Tuesday. Marcia shot something my way. I agree with her and we're both making it our focus tonight. Politico mocks Sarah Palin for her Facebook post. And they tell you David Corn says she misses the point. Politico misses the point, not Palin. David Corn is a two-bit whore and I've heard those conversations where he attacked the Clinton campaign. I also remember him lying about Bill Clinton pardoning those two Weather Underground members and refusing to correct his mistake forever and then finally making a snide remark.
Let's go to what Sarah Palin wrote, she found it illuminating. What? The Journolist where reporters egged each other on in hatred (my call). And she zooms in on these comments from one journalist on how to handle the Jeremiah Wright controversy:
“I do not endorse a Popular Front, nor do I think you need to. It’s not necessary to jump to Wright-qua-Wright’s defense. What is necessary is to raise the cost on the right of going after the left. In other words, find a rightwinger’s [sic] and smash it through a plate-glass window. Take a snapshot of the bleeding mess and send it out in a Christmas card to let the right know that it needs to live in a state of constant fear. Obviously I mean this rhetorically.And I think this threads the needle. If the right forces us all to either defend Wright or tear him down, no matter what we choose, we lose the game they’ve put upon us. Instead, take one of them — Fred Barnes, Karl Rove, who cares — and call them racists. Ask: why do they have such a deep-seated problem with a black politician who unites the country? What lurks behind those problems? This makes *them* sputter with rage, which in turn leads to overreaction and self-destruction.”
Do you get what David Corn pretends not to? What Politico misses?
Yeah, that's exactly what David Corn did and he was far from alone. Bill Moyers, all of them. It was the Whore's Way. And Jeremiah Wright is trash.
It's funny because Marcia got attacked by an idiot who sometimes writes for Black Agenda Report -- he's the reason we don't link to them in entries and posts anymore. Marcia got attacked for pointing out that a year after the controversy, one of the biggest liars on the left was now whining about Jerry Wright. And the attack reads like the above.
They're whores. They're elves. They lied. They're as bad as the right-wing. They coordinated this. Bit by bit, it's coming out.
Palin's not the idiot. Politico is. David Corn's not an idiot. He's just a whore.
We know what happened and now we get it confirmed.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Tuesday, July 20, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, the Iraq Inquiry learns a number of details about the intelligence assessments before the start of the Iraq War (which did not support an invasion), the US Congress learns that the US may never leave Iraq, violence continues, Thomas E. Ricks makes an ass out of himself, and more.
I'm not in the mood. The biggest little s**t these days is Thomas E. Ricks who just gets bitchier (and fatter) each day. No longer a journalist, just a stupid little cheerleader for War Crimes, we now ignore him. But he's such a little s**t that we'll start the snapshot by calling the piece of trash out. There's no excuse for what he did and it goes way beyond the pale. Because Avatar was against Rick's precious counter-intelligence, he trashed the movie and we could all just roll our eyes because Ricks' opinion on film stopped mattering somewhere around the time What's New Pussycat? was in general release. Though no one -- except the New York Times -- appeared to notice, Michael Hastings' Rolling Stone article was all about counter-intelligence and it wasn't pretty. So in order to grudge f**k Michael, Thomas E. Ricks puts I Lost My Love in Baghdad down as one of the "Ten worst Iraq war memoirs." The book is about Hastings time in Iraq working for Newsweek and with his signifcant other Andi Parhamovich. The book is about her death and his dealing with it. It takes really bitchy person to attack Hastings via that book but bitchy is all Thomas E. Ricks has left. Anybody else get the feeling that if he'd get a breast reduction, Thomas E. Ricks would stop being such a s**t? Hey, Thomas Ricks, I see an elderly woman with a walker trying to cross the street -- if you hurry, I'm sure you can trip her. What a low life.
In London today the Iraq Inquiry continued receiving public testimony. The big witness today was MI5 Director General (2002 - 2007) Eliza Manningham-Buller. Prior to her testifying, a [PDF format warning] letter she sent to John Gieve (Home Office) was declassified [though some parts remain redacted]. Gieve was the Permanent Secretary of the Home Office at that time and the position provided oversight to MI5 (which is Military Intelligence, Section 5).
IRAQ: POSSIBLE TERRORIST RESPONSE TO A US ATTACK
We have been giving some thought to the possible terrorist consequences should the US, possibly with UK support, seek to topple Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. I thought that you might find it helpful to see our current assessment, together with an outline of our own preparations.
2. Since the end of the Gulf War Iraq has been implicated in a small number of murders of Iraqi oppositionists in the Middle East but only one terrorist plan directed against a Western target -- a planned car bomb attack on ex-President Bush in Kuwait in 1993. There is no credible intelligence that demonstrates that Iraq was implicated in planning the 11 September attacks.
3. We judge that the current period of heightened tension between Iraq and the US is unlikely to prompt Saddam to order terrorist strikes against Coalition interests. Even limited military action (for example, cruise missile attacks such as the those in response to the attempted murder of ex-President Bush) would be unlikely to prompt such a response. We assess that Saddam is only likely to order terrorist attacks if he perceives that the survival of his regime is threatened.
In the UK
4. If Saddam were to initiate a terrorist campaign, we assess that Iraqi capability to mount attacks in the UK is currently limited. We are aware of no Iraqi intelligence (DGI) officers based in the UK. There are up to DGI agents here who report on anti-regime activities. But most of these agents lack the inclination or capability to mount terrorist attacks. So if the DGI wished to mount attacks in the UK it would need to import teams from overseas. It is possible that some Palestinian groups based outside the UK might be willing to mount attacks in support of Iraq,
5. Nonetheless, in case Iraq should try to co-ordinate action by existing UK-based agents, or to import its own or a surrogate terrorist capability, we will be taking a number of steps over the coming months, including:
reviewing our knowledge of past and present DGI visiting case officers to identify and disrupt any increase in DGI activity;
putting in place arrangements to deal with (and capitalise on) any increase in defectors, volunteers or callers to the Service's public telephone number who might have relevant information. Experience during the Gulf War leads us to expect an increase in such contact with the public in the event of conflict;
with the police, maintaining coverage of the Palestinian community, some of whom, as during the Gulf War, may react adversely to any threat to Iraq.
6. You may recall that, at the time of the Gulf War, a number of suspected Iraqi sympathisers were detained pending deportation on grounds of national security. These included members of Iraqi support organisations, as well as individuals believed to be associated with Palestinian terrorist groups, such as the Abu Nidhal Organisation. We currently assess that the number of individuals in the UK who potentially pose sufficent threat to be subject to deportation or detnetion is small. We are currently reviewing the cases of those who could pose a threat to establish whether there might be grounds for action.
7. We believe that Middle Eastern countries would be the most likely location should Saddam order terrorist attacks on Western interests. Other locations, for instance SE Asia featured in attempted DGI co-ordinated attacks during the Gulf War and are thus also a possibility. We will, of course, continue to liaise closely with FCO colleagues to ensure they are in a position to brief missions if the situation develops.
Chemical or biological (CB) threat
8. There were media stories during the Gulf War suggesting that Iraq planned to mount CB terrorist attacks in Western countries, and a 1998 scare (arising from a tale put about by Iraqi emigres) that Saddam planned to send anthrax abroad in scent bottles. Given Iraq's documented CB capabilities, we can anticipate similar stories again.
9. Most Iraqi CB terrorist attacks have been assassination attempts against individuals, often emigres.
Iraq used chemical weapons during the Iran-Iraq war and also against civilian Kurds in 1988, but there is no intelligence that Iraq has hitherto planned or sought mass-casualty CB terrorist attacks. As with conventional terrorism, we assess that Saddam would only use CB against Western targets if he felt the survival of his regime was in doubt. In these circumstances, his preferred option would be to use conventional military delivery systems against targets in the region, rather than terrorism.
10. There have for some years been reports of contact between the Iraqi regime and Al Qa'ida about CB. But we have yet to see convincing intelligence that useful co-operation developed, or that Iraq provided genuine CB materials.
