Tuesday! Hope everyone's having a good week so far. It's starting to feel like winter's here. Seems like we had a long summer, a few weeks of fall and it's already sliding into winter weather. Maybe it's just me?
Let's kick things off with Jeff Cohen's "Let's Challenge TV’s Lockout of Progressives:"
Martin Luther King Jr. often referred to 11am on Sunday as "the most segregated hour in America" -- his way of highlighting hypocrisy and racial exclusion in Christian churches.
Today on television, that hour remains a time of exclusion and discrimination. It's the time that the high priests of Washington’s Beltway gather on TV to pontificate about politics.
Just as churches preached about brotherly love as they excluded African-Americans, TV's beltway pundit shows preach about elections while typically excluding nearly half of the political spectrum -- the progressive half.
With the winds of change threatening to blow open the 2006 election, I've been turning more and more to the Sunday morning politics shows. But I find the same old players, a narrow mix of tired pundits -- and virtually no one sympathetic to the new winds raging.
These programs tend to feature solid rightwing pundits vs. waffling liberals -- a spectrum no broader than from GE to GM. Viewers regularly see proud conservative advocates like George Will, Brit Hume, William Kristol and Robert Novak; we rarely see proud progressive advocates.
And it's not just Sunday mornings. Evenings on cable news are also dominated by rightwing hosts -- Hume, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Joe Scarborough, Tucker Carlson, Glenn Beck, etc. -- with only Keith Olbermann offering any backtalk. And "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric" has just hired as its Democratic pundit, Mike (telecom industry lobbyist against net neutrality) McCurry.
If the November elections sweep dozens of conservative incumbents out of Congress, it would be the perfect time for progressive activists to take on the conservative-leaning punditocracy and demand an opening up of the old boys’ club to new, progressive voices.
Activist groups like MoveOn.org have already taken action to expand TV punditry -- and media watch groups like FAIR and Media Matters have spent years documenting the discrimination against progressive viewpoints in TV news.
In my book "Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media," I offer an inside look at TV’s standard "debate" format that pits proud, aggressive conservatives against backpedaling, barely left-of center liberals.
I wanted to include the book title link in the excerpt. I've got it (a gift from C.I.) but I haven't had time to read it yet. This semester is kicking my ass. If you're wondering why we haven't done any book discussions at The Third Estate Sunday Review lately, you can blame me and Wally and Cedric. We've all been so busy and all have a stack of books to read. Everybody's real busy and the rest manage but us three, we're just trying to keep our head above water.
I'm getting good grades but it's been a ton of work this semester. I think I loaded up with too many "hard" classes. Good news is that the rest of the semesters should be a breeze but right now there's so much work to do each week. I cheated a little. :D I mentioned to C.I. that I was having the worst time with one book for class. The next day, I'm getting ready to turn in and my cell rings. C.I. knew the guy who wrote it and the author was on the phone breaking down the book to me. After that, I was able to understand it (and it's a good book) but I was lost for the longest and kept reading over the first chapter. My folks both told me that I didn't have to work this semester and they'd cover any expenses. I appreciated the offer but I need to work. I wouldn't feel right being a grown up and spending their money. Plus I got a cool job and boss and I know from friends that's not too common. So once the semester's over, things should be back to normal but right now they really are a struggle.
I'm not someone who can do the work on the weekend either. If I waited until the weekend, the truth is, Sunday would roll around and I still wouldn't have finished anything. So I do some reading each night after I finish blogging. I get out the highlighter and make notes. Elaine's had some good tips and so has C.I. The best tip, a C.I. tip, came from Rebecca who told me when C.I. was tired and reading for classes back in college, everything would get highlighted. C.I. would just use the marker to stay awake and keep moving. I've done that since Rebecca passed it on.
This is from John Walsh's "The Book of Rahm" and Tony saw it and said "You gotta link to it!" So here's a sample of it:
When Jack Murtha made his proposal for withdrawal from Iraq, Emanuel quickly declared that "Jack Murtha went out and spoke for Jack Murtha." As for Iraq policy, Emanuel added: "At the right time, we will have a position." That was November, 2005. In June, 2006, it was obviously time, and Emanuel finally revealed his policy in a statement on the floor of the House during debate over Iraq, thus: "The debate today is about whether the American people want to stay the course with an administration and a Congress that has walked away from its obligations or pursue a real strategy for success in the war on terror. We cannot achieve the end of victory and continue to sit and watch, stand pat, stay put, status quo and that is the Republican policy. Democrats are determined to take the fight to the enemy." The refrain is familiar; more troops are the means and victory in Iraq is the goal.
The war on Iraq benefited Israel by laying waste a country seen to be one of its major adversaries. Emanuel's commitment to Israel (4) and his Congressional service to it are not in doubt. The most recent evidence was his attack on the U.S. puppet Prime Minister of Iraq, Nouri al Maliki, because Maliki had labeled Israel's attack on Lebanon as an act of "aggression." Emanuel called on Maliki to cancel his address to Congress; and he was joined by his close friend and DSCC counterpart, Sen. Chuck Schumer, who asked; "Which side is he (Maliki) on when it comes to the war on terror?" In terms of retired Senator Fritz Holling's statement that Congress is Israeli occupied territory, Rahm Emanuel must be considered one of the occupying troops. And he certainly is a major cog in the Israel Lobby as defined by Mearsheimer and Walt. Nor is the idea that the Lobby exists and has tremendous influence on Middle East policy any longer a taboo in the minds of the general populace. According to a poll just carried out by Zogby International for CNI (5), 39% of the American public "agree" or "somewhat agree" that "the work of the Israel lobby on Congress and the Bush administration has been a key factor for going to war in Iraq and now confronting Iran." A similar number, 40%, "strongly disagreed" or "somewhat disagreed" with this position. Some 20% of the public were not sure.
But in some respects, Emanuel is a mysterious fellow, as evidenced by his biography, which is readily available on Wikipedia and in the piece in Fortune (3). But there are a few things missing or not fully explained. First, as is often pointed out, Emanuel's physician father was an Israeli émigré; but, according to Leon Hadar, he also worked during the 1940s with the notorious Irgun, which was labeled as a terrorist organization by the British authorities.(6) Perhaps Rahm's current interest in terrorism was first kindled at his father's Irgun knee.
Second, during the 1991 Gulf War, Emanuel was a civilian volunteer in Israel, "rust-proofing brakes on an army base in northern Israel." (Wikipedia, New Republic). This is peculiar on two counts. Here the U.S. goes to war with Iraq, but Emanuel, a U.S. citizen, volunteers not for his country, but for Israel. Moreover, here is a well-connected Illinois political figure with a father who had been in the Irgun, but he is assigned to "rust-proof brakes" on "an army base." Maybe.
Third, immediately upon his return from his desert sojourn, Emanuel at once became a major figure in the Clinton campaign "who wowed the team from the start, opening a spigot on needed campaign funds."(3) How did he do that after being isolated overseas, and with no experience in national politics? Fourth, after leaving the Clinton White House, he decided that he needed some accumulated wealth and "security" if he were to stay in politics. So he went to work for Bruce Wasserstein, a major Democratic donor and Wall Street financier.
Moral of the story: Never trust a War Hawk.
I just realized there was one book I could talk about if we had a book discussion, Nora Ephron's new book. I think it's called I Feel Bad About My Neck. Ma and Elaine love this book. I've heard them talking about it and there was one thing Ma was reading a few weeks ago that had her laughing so hard, she asked me to let her read it to me. I think it was called "The Story of My Life." But I've got seven books I want to read that are just going to have to wait until after this semester is over.
And I've got a lot of studying to do tonight so let me wrap this up. Remember to check out Like Maria Said Paz for Elaine's thoughts (she had trouble blogging last night). Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Tuesday, October 24, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, the US military announces the deaths of more US troops today, a US soldier is missing in Baghdad, CNN becomes the first news outlet to call the 2,800 marker, the people of England, Iraq and the United States do not support the illegal war and 65 active duty US soldiers call for an end to the war.
In England, Julian Glover, Richard Norton-Taylor and Patrick Wintour (Guardian of London) report on a Guardian/ICM poll which found: "A clear majority of voters want British troops to be pulled out of Iraq by the end of this year, regardless of the consequences for the country" and that the breakdown is only 30% stand with the soon to be bailing ship Tony Blair's position of "as long as is considered necessary" while "61% of voters say they want British troops to leave this year, even if they have not completed their mission and Washington wants them to stay." The results are an increse of ten percent of respondents saying it's time to leave since the poll was last done in September 2005. In addition, Reuters notes, of the poll, that "72 percent felt the Iraq war was 'unwinnable.'"
On the other side of the Atlantic ocean, CNN reports on a new poll by to determine American attitudes about the war which has found that only "[o]ne in five Americans believes the United States is winning the war in Iraq," that 64% of respondent opposed the illegal war, and thtat 57% of respondeds "want the United States to announce it will pull all troops out by a certain date."
Both polls reflect continued trends in their countries (as backed up by polling for the last year). In addition, as Amy Goodman noted at the top of today's Democracy Now! and Aileen Alfandary noted on today's KPFA's The Morning Show, 65 active duty service members have contacted Congress. Goodman: "For the first time since the invasion, a group of 65 active duty service members are formally asking Congress to end the U.S. occupation and bring the troops home." The topic was raised Monday in the White House press briefing and White House flack Tony Snow job dismissed it:
Q Tony, quick -- there's 65 active duty troops that are coming out with a letter today, saying they think the occupation should end, and they're saying that -- this is part of the military whistle blower. Any reaction to that?
MR. SNOW: Well, number one, it's a Fenton Communications job, which means clearly it's got a political edge to it. But number two it's not unusual for soldiers in a time of war to have some misgivings. I believe at least two of them have served in Iraq proper, active duty. We don't know how many have actually served --
Q I think the majority of them have.
MR. SNOW: But let's say they all did. You also have more than -- you have several hundred thousand who served in Iraq. You have reenlistment rates that have exceeded goals in all the military. You've had a number of people serving multiple tours of duty. And it appears that there's considerable --
Q They don't have much choice.
MR. SNOW: Well, no, I mean they do have choice. If you've got a chance to sign up or not sign up, and you decide that you're going to sign up again and go serve in Iraq, it means it means something to you. And so I believe that there is also -- you get 65 guys who are, unfortunately -- no, not unfortunately -- 65 people who are going to be able to get more press than the hundreds of thousands who have come back and said they're proud of their service.
"Hundreds of thousands who have come back"? Does Snow Job know how many have served in Iraq and returned? His comments do not indicate that he does.
In Iraq, polling has consistently found that the majority wants all foreign troops out and the most recent poll to back that up was conducted by the US State Department. Katherine Shrader (AP) noted that the polling focused on "Iraqi youth" and found the majority opinion to be that "security would improve and violence decrease if U.S.-led forces left immediately," that "strong majorities" expressed opposition to the option that they might join the either the Iraq military or the Iraq police and that "nine out of 10 young Iraqi Arabas said they see the U.S. and allied forces in Iraq as an occupying force."
The perception is not going away and certain events add to it. Reuters reports: "U.S. troops pulled over a fire truck and killed four Iraqi firefighters in a case of mistaken identity on Monday after a report that a fire truck had been hijacked in western Falluja, the military said. The firefighters, whom U.S. troops first believed were armed insurgents, were responding to a call." Al Jazeera reports that the "killings happened . . . when the unarmed firefighters got out of their vehicle and were fired upon by US soldiers."
Bombings?
Reuters notes two Iraqi soldiers died and another was wounded in Kirkuk by a roadisde bomb while two other roadside bombs left five people wounded. CNN reports: "Five Iraqis also were killed in three incidents Tuesday in the capital. A bomb exploded in a parked car near a Shiite mosque in northwestern Baghdad, killing two people and wounding 12 others, Baghdad emergency police said. An Iraqi civilian was killed and seven others wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in a central Baghdad market."
Shootings?
Al Jazeera reports that Ala Ghleim was shot dead in Amara as was Hussein Salah in another attack (a home invasion) which also "left two of his brothers wounded." Both of the men who were killed were police officers. Later, Al Jazeera updated the number of police officers shot dead in Amara to four. CNN notes two people were shot dead in Baghdad and seven more wounded.
Corpses?
CNN notes eight corpses were discovered in Baghdad ("riddled with bullters").
Meanwhile an American soldier is missing. Sabrina Tavernise (New York Times) reported that he "went missing in Baghdad on Monday night" according to the US military and that a search was ongoing. Ellen Knickmeyer (Washington Post) noted that "residents said American forces had sealed the central Karrada district and were conducting door-to-door searches, according to the Associated Press." AFP reports the soldier is "an American of Iraqi descent" and that Al-Forat television network was searched in addition to "neighbouring houses". Al Jazeera reports: "On Tuesday, the US military said that the soldier, a linguist assigned to a reconstruction team, was handcuffed and forced into a vehicle" and that he had left the Green Zone to visit "a relative's house in Baghdad outside the Green Zone." The US military's press release summarizes the events as follows: "It is believed that the Soldier left the IZ to visit with family. He was reportedly at a relative's house at the time of the abduction when three cars pulled up to the residence. The men, who were described to have dark colored rags over their noses and mouths, handcuffed the Soldier and forced him into one of the vehicles. The Soldier's relative, who claimed to be at the residence when the abduction occurred, was reported contacted by the kidnappers using the Soldier's cell phone. After being notified of the telephonic contact, MND-B leaders immediately took decisive actions to locate the Soldier."
Since the US military is now claiming all the above was known Monday night, one may wonder why they didn't bother to inform the press. They had stated that the name was not being released until the soldier's family could be contacted -- are we to believe the relative in Baghdad did not contact them? Are we also to believe that there was some 'value' in not identifying the soldier as an American of Iraqi descent which would have allowed the number fearing that it was a Baghdad soldier they knew or were related to be narrowed considerably?
Turning to US military fatalities, as noted at the top, CNN was the first news organization to note that the number of US military fatalities had hit the 2800 mark.
Iraq Coalition Casualties currently puts the fatality count at 2803. Depending on the time zone of the intended audience for the report, three to four US troops have been announced dead today. The US military has released two press releases on Tuesday declaring deaths: a sailor was killed in Al-Anabar Province Monday, and two Marines were killed in Al-Anbar Province on Monday as well. Some reports count a release that went out late Monday noting the Sunday death of a US soldier in Baghdad from an IED.
