Tuesday. And it seems hotter than it was yesterday. I don't think I can remember a hotter summer. Thanks for Global Warming, Big Business. A lot going on today, so let's get started.
First off, as noted in the snapshot, Alberto Gonzales is in Iraq to teach Iraqis about the law. Are you done laughing yet? Good. This is from the Center for Constitutional Rights' "FEDERAL JUDGE REJECTS BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S EFFORT TO CONFISCATE LAWYER'S PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATIONS WITH GITMO DETAINEES:"
On August 28, 2006, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied the government's request for a 'filter team' to review papers seized from detainees at Guantánamo late yesterday. The Administration had requested that the court authorize the seizure and establish procedures for their review. Judge Richard Leon rejected the government's motion. In strong language, the court stated that any further review of potentially privileged material by the government comes "at their own legal peril."
If the Administration continues to deny full protection for the privileged communications between detainees and their counsel, the Center for Constitutional Rights believes "legal peril" could include contempt and disciplinary actions against government lawyers. CCR attorney Gitanjali Gutierrez, who coordinates CCR's defense of the Guantánamo detainees, hailed the decision: "With its ruling, the Court has thoroughly rejected the Administration's attempt to confiscate all of the papers of those detained at Guantánamo without judicial authorization. The court turned back an unprecedented invasion of attorney-client privilege."
After three detainees committed suicide in June 2006, the government confiscated 1100 pounds of papers belonging to those detained at Guantánamo. These documents included privileged attorney-client communications. Despite this blatant invasion of privileged attorney client-communications, neither the Court nor counsel was given advance notice of the seizure. Attorneys only learned of the seizure through their clients, and it was only confirmed nearly a month later in papers filed by the government. While the Bush Administration initially claimed it had reviewed the papers of only 11 detainees, it later acknowledged reviewing the papers of 155 prisoners prior to notifying the court.
In reaction to the decision, CCR Legal Director Bill Goodman said: "Again and again, the Executive has sought to evade judicial scrutiny of its unlawful conduct. This is only the most recent reminder that it can not continually ignore the rule of law."
Alberto Gonzales who wants to pry into lawyer-client communication is in Iraq trying to teach them about the rule of law. I'll stop a minute and wait for you to stop laughing.
This morning, C.I. noted the American military fatality count in Iraq in "Chaos and violence continue in Iraq" and it stood 53. Guess what it's at now? 60. Now let's drop back to Thursday when C.I. did "And the war drags on" -- 2619 since the illegal invasion. Right now? 2637. Where the hell is the damn coverage? Not on Democracy When. Never on Democracy When. Democracy When took a look at Iraq, shrugged and had to go chase down something else.
Where is the coverage? How many Iraqis have to die (69 on Sunday) and how many Americans before independent media decides, "Hey, we're interested again?"
This is the war the US administration started. Must be great to be the vacationing Bully Boy and not have your feet to the fire over all the fatalities. Must be great to just coast around from photo-op to photo-op. Well they're all focused on Katrina this week, the anniversary. You know independent media can only juggle one damn story at a time. So maybe in March, on the anniversary, we can get some indy coverage. Of course all the millions turning out for that will have to share with the Send the Marines to Darfur Nuts, like they did last year when Amy Goodman reduced citizen protests to headlines and treated the millions protestsing the war as equivalent to the hundreds showing up (after they met with Bully Boy) to plea for the US military to go into Darfur.
How many days do they think we'll put up with of their nonsense, of their bullshit, of their ignoring Iraq?
They should all be ashamed. They're worse than big media. Big media's pushed it to the back of the papers but they've still got it covered. They don't even want to talk about the war in Iraq anymore.
They are the JUDY MILLERS now. That's who they are. They're the Judy Millers. They slammed her, they made fun of her and they were so POMPOUS and FULL OF THEMSELVES about how they would have done it differently and just give every dime and dollar you can scrape together and build their media, build it up, and you'll never again have to suffer through the media that runs from story to story.
What a joke. Independent media is a joke. It's a sick little joke, but it's a joke.
Shame on them all. Shame on Amy Goodman most of all. She had a lot to say about Judy Miller. But what's Amy Goodman done in the last few months? Shoved Iraq aside. Stopped addressing it. Her, "Here are 20 headlines and five or four are about Iraq" doesn't cut it. That's not coverage. She's a joke. Ha-ha. She should be ashamed. I hope her new book flops. I really do. I belived what she put in the last one. I thought it was for real. That someone really cared about ending the war but 2006 showed that wasn't the case.
I was a huge believer and a huge fan. Bet Judy Miller had some believers and fans once too.
So again, the lesson is you can't trust the media. They'll talk a good game, especially if they're begging for money, but they won't do shit. First chance they get, all the money they begged you for while telling you that only from them could you get unembedded coverage and discussions of Iraq, they'll take your money. Then they'll turn their programs into Look What Israel's Done Now! and have you scratching your head? You'll be saying, "I thought I was in Boston, but I guess I'm in Beruit. I must be since that's the only story independent media cares about."
Guess they'll have to push that when they start their next round of fundraising. "If you care about what your government is doing in Iraq . . . go to NPR. But if you want to know every detail, day after day, about Israel, then give $20, give $30, give $150! Support indymedia because there are many stories that we want to give you wall to wall coverage on and we're not interested in covering the US government at all. If you want to know about the war in Iraq, go to mainstream media. But we are independent media . . . Your last chance of getting every detail about Israel. Give, give generously. Support indymedia. Support free speech. Our free speech, not yours. Because you're interested in Iraq and we're not. We're bored with it. It's lasted too long and we're busy with other things. We're full of shit. Give us all your money. Draw up a will so we can benefit when you die. We treat you like your dead already by ignoring the war that your government started, the war the continues, the war that is killing Iraqis. Give us your money. Give us your money and buy my book and get the word out on my show because it's not about Iraq, it's all about me, me, me!"
I'm with Rebecca, don't give them another dime. They don't deserve it. They lied. That's the reality. They showed up during the pledge drive promising coverage of Iraq. People gave the money and they didn't follow up. They are LIARS. Don't give a damn dime.
After the pledge cycle, they'll probably wall to wall it on Darfur. They're not telling you any truths, they're just booking their friends on their shows to talk about the pet topics like Israel and Darfur. In fact, Dad pointed out that it was awfully funny that when Sammy Power wrote her article for The Nation, she plugged some students without noting her own relationship to them. That's called free advertising. It's not called disclosure. It's not called honesty.
So stop supporting the LIARS. Use your money, your hard earned money, to support your own activities. We spend on our get togethers on Friday where we discuss Iraq. That makes more sense than giving it to Amy Goodman who doesn't even know Iraq exists anymore. If you're happy with the way they ignored Cindy Sheehan and Ehren Watada, week after week, by all means open your wallets. If you think they should be taken to the woodshed for that, don't give them anything.
Don't give them a damn dime. None of 'em. They promised Iraq coverage and then they dropped it. They wanted to push Mexico, remember that, the election? They were going to change the world. Then they wanted to change the world on Israel as though Bully Boy or Israel was going to listen to anyone. And you can be damn sure they'll be pushing Darfur.
A little less changing the world and a little more informing would have helped America.
They're not reporting. They're not even having an open discussion. They bring on the Sammy Power crowd to talk about Darfur and act like you got informed. As though everyone on the left agrees with Sammy Power. They don't. Keith Harmon Snow doesn't, Joshua Frank doesn't, Sara Flounders doesn't. Lots of people aren't screaming for the US military to be sent into Darfur. But you wouldn't know that from who Amy Goodman brings on to give that one-sided discussion and act like she's informed an audience.
Sammy Power slimed Noam Chomsky. It's surprising that, after that, Amy Goodman wants to hop on board the Sammy Power Military Express.
But I'm getting beyond my ability to be surprised by Amy Goodman. It's just a consistent strain of digust now. (And this responds to Rebecca's question in "call it like you see it" last night.)
You know where you're going after the snapshot, right? Over to Like Maria Said Paz to read Elaine! And you should also check out Cedric's "Noel, who's not in the US military, wants to send them to fight his war"
Now C.I.'s covering a lot but mainly trying to walk through Jake Kovco because there were big developments today. And I had to ask Dad, "What's a hard-on with a briefcase?" :D He said it's mob talk for a lawyer. So I just explained a joke to you. Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
August 29, 2006, chaos and violence continue in Iraq -- and Alberto Gonzales only just got there, the AFP is reporting a peace deal with one militia group, Camp Democracy gears up for the September 5th opening, and, in Australia, Soldier 14 is asked if he shot Jake Kovco.
Starting in Iraq, the AFP reports that the Madhi Army forces have agreed to some sort of peace deal (that's one out of countless groups) and that "a few hours after a peace deal was reached" 74 were dead from a pipeline explosion. The explosion was not caused by Alberto Gonzales (at least not as far as anyone knows), however he is in Iraq and, CNN reports, he intends to impart the importance of "rule of law" to Iraqis who, hopefully, will turn around and teach him a few things about "rule of law" since his actions as US Attorney General and, earlier, as Bully Boy's "hard-on with a suitcase," would indicate the concept confuses him greatly.
Gangsta' Gonzales should feel right at home in Iraq amidst the chaos and violence.
Bombings?
Reuters notes that five people were wounded by mortar rounds in Baghdad and that, in Kirkuk, a roadside bomb claimed the life of a police officer and wounded nine people.
Shootings?
Reuters reports that, in Baquba, "[f]ifteen people were gunned down"; a bakery worker was shot to death in Baiji with another one wounded; a civilian was shot in Mosul; and an attack (by "gunmen") an office of Moqtada al-Sadr left two bodyguards dead and five wounded. AP notes that the office was attacked with more than guns ("three mortar shells, two rocket-propelled grenades and a bomb") and that the building was demolished.
Corpses?
Reuters reports 20 corpses ("gunshot wounds") were discovered in Baghdad, a corpse ("gunshot wounds" as well) was discovered in Balad, and four corpses were discovered ("handcuffed and blindfolded") near Baquba. CBS and AP note the 20 corpses in Baghdad rose to 24.
In the United States, Cindy Sheehan remains at Camp Casey III in Crawford, Texas. On Wednesday, August 30th, she plans to join Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson for a demonstration against the Bully Boy in Salt Lake City. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30th, not Thursday 31st, as noted here before. More information at Utah Voices. The prospects so overjoy the Repubes that they've launched an ad, as John Daley (KSL) points out, that includes: "Now Rocky Anderson has invited her to Utah." Don't make the Repubes do all the work getting the word out.
Sheehan's attendance may depend upon her health (she recently had surgery). Responding to the charge of 'irrelevancy' (by the Waco Tribune), Sheehan (Truthout) notes: "Peace will never be irrelevant as long as war is used as a diplomatic tool" and discusses her plans for The Camp Casey Peace Institute as "a force for real peace."
Sheehan will be moving Camp Casey to DC for Camp Democracy. Kevin Zeese (American Chronicle) interviewed David Swanson about the upcoming Camp Democracy which Swanson states "will bring together movements for peace, Katrina recovery, immigrants rights, labor rights, electoral reform, women's rights, environmental sanity, accountability and impeachment. We'll open the camp in Washington D.C., on September 5th and run at least until September 21, the International Day of Peace, when a movement called Declaration of Peace has planned massive civil disobedience."
Turning to the topic of Ehren Watada, Charles Burress (San Francisco Chronicle) reports that Sarah Olson will not assist the military investigation of Watada: "I declined because I don't think that it's right for the Army to be asking me to help them prosecute Lt. Watada" Olson has reported on Watada at Truthout and on Free Speech Radio News (among other outlets). Ehren Watada was the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. More information can be found at Courage to Resist and ThankYouLt.org.
Meanwhile, in Australia, the military inquiry into the April 21st Baghdad death of Jake Kovco continues. Today Soldier 14 took the stand. On Monday, Michelle Franco (forensic expert with the NSW Department of Health's Analytical Laboratories) refuted Soldier 14's previous claims that his DNA ended up on the slide of Jake Kovco's gun as a result of their shared use of a radio, megaphone, etc., from when they were both on duty the day of Kovco's death. Noting the concentration of Soldier 14's DNA on the pistol's slide and the fact that, were DNA transferred by such means, "after 30 minutes it would be virturally all gone." When asked point blank if she was saying that the Soldier 14 would have had to handle Jake Kovco's pistol to have left the DNA that was found on the slide, Franco testified, "It is consistent with that."
Soldier 14 had previous testified August 25th, August 21st and as he did on August 18th that he did not touch Jake Kovco's gun. Soldier 14 has been in Australia and complained that he wanted to return to Baghdad (also testified that 'many people' told him Shelley Kovco, widow of Jake Kovco and mother of their two children, was out to get him). Michael Edwards reported on PM that in testimony on Tuesday, Soldier 14 stated: "We've had discussions on a numerous occassions trying to work out what happened." He's speaking of Soldiers 17 and 19 who were Jake Kovco's roommates.
Attorneys for Judy and Martin Kovco (Jake Kovco's parents) and Shelley Kovco may want the Soldiers 17 and 19 to testify (by video-link or in person). Soldier 17 testified to hearsay on August 2nd, floating the rumor that Jake Kovco was a 'cowboy' with guns." At that time, he based that 'testimony' on what "others" had told him but he wouldn't name the others (and shot off a whiny "I don't have to if I don't want to" type of remark). Frank Holles (Judy and Martin Kovco's attorney) responded then: "I put it to you when it suits you, you will not provide information." No he won't. As Conor Duffy reported that day to Eleanor Hall of Soldier 17's claims, "He said he never saw this . . . He said that he didn't see it . . ." "It" was Soldier's 17's vivid testimony of how Kovco would allegedly play with his gun: "Like quick draw and you spin it around all that sort of s[**t]." His testimony to something he did not see, something he was told of by "others" whom he wouldn't name. Now Soldier 14 has admitted that he and Soldiers 17 and 19 discussed the case prior to their testimony. Soldier 17 should be forced to name the "others" and to testify as to his version of what the three of them discussed.
The "cowboy" claim made all the papers that day (in Australia) based on Soldier 17's vivid testimony . . . based on, admittedly, hearsay. And today Soldier 14 admits that they (he, Soldiers 17 and 19) attempted to 'sort it out'.
On July 24th, Detective Sergeant Phillip Elliott took the stand and noted that the clothes were destroyed, the roomates had showered, Jake Kovco's body had been washed all before he could begin his investigation. Elliott also noted that Soldiers 17 and 19 (Jake Kovco's roommates, in the room when he died) differed on where Soldier 17 was located in the room, on where Jake Kovco "lay after he fell" and that Jake Kovco's body had been turned over after he fell.
Belinda Tasker (The Courier-Mail) reports that Soldier 14 continues to insist that he never touched Jake Kovco's pistol. Dan Box (The Australian) reports that Soldier 14 told the inquiry "he wished his friend [Jake Kovco] was still alive to explain how his [Soldier 14's] DNA came to be on the gun." What a buddy, what a pal, what a mate. He wishes the late Jake Kovco were alive, why? To explain how his [Soldier 14} DNA was found on Jake Kovco's gun. What a selfish (and stupid) remark. Presuming Soldier 14's telling the truth about not touching Jake Kovco's gun, what makes him think Jake Kovco could explain it when (the living) Soldier 14 can't?
