Friday, November 16, 2007

Redacted, Dave Lindorff

The weekend at last! :D First off, get your butts off the couch to go see Redacted. Jim and I saw it in NYC today. Wally's already seen it and loves it. He saw it with Ty and Dona at a film festival. I don't know that C.I. saw it then (I'm pretty sure that's not the case), but C.I. has seen it and says it's one of the best of the year and that it's got Oscar buzz so it should be nominated this year. I thought I was going up there today to speak but Jim and I were sent off to the see the film. How come? I'll get to it but it is really an amazing film. If you're tired of the crap that keeps coming onto the screens and want to see something that really and truly matters, that something that grabs you, go see this film. You can find out if it's coming to your area at the Redacted website. (Texas community members, next Friday it opens in Dallas and Houston. C.I.'s going to note it next Friday for the Texas community members.)

So why did Jim and I go to the movies? Jim's on this trip for a number of reasons (speaking with Ava and C.I.) including that tonight he was having Thanksgiving dinner with his dad. Last week, Jess was here because he was speaking with Ava and C.I. Now once upon a time Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava all lived in New York. So they weren't far from me. And we had these big plans about doing this or that and going to see this ball game or that ball game. Then they moved out to the West coast (where they live now with C.I.) and we never did anything. Seriously. We did a World Can't Wait thing in NYC. That's pretty much it. We did rallies in DC and stuff like that. But Jess was here last week and we (Tony, Tony's dad and my dad and me) gave him the Boston after hours tour. It was a lot of fun and all but we were talking about how we always TALKED but never DID anything when we were a whole lot closer. I mean, we've seen the Giants play several times. We've done that together when we were all out in California at C.I.'s in the summer over the years. But we really didn't do anything. Last month, while Jess, Ava, C.I. and Kat were here we went to a Tori Amos concert (that was great!) but we do stuff like that now. When we were physically closer we'd always talk and all but never do.

So when I got picked up at the airport today, C.I. goes, "You're going to see Redacted with Jim." I was like, "I thought I was joining to speak!" But I guess I whined and whined about never doing any of the stuff we'd talked about. :D So Rebecca, Ruth and Flyboy (who flew us in, thank you to Flyboy) went off to speak and Jim and I saw the movie and then just hung out. It was a cool day. Jim stayed in NYC because of doing the Thanksgiving thing with his dad tonight (he grabbed it with his mother earlier in the week) and the rest of us flew back here. I was feeling kind of guilty and asked Elaine to make sure I hadn't pissed somebody off. I was like, "Wow, how bad was I speaking last time that I'm being sent off to the movies today." :D Elaine goes, "It's important to have memories. It's all the things that Rebecca, C.I. and I did back in college that really provides the bonds for our friendships to this day." So this was just a way to hang with Jim today, have some fun and see an important movie.

Wally usually spends several weeks here during the summer so we've got lots of memories built and stuff. But when I started blogging, you had C.I. and Kat out in California (but C.I. was usually on the road), you had Betty in Georgia, Wally in Florida, Cedric in the middle of the country, Jim, Dona, Jess, Ty and Ava in NY, me out here and Rebecca just a ferry ride away and Elaine in the general area. (Elaine and Cedric do not give out their location online. I don't blame them. I always wonder if it's because of the threatening right-wing e-mail Betty gets. She started her site after C.I., Third and Rebecca and she gave out her location -- more specific than I'm doing here. Which made threatening e-mails all the more frightening. Folding Star did A Winding Road before Betty started her site and FS has said that Betty probably would have gotten less threatening mail or less scary ones if she hadn't given out her location. FS shut down A Winding Road in the summer of 2005. I keep the site on my blogroll because it was a community site. FS deleted it when it got shut down but someone else claimed it and tried to do a post or two like they were FS.) So I would always think, "Yeah, most of us are out here on the East Coast." Then Third moved out to California and BOOM we were the minority on the East Coast. And even though Jim, Jess, Ty and me were always talking about how we'd go to a game or do this or that, we never did. I think we took it for granted that we'd all be out here and there was always stuff to do and the one time we did get serious about it I'm the one who had to bail four days before. But now that they're on the other side of the country, I really do see them more than I did when they were so close. That's not just from visiting during the summer but also because they usually stop here on their way back and hang out on Friday. That's mainly because of Rebecca's baby, by the way. I had an e-mail asking about that. Someone huffing that so much fuel is wasted blah, blah, blah. C.I.'s on the road every week and Dona plans it so that Thursday is close to here if not here and that way C.I. can see Rebecca's baby and hang out here. But all her life, Rebecca wanted a baby and she had a really bad time having one. Rebecca's been there for C.I.'s kids and stuff and Rebecca having a baby is a big deal and the baby is a big deal. So it's a way for C.I. to spend a little time.

And C.I., Elaine and Rebecca are really tight. They were best friends in college. And that goes back to sharing stuff and doing stuff together. C.I. always says that besides needing to be friends for each other, there's going to be another illegal war on down the line and we'll need to step up then. ("Because I probably will be long dead by then," C.I. always adds.)

Let me cheat and do my links the way Kat does. :D I've talked about:

The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and Jim,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz,
and Wally of The Daily Jot

Barry Bonds played for the San Francisco Giants until September of this year. Dave Zirin has an article on the latest called "The Indictment of Barry Bonds:"

Barry Lamar Bonds faces thirty years in prison because the Department of Justice is a corroded husk of political decay. The baseball Home Run King has now been officially indicted on perjury and obstruction of justice charges and it only took three years and millions of tax dollars to make it happen.
The DOJ's entire case hinges on the ridiculous question of whether Bonds "knowingly" was on the juice, or lied on the witness stand when he said he took such substances "unknowingly." The actual indictment parses in language that would shame a Clinton. It reads, "During the criminal investigation, evidence was obtained including positive tests for the presence of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing substances for Bonds and other athletes."
This is idiocy raised to the level of law. It makes me wonder what they're teaching at Jesus-land Legal Academy these days. Did Bonds actually test positive for steroids or were pharmaceuticals only found in these mysterious un-indicted "other athletes"? And what is a "performance enhancer"? That's not even a legal or medical term; it's sports radio shorthand. The cortisone shot into Curt Schilling ankle in the 2005 playoffs was a performance enhancer. The Viagra coursing through Bob Dole's veins is a performance enhancer. Whatever keeps that smile glued to Laura Bush's face is a performance enhancer. It's a colloquial phrase tells us nothing. It only raises the question whether the indictment was written by Mike or the Mad Dog.
Most of the media has focused on the prison release of Bonds' trainer and childhood friend Greg Anderson. Anderson has spent the last four months in jail for refusing to testify against his friend. The press is atwitter with speculation that Anderson may have finally turned. But his attorney Mark Geragos says that this is absolutely and unequivocally notthe case.

If you think about it, more time has been wasted on this nonsense than anything else. There's no proof Bonds used anything illegal but the sports world (and larger press) hasn't been able to shut up about it for years. Bonds has had no medical emergency. He hasn't been busted. So for the Justice Department to have wasted so much of our money for so many years on this nonsense is just crazy. It's a way to get in the news and look like you're doing something.

But they're not doing anything. Even if tomorrow Bonds said, "I've used illegal steroids" (I don't think he has), it still wouldn't justify all the money and time wasted on this. You've got actual crimes that have taken place. They remain unsolved. So everytime we see another mainstream report on Bonds that's not about what he's done on the field, we should all think, "What are they trying to distract us from now?"

That's all this has been, a distraction and a witchhunt. Okay, that's it for me tonight. Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Friday, November 16, 2007. Chaos and violence contine, the war resistance movement continues, Congress accomplishes nothing (but does get a vacation), Brian De Palma's film Redacted opens in select cities, and more.

Starting with war resistance. Canada's War Resisters Support Campaign. staged rallies across Canada yesterday in support of Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey whose appeal the Supreme Court refused to hear. Tracy Huffman and Debra Black (Toronto Star) report that Hinzman was at a rally in Toronto but not making public statements, instead letting Jeffry House (Hinzman, Hughey and many other war resisters in Canada's attorney) speak, "He's disappointed. He's tired of talking." John Ward (Canadian Press via London Free Press) dexplains that the focus will now be on the country's federal government and quotes House stating "the focus now turns to a political solution" and Canadian Friends Service Committee's Jane Orion Smith stating the legislature can "create a provision for them to stay." Kari Huus (MSNBC) cites Lee Zaslofsky of the War Resisters Support Campaign explaining, "What we need is for the (Liberal) party as a whole to take a stance on this. Together (the three parties) have a majority, and if they act together they can put something through the House of Commons." The Liberal Party currently has 96 seats in the House of Commons, the New Democratic Party has 30 seats. Those two bring the total to 126 which is the number of seats the Conservative Party holds. Bloc Quebecois holds 49 seats and 3 seats are held by the Independents (four seats are vacant). CKNW (AM 980) quotes Vancouver organizer Bog Ages explaining that the Bloc Quebecois and New Democratic Party members are on board and "we have a number of Liberal MP's who said they would support us. So, all we have to do, we'd like the Liberal Party as a whole to take a stand. But even if they're split, enough of them, that combined with the other parties, they have a majority, potentially, in Parliament, to change the law." The New Democratic Party cites the poll where 64.4 percent of Ontarians believe the war resisters should be allowed to remain in Canada, notes that NDP Citizenship and Immigration Critic Olivia Chow is introducing a motion to call for hearings on the issue and quotes her declaring, "To deport courageous war resisters who oppose the illegal invasion of Iraq is saying Yes to George W. Bush's war and No to supporting and protecting people seeking peace."


In the US, Tom Hayden declared, "I hope that the Canadian people stop the Bush Administration from using the Harper government to hound a handful of war resisters and erase Canada's proud heritage as a haven for resisters and refugees." Rebecca (Sex and Politics and Attitude and Screed) also lamented the events in Canada (and compared Prime Minister Stephen Harper to adult acne): "if i was even slightly right about what canada once was, i know the people can still stand up and force their government to stand with them. but they better do so quick. if they want to see how it looks when they don't, just take a gander southward. we're becoming the text book example of a failed state."

