Iraq Veterans Against the War, Tori Amos, P. Smith

Tuesday! Rebecca, Flyboy and me are at Elaine's. We all agreed to go to the same rally. Rebecca pointed out Elaine's the one always having to make the drive (Rebecca and Flyboy take the ferry in) so we agreed we'd go to her this time. And Sunny was with us before anyone asks. So was her fiancee. (Is that how you spell the male half of the engagement? If not, pretend I said, "Sunny's fellow took part too." :D) We all had a really nice dinner and then I got online and switched C.I.'s stuff from The Common Ills to The Common Ills (mirror site). I've got the password to the mirror site. We all do if we need to use it as a backup site. Jess passed on the password to the main site because there was a correction C.I. needed to make but no time. (They've gone to, I think, all the demonstrations in California. I'm not kidding. They started early with stuff and they're still at it. Jess goes C.I. was going, "I can't do it, there's no way" about the snapshot. But C.I. did do it and it's pretty cool. It's got a different twist today.) The mirror site has to be a pain in the ass. I'm not trying to piss anybody off. I know that it's a favorite of a lot of members. But Blogdrive is so slow. I was waiting and waiting forever. C.I.'s talked about how on Sunday nights, it's not being tired from the edition that's a problem, it's having to move all the entries over to the mirror site and I got that because you have to wait forever. Just putting in a link takes forever. Usually, C.I.'s got four hours of sleep since Sunday sun up (and that's after an all nighter on the writing edition) and by the time the Sunday night entry's finished, it's like 4 to 3 hours before it's time to do the Monday morning entry. C.I.'s said that it's like scream at the computer when Blogdrive is screwed up. So I really got that because it took me 17 minutes just to transfer the three entries for today.

Got to add something. Ruth's here with her grandkids Jayson and Tracey. They were here for the whole day and are staying over. That wasn't a sure thing. Tracey had said, "I'm staying here." :D Jayson wanted to stay too but Ruth wasn't sure because their parents had okayed today because of the demonstration. Tracey was on the phone going, "Excuse me, is there not a museum here? One I've never visited?" :D I bet the other grandkids are going to be thinking, "Two days without school? I should have gone!" They should have. Tracey's the oldest, I think. Jayson's got two or three grandkids older. :D Cousins! He's got cousins older. :D

Their family isn't as big as mine, Ruth and her husband didn't have as many kids as my folks did, but most people don't. Kat's families like mine. But we're both Catholic. You know what would be really weird to me? To be an only child. I'm the second youngest of eight. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be an only child. But I bet you wouldn't be hopping from foot to foot in front of the bathroom door when you needed to piss! :D It's just me and my sister at home now. And I'm going to be an uncle soon so that will be cool. It's my kid sister that's pregnant. I'm joking! :D Oh she's going to be pissed. She hates it when I mention her in the first place but that I pretended like she was the pregnant one -- I'm going to hear about that. :D


Hold on, I'm going to ask Tracey what we're listening to. It's Tori Amos' new CD. Okay, it's Doll Posse and the song I love is "Beauty of Speed." It came out today and Tracey told them they had to stop on the way here because she had to have it. :D We all love music. Elaine says she's got to get it. Me too. But I may try to buy it online and download it. Then again, if they charge by the track, maybe not because there are a lot of songs on this. Tracey's got the deluxe edition with a bonus DVD and the bonus CD has extra tracks on it. My two favorite songs by Tori? That's a hard one. I think "Mary" and "Cooling." But I could probably toss out twenty more easy. Let's see. :D

1) "God"
2) "Caught a Lite Sneeze"
3) "In the Springtime of His Voo Doo"
4) "Pretty Good Year"
5) "A Sort of Fairy Tales"
6) "Cars and Guitars"
7) "Crucify"
8) "Taxi Ride"
9) "1000 Oceans"
10) "Sweet Dreams"
11) "Playboy Mommy"
12) "Sweet the Sting"
13) "Black Dove"
14) "Cornflake Girl"
15) "Professional Widow"
16) "Glory of the 80s"
17) I can't remember the title. It's on the eletronica like CD. (Can't remember the title of that either.) But it's got the line about "when pianos try to be guitars." It's a piano song, really sweet.
18) "Cloud on My Tongue"
19) "Silent All These Years"
20) "Hoochie Woman"

And that was off the top of my head. I could probably do 20 more favorites. And now will.
I'm joking! I won't bore you with another list. :D

But I like Tori Amos a lot. She's one of my favorites.

Even Dad loves her and he's a tough audience because he's got a lot of favorites from over the years and doesn't like a lot of the new acts. He likes White Stripes -- or probably knows to say that! I love White Stripes. If they're broken up, Jack White's on his own. Meg's drumming was something. A big wallop. I like them together and I didn't care for his group that did the CD last go round.

I just checked my profile. She's on there. Good. :D C.I. helped me set up my site when I finally decided to blog. I didn't know the first thing about Blogger/Blogspot and it's not as easy as they say when you're starting out. I probably would have more up there if I were doing it today (but I was holding C.I. up on the phone and trying to hurry). I need to go in and change it and pull U2. Bono's disgusting. Kissing Bully Boy's ass for AIDs money (that he's not getting! stupid ass!) and refusing to call out the war even though he hints he is against it but can't say that because he's got to work with the Bully Boy -- blah, blah, blah. I hate Bono and U2 is someone I never listen to anymore. Coldplay, I still listen to. Bright Eyes as well. (Read "Kat's Korner: Bright Eyes releases the studio album you've waited for.") Van Morrison is someone Dad loves. That may be one of his favorite solo performers. I heard Van growing up all the time. I'd add to the list today. The only thing I would (and should) pull is U2. That's weird because that was almost 2 years ago. I'm looking at it and still feel the same in some ways but in other ways it seems so long ago.

I need to wrap up because we're all using Elaine's computer and others need to blog and I also don't want to spend all night blogging. But I want to do a highlight (and the snapshot). I'm going with only one highlight and I'm putting it up in full because I think it's really important. I also think it's like a press release so I think it's okay to put it up in full:

Thousands Die While Washington Plays "Blame Game"
May 1, 2007
Today marks the fourth year since President Bush gave his "Mission Accomplished" speech where he declared that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended." With April marking the deadliest month in Iraq in 2007 for our military, with 104 deaths, major combat operations are anything but over. The U.S. military death toll in Iraq is now at 3,351. For the British, who lost 11 soldiers, April was their deadliest month since the war started in March 2003. The Iraqi people, meanwhile, continue to see thousands of their loved ones killed every month.
Amidst this ever-increasing violence, the Democrats and Republicans are busy with petty squabbling over the toothless supplemental bill that will give the president $93 billion to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Democrats have hailed the supplemental bill passed by both chambers of Congress last week as a sincere attempt to end the war, although in reality the bill would do little to bring our troops home quickly and safely.
Today in Iraq, our troops endure the daily suspense of wondering whether each day will be their last, but in Washington D.C. there is little suspense over the fate of the war funding. President Bush has promised to veto the Iraq spending bill, and Democrats have said that they will capitulate and give Bush the money with no restrictions. In November, 2006 people across the nation voted for an end to the war, not for its indefinite continuation.
As a veteran of the conflict in Iraq, I will never forget the death and destruction of a war that has cost more than 3,351 U.S. lives as well as the lives of countless Iraqis. I am joined by the over 400 members of Iraq Veterans Against the War in fighting to end the occupation of Iraq, ensure our veterans get the care they deserve, and give the Iraqi people back their right to self-determination.
We call on Congress to show their support for the troops by setting an immediate pullout deadline and approving only enough funding necessary to bring the troops home now and take care of the troops and their families when they get home. The bill they approved last week simply does not go far enough.
The Iraq spending bill sets a deadline for withdrawal from Iraq by August 2008, more than a year away. Between now and August, we can expect to lose at least 1,000 of our service men and women and tens of thousands of Iraqis. What's more, the bill only guarantees that half of the approximately 150,000 troops currently in Iraq come home. Congress inserted language into the bill that makes it so that whole categories of troops are exempt from the withdrawal, including those who are "training the Iraqi military," engaged in "special operations," or "protecting diplomatic enclaves." This means that President Bush could keep anywhere from 60,000 to 80,000 troops permanently in Iraq.
The bill also does not specify that the troops who are withdrawn be sent home; they could very well be sent to Afghanistan, surrounding Arab countries, or be used to escalate the war into Iran.
Democrats also say that the supplemental bill will ensure that troops are fully trained, equipped and rested between deployments. However, the bill includes a waiver for President Bush to simply override the restrictions and continue sending exhausted, overstressed troops into combat.
And, although the bill prohibits construction of new permanent bases in Iraq, it does nothing to close the 12 permanent U.S. military bases already built in Iraq.
The supplemental also does not do enough to address the concerns and problems of corporate war profiteering. There are currently more than 100,000 private contractors in Iraq, doing jobs that range from working in military dining facilities, to interrogating prisoners and patrolling Iraqi streets. Corporate lobbyists in Washington are working to ensure that the war doesn’t end so they can continue to line their pockets.
All members of Iraq Veterans Against the War are veterans and service men and women who have served in the military since September 11, 2001. Many of us experienced first-hand the horrors of this war and know that the first step to end the violence in Iraq is to end the U.S. occupation.
Every day that we remain in Iraq, more of our fellow troops and innocent Iraqis are killed and wounded. Meanwhile, families worry for their loved ones or grieve their loss; and our veterans return home to find out that the government that sent them to war isn’t equipped to deal with their injuries.
Instead of using their "power of the purse" to end the war in Iraq, the Democratic leadership is simply trying to shift the blame for the war back to the president. They tell us that they are doing all they can to end the war and that we must be patient. The reality is that the time to bring the troops home is now. For Congress to demand anything less is irresponsible and morally reprehensible.
Kelly DoughertyExecutive Director
Iraq Veterans Against the War
Former Sergeant, Colorado Army National Guard

I like Iraq Veterans Against the War and we got to hear her speak in DC. At a thing with Anthony Arnove. Shoot. I forgot. That's tomorrow. I'm swiping this from Third and no time for a link. "Wednesday, May 2nd in NYC? At 6:30 pm, at Cooper Union Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove will present readings from their book Voices of a People's History of the United States -- the book referred to above which builds on Zinn's best seller (million-plus seller) A People's History of the United State. In Arnove and Zinn's book, they let the voices tell the story. The reading will feature live music from Allison Moorer and Steve Earle as well as readings by Ally Sheedy, Brian Jones, Danny Glover, Deepa Fernandes, Erin Cherry, Harris Yulin, Kathleen Chalfant, Kerry Washington, Opal Alladin, Staceyann Chin and Stanley Tucci. You may hear them reading the words of Mother Jones, Fannie Lou Hamer, Malcom X among others." That is in the snapshot (in different words) but I know a lot of readers here also read C.I.'s snapshot earlier in the day. So just a reminder in case you've read the snapshot but might forget that's tomorrow. That's your reminder.