As previously noted, Jake Kovco and his two roommates were listening to music before Jake Kovco died (Cranberries) and Soldier 14 has tetified before about being bothered by the volume. AAP reports that Frank Holles asked him if he "had stormed into Pte Kovco's room because he was angry about the loud music he and his two roommates were playing." Michael Edwards reported it to Eleanor Hall (The World Today) like this: "Basically what the lawyer for the Kovco family, Lieutenant Colonel Frank Holles, said was that Private Kovco had been playing loud music in his room, which is adjoining that of Soldier 14 in the barracks in Baghdad, and that Soldier 14 went into Private Kovco's room, took hold of his . . . of Private Kovco's 9mm pistol and then shot him in the head."
Soldier 14 denied that he shot Jake Kovco; however, as Eleanor Hall pointed out, "But Soldier 14 has not denied being in the room, or the possibility that he may have been in the room when Private Kovco was shot?" To which Michael Edwards replied, "What he did today, he didn't deny being in the room. He said . . . it was put to him that hypothetically it wouldn't have taken him long to reach the room. And he agreed that hypothetically, yes, he said his room was adjoining Private Kovco's." It's interesting that it would hypothetically take two seconds for Soldier 14 to get to the room. Soldier Two (the platoon sergeant) testified on July 25th that he heard the shot and went to Kovco's room where he found Soldiers 17 and 19 beside Jake Kovco's body. Where was Soldier 14? Two seconds to get to the room, the platoon sergeant has made it to the room, where was Solider 14?
In other news of the Kovco trial, the AAP reports: "Meanwhile, the chief of staff at joint task force headquarters in Iraq, codenamed Soldier 39, has rejected as 'utter bulls**t" claims by military police that he ignored advice to keep Pte Kovco's body in Baghdad until investigators arrived to examine it." On the subject of the body, Jake Kovco was supposed to arrive in Australia's April 26th. He did not. Juso Sinanovic, a Bosnian carpenter, arrived instead. The company handling the transportation of Jake Kovco and Juso Sinanovic's bodies was Kenyon International. As Brooke Shelby Biggs (CorpWatch) has noted: "Kenyon International Emergency Services is a wholly owned subsidary of Service Corporation International (SCI), a funer services firm based in Texas. SCI is helmed by Robert Waltrip, a close family friend of the Bush clan and a major donor to George W. Bush's gubenatorial and presidential campaigns. SCI has been embroiled in a number of high-profile scandals in recent years, including one in which a subsidiary was discovered to be recycling crypts and dumping bodies in a wooded area behind a Jewish cemetery in Florida."
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Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Monday, August 28, 2006
Iraq, Democracy When and more
Monday, Monday. Can't trust that day, like the Mamas and the Papas say. It was such a good weekend. Was it cooler today? I never heard the temperature early on and by mid-day, I didn't want to know it because it felt cooler. I can't believe what a difference it made. A lot of times, when I get done eating dinner, I'm ready to fall over. It's been that way most of the summer and I think it's the heat. It just saps you, you know? So it felt cooler to me today. If it wasn't, don't tell me! :D
Leigh wondered if an older sister's boyfriend ever apologized? That's about what happened while I was in California. There was a lot of griping (my sister at my dad and me) but finally he did apologize to my youngest sister for tossing a glass in a sink while she was at the sink washing dishes (the glass landed on the plate she was rinsing causing it to crack in half). He also apologized for throwing a glass to my mother. And he and my older sister (I won't say which one) apologized to my mother for showing up and 'placing an order.' So yeah, all the apologies were made.
This weekend, we watched V for Vendetta. Have you seen that? C.I. sent it to me and it was a really great movie. Natalie Portman's in it and she's great. I've got in on in right now. Hugo Weaving must be the guy in the mask, "V." Stephen Rea's in it too and he's always good. It's set in England and you've got the world even more authoritarian and repressive (sometimes it seems like it wouldn't take much). It's really good. If you watch it, you won't have any boring moments where you grab for the remote to skip around. There's a "making of" special feature but I haven't had time to watch that yet. I think it's a really brave movie. There's lot of explosions and killings for those who need that to have a movie. (Tony's first question when I told him I was going to loan it to him was, "Does anybody die?" :D)
I didn't see it when it came out and talking to friends in the last few days, I don't think anyone did. It's a great movie. If you missed it, go out and rent it or buy it.
Today on Law and Disorder, they took a look at Hurricane Katrina. They also discussed, end of the show, the NSA spying verdict. I think the Center for Constitutional Rights case goes to trial on September 5th but if that's wrong and you accept it, you're on your own for not listening yourself. They defended the judges' decision. I think Ma offered a good defense of it in "Easy Fudge in the Kitchen" and that C.I.'s "NYT: Lost in the 'crackdown'" raised an issue that no one else did or has -- comparing the reaction to that decision in the NSA case to Reagan appointee
T.S. Ellis III's decision that let Custor Battles off.
And while I'm not important things that can get dropped, C.I.'s been a strong voice against War Pornographer Michael R. Gordon of The New York Times and just two Sundays ago wrote
"NYT: Wong and Adham report, Gordo gets all itchy in the crotch". For anyone who doesn't get it still, they've sent a bunch of "dancers" in hardly any clothes (women) into Iraq to "entertain" the troops and Gordo's panting and heavy breathing (and who knows what with his hands?) all over it leading to C.I.'s "It takes a War Pornographer." It's like Gordo wanted to make sure the whole world got the point C.I.'s been making for months and months. What a sleaze. He ought to be ashamed of himself but he's probably too busy choking the chicken to feel shame (or maybe he's one of those guys who gets turned on by shame?).
Now I'm going to talk a little about the latest at The Third Estate Sunday Review:
Editorial: If what Watada's standing up for matters, treat it like it matters -- this really turned out good. I'm really proud of helping on this and think it's something we all need to think about. Does Ehren Watada matter? If so (I think he does), are we treating his case/stand like it matters?
TV: Washington Weak -- Dad's favorite thing this week. He hates PBS's Washington Week and thinks Ava and C.I. nailed it. I think so too. I also think it's funny as heck. (Dad does too, he's read it at least three times now and laughs out loud every time.)
Denis Halliday said what? -- This is about how you didn't read about Halliday's testimony in the coverage (mainstream only for the most part) and it has his testimony. You need to read this.
It's not just Camilo Mejia, or Brandon Hughey, or Jeremy Hinzman, or Pablo Paredes, or . . . -- This is about Carl Webb and his story is important too. We need to remember the ones who resist the illegal war.
Courage to Resist's latest alert on Ehren Watada -- this is Courage to Resist's latest alert and that's what the title says.
A public relations coup gone awry? -- This is another one I was proud to work on. Today, Soldier 14's alibi re: DNA on Jake Kovco's gun seemed to implode. (It's in the snapshot and I'll copy and paste that in a bit.)
How to be a print pundit -- Jess and Jim (and I think Dona) wanted this covered. There were a lot of attempts on this and finally we treated it as a how-to. That was either Ty or Kat's idea, I think.
TV: Make Room For Bully peters out -- Bully Boy's press conference. Ava and C.I. wrote this. They worked really hard this weekend.
How do you say, "We're abandoning the base in 24 hours"? -- Ava and C.I. didn't work on this. They were too busy with their TV commentaries. After we finished it, we were all like, "Did it turn out okay?" Read it and decide for yourself.
Books: Sadly from Paul Bremer, Every Picture Tells A Story -- I didn't work on this. This was Kat, Dona, Jim, Jess, Ty, C.I., Ava and Kat only. The rest of us didn't have access to the book. So they wrote this and did it after the rest of us got to go to sleep. :D
TV: Vanishing -- Ava and C.I. did three, THREE, TV commentaries for this edition. I hope people appreciate that. This one is my kid sister's favorite because she watched Vanished last Monday and hated it. She loved the review and said Rebecca Gayheart was the only good thing.
In war and pain, 13 albums -- What was listened to during the writing of the edition.
Did you read "And the war drags on" -- Ty and Jess filled in and did a great job. So check that out. And be sure to check out Like Maria Said Paz to see Elaine's latest thoughts.
Now let's talk Democracy When because, as you'll see it in the snapshot, on Sunday 69 civilians died in Iraq -- that's reported, there were probably many more that we don't know about. On Saturday and Sunday, eight US soldiers died. So you might think it would wake up Democracy When, right? Wrong!
Here were the segments:
Top Hurricane Expert Says Officials Threatened His Job Over Pre-KatrinaWarnings
For Whom is New Orleans Being Rebuilt? City Demographics Radically AlteredWith Many Black Residents Still Unable to Return
Common Ground Collective Continues to Bring Thousands of Volunteers FromAround the World to Gulf Coast For Post-Katrina Relief Efforts
Lebanese MP Ghassan Moukheiber on the Future of Lebanon Politics,Hezbollah and the Ongoing Israeli Occupation
Headlines? They offered 20. Ones that dealt with Iraq? The first one is the eighth (EIGHTH) headline of the show. They give you six Iraq-related headlines. Remember when Democracy When used to care about the war in Iraq? Now it's not even a lead in the headlines when you've got 69 killed in one day. What did they lead with?
Nasrallah Says He Regrets Soldier Captures
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has admitted he would not have ordered last month’s capture of two Israeli soldiers had he known Israel would have responded as it did. In an interview with Lebanese TV, Nasrallah said: "We did not think, even one percent, that the capture would lead to a war at this time and of this magnitude… Had we known that the kidnapping of the soldiers would have led to this, we would definitely not have done it."
Do you think Amy Goodman's at all embarrassed about how badly she's covered Iraq? Do you think she gives a damn because I don't. I used to think, "Okay, when a cease fire of some kind takes place" (Israel never ceases firing) "she'll go back to covering Iraq. But that's not the case."
They don't follow Iraq on Democracy When. They don't give a damn anymore. That's why most people I know don't watch or listen to it anymore. (I don't either. Tony passed the e-mail on the segments and Leigh Ann, not Leigh, copy and pasted the headlines because she found it disgusting the way Iraq wasn't even brought up until the eighth headline.)
The show's useless to me now. I've gone from shock over how badly they could cover things, to shock over how they could just drop Iraq from the coverage. I got mopey and sad. But life went on and Democracy When just dropped out. It's a lousy show now.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" and C.I. started this up while Democracy When was still covering Iraq, now that it's stopped, the snapshot is even more important, make a point to read it Monday through Friday -- the chaos didn't stop in Iraq, the killings didn't stop and the attempts to end the war didn't stop, even though Democracy When stopped caring:
Monday, August 28, 2006 and chaos and violence continue in Iraq, England's defense minister attempts to bring back Top Of Pops -- live from Baghdad -- as Operation Happy Talk continues to reject reality, eight US soldiers died on Saturday and Sundy, and, in Australia, Soldier 14's DNA argument is rejected by a forensic expert in the military inquiry into the April 21st death of Jake Kovco.
On Sunday, as Ellen Knickmeyer (Washington Post) reported, "Gunmen and bombers claimed at least 69 lives in Iraq". That would be the same Sunday that puppet of the occupation (officially billed as prime minister) Nouri al-Maliki declared on CNN, "In Iraq we'll never be in a civil war." Downplaying "unemployment as high as 40 percent,"
al-Maliki stuck to the Operation Happy Talk latest wave, "But this is a new Iraq."
Speaking Sunday on The KPFA Evening News, Antonia Juhasz responded to the latest wave of Happy Talk by noting, "The statements run counter to the facts that, well have been on display every day on our televisions, but even in mainstream media, of violence increasing between Iraqis, between the Shia and Sunni, but also violence increasing tremendously against the presence of the occupation, against US forces. Security is definitely down in Iraq, as are basic services. What is, what is up is Bush administration pressure on the Maliki government to put up a better public face."
Juhasz, the author of The BU$H Agenda: Invading the World One Economy At A Time, will be at Camp Democracy in DC on September 5th and, Texas community members, she will begin a Texas speaking tour on September 26th.
On Monday, Des Browne, the British defense secretary, wanted to duet with his Iraqi counterpart Abdul Qader Jassim. Reuters reports the two held a publicity conference where they dueted on how things were looking up, things were looking up, things were looking up . . . They spoke in the heavily secure Green Zone, the bunker-like compound in the midst of Baghdad -- Baghdad being the site of the 'crackdown' with the huge influx of US soldiers since the 'crackdown' began on June 14th. Things are looking up? Apparently that means next week they might step a toe outside the Green Zone. Maybe just half a toe. In the meantime, possibly they could consider recording a duet of Ashford & Simpson penned Motown classics? "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing?"
The real thing? CNN reports that, when not dueting with Des Browne, Jassim was busy today "sending reinforcements to the Shiite city of Diwaniya to try to stem ongoing clashes that have resulted in the deaths of 23 Iraqi soldiers and 38 militia fighters". Reuters reports that: "Ahmed al-Haji, in charge of the town's main hospital, said the bodies of 25 soldiers and ine civilians have been brought in."
Bombings?
Sudarsan Raghavan and Ellen Knickmeyer (Washington Post) report that a car bomb went off "at a checkpoint leading into the Ministry of Interior" in Baghdad. Reuters puts the dead at 16 and the wounded at 47. AFP notes that, "The blast and the carnage in Diwaniya were [the] latest blow to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's campaign to convince Iraqis and the world that his government and security forces are up to the tast of restoring order in Iraq." The BBC reports that the Ministry was "frequently targeted in the past and is heavily guarded." In addition to that car bomb, Reuters reports that a roadside bomb in Baghdad claimed the life of one police officer and left two others wounded while, still in Baghdad, a civilian was injured by a roadside bomb. Another civilian was killed in western Baghdad, according to the AP, who notes the dead was in "a car transporting five barbershop workers" and that four were wounded.
Today, Reuters reports, the US military announced six US soldiers died from bombings in Baghdad yesterday: "Four . . . killed by one roadside bomb north of Baghdad and two others killed by separate devices around the capital". AP notes that if you put together Saturday and Sunday's count, eight US soldiers "in and around Baghdad." 8 US troops dead and US military flack wants to brag, "We have reduced the amount of violence. We are actually seeing progress out there."? Try "Iraq: This is what failure looks like" (The Third Estate Sunday Review).
Shootings?
Reuters reports a a police officer was shot dead in front of his house in Mosul, that three other police officers were shot dead "in separate attacks", and that "two women and one man" were shot dead ("members of the same family). AFP reports: "A security official says gunmen have also killed four of former Sunni deputy prime minister Abd Mutlaq al-Juburi's bodyguards in an ambus on their car in Baghdad's Ameriyah neighborhood."
Corpses?
Reuters reports four corpses were discovered in Baghdad ("gunshot wounds").
Maybe Caldwell can join Browne and Jassim as some sort of power-trio? They couldn't cut it as Cream or The Jimi Hendrix Experience, but possibly as some sort of homage to Grand Funk Railroad they could have some chart success? There first single could be "Ride That Wave (Of Happy Talk)".
They might want to review, before warbling again, what Nancy A. Youssef and Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reported Sunday: that families are swapping houses in Baghdad "as Iraqis find themselves searching for ways to avoid becoming vitctim to Baghdad's increasingly vicious cycle of sectarian violence. Shiite families in Sunni neighborhoods and Sunni families in Shiite neighborhoods change places."
