[Oe List ...] Fwd: SMU and Bush

Wed Apr 25 11:10:12 EDT 2007

Hey George,
Thanks for this detailed and moving indictment of Bush
and his gang.  I also signed a petition, perhaps not
the same one. Peace.
Charles
--- George Holcombe <geowanda at earthlink.net> wrote:

> As one of the petition signers, I received this
> email this morning  
> and thought some of you may have an interest in it/ 
> While it is an  
> affair of Methodist polity now, it would be such a
> great statement if  
> we could help influence General Conference next year
> to send the Bush  
> library to perhaps its own location, like Nixon's.
> 
> George Holcombe
> 14900 Yellowleaf Tr.
> Austin, TX 78728
> Home: 512/252-2756
> Mobile 512/294-5952
> geowanda at earthlink.net
> 
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> > From: TPC < editor at tpcmagazine.org>
> > Date: April 24, 2007 8:49:09 PM CDT
> > To: George Holcombe <geowanda at earthlink.net>
> > Subject: SMU and Bush
> > Reply-To: tpceditor at maine.rr.com
> >
> > AN OPEN LETTER TO SMU PETITION SIGNERS
> > I am the Rev. Andrew J. Weaver, Ph.D. -- the
> person who organized  
> > and maintains the petition at www. protectSMU.org.
> I am an ordained  
> > United Methodist minister and research
> psychologist living in New  
> > York City.
> >
> > I want to thank you for signing the petition and
> for your  
> > passionate and heart-felt comments. It is
> important that United  
> > Methodists and other people of faith and
> conscience express their  
> > pain and outrage at the unchristian manner that
> President George W.  
> > Bush has conducted himself while in office. No one
> in modern  
> > history has done more to discredit the witness of
> Jesus Christ and  
> > the good name of the Methodist people worldwide
> than President  
> > Bush. To place a massive partisan Institute on the
> campus of a  
> > university owned by the United Methodist Church
> (UMC) to "polish  
> > his legacy" and "promote President Bush's
> polices," over which  
> > Southern Methodist University (SMU) or the UMC
> will have no  
> > oversight is unacceptable.
> >
> > The evidence is abundant; Bush has acted in
> profoundly immoral ways  
> > while in office. He chose to launch a "shock and
> awe" war of  
> > aggression against the people of Iraq, based upon
> a series of  
> > falsehoods. The war continues to be a catastrophe
> and the tragic  
> > aftermath will be with us for generations to come.
> In addition, the  
> > President has authorized international kidnapping
> and torture.
> >
> > On September 15, 2006, the Washington Post lead
> editorial was  
> > entitled "The president goes to Capitol Hill to
> lobby for torture."  
> > The Post reported, "President Bush rarely visits
> Congress. So it  
> > was a measure of his painfully skewed priorities
> that Mr. Bush made  
> > the unaccustomed trip yesterday to seek
> legislative permission for  
> > the CIA to make people disappear into secret
> prisons and have  
> > information extracted from them by means he dare
> not describe  
> > publicly."
> >
> > Anyone who thinks that the good name of Methodism
> or Southern  
> > Methodist University should be associated with
> George W. Bush needs  
> > to read the book, "Oath Betrayed: Torture, Medical
> Complicity, and  
> > the War on Terror" by Dr. Steven Miles, professor
> of medicine at  
> > the University of Minnesota.
> >
> > Professor Miles has based this volume on
> painstaking research and  
> > highly-credible sources, including eyewitness
> accounts, army  
> > criminal investigations, FBI debriefings of
> prisoners, autopsy  
> > reports, and prisoners' medical records. These
> documents tell a  
> > story strikingly different from the Bush
> administration version  
> > presented to the American people, revealing
> involvement at every  
> > level of government, from former Secretary of
> Defense Donald  
> > Rumsfeld to prison health-care personnel. The book
> also shows how  
> > the highest officials of government are complicit
> in this pattern  
> > of torture, including Attorney General Alberto
> Gonzalez, United  
> > Methodist Vice President Dick Cheney, and United
> Methodist  
> > President George W. Bush. (See my recently
> published review of  
> > Miles' book at
> www.tpcmagazine.org/article.php?ID=78.)
> >
> > While much of the use of torture by the Central
> Intelligence Agency  
> > and Special Forces troops remains concealed, Dr.
> Miles documents  
> > how nineteen prisoners were tortured to death by
> American military  
> > personnel. The book tells of an Afghan prisoner
> named Dilawar, an  
> > innocent 22-year-old, who drove his taxi to the
> wrong place at the  
> > wrong time. At the U.S. detention center in
> Bagram, Afghanistan, in  
> > December 2002, Dilawar was smothered, shackled and
> then suspended  
> > by his arms. When he was beaten with a baton, he
> cried out "Allah,  
> > Allah," which amused the soldiers and triggered
> more merciless  
> > blows. The official report reads that he was
> beaten over a five day  
> > period until his legs were, in the words of the
> coroner,  
> > "pulpified." He was then chained to the ceiling of
> his cell, where  
> > he died. Although an autopsy stated that Dilawar's
> death was a  
> > homicide, General Daniel McNeil told reporters
> that Dilawar had  
> > died of natural causes on the grounds that one of
> his coronary  
> > arteries was partly occluded. The words "coronary
> artery disease"  
> > were typed in a different font on the prisoner's
> death certificate.
> >
> > Up to 90 percent of the prisoners detained in the
> Bush "war on  
> > terror" have been found to be unjustifiably
> imprisoned and without  
> > intelligence value. In addition, much of the
> hideous work of  
> > torture is out-sourced by the Bush administration
> to countries like  
> > Uzbekistan, Syria and Egypt, where torture is a
> long-standing and  
> > common practice. In July 2004, the British
> ambassador to  
> > Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, who grew up in a devout
> Methodist home,  
> > protested the Uzbek intelligence service's
> interrogation practices:  
> > "Tortured dupes are forced to sign up to
> confessions showing what  
> > the Uzbek government wants the U.S. and U.K. to
> believe.... This  
> > material is useless -- we are selling our souls
> for dross."
> >
> > Torture is a crime against humanity and a
> violation of every human  
> > rights treaty in existence, including the Geneva
> Conventions which  
> > prohibit cruel and degrading treatment of
> detainees. Torture is as  
> > profound a moral issue in our day as was slavery
> in the 19th  
> > century. It represents a betrayal of our deepest
> human and  
> > religious values as a civilized society. If The
> United Methodist  
> > Church cannot take a stand against the use of
> torture and those who  
> > employ it, including President Bush, what does it
> stand for?
> >
> > We must refuse to allow President Bush to build
> his 
=== message truncated ===>
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