Friday, November 10, 2006

Ehren Watada's going to be court-martialed and indymedia doesn't bother to tell you

Friday! Running late and blame it on Dad! Elaine brought some CDs with her and Dad's got most of them (on CD or vinyl) but his first question is always, "What did you bring?" He greets her with that. Then they go through them. She brought Let It Bleed by the Rolling Stone and you would have thought Dad didn't have a copy and it was the Holy Grail. :D

We had to listen to it. Had to, according to Dad. That was cool because we really did have to set up the living room for the study group (and that starts an hour late due to two families having to go to a wedding). While I'm mentioning Elaine, let me remind everyone, get your butts to Like Maria Said Paz tonight to check out her thoughts.

Ehren Watada is scheduled for a court-martial. I noted that last night and it's in the snapshot. This morning, Rebecca's "remember the ladies? forgotten at the democracy now round-table" runs down who is noting Ehren Watada today. When she wrote, the following hadn't: BuzzFlash, Common Dreams, Democracy Now!, The Nation and The Progressive. I asked her and she'd forgotten to check Truthout? I'm providing the update. Democracy Now! won't air again until Monday so they have nothing still. Truthout has nothing now (so had nothing this morning), BuzzFlash still has nothing, Common Dreams still has nothing, and The Progressive has nothing.
Free Speech Radio News didn't note it either. Even Courage to Resist hasn't. I'll cut them slack and only them. I have no idea how many people work at that site. They usually send out e-mails (I'm signed up) when there's news. I'm assuming it's a site with a few people and they work really hard. But there's so little coverage of Ehren Watada that I'm going to have to be fair and note that they don't have the news that Watada's being court-martialed. Who is covering it? Not in Our Name. And of course C.I.'s addressed the court-martial announcement: "Iraq Snapshot" (today), "And the war drags on" (last night), "Ehren Watada and another issue that matters to the community" (this morning). The KPFA Evening News covered it last night.


Elaine just hollered done. And she's been on the cell phone while typing! I can't believe that. I am the slowest typer in the world. She tossed me something. Dona passed on that the most popular feature piece on entertainment, other than TV reviews by Ava and C.I., at The Third Estate Sunday Review is "Tina Turner: A retrospective." Dona says the e-mails are still coming in on that. Elaine wrote about it at her site and got a nice response to it. She was planning to expand it at her site but Jim and Dona had called to compliment her on it and, while they were on the phone, she offered it as a topic The Third Estate Sunday Review could explore. I know that it was a favorite of Dad's too. Tina Turner's pretty cool and it's too bad so many of the songs she's been stuck with haven't been as cool. (They're tracking it in case they end up doing a best-of one week. They're trying to prepare for anything due to the Blogger/Blogspot problems -- but they have moved over to Beta already.)

In really sad news, Molly Ivins has a third outbreak of breast cancer. She's a really funny writer who uses humor to make some really strong points and I know for me at least, she was the ambassador for Texas. As ugly a face as the Maine-born Bully Boy has put on Texas, Ivins has been a strong alternative proving that intelligence and genuine humor is homegrown in Texas.

Let me wind down. Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" and, no, I didn't get "White Queen." I thought, "Rummy's got a new nickname?" I knew Rumsfeld became "Rumsfled" when C.I. found out about the resignation talk. (What was that, two weeks ago?) So we all started using "Rumsfled" because it was coming (his resignation) (and Wally and Cedric do humor posts but they do sneak in reality bits that C.I. passes on which is why they're probably the only ones who have told you when the resignation was discussed -- it wasn't on the day after election or the day before). But "White Queen"? I had it explained to me. It's a character in Alice in Wonderland. Here's the snapshot:

Friday, November 10th. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, the US military announces they will court-martial Lt. Ehren Watada, the US military also announces the death of five more US troops in Iraq, John Howard makes Australians and the rest of the world glad that there's only one of him, and David Swanson explains what really happened in DC.

Starting with news on US war resister Ehren Watada. In June, Watada went public with his refusal to deploy to Iraq because the war is illegal and deploying would subject both himself and those serving under him to war crimes. In standing up, Watada became the first US commissioned officer to publicly refuse to serve in the illegal war. On August 17th, Article 32 hearing was held. [For details on Ann Wright's testimony, click here, Dennis Halliday click here, and here for Francis A. Boyle.] Following the hearing on the 17th, the US military announced August 24th that the presiding officer of the hearing, Lt. Colonel Mark Keith, had made a recommendation, court-martial. Yesterday, The KPFA Evening News reported that the US military had decided to court-martial Watada. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that "Lt. Gen. James Dubik, agreed with the recommended charges of missing a military movement and conduct unbecoming an officer." Gregg Kakesako (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) reports that conviction during the court-martial ("held next year") could result in "six years in jail and a dishonorable discharge." Honolulu's KITV spoke with Eric Seitz, attorney for Watada, who stated, "Unfortunately the army does want to make a martyr out of him. They have told us they will not enter into any agreement that doesn't include at least a year of incarceration, and that's just simply something we are unable to agree to." Rod Ohira (Honolulu Advertiser) notes the following statements by Watada after learning of the recommendation to court-martial him:"I feel the referral of the charges was not unexpected and at this time, I'm moving forward as I always have with resilience and fortitude to face the challenges ahead. . . . I think as the recent elections show more and more Americans are opening their eyes, but we aren't there yet. It is my hope that actions such as my own continue to call for the truth behind the fundamental illegality and immorality of those who perpetrated this war."Coverage of war resisters in the US independent media has been embarrassing and shameful. Rebecca checks in on several independent outlets only to find that none have anything on Watada this morning. He appears to getting the full-Brobeck from independent media. (CBS notes Watada here.) War resister Ivan Brobeck returned to the US from Canada to turn himself in Tuesday and he didn't even make the indy headlines. (Nora Barrows Friedman did interview him on Monday's Flashpoints.) It's not cutting it. Not for Brobeck, not for Kyle Snyder who's also been ignored after returning to the US and, on October 31st, turning himself in at Fort Knox only to self-check out again after discovering the military had lied yet again. Not for Joshua Key who learned that the Canadian government was denying him refugee status.

A list of war resisters within the military would include Watada, Key, Snyder, and Brobeck. It would also include many other names such as Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Mark Wilkerson, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass, Patrick Hart, Clifford Cornell, Agustin Aguayo, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, and Kevin Benderman. That's just the ones who have gone public. (Over thirty US war resisters are currently in Canada attempting to be legally recognized.) It is a movement and should be covered as such. Ehren Watada's father and step-mother are currently on a speaking tour (tonight they're in NYC) and details on that will be at the end of the snapshot.

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Appeal for Redress is collecting signatures of active duty service members calling on Congress to bring the troops home -- the petition will be delivered to Congress in January.

Grabbing headlines is Ali al-Shemari. The Iraqi Health minister announced a number for the death toll of Iraqis due to the illegal war. AP notes that he places the death toll at 150,000. The KPFA Evening News pointed out on Thursday that is he was actually basing his 'count' on the United Nations estimate of at least 100 Iraqis dying each day "that calculation would be closer to 130,000." CBS and AP note that he rejects the number of approximately 655,000 in the Lancet Study but thinks his own number is "OK." Sabrina Tavernise (New York Times) calls the number "an off-the-cuff estimate". Puppets can't go off-the-cuff or off-script which may be why AFP is reporting that the estimates being watered down (the Health Ministry is now saying between 100,000 and 150,000).

Meanwhile the US military has announced today "One Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 died Thursday from wounds sustained due to enemy action while operating in Al Anbar Province" and also "Two 89th Military Police Brigade Soldiers were killed and one Soldier was wounded Thursday after their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device at 12:48 p.m. Thursday in west Baghdad." Later in the day would come more announcements. This: "One Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team 7 died today from non-hostile causes while operating in Al Anbar Province," and this: "One Soldier assigned to the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) was killed and another wounded Nov. 10 during a combat logistics patrol when their truck was hit by an improvised explosive device west of Hadithah" for a total of five deaths announced today. ICCC currently lists 24 as the number of US troop deaths in Iraq for the month, thus far (2842 since the start of the illegal war). As the numbers continue to climb, Michael Luo and Michael Wilson (New York Times) report that funerals have become so common for the First Battalion, 22nd Infantry in Iraq that planning time for services have been cut from 45 minutes to five minutes.

While the numbers (on all sides) continue to mount, AP notes Donald Rumsfled stated (yesterday), "I will say this -- it is very clear that the major combat operations were an enormous success." Oh White Queen, get someone to help you a-dress quickly. Forgetting the illegal nature of the war for a moment, that's a bit like a drunk driver who plows into a car and kills an entire family stating, "I will say this -- I pulled away from the curb nicely."In some of the reported violence today . . .

Bombings?