In peace news, Ehren Watada's case was addressed by Charles Burress (San Francisco Chronicle) this weekend and he noted that some Japanese-American war vets were against Watada and, as Joan noted this morning, so is Daneil Inouye.
Speaking on Sunday's The KPFA Evening News, Bob Watada (father of Ehren) explained that people need "to get behind him so that the military knows that what he did, the steps he has taken, and why he's taken these steps is-is-is for democracy, he refused to kill Iraqis, innocent Iraqis, and he's spoken out on it and we're talking about free speech so we need people to support Ehren for standing up [for] the Constitution." Jim McMahan (Workers World) notes, "Many people now consider Watada's statements to be not only his right but his duty."
Again: Cedric (Cedric's Big Mix) is advising those calling Donald Rumsfeld (703-545-6700) or mailing him (1000 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1000) to say: "Hands off Ehren Watada! Let him go." Billie advises that you can use public@defenselink.mil to e-mail the Pentagon. She suggests "Re: Ehren Watad" or "ATTN: DONALD RUMSFELD." Courage to Resist and ThankYouLt.org. will continue to offer resources, ideas and inspiration. Get the word out.
Ehren Watada refused to deploy to Iraq (the first officer to have done so publicly) because it is an illegal war. Other resisters have found other ways of refusing. Peter Laufer (Times of London) reports on four who went to Canada: Darrell Anderson: "Soldiers were describing to me how they had beaten prisoners to death."; Joshua Key: ""We was going along the Euphrates river. It's a road right in the city of Ramadi. We turned a sharp right and all I seen was decapitated bodies. The heads laying over here and the bodies over there and US troops in between them."; Ryan Johnson: "I had two choices: go to Iraq and have my life messed up, or go to jail and have my life messed up. So I came here to try this out."; Ivan Brobeck: "I have seen the beating of innocent prisoners. I remember hearing something get thrown off the back of a seven-ton truck. The bed of a seven-ton is probably something like 7 or 8ft high. They threw a detainee off the back, his hands tied behind his back and a sandbag over his head, so he couldn't brace for the impact." Peter Laufer's most recent book is Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No to Iraq.
In other news of resistance, Bully Boy's latest vacation didn't go as quietly as he might have hoped. From Sunday's The KPFA Evening News, Vanessa Tait: "Anti-war protestors have followed President Bush to Maine at his summer house in Kennebunkport. An estimated 700 anti-war demonstrators got to within an half-mile of the Bush compound in Kennebunkport yesterday before being stopped at a security checkpoint. They sang, chanted, beat drums and waves signs calling on the president to bring US troops home from Iraq." AFP reported Saturday that Jamilla El-Shafei stated: "Our message to President Bush is: We want the troops brought back home, we want democracy to be restored, we want you to stop trampling on our civil rights."
Things were chilly for US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as well when he was in Alaska Saturday meeting with military families. Kristin Roberts (Reuters) reports that the questioning got a little intense in a closed-to-the-press encounter. Roberts quotes Jennifer Davis, "wife of one soldier in Iraq," as stating, "I think it was a show."
Cindy Sheehan remains in Crawford, Texas at Camp Casey III and notes "and hoping to be back on my feet . . . to go and protest George with Mayor Rocky [Anderson] in Salt Lake City and be up and about when he comes back to Crawford for the Labor Day Weekend. Apparently George Bush is a 'regular guy' who meets with his constituents, so I am looking forward to finally getting the meeting with him that I have been asking for all year long." Sheehan recently had surgery ("hoping to be back on my feet"). August 31st is the day of action in Salt Lake City, when Bully Boy (who arrives August 30th) make a speech there.
And CODEPINK's Troops Home Fast is on the fifty-fifth day of action with at least 4,833 people participating (that's how many have registered their participation at the site). The action continues up to September 21st. Those wanting to take part can grab a one-day only fast, a one-day a week fast or something longer (on longer, seek advice from your medical adviser).
In Australia, the military inquiry into the April 21st Bagdad death of Jake Kovco continues. To recap in light of today's issue, Soldier 14 testified Friday and denied 'silent cocking' Jake Kovco's gun. Soldier 14 also continued to maintain (as he did on August 21st and as he did on August 18th ) that he did not touch Jake Kovco's gun the day Kovco died. On Kovco's gun, which is thought to have been the gun that killed him, DNA other than Jake Kovco's was found. Soldier 14 has suggested that a share radio, megaphone, etc. may have led to his DNA being transferred to Jake Kovco and Jake Kovco then transferred Soldier 14's DNA to the Kovco gun. On August 18th, the results of DNA analysis were testified to in the hearing by Michelle Fanco, forensic biologist, who stated that a match could be made of Soldier 14's DNA and the DNA found on the slide of Jake Kovco's gun. Other DNA may have matched Soldier 14 as well and some press reports stated it did; however, Franco testified that only the DNA on the gun's slide could be considered a conclusive match.
Today, Michelle Franco testified to the hearing again.Australia's ABC notes "forensic expert Michelle Franco told the inquiry it was more likely that the presence of Soldier 14's DNA on Private Kovco's gun was from direct contact." Malcolm Brown (Sydney Morning Herald) reports that Michelle Franco ("of the NSW Department of Health's Analytical Laboratories) rejected the idea that one person's DNA could transfer via an object to another person and then to an object required a very specific time frame and stated "[a]fter 10 minutes it could probably be found but after 30 minutes it would be virtually all gone." Belinda Tasker (The Age) reports that although Jake Kovco and Soldier 14 were on duty together the day of his death: "Given Private Kovco had changed out of his combat gear after finishing duty with Soldier 14 at the Australiam embassy compound in Baghdad, any traces of Soldier 14's DNA on his hands probably would have been wiped off, she said." In addition to the issue of timing, there is the DNA found on the slide which matched Soldier 14's DNA. The Australian reports that Franco also noted the "concentration" of Soldier's 14 DNA on the gun's slide. Malcolm Brown reports: "Had Soldier 14's DNA been deposited onto the pistol in the way he suggested, she would not have expected it to be the major component of the DNA." Meaning it would be secondary and not "a greater concentration" than Jake Kovco's. Belinda Tasker reports that when Jake Kovco's parents' attorney Lt. Col. Frank Holles asked Franco if her testimony meant that Soldier 14 handled Jake Kovco's gun and Franco responded, "It is consistent with that." Jake Kovco's parents are Judy and Martin Kovco, his widow is Shelley Kovco. Soldier 14 is expected to be called to testify re: the latest DNA testimony. Tasker closes with: "Soldier 14, who has refused to be interviewed by police about the DNA tests, will return to the Syndey inquiry tomorrow for more cross-examination."
Friday, we noted the burial of British soldier Jason Chelsea who took his own life (he was nineteen) "because he feared . . he might have to shoot children" (BBC) as he maintained he'd been told during his military training. Felicity Arbuthnot (Palestine Chronicle) provides more details of Jason Chelsea which include that he "joined the Regiment at sixteen" and that, in his final moments, he told his mother, "I can't go out there and shoot at young children. I just can't go to Iraq. I don't care what side they are on. I can't do it."
the common ills
and the war drags on
vanished
washington week
denis halliday
l. paul bremer
law and disorder
trinas kitchen
like maria said paz
mikey likes it
iraq
ehren watada
cedrics big mix
jacob bruce kovco
jake kovco
bob watada
darrell anderson
ryan johnson
joshua key
ivan brobeck
peter laufer
the washington post
ellen knickmeyer
sudarsan raghavan
the kpfa evening news
antonia juhasz
nancy a. youssef
cindy sheehan
gold star families for peace
codepink
troops home fast
the third estate sunday review
Leigh wondered if an older sister's boyfriend ever apologized? That's about what happened while I was in California. There was a lot of griping (my sister at my dad and me) but finally he did apologize to my youngest sister for tossing a glass in a sink while she was at the sink washing dishes (the glass landed on the plate she was rinsing causing it to crack in half). He also apologized for throwing a glass to my mother. And he and my older sister (I won't say which one) apologized to my mother for showing up and 'placing an order.' So yeah, all the apologies were made.
This weekend, we watched V for Vendetta. Have you seen that? C.I. sent it to me and it was a really great movie. Natalie Portman's in it and she's great. I've got in on in right now. Hugo Weaving must be the guy in the mask, "V." Stephen Rea's in it too and he's always good. It's set in England and you've got the world even more authoritarian and repressive (sometimes it seems like it wouldn't take much). It's really good. If you watch it, you won't have any boring moments where you grab for the remote to skip around. There's a "making of" special feature but I haven't had time to watch that yet. I think it's a really brave movie. There's lot of explosions and killings for those who need that to have a movie. (Tony's first question when I told him I was going to loan it to him was, "Does anybody die?" :D)
I didn't see it when it came out and talking to friends in the last few days, I don't think anyone did. It's a great movie. If you missed it, go out and rent it or buy it.
Today on Law and Disorder, they took a look at Hurricane Katrina. They also discussed, end of the show, the NSA spying verdict. I think the Center for Constitutional Rights case goes to trial on September 5th but if that's wrong and you accept it, you're on your own for not listening yourself. They defended the judges' decision. I think Ma offered a good defense of it in "Easy Fudge in the Kitchen" and that C.I.'s "NYT: Lost in the 'crackdown'" raised an issue that no one else did or has -- comparing the reaction to that decision in the NSA case to Reagan appointee
T.S. Ellis III's decision that let Custor Battles off.
And while I'm not important things that can get dropped, C.I.'s been a strong voice against War Pornographer Michael R. Gordon of The New York Times and just two Sundays ago wrote
"NYT: Wong and Adham report, Gordo gets all itchy in the crotch". For anyone who doesn't get it still, they've sent a bunch of "dancers" in hardly any clothes (women) into Iraq to "entertain" the troops and Gordo's panting and heavy breathing (and who knows what with his hands?) all over it leading to C.I.'s "It takes a War Pornographer." It's like Gordo wanted to make sure the whole world got the point C.I.'s been making for months and months. What a sleaze. He ought to be ashamed of himself but he's probably too busy choking the chicken to feel shame (or maybe he's one of those guys who gets turned on by shame?).
Now I'm going to talk a little about the latest at The Third Estate Sunday Review:
Editorial: If what Watada's standing up for matters, treat it like it matters -- this really turned out good. I'm really proud of helping on this and think it's something we all need to think about. Does Ehren Watada matter? If so (I think he does), are we treating his case/stand like it matters?
TV: Washington Weak -- Dad's favorite thing this week. He hates PBS's Washington Week and thinks Ava and C.I. nailed it. I think so too. I also think it's funny as heck. (Dad does too, he's read it at least three times now and laughs out loud every time.)
Denis Halliday said what? -- This is about how you didn't read about Halliday's testimony in the coverage (mainstream only for the most part) and it has his testimony. You need to read this.
It's not just Camilo Mejia, or Brandon Hughey, or Jeremy Hinzman, or Pablo Paredes, or . . . -- This is about Carl Webb and his story is important too. We need to remember the ones who resist the illegal war.
Courage to Resist's latest alert on Ehren Watada -- this is Courage to Resist's latest alert and that's what the title says.
A public relations coup gone awry? -- This is another one I was proud to work on. Today, Soldier 14's alibi re: DNA on Jake Kovco's gun seemed to implode. (It's in the snapshot and I'll copy and paste that in a bit.)
How to be a print pundit -- Jess and Jim (and I think Dona) wanted this covered. There were a lot of attempts on this and finally we treated it as a how-to. That was either Ty or Kat's idea, I think.
TV: Make Room For Bully peters out -- Bully Boy's press conference. Ava and C.I. wrote this. They worked really hard this weekend.
How do you say, "We're abandoning the base in 24 hours"? -- Ava and C.I. didn't work on this. They were too busy with their TV commentaries. After we finished it, we were all like, "Did it turn out okay?" Read it and decide for yourself.
Books: Sadly from Paul Bremer, Every Picture Tells A Story -- I didn't work on this. This was Kat, Dona, Jim, Jess, Ty, C.I., Ava and Kat only. The rest of us didn't have access to the book. So they wrote this and did it after the rest of us got to go to sleep. :D
TV: Vanishing -- Ava and C.I. did three, THREE, TV commentaries for this edition. I hope people appreciate that. This one is my kid sister's favorite because she watched Vanished last Monday and hated it. She loved the review and said Rebecca Gayheart was the only good thing.
In war and pain, 13 albums -- What was listened to during the writing of the edition.
Did you read "And the war drags on" -- Ty and Jess filled in and did a great job. So check that out. And be sure to check out Like Maria Said Paz to see Elaine's latest thoughts.
Now let's talk Democracy When because, as you'll see it in the snapshot, on Sunday 69 civilians died in Iraq -- that's reported, there were probably many more that we don't know about. On Saturday and Sunday, eight US soldiers died. So you might think it would wake up Democracy When, right? Wrong!
Here were the segments:
Top Hurricane Expert Says Officials Threatened His Job Over Pre-KatrinaWarnings
For Whom is New Orleans Being Rebuilt? City Demographics Radically AlteredWith Many Black Residents Still Unable to Return
Common Ground Collective Continues to Bring Thousands of Volunteers FromAround the World to Gulf Coast For Post-Katrina Relief Efforts
Lebanese MP Ghassan Moukheiber on the Future of Lebanon Politics,Hezbollah and the Ongoing Israeli Occupation
Headlines? They offered 20. Ones that dealt with Iraq? The first one is the eighth (EIGHTH) headline of the show. They give you six Iraq-related headlines. Remember when Democracy When used to care about the war in Iraq? Now it's not even a lead in the headlines when you've got 69 killed in one day. What did they lead with?
Nasrallah Says He Regrets Soldier Captures
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has admitted he would not have ordered last month’s capture of two Israeli soldiers had he known Israel would have responded as it did. In an interview with Lebanese TV, Nasrallah said: "We did not think, even one percent, that the capture would lead to a war at this time and of this magnitude… Had we known that the kidnapping of the soldiers would have led to this, we would definitely not have done it."
Do you think Amy Goodman's at all embarrassed about how badly she's covered Iraq? Do you think she gives a damn because I don't. I used to think, "Okay, when a cease fire of some kind takes place" (Israel never ceases firing) "she'll go back to covering Iraq. But that's not the case."
They don't follow Iraq on Democracy When. They don't give a damn anymore. That's why most people I know don't watch or listen to it anymore. (I don't either. Tony passed the e-mail on the segments and Leigh Ann, not Leigh, copy and pasted the headlines because she found it disgusting the way Iraq wasn't even brought up until the eighth headline.)
The show's useless to me now. I've gone from shock over how badly they could cover things, to shock over how they could just drop Iraq from the coverage. I got mopey and sad. But life went on and Democracy When just dropped out. It's a lousy show now.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" and C.I. started this up while Democracy When was still covering Iraq, now that it's stopped, the snapshot is even more important, make a point to read it Monday through Friday -- the chaos didn't stop in Iraq, the killings didn't stop and the attempts to end the war didn't stop, even though Democracy When stopped caring:
Monday, August 28, 2006 and chaos and violence continue in Iraq, England's defense minister attempts to bring back Top Of Pops -- live from Baghdad -- as Operation Happy Talk continues to reject reality, eight US soldiers died on Saturday and Sundy, and, in Australia, Soldier 14's DNA argument is rejected by a forensic expert in the military inquiry into the April 21st death of Jake Kovco.
