R7

"Ain't Gonna Study War No More"

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Location: Brooklyn, New York, United States

Right-To-Life Party, Christian, Anti-War, Pro-Life, Bible Fundamentalist, Egalitarian, Libertarian Left

Friday, August 26, 2005

Do You Know the Carlyle Group?

Sing to the tune of: "Do you know the Muffin Man?":

Do you know the Carlyle Group?
The Carlyle Group, The Carlyle Group?
Do you know the Carlyle Group,
that invests in military gain?"

Do you know that Tony Blair?
That Tony Blair, That Tony Blair?
Do you know that Tony Blair
has a job offer with same?...


Okay, that's enough nursery rhyme singing. This isn't a nursery subject, neither is Blair's relationship with the Bush Family Financial Tree, their connections with the Saudis, and the equity investment company that nurses the Tree..

War is no child's play. WAR is The Carlyle Group's primary business. WAR and that which enhances it's operations... They own companies that build weapons, telecommunication systems, and aviation support. In fact, even our current president, Dubyah, had a position in 1991 with one of their properties (1a). The Carlyle Group, now 18 years old, is one of the main 'tree keepers' of the Bush Family Financial Tree.

To Cindy Sheehan, and all who have lost from WAR, (which is just about everyone), if you want to know why you've lost, look into the development and practices of the Carlyle Group. If you are unfamilar with them, here's a general starter...from the incredible news hound, Tom Feeley, and his Information Clearing House:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2321.htm

There's actually two articles listed in that link. The Red Herring article (1b) is particularly brow raising (and the links at the bottom of that article also tell of Carlyle's involvements in Asia) Here's a short list of a fraction of the men who have in the past and/or present been involved, either in the administration or as clients of Carlyle:

James Baker III (former US Secretary of State under Bush Senior, recently served on the 2004 election investigation commission with Jimmy Carter),
Frank Carlucci (former US Secretary of Defence and former Deputy director of the CIA, good friend with Donald Rumsfeld and his former wrestling partner at Princeton),
George Herbert Walker Bush (former US president, former director of the CIA),
The Bin Laden Family (the family of Osama, himself),
John Major(previous Prime Minister of Great Britian),
Fidel Ramos (ex-president of the Philippines),
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal (of Saudi Arabia. In various positions of the TOP richest men in the world between 1999 and 2005, see (2),
George Soros (another billionarie),

and many more. While most equity firms have only 10 or 12 employees, Carlyle has 240 (see Red herring article), all over the world.

On 09/11/01, there was a Carlyle group meeting in progress in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington, DC, including the Bin Laden Family, Carlucci and Baker. They watched the images of the twin towers falling on television news. A couple of days later, the Bin Ladens hopped on a jet, unobstructed and flew back to Saudi Arabia. Since the turn of the millenium, the Carlyle Group has added 6 billion dollars to it's financial worth, in no small part due to the wars that followed 9/11, in Afganistan and Iraq.

They have a system of recycling 'retired' politicians. The politicians come to the Carlyle Group from positions of authority (partly via political campaign funding?), where they influenced the laws that govern corporate enterprise and/or decisions about who gets government contracts (another example of this 'human resources' recycling method is Richard Cheney and Halliburton)Then, to further support the corporation, they return to political positions. It is not really 'illegal', but if you make laws or policies, you can ensure that these relationships are not officially limited by law. Conflict of interests laws and ethics guidelines have been gutted by such politicians, under the guise of "deregulation."

For most people, genuine ethics are not based on legalities, but on an intrinsic sense of right and wrong, fomented by early relationships with family and community.. The practices these politicians and corporations engage in, finagle around the heart of ethic's laws, to be able to avoid 'legal' ramifications. It doesn't make their subsequent actions right. A great deal of rationalization goes into the structure of war mentalities. Of all the sins of man, killing is the one that requires the most "justification".

Now, we have another politician being offered a roost with his backers in the private corporate sector. Prime Minister Tony Blair has been offered a position with the Carlyle Group... And none too soon either... The real estate bubble in Britian is bursting, and good old Tony has lost 700,000 pounds from the value of his estate, but he still has to pay the mortgage at the inflated value.. When he leaves office in 2007 or so, he'll be able to make 500,000 pounds a year, for a few hours of work per month, stroking the political relationships he has formed during his term of office.(4) Do you think he'll take it?

Or is he going to be leaving office a little sooner, before his term expires? That's up to the people of Britain. As far as the rest of the War Mongers and their activities, that is a complex problem that requires a world wide response, beginning with people becoming knowledgable about these persons, practices, and system manipulations. We have to know what is going on, before anything can be done. Cindy Sheehan is one of many emerging, who are leading the way in demanding this information. Then we need the courage, and mutual support to do what needs to be done. Which is to remove these people from positions of power they hold. The biggest challenge is to do so peacefully and not fall into the pit of hypocrisy around which the jagged wheel of war turns.