I know this song! It's Hendrix. But it's Patti Smith doing Hendrix. Elaine just put that CD in. I haven't heard it before but I've heard good stuff about it. The first track is pretty cool.

C.I. uses the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Hearts Club Band in the snapshot today. That wasn't planned, it just happened and then C.I. went with it. (Jess said this was done at the laptop in bits by C.I. and dictated in bits by C.I. Transitions were a problem because there wasn't time to think them out so C.I. just ended up grouping by songs from Sgt. Peppers'.) Okay, here's C.I.'s
"Iraq snapshot:"

Tuesday, May 1, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, Bully Boy prepares to veto a Congressional bill, the puppet's position grows more questionable, the UK military and US military each announce another fatality, and more.

It was four years ago today, Bully Boy decided to bray . . . Iraq Veterans Against the War's Kelly Dougherty observes: "Today marks the fourth year since President Bush gave his 'Mission Accomplished' speech where he declared that 'major combat operations in Iraq have ended.' With April marking the deadliest month in Iraq in 2007 for our military, with 104 deaths, major combat operations are anything but over. The U.S. military death toll in Iraq is now at 3,351. For the British, who lost 11 soldiers. April was their deadliest month since the war started in March 2003. The Iraqi people, meanwhile, continue to see thousands of their loved ones killed every month. Amidst this ever-increasing violence, the Democratics and Republicans are busy with petty squabbling over the toothless supplemental bill that will give the president $93 billion to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Democrats have hailed the supplemental bill passed by both chamgers of Congress last week as a sincere attempt to end the war, although in reality the bill would do little to bring our troops home quickly and safely. Today in Iraq, our troops endure the daily suspense of wondering whether each day will be their last, but in Washington D.C. there is little suspense over the fate of war funding. President Bush has promised to veto the Iraq spending bill, and Democrats have said that they will capitulate and give Bush the money with no restrictions. In November 2006 people across the nation voted for an end to the war, not for its indefinite continuation. As a veteran of the conflict in Iraq, I will never forget the death and destruction of a war that has cost more than 3,351 U.S. lives as well as the lives of countless Iraqis. I am joined by the over 400 members of Iraq Veterans Against the War in fighting to end the occupation of Iraq, ensure our veterans get the care they deserve, and give the Iraqi people back their right to self-determination."

As Dougherty noted, 3351 is the death toll for US service mebers in Iraq. When Bully Boy declared "major combat operations ended" while standing below the banner that read "Mission Accomplished," 139 US service members had died in Iraq. 3,212 US service members have died in the illegal war since that day. Then there were 150,000 service members stationed in Iraq. Now? The number dropped but it soared back up. Between 145,000 and 150,000 US service members are currently stationed in the country with more to come as part of the never ending crackdown's escalation phase.

139 lives is too great for an illegal, unnecessary, pre-emptive war of choice. But today it's at 3351. If it had been stopped on May 1, 2003, the death toll would have been 139. When Congress refuses to stop the illegal war, it's no longer just Bully Boy's war. It's their war as well. When they pushed the toothless, nonsense, when they passed it in both houses, the death toll was 3234. That's 117 deaths in the illegal war they now co-own. Actually, 118 and the count is now 3352. Today, the US military announced another death: "An MNC-I Soldier died at approximately 10:30 a.m. Tuesday of non-battle causes."

The new issue of The Progressive (May 2007) contains Howard Zinn's "Are We Politicians or Citizens?" which was posted online last month due to the nature of the column: "As I write this, Congress is debating timetables for withdrawal from Iraq. In response to the Bush administration's 'surge' of troops and the Republicans' refusal to limit our occupation, the Democrats are behaving with their customary timidity, proposing withdrawal, but only after a year, or eighteen months. And it seems they expect the anti-war movement to support them. That was suggested in a recent message from MoveOn, which polled its members on the Democratic proposal, saying that progressives in Congress, 'like many of us, don't think the bill goes far enough, but see it as the first concrete step to ending the war.' . . . When a social movements adopts the compromises of legislators, it has forgotten its role, which is to push and challenge the politicians, not to fall in meekly behind them. We who protest the war are not politicians. We are citizens. Whatever politicians may do, let them first feel the full force of citizens who speak for what is right, not for what is winnable, in a shameful timorous Congress." Today, John V. Walsh (CounterPunch) notes, "Democrats in Congress are growing increasingly hostile toward their antiwar base." He cites US House Rep David Obey's embarrassing snit fit aimed at Tina Richards as well as his own experience with US Senator John Kerry's staff and in speaking with US House Rep Michael E. Capuano. And Dave Lindorff (CounterPunch) reminds, "Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), actually at one point publicly stated that it would be 'good' for Democrats if the Iraq War continued into November 2008."

What would you think if the news wasn't covered . . . Over 655,000 Iraqis have died in the illegal war. Many Americans, when polled recently, were grossly off in their estimation of the Iraqi death toll. This month, a dumb idiot pinned the blame for that on the peace movement. Addressing the same poll when it was still in the news, Peter Hart (CounterSpin) rightly noted the blame goes to the media. We saw that play out on the small scale today. The New York Times attempted to press their undercount yet again claiming that, on Monday, "bombs and mortars killed at least 22 Iraqis." Over fifty were reported dead on Monday from bombs and mortars. As Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) reported today: "Meanwhile at least 102 Iraqis died on Monday alone including more than 30 in a suicide bombing that targeted a Shiite funeral." Goodman's referring to the Baghdad bombing. From yesterday's snapshot:

Dean Yates (Reuters) reports a Baghdad funeral today was the site of a bombing as a man blew himself and at least 32 other people up via "a vest packed with explosives" CBS and AP report: "Police said the bomber detonated his explosives about 6:30 p.m. inside a tent where people were mourning a 60-year-old man from a Shiite family in Khalis, a flashpoint Shiite enclave in Diyala province, where U.S.-Iraqi forces have seen fierce fighting with Sunni and Shiite militants." That appears to be the highest toll from a single bombing today; however, there were many other bombings in Iraq.

More than 30 -- in one bombing -- somehow becomes "at least 23" in today's New York Times. The same Times' piece, Alissa J. Rubin states that 9 corpses were discovered in Baghdad. The true answer was 27. When over 50 becomes "at least 22" when 27 corpses becomes 9, don't point to the peace movement. Peter Hart was right, the problem is the media and the New York Times undercounting is only one more examples of the media failure. (It should also be stated that when you go on a radio program and wrongly smear the peace movement -- as a 'friend,' you understand -- you should know your figures and to be 5,000 off the number reported in The Lancet study is embarrassing for anyone -- especially so for a mathematician.)

Picture yourself with a moral dilemma . . . Camilo Mejia fought in Iraq. Camilo Mejia returned to the US. As he notes in his new book Road from Ar Ramaid: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia -- The New Press released it today, he's haunted by a young man he shot in Iraq. Returning to the US, looking at his own daughter, Mejia realized he couldn't continue to fight in the illegal war. He self-checked out. Before turning himself, he gave an interview to Dan Rather for CBS' 60 Minutes II (March 31, 2004) where he stated, "When you look at the war, and you look at the reasons that took us to war, and you don't find that any of the things that we were told that we're going to war for turned out to be true, when you don't find there are weapons of mass destruction, and when you don't find that there was a link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, and you see that you're not helping the people and the people don't want you there . . . To me, there's no military contract and no military duty that's going to justify being a part of that war." Today, Francisco Alvarado (Broward-Palm Beach New Times) covers Mejia's story which apparently requires including name-calling quotes like "mama's boy." For the record, if someone wants to call Mejia a "mama's boy" that opens them up for name calling -- and if they're a "charity boy" because they couldn't support their own family, maybe they're in no position to cast stones as Mejia? Maybe someone could tell the name caller that Mejia's not the enemy -- but the person devising and approving military pay scales may be.

Alvarado writes, "Camilo was the first soldier to go AWOL and publicly protest the war, but many others followed him. There were 2,450 deserters in 2004, according to Army statistics released in early April. The number rose to about 2,700 in 2005 and 3,300 last year. Since the fiscal year began this past October 1, 871 soldiers have deserted. The military has also amped up its prosecution of deserters. From 2002 to 2006, prosecutions have more than doubled to an average of 390 per year."


Mejia, as Courage to Resist reports, will join with war resisters Pablo Paredes, Agustin Aguayo and Robert Zabala for a speaking tour from May 9th through 17th in the San Francisco Bay Area. This will be Aguayo's first publicly speaking appearances since being released from the brig earlier this month (April 18th). The announced dates include:

Wednesday May 9 - Marin 7pm at College of Marin, Student Services Center, 835 College Ave, Kentfield. Featuring Agustin Aguayo, Pablo Paredes and David Solnit. Sponsored by Courage to Resist and Students for Social Responsibility.