11. I am copying this letter to Stephen Wright, John Scarlett, Julian Miller and Tom McKane.
E L Manningham-Buller
Deputy Director General
That letter was sent in March 2002, nearly a year before the start of the Iraq War. And that was the intelligence assessment. At Committee member Usha Prashar's request, Manningham-Buller explained the Security Service's tasks: "collect intelligence from a rance of sources, some of them secret, on threats to the United Kingdom and to develop that intelligence, to analyse it and, where necessary, to act on it in mitigating or reducing those threats and also using intelligence generated by us to provide information to government on which policy can be placed and on which more general countermeasures can be developed." Committee Member Prashar wondered about "the intelligence pciture" on Iraq?
Eliza Manningham-Buller: But if I can refer to the letter from me as Deputy Director General from March 2002 which was released -- a redacted version was released today, six months before I became Director General we felt we had a pretty good intelligence picture of a threat from Iraq within the UK and to British interests, and you will see from that letter we thought it was very limited and containable.
We'll move ahead to the start of Committee Member Lawrence Freedman's questioning. Before we do, in the US, Bully Boy Bush and his lackeys were fond of tossing in "mushroom cloud" among their lies. In England, in the leadup to the Iraq War, liar and prime minister Tony Blair publicly insisted that Iraq could deploy WMD on England in 45 minutes. That was a lie. But he insisted it was true.
Eliza Manningham-Buller: As I said to Lady Prashar, we regarded the threat, the direct threat from Iraq as low. We did think -- and it comes in that letter -- that Saddam Hussein might resort to terrorism in the theatre if he thought his regime was toppled, but we did not believe he had the capability to do anything much in the UK. That turned out to be the right judgment. What the letter -- has been redacted from the letter, like I say, in general terms is that is partly as a result of action we took. But I don't think the threat in the UK was anything other than very limited.
Still in the exchange between Freedman and Manningham-Buller. And when you read this, grasp that in 2002 the CIA knew this. Therefore the White House knew it. And the British intelligence knew the White House wasn't happy with the truth the CIA was providing.
Committee Member Lawrence Freedman: Can I just ask one final question, which is related to the things that Iraqis might have done, and this refers to the proposition that Saddam's regime were in some way responsible for providing support, potential support to Al-Qaeda, and even might have been involved in 9/11. Did you give any credence to these sorts of assessments?
Eliza Manningham-Buller: No. I think you have material suggesting that there had been intelligence on occasional contact in the past but I think -- I wrote this down when I was preparing for today -- there was no credible intelligence to suggest that connection and that was the judgment, I might say, of the CIA. It was not a judgment that found favor with some parts of the American machine, as you have also heard evidence on, which is why Donald Rumsfeld started an intelligence unit in the Pentagon to seek an alternative judgment.
Committee Member Roderic Lyne asked about her Queen Mary College speech in 2006 where she stated that the Iraq War had increased the chances that England could be a terrorist target. She informed him, "I think it is worth saying that I needed the approval of the Home Secretary to make public speeches and he cleared the text with me, and John Reid and I discussed that part of it and he agreed that I should say that in public."
Committee Member Roderic Lyne: So you're saying you had evidence that the Iraq conflict, our involvment in the Iraq conflict was a motivation, a trigger, for people who were involved in the attacks in London in July 2005, who were going to Afghanistan to fight. Were there other attacks or planned attacks in which you had evidence that Iraq was a motivating factor?
Eliza Manningham-Buller: Yes. I mean, if you take the video wills that were retrieved on various occasions after various plots, where terrorists who had expected to be dead explained why they had done what they did, it features. It is part of what we call the single narrative, which is the view of some that everything the west was doing was part of a fundamental hostility to the Muslim world and to Islam, of which manifestations were Iraq and Afghanistan, but which pre-dated those because it pre-dated 9/11, but it was enhance by those events.
Lyne asked her to speculate about how such a threat might have been lessened even with the Iraq War proceeding and she responded that the peace could have been planned for, that following the initial invasion, measures could have been taken to return Iraqi lives to normal. "The insistence, for example," she offered, "of the Americans on sacking, you know, much of the Civil Service and the Army, the Ba'athists, was an error. Others much better informed than me will have given you evidence on that. I was asked on a visit to the United States on other matters to talk to Paul Wolfowitz about this issue and to seek to persuade him that it was not sensible to do this." Lyne asked if she managed to "convert him?" "Not a hope," Manningham-Buller replied.
Along with Manningham-Buller, Maj Gen Andy Salmon and Lt Gen Louis Lillywhite (Surgeon General, 2006 - 2009) (link goes to video and transcript options). Manningham-Buller was the witness to watch. BBC News notes that she's testified the Iraq War has "substantially" upped the chance of England being a target for terrorism and that the threat assessment wasn't "substantial enough" to merit going to war: "If you are going to go to war, you need to have a pretty high threshold to decide on that." Gordon Rayner (Telegraph of London) quotes her stating, "Our involvement in Iraq radicalised, for want of of a better word, a whole generation of young people -- not a wholel generation, a few among a generation -- who saw our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan as being an attack on Islam. . . . Arguably we gave Osama bin Laden his Iraqi jihad so that he was able to move into Iraq in a way that he was not before." Miranda Richardson (Sky News) emphasizes the same quote Rayner did and the link has video of Manningham-Buller testifying. Andrew Sparrow (Guardian) is live blogged the testimony. Chris Ames (Iraq Inquiry Digest) reports on the testimony here. What stood out to me this morning while streaming the testimony -- and still does -- was that the big moments include her assessment that Saddam Hussein was contained and not a threat to England. And that this was in writing in 2002. The Inquiry heard testimony Monday as well. Chris Ames covers the military testimony here.
What may be most interesting about the coverage is how it's being ignored. Not in England. (As noted above and you can also click here for England's Channel 4 coverage.) And not in the Arab world (Al Jazeera among others). Emma Alberici is covering it for Australia's ABC. But in the US. AP has covered the testimony of Manningham-Buller with several stories and Glenn Greenwald (Salon) covers it. But we were noting it this morning and, all this time later, where is the US press? UPI, let's not forget them. But shouldn't US outlets be all over this? British spy chief testifies that Donald Rumsfeld set up new 'intel' division when the White House refused to accept the CIA's assessment? Did you notice that she knew the name of everyone she felt deserved blame? Did you notice she faulted the de-Ba'athification process? Did you notice she did not pin it on Paul Bremer? (It was the White House who gave the orders to Bremer though a number try to now pretend Bremer was acting on his own.) A year before the war started, British intelligence judged Saddam not to be a risk. The US press sold the Iraq War and has repeatedly attempted to dispute some of the realities Manningham-Buller testified to. They owe it to their audiences to report on her testimony. The Liberal Democrats (UK political party now in power with the Conservative Party via a power-sharing agreement) found the testimony newsworthy and issued the following today:
Commenting on Eliza Manningham-Buller's evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry, in which she said the conflict in Iraq 'substantially' increased the threat to the UK from international terrorism, Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, Tim Farron said:
"This is a shattering blow for Labour's claim that the Iraq war did not increase the terrorist threat to Britain.
"We already knew that this was a disastrous war for our own brave service personnel and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians. Now we have the head of MI5 at the time saying it increased the threat to Britain -- the precise opposite of what Labour claimed it would do.
"As Foreign Secretary in the last Government, David Miliband must come clean on why his administration misled the British people on this issue for so long."
Notes to editors
1. Appearing before the Chilcot Inquiry today, Eliza Manningham-Buller said: "What Iraq did was produce a fresh impetus to people prepared to engage in terrorism." "Al Qaida had not focused on the UK. It attacked us abroad in 2003 but it became clear that its ambition was to attack us in the United Kingdom."
2. When asked by Roderic Lyne, "To what extent did the conflict in Iraq exacerbate the overall threat your service and your fellow services were having to deal with from international terrorism?", Manningham-Buller replied, "Substantially".
3. Labour has long denied that the Iraq invasion led to an increased terrorist threat against the UK. In 2004, Jack Straw said: "No one should get the idea that somehow if you were a country which was opposed to the military action in Iraq, you are less of a target for al-Qaida."