AFP reports: "In violence on the ground, a powerful blast killed an Iraqi army colonel and his five bodyguards in the northern town of Tall Afar. Reuters notes it was a car bombing and that 17 people were wounded while, in Kirkuk, a roadside bombing injured two Iraqi soldiers.Reuters notes that, in Yusufiya, 14 people were kidnapped (by "gunmen") and then found dead and a man was shot dead in Diwaniya. Christopher Bodeen (AP) reports that three family members were shot dead in Baghdad (home invasion).

Corpses?

Reuters reports, "Police fished the body of a woman, bearing signs of torture and bullet wounds, from the Tigris river in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said." In addition, Christopher Bodeen (AP) informs that 33 corpses were discovered "in Baghdad and several nearby cities."

In Australia, War Hawk and prime minister John Howard's laughable comments yesterday have resulted in more punch lines. Gillian Bradford observered to Eleanor Hall (ABC's PM) that "Whatever the opinion polls here may say here about Australians' desire to get out of Iraq, the Prime Minister isn't swayed" and he intended to ring Tony Blair up just as soon as he (Howard) finished his cricket match. Give 'em Flair, Howie. AAP reports that: "Prime Minister John Howard should tell George W Bush that he's pulling Australian troops out of Iraq when the two leaders meet next week, Opposition Leader Kim Beazley says. Mr Howard will have lunch with the US president during next week's APEC meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam - their first meeting since Mr Bush's Republican party was thumped in US mid-term elections." Bully Boy gets to Vietnam a lot more today than when he 'served,' doesn't he? Meanwhile Xinhau reports: "Howard said he will commiserate with Bush in person at the APEC meeting in the second half of next week.Howard said he had always accepted that the majority of the Australian public had been against the military commitment to Iraq." Howard 'accepts' the majority opinion, he just doesn't 'respect' it.

In peace news, yesterday's snapshot noted Cindy Sheehan was arrested outside the White House while attempting to deliver a petition (with over 80,000 signatures) calling for the US troops to be brought home. Not quite. David Swanson (Let's Try Democracy) reports she was arrested outside the White House long after the petition: "Late Wednesday afternoon Cindy decided to lead a sit-in right in front of the White House, and then -- finally -- the Park Service arrested her. The Associated Press changed the lede to its article to read as follows: 'Activist Cindy Sheehan was arrested Wednesday as she led about 50 protesters to a White House gate to deliver anti-war petitions.' Not quite accurate. The petitions had been delivered several hours before the arrest. But what the heck, it probably got more editors to pick up the story. Thanks, again, Cindy!" Swasnon outlines the events as being stalled at the gates of the White House when attempting to deliver the petition leading activists to place pages in the fence and to send pages over the fence. Hours later, Cindy Sheehan staged the sit-down.

In other news of activists who refuse to hit the snooze button, Wendell Harper reported on yesterday's The KPFA Evening News and today on KPFA's The Morning Show that Medea Benjamin was among those activists participating in a rally outside the soon-to-be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco office calling for troops home now.

Finally, Ehren Watada's father, Bob Watada, and his step-mother, Rosa Sakanishi, continue their speaking tour to raise awareness on Ehren -- the first commissioned officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq. Due to increased interest there have been some date changes and a full schedule can be found here. Upcoming dates include:

Nov 10, Early PM, New York City, NY., Press ConferenceLocation: UN, 777 United Nations Plaza, First Avenue and E. 44th StreetSponsors: Veterans For Peace Chapters 138 & 34Contact: Thomas Brinson, 631-889-0203, ltbrin@earthlink.netGeorge McAnanama, gmacan@aol.com

Nov 10, 7:30PM, New York City, NY.Location: St. Paul/St. Andrews Methodist Church -- West End Avenue and West 86th Streets,Sponsors: Veterans For Peace Chapters 138 & 34Contacts: Thomas Brinson, 631-889-0203, ltbrin@earthlink.net

Nov 11, 10AM-2:30PM, New York City, NY.,Veterans Day ParadeSponsor: Veterans For Peace Chapters 34 & 138, IVAW, MFSOContacts: Thomas Brinson, 631-889-0203, ltbrin@earthlink.netGeorge McAnanama, gmacan@aol.com

Nov 11, 3-5 PM, Flushing, NY.,Location: Macedonia AME Church (718) 353-587037-22 Union St.Sponsors: "United for Lt. Watada"Contact: Gloria Lum 646-824-2710, lumgloria@yahoo.com

Nov 11, 7 PM, New York City, NY., Manhattan,Location: Columbia University, Broadway and W 116 St., Bldg- Mathematics Rm 312Sponsors: Asian American Alliance, "United for Lt. Watada",Veterans For Peace Chapters 138 & 34Contact: Gloria Lum 646-824-2710

Nov 12, 11AM-1PM, Providence, RI., Location: Brown University, The John Nicholas Brown Center, 357 Benefit Street at WilliamsSponsor: Veterans For Peace NationalContact: Naoko Shibusawa, 401-286-1908, Naoko_Shibusawa@brown.edu

Nov 12, 7PM, Rockland County, NY., Location: TBASponsor: Rockland Coalition for Peace and Justice, Veterans For Peace National and Veterans For Peace Chapter /Rockland CountyContact: Nancy Tsou, LYTHRN@aol.comBarbara Greenhut

Nov 13 , TBA, Ann Arbor, MI, "The Ground Truth" and Bob Watada,Location: University of Michigan, Angel Hall, Auditorium B,Sponsors: Michigan Peace Works http://michiganpeaceworks.org,Contact: Phillis Engelbert, work - 734-761-5922, home - 734-662-0818, cell- 734-660-489, philliseng@yahoo.com

Nov 14, TBA St. Louis, Mo. Location: Friends Meeting House, 1001 Park Avenue Sponsors: Veterans for Peace Chapter 161, 314-754-2651Contact: Chuc Smith, 314-721-1814, vfpch61@riseup.netiraq








kyle snyder



joshua key

ehren watada
bob watada










Posted by at

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Just sharing post

Thursday. Ma's in the snapshot! I didn't know. :D I had a test and didn't see the snapshot before class. I'm leaving class (I think I aced the test) and some buds from a class are giving me the thumbs up. I'm thinking, "How do they know I did well?" Then Tony comes up and goes, "Dude, who wrote your mother?" I'm all, "What?"

I didn't know a thing about it. Ma did the beta switch for her site today because she read Rebecca's post about the problems with switching. It didn't take as long as it did Rebecca (Ma's site's fairly new so it's not as big) but it took a bit. So she went into her e-mails and read through them and it still wasn't done. So she thought she'd check out her Bulk folder and there was the e-mail.

From who? I'm not saying. (But I do know!) I think that's so cool. I was trying to call Ma but couldn't get her (and she refuses to carry a cell phone) so I call C.I. and go, "What's going on?"
I got the lowdown. Ma was always irritated about the refusal to cover war resisters by our 'independent' media. C.I. goes that Ma called while she was reading the e-mail and sounded like she was about to cry. (Ma said later that was correct.) Reading that e-mail really brought it home to Ma how much wasn't being covered (and she already was disgusted with the lack of coverage).

Ma told me later, she was just calling to say, "Keep on that issue." She wasn't trying to get included in the snapshot and feels like people going to her site are going to be thinking, "Meatloaf?" :D (Ma makes a great meat loaf.)

She told me C.I. listened and said it would be noted in the snapshot and then asked if she had any more time or had to go? Ma had some more time so C.I. pointed out that this is the whole point. Write in your voice and you'll find someone listening.

Everybody does their own thing in the community. Rebecca was the first site to start after The Common Ills and she knew not to try to be C.I. (She'll tell you that and that she knew that from their days in college.) So she made sure she was doing her own thing. And she has a very popular site. She has very loyal readers. Ma wanted to weigh in and I didn't get that. I thought, "Oh, she's asking to be nice like with sports" when she'd be asking about my site. She even asked C.I., not me!, to talk her through the Blogger/Blogspot program to create it. But she wanted to talk about food and she wanted to comment on stuff too. That's what she does. And I noted here before that there were some rude e-mails about "Food? Can't you write about something serious?"

Ma was really bummed by that and, here it comes, I find out about that from C.I.

But C.I. told Ma then (and Ma says she got it again today), that if you are writing about what interests you and not trying to sound like someone else, you will reach people. And Ma's getting a nice group of regulars and doing a great job.

I know Ma was embarrassed (her word) when C.I. was helping her set up the site and C.I. asked what it was going to be about (because it was time in the program to create a title for the site) and C.I. didn't go, "Food! Ick!" C.I. told her that was great because she might reach people that wouldn't be reached otherwise. And she has and I'm real proud of Ma.

But that a family member of a war resister found her site and wanted to share a bit with Ma really proves that.

I love Ma, I'm always proud of her, but I'm real happy for her tonight too. Something at her site spoke and that's so cool but she's pretty cool too.