In peace news, last week war resister Corey Glass spoke publicly about his decision to self-check out of the US military and relocate to Canada. The CBC reports that Glass noted that early on, "[Army officials] stopped by my parents' place to try to find me. Somehow they must have gotten hold of my stuff that I'd left [behind] and started calling numbers they found." Glass was speaking at the Tilley Hall Auditorium at the University of New Brunswick. IMC Maritimes notes that "Glass joined the National Guard in Indiana in 2002, thinking he would be doing things like filling sand bags to stop a flood on American soil. Instead, he was sent to Iraq, and discovered he couldn't fight a war he didn't believe in. When he was given a two-week leave to return home, he deserted. After seven months in hiding, he fled to Tornoto where he is seeking refugee status." Glass has stated (in September): "I knew the war was wrong before I went, but I was going to fulfil my end of the bargain, right or wrong and eventually my conscience just caught up with me. . . I felt horrible for being a part of it. If I could apologise to those people [Iraqis], every single on, I would."
Also in peace news, peace activist Cindy Sheehan will be speaking at the University of Iowa (Macbride Auditorium, 7:30 pm) while Sunday, Michael Yoder (The Intelligencer Journal) reports, Ray McGovern spoke at the Lancaster Church of the Brethren in Penn. noting, of Iraq, : "We need to call lies 'lies'."
Turning to the land of fiction and myth. The US administration continues to be jaw-dropping amazing in the worst way possible. After hair splitting over the definition of milestone and hair splitting over the defenition of deadline, the administration, as reported by Jim Rutenberg and David S. Cloud (New York Times), has decided one thing they will drop is the phrase "stay the course." The dropping should not be read as a sign of embracing reality, just dropping a slogan that's no longer marketing well. Proving that they hold reality at arms length, Mark Tran (Guardian of London) reports that the US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad (who did such a bang-up job with Afghanistan!) says the 'success' is still within reach in Iraq. As Sam Knight (Times of London) notes, "benchmarks," not deadlines, are the buzz of the day. Appearing with Khalilzad was George Casey ("top US general") and Paul Reynolds (BBC) notes that they are both "predicting an improvement in Iraq in 12-18 months". Reynolds observes: "The problem for General Casey is that he has said all this before. In July 2005 he predicted major troop withdrawals by this summer, only to have to accept today that he had to reverse that trend when summer came because the Iraqis could not cope with the surge of sectarian violence in Baghdad. He even said today that he would ask for more troops if necessary."
On Kahlilzad, AFP reminds: "In July of this year Khalilzad had said that the 'next six months will be critical for Iraq'". Arianna Huffington (The Huffington Post) wants you not to be fooled should a man in a Jack Murtha mask come to your door on Halloween because it's really Joe Lieberman: "Lieberman has been trying out his costume on the campaign trail in Connecticut, desperately trying to trick voters into thinking that he's against the war so he treat himself to their support. . . . Lieberman clearly hopes that by paying lip service to being against the war he can confuse voters into forgetting that he was a lead sponsor of the resolution authorizing the war, has been a bellicose backer of the president's failed policy ever since -- repeatedly voting against efforts to change course in Iraq -- and continues to attack Ned Lamont for working to end the war."
While the people can see reality (note the polling at the top), leadership refuses to. Tony Blair makes the illegal war a point of "nerve." John Howard, prime minister of Australia, says to depart would mean "no hope of demomcracy." This despite the rumors that Howard has no intention of 'staying the course' and would turn over leadership to Peter Costello if his party wins in the upcoming elections. Elections? The Labor Party is arguing for pulling Australian troops out of Iraq. Australia's ABC reports Robert McLelland ('defence spokesman") stating: "There's every indication that the presence of Western troops is actually something that inflames the violence itself. It's just not working -- there has to be alternative solutions."
Now that McLelland has transitioned us back into reality, David Goldstein (McClatchy Newspapers) reports on a recent study of Vet Centers in the US: "The report last week from the Democratic staff of the House Veterans Affairs Committee said demand had risen for outreach and other services at nearly a third of the centers because of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan." The report, entitled "House Veterans' Committe Report Concludes VA Counseling Center Services At-Risk," is available online.
Finally, in other reality news, Philip Webster (Times of London) reports that Margaret Beckett (Britain's Foreign Secretary) "acknowledged the limitations to what could be achieved by coalition forces. She also accepted that the invasion might come to be judged as a foreign policy disaster for Britain."
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Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Monday, October 23, 2006
Iraq, Kyle Snyder, James Baker and more
Monday, Monday . . . But it's better than most Mondays, I saw the ad for the new James Bond movie today. It looks pretty cool. I'll talk about James Bond for a bit because I grew up seeing those on TV and have seen the newer ones at the movies. I'd rank the best as Sean Connery and probably wouldn't get much dispute over that. But after Connery, I'd pick Timothy Dalton and I know a lot of people who didn't care for him at all. I thought he did a good job. Roger Moore is okay but I couldn't take Pierce Brosnan. I think he captured the Roger Moore 'flavor,' but I really didn't care for that flavor all that much when Moore was Bond. I liked Connery best because he never played like he was a comedian. His Bond could do something funny but it wasn't like he smirked through the whole film. I really felt like Brosnan was smirking the whole way. The films zipped along but left me feeling like I'd just gorged on cotton candy and candy corn. From the commercial it looks like this might be something really good. It's called Casino Royale and it comes out next month (I think the 17th). Daniel Craig is the new Bond and the only thing I know I've seen him in is Lara Croft: Tomb Raider but who remembers anything from that but Angelina Jolie? :D
But it really looked good and I'm excited. Goldfinger is probably my favorite Bond movie and then probably Dr. No and Diamonds Are Forever.
The illustration is of Kyle Snyder and it's from The Third Estate Sunday Review's "Editorial: Kyle Snyder's return to the US is part of a movement of resistance." Kyle Snyder is a war resister who went to Canada while on leave from Iraq and now he's decided to return to the US next month. He's covered in the snapshot that I'll post at the end but the thing that stood out to me the most when we were all working on this feature (for The Third Estate Sunday Review) was how young he is, 22-years-old. I hope you'll follow his case and get the word out on him because this is growing movement and people need to know about it.
It's Monday, so I'm going to note the other features from the latest edition of The Third Estate Sunday Review like I usually do each Monday. It was a lot of fun working on this edition once the bulk of the Blogger/Blogspot problems ended (no one could log in to the account for the longest, we were all trying.)
So here's what's up:
Truest statement of the week -- this is Isaiah's latest comic which is funny and true so check it out.
A Note to Our Readers -- Jim's note to the readers summarizing what's what in the issue.
TV: Parlor games are rarely riveting -- Tony told me this was "hilarious." I asked him, "Do you watch Six Degrees?" He doesn't. I don't know anyone who does. I'm betting this show gets cancelled quick. Tony's right about the review being hilarious.
The students of Gallaudet University are standing up -- I feel bad about this one because C.I. really wanted it for the edition the week before. I said I might be able to pick it up here but last week was crazy with homework, tests and all. I called C.I. Tuesday and said there was no way and was told not to worry about because we'd all work on it Sunday. This is an important story. Students (and faculty) or standing up against the university's attempts to force a new president off on them who doesn't seem to care much about what the university has historically stood for.
John Mayer's Waiting on the World to Change -- I like this one and think the illustration's pretty cool too. Mayer's writing some songs about the world around him. I don't agree with the idea of "waiting" for the world to change, but I do enjoy the music on his new CD.
Matthew Rothschild's "shameful thing" -- I was going to write about this Friday. I even called C.I. because I didn't want to write about it without giving a heads up. (C.I. likes Rothschild's work.) C.I. told me to go ahead and just write what I felt and it would be cool. I did that and had three paragraphs and then deleted them because I still had a ways to go and wasn't done yet. I was thinking about picking it up this week but we ended up tackling it together. I'm really tired of the slams against students. You get the jerk offs who say that they don't do anything and then you get the jerk offs who slam what they do. Maybe middle-aged people who aren't interested in 'young America' should just cool their jets?
The Third Estate Sunday Review E-mail Bag -- I had two e-mails already asking me about my comment in this. I was joking. I've talked before about how C.I. eats seeds. When we were in DC last, I was starving and C.I. goes, "I've got some food" and hands me a packet of seeds (sunflower). :D
Quck take: The Generals! -- "Quck" was not a mistake. It's so "quick" there's no "i." Get it?
CounterWhen? -- this is a follow up to an earlier piece.
While I'm noting stuff, let me note Ma's "Halloween Gorp in the Kitchen" (who I always mean to note but sometimes forget -- bad when it's your own mother) and Betty's "It's Back." And of course don't forget to check out Like Maria Said Paz to get Elaine's take on things. And you gotta read Wally and Cedric's joint-post where they 'interview' Condi Rice! :D
As C.I. pointed out last night, I started my Iraq Study Group long before James Baker and mine is cooler. :D Ron Jacobs has a thing that takes a hard look at Baker and I'd love to post the whole thing but this is an excerpt of "James Baker Wants a Kinder, Gentler War" and if you like it, use the link:
In recent days, reports have begun to appear in mainstream US media sources such as Time magazine and the Los Angeles Times hinting at a new strategy on Iraq from Washington. This strategy, which is scheduled to be officially made public after the November Congressional elections, is the product of a so-called bipartisan commission headed by one of the Empire's old guard, James Baker III. Baker, who served under Reagan, George Bush the Elder and helped to ensure the younger Bush's ascendancy to the White House in the fraudulent election of 2000, is one of those men in the circles of US power that never goes away. Like Henry Kissinger, Baker is played up in the mainstream media as a wise man, whose voice of reason is always welcome. Of course, reason and wisdom, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder.
Clark Clifford was also such a man. Never far from the men who made the decisions during his adult life and always available for advice on how to keep the empire intact, Mr. Clifford was called into service as an advisor to Lyndon Baines Johnson(LBJ) in spring of 1968, not long after the humiliating political defeat of US desires in Vietnam during Tet 1968. Rather coincidentally, it seems, the events of Tet 1968 have been brought up recently by none other than George Bush himself in regards to the war in Iraq. Bush noted similarities between the two events in a question-and-answer session on October 18, 2006 when he was asked to comment on a column written by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wherein Friedman made the comment that the current offensive is the "jihadist equivalent of the Tet offensive" in Iraq. Ignoring the simplistic characterization of the resistance for now, Friedman went on to say that although "It would be depressing to see the jihadists influence our politics with a Tet-like media/war frenzy," the fact is that fewer and fewer US residents are convinced that a continued US military presence in Iraq is doing any good. In typical fashion, Friedman is not calling for withdrawal, but he's not urging a continuation of the occupation, either. He's just not taking a stand.
Anyhow, back to the wise men Clifford and Baker. In the spring of 1968, LBJ met with generals, advisors other than Clifford, and Clifford himself. The topic was what to do about Vietnam? There were those at the table who were convinced that another large increase in US troop numbers and bombing raids could win the war. In addition, these men--generals and civilians alike--urged Johnson to give the go ahead for the commander of US forces in Vietnam, General Westmoreland, to invade Laos and Cambodia in order to destroy enemy sanctuaries that they believed existed in those countries. It was this group of men who wanted a total victory and believed such an outcome was still possible, the US public be damned.
[. . .]
Today, we have James Baker and his task force. According to news articles based on leaks from the task force's report, its underlying assumption is that Washington can no longer achieve its original goals in Iraq. What this seems to mean is that the attempts to install "democracy" in the country will be put aside. Instead, the new US goals will be to achieve "stability" and set up a government that can contain the forces aligned against US desires in the region. Just like Clifford and his cohorts encouraged negotiation with the NLF and Hanoi, Baker's commission is supposedly calling for similar negotiations with Syria and Iran (although apparently not with the resistance). To this end, one has to wonder about the US involvement in spreading recent rumors that a military coup is being planned in Baghdad. Indeed, one has to wonder how much involvement the US has in the coup itself, if those rumors are true. It's not like that would be unusual. History proves that not only does the US have a history of supporting and installing military governments in countries around the world, it has played the major role in establishing the succession of failed governments in Baghdad ever since it invaded in 2003.
See, in my group, we don't talk about ways to continue the war. We talk about ways to end the war because it's illegal, immoral and destroying Iraq and the United States. James Baker just wants to find a way to make it 'digest' better.
C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Monday, October 23, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, US troops hit the 2800 fatality mark, Bully Boy sings a few bars of "Daddy Wasn't There," the former head of the US State Department's Iraq intel section tells the BBC there is no 'win' in Iraq, a US war resister who self-checked out and went to Canada announces he is returning to the US, and Ehren Watada's father prepares to take to the road again to raise awareness on his son's stance against the illegal war.
Today, the US military announced the death of a marine in the Al-Anbar Province. He was a member of Regimental Combat Team 5. And the military felt the need to add "This release is not a duplicate of the MNC-I press release #20061022-01, which announced the death of another RCT 5 Marine." That's necessary due to the number of press releases on US troops the military has issued today to cover the large number of US military fatalities in Iraq which has hit 87 this month. The number of US troops killed in Iraq since the beginning of Bully Boy's illegal war of choice now stands at 2800. CNN notes that October has been the deadliest month for US troops this year topping April "when 76 U.S. troops were killed." As John Ward Anderson and Debbi Wilgoren (Washington Post) and John F. Burns (New York Times) noted the record high for US fatalities are November 2004 and April 2004 (137 and 135 respectively.) At BuzzFlash, Cindy Sheehan provides historical perspective: "In the first 3 years, 7 months of the illegal and immoral occupation of Iraq, 2791 of our volunteer soldiers have been tragically killed and in the first 4 years of the illegal and immorcal conflict in Vietnam (which was never a 'war' constitutionally declared by Congress either), 1864 conscripts were killed."
That's just fatalities, not wounded, and just US fatalities. Iraqis are dying and being wounded as well.
Bombings?
Reuters reports three people were wounded in Balad from a mortar and two roadside bombs in Baghdad resulted in five police officers being killed and left 15 wounded as well as two civilians injured. CNN notes a car bomb "detonated on Palestine Street" in Baghdad that took one life and left 13 more wounded as well as a car bomb targeting a Baghdad market which took the lives of four and left six wounded.
Shootings?
CNN reports that four people with "security services for Iraq's oil facilities" were shot dead in their car in Baghdad and that a woman ("the shop's owner") was shot dead when her "hairdresser's shop" in Baghdad was attacked. Reuters notes an Iraqi soldier was shot dead in Balad (four more wounded), a police officer was shot dead in Baiji, "four policemen from the Facility Protection Services" were shot dead in Baghdad,
Corpses?
Reuters reports eight corpses were discovered in Baghdad ("gunshot wounds to the head").
