Third, Dave Lindorff

Monday, Monday. We, Elaine and me, were at the Culture Project to see Rebel Voices (a play that's based on Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove's best-selling book Voices of a People's History of the United States). It was really great. I don't think Elaine's going to write about it tonight because she's pretty bummed about a death.

I don't know, or didn't know, Victor Rabinowitz but knowing how Elaine and C.I.'s reaction, I'm guessing he was a really special guy. I know of his law partner because I've heard about him and read about him. And I'm sure I've heard about him on Law and Disorder because Leonard Boudin's grandson Chesea has been on the show.

Let me do The Third Estate Sunday Review:

"Truest statement of the week" -- This is Studs Terkel. He was the pick. There were other nominees but he really did have an incredible thing last week.

"A Note to Our Readers" -- Jim breaks down the edition. I'll comment on some stuff he writes as I go along.

"Editorial: The state of resistance" -- Picking Elaine and C.I.'s brains for features. :D Rebecca goes, "Don't ask me! I can't remember what I had lunch for yesterday!" :D Her memory's not that bad. But Elaine and C.I. remember everything. It is scary. Especially for me because sometimes when Elaine and I have a disagreement, I'll say, "That's not what I said." She'll say, "Oh, yes it is." :D I'll back down. But we picked their brains about resistance actions during Vietnam for two features and this was one. IVAW is doing a Winter Soldiers' Investigation. There was one during Vietnam. That was one in Detroit and we've all wondered why? A while back, in a roundtable in January, C.I. made the point, "It's past time that there was something akin to the Winter Soldiers for this war. Get a venue in NYC or near it. Nowhere else because most of the media, including indymedia, is based there. Set up hearings. You will get coverage. It may not be the kind of coverage you want -- Fox 'News' will trash you, for instance -- but you will get coverage, provided you go to NYC. " I hope DC works out. It is a media center. The big ones are DC, NYC and Los Angeles. The problem with California is the time change. It's three hours behind the East Coast. But when Detroit would come up, we'd always wonder why Detroit? We asked during this editorial and Wally and I were thinking it was because Detroit was firmly against the war. C.I. said no, it had to do with a link up to Canada via TV. That was pretty cool and I didn't know that and would never have guessed it. Elaine's got a footnote to the editorial. Why? We were outlining main points before we started writing it and one of the points we had was about using your voices and using them loudly. Elaine goes, "Like calling out the nonsense spin about the refugees returning to Iraq." We were all in agreement because that's one of those things that C.I. hit hard on and hit hard on over and over. The media was either repeating it (most of them) are ignoring it. No one was calling it out. Elaine goes that she's not going to participate unless that's noted. C.I. tried to bargain to get it just in Jim's note (after C.I. couldn't talk Elaine out of her demand). Finally, C.I. said, "Fine, a footnote. Will you accept a footnote?" :D But, like Jim says, that wasn't the end of it. Because we were going to NYC, we had to get up earlier than usual so we bailed on some of the drafts (we participated in everything but Ava and C.I.'s piece but only in first drafts for some). Right when we were getting ready to hang up (Rebecca was going to go to bed as well because she didn't think she could stay up without Elaine and me to keep her focused), C.I. goes, "What time are you leaving for New York?" I didn't think anything of it. So ten minutes before we're supposed to get up, my cell's going off and I'm reaching for it but Elaine has it first. She looks at the number, says, "Hello. Thanks for calling. No, the footnote's not being pulled." :D It was C.I. Elaine wakes up slow and you can usually talk her into anything during the first 15 minutes. She knew when C.I. asked that question why it was being asked. :D C.I. thought, "I'll wake her up before the alarm goes off, she'll still be foggy and agree." :D Elaine was ready for it. That's the "post-editorial story" Jim mentioned I could tell in his note.


"TV: I want my ... I want my Zen TV (or not)" -- Ava and C.I. Yes, to e-mailers, they are on the fence about writing these right now. Most of their friends are saying, "Of course you have to. You're not on strike." But they do have a few friends (some of whom are on strike) saying that they shouldn't write about TV programs due to the strike. C.I. has never broken a strike and is asking everyone, "Is this breaking a strike?" Most people say no. I don't know that they'll continue to write these during the strike. I know it's really bothering them both. The strike is writers for TV and they are on strike because, among other things, networks are making money showing programs online and the writers would get paid if it was on TV or if it was a DVD sold or stuff. But the networks are saying they don't have to pay if it's online. If you've ever watched online, you know you have to watch a commercial. That's how the networks make money. But they don't want to share any of that with the writers. You may get TV commentaries the whole time because a lot of people (including some on strike) are telling C.I. and Ava, "You are not on strike. You are writing for a website. You are not paid. This is silly, don't worry about it." But they are wrestling with it. This is a really strong TV piece by the way. Be sure to read it because it's hard hitting and funny.

"Mailbag" -- This was a fun mailbag. Betty does a great job explaining the FCC, by the way. Tony goes, "Elaine says you sleep together!" I go, "What am I? Chuck?" Meaning NBC's Chuck. But yeah, she does allude to that. She's very private so I don't talk about our relationship here. But that was Tony's big take away: "She's gone public!" :D By the way, Chuck tonight? Amazing!!! I am hooked on that show. Now it turns out that Bryce, Chuck's buddy from college, isn't dead. That was the ending. And that's bad because? Chuck's in love with Bryce's ex-girlfriend and she's in love with Chuck. The audience knows she's in love with him but Chuck doesn't. Or didn't until tonight's major kissing when they couldn't defuse a bomb and both thought they were going to die in ten seconds. He starts apologizing to her because they're about to die and she just grabs his face and starts kissing her and he gets into it and it takes a while before they realize the bomb didn't go off. :D I'm hooked on that show.

"Rolling Stone needs a Weather Person" -- I love this piece.

"Bad now, bad before" -- This is the other piece we were picking Elaine and C.I.'s brains for. What was going on in November 1970? They started off with a few things. Then they started remembering and they had a 100 things. We went with the ones that we thought weren't known. That's Detroit passing a referendrum against the war. The use of 'terrorist' label to silence a group of people in Canada. The Nixon thing. That was so cool. I didn't know about that. Jane Fonda gets busted for vitamins in Cleveland after midnight and even though it's after midnight they're calling DC government to tell 'em they've stopped her and get input. Why? She was on an enemies list. So that's a pretty cool feature if you ask me.

"Dear Sasha" -- This is a feature about KPFA.

"Programming Guide" -- This is just stuff you can catch this week.

"In light of the Canadian Supreme Court's refusal t..." -- This provides you with a link or a form you can print out to let Canada know that you want them to welcome war resisters.

'"Fred Kaplan falls off his pony" (C.I.)' -- a repost of C.I.'s hilarious rebuttal to Fred Kaplan. This is great.

"Highlights" -- Kat, Betty, Rebecca, Elaine, Wally, Cedric and me wrote this.

Along with Dallas, here's who worked on the edition:

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

Dave Lindorff always hits hard and he's got a piece at CounterPunch called "Democrats in Future Shock" that just lays it out perfectly. This is from the opening:

For Congressional Democrats, the train has already left the station--and they're not on board.
A year after the election that gave them control of both houses of Congress, they are exposed as a feckless bunch of frauds posing as an opposition.
As long ago as last January, when the US death toll in Iraq was almost 1000 lower, and the civilian death toll in Iraq was over a hundred thousand lower, they could have brought an end to the conflict by simply refusing to approve any more money for the war.
Instead, they approved administration requests for several hundred billion dollars for expanding the number of troops from 140,000 to a current level of nearly 173,000-a post- invasion record.
They could have brought administration assaults on the Constitution to a screeching halt by initiating impeachment hearings against the president, the vice president, or against both of these criminal usurpers. Instead, the House leadership threatened anyone who might file impeachment bills with various punishments, reportedly ranging from loss of committee chairmanships to loss of access to Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee funding.
In the perverse "logic" of Democratic Party leaders, this do-nothing strategy was designed to bring Democrats a historic victory in 2008, when American voters, angry about the quagmire in Iraq, and disgusted with eight years of Republican misrule, would supposedly hand Democrats the presidency and health majorities in both houses of Congress.
But the American public is not that stupid. With Bush and Cheney leaving, they won't buy a campaign based on running against those two disasters.

Be sure to read the whole thing. This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Monday, November 19, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, another contractor shooting takes place in Iraq, Operation Happy Talk offers another wave, a defender of war resisters has passed away and more.

Starting with war resistance. Last Thursday the Canadian Supreme Court refused to hear the appeals of US war resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey, Aaron Glantz (reporting for IPS) quotes war resister Ryan Johnson explaining, "The Canadian government decided not to fight an illegal war. Canada was going to go into the war in Iraq, but then decided that because the U.N. did not sanction it, Canada would not participate in the war in Iraq. That's a major reason that I came to Canada. Canada felt the same way I did about the war in Iraq." Thomas Walkom (Toronto Star) observed that, "If Canada's federal government had the inclination to face down Washington just a bit, both men -- who almost certainly qualify for permanent resident status –would be welcomed, not as refugees but as landed immigrants. That's how Canada treated U.S. draft dodgers and deserters from the Vietnam War. And it worked out fine." Meanwhile war resister Brad McCall has started his own website. McCall went to Canada after he learned of abuses in Iraq from returning US soldiers. When attempting to enter Canada, he was stopped at the border and arrested. He is in Canada now and is speaking out.

Turning to the topic of Iraq War resister Ehren Watada who saw a court victory two weeks ago, Marilyn Bechtel (People's Weekly World) observes, "Judge Settle's response marked a rare civilian intervention into military court proceedings. Settel, who served as a military lawyer in the 1970s, was recently appointed to the federal bench by President Bush. Though Watada's term of mililtary service officially ended last December, the Army has not release him. He is now performing administrative duties at Fort Lewis, Wash." Settle is US District Court Judge Benjamin Settle. Ben Terrall (Dissident Voice) notes that the preliminary injuction issued by Settle resulted in a gathering in San Francisco's Chinatown and quotes Ying Lee of the Watada Support Group declaring, "At the time that we called the news conference we did not know that the judge was going to give his decision yesterday." Lee went on, "The decision was due by today, so he was early (…) we are very appreciative of a United States Federal judge respecting the constitution and saying the trial cannot proceed." Ben Hamamoto (Nichi Bei Times) also covers the San Francisco support rally and

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.