On Sunday, as Ellen Knickmeyer (Washington Post) reported, "Gunmen and bombers claimed at least 69 lives in Iraq". That would be the same Sunday that puppet of the occupation (officially billed as prime minister) Nouri al-Maliki declared on CNN, "In Iraq we'll never be in a civil war." Downplaying "unemployment as high as 40 percent,"
al-Maliki stuck to the Operation Happy Talk latest wave, "But this is a new Iraq."
Speaking Sunday on The KPFA Evening News, Antonia Juhasz responded to the latest wave of Happy Talk by noting, "The statements run counter to the facts that, well have been on display every day on our televisions, but even in mainstream media, of violence increasing between Iraqis, between the Shia and Sunni, but also violence increasing tremendously against the presence of the occupation, against US forces. Security is definitely down in Iraq, as are basic services. What is, what is up is Bush administration pressure on the Maliki government to put up a better public face."
Juhasz, the author of The BU$H Agenda: Invading the World One Economy At A Time, will be at Camp Democracy in DC on September 5th and, Texas community members, she will begin a Texas speaking tour on September 26th.
On Monday, Des Browne, the British defense secretary, wanted to duet with his Iraqi counterpart Abdul Qader Jassim. Reuters reports the two held a publicity conference where they dueted on how things were looking up, things were looking up, things were looking up . . . They spoke in the heavily secure Green Zone, the bunker-like compound in the midst of Baghdad -- Baghdad being the site of the 'crackdown' with the huge influx of US soldiers since the 'crackdown' began on June 14th. Things are looking up? Apparently that means next week they might step a toe outside the Green Zone. Maybe just half a toe. In the meantime, possibly they could consider recording a duet of Ashford & Simpson penned Motown classics? "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing?"
The real thing? CNN reports that, when not dueting with Des Browne, Jassim was busy today "sending reinforcements to the Shiite city of Diwaniya to try to stem ongoing clashes that have resulted in the deaths of 23 Iraqi soldiers and 38 militia fighters". Reuters reports that: "Ahmed al-Haji, in charge of the town's main hospital, said the bodies of 25 soldiers and ine civilians have been brought in."
Bombings?
Sudarsan Raghavan and Ellen Knickmeyer (Washington Post) report that a car bomb went off "at a checkpoint leading into the Ministry of Interior" in Baghdad. Reuters puts the dead at 16 and the wounded at 47. AFP notes that, "The blast and the carnage in Diwaniya were [the] latest blow to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's campaign to convince Iraqis and the world that his government and security forces are up to the tast of restoring order in Iraq." The BBC reports that the Ministry was "frequently targeted in the past and is heavily guarded." In addition to that car bomb, Reuters reports that a roadside bomb in Baghdad claimed the life of one police officer and left two others wounded while, still in Baghdad, a civilian was injured by a roadside bomb. Another civilian was killed in western Baghdad, according to the AP, who notes the dead was in "a car transporting five barbershop workers" and that four were wounded.
Today, Reuters reports, the US military announced six US soldiers died from bombings in Baghdad yesterday: "Four . . . killed by one roadside bomb north of Baghdad and two others killed by separate devices around the capital". AP notes that if you put together Saturday and Sunday's count, eight US soldiers "in and around Baghdad." 8 US troops dead and US military flack wants to brag, "We have reduced the amount of violence. We are actually seeing progress out there."? Try "Iraq: This is what failure looks like" (The Third Estate Sunday Review).
Shootings?
Reuters reports a a police officer was shot dead in front of his house in Mosul, that three other police officers were shot dead "in separate attacks", and that "two women and one man" were shot dead ("members of the same family). AFP reports: "A security official says gunmen have also killed four of former Sunni deputy prime minister Abd Mutlaq al-Juburi's bodyguards in an ambus on their car in Baghdad's Ameriyah neighborhood."
Corpses?
Reuters reports four corpses were discovered in Baghdad ("gunshot wounds").
Maybe Caldwell can join Browne and Jassim as some sort of power-trio? They couldn't cut it as Cream or The Jimi Hendrix Experience, but possibly as some sort of homage to Grand Funk Railroad they could have some chart success? There first single could be "Ride That Wave (Of Happy Talk)".
They might want to review, before warbling again, what Nancy A. Youssef and Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reported Sunday: that families are swapping houses in Baghdad "as Iraqis find themselves searching for ways to avoid becoming vitctim to Baghdad's increasingly vicious cycle of sectarian violence. Shiite families in Sunni neighborhoods and Sunni families in Shiite neighborhoods change places."
In peace news, Ehren Watada's case was addressed by Charles Burress (San Francisco Chronicle) this weekend and he noted that some Japanese-American war vets were against Watada and, as Joan noted this morning, so is Daneil Inouye.
Speaking on Sunday's The KPFA Evening News, Bob Watada (father of Ehren) explained that people need "to get behind him so that the military knows that what he did, the steps he has taken, and why he's taken these steps is-is-is for democracy, he refused to kill Iraqis, innocent Iraqis, and he's spoken out on it and we're talking about free speech so we need people to support Ehren for standing up [for] the Constitution." Jim McMahan (Workers World) notes, "Many people now consider Watada's statements to be not only his right but his duty."
Again: Cedric (Cedric's Big Mix) is advising those calling Donald Rumsfeld (703-545-6700) or mailing him (1000 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1000) to say: "Hands off Ehren Watada! Let him go." Billie advises that you can use public@defenselink.mil to e-mail the Pentagon. She suggests "Re: Ehren Watad" or "ATTN: DONALD RUMSFELD." Courage to Resist and ThankYouLt.org. will continue to offer resources, ideas and inspiration. Get the word out.
Ehren Watada refused to deploy to Iraq (the first officer to have done so publicly) because it is an illegal war. Other resisters have found other ways of refusing. Peter Laufer (Times of London) reports on four who went to Canada: Darrell Anderson: "Soldiers were describing to me how they had beaten prisoners to death."; Joshua Key: ""We was going along the Euphrates river. It's a road right in the city of Ramadi. We turned a sharp right and all I seen was decapitated bodies. The heads laying over here and the bodies over there and US troops in between them."; Ryan Johnson: "I had two choices: go to Iraq and have my life messed up, or go to jail and have my life messed up. So I came here to try this out."; Ivan Brobeck: "I have seen the beating of innocent prisoners. I remember hearing something get thrown off the back of a seven-ton truck. The bed of a seven-ton is probably something like 7 or 8ft high. They threw a detainee off the back, his hands tied behind his back and a sandbag over his head, so he couldn't brace for the impact." Peter Laufer's most recent book is Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No to Iraq.
In other news of resistance, Bully Boy's latest vacation didn't go as quietly as he might have hoped. From Sunday's The KPFA Evening News, Vanessa Tait: "Anti-war protestors have followed President Bush to Maine at his summer house in Kennebunkport. An estimated 700 anti-war demonstrators got to within an half-mile of the Bush compound in Kennebunkport yesterday before being stopped at a security checkpoint. They sang, chanted, beat drums and waves signs calling on the president to bring US troops home from Iraq." AFP reported Saturday that Jamilla El-Shafei stated: "Our message to President Bush is: We want the troops brought back home, we want democracy to be restored, we want you to stop trampling on our civil rights."
Things were chilly for US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as well when he was in Alaska Saturday meeting with military families. Kristin Roberts (Reuters) reports that the questioning got a little intense in a closed-to-the-press encounter. Roberts quotes Jennifer Davis, "wife of one soldier in Iraq," as stating, "I think it was a show."
Cindy Sheehan remains in Crawford, Texas at Camp Casey III and notes "and hoping to be back on my feet . . . to go and protest George with Mayor Rocky [Anderson] in Salt Lake City and be up and about when he comes back to Crawford for the Labor Day Weekend. Apparently George Bush is a 'regular guy' who meets with his constituents, so I am looking forward to finally getting the meeting with him that I have been asking for all year long." Sheehan recently had surgery ("hoping to be back on my feet"). August 31st is the day of action in Salt Lake City, when Bully Boy (who arrives August 30th) make a speech there.
And CODEPINK's Troops Home Fast is on the fifty-fifth day of action with at least 4,833 people participating (that's how many have registered their participation at the site). The action continues up to September 21st. Those wanting to take part can grab a one-day only fast, a one-day a week fast or something longer (on longer, seek advice from your medical adviser).
In Australia, the military inquiry into the April 21st Bagdad death of Jake Kovco continues. To recap in light of today's issue, Soldier 14 testified Friday and denied 'silent cocking' Jake Kovco's gun. Soldier 14 also continued to maintain (as he did on August 21st and as he did on August 18th ) that he did not touch Jake Kovco's gun the day Kovco died. On Kovco's gun, which is thought to have been the gun that killed him, DNA other than Jake Kovco's was found. Soldier 14 has suggested that a share radio, megaphone, etc. may have led to his DNA being transferred to Jake Kovco and Jake Kovco then transferred Soldier 14's DNA to the Kovco gun. On August 18th, the results of DNA analysis were testified to in the hearing by Michelle Fanco, forensic biologist, who stated that a match could be made of Soldier 14's DNA and the DNA found on the slide of Jake Kovco's gun. Other DNA may have matched Soldier 14 as well and some press reports stated it did; however, Franco testified that only the DNA on the gun's slide could be considered a conclusive match.
Today, Michelle Franco testified to the hearing again.Australia's ABC notes "forensic expert Michelle Franco told the inquiry it was more likely that the presence of Soldier 14's DNA on Private Kovco's gun was from direct contact." Malcolm Brown (Sydney Morning Herald) reports that Michelle Franco ("of the NSW Department of Health's Analytical Laboratories) rejected the idea that one person's DNA could transfer via an object to another person and then to an object required a very specific time frame and stated "[a]fter 10 minutes it could probably be found but after 30 minutes it would be virtually all gone." Belinda Tasker (The Age) reports that although Jake Kovco and Soldier 14 were on duty together the day of his death: "Given Private Kovco had changed out of his combat gear after finishing duty with Soldier 14 at the Australiam embassy compound in Baghdad, any traces of Soldier 14's DNA on his hands probably would have been wiped off, she said." In addition to the issue of timing, there is the DNA found on the slide which matched Soldier 14's DNA. The Australian reports that Franco also noted the "concentration" of Soldier's 14 DNA on the gun's slide. Malcolm Brown reports: "Had Soldier 14's DNA been deposited onto the pistol in the way he suggested, she would not have expected it to be the major component of the DNA." Meaning it would be secondary and not "a greater concentration" than Jake Kovco's. Belinda Tasker reports that when Jake Kovco's parents' attorney Lt. Col. Frank Holles asked Franco if her testimony meant that Soldier 14 handled Jake Kovco's gun and Franco responded, "It is consistent with that." Jake Kovco's parents are Judy and Martin Kovco, his widow is Shelley Kovco. Soldier 14 is expected to be called to testify re: the latest DNA testimony. Tasker closes with: "Soldier 14, who has refused to be interviewed by police about the DNA tests, will return to the Syndey inquiry tomorrow for more cross-examination."
Friday, we noted the burial of British soldier Jason Chelsea who took his own life (he was nineteen) "because he feared . . he might have to shoot children" (BBC) as he maintained he'd been told during his military training. Felicity Arbuthnot (Palestine Chronicle) provides more details of Jason Chelsea which include that he "joined the Regiment at sixteen" and that, in his final moments, he told his mother, "I can't go out there and shoot at young children. I just can't go to Iraq. I don't care what side they are on. I can't do it."
the common ills
and the war drags on
vanished
washington week
denis halliday
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Friday, August 25, 2006
Do you hear the war drums?
It's Friday at last! That may be about all the good news. C.I. told me late last night the 'finding' was coming down and it was bad news. It is bad news and we'll start with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Friday, August 25, 2006, chaos and violence continue in Iraq despite the wave of Operation Happy Talk launched yesterday by US military boys John Abizaid and George Casey that things are looking up and corners will be turned, equally laughable was Brit military boy Charlie Burbridge claiming that a base in Amara hadn't been abandoned. He offers a new punch line today. The inquiry into the death of Jake Kovco continues and Soldier 14 testifies again. But we'll start with the latest on Ehren Watada -- the first US officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq.
"Late Thursday" J.C.Matthews told the AP that a recommendation had been reached by Lt. Colonel Mark Keith in Ehren Watada's Article 32 hearing. Gregg K. Kakesako (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) reports that the recommendation is "Ehren Watada face a general court-martial for failing to join his unit in Iraq" and Keith "has endorsed two other charges: conduct unbecoming an officer and contempt toward officials." Translation, Keith has endorsed all three charges made on July 5th. As the AP notes, "Keith could have recommended anything from dismissal of the charges to a general court-martial" as he weighed the issues and the testimony given on August 17th. Gregg K. Kakesako notes that Keith did feel that Ehren Watada was "sincere in his beliefs" which "should mitigate any future punishment" and Kakesako outlines the next step: "Keith's decision now goes to Col. Cynthia Murphy, U.S. Army Garrison commander at Fort Lewis, who will review it and then submit her recommendations to Lt. Gen James Dubik".
The AP quotes Ehren Watada's civilian attorney, Eric Seitz, stating: "We always believed that when they went so far as to convene an Article 32 hearing that they had alread made a decision to proceed." Hal Bernton (Seattle Times) notes Seitz was left "somewhat astounded" that the charges endorsed by Keith included anything other than "missing the troop movement" because of "important First Amendment issues" that surround the other two charges.
Sarah Olson (Truthout) reports this today (of the August 17th testimony of Denis Halliday: "Halliday was called to testify regarding the impace of war on the Iraqi people. 'The people of Iraq had become used to living under very difficult conditions after the destruction in the name of the United Nations by the United States of the civilian infrastructure, water supplies, sewer systems, electric power, use of depleted uranium and cluster bombs.' Halliday was prevented from providing complete testimony when the investigating officer presided over the Article 32 hearing ruled that the 'consequences of the war or the situation on the ground' were irrelevant to Lieutenant Watada's argument that the war was illegal and that he had an obligation to refuse to fight it." That is the most that's been written of Halliday's testimony to date (which, for the record, wasn't delivered via mime).
Bob Watada continues his speaking engagements in the San Francisco Bay Area to raise awareness of what his son, Ehren, is facing. The events include:
Fri. 8/25
10-11:30am
No. Cal. Japanese Christian Theological Forum Berkeley Methodist United Church- chapel 1710 Carleton St/McGee in Berkeley Contact: Laura Takeuchi 510-848-3614
7-10pm
"Sir! No, Sir!"
Film Screening & Speakers Santa Cruz Veterans Building Contact: Sharon Kufeldt 650-799-1070
Sat. 8/26
7-9pm
Educational & Cultural Event Berkeley Friends Church; 1600 Sacramento St., Berkeley Contact: Betty Kano 510-684-0239
Sun. 8/27
4-6pm
Speaking Event AFSC building, 65-Ninth St., SF Contact: Martha Hubert 415-647-1119
A complete list of the events Bob Watada will be taking part in can be found here.