(1a)http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=6793&hed=Carlyle's+Way excerpt:

"Perhaps even more disconcerting than Carlyle's ties to the Pentagon are its connections within the White House itself. Aside from signing up George Bush Sr. shortly after his presidential term ended, Carlyle gave George W. Bush a job on the board of Texas-based airline food caterer Caterair International back in 1991. Since Bush the younger took office this year, a number of events have raised eyebrows.

Shortly after George W. Bush was sworn in as president, he broke off talks with North Korea regarding long-range ballistic missiles, claiming there was no way to ensure North Korea would comply with any guidelines that were developed. The news came as a shock to South Korean officials, who had spent years negotiating with the North, assisted by the Clinton administration. By June, Mr. Bush had reopened negotiations with North Korea, but only at the urging of his own father. According to reports, the former president sent his son a memo persuasively arguing the need to work with the North Korean government. It was the first time the nation had seen the influence of the father on the son in office"

(1b)same article linked above:http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=6793&hed=Carlyle's+Way

(2) http://www.forbes.com/finance/lists/10/2003/LIR.jhtml?passListId=10&passYear=2003&passListType=Person&uniqueId=0RD0&datatype=Person

(3)http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8904.htm
excerpt:

"EXHIBIT C: The Carlyle Group, The Bush Family, The War Party, And World
Leaders.

For at least the last twelve years, George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush have been engaging in war-profiteering through the CARLYLE GROUP ("CG"). CG is a consortium of wealthy conservatives who operate worldwide as a merchant banking firm.

CG is also a major player in the defense and telecommunications industries. CG has been averaging a whopping 34% return for its investors over the past 15 years, and its current estimated worth is $18 billion. Largely through war-profiteering, CG's worth soared from $12 billion to $18 billion between 2000 and 2005."


(4)http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/fullnewsbottom/tm_objectid=15880889&method=full&siteid=106694-name_page.htmlexcerpt:

"But sources in the City have revealed that he is "seriously considering" a high-profile role with Carlyle - which manages $30billion (£20million) of investments worldwide.

The job could net Mr Blair up to £500,000 a year for only a few days work a month giving speeches and making "networking" trips on behalf of the company."

Copyright Auguust 23, 2005
by
M.K. Meadows
aka ilyana on
http://www.choicechanges.com

US Show Of Contempt At The UN

Scrap the ideals, Bolton tells UN

America's controversial new ambassador to the United Nations is seeking to shred an agreement on strengthening the world body and fighting poverty intended to be the highlight of a 60th anniversary summit next month.

In an extraordinary intervention, United States appointee John Bolton has sought to roll back proposed UN commitments on aid to developing countries, combating global warming and nuclear disarmament.

Ambassador Bolton has demanded no fewer than 750 amendments to the blueprint restating the ideals of the international body, originally drafted by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The amendments are spelled out in a 32-page US version, littered with deletions and exclusions. Most strikingly, the changes eliminate all specific reference to the so-called Millennium Development Goals, accepted by all countries at the last major UN summit in 2000.

The Americans are also seeking to remove virtually all references to the Kyoto Treaty and the battle against global warming.

They are striking out mention of the disputed International Criminal Court and drawing a red line through any suggestion that the nuclear powers should dismantle their arsenals.

Instead, they are seeking to add emphasis to passages on fighting terrorism and spreading democracy.

Very quickly, Bolton has given the answer to anyone still wondering whether his long and difficult journey to New York - President George W. Bush confirmed him to the post after the US Senate was unable to - would render him coy or cautious.

He seems intent on taking the UN by the collar and saying plainly to its face what America expects - and does not expect - from it.

To the dismay of many other delegations, the US has even gone so far as to score out pledges in the text that would have asked nations to "achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product for official development assistance by no later than 2015". Passages on a larger role for the General Assembly are gone. A pledge to create a standing military capacity for UN peacekeeping is rejected.

This show of contempt from Washington and its new envoy comes when Annan has been severely weakened by allegations of corruption, fraud and nepotism.

The White House is aware that Annan could be further undermined when investigators into corruption in the oil-for-food programme in Iraq issue their final report, probably just days before the summit, due to run September 14-16.

The move by Bolton has thrown preparations for the summit into turmoil, prompting some to question whether there will be anything for leaders to put their pens to.

"We can't be entirely surely there will be an agreement," one senior UN aide admitted yesterday.

Failure to reach an agreement could embarrass British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is believed to have given broad backing to Annan's original draft.

"It is not great news," said one Western diplomat about the US paper, which had been distributed only to a select group of UN ambassadors by yesterday. "What they are proposing is quite radical. If we start negotiating now the way the Americans want, it is going to make for a very difficult process."

The President of the General Assembly, Jean Ping of Gambia, must now try to save the summit from disaster. He will bring together a core group of 20-30 countries in the days ahead to see if the American objections can be overcome.

David Usborne
07/26/05 "Independent"
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9997.htm