The voice of war resister Camilo Mejia is featured in Rebel Voices -- playing now through December 16th at Culture Project and based on Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove's best-selling book Voices of a People's History of the United States. It features dramatic readings of historical voices such as war resister Mejia, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, Malcom X and others will be featured. Zinn will take part in the November 18th presentation (the official opening night -- but performances are already taking place) and musician Allison Mooerer will head the permanent cast while those confirmed to be performing on selected nights are Ally Sheedy (actress and poet, best known for films such as High Art, The Breakfast Club, Maid to Order, the two Short Circuit films, St. Elmo's Fire, War Games, and, along with Nicky Katt, has good buzz on the forthcoming Harold), Eve Ensler who wrote the theater classic The Vagina Monologues (no, it's not too soon to call that a classic), actor David Strathaim (L.A. Confidential, The Firm, Bob Roberts, Dolores Claiborne and The Bourne Ultimatum), actor and playwright Wallace Shawn (The Princess Bride, Clueless -- film and TV series, Gregory and Chicken Little), actress Lili Taylor (Dogfight, Shortcuts, Say Anything, Household Saints, I Shot Andy Warhol, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, State of Mind) and actor, director and activist Danny Glover (The Color Purple, Beloved, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Rainmaker, Places In The Heart, Dreamgirls, Shooter and who recently appeared on Democracy Now! addressing the US militarization of Africa) The directors are Will Pomerantz and Rob Urbinati with Urbinati collaborating with Zinn and Arnove on the play. Tickets are $21 for previews and $41 for regular performances (beginning with the Nov. 18th opening night). The theater is located at 55 Mercer Street and tickets can be purchased there, over the phone (212-352-3101) or online here and here. More information can be found at Culture Project.

Meanwhile IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC event:

In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan

The plan had been to fold the above into a summary; however, e-mails really want it included in each snapshot in full so, despite saying that we'd fold into the snapshot via a summary, it will instead run in full in each snapshot until their next announcement on the Winter Soldier Investigation at which point we'll run that one in each snapshot.

Turning to Iraq. McClatchy's Hussein Kadhim noted Saturday, "Today , Sahwa ( Awaking ) council members in Hour Rijab in Doura found 30 unidentified dead bodies in a deserted house in the area which were transferred to A Shiite mosque first then to Doura police station. - Police found ( 4 ) unidentified dead bodies in the following neighborhoods in Baghdad : ( 2 ) two were found in west Baghdad ( Karkh bank ) ; 1 in Doura and 1 in Amil. While ( 2 ) bodies were found in east Baghdad ( Risafa bank ) 1 in Sadr city and Suleikh." On Sunday, China's Xinhau reported the second attack in two weeks on officials with Iraq's Finance Ministry when the vice-finance minister's convoy was attacking in Baghdad with a roadside bomb that claimed the lives of 5 civilians and left nine more wounded as well as wounding one of the vice-finance minister Salman Mgotar's bodyguards. In Baghdad. It's important to repeat that: "In Baghdad." The reason it's important is that it's time to for the press to make like Moondoggie, grab their boogie boards and ride the latest wave of Operation Happy Talk. First to paddle out, Cara Buckley and War Pornographer Michael R. Gordon (New York Times) explaining that US military flacks are saying violent attacks are down while then noting "But since the source for the data is American military reports, and not the Iraqi government, the figures do not provie an exhaustive measure of sectarian violence." While spitting out the press releases they're fed, the two refuse to acknowledge that had the 'security' so 'improved' they'd be able to travel in and out of the Green Zone without either the paper's team of black-shirted bodygaurds or a military escort. For the record, they cannot. To cover their own butts (Gordo's got a lot to cover), they tack on: "Even as military officials announced the figures, Iraq had one of its deadliest days in weeks, with at least 22 people killed." Apparently having paddled out too far from shore to hear that warning call, Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) so desperate to stay ahead of the curl, she misses that basic point in a report she files this morning ignoring the violence to tell readers that the worst is over. Save it for after the pig roasting lua, Tina, when it's time to for a group sing-along to "Morning Has Broken."

Susman does find the time to mention what AP reported this morning, that Iraq's Olympic soccer team is minus three members and an assistant coach -- all of whom are now "seeking asylum in Australia" after vanishing "at dawn Sunday from the home of colleagues in Australia, where they were staying after playing Australia's Olympic team." Olympic defectors? It's all very cold war.


Meanwhile tensions continue between northern Iraq and Turkey with Turkish troops still massed on the northern border. At issue, the PKK, part of a Kurdish separatist movement and identified by the European Union, the United States and others as a 'terrorist' organization. They've had safe haven in northern Iraq where the Kurds reign. Today the KRG (Kurdistan Regional Government) decided to do something. It's not anything that defuses the situation but maybe their act today -- like so many other topics -- it will just go unreported? Shamal Aqrawi and Aseel Kami (Reuters) report that the KRG is banning "journalists from travelling to Kurdish rebel bases, officials said on Monday, accusing the media of aggravating the crisis with Turkey." Was it the media that kidnapped 8 Turkish soldiers? (No, it wasn't.) This latest attack on the press comes as the Independent of London reports that oveer 200 journalists have been killed in the Iraq War making it "the deadliest by far for the media trying to cover it," and notes the lack of investigations into the murders of journalists which allows "impunity for the killers from the Shia or Sunni militant groups or government run death squads." Before you try to determine whether the US military is Sunni or Shia, it's quickly noted that "about 15 reporters have been killed by US troops". Left unstated is that there were no real investigations there either. Chapter ten of Amy Goodman and David Goodman's The Exception to the Rulers ("KIlling the Messengers") documents some of the killings early in the illegal war including the attack on the Palestine Hotel -- you can also see Danny Schechter's amazing documentary Weapons of Mass Deception for more on the hotel attack including interviews with survivors. Meanwhile Reporters Without Borders notes the release of journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi who was kidnapped in Baghdad November 16th and released today of Al-Bagdadiyah. However, AP photographer Bilal Hussein remains held by the US military. Nineteen months after being taken into custody, he has still not received a trial. Bilal Hussein has been a prisoner since April 12, 2006. Free Bilal is an online petition calling for his release.

On Sunday Reuters reported: "An Iraqi provincial governor accused U.S. troops of opening fire on civilian cars south of Baghdad on Sunday, wounding six people, and threatened to suspend ties with U.S. officials over the 'brutal' attack." Bobby Caina Calvan and Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) report that the US Embassy and the US military issued a joint-statement yesterday apologizing for the incident and stating that 2 Iraqis were killed in the attack and four wounded while Muthanna province govenor Ahmed Marzook al-Salal is demanding that the victims and families be compensated. These are not the only innocent Iraqis to have been killed of late. On Saturday, Cara Buckley (New York Times) covered the ongoing response to the US air and ground assault that resulted in killing members of US collaborators Awakening Council with the council maintaining that "four dozen" of their members were killed. This was followed on Sunday with Maher Nazeh and Ross Colvin (Reuters) reporting that despite the US military's continued, "an American militray official" has confirmed to them that this did indeed happen and states, "There was some confusion and we were not able to turn off the attack quickly enough." Before anyone thinks only US forces are killing, Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reported on Saturday, "Saturday afternoon, gunmen executed five civilians in front of the public in Mosul Al-Jadeda (New Mosul ) west of the city .

Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) notes a Baghdad roadside bombing this morning claimed 1 life and left seven more people wounded, another Baghdad roadside bombing wounded two more people, a third Baghdad roadside bombing wounded three people, a Bagdad car bombing left five wounded, a Biji car bombing wounded five people and a Basra missile attack claimed the lives of 6 members of one family ("five of them are children") and left two more wounded.

Shootings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports, "Around 3.15 p.m., An Italian security company which works with communication in Iraq opened fire randomly injuring one woman and two other men in Karrada neighborhood (downtown Baghdad), a source from Baghdad security plan operation said." BBC reports that 33 people have been arrested by Iraqi forces and that 2 of the arrested are American who were security contractors while some of the other 31 include people who were being escorted by the company. Cara Buckley (New. York Times) reports it is 21 arrested and only 1 is a contractor -- he is American and eye witness accounts have him shooting an 18-year-old Iraqi female in the leg as she was crossing a street. On Saturday, Scott Shane (New York Times) filed a fluff report on brothers Cookie and Buzzy -- Howard "Cookie" Krongard being the inspector general for the State Department who has repeatedly provided cover for the mercenary company Blackwater, Buzzy being his brother who serves on the advisory board. If you waded through the fluff, you learned Buzzy had announced Friday he was quitting the advisory board. For those who have forgotten, last week Cookie testified to Congress and repeatedly asserted that his brother was not working for Blackwater. He was confronted with e-mail exchanges and other documentation. Only after he took a break did he admit that brother Buzzy was serving on the advisory board. He stated he had called his brother on the break and just learned that information. Deep in Shane's Saturday report, Buzzy says he told Cookie he was serving on the advisory board "a few weeks ago." Which would mean no phone call was needed in the middle of Cookie's appearence before Congress last week. (US) ABC News reports that the September 16th slaughter of Iraqis by Blackwater is now the subject of a US grand jury investigation.

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) notes 3 corpses were discovered in Baghdad, 1 corpse was discovered in the Tigris River and 4 corpses were discovered in Samarra. Reuters notes that Sunday 2 corpses were discovered in Suwayra, a three-year-old child's corpse was discovered in Kut, 1 corpse was discovered in Iskandariya and 1 in Latifiya.

