Sending a Message

There was a lot of talk among third-party voters in 1992 about "sending a message" to both major parties, about there being "not an ounce of difference" between the major-party candidates, and about "voting on principle, regardless of consequences," etc.

Wanda Franz, Ph.D. - President of National Right to Life News

True democracy is about voting for the candidates one believes in, they say, not settling for a lesser evil. And when almost three million people cast their ballots for Nader, they werent only voting for the man, they were sending a message: We're disillusioned with corporatized American politics, and we deserve something better.

April Reese - E Magazine

Increasingly, veterans, troops and their families are getting angry. Army Times, a newspaper widely read in military circles, ran a June 30 editorial saying: "President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress have missed no opportunity to heap richly deserved praise on the military. But talk is cheap and getting cheaper by the day, judging by the nickel-and-dime treatment the troops are getting lately." Ronald Conley, commander of the conservative American Legion, also recently blasted the White House for VA budget cuts and surcharges, saying: "This is a raw deal for veterans no matter how you cut it. The administration is sending a message that these vets are not a priority at all."

Dave Lindorff - In These Times

Under the divorce settlement with Sharon, Bush reportedly pays about $1,500 per month in child support payments to Sharon and gives her $30,000 a year in alimony for four years.

The Bushes have three children.

Sharon bought the family home, valued at $850,000, from Neil the exact sum Andrews is suing her for.

The same day she closed on the house, Andrews sued her. In addition to the money for questioning the child's lineage, he also asked for any royalties she may earn from any book about the case.

Sharon had earlier been reported as saying she intended to write a tell-all book about her marriage and the Bush family.

"We consider it (the suit) vindictive and an attempt to shut her up," Berg said. "You'd have to be blind not to understand the message when they sued her on the same day that she closed on the house for the same amount of money, an identical amount.

"They are sending a message ... It sounds like Andrews is a stalking horse for Bush."

Nicholas M. Horrock and Richard Tomkin - United Press International

U.S. military officials say the show of force is a necessary response to escalating attacks in central Iraq. Maj. Gordon Tate, a spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division in Tikrit, said the offensive, which began Oct. 1, picked up steam after Nov. 2, when guerrillas shot down a U.S. CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter near the western town of Fallujah, killing 16 soldiers. Rocket and artillery operations replaced search-and-seizure raids that characterized U.S. military activity in the summer and early fall.

"We are sending a message. We are showing we are here," Tate said. Among the weapons now in use are rockets that each disperse 960 little anti-personnel bombs. Five Iraqis were killed Monday night in a 4th Infantry Division attack, Tate said.

Daniel Williams - Washington Post

The aging Boomers of the Clinton administration must occasionally look into the mirror and wonder when they became their political parents, the Lyndon Johnson Democrats against whom they rebelled in their youth. Once again the U.S. pursues a policy of "gradual escalation" to revive negotiations by "sending a message"; one again the message actually sent is lack of resolve. And then there is the credibility argument, that tiger chasing its own tail: We have to make a commitment because our credibility is on the line, but our credibility is on the line because we're making a commitment. Back then, doves denounced "credibility" as a reason to persist in conduct we would regard, were it not a factor, as foolish.

Not attributed - National Review

In June, they shot a Buddhist monk for complaining about the treatment of villagers. One soldier shot a 15-year-old boy because, the soldier said, he wanted the boy���s tennis shoes. Then he cut off the 15-year-old���s ears and put them in a ration bag.

Other soldiers followed this example. "There was a period when just about everyone had a necklace of ears," former platoon medic Larry Cottingham told Army investigators. Others would kick out the teeth of the dead--and collect the gold fillings.

The platoon was sent into the Song Ve Valley, led by field commander Lt. James Hawkins. Their assignment was to move villagers from their rice farms to "relocation camps"--imprisoned behind barbed wire and concrete, without food or shelter. For the next two months, Tiger force burned villages and terrorized Vietnamese civilians.

According to the Army, the valley was a "free-fire" zone. Technically, this meant that soldiers didn���t need permission from commanders to fire on enemy troops. In practice, it meant that Tiger Force members were free to fire on anyone--soldiers and civilian alike.

"We killed anything that walked," former Sgt. William Doyle, a platoon team leader, told the Blade. "It didn���t matter if they were civilians. They shouldn���t have been there." For example, U.S. soldiers fired on 10 elderly farmers who were simply working their crops.

"We wouldn���t even have meals because of the smell," 66-year-old Nguyen Dam told the Blade. "There were so many villagers who died, we couldn���t bury them one by one. We had to bury them all in one grave." Tiger Force was sending a message: If you defy us, we will annihilate you.

Not attributed - Socialist Worker

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