Friday! At last.
And we'll make Friday's regular feature "Idiot of the week." Last week, the humiliation went to Paul Rogat Loeb who never met a reality he couldn't ignore. This week, the competition was fierce with a lot of liars and stupid people competing for 'head bowing' rights.
I thought I was going with one of two people but, in a surprise upset, just as it was coming down to the wire, Paul Rogat Loeb showed up to defend his title!
For the second consecutive week, the Idiot of the Week is Paul Rogat Loeb.
Paul Rogat Loeb sings a little number entitled "Hillary Clinton’s Sleaze Parade" and it's got to be the most heavily produced trash outside of anything The Matrix has produced in a studio. He accuses Hillary Clinton (not the campaign) of distorting Bambi's position on abortion. But, as I remember it, women in NOW worked hard to keep him from being endorsed due to his abortion position. (He apparently played nice-nice with the weaklings at Planned Parenthood and voted "present" instead of in favor. He's no friend to women.) So to believe his lie, you have to believe that Planned Parenthood has the last word. I don't.
Paul Rogat Loeb plays fast and loose with the facts because he types with one hand on the keyboard and the other down his pants. Which is how he types this:
The flip side of trying to stop negative coverage is manufacturing praise. Clinton's campaign did this when they gave planted questions to Iowa student Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff, and according to Chasanoff, to other students as well. After being driven to a public event by Clinton interns, Chasanoff was introduced to a Clinton staffer who showed her a list of suggested questions to ask, one of which she used at Clinton’s forum. It’s not quite like Bush inviting the softball inquiries of former male-prostitute turned right-wing blogger Jeff Gannon. But it isn’t so different either.
While Paul gets his nut, let's think about what he's whining about. Clinton's guilty of being asked a planted question. That's part of her sleaziness, according to him. Well, good think that's never been done by Bambi, right? Woops! Paul, did you get your nut yet because that two incher is about to shrivel. From Howard Kurtz:
In an online posting Monday, ABC reported that an Obama volunteer wearing a press pass asked the candidate a friendly question about tax policy at an Iowa event. But several of the assembled reporters huddled and concluded that it was not a story, one of them said. Clinton faced a storm of media criticism over a similar planted question.
Now we can actually waste all night going through Paul's nutty piece paragraph by paragraph to see that he's basically a liar or else stupid beyond belief. All the things he's getting worked up about apply to his candidate as well -- his dream boy, his pin-up, Bambi Obama.
Which is why Paul gets to be "Idiot of the Week" two weeks running. For being so stupid to slam Hillary for things Bambi did as well and for just being an idiot period, Paul wins again.
The two-time winner Paul declared, "You hate me. You really, really hate me. I'm so touched that I'm wetting my pants."
Paul's columns can be found at Common Dreams or, if you're really lucky, you can hear him wandering around raving like a madmen and asking, "You got a smoke? Sell me a smoke for a quarter? Come on, just one cigarette!"
Community member Carlton's like Wally and me, really wanting to support John Edwards but damn sick of the fact that Edwards lets Bambi walk all over him. Edwards has had no problem calling out Hillary but he's acted like he's afraid to with Bambi, like if he ticked off Bambi, Bambi might not ask him to prom. Carlton noted Shailagh Murray's "Obama's Reagan Comparison Sparks Debate" (Washington Post):
"When you think about what Ronald Reagan did to the American people, to the middle class to the working people," former Sen. John Edwards shot back at an event in Henderson, Nevada. "He was openly -- openly-- intolerant of unions and the right to organize. He openly fought against the union and the organized labor movement in this country...He openly did extraordinary damage to the middle class and working people, created a tax structure that favored the very wealthiest Americans and caused the middle class and working people to struggle every single day. The destruction of the environment, you know, eliminating regulation of companies that were polluting and doing extraordinary damage to the environment."Edwards added, "I can promise you this: this president will never use Ronald Reagan as an example for change."
No Democrat should be going around saying, "Reagan is my hero!" But Bambi is no Democrat.
You may remember during Iowa when some 527s were advertising for Edwards and Bambi screamed "Not fair! Not fair! Everyone's supposed to love me best!" over and over until Edwards told the group to stop advertising (which really wasn't Edwards' call to make and that's another thing that bummed us out). Well guess who's got a group advertising for him in Nevada? Barack Obama! This is from CNN:
John Edwards was criticized by Obama in Iowa for not calling an independent group that supported the former North Carolina senator to demand they pull ads they were running in support of his candidacy. "When Sen. Obama says 'turn the page,' he obviously means turn to whatever page is most convenient. He loudly and repeatedly attacked independent ads by unions in Iowa as the product of special interests," said Edwards Deputy Campaign Manager Jonathan Prince.
"But when a different outside group starts running ads on his behalf in Nevada, there's not a peep from him or his campaign. It must be because he's burning up the phone lines calling the head of Unite Here personally to demand he pulls the ads down right away."
I'm not telling anyone who to vote for. But for me, this is really making it a race. Edwards is acting like he wants the nomination and not like he's campaigning for Bambi. He's showing some real strength. I hope he keeps it up. If he does, I bet he's got some primary wins coming up. I don't mean that in the abstract. My best bud Tony and I have a fifty dollar bet on this.
Tony wants to vote for Edwards too. And says if Edwards keeps it up, he's got his vote. But he doesn't think Edwards will. I got fifty bucks of my money on the line here so Edwards better not wuss out on me. :D (I don't think he will. I think he's about to really start hitting his stride. He's been pacing himself for the final laps.) (If I'm wrong, I'm out fifty bucks and I will be whining here.)
Two people e-mailed about Law and Disorder. I know Dalia was on two weeks ago and did listen to that bit. I just need a break from it after that thank you speech that thanked Koo Koo. It's a good show but I'm not highlighting the Koo Koo Chronicles. I think Koo Koo's destroyed Laura Flanders' show. And I understand why Koo Koo got thanked but it just made me sick to my stomach so it's like I'm not so interested right now. When I was eight or nine, Tony and me were ticked off at something, don't even remember what, but we weren't allowed to some party because of something we'd done (some grown up party), so we snagged some food from the kitchen and went out to our fort. We went to town on Cool Ranch Doritos. We just crammed those things in our mouths and were eating them like there was no tomorrow. After we'd stuffed ourselves with a whole bag, we ate some more stuff (I think pudding pops) and then we just both started hurling. I think I went first and then Tony saw my puke and started puking. But we had to clean it up and all and those Cool Ranch Doritos were just floating around in the puke. I could never eat them again. I can now eat Doritos but I still get sick if I think about the Cool Ranch flavor. So my point here is that I hate Koo Koo and think she's destroying the left. So after that thank you (which I understood why it was needed), I just needed a break.
I'll check it out next week. (Again, I did hear Dalia. C.I. told me Dalia was on so I made a point to listen to the first minutes of that show. She was talking about David Hicks and Guantanamo.)
Okay, here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Friday, January 17, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the illegal war keeps going (and gets extended?), John Edwards addresses the realities of Ronald Reagan, and more.
Starting with war resisters, Courage to Resist has posted a number of interviews with war resisters. Today we'll focus on their interview with Brandon Hughey who spoke of how he turned against the illegal war, advised his superior of it and finally took matters into his own hands by checking out from Fort Hood for 28 days (starting in January 2004) "to see if maybe they would boot me out. Once I go AWOL and once I show that I'm not a 'good soldier' maybe they'd just boot me out. So I came back in 28 days, instead of kicking me out of the army they said, 'We're glad to have you back. We're going to give you extra duty and dock your pay. But I suggest you pack your backs and start getting ready to go to Iraq.' So basically that idea I had backfired. I had tried to get myself booted out and even that didn't work. So at that point, I began to feel like I was trapped. There was no way out."
Courage to Resist: And none of your superiors ever informed you of Conscientious Objector status?
Brandon Hughey: No, I had never even heard of that. I didn't even know that existed until I after I came to Canada.
Courage to Resist: So you were told to get ready to ship out to Iraq after being AWOL for 28 days? What did you do then?
Brandon Hughey: Basically, I began to think of what other options I had to get out of the military. You know, I couldn't really think of anything. I tried going AWOL and coming back, at that point I just felt trapped. I had remembered that tens of thousands of people had come up -- during Vietnam -- had come up to Canada and I thought at the time, 'Maybe as a last resort option I could leave the country?" And so I kept that in the back of my mind and when I realized that, you know, there didn't seem like any other way I could get out I began to feel like, "Okay, leaving the country is an option." So, at that point, I began to make plans to go to Canada.
Courage to Resist: How did you prepare yourself to make this huge decision?
Brandon Hughey: I was just going to pack my bags and drive myself there -- try to set aside whatever money I could and hopefully have enough to get myself started in a new life and a new country. I really didn't have much a plan because I didn't know what I was getting myself into. And that was pretty much it.
Courage to Resist: And when did you actually make the move?
Brandon Hughey: I came up in March of 2004, when I arrived.
Courage to Resist: Did you make contact right away with anybody with the War Resisters Support Campaign or any other resisters.
Brandon Hughey: Well the War Resisters Support Campaign hadn't been formed yet when I arrived. But I was staying with a Quaker family for a few months when I first arrived. So the Quaker community did a lot and they, you know, they did a lot to support me. That was really my first support network when I came to Canada.
Courage to Resist's audio interviews are part of their ongoing Audio Project.
A number of war resisters have gone to Canada and attempted to be granted asylum.
November 15th, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the appeals of war resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. Parliament is the solution.Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use. Both War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist are calling for actions from January 24-26. The War Resisters Support Campaign has more on the action in Canada:
The War Resisters Support Campaign has called a pan-Canadian mobilization on Saturday, January 26th, 2008 to ensure : 1) that deportation proceedings against U.S. war resisters currently in Canada cease immediately; and 2) that a provision be enacted by Parliament ensuring that U.S. war resisters refusing to fight in Iraq have a means to gain status in Canada. For listings of local actions, see our Events page. If you are able to organize a rally in your community, contact the Campaign -- we will list events as details come in.
Courage to Resist notes:
Join and support January 25 vigils and delegations in support of U.S. war resisters currently seeking sanctuary Canada. Actions are being planned in Washington D.C., New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Supporters will meet with officials at Canadian Consulates across the United States in order underscore that many Americans hope that the Canadian Parliament votes (possible as early as February) in favor of a provision to allow war resisters to remain. Download and distribute Jan. 25-26 action leaflet (PDF).Supporting the war resisters in Canada is a concrete way to demonstrate your support of the troops who refuse to fight. Help end the war by supporting the growing GI resistance movement today!
Details January 25-26 actions/events in support of U.S. war resisters.
Sign the letter "Dear Canada: Let U.S. War Resisters Stay!" and encourage others to sign.
Organize a delegation to a Canadian Consulate near you .
Host an event or house-party in support of war resisters.
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, Clara 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. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
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
March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'."
And the war drags on and on. Nancy A. Youssef (McClatchy Newspapers) pieces together several press conferences to explain, "Gates and top uniformed officers sketched out a plan that runs counter to pledges by Democratic presidential contenders to bring about a rapid drawdown of the U.S. military presence in Iraq" and cites Lt. General Raymond Odierno (the number two) declaring that it "could be five to 10 years" that the US forces remain in Iraq. Ann Scott Tyson (Washington Post) observes, "Senior U.S. military officials projected yesterday that the Iraqi army and police will grow to an estimated 580,000 members by the end of the year but that shortages of key personnel, equipment, weaponry and logistical capabilities mean that Iraq's security forces will probably require U.S. military support for as long as a decade." Julian E. Barnes (Los Angeles Times) reminds, "Iraq's defense minister, Abdul-Qader Mohammed Jassim Mifarji, has said Iraqi forces will not be able to assume responsibility for internal security until 2012 or be able to defend the country's borders before 2019."