Turning to activism. Today Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) explored the ongoing actions in the Port of Olympia:

AMY GOODMAN: More than four hundred antiwar demonstrators marched through Olympia, Washington Saturday to protest the war in Iraq and police brutality aimed at demonstrators in the past two weeks. Police beat back and repeatedly used pepper spray on peaceful protesters who were trying to stop military shipments to and from Iraq in the port of Olympia. At least 66 people have been arrested, 150 others badly injured since the protests began November 7th. On Saturday, demonstrators used non-violent direct action to block military equipment for 17 hours, forced a convoy back into the port.
Olympia Port Militarization Resistance is a group that was formed in 2006 by community peace activists. They wanted to "end their participation in the illegal occupation of Iraq by stopping the military use of the port of Olympia." Phan Nguyen as a member of Olympia Port Militarization Resistance, works as a IT specialist. He was arrested after participating in the non-violent protest in the port of Olympia in November 2006 and the port of Tacoma in March of 2007. Phan Nguyen joins us now from Seattle, Washington. We welcome you to Democracy Now!. Tell us what you have been doing in your group in the port of Olympia.
PHAN NGUYEN: Thanks Amy. What we have been doing is -- this has started since May 2006, in which the community has responded to the military's use of our port as pretty much a revolving door for war operations in Iraq. They have been using the port to ship striker vehicles to and from Iraq through the port of Olympia. And we decided enough is enough. We are not going to stand for it; we are not going to tolerated it. We have the power to do something about it, and, you know, we are just going to implement it. That is what the Port Militarization Resistance, or PMR is all about. It is about the local residents taking action and understanding that there are so many ways to challenge war, to challenge war and occupation. And we are going to explore every single way and we are going to get it done.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, the latest action in this last two weeks, first, what is a striker vehicle? Explain what that does. Now that wasn't going to Iraq but coming from Iraq, going over to Ft. Lewis, is that right?
PHAN NGUYEN: That is correct. These are striker vehicles from 3rd brigade, 3rd striker brigade, the second combat infantry division. They had actually left Olympia in May of 2006. And when they had left -- on their way out, we had actually blockaded them because we did not want to send them to Iraq. There were being sent in advance of the third striker brigade soldiers being sent to Iraq. And we were hoping by stopping the striker vehicles from reaching Iraq, we would prevent the deployment of the third brigade soldiers. Now the 3rd brigade has since returned, minus 48 soldiers who were killed in Iraq. And who knows how many Iraqis were killed as a result of 3rd brigade's deployment.
Now that they returned, their equipment is returning as well. And we are saying, no, we don't want the equipment to be returned only to be fixed and shipped back to Iraq for further use. It needs to end now. And we understand that the road to Iraq goes through the port of Olympia. And at that point, we decided we're going to block it again. This time, we are going to contain the vehicles, keep them from being sent to Ft. Lewis, keep it from being used again. And that is what we started doing a couple of weeks ago when this all began, when the ship arrived on Monday November 5th.
And so, what we ended up doing was creating blockades. We, as you had mentioned, we reclaimed our own port for 17 hours on November 9 and again on November 13. This is our port and we're going to take control of it. We started -- we actually were able to stop military shipments coming out of the port, while allowing civilian shipments to leave and or enter the port. As well on November 13th, there was a really powerful women's solidarity action in which 39 women were arrested, blockading the port, showing solidarity with the women of Iraq and showing their own strong solidarity this is the community in action. Other communities can follow our lead and do the same thing. We understand that it is possible and it just was far more successful beyond what we could have envisioned as long as you know that you can do this, as long as you know it is possible, then it is all yours. This is our community.

In other activism news, Marianne Mork and Ramy Khalil (Socialist Alternative) report on Friday's student actions:

"I've been angry for many, many years about our administration and so have lots of youth. I'm really frustrated, for one, because I can't vote for President or legislators, but I can make a stand for what I believe in." - Amy Englesberg, 17 year-old high school senior (Bellingham Herald)In Seattle on November 16, over 500 students took a bold stand against the war in Iraq and military recruitment in schools. Students from over 30 high schools and nearly 10 universities and colleges walked out of classes at noon and converged at Westlake Center for a mass rally and march.The Seattle walkout was part of a national student walkout on November 16 called by Youth Against War and Racism (YAWR) and a coalition of antiwar organizations in coordination with the national Iraq Moratorium protests. Socialist Alternative also played a major role in organizing these walkouts. Students organized walkouts in at least 8 cities or counties: Brattleboro (Vermont), Boston, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Whatcom County, and Lewis County.The Seattle walkout drew students from numerous towns and suburbs: Shoreline, Everett, Kenmore, Redmond, Kirkland, Bellevue, Issaquah, Renton, Bremerton, Bellingham, Anacortes, and Belfair.In Minneapolis/St. Paul, 700-900 students organized a walkout. According to "The Olympian," 300-400 students from South Puget Sound Community College and Capital high schools organized a walkout in Olympia. The "Bellingham Herald" reported that around 100 Ferndale and Windward high school students walked out of classes and marched through Bellingham. On November 15, Tacoma high school students and Socialist Alternative organized a walkout of nearly 100 students.

The reporters note that adults also participated in the actions and that it was the YAWR 2005 walkout that inspired Ehren Watada "to refuse to fight in Iraq".

Finally, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted today, "And the civil rights attorney Victor Rabinowitz has died at the age of 96. In 1937 he helped found the National Lawyers Guild. He was a longtime law partner with Leonard Boudin." Rabinowitz wife, Joanne Grant Rabinowitz, passed away two years ago (January 2005). In his Unrepentant Leftist: A Lawyer's Memoir, Rabinowitz listed his contribution to preserving the NLG as one of the things he was proudest of in his professional life. In addition to being a founder, he was also president of the NLG from 1967-1970. With Joanne Grant Rabinowitz (married 1965 until her death in 2005), he had two children: Mark and Abby; and he had two children from his first marriage: Peter and Joni. Among Rabinowitz' many professional accomplishments were his work with war resisters during Vietnam, his lifelong advocacy of the Constitution (even when administrations and Congress seemed estranged from the Bill of Rights) and forcing professional cocktail circuit embellisher Hendrik Hertzberg to issue what we'll term a "corrective" to a 1985 smear against the NLG. In addition to the many cases he argued himself and with partners, Rabinowitz also filed amicus curiae briefs on cases, such as New York Times Co. v. United States, where he was not counsel but the issues involved were too important to stand on the sidelines.

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iraq
jeremy hinzmanbrandon hughey
ehren watadamarilyn bechtelmarianne morkramy khalilben terrell
ben hamamoto
democracy nowamy goodman
blackwater usa
anthony arnovehoward zinn
the new york times
michael gordonscott shanecara buckleyaaron glantz
mcclatchy newspapers

Redacted, Dave Lindorff

The weekend at last! :D First off, get your butts off the couch to go see Redacted. Jim and I saw it in NYC today. Wally's already seen it and loves it. He saw it with Ty and Dona at a film festival. I don't know that C.I. saw it then (I'm pretty sure that's not the case), but C.I. has seen it and says it's one of the best of the year and that it's got Oscar buzz so it should be nominated this year. I thought I was going up there today to speak but Jim and I were sent off to the see the film. How come? I'll get to it but it is really an amazing film. If you're tired of the crap that keeps coming onto the screens and want to see something that really and truly matters, that something that grabs you, go see this film. You can find out if it's coming to your area at the Redacted website. (Texas community members, next Friday it opens in Dallas and Houston. C.I.'s going to note it next Friday for the Texas community members.)

So why did Jim and I go to the movies? Jim's on this trip for a number of reasons (speaking with Ava and C.I.) including that tonight he was having Thanksgiving dinner with his dad. Last week, Jess was here because he was speaking with Ava and C.I. Now once upon a time Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava all lived in New York. So they weren't far from me. And we had these big plans about doing this or that and going to see this ball game or that ball game. Then they moved out to the West coast (where they live now with C.I.) and we never did anything. Seriously. We did a World Can't Wait thing in NYC. That's pretty much it. We did rallies in DC and stuff like that. But Jess was here last week and we (Tony, Tony's dad and my dad and me) gave him the Boston after hours tour. It was a lot of fun and all but we were talking about how we always TALKED but never DID anything when we were a whole lot closer. I mean, we've seen the Giants play several times. We've done that together when we were all out in California at C.I.'s in the summer over the years. But we really didn't do anything. Last month, while Jess, Ava, C.I. and Kat were here we went to a Tori Amos concert (that was great!) but we do stuff like that now. When we were physically closer we'd always talk and all but never do.

So when I got picked up at the airport today, C.I. goes, "You're going to see Redacted with Jim." I was like, "I thought I was joining to speak!" But I guess I whined and whined about never doing any of the stuff we'd talked about. :D So Rebecca, Ruth and Flyboy (who flew us in, thank you to Flyboy) went off to speak and Jim and I saw the movie and then just hung out. It was a cool day. Jim stayed in NYC because of doing the Thanksgiving thing with his dad tonight (he grabbed it with his mother earlier in the week) and the rest of us flew back here. I was feeling kind of guilty and asked Elaine to make sure I hadn't pissed somebody off. I was like, "Wow, how bad was I speaking last time that I'm being sent off to the movies today." :D Elaine goes, "It's important to have memories. It's all the things that Rebecca, C.I. and I did back in college that really provides the bonds for our friendships to this day." So this was just a way to hang with Jim today, have some fun and see an important movie.