Again: Cedric (Cedric's Big Mix) is advising those calling Donald Rumsfeld (703-545-6700) or mailing him (1000 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1000) to say: "Hands off Ehren Watada! Let him go." Billie advises that you can use public@defenselink.mil to e-mail the Pentagon. She suggests "Re: Ehren Watad" or "ATTN: DONALD RUMSFELD." Courage to Resist and ThankYouLt.org. will continue to offer resources, ideas and inspiration. Get the word out.
Turning to the illegal occupation, violence and chaos continues.
Bombings?
Reuters reports one Iraqi soldier dead and two others wounded from a roadside bomb in Rashad and a "hand-grenade attack on a market in Hawija" left three people wounded. AFP notes the death, late Thursday, of "an Iraqi army officer" with four soldiers left wounded.
Shootings?
AFP notes that five were killed by gunfire in Baquba, two in Tirkit (bakery workers) with three other people wounded, Reuters notes that, in Nasiriya, gunfire claimed the lives of two and left two others wounded.
Corpses?
Reuters notes the discovery, in Qaim, of an Iraqi soldier ("signs of torture") while AFP notes that three corpses were discovered in Kirkuk ("tortured and bullet-riddled bodies").
In other violence, despite the British military flacks that were so eagerly allowed to spin in this this morning's New York Times, Haidar Hani (AP) reports: "Looters ravaged a former British base Friday . . . taking everything from doors and window frames to corrugated roofing and metal pipes". As Ross Colvin (Reuters) reported yesterday, the base, which had come under nightly, heavy attacks, was abandoned. The AP story today notes: "Iraqi authories had complained that the British withdrawal had caught them by surprise" and allows flack Charlie Burbridge to holler Not-true-we-gave-them-24-hours-notice! Well, Charlie, on a rental, you usually have to give a minimum of 30 days notice. But it is good to know that as they packed up everything they could carry, someone did think to make a quick call saying, "Hey, we're about to split. If there's anything you want, better grab it quick, dude!"
Along with an adequate heads up, Iraqi politicians have other complaints they're sharing. Aparism Ghosh (Time magazine) reports that Abdul-Azziz al-Hakim states that for over three years Iraqi politicians have persistently requested "and reliable evidence" that "Iran is interfering in Baghdad's affairs" only to be rebuffed. al-Hakim is quoted as saying, "[A]nd for three years we've told them, 'Show us proof.' But they never have." al-Hakim and others speaking to Ghosh make clear that they feel there is no proof and that Iran is being blamed to divert attention from the failure of the illegal war.
This as Aaron Glantz reports for OneWorld that Nuremberg prosecutor Benjamin Ferenczz has declared that Bully Boy and Saddam Hussein "should be tried for war crimes."
In Australia, the inquiry into the April 21st death of Baghdad of Jake Kovco continues.
Figuring into the most recent testimony were "NSW Police scientific officer Stephanie Hales" and Soldier 14. Soldier 14 has made mutliple appearances in the hearing. On August 9th, his testimony rejected the so-called buddy system where a pair was responsible for checking one another's weapons at the end of a shift (he also testified that what he said and what the military wrote up in his official statement were quite different). Last Friday, a DNA witness, Michelle Franco, identified some of the DNA on Jake Kovco's gun as belonging to Soldier 14. [Again from last Friday: The Herald-Sun reports that only the DNA "on the pistol's slide" were ruled by expert Franco to be a direct match (DNA on the "trigger, hand grip and magazine" are believed, by Franco, to be Soldier 14's but are "not direct matches."] Soldier 14 has maintained that he did not touch Jake Kovco's pistol (and he's refused to be questioned by the NSW).
At the start of this week, Soldier 14 again testified to the hearing and maintained that the DNA must have gotten on the pistol some other way such as via other equipment he acknowledges that he and Jake Kovco both handled such as a megaphone, a radio or telephone. Also in that testimony, Soldier 14 declared that "people" had warned him that Jake Kovco's widow, Shelley Kovco, was 'out to get him.' That was his excuse for avodiging her. Belinda Tasker (The Daily Telegraph) noted, of that testimony, that Soldier 14's avoidance of Shelley Kovco -- out of fear of being accused of something, apparently -- translates as Soldier 14 avoiding contact with her for "more than three months" and notes that Soldier 14 said "people were telling me" that Shelley Kovco was out to get him. Who these 'people' were warning him of Shelley Kovco will apparently not be explored.
That was some of the previous testimony. Today Soldier 14 testified again (not via video-link and remember he has stated he wants to get back to the apparent calm of Baghdad). Malcolm Brown (Sydney Morning Herald) reports that the issues today revolved around: "Did you silently cock Private Kovco's pistol?" which Soldier 14 asserted he did not. Soldier 14 has maintained that he saw Jake Kovco a few days prior to his death. Brown describes the process as "a silent cocking operation, where the weapon is stripped down, a round put in he chamber, then reassembled, leaving the round in the chamber." Soldier 14 will also be testifying Monday.
Stephanie Hales' testimony is characterized by the AAP as asserting that residue tests can not determine "whether Private Jake Kovco shot himself in Iraq or if someone else pulled the trigger" for a variety of reasons including the fact that Jake Kovco's "clothes . . . were destroyed," "the barracks room where PTE Kovco was shot was cleaned before NSW Police arrived in Baghdad to carry out their forensic tests," Jake Kovco's body was washed in a Kuwait morgue, Jake Kovco's hands were not wrapped "in paper bags" and the two roommates were allowed to shower and wash their clothing with no forensic tests being performed.
Finally, in England, British soldier Jason Chelsea has been buried. The BBC reports that the nineteen-year-old "killed himself because he feared . . . he might have to shoot children" as he asserted he had been told in his training. The BBC notes that:
"Earlier this month the MoD released figures showing 1,541 soldiers who served in Iraq are suffering from psychiatric illness."
My first question to C.I. last night was, "Are you noting it?" No. The Common Ills isn't a "scoop" site but it would be (and was) in the gina & krista round-robin. Second question was, "Are you going to write about it tomorrow morning?" I pleaded "no." Why?
I wanted to see if that 'brave' and informed Amy Goodman would note it. So C.I. said it would go into the snapshot. And guess what? Amy Goodman didn't note it. It broke around one a.m. early this morning. How did she miss it?
Now I'm not surprised she didn't get a heads up to the decision the way C.I. did. I am surprised that after she wanted to showboat (and give the wrong impression) on Tuesday, when there was a finding in the hearing, she wasn't noting it. Guess it's not a "story" she's "been following."
So they've moved one step foward towards a court-martial. And notice that they did it without Amy Goodman there to notice.
So what did our 'brave' Goodman do today? She 'explored' Sudan which -- our champion of voices not heard -- meant booking the tiresome Eric Reeves who has more outlets these days than Rupert Murdoch. The only thing the supposedly brave Goodman won't do is allow common sense voices to be heard about the Sudan. Was it his grant that made the English teacher the to-go-to-expert on Sudan? Or is she flashing her own War Hawk feathers?
I called Kat because I heard about the dumb ass "We must save . . . This is happening! . . ." b.s. crap on Democracy When today. Kat said other outlets aren't sounding the drumbeat and sent me David Peterson's "Red Meat for the Christian Right" from ZNet:
"At that time," The Independent's Anne Penketh writes, referring to the date in September, 2004 when the Bush regime decided to use the 'G'-word to define the nature of the crises in Darfur, "more than one million black Africans had been forced from their homes by militias allied to the Islamist government in Khartoum, and 60,000 people had been killed. The UN had described Darfur as 'the worst humanitarian disaster in the world' but declined to call it genocide."
It is worth noting that, neither in December, 2003, when the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland rightly called the crisis "one of the worst in the world," nor last summer, by which time the use of the 'G'-word already had become commonplace, nor this summer, when the doyens and the doyennes of the global culture industry are marshalling their talents to help the Group of Eight set the African continent right, once and for all, has it been true that the crisis in the western Sudan was the worst humanitarian disaster in the world, or even close to it. Throughout the entire period the fighting and dying in the western Sudan has come to be known internationally as the "Crisis in Darfur" (roughly the past 30 months), the situation in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo has been monumentally more grave---but without any of the fanfare, without any of the sexed-up rhetoric about "genocide" and "exclusivist, hegemonic" Arabs to whet the appetite of the fabled "conscience" of the West.
According to Mortality in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a study by the Burnet Institute and the International Rescue Committee, largely ignored when it was released last December, and by now consigned to oblivion (pp. 21-22):
Three previous mortality surveys conducted by the IRC between 2000 and 2002 showed that an estimated 3.3 million people have already died in eastern DR Congo since the outbreak of the war in August 1998. These prior investigations have also revealed the war to be the world’s most deadly in the last 50 years. Data from this most recent survey now suggests that the death toll is closer to 3.8 million and that the highest death rates remain concentrated in the unstable, conflict-prone East.
The persistently high mortality in DR Congo is deeply disturbing and indicates that both the national and international efforts to address the crisis remain grossly inadequate. Far greater efforts are still required in every aspect of the international response: diplomatic, military/peacekeeping, and humanitarian.
So how come Znet can offer up more the Eric Reeves of the world but the supposedly brave, supposedly go to where the silence is, Amy Goodman can't?
Makes you wonder if Democracy When had been airing before the first Gulf War, would Goodman have pushed the "They threw babies out of the incubators! I am a poor peasant girl who saw it with my own two eyes!" lie that the rest of the media did?
On the subject of the damage bad media can do, I hope you read C.I.'s comments in "And the war drags on" last night. Jess told me it was stronger and C.I. pulled about six paragraphs in the end. I would have liked to have read the original but I think the point's still made -- when people want to cover something they ignored the week before and try to sneak it by their audience that they were ignoring it, they end up confusing a lot of people.
People were confused by the way Goodman presented that item Tuesday. But good news for all, she has no real interest in Iraq and is off to save the Sudan so she'll do her damage on that issue and the rest of us can keep doing the work on Iraq without her.
Speaking of the work on Iraq, I've got visual aids and stuff for tonight's group. I'll be covering the finding of the Article 32 hearing and how it's now passed on up to another officer to decided what will happen. Ehren Watada's story matters. It mattered last week when most people took a pass. It will matter next week when Amy Goodman books more liars about Darfur. The best thing for Iraq at this point would be if she would just take Democracy When to the Sudan and broadcast nonstop from there doing those I-can-only-follow-one-story-at-a-time-so-this-is-all-you-get-for-the-next-five-to-six-weeks.
I hope you're getting the word out on Ehren Watada. We saw last week that we really couldn't count on independent media and we saw this week that instead of owning up to their failures, Democracy When tried to act like they had breaking news on Tuesday and ended up confusing everyone. Count on yourselves. Do the work yourself. When independent media thinks they can take five to six weeks off from discussing Iraq, they demonstrate that they can't be counted on for much. So let them push their phoney Sudan stories and stroke themselves over how 'brave' they are. Now get your butts over to Like Maria Said Paz because Elaine got here a bit ago and has been typing like crazy so I bet it's going to be something good.
the common ills
the third estate sunday review
kats korner
like maria said paz
mikey likes it
iraq
ehren watada
cedrics big mix
jacob bruce kovco
jake kovco
bob watada
aaron glantz
Friday, August 25, 2006, chaos and violence continue in Iraq despite the wave of Operation Happy Talk launched yesterday by US military boys John Abizaid and George Casey that things are looking up and corners will be turned, equally laughable was Brit military boy Charlie Burbridge claiming that a base in Amara hadn't been abandoned. He offers a new punch line today. The inquiry into the death of Jake Kovco continues and Soldier 14 testifies again. But we'll start with the latest on Ehren Watada -- the first US officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq.
"Late Thursday" J.C.Matthews told the AP that a recommendation had been reached by Lt. Colonel Mark Keith in Ehren Watada's Article 32 hearing. Gregg K. Kakesako (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) reports that the recommendation is "Ehren Watada face a general court-martial for failing to join his unit in Iraq" and Keith "has endorsed two other charges: conduct unbecoming an officer and contempt toward officials." Translation, Keith has endorsed all three charges made on July 5th. As the AP notes, "Keith could have recommended anything from dismissal of the charges to a general court-martial" as he weighed the issues and the testimony given on August 17th. Gregg K. Kakesako notes that Keith did feel that Ehren Watada was "sincere in his beliefs" which "should mitigate any future punishment" and Kakesako outlines the next step: "Keith's decision now goes to Col. Cynthia Murphy, U.S. Army Garrison commander at Fort Lewis, who will review it and then submit her recommendations to Lt. Gen James Dubik".
The AP quotes Ehren Watada's civilian attorney, Eric Seitz, stating: "We always believed that when they went so far as to convene an Article 32 hearing that they had alread made a decision to proceed." Hal Bernton (Seattle Times) notes Seitz was left "somewhat astounded" that the charges endorsed by Keith included anything other than "missing the troop movement" because of "important First Amendment issues" that surround the other two charges.
Sarah Olson (Truthout) reports this today (of the August 17th testimony of Denis Halliday: "Halliday was called to testify regarding the impace of war on the Iraqi people. 'The people of Iraq had become used to living under very difficult conditions after the destruction in the name of the United Nations by the United States of the civilian infrastructure, water supplies, sewer systems, electric power, use of depleted uranium and cluster bombs.' Halliday was prevented from providing complete testimony when the investigating officer presided over the Article 32 hearing ruled that the 'consequences of the war or the situation on the ground' were irrelevant to Lieutenant Watada's argument that the war was illegal and that he had an obligation to refuse to fight it." That is the most that's been written of Halliday's testimony to date (which, for the record, wasn't delivered via mime).
Bob Watada continues his speaking engagements in the San Francisco Bay Area to raise awareness of what his son, Ehren, is facing. The events include:
Fri. 8/25
10-11:30am
No. Cal. Japanese Christian Theological Forum Berkeley Methodist United Church- chapel 1710 Carleton St/McGee in Berkeley Contact: Laura Takeuchi 510-848-3614
7-10pm
"Sir! No, Sir!"
Film Screening & Speakers Santa Cruz Veterans Building Contact: Sharon Kufeldt 650-799-1070
Sat. 8/26
7-9pm
Educational & Cultural Event Berkeley Friends Church; 1600 Sacramento St., Berkeley Contact: Betty Kano 510-684-0239
Sun. 8/27
4-6pm
Speaking Event AFSC building, 65-Ninth St., SF Contact: Martha Hubert 415-647-1119
A complete list of the events Bob Watada will be taking part in can be found here.
Again: Cedric (Cedric's Big Mix) is advising those calling Donald Rumsfeld (703-545-6700) or mailing him (1000 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1000) to say: "Hands off Ehren Watada! Let him go." Billie advises that you can use public@defenselink.mil to e-mail the Pentagon. She suggests "Re: Ehren Watad" or "ATTN: DONALD RUMSFELD." Courage to Resist and ThankYouLt.org. will continue to offer resources, ideas and inspiration. Get the word out.
Turning to the illegal occupation, violence and chaos continues.
Bombings?
Reuters reports one Iraqi soldier dead and two others wounded from a roadside bomb in Rashad and a "hand-grenade attack on a market in Hawija" left three people wounded. AFP notes the death, late Thursday, of "an Iraqi army officer" with four soldiers left wounded.