In July of 2004, Democracy Now! spoke with Jeremy Hinzman:AMY GOODMAN: It's good to have you with us. Can you talk about how you made your decision?
JEREMY HINZMAN: Pretty much what it came down to was-- I mean, I won't go into the false pretences and everything that we know about, but being in an illegal war, it would be being complicit and a criminal enterprise, and you may say that, oh, well, you're not a policymaker or a general or whatever, that the Nuremberg principles wouldn't apply to you. But in light of what's happened since Abu Ghraib, when they scapegoated like the lower enlisted soldiers for simply carrying out what the policy was from the upper echelons, I think it's pretty fair to say that we made the right decision. Because I was in the infantry and there is a good chance that I would have-- I would have been pretty active in a negative way. And so I'm-- that's why we came here pretty much is that I wasn't-- I don't want to shoot people. I would have been happy to go to Iraq as a port-a-potty janitor or operation human shield. I just don't want to shoot people.

Goodman spoke with Hinzman again on October 15, 2004 and also participating in the interview were Jeffry House and Brandon Hughey:
AMY GOODMAN: Brandon Hughey, why did you go into the military?
BRANDON HUGHEY: My story basically starts off almost the same way. I enlisted when I was 17 years old with basically the promise of a way to better my life financially. Again, it is a way to get a college education without amassing thousands of dollars of debt.
AMY GOODMAN: Where did you grow up?
BRANDON HUGHEY: I grew up in San Angelo, Texas. So, also when I signed the contract, I wasn't naive to the fact that I could be deployed to fight in a war, but I did have this image growing up that I would be sort of -- a good guy, if you will, and fighting for just causes and fighting to defend my country, and after I got out of basic training, and when I realized that basically the U.S. had attacked a country that was no threat to them, in an act of aggression, it shattered that myth, I guess you could say.
AMY GOODMAN: How old were you when you signed up?
BRANDON HUGHEY: I was 17.


At the rallies for Hinzman and Hughey, among those attending were war resisters from the Vietnam era and war resisters from today's illegal war. Huffman and Black note Kimberly Rivera -- Iraq veteran, mother of two -- spoke at one rally: "I strongly believe we are doing the wrong thing in Iraq." Rivera went on to explain that, while serving in Iraq, when she looked "at the shaken crying Iraqi children" she was reminded "of her own daughter in Texas.": John Ward notes war resister Tim Richard attending one rally and wondering, "Why is it legal for me (to stay), because my father was born in New Brunswick, and not legal for somebody else who did the exact same thing?"

Meanwhile war resister Rodney Watson has gone public. Suzanne Fournier (The Province) notes the 29-year-old, African-American, Iraq veteran self-checked out a year ago and now lives in Canada and quotes him stating, "I I realized the war had nothing to do with 9/11 or helping Iraqis or stopping terrorists. It's all about guarding oil for the U.S. , , , I'd rather do my time in jail than be a party to the racism I saw in Iraq. As an African-American, I grew up with racism. But in Iraq, I saw the same kind of abuse and mistreatment, only this was U.S. enlisted soldiers and American contractors, like security forces, abusing Iraqis."

Tom Regan (NPR News Blog) points out the difference between this week's court action (or inaction) and last week's. While Hugey and Hinzman were not allowed to seek out a legal remendy by the Canadian Supreme Court, last week US District Judge Benjmain Settle ruled in Ehren Watada's favor, "The judge says the military court is ignoring Watada's constitutional right not to face double jeopardy after his first court-martial ended in a mistrial.
The injunction means Watada has a better chance of winning his case, but it also means he might not get a chance to test his central argument -- that the Iraq war is illegal -- in court."
Noting the Watada ruling yesterday, NPR's Martin Kaste (All Things Considered) covered the story and Kenneth Kagan, Watada's civilian attorney along with James Lobsenz, explained the double-jeopardy issue (the February court-martial ended in a mistrial over defense objection) was something many courts grasp: "Civilians courts understand that, state courts understand that but for some reason military courts weren't acknowledging that reality."

Another reality that some (the press) has a hard time acknowledging is the number of service members electing to check out of the military on their own. AP reports that this year the desertion rate has jumped to "the highest rate since 1980, with the number of Army deserters this year showing an 80 percent increase" since the start of the illegal war. AP continues to deny reality by offering the claim that the US military does little to track down those who go AWOL or desert -- despite the mountain of public evidence to the contrary.
As to the figure cited, September 21st, Nick Watt (ABC's Nighline) examined war resisters and noted the number of people being processed for desertion at Fort Knox "jumped 60% last year" (to 1,414 for Fort Knox -- US military figures) while concluding his report with, "If the total for the first six months of 2007 doubles by year end, it will become the highest annual total in twenty-six years." At 80% the total has more than doubled and not only is there another full month left in the year, it's also true that you have to be gone at least 30 days to be declared a deserter (unless you're Agustin Aguayo and the military wants to screw you over) and, in addition, the military figures have been 'lower' than they should be before (NPR caught that earlier this year) and the rolls aren't up to date for AWOL let alone desertion.


There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.


The voice of war resister Camilo Mejia is featured in Rebel Voices -- playing now through December 16th at Culture Project and based on Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove's best-selling book Voices of a People's History of the United States. It features dramatic readings of historical voices such as war resister Mejia, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, Malcom X and others will be featured. Zinn will take part in the November 18th presentation (the official opening night -- but performances are already taking place) and musician Allison Mooerer will head the permanent cast while those confirmed to be performing on selected nights are Ally Sheedy (actress and poet, best known for films such as High Art, The Breakfast Club, Maid to Order, the two Short Circuit films, St. Elmo's Fire, War Games, and, along with Nicky Katt, has good buzz on the forthcoming Harold), Eve Ensler who wrote the theater classic The Vagina Monologues (no, it's not too soon to call that a classic), actor David Strathaim (L.A. Confidential, The Firm, Bob Roberts, Dolores Claiborne and The Bourne Ultimatum), actor and playwright Wallace Shawn (The Princess Bride, Clueless -- film and TV series, Gregory and Chicken Little), actress Lili Taylor (Dogfight, Shortcuts, Say Anything, Household Saints, I Shot Andy Warhol, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, State of Mind) and actor, director and activist Danny Glover (The Color Purple, Beloved, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Rainmaker, Places In The Heart, Dreamgirls, Shooter and who appeared on Democracy Now! Friday addressing the US militarization of Africa) The directors are Will Pomerantz and Rob Urbinati with Urbinati collaborating with Zinn and Arnove on the play. Tickets are $21 for previews and $41 for regular performances (beginning with the Nov. 18th opening night). The theater is located at 55 Mercer Street and tickets can be purchased there, over the phone (212-352-3101) or online here and here. More information can be found at Culture Project.

Meanwhile IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC event:

In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan

Starting next week, IVAW's announcement above will be summarized in each snapshot until the March testimony begins. Winter Soldier is the documentary that was made of the 1971 investigation and it is available via Vietnam Veterans Against the War for $28.95 (four dollars of that is for shipping). Staying with films for a minute more, Brian De Palma's Redacted opens today in select cities and, although fiction, is inspired by real life events -- specifically the gang-rape and murder of 14-year-old Abeer Qassim Hamza and the murder of her five-year-old sister and both parents.Opening Today:
11/16/2007 Berkeley, CA: Shattuck Cinemas Los Angeles, CA: The Landmark Palo Alto, CA: Aquarius 2 Pasadena, CA: Laemmle's One Colorado Cinemas San Francisco, CA: Embarcadero Center Cinema Santa Ana, CA: South Coast Village 3 West Hollywood, CA: Sunset 5 Washington, DC: E Street Cinema Chicago, IL: Landmark's Century Centre Cinema Cambridge, MA: Kendall Square Cinema New York, NY: Sunshine Cinema New York, NY: Lincoln Plaza Philadelphia, PA: Ritz at the Bourse



Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing claimed 1 life and left four more wounded, a Baquba mortar attack left six people wounded, while 2 Baquba bombings left three civilians and four police officers wounded.

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that an Iraqi 1st Lieuntenant and his brother were shot dead in Misan while en route to their home today and yesterday "5 civilians were injured in a random fire by the Iraqi army in Al Siniyah town north west of Tikrit city."

Kidnappings?

Reuters reports Muntazer al-Zaidi, a 26-year-old journalist for Iraqi television, was kidnapped in Baghdad today.

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 4 corpses were discovered in Baghdad.


As the violence continues the US State Department has had a public relations nightmare with diplomats not filling posts and threats from the chain of command that they would be ordered to Baghdad. This morning Karen DeYoung (Washington Post) reported that an announcement would be coming today "that volunteers have filled all 48 open jobs at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad for next year and that it will not order any foreign service officers to work there against their will, officials said yesterday." NPR's Morning Edition reported earlier today that the positions had been filled; however, Reuters -- citing a State Department flack -- reports that it may -- may -- be unnecessay to order some diplomats to Baghdad and quotes Sean McCormack insisting, "It appears that we are getting very nearly to the point where we will have volunteers for all of the open, identified jobs."

As Reuters notes, some objecting to be assigned to Baghdad have compared it to a death sentence. This as DPA reports that the Turkish military has been moving tanks to the northern border of Iraq. Gareth Jones (Reuters) reports that some members of Turkey's ruling political party have stated Turkish troops will not enter Iraq if the PKK disarmed. Since they really aren't able to make that promise and since the PKK would be highly unlikely to disarm under such a vague offer, the tensions continue between northern Iraq and Turkey.