Today CNN reports, "The United States has spent more than $1 trillion on wars since the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, a recently released Congressional report says. Adjusting for inflation, the outlays for conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere around the world make the 'war on terrorism' second only to World War II." And yet the United Nations reports:
The United Nations humanitarian arm warned today that a lack of funding is hampering efforts to assist vulnerable Iraqis, with food distributions to hundreds of thousands of pregnant women and schoolchildren already having been suspended.
So far, only $22.3 million -- or 12 per cent -- of the required $187.7 million sought for the 2010 humanitarian action plan for Iraq, which was launched six months ago, has been received, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
"We appeal to donors not to give up on their commitment to the Iraqi people and to help pave the way for Iraq's future development," urged Christine McNab, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the country.
The lack of funding has already resulted in the World Food Programme (WFP) suspending food distributions to 800,000 pregnant and nursing women and malnourished children, as well as to 960,000 schoolchildren.
In addition, the livelihoods of 500,000 drought-affected people in the Suleymaniyah and Dahuk governorates are threatened, and some have started to become displaced.
While there was a plan to support 22,500 vulnerable IDP families with emergency shelter, this will now have to be suspended as well, OCHA noted.
"Thousands of households will therefore be left to continue living in desperate shelter conditions, unable to be protected from often severe climatic conditions and vulnerable to sickness through inadequate water and sanitation provision," the Office stated in a news release.
There's always money to destroy human lives. It's only when it's time to spend on improving lives that governments balk. Which is how the Iraqi refugee situation continues. Which is how so much continues. Sammy Ketz (AFP) reports on Sheikh Alaa Aziz' regret that a religious ceremony for Sabeans that used to take all day and night was accomplished by early afternoon because "there's nobody left already. It's really sad, everybody is emigrating."
Violence never stops in Iraq.
Bombings?
DPA (via the Hindu) reports that a Baquba car bombing has claimed 8 lives and left twenty-two people wounded while a Kirkuk bombing injured three police officers. Tang Danlu (Xinhua) adds, "The powerful blast destroyed three houses in the Shiite Turkman neighborhood, the source said. A one-year-and-a-half child was among the dead and a woman was among the wounded, the source added." Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Sahwa Hameed Hasen al Zowab'i's Baghdad home was targeted with a bombing which wounded "his wife and daughter," a Jdaidat al Shat car bombing targeting pilgrims claimed 4 lives and left four wounded, a Kirkuk roadside bombing wounded three police officers, a Mosul bombing injured six people, a Mosul roadside bombing claimed 1 life and a Tikrit roadside bombing which wounded four police officers. Reuters notes a Qara Tappa car bombing claimed 2 lives and left seventeen injured while a Kirkuk roadside bombing injured an Iraqi soldier and, dropping back to yesterday, a Basra roadside bombing which injured three soldiers.
Shootings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 suspected suicide bomber shot dead in Mosul and a Baghdad attack on Agricultural Minister Deputy Muhammed Kheleel Wardi which left him "severly injured".
In other violence, fighting continues on Iraq's northern border. Steve Bryant and Benjamin Harvey (Bloomberg News) report continued fighting between the PKK and Turkish military has resulted in the deaths of "at least six Turkish soldiers" and that the fighting continues. The PKK is a Kurdish group -- labeled a terrorist organization by many governments including Turkey, Iraq and the US -- which seeks an autonomous Kurdish homeland among other things. Press TV adds, "The PKK has intensified its militant attacks against Turkey since May 31, when they stormed a Turkish naval base in the port city of Iskenderun, killing six Turkish soldiers." Seyhmus Cakan, Pinar Aydinli and Daren Butler (Reuters) explain, "Most of the PKK's estimated 4,000 fighters are based in the mountains of neighbouring northern Iraq, from where they launch attacks on military targets in southeast Turkey."
Grasping there's no way to make sense of Ned Parker (Los Angeles Times) doesn't try to hide the question marks when noting Ayad Allawi and Moqtada al-Sadr's face-to-face in Syria yesterday, "But in the calculus of Iraqi politics, yesterday's enemy can become tomorrow's friend. And Sadr's relationship with Maliki soured two years ago after the prime minister ordered his security forces to attack Sadr's militia in 2008. Will Allawi and Sadr's huddle break the logjam? Time will tell." Citing Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Today's Zaman notes the meet up and the role Turkey's official played in what's being billed as "positive developments" towards Iraq forming a government. March 7th, Iraq concluded Parliamentary elections. Three months and two days later, still no government. 163 seats are needed to form the executive government (prime minister and council of ministers). When no single slate wins 163 seats (or possibly higher -- 163 is the number today but the Parliament added seats this election and, in four more years, they may add more which could increase the number of seats needed to form the executive government), power-sharing coalitions must be formed with other slates, parties and/or individual candidates. (Eight Parliament seats were awarded, for example, to minority candidates who represent various religious minorities in Iraq.) Ayad Allawi is the head of Iraqiya which won 91 seats in the Parliament making it the biggest seat holder. Second place went to State Of Law which Nouri al-Maliki, the current prime minister, heads. They won 89 seats. Nouri made a big show of lodging complaints and issuing allegations to distract and delay the certification of the initial results while he formed a power-sharing coalition with third place winner Iraqi National Alliance -- this coalition still does not give them 163 seats. They are claiming they have the right to form the government. It's four months and five days and, in 2005, Iraq took four months and seven days to pick a prime minister. Today makes it four months and thirteen days without any government being established. Al Sumaria TV notes, "Head of Al Iraqiya List Iyad Allawi affirmed that it has been agreed with Sayyed Moqtada Al Sadr on the necessity to accelerate the formation of an inclusive government."
While Turkey's government may be hopeful things are moving, every one is not so sure. James Jeffrey is currently the US Ambassador to Turkey and he made statements that were a bit more vague today when he appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senator John Kerry chairs the Committee and Jeffrey was appearing before them as US President Barack Obama's latest nominee for US Ambassador to Iraq. Chris Hill currently holds the post and has been a disaster. Unlike Hill, Jeffrey is already one step ahead since he has experience in the region.
Chair John Kerry: Few Americans know Iraq better than today's nominee. Ambassador Jeffrey has served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Baghdad and as coordinator for Iraq policy at both the White House and State Department. Most recently he served as Ambassador to Turkey. He's also a native of Melrose, Massachusetts, so I'm especially pleased to welcome him here today.
That would go over better if Kerry hadn't also praised Chris Hill in his confirmation hearing (see the March 25 and 26, 2009 snapshots). Equally true is that some of Kerry's statements (as disclosed before, I know Kerry and have since the seventies) were laughable. Some were frightening. On the latter, "As the remaining American military forces come home by the end of 2011, our civilians will not only be responsible for resolving Iraq's many outstanding political diplomatic issues. They will also take on responsibilities previously performed by our troops, including police training and providing security for diplomatic missions outside Baghdad." Uh, John, as you damn well know, police training and providing security are not civilian duties. As you should know, if the US leaves in 2011 (yeah, you're doubtful as well), the US should not "be responsible for resolving Iraq's many outstanding political diplomatic issues." Where the hell does that come from? Oh, right, we're not really offering Iraq sovereignty. I forget. He noted the approximately 4,400 US service members killed in the Iraq War (4412 is the current toll). He noted the political stalemate and how it wasn't "clear whether a resolution is days, weeks or months away." While sticking to the problems facing Iraq, he was on stronger ground -- but he's always had a strong grasp on the various factions competing for power in Iraq.
Senator Richard Lugar is the Ranking Member on the Committee. With Hill, the Republicans opposed him. This was a strategy -- and apparently a successful one since Hill has been such a loser. The strategy with Hill was to pin it on the Democrats and on Barack. 'Things were successful before Barack screwed up by making Hill the ambassador.' That's how they begin the walk away from Iraq. When we noted that in real time, a number of people insisted it would never happen. There are Republican members of Congress -- besides Ron Paul and Walter Jones -- who express it's time to leave Iraq and you saw more manuevering from Michael Steele recently when he called Afghanistan Obama's war. Yes, there was a push-back from some Republican members but Steele remains in his job. If you're paying attention, you're seeing how Republicans plan to pin the wars -- wars Barack has continued and made his own -- on him.
