Monday, December 11, 2006

Monday -- make a line in the sand

Monday, and am I exhausted! But I want to talk about something first that Elaine and I spent two hours discussing on the phone tonight. (And be sure to check out Like Maria Said Paz for Elaine's insight!) C.I.'s "NYT: Lost in the Circle Jerk" went up this morning and everyone was asking me about it on campus. The consensus is, we all know the James Baker Circle Jerk is crap, it's been addressed by Amy Goodman ("Iraq Study Group: A Response From 'Out of Iraq' House Caucus Co-FoundersBarbara Lee and Lynn Woolsey," "Anthony Arnove On Iraq Study Group: 'Report Offers Only A Slight Correction For a Policy That Needs Fundamental Reversal'," "Iraqi-American in Najaf: Al Qaeda Would Leave Iraq Upon U.S. Troop Withdrawal" and "Oil for Sale: Why the Iraq Study Group is Calling for the Privatization ofIraq's Oil Industry") last week. If you've been paying attention, you know the report is crap. But big media and small media can't shut their traps about it. You get some, in both outlets, finding 'good' in it (they'd find good in Satan) and you get a lot of yadda.

What you don't get are the stories that matter. You don't hear about the trial of Cindy Sheehan, Medea Benjamin, Missy Comley Beattie and Patti Ackerman (the verdict is in and it's in the snapshot below). You don't hear about the actions Friday, Saturday and Sunday held to call for support of war resisters. You don't hear about the dying, you don't hear about anything but the stupid James Baker Circle Jerk.

Well the only power we have is over ourselves so I'm going to be using my power not to feed into that nonsense. It's being treated like it's the Holy Grail. Enough, real life continues in Iraq and this country. It just gets no coverage. So, though C.I. was only speaking of The Common Ills, you won't see me linking to commentary and columns on that stupid commission. We've all heard enough about it now. It's useless and now it's become a distraction. Media, big and small, won't cover the people -- you know the ones paying for their useless b.s. issues of each magazine -- but they can hump the report over and over because it was written by 'officials.'

Maybe it's time we let 'officials' support independent media and take our money elsewhere?

If things don't get better real quick, I'll be doing exactly that. I don't want to pay for gas bags offering public farts about officials. In public, you got a bad case of gas, excuse yourself, don't stink up the room. But that's exactly what independent media, with very few exceptions, is doing and has been doing.

Don't give me "OBAMA: Rock Star!" and call that independent media either. You are boring us all to death. If you want to continue to be useless, go for it but don't expect people to continue paying for this nonsense.

They better start covering the issues that matter to people or they better accept the fact that most people are going to stop paying for their crappy little issues. What did the people say mattered in the election? Iraq.

Have any of our 'independent' magazines done anything since the election to increase their coverage of Iraq (the coverage doesn't even exist and didn't before)? No. We can get a cover of elected Congress members! Oh my God! It's that Pelosi! Is that Conyers! Is that Obama! Excuse me while I lock myself in the bathroom to beat off!

You know what, they can beat off, they can keep beating off in public, but I'm sick of The Nation and I'm sick of The Progressive and I'm sick of all the bullshitters who can't address the war. Want to tackle 'fun' topics? I mean, maybe it's in their genetic makeup to be suckups to the powerful? Maybe giving Obama a Lewinsky is what they dream of every night? Well, address Iraq and then you can beat off to whatever you want to. Consider Iraq the vegetable you have to eat daily and after you've eaten that you can have whatever sugary b.s. you want.

I'll discuss Law and Disorder tomorrow. I haven't listened yet. Tracey and I are going to the mall tomorrow afternoon (she's driving in) to finish our Christmas shopping. We're going to help each other pick out gifts for people we can't figure out what to get. She's bringin Ruth's tape of the broadcast so I'll either write about Law and Disorder tomorrow night or Wednesday night.

Now I'm going to talk about The Third Estate Sunday Review's latest edition:

A Note to Our Readers -- this is Jim's note talking about the edition. Ava and C.I. did the TV review. Two other pieces weren't done by everyone and Jim asked me to note that here because people seem confused that are e-mailing to their site.

Editorial: Peggy Kerry the War Moron -- the trial that independent media should have covered but wouldn't and it didn't even rate one of their fiery 1st Amendment commentaries. Independent media doesn't give a damn about free speech, if they did, they'd start using their free speech. Don't hold your breath for that.

TV: Stand Back, Standoff -- Ava and C.I.'s commentary. It's really good and that's a surprise only because they were afraid they wouldn't be able to write anything. (They'd gotten praise for past ones right before this edition and that really does unnerve them.) Due to time being a huge issue, they didn't have time to worry when they were finally able to write. They just wrote. Which might have been the best thing about the long edition. If it had moved faster, they might have obsessed over how could they write? I'm not joking, they do not respond well to praise of their reviews. And it was piled on too thick (the guy who was piling it on wasn't b.s.ing, he was serious in his praise) Saturday night and they were just sure that they couldn't write a word.

The end? -- this was the thing that took the longest. There was so much to write and this is like a 1/3 of what we wrote (Dona and Jim edited it down). In a way this is about the state of independent media. It's about how people feel by accepting bullshit, they're doing a good thing. If Air America Radio doesn't collapse this week, they need to start addressing listeners. They, independent media, all want to be supported and paid for but the reality is they go off and do their own nonsense and don't address the audiences they supposedly want.

Bully Boy amused by the Beltway Babies -- great painting! Wally, Kat, Jim, Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and C.I. are responsible for that. The article's about how Bully Boy's getting a pass due to gas baggery.

Alice in Pressland -- Here's where things change a bit. Everyone worked on this. But what's up was changed to make it an Alice in Wonderland type piece. The illustration was supposed to go with a thing on Danny Schechter's book but that got postponed another week. That's the second time on that. But we all agree it will be the first thing we work on next week. So the illustration was done early and then there wasn't time for the Schechter article. It was so late by then and Betty, Cedric, Wally and Elaine were all gone. (Elaine fell asleep on our couch by this point and Rebecca put a blanket over her.) We were all tired. But everyone worked on the original feature and all the rest of us did was take that and craft it around Alice.

Baby Cheney-Poe, the facts of life -- this was worked on by everyone. The feature right before and the editorial were completed without Betty, Cedric, Wally and Elaine but they had worked on the editorial earlier.

Laura Flanders spoke with Yanar Mohammed and Carol... -- we all worked on this. It's pretty important so check it out.

Bully Boy Jokes -- This is a quick feature and, except for the original joke, it's Kat, Rebecca, Ty, Jess and me. The original joke? "Wally, Jess, Dona and Jim came up with the original joke . . . and Ava and C.I. polished the original joke (which was much longer and wordier)."

Highlights -- Kat, Rebecca, Ty, Jess and me picked out highlights and wrote this.