Thursday May 10 - Sacramento Details TBA
Friday May 11 - Stockton 6pm at the Mexican Community Center, 609 S Lincoln St, Stockton. Featuring Agustin Aguayo.
Saturday May 12 - Monterey 7pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 490 Aguajito Rd, Carmel. Featuring Agustin Aguayo and Camilo Mejia. Sponsored by Veterans for Peace Chp. 69, Hartnell Students for Peace, Salinas Action League, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and Courage to Resist. More info: Kurt Brux 831-424-6447
Sunday May 13 - San Francisco 7pm at the Veterans War Memorial Bldg. (Room 223) , 401 Van Ness St, San Francisco. Featuring Agustin Aguayo, Camilo Mejia and Pablo Paredes. Sponsored by Courage to Resist, Veteran's for Peace Chp. 69 and SF Codepink.
Monday May 14 - Watsonville 7pm at the United Presbyterian Church, 112 E. Beach, Watsonville. Featuring Agustin Aguayo, Camilo Mejia, Pablo Paredes and Robert Zabala. Sponsored by the GI Rights Hotline & Draft Alternatives program of the Resource Center for Nonviolence (RCNV), Santa Cruz Peace Coalition, Watsonville Women's International League for Peace & Freedom (WILPF), Watsonville Brown Berets, Courage to Resist and Santa Cruz Veterans for Peace Chp. 11. More info: Bob Fitch 831-722-3311
Tuesday May 15 - Palo Alto 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church (Fellowship Hall), 1140 Cowper, Palo Alto. Featuring Camilo Mejia. Sponsored by Pennisula Peace and Justice Center. More info: Paul George 650-326-8837
Wednesday May 16 - Eureka 7pm at the Eureka Labor Temple, 840 E St. (@9th), Eureka. Featuring Camilo Mejia. More info: Becky Luening 707-826-9197Thursday May 17 - Oakland 4pm youth event and 7pm program at the Humanist Hall, 411 28th St, Oakland. Featuring Camilo Mejia, Pablo Paredes and the Alternatives to War through Education (A.W.E.) Youth Action Team. Sponsored by Veteran's for Peace Chp. 69, Courage to Resist, Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's (CCCO) and AWE Youth Action Team.

They are all part of a growing movement of war resistance within the military: Camilo Mejia,
Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Dean Walcott, Camilo Mejia, Linjamin Mull, Joshua Key, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Camilo Mejia, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Joshua Key, Mark Wilkerson, Camilo Mejia, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.

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. In addition, the documentary Sir! No Sir! traces the war resistance within the military during Vietnam and it will air at 9:00 pm (EST) on The Sundance Channel followed at 10:30 p.m. by The Ground Truth which examines the Iraq war and features Jimmy Massey and Iraq Veterans Against the War's Kelly Dougherty among others.

It's getting better all the time . . . In the May 2007 issue of The Progressive, two pages (20-21) of photos are devoted to protests around the world on the 4th annivesary of the illegal war including Jeff Patterson's photos of Iraq Veterans Against the War's street theater in DC to show the realities of war (Operation First Casualty) and Noah Berger's San Francisco photo of a man carrying a sing, "IM 88 THE WAR'S a Mistake! WWII VET". Page 22 features 4 photos noting global actions for International Women's Day, two photos noting Sheetmetal LU 441 on strike in Pascagoula, Missippi. Page 24 features 3 photos from the Port of Tacoma protests on March 6th ("Peace activists blockaded the port of Tacoma, where Stryker vehicles were awaiting shipment to Iraq on March 6.") and 4 photos from Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania's actions to "shut down Carnegie Mellon's National Robotics Engineering Center, which develops military technology for the federal government." Today is May Day (Labor Day in most countries around the world) and rallies in support of immigrant rights are taking place around the country. Peter Prengaman (AP) goes with "thousands" to describe groupings around the country and notes that the turnout is expected to be smaller than in 2006 due to fear over new laws passed, fear of ICE and the general crackdown on immigrants that's gone largely unremarked on in big media. Despite those fears, many people (immigrants and non-immigrants) are participating around the country, students are staging walk outs, voices are demanding to be heard. Ramy Khalil and Philip Locker (Socialist Alternative) report on the April 18th Seattle walkout where "[o]ver 800 students walked out of schools" and that the action "culminated in a protest at a meeting of the School Board, calling for military recruiters be kicked out of our schools. The students also protested the School District's plan to close 7 Seattle schools, calling instead for money for education, not war."

We were talking, about the space between us all . . . Matt Spetalnick (Reuters) reports that Bully Boy will veto the non-binding Congressional bill today "and will explain his actions to Americans in a statement from the White House". Bully Boy explain his actions? Americans have long waited for that but don't hold your breath. As CBS and AP reported, in his infamous May 1, 2003 speech, Bully Boy declared that US actions in Iraq were a "victory in a war on terror." Maybe he'll explain that as well? This morning, Scott Shane (New York Times) reported: "Terrorists attacks against noncombatants nearly doubled in Iraq from 2005 to 2006" and that Iraq and Afghanistan are "where large numbers of American combat troops are deployed are also where terrorism is rising the fastest. Terrorist attacks are up 91 percent in Iraq". Glenn Kessler (Washington Post) notes: "Of the 14,338 reported terrorist attacks worldwide last year, 45 percent took place in Iraq, and 65 percent of the global fatalities stemming from terrorism occurred in Iraq. In 2005, Iraq accounted for 30 percent of the world wide terrorist attacks."

I read the news today oh, boy . . .

Bombings?Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad mortar attack that killed 4 and wounded 6 (Al Baia neighborhood), another Baghdad mortar attack (same neighborhood, later in the day) that left one person dead and two more wounded, a Baghdad mortar attack (Al Ealam neighborhood) that killed one person and left 7 wounded, a Baghdad mortar attack (Al Jihad) that killed one and wounded 6.
Shootings?

CBS and AP report: "Gunmen ambushed travelers on a highway leading from Baghdad to Shiite areas to the south on Tuesday, killing 14 people." Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports one Baghdad shooting death, and an attack in Khalouf that killed 3 and left 4 wounded. Reuters reports a Mussayab drive-by that left three people dead.

Corpses?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 15 corpses discovered in Baghdad and a "chopped head of the kidnapped police Brigadier Abdullah Mustafa near Beiji. Mustafa was kidnapped two days ago from Beiji town near his house." Reuters reports 10 corpses discovered in Baquba.
The UK Ministry of Defense accounced: "It is weep deep sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of a British soldier from the Royal Signals in Iraq this morning, 1 May 2007. The soldier was riding a bicycle in the Contingency Operating Base at Basra Air Station when he was involved in a road traffic accident at approximately 0800 hrs local time. He was evacuated by ambulance to the Field Hospital, but sadly died of his inuries."

Nothing to do to save his life . . . In Iraqi political news, Alissa J. Rubin (New York Times) reported today: "The largest bloc of Sunni Arabs in the Iraqi Parliament threatened to withdraw its ministers from the Shiite-dominated cabinet on Monday in frustration over the government's failure to deal with concerns. . . . If the Sunni group followed through on its threat, it would further weaken a government already damaged by the pullout two weeks ago of six cabinet ministers aligned with the renegade Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr". This as Arwa Damon (CNN) reports on allegations by the US and Iraqi military that Nouri al-Maliki, puppet of the occupation, "has created an entity within his government" which "is being used as a smokescreen to hide an extreme Shiite agenda that is worsening the country's sectarian divide."

For the benefit of Mr. Kite . . . Wednesday, May 2nd at 6:30 pm in The Great Hall, Cooper Union (NYC), Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove will be presenting readings from their Voices of a People's History of the United States featuring music performed by Allison Moorer and Steve Earle and readings and vocal performances by Ally Sheedy, Brian Jones, Danny Glover, Deepa Fernandes, Erin Cherry, Harris Yulin, Kathleen Chalfant, Kerry Washington, Opal Alladin, Staceyann Chin and Stanley Tucci. Zinn and Arnove will provide both the introduction and the narration.

tori amos
patti smith
the common ills
the third estate sunday review
like maria said paz
kats korner
sex and politics and screeds and attitude
mikey likes it
iraq
joshua key
camilo mejia
iraq veterans against the war
anthony arnovehoward zinn
ally sheedydanny gloverdeepa fernandes
the progressive
democracy now
amy goodman

Third Estate Sunday Review, Iraq

Monday morning, you gave me no warning . . . :D Monday again. It has to be the most hated day in the week! I hate Mondays.

Let me get started with the new content at The Third Estate Sunday Review:

Truest statement of the week -- there were a ton of good ones but when C.I. read Betty's lines, it was obvious this was the one. It's from Betty's "Tom-Tom Goes to the Public Library" which you should also check out.

A Note to Our Readers -- Jimbo's note. With a personal note to me "[:D]," :D back at you Jim.
I love Jim's notes. They're the last thing written so all of us except the gang (Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava, C.I. and Jim) have already left the writing edition. Jim writes the note with input from whichever of them are still wide enough awake to comment. Jim and Ava have both clarified this but I'll note it again in case anyone wonders, they are good friends. They joke with each other and if Ava's tired and pissed, she's not going to pretend otherwise. But they're joking with each other in that thing.

Editorial: Terri Johnson steps up and stands up -- Terri Johnson goes public and where's the media? Is it because she's African-American? Is it because she's a woman? Is it because of both? I don't know. I just know she went public and nationally she was greeted with silence. That's not right. I hope everyone she knows is telling her, "I'm proud of you, Terri." I don't know here but I'll say it here, "I'm proud of you, Terri."

