Saturday, September 16, 2006

Sleepy

Real sleepy this morning. I'm sure I've got lizard eyes. :D (They're dry and probably my lids are hanging low. I can barely keep them open.) The Iraq group went great tonight and was a lot of fun but I'm really tired. Big thanks to C.I. who figured it would be hard to blog when the group ended and passed on some stuff for Elaine and me to pick through and use if we saw something we liked. There wasn't time to get all the stuff in the snapshot today so C.I. passed on some stuff with a "use only if you want" note. I grabbed this one from the BBC, "Iraq soldier 'unlawfully killed':"

Chris Hickey was described as the "epitome of a professional soldier"Four Iraqi policemen were seen acting suspiciously near the scene of a roadside bomb which killed a British soldier, an inquest has heard.
The officers were sitting in a vehicle just 50m from the blast which killed Sergeant Chris Hickey, 30, of Bradford, and injured several others.
Sgt Hickey, of the 1st Battalion The Coldstream Guards, was on foot patrol in Basra when the bomb went off.
A verdict of unlawful killing we recorded at the inquest in Harrogate.
Coroner Geoff Fell said there was no evidence to suggest the Iraqi police were complicit in the death but expressed disappointment in their "evasive" behaviour.

That really makes me think about a point I heard Aaron Glantz make and one I heard Robert Fisk make as well (heard 'em both online at different times) which was that the resistance could be in a police uniform. They were both talking about it in detail, how the police officer could be doing the job and all but if you saw him (I don't think there are any Iraqi female police officers and if that's true, you have to wonder why because I'm sure there were before Bully Boy 'liberated' Iraq) at the end of his shift, he might be one of the resistance. It's like that song "Pirate Jenny" in a way.

I think that sort of thing wouldn't be surprising. You need to make some money so you become a police officer and you still hate the occupation so it's the perfect way to make money and further your own resistance.

The other thing I was happy to grab was by a reporter Wally and me have a lot of respect for, Helen Thomas. This is from "Bush's Iraq Rationalization is Lame:"

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is relying on a slender thread to justify its disastrous war in Iraq: Saddam Hussein is now in jail.
"The world is safer because Saddam Hussein is no longer in power," President Bush insists, because "he was a clear threat."
Bush's rationalization comes up lame, given the administration's reluctant and deferred acknowledgement that Saddam had nothing to do with the 9/11 terrorist attacks and especially in view of the mounting casualty tolls of U.S. service members and Iraqi civilians.
Vice President Dick Cheney also says, "The world is better off today with Saddam Hussein out of power."
While holding no brief for Iraq's brutal dictator, I question whether we now live in a safer world.
The world would be better off without any dictators, of course. That's a given.
But I'm thinking of all the Americans and Iraqis who would be alive today had there not been a U.S.-waged war of choice.

They keep changing the excuse and changing the justification and you have people who probably wonder, "What was the reason they gave at first?" It was that we had a threat from Hussein who could send biological warfare our way or a "mushroom crowd." Then no WMDs were never discovered and Bully Boy probably thought he could get away with it like he did with Osama. Remember when he said he wasn't too worried about Osama? He figured we were all focused on something else. And he figured we'd all forget the lies he told about WMD too.

So now we go to war because we want a country to change leaders? That's how it works under a Bully Boy and that's all I can do tonight. I'm so tired. But in the snapshot, there's going to be a reference to the New York Times and if you don't get it, read C.I.'s "NYT: Paragraph nine tells you that five US troops died -- they bury it" from early Friday morning.