All of that made Lugar's remarks especially interesting.
Ranking Member Richard Lugar: While making fewer headlines, the situation in Iraq continues to be vital to the national security of the United States. Iraq held parliamentary elections on March 7, 2009, but an agreement on who will be the Prime Minister may not be concluded for several months. The redeployment of American forces in Iraq has begun, and by September, all but 50,000 U.S. troops will have departed the country. President Obama has said that by the end of 2011, all US troops will be out of Iraq. Plans submitted by the Administration suggest that US involvement in Iraq will remain robust well beyond that with more than 5,000 diplomats and civilian advisers working with civil society and the Iraqi government. The uncertain political situation creates risks for our transition plans. Our military has been involved in areas of governance far beyond security and turning over those critical responsibilities will be challenging. The State Dept has asked for more than $800 million in start-up costs for a police mentoring and training program. The program envisions having 350 advisors at three camps who will fan out to 50 sites in the country, about half of which would be reachable by ground and the rest requiring air support. With the military's departure, we are told, the Dept may hire as many as 7,000 contract security personnel. An AP article last month suggested the Iraq mission would need the equivalent of a squadron of Blackhawk helicopters, 50 ambush-protected vehicles and equipment to protect against rockets and mortars. It is important that the Administration flesh out how all the pieces of this unprecedented operation will fit together in Iraq as American troops depart.
Jeffrey outlined the big concerns in Iraq today and did so very well. If there was an interest group within the US that felt left out, I can't imagine who they were. He even addressed the plight of Iraqi Christians. He was well informed -- again, he knows the region -- and he'll be confirmed without objection. He has strong ties to many Republicans -- including on the Committee -- and he has regional experience. In his opening remarks, he also thanked a number of people including Barack, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his wife Gdrun, his children Jahn and Julia and his late parents Herbert and Helen Jeffrey. Luger and Kerry had to step out of the hearing and left Senator Bob Casey Jr. in charge as acting chair.
Senator Bob Casey: One of the -- one of the overiding issues that I had a sense of at the end of our visit [to Iraq recently] -- and, of course, you can only learn so much in two days, but we did a learn a lot, especially about the security situation. We saw one graphic presentation by way of a chart which very simply -- by way of cataloguing and therefore plotting on a graph the number of [. . .] violent incidents, suicide vests, car bombs, those kinds of violent incidents. When you looked at the six month period at the end of '06 and the first six months of 2007, in both time periods, it numbered above a 1,000. So well over 2,000 for roughtly a one-year period. When you compare the same to the first six months of 2010 in terms of suicide vests, suicide bombs and that kind of substantial violence, the number was -- I don't remember the exact number was somewhere in the neighborhood of fifty. Fifty to a hundred at the most. So obviously it's come down a lot. And that's good news. To highlight when we have, uh, a little bit of good news.
Why is that good news? The number fell due to the Iraqi refugee crisis more than anything but why the hell, Bob Casey, are you using 2006 and 2007 as your benchmarks? Did the Iraq War start then? No, it did not. (Casey's numbers are incorrect by the way. They're too low -- 2,000 for 12 months during the 'civil war' -- way too low.) It seems to make peopel feel good to take the all time worst and use that as the benchmark. But that wasn't the start of the war. Nor do his numbers acknowledge the fact that violence has been on the increase since February 2009. Why the hell, in fact, is Casey comparing 2010 to three years ago as opposed to comparing it to the years immediately before it? What a bunch of crap. It's only 'good news' because you've got your finger the scale.
Casey prattled on. And on. And finally came to something resembling a question. Jeffrey began his reply with, "I've seen similar charts as well. They document at least a 90% drop in violence from the period you cited -- at the peak of the attacks from 2006 and 2007 [. . .]"
It was crap. Casey wasn't prepared to chair and he was too busy trying to whore for a war. People often mocked Joe Biden (I know and like Joe Biden) as someone who couldn't shut up. (I believe I noted it during one hearing as well.) Casey is far worse. And that he's starting out this way? Frightening. The best moment of his speechifying was when he accidentally hit the microphone button and for a few moments we just watched his lips flap and heard nothing. It was so wonderful.
Casey: "and asked him -- or raised -- raised with him a question -- about what I thought was President Bush's -- uh, uh, uh --" If he thinks Bush was misleading with language (Bush was), maybe he shouldn't be tossing around the same garbage. Two minutes and 27 seconds after he began his 'reply' to Jeffrey's answer, he finally said, "Here's the question." He uh-uh-uh stumbled as he tried to ask about metrics. He then noted the 'violence going down' as an example of a metric. But violence isn't going down, it's going up. It only goes down if each year you act as if the 2006 and early 2007 period was the only time that mattered.
And here's a thought Casey, you were a member of Congress when the Congress called for Benchmarks for Success and the White House proposed them. Did you forget that? Did you sleep through it?
Jeffrey indicated the US will never leave Iraq when he said that he had his marching orders from President Obama: "An Iraq that is stable, self-reliant, is sovereign, with a government that is just, that is accountable and that is representative.'' What the hell is that? Is the US ever leaving Iraq? And since when are those ways you end the war?
Ambassador James Jeffrey: We don't know now how sustainable this will be. That's one reason why we are continuing our military presence for the next, roughly, 18 months and will move gradually to a still very, very broad and very, very deep engagement with Iraq but without as much emphasis on the military side.
But without as much emphasis on the military side? Why does that not sound like US troops leave. Oh, right, they don't and they end up part of the "Little State Dept" at the US Embassy/Fortress in Baghdad. Peace Mom Cindy Sheehan (Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox) writes about the poverty draft and proposes a measure she'd like to see introduced in Congress:The Casey Sheehan "End to War" Bill: Immediately upon the president signing this bill into law, forced military conscription will begin. The bill will have NO EXEMPTIONS to those who are eligible to the draft and the age limit is 18 to no upper limit. This bill seeks to draft those eligible from both genders and all gender and sexual preferences. There will be very limited health exemptions as most people can perform a skill that is valuable to the military. As University is now open to all ages and attended by old and young alike, there will be no education exemptions. The draftees can resume or attend college when their stint in the armed forces is up. There will be no GI education benefits extended to the draftees, as they will be members of the wealthy of the US. Citizens will be drafted in this order in the event of a Constitutionally declared war, or un-constitutionally started war, or any of these euphemisms (but not limited to) for war: police action, entanglement, theater, hostilities, occupation, special operations, interventions, cluster-fu@k, pacifications, war on drugs, peace-keeping, fighting for "freedom and democracy," etc: The President and his/her Cabinet and their age appropriate dependents, including spouses. No exemptions as outlined above. Senators and Congress Members and their age appropriate dependents, including spouses. No exemptions as outlined above. CEO's of the Federal Reserve and Banks and their age appropriate dependents, including spouses. No exemptions as outlined above. CEO's of any company (including the media) that profit directly or indirectly from war and their age appropriate dependents, including spouses. No exemptions as outlined above. Anyone who by word or deed supports the entry into war, or any of the euphemisms associated with war, and their age appropriate dependents. This includes media pundits, male or female and their age appropriate dependents, including spouses. No exemptions as outlined above. Any citizen of the United States of America who does not fall into one of the above categories is categorically ineligible for this forced conscription draft. This bill will also provide college tuition grants to anyone who does not fall into one of the above categories and who wishes to go to college -- without having to join the military. Related, Koyuki Yip (World Can't Wait) writes about the latest efforts in counter-recruitment:Under the non-profit tent @ the Camden, NJ -- Warped Tour - Matthis Chiroux (the Iraq War resister), Jessica, and I embraced the 95 degree weather to set up the World Can't Wait table and meet young people to bring the We Are Not Your Soldiers Tour to their school, town, or wherever. It was an unbearably hot day, but it was a pretty amazing day, because we talked to hundreds of kids, passed out flyers, and posted flyers around the venue. Even as we began setting up and decorating our table at 9am, our knee caps were sweating from the heat and humidity. The heat wasn't going to stop our determination to get our visuals up and out there for everyone to see. Mainly we stood in front of the table with one of our Abu Ghraib images, and passed out the We Are Not Your Soldiers flyers. The Abu Ghraib image along with Matthis' body signs (he wrote on his stomach - "No U.S. Genocide" and on his back "Soldiers Are Not Heroes") challenged hundreds of people to stop -- look -- and comment on the wars in the Middle East. While many people walked by our table and rubbernecked our images - many people stopped in their tracks and either: were totally upset by the image, pissed off by our anti-war position, or agreed and were interested in who we were. A number of young women, either in high school or younger, were taken aback by the Abu Ghraib image and just asked with their mouths open where these images came from. A bunch of people would walk by Matthis and say "that sign is not cool." And even one asshole had the nerve to tell me that he didn't care about the Abu Ghraib prisoner. While these people were in the minority, they were vocal about their disagreements. While others were the complete opposite they were drawn by our poster and our table and were interested in talking about Obama, Afghanistan, or the tour. A couple of people thanked us for being out at Warped Tour. Also, we learned that many of the kids that signed our list were from small towns. It wasn't just youth that stopped by our table, there were many people of different ages some people were in their twenties and others were parents accompanying their parents.