Turning to the US Congress, the Democratic shell-game (Let's tell the voters this is a withdrawal!) passed in the House but didn't come to a vote today in the Senate. Noam M. Levey (Los Angeles Times) reports the measure garnered only 53 votes of support and that Congress is now expected to leave DC for their two-week Thanksgiving vacation. For those attempting to keep track, Congress just took a 30-day vacation in September but apparently carving a turkey takes several days when you're in the US Congress. Possibly the lack of spines makes the standing difficult? Pelosi pushed through the measure in the House and many in the Out of Iraq caucus held their news and voted to support it -- even though it did not mean withdrawal and even though it would have given Bully Boy $50 billion more dollars for the illegal war. Earlier this week, Democratic Senator Russ Feingold went on record opposing the measure because it continued funding the Iraq War and was toothless and non-binding. Toothless and non-binding? In "Don't Ask Her to Play Hostess" news Corporate Crime Reporter's Russell Mokhiber (via CounterPunch) shares the latest social tidbit from US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, "I'm not happy when people come to my house." Oh. So that's why she entertained the Dalai Lama at the MCI Center in 2005. And those of us in her district just assumed the location was another reward to her corporate donors. Actually, it's Fancy Nancy having another public fit over the fact that CODEPINK potests. She loved CODEPINK . . . when they called out the powerful . . . back when Republicans controlled everything. Now that Democrats control both houses in the US Congress and CODEPINK stays true to their purpose of calling out the powerful, Fancy Nancy has a snit fit. Repeatedly. Fancy Nancy declares of CODEPINK, "And if they think the longer they stay there the better the chances they will have a meeting with me -- I think I've disabused them of that notion." No, all she's done is demonstrate that from Richard Nixon through PW Botha on up to the Bully Boy and a hop and skip over to Fancy Nancy the bunker mentality thrives. CODEPINK is nation wide with chapters all over but many in the Bay Area see it as the "home team" so, when you're already tanking in the polls, with your highest negatives and your lowest approval ratings ever, it's probably not a good idea to go after them or present yourself an advocate against free speech. Fancy Nancy's a Maryland transplant (that never really took) so possibly she's unaware where the Free Speech Movement began? The eighth district's own Joe Lieberman appears eager to continue digging her own grave.

Finally, Robert Parry was a guest on CounterSpin today where he explained his article "Why We Write" (Consortium News) and spoke of the immediate positive effects during and following Watergate that quickly fell away and how the US press became what it is today. He and his sons Nat and Sam will be speaking at Busboys and Poets in Arlingtion, Virginia Saturday Nov. 17th from four p.m. to six p.m. discussing their new book Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush. Sam and Nat Parry have established their own journalist skills at Consortium News and they and Robert Parry can discuss any of the topics pertaining to the current administration but remember that Robert Parry has been doing investigative journalism for years -- long enough to have had neocon Daniel Pipes insult his reporting long, long before the Iraq War -- a sure sign his investigations cause discomfort.






jeremy hinzmanbrandon hugheydemocracy nowamy goodman



karen deyoung

Posted by at

Thursday, November 15, 2007

PBS' NOW and talking music & the war with Ruth

One day until the weekend. Are we all counting down?

Elaine usually notes NOW with David Brancaccio which airs on PBS Friday nights. She didn't have anything on it last night. Or she would have noted it. C.I. didn't have anything when the snapshot was being dictated but when we did the roundtable for the gina & krista round-robin tonight, C.I. told me I had a forward on it. So here's what's on tomorrow night:

VOCA
As millions of homeowners face foreclosure, NOW investigates sleazy tactics of mortgage lenders.
NOW #346
On Friday, November 16 at 8:30 pm (check local listings), NOW travels to North Minneapolis to investigate the mortgage meltdown that's left the city scarred with boarded-up and abandoned houses. What's happened in communities like this one has investors everywhere shaken. Wall Street firms are stumbling and markets around the globe are reeling. Economists worry the mortgage bust may even lead to a recession. By one estimate, investors could eventually see as much as 400 billion dollars go down the drain - losses almost twice as big as the saving & loan crisis of the early 1990s. NOW connects the dots to see the extent to which recklessness, corruption and greed created this subprime mess that now threatens to undermine our entire economy. David Brancaccio talks to Rep. Keith Ellison, who grew up in North Minneapolis and who has pushed legislation to address the crisis. He also talks to Ameriquest whistleblower Mark Bomchill, who explains the competitive "boiler room" culture that encouraged brokers to aggressively push mortgage products they knew clients would be unable to repay.
NOW Online (www.pbs.org/now) will feature this show for free streaming starting Monday morning, as well as useful tips for homeowners worried about foreclosure.

So foreclosures is the topic tomorrow night. A long with doing the roundtable tonight, I also had time to do an interview today. Ruth has been doing reports for The Common Ills since at least the spring of 2005. Last month, she started her own site Ruth's Report. This is my interview with her.

Do you want to start with why we waited?

Ruth: Well I was not sure how well I would be handle it and told you my fear was the interview would be done, go up and I would be announcing a few days later, "I am so sorry but I just do not have the time."

And you feel more confident now?

Ruth: I feel I can handle it, how about that?

Okay. Fair enough. :D Let's talk about what you're doing there and how it's different.

Ruth: Like Wally and Cedric, I am doing more of a "jot" than a a post or an entry. It is a short item. Basically, it is radio but I will grab something on PBS depending upon what else is going on. Let me plug PBS' Expose'. That is a half-hour, weekly show about investigative journalism. It takes a look at how investigative reports are broken and their impact when published. Community member Marci recommended it. In addition to airing in most TV markets, the program also streams online.

My mother really loved that show.

Ruth: I know. Marci deserves the credit because I was not even aware of the program. I am recommending to everyone that they view it at least once to see if they enjoy it. I think most community members will.

The response?

Ruth: Well, members in the Dallas - Fort Worth area are enjoying it. I do not know their local PBS channel but it airs on Friday nights there and they are so glad about that. There was a program that Eddie described in an e-mail as "an open mouthed kiss to big business" and now they are getting this instead on Friday nights. Billie is another member from that area that's written to say they are watching it now. Diane and her family are watching as well. Diane says it works better than the CEO program they have been airing because you end up with a real news focus including it along with Bill Moyers Journal and NOW with David Brancaccio.

Bill Moyers Journal you've mentioned at your site too and I believe that came about from a member as well.

Ruth: That's correct. Marshall is where Mr. Moyers is from and we do have members not just in that area but also in Marshall itself. Mark from Marshall asked me to include it on my links.

Did we go there when we were all in Texas back in March?

Ruth: We passed it going from Tyler to Longview.

What was the place with the oil museum?

Ruth: Kilgore.

So in terms of the state itself, they are all in the same region. East Texas, right?

Ruth: Correct. I think Texas gets a lot of bad associations due to the Bully Boy --

Who wasn't born there!

Ruth: Who wasn't born there, correct. But Texas has also given the country Molly Ivins, Mr. Moyers, Janis Joplin, Don Henley, Farrah Fawcett and many others.

Janis alone is more than enough. Wayne and Garth would say, "We are not worthy!" :D

Ruth: I caught that reference. Remember I have a lot of grandchildren. I am wondering how you are aware of Janis Joplin?

With my parents, especially my father, I couldn't not be aware. :D He loves, loves, love music. What's your favorite Janis song? I think I'd pick "Call On Me."

Ruth: That is a good one. Since you already mentioned it, I think "A Woman Left Lonely."

Yeah, that's a great one. I love the way her voices goes around on that one. You saw Janis in concert, right?

Ruth: Yes. If they were big in the sixties and played on the East Coast, there is a good chance I saw them.

Because you are into music and so was your husband. It's okay to mention him, right? He had a college band.

Ruth: It is more than fine. He did have a college band. As an undergraduate. When he got into medical school, that was it for him and his garage band, time was just too limited.

You got married while he was in medical school?

Ruth: Yes, we did. He was two years ahead of me, we met in college. After I graduated, we got married. We were already going to concerts before we got married but after we did that was really our only entertainment. He really loved being in a band and music so when he had to give up the band it seemed like we actually started going to more concerts.

Even after you started a family.

Ruth: Yes. But we did miss Woodstock. We had talked about it and I wish now that I could say we went. But we missed it. A woman in the building we lived in at the time went. She came back from it just completely negative on the whole experience. Then she started reading the press on it and completely changed her tune. I think my favorite was probably Jefferson Airplane at any performance. We saw them three times and they would really cook -- to use an old term -- onstage. They could lay down this heavy improv and they always had these wild light shows.

What's your favorite Jefferson Airplane song?

Ruth: That question is too hard. In terms of our relationship, when we started dating 45s were still the big thing. 45s are singles. Then albums became a way of communicating and not just gathering a few songs and some fillers. I am not sure I could even pick just one album. I think I would have to go with Crown of Creation and Volunteers. But I do not think I could narrow it down to one song. Do you know those?

I heard Volunteers over and over from like before I could walk. Crown of Creation I heard but I didn't really appreciate it until last summer. Now you also hear new music because of your grandchildren and we both like White Stripes.

Ruth: Well . . . they are getting a little too polished for me. Not the drums, the drums are still good. But it is getting a little too arty which would be fine if the lyrics were as well and/or the melodies. I like them but that last CD . . .

I know just what you mean. Seriously. Okay, so who is someone you really like these days?

Ruth: Tracey, my granddaughter, has really exposed me to Ani DiFranco and Tori Amos over the last two or so years. Those are probably my two favorites and probably because they really write songs -- they are saying something -- and because they experiment. Aimee Mann's a new name to me although my youngest son gets irriated with that because he was a fan of her band --

Til Tuesday.

Ruth: Yes, thank you. But my grandson Jayson, in DC in September, was looking for something to listen to.

He lost his CDs. Did he find them?

Ruth: Yes, he did. After he got home, they were in his room. He only thought he had packed them. However, he was asking for something to listen to and C.I. already had some plus Jim got there late, on Friday, I think, and he brought this huge stash of CDs. But Aimee Mann, the live CD, really grabbed him. Since then, he's just been getting her earlier CDs so I feel like I can sing any Aimee Mann song at this point. I do not know the name of the live album, do you?

