Relentless Violence in Iraq and Real Patriots

This headline jumped at me:
Relentless violence kills 54 in Iraq

I thought: 'this is news?'

Then I realized that when we American taxpayers and our allies perpetrate violence against the Iraqi people it is not referred to as 'violence' but as 'war' (which I guess has a more noble ring to it); and when Iraqis and their allies commit acts of war, it is referred to as relentless violence.

War kills people, and when you invade a sovereign nation without provocation the citizens will retaliate. Their acts are acts of self-defense, not relentless violence.

Here's the Yahoo: Relentless violence kills 54 in Iraq

. . . and not speaking of the Patriot Act . . .

Here is the story of some America heroes (unlikely as they are):

Four Librarians Finally Break Silence in Records Case
By ALISON LEIGH COWAN
Nicked from the New York Times
Four Connecticut librarians who had been barred from revealing that they had received a request for patrons' records from the federal government spoke out yesterday, expressing frustration about the sweeping powers given to law enforcement authorities by the USA Patriot Act.

The librarians took turns at the microphone at their lawyers' office and publicly identified themselves as the collective John Doe who had sued the United States attorney general after their organization received a confidential demand for patron records in a secret counterterrorism case. They had been ordered, under the threat of prosecution, not to talk about the request with anyone. The librarians, who all have leadership roles at a small consortium called Library Connection in Windsor, Conn., said they opposed allowing the government unchecked power to demand library records and were particularly incensed at having been subject to the open-ended nondisclosure order.

"I'm John Doe, and if I had told you before today that the F.B.I. was requesting library records, I could have gone to jail," said one of the four, Peter Chase, a librarian from Plainville who is on the executive committee of Library Connection's board. More . . .

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James Zetlen