In the face of that, the alleged 'anti-war groups' cave again. They aren't anti-war groups, they aren't peace groups. They are Win Without War and all the other useless groups that do nothing to end the illegal war. Nothing the reports of the cave, PR Watch explains that "Ryan Grim reports that the biggest and best-funded organizations in the liberal peace movement, primarily MoveOn and the groups in its Americans Against Escalation in Iraq (AAEI) coalition, are no longer advocating that Congress end the war. This year "the groups instead will lower their sights and push for legislation to prevent President Bush from entering into a long-term agreement with the Iraqi government that could keep significant numbers of troops in Iraq for years to come. ... The groups believe this switch in strategy can draw contrasts with Republicans that will help Democrats gain ground in November." AAEI's PR spokesperson, Moira Mack of Hildebrand Tewes Consulting, called it "the perfect legislative opportunity." In other words, as Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber pointed out last March, for MoveOn and other Democrat-aligned peace groups it's not about ending the war, it's about electing Democrats. Most of the tens of millions of dollars that MoveOn and AAEI have spent lobbying and organizing for "peace" has been directed at pressuring and embarrassing pro-war Republicans, while the Democratic Congress has continued to fund the war and pro-war Democrats have generally been given a pass." All those 'groups' have to offer is silent vigils and online petitions. And we've seen serveral years before.
A rude comment on IVAW comes from a surprising online source. We're not linking to it. We're not linking to that site while it's up. (The same way all the ones lying about Gloria Steinem aren't being linked to. See The Third Estate Sunday Review for a piece tentatively titled "Hey Little Girl Are You All Alone, Did You Go and Leave Your Brain at Home" dedicated to the Mud Flap Gals and all the other useless play-feminists online who never thought they needed to educated themselves on any topic before weighing in.) IVAW is being slammed for not allowing an event that marks the anniversary of the illegal war. Buy a clue, idiots, IVAW's Winter Soldier Investigation ends before the anniversary. But apparently, the 5th anniversary of the illegal war can't be marked if it can't be done on a weekend. Apparently, we're supposed to have "5th Anniversary of the Illegal War" observed and then, during the week, the actual date?
It's too damn bad that there are some hurt feelings and people whining and carping about IVAW. IVAW isn't preventing anyone from doing anything. They have planned the Winter Soldiers' Investigation and the dates are March 13th through March 16th. You have to be really STUPID not to grasp that the 5th anniversay of the illegal war is AFTER the Winter Soldiers' Investigation. IVAW's Kelly Dougherty observes:
As we enter 2008, please stop for a moment and consider where we are now, and where we are going. In just over a year, America will have a new President. We will have endured a year of campaign commercials and attack ads. We'll have watched debates devoid of any real discussion of the withdrawal from Iraq that a growing number of Americans now call for. We'll have waited, for yet another year, for our leaders to find a way to say what we know in our hearts: we must leave Iraq.
But what will have changed in the next year that will make that happen?
We must face this fact: we run the serious risk that one year from today we'll be right where we are now, but with another year's worth of casualties, a year's worth of grieving families, a year's worth of Iraqi anger and suffering built on our occupation of a country we now know was no threat to us. Ending this war in a year is different than ending it now, just as ending it now is different than ending it a year ago, or a year before that. There is a price to pay for every day that we wait.
She's exactly right. And in 2004, we saw the peace movement shut down shop because the most important thing wasn't ending the illegal war, it was 'elections!' The peace movement can't make the same mistake in 2008. If people have hurt little feelings, too damn bad. Too much time has been wasted with the peace movement wasting their energies on the John Kerry presidential bid or the Democrats 2006 Congressional races. People in the peace movement will most likely favor a candidate on their own. That's to be expected. But the peace movement is not a get-out-the-vote movement nor should it be hijacked (willingly or not) by political parties.
IVAW is not the only thing happening in DC. March for Peace exists around it and blocks out the 13th through the 16th for IVAW. Possibly, those whining online about IVAW don't believe students matter and that's why they flaunt their ignorance of March for Peace? You can find their schedule here.
CBS and AP report that Turkey is declaring that they "bombed nearly 60 Kurdish rebel targets in an attack this week in northern Iraq." Christian Peacemaker Teams have protested noting that the bombings -- as with all ariel bombings including the ones the US is doing in Iraq -- are indiscriminate and targeting civilians.
In other reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing that claimed 2 lives and left four wounded, a Baquba home bombing left 2 police officers dead and two more wounded while another Baquba home bombing claimed the lives of 2 children and four adults wounded.
Shootings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports an armed clash in Basra that left at least two soldiers injured, three Iraqi police officers injured and an unknown number of civilians injured while Dr. Luma Salih was shot dead in a seperate incident as she left the hospital, a Wajihiyah armed clash left 2 police officers dead and three more wounded, 8 people were shot dead in Kirkuk and a Nasriyah Province clash in which 9 people were killed and at least forty wounded.
Corpses?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 2 corpses discovered in Baghdad and 3 in Diyala Province. Reuters reports 7 corpses "were found after one" US "air strike in the town of Riyadh".
In US political news, the Green Party has scheduled another presidential candidate forum for February 2nd at Busboys & Poets in DC (14th and V Streets) at ten in the morning -- Jesse Johnson and Kent Mesplay are confirmed to appear others may or may not. More info click here. They've also created a new webpage for videos with the San Francisco forum held Sunday already on it and plans for more videos to be added. The Green Party's official blog can be found here and certainly if it's happening and known Kimberly Wilder (On The Wilder Side) is probably posting about it. In Democratic presidential politics, Shailagh Murraqy (Washington Post) quotes John Edwards response to Barack Obama's praise of Ronald Reagan (see yesterday's snapshot): "When you think about what Ronald Reagan did to the American people, to the middle class to the working people. He was openly -- openly -- intolerant of unions and the right to organize. He openly fought against the union and the organized labor movement in this country . . . He openly did extraordinary damage to the middle class and working people, created a tax structure that favored the very wealthiest Americans and caused the middle class and working people to struggle every single day. The destruction of the environment, you know, eliminating regulation of companies that were polluting and doing extraordinary damage to the environment. I can promise you this: thie president will never use Ronald Reagan as an example of change."
This MLK weekend, PBS' Bill Moyers Journal includes an essay by Moyers (who served in the Johnson White House) reflecting on history and present day -- in addition, he speaks with the New York Times David Cay Johnston about the truths regarding taxation and spending. In most markets, that airs tonight. It will stream online and provide transcripts and audio.
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the daily jot
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iraq veterans against the war
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kimberly wilder
Friday, January 18, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Green Party, Taylor Marsh
Thursday! One day down to the weekend! :D This was in yesterday's snapshot: "Links to video segments can be found here." You can watch the Green Party forum that way. I was reading over the transcript (C.I. typed it up) for Hilda's Mix today (no offense to Hilda, I didn't have time to read it until today). Ruth's "The Green Party debate" and Kat's "Green Party 'debate'" offered some thoughts yesterday.
My thoughts? The Iraq segment was an embarrassment. I agree with Jess' take that Cynthia McKinney has to get the nomination. She knew her stuff in all the segments. I also agree with Kat's take that there should have been some sort of, I don't know, standard going in. There was ONLY ONE question on Iraq. If you haven't caught the debate yet, you may be like I was, thinking, "Green Party, opposed to the illegal war!" So I was kind of shocked to find out that people running for the Green Party presidential nomination had so little to say about Iraq. Jesse Johnson probably did a better job than most but it really was just Cynthia McKinney. I see what Ruth's saying about Kat Swift. She would make a great member of Congress. And she was never at a loss for words (and actually could talk a little about Iraq) but, no, I wouldn't see her as a president.
I wanted to "see" which is why I watched the videos. I wanted to see them and not just listen (or just read the transcript). I really was disappointed.
I wasn't expecting flash and sizzle. I was expecting to see people with some real passions. Cynthia McKinney has them. Some people didn't. (Swift and Johnson did.) It was really disappointing.
On the plus side, the Greens shouldn't have the back and forth, up and down, state to state kind of thing the Democrats and the GOP have.
I guess, unfairly, I thought they had their act together and was thinking they'd teach both parties a thing or two. Instead, I was really disappointed. Kat Swift apparently almost didn't go and I'm glad she did go because she added a lot to the debate.
I kept trying to think, "Well, they don't get as much as press and they may not be used to boiling down their thoughts and . . ." But then I thought, "B.S. They want to be president, they should be prepared." And if that's harsh that's really too bad.
They're not running for local dog catcher. They're trying to convince people they should be nominated for president.
Ralph Nader didn't debate with them. He's on the ballot in California but hasn't decided if he's running or not. So he spoke at the end and he did a great job. If he does decide to run for the nomination, it'll be between him and McKinney.
I did ask C.I. about Elaine Brown and was told "My understanding is that at the end of December she left the race and, I believe, the Green Party. She was sick of some false rumors that were being spread about her."
She's a former Black Panther and community organizer and a thinker. That last part's really important if you're wanting to become president.
Again, there was an incredible thinker there and her name is Cynthia McKinney. You may know of her as the Democratic Congresswoman from Georgia so strong and honest that the Democratic Party worked to defeat her not once but twice. She's a tell it like it is candidate and I really was excited listening to her speak.
By the way, Barack Obama, who's encouraging people in Nevada to "Be a Democrat for a Day" (something Amy Goodman couldn't point out but then she sells it for the Obama campaign daily) made Ronald Reagan his hero. If you've missed Cedric's "Bambi touches his inner Racist Reagan" and Wally's "THIS JUST IN! LOOK WHO GOT INTO BED WITH RONNIE!," go read them now. I'm stopping a second because I'm pulling Democracy Now! from my links.
Bye, bye. That show's so rigged in Bambi's favor that the FEC should be investigating it.
It's cute, isn't it, that The Nation's Bamb-boys, the Aris, had nothing to say about Bambi's love for Ronald Reagan but they're off on Bill Clinton. They really should be ashamed of themselves.
One plus to being the slowest typist in the world :D is that I'm always behind! My grandfather just called me and said link to Rebecca's "ugly katha pollitt sticks up for her 'mommy'." He loves it. He especially loves that she's called out a closet case. (Closeted politically. My grandfather has never hid that he's a socialist and he never had much use for the communists who hid what they were. Like him, I have no problem with anyone's politics, except when they lie about who they are.) I love that piece. Go Rebecca! :D
It really is amazing how many people get thrown under the bus for Barack Obama. You sort of picture the campaign next dispatching death squads to deal with the people who don't believe he pees butterscotch pudding. :D
Barack Obama? Who is he? No one knows. He's one thing one moment, another the next. And always wanting to put "partisanship" behind him. He sounds like he's getting ready to host one of those Sunday chat & chews. Maybe, if he doesn't get the nomination, Fox "News" can hire him to be a news anchor?
Dad told me to tell everyone that Carly Simon's "The Girl You Think You See" is a classic song. (C.I.'s not making fun of it and would agree with Dad's assesment.) He wants to be sure if anyone reads the lyrics in the snapshot, they get that the CD is Anticipation. (Dad also recommends Carly's cover of Kris Kristopherson's "I've Got To Have You" on the same CD -- as well as the title track, I'm sure.)
Beau sent me this from Taylor Marsh's blog:
Now Barack Obama is quoting that very language too:
"This is not just an anti-military, you know, 70s love-in kind of approach." - Barack Obama
This is the exact type of language Reagan used to vilify the Democratic party coming out of the 70s. You know, Democrats like John Kerry, who endorsed this guy. How do I know? Because those are the exact same words many Reagan Democrats stupidly used in putting the Carter years behind us. National security Democrats who voted for Reagan missed the flip side. We sucked this rah-rah, Reagan will make us stronger than them all propaganda through a straw until we woke up one cold, very lonely 1982 day choking on reality and that we'd also bought an anti-union, anti civil rights, bigoted, homophobic, pathologically partisan actor cast in the role of president.
The 1970s peace movement helped stop the Vietnam war. It's what drew John Kerry to the Senate to give one of the most electrifying speeches from a military veteran in U.S. history.
But Obama's got the myth making part of Reagan down. The propaganda too, and he's certainly buying into his own transformative powers, no doubt after drinking in the aura of all of his crowds.
Beau noted that C.I. has linked to Marsh twice this week and writes "So I've been checking out her blog." He calls it an antidote to "Hillary Hatred."
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Thursday, January 17, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the air war more deadly (and more illegal), X-Men's Rogue continues to provide laughter in the 2008 presidential race, and more.