Live at St. Ann's. The CD is actually a bonus. It's a DVD of the concert. I listen to the CD a lot but I have never watched the DVD.

Ruth: My grandchildren have also turned me into fans of Bright Eyes, Ben Harper, Michael Franti and Spearhead. And, of course, Holly Near, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young have done some amazing work which is really exciting since I have listened to them for years.

Since we're talking music, what do you think? You lived through Vietnam and can remember it, what's the deal with music? Why aren't more people weighing in?

Ruth: I wish I knew. We did have more outlets back then. Which is why everyone should be opposed to FCC chair Kevin Martin trying to further consolidate media. In many cities, the same companies own the radio stations. FM was a new thing -- maybe the way satellite radio is today -- and you had more competition. So censorship was harder for political views. It still happened. But it was more difficult. If station A didn't want to play a group because of something political, stations B and C were already on it and spinning the disc. You also had news in those days, on the radio. I am not talking about the traffic reports. You had local news and some national news. I am not talking about talk radio. On music radio, you still had news. In fact, you had dee jays who would rip through the news, rip through the nonsense. That was why FM was considered "underground radio" back then. Today, everything is pretty much owned by a few groups and it is much easier to ban an artist for political views. So that is probably part of it. And the treatment of the Dixie Chicks scared a lot of people probably. But we have around seventy percent of Americans against the illegal war so it is just sad that more can find the courage to use their voices. Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, Buffy St. Marie and others never needed to wait for that kind of a shift in public opinion. But by the time it was where it is now, not speaking out would have been considered the same as endorsing the illegal war.

See, that's how I feel right now. I'm losing all respect for the artists -- young or old -- that can't even say, "I'm against the war." I just think they're pathetic.

Ruth: And that was the way we saw it then.

Today the news came down about Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. They are two Americans, war resisters, who went to Canada. The Supreme Court in Canada refused to hear their appeal on the refugee issue so unless their Parliament passes a law, they are not going to be considered refugees. What are your thoughts?

Ruth: A pathetic left at the top. I am not referring to grassroots. I am also not referring to organizations such as The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War, the War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist. I'm talking about our left media which is pretty much pathetic and useless. They have not made an effort to get the word out. Alternative media is not just "Here's what the White House said and here's what the mainstream media said and now we're going to tell you what's what." It also includes covering the topics that are not being covered. As a whole, radio and magazines of the left have failed on war resisters. We saw it last week with Ehren Watada. A decison by US District Judge Benjamin Settle is a victory and where is independent media? The mainstream media has the story on Friday. It is either something in passing for the bulk of independent media or not even mentioned. That is disgusting. And we have to wait until Tuesday for The Nation to weigh in? In this age of faster communication? A magazine's website I will criticize but I am not talking about bloggers or websites here. I am talking about the recognized media and they ignored the story or mentioned it briefly. I am tired of it. Are you?

Ruth, you know you don't have to ask. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of the lack of book reviews when a war resister publishes a book, I'm sick of the lack of coverage in this country when a war resister goes public in Canada, I'm sick of Katrina vanden Heuvel and her voo-hoo economics. That's not a typo, I'm calling it "voo-hoo" after vanden Heuvel. I really don't need a lecture from a woman who goes to the Supreme Court in order to avoid paying estate taxes. That's really pathetic. No one needs to hear her faux economics.

Ruth: She is the most pathetic of all. She has done nothing with her "Editor's Cut" blog but waste everyone's time. "Let me talk about when I went off to college and, oh, by the way, Norman Mailer pops into my story." She has got to be the vainest editor or publisher at any magazine. It is always about her. "I'm taking a few days off because my daughter's turning 16!" Uh, delayed labor pains? Children around the world turn 16 every day and their parents don't need multiple days off. She is so out of touch and every time she opens her mouth or types a word she just demonstrates how out of touch she is. She is ruining the magazine and, if this continues, the big story will be "How Katrina vanden Heuvel Took The Nation From It's Highest Circulation To It's Lowest" the subheadline will be "And it didn't take controversy, just fluff."

I think that says it all. The biggest concern about your site was that it would mean no more reports. That's not the plan, right?

Ruth: Right. I am still doing reports for The Common Ills. My site is a "jot." I need to thank Wally and Cedric especially for saying, "Do not get carried away. If you do, people will expect it all the time." So I try to keep it short. Everyone's been helpful but they know about the tempation to write more and they have really been helpful there.

Last question, dropping back to the media, do you think they prolong the illegal war?

Ruth: Yes, you and I both think that. They have not taken the illegal war seriously. If the mainstream media is not hitting on the war, they aren't. They let big media set the agenda over and over and provide their counter-narratives to whatever big media is covering. You made a point here, at your site, awhile back about how C.I. has demonstrated that war resisters are news and that they can be covered. They are covered in every snapshot. Some days it is easier than others but there is no excuse for our alternative media being unable to cover war resisters regularly at least once a week. That really is, honestly, the biggest shock. We had more alternative media during Vietnam, absolutely, but we had more coverage because the media really cared about ending the illegal war, the alternative media. Today they are largely lifeless and determined to offer the 'left' version of the op-ed pages in The Washington Post. It is a lot of silliness, a lot of immaturity, a lot of really bad writing and very little focus ever goes to Iraq.

So that's my interview with Ruth and I thank her so much. After the interview, she told me three of her grandchildren love NBC's Chuck and she's been watching it with them. So make a point to watch it. It airs on Monday nights and sometimes repeats on NBC Saturday nights as well.

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

Thursday, November 15, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, US war resisters in Canada learn that the country's Supreme Court is as useless as the Immigration and Refugee Board, the US military announces a death, a soldier is arrested, and more.

Starting with war resisters. CBC reports that the Supreme Court of Canada has refused to hear the appeals filed by war resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. The Canadian Press notes: "They fled to Canada and asked for refugee status, claiming they opposed the war in Iraq as illegal and immoral." Canada's National Post explains that without a Surpeme Court review, the Federal Court of Appeal having "rejected the claims by Mr. Hinzman and Mr. Hughey" now stands and, as the BBC points out, means that the Immigration and Refugee "Board" (one member hears and decides) decision in 2005 that neither were refugees. City News quotes Elizabeth May (Green Party leader) declaring that, "Canada is a peaceful country and we have a proud tradition of welcoming conscientious objectors, most notably American soldiers who fled to Canada while the United States waged war in Vietnam." L-Girl (We Move to Canada) notes, "This is very bad news. But it's not the end of the fight. This decision makes the political battle more crucial." Randall Palmer and Lynne Oliver (Reuters) cites the War Resisters Support Campaign's Lee Zaslofsky declaring, "They won't be deported tomorrow, there is a process" and notes that the two could "apply for permanent residence in Canada on humanitarian or compassionate grounds."

Canada's War Resisters Support Campaign has issued the following announcement:In response to today's decision by the Supreme Court of Canada to not hear appeals from American Iraq-war resisters seeking refuge in Canada, the War Resisters Support Campaign will ramp up pressure for a political solution, calling for a provision from Parliament to allow resisters and their families to stay in Canada.The War Resisters Support Campaign will hold a demonstration tonight at 5 p.m. at 330 University Avenue, Toronto to call on Parliament to do the right thing and allow resisters to stay in Canada.Who: War Resisters Support Campaign and alliesWhat: Demonstration to ramp up pressure on ParliamentWhen: Thursday November 15 at 5 p.m.Where: 330 University Avenue, Toronto (just north of Queen Street. W., on the west side)"We call on Parliament to take a stand by enacting a provision that would allow US war resisters and their families to stay in Canada," said actor and activist Shirely Douglas. "The Supreme Court has handed the issue back to Parliament. It is urgent that Parliament demonstrate leadership and act in accordance with Canadian tradition. Do not let the principles that Canadians cherish slip away."The Supreme Court decision by a panel of three judges prevents the full court from reviewing the decisions of the Immigration and Refugee Board regarding the refugee status of resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. The Immigration and Refugee Board had refused to grant them refugee status.Resisters have already found widespread support among Canadians, including faith groups, unions, peace organizations and thousands of individuals and families who have extended a welcome. In a June 2007 poll by Strategic Communications, 64.6 per cent of respondents in Ontario think that resisters should be allowed to stay in Canada (margin of error +/- 4%, 19 times out of 20).The War Resisters Support Campaign has been assisting US war resisters who come to Canada because of their opposition to the Iraq War since 2004.For futher information: Lee Zaslofsky (416) 598-1222 and Michelle Robidoux (416) 856-5008
A listing of the rallies can be found here and they also note:

Contact your Member of Parliament (M.P.) and these key members of government and lobby them to let the war resisters stay in Canada:The Hon. Stephane Dion, Leader of the Opposition (Liberal): Phone: (613) 996-5789; E-mail: Dion.S@parl.gc.caMichael Ignatieff, Deputy Leader of the Opposition (Liberal): Phone: (613) 995-9364;E-mail: Ignatieff.M@parl.gc.caThe Hon. Maurizio Bevilacqua, Opposition Critic for Citizenship and Immigration (Liberal):Phone: (613) 996-4971; E-mail: Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.caThe Right Hon. Stephen Harper, Prime Minister: Phone: (613) 992-4211; Fax: (613) 941-6900; E-mail: pm@pm.gc.caThe Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration: Phone: (613) 954-1064; E-mail: Minister@cic.gc.caAnd contact your own Member of Parliament. To find your local M.P., by your postal code or by name:http://www.canada.gc.ca/directories/direct_e.html

For people outside Canada, Courage to Resist has a "Dear Canada" resource page that allows non-Canadians to weigh in with key officials.