Meanwhile, KUNA reports that US forces "broke into offices of Shiite militias in the two cities of Holla and Diwaniya" -- noting that Holla was "the offices of Al-Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia led by Muqtada Al-Sadr" and AFP reports that Amara is now on curfew. Curfews and 'crackdowns,' the hallmarks of 'democracy' and 'liberation' in someone's distorted view of the illegal war.
Staying in the real world before venturing into the soft underbelly of the Bully Boy and his administration, Wayne White's caused a stir. Speaking to the BBC, the former US State Dept. who headed the Iraq intel "section until last year" stated of the illegal war: "The effort can't be sustained over the long haul, and so we can't stay a course, I think, that requires years and years more. . . . We're not winning. It's apparent."
Apparent to all who can face reality.
In the someone's been watching their Austin Powers in Goldmember DVD news, Reuters reports Bully Boy's none too pleased with his father: "Earlier this month, the elder Bush was reported to have told a Republican fund-raiser in a Philadelphia suburb that" things wouldn't be so good for sonny-boy if Democrats won control of the US Congress. Reuters reports that the Bully Boy told ABC's This Week, "He shouldn't be speculating like this, because -- he should have called me ahead of time and I'd tell him they're not going to (win)." Possibly Bully Boy's too busy feeling sorry for himself to remember his own response to a question about whether he went to Poppy Bush for advice on starting the Iraq war? Bob Woodward told 60 Minutes Bully Boy responded to that question with: "He is the wrong father to appeal to for advice. The wrong father to go to, to appeal to in terms of strength."
As Bully Boy trots out yet another karaoke version of "Daddy Wasn't There," Rupert Cornwell (Independent of London) takes a look at the 'daddy issues' and observes "the psychodrama that has been playing out here for four years, and whose climax may be yet to come -- the relationship between Bush the elder and Bush the younger -- '41' and '43' as they like to call each other . . . It is a tangled tale of love and rivalry, of admiration and intense competition. And it may have brought us the disaster of Iraq. . . . As I write this, the President is closeted in the Oval Office with General John Abizaid, his top commander for the Middle East, trying to sort out the appalling mess. More US troops or fewer, a phased withdrawal, the splitting of the country into some form of confederation (partition lite), or even talks with Syria and the arch-enemy Iran (the one indisputable beneficiary, along with radical Islam, of the mess)? Who knows? Maybe none of the above. As everyone but the White House acknowledges, there are no good options, there are only less bad options."
When not painting himself pathetic, Bully Boy practices denial. The Guardian of London points out: "Americans, Iraqis and many others must have wondered just what George Bush meant in his weekly radio address on Saturday when he insisted: 'Our goal in Iraq is clear and unchanging. Our goal is victory.' The president's comments can only be counted as bizarre at a time when concerns about the deteriorating situation have reached a 'tipping point' due to a combination of events on the ground in Baghdad, Amara and elsewhere - and the impending decimation of the Republicans in the November 7 Congressional elections. Mr Bush's nonsensical message, a variant of his stock line about 'staying the course,' is likely to be quickly forgotten. The phrase that will be long remembered is that of Alberto Fernandez, head of public diplomacy at the [US] state department: he told al-Jazeera that US policy in Iraq had suffered from 'arrogance' and stupidity'."
After initially disputing that Alberto Fernandez made the remarks, Sean McCormack of the US State Dept. asserted the remarks resulted from a mistranslation, they tried a time-honored tactic: get the speaker to blame themselves. Mistranslated was always a tough sell because, as CBS and AP note, Fernandez "spoke in fluent Arabic" during the interview. So it was time for the self-flogging. Neela Banerjee (New York Times) reported that Alberto Fernandez that the "senior State Department official apologized Sunday night" for his remarks. CNN reports the apology came via e-mail (so modern!) and that he stressed to CNN he wasn't "dissing" the 'policy' but added that his remarks did not break "new ground". So why the apology?
Regardless, it's too late. Just like Bully Boy's comparison of Iraq to Vietnam last week, it's out there. As Meg Ryan's character tells Billy Crystayl's in When Harry Met Sally, "You can't take it back. . . Because it's already out there" (written by Nora Ephron, directed by Rob Reiner.) Attempts to disown it are a bit like the administrations quibbles over "deadlines" vs. "milestones." As the White House quibbles, Iraq's deputy prime minister, Barham Saleh, goes into a panice. David Stringer (AP) reports that Saleh spoke with Tony Blair and has stated: "I do believe there is no option for the international community to cut and run." Saleh, when not jetting off to England, stays safe and sound in the heavily fortified Green Zone of Baghdad. No doubt the thought of living with the realities all other Iraqis have had to face since the start of the illegal war must be frightening -- especially the loss of water and electricity which has always been in abundance in the Green Zone. What's good enough for the people of Iraq has never been good enough for the puppet regime. Al Jazeera reports that Saleh pooh-pahhed the "pessimistic tone" -- as would anyone in his secure quarters and lofty lifestyle faced with losing it all should foreign troops pull out.
As Steve Kroft (CBS' 60 Minutes) reported Sunday, "More than half a billion dollars earmarked to fight the insurgency in Iraq was stolen by people the U.S. had entrusted to run the country's Ministry of Defense before the 2005 elections, according to Iraqi investigators. . . One of the people praised in former U.S. Ambassador L. Paul Bremer's memoris is a major suspect in the case. Ziad Cattan was in charge of military procurement at a time when the ministry of Defense went on a $1.2 billion buying spree. [Ali] Allawi estimates that $750 to $800 million of that money was stolen." But don't forget it was a windfall for all. As Greg Palast reports, on other thefts, in Armed Madhouse (p. 75): "Who pocketed the loot? Don't ask Mr. Bremer. Before he slipped out of Baghdad, he had a little trouble with CPA [Civilian Provisional Authority] bookkeeping himself. We all lose an expense receipt or two on occasion, but the CPA's petty cash drawer was fatter than most. They kept $200 million in bricks of U.S. currency in a room in Saddam's palace and another $400 million tucked away here and there. Agents could check out these cash bricks, like library books. Unlike a library, they didn't have to return them as long as they brought receipts. One agent took $23 million in a tub of cash and returned with $6 million in receipts. Another took $25 million and returned, it appears, with nothing at all. In all, 363 tons of U.S. currency were shipped to Iraq. Where did the cash go?"
The no-take-backs Bully Boy comparison of Iraq to Vietnam continues to receive attention. Cindy Sheehan (writing at BuzzFlash) notes the similarities between Bully Boy's talk of presenting the Iraqi government with a timetable to Tricky Dick's oft campaigned on 'secret plan' for Vietnam: "The US plan for withdrawing from Iraq would include disarming militias and training more Iraqi security forces to take over security of the country -- which sounds suspiciously like Nixon's 'Vietnamization' program. With the incipient warmonger Kissinger (we were wondering why Iraq was such an unmitigated disaster?) back in the Oval Office advising George, does this smell like a fiasco to anyone else?" Reminder, Gold Star Families for Peace is staging a sit-in in DC, in front of the White House, November 6th through 9th. BuzzFlash is offering Sheehan's Peace Mom, A Mother's Journey Through Heartache to Activism as a premium (BuzzFlash's portion of any sales go to keep BuzzFlash up and running).
In other peace news, war resister Kyle Snyder intends to return to the United States from Canada next month as Courage to Resist.reported in an e-mail sent out Friday. In August, Synder explained his decision to self-check out of the US military and go to Canada to Karen Button noting, "You know, if they want to help people in Iraq . . . imagine a 15 year-old kid, for the last . . . years all he's seen is [US] military personnel with weapons going through his city. How is that child supposed to believe that the man, in that uniform is helping him? Now, if that child saw a convoy of logs being brought to his city, or a convory of water being brought to his city, still guarded, it would be a completely different situation. That's where the American military messed up. Because they forgot about the perception of civilisation. They forgot about the perception of the Iraqi people."
Meanwhile, Ehren Watada's father Bob Watada is launching another speaking tour to raise awareness on his son -- the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. The tour kicks off October 26 in Phoenix, AZ and is set to conclude November 17th in Atlanta, GA. A full schedule can be found at Veterans for Peace.
More information on Ehren Watada, Kyle Snyder and other war resisters who have gone public can be found at Courage to Resist. In addition, FluxView has videos of war resisters who went to Canada and information on them can be found at War Resisters Support Campaign.
Finally, (as Rob and Kara noted this morning) a look at peace activists comes not from The Nation or The Progressive, but Christian Hill (The Olympian) who reports on
Olympia Movement for Justice & Peace and Olympians for Peace in the Middle East member Muhammad Ayub (a doctor inspired by his own observations while serving with the UN in Iraq during the first Gulf War, "I feel like political dissent is actually celebrated, not just stifled."),Veterans For Peace -- Rachel Corrie Chapter 109 member and board member of the Washington Truth in Recruitment Molly Gibbs (mental health counselor, "There are actually more people who share the concern I have than not. Thirty percent are pretty entrenched in beliefs about the country and the moral values that they tend to think exist but in practice don't exist.") and Fellowship for Reconciliation's Glen Anderson (a c.o. during Vietnam, "This is grandparents, this is state employees, this is small-business people. These are local farmers, our carpenters, the people who work for our local phone company and stuff. . . . At some point, we're going to win if we organize smart and if we work hard, and work strategically and smart and build enough grass-roots movement."). Hill provides a look at three peace activists who are part of a movement to end the illegal war.
like maria said paz
kats korner
sex and politics and screeds and attitude
trinas kitchen
the daily jot
cedrics big mix
mikey likes it
thomas friedman is a great man
the common ills
cindy sheehan
gold star families for peace
the new york times
neela banerjee
john f. burns
the washington post
john ward anderson
debbi wilgoren
christian hill
the olympian
kyle snyder
the third estate sunday review
greg palast
ehren watada
bob watada
nora ephron
iraq
But it really looked good and I'm excited. Goldfinger is probably my favorite Bond movie and then probably Dr. No and Diamonds Are Forever.
The illustration is of Kyle Snyder and it's from The Third Estate Sunday Review's "Editorial: Kyle Snyder's return to the US is part of a movement of resistance." Kyle Snyder is a war resister who went to Canada while on leave from Iraq and now he's decided to return to the US next month. He's covered in the snapshot that I'll post at the end but the thing that stood out to me the most when we were all working on this feature (for The Third Estate Sunday Review) was how young he is, 22-years-old. I hope you'll follow his case and get the word out on him because this is growing movement and people need to know about it.It's Monday, so I'm going to note the other features from the latest edition of The Third Estate Sunday Review like I usually do each Monday. It was a lot of fun working on this edition once the bulk of the Blogger/Blogspot problems ended (no one could log in to the account for the longest, we were all trying.)
So here's what's up:
Truest statement of the week -- this is Isaiah's latest comic which is funny and true so check it out.
A Note to Our Readers -- Jim's note to the readers summarizing what's what in the issue.
TV: Parlor games are rarely riveting -- Tony told me this was "hilarious." I asked him, "Do you watch Six Degrees?" He doesn't. I don't know anyone who does. I'm betting this show gets cancelled quick. Tony's right about the review being hilarious.
The students of Gallaudet University are standing up -- I feel bad about this one because C.I. really wanted it for the edition the week before. I said I might be able to pick it up here but last week was crazy with homework, tests and all. I called C.I. Tuesday and said there was no way and was told not to worry about because we'd all work on it Sunday. This is an important story. Students (and faculty) or standing up against the university's attempts to force a new president off on them who doesn't seem to care much about what the university has historically stood for.
John Mayer's Waiting on the World to Change -- I like this one and think the illustration's pretty cool too. Mayer's writing some songs about the world around him. I don't agree with the idea of "waiting" for the world to change, but I do enjoy the music on his new CD.
Matthew Rothschild's "shameful thing" -- I was going to write about this Friday. I even called C.I. because I didn't want to write about it without giving a heads up. (C.I. likes Rothschild's work.) C.I. told me to go ahead and just write what I felt and it would be cool. I did that and had three paragraphs and then deleted them because I still had a ways to go and wasn't done yet. I was thinking about picking it up this week but we ended up tackling it together. I'm really tired of the slams against students. You get the jerk offs who say that they don't do anything and then you get the jerk offs who slam what they do. Maybe middle-aged people who aren't interested in 'young America' should just cool their jets?
The Third Estate Sunday Review E-mail Bag -- I had two e-mails already asking me about my comment in this. I was joking. I've talked before about how C.I. eats seeds. When we were in DC last, I was starving and C.I. goes, "I've got some food" and hands me a packet of seeds (sunflower). :D
Quck take: The Generals! -- "Quck" was not a mistake. It's so "quick" there's no "i." Get it?
CounterWhen? -- this is a follow up to an earlier piece.
While I'm noting stuff, let me note Ma's "Halloween Gorp in the Kitchen" (who I always mean to note but sometimes forget -- bad when it's your own mother) and Betty's "It's Back." And of course don't forget to check out Like Maria Said Paz to get Elaine's take on things. And you gotta read Wally and Cedric's joint-post where they 'interview' Condi Rice! :D
As C.I. pointed out last night, I started my Iraq Study Group long before James Baker and mine is cooler. :D Ron Jacobs has a thing that takes a hard look at Baker and I'd love to post the whole thing but this is an excerpt of "James Baker Wants a Kinder, Gentler War" and if you like it, use the link:
In recent days, reports have begun to appear in mainstream US media sources such as Time magazine and the Los Angeles Times hinting at a new strategy on Iraq from Washington. This strategy, which is scheduled to be officially made public after the November Congressional elections, is the product of a so-called bipartisan commission headed by one of the Empire's old guard, James Baker III. Baker, who served under Reagan, George Bush the Elder and helped to ensure the younger Bush's ascendancy to the White House in the fraudulent election of 2000, is one of those men in the circles of US power that never goes away. Like Henry Kissinger, Baker is played up in the mainstream media as a wise man, whose voice of reason is always welcome. Of course, reason and wisdom, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder.
Clark Clifford was also such a man. Never far from the men who made the decisions during his adult life and always available for advice on how to keep the empire intact, Mr. Clifford was called into service as an advisor to Lyndon Baines Johnson(LBJ) in spring of 1968, not long after the humiliating political defeat of US desires in Vietnam during Tet 1968. Rather coincidentally, it seems, the events of Tet 1968 have been brought up recently by none other than George Bush himself in regards to the war in Iraq. Bush noted similarities between the two events in a question-and-answer session on October 18, 2006 when he was asked to comment on a column written by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wherein Friedman made the comment that the current offensive is the "jihadist equivalent of the Tet offensive" in Iraq. Ignoring the simplistic characterization of the resistance for now, Friedman went on to say that although "It would be depressing to see the jihadists influence our politics with a Tet-like media/war frenzy," the fact is that fewer and fewer US residents are convinced that a continued US military presence in Iraq is doing any good. In typical fashion, Friedman is not calling for withdrawal, but he's not urging a continuation of the occupation, either. He's just not taking a stand.