Starting with war resistance. Today Dee Knight (Workers World) explores an upcoming event and notes war resister Camilo Mejia
Mejia spent nine months in military prison from May 2004 to February 2005 for refusing to return to Iraq after his first tour of duty there. He has been speaking and organizing since his release. He was chosen to chair the IVAW National Board at its conference last August. He told WW the organization is growing fast--from about 500 in August to more than 700 now, with members in 48 states, Washington, D.C., Canada, and on numerous bases both here and overseas, including Iraq.Commenting on the recent mutiny by a platoon of soldiers in Iraq, Mejia said this type of resistance is increasingly common there. "I refused a mission once," he said. "We had watched several of our comrades be killed and wounded. I said no--as squad leader--that I would not allow my guys to be used as bait for some colonel to make general."
Camilo Mejia tells his story in Road from Ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia, published last May by The New Press.
War resisters have resisted in a number of ways throughout the Iraq War. That includes the ones who went to Canada seeking asylum. November 15th, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the appeals of war resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. Parliament is the solution.Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use. Both War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist are calling for actions from January 24-26. The War Resisters Support Campaign has more on the action in Canada:
The War Resisters Support Campaign has called a pan-Canadian mobilization on Saturday, January 26th, 2008 to ensure : 1) that deportation proceedings against U.S. war resisters currently in Canada cease immediately; and 2) that a provision be enacted by Parliament ensuring that U.S. war resisters refusing to fight in Iraq have a means to gain status in Canada. For listings of local actions, see our Events page. If you are able to organize a rally in your community, contact the Campaign -- we will list events as details come in.
Courage to Resist notes:
Join and support January 25 vigils and delegations in support of U.S. war resisters currently seeking sanctuary Canada. Actions are being planned in Washington D.C., New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Supporters will meet with officials at Canadian Consulates across the United States in order underscore that many Americans hope that the Canadian Parliament votes (possible as early as February) in favor of a provision to allow war resisters to remain. Download and distribute Jan. 25-26 action leaflet (PDF).Supporting the war resisters in Canada is a concrete way to demonstrate your support of the troops who refuse to fight. Help end the war by supporting the growing GI resistance movement today!
Details January 25-26 actions/events in support of U.S. war resisters.
Sign the letter "Dear Canada: Let U.S. War Resisters Stay!" and encourage others to sign.
Organize a delegation to a Canadian Consulate near you .
Host an event or house-party in support of war resisters.
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, Clara 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. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
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
March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'."
That's in March. Today Josh White (Washington Post) reports on the escalation of the air-war (or is that supposed to be a "'surge' in the deaths of innocents"?) that finds the US military command admitting to having conducted at least five times more air bombings in 2007 than in the previous year leading to the dropping of "1,447 bombs on Iraq last year, an average of nearly four a day, compared with 229 bombs, or about four each week, in 2006. . . . The greater reliance on air power has raised concerns from human rights groups, which say that 500-pound and 2,000-pound munitions threaten civilians, especially when dropped in residential neighborhoods where insurgents mix with the population." Human rights groups are far from the only ones who should be complaining. The 1899 Laws and Customs of War on Land was ratified by the US Senate in 1902 and Article XXV clearly forbids the actions described above: "The attack or bombardment of towns, villages, habitations or buildings which are not defended, is prohibited." Apparently unaware of those basics, the US Air Force announces many bombings in Iraq yesterday including:
* Air Force B-1B Lancer dropped guided bomb unit-31s on enemy structures in the vicinity of Baghdad
* In Khan Bani Sa'd, a house-borned IED and VBIED were destroyed by F-16s using GBU-38s.
Khan Bani Sa'd was also the location for "a show of force" as was an area outside Babi and Tall Afar. This as Reuters reports today six dead ("including two women") as a result of US forces ground and air attacks "on a building in Jalawla" which also left two women wounded. US military flack Winfield Danielson pulls spin duty today declaring, "Coalition forces deeply regrets when civilians are hurt or killed during operations to rid Iraq of terrorism." Who are the terrorists at this point? Iraqis in their own country or foreign fighters they want to leave?
Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers' Baghdad Observer) reports on reactions to the Iraq War during a recent visit to Kuwait:
But popular support for the war next door has waned. While Saddam Hussein's capture and execution were welcomed in Kuwait the deterioration of a nation caught people off guard. A Kuwaiti friend explained it to me in simple terms. "Before they had water, now they do not. Before they had electricity now they do not, before they had security now they do not," she said. "This was not liberation or democracy."
In some of today's reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Diyala Province bombing that claimed 12 lives (plus the life of the bomber) and left 16 wounded, a primary school blown up in Mosul, a Mosul car bombing that killed 1 police officer and wounded one woman.
Shootings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports the latest (known) attack on an official as Sheik Mohammed Felek was targeted in an unsuccessful assassination attempt by unknown assailants firing from two cars, in addition 1 police officer was shot dead another left wounded in Ibn al-Jawzi while last night 1 police officer was shot dead in Salahuddin.
Corpses?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered in Baghdad.
But worry ye not, Al Jazeera reports the International Monetary Fund is high on Iraq and, "Surging oil prices have recently boosted Iraq's oil revenues to $27 bn, $6bn higher than projected. The IMF approved a $744m credit for Iraq on December 19, just a week after the country paid off an earlier $471m loan." Interesting when you consider Richard Cowan (Reuters) reporting on how the US House has caved to Bully Boy and passed an exemption that prevents US citizens from suing the current puppet government for things done by Saddam Hussein's government. Or maybe Bully Boy just fretted that some Americans still believe the false-link he's repeated on Iraq and 9-11 and that he might be proved a liar in court? Meanwhile, Andy Rowell (The Price of Oil) noted Monday the objection by the Iraqi Parliament to the deals Iraq's northern Kurdish region had entered into with Big Oil companies and quoted Osama al-Nijifi speaking at a press conference, "There must be a formula for maintaining the unity of Iraq and the distribution of its wealth. Oil and gas are a national wealth and we are concerned about those who want to go it alone when it comes to signing deals." CBS and AP report today, "The Iraqi Oil Ministry has decided to stop cooperating with international oil companies participating in production-sharing contracts with the Kurdish regional administration in northern Iraq, an official said Thursday. The decision is concsidered a first step toward implementing the ministry's threats to blacklist and exclude these companies from any future deals with Baghdad if they refuse to abandon their oil deals with the self-ruling Kurdish government."
Meanwhile the Pew Research Center releases their latest findings on the Iraq War in a study of the US campaigns for president:
Public views of the situation in Iraq, which turned more positive in the fall, have again slipped. Currently, 41% of Americans say the military effort in Iraq is going very well or fairly well, while 54% say that the situation there is not going well.
In November, opinion was split over progress in the military effort; 48% said things were going well there, the highest percentage expressing this view in more than a year (47% in September 2006). Both Republicans and Democrats are less likely to say the situation in Iraq is going well; currently, 66% of Republicans express a positive opinion of the situation, down from 74% in November. This shift among Democrats has been comparable (24% now, 33% then).
While positive perceptions of the military effort have declined in the past month, they still remain higher than they were earlier this year (30% in February). But support for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq as soon as possible remains strong, despite the improved views of the situation. Currently, 54% favor bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq, which is consistent with measures for the past year.
[. . . ]
Negative views of the decision to go to take military action against Iraq are at their highest point since the war began almost five years ago. Slightly more than a third of Americans (36%) say the decision to use military force was right while 56% see it as wrong. In September 2007, 42% said the war was the right decision, compared with 50% who said it was wrong.
The above is from the sections "Iraq Views Turn More Negative" and "More See Iraq as 'Wrong Decision'." Today in DC, the US House of Representatives' House Armed Services Committee met at ten "to receive testimony on Iraqi Security Forces." Mark Kimmitt (Deputy Assistant Secreatary of Defense for the Middle East) and Lt. General James Dubik (Commanding General of Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq in Baghdad) appeared before the committee chaired by Ike Skelton who noted, "Today the Armed Services Committee is holding the very first hearing of our new year." William Branigin (Washington Post) reports that Dubik and Kimmitt attempt to put foward that Iraqi forces can take responsiblity for security of Iraq in early 2009 . . . or 2012 and "the officials also said that Iraq does not expect to be able to defend itself against external threats for at least another 10 to 12 years." CBS and AP report US Rep Roscoe Bartlett pressed for concrete answers noting, "I think most Americans would like to have on their refrigerator a chart they can follow that speaks to when we can get out." Dubik responded with a non-response ("When I talk to my dad about these kind of things, my advice is to him is put no number on the refrigerator" -- ???????????) leading Bartlett to press, "Does that meanw e'll be there forever? I don't think people have any stomach for that."
Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates,stated today in a press conference of the rotations in and out of Iraq "if you haven't been there in 30 days, you're out of date." This as Gordon Lubold (Christian Science Monitor) reports that Bully Boy and David Petraeus (General and White House Boy Pal) are in conflict with Gates "over how much further US forces can be cut later this year." Lubold notes: "The tug of war is illustrated by General Petraeus's recent requests for forces. He has asked for small numbers of troops to fill gaps left by departing forces to help manage operations as the broader drawdown continues, sources say. Those requests are giving Pentagon officials pause because many forces that could go have not had adequate time at home." Asked in the press conference today about the the drawdown of the escalation, Gates replied, "Well, first of all, I -- all the evidence available to me now suggests that we will be able to complete the drawdown of the five brigade combat teams that General Petraeus recommended last September, and that that take place by the end of July. Obviously we will wait to see General Petraues' evaluation in March, in terms of what we might be able to do after July." Gates went on to describe it as "a dynamic process" and utilized many similar hedge phrases.
Who cares what I might be for real
Underneath my games
I'll let you chose from a thousand faces
And a thousand names
-- Carly Simon, "The Girl You Think You See" (Anticipation)
Yes, we are turning to US political news, where Barack Obama insults not just "Tom Hayden Democrats," but the majority of the country. In a craven display, even for Bambi, he batted those long lashes at the Renoa Gazette editorial board to gush over Ronnie Ray-Gun: "I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not. He-he put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it. I think they felt like with all the excesses of the 1960s and 1970s and, you know, government had grown and grown but there wasn't much sense of accountability in terms of how it was operating." Actually, Bambi, the pre-Reagan period you're so IGNORANT of, produced the sunshine laws and open government. You're so very good as polishing the right-wing talking points and making them sound fresh (or maybe Stay Fresh?) but what you say is blah-blah-blah-blah. The Nation's Bambi groupies are going to have to work over time to justify their lover's latest statements or maybe they'll just -- as they so often do -- ignore it.
Bambi's launching an attack on the government -- which, for the record, was more than working at that point and actually had several waves of reform and accountability coming (such as the sex discrimination case against Sears that Reagan's head of the EEOC -- that would be Clarence Thomas -- would kill). Is he that uninformed of times he lived through? Or is he just eager to trash everyone? He just slammed the feminist movement, the Civil Rights movement, the peace movement, the gay rights movement, the labor movement and . . . it's honestly hard to think who Bambi didn't just spit on.
There will be the usual enablers to rush in say, "Don't you tsk-tsk at Bambi! Ignore them, Bambi, hop back on your potty chair!" But it's no longer an issue of ignorance. Bambi knows what he's saying. Tom Hayden laid it out in an open letter to Bambi in November:
On one side were armed segregationists, on the other peaceful black youth. On one side were the destroyers of Vietnam, on the other were those who refused to submit to orders. On the one side were those keeping women in inferior roles, on the other were those demanding an equal rights amendment. On one side were those injecting chemical poisons into our rivers, soils, air and blood streams, on the other were the defenders of the natural world. On one side were the perpetrators of big money politics, on the other were keepers of the plain democratic tradition. Does anyone believe those conflicts are behind us?
Barack Obama is the X-Men's Rogue, morphing and shape shifting from one moment to the next to become whatever is needed at present. Ronald Ray-Gun lashed out at MLK throughout history and only signed the MLK Day proclamation due to the fact that it had a veto proof in the support. For those remembering last week and the faux outrage ginned up, it may come as shocking that now Bambi's saying he's like Ronald Reagan.