So what's going on this edition? -- Kat, Rebecca, Ty, Jess and me wrote this because nothing was up and Ty checked the e-mails and there was all this, "Are you posting?" Yep, it was just us running way behind. The AAR thing we wrote forever. It was so huge. Someone complained that it didn't have more links, Ty told me that on the phone today. Look at how long the thing still is -- Dallas works very hard getting the links but he was told what to provide links for in that and we were rushing to get the feature up so boo-hoo.

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

Monday, December 11, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq; as the civil war in Iraq continues, families are forced to flee their homes due to sectarian violence;.in the United States, a verdict is delivered in the trial against Cindy Sheehan, Medea Benjamin, Missy Comley Beattie and Rev. Patti Ackerman; Alive in Baghdad is recognized for its groundbreaking coverage of on the ground reporting from Iraq; and, even when the police circle, US war resister Kyle Snyder continues speaking out.
Starting with news from New York, a verdcit has been announced in the free speech trial.
On March 6th, Patti Ackerman, Missy Comley Beattie, Medea Benjamin and Cindy Sheehan were among 100 women attempting to deliver a petition signed by 72,000 people to the United Nations Mission . The delivery should have taken place with no great stir as it did in 2005. The women had contacted the UN Mission, spoken with Peggy Kerry (sister of US Senator John Kerry) and been told she would accept the petition. Then on March 6th, Peggy Sheehan decided she couldn't stand the sight of peace and Cindy Sheehan or what she termed "the gaggle" of press present accomanying the women so she did what any unhinged, morally corrupt person would do and went back on her word by refusing the petition and calling in law enforcement. Missy Comley Beattie, Cindy Sheehan, Patti Ackerman and Medea Benjamin were arrested and charged with obstructing government business, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and trespassing.

Last week, the trial began on the fourth floor of the 100 Centre Street, Manhattan court room and was most notable for Bitter, Bitter, Bitter, Bitter, Peggy Pooh's court testimony was deemed "combative" by the AP. Clearly the years had not been kind and Pegs Kerry was apparently determined to grab the national attention she'd always courted but never received (for obvious reason). Snarling on the witness stand about how she'd been wronged by not being informed that Cindy Sheehan would be among the women (apparently Pegs allergy to peace requires that every group dropping off a petition provided an active roster of who may or may not be attending), Pegs got her moment and is now dealing with the fallout she never expected -- being the new Bay Buchanan isn't as easy as it looked.

On Friday afternoon, the jury went into deliberations. This morning they returned a verdict.
AP reports the jury dismissed three charges but did convict Medea Benjamin, Patti Ackerman, Cindy Sheehan and Missy Comley Beattie of trespassing. The women were ordered to pay $95 in court costs and could face imprisonment if arrested in the next *6 months.* Bitter, Bitter, Bitter, Bitter Peggy Pooh? She's sentenced herself to her own personal hell and while she attempts to tell friends some sort of "Both Sides Now" excuse the reality is she will continued to be "looking strange" and social pariah is own sentencing.

CNN reports that Cindy Sheehan, Missy Comley Beattie, Patti Ackerman and Medea Benjamin delivered the petition today after they left the court room and it was accepted by
the apparently less pry shy and less peace allergic Pegs and UN Mission director of extermal affairs Richard A. Grenell. CNN quotes Sheehan stating: "We should never have been on trial in the first place. It's George Bush and his cronies who should be on trial, not peaceful women trying to stop this devastating war. This verdict, however, will not stop us from continuing to work tirelessly to bring our troops home."

The petition was calling for an end to the war and as it drags on still, the number of US troops killed in Iraq this month stands at 42. Yesterday, the US military announced: " An improvised explosive device detonated near a Multi-National Division - Baghdad patrol, killing one Soldier west of the Iraqi capital Dec. 10. As the patrol was finishing its early morning security mission west of the city, the roadside bomb detonated killing one Soldier and wounding another." Today, the US military also announced that "A Marine Corps CH-53e Super Stallion helicopter . . . executed a hard landing at approximately 12:00 p.m. . . . in the Al Anbar Province" and "Marines in the area secured the landing site shortly after the" crash landing that left 18 of the 21 on board the helicopter injured "with 9 treated for minor injuries and returned to duty" which translates as nine were injured so badly that they are unable at present to return to duty (but the announcement doesn't translate the obvious). CBS and AP note the crash landing "was the third U.S. military aircraft to go down in the province in two weeks."



US military announced: "An improvised explosive device detonated near a Multi-National Division - Baghdad patrol, killing three Soldiers in the northern part of the Iraqi capital Dec. 10. As the Soldiers conducted a late night combat patrol, the roadside bomb detonated killing three Soldiers and wounding two others." Earlier today, the US military released another statement about an attack on a "Baghdad national police training tream" today which resulted in "the 2nd Brigade, 1st National Police Training Team" requesting "aviation support" who put on "a show of force"



Over 655,000 Iraqis have died in the illegal war and today offered no break from the daily violence and chaos.


Bombings?

CBS and AP report a man with a car bomb used the armed vehicle to attack a house in Dora that was being used by police officers and the explosion killed one police officer and left 5 others wounded, while a roadside bomb and a car bomb went off near two colleges in Baghdad (Mustasiriyah University and al-Maamoun college) killing a college student, wounding nine civilians and two police officers. In addition the US military announces an attack on a police barracks center in al-Jaza'ir: "A blue van reportedly rammed four National Police vehicles parked at the entrance to the barracks and detonated. Two of the vehicles were destroyed. Four policemen suffered minor injuries in the attack and were evacuated to alocal hospital for further treatment." al-Jazair is a district in the city of Al-Musayyib so, if the US military has issued the correct location, there were two bombing attacks on police buildings in Iraq today. (Remember the "if." Last week, the US military issued their "woopsie" stating that they had announced the same two deaths of US troops twice leading to the two being counted as four.) (Dora -- other spellings include Dura and Doura -- is a section of Baghdad.) The BBC reports four died in Baghdad from a mortar attack. Reuters notes two other bomb explosions in Baghdad that killed one and left seven wounded.

Shootings?

Lebanon's Daily Star reports: "Armed men burst into the home of a pregnant Shiite Kurdish woman and sprayed her and her children with bullets in the town of Salaja, 75 kilometers south of Kirkuk, Iraq's northern oil city. Three of her children, aged between 5 and 13, were killed while two other daughters survived the fusillade." The Daily Star also notes nine people were shot dead in the Diyala Province. Reuters reports a police officer was shot dead in Mosul, four men in a car were shot dead in Mosul. a home invasion in Tuz Khurmato that killed six family members and left the father of the family wounded,



Meanwhile the BBC reports that, in Baghdad, a one million dollar robbery occurred today when ten assailants (in Iraqi soldier unifornms) abmushed a "security vehicle" and kidnapped four guards in the vehicle. Also kidnapped, and also reported by the BBC, were five primary school teachers in Dujail.