Anyhow, back to the wise men Clifford and Baker. In the spring of 1968, LBJ met with generals, advisors other than Clifford, and Clifford himself. The topic was what to do about Vietnam? There were those at the table who were convinced that another large increase in US troop numbers and bombing raids could win the war. In addition, these men--generals and civilians alike--urged Johnson to give the go ahead for the commander of US forces in Vietnam, General Westmoreland, to invade Laos and Cambodia in order to destroy enemy sanctuaries that they believed existed in those countries. It was this group of men who wanted a total victory and believed such an outcome was still possible, the US public be damned.
[. . .]
Today, we have James Baker and his task force. According to news articles based on leaks from the task force's report, its underlying assumption is that Washington can no longer achieve its original goals in Iraq. What this seems to mean is that the attempts to install "democracy" in the country will be put aside. Instead, the new US goals will be to achieve "stability" and set up a government that can contain the forces aligned against US desires in the region. Just like Clifford and his cohorts encouraged negotiation with the NLF and Hanoi, Baker's commission is supposedly calling for similar negotiations with Syria and Iran (although apparently not with the resistance). To this end, one has to wonder about the US involvement in spreading recent rumors that a military coup is being planned in Baghdad. Indeed, one has to wonder how much involvement the US has in the coup itself, if those rumors are true. It's not like that would be unusual. History proves that not only does the US have a history of supporting and installing military governments in countries around the world, it has played the major role in establishing the succession of failed governments in Baghdad ever since it invaded in 2003.
See, in my group, we don't talk about ways to continue the war. We talk about ways to end the war because it's illegal, immoral and destroying Iraq and the United States. James Baker just wants to find a way to make it 'digest' better.
C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Monday, October 23, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, US troops hit the 2800 fatality mark, Bully Boy sings a few bars of "Daddy Wasn't There," the former head of the US State Department's Iraq intel section tells the BBC there is no 'win' in Iraq, a US war resister who self-checked out and went to Canada announces he is returning to the US, and Ehren Watada's father prepares to take to the road again to raise awareness on his son's stance against the illegal war.
Today, the US military announced the death of a marine in the Al-Anbar Province. He was a member of Regimental Combat Team 5. And the military felt the need to add "This release is not a duplicate of the MNC-I press release #20061022-01, which announced the death of another RCT 5 Marine." That's necessary due to the number of press releases on US troops the military has issued today to cover the large number of US military fatalities in Iraq which has hit 87 this month. The number of US troops killed in Iraq since the beginning of Bully Boy's illegal war of choice now stands at 2800. CNN notes that October has been the deadliest month for US troops this year topping April "when 76 U.S. troops were killed." As John Ward Anderson and Debbi Wilgoren (Washington Post) and John F. Burns (New York Times) noted the record high for US fatalities are November 2004 and April 2004 (137 and 135 respectively.) At BuzzFlash, Cindy Sheehan provides historical perspective: "In the first 3 years, 7 months of the illegal and immoral occupation of Iraq, 2791 of our volunteer soldiers have been tragically killed and in the first 4 years of the illegal and immorcal conflict in Vietnam (which was never a 'war' constitutionally declared by Congress either), 1864 conscripts were killed."
That's just fatalities, not wounded, and just US fatalities. Iraqis are dying and being wounded as well.
Bombings?
Reuters reports three people were wounded in Balad from a mortar and two roadside bombs in Baghdad resulted in five police officers being killed and left 15 wounded as well as two civilians injured. CNN notes a car bomb "detonated on Palestine Street" in Baghdad that took one life and left 13 more wounded as well as a car bomb targeting a Baghdad market which took the lives of four and left six wounded.
Shootings?
CNN reports that four people with "security services for Iraq's oil facilities" were shot dead in their car in Baghdad and that a woman ("the shop's owner") was shot dead when her "hairdresser's shop" in Baghdad was attacked. Reuters notes an Iraqi soldier was shot dead in Balad (four more wounded), a police officer was shot dead in Baiji, "four policemen from the Facility Protection Services" were shot dead in Baghdad,
Corpses?
Reuters reports eight corpses were discovered in Baghdad ("gunshot wounds to the head").
Meanwhile, KUNA reports that US forces "broke into offices of Shiite militias in the two cities of Holla and Diwaniya" -- noting that Holla was "the offices of Al-Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia led by Muqtada Al-Sadr" and AFP reports that Amara is now on curfew. Curfews and 'crackdowns,' the hallmarks of 'democracy' and 'liberation' in someone's distorted view of the illegal war.
Staying in the real world before venturing into the soft underbelly of the Bully Boy and his administration, Wayne White's caused a stir. Speaking to the BBC, the former US State Dept. who headed the Iraq intel "section until last year" stated of the illegal war: "The effort can't be sustained over the long haul, and so we can't stay a course, I think, that requires years and years more. . . . We're not winning. It's apparent."
Apparent to all who can face reality.
In the someone's been watching their Austin Powers in Goldmember DVD news, Reuters reports Bully Boy's none too pleased with his father: "Earlier this month, the elder Bush was reported to have told a Republican fund-raiser in a Philadelphia suburb that" things wouldn't be so good for sonny-boy if Democrats won control of the US Congress. Reuters reports that the Bully Boy told ABC's This Week, "He shouldn't be speculating like this, because -- he should have called me ahead of time and I'd tell him they're not going to (win)." Possibly Bully Boy's too busy feeling sorry for himself to remember his own response to a question about whether he went to Poppy Bush for advice on starting the Iraq war? Bob Woodward told 60 Minutes Bully Boy responded to that question with: "He is the wrong father to appeal to for advice. The wrong father to go to, to appeal to in terms of strength."
As Bully Boy trots out yet another karaoke version of "Daddy Wasn't There," Rupert Cornwell (Independent of London) takes a look at the 'daddy issues' and observes "the psychodrama that has been playing out here for four years, and whose climax may be yet to come -- the relationship between Bush the elder and Bush the younger -- '41' and '43' as they like to call each other . . . It is a tangled tale of love and rivalry, of admiration and intense competition. And it may have brought us the disaster of Iraq. . . . As I write this, the President is closeted in the Oval Office with General John Abizaid, his top commander for the Middle East, trying to sort out the appalling mess. More US troops or fewer, a phased withdrawal, the splitting of the country into some form of confederation (partition lite), or even talks with Syria and the arch-enemy Iran (the one indisputable beneficiary, along with radical Islam, of the mess)? Who knows? Maybe none of the above. As everyone but the White House acknowledges, there are no good options, there are only less bad options."
When not painting himself pathetic, Bully Boy practices denial. The Guardian of London points out: "Americans, Iraqis and many others must have wondered just what George Bush meant in his weekly radio address on Saturday when he insisted: 'Our goal in Iraq is clear and unchanging. Our goal is victory.' The president's comments can only be counted as bizarre at a time when concerns about the deteriorating situation have reached a 'tipping point' due to a combination of events on the ground in Baghdad, Amara and elsewhere - and the impending decimation of the Republicans in the November 7 Congressional elections. Mr Bush's nonsensical message, a variant of his stock line about 'staying the course,' is likely to be quickly forgotten. The phrase that will be long remembered is that of Alberto Fernandez, head of public diplomacy at the [US] state department: he told al-Jazeera that US policy in Iraq had suffered from 'arrogance' and stupidity'."
After initially disputing that Alberto Fernandez made the remarks, Sean McCormack of the US State Dept. asserted the remarks resulted from a mistranslation, they tried a time-honored tactic: get the speaker to blame themselves. Mistranslated was always a tough sell because, as CBS and AP note, Fernandez "spoke in fluent Arabic" during the interview. So it was time for the self-flogging. Neela Banerjee (New York Times) reported that Alberto Fernandez that the "senior State Department official apologized Sunday night" for his remarks. CNN reports the apology came via e-mail (so modern!) and that he stressed to CNN he wasn't "dissing" the 'policy' but added that his remarks did not break "new ground". So why the apology?
Regardless, it's too late. Just like Bully Boy's comparison of Iraq to Vietnam last week, it's out there. As Meg Ryan's character tells Billy Crystayl's in When Harry Met Sally, "You can't take it back. . . Because it's already out there" (written by Nora Ephron, directed by Rob Reiner.) Attempts to disown it are a bit like the administrations quibbles over "deadlines" vs. "milestones." As the White House quibbles, Iraq's deputy prime minister, Barham Saleh, goes into a panice. David Stringer (AP) reports that Saleh spoke with Tony Blair and has stated: "I do believe there is no option for the international community to cut and run." Saleh, when not jetting off to England, stays safe and sound in the heavily fortified Green Zone of Baghdad. No doubt the thought of living with the realities all other Iraqis have had to face since the start of the illegal war must be frightening -- especially the loss of water and electricity which has always been in abundance in the Green Zone. What's good enough for the people of Iraq has never been good enough for the puppet regime. Al Jazeera reports that Saleh pooh-pahhed the "pessimistic tone" -- as would anyone in his secure quarters and lofty lifestyle faced with losing it all should foreign troops pull out.
As Steve Kroft (CBS' 60 Minutes) reported Sunday, "More than half a billion dollars earmarked to fight the insurgency in Iraq was stolen by people the U.S. had entrusted to run the country's Ministry of Defense before the 2005 elections, according to Iraqi investigators. . . One of the people praised in former U.S. Ambassador L. Paul Bremer's memoris is a major suspect in the case. Ziad Cattan was in charge of military procurement at a time when the ministry of Defense went on a $1.2 billion buying spree. [Ali] Allawi estimates that $750 to $800 million of that money was stolen." But don't forget it was a windfall for all. As Greg Palast reports, on other thefts, in Armed Madhouse (p. 75): "Who pocketed the loot? Don't ask Mr. Bremer. Before he slipped out of Baghdad, he had a little trouble with CPA [Civilian Provisional Authority] bookkeeping himself. We all lose an expense receipt or two on occasion, but the CPA's petty cash drawer was fatter than most. They kept $200 million in bricks of U.S. currency in a room in Saddam's palace and another $400 million tucked away here and there. Agents could check out these cash bricks, like library books. Unlike a library, they didn't have to return them as long as they brought receipts. One agent took $23 million in a tub of cash and returned with $6 million in receipts. Another took $25 million and returned, it appears, with nothing at all. In all, 363 tons of U.S. currency were shipped to Iraq. Where did the cash go?"
The no-take-backs Bully Boy comparison of Iraq to Vietnam continues to receive attention. Cindy Sheehan (writing at BuzzFlash) notes the similarities between Bully Boy's talk of presenting the Iraqi government with a timetable to Tricky Dick's oft campaigned on 'secret plan' for Vietnam: "The US plan for withdrawing from Iraq would include disarming militias and training more Iraqi security forces to take over security of the country -- which sounds suspiciously like Nixon's 'Vietnamization' program. With the incipient warmonger Kissinger (we were wondering why Iraq was such an unmitigated disaster?) back in the Oval Office advising George, does this smell like a fiasco to anyone else?" Reminder, Gold Star Families for Peace is staging a sit-in in DC, in front of the White House, November 6th through 9th. BuzzFlash is offering Sheehan's Peace Mom, A Mother's Journey Through Heartache to Activism as a premium (BuzzFlash's portion of any sales go to keep BuzzFlash up and running).
In other peace news, war resister Kyle Snyder intends to return to the United States from Canada next month as Courage to Resist.reported in an e-mail sent out Friday. In August, Synder explained his decision to self-check out of the US military and go to Canada to Karen Button noting, "You know, if they want to help people in Iraq . . . imagine a 15 year-old kid, for the last . . . years all he's seen is [US] military personnel with weapons going through his city. How is that child supposed to believe that the man, in that uniform is helping him? Now, if that child saw a convoy of logs being brought to his city, or a convory of water being brought to his city, still guarded, it would be a completely different situation. That's where the American military messed up. Because they forgot about the perception of civilisation. They forgot about the perception of the Iraqi people."
Meanwhile, Ehren Watada's father Bob Watada is launching another speaking tour to raise awareness on his son -- the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. The tour kicks off October 26 in Phoenix, AZ and is set to conclude November 17th in Atlanta, GA. A full schedule can be found at Veterans for Peace.
More information on Ehren Watada, Kyle Snyder and other war resisters who have gone public can be found at Courage to Resist. In addition, FluxView has videos of war resisters who went to Canada and information on them can be found at War Resisters Support Campaign.
Finally, (as Rob and Kara noted this morning) a look at peace activists comes not from The Nation or The Progressive, but Christian Hill (The Olympian) who reports on
Olympia Movement for Justice & Peace and Olympians for Peace in the Middle East member Muhammad Ayub (a doctor inspired by his own observations while serving with the UN in Iraq during the first Gulf War, "I feel like political dissent is actually celebrated, not just stifled."),Veterans For Peace -- Rachel Corrie Chapter 109 member and board member of the Washington Truth in Recruitment Molly Gibbs (mental health counselor, "There are actually more people who share the concern I have than not. Thirty percent are pretty entrenched in beliefs about the country and the moral values that they tend to think exist but in practice don't exist.") and Fellowship for Reconciliation's Glen Anderson (a c.o. during Vietnam, "This is grandparents, this is state employees, this is small-business people. These are local farmers, our carpenters, the people who work for our local phone company and stuff. . . . At some point, we're going to win if we organize smart and if we work hard, and work strategically and smart and build enough grass-roots movement."). Hill provides a look at three peace activists who are part of a movement to end the illegal war.
like maria said paz
kats korner
sex and politics and screeds and attitude
trinas kitchen
the daily jot
cedrics big mix
mikey likes it
thomas friedman is a great man
the common ills
cindy sheehan
gold star families for peace
the new york times
neela banerjee
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iraq
Friday, October 20, 2006
Amara
Friday! Friday, Friday, Friday! :D I am picturing spending my whole life being excited that it's Friday. :D Does it ever wear off? Be sure to check out Like Maria Said Paz for Elaine's take. The big news today was Amara. I was reading through C.I.'s "Other Items" and I'd had the TV on and they weren't even talking about it. But how many talked about Amara in August when the British troops packed up and got the hell out of there while claiming they weren't abandoning the base even though they were getting shelled and attacked every night? Most people weren't even paying attention to that in August, weren't even paying attention to Israel. Now they have to play catch up and they're probably lost because most reports say "The British turned the base over in August . . ." and that's just not true. Not only did they get out of there, after giving the Iraqi government 24 hours notice that they were pulling out, as soon as they were gone, people started looting the base. You can find links in "Other Items" to coverage of it in real time. Now I'm going to put up some of Kim Sengupta's "Bloody battle for Amarah a glimpse of future:"
The militia headed by the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr yesterday took over the southern Iraqi city of Amarah, recently vacated by British forces, after a day of heavy fighting which left dozens killed, almost 100 injured and widespread damage to buildings.