While I'm heading out praise, let me sneak in one more because I'll be forgiven for putting it this entry. :D Tony's pulling a book out of his backpack and going, "Hey, did you see this mention of C.I.?" and I'm all, "C.I. gets mentioned a lot." Tony goes, "No, as C.I." So he opens up the book and shows me right there on the page where C.I.'s noted as C.I. and quoted. (Quoted, not ripped off.) I was all like, "Woah!" And Tony goes that it's the second time he's seen it. I'm all like, "What's the other book?" So Tony drags me to the campus library and grabs the book. I knew C.I. wasn't going to comment on that book, that was stated online by C.I., but I didn't know C.I. was mentioned in it as C.I. I call Jim while me and Tony are leaving the library and I'm all, "Did you know about this?" Jim's like no way. But, yeah, way! :D

C.I. never said a word about it. No one knew. I called Rebecca and she was like, "What? Why am I the last to know?" :D (That's a joke about her being one of the last to know that me and Elaine were a couple.) She's getting both books now. But we were on the phone trying to think how we'd handle that. We were both all, "It would be on my site! As mentioned in the book ____ and the book ____." I'll write about this at Polly's Brew Sunday.

I've pushed it by noting the book mentions here. But I'll tell you which ones in my column. I got off the phone with Rebecca and called Beth because she's The Common Ills' ombudsperson and she'll ask C.I. anything so I assumed Beth must know about it. Beth hadn't heard a word. It's too late for her column in this gina & krista round-robin that comes out tomorrow but she'll write about it next week.

So that was pretty cool news because it seems like the wrong things get attention. The wrong topics and the wrong people. War resisters need more coverage (or how about any -- for some outlets, it really is no coverage at all).

Ehren Watada is in the snapshot and when I was on the phone with Jim, they were all headed to the Howard Zinn event. (Tom Hayden has an event as well tonight and they were torn about that but decided to go with art. If it had just been Hayden, I think they would have been there. Community members will understand why the fact that it wasn't just Hayden kept them away.)
That starts in like ten minutes as I type (it's 10:20 pm here but out there it's only 7:20). C.I.'s dictating the entry tonight. Or dictating the 'wrap around.' To make it easier for the friend taking the dictation, C.I.'s already pulled together the highlights. (I'm talking about the "And the war drags on" entry that goes up each Sunday and Thursday.) So I was on the phone with Jim and he goes "hold on!" So I hold and then he's back on the phone going they just said on the radio that Ehren Watada's going to be court-martialed. The decision came down.

So talk about Ehren Watada the way you've been doing. You know most media have ignored him and you know I'm not talking mainstream media. So get the word out on him, he needs our support.

Now here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Thursday, November 9, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, War Hawk down Donald Rumsfleld continues to collect professional obits but not many mourners, Cindy Sheehan continues to demonstrate more life and spirit than the media, Tom Hayden looks to what needs to be done now, and some data on the US elections is now known (even if not noted by gas bags).

Starting with War Hawk Down, Rumsfeld is Rumsfled and though the obits continue to pile up where are the mourners for his professional demise? Has even the U of Minnesota drop-out lost her gift for hagiography? Some say it's lonely at the top, Rumsfled discovers it's lonely at the bottom as well. Around the world, the feedback comes in. Mussab Al-Khairalla (Reuters) reports on the Iraqi consensus and the AP notes that a similar consensus around the world while John F. Burns and Michael Lou (New York Times) note Iraqi Sadoon al-Zubaidi response: "The Americans came to Iraq three and a half years ago to do something good for Iraqis, to free them from dictatorship. That has failed. The Americans helped, encouraged and planted civil disorder and sectarianism. Now, I would like to see all American troops taken out. I’d like to see all the reins of power placed in Iraqi hands."

Philippe Naughton (Times of London) notes that the next US Secretary of Defense will have "the clearest missions: get American troops out of Iraq as quickly and cleanly as possible."
Bully Boy has nominated Robert Gates for that position. Speaking with Nora Barrows Friedman yesterday on Flashpoints, Robert Parry noted Gates' involvement in Iran-Contra. Today on Democracy Now!, Parry also noted the involvement and the questions that had never been answered including, as Amy Goodman noted, his role in providing weapons to Saddam Hussein which he was just convicted for using. Online, Parry (Consortium News) delves into the world of Gates, his Bush family connections and concludes that "whether Gates can be counted on to do what's in the interest of the larger American public is another question altogether."

Another issue, especially considering the illegal warrantless spying by the administration, is whether former CIA director Gates is the one to be put in charge of the US Defense Department since, as many can remember, the illegal spying of an earlier period wasn't confined to the FBI and the CIA, it also included DoD spying?


In US elections news, control over both houses of Congress shifted to Democrats yesterday when two Senate races were called: Jon Tester won in Montanna and Jim Webb in Virginia. On the Webb race, as Feminist Wire Daily points out, there was "a ten-point gender gap" between those voting for Webb and those voting for George Allen (with women favoring Webb over Allen by ten-points). FWD also notes that "women voted five percentage points more (56 percent) for Democrats than men (51 percent). Kim Gandy (president of NOW) sums up the results: "Women voters cleaned House. We turned out on Tuesday to turn out the politicians who were tuning out our concerns. Women are fed up with the 'stay the course' strategy in Iraq, the so-called economic recovery that has left most of the country behind, and the relentless efforts to limit women's reproductive rights. The 'gender gap' is alive and well, and making a difference on election day." [Juan Gonzalez (Democracy Now!) noted that "young voters voted overwhelmingly Democratic."]


Noting the Democratic control, Tom Hayden (writing at Common Dreams) reminds that: "The Vietnam War continued for seven senseless years after the Paris peace talks began. While scaling back its original victory plans, the US still wants to station tens of thousands of troops in subdued, and perhaps partitioned, Iraq, and it wasnt the issue neutralized by the 2008 elections. The peace movement therefore needs to gear up for the 2008 elections by establishing anti-war coalitions that no candidate can avoid in the primary states."



Possibly having a panic attack over the concept of peace or just dismayed regarding the lack of breast-beating over Rumsfled's impending departure (and worried about his own ass), John Howard, prime Minister of Australia and professional War Hawk, rushes to weigh in. Though not known previously as a student of American politics, Gillian Bradford (Australia's ABC) reports that Howard is downplying the election results and claiming that it boils down to Bully Boy "running a Budget deficit" that led to Republicans staying home. When considering post-government careers, Howard would be wise to skip teaching. Translation, the deficit was not covered as an issue in the leadup and it was not named in polling.

Howard's attempt to spin the illegal war comes at a time when Carne Ross is criticizing Tony Blair's government's actions with regards to the illegal war. On Iraq, the BBC reports that the British diplomat told MPs that "our policy has been a rank disaster in the last few years in terms of blood shed. By that measure that invasion has been a much greater disaster even than Suez." Ross also informed the MPs that the current state was predicted and that during talks between the US government and the British government England's Foreign Office "would say, with emphasis, we do not believe regime change is a good idea in Iraq and the reason we do not believe that is that we think Iraq would break up and that would lead to chaos if you do that."



In Iraq the chaos and violence continues with CBS and AP noting: "October was a particularly bloody month for Iraqis, with more than 1,200 killed, and November so far looks to be just as bad. At least 66 Iraqis were killed on Wednesday, although that is likely much lower than the true figure since many deaths go unreported. Since this summer, the United Nations has bumped its daily death toll estimate to 100 per day."

Bombings?


Sabah Jerges (AFP) observes there were "at least seven explosions" in Baghdad, "the worst being a suicide car bomb that exploded near the Mishin shopping center in the southeast of the city that killed seven people and wounded 27" that appears to be part of a coordinated attack including a mortar round prior to the car bomb (also noted is the death of 10 in Baquba from violence though no details are offered), while in Amara a bomb took one life and left three wounded. CBS and AP note a bombing in Tal Afar that killed three people (including a police officer) and the death of two "when a mortar bomb landed on a car on Palestine street in eastern Baghdad". Reuters notes a roadside bomb in Baghdad that left four wounded; the wounding of two police officers in Baghdad as they attempted to disarm a bomb; a car bomb in Baghdad (Abu Ghraib district) that resulted in five people being killed; and two dead and four wounded in Tal Afar from a rocket attack.


Shootings?

Qais al-Bashir (AP) notes an attack on "a primary school" in Muqdadiyah that left "a policeman, a guard and a student" dead; while in Baghdad, two incidents (one a drive-by) claimed three lives; and, in Mosul, a wife and husband were shot dead (the husband was with the Iraqi military). Reuters notes that in addition to the couple, four more people were shot dead in Mosul.


Corpses?