Wally usually spends several weeks here during the summer so we've got lots of memories built and stuff. But when I started blogging, you had C.I. and Kat out in California (but C.I. was usually on the road), you had Betty in Georgia, Wally in Florida, Cedric in the middle of the country, Jim, Dona, Jess, Ty and Ava in NY, me out here and Rebecca just a ferry ride away and Elaine in the general area. (Elaine and Cedric do not give out their location online. I don't blame them. I always wonder if it's because of the threatening right-wing e-mail Betty gets. She started her site after C.I., Third and Rebecca and she gave out her location -- more specific than I'm doing here. Which made threatening e-mails all the more frightening. Folding Star did A Winding Road before Betty started her site and FS has said that Betty probably would have gotten less threatening mail or less scary ones if she hadn't given out her location. FS shut down A Winding Road in the summer of 2005. I keep the site on my blogroll because it was a community site. FS deleted it when it got shut down but someone else claimed it and tried to do a post or two like they were FS.) So I would always think, "Yeah, most of us are out here on the East Coast." Then Third moved out to California and BOOM we were the minority on the East Coast. And even though Jim, Jess, Ty and me were always talking about how we'd go to a game or do this or that, we never did. I think we took it for granted that we'd all be out here and there was always stuff to do and the one time we did get serious about it I'm the one who had to bail four days before. But now that they're on the other side of the country, I really do see them more than I did when they were so close. That's not just from visiting during the summer but also because they usually stop here on their way back and hang out on Friday. That's mainly because of Rebecca's baby, by the way. I had an e-mail asking about that. Someone huffing that so much fuel is wasted blah, blah, blah. C.I.'s on the road every week and Dona plans it so that Thursday is close to here if not here and that way C.I. can see Rebecca's baby and hang out here. But all her life, Rebecca wanted a baby and she had a really bad time having one. Rebecca's been there for C.I.'s kids and stuff and Rebecca having a baby is a big deal and the baby is a big deal. So it's a way for C.I. to spend a little time.

And C.I., Elaine and Rebecca are really tight. They were best friends in college. And that goes back to sharing stuff and doing stuff together. C.I. always says that besides needing to be friends for each other, there's going to be another illegal war on down the line and we'll need to step up then. ("Because I probably will be long dead by then," C.I. always adds.)

Let me cheat and do my links the way Kat does. :D I've talked about:

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

Barry Bonds played for the San Francisco Giants until September of this year. Dave Zirin has an article on the latest called "The Indictment of Barry Bonds:"

Barry Lamar Bonds faces thirty years in prison because the Department of Justice is a corroded husk of political decay. The baseball Home Run King has now been officially indicted on perjury and obstruction of justice charges and it only took three years and millions of tax dollars to make it happen.
The DOJ's entire case hinges on the ridiculous question of whether Bonds "knowingly" was on the juice, or lied on the witness stand when he said he took such substances "unknowingly." The actual indictment parses in language that would shame a Clinton. It reads, "During the criminal investigation, evidence was obtained including positive tests for the presence of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing substances for Bonds and other athletes."
This is idiocy raised to the level of law. It makes me wonder what they're teaching at Jesus-land Legal Academy these days. Did Bonds actually test positive for steroids or were pharmaceuticals only found in these mysterious un-indicted "other athletes"? And what is a "performance enhancer"? That's not even a legal or medical term; it's sports radio shorthand. The cortisone shot into Curt Schilling ankle in the 2005 playoffs was a performance enhancer. The Viagra coursing through Bob Dole's veins is a performance enhancer. Whatever keeps that smile glued to Laura Bush's face is a performance enhancer. It's a colloquial phrase tells us nothing. It only raises the question whether the indictment was written by Mike or the Mad Dog.
Most of the media has focused on the prison release of Bonds' trainer and childhood friend Greg Anderson. Anderson has spent the last four months in jail for refusing to testify against his friend. The press is atwitter with speculation that Anderson may have finally turned. But his attorney Mark Geragos says that this is absolutely and unequivocally notthe case.

If you think about it, more time has been wasted on this nonsense than anything else. There's no proof Bonds used anything illegal but the sports world (and larger press) hasn't been able to shut up about it for years. Bonds has had no medical emergency. He hasn't been busted. So for the Justice Department to have wasted so much of our money for so many years on this nonsense is just crazy. It's a way to get in the news and look like you're doing something.

But they're not doing anything. Even if tomorrow Bonds said, "I've used illegal steroids" (I don't think he has), it still wouldn't justify all the money and time wasted on this. You've got actual crimes that have taken place. They remain unsolved. So everytime we see another mainstream report on Bonds that's not about what he's done on the field, we should all think, "What are they trying to distract us from now?"

That's all this has been, a distraction and a witchhunt. Okay, that's it for me tonight. Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Friday, November 16, 2007. Chaos and violence contine, the war resistance movement continues, Congress accomplishes nothing (but does get a vacation), Brian De Palma's film Redacted opens in select cities, and more.

Starting with war resistance. Canada's War Resisters Support Campaign. staged rallies across Canada yesterday in support of Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey whose appeal the Supreme Court refused to hear. Tracy Huffman and Debra Black (Toronto Star) report that Hinzman was at a rally in Toronto but not making public statements, instead letting Jeffry House (Hinzman, Hughey and many other war resisters in Canada's attorney) speak, "He's disappointed. He's tired of talking." John Ward (Canadian Press via London Free Press) dexplains that the focus will now be on the country's federal government and quotes House stating "the focus now turns to a political solution" and Canadian Friends Service Committee's Jane Orion Smith stating the legislature can "create a provision for them to stay." Kari Huus (MSNBC) cites Lee Zaslofsky of the War Resisters Support Campaign explaining, "What we need is for the (Liberal) party as a whole to take a stance on this. Together (the three parties) have a majority, and if they act together they can put something through the House of Commons." The Liberal Party currently has 96 seats in the House of Commons, the New Democratic Party has 30 seats. Those two bring the total to 126 which is the number of seats the Conservative Party holds. Bloc Quebecois holds 49 seats and 3 seats are held by the Independents (four seats are vacant). CKNW (AM 980) quotes Vancouver organizer Bog Ages explaining that the Bloc Quebecois and New Democratic Party members are on board and "we have a number of Liberal MP's who said they would support us. So, all we have to do, we'd like the Liberal Party as a whole to take a stand. But even if they're split, enough of them, that combined with the other parties, they have a majority, potentially, in Parliament, to change the law." The New Democratic Party cites the poll where 64.4 percent of Ontarians believe the war resisters should be allowed to remain in Canada, notes that NDP Citizenship and Immigration Critic Olivia Chow is introducing a motion to call for hearings on the issue and quotes her declaring, "To deport courageous war resisters who oppose the illegal invasion of Iraq is saying Yes to George W. Bush's war and No to supporting and protecting people seeking peace."


In the US, Tom Hayden declared, "I hope that the Canadian people stop the Bush Administration from using the Harper government to hound a handful of war resisters and erase Canada's proud heritage as a haven for resisters and refugees." Rebecca (Sex and Politics and Attitude and Screed) also lamented the events in Canada (and compared Prime Minister Stephen Harper to adult acne): "if i was even slightly right about what canada once was, i know the people can still stand up and force their government to stand with them. but they better do so quick. if they want to see how it looks when they don't, just take a gander southward. we're becoming the text book example of a failed state."

In July of 2004, Democracy Now! spoke with Jeremy Hinzman:AMY GOODMAN: It's good to have you with us. Can you talk about how you made your decision?
JEREMY HINZMAN: Pretty much what it came down to was-- I mean, I won't go into the false pretences and everything that we know about, but being in an illegal war, it would be being complicit and a criminal enterprise, and you may say that, oh, well, you're not a policymaker or a general or whatever, that the Nuremberg principles wouldn't apply to you. But in light of what's happened since Abu Ghraib, when they scapegoated like the lower enlisted soldiers for simply carrying out what the policy was from the upper echelons, I think it's pretty fair to say that we made the right decision. Because I was in the infantry and there is a good chance that I would have-- I would have been pretty active in a negative way. And so I'm-- that's why we came here pretty much is that I wasn't-- I don't want to shoot people. I would have been happy to go to Iraq as a port-a-potty janitor or operation human shield. I just don't want to shoot people.

Goodman spoke with Hinzman again on October 15, 2004 and also participating in the interview were Jeffry House and Brandon Hughey:
AMY GOODMAN: Brandon Hughey, why did you go into the military?
BRANDON HUGHEY: My story basically starts off almost the same way. I enlisted when I was 17 years old with basically the promise of a way to better my life financially. Again, it is a way to get a college education without amassing thousands of dollars of debt.
AMY GOODMAN: Where did you grow up?
BRANDON HUGHEY: I grew up in San Angelo, Texas. So, also when I signed the contract, I wasn't naive to the fact that I could be deployed to fight in a war, but I did have this image growing up that I would be sort of -- a good guy, if you will, and fighting for just causes and fighting to defend my country, and after I got out of basic training, and when I realized that basically the U.S. had attacked a country that was no threat to them, in an act of aggression, it shattered that myth, I guess you could say.
AMY GOODMAN: How old were you when you signed up?
BRANDON HUGHEY: I was 17.


At the rallies for Hinzman and Hughey, among those attending were war resisters from the Vietnam era and war resisters from today's illegal war. Huffman and Black note Kimberly Rivera -- Iraq veteran, mother of two -- spoke at one rally: "I strongly believe we are doing the wrong thing in Iraq." Rivera went on to explain that, while serving in Iraq, when she looked "at the shaken crying Iraqi children" she was reminded "of her own daughter in Texas.": John Ward notes war resister Tim Richard attending one rally and wondering, "Why is it legal for me (to stay), because my father was born in New Brunswick, and not legal for somebody else who did the exact same thing?"

Meanwhile war resister Rodney Watson has gone public. Suzanne Fournier (The Province) notes the 29-year-old, African-American, Iraq veteran self-checked out a year ago and now lives in Canada and quotes him stating, "I I realized the war had nothing to do with 9/11 or helping Iraqis or stopping terrorists. It's all about guarding oil for the U.S. , , , I'd rather do my time in jail than be a party to the racism I saw in Iraq. As an African-American, I grew up with racism. But in Iraq, I saw the same kind of abuse and mistreatment, only this was U.S. enlisted soldiers and American contractors, like security forces, abusing Iraqis."