TV: Dud -- Ava & C.I. versus Jim. I just wrote that Ava and Jim joke but they really got loud on the TV thing. Jim was asking (just asking) at first that they review Bill Moyers' new show. They said no. Then Jim started begging and then, after that went on, Ava and C.I. just let him have it. Not in a mean way but telling him how hard it was to find shows to review. How they'd bumped what they'd planned to review last week at his request. How they'd watched Drive and it was now cancelled so if they didn't grab it now, it would really be pushing it to review it. "You're screwing us up," I think Ava told Jim at one point. They're doing broadcast TV and by now they've done over 120 TV shows. If you think about it, before fall, there will probably be about 8 to 10 shows, new ones, on the air. Most of what will air this summer they've already reviewed. So if they didn't grab Drive right now, next Sunday would be too late (Fox had just announced it was cancelled). They hate watching TV -- partly because there's no time to. And there is pressure on them because you have so many people going to that site just for their reviews. They'd already made calls on Drive, to find out how it was pitched to the "suits." They'd watched all the episodes, they'd read the scripts and talked to one person with the show. C.I. pointed out that they'd done the work and still had some more to do during the writing edition and all that work was in the trash if they reviewed Bill Moyers. Ava also pointed out that Ty said the response to their review the week before ("TV: Pigs and Prigs on PBS' NOW") was so huge that if they did Moyers' now, there would be an expectation that they'd do another news or newsie program after that and after that. Ava and C.I. both pointed out that they know the readers and a review of Drive is what they'll want. (Ty told me on the phone today that they were right about that judging from the e-mails.) So the review? Excellent! I loved this. I think they were right that after a news program, they really did need to hit an entertainment program. (I also know C.I. didn't feel it would be right to evaluate Moyers' new show until it had a few more episodes under the belt because Moyers was returning after a long absence.) I also think it made strong points because you hear all the time about how dumbed down things are and they're showing you how a really bad show (dead last in the ratings for it's time slot -- even beat by CW) got praise from supposed TV critics. If there's any dumbing down going on, look to the supposed critics who refused to call out crap like Drive. This was excellent. (And Jim, I think I again wrote more than you! :D)

What's it all about, Bully? -- This is 1 part of a 3 parter. And we should note that Ava and C.I.'s "TV: Pigs and Prigs on PBS' NOW" really resulted in this. If you go back and read that, you'll see the roots of the three part series. It's on Iraq and in this part we're dealing with the issue of how the US ended up in Iraq. Not the lies of the media, that's been covered. We're dealing with the how. (Again, read Ava and C.I.'s "TV: Pigs and Prigs on PBS' NOW" because that really was the inspiration for the three parter.)

Sacrifice? -- This is another part of it. In this one the Iraq issue is "sacrifice" and how people keep saying, "Oh, we're not being asked to sacrifice. That's why people are apathetic about this war." People aren't apethetic about the war but this takes on the lie of "sacrifice."

Iraq Quiz -- I love this. It was a lot of fun to write. I think it was Jess who felt it needed something to make it really work and he and Ty came up with using illustrations. So there are a lot in here. I think they add to the piece too.

Radio Blab -- This is another part of the three parter. This is about the way Iraq is discussed. Both how "how" is ignored and also how when someone says we need to stay in Iraq for X and then we can leave, what is it that's supposed to be accomplished?

This Wednesday, May 2nd, Cooper Union, Voices of a... Howard Zinn, Anthony Arnove, Cooper Union, Wednesday. More information is in the snapshot but if you're in NYC, you've got to go see this.

Mailbag -- I noticed C.I. hadn't spoken while we were doing this. That's because it was a long edition and Dona had asked us to make this as short as possible. Ty went off to pick out questions from e-mails he'd printed up and then we started it.

The Nation Stats -- 4 men for every 1 woman. That remains The Nation's sorry record. I'm biting my tongue because C.I. called today about an idea. We're going to be doing it. It's next month and that's all I can say. (But you know I want to tell all! :D But it's going to be good.)

10 CDs listened to while writing this edition -- What was listened to during the edition.

Highlights -- Rebecca, Wally, Cedric, Betty, Elaine and I wrote this. The order that's listed each week is changed. We're trying to make sure that it's not a set order so someone's always first and someone's always last. On the highlights, the first ones get short changed! Jim pointed that out when we finished (Dona said, "Who cares, let's get it posted!"). C.I. said, "I think that's because they warm up as they start writing." That's really true. We're all being quiet and not saying much and then we start thinking of something and we're usually on the third or fourth highlight before that happens. On the list is Ma's "Walnuts and Cranberry Rice in the Kitchen" and I need to note that here because I keep forgetting each week. My own mother has a website and half the time I'm rushing and forget to even note her. What kind of son am I?

Here's the credits for the writing on the above:

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

"Kat's Korner: Bright Eyes releases the studio album you've waited for" went up Saturday and she's reviewing Bright Eye's Cassadaga. That is a great CD and it's a great review, read one and listen to the other!

Now I want to highlight something that went up last night. This is from C.I.'s "And the war drags on . . .:"


Younge thinks the Dems need to stand. He doesn't take that to the point that needs to be made.
They're not standing, they're still hiding and that was obvious in the radio address. It was time to respond to the Bully Boy, to put a Democratic stamp on issues, to put a Democratic voice out there. And what did they do?
They handed their time over to a member of the right-wing, no-thought tank Hudson Institute.
You keep hearing how unfair the media is to Democrats, how hard is to get Democrats on the air, how unbalanced the panels and discussions are because Democrats are present. So what does the Democratic Party do? Turns over their national address to a member of a right-wing think tank, someone who, as he notes in his address, is not a Democrat.
Whine about the inbalance all you want, when you abdicate your own forum and present the message that no Democrat can speak to these issues so you need to draft a non-Democrat, a member of the right-wing Hudson Institute, your problems go beyond media and any inbalances in the current system are at least partly your own making.
A national party, with control of both houses of Congress, with members of all ages, has to recruit a right-winger to speak for their issues? Wonder why some people see no difference in the two major parties? Look no further than the sort of nonsense that has Democrats hiding behind a right-winger to get "their" message out.
It's disgusting and it's shameful. It needs to be called out. The party loves to hide behind the military (General William Odum is who they picked to speak for them, for those who missed the address) and apparently needed to send the message that not only will they not stand for themselves, but there are no Democrats in the military. Now that's not true, but their decision, their pick, sends that message. It also sends a message of how unfocused they are that they have to turn to a right-winger to mount a response to the Bully Boy.
Oh, it's not fair! Oh Fox "News" is so mean! Oh Juan and Mara trash Dems but get presented as the alternative to Britty, Billy and Seanie! All true. But the Democratic Party does not control Fox "News." They do control whom they select to speak for them. No one silenced Democrats on Saturday but the party itself by electing to go with Odum for the "Democratic response" to Bully Boy's weekly radio address.

Doesn't that say it all? Really, doesn't it? "We can't get our message out!" You hear that over and over. So why the hell was the response to Bully Boy slid over to a right-winger? Who's keeping Dems from getting their message out? Dems.

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Monday, April 30, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, The Progressive shames big and small print media, the Bully Boy's escalation sets new records -- in fatalities, and more.


Starting with news of war resisters, Sean Cockerham (The News Tribune) reports that the Washington Democratic Party "voted overwhelmingly Saturday to support Lt. Ehren Watada, the Fort Lewis officer who refused orders to serve in Iraq" and notes that the resolution reads: "We support and commend Lt. Ehren Watada for his courage, moral leadership, and commitment to duty demonstrated by his act of resistance to the continued costly, destructive and immoral U.S. military occupation of Iraq." In June of last year, Watada became the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq citing the fact that it was an illegal war and to take part in it would leave not only himself but those serving under him open to charges of War Crimes. In February, Watada became the first commissioned officer to be court-martialed for refusing to deploy to Iraq. The first day of the court-martial (Monday, Feb. 5th) was basics. On Tuesday, the prosecution presented their case. Wednesday, the defense was supposed to mount their limited defense. Limited? Judge Toilet (aka John Head) had already ruled that the defense could not address the legality of the war, had been happy to pay for prosecution witnesses but would not do the same for the defense (and wouldn't allow witnesses). Wednesday the case would depend on Watada's testimony. The judge called a mistrial (over defense objection) before Watada could testify -- most likely because the prosecution's witnesses on Tuesday had, in different ways, backed up Watada's stand. Currently, the pre-trial motions are scheduled for May 20-21 with the court-martial set to begin July 16th. As many legal commentators have pointed out (including Marjorie Cohn, president of the National Lawyers Guild), Judge Toilet's decision to call a mistrial after the case began, over the objection of the defense, a second court-martial would violate the Constitution's ban on double-jeopardy.


Whether the court-martial goes forward or not, Ehren Watada has a story to tell. Another war resister has told his story in book form, Joshua Key. With Lawrence Hill, Key's written
The Deserter's Tale which has received strong reviews from across the political spectrum. However, for months now, it has appeared that someone stole independent media's library card. One independent magazine has stepped out. In the May issue of The Progressive (on sale now or shortly), Kirk Nielsen reviews Key's book (as well as Trish Wood's What Was Asked of Us: An Oral History of the Iraq War by the Soldiers Who Fought It) and concludes:

I buy Key's awakening. The best evidence is his good decision to cite a passage from the Geneva Conventions in his book's epilogue: "Parties to the conflict shall at all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants . . . and direct their operations only against military objectives."
Iraq War veterans are telling us they haven't and can't. Maybe that account for the more than 9,000 desertions by members of the U.S. armed forces since Operation Iraqi Freedom began.
If Key has any friends left in Iraq, they might want to follow his lead the next time they're home. I'd grant them amnesty, if I were king. Haven't they all done more than should have been asked of them?


The Deserter's Tale will soon be joined on bookshelves with another book by a war resister. Camilo Mejia tells his story in Road from Ar Ramaid: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia -- which The New Press will release tomorrow.

