Destabilizing Iraq, Broadly Defined (Gotcha, Bush, Cheney!)

[Demeter]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/22/AR2007072201141.html?referrer=email&referrer=email&referrer=email



Destabilizing Iraq, Broadly Defined

By Walter Pincus
Monday, July 23, 2007; A15



Be careful what you say and whom you help -- especially when it comes to the Iraq war and the Iraqi government.

President Bush issued an executive order last week titled "Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq." In the extreme, it could be interpreted as targeting the financial assets of any American who directly or indirectly aids someone who has committed or "poses a significant risk of committing" violent acts "threatening the peace or stability of Iraq" or who undermines "efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform" in the war-torn country.

The executive order, released Tuesday, was designed to target "perpetrators of violence in Iraq including Shiite militia groups linked to Iran, Sunni insurgent groups with sanctuary in Syria, and other indigenous Iraqi insurgent groups," said Molly Millerwise, a spokeswoman for the Treasury Department, which will determine who is in violation of the order. The move follows similar Bush orders to freeze assets of members or associates of al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups and former Iraqi government officials, Millerwise said. "It fills in the cracks," she added.

White House press secretary Tony Snow offered further clarification at a briefing on Tuesday: "What this is really aimed at is insurgents and those who come across the border . . . or anybody who is caught providing support or poses a significant risk of providing support to those who may come across the border."

However, the text of the order, if interpreted broadly, could cast a far bigger net to include not just those who commit violent acts or pose the risk of doing so in Iraq, but also third parties -- such as U.S. citizens in this country -- who knowingly or unknowingly aid or encourage such people.

SEEMS TAILOR-MADE FOR WAR CRIMINALS, NOW, DOESN'T IT?

[Raven]

1. Bullshit!!! That's not what the EO says at all. It makes no mention of people going

over the borders into Iraq. Maybe that's implied but it specifically talks about people in these United States. Snow and crew sound like they are backing off fast.

The way I read this EO, if I continue to table every week against the war I could "pose a significant risk" (not defined in the EO, by the way,) and I could be put on the economic death list without even getting notice. If I were to go to a lawyer to get help getting off the death list, my lawyer would be in trouble for providing me assistence under another section of the EO.

A guy on NPR this morning pointed out that under the language of this thing, if I was having a heart attack and a doctor helped me, he might be in trouble.

By the way, they'd take my house, my bank account and all other personal possessions so I wouldn't be able to afford to fight anyway.

[Demeter]

2. But We Know They Lie--They Lie All the Time

They don't even need a good reason. It's like jogging or situps, to them: tell 5 lies before every meal to stay in shape! But under this fiat, there is a very good chance that we could RICO the Bush regime without having to mess with the courts, even. Stip...THEM...NAKED!!

They are out of their minds because they still think they have an absolute lock on the levers of power in this country. Americans may be fat, stupid and lazy, but they are mean and vicious when sufficiently provoked, and the Bushies just keep sticking their noses in the cages daring us to take them off. It's some kind of death wish.