Qais al-Bashir (AP) reports that eleven corpses were discovered in Baghdad. The count increased to 26, Reuters notes, and four corpses were found in Latifiya. AFP notes that


Meanwhile, Patrick Cockburn (CounterPunch) examines "the rise of the sniper" in the capital and concludes it "will incerase the already numerous ways that Iraqi civilians can die," that the US military often offers "no warning shots"

In peace news, as Sandra Lupien noted yesterday on The KPFA Evening News, Cindy Sheehan was arrested outside the White House when she and others attempted to deliver a petition with at least 80,000 signatures on it. The petition was calling for an end to the war.
Today Military Families Speak Out attempts to deliver their petition to the soon to be gone Rumsfled calling for an end to the back door draft and noting: "We believe that the best course of action is to bring all of our troops home now, and take care of them when they get here. Our loved ones signed up to protect and defend the Constitution of this nation. That is not what they are doing in Iraq."

Today, Trina received an e-mail from the family of a war resister which only underscored to Trina how "hideous" the lack of coverage on this issue is. Trina: "If you believe the war is wrong and needs to end, then you need to cover those who are saying 'NO!' loudly and clearly. The fact that most independent magazines -- even at their own websistes -- can't is beyond disappointing. People standing up need support and their stories need to be told."

US war resisters that should have been in the news in the last two weeks include Kyle Snyder, Joshua Key and Ivan Brobeck. Kyle Snyder returned to the US Tuesday October 31st to turn himself in at Fort Knox after self-checking out and going to Canada. The agreement between Synder's attorney and the military was trashed after the US military had Synder in custody. Snyder self-checked out again. Joshua Key was denied refugee status by the Canadian government this week. Ivan Brobeck returned to the US from Canada this week, on election day, and turned himself in. These stories have garnered very little interest by independent media. Brobeck's return has hardly been noted. (Hurt feelings over the fact that Nora Barrows Friedman got the exclusive interview with Brobeck?) The verdict in Key's case has been noted even less. It's not cutting it and independent media (print and audio) needs to stop kidding themselves that it is. It's shameful.


Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Appeal for Redress is collecting signatures of active duty service members calling on Congress to bring the troops home.


Ivan Brobeck, Kyle Snyder and Joshua Key are part of a movement of war resistance within the US military that also includes Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Mark Wilkerson, Ehren Watada, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass, Patrick Hart, Clifford Cornell, Agustin Aguayo, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, and Kevin Benderman. Their stories do matter. It's only the coverage that is lacking.


Which gets to a point Anthony Arnove made on yesterday's Flashpoints regarding the importance of knowing our history and how much energy is expanded to rob people of their history. History is all around -- it's just not getting the coverage. Arrnove and Alice Walker, both guests on yesterday's Flashpoints will be among those bringing history to life via a reading of Howard Zinn and Arnove's Voices of a People's History of the United States tonight (7:30 p.m.) at the Berkeley Community Theatre (1930 Allston Way) and along with Walker and Arnove, other participants will also include Mos Def, Steve Earle and Zinn himself.


Finally, Ehren Watada's father, Bob Watada, and his step-mother, Rosa Sakanishi, continue their speaking tour to raise awareness on Ehren -- the first commissioned officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq. Due to increased interest there have been some date changes and a full schedule can be found here. Upcoming dates include:


Nov 9, 11AM, Philadelphia, PA, Press Conference
Location: TBA Sponsors: Iraq Veterans Against the War, Delaware Valley Veterans for America, Military Families Speak Out, Gold Star Mothers
Contact: Bill Perry, 215-945-3350, BpVetforPeace@aol.com

Nov 9, 12:30PM, Philadelphia, PA., University Appearance
Location: Rutgers, Details TBA
Sponsors: Iraq Veterans Against the War, Delaware Valley Veterans for America, Military Families Speak Out, Gold Star Mothers
Contact: Bill Perry, 215-945-3350, BpVetforPeace@aol.com
Professor Elizabeth Hillman (RU Law School), Board of Governors Professor Roger S. Clark (Rutgers-Camden), and Bill Perry of Delaware Valley Veterans For America

Nov 9, 3:30PM, Philadelphia, PA., University Appearance,
Location: St. Joseph's University, Bldg. & Room TBA
Sponsors: : Iraq Veterans Against the War, Delaware Valley Veterans for America, Military Families Speak Out, Gold Star Mothers
Bob Watada, Patrick Resta of IVAW, Bill Perry of Delaware Valley Veterans For America, and Professor Katherine Sibley (St. Joseph’s University)

Nov 9, 7PM, Philadelphia, PA., Location: University of Pennsylvania
Annenberg Center Room 109,
Sponsors: Iraq Veterans Against the War, Delaware Valley Veterans for America, Military Families Speak Out, Gold Star Mothers
Contact: Bill Perry, 215-945-3350, BpVetforPeace@aol.com
Bob Watada, Professor Carolyn Marvin (Annenberg School for Communications), Patrick Resta of IVAW, and Bill Perry of Delaware Valley Veterans For America

Nov 10, Early PM, New York City, NY., Press Conference
Location: UN, 777 United Nations Plaza, First Avenue and E. 44th Street
Sponsors: Veterans For Peace Chapters 138 & 34
Contact: Thomas Brinson, 631-889-0203, ltbrin@earthlink.net
George McAnanama, gmacan@aol.com

Nov 10, 7:30PM, New York City, NY.
Location: St. Paul/St. Andrews Methodist Church -- West End Avenue and West 86th Streets,
Sponsors: Veterans For Peace Chapters 138 & 34
Contacts: Thomas Brinson, 631-889-0203, ltbrin@earthlink.net

Nov 11, 10AM-2:30PM, New York City, NY.,Veterans Day Parade
Sponsor: Veterans For Peace Chapters 34 & 138, IVAW, MFSO
Contacts: Thomas Brinson, 631-889-0203, ltbrin@earthlink.net
George McAnanama, gmacan@aol.com

Nov 11, 3-5 PM, Flushing, NY.,
Location: Macedonia AME Church (718) 353-5870
37-22 Union St.
Sponsors: "United for Lt. Watada"
Contact: Gloria Lum 646-824-2710, lumgloria@yahoo.com

Nov 11, 7 PM, New York City, NY., Manhattan,
Location: Columbia University, Broadway and W 116 St., Bldg- Mathematics Rm 312
Sponsors: Asian American Alliance, "United for Lt. Watada",
Veterans For Peace Chapters 138 & 34
Contact: Gloria Lum 646-824-2710

Nov 12, 11AM-1PM, Providence, RI.,
Location: Brown University, The John Nicholas Brown Center,
357 Benefit Street at Williams
Sponsor: Veterans For Peace National
Contact: Naoko Shibusawa, 401-286-1908, Naoko_Shibusawa@brown.edu

Nov 12, 7PM, Rockland County, NY.
Location: TBA
Sponsor: Rockland Coalition for Peace and Justice, Veterans For Peace National and Veterans For Peace Chapter /Rockland County
Contact: Nancy Tsou, LYTHRN@aol.com
Barbara Greenhut

Nov 13 , TBA, Ann Arbor, MI, “The Ground Truth” and Bob Watada
Location: University of Michigan, Angel Hall, Auditorium B
Sponsors: Michigan Peace Works http://michiganpeaceworks.org,
Contact: Phillis Engelbert, work - 734-761-5922, home - 734-662-0818, cell- 734-660-489, philliseng@yahoo.com

Nov 14, TBA St. Louis, Mo. Location: Friends Meeting House1001 Park Avenue Sponsors: Veterans for Peace Chapter 161, 314-754-2651Contact: Chuc Smith, 314-721-1814, vfpch61@riseup.net






iraq
kyle snyder
amy goodman

democracy now




joshua key


ehren watada
bob watada




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Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Rumsfled leaves, new 1 scary, Tom Hayden, and junk food

Wednesday, day after election. Only one site you need to check, Feminist Majority. They've called Montanna for Jon Tester and note that gives Democrats five of the six seats they need to have control of the Senate. Jim Webb in Virginia is still not called. What does Democratic control mean (they won more seats in the House)? Not much if they don't use it and I heard a lot of jaw boning about how they need to extend an olive branch. I doubt people voted the way they did so that the Dems would smile and say, "All water under the bridge." They were voted to fix things and that means holding people accountable.

So Rumsfled became official today? Get why C.I. dubbed him "Rumsfled"? It was official today. And, if you read Wally's "THIS JUST IN! RUMSFELD BECOMES RUMSFLED!" and Cedric's "Rumsfled, cakewalk it out of here (humor)" you'll see that Bully Boy already announced the replacement -- someone whose history is as awful as Rumsfled, Robert Gates, knee-deep in Iran-Contra. Have the Dems changed any? Guess we'll see when it's time for the confirmation hearings. If they haven't changed, and don't deserve to lead, we'll see that right away as they wave Gates on through.