Tom Regan (NPR News Blog) points out the difference between this week's court action (or inaction) and last week's. While Hugey and Hinzman were not allowed to seek out a legal remendy by the Canadian Supreme Court, last week US District Judge Benjmain Settle ruled in Ehren Watada's favor, "The judge says the military court is ignoring Watada's constitutional right not to face double jeopardy after his first court-martial ended in a mistrial.
The injunction means Watada has a better chance of winning his case, but it also means he might not get a chance to test his central argument -- that the Iraq war is illegal -- in court."
Noting the Watada ruling yesterday, NPR's Martin Kaste (All Things Considered) covered the story and Kenneth Kagan, Watada's civilian attorney along with James Lobsenz, explained the double-jeopardy issue (the February court-martial ended in a mistrial over defense objection) was something many courts grasp: "Civilians courts understand that, state courts understand that but for some reason military courts weren't acknowledging that reality."

Another reality that some (the press) has a hard time acknowledging is the number of service members electing to check out of the military on their own. AP reports that this year the desertion rate has jumped to "the highest rate since 1980, with the number of Army deserters this year showing an 80 percent increase" since the start of the illegal war. AP continues to deny reality by offering the claim that the US military does little to track down those who go AWOL or desert -- despite the mountain of public evidence to the contrary.
As to the figure cited, September 21st, Nick Watt (ABC's Nighline) examined war resisters and noted the number of people being processed for desertion at Fort Knox "jumped 60% last year" (to 1,414 for Fort Knox -- US military figures) while concluding his report with, "If the total for the first six months of 2007 doubles by year end, it will become the highest annual total in twenty-six years." At 80% the total has more than doubled and not only is there another full month left in the year, it's also true that you have to be gone at least 30 days to be declared a deserter (unless you're Agustin Aguayo and the military wants to screw you over) and, in addition, the military figures have been 'lower' than they should be before (NPR caught that earlier this year) and the rolls aren't up to date for AWOL let alone desertion.


There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.


The voice of war resister Camilo Mejia is featured in Rebel Voices -- playing now through December 16th at Culture Project and based on Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove's best-selling book Voices of a People's History of the United States. It features dramatic readings of historical voices such as war resister Mejia, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, Malcom X and others will be featured. Zinn will take part in the November 18th presentation (the official opening night -- but performances are already taking place) and musician Allison Mooerer will head the permanent cast while those confirmed to be performing on selected nights are Ally Sheedy (actress and poet, best known for films such as High Art, The Breakfast Club, Maid to Order, the two Short Circuit films, St. Elmo's Fire, War Games, and, along with Nicky Katt, has good buzz on the forthcoming Harold), Eve Ensler who wrote the theater classic The Vagina Monologues (no, it's not too soon to call that a classic), actor David Strathaim (L.A. Confidential, The Firm, Bob Roberts, Dolores Claiborne and The Bourne Ultimatum), actor and playwright Wallace Shawn (The Princess Bride, Clueless -- film and TV series, Gregory and Chicken Little), actress Lili Taylor (Dogfight, Shortcuts, Say Anything, Household Saints, I Shot Andy Warhol, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, State of Mind) and actor, director and activist Danny Glover (The Color Purple, Beloved, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Rainmaker, Places In The Heart, Dreamgirls, Shooter and who appeared on Democracy Now! Friday addressing the US militarization of Africa) The directors are Will Pomerantz and Rob Urbinati with Urbinati collaborating with Zinn and Arnove on the play. Tickets are $21 for previews and $41 for regular performances (beginning with the Nov. 18th opening night). The theater is located at 55 Mercer Street and tickets can be purchased there, over the phone (212-352-3101) or online here and here. More information can be found at Culture Project.

Meanwhile IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC event:

In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan

Starting next week, IVAW's announcement above will be summarized in each snapshot until the March testimony begins. Winter Soldier is the documentary that was made of the 1971 investigation and it is available via Vietnam Veterans Against the War for $28.95 (four dollars of that is for shipping). Staying with films for a minute more, Brian De Palma's Redacted opens today in select cities and, although fiction, is inspired by real life events -- specifically the gang-rape and murder of 14-year-old Abeer Qassim Hamza and the murder of her five-year-old sister and both parents.Opening Today:
11/16/2007 Berkeley, CA: Shattuck Cinemas Los Angeles, CA: The Landmark Palo Alto, CA: Aquarius 2 Pasadena, CA: Laemmle's One Colorado Cinemas San Francisco, CA: Embarcadero Center Cinema Santa Ana, CA: South Coast Village 3 West Hollywood, CA: Sunset 5 Washington, DC: E Street Cinema Chicago, IL: Landmark's Century Centre Cinema Cambridge, MA: Kendall Square Cinema New York, NY: Sunshine Cinema New York, NY: Lincoln Plaza Philadelphia, PA: Ritz at the Bourse



Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad bombing claimed 1 life and left four more wounded, a Baquba mortar attack left six people wounded, while 2 Baquba bombings left three civilians and four police officers wounded.

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that an Iraqi 1st Lieuntenant and his brother were shot dead in Misan while en route to their home today and yesterday "5 civilians were injured in a random fire by the Iraqi army in Al Siniyah town north west of Tikrit city."

Kidnappings?

Reuters reports Muntazer al-Zaidi, a 26-year-old journalist for Iraqi television, was kidnapped in Baghdad today.

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 4 corpses were discovered in Baghdad.


As the violence continues the US State Department has had a public relations nightmare with diplomats not filling posts and threats from the chain of command that they would be ordered to Baghdad. This morning Karen DeYoung (Washington Post) reported that an announcement would be coming today "that volunteers have filled all 48 open jobs at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad for next year and that it will not order any foreign service officers to work there against their will, officials said yesterday." NPR's Morning Edition reported earlier today that the positions had been filled; however, Reuters -- citing a State Department flack -- reports that it may -- may -- be unnecessay to order some diplomats to Baghdad and quotes Sean McCormack insisting, "It appears that we are getting very nearly to the point where we will have volunteers for all of the open, identified jobs."

As Reuters notes, some objecting to be assigned to Baghdad have compared it to a death sentence. This as DPA reports that the Turkish military has been moving tanks to the northern border of Iraq. Gareth Jones (Reuters) reports that some members of Turkey's ruling political party have stated Turkish troops will not enter Iraq if the PKK disarmed. Since they really aren't able to make that promise and since the PKK would be highly unlikely to disarm under such a vague offer, the tensions continue between northern Iraq and Turkey.

Turning to the US Congress, the Democratic shell-game (Let's tell the voters this is a withdrawal!) passed in the House but didn't come to a vote today in the Senate. Noam M. Levey (Los Angeles Times) reports the measure garnered only 53 votes of support and that Congress is now expected to leave DC for their two-week Thanksgiving vacation. For those attempting to keep track, Congress just took a 30-day vacation in September but apparently carving a turkey takes several days when you're in the US Congress. Possibly the lack of spines makes the standing difficult? Pelosi pushed through the measure in the House and many in the Out of Iraq caucus held their news and voted to support it -- even though it did not mean withdrawal and even though it would have given Bully Boy $50 billion more dollars for the illegal war. Earlier this week, Democratic Senator Russ Feingold went on record opposing the measure because it continued funding the Iraq War and was toothless and non-binding. Toothless and non-binding? In "Don't Ask Her to Play Hostess" news Corporate Crime Reporter's Russell Mokhiber (via CounterPunch) shares the latest social tidbit from US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, "I'm not happy when people come to my house." Oh. So that's why she entertained the Dalai Lama at the MCI Center in 2005. And those of us in her district just assumed the location was another reward to her corporate donors. Actually, it's Fancy Nancy having another public fit over the fact that CODEPINK potests. She loved CODEPINK . . . when they called out the powerful . . . back when Republicans controlled everything. Now that Democrats control both houses in the US Congress and CODEPINK stays true to their purpose of calling out the powerful, Fancy Nancy has a snit fit. Repeatedly. Fancy Nancy declares of CODEPINK, "And if they think the longer they stay there the better the chances they will have a meeting with me -- I think I've disabused them of that notion." No, all she's done is demonstrate that from Richard Nixon through PW Botha on up to the Bully Boy and a hop and skip over to Fancy Nancy the bunker mentality thrives. CODEPINK is nation wide with chapters all over but many in the Bay Area see it as the "home team" so, when you're already tanking in the polls, with your highest negatives and your lowest approval ratings ever, it's probably not a good idea to go after them or present yourself an advocate against free speech. Fancy Nancy's a Maryland transplant (that never really took) so possibly she's unaware where the Free Speech Movement began? The eighth district's own Joe Lieberman appears eager to continue digging her own grave.

Finally, Robert Parry was a guest on CounterSpin today where he explained his article "Why We Write" (Consortium News) and spoke of the immediate positive effects during and following Watergate that quickly fell away and how the US press became what it is today. He and his sons Nat and Sam will be speaking at Busboys and Poets in Arlingtion, Virginia Saturday Nov. 17th from four p.m. to six p.m. discussing their new book Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush. Sam and Nat Parry have established their own journalist skills at Consortium News and they and Robert Parry can discuss any of the topics pertaining to the current administration but remember that Robert Parry has been doing investigative journalism for years -- long enough to have had neocon Daniel Pipes insult his reporting long, long before the Iraq War -- a sure sign his investigations cause discomfort.

the common illslike maria said paz
kats kornersex and politics and screeds and attitude
the daily jotcedrics big mixmikey likes it
thomas friedman is a great man
the third estate sunday review
iraqand the war drags ondonovanjeremy hinzmanbrandon hugheyehren watadademocracy nowamy goodman
martin kastenprall things considerediraq veterans against the war
redactedbrian de palma
the washington post
karen deyoung
anthony arnovehoward zinn
robert parry

PBS' NOW and talking music & the war with Ruth

One day until the weekend. Are we all counting down?

