test is how it is implemented."

While the White House portrayed the changes as a near universal endorsement of the commission's recommendations, some suggestions were not completely followed.

For instance, the commission said Negroponte should not be part of the president's morning intelligence briefing. But Hayden said he or Negroponte still attend the secretive daily sessions.

In other moves, the White House also:

- Issued an executive order allowing the freezing of any financial assets in the United States of citizens, companies or organizations involved in the spread of weapons of mass destruction. The order designates eight organizations in Iran, North Korea and Syria.

- Created a new national coordinator for human intelligence, or classic spycraft, who would guide clandestine activities of the entire intelligence community.

- Asked Congress to reform its oversight of the intelligence community, a controversial proposal that could provoke turf wars and other difficulties on Capitol Hill.

Hayden acknowledged that some of the changes, such as those aimed at improving intelligence analysis, will take years to institute. However, he said others, including the human intelligence chief, could be implemented within two months.

House Intelligence Chairman Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., and the panel's top Democrat, California Rep. Jane Harman, praised the White House's moves as steps that will help ensure policy-makers get "accurate, timely and actionable intelligence."

Yet, in an interview, Harman said the issues still require "sustained attention" to ensure that Negroponte isn't "forever fending off turf attacks."

The White House said three of the commission's recommendations require further study, including one that would have called for accountability reviews within three intelligence offices under fire for mistakes in the prewar Iraq intelligence. Hayden noted the recommendation focused on organizational accountability and said reviews were under way.

Another recommendation, regarding the management of covert action, was rejected and remains classified.

Following the advice of blue-ribbon panels, numerous changes have been made to the intelligence community since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Many were contained in a sweeping intelligence reform law passed by Congress in December.

"I think we now know what the shape of the animal is going to be," Berger said, "and we have to make sure that the animal is ready to hunt."

Cockamamie. No other way to describe it. The Boston Herald tells us the “terrorists” (possible patsies) in London “were all carrying personal documents” because “they wanted their identities to be known,” according to the Times of London. You’d think if this was indeed the case the “terrorists” (patsies) would have sent a statement to the newspapers, put a message on the internet, done something to leave a mark. Nope. Instead they left behind their IDs and such. Now a normal person would have big problems with this scenario, mostly because any documents on the bodies of the alleged suicide bombers would be incinerated or blown to smithereens. But miraculously, like Mohammed Atta’s passport found in the smoldering rubble of the WTC (and in nearly pristine condition), the “personal documents” of the native-born Pakistani heritage suicide bombers were found in the wreckage. It’s sort of like the Magic Bullet found on a stretcher at Parkland Hospital shortly after the assassination of President Kennedy. Point is, if people are stupid enough—or intellectually lazy enough—to believe this obvious nonsense they probably deserve what the neocon world order has in mind for them: a repressive police state, endless war (donating of first born will be mandatory), and an ever sliding standard of living as the neolibs take over the planet and turn it into a cheap labor gulag.

Internet forums are not the benchmark of absolute truth and unlike the government, who eagerly rush to give credibility to an 'Al-Qaeda' statement as soon as a Bush-linked Internet company can post it, we do not offer this as concrete proof of anything. However, it is interesting nonetheless.

Several different people on the forum of the London Evening Standard website are reporting their own perculiar experiences on the day of the bombing.

One member writes,

Hi everyone,

Did anyone travelling in BEFORE the attacks began yesterday notice anything peculiar on their tube journey?

I catch the Piccadilly line at 7.15am each morning from Southgate to reach my work in Kensington by 8.00. Normally, all seats are taken by Finsbury Park and carriages are packed by Kings Cross.

However, yesterday my tube journey was eerily quiet. For the first time ever there were spare seats in my carriage all the way through zone 1. It was noticeable enough for me to wonder what on earth was going on. This was at 7.45 - over an hour before attacks began.

I've also heard people saying that the Northern Line was being shut down at the same time.

Is there something that we're not being told?

Another member responds,

yes!!

I was due to pick a work collegue up from balham at 7:15am, but when i got there i was greeted with Tube emergency vans, police and and hoards of people being turned away from a closed station.

All very strange they must have known something was going to happan, the surely had a tip off. As i drove along the road, (which also follows the tubes) they were all shut and hundreds of people were queing for buses.

when i reached Oval, which was open there were two armed policemen in a road next to the station, which for a quiet area like that is extremly rare.

the northen line was shut from morden to stockwell. They blatently knew something was going down, they just got it wrong and are hoping no one mentions anything.

When combined with the bomb scares in different major cities days before the bombing, the Israeli warnings and the beyond a coincidence exercises the day of the attack, these accounts shed more light on the true nature of the attack.

The multiple, simultaneous explosions that took place today on the London transportation system were the work of perpetrators who had an operational capacity of considerable scope. They have come a long way since the two attacks of the year 1998 against the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar-Es-Salaam, and the aircraft actions of September 11, 2001.

There was careful planning, intelligence gathering, and a sophisticated choice of timing as well as near-perfect execution. We are faced with a deadly and determined adversary who will stop at nothing and will persevere as long as he exists as a fighting terrorist force.