C.I. passed on something that went online too late to make it into the snapshot, Tom Hayden's "Iraq Wins the Election, What Now?:"

But the Iraq War will not end.
The Administration will continue the conflict into the 2008 election year. The Democrats refuse to end it. The national security elites believe America's image as a superpower is at stake. We've heard it all before. No one is willing to lose a war even when they know the war is unwinnable.
It is possible, of course, that the bottom will drop out of the military effort, resulting in a military defeat and debacle. But the Administration will avoid that outcome at all costs.
The anti-war movement, and their supporters in Congress, therefore will need to pursue an "inside-outside" strategy. On the inside they will have to mobilize the "Out of Iraq" caucus around an exit strategy alternative, including such proposals as:
the appointment of a peace envoy to begin a process of conflict resolution instead of military occupation.
setting a deadline for bringing our troops home within one year.
at the same time, ending the formal occupation and requesting the United Nations to appoint an international consortium to work with the Iraqis on security, economics and reconciliation.
The White House may wish to lure the Democrats into a "bipartisan", or no-fault, approach to Iraq in order to extend the war while defusing it as an issue with voters. They may even have to sacrifice Donald Rumsfeld as a gesture to gain time for "new leadership." It is almost certain that they will replace the current Iraqi regime with a strongman to go after the Madhi army of Moktada al-Sadr, the main Shiite leader who wants the US to withdraw its troops. Finally, both parties will hide behind the recommendations of the bipartisan Baker-Hamilton study group, which is likely to propose a partial "redeployment." The Democrats' successful House campaign strategist Rahm Emanuel, who never wanted to make Iraq an issue, already is suggesting such a new bipartisanship even as the polls show that tonight's new American majority believes the Democratic Party will end the war sooner than the Republicans.
These are steps in the right direction, but only baby steps. The Vietnam War continued for seven senseless years after the Paris peace talks began. While scaling back its original victory plans, the US still wants to station tens of thousands of troops in a subdued, and perhaps partitioned, Iraq, and it wants the issue neutralized by the 2008 elections.
The peace movement therefore needs to gear up for the 2008 elections, by establishing anti-war coalitions that no candidate can avoid in the primary states. The first four states - Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina - have large peace-and-justice constituencies.

Rahm Emmanuel? Chicken Hawk. Troops home now. That's why I voted. I'm not going to gas bag and offer why others voted. But I know why I voted. Get your butts over to Like Maria Said Paz tonight for Elaine's thoughts. I'm not done yet but Elaine mentioned something on the phone earlier and she just e-mailed it to me. It's by Lawrence E. Welsh who was the independent counsel investigating Iran-Contra (until Poppy Bush pardoned everyone just as he was leaving office). Welsh was a Republican and it was hard to argue that he was some 'partisan' going after Republicans. So Poppy had to have a pardon-fest to save their asses and his own in case they flipped on him to avoid prison. So this is Welsh's "Robert Gates and Iran/Contra" and it's about the guy Bully Boy wants to make Secretary of Defense:

The day after Clair George's arraignment, we turned to Robert Gates. The Senate intelligence committee's hearings on his appointment to head the CIA were scheduled to begin within a few days. Craig Gillen and I met the committee's chairman, David Boren, and ranking minority member, Frank Murkowski, and staff counsel in Boren's office. Reiterating what I had already told Boren, we said that two questions had not been answered satisfactorily: Had Gates falsely denied knowledge of Oliver North's Contra-support activities? Had Gates falsely postdated his first knowledge of North's diversion of arms sale proceeds to the Contras?
We then described what our investigation had turned up about Gates. Alan Fiers had told us that he had kept Gates generally informed of his Contra-support activities, through written reports and regular face-to-face presentations, although his oral reports had been guarded because Gates had not always had a note-taker present. The CIA now claimed it could not find the notes of these meetings.
We said that Richard Kerr, the CIA's deputy director for intelligence, had informed Gates in August 1986 of Charles Allen's belief that North had diverted funds from the Iranian arms sales for the benefit of the Contras; Allen himself had told Gates the same thing in early October. Allen had told us that Gates, who had appeared irritated, had told Allen to write a memorandum for CIA director William Casey and had said that he did not want to hear about North. To us and to the congressional committees, Gates had denied having any recollection of either conversation. Whenever questioned, Gates had always claimed that he had first learned of Allen's concern about the diversion on the day after Eugene Hasenfus was shot down. Gates said that he and Allen had then reported this to Casey, who told them that he had just received much the same information from another source.
That day, according to North and Gates, Casey had invited North to lunch in his office, which was next to Gates's office. Gates had joined them, and according to North, had heard Casey tell North to clean up the Ilopango operation. North claimed that he had then begun to destroy records. Gates claimed not to remember the discussion of North's Nicaraguan activities. Although he had heard North mention Swiss accounts, Gates said, he had not understood the reference. He claimed to have been in and out of the room. All he remembered, he said, was that North had told him that the CIA was completely clean regarding the Contra-support operation.
We suggested to the senators that they specifically request the notes of Fiers's reports to Gates. We told them that we did not think we had enough corroborating information to indict Robert Gates, but that his answers to these questions had been unconvincing. We did not believe that he could have forgotten a warning of North's diversion of the arms sale proceeds to the Contras. The mingling of two covert activities that were of intense personal interest to the president was not something the second-highest officer in the CIA would forget. Moreover, Gates had received the same reliable contemporaneous intelligence reports about North's activities that Charles Allen had. The information suggesting that North had overcharged the Iranians would surely have caught the attention of anyone as astute as Gates.

There's more but that's why I say that we'll know, by the Gates' confirmation hearing, how much spine the victories have provided the Dems with. (I'll avoid betting my own money.)

Now serious question, what the hell's up with chips? I'm still hungry even after dinner and I'm plowing through a bag of Tostitos and I've come across five 'junk chips.' You know what I'm talking about? Those chips that aren't chips. They're thick like a Trisquit or something. How does that junk get in (to junk food, I know, Ma's already given me that speech tonight)?

My four favorite junk foods? Dr. Pepper. It's my coffee. I gotta have my Dr. Pepper. Snickers, which is my favorite candy bar more and more. (I used to like Baby Ruth a lot but not so much now days.) Tostitos or any corn chips in a pinch and Bugles which are thick but they're supposed to be. I also like Cheetos. Any kind. Puffs, crunchies, spicy, you name it. Vending machines were where I got most of that growing up because we didn't have a lot of junk food in my house. Which is good because my Ma's a great cook. But, honest, between the junk they fixed in the lunch room when I was in middle school and high school and the vending machines, at least the vending machines didn't have stuff floating in water or damp -- even the pizza was damp. We always joked that the test was "Who is the worst cook?" and that's who are school got stuck with. I remember nachos being burned to the point you couldn't eat them, the chips, and you wonder, how the heck did the cafeteria burn chips? What were they doing heating them up to begin with?

Vegetables were the worst because I knew what they were supposed to taste like. I'd have them at home and they were great. I never turned up my nose at them. But there's good cabbage and there's cafeteria cabbage. I'm trying to think if there was anything I ever enjoyed that the cafeteria fixed and the only thing I can think of is pigs in a blanket at breakfast. I used to pester my folks like crazy to get me to school early those mornings so I could have them and this was after eating whatever breakfast was in the house. I still like pigs in the blanket. :D

Okay, here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Wednesday, November 8, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq with at least 60 reported dead today, Steven D. Green enters a plea, gas bags toss out the word "Iraq" and pretend they've somehow addressed anything, War Hawk Down! -- Rumsfled resigns, "a defector in the petty wars that shell shock love away" ("Hejira") prepares a new release, and the Mennonite church -- not independent media -- discusses conscientious objectors.
Starting with news not coming out of Iraq, the current issue of Rolling Stone (Jon Stewart cover) notes that Joni Mitchell is recording another album of her own compositions. Uncut reports on the upcoming album and quotes Mitchell stating "when the world becomes a massive mess with noboday at the helm, it's time for artists to make their make" and noting that the albums is an attempt to provide "courage through tough times." Mitchell's official website notes one song on the upcoming album entitled "Holy War" which includes these lyrics:

There's nothing on earth
As unholy as war,
The rich sacrifice the poor.
If I had a heart I'd cry.
In fairy tales the good go to heaven
And the evil go to hell,
Ring the funeral bell.
If I had a heart I'd cry.
Holy earth, religion has failed us,
It failed to make us kind,
It spoke of light but kept us blind.