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Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Isaiah and Third
Monday, Monday. Need a pick me up? Try Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Tales Of Indonesian Folklore"
Pick you up quicker than a can of Red Bull. :D
If you still want to laugh: Cyberwarriors! The US needs them! Will you pick up the keyboard for Uncle Sam? Believe it or not, this NPR story isn't that much differnt from my three sentences that came before the link.
Remember boys & girls, Uncle Sam needs you to keep the information highway safe for internet porn. Otherwise the terrorists have won!!!!!
And you have to read this Boston Globe article (sounds like my mom wrote it!:D).
Okay, Third. Along with Dallas, the following worked on yesterday's edition:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, and Ava,
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),
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
And what did we come up with:
Truest statement of the week -- This is Cindy Sheehan. A note to our readers -- Jim breaks down the edition. Editorial: She broke no law -- This editorial is on Lynne Stewart and I think it's our best editorial of the year. The illustration is a pen and ink drawing that Isaiah did with Kat helping Betty's kids add some color to it. Of stupidity and NPR (Ava and C.I.) -- And this is the thing that everybody's talking about!!!!! Ava and C.I. really touched the zeigeist with this one!!!! :D Seriously, Ty estimates 8,000 e-mails on it from Sunday and Monday. It's hugely popular and the thing everyone is talking about. TV: Middle? -- Ava and C.I.'s TV review. I actually liked this. And I plan to check out the show. Ty's Corner -- Ty got bitched out by this piece of crap with Seeds of Peace. Read the article. Ty's talking about the silence from the peace movement on peace and how it's exciting to see "Seeds Of Peace" in his inbox amidst MoveOn, et al until he realizes it's from the US State Dept. This ass wipe with Seeds of Peace accuses Ty of saying that this and that about Seeds of Peace. Ty didn't say a damn word about Seeds of Peace. He just noted the e-mail from the State Dept. Read Ty's article and then wonder why anyone would put with all the s**t required to do a weekly magazine. Kids Korner -- Carl Davidson is a paper doll. How wonderful! :D Love the belly shirt, Carl. Sure you look precious in it. Roundtable -- A brief roundtable that moves quickly. Joan Rivers spews more hatred -- I really can't believe this. This is what that woman thinks? That Arab-Americans can't be trusted? That Muslims are out to get her? She's crazy. Was it all about gender? (Ava and C.I.) -- I like this because I hadn't thought about Lohan's sentencing in terms of if she were a man. I agree it would be a lot different if she were a man. Hypocrisy, thy name is vanden Heuvel -- A quick piece on how Katrina always whines that something needs to be done but never does it. Highlights -- And Marcia, Ruth, Betty, Rebecca, Stan, Ann, Cedric, Kat, Wally, Elaine and I wrote this.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Pick you up quicker than a can of Red Bull. :D
If you still want to laugh: Cyberwarriors! The US needs them! Will you pick up the keyboard for Uncle Sam? Believe it or not, this NPR story isn't that much differnt from my three sentences that came before the link.
Remember boys & girls, Uncle Sam needs you to keep the information highway safe for internet porn. Otherwise the terrorists have won!!!!!
And you have to read this Boston Globe article (sounds like my mom wrote it!:D).
Okay, Third. Along with Dallas, the following worked on yesterday's edition:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, and Ava,
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),
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
And what did we come up with:
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Monday, July 19, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, Sahwa is targeted and suffers multiple losses, violence continues today and claims the 1st British life in over a year, the political stalemate continues, Syria hosts Iraqi politicians and a Turkish diplomat, say no to return of the draft and more. Long targeted, Sunday saw Sahwa ("Awakenings," "Sons Of Iraq") slammed with two suicide bombings. Ernesto Londono (Washington Post) reported, "Two suicide bombings targeting members of local guard forces killed at least 48 people Sunday and heightened concern about the future of the groups as the number of U.S. troops in the country is reduced." Ned Parker and Usama Redha (Los Angeles Times) added, "The two bombers blew themselves up as Awakening movement fighters approached to question the pair, who were standing outside the Iraqi army base in Radwaniya, witnesses and security officials said. At least 42 people were killed in the attack southwest of Baghdad that officials said was carried out by two mentally disabled men. Farther west, Awakening members were assaulted by a gunman who opened fire on their headquarters in the town of Qaim near the Syrian border. After being wounded, the gunman detonated explosives strapped to his body, killing four of the Awakening members, security officials said." Sahwa, "Awakenings" and "Sons Of Iraq" are some of the names. Who are they? BBC News offers a fact sheet here. Please note, despite what the BBC says, Sahwa were apparently not all Sunnis. According to Gen David Petraeus when he testified before Congress in April 2008, there were some Shi'ites as well. For example, from the April 8, 2008 snapshot: The most dramatic moment came as committee chair Carl Levin was questioning Petraeus and a man in the gallery began exclaiming "Bring them home!" repeatedly. (He did so at least 16 times before he was escor[t]ed out). The most hilarious moment was hearing Petraeus explain that it's tough in the school yard and America needs to fork over their lunch money in Iraq to avoid getting beat up. In his opening remarks, Petraues explained of the "Awakening" Council (aka "Sons of Iraq," et al) that it was a good thing "there are now over 91,000 Sons of Iraq -- Shia as well as Sunni -- under contract to help Coalition and Iraqi Forces protect their neighborhoods and secure infrastructure and roads. These volunteers have contributed significantly in various areas, and the savings in vehicles not lost because of reduced violence -- not to mention the priceless lives saved -- have far outweighed the cost of their monthly contracts." Again, the US must fork over their lunch money, apparently, to avoid being beat up. How much lunch money is the US forking over? Members of the "Awakening" Council are paid, by the US, a minimum of $300 a month (US dollars). By Petraeus' figures that mean the US is paying $27,300,000 a month. $27 million a month is going to the "Awakening" Councils who, Petraeus brags, have led to "savings in vehicles not lost". Again, in this morning's hearings, the top commander in Iraq explained that the US strategy is forking over the lunch money to school yard bullies. What a pride moment for the country. Crocker's entire testimony can be boiled down to a statement he made in his opening statements, "What has been achieved is substantial, but it is also reversible." Which would translate in the real world as nothing has really changed. During questioning from Senator Jack Reed, Crocker would rush to shore up the "Awakening" Council members as well. He would say there were about 90,000 of them and, pay attention, the transitioning of them is delayed due to "illliteracy and physical disabilities." We can go over that repeatedly. Petraeus appeared several times before Congress that week, we attended the hearings and reported on all of them. Petraeus did not fumble, did not stumble when making the assertion that Shia were also part of the Sahwa. Not only did no member of ever Congress ever question him on it, but over two years later the press never has either. Since he was testifying before Congress and since no one has ever questioned his assertion (made more than once in the April hearings), we'll assume he was telling the truth. From that day's snapshot we'll note Senator Barbara Boxer as well to provide more information on Sahwa: She wanted to know about the training, all the training, that had gone on and then on again. "We've done a lot for the Iraqis just in terms of the numbers themselves," Boxer declared. "I'll tell you what concerns me and most of my constituents, you said -- many times -- the gains in Iraq are fragile and reversable. . . . So my constituents and I believe that" after all the deaths, all the money, "you have to wonder why the best that you can say is that the gains are fragile and reversable." Noting the lack of military success and Hagel's points, Boxer pointed out that nothing was being done diplomatically "and I listened carefully to Senator Hagel and Ambassador Crocker -- from the answer you gave him, I don't get the" feeling that the White House has given anything, it's still "the status quo. She then turned to the issue of monies and the militias, "You are asking us for millions more to pay off the militias and, by the way, I have an article here that says Maliki recently told a London paper that he was concerned about half of them" and wouldn't put them into the forces because he doubts their loyalty. She noted that $182 million a year was being paid, $18 million a month, to these "Awakening" Council members and "why don't you ask the Iraqis to pay the entire cost of that progam" because as Senator Lugar pointed out, "It could be an opportunity" for the Iraqi government "to turn it into something more long term." This is a point, she declared, that she intends to bring up when it's time to vote on the next spending supplamental. Crocker tried to split hairs. Boxer: I asked you why they couldn't pay for it. . . . I don't want to argue a point. . . I'm just asking you why we would object to asking them to pay for that entire program giving all that we are giving them in blood and everything else? Crocker declared that he'd take that point back to Iraq when he returned. Despite repeated announcements by the US government -- which the press dutifuly repeated without verifying -- the US government continued payment of some Sahwa well into 2010. These days, most wait and wait for Nouri to pay them. Most complain that the payments are two or three months behind. Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports, "For about a year, U.S. commanders have assured the Sons of Iraq that they'd get permanent jobs in the Iraqi security forces and other government ministries. Those jobs have not materialized." The bombing which claimed the most lives was in Radwaniya and the Daily Mail reports, "At least a dozen men, dressed in military-style uniforms were seen laying in pools of blood in front of a blast wall shortly after the blast. There were conflicting reports as to how many of the dead were Iraqi soldiers and whether any of the civilian accountants handing out money were among them." At that bombing was Uday Khamis who is quoted by the Sun, "There were more than 150 people sitting on the ground. When the explosion took place I ran, thinking that I was a dead man." Tim Arango (New York Times) quotes Sahwa leader Sheik Ali Hatem al-Suleiman stating, "I'm blaming the security forces. From the beginning, I said that politicians are responsible because they don't care about the Awakening as a national project, and the evils of the security violations reflect negatively on the officials." Scott Peterson (Christian Science Monitor) notes that al Qaeda in Mesopotamia is blamed by both Sahwa and Iraqi officials. al Qaeda in Mesopotamia (a homegrown strand and not connected to the 9-11 attacks -- for anyone late to the party) was the topic on the most recent Inside Iraq (Al Jazeera, began airing Friday) which found host Jasim Azawi joined by Raanan Gissin (former senior adviser to Ariel Sharon) and Adel Bari Atwan (editor-in-chief of al-Quds al-Arabi). Jasim Azawi: Adel Bari Atwan, you are considered an expert on al Qaeda. You have written a book on the organization, you interviewed Osama bin Laden, you went to the caves of Afghanistan, you write constantly about al Qaeda and you have followed the rise and fall of al Qaeda in Iraq. Is that terrorist organization dead in Iraq or is it still a lethal force? Adel Bari Atwan: Actually before we discuss that, we have to dig deeper and look at the situation from a different angle. The most important question is: Who brought al Qaeda to Iraq? We know that during Saddam Hussein's regime, al Qaeda non-existed. I believe al Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden are extremely grateful to the Israelis an the friends, the American neoconservative, who actually create the best atmosphere for al Qaeda to actually come to Iraq and to start its campaign. It is actually bombing and killing in Iraq -- whether against American troops or Iraqi people. So I think al Qaeda very, very happy that the Americans created a failed state for them and actually created a sectarian division among the Iraqis themselves -- divided Iraq between Sunni and Shi'ite -- and this is the best environment for al Qaeda to actually expand and to flourish and to be an extremely important figure in the Iraqi politics. Whether al Qaeda is dead or alive in Iraq? I believe al Qaeda is still in Iraq and I believe it will emerge again. It is true, it is not as strong as it used to be in 2006 and 2007. But we know that al Qaeda is supposed to be finished completely in Afghanistan after the bombing of Tora Bora and Qandahar and Kabul in 2001. And look at the situation now: al Qaeda is stronger and Taliban is stronger. Raanan Gissin, the man does not mince words. He is going for the jugular. He immediately went with an accusing finger: The Israelis and the neocons are behind all of this. You brought it into Iraq. Raanan Gissin: Well thank you. Well first of all, I want to thank Adel Bari for this credit -- crediting Israel with being the mastermind behind all events in the world, pulling all the strings. We don't have that power and that strength. Look, al Qaeda is really a by-product of, I would say, internal divisions in the Arab world, in the Muslim world. al Qaeda succeeds and strives in places like Iraq, like Afghanistan and Pakistan where there is civil strife, where there is people who are diseffected, disillusioned and an al Qaeda is able to recruit them and gain their support. If it's a fight between Sunni and Shi'ites or if it's a fight between tribes in Pakistan and Afghanistan, al Qaeda makes its headways. al Qaeda also makes it headways in places where there's no central regime, or central government, that it's able to impose its rule on the country-side and on places where there is tribal strife. For example, in Africa. In Somalia, in Nigeria. Look what happened in Uganda today. Countries where there is no regime. I would say that the original purpose, the strategic goal of al Qaeda to attack the West is not succeeding. Right now al Qaeda is a major threat torwards Arab regimes, not towards the West. Adel Bari Atwan: Now this is, this is completely misleading Mr. Gissin. al Qaeda was not a tool in Iraq. Iraq was a stable country. Iraq used to have institutions, used to have army, used to have power, it was the mos secular country in the whole of the MidEast. Who spawned this? The neoconservatives. Most of them are Israeli allies and they decided to destroyed this county and to give or to send invitation for al Qaeda to set up bases there. So we can [. . .] say Iraq now is a failed state simply because of the American intervention, because of the Israeli intervention and [al Qaeda in] Iraq and Afghanistan also stronger because of the American mistakes and the Israeli mistakes. That's the reality in our part of the world. We cannot say al Qaeda is simply because of division. Who created these divisions in the Arab world? Who created the atmosphere for al Qaeda and other organizations to actually expand and to emerge? It is the Israeli-American alliance which destroyed the whole Middle East and now actually creating a huge instability all over the world. Suicide bombings slammed Iraq yesterday and they continue today. Xiong Tong (Xinhua) reports a Mosul car bomber has taken his/her own life and left at least five wounded in an attack near a bridge. Though some may forget, bridge attacks were highly popular in Iraq during the 2005-2007 period popularly known as the "civil war." Was it way of 'herding' for future attacks? Reuters reports the car "plowed into a convoy carrying employees of a British company" and left 4 of them dead while the wounded five were Iraqis. BBC News confirms -- via the UK Foreign Office -- that one British citizen died but can't confirm that there were any other deaths. Martin Chulov (Guardian) adds, "It is the first British fatality in Iraq in more than 12 months. Since the British Army withdrew from its garrison near the southern city of Basra in April last year, contractors - once regular targets of insurgent bombs - have been attacked far less frequently. Around 100 British officers remain in Iraq, helping to train the Iraqi Navy in the southern port of Umm Qasr." Xiong Tong (Xinhua) explains, "Iraqi security forces sealed off the scene and blocked all the roads leading to the area, the source added." Citing "Iraqi security officials," Reuters declares 4 foreigners killed in the blast and five Iraqis wounded. In other violence, Reuters notes 2 Baghdad roadside bombing left five people injured in an apparent attack on an employee of the Ministry of Agriculture, a third Baghdad roadsie bombing left three people injured and, dropping back to Sunday for all that follows, a Mosul attack in which 1 man was shot, a Baghdad roadside bombing which injured two people and 1 civilian shot dead in Kirkuk. The Hindu notes a Mosul bombing which claimed the lives of 3 police officers and left a fourth wounded and another which wounded four Kurdish peshmerga. Reuters adds a Falluja sticky bombing claimed the life of another Sahwa today, that 1 person was shot dead in Kirkuk by a motorcyle assailant (earlier one was shot dead from a passing car) and that a Baquba car bombing has claimed at least 4 lives with fifteen injured. Some argue that the violence is increasing and doing so due to the fact that Iraq is in the midst of a political stalemate. March 7th, Iraq concluded Parliamentary elections. Three months and two days later, still no government. 