<Posted on 06/08/2003 8:38:24 AM PDT by .30Carbine
BARRE – In an e-mailed press release to media outlets, a group has claimed responsibility for defacing the huge American flag that hung over Main Street with oil and “fake blood.” Vandals damaged the flag before Barre’s Memorial Day service on May 30.
The Times Argus, The Associated Press and Seven Days received copies of the e-mail from a group identifying itself as the “Iconoclast Front of Vermont” on Thursday at 4:20 p.m. The e-mailed press release claimed the guerilla action was in protest to the Bush administration’s policies on Iraq.
The press release headline read: “Flag Defacement was meant to question US Motives, Militarism.” The e-mail address of the sender was iconfront@hotmail.com.
The City of Barre has filed a formal complaint with the Barre police department asking for an investigation into who was responsible for the defacement of the flag.
According to computer experts, it may be difficult, however, to trace the source of the e-mail. Hotmail, the ISP (internet service provider), may have already deleted the e-mail from its memory banks because of the large volume of Internet traffic it handles. In addition, the identity of the source may have been deliberately falsified to prevent detection, experts say.
Barre Police Chief Trevor Whipple said the state’s computer crime squad would be asked to investigate. “We have a team of individuals that does computer crimes, and we refer all of our computer crime to them,” Whipple said.
He said the police would obtain a subpoena to search Hotmail files to try to trace the source of the e-mail.
“We’ve found those services, Hotmail, Yahoo, to be very cooperative. Once we’ve got the subpoena, we expect them to cooperate with us,” Whipple added.
According to Mich Kabay, a computer consultant who is an expert in cyber crime, tracking the source of the e-mail may be difficult as time passes.
He said investigators would look for the “header” of the e-mail that contains tracking information, although he said it might have been falsified to avoid detection.
If the header is found, it would have embedded information about every computer server it passed through during transmission.
But he said e-mail services like Hotmail and Yahoo handle high volumes of e-mail information that only remain in databases for a few days before it is discarded.
“They only keep the last one million records or so,” said Kabay, who is an assistant professor of Information Assurance at Norwich University. “As e-mails come in at the top, the ones on the bottom drop off.”
He said the free e-mail services did not require users, unlike permanent, commercial Internet accounts, to provide verifiable information such as credit card numbers that can be traced.
There are services that allow users to forward e-mails and have their identification information altered before the e-mail is forwarded, he said. “In other words, all of the information that could help track this e-mail may have been taken off and destroyed,” he added.
Barre City Manager Richard Fitzgerald said two previous efforts to clean the flag failed and that stronger chemical cleansers may damage the color.
For now, the old flag is back up, and the city will buy another at a cost of $500, if necessary, he said. “I got the e-mail the other night,” said Fitzgerald. “Obviously, nobody I’ve talked to is very happy that the flag has been vandalized. I think it’s a slap in the face to all the veterans. … We’ve asked the police to use all of the resources at hand, both those of the City of Barre and the police intelligence network.”
Veterans at The American Legion Post 10 on Saturday were upset about the e-mail. “It’s really unbelievable that somebody would do this,” said Harlan Lanpher of Graniteville who served in Korea.
“We’re very upset about it,” said another veteran who asked not to be identified. “I know we’re very much against what they’ve done.”
A passage from the e-mail reads: “One evening last week, we participated in an act of social and political agitation, targeting the large US flag that hung over Main Street in downtown Barre. Our action was a symbolic one, which consists of staining the flag with oil and splattering fake blood on the street underneath. Our goal was to draw attention to the current American regime’s use of war and violence in order to secure control of the world’s oil reserves, most recently in Iraq.”
In the e-mail there are references to two American companies, Halliburton and Bechtel, “with close ties to the Bush regime,” that would make profits from the invasion of Iraq.
“We chose to act in conjunction with the Memorial Day Parade in Barre in order to draw attention to the American and civilian lives lost in pursuit of greater profits for a very select few,” added the e-mail. “We are not targeting or blaming veterans, but we would like to get people to consider the consequences, as well as the profiteers, of the wars that they’ve been led into fighting.”
The e-mail deliberately taunts local law enforcement agents. It states that police would be “too busy coercing janitors and intimidating teachers to notice any actual crime taking place,” a reference to the recent furor over Barre Town police Sgt. John Mott, who entered Spaulding High School after hours to take pictures of student artwork critical of the war in Iraq and the Bush administration.
It goes on to say that the CIA supported Saddam Hussein when he seized power in 1963, and that the United States continued to back Hussein until the early 1990s. It said there was no evidence to support Iraqi ties to al-Qaida or the Sept. 11 attacks, and no weapons of mass destruction have been found. “…if they are found, the record shows that they were likely supplied by US and British corporations in the 1980s,” the e-mail stated.