The album will be Mitchell's first recording of her own compositions since 1998's Taming the Tiger. And if that doesn't seem important to you, remember that Mitchell's Dog Eat Dog, and not gas baggery, captured the Reagan de-Revolution. Between art and gas baggery, this community will always go with art. Also, it was Mitchell's birthday Tuesday.
The day prior to that, Steve Negus (Financial Times of London) reported that the White House had conveyed through Zalmay Khalilzad that yesterday's elections were meaningless -- conveyed to Iraqi puppet leaders. Bully Boy is currently attempting to push that notion right now. On screen, CNN offers a "knowable" -- War Hawk Donald Rumsfeld has resigned as US Secretary of the Defense. Bully Boy has evened out his streaks and his hair now looks much darker but look the other way as the media has for the last six years. Hair dye doesn't make for the 'manly' image the Bully Boy cultivates. (What's he saying? Who knows? I'm having lunch and there are too many people at other tables booing the Bully Boy to hear him and no link at CNN yet.)
For those looking for attempts to make sense of the election (something that really won't happen until all the votes are in and data crunched -- as opposed to skimmed) should refer to Amy Goodman's interview with Ralph Nader (Democracy Now!) and the Feminist Majority blog on the elections. [Feminist Wire addresses the failed abortion ban in South Dakota.] While the White House's message may have been lost on the puppet leaders, Nancy A. Yousseff (McClatchey Newspapers) reports that "Iraqis outside the world of politics saw no change, regardless of the results" as Matthew Schofield (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that the reaction was far different for Europeans who are now "a bit more comfortable with their partners across the Atlantic after five years of unease with Americans under the Bush administration." What is known is that the Democratic Party now holds the most seats in the US House of Representatives and may control the Senate provided the candidates in Montana and Virginia (Jon Tester, Jim Webb) hold their leads.
In Iraq today, Zalmay Khalilzad rushed to spin telling a reception in the heavily fortified Green Zone (reception made up of reporters, the puppet government, "American colleagues from the embassy," etc) that "Americans understand that Iraq is import. They understand that this region is important" blah, blah, blah. When even Zalmay-Take-Me-Away grew tired of his own voice, he signed off with "Thank you again for coming and my God bless the people of Iraq" which may not be the best way for American officials, supposedly wanting a secetarian government in Iraq, to conclude their 'official' messages. Reality absent in the rumored to be departing soon Zalmay's pontificating can be found in Missy Comley Beattie's latest (CounterPunch): "This historic smackdown of an arrogant president and his administration will not bring back my nephew, Marine Lance Cpl. Chase Comley, his fellow servicemen and women who have died during the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, other dead coalition troops, and so many Iraqis. . . . Nothing can reverse the effects of madmen. The hearts of our dead cannot restart. Limbs can't be restored. Devastating brain damage won't heal."
Absent from the gas baggery by conventional-wisdom loveing pundits and the spin of the White House flacks is the reality on Iraq. Kirk Semple (New York Times) reports that "at least 25 people were killed and dozens wounded in Baghdad and in Diyala province" on Tuesday. Chaos and violence continues today in Iraq.
Bombings?
AFP reports that a car bombing in Mahmudiyah has resulted in six dead and twenty-six wounded. Kirk Semple (New York Times) reported on a Tuesday bombing in Baghdad that left 17 dead and 20 wounded. IOL reports that four more have died today from Tuesday's coffee shop bombing bring the total number who have died to 21. CBS and AP note that: "A pair of mortar rounds slammed into a soccer field while young men were playing a game in a Shiite district of Baghdad, killing at least eight people." AFX notes 15 people were also wounded in thos mortar attacks. AFP notes a bombing in Iskandriyah that killed two (a father "and his 13-year-old son) and a mortar attack, in Baghdad, "near the health ministry" that killed three and left five wounded. Reuters notes a car bomb in Baghdad that killed three and wounded three more, a car bombing that killed one person, and a car bombing in Ramadi that killed five people.
Shootings?
The BBC notes that four people were shot dead in Baquba. AFP notes five were shot dead "in the village of Dhida near Muqdadiyah," two police officers were shot dead in Tikrit. Reuters notes that that a police officer was shot dead in Samawa.
Corpses?
IOL notes that three corpses were discovered in Baghdad. Reuters notes that six corpses were discovered in Mosul.
In addition, the US military today announced: "One Marine assigned to 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division died Wednesday from wounds sustained due to enemy action while operating in Al Anbar Province.The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense." ICCC counts 2839 US troops dead since the start of the illegal war and 21 dead for the month.
In other Iraq news, Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily (IPS) examine the realities of Iraq's Facilities Protection Services and note the belief "that the FPS consists mainly of criminals who looted banks and government offices at the beginning of the U.S. invasion in April 2003."
In legal news, Reuters reports that Steven D. Green pleaded not guilty today "in federal court to charges he participated in a gang rape of an Iraqi girl and murdered her and her family in March." That would be Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi who was murdered on March 12, 2006 in the town of Mahmoudiyah along with her parents Oassim Hamza Raheem and Fakhriya Taha Muhasen as well as her five-year-old sister Hadeel Qassim Hamza. Green was discharged from the US military before events became public. On Friday, June 30th, he was arrested in Asheville, North Carolina and charged with rape. Five members still in the US military have also been charged. Anthony W. Yribe has been charged with dereliction of duty for not reporting the incident and the other four (Paul Cortez, Jesse Spielman, Bryan Howard and James Barker) have been charged with murder, rape and arson. At the Article 32 hearing for the four, prosecutor Captain Alex Pickands stated: "They gathered over cards and booze to come up with a plan to rape and murder that little girl. She was young and attractive. They knew where she was because they had seen her on a previous patrol. She was close. She was vulnerable." Green, who is being tried in a civilian court, could face the death penalty if convicted as could Speilman and Cortez if found guilty in a court-martial.
In peace news, Chris Arsenault (The Dominion) takes a look at US war resister Corey Glass currently in Canada, at the War Resisters Support Campaign and notes that depite the petition with 35,000 signatures "demanding Canada treat Iraq War objectors the same way we treated Vietnam War resisters . . . the immigration and refugee board, whose mandate is different from the courts, has" refused to rule in favor of asylum for war resisters. Glass tells Arsenault: "I signed up to defend people and do humanitarian work filling sandbags if there was a hurricane; I should have been in New Orleans, not Iraq." Three other war resisters who went to Canada include Kyle Snyder who turned himself in at Fort Knox on October 31st only to self-check out again after the US military lied to him again, Joshua Key who was denied refugee status by the Canadian government and Ivan Brobeck who returned to the US yesterday to turn himself in.
Meanwhile, Gladys Tericho (Mennoite Central Committee) reports on the conference on conscientious objection held October 20-21 and bringing together groups "including Mennoite, Doukhobor, Quaker and Jehovah's Witnesses." She notes Harry Loewen (Professor Emeritus of Mennonite History and Studies at the University of Winnipeg") stating: "It is important that we deal with these issues now. . . . This principle must not be abandoned, it must be strengthened."
CNN reports that Bully Boy announced "Don Rumsfeld . . . superb leader" has resigned and that Bully Boy also stated, "The timing is right for new leadership at the Pentagon." Now it's time? Only now? No wonder Condi Rice keeps getting promoted. Rums-fled is out. Zalmay soon will be.
Finally, Ehren Watada's father, Bob Watada, and his step-mother, Rosa Sakanishi, continue their speaking tour to raise awareness on Ehren -- the first commissioned officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq. Upcoming dates include:


Nov 8, 7PM Albany, NY Sponsor: VFP National Location: TBAContact: Elliot Adams, 518-441-2697, elliottadams@juno.com

Nov 9, TBA Philadelphia, PA. Location: Annenberg School of Communication, Penn University, Room 109 Sponsors: Iraq Veterans Against the War, Delaware Valley Veterans for America, Military Families Speak Out, Gold Star MothersContact: Bill Perry, 215-945-3350, BpVetforPeace@aol.com

Nov 10, 7:30PM New York City, NY Location: St. Paul/St. Andrews Methodist Church West End Avenue and West 86th Streets, Sponsor: NYC Area Chapters of VFP & IVAW Contact: Thomas Brinson, 631-889-0203, http://us.f507.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=ltbrin@earthlink.netGeorge McAnanama, gmacan@aol.com

Nov 11, 11AM-5PM New York City, NY Veterans Day Parade Sponsor: NYC Area Chapters of VFP & IVAW Contact: Thomas Brinson, 631-889-0203, ltbrin@earthlink.net

Nov 12, TBA Long Island, NY TBA

Nov 13, 7PM Ann Arbor, MI "The Ground Truth" and Bob Watada Location: TBA Sponsors: Michigan Peace Works http://michiganpeaceworks.org/,Contact: Phillis Engelbert, 734-761-5922, philliseng@yahoo.com











iraq
kyle snyder
amy goodman
democracy now
ivan brobeck
joshua key
corey glass
the new york times
kirk semple
missy comley beattie
ehren watada
bob watada
dahr jamail
ali al-fadhily
nancy a. youssef
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Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Tuesday. If you don't know what today is, go to the increasing suck-fest that is The Nation. John Nichols tells you there's a wave of anti-war feeling sweeping the nation. But don't get excited. He's not writing about the anti-war feeling or the peace movement. Just offering hopes and dreams about the election. Air Berman has "Soldiers Get Political." Think it's about war resistance? Think again. It's about vets, some hawks, some doves, running for office. Three articles filed under "Iraq" -- one is on Saddam's trial, one speculates what the nerdy J. Baker Iraq Study Group might conclude (my Iraq Study Group started before his and is so much cooler!), and you get how Saddam's trial might effect the election.