Jeremy Hinzman, his wife Nga Nguyen and their son Liam went to Canada in January 2004. Brandon Hughey went to Canada in March 2004. They have established lives there, laid down roots. There are over 200 US war resisters that have gone to Canada.

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.


The voice of war resister Camilo Mejia is featured in Rebel Voices -- playing now through December 16th at Culture Project and based on Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove's best-selling book Voices of a People's History of the United States. It features dramatic readings of historical voices such as war resister Mejia, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, Malcom X and others will be featured. Zinn will take part in the November 18th presentation (the official opening night -- but performances are already taking place) and musician Allison Mooerer will head the permanent cast while those confirmed to be performing on selected nights are Ally Sheedy (actress and poet, best known for films such as High Art, The Breakfast Club, Maid to Order, the two Short Circuit films, St. Elmo's Fire, War Games, and, along with Nicky Katt, has good buzz on the forthcoming Harold), Eve Ensler who wrote the theater classic The Vagina Monologues (no, it's not too soon to call that a classic), actor David Strathaim (L.A. Confidential, The Firm, Bob Roberts, Dolores Claiborne and The Bourne Ultimatum), actor and playwright Wallace Shawn (The Princess Bride, Clueless -- film and TV series, Gregory and Chicken Little), actress Lili Taylor (Dogfight, Shortcuts, Say Anything, Household Saints, I Shot Andy Warhol, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, State of Mind) and actor, director and activist Danny Glover (The Color Purple, Beloved, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Rainmaker, Places In The Heart, Dreamgirls, Shooter and who appeared on Democracy Now! Friday addressing the US militarization of Africa) The directors are Will Pomerantz and Rob Urbinati with Urbinati collaborating with Zinn and Arnove on the play. Tickets are $21 for previews and $41 for regular performances (beginning with the Nov. 18th opening night). The theater is located at 55 Mercer Street and tickets can be purchased there, over the phone (212-352-3101) or online here and here. More information can be found at Culture Project.

Meanwhile IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC event:

In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan

IVAW's announcement above will be in tomorrow and Friday's snapshot and then it will appear summarized in each snapshot until the March testimony begins.

Turning to Iraq, Leila Fadel and Mohammed al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) report that a US air attack on Tuesday is in dispute with Mansour abd Salem "of the Sunni Awakening councild in Taji" declaring that members of his group were "deliberately" targeted in an air attack that started Tuesday night "and that his brother, Malek abd Salem, contacted U.S. troops in Taji and asked them to stop. At 1 a.m., he said, his brother spoke again with the U.S. military. Four hours later, he told Al Jazeera Arabic Satellite News, aerial attacks resumed, and U.S. ground forces killed everyone in sight. Abd Salem said the group's parked cars were draped in fluorescent banners that the U.S. military had provided to identify them as Sunni allies." The US military maintains the 25 killed were 'terrorist,' 'insurgents' or, maybe, 'ones needing to die.' Reuters notes the US claims 25 people were killed while the Sunni tribe claims it was "45 pro-U.S. fighters."

Bombings?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports two Baghdad roadside bombings that left five wounded, an Al Ajeem mortar attack that left three wounded, a Tala Abass roadside bombing that left three people wounded and a car bombing in Kirkuk "targeted Brigadier General Omar Khatab" claiming the lives of 3 bodyguard and 4 civilians while leaving thirteen civilians injured, three body guards injured and Khatab himself injured. Reuters notes that yesterday: "The head of a Sunni tribe was killed and 10 members of the tribe wounded . . . when a suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives infiltrated their meeeting".

Shootings?
Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports another Baghdad educator has been targeted. Suad Kukaz was the high school principle of Al Amal until she was shot dead this morning. She is at least the third female principal to be shot in Baghdad in the last two weeks. Two were shot last week with one wounded and the other shot dead (Eman Hussein was the other principal shot dead). Al Dulaimy also notes that Mohamed Salah was shot dead "near Jalawla" and reports two people suspected in the killing of LC Ali Al Daraji were killed Wednesday by Jassim Al Daraji (brother of LC Ali Al Daraji who is a police lieutenant and who was 'questioning' the two suspects when he killed them).

Kidnappings?

Reuters notes a home invasion yesterday that targeted Kadhim al-Mehdawi ("head of a Sunni tribe") and resulted in "his 13-year-old son" being kidnapped.

Corpses?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 6 corpses were discovered in Baghdad and that yesterday in Jalawla the corpse of Fadel Ahmed was discovered. Reuters notes the corpse "of a 25-year-old woman" was found in Mahaweel ("shot and tortured").

Today the US military announced: "A Multi-National Division -- North Soldier was killed as a result of an explosion while conducting operations in Diyala Province, Nov. 14. Four additional MND-N Soldiers were wounded in the blast and evacuated to a coalition hospital." ICCC's current total for the number of US service members killed in the illegal war is 3865. The announcement brings to 21 the number of US service members announced killed in the illegal war for the month thus far.

In other violence, Alissa J. Rubin (New York Times) reports that yesterday's attack on the Green Zone took place 90 minutes prior the planned annoucing of the 2008 budget proposal ($40 billion). Rubin also reports either the widening of the cholera outbreak or else enteritis at the Al Hanan Home for the Severely Handicapped in Baghdad where one child has already died and twelve more are suffering.

Turning to the mercenary company Blackwater. Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted, "The State Department's top oversight official has recused himself from all matters relating the private military firm Blackwater after admitting his brother served on the company's advisory board. Inspector General Howard Krongard announced the move Wednesday just hours after initially denying that his brother, Alvin 'Buzzy' Krongard, is a Blackwater board member. The State Department has already come under criticism for its lax oversight of Blackwater since the September 16th killing of seventeen Iraqi civilians by Blackwater guards. Howard Krongard has previously been accused of thwarting probes of contracting fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan to avoid embarrassing the White House. Krongard is said to have refused to send investigators to Iraq and Afghanistan to probe three billion dollars in contracts." The too-late recusal and announcement came out during Howard Krongard's testimony to the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and he needed a break before he could declare that his brother was serving on Blackwater's advisory board. (See Cedric yesterday, Wally yesterday and here for a humorous joint-entry.) David Wood (Baltimore Sun) captures the "nasty rumors!" defense that collapses when Krongard, back from break, has to admit that his brother "Buzzy" is on Blackwater's advisory board. Warren P. Strobel (McClatchy Newspapers) observes that belated 'disclosure' "dismayed even Krongard's Republican defenders on the committee, who'd attempted to portray the probe by chairman Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., as partisan score-settling." The committee hearing was held to address specific problems with Krongard's performance and these issues are covered in the [PDF format warning] "Report on Allegations Regarding State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard" issued before the hearing.

Krongard has threatened people serving under him and has tossed repeated roadblocks in front of Congressional inquiries. Of the many complaints about foreign contractors in Iraq, one has been that they then recruit foreign workers, take their passports and the employees are then nothing more than slave labor. The report reveals that the human trafficking issue arose in 2006 within the department resulting debates about how to proceed to verify the claims until Krongard issued an e-mailing stating ("in effect") "cease and desist all work. I'm taking care of this." "Taking care of this" meant a brief dash through of Iraq where Krongard made brief time to speak with "six employees who had been pre-selected by First Kuwaiti. No translators were provided; the only interviewees made available spoke some English. No reports of interviews were drafted. The only documentation of the investigation consisted of handwritten notes by Mr. Krongard, none of which identified the witnesses by name and two of which did not even decribe them by nationality or position." When Ronald Militana began looking into allegations regarding Blackwater "smuggling arms into Iraq," his superior (John DeDona) notified Krongard of the progress thus far and received an e-mail reply from Krongard: "Please do not treat anything in the email below as having been seen by me, advised to me, or understood or approved by me. If there is something significant in the message below, please come and tell me about it." In other words, Krongard wanted no paper trail -- physical or eletronic.

The report assembles all known problems with the 'leadership' Krongard has supplied and on the issue of roadblocks, notes (page 41 "B. Document Production"):

The Committee's September 18, 2007, letter requested that the Office of Inspector General produce by September 28, all documents related to its investigation of Mr. Krongard. The Committee subsequently postponed the hearing and extended the document production deadline as an accommodation to the Inspector General and his office's document production limitiations. During a conference call, on October 15, 2007, an Associate Counsel to the Inspector General advised Committee staff that the Inspector General's office could complete its document production within three weeks. However, on November 1, the Counsel advised the Committee via e-mail that it would not produce any responsive documents relating to the investigation of bribes or kickbacks involving the Jordan International Police Training Center, the investigation of Kenneth Tomlinson, or hotline complaints about the New Embassy Compound in Baghdad, stating that these were still open investigative matters.
After a week of negotiations yielded no agreement to produce responsive documents, the Committee issued a subpoena on November 7, seeking production by November 9 of all documents relating to the various disrupted subjects, including investigations relating to the construction of the New Embassy Compound in Iraq; allegations of bribery involving State Department contractors in Jordan; and all communications to or from the Inspector General relating to Blackwater USA.
On November 9, the office informed Committee staff that it would not produce documents listed in the subpoena that pertain to open investigations, pending consultation with the Justice Department. As of November 13, the Office of the Inspector General has given the Committee no indication of when, or even if, it will produce the documents called for in the subpoena. Moreover, even setting aside the documents relating to open investigations, the Office of the Inspector General still has not produced all responsive documents to the original Committee request, almost two months after it was first issued.