But that is Barack Obama.
I'm not necessarily
The girl you think you see
Whoever you want is exactly who
I'm more than willing to be
I'll be a queen
A foul-mouthed marine
Your Mary Magdalene
To please you
-- Carly Simon, "The Girl You Think You See"
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My thoughts? The Iraq segment was an embarrassment. I agree with Jess' take that Cynthia McKinney has to get the nomination. She knew her stuff in all the segments. I also agree with Kat's take that there should have been some sort of, I don't know, standard going in. There was ONLY ONE question on Iraq. If you haven't caught the debate yet, you may be like I was, thinking, "Green Party, opposed to the illegal war!" So I was kind of shocked to find out that people running for the Green Party presidential nomination had so little to say about Iraq. Jesse Johnson probably did a better job than most but it really was just Cynthia McKinney. I see what Ruth's saying about Kat Swift. She would make a great member of Congress. And she was never at a loss for words (and actually could talk a little about Iraq) but, no, I wouldn't see her as a president.
I wanted to "see" which is why I watched the videos. I wanted to see them and not just listen (or just read the transcript). I really was disappointed.
I wasn't expecting flash and sizzle. I was expecting to see people with some real passions. Cynthia McKinney has them. Some people didn't. (Swift and Johnson did.) It was really disappointing.
On the plus side, the Greens shouldn't have the back and forth, up and down, state to state kind of thing the Democrats and the GOP have.
I guess, unfairly, I thought they had their act together and was thinking they'd teach both parties a thing or two. Instead, I was really disappointed. Kat Swift apparently almost didn't go and I'm glad she did go because she added a lot to the debate.
I kept trying to think, "Well, they don't get as much as press and they may not be used to boiling down their thoughts and . . ." But then I thought, "B.S. They want to be president, they should be prepared." And if that's harsh that's really too bad.
They're not running for local dog catcher. They're trying to convince people they should be nominated for president.
Ralph Nader didn't debate with them. He's on the ballot in California but hasn't decided if he's running or not. So he spoke at the end and he did a great job. If he does decide to run for the nomination, it'll be between him and McKinney.
I did ask C.I. about Elaine Brown and was told "My understanding is that at the end of December she left the race and, I believe, the Green Party. She was sick of some false rumors that were being spread about her."
She's a former Black Panther and community organizer and a thinker. That last part's really important if you're wanting to become president.
Again, there was an incredible thinker there and her name is Cynthia McKinney. You may know of her as the Democratic Congresswoman from Georgia so strong and honest that the Democratic Party worked to defeat her not once but twice. She's a tell it like it is candidate and I really was excited listening to her speak.
By the way, Barack Obama, who's encouraging people in Nevada to "Be a Democrat for a Day" (something Amy Goodman couldn't point out but then she sells it for the Obama campaign daily) made Ronald Reagan his hero. If you've missed Cedric's "Bambi touches his inner Racist Reagan" and Wally's "THIS JUST IN! LOOK WHO GOT INTO BED WITH RONNIE!," go read them now. I'm stopping a second because I'm pulling Democracy Now! from my links.
Bye, bye. That show's so rigged in Bambi's favor that the FEC should be investigating it.
It's cute, isn't it, that The Nation's Bamb-boys, the Aris, had nothing to say about Bambi's love for Ronald Reagan but they're off on Bill Clinton. They really should be ashamed of themselves.
One plus to being the slowest typist in the world :D is that I'm always behind! My grandfather just called me and said link to Rebecca's "ugly katha pollitt sticks up for her 'mommy'." He loves it. He especially loves that she's called out a closet case. (Closeted politically. My grandfather has never hid that he's a socialist and he never had much use for the communists who hid what they were. Like him, I have no problem with anyone's politics, except when they lie about who they are.) I love that piece. Go Rebecca! :D
It really is amazing how many people get thrown under the bus for Barack Obama. You sort of picture the campaign next dispatching death squads to deal with the people who don't believe he pees butterscotch pudding. :D
Barack Obama? Who is he? No one knows. He's one thing one moment, another the next. And always wanting to put "partisanship" behind him. He sounds like he's getting ready to host one of those Sunday chat & chews. Maybe, if he doesn't get the nomination, Fox "News" can hire him to be a news anchor?
Dad told me to tell everyone that Carly Simon's "The Girl You Think You See" is a classic song. (C.I.'s not making fun of it and would agree with Dad's assesment.) He wants to be sure if anyone reads the lyrics in the snapshot, they get that the CD is Anticipation. (Dad also recommends Carly's cover of Kris Kristopherson's "I've Got To Have You" on the same CD -- as well as the title track, I'm sure.)
Beau sent me this from Taylor Marsh's blog:
Now Barack Obama is quoting that very language too:
"This is not just an anti-military, you know, 70s love-in kind of approach." - Barack Obama
This is the exact type of language Reagan used to vilify the Democratic party coming out of the 70s. You know, Democrats like John Kerry, who endorsed this guy. How do I know? Because those are the exact same words many Reagan Democrats stupidly used in putting the Carter years behind us. National security Democrats who voted for Reagan missed the flip side. We sucked this rah-rah, Reagan will make us stronger than them all propaganda through a straw until we woke up one cold, very lonely 1982 day choking on reality and that we'd also bought an anti-union, anti civil rights, bigoted, homophobic, pathologically partisan actor cast in the role of president.
The 1970s peace movement helped stop the Vietnam war. It's what drew John Kerry to the Senate to give one of the most electrifying speeches from a military veteran in U.S. history.
But Obama's got the myth making part of Reagan down. The propaganda too, and he's certainly buying into his own transformative powers, no doubt after drinking in the aura of all of his crowds.
Beau noted that C.I. has linked to Marsh twice this week and writes "So I've been checking out her blog." He calls it an antidote to "Hillary Hatred."
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Thursday, January 17, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the air war more deadly (and more illegal), X-Men's Rogue continues to provide laughter in the 2008 presidential race, and more.
Starting with war resistance. Today Dee Knight (Workers World) explores an upcoming event and notes war resister Camilo Mejia
Mejia spent nine months in military prison from May 2004 to February 2005 for refusing to return to Iraq after his first tour of duty there. He has been speaking and organizing since his release. He was chosen to chair the IVAW National Board at its conference last August. He told WW the organization is growing fast--from about 500 in August to more than 700 now, with members in 48 states, Washington, D.C., Canada, and on numerous bases both here and overseas, including Iraq.Commenting on the recent mutiny by a platoon of soldiers in Iraq, Mejia said this type of resistance is increasingly common there. "I refused a mission once," he said. "We had watched several of our comrades be killed and wounded. I said no--as squad leader--that I would not allow my guys to be used as bait for some colonel to make general."
Camilo Mejia tells his story in Road from Ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia, published last May by The New Press.
War resisters have resisted in a number of ways throughout the Iraq War. That includes the ones who went to Canada seeking asylum. November 15th, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the appeals of war resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. Parliament is the solution.Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use. Both War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist are calling for actions from January 24-26. The War Resisters Support Campaign has more on the action in Canada:
The War Resisters Support Campaign has called a pan-Canadian mobilization on Saturday, January 26th, 2008 to ensure : 1) that deportation proceedings against U.S. war resisters currently in Canada cease immediately; and 2) that a provision be enacted by Parliament ensuring that U.S. war resisters refusing to fight in Iraq have a means to gain status in Canada. For listings of local actions, see our Events page. If you are able to organize a rally in your community, contact the Campaign -- we will list events as details come in.
Courage to Resist notes:
Join and support January 25 vigils and delegations in support of U.S. war resisters currently seeking sanctuary Canada. Actions are being planned in Washington D.C., New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Supporters will meet with officials at Canadian Consulates across the United States in order underscore that many Americans hope that the Canadian Parliament votes (possible as early as February) in favor of a provision to allow war resisters to remain. Download and distribute Jan. 25-26 action leaflet (PDF).Supporting the war resisters in Canada is a concrete way to demonstrate your support of the troops who refuse to fight. Help end the war by supporting the growing GI resistance movement today!
Details January 25-26 actions/events in support of U.S. war resisters.
Sign the letter "Dear Canada: Let U.S. War Resisters Stay!" and encourage others to sign.
Organize a delegation to a Canadian Consulate near you .
Host an event or house-party in support of war resisters.
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, Clara 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. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
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
March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'."
That's in March. Today Josh White (Washington Post) reports on the escalation of the air-war (or is that supposed to be a "'surge' in the deaths of innocents"?) that finds the US military command admitting to having conducted at least five times more air bombings in 2007 than in the previous year leading to the dropping of "1,447 bombs on Iraq last year, an average of nearly four a day, compared with 229 bombs, or about four each week, in 2006. . . . The greater reliance on air power has raised concerns from human rights groups, which say that 500-pound and 2,000-pound munitions threaten civilians, especially when dropped in residential neighborhoods where insurgents mix with the population." Human rights groups are far from the only ones who should be complaining. The 1899 Laws and Customs of War on Land was ratified by the US Senate in 1902 and Article XXV clearly forbids the actions described above: "The attack or bombardment of towns, villages, habitations or buildings which are not defended, is prohibited." Apparently unaware of those basics, the US Air Force announces many bombings in Iraq yesterday including:
* Air Force B-1B Lancer dropped guided bomb unit-31s on enemy structures in the vicinity of Baghdad
* In Khan Bani Sa'd, a house-borned IED and VBIED were destroyed by F-16s using GBU-38s.
Khan Bani Sa'd was also the location for "a show of force" as was an area outside Babi and Tall Afar. This as Reuters reports today six dead ("including two women") as a result of US forces ground and air attacks "on a building in Jalawla" which also left two women wounded. US military flack Winfield Danielson pulls spin duty today declaring, "Coalition forces deeply regrets when civilians are hurt or killed during operations to rid Iraq of terrorism." Who are the terrorists at this point? Iraqis in their own country or foreign fighters they want to leave?
Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers' Baghdad Observer) reports on reactions to the Iraq War during a recent visit to Kuwait:
But popular support for the war next door has waned. While Saddam Hussein's capture and execution were welcomed in Kuwait the deterioration of a nation caught people off guard. A Kuwaiti friend explained it to me in simple terms. "Before they had water, now they do not. Before they had electricity now they do not, before they had security now they do not," she said. "This was not liberation or democracy."
In some of today's reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Diyala Province bombing that claimed 12 lives (plus the life of the bomber) and left 16 wounded, a primary school blown up in Mosul, a Mosul car bombing that killed 1 police officer and wounded one woman.
Shootings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports the latest (known) attack on an official as Sheik Mohammed Felek was targeted in an unsuccessful assassination attempt by unknown assailants firing from two cars, in addition 1 police officer was shot dead another left wounded in Ibn al-Jawzi while last night 1 police officer was shot dead in Salahuddin.
Corpses?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered in Baghdad.
But worry ye not, Al Jazeera reports the International Monetary Fund is high on Iraq and, "Surging oil prices have recently boosted Iraq's oil revenues to $27 bn, $6bn higher than projected. The IMF approved a $744m credit for Iraq on December 19, just a week after the country paid off an earlier $471m loan." Interesting when you consider Richard Cowan (Reuters) reporting on how the US House has caved to Bully Boy and passed an exemption that prevents US citizens from suing the current puppet government for things done by Saddam Hussein's government. Or maybe Bully Boy just fretted that some Americans still believe the false-link he's repeated on Iraq and 9-11 and that he might be proved a liar in court? Meanwhile, Andy Rowell (The Price of Oil) noted Monday the objection by the Iraqi Parliament to the deals Iraq's northern Kurdish region had entered into with Big Oil companies and quoted Osama al-Nijifi speaking at a press conference, "There must be a formula for maintaining the unity of Iraq and the distribution of its wealth. Oil and gas are a national wealth and we are concerned about those who want to go it alone when it comes to signing deals." CBS and AP report today, "The Iraqi Oil Ministry has decided to stop cooperating with international oil companies participating in production-sharing contracts with the Kurdish regional administration in northern Iraq, an official said Thursday. The decision is concsidered a first step toward implementing the ministry's threats to blacklist and exclude these companies from any future deals with Baghdad if they refuse to abandon their oil deals with the self-ruling Kurdish government."
