Why are Americans clueless about what is going on in the world? Did the CDC help FEMA cover up its poison trailers? Bush Administration told 935 lies to fool U.S. into war with Iraq. Was Corporal Graner really the mastermind behind the prisoner abuse at Abu Gharib?

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If you want to know why so many Americans are clueless about what is going on in the world; read these highlights from an internal memorandum from the world's oldest and largest newsgathering organization--The Associated Press:

· “Now and for the foreseeable future, virtually everything involving Britney [Spears] is a big deal. ... We want to pay attention to what others are reporting and seek to confirm those stories that WE feel warrant the wire. ...When we determine that we’ll write something, we must expedite it.”-- Los Angeles AP assistant Frank Baker

Lou Ferrara, the managing editor for sports, entertainment and multimedia for Associated Press said that the news service’s clients were, “yearning for more photos and videos of celebrities.”

Mr. Ferrara said, “It’s really part of a larger strategy for The A.P. to do what it’s always done well.”

(New York Times, 1/14/08)

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Last spring a Congressional investigation found that FEMA officials had ignored repeated warnings about dangerous levels of formaldehyde fumes in trailers they were providing to Katrina evacuees. FEMA officials had refused to test the trailers for formaldehyde so they could say they didn’t know there was a problem.

· “[S]enior officials in Washington didn’t want to know what they already knew, because they didn’t want the legal and moral responsibility to do what they knew had to be done.”--The Washington Post, 7/20/07

Now, CBS News reports (1/28/08) that The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) suppressed warnings from one of its top scientists about the long-term health risks of formaldehyde fumes in the trailers being occupied by Katrina evacuees.

The director of the CDC’s Division of Toxicology and Environmental Medicine, Dr. Christopher De Rosa, told his superiors “there is no safe level of exposure” to formaldehyde in trailers, but his warning did not appear in any of the CDC’s public reports. In fact, Dr. De Rosa indicated that FEMA officials directed two of his staff to omit any mention of the long-term health effects of formaldehyde from its February 2007 report. It was only after eight months of pressure from Congressional investigators that the CDC finally revised its report and issued warnings about the health risks of formaldehyde.

· “To not do its due diligence on this issue borders on malfeasance.”--Rep. Bernie Thompson [D-MS], chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee

Malfeasance seems to be the standard throughout the Bush Administration, but how many people do you have to poison before malfeasance becomes premeditated criminal neglect?

More than 143,000 families have lived in these poisonous FEMA trailers--40,000 still do.

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We no longer have to wonder how many lies the Bush Administration told to sell the Iraq war to the American people. Somebody has counted them.

A joint study by the Fund for Independence in Journalism and the Center for Public Integrity examined the public statements that George W. Bush and seven other top members of his administration made about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and its links with al-Qaida during the two year period following the attacks of September 11, 2001.

What they found was that Bush and his accomplices told at least 935 lies about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction (or trying to acquire them) and its links to al-Qaida. George W. Bush was prevaricator-in-chief with a total of 259 lies (231 about Iraq’s WMDs and 28 about Iraq's links to al-Qaida), but the once-honorable Colin Powell ran a close second with 254 (244 about WMDs and 10 about al-Qaida.

Surprisingly, V.P. Dick Cheney placed next to last, with only 48 lies; but for what Cheney lacked in quantity, he made up with quality. This is my favorite:

· “Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us.”--V.P. Dick Cheney, 8/26/02

It is simple elegance--the true essence of deceit--poetry from the snarled lips of a master liar.

You can find the study at the Center for Public Integrity’s website, and you can search its database of lies by keywords (i.e. yellow cake, Sarin gas, aluminum tubes) and by who was telling the lies. Then, when people argue, “When did President Bush every lie?”--You can give them 259 examples.

· “In addition to their patently false pronouncements, Bush and these seven top officials also made hundreds of other statements in the two years after 9/11 in which they implied that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or links to Al Qaeda.” ...

· “The cumulative effect of these false statements--amplified by thousands of news stories and broadcasts--was massive, with the media coverage creating an almost impenetrable din for several critical months in the run-up to war.”

(Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith, Center for Public Integrity)

“There is no doubt” ...that the Bush Administration lied to draw the U.S. into a war with Iraq. Now, the question is: Will anyone ever be held accountable for the death and destruction caused by their lies?

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Rush Limbaugh must have been right. The mistreatment of prisoners at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison was just a few National Guard troops “having a good time--letting off a little steam”. How else can you explain the Army throwing out the conviction of the only officer court-martialed in the case--Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan, who was in charge of the interrogation center at Abu Ghraib (AP, 1/10/08).

Lt. Col. Jordan had already been acquitted of all charges relating to prisoner abuse. The only thing he was convicted of was disobeying an order not to talk about the investigation. His court-martial jury recommended a criminal reprimand (the lightest possible punishment); but, evidently, even that was too much, so the Army has now thrown out the criminal conviction and reduced it to “administrative” punishment, which, in Col. Jordan’s case, means diddily-squat.

The military, in its infinite wisdom, has found that criminal responsibility for prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib went no higher in the ranks than Staff Sgt. Ivan L. Frederick, who was paroled after serving about three years of an eight-year sentence. The only soldier still in prison for abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib is former Corporal Charles Graner Jr., who is serving a 10-year sentence for assault, battery, conspiracy, maltreatment, indecent acts and dereliction of duty. Judging from his stiff sentence, Corporal Graner was obviously the mastermind behind the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib. Or was he?

· “It could not be more clear that prisoner abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan resulted from policies and practices authorized by high-level officials, including military and civilian leaders. Although the abuse was systemic and widespread, the accountability for it has been anything but.”--Hira Shamsi, an attorney with the National Security Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, (AP, 1/13/08)

... and once again we must wonder, “Is anyone in the Bush Administration ever going to be held responsible for anything?”

Authors Bio:

Mick Youther is an American citizen, an independent voter, a veteran, a parent, a scientist, a writer, and all-around nice guy who has been roused from a comfortable apathy by the high crimes and misdemeanors of the Bush Administration.