One historical irony: I doubt whether the planners knew that one of the target areas, that in Russell Square, was within a stone's throw of a building that served as the first headquarters of the World Zionist Organization that preceded the State of Israel.

It was at 77 Great Russell Street that Dr. Chaim Weizmann, a renowned chemist, presided over the effort that culminated in the issuing of the Balfour Declaration, the first international recognition of the right of the Jewish people to a national home in what was then still a part of the Ottoman Empire.

Comment: On 9/11, an aircraft struck the Pentagon, giving certain 9/11 insiders at the Pentagon the perfect alibi. Now we have the London bombings, and the Zionists and their primary tool of death and destruction - the Mossad - also have the perfect alibi. In the immortal words of George W. Bush: "There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, it's probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on ... shame on you. It fool me. We can't get fooled again."

We are in the throes of a world war, raging over the entire globe and characterized by the absence of lines of conflict and an easily identifiable enemy. There are sometimes long pauses between one attack and another, consequently creating the wrong impression that the battle is all over, or at least in the process of being won.

Generally speaking, the populations at large are not involved in the conflict, and by and large play the role of bystanders. But once in a while, these innocents are caught up in the maelstrom and suffer the most cruel and wicked of punishments meted out by those who are not bound by any rules of conduct or any norms of structured society.

Comment: Not surprisingly, that's an accurate description of how Mossad conducts itself.

For a while, too short a while, we are engrossed with the sheer horror of what we see and hear, but, with the passage of time, our memories fade and we return to our daily lives, forgetting that the war is still raging out there and more strikes are sure to follow.

Comment: As the former head of Mossad, the author is certainly in a position to know...

It cannot be said that seven years after this war broke out in east Africa, we can see its conclusion. We are in for the long haul and we must brace ourselves for more that will follow. The 'Great Wars' of the 20th century lasted less than this war has already lasted, and the end is nowhere in sight.

There will be supreme tests of leadership in this unique situation and people will have to trust the wisdom and good judgment of those chosen to govern them. The executives must be empowered to act resolutely and to take every measure necessary to protect the citizens of their country and to carry the combat into whatever territory the perpetrators and their temporal and spiritual leaders are inhabiting.

Comment: In other words, we should all give up our civil liberties and refrain from questioning the actions of our leaders. Thus, the "terrorists" win. That doesn't make much sense, now does it?

The rules of combat must be rapidly adjusted to cater to the necessities of this new and unprecedented situation, and international law must be rewritten in such a way as to permit civilization to defend itself. Anything short of this invites disaster and must not be allowed to happen.

Comment: And don't forget to change international law so that oppression and torture are perfectly legal!

The aim of the enemy is not to defeat western civilization but to destroy its sources of power and existence, and to render it a relic of the past. It does not seek a territorial victory or a regime change; it wants to turn western civilization into history and will stop at nothing less than that.

It will show no mercy or compassion and no appreciation for these noble values when practiced by us. This does not mean that we can or should assume the norms of our adversaries, nor that we should act indiscriminately. It does mean that the only way to ensure our safety and security will be to obtain the destruction, the complete destruction, of the enemy.

Comment: Indeed, the Mossad has never acted indiscriminately. Read Victor Ostrovsky's book By Way of Deception to get an idea of how and why the Israeli agency acts as it does.

MUCH HAS been said in recent years about the vital need for international cooperation. There is no doubt that this is essential. Yet no measure of this will suffice and it cannot replace the requirement that each and every country effectively declare itself at war with international Islamist terror and recruit the public to involve itself actively in the battle, under the direction of the legal powers that be.

Comment: Translation: "We, the Zionists, will stop at nothing until every country in the world embraces our policy of annihilation and eradicates those darn Arabs from the face of the earth." Unfortunately, the Zionists fail to accept the very real possibility that their crusade will result in their own annihilation. Fortunately, there are many non-Zionist Jews who are appalled at the completely "un-Jewish" actions of their Zionist leaders.

In the past, governments have been expected to provide security to their citizens. The responsibility is still there, in principle. But in practice, no government today can provide an effective 'suit of protection' for the ordinary citizen. There can be no protection for every bus, every train, every street, every square. In these times the ordinary citizen must be vigilant and must make his personal contribution to the war effort.

Comment: Come on everybody, turn in your terrorist neighbors! Let's turn the whole world into a larger version of Nazi Germany!

Private enterprise will have to supplement the national effort in many walks of life.

Comment: You knew that one was coming...

The measures that I have outlined above will not be easily adopted
overnight. When the US entered World War Two, Congress approved the momentous decision by a majority of one vote. Profound cultural changes will have to come about and the democratic way of life will be hard-pressed to produce solutions that will enable the executive branch to perform its duties and, at the same time, to preserve the basic tenets of our democratic way of life. It will not be easy, but it will be essential not to lose sight of every one of these necessities.

Comment: In other words, democracy will die. It is already dying. Does anyone really expect our psychopathic leaders to ensure our freedoms when they are mesmerized by their new awe-inspiring power over life and death? As the old saying goes, power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.

This war is already one of the longest in modern times; as things appear now, it is destined to be part of our daily lives for many years to come, until the enemy is eliminated, as it surely will be.

The writer, who heads the Center for Strategic and Policy Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, is a former head of the Mossad.