Shootings?
AFP notes that five were killed by gunfire in Baquba, two in Tirkit (bakery workers) with three other people wounded, Reuters notes that, in Nasiriya, gunfire claimed the lives of two and left two others wounded.
Corpses?
Reuters notes the discovery, in Qaim, of an Iraqi soldier ("signs of torture") while AFP notes that three corpses were discovered in Kirkuk ("tortured and bullet-riddled bodies").
In other violence, despite the British military flacks that were so eagerly allowed to spin in this this morning's New York Times, Haidar Hani (AP) reports: "Looters ravaged a former British base Friday . . . taking everything from doors and window frames to corrugated roofing and metal pipes". As Ross Colvin (Reuters) reported yesterday, the base, which had come under nightly, heavy attacks, was abandoned. The AP story today notes: "Iraqi authories had complained that the British withdrawal had caught them by surprise" and allows flack Charlie Burbridge to holler Not-true-we-gave-them-24-hours-notice! Well, Charlie, on a rental, you usually have to give a minimum of 30 days notice. But it is good to know that as they packed up everything they could carry, someone did think to make a quick call saying, "Hey, we're about to split. If there's anything you want, better grab it quick, dude!"
Along with an adequate heads up, Iraqi politicians have other complaints they're sharing. Aparism Ghosh (Time magazine) reports that Abdul-Azziz al-Hakim states that for over three years Iraqi politicians have persistently requested "and reliable evidence" that "Iran is interfering in Baghdad's affairs" only to be rebuffed. al-Hakim is quoted as saying, "[A]nd for three years we've told them, 'Show us proof.' But they never have." al-Hakim and others speaking to Ghosh make clear that they feel there is no proof and that Iran is being blamed to divert attention from the failure of the illegal war.
This as Aaron Glantz reports for OneWorld that Nuremberg prosecutor Benjamin Ferenczz has declared that Bully Boy and Saddam Hussein "should be tried for war crimes."
In Australia, the inquiry into the April 21st death of Baghdad of Jake Kovco continues.
Figuring into the most recent testimony were "NSW Police scientific officer Stephanie Hales" and Soldier 14. Soldier 14 has made mutliple appearances in the hearing. On August 9th, his testimony rejected the so-called buddy system where a pair was responsible for checking one another's weapons at the end of a shift (he also testified that what he said and what the military wrote up in his official statement were quite different). Last Friday, a DNA witness, Michelle Franco, identified some of the DNA on Jake Kovco's gun as belonging to Soldier 14. [Again from last Friday: The Herald-Sun reports that only the DNA "on the pistol's slide" were ruled by expert Franco to be a direct match (DNA on the "trigger, hand grip and magazine" are believed, by Franco, to be Soldier 14's but are "not direct matches."] Soldier 14 has maintained that he did not touch Jake Kovco's pistol (and he's refused to be questioned by the NSW).
At the start of this week, Soldier 14 again testified to the hearing and maintained that the DNA must have gotten on the pistol some other way such as via other equipment he acknowledges that he and Jake Kovco both handled such as a megaphone, a radio or telephone. Also in that testimony, Soldier 14 declared that "people" had warned him that Jake Kovco's widow, Shelley Kovco, was 'out to get him.' That was his excuse for avodiging her. Belinda Tasker (The Daily Telegraph) noted, of that testimony, that Soldier 14's avoidance of Shelley Kovco -- out of fear of being accused of something, apparently -- translates as Soldier 14 avoiding contact with her for "more than three months" and notes that Soldier 14 said "people were telling me" that Shelley Kovco was out to get him. Who these 'people' were warning him of Shelley Kovco will apparently not be explored.
That was some of the previous testimony. Today Soldier 14 testified again (not via video-link and remember he has stated he wants to get back to the apparent calm of Baghdad). Malcolm Brown (Sydney Morning Herald) reports that the issues today revolved around: "Did you silently cock Private Kovco's pistol?" which Soldier 14 asserted he did not. Soldier 14 has maintained that he saw Jake Kovco a few days prior to his death. Brown describes the process as "a silent cocking operation, where the weapon is stripped down, a round put in he chamber, then reassembled, leaving the round in the chamber." Soldier 14 will also be testifying Monday.
Stephanie Hales' testimony is characterized by the AAP as asserting that residue tests can not determine "whether Private Jake Kovco shot himself in Iraq or if someone else pulled the trigger" for a variety of reasons including the fact that Jake Kovco's "clothes . . . were destroyed," "the barracks room where PTE Kovco was shot was cleaned before NSW Police arrived in Baghdad to carry out their forensic tests," Jake Kovco's body was washed in a Kuwait morgue, Jake Kovco's hands were not wrapped "in paper bags" and the two roommates were allowed to shower and wash their clothing with no forensic tests being performed.
Finally, in England, British soldier Jason Chelsea has been buried. The BBC reports that the nineteen-year-old "killed himself because he feared . . . he might have to shoot children" as he asserted he had been told in his training. The BBC notes that:
"Earlier this month the MoD released figures showing 1,541 soldiers who served in Iraq are suffering from psychiatric illness."
My first question to C.I. last night was, "Are you noting it?" No. The Common Ills isn't a "scoop" site but it would be (and was) in the gina & krista round-robin. Second question was, "Are you going to write about it tomorrow morning?" I pleaded "no." Why?
I wanted to see if that 'brave' and informed Amy Goodman would note it. So C.I. said it would go into the snapshot. And guess what? Amy Goodman didn't note it. It broke around one a.m. early this morning. How did she miss it?
Now I'm not surprised she didn't get a heads up to the decision the way C.I. did. I am surprised that after she wanted to showboat (and give the wrong impression) on Tuesday, when there was a finding in the hearing, she wasn't noting it. Guess it's not a "story" she's "been following."
So they've moved one step foward towards a court-martial. And notice that they did it without Amy Goodman there to notice.
So what did our 'brave' Goodman do today? She 'explored' Sudan which -- our champion of voices not heard -- meant booking the tiresome Eric Reeves who has more outlets these days than Rupert Murdoch. The only thing the supposedly brave Goodman won't do is allow common sense voices to be heard about the Sudan. Was it his grant that made the English teacher the to-go-to-expert on Sudan? Or is she flashing her own War Hawk feathers?
I called Kat because I heard about the dumb ass "We must save . . . This is happening! . . ." b.s. crap on Democracy When today. Kat said other outlets aren't sounding the drumbeat and sent me David Peterson's "Red Meat for the Christian Right" from ZNet:
"At that time," The Independent's Anne Penketh writes, referring to the date in September, 2004 when the Bush regime decided to use the 'G'-word to define the nature of the crises in Darfur, "more than one million black Africans had been forced from their homes by militias allied to the Islamist government in Khartoum, and 60,000 people had been killed. The UN had described Darfur as 'the worst humanitarian disaster in the world' but declined to call it genocide."
It is worth noting that, neither in December, 2003, when the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland rightly called the crisis "one of the worst in the world," nor last summer, by which time the use of the 'G'-word already had become commonplace, nor this summer, when the doyens and the doyennes of the global culture industry are marshalling their talents to help the Group of Eight set the African continent right, once and for all, has it been true that the crisis in the western Sudan was the worst humanitarian disaster in the world, or even close to it. Throughout the entire period the fighting and dying in the western Sudan has come to be known internationally as the "Crisis in Darfur" (roughly the past 30 months), the situation in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo has been monumentally more grave---but without any of the fanfare, without any of the sexed-up rhetoric about "genocide" and "exclusivist, hegemonic" Arabs to whet the appetite of the fabled "conscience" of the West.
According to Mortality in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a study by the Burnet Institute and the International Rescue Committee, largely ignored when it was released last December, and by now consigned to oblivion (pp. 21-22):
Three previous mortality surveys conducted by the IRC between 2000 and 2002 showed that an estimated 3.3 million people have already died in eastern DR Congo since the outbreak of the war in August 1998. These prior investigations have also revealed the war to be the world’s most deadly in the last 50 years. Data from this most recent survey now suggests that the death toll is closer to 3.8 million and that the highest death rates remain concentrated in the unstable, conflict-prone East.
The persistently high mortality in DR Congo is deeply disturbing and indicates that both the national and international efforts to address the crisis remain grossly inadequate. Far greater efforts are still required in every aspect of the international response: diplomatic, military/peacekeeping, and humanitarian.
So how come Znet can offer up more the Eric Reeves of the world but the supposedly brave, supposedly go to where the silence is, Amy Goodman can't?
Makes you wonder if Democracy When had been airing before the first Gulf War, would Goodman have pushed the "They threw babies out of the incubators! I am a poor peasant girl who saw it with my own two eyes!" lie that the rest of the media did?
On the subject of the damage bad media can do, I hope you read C.I.'s comments in "And the war drags on" last night. Jess told me it was stronger and C.I. pulled about six paragraphs in the end. I would have liked to have read the original but I think the point's still made -- when people want to cover something they ignored the week before and try to sneak it by their audience that they were ignoring it, they end up confusing a lot of people.
People were confused by the way Goodman presented that item Tuesday. But good news for all, she has no real interest in Iraq and is off to save the Sudan so she'll do her damage on that issue and the rest of us can keep doing the work on Iraq without her.
Speaking of the work on Iraq, I've got visual aids and stuff for tonight's group. I'll be covering the finding of the Article 32 hearing and how it's now passed on up to another officer to decided what will happen. Ehren Watada's story matters. It mattered last week when most people took a pass. It will matter next week when Amy Goodman books more liars about Darfur. The best thing for Iraq at this point would be if she would just take Democracy When to the Sudan and broadcast nonstop from there doing those I-can-only-follow-one-story-at-a-time-so-this-is-all-you-get-for-the-next-five-to-six-weeks.
I hope you're getting the word out on Ehren Watada. We saw last week that we really couldn't count on independent media and we saw this week that instead of owning up to their failures, Democracy When tried to act like they had breaking news on Tuesday and ended up confusing everyone. Count on yourselves. Do the work yourself. When independent media thinks they can take five to six weeks off from discussing Iraq, they demonstrate that they can't be counted on for much. So let them push their phoney Sudan stories and stroke themselves over how 'brave' they are. Now get your butts over to Like Maria Said Paz because Elaine got here a bit ago and has been typing like crazy so I bet it's going to be something good.
the common ills
the third estate sunday review
kats korner
like maria said paz
mikey likes it
iraq
ehren watada
cedrics big mix
jacob bruce kovco
jake kovco
bob watada
aaron glantz
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Vets worry the draft's coming back, Zogby obsesses over Tom Cruise
It's Thursday! One day til Friday! Ready for the weekend? Zogby is! Their latest poll has weekend written all over it and that's not a good thing.
Here it is:
Paramount Pictures has decided to cut ties with actor Tom Cruise, and to not renew his production deal with the studio. Do you agree or disagree that Paramount made the right decision?
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
Who do you think will suffer the most from the relationship's ending?
Paramount
Cruise
Not sure
Is your current overall opinion of Tom Cruise very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, very unfavorable, or are you not familiar enough to form an opinion?
Very favorable
Somewhat favorable
Somewhat unfavorable
Very unfavorable
Not familiar
Not sure
Over the past year, has your opinion of Tom Cruise changed for the better, changed for the worse, or stayed the same?
Changed for the better
Changed for the worse
Stayed the same
Not sure
Do you agree or disagree that Tom Cruise is still a major movie star?
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
How likely are you to go and see a new Tom Cruise movie when it is released in theaters?
Very likely
Somewhat likely
Somewhat unlikely
Not at all likely
Not sure
Do you agree or disagree that Cruise's recent films are as good as his past work?
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
Do you approve or disapprove of Cruise's behavior off-screen?
Strongly approve
Somewhat approve
Somewhat disapprove
Strongly disapprove
Not sure
Does Cruise's off-screen behavior affect how you view him as an actor?
Yes
No
Not sure
Do you agree or disagree that Cruise's affiliation with Scientology has harmed his career?
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
Do you agree or disagree that Cruise's divorce from Nicole Kidman harmed his career?
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
Do you agree or disagree that Cruise's relationship with Katie Holmes has harmed his career?
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
Do agree or disagree that the birth of Cruise and Holmes' daughter Suri has harmed his career?
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
In light of his dismissal from Paramount and his other recent controversies, do you agree or disagree that Cruise will ever be able to regain the status he once held?
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
That's from a community member and C.I. passed it on to me (as requested). Tom Cruise is the big issue. I didn't realize that the US had invaded Tom Cruise. But then I just heard on the radio that Amnesty International was accusing Paramount of war crimes.
In even more frightening news, John Edwards, now off my list of candidates I'd consider for president, is urging you to join him in urging Bully Boy to send NATO troops to Sudan. Obviously, he's trying to court the Dumb & Stupid vote.
Kat had a thing urging people to check out the two-parter of Guns and Butter that contained various points of views on Darfur. People should listen to that before they hop on board the Sammy Power train. John Edwards really needs to listen but he'd probably have a hard time understanding because his e-mail says that American can be a moral force. That's so laughable for so many reasons but I'll just point out that moral forces aren't usually led by someone who lie us into war.
I'll note this from The Nation while I'm doing e-mails that were forwarded to me:
Dear EmailNation Subscriber,
We're looking for a Web Producer to help maintain The Nation's online content and interactive features. This is a 20-hour per week job, though occasional off-hour and weekend work is expected to be necessary to help cover breaking news. This new position is based in New York City. Schedule is flexible. Includes excellent benefits including health insurance allowance and generous vacation allotment. Click here for more details about the job. Please email webjob@thenation.com with resume (PDF or text format). Include URLs representative of work experience. No calls please. Please pass this note on to anyone you think will be interested and appropriate. Thanks for your help!
Best Regards,
Peter Rothberg,
The Nation
Peter says don't call, but you know he really means "call." You can find the number on the masthead of any issue of The Nation. How badly do they need a web manager? Their technocrati device hasn't read anything in about three or four weeks now. Do you think they even noticed? Or did they just think, "Hm, no one's noticed our stuff for almost a month."
By the way, I'm borrowing that from The Third Estate Sunday Review. Anyone who reads the print edition and thinks, "He's doing the mail thing like they do on requests for money" -- I am doing that. I called Jess to make sure they weren't doing it this weekend and also to check on if they'd be noting Edwards or the web manager post. He said grab 'em.
Zipping by fast tonight so you might be feeling a draft. Feeling a draft? From ABC, "Is the Next Step a Draft?:"
An Iraq War veterans group says the call-up of thousands of Marines from the Individual Ready Reserve, announced by the Pentagon today, is "one of the last steps before resorting to a draft." "This move should serve as a wake-up call to America," said Jon Soltz, an Army captain who served in Iraq and heads the group VoteVets.org, which raises funds for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans running for Congress. "Today's announcement that thousands of Marines in the Individual Ready Reserve will be called back to go to Iraq is proof that our military is overextended, and there is no plan for victory in Iraq."
While the Pentagon has repeatedly maintained the armed forces have met their recruiting and retention goals, Soltz says, "Today's actions speak louder than words."