Elaine usually notes NOW with David Brancaccio which airs on PBS Friday nights. She didn't have anything on it last night. Or she would have noted it. C.I. didn't have anything when the snapshot was being dictated but when we did the roundtable for the gina & krista round-robin tonight, C.I. told me I had a forward on it. So here's what's on tomorrow night:

VOCA
As millions of homeowners face foreclosure, NOW investigates sleazy tactics of mortgage lenders.
NOW #346
On Friday, November 16 at 8:30 pm (check local listings), NOW travels to North Minneapolis to investigate the mortgage meltdown that's left the city scarred with boarded-up and abandoned houses. What's happened in communities like this one has investors everywhere shaken. Wall Street firms are stumbling and markets around the globe are reeling. Economists worry the mortgage bust may even lead to a recession. By one estimate, investors could eventually see as much as 400 billion dollars go down the drain - losses almost twice as big as the saving & loan crisis of the early 1990s. NOW connects the dots to see the extent to which recklessness, corruption and greed created this subprime mess that now threatens to undermine our entire economy. David Brancaccio talks to Rep. Keith Ellison, who grew up in North Minneapolis and who has pushed legislation to address the crisis. He also talks to Ameriquest whistleblower Mark Bomchill, who explains the competitive "boiler room" culture that encouraged brokers to aggressively push mortgage products they knew clients would be unable to repay.
NOW Online (www.pbs.org/now) will feature this show for free streaming starting Monday morning, as well as useful tips for homeowners worried about foreclosure.

So foreclosures is the topic tomorrow night. A long with doing the roundtable tonight, I also had time to do an interview today. Ruth has been doing reports for The Common Ills since at least the spring of 2005. Last month, she started her own site Ruth's Report. This is my interview with her.

Do you want to start with why we waited?

Ruth: Well I was not sure how well I would be handle it and told you my fear was the interview would be done, go up and I would be announcing a few days later, "I am so sorry but I just do not have the time."

And you feel more confident now?

Ruth: I feel I can handle it, how about that?

Okay. Fair enough. :D Let's talk about what you're doing there and how it's different.

Ruth: Like Wally and Cedric, I am doing more of a "jot" than a a post or an entry. It is a short item. Basically, it is radio but I will grab something on PBS depending upon what else is going on. Let me plug PBS' Expose'. That is a half-hour, weekly show about investigative journalism. It takes a look at how investigative reports are broken and their impact when published. Community member Marci recommended it. In addition to airing in most TV markets, the program also streams online.

My mother really loved that show.

Ruth: I know. Marci deserves the credit because I was not even aware of the program. I am recommending to everyone that they view it at least once to see if they enjoy it. I think most community members will.

The response?

Ruth: Well, members in the Dallas - Fort Worth area are enjoying it. I do not know their local PBS channel but it airs on Friday nights there and they are so glad about that. There was a program that Eddie described in an e-mail as "an open mouthed kiss to big business" and now they are getting this instead on Friday nights. Billie is another member from that area that's written to say they are watching it now. Diane and her family are watching as well. Diane says it works better than the CEO program they have been airing because you end up with a real news focus including it along with Bill Moyers Journal and NOW with David Brancaccio.

Bill Moyers Journal you've mentioned at your site too and I believe that came about from a member as well.

Ruth: That's correct. Marshall is where Mr. Moyers is from and we do have members not just in that area but also in Marshall itself. Mark from Marshall asked me to include it on my links.

Did we go there when we were all in Texas back in March?

Ruth: We passed it going from Tyler to Longview.

What was the place with the oil museum?

Ruth: Kilgore.

So in terms of the state itself, they are all in the same region. East Texas, right?

Ruth: Correct. I think Texas gets a lot of bad associations due to the Bully Boy --

Who wasn't born there!

Ruth: Who wasn't born there, correct. But Texas has also given the country Molly Ivins, Mr. Moyers, Janis Joplin, Don Henley, Farrah Fawcett and many others.

Janis alone is more than enough. Wayne and Garth would say, "We are not worthy!" :D

Ruth: I caught that reference. Remember I have a lot of grandchildren. I am wondering how you are aware of Janis Joplin?

With my parents, especially my father, I couldn't not be aware. :D He loves, loves, love music. What's your favorite Janis song? I think I'd pick "Call On Me."

Ruth: That is a good one. Since you already mentioned it, I think "A Woman Left Lonely."

Yeah, that's a great one. I love the way her voices goes around on that one. You saw Janis in concert, right?

Ruth: Yes. If they were big in the sixties and played on the East Coast, there is a good chance I saw them.

Because you are into music and so was your husband. It's okay to mention him, right? He had a college band.

Ruth: It is more than fine. He did have a college band. As an undergraduate. When he got into medical school, that was it for him and his garage band, time was just too limited.

You got married while he was in medical school?

Ruth: Yes, we did. He was two years ahead of me, we met in college. After I graduated, we got married. We were already going to concerts before we got married but after we did that was really our only entertainment. He really loved being in a band and music so when he had to give up the band it seemed like we actually started going to more concerts.

Even after you started a family.

Ruth: Yes. But we did miss Woodstock. We had talked about it and I wish now that I could say we went. But we missed it. A woman in the building we lived in at the time went. She came back from it just completely negative on the whole experience. Then she started reading the press on it and completely changed her tune. I think my favorite was probably Jefferson Airplane at any performance. We saw them three times and they would really cook -- to use an old term -- onstage. They could lay down this heavy improv and they always had these wild light shows.

What's your favorite Jefferson Airplane song?

Ruth: That question is too hard. In terms of our relationship, when we started dating 45s were still the big thing. 45s are singles. Then albums became a way of communicating and not just gathering a few songs and some fillers. I am not sure I could even pick just one album. I think I would have to go with Crown of Creation and Volunteers. But I do not think I could narrow it down to one song. Do you know those?

I heard Volunteers over and over from like before I could walk. Crown of Creation I heard but I didn't really appreciate it until last summer. Now you also hear new music because of your grandchildren and we both like White Stripes.

Ruth: Well . . . they are getting a little too polished for me. Not the drums, the drums are still good. But it is getting a little too arty which would be fine if the lyrics were as well and/or the melodies. I like them but that last CD . . .

I know just what you mean. Seriously. Okay, so who is someone you really like these days?

Ruth: Tracey, my granddaughter, has really exposed me to Ani DiFranco and Tori Amos over the last two or so years. Those are probably my two favorites and probably because they really write songs -- they are saying something -- and because they experiment. Aimee Mann's a new name to me although my youngest son gets irriated with that because he was a fan of her band --

Til Tuesday.

Ruth: Yes, thank you. But my grandson Jayson, in DC in September, was looking for something to listen to.

He lost his CDs. Did he find them?

Ruth: Yes, he did. After he got home, they were in his room. He only thought he had packed them. However, he was asking for something to listen to and C.I. already had some plus Jim got there late, on Friday, I think, and he brought this huge stash of CDs. But Aimee Mann, the live CD, really grabbed him. Since then, he's just been getting her earlier CDs so I feel like I can sing any Aimee Mann song at this point. I do not know the name of the live album, do you?

Live at St. Ann's. The CD is actually a bonus. It's a DVD of the concert. I listen to the CD a lot but I have never watched the DVD.

Ruth: My grandchildren have also turned me into fans of Bright Eyes, Ben Harper, Michael Franti and Spearhead. And, of course, Holly Near, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young have done some amazing work which is really exciting since I have listened to them for years.

Since we're talking music, what do you think? You lived through Vietnam and can remember it, what's the deal with music? Why aren't more people weighing in?

Ruth: I wish I knew. We did have more outlets back then. Which is why everyone should be opposed to FCC chair Kevin Martin trying to further consolidate media. In many cities, the same companies own the radio stations. FM was a new thing -- maybe the way satellite radio is today -- and you had more competition. So censorship was harder for political views. It still happened. But it was more difficult. If station A didn't want to play a group because of something political, stations B and C were already on it and spinning the disc. You also had news in those days, on the radio. I am not talking about the traffic reports. You had local news and some national news. I am not talking about talk radio. On music radio, you still had news. In fact, you had dee jays who would rip through the news, rip through the nonsense. That was why FM was considered "underground radio" back then. Today, everything is pretty much owned by a few groups and it is much easier to ban an artist for political views. So that is probably part of it. And the treatment of the Dixie Chicks scared a lot of people probably. But we have around seventy percent of Americans against the illegal war so it is just sad that more can find the courage to use their voices. Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, Buffy St. Marie and others never needed to wait for that kind of a shift in public opinion. But by the time it was where it is now, not speaking out would have been considered the same as endorsing the illegal war.

See, that's how I feel right now. I'm losing all respect for the artists -- young or old -- that can't even say, "I'm against the war." I just think they're pathetic.

Ruth: And that was the way we saw it then.

Today the news came down about Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. They are two Americans, war resisters, who went to Canada. The Supreme Court in Canada refused to hear their appeal on the refugee issue so unless their Parliament passes a law, they are not going to be considered refugees. What are your thoughts?

Ruth: A pathetic left at the top. I am not referring to grassroots. I am also not referring to organizations such as The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, Iraq Veterans Against the War, the War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist. I'm talking about our left media which is pretty much pathetic and useless. They have not made an effort to get the word out. Alternative media is not just "Here's what the White House said and here's what the mainstream media said and now we're going to tell you what's what." It also includes covering the topics that are not being covered. As a whole, radio and magazines of the left have failed on war resisters. We saw it last week with Ehren Watada. A decison by US District Judge Benjamin Settle is a victory and where is independent media? The mainstream media has the story on Friday. It is either something in passing for the bulk of independent media or not even mentioned. That is disgusting. And we have to wait until Tuesday for The Nation to weigh in? In this age of faster communication? A magazine's website I will criticize but I am not talking about bloggers or websites here. I am talking about the recognized media and they ignored the story or mentioned it briefly. I am tired of it. Are you?

Ruth, you know you don't have to ask. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of the lack of book reviews when a war resister publishes a book, I'm sick of the lack of coverage in this country when a war resister goes public in Canada, I'm sick of Katrina vanden Heuvel and her voo-hoo economics. That's not a typo, I'm calling it "voo-hoo" after vanden Heuvel. I really don't need a lecture from a woman who goes to the Supreme Court in order to avoid paying estate taxes. That's really pathetic. No one needs to hear her faux economics.