Meanwhile the Pew Research Center releases their latest findings on the Iraq War in a study of the US campaigns for president:
Public views of the situation in Iraq, which turned more positive in the fall, have again slipped. Currently, 41% of Americans say the military effort in Iraq is going very well or fairly well, while 54% say that the situation there is not going well.
In November, opinion was split over progress in the military effort; 48% said things were going well there, the highest percentage expressing this view in more than a year (47% in September 2006). Both Republicans and Democrats are less likely to say the situation in Iraq is going well; currently, 66% of Republicans express a positive opinion of the situation, down from 74% in November. This shift among Democrats has been comparable (24% now, 33% then).
While positive perceptions of the military effort have declined in the past month, they still remain higher than they were earlier this year (30% in February). But support for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq as soon as possible remains strong, despite the improved views of the situation. Currently, 54% favor bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq, which is consistent with measures for the past year.
[. . . ]
Negative views of the decision to go to take military action against Iraq are at their highest point since the war began almost five years ago. Slightly more than a third of Americans (36%) say the decision to use military force was right while 56% see it as wrong. In September 2007, 42% said the war was the right decision, compared with 50% who said it was wrong.
The above is from the sections "Iraq Views Turn More Negative" and "More See Iraq as 'Wrong Decision'." Today in DC, the US House of Representatives' House Armed Services Committee met at ten "to receive testimony on Iraqi Security Forces." Mark Kimmitt (Deputy Assistant Secreatary of Defense for the Middle East) and Lt. General James Dubik (Commanding General of Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq in Baghdad) appeared before the committee chaired by Ike Skelton who noted, "Today the Armed Services Committee is holding the very first hearing of our new year." William Branigin (Washington Post) reports that Dubik and Kimmitt attempt to put foward that Iraqi forces can take responsiblity for security of Iraq in early 2009 . . . or 2012 and "the officials also said that Iraq does not expect to be able to defend itself against external threats for at least another 10 to 12 years." CBS and AP report US Rep Roscoe Bartlett pressed for concrete answers noting, "I think most Americans would like to have on their refrigerator a chart they can follow that speaks to when we can get out." Dubik responded with a non-response ("When I talk to my dad about these kind of things, my advice is to him is put no number on the refrigerator" -- ???????????) leading Bartlett to press, "Does that meanw e'll be there forever? I don't think people have any stomach for that."
Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates,stated today in a press conference of the rotations in and out of Iraq "if you haven't been there in 30 days, you're out of date." This as Gordon Lubold (Christian Science Monitor) reports that Bully Boy and David Petraeus (General and White House Boy Pal) are in conflict with Gates "over how much further US forces can be cut later this year." Lubold notes: "The tug of war is illustrated by General Petraeus's recent requests for forces. He has asked for small numbers of troops to fill gaps left by departing forces to help manage operations as the broader drawdown continues, sources say. Those requests are giving Pentagon officials pause because many forces that could go have not had adequate time at home." Asked in the press conference today about the the drawdown of the escalation, Gates replied, "Well, first of all, I -- all the evidence available to me now suggests that we will be able to complete the drawdown of the five brigade combat teams that General Petraeus recommended last September, and that that take place by the end of July. Obviously we will wait to see General Petraues' evaluation in March, in terms of what we might be able to do after July." Gates went on to describe it as "a dynamic process" and utilized many similar hedge phrases.
Who cares what I might be for real
Underneath my games
I'll let you chose from a thousand faces
And a thousand names
-- Carly Simon, "The Girl You Think You See" (Anticipation)
Yes, we are turning to US political news, where Barack Obama insults not just "Tom Hayden Democrats," but the majority of the country. In a craven display, even for Bambi, he batted those long lashes at the Renoa Gazette editorial board to gush over Ronnie Ray-Gun: "I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not. He-he put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it. I think they felt like with all the excesses of the 1960s and 1970s and, you know, government had grown and grown but there wasn't much sense of accountability in terms of how it was operating." Actually, Bambi, the pre-Reagan period you're so IGNORANT of, produced the sunshine laws and open government. You're so very good as polishing the right-wing talking points and making them sound fresh (or maybe Stay Fresh?) but what you say is blah-blah-blah-blah. The Nation's Bambi groupies are going to have to work over time to justify their lover's latest statements or maybe they'll just -- as they so often do -- ignore it.
Bambi's launching an attack on the government -- which, for the record, was more than working at that point and actually had several waves of reform and accountability coming (such as the sex discrimination case against Sears that Reagan's head of the EEOC -- that would be Clarence Thomas -- would kill). Is he that uninformed of times he lived through? Or is he just eager to trash everyone? He just slammed the feminist movement, the Civil Rights movement, the peace movement, the gay rights movement, the labor movement and . . . it's honestly hard to think who Bambi didn't just spit on.
There will be the usual enablers to rush in say, "Don't you tsk-tsk at Bambi! Ignore them, Bambi, hop back on your potty chair!" But it's no longer an issue of ignorance. Bambi knows what he's saying. Tom Hayden laid it out in an open letter to Bambi in November:
On one side were armed segregationists, on the other peaceful black youth. On one side were the destroyers of Vietnam, on the other were those who refused to submit to orders. On the one side were those keeping women in inferior roles, on the other were those demanding an equal rights amendment. On one side were those injecting chemical poisons into our rivers, soils, air and blood streams, on the other were the defenders of the natural world. On one side were the perpetrators of big money politics, on the other were keepers of the plain democratic tradition. Does anyone believe those conflicts are behind us?
Barack Obama is the X-Men's Rogue, morphing and shape shifting from one moment to the next to become whatever is needed at present. Ronald Ray-Gun lashed out at MLK throughout history and only signed the MLK Day proclamation due to the fact that it had a veto proof in the support. For those remembering last week and the faux outrage ginned up, it may come as shocking that now Bambi's saying he's like Ronald Reagan.
But that is Barack Obama.
I'm not necessarily
The girl you think you see
Whoever you want is exactly who
I'm more than willing to be
I'll be a queen
A foul-mouthed marine
Your Mary Magdalene
To please you
-- Carly Simon, "The Girl You Think You See"
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Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Johnny enters the derby early!
Hump day, hump day. I'm going to jump right in with a topic. How stupid John Nichols is.
Here's what he writes today (well, with help from the Obama campaign):
With most of the ballots counted, the New York senator was winning uninspiring 55 percent of the Democratic primary vote.
A remarkable 40 percent of Michiganders who participated in the primary voted for nobody, marking the "Uncommitted" option on their ballots. Another 4 percent backed Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who brought his anti-war, anti-corporate campaign to Michigan and made some inroads among Muslim voters in the Detroit area and liberals in Washtenaw County -- where he was taking almost 10 percent.
But "Uncommitted" was Clinton's most serious challenger in Michigan.
What the little liar leaves out?
1) Michagan Democrats are PISSED. The DNC is threatening not to seat their delegates. Some Dems voted in the GOP primary as a result. (As some are considering doing in Florida.)
2) Barack Obama and John Edwards asked their supporters to vote "Uncommitted." That is the same amount of campaigning Hillary did. (She didn't campaign in Michigan.)
3) 55% (55.4% actually) is a huge win for Clinton. It's a bigger win than in any state thus far. It happened despite the same-sex ticket of Bambi and Johnny (JOBAMA) working to upset Hillary. Neither man can do a thing by themselves so you picture them, hand in hand, skipping down a daisy trail. No doubt John Nichols is following on their heels, hoping to see a little action.
Or maybe just hoping to catch the glints of sunshine off Bambi's teeth and Johnny's lucious locks.
4) The biggest wuss in the world is John Nichols who preaches that he's for the people but refused to come to the aid of Michigan voters. He refused to call out the DNC and support Democratic voters in a state. He proved he was all about the top-down politics. He's a coward and a fool.
5) He may be idiot of the week but I have a feeling last week's idiot will be back to spin this and when he does, I will crucify him. Otherwise, Johnny Five-Cents will be my pick for idiot of the week.
Johnny Five-Cents' crack is bad conventional wisdom. As C.I. explained in "Roundtable" Sunday, your issue in a Democratic primary is not how many independents came to vote! That's really not helping the Democratic Party in a general election. Bambi does pull in the 'independents' and 'swing voters.' Bambi at the top of the ticket means Congress goes up for grabs. The people Hillary's turning out for primaries are Dems who don't always vote. If they show up in the general election, they'll be voting straight ticket.
John Nichols has become an idiot. His hatred for Hillary is so intense that he can't see reality.
He's far from alone. A friend asked me to highlight something. He said to note he's Black and he's tired of every criticism of Obama being read as racism. He made that point in a class we have on Tuesdays and Thursdays last week. Today, he stopped me and dug through his back pack for something he'd printed up. He goes, "It's Times of London." I said, don't worry about it. I told him I'd include whatever he wanted because he's getting really sick of the nonsense. I mean, he was frustrated last week and that was obvious when he was talking in class. He came over Friday night to the Iraq Study group and we probably talked for about an hour on this topic alone (after the study group). This is from Alice Miles' "Obama's detestable dirty tricks:"
The thin catalogue of complaints against the Clinton campaign from the Obama campaign were unfounded, manipulative and self-indulgent. At best they called into question the oversensitivity of Mr Obama, at worst they showed him willing to play a divisive race card that is damaging the entire Democratic Party and tarnishing a great and historic electoral contest for the centre Left. The whole episode has convinced me he isn't tough enough for the White House.
For since when has referring to somebody's past admitted drug use - if indeed the Clinton campaign ever intended to do that, which is far from clear - been a racial slur? More racist, I would say, to equate drugs with blacks, and that's what the Obama campaign is doing, not the Clinton one.
As for Mrs Clinton's statement that Martin Luther King's dream of racial equality was realised only when President Johnson managed to get the 1964 Civil Rights Act through Congress? No more than fact, surely; an attack on Mr Obama's lack of experience, certainly, but hardly a slur upon King. Mr Obama's campaign is twisting things so that a comment about any black man is a comment about him, just as any attack on him is an attack on all black people. I ask again: who is playing the race card here?
The thinnest and most whiny complaint of all was the one that insisted Bill Clinton was "racially insensitive" because he said that Mr Obama's claim to have been consistently against the Iraq war was a "fairytale". I cannot for the life of me see the potential racial slur in that. Even if, as the Obama camp has wildly contended, Mr Clinton meant to suggest that the story of Mr Obama's own candidacy was a fairytale, it still wouldn't be a racial slur. Many people think that it is a fairytale, in the nicest sense. As in a dream. Now who was it who once had one of those?
Who's my friend supporting? ABB -- Anybody But Barack. He doesn't think anyone who can't see that there are two (and more) Americas can see reality. If Cynthia McKinney gets the Green nomination and is on our state's ballot (I need to find that out, I told him I would) that's his first choice. After that? If he votes in the primary, he says he'll hold his nose and vote John Edwards if Edwards will show a spine. (I'm not joking about how young guys are making fun of John Edwards who acts like he's trying to get a proposal out of Barack Obama instead of like he's running against B.O. -- B.O. :D I just got that his initials are B.O.!)
So if you look at the news today, you'll see Condi Rice grinning and hailing the 'progress' in Iraq -- 3 US service members killed is apparently 'progress' to blood thirsty Condi. Maybe Bully Boy had a drinking game where he takes a shot every time a US service member dies? It would explain why he walks around looking drunk.
It's amazing how little anyone cares about Iraq. I should clarify that. I know a lot of people who care about it. It's amazing how little the press does.
Hey, that makes a good intro to C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Wednesday, January 16, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces more deaths, officials continue to be targeted and a look at the Green Party debate.
Starting with war resisters. Heather Wokusch (American Chronicle) notes war resistance in Germany. She notes Agustin Aguayo's resistance, Clifton Hicks and "John." We noted John when we noted Wokusch's article earlier. Hicks' story is told in depth in Peter Laufer's Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No to Iraq. Hicks would get his CO status after serving in Iraq (twice, his unit made it to Kuwait and were then sent back in instead of heading out of the Mid East as planned). Hicks shares this story with Laufer:
We heard a lot of gunfire up ahead and you could tell it wasn't just a couple AK-47s, it was some U.S. weapon firing back. We knew somebody was in a fight up there. We race ahead down the street and there's an 82 Airborne infantry platoon and they're all parked in their Humvees -- about four Humvees packed with guys. There's a house with the lights on and people are all around the place. There's a big fuss going on.