The IRR are reservists, who have returned to civilian life, don't drill on a regular basis and prior to the Iraq war were rarely called to active duty. The Army has been dipping into their IRR pool since shortly after the beginning of the war, but today the Marine Corps said they also planned to call thousands of these traditionally last resort troops back to active duty.
Of course it's the next step. They can't get people to enlist even though they keep lowering the standards (exhibit A: Steven D. Green). Baghdad's not any safer even though pretty much every American soldier they could spare and many they couldn't are now in the capital. How are they going to occupy the rest of the country? They need a draft and they know it. And with Straight Hawking John McCain calling for more troops to be sent to Iraq, where do you think they're going to come from?
C.I.'s got the lowdown on Iraq today in the snapshot and I just got to say that I can't believe people aren't screaming in Australia over the big cry baby former commander who cried because he had to read his "I screwed up" note and then a little bit later called Jake Kovco, the first Australian soldier to die in the Iraq war, "a piece of cargo." What an unfeeling idiot. He's got plenty of tears for himself, Paul Symon, but he refers to deceased person as "a piece of cargo." Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Thursday, August 24, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, John Abizaid must be drinking something stronger than cough syrup, Ehren Watada's father Bob continues speaking out to raise awareness about his son, a British military flack plays word games, Operation Happy Talk launches a new wave and reality (as is so often the case) crashes into the propaganda.
The BBC sums up the reality this way: "At least 12 Iraqis and three US soldiers have died in bombings and gun attacks across Iraq in the last 24 hours, officials say." As Elena Becatoros (Associated Press) notes: "The killings came despite assurances from U.S. officials that progress was being made to improve security in the capital."
We'll start with the violence and chaos.
Bombings.
Elena Beatoros (AP) notes that a US soldier died today "when his vehicle was hit by a a roadside bomb south of Baghdad." Reuters notes three car bombs and two roadside bombs today in Baghdad have taken at least four lives and left 24 injured. The AP notes that three police officers were killed in Baquba (minivan bomb) that left another wounded and, on the edges of Baquba, a roadside bomb claimed the lives of three Iraqi soldiers.
Shootings.
A US soldier was killed on Wednesday (one of the three noted at the beginning) in what the BBC describes as "small-arms fire" to the south of Baghdad. Also dying on Wednesday from gunfire (and not included in yesterday's snapshot -- it wasn't reported then) were three police officers in Balad. Reuters reports seven who had been shot dead were taken to a hospital in Mosul and that three police officers were shot dead in Balad (those six are today, yesterday three police officers were shot dead in Balad).
Elena Becatoros (AP) notes that a US soldier was shot dead in Baghdad today while on a patrol.
Corpses.
Reuters reports a corpse discovered in Suwayra ("handcuffed . . . gunshot wounds"); one discovered near Latifiya ("handcuffed, blindfolded . . . gunshot wounds"), a third discovered in Tikrit; a fourth discovered Baiji (this was the body that went with an earlier discovered severed head) and three more ("handuffed . . . gunshot wounds") were discovered in Baghdad.
And in the face of the above, General John Abizaid launched a wave of Operation Happy Talk that out does the strongest happy talker. (Okay, maybe not Dexy Filkins.) "I think there has been great progress on the security front in Baghdad recently," declared Abizaid. Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi prime minister and puppet of the occupation, knew Happy Talk wasn't enough. Instead, AFP reports, he "has banned television channels from broadcasting gory images of daily bloodshed in the country". Keep it off the TV screens, the thinking seems to go, and Iraqis will forget that they're occupied. This 'policy' seems to invite government censorship as someone has to determine what will "arouse passions and sectarian feelings". All this time after Paul Bremer had a hissy fit over an editorial cartoon, the press is still the occupation's first target.
Meanwhile British troops of the Soldiers of the Queen's Royal Hussars are . . . on the move. Ross Colvin (Reuters) reports a lot of talk about how they're 'stripped-down' and mobile (in Landrovers) but the reality is that they're also homeless -- they've "abandoned their base in Iraq's southern Maysan province on Thursday". Though the base was under "nightly attack" and though it has, indeed, been abandoned, British flack Charlie Burbridge disagrees that "the British had been forced out of Amara".
Meanwhile, in the United States, Ehren Watada's father Bob continues his efforts to get the word out on his son, the first known commissioned officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq. Momo Chang (Oakland Tribune) quotes Bob Watada saying: "Ehren is not doing this for himself. He is doing this for every American who believes in democracy and the Constitution. . . . And I am very proud of him." NBC11 reports Bob Watada, speaking in San Jose, saying, "My son is very strong. He's going to -- even if there's a court-martial, he's going to go to jail instead of killing innocent Iraqis -- that's the real tragedy here."
Chang notes that Bob Watada will have taken part in 25 speaking engagements during his brief time in the San Francisco Bay Area and that Sarah Olson (one of two journalists the governments wants as witnesses against Ehren Watada should a court-martial be scheduled) has stated, "It's not my job as a journalist to help the Army prosecute Lt. Watada."
Bob Watada continues to speak out and here are some of the upcoming events:
Thu. 8/24
7pm Reception & Educational Event Newman Center, 5900 Newman Ct.,
Sacramento Contact: Sacramento-Yolo Peace Action 916-448-7157
Fri. 8/25
10-11:30am
No. Cal. Japanese Christian Theological Forum Berkeley Methodist United Church- chapel 1710 Carleton St/McGee in Berkeley Contact: Laura Takeuchi 510-848-3614
7-10pm
"Sir! No, Sir!"
Film Screening & Speakers Santa Cruz Veterans Building Contact: Sharon Kufeldt 650-799-1070
Sat. 8/26 7-9pm
Educational & Cultural Event Berkeley Friends Church; 1600 Sacramento St., Berkeley Contact: Betty Kano 510-684-0239
Sun. 8/27
4-6pm Speaking Event AFSC building, 65-Ninth St., SF Contact: Martha Hubert 415-647-1119
A complete list of the events Bob Watada will be taking part in can be found here.
Remember: Cedric (Cedric's Big Mix) is advising those calling Donald Rumsfeld (703-545-6700) or mailing him (1000 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1000) to say: "Hands off Ehren Watada! Let him go." Billie advises that you can use public@defenselink.mil to e-mail the Pentagon. She suggests "Re: Ehren Watad" or "ATTN: DONALD RUMSFELD." Courage to Resist and ThankYouLt.org. will continue to offer resources, ideas and inspiration. Get the word out.
Ehren Watada is only one resister. Yesterday on KPFA's Flashpoints, Dennis Bernstein spoke with war resister Carl Webb who has repeatedly refused to serve in the Iraq war. As noted at The Third Estate Sunday Review, Webb recieved a letter saying that he was released from the Texas National Guard but, as Jeff Mackler pointed out, Webb also got a second letter saying that "they were reassinging him to the pool for the people who could be drafted." ("Drafted" refers to the stop-loss/backdoor draft program. Those new to this topic can refer to Scott Cannon and Rick Montgomery's "Back-Door Draft Shakes The Military" from the Kansas City Star.)
Replying to a question from Bernstein as to whether or not he had any regrets, Webb replied, "No, I have no regrets at all" and noted the importance of raising awareness about the GI resistance and getting the word out on "how much GI resistance there is in the military because that's why I'm here, to tell my fellow soldiers that they don't have to obey orders, that they have to refuse by any means necessary."
Webb discussed the story of his refusal to serve in an illegal war and noted, "I'm here hoping to be an example not only to do those being called up but to anyone in the military". Webb will be speaking this Saturday in San Francisco:
Aug. 26 7:30 pm
Socialist Action Bookstore
298 Valencia St.
San Francisco
Jeff Mackler is running for the US Senate out of California the seat currently occupied by War Hawk Dianne Feinstein. Yesterday, on The KPFA Evening News, Feinstein revealed that she'd come to the conclusion intelligence was misused and abused to lead us into war. Three years and a primary challenger was all it took. Possibly in three more years she may be able to note the illegal nature of the war as well.
[Rebecca noted Bernstein's interview with Carl Webb yesterday.]
In Australia, the military inquiry into the April 21st death of Jake Kovco in Baghdad continues. The lead in the reports is about a big, teary performance delivered by a witness -- Brigadier Paul Symon. The AAP tells you Symon is "Australia's former commander in Iraq" and that he "says he will take responsiblity for the bungled return of Private Jake Kovco's body" and he did so, according to the AAP, via "emotional evidence". Australia's ABC informs that poor Symon "was reduced to tears". If some felt it was performance akin to the one Patrick Walters reported on March 9th of this year (where Symon announced to the world that the corner had been turned and that troops were 'turning the tables') it may go to the fact that he blew his credibility in the eyes of some a long time ago. It may also have to do with the excessive coverage his dramatics overshadow a genuine response by the family of Jake Kovco.
But let's back up, for those who've forgotten or are late to the discussion, Jake Kovco didn't make it back to Australia as planned. Instead, Juso Sinanovic was sent to Austrlia -- a problem since he should have been sent to Bosnia (Sinanovic died on April 17th). As Elizabeth Jackson reported on AM (Australia's ABC), April 27th: "The Body of an Australian soldier killed in a shooting accident last week in Baghdad has been accidentally left behind in Kuwait. Privated Jake Kovco's body was due to arrive in Melbourne late last night on a flight from Kuwait. But it didn't." Jackson interviewed Brendan Nelson (Defence Minister) who declared that Kovco "was at all times appropriately identified by the Australian Defence Force and the Australian Army" which we now know, one of the few things the inquiry has established, that's not true.
In terms of Paul Symon, he was the commander when Kovco died. He was reponsible. That he broke down in tears after reading "a statement he had written to his superiors on April 27, explaining how the wrong body was sent back to Australia" says little about his compassion for Jake Kovco (it can be argued he had none, hold on for that), it has to do with the public humilitation of having to publicly have all eyes on him while he read his "Oops" in public.
The delicate flower was weeping for himself. After cry baby dried up his tears, he resumed testifying and went on to refer to Jake Kovco, as Tracy Ong (The Australian) reports (and one of the few to lead with this), as "a piece of cargo." This caused a genuine objection from Judy Kovco (as opposed to the earlier theatrics from Symon) who shouted, "He's not a piece of cargo. Don't you dare. He was my son."
Now remember, this was the grown man who broke down in tears when he had to read his "Oops" to the hearing. That wasn't about Kovco, the tears. That was about the humilitation of having to own up to mistakes under his command. Demonstrating this point further is Symon's response to Judy Kovco which was to describe his reference to Jake Kovco as "a piece of cargo" as being "not well chosen."
Tara Ravens (News.com) reports on his "Oops" he read to the hearing: "If mistakes are found to be made . . . I accept responsibility for those mistakes. If mistakes have been made outside . . . I would expect their senior management to accept responsiblity in exactly the same manner. After all, someone has to take responsiblity for this dreadful mistake." Yes, someone does. And despite the April 27 "Oops" where he spoke of "responsibility" it's still not happening. The AAP notes that, at the hearing, while doing his responsiblity 'talk,' he "implored the federal government to adopt better repatriation policies." Blah, blah, blah, "human emotions" are messy (this is a summary of Symon's supposed acceptance of responsibility) and we need "technical solutions" blah blah blah. Referring to the body of Jake Kovco (the first Australian on the ground death in the current war) as "we have here a piece of cargo" doesn't indicate that Symon's lost in "human emotions."
The inquiry also addressed the movement of Kovco's body. Again, Symon says it wasn't his fault. Symon states: "When the advice came not to move the body, it had already been moved so I could not turn the clock back".
Yesterday, Soldier 47 gave testimony stating that he had "instructed authorities in Baghdad not to move the body" -- before leaving for Baghdad "immediately." Though Symon congratulated himself for "common sense and good judgement," there's no indication that he applied either. Tracy Ong reports: "Brigadier Symon said a request from military policy in Syndey that Kovco's body remain in Baghdad came after it had been moved to the US morgue at the airport at the request of medical staff. He said he thought he was helping military police by having the body moved to the evacuation point in Kuwait where they could see it sooner." The evacuation point refers to the private morgue -- soldiers have testified that if the US morgue had been used, the mix up wouldn't have happened and they've criticized what they saw as the cheapness in the decision. Ong notes Anzac Day and Symon denies that there was a rush to get Kovco home in time for that holiday while admitting "I could see a certain poignancy in a good soldier being returned to the nation on Anzac Day."
Anzac Day is April 25th. It's a national holiday in Australia, a day of memorial beginning in the 1920s and furthered by the human costs of WWII (it became an official holiday in 1916 to mark the actions of the newly independent Australia in WWI). A certain poignancy in Jake Kovco being returned to Australia on that day?
Does Symon mean poignancy or does he mean PR?
Possibly the remark underscores the PR hopes of Symon who's had his hand in selling and shelling an illegal war. The hopes of a PR coup (remember, the month prior Symon was -- falsely -- telling reporters a corner had been turned) may be the what added further stress to an already difficult mourning for Jake Kovco's family and friends.
the common ills
iraq
ehren watada
cedrics big mix
jacob bruce kovco
jake kovco
carl webb
dennis bernstein
flashpoints
kpfa
bob watada
sex and politics and screeds and attitude
the third estate sunday review
kats korner
mikey likes it
Here it is:
Paramount Pictures has decided to cut ties with actor Tom Cruise, and to not renew his production deal with the studio. Do you agree or disagree that Paramount made the right decision?
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
Who do you think will suffer the most from the relationship's ending?
Paramount
Cruise
Not sure
Is your current overall opinion of Tom Cruise very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, very unfavorable, or are you not familiar enough to form an opinion?
Very favorable
Somewhat favorable
Somewhat unfavorable
Very unfavorable
Not familiar
Not sure
Over the past year, has your opinion of Tom Cruise changed for the better, changed for the worse, or stayed the same?
Changed for the better
Changed for the worse
Stayed the same
Not sure
Do you agree or disagree that Tom Cruise is still a major movie star?
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
How likely are you to go and see a new Tom Cruise movie when it is released in theaters?
Very likely
Somewhat likely
Somewhat unlikely
Not at all likely
Not sure
Do you agree or disagree that Cruise's recent films are as good as his past work?
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
Do you approve or disapprove of Cruise's behavior off-screen?
Strongly approve
Somewhat approve
Somewhat disapprove
Strongly disapprove
Not sure
Does Cruise's off-screen behavior affect how you view him as an actor?
Yes
No
Not sure
Do you agree or disagree that Cruise's affiliation with Scientology has harmed his career?
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
Do you agree or disagree that Cruise's divorce from Nicole Kidman harmed his career?
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
Do you agree or disagree that Cruise's relationship with Katie Holmes has harmed his career?
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
Do agree or disagree that the birth of Cruise and Holmes' daughter Suri has harmed his career?
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
In light of his dismissal from Paramount and his other recent controversies, do you agree or disagree that Cruise will ever be able to regain the status he once held?
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
That's from a community member and C.I. passed it on to me (as requested). Tom Cruise is the big issue. I didn't realize that the US had invaded Tom Cruise. But then I just heard on the radio that Amnesty International was accusing Paramount of war crimes.
In even more frightening news, John Edwards, now off my list of candidates I'd consider for president, is urging you to join him in urging Bully Boy to send NATO troops to Sudan. Obviously, he's trying to court the Dumb & Stupid vote.