163 seats are needed to form the executive government (prime minister and council of ministers). When no single slate wins 163 seats (or possibly higher -- 163 is the number today but the Parliament added seats this election and, in four more years, they may add more which could increase the number of seats needed to form the executive government), power-sharing coalitions must be formed with other slates, parties and/or individual candidates. (Eight Parliament seats were awarded, for example, to minority candidates who represent various religious minorities in Iraq.) Ayad Allawi is the head of Iraqiya which won 91 seats in the Parliament making it the biggest seat holder. Second place went to State Of Law which Nouri al-Maliki, the current prime minister, heads. They won 89 seats. Nouri made a big show of lodging complaints and issuing allegations to distract and delay the certification of the initial results while he formed a power-sharing coalition with third place winner Iraqi National Alliance -- this coalition still does not give them 163 seats. They are claiming they have the right to form the government. It's four months and five days and, in 2005, Iraq took four months and seven days to pick a prime minister. Today makes it four months and eleven days without any government being established. Michael Christie and Suadad al-Salhy (Reuters) tackle the subject today and their observations include: Politicians say fiery anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr might withdraw his veto of Maliki if he agrees to terms, such as the release of detained Sadrists, lifting death sentences and a generous sprinkling of cabinet posts and government jobs. But mutual suspicions run deep and the hurdles to a final deal remain formidable. The odds are probably still no better than even on Maliki keeping his job. His State of Law coalition came second with 89 seats in the election to 91 won by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's Iraqiya, while the Shi'ite-led Iraqi National Alliance (INA) won around 70 seats. Not asked in the article is why is Moqtada al-Sadr building a 'nest egg'? Reportedly, he's raking in big bucks from oil companies wanting to drill in southern Iraq. Why would he do that, if the rumors are true? He's made ripping up the oil contracts an issue with his followers, decried the occupational government that's made these deals with foreign companies and now, reportedly, he's taking money from these companies to guarantee their safety? If true, it's very curious. If true, it could also hurt his standing among his followers. Saturday Xinhua reported that Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr visited Syria and, following a meeting with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, Al-Assad declared "his country's full support to the formation of the Iraqi national unity government as soon as possible". Today in Syria, al-Sadr met with Allawi. Steven Lee Myers (New York Times) dubs it al-Sadr's "first direct public foray into the country's protracted political impasse" and makes the call that meeting with Allawi "was clearly intended to increase pressure on Mr. Maliki to step aside." Khaled Yacoub Oweis (Reuters) reports on Allawi's camp which makes the same call Myers does, "An aide to Allawi said he could become prime minister if he secured the support of Sadr and the two main Kurdish blocs. Allawi has good ties with key Arab rulers and the United States, and has been trying to exploit discord between Iraq's main Shi'ite factions over Maliki's attempt to win a second term." Al Jazeera adds: "[. . .] Sadr told reporters that Allawi's bloc was 'ready to make concessions to put an end to Iraq's political crisis. [. . .] If there were past differences, I am forgetting them so that the political process proceeds. I don't back specific names, but programmes and mechanisms to arrive at the next prime minister." If anything comes of it, it will play good for Bashar al-Assad who will look like someone able to assist with resolutions and Syria is apparently the place to be currently for discussions on the topic of Iraq's government -- AFP notes, "Yesterday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu flew into Damascus and held talks with Assad, agreeing on the need 'to speed up the formation of a government' in Iraq, their two countries' common neighbour, [Syrian news agency] Sana said." Turning to the US, KSBW reports that Iraq War veteran Tremayne Wilson created some form of disturbance today in Sacremento and was in "a standoff with police." If he's a struggling veteran (he may or may not be -- he might have just had a bad day), it's one more indication that the VA leadership needs to get serious about helping veterans. I did not mean to shout, just drive Just get us out, dead or alive The road's too long to mention Lord, it's something to see Laid down by the Good Intentions Paving Company All the way to think we've been playing at, darling I can see that you're wearing your staying-hat, darling For the time being, all is well Won't you love me a spell? This is blindness, beyond all conceiving While behind us, the road is leaving And leaving, and falling back Like a rope gone slack -- "Good Intentions Paving Co." written by Joanna Newsom, from her album Have One On Me (which Kat reviewed here) Blindness beyond all conceiving describes support for returning to a draft in the US. US House Rep Charlie Rangel has proposed reinstating the draft several times since the start of the Iraq War, most recently he began proposing it last month. In a July 15th press release, Rangel explained his position, "What troubles me most about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is the total indifference to the suffering and loss of life among our brave young soldiers on the battlefield. The reason is that so few families have a stake in the war which is being fought by other people's children. The test for Congress, particularly for those members who support the war, is to require all who enjoy the benefits of our democracy to contribute to the defense of the country. All of America's children should share the risk of being placed in harm's way. In other words, if you support the war, you should support a compulsary military draft." We disagree with the return of the draft and have covered that repeatedly over the years. But Rangel's proposal raises the issue for those newer to the story. Rangel believes sincerely that the draft would drive home the costs of war. We'll note his sincerity and then dismiss the entire idea. The burden would not be "shared" and it never has been. If you doubt that, let's go to Jessica Lange at the September 2005 DC peace rally (Democracy Now!, link has video, audio and text): And who are these men? Who are these men? Let's talk for a minute about these masters of war, these same men that are sending our sons and our daughters, our brothers and sisters, our mothers and fathers to fight an undeclared and unconstitutional and unwinnable war for them. Let's talk about their service records. Karl Rove did not serve. Paul Wolfowitz did not serve. Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Elliott Abrams, Newt Gingrich did not serve. Jeb Bush did not serve. The list goes on and on. And we know George W. did not really serve. The draft would bring shared sacrifice? When has that ever happened? Ava and I noted the above quote in a piece for Third about, among other things, radio host Nicole Sandler advocating for the return of the draft to Peace Mom Cindy Sheehan (Cindy is opposed to the idea). It was amazing to hear Sandler go on and on about how the wars are wrong and must be stopped and . . . her answer . . . was to return the draft. Sandler's answer wasn't to call out Barack Obama, the War Hawk overseeing the wars. That was too much for her. But, hey, start drafting Americans, she's all on board for that. There are a ton of myths about the draft. Reality on the draft, the peace movement of the 'sixties' was successful in overturning the draft. It's one of the great successes and a success that the War Hawks immediately began chipping away at. It was Peanut Head Jimmy Carter -- our man of 'peace' -- who returned registration for the draft. In fact, Ronald Reagan's appeal to some young voters had to do with his 1980 campaign promise to repeal the registration. Only the very young ever believed Reagan on that because -- press lapping at his crotch aside -- he never could deliver a line worth s**t. (If you doubt that, check out any speech or his ghastly performance in Bette Davis' Dark Victory.) Carter brought back registration for the draft and Reagan lied that he'd stop it. Except for Emilio Estevez, I'm finding it hard to think of anyone who ever spoke out against that nonsense with any passion or elequence. Certainly politicians of either side of the War Party didn't speak out against it. Since Peanut Head brought back registration, the Oval Office has been occupied by 3 Republicans and 2 Democrats and none of them have bothered to stop the registration. Though the elimination of the draft was a victory of the peace movement, the draft did not spur the peace movement. This is a lie that a number of crazies and lazies repeat. The crazies because, well, they're crazy. The lazies because, look at Tom Hayden, they're lazy. Real work has always frightened Tom-Tom which is why he dropped the Iraq War like a hot potato when he realized he'd wrung it of all the p.r. value he could. For those who don't want to do the work, the draft becomes the EZ Bake answer. It's what you can hide behind in good times and bad -- as 2003 to the present indicates -- it's what you can bemoan, "Oh, if only we had the draft, if only we had it, oh, we'd have people in the streets, oh, if only." The draft, we're lied to, would force a shared sacrifice. But everyone didn't get drafted, did they? Oops. Well then, when you don't have war stories, do like the idiot Tom Hayden and fall back on draft physical 'war stories.' The peace movement, Tom-Tom wanted you to know, was fueled by those