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Friday, September 15, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq and among the dead are US troops; the count of discovered corpses in Baghdad continue to rise, meanwhile the latest US 'answer' is "Castle!"; war resister Darrell Anderson prepares to return to the United States; and Camp Democracy continues in Washington, DC.
Starting with the violence (stick around for the 'answer'), CBS and AP report that five US troops died on Thursday ("making it a particularly bloody day for U.S. forces" -- well not to the New York Times) and that a marine has died today in al Anbar province. al Anbar? For those who missed it, Thomas E. Ricks (Washington Post) reported Monday that that Marine Col Pete Devlin's assesment "that the prospects for securing that country's western Anbar province are dim and that there is almost nothing the U.S. military can do to improve the political and social situation there, said several military officers and intelligence officials familiar with its contents." Today Will Dunham (Reuters) reports: "U.S. commanders in Iraq have demoted their long effort to subdue insurgents in Anbar province . . . 'Baghdad is our main effort right now,' Army Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the top U.S. operational commander in Iraq, told Pentagon reporters in a briefing from Iraq."
Staying with the violence.
Corpses?
A senior Interior Ministry official remarks to Reuters, on the continued discovery of corpses, "Forty bodies, 60 bodies -- it's become a daily routine." Friday started with Rebecca Santana (AP) noting the discovery of 30 corpses in Baghdad. AFP gives the announced figures for the last three days as 64 (Wednesday), 20 (Thursday) and 51 (last 24 hours). In addition to those corpses which were discovered in Baghdad, Reuters reports that in Mussayab a corpse "with a missing head" was discovered.
Shootings?
Reuters reports one person was shot dead and five others wounded in Baghdad. AP reports the incident: "In central Baghdad, a gunman opened fire from the top of an abandoned building in a Sunni Arab neighborhood, killing an Iraqi civilian and wounding five others, said police Lt. Ahmed Mohammed Ali."
Bombings?
Reuters reports a car bomb in Mosul that left nine wounded, while, in Mussayab, a roadside bomb "late on Thursday" left three police officers wounded.
In addition, Al Jazeera reports that a US soldier is missing after Thursday's car bombing in Baghdad that left two troops dead on Thursday and 25 others wounded. AP raises the wounded from that bombing to 30 and notes the missing soldier "has been reported as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown".
AFP reminds: "The United Nations has also warned that Iraq could slide into civil war as the daily bloodshed shows no signs of abating despire political efforts for national reconciliation." CBS and AP report that John Bolton told the UN Security Council yesterday "that Iraq's sectarian killings and kidnappings had increased in the last three months, along with a rise in the numbef of displaced people."
So where does it stand? Even John Bolton's sounding alarms, US troops are pulling out of al Anabar, Reuters reports that the 147,000 American troops in Iraq are "the most since January," and the violence and chaos continue.
But don't fret 'a new plan' finally emerges as the 'answer.'
It's being called trenches which is really implying something it's not. When people think of trenches, they tend to think of trench warfare. What's being described is more along the lines of a mote -- AFP reports that Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf described it this way, "We will surround the city with trenches. The entry to the captial will be permitted through 28 roads, as against 21 at the moment, but at the same time we will seal off dozens of other minor roads with access to Baghdad."
Quote: "We will surround the city with trenches." That's the 'new plan.' Baghdad goes from capital to castle. But not overnight. Al Jazeera notes "an operation of this scale would take months to complete."
In the real world, Cal Perry (CNN) takes a look at the wounded US troops ("more than 20,000" have been "wounded in Iraq") at the 10th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad.
In peace news, Courage to Resist has reported that war resister Darrell Anderson will return to the United States (from Canada): "Support is mounting for Darrell and his courageous stand. Two events are planned in conjunction with his return to the U.S. In Fort Erie on Saturday, Septemeber 30 at Noon there will be a rally in Lions Sugar Bowl and then supporters, including Iraq war veterans and military family members, will accompany Darrell as he crosses the border back into the U.S. over Peace Bridge."
Other peace actions are going on and will be going on including a three-day event in NYC that begins this evening at 7:00 pm, continues Saturday at 7:00 pm and concludes on Sunday at 3:00 pm. What is it? The People Speak directed by Will Pomerantz and Rob Urbinati. This is a workshop adaptation of Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove's Voices of a People's History of the United States. The workshop will take place at The Culture Project's Bleecker Street Theater on 45 Bleecker Street. Tickets are ten dollars and can be ordered online here or here or purchased in person at the box office (box office does not take ticket orders). For those in NYC, or who will be during those dates, click here for a map. The presentation is part of the Impact Festival.
In Washington, DC, Camp Democracy continues, free and open to the public. Today's events have focused on Electoral Reform and include an 8:00 pm (EST) showing of the film Stealing America, Vote by Vote." Among those speaking today were Bob Firtakis. Saturday is peace day and will include Kevin Zeese, Nadine Bloch, Allison Hantschel. CODEPINK's Gael Muphy will report on the visit to Jordan at the start of last month to meet with Iraqis as well as the trip to Lebanon. And war resister Ricky Clousing will discuss the court-martial he's facing. (This may be the first major discussion he's given publicly on the topic since August 11th.)
And on Sunday, Camp Democracy will host a number of events and the theme will be Impeachment Day. Among those participating: Elizabeth Holtzman, Michael Avery, Ray McGovern, David Green, John Nichols, Marcus Raskin, Elizabeth De La Vega, Dave Lindorff, David Swanson, Jennifer Van Bergen, Geoff King, David Waldman, Dan DeWalt, Steve Cobble, Anthony St. Martin, Cindy Bogard, Mubarak Awad, Susan Crane, Frank Anderson. The camp has daily activities and admission is free. A complete schedule can be found here. Free and open to the public with daily activites.
Finally, in Australia, ABC reports that Brendan Nelson (Defence Minister) will be expanding their role in Iraq when "Italian forces withdraw at the end of next month." Reuters notes this will be 20 troops added to "the extra 38 troops announced on Sept. 4". The 58 need to be weighed next to the intent, as Dan Box (The Australian) reported earlier this week, the Australian government wants to up the army from 2,600 to 30,000 ("its biggest intake since the Vietnam war")














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