Not all violence is reported in real time. As covered by The Third Estate Sunday Review, Saturday's RadioNation with Laura Flanders Saturday featured MADRE's Yanar Mohammed who addressed the targeting of and murdering of women in Iraq by fundamentalists. Of the three known murders last month in Baghdad, Mohammed focused on the November 19th one.which began with a woman being "dragged out of her house" by fundamentalists who proceeded to "beat her, they flooged her in the middle of the street. Then they brought a cable and wrapped it around her neck" which they used to pull her to the "nearest football field and they hanged her . . . They bring their machine guns and kill her." They also killed the woman's brother who attempted to stop them. Mohammed stated that the fundamentalists were "political groups who are ruling right now under the blessing of the US administration."


And the approval of the puppet of the occupation, Nouri al-Maliki. As the puppet continues to dangle in the wind, the future looks less bright. AP reports that following last week's meeting with the Bully Boy, Shi'ite parliamentarian Abdul Aziz Hakim has begun meeting with "[m]ajor partners in Iraq's governing coalition" for "behind-the-scenes talks to oust Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki" and form "a new parliamentary bloc that would seek to replace the current government and that would likely exclude supporters of the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr".

While they talk, violence continues including sectarian attacks in Baghdad. John F. Burns (New York Times), Sudarsan Raghavan (Washington Post) and Nancy A. Youssef and Zaineb Obeid (McClatchy Newspapers) have all reported on the Shi'ite militias attacking Sunni neighborhoods in Baghdad. Burns noted a Saturday attack that led to over 100 Sunnis fleeing their neighborhood and refusing to return even when the US military stated they could promise protection. Youssef and Obeid reported on the Hurriyah section of Baghdad and note: "Shiite militiamen loyal to rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr openly admit to entering their homes and forcing them to leave. That speaks to the ongoing open battle for control of the capital and the apparent domination by the Mahdi Army, Sadr's militia." Raghavan interviewed Ali "Farouk, a Sunni Muslim, [who] fears his home might be targeted next. In the past two months, Shiite militiamen have tightened their grip on his central Baghdad neighborhood of Tobji, purging dozens of Sunni families, by fear and by threats. His world has become even more precarious since a barrage of car bombs, mortar shells and missiles killed more than 200 on Nov. 23 in Sadr City, the Baghdad slum that is home to many of Sadr's loyalists."

While the violence, like the war, continues, some attempt to end the war. This weekend,
Courage to Resist held national days of action across the country in support of US war resisters. Cecilia M. Vega (San Franciso Chronicle) reports that US war resister Darrell Anderson spoke to a crowd in San Franciso Saturday in front of the War Memorial Veterans Building where he declared that "Action is the only thing that's going to stop this war." Vega reports that war resister Kyle Snyder was unable to attend the event following Friday's Alameda event where police were looking for him after being tipped off by "somebody in Kentucky" so, instead, Synder called in and delivered a speech that way.

The police were looking for Kyle Snyder because there is a warrant for his arrest. Returning the United States in April of 2005 from Iraq, Snyder self-checked out while on leave and went to Canada. In October of this year he returned to the US after working out an agreement with the military and, on October 31st, turned himself in at Fort Knox only to self-check out again when the military refused to live up to the agreement. Since then, a warrant has been issued for Snyder's arrest as he has continued to speak out against the illegal war. He spent Thanksgiving week in New Orleans doing reconstruction to areas destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and still not repaired. Currently, he is on a West coast tour speaking out against the war. Last Thursday, on KPFA's Flashpoints, Nora Barrows-Friedman interviewed Snyder.

Saturday, on RadioNation with Laura Flanders, Flanders interviewed Carolyn Ho, mother of Ehren Watada who became the first commissioned officer to refuse to deploy to the illegal war in June of this year. A court-martial is scheduled for Watada in February.

Carolyn Ho told Flanders that her son refused deployment because it wasn't an individual issue, he would be responsible not only for himself but for those serving under him. Ho stated she would be appealing to Congress to intervene noting that they have yet to conduct their promised investigation into the war (and the lies that led to it) but a military court will decide in February whether or not her son had a right to refuse to serve in an illegal war. Ho also appealed for people and groups to contact their Congressional representatives and ask that Congress perform the oversight function they have thus far failed today. (This is covered in greater detail at The Third Estate Sunday Review and an archived broadcast of Flanders' program will go up by Wednesday for those who missed it.)

Today, Carolyn Ho appeared on Democracy Now! and told Amy Goodman that she'd met with several members of Congress and been largely rebuffed with the excuse that it's not Congress' job. US representative Maxine Waters was the only one who told Ho she would have her staff examine the issue.

Anderson, Snyder and Watada are not three resisters within the military standing alone. This is a movement of resistance that also includes Joshua Key, Ivan Brobeck, Ricky Clousing, Mark Wilkerson, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass, Patrick Hart, Clifford Cornell, Agustin Aguayo, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, and Kevin Benderman.
Information on this movement of war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Appeal for Redress is collecting signatures of active duty service members calling on Congress to bring the troops home -- the petition will be delivered to Congress next month.
In military legal news, there's a new development in the case of Suzanne Swift.
Speaking with Amy Goodman on today's Democracy Now!, Sara Rich spoke of the agreement that her daughter Suzanne Swift has reached with the US military. While serving in Iraq, Swift was sexually harrassed and sexually abused. Swift attempted to go through the chain of commaand but, no surprise, the military was interested in ignoring the problem. While on leave in the US, Swift self-checked out and returned only when arrested at her mother's house. A military investigation (ha) found proof of some of Swift's claims (an independent investigation would have found more proof). Rich told Goodman today that her daughter signed a statement on Friday -- one that originally had her agreeing that her sexual abuse was consensual but Swift refused to sign on to that and made changes -- so the next step is a summary court-martial this week which will not be a trial, just a sentencing, where Swift will be sentenced to thirty days of imprisonment and will then be assigned to another base and serve in the US military through January of 2009.

Finally, the BBC reports that Alive in Baghdad has "won a crop of 'Vloggie' industry awards for showing the human face behind Iraq's daily toll of deaths and kidnappings.". Founder Brian Conley reported on Iraq and other issues for Boston IMC and, the BBC reports, he is currently in Mexico setting up a citizen journalism website for that area while Omar Abdullah (cooridnator) and staff continue the project of real reporting from the ground in Iraq. The Vloggies were presented last month in California Alive in Baghdad won awards for best vlog, best group vlog, best political blog and favorite interview vlog. Alive in Baghdad is funded by donations. For those without the capability to stream on their computers, a recent Alive in Baghdad report was covered in the December 1st snapshot.


that puts a face on the daily chaos and violence.






iraq
kyle snyder





















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Saturday, December 09, 2006

Krugman

The weekend! :D The People's Iraq Study Group went really well and I'm sorry that I can't write about it more than that because I'm sure someone who can't think up stuff on their own will be needing to 'borrow' from this site.

I read Paul Krugman today. A mistake. Who got trashed for speaking out against the war? Well Barbara Lee got trashed, Cynthia McKinney got trashed. A lot more people out of Congress than in Congress got trashed. But he's all about the elected officials. Ted Rall got trashed but we're not really talking about who got trashed, we're talking about shining it on for the Democratic Party. As Rebecca pointed out, unlike AlterPunk, he was able to find one woman.