Ruth: She is the most pathetic of all. She has done nothing with her "Editor's Cut" blog but waste everyone's time. "Let me talk about when I went off to college and, oh, by the way, Norman Mailer pops into my story." She has got to be the vainest editor or publisher at any magazine. It is always about her. "I'm taking a few days off because my daughter's turning 16!" Uh, delayed labor pains? Children around the world turn 16 every day and their parents don't need multiple days off. She is so out of touch and every time she opens her mouth or types a word she just demonstrates how out of touch she is. She is ruining the magazine and, if this continues, the big story will be "How Katrina vanden Heuvel Took The Nation From It's Highest Circulation To It's Lowest" the subheadline will be "And it didn't take controversy, just fluff."

I think that says it all. The biggest concern about your site was that it would mean no more reports. That's not the plan, right?

Ruth: Right. I am still doing reports for The Common Ills. My site is a "jot." I need to thank Wally and Cedric especially for saying, "Do not get carried away. If you do, people will expect it all the time." So I try to keep it short. Everyone's been helpful but they know about the tempation to write more and they have really been helpful there.

Last question, dropping back to the media, do you think they prolong the illegal war?

Ruth: Yes, you and I both think that. They have not taken the illegal war seriously. If the mainstream media is not hitting on the war, they aren't. They let big media set the agenda over and over and provide their counter-narratives to whatever big media is covering. You made a point here, at your site, awhile back about how C.I. has demonstrated that war resisters are news and that they can be covered. They are covered in every snapshot. Some days it is easier than others but there is no excuse for our alternative media being unable to cover war resisters regularly at least once a week. That really is, honestly, the biggest shock. We had more alternative media during Vietnam, absolutely, but we had more coverage because the media really cared about ending the illegal war, the alternative media. Today they are largely lifeless and determined to offer the 'left' version of the op-ed pages in The Washington Post. It is a lot of silliness, a lot of immaturity, a lot of really bad writing and very little focus ever goes to Iraq.

So that's my interview with Ruth and I thank her so much. After the interview, she told me three of her grandchildren love NBC's Chuck and she's been watching it with them. So make a point to watch it. It airs on Monday nights and sometimes repeats on NBC Saturday nights as well.

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

Thursday, November 15, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, US war resisters in Canada learn that the country's Supreme Court is as useless as the Immigration and Refugee Board, the US military announces a death, a soldier is arrested, and more.

Starting with war resisters. CBC reports that the Supreme Court of Canada has refused to hear the appeals filed by war resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. The Canadian Press notes: "They fled to Canada and asked for refugee status, claiming they opposed the war in Iraq as illegal and immoral." Canada's National Post explains that without a Surpeme Court review, the Federal Court of Appeal having "rejected the claims by Mr. Hinzman and Mr. Hughey" now stands and, as the BBC points out, means that the Immigration and Refugee "Board" (one member hears and decides) decision in 2005 that neither were refugees. City News quotes Elizabeth May (Green Party leader) declaring that, "Canada is a peaceful country and we have a proud tradition of welcoming conscientious objectors, most notably American soldiers who fled to Canada while the United States waged war in Vietnam." L-Girl (We Move to Canada) notes, "This is very bad news. But it's not the end of the fight. This decision makes the political battle more crucial." Randall Palmer and Lynne Oliver (Reuters) cites the War Resisters Support Campaign's Lee Zaslofsky declaring, "They won't be deported tomorrow, there is a process" and notes that the two could "apply for permanent residence in Canada on humanitarian or compassionate grounds."

Canada's War Resisters Support Campaign has issued the following announcement:In response to today's decision by the Supreme Court of Canada to not hear appeals from American Iraq-war resisters seeking refuge in Canada, the War Resisters Support Campaign will ramp up pressure for a political solution, calling for a provision from Parliament to allow resisters and their families to stay in Canada.The War Resisters Support Campaign will hold a demonstration tonight at 5 p.m. at 330 University Avenue, Toronto to call on Parliament to do the right thing and allow resisters to stay in Canada.Who: War Resisters Support Campaign and alliesWhat: Demonstration to ramp up pressure on ParliamentWhen: Thursday November 15 at 5 p.m.Where: 330 University Avenue, Toronto (just north of Queen Street. W., on the west side)"We call on Parliament to take a stand by enacting a provision that would allow US war resisters and their families to stay in Canada," said actor and activist Shirely Douglas. "The Supreme Court has handed the issue back to Parliament. It is urgent that Parliament demonstrate leadership and act in accordance with Canadian tradition. Do not let the principles that Canadians cherish slip away."The Supreme Court decision by a panel of three judges prevents the full court from reviewing the decisions of the Immigration and Refugee Board regarding the refugee status of resisters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey. The Immigration and Refugee Board had refused to grant them refugee status.Resisters have already found widespread support among Canadians, including faith groups, unions, peace organizations and thousands of individuals and families who have extended a welcome. In a June 2007 poll by Strategic Communications, 64.6 per cent of respondents in Ontario think that resisters should be allowed to stay in Canada (margin of error +/- 4%, 19 times out of 20).The War Resisters Support Campaign has been assisting US war resisters who come to Canada because of their opposition to the Iraq War since 2004.For futher information: Lee Zaslofsky (416) 598-1222 and Michelle Robidoux (416) 856-5008
A listing of the rallies can be found here and they also note:

Contact your Member of Parliament (M.P.) and these key members of government and lobby them to let the war resisters stay in Canada:The Hon. Stephane Dion, Leader of the Opposition (Liberal): Phone: (613) 996-5789; E-mail: Dion.S@parl.gc.caMichael Ignatieff, Deputy Leader of the Opposition (Liberal): Phone: (613) 995-9364;E-mail: Ignatieff.M@parl.gc.caThe Hon. Maurizio Bevilacqua, Opposition Critic for Citizenship and Immigration (Liberal):Phone: (613) 996-4971; E-mail: Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.caThe Right Hon. Stephen Harper, Prime Minister: Phone: (613) 992-4211; Fax: (613) 941-6900; E-mail: pm@pm.gc.caThe Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration: Phone: (613) 954-1064; E-mail: Minister@cic.gc.caAnd contact your own Member of Parliament. To find your local M.P., by your postal code or by name:http://www.canada.gc.ca/directories/direct_e.html

For people outside Canada, Courage to Resist has a "Dear Canada" resource page that allows non-Canadians to weigh in with key officials.

Jeremy Hinzman, his wife Nga Nguyen and their son Liam went to Canada in January 2004. Brandon Hughey went to Canada in March 2004. They have established lives there, laid down roots. There are over 200 US war resisters that have gone to Canada.

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters.


The voice of war resister Camilo Mejia is featured in Rebel Voices -- playing now through December 16th at Culture Project and based on Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove's best-selling book Voices of a People's History of the United States. It features dramatic readings of historical voices such as war resister Mejia, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, Malcom X and others will be featured. Zinn will take part in the November 18th presentation (the official opening night -- but performances are already taking place) and musician Allison Mooerer will head the permanent cast while those confirmed to be performing on selected nights are Ally Sheedy (actress and poet, best known for films such as High Art, The Breakfast Club, Maid to Order, the two Short Circuit films, St. Elmo's Fire, War Games, and, along with Nicky Katt, has good buzz on the forthcoming Harold), Eve Ensler who wrote the theater classic The Vagina Monologues (no, it's not too soon to call that a classic), actor David Strathaim (L.A. Confidential, The Firm, Bob Roberts, Dolores Claiborne and The Bourne Ultimatum), actor and playwright Wallace Shawn (The Princess Bride, Clueless -- film and TV series, Gregory and Chicken Little), actress Lili Taylor (Dogfight, Shortcuts, Say Anything, Household Saints, I Shot Andy Warhol, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, State of Mind) and actor, director and activist Danny Glover (The Color Purple, Beloved, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Rainmaker, Places In The Heart, Dreamgirls, Shooter and who appeared on Democracy Now! Friday addressing the US militarization of Africa) The directors are Will Pomerantz and Rob Urbinati with Urbinati collaborating with Zinn and Arnove on the play. Tickets are $21 for previews and $41 for regular performances (beginning with the Nov. 18th opening night). The theater is located at 55 Mercer Street and tickets can be purchased there, over the phone (212-352-3101) or online here and here. More information can be found at Culture Project.

Meanwhile IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC event:

In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan

IVAW's announcement above will be in tomorrow and Friday's snapshot and then it will appear summarized in each snapshot until the March testimony begins.

Turning to Iraq, Leila Fadel and Mohammed al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) report that a US air attack on Tuesday is in dispute with Mansour abd Salem "of the Sunni Awakening councild in Taji" declaring that members of his group were "deliberately" targeted in an air attack that started Tuesday night "and that his brother, Malek abd Salem, contacted U.S. troops in Taji and asked them to stop. At 1 a.m., he said, his brother spoke again with the U.S. military. Four hours later, he told Al Jazeera Arabic Satellite News, aerial attacks resumed, and U.S. ground forces killed everyone in sight. Abd Salem said the group's parked cars were draped in fluorescent banners that the U.S. military had provided to identify them as Sunni allies." The US military maintains the 25 killed were 'terrorist,' 'insurgents' or, maybe, 'ones needing to die.' Reuters notes the US claims 25 people were killed while the Sunni tribe claims it was "45 pro-U.S. fighters."

Bombings?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports two Baghdad roadside bombings that left five wounded, an Al Ajeem mortar attack that left three wounded, a Tala Abass roadside bombing that left three people wounded and a car bombing in Kirkuk "targeted Brigadier General Omar Khatab" claiming the lives of 3 bodyguard and 4 civilians while leaving thirteen civilians injured, three body guards injured and Khatab himself injured. Reuters notes that yesterday: "The head of a Sunni tribe was killed and 10 members of the tribe wounded . . . when a suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives infiltrated their meeeting".

Shootings?
Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports another Baghdad educator has been targeted. Suad Kukaz was the high school principle of Al Amal until she was shot dead this morning. She is at least the third female principal to be shot in Baghdad in the last two weeks. Two were shot last week with one wounded and the other shot dead (Eman Hussein was the other principal shot dead). Al Dulaimy also notes that Mohamed Salah was shot dead "near Jalawla" and reports two people suspected in the killing of LC Ali Al Daraji were killed Wednesday by Jassim Al Daraji (brother of LC Ali Al Daraji who is a police lieutenant and who was 'questioning' the two suspects when he killed them).