In what is being seen as a symbolic flexing of muscle, heavily armed Mahdi Army fighters in black uniforms stormed and took over the three main police stations and flattened them with explosives.
British troops were put on standby to move back into Amarah last night as Mr Sadr's militia battles the rival Shia Badr Brigade for the control of the south and its lucrative oil fields.
Amid conflicting reports about who exactly was controlling the capital of Maysan province two companies of the Iraqi army with British "advisers" were despatched from Basra. The Iraqi Prime Minister, Nour al-Maliki, sent a high-powered delegation from Baghdad to seek talks with Mr Sadr's representatives.
That is a glimpse of the future and you have to wonder what it's going to take for people to start getting serious about troops coming home? I don't mean the ones who've been calling it for already, I mean the wishy-washy set that can't seem to figure out what they think?
Now I want to talk about a "kook" who denies racism. That's right, there's a racism denier and his name is Matthew Rothschild. From Alan Maass' "A Wake Up Call to the Passive Left:"
The protest against the anti-immigrant Minutemen at Columbia University and the national media uproar that followed highlight both the growing threat of the far right and the challenges facing those who want to confront racism.
The planned speech by Minutemen founder Jim Gilchrist at Columbia was part of an effort by the racist group to gain a foothold on college campuses--and to further burnish the group's newly "respectable" image.
It wasn't a surprise that the right-wing media would turn the facts on their heads and use the protest to accuse immigrant rights supporters of violence and attacking "free speech." But unfortunately, some liberals and even radicals joined in the denunciations. Progressive magazine editor Matthew Rothschild said the Columbia protest was "a defeat for free speech worthy not of progressives, but of goons."
Seems like the goon is Matthew Rothschild and I'll just say that about it. I had seven more paragraphs but I was not even close to finished. I don't want to waste my limited time on the goony, nutty Matthew Rothschild.
Matthew Rothschild does not give a damn about young people so why should we give a damn about him? He has no young writers. He just hired a new columnist who is what? 50? 60?
I'm sick of these people who want our money but don't want to put a plate for us at the table. So I'm not going to waste my time on the Middle Aged Bore tonight.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" which covers important stuff:
Friday, October 20, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq; an area the British abandoned heats up; Rumsfeld's 'big fellow' vouches for his honor; Max Boot demonstrates he was cursed with not only porcine features but analytical challenges as well; Bully Boy's Iraq to Vietnam comparison continues to be discussed (and will continue); another US soldier dies today in Iraq bringing the total for the month to 75; Ramadi's parade/independence statement is echoed elsewhere in Iraq today.
Starting in Amara. On August 24th, came news that too much violence, too many attacks, led British troops to exit Amara quickly. Spinning would continue August 25th and then it was largely forgotten. Today, actions in Amara have reminded why British troops left and left so quickly. Al Jazeera reports that "overnight clashes left 15 dead" and that the fighting continued today "after police arrested a member of cleric Maqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army on suspicion of killing a local intelligence officer in a bomb attack". Christopher Bodeen (AP) reports that the town has been "seized" and that it's "one of the boldest acts of defiance yet by the country's powerful, unofficial armies, witnesses and police said." CNN reports that 16 people have died and 90 wounded. They also speak with British military flack Charlie Burbridge who stated that between 200 and 300 people attacked two police stations in Amara Thursday. Christine Hauser (New York Times) reports: "The nearest British troops are now stationed more than 20 miles from the city" and that other police stations and "state facilities in Amara were attacked." On the subject of British troops, AFP reports: "A British battle group of 600 troops backed by attack jets and armoured vehicles is standing by to intervene if Iraqi forces need support" according to Charlie Burbridge (so take it for what it is worth).
Kirk Semple (New York Times) reports that the militia have gain "control of entire neighborhoods" and notes theories that that a split between Maktada al-Sadr (whom some are linking the militias too) and puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki could impact the "stability" of the puppet government. Meanwhile, James Hider (Times of London) notes: "As in Balad, militiamen set up roadblocks around the town and warned residents to stay indoors."
In some of the other violence today, Reuters notes that one person died and three were wounded in Baghdad from a roadside bomb (Dora district). Also Reuters reports that one person was shot dead near Baiji and three others wounded. AFP reports that three people are dead and three wounded from an attack in Khalis.
It's Friday. News of violence trickles out slowly on a normal day. Events in Amara meant today wouldn't be a normal Friday.
In other news, Frank Jordans (AP) reports that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that "914,000 Iraqis have fled their homes since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003". This at the same time as Patrick Cockburn (Independent of London) reports on the increased dangers in Iraqi hospitals both from the fact that the medical "system is breaking down" and also because of claims that "hospitals are now being used by al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia as its headquarters and hospital basements are used as prisons."
But no need to be concerned about any of the above. For one thing, Peter Pace is standing by his man. AFP reports the US general said of Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld, "He leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country." God responds, "Don't blame that ___ on me!"
While Pace tells the world he's fond of his fella' Rumsfeld, Tony Blair warns the world that he's the house guest from hell. Philip Webster (Times of London) reports that is bandying around the term "progressive withdrawal" and insisting that Iraqis won't be put out by foreign forces 'staying too long.' At three years and eight months, Blair's stayed too long at the fair and then some.
Meanwhile, AP reports that Bully Boy's poodle-in-waiting, John Howard, declares there "is no reason to for international forces to quite Iraq". Pooh-pahhing Little Willie Caldwell's use of the term "disheartening" yesterday, Howard declared, "In any military operation, you have heartening and disheartening things". Backing him was Australia's former chief of the Defence Force, Peter Cosgrove, who doesn't believe that Vietnam and Iraq are anything alike. It helps his self-serving refusal to focus on the conflict in Indochine and the Indochina War which, for the record, wasn't the question put to Bully Boy on Wednesday. Possibly Cosgrove misunderstood the question?
For those confused, the Khaleej Times brings you up to speed: "At last, President Bush has come to acknowledge what many in and outside US have been arguing for some time. That Iraq is increasingly looking like Vietnam. In a rare confession during his interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulus, the president admitted that as in Vietnam, America faces 'a stepped-up level of violence' in Iraq. Stepped-up level of violence, Mr. President? This is an all-out and free-for-all bloody civil war, which has already claimed 655,000 Iraqi lives, as medical journal Lancet disclosed last week."
For anyone who may still be confused, from yesterday's snapshot:
Starting with the Bully Boy. As Demetri Sevastopulo (Financial Times) noted, Bully Boy "drew a comparison between Iraq and the Vietnam war for the first time on Wednesday when he said Thomas Friedman, a New York Times columinst, 'could be right' in writing that the violent situation in Iraq was the 'jihadist equivalent of the Tet offensive." Summarizing the interview, Ed O'Keefe (ABC) notes, "Bush said he could not imagine any circumstances under which all U.S. troops would be withdrawn from Iraq before the end of his presidency." Bully Boy doesn't seem to register of what his comparison would result in. Mark Tran (Guardian of London) walks readers through: "Mr Bush has strongly resisted comparisons between Vietnam and Iraq. Vietnam remains a touchy subject for America; the war deeply divided the country, ended in an ignominious retreat for the US after the loss of more than 57,000 American lives, and has become synonymous with political and military debacle. The 1968 Tet offensive was a military failure for the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese, but it turned American public opinion against the war and fatally damaged President Lyndon Johnson, who abandoned his re-election campaign two months later."
The 'crackdown' cracked . . . down. Up? The measure began in mid-June was supposed to secure the capital but violence not only continued in Baghdad, it increased. As John F. Burns (New York Times) reported, Bully Boy "is now left with only a handful of tough and politically unattractive options" as a result of the cracked-up 'crackdown.' Michael Abramowitz and Thomas E. Ricks (Washington Post) reported, "Senior figures in both parties are coming to the conclusion that the Bush administration will be unable to achieve its goal of a stable, democratic Iraq within a politically feasible time frame." Despite that, CNN reports that White House flack Tony Snow has stated, "There will be no change in strategy." Bully Boy would publicly agree later in the day. Steve Holland (Reuters) reports that Bully Boy, deluded or in denial, insists there will be no changes while Democratic House Representative John Murtha notes: "We've lost the hearts and minds of the people and we've become caught in a civil war." CBS and AP report that Bully Boy's pushing a teleconference tomorrow "with U.S. generals" to determine what to do next. (Those who remember the infamous Hurricane Katrina teleconference will rightly shudder.)
Though Max Boot hasn't lost his heart (can't lose what you don't have), he appears to be losing his grip on reality. Speaking to Michelle Nichols (Reuters), the balding gas bag offered that American troops dying in Iraq has a less of an impact than Americans dying in the Vietnam conflict due to the fact that today "the impact here is more isolated because so many soldiers come from military communities which are clustered in a handful of states." Oh really?
American troop fatalties? Alabama: 47; Alaska: 10; Arizona: 66; Arkansas: 35; California: 284; Colorado: 34; Connecticut: 22; Delaware: 12; Florida: 117; Georgia: 83; Hawaii: 13; Idaho: 16; Illinois: 107; Indiana: 56; Iowa: 33; Kansas: 31; Kentucky: 46; Louisiana: 63; Maine: 12; Maryland: 52; Massachusetts: 45; Michigan: 97; Minnesota: 39; Mississippi: 35; Missouri: 48; Montana: 12; Nebraska: 29; Nevada: 24; New Hampshire: 14; New Jersey: 47; New Mexico: 21; New York: 132; North Carolina: 63; North Dakota: 13; Ohio: 125; Oklahoma: 47; Oregon: 46; Pennsylvania: 135; Rhode Island: 10; South Carolina: 39; South Dakota: 17; Tennessee: 58; Texas: 245; Utah: 14; Vermont: 18; Virginia: 83; Washington: 53; West Virginia: 18; Wisconsin: 60; Wyoming: 7.
A "handful of states"? Can we get some talcum powder for Max Boot? His desk jockeys have apparently left his brain chafed.
The Booty's foolish remarks come as the US military announces another death: a US soldier died in Baghad today from an IED. This death brings the total US fatalities in Iraq for the month of October to 75 and the total of US troop fatalities since the start of the illegal war now stands at 2788.
The news of the death comes as Hamza Hendwai (AP) reports that the parade/declaration of independence earlier this week in Ramadi have now been echoed today "in a string of towns west of Baghdad . . . . the latest parades -- including two less than a mile from U.S. military bases -- were staged in support of an announcement this week by a militant Sunni Arab group that it had created an Islamic state in six of Iraq's 18 provinces, including the capital, Baghdad."
the common illsthe third estate sunday reviewsex and politics and screeds and attitudemikey likes itlike maria said paz
iraq
the new york times
kirk semple
john f. burns
the washington post
michael abramowitz
thomas e. ricks
demetri sevastopulo
christopher bodeen
The militia headed by the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr yesterday took over the southern Iraqi city of Amarah, recently vacated by British forces, after a day of heavy fighting which left dozens killed, almost 100 injured and widespread damage to buildings.
In what is being seen as a symbolic flexing of muscle, heavily armed Mahdi Army fighters in black uniforms stormed and took over the three main police stations and flattened them with explosives.
British troops were put on standby to move back into Amarah last night as Mr Sadr's militia battles the rival Shia Badr Brigade for the control of the south and its lucrative oil fields.
Amid conflicting reports about who exactly was controlling the capital of Maysan province two companies of the Iraqi army with British "advisers" were despatched from Basra. The Iraqi Prime Minister, Nour al-Maliki, sent a high-powered delegation from Baghdad to seek talks with Mr Sadr's representatives.
That is a glimpse of the future and you have to wonder what it's going to take for people to start getting serious about troops coming home? I don't mean the ones who've been calling it for already, I mean the wishy-washy set that can't seem to figure out what they think?
Now I want to talk about a "kook" who denies racism. That's right, there's a racism denier and his name is Matthew Rothschild. From Alan Maass' "A Wake Up Call to the Passive Left:"
The protest against the anti-immigrant Minutemen at Columbia University and the national media uproar that followed highlight both the growing threat of the far right and the challenges facing those who want to confront racism.
The planned speech by Minutemen founder Jim Gilchrist at Columbia was part of an effort by the racist group to gain a foothold on college campuses--and to further burnish the group's newly "respectable" image.
It wasn't a surprise that the right-wing media would turn the facts on their heads and use the protest to accuse immigrant rights supporters of violence and attacking "free speech." But unfortunately, some liberals and even radicals joined in the denunciations. Progressive magazine editor Matthew Rothschild said the Columbia protest was "a defeat for free speech worthy not of progressives, but of goons."
Seems like the goon is Matthew Rothschild and I'll just say that about it. I had seven more paragraphs but I was not even close to finished. I don't want to waste my limited time on the goony, nutty Matthew Rothschild.
Matthew Rothschild does not give a damn about young people so why should we give a damn about him? He has no young writers. He just hired a new columnist who is what? 50? 60?
I'm sick of these people who want our money but don't want to put a plate for us at the table. So I'm not going to waste my time on the Middle Aged Bore tonight.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" which covers important stuff:
Friday, October 20, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq; an area the British abandoned heats up; Rumsfeld's 'big fellow' vouches for his honor; Max Boot demonstrates he was cursed with not only porcine features but analytical challenges as well; Bully Boy's Iraq to Vietnam comparison continues to be discussed (and will continue); another US soldier dies today in Iraq bringing the total for the month to 75; Ramadi's parade/independence statement is echoed elsewhere in Iraq today.
Starting in Amara. On August 24th, came news that too much violence, too many attacks, led British troops to exit Amara quickly. Spinning would continue August 25th and then it was largely forgotten. Today, actions in Amara have reminded why British troops left and left so quickly. Al Jazeera reports that "overnight clashes left 15 dead" and that the fighting continued today "after police arrested a member of cleric Maqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army on suspicion of killing a local intelligence officer in a bomb attack". Christopher Bodeen (AP) reports that the town has been "seized" and that it's "one of the boldest acts of defiance yet by the country's powerful, unofficial armies, witnesses and police said." CNN reports that 16 people have died and 90 wounded. They also speak with British military flack Charlie Burbridge who stated that between 200 and 300 people attacked two police stations in Amara Thursday. Christine Hauser (New York Times) reports: "The nearest British troops are now stationed more than 20 miles from the city" and that other police stations and "state facilities in Amara were attacked." On the subject of British troops, AFP reports: "A British battle group of 600 troops backed by attack jets and armoured vehicles is standing by to intervene if Iraqi forces need support" according to Charlie Burbridge (so take it for what it is worth).