Also on Blackwater, Jeremy Scahill offers (at the Los Angeles Times) that the investigation into the September 16th slaughter of 17 Iraqi soldiers is riddled with flaws: US civilian law applies to those "working for or directly accompanying the U.S. military," the 2006 Defense Authorization Act that placed "all U.S. Contractors under the Uniform Code of Military Justice" is untested "and the Department of Defense has shown no desire to use this option"; Paul Bremer's Order 17 prevents Iraq from prosecuting; and, most importantly, the investigation focuses only on the contractors: "The investigation must determine which operatives killed the Iraqis on Sept. 16, but it can't stop there. It must extend to those who hired them and deployed them, armed, dangerous and apparently above the law." On KPFK's Mid-Day News today, Scahill explained, "The real culpable party here is the State Department which hired Blackwater, deployed it -- armed dangerous and apparently above the law. And what I think is a bigger scandal than Blackwater is how the State Department from the moment the shooting happened has tried to cover up for its actions. I mean, let's remember here that the State Department's initial report on the shooting was drafted by a Blackwater contractor on official US government stationary, the crime scene was contaminated -- for two weeks there were no law enforcement investigators there -- and in October we found out that the State Department had granted some Blackwater operatives 'limited use immunity' in return for their statements and what that means is anything that these Blackwater guards said to the State Department cannot and will not be used in a court of law and can't be used to bring criminal charges against them which creates serious obstacles to prosecuting them. And then yesterday at the hearing of the House Oversight Committee, chaired by Henry Waxman, we find out that the State Department Inspector General -- the senior official responsible for investigating charges of waste, fraud and abuse -- on contracts like that given to Blackwater is actually the brother of a Blackwater advisory board member".

Protests continue in Seattle at the Port of Olympia. As Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted today:"The protests were organized by the Olympia Port Militarization Resistance which aims to stop the U.S. military from using the port to ship equipment to Iraq. Police used pepper spray to disperse a crowd of more than one-hundred fifty people. It's the second straight week of protests at the port." Peter Bohmer (CounterPunch) observes, "For 10 days, anti-war activists in Olympia, Washington have slowed down and for two different periods of 12 hours or more, stopped the flow of military weapons and military cargo that were unloaded from a Navy ship that had returned from Iraq. For 24 hours day, we have used a variety of tactics and actions. They have included sitting in front of trucks carrying Stryker vehicles and other military equipment from leaving the Port of Olympia, building barricades on the roads where these military vehicles were taveling, anti-war demostrations through the streets of Olympia and vigils, downtown. A hearing was held at City Hall, last Sunday, November 11th, 2007 to document the excessive police force used against people who participated in these actions. We testified at the Olympia City Council and at a hearing of the elected Port Commissioners demanding that they take a stand opposing the U.S. war against Iraq by not letting our Port be used to transport war supplies. About 500 people have taken part in some or all of these protests."

Turning to the topic of PTSD, Iraq War veteran Brad Gaskins (25-years-old) was arrested yesterday, 10 miles from Fort Drum, where he was headed to turn himself in.

Brad Gaskins, 25-years-old, who was 10 miles from Fort Drum, holding a press conference before turning himself in, when the military showed up with local police to arrest him. Fernanda Santos (New York Times) reports, "The soldier, Brad Gaskins, an Army sergeant who had served two tours in Iraq, was speaking with a television reporter at the cafe when two officers from the fort entered with two local police officers, who took him away, his lawyer, Tod Ensign, said." Gaskins suffers from PTSD and was diagnosed with PTSD while in the military, not that the chain of command was concerned about that. Amy Ohler's "Soldier arrestd after being AWOL" (News 10 Now) offers the reaction of a family member to the arrest: "'Here he is, a young man who has been in the Amy since he was 17 years old, who fought for this country and when he comes back to his own country he's treated like a criminal,' said Sonia Murray, Gaskins' aunt."And in an update on last week's decision to suspend and attempt to expell high school students who peacefully protested the illegal war and followed school directions while doing so, Crystal Yednak (New York Times) reports that all but four have been "allowed to return to class" except for four whose suspension will end Friday.








jeremy hinzman
brandon hugheyalissa j. rubinthe new york times
thom shanker
democracy nowamy goodman
blackwater usa


Posted by at

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Michael Ratner, Ann Wright

Hump day. First up, Ruth called again. :D She does a brief entry blog. And she felt like she was pushing it including an entire statement by FCC commissioners Adlestein and Copps. She wondered if I could note Amy Goodman's column on Studs Terkel? Like I told her, don't worry, just call and let me know what you need. This is from Goodman's "Studs Terkel: Curiosity Didn't Kill This Cat:"

Though he won his Pulitzer for his oral history "The Good War," about World War II, he says there is a greater generation:
"It was in the '60s, there was the civil rights movement, it flourished, at least for a time, and the rise, resurgence, of feminism; the gays and lesbians coming out as free people. So that's the generation, I think the greatest."

By the way, here's one of the things on Democracy Now! tomorrow:

Village Voice reporter Wayne Barrett on Rudy Giuliani's presidentialrun, the Bernie Kerik indictment and Giuliani's secret testimonybefore the 9/11 Commission. Barrett is co-author of "Grand lllusion:The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11"

That's tomorrow and Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez are the hosts of DN!, in case anyone doesn't know that already. You can hear that on a lot of stations (and watch it on TV which is what I prefer when I have the choice or you can stream it online) and one of the stations you can catch it on is WBAI (which also streams online) and that's one of the stations that airs Law and Disorder which is hosted by Michael Ratner, Heidi Boghosian, Dalia Hashad and Michael Smith (on WBAI it airs Mondays at ten a.m.). This is from Ratner's "November 13, 2001: Coup d’etat in America:"

I am writing this on November 13th. That day probably has little significance for most readers of this blog. But it is a day, as they say, that should live in infamy. On that date in 2001, two months after 9/11, President Bush issued Military Order Number 1. (www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/11/20011113-27.html) I remember the shock I awoke to upon reading the military order in the newspapers of November 14th. I remember thinking to myself that there has just been a coup d'etat in America, perhaps an exaggeration, but nonetheless a watershed moment in a country that I still though had some semblance of a democracy and of the principle that Presidential authority was under law.
As most of you may not recall the order, let me remind you of its three key provisions. First, the President claimed the authority to capture, kidnap or otherwise arrest any non-citizen (it was later extended to citizens) anywhere in the world including the United States whom the President believed was involved in international terrorism and hold them forever without any charges, proceedings or trial. Amazing--a person could be held forever just because the President wanted them so held; he took on the power to disappear people. Second, the order did provide that if, and if is the crucial word here, if the person was tried (there never needed to be a trial) such trials were to be held by special ad hoc courts called military commissions. These commissions had no resemblance to regular trial courts. The entire proceeding could take place in secret, with evidence from torture, and those found guilty could be executed in secret. Third, to the extent the names of those imprisoned or tried could be determined and lawyers found, no court could hear any case. This order embodies within it the violations of fundamental rights we are facing today: indefinite detention without trial, Guantanamo , secret sites, special trials and disappearances.

That's close to half but I didn't want to skip one of the three things in case anyone wasn't aware of it. You can use the link to read it in full.

I wanted to note something else that kind of goes with the above. Bully Boy's 'plan' works on whether or not you can trust the government. Obviously, you can't. And it didn't take the NSA illegal wiretapping to reveal that. Tony had to do a book thing for one of his classes and it was one of those days when he didn't want to go to the library (also we were playing basketball after class that day) so he came over to look for something to read. C.I. sends me tons of books which I can pass on or read. My folks and even my brothers and sisters usually go through them because it's way more than I can read (which, by the way, is a reminder, I want the Marjorie Cohn book back from my brother that's second youngest of us guys). So Tony was going through and found one on his class list. Lewish H. Lapham's Gag Rule. (They were studying essays and not all of the books on the list were political.) So he returned today and told me he marked a part with a sticky note (those note pads that stick) and he thought I should include it up here. This is from pages 78 and 79:

During the 1960s as many as one hundred government agencies (state, federal, and municipal) set up clandestine surveillance of citizens objecting to the Vietnam War, demonstrating on behalf of the civil rights movement, talking too loudly in favor of women's rights. The Department of Defense conducted warrantless searches of college dormitories in order to provide President Lyndon Johnson with a report entitled Restless Youth; the Secret Service compiled a list of persons to be rounded up in the event of a "national emergency." The CIA's numerous investigations were assembled under the code name CHAOS, those conducted by the FBI under the acronym COINTELPRO. Dredging more or less the same pool of suspects for the same kind of opinions, temporarily out of uniform, the two armies of inspectors general combinded over a period of twenty years to amass files on several millions of their fellow Americans, to open and photograph five hundred thousand pieces of first-class mail, to infiltrate innumerable political and quasi-political organizations, and to jail, entrap, intimidate, or misinform several hundred thousand people against whom, when occasion arose, they also deployed the techniques of blackmail, false arrest and timely assassination. In 1976, subsequent to the discovery of the Nixon adminstrion's complicity in the Watergate burglaries, a congressional committee under the chairmanship of Senator Frank Church (D.-Idaho) published a report entitled Intelligence Activities and the Rights of Americans.

That's from Lewis Lapham's Gag Rule and if you're not aware of the above, maybe you learned something. If you were aware, you can make a point to make sure other people are. Trust me isn't a game the government plays with citizens -- especially when it's a one way street since the government's spying on us because, yes, they don't trust us.