We pull up and we say, 'What's going on? We heard some shooting up here.' And they're like, 'Yeah, we got ambushed just now.' They started clearing buildings to find out who was firing at them. They kicked in this first door and there's a wedding party going on. What they do in Baghdad, when there's a wedding, they shoot into the air. These people were up on their roof, probably a little sauced up, happy there's a wedding, and I guess Grandpa is up on the roof shooting off his rifle at the same time as this 82nd patrol drives by and is engaged by insurgents from a field. They returned fire in both directions, and I think most of them returned fire on the wedding party. They returned fire on the wedding party and they shot three people, three people at a wedding party. Because somebody was shooting into the air to celebrate, these guys wanted to kill him.
The insurgents were fine, not a scrach on them. They made it just fine. The innocent people who were partying, just trying to celebrate a wedding, three of them had been shot. One man had been shot in the arm, a girl had been shot in the leg, and one younger girl who was about six was dead -- laying on the ground, dead. She was six years old, laying on the ground, face down, palms up, in a little flowery dress. She was stone dead. Mothers and women are all bawling and crying. The men are all standing in shock. We bandaged up the one guy. The one little girl was crying, she was maybe ten, shot in the leg. Everyone is sitting around like, 'Yeah, they f**king killed some little kid.' I'm like, 'What the f**k? That's pretty sh**ty.'
The 82nd called it up to their guys and their command said, 'Charlike Mike [military parlance for 'Continue the mission'], just keep going.' They packed up and drove off. So we just hopped in our humvees and we drove off too.
And that was the end of it. They applied first aid to the people who had been shot. The girl who was dead, they just left her there on the floor. We drove off and continued the mission.
War resisters have resisted in a number of ways throughout the Iraq War. That includes the ones who went to Canada seeking asylum. November 15th, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the appeals of war resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. Parliament is the solution.Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use. Both War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist are calling for actions from January 24-26. The War Resisters Support Campaign has more on the action in Canada:
The War Resisters Support Campaign has called a pan-Canadian mobilization on Saturday, January 26th, 2008 to ensure : 1) that deportation proceedings against U.S. war resisters currently in Canada cease immediately; and 2) that a provision be enacted by Parliament ensuring that U.S. war resisters refusing to fight in Iraq have a means to gain status in Canada. For listings of local actions, see our Events page. If you are able to organize a rally in your community, contact the Campaign -- we will list events as details come in.
Courage to Resist notes:
Join and support January 25 vigils and delegations in support of U.S. war resisters currently seeking sanctuary Canada. Actions are being planned in Washington D.C., New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Supporters will meet with officials at Canadian Consulates across the United States in order underscore that many Americans hope that the Canadian Parliament votes (possible as early as February) in favor of a provision to allow war resisters to remain. Download and distribute Jan. 25-26 action leaflet (PDF).Supporting the war resisters in Canada is a concrete way to demonstrate your support of the troops who refuse to fight. Help end the war by supporting the growing GI resistance movement today!
Details January 25-26 actions/events in support of U.S. war resisters.
Sign the letter "Dear Canada: Let U.S. War Resisters Stay!" and encourage others to sign.
Organize a delegation to a Canadian Consulate near you .
Host an event or house-party in support of war resisters.
Tomorrow (Thursday), Ann Wright (retired State Department, retired US Col.) will have an event for her new book Dissent: Voice of Conscience (Koa Books, out next week) that will benefit Courage to Resist's above campaign. She will be at Oakland's First Congressional Church on 2501 Harrison along with Daniel Ellsberg. Dissent: Voices of Conscience, written by Wright and Susan Dixon with an introduction by Ellsberg,
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, Clara 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. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
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
March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation.
Today James Glanz (New York Times) reveals that the White House's September 'progress' report to the US Congress was 'creative' and citing the spending by the puppet government in Baghdad as a 'progress'; however, "in its report on Tuesday the accountability office said official Iraqi Finance Ministry records showed that Iraq had spent only 4.4 percent of the reconstruction budget by August 2007. It also said that the rate of spending had substantially slowed from the previous year." Reality, Congress should have had their own reports ready and been willing to say to Petraues, Crocker and anyone else the White House sent before them, "That figure it not correct."
Congress' inability to do their job is obvious regarding the September 16, 2007 slaughter of Iraqis in Baghdad by the mercenaries of Baghdad. On Sunday, Lara Jakes Jordan and Matt Apuzzo (AP) reported that the investigation into the slaughter is now complicated because Blackwater had the vehicles in their convoy "repaired and repainted . . . immediately after". Eye witness testimony says Blackwater wasn't fired on (that's the lie the mercenary corporation originally put out) and now Blackwater's actions have resulted in more road blocks. Congress should have been asking about this when they held a hearing on Blackwater -- however, if you remember, they decided to take a pass on that. It wasn't their pass to take. They had Erik Prince before them, they should have at the bare minimum asked whether evidence was secured? They didn't do their job. Today James Risen and David Johnston (New York Times) report that the immunity deals the US State Department made with Blackwater employees (without Justice Department approval) as well as the variances in the law (which falls right back onto Congress and their inaction) have created "serious legal difficulties in pursuing criminal prosecutions of Blackwater security guards involved in a September shooting that left at least 17 Iraqis dead. In a private briefing in mid-December, officials from the Justice and State Departments met with aides to the House Judiciary Committee and other Congressional staff members and warned them that there were major legal obstacles that might prevent prosecution."
Yesterday, Thom Shanker (New York Times) reported that Iraq's defense minister Abdul Qadir has declared that US forces will still be in Iraq as late as 2018. This followed Suleiman al-Khalidi (Reuters) reporting Saturday that Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshiyar Zebari raving over how the one-on-one agreements that didn't require UN approval: "Iraq is in need of this U.S. presence but the period will be defined in the pact." The pact? The US and their puppet government in Baghdad have made a show of getting UN approval each year. The pact by-passes the UN. The pact also by-passes the Iraqi parliament which has voiced their objection and it by-passes the US Congress which expresses outrage when it remembers to. (The Constitution bars Bully Boy from forming this pact/treaty without Congress.) Citing Shanker's article, the New York Times' editorial blog (I did not make that up, "The Board"), maintains, "Mr. Qadir and his Iraqi government colleagues should be firmly disbused of such thinking. America must quickly organize an orderly withdrawal of troops, not wait for another decade." Earlier this week, Michael Evans (Times of London) reported, "The invasion of Iraq and the occupation of the country by US led multinational forces had been 'a terrible episode for everybody', a Foreign Office minister admitted yesterday. Lord Malloch-Brown, who has acquired a reputation for making controversial remarks in public, said 'a lot of people' had been lost, and no one could feel any sense of triumphalism." He is quoted stating: "We've lost a lot of people there. This is not something that there's triumphalism on any side. This is a terrible episode for everybody."
Yesterday, Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) noted another US collaborator was shot dead ('Awakening' Council leader for Khuthair Lafta) and "American helicopter gunships injured five civilians in Baladiyat" while AP reports that a convoy carrying "Midhat al-Mahmoud, president of the Supreme Judicial minister" killed 5 children it ran into "during a chaotic gunbattle with checkpoint guards" in Baghdad yesterday. In Monday's snapshot, this was noted: "Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Judge Amir Jawdat Al-na'ib ('member of the federal appeal court') was shot dead in Baghdad along with his driver today." Yesterday, Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Abeer Mohammed (New York Times) reported that he had been "in his 60s" and that, "The attack appeared to be part of a longstanding campaign by militants to kill doctors, professors, lawyers and other professionals." Ned Parker (Los Angeles Times) noted, "Many Iraqi judges and lawyers have been assassinated since 2003 as armed groups have sought to destroy the country's professional classes."
Turning to some of today's violence . . .
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing left six people wounded, an east Baghdad bombing claimed 2 lives and left ten others wounded, an "American army base in Shaab neighborhood north Baghdad" was attacked with mortar fire today, the Green Zone was attacked with mortar fire today, three Baghdad bombings on Palestine St. left three people wounded, a Kirkuk bombing left a police officer wounded, a woman blew herself up in Diyala and also took the lives of 8 other people with seven more injured and a Mosul car bombing left five people wounded. In the continued attacks on officials, Reuters notes a Sulaiman Pek truck bombing targeting the mayor -- he and three bodyguards were injured in the attack while a Dour car bombing targted and "wounded the head of the Iraqi-U.S. Joint Coordination Centre" as well as two of his bodyguards.
Shootings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports "clashes between the Iraqi army and gunmen" left six bystanders wounded in Mosul.
Kidnappings?
Reuters notes a police officer was kidnapped outside Tuz Khurmato Tuesday night and that "a university student" was killed in the same apparent action.
Corpses?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 5 corpses were discovered in Baghdad and 1 in Khurmato.
Today the US military announced: "Three Multi-National -- North Soldiers were killed by small arms fire while conducting operations in Salah ad Din province Jan. 16. Additionally, two other Soldiers were wounded and evacuated to a Coalition hospital."
In the US, the search continues for Cesar Laurean who is suspected of killing Maria Laterbach who was due to testify against him -- to testify that he raped her. Maria disappeared in mid-December. The body found behind Cesar Laurean's home (in the 'burn pit') has been identified as Maria's. R. Gregg (Raleigh Chronicle) reports, "On Tuesday, during a nationally televised press conference, Onslow County District Attorney George Dewey Hudson, Jr. announced that Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach died of 'blunt force trauma' to the head." The US military knew of the rape charges in April when Maria made them. Yesterday, they began feeding the press (and some swallowed) that it wasn't really their fault because Maria said she didn't feel she was in danger. That claim may or may not be backed up but that does not push the burden off on the victim -- the US military had a responsible to do their jobs in a timely manner. They didn't. David Schoetz (ABC News) reports that spokesperson for the Marine Corps planned "to address the rape allegations Lautherbach had made against Laurean and how that information was handled after the woman was reported missing by her family Dec. 19 and her military status was changed to 'unauthorized absence'."
Turning to US politics. The Green Party held a debate in San Francisco Sunday with Cindy Sheehan and Matt Gonzalez moderating. Appearing were Cynthia McKinney, Kat Swift, Kent Mesplay, Jesse Johnson, Jared Ball and Ralph Nader. We'll note Cindy Sheehan is not only the Peace Mom, she's also running for the US Congress from California's 8th district and she is the only candidate running for office in 2008 that I am endorsing. As the debate continued, not unlike many Democratic debates and 'debates,' Iraq wasn't even noted.
Larry Bensky: It's distressing to me that we're about an hour into this program and the issue I'm about to bring up has been mentioned only in passing and not very much. I wonder if each of you would address how, if you are the nominee of the Green Party, you would speak to the American people to raise their awareness about what is going on with our tax dollars and the blood and psyches of our military in Iraq? And what you would do to stop it?
Here are the responses to Bensky's question.
Kent Mesplay: In my opening speech I had to gloss over my, of course, obvious disapproval of the war in Iraq, that it was a mistake. Our troops didn't make the mistake, I think, support our troops, impeach the president before he finds whatever specieous reasons are necessary to start another war. And really . . . there is no simple solution other than demanding immediate, unconditional withdrawal from Iraq.
Cynthia McKinney: I agree that we ought to demand immediate withdrawal from Iraq. I voted for that when I was in Congress. One of I think three people. But the problem is not just Iraq. The problem is the militaristic turn that our foreign policy has taken. And so I wouldn't just say "Bring the troops home from Iraq," I would say, "Bring them home period -- from all over the world." And then the second part of it is because the Congress is so powerful, we have to people who will run for Congress on a peace agenda, a peace platform. That's why it's so important that we have people like Cindy Sheehan running for Congress because she shows us the power of individuals, the power of one woman willing to take a stand. And we all have that power, we just have to recognize it and do it.