The e-mail noted that “US Deputy Secretary of War” Paul Wolfowitz was quoted recently in European newspapers saying that North Korea, which has nuclear weapons, is being dealt with diplomatically while Iraq was invaded militarily because it is “swimming in a sea of oil.”
Contact Stephen Mills at: stephen.mills@timesargus.com, or call the Montpelier office of The Times Argus at 223-3335.
Jim, just look at all the new VT FReepers there are! Hooray and may God continue to bless and increase our Free Republic!
Also, good information on internet anonymity. Are these folks right, that even the FBI couldn't source a week old hotmail emaail?
The seething hatred out there, the resentment, the divide - is all so deep that I don't see us getting through this, or around it, outside another major conflict in the future.
But the America hating left is pushing it, and so, when the day comes, they will hopefully be dealt with in such a way as to make this country whole, and safe, again, for another hundred and forty years.
<And with a hatred so strong that just leaving this hateful country and living elsewhere in peace isn't good enough for them.
Re the ineveitability of another Civil War I am seeing it more plainly by the day. Pick a side because being in the middle between the sides is probably more dangerous. Both sides will be shooting at you in the middle.
Unfortunately, Harlan, stunts like this are too commonplace these days.
The Vermont education mills are turning out more uneducated, radical dolts every year.
I don't know where the next group of young conservative thinkers is going to come from.
Most of today's crop think Bernie Sanders and James Jeffords are heroes!
The Left is always breaking stuff under the banner of "asking questions".
| I heard this when I was a kid, many years ago and wrote it down. Over time, I've made some changes here and there and don't have any idea where it originally came from. |
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| Hello--Remember Me? I'm your Flag. Some folks call me Old Glory, others call me Star and Stripes, the Ensign, or just...the flag. But whatever they call me, I am your flag, and, as I proudly state, The Flag of the United States of America. Something has been bothering me lately. I was wondering if I might talk it over with you. It's about you and me. I remember some time ago, I think it was Memorial Day, or maybe it was the 4th of July. People lined up on both sides of the street to watch a parade. When your father saw me coming along, waving in the breeze, he took his hat off and held it against his left shoulder. His hand was directly over his heart. Remember? And you, I remember you! Standing there -- straight as a soldier. You didn't have a hat on, but you gave the correct salute. They taught you in school to place your hand over your heart. Remember your little sister? Not to be outdone, she was saluting the same as you. I was proud, very proud, as I came down the street. Oh, yes, there were some Servicemen there, standing at attention, giving the military salute. Ladies as well as men. Civilians as well as military, paid me respect...reverence. Now if I sound a bit conceited...well...I have a right to. I represent the finest country in the world -- the United States of America. More then one aggressive nation has tried to haul me down, only to feel the fury of this freedom loving country. Many of you had to go overseas to defend me. A lot more blood has been shed since those patriotic parades of long ago, and I've had a few stars added since you were a boy, but I'm still the same ole flag. Dad is gone now...and the hometown has a new look. The last time I came down your street, I noticed that some of the old landmarks had given way to a number of new buildings and homes. Yessir, the old town has changed. I guess I have too, 'cause I don't feel as proud as I did back then. I see youngsters running and shouting through the street, people selling hot dogs and beer while our national anthem is played...everything from apathy to riots. They don't seem to know or care who I am. Not too long ago, I saw a man take his hat off when I came by...He looked around, didn't see anybody else with theirs off...so he quickly put his back on. Now when I come down your street, your just stand there with your hands in your pockets. Occasionally, you give me a small glance and look away. When I think of all the places I've been... Normandy, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Battle of the Bulge, Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Grenada, Somalia, Haiti, Persian Gulf, and Bosnia. I wonder what's happened? I'm still the same ole flag. How can I be expected to fly high and proud from buildings and homes when within them, there is no thought, love or respect for me? Whatever happened to Patriotism? Your Patriotism? Have you forgotten what I stand for? Have you forgotten all the battlefields where men and women fought and died to keep this nation free? When you salute me, you salute them. Take a look back at the Memorial Honor rolls sometimes. Look at the names of those who never came back. Some of them where friends and relatives of yours... Maybe even went to school with you. That's what you're saluting -- NOT ME! Well, it won't be long before I come down your street again. So, when you see me, stand straight, and place your hand over your heart. Do this because I represent you. You'll see me wave back, my salute to you. |
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Say, a white conervative in a small "nice area" which is surrounded by millions of poor oppressed downtrodden.
That will be a BAD place to be.
I wouldn't make book on that. Month old, maybe, but I don't know how that guy from Norwich thinks their mail server has only a million messages' worth of retention. Mine keeps millions, and it sits in my study.
I guess it's a good thing that most Norwich grads take military commissions and not IT jobs.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
Depends on your point of view.
One man's "surrounded by enemies of the Constitution" is another man's "target rich environment".
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