Kirk Semple (New York Times) reports that the militia have gain "control of entire neighborhoods" and notes theories that that a split between Maktada al-Sadr (whom some are linking the militias too) and puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki could impact the "stability" of the puppet government. Meanwhile, James Hider (Times of London) notes: "As in Balad, militiamen set up roadblocks around the town and warned residents to stay indoors."
In some of the other violence today, Reuters notes that one person died and three were wounded in Baghdad from a roadside bomb (Dora district). Also Reuters reports that one person was shot dead near Baiji and three others wounded. AFP reports that three people are dead and three wounded from an attack in Khalis.
It's Friday. News of violence trickles out slowly on a normal day. Events in Amara meant today wouldn't be a normal Friday.
In other news, Frank Jordans (AP) reports that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that "914,000 Iraqis have fled their homes since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003". This at the same time as Patrick Cockburn (Independent of London) reports on the increased dangers in Iraqi hospitals both from the fact that the medical "system is breaking down" and also because of claims that "hospitals are now being used by al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia as its headquarters and hospital basements are used as prisons."
But no need to be concerned about any of the above. For one thing, Peter Pace is standing by his man. AFP reports the US general said of Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld, "He leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country." God responds, "Don't blame that ___ on me!"
While Pace tells the world he's fond of his fella' Rumsfeld, Tony Blair warns the world that he's the house guest from hell. Philip Webster (Times of London) reports that is bandying around the term "progressive withdrawal" and insisting that Iraqis won't be put out by foreign forces 'staying too long.' At three years and eight months, Blair's stayed too long at the fair and then some.
Meanwhile, AP reports that Bully Boy's poodle-in-waiting, John Howard, declares there "is no reason to for international forces to quite Iraq". Pooh-pahhing Little Willie Caldwell's use of the term "disheartening" yesterday, Howard declared, "In any military operation, you have heartening and disheartening things". Backing him was Australia's former chief of the Defence Force, Peter Cosgrove, who doesn't believe that Vietnam and Iraq are anything alike. It helps his self-serving refusal to focus on the conflict in Indochine and the Indochina War which, for the record, wasn't the question put to Bully Boy on Wednesday. Possibly Cosgrove misunderstood the question?
For those confused, the Khaleej Times brings you up to speed: "At last, President Bush has come to acknowledge what many in and outside US have been arguing for some time. That Iraq is increasingly looking like Vietnam. In a rare confession during his interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulus, the president admitted that as in Vietnam, America faces 'a stepped-up level of violence' in Iraq. Stepped-up level of violence, Mr. President? This is an all-out and free-for-all bloody civil war, which has already claimed 655,000 Iraqi lives, as medical journal Lancet disclosed last week."
For anyone who may still be confused, from yesterday's snapshot:
Starting with the Bully Boy. As Demetri Sevastopulo (Financial Times) noted, Bully Boy "drew a comparison between Iraq and the Vietnam war for the first time on Wednesday when he said Thomas Friedman, a New York Times columinst, 'could be right' in writing that the violent situation in Iraq was the 'jihadist equivalent of the Tet offensive." Summarizing the interview, Ed O'Keefe (ABC) notes, "Bush said he could not imagine any circumstances under which all U.S. troops would be withdrawn from Iraq before the end of his presidency." Bully Boy doesn't seem to register of what his comparison would result in. Mark Tran (Guardian of London) walks readers through: "Mr Bush has strongly resisted comparisons between Vietnam and Iraq. Vietnam remains a touchy subject for America; the war deeply divided the country, ended in an ignominious retreat for the US after the loss of more than 57,000 American lives, and has become synonymous with political and military debacle. The 1968 Tet offensive was a military failure for the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese, but it turned American public opinion against the war and fatally damaged President Lyndon Johnson, who abandoned his re-election campaign two months later."
The 'crackdown' cracked . . . down. Up? The measure began in mid-June was supposed to secure the capital but violence not only continued in Baghdad, it increased. As John F. Burns (New York Times) reported, Bully Boy "is now left with only a handful of tough and politically unattractive options" as a result of the cracked-up 'crackdown.' Michael Abramowitz and Thomas E. Ricks (Washington Post) reported, "Senior figures in both parties are coming to the conclusion that the Bush administration will be unable to achieve its goal of a stable, democratic Iraq within a politically feasible time frame." Despite that, CNN reports that White House flack Tony Snow has stated, "There will be no change in strategy." Bully Boy would publicly agree later in the day. Steve Holland (Reuters) reports that Bully Boy, deluded or in denial, insists there will be no changes while Democratic House Representative John Murtha notes: "We've lost the hearts and minds of the people and we've become caught in a civil war." CBS and AP report that Bully Boy's pushing a teleconference tomorrow "with U.S. generals" to determine what to do next. (Those who remember the infamous Hurricane Katrina teleconference will rightly shudder.)
Though Max Boot hasn't lost his heart (can't lose what you don't have), he appears to be losing his grip on reality. Speaking to Michelle Nichols (Reuters), the balding gas bag offered that American troops dying in Iraq has a less of an impact than Americans dying in the Vietnam conflict due to the fact that today "the impact here is more isolated because so many soldiers come from military communities which are clustered in a handful of states." Oh really?
American troop fatalties? Alabama: 47; Alaska: 10; Arizona: 66; Arkansas: 35; California: 284; Colorado: 34; Connecticut: 22; Delaware: 12; Florida: 117; Georgia: 83; Hawaii: 13; Idaho: 16; Illinois: 107; Indiana: 56; Iowa: 33; Kansas: 31; Kentucky: 46; Louisiana: 63; Maine: 12; Maryland: 52; Massachusetts: 45; Michigan: 97; Minnesota: 39; Mississippi: 35; Missouri: 48; Montana: 12; Nebraska: 29; Nevada: 24; New Hampshire: 14; New Jersey: 47; New Mexico: 21; New York: 132; North Carolina: 63; North Dakota: 13; Ohio: 125; Oklahoma: 47; Oregon: 46; Pennsylvania: 135; Rhode Island: 10; South Carolina: 39; South Dakota: 17; Tennessee: 58; Texas: 245; Utah: 14; Vermont: 18; Virginia: 83; Washington: 53; West Virginia: 18; Wisconsin: 60; Wyoming: 7.
A "handful of states"? Can we get some talcum powder for Max Boot? His desk jockeys have apparently left his brain chafed.
The Booty's foolish remarks come as the US military announces another death: a US soldier died in Baghad today from an IED. This death brings the total US fatalities in Iraq for the month of October to 75 and the total of US troop fatalities since the start of the illegal war now stands at 2788.
The news of the death comes as Hamza Hendwai (AP) reports that the parade/declaration of independence earlier this week in Ramadi have now been echoed today "in a string of towns west of Baghdad . . . . the latest parades -- including two less than a mile from U.S. military bases -- were staged in support of an announcement this week by a militant Sunni Arab group that it had created an Islamic state in six of Iraq's 18 provinces, including the capital, Baghdad."
the common illsthe third estate sunday reviewsex and politics and screeds and attitudemikey likes itlike maria said paz
iraq
the new york times
kirk semple
john f. burns
the washington post
michael abramowitz
thomas e. ricks
demetri sevastopulo
christopher bodeen
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Iraq, Media Matters, Randi Rhodes
Thursday at last! :D Lots going on. I'll start with this, Elizabeth Sullivan's "Vietnam & Iraq: Another 'Bright Shining Lie':"
The ultimate tragedy of Iraq is that it was dreamed up by a generation that lived through an earlier war constructed atop deception and denial.
The Vietnam generation should have known better.
Yet Iraq is the same "bright shining lie" told by the same sort of smart men -- and this time, smart women -- that Neil Sheehan chronicled in his devastating book about the many-tiered American deceptions that made Vietnam such a quagmire. As with Vietnam, this nation is propping up a corrupt Iraqi government and distorting outcomes by picking its own political winners and losers.
As with Vietnam, U.S. officials faced with military stalemate are grasping at straws via vain attempts to "Iraqify" a national military and police force that lacks legitimacy with most Iraqis. Why else would Iraqis be able to take over only two of the nation's 18 provinces when -- according to ground commander Gen. George Casey -- 80 percent to 90 percent of current violence is concentrated in only five?
It may not be surprising that a White House where few served in Vietnam would fail to see the Vietnam analogies, and instead cast the post-9/11 landscape as the ideological equivalent of the Cold War.
Bully Boy made the comparison yesterday. That's one reason C.I. did a night time entry yesterday ("Iraq"). C.I. said it just like when Bully Boy used "30,000" for the number of Iraqis killed. Until Bully Boy used that number, the mainstream press played vague. It was an undercount but Bully Boy used and they ran with it.
So the second Bully Boy made the comparison, suddenly the press could without being nervous or scared. That's the point C.I. was making today with this: "Whatever the reason, this comparison, or the fact that the Bully Boy made it, won't fade away."
By the way, I'm not picking on Elizabeth Sullivan. I like her column and if it's up today and in print in a newspaper, she probably wrote this before the yesterday evening's comparison was making news. But this is going to be something people talk about. That's the way the media works. Once Bully Boy says it, whatever it is, they can suddenly talk about it after most of them acted like it wasn't happening all along.
I'm going to slide it over to C.I., Sullivan's column, after I finish this and call to make sure C.I. sees it. It's really a strong column and at a time when a lot of women writing for publications want to play silent and stupid on the war, it's good to know one's not doing that. Election gas bagging is a topic some women want to offer. That'll be so important the second week of November.
Now this is from Media Matters' "O'Donnell asked congresswoman to go 'on the record' with 'promise' that Dems won't 'make the president's final two years in office a living hell':"
On the October 18 edition of MSNBC News Live, MSNBC chief Washington correspondent Norah O'Donnell asked Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) to go "on the record" with a "promise" that Democrats "will not issue tens or hundreds of subpoenas to the White House when it comes to Katrina, Iraq, and a number of issues" that would "make the president's final two years in office a living hell." O'Donnell also baselessly suggested that such oversight would "mean that nothing gets done in Washington." Her comments were first noted by the weblog Firedoglake.
Earlier in the segment, which also included a discussion with Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), O'Donnell suggested that reviewing Democratic voting records on wiretapping and detainee abuse "helps [the White House] make a compelling argument" that "Democrats are weak when it comes [to] defense." O'Donnell made the remark while citing an article in The Washington Times in which White House senior adviser Karl Rove said that "it is useful to remind Democrats of what they said and what they do," and that "[s]omething is fundamentally flawed" in the Democrats' voting records.
This is not the first time O'Donnell has repeated Republican Party talking points unchallenged. As Media Matters for America noted, on the August 31 edition of Hardball, O'Donnell asked Democratic strategist Bob Shrum if "part of the problem that the Democrats have is they don't have a message to respond to the president" on the Iraq war. The following day, O'Donnell asked MSNBC political analyst Ron Reagan if withdrawing from Iraq would "essentially hand a victory to the terrorists," an exchange that was also noted by Media Matters.
I like Media Matters but I want to especially praise them on this. Norah O'Donnell is a GOP hack. I heard it from C.I., I've since heard it from reporters who are friends of C.I.'s. Media Matters has never been afraid to go after her. That's not always been the case online. I heard about people pointing out things, press, to sites like Media Whores Online and that 'brave' site refused to note them. Including the fact that when NBC switched her to DC, O'Donnell had a party thrown for her by someone who worked for Cheney (had just left due to pregnancy) attended by a lot of the administration. That's the thing she's still criticized for -- how does a supposedly neutral party attend a private residence to go to a party thrown for her by one of Cheney's flunkies? And where was MWO? The supposedly brave site? Looking the other way even when it was pointed out to them. You've had others look the other way and even some on the left praise her (like the online latter day ___). That's why they're a joke. Media Matters covers everything. That's why it's not a joke. Anyone who is sad that MWO is gone should take comfort in the fact that you've got people doing real work at Media Matters.
Robin D. Gill writes a really dumb letter to a Florida newspaper. Wally saw it and wanted me to include it. Why is it dumb? Gill whines that Gainseville needs an Air America "or other" station. Gill goes on to schill for Air America and comes off like an idiot as she name checks every male on staff basically as well as the margarine queen and Stephanie Miller who isn't funny as she wishes she was (which is probably why she screens her calls) and isn't a part of AAR. As Wally pointed out (unlike Gill, Wally wasn't visiting Florida, he lives there), Randi Rhodes is known throughout Florida even by people who can't pick her up over the airwaves. As most people know who don't buy the hype, she's an actual ratings hit unlike all the dopes Gill pants over. If you're going to make an argument in Florida for bringing AAR ("other" is apparently important to Gill), you name the best weekday host and you name the host who owns a home in Florida. In this case, both people are Randi Rhodes.
It's really past time that Randi Rhodes gets the credit she's earned. Baby Cries a Lot is the "face" AAR tried to sell listeners, Randi Rhodes is the face listeners chose. She's the only weekday host that's had their act together and given facts and humor. I'm to the left of her but I can listen to her and not cringe. Rachel Maddow makes too many errors and Baby Cries a Lot only knows how to whine. The non AAR people, other than Stephanie Giggles, I don't know. But of the AAR weekday staff, there's only one star and it's Randi Rhodes. Baby Cries a Lot couldn't even sell his last book. His act was tired before he moved it over to radio and now it's just embarrassing. If AAR ever wants to get out of their eternal slump, they'll stop trying to make Baby Cries a Lot a star and start getting behind the host listeners made a star from day one. Gill wrote a stupid letter. It would be like me going to Dallas and writing a letter to their paper about football mentioning the Houston Texans and the New York Giants and the Arizona Cardinals and never once mentioning the Dallas Cowboys. People reading my letter would think, "Screw you, idiot." That's how Wally felt about Gill's letter that couldn't
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Thursday, October 19, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, the Giddiest Gabor of the Green Zone tries to spin, Bully Boy seems unaware (no surprise there) of how his comments comparing Iraq to Vietnam are being received, and Melanie McPherson faces a court-martial.