Veterans Day in 2007 was all about . . . arresting veterans. Ann Wright explains it in
"Veterans Day: A Day for Peace or for War?":

Could you ever imagine that Veterans Day was originally enacted as a day for world peace? Not by the way veterans who stand for peace are treated in Veterans Day ceremonies! Yet, according to the Veterans Affairs web site, Veterans Day, formerly known as Armistice Day, was originally a US legal holiday to honor the end of World War I and to honor the need for world peace.
When it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, to honor the end of World War I, the US Congress stated: Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations. In 1938, the US Congress codified its earlier resolution by legislation naming November 11 as Armistice Day and dedicating the day "to the cause of world peace." In 1954, after World War II and the Korean Conflict, Congress - at the urging of the veterans service organizations - amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation on June 1, 1954, November 11 became a day to honor American veterans of all wars and a national holiday still dedicated to "the cause of world peace."
Yet, now we have many Veterans Day organizers who want to silence "peace" on Veterans Day. This past weekend we "celebrated" Veterans Day, a day for all veterans and a day for "world peace", or so I thought, until I went to Long Beach, California. Like so many aspects of our military, events surrounding Veterans Day have been privatized. The City of Long Beach has given Veterans Day to a private group, a group that decides which veterans can participate in a Veterans Day parade.
The private organizers in Long Beach said veterans groups that are against the war and for peace were not allowed to march in the parade, as they did not have the proper "spirit." Yet, the legislation enacting Veterans Day states that "the cause of world peace" is the goal of Veterans Day. Private citizens who have never served in the military are authorized by the City of Long Beach to decide what Veterans Day stands for and which veterans are the "real" veterans - the veterans who meet their agenda.
In another strange anomaly about Veterans Day, in Santa Barbara, California, members of the Veterans for Peace chapter have had to carry their discharge papers in order to march in the city's Veterans Day parade. The same requirement was not made for Veterans of Foreign Wars or American Legion or any other veterans group participating in the parade. This year the Boston police arrested eighteen members of Veterans for Peace when they refused to move from the front of the podium at City Hall Plaza when parade officials wouldn't allow them to carry signs opposing the war in Iraq while marching in Boston's Veterans Day parade. Some of the protesters wore gags over their mouths, which they said symbolized the fact that they were permitted to march in the parade but not exercise their right to free speech. According to the Boston Globe, Nate Goldschlag, a veteran standing in front of the podium, said: "Our free speech and civil rights are being abridged here. We should be allowed to express our opposition to this war."

Guess peace takes a holiday under the Bully Boy. Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Wednesday, November 14, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the Green Zone is targeted, the US military announces deaths, an army captain who went AWOL turns himself in, news due out from Canada's Supreme Court, and more.

Indybay Media has posted an (audio) interview with war resister Brad McCall conducted by Courage to Resist. Brad McCall is the war resister who self-checked out and attempted entry into Canada only to be arrested (September 19, 2007) crossing the border. McCall explains in the interview that he applied for CO status and waited ("and begged and begged and begged") before realizing it wasn't happening.


Brad McCall: I made, the final decision, I made it one night. I found out -- or one day. I talked to a friend of mine in Colorado Springs and he told me about these GIs that were running to Canada and I was like, 'Wow, this is cool.' . . . I went to another one of my friends' house and got on my laptop at her house and we both looked and saw that it's very possible. And we found Resisters.ca on the internet and that night I made the choice that a week later we would leave. She traveled with me as just a friend and that we'd leave in a week which, as a matter of face, was payday. So I knew I would need some cash to get on the road and get moving."

Courage to Resist: So you drove to British Columbia?

Brad McCall: Yes.

Courage to Resist: And did you connect immediately with other resisters up there?

Brad McCall: Well, initially the first thing that happened to me up there when I got to British Columbia was I was arrested at the border. For that week that I was still in Fort Carson, I had e-mail contact with Canada and with people that were willing to help me and I didn't realize that my parents actually had my e-mail password and they were watching all of this go down. And they were e-mailing all these e-mails to my commander and first sergeant so they knew I was going to Canada.

Courage to Resist: Well I guess I don't need to ask about support from your family for this decision?

Brad McCall: Oh, oh, God, no. I've been disowned. But that's why I love Canada. I have nothing to go back to in the United States so I'm very content with staying here for the rest of my life.

Courage to Resist: So you were arrested at the border?

Brad McCall: Yes, I was arrested at the border on the command of the US army by Canadian Border Services Agency -- not by US services, but Canadian services -- put into a Canadian jail for two days until my lawyer showed up and got me.

Courage to Resist: Now this was a Canadian lawyer, yes?

Brad McCall: Yes.

Courage to Resist: From a Canadian support committee for GI resisters?

Brad McCall: No, he's just a, uh, young lawyer. He supports the cause. He's an immigration lawyer. And he said -- the first thing he told me -- he said. "Me helping you guys out is a no-brainer." He said, "I'm not associated with the War Resisters Support Campaign or the War Resisters League or any anti-war group. I'm a lawyer by myself and I'm helping you guys out. And he's really an awesome guy.

Courage to Resist: An unsung hero.

Brad McCall: Yes, very much so.

Courage to Resist: So he got you out of the clink --

Brad McCall: Yes.

Courage to Resist: And then what did you do next?

Brad McCall: Well, um, while I was in jail, I filed refugee claim stating that I was requesting to be a refugee from the United States on ground that if I go back to the United States, I will be persecuted or legally prosecuted for my beliefs -- politically, morally and spiritually.

Courage to Resist: Right.

Brad McCall: And so that's what I've done. I've started my refugee claim, working on that --

Courage to Resist: And what's the status of that claim right now? Where are you in the process?

Brad McCall: Right now it's just a claim. It has to come under review by the Refugee Board of Canada and they will determine whether or not I am liable for refugee status. . So far there's only been two that have come up to the Refugee Board, only two claims by war resisters, and they have both been denied. They're in the appeals process right now.

Courage to Resist: This is Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey.

Brad McCall: Exactly.

Courage to Resist: Exactly. They're going to the Supreme Court I understand?

Brad McCall: Exactly. So me I'm not really expecting a victory in the way of getting refugee status. I'm not expecting that so I'm having to go ahead and prepare for other plans.

Hinzman and Hughey are waiting to hear whether or not Canada's Supreme Court will grant a hearing to their appeal over the Immigration and Refugee Board (really one person) denying them refugee status. Hinzman was the first resister during the Iraq War who went to Canada to go public with his resistance. He became the first to apply for refugee status (January 2004). He lives there with his wife Nga Nguyen and their son Liam. Prior to making the decision, Hinzman applied for CO status and was denied. Hughey went to Canada in March 2004. McCall's stories of conflicts with his family are echoed in the early reaction of Brandon Hughey's father. However, at the 2005 Veterans for Peace conference held in Texas, David Hughey delivered an amazing speech explaining the conflicts and how they had been resolved concluding with "I just thought I'd come up and introduce myself. I do support my son." The War Resisters Support Campaign announces:

Supreme Court decision on Hinzman & Hughey expected on THURSDAY NOV. 15th, 2007
The Supreme Court of Canada is expected to post its decision on whether or not it will hear the appeal by US war resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey THIS THURSDAY at 9:45 am.
The decision will be posted at . . . [click here] (the case number for Jeremy Hinzman is 32113, and for Brandon Hughey it is 32111).
If the decision is negative, join protests in cities across the country. Check the take action page for listing of protests locations.
If the decision is positive, we will celebrate right across the country -- but there will still be much work to do to ensure that US soldiers who refuse to fight in Iraq have refuge in Canada. In TORNOTO, join us at 7 p.m. at Grossman's Tavern, 379 Spadina Avenue (at Cecil Street) for a 'Leave to Appeal' party.

That is tomorrow. On Iraq, McCall declared, "I want people to realize this is new era of war and Iraq is not going to -- if we don't stop Iraq, Iraq is not going to be the last step, not going to be the last frontier or whatever that the United States tries to take, it's just the beginning of a long series of wars that I can see in the future. It's not going to be pretty. And we've got to do something about it now. We have to do something about it now."

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.


The voice of war resister Camilo Mejia is featured in Rebel Voices -- playing now through December 16th at Culture Project and based on Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove's best-selling book Voices of a People's History of the United States. It features dramatic readings of historical voices such as war resister Mejia, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, Malcom X and others will be featured. Zinn will take part in the November 18th presentation (the official opening night -- but performances are already taking place) and musician Allison Mooerer will head the permanent cast while those confirmed to be performing on selected nights are Ally Sheedy (actress and poet, best known for films such as High Art, The Breakfast Club, Maid to Order, the two Short Circuit films, St. Elmo's Fire, War Games, and, along with Nicky Katt, has good buzz on the forthcoming Harold), Eve Ensler who wrote the theater classic The Vagina Monologues (no, it's not too soon to call that a classic), actor David Strathaim (L.A. Confidential, The Firm, Bob Roberts, Dolores Claiborne and The Bourne Ultimatum), actor and playwright Wallace Shawn (The Princess Bride, Clueless -- film and TV series, Gregory and Chicken Little), actress Lili Taylor (Dogfight, Shortcuts, Say Anything, Household Saints, I Shot Andy Warhol, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, State of Mind) and actor, director and activist Danny Glover (The Color Purple, Beloved, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Rainmaker, Places In The Heart, Dreamgirls, Shooter and who appeared on Democracy Now! Friday addressing the US militarization of Africa) The directors are Will Pomerantz and Rob Urbinati with Urbinati collaborating with Zinn and Arnove on the play. Tickets are $21 for previews and $41 for regular performances (beginning with the Nov. 18th opening night). The theater is located at 55 Mercer Street and tickets can be purchased there, over the phone (212-352-3101) or online here and here. More information can be found at Culture Project.

Meanwhile IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC event:

In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan

IVAW's announcement above will be in tomorrow and Friday's snapshot and then it will appear summarized in each snapshot until the March testimony begins.

Turning to the topic of AWOL, Robert Przbylski (noted here and here and here) is no longer missing. The Army captain was stationed in Germany, due to deploy to Iraq early next year and has disappeared last month. From the beginning, Stars and Stripes' John Vandiver has owned the story because no one else could show interest. Sunday Vandiver
reported the Przbylski turned himself in last Friday: "When Przylski turned himself in Friday night he was on the brink of being declared a deserter, a designation that can take effect after 30 consecutive days of unauthorized absence. Officials said Przybylski was still in AWOL status when he turned himself in. It is unclear whether the prospect of being classified a deserter was a fact in Przybylski's return. It also remains unclear what prompted him to depart in the first place." What is known is that he went missing last month (October 10th -- if not before), that his unit had learned they were deploying to Iraq in March, that he comes from a military family (his father is a retired army Lt. Col.) and that Przybylski had already served one tour of duty in Iraq. Vandiver reports that the absence is under investigation and Przybylski is currently "restricted to Baumholder barracks and [will] be given a temporary assignment while the case is investigated."