If you're looking for Kyle Snyder or Joshua Key or Ivan Brobeck, quit looking. There's nothing. There has been nothing. The suck-fest that is The Nation these days better decide what it's going to do now -- start gas bagging about the election of 2008 for the next two years? Or is it going to get serious about Iraq?

The Progressive? Isn't the name a joke when you can't cover the peace movement? I'll get Howard Zinn and Molly Ivins online. I don't need to pay for the rest of the crap in the magazine. It's probably a great magazine if you don't give a damn about what happens in the US or the war and you're three years from retirement. If you're a college student, the magazine has nothing to offer you.

It's going to be interesting to see what happens to both after the election. I know a lot of people on campus who did read the rags. DID READ. They're tired of it. They're tired that the peace movement is ignored, the war resisters and students. Both magazines have had big increases in circulation and yet they've offered readers nothing but hospital cafeteria food -- bland writing. That doesn't reflect the world around us and certainly doesn't reflect that the US is at war. It's amazing to me that they feel people are turning against the Bully Boy (I agree with that) but they don't grasp that people are turning against them too because they've got nothing worth saying. They've failed the peace movement. They can't cover it, they can't cover Iraq.

I mean think about it. Moderates turned against Bully Boy as they realized he was full of it on Iraq and yet the mags think that informed people who follow issues won't turn against them in the same way because of their 'coverage'?

They've blown it the same way the Democratic Party has. They've failed to lead the same way the party has. Dems may win a house (or both) but where's the leadership? Absent. AWOL. Same as with the magazines.

I'm sick of independent media with very few exceptions. I did get the Goodman's book because of what C.I. said about it in "The never ending book discussion." If C.I. had done a puff piece commentary on the book (never happen with C.I.), I wouldn't have gotten the book. But C.I. and Dona did explore the negatives of the book and I was nodding along during that and then when C.I. got to why the book is recommendable, maybe because it hadn't been "AMY IS GOD!" before, that registered too. I don't know when I'll have time to read the book, but I did go out and get it. It's called Static by the way. By Amy and David Goodman.

In case anyone else is feeling like they can go several months without hearing about another candidate, I'm going to share something from Danny Schechter that C.I. mentioned to me. It's pretty important:

Not too many years ago, if you borrowed money to buy a house or a car, you visited your local bank. Assuming you were approved, the money came from your bank and the follow-up (the "servicing") was handled by that same bank. If you had a problem, you knew who you could speak with and where to find him or her. The system worked pretty well. But only greed could cause a seemingly good system to go awry. And the heart of all greediness is Wall Street, of course.
Realizing that these loans were a good investment for the banks, Wall Street decided to figure out how to take a piece of the pie. And hence the mortgage backed security was born. By buying in bulk various mortgage loans, Wall Street could take the role (and the lions share of the profits) of the bank without the inconvenience of opening branches. Banks, in turn, could keep lending endlessly, just as long as they kept refilling the pot by selling off the old loans and lending anew. And just to give you that homespun feeling (and to earn the banks a few extra dollars) your local bank would continue collecting your payments and forwarding them on each month -- essentially lending a familiar brand name and adding a warm and fuzzy feeling to this anonymous multi billion dollar Wall Street enterprise.
It all seemed well enough -- invisible, in fact -- until the horror stories that have recently begun to emerge. And more are coming. Behind the wall lurks an empire of greed mixed with incompetence and lack of concern. And why should you care? Because every loan you take out -- car loans, mortgages, personal loans -- might very soon belong to someone else, located thousand of miles away from you and sometimes with the very worst of intentions.
Your local banker will now make his decision not based upon his or her own criteria but based upon his ability to sell your loan to someone else. And if those anonymous loan-buying monoliths decide that they are no longer enamored with, for example, your type of small business loans, or mortgages in certain neighborhoods......well you might be out of luck no matter how stellar your payment history or credible your need.
But it gets worse. For those lucky enough to be granted the loan for which they have applied, the selling off of that loan means that other people are now in control of their financial destiny. And these loan purchasers have a profit motive that has little to do with winning your repeat business. They don't even want to know you. These loan buyers are divided up into two parts, known as the the "A" and the "B" piece buyers. The "A" buyers are generally anonymous investors with little interest in the day to day affairs of lending money. They get a lower return in exchange for their "safe" senior position. The "B" piece buyers (also known as the "Special Servicers") are the high rollers, the high-yield profiteers. They are predators. And they are a very big part of what is terribly wrong with this equation. Loan documents are slowly being tailored to their needs, to include new fees and charges and rights in the so-called fine print. The more onerous the terms, the greater the opportunity to profit from the unsuspecting borrower.
"Lending by local banks is nearly a thing of the past" says Michael Tuck, a New Jersey mortgage industry expert. "Conduit loans have substantially taken the place of the local bank mortgage."
Residents of New Orleans after Katrina learned the hard way. Many who had their mortgages sold off by their local bank found themselves quickly in foreclosure -- a decision made by the anonymous "Special Servicer" whose job it was to make decisions on behalf of the billions in loans purchased. But the real goal of the Special Servicer is to maximize fees and profits often at the expense of the borrower. Starting a foreclosure affords the lender higher interest rates, steep fees and penalties that add nicely to the bottom line. It gets worse still.....for those lucky enough to have insurance but unlucky enough to be saddled with this third party "owner" of their mortgage, they have discovered that it is also the Special Servicer's job to process the insurance claim. There are no laws in many states as to how fast that process must happen....but sitting with big piles of insurance cash generating interest and being re-lent at huge returns is secretly part of the profit picture of the Special Servicer. Some borrowers report waits of several months to get released the insurance checks so necessary to rebuild their homes. And in some cases, the monies have never been released at all (thank the fine print for that as well).

Danny Schechter also has a new movie that I need to watch. It's called In Debt We Trust and I'm not sure how much it costs because I've got C.I.'s copy. Dad's watched it and he says you can follow it and it's important. But, let me say it one more time, I am having the toughest semester I've ever had. My grades aren't dipping but it's been hell to keep them up. I've never had to study like this before and I've had a lot of help. C.I.'s been a big help with the poli sci and the sociology class. Elaine's helping me with A&P which I've given up understanding and am just memorizing. Wally's been quizzing me on history because he took a class covering the same thing last spring. I really feel bad about it because I know everyone's busy. With Elaine, at least I can say, "Well she's my girlfriend." Like that means she has to help. :D But I know Wally's been so busy on getting the vote out. If he forgets or doesn't have time, I leave it alone. I can't with C.I. though because if I haven't called, C.I. does. I don't care if C.I.'s at home or on the road, if I haven't called, my cell rings at eleven p.m. my time regardless of where C.I. is.

Some of the difficulty is my own fault, probably all of it, because I loaded up with the 'tough' classes this semester trying to knock them out. Be sure to check out Elaine's site, Like Maria Said Paz, for her thoughts tonight. She was pretty angry when we talked on the phone. (Not at me! :D) Now, here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Tuesday, November 7, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, another US war resister returns to the US from Canada, Halliburton puts on Cher's Living Proof CD and plays dumb, and prison abuse back in the headlines.
"In Iraq, I found myself being the problem instead of the solution" -- Ivan Brobeck quoted by Alison Bodine (Fire This Time). Today, he became the latest US war resister to return from Canada to the United States. Quantico Marine Base in Quantico, VA is where he expects to be processed. Brobeck enlisted in the Marines and, as Jim Fennerty explained to Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) last Friday, there are different processes for different branches and Fennerty believes that Brobeck will "be placed in the brig" and very likely face a court-martial -- which wasn't the case for Darrell Anderson whom Fennerty also represented. Courage to Resist has posted the twenty-year-old war resister's open letter to the Bully Boy. Speaking with Nora Barrows Friedman on yesterday's Flashpoints Brobeck shared: "I'm sort of trying to teach them to open their eyes. It's easy to forget basic stuff in Iraq."
Ivan Brobeck in is own words via Pacific News Service:

I was in the Marines. I joined in June 2003, and after boot camp in March of 2004 I was sent directly to Iraq. This wasn't at all unsettling to me. You see, I went into the Army because I wanted to fight the bad guys. In school during history classes I learned that the Army and Marines had done all these wonderful things, and it all sounded so patriotic and I wanted to do the same. I wanted to fight for freedom.
I didn't care, and I still don't care, if I died fighting for a good and noble cause which is what I wanted to do.