It needs to be noted that The Progressive publishes once a month. The Nation publishes 'weekly' (excluding double issues) and have yet to review Key's book (part of their continued pattern of silence on the subject of war resisters). Possibly, running shockingly sexist slams on Sarah Chayes and Ann Jones doesn't allow much space to actually address books?

Mejia, as Courage to Resist reports, will join with war resisters Pablo Paredes, Agustin Aguayo and Robert Zabala for a speaking tour from May 9th through 17th in the San Francisco Bay Area. This will be Aguayo's first publicly speaking appearances since being released from the brig earlier this month (April 18th). The announced dates include:

Wednesday May 9 - Marin 7pm at College of Marin, Student Services Center, 835 College Ave, Kentfield. Featuring Agustin Aguayo, Pablo Paredes and David Solnit. Sponsored by Courage to Resist and Students for Social Responsibility.

Thursday May 10 - Sacramento Details TBA
Friday May 11 - Stockton 6pm at the Mexican Community Center, 609 S Lincoln St, Stockton. Featuring Agustin Aguayo.
Saturday May 12 - Monterey 7pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 490 Aguajito Rd, Carmel. Featuring Agustin Aguayo and Camilo Mejia. Sponsored by Veterans for Peace Chp. 69, Hartnell Students for Peace, Salinas Action League, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and Courage to Resist. More info: Kurt Brux 831-424-6447
Sunday May 13 - San Francisco 7pm at the Veterans War Memorial Bldg. (Room 223) , 401 Van Ness St, San Francisco. Featuring Agustin Aguayo, Camilo Mejia and Pablo Paredes. Sponsored by Courage to Resist, Veteran's for Peace Chp. 69 and SF Codepink.
Monday May 14 - Watsonville 7pm at the United Presbyterian Church, 112 E. Beach, Watsonville. Featuring Agustin Aguayo, Camilo Mejia, Pablo Paredes and Robert Zabala. Sponsored by the GI Rights Hotline & Draft Alternatives program of the Resource Center for Nonviolence (RCNV), Santa Cruz Peace Coalition, Watsonville Women's International League for Peace & Freedom (WILPF), Watsonville Brown Berets, Courage to Resist and Santa Cruz Veterans for Peace Chp. 11. More info: Bob Fitch 831-722-3311
Tuesday May 15 - Palo Alto 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church (Fellowship Hall), 1140 Cowper, Palo Alto. Featuring Camilo Mejia. Sponsored by Pennisula Peace and Justice Center. More info: Paul George 650-326-8837
Wednesday May 16 - Eureka 7pm at the Eureka Labor Temple, 840 E St. (@9th), Eureka. Featuring Camilo Mejia. More info: Becky Luening 707-826-9197Thursday May 17 - Oakland 4pm youth event and 7pm program at the Humanist Hall, 411 28th St, Oakland. Featuring Camilo Mejia, Pablo Paredes and the Alternatives to War through Education (A.W.E.) Youth Action Team. Sponsored by Veteran's for Peace Chp. 69, Courage to Resist, Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's (CCCO) and AWE Youth Action Team.

The are all part of a growing movement of war resistance within the military: Camilo Mejia,
Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Dean Walcott, Camilo Mejia, Linjamin Mull, Joshua Key, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Camilo Mejia, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Joshua Key, Mark Wilkerson, Camilo Mejia, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.

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. In addition, the documentary Sir! No Sir! traces the war resistance within the military during Vietnam and it will air at 9:00 pm (EST) on The Sundance Channel followed at 10:30 p.m. by The Ground Truth which examines the Iraq war and features Jimmy Massey and Iraq Veterans Against the War's Kelly Dougherty among others.


Staying on the topic of resistance, Rone Tempest (Los Angeles Times) reports on Sean O'Neill, Ronn Cantu, Mike Ergo, Jabbar Magruder and other California veterans speaking out against the illegal war who "are gaining a voice in opposition to American's continued military presence in Iraq. Recent antiwar demonstrations in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities have seen the first sizable contingents of veterans from the conflict." They are among the many members of Iraq Veterans Against the War which, Tempest notes, calls for: "the immediate withdrawal of all troops, improved treatment for soldiers upon their return and a national contribution to the reconstruction of postwar Iraq."

Meanwhile the fatalities continue to mount. CNN reports, "Fourteen U.S. soldiers and Marines were killed in Iraq during the past 72 hours, making April the sixth deadliest month of the Iraq war, according to the U.S. military." And the deadliest month for US service members this year with 104 fatalities (Jan: 83, Feb: 80; March: 81). Kim Gamel (AP) observes, "The killings of the Americans came as U.S. troops have been increasingly deployed on the streets of Baghdad and housed with Iraqi troops in joint security operations away from their heavily fortified bases, raising their vulnerability to attacks." Missy Comley Beattie (writing at CounterPunch) notes that the first 27 days of this month have seen the reported deaths of almost 1,400 Iraqis.

On Sunday, the British military announced: "It is with deep regret that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that a soldier from 2nd Battalion The Rifles (2 RIFLES) has been killed in a small arms fire attack whilst on a routine patrol in the Al Ashar district, east of central Basra at about 0930hrs this morning, Sunday 29 April 2007." This brought the total number of UK soldiers killed in the Iraq war since it began to 146. Michael Evans (Times of London) reports that 12 service members of the British Armed Forces have died this month which "makes this month the worst for fatalities since the campaign started."

Staying with England, Steven Morris (Guardian of London) reports that Corporal Donald Payne has become England's first "soldier ever to be convicted of a war crime [and] was jailed for a year and dismissed from the army." BBC notes that Payne pleaded guilty of abusing Iraqis in 2003. Peter Graff (Reuters) reports that the sentence is one year in jail (light for War Crimes) and that Payne is "the only British soldier punished in the case of Baha Musa, an Iraqi hotel receptionist who died after suffering 93 separate injuries from beatings while in British custody in 2003." In other legal news, CNN reports that "Lt. Col. William H. Steele, former commander of the U.S. Army's Camp Cropper, a detention facility for 'high-value' detainees, will face an Article 32 hearing Monday after being accused of 'aiding the enemy' by providing cell phones to Iraqi detainees." Monday is over in Baghdad (time difference). Karin Brulliard (Washington Post) reports: "Only the barest outlines of the case against Steele emerged in Monday's hearing, much of which was closed to reporters because it dealt with classified information. Steele, dark-haired and square-jawed, sat next to his two appointed attorneys with his hands clasped, listening attentively." Brulliard notes that the Article 32 hearing is expected to last two to three days. (The Article 32 hearing will determine whether or not the evidence is strong enough to warrant a court-martial.) Finally, AP reported yesterday on Sean J. Maxwell, who was sented Saturday to 10 months and will receive a bad conduct discharage for returing "some two weeks late from a scheduled break" and for punching "his first sergeant in the face and head with a closed fist after returning to Kuwait on Feb. 7".

Turning to today's violence in Iraq . . .

Bombings?

Dean Yates (Reuters) reports a Baghdad funeral today was the site of a bombing as a man blew himself and at least 32 other people up via "a vest packed with explosives" CBS and AP report: "Police said the bomber detonated his explosives about 6:30 p.m. inside a tent where people were mourning a 60-year-old man from a Shiite family in Khalis, a flashpoint Shiite enclave in Diyala province, where U.S.-Iraqi forces have seen fierce fighting with Sunni and Shiite militants." That appears to be the highest toll from a single bombing today; however, there were many other bombings in Iraq.

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 2 dead and 15 injured from a Baghdad car bombing when a "bomber drove his car inside a subway near Nisour square," a Baghdad roadside bombing ("near Talbiya bridge") that killed 1 person and left 4 wounded, a Baghdad car bombing (Al Baia neighborhood) killed 2 and left 8 wounded, and Baghdad mortar attacks that killed at least 6 and left over 20 wounded (four attacks plus one that set a house on fire with no known deaths or people injured). Reuters notes a tanker exploded in Ramadi that contained chlorine gas and 6 people died (10 wounded), a Mosul car bombing that killed 1 police officer (left two more wounded) and "At least five people were killed and 16 wounded by an accidental detonation whilst explosives and weapons were being moved on Sunday night in the southern city of Basra, British forces and Iraqi police said."

That comes to at least 50 dead in explosions today (50 reported -- check my math).


Shootings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports LC Alaa Mahmoud Mohamed (interior ministry officer) was shot dead in Baghdad as well as a car crash near Bald Rouz that took the lives of "two female students" as they were returning from Diyala university. Noted in this section because? They were being chased and fired on by unknown assailants. Reuters reports that two people were shot dead in Yusufiya.

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that 27 corpses were discovered in Baghdad and 2 in Al Khalis. Reuters notes that six corpses were discovered in Suwayra.


Turning to US political news, in the new issue of The Progressive (page 41, May 2007), Kate Clinton observes, re: energy crisis, "Perhaps we could harness the hot air blown from the Democrats on the topic of withdrawal. I'm told that under the proper pressure per square foot, chickensh*t makes a lovely high-octane reduction." Tom Englehardt (TomDispatch.com) outlines how the appropriations bill awaiting Bully Boy's signature or veto does not mean troops out of Iraq and the 'plan' would "remove only U.S. 'combat brigades,' adding up to perhaps half of all U.S. forces, with a giant al-Qaeda loophole for their return. None of this would deal with the heavily armed and fortified U.S. permanent bases in Iraq or the air war that would almost certainly escalate if only part of the American expeditionary forces were withdrawn (and the rest potentially left more vulnerable)." It should be noted that the non-binding, toothless measures also allows 'combat brigades' to remain, provided Bully Boy reclassifies them either (as Englehardt notes) as al-Qaeda fighters or as military police. Englehardt's introducing Jeremy Scahill's report. From Scahill's report:

The Democratic leadership in Congress is once again gearing up for a great sell-out on the Iraq war. While the wrangling over the $124 billion Iraq supplemental spending bill is being headlined in the media as a "show down" or "war" with the White House, it is hardly that. In plain terms, despite the impassioned sentiments of the anti-war electorate that brought the Democrats to power last November, the Congressional leadership has made clear its intentions to keep funding the Iraq occupation, even though Sen. Harry Reid has declared that "this war is lost."
[. . .]
Even if the President didn't veto their legislation, the Democrats' plan does almost nothing to address the second largest force in Iraq -- and it's not the British military. It's the estimated 126,000 private military "contractors" who will stay put there as long as Congress continues funding the war.
The 145,000 active duty U.S. forces are nearly matched by occupation personnel that currently come from companies like Blackwater USA and the former Halliburton subsidiary KBR, which enjoy close personal and political ties with the Bush administration. Until Congress reins in these massive corporate forces and the whopping federal funding that goes into their coffers, partially withdrawing U.S. troops may only set the stage for the increased use of private military companies (and their rent-a-guns) which stand to profit from any kind of privatized future "surge" in Iraq.