invasive physicals. In the July 5, 2007 snapshot, we were noting how stupidity was contagious and Tom's latest starry-eyed groupie Richard C. Paddock (Los Angeles Times) needed to learn to think before penning that, "In the 1960s, the possibility of being drafted at the age of 18 -- before they could even vote in those days -- compelled students to decide where they stood on Vietnam." The sixties? No quotes? When were the biggest rallies and marches against the war? In the early 1970s. Facts is hard when you're spoonfed by Tom Hayden. And, as we noted, "students" weren't at risk of being drafted. First of all, there was a student deferrment (ask Dick Cheney or Tom Hayden). Second, female students -- females period -- were not drafted. So this nonsense EZ Bake 'answer' was never based on reality. Women made up easily half of the peace movement in the 'sixties' and were never at risk of a draft. Junior high kids protested the war and sixth to eighth graders boys weren't at risk of being drafted for many, many years. As Rebecca noted of Tom and Paddock's insane claims, "but we did make up easily half of the peace movement, women did. and this nonsense that a draft was what caused campus action because 'students' were afraid of being drafted or because 'students' had to go through an invasive medical visit (the military's physical) is crap. that's not reality. and don't talk to me about an invasive medical visit if you haven't ever had to pull up your legs and use those damn stirrups." Amen. There are so many myths and lies about the draft. There are people who think, for example, the draft started after WWII (we were speaking to a group this morning and this came up). No. December 6, 1941 is when Pearl Harbor (base in Hawaii) is bombed by Japanese planes. December 7, 1941 is when the US enters World War II. We're dropping back to the opening of Abbott & Costello's Buck Privates, released January 31, 1941 (months before the US entered the war) which opens with a newsreel. News Announcer: September 14, 1940. Congress passes the first peace time Selective Service Training Act in the history of the nation. President Roosevelt signs the Draft Bill, and effical step in national defense. Impressive ceremony. Secretary of War [Henry L.] Stimson is blindfolded, draws the first number from 9000 sealed capsules. Over a year prior to the US entering WWII, the draft was passed, signed by FDR and it began. "Secretary of War" is what the Secretary of Defense post used to be named and what it should still be named. The draft has never ended a war but the draft and standing armies may have allowed for wars. Certainly that was the case in 1940. Stimson was a Republican. FDR brought him to the administration because he was going to put the US into WWII (with or without Pearl Harbor). Stimson had been Secretary of War once before -- during WWI. He was brought back July 10, 1940 to prepare for war with Germany. The draft didn't stop WWII. The draft didn't stop the Korean War. During Vietnam, a large number of factors -- societal, cultural, demographic and movement-building ones -- helped create resistance to the war as did the very nature of the conflict which was based on lies and which depended upon daily lies to keep that war going. Insulting women of all ages who were never at risk of being drafted, insulting the men over the draft age or ineligble for the draft due to any number of reasons (and there were many disabled activists in the peace movement), and insulting young children in junior high who were at no immediate risk of a draft by claiming that their motivation was due to the fact that they might be drafted is insane. It's also, in terms of the women, sexist. But we're used to Tom's sexism. It got him kicked out of the Red Family, after all. In his vanity monument Reunions (a 507-page autobigoraphy -- that's basically 100 pages for each decade of his largely dull life -- though had he owned up to the extramarital activities he was carrying on as he wrote it, he might have spiced things up a bit), he glosses over his expulsion. His ego prevented him -- as we all remember -- from joining another commune. He had to 'start' one of his own (women did the work). Accused of manipulating people (a charge that floats through all of Tom-Tom's life) and of using the group as a springboard for his own publicity (a charge he leaves out of his book -- one of many), Tom in print declares that the collective had turned "into a cult." He never confronted his sexism, he never owned up to his opportunism. The fact that all these years later, he would strip women of their credit in the peace movement by insisting that 'students fear of being drafted' fueled the peace movement is an ugly but natural outcome in the ugly life of Tom Hayden. Pockmarks of the soul, indeed. There is no sincerity to Tom Hayden at all as the Tom Hayden Workout/Cashout made clear: Marry a famous and wealthy woman, use all of her money and fame to run for public office, cheat on her, chip away at her self-esteem daily, insult her looks, tell her she's getting old, cheat on her some more, attack her daughter (who caught on to you long before her mother did), poll to see if your wife is a liability to your political ambitions, when she finds out about the poll, demand alimony and a property settlement through various forms of veiled blackmail. The cool-down, of course, is retire to obscurity. In contrast to Hayden, Charlie Rangel is sincere; however, he is mistaken that a draft would bring the costs home. The same types of people who eluded the draft during Vietnam would elude it today. And since sexism runs through the fables of the 'sixties,' let's note that Matthew Rothschild's guest on this week's Progressive Radio is Susan Douglas who critiques media for In These Times and has a new book entitled Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message That Feminism's Work Is Done. We'll close with the following from A.N.S.W.E.R.: Statement from Brian Becker, National Coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition Badly losing the war in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus has decided to promote a violent civil war in Afghan villages. That is the true intent of the new so-called Local Defense Initiatives that Petraeus forced down the throat of Afghanistan's puppet president Hamid Karzai. The new plan is a variant of the Community Defense Initiative that Gen. Stanley McChrystal tried to impose on Afghanistan after Obama selected him to lead the expanded war effort in 2009. The Petraeus strategy calls for putting 10,000 job-hungry Afghan villagers on the Pentagon payroll. They will be given money and guns so that they can form militias and shoot and kill other members of their village who are asserted to be either pro-Taliban or opposed to the U.S./NATO occupation. The new strategy further underscores the criminal role of the Pentagon generals. Petraeus is consciously fomenting civil war and ethnic rivalry just as he did in Iraq. Gen. James Mattis, Petraeus' new boss at Central Command, when speaking to a crowd in San Diego in 2005 about his experience in Afghanistan, said "it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot 'em." President Obama and his military team recognize that it is less damaging at home, where there is almost no support for this endless occupation, to foment civil war in Afghanistan and pay desperate Afghans to slaughter each other as a means of reducing U.S. casualties. U.S. taxpayers who are experiencing devastating cuts in state and local budgets, layoffs of municipal workers, soaring tuition hikes in public colleges—all because of budget shortfalls—will see billions of their tax dollars go to fund the occupation of Afghanistan and pay the salaries of poor Afghans so that they can shoot other poor Afghans. This is a classic divide-and-conquer tactic used historically by all colonial powers to break up a united resistance by the people whose lands they occupy. The Obama administration and its generals are borrowing a page from Nixon and Kissinger's murderous "Vietnamization" plan, which became the announced policy in 1969. Since there was a rising tide of anti-war sentiment at home, Nixon and the Pentagon wanted the Vietnamese to kill each other in greater numbers as a way of diminishing U.S. war dead. Millions of Vietnamese died during the war, as did 58,000 U.S. service members. The U.S. strategy succeeded in creating an ocean of human suffering, but it failed to alter the outcome. The Vietnamese, like the Afghan people, were unwilling to live under foreign occupation. ANSWER Coalition organizers and volunteers have in recent months been working around the country to support the growing numbers of soldiers, marines, veterans and military families who are speaking out against the war in Afghanistan. We are reaching more and more active duty service members and recently returned veterans who know that this colonial-type war is based on lies by the politicians and the Pentagon Brass. The ANSWER Coalition affiliate March Forward! is reaching out to soldiers, marines and veterans. iraq the washington post ernesto londono the los angeles times ned parker usama redha mcclatchy newspapers mohammed al dulaimy the daily mail the new york times tim arango the sun al jazeera inside iraq jasim azawi xinhua xiong tong the hindu reuters michael christie suadad al-salhy joanna newsom have one on me the guardian martin chulov steven lee myers kats korner the third estate sunday review |
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