Starting with the Bully Boy. As Demetri Sevastopulo (Financial Times) noted, Bully Boy "drew a comparison between Iraq and the Vietnam war for the first time on Wednesday when he said Thomas Friedman, a New York Times columinst, 'could be right' in writing that the violent situation in Iraq was the 'jihadist equivalent of the Tet offensive." Summarizing the interview, Ed O'Keefe (ABC) notes, "Bush said he could not imagine any circumstances under which all U.S. troops would be withdrawn from Iraq before the end of his presidency." Bully Boy doesn't seem to register of what his comparison would result in. Mark Tran (Guardian of London) walks readers through: "Mr Bush has strongly resisted comparisons between Vietnam and Iraq. Vietnam remains a touchy subject for America; the war deeply divided the country, ended in an ignominious retreat for the US after the loss of more than 57,000 American lives, and has become synonymous with political and military debacle. The 1968 Tet offensive was a military failure for the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese, but it turned American public opinion against the war and fatally damaged President Lyndon Johnson, who abandoned his re-election campaign two months later."
As the comparison continues to be noted, the question is why Bully Boy, whose party has not just avoided the comparison but decried those making it, would offer the comparison? Possibly he was feeling nostalgic? He probably remembers those days in the trenches, in Alabama, when he self-checked out, with fondness and with US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld speaking in Alabama, at Maxwell Air Force Base, that might have made him look back on his own 'misty, water colored memories'? Whatever the reason, this comparison, or the fact that the Bully Boy made it, won't fade away. No matter how Dana Perino and other flacks try to spin it.
It comes at a time when the US public has turned against the illegal war and when chaos and violence continue in Iraq.
Bombings?
The BBC reports a truck bomb targeting a police stations claimed the lives of 12 people in Mosul while, in Kirkuk, a car bomb outside a bank "as soldiers gathered at the bank to collect their salaries" claimed eight lives and left 70 wounded Al Jazeera reports on the Kirkuk bombing: "A large part of the bank building, two army vehicles and several nearby shops were set on fire by the explosion." On Mosul, AFP reports that there were "a whole series of apparently coordinated attacks going off every 20 minutes Thursday, including several suicide car bombs, mortar fire and small arms attacks against coalition forces and Iraqi police," counting ten in all, that the city is now under curfew and that, in addition to those dying in the truck bombing, four more people died during the waves of attacks. Ziad al-Taei (Reuters) reports that there were six bombers and updates the death toll to "at least 20 people" (eleven killed by the truck bombing and, in addition, "[n]ine charred bodies lay on the debris-strewn streets"). Ellen Knickmeyer (Washington Post) reports "a huge fireball" and the truck was "an oil tanker [driven] into the Abu Tammam police station".
In Baghdad, home of the fabled 'crackdown,' China's People's Daily Online reports five dead and ten wounded in southern Baghdad as a result of three roadside bombs which are being seen as a "coordinated attack". The dead included two police officers and KUNA reports four more police officers died from "improvised explosive devices" in Kirkuk. Reuters reports that "near Mahmudiya" two people died from mortar rounds and four were left wounded while, in Mahmudiya proper, mortar rounds resulted in one family losing two members and three members being wounded.
Shootings?
Christopher Bodeen (AP) reports four police officers were shot dead in Dora during an attack on a police station, while, in Baghdad, Bassem Kadhim ("Police Brig.") was shot dead in front of his home. Reuters notes the Baghdad shooting ("Basim Qasim" is their spelling) and slo notes that a man was shot dead in Diwaniya, "an employee in the Ministry of Higher Education" in Baghdad was shot dead. On the topic of shootings, CNN has footage to "snipers in Iraq, targeting and killing American troops, taking them down with a single bullet from a high-powered rifle." (The footage is news. I'm sure it's also violent, that's your warning.)
Corpses?
Christopher Bodeen (AP) reports that the corpses of three men and one woman were discovered in Bahgdad. Reuters notes that five corpses were found in Mahmudiya.
As all of the above goes on, the Giddiest Gabor in the Green Zone grabs a feather boa and gets a wee bit giddier: William Caldwell IV, military spokespiece, attempts to spin. Christopher Bodeen (AP) reports that Willie spoke to the press declaring: "In Baghdad, Operation Together Forward has made a difference in the focus areas but has not met our overall expectations in sustaining a reduction in the level of violence."
As Aileen Alfandary noted today (KPFA's The Morning Show), some will term that an "understatement." CBS and AP report that Little Willie declared, "The violence is indeed disheartening." Apparently before tossing the feather boa around his neck.
Many reports have the, the US joining the crackdown (the thing that hasn't "met . . . overall expectations") on August 7th. However, the 'crackdown' began in June. That's the reality. It's been juiced up, beefed up and through various versions but it's gone on since June. Little Willie will next entertain the press corps on Karaoke night by singing "What A Fool Believes."
That, all this time later, they're only now "reviewing strategy in Baghdad" (as Ibon Villelabeitia reports for Reuters), demonstrate that they've bought their own Operation Happy Talk. Simon Hooper (CNN) notes the comments of British historian Dominic Sandbrook: "What I would imagine America will probably do is what they did before [Vietnam] which is to slowly start withdrawing its troops. George Bush already talks a lot about training up people in Iraq just like Nixon did in Vietnam. What Vietnam teaches us is that sometimes there is no easy answer, there is no strategy for success -- You can get into something and there is no way out."
Joshua Levs (CNN) notes that despite attempts at Happy Talk by the puppet of the occupation, "CNN journalists in Baghdad found these steps by al-Maliki -- like many other announced over they years -- have shown no impact." CNN also notes, of the release of Sheikh Mazen al-Saedi, that "[r]eporters wanted to know why the release occurred. One asked whether such a raid is making soldiers' jobs more difficult and whether the U.S.-led coalition can succeed if the prime minister doesn't allow arrests to be made." As noted in yesterday's snapshot, al-Saedi was taken into custody by US forces, Nouri al-Malliki decided he needed to be released and Iraq's minister of the interior drove al-Saedi back to the Sadrist office. Kirk Semple and John F. Burns (New York Times) report that this "rapid release" has "provoked a new wave of exasperation among American officials and military commanders, who have made little secret of their growing doubts about Mr. Maliki's political will or ability to stop the killings."
Turning to legal news Kristin Roberts (Reuters) reports: "U.S. service members will face military trials in three separate cases for the murders of Iraqi civilians, including the gang rape and murder of a teenage girl and the killing of her family in their home in Mahmudiya, the military said on Wednesday." Roberts notes these trials include the case of "shot dead 14-year-old Abeer Qasim Hamza al-Janabi's father, mother and six-year-old sister in Mahmudiya, near Baghdad, in March" which involves allegations of rape against Jesse Spielman and Paul Cortez while James Barker is now cooperating with the prosecutions (military as well as the federal prosecution that Steven D. Green faces because he had been discharged from the military before the charges surfaced).
In other legal news, a US soldier elected not to go to Iraq and her story is a new one for this community. Randy Furst (Minnesota Star Tribune) reported last week on Melanie McPherson. McPherson self-checked out of the US military in July of this year and turned herself in September -- the reasons for her self-check out was that the reservists was not given training for the assignment she was facing in Iraq (MP). McPherson left a note that read: "Please fly without me. I love my country. I was hoping to use my God-given talent, not just be a bullet catcher." McPherson has posted her own statement and notes that she joined the Army Reserves (May 1999) "as a journalist." McPherson also posted a timeline which we'll note here:
August 16, 1999
Joined Army Reserves. 8-year contract; 6 years as a Reservist, 2 years as an Inactive Ready Reserve
January 2000
Reported for Basic Training at Fort Jackson, SC
April 2000
Attended Advanced Individual Training (AIT) for Journalism at Fort Meade, MD
August 2000
Graduated AIT
Joined the 88th Regional Support Command at Fort Snelling, MN with the Mobile Public Relations Department
August/September 2000
Attended two-week ULCHI Focus Lens Annual Training in South Korea
October 1, 2001
Moved to Vermont to work with Eckerd Youth Alternatives as a counselor for youth whom commited sexual offences
Summer 2002
Attended two-week Public Affairs exercise in Germany
May 15, 2002
Changed soldier status from Army Reservist to Inactive Ready Reservist
May 15, 2002 April 1, 2006
No military involvement
April 1, 2006
Received orders dated March 28, 2006, to report to Fort Jackson, SC on May 28, 2006, for an 18-month tour with Operation Iraqi Freedom (O.I.F.)
Orders for mobilization with 131st MPAD had been cancelled a month prior on March 4, 2006
Military contract extended from original exit date of May 27, 2007, to November 23, 2007, for fulfillment of O.I.F. orders
Assigned to the 131st Mobile Public Affairs Detachment (MPAD) out of Mobile, AL
May 28, 2006
Reported to Fort Jackson, SC
Received orders while at Fort Jackson to report to a MOPERS non-unit at Fort Meade, MD on July 8, 2006
July 8, 2006
Reported to Fort Meade, MD
July 14, 2006
Received new orders to integrate into the National Guard 34th Brigade (BDE) 1st Infantry Headquarters (IN HHC) stationed in Iraq since March 2006
Ordered to report to the CRC 875th RC at Fort Bliss, TX on July 23, 2006, for movement to Kuwait en route to joining the 34th BDE 1st IN HHC in Iraq
July 23, 2006
Reported to Fort Bliss, TX
At this point, McPherson learns from someone she trained with (who is serving in Iraq) that he was shoved into a position he wasn't trained for, so she "went to the Commander and 1st Sgt. of the CRC who are in charge of processing soldiers" commanding officer who made a phone call with Melanie McPherson present during which the Commander made statements into the phone such as "How could they put her into the position of a military police officer? It just doesn't make any sense!"
Ignored by the Commander and with "less than 24 hours away from our departure to Kuwait en route to Iraq," McPherson decided to self-check out. That's a summary. Click here for the full statements (and scroll down). We'll close with the last paragraphs of her statement:
The command has also gone so far as to accuse me of encouraging other soldiers not to deploy. This is a very false accusation.
I respect the selfless service soldiers are willing to commit to in regards to their feelings of betterment for humanity and national safety. However, I also support soldiers who feel like they are not able to perform their assigned duties in the Army because of medical conditions, family issues, personal beliefs and legalities related to war, like Lt. Ehren Watada's case, or circumstances such as the case of sexual harassment and assault SPC. Suzanne Swift is facing. They both have valid stances. I can also greatly relate to the prominence of sexual harassment females endure while in the service. It can run rampant. I hope she can heal and overcome such events. I, myself, have a long and documented history of severe depression since my teen years. Despite that documentation and myriad medications over time, I found that a medical discharge would be highly unlikely.
The military is not for everyone. It is difficult to predict what will take place once a person signs the dotted line. There are many unknowns until we are actually faced with them. When a situation does surface, it is very difficult to resolve without being ostracized or severely punished.
Due to my decision to take matters in my own hands by going AWOL, the CRC command recommended I face a summery court marshal. Their plans were to drop my rank from an E-4 to an E-1, take a month's pay, confine me to prison for 30 days, and then recycle me and send me over to Iraq to face the same situation I originally fled.
I decided to deny the summery court martial. I will be assigned either a general or special court martial in the coming few weeks or months for the charges of missing movement and desertion. I face several years in prison.
The decisions I have made are not only for my benefit, but also for the fair and better treatment of soldiers coming up who will face similarly difficult situations. We are regarded as the best military in the world. I believe we should make it better and safer for those that serve our nation. They absolutely deserve it.
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The ultimate tragedy of Iraq is that it was dreamed up by a generation that lived through an earlier war constructed atop deception and denial.
The Vietnam generation should have known better.
Yet Iraq is the same "bright shining lie" told by the same sort of smart men -- and this time, smart women -- that Neil Sheehan chronicled in his devastating book about the many-tiered American deceptions that made Vietnam such a quagmire. As with Vietnam, this nation is propping up a corrupt Iraqi government and distorting outcomes by picking its own political winners and losers.
As with Vietnam, U.S. officials faced with military stalemate are grasping at straws via vain attempts to "Iraqify" a national military and police force that lacks legitimacy with most Iraqis. Why else would Iraqis be able to take over only two of the nation's 18 provinces when -- according to ground commander Gen. George Casey -- 80 percent to 90 percent of current violence is concentrated in only five?
It may not be surprising that a White House where few served in Vietnam would fail to see the Vietnam analogies, and instead cast the post-9/11 landscape as the ideological equivalent of the Cold War.
Bully Boy made the comparison yesterday. That's one reason C.I. did a night time entry yesterday ("Iraq"). C.I. said it just like when Bully Boy used "30,000" for the number of Iraqis killed. Until Bully Boy used that number, the mainstream press played vague. It was an undercount but Bully Boy used and they ran with it.
So the second Bully Boy made the comparison, suddenly the press could without being nervous or scared. That's the point C.I. was making today with this: "Whatever the reason, this comparison, or the fact that the Bully Boy made it, won't fade away."
By the way, I'm not picking on Elizabeth Sullivan. I like her column and if it's up today and in print in a newspaper, she probably wrote this before the yesterday evening's comparison was making news. But this is going to be something people talk about. That's the way the media works. Once Bully Boy says it, whatever it is, they can suddenly talk about it after most of them acted like it wasn't happening all along.
I'm going to slide it over to C.I., Sullivan's column, after I finish this and call to make sure C.I. sees it. It's really a strong column and at a time when a lot of women writing for publications want to play silent and stupid on the war, it's good to know one's not doing that. Election gas bagging is a topic some women want to offer. That'll be so important the second week of November.
Now this is from Media Matters' "O'Donnell asked congresswoman to go 'on the record' with 'promise' that Dems won't 'make the president's final two years in office a living hell':"
On the October 18 edition of MSNBC News Live, MSNBC chief Washington correspondent Norah O'Donnell asked Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) to go "on the record" with a "promise" that Democrats "will not issue tens or hundreds of subpoenas to the White House when it comes to Katrina, Iraq, and a number of issues" that would "make the president's final two years in office a living hell." O'Donnell also baselessly suggested that such oversight would "mean that nothing gets done in Washington." Her comments were first noted by the weblog Firedoglake.
Earlier in the segment, which also included a discussion with Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), O'Donnell suggested that reviewing Democratic voting records on wiretapping and detainee abuse "helps [the White House] make a compelling argument" that "Democrats are weak when it comes [to] defense." O'Donnell made the remark while citing an article in The Washington Times in which White House senior adviser Karl Rove said that "it is useful to remind Democrats of what they said and what they do," and that "[s]omething is fundamentally flawed" in the Democrats' voting records.
This is not the first time O'Donnell has repeated Republican Party talking points unchallenged. As Media Matters for America noted, on the August 31 edition of Hardball, O'Donnell asked Democratic strategist Bob Shrum if "part of the problem that the Democrats have is they don't have a message to respond to the president" on the Iraq war. The following day, O'Donnell asked MSNBC political analyst Ron Reagan if withdrawing from Iraq would "essentially hand a victory to the terrorists," an exchange that was also noted by Media Matters.