More on the topic of mercenaries in Iraq can be found in Scahill's new book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. Meanwhile, Kevin Zeese (CounterPunch) offers, "Thus far the Democrats are not doing enough to please their anti-war base. By failing to fulfill the mandate of voters who clearly want an end to the war, they risk losing their majority status in 2008. Why should they be trusted with more power if they do not use the power they have?"

AFP reports that US House Rep Jack Murtha has stated that if Bully Boy vetoes the bill, among the alternatives are funding the illegal war for only 2 months and not the year that Bully Boy has requested, and that Murtha stated, "If he vetoes this bill, he's cut off the money. . . . Obviously, we're going to pass another bill . . . it's going to have some stringent requirements." Erik Leaver (Foreign Policy in Focus) notes that while this goes on, "The reality is that the ongoing escalation causes massive bloodshed every day in Iraq. The construction of a walled city in Baghdad is meeting with considerable resistance among locals." Simon Assaf (Great Britain's Socialist Worker) addresses the reality of the walls, "US and Iraqi troops will only allow residents in and out of their neighborhoods through heavily guarded checkpoints. A military spokesman described the maze of walls planned for the Iraqi capital as 'gated communities. The US claims the walls are 'temporary' and are being built to end the cycle of sectarian violence that has plagued Iraq since the occupation began in 2003. Yet most of the sectarian death squads operating in the capital are members of the Iraqi army or ministry of interior troops controlled by the US-backed Badr Brigades militia."

And who is being backed by the US government? What are the tax dollars funding? Tom Hayden (Huffington Post via Common Dreams) continues to address these issues:

If there is a coming battle over "benchmarks," Democrats should focus attention on whether the U.S.-supported Baghdad regime is capable of progress on ending sectarian killings, torture, mass detentions and ethnic cleansing, or whether it an un-reformable American-assisted sectarian police state. It appears that the Democratic position is to continue funding thousands of American trainers after the withdrawal of most combat troops, a path that will integrate our government with a sectarian regime harboring torture, killing of civilians and ethnic cleansing in Iraq.
While it is true that all sides are committing human rights violations in Iraq, the U.S. government is funding and backing only one side, the side that is in power and responsible for policing, prisons, the judicial system, and the armed forces. There is no question that the U.S. is backing a sectarian state dominated by Shi'a and Kurdish parties. Perhaps 90 percent of the army is Shi'a, and the 7,700 members of the paramilitary "public order brigades" are all Shi'a. [The New York Times, Mar. 7, 2006]. In response to the CIA installing a Sunni as director of the Iraqi intelligence services, the Shi'a parties have established a massive, parallel and shadowy sectarian intelligence agency serving the state on their own.

Turning to media news. On Sunday, The Portland Press Herald editorialized that, "It is time to bring our troops home from Iraq. This stand represents a shift in the newspaper's editorial position." As Editor & Publisher rightly notes, despite the fact that the public overwhelming supports withdrawal, "few" newspapers "have actually come out and called for a U.S. withdrawal, slow or speedy, despite public support for such a position." Staying with media news, the May issue of The Progressive contains, as noted at the top, of review of war resister Joshua Key's book. In addition, Anne-Marie Cusac interviews Iraqi-Canadian Farah Nosh who, while still studying photography, traveled to Baghdad before the illegal war began and in the early months of the war. Cusac writes:

She repeatedly warns abou the turn toward fundamentalism in the formerly secular Iraq. Recently her mother visited the country for the first time in twenty-seven years. "She couldn't believe it when she got there -- just the depth of religious discipline," says Nosh, who then proceeds to describe the photos of her mother's late-1960s Iraqi wedding: an up-do, a push-up bra, and a short skirt.

Two of the article's four pages feature Farah Nosh's photos -- her relatives staring out the window at a checkpoint, Muaad Ibnayan Hadi who lost both his legs in an explosion, Duyar Sai Fehan who lost a leg and arm when his car was hit by a US military vehicle, Saif Yusif who lost a leg and "was injured by U.S. gunfire when he was twelve," and former Iraqi soldier Ali Yusif Karim who lost both legs from a bombing that took place while he was on patrol.
Farah Nosh has a website dsplaying many of her photos.

Finally, Wednesday, May 2nd at 6:30 pm in The Great Hall, Cooper Union (NYC), Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove will be presenting readings from their Voices of a People's History of the United States featuring music performed by Allison Moorer and Steve Earle and readings and vocal performances by Ally Sheedy, Brian Jones, Danny Glover, Deepa Fernandes, Erin Cherry, Harris Yulin, Kathleen Chalfant, Kerry Washington, Opal Alladin, Staceyann Chin and Stanley Tucci. Zinn and Arnove will provide both the introduction and the narration.

the common ills
the third estate sunday review
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
iraq
joshua key
camilo mejia
iraq veterans against the war
rone tempest
missy comley beattie
anthony arnovehoward zinn
ally sheedydanny gloverdeepa fernandes
Jeremy Scahill
tom hayden
the progressive
kate clinton,

Law and Disorder

Friday and, as usual, I'm running late. Partly because we ended up needing even more ice -- it's warm tonight. Usually we just need five bags for the Iraqi study group, but the ice was going fast so we ran out and got some more. I'm missing the start of it because I'm blogging right now. If I wait, I'll be tired and think of an excuse to skip noting Law and Disorder. I'll also miss Dad's music mix! :D He was talking at dinner about how he was dying to hear Jefferson Airplane's Crown of Creation and about a half a dozen other CDs. So, after the group, a lot of us will be banked out in the living room, listening to music.

This week's Law and Disorder featured Michael Smith, Michael Ratner and Dalia Hashad. Heidi Boghosian wasn't on. That's because, answering Mindy's question, they are practicing attorneys and they have cases and other things to work on. As long as Heidi's name is in the opening, she's with the show. (I like all the hosts, including Heidi but Mindy likes Heidi best and was wondering where she was?)

The Michaels opened the show with a segment where they just talked to each other and that was a nice opening. They covered a lot of things including the Pulitzers. I don't take those awards seriously (I doubt the Michaels do either) but, get this, the New York Daily News won for their reporting on the health hazards after 9-11 in NYC. But Juan Gonzalez (reporter for them and co-host of Democracy Now!) didn't get cited in the award. Juan Gonzalez covered this over and over for the paper and wrote a book about in 2002. The paper wasn't really thrilled he was covering it because it contradicted what Christy Todd Whitman and the administration was saying. So the Michaels pointed out that it really was disgraceful for the Pulitzer committee not to cite Juan Gonzalez when he was the reporter on this. Michael Smith talked about how his parrot got sick and how he ended up with esophagus problems himself and it was because (he couldn't swallow, that's why he went to the doctor) of all the health hazards and how the government was more concerned with opening back up Wall Street than it was in protecting the health of the citizens.

Michael Ratner had returned from Europe where he was working on the issues of torture and Guantanamo and a lot more. He and Michael Smith talked about what had been going on here while he was gone. C.I. noted this from Michael Ratner in Tuesday's "Iraq snapshot:"

Monday on WBAI's Law and Disorder, co-host Michael Smith asked co-host Michael Ratner what it was like to be returning to the United States right now from Germany and France and Ratner responded, "First thing you read, 157 people were killed in Iraq. This is after the so-called escalation -- 'surge' as they call it. Things certainly don't seem to be getting better and, in fact, I think what we may see happening in Iraq is something like the Tet Offensive at some point that will eventually drive the United States out militarily and that just the American people will finally say 'We've had it.' We see the Democrats screwing around a timetable in their legislation but not linking that really to any funding, just putting it in Bush claiming to veto it and realize that people are being slaughtered every day in Iraq."

That was from the conversation they were having at the beginning of the show. They talked about the Supreme Court's attack on women's rights, about the Virginia Tech shootings and about what was going on with "tyranny abroad, tyranny at home."

Michael Ratner noted that everyone was working on their own issues but "as long as we're atomized, we're not going to win." And that reminded me of two things. First, something C.I. wrote:

In the sixties, for those old enough to remember (and whose minds are not so baked that they can't), there was excitement if you were a part of the peace movement. That excitement translated to awareness of upcoming events and they were as much social as they were anything else. (I'm not referring to what happened at the podium, I'm referring to the fact that there were groups of friends you were going with and you were generally -- or my friends and myself -- frequently saying something to the effect of, "You're not going? Oh come, you have to be there. You have to.")
At that time, there was already concern of the atomistic age. Words influence and science influences. The belief of some was that we'd learn to split everything up (and sometimes study it) but hadn't yet learned how to put it all together. Many, including Anais Nin, saw hope in integrated circuits and believed that would allow for closer connections (societal, personal, on every level). Did it?