Kat had a thing urging people to check out the two-parter of Guns and Butter that contained various points of views on Darfur. People should listen to that before they hop on board the Sammy Power train. John Edwards really needs to listen but he'd probably have a hard time understanding because his e-mail says that American can be a moral force. That's so laughable for so many reasons but I'll just point out that moral forces aren't usually led by someone who lie us into war.
I'll note this from The Nation while I'm doing e-mails that were forwarded to me:
Dear EmailNation Subscriber,
We're looking for a Web Producer to help maintain The Nation's online content and interactive features. This is a 20-hour per week job, though occasional off-hour and weekend work is expected to be necessary to help cover breaking news. This new position is based in New York City. Schedule is flexible. Includes excellent benefits including health insurance allowance and generous vacation allotment. Click here for more details about the job. Please email webjob@thenation.com with resume (PDF or text format). Include URLs representative of work experience. No calls please. Please pass this note on to anyone you think will be interested and appropriate. Thanks for your help!
Best Regards,
Peter Rothberg,
The Nation
Peter says don't call, but you know he really means "call." You can find the number on the masthead of any issue of The Nation. How badly do they need a web manager? Their technocrati device hasn't read anything in about three or four weeks now. Do you think they even noticed? Or did they just think, "Hm, no one's noticed our stuff for almost a month."
By the way, I'm borrowing that from The Third Estate Sunday Review. Anyone who reads the print edition and thinks, "He's doing the mail thing like they do on requests for money" -- I am doing that. I called Jess to make sure they weren't doing it this weekend and also to check on if they'd be noting Edwards or the web manager post. He said grab 'em.
Zipping by fast tonight so you might be feeling a draft. Feeling a draft? From ABC, "Is the Next Step a Draft?:"
An Iraq War veterans group says the call-up of thousands of Marines from the Individual Ready Reserve, announced by the Pentagon today, is "one of the last steps before resorting to a draft." "This move should serve as a wake-up call to America," said Jon Soltz, an Army captain who served in Iraq and heads the group VoteVets.org, which raises funds for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans running for Congress. "Today's announcement that thousands of Marines in the Individual Ready Reserve will be called back to go to Iraq is proof that our military is overextended, and there is no plan for victory in Iraq."
While the Pentagon has repeatedly maintained the armed forces have met their recruiting and retention goals, Soltz says, "Today's actions speak louder than words."
The IRR are reservists, who have returned to civilian life, don't drill on a regular basis and prior to the Iraq war were rarely called to active duty. The Army has been dipping into their IRR pool since shortly after the beginning of the war, but today the Marine Corps said they also planned to call thousands of these traditionally last resort troops back to active duty.
Of course it's the next step. They can't get people to enlist even though they keep lowering the standards (exhibit A: Steven D. Green). Baghdad's not any safer even though pretty much every American soldier they could spare and many they couldn't are now in the capital. How are they going to occupy the rest of the country? They need a draft and they know it. And with Straight Hawking John McCain calling for more troops to be sent to Iraq, where do you think they're going to come from?
C.I.'s got the lowdown on Iraq today in the snapshot and I just got to say that I can't believe people aren't screaming in Australia over the big cry baby former commander who cried because he had to read his "I screwed up" note and then a little bit later called Jake Kovco, the first Australian soldier to die in the Iraq war, "a piece of cargo." What an unfeeling idiot. He's got plenty of tears for himself, Paul Symon, but he refers to deceased person as "a piece of cargo." Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Thursday, August 24, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, John Abizaid must be drinking something stronger than cough syrup, Ehren Watada's father Bob continues speaking out to raise awareness about his son, a British military flack plays word games, Operation Happy Talk launches a new wave and reality (as is so often the case) crashes into the propaganda.
The BBC sums up the reality this way: "At least 12 Iraqis and three US soldiers have died in bombings and gun attacks across Iraq in the last 24 hours, officials say." As Elena Becatoros (Associated Press) notes: "The killings came despite assurances from U.S. officials that progress was being made to improve security in the capital."
We'll start with the violence and chaos.
Bombings.
Elena Beatoros (AP) notes that a US soldier died today "when his vehicle was hit by a a roadside bomb south of Baghdad." Reuters notes three car bombs and two roadside bombs today in Baghdad have taken at least four lives and left 24 injured. The AP notes that three police officers were killed in Baquba (minivan bomb) that left another wounded and, on the edges of Baquba, a roadside bomb claimed the lives of three Iraqi soldiers.
Shootings.
A US soldier was killed on Wednesday (one of the three noted at the beginning) in what the BBC describes as "small-arms fire" to the south of Baghdad. Also dying on Wednesday from gunfire (and not included in yesterday's snapshot -- it wasn't reported then) were three police officers in Balad. Reuters reports seven who had been shot dead were taken to a hospital in Mosul and that three police officers were shot dead in Balad (those six are today, yesterday three police officers were shot dead in Balad).
Elena Becatoros (AP) notes that a US soldier was shot dead in Baghdad today while on a patrol.
Corpses.
Reuters reports a corpse discovered in Suwayra ("handcuffed . . . gunshot wounds"); one discovered near Latifiya ("handcuffed, blindfolded . . . gunshot wounds"), a third discovered in Tikrit; a fourth discovered Baiji (this was the body that went with an earlier discovered severed head) and three more ("handuffed . . . gunshot wounds") were discovered in Baghdad.
And in the face of the above, General John Abizaid launched a wave of Operation Happy Talk that out does the strongest happy talker. (Okay, maybe not Dexy Filkins.) "I think there has been great progress on the security front in Baghdad recently," declared Abizaid. Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi prime minister and puppet of the occupation, knew Happy Talk wasn't enough. Instead, AFP reports, he "has banned television channels from broadcasting gory images of daily bloodshed in the country". Keep it off the TV screens, the thinking seems to go, and Iraqis will forget that they're occupied. This 'policy' seems to invite government censorship as someone has to determine what will "arouse passions and sectarian feelings". All this time after Paul Bremer had a hissy fit over an editorial cartoon, the press is still the occupation's first target.
Meanwhile British troops of the Soldiers of the Queen's Royal Hussars are . . . on the move. Ross Colvin (Reuters) reports a lot of talk about how they're 'stripped-down' and mobile (in Landrovers) but the reality is that they're also homeless -- they've "abandoned their base in Iraq's southern Maysan province on Thursday". Though the base was under "nightly attack" and though it has, indeed, been abandoned, British flack Charlie Burbridge disagrees that "the British had been forced out of Amara".
Meanwhile, in the United States, Ehren Watada's father Bob continues his efforts to get the word out on his son, the first known commissioned officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq. Momo Chang (Oakland Tribune) quotes Bob Watada saying: "Ehren is not doing this for himself. He is doing this for every American who believes in democracy and the Constitution. . . . And I am very proud of him." NBC11 reports Bob Watada, speaking in San Jose, saying, "My son is very strong. He's going to -- even if there's a court-martial, he's going to go to jail instead of killing innocent Iraqis -- that's the real tragedy here."
Chang notes that Bob Watada will have taken part in 25 speaking engagements during his brief time in the San Francisco Bay Area and that Sarah Olson (one of two journalists the governments wants as witnesses against Ehren Watada should a court-martial be scheduled) has stated, "It's not my job as a journalist to help the Army prosecute Lt. Watada."
Bob Watada continues to speak out and here are some of the upcoming events:
Thu. 8/24
7pm Reception & Educational Event Newman Center, 5900 Newman Ct.,
Sacramento Contact: Sacramento-Yolo Peace Action 916-448-7157
Fri. 8/25
10-11:30am
No. Cal. Japanese Christian Theological Forum Berkeley Methodist United Church- chapel 1710 Carleton St/McGee in Berkeley Contact: Laura Takeuchi 510-848-3614
7-10pm
"Sir! No, Sir!"
Film Screening & Speakers Santa Cruz Veterans Building Contact: Sharon Kufeldt 650-799-1070
Sat. 8/26 7-9pm
Educational & Cultural Event Berkeley Friends Church; 1600 Sacramento St., Berkeley Contact: Betty Kano 510-684-0239
Sun. 8/27
4-6pm Speaking Event AFSC building, 65-Ninth St., SF Contact: Martha Hubert 415-647-1119
A complete list of the events Bob Watada will be taking part in can be found here.
Remember: Cedric (Cedric's Big Mix) is advising those calling Donald Rumsfeld (703-545-6700) or mailing him (1000 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1000) to say: "Hands off Ehren Watada! Let him go." Billie advises that you can use public@defenselink.mil to e-mail the Pentagon. She suggests "Re: Ehren Watad" or "ATTN: DONALD RUMSFELD." Courage to Resist and ThankYouLt.org. will continue to offer resources, ideas and inspiration. Get the word out.
Ehren Watada is only one resister. Yesterday on KPFA's Flashpoints, Dennis Bernstein spoke with war resister Carl Webb who has repeatedly refused to serve in the Iraq war. As noted at The Third Estate Sunday Review, Webb recieved a letter saying that he was released from the Texas National Guard but, as Jeff Mackler pointed out, Webb also got a second letter saying that "they were reassinging him to the pool for the people who could be drafted." ("Drafted" refers to the stop-loss/backdoor draft program. Those new to this topic can refer to Scott Cannon and Rick Montgomery's "Back-Door Draft Shakes The Military" from the Kansas City Star.)
Replying to a question from Bernstein as to whether or not he had any regrets, Webb replied, "No, I have no regrets at all" and noted the importance of raising awareness about the GI resistance and getting the word out on "how much GI resistance there is in the military because that's why I'm here, to tell my fellow soldiers that they don't have to obey orders, that they have to refuse by any means necessary."
Webb discussed the story of his refusal to serve in an illegal war and noted, "I'm here hoping to be an example not only to do those being called up but to anyone in the military". Webb will be speaking this Saturday in San Francisco:
Aug. 26 7:30 pm
Socialist Action Bookstore
298 Valencia St.
San Francisco
Jeff Mackler is running for the US Senate out of California the seat currently occupied by War Hawk Dianne Feinstein. Yesterday, on The KPFA Evening News, Feinstein revealed that she'd come to the conclusion intelligence was misused and abused to lead us into war. Three years and a primary challenger was all it took. Possibly in three more years she may be able to note the illegal nature of the war as well.
[Rebecca noted Bernstein's interview with Carl Webb yesterday.]
In Australia, the military inquiry into the April 21st death of Jake Kovco in Baghdad continues. The lead in the reports is about a big, teary performance delivered by a witness -- Brigadier Paul Symon. The AAP tells you Symon is "Australia's former commander in Iraq" and that he "says he will take responsiblity for the bungled return of Private Jake Kovco's body" and he did so, according to the AAP, via "emotional evidence". Australia's ABC informs that poor Symon "was reduced to tears". If some felt it was performance akin to the one Patrick Walters reported on March 9th of this year (where Symon announced to the world that the corner had been turned and that troops were 'turning the tables') it may go to the fact that he blew his credibility in the eyes of some a long time ago. It may also have to do with the excessive coverage his dramatics overshadow a genuine response by the family of Jake Kovco.
But let's back up, for those who've forgotten or are late to the discussion, Jake Kovco didn't make it back to Australia as planned. Instead, Juso Sinanovic was sent to Austrlia -- a problem since he should have been sent to Bosnia (Sinanovic died on April 17th). As Elizabeth Jackson reported on AM (Australia's ABC), April 27th: "The Body of an Australian soldier killed in a shooting accident last week in Baghdad has been accidentally left behind in Kuwait. Privated Jake Kovco's body was due to arrive in Melbourne late last night on a flight from Kuwait. But it didn't." Jackson interviewed Brendan Nelson (Defence Minister) who declared that Kovco "was at all times appropriately identified by the Australian Defence Force and the Australian Army" which we now know, one of the few things the inquiry has established, that's not true.
In terms of Paul Symon, he was the commander when Kovco died. He was reponsible. That he broke down in tears after reading "a statement he had written to his superiors on April 27, explaining how the wrong body was sent back to Australia" says little about his compassion for Jake Kovco (it can be argued he had none, hold on for that), it has to do with the public humilitation of having to publicly have all eyes on him while he read his "Oops" in public.
The delicate flower was weeping for himself. After cry baby dried up his tears, he resumed testifying and went on to refer to Jake Kovco, as Tracy Ong (The Australian) reports (and one of the few to lead with this), as "a piece of cargo." This caused a genuine objection from Judy Kovco (as opposed to the earlier theatrics from Symon) who shouted, "He's not a piece of cargo. Don't you dare. He was my son."
Now remember, this was the grown man who broke down in tears when he had to read his "Oops" to the hearing. That wasn't about Kovco, the tears. That was about the humilitation of having to own up to mistakes under his command. Demonstrating this point further is Symon's response to Judy Kovco which was to describe his reference to Jake Kovco as "a piece of cargo" as being "not well chosen."
Tara Ravens (News.com) reports on his "Oops" he read to the hearing: "If mistakes are found to be made . . . I accept responsibility for those mistakes. If mistakes have been made outside . . . I would expect their senior management to accept responsiblity in exactly the same manner. After all, someone has to take responsiblity for this dreadful mistake." Yes, someone does. And despite the April 27 "Oops" where he spoke of "responsibility" it's still not happening. The AAP notes that, at the hearing, while doing his responsiblity 'talk,' he "implored the federal government to adopt better repatriation policies." Blah, blah, blah, "human emotions" are messy (this is a summary of Symon's supposed acceptance of responsibility) and we need "technical solutions" blah blah blah. Referring to the body of Jake Kovco (the first Australian on the ground death in the current war) as "we have here a piece of cargo" doesn't indicate that Symon's lost in "human emotions."
The inquiry also addressed the movement of Kovco's body. Again, Symon says it wasn't his fault. Symon states: "When the advice came not to move the body, it had already been moved so I could not turn the clock back".
Yesterday, Soldier 47 gave testimony stating that he had "instructed authorities in Baghdad not to move the body" -- before leaving for Baghdad "immediately." Though Symon congratulated himself for "common sense and good judgement," there's no indication that he applied either. Tracy Ong reports: "Brigadier Symon said a request from military policy in Syndey that Kovco's body remain in Baghdad came after it had been moved to the US morgue at the airport at the request of medical staff. He said he thought he was helping military police by having the body moved to the evacuation point in Kuwait where they could see it sooner." The evacuation point refers to the private morgue -- soldiers have testified that if the US morgue had been used, the mix up wouldn't have happened and they've criticized what they saw as the cheapness in the decision. Ong notes Anzac Day and Symon denies that there was a rush to get Kovco home in time for that holiday while admitting "I could see a certain poignancy in a good soldier being returned to the nation on Anzac Day."
Anzac Day is April 25th. It's a national holiday in Australia, a day of memorial beginning in the 1920s and furthered by the human costs of WWII (it became an official holiday in 1916 to mark the actions of the newly independent Australia in WWI). A certain poignancy in Jake Kovco being returned to Australia on that day?
Does Symon mean poignancy or does he mean PR?
Possibly the remark underscores the PR hopes of Symon who's had his hand in selling and shelling an illegal war. The hopes of a PR coup (remember, the month prior Symon was -- falsely -- telling reporters a corner had been turned) may be the what added further stress to an already difficult mourning for Jake Kovco's family and friends.
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