In Iraq, I found myself being the problem instead of the solution. A problem in a normal town, in the life of normal people, like the people here in Toronto, trying to go about their life and risking getting shot at by me. Innocent people getting killed for misunderstandings, and for even more trivial things. I found myself in situations with my partners where we had to shoot at speeding cars, at people that probably were just trying to get out of our way.

All these insurgents, as they call them, they're not. They're people who have nothing left. There was this guy who was mad at us because we had killed his family. Wife, children, everybody but him had been killed. He was seeking some kind of retribution. That is not an insurgent, that's a desperate man.

My ethnic background is Salvadoran; my mom is from El Salvador. So the fight against tyranny is something that is dear to me, considering the history of El Salvador. I believed that the war in Iraq was a just war, and it was not. Now, before I get involved again, I really have to see somebody overcoming my country with weapons in hand.

Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Mark Wilkerson, Ehren Watada Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Joshua Key, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass, Patrick Hart, Clifford Cornell, Agustin Aguayo, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, and Kevin Benderman are among those who have been part of a movement of war resistance within the military.
Focusing on one US war resister mentioned above (also a Fennerty client), Kyle Snyder returned from Canada last week only to discover that the same military that lied to sign up, was still lying. Noting the ABC News investigation that found the lies of recruiters continue, Elaine commented: "Will anyone get in trouble for the above? No. But kids will be lied to. Young adults and peole who aren't even 18 yet will be lied to over and over. They'll believe the lies. They'll assume no one in uniform would say something if it wasn't true. My friend, who's back from Iraq and speaking to students so that they don't end up over there, has so many stories like this. He's speaking about twice a week now and there is never just a handful of students who are able to share the kind of lies they've been told, it's always a large number."
Why do recruiters lie? Because they can get away with it. Because they won't be punished. They can sign up someone, someone who is not even able to legally purchase a beer, to a 'contract' that could result in the loss of life and they can do so with any lie that can tumble out of their mouths because there is no accountability.
Information on recruiters and protecting schools can be found at Coalition Against Militarism in Our Schools, Counter-Recruitment and Alternatives to the Military Program and Campus Anti-War Network. Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Appeal for Redress is collecting signatures of active duty service members calling on Congress to bring the troops home.
"When the money's gone/ Will you be my friend?" asks Cher in "When The Money's Gone" (Living Proof) and it's a question Halliburton may be wondering about the White House. James Glanz (New York Times) reports that a new scandal has emerged over their 2003 no-bid contract "to deliver gasoline to Iraq" which might seem simple easy enough but KRB [Kellogg Brown & Root] were charging "as much as $25,000 per month for each of as many as 1,8000 fuel trucks". Al Jazeera reports: "The audit of 15 noncompetitive contracts paid for by US government agencies with Iraqi oil money was unable to account for $22.4 million in funds, a UN-led watchdog said on Monday."
The report for the IAMB [International Advisory and Monitoring Board for Iraq] is available online, PDF format, and the auditing was done by KPMG.
Within Iraq, Sudarsan Raghavan (Washington Post) reports on the charges, brought by the Interior Ministry, "of 57 employees, including high-ranking officers, with human rights crime for their role in the torture of hundreds of detainees once jailed in a notorius eastern Baghdad prison known as Site 4". Kirk Semple (New York Times) notes that Site 4 is not the only Interior Ministry run prison that's been found to be a source of abuse. As they day has progressed the number charged has increased. Steve Negus (Financial Times of London) reports that those now charged include "[a] general and nearly 100 other members of Iraq's police force". The BBC reminds that Site Four was a "secret prison" until May when "Iraqi and US officials found the jail at a building in east Baghdad belonging to the Shia-Muslim dominated ministry." Discovered in May and dealt with in . . . November. On top of that, CBS and AP note:
"CBS News correspondent Cami McCormick reports that the Iraqis plan eventually to retrain all of their police batallions." Retrain all.
Crackdown, shake-up, country break up . . . But outside the press eye. The show trial still provides gas bags to pretend they're reporting. The US election allows people to shout out "IRAQ!" and act like they've offered coverage on it. Once again, it's time to treat the Iraq war as an after thought apparently.
A few of the events that actually got some coverage.
Bombings?
Christopher Bodeen (AP) reports that mortar attacks left 22 wounded in Baghdad. Reuters notes a bombing in Basra took one life and left seven wounded while three were killed and eight wonded from a roadside bomb in Falluja.
Shootings?
Reuters reports that a police officer was shot dead in Kirkuk. AP notes that "sniper attacks and a roadside bombing in Karmah" claimed the lives of six Iraqi soldiers.
Corpses?
Sky News reports that 15 corpses were discovered in Suwayrah. AP reports that they were all found "blindfolded and bound at the wrists and ankles, before being shot in the head and chest." Reuters notes that two corpses "and a decapitated head" were discovered in Falluja.
And the Whack-a-mole goes on. Having attempted to seize the city of Falluja in April of 2004 and the slaughter that followed in November 2004, the checkpoints requiring bio-metric i.d.s to enter, et al., it may come as a surprise to learn, via Jay Price and Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers), that there is 'concern' over resistance in Falluja yet again.
While the US military and White House attempt to ignore the fact that it's the same fight over and over (and that the war is lost), the deaths continue to pile up on all sides. Today the US military announced: "A Multi-National Division -- Baghdad Soldier died at approximately 10:40 p.m. Monday from wounds he received after the vehicle he was riding in was struck by an improvised-explosive device in northwest Baghdad." The announcement brought to 19 the number of US troops killed in Iraq this month. Meanwhile, in England, Lee Glendinning (Times of London) reports on the British military announcing a Monday death: "The soldier, from the 2nd Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, died after the army base came under small arms fire, the Ministry of Defence said." The death brought to 121 the number of British soldiers who have died in Iraq since the start of the illegal war and comes a day after mothers of two soldiers who died in Iraq took their case to the Court of Appeal.
Michael Evans (Times of London) reports that Beverley Clarke and Rose Gentle pressed their case yesterday as to the legality of the illegal war. Both women lost their songs (Trooper David Clarke and Fusilier Gordon Gentle) in Iraq. The BBC reports that outside the court, Rose Gentle stated: "Why can't Tony Blair be man enough to stand up and say he will give an inquiry and stop a lot of court cases going ahead? Ehat has he got to hide? Our boys are being killed day-by-bya. It we dod succeed in this case it will be a bonus. If we don't, we can say we tried and we fought for the boys and have got more backbone than the MPS who didn't stand up for them in last week's vote."
Another mother for peace, Cindy Sheehan is taking part in the Gold Star Families for Peace sit-in at the White House in DC. Today's actions including organizing exit poll teams (for the day's election) and the plan to hold an event this evening in Lafayette Square Park while tomorrow will include the delivery of a petition opposing an attack on Iraq. Other DC actions this week include Military Families Speak Out's plan to deliver a petition to Congress and Rummy demanding troops home now and an end to the backdoor draft.
Finally, Ehren Watada's father, Bob Watada, and his step-mother, Rosa Sakanishi, continue their speaking tour to raise awareness on Ehren -- the first commissioned officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq. Upcoming dates include:

Nov 7, 4:30PM Portland, ME Location: Meditation Center Sponsor: Veterans for Peace, Chapter 1 Contact: Doug Rawlings, 207-293-2580, rawlings@maine.edu,

Nov. 7, 6-9PM Brunswick, ME Location: Morrill Room, Curtis Memorial Library, 23 Pleasant Street Pot luck supper and speaking engagement Time: 6 - 7:30pm

Nov 8, 7PM Albany, NY Sponsor: VFP National Location: TBAContact: Elliot Adams, 518-441-2697, elliottadams@juno.com

Nov 9, TBA Philadelphia, PA. Location: Annenberg School of Communication, Penn University, Room 109 Sponsors: Iraq Veterans Against the War, Delaware Valley Veterans for America, Military Families Speak Out, Gold Star MothersContact: Bill Perry, 215-945-3350, BpVetforPeace@aol.com

Nov 10, 7:30PM New York City, NY Location: St. Paul/St. Andrews Methodist Church West End Avenue and West 86th Streets, Sponsor: NYC Area Chapters of VFP & IVAW Contact: Thomas Brinson, 631-889-0203, ltbrin@earthlink.netGeorge McAnanama, gmacan@aol.com

Nov 11, 11AM-5PM New York City, NY Veterans Day Parade Sponsor: NYC Area Chapters of VFP & IVAW Contact: Thomas Brinson, 631-889-0203, ltbrin@earthlink.net

Nov 12, TBA Long Island, NY TBA

Nov 13, 7PM Ann Arbor, MI "The Ground Truth" and Bob Watada Location: TBA Sponsors: Michigan Peace Works http://michiganpeaceworks.org,Contact: Phillis Engelbert, 734-761-5922, philliseng@yahoo.com



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democracy now
ivan brobeck
flashpoints
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the new york times
kirk semple
the washington post
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