We've launched a petition calling for the firing of Donald Rumsfeld. Though our campaign maintains that he should have been removed long ago for lying to the American people, his callous disregard for the safety of our men and women in combat require his immediate dismissal: he must be held responsible and accountable for the failure to provideAmerican troops in Iraq the proper body armor, which according to a secret Pentagon study, could have saved up to 80 percent of those soldiers killed in combat.

Sign the petition now!

There have been plenty of reasons to fire Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld before. But, he must go now: he sent men and women to die in Iraq with inadequate armor--hundreds of soldiers may have died simply because they did not have the proper armor, according to Saturday's story in The New York Times.

The Times' story cited a Pentagon study that found "that as many as 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to the upper body could have survived if they had extra body armor."

With the horrible carnage in Iraq continuing (11 U.S. soldiers and at least 130 Iraqis were killed yesterday; 43 U.S. soldiers have died just in the 20 days since the Iraqi elections), I read a column in Wednesday's Financial Times written by former Senator Gary Hart. Hart is no radical. He asks a very important question: is the U.S. planning to have permanent army bases in Iraq?

As Hart writes, "Any attempt to find out whether the U.S. is, or is not, constructing permanent military bases meets with frustration. The few who have attempted to get a direct answer to this question are met with evasion and purposeful confusion over that is or is not "permanent. But this is the ultimate test of true Bush Administration intentions in Iraq. If we are, in fact, constructing permanent bases, 'leaving' simply means a reduction of forces and the permanent stationing of US brigades in Iraq."

In an era of Jack Abramoff, here's an item which the voters should know about, reported by the Associated Press based on an article that appeared in The New York Sun:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A campaign fundraising group for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has agreed to a $35,000 fine for underreporting thousands of dollars spent on a lavish Hollywood fundraiser in 2000, the man who bankrolled the event said.

The organization, New York Senate 2000, agreed to a federal finding that it failed to report $721,895 spent on the fundraiser to boost the former first lady's campaign for Senate, according to paperwork provided by Peter F.

As supporters of this campaign can learn from the positions posted here, I am a firm supporter of a two-state solution to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. That conflict lies at the heart of the tensions in the Middle East.

A friend passed on a letter from Human Rights Watch to the president regarding the continued building of the wall and expansion of settlements, which are an obstacle to peace. I thought people would like to read it.

December 27, 2005

Office of the President The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Bush,

I am writing to you with respect to multiple Israeli announcements of its plans to continue expanding settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
(OPT). This directly contravenes international law and Israeli commitments under the Road Map.

You recently reiterated Israel's obligations to stop expanding settlements when you said, on October 20, 2005, following your meeting with Palestinian President Abbas: 'Israel should not undertake any activity that
contravenes its road map obligations, or prejudices the final status negotiations with regard to Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem. This means that Israel must remove unauthorized outposts and stop settlement expansion.'Israel has acted contrary to these obligations,escalating the building of settlements in 2005.
According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, in the first half of 2005, there was a 28% increase in
settlement housing starts compared to the same period in 2004. Israel now proposes to further expand West
Bank settlements in the coming year.

We urge you to use U.S. diplomatic and financial influence to stop this trend in 2006..."

The rest of the letter
can be read at the Human Rights Watch website.