I like Media Matters but I want to especially praise them on this. Norah O'Donnell is a GOP hack. I heard it from C.I., I've since heard it from reporters who are friends of C.I.'s. Media Matters has never been afraid to go after her. That's not always been the case online. I heard about people pointing out things, press, to sites like Media Whores Online and that 'brave' site refused to note them. Including the fact that when NBC switched her to DC, O'Donnell had a party thrown for her by someone who worked for Cheney (had just left due to pregnancy) attended by a lot of the administration. That's the thing she's still criticized for -- how does a supposedly neutral party attend a private residence to go to a party thrown for her by one of Cheney's flunkies? And where was MWO? The supposedly brave site? Looking the other way even when it was pointed out to them. You've had others look the other way and even some on the left praise her (like the online latter day ___). That's why they're a joke. Media Matters covers everything. That's why it's not a joke. Anyone who is sad that MWO is gone should take comfort in the fact that you've got people doing real work at Media Matters.
Robin D. Gill writes a really dumb letter to a Florida newspaper. Wally saw it and wanted me to include it. Why is it dumb? Gill whines that Gainseville needs an Air America "or other" station. Gill goes on to schill for Air America and comes off like an idiot as she name checks every male on staff basically as well as the margarine queen and Stephanie Miller who isn't funny as she wishes she was (which is probably why she screens her calls) and isn't a part of AAR. As Wally pointed out (unlike Gill, Wally wasn't visiting Florida, he lives there), Randi Rhodes is known throughout Florida even by people who can't pick her up over the airwaves. As most people know who don't buy the hype, she's an actual ratings hit unlike all the dopes Gill pants over. If you're going to make an argument in Florida for bringing AAR ("other" is apparently important to Gill), you name the best weekday host and you name the host who owns a home in Florida. In this case, both people are Randi Rhodes.
It's really past time that Randi Rhodes gets the credit she's earned. Baby Cries a Lot is the "face" AAR tried to sell listeners, Randi Rhodes is the face listeners chose. She's the only weekday host that's had their act together and given facts and humor. I'm to the left of her but I can listen to her and not cringe. Rachel Maddow makes too many errors and Baby Cries a Lot only knows how to whine. The non AAR people, other than Stephanie Giggles, I don't know. But of the AAR weekday staff, there's only one star and it's Randi Rhodes. Baby Cries a Lot couldn't even sell his last book. His act was tired before he moved it over to radio and now it's just embarrassing. If AAR ever wants to get out of their eternal slump, they'll stop trying to make Baby Cries a Lot a star and start getting behind the host listeners made a star from day one. Gill wrote a stupid letter. It would be like me going to Dallas and writing a letter to their paper about football mentioning the Houston Texans and the New York Giants and the Arizona Cardinals and never once mentioning the Dallas Cowboys. People reading my letter would think, "Screw you, idiot." That's how Wally felt about Gill's letter that couldn't
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Thursday, October 19, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, the Giddiest Gabor of the Green Zone tries to spin, Bully Boy seems unaware (no surprise there) of how his comments comparing Iraq to Vietnam are being received, and Melanie McPherson faces a court-martial.
Starting with the Bully Boy. As Demetri Sevastopulo (Financial Times) noted, Bully Boy "drew a comparison between Iraq and the Vietnam war for the first time on Wednesday when he said Thomas Friedman, a New York Times columinst, 'could be right' in writing that the violent situation in Iraq was the 'jihadist equivalent of the Tet offensive." Summarizing the interview, Ed O'Keefe (ABC) notes, "Bush said he could not imagine any circumstances under which all U.S. troops would be withdrawn from Iraq before the end of his presidency." Bully Boy doesn't seem to register of what his comparison would result in. Mark Tran (Guardian of London) walks readers through: "Mr Bush has strongly resisted comparisons between Vietnam and Iraq. Vietnam remains a touchy subject for America; the war deeply divided the country, ended in an ignominious retreat for the US after the loss of more than 57,000 American lives, and has become synonymous with political and military debacle. The 1968 Tet offensive was a military failure for the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese, but it turned American public opinion against the war and fatally damaged President Lyndon Johnson, who abandoned his re-election campaign two months later."
As the comparison continues to be noted, the question is why Bully Boy, whose party has not just avoided the comparison but decried those making it, would offer the comparison? Possibly he was feeling nostalgic? He probably remembers those days in the trenches, in Alabama, when he self-checked out, with fondness and with US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld speaking in Alabama, at Maxwell Air Force Base, that might have made him look back on his own 'misty, water colored memories'? Whatever the reason, this comparison, or the fact that the Bully Boy made it, won't fade away. No matter how Dana Perino and other flacks try to spin it.
It comes at a time when the US public has turned against the illegal war and when chaos and violence continue in Iraq.
Bombings?
The BBC reports a truck bomb targeting a police stations claimed the lives of 12 people in Mosul while, in Kirkuk, a car bomb outside a bank "as soldiers gathered at the bank to collect their salaries" claimed eight lives and left 70 wounded Al Jazeera reports on the Kirkuk bombing: "A large part of the bank building, two army vehicles and several nearby shops were set on fire by the explosion." On Mosul, AFP reports that there were "a whole series of apparently coordinated attacks going off every 20 minutes Thursday, including several suicide car bombs, mortar fire and small arms attacks against coalition forces and Iraqi police," counting ten in all, that the city is now under curfew and that, in addition to those dying in the truck bombing, four more people died during the waves of attacks. Ziad al-Taei (Reuters) reports that there were six bombers and updates the death toll to "at least 20 people" (eleven killed by the truck bombing and, in addition, "[n]ine charred bodies lay on the debris-strewn streets"). Ellen Knickmeyer (Washington Post) reports "a huge fireball" and the truck was "an oil tanker [driven] into the Abu Tammam police station".
In Baghdad, home of the fabled 'crackdown,' China's People's Daily Online reports five dead and ten wounded in southern Baghdad as a result of three roadside bombs which are being seen as a "coordinated attack". The dead included two police officers and KUNA reports four more police officers died from "improvised explosive devices" in Kirkuk. Reuters reports that "near Mahmudiya" two people died from mortar rounds and four were left wounded while, in Mahmudiya proper, mortar rounds resulted in one family losing two members and three members being wounded.
Shootings?
Christopher Bodeen (AP) reports four police officers were shot dead in Dora during an attack on a police station, while, in Baghdad, Bassem Kadhim ("Police Brig.") was shot dead in front of his home. Reuters notes the Baghdad shooting ("Basim Qasim" is their spelling) and slo notes that a man was shot dead in Diwaniya, "an employee in the Ministry of Higher Education" in Baghdad was shot dead. On the topic of shootings, CNN has footage to "snipers in Iraq, targeting and killing American troops, taking them down with a single bullet from a high-powered rifle." (The footage is news. I'm sure it's also violent, that's your warning.)
Corpses?
Christopher Bodeen (AP) reports that the corpses of three men and one woman were discovered in Bahgdad. Reuters notes that five corpses were found in Mahmudiya.
As all of the above goes on, the Giddiest Gabor in the Green Zone grabs a feather boa and gets a wee bit giddier: William Caldwell IV, military spokespiece, attempts to spin. Christopher Bodeen (AP) reports that Willie spoke to the press declaring: "In Baghdad, Operation Together Forward has made a difference in the focus areas but has not met our overall expectations in sustaining a reduction in the level of violence."
As Aileen Alfandary noted today (KPFA's The Morning Show), some will term that an "understatement." CBS and AP report that Little Willie declared, "The violence is indeed disheartening." Apparently before tossing the feather boa around his neck.
Many reports have the, the US joining the crackdown (the thing that hasn't "met . . . overall expectations") on August 7th. However, the 'crackdown' began in June. That's the reality. It's been juiced up, beefed up and through various versions but it's gone on since June. Little Willie will next entertain the press corps on Karaoke night by singing "What A Fool Believes."
That, all this time later, they're only now "reviewing strategy in Baghdad" (as Ibon Villelabeitia reports for Reuters), demonstrate that they've bought their own Operation Happy Talk. Simon Hooper (CNN) notes the comments of British historian Dominic Sandbrook: "What I would imagine America will probably do is what they did before [Vietnam] which is to slowly start withdrawing its troops. George Bush already talks a lot about training up people in Iraq just like Nixon did in Vietnam. What Vietnam teaches us is that sometimes there is no easy answer, there is no strategy for success -- You can get into something and there is no way out."
Joshua Levs (CNN) notes that despite attempts at Happy Talk by the puppet of the occupation, "CNN journalists in Baghdad found these steps by al-Maliki -- like many other announced over they years -- have shown no impact." CNN also notes, of the release of Sheikh Mazen al-Saedi, that "[r]eporters wanted to know why the release occurred. One asked whether such a raid is making soldiers' jobs more difficult and whether the U.S.-led coalition can succeed if the prime minister doesn't allow arrests to be made." As noted in yesterday's snapshot, al-Saedi was taken into custody by US forces, Nouri al-Malliki decided he needed to be released and Iraq's minister of the interior drove al-Saedi back to the Sadrist office. Kirk Semple and John F. Burns (New York Times) report that this "rapid release" has "provoked a new wave of exasperation among American officials and military commanders, who have made little secret of their growing doubts about Mr. Maliki's political will or ability to stop the killings."
Turning to legal news Kristin Roberts (Reuters) reports: "U.S. service members will face military trials in three separate cases for the murders of Iraqi civilians, including the gang rape and murder of a teenage girl and the killing of her family in their home in Mahmudiya, the military said on Wednesday." Roberts notes these trials include the case of "shot dead 14-year-old Abeer Qasim Hamza al-Janabi's father, mother and six-year-old sister in Mahmudiya, near Baghdad, in March" which involves allegations of rape against Jesse Spielman and Paul Cortez while James Barker is now cooperating with the prosecutions (military as well as the federal prosecution that Steven D. Green faces because he had been discharged from the military before the charges surfaced).
In other legal news, a US soldier elected not to go to Iraq and her story is a new one for this community. Randy Furst (Minnesota Star Tribune) reported last week on Melanie McPherson. McPherson self-checked out of the US military in July of this year and turned herself in September -- the reasons for her self-check out was that the reservists was not given training for the assignment she was facing in Iraq (MP). McPherson left a note that read: "Please fly without me. I love my country. I was hoping to use my God-given talent, not just be a bullet catcher." McPherson has posted her own statement and notes that she joined the Army Reserves (May 1999) "as a journalist." McPherson also posted a timeline which we'll note here:
August 16, 1999
Joined Army Reserves. 8-year contract; 6 years as a Reservist, 2 years as an Inactive Ready Reserve
January 2000
Reported for Basic Training at Fort Jackson, SC
April 2000
Attended Advanced Individual Training (AIT) for Journalism at Fort Meade, MD
August 2000
Graduated AIT
Joined the 88th Regional Support Command at Fort Snelling, MN with the Mobile Public Relations Department
August/September 2000
Attended two-week ULCHI Focus Lens Annual Training in South Korea
October 1, 2001
Moved to Vermont to work with Eckerd Youth Alternatives as a counselor for youth whom commited sexual offences
Summer 2002
Attended two-week Public Affairs exercise in Germany
May 15, 2002
Changed soldier status from Army Reservist to Inactive Ready Reservist
May 15, 2002 April 1, 2006
No military involvement
April 1, 2006
Received orders dated March 28, 2006, to report to Fort Jackson, SC on May 28, 2006, for an 18-month tour with Operation Iraqi Freedom (O.I.F.)
Orders for mobilization with 131st MPAD had been cancelled a month prior on March 4, 2006
Military contract extended from original exit date of May 27, 2007, to November 23, 2007, for fulfillment of O.I.F. orders
Assigned to the 131st Mobile Public Affairs Detachment (MPAD) out of Mobile, AL
May 28, 2006
Reported to Fort Jackson, SC
Received orders while at Fort Jackson to report to a MOPERS non-unit at Fort Meade, MD on July 8, 2006
July 8, 2006
Reported to Fort Meade, MD
July 14, 2006
Received new orders to integrate into the National Guard 34th Brigade (BDE) 1st Infantry Headquarters (IN HHC) stationed in Iraq since March 2006
Ordered to report to the CRC 875th RC at Fort Bliss, TX on July 23, 2006, for movement to Kuwait en route to joining the 34th BDE 1st IN HHC in Iraq
July 23, 2006
Reported to Fort Bliss, TX
At this point, McPherson learns from someone she trained with (who is serving in Iraq) that he was shoved into a position he wasn't trained for, so she "went to the Commander and 1st Sgt. of the CRC who are in charge of processing soldiers" commanding officer who made a phone call with Melanie McPherson present during which the Commander made statements into the phone such as "How could they put her into the position of a military police officer? It just doesn't make any sense!"
Ignored by the Commander and with "less than 24 hours away from our departure to Kuwait en route to Iraq," McPherson decided to self-check out. That's a summary. Click here for the full statements (and scroll down). We'll close with the last paragraphs of her statement:
The command has also gone so far as to accuse me of encouraging other soldiers not to deploy. This is a very false accusation.
I respect the selfless service soldiers are willing to commit to in regards to their feelings of betterment for humanity and national safety. However, I also support soldiers who feel like they are not able to perform their assigned duties in the Army because of medical conditions, family issues, personal beliefs and legalities related to war, like Lt. Ehren Watada's case, or circumstances such as the case of sexual harassment and assault SPC. Suzanne Swift is facing. They both have valid stances. I can also greatly relate to the prominence of sexual harassment females endure while in the service. It can run rampant. I hope she can heal and overcome such events. I, myself, have a long and documented history of severe depression since my teen years. Despite that documentation and myriad medications over time, I found that a medical discharge would be highly unlikely.
The military is not for everyone. It is difficult to predict what will take place once a person signs the dotted line. There are many unknowns until we are actually faced with them. When a situation does surface, it is very difficult to resolve without being ostracized or severely punished.
Due to my decision to take matters in my own hands by going AWOL, the CRC command recommended I face a summery court marshal. Their plans were to drop my rank from an E-4 to an E-1, take a month's pay, confine me to prison for 30 days, and then recycle me and send me over to Iraq to face the same situation I originally fled.
I decided to deny the summery court martial. I will be assigned either a general or special court martial in the coming few weeks or months for the charges of missing movement and desertion. I face several years in prison.
The decisions I have made are not only for my benefit, but also for the fair and better treatment of soldiers coming up who will face similarly difficult situations. We are regarded as the best military in the world. I believe we should make it better and safer for those that serve our nation. They absolutely deserve it.
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the morning show
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