Kidnappings?

Reuters notes a home invasion yesterday that targeted Kadhim al-Mehdawi ("head of a Sunni tribe") and resulted in "his 13-year-old son" being kidnapped.

Corpses?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 6 corpses were discovered in Baghdad and that yesterday in Jalawla the corpse of Fadel Ahmed was discovered. Reuters notes the corpse "of a 25-year-old woman" was found in Mahaweel ("shot and tortured").

Today the US military announced: "A Multi-National Division -- North Soldier was killed as a result of an explosion while conducting operations in Diyala Province, Nov. 14. Four additional MND-N Soldiers were wounded in the blast and evacuated to a coalition hospital." ICCC's current total for the number of US service members killed in the illegal war is 3865. The announcement brings to 21 the number of US service members announced killed in the illegal war for the month thus far.

In other violence, Alissa J. Rubin (New York Times) reports that yesterday's attack on the Green Zone took place 90 minutes prior the planned annoucing of the 2008 budget proposal ($40 billion). Rubin also reports either the widening of the cholera outbreak or else enteritis at the Al Hanan Home for the Severely Handicapped in Baghdad where one child has already died and twelve more are suffering.

Turning to the mercenary company Blackwater. Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted, "The State Department's top oversight official has recused himself from all matters relating the private military firm Blackwater after admitting his brother served on the company's advisory board. Inspector General Howard Krongard announced the move Wednesday just hours after initially denying that his brother, Alvin 'Buzzy' Krongard, is a Blackwater board member. The State Department has already come under criticism for its lax oversight of Blackwater since the September 16th killing of seventeen Iraqi civilians by Blackwater guards. Howard Krongard has previously been accused of thwarting probes of contracting fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan to avoid embarrassing the White House. Krongard is said to have refused to send investigators to Iraq and Afghanistan to probe three billion dollars in contracts." The too-late recusal and announcement came out during Howard Krongard's testimony to the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and he needed a break before he could declare that his brother was serving on Blackwater's advisory board. (See Cedric yesterday, Wally yesterday and here for a humorous joint-entry.) David Wood (Baltimore Sun) captures the "nasty rumors!" defense that collapses when Krongard, back from break, has to admit that his brother "Buzzy" is on Blackwater's advisory board. Warren P. Strobel (McClatchy Newspapers) observes that belated 'disclosure' "dismayed even Krongard's Republican defenders on the committee, who'd attempted to portray the probe by chairman Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., as partisan score-settling." The committee hearing was held to address specific problems with Krongard's performance and these issues are covered in the [PDF format warning] "Report on Allegations Regarding State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard" issued before the hearing.

Krongard has threatened people serving under him and has tossed repeated roadblocks in front of Congressional inquiries. Of the many complaints about foreign contractors in Iraq, one has been that they then recruit foreign workers, take their passports and the employees are then nothing more than slave labor. The report reveals that the human trafficking issue arose in 2006 within the department resulting debates about how to proceed to verify the claims until Krongard issued an e-mailing stating ("in effect") "cease and desist all work. I'm taking care of this." "Taking care of this" meant a brief dash through of Iraq where Krongard made brief time to speak with "six employees who had been pre-selected by First Kuwaiti. No translators were provided; the only interviewees made available spoke some English. No reports of interviews were drafted. The only documentation of the investigation consisted of handwritten notes by Mr. Krongard, none of which identified the witnesses by name and two of which did not even decribe them by nationality or position." When Ronald Militana began looking into allegations regarding Blackwater "smuggling arms into Iraq," his superior (John DeDona) notified Krongard of the progress thus far and received an e-mail reply from Krongard: "Please do not treat anything in the email below as having been seen by me, advised to me, or understood or approved by me. If there is something significant in the message below, please come and tell me about it." In other words, Krongard wanted no paper trail -- physical or eletronic.

The report assembles all known problems with the 'leadership' Krongard has supplied and on the issue of roadblocks, notes (page 41 "B. Document Production"):

The Committee's September 18, 2007, letter requested that the Office of Inspector General produce by September 28, all documents related to its investigation of Mr. Krongard. The Committee subsequently postponed the hearing and extended the document production deadline as an accommodation to the Inspector General and his office's document production limitiations. During a conference call, on October 15, 2007, an Associate Counsel to the Inspector General advised Committee staff that the Inspector General's office could complete its document production within three weeks. However, on November 1, the Counsel advised the Committee via e-mail that it would not produce any responsive documents relating to the investigation of bribes or kickbacks involving the Jordan International Police Training Center, the investigation of Kenneth Tomlinson, or hotline complaints about the New Embassy Compound in Baghdad, stating that these were still open investigative matters.
After a week of negotiations yielded no agreement to produce responsive documents, the Committee issued a subpoena on November 7, seeking production by November 9 of all documents relating to the various disrupted subjects, including investigations relating to the construction of the New Embassy Compound in Iraq; allegations of bribery involving State Department contractors in Jordan; and all communications to or from the Inspector General relating to Blackwater USA.
On November 9, the office informed Committee staff that it would not produce documents listed in the subpoena that pertain to open investigations, pending consultation with the Justice Department. As of November 13, the Office of the Inspector General has given the Committee no indication of when, or even if, it will produce the documents called for in the subpoena. Moreover, even setting aside the documents relating to open investigations, the Office of the Inspector General still has not produced all responsive documents to the original Committee request, almost two months after it was first issued.

Also on Blackwater, Jeremy Scahill offers (at the Los Angeles Times) that the investigation into the September 16th slaughter of 17 Iraqi soldiers is riddled with flaws: US civilian law applies to those "working for or directly accompanying the U.S. military," the 2006 Defense Authorization Act that placed "all U.S. Contractors under the Uniform Code of Military Justice" is untested "and the Department of Defense has shown no desire to use this option"; Paul Bremer's Order 17 prevents Iraq from prosecuting; and, most importantly, the investigation focuses only on the contractors: "The investigation must determine which operatives killed the Iraqis on Sept. 16, but it can't stop there. It must extend to those who hired them and deployed them, armed, dangerous and apparently above the law." On KPFK's Mid-Day News today, Scahill explained, "The real culpable party here is the State Department which hired Blackwater, deployed it -- armed dangerous and apparently above the law. And what I think is a bigger scandal than Blackwater is how the State Department from the moment the shooting happened has tried to cover up for its actions. I mean, let's remember here that the State Department's initial report on the shooting was drafted by a Blackwater contractor on official US government stationary, the crime scene was contaminated -- for two weeks there were no law enforcement investigators there -- and in October we found out that the State Department had granted some Blackwater operatives 'limited use immunity' in return for their statements and what that means is anything that these Blackwater guards said to the State Department cannot and will not be used in a court of law and can't be used to bring criminal charges against them which creates serious obstacles to prosecuting them. And then yesterday at the hearing of the House Oversight Committee, chaired by Henry Waxman, we find out that the State Department Inspector General -- the senior official responsible for investigating charges of waste, fraud and abuse -- on contracts like that given to Blackwater is actually the brother of a Blackwater advisory board member".

Protests continue in Seattle at the Port of Olympia. As Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) noted today:"The protests were organized by the Olympia Port Militarization Resistance which aims to stop the U.S. military from using the port to ship equipment to Iraq. Police used pepper spray to disperse a crowd of more than one-hundred fifty people. It's the second straight week of protests at the port." Peter Bohmer (CounterPunch) observes, "For 10 days, anti-war activists in Olympia, Washington have slowed down and for two different periods of 12 hours or more, stopped the flow of military weapons and military cargo that were unloaded from a Navy ship that had returned from Iraq. For 24 hours day, we have used a variety of tactics and actions. They have included sitting in front of trucks carrying Stryker vehicles and other military equipment from leaving the Port of Olympia, building barricades on the roads where these military vehicles were taveling, anti-war demostrations through the streets of Olympia and vigils, downtown. A hearing was held at City Hall, last Sunday, November 11th, 2007 to document the excessive police force used against people who participated in these actions. We testified at the Olympia City Council and at a hearing of the elected Port Commissioners demanding that they take a stand opposing the U.S. war against Iraq by not letting our Port be used to transport war supplies. About 500 people have taken part in some or all of these protests."

Turning to the topic of PTSD, Iraq War veteran Brad Gaskins (25-years-old) was arrested yesterday, 10 miles from Fort Drum, where he was headed to turn himself in.

Brad Gaskins, 25-years-old, who was 10 miles from Fort Drum, holding a press conference before turning himself in, when the military showed up with local police to arrest him. Fernanda Santos (New York Times) reports, "The soldier, Brad Gaskins, an Army sergeant who had served two tours in Iraq, was speaking with a television reporter at the cafe when two officers from the fort entered with two local police officers, who took him away, his lawyer, Tod Ensign, said." Gaskins suffers from PTSD and was diagnosed with PTSD while in the military, not that the chain of command was concerned about that. Amy Ohler's "Soldier arrestd after being AWOL" (News 10 Now) offers the reaction of a family member to the arrest: "'Here he is, a young man who has been in the Amy since he was 17 years old, who fought for this country and when he comes back to his own country he's treated like a criminal,' said Sonia Murray, Gaskins' aunt."And in an update on last week's decision to suspend and attempt to expell high school students who peacefully protested the illegal war and followed school directions while doing so, Crystal Yednak (New York Times) reports that all but four have been "allowed to return to class" except for four whose suspension will end Friday.


ruths report
the common ills
mikey likes it
the daily jot
cedrics big mix
iraq
jeremy hinzman
brandon hugheyalissa j. rubinthe new york times
thom shankermcclatchy newspaperswarren p. strobel
democracy nowamy goodman
blackwater usa
jeremy scahill
anthony arnovehoward zinn
fernanda santosthe new york timesamy ohlerwilliam kates