But the column's tired and timid so it makes perfect sense that it appears in the New York Times. Who got ripped apart?

Susan Sarandon, the Dixie Chicks, Tim Robbins, Janeane Garofalo, and a whole lot more. I don't think the United Way cancelled out on any elected official the way they did on Sarandon. I don't believe any elected official was uninvited to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

But it's a 'safe' little column, the sort of thing most writers for The Nation appear to aspire to. It's kind-of-left, just a tad. And it's probably enough, the clip-job, to get some saying, "That Paul Krugman really went out there and showed some bravery!"

That kind of bravery will allow for more NAFTA and more triangulating.

It's really insulting. But I'm sure people will applaud it. They'll say, "Yeah, we were right!" Of course the "we" only includes people in Congress plus Al Gore and Howard Dean.

People in Congress are supposed to lead. That's their job.

There's nothing 'civic duty' about it. Susan Sarandon speaking out is civic duty. She didn't have to. She could have stayed silent. Did Janeane Garofalo need death threats?

Some people demonstrated real bravery. Don't expect to ever see them noted because it's easier to hide behind members of Congress. Or maybe just to suck up to them.

When The Third Estate Sunday Review noted this back in May, we all managed to make the first list about women who spoke out:

1) Janeane Garofalo, actress, comedian, co-host of Air America's The Majority Report, author
2) Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, author
3) Laura Flanders, host of Air America's RadioNation with Laura Flanders, journalist, author
4) Naomi Klein, journalist, author
5) Arundahti Roy, author, speaker
6) Alice Walker, author, poet, essayist
7) Dr. Helen Caldicott
8) Maxine Hong Kingston, poet, author
9) Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK and founding director of Global Exchange
10) Ani DiFranco, singer, musician, songwriter, producer

And look, not a single member of Congress to hide behind. In June, the names included: Michael Ratner, Molly Ivins, Tariq Ali, Anthony Arnove, Alexander Cockburn, Ruth Rosen, Norman Solomon and more. None of the ten were in Congress. We also didn't hide behind "Former President George H.W. Bush and Brent Scowcroft" the way Krugman does. He provides a list that reads like it was produced by the James Baker Circle Jerk.

That's it for tonight. Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" which has some hilarious moments in it (check out the "docu-drama"):

Friday, December 8, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq; US war resister Kyle Snyder continues speaking out against the illegal war; Bitter, bitter, bitter, bitter Peggy Poop demonstrates that not everyone ages well; over 200 protest the war in San Francisco; you know it's ugly when the US military dubs children 'insurgents'; and the Rumsfled has one more persona to test before he bows off the public stage.


Starting with peace news within the United States. Kyle Snyder is currently traveling the West coast speaking out against the illegal war. Snyder was heavily and repeatedly targeted by a recruiter who promised the moon and delivered nothing. Because verbal agreements can be broken . . . on their end. On leave from Iraq, Snyder self-checked out and went to Canada in April of 2005. Happy there, speaking out, a job he enjoyed working with disabled children that paid well. Snyder began to consider returning to the United States. As October drew to a close, he did just that and on October 31st, turned himself in at Fort Knox only to self-check out again after discovering that the military that lied to him before had lied yet again.

On KPFA's Flashpoints yesterday, Nora Barrows-Friedman interviewed Snyder. Barrows-Friedman noted his Army Corps of Engineers training and Snyder explained that he thought he'd be in Iraq doing construction "asphalt and concrete, laying foundations for schools, hospitals, roads." Instead, they made him a gunner and "an escort for high ranking officials." He saw a number of things in Iraq, reconstruction wasn't one of them.

Kyle Snyder: The things that I saw there for instance, you know, when we're told that we're liberating the people of Iraq and we're doing positive things you know I expect to at least see the civilians and stuff, you know, accepting us more. And basically accepting what we're doing. But children were flipping us off, they were begging for food and water almost all the time when I was out. I had seen people killed, I had seen people injured and it's just basically what led me to leave the war in the first place were the policies that drove the war. You know, when the Bush administration in 2004 and 2005 were saying 'We're liberating the people of Iraq' like I said I expect to see some of that happening. You know, no matter what rank you are, I think that we deserve to know why we're fighting. And basically it felt like a lie. It felt like a lie. And mainly because we couldn't explain what the mission was.


Despite a warrant for his arrest, Snyder's "going around speaking to povertized areas, mainly African-American and Latino communities, around the country because they're targeted by recruiters and I think that recruiters should tell people the truth." He didn't have that himself. No one was warning him. The mood of the country then was still Rah-Rah, he was targeted heavily in high school (recruiter evern came to his graduation) and he grew up in foster homes. Snyder knows what it's like to think some adult's really interested in you, really concerned about you, only to realize after they were just trying to hit their month's target goal.

Nora Barrows-Friedman: And Kyle, if you were speaking with a young person who was considering joining the military right now, they were weighing their options, what advice would you have for them and what would you talk about with their families?

Kyle Snyder: . . When a recruiter comes up and talks to you, it's not because you're a special kind of person. It's not because you have any type of thing that some other human being doesn't. And a lot of 17 and 18-year-olds assume that, you know? 'Oh a recruiters talking to me because I have some kind of special ability that no other person has.' And they over-glorify it making you know basically the Army into Rambo-like figures and things that you know are in action movies when that's not the case. They really need to look at what they'll be doing. . . . You're a gunner, medic, driver or, you know, an escort. Those are the only four jobs that are in Iraq regardless of what you sign up to do. I'd say, you know, if somebody signed up no matter what branch of service, I'd say it's about an 80% chance you're going to Iraq as long as the Bush administration is in power. So they really need to look at that and understand that, yes, they're going to Iraq as long as, like I say, the Bush administration has their say, the war's going to last. So they just need to understand that. And I can understand people that do join the military and that believe in what they're doing but they need to understand people like me as well --that are lied to to get into the military. And, you know . . . I don't know. That's basically all I can say.

Kyle Snyder is a public US war resister. He is part of a resistance movement within the military that also includes Darrell Anderson, Ehren Watada, Joshua Key, Ivan Brobeck, Ricky Clousing, Mark Wilkerson, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass, Patrick Hart, Clifford Cornell, Agustin Aguayo, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, and Kevin Benderman. Those are some of the war resisters who have gone public and over thirty US war resisters are currently in Canada attempting to be legally recognized.

When asked to speak about this movement, Kyle Snyder noted, "There's over 8,000 AWOL soldiers in the United States right now, 200 in Canada, 38 have applied for refugee status in Canada and I'm hoping, you know, that they start coming out. And I know that some of them are going to be coming out in the next few months. . . . I could use Bush's words, 'Are we going to solve this problem now or are we going to wait for the next president 5 years from now, 10 years from now when 8,000 Iraq veterans are homeless or hiding in a corner because it wasn't taken care of like it could have been?'"

[Rebecca wrote about Snyder's interview here.]