Kat Smith: Well talking to the masses about how their tax dollars can be spent is really simple, you just put out the figures and show people and once they see the numbers, they understand it. As far as -- we also need to talk about the reallocation of monies to take care of war veterans. I mean, homelessness after Vietnam spiked dramatically and we're already seeing the homelessness with Iraqi veterans starting to spike. And there are very few mental health services for veterans in this country and VA benefits are decreasing daily. And I work with homeless services and we're seeing a lot more vets come in and I'm also in San Antonio [Texas] where a lot of the hospitals are so, you know, we see a lot of this. But it's really simple to talk to the masses about how their tax dollars are spent when you show them the figures -- like Cynthia mentioned some of them -- when people see this, they're like "Well, what's going on?" and you just have to talk to them about changing it.
Jesse Johnson: We step away from this disaster capitalism that we're investing in in this nation. As I said, we dimilitarize the economy. We immediately withdrawal. Frankly, the Constitution states clearly that we're not supposed to have a standing army to begin with. We're not supposed to be traipsing around trying to police the entire world. The veterans are a huge issue. The very moment that we were marching into Baghdad this last time -- and frankly, we've been at war in Baghdad, as far as the peopl of Baghdad, for 16 years -- whether it was the first Gulf War, whether it was the embargos taking place that harmed only women, children and the elderly and the infirmed. Or this last illegal, immoral conflict
And ultimately, finally, without question, we hold the war profiteering perpetrators to task for what they have done and, as I said before in regards to what impeachment states in the Constitution, we all need to remember it and the audience participation is out there.
That's four. Nader spoke at the end and didn't take part in the debate (spoke for seven minutes). Jared Ball? Ball endorsed McKinney so presumably he dropped out. Had that not happened, we wouldn't waste our time on him in the snapshot. (A full transcript of the entire debate ran in Hilda's Mix Tuesday.) Why not? Larry Bensky asked about the Iraq War. Bell decided to name check his own organization and organizations he belonged to, decided to mention this and that and everything except the Iraq War. Bensky's question was very clear: how would you increase awareness of the costs of the illegal war and how would you stop it. I don't think there was anything confusing about that question. We don't have time for nonsense. Candidates linked to above either regularly address the Iraq War or at least note it at their website.
Note to the Green Party, you had a debate on Sunday. It is now Wednesday. You should have already issued a press release post-event. Already Grist magazine has posted their pooh-pah commentary. More will be coming. The Green Party needs to get their own opinion out there. Amanda Witherell (San Francisco Bay Guardian) points out Sunday's debate was "their only planned debate" and notes Nader has stated he hasn't decided yet whether he will run for the nominated or not but "I'll be deciding within the next months."
Links to video segments can be found here. For those who would like to hear it, KPFA has it archived. Host/MC Allison is, of course, co-author with David Solnit of Army Of None.
This Friday the Peace and Freedom Party debate will be broadcast on KPFA at noon PST.
the common ills
mikey likes it
iraq
heather wokuschagustin aguayo
peter laufer
kpfalarry bensky
army of noneaimeee allisondavid solnit
the new york timesjames glanz
james risen
david johnston
thom shanker
richard a. oppel jr.steve lannenmcclatchy newspapers
ned parkerlos angeles times
Here's what he writes today (well, with help from the Obama campaign):
With most of the ballots counted, the New York senator was winning uninspiring 55 percent of the Democratic primary vote.
A remarkable 40 percent of Michiganders who participated in the primary voted for nobody, marking the "Uncommitted" option on their ballots. Another 4 percent backed Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who brought his anti-war, anti-corporate campaign to Michigan and made some inroads among Muslim voters in the Detroit area and liberals in Washtenaw County -- where he was taking almost 10 percent.
But "Uncommitted" was Clinton's most serious challenger in Michigan.
What the little liar leaves out?
1) Michagan Democrats are PISSED. The DNC is threatening not to seat their delegates. Some Dems voted in the GOP primary as a result. (As some are considering doing in Florida.)
2) Barack Obama and John Edwards asked their supporters to vote "Uncommitted." That is the same amount of campaigning Hillary did. (She didn't campaign in Michigan.)
3) 55% (55.4% actually) is a huge win for Clinton. It's a bigger win than in any state thus far. It happened despite the same-sex ticket of Bambi and Johnny (JOBAMA) working to upset Hillary. Neither man can do a thing by themselves so you picture them, hand in hand, skipping down a daisy trail. No doubt John Nichols is following on their heels, hoping to see a little action.
Or maybe just hoping to catch the glints of sunshine off Bambi's teeth and Johnny's lucious locks.
4) The biggest wuss in the world is John Nichols who preaches that he's for the people but refused to come to the aid of Michigan voters. He refused to call out the DNC and support Democratic voters in a state. He proved he was all about the top-down politics. He's a coward and a fool.
5) He may be idiot of the week but I have a feeling last week's idiot will be back to spin this and when he does, I will crucify him. Otherwise, Johnny Five-Cents will be my pick for idiot of the week.
Johnny Five-Cents' crack is bad conventional wisdom. As C.I. explained in "Roundtable" Sunday, your issue in a Democratic primary is not how many independents came to vote! That's really not helping the Democratic Party in a general election. Bambi does pull in the 'independents' and 'swing voters.' Bambi at the top of the ticket means Congress goes up for grabs. The people Hillary's turning out for primaries are Dems who don't always vote. If they show up in the general election, they'll be voting straight ticket.
John Nichols has become an idiot. His hatred for Hillary is so intense that he can't see reality.
He's far from alone. A friend asked me to highlight something. He said to note he's Black and he's tired of every criticism of Obama being read as racism. He made that point in a class we have on Tuesdays and Thursdays last week. Today, he stopped me and dug through his back pack for something he'd printed up. He goes, "It's Times of London." I said, don't worry about it. I told him I'd include whatever he wanted because he's getting really sick of the nonsense. I mean, he was frustrated last week and that was obvious when he was talking in class. He came over Friday night to the Iraq Study group and we probably talked for about an hour on this topic alone (after the study group). This is from Alice Miles' "Obama's detestable dirty tricks:"
The thin catalogue of complaints against the Clinton campaign from the Obama campaign were unfounded, manipulative and self-indulgent. At best they called into question the oversensitivity of Mr Obama, at worst they showed him willing to play a divisive race card that is damaging the entire Democratic Party and tarnishing a great and historic electoral contest for the centre Left. The whole episode has convinced me he isn't tough enough for the White House.
For since when has referring to somebody's past admitted drug use - if indeed the Clinton campaign ever intended to do that, which is far from clear - been a racial slur? More racist, I would say, to equate drugs with blacks, and that's what the Obama campaign is doing, not the Clinton one.
As for Mrs Clinton's statement that Martin Luther King's dream of racial equality was realised only when President Johnson managed to get the 1964 Civil Rights Act through Congress? No more than fact, surely; an attack on Mr Obama's lack of experience, certainly, but hardly a slur upon King. Mr Obama's campaign is twisting things so that a comment about any black man is a comment about him, just as any attack on him is an attack on all black people. I ask again: who is playing the race card here?
The thinnest and most whiny complaint of all was the one that insisted Bill Clinton was "racially insensitive" because he said that Mr Obama's claim to have been consistently against the Iraq war was a "fairytale". I cannot for the life of me see the potential racial slur in that. Even if, as the Obama camp has wildly contended, Mr Clinton meant to suggest that the story of Mr Obama's own candidacy was a fairytale, it still wouldn't be a racial slur. Many people think that it is a fairytale, in the nicest sense. As in a dream. Now who was it who once had one of those?
Who's my friend supporting? ABB -- Anybody But Barack. He doesn't think anyone who can't see that there are two (and more) Americas can see reality. If Cynthia McKinney gets the Green nomination and is on our state's ballot (I need to find that out, I told him I would) that's his first choice. After that? If he votes in the primary, he says he'll hold his nose and vote John Edwards if Edwards will show a spine. (I'm not joking about how young guys are making fun of John Edwards who acts like he's trying to get a proposal out of Barack Obama instead of like he's running against B.O. -- B.O. :D I just got that his initials are B.O.!)
So if you look at the news today, you'll see Condi Rice grinning and hailing the 'progress' in Iraq -- 3 US service members killed is apparently 'progress' to blood thirsty Condi. Maybe Bully Boy had a drinking game where he takes a shot every time a US service member dies? It would explain why he walks around looking drunk.
It's amazing how little anyone cares about Iraq. I should clarify that. I know a lot of people who care about it. It's amazing how little the press does.
Hey, that makes a good intro to C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Wednesday, January 16, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces more deaths, officials continue to be targeted and a look at the Green Party debate.
Starting with war resisters. Heather Wokusch (American Chronicle) notes war resistance in Germany. She notes Agustin Aguayo's resistance, Clifton Hicks and "John." We noted John when we noted Wokusch's article earlier. Hicks' story is told in depth in Peter Laufer's Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No to Iraq. Hicks would get his CO status after serving in Iraq (twice, his unit made it to Kuwait and were then sent back in instead of heading out of the Mid East as planned). Hicks shares this story with Laufer:
We heard a lot of gunfire up ahead and you could tell it wasn't just a couple AK-47s, it was some U.S. weapon firing back. We knew somebody was in a fight up there. We race ahead down the street and there's an 82 Airborne infantry platoon and they're all parked in their Humvees -- about four Humvees packed with guys. There's a house with the lights on and people are all around the place. There's a big fuss going on.
We pull up and we say, 'What's going on? We heard some shooting up here.' And they're like, 'Yeah, we got ambushed just now.' They started clearing buildings to find out who was firing at them. They kicked in this first door and there's a wedding party going on. What they do in Baghdad, when there's a wedding, they shoot into the air. These people were up on their roof, probably a little sauced up, happy there's a wedding, and I guess Grandpa is up on the roof shooting off his rifle at the same time as this 82nd patrol drives by and is engaged by insurgents from a field. They returned fire in both directions, and I think most of them returned fire on the wedding party. They returned fire on the wedding party and they shot three people, three people at a wedding party. Because somebody was shooting into the air to celebrate, these guys wanted to kill him.
The insurgents were fine, not a scrach on them. They made it just fine. The innocent people who were partying, just trying to celebrate a wedding, three of them had been shot. One man had been shot in the arm, a girl had been shot in the leg, and one younger girl who was about six was dead -- laying on the ground, dead. She was six years old, laying on the ground, face down, palms up, in a little flowery dress. She was stone dead. Mothers and women are all bawling and crying. The men are all standing in shock. We bandaged up the one guy. The one little girl was crying, she was maybe ten, shot in the leg. Everyone is sitting around like, 'Yeah, they f**king killed some little kid.' I'm like, 'What the f**k? That's pretty sh**ty.'
The 82nd called it up to their guys and their command said, 'Charlike Mike [military parlance for 'Continue the mission'], just keep going.' They packed up and drove off. So we just hopped in our humvees and we drove off too.
And that was the end of it. They applied first aid to the people who had been shot. The girl who was dead, they just left her there on the floor. We drove off and continued the mission.
War resisters have resisted in a number of ways throughout the Iraq War. That includes the ones who went to Canada seeking asylum. November 15th, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the appeals of war resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. Parliament is the solution.Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use. Both War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist are calling for actions from January 24-26. The War Resisters Support Campaign has more on the action in Canada:
The War Resisters Support Campaign has called a pan-Canadian mobilization on Saturday, January 26th, 2008 to ensure : 1) that deportation proceedings against U.S. war resisters currently in Canada cease immediately; and 2) that a provision be enacted by Parliament ensuring that U.S. war resisters refusing to fight in Iraq have a means to gain status in Canada. For listings of local actions, see our Events page. If you are able to organize a rally in your community, contact the Campaign -- we will list events as details come in.
Courage to Resist notes:
Join and support January 25 vigils and delegations in support of U.S. war resisters currently seeking sanctuary Canada. Actions are being planned in Washington D.C., New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Supporters will meet with officials at Canadian Consulates across the United States in order underscore that many Americans hope that the Canadian Parliament votes (possible as early as February) in favor of a provision to allow war resisters to remain. Download and distribute Jan. 25-26 action leaflet (PDF).Supporting the war resisters in Canada is a concrete way to demonstrate your support of the troops who refuse to fight. Help end the war by supporting the growing GI resistance movement today!