Turning to the topic of Turkey and northern Iraq, Paul Schemm (AP) reports, "Kurdish guerillas watch the border for any signs that Turkey's military will carry out threats to sweep across. But other rumblings are coming from inside Iraq: a new ambivialence among Iraq's Kurds about support for their rebel cousins holed up in the mountains. The fear -- expressed by Kurdish officials and on the streets -- is that the showdown could threaten the relatively peaceful and prosperous enclave that Kurds have carved out since 1991 after generations of poverty and oppression." Meanwhile, following reports of the Turkish attacks on northern Iraq Monday and yesterday, China's Xinhua reports Aydogan Babaoglu (the commander of Turkey's air force) has declared it didn't happen stating: "None of the aircraft of Turkish Air Forces conducted a cross-border operation, and such reports are groundless." Bay Fang (Chicago Tribune) tries to track it down noting the following are on record stating attacks took place: Fouad Hussein (spokesperson for Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq) states two airplanes flew in and "dropped flares on five villages" on Monday, Iraqi army Col. Hussein Tamir ("who supervises border guards") states "helicopters opened fire on abandoned Iraqi villages". Damien Cave (New York Times) cited Iraqi officials for a "Turkish military aircraft" attack in northern Iraq Tuesday and noted, "Officials from Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region could not agree on whether helicopters or planes had been used" while also quoting Fouad Hussein. Today's Zaman, citing "[u]nnamed Kuridsh officials," report "that the villages" were "Pirbela, Birsaka, Avashin and the Norgole area". In addition, eye witnesses have reported what they saw and heard. Patrick Cockburn (Independent of London) quotes Ibrahim Mazori stating, "I was on the other side of the mountain when I heard huge explosions and could smell TNT powder all over the area" while . Meanwhile CBS and AP note that Jala Talabani, Iraq's Kurdish president, declared today, without any further comment, that, "The crisis with Turkey has passed." Similar statements have been made before.

Turning to some of today's reported violence . .

Bombings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing ("targeted an American patrol") that claimed the lives of 2 civilians and left three more wounded (this was the bombing that targeted the Green Zone -- a second Baghdad roadside bombing targeting "an American patrol" had no reported casualties) and a Babil car bombing targeting "a host tent for Sheikh Ammar Al-Gurtani" claimed the lives of 3 civilians and left eight more wounded. CNN notes, "The sheiks and the al-Kardani tribe are part fo the 'Iskandairya Awakening,' one of Iraq's emerging 'awakening' movements -- the grass-roots citizen groups opposing al Qaeda in Iraq." And, left unstated, taking money from the US.

Shootings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 Iraqi soldier shot dead in Hawija and, when police reported on the scene, 1 police officer was shot dead.

Kidnappings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a farmer was kidnapped "between Hawija and Abassiyah".

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 5 corpses were discovered in Iraq.



Today, the US military announced, "A Multi-National Corps - Iraq Soldier was killed today during military operations near the city of Mosul. The Soldier was mortally wounded by gunfire while providing security to a Police Transitional Team training mission near an Iraqi Police Station." And they announced: "Two Multi-National Division -- North Soldiers died as a result of an explosion while conducting operations in Diyala Province, Nov. 13. Additionally, four MND-N Soldiers were wounded and evacuated to a coalition hospital." Reuters count is 3863 US service members have died thus far in the illegal war. ICCC's total is also 3863 with 19 for the month thus far. (Neither total includes the 4 US service members who are known to have died from the physical wounds they received in Iraq after leaving Iraq: Jack D. Richards, Gerald J. Cassidy, John "Bill" Smith and Raymond A. Salerno III.) And Paul Tait and Missy Ryan (Reuters) report that the roadside bombing "targeting a passing American military convoy, killed a U.S. soldier and a civilian and wounded seven people including five soldiers, the U.S. military said. . . . The explosion in Baghdad was close to a checkpoint where hundreds of Iraqis who work inside the sprawling complex queue every morning." The US military announcement reads: "An explosively formed penetrator detonated in Central Baghdad Nov. 14, killing a Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldier and wounding five others. Also, one Iraqi civilian was killed and two others were wounded."

Another attack on the Green Zone? Guess it will be harder to spin that as "safety" -- but give the Operation Happy Talkers time, give them time. Meanwhile the central government in Iraq continues to be in shambles. AP reports: "Iraqi troops seized the west Baghdad headquarters of a powerful Sunni Muslim group Wednesday, cordoning off the building and ordering employees out, the group said. Iraqi security forces dispatched by the Sunni Endowment, a government agency that cares for Sunni mosques and shrines, surrounded the mosque complex where the group is based at 9 a.m. and demanded that the building be evacuated before noon, the Association of Muslim Scholars said in a statement posted on its Web site." CBS and AP note the Association of Muslim Scholars' spokesperson Mohammed Bahsar al-Faydi is of the opinion that the forces "were not government forces but the personal guards of Ahmed Abdul-Ghafoor al-Samarraie, the head of the Sunni Endowment". Reuters notes that they were Sunni Endowment security guards and that in addition to everyone being kicked out of the building "a radio broadcast from the mosque had been stopped." Paul Tait and Missy Ryan also note that a de-de-Baathification bill is being hailed as 'progress' even though it's just been given to parlaiment (from Nouri al-Maliki's cabinet) and "[o]fficals had previously said the bill had already been given to parliament." As Damien Cave (New York Times) notes, this follows yesterday's call by the Sadr bloc for Parliament to be dissolved.

On the issue of the displaced Iraqis, nothing's being done. Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted today, "The leading refugee-advocate group Refugees International has issued a scathing critique of the Bush administration's treatment of displaced Iraqis. In a new report, Refugees International says the U.S. has been 'unforgivably slow' in resettling Iraqi refugees. Almost five million Iraqis are believed to have been displaced since the U.S. invasion. The U.S. is admitting more than three times as many Iranian immigrants as it is Iraqis." Hannah Allam (McClatchy Newspapers) quotes the report's co-author, Kristele Younes, declaring, "The first reason for this is the lack of political will. Until very recently, the Bush administration never even acknowledged the humanitarian crisis because they were concerned that it would be interpreted as acknowledging failure in Iraq. And President Bush still has yet to acknowledge that there are now almost 5 million Iraqis who've had to leave their homes." Younes co-authored the report with Jake Kurtzer and it includes the following policy recommendations:

1. The U.S. immediately appoint a senior PRM official to be based in the region and charged with coordinating both the assistance and resettlement components of its response; 2. The U.S. immediately appoint an ambassador level diplomat to be based in Syria; 3. The U.S. and other donors provide earmarked bilateral assistance to countries hosting large numbers of Iraqi refugees, either directly or through a Trust Fund established by the UN or the Arab League; 4. The U.S. fund all pending UN appeals at a level of 50% or more; 5. The UN country teams make responding to Iraqi refugees needs a priority, with the UN resident representatives acting as coordinators of the overall national UN response and as liaisons with the diplomatic and donor communities.

In mercenary news, David Johnston and John M. Broder (New York Times) report that the FBI investigation into Blackwater's slaughter of 17 Iraqis on September 16th have not released a report but reportedly "have found that at least 14 of the shootings were unjustified and violated deadly-force rules in effect for security contractors in Iraq, according to civilian and military officials briefed on the case."

In peace activism news, more activity in Olympia. On Monday, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted, "In Olympia Washington, 15 anti-war demonstrators were arrested over the weekend while attempting to block a military convoy carrying Stryker vehicles. The protests were organized by the Olympia Port Militarization Resistance which aims to stop the U.S. military from using the Port of Olympia to ship equipment to Iraq. Protest organizers also accused police of brutalizing dozens of peaceful demonstrators and journalists. On Saturday police dressed in riot gear repeatedly used pepper spray and batons to break up the protest." The actions have continued and AP reports, "Police wearing riot gear fired pepper spray bullets into a crowd of more than 150 protesters Tuesday night at the Port Olympia and several military convoys eventually moved out" with approximately 50 activists arrested. Jeremy Pawloski (The Olympian) reports, "Olympia police in riot gear wore gas masks as they prepared to remove protesters from the main entrance about 11 p.m. At the same time, military convoys left for Fort Lewis from the port exit to Marine Drive" and that in addition to the pepper spray and pepper spray bullets, there are reports that "police also threw two concussion grenades into the crowd." And last week, Morton West High School students learned that their protest -- following the guidelines the school imposed -- against the illegal war was resulting in suspension and possible expulsion. The Columbia College Chicago chapter of SDS has started an online petition:

We are writing in defense of the students who now face excessive disciplinary actions at the hands of various Morton West school administrators. Our sympathies lie with the courageous and moral struggle that the students have taken up, and with their parents who still support them. The struggle for a peaceful and just society absent of war should not be met with punishment, but should be supported by the community as a whole, especially from within the educational setting. Furthermore, It is our firm belief that an injury to freedom for students anywhere is an injury to freedom for students everywhere. This is why we urge all Morton West administrators to drop all disciplinary action against the said students, and to remove any indications of said events from their permanent records. We urge you to respect these students right to free expression now and in the future. (Written by Columbia College Chicago Students for a Democratic Society)

At Consortium News, Robert Parry's "Why We Write" explains the basics of the site, yes, but also explains the very real need for Consortium News. He and his sons Nat and Sam will be speaking at Busboys and Poets in Arlingtion, Virginia Saturday Nov. 17th from four p.m. to six p.m. discussing their new book Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush. Sam and Nat Parry have established their own journalist skills at Consortium News and they and Robert Parry can discuss any of the topics pertaining to the current administration but remember that Robert Parry has been doing investigative journalism for years -- long enough to have had neocon Daniel Pipes insult his reporting long, long before the Iraq War -- a sure sign his investigations cause discomfort.











jeremy hinzman









Posted by at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)