That was first up and that's because of "atomized." When C.I. wrote about "the atomistic age," I had to call and ask, "What are you talking about?" :D I'm laughing at me but I think people assume we're all on the same page when we may not be. C.I. explained that the atomistic age was referring to the Atom Age which was the creation (and use of on Japan) of nuclear weapons and how dissecting and other practices were teaching us to take things apart (the atom bomb works on splitting an atom) but the hope was that integrated circuits would teach us to stop splitting and put things together. Integrated circuits? Yeah, that was my second question! :D

Integrated circuits are what computers work on. They are these programming loops and charts that allow the computers to work -- "If . . . then" commands like if I press a "y" then a "y" appears on screen, etc.

So when Michael Ratner says "as long as we're atomized" what he means is as long as we're all working on our issues -- important ones -- and doing so in isolation, we're split up and not working together. Which brings us to the second thing, that makes me feel even more that Stanley Abromawitz was right when he was on the show and talking about the need for a national paper that would cover the issues and explain and introduce them to people. I agreed then that we needed one and I agree even more strongly now.

The Michaels spoke with David Borden of the Drug Reform Coordination Effort and addressed the 1998 Higher Education Act which denies loans to students that are convicted of drug possession, college loans. You can go into rehab to try to qualify again but that wipes out a minimum of one semester's time where you could be getting a student loan. There are no statistics on who's effected the most by race because the government doesn't release those statistics.

Before I get to the next section, I just remembered something. Mindy's favorite is Heidi and the pledge drive will be coming up soon (I'm not sure when). Heidi and Geoff Brady (the show's producer and I hope I got his name right) did a whole pledge drive by themselves and C.I. praises them for that. They apparently didn't even know that contributions were coming in -- no one was passing that on to them while they were on the microphone and they played some sections of the show but were largely winging it which is what they do during the pledge drive (everybody) but usually you're able to stop and say, "Thank you to __ from __ for donating" and that gives you a little more to talk about that and a lot less pressure. When Geoff and Heidi were doing it, they were doing it for like two hours and their pledge drive was almost over when they finally were told that donations had been coming in all along. Mindy'll like that story but if you don't get it, why it's worth noting, try to imagine you're on the radio for two hours fundraising and, as far as you know, not a single person has donated? You'd probably be freaking out and wondering, "Does anyone listen?" But C.I. says Heidi and Geoff just kept it going, "stayed loose and focused" and really did a great job (and raised money even though they didn't know that until the end). So Heidi wasn't on this week but there's a Heidi story for Mindy.

Dalia Hashad was on and she talked about how a new prison facility has opened on Guantanamo called Camp 6. Amnesty has "been monitoring. About 100 inmates have been transferred so far. I believe there are about 385 inmates left on Guantanamo." She talked about how it was built with high walls, no windows and the people are kept inside individual cells for 22 hours a day with only 2 hours of 'excercise.' She reminded everyone about David Hicks (they discussed him two or three weeks ago -- maybe longer -- the Australian who was held in Guantanamo until recently) and how he grew his hair real long just to have something to block out the lights because they keep the lights on at all times. It can get cold there and they don't adjust the thermostat but they do hand out thermals . . . which they take back as punishment.

This is from Karen J. Greenberg's "Can Guantanamo Be Closed?" and it addresses Guantanamo:

What a new president could do.
A surprising number of Americans of note are in agreement. Guantanamo should be closed. The New York Times and the human rights community have, of course, called for it to be shut down, but so has the new Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. So has President Bush. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has given indications that she seconds Bush's call. Senator John McCain has said he would close the prison immediately upon becoming president.
On the Democratic side, while John Edwards and Bill Richardson have both called for Guantanamo's closing, the larger field of Democratic candidates has remained curiously silent on the subject. Do they know something we don't? Admittedly, one Democratic Congressman, James Moran of Virginia, has mentioned the possibility of including funds to close Guantanamo in the 2008 Defense Appropriations Bill, but the leading Democratic presidential hopefuls have as yet said very little about Guantanamo.
Perhaps they sense the Pandora's box of conundrums that would be unleashed in any genuine attempt to shut the place down. It's easy enough - almost a no-brainer - to say you want to close Guantanamo. After all, along with those photos from Abu Ghraib, the now-infamous extra-legal detention facility in Cuba has made the American government globally synonymous with the revocation of international law, the disregard of U.S. law, and the torture and abuse of prisoners or, as the Bush administration prefers to call them, "unlawful enemy combatants."
Actually closing Gitmo, however, is another matter entirely. The hard part is fleshing out the next thought: How exactly would you go about it? As Secretary of State Rice said recently, "The president would close Guantánamo tomorrow if someone could answer the question: And what will you do with the dangerous people who are there?" Congressman John Murtha has made a similar point: Knowing how to shut down Guantanamo - given the set of nearly intractable legal knots the Bush administration has tied the prison complex and its detainees up in - is "not that easy."

Dalia pointed out that you're looking at 5 years imprisoned without a real trial for some of the 300 plus still at Guantanamo. Shane Kadidal of the Center for Constitutional Rights (which Michael Ratner is president of and which is an organization you should check out if you haven't already) joined them to discuss the issue. And the show ended with a woman I don't know performing one of my favorite songs: White Stripes' "Seven Army Nation." That's it for me tonight. I've got to go join the group. Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Friday, April 27, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, another prisoner in Iraq dies in US custody, the death of 3 US service members are announced, Riverbend and her family decide it's time to leave Iraq, students continue their activism in the US, and more.

Starting with war resisters, Richard Brown (KXLY) profiles war resister Ryan Johnson who self-checked out in 2005 and went to Canada with his wife Jenny to seek asylum. Johnson states, "I decided that I didn't want to participate in what I preceived to be an illegal war. I have no problem serving my country. I love the United States. That's where I grew up, that's my home, that's where my family is." Death of the party Lizzie Knudson shows up to puff out her chest and strut like any macho b.s. artist while expressing her hate and rage by declaring that she hopes he's thrown in prison for life and that she knows people who have died in Iraq. Pass that rage on over to the Bully Boy, Lizzie, Ryan Johnson didn't send anyone into an illegal war to die. Had Brown spent less time offering Lizzie's rants, he might have been able to provide some actual information (and it would have pleased War Hawk Liz). He could have, for instance, noted that the Johnsons share a home in Canada with
Kyle Snyder and Maleah Friesen. The latter are now married. Of course their planned February wedding got put on hold when Canadian police -- taking orders from the US military -- showed up at the home to drag Snyder away in handcuffs (and in his boxers -- wouldn't even let him get dressed) with the intent to start immediate deportation on Snyder. That's a story that would have tickled War Hawk Lizzie even if it has Canadians outraged (whether they support war resisters or not) because (a) war resistance is not a deportable offense and (b) the Canadian police is not supposed to take orders from a foreign government. The US media continues its silence on that event and also avoids noting that US military crossed over into Canada on a search for war resister Joshua Key. Brown does note, "In the last seven years, nearly 22,500 member of the United States military have gone AWOL or deserted and every year the numbers rise."

And as the numbers rise, more and more go public and speak out. As Courage to Resist reports war resisters Camilo Mejia, Pablo Paredes, Agustin Aguayo and Robert Zabala will be speking out from May 9th through 17th in the San Francisco Bay Area. This will be Aguayo's first publicly speaking appearances since being released from the brig earlier this month (April 18th). The announced dates include:

Wednesday May 9 - Marin 7pm at College of Marin, Student Services Center, 835 College Ave, Kentfield. Featuring Agustin Aguayo, Pablo Paredes and David Solnit. Sponsored by Courage to Resist and Students for Social Responsibility.

Thursday May 10 - Sacramento Details TBA
Friday May 11 - Stockton 6pm at the Mexican Community Center, 609 S Lincoln St, Stockton. Featuring Agustin Aguayo.
Saturday May 12 - Monterey 7pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 490 Aguajito Rd, Carmel. Featuring Agustin Aguayo and Camilo Mejia. Sponsored by Veterans for Peace Chp. 69, Hartnell Students for Peace, Salinas Action League, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and Courage to Resist. More info: Kurt Brux 831-424-6447
Sunday May 13 - San Francisco 7pm at the Veterans War Memorial Bldg. (Room 223) , 401 Van Ness St, San Francisco. Featuring Agustin Aguayo, Camilo Mejia and Pablo Paredes. Sponsored by Courage to Resist, Veteran's for Peace Chp. 69 and SF Codepink.
Monday May 14 - Watsonville 7pm at the United Presbyterian Church, 112 E. Beach, Watsonville. Featuring Agustin Aguayo, Camilo Mejia, Pablo Paredes and Robert Zabala. Sponsored by the GI Rights Hotline & Draft Alternatives program of the Resource Center for Nonviolence (RCNV), Santa Cruz Peace Coalition, Watsonville Women's International League for Peace & Freedom (WILPF), Watsonville Brown Berets, Courage to Resist and Santa Cruz Veterans for Peace Chp. 11. More info: Bob Fitch 831-722-3311
Tuesday May 15 - Palo Alto 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church (Fellowship Hall), 1140 Cowper, Palo Alto. Featuring Camilo Mejia. Sponsored by Pennisula Peace and Justice Center. More info: Paul George 650-326-8837
Wednesday May 16 - Eureka 7pm at the Eureka Labor Temple, 840 E St. (@9th), Eureka. Featuring Camilo Mejia. More info: Becky Luening 707-826-9197Thursday May 17 - Oakland 4pm youth event and 7pm program at the Humanist Hall, 411 28th St, Oakland. Featuring Camilo Mejia, Pablo Paredes and the Alternatives to War through Education (A.W.E.) Youth Action Team. Sponsored by Veteran's for Peace Chp. 69, Courage to Resist, Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's (CCCO) and AWE Youth Action Team.

The are all part of a growing movement of war resistance within the military: Camilo Mejia,
Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Dean Walcott, Camilo Mejia, Linjamin Mull, Joshua Key, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Camilo Mejia, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Joshua Key, Mark Wilkerson, Camilo Mejia, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.