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

Tina Kim (WorldNow) reports on Appeal for Redress and notes that Jonathan Hutto and others involved with the appeal will be holding a news conference next Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. to raise awareness on the project which is gathering signatures of active duty service members calling for the US troops to be brought home. The appeal will be presented to Congress in January. Jonathan Hutto was a guest last week on WBAI's Law and Disorder. [Mike noted it here.]

Today begins the National Days of Action to Support GI Resistance, called for by Courage to Resist, which run through Sunday the 10th. Indybay IMC notes: "Other Bay Area Events: On Friday, December 8th, 7:30pm at the College of Marin in Kentfield, segments of the film 'Ground Truth' will be shown, and Iraq combat veteran-turned-war-resister Darrell Anderson will speak. Also that evening, at 7:30pm at the Buena Vista United Methodist Church in Alameda, the film 'The Ground Truth' will be shown, and there will be a panel with Rev. Michael Yoshii, and Bob Watada and Rosa Sakanishi. That night in San Jose, there will be a reception and fundraiser for Kyle Snyder at 6pm at the San Jose Friends Meeting House. On Saturday December 9th, there will be a peace vigil in support of Lt. Ehren Watada, in front of the MLK, Jr. Library in San Jose from 12-4pm. Read more about these events."


Sunday, the 10th, is also Impeachment Day and click here for David Swanson's overview of the goals and list of events. Action is needed to end the illegal war. And each day it drags on, more and more are wounded, more and more die.


They Kill Civilians, Don't They?

CBS and AP report that, on Friday, "20 insurgents, including two women," were killed in a US airstrike (in the Salahaddin Province). The US military has a breathless press release on it that's all blah, blah, blah until this line: "Coalition Forces also found that two of the terrorists killed were women. Al-Qaida in Iraq has both men and women supporting and facilitating their operations unfortunately." And children too, right?

CBS and AP note that the area's mayor, Amir Fayadh, says that "seven women and eight children" were killed. AFP reporters "found and photographed relatives weeping over several mangled bodies, including those of at least two children, near the ruined homes." AFP also notes that the US military's flack Christopher Garver denies children were killed, even when presented with photographic evidence by AFP. Sameer N. Yacoub (AP) reports that the "charred and bloody blodies laid out" were covered with blankets and "An AP photo showed an Iraqi man who had pulled back one of the blankets and uncovered the face of one of the dead, who appeared to be a boy about 10 years old". Ibon Villelabeitia (Reuters) reports that "grieving relatives showed the bodies of five children wrapped in blankets to journalists."



Bombings?

CNN reports a bombing in Tal Afar that left three dead and a mortar attack in Baghdad that claimed four lives and left eight more wounded. Sameer N. Yacoub (AP) reports: "On the outskirts of Baghdad, three mortar rounds hit a Shiite residential area, killing 25 men, women and children, and wounding 22" according to police.

Shootings?

Reuters reports that Human Nuri ("head of customs in the city of Najaf) and his brother were shot dead in Baghdad while in another Baghdad incident an unidentified person was shot dead and three more wounded.


Corpses?

Reuters reports 18 corpses discovered in Baghdad.

Today, the US military announced: "An improvised explosive device detonated near a Multi-National Division -- Baghdad patrol, killing two Soldiers south of the Iraqi capital Dec. 7. The Soldiers were conducting a dismounted patrol responding to a possible IED, south of the city, when a roadside bomb detonated, killing two Soldiers and wounding two others." And earlier today, the US military announced: "An improvised explosive device detonated near a Multi-National Division - Baghdad patrol, killing one Soldier in the Iraqi capital Thursday. The combat patrol was conducting joint operations with the Iraqi Army to prevent sectarian violence in a western neighborhood of the city when the bomb exploded near one of their vehicles."

And the US military boasted of entering Falluja General, a civilian hospital, on a whim. Blood donors were needed . .. maybe 'insurgents' were present! Screw the rules guiding civilian institutions in warfare, lock and load, baby, lock and load. And it's those incidents and many others that explain why the war is lost.

In legal news, Cindy Sheehan, Medea Benjamin, Patti Ackerman and Missy Comley Beattie are on trial for excercising their right to free speech. To summarize the case so far, a dramatic recreation based upon the reporting of Samuel Maull (AP).

FADE IN:

INT. COURT ROOOM - DAY

Typical municipal courtroom. Well, maybe not 'typical,' it is Manhattan.

We see the DEFENSE TABLE where FOUR WOMEN listen: PATTI ACKERMAN, MISSY COMLEY BEATTIE, MEDEA BENJAMIN and CINDY SHEEHAN -- attracitve women all. They stare ahead intently

FOUR WOMEN'S P.O.V. -- a gnome-like woman, in a faded, tattered Kerry-Edwards: 2004 t-shirt, BITTER PEGGY KERRY, sputters on the witness stand in front of D.A. HAN who smiles and nods in sympathy.

BITTER PEGGY
I was on my way to meet the group, to take their
petition -- then I saw --

Bitter Peggy begins sobbing. Han hands her a tissue. Bitter Peggy looks over at the defense table and glares.

BITTER PEGGY
Then I saw -- Peace Mom!

Bitter Peggy points a menacing finger. Cindy waves and grins sheepishly.

CUE THEME SONG AND MONTAGE:

Free speech, peace doves, compassion
Peace Mom
Passion, peace sign, bravery
Is Peace Mom
She's tinsel on a tree . . .
She's everything an American should be!
If you find one to emulate
Only one to emulate
Let it be Peace Mom . . .
Peace Mom!*


Han smirks to the defense table as DEFENCE attorney rises and walks to the witness stand.

DEFENSE
Bitter Peggy Kerry, you agree that you were
notified that a petition would be dropped off?

BITTER PEGGY
Yeah, so?

DEFENSE
And you agreed to accept the petition?

BITTER PEGGY
What of it?

DEFENSE
You were on your way to accept the petition and
then something stopped you.

BITTER PEGGY
(shuddering)
Peace Mom.

DEFENSE
Just the sight of Cindy Sheehan was enough to
make you break your agreement?

BITTER PEGGY
Damn right. "Peace"? Please. I'm bitter
and angry and mad at the world. Keep Peace Mom
away from me. Every where she travels, there's always
a chance that, at any minute, peace could break
out! I hate her. I hate her! I hate her!

Bitter Peggy goes into spastic convulsions while Defense looks on. Alarmed, D.A. Han leaps to her feet.

D.A. HAN
Your honor, a recess?

BITTER PEGGY
I'll get that Peace Mom. I'll get her. I hate
her. I hate her like I hate kittens and puppies.
And Christmas! And peace! I hate peace!
War! I must have war! I do want war, I do!
Screw Peace Mom, find me Kill Mom! I want
Kill Mom. Kill mommy! Kill mommy!



FADE OUT


So ends the docu-drama recreation. [*Earle Hagen and Sam Denoff wrote the theme to the TV program That Girl starring Marlo Thomas -- who also was the executive producer of the show.]

In other news of courage, Steve Rubenstein (San Francisco Chronicle) reports on the 200 plus people march yesterday from Grace Cathedral to the federal building downtown which was led by Bishop Marc Handley Andrus to protest the Iraq war. The Bishop was among those arrested and he stated, "God is with all who have suffered in Iraq. This war needs to be opposed. Even though there is widespread sentiment against the war, we need to continue to push for peace. There is good reason to believe this is an unjust war." Zach notes that Wendell Harper reported, from the protest, on yesterday's The KPFA Evening News.

And finally, he's been the White Queen, the Scold, the Nag and, on his way out the door, the soon to be former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld decided he wanted to try on one more persona: Axel Rose. Kristin Roberts (Reuters) reports that the Rumsfled thinks what the world . . . needs . . . now . . . is just a little patience. Just a little patience.
The tragically unhinged Rumsfled declared that Iraq was still 'winnable' "if we have the patience and only if we have the staying power." Rumsfled's "staying power" -- obviously in question now -- can surely take credit for the 655,000 estimated Iraqis killed during the illegal war. To the would-be-Axel-Rose, the world responds, "There's no room for you here, go away, girl, there's no room for you here" (White Stripes).


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Thursday, December 07, 2006

Law and Disorder, Cedric and other stuff

Thursday! Almost the weekend! I'm late tonight because Tony and me were hanging out. Can't drop your buds just because you're in a relationship! :D

Tony's Mr. Relationshp Man himself now! He and Lisa went out last weekend and now it's all "Lisa this" and "Lisa that" and "Lisa thinks" . . . :D

She's going to be coming to the Iraq Study Group Friday night so that will be cool. (She's the one who helped Nina, Tony and me out last week by posting our "Iraq Study Group calls for all US troops to leave Iraq Immediately." Remember, that's The People's Iraq Study Group. And you saw that last Thursday here. Get the point?

(I know you do! I'm reading the e-mails and Beth's asked if she can weigh in for her column tomorrow. She's the ombudsperson for The Common Ills. I don't have one for my site. But she got so many e-mails on this, she called this afternoon and asked if she could address it and I was like "Sure." So she talked to me, talked to Nina, talked to Tony and, last time I knew, she was trying to get ahold of C.I.)

On a similar note, I'm walking up the drive when the cell goes off. (My ring tone right now is too embarrassing to name! :D) (No, it's not little Justy!) It was Cedric calling and he had posted this evening and wanted me to read it "when you get time" and drop an e-mail. I know there's some party that Three Cool Old Guys are having at their nursing home tonight and Cedric's going to that. So I got in and logged on and pulled up his site.

It's called "A rare solo entry." You gotta read it. I think he's worried what C.I. will think and C.I.'s not going to care. Cedric's offering his thoughts and presenting them as such so C.I.'s not going to care and C.I.'s the last person to say, "Oh, no, The Nation has done a great job covering Iraq in 2006!" We all know that's not the case. We all know that they hide behind ex-generals, that they won't cover war resisters. (Ehren Watada did not get an article in the magazine, they did two on him online -- and no other war resister, but he's the only officer and they seem to have an allergic reaction to anyone of the people.)

I have never gone after the peace movement and never would -- they work really hard and they've done amazing stuff -- but I think that's the only thing that if I weighed in on, C.I. would get upset about. C.I.'s not going to care. Cedric's pointed out before how The Nation disgracefully joined the dog pile on Harry Belafonte and C.I. wasn't bothered by that. That call was straight up and I think Cedric's calls tonight are as well. So check out "A rare solo entry." (Harry Belfonte is one of Cedric's favorites. That's because he is Cedric's grandfather's all time favorite singer and because Harry Belafonte sticks his neck out and doesn't play it safe. So some who try to play it safe try to make sport of the man. I don't do that. Harry Belafonte is a brave man. The world would be better off if even 1/3 of us had his bravery.)

Dropping back to Tone, every time we talk about doing something and grabbing something to eat, we always go, "Anything but pizza." And that's what we always end up eating! We'll toss out a few places and be like "Ho-hum." Then one of us will go, "Well, you want pizza" and the other will be, "Yeah, let's get a pizza." We went through that song & dance again tonight!

We ended up getting sausage and mushroom. Do you know a pizza that I like now but didn't think I would? Or a topping, I guess. Anchovies. My folks love that and I was always, "No, not having any" growing up. Rebecca, C.I., Elaine, Betty, Wally and Ava love anchovies on pizza. And for about a year I was like, "Get that away from me!" :D Then Elaine goes that I love Gardettos (might be spelled wrong) which I do. And I love the brown pieces in it. That's made from anchovies! I didn't know that.

So on weekends, with Rebecca (and Fly Boy) and Elaine over and my folks loving it too, we'll usually end up having an anchovy pizza about every other week. I really do like it and am surprised.

Know what else I like? WBAI's Law and Disorder. The first segment's the one I haven't gotten to yet. They interviewed Henri Alleg who is a reporter. Back while the French-Algerian War was going on, he was arrested by the French and they 'questioned' him.

'Questioned' him the way Bully Boy has people 'questioned' today. They tortured him. He wrote a book about it called The Question. He and Michael Ratner and Michael Smith talked about the comparisons between that and what the Bully Boy is doing and how quick the slide is.
I really liked this interview. They interviewed a woman awhile back who had seen all this stuff in her life, really amazing stuff. And I loved that interview. I loved this one too. Even if Alleg did worry that his English was lacking? (It wasn't. He speaks better English than I do.) (Which may not be hard to do!)

Henri Alleg survived and he can warn us (or anyone who will listen) which he did but I really love these interviews they do with people who have all this experience to draw on. I like it when they interview young people too. They did a thing with two women who were protesting with postcards and art that was pretty cool. But when they're interviewing someone with this huge history, I really enjoy it.

I was thinking about that today because I was reading a book C.I. had passed on. I really don't have time to read right now except for school. But Tony goes through the stack of books and pulls out stuff and reads it (so does Dad) and there was a book Tony couldn't stop talking about.

I lost the book! I'm digging through my backpack and can't find it. (It's got too much junk in there -- class notes, books for class, Sports Illustrated -- that I'm trying to read but I really don't even have time for that or The Sporting News -- and a ham sandwich! I forgot about that. :D)

The book's called Fugitive Days and it's by Bill Ayers. It's a really good book and starting and stopping is killing me. Tony basically read it straight through. I mentioned it to Rebecca and she told me it was on the 2005 "Books that spoke to you" thing -- books the community enjoyed. Carl picked it. Carl's a pretty cool guy. We've done two roundtables together for Gina and Krista and their round-robin. I'll share something else about that entry that Rebecca told me. Members were pretty cool about their picks. But some non-members weighed in. (I don't mean Ron here, I'm talking about one person.) This person e-mails C.I. this huge list of books and some of the titles are wrong and some of them have the wrong author and some of them were never published in America or Europe. C.I. works like crazy to hunt down the books (and ended up bringing in a friend who's a ref libraian at a college in California for help) and manages to get the list up. Then this non-member sees the list up and that some people noted children's books. Now this is after the list was posted, okay? That non-member then e-mails wanting to add even more books. The non-member had their own site and could have noted any book they wanted there. But they wanted C.I. to go in and change their list. Add about five or six more books and pull out one or two listed. That's why this note is in that entry: "A word on corrections. There aren't going to be any for this post unless you feel you were misquoted. If you feel you were misquoted, you have until Wednesday to e-mail the site common_ills@yahoo.com and after that, (Kat's phrase) 'it is what it is'." Rebecca said C.I. was frustrated when hunting down all the books first listed (and that's with help from a friend) and couldn't believe that another list was being provided by the same person. Can't figure out who it is? Well, gee, who was asked for three books and provided over twenty?


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

Thursday, December 7, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, AP estimates that there were 75 reported Iraqi deaths, war resister Kyle Snyder travels the West coast of the US speaking out against the illegal war, the James Baker Circle Jerk isn't fawned over by non-gas bags, Democracy Now! host a roundtable on Iraq, and Cindy Sheehan, Medea Benjamin, Missy Comley Beattie and Patti Ackerman fight for free speech in Manhattan.

Starting with peace news. As Thomas Watkins (AP) observes, "For a wanted man, Pfc. Kyle Snyder is keeping a remarkably high profile." Recapping, Snyder self-checked out of the US military while on leave after serving in Iraq. He went to Canada in April of 2005. There he spoke out publicly and, following the return from Canada of US war resister Darrell Anderson, Snyder made the decision to return as well. On October 31st, turned himself in at Fort Knox only to self-check out again after discovering the military had lied yet again. Since then Snyder has been underground, surfacing to speaking out against the war.

Watkins reports that, despite a warrant being out on Snyder, he's traveling the West coast and speaking out such as in San Diego at the start of the week where his speech included, "Seeing children begging for food and water after two years of occupation, you really start to question if you are the good guy." Speaking with Snyder is war resister Darrell Anderson and, Watkins notes, "a mobile chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War".

As Indybay IMC noted, "Friday, December 8th, 7:30pm at the College of Marin in Kentfield, segments of the film "Ground Truth" will be shown, and Iraq combat veteran-turned-war-resister Darrell Anderson will speak. Also that evening, at 7:30pm at the Buena Vista United Methodist Church in Alameda, the film "The Ground Truth" will be shown, and there will be a panel with Rev. Michael Yoshii, and Bob Watada and Rosa Sakanishi. That night in San Jose, there will be a reception and fundraiser for Kyle Snyder at 6pm at the San Jose Friends Meeting House. On Saturday December 9th, there will be a peace vigil in support of Lt. Ehren Watada, in front of the MLK, Jr. Library in San Jose from 12-4pm." [Bob Watada is Ehren's father and Rosa Sakanishi is Ehren's step-mother.]

These events are part of the National Days of Action to Support GI resistance and GI rights" that Courage to Resist is calling from this Friday (Dec. 8th) through Sunday (Dec. 10th).

David Zeiger (Common Dreams) writes of these actions and notes the importance of these actions: "Today the new GI resistance movement is growing -- more soldiers are going public with their opposition, thousands are going AWOL, the first GI coffeehouse opened recently (with internet!), and the antiwar movement is realizing that supporting these soldiers is the next step. It's time for us to escalate public pressure and action in support of the growing movement of thousands of courageous men and women soldiers who have in many different ways followed their conscience -- upholding international law, taking a principled stand against unjust, illegal war and occupation and standing up for their rights. Widespread public cupport and pressure will help create true support for courageous troops facing isolation and repression, and help protect their civil liberties and human rights."

Zieger is the director of Sir! No Sir! which documents that war resistance within the military during Vietnam and, for those planning house parties, is highly recommended. (Click here for a community review.)

Right now, events are known to be scheduled in Alameda, CA; Honolulu, HI; Kentfield, CA; Long Beach, CA; Maui, HI; Missoula, MT; Montpeiler, VT; Nanuet, NY; New York, NY; Olympia, WA; Portland, OR; San Francisco, CA; Santa Barbara, CA; San Jose, CA; Seattle, WA; Tallahassee, FL; Vancouver, B.C. Canada; Worcester, MA.

The actions are to call for:

1) Support for War Objectors

2) Protect the Right to Conscientious Objection

3) Protect the Liberties & Human Rights of GI's

4) Sanctuary for War Objectors


As Thomas Watkins (AP) notes, "The Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force have seen some 19,000 troops total go AWOL since 2001." Kyle Snyder, Darrell Anderson and Ehren Watada are among the US war resisters who have gone public. They are part of a resistance movement within the military that also includes Joshua Key, Ivan Brobeck, Ricky Clousing, Mark Wilkerson, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass, Patrick Hart, Clifford Cornell, Agustin Aguayo, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, and Kevin Benderman. Those are some of the war resisters who have gone public and over thirty US war resisters are currently in Canada attempting to be legally recognized.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Appeal for Redress is collecting signatures of active duty service members calling on Congress to bring the troops home -- the petition will be delivered to Congress next month.

As the US administration demonstrates no desire to end the war, the fatalities pile up. AP estimates 75 reported deaths of Iraqis on Thursday. Some of those deaths include:


Bombings?

Reuters notes one dead and another wounded from a roadside bomb in Riyad.

Shootings?

In Baghdad, Reuters reports, "the deputy chief of al-Sadoun police station," Basil Abdullah, and two of his guards were shot dead. AP reports an attack on "a school in western Baghdad, killing the Sunni headmaster in his office and threatening teachers not to return".

Dropping back to Wednesday, Aseel Kami (Reuters) reports that Al Harith Hassan was shot on his way to work yesterday morning and died enroute to a hospital. Kami notes that he was "[o]ne of Iraq's best-known psychiatrists" and "dean of Baghdad University's psychiatric centre".

Corpses?


Reuters reports three corpses were discovered in Iskandariya. AP reports that 48 corpses were discovered in Baghdad.

And the deaths do not happen is isolation or in a vacuum. Dahr Jamail and Ali Al-Fahdily (IPS) address the issue of a nation where "Widows are the flip side of violence that has meant more than a million men dead, detained or disabled" and how this growing and increasing reality happens in a country where international NGO's pulled out in October 2005. Jamail and Al-Fahdily note that if a woman can afford a bribe, she may be able to get on the country's new relief program that pays out widows one hundred dollars a month which, as Haja Saadiya Hussein notes, "is not enough to support my big family." This at a time when, as Matt Weaver (Guardian of London) notes "what is becoming the biggest refugee crisis in the world" (according to Refugees International) is resulting from the daily chaos and violence in Iraq with (UN figures) over 100,000 Iraqis leaving the country each month and over 1.8 million Iraqis now living outside of Iraq not by 'choice' but for safety.

In the face of these realities, CNN reports, Iraq has scheduled, not one, but two, conferences -- with one among neighboring nations and the other "to include the United Nations and Arab League" but, no real rush apparently, they'll take place in 2007. Also in no real apparent rush is the US administration. On CNN's Larry King Live last night, King attempted to pin Tony Snow down about a "timely fashion" asking that he "Define that" and Tony Snow, admistration's mouth piece, declared that "maybe by the end of the year, the president can announce a new way forward." Maybe. Or, as Cat Power would sing, "Maybe Not."

As AFP reports, Bully Boy and England's prime minister Tony Blair are meeting in DC. And any thoughts that the laughable report issued by the James Baker Circle Jerk would have taken any Bully out of the Boy were misguided. CNN reports that Bully Boy's already tossing the bull/weight around as he tells two soverign nations, Iran and Syria, what they need to do in order to participate in any talks regarding Iraq. Phyllis Bennis (Institute for Policy Studies), speaking with Philip Maldari and Andrea Lewis on KPFA's The Morning Show, today explained that the US administration has created a climate where neither Iran or Syria may feel the need to meet the US administration half-way. [Thanks to Zach for noting that.]

While most in the mainstream press fawn over the report from the James Baker Circle Jerk, Democracy Now! devoted the hour to a serious critique of the report today. Amy Goodman spoke with Congress members Barbara Lee and Lynn Woolsey. Woolsey termed it "too little, too late." Lee stated, "too many of our young men and women have died. This is a senseless war. It's wrong. We need to bring our troops home and we need to bring them home now. I do not agree with the timetable that they laid out in the report. I mean, look at how many -- eleven more young people died yesterday." Also participating in the roundtable was author Anthony Arnove (IRAQ: The Logic of Withdrawal) who stated that "the report offers only a slight correction of course for a policy that needs fundamental reversal." Woolsey noted that Democratcs in Congress should be listening to the people, that the message of the November election was change and that people are ahead of elected officials on this issue . Sami Rasouli, of the Muslim Peacemakers Team, joined the roundtable discussion from Najaf and observed that if American forces left Iraq, any al-Qaeda forces would as well. Rasouli also noted that only 1300 al-Qaeda forces are said to be in Iraq and that the report demonstrates that Bully Boy's false claims before the start of the illegal war and to this day (that the US is there to fight 'terror'). Antonia Juhasz, author of The BU$H Agenda, joined the discussion to note that the James Baker Circle Jerk report advocates the privatization of Iraq's oil industry: "should be reorganized as a commercial enterprise, the proposal also says that, as you [Amy Goodman] say, Iraq's oil should be opened up to private, foreign energy and oil companies, also, another radical proposal, that all of Iraq's oil revenues should be centralized in the central government, and the report calls for a US advisor to ensure that a new national oil law is passed in Iraq to make all this possible and that the Constitution of Iraq is ammended to ensure that the central government gains control of the all of Iraq's oil, oil revenues. All told the report calls for privatization of Iraq's oil, turning it over to private, foreign, corporate hands, putting all the oil in the hands of the central government and essentially, I would argue, extending the war in Iraq to ensure that US oil companies get what the Bush administration went in there for, control and greater access to Iraq's oil."

Anthony Arnove brought up the issue of reparations noting the need to think "about what happens after withdrawal and I think we have to raise a demand for reparations to be paid to the Iraqi people, reparations not only for the harm and destruction caused by this illegal invasion and occupation, but all the years before that, when the United States supported sanctions on the country, and before that supported the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, armed, trained, funded and backed Saddam Hussein as he carried out the worst of his abuses."

Meanwhile, David Swanson (Let's Try Democracy) notes that the James Baker Circle Jerk recommends toothless talking points re: permanante bases in Iraq while "we are spending billions of dollars to construct bases in Iraq for the U.S. military. The new Democratic majority in Congress knows this, knows the damages these bases are doing, and knows the good that could be done by making better use of all that money, not to mention the lives lost in the process. If we speak up, perhaps the new majority will also know how quickly it can become a minority again if it does not seize this issue, expose it, and set it right."

Edward Wong and Abdul Razzaq Al-Saidi (New York Times) survey Iraqi people (the ones that the James Baker Circle Jerk was allegedly concerned about) and find that the hand jive is most popular . . . inside the heavily fortified Green Zone but even there it's not overwhelmingly popular. In the United States, Peter Smith(Courier-Journal) looks at Kentucky's reaction -- apparently having little interest in 'official sources' and gas bags, decides that the plan is far from embraced -- and quotes Anita Anderson, mother of US war resister Darrell Anderson, who notes the 'maybe' of some-sort of withdrawal in 2008 and states, "I can't even imagine the young boys that are going to be damaged, and the young girls. I've talked to active-duty soldiers, ones in Iraq. They're not doing well over there."
Tom Hayden (The Huffington Post) offers a six point plan that addresses Anita Anderson's concern of time by advocating a US withdrawal "in months rather than years," peace talks, a "special envoy" working towards "conflict resolution, not a military solution," acceptance that the puppet government doesn't represent Iraqis and much more. Military Families Speak Out's co-founder Nancy Lessin declares of the James Baker Circle Group's report, "Each one of these is wrong and will not produce the desired effect. The real problem is the U.S. occuaption." And Nancy A. Youssef and Hannah Allam (McClatchy Newspapers) note that the report has many flaws and zoom in on: "The group also recommends that the U.S. add more advisers, including Department of Justice officials for Iraq's frail judicial system. But the U.S. already has advisers throughout the government. Indeed, scores of coalition soldiers fill the halls of the Interior Ministry on any given day."

So what's a person to do?

"Go for your dreams, be true to your heart and listen to your gut. If your path starts to go astray, jump out of the road and take a romp through the woods."

That's activist and CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin's advice for young girls and women which she shares with Bay Area Business Women. It's advice she puts into practice in her own life and currently that's taken her to Manhattan where she, Cindy Sheehan, Patti Ackerman and Missy Comley Beattie are on trial for . . . failure to yield right-of-way? Refusal to disown the right to peaceable assembly?

In a new release calling for charges to be dropped, CODEPINK notes that the charges stem from the attempt on March 6th to deliver a petition calling for the end of the war (a petition 72,000 people had signed) to the then UN Ambassador for the US, John Bolton. In 2005, the petition had been dropped off with no problem. In 2006, the four women were part of a group of fifty that "was stopped by the New York City police and four of the leaders were arrested and charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstructing government adrministration." As they had done in 2005, they had phoned ahead of time to say that they would be dropping off the petition. Dropping off a petition signed by American citizens now means that a building (US Mission to UN) needs to go into lockdown and the police need to be called? In Bully Boy's America, apparently so.

As Rebecca (Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude) observes, "when cindy sheehan's on trial, we're all on trial. . . a public building meaning 'open to the public,' the women wanted to deliver a petition (no danger there), they called ahead of time, the place decides to shut down to avoid them. if the place's business was interfered with, that came when the building decided to go into lockdown. if a manhattan prosecutor wants to prosecute some 1, prosecute the people who made the call that u.s. citiznes were not welcome." (Rebecca notes that an audio report of the case can be found on yesterday's The KPFA Evening News.)






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