Details January 25-26 actions/events in support of U.S. war resisters.
Sign the letter "Dear Canada: Let U.S. War Resisters Stay!" and encourage others to sign.
Organize a delegation to a Canadian Consulate near you .
Host an event or house-party in support of war resisters.
Tomorrow (Thursday), Ann Wright (retired State Department, retired US Col.) will have an event for her new book Dissent: Voice of Conscience (Koa Books, out next week) that will benefit Courage to Resist's above campaign. She will be at Oakland's First Congressional Church on 2501 Harrison along with Daniel Ellsberg. Dissent: Voices of Conscience, written by Wright and Susan Dixon with an introduction by Ellsberg,
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, Clara 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. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
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
March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation.
Today James Glanz (New York Times) reveals that the White House's September 'progress' report to the US Congress was 'creative' and citing the spending by the puppet government in Baghdad as a 'progress'; however, "in its report on Tuesday the accountability office said official Iraqi Finance Ministry records showed that Iraq had spent only 4.4 percent of the reconstruction budget by August 2007. It also said that the rate of spending had substantially slowed from the previous year." Reality, Congress should have had their own reports ready and been willing to say to Petraues, Crocker and anyone else the White House sent before them, "That figure it not correct."
Congress' inability to do their job is obvious regarding the September 16, 2007 slaughter of Iraqis in Baghdad by the mercenaries of Baghdad. On Sunday, Lara Jakes Jordan and Matt Apuzzo (AP) reported that the investigation into the slaughter is now complicated because Blackwater had the vehicles in their convoy "repaired and repainted . . . immediately after". Eye witness testimony says Blackwater wasn't fired on (that's the lie the mercenary corporation originally put out) and now Blackwater's actions have resulted in more road blocks. Congress should have been asking about this when they held a hearing on Blackwater -- however, if you remember, they decided to take a pass on that. It wasn't their pass to take. They had Erik Prince before them, they should have at the bare minimum asked whether evidence was secured? They didn't do their job. Today James Risen and David Johnston (New York Times) report that the immunity deals the US State Department made with Blackwater employees (without Justice Department approval) as well as the variances in the law (which falls right back onto Congress and their inaction) have created "serious legal difficulties in pursuing criminal prosecutions of Blackwater security guards involved in a September shooting that left at least 17 Iraqis dead. In a private briefing in mid-December, officials from the Justice and State Departments met with aides to the House Judiciary Committee and other Congressional staff members and warned them that there were major legal obstacles that might prevent prosecution."
Yesterday, Thom Shanker (New York Times) reported that Iraq's defense minister Abdul Qadir has declared that US forces will still be in Iraq as late as 2018. This followed Suleiman al-Khalidi (Reuters) reporting Saturday that Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshiyar Zebari raving over how the one-on-one agreements that didn't require UN approval: "Iraq is in need of this U.S. presence but the period will be defined in the pact." The pact? The US and their puppet government in Baghdad have made a show of getting UN approval each year. The pact by-passes the UN. The pact also by-passes the Iraqi parliament which has voiced their objection and it by-passes the US Congress which expresses outrage when it remembers to. (The Constitution bars Bully Boy from forming this pact/treaty without Congress.) Citing Shanker's article, the New York Times' editorial blog (I did not make that up, "The Board"), maintains, "Mr. Qadir and his Iraqi government colleagues should be firmly disbused of such thinking. America must quickly organize an orderly withdrawal of troops, not wait for another decade." Earlier this week, Michael Evans (Times of London) reported, "The invasion of Iraq and the occupation of the country by US led multinational forces had been 'a terrible episode for everybody', a Foreign Office minister admitted yesterday. Lord Malloch-Brown, who has acquired a reputation for making controversial remarks in public, said 'a lot of people' had been lost, and no one could feel any sense of triumphalism." He is quoted stating: "We've lost a lot of people there. This is not something that there's triumphalism on any side. This is a terrible episode for everybody."
Yesterday, Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) noted another US collaborator was shot dead ('Awakening' Council leader for Khuthair Lafta) and "American helicopter gunships injured five civilians in Baladiyat" while AP reports that a convoy carrying "Midhat al-Mahmoud, president of the Supreme Judicial minister" killed 5 children it ran into "during a chaotic gunbattle with checkpoint guards" in Baghdad yesterday. In Monday's snapshot, this was noted: "Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Judge Amir Jawdat Al-na'ib ('member of the federal appeal court') was shot dead in Baghdad along with his driver today." Yesterday, Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Abeer Mohammed (New York Times) reported that he had been "in his 60s" and that, "The attack appeared to be part of a longstanding campaign by militants to kill doctors, professors, lawyers and other professionals." Ned Parker (Los Angeles Times) noted, "Many Iraqi judges and lawyers have been assassinated since 2003 as armed groups have sought to destroy the country's professional classes."
Turning to some of today's violence . . .
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing left six people wounded, an east Baghdad bombing claimed 2 lives and left ten others wounded, an "American army base in Shaab neighborhood north Baghdad" was attacked with mortar fire today, the Green Zone was attacked with mortar fire today, three Baghdad bombings on Palestine St. left three people wounded, a Kirkuk bombing left a police officer wounded, a woman blew herself up in Diyala and also took the lives of 8 other people with seven more injured and a Mosul car bombing left five people wounded. In the continued attacks on officials, Reuters notes a Sulaiman Pek truck bombing targeting the mayor -- he and three bodyguards were injured in the attack while a Dour car bombing targted and "wounded the head of the Iraqi-U.S. Joint Coordination Centre" as well as two of his bodyguards.
Shootings?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports "clashes between the Iraqi army and gunmen" left six bystanders wounded in Mosul.
Kidnappings?
Reuters notes a police officer was kidnapped outside Tuz Khurmato Tuesday night and that "a university student" was killed in the same apparent action.
Corpses?
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 5 corpses were discovered in Baghdad and 1 in Khurmato.
Today the US military announced: "Three Multi-National -- North Soldiers were killed by small arms fire while conducting operations in Salah ad Din province Jan. 16. Additionally, two other Soldiers were wounded and evacuated to a Coalition hospital."
In the US, the search continues for Cesar Laurean who is suspected of killing Maria Laterbach who was due to testify against him -- to testify that he raped her. Maria disappeared in mid-December. The body found behind Cesar Laurean's home (in the 'burn pit') has been identified as Maria's. R. Gregg (Raleigh Chronicle) reports, "On Tuesday, during a nationally televised press conference, Onslow County District Attorney George Dewey Hudson, Jr. announced that Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach died of 'blunt force trauma' to the head." The US military knew of the rape charges in April when Maria made them. Yesterday, they began feeding the press (and some swallowed) that it wasn't really their fault because Maria said she didn't feel she was in danger. That claim may or may not be backed up but that does not push the burden off on the victim -- the US military had a responsible to do their jobs in a timely manner. They didn't. David Schoetz (ABC News) reports that spokesperson for the Marine Corps planned "to address the rape allegations Lautherbach had made against Laurean and how that information was handled after the woman was reported missing by her family Dec. 19 and her military status was changed to 'unauthorized absence'."
Turning to US politics. The Green Party held a debate in San Francisco Sunday with Cindy Sheehan and Matt Gonzalez moderating. Appearing were Cynthia McKinney, Kat Swift, Kent Mesplay, Jesse Johnson, Jared Ball and Ralph Nader. We'll note Cindy Sheehan is not only the Peace Mom, she's also running for the US Congress from California's 8th district and she is the only candidate running for office in 2008 that I am endorsing. As the debate continued, not unlike many Democratic debates and 'debates,' Iraq wasn't even noted.
Larry Bensky: It's distressing to me that we're about an hour into this program and the issue I'm about to bring up has been mentioned only in passing and not very much. I wonder if each of you would address how, if you are the nominee of the Green Party, you would speak to the American people to raise their awareness about what is going on with our tax dollars and the blood and psyches of our military in Iraq? And what you would do to stop it?
Here are the responses to Bensky's question.
Kent Mesplay: In my opening speech I had to gloss over my, of course, obvious disapproval of the war in Iraq, that it was a mistake. Our troops didn't make the mistake, I think, support our troops, impeach the president before he finds whatever specieous reasons are necessary to start another war. And really . . . there is no simple solution other than demanding immediate, unconditional withdrawal from Iraq.
Cynthia McKinney: I agree that we ought to demand immediate withdrawal from Iraq. I voted for that when I was in Congress. One of I think three people. But the problem is not just Iraq. The problem is the militaristic turn that our foreign policy has taken. And so I wouldn't just say "Bring the troops home from Iraq," I would say, "Bring them home period -- from all over the world." And then the second part of it is because the Congress is so powerful, we have to people who will run for Congress on a peace agenda, a peace platform. That's why it's so important that we have people like Cindy Sheehan running for Congress because she shows us the power of individuals, the power of one woman willing to take a stand. And we all have that power, we just have to recognize it and do it.
Kat Smith: Well talking to the masses about how their tax dollars can be spent is really simple, you just put out the figures and show people and once they see the numbers, they understand it. As far as -- we also need to talk about the reallocation of monies to take care of war veterans. I mean, homelessness after Vietnam spiked dramatically and we're already seeing the homelessness with Iraqi veterans starting to spike. And there are very few mental health services for veterans in this country and VA benefits are decreasing daily. And I work with homeless services and we're seeing a lot more vets come in and I'm also in San Antonio [Texas] where a lot of the hospitals are so, you know, we see a lot of this. But it's really simple to talk to the masses about how their tax dollars are spent when you show them the figures -- like Cynthia mentioned some of them -- when people see this, they're like "Well, what's going on?" and you just have to talk to them about changing it.
Jesse Johnson: We step away from this disaster capitalism that we're investing in in this nation. As I said, we dimilitarize the economy. We immediately withdrawal. Frankly, the Constitution states clearly that we're not supposed to have a standing army to begin with. We're not supposed to be traipsing around trying to police the entire world. The veterans are a huge issue. The very moment that we were marching into Baghdad this last time -- and frankly, we've been at war in Baghdad, as far as the peopl of Baghdad, for 16 years -- whether it was the first Gulf War, whether it was the embargos taking place that harmed only women, children and the elderly and the infirmed. Or this last illegal, immoral conflict
And ultimately, finally, without question, we hold the war profiteering perpetrators to task for what they have done and, as I said before in regards to what impeachment states in the Constitution, we all need to remember it and the audience participation is out there.
That's four. Nader spoke at the end and didn't take part in the debate (spoke for seven minutes). Jared Ball? Ball endorsed McKinney so presumably he dropped out. Had that not happened, we wouldn't waste our time on him in the snapshot. (A full transcript of the entire debate ran in Hilda's Mix Tuesday.) Why not? Larry Bensky asked about the Iraq War. Bell decided to name check his own organization and organizations he belonged to, decided to mention this and that and everything except the Iraq War. Bensky's question was very clear: how would you increase awareness of the costs of the illegal war and how would you stop it. I don't think there was anything confusing about that question. We don't have time for nonsense. Candidates linked to above either regularly address the Iraq War or at least note it at their website.
Note to the Green Party, you had a debate on Sunday. It is now Wednesday. You should have already issued a press release post-event. Already Grist magazine has posted their pooh-pah commentary. More will be coming. The Green Party needs to get their own opinion out there. Amanda Witherell (San Francisco Bay Guardian) points out Sunday's debate was "their only planned debate" and notes Nader has stated he hasn't decided yet whether he will run for the nominated or not but "I'll be deciding within the next months."
Links to video segments can be found here. For those who would like to hear it, KPFA has it archived. Host/MC Allison is, of course, co-author with David Solnit of Army Of None.
This Friday the Peace and Freedom Party debate will be broadcast on KPFA at noon PST.
the common ills
mikey likes it
iraq
heather wokuschagustin aguayo
peter laufer
kpfalarry bensky
army of noneaimeee allisondavid solnit
the new york timesjames glanz
james risen
david johnston
thom shanker
richard a. oppel jr.steve lannenmcclatchy newspapers
ned parkerlos angeles times
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