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. In addition, the documentary Sir! No Sir! traces the war resistance within the military during Vietnam and it will air at 9:00 pm (EST) on The Sundance Channel followed at 10:30 p.m. by The Ground Truth which examines the Iraq war and features Jimmy Massey and Iraq Veterans Against the War's Kelly Dougherty among others.


From the topic of courage, we turn to craven -- taking us to the halls of Congress. As Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted today, "The Senate has voted provide nearly one hundred billion dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while setting a non-binding timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.". Non-bidning timetable remains one of the most left out aspects of the measure. Also usually left out is that Bully Boy can reclassify those serving in Iraq (as "military police," for example) and avoid the pleas for withdrawals. (Pleas because "calls" is too strong for what is now headed to the White House for a signature.) Marilyn Bechtel (People's Weekly World) reminds that "the Congressional Research Service said that nearly half the $94 billion earmarked in the supplemental for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan would really be used for non-urgent items like sending an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf, and funding a U.S.-established Arabic-language TV station. The CRS report also pointed out that the Pentagon has funds available to continue the war until June or July." The sense of urgency being pushed by both major parties is as much smoke and mirrors as what left Congress. Bill Van Auken (World Socialist Web) tackles the realities, noting, "While media reports on the Congressional legislation routinely refers to it as a plan for the withdrawal of US troops from occupied Iraq and ending the war, the language of the bill makes clear that what is involved is a tactical 'redeployment' that would leave tens of thousands of US soldiers and marines in Iraq for years to come. . . . The bill includes a provision for keeping US armed forces in Iraq for three purposes: 'protecting United States and coalition personnel and infrastructure; training and equipping Iraqi forces and conducting targeted counter-terrorism operation.' This language would essentially allow the occupation and war to continue indefinitely, with US troops deployed to protect a massive new embassy being constructed in Baghdad to house a virtual colonial government and to guard 'American citizens' sent by the oil companies to reap massive profits off of Iraq's oil fields."

Yes, the topic of oil. In the supposed illegal war that had nothing to do with oil. The New York Times editorial board pimped the privatization of oil this week as did War Pornographer Michael Gordon today where he noted, "American officials" were "pressing" the passage of the law and that it's apparently so important that even General David H. Petraeus has to stick his nose in (apparently commanding the US military in Iraq allows him much free time) to share that "he considered passage of the oil law, which would distribute revenues from oil production among Iraq's regions, a priority among the so-called benchmark items that the Americans would like to see become law." It does redistribute the monies -- redistributes them right out of Iraq and into the pockets of Big Oil which, under the proposed legislation, would receive over 70% of the profits in some cases.

In Iraq, Riverbend (Baghdad Burning) reports that her family has decided to leave Iraq which, despite the Operation Happy Talk operatives, never achieved 'liberation' or 'democracy' (but then those were never the Bully Boy's intended aims. Noting the issue of the very unpopular wall in Baghdad, Riverbend writes: "It's a wall that is intended to separate and isolate what is now considered the largest 'Sunni' area in Baghdad - let no one say the Americans are not building anything. According to plans the Iraqi puppets and Americans cooked up, it will 'protects' A'adhamiya, a residential/mercantile area that the current Iraqi government and their death squads couldn't empty of Sunnis. . . . The Wall is the latest effort to further break Iraqi society apart. Promoting and supporting civil war isn't enough, apparently - Iraqis have generally proven to be more tenacisiou and tolerant than their mullahs, ayatollahs, and Vichy leaders. It's time for America to physically divide and conquer - like Berlin before the wall came down or Palestine today. This way, they can continue chasing Sunnis out of 'Shia areas' and Shia out of 'Sunni areas'."


Bombings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad mortar attack that wounded 2, a Baghdad roadside bomb that killed 1 and left 1 wounded, a Kirkuk bombing that killed 4 police officers and left 5 more wounded, a Kirkuk roadside bomb that killed 1 person and left 3 wounded,

Shootings?

Reuters reports three people were shot dead in Mussayab and a "human rights activist was shot dead by gunmen near his home, 70 km (45 miles) southwest of Kirkuk".

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 7 corpses discovered in Baghdad. and 3 corpses discovered in Kirkuk.

In addition, Reuters reports that a prisoner at the US military operated prison Camp Bucca died "after he was apparently assaulted by other prisoners." As Damien Cave (New York Times) noted this morning of the US military controlled Camp Cropper, "Several detainees there have died mysteriously in the past year, with the most recent death occurring April 4. The causes of death for these detainees are rarely divulged." The US military reports the figure of prisoners who have died in US custody in Iraq to be six "in the past year."

In other time lag news, AP reports that the British helicopter crash in May of 2006 that resulted in the death of five British soldiers resulted from being "shot down by a surface-to-air missile, using a man-portable air defense system, fired from the ground." The US helicopters that crashed this year? Still under investigation.

Also today, the US military announced: "Three Marines assigned to Multi National Force West died April 26 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar Province." Al Anbar Province is the region that, as Anna Badkhen (San Francisco Chronicle) noted, Michael Gordon's man crush, General David Petraeus hailed as an area of progress, a "breathtaking" area of progress. Julian E. Barnes (Los Angeles Times), reporting on Petraeus' testimony to Congress Thursday, notes Petraues' claim to be "forthright" in September when it's time to evaluate the ongong escalation. The claim was all the more laughable considering that this was the week Congress took testimony on the lies the military spread about Pat Tilman's death in Afghanistan and Jessica Lynch testified to the lies told about her service in Iraq by the US military. The escalation is generally stated as having begun in February (the latest wave of the eternal crackdown), The idea that a judgement on it cannot be rendered until September goes unquestioned although few in the US are aware of jobs that come with an eight month probationary period.
On Wednesday, the US military announced: "A Soldier assigned to Multi-National Corps, Iraq, died April 24, 2007 in a non-combat related incident." Today, (AP) reports that the soldier was Jeremy Maresh (24-years-old) and quotes Lt. Col. Chris Cleaver stating he "died from an apparent suicide." To be clear, there have been other deaths that were ruled suicides by the US military and families have strongly disagreed with the ruling.

US troops will leave Iraq. No matter how long Congress sits on its collective and ass and does nothing, US troops will leave. What happens then? Phyllis Bennis and Robert Jensen (CounterPunch) address this issue: "The first step is, of course, crucial. When 78 percent of the Iraqi people oppose the presence of U.S. troops and 61 percent support attacks on those troops, it's clear that our presence in the country is causing -- not preventing -- much of the violence. Pulling out U.S. troops (including the 100,000-plus mercenaries who back the U.S. military) won't eliminate all Iraqi-on-Iraqi violence, but it will remove the reasons many Iraqis are fighting. The would take away the protective umbrella that the widely supported anti-occupation violence currently gives the real terrorists -- those engaged in killing civilians for
political or sectarian reasons. Once U.S. forces are gone and the reason for the legitmate resistance to foreign occupation is eliminated, the ugly terrorist violence will be exposed for what it is and it will be possible for Iraqis themselves to isolate the terrorists and eliminate them as a fighting force. But what comes after a U.S. withdrawal? We clearly owe the Iraqi people massive reparations for the devastation our illegal invasion has brought. Only in the United States is that illegality questioned; in the rest of the world it's understood. Equally obvious around the world is that the decision to launch an aggressive war was rooted in the desire to expand U.S. military power in the strategically crucial-oil-rich region, and that as a result the war fails every test of moral legitimacy."

In news of student activism in the US, Justin Horwath (Minnesota Daily) reports on Monday's meeting at the University of Minnesota's Coffman Union where students who had formed a new chapter of SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) met with members gathered to organize and heard Dave Biking speak of what SDS had accomplished during the 60s (when Bicking was a member). Howarth notes that today's SDS "has 148 university chapters and 58 high school chapters nationwide." Kyle Johnson tells Howarth, "SDS gives us the legitimacy to work on other issues, but the war is the No. 1 issue nationally, period." Erika Zurawski states that the new chapter is about "the issues of the day" and that "[t]here's a lot of issues to work on."

Meanwhile, Arnie Passman (Berkeley Daily Planet) traces the history and popularization of the peace symbol noting, "In its Golden Jubilee year (right behind last 9/11's 100th anniversary of Gandhi creating the pledge of satyagraha--soul force), the peace symbol has weathered numerous wars -- and the best marketing opportunities money can buy. Facing today's horrors of Asian wars, increased nuclear disfunction, global warming, racial injustice, the irreversible military-industrial complex?. . ., it still calls from great city protests and hamlets to all Earth's colors and creeds for nonviolent resistance (peace marches between the 7 or 8 Gandhi statues--from Boston to San Francisco?) and civil disobedience (sit-ins at the largest defense contracting congressional districts?). And all from the mind of one person that deep '50s, dead winter day in grimy ol' London Town--and the pioneering march through the English countryside to mad western science's Aldermaston." Gerlad Holtom was the designer of the peace symbol.


Finally, Wednesday, May 2nd at 6:30 pm in The Great Hall, Cooper Union (NYC), Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove will be presenting readings from their Voices of a People's History of the United States featuring music performed by Allison Moorer and Steve Earle and readings and vocal performances by Ally Sheedy, Brian Jones, Danny Glover, Deepa Fernandes, Erin Cherry, Harris Yulin, Kathleen Chalfant, Kerry Washington, Opal Alladin, Staceyann Chin and Stanley Tucci. Zinn and Arnove will provide both the introduction and the narration.


mikey likes it
the common ills
law and disorder
michael ratner
wbai
michael smith
heidi boghosian
dalia hashad
iraq
joshua key
camilo mejiademocracy now
amy goodman
anthony arnovehoward zinn
ally sheedydanny gloverdeepa fernandes
the new york timesdamien